Taking Shelter in an Angel's Ear

You can't tell by this photo, but there is a ladybug tucked into this angel's ear. It didn't move when I blew on it, but there is a chance that it might wake up again come spring. They do overwinter here underneath piles of leaves and debris.

Saintcicles

Snow-Covered Christ

Peek-a-boo

I didn't know what to title this as it's pretty wretched if you think about it. The weather was so foggy the other day, perfect lighting for photographing things like cemeteries and bare winter trees, so hubby and I drove over to Wisconsin Memorial Park and then Holy Cross so I could wander around in the rain with my camera. Of course I forgot to wear my boots so I ended up trudging through snow with my Keen clogs on - they're the best so no damage to them, just cold, wet feet going through the deeper parts. I got some really nice, atmospheric trees and a few interesting landscapes with lots of crosses and stones. This one I am posting here was probably one of the creepiest, especially since it must mark the grave of someone who was too young to have to die. But here it is. I couldn't just leave it there in the snow - poor child.

Seaweed on the beach at Kalaloch, WA

Mailboxes again, view 2

Mail Boxes, Fort Worden, WA

Spruce, Fort Worden, WA

Make Art, Not War

Shop window in Port Townsend, WA

Jellyfish, Port Ludlow, WA

Erigeron - Sea Holly, Seattle, WA

Hurricane Ridge, WA - Panorama

Deer At Hurricane Ridge, WA

Port Ludlow, WA

Winter Solstice

This has got to be one of my very favorite days of the year, the shortest day of the year and the beginning of the slow run back into the sun. Every day from here until the summer solstice gets progressively longer, while darkness creeps back. Explaining this to my youngest child, age 8, is a bit difficult, as if this marked the middle of winter instead of just the beginning. Yet here we are, a week before Christmas with 23 inches of snow on the ground (less, actually, as the piles have begun to sink into themselves with recent warmer weather and light rain) and all of winter technically ahead of us. I love this nadir, as there is only one way out - UP!

What I had planned on doing today was painting a line across our back brick path where the shadow of our roof falls on this day of lowest sun angle. Our old sidewalk, before we tore up the cement and replaced it with red pavers, was marked in this way at both the shortest and longest days of the year. Our roofline, which runs east-west, is perpendicular to the sun's rays and casts a shadow directly over our back yard that moves roughly 30 feet north every fall, until today when it sits for a moment and then starts to go back south again towards the house. I haven't yet caught that exact day and time to take down the measurements, so there are no new marks on our brick path to mark these auspicious events. Today, I was ready. I watched the fog stuff itself between the trees early this morning and knew it didn't bode well for my task at hand. I waited patiently and prayed for a break in the clouds, but at high noon the skies were still thick and gray - not a single shadow to be cast.
I could possibly make a small, temporary mark tomorrow at noon, if the skies cooperate, but I wanted it to be today. I guess since the actual equinox is just after midnight tonight I could use tomorrow just as well. We'll see, but if it remains cloudy I guess I'll just have to wait another year and keep watching.

How Christmas Works Around Here

I wanted to share an example of how complex, or simple - depending on how you look at it - the art of gift-giving can be in our family.

My Mom called today and reviewed with me what she was giving each of my children, asking for hints for last minute items. Then she said she didn't have anything for me, yet, but that hopefully my Dad had already taken care of that. I mentioned that I really wanted a jar of Bath and Body Works Sweet Temptations Twisted Peppermint Body Scrub. She begged me wait while she scrambled for a pencil. As she did thus, I googled the item and found out that although it cost $12/jar in the store (which is aggregious anti-Christian spirit of Christmas, up-against-the-wall, they-have-you-right-where-they-want-you pricing as it's only offered in December and then disappears unless you're lucky enough to find some on eBay), it was on sale for 50% off online. Mom comes back to the phone and I tell her this. She gets all excited (this part runs in the family) and tells me to order a couple and she'll pay for them as my gift. I see the sense in this so after I get off the phone I order four jars for $24.00. Then I go to retailmenot.com and check out their coupon codes, scooping up a "spend $30, get $10 off" deal. I flip back to the B&B Works site, add another jar to my order to bring it to $30 exactly, apply the coupon code, and watch $10 fall off my total. With tax and shipping, I just got five jars of the $12 body scrub for $28.51, without ever having to leave my home and brave the obscene mall mobs. Deal!

