Walking through the Forest

Wyatt

2009-12-18T21:17:48Z

Now that Wyatt is out of, (mostly), his puppy stage he has become a big help around the house. He particularly enjoys barking and lunging at the vacuum cleaner to keep it in line. When it's time to take out the trash he's so excited to help! He'll gladly try to carry the biggest bag. The kitchen floor has never been cleaner now that winter is here. Wyatt brings in fresh snow many times a day to dampen it so the mud comes right up.
I don't know what I'd do without him.

Oooh! Deep thoughts

2009-12-16T00:54:40Z

"People don't alter history anymore than birds alter the sky, they just make brief patterns in it." Terry Prachett in Mort

This resonates with me. I'm here and then I'm gone. It's not a morbid thing at all, just an observation on the transitory nature of ...well, everything.

solstice

2009-12-15T15:04:02Z

More than anything this time of year I find myself eagerly awaiting the shortest day of the year; not because I like short days, no. Because soon the days will get have more day in them. more day for the sun to shine. More day to play outside. More day to warm the ground, the air, and me. My sense of hope grows with the waxing sun.

Blah blah blah

2009-12-12T20:37:03Z

My brain does exactly what it's paid to do; talks. It talks all the time. In my sleep, while I'm meditating, as I drive, always. It never shuts up. I do not remember it ever shutting up; you know, that erk! blank stare moment. Nope, not even then. The fact that it works is a good one no doubt. Maybe it works too well?
Commenting, contriving, calculating, assessing, assorting. Always yakking away.
Good thing I don't do lots of coffee.

Food, and stuff

2009-12-04T17:00:30Z

Tonight we're having supper at an Ethiopian restaurant with friends. Last week it Thai. ON the thirteenth we meet with friends for Indian cuisine. It's good to live near a city; just not too close.
I filled the bird feeder yesterday after leaving it empty all summer. I assumed it would be a while before any of the feathereheads discovered it. This morning the Chicadees and Blue Jay proved me wrong.
Hunting season continues here with sound of shotguns all around. Thankfully I hear less and less. Although we do not allow hunting here it is still a tad scary to go out on the trails with Wyatt so I talk to him a lot as we go so we don't make the evening news.

Great site!

2009-12-03T17:18:11Z

People. You have got to check this- http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/ -out.
Hmm. I wonder if there's a people of 7/11 site.

First snow

2009-12-01T12:52:27Z

Three inches of lake affect white this morning. Wyatt ran and skidded like a madman! Of course he generally does anyway. Kind of fun to go out before dawn and be able to see more than a foot ahead of oneself.
Thanksgiving dinner was rich and way too filling. Also? Pookie made a chocolate cream pie for me. Awesome!
Some times I'm content, sometimes I'm not. Moods are like the weather; everchanging.

Nature

2009-11-18T12:48:54Z

Mid 20s outside with bright sunshine. Crisp November morning. Wyatt sniffed everything as if it were the first scent ever. When I pointed out that it was the same deer he's been smelling all year he just laughed at me. Everything is brand new for him every day. He's a good dog.

On our walk out back yesterday I was reminded that the colors don't go away with the falling leaves, they become more subtle. One needs to look with a broader view to appreciate the browns in the grasses or the vibrant red in a stand of osiers. This arc of the wheel invites calm and reflection.

Stuff

2009-11-12T12:12:58Z

I went to my first Tai-Chi class last night at the Rochester Tai-Chi center. It's quite a workout for such a slow moving discipline. I signed up for the ten week course. GOOD Boy!

All summer I've been hearing a Pileated woodpecker in our woods. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/lifehistory They are reclusive and difficult to see. As Wyatt and I approached the woods the other day we could hear him knocking away; imagine someone hitting a barrel with a baseball bat. I saw him flitter away through the treetops so I decided to sit and wait for his curiosity to get the better of his reticence. After about five minutes he flew back by where I was sitting and went back to work on his excavation. Cool to see him up close.

