winter silhouettes

the weather is now cold and dry.

we cover our soft cores with layers of

silk, thermal, and wool.

we don jackets, hats, and scarves

before venturing outdoors.

and we all look pretty much like the

sta-puft marshmallow man.

how unlike the trees, who've shed

their cloaks and veils of green

to stand naked throughout the harsh winter season.

their silhouettes vary, like personalities.

the elm stands slim and tall, often alone. the trunk, a graceful vase

from which limbs emerge and arch downward gracefully in a dancer's pose.

the oak is dark, sturdy, and stout. many short limbs,

heavily muscled from holding up the leaden winter sky.

pale and perhaps too fragile to stand alone, the white birch finds strength in numbers.

all this variety in the landscape makes winter a bit easier to bear.

i never tire of these pictures that the trees paint for me.

happy new year

...if i had words to make a day for you,

i'd send you a morning golden and new.

i would make this day last for all time,

and give you a night steeped in moonshine...

---from the movie "babe"

holiday tradition

on friday, molly, emilie and i will be making our 3rd annual holiday trip to chicago. we stay the weekend, shop, and do one special thing.

last year we saw the king tut exhibit at the field museum. we also saw wacker drive about 75 times as i kept missing the turn for our parking ramp and we kept going in a big circle down in the loop. i was getting panicky because i thought we'd miss the shuttle bus and not be able to get into the museum at our assigned tour time and thereby forfeit our tickets. it didn't happen. we saw it all and it was breathtaking.

this year we're going to high tea at the drake hotel on sunday afternoon.

i am not allowed to be the driver this time.............

sad homecoming

i took this photo last nite so i could introduce you all to my 2 new parakeets, pearl and grace.

i got them about a month ago. they were my prescription to fight seasonal affective disorder this winter. you know, s-a-d. the feeling of wanting to dig a deep hole in the nearest snowbank and crawling on in wearing old flannel jammies and staying in there until winter is over. and of course you would be sleeping the entire time. or eating.

my nurse practitioner said to try bringing the outdoor things i love so much into the house for the winter to keep me happy. so i got my birds to bring nature into the house.

and i have loved having them--parakeets are very social and busy and love to do acrobatics. they are kind of messy and fling seed around a bit but i don't mind.

so i was very bummed when i came home from work today and found grace dead in the bottom of their cage. i don't know what happened. can parakeets have heart attacks or strokes?? she was chirping up a storm yesterday. weird. now i am worried that pearl will die, too.

if that happens i guess i'll get out my shovel to start on my snow cave.

oxymoron of the day: "holiday peace"

for so many people i know, the holidays don't seem to be the visions of sugar plums experience that the commercials on tv would lead us to believe.

a friend at church said his life is in turmoil, and the holidays are just adding to it.

another is dealing with a serious illness in the family. there will be a funeral in the next 2 weeks.

another hates wrapping gifts, holiday baking, and the social obligations that the season entails.

i don't know what to say to them, except that it will be over soon. another holiday season will have passed. including new year's eve, that poke a stick in the eye of all the lonely people in the world holiday.

i stopped getting flustered about the holidays a few years ago. it wasn't a conscious decision. it just kind of evolved. i became less perfection oriented. i learned that a few loose dust bunnies in the house over the holidays wouldn't lessen my family's enjoyment or scare away santa.

but i will confess this: i take the 26th off every year. to do nothing other than read the book i get from santa. i don't go to the day-after sales to buy what i didn't get the day before. that mania can go on without me. i'm on holiday.....

opened these pix tonite from auntie ml.


this i would caption: "hmmm....busy day, busy day...what's next....let me think a minute."

this one i would caption: "rising gas prices mean nothing to those of us who drive the flintstone hybrid."

sweet nothings

these little wonders are cinnamon swirls.

the dough is flaky and rich, a buttery pie crust-type of dough made with a pastry blender.

the swirl is cinnamon-sugar.

i've had this recipe since 1970.

the recipe card is yellow, stained, and tattered.

my handwriting was much more legible than it is now.

i love these cookies because they remind me of the little snippets of leftover pie dough that mom would dust with cinnamon-sugar, bake, and let us kids eat as a little treat.

sweet memory.

season's peace............

