Rain and a groundhog

The trees, grass, and shrubs are incredibly green right now.

One

Rain, rain, rain. That’s what we’ve had nearly all day Thursday and part of the day Wednesday. As I write this Thursday night, it’s supposed to last until Friday morning. I don’t know how many inches we’ve gotten here at the house—we don’t have a rain gauge—but some areas were supposed to get up to four inches.

Two

A critter got into the radishes planted in the uncovered portion of the raised bed garden this week. I’m surprised it took this long.

Larry found critter footprints on the raised bed and on pipe he’s using to put in a watering system (more on that next week).

Apparently, it’s a groundhog. We saw one in the backyard Thursday, munching away on the grass and clover. I think he’s cute. Larry does not.

No, I didn’t get a picture. But if he sticks around, I may get another chance.

Three

Speaking of radishes, I apparently didn’t thin them soon enough and/or enough period, and they couldn’t grow. Lesson learned. Many more lessons to come, I’m sure.

Four

I’m reading a very good book called Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation, by Parker J. Palmer.

My minister recommended Palmer’s books to me, so I ordered this one and started reading it Thursday.

I am already marking passages and realizing that this is one of those books I will want to read again and again.

It’s raising questions in me that I want to write about. Sometimes I figure things out best when I write.

Five

Tonight I’ll take photos for the newspaper at the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life event in Rustburg, our county seat. I’ll try to get photos of the opening walks for survivors and caregivers and candid photos of participants.

The Relay is certainly a good cause. So many people’s lives are affected by cancer in some way.

Take care, dear readers, and have a wonderful weekend!

Out the window

I’m sorry I missed posting on Wednesday this week.

I’ve been having some stomach problems, and on Monday I had to work part of the day from home because I felt so bad. Late nights working and lots to do for the newspaper, plus spring allergies, have me worn out.

I was off Thursday and am also off from the newspaper today, so I have been enjoying some restful time.

One

Happy May! May is one of my favorite months, and not just because my birthday comes along. Spring seems to fully settle in during May, and the trees are showing off their new green in earnest. I feel surrounded by new life.

Chase Bird watching.

Two

Chase Bird sometimes perches on top of the sofa in the living room and looks out the large window facing the backyard. I’m sure he sees things that I don’t.

I had to sneak to get the above photo of him. I “casually” walked over to the table and got out the camera without saying anything to him. I snapped off a few before he turned to look at me, wearing an expression of, “Again? Pictures again?”

A view of the backyard. The dogwoods are in front of Larry's shop and a tool shed. The raised bed garden is on on the right.

Three

Out the window, the yard is looking so pretty. I took the photos of the dogwoods and spirea over the past weekend.

We had a bit of a stumbling block as soon as the mowing season started. The riding lawn mower wouldn’t start, and it took the repair shop about two weeks to fix it.

The push mower isn’t the best, so for a little while, a yard was looking a little raggedy.

I would love to make more of the backyard into gardening areas, partly to cut down on the parts that need mowing.

A closer look at the dogwoods silhouetted against the other trees.

Spirea in the backyard.

Four

I met my minister for coffee this morning and we had a nice talk. I haven’t been attending church—for a variety of reasons, mostly from inertia.

But he’s so good about taking time to discuss spiritual and theological questions with me and is accepting of my doubts. He also knows about my OCD and how that has affected my spiritual life.

I want to get back to church, though. It helps me to focus on what’s important to me.

Five

Last weekend I finished the latest Nevada Barr book, Destroyer Angel, featuring her character, Anna Pigeon. Anna works for the National Park Service, and most of Barr’s books take place in a national park.

The books are not formulaic, though. They’re well written, and Anna is a well-rounded character who loves animals and nature. I find that I have a lot in common with her.

Barr’s books are wonderful. She’s the only author I’ve read whose writing about frightening situations has made me scared to turn the page.

Have you read anything good lately?

The happy and the sad

One

  Larry discovered a bird’s nest in the window of a small outbuilding beside his shop. He hasn’t seen a bird around it, but he was careful not to touch it. I was careful, too, when I snapped this photo of it.
  Look how much work went into building the nest.

 

(c) Tina Fariss Barbour

 

Two

  Lynchburg is a small city on the James River in Central Virginia. It’s located about 20 miles north of Altavista.
  I lived and worked in Lynchburg for years. When I was a child living on a farm, when we said, “We’re going to town,” it was Lynchburg we were talking about. That’s where we did our main shopping, saw the doctor, etc.

 

Three

  Recently, out of 189 metropolitan areas in the U.S., Lynchburg was ranked number 37 in well-being.
  To celebrate, the city of Lynchburg made a video of Lynchburg people dancing to Pharrell Williams’ song “Happy.” The video is HERE. It’s a lot of fun to watch. And the song itself is such a happy one.

 

Four
  Have you ever read an obituary or heard a eulogy about someone you didn’t know and thought, Wow, I would have liked to have known that person?
  I had that experience this week. I attended a memorial service for the mother of a co-worker. She died last week of cancer at the age of 55. I had met her but didn’t know her.
  The service was a sad but still joyful celebration of a life of a woman who, by all counts, was a true blessing to others.
  I wish I’d known her.

 

Five

  This is a photo of Chase Bird “polishing” the sofa table in the living room.
  When we took in Chase as a stray over six years ago, we discovered that his front paws had been declawed. He rubs and rubs the furniture like he’s scratching it, but he’s really polishing it.
  He’s our sweet boy.

(c) Tina Fariss Barbour