If men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be clever enough to be crows. ~ Henry Ward Beecher
Photo by Zippy. November 22, 2021
Unfortunately, that also goes for many women. I don’t see crows mucking up things and then gaslighting everyone into thinking stuff’s just dandy. That’s purely the province of rich and powerful men/women.
My follow-up x-rays came back negative for a stress fracture! What does this mean? Well, I’m now officially transitioning out of the walking boot! And, I just took my first walk in three weeks. A booted walk. The 1.3 mile-walk required the boot because my transition is “boot when outside” and “shoes when inside” for the next 3-4 days.
Right after the appointment, Zippy, Emma, and I walked around Kendrick Reservoir. It was a slow and absolutely glorious walk.
Photo by Dino Lenzini
So many Canada Geese on the water, honking and paddling about. Also, possibly some coots that were too far away to identify with the naked eye. Didn’t matter. I was just thrilled to be out in the sunshine, clomping around the one-mile loop that Wildebeest used to run intervals around while in high school cross country.
Oh, happy day.
Today is the selection meeting for the Writing Roosters Scholarship for the Michelle Begley Mentor Program. Michelle was a dear friend and critique partner who created an amazing mentor program for the Rocky Mountain kidlit community. When she tragically died in a car accident, our critique group established a scholarship fund in her name. Each year, we get together (zoom again…sigh), along with Michelle’s mother and two sisters, to discuss applications and select a mentee to receive the $500 scholarship.
This year, we have ten applicants! I’m still writing notes for our meeting that begins in less than an hour, but wanted to document this event.
July 3, 2021
The sunflower is nearly as beautiful as Michelle whose light still shines on through her legacy to our writing community.
Rather than stalk my photogenic white cat with a camera for a #Caturday post, I’m opting for a different focus because it’s been far too long since I’ve indulged my goat-love.
Image by Reijo Telaranta from Pixabay
But why stop at one image?
Image by JackieLou DL from Pixabay
No one around here has a problem with goats, right?
Image by JackieLou DL from Pixabay
Right?
September 9, 2021
Left ear injured but
lived to eat another day
sweet sweet victory
While many are celebrating another holiday today, I am celebrating my birthday.
The first awesome gift was waking to snow! (We got a whole 1.5 inches on our deck rail yesterday evening! It was the first snow of the season and we’re all hoping there’s LOTS more where that came from so that we avert drought.) The next gift came when I drew Heron from my oracle card deck.
Grey Heron photo by Michel Mayerle from FreeImages
The question I posed before pulling a card: “What do I need to know about my birthday and the coming year?”
Heron’s message: “Let go of convention and follow your own unique path.”
That reminder resonates and I’m going to try my very best to stay true to my authentic self as I embrace the coming year.
Clear Creek. January 12, 2021
As much as I loathe this aging thing, I’m beginning to recognize that I am now a healthier person in terms of self-worth and knowing who I am and where I fit in the world. That’s been a good trade-off for the wrinkles. ~ Patty Duke
June 24, 2021
Life does have a way of leaving its mark upon the body. But hey, it’s good to know we can still fly, torn wings or not.
Dark-eyed Junco. November 12, 2021
Not the sun or the summer alone, but every hour and season yields its tribute of delight; for every hour and change corresponds to and authorizes a different state of the mind, from breathless noon to grimmest midnight. Nature is a setting that fits equally well a comic or a mourning piece. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
November is typically a tough month for me due to the lack of daylight and the overall brown palette. This one’s been even harder due to my clomp-clomp boot. Tomorrow will be two weeks of inactivity, but it feels like two months already. And because my foot still hurts, I can’t stop wearing it yet. My follow-up appointment/verdict isn’t for another week, but I’m going to be smart and clomp around until I hear otherwise.
All this is to say that I was heading for an emotional crash a couple hours ago. But I turned my attention to something I’d been dreading and putting off, and what do you know, I feel so much better now! Funny how that works. *ahem*
Here’s to an improved mood and sunny summer memories! And if you’re in need of a boost, I hope this cheery sunflower also brings you a smile.
In my backyard. July 3, 2021
November doesn’t last forever.
One of life’s simple pleasures: the sun illuminating Marcel’s pink ear.
November 19, 2021
This image from yesterday is especially pleasing on this no-sun, gray and cold afternoon.
Smoothie additive
also my new medium
edible artwork
Tell all the truth but tell it slant. ~ Emily Dickinson
Eaglesmere Lake Trail. September 28, 2021
Was Emily the original spin doctor?
I’d just sat down to upload a photo of our blooming Christmas cactus when my phone rang. It was Wildebeest, in tears. Young Dolph, his favorite rapper whom he listens to all the time, was just murdered in Memphis. My son cried, “He has kids! Why do people have to murder each other?”
All I could do was listen to his pain. There’s no making sense of the senseless.
November 17, 2021
Rest in power.
Only one of these robins is in focus, but I don’t think there’s mistaking the other’s mood which can only be described as angry-bathing.
November 14, 2021
There, all better.
November 14, 2021
It’s gray and gloomy today, belying the unseasonably warm weather (which refuses to give us a drop of much-needed moisture!), so I went in search of a cheery image to brighten the day. I selected a photo of sedum that’d bloomed in the front yard last summer.
