The Harem Plus Eight.....

After spending this spring weekend dodging a snow storm we are now looking at five days with rain and temperatures in the 40's. Sigh. I say it every year....in Wisconsin spring comes on a Wednesday. I do miss the years we lived in the mid-Atlantic states and had an honest four to six weeks of real spring. Oh well.

I woke early this morning and checked the radar on my phone.....we were in a clear spot so Fenway and I went for an early walk. Up the bike path at 6:00 under grey skies. Just past our condo building I realized two adult deer were walking toward us.....they stopped, ears cocked and let us get pretty close.....until Fenway spotted them, growled and raced to the end of his leash. They turned and took off running....white flag tails waving as they crossed the stream and went up the bluff across the street. For me, a successful walk is whenever I spot wildlife.

And so we continued up the path and I thought I saw some big black "things" walking ahead of us. It was a mini-flock of turkeys, the ones I spotted last week. I guess they've taken up residence along the bike path. It was the tom and three of his ladies....they saw us and began their funny turkey trot to get away. We kept coming and so Mr. Tom jumped off the bank and glided across the stream to run up the bluff....the ladies right behind.

So....two deer and four turkeys! And then...six more deer came up out of the stream, glancing at me and running into the grassy area on the west side of the bike path. Once again Fenway attempted to show dominance, but they just stood and stared at him.

"Oh small black thing on a string....you don't own these woods!"

Becoming Gramma Beth.....

My mom died in 2010....she lived a full and meaningful life for 89 years....and certainly that's something to celebrate. She and I had our "moments" but she was ever loving, supportive and kind....and as I age I realize more and more just how much she helped to shape the woman I've become. (Now the older woman I've become!) And I also realize that many of the phrases she used now come out of my mouth, many of the traits she had are now mine and some of her face stares back at me when I look in a mirror.

There was one little thing (or probably many because we were mother-daughter) that used to bug me no end. She would clip magazine and newspaper articles and send them to me. No specific topics....things she thought would interest me, advice type articles, informational essays. We lived far away from her home in Park Ridge so these missives would arrive via the US Postal Service. Usually I would open the envelope (this was way before email) and read her personal letter....but toss the helpful columns in the trash. Unread. As an adult I felt I did not need this kind of "help" or "advice" and frankly often resented the "interference".

And then just today I realized I'm once again becoming my mother. I have been clipping magazine and newspaper articles and bringing them to my daughter. She's a talented and capable wife/mother/artist living in West Bend so these important papers usually get delivered in person.  I wonder what she does with them....

I'm even guilty of forwarding on-line informational materials. So my daughter gets the "benefit" new kinds of informational help from her mother.

I'm becoming Gramma Beth.....I bet somewhere she is smiling.

Flying Things.....

A beautiful morning here in Port with an opportunity to take three nice long walks....before the forecast changes to some rain and possibly snow this weekend. Fenway and I went out first thing this morning for his short morning walk. As we rounded the corner a mallard flew in front of us landing in the parking lot. It slowly waddled across the pavement as Fenway's ears perked up. I could almost hear him thinking "Ah hah! A big fat bird that moves slowly....surely I can catch this one!" He ran to the end of his leash....but before he could even get close the duck took off. Disappointment once more. I just noticed that it was a beautiful male and the sunlight made his colorful feathers gleam.

Later we took a longer walk up the bike path. A pair of blue jays screamed in a tree, a lone sandhill crane flew overhead, honking as it disappeared over the bluff. A pair of cardinals talked to each other from one side of the path to the other. Finches flicked in and out of low bushes. Starlings with their yellow beaks explored a grassy area and plump robins searched for breakfast just off the path. They weren't bothered until we got too close...and then flew away. A little wren watched from a tree, cocking it's head as we walked by.

