Monday, August 24, 2015

Ekans spells snake...

and she had babies while we were out of town!



Midland brown snakes give birth to live snakes and i wish we had witnessed it.  There were 7 in all.

Jasper found "him" in the yard this spring and wanted it to be a boy, but guessed it was a "her".  He also guessed it to be pregnant, due to the plumpest belly you'd ever see on a little snake.
Good job sleuthing Jasper!

We let them go in the hugelkultur bed and they are hopefully eating all the slugs.


Thursday, August 13, 2015

Girl on Moss

2011

2015

August Solitude


My RBF

Forest Sidewalk



This is what mating Japanese beetles look like

This is what the leaf looks like when they are done.


I thought a lot about fear while i was at Windridge.
Oftentimes, it stems from the unknown.  But sometimes the things we are most comfortable should cause us more alarm.
A co-worker and I had a conversation about camping, in which he assured me he would never go camping.  Or go into the woods, for it was too scary.
This man lives in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in one of the most dangerous cities.  We laughed about this peculiarity.
Recently, he was arrested for a double homicide, which occurred in the alley behind his house.

I have been coming here for years and i enjoy a camaraderie with the land.
I love to see how much a creek changes.  Our area had record rainfall in June and the creek had been washed clean of all it's gravely rock.  Instead, there was smooth, flat rock underneath and all of the rock had been pushed into tidy piles.
The extra rain made the meadows lush. There were pools of water throughout the creek bed, a rarity in August.
I went for a 4 hour ramble, down the creek, up into the forest, through the meadow.
Headed inside around dusk to get supper.  Left again with a flashlight and walked down the creek, up into the forest, and through the meadow.
I grabbed a chair and set it up in a clearing to watch the stars come out.
The sounds and smells were deafening.

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

August garden flowers

Sweet Coneflower

Globe Amaranth

Sharing

Pink zinnia, blue sky

Pink zinnia, red brick

If only you could smell the yard...i plant for the birds, butterflies and bees.  And humans.  I am lucky Tullaia got a nice camera for her birthday.  She likes to take photos of flowers too!

8 years ago...

Usually i reminisce on the kids' birthdays with old pictures of them.  But this year it's me.


I loved being pregnant.  But Avery's pregnancy was so hard.  I think back on those times and can't believe we all survived.  
Not too much medical detail, but my pelvis bones separated and caused excruciating pain.  It wasn't alleviated by anything.  Sitting hurt, standing hurt, walking hurt, lying down hurt.  
Tullaia was 4 and helped me get dressed in the morning.  Jasper was 2 and had to learn how to do a lot on his own.  Justin was going out of town for work.  
The kids were super as we traveled to all of my appointments.  
We went to physical therapy and i got taped from boob to thigh in an attempt to hold everything together. 
We went to senior swim classes at the Y so i could alleviate the pain in water.  
I, the one who doesn't do needles, sat through acupuncture sessions.  It wasn't helpful and I was told i had things in my past that prevented it from working properly.  Quack?
The chiropractor tried...
The OB felt the gap and spoke kindly to me. 
I never thought we'd make it through.  And then we did.