8 May …
Blooms all around.
The lilac is just starting (Sorry you can’t see the colour. The sun was at the wrong angle.)
The muscari are drawing attention.
Off in another directions is an overlay … birch leaves, red maple leaves, and cherry blossoms.
The daffodils are nearly done, and as usual … the final ones are beautiful.
Weather is warm and now Paul wears shorts to school every day. I’ve been sleeping the first part of the night with just a sheet. And the stores are full of strawberries.
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My reading lately has been full of book coincidences … similarly named characters and plot slips. I’m currently in the second book of the Atlantis series by A. G. Riddle (self-published and in his acknowledgements he thanks readers who take a chance on self-publishers). It is interesting in the same way books by Rollins are … fiction except for what isn’t.
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Since the solar panels are up (did I tell you they’re outputting?), I’ve been bingeing PBS programs on my computer. An unexpected side effect of listening with earphones vs straight tv is that I am hearing all sorts of background sounds which I miss without earphones but which aid in creating the mood. I like it.
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Thinking of sound … Mark got me a Bluetooth gadget which allows me to listen to Sirius in my room. This morning I chose the channel called “Spa” and as I was listening I had a memory moment. The music now called Spa is soft, repetitive, muted voices, and lots of flute and harp … and it reminded me of a long time ago when there was a co-op food store in town. There was a piano in the store and anyone was invited to play. One day when I was shopping a young “hippie” (remember them?) was playing soft, calm, repetitive music and I though ‘what strange kanoodling‘.
Now that I’ve learned to like the style (not all the time, but it certainly has a place) I wonder if he is one of those earning a living as an alternative musician.
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The chickens are taking their time merging. Some of the new whites are flying. They use the roost (about 3’ off the floor) when the older hens are outdoors, but have yet to challenge for space at night.
One of the little ones really tested her wings last week and twice went outdoors with the hens, got chased, but instead of going back indoors flew over the fence (at least 5’6”) and couldn’t find her way back into the house. First time we found her under the chicken house. Second time she was a bit away near the hazelnut bush calling to ask for directions or help. That time she got her wings clipped.
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The ranch roads have been graveled, graded, and rolled. They are quite nice now and the trip from the house to pavement takes only 12 minutes or so rather than 20.
Next step is to offer Dale Creek Road to the County. It now meets their standards and, if accepted, would take residents off the list for required maintenance. Plus the County would snow plow and it would be under County law enforcement. We’ve had increasing break-ins out here what with part-timers, so a law presence might be good.
I’m not sure how I feel about it though. The rural atmosphere would diminish as traffic increases both in amount and speed.
But the whole area has changed so much (too much?) since George and I moved here. Maybe further change is inevitable.
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I haven’t done much with genealogy for too many years. A chance question got me going again one day last week when the family was away (a family field trip to the science museum in Ashland). I started to see if I could find the other two people who had been at my house New Year’s Eve 1948-9, the night George and I spent the morning (1200 to 0500) chasing Cinderella Q. Stump around the radio dial (remember when radios had dials?) … and I fell down the genealogy rabbit hole.
The next morning I was still thinking about genealogy and decided that would be my project for the coming year (?) or so. I need to get all the information I have in order so that anyone checking it after I’m gone can make sense of it.
I decided to start with getting all the information and pictures about George organized and into a notebook. Since I was with him for the last 70+ years of his life, I am the authority.
There is already one genealogist, who calls herself Lois Laine (aka twolaines), who has started to post information about George on line. Her information isn’t always correct. I’ve tried to convince her to let me do the posts about him, but she says she has a right to post any genealogical information she wants. I have no idea who she is.
At any rate, I think I will spend a lot (most) of the coming months organizing and creating a book starting with this picture …
That’s how he looked when I first met him.
P.S. I found the other two party folks … they are both dead. I’m the only one left from that night.
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So … ‘til next week …
Life is full of beauty. Notice it …