Rabbits Have an Odd Way Courting. . . . .

  The rabbits to the left have been the inspiration for many a story as we sit around the fire pit. They have kept us entertained for about two weeks. Most of what we made up cannot be shared here. Let's just say we had great laughs at the rabbit's sexual expense.
  It is the mating season in the country for most birds and animals. Rabbits mate every chance they get and as often as possible. As we watched these two rabbits in action, the one liners were flying. 
  It all started with one rabbit and a small patch of barren ground where he or she would come every day just before sundown and roll around in the dirt. I have never seen such pure contentment on a rabbit's face as I did when he scratched his back. His routine seldom varied. He would jump up in the air, flip over and hit the dusting spot with his back. He loved it. He would wiggle and squirm around giving himself the best back massage a rabbit could possibly have. Evidently, this rabbit could not keep a secret because before we knew it he was joined by another rabbit. At first, rabbit number one, we named him 'Fred' was not all that happy to share his pile of dust. The second rabbit we named 'Ethel', was eager to get her back scratched and did not care what Fred thought. As Ethel walked up close to the 'scratching area', Fred took off hopping in her direction at a full run; they jumped at each other in mid air about a foot off the ground. Bam!!! Ethel hit Fred in the nose. Then he jumped on her back and sort of barked. The next thing we saw was Fred running away. To my surprise Ethel sat there pondering what had just happened. Fred stopped running on the other side of my flower bed and peeped around the corner at Ethel. She did not move for five minutes. Fred flipped around and went in search of his dust pile down by the pond.

Ethel decided to move around a little bit. Before we knew it she was at the pond with Fred. I think they were having the "wham, bam thank you mam" discussion.

                       

Whatever the deal was they worked out,seems to please both rabbits. They have been doing this nightly routine for the past two weeks. I cannot get over the fact Ethel punches Fred in the nose. It is without a doubt one of the funniest things I have witnessed in nature. Once again, it shows God has a wonderful sense of humor.  I expect a birth announcement any day. 

Watching the Storm Pass Through...

  It is a beautiful night in Missouri if you like watching a storm roll across heaven. 
  The winds are blowing from 15 to 40 miles an hour. The clouds are racing through the sky in different stages of gray, white, black with a smidge of blue thrown in the mix.
  The usual night sounds are silent and absent. There is no sight or sign of a rabbit, a squirrel or a tree frog. The birds are in their trees waiting to see what happens. The hummingbirds are the only signs of life I see outside. They continue to eat and fight much like the storm.
  People north of us are supposed to get hammered tonight. The storms struck earlier this afternoon and destroyed a mobile home court and dozens of homes. It looks like round two is a couple hours away from them. It is horrible to think what may happen to innocent people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time.
                

 
 In the photo, my road seems to be heading for trouble or running fast in the opposite direction, depending on your point of view. I can't go inside yet. I am fascinated by how fast the view is changing. It is a different sky in a matter of seconds. The trees are twisting, bowing becoming tangled in each others limbs much like first time lovers. A small space of time elapses as the direction of the storm has second thoughts. I probably should go inside. The night is taking its place on stage. It is hard to see what is going on in the heavens. For a brief moment it feels like no mans land.


  


  

  

Melodi, Lacey and Rowan's Visit

   The photo to the left was taken the morning Lacey, Melodi and Rowan left Missouri to fly back to Oregon. It was Lacey's birthday.  It was also bittersweet and a time of last minute kisses and hugs.  The girls flew home  for four days to celebrate all our April birthdays.  Arriving late Friday night and leaving around noon on Monday. We met them at Tami's home in Centralia.  All of us stayed there until late Sunday afternoon when the girls, Tommy and I  returned to our home for the night. The next day Tommy took them to the airport in St. Louis.  It was the best birthday present ever.  

   Rowan took up with all of us, just like she saw us everyday.  She especially likes Jacy. . . the 'baby whisperer'.  All babies love Jacy. She has a special quiet manner that allows children to be at ease in her presence.   

  For us it  was a weekend of grubby clothes, old stories and new stories in the making.  It was a weekend of belly laughs and pictures.  Unfortunately, Jacy and Logan had colds and did not feel all that great.  I wanted everyone to feel good and have a wonderful time. They had fun but still felt lousy. However, Rowan was feeling fine and ready to play with her Missouri relatives.  Rowan  has eleven teeth.  Her hair is a light shade of blond at times.  Her eyes are an indefinite shade of blue. They look brown to me however I have seen the blue flash through at times. Rowan is unique. She is the happiest baby I have ever seen. It is a happiness that comes from within.  When she was born, she did not cry. She looked around, sized up her little world and the people in it.  I do believe she liked what she saw.

