Enough, I Say!

Inspired by a fellow blogger, Britt-Arnhild, I've decided to declare, "Enough!" I'm done coloring my hair. Oh, you thought this was natural? You would be wrong. I began having it colored about 15 years ago, not to color the gray, but rather to perk it up a bit, try something different. Over the years, it's become all about covering the increasing gray. Now that I'm not working, it's the perfect time to grow it out. I don't have to worry about looking scary while it transitions to...whatever it is. I can tell it's mostly gray around my face. Jerry, my hair guy, tells me there are some places it's white...now that's scary! But the back looks to be still brown. It's inevitable that the time would come to stop the madness of hair dye. After all, I intend to live to at least 105; nobody has brown hair at that age!

So, be prepared. You may not recognize me the next time you see me!

Gobsmacked!

I went to France in September last year with only a few expectations. I did that intentionally because I wanted to be open to whatever manifested during my month in the Lot. I expected to see some beautiful art and see historic places. I expected to have an adventure. Those expectations were certainly met, but as my Brit friends would say, I was totally 'gobsmacked' by the two things that were the highlights of my trip: people and pilgrimage.
I've dedicated several blog posts to pilgrimage...I feel very drawn to walking at least part of the pilgrimage path in France and I absolutely fell in love with Conques, a pilgrimage village in the Aveyron. I think it's safe to say I was 'gobsmacked' by Conques!

The people who became friends during my magical month truly were a gift. My cyber-friend, Laury became a true friend for life. I knew we were kindred souls from our blogs and our emails, but getting to know her has definitely melange'd some real magic in my life. Through Laury I became friends with Jean, Greg, Jean-Luc & Odile, Christiane & Jean-Paul, Josie & Patrick. If someone had told me that I was going to France to make friends, I would have scoffed...'no way...you don't go to France to make friends!" But make friends I did...GOBSMACKED! Laury and I continue to be in contact regularly by email and by phone. She and these others continue to melange magic in my life. It's too soon to share that magic, but let me tease just a bit...if everything falls into place, there is change in the wind.

GOBSMACKED again!

More Green

As promised more greens today. Starting with lawn green, oak tree green, cottonwood green, weeping willow green and weed green...

Moving on to clover green sprinkled with lawn green and punctuated with 'tree by the backdoor' green....

Here we have mint green...why do we think it's this color? These leaves are catalpa green....

Ranging further afield we find 'across the fallow field' green..... and then see this 'thank goodness it's not in my yard illegal thistle' green!

I'm not even going there with this green!

Green

Continuing on the theme of the colors of summer in Iowa, I have to share GREEN with you. When I first moved to this state in 1982, I was absolutely amazed by how green it was. Green in ways I had never seen before. I had lived in California and in Colorado; both have lots of places that are green...forests, meadows, gardens, but never had I seen the variety of greens that paint the Iowa countryside in summer! I was so impressed that I wrote a poem about it; if I can find it, I'll share in another blog post. This green is right by my front door...hostas, daylilies and some kind of vine-y weed. More green coming up in the future.

Colors of Summer

As I think of my favorite things about summer in Iowa, color comes immediately to mind. Even though the 'red sky in the morning' brought the predicted 'sailors take warning' thunderstorms later in the day, this blazing Iowa sunrise took my breath away. There is something positive to be said for waking up at 5am! Mother Nature paints both grand canvases and smaller, more subtle ones this time of year. Iris petals and violet hearts show exquisitely beautiful detail in both vibrant and soft colors...

After a long winter of snow, ice and frozen dull brown earth, I feel blessed by the bounty of beautiful color right in my own front yard.

Ode to Chickens

On Behalf of Chickens

It has come to my attention recently
That there are many folks

Who have trouble treating chickens decently—

They give them kicks, they give them pokes

And are generally hateful.

Chickens, I feel, are magnificent creatures,

They greet the dawn with cackle and crow;

Winged and feathered, they have delicate features

And lay eggs hidden both high and low.

We actually should be grateful.

Think of all those eggs,

Farm-fresh, over-easy, and free.

Think of golden friend chicken legs

Smothered in chicken-y gravy.

That’s a real plateful.

So, next time you’re tempted to badmouth this bird,

Stop and think of your dinners.

Chicken-hating is really absurd,

Chickens are big time winners.

Don’t be hateful; be grateful for your plateful!

Written sometime in the recent past by Moi. To be read with this blog post.

In Honor of Barns

Today I honor barns. Not this barn, though.

Nor this one.....

This is the barn that sits in the place of honor today. Because this barn, as of today, is now part of Laury's 'family' in the Lot. She signs the papers officially making it hers this afternoon...in fact, probably already has as I write this! This beautiful piece of Lotois history seemed destined to belong to the Chatette, and Laury has brought that destiny to reality. It's a magical, almost mystical place; the inside is dusty and dim, but you can feel its stories lurking under the dirt and between its ancient stones. You know the saying...'if only these walls could talk'? If only these stones could speak.... I know that Laury will hear their stories and uncover their secrets! If you want to know more of the barn story, click over to Soar-Dream-France....you won't be disappointed.

