I Love To Go A Gardening
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
Species and Breeds
This is a more serious post than usual. Sometimes it is helpful for me to write out my deep thoughts, especially if I am wrestling with something. A few months ago, a friend hurt me deeply at a time when I did not have the physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted–right after JJ’s cancer treatment ended. The situation with my friend has caused me a lot of heartbreak because we were friends for a long time and I love(d) her very much. In the process of coming to terms with this, a lot of emotions have been resurfacing. I have been pondering the ways in which people are different, how we treat those who are different from us, and many other things.
This will probably be a two-part post. I will start by discussing zoology.
Zoologists group animals according to species, breeds, etc. There is a difference between the species of dogs and cats. They are different species and have different characteristics and behaviors. Cats, for example, aren’t much good at taking long walks on a leash. Neither are they suitable for guarding homes against thieves. However, cats don’t usually ask to go outside to pee at 1 a.m., they are great mousers, and, BEST OF ALL, they purr. My dog is totally oblivious to mice. I don’t even know if he knows what they are. Some people label themselves cat or dog people, according to which animals they prefer. I enjoy both because I value their differences. I don’t expect my cats to behave like a dog or my dog to act like a cat.
Source: conchokennelclub.org
Within each species are different breeds. Our veterinarian has a poster of dog breeds in one of his exams rooms. We love looking at them every time we take a pet to the vet, reading aloud the characteristics of each breed. Some breeds are large, others are small. Some dogs are bred to be protective, others to herd animals, others to hunt, others to run, and others to cuddle on your lap. Some bark a lot; others (like Danny) hardly bark at all.
Within each breed, there are differences in temperament. Some dogs are naturally more playful or friendly. Others, not so much. Temperament is also developed by how the dog was raised. For example, an abused dog will behaved differently–either more timid or more aggressive, depending on its personality–than one who grew up in a loving home.
Knowing the species and breed and temperament of an animal helps us to understand its behavior and help a person choose the best type and breed of animal for themselves. I once had a co-worker who loved to run. She bought a whippet, a medium-sized dog who was born to run, so they could run together. It was a perfect match.
The reason why I have just spent all this time discussing animal species, breeds, and temperaments is because in recent months EJ and I have been pondering and discussing personality types and I see similarities between zoological classifications and personality types. This is a topic that is very interesting to me.
I think people can be divided into two “species”: Extrovert and Introvert. They are as different as….uhm….dogs and cats. They each have unique strengths and gifts…as well as weaknesses. Neither is inferior to the other. They are just different. I think it’s especially important for Extroverts to understand this because many tend to view Introverts as flawed and broken rather than uniquely different. Most Introverts could describe many occasions in which Extroverts told them they were too quiet, thought too much, needed to get out more, needed to learn how to have more fun, and so on. That’s like trying to drag a cat for a walk or expecting a cat to herd sheep or do tricks on command. That’s like expecting Danny to catch mice or purr. It’s not going to happen.
Within the species of Extrovert and Introvert, there are different “breeds” or types. While every Extrovert has common traits and every Introvert has common traits, there are differences among types of Extroverts and among types of Introverts. The Myers-Brigg Personality Test divides personalities into 16 different types. And, of course, individuals within each type–or “breed”–has different temperaments and have been shaped by different experiences.
My species is “Introvert” and my breed is an INFJ. INFJs are extremely complex people who think very deeply. We observe everything, we process information differently than others, we make connections that others cannot see, and we can see from many different perspectives. Because of this, we have deep cunning insight into people and situations. We often understand people better than they understand themselves. We can’t always articulate all our deep, complex thoughts–we might have “insight” into people but not be able to explain why. We care very deeply about people and genuinely want to help them–we have no hidden agendas or thirst for power. We tend to be extremely gentle, compassionate, and empathetic to the point where we feel others’ suffering. We are excellent listeners and tend to be nonjudgmental. Because we are so empathetic, conflict and negativity takes a huge toll on us both emotionally and physically–so don’t expect us to be quick to engage in battle. However, that does not mean that we are spineless wimps. While we are very patient and understanding, we also are very protective of those we love, and we will fiercely defend our loved ones against those who threaten them. We are also very private people, very much the introvert, and very independent. We value integrity. Because we are so empathetic, we tend to attract emotional abusers who feed off our empathy and compassion. These are just a few of our traits.
Understanding personality traits has helped me understand myself. (The desire to understand myself and others is an INFJ trait.) For one thing, it validates that I am not merely a broken extrovert who needs to speak more, think less, and be more social. I am ME and ME is a good thing to be. The fact that I love books, study, gardening, animals, walking, and even writing and that I am deep thinking, empathetic, understanding, and protective are all part of my INFJ personality. After learning of our types, EJ and I have discussed how often my insights about people are absolutely correct–to the point where I can often predict what a person will say or do under certain conditions with great accuracy, even though I cannot explain how I know. We pondered the times when we ignored my “gut feeling” and how often that led us into being hurt by unscrupulous people. We also have discussed how we can recognize the emotional abusers and prevent them from damaging us. This is vital.
