Morning Still Life: Cat and the kitchen table

Neil Gaiman's Journal: Once you've got a lamppost...

via journal.neilgaiman.com

Author Neil Gaiman, his dogs, some neighbors and a lamppost in the woods ... You are never too old for Narnia or make-believe.

Two views from home

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The big storm that hit most of the country this week missed us.  The last of the snow in this picture is hiding in those spots where the trees overhang or shadows linger for most of the day.  This picture was taken during the post storm porch shovel.  Our deck was built by the low bidder about 17 years ago and we do not subject it to more stress than we have to.

New Lamb

At the Air and Space Museum

Susan and the Blackbird

Dogs have entered the room!

 

Yes, We Have Kittens

 

Saturday at the Barn

 

More Signs of Spring

I mentioned the passing bear a while back but he was only one of the cavalcade of wildlife that has come through with the coming of Spring. Since Summer will be hard upon us shortly I thought I would give the rest of the list before I forget:

Tadpoles, swarming in the seep flowing from the barnyard spring.

Box turtles, up from hibernation, inexplicably migrating across Browntown Road in defiance of common sense and passing traffic.

A tom turkey, tail spread like a Thanksgiving card, doing his best to impress the five hens in the upper pasture.

The nesting robin, fixated on a piece of string trapped by the car tire, trying futilely to fly off with it.

Barn swallows, flitting in and out of the rafters, looking for nesting spots while we shear.

The barking of coyotes up on the ridgeline.

A mockingbird perched on Susan's side view mirror raucously dueling with his reflection.

Bumblebees, impossibly heavy, flying anyhow in oddly delicate mating dances.

A heron, high stepping his way down Gooney Creek.

In the evening, the smell of honeysuckle.

Letting sleeping dogs lie

Spring Pasture

We're Watching You!

 

Signs of Spring

I was walking home across the south pasture when I noticed a young black bear about fifty yards away.  He saw me about the same time I saw him   I stopped.  He stopped.  He stood up to get a better look.  I could see just fine from where I was, so I stayed put and stood very still.  He dropped back to all fours and ran further down the little creek bisecting the pasture.  Since he stopped right on the culvert I use to cross the creek, I continued to stay put.  He stood up again, looked me over, and then headed down the creek bed with that loose, lumbering, but amazingly fast stride of a bear in a hurry.

Forty Maxims

I find that I get a number of hits each week from a link to an old post with a list of maxims for living from Father Thomas Hopko. I just recently ran across a blog dedicated to meditations on a shorter version of Father Thomas' list: Forty Maxims, which appears to be a last years' Lenten project from Holy Cross Orthodox Church in Maryland.

Morning with a little mist

The little round objects on the fenceline are the sons' soccer balls.

More on Abba Anthony, Courtesy of Pithless Thoughts

Pithless Thoughts: Curmudgeophan - On Ortho-blogging

ORA ET LABORA: The Thirty-Eight Sayings of St Anthony the Great

ORA ET LABORA: The Thirty-Eight Sayings of St Anthony the Great

Back in June of 2008, following a recommendation from Father Thomas Hopko, I tried to blog about each of the thirty-eight sayings of Abba Anthony. I made it to number four before setting aside the blog for a year. A few people followed the series, short as it was, drawn by the words of the Saint rather than anything I had to say. Over at Ora Et Labora the author responded to to Father Thomas' challenge by taking the wiser course of posting all thirty-eight sayings without comment. Go take a look.

Nation Shudders At Large Block Of Uninterrupted Text | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Nation Shudders At Large Block Of Uninterrupted Text | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Comes under the heading "Too true to be really funny."

Sheep and doves

While taking younger son to school this morning we heard a story on West Virginia Public Radio about a business that provides doves for release at funerals. I turned to younger son and said' "When I die, please, do not do a dove release." He said, "No way, but I might do a sheep release."