friends – Page 2 – The Hermits' Rest

Hiking with Someone Can Be Fun

To be truthful, I get irritated at people who talk and talk as they go down trails, ruining my precious silence and bird listening. That makes me a hypocrite, because given the chance to talk to someone I hadn’t talked to in a good number of years, I’ll talk my butt off, even on slippery rocks.

Yes! I went on a nice hike with a friend! Rebecca was the choir director when I sang at Live Oak UU Church, and we also sang together in other choral groups over the years. She’s one of the people I’d missed most when I left Round Rick for weekends at the ranch.

The gray sky made the red leaves more vivid.

After seeing each other again at the recent memorial service, we decided to do stuff together, and decided to hike at Cedar Breaks Park on Lake Georgetown. It took us the same amount of time to get there, coming different ways, so Rebecca made a good choice.

There is a lot of confusing construction around the park, but the trails weren’t very crowded, thanks to a misty drizzle. But it wasn’t too cold and the fall colors were striking. It WAS rather slippery on the limestone along the trail, but we were careful.

It was great catching up with each other and identifying plants. She’s a Master Gardener now, so we’re both all educated. I was surprised at how many plants were still blooming or budding out.

There weren’t very many birds in the oak/juniper forest, but hearing a Canyon Wren made up for it. That was only my second one. you need a canyon to find them, and we had them on the lake.

After we got back, we headed into Georgetown for a nice lunch at the Sweet Lemon Cafe. It was cute and the food was very nice. We wished it wasn’t rainy, so we could visit nearby shops, but maybe we can try again.

So, what caused this tree damage? It’s fresh.

We already have an idea for another adventure. I sure feel good about breaking out of hermit-hood a little. As a matter of fact, I’m going to keep trying! Tomorrow I drive up north and hope the rodeo traffic is confined to the west side of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

Surviving the Spotlight

Have you ever performed on stage or given a speech?

Um. Yes. I probably should have studied acting. I enjoy performing very much, and have since I was a child. I like being someone else, whether doing music or speaking. Most of my speaking has been teaching or training. I enjoy it. Perhaps that’s why I’m a corporate trainer and spent much of my life singing in choruses and harmony groups.

Still, I prefer a friendly audience. Usually that’s not an issue. I mostly sang to friends or people I had things in common with, and I just make the people I’m training into a friendly audience with my relentless friendliness. Who IS that woman?

Here I’m orating at the Grand Canyon, or pretending to be

It’s been a lot harder lately for me to get out in public and “perform.” I admit that the reason I’m so “on” at parties is that it’s more like fake performance Suna is there, not real anxiety-ridden Suna.

My friend Debra and I about to launch into holiday songs. Not really. We just dressed similarly.

I succeeded tonight in doing okay at the Master Naturalist holiday party. I was probably overly outgoing, but I had fun taking pictures and being silly. I’d been really nervous beforehand. I think it’s because I haven’t ventured into a group of people who aren’t all close to me since…October I think.

But it went well and I was pleased with the fun, good food, and gift swap (I got a cool hand-carved whale!). Whew. I did it. I’m tired now, like any introvert is after mingling, but I feel ok. People were kind to me, too.

You’ve all been very kind after yesterday’s dumping of some of my issues. I do want to say we will have enough land for horse pastures; just not how I’d wanted it. I wasn’t dry clear. Thank you all for caring.

Today My World Was Rocked

Oh I needed today. Words have failed me when I’ve tried to describe what I experienced, but I’ll try to summarize.

This morning I attended a field session at the location of the former Aquarena Springs tourist attraction, which has been lovingly returned to a more natural state by Texas State University and is now the meadows Center for Water and the Environment. Before it was an attraction, it was a site of a gristmill. Before that, it was a sacred site for native people who believed they were born from the springs.

I’d met the descendants of this tribe at a conference years ago. They talked about the Sacred Springs and how it had magical qualities. That’s why I wanted to attend the session on Field Environmental Philosophy As An Approach Towards Mindfulness and Reconnection With Freshwater Ecosystems. That’s a mouthful.

Oh my goodness. The session, which was led by three philosophy professors, was exactly what I needed to put together the seemingly disparate pieces of my spiritual practice, personal philosophy, and scientific interests. It’s biocultural conservation. The techniques the presentation demonstrated show how you can integrate mindfulness and connection with nature and scientific analysis. Bingo. That’s my goal.

