Category Archives: bird

Oct18

“Bid Adieu”

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“Bid Adieu”

“Farewell”. “So long”. “Goodbye”. The French say “bid adieu”. In so many words to say, “the hummingbirds went south”. I miss them being just outside my atelier window while I write. They have been gone for a few days. No chance of the hummingbird’s survival here in the winter as every year. Especially this upcoming winter as I hear we are getting incredible amounts of snow in the Midwest. The persimmons and willy worms tell us the same. I hope the hummingbirds survive the current and future tropical storms with their return to Missouri in April or May of next year. Our ferns, lantana, arrowhead plant, and herbs have done well this long summer. This weekend our perennials are back in the basement as some 30’s temperatures were forecasted the northern outskirts of the metro St. Louis region having frost. It is the first time I heard the “F” word being used by the meteorologists this season. A farewell to fair weather.

There are other “goodbyes” taking place these days. The amount of items Dean and I have collected over the years! Since mid-summer we have been giving away and purging for many weekends and hope to finalize before hard winter sets in. I know of two silent auction events this autumn to contribute to. We think vintage stuff is cool. And if we keep some of our stuff much longer, they will be vintage! Books, home decor, old picture frames, hardware, old paperwork. If not giving away to family, friends, or charity, then to the trash or burn pile will these items go. “Sai la vie” is the other French term. “Oh, well!” There is no sense in keeping everything. My hopes are our kids will appreciate these efforts later when Dean and I are gone.

“All goes back to the earth and so I do not desire pride of excess or power, but the contentment made by men who have had little: the fisherman’s silence receiving the river’s grace, the gardener’s musing on rows.” ~ Wendell Berry

I am moving onto a new job in these next few days. I will finish the month with my culinary work at the senior agency I have been with for 3-1/2 years. I started training with another food service company that assists the parochial school at our church parish. Our church is 3 blocks away from our St. Charles home. This is an answer to prayer regarding the wintertime commute dilemma for me with my medical conditions of rheumatoid arthritis and a severe allergy to the cold. I will work about the same number of hours and pay rate but with less food volume and younger clients. Change is good and I embrace this new opportunity with enthusiasm. I will miss some co-workers but have afternoons off to visit the St. Charles and St. Peters Senior Centers from time to time.

Farewell to iced tea and flip-flops for a few months. My herbs came indoors this week. I used the Genovese basil in caprese pasta again and have more to use up this week. Autumn goodies like hot tea, pie, kuchen, soups, and apples being used in various recipes are a part of the menu changes these days. I want to try making this apple butter recipe I found online. Festive weekend outings like a Poe play, the church picnic, and an overnight at a unique boutique hotel in a small Missouri town have given us relaxing fun between chores and jobs. Writing continues to keep me occupied while inside. Year-round, almost daily words invade my brain that necessitate me to write. More recipes, stories, and poems develop for my next book. “Bid adieu” to silence.

“Tell your story.

Shout it. Write it.

Whisper it if you have to. 

But tell it.

Some won’t understand it.

Some will outright reject it.

But many will

thank you for it.

And then the most

magical thing will happen.

One by one, voices will start

whispering, ‘Me, too.’

And your tribe will gather.

And you will never

feel alone again.” ~ L.R. Knost

Sep22

Autumn and Its Fruits

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Autumn and Its Fruits

“Autumn came, with wind and gold.” ~ Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Ahhh! The change! The weather changed! We have had weeks of hot summer temperatures, and little rain to boot. Wondering if autumn is ever coming?! Early morning of August 30 I thought I felt the air change. But if it did it was short lived and back to full blazing summer until now. Today is officially the autumn equinox, and it feels like it! Autumn clothing like jeans and a 3/4-length shirt worn. And the flavors of autumn are on the menu. I am celebrating by preparing a stuffed squash dinner for this evening. My daughter gave me a big-sized homegrown spaghetti squash last month, but it has been too hot to prepare an oven dish. If all goes well with this new recipe, it will be added to my What a Dish Recipes page tomorrow. Dean doesn’t mind me experimenting with our dinner! Shhh! Besides it is another recipe for another book I have in the making.

