First Tries With New Lens

My Dad gave me this wonderful long lens for Christmas and it finally arrived from backorder last month. Here are a couple first shots of an American goldfinch. These were taken from our back window.

Ups and Downs, or Downs and Ups

I'll start with the downs first and save the more uplifting stuff for last.

• I am recuperating from a recent surgery and, while healing, am dealing with some post-operative concerns and decisions that now have to be made.
• Since I am sitting on my butt for a greater than normal part of the day during recovery, all the improvement I made during my last two months of physical therapy on rear end muscular/busitis issues has sort of backslidden (sorry).
• Being bored by the end of a week of sitting around here, unable to get out and walk (much), get groceries or run errands has intensified my normal February-in-Wisconsin cabin fever syptoms. The highlights of my recent days have been showers, and taking my daily dose of isoflavones.
• I am not able to lift more than ten pounds at a time right now, so my babysitting job is on hold for another week or two. I have thus turned to Internet shopping, spending bits of cash pretty much in reverse proportion to what I would have taken in during these last three weeks of work. This means I have lost not three weeks of income, but actually six, not to mention the loss of cuddle time with my adorable nine-month old charge.
• Beyond my health issues, there's always teenagers to make life difficult. My oldest got an interim report card today indicating a D in Math, another D in Biology, and a U in History if improvements aren't made soon before the next marking period. When confronted, said teen replied, "The homework is stupid." Well, if it's so stupid, I guess I understand why she wouldn't want to do it. How silly of me. Now, if my children were all animals, as they sometimes are, but no - literally animals, and these animals put on a circus in the forest, my eldest would definitely be the racoon dressed as a clown. A very creative, intelligent clown (except in math, biology and history, that is). Let's say she puts the E in Emo lately, and whether she means to or not, she is driving her concerned parents nuts.
• I can no longer have any more children. Ever.

There's more to the negative list, as I am all too capable of digging up an endless supply of additions, but I think it's time to move on and practice my weaker skills of enumerating the positives in life.

• The bad part of surgery is over, especially that first night in the hospital, which was awful.
• They gave me drugs, painkillers, to take home. This is very good. But it's also very good that I now no longer need anything more than Tylenol. Even better is that I now have some nice, strong, prescription painkillers left over for future use.
• I got flowers in the hospital from three different parties. This is a nice treat. They now grace our coffee table in the living room.
• I got the staples out of my incision only four days after surgery, and my doctor let me keep them so that my oldest daughter could make strange jewelry out of them.
• I have had lots of positive attention and MEALS brought over that I didn't have to think about, prepare or clean up after. This, to me, is one of the best parts of having to recuperate from surgery. I have never liked to cook, but I do have a nice cookbook selection. I love the idea of cooking, but this idea has never germinated into actually doing it on a regular basis.
• I got lots of healty isoflavones as gifts (dark chocolate) and less healthy isoflavones (milk chocolate). Sometimes I double or even triple my isoflavone dose.
• I have a nice supply of soaps, lotions and skin care products that recently arrived in the mail from one Internet shopping frenzy, and any day now my lime green Born shavano boots will show up, along with my bread baking pans and the four Burt's Bees starter kits I won on eBay at a fantastic price.
• My feet smell like peppermint more often than they ever have before.
• Before I even knew I needed surgery, I had started to think about getting a second miniature schnauzer. A few days later, out of the blue, a friend told me of a colleague's new litter of mini schnauzer pups! We saw them at eight days old, and they were, of course, adorable. Now that I have suffered through all sorts of medical brutality, I find the timing good in the end. Who would want to watch me go through all of this, and then deny me a puppy?
• The litter will be ready to go home six weeks and one day after my surgery, the magic recovery mark - and also my younger daughter's 11th birthday. Is that a sign, or what?
• I don't have to do laundry, take out the garbage, vacuum, shovel or even drive anyone anywhere for at least another week.
• I can no longer have any more children. Ever.