I will stop here. I will write more later.
Really, Most Sincerely Dead
This morning, after I had drank (drunk?) one cup of coffee (or maybe two), I got dressed and then went to the grocery store in the next town over. On the way home, I stopped at the grain elevator at the end of our street to buy some cat and dog food. After I got the groceries unloaded and put away, I made a quick lunch for my guys and then brought in firewood. I knew that the weather was supposed to turn nasty so I wanted to get all my tasks done.
Poor Danny didn’t get his walk today because as EJ was leaving for work, I saw that the wind was blowing hard…like the wolf in the story of The Three Little Pigs. The wind huffed and it puffed and it blew the leaves off the trees in a golden shower. It also began to rain quite hard. I said, “Sorry, Danny, not today.” Later in the afternoon it began to snow. It actually snowed harder than I expected…but not enough to stick to the ground.
Tonight was Halloween. The weather was cold and damp and snowy and very windy.
I remember how much fun I had as a child dressing up in costumes and going trick-or-treating for candy. As an adult, I became aware of the darker side to the holiday. I think the meanings of holidays matter. It’s been “tricky” knowing how to deal with the holiday. If we lived in the country, I would have chosen to ignore it altogether, but we live in town and hundreds of children pass by our house. When JJ was little, I often chose to give out candy in order to reach out to the children in the neighborhood. Sometimes we have invited relatives over and had a movie night. In recent years, JJ and I have turn off all the lights and hidden from all the monsters and witches and princesses walking by our house as we snack on candy and chips in the dark. I bought a bag of candy–assorted Reeses and Hershey candy bars–this morning when I went to the store. I was appalled at how expensive a bag of candy was. If we were giving out candy, we could easily have spent hundreds of dollars. Yikes.
We have one family–friends of ours–who stops by each year and we give them a handful of our candy. We choose not to act all nasty and hostile if people celebrate holidays that we don’t. This year their little three-year-old panda ran around the house chasing our cats. Our cats are not used to three-year-old pandas so they ran helter skelter around the house and then they hid.
Yesterday evening the cats caught a mouse. I always wait until the mice are “not only merely dead, but really, most sincerely dead” before I sweep them up into a dustpan and throw them outside. I don’t want to risk a mouse climbing on me. JJ said he was sure the mouse was dead, but I couldn’t find it. Then the cats caught another mouse, which they played with until it was really most sincerely dead and then I threw it out. I was not sure if the cats had caught one mouse or two. This morning. I found the second mouse, however, and I threw it outside.
Our house was mostly dark tonight because we were hiding from the little monsters going from door to door begging for candy. On my way to the kitchen, I saw a candy wrapper on the floor. I reached down to pick it up. It was a DEAD MOUSE. EWWWWW! I yelled and then ran out into the kitchen and washed my hands with soap and then with sanitizer while JJ laughed at me. I swept the mouse into dustpan and threw it outside. Then I washed my hands again. I’m still traumatized by touching the third dead mouse.
I think the mice are moving into the house to get away from the nasty weather. Thank goodness we have cats.
The Musical Annie
This post is about the musical Annie. It’s not about Annie, the delightful Broadway musical, but about our cat named Annie who has the most musical meow that I have ever heard.
We adopted Annie from a yard sale years ago. A cat had had kittens in my friend’s garage. Since my friend couldn’t keep them because she is very allergic to cats, I suggested she give them away at her yard sale. “But,” I said, “hide them when EJ comes to your sale or he will bring one (or more) of the kittens home.” Of course, my friend did not hide the kittens in time and, as expected, EJ brought home Annie.
We thought Annie was a boy at first so we named her Anakin. JJ was really into Star Wars at the time so we were naming our cats after Star War characters. JJ’s cat Luke is named after Luke Skywalker, of course. We had gotten Luke from the “free to good home” cage at the veterinarian. There were actually two black kittens in that cage–brothers–and we didn’t know which to choose so we adopted them both. We named the other kitten Han. Luke bonded strongly with JJ and Han bonded strongly with EJ. EJ loved his Han and would often sing Tom Jones’ song “Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, I Love You” to him as he cradled him. Sadly, Han died of a blood clot when he was just a couple of years old.
When we realized that Anakin was actually a girl, we renamed her Annie. The name Annie really suits her because she has the most beautifully musical meow ever. No one except EJ, JJ, and I has ever heard her beautiful meow because she never sang when others were around. However, this morning I went outside and videotaped her. You are privileged to be the first person outside of my family who has ever heard Annie’s musical meow.
Cloudy, Windy Days
When Danny sees EJ preparing to leave for work, he perks up and starts watching me intently. If I put on my shoes then he gets excited because he knows it’s time for his walk. Usually I don’t start preparing for our walk until EJ is walking out the door, but yesterday I put on my shoes while EJ was just getting around to shutting down his laptop on so Danny was really excited. I told Danny, “Don’t look at me, I’m not the one delaying our walk…EJ is.” Danny immediately went over to EJ, and nudged his hand to hurry him along. I thought that was very smart.
