Revelers in the Rain

I love finding traces of forest animals !!...Paw prints, a whiff of skunk musk, rustling in the trees make me absolutely giddy with delight. While neighbors grow alarmed at the sounds of turkeys or coyotes, I listen intently savoring the treat & gathering information.
In recent months, our dogs have been stopping alongside the road to check out unusual spots...places that offer no visual ques of previous animals. We have wondered if it is skunk, possum, racoon... perhaps even a deer. Every now & again, we discover evidence of coyotes. Whatever it is, the dogs are transfixed & refuse to budge during their investigation.
The girls were not quite themselves last night as I walked them in the cold, rain. Both were in great need to do their business, but neither one would even stop to sniff. Juliette is an old herder who doesn't see or hear well. She no longer is able to do much of anything quickly. The size of a miniature horse, Blackie is the same age, but remains an alert & energetic lab. Surrounded by forest, both dogs started running back & forth in opposite directions. I stood in the middle of the road doing my best to avoid becomming ensnared in the tangle of black leashes. When Blackie started circling me, I thought, "This is ridiculous,we're heading back." We cleared most of the forest, when an ear-piercing voice split the night.... It was immediately followed by another & for a moment, I wondered if revelers were partying in the rain. The number of voices grew to a minimum of 5, at once & I am certain the number was greater still. The woops & yelps were clearly the cacophony of feeding coyotes, just near in our back forest. The dogs immediately turned for home, (which was in the direction of the pack), & we had some distance yet to travel along the upper forest. I will admit, as exciting as this was, even I grew a little anxious at the nearness of the action. My husband had been out front & met me at the top of our driveway. We raced to our back deck with flashlights in hand, hoping to perhaps catch the glimmer of reflection from eyes in the forest. The rain made it impossible for the beams to carry into the night. I am looking forward to daylight so that I may go investigate, but I fear the rain will have erased all evidence of the location.
(On a humorous note: I arise daily well before dawn & our motion-sensor light trips daily at 5 a.m. As I typed out last night's events, I took a break & headed out front just after the light had opened. For the first time, I actually hesitated a moment at the door. I walked back & forth in the carport, savoring the sound of the rain, when a dark shadow leapt within inches of my face! It was a ferral cat, with another one trembling in the hiding space behind some lumber. It gave me a bit of a start, followed by a wonderful belly-laugh at my own expense!)

Freedom Weekend Aloft

After 12 hours of skating in the park, I had to make my son leave. By the time we had walked across the festival grounds he was more than ready to go home. As we approached the truck, I saw over a hundred balloons filling with air. I told him we had to stay on & he was not amused. I made him stay on & we all stood mesmerized as we watched one of the top 3 balloon launches in the country. As we had VIP, vendor parking we were able to follow the chase vehicles out of the park & see the balloons for miles up the road on the long, trip home. What a spectacular sight!

Mommy Brag !

On January 30th, I wrote about the secret world of the sk8park. I did not write of how our own lives were changed that day. My son's 9 year old friend, along with his best friend ( years old) & 3 very cool, older teens joined us there for my son's 10th birthday. We were there so long my husband ended up with a job. The way God so awesomely works is that this was to be a triple blessing: Tom has work, London gets to sk8 for free & no one has to drive across town to wait while he skates. He simply goes to work with his dad & they get a lot of quality time together. Much to his delight, he was recently asked to demo at a huge festival over Memorial Day. Here he is dropping in on a small, half pipe...

Imagine my blood pressure when I see him at the sk8park dropping in on a 9 foot vert !!!! He is now working on the 12 foot one !!!