"these people need a grandchild." brodie dieck, 12/14/2007

would you trust this elf to make your toys??? think he's employed in china??

heck no, it's just duncan brodie, being forced to stoop to new ever-lower lows in my quest for something to put in our christmas cards other than a newsletter.

i'm not fond of newsletters.

they're usually full of information you already know.

except for terry and terri kiley's newsletter.

it always makes me either laugh, or cry, or both.

i am so tickled when their card comes--i know it has that special treat inside, a treat made with my favorite ingredients-- beautiful words and ideas.

long time no blog

i just noticed it's been a month since i posted anything. why?? well, our pc is on the backporch, and since we're empty-nesting it, dennis decided not to heat the porch this winter.

arrrgh!! it's been too damn cold to sit out there ever since! the weather here has been colder than normal, and we have a half a foot of snow on the ground.

needless to say, my brain cells and my inspiration freeze up easily when i can see my breath as i write so i haven't been blogging a word on the pc.

so why now? ta-da! i bought a laptop and we are wireless in the warmth of the living room, looking at the christmas tree, smelling the nice low key spruce scented candle i bought, and generally just lovin' it! i can couch-potato -blog-in-my-flannel-jammies anytime i want to! and i will be so come back soon and give me inspiration with your comments.

stay warm..............cocoa for everyone, jeeves...................

my advent bird

at the end of november i put up a little fake christmas tree and a snowman on the front porch near the front door. the tree has little white fairy lights and is on a timer so it lights up at dusk and stays on till midnite.

about a day after i put it out, i went out at night to replace some lights that had gone out. as i opened the door to step out onto the porch, a little bird was startled out of the tree and flew over to the ash tree on the tree lawn. i was startled too! i figured it had come to roost in my little tree for the comfort of the warmth given off by the lights. the same thing happened later that evening when i let the dog out. after he was back in i played spy, looking out through the glass of the door into the dark. sure enough, after a few minutes the little bird came back and resettled himself near the top of the tree.

he has been there every nite without fail. we are no longer using the front door after dark for any reason whatsoever!! i want my advent bird to stay warm while he keeps his vigil.....

clarification

i just reread that last posting. need to clarify. i was wearing pants, etc., not just a sweatshirt!
i love language, don't you?

the last rose

yesterday i gardened all afternoon in shirt sleeves. don't ever remember doing that on the 11th of november. planted bulbs and baby iris, had an all-around great afternoon outside. tonite i went for a walk under a skyful of stars wearing only a sweatshirt. only in wisconsin.

a message from your public health nurse

Love Story I will seek and find you . I shall take you to bed and have my way with you I will make you ache, shake & sweat until you moan & groan. I will make you beg for mercy, beg for me to stop. I will exhaust you to the point that you will be relieved when I'm finished with you. And, when I am finished, you will be weak for days. All my love, The Flu Now, get your mind out of the gutter and go get your flu shot!

we've all been there

WET PANTS

Come with me to a third grade classroom..... There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It's never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they'll never speak to him again as long as he lives.

The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays this prayer, "Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat."

He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered.

As the teacher is walking toward him, a classmate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy's lap.

The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, "Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!"

Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else - Susie.

She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. You've done enough, you klutz!"

Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Susie whispers back, "I wet my pants once too."

May God help us see the opportunities that are always around us to do good..

Remember.....Just going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.


thank you, dear emilie for sending this to me...it brought back lots of early grade school memories!!

fall back

did you remember??

wasn't it great to have that "bonus" hour this morning for sleep, lounging, coffee, the paper, whatever?

i couldn't download a maxine cartoon for you today--technical trouble, but in it she says: "don't forget to turn your clocks back tonite. i'm turning mine back to when i was 20."

if you could turn your clock back to when you were 20, would you??

maybe that's too heavy a question for a sunny sunday morning because it inherently implies that if you could do it, you might also choose do some things differently or choose a different path.

it would be like having an "undo" button for the decisions made that might not have been the wisest.
now there's a thought----that would blow that "easy button" marketing concept right out of the water!!

i definitely would un-do some of the stupid decisions i made.
i would've gotten more serious about college sooner than i did, and would undo any hurts i caused other people.

most importantly though, i'd have chosen not to go with the afro perm.
that'd be one less thing for my kids to tease me about now.

serendipity

note: i started this post on sunday a.m., then couldn't add the photo because my computer kept kicking me off the internet! arghh!

