The 7 Degrees of Bright

It has been raining almost every day, except for the days Ms. Nimblethreads visited. Even then I think it rained some, but she brought with her sunshine. Wasn't very warm though and that leaves me wondering if it will ever get warm here. Even rain is OK if it is a warm rain.

Despite the grayness a lot of flowering trees have blossomed out. Very pretty in a soft way against the grey-blue sky. The camelia is covered in cherry red blooms and they are falling off now so it looks like red flowers blooming on the ground in front of our house. Yesterday I saw two yellow things in the way back and thought they were scraps of paper that had blown in. I trudged back bundled against the wind and the soggy ground (the grass is too tall to mow in one pass) and found out they were daffodils!

All the grey has lead me to meditate on what I callThe 7 Degrees of Bright.Perhaps it should be especially in reference to Portland, although it may have no geographic boundaries. Bright sun hurts Portlanders' eyes after a winter of gray. It's just a fact. And it takes a bit to adjust.

My idea of brightness is this: with 7 being the brightness of God and 6 the brightness of sun reflecting off the ocean or snow; 5 is a bright, sunny day with few clouds in the sky. 4 is the artificial brightness of headlights from oncoming cars at just a certain angle or turning on the bathroom light in the middle of the night. 3, 2, and 1 are the subtle variations of a Portland day.

For example, today the brightness is at 3 degrees - certainly gray outside, but with a crisp whitish sky. 1 is the murky dark ecru of daylight in the rain with just enough light to let you know it's daytime. That leave 2. The other day I experienced 2 as I sat in a parking lot waiting for the rain to subside enough to run into Goodwill. The rain was gray, the clouds were several shades of gray with a bit of grayish white. And then there was a fine strip of blue that radiated with 2 degrees of brightness - BEATIFIC and exilerating even at a mere 2 degrees. Ah, God is good.

Spring

a wee christmas blog

just wanting to say amerry christmas to all. love, mr.beachy and friends

My Dear Gardener

Mr. Beachy informs me that a wee creature is growing out near the cabbage patch. He tells me it is definitely male, but so small that it may take 5 months or more to ripen. Oh, the joy that the Christmas snows will bring this year!

Farewell To Hammy

Little Hammy died last night and I am very sad.
She was the best hamster that we have ever had.
There was Mimi, and Snowy, and Poppi-Luigie, three.
But Hammy was the best ham that could ever be.

We liked to watch her. She made us glad.
She was hardly ever bad.
She only bit our fingers twice.
She learned real quick - that's not too nice.

Little Ham was lots of fun.
She loved the snow, the rain, the sun.
She loved her wheel and her boy.
She gave us all a lot of joy.

She'd play with Harper all the day.
Did you ever see a hamster "stay"?
That's one thing that they liked to play.
And, yes, she did. Right there she'd stay
And only sometimes run away;
For Hide and Seek she liked to roam,
But wasn't long, she'd come back home.

We'll miss the noise she made at night.
She'd run upon her wheel till light.
And when she'd wiggle in her sleep
Letting out a tiny peep.

We'll miss sharing our salad greens
and apples, pears, and kidney beans.
We'll even miss her smelly cage,
And marvel at her ripe old age.

We buried her in the garden deep
But know the ground will not her keep.
She's playing now in heaven above
With all the hamsters, in God's love.

Dear Mister Beachy

My dear friends and especially you, Mr. Beachy,

I promise to write soon. And, Soon, I'll write you. I really do promise. Cross my heart!

'Tis the Night before Christmas

It's still snowing here and I'm tired from a cold. Might be the bah-humbug-blues. Trying to decide if I should make another pot of coffee or just go curl up in bed. I dug my car out of the snow this afternoon. The ice packed on the cloth roof was hard to sweep off. I drove around the block hoping the last bits would blow off, but they're still there.

