Storms, rabbits and another day on the path least traveled…

Dear Diary Page 71…

Dear Diary..
Just dropping in briefly to share a few thoughts about the day… had a brief break in the weather so decided to venture out with Bree and work on the weather gauges… the first one was the Evapotranspiration gauge..

This gauge is used to simulate evaporation by plants… the two brown pieces of vinyl sticking up from the top are used to prevent birds from setting in the gauge, they are highly flexible and not secured so no danger to the bird….the second gauge was the evaporation pan..

The evap pan is used to simulate evaporation from the ground… the weather service uses the information for irrigation, drought, etc..may finish it tomorrow, weather permitting and have time…. With one eye to the sky watching the weather, checked out a couple of other gauges and then, with Bree in tow, decided to check on the rabbits.. Got near the nest and seen they had “busted loose”… the nest was empty…. 😀

So, forgetting about the sky, kept one eye on Bree and used the other to look for the rabbits… they didn’t stray far and I almost stepped on them ( they are in the center of the picture, near the bottom, just above the long limb lying on the ground)…

They apparently decided that a couple of tufts of grass was enough cover…

So I quietly took Bree back to the house and contemplated the chances of those little bunnies survival at their present location..they were just a few feet from a street and a intersection and in the open…so, since they were out of the nest and on their own and if I were going to move them, my experience on the farm told me to do it now, they will not move very much and should be easy to pick up at this early stage..

Soooooooooooooo, I ventured back out and found three of them, not just two, and as I thought, picking them up was like picking up apples ( a week or so from not they would be on the run long before one would get to them) and I gently put them in the cover of a blue spruce I have near by….

There are plenty of leaves, limbs and vines there and should protect them from the elements and predators until they become more experienced and their other instincts kick in, they would not have stood much of a chance where they were, in the open… 😀

As I sit here typing this, Diary, the second round of weather has arrived, thunder, rain and the weather radio sounding off…another day on the path least traveled.. 😀

Better go, prepare for tomorrow, a day of errands, projects, turning over stones and looking for rainbows, but I shall return one day, Fate be willin’ and the creeks don’t rise..will leave a thought in the form of a poem..

Will to Live…
I think of all things that show a zest
For life, the dandelion beats the rest.
The little winged seeds from its white fluff ball
Settle and grow with no urging at all.
Settle in most unlikely places
And soon there’s a crop of dandelion faces.

They are man’s worst pest, but a child’s playthings.
Sometimes I wish I had light down wings
Like a dandelion seed, and could settle at will
On a velvety lawn or a sun-spread hill,
And live with the eagerness and zest
Of the wanton little dandelion pest.
-MARY TRIPLETT

Storms or no, it is still a wonderful world on the path least traveled..

Nail polish, baby rabbits and limbs galore on the path least traveled….

Dear Diary Page 70…

Hello Diary,
Taking a break from all the activities, so sharing some thoughts while listening to a spring thunderstorm …got some correspondence from the American Cancer Society today, there is a center in Savoy, a town near here, and I have worked with them before (allow the following oranizations the use of my PC on occasion to help map cancer;
Member (since 2005 to present) BOINC Project (University of Berkeley, Calif.); Princess Margaret Cancer Center/World Community Grid, Setihome (astrophysics/astrobiology University of Berkeley, Calif.), POEM@Home (Biology and Medicine, University of Karlsruhe, Germany/protein research).)
and the cancer society inquired as to how I were doing and with March being a awareness Month if I were doing anything… I had not give it thought, ventured into the bathroom and saw a old bottle of pink nail polish and the perverbial light came on… will recycle the nails this weekend (per previous blog) so gave them a coat of pink..

The paint job a little rough but as my Dad, who was a blacksmith as well as a farmer and did some welding, would always say “ it may not be pretty, but it is hell for stout”… it is the thought that counts anyway!… 😀 did manage to venture out this morning and do a few things, one being uncovering the fish pond..put clear visqueen over the leaf netting during the winter, uncover in the spring…

Still lots to do with it but getting it ready for spring and wanted to see if the goldfish made it through the winter, and they did…

Get enough water and deep enough, the goldfish will survive the winter and I help them with the visqueen, not air tight but does help from freezing over solid..yesterday was a better day and Bree and I ventured out to gather sticks…I have one small brush pile near one bird feeder (put down new cloth also, don’t lose seed in the ground)..will tidy it up later when better weather…

And used this years branches to start a new one near the other feeder..