Sam-ism

Sam: "I was born to eat. Don't let me live in vain."

Frigid Weekend in Spring Green

My kids and I were watching old episodes of The Office on DVD the other day. Jim took Dwight's "company" stapler and suspended it in jello. It was there on Dwight's desk, floating in a dome of goo, and I thought to myself, "Someone was actually given the job of making that jello mold and carefully placing that stapler so that it would be in the center of the gelatin when it set up."

I could be that someone.

Float Like a Butterfly . . .

Yesterday was Muhammad Ali's 65th birthday. NPR made this announcement and then relayed one of Ali's quotes: "If you even dream of beating me, you better wake up and apologize."

Gotta love that.

Interesting Old Covenant Rule

I am rereading the Bible this year. The last time I did this, I read the New International Version, but this time around I am reading The Message, a newer translation in "modern English," though sometimes the choice of words makes me think the translation team is a bit Mr. Rogers-ish. (I really admired Mr. Rogers. I grew up watching him and cried when he died.) Anyway, today I got to this verse from the last book of the Pentateuch, the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 22, verses 6-8.

When you come across a bird's nest alongside the road, whether in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, don't take the mother with the young. You may take the babies, but let the mother go so that you will live a good and long life.

I thought that passage was intriguing, sandwiched in among all these lengthy and, to me, rather burdensome, strict and harsh rules concerning sexual conduct, ceremonial uncleanness and how to get rid of it, sacrificial policies (wow - that's a LOT of animals) and a long list of offenses punishable by death. It stood out, and not just because it gives people the right to relieve a mother of her children, but it asserts that she must go free. There's even a reward for doing this. They're talking birds here, and I give my loose interpretation tongue in cheek. I guess I was surprised to find this verse and wonder what the true significance is.

The next verse reads: When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof to make it safe so that someone doesn't fall off and die and your family become responsible for the death.

We don't have a parapet around our roof, but we bought the house as is.

My Dad took this photo of me taking a photo of the graffiti wall. He got this new fisheye lens and is enjoying the funky things it can do.

Bridge Rust

This is part of the bottom rail of the river bridge north of Doyne Park, Milwaukee.

So That's What That Is!

I made a short shopping list today: coffee, crackers, cream cheese, Chicken & Stars (soup), chocolate milk and cereal. Walking out the back door, I noticed these items all begin with the letter C. Wow.

Walking through the Metcalf's Sentry's beautiful produce section, I came upon this lovely fruit that I had never seen before. It's called Ugli and was $1.99 each. I remember seeing it in Lois Ehlert's book, Eating the Alphabet - a standard on any family bookshelf with kids under about age 7 or 8. She illustrated fruits and vegetables for each letter of the alphabet. U is for Ugli fruit. Well, then. Here it is. I haven't tasted it yet. Last week we tried a persimmon. It was just bloody awful. I hope this one tastes better than it's name. Sure is pretty.

Anticipation

This was our first sight of the warehouse from the south side of the river. No wonder we wanted to come back here with our cameras after first seeing this while geocaching. Gives you an idea how large the canvas was.

Oh, the Joy of Rust

Imagine how I felt when we found piles and piles of these rusty panels along the train tracks! I wanted to take the brightest one in the middle home and hang it on my garage, but it was just too darn heavy. They were about 11 x 7 inches long. They are used to hold the railroad ties in place along the tracks. There were hundreds of them in neatly spaced piles as far as the eye could see.

Them

This one I could read!

Squish?

I see an S, a possible E, then a Q . . . and then I give up. Can anyone read this? I just call it Squish.

Oy

I call this one "Oy" because that's all I imagine I can see in it. What about this one - what do you think it says?

Mom Wins 2006 Bear-tag Details

The Full Monty (Can I Say That?)

State Street/Doyne Park Warehouse

Note the lids on the grass.

Sneaking Around the Fence

Trail Trash