This morning is 26 degrees with a ground fog so everything is covered with a sparkling coating of frost. Quite beautiful. If this were a photo blog I'd show you. It isn't so you had best get up and get out there.

alderfather @ 2009-11-10T07:44:00

2009-11-10T13:03:03Z

One of my jobs is driving a shuttle van for a local car dealer one day a week. People leaving their cars for repair are generally not happy folks. Worry over the cost or even the eventual need to replace the vehicle drag them down a bit.
As a student of human nature I enjoy observing how they cope. Men seem to get angry. They want the damned thing fixed and someone to pay for it. Women seem to worry about it but generally have it sorted out by the time I pick them up. They have made plans and are ready move on.
I am not going anywhere in particular with this; just find the gender difference interesting.
Another job is performing therapeutic massage. People come to the spa sore or weary or just in need of a kind touch. I find it very gratifying to spend an hour with them and see how refreshed they are as they leave. The tips are nice too.
This weekend was lovely. Temperatures in the sixties under hazy skies. The wood cutting is finally done with the basement full and a couple of cords to spare on the wagon. The tractor and splitter are in the barn. I miss it already even though it's tedious, heavy work. The woods is my sanctuary where I lose myself in simple work that demands my concentration. Soon the autumn rains and winter snows will make it too messy to spend much time going down there. Still. I have my walks with Wyatt. He knows nothing of muddy or sunny. He just accepts it all and bounds through life.

Sing with me!

2009-11-03T12:47:44Z

Oh crappy day! Oh crappy day-ayyy. Last week walking in the woods was amazing as everything was suffused with a golden glow from the Maples splendor. Over the weekend the leaves all fell. Maybe two or three left. So now it's a different time of year. Time to start a fire in the morning along with making the coffee. Time to get the snow blower ready and winterize all the vehicles and farm and lawn machines. Maybe time to take a Tai-Chi class and get back to the gym. A nap is always nice.

up to dating things

2009-10-23T13:51:52Z

It was an eventful summer. Not necessarily in a good way. My car got wrecked four hours into my vacation to the Outer Banks. We continued on in a little Kia rental, leaving my Mustang in a junkyard in Pennsylvania. I loved that car. When I got home I found the Jeep that I had been searching for so that's okay. I do miss a zoomy coupe but I suppose I have to grow up some day.

The fungus raised Hell with the gardens, leaving us with few tomatoes. That was a major disappointment as I so look forward to them. Rather wet, cool, crappy season.

Wyatt will be two at Halloween. I will have to start calling him BIG boy now. He learned to come when called and to stay nearby when off leash this summer. I can't tell you what a relief that is. He's a wonderful little, (BIG), dog.

As the autumn deepens toward winter my mood slips downward. I called about a Tai Chi class in a neighboring town and will have to get back to the gym three days a week soon. I just really don't feel like making the effort. I do know it helps to maintain a better frame of mind. Now that most of the firewood is in I have few excuses.

My daughter seems content. My wife has a good class this year. My dog is cool. Life is okay.

Random thoughts

2009-07-14T16:32:09Z

There are times in ones life when it is so dark and painful that one wonders what the HELL the purpose of such cruelty might be. If one is aware. If one stops feeling sorry for oneself, there are moments of peace. There are times when one is awed by creation itself. I know about the soul crying for rescue. I know the profound love of the Creator.
Secret little moments can creep in. The soul whispers to the mind, "drama. It's all drama." That can make one feel sort of silly for a bit.
Anyway, this song, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGfnw4YscBA set all that off.
James. "Sometimes"

Summer

2009-06-23T11:56:45Z

Some nice things about summer!
*My fingers and toes are no longer frozen little fish sticks hanging from my limbs.
*With the return of the sun my skin no longer resembles the color of a beached dead carp.
*My electricity bill is down to nothing as there is actual daylight - all day.
*The neighborhood, which resembles "Life After People" for six months is alive with folks roaring around on their lawnmowers and ATVs.
*I can actually see the person I am speaking to as they are not swaddled in layers of fleece and wool.

Word to the wise

2009-06-10T16:38:10Z

If the dog is in the bathroom when you are drying off from a shower and you bend over to dry your foot, don't be surprised by where his nose goes. I'm just sayin.

Bunnies

2009-06-09T00:17:18Z

This morning the bunnies are gone. Momma must have gotten concerned about me around the nest. Why would the dumb ass build a nest in the yard anyway? I wonder how she moved them. Maybe one at a time in her mouth like Momma cat? Whatever. She sneaked them away in the middle of the night.

Bunnies

2009-06-08T11:45:50Z

Last week Wyatt spent a delightful afternoon watching a pair of rabbits that spent all afternoon hanging around the yard just 30 feet from his run. I thought it odd at the time that they were so unconcerned by the proximity. Yesterday I was walking the boy around the yard and I took him to the base of the tree where they had been to get a sniff of the wad of fur they left. As he poked his nose in something jumped! I quickly pulled him away and put him back on his run. Going back to check I found at least four or five brand new bunnies. They hopped and made a weird noise when I pulled the fur away to get a look. I scooted them back into the nest and re-covered them, then held my hand gently over them until they calmed. At dusk Momma came back to feed them and then wandered away again. Wyatt is very interested in that tree this morning. Also one of the does has been bringing her brand new fawn out from the woods to play and nurse in the field right behind the house.
Again also the Robin that nested on the log end under the porch roof has fledged one brood and started another.
And also more. The Bluebirds are busily feeding babies in their nesting box.
Spring is amazing!

