Would You Believe Today Is My First Day?

Three weeks ago I had some people over who were interested in taking my piano. Three men and a boy worked for an hour and a half. Loading the piano into their truck was a failure. The piano remained lying on it's side at the bottom of my stairs. This was a huge object in my way. My house has been for sale and every potential buyer walked in. When they looked down the stairs they saw the wheeled bottom of the piano looking at them. I wonder what they thought. Most people never see the wheeled bottom of a piano.

Today at 7 o'clock in the morning three men moved that piano out of the house and onto the truck in a mere 10 minutes. As the first man lifted the piano up the steps and set it on the landing he asked me, "Would you believe today is my first day?" I said I did not believe him and that he was a terrible liar. Both men wore 3 inch wide leather straps across their shoulders and stretched out under the length of the piano. These guys knew what they were doing. I already miss my piano. I don't miss the one lying on it's side at the bottom of the stairs. I miss the upright, out of tune piano that I used to play. The piano is going to a good home where I am sure it will get plenty of use.

Happy Thanksgiving!

No Time Like The Present

Today we went for our mile long walk around Laddie Lake. Tomorrow this pathway might look a lot different so there was no time like the present to do some forest bathing.

A Long Mow

Three weeks ago I used my lawn mower to bag up most of the leaves off the lawn. Before I started that chore I put in enough gas to get the job done. I always like to run the engine dry before I quit mowing for the season. Today I thought I would trim up the yard, even though it didn't need a trim, just to burn up that little bit of gasoline in the tank. Little bit of gasoline my foot. I mowed the back yard. I mowed the front yard. I mowed the driveway. I mowed all the paths in the woods. I mowed the back yard again. I mowed the front yard again. Just like Stega Nona and her never ending pot of pasta, this lawn mower gas never seemed to burn up. Why did I put so much gasoline in the tank last time? I mowed and mowed. I got tired and sat on a rock while holding the lawn mower handle to keep the engine running. That seemed silly so I mowed some more. In the back yard I cross hatched the lawn so it looked like a well groomed turf. By now it is getting dark. Trucks driving by have their headlights on. This lawn mower is still purring along without hesitation. I see many other things I could be doing as I walk around and around the yard.  Now that my house is for sale, this could be the last mowing I do here so I try to enjoy it. I mow the driveway again. Long grass in the driveway makes the first shoveling difficult. Finally I hear a hesitation in the engine. I mow up to the garage door. The sun has set and the chickens have gone to bed. Finally the engine dies and the job is done.

Anything is Possible

I have been on an Elizabeth Strout kick lately so that is why I read Anything is Possible. In this story the authors links passages about nine people who suffered in childhood and thrived as adults. A side character in one story might be the main character in the next. This story is set in a small town in the Midwest. Some of the stories are sentimental but the author speaks of hard topics without apology. Humans are complicated creatures who feel a large variety of emotions. Some of us feel superior to others and that is a common theme in some of these stories. Although you can feel superior to others, you never quite know what they have going on in their lives that makes them act in the way that they do. With a little compassion, anything is possible.

A Sense Of Place And Well-Being

Last night my chapter of the master naturalists met to listen to a  naturalist who used to work at Wild River State Park talk about a sense of place and well-being. He talked about us humans needing nature for our physical survival but also for our spiritual survival as well. The speaker had his presentation on, of all things, a carousal slide projector. This is a talk he gave many years ago but the message remains an important one. One of the quotes he gave was from Lyndon B. Johnson, "And once man can no longer walk with beauty or wonder at nature, his spirit will wither and his sustenance be wasted.” I never thought of LBJ as a nature loving president but I knew his wife was. She sponsored a program so that our state highways reflected the nature from that location instead of being exactly the same through out the country. Her pet project was the highway beautification act of 1965. Our speaker knew he was speaking to an audience who agreed with his thoughts on the importance of nature. Some times it is nice to listen to someone who agrees with your thoughts regarding vast expanses of suburban green lawns, Chem-lawn chemicals, and pollinator friendly plants. Our speaker seemed to think if you spend time observing nature every day you will better be able to get along with other people. I agree with that too. None of these things can be quantitatively studied and proven. I just know that if I can take a walk in the woods and touch the trunks of trees, I feel better. Inside a building (where I am much of the day) a house plant makes me feel better. Nature, in any form, is very important to me.

Deer

Have you ever seen the statues of white tailed deer in people's yards? I don't think I have ever mistaken a deer statue for an actual deer. Today I was walking around a neighborhood in Blaine. Across the street a man was walking a medium sized the dog.  As we approached each other the dog stopped and stared. The man tried to encourage to dog to move along. I turned to see what the dog was looking at. Turns out the dog saw the three fake deer and was mesmerized by their lack of movement. The man explained he often has live deer in his back yard and that is why this dog was confused. Some how it struck me funny that this dog was transfixed by three fake deer so I started to laugh, my companion started to laugh, and the dog walker started to laugh. I wonder if anyone has ever shot a deer statue during hunting season. If I was a prankster I could put a fake deer out in the woods near a deer stand some time in the fall and see what happens.

Olive, Again

Olive Kittridge was a curmudgeon in the book by the same name. In Olive Again she is an older curmudgeon but just as onery and outspoken as ever which somehow is comforting to me. I think it's great that Olive is true and transparent even though she rubs some people the wrong way. A few people can look past her gruff exterior and appreciate Olive. One of them is a man named Jack. This story is set is a small coastal town in Maine. Olive is fairly critical of the people in her town but sometimes she goes out of her way to be kind. One day at the grocery store she sees a former student struggling to find her groceries. This former student is now a mother of teenagers and struggling from the effects of chemotherapy for her breast cancer. Olive helps her at the store and then comes to her house to visit weekly until the woman gets her strength back. Where the woman's friends were afraid to visit her when ill, Olive didn't mind visiting at all. As the former math teacher in junior high many of the towns people were in her class. To some students she was an inspiration. Others thought she was a battle axe. Olive may be brusque and rude at times but a person always knew where they stood with Olive and I think that is a good thing.

