A Second Look--March 30, 2016

The goldfinch are changing from their dull winter colors to their bright summer colors .

Changes

Spring is the season with the most dramatic changes as the world emerges from its dullness. Yesterday, I was surprised by one of these changes. There was a brightly colored goldfinch on the feeder. Both the males and females have been a muted, yellow-gray all winter, but yesterday I saw the brilliant yellow color that they are so well known for. (I guess the males are sprucing up to attract the females.)

Changes have been very much on my mind recently after a visit with my mother in a nursing home. During my visit, I spent many hours every day with her and observed a lot of things.  I saw people whose bodies and, sometimes, minds were wearing out. Basic everyday functions that I took for granted, most residents needed help with. This makes a nursing home a difficult place to visit for many including me. The most difficult part of all of this was imagining myself reaching this point some day besides the obvious grieving for losses my mother suffers.

Ward pushing my mother on a walking
path they have. Another positive.

But after a little time, I started to see past the problems and started to see the people underneath their aging bodies. And they were not all a miserable bunch. I saw some with new found contentment as they no longer had to worry about how they were going to care for themselves. I saw others who found out that they liked certain foods that they thought they didn't like. I also saw some who were very happy with the social aspect of things and were present at every activity. And yet another with dementia who forgot she liked to smoke. In other words, many of the residents had found the positive in the changes that had brought them there.

But even more than realizing that one can be happy anywhere, I was comforted to know that the basic personality of someone still shines through from the beginning of life to the end. There was a man who were unable to speak, but had on clothes from his favorite sports team every day. There were some who noticed every detail in the room and others who only saw what was in front of them. There were some who were quiet and others who were quite talkative. All things they did before. My favorite story about this is the sense of humor that one woman still has.

My mother's roommate, Elsie,  is 98 years old and has never been married. While she is bedridden, she still has a very good mind and sense of humor. One evening one of the staff sat down and talked with her for a while and as she was leaving said, "Now, Elsie, if you need anything, just let me know." To which Elsie said with a twinkle, "Well, it certainly won't be a man!" That comment has made me smile for days.

While my mind continues to sort out both the global and personal issues associated with aging and end of life, I am starting to come to understand that although the changes can be quite dramatic, underneath them all, it's just another phase of a person's life.

Throwback Thursday--Where does the water come from?

I think I'm still a bit confused about the difference between spigot and faucet. However the good news is that currently none of them are dripping. :)

Here is my attempt from a couple of years ago to understand the difference.
_________________________________________________________________________________

MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2013

I Was Wondering...Spigot vs. Faucet

What is the difference between a spigot and a faucet?

In my last Thankful Sunday post, I said I was thankful for the cold water that came out of the faucet at the house I was visiting. Well, that's what I said, but not the first time I wrote it. The first time, I said that I was thankful for the cold water that came out of the spigot. I wasn't sure what to say, but I was tired and just chose one. Now that I have a little time, I thought I would figure out what was what.

And once again, I'm confused because they are synonyms of each other. Both spigot and faucet refer to atap (another synonym) or a valve that controls the flow of liquid into something. You can have a tap in anything from a cask to a water pipe. I never thought about it, but that is where the phrase "tap water" comes from that refers to water coming straight from the faucet/spigot/tap.

However, there are some US regional variations in usage. In the south, spigot is more commonly used while faucet is more commonly used in the north. Also, some use spigot to mean a tap outside and one that is more utilitarian while faucet is used for a tap inside that is fancier.

So there you have it. Use either one you want and you will be okay. After all of this talk about water, I'm thirsty. I'm going to have a drink of tap water from the faucet after I wash my hands from the spigot in the bathroom. :)

What word do you use, and do you use different words for a tap in different situations?

Want to know more?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tap_%28valve%29
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/faucet

A Second Look--March 23, 2016

Spring officially started on Sunday, but not before winter had one last fling. It snowed on Saturday night and while the snow was pretty intense at times, there was no accumulation because most of it melted when it hit the warm ground. The first daffodil bloomed this week along with a couple of buds on the peach tree. My yard seems a little slow in its spring growth compared to some others around, but it's getting there and that is making me very happy. 

