work – The Hermits' Rest

Phone apps, or favorite activities

What are your favorite 5 apps on your phone?

Today featured a four-hour workshop with much complaining, so I’m not up for any deep thoughts. I’ll share some photos of a quick visit to watery areas of Tomoka State Park here in Ormond/Daytona/Orange Beaches in Florida, as well as beachy and river-y views from happier parts of the day as I list my five favorite phone apps. I bet you can guess some!

Little Blue Heron, a hint at two favorite apps.

One. The Camera app, especially the one on this iPhone 17. I love all the zooms, the lenses, the Live Photos, the grid that helps you crop, and the indicators that tell you if your image is level. I have a ridiculous amount of fun taking pictures wherever I go, documenting all the life forms I encounter.

Sunset looking at an island full of roosting White Ibises

Two. Merlin Bird ID. Merlin brings me so much joy. It’s given me something to focus on that’s positive and educational, even in these troubled times. Days when I don’t get to go out and look for birds (like yesterday) are few and far between, which is fine with me. Now if only they made apps for identifying frogs and cicadas.

Three. iNaturalist. So far, none of these surprise anyone who’s ever read this blog. Right? Anyway, I’ve always wanted to know what I am looking at when I’m out in nature. This fantastic app helps me learn about my surroundings and allows me to teach others. I am in awe at the variety of living things around me, large and small. And iNat lets me learn and contribute to scientific knowledge. So much fun.

Four. Finch. It’s a game kind of app where you and your “birb” friend explore new things, work on mental health, and interact with friends to cheer them up. It borders on silly, but it helps center me in the morning and before bed. It can be very helpful for people dealing with an anxiety and depression.

Ada is my birb. She currently has a pet corgi.

Five. Crossword Puzzle Redstone. Lee plays this a lot, so I’ve joined him. The Hard ones are just right to keep my brain active and keep me from thinking I’m in mental decline. There are many different authors to choose from. We both like the G. Johnson ones. One good thing about the Crossword app is it keeps me off Facebook so much!

Runners up: Facebook, JetPack/Wordpress (blog app), Clime (NOAA weather), Apple Maps, Google.

I’d love to know which apps you like! Because I’m feeling better, here are other photos from today. Love that phone app.

Final note. Lee went to dinner with me and Vicki, but wasn’t feeling well and only ate a sweet potato. The place we ate was Aunt Catfish’s, a perfect old Florida seafood place. I could eat there again!

Feeling sorta enchanted

Today was interesting. We drove to the Land of Enchantment (New Mexico) all in one day. We made it to Ruidoso, where we are driving around looking at property, which is the only thing that’s gotten Lee excited in a long time. So of course I came along. I figured there would probably be birds and wildlife to enjoy, and my favorite winery, which I haven’t visited since before my son went away.

I’ve already hit the jackpot in the wildlife department, so I guess I could go on home. You see, as we were approaching one of the small towns in the foothills, I saw something move next to the road. I was ready for deer or elk, but not for a very large flock of bighorn sheep! I was very surprised, but realized I was next to a rocky mountain— a mountain that is rocky, that is.

I kept saying to Lee that I saw sheep, the ones with the big horns! Duh. After I calmed down and got cell signal, I looked it up. Yes, they are found here. What they were doing all bunched up between the highway and a fence, I do not know.

We are in the circle. Image from Wikipedia.

The sheep definitely made up for the challenges of trying to work in the car, which I did, successfully, but with some effort. The laptop didn’t last the whole trip. And luckily I was finished with meetings while we were still in the flat desert and had signal.

This is exactly what I saw, only it looked more confused. From Wikipedia.

We got here and found the outside of the hotel to be a mess. Why? Because it’s SINKING. There was horrible flooding here again this year (after a worse one last year). It’s the monsoon season, and it’s getting worse, according to the sweet but weird Denny’s waitress this evening.

They are putting pins under the building down to the bedrock.

Oh yeah. Forest fires happen, too, but mostly in the National Forest. That should keep out the riff raff.

However our room is very cute. Has a separate living area and a big desk.