Danny and I had a nice walk. It had rained earlier in the day but had cleared up by the time we went for our walk. The wind was pretty strong and blew a lot of the leaves from the trees. Later in the afternoon, I made a video of the wind making the leaves dance down the street. The wind has blown a lot of leaves into our yard so there is even more than there were before I mowed the other day. My cats Rikki-Tikki-Tabby and Tesla are also in the video. Annie didn’t show up until after I stopped videoing, but here is a picture I took the other day of her. One day I will get a video of her. She has the most musical meow EVER! Annie is half manx so she has a stubby little tail.
After Danny and I got back from our walk, I walked to the post office for our mail. There was a card from my friend. This time I opened it very carefully in case she had sent me more spider confetti. The card was very beautiful and there were no spiders in it. My friend had written my favorite fall poem inside the card and put in some beautiful leaf confetti. I was so very touched. My friend is very creative and caring.
After I got back from the post office, I studied Hebrew with my friend and then I made delicious homemade pizza.
Today the weather was much cooler than yesterday. The high temperature was in the 40s. I actually built a fire in the wood stove today, which I haven’t done for several weeks. I wore a coat and hat when I walked Danny. It was breezy and the clouds were very dramatic. I love cloudy, windy autumn days.
Autumn Prank
After EJ left for work today, I took Danny for his walk. The sky was mostly cloudy, but the weather was warm–almost 60 degrees! When I turned onto our street, I saw a large dog loose about halfway down the block so I turned around and went an additional block to avoid him. I didn’t want to risk us getting into a hostile dog situation. You never can predict how two strange dogs will react.
Although there are still leaves on some of our neighbors’ trees, most of the leaves are off the trees in our yard so, since it was a warm afternoon, I decided I’d mow the lawn one last time. Mostly I wanted to mow the leaves. Mowing is easier than raking and bagging. I had to walk to the gas station to get more gas because EJ had to use the mower gas for the car the other day because someone has been stealing the gas from our car. EJ has been only putting in a little gas in the car so thieves can’t get a lot and he’s been parking the car along our stone wall to make it more difficult for them, but our gas is still getting stolen. I hate thieves!!! Anyway, all my mower gas was gone so I had to walk down to the gas station to get more. I didn’t want to bring the gas can into the store with me while I paid for it and I didn’t want to leave it outside where someone could walk off with it, so JJ went with me and stood guard while I want in to pay for it.
When we got home, JJ told me that I had something in my hair–it was a leaf…no, it was a bug. I said, “Get it off! Get it off!” but he took his own sweet time, telling me that he was having trouble getting it out of my hair. He pulled me into the bathroom so I could see it in my hair, but I didn’t want to see it. Since JJ wasn’t quick enough, I grabbed my brush to brush it out of my hair. What fell out was one of the spider confetti that my friend had put in the card she sent me earlier this week. I gave JJ THE LOOK and said, “Seriously? Seriously, JJ?” He laughed. I told him, just wait, I’ll get my revenge sooner or later.
I went outside, filled the mower with the gas, and got to mowing the yard. The leaves were so thick that the mower was like a snow plow pushing a growing pile ahead of it. Plus, the mower kept getting stuck in mole holes. It was hard work and I thought that I’d never have the energy to mow the whole lawn. So I stop and raised the mower so it wasn’t so low to the ground. After that it went easier and I was able to mow the leaves into little bits. I mowed every part of the yard except where the birdfeeders are because there is not much grass there and the leaves will blanket the plants there. After I finished, I put the mower in the garage for the winter. I’m sure more leaves will fall and get blown into our yard, but it’s enough that I got these leaves mowed.
The initial effort with the mower fatigued me so much that when I finished mowing, I came inside and collapsed on the couch for a while. Then I did a few small chores and made popcorn. I am now snuggled on the couch writing and surfing the Internet while I snack on my popcorn.
Life is good.
But I will be plotting my spidery revenge on my dear, sweet son.
Color Me Autumn
I usually wait up for EJ to get home from work and we talk for a while before I go to bed. Last night he texted me that he had to work late and didn’t know when he would get home so I went to bed. I didn’t sleep well until I heard him arrive home at around 3 a.m. I could hear him talking to JJ as I drifted off to sleep.
I heard a ruckus outside this morning. I looked out my kitchen window and saw a Common Grackle sitting on the bird house while a male and female sparrow attacked him. They were all very agitated. I have seen sparrows taking grasses into the various birdhouses as if they are building nests. Since it’s not the season for them to raise young, I’m assuming that they are making their nests warm and comfy for winter.
I needed to go to the store to pick up a few items that I forgot to put on the list when EJ and JJ went shopping Sunday night. I waited until about 11 a.m. to leave to give the thick fog a chance to dissipate. I love to walk in the fog–it makes everything look mysterious and I always have the sensation that the fog might take me back in time. However, I hate to drive in fog. I always remember that my the husband of my sister’s best friend in high school died in a head-on collision in thick fog years ago. So I waited for the fog to clear this morning. EJ said there was freezing fog as he drove home from work last night….or, rather, early this morning. He offered to come with me–we love to shop together–but I knew he was exhausted so I told him to stay home.
