Say Hello To My Little Friend

Tags

black and white photography, heart surgery, Ice, icicles, winter

 

When City Boy and I first moved here, I was immediately adopted by Kaylee, the little girl across the street.  She and I do things together like walking the dog, tramping through the woods, playing computer games, eating, etc.

She was very proud of her big icicle find the last time we were out in the weather.

Back in June it was a different picture outdoors.

It was already hotter than blue blazes (whatever that means) when we moved in to our humble temporary home, and Kaylee was right there to help.

But, that was then and this is now, and the two are a sharp contrast.

The city park, where kids like Kaylee usually like to hang out and play, is cold, gloomy and quiet.  Only whispering ghosts of children’s laughter might break the silence.

Wouldn’t it have been a fun surprise to have seen snowmen in the park?!

Even on the gloomiest days there is usually something a person can do to brighten it up, even if it’s only to smile.

Just an update on my son’s father, who I mentioned in my previous post: He actually made it through the surgery.  Even though there were some unexpected complications during the surgery, he somehow managed to pull through.  He’s not out of the woods yet, and still isn’t very coherent most of the time, but we are told it has more to do with all the medication they are giving him.  Hope and God’s grace is there for those who reach out and grab it, for sure.

For now, darkness covers the ice, and bedtime fast approaches.  Greetings to you — be careful, stay safe and warm, and be blessed!

Winter’s Hope

Tags

heart surgery, hope, Ice storm, icicles, nature, winter, woodland

 

“February is merely as long as is needed to pass the time until March.” ~J.R. Stockton

The haunted wood

Winter is so full of promise — it causes many of us to appreciate the other three seasons of the year so much more!  But there is such a quiet beauty about winter that keeps it from being a total downer.

The haunted wood

On Wednesday my 23-year-old son may have to say goodbye to his father.  A heart surgery is coming up tomorrow that, according to what doctors have told them, only has about a 20% chance of being successful.  Despite the weather, my son has driven up to Missouri to spend some time with his father.

The haunted wood

It’s hard to know what to say when someone who is probably at death’s door tells you he is really afraid.  I have told him his son is headed up there and will be there soon, and that City Boy and I are praying for him and thinking of him.  I have told him that with these surgeons he is in good hands.  Blah, blah, blah.  I don’t say it out loud, but it all seems like pointless words.

But, you know, with every breath of life there is hope.  Maybe that 20% chance is all he will need for a new beginning.

Backyard magnolia tree berries

The hope that Winter brings for a nice, warm Spring just around the corner is the same hope we should use for everything else in life.  The ever present thought of what might be just around the corner; the hope in that slight chance that things might turn out even better than expected; the anticipation of rebirth.

Backyard magnolia tree in ice

As you stumble through this winter wonderland of snow and ice, or even if you have a winter full of nice, sunny days, I hope you are full of hope.  Be careful, stay warm, and be blessed!

Backyard magnolia tree in ice

“Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart.” ~Victor Hugo

On Ice

Tags

Arkansas, cold weather, Delta, forest, Freeze, haunted wood, Ice storm, icicles, ravine, winter, woodland

“There is a privacy about it which no other season gives you…. In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself.” ~Ruth Stout

The haunted wood in ice

The lower Midwest winters can be grueling, not just because of the type of precipitation, but mostly because whatever icy/snowy weather that happens is unpredictable.

The haunted wood in ice

But no matter how confining winter weather can be, the beauty of it is inescapable.  Every tree, every branch, every part of the woodland is drenched in a tapestry of frozen splendor.

The haunted wood in ice

The ravine often overflows during times like this, and we are always at risk of having a flooded backyard, depending on how much ice and snow we get.  But it does make for a pretty scene out in the woods.

The haunted wood in ice

“It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. This crisp winter air is full of it.” ~John Burroughs, “Winter Sunshine”

Greetings for now from us in the house by the haunted wood — be careful, be safe, be warm, and be blessed!

A Delta Greeting

Tags

Arkansas, breast cancer, Delta, haunted wood, nature, ravine, winter, woodland

What a year full of changes!  Life is that way — good or bad, it goes with the flow, and we just have to go along with it if we can’t change it ourselves.  But that’s a good thing at times!