Lee is tired from driving, so we walked next door to a rather quirky Denny’s (with the waitress I mentioned). Everyone there seemed to be tripping or something. Very cheerful, extra funny, but also confused. We enjoyed the wildness. Some of the wildness came from two darling young Apache girls, who were very active but quite charming. They chattered and sang but were so cute you just had to laugh along. I talked to the mom as we were leaving. She was so tired. I think she was relieved that we and the staff were enjoying them. I bet it gets tiring all day every day.

This giant cicada mobile or something was in Roswell.

I’m looking forward to sneaking in some nature tomorrow. I remember this was the first place I ever saw a raven. But I’ll look at whatever Lee wants to look at.

Another Roswell sight. That alien museum exhibit must be a hoot.

Bye!

Not Fond of 8 am Standups

It’s a good thing I only have until the end of the month on this second project I took on. I’m drowning in minutiae and endless additional requirements. I could not have actually stood up for the entire hour and ten minutes it took to get through a 30-minute standup meeting today. regrouping will occur, and I’m actually grateful the team is so invested and involved in the project.

You know you’re in desperate need of a break when the highlight of the morning is seeing the back half of a water moccasin. Do not worry; it was not close to me.

I spent most of the day technical writing. I’m doing a series of very simple web-based training and have to write a script for a fake voice to recite over everyone’s favorites, PowerPoint slides. I do try to liven them up. But I’m glad I don’t have to take them. Writing the script is the most tedious part.

The day ended well, since my son and his partner came over for a late birthday dinner. Kathleen was really kind to cook a beautiful roast, salad, and dessert brownies. We all felt spoiled! Kathleen also baked bread all day and items for a bake sale, so the house sure smelled good all day.

I ate a piece of this. It has so many raisins and is so perfectly seasoned. I hope I don’t eat too much tomorrow.

My son put together some little tables for me (he loves assembling) and I put them in the birding station. Kathleen also passed on some very cute pillows that I can put out there so we both can sit comfortably.

And yes. There’s a cover on the couch. Carlton has scratched through the seat cushion, so I covered the lovely upholstery with this overly boho drapey thing. now the room is way too Suna

Off to sleep, since my fingers can’t hit the right letters on the keyboard. But I’m just so happy to have pleasant family gatherings! And I hope tomorrow’s standup meeting is canceled.

I sure don’t like uncertainty

There’s so much uncertainty out in the greater society where I have absolutely no control over what happens. Because of this, I like to have a wee bit of assurance about what’s happening in my little sphere of influence.

Otherwise I’d be hiding on the porch with this beauty.

Do I realize that’s asking for a lot? Oh, yes I do! Many of my friends and neighbors don’t have the luxury of making choices, having a plan with a chance of working out, or having a say in their relationships. I’ve been there myself, which has much to do with why I treasure this phase of my life.

All I have to worry about is what color to do my nails.

Still, the past couple of days tested my ability to not freak out when unexpected events threaten my future planning. You see, I have been enjoying myself a bit these last few months. I have allowed myself to buy too many pens and stickers, many t-shirts, and eyeglasses. I did this knowing I’m putting a third of my income into a 401K, building up liquid savings, and maintaining no credit card debt. I was confident that I have another six months of income before I have to go into retirement poverty.

Yesterday my boss told me she’d gotten a call saying I wouldn’t be working with her after the end of this month. We both thought arrangements had been made with another group so I could keep going. It turned out calls were not returned, blah blah.

BUT. I only got panicky for a few minutes. After that I figured that something would work out if everyone talked to each other. Sure enough, especially as it was identified that our project would probably fail if I was not there through the end of the year, leadership did leader-like things and suddenly the contract was back to ending in December. My uncertainty is diminished. I have a plan again, at least until the next unexpected turn of events!

I’ll go off and breathe again now. I’ve done a lot of that this evening. At one point, Kathleen and I were standing on the porch reveling in the stiff wind blowing rain clouds everywhere but over our house. We both needed the freshness.

I’m so fortunate and grateful for my life, home, family, community, and work!