“Flowers are but colored leaves, fruits but ripe ones. The edible part of most fruits is, as the physiologist says, ‘the parenchyma or fleshy tissue of the leaf,’ of which they are formed.” ~ Henry David Thoreau, Autumnal Tints

Hot tea graced my morning after my swim at the Y pool and a writing lesson with an online literary group. Participants were encouraged to pick a few of our favorite authors to dwell on. Henry David Thoreau is one of mine. Words for poems seem to be on my mind these days. A silly poem using plays on words came out yesterday. Another one is festering. While in my atelier I gaze out the front window and see the ruby-throated hummingbirds are still feeding at our feeders. We could have them with us for another 3 weeks depending on the temperatures of the autumn air. This mild 60’s weather is so perfect for outdoor work and play. Much colder our tiny, feathered friends will move further south. Every week for months Dean has been faithful to make the sugar water, then cleaning and refilling the feeders for our entertaining friends. “To everything there is a season,” the book of Ecclesiastes tells us. The first frost comes soon after the hummingbirds migrate south.

“Perchance amid these groves might arise at last a new school of philosophy or poetry. It lasts all through September.” ~ Henry David Thoreau, Autumnal Tints

Aug30

The Sand, Stones, Shells, and Lighthouses

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The Sand, Stones, Shells, and Lighthouses

Every season asks us to let go of something, and every season asks us to love something new. I think especially during a vacation season. A little book I read a couple of times over the years, Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh has come to mind over this summer. The wife of famous Charles Lindbergh wrote this while staying on a small island for several days, a reprieve from the hustle and bustle of her busy public and private life. Mrs. Lindbergh writes what the island and shells taught her. “Island-precepts … signposts toward another way of living … Simplicity…balance …work… space…time…closeness…life of the spirit, creative life and life of human relationships. A few shells. Island living has been a lens … I must remember to see with island eyes. The shells … must be my island eyes.” I hope to capture these precepts in the days to come after the relaxing during lake views a few days away from my hustle and bustle.

Just a few days away to Lake Michigan presented much needed, new scenery. Dean and I visited several sandy beaches from the northern tip of Indiana into southern Michigan. Beautiful stones of varied colors, some marbled or dotted with granite or other minerals were at one of the beaches. The persistent powerful waves of the lake, its ebb and flow over many seasons make these stones smooth. One particular white one is now my stress release stone for my fingers. I also brought back only two shells as they are rare to find on these well walked beaches. These shells are tiny with one having moss or seaweed attached to it. They have made their new home in our bathroom inside a dish with other shells we collected during previous vacations.

“Everybody needs a seashell in her bathroom to remind her the ocean is her home.” ~ Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees

Dean and I visited the old lighthouse museum in Michigan City, Indiana. We learned about a woman by the name of Harriet Colfax who was the lighthouse keeper in that town for 43 years. She was commissioned by Abraham Lincoln to serve there. What adventures and sleepless nights she endured. It was such a rough life for lighthouse keepers. Miss Colfax remained a single woman all your life, gave her whole life to this commissioned position. Admirable, to say the least. The Big Red Lighthouse in Holland Michigan was a photographic beauty to admire. We spent a good part of a day on the beach nearby and captured a gorgeous sunset. A city park in Holland was beckoning us to bring our lunch to one of its benches. The butterflies fluttered about everywhere. Dean and I relished the beauty of the flowers and foliage along the “yellow brick road” sidewalk. This park is dedicated to L. Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz, whose family had a vacation cottage in this area many years ago. Dean and I want to come back to this area when we have more time to explore and discover. What a lovely five days we had together.