The backyard birds and other creatures use those piles to protect them from predators, especially wild cats that irresponsible people turned loose after the cat went from “cute” kitten to undesirable adult.. Bree usually does well with keeping cats out of the yard, the last one that tried to stand up to Bree ended up in a very tall tree hollering for help, could hear the cat blocks away.. I took Bree indoors (Bree was going to set at the bottom of the tree and wait for the cat to come down) and the cat eventually took off on it’s own..
While picking up limbs I came upon a small pile and what I thought was part of a birds nest that got blown out of a tree..

I reached down to gather up the limbs, moved some of the limbs and two baby rabbits jumped out!.. That wasn’t a bird’s nest but a rabbits nest with some branches over it…they only jumped a few inches, I carefully walked away and watched and the two little rabbits went back into the nest thankfully… probably got one good look at the world outside and seen enough!!… 😀

The storms are moving off but more on the way…thought I would leave a few thoughts before finishing the day, nothing about religion today..:D although I do have three books, the Torah, the Koran and the Bible for reference .. should I decide to critique in greater detail.. 😀

I use to be on international forums till a couple years ago and being the good Marine I am, didn’t go into battle unprepared.. 😀

Bye for now, Diary, it’s on down the path least traveled we go, looking under rocks, looking for rainbows and curious as to what is around the bend… will be back again one day, Fate be willin’ and the creeks don’t rise…

Like Yanni, living life until the last moment on the path least traveled…

Freedom “from” religion on the path least traveled… :D

Dear Diary Page 69…

Hello Diary…

Back again… 😀 The sun did come out for a time so got a few things accomplished outdoors, especially the storm damage cleaned up and ready for the sanitary service…appears to be sunny tomorrow also, so may get a bit more done.. Bree did start to feel better and came out to supervise… 😀

That being said, thought I would take a break from all the activities and check the news online briefly before I finished the day…and every news site I ventured to, I seen where individuals or groups of individuals were using their religion to impose and force their ideology onto others… apparently they need a lesson in civics, though I doubt if they take the time… some interesting quotes from the founding fathers of this country, America..

“”I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.
All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.
I do not mean by this declaration to condemn those who believe otherwise; they have the same right to their belief as I have to mine. But it is necessary to the happiness of man, that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe.”” – Thomas Paine, Founding Father

“”We should begin by setting conscience free. When all men of all religions shall enjoy equal liberty, property, and an equal chance for honors and power we may expect that improvements will be made in the human character and the state of society.”” Founding Father John Adams, letter to Dr. Price, April 8, 1785.

““I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibit the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state.””
~Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, letter to the Baptists of Danbury, Connecticut, 1802

Apparently there are a growing number of people in this country that don’t agree and rapidly becoming everything the founding fathers, and others, came to North America to get away from…
I find it difficult to believe that someone who treasures independence would become shackled to a ideology ( and a myth conjured up in the minds of disgruntled sheep herders/peasants at that, irregardless of what religion it is) and be told what to do, how to do it, who to like, who to not like, whether one can have children or not and many more too numerous to mention.. these same people will complain about a government interfering in their lives… perhaps they need to be told what to do, maybe they are the meek that the book called the Bible talks about… or perhaps for security… here is what Helen Keller says about security..

“”Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”” Helen Keller

Again, it must be terrible to be shackled, to be chained, to a ideology or a theology and the spirit, thought and heart not know “freedom”….it is sad indeed… and like Thomas Paine I do not wish them ill, but all the best (something I doubt they will reciprocate in kind… 😀 )

That being said, I had better go.. finish the day and prepare for tomorrow… there is gardening, yard work, some stones Bree and I haven’t unturned and eagerly to see what is around the bend on the path least traveled… will return again one day, Diary, Fate be willin’ and the creeks don’t rise…

When it comes to the spirit, thoughts and heart on the path least traveled, Andy Williams tells it like it is… 😀

Only “time” knows on the path least traveled..

