The View from Here

Lists

Many years ago, I began each day with a mental list of things I needed to accomplish, places I needed to go, phone calls I needed to make, etc. I seldom wrote anything down or worried about forgetting something. Today a friend and I briefly discussed the fact that we now write numerous lists. I know…those of you young enough to have a phone permanently connected to your hand will laugh…but I still write things down on paper.

I keep a notepad on my refrigerator and add items as I take the last one out of the pantry or anticipate needing something for a future menu.

I keep an activity calendar on the inside door of one of the kitchen cabinets. On another is a schedule of doctor’s appointments for the month, and one for the year.

Okay, I’m a bit “overly organized”…I also have a list of the calorie, fat, sugar, and sodium counts of the twenty foods I eat most often. Just helps me plan my meals.

I keep a notepad on my desk for jotting down anything I need to do during the current week. And yes, I check them off as I do them.

I keep a birthday calendar in my purse, although thankfully, FB reminds me of most of them. That calendar also notes doctor’s appointments.

I’m sure you didn’t need to know all of that, but it’s just another example of how I cling to the old ways in some areas of my life, while trying to embrace change in others. Besides, keeping all those lists helps free my mind for more important tasks…like doing research for people. Okay, okay…I have a research/genealogy list in my library folder.

 

Tiny Blessings

Sometimes the tiniest things can change your mood and even the course of your day. I took Gary for a walk in the pasture next door to show him a large cluster of meadow pinks that are blooming. I was a little frustrated by the fact that they are far away and mixed in with a lot of grasses…not the best situation for photos. Then I noticed a small plant at the edge of the field a few yards away. I walked over to try for a better shot.

As I was bending over the flower, it seemed to move. A bit strange since this morning was one of those rare ones without wind. Then it moved again. On closer inspection I saw the reason…a tiny yellow inchworm balancing on one petal.

I laughed out loud and called Gary over. At first, he couldn’t even see it. I had to put my hand under the flower for contrast.

These photos aren’t the greatest. I miss having a macro lens! But I did the best I could to share this lovely creature with you. I spent about fifteen minutes watching it. I still smile when I see the photos.

And later I also saw a damselfly.

Sometimes the tiniest things are such a blessing.

Gone Too Soon

There are people you expect to lose as you get older. I have friends and relatives in their eighties and nineties and I know they have just a few years left here with us. But I don’t think we’re ever prepared to say goodbye to someone with whom we walked to school, someone who sat in class with us and laughed at our poor typing skills.

My friend and former classmate, Frances Diane Wood, will be laid to rest in our cemetery today. She was 69 and recently diagnosed with advanced cancer. I regret that I had not seen her in over a year. We had drifted apart as classmates often do. We corresponded for a time, saw each other a few times once we both returned to Caddo. I wasn’t able to attend our reunion last year, so I missed that opportunity to see her again.

Diane was a very creative person. I remember her skills in crafts and sewing and cooking. And yes, she could type faster than I ever dreamed of doing. When we finally got electric typewriters, she was typing 80wpm to my 30! I begged her not to sit next to me because her flying fingers were so distracting.

Diane and I were in several clubs together and enjoyed our travels and projects. But it was our walks home from school that were magical. We planned our futures. We designed our ideal homes. We spent hours and days planning the purchase of our first car- together- because neither of us thought we would ever afford our own. We discussed my chances of ever getting a sister (my mother was pregnant) and Diane correctly predicted that I would not. She even wrote in my yearbook “…and be good to that future little brother of yours”.

Diane and I also shared some of our hopes and dreams…and fears…that we felt we couldn’t share with others. We formed a bond of mutual respect and understanding. We motivated and encouraged each other during some challenging times, and that was another reason to look forward to our walks.

So…rest in peace Diane.  You will always be remembered fondly as a person who blessed my life.

Summer Solstice

Friday marks the official start of summer, but Gary and I have been slowly transitioning to the next season for a couple of weeks. We’ve been drinking more water (with lime slices), eating more salads, snacking on fruit, and enjoying a little ice cream. We garden, shop, and do chores earlier and earlier. We’re debating about changing our gym schedule and we’ll definitely be making early appointments for anything we need to do from now until September.

Summer heat necessitates a few clothing changes, but we keep our AC set to 74 so we’re quite comfortable. I often recall the summers of my childhood when we had fans in the house that barely circulated the warm air. Of course, even that felt good after laboring in the hot cotton fields or vineyards all day. My mother was miserable much of the time, but she seldom complained. Later in life she confided to me that she would have been a much happier woman in a cooler climate.  She loved air conditioning!