The grocery store is in a nearby town. The sky was mostly blue but at the horizon I could see where the fog was lifting. I thought it looked like smoke from a forest fire. The trees were gorgeous and the leaves fell constantly in a rain of gold and red. It was very beautiful. If EJ had been with me, I would have taken pictures.
I drove along drinking in the beautiful colors. Autumn colors fill me with deep happiness. Years ago, our single’s group (where EJ and I met) were led by a husband and wife. The wife was a Color Me Beautiful beauty consultant and one day she analyzed all of us to determine what colors looked best on us. We had a lot of fun that day. The color palettes are categorized by seasons: Winter colors are bold “cool” colors and Autumn colors are bold warm colors–the browns, golds, reds, and olive greens seen in the autumn. Spring and Summer colors are pastel–I believe Spring is a warmer palette and Summer is a cooler palette, but can’t quite remember. My colors that look best on me are the autumn colors Surprise! Maybe that’s another reason why I love autumn so much.
If a person doesn’t have a beauty consultant, she can get an idea of the colors that look best on her (or him) by looking at the colors their clothes tend to be or the colors in their houses. A person will usually choose colors they are drawn to and those are the colors that often look best on them.
After EJ left for work, Danny and I went for our walk. The day was very gorgeous and I couldn’t resist taking more pictures. I loved the deep blue sky. The leaves are rapidly falling off the trees so it won’t be too many days before the trees are all bare.
Every night when EJ comes home from work, the pets run up to welcome him home. It’s really cute. Tonight I was finally able to get it on video. All the pets ran up to him, but a couple of the cats were just out of camera view. Most of our pets are black so they are a little difficult to see.
Confessions of an Ewok Killer
EJ and I had a quiet morning browsing Facebook. (JJ was up all night so he slept until afternoon). Often we share with each other interesting or cute things we find while surfing the Internet. EJ shared a picture of a cute little dog that he thought looked like an Ewok, the teddy bear creature from Star Wars. The dog looked much like this one:
Whenever I think of Ewoks, I am reminded of our favorite Playstation game that we all liked to play together when JJ was younger. It was a Star Wars game called Battlefront. We owned both Battlefront I and Battlefront II. In the games, we could travel to various Star Wars planets and participate in battles. Usually we played as the Rebels and fought against either the droids or the clones. One planet we fought at was Endor, the planet where the Ewoks lived. I often liked to hide among the trees and snipe at the enemy, and it totally irritated me when the Ewoks kept following me and shouting “Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi!” I’d say, “Ssssshhhh! You are giving away my position! Get away! Shoo!” but they kept at it. “Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi!” “Stupid teddy bears,” I’d growl. “They are giving me a headache!” So I’d shoot one. JJ would always shout, “Mom! You can’t shoot the Ewoks! They are on OUR side!” “Ha! Watch me!” I’d say as I shot another one. ” Ok, so they were cute…but those little beasties really irritated me with all their yelling. JJ started ordering me not to shoot the Ewoks. “Oops! That time was an accident, JJ! I swear it!” After awhile, he refused to let me go to that planet at all.
I just asked JJ if he remembered me shooting the Ewoks. He gave me “THE LOOK.” LOL. Honestly, I don’t think shooting Ewoks is much worse than what JJ did in another PS2 game in which he drove the wrong way down the NASCAR track and deliberately crashed into other drivers–specifically targeting Jeff Gordon for some reason we never understood. I admit, the NASCAR demolition derby was exciting and we all had fun. Ok, so we are a bit weird.
Danny and I went for our longer walk today. Although it was cool outside, it was almost, but not quite, too warm for a coat. I have a friend who has a dog who is incredibly photogenic. I think he should be a dog model or something. It’s very difficult to take good pictures of my Danny because he usually just appears as a black blob and his personality doesn’t shine through. However, today I was able to take a couple of cute pictures of him.
We suddenly have a lot of tiny little moths flying fluttering around in our house. We haven’t figured out where they are coming from. They are getting annoying. I feel like a cat chasing them down and swatting at them and I think EJ looks like a cat when he goes after them. We sort of look like Simon’s Cat in this video: Cat Chasing Fly.
Little Bear has been such a stinker ever since he escaped from the house a couple of months ago. Whenever we open the front door, he dashes for freedom. If we stop him then he waits until we open the door to come back inside and then he makes his break. I have lost count of all the times I have had to run out after him to bring him back inside. Sometimes I pause to slip on some shoes and sometimes I dash out in my socks which get all wet and dirty. I wonder if he thinks it’s a game? If Little Bear can’t get out, he stands by the door and meows plaintively. Until he started escaping, Little Bear hasn’t been outside since he was a tiny little black fluff who showed up at our door on a cold, snowy Hanukkah evening crying to be let in. We don’t want him to go outside at any time…and especially not this close to Halloween. It’s not safe for black cats.