Jun9

Happily-Ever-After Dreams, Maybe For 100 Years

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Happily-Ever-After Dreams, Maybe For 100 Years

I still dream, daydream that is. Where queens rule, and men, well, they take good care to love us queens and princesses just as we are. I still have visions of a backyard writing atelier, some would call it a studio or “She Shed”. Afternoon teas and evening dinners savored on the patio well into nightfall. Alongside would be beautiful flower gardens, a prolific kitchen garden, a beautiful rooster and chickens plucking the unwanted bugs, with time enough to put up the herbs, vegetables, and fruits at harvest as provisions through the winter. We aren’t talking acres and acres, just in my own smalltown backyard, allowing every space to be productive. For someone who had a 1300-square foot screenhouse/greenhouse, you would think a backyard plot would be manageable. Other unforeseeable events and the physical limitations of an autoimmune disorder have almost swallowed my dreams. Those dreams are resurfacing as I witness the inflammation go down in my body when I eat 5 or 6 vegetables a day. Happily-ever-after dreams can come true.

“Though the darkness close, even the night will blossom as the rose.” ~ John Masefield, “Growing Old” poem

In April of this year Roo was reunited with Kanga. Queen Camilla brought to the United States a Roo made especially for Winnie the Pooh’s 100-year anniversary to be reunited with Kanga. As the Smithsonian Museum story goes “During the British royal family’s state visit to the United States this week, Queen Camilla made a detour from the political events and state dinners to visit the New York Public Library, where she attended a literary celebration and quietly accomplished something that has been waiting to happen for nearly 90 years: she reunited Winnie-the-Pooh with a dear friend. The original stuffed animals that inspired A.A. Milne’s beloved books, including Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, and Kanga, have lived in a display case at the library since 1987, after spending decades on a tour of the United States beginning in the 1940s, having originally been given to Milne’s son Christopher Robin as gifts between 1921 and the late 1920s. But one member of the group had been missing since the 1930s: little Roo, Kanga’s baby, lost in an apple orchard and never recovered. Camilla’s gift was a lovingly recreated replica of Roo, crafted by Merrythought, England’s oldest surviving teddy bear manufacturer, using an original Kanga and Roo found in the company’s own archives as a reference.” Fictional characters reunite in happily-ever-after fashion. This isn’t just limited to storybook fables.

Another 100-year old anniversary is the famous Route 66. So many celebrations are taking place along the highway for its centennial year. My husband and I recently viewed the Route 66 display at the Missouri History Museum located in Forest Park. Outside were parked vintage classic cars we loved viewing. In my book Strewn Words in The Stew Volume 1, I wrote a short story called “Two Hungry Hearts And Soup For All”, where the setting of the story is along Route 66 while two college undergrads embark on an adventurous summer social experiment. Parts of the story are based on my true experiences. Much like the characters in the old fable “Stone Soup”, these two main characters are looking for the good in people. Are there still people with heart? You will have to read my story to know what the main characters find out. I see these other happily-ever-after dreams happen around me. Watch out world. More are coming.

May10

Motherly Blessings

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Motherly Blessings

Motherly. Many of us carry motherly traits. We express them by baking cookies or berry crisp, making chocolate rose strawberries, brewing a cup of coffee, or steeping tea for those we love. We wipe the brow of a feverish head or kiss the bandaged knee after a fall on the sidewalk. We tuck in the child laying to rest for a nap or a favorite teddy bear situated on a bed. We sing a lullaby or write a poem. Comfort is conveyed. Those motherlike instincts come out in multiple ways. It is not just the women who are mothers, but also aunties, grandmothers, neighbors, men who are fathers, uncles, grandpas, or simply a kind soul that express this special care and love. It is the toddler mimicking their parent or grandparent in cradling their dolly, doggy, or kitten with a warm embrace. The birds, rabbits, and possums we share the earth with, they show their concern for their offspring and orphaned animals. I marvel at the care we have for other souls, humans and critters. Let us remember the downtrodden, forgotten souls within our reach. You don’t have to look far. Today, gift the mother figures in your life with your prayers, telephone calls, flowers, and trinkets that say “I love you”. Mother Mary, pray for us! Happy Mother’s Day!