I got a bit overwhelmed just standing at the sacred site. It felt like one of “my” places. I was deeply comforted and quite moved. One of the professors noticed. I said I felt connection, like ley lines. He said that’s because many sensitive people say the same thing! Eureka. I found my Texas home spot at last. (I know of two others, one in Florida and one in Wales.)

I no longer wonder if I shouldn’t be identifying birds while doing my breathing exercises. I feel validated in my drive to perceive the world around me in all the modalities. It’s just a great feeling.

Anyway, we did an observation exercise then came back and talked about it. I think the philosophers were ticked that so many of us were blown away by what they were sharing with us. There were so many great pieces of feedback and questions. I have many reading resources to look up now. I’m stoked.

I enjoyed hearing the birds and looking at the beautiful plants on this site, too. The university is doing great work to preserve this area.

The rest of my day was full of fine conversations with new and old friends and even some rest. I met interesting people in the vendor area and learned from them. Fascinating stuff about night sky preservation, fireflies, raptors, and native seeds. Bonus was meeting a woman who’s just published a book on karst and caves in this area, another interest of mine!

The Texas Master Naturalist annual meeting kickoff was back at the springs. I enjoyed the glass-bottom boat tide very much. I’m glad they kept the boats from the tourist days. Here are some fish and turtle photos.

After the boat I went into the aquarium area in the building on site. They had examples of all the fish we saw in the river, plus the Texas River Cooter turtles. The garfish were so cool. Plus there was an eel. I love aquariums.

I came on back before the nothing began and joined my friend Mike for a drink. I wish we could see him more often. I caught him up with the rest of our chapter members and he caught me up with his naturalist and ethics work.

I still have time to blog for you! Enjoy this dump of more photos of my day at the aquatic center.

Overwhelmed

That’s today’s word: overwhelmed. That’s what happens when too many intense events happen at once. I think I was holding myself together to get through Goldie’s surgery, then it all got to me today. I felt all oogey in my brain.

Naturally, or coincidentally perhaps, more little things kept piling up. I couldn’t sit outside to work, because my laptop screen has stopped working. And changes, questions, and challenges started piling up so I was stuck at my desk, where my chair has decided it won’t stay up. Just little things. But, ugh.

Maybe I need new ones. Photo from Pexels.

I did get a few minutes to sit with Lee as we supervised Goldie laying in the sun. We managed to keep her from running anywhere. And later, when I finished all my tasks, including training in my new department, I got to just sit with Goldie and keep her calm and happy.

Meanwhile, Harvey is having more trouble. His eye now looks like it’s messed up. I hope he hasn’t abraded his eye like Scrunchy the pug used to. And his balance is work. Two sickly dogs can be overwhelming, but I just loved on them a lot.

Plus I was concerned about Apache, who has stopped eating his dinner. He just stares at the wall. And I was worried about his feet, because he hasn’t been running like the others when they come up for food. (Mabel, on the other hand, now runs like the racehorse she may have once been.)

So. It wasn’t Tarrin’s best day either. She also has a dog who had cancerous growths removed, then surgery on her intestines that had gotten messed up by medication. Eek. We are monitoring Goldie for that.

Ekho is recovering well and enjoying her favorite rolling in the grass activity. She’s hiding her bandaged foot.

Then this morning, Tarrin found her beautiful stallion had died overnight with no signs of struggle. That was overwhelming. Just awful. Sudden losses are so unexpected; you sorta go into shock.

So, since we both felt like crap, I skipped my lessons. Horses can tell when you aren’t at your best. However, Lee was nice enough to bring Apache over to Tarrin’s so we could talk about his food, medication, and feet. Secretly I also went so I could support her like she’s been supporting me with all the dog stuff.

It was very helpful to have a friend to talk to about how I was feeling, and it also felt good to be an empathetic listener. No doubt we will both be fine later, but today we were both sad.

Apache was probably wondering why he wasn’t being saddled and ridden, but he didn’t complain about just getting a trim. His soles are shedding, so Tarrin trimmed them and put his boots on.

Wearing his boots and making his sleepy face.