Called my Mom back to share the good news and she immediately agrees to pay for all five jars. Score! Then I tell her she can just add it onto the monthly check she gives us to help pay for the kids' cell phones. Let's see, that's $40, plus $28.51 comes to $68.51. But wait, I am buying her that sweater that she found for herself at Kohls, so minus out the price of the sweater, and she will write me a check for whatever is left over. I'll pick her check up in a couple days, along with the sweater to wrap and give back to her on Christmas morning. Perfect.

Just Before the Origami Resurrection

Kale - Mitchell Park Domes - 12/7/2007

The Joys of Boys

Ventured into my oldest son's room this morning. Among other disgusting things, I found this bowl and spoon glazed with a dessicated layer of Stonyfield Farm organic, fat-free vanilla yogurt. You could, as you might guess, pick up the bowl by simply lifting the spoon. Yum.

Stress and Fat

I have done a bit more research. It turns out that if you are under mild to moderate stress (like who isn't?), your body is more likely to hold onto excess fat because it thinks it might need it. Again, lay down some lard in the cellar because hard times are imminent. I'm in a state of at least moderate stress even while I'm asleep, so I guess I can kiss that sleep-off-the-fat theory goodbye. At least there is comfort in knowing that my body is only trying to protect me from possible starvation. That's a kind thought.

Fat and Sleep

On NPR a few minutes ago they reported on recent findings that link lack of sleep in new mothers to weight gain, or at least fat storage. I'll have to check up on this and see if there is any way, any even remote way that this might apply to those of us who have had our children over eight years ago. Though they didn't go into great detail, they said that new mothers who want to lose the weight they gained during pregnancy should make sure to get enough sleep. Sleep deprivation causes the body to go into a sort of stress-related conservation mode. Kind of like saying, "Hey - things are looking a bit rough around here. Better batten down the hatches and lay down some lard in the cellar in case we get snowed in!"

My take on this scenario is that all I have to do is sleep more to lose these stubborn pounds. Just the thought of this new regime is starting to release endorphins - I can feel it! I'm off to catch some Z's and lose a few pounds before Thanksgiving.

Two Sides, But Only One Response

So I have this friend with a pretty rough marriage. They are both friends of mine, husband and wife, even before they were wed. I run into the husband at work and he confides in me every so often. We go way back, to our college days. He tells me what his wife has said or done, how frustrated he is with her about this or that. I listen, nod, try not to judge. Later I run into the wife at the grocery store. We go way back, to our college days. She confides in me and tells me things aren't going so well at home. She tells me how disappointed she is; she tells me what her husband has said or done, or not done. I listen and nod and commiserate appropriately, but don't say too much.
A few days later, I run into a friend of the husband in the library. We talk of our mutual friend, and he mentions their troubles. He says he can't believe how the wife can act like that, how she can say those things. He thinks the wife is sick, or evil.
Later that same week, I run into an old friend of the wife, the maid of honor from their wedding. We talk of our mutual friends, this couple, and how things aren't going so well for them lately. She comments on the husband, how he could do all those things he did; how he could act the way he does and not even care. It is so sad, we both agree.
There are two sides, or probably many more, to every story. Is she mad? Is he unfaithful? Did she say that, unprovoked? Did he mean that? Is one of them more wrong than the other? Does Christ love either of them less?
I think she is mad, at her wit's end, stretched to the limit. She does tend to run over at the mouth and she says what's on her mind, even when she shouldn't. And he was unfaithful, and unthoughtful, and even irresponsible. Frankly, they're both sort of jerks, now that I think about it. But then again, who isn't? Does Christ love jerks? Or does he just love American soldiers?
The part that hurts is when outsiders think they have someone else all figured out, all critiqued and packaged off for hell, or heaven. Did the husband ever step back and take a look at himself and just say, "Hey, I can be a real asshole." Do you think the wife ever says to herself, "I should just shut up." Does Christ ever back off and take a good hard look at us and say, "I just don't feel like loving you anymore. You don't get it. I'm tired of trying to get through to you. You're on your own from now on."

Tropical Leaf

One of my favorite subjects, leaves . . . this one again in the tropical dome, taken from underneath with a rather shallow depth of field. I have always loved the color green.

And Now For the Debits of Tea Drinking . . .

