A Second Look--November 12, 2014

Here's what I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

The sweet gum trees are some of the last to turn.

The volunteer petunia continues to bloom.

Japanese maple

Mum

A high pressure system brought blues skies for a few days this week. Rain is forecast for tomorrow.

The juncos are returning for the winter.

A few forsythia have been tricked into blooming this fall.

Look at the changes in this maple tree from the end of September until now.

Veterans Day

One Man's Experience

Today is Veterans Day in the US when we honor people who have served in the Armed Forces. My father was one of those people when he was drafted into the Army for two years during the Korean War. After basic training, he spent his time in Germany as an engineer who could build or destroy bridges at a moments notice. Luckily, he didn't see combat, but his time in the Army was difficult all the same.

He was newly married and hated leaving his wife alone. When he left, my mother had to find work and teach herself to drive. Soon after, they discovered that she was pregnant. Also because his father was sick, he still felt an obligation to his mother, siblings, and the family farm that he grew up on. It didn't help that when he was shipping out of New York Harbor, the army band played, “So Long, It's Been Good to Know You.” My father told that story until the day he died. Someone in the army didn't think that one through very well.

A few years ago, I was lucky to find letters that he wrote to his mother while he was away. These were remarkable not only because they were a part of the family history, but also because my father did not like to write—at all. So to see things he had written was indeed special. To truly appreciate his experience you need to read all of his letters in order. However, below is a sample.

Dear Mom and All,

How is everyone? Fine I hope. I am fine.

We have been so busy, I've had hardly any time to do any writing or much of anything else. I try to write my wife every chance I get, so don't worry if I don't write too often. I just haven't had the time.

We have already moved once and we have only been here 12 days. I always did hate to move and now I think even less of the idea. We have been standing one inspection after another ever since we got here. Last week we went on 3 hikes with combat packs and rifle. There were several of the guys that could hardly walk. Friday evening I was as sore as the devil but otherwise alright. We are having physical training again on top of the hikes plus some work.

This is an awful climate and right now it is about 20 above zero. There is a heavy coating of frost on the trees and everything. That makes the scenery really nice but the sun hasn't shown in a week here.

How is everything going there? What's Paul and Harry doing the most of right now? How are the kids getting along in school?
I must close for now. Tell everyone hello for me. And write soon and tell me all the news.

Your loving son,

Earl

P. S. Say, Mom, has anyone told you that we are expecting a baby. It is due about the first part of Aug. I'm hoping for a boy, but I'll be very happy with either one.

Thankful Sunday, November 9, 2014

I am thankful I get to spend time with Sarah today.

Below I am rerunning a post about Sarah so you will see why.

The Present is the Present

I am lucky that I get to spend some Sunday mornings with my friend, Sarah, a special needs teenager. I buddy with her during Sunday School as we visit different programs that she enjoys. Two things you need to know about Sarah (other than how sweet she is) is that she loves nature and can be quite determined.

She was exhibiting these two traits one day last fall as we were walking from one building to another on the church campus to go to a singing activity. I was trying to hurry her along only half listening as she showed me a bug or a leaf that she found interesting along our path. When we were almost to our destination, she said she was not going any further and sat down under a maple tree. After a brief moment of frustration, I stopped and remembered that there was no agenda for the morning except for Sarah and me to enjoy ourselves. It was okay if we skipped singing this time.

Sarah then told me to come and that we were going to play a game to see if the falling leaves would touch us as they fell from the tree. We sat still and felt the warm air of the morning and watched the leaves float around us in a gentle breeze. Up until this point, I hadn't even noticed what a beautiful morning it was.

You have probably heard the saying, “The present is the present.” Never has this been more evident than it was that morning with Sarah. 

(In case anyone is wondering who won the game—she did. Sarah had a total of three leaves fall on her and I had two.)

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--November 7, 2014

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl and Jo at Simply being Mum encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions. Occasionally, if our eating is going okay, I'll talk about some other food topic.

This Week's Food Waste

My bagel bird feeder--a save this week.

I had to throw away a molded bagel this week, but I saved another one. My husband brought home some leftover bagels from work--which was great. But I think I know why they were leftover. They were not very popular flavors and we didn't like them that much either. So we let them set around until there was only one left that hadn't molded. (Like somehow we were going to suddenly develop a taste change while they sat around.) But I'm very pleased to say that I made that one into a bird feeder. I coated the bagel with crunchy peanut butter and hung it outside for the birds. And when I have time to get to the store, I will coat the peanut butter with some sunflower seeds. Such a simple and fun idea. If you're looking for an activity to do with the kids one day, you might try it.

This Week's True Food Confessions

I'd say that this week was a vast improvement over the recent past. The menu plan never quite came together, but the work-with-what-you-can-find did because there were no trips to the grocery store. That resulted in a big pot of chili, loaded baked potatoes, roasted carrots and hot dogs, breakfast burritos, spinach salad, and a couple of pizzas with added mushrooms. And for added treats, we had apple muffins that the little girls next door baked and some M&M's. Oh, I guess we did go to the store. Ward made a little wooden bowl that he determined was just the right size for a good serving of M&M's. So, of course, we had to go buy some to see if he were right. I think he was, but more testing may need to be done in the future. :)

Until next time...

A Second Look--November 5, 2014

It's unusual that we haven't had a frost yet this fall. That means that although there is a major transformation going on outside, there are still a few signs of summer left--such as begonias and purple sage that have been blooming since June.

Several trees are bare and many only have a few colorful leaves left. However when I did a Second Look this week, I noticed that several trees are just starting to turn. That's what a second look is good for. Last week, I said that we were at peak or past peak as far as the color goes, well that applied to our maple trees. Then I realized that just as I associate the smell of walnut trees with autumn, I have the strongest association of the changing colors of autumn with maple trees. Of course, I notice trees of all different colors and shapes, but I seem to judge what stage the color transitions are in by maple trees. Who knew that my mind was taking such broad concepts and filtering them into such small examples? I've always said that I wanted to study brain science some day and these examples are another reason why.

Here are a few things I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

Since these begonias bloomed for so long, I never got around to replacing them with pansies like I usually do in the fall.

Mums (They are further away from the heat pump that they appear.)

 

Purple sage

 

Now that some of the leaves are starting to fall, I can see that this sweet gum tree is hanging onto a lot of its balls from last year.

  

The group of deer that were in the yard this afternoon were acting differently than normal. That may be because the typical group of just does was accompanied by this young buck. They were running playfully in circles and there didn't seem to be one standing guard like usual. I assume that this had something to do with mating, but I don't know.

Mum

Since the time change, I have to get up earlier to see sunrise.