Mom, at home about a week after second surgery

Last May my Mom, then 85, was diagnosed with breast cancer.  She underwent a lumpectomy, then several weeks later was told they hadn’t gotten all of the cancer and that she needed a mastectomy.  Back into the hospital she went, and afterwards I stayed at her and Dad’s house for nearly a month while she recovered enough to be able to make it on her own with Dad’s help.  The healing has been slow, especially due to her age, and she is taking no treatments, so we all keep our fingers crossed.

In June Frank was accepted into a year-long residency program at a hospital in Arkansas, and so we had a ten-day notice to pack up a three-bedroom house and get moved.  That was the most horrendous move I have ever made, and I hope to be more prepared in May when the residency is over and we move again.

We are now living in a small town in the Delta region of southern Arkansas.  Our neighborhood borders an area of land that is heavily wooded and is an Indian graveyard of some sort (the “haunted” wood, supposedly).  I have not been exploring there yet, because it is very densely overgrown, but I’d like to find some of the gravesites if I can get brave enough to push my way through the woods.

The haunted wood

 

Just inside the haunted wood, turned around and facing the back yard

The tree line extends behind our house, and a ravine runs right through the middle of it, which adds to the difficulty navigating through the woods, but I’m pretty determined, so we’ll see what happens.

A holdout winter leaf floating in the ravine water of the haunted wood

Although winter makes most things bare and dead-looking, we do still have some greenery mixed-in our local foliage.  Pine trees dotted here and there, some sort of leafy bush scattered throughout the woods that has leaves that stay green.

A few holdout leaves cling to bare branches

Pine tree adds a little green in amongst the bare winter woods

And some sort of tree in the back yard that is still green.  I don’t know what kind it is, but someone suggested that it looks like a magnolia tree.

City Boy and I wanted to send our greetings to you from our little house next to the haunted wood, and we hope this year so far has been kind to you and shown you favor!

Valentine’s Day will be here before we all know it, so stock up on chocolate and flowers!

 

Winter Is Beautiful (Except For the Things That Bug Me About It)

Tags

Cold, cold temperatures, cold weather, etiquette, neighbors, solicitors, thoughtfulness, winter

Cell phone shot of dormant Winter crop

You’ve seen them.  THOSE people.  They are outside on a 22 degree day in short sleeves and slippers doing some sort of house/lawn/car repair.  The cold doesn’t bother them.  Meanwhile you’re huddled inside with the flu, hacking up a lung, the slightest movement of air making you convulse in shivers.

But then that’s just it — you think to yourself, “Dang, I would be cold even if I didn’t have the flu.  I’m cold all winter.”

Why are some people impervious to cold, while others can dress out in eight layers of clothes until they’re unable to bend their arms or legs, and still be shivering?

It’s a mystery of Mother Nature.  Or Mother Someone-or-other.

And while I’m here, a word or two about neighbors (and you know which neighbors you are):

If your teenage son is going to start his loud car early in the morning to warm it up and leave it running for 20 minutes, there is no need for him to spend five more ear-splitting minutes revving the engine full force as he’s leaving.

Ah, but I’m ranting.  Really, I have great neighbors and I’m sure you do, too.  It’s just that when the really cold weather hits, some people tend to be too cold to think.  But that’s true of some people whether they’re neighbors or not. 

So, I’m just asking, when the temperatures go way down, try not to kick thoughtfulness out the door.  Not everybody handles cold weather well.

One more little piece of Winter etiquette to consider:  It costs money to heat our house.  Know that if you knock on my door and start trying to sell me something or save my soul, I’m not going to stand there holding my door open to hear your spiel/sermon.

And no, I’m not letting you in.

Rural Ozarks Life In the Not-So-Fast Lane

Tags

Beginning photography, Missouri Ozarks, nature, nature photographs, nature photography, ozarks, photographs, Photography, rural, Small town

This past week the Weekly Photo Challenge was actually to use a cell phone camera to take a picture of the neighborhood that we live in.  The other day I posted that picture, and while City Boy and I were out-and-about that same day I also took some regular camera pictures, which I have posted in this post.  I am so looking forward to Spring and greenery and flowers that I figure if I keep taking pictures one day everything will just go green!