Danny, the Introverted Dog
Sunday we were hoping to visit EJ’s family, but EJ has had some challenging days at work and he was so depleted that we stayed home instead so he could rest. We find that we are all very easily depleted these days. We have enough energy to accomplish normal tasks and chores but not much else. In some ways, I think this recovery period is almost more difficult than the actual cancer treatment because during treatment we simply did and endured what we had to and we had a lot of support. Now, during this recovery period, we are so easily tired and overwhelmed but there’s not a lot that anyone can do to help. I assume that one day we will feel more like ourselves. Sometimes I wonder if it takes everyone so long to recover or if it takes more time for introverts (who need quiet to recharge) than it does for extroverts? But then I think that each person is different and it will take as long as it takes. Meanwhile, life goes on, we do what we must while not pushing ourselves, and we enjoy small moments of joy.
EJ slept most of Sunday and JJ’s sleep patterns are out of whack again so they went grocery shopping Sunday evening. Even though I was tired, I considered forcing myself to go along but JJ wanted this “adventure” with his Dad so I stayed behind and enjoyed a quiet evening. When they returned, JJ was exhausted so EJ and I brought in the groceries and then I put them away.
Monday morning I went to the post office for the mail. Usually I walk to the post office but this time I drove because it was almost time for EJ to leave for work. I found a card from my friend in our post office box. She makes the most wonderfully creative cards ever and I always enjoy them! When I got home, I eagerly opened the envelope and pulled out the card. It was very autumnish with a pretty pumpkin on the front. I opened it up and a bunch of spiders LEAPED out at me and scattered all over the floor! Boo! My friend had filled the card with tiny black spider confetti. After the initial surprise–my friend is scared of spiders and so am I–I laughed and laughed. JJ said, “You know I’m going to scare you with these spiders in the future, right?” Yup. I carefully picked up every spider and put them back in the card. I might do a bit of scaring too, once JJ has forgotten about these spiders.
EJ hasn’t been able to walk with me and Danny this week, so we have gone alone. I’ve wanted to take longer walks so I figured out a route within our village limits that is at least twice as long as our previous walks, but without walking over the same territory too much.
The trees are continuing to blaze with colors. We’ve had some blustery days that have torn the leaves off the trees so while there are still beautiful leaves on the trees, some trees are becoming bare.
Today the temperature reached only up to the high 40s. It was dramatically cloudy and rather blustery. With the temps so cool, I was surprised to see a live bug crawling on the road. It was quite big–over an inch long. Maybe two inches. It was sort of an emerald color so I wondered it if was an Emerald Ash Borer. If so, it’s not a good insect. I considered stepping on it, but it was so big that I imagined the “squishing” of its body. I couldn’t quite stomach it, so I let it be.
A few weeks ago I saw this HUGE insect fly past me as Danny and I were walking. It was HUGE. By the time I remembered to look it up, I couldn’t really remember the details of what it looked like. I think it might have been some HUGE sort of dragonfly. Or else an alien insect that will attach itself to a person’s neck and suck the life out of him.
Over the summer, we all took on-line personality tests to see what our personality type is. EJ and I have found our results to be extremely accurate and we have had a lot of discussions about the topic. Last week while we were walking, I told EJ that I thought Danny was an Introvert too because he is so very quiet and gentle. We are always surprised when we hear him bark because he barks so seldom. If Danny doesn’t want to obey, he doesn’t growl or complain, he just stands stubbornly in place and grins. When we go for walks, Danny just sort of meanders along, wandering here and there, sniffing this and that. He loves to get “lovings” from people, especially children, and whines when he sees them and then stands quietly and happily while they shower him with attention. If he can’t get lovings, he doesn’t complain about it but allows himself to be pulled away. He’s just the best dog.
The biggest problem we have with him is that he’s such a “mooch.” Last week as EJ and I were walking him, he found a large piece of pizza alongside the road. Of course, he grabbed it. I don’t like him to eat food he finds along the road because, who knows, it could be poisoned or something. So I said, “No!” to Danny and we had a short tug-of-war over the pizza. It tore in two and Danny ate half of it while I flung the other half into the field. I totally forget about it, but Danny didn’t. Yesterday he looked like he was just meandering into the field as he always does, but he went straight over to the pizza piece and ate it before I could stop him. Silly dog.
Another problem with Danny is that he is so quiet and uncomplaining that sometimes I forget that he is outside. I try to give myself reminders–like, lately, I leave my shoes in the middle of the floor so that I will see them out-of-place and remember that my dog is outside instead of quietly sleeping under the table. Saturday I forgot to leave myself a reminder and I totally forgot Danny. EJ came home from work and said, “There is a sad dog crying at the gate.” In horror I rushed outside and there was poor Danny, all wet from the rain. I hadn’t even realized it was raining out. Danny does have a dog house he can go into, but apparently chose not to. I brought Danny in and toweled him dry-ish (it takes his fur forever to dry) and gave him lots of lovings and told him how sorry I was and what a terrible owner I was. Poor Danny. He should learn to complain a little bit more.
I told EJ that if I were artistic, I would create a comic strip about Danny, the Introverted Dog, filled with stories about the situations he gets himself into. Alas, I am not an artist.