Apr16

Life to the Soul

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Life to the Soul

Mother nature has a way of slowing life down, if attention is given to her. In the midst of busy days of culinary work, writing, and book events I stop to breathe and ponder the small creatures in my world. A small bird feeder sets outside my atelier window. As I word process today, the songbirds come savor the seedy suet. Sparrows, finches, and wrens alike share the provisions mostly without a fuss with each other. Last week we had a pair of Eastern bluebirds visit, my first time to witness this species at our in-town feeders. This past weekend while preparing for a book event, Dean found a swallowtail butterfly in our basement. We think a caterpillar morphed into this beautiful butterfly while housed on one of our perennials over the winter. Dean released it to the outdoors as the weather is warming up consistently each day. Our grandsons bring smiles to our faces and warm my soul with flowers. God’s handiwork is to be marveled. It really is the small things that bring life to the soul.

“But now ask the beasts and let them teach you; and the birds of the heavens and let them tell you. Or speak to the earth and let it teach you; and let the fish of the sea declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?” ~ Job 12: 7 – 10

Jun19

This June’s Bipolar Nature

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This June’s Bipolar Nature

What magnificent spring weather we have relished in these past three months in Missouri. In my recollection it has been many years since we have experienced three full months of spring. Typically, in these parts of Missouri, it is a long winter with a rushed four weeks of spring, then right into the heat of summer. According to the weather forecasters, that heat of the summer comes this weekend. With this true spring has come thunderstorms and tornadoes. The weather has a bipolar nature. The damaging winds wreaked havoc in the St. Louis area more than once. The city has not seen such devastation in over 50 years. Recovery is day by day.

Dean and I have a huge, 50 – 60-year-old tulip poplar tree in our backyard which became victim to a pop-up thunderstorm a couple of evenings ago. It lost three medium to big-sized branches which landed between our house and the neighbor church building. Believe me, there are plenty of other branches for its survival. Today, I spent about an hour picking up small branches in the backyard and found a few in the front yard. My injured back only allows so much bending over, and it starts talking to me. I stopped before it started screaming at me. Dean has his various sized saws in use, binding up the large branches cut to 5-foot length as required by our trash company, and the smaller branches going in our lawn refuse totes and lawn bags.

A June respite comes with the mild temperature days. Some resting, meditating, reading, and writing this month. I have to thank God we are safe after each storm. Damaging gutters and roofs can be fixed and clean-up long, but Dean and I are safe and are generally in good health. I facilitated a writers’ workshop in Clarksville, Tennessee earlier this month. The six ladies gleaned much from this workshop where my co-facilitator and I emphasized the importance of observing with all seven senses. Yes, there are seven senses identified now. The traditional five are sight, smell, taste, hearing, touch. The two others are vestibular, associated with movement and balance, and proprioception allows a person to associate one’s own body with space. These last two are related to touch. I will mention there is a spiritual sense, which would make eight senses total for those who are believers.

“A comfortable breezy June morning … The clover is now in its glory. Whole fields are rosed with it, mixed with sorrel, and looking deeper than it is. It makes fields look luxuriant which are really thinly clad. The air is full of its sweet fragrance… These are the clover days.” Henry Thoreau

Thoreau wrote several lines in his journal on June 19, 1852, mentioning many other types of vegetation such as the crops of corn and potatoes, berries on the vines with anticipation of their ripening, even mildew and fungus he writes about. Several birds are included in his journal. He doesn’t miss any of the details and uses all his senses in his writings. Midway in this journal entry Thoreau mentions clover in three sentences and concludes with “the clover days” of June.  I have seen clover growing prolifically this month. The honeybees love clover, which makes for healthy gardens. The bees will come if the chemicals are not used. Folks, keep it organic like in Thoreau’s time. Keep all those senses stimulated. And journal your experiences.