She helped me come up with a feeding plan and decided we need to switch his medication. He has too many side effects still, after a year. He should not be ignoring food and standing like a zombie. The powder medicine should be more palatable and have fewer side effects. Plus it costs less!

His plan is to convince me to take him out for grass that needs trimming every day.

Now I just have to try to return the 6-month supply of Prascend that just arrived. I sure hope I can. It’s expensive. But I’m glad to have a plan for Apache! He’s doing so well in training that I want him as happy as possible.

Long story, sorry about that. But I feel better thanks to good friends (online and in person) who care. I even got surprise presents from Kathleen, who did a stealth visit, meal, and present drop-off all while we were off with Apache.

Better times are coming! Or, I’ll be back to coping well with challenging times!

Time for Bed after a Fine Day

What’s your favorite time of day?

I’m positive that my favorite time of day is the hour before o go to sleep, when I read and blog. I love the transition from one day to the next.

This is what I did just before bedtime – showing off the temperature blanket

Before bedtime, I had quite a fun day with my high school friend Kathy, who drove up to see me today. After getting my antibiotic, which I hope make me feel better, we went on a little hike to the lovely Rainbow Lake.

There were some interesting challenges, like a log crossing over a creek, but we made the trek and found the lake.

Thanks to Kathy’s excellent rain prediction skills we got back to the car just in time for the rain to start. it rained off and on the rest of the day, but not badly.

We had a great lunch at Blue Stag, a place with much game meat on the menu. It was great, especially the green salsa, and we met a nice baby. Fun shopping followed. It’s always better to shop with someone!

After going back to the condo and knitting a bunch, we walked in the rain to the Mexican restaurant close to the condo and ate and talked and talked. I just love catching up with old friends!

Two drinks, trying to wait out the rain.

More talking and knitting ensued back at the condo, and by the time I went to bed I was wiped out. I fell asleep blogging. I did re-read the first part, in case it wasn’t coherent.

Today I’m getting throat lozenges and a new toothbrush (so as not to reinfect myself, and laying low. I sound like I’ve been a smoker for 50 years.

Surprises, Weird Ones

The last couple of days have been surprising in both good and weird ways. I’m feeling pretty darned good at the end of it all. So, what’s been going on?

The gods and goddesses must be smiling at me.

The only sad weird thing didn’t happen to me, but I saw the evidence after my horse lesson. I feel bad for the woman it happened to, though. Apparently, one of Tarrin’s other students arrived for her lesson and went to her trailer to let her horse out. There she was very surprised to find a bird impaled on the door. What a shock? How does a bird fly that hard into the back of a trailer that’s moving forward? That was a weird surprise! Everyone thought the bird was a mockingbird, but detective Suna figured out it was a cuckoo.

Brown wing feathers and a striped tail. Very unfortunate cuckoo.

Better surprise was that I had so much trouble getting Apache to go into his pen after we got home last night that Mabel snuck out. I tried to entice her with sweet feed, but she wouldn’t go in, so then Dusty went out. I was so tired and being attacked by mosquitoes that I just let them all out to enjoy the much nicer grass in the exercise area. Lee and I managed to get our gate to shut, so in the end, it was surprisingly fun.

This morning when I went out to check on them, every single one of them, even Apache, came up to say hi and hang out with me. Drew even tried to go on my walk with me, but I did shut the gate. They all seem to like me.

Next happy surprises came midday, when I had lunch with my friends and we had so much fun that I had a hard time leaving. My segment of American society suddenly feels a little hope. It’s been so long that we are a bit giddy. I did have to leave to pick up my asthma inhaler (I only need it at times like this, when there are fires and Saharan dust in the air). There was a friendly pharmacy tech there, and she asked if I wanted my shingles vaccine first dose. I sure did! And there was no wait for the pharmacist to administer it, for free because I’m old! Surprise!

The pharmacist did it better than I do with Drew.

But wait, there’s more! I went back to work after the vaccination and got onto my regular monthly call with my contact at my actual employer, through which I’m contracted to Dell. I was surprised to see a second person was there, and they were all on camera. So I said hi and noticed they were really chipper. Finally they said they had good news. That surprised me. Apparently, they nominated me for some great contractor award and I won. That was very nice of them! You don’t get much recognition as a contractor, so that pleasant surprise was a great way to end my work day. I guess I’ll find out eventually what award I got.