it's going to be a beautiful sunday; highs about 70 and sun---not too shabby for the 21st of october, a date more notable for being the birthday of dennis dieck. 53 today!

it will be a bulb planting day for me and leaf mowing day for him. funny how birthdays lose their day-long glow after age 40. they are just another day, but with cake!

to get back on point, we had a wonderful ( as always ) visit with our dear friends the pizzos this weekend. the time magazine on their coffee table featured an article on the effects of birth order in families. it was an ok article, nothing awesome or surprising. it didn't make me thunk myself on the head and say " so that's why i ended up this way! mom should've had me first!"

then this a.m. i checked my emails as i was way behind in deleting junk.

i opened one titled "how to tell if you are mom's favorite" and saw this photo--could there be a message about birth order here???

the gardener welcomes the hunter

i've been preoccupied with other things lately so i haven't kept up with my blog. i tried several times to sit down and type but the words just wouldn't flow from the broca's area of my frontal cortex :) --- aka writer's block, brain fart (sustained one, for sure) lack of inspiration, whatever.

i resurrected an essay i wrote about 12 years ago after standing in the driveway of my home on a crisp october evening and watching the sky over me. it'll have to do for now...

The Gardener Welcomes the Hunter

Night's curtains are slowly drawn against the chill of the October day.

I stand in the driveway, rake in hand, eyes lifted to the Southern heavens.

And there, his arm outstretched, is the Hunter, Orion.

I know then, with certainty, that fall has truly come.

For in October Orion is visible, powerfully poised above the roofline of my neighbor's house.

He has come to quietly stalk the winter moons across my sky.

I will follow his silent progress over time, his diamond belt veiled by the frost of my breath.

He will at times wear a camouflage of thick snow-flakes or a cloak of heavy clouds.

Unnoticed by many below him, he will hunt the moons of winter.

From his starting point high above the glow from the kitchen windows, he will move with stealth.

By December he will have taken up a position over the peak of the garage, weapon ready.

Throughout endless January he will continue on the trail of his quarry, forever silent and patient.

In February he will track above the spires of the pines that form a green winter carpet under his feet.

In March he will seemingly walk the tightrope of wire stretched between the utility poles lining my alley.

His moon hunt will continue, regardless of weather, a function of time and tugging planets.

And in time, April will meet him, carrying Spring in her soft, warm arms.

It is then that Orion will sink from my sight, hidden behind the cityscape silhouette.

But come October I will stand once more, rake in hand and smell of leaf smoke in my hair.

And Orion will return, once again, to resume his silent pursuit of the harvest moon and all those to follow.

And my wish for him, as I hang up my rake, will be for a successful hunt.

"there WERE fairies at the bottom of our garden..."

bad, bad news....wearing black.....in mourning....which is why i haven't blogged in a while.
i refer you readers back to my post of aug. 20, a photo of a little plaque on my garden fence, attesting to the fact that there are fairies living in my garden.
well, i am sad to report to you that there is one less. i refer you now to the photo at the right---------------------------------->
what you see here is a fairy corpse, discovered by yours truly while doing fall gardenkeeping duties--deadheading, seed-gathering, trimming and generally putting the garden to bed for winter.
this loss is so hard to bear. i just hope brodie was not to blame for this little sprite's demise.....

fare thee well

goodbye for now to these busy little beauties; the monarch is now in central america somewhere and the bee...well, to his hive, i guess, to hibeenate. bad joke. sorry.

i really miss these winged critters in the yard and garden. but luckily we have lots of winged finches, chickadees, cardinals, etc., who will hang around en masse as long as we continue to feed them. the little ones especially like shelled sunflower meats and battle for position at the feeders with a vengeance when they're filled with meats--they must know it's instant energy with no wasted calories used for the work of dehusking the seed. we have so many birds at our new house; even the occasional urban hawk will hang around the many feeders in our yard in the depths of january, just waiting to swoop down on a couple ounces of defenseless chickadee.
we are headed to door county this weekend for our annual anniversary get away---b and b, wineries, apples, sour cherry pancakes (i hope), and walking the shore. it's 30 years on the 5th!!

fall is coming to my river

fall started here on sunday. well, i guess it did for all of us--DUH, ev. anyhow, fall is my favorite season, right behind spring and summer; that makes it my 3rd favorite, doesn't it?
sheesh!! what is wrong with my brain tissue right now?? i better quit while i am ahead. here is the great poet john keats and his thoughts on fall:

