That’s what most people seem to be unable to grasp. There are just too many people out there who don’t see any problem with holding beliefs or opinions that cancel each other out.
So you’re pro life. Good for you. But once a baby is born you’re against helping it. And if it wanders onto your property as an adult, you’d shoot it. And your guns are more important than innocent children in a school or people trying to attend a concert. You’re pro life and pro murder. How can you believe both?
I’ll stop before I offend the other 50% of readers.
Dark skies for dark times.
Sorry folks, today has taken a turn for the worse and I’m in a less centered space than I’d like to be. The family health issues just keep on coming and there’s nothing we can do but observe and stay centered. Well, we can support each other, which IS something.
Life is challenging. We know that. But it’s also good. Is that cognitive dissonance?
I’m so glad I have lush pastures to wander in (with proper footwear to avoid snakes) and sweet horses to love on and breathe the scent of their grassy (mud encrusted) coats.
So green thanks to the rain.
The equine buddies are my calmness center right now. Even Apache calmly let him remove his boots and asked for head rubs, and Mabel keeps asking for attention. It surprised me, too, how grooming Dusty and seeing him look so healthy made me happier.
My little buddyMy very big buddyVery happy herd in their new pasture.
Today I needed to get some things off my chest so I could move on past them and get back to my “normal” fairly balanced frame of mind. I’m very lucky that I was able to have a couple of Zoom chats and a couple of Messenger chats that set me back on an even keel.
Sun, rain, and clouds this morning.
I just needed to talk things through in a safe, nonjudgmental space. We all need friends to listen to us when we need to vent, even when we’re a little off base or even a little wrong. The listeners let you hear yourself, ask helpful questions for you to ponder, and allow you to gain a better perspective on whatever is bugging you.
By this evening, after a nice ride on a mostly calm horse (mentally thanking my supportive equestrian friends), cooking a tasty dinner for the menfolk, and zoning out knitting, I feel refreshed and able to cope with whatever challenges come my way. Woo hoo!
Most of them probably won’t see this, but I’d like to thank these friends for lifting me up between the weekend and today:
Alice
Barbara
Nancy S
Barbara
Connie
Kathie
Lynn
Phyllis
Anita
Martha
Jay
Pamela
Avery, Sara, and Tracee (for horse support)
I even got to be a bit of a listener for Pamela and Martha, too. One of the best things about good friends is that they can take turns being the helper and the helped. My high school friend group also does that for each other. It’s a good feeling all around.
When Goldie was sad, Lee cheered her up.
If someone has helped you get through a rough spot, be sure to thank them, too!
And if you get vexed, just look at some vetch and breathe. I did.
It’s hard to answer this question, because I’ve cleverly chosen my hobbies and interests to ensure that I’ve always got something interesting to do. I can knit, write, identify wildlife, or imagine what’s going on with people in cities, towns and rural areas I go through. At a basic level, I’m easily amused.
Look! Horses! Now I’m not bored.
Some things to tend to bore me, so I escape them. They include:
Meetings held just to have a meeting.
More than 15 minutes of any TV news network where they repeat the same headlines with tiny variations.
Being talked down to, in person, in articles, or in books. My mind travels elsewhere.
Driving through metropolitan areas with the same chain stores repeating over and over. I counted four Rooms to Go stores driving from Denton to Hillsboro on I35 last week. Zzz.
Housing developments where all houses look alike. Yes, I lived in one once.
Being repeatedly subjected to quotes from the Bible to inaccurately argue a point. I’m no longer invested in debating that.
All white kitchens in houses with only black, white or gray furnishings.
Hey, I came up with more things than I thought I would. The good news is that all the things that bore me can be easily avoided or mitigated. I can either begin taking pictures of weeds or start knitting.
Important weed note: avoid picking up wildflowers that are blooming to get a better look without checking whether they might be nettles. Ow.
What bores you?
Mrs Cardinal says she is NOT boring. She’s a good singer.
