September 30, 2005

Interesting day. It rained last night but don't know how much because I've been letting the rain gauge be a mosquito nursery for the past couple of months and it is now worthless as a measuring tool. I'll spend tomorrow trimming, and maybe emptying a few things, and generally getting the pond set for the Winter.

Fed the animals but spent most of the day around my house. I turned 53 today and was just checking it out before taking the plunge back into life (science based caution, not paranoia). Mowed my yard, the pond perimeter and the berm - all systems a-okay; read part of a book - peak performance; had several conversations - all went well. It seems to fit perfectly and does feel great. "Gotta blast."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The First Cold Weather

A interestingly strange day. It was cold enough that I wore a sweater and jacket and actually did feel more energetic, but all of the animals starting with my own, were full of energy. I noticed that the horses were getting rowdy when I fed last night and by this morning that was in full swing. The young stallions were fighting with each other and didn't really want to stop. (Something odd about them. Until yesterday I was almost positive that there were seven of them in the pen, I even mentioned it on the blog. Then yesterday morning they surrounded me and I noticed that there are six, so I counted them about 20 more times and sure enough, there are six. Have I lost a complete horse in only one month? That kind of worries me and I'll have to ask the owners when I see them). But anyway, before I could get to the horses the cats and dog were clinging to me. I fed them and played with them for a while, and that point usually go on with my work but not today. I usually see them and talk to them or pet them during the day but today they wouldn't let go. All of them followed me everywhere. I had a different project planned since it was cool but they were going to follow the truck if I left the house. I ended up cleaning the barn while they watched. Even the horses that have until now only tolerated my petting them, demanded it today. That's all okay, but just different. Their fighting does kind of bother me. Those are huge animals. I stay out of their way but they could seriously damage each other, or escape. It's obvious that they are bored and taking it out on each other (junior high school gym class), and that they just need a purpose and the discipline required for the pursuit of one to take the rough edges off of their social behavior. Do I really want to accept such responsibility? A part of me hates watching the carefully cultivated, responsibility-free, experiment in hedonistic narcissism that has been my life go down the drain. The days of "me" all day long already ended when the dog moved in. She requires so much attention that I rarely even think about myself at all any more. These horses and cats would take even that away.

Our sister is here for a few days and when she, Camron and I were walking around the pond I heard him tell her, "ah, you're lucky you came this time because we've cleaned the entire house. You won't even recognize it it's so clean. The outside is trashed out, but not the inside." My first thought was there goes any hope of running the "Really, we live this way." routine on her, and my second thought was remembering when a friend recently told me that my family is obsessed with cleanliness, especially regarding our interaction with each other. It's true that if one of us is visiting, the houses have to be spotless and everything in the best order possible. And it's also true that although we just were in the yard playing with the dog, I didn't invite my sister in the house, and won't this time because, - I just can't. If she needs to go in a house there are plenty of others around, the clean ones next door for example. But anyway, maybe he did have some kind of point. Why should the 6 year old know the importance (and to whom) of housecleaning issues?

September 28, 2005

There was a light wind this morning and the temperature was in the low 90's by noon. Then a cold front started pushing in from the North and the winds have been intense all afternoon. At this time it is only the front of the front and the temperature hasn't dropped a lot, but some. According to weather the temperature will be in the low 70's tomorrow with the possibility of precipitation tonight through tomorrow.

I haven't mowed the pond in two weeks and it looks ragged right now but I will get it done by the weekend.

Speaking of ragged, that is how the bird looks. It also looks like a different Bittern. Smaller. Maybe it was just tightened up against the wind.

My sister hasn't felt well and I try to visit her nearly every day. Last night she was completely bothered that she didn't have the energy to finish cleaning her house and she said, "it will take longer but we will get it finished because Camron is going to help me by cleaning his room." I was sitting in the hallway floor while I talked to her and when she said that, watched Camron go into the room that he uses, hop on the bed and turn on the television. We kept talking and I kept sitting there so I glanced at him occasionally. He never did anything but watch television. After about 15 minutes he turned off the television, got off of the bed, came back to her bedroom and said, "the room is spotless Grandma. You could eat off of the floor." Even though I didn't tell her what I saw, she knew, and we both laughed for a long time. He just looked confused and went off to do another good deed.

The Bittern  

looks 

Windblown, and,  

The pond surface is a debris field. 

September 27, 2005

I keep talking about the heat as though it is something unusual, but it isn't. Summer does come in a day, but the weather during the Fall here is almost completely unpredictable. The earliest snow I can remember is October 16, 1979, and we still had 80 degree weather through December that year. Strange and often horribly oppressive weather (high winds, sandstorms, droughts, floods, blistering heat, freezing cold - often all in the same day) is the standard in this region, and that, plus the fact that there is absolutely no reason to come here, are what have kept the area from becoming a major tourist destination.

 

 

 

 

A girl and her toys