   

 Rowan loves to eat. It takes her an hour to eat her meals. She feeds herself and enjoys every bite.  She doesn't eat baby food.  It is the real stuff for Mz. Rowan. Oatmeal, bananas, water, strawberries diced up. She enjoys her meals and is very creative in the ways she feeds herself. Some food goes to the dog, some to the cat. I ate part of a strawberry. We had a good ole messy time.

                                                                                          

                                                                                                             Aunt Tami got her share of hugs and kisses.  Every time someone put Rowan down, someone else was ready and waiting to hold her and get some good loving.                                                                                                                    

Rowan started walking on her first birthday. Lacey and Melodi call her walk the, "drunk baby walk".  I think she walks like I did after I had my knee surgery. . . only it looks a lot better on Rowan than it did me. I even had purple socks that would not skid or slip on the floors.

Tommy and I bought Rowan the "Frozen" tent for Christmas. She was in and out of that all the time. She loves the movie, "Frozen". When it comes on she points her finger and is elated when she hears the words "let it go"

Soon it was time to go to our home and get ready for their departure the next day. We had such a good time.

 

In this photo I  brought some of Jacy and Logan's old toys for Rowan to play with. I couldn't wait to see what she would do with a doll almost as big as her.  She looked at the doll and looked a little more then Rowan stuck a little finger in her eye and patted her on the head and walked away. 

Papa got some lovin' from baby girl.

My baby girl's little girl. The circle of life is small and goes by so fast.

Some photos are priceless- - - to me this is such a photo

The next morning was Lacey's birthday. She has been such a blessing in our lives. I hope all her birthday wishes come true.

Tommy took them to the airport in St. Louis, soon they were gone.We talk all the time, and they share videos with us. Sunday morning the girls were cooking breakfast and the refrigerator door was open, Rowan took all her food out of ' her' drawer and climbed in the drawer and sat down. The Mom's to the rescue as another day of motherhood began. . . to be continued.

The Sights and Sounds of Spring. . .

  I think Spring is finally here. It took awhile for her arrival to be solidified. Like every other season in Missouri she always has the option to  leave at a moments notice. Years ago I remember we had a six inch snow on April 11, 1978. It was gone by late the next day as warm air moved back into our state. Seasons in Missouri slip in and out like an old used grease gun.

  Last night was beautiful. We went outside about 7 p.m. and put our fire pit to work. We sat in our swings, that desperately need new cushions, and listened to the sounds of the night. The tree frogs and the frogs at the pond were in rare form. They were still singing when we returned to the house a couple of hours later. 

  We were listening for the turkeys to fly up and roost. They usually gobble at that time. This gives a hunter the advantage the next morning to know what area they are in. On a quiet night for about three weeks the sound of turkeys is part of the nightly routine. They are ready to mate. Unfortunately for some turkeys, gun season arrives on Monday and will last for three weeks. They had better not play the field looking for a better looking hen. They need hurry up and mate with the first hen they see before they are some person's fried turkey nuggets. This is Tommy's favorite season to hunt. Thank God I do not have to go! We have been down that road together and it was not a pretty sight to see. He will never make a hunter out of me and I will never make a reader out of him. That works for both of us.

  As we sat there in the swing, we heard about six or seven gobblers fly up to rest for the night. As the turkeys became quiet the cardinals took over the chorus. They were close to where we sat and very loud. I watched a pair of Cardinals for about five minutes. The male was a vivid red and singing unusually loud. The female of the pair, more muted in color, walked as far away from him as she could get without flying off. In my imagination she was ticked off at her mate and had no desire to hear what he had to say. He was aggravated at her for not being enthralled with his song. Both flew off in the same direction. I guess they worked it out. 

  Our hummingbirds are late this year. I have only had a couple of scouts visit our feeders. I bought new feeders and I am not positive they like these feeders. I would put my old feeders out if only I could remember where I put them. I think they are in my corner of the garage---but I wouldn't swear to it. 

   We fed the squirrels all winter and never once saw them eat at the corn cob feeders Tommy had made earlier in the summer.  We enjoyed them nibbling on the corn cobs never leaving a piece of corn uneaten. Every morning we replaced the old cobs with new ones to be eaten while we weren't looking. Last night three of them romped through the trees almost as if they were trapeze artists, near our swing. It seemed like the big maple tree by the swing leafed out almost overnight. That is their favorite place to play.

