Monday, January 13, 2014

Adventures in Dog Walks


As many times as I take my Daisy Mae for walks in our rural area, most often in the same three directions, she is always so excited.  She seems to find a new adventure each and every time.  She smells new things, and what does that tell her?  I can imagie as I walk the same areas, appreciating the nicer weather, and liking my rural life, she is smelling who or what was in that area since she was there, and who or what passed this or that way.  Today as we walked on the far end of the pond bank, Daisy just went this way and that way.  She alerted me to large tracks at the pond edge and then into the woods.  Oh, it was exciting to see that I was right in my thinking last night.  Late into the night, with the quiet of our area, I was awakened to many howling coyotes, close, I thought, very close.  Yes they were.  My Daisy Dog pointed that out to me in our daily walk today.  She is the investigator, noise to the ground, sticking it in each little snow hole that a squirrel or rabbit makes.  It is fun to watch her discover her world anew each walk.  Now, I also, must take things anew every walk and every day.  Life has so much to offer us all.  Life is given to us new everyday.  I feel blessed to be retired, and have the health, the energy, and the desire to go out into nature.  Enjoying the great outdoors helps me think clearer and feel better also. It gives me time away from household or other pressing issues of things that need to be done.  Also enjoying my dog who is enjoying her walks, helps make for new discoveries, and also some ackowledgement that I do understand some of nature...even that coyotes are closer then usual. 

Friday, January 10, 2014

Rain in Janurary


This late morning as my husband and I were sitting in our living room talking and visiting about my two college classes I have started to audit at Hannibal LaGrange University, where I graduated some years ago, wow, the wonderful sound of thunder and then a downpour.  It took away lots of the snow, and of course, the weather is warmer, and it freshened up our outdoors some.  I was able to go clean off the back patio and stand back and see how fresh a good rain, even in Janurary works for us.  However, like everything else, people like to complain.  So when I opened up on facebook today, my church page, I was just disappointed at so many people just not appreciated what we are given from GOD, nature, or what/whoever, you wantto credit.  I credit GOD.  But many just like complaints, not seeing that it makes their days sad and long and tiring.  Maybe that is why at age "almost 66" (in April), I still feel happy and rejoice in new days and what new things there will be in that day.  It is all about attitude.  Frankly, I feel sad for those with those "stinking" attitudes.

My day in rural Missouri has been mostly indoors, which is something I don't do often, but with the cold we have had and the rain today,it is time to reflect plus do things that need to be done inside.  I took to doing a little cleaning and then went on to do some book searching.  With my new college classes comes a renewed enjoyment of all the old old books we have from my husband's grandfather, who was a  lawyer and judge in our state years ago. He had such a wonderful collection of books, sets of leather bond Edgar Allen Poe and the Spectator, Addison papers, plus a set of Theodore Roosevelt's about the west, and on of Mark Twain's writings.  What I was looking for were some old plays which I did not find, not the ones I wanted, but I found other exciting things.  Some old autograph books....years ago people used to get autographs, well wishes and prose/poetry in little bound books from classmates.  I even found a prose/poetry book and an old McGuffey reader with wonderful prose/poetry in it.  A little red/black covered prayer book was fun to leaf through also.  All are in delicate shape and I felt special just being able to touch and turn some of the pages and do some special reading in them today.

The rainy day gave me a blessing of searching treasures from the past that are located right in my own home.  Yes, we also have the hugh walnut bookcase / secretary that used to stand in Rueben Roy's law office so many years ago.  In it I found a lovely little book that I have seen before but never paid the attention I should have to it.  It was not just my husband's grandfathers.  It was that grandfather's grandfathers...wow, Roy's great great grandfathers book.....date 1803.  Now that is something to just hold and cherish.  I cannot help but feel some of the past in just holding these items.

Cold rainy Janurary days and being interested in life, no complaining but rejoicing in each day we have make for a wonder of gifts....we just have to look for them.  So enjoy the rest of the winter months, rain, shine, snow or sleet....we will get through them.  It is just a matter of how your days and my days compare.  As for me, I know I will be on a treasure hunt of life well lived.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

COUNTRY NEW YEAR'S DAY


The New Year rings in the same I suppose, country and city, depending on the people.  I can only speak for what we seem to experience and do here in rural Missouri.  Most of us seem to stay home, or just get together with some neighbors and play cards, table games and eat all the great foods people brought together...which people call potluck or pitch in.  Either way, it is always lots and always yummy.  There are those that may have saves some fireworks from the 4th of July, and those with a gun or two to fire off at midnight.  Of course, that happening depends if you are with a crowd that stays up that long.

Years ago we had to drive to Indiana and have our Christmas and New Year's time with my son and family.  They could not get away due to him being a pastor and having little children, it just seemed easier for us to go that way.  After a number of years, they decided to move this way, and now live only miles from us.  We get together on Christmas but they are busy with church stuff on New Year's usually.

We and the group we did things with have all gotten older and some now do things with their married children, so we usually just spend our New Year's eve at home.  We may see the fireworks from Austrailia as it happens during our morning hours , but we seldom see the happenings here in New York, etc, until New Year's Day news reports.  We just don't stay up that long.

As Roy and I are into playing Yahtzee lately, we just continued to play our games on New Year's Eve, but we upped the time and instead of six games (which is the amount on a sheet to score the games), we actually splurged and did two sheet.  Wow, six games.  The funny things is that when we play which we seem to be doing every night for a bit (six games), I will win three and Roy wins three.  When we played twelve games, Roy won six and I won six.  I suppose we are just consistant people!

Then to start the year out right, we planned to go to the special New Year's Day auction at Fall Creek, Illinois.  It is called the Green Parrot Auction because it is in a building that used to house the Green Parrot Louge, with drinks and dancing.  Never went then.  But I would say it is a "hopping place" as an auction house.  This special auction had more deluxe items and collection items.  I came home with prizes of a nice handmade quilt for only $30.00 and also an antique cameo necklace (metal is brass), and paid $45.00 for it.  Of course they had some Fiesta ware and I bid and bought a nice pitcher in a blue that is a retired color and paid only $20.00 instead of so much more when new or in a discontinued stock online.  My New Year's bargains were great.  My bigger bargain was spending time with auction "groupie" friends, including my next door neighbors who we ended up sitting next to us.  The amazing thing is that they live just down the country road from us, but she knew I would be at the auction and she brought my Christmas gift (homemade) to me at the auction.  It is just how things seem to  happen with us country people. 

Happy New Year to everyone.  Don't rush around so much that you miss the good things in life.