Here are a few things I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

Peach tree buds

Maple tree blooms, Can you say allergies?

The first daffodil bloom. There have been a few others since then.

I have seen three new calves so far in the field behind me.

Moon and Jupiter. I don't have a good enough camera to see much, but that is a gibbous moon and the little white dot is Jupiter.

Spring, summer, winter, or fall, the downy woodpecker is a faithful visitor to the feeder.

Adventurous Eating

I am not an adventurous eater. While I wouldn't call myself a picky eater because I like a lot of different things, I don't venture out of my comfort zone very often to try new things. Especially if they contain one or more ingredients that I don't like. But last night I did.

Caviar  (Photo source)

Ward and I went to a dinner at a friend's house. We thought we were going to a casual open house, but as it turns out we went to a traditional Russian birthday dinner for our friend. I say traditional, but I'm not sure. When I was in the Russian club in college, our traditional dinner was borscht and a doughnut. This was a little different. There were 30 people there and there were more dishes than there were people. We sat down to a beautifully spread table with copious choices, many of which, we weren't sure what they were. The mostly Russian crowd tried to help us as we were handed one dish after another. There were many kinds of sushi, beet dishes, salads, pate, scalloped potatoes, beef and mushrooms, meat and cheese platters, and fish, fish, fish. Everywhere you look, another fish dish. And did I mention caviar?

Ward and I and the couple of other uneducated eaters, sampled this and that until we were getting pretty full. Then one of the informed diners said that this was only the cold course--like hors d'oeuvres. The hot course was still to come. What?!! Our eyes bugged out of our head and got almost as big as our stomachs were at that point. If we'd known earlier, we would have paced ourselves a little better. But more steaming dishes of salmon, chicken, beef (tongue), pork, and vegetables came out of the kitchen to fill our plates. I had to pass on some of this because I only had so much room. However, Ward was enjoying it all.  He leaned over at one point and said that this reminded him of when we were in Japan. (That's a story for another day.)

Then the food slowed down. We wondered if there would be a dessert. We thought maybe when there was this much food in the main meal, they don't have a dessert. However, later, several kinds of cake, fruits and chocolates came out. And during the whole evening, there were many toasts made to the birthday host, who was running around coordinating everything. (Remarkably, the host put almost all of this together herself. She said that shopping for it took the longest.)

So when the evening was over, I was still walking around astonished because I couldn't imagine how someone puts together a meal like that in an average size kitchen.  I was also pleased with myself for going out of my comfort zone and trying so many new things especially since I don't like fish.  But the lure to try caviar for the first time was all the motivation I needed. I've had it now, so you can sign me up for the "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous", but you better do it quick, because I didn't like it. Too fishy. :)

(I wish that I had gotten some pictures because each dish was beautifully served, but whipping out a camera at someone's dinner table seemed rude.)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

 St. Patrick's Day This and That

Irish dancers in St. Patrick's Day Parade, Washington, D. C.

I usually don't do a lot to observe St. Patrick's Day except wear green--a habit that started in elementary school days to avoid being pinched. If you didn't wear green, you were fair game. I wondered how that crazy tradition got started and found out that, most likely, it was started by Irish immigrants in this country a couple hundred years ago. Supposedly, wearing green made you invisible to mischievous leprechauns who would pinch you if they could see you. A pinch from someone reminded you to be aware that a leprechaun could sneak up on you at any time.

However, it wasn't until last year that I learned about wearing orange on St. Patrick's Day. Apparently, you wear green if you are Catholic and orange if you are Protestant. A friend, whose mother is Irish, said that she was always insistent that they wear orange instead of green on St. Patrick's Day. I think that detail was lost on most of us in this country or at least me.

Shamrocks (white clover)

I learned another new thing this St. Patrick's Day--what a shamrock is. Sarah, my special buddy, gave me a shamrock plant for St. Patrick's Day. It was in a green pot from a store and labeled as a shamrock. However, it looked just like white clover to me and was not at all like my image of a shamrock. But I was surprised when I looked into it. While there is disagreement among the Irish about which variety of clover is a shamrock, it is a clover plant. Yellow clover is what most agreed on with white clover coming in second. I have a white clover plant. I'm not sure if I'm going to let it join the rest of the clover in my yard or bring it inside. I may make it a house plant.