It’s only been 31 years since my last award for technical writing (as evidenced by the dust on it—it was hiding in a box but Lee put it up).

Plus! At feeding time each horse and Fiona went right into their pens. I didn’t have to chase anyone. Whew.

So, see? Sometimes circumstances are really good! That’s life (and my arm feels fine, because I took ibuprofen.).

Milestone: it hit 100° here for the first time this year today. By this time last year we’d gone over 105° F.

Not a Good Deja Vu

Once upon a time I was in charge of a large flock of chickens that the owners were no longer interested in taking care of. Their coop had a door, but an animal had broken the screening. Let’s just say soon I had a small flock of chickens. Then I had one. Big Red hung on for a few more years.

I got a much sturdier coop and kept a few more chickens. I was down to six most of this year, then something got Bertie Lee. Then Blondie.

When I had seven. We lost the gray one last year.

Last night something got almost everyone else by coming in through their door and getting them while roosting. My fault. The hens liked to free range so I didn’t lock the door to their run. If the dang bobcat wanted them so bad, why didn’t he take them? Or maybe it was a raccoon. Or any other of the many predators we have.

I’ll really miss Buttercup. She and Bertie Lee were the friendliest ones I ever had.

I’m glad we didn’t have an attack like this for four years! But today was bad and made me cry. I’d had these hens a long time. But one is here still, poor Bianca, who can’t take the heat. It’s hard to be a lone chicken like Big Red was. She bonded with Sara’s horses. Either Bianca will do that or the predator will come back.

Circle of life. Blah blah.

If I get more chickens it will be in the fall, when it is cooler. In the meantime I’ll clean the henhouse out really well. Sigh. This past week has been rough.

At least the horses are okay. Apache seemed off yesterday but today he ate his food and took his meds like a champ. And Drew did all his exercises right, paying attention to me, his leader.

Thanks for being a good guy, Droodles. You were even good for your shot.

As icing on the cake, we are sleeping in the RV because our upstairs air conditioner has broken and won’t get fixed until Monday. Oh course, now is the time the bedroom slide decides to not extend so I can’t make the bed. Sigh again.

I’m doing a lot of deep breathing and trying to be kind to myself. I’d hoped to have lunch with friends today to cheer me up, but just one friend made it. I enjoyed a Negra Modelo in honor of Buttercup, Henley, and Billie Idyll and was consoled by Phyllis. I’m grateful to her and all my sympathetic Facebook buddies.

We can get through this stuff together (this means YOU, too, members of my household).

Sunday Plarn and Pool

I’m still pretty out of it, so let’s talk about good parts of today. As always, plants, animals, and insects are good, even the differential grasshoppers, who lurk everywhere to surprise me.

Hi. Am I bothering you? No? Let me go crawl in the chain on a gate so you’ll have to move me and my buddies.

Even the birds are feeling the summer heat. I enjoyed watching these Brown-headed Cowbirds today. They were making their weird gurgling noise.

Say what you will about them, but they sing prettily

The chickens and horses are feeling the heat, too. Poor guys.

Bianca won’t come out of her puddle to join us.

I spent much of the day doing chores, cooking, and knitting. I made a couple of plarn discoveries. I need a crochet hook to help me pick up stitches along the edges when I start a new segment. Also, “throwing,” or English knitting is easier than Continental knitting when your yarn is plastic.

I haven’t finished the first ball of plarn yet, but it’s getting bigger. The plarn maker just randomly put in different colored bags, so it’s coming out quite random.

I still don’t know what this is. I may make it sorta big and use it as a camping mat.

My hands are holding up okay (weaving is tempting me nonetheless) but I’m still going to alternate with my Temperature Blanket, which is easier on my fingers. Speaking of which, we made it through June without any 100° days! But they’re coming.

And the air conditioning upstairs needs fixing!

Anyway, the day ended with a nice meal “cooked” by me (frozen lasagna and salad) and lots of time in the swimming pool with our camping buddies Mike and Martha. I’m glad the pool is still working. Long story behind that. and I’m glad for friends you can talk to about pretty much everything. We’re lucky!