SEASON OF MISTS AND MELLOW FRUITFULNESS,

CLOSE BOSOM-FRIEND OF THE MATURING SUN.

is jimmy buffet an episcopalian???

before he blew out his flipflops on a poptop, could jimmy have been a cool episcopalian wearing these??

just look at 'em--i could walk red arrow beach and evangelize without ever having to open my mouth!!! an introvert's dream..... :)

taking a different road. see you "up there"

happy monday, everyone. i am writing today to let you know that i am no longer just another lapsed catholic. being a member of the catholic church has left me empty and uninspired for many years. when i was still actively "going to church" i would spend the entire time daydreaming about everything under the son--whoops, was that just a freudian slip typo??--under the SUN is what i meant. i would leave as empty as when i arrived. i felt closer to the higher power gardening than i did at church.
since last december i have been sporadically attending st. paul's episcopal church here in marinette.
i had done some web research on all different religions, what they do and don't believe, who they welcome into their midst, etc. the episcopal church seemed to be the one to check out, so i've been doing just that. it's been such a good experience. i'm not going to go all jesus-y on you. suffice it to say that when i go to church now, i'm there. and it feels right. this week i am going to go in and officially sign up.
i've had a talk with fr. bill at st. paul's about feeling hypocritical as a catholic--how i disagree with so many of their teachings that i can't be one anymore, but feel that there might be a special door in hell marked "evie" if i leave.
and he said, "well, you know, the episcopal church is a little like the catholic church---it has all of the pageantry, but none of the guilt."
SOLD. a priest with a great sense of humor. count me in!!

ps--the episcopal shield above is the logo (not very reverant, but that's what it is) for the episcopal church in the usa. i know the colors, etc. have meaning but i don't know what they are yet. it's symbolic of the links between the anglican church, the episcopal usa, etc.

i'll keep you posted on my progress being saved. (no, they don't preach that....)

"why can't i find a woman like that?"*

i was telling my daughter emilie this little anecdote today and she insisted i blog it. i always do whatever my kids tell me so here goes:

i love reading bumper stickers. almost as much as i like reading the vanity plates on people's cars.

i was behind a car at a stop lite and the rear bumper was covered with "rick springfield summer tour 2005" and "i luv rick springfield" stickers. i thought the guy had died a long time ago from lack of talent but apparently not--so i checked out his website and he's very much alive and is australian to boot. didn't know that either.

but the best part of this little story is in the vanity plate that graced the back of that car. wanna know what it was? ok.........................hold..........................wait for it.........................i'm not kidding, it was...................

"JESISGRL"

isn't that the best???? i smiled nonstop for several blocks.

this posting is dedicated to SARAH JANE CHRISTNAGEL CONWAY, who used to love rick springfield, if i remember correctly!!!

*i tried to look up the lyrics for jessi's girl on AZ Lyrics Universe, but it had no information on rick springfield.

funny guy

i love this guy-demetri martin---watch this 3 minute clip and see what you think.http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/index.jhtml?ml_video=80335

"what are you thinking about, avo?"

i am an introvert. always have been. when i was little i remember hiding sometimes when company came over. (that doesn't bode well for visitors when i am an old, eccentric widow.)

my parents used to ask me what i was thinking about because i was so quiet sometimes. they'd say, "well, avo, you must be thinking big thoughts." once dad even said i should write them down. (maybe he was worried that i was some kind of nut. he was probably being an amateur shrink) but here i am, 50 years later, taking his advice. it's never too late to start, is it?
rest in god's arms, mom and dad. yesterday was mom's 95th birthday. ok, back on track...



i am not ashamed of being an introvert. i wish more people were introverts--the world would be a more peaceful place. i get the feeling that a lot of people think being extroverted is a more "normal" way to be. when my husband refers to my introversion it comes across as a defect of some sort. but that's a subject for a marriage counselor, not a blogspot. ;0)



by now you are thinking about what my personality has to do with the photo of a piece of toast.



i am sharing it as an example of the kinds of 'big stuff" i think about.



at 0630 this morning i was making my daily whole wheat toast and homemade raspberry jam for me and brodie. ( he gets little pieces of crust.)