(What didn’t bore me today was a nice, normal ride on Apache. We did all our homework and had a good time. )
For one thing, I need a break from blogging, so this will be brief. I need a break from one other thing, and it’s the endless rehashing of unimportant “news” items.
I’d love to read or hear a daily summation of facts about local, state, national, and international news. Separately, I’d enjoy choosing some analysis by people I trust. Once. Not the same news with one extra nugget each time à la CNN.
And if I want to read about which singer is dating which athlete or which member of the British royal family had surgery, I could go read People. Separately.
The end
Daily Bird
Today I saw one of my favorite raptors doing its job. The Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) is a resident during its nonbreeding months. I love watching them flying low over the fallow cropland and pastures, looking for field mice. I’ve seen them catch their prey more than once.
I was feeling jealous of my friend Pamela, who lives not too far from here, because she’d been seeing one and I hadn’t. But now I’m happy to see this striking bird with the interesting habits over here in Walkers Creek!
If you could un-invent something, what would it be?
I saw this question and said, well, this is like going back in time and changing one thing, only to realize the consequences are horrible. Like the butterfly effect?
I first thought I’d un-invent guns. Then I thought that would be too complicated. What about hunting for food? But there are other ways to hunt. I don’t know. Maybe just un-invent automatic weapons and weapons of mass destruction.
Then I mused, well, we wouldn’t need those horrible things if there were no wars. If people lived together peacefully we’d not be fighting all the time.
We could just look at pretty horses. Ahh. I love watching Drew.
But people fight. It’s part of being human. And so much of civilization arose because of conflicts between groups of people. They lead to innovations, migrations, and of course heterozygous vigor. Maybe we’d be a very different species if it weren’t for these tendencies to want to eliminate “the other.” We aren’t alone. Other mammals, birds, insects, etc., do it.
People fight, and horses get annoyed. Drew is not pleased at how much work Tarrin made him do.
So. Screw it. I wouldn’t be able to make war not exist. And if our current weapons went away, we’d have something worse, or just go around poisoning each other. We may do that anyway, clever humans as we are.
I don’t like humans as a concept, I’m afraid. Or in real life, as a whole. I do like the urge to be kind, help each other, and create communities, which I hope is as strong as the urge to eliminate people unlike ourselves. We will see, maybe sooner rather than later.
My apologies that the blogs haven’t been very interesting this week. I’m lacking in writing inspiration. Tomorrow will be more interesting, I’m sure.
Drew had a hard afternoon. He was really scared by construction noise by the tack room when I tried to groom him. I ended up taking him to lessons early so he could relax a bit. It worked. He was only a little squirrelly for me, and Tarrin helped him stretch.
Daily Birds
It was a glorious and beautiful day today. Hard to believe it was 12° yesterday and 70° today. That’s Texas for you. I truly enjoyed standing in the woods surrounded by sparrows, chickadees, and titmice being their most cacophonous selves. Here’s to the tiny birds of the woodlands and their big voices!
That’s a tufted titmouse.
The other bird is an intriguing mystery. Every time I go to Tarrin’s Merlin hears an Osprey. I don’t hear it, and I certainly haven’t seen it. I guess there are enough large ponds nearby to support one?
I will first tell you where I want to reduce clutter: in my head. That goal is slowly coming to fruition as I discard guilt over past mistakes, sadness over lost lives and friends, my endless lists of rules I think I have to follow so my friends and family won’t desert me, etc. (Abandonment issues? Yes, thanks Mom.)
How to cope? Go out and watch deer when it’s 18°.
The last thing is still a big issue. I want to be considerate of others and respect their boundaries and wishes, but I don’t want to constantly second guess myself in deference to others. What topics do I avoid with Person X? Remember not to argue with Person Y! Never mention Person Z by name! It’s a balance. It’s definitely the reason I’m quieter now.
So, yup, I need to sweep out some mental clutter. It’s a good goal.
However. As for household clutter.
I’m not a minimalist. I enjoy having things to look at in my environment that I enjoy. Like I’ve mentioned before, some objects seem to carry a spirit somehow, of people who made them or gave them to me…they have meaning. So don’t tell me my house is full of clutter. I like it that way. If I want to live in a bland hotel I can go to a condo.