These photos are from our town, a few of our next door neighbor towns, and the countryside in between.

Back home the sun was coming out from behind the fluffy clouds from time-to-time, and the contrast of the sun playing peekaboo in a blue sky to billowy clouds just made me smile.

Very high atop a tree (the one pictured in the center of the photo above, actually), a little bird decided to bask in the sun after I had taken my cloud pictures.  She sure seemed to enjoy the nice warm sun rays, because she stayed up there for a long time.  I don’t blame her!

As nightfall came a little hammock moon appeared long enough to wish us all a good evening.

Wishing you all peaceful days and nights!

A Walk Around Town

Tags

baby, baby photographs, Beginning photography, Ice storm, moon, nature, nature photography, Photography, poetry, rural, rural photographs, sky, Sunset, winter sunset

Actually, that title is not exactly accurate.  City Boy and I went on a drive here and there, and very little walking was done — it was cold outside!  So. I”m a wimp and everybody should know.  Also, it was actually more than one outing, I just consolidated.  So, in four words I was dishonest twice.  I really didn’t mean to be, but I’m not changing the title because I’m lazy!

Another couple of sunset pictures here — I know I’ve been doing a lot of sky lately, but I just can’t get enough of the beautiful sunsets.  I mean, one night they will be a tapestry of many colors, and the next it may look like the sky is on fire with bright orange.  The next night it may be a subdued blue and white pattern in the sky.  They’re all beautiful, and I can never get enough.

I didn’t know I caught that airplane in the picture until after I processed the photo, so I just thought I’d throw this photograph in for fun.

On a different outing I was looking for picturesque barns and buildings.

Actually I was going to try to write some sort of poem to go along with this picture, something about a stop sign in the road of life sort of thing.  But I’ve discovered to my dismay that I do not have the poetry writing ability that I had in high school.  So, this picture shall remain poetry-less for the time being.  If anybody has a verse they can come up with, feel free to share it!  This picture has a poem in it, I just know it, lol!

A few days after an ice storm we went for a drive and tried to get a good shot of the ice glistening from the grass and branches as the sun shone down on it.  The picture doesn’t do the beauty of it justice.  It was like little diamonds everywhere, and it hardly shows in this picture.  Maybe I should start learning to take videos.  Yeah, that’s the ticket, something else I can be bad at for awhile.

On this day is when we took the picture of the day moon that I had in the Weekly Photo Challenge a few days ago.  Well, actually, I took the picture and City Boy was the wheel man.  But I thought I’d work it in here, too, since it goes along with the other photos.

All of these pictures were taken on the outskirts of town or in town, and even in winter there are some pretty picturesque things to see here.  Spring will simply dazzle you.  I can’t wait to show you!

Just got some hot-off-the-press pictures of Becca’s Precious Baby, who is now three months old.  City Boy and I are getting more and more anxious for Easter weekend and our trip to Texas so we can meet Precious Baby for the first time!

I’m telling ya, Easter can’t get here fast enough!  Don’t forget wonderful Daylight Savings tonight — boooo, hiss, we lose an hour!  Lol, have a wonderful night and a great Sunday!

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The Mother Of All Depressions — Pun Intended

Tags

Arkansas, baby, baby photographs, day moon, Mental health, moon, photographs, Photography, Postpartum depression, Snow, winter, winter weather

Ah, no matter where you go, it’s always good to be home!  Even the best vacation has a point at which your own space, your own stuff, your own bed, just cannot be beat.  I’m glad to be home, but so very glad I got to spend some time visiting my daughter Megan, her husband, and my two grandsons.

My newest grandbaby is two months old, and he’s a real charmer!  Megan’s older son (I’ve talked about him on this blog before, here, for example) is still my little buddy, and always in a good mood.  My 21-year-old son, Joel, lives with Megan, so I get to visit with him while I’m there, and that really rounds out visits to Arkansas!

A big snowstorm came right after I arrived at their house — it was quite a show!  On the way there I had time to get a picture of a wonderful day moon.  After that came a blanket of snow.

