As I stepped out into this January 25th mist whose background was a heavy gray curtain, I was nearly startled by the single splash of bright blue. Then there were two, then three! Our resident bluebirds seemed to be making a statement; “looking for spring? See me.” Perched midway up our electric pole guidewire, bird #1 draped in fog, resembled the barrelman of a ship’s crow’s nest.
He soon joined two more atop the garden posts. Singing a song, words left to my imagination, they seemed to be guiding us through the midst of winter’s gloom. Their low pitched warble, certainly not in tune with the gloomy day, may well have been, “keep the faith, watch for it….spring is coming”. Okay, at least to me, those were the phrases being sung this day.
Per avianreportcom, “Indigo bunting, blue grosbeaks, blue jays, and of course, bluebirds don’t have any blue pigment. Their feathers perform the trick of selective light scattering that we see as blue.”… “Depending on the angle and intensity of light hitting these tine bubbles in bluebird feathers, the resulting blue can vary from a dark color to the vivid deep blue we see in ideal light conditions.”
Other factors play into the degree of blue; some being nutrition, molting, and the observer’s angle. This blue is called a ‘structural color’.
It isn’t the scientific explanation that gives me such pleasure. The thrill is their beautiful profile, and the amazing streak of blue in flight; by whatever means the great Creator, Jehovah God, put these thrilling swoops of azure, cerulean or sky blue into my life.
My daughter and I were commenting this morning on the 50 degree change in one week’s time, and I have no doubt these feathered friends were having a similar conversation. It seemed the bluebirds had emerged from a quiet haven, hidden from our recent single digit temperatures, as well as we.
Perhaps we need these few things to keep hope alive in times of dark uncertainty; the right angle, a friend or two with tiny bubbles of encouragement, a song to sing, and ‘selective light scattering’ as we share enlightening words from God. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalms 119:105 NKJV
We are promised, and I believe, that if our angle as we look into life is from the path of following Jesus, we “will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
I am so very thankful for the blessings of light; bluebirds, the Bible, seasons and sight.
Watching (for another couple months) for spring, Trisha
Being wakened by a clap of thunder and a streak of lightening, before the alarm sounded, was a sweet and salty mixture this morning. Salty as a coarse eye opener, and sweet as the heavy rain lulled me back to a cozy sleep.
When we awoke for real about an hour later, my husband recalled how storms for him, had morphed through his life from a threatening monster into an actual sleep inducer. My thoughts, however, had hopped on a different train. One specific clap of thunder stands out in my mind above all others. It happened on the day of my mother’s passing from this life. And it was no sleep inducer!
A day in June dawned clear and warm, as most others had, with one exception; my mother was gone. Following all the usual information exchange with hospital personnel, we were drawn back to the house I had seen her leave for the last time, several days before. I ran through the front room and hallway into her bedroom crying her name and as I reached her bed, I begged, “Oh God, please let me hear her voice just one more time. Please, let me hear her voice!” As I gained composure and moved into other rooms, I saw that my sister had arrived and we stood together at the glass door, gazing through memories into her sunroom and backyard. A booming thunder came out of nowhere, surprising us so much that we could only stare open-mouthed at each other and feel the hair stand on our necks; thunder-struck! You make what you will of it; but she and I know what we know.
I’ve always believed God answers prayer; otherwise I wouldn’t pray, I suppose. So, two sides to this coin since that day; was the thunder we heard on a clear day with no rain, wind nor clouds, the answer to my prayer? Did we hear from our mother one last time? Or, on the other hand, was God reminding me that He is all I need to hear? “Do not be concerned for your mother, child. She is with me and you need to take care of the life I have given you until you, too, may enjoy the rest she has found.” Actually now that I’ve said it, I realize the two are the same. I absolutely know my mother would want the Father to tell me those exact words, and if it is in His divine plan to allow the departed a request, she would most certainly call out to her children. And If you knew my mother, you know her calling would be thunderous! Her by-word was, no kidding, “thunder!”