The plan is to attend the children's Christmas Mass at 5:30 then to pack up any gifts Santa may have left here and take them over to SIE's tree. Spend the night there. Wake up when SIE does!....but right now I'm so tired I think Santa should wait a week or two before arriving.
But be of good cheer...Here's one of my favorite poems:

On How To Be a Manger

Be empty
Be sturdy
Be soft inside
Be still
Be ready

poem by Barbara Steffanus Germiat
MERRY CHRISTMAS to all from the Beachys and me!

O Antiphons Start Today

Still snowed in. But I think I'll try to venture out today. What's the use of having four-wheel drive and super tires if I don't at least try. Blue and I walked around the block this AM checking on a neighbor. Blue was off leash slip sliding along. No one else was out. She LOVED it - run, run, then slide. I walked gingerly in my new hiking boots, which are way cool but feel too tight! I hope they aren't really tight - they didn't feel this way when I bought them. And I had heavier socks on when I bought them, too.

The little Anna's Humingbirds have been at the feeder constantly. I love it! Yesterday when I woke up the feeder had frozen. When I pulled back the kitchen curtains this little hummer zoomed up to the window at me as if he had been knocking on it and clammoring, "More! We want more!" Now I have a routine down so that one feeder thaws inside while the other freezes outside. Soesn't it seem like someone would have invented a hummingbirdfeeder warmer? Like, you know the hand warmers that you can crack and put in your gloves - seems like that would work.

One reason I want to go out today is to find a Jesse Tree. I was planning on getting a fake Xmas tree, but haven't found one I like....then I thought about a live tree. This morning, when I realized the O Antiphon prayers start today, I got excited about making a Jesse tree. If I can find a branch I can start it today and have each ornament hung on it's proper day. I'll have to make them, but I have often thought about making a set of them that would be more permanent. I've made a lot of quicky paper ones. This will be fun.

The Beachys are Back!

Yay! Mr. Beachy, Peaches, and Soon are back from their l-o-n-g trip to China. They arrived last night all grumpy and tired out, but very happy to be home. They visited every relative in the Beachy extended family. Peaches said she didn't get to hold Soon for more than a few minutes the entire trip. Everyone thought she was the perfect baby. How could they not? Mr. Beachy is glad to be back in time to cook Thanksgiving dinner. He tells me everyone cooked for them while they were gone and they never ate so much food in all their lives. But they've been en route for three days and are happy I filled their fridge with their favorite American foods.

Early this morning Mr. Beachy was outside inspecting the yard and scolding, scolding, scolding me in his old familiar way about things I missed caring for in the garden. The weather has been cold and rainy, but that is no excuse. If Soon hadn't started fussing he would have given me an earfull! Peaches was all cheerful this morning, laughing that Soon couldn't let her take a shower without such a fuss. "Want to be with mama all the time! So many people in China; now all alone in big house. New colors, new sounds. Good while gone, now naughty. Baby Soon remember old house and be happy soon."

It's really great to have them back all safe and sound. I confess I was a little worried that they might decide to stay in China. Mr. Beachy knew I'd been thinking that might happen. He scoffed at me and muttered, "No, no. Chinese people all good with gardens. I go where needed most."

Everything's Coming Up Roses

Picked my first boquet of roses from my "own" yard today. It's too wet to mow the lawn and the roses were drooping. Oops! The photo is sideways. I think the water will spill all over this blog! Sorry I don't know the rose's names....one is a yellow climber, one is an old fashioned pink, and one is a cherry red. I'm going to name them "Sunny", "Aunt Harriet", and "Spot". They all need some attention. They seem to have been neglected. I can't wait to get organized enough to read up and see what they need.

And today is the openning of Portland's Rose Fesitval. Portland is the "Rose City" in case you didn't know. There are a bunch of neighborhood rose gardens, besides the huge official Rose Test Garden. Even the man-hole covers and other metal caps along the sidewalks have a rose embossed on them. The number one Rose for the Festival this year is one called "Dream Come True". It was hybridized by an "ameteur" individual, which hasn't happened in ages and only the third rose bred by an ameteur to win the AARS (All-American Rose Selection). And to top it off, "Dream Come True" was bred by Dr. Pottinger from Delhi (not Delhi, India ... the Delhi, Ohio next to Cincinnati, Ohio). Delhi was my first home away from home where I went to college. All this I learned when Lady M was here. She knows everything! Blue and I went over to the East Rose Garden in Ladd's Addition, where "Dream Come True" grows. There are lots of roses in bloom, but not this one. I guess it was the last to be planted so might be the last to bloom. Anyway, when it blooms, I'll try to put its photo on here.