I have been reading so much lately on the benefits of drinking tea - black tea, green tea, white tea, Pu-erh, Oolong, Sencha . . . but I came up against a debit today while trying to do my semi-regular platelet donation at the Blood Center. They always check your iron levels before they allow you to donate, and since I am almost exclusively donating platelets now instead of whole blood, my iron levels have been great. Back when I was donating whole blood every eight or more weeks (and back when I also had a uterus, I must add), I would sometimes fail the hematocrit level test. You have to have a hematocrit level of at least 38% to be able to donate on any given day. Sometimes I would go as low as maybe 35, 36 . . . 34? These days I am usually in the low 40s. Today I bottomed out at 30 and had to reschedule my donation - not for a week later, but two weeks later. They didn't think one week would be enough time to raise my iron levels to an acceptable place. The first thing they asked was if I had recently made any dietary changes. I thought for a moment and then said I had just started to seriously drink tea over the past couple of weeks.
"Ah-ha!" Both of the blood workers I was speaking with nodded their heads as if that explained it all. Today I learned that the tannins in tea prohibit the absorption of iron and protein into your body. It is recommended that you put milk in your tea, because milk binds to the tannins. Alternatively, drink Rooibos, or red tea from South Africa, which does not contain tannins or caffeine.
So, while just beginning to enjoy my "new" tea habit, I find that I may have to moderate my intake or just drink more Rooibos. I think I'll try the red over the next two weeks and see if I still pass my hematocrit in two weeks.

New Lens

This shot of our miniature schnauzer, Buddy, on our son's lap was taken with my new lens, a Sigma 18-200mm zoom with image stabilization. The only light was from my desk lamp and possibly some reflection off the small television screen above the dog. No flash. No tripod. I leaned against my dresser and just held as steady as I could for this 1.6 second exposure. Pretty. Darn. Cool.

Sky Over Our Front Yard This Morning

Rug

So I was at Kohl's a couple weeks ago for who knows what, and I decided to take a look at the rug section. We have wood floors downstairs and a rug is nice to have in the winter months. Our old one bit the dust, or rather turned into dust, a while back. So I go to look at the rugs and I find this one I really rather like. It's the right size, 5' x 8', and is made of wool, instead of that viscose or olefin. What is that stuff, anyway? Petroleum product? Recycled margarine? I prefer a fiber who's origin I can relate to in a direct way. I know what a sheep looks like.
So, here is this beautiful area rug and it is priced at $249.99. Now, that's not so bad for a 5' x 8' rug, but it's not on sale, and everyone knows that you never, EVER pay full price for anything at Kohl's because it will most likely be on sale within the next few days, if not hours, and might even possibly end up as a clearance item the next time you're in the store. I leave the rug and pretty much don't think about it again.
Yesterday I am in Kohl's again, looking for jeans and shoes for my older son. I decide to stop by the rugs as they are having one of their infamous "lowest price of the season" sales. I think their definition of "season" must have something to do with smaller units than three months, like maybe one week. I seem to see those lowest price of the season signs more than once every three months. Anyway . . .
I stop in the rug section and sure enough, there is a sale on rugs. There is my rug, only one left in the biggest size. There is a sign above the rug that says it is on sale for $18.99. Whoa. I do a double-take, then a double-check and yes, it says the little rug is $8.99; the medium-size rug is $18.99, and the large 5' x 8' one is also $18.99. I can hardly believe my good fortune! I grab the rub and haul it up to the check-out with no cart. I am out of breath by the time I get there. The checker scans the price tag for the rug and it comes up as $69.99. No, no, no - it was very clearly priced at $18.99. She looks incredulous (I don't blame her) and makes a phone call to someone out there on the floor to check the price. A minute later her phone rings next to her register and I hear her say, "Oh? Well, okay." Then she tells me I am right and rings the rug up at $18.99. I skip out to my car as well as I can while carrying this huge wool rug, and I stop at my parents' house to show it off and exclaim over my good luck.
Today, I return to Kohl's to take back the shoes and jeans that didn't fit my oldest son. Just for fun, I decide to take a look at the rugs again and see if they don't have a smaller, matching rug I could put in the front hallway. Well, they are out of the size and color I want, but they have it in other colors. I check out the sign again and it is now changed. Small size is $8.99; medium size is $18.99 and the large size is $69.99. So it was a mistake. Wow. I was in the right place at the right time. Love that.