   We have several rabbits, who are enjoying eating my Day Lilly leaves. One popped out of the leaves and was as surprised to see us as we were to see him.

   Just as the fire was dying down and we were in the process of going inside, we heard two coyotes howl in the distance. We no longer hear coyotes as much as we used to. In 1978, they howled so close to the house it sounded like we were about to be attacked by Indians. Farmers have thinned the population of coyotes down to about a third of what we used to have. They had to do this to protect their livestock and new born calves. It was a nice surprise to hear them again.

   All in all it was a delightful Spring night. Nature's playlist is beautiful and long. I never tire hearing the night sounds of life out in the middle of nowhere.

   

Karma Found Me...

 

    Mama and I lived with my grandparents, Harry and Fayetta Poe, for the first eleven years of my life. I was one lucky little girl to be raised in such a loving home. 
    My mother started working at the Deena factory in Arlington when I was a few months old. Mamamae took care of me while Mama worked. 
   My grandmother was a very quiet woman. She kept her thoughts to herself. Believe it or not, I have a tenancy to do the same thing. I am very comfortable to not say any thing aloud for several hours.  I have a wonderful imagination and I do not need people to entertain me. There is always something interesting going on in my mind. 
   In that regard, Mamamae and I were very compatible and had an easy going relationship.  The only time my grandmother got under my skin was when she sang.  She was so tone deaf it was unbelievable. She didn't sing much at home but she let it rip at church. She sang loud, with gusto and much enthusiasm.  She was singing to the Lord so it should not have mattered to me but it did. I was a little girl and I knew nothing about 'praising the Lord'.  All I wanted was for Mamamae to not sing so loud.  As soon as praise and worship started, I began to scoot down the pew to get as far away from her as I could. She hurt my ears. It never worked. I scooted right smack into Mama. My only recourse was to get on the other side of Mama and try to go to sleep.  That worked until I was too old to sleep in church.
   As I got older, I was allowed to sit with other kids my age. This didn't usually last long for me because at church and in school I was a talker. I made up for the lost time of quietness at home and I was in trouble all the time for talking.  'Conduct' was my worst grade on my report cards.
   Mamamae never did learn to carry a tune. She has been gone a long time and I would give anything to hear her sing "Just a Closer Walk With Thee", off key and as loud as she wanted to sing.  I miss her every day.  
  However, Mamamae has been justified and I have to admit Karma  did her up right. When Karma found me, it bit me  in the butt when it comes to singing or playing musical instruments.  And to make matters worse, I married into a musical family. Everyone sings and plays all sorts of musical instruments. They are amazing. My grandchildren have learned to play guitar within the past couple of months. I was there when they started learning and it baffled me. It was so easy for them. Tommy, Tami, Jacy and Logan play and sing all the time. I love it. I very quietly sing along so no one can hear me. As far as playing a musical instrument, well let's just say 'it is not gonna happen'.  I used to know the cord G7. It hurt my fingers and that is as far as I progressed. Tommy would love for me to play and sing but he can't help but laugh when I try. And I do sing at times. Loud and proud as everyone around me finds something else to do.  I bet Mamamae is looking down from Heaven and laughing as I do my off key notes. Yep!!  Karma is a witch for sure. 
   
   

Mamamae, Granddaddy and me--not singing:)

       

When Tommy and I Hang Photos...

   Yesterday I decided to start Spring cleaning. At my home that means rearranging every thing in most of the house. After a long almost non existent winter, I needed a change. It doesn't take much to brighten a room. I usually hang new photos on a couple of walls. Perhaps a change of curtains, or a new splash of paint here and a dab of paint there, accompanied by a million other small things to give our home a pick me up after a long gray winter.  This is a  ritual I have done since the first year of our marriage. Why it comes as a surprise to Tommy I will never know, but it does every year.  This year it is more of a surprise because I really need his help in every area.  He is more than willing to help me and for that I am delighted. However, he has his own way of doing things and ideas where things should be placed. He lives here so that is only fair, until he changes my plan.  For 47 years I have, as a rule, placed things where I wanted them.  I think my record is about to be broken this year. It was also broken once about forty years ago.

     Back then I always did my rearranging while Tommy was at work. It did not make him any difference what I did as long as I was happy with the finished project. Wherever we lived we had a cute apartment,  duplex or home always a mixture of a few new things and many, many found treasures.