I once thought growing older would make me more skeptical, but I am not nearly the skeptic I was in my younger days. This is not the first time God has spoken through nature, and my friends, it won’t be the last either. From the birds who sing their creator’s praise to the seeds erupting with life in springtime, the Lord speaks of His amazing grace and favor.
Some things I know for sure. It was already said in His word, that in Him we will find rest and peace, and the soul never dies. It is also said in scripture that God hears prayer. Also I know one day I will get to hear Christ call my name, as Mary did standing at His empty tomb. And you know, if we get to recognize each other, I’m going to ask, “Mama, you know that clap of thunder, back on June 17, well, …?”
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” (I John 5:14 NIV)
Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”(Revelation 14:13 NKJV)
There are in nature, often what we call cruelty, things that break our hearts. These aren’t chosen by a black heart to cause pain, but instead they are just the way of survival, of replenishing the earth and natural happenstance. Fortunately, there are many more instances of beauty and complementary behavior; things that make our hearts soar. One such occurrence was mine to witness on the morning of February 1 this year.
The ground was white with a solid coat of sleet, sunshine glinting off icy limbs, and my feeders were partially occluded by ice and sleet. The Dark-eyed Juncos and House Finches were sharing time with Blue Jays, Cardinals and Song Sparrows, dining at the feeder trays, and hopping around beneath the feeders to scoop up seeds which fall from feeding activity above. As I watched them, it was as always, each man, or bird, for himself, but then the sweetest thing happened. To my surprise, I saw a little round fat Junco feed a morsel, beak to beak, to a slim red-hooded House Finch. No more than four feet from my window, they were perched atop the shepherds hook from which hung the feeders, and there was no mistaking what I was seeing. Well, nature never claimed to be boring. My research has confirmed this to be a rare bird behavior indeed.
In more normal activity, a Bluebird couple watched from outside the circle, along with the Robins. Mr. Bluebird, defending his house against invasion by the black throated gray-capped house sparrow, watched from his post atop my clothesline pole for morsels of a meal. My mealworm offering to the Bluebirds also attracts the birds of an aggressive feather, but he never minded their feeding themselves what he could have had. He just moves farther away, watching for a safe zone to dive down for his own meal.
“Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” Matthew 6:26 NKJV
Suddenly a convention of Robins convened at the back edge of the lawn. Mingling with a growing flock of Blackbirds, they all seemed busily concerned with whatever it was in the field that interested them. A bustling world of busyness, not unlike our own, just going about their own business; neither harming, nor helping, any others. Much too familiar for comfort, I see some of us pulling at our collar.
But the colorful sight at the feeder was too grand to take my eyes off for long.
Red, orange, black and brown; striped, solid, smooth or crowned; all aflutter, searching and eating, sharing time at window peeking; bringing life to frozen air, Nature’s love song everywhere.
Be the Junco in feeding a fellow flyer. Be the Bluebird in seeking peace.
“If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” Romans 12:18
I am taking a break from “Ocean View” this week, as I used my time in preparing and enjoying our daughter’s visit for her alma mater’s homecoming. Boston Bully, the subject of my next “Ocean View” will have to wait. Being focused lately on the beach blogs has had me chomping at the bits to mention the amazing autumn colors. I join the ranks of those who’ve been seen with jaw dropped and cell phone pointed into nature. Many of us doubted the drought would allow much color, but I have been pleasantly surprised, and I’ve heard several of you say the same. I myself have been afflicted with leaf envy; the most exquisite red trees are not in my yard.
I am probably prejudiced, but I think our home town is one of the prettiest in the fall. As we shuffled through leaves to watch the homecoming parade from the end of Ninth Street, I reminisced walking that very same street decades ago. Tuesday’s rain had settled the dust and Saturday morning’s cool breeze stirred a familiar aroma in the maple leaves; one which took me back to the third grade when our neighbor delivered her daughters and me to the corner of Poplar and Ninth. We walked the leaf-covered sidewalk from there, to what was then called the Austin Building until our new elementary school building was completed. Perhaps many of those very same trees had shed the leaves I now watched my great nephews playing in after the parade.
