Walking to Vote

  I live only a mile and a half from the township hall. Perfect length to walk to vote. The day was gorgeous! The last of the cloud cover was breaking up. A Mackeral Sky like this signals change, and that is what is predicted- the whole week is supposed to be nice.

Here's another view with a tree for contrast.

The light and shadows on the cemetery creek made it look really nice.

A female cardinal was playing hide and seek in the branches.

And a little green caterpillar was taking a tour of this flat discarded can. I don't know what it will turn into.

I was #340 to vote in my precinct. The lines were the longest I've ever seen here. Saw several neighbors. The clouds were completely gone by the time I walked home.

In other news: I have started that other big house project. I'll show you tomorrow. That took the bulk of my afternoon. But I did manage to write 139 words in Dead Mule Swamp Singer. Not much, I know, but better than doing nothing.

See How's the Cemetery Creek?

Wissahickon Hike

 
Today was my last day in Philadelphia, and we filled it to bursting with events. In the morning, the girls participated in the state quarterfinals for Mock Trail, which is like "future lawyers of America." They won their first round, but lost the second, so they are done. Both of them are just glad it's over for the season. It takes a lot of time.

David took Marie and me just slightly north of town to Wissahickon Valley Park where we hiked 6+ miles. This was really wonderful- real trails, hills, rocks, several creeks, lots of interesting bridges, statues (of course), and historic buildings. We did most of the length of the park on one side of the creek, but there were lots of other trails. One could hike there for several days without repeating a route (although you can't camp there).

Here is one view up the creek.

And a look up at one of the soaring road bridges from a very old section of trail with a decorative rock wall.



There were a few little waterfalls. This is a pretty one.



This is the Glen Fern House, built in 1747.



At one of the road crossings, the trail goes through this portal and climbs up a set of winding stairs to the top of the next hill.



Sunlight on moss,



and a cardinal at the Environmental Education Center.



It was colder today, but still mighty pleasant, especially with the sun shining. As he did the other day, Dave picked us up at the end so we only had to walk one direction. He basically played chauffeur all day, but he says he doesn't mind.

After that, we all quick ate and changed and went to a wonderful concert in which Rachel sang. I'll tell you more about that another day. We are all beat, but it's been grand.

I have to leave in the morning. Sad face.

[Just a comment- this blog grew out of the times when I had to search for one tiny good thing to make each day worth continuing on. Now there are many days when the wonderfulness is pretty nearly non-stop. I can't say I mind it a bit.]

Wissahickon Valley Park, Orange Trail plus some short trails at the Environmental Center, 6+ miles

See Rows of Rows

Common Critters that Make Me Smile

 
Just enjoy a couple of critters today. I've been busy.

A lovely male cardinal- always cheerful



And I'm s total sucker for pictures of little bunny rabbits.



In other news: I worked on North Country Quest all morning, worked on the writer's event all afternoon, had writer's group tonight and then went grocery shopping on my way home.

	See Bread and a Bunny
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Alabama Wildlife -1

 
Loretta and I spent the morning doing errands, but then we headed out to try to find a wildlife adventure. We had marginal success, but are going to try again tomorrow. My best picture of the day is a white egret soaring over the Tennessee River.



I can crop that so you'll see the bird better, but I liked the shot with the clouds too.



This is a crummy picture, but there's no (safe) way to get it better. This is white pelicans and cormorants sitting on the rocks in the Tennessee River below the bridge. Had to take it through the railing at 50 mph.



Just a mockingbird, but they are pretty, and I seldom see one in Michigan, although it's not unheard of.



While we're doing common birds, here's a cardinal. But I loved how he looked sitting in the white clover.



Funniest wildlife of the day- a stuffed fox in the lodge at Joe Wheeler State Park. The jaunty look for Christmas, I guess.



Now we've arrived at the location we were trying to find: Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. Sadly, the visitor center is closed on Monday and we didn't know that. But we're planning to go back tomorrow. Nevertheless, it was not a wasted drive. We found a short trail along Flint Creek (which runs into the Tennessee River).



These turtles were pretty far away, so the picture is poor. I'll try harder to get good pictures if I see them tomorrow, because this is a new species for me! These are eastern river cooters, Pseudemys concinna concinna. Since it's new to me, it's obviously my favorite wildlife sighting of the day.



I also saw a red wasp that I couldn't get a picture of.

We had a great time! Got in the car to head home just as a downpour let loose. It didn't last too long, but the timing was good for us. Wonderful, wonderful day!

	See Mockingbird
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Red, Pearl, and Blue

 
Today was a lovely day in more ways than one. The temperature made it up to 52 degrees. Shorts! Took a nice walk around my kingdom after recuperating from work.

And I solved the formatting problem for the ebook files! O frabjous joy!

Here's today's red. A Cardinal.



The sunrise was pearly. It was foggy and frosty and misty. The picture doesn't do it justice.



Tried for a picture of a blue jay. That would have given me blue. What I got was a picture of a tangle of empty branches. Par for the course. Then I saw a little bird on a branch far away. No clue what it was till I blew up the picture on the computer. It's the bluebird! Of course at that distance with the back lighting you can't see the blue, and his chest is russet anyway, but that's what it is, so it counts for blue!



I was despairing of having the ebooks formatted by March 31. Suddenly, things are looking much better. Back to work!