What else have I been up to? Finding things that are blue! BLUE like green minus yellow equals BLUE. Right now it's my life quest. I love having a mission. This particular mission came from an idea Nimblethreads and The Conquistador had. So far I have two boxes full of little blue things for them! And that's not counting several blue things SIE decided he really needed for himself....like a blue Teradactyl and a big blue tow truck (named Lofty for those of you in the know) . I've hit every thrift shop I can find, and some of them more than once. It's fun to have a focus when you want to take a break and wander through a thrift shop.

Besides buying blue, I finally found a soft chair for the living room...and....it ... is ... white! I love it. But you know how long a white chair would stay white for me? I have animals! And visits from short people who might need to climb up with smudgy shoes on or whipe their noses on the chair arms. But I got it anyway. It is so comfy to sit in and it has rockers so it's like a padded rocking chair. It definitely will get a cover pronto.

The only other thing to report is a l o n g walk Blue and I took last Sunday. There's an "urban wilderness" area near here called Oaks Bottoms. We really needed a dose of the country, but with gas prices so high I didn't want to drive up to the Farm. I thought we'd just take a quick walk and started off along the bike trail. There was a path that cut off from the bike trail and into the woods, so we thought we'd take a peak. It seemed from the map that the path would circle back to the bike trail quickly. So into the quiet woods we went, crossing over a couple little streams and admiring the well-kept wooden bridges. There was a sign that said, "This trail has been maintained by such and such junior high school". Then a split in the path - we turned right. Turning left would have taken us on that quick route back to the bike path. But we didn't know that until we walked for miles and hours. We walked so far that all my joint lubrication dried up and my joints started clicking. Yuck, I hate that! Blue was pulling at the leash for most of the walk, which really was a good thing because I would have given up and sat down and been there still. The water was really high and our path looked like we were deep in the bayous. We could hear geese and saw a lot of ducks nesting in the reeds. I kept hearing a splash that sounded like someone in a canoe. I was really glad we don't have alligators - it turned out to be Nutria sliding into the water out of our way. Blue really wanted to catch one. At one point I stopped just to look out over the water and saw two very tiny hummingbirds cavorting around, tumbling through the air, and landing gracefully on water grasses. The path finally opened to a meadow, then under a train tressle, then at least a mile along the "Springwater Corridor Bike Trail", past two eagle nests, then back to the origional bike path and up a hill to the parking lot. Whew! Good exersize!

One funny thing about this path is that nearby is an amusement park. Through the wooded wetlands you would hear the screams from the roller coaster. What a strange combination of senses.

In Transition

That little house in Portland is becoming a bit more than just a dream. I drove over there Saturday to just walk around it. The blinds were all pulled so I couldn't see inside, but I puttered around the back yard thinking of things to plant and how to build a tree house. I was surprised to see a lot of birds - guess I've been thinking I was leaving all the birds behind. And then I saw an eagle overhead. Really. With a bright white head cruising high up in the sky, sweeping the surrounds with his eagle eyes. Must have been St. Joseph sending a good house warming wish.

Blue and I returned to the farm last night. We'll be back in Portland tonight and tomorrow, then back here for a few days. The neighbor dogs have made friends with the man who is renting the green houses. It's the first time I've seen Zeus with a ball in his mouth and a smile on his face. Brownie and Molly were hanging around, too. So Blue had a lot of peeing to do to make sure they all know who's home this really is!

Blue and I went on a long walk this morning, going a little deeper into the woods than usual. Every walk is getting to be a bit nostalgic. Sort of like it might be our last chance to get down there. I've had a song in my head for days that's like background music for this transition time - Joan Baez's "Deportee". The words don't really fit, but the tune and refrain do. The song keeps playing as we walk:

...Goodbye to my Juan,
Farewell, Rosalita.
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria...