Dear Diary Page 68…

Hello Diary..

Had high hopes of the weather being pleasant and able to venture outdoors and do some yard work before the next round of weather, but woke up to cloudy, damp and cold morning, so maybe tomorrow… 😀

Probably a good thing as I will not get much help out of Bree today, she has a upset tum (too much Easter ham, I suspect..) and has been following me around and the plop down…. as they say “misery loves company”… 😀

When she settles down and ready to eat something, will give her a 1/4 of a Tums and she will be back on all 8 cylinders in no time…will have to venture out soon and do a bit of clean up.. the storm door on the north side of the house was in a sad state of disrepair and as soon as the weather was better, was going to take my time and take it down and replace it… had some storms come through last evening and Mother Nature decided the time to deal with the door was now and did it much faster than I would have… 😀

Unfortunately it left me with cleaning up the mess… did get a start to gardening though.. got the seed potatoes planted and made squirrel proof….

And in time, will get the rest of the garden up and running…got me a new electric lawn mower, still in the box… 😀

72 years ago this coming November, the month I was born, I made a New Years resolution that I would not garden or do yard work wearing Carhartts and that is one resolution I have never broken… 😀 and all this talk of garden and yard work reminded me of a poem (I did not write) and something my Dad always said “ If I take care of the land, the land will take care of me” and that is something I have always tried to do to the best of my ability…may not succeed helping the planet Earth but I will go to my grave knowing I tried, not everyone can say that… 😀

The poem;

In the corner of his garden, there’s a patch he used to keep
All to himself, to allow nature to creep
There are no trimmed edges
or prim, proper hedges
He left his earth still and alone
Allowed the forces of nature to roam
He said that you don’t always have to be tidy and neat
Just watch the beauty of opportunity grow at your feet
He said just watch the earth produce its own glory
And I watched…and held on to his story
My grandad was right
Add water and light
Behold the sight
There are poppies and flowering weeds
Buttercups and oat coloured reeds
Daisies gingerly lift their heads
Dandelions roar from muddy beds
Purple thistles and strange grasses
Colours that alight and ignite masses
Dark ferns and heathers
Dandelion clock feathers
Birds foot trefoil, a four leafed clover
My grandad’s story is not over
He may have gone, I may have cried
But the beauty he predicted never died
(Author Unknown)

Better go now, Diary, may not garden but still much to do on the path least traveled.. but will return one day, Fate be willin’ and the creeks don’t rise…

Sooooooooooooooo, WHEN, will the gardens grow, Bree get to feeling better, the door get repaired, and what lies ahead on the path least traveled and to add some lines from my poem;

“I’ve donated love, time and money
Ask for nothing in return,
But I see nothing has changed today
Will they ever learn?

I’ve tilled the field and went to war
Helped build cities, towns and much more,
Sowed fields of grain and flowerw with tenderness and love
Has my destiny run it’s course, is there any more?”

Only time knows the answers to those questions, right Enya?

Planning, cooking and farming to a waltz on the path least traveled…

Dear Diary Page 67….

Hello Diary…

Have been busy here with plans, chores and preparing for Easter and yesterday, Wednesday, Bree and I did all three… 😀 first was the chores…started to do the washing and every Wednesday I change the bed… well, this Wednesday, Bree thought her side of the bed did not need changing..

I finally convinced her otherwise, got the laundry going and with the weather somewhat nice at the moment, had ventured outdoors… I have decided to become a “potato farmer”… 😀 I have a couple of empty containers and thought I would try growing potatoes in them…

Small scale farming, I will admit but seeing what I can do… while I was there, ventured over to two old “bins” I has made for growing tomatoes…

I am going to do away with them and in their place put two large containers and plant what the Native Americans call “Three Sisters Garden” which consisted of maze, beans and squash, mine will be sweet corn, green beans (pole type) and zucchini….here is a picture of one taken off the internet..

What all this is about is for me to be able to still garden while dealing with the aging process.. 😀 I do the tomatoes, cucumbers, etc in the same manner using compost…am lot easier to maintain.. While outdoors I recorded the birds serenading Bree and I but when I tried to upload it, no site would accept a recording, sooooooo, I got out the trusty camera and re-recorded it so you will be able to look at a blurred image of my desktop while listening to the birds.. 😀

Moved indoors and decided to prepare the Easter dinner… cooked the ham yesterday, Wednesday….