i was staring at the toaster and started thinking this:

a piece of bread goes into the machine, undergoes a chemical reaction involving heat, and comes out with a new name: a piece of toast.

weird, i thought. is there any other kind of food item that you cook without changing it's shape or mixing with other ingredients and presto! it's got a whole new name?

is there?? i've been thinking and thinking and can't come up with a single one.

can you??

let me know.

or if i have totally scared you off by giving you this peek inside my mind--well, it was nice knowing you.

and, you're probably an extrovert.... :o)

ps--do you see a face in this piece of toast? is it jesus? jk. it's a jack'olantern and he has a huge chiclet tooth on the right.

speaking of cats

my scabby tabby tale reminded me of this--the latest research diagram published re the brain workings of kitties.....it's fascinating stuff and everyone who reads this blog and knows a cat will agree with me, right?

wake me up when the week is over....

what next, i ask you.

since i lost the grocery money on tuesday, here's what's happened to my week:

• i lost a filling in a really annoying place in my mouth. it's not only a prime spot for food entrapment, it's on the inside of a molar, so it's in contact with my tongue constantly. ( you know how when you lose a filling you tend to look for the spot now and then with your tongue? well, imagine being tempted to do it all the time because you are feeling the hole all the time--you don't even have to feel around for it! it should be an internationally approved form of torture for spies and the like)


• i left messages at all the places i stopped at in crivitz on tuesday and no one has called back saying they found my grocery $$$$$. dennis said "no one is going to call" and so far he is right. that makes me even more forlorn. i like to think people are good. but i have lost 5 pounds..... :0)


• yesterday during green bay's "rush hour" traffic, my molly rear-ended the car in front of her. a jaguar no less. both her air bags deployed, and she had her belt on, thank god (some of my motherly yammering paid off). she got a ride on the backboard to the emergency room and the poor kid got a ticket to boot. but the officer was kind, which meant a lot to her. so it was a flying ride to green bay followed by the usual leisurely wait for care as an emergency case. the word paradox comes to mind. is that the right word??maybe not. who cares. no broken bones, scrapes, and of course a lot of soreness to come in the days ahead. and no sleep for this mom last nite at all!


• the car fared worse. i took the day off today, drove back to green bay, found the towing place, thanks to patrick, took pictures of the damage, met the junkyard cat--scabby ears, mangy dandruffy fur, and, of course, extremely friendly to strangers. as i took my pictures of the car i noticed several dried up mouse (mice?) corpses littering the area. at least the cat has an activity. how boring to live at a junk yard. i had to put a bunch of molly's stuff in my car then went in to settle up with the towtruck man. come back out to my car, get ready to pull out, and there is a "meow" from the back seat. black scabby tabby had jumped through my window and was curled up taking a bath and kneading it's undeclawed claws into my leather! damn! and it was only nine-thirty am!!


• i got flipped off in the walmart parking lot, i know not why. just had to get prints made of the big damage, otherwise i avoid all walmarts until after 9pm.


• after i went to see molly--she stayed with her sis and pat last nite--they are wonderful--went to pdq to get my car washed and detailed. in the process of unloading all my crap from the car into a garbage bag, for their convenience, i locked my keys in the trunk. that's when i lost it in a big way because my trunk latch is in the center console, which was locked. i sat in the pdq lot for a while and cried. then i got in the car and was able to pry up the side of the console cover enough to get my pinkie in and push the trunk button. i did not get my car washed. i drove away and came home.

a good day goes missing--just briefly

hi. today started out as a great day. got to take a nice drive to crivitz to make babies and kindergardeners cry at our shot clinic there--not my ideal afternoon but i like to think i make a hard thing easier for kids and parents.

had a great taco salad for lunch at soup to nutz with the girls, felt good about the fact that the shell was baked, not deep-fried. looked around at some cute clothes at a little shop there, and went and did the shot thing.

a coworker who's retiring brought in sweet rolls so i volunteered to make a coffee run for the flavor of the day to the bakery/coffee shop.

well, i think i lost $120 in cash on the floor of the bakery. it was in my pants pocket for safe-keeping (yeah, right.). didn't realize at the time i left the bakery that it wasn't in my pocket.

dennis took me to the spoon for supper on the porch--it was lovely, 80 degrees, watched the water, and realized as we left the restaurant that the money was missing from my pocket! grocery money!!