We'll have to have a Grand Farewell Party when the time comes to really leave here.

We saw a pileated woodpecker on our walk. My first! And a crazy, huge, red-headed fellow he was. We heard him first. His call was so raucus that I thought some bird had had his nest raided. Then I spotted him and was able to follow him. Maybe he was following us! Anyway, he really makes a lot of noise when he's in flight. Then when he's on a tree he's still rapping away, but a little lower like he's humming to the bugs inside the tree. The sounds of his pecking are loud enough to be the masterful strokes of a crazed woodsman He followed us from the end of our trail right on up to one of the large trees near the shed.

While we were on our walk we ran into Mr. Beachy and his daughter. They looked miserable. Apparently the weather completely destroyed their house under the blackberries and they's been wandering around homeless, wet, and distressed for days. I felt so bad for them, but their sad little faces perked right up when they saw us. Noble Blue right away attacked an old tree stump and dug them quite an entrance. I'm not sure if it was a cedar tree, but the wood inside is a warm and invting red color. The Beachy's were ever so pleased and bowed to both of us over and over in that peculiar way they have. This stump will work for a temporary shelter until we're all moved back to the city. They didn't want to leave before we did. Isn't that sweet

Two Squirrel Day

I've had many Three Dog Nights, but a Two Squirrel Day is a record. One thing I've thought was strange about this farm is how few little critters you see. I've seen a couple dead moles, a couple dead tiny shrews, and one dead bat. Of the living small creatures I've only seen a couple squirrels and maybe five rabbits over the last year. Until today. We saw one squirrel run from the bird feeder when we started our walk today; then another deep down in the woods flying from tree to tree. It might have been a flying squirrel; that's how it jumped between the branches - with all four limbs out. They are nocturnal and I've never seen one. But the reason I saw this one was because the top of a tree snapped and I looked up to see this little guy jumping from it to other nearby tree top branches. Maybe the tip that snapped off held his nest?

Whenever I see these little things I think they are special gifts from the Lord to me. I'm very spoiled. I sometimes go out looking, like a little child whose expecting her father to bring her home a present. It's like a special game....what will the Lord show me today hiding in this field.

The window birdfeeder has been comandeered by a flock of pine siskin for the past three days. They are chickadee size birds that look like slim sparrows with a few yellow wing feathers. My first sight of them made me think they were female goldfinches. But they have pointier beaks. Anyway only 6 of them can fit on the feeder at once. They wait on the closest brush branches until one looses its balance on the feeder, then fight over who's next. They eat a lot. The resident chickadees and juncos hardly get a chance. H-m-m? Maybe the little siskins have been around all along and the seed my kids gave me for Christmas is something they really love?

The red bellied sapsucker I saw a while back....saw another one today deep in the woods working at the owl's tree stump. I really don't know if that's the right name for it. It seems like a red-headed woodpecker to me, but the books say this isn't their range. I just know that the head is pure red and the long beak is white. The wings are black speckled with white. I'm not sure what color its belly is though. Will have to pay attention next time I run into him.

"The Time Has Come," the Walrus Said.......

Yesterday was my parent's wedding anniversary. They have been dead now for many years, but I still think of this as a special day to remember them. I'm not sure what a "war bride" is, but their wedding would sort of fit I think. They met during WWII when my dad was stationed in Bossier City, Louisiana, my mom's home town. He was transferred to Officer Candidate School in Florida. When he was almost finished there, my mom traveled by herself with all the documents she'd need for their wedding. (She was a Catholic convert so she had to have proof of receiving the sacrements) She wore a brown and tan suit and a "diamond" necklace that I still have. Not real diamonds, but sparkly and pretty. Right away my dad was sent to California, so my mom was one of only a few women on the train with the troops. Except for a couple years during the Korean War, my mom lived away from her first family whom she really missed.