The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt

My book club read Andrea Bobotis' book, The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt this month. This is Andrea's first novel and is set in the south. Bound, South Carolina is the name of the town and the main store in town is the Kratt Mercantile Company. Judith is the daughter of the store owner in 1929 when a tragedy occurs. At the end of the book Judith is 75. Her parents are dead. Her brother, Quincey is dead. Her sister is coming home for a visit for the first time in almost 50 years so Judith decides now is the time to make an inventory list of the possessions within the crumbling down Kratt household. Each chapter starts with her list of possessions and with every chapter we learn more about a few more possessions and the list grows longer. The character development is very charming. Other parts of this book (rascism, bullying, intimidation, and black-mailing) are not so charming. Most people in our group enjoyed the story. I thought the author was crafty in withholding some important information until the end.

Red Oaks

Various trees come into their fullest beauty at different times of the year. Tamaracks are golden in the fall. Maples are luscious green in the spring. Conifers add color in the winter. Sugar maples are scarlet in the fall, Crab apple and pear and plum trees are beautiful with flowers in the spring. Willow trees blow gracefully in the wind in the summer especially when the branches are hanging over a lake or a stream. Since it was too cold to walk outside today we took the stairs. This is a view of a gorgeous red oak from the fourth floor west window. Now is the time for red oaks to shine. Come March these oaks will loose their leaves. The reddish, thick leaves will lie on the snow and absorb the sunlight so that a leaf shaped depression is melted into the snowbank.

Owner Manual From 1968

I was organizing my books today when I came upon this classic! Here is my owners manual from my first car that was blue until I had it painted orange.

Here is the dashboard of my Rambler American. I remember you turned on the bright lights by stepping on a metal knob on the floor.

I apologize but you have to turn your head sideways to see how the door locks worked. Push down to lock and pull up to unlock or push down the black knob.

The radio had AM and FM only. I listened to rock and roll. On Sunday nights if I was driving to St. Cloud from Roseville I would listen to a radio play which usually involved a spooky story. So should I keep this owner manual?

You Don't Eat The Antlers

This morning I was on a business related phone call. The  man asked, "Do you mind being on hold for a short three to four minutes?" I stifled my real feelings and said it was okay. While on hold some movement caught my eye to the south of my house. A doe was browsing on the path I mow. Five feet south of her was a big buck. This big fellow had ten points on his antlers. I watched him through the thick brush never able to get a good view of him. He was hiding from me. Me! A vegetarian armed with a camera and a slingshot! I thought of this buck throughout the day as reports from deer hunters came in. Like my father said today, "You don't eat the antlers." I guess a six point buck would be as tasty as a ten point buck.

I Feel Fine

This morning I played the song "I Feel Fine" on my piano. I was getting it ready to give to a friend of mine who was coming over to take it out of my house and put it in his house. You can see my yellow cup of coffee on top of the piano. I was getting pretty good at those B flat, F, C, and A minor chords.

Sadly the piano remains in my house but now tilted on it's side. Piano movers are coming this week to move it properly. For now I have to work around it. I had hours and hours of enjoyment out of this golden (mustard yellow?) piano. I am happy that is is going to a musically inclined family with two young boys.

Film of Ice

We bundled up and took a walk around Laddie Lake this morning. Most of it has frozen over. I saw a couple five foot diameter circles of open water out towards the middle but the rest of the water has a film of ice that prevents me from seeing any wave action at all. No matter how hard the wind blows for the next few months, I will not see any white caps on this lake. The ducks, gulls and geese are going to have to find new places to swim and forage for food.

The Stationary Shop

In this story by Marjan Kamali a young teenage girl in Iran named Roya falls in love with a poet named Bahman. Roya's loyal sister, Zari, warns Roya that Bahman might not be as great as Roya thinks he is. The romance between Roya and Bahman are thwarted by an interfering mother and her emotional manipulation of the man who runs The Stationary Shop. The letters between Roya and Bahman are exchanged in the stationary shop. Although they are separated and lead their lives without each other Roya and Bahman meet again in the twilight of their lives. Sixty years after the fact the loving couple realize what actually happened in Iran in 1953 and come to terms with it. This was a very entertaining story.

The Thanks I Get

I fill up the bird feeders with sunflower seeds and thistle seeds. I put suet in the suet feeder. I put water in the bird bath. I set my laundry including this gold table cloth outside to dry and what happens?

Some bird craps on it. Oh, well, I can wash it again. I would rather they hit the table cloth than my flannel sheets anyway.

The Kitchen Daughter

I read the charming book The Kitchen Daughter over the past two days. Jael McHenry's book is easy to read and pleasant to think about. The protagonist is Ginny who likes to cook. She finds that the smell of food or the textures of food is calming. When upset she thinks up the smell and taste of caramelized onions and that helps her calm down. Ginny doesn't like to be in crowds or look people in the eye. Her sister, Amanda, is determined to pin a label (Asperger's syndrome) on her for her own good. But is it really necessary for Ginny to have a label? What is normal anyway except a setting on a dryer? The book is sprinkled with recipes that sound delicious. The relationship between Ginny and her sister Amanda develops during the conflict and they come to realize things about their parents and family that will surely come in helpful in the future.