Along with some cinnamon rolls….

Then finished off everything else this morning, potatoes, green beans, dressing, pasta salad..

Forgot the apple crisp…

Everything is done, mess is cleaned up, put it on the plate, in the micro and dinner is ready… will eat on Saturday instead of Sunday…stopped by the family gravesites and left flowers so all that is left to do is relax and live the day, browsing thru memories of the past, creating new memories today and contemplating what the tomorrow’s may bring…

“We all have our own life to pursue, our own kind of dream to be weaving. And we all have some power to make wishes come true, as long as we keep believing” Louisa May Alcott..

And so it goes on the path least traveled, following the rainbows in the day and the stars at night…will have to go now, Diary, but shall return again one day, Fate be willin’ and the creeks don’t rise…

No spring flowers here as of yet so got Andre Rieu to share some of his… 😀

Spring has arrived on the path least traveled….

Dear Diary Page 66..

Hello Diary,
It has been awhile since I have been here but have been busy…much to do when one starts to charter a new course as one ventures down the path least traveled…it is the first day of spring, although most on the path least traveled already thought it was here, at least until the last few days…. 😀

While doing a walk about to take notes, observed nature getting ready to come to life… first was the little rosebush…

Nearby the clematis were also waking up..

\

As I turned the corner of the house, the lilacs were budding, they say “ when the lilacs bloom, that is when to go mushroom hunting”….

I do my mushroom hunting at the IGA store these days.. 😀 nearby the tulips were making their presence known..

Also the daylilies..

The problem is that for some, it is a bit early because of the above normal weather we have been having and with it being March, could get a hard freeze (got 4 inches of snow on Easter Sunday in 1964…).. Also the migratory birds are stopping in, some will stay and others will move on… two examples are; Eurasion Collard doves and grackles…

And the Northern Flicker (by the utility pole, it is a member of the woodpecker family)…

Soooooooooooo, along with robins, blackbirds, finches and plants, nature has declared spring is here, whether we and the weather agree or not!… 😀 and with spring, one of the first meals I would cook while camping on a open wood fire using a cast iron pot and a homemade tripod was ham and beans…. didn’t use wood or the tripod but awhile back did make some ham and beans with Polish sausage in the cast iron pot and froze some… thawed some out yesterday to bring in spring..

Will share a spring poem with you…

I’m watching the sun come up
With coffee in my hand,
Thoughts passing like a gentle breeze
As I gaze upon the land.

Thinking about my garden
As I watch the squirrels at play,
Will this be a good year?
With nature being kind….day by day..?

Or will it be like last year
A struggle, both day and night,
Hoping for a better day
With every mornings light.

Love is in the air
Carried by a gentle breeze,
In the notes of the birds song
As the melody..gently…drifts through the trees.

So, the time has come to make ready
To plan and to prepare,
Even though it is cool outside
A taste of spring, and love, is in the air!

Or….is it just me…… smile
(Larry “Dutch” Woller 4-7-2008)

Had better go now, the day, and spring, is calling.. will be very busy in the coming days but shall return, don’t know where, don’t know when… Fate be willin’ and the creeks don’t rise..

And as Bree and I venture down the path least traveled, to all creatures we should meet, we would say…

And, of course, Yanni shares the same thoughts about nature..

What does basketball and tornadoes have in common; March Madnesss

Dear Diary Page 65…..

Hello again, Diary..