And then there was a noise off to my right and as I turned my head I saw a really big shape take wing. Coming from across the stream I watched as a big tom turkey flew/glided across our route and landed on the bluff to the left. Up the hill it walked......as I stood with my mouth open. We see wild turkeys all the time as we drive around Wisconsin, but this is the first time I've seen them along "our" path and close to our condo!

Later I walked into town to the library and a pair of geese flew, honking, overhead...nothing unusual about that. And as I approached my destination a painted lady flittered around me...swooping up and down before landing in the grass. My first spring butterfly.

So this morning was a lovely one - full of flying things doing their things. Once again I feel so lucky to live where I do with the chance to see small bits of Mother Nature up close and personal.

Thwarted......

It's Earth Day 2019 and it's a nice day in Port. My plan was to take a few garbage bags and walk our north beach to pick up trash. I did it last year, and while a small effort, it did make me feel good. It was amazing just how much crap people toss along the edge of our beautiful Lake Michigan.

So....I put on my light jacket, grabbed a few bags and my rubber gloves, gave Fenway a cookie so he would be a good boy....and off I went. Across the park past the band shell, around the water treatment facility...admiring the lake as I walked, watching the birds....feeling good.

Until I rounded the corner.....and found there is NO beach. The water level is even higher than last year and waves lapped at the tree line. There was no way to walk along the beach at all. Sigh. My good intentions.....

Feeling just a bit frustrated I walked up the wooden staircase to the top of the bluff and down the road to our condo. Along the way I did pick up a bunch of cans and plastic cups and some miscellaneous paper/plastic stuff. It amazes me how many people pay for coffee at Starbucks and then just toss the cups out the car window. It amazes me that people just roll down the window and let stuff fly....how lazy, how uncaring.....how inconsiderate of this planet we call home.

Earth Day 2019.....I didn't do as much as I wanted....but I did a little bit and I reached half of my daily steps goal!

Ad Nauseum........

So the report that everyone has been talking about for years is now out - at least parts of it. Over 400 pages......and the talking heads are talking. Instant analysis of sections, sentences, phrases. Experts reading as fast as they can....trying to interpret the data. And 45 boasting that it's over and he's completely exonerated and it's all been a huge waste of taxpayer money.

And then the next day 45 begins to tweet furious comments about the staff that talked to Mueller and how they were lying.

And so it goes.....ad nauseum.

Walking the dog this morning, up the bike path with the sun shining and tiny green buds finally beginning to show on the bushes a quote popped into my mind. I may not have it exactly right....but it was when Gerald Ford was sworn in as President of the United States.....after Nixon was forced out. He started his remarks to the Country with a comment something like "Our long national nightmare is over."

I wonder if, just maybe, someone will say the same thing in 2020. I can only hope.

One Small Tribute.....

You don't have to have a religious bone in your body to appreciate the beauty, grandeur, construction and history of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. If you've seen it's magnificent facade, walked around the grounds, gone inside to marvel at the stained glass and statuary you know you've trod where hundreds of thousands have gone before you. Footsteps of the faithful, footsteps of the curious, footsteps of the mighty and footsteps of the impoverished....all echo in its chambers.

To know that this building is burning is to know that we are losing a precious piece of creative genius, a precious piece of history.

We've been lucky enough to go to Paris twice and visited Notre Dame while we were there. I didn't go because I'm catholic because I'm not. I didn't go because I'm a person living a faith based life because I'm not. I just went to see it.....to experience it.....to appreciate it.

And I did.....appreciate it. I felt the presence of the workers who created it and of the faithful who hold it so dear. I appreciated it as an unforgettable Paris icon.  And to think that it is burning is just so very sad.....for all of us.

....I Spoke Too Soon.....

April 15th...spring in Wisconsin. Not. Ok....so this is beautiful with the sun shining on the trees early in the morning....

....but Fenway should not have to wear his snowsuit any more this year and search in the snow for the "perfect" place.

I know, I know...this is Wisconsin and spring comes on a Wednesday. But this is just wrong....on so many levels. Sigh.