Archive for June 2013
More Babies
Not long after Cyndie spotted the two young fawns in our back yard, we discovered we have other babies. You know those frogs that I have mentioned we keep hearing, but have yet to see? Well, elusive as they may be, they’ve left their offspring in plain sight. Our landscape pond is teeming with tadpoles. I think we might soon have more frogs than we care to see around here. I wonder, do raccoons eat tadpoles? Cyndie has decided to bring in her bird feeders at night, so the local ‘coons may be on the lookout for other easy pickings.
La Vida Laundry
Today, I am happy to present another “guest post” from Cyndie Hays. Knowing I was going to be pressed for time, she surprised me with this precious gem that she created for today’s Relative Something post:
Prominent Perch
I just love looking at this guy. This is the eagle statue that used to be down by the barn. When we first got here, it was buried out of sight beneath a tangle of bramble that had been allowed to grow, uncontrolled. It took a visiting contractor to notice him there and point it out to me.
I uncovered it, and then we left him there for a while. When we later made the decision to dig out the hill he was on, to make a route behind the barn to drive vehicles, we needed to find another spot for him to perch. Nothing really jumped out to me, so we parked him in this new spot, almost out of default for having no place else that seemed ideal.
Now that he’s been there for a while, I think it’s the perfect placement. He certainly commands greater attention here. It is at the top of the driveway, 90° to the garage doors on the house, and on top of the hill above the back yard.
When the wonderful folks who sold us this place stopped by for a visit a few weeks ago, we were informed that the eagle used to belong to her father. She noticed him there right away. I was pleased that she was able to find him now commanding a spot of such prominence.
I feel as though his expression changes from time to time, when I look at him. Sometimes, I see a sly smile. Other times, he appears very stern.
I’d be more than happy if it turns out that his glare is something that will ward off snakes.
New Life
Since this is our first spring and summer on this property, we are discovering more about the wildlife here, with each passing day. Last fall, we were quickly introduced to the reality of the carnivorous coyotes, and we saw a lot of deer. We’ve had an amazing collection of colorful birds all winter, and of course, the squirrels were particularly pesky that whole time, too.
Now, the raccoons seem to have taken over for the squirrels, and have caused Cyndie to pull in a couple of her feeders that got tipped over and dismantled in the dark of night.
One of the first things we noticed, after snow finally stopped falling, has been something we hear, but have yet to see. The sound of frogs has been prevalent. I wonder if we’ll have a lot of tree frogs.
I figured the incredible wetness we are experiencing this spring would lead to a frightful number of mosquitoes, but that hasn’t happened, yet. I don’t know why. Now that it is no longer freezing at night, however, there are a number of other flying things that have showed up. Wasps have been making regular appearances around the house, and I keep finding spots where there are little mini nests, but so far, I think they have all been old ones. I expect we will need to be vigilant in policing our eaves to avoid having a large active nest become established.
The flies have been bothering me a bit, and have me sympathizing with horses, who so often suffer the constant harassment of the pests. I expect that once the mosquitoes show up in force, I will hardly even notice the flies anymore.
I fully expected to witness a lot of ticks. So far, between the two of us, Cyndie and me, only one woodtick, and it wasn’t on me. We haven’t shied away from walking in the long grass, so I have no explanation for not finding more. All I know is, I constantly feel like something is crawling on me now, because I keep expecting something probably is.
I am a little surprised by the wide variety of spiders we are seeing. The other day, one little wispy thing had built a web in the bathroom sink overnight. Unfortunately, most of the others we have seen have been far from what could be described as wispy. Just this morning, this guy in the picture appeared outside our bedroom door. He looks pretty full. Maybe the spiders are eating all the mosquitoes? I’m hoping it wasn’t a she, and those weren’t eggs.
Last fall, the grounds were covered with mounds and tunnels from moles or gophers. We figure that problem won’t just disappear, but their return hasn’t been obvious, yet. There were a couple spots where we questioned whether we were seeing new activity, or if it was a left over soft spot. We’ll see what develops there.
I did come across a hole in the yard, but instead of thinking gopher, since there wasn’t any dirt piled up, my fear is it could be the slithering creature I am least comfortable with: a snake.