Escape (mine)

Lee decided I had had a rough week from work and such, so we should go somewhere. We splurged and drove to Waco and got a room at the Hilton on the top floor. I love looking out at the river and all the Baptists. We have no agenda, but will see if a friend is available to say hi to, go to the wetlands, and maybe visit the craft village.

I’m very glad we went, because I got so much stuff done today that it made my head spin. I hope I did it all well! And not to vague-blog, but I practiced being authentic and saying how I really feel, nicely, to a scary audience, and I felt heard and encouraged. Thanks, Gabor Maté.

I’m sharing views from the hotel room because I haven’t left it. The hotel is being renovated, so we couldn’t eat at the restaurant we’d enjoyed last time we were here, so we had room service. I could enjoy my fancy meal in peace. Well worth it.

Annoying. Our room is freshly renovated but the mirror is really crooked. Levels exist for a reason.

I actually read another book today (small one) but I’ll save it for tomorrow. Instead, enjoy some caladium leaves. Lee has been buying them lately for the porch.

Crepuscular Critters

It was one of those days when you wonder how you managed to stuff so many things into your waking hours. I had meetings all day, broken up by lunch and a visit from Dr Amy, our mobile vet.

The vet visit went fast, because on my way back from lunch I picked up “sleepy medicine” for the dogs. By the time the veterinary entourage arrived, all dogs were much more mellow than usual. Still, two of them required muzzling.

Note my trimmed toenails. Dr Amy says I’m not ready to go yet, too! Just showing my age.

But, boom, they all got vaccinated and had toenail trims. Alfred also got some matted fur removed, too. The horses were penned and ready, so that part also went quickly. Only Mabel needed a little sleepy stuff, because she didn’t want that strangles vaccine up her nose.

After working late and eating dinner Lee cooked on his new griddle, I went out to put a card in the mail and to put my GIANT new jar of Pergolide in the tack room fridge. Apache won’t run out of meds any time soon, and that’s a big worry off my mind since I’d lost my source.

Cooking with gas. We’ve had this thing for months, so I’m glad he used it.

I decided to walk along the fence to get to the mailbox since it was a lovely time, just past sunset. As I walked parallel to the front pond hill, I realized I had a companion animal, a beautiful skunk.

I walked along with the skunk until I got to the driveway, where I paused to let my crepuscular companion cross in front of me to the horse paths.

Note that another creature of twilight watched the whole skunk and Suna show. I was very glad Tipper just sat there and watched, because I didn’t need to see cat-on-skunk action.

Since I’d already spotted a rabbit and a deer, the only creatures I was missing was an armadillo and possum. Not bad. There were also night birds. The Nighthawks were flying low and loud, which always adds to the air of evening mystery. Of course, there was also a Barred Owl. I enjoyed seeing this Great Blue Heron flying by the moon and squawking away.

I do enjoy the evening birds. I’m always surprised how many are still calling as it gets darker and darker. Here’s some of what I heard during my skunk walk.

Balancing Act

How do you balance work and home life?

I do know many people who have a large a hard time balancing their work and their home life. It’s really easy to check your email before or after your hours of work or just check to see what’s going on in the work chat. Or maybe, just maybe, you’ve got all sorts of ideas and you want to get them down before you forget them. I get it. Work just intrudes on us no matter how hard we try not to let it.

Mr. Bullfrog wants to know if you can tell I tried dictating this post. I sure can. Yuck.

The good news is I’m really lucky. I’m a contract worker and have been for most of my working life. That means I’m only supposed to work 40 hours a week, and I’m only going to get paid for 40 hours a week, and no one expects me to put in extra time just because, you know, I’m getting paid the big bucks. While it’s true I don’t get paid vacations or paid holidays, I do get to stop after eight hours a day. Plus, the way it is right now I am working in Pacific time that gives me time in the morning to enjoy birds or sit and enjoy coffee or hang out with the horses. And there’s still enough time in the evening to do my chores, walk around and see what’s happening, especially in the summer when there’s lots of daylight. So, yeah I work when I’m working and I don’t work when I’m not working. That seems to be the best way to balance your work and your life.