Most Delicious?

What’s the most delicious thing you’ve ever eaten?

It’s funny. I have a very good memory for taste. I can remember things I ate years ago, like Judy’s squash soup served in a squash on Thanksgiving in the early 1980s.

Closest I have to a photo of squash soup on my phone

I remember the oyster sampler I had in Seattle with Melissa and Chriztine. Each oyster tasted so different.

This is actually a photo of the dish I am referring to! I found it!

Right up there among my favorites was my first boudin, spicy and freshly made in rural Cajun Louisiana. I ate so much I had no appetite for Christmas dinner.

Boudin from around here. Also delicious.

One year I made the perfect oyster cornbread dressing at Thanksgiving. So much flavor and seasoning. I also made a mushroom and rice dish with five kinds of mushrooms, butter, and garlic for my kids and me soon after their dad left. I think part of the thrill was just making whatever the heck we wanted.

No idea if these are edible, but it’s a little of mushrooms

I get the idea that umami is my favorite flavor! Also, I am fond of oysters, because my mother’s oyster stew (with fresh oysters and cream) also floated up in my taste memories.

The aftermath of me eating dozens of cluster oysters on Hilton Head island.

There have been some amazing meals in recent years, both home cooking and restaurant food. But all I can dredge up is things I ate long ago, so I am going to declare the most delicious thing I ever ate to be the coffee ice cream my boyfriend, roommate, and I made a small batch of in the trailer house in Gainesville. It was so much trouble to make that we never repeated it. But I still remember the intense coffee and cream flavor.

Some of us don’t get to have coffee. Poor Anita. I can’t believe I gave her that mug in 2017. Wow.

Ahhh.

Where Do Crows Nest in Treeless Deserts?

You may already know this, but I didn’t. So I’ll share. Driving in absolute NOWHERE New Mexico (US 380 heading to Tatum), I was looking at the scrubby vegetation. I noticed many crows. Then I noticed them on telephone and electric wires. Then I looked a little more closely.

Many of the pikes had little pieces of wood jutting out. Each of them contained a crow’s nest! With mama crows in them! There were dozens and dozens of them. crows generally nest high in trees, you know like a crow’s nest on a ship. There are no trees here!

I wonder if some of the poles have the wood platform kind of deals on there for some reason, or if people put them there for the birds? I thought it was pretty cool to see a rookery stretched out along the highway.

That bird fun made up for my disappointment when we went to Bosque Del Apache, one of the country’s best bird-watching sites, only to realize they drain the wetlands in June to plant new native plants, etc. and that of course no migratory birds were there. Duh. It’s June.

I did see this new bird: a Black-headed Grosbeak. I thought it was an oriole at first.

I managed to see or hear 20 birds, though, including tiny baby quail and a ring-necked pheasant that ran in front of us. The other new one was a Virginia Rail. I’d seen it and a pheasant before I started Merlin, but they are new to my current list. Mostly I took pictures of Black-chinned Hummingbirds, the ones we have at home but I never get this close to.

There was a bit of other fun. We briefly stopped at the River of Fire park to see the lava flows again (I love the Malpais/Badlands).

Just as we passed the very weird hamlet of Lincoln (very touristy), we came upon flashing lights. It was more law enforcement than I’ve ever seen in one place. We realized there was a big black pickup truck off the road with its door open. Officers were looking out into the distance. Our guess was someone had fled!

Eventually we made it to Hobbs, New Mexico, which is in the middle of many oil fields. Why? Because my dear friend Steve now lives there. We helped him escape from his house for the first time since knee surgery. He was really excited. First I visited with his cousin, who I hadn’t seen in a couple of decades. We both share an interest in crafts. I told her I’d take a lot of “plarn” (yarn made from plastic bags) off her hands. Long story. But I can make something useful with it.

Off we went, with Steve and his walker, which a homeless person had conveniently left at his church. We ate Mexican food and talked a lot. Then we went to see the church where he’s the pastor (liberal Lutheran). He does a lot of work with the homeless, thus the walker.

I enjoyed being with Steve so much that I forgot to take photos. When someone has been your dear friend for 44 years, you jump right back into things and catch up. We will breakfast with him tomorrow so I’ll get a photo!