      Finally, we settled down. We bought a home.  He no longer worked day shift. Now he was working 3-11 at the Nuclear Plant.  I decided to do my rearranging while Tommy was at work. When I finished rearranging our living room I turned out the lights except for the one in the bathroom and went to bed.  He did not know that I had rearranged everything. Nor could he see that I had moved the love seat against the north wall and was using it as a room divider. It was right in his path he usually took to get to the rest of the house when he came home at night.  I forgot to leave him a note in the kitchen.  All was fine until he got home and fell over the love seat as he tried to go to bed. He simply moved the love seat back to where it was located originally. He quietly came to bed and did not say anything. 

   When I woke up at 5 a.m. I was shocked to see the love seat moved.  I moved it back to where I wanted it. It made our living room look cozy. The girls woke up and could have cared less where the love seat was placed. They caught the bus and went to school.  About noon Tommy woke up. We drank coffee and talked about everything but the love seat. I was waiting for him to say something. He was waiting to see what I was going to say about the whole ordeal. Neither of us mentioned the love seat. When he got home from work that night, he didn't fall over the couch but he did slide it back against the wall. This went on for 3 days until I asked him why he didn't like the 'new look'.   His only reply was, " I just don't like it. It is in my way."  However, not to be out done, I did find a set of shelves that worked as a room divider. We compromised and life was fine until forty years later when I needed his help hanging pictures. . . a lot of pictures.

    Now I must be fair to Tommy on this matter.  He wants 'things' done the right way, as a rule.  Me???  I want the end project to look right but I am not as 'particular' about how I reach the end.  To me the bigger the nail the easier it is hang.  When I rearrange the photos later, I just find something that will cover the nail holes. Tommy found this appalling.  When we stripped the walls of photos and he saw what our walls looked like he said  and I quote, 'it looks more like a dart board than sheet rock". I can live with a 'dart board' as long as no one else can see where the 'darts' are located.

   And so it began.  We pulled out nails, puttied holes, sanded, and then painted.  All I wanted to do was hang photos of  the people we love and the places we have been.  I have to admit, it does look nice and it only took three days to do a one day project.  However, everything is level, no little holes show.  We are retired and time does not matter to us. So I would say it is a success.  Next we are moving furniture and I can not do a lot in that area.  I know what I want and Tommy told me yesterday, "Not to worry, he has a plan." I cringed just a little on the inside.  I looked at the walls and said, "Great!!!  So do I!!!  And so the adventure begins again.
                                           
                                               

   

What are the Chances of This Happening????

  The photo to the left is my favorite picture of Mama and Daddy. Mama is in a nursing home because she has Alzheimer's. Daddy was wonderful to Mama when she was sick, and I will leave our story right there.

   The blog I am writing today has to do with this photo. It is the absolute truth and has two families completely baffled.

   Monday Tommy and I went to town to run errands, pay a bill and I needed to enlarge a few photos for framing.  The above photo was one to be enlarged. As usual, I needed help in this area. The young lady who helped us had the patience of a saint and the best sense of humor. She made our hour long excursion a pleasure. We laughed and talked as I messed up things and she fixed them. Finally, she took over and did it herself. 

  When she enlarged the above photo, she looked at it for a long time.I told her the story about the photo and then I placed it in the pile of photos we were accumulating. After we made a few more reproductions, the young woman asked if she could see the photo of my parents again. I gave it to her. I watched her face while she studied the photo. Finally she said, "You are not going to believe this, but we have this exact photo laying on our mantel. No one knows these people or how we got the photo. Since we do genealogy we left it out in hopes someday we would find out where the picture came from and why we have it."

  I was shocked to say the least. We talked and traded information. She called her mother and asked her questions. We still do not have the connection. A few minutes later we enlarged a photo of Mama and Daddy, probably taken after he came home from the war. She took the photo and said, "That's the man. I have seen photos of him before."

 I gave her as much information as I could on the spur of the moment. There is a span of fifty years between those two photos. I gave her copies of them. Maybe she is the key to a large part of my past. Most people know their life story. I don't. I have bits and pieces and at times chunks of my life. It just does not all gel together. There a big hole and I would love to know the true story.

  I know I have a half brother somewhere. I want and need to meet him. I am not sure how the meeting would go. I long for the chance to see. I would love to know if I have any nieces or nephews. Who knows one of them may be left handed, have curly hair and green eyes. I would be delighted. They would all be grown and have children of their own. Oh the possibilities,if I only knew the whole story. I would like for him to meet my children and husband. I would like to know if he is anything like Daddy. I know I am.

  I am taking a DNA test next week. It is supposed to be able to tell if I have any half siblings. Believe it or not, that is what I want for my birthday. It is in April and the results should be back by then. 

  Closure that is what I want. The truth and closure. And if I find more family to love that would be wonderful.