I’m glad I have both work and home life. Each is important.

I’ve been thinking about other balances today. Some friends of mine are going through some hard stuff. If you have a moment, think of my friend Anita, who has lost a long-term animal, Friend, and some other folks, I know who are having trouble with their families and have no option, but to just get through it. That’s hard to get past. Things will swing back into balance, though sometimes it takes quite a while.

And it’s hard to see past all the distractions to find the positives.

Not dwelling on what’s bad and not only thinking about the good things like some sort of Pollyanna person seems to be the best way to keep a balance. That’s why I like living in the moment and noticing the small things that happen. Out here at the ranch we are going to see life and death and everything in between, but it helps us remember that that’s all part of life and all to be treasured.

Like Gulf fritillaries. All are ephemeral treasures.

Here is a bonus funny story from the day. The UPS man came as he often does right before I was supposed to have a meeting. The dogs were barking and barking and barking. Once again, it wasn’t the UPS man that they were barking at oh no. There was a squirrel on the front porch. All I know is that I heard a yelp and Alfred was limping. The squirrel disappeared. UPS man hopefully pointed out. Hey there’s a squirrel on your front porch. I agreed.

I took all the packages and things inside and figured this squirrel was gone and really hoped it wasn’t hurt. Naturally my coworker felt the need to point out to me that squirrels don’t usually do weird things like run up on the front porch so maybe it was sick and giving my dogs rabies or whatever. Thanks Keaton.

My meeting with Keaton lasted about an hour so I went outside to see if I could find the squirrel. Kathleen also went outside a couple of to see if she could find the squirrel. She never noticed it but I spotted a little fuzzy tail, hiding behind a storage container on the porch. There was no way a dog could get to it. But it didn’t look like that squirrel was planning on going anywhere anytime soon, either. I checked on it two or three more times and one time I saw it a little foot sticking up and another time I saw a little nose. It was so cute.

Finally, when Lee was feeding the dogs, we locked the outside door so the dogs couldn’t get out and Kathleen and I managed to move the big container the squirrel was hiding behind. The minute that space was opened the squirrel took off like a rocket. It was not hurt. We were relieved. I’m also relieved that the vet comes on Wednesday and she’ll let me know if any of the dogs look like they’re developing rabies. Alfred is no longer limping and no one else seems any worse for wear. I did find it funny that none of the dogs were smelling the squirrel where it was hiding. Maybe squirrels have some sort of odor disguiser in them. I don’t know.

It was real windy today and last night but the new fig tree made it. I’m happy to say I’ve had a whole day with a fig tree. Every day with a fig tree is a good day, because my last fig tree died a horrible death when many many grasshoppers attacked it. This is not a grasshopper year, though, it’s a mud dauber year and mud daubers do not care anything for trees. Yay.

All right. You all have a good work life balance yourselves, and I will probably be back tomorrow.

PS: I texted my boss right after I finished writing this post. Not very good at doing what I say I do, am I?

I must be a little better

How do I know? I just started singing some old Billy Joel song and it sounded like an alto singer doing the song, not Frankenstein’s monster. Yesterday I surely would have sounded monster-like.

Many exciting events happened today.

I almost opened my mouth all the way
I ate a juicy pear
My ears and salivary glands hurt more than my throat
I thought of writing a catchy pop song to the rhythm of the popping in my ears. Something’s moving around in there.
I was able to laugh a lot with my coworker and family—light-heartedly kidding around is healing

But that’s about all I have for you today. I am patiently healing and not rushing it, as I’ve been encouraged to do.

I’ll emerge a beautiful Suna-esque butterfly as I escape the mystery ailment cocoon.

Maybe I’ll review some television next. Being sick has led to a lot of that, since I can only read so long before my head hurts. (Whine, whine, whine—so many friends have much bigger challenges —I do remember you all.)

Gee, but It’s Great to Be Back Home

You didn’t hear from me yesterday, because I didn’t feel up to writing about lots of meetings followed by all the endless steps it takes to go from one place to another these days.