When we were little, my mom used to read us poems. Maybe they didn't have as many picture books way back then. I don't think I read poems to my kids, but it is something I remember about my mom. This is one of them. It's been stuck in my head for several days:

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes - and ships - and sealing-wax -
Of cabages - and kings -
And why the sea is boiling hot -
And whether pigs have wings."

I was dusting my bookshelves today (something one should do more often than once a year) and opened an old poetry book to this Lewis Carroll poem. Imagine my horror finding out that the poem is about a man and a walrus that trick some young oysters into going for a walk - then eating them!!! No wonder shildren of the '60s grew up wanting change. But I did laughed at the pig's having wings. That is probably the first I ever heard of winged pigs, Cincinnati's mascot

One poem I remember my mom reciting was Rudyard Kipling's IfI think she'd quote from it when we wanted something or disliked something. But she really liked that poem. I've kept a little ditty based on that poem which I cut out of St. B's church bulletin a long time ago.

If you can start the day without caffeine or pep pills,
If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you time,
If you can overlook when people take things out on you when, through no fault of yours, something goes wrong,
If you take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can face the world without lies and deceit,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can do all these things,
Then you are probably the family dog!

Home Again

As if home was actually a space or a single place or a feeling...... Anyway, the kaliedoscope girl is back from India and Blue and I are back on the farm. I can never come back here without a period of nesting. First, we go for a brief walk to check out the greenhouses and fields, fill the birdfeeders, and make sure the bonsai are happy. Then Blue won't let me alone until we go for a walk down in the woods. She will follow me around with her nose to my left thigh until I give up and point toward the driveway. Then she's off! We have a couple familiar routes we take and this time we walked down the road and around the pasture. There's a path cut through the neighbor's woods that we follow to a fork which goes either down along a ridge or winds back up to the other side of the neighbor's house. We used to explore along the fence lines and down to the pond and the creek, but when I have other things to do, we just walk to the end of the lower fork and then back. We've cut a small openning in the fence to our field so that instead of following the road, we can cut through and up the hill to our shed. Sometimes we detour over behind the blackberry hedge to where the deer sleep. The early morning air was filled with a really thick mist. It reminded me of the Mount. Mount St. Joseph on the Ohio where I went to college. The road between the motherhouse and the classroom buildings would be tumbling with mist in the mornings. That mist would remind me of English moors like in Jane Eire or Wuthering Heights. This mist is just farm mist that you know will burn off soon, so it feels more welcoming. And it's luscious to inhale.
While we were away the spiders at the farm must have been decorating for Halloween! It's so impressive that I left their webs alone for now.
The final phase of my nesting in is to go to Ridgefield Refuge that is about 2 miles from here if you take the back roads. We left here around noon which is usually when all the wildlife is hidden away napping or something. It was gray and spitting sprinkles, and I guess the birds like that - their were so many different kinds of birds out! The Refuge is a wetlands area with a 4.2 mile road winding through it. Sometimes it doesn't look too wet except for one boggy area, one long lake, and two riverlets. But today it looked soaked. Lots of standing water. Lots of flocks migrating, crisscrossing everywhich way across the sky. There are always blue heron and still a few white egrets. Several kinds of hawks. Wish I could tell them apart. There must have been over a hundred swans on the lake. I'm not sure whether they are trumpeter or tundra swans. They're the ones with black beaks and black legs. And several muskrats or river otters - one a mom with two pups.
A cup of coffee from Giovanie's Pizza, and then my nesting is complete. Now I'm officially back!

In Which Miss Ingu Surveys the Land

Tonight we went for a walk. The evening sky was glowing with a rose sunset and lots of bitty clouds against a pure blue background. Blue ran on ahead and I could hear deer scattering behind the blackberry hedges. We know where they sleep and try not to disturb them, but they must have bedded down early. Earlier in the day the autumn colors dappled with sunshine made all the animals invisible. We only saw the orange cat from the farm next door. The sound of falling leaves made us think there were animals on everyside, but except for the deer we didn't know for sure. It was a good day to celebrate friendships and to remember that we are connected even though we may be miles away.