Chores are finished, a rainy, foggy day and with it being March and weather on the mind, thought I would share a few thoughts about weather events past…

March, 1976 afternoon…

first time was in 1976 and during high school tournament time…the state tournament was being held at the Assembly hall, it were a pleasant day to start though weather threatening… ventured into town briefly after the games started so didn’t have to deal with crowds shopping to get a few things for my family and my mother-in-law, returned home, stopped at my mother-in-laws place, just got there when the fire siren went off..
I ask my neighbor, Hubie, if it were a tornado or a fire and he smiled and said “I do not know” (didn’t have tornado sirens then).. He was out of cigarettes so he talked me into taking him to the Pink House to get a pack and a 6-pack…we pulled into the parking lot and I looked to the west, the sky was dark from Urbana north and from Tolono south, clear inbetween but for one dark streak inbetween, the tornado… I told Hubie to hurry, he forgot his cigarettes but remembered the beer, we rushed to his house, got in the basement, and drank HIS beer and smoked MY cigarettes ( smoked at the time) and waited out the tornado… they say it had lifted up as it approached Ogden so the damage was not quite that severe but for the empty grain bin that fell and just missed the bank…

April 19, 1996..8:50 PM evening

Not March Madness but the college tournaments were still going on, I believe.. was in the house with my wife, had a Midland NOAA weather radio, a scanner and watching Judy Fraser on TV…severe weather was to the west of us and moving in our direction and had all three on and listening…we had a location in the house for a safe place and a backpacked filled with batteries, flashlights, battery powered radio, spare medicine, etc so were ready.. The wind had been blowing, with some rain, when it suddenly got quiet, a few seconds later the wind picked up, then lost power, the last thing I heard Judy say was” there was a touchdown reported at SE Urbana” and we headed for our safe place…again, the tornado had come from the SW…the power had went off before they were able to sound the tornado siren and the backup failed so there were no warning…this time it hit Ogden damaging or destroying about 80% of the town and killed one person..

This time the bin got the bank…. 😀

They have moved the bank and gave up on rebuilding the grain bin…. 😀 I had a cuckoo clock, (that was my mother-in-laws before she passed away) and was working fine until that night has not worked since..

Have taken it to a few clock specialists and the only thing they speculate is the rapid change in pressure caused some damage as cuckoo clocks are very sensitive…so it hangs on the wall where it was that night, the time set at 8:50 PM..

Have three NOAA radios now (each set for a different frequency) and had a little JR by the name of Miss Daisy (she has since passed on)…

She had her own place to take cover and when one of those weather radios would sound off, she would go there and not leave until it was safe to do so…. 😀

Sooooooooooooooooooooooo, here it is, 2016, twenty years later and March Madness time… will history repeat itself, one wonders???… it appears the first chance to find out may come this Tuesday, the 15th.. 😀

Such is the weather on the path least traveled, Diary, will get on with the day but I will return one day, Fate be willin’, the creeks don’t rise and the winds don’t blow me away.. 😀

Maybe we should call the wind “Maria”…..

What do robins, crocus, ants and poetry have in common…spring!

Dear Diary Page 65…..

Hello again, Diary..

Had a busy week here, planning, preparing, dealing with the weather… luck on our wide weather wise, no severe weather and all rain…finishing up the chores today, Friday, will have a somewhat leisurely weekend, playing it by ear…

As for the weather, saw my first robin a few days back…

The numbers are starting to grow along with other types of songbirds and other species who are visiting on their venture north… also saw some crocus coming thru the leaves…

Still have a layer of leaves and hoping I can venture out next week and start in on the yard work, weather permitting…

Went to the kitchen to start a pot of tea, looked on the counter and “horrors”… ants!!!

Robins, crocus, ants…a sure sign that spring is on the way!!.. one more thing that hints of spring coming, time changes this Sunday, get to go on fast time for awhile and set the clock ahead… 😀
Bree has been getting more and more hesitant about getting up on the couch (she joins me there when I watch a bit of tv before retiring for the night), the bed and her perch to watch out the window to keep an eye on the neighborhood…think the aging process may be taking its toll… so I built her some ramps today..

For the bedroom..

The couch…

And her perch…

Those are the three main places that she jumps up to on a daily basis so it should help her…that being said, tasks and chores for the week almost finished, clothes in the dryer still…soooooooooooooo a weekend of listening to it rain while perhaps doing some painting, drawing, modeling, working on my Spanish and so on, that is until Bree wakes up anyway… 😀

And speaking of the dryer, it just buzzed so will sign off now, Diary, but I shall return again one day, Fate be willin’ and the creeks don’t rise….