	See First Bluebird of 2009 was on March 15
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White Out

 
You knew it wouldn't last, right. I had to come back to the snow. The wind actually let up for a while this afternoon and I went out for a snowshoe jaunt. White was the theme, and I decided to bring you some white trees.

Here's the white birch.



Followed by the clump of white pines my trail goes through.



And I hope you appreciate this one. I had to walk extra, off my trail, to bring you the white aspen.



After that we have to lose the theme and just switch to the color. Here is the white cemetery.



But the afternoon ended with a bright cardinal in all the whiteness. Of course the camera wouldn't focus through the falling snow. But it was so bright, I spotted this huge red dot out the window and quick slipped into Om's shoes and ran out with no coat to try to catch him.



(I have to snowblow the driveway at about 11:30 so I can be pretty sure I'll be able to get back in after work. I'm really looking forward to that, but I'll live. The good news is that the snowblower is working well this year, thanks to some repairs.)

	See White Birch is Brown See My Kingdom (for the white pines in sunset) See What Happened to the White Aspen
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At the Bird Feeder

 
The best things to happen today happened at the bird feeder. Now we are having a real storm. The squirrel seems to have hunkered down, and the birdies sure took advantage of it.

The little junco seems to be asking the cardinal if he can share.

The answer is, YES.



A downy woodpecker showed up too. And the blue jay is usually nearby. That's his tail hanging down.



Don't forget to share my blog somewhere and send me proof of same through a link or screenshot for entries in the contest. You have 7 more days!

	See Tweaking the Bird Feeder
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Mrs. C in the Sun

 
Best thing today- Mrs. Cardinal enjoying a brief ray of sunshine.

	See Mr. Red
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Houston, We Have Soup!

 
Where this blog post ends up is in the soup pot, but it's going around the bend to get there. Here we are ending with turkey noodle soup.



Where this starts is with the water. The water we still don't have. But maybe we have someone coming to look at it tomorrow. If I can get the driveway clear, and if they get around to it.

What I really want to talk about is my attitude toward running water. Running water in a creek is nice. Running water in the house is nice (ok, when it runs out of the faucet on command, not out of broken heating pipes or cracked toilet bowls or drips from the ceiling below the upstairs bath). People are pretty much appalled that I don't consider it much of an emergency that we haven't had water for six days now. What will be the emergency is the cost to get it working again. Dealing with water not from a faucet, not so much.

You may wonder why I feel that way. The list of reasons is long.

I grew up in a house that had running water from a cistern. That water was conserved like gold. We could use it for washing and flushing the toilet (with country rules "if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down"). There was no bathtub or shower. My parents took sponge baths in front of the sink, and I bathed in a tin tub till I got too big. For drinking, we carried pails of water from the barn where we pumped it by hand.

When I was maybe 11, the pump in the barn broke. Dad didn't want to pay to have it fixed, so we carried jugs of drinking water from town until I was 14. On her way home from work every day, Mom would fill a jug or two when she picked me up from school. When I was 14, Mom paid to have the well water piped into the house and a shower installed. Oh yes, and a water heater that was on all the time. Before that, if you wanted hot water you heated it on the stove or for a serious enough project, like baths or laundry or canning food, the gas water heater could be lit. But you had to remember to do it a good hour before you wanted the hot water.

For 22 years of life with Om we spent anywhere from four to six weeks of every summer on the road leading bicycle trips. I got to ride on a few, but I was usually the driver of the support vehicle (first a trailer and later a converted bus). The support person did all the cooking for the group. The cooking happened in a custom kitchen area of those vehicles. It had a burner/grill unit, storage, work space and water jugs. Every day, I filled the jugs. Actually, the trailer had a water tank for a while, but it had to be filled every day. Out of this kitchen, I produced three meals a day for anywhere from a dozen to 54 people. And did the cleanup. Can you say water conservation?

Then there is backpacking. Every drop of water you drink or cook with has to be collected, treated or boiled. Water to wash with is easier, but you have to go to it, it's not conveniently located in a nearby sink. You also have to lug water with you. Water is heavy. 8.35 pounds to the gallon, to be precise. Trust me, you don't want to add too much water to your pack weight.

Right now, there are two of us in the house. We have jugs filled with clean water for cooking. We have a large handy snow pile just outside the door, big pans, and a stove that works. We're flushing once a day. (TMI? Just being thorough in explanation.)

Ready? We're almost back to the soup. Last Tuesday, I took the turkey carcass out of the freezer and boiled it down, but didn't get the rest of the meat pulled off the bones. The whole pot went in the fridge. Wednesday, after work and after I had done some other chores, I pulled it out thinking I'd finish the soup project. Then I said to myself, "What are you thinking? You have no water and you're going to get four pans greasy and cover yourself in turkey grease to your elbows. Just wait until there is easy water again."

However, it's way past Wednesday, and I sure didn't want that stock to go bad. That would be a pretty big waste. So, today, I finished the soup, melted an extra pan of snow and washed all the dishes.

Don't misunderstand me, I won't mind a bit when water appears in a stream just from turning a handle. But it's not a crisis to acquire it in other ways.

Just for fun, here were some of today's visitors, a pair of cardinals, chickadees, and a nuthatch. There were also juncos and a downy woodpecker. They were all willing to share, except Mrs. Cardinal. She would peck at anyone who came near when she was on the feeder.

	See Thankful for Water
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