Ninth and MainCommon SumacHomecoming 2022
I await October all year; which is odd in a way…so many losses to our family and our friends’ families have occurred in these autumn months. Yet, as I was saying to a dear friend recently, it is as if God presented us the great beauty of autumn to comfort in our losses, ease the discomforts of losing summer, and soften the forces of seasons He knew we would necessarily weather in this life. I cannot describe in one post all the beauty I see in October, and now, tomorrow it bids us farewell for another year. I am thankful for the few roses that have hung on to decorate our life, but soon they too will be gone. The yellow and burgundy chrysanthemums have shown like neon lights, and now begin to show their age. The weekend rain is helping trees and shrubs shed these colorful leaves, leaving them bare and resting, for a new year. It is a fitting time for homecomings; reminding me of how farewells eventually bring around welcome hello’s. Life teaches us to say “ta-ta”; and as well, to anticipate with joy, eventual homecomings. This month has just evaporated (probably the fault of the extreme drought) and all too soon winter will be upon us, but take heart…we will be that much nearer the regeneration of Spring. Then, again we will be jaw dropping and photo snapping. The comfort is that in a world of so much change, some things never do.
” If these United States can be called a body, then Kentucky can be called its heart.” – Author: Jesse Stuart
“Then God saw everything that He had made,and indeed it wasvery good.” Genesis 1:31a
I admire how an author can bring to life the feel and the sights and sounds of a place, as a painter does on canvas. I was introduced to the writing of Jesse Stuart in the eighth grade by Ms. Ann Woods. She also taught me to never again say “Oh it’s just homemade”, but to say instead, “thank you, it was handmade just for me”. For these things, I love her still. Every year as the hickory nuts fall I remember the school grounds with the enormous trees and a wise teacher. And I do get the feeling all this nature was handmade just for me. Kentuckians are proud of their people, and their crafts and their land I think, like I am sure most are of any state they call home. But I am partial to what is familiar and comfortable to me. Like autumn in Kentucky.
On several days this month, I stood like a kid watching the circus leave town, and almost waved goodbye to the warmth of the scarlet colors and the November air. I believe I actually did blow a kiss toward the sky. Perhaps knowing Autumn is a fast moving train is one of it’s attractions. I anticipate her arrival with such gladness I hardly think about her departure leaving us cold in the wake.
Another of my favorite authors is Rick Bragg, though I believe he never mentions our state. Rick Bragg can almost make Alabama and Louisiana sound desirable, the way a new recipe in Southern Living can make plain old food more enticing. However, nothing he has said makes me want to move down there, not that we’ve been invited. I do like living on the edge – the edge between South and North – neither one, but the best of both. Do not misunderstand, I truly love Rick Bragg’s stories like I love my roses. It’s just the adjectives of Alabama are more like the thorns on the roses; but the rest of his stories, the people, are the vivid colors and fragrances of our rose beds. I do believe Mrs. Bragg raised a mighty fine writer who makes even hot muggy red clay of the South alive, rearing camaraderie and family like no other.
Nothing, however, about red clay, red tide football, nor red bulgy-eyed crawdads tempt me to abandon the sweet bluegrass of Kentucky. As I do not understand football, and being a basketball girl myself, I’m still holding out for a true blue and white rebound. I do love a good basketball game as much as I hate politics. So do not try to debate me out of my comfort zone. Anyway, ‘my old Minnesota home’ or ‘my old Alabama home” just doesn’t sound right, does it?
As far as northward is concerned, I have been up through Illinois and I saw their rich black soil, so rich the flowers bloom neon colors. Their crop yields require grain bins on each end of the field and large wagons in the middle to dump the overfill. But I wouldn’t trade our warm brown Kentucky earth for losing my ears to the wind I felt coming off the lake in Chicago one March.
I do envy any state’s close proximity to fresh seafood. You may actually have me on that one. I think though, I’ll just wait for a good shipment of shrimp, back here in the shade of our maple trees. Few things in my humble opinion, rival a drive along the Bluegrass Parkway, or skimming over the water of Kentucky Lake.