 We didn’t have anything even resembling climate control in our car until I was an adult. When we traveled from CA to OK we always left at 2am. That was Dad’s deadline for being able to cross the desert without a family mutiny or mechanical breakdown. Now we don’t give much thought to what the temperature will be on our trips. We plan our summer vacations around other things besides the weather.

I know that after Friday the heat will slowly but surely rise outside to somewhere between miserable and unbearable. We’ll have to mow very early or very late. But I am overjoyed to know that from now until October I will have a yard filled with blossoms and insects and birds and vegetables. I picked beans yesterday and tomatoes this morning. I took pictures of the lilies and watched a swallowtail float above the flowers.

This morning Gary and I sat on the patio and drank tea and talked about how good it is to be retired. We’ll definitely be thinking of those of you who have to be out in the heat working for the next few months. Please take care of yourself: water, sunscreen, and perhaps a little ice cream. Happy summer!

The Rains Came Down...

This can definitely be labeled as a “wet year” for Oklahoma and will no doubt be remembered by gardeners in the drought years that will inevitably follow. Everything is soggy this morning and some of my plants are unhappy. I planted lots of wildflowers this year and most of them prefer drier conditions. However, my garden and its problems are unimportant compared to the flooding and damages in other areas. I’ve already had a report from a friend that one of her aging and unhealthy pecan trees is now down on the ground. A store in a nearby town is without windows this morning and a local resident is without a car…both because of wind damages.

So, I begin this day and this week counting my blessings. The rain came down, the wind blew, the storm raged…and we are still here.

Father's Day

Late posting today because of the torrential rains. 

My dad wasn't perfect and neither was I.

We didn't always get along or agree, but when we did it was awesome! 

He was generous to a fault, quick to forgive and forget, had a wicked sense of humor, and loved to learn new things. 

He worked harder than any man I ever knew. 

We remained good friends and gardening buddies until his death in 2014. 

Never Sorry

Yesterday Gary and I went to the Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge for the first time since the recent major flooding. This photo shows the current water level, which means that all roads are closed and even the short trail just below the visitors’ center is covered in water.

A friend went to the refuge this past weekend…for the first time. Yesterday, we met a couple who had done the same thing, and driven up from McKinney, Texas to do so. I feared that both would be sorry they had bothered. There was little to see, except for the displays in the visitors’ center and the flowers in the garden. A few feathered residents could be seen here and there, but the usual population was clearly hidden.  I can only hope they enjoyed those enough to realize the potential of the wildlife sanctuary and return when it is back to “normal”.

But perhaps the tourists who visited during this less than optimum time live busy lives in town and were able to find some peace and joy in just being outdoors. Perhaps they encountered a bird or butterfly or flower they wouldn’t see in their area. So perhaps, like us, they weren’t sorry they visited…

Ironically that was Gary’s sentiment as we left the parking lot.

“You know, I’m never sorry we visited. No matter what the conditions, I always see something that was worth the trip.” About sixty seconds later a lovely doe crossed the road in front of us…the first we’ve seen in over a year. We didn’t get a picture of her, but the encounter was like an explanation point on Gary’s statement.

When I looked at the clock on our dashboard, I realized we had spent over an hour exploring a tiny, tiny portion of the refuge on foot. We had enjoyed fresh air and exercise and taken 100 photos of nature.

Never sorry…

 

Babies

These hatched next to our driveway today. SO much fun to watch!

Big Stories and Lies

I was reading an old issue of the newspaper last week, looking for an item about my mother, when I came across this editorial in the school news. I not only admire the thoughts of this young woman, but I find it interesting to remember that this was written by one of my mother’s classmates. I find it comforting to know that there was another thoughtful woman, with writing skills, with whom she might have shared some time and her own thoughts. Mom often cautioned me about the dangers of gossip.

I also find this topic quite timeless. People continue to spread rumors and outright lies through social media, often just by making subtle comments or suppositions that quickly become “fact”, without investigation or verification.

 

 

The Caddo Herald

September 5, 1947

Caddo High Times

 

The Big Story

By Lenora Evans

The “big story”, like the big fish that got away, is something that never happened.

Just where do these big stories originate? They spring in their fancy from the line of some person, who little realizes that by relating some small incident to a friend he can be planting a seed that will grow in size and be almost as hard to kill as is blood poisoning once set up in a body.

What appears to be harmless can kindle a spark resulting in a blaze that will engulf some innocent person’s heart.

From thoughtlessness on the part of one person, another must suffer. Weigh your words before speaking. Exchange the gossip for a word of praise. Do not be the originator of the big story.

Where no wood is, the fire goeth out; so where there is no falsebearer, the strife ceaseth. Proverbs 26

Lily Season

This is lily season in the Maurer garden and I’m amazed each day by the beauty of God’s creations.