January 7, 2007

Warning: Corny poetry

Nothing to do, so I was at the stove cooking,
Cracking the eggs and not really looking.
When out of the window I saw something white,
In the depth of the winter an unusual sight.
I ran for the door and slipped my shoes on...
For what were the chances of spotting a swan?
This time of year they swim waters warm
And leave our small creek alone and forlorn.

I ran through the woods with my lens in my hand,
Running roughshod through the woods on our land.
The swans were not staying within easy view,
But this was the shot to be shared with all you.
My shoes were too slick and I took a slight tumble,
Though my camera was safe, my dress, it got rumpled.
The leaves were sliding all over the place
And when I got to the hills I slackened my pace.
And there at the point as I leaned on a log,
I took this sweet picture to place on my blog.
I hope you enjoy it, it seems God's special gift,
I hope that their beauty gives your spirits a lift.

From my kitchen window

It's one of the things that I love most about having undeveloped land behind us. The glimpses that we get of wildlife, like this buck I saw this morning. We've seen foxes and turkeys and deer and of course all kinds of birds. Sometimes there are swans swimming in the water behind the deer.
I even enjoy the squirrels...just NOT at my birdfeeders. Greedy little creatures. :) And smart too, which makes them frustrating!

January 5, 2007

Some of my friends have been feeling blue about their kids growing up and entering a new stage of life. Which is normal. I'm feeling it too, just at the next stage. Sharing my kids with their jobs, and their spouses and feeling the distance. But I just wanted to say that there are some good things too! My dh and I can go out for lunch, just the two of us, without leaving anyone behind! And (since there are no growing teenage boys) bring the leftovers home for supper! There are other good things as well. More freedom. But sometimes I wish I could go back in time for just one day and revel in their childhood again and feel their arms around my neck. I want to play games with them and read them books and splash them in the tub. I guess God is preparing me to be a grandmother.

January 4, 2007

I love watching the birds out my kitchen window. I have four feeders. I only wish I had some trees nearby for them. I wonder if it makes them nervous being so out in the open? We're even getting several kinds of woodpeckers at our suet feeders!

January 3, 2007

I'm posting a picture of the sunrise that began my day. If I posted a picture that really represented my day, it wouldn't be nearly so pretty! I spent most of the day at the clinic, trying to get some prescriptions refilled and get ready to go to Madagascar. Shots, malaria meds, and all that. One thing after another went wrong and on top of it there was another frustration. The man who is my contact for the trip to Madagascar has not been answering my emails and I knew that he left the country today. I knew he had purchased my ticket, but I still didn't have it. And I didn't have any of my questions answered. I was getting so stressed that I was beginning to have nightmares. So...I was trying to get hold of him all day. He finally called as I was fixing supper tonight, right before boarding his plane for Europe! And then, my ticket arrived in the mail! So that was a huge relief. I was really beginning to doubt that the trip was going to happen. I saw two of our mids this afternoon. Betsy stood in for me (I was still at the clinic) and picked them up at the airport. It was so good to see them again. Both want to go Marine Corps. Then tonight one of our former mids dropped in with a friend. They are spending the night here before heading down to Quantico and TBS. Grant just finished a Master's degree in Applied Math at Oxford. Then he went to Morocco for ten weeks for an intensive Arabic course. He's a really interesting guy. It was great to talk to him again. Hopefully he'll come up some weekends.

Well, my arm is sure sore from this typhoid shot. It's the first time I can remember that a shot has bothered me. And last year I got four at one time!

Okay, here's the picture. It didn't turn out as well on film as it looked in real life!

January 2, 2006

The second day of a new year, but it's also a day of endings. The celebrations are over and the clean up begins. For a while there will be empty spaces where the decorations were until they are filled again with the humdrum of everyday life.

Holidays are hectic, crazy, fun, different, busy and sometimes enough to drive me crazy but when they are over, relief is mixed with melancholy. So here is a picture of today.

Please bear with me!

I'm trying to learn so many new sites at one time. I didn't even realize we could get comments! I'm going to try to post my January 1 photo. If it works, thank 7!

We had a quiet celebration. We went downtown earlier to Annapolis' First Night celebration, but the rain sent us home. So we played games and drank sparkling cider. I wonder what the coming year holds for Betsy and Eli?