I consider myself southern, if I had to pick one over the other. But to me, the best locale descriptor is “I’m a Kentuckian” where we usually get to see a January morning poured out like marshmallow cream as far as the eye can see, and watch March flowers pop up thirty days later as we loft a kite in our short sleeves. Then, when a hoodie of heat and humidity slides over me, I hear someone from the deep south tell me how much worse it gets down there, and I catch my breath in the breeze that’s never more than a few days away. Spring and summer showers induce a radiance of fall color popping against a frosty October morning canvas. Never in Kentucky do the days drone into weeks because nothing is as changeable as Kentucky weather. Hardly ever a dull moment, and as they say, variety is the spice of life.
This time of year, (and what I really started out to say) I am starstruck by the deciduous display of gemstone colors. I’m sure pine trees are nice, when Alabama can get a wind singing through them, and pine needles do make great mulch (which still probably isn’t enough to get a lot out of red clay) but just give me the red, purple, gold and orange of maples and dogwoods, sourwood and sumac, poplars, sweetgums and hickories. While we do not claim to own the only beautiful trees in America, with nearly half our acreage in hardwood, it is a jaw-dropping, totally in-love experience to live a Kentucky autumn!
Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Okay, that’s it! As much as I love nature, I’m afraid I may be losing my patience. Now they are IN the SHOWER! There was a time when I could ignore the little green nuisance. I stayed out of their way; their stink stayed out of mine. However, stink bugs have now taken first place on my list of ‘most unwanted’. Almost as numerous this year as the infamous tassel flies (hover flies), they are making me crazy! The odor is awful, and never have we seen so many at once! Over, under and throughout everything, these green, gray and brown pests are poised on doorknobs and thresholds, waiting to rush inside. One morning as I was about to raise the umbrella on the patio table, there were dozens of the crusted creatures clinging outside and inside the umbrella. As a scene from a scary movie, their effect broke the promise of a pleasant morning. Thus began my urge to rant.
In all the years past, I could avoid the raw stench if I just left them alone; not so now. Simply watering my outdoor plants stirs a stink. As I walk into my she-shed I start dodging the little devils, where they fly from their trenches in the windows. Just raising and lowering the windows is perilous – phew! The final straw? The vexatious visitors are eating the last of our tomatoes. If you love tomatoes like we do, you know how precious those last gems in autumn are! As I was looking for an unblemished tomato, a member of their colony flew right into my glasses; didn’t even phase it!
You may be a step ahead of me, and already know their real name and purpose if there is one. I really do not care what name they go by; I call them pestilence, pernicious, and nearing pandemic proportions. Okay, I couldn’t help myself from googling a bit about the little armored aggravation. Discussing this with my son, he pointed out there seem to be more varieties this year. Turns out, it’s true; the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) has only been seen in North America since 1998 and has been making its way westward since. Accidentally introduced from Asia, their population has exploded in the eastern United States. More serious than the pungent odor and unsightly gathering in the windows, is the crop damage caused by stink bugs. We queried possible explanations for the greener edge around our crops, but as it turns out this is indicative of stink bug damage. For now they are satisfied to eat into the outer edges of a field only, but as the population grows, who knows! Something about their piercing the seed pod prevents proper maturing and drying of the plant, referred to as the ‘stay green syndrome’. I’m indeed sick of them, and evidently our wasps and birds, too, have found them too noxious to develop a taste for the unusual urchins.
Stink bugs do have a natural enemy; a tiny samurai wasp, also introduced from Asia, known to parasitize the BMSB eggs. Yay nature! Yay wasp! Nature does make a way. I was thinking what an unusual name for a wasp less than a tenth of an inch in size. But evidently, bigger isn’t always better, and this is our only warrior against the enemy for now. So I am squishing, thumping and vacuuming every stink bug I can and holding my breath as I do. Wouldn’t we love to see a. natural enemy for the coronavirus! For that I am not holding my breath!