At least I keep the birds outside…except for my bird journal. Clutter.
That said, my house bothers me right now because there is mess. To me, mess is stuff with no purpose that is just sitting around waiting for someone to do something about it. There are boxes of yarn I can’t fit in my office closet because it needs to be rearranged to add shelves and such. There are two china hutches in the entryway, because I can’t move the big one so I can empty out the small one and trade things out. There are paintings and needlework that need to be hung. All this is from my Austin house and former office. IRS hard to consolidate.
I should just sleep outside. These guys do.
So I do need to rearrange things, remove what isn’t meaningful to me, and get the house back in order. Oh, and remove magazines that have been read so others can enjoy them.
But there will still be “clutter,” just organized into collections.
It’s too cold for daily birds, but I did see a lot of woodpeckers flying around today. After tonight, the Arctic air will head off and we will be back to more normal winter weather.
The dogs do like the weather.
I’m still waiting for my yarn to arrive so I can do these extra cold days on the temperature blanket. Yes. Last year’s blanket is now “clutter” until I can attach the segments and photograph it. Soon!
Wait. How do you define a**hole, Suna? Good question, Imaginary Reader!
Cute napping horses are NOT a**holes.
I define it as someone who can’t wait to get home, where surely there’s a rubbish receptacle, to dispose of beverage containers, instead preferring to toss those containers gaily out of the window of their pickup truck along rural roads.
I wish Red Bull had given this can wings and flown it back in the vehicle.
I’m sure they think the cattle and horses will enjoy stomping on their cans and bottles, and the folks who mow the roadside (often their neighbors) don’t mind damage to their mower blades. No, no. I doubt there’s much thinking involved.
Michelob. Classy.
Heck, no one wants to inconvenience a rural jerk. It’s good exercise going down the road picking that stuff up. I should be grateful. But I’m not.
Mmm. Mow this and excellent sharp edges will magically appear.
In the last few weeks I’ve seen so many cans and bottles that I decided to document what my thoughtless neighbors deposited along Milam County Road 140 near Walkers Creek.
Oh look, beer AND water.
I can say that liquor is favored over water, energy drinks, or coffee, the other beverages I found. Oddly, there was only one soda can. Pibb.
No longer Mr. Pibb. Just Pibb.
There were two miniature Fireball bottles, but everything else was beer.
I’d have been more impressed by Hot Damn.
And I’m obligated to share that the most favorite beer of a**holes who are driving down my road with open containers of liquor is…
Bud and Bud Light!
Congratulations to the folks at Budweiser! You encourage dangerous and thoughtless behavior in our area more than any other company! And congratulations to the runner up, Natural Light.
I’m glad the drinking and driving crowd are watching their weight. Not really.
All the way from the Rockies!
The thing is that people drive down these roads hauling children, valuable livestock, and expensive farm equipment. The roads are narrow, poorly lit, and full of wildlife (a beautiful coyote crossed the road in front of us yesterday). It’s hard enough to drive safely sober. And that’s why I call the people who litter with their liquor containers bad names.
There were way more cans than bottles.
Now, I just posted that we should love our neighbors, with no exceptions. It’s true. I care about everyone out here and want them alive and their families safe. I don’t want to read their obituaries.
Daily Bird
There were a lot to choose from today, because I went up to the cemetery and back. I know I’ve probably chosen these before, but the red-shouldered hawks I saw up close made me very happy.
Love birdsTime to go!All alone.
I also enjoyed a tree full of vultures drying off, a great egret with a duck, some bluebirds, and lots of sparrows and pipits.
Tree vultures Duck and egret Bluebirds from a distanceAmerican pipits
I watched a downy woodpecker for a long time and saw an owl fly into a tree, but I couldn’t even get one of my blurry photos of them.
Instead, here’s Droodles looking majestic.
The birds made me feel better about all the litter. I’ll bring a trash bag one day next week.
If you had a freeway billboard, what would it say?