June 10, 2021
I then went in search of a quote to accompany my photo, but was unsuccessful. Instead, I learned that sedum roofs are quite popular in other parts of the world. Sedum has a very shallow root system and not only that, “The metabolism of Sedum differs from other plants. At night, carbon dioxide is absorbed through the stomata and converted into malic acid. During the day, under the influence of sunlight, the malic acid is decomposed and photosynthesis takes place. The stomata in the leaves are only open at night. During the hot and dry day, moisture loss is minimized.” How cool is that?! And how beautiful is this roof?
Image found here
My new dream is to live in a little cottage covered by a sedum roof.
It was 35 years ago today that Zippy and I had our first date. At the time, I lived in North Hollywood and he lived in Bakersfield. It was a tough time for me and I desperately needed to get away from my tiny apartment for a day or two, but was living in poverty and couldn’t afford anything. I knew Zippy through my brother (they’d gone to college together) and we’d recently reconnected via several phone conversations, so I brazenly invited myself for a visit.
Bakersfield is no one’s idea of a getaway, but I was thrilled at the prospect of being somewhere else. When I arrived that Friday evening (knuckles scraped and bleeding as a result of my hand slipping while prying a very stubborn lid off a bottle of the engine additive needed to keep my poor old car running), Zippy suggested we go hear some live music. Chris “Hammer” Smith and his blues harp were at Suds Tavern which was located in the Wall Street Alley. The tiny place used to be a fire station and fire horse stable, and reeked of character. And cigarette smoke (of which I was a contributor, ahem). We had so much damn fun, drinking beer and dancing dancing dancing. During Hammer Smith’s break, we ran across the alley to Guthrie’s Alley Cat where there was a pool table and even cheaper beer, then dashed back for more live music.
Guthrie’s Alley Cat
Fast forward: I ended up moving to Bakersfield for two years (before we moved to Anchorage) and we logged a lot of hours dancing at Suds and shooting pool at Guthrie’s. Turns out, plenty of people thought that alley was in “the bad part of town” and stayed away. To my mind, that scene was one of the shining lights of that hot, dry, and dusty city. I was thrilled when I met a fellow teacher who shared our love for that alley.
Alas, Suds is no more. It’s apparently now a restaurant called Two Goats & The Goose and, because I couldn’t find a photo of Suds, I’m including this image to show the exterior (with an accessibility ramp that was not present in the 80s).
Turns out, Guthrie’s Alley Cat is still in business which makes me very happy. All these years later, I’m very glad Guthrie’s was part of my introduction to Bakersfield. Mostly, though, I’m grateful Zippy graciously accepted my self-invite.
September 28, 2021
Nature sets the stage
with perfect purple placement
take a bow, Mother
It means even more to me than usual to have winged visitors to my yard. Because I’m currently stuck in a walking boot, I haven’t been venturing out much at all. So, today I dedicate my gratitude to these four birds, in the order in which they appeared.
First up, is a House Finch that immediately flew to the bath right after I’d cleaned and filled it this morning:
Moments later, this Red-breasted Nuthatch came for a drink:
Then another male House Finch posed in the maple tree:
And this afternoon, while taking a break from revisions, I spotted a radiant Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay:
It’s only Day 4 of my walking-boot-sentence and the Herman Munster clomp-clomp-clomp is already wearing thin. All gratitude for birds!
November 8, 2021
It could be worse. Much worse. After all, instead of stopping when I felt pain after landing on a rock while running the trails on Friday , I ran another couple miles (and then spent the weekend in serious pain whenever I accidentally put weight on my left foot). Doh.
But today’s x-rays didn’t show a stress fracture so it’s possibly only soft tissue damage. I have two weeks in this fine dancing boot and then go back for a follow-up. (Shout-out to Zippy for somehow finagling a podiatry appointment for me this afternoon!)
Young moose, Lower Cataract Lake. 9.27.21
Some days are a slog
each step a muddy struggle
bull-headed or not
American Robin. November 3, 2020
Funny how something is an instant “known” and then, upon closer examination, can turn into an “unknown.” For example, this insect I photographed back in August while visiting the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. Clearly a grasshopper, right?
August 20, 2021
Well, I just went down the proverbial rabbit hole in an attempt to more specifically identify the type of grasshopper. I’m admitting defeat. Apparently, there are over 100 species of grasshopper in Colorado and to my eye, the markings on their legs are quite similar.
On the other hand, this immediately “unknown” insect was quickly identified via an online search as Tetraopes texanus, otherwise known as the Milkweed Beetle. Oddly, this particular beetle is not on a milkweed (and no, I’m not even going to try to identify this plant).
On this cold, damp, gray November afternoon, I’m basking in the warm memories of that visit to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge where keen eyes reap intriguing rewards.
Hope everyone had a spooky and chocolatey Halloween. Welcome to the second-to-the-last month of the year. Here’s a pretty foliage-quilt picture for your Monday.
View from hike around Lower Cataract Lake. September 27, 2021
And yes, I am having a little trouble adjusting to this new week and month.
Tracy Abell 