Better what? Better evening beverage. I grabbed one of Kathleen’s special drinks last night and enjoyed it. But it turns out to have secretly been an “energy drink.” Thus I got less sleep last night than I’d have preferred.
And because of my schedule, I was up with the sun.
And today was two long trainings plus other deep discussions. By the end of the day I was zonked, so I was sure to choose water this evening. Now I’m nice and sleepy.
It was worth waking up for this!
I do want to share that early this morning while listening to birds I heard some kind of bellow in the trees, like a cough, sort of. I thought I imagined it, but it repeated, loudly. That’s when I noticed movement. It was a group of deer. That made sense, once I realized what it was. Mr Deer was alarmed at something! Not me. I was quiet and still.
Hello?
During my zonked period late this afternoon, I was rewarded by getting to watch Mockingbirds feeding, mostly just hanging out with me. behind them, the rabbits threw caution to the wind and were merrily hopping over each other.
Hanging out with Suna is nice.
They were joined by some melodically chirping cardinals and flocks of Eastern Bluebirds overhead making their haunting cries. One flew over my head, but no poop happened.
No poop from me, either.
I felt much more relaxed after that! And one final nature note: the Rio Grande rain lilies are blooming again. That’s the third time this summer. Yay for Saturday’s rain!
It looks like I do. I made a drink from one of Kathleen’s little flavor packets and ended up with the blues: blue drink, nails, hair, and glasses. I will point out that I had a brown shirt (with a blue Roadrunner on it).
Good thing the light washed out my hair.
On a more serious note, I shared this story on Facebook this morning:
What a morning at my birding platform. First, I was just sitting here, watching Baltimore Orioles flying around, when I heard a Green Heron. Then I saw it, flying toward me, aiming directly over my head. I thought how pretty it was, but wondered what would happen if it pooped. Then a big white glob came down! Thankfully it landed just inches off my concrete pad. My blue hair is safe!
The little bits of white are poop.
Then, after measuring yesterday’s .02” of rain, I gazed over at the fence. Oh my gosh, something was hanging from one of the chrysalises I’d been watching! It was a fresh, new Gulf Fritillary. It’s our most common large butterfly, since we have lots of sorrel vines that they love. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a butterfly emerging in the wild. What a privilege!
It was pearlescent
The humor and beauty carried me through an intense work day just fine! A meeting ended early, too, so I had time to give Vicki some slightly old frozen meat to make into dog food and exercise the horses. Neither horse was into it. I think I should have let them rest.
They were peaceful on our evening stroll, though. It’s hard to get them all in one photo.
Just a little relaxation with the animals prevents the psychological blues from coming over me, though. Watching the dogs play in the long grass at sunset was a great way for me and Lee to wind down. They don’t get out much, but for once they stayed with us and didn’t run off to roll in poop.
Happy dog buddies
I’m thinking about so many of you all, dealing with what comes your way as best you can. We are in this together. As my friend Kathy just reminded me, we’re all under the same moon!
You see, it’s always a little blam-blammy on the first day of any season, but dove season is extra loud because they just keep shooting. There are lots of doves: Mourning, Inca, Eurasian Collared, White-winged, and Ground Doves are here in Milam County.
MourningIncaWhite-wingedEurasian CollaredCommon GroundAll photos from Merlin Bird ID.
No doves are harmed on our acreage, so we won’t run out any time soon. The harvests keep the numbers in check.
After the early morning festival of shooting sports, Vicki and I took the horses for the lesson that was postponed from yesterday. The weather was pretty nice, and only Apache got overly sweaty.
Here’s why he got sweaty. Tarrin made him canter under saddle after much previous canter work.
Apache’s just doing great, even improving on his leg yields. He now has to do three circles in canter on the ground, too. The good news is he’s happy to do it.
This is cut off because it’s supposed to be a photo of how nicely he stopped.
Suna has also improved! I was able to get him to canter off my aids instead of only doing it after a jump. I appear to be getting more comfortable going fast.
Trying to catch my breath after my triumph.
Drew is also showing good progress. He had his best lesson with Vicki so far, and she had him trotting so beautifully! They are moving forward in getting used to each other. I’m proud of them both.
What a pretty pair.
Vicki may start him back on his pain medication now that he’s working harder. I should have thought of that!
Getting his bend.
With the new month comes new color fun for me. My hair became smoky sapphire today. It should fade nicely.
BeforeAfter
Nails will be dark blue this month. I like the sparkles I put over a Greek blue. The extra layer helps my one broken nail grow out.
This was taken by the blue pool, while bluebirds were singing. Very thematic.
Hey, everyone gets to have a frivolous hobby if they want to! And it cheers me up! Back to a busy work week tomorrow. I’ll be all blue!
Ah. Today we got beautiful rain, over 2” but I won’t measure until the morning. It was another great day to read on the porch!