The only Portland photo I took yesterday.

Still, work was actually quite productive, so it was all worth it. I was pleased with myself that I coordinated packing, returning Jasmine’s nice warm coat, driving to the airport, returning the rental car, walking great distances to find planes, and remaining patient when my flight from Phoenix to Austin was delayed so the brakes could be repaired. I’d certainly prefer a delay to not having good brakes on a 737 when it lands.

One of the things flying across the country accomplishes is to remind me how amazing our landscape is.

I got lots of reading done in the Phoenix airport, so I was glad the second book I brought with me is over 500 pages long. You have that book report to look forward to!

I was quite pleased to find my bag that I’d checked (first plane was tiny) was already on the carousel when I got to Austin at 1:30 am and that the hotel driver was waiting for me. That was so nice of them to send him when the plane arrived! The familiar sight of the oddly shaped rooms of the familiar hotel was so welcoming.

After a pleasant hotel breakfast I headed home and made it through a couple hours of work before I had to nap. I was much perkier after that and got all my late meetings done so I could visit my animals. I gave the chickens and turkeys some dewberries. It was great fun watching them go after the fruit. Clint the rooster tossed one in the air and caught it!

The horses were in great shape, thanks to Kathleen’s care, and I enjoyed seeing the new horse-area flowers that came up in my absence.

Of course, I had to say hi to all the birds! The Painted and Indigo Buntings are back! What a happy sound! I also got to see this Belted Kingfisher, which proved it wasn’t a Mockingbird mocking me.

After all my chores were done, Lee and I sat by the pool and enjoyed the hummingbirds around the red yucca blossoms. These natural hummingbird feeders were a great addition to our yard. We saw both male and female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, and Lee even realized they are green! Forgive all the pictures. I had too much fun.

The palmettos are sending up flower stalks, too. Those attract butterflies.

Of course, I also greeted the dogs. Here’s Penney indicating she’s glad I’m back.

Thanks for sticking with me and being so supportive, friends and readers! You’re appreciated!

Oregon Has DUCKS!

I mean, I knew that…college mascot and all…but I got to see plenty of them today! I’m in Tualatin (near Portland) for work for a couple of days this week, and I figured the only birding I’d get to do was around my hotel and the office.

I was very pleased when my boss, Jasmine, suggested we go on a walk after a team lunch yesterday. After many hours on a plane and a stressful rental car drive, I welcomed the chance to move around. I swiftly got many plant photos and heard some good birds. I love the little woods next to the office buildings and am so glad they saved it.

When I got to my hotel in Lake Oswego, I was charmed by all the cherry blossoms fluttering around. I’d never seen them in person!

I took a little walk around the neighborhood, found a path around a creek, and walked by some beautiful homes while listening to birds and enjoying plants, both native and cultivated. Oregon is truly verdant.

This morning I woke up early, since I’m still on Central Time, which enabled me to drive through tree-lined streets, many of which were in full bloom to the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge. Jasmine came up with the idea of going for a walk in the refuge before our meetings started, because she really wanted me to have the chance to go there.

I was grateful she loaned me a coat. It was pretty chilly!

This wildlife refuge is mostly a huge wetland teeming with life, including beautiful plants, both native and introduced.

We had a blast looking at all the birds we found. There was a White Pelican, Great Egrets, Red-winged Blackbirds many Robins and Yellowthroats, a Harrier, Song Sparrows, a Spotted Towhee, Mourning Doves, Canada Geese, and so many beautiful ducks. We had so much fun trying to figure out what we saw. Ones I’m sure of were Mallards, Gadwalls, Green-winged Teals, Northern Shovelers, and a gorgeous Cinnamon Teal that Jasmine actually spotted.

There were also many fascinating plants in the wetlands and wooded area. We particularly enjoyed this native Horseweed. It’s one weird plant, especially the flowers.

Many of the trees were new to me, being Oregon natives. The Oregon ash had very soft leaves in an ashy green. The maples were in bloom, as were many others. I learned so much. Here are some scenic pictures and some named trees.