My son-in-law’s lonely looking bike in the backyard during the snowfall

Some green grass growing by the fence row that had been enjoying the Spring weather and now is sitting there as if thinking, “What the…..???!!!”

The above-ground pool — not enticing for a swim at this moment!

On the day I left to come home, I had been out earlier with my grandson, both of us with no outerwear because the weather had turned warm and we bought some ice cream from the ice cream truck!  Talk about a fast change in weather!

On a totally unrelated note, during the visit, although I loved being there and had a great time, a few unsettling things had me worried.

Something that hits close to home for a lot of mothers is now heavy on my mind.  Megan is now going through what is termed postpartum depression.  She suffered from this when she had her first child, so she hasn’t been very surprised that it’s hit her after her second one, but she is having a struggle getting on top of it.  I feel bad for her and worry about her, even though she is certain this will pass.

We’re not talking about murderous psychosis here, but just general postpartum depression.  That’s bad enough, I know.  But Megan is just not herself, and it hurts a mom terribly to see her daughter going through this.

There is not much I can say that is of any help to her.  I was diagnosed with postpartum depression after my second child came along, but I tend to think that my depression at that time was more situational than hormonal.  A lot of time has passed since then as well, and details about it aren’t as fresh any more.

Do any of you mothers who have had postpartum depression remember what it was like going through this kind of thing?  What did you do that helped?  I would really appreciate any helpful hints, and would certainly pass them on to Megan!

On a lighter note, there is another baby in the family that I haven’t posted about for a while, and that is Becca’s Precious Baby — and wow, is she growing!

The Face-maker

Precious Baby is now is now two-and-a-half months old, and has developed quite the personality — Frank and I can’t wait to get to Texas at the end of March for Easter and get our  hands on her!  I’ll be trying to take some pictures of her and Daniel’s Angel Baby (among others) to bring back home with me!

So much to talk about, so little time — rest is the next thing on my list of things to do for now, but lots is going on and I’m looking forward to posting again.  Until then, have a great day!

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The Wonders Of Being Away From Home

Tags

baby, grandchild, newborn, spring, Traveling, winter, winter weather

Lately we’ve had two snows here in the city, and although it’s been really fun and lovely, it’s been really cold!  Just when I thought we might actually squeak through the winter with no more big onslaught of winter weather, along comes ice, snow, rain and hail, in just three days!
I’ve been staying at my daughter’s in Arkansas, helping some with their new baby, born the end of December.  I couldn’t come down here sooner due to an unending round of pneumonia that I didn’t want to expose a newborn to, so now I’m enjoying spending this time with my newest grandchild!
Frank is missing me, so I am looking to be home soon, getting ready for March and Easter (yet another holiday for me to nag you about, lol).  Spring is so close I can almost smell the blooming flowers!  There are so many wonderful things about Spring that it’s hard to get everything in one blog.
Until I arrive back home and catch up on my posts, I am wishing all of you a great end of Winter!

Sunset Without Power Lines (Well Almost)

Tags

Beginning photography, evening, Freezing rain, Ice storm, nature photographs, photographs, Photography, Sunset, Winter storm

The night before our big snowstorm last night we were gifted with a really nice sunset.  The view off of our back porch, although we live in a rural town, is surprisingly free (mostly) from power lines and poles in the way of the sky view.  Here are a few shots of the tapestry the sun made as it left us for the evening.

By the next evening we were getting ready for an overnight snow and ice storm, so we were at the store stocking up and at  home battening down the hatches.  Last night it hit, but I will say we didn’t get as much of it as some of our other midwest neighbors.  This was the view through our front window this morning.

Lucy went out to play (and do a few other things), and I went out with her to take a few pictures.  Our poor adirondack chairs have really taken a beating this winter.

Cold place to sit!  

And I was just playing with the camera….

Lucy loves snow, and always plays in it — I got a little video footage of her that I’m too embarrassed to show anybody.  She is a gray and white dog but after running around in the snow she is brown.  She will always find the one spot in the yard that is muddy and make it muddier.  But it’s easy to tell she doesn’t mind the snow…

Snow is so pretty, and I enjoy it.  At the same time, I won’t be unhappy when Spring comes.  Hope all of you are staying warm and enjoying what’s left of Winter!

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