Come Little Leaves
The weather this week has been warm and rainy and rather gloomy. I don’t mind, however. I think rainy gloomy days in the autumn are just as beautiful as blue skies. Today it was a bit windy and the wind tore the leaves off the tree so it looked as if it were raining leaves. I was going to take a picture or video of it, but I forgot.
The other day as I was walking in front of my house on the way to the post office, a squirrel suddenly ran across the sidewalk in front of me. That’s not unusual. We have lots of squirrels in our area. However, this one made me laugh because he had a large ear of corn in his mouth. I’m assuming he stole from a neighbor’s feeder. He ran up my neighbor’s tree. I had my camera with me and wanted to get a picture of him, but he scurried to the other side of the tree so I couldn’t see him.
I moved the large tray bird feeder from the pole under the pine tree to the pole right outside the window so I could see it better. I saw a squirrel sitting in the feeder eating the fruits and nuts. Maybe it was the same squirrel as the run who had carried the ear of corn? I’m not sure how he got into the feeder since it’s not close to anything that he could climb. I called JJ over and we watched the squirrel together.
I have been watching the sparrows entering the birdhouses. I haven’t seen them entering the houses since they finished raising their last brood of babies at the end summer. I wonder if they seek shelter in the houses during the winter? This will be the first winter that I’ve ever had birdhouses, so it will be interesting to find out.
This morning I looked out my kitchen window and saw a little chipmunk scampering along the garden path. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a chipmunk in my yard. I enjoy the variety of wildlife that enjoys my yard.
When I was 2-years-old, and later my younger sister when she was 3-years-old, an elderly neighbor began taking us to church. Since we were from a family of six children and we were the only two who went to church, it was easier for us to spend Saturday night with our neighbor and then go to church with her on Sunday morning. All through my childhood until she died during my senior year of high school, we spent Saturday night and all day Sunday with my neighbor. It was a very special time and she gave us some special memories. Every autumn my neighbor would recite a poem. When we got older. We recited it with her. After she died, I continued to recite it. I used to recite it as JJ was growing up. I still recite it every autumn when I see the leaves dancing in the wind:
Timmy and Gourds
I am having trouble writing this post today–not because I am at a loss for words, but because for the last couple days our cat Timmy has been very cuddly and has been insisting on sleeping on my lap. He’s also giving me lots of hugs and kisses. The cats’ desire for lovings seem to be cyclical. Sometimes they don’t want much and other times they can’t get enough. In our house cats rule, which means that right the laptop is balancing on the arm of the couch and I have to type awkwardly. It is an indication of my dedication to this blog that I am persisting in my determination to write this post. I just wanted you all to know that.
The last couple days have been warm, humid, and rainy. I think warm, humid, and rainy is more enjoyable in the autumn than in the summer. Probably because it’s not as hot in the autumn as in the summer. The leaves on the trees have gotten more colorful in the last couple days. It’s almost time for a color drive, I think.
This morning EJ and I went for our daily walk. We went at the perfect time–any later and we would have gotten drenched. It was quite breezy outside and the wind swirled the leaves around in a wild dance. I love rainy windy autumn days like today.
I have been preparing the pumpkins for later use. I cut the pumpkins in half, scoop out the seeds and “guts,” put the pumpkin halves face down on a large shallow pan with some water in it, and baked them in the oven at 300 degrees. When the pumpkins are baked, I scoop out the pulp (or whatever it’s called), cool it, and then put it in the freezer bags and put them in the freezer. Meanwhile,
I prepare the seeds for baking. We love to eat pumpkin seeds. I have been doing a few pumpkins and their seeds every day.
I put the birdhouse gourds on the shelves above the wood stove to dry. JJ thinks it’s hilarious and several times I have heard him tell his internet friends, “We have GOURDS in the living room! Lots and lots of GOURDS!” It does look rather funny, but it really is the most suitable place to dry the gourds…unless, of course, it’s not. Hopefully it doesn’t get too warm there.
Autumn Harvest
This morning I told EJ that I wanted to exercise more so he advised me while I lift 3 and 5 lb weights. Then he, JJ, Danny, and I went for a walk out into the countryside up to the corn field at the village limits. I’d like to eventually walk one mile out into the country side and one mile back for a two-mile walk. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful walk. Although some trees are very colorful, many are still green.
When we got home, I saw that we are expecting a frost tonight. The overnight temperatures will be around 32 degrees. So I went out to EJ’s garden and harvested his squash. He has pumpkin pie pumpkins, butternut squash, and acorn squash. He also has a couple butternut and acorn squash that cross pollinated so they look like acorn squash but are the shape of butternut squash.
Later I went out and found a few more pumpkin and squash that I had overlooked before. I also picked the birdhouse gourds which I planted for the first time this year. They were more delicate than I expected so I accidentally snapped off the neck of some of them until I went inside and got a pair of scissors to cut the vine rather than pull or twist. I do not know if the broken ones can be salvaged but even if they are ruined I still have enough unbroken ones to provide me with birdhouses. have to try to find a good place to dry the gourds.
