Every Memorial Day Weekend I make sure that I visit the graves of my grandfathers, who are both Veterans of the Korean War. Our family was lucky enough that they both came home, but that wasn't the case for my Great Uncle Nelson. He was killed in action in Germany during World War II while giving medical care to his wounded lieutenant. Though I never knew him, it's important to me that he is remembered, that his sacrifice means something to someone. If only every soldier who ever fought for our country could have that...
A pile of goodies arrived in the mail late last week. Lots to keep me occupied for the 9(more) days of rain. [It feels like the rain is never going to stop!] On the bottom are new Moleskine notebooks, one of which is to soon become a gardening/food preservation journal.
I also bought this book yesterday on impulse after seeing a clip on tv about this cat, but the hubby seems to have taken this one over for the time being.
I have been listening to this cover on YouTube constantly for the last week. My husband has gotten to the point where he just says "Again??!?" when he hears the first few notes of the piano. It is amazing. Her voice is amazing. I would give almost anything to be able to sing like that.
I recently remembered how much I love to draw. They're nothing special, no more than simple sketches, but I'm loving the down time to concentrate on nothing other than putting pencil to paper. (This is a sketch of my Grandma Great's house...oh how I love that house.)
I recently found 10 old rolls of film that I had taken around middle school age and a roll of film that my parents took...sometime...perhaps before children? We're not sure. I found a developer online that still develops them and will be sending them off this week. I'm anxiously awaiting seeing what treasures are on those rolls, it feels like opening a time capsule.
I've decided that when we have our own house and I can get chickens, my first flock will have a mix of Buff Orpingtons and Araucana's...just thought you'd like to know. :)
With each new set of seasons (spring/summer and fall/winter) I make new goals for myself. Fun goals to help keep me focused on the season at hand instead of looking too far ahead and missing the beauty around me. They are low key, I don't expect to finish all of them, and I'm sure I'll add to them as the season goes on (and other things get crossed off). What are you planning on doing to enjoy the season?
I so wish that I had a video camera for this. He was absolutely giddy. He would drop and roll in the dirt, then stand up almost looking like he should know better than that, then would get a look that said "forget it, it's spring" and drop and roll again to his heart's content. Sometimes, in the spring we all just need to throw away our inhibitions, kick up our heels and frolic.
April flew by and I found myself on the 30th without a hike under my belt. I didn't want to go. I wanted to have a lazy day at home doing nothing. Nevertheless, I forced myself out the door and into the woods, and once I got there I was certainly glad I did. It's amazing how much has changed in these woods in the last four weeks. I think I said that last month too. It's amazing how much change can happen in such a short amount of time in a place that is becoming so familiar. It seems like I should have seen it all by now, I've hiked in the same (or close to the same) area of woods for the past four months, but each time I go there is something new to discover, a mystery to reveal.
This time around there were flowers and birds, butterflies along the trails, vernal pools to explore, discarded birds nests to inspect, and open water for young duck couples (soon to be duck families??? I'll be watching and hoping!).
In the middle of April my brother and I decided to hit the slopes for our local mountains closing weekend. I have never been spring skiing before, my season usually ends sometime around the end of February...but as it turns out, spring skiing is where it's at. The snow was beautiful, the day was beautiful (think skiing in only sweatshirts), and I'd say at least 70% of the trails were open, and the best part: the mountain was empty. When we started skiing there were around 20 people on the mountain, at midday there were probably around 200...the Wednesday before they sold 2 lift tickets. For a mountain that usually has thousands of skiiers on any given day, it was quite different. We would be skiing and then stop in the middle of the trail and just listen. Complete silence. It was amazing. As soon as we got to the bottom, we'd just hop on a lift and go back to the top again, no waiting in line what-so-ever. We managed to squeeze in somewhere between 15 and 20 runs before our legs felt like they would give out under us. I will most definitely be doing this again next year!
Our computer is finally back and up and running normally (fingers crossed)! I am going to spend a day or two getting all of my programs installed again and getting everything that was in them, back in them, and then I will be back in this space, sharing what I did on my little blog vacation. I can't wait! See you in a few days! :)