St. Paddy's day in New Orleans ( Photo source)

And while I usually don't do a lot on St. Patrick's Day (not green beer drinker or corned beef eater), I have been to a few parades. This was especially a big event when we lived in New Orleans. The fun part about a St. Patrick's Day parade there was they threw vegetables from the floats to make an Irish stew. That means that along with the beads, they threw cabbages, carrots, potatoes and onions. We usually took them home and did just that--made a stew.

We've been to one parade here and while it was enjoyable, it didn't quite live up to the vegetable throwing in New Orleans.

I've been thinking about St. Patrick's Day more than normal this year because I found out I'm half Irish--DNA speaking that is. As a curiosity, I had my DNA tested by Ancestry. com and found out that I am 48% Irish. I knew that there was some Irish background, but didn't realize how much. That may be because it was only recently, through the same avenues, I got a new grandfather. Meaning birth certificates don't always represent what's really going on. It's a long story.

So as I go and figure out what green thing I'm going to wear to work, I hope you have a Happy St. Patrick's Day however big or small you chose to celebrate it.

A Second Look--March 17, 2016

It rained most of last week which limited my exploration time for a Second Look. So I looked mostly around the house between showers. I found more crocus blooming, but no daffodils yet. I had a surprise when I looked out my front door yesterday and saw that one of the peris japonica bushes was in bloom. It is about a month ahead of schedule.

Otherwise, the bird activity has picked up again. For 4 days, we saw almost no activity around the feeders. I'm not sure what was going on (my theory was that there were extra hawks in the area), but the birds are slowly coming back. I thought all of the juncos had gone because they are a winter bird for us, but I've seen a few the last couple of days.

Here are some things I saw this week

 during a Second Look.

Crocus

Pieris japonica

Bluebird, male

Dark-eyed junco

Cardinal, female

Sunrise Sunday morning. 

Today...

Today I'm going to put my geese* in a row, and
then let things happen as they may. 

I like to have a plan. I like to know what is going to happen and how I can best use my time and efforts with it. But you know what happens to best laid plans...**  When that happens, I am going to just go with the flow*** and not get stressed about it. Because try as I might, there's only so much that is under my control.

*The phrase is actually, "Get you ducks in a row," but I didn't have any pictures of ducks, so I said geese. And the rest of my family can't tell the difference between a duck and a goose, so maybe it doesn't really matter. I wondered where the phrase came from, and as with most of these sayings, there are several ideas. The first is a mother duck getting her ducklings in a row behind her. Another says that it is getting bowling duckpins in a row for the next ball.

**I tried to remember what came next after, "Best laid plans..." but I couldn't. Turns out the whole phrase is "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry," and comes from a Robert Burns poem, To a Mouse, written in 1786.

***Another wording of this is "Go with the tide".

Photo by Theo.

Thankful Sunday--March 13, 2016

I am thankful for a clean freezer.

Yesterday we defrosted and cleaned our freezer.  Luckily, our freezer doesn't accumulate frost very fast because we've been meaning to get around to this for a couple of years. Even though the freezer is not full, we did find a few good surprises--like some flour I had forgotten about. And the important part of the whole process is we put the freezer up on rollers. Now when we need to get behind it or have better access to the circuit box, it's just an easy roll to move the freezer out of the way.

So for a clean, easily movable freezer, and another job that can be crossed off the list, I am thankful.

Throwback Thursday--a self reminder

I used to do these Today posts fairly often as inspiration for myself. I realized as I looked through them, I miss them. Maybe I will start them again.

Today, I have a lot of different moving parts to my day, with many specific things that need to be accomplished. I could just start working in a frenzy and burn out before I'm done, or I can get a plan and use the "Slow and steady wins the race" method. I think I'll make this post a screen saver to help me remember that.
________________________________________________________________________________

TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2013

Today...

Today I am going to be organized

 and not run around in circles.

Some days are more productive than others and it usually involves being organized and having a plan. I have a plan, so I am not going to get dizzy trying to get things done today.