Things I Love About Summer

This is post number one of "Things I Love About Summer: An Occasional Post About Summer in Iowa." And yes, those are eggs....real eggs. Now I know you think you buy real eggs at the grocery store. You don't. You buy real eggs like these at the Kent Feed Store in St. Charles or maybe at your local Farmer's Market. Real eggs come in a variety of colors including pale green. Real eggs are also a variety of sizes. Real eggs come from real chickens...the kind that roost in boxes filled with straw and spend their days pecking around a farmyard supplementing their cracked corn feed with bugs and worms. Real chickens eat almost anything including your table scraps. Real chickens cluck and cackle when they lay an egg giving you notice that if you hurry to the barn, you can pluck one out of their nest and it will still be warm. Real chickens hide their real eggs if you let them have free roaming rights...hide them until there are enough to fill the nest at which time this real chicken will settle in and become a brood hen. Before you know it there will be real baby chicks peeping from under the hen's wings.

This photo shows two real eggs and one of those eggs you buy at the supermarket. Can you find the real eggs? When you break them, real eggs are definitely a richer yellow; they may also have a speck of red on the yolk. This indicates that the real chicken was loved by a real rooster and that if these eggs had been left with the hen there may have been additions to the chicken family. I love eating real eggs for breakfast. I love baking with them. Everything tastes better when you make it with eggs like these! And real chickens only lay eggs when the days get warmer and lighter...they are one of the joys of summer!

Loafing Around

My Mother's Day weekend included lots of activities, but also a lot of just loafing around like these cute little bison calves. The big Mama is in charge of the nursery; she keeps a watchful eye on the babies while her sisters graze and relax. And yes, they are taking their siesta on someone's front lawn. Animals have the 'right of way' in Yellowstone! Earlier this day we drove the road towards Norris Junction; Travis had been keeping tabs on a grizzley there feeding on a carcass. Sure enough we spied a huge boar bear across the river. Trav estimated him at around 600 pounds. He was moving south and so did we...to the next pull out where we saw a smaller female bear grubbing around in the copse of trees. We watched as she sat down, sniffed the air and looked across the river. There about a quarter mile away was the male moving fast in her direction! She stood up, turned tail and ran straight towards all of us watching her. While everyone jumped back in their vehicles, she ran across the road about 20 yards in front of us. Becky got some great photos; my little camera even with its great zoom only captured dark spots on the horizon...darn. Quite an exciting encounter even for us veteran bear watchers!

What's Not to Love?

Okay...the weather sucked and there were a couple of other not-so-pleasant issues as I traveled to Montana. But once I got there...what's not to love about these adorable little faces? Made the whole wretched travel experience so worth it! Marley has two teeth with another about to pop through. She babbles away, a mile a minute, in her own little language. I have a feeling once she starts being understandable, she's not gonna stop. She loves music and adores books. One after another, she brings them to you to read, climbs up on your lap and helps turn the pages. Our Mother's Day activities took us to Chico Hot Springs where she sat in her lily pad floater and giggled all morning...she's a water baby, for sure. Parker decided to fish with a branch in the little creek outside the Pine Creek Inn where we had Mother's Day brunch. He's all boy...loves to be outside, wears his Spider Man costume to bed, and has been known to not only wrestle with the dogs, but also with Marley. He better watch out...pay backs can be hell, and I'm certain Marley's going to be one tough little girl! He took his big and little great white sharks to Chico to swim with; he loves all things of the ocean. Parker's best friends are Hawken and Sawyer, but he has a crush on Maya whom he says he's going to marry. He's into videos more than books; we watched Avatar, his favorite, and he couldn't get enough of Sponge Bob Square Pants.

What a great way to spend Mother's Day weekend!

Road Trip Woes

I couldn't have picked worse days to travel to Montana! Going and coming home I drove right into the teeth of major winter storms....in May. My route followed Interstate 90 through South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. That's the only way to get to Gardiner this time of year since the roads through Yellowstone are not completely plowed. And Interstate 90 was where the storms were centered. I ended up laying over a day in Spearfish, SD to avoid driving right into the center of a huge storm. This morning I left Rapid City, SD in a heavy rain/snow mix. Within minutes it changed over to all snow that eventually began accumulating on the road. The next 40 miles were a challenge! I almost pulled off the Interstate once, but soldiered on. Sure enough by the time I got to Wall, it was warm enough (33 degrees) that the snow became rain. I drove in rain all the way home. Not the most pleasant driving conditions for my road trip! But my time in Montana was wonderful....more on that later.

Road Trip!

By the time you read this, I will be on my way to Montana to visit two of my favorite little people! There's nothing I like better than a good road trip that includes people I love at the end of it. Oh yeah, I'll be visiting Travis and Becky, too...it's just had to find a photo that includes everyone. Maybe I can take care of that during my visit! I'll try to blog while I'm away, but no promises. I may be way too busy giving kisses and hugs! You understand, I'm sure.

Spring Surprise

The room darkened. Thick clouds roiled overhead. A mighty wind blew leaves from the trees as if it were November and winter was knocking at the door. A splattering of raindrops dampened the sidewalk. Within minutes the sun shone again in the west. But in the east...a spring surprise. An arc of color shadowed by its faint doublet, complete, so big there was no way to fit it all into one photo. A pot of gold at each end. A reminder of the covenant, of spring, of beauty. All the colors of the rainbow, a gift to receive this day.