I'm Baaaack

I haven't posted here in a while and I was feeling a little badly about that. You see, I am at a stage in life, a fragile stage in life, a complex stage in life raising an increasing number of teenagers and trying to keep my head (and my heart) above water. Thank God for our gym membership so I can sweat off some of the stress, and then soak in a hot whirlpool!
I got a new lens from my Dad and will soon be putting it through its paces, with results hopefully to post. As far as writing is concerned, I have been investing my skills in my two dog blogs, as silly as that may sound. It's a great outlet at the end of the day to sit down here and speak my mind through the persona of a dog. I tell their stories from their points of view, as they tell them to me. I'm already seeing a shrink, so don't even suggest it.
The four kids are now in four separate schools and just trying to get to teacher conferences over the past two weeks was quite a challenge. I almost did it, but had to skip a few teachers to make it work. Academically, everyone's doing great. Pants keep falling down lower, hair keeps changing colors, food keeps disappearing as if by magic, but I hear these are normal occurences.
So there you have it. If this gets boring, just visit the dog blogs to your right. Their lives are far more exciting than mine at times.

Toast

My babysitting employer called me last night to say that, due to the unusually sluggish housing market, my services will no longer be afforded. Understandable, since the child's father is a realtor, but I am sad nonetheless. I will miss the gas money, and I will miss the little boy even more. He is such a love.
So, now I have six more hours of free time each week. What to do? The toaster was staring at me this morning and I stared back, noting how dirty the thing was. When was the last time someone cleaned you? No answer. I spent the next twenty minutes cleaning my toaster. It often stands on the counter next to the stovetop, so it gradually takes on a sticky patina of spattered oil, laying a nice foundation for any dust or crumbs that get near it. Just wiping it with a wet rag does no good; it simply smears the grease around. So, I took a soapy rag to the thing and wiped off as much of the gook as I could before I had to take the next child to school. It looks much nicer now, though still not like new. Maybe tomorrow I will get around to emptying the crumb tray.

Meep

While trying to take a photo of a friend's cat, Meep, his proverbial curiosity took over and he ran right up to the lens.

Take Note

I notice that when one of the dogs sneezes, I say, "God bless you." I also said, "Excuse me," to the vacuum cleaner the other day when I bumped into it in the hall.
Have you ever been in church and a young child sitting in front of you turns around and gets on his/her knees and looks you in the eyes? You look back and smile, then look back up at the preacher, but the kid just keeps staring at you and you can feel those pupils boring into you? I am practicing my stare-back. I want to see how long I can look at the kid before he is the one who becomes uncomfortable. I think it's best when the kid is under age 3. After about that age, they sometimes alert their parents to the strange lady behind them. This little game sometimes makes the service go faster. I now look for children to sit behind on Sunday mornings.
Do you ever notice how long actors sometimes go without blinking? I was watching a movie trailer the other day of Johnny Depp in The Libertine (2004) and he almost never blinks. I tried to keep my eyes open as long as he did each time before blinking. I couldn't do it. It's another power play with the eyes. They must practice this sort of stuff in acting school.
I am going to get my hair cut today. I was reading a copy of Ladies Home Journal yesterday at the gym. Jamie Lee Curtis was on the cover and I decided then and there that I wanted my hair cut like hers. If I get out of the chair today and actually look like Jamie Lee Curtis, my stylist will get an extra-large tip. If you see me on the street (or staring at your young child in church), please tell me how much I suddenly resemble Jamie Lee Curtis.

My Bright Angel

Look what my eldest bright angel did!

When Not in Focus, Filter!

Temperate dome, Mitchell Park Domes.

Succulents

Succulents at the Mitchell Park Domes this week, arid dome.

Wet Leaf

Also taken at the Mitchell Park Domes, tropical dome.

Hibiscus Bloom

This is the same flower, shown front and back, respectively. Taken at the Mitchell Park Domes, tropical dome, earlier this week.

Pillbug

I don't know if 'anonymous' actually knew what that thing was, or if they just put their mouse over the photo and saw my photo filename show up with the word 'pillbug' in it, but either way - it's a pillbug. Common as dirt and about as appealing. I never imagined that one properly lit would have so much color to it! It was being lit from the underside by the garage light, and then my camera added flash to the topside. I thought these things were just gray, boring gray. Anyway, I am constantly impressed by these seemingly dull organisms that belie a type of inner beauty when you take the time to really look closely at them.

Sunflowers at Night

Hubby and the kids planted these giant sunflowers at the beginning of summer. They now tower above our heads, bowing down with the weight of all those maturing seeds. The one nearest the path caught my attention tonight as it was lit up by the security light on the garage, so I took a few photos.