on the way home i mentally rewound my day, replayed it, and in between mentally ripping myself a new one, realized that i probably left it on the counter or the floor of the bakery.

now granted, we shall not starve because it was the grocery money, but i was pee-o'd at myself in a big way for being menopausal-y and losing the money. dennis was strangely calm and accepting...

after prowling around the house for a while, unloading the dishwasher and throwing in a load of clothes, still bemoaning the loss of so much $$, i sat down at this pc and logged on to the care page that's been started for gina and bruce, my sister and brother in law who are kicking cancer butt.

bruce is freshly diagnosed with prostate cancer and had a bone scan today to look for metastases, as bones are the favored haunt of prostate ca cells when they start to roam the body. next therapy steps depended on the results of the scan.

HIS BONE SCAN IS NEGATIVE FOR CANCER CELLS!!!!

and now i am thinking....grocery money lost...a big deal??? am i going to blow away from lack of food??? how can i feel bad about such a thing when there is such good news from madison today?? and just like that, by reading the short posting about the bone scan results, my little dilemma slips perfectly into its' place in "the big picture". IT'S INVISIBLE.

adding up my attitude

i was vegetating in the hot spray of the shower this am--yes, i was feeling sorry for myself because i had to go to work and it's monday to boot! double-trouble.

then i got to thinking, as one does in the shower, (always deep thoughts) "i wonder how many mondays i've worked, just as a nurse, (not counting from age 16)?"

"let's see...28 years... 52 mondays a year...multiply....then divide by352 days in a year.....

OH, MY GOD, I'VE WORKED ABOUT 4 YEARS OF MONDAYS!!!"

that's a boatload of monday blahs! then i got to worrying-- have i spent 4 years of my life giving in to a negative attitude over what DAY it was??? how wasteful is that! thought a little further, and decided that my monday attitude usually only lasts till i get into work, greet the girls with an appropriate slam on mondays, and get down to business.

so it's really only a couple hours a day that i give in to negativity.

but i'm not going to try and figure out that grand total.

it's monday and i don't feel like it.....

LIVE HAPPY TODAY--IT COULD BE YOUR LAST MONDAY!

whoops

whoops, i see he's here twice, now.....gol dang........better twice than not at all....

"we are having technical difficulties. please stand by....."

having trouble getting harry chapin here. hang on. ev

Harry Chapin sings CIRCLE Live

Harry Chapin sings CIRCLE Live

Harry Chapin sings CIRCLE Live

listen closely to harry's lyrics; the title is 'all my life's a circle'. a favorite of mine.

musings on a shape

i got quite a few comments on the 'strength of the circle' post last week via email, phone and blog.

got me thinking about shapes, especially the circle, because of its' simplicity and inherent symbolism.

and i decided to publish my thoughts on my favorite circles.

so here we go!

....the sun, because i am solar-powered....the full moon where i can see my dad's smile....stonehenge....the campfire circle at the river....a warm cup of coffee in my hands....any tree trunk....the belly button on a baby....a peony bud, ants included, because without them, it would never open....roundabouts, especially when i am in a hurry....birds nests--the robin's is the best....the circle of friends at breakfast....a dinner plate, when it's got colorful food on it....soccer balls--it's the only sport i like to watch....cherry tomatoes, grown by me....pearls--they are so pure-looking....celtic spirals, especially the triskele....a honeycrisp apple cut in half....my wedding rings....and my priceless family circle.....what are your favorites???

ninth month, eleventh day

then and now. peace and love to all--- evie--- 09/11/2007

pictured rocks national lakeshore--munising, mi

early saturday morning we were sitting around with coffees and deciding on what to do with the beautiful day. we discussed all the household projects that we could do and then promptly saddled up the truck and the dog and ran away for the day-- north 2 hours to munising, michigan on lake superior. we took a 2 hour cruise along the pictured rocks national lakeshore. it was breathtaking! millions of years of deposition, erosion from wind and wave, and the oozing of minerals to the surface of the cliffs, creating beautiful colors and bands of striping on the stone. there were arches and caves, and on the top, nature holding on for dear life in the form of tenacious pines, birch, and poplar.
it was a fantastic trip, and lake superior is absolutely awesome--the water is a beautiful green in the shallows and navy blue where it plummets to it's maximum depth of 1300+ feet! the largest freshwater lake in the world; and the cleanest. if it was drained to a level of 5 feet, the water would cover the continental united states. it is truly majestic and powerful; in winter the waves can reach 30 feet high.
i recommend this humbling experience of a trip to anyone!