Roads

2009-05-31T13:15:55Z

It occurred to me the other day that I live in an amazing time. My driveway is gravel. At the end of my driveway is a country road that really doesn't go anywhere in specific. If I drive out that road I can connect with other roads that will take me anywhere on this continent pretty much. I could motor my way to Alaska or New Brunswick, Maine to Florida, or all the way through South America.
While driving to Texas for a class a couple of years ago I had three days to ponder...stuff. At one point I felt I was in my loft recliner and the world was whizzing by for my review at 70 miles per hour. Awesome! At that point I decided to stop and walk around a bit as I might have been a tad road whacked.
As long as I can remember I've loved to wander. There are infinite new places to see. There is an amazing feeling of freedom and elation in driving through a town mid-morning on a workday knowing that everyone here is going about their daily crap and I'm bound to nothing. Also? It's so relieving to come home to my sweet little log cabin after a long adventure.

Raining!

2009-05-28T19:21:57Z

Pouring rain out there. It's coming straight down. We need it as we're two inches shy for the year.
So I've never said to myself "man, I sure could go for some celery sticks dipped in humus". I'm thinking more chips and dip or salsa and such. I'm wondering where specific food cravings come from. Comfort foods. For me it's meat and gravy with smashed potatoes and such. Others are all over a curry. Maybe what we're raised on does it. Maybe not as we'd all be craving mothers milk or Similac when life gets messy.
What do you crave and why do you think that food is it?

When?

2009-05-20T10:52:39Z

When will I post again? It's been a bit. There are times when I have nothing profound to say. I blame it on the meds.
Yesterday I got a lovely massage. I must have really needed it as it felt heavenly. That makes me wonder what people feel when I massage them. Awesome? Ouch? Stop that? No one says specifically but they do pay so that's alright.

Girlfriend

2009-05-06T22:10:24Z

Wyatt, not me. The folks across the street got a 6 month old German Shorthair from the pound. She's a cute little girl and very sweet. Wyatt adores her. They play together very nicely.
There was an evening Grossbeak at the feeder today. Rare around here. Fun to see.
Everything is blooming and growing. It's a new adventure every day. There are Jack-in the pulpits popping up in the woods. Lovely, mysterious plants. They don't seem to come up every year in the same place. Does anyone know their habits?

Good shot?

2009-04-30T11:25:06Z

When I was a boy I had a BB gun. Lots of boys did. One summer day My Grandma was in the back yard with me. I spotted a Cardinal on a tree limb about 150 feet away. "Watch this" I said as I took aim. Grandma was aghast and told me not to. I told her there was no way I could hit it from there. I shot. It fell dead. So began and ended my hunting career. I'm not sure which one of us felt worse; Grandma or me.

Musing on motivation

2009-04-22T12:35:23Z

I notice that I talk about the weather here...a lot. I've been wondering about that. I think it's so important to me because I love to be outdoors soaking up the wonderful energy and inclement days keep me inside and pouting. I consider it play to get out the tractor and splitter and work in the woods. I feel a sense of accomplishment after cutting trees that need to come down to keep the woods healthy. The lawn requires lots of mowing to look neat and cared for. These things come naturally to me. My property is how I express myself. When I am long gone I hope someone sees what I've worked to create and appreciates that I cared to work with nature as a steward of this farm.

Spring

2009-04-16T13:28:47Z

Have I ever mentioned the sweetness of a spring day? That day when the sun is shining, the breeze is light, and the birds are all busily toing and froing at the feeder. Warmth on your face melting the inner rigidity from a long winter just past. Didn't think I had. This is one of those mornings.

Mighty Hunter!

2009-04-10T22:40:14Z

Yesterday was sunny and cool and Wyatt was bored out of his skull so we went down to the woods to let him run off some of that puppy energy. There's a hay field on the back side of the woods and he soon disappeared over the edge there. I walked over in time to find him in mortal combat with a crazed woodchuck. The battle raged for five minutes until Wyatt nailed with a neck lock and shook him down. He strutted around for quite a while and showed me his trophy numerous times. On the way home he asked if he could get a tattoo like "KILLER" on his arm. I'd said we'd see.