Guess What It Is!

This really amazed me, to see this thing up close and all the color in it! Can anyone guess? I will post the answer in a couple days.

Bugs in Our Yard Tonight

Here is a sample of some of the bugs I found in our yard last night. The middle photo was specifically taken to show how big our urban Wisconsin slugs generally are. That's my thumb for size reference. The last photo is of some common house-type fly, but he/she sure is pretty when you look up close like this.

Up From the Dead

While photographing sunflowers and bugs around the garage security light tonight, I glanced up to see this tight knot of yellowjackets just above our garage door. No one's been stung yet this year, but last year I was stung at least twice, quite painfully. It took a few doses of Wasp-B-Gone before we gave up and called an exterminator. $100 later and they were gone. Now they appear to be back in a new location this year. Since the nest is visible and not below ground like last year, we might be able to get rid of this one ourselves. I really dislike yellowjackets!

Stormy Skies

This sky was over our house on Wednesday, 8-22-07. The blotches are from rain either coming towards or having landed on the lens.

New Schnauzer Update

Pardon the interruption, but Buddy is too cute for words . . . so here are a couple photos instead:

Baby Fox Snake

Because my daughter and I had once run over one of these snakes on the Ahnapee State Trail while biking to Door County one summer, I knew just what it was when I found it near the side of a back road in Baileys Harbor last weekend. A baby fox snake! How cute is that? It shook its little tail like a rattlesnake wannabe when I first picked it up. I carried it back to Grandma's house so the kids could see it, photographed it a couple times (here in my oldest daughter's hands) and then let it go in a safe place in the woods out back. So neat - such a nice snake to have around. I hope it gets to grow to adulthood.

The Bourne Ultimatum

Hubby and I went out to dinner (Il Mito on North near the Rosebud - wonderful meal) and then took in The Bourne Ultimatum. Maybe we should have eaten dinner a few hours earlier, or even after the movie so that the contents of my stomach wouldn't have caused so much damage running up and down my esophagus during the action scenes - of which there were many. I actually dug through my handbag about a third of the way into the film and found a Zanax that I sometimes have on hand for just such occasions. I took it with my bottled water and I think this helped me through the rest of the story. Wow! An hour later and I still don't think my heartrate is back to normal.

My Family Thinks I'm Nuts, But This Takes the Cake

So my family thinks I love the dogs a bit too much. I buy a few too many schnauzer items: the t-shirts, the decal on the van, the magnets, the earrings. But folks, there are extremes you know nothing about, including, but not limited to this delightful dog yarmulke you can purchase from the Barker & Meowsky paw firm website for only $10.00 plus shipping. Their ad reads, "Appropriate for holidays for observing the Sabbath -- and Bark Mitzvahs, of course!" And be sure to check out the musical menorah toy for only $12.95.

Animal Parts

I think I take this cow photo every year at the Fair. The composition just appeals to me. Besides that, their backs remind me of our new schnauzer, who has similar, though smaller, bones protruding from his back end as he is still under weight. The other photo is the back of the head of a sheep. He has this puff of wool on the top of his head and down his nose so it looks like you're seeing his eyelids just under there, but you're not. They are farther down his snout.

Honey

Smithsonian magazine recently did an interview with an entomologist about the plight of the honey bee: "Honeybee populations in more than 20 states have mysteriously crashed. May Berenbaum, of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, studies "colony collapse disorder" and its consequences." You can read more of the interview here: http://smithsonianmag.com/issues/2007/june/interview.php It's alarming, once you hear what's going on with the bees.

I thought this honey display was beautifully backlit. I hope we can somehow save the bee populations from whatever is causing their decline.

What Living in Wisconsin is All About

They may tell you it's the beer, but it isn't. This is why true Wisconsinites live here. It's the cheese, man. The cheese. This case is filled with thousands of dollars worth of the best, or at least the best of those who entered. I didn't see any Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Dodgeville, but then again, when you have won Best in the US two times, you probably don't even bother with small contests like this one. Did you know that all of the Limburger in the US is produced by one cheese place alone here in Wisconsin? We just so totally rock the US cheese world.

Quilt Display at WI State Fair 2007

These quilts were hanging up after being judged at our State Fair. It's amazing the amount of detail some of them have. These quilters must have a sizeable amount of OCD to do this stuff. My regards!