Love your neighbor. No exceptions.
Suna
That’s my message. Maybe it’s a good one to counter the effects of today being Insurrection Day, the day I realized the country where I live is not going to last much longer.
But live in the moment. And love your neighbor anyway.
First, center yourself by meditating on the whorling shape of this red-stemmed stork’s-bill.
Okay, now read on.
Today someone who knows very well how to get under my defenses said something that I took as a passive aggressive swipe at me, the kind that on the surface seems innocuous enough, but stings. I mentioned it to my spouse, who said maybe they didn’t mean it that way. Maybe I was looking for a swipe.
I thought about it.
Then I remembered the time my neighbor cut me off for saying something mean to another neighbor that I hadn’t intended to be mean at all. I remembered the letter that our general contractor’s wife wrote to me about a set of issues she perceived in me (I’ve blotted them out of my mind). I remember the letter my ex-boyfriend wrote to tell me to stop writing him and bragging about buying a car and a house, etc. None of those things I intended the way they were interpreted. But their biases toward me were negative, so they interpreted my actions negatively.
Looking in the mirror of how people misunderstood me because they wanted to made me realize I might be doing the same. I’d learned this lesson before and have been tryingjj to interpret the person I’ve always known to be passive aggressive to me as if their intentions were good. I just fell into a decades-old pattern. I will now reset and do my best to go back to assuming good intentions, like I’ve always strived to.
Sometimes you just need a reminder to see that you’re falling off the path you want to follow. There are a couple of people in my life I’m going to work harder not to have a negative bias toward. That’s a resolution for the coming year that I can get behind.
How about you?
On that note, I’ll plod off into the sunset on my small but magnificent steed.
One of my friends sent me a link to a Lion Brand pattern for a “mood blanket,” which they propose as an alternative to making a temperature blanket, like I’ve been making this year (in exciting news, it looks like the most frequent high and low temperature ranges are both shades of yellow – I made a spreadsheet). They have some cute suggestions, like charting your moods through pregnancy or other interesting times in your life.
Today’s mood: moody, like these clouds
My mind immediately went the other direction, for a couple of reasons. First, if you’ve ever read this blog you’d know I am moody. It’s one of my defining characteristics. Maybe I’m even proud of it? I don’t think just ten moods would fit me, and certainly not the generic ones they suggest (sick, mad, happy, neutral, loved, etc.). I need so many more. I need excited, calm, at one with nature (or a mood that corresponds to it), satisfied, depressed, confused…many more. It would be fun to think more about what my actual moods are, but they need to include anxious (there may be entire weeks of that one), grumpy, snappy, and irritated.
Maybe I’m as moody as a muddy creek reflecting clouds.
The other thing is that things aren’t exactly going in ways that make me comfortable right now. I’m afraid I might need some deep, dark colors to stand for “victim of a natural disaster” (red for fire, blue for flood/tornado),” “afraid for my life,” “despondent due to stock market/economy crash,” or “mourning because I lost another fundamental right.” If the blanket suddenly ended, well, you’d know it was either random gun violence or an insurrection.
Stop thinking about that! Look at these cute calves and their nanny.
So, I don’t think I’ll make a 2024 mood blanket. I don’t think I’m particularly looking forward to next year.
Let’s talk about birds. That’s a safer subject!
Savannah sparrows on the round pen.
Today I added to my series of bird pairs (before I saw belted kingfishers, herons, and caracaras). Today it was red-tailed hawks. I really enjoyed watching this couple fly around, sit in a tree together, shriek a lot, and finally fly off.
One hawk and a cultureThe hawk coupleFlying off you can see the tail.
They were my birds of the day, certainly, though the fox sparrow I heard and got to add to my life list on Merlin comes in a close second.
I was going to get some really good vulture photos, because they were helping take care of a dead opossum near our trailers, but as I tried to get there, Lee’s brother was throwing rocks at them and chased them away. Oh well, they were just about done getting rid of the meat on the carcass. I just didn’t want to touch it, so I was letting them help.
The Hermits' Rest 