habits – The Hermits' Rest

Habitually Consistent

What are your daily habits?

Whew, at first I thought they were asking about my bad habits. I can say that I have fewer now than I did in the past, and I don’t think I’m developing any significant new ones.

Daily habits, though. Hmm. What does this mean? Parts of my routine? Things I habitually do throughout the day? I do know that I habitually look at my watch to see how far I am toward my exercise goals, how hot or cold it is, and the date. I no longer track dates well, though as I work more I assume I’ll get better.

I closed all my rings today. My watch will soon praise me.

I also look at my phone a lot. I’ve cut down on it lately, having found the world is fine without my attention. Still, I get many texts. Some are cute photos of animals or birds, so I don’t mind.

Sara in Wisconsin sent me these glorious golden oyster mushrooms today. Worth checking my phone for.

I’m also habitually looking for my bird notebook. In my mind it must always be nearby, in case I see something, like the Cattle Egrets I saw on the way to dinner tonight. I must write these sightings down! That’s my own rule; no one is forcing me.

I had my notebook when I saw this Downy Woodpecker pecking away at some giant cane *(Arundo donax*). I wonder what it was looking for in there?

That, and twirling my hair around my fingers, a childhood habit that comes back whenever I grow my hair long, about sums up my daily habits that occur at any time of day.

As for things that I habitually do every day, I’ve developed quite a routine lately.

Wake up
Dress
Teeth, medication, facial stuff
Make coffee
Sit in my birding chair and watch/listen to birds. Write down birds I see and Merlin hears.
At the same time, do my Finch self care app (my birb is Ada), read Facebook, check personal email.
Go for a walk to the bridge and back, also listening to birds.
Feed chickens and Connie Gobbler.
Go inside and work. Or spontane if not working.
Check mail after lunch. That’s my break.
After work, feed horses, groom a horse, or work with Apache.
Gather eggs.
Swim in summer. Another walk in other seasons.
Watch whatever television show we are watching. The Gilded Age right now, since we finished Star Trek: Discovery. Crochet or knit.
Write blog or Substack if I didn’t earlier.
Read current book or magazine.
Sleep, glorious sleep.

Oh my gosh. I just wrote down a day in the tedious life of Suna. I do eat somewhere in there. Apparently that habit isn’t worth noting. Please believe me that interesting things do happen! But I realize that this is the first time in my life I’ve had such a routine that I can stick to or deviate from.

And of course I have my weekly nail strip application habit.

I think the Covid isolation led me to become more set in my ways, as my elders used to call it. Now that I’m borderline elderly, I guess I have a right to do so.

Maybe you’ll start to think about your own habits, productive or otherwise. Do they rival mine in dullness?

Creatures of Habit, Bovine Edition

Now that my exciting software training/tech writing career has ended, I find myself bereft of a mission. I always have a project I’m working on to support users, but I’m out of those. I’m a creature of habit, so I feel compelled to find a project. But is it really a good idea to keep the projects coming?

Believe it or not, watching the cattle in the wooded area next to our house gave me an aha moment. Here’s what happened.

Lee and I went to Lowe’s to get some simple vegetables to put in his raised bed. We also bought two flowering trees, a peach and a pear (nope, not native, but, hey, they are Lee’s trees). When we got home, he drove the Gladiator over to the planting area and proceeded to plant.

Finished planting. Mostly herbs and peppers v

At one point, he booped his keys on the tailgate and that made the horn beep. If you’re rural, you’ll know what’s coming. A truck, something that looks like a feed trough, and a honking horn evokes the food urge in those neighboring creatures of habit, the cattle.

At first just a few adorable calves appeared. One in particular really enjoyed playing with Carlton and Penney. We were charmed.

I went off to feed the equine creatures of habit, who nicely line up in their pens for dinner and tolerate my insistence on grooming them in the late afternoon. Everyone, even Fiona, is now looking good, except around poor Droodles’s head. But I’m getting there!

By the time I came back, all the cattle were crowded against our fence, waiting for us to feed them. Carlton and Alfred valiantly worked to protect us, which really peeved a couple of huge mama cows and the bull. There was quite a cacophony.

The poor dogs got so tired that each of the white dogs went in the swimming pool to cool off.

It took sooo long for the cattle to move back into the pasture, probably because the real food truck appeared.

We will just wait until night if we have to. Moo.

It dawned on me that doing the same thing every time a circumstance looks familiar can lead to disappointment. The cattle didn’t notice that the Gladiator doesn’t usually feed them, or that the “trough” was full of plants. Poor dears.

We aren’t known for our massive intellects.

I need to realize that I don’t need to go find a significant writing project immediately. I’m starting something new, not the usual transition from resting training material in one application or another. I can do something different. There is time to figure out what the next new and fascinating thing will be.

In the meantime, I’m working on collecting some writing and putting it on my Substack, which you can go follow. Eventually, as soon as I let my thoughts come together in new ways, there will be more on Substack than new and recycled blog content about animals and birds.

Who knows? Once I break my habit I could turn interesting!

Day or Night, It’s All Right

Are you more of a night or morning person?

Let’s answer this prompt. It’s harmless. I used to prefer nights, back when I did a lot of music stuff and going out with friends. I think I liked the activities, like choir practice and rehearsals more than the fact that it was night.

This is here just because I thought it was pretty.

Now that I mostly stay home, I’ve come to enjoy my morning routine out in the fields and woods. It’s grounding and gets my mind ready to get stuff done. I do enjoy having morning rituals like coffee and filling out my bullet journal for the day, too.

I often meditate while looking at lichen and bark.

I have evening rituals, too, like blogging and reading before I go to sleep. I guess I like to ease into the day and ease back out.

Magazine patiently waiting for me to finish blogging

I enjoyed the distraction of a lesson on Apache this afternoon. I wanted to build on last weekend, and it worked. We are doing well together, and I’m impressed with his eagerness to learn. I’m a lot more calm, too. He’s feeling better.

Next lesson will be for Drew, but it’s been postponed for family stuff. That gives me lots of time to work with them both at home, though. Drew and I have lots to practice, too! He is still weird about his head but otherwise tons of fun.

Daily Bird

I think the great blue herons on the ranch will be upset (or more upset) with me if I don’t feature them, so today’s the day.

At least today I didn’t scare one who was busily cleaning out the overflow pond like I’d done for two days. I just watched them flying and posing at water’s edge.

My favorite thing about these large birds is their croak. They yell when disturbed and made to fly off. Often they don’t vocalize enough for the Merlin app to catch them, but it did this week. It’s a great creaky sound.

I’m glad we have water to attract these and the other herons/egrets here. They have so many postures and look so elegant when they fly. And they’re so big! It’s a nice contrast with all the tiny woodland birds.

Sorry about That

If you had to give up one word that you use regularly, what would it be?

Easiest blog prompt EVER. I do so wish this word would stop popping out of my mouth:

SORRY

Whenever I feel stressed, judged, criticized, or trapped in a situation I want to get away from, I start apologizing. If there were a word cloud of my vocabulary, “sorry” would be one of the giant words (along with family and pet names.

I’ve managed to get past many parts of my childhood anxiety, sensitivity, rejection sensitivity. My inner voice is kinder. I judge others less harshly. I no longer dwell on my past and criticize myself for past mistakes.

But I can’t stop apologizing for stuff I don’t even have control over. It sure annoys my family and good friends. Sorry about that.