"let them eat fish"

fridays are not only great because they are casual fridays, but because they are fish frydays.

it's fish fry nite!!! yeah! go out to our favorite place, have a miller and a plateful of deep fried perch, potato salad, baked beans, and a slab of rye bread!

only in wisconsin could there exist such a high class tradition!

truth be told, my husband makes a better home fish fry than anyone. he even makes the potato salad, and that's better than anyone else's too!

so enjoy your friday nite, and if someone complains to you about being hungry, say "let them eat fish!"

"but mom, i wanna wear my BLUE t-shirt!"

it's casual friday tomorrow.

i wanna wear this blue t-shirt.

but i can't.

you say tomato, i say did you spray it with anything

tonite i am going to a class on raising organic produce. i hope to learn some new things. i like raising my own stuff because i know exactly what has been put on it--or more importantly, what hasn't.

it's one of the little things in life that i can control.

the strength of the circle

the same sun comes up for all of us every day no matter where we are, and in sharing that commonality we are united daily as families and as friends.

it doesn't matter if we are separated by thousands of miles, we are still connected to each other by this predictable cycle of nature.

no matter what one of us may have to face in the day ahead, we can know that others who love us and share that light are present to help us make it through the day.

they are in the warmth of the sunshine on skin; they gather round in strong rays streaming through a window.

they overcome shadows and illuminate the darkest corners, taking away some of the doubt, and some of the fear.

and we are made stronger as the day goes on; we are being powered by the sweetest fuel.

that priceless fuel is the knowledge that we are dearly loved, and that we dwell in the neverending circles of the sun and of the love that is family.

move over, jacques cousteau

spent several gorgeous hours on the bay and oconto/ocono river today aboard the irishtoon. the captain, skipper mike, is seen here as he retrieved an evinrude 2 hp artifact from the treacherous 2 foot depths. the artifact was located through the use of sophisticated marine sensing devices from california.(linda's feet--"ow, i feel something metall-y feeling down there!")

try as they might, the garrity's could not convince me to bring the find home to be studied and reconstructed by my husband, who was not present on today's excursion. he was busy cleaning kidneys at the hospital...

oh, what a wonderful labor day it was....not a lick of laboring was done. just sun, water, vino, music, bruschetta with fresh tomatoes, ahhh.....

i was going to blog a maxine cartoon today, but i can't find it. anyway, the pontoon ride was fantastic-- makes me remember, once again, how lucky i am to be living in wisconsin, and to have old friends...

friday evening, on the porch

braless wednesdays

i couldn't agree more. and after tuesday, i,too, will be able to go braless for awhile! yeehah! the hidden benefit of having moles removed from strategic places! i will have to do some creative dressing for work, though, and no running in the halls if someone is coming in the opposite direction. wouldn't want to embarrass them...

casual fridays

casual fridays are a two-edged sword. it's nice to be able to wear jeans, but it isn't always nice to see some other people in theirs....i don't think the public always appreciates seeing the tramp stamps and whale-tails "casually" running around the office, either.

i didn't care much for maxine when she first appeared years ago.

but now that i am that much older i am REALLY starting to relate to her!!

have a wonderful holiday weekend. maxine will be back with a comment on labor day....be well.....evie

before the fall

it's going to top out at 85 degrees today but there are signs of fall's approach.
in the last 10 days or so i've seen starlings and blackbirds starting to flock up and line up on the wires in the country. the crickets are extremely loud! (did you know that you can tell the outdoor temp by adding up a cricket's chirps over 14 seconds and adding 37 to it?)
there is a distinctive feel in the evening air.
i have zucchini the size of torpedoes as i can't give any more away!
tomatoes are ready but i'm not! still have tons of salsa from last year. at least i didn't plant 20+ plants like i did in 2006--i like romas for salsa--they're the meatiest, fewer seeds and juice.

the brown-eyed susies are also in their glory right now. when the dominant colors in my gardens turn to the warm hues of yellows and golds i know fall is on the way. summer is never long enough for me.

do you look this good in your jean jacket??

some of us can just throw on any old thing and look smashing!!