I am with Harrison Ford’s character, Indiana Jones, when it comes to snakes.
New Insight
I awoke with a song in my head. It was a Roches song, but I didn’t know which one. I let the short snippet play round and round, over and over, enjoying it thoroughly, but that still left me wanting.
It took only a few tries to locate the right song, “The Scorpion Lament,” from their album, Keep On Doing. Ahhh. It’s like scratching an itch.
While processing all that, something else was revealed to me this morning. It is probably obvious that we would have a list of things demanding attention here on our new property. – I wonder how long I get to refer to this place as ‘new’ to us. I will probably use that term through the first year, since every day is still new to us, because we have not experienced spring or summer here before.
Anyway, regarding that list, …there are a couple of things that seem to me as though Cyndie should take the lead. When I don’t hear of any results on those, I toss out a few hints, occasional reminders and eventually realize I’m simply nagging.
“Yeah, I could do that.” she accommodates me.
With regard to one particular issue, last night I finally asked her if she needed something else to happen first, as if there was some step in a sequence that hadn’t yet occurred. That is a loaded question, in a way, because she is so classically random, …like the way she mows the lawn.
I was becoming confused with her choosing not to act in cases where it seemed to me it would be something that could be quickly knocked off our to-do list, or at least trigger action that can bring subsequent progress. What was holding her up from taking this step? If she was truly random, things should be able to happen at any time.
That’s it! This morning I realized that her not doing things isn’t the result of waiting on a sequence, it is the very manifestation of her randomness. That is why it doesn’t appear to bother her that a particular step gets done by a certain time. Meanwhile, I grow uncomfortable. I want it to happen in sequence, meaning, do this now, and then other things can follow.
It is why I am bugged by the fact that we suddenly find ourselves working on one thing, when I feel like we haven’t yet finished another. I also realized that after we accomplish some of the random tasks, I don’t get the same sense of satisfaction from having done so, as Cyndie does, because I’m still framing it as having been out of sequence.
Eventually, things work out for both of us, one way or another. We are invested in learning from our styles, and in achieving more together than would be possible, each on our own. I know that I have benefited greatly, over and over, as a result of her randomness through the years.
Our success is the reward that comes from the attraction of opposites, which is accomplished by overcoming the difficulties inherent in being so different from one another!
Costly Neglect
I have done it again. For whatever reason I have yet to fully grasp, I have grown complacent about adhering to my prescribed daily regiment of walking 1/2 hour per day, and doing repetitions of a few simple strengthening exercises. Along with that neglect, I have heaped on a variety of risky behaviors like lifting things that are heavier than I should be lifting, raking and tilling muddy clay, or, as I discovered yesterday, bending over to entice one of the cats with fresh catnip.
I have degenerative disc disease. In the morning at work yesterday, I noticed a twinge that alerted me to be cognizant of my condition. I took note, but only superficially. As in, I will do something about this later. It didn’t take long to really get my attention, and cause me to change my behavior, after the phone in my pants pocket began to ring, and I tried to quickly get up to leave the area and answer the call. That focus on quickly getting to another room overlooked the part about getting up out of the chair first, and my body abruptly nabbed my attention with a searing pain in my lower back that caused an immediate abort, and sat me right back down in that chair.
I got the message, or so I thought. I took some ibuprofen, and did a few bendy-stretchies after lying on the carpet in the boss’s office for a time. When I got home at the end of the work-day, I took a second dose of ibuprofen and laid on the floor to rest. After a while, I felt a significant reduction of pain, and was able to do a few of my exercises. I figured I could renew my walking routine before the day’s end.
With the pain now subsided, I absent-mindedly began moving around the house. (How quickly do I forget?) I was showing Cyndie how the cats appeared to have only minor interest in the fresh catnip I brought home from work, and leaned forward, dangling it for Pequenita…
BAM!
I think a disc blew out.
I know an expletive flew out.
That is the weirdest pain. It is like getting punched in the kidney, but not really. There is no external sensation of the blow landing. It is what it must feel like to have your innards punched. Whatever that nerve is, running along those discs, it sure doesn’t like being pressed. The muscles of my whole body seem to recoil. They want to all give out, and drop me to the floor, except, the nerve doesn’t like that either, so then the muscles have to flex. Suddenly I find myself locked in a precarious position where I can’t go up, and I can’t go down.