We have a table full of beautiful pumpkins, squashes, and gourds.
Celestial Delight
Last night I set my alarm for 4:30 a.m. so that we could watch the lunar eclipse. The eclipse was actually not supposed to start until 5:15 a.m., but I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss any of it. When the alarm went off, I groaned, dragged myself out of bed, and stumbled downstairs to make coffee. I actually only had about an hour of sleep because my thoughts were buzzing and I had trouble getting to sleep. I was very tired, but I love celestial events and was determined not to miss this one.
EJ woke up when I came downstairs. At about 5 a.m., I woke JJ up. When we went outside, the sky was completely clear, which was a treat. Because of the Great Lakes, clouds often prevent us from enjoying eclipses and meteorite showers. We stood in our driveway and we could see the moon just above some trees. I was afraid the trees would block the moon as it sank and we discussed walking to the field at the edge of town where we’d have an unhindered view, but the moon slid between two trees so we were able to watch it all from our driveway.
Ever since Little Bear got outside a few weeks ago, he keeps trying to escape. If the door is open, he makes his break and zooms into the great outdoors. He also opens the door if it’s not latched securely. Little Bear escaped last night when JJ went back inside and forgot to pull the door all the way shut. Let me tell you, it’s not easy to capture a black cat on a very dark lunar eclipse night, but I finally managed it and shut our rebellious cat back inside.
We watched the earth’s shadow nibble away at light of the moon and then turn it blood red. We each brought out binoculars so we could look at the moon more clearly. Through the binoculars we were also able to see the aqua ring around the moon that we had read might be possible. I took pictures, trying various settings on my camera and also using the binocular camera. I do not have an expensive camera with filters and lenses so my pictures are not as awesome as others, but it was fun anyway. JJ was very tired so he stayed only long enough for the moon to begin to turn red and not for the full eclipse. Then he went back to bed. EJ and I watched the full eclipse. We stayed outside until 7 a.m. when the sun began to lighten the eastern sky. We had read that the sun and moon would set at the very same time, but we were not in a place where we could see the horizon. As dawn approached, the temps got colder so when it grew too cold for our light jackets we went back inside and to bed. We all slept until about 11 a.m.
It was an awesome experience.
Walk, Mouse, Rainbow, and an Eclipse
This morning I made French toast using last Friday’s Challah bread. It was very yummy.
After we ate, we all went for a walk–EJ, JJ, Danny, and me. We went out into the countryside a bit, which was very enjoyable. I had hoped to see the woodpeckers so EJ and JJ could help me identify them, but we didn’t see them at all. However, we did see many woolly caterpillars crossing the road. Most of the were brown and black, but we also saw an all black one and also a couple of light-colored ones. Some were quite big, and others were teeny-tiny. Some were smashed where they had been run over by cars. I told EJ that I felt like gathering them up and taking them safely off the road–like in the Starfish Story. EJ did scoop up a few of them and put them in the weeds alongside the road. We all enjoyed walking, talking, and enjoying the autumn colors. Danny loved snuffling in the weeds.
After EJ left for work, I studied Hebrew with my friend. We always have so much fun studying together! A little later, JJ noticed that the cats had caught another mouse. They have caught one mouse each day for the last three days. Either little mice are leaving a nest and exploring our house or mice our moving into the warm house to escape cooler temperatures. The cats have been putting the mice into our shoes. Although I am not thrill that the mice are being dropped into our shoes, I think the cats are very clever to imprison them this way. JJ was able to rescue the first mouse by taking the shoe outside and dumping the mouse out, but the other two mice were killed. Fortunately, the cats did not leave them dead in our shoes.
Later this afternoon the temps dropped a bit as a cold front came through. We got some rain and even a couple rumbles of thunder. When I saw it was raining and the sun was shining and the light was a strange yellowish color, I ran outside to see if I could spot a rainbow. There was one! I considered walking to where I could have an unhindered view, but decided to just take pictures while on my porch–which was just as well because the rainbow quickly faded.
Here are some pictures from today. You can click on them to make them bigger:
Before sunrise tomorrow there will be a lunar eclipse. It is supposed to be a blood-red moon–pretty awesome. I have set my alarm and we are going to try to get up to see it. If you’d like to see it also, you can check out this website to find out what time it will be in your area:
Birthday: Day 2
Over the weekend, we ran out of milk and eggs, so I didn’t have ingredients to make breakfast today–egg omelets, French toast, pancakes, or cereal all require either eggs, milk, or both. When JJ asked “What’s for breakfast?” I said, “Donuts….Duh!” I am such a good Mom. LOL.
Actually, I was headed into town anyway and planned to stop and buy them then. EJ went with me, and our first stop was to the post office to pick up our mail. (Our village is so small that all residents have post office boxes.) In my box was a homemade birthday card from my friend. She makes the most beautiful cards. She’s sent cards to JJ and me throughout the winter while JJ was having Chemo. We always looked forward to them.
