The natural world, life, and dogs.
Anyone reading my blog knows I enjoy seeing, photographing, and learning about wildflowers. Moving to Vermont in July, I was eager to see and learn about the “new” wildflowers I would find here. Almost immediately my eye was caught by Queen Anne’s Lace. Big, showy, white flowers – actually clusters of tiny individual flowers –… Continue reading Queen Anne’s Lace
Yesterday evening, while walking Conall and Finn along our road, a car approached, slowed, and the passenger side window went down. A woman of about 80 leaned her head out, smiled and looking at Conall, said, "What a beautiful dog!" as her husband slowly drove by. They were driving a Subaru, the Vermont state car.… Continue reading Compliments and Perceptions
Dizziness. Loss of balance. An inability to walk; falling to the floor, or crashing into walls or objects. A sensation of spinning despite being still, or that the world is spinning around you. In inability to maintain a sense of up or down, no matter how hard you concentrate. Changes in hearing, including tinnitus, even… Continue reading Out of Kilter
A month ago I read an article about a man named Al Nixon. Al spends nearly every morning on a park bench in St. Petersburg, Florida, watching the sun rise and the people go by. His simple, consistent presence - and his open body language as he sits, legs outstretched, arms resting on the back… Continue reading Green Lake George
Maybe, like me, you endured school essay assignments where you had to compare and contrast something. Who knew that skill could end up being a useful blogging tool? Each day as I explore my new environment in Vermont, I can’t help but compare what I experience here to what I knew for the first 48… Continue reading Reinvention, Part Three: Comparing and Contrasting
When I last posted, I was using a borrowed cot to sleep on and a deck chair for sitting, counting the days until the shipping container arrived and I could have my own furniture and household goods again. I also quickly burned through my phone’s hot spot internet allotment, so…no blog posting. (DSL was connected… Continue reading Reinvention, Part Two: Unpacking
Once, long ago, a male acquaintance said to me, “You’re constantly reinventing yourself.” He was being critical. I took it as a compliment. I’ve never been one to stay on the traditional or expected path. I prefer to stretch, explore, learn, and grow. Change can be scary, but overcoming hesitation and fear is a great… Continue reading Reinvention: Getting There (Part I)
The past month has brought lots of bird activity to my little patch of earth. Most of the through-migrating birds (geese, cranes, many songbirds) have flown by on their way north. Those birds calling this area home - some year round, some just during their breeding season - are engaging in the annual spring rites… Continue reading Birds of a Feather…
Sorting through 15-plus years of accumulated stuff in preparation for a move puts one in a nostalgic mood. Nostalgia (n): A sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.Oxford Dictionary I'm amazed at what I'm unearthing, in cabinets or closets I've ignored for years. I'm… Continue reading Nostalgia
If you have a dog, or have simply watched one drink from a bowl, stream or lake, you know how messy that process is. Dogs quickly plunge their tongue into the water and then pull it back up into their mouth, repeatedly, slurping some water with each flick before eventually swallowing. Depending on the dog,… Continue reading Dogs and Fluid Dynamics