It’s comical, really. Unless you are the spouse standing right there, in full alarm mode, trying to figure out how to help. That part isn’t so funny.
In truth, I have learned that the body tends to over-react, in attempt to protect me from doing something that might lead to pain. At the first hint of trouble, it tenses up, pulling me back from doing anything brash. I end up walking like a little old man, taking little baby steps.
I’m grateful for that protection, actually. I’ve explained what happens when I get too nonchalant. It’s tricky, but somewhere in there, I would like to find the happy medium.
By the end of the evening, I was able to get myself walking again, albeit gingerly.
I am back to practicing being mindful of my actions, and have renewed motivation to resume the exercise routine I have been neglecting. Let’s hope.
Got Power?
We’ve got auxiliary power. Wintervale Ranch now has an automatic backup generator that will provide power to our essential appliances/services during occasions when there is a loss of electricity from our energy co-op. That is one more piece of the puzzle now in place.
It is not easy to convince me to buy something that we don’t ever want to use, but the snowstorm we suffered early in the month of May this year, which left us without power for over 28-hours, helped me to feel this would be a smart purchase. At that time, we lost the ability to pump water from our well, and keep our furnace and refrigerator running. That will no longer be a concern.
I stayed home from the day-job yesterday to supervise the installation of a unit that will kick in automatically, and run off our propane. They had to work in the rain. (What a surprise that it rained here again!) Regardless, the job went relatively easy and by mid-afternoon, we had it running and successfully tested. I was a little leery about how noisy it would be, but it wasn’t too bad. It isn’t a desirable sound, but considering the service it will be providing in a time of need, I think we can tolerate the disturbance.
It feels a lot like buying insurance. We now have a backup generator, and we hope that we never need to use it.
Mystery
.
.
Mystery radiates from everything
filling a void most choose to ignore
lightly dusting echoes with possibility
triggering that hint of a sneeze
asking for nothing
expecting even less
waiting for the evening
of our days
when you are long gone
though, you were never even here
just a figment of imagination
made real by possibility
and repetition
false memory
as credible as belief
a platform from which to dive
into the unknown
naked and alone
holding hope
and using it to float
past all the rest
of everything that doesn’t matter
happening every day
letting the ever-changing daylight
paint the backdrop of inner space
deeper shades of each unknown
effortlessly
without a hint or clue
quietly
as if not to awaken
some logical reference
to concrete and sequence
a genuine happiness
waiting to gently alight
from somewhere out of view
a phantom itch
that needs a scratch
… a void
that mystery gladly fills
.
.
Creative Solution
When I got home from work yesterday, I immediately changed into grubby clothes and headed toward the barn. It hadn’t rained at all since we started packing the new loop of driveway –by hand– on Sunday, and we got a peek at the sun toward the end of the day yesterday. I wanted to complete this phase of the project while conditions were good, and hopefully take advantage of a chance for more sunny days to come this week.
It was grueling work, but very rewarding. About the time I was running out of energy, Cyndie arrived home, with pizza! I invited her to park her car and join me for a picnic. We ate right there, seated on the lumber stacked up for the hay shed.
The part of the loop that remained to be raked was the wettest yet, and was going to be very difficult to pack. I seriously thought about getting a big piece of plywood to kneel on, and then finishing it like it was wet concrete. Before it came to that, Cyndie returned, now in her grubby clothes, carrying one of her heavy kitchen anti-fatigue mats. She intended to use it to spread her weight enough to pack it with her feet, without making deep foot prints in the wet mud. A wonderfully creative solution that turned out to be quite effective.
It allowed us to reach our goal of having the full length of the loop smoothed out in time for the promised sun and warm weather for the rest of the week. Hopefully, that will give me a chance to take it to the next level: driving across the loop with the garden tractor in a few days time. To be safe, I just might get out that big piece of plywood anyway, taking Cyndie’s example, and put it down where I will drive, to spread the weight of the 4 wheels.
Relative Something 