There was a knock at the door the other evening. Our neighbor spotted a small screech owl in the trees and called me out to try to capture him. (in camera, that is) He allowed us to get near enough to do just that. Then slowly floated down into the hollow below.
let the little things amaze you; that's how you'll remember life is a miracle. - alexandra wolf
Sometime mid-summer we were visited by a handful of wild turkeys who wandered across the back yard, into the neighbors', and on off down the side of the mountain not to be seen again. Knowing how weird enthusiastic I am about unexpected wildlife sightings, when Aidan spotted them coming down the drive today he told me I better get my camera. I don't generally need to be told twice so I grabbed it and got out front in time to see the last one waddle past.
Turning on my heel I beelined through the house again. When I got out the back door there was a gobble….overhead. Not a turkey in sight. Another gobble. Then I looked up to see several crepey necked fowl peeking over the gutter.
Coming around the house I saw the last one climbing the garage roof…. where he joined the other ten.
A few flew into the trees. The rest crept along the shingles til one inspired the rest with a noble, if less than graceful, flight over the trees towards the base flight line. Pretty sure they didn't reach the runway. In fact gravity likely landed them in the farm pasture at the bottom of the hill.
It was impressive none the less.
…or (Little) Girls' Night Out. We like to take a couple kids at a time out for special fun events that might be more relevant to just them – a particular movie or concert or whatever. When their daddy was out of town Alannah and I took the little girls to the fall festival at the nature center. Brendan was on the fence and decided against going in the end.
The nature center is one place that always feels like home to me. In all our freakishly mobile married life we have never lived in the same place a second time.
Ever.
Never, ever.
I can't really stress enough how different it is to be back in a place you once lived very long ago. Many things have changed. The nature center has not. We came every month when the older boys took classes here. It is something of a comfort to me to be here again. A rare concrete link to that other life.
On this night there was cotton candy and game playing and wildlife shows until well after dark. Very exciting when you are 8. Or 48. : )
Yesterday morning began like most mornings do. Coffee was brewed, breakfast made, lunches packed, and people sent off to work and summer football practice. I was giving myself the celebratory pat on the back (you know, go Self! They are fed. They are packed. They are launched into their day and it isn't even 8am!) when I thought I saw something move back behind the trees. The thing I thought I saw was a pony. There is no logical reason for this other than once upon a very long time ago we had such a pony. That pony never scaled the side of a mountain however. And that didn't happen yesterday either.
Nope.
Much as it may have looked like a pony bum for a minute there, it was not a pony in my yard. It was a…..
MOOSE!
oh.my.word.
It was a gosh honest truth, real live MOOSE and it was just meandering around the yard nibbling on trees til it got full and decided right there would be a perfect place to….
…sit a spell.
In my YARD, y'all.
And there he sat for the better part of the morning, with us periodically peeking out at him til he up and wandered off, all casual like. As if this sort of thing just happens.
Our neighbors said they spot one every once in a blue moon and generally they don't cause trouble. We watched from a safe distance just the same. Moose are prey, not predators, but they can reach speeds of 35mph when they are defending their young or during mating season (in the fall) or say, when the neighbor Corgi tries to herd them and they get super annoyed.
They sound like a cow which we didn't know until later in the evening when he returned and made actual cow sounds. Our neighbor texted me from her porch. We couldn't see at first in the dark until she said he was over eating our apple tree. This enlightened us to two things. First, we have an apple tree. Who knew? Second, we probably shouldn't count on a lot of apples.
He has made one more appearance so far, chasing the aforementioned Corgi back to her porch early this morning. To be fair she sorta had it coming. By all accounts this doesn't happen very often so this may be our only opportunity to see such a magnificent creature so close. Still, I will probably look over to the hillside in the mornings just in case…
“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As longs as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.” Anne Frank
Go outside. Get your feet wet. All is as it should be. : )
Yep. No words can explain the pure joy of pulling food right off the plant. No words necessary to explain their reaction….
After which the who-can-catch-a-berry-by-mouth game commenced.
May I present the winner….
This has been home-away-from-home during my absence in this space lately. Mornings spent reading with steaming mugs nearby. Days spent hiking. Evenings full of exploring all the nooks and crannies of the eco-friendly farm which surrounded us.
Our host was a fascinating man with a heart for adventure. Quintessentially British, he sported a mop of curly untamed ginger hair and wore a button down shirt with rolled sleeves, glasses, and belted trousers tucked into gum boots. He welcomed our crew enthusiastically and showed the children all the possibilities waiting for them on the farm – bikes, badminton, ponds, and a real treehouse. He explained why the farm was a proper nature reserve and not just a vacay spot. He then showed us where the best hiking was and where to find the ponies I had my heart set on seeing.
Before embarking on the guest farm adventure he had spent many years in Africa as a safari guide. We swapped stories of travel and military life. He had fond memories of US Marines who shared music and cola and conversation in a far away place in the days before computers and ipods. His feet are planted on English soil again but he said Dartmoor was his wild. I get that. I need my wild too and we found it on this trip for sure, thanks to his maps and inside tips.
(just looking – we didn't eat them)
And now it's midnight and the day starts early here. I hope yours are also full of fresh air and wet boots.
Ecologically minded media would have us think that the cultivation and preservation of natural resources are newly discovered concerns. Visiting the grounds of old manor houses indicates otherwise. In fact in the days before the state came on board, it was private collectors who painstakingly preserved rare bird and butterfly specimens or coaxed rare blooms in conservatories. Many of these collections remain in homes now in the care of the National Trust in Britain.
I loved how this child darted between the trees just as I focused and ended up looking like a little dryad. : )
And back out into the sun. Do you see that sun? Oh how we soaked it up. Having lived further south I don't think we noticed the change of seasons happening so definitely as we do now. The days are distinctly brighter and longer right after spring's official beginning per the calendar, just as they become distinctly darker and shorter in short order come fall. We are so glad to see blue skies again when we have them.
"Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour." – John Boswell
After a full and bustling December we are settling into a somewhat quieter January. Breath in, breathe out. It is a little window before things pick up again and I have learned to gather moments where they can be found. This week we have brought home into clear focus again, taking into account the things scheduled in coming weeks and months and balancing those with a steady rhythm in this house and a generous dose of idle hours. We need those too.
Starry Sky Journal 