So cozy and dry
I was sorry to miss my horse lesson but we’ve rescheduled for tomorrow. Let’s hope tomorrow’s rain is not between 10-1 or at least not heavy. I can ride in light rain. The horses spent the day blissfully cool. Once it wasn’t raining hard, they were out enjoying the “low” temperatures.
I didn’t take horse pictures, so here’s another porch view.
I, too, appreciated having a day without drips of sweat in my eyes and sopping wet bras. I did try not wearing a bra, but the sweat running down to my wisdom belly was also unpleasant. I’m not gonna sit inside all day like a delicate creature, though. Knowing it will be more pleasant in a few weeks gives me hope.
Morning rain.
The other thing I liked about this respite from blazing hot sun is that sunsets are so pretty with clouds in the sky. I enjoyed today’s sunset by the pool while I watched nighthawks eliminating excess insects.
Spit the nighthawk.
I guess the best part about staying inside most of the day was that I got a lot of comforting reading done (Braiding Sweetgrass), got my August birds added up, crocheted almost all of the August section of the temperature blanket, and got my journal ready for September. What that really means is that I played with all my toys: books, colorful pens, paper, washi stickers, and oh yes, yarn! My indoor toys sometimes get neglected when I’m outside all the time.
Looking north at sunset. The bright light is just a reflection of the sun.
Trying to stay on an even keel these days is a challenge, isn’t it? No need to name all the reasons why, because you know the ones that affect us all, and we each have our own personal stresses, grief, and challenges.
Today was one of those days when the dam burst and I felt all the feelings. I needed to feel them so I could regroup. The Buddha reminds us that life is suffering, but he also shared ways to cope, grow, learn, and move on.
That’s what I’m reminding myself of today, as I processed warmongers, school shootings, friends’ loss of parents, and frightening political climate.
Trite but true: all things must pass.
Like these bluebirds and brown birds, I feel like. I don’t know which way to go, so I teeter in the middle.
Not much has been going on in poultry land these days. Only Connie has been laying, so we have an ample supply of very large eggs for our cooking.
There were two today.
I also realized it’s her birthday, or close to it, since Heather’s son has picked up his tiny poults for this year. She’s come a long way from her start in such a fancy environment!
Connie Gobbler, Age 1
That was the good news. As I was feeding the fowl, I heard an odd noise, like a branch scraping against the coop. When I checked it out, I realized it was Bianca, my only chicken who survived the Great Chicken Massacre a couple of years ago. She was breathing funny. I planned to check on her when I came back.
Bianca had neck tufts and not much comb. Her eggs were true blue, which was the name of her breed.
Anyway, I went to feed the horses. When I came back to turn the water off and pick up eggs, Bianca had collapsed. Now I’m all worried she got something contagious, so I am VERY disinfected now. I’m sad to lose her. I will keep a close eye on the others, who all seem fine so far. Of course, Bianca was all perky until today. She even got out a couple of days ago and was spritely running around.
She had really long claws.
She’d never been a big layer, and hadn’t produced eggs since last winter, so it might just have been her time. But she was my oldest. Sniff.
I think I’ve had enough death this month.
I exercised both Apache and Drew to cheer myself up. I think Vicki’s work with Drew is paying off—he did well in his ground work.
My tiny flock is even tinier.
I’ll be doing a lot of coop cleaning in coming days. I hope Cindy and Cathy don’t get too pestered by Clint now that the rooster to hen ratio is 1:2.
I can handle it.
Circle of life. Etc. Plus another senseless school shooting.
Today was lots of fun in the bird department, as lots of songbirds decided to let me see them. At last I truly believe that Orchard Orioles and Yelliwthroats live in my trees. There was also a Kestrel around all day.
So, I was in a meeting with no agenda (open office hours) with my three fellow Subject Matter Experts, and we were collaborating on various issues when one of us mentioned going for nature walks. That got me and another woman all excited about this ghost plant (Monotropa uniflora) she had seen earlier in the week, and we got into fruits we can forage in Oregon and Texas.
About ten minutes into our rapturous discussion of things we see in the woods, our more urban counterpart told us that she gave in and we’d converted her into looking more closely wherever she walks. I think we felt like we’d accomplished much more that just solving work issues today.
Nature brings us all together!
I guess that’s enough cheerful talk for the day, but I must interject that, even though rain was close again today, none fell, so Apache and I had a nice practice session and great time on the trail. I think he’s used to it now!
Since today was just fine (not too hot!) and I don’t want to come across too perky like I did yesterday, I’ll just answer this here question.
My name is Rhynchomitra recurva – I’m a leafhopper.
My name is Sue Ann. This is nothing new to evil internet scum. The internet has known my name since 1989, back in Usenet days.
Tell me more, says the finch.