The Postmaster saw me getting my mail so he came out behind the counter to wish me a happy birthday. He even sang a few lines of the Happy Birthday song. I thought that was really sweet. There are advantages to living in a very small town.
Our next stop was at the veterinarian. Luke has been losing weight and hair and throwing up. Luke has a chronic urinary problem (he has to have special food) and I was dreading the possibility that he could be seriously sick or that treatment might be so expensive that we wouldn’t be able to afford it. EJ didn’t think anything seriously wrong, but I tried to prepare myself and JJ for the possibility. I knew that if we had to put Luke to sleep, JJ would be distressed and argue against it. On the way to the vet, I asked God to please let JJ’s beloved cat have nothing seriously wrong. The vet examined him and said that he believed that all that was wrong was that he had developed an allergy to fleas. I haven’t really noticed any flea problem, but Luke did have a couple on him. I hadn’t treated him because I was afraid that maybe he was allergic to his flea medicine. The vet said that Luke was throwing up because he was licking off his hair, which causes agitation in the stomach. The vet weighed Luke and said that he actually had not lost as much weight as it seemed. He gave Luke an injection and also gave us a good flea medication to treat all the indoor cats. Whew! I felt such relief. I think the news that Luke has no major problems is the best birthday gift ever.
I actually encountered another problem at the veterinary. Our vet has a “free” cage in the reception area for kittens needing good homes. Several times over the years we have gone to the vet with one cat and come home with two or three. Today there was a six-month old kitten in the cage. EJ sat down on the floor and played with the kitten while we waited to take Luke into the exam room. The kitten was very playful and cute, and EJ kept talking about “bringing home our new kitten.” I kept saying, “No…No…No….No!” We barely escaped without an additional kitten.
We stopped at the store and picked up the items we needed. When we got home, I put one of the homemade chicken pot pies in the oven. Homemade pot pie is one of my favorite meals and worthy of having on a birthday. We got hungry waiting for the pie to bake, so we had donuts as Hors d’œuvre. When the pie was done, I ate a piece and it was so good that I had another. And then I regretted the second piece because I was so totally full.
After EJ left for work, I took Danny for a walk and then talked to my friend on the phone. I also enjoyed all the wonderful birthday wishes I received at Facebook. Birthdays at Facebook are so much fun.
It was a really good day.
Autumn Celebration
Tomorrow is my birthday, but we celebrated it today. EJ bought me four (of many) books that I have wanted. I’d rather have books than new clothes or flowers or chocolate or jewelry.
However, the gift I ask for every year is an enjoyment of autumn with EJ and JJ. This year I chose to go to a nearby bird sanctuary. It wasn’t far but we had never gone to it before. We hadn’t even heard of it before. I found it on the Internet. The website said it is 900 acres and that among others, bald eagles, hawks, woodpeckers, bald eagles, blue herons, whooping cranes, and thousands of sandhill cranes can be seen there.
We had considered stopping on the way to the sanctuary at a cider mill for cider and donuts. I think that cider and donuts are the best birthday treat in October. EJ searched the Internet for a convenient cider mill, but he couldn’t find any that was close enough, and we all agreed that the sanctuary was our primary goal. We ended up stopping at a Tim Hortons for a dozen assorted donuts and coffee for EJ and lattes for JJ and me. Yum.
As we drove through the beautiful autumn countryside, sipping our hot drinks, JJ said that he was having so much fun that he felt like it was all of our birthdays instead of just mine. Which, really, is why I love to be given experiences as my birthday–because they are something we can all totally enjoy together.
When we had parked and walked into the sanctuary, we immediately saw a red-headed woodpecker in a tree. The scenery was gorgeous and the temperatures were perfect–cool, but neither too cold nor too hot. We each had binoculars. JJ used the camera binoculars while I took pictures with my camera when I wasn’t looking through my binoculars. I’m glad we had binoculars because many of the birds were far enough away that without the binoculars we couldn’t have seen much of anything.
We saw some sort of bird of prey with white tail feathers. JJ is quite sure it was a bald eagle. We walked along a trail that led through beautiful woods and meadows with grasses that were taller than we were. We stopped along a lake and saw ducks and a huge blue heron flying overhead. Then we came back to our starting point and sat on a bench and peered through our binoculars at huge whooping cranes flying gracefully in the marsh.
I had read that in the late afternoon the sandhill cranes come in to land and we had really hoped to stay long enough to see them. However, JJ started to not feel very well (he doesn’t know if it’s the respiratory infection he’s been fighting or the effects of the donut) so we left earlier than we planned. JJ felt really bad about being the cause of a shortened day but I told him that if it would make him feel better, I would insist that we return on another day (soon!) so that we can finish the fun and see the cranes land. I read that they will be in our area through November so we still have time. On the way home, we saw two cranes near the road and JJ took pictures of them. I told him, “See? We didn’t miss out on seeing cranes after all!”
When we got home, we ate supper and then prepared for a quiet evening at home. We will probably watch a movie together later. I started a fire in the wood stove. The temps are cool enough outside that a fire feels delightful.
I think my birthday celebration couldn’t have been better.
I Love To Go A Gardening 