As for a stink bug purpose, I found none. Other than serving as a reminder of the pestilence sent upon Egypt one time in the form of frogs; indoors, outdoors, in bed and bath, frogs invaded the sanity of everyone and were intended to show God’s power and get the pharaoh’s attention. (Chapter eight of the book of Exodus) Well, this modern day malady has my attention! I am cheering for the Samurai, in hopes she will get rid of these stinkers and make life a little sweeter.
brown marmorated stink bug where they are hiding in the folds of my patio umbrella (note the white sections of the antennae)
It is finally here! Autumn – my autumn, so full of sensory stimulation that I can for the first time in a long while, just be. Just. Be. Sitting still and soaking it all in; talking aloud to the sky, trees, or the Creator of it all, or not talking at all. Psalm 46:10 allows me to, as the inspired word from God not only says be still, but to acknowledge Him in the stillness. Stop to meditate on God’s creative hand, His wisdom and goodness. This season pushes my buttons; to start projects, stare at nature, but most of all to write. So, unable to hold myself back here is a poem I wrote last year, as I try in vain to capture some of this amazing season’s music, and dance along with it.
The Fall Dance
From the liquid blue sky as clear as glass, to the star flower tucked beneath the autumn grass;
From the sweet song of morning birds, and their return before sundown, to the splash and laugh of the bluebirds’ bath, a very happy sound;
From the dusty fuzzy pods in fields of tan soybeans, to the new red berries of the Washington Hawthorn tree.
From the crimson Sumac along the fence row, to the purple wildflowers the butterflies own;
From the welcome relief of a cooling breeze as it brushes and flirts with the rustling leaves,
To the pumpkins piled high and chrysanthemums gold; this blessing called Autumn is a sight – a sound – a touch to behold!
Autumn takes her time waltzing into view, enjoying the stage, for her dances are few.
If satisfaction came as naturally to us as persistence does to nature, we’d never have a moment of discontent. Awaking to a nearly perfect Labor Day morning, I chose to observe the holiday with a little R&R and maybe something fun thrown in as well. My good husband was taking care of his breakfast and started mine too, so my goal already seemed obtainable. After our morning devotional outdoors, I was annoyed with myself for feeling a mild dissatisfaction growing. Maybe it was knowing a lot of folks had plans to make memorable use of the amazing weather and the last summer holiday. Feeling a tad “unplanned” I guess, and aware of Covid precautions, I could have become my own obstacle to a satisfying day. The only thing I had thought of to do on this warm clear day was kayaking, which requires first, making arrangements for getting to my kayak, and secondly, I would have to actually leave home. I didn’t feel that happening. I realized what I really wanted was to eat in my favorite restaurant (ten steps out the back door) and explore my own natural habitat for entertainment. As I write this in fact, the Goldfinches are putting on quite a show of song and dance.
The only hint at work I did, to assure we get a good nights sleep, was to ‘strip the bed’, as my mother used to say, to wash and hang the sheets out to dry. But for me, this is such a pleasurable thing, I’d feel a little guilty calling it work.
The main portion of the day has been spent in a four-acre plot left from a property split where we bought a small strip of land adjacent to our farm, which my husband has mowed and hired someone to clean out a densely grown property line. This left the unmown portion belonging to my sister and her husband where I thought I had spied a number of milkweed plants. Knowing the bushhog would soon invade, I began my hunt for the monarch and its host plant. To my delight, we discovered a butterfly haven! I learned to identify the milkweed plant and discovered several other beautiful plants as well. A tall wildflower with dark purple blooms, a lavender colored ageratum, also quite tall; and an airy pinkish bloom filling in the gaps between the purples, all grew around the milkweed, now in its seed pod stage. Some still had dried blooms drooping, but most were sporting their seed pods which in themselves are an eyeful of interesting detail!
Milkweed with seed pods
Probing into the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly and the dependence on its host plant I found an awesome story of persistence and patience. Eating and molting, webbing and waiting, metamorphosis in four stages, are all done in perfect timing. The result is an intricately decorated fluttering beauty who begins the process all over again until the early autumn generation makes its trek southward to Mexico where they are protected from cold until the journey back to its beloved milkweed where she lays her eggs of hope for another generation. Our son who is always up for outdoor exploration, helped me transplant a few of the milkweed plants to a location nearby that won’t be disturbed by spray nor mower next year. I want to give the returning ones next spring the satisfaction of finding their habitat much as they left it.