Jun7

Connection

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Connection

Connection, connections. “I got connections”. Many made during the Clarksville Writers’ Conference. I, along with about 100 other ladies and gentlemen listened to words, shared words, made the connection in our minds on next steps as writers, and connected with each other as friends. Many seeds were sown this week for such purposeful, beneficial blooms of the future. The workshop “Seeds For Your Word Gardens” I co-facilitated with Shana Thornton, publisher, author, and historian. We had some terrific writers eager to learn from each other. What an experience! Dean went with. We reserved through Airbnb and had a cozy basement apartment out in the country with deer, wood thrush, and morning and evening fog near the Cumberland River. This foodie and spouse love the local eateries. Found a wonderful Thai place and coffee & tea space. We heard the Nashville Symphony one lovely evening. My husband had some much-needed rest, took some awesome photos (some shared here), and together we met some friendly folks connected to the writers’ conference or this river town. Please join us next year. Take the last train to Clarksville, Tennessee to attend this writer’s or learning-to-be-a-writer conference on June 2 – 5.

“All flourishing is mutual.” ~ Robin Wall Kimmerer

May5

Full-Swing Spring

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Full-Swing Spring

This spring the birds keep singing as the flowers keep blooming at a speed I can’t quite keep up with. Is it my age or did spring come lightning speed this year? The fruit trees and dogwoods have lost their petals weeks ago with the April showers and storms. It is the first week of May and some irises and peonies are already in full bloom. A hummingbird came flying by the last day of April. So, on May Day we welcomed hummingbirds with a filled feeder of sugar water Dean prepared. As spring is amping up, I thought to get my herbs and geraniums planted in pots for the front porch garden. A hard freeze is unlikely by now. I had to put off my gardening project for a few more days for other reasons.

“When one flower blooms, spring awakens everywhere.”~ John O’Donohue

By April 15 we had taxes paid, but I developed a backache that increased in sciatic pain until I could barely walk or sit. Only relief was lying flat on the bed with a heating pad and pillows to elevate my legs. A couple days off from work turned into 10 days. With x-rays, an MRI on my back and hips, and a visit to an orthopedic specialist, the conclusion is I have much arthritis in my back and joints, and two bulging discs. The vertigo returned from tossing and turning while dealing with the pain. A muscle relaxer, anti-inflammatory, physical therapy, and rest were prescribed. My employer didn’t accept my doctor’s note with limited physical activity, so I am now a substitute cook for all St. Charles County locations. I can accept or deny work as my body tells me. I cannot tell you when those bulging disc occurred. Apparently, I am not good at listening to my body. I am determined to be a better listener now and in the future. I have met some new people with this new season in my life, which has been fun.

I finally potted those herbs and geraniums. Tai basil, rosemary, and oregano in one pot. Common sage and pineapple sage in another. And finally, my beloved lemon thyme and English thyme live together in a pot. Ready for my upcoming workshops about baking with lemon-flavored herbs. More on those workshops later. The Italian basil was chewed on so badly that I put it in its own pot away from the other herbs. Whatever insect likes it can eat it to a stub, but please for the love of God, stay off my other herbs.

“I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.” ~ Ruth Stout

Mar30

A Simpler Time

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A Simpler Time

“Blossom by blossom the spring begins.” ~ Algernon Charles Swinburne

Seatherny overcomes the gloomy spring day. The birds chirp despite the gray sky. My heart lightens like the cherry tree blossoms floating with the wind similar to snowflakes. The warmth of the sun and the songbirds remind me it is springtime. I focus on this present moment.

“As cherry blossoms bloom and fall, they whisper to us the wisdom of impermanence, urging us to live fully in the present moment.” ~ Unknown

“Take me back to simpler times when daisies spoke, clouds formed pictures and ladybugs were lucky, when an hour was timeless and everything was new. It’s all still there inside. In crazy times, it makes this dreamer’s heart happy to close my eyes and remember.” ~ Jody Doty

Too many cares from the previous week. Disease, devastation, disappointments, and even death have dominated my thoughts. Today’s Sunday drive to the countryside provides more pleasant present moments to remember for this coming week. The grass isn’t necessarily greener on the other side of the fence, but stepping out of the muck can shed a lighter point of view that doesn’t weigh down my mind and heart. I am ready for a fairytale tea party.

“She wore her yellow sun-bonnet, 

She wore her greenest gown, 

 She turned to the south wind  

And curtsied up and down. 

She turned to the sunlight

And shook her yellow head,

And whispered to her neighbour:

‘Winter is dead.’  ~A. A.Milne