Morning on the Landing

I sit on the landing, watching the mirror still water. The ground & wind murmur all around of impending rain, but as I watch the lake surface, there are no droplets, simply buds & leaves carried by the wind. Out beyond the cove the river current begins to flow but it is smooth in my corner save for swirls & jumps from below. The other day, a slider was on the water's edge, where I sat on the landing. Despite my dog's sniffing & my taking pictures, he was a friendly little guy who never once hid his face from us. This morning, however the only signs of a turtle I see is one little head bobbing along off shore. I wait & I watch. The wind begins to blow the river current around the bend into the cove. The kingfishers begin their frantic chattering as the hunt for their morning meal...& then I see the familiar wake...the tiny head of the beaver makes his way around the bend, heading right for me. He is joined by his mate for their morning exercise before heading in for the day's rest. As they near my perch, my dog shifts a little causing him to do a somersault & disappear below the surface. No alarm from his tail to warn his mate. Could this be a pair of muskrats? They do look small. 12 minutes later, as the current is making it's way towards me, he reappears & I clearly see the outline of his flat tail. This is my beaver & despite the passage of time since last we shared the morning together, I pose no threat to him. He keeps a distance & continues his play. What an amazing way to start the day! Thank you, Jesus ! Thank you !!!!

Opened Road

It seems like such a small thing....a fence put up, a fence removed....but it has changed a way of life & I feel on the verge of a new beginning of an old way of life. You see, the property we own is backed by an abandoned county road with direct access to a boat landing. More importantly, it is direct access for a lovely walk down to where the beavers live...my old friends. These shy, reclusive creatures knew me so well, I had "become part of the forest" for them & they went about their business without concern for my presence. It was a highlight of my life ....being able to watch for their activity & spend time with my Lord.I walked this road daily for 10 years until new tenants moved in & then the fence went up barring me from passing along 30 feet of the road. I was in my right to pass over it, but for many reasons I chose to withdraw into depression & acquiesce to their inane demands.... We have prayed fervently over this, referring to scripture many times as to what the right thing seems to be...respecting their wishes versus giving up our rights. No lawyer will take our money as it is the owner's responsibility to produce the paperwork....yet I caved into a dark withdrawal. After nearly 2 years, the power company's tree-trimmers have removed the sign & the pile of debris added to it the fence. This morning, I freely walked along this road to see the progress of the beavers. I prayed in thanks to our Lord. I pray for a peaceful resolution in this matter ...a fair & just understanding on all sides, one without ugly confrontation. I would appreciate your prayers alongside of this. In the meantime, I have just had a lovely walk down to discover fresh beaver prints & chewed wood & seen their progress as they rebuild their burrow covering from spring floods. I rejoice, saying prayers of thanksgiving for a newly opened way.

I Know The feeling

Some time ago when we got a new keyboard, we let the little boys have their way with the old one. Recently, we have been having a lot of trouble with our computer & this old image came to mind.....I have been feeling like doing this to our pc !

All Out Boy

As soon as my son was mobile, he was a climber. It took 5 times pulling him off of a 50 gallon, glass-topped aquarium before I realized how my barely-able-to-crawl-baby was making it up there. I realized I had to place him in God's hands or I would stroke out, before he would even learn to walk. As a baby he wasn't content to swing back & forth. We had to push him to the heights so he could reach for the tree-tops. Once on his own power, sitting was just no longer fun. He climbs trees, leaps across gorges, dangles over precipices, scales rock walls...Publicly, we've been given some pretty nasty glares from less "permissive" parents. I'm not going to punish him for exploring & I would rather he experiment under my watchful eye... & with ready access to the clinic. An x-ray technician once thanked us for having him play outside so much. Last autumn I watched him do a running, front flip on the soccer field to celebrate a goal. (He's taking lessons now).

The last trip I made with him to the clinic was regarding a possible back injury from doing flips on a concrete floor. I told the doctor "we should get some kind of 'Frequent Faller Miles'" to which she replied, "Yes! & we can have a card to punch". She did not, however share my enthusiasm for "10 x-rays get the 11th free"... & all of this occurred before the sk8boarding fury.

The other day my husband & son arrived home from the sk8park much earlier than expected. "Had to get London's arm x-rayed...not broken & there was no charge. We had a credit." "Was it Dr. Owens?" It was not. London went to his baseball game that evening to "support the team". He played catcher the last inning & hit a double on his, one at-bat. I am looking forward to telling Dr. Owens about the credit...but, I'm not in any hurry.