I was not disappointed with the butterfly population. True to the adage of the elusive butterfly, it was only after we sat still among them that we were visited with an explosion of color and activity. Bright orange, black and white Monarchs, Eastern Black Swallowtails and Silver Spotted Skippers were everywhere. Others as well which I didn’t take time to identify were flitting about enjoying the sunshine and nectar. The more we saw, the more beautiful they seemed to me.
We added to our day with takeout food brought to my patio (aka favorite restaurant); a short drive with our fur baby; and (shocking!) a trip to the garden by my husband who cut the okra for me and brought a nosegay of four different colored zinnias, dark purple, lavender, orange and red-orange. Only in nature do I like these vibrant colors together. Only in nature could I have found the satisfaction I was seeking this morning, as real contentment wrapped the evening in the sunset’s glow. We have been blessed with a world of sights and sounds to please the senses – right here in our backyards, our own natural habitat.
I hope your Labor Day was a delightful close of summer, safe and sound, and oh so satisfying!
Each year I promise myself and anyone concerned, not to make myself one with the outdoor world as Spring turns into Summer. Spring has a gravitational pull like few others, and only becomes stronger as summer dawns. I truly intend each year to divide my time wisely between outdoor activity and indoor obligations. Just as surely as the sun rises earlier and earlier, I become more and more negligent of my pledge. Actually, ‘derelict’ may be a more adequate description of my summer self. To make things worse this year, our backyard population of House Wrens is captivating.
Now, I’m fully aware of one’s reality being one’s perception, so if for some inexplicable reason you aren’t fascinated by all this nature activity or if you do not hear the call of the wild, perhaps you can relate to some other distraction keeping you from being all you think you should be. You will likely think I am loony (and you’d be partly correct) but it’s kind of that trash and treasure idea – it’s all in our perception. My reality, I’m not getting any work done and it’s nature’s fault!
Thinking the rainy days would be my redemption time to clean, or write, or even squeeze in some extra reading, was folly. I refuse, however, to accept all the blame. April showers brought us amazing May flowers. Obviously the birds and bees thought so too, for I have been like a kid at Christmas watching our feathered friends. I go from fascination to frustration as I watch and defend them. My most recent angst has been a Sparrow Hawk who seems to think our Purple Martins came from Brazil just for his or her benefit. Judging by the tenacity, I’d say it’s a she, with a family of her own to feed. That’s beside the point. Aren’t there enough rodents out and about to feed a host of hawks?! Seriously, I’m about a shotgun shell away from committing a crime! On Sunday morning we witnessed said hawk taking an adult Martin down, in our backyard, from her own apartment house. I cried. The dirty bird better be glad it was Sunday! But I digress; I was about to tell you about the wrens, wasn’t I.
Six feet from my sunroom window hangs what remains of a wind chime. It is fashioned like a retro coffeepot, with a birdhouse door and a tiny little awning over the perch. The wrens found it desirable so I cut off the chimes and let them have it. This year it became the chosen one; of the dummy nests created by Mr. Wren, Mrs. Wren chose this one for real. I’ve been sitting in the window, rain or shine, watching them finish, fend off and feed. They are adorable. Other than one seeming a bit smaller than the other, the male and female are identical. They, and another couple near my rose garden, have sung their little hearts out all spring and still sing about anything from “here’s another bug my dear” to “oh what a beautiful morning”! As I write, one of the coffeepot residents has landed on a shepherd’s hook, looks into my window and sings WITH bug in beak, as if to say, “be sure you mention how hard I work”! As one waits for the other to feed their babies, his little wings are in a constant flutter, allowing him to hover a moment for his turn to hand off the groceries. Then he is off on another cross-country mission (across the soybean field to the fence row) for another haul.
From early spring until now, we have enjoyed, besides the swallows and wrens, a daily visit from geese and an occasional Great Blue Heron to our pond, so I get to see them from the sunroom too. We have had gold, purple and house finches; Robins, Mockingbirds, Bob Whites, Red-winged Blackbirds, Bluejays, Cardinals, Hummingbirds and the prettiest little Chipping Sparrows. My favorite is the Eastern Bluebird who has rights to a box I check and protect the best I can. These are the backyard guests that keep me spellbound.