A Second Look--March 9, 2016

We've had the full range of spring weather this week from snow to temperatures in the 70's. The landscape is still mostly brown with spots of green here and there. Because of the warm weather and a new set of eyes, I especially enjoyed the Second Look this week. I did it with my reading buddy, Kimmy. Kimmy is a special needs girl, who lives next door, and comes over most days to read with me. Her household is oriented much more to the inside and electronics, so Kimmy is very cautious of the outside world. However, she was a very willing student as we walked around the yard and discovered things.

Here are a few things we saw this week 

during a Second Look.

We had about an inch of snow that was melted by the next day as the temperatures warmed up.

With the warm weather, Kimmy and I decided to take a walk around the yard. We started around the house looking for flowers. We found this crocus...

...and this pansy. This is one I planted last fall.

Then we looked at acorns and talked about how squirrels and other animals eat them. We also looked at the oak trees they come from. We have read several books about squirrels, so she could relate to this.

Also, we had just read a book the had pebbles as part of the story. This was a new word for her, so we went in search of pebbles. We found several around the base of a tree. We also found more acorns, eaten walnuts, and sweet gum balls. We looked at the size, shape and texture of each and where they came from, and then we made a collection. We found these things all around the yard, so it was fun for her to identify them again when she saw them.

One of the places we found eaten walnuts, was in the hollow of a tree. We talked about protection during the winter for animals, probably squirrels.

We also have evidence of deer all over the yard and we went in search of this. We started with the ubiquitous footprints.

We also looked at plants they had eaten. We compared the pointed tops to the flat tops to tell what the deer had been nibbling on. In addition, we looked at the different kinds of poop from deer--boy poop-more "log" like, girl poop-more pebble like. In fact, she used her new word and first called it pebbles. (No poop pictures this week. You're welcome.)

We watched the cows eat. For a while, she didn't believe there were cows behind our houses. That's what happens if you never look out the window or go outside.

We found a couple of clumps of snowdrops in the "wild" part of the yard. We compared buds and open flowers and looked inside the drooping blossom. I was running out of time, so we ended our walk for the day.

The next day after our books, she wanted to go on a walk again. She lead this one as she went looking for things we had seen the day before. The first thing we found were these white crocus.

We went along, looking at various plant and animal evidence when she asked about Wally and Theo's old tree house. She was afraid, but I encouraged her to go up. She was afraid to both climb up and climb down, but was very proud of herself for doing it. 

The floor of the tree house was littered with sticks and leaves. We made a game of throwing the sticks into the pile below us. She remembered from yesterday, that rabbits and other animals live in there and was happy to be helping to build their house. BTW, she has a good throwing arm.

As the weather warms, I am looking forward to doing more Second Looks with Kimmy. I think she is too.

Who Am I? Four things

Occasionally, one of those Who am I?  sets of questions makes the rounds in the blog world and yesterday, Anne at New Happenings at the Table  answered a set on her blog. She linked back to Slug Mama for the questions and encouraged others to answer them also. So for lack of something better to do (or should I say, for the lack of motivation to get up and clean the kitchen), I thought I'd take a stab at them. If you ask me these same questions tomorrow, my answers may change, but that's what makes life interesting (or confusing).

Four names I go by: Live and Learn, June, Mrs. Cleaver, and Hey You.

Four tunes I adore: Black Water by the Doobie Brothers, The Horse in Striped Pajamas by Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Green Jeans,  Dear Abby by John Prine, and Spider's Web by Folktale.

Four things I hate: liver, assuming the worst, mouse droppings in the house, and being cold.


Four places I have worked: sheriff's office, preschool, oil company, science teacher            

Four things I love to watch: birds, toddlers misbehaving who aren't mine, Andy Griffith reruns, cats playing

Four places I have visited: Japan, Brussels, Guatemala, Canada  I consider that pretty good for someone who had only been in 3 states (including the one I lived in) and never on an airplane until I graduated college.

Four Things I love to eat: Chocolate, Utz potato chips, creamed chicken on mashed potatoes, and soft peppermints.

Four favorite drinks: iced tea, water, weak lemonade, water

Four favorite shows: Big Bang, I Love Lucy, Dancing with the Stars (yes, my dirty little secret), and the Drew Carey Show (I just recently found reruns of it. It is just plain silly.)