Two-word given names are common in the southern USA, from where I and my ancestors of many generations hailed. Most of my dad’s sisters had them, Bettye Sue and Doris Ann were two of them. It appears that my parents were expecting a boy when I emerged from Mom’s twilight sleep. But there I was, including all my curly hair. They were going to name a boy Edwin (my father’s first name that he only used on official business) but they must have rejected Edwina (a name of a very funny older woman I once knew). I’m glad they saved it for my brother (Lee also had a brother named Edwin).
Look, corn. Someone lost their harvest. Nothing to do with names, except to say, “We call it maize.”
Anyway, I’m glad they eventually named me after the above-mentioned two of Dad’s sisters. Again, I’m relieved not to be Bettye Doris. Most of my life I liked my name other than a brief time I wanted to be Susanna. What I don’t like is the name Sue by itself. It’s fine for my friends named Sue (popular name of my generation), but I don’t like it for me. I don’t respond to it, and if someone calls me that, they go down a notch in my estimation. It’s like calling someone who goes by Will, Bill. So, if you ever meet me or send me a message, remember my two-word name.
Sue Ann means graceful lily according to name origins. So not me. I’m more sturdy, like this snow on the prairie plant.
You are always welcome to call me my alternate name, Suna, which I’ve had over half my life. Long story there.
We can do without that story.
No doubt I’ve told this particular story before, but I’m not up to scouring the archives to see. You can do it, of course. Feel free!
Alternative: look at the pretty morning sky.
Off I go, now, to come up with better topics and hope for rains.
I woke up this morning struggling with some of my “areas for improvement,” and I wasn’t feeling well at all. I’m grateful that I e trained myself to find the good around me, and after adding up all that fine energy, I ended the day with a smile on my face.
This heron caught something tasty in the middle of this pasture. That’s a good little thing.
I struggled a bit with what I was working on this morning, thinking it just wouldn’t do. But I went to lunch with my friends and ended up enjoying two new people, and chatting with them about their lives helped me out of a downward spiral. Another good little thing!
It was slightly cooler, so I enjoyed my morning bird walk without becoming soaked. Small win!
I went to a meeting after lunch and was able to brainstorm solutions to a problem and then got help on what I was working on. Just a little feedback and collaboration and I felt more confident. The collaboration and support we give each other in this job is gratifying!
The soapberry trees are blooming now and they smell great. Another small thing.
I sent my draft document to the person who’d requested it, and he liked it! I got quite happy about then. Plus I heard that (after much effort by me and my nurse-practitioner) my thyroid medication was approved by my health insurance, and I managed to figure out why I couldn’t enter my expenses from my trip and got that done! Win win win!
Green Heron preening. It was joined by ibises flying overhead today! Wow!
And to top off the list of small but good things, Vicki came over and we rode horses together. The weather was unbelievable for August, very pleasant with light cloud cover. Only the horses got all sweaty.
Ready to ride
Apache was in good form and practiced all his tasks very well. The best part for me was that because we went to the round pen so Vicki could ride Drew with some boundaries, Apache and I had lots of time to practice our walk-trot transitions. At some point I realized we were having a great time together. Drew was a challenge, but Vicki handled him very well. She is far more confident than I am on him.
I’m just in need of exercise. Yeah.
I could have ridden for hours in that lovely weather, but we ended at a successful point. I even practiced getting correct bends with Apache on the way back.
I’m kind of smart.
Oh, one more Apache story. Today I figured out why he was refusing to jump over the cavalettis. After he refused three times again today, I went over there and found a large Yellowjacket nest. He was trying to tell me! There was also a nest on the mounting block, and I eliminated both nests. Moral: listen to your horse.
I’m glad I paid attention today! Those were so many fine little things.
Then it got very hot, over 100°F. Suddenly a small but mighty storm blew in. It really blew.
Here it comes, blowing that tree around.
Winds came up and I watched dust and bits of harvest debris flying around. The horses were in a tizzy. I flew around in the heavy winds until the lightning got close and I sensibly went onto the porch.
The scary clouds
Luckily it was just a severe thunderstorm and not a tornado cell. Lee and I watched it blow through, with sideways rain and spectacular lightning. It turned out the people across the road were doing the same thing on their porch!
Cozy, since the rain was blowing away from the windows.
We only got .08” of rain, but that’s better than nothing.
Cows huddled against the trees.
Once the storm passed, the temperature went down 15° and it was lovely.
All good
I went for a nice walk and enjoyed watching swallows and nighthawks catching bugs around sunset. A wonderful surprise was seeing a nighthawk sitting on an electric wire in front of our house. You rarely get to see a perched nightjar.
Nighthawk on a wire
I ended up seeing or hearing 53 bird species today. Looks like some early migration is happening. We are getting some warblers and quite a few sandpipers. It’s good to have them to distract me from other sudden storms that blow in out of the blue!
This, too, will pass. Note overturned chair!
Tell the people you appreciate how much they mean to you.
The Hermits' Rest 