Might even try writing a poem, perhaps like the one I wrote below, with a little background help from Andre Rieu…. 😀

It’s evening here all is serene
Waiting for the sandman, my love,
Thoughts of you fill my mind and heart
While gazing at stars above.

Trying to find the elusive words
That will allow this mortal to say,
In a thousand ways, that I Love You
And will always do so each and every day.

Thoughts of you are in my mind
My spirit, yea my very heart,
Can’t find all the words I’m looking for
Don’t even know where to start.

So this will have to do, my love
For now it’s the best I can do,
To tell you from the bottom of my heart
How much that I love you!

Our love without end
Through an eternity it will endure,
A love so wonderfully right
Beautiful and pure.

And know this, my beloved
As I did from the very start,
Your love will be locked forever
Inside this country boys heart!

(Penned by the hand guided by the heart of Larry “ Dutch” Woller, 6-24-08)

Rain and more rain and Bree and I doing it our way on the path least traveled…

Dear Diary Page 64..

Hello Diary,

A busy week of tasks, chores, planning a new course and dealing with the weather…. more like the monsoon season I witnessed when I were in Vietnam with heavy rain the next few days and maybe even a thunderstorm….the upside is one doesn’t have to shovel rain…. 😀 …

Bree hit the ground running, bolted out the door to engage in life and ran head on into inclement weather… did what she needed to do on the run and went straight to her “den” she has created under the daybed…

Unlike the groundhog she didn’t see her shadow, doesn’t make predictions, just don’t wake her till spring gets here.. 😀

That being said, thought I would pop in briefly and leave some thoughts for the day before I venture off to do some errands before the weather event arrives on the path least traveled, thoughts I try follow, thoughts like my dream…. so it’s bye for now, Diary, but I shall return again one day, Fate be willin’ and the creeks don’t rise….

“Let good thoughts be your shield and good deeds be your sword….remember what you did today, you may be able to put it to better use tomorrow…. keep a dream in your pocket…… pay no heed to adversity, cynicism, bigotry, self-righteousness, intolerance, as those are the ways of the weak, greedy and narrow minded…..abide by the rules of love and rise up, be yourself, because being larger than life is just the right size and you will never regret it….”

Now, where did I leave that rainbow… 😀

Bree, pudding, nails and change on the path least traveled

Dear Diary Page 63

Hello, Diary..

Took a break from planning and chores and decided to try a pudding cup… checked the fridge and only two left, figured I had better make some more… 😀 it will be what I wish and can make the cups in many ways…. Sooooooooooooooooo, I gathered up 8 1/2 cup Zip-Loc containers plus two spares should they be needed…

Made mark outside the cup for half full, the pudding of choice today was banana cream…

One box will make four but will add other ingredients so will make 8 ( and had enough left over to make two more… )… first put in some vanilla wafers somewhat crushed…

Then mixed up one batch and filled half full…once done, I put in a layer of sweetened, shredded coconut..

The I made the second batch and filled up to the lip where the lid stopped….

Did I then put the lid on?… nooooooooooo I topped the cup off with Cool Whip… 😀

Then I wrapped them in cling wrap and in the fridge.. 10 vanilla wafer, coconut banana cream pudding cups…

Couldn’t do it without my assistant and senior taster though.. 😀

Got that all finished and decided to put off any more planning till tomorrow.. checked out some spring weather instruments to put out later, then I has some me time and worked on my nails, yes I said nails.. I have very brittle nails and break off easily, due to the aging process, etc…three years ago, while working it the gardens, two broke off into the quick and got the fingers infected.. after trying a number of cures that didn’t work, decided on acrylics.. do the nails for three reasons, 1. to protect the fingers and nails 2. I am out of the “box” 3. I refuse to go through life looking like a dirt grubbing Neanderthal…. the doctor at the VA was impressed…. 😀

Like the times, the weather, Bree and I are a changing, so we are adapting, no dinosaurs here… 😀

And so another day (somewhat cloudy and gloomy outdoors) on the path least traveled..just popping in to leave some thoughts before I move on down that path, with little Bree, and see what is around the bend… but will return one day, Diary, Fate be willin’ and the creeks don’t rise..

And, Diary, better take heed to the Seekers, for it is happening here on the path least traveled also… 😀