Four favorite plays: The Sound of Music, the King and I, Your a Good Man Charlie Brown (I was Snoopy in this in high school), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (I was Domina in this in college.)

Four things I am happily anticipating:  spring flowers, a get together with old friends, seeing my husband tonight after work, and finishing the book I'm reading.

Four things I am dreading: each party's nomination for the presidential election, political ads, more campaign name calling, deciding who to vote for in November 

Four items on my bucket list: more travel to the Rockies, I'm totally blank here, so make a bucket list

Four People I think will respond:  Anyone else who is avoiding a chore

                     Now copy this, paste this to your blog and fill in your                                              own answers.

Thankful Sunday--March 6, 2016

I am thankful for hand-me-downs.

Ward and I visited Theo yesterday afternoon and I smiled when I saw what he was wearing--a pair of faded blue jeans with the back pocket worn to the shape of a wallet. I smiled because they used to belong to my father. Most of my father's life, he wore Lee jeans and he always carried his wallet in his back pocket. These jeans suited his lifestyle of both hard outdoor work as a lineman and his active outdoor play as a gardener, hunter, and fisherman. He always had several pairs of Lee jeans in his dresser even when he was in the nursing home.

In the beginning, it was hard to see my father's clothes even when his grandson was wearing them. It just reminded me of my loss and made me sad. However, enough time has passed that that is no longer true. It makes me happy. And what makes me the happiest is that this is exactly the way my father would have wanted things to be--his grandson getting use from his hand-me-downs. So for these hand-me-down clothes from a grandfather to grandson, I am thankful.

Throwback Thursday--museum visits

Ward and I have different styles in many things we do. This includes reading the signs with the exhibits we visit. He reads every word and I do more skimming because there is usually so much to see in so little time. Somehow, we have learned to work this out and enjoy going to museums and other places together. Wally and Theo have their own styles as well so visiting a museum as a family is an interesting trip, but it usually works.

However, there was one trip when Theo slowed all us down, even his read-every-word father. We were visiting the exhibits at the Livestock Show and Rodeo in Houston. He was just learning to read and attempted to read every sign. I mean every word on every sign he could see. And there was a lot to see in the Astrodome. Did I mention that he was just learning to read? Meaning there was a lot of sounding out going on. We didn't want to discourage this new skill that he was so excited about, so there was a lot of trading off and doing other things with Wally while one of us stayed with the reader. It was a long day, but in hindsight it was a sign of things to come. Soon thereafter, Theo became an avid reader.

Below is a post about a visit to a museum where I first noticed the different styles of visitors in my family.
_________________________________________________________________________________

MONDAY, JULY 23, 2012

Visiting a Museum

Yesterday, we visited the Appalachian Trail Museum in Pine Grove Furnace State Park, Pennsylvania. It is a small museum that focuses on key people in the history of the Appalachian Trail. Even in this small, limited-topic museum, the different viewing styles of my family were evident loud and clear.

Ward is a reader. He reads and studies each and every item thoroughly. Wally is a talker. He looks at the exhibits until he can find someone to talk to. Theodore is a waiter. He skims the exhibits and then waits until the others finish. What I style am I? I'd like to say that I'm the perfect blend of all three, but you'll have to ask my family to be sure.

What is your style?

A Second Look--March 2, 2016

Here are a few things I saw this week

during a Second Look.

Look what I found! I found one crocus pushing its way up through the ubiquitous oak leaves around our house. It's the only one so far, but I have seen other green leaves poking up elsewhere.

The snowdrops are full of blooms this week.

I hadn't had a chance to survey damage from a severe storm we had last week. Luckily, we didn't lose any big trees, but we did have several branches down as well as some broken fence sections. 

But the storm didn't bring down many balls from the sweet gum trees. It would be nice if the all of them dropped in a short period of time because now they require almost year round raking.  It's better to keep them raked because the balls are about the size of a ping-pong ball and can be hazardous to walk on.

White-breasted Nuthatch. If you look carefully, you can see the rusty patch under its tail.

Female bluebird. The numbers of bluebirds around the feeder and nest box are increasing. At one point this week, I saw at least of six of them at once. They appeared to be in pairs.