I hate the English house sparrow so much that I will make no further mention of its name. Starlings have been less of a pest this year, but still do some damage. And now the hawk. But isn’t that life? We each see and strive to meet our own needs. Why oh why can’t we all be the gentle melodious Bluebird who just takes care of his own, instead of the screaming predator who kills and maims members of its own class. I know, I know, it’s nature. Not even Mother Nature can please everyone every time. Still, given the pleasures versus the pain, I think she is quite a lovely lady, our Mother Nature!
As I close, a Goldfinch whistling “hey you, hey you”, has joined our wrens in the Crepe Myrtle that shades and protects the coffeepot house. They are completely at peace with each other and my heart swoons. It is nearly noon, and my floors are tracked with tennis shoe prints and dry grass clippings; the furniture is dusty and I have no meal planned. The lawn needs mowing today so there is a multitude of clover and dandelion blooms making happy bees out there. Blame it on the rain. Oh no! An EHS just attempted to enter the wren’s abode! Just as I ran to knock on the window to scare it off, a beautiful blaze of blue swooped down and did the job for me. After a few minutes of peering out her port hole, Mrs. Wren escapes to continue doing what she does, safe and sound. Bluebird, you are my hero!!
Thursdays used to be my productive days. I’m afraid I’ve done it again! Happy watching!
It seems everyone wants to bellyache these days about something. I don’t know if it’s the weather (because we complain about that too; too hot, too rainy, too windy, too still) or if they’ve been social distancing so long they’ve forgotten how to be nice. There seems to be a protest about everything now, from masks to monuments. One person wants more protection while another wants lawlessness. Folks are running down our leaders while the leaders themselves can’t even find enough common ground to hold up one another. From city councils to international relations, everyone wants to be heard but no one wants to hear. News is filled with snarling, hissing and snapping like a room full of sore tailed cats and junkyard dogs. Bullies are forging ahead while bystanders gasp and do nothing. Now, far be it from me to complain, but I’ve about had it; only not with any of the above.
I tolerate heat and humidity with a bandana, a Yeti full of ice water and a couple showers a day. Combatting weeds, grass and European House Sparrows requires no mask; but the behavior of some grocery patrons makes me glad my expressions are masked in that battle. I handle the news with the off button. I turn a deaf ear to the political propaganda because their behavior speaks louder than words anyway. I tolerate the protesting as long as it’s peaceful because, well, it is one of our freedoms, and after battling my own back yard, I have no energy left to argue anyway.I am not married to any monument nor flag; just my husband and my Lord and it’s a full time job explaining one of them to the other. In the face of Covid, I’ve turned green lights on the front of our Kentucky home and made a few batches of masks and tried to send some encouraging words to shut-ins. So I try to be a positive person, so help me I do! But today my patience has reached its limit. Corn tassel flies. I feel like I’m swearing when I say their name. Temperatures of “feels like 101” did not drive me in. Whether rain or sunshine, there are always blessings within and reasons to thank God. Wasps, no problem; there’s a spray that shoots higher than our second story window. Ants, put down the Terro or call the exterminator. But there is no relief – NONE – from these pestering tassel flies! It has been suggested that a fan will drive them away. I took a standing fan onto the porch, turned it on high and the longer it ran the more tassel flies I had coming in for relief from the heat. That incessant tickling as they hover over my skin is unbearable. The military should capture millions of these for torture tactics, but I don’t guess that’s a thing now. Come to think of it, maybe Nancy and Donald should come sit on my front porch and fight these little pests and then they’d be glad to go back to solving government issues, contending only with one another.
Google says these minuscule monsters are helpful as they eat the excess pollen from corn stalks and aid in aphid control. I protest. I believe we could find another use for all that pollen. Leave the aphids for those adorable ladybugs who do not hover over me until I surrender the porch to them. No doubt the corn tassel flies will stay until it is horsefly season. Then I’ll really have reason to complain!! Y’all be calm and summer on.
Trisha's Coffee Break 