Simply Moments

Living on a mountain, albeit a small one, brings with it lots of wildlife, which I love.  There are hawks and eagles, turkey vultures and coyotes, squirrels and quail, even the occasional cougar.  Unfortunately, there's also deer...lots and lots of deer.  I usually don't mind, especially in the late Spring when the little Bambi babies come around, all spotted and tiny.  What I do mind is the snacking, munching, decimating of all plants, bushes and trees in the front yard. I spend about $150 every year on deer deterrent spray to keep them from turning my naturalized front area into a barren wasteland.  The stuff is very stinky and awful to spray without getting it embedded in hair, clothes and up my nose.  It works for about a week--if it doesn't rain--and then I have to reapply it, from March to October.  Every now and then I forget and that will be the morning I wake up to find all of my lilies have been eaten to the ground, or my beautiful little W...

Blustery April weather has led to some interesting things this week.  As if staying home isn't taking a toll, being cooped up indoors is turning out to be even more challenging.  In desperation on Tuesday, I actually dug out some lettuce, bean and carrot seeds I'd stashed from last year and, in a torrential downpour, planted them in my freshly tilled garden.  I also potted some begonia bulbs and sunflower seeds.  I was cold, very wet and dirty by the time I finished, but it was worth it to be outside, breathing fresh air and thinking ahead to the Summer months and an end to the isolation.  I hope. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This morning I was sitting in my little office procrastinating gazing out the window near my desk.  I can get distracted sometimes by the view; today it was the little pink Dogwood tree blooming in the front yard.  Dark clouds were rolling by in the distance, but the blossoms were bright and cheerful.  Spring always feels so h...

I find myself losing the plot faster these days. I made it almost three weeks the first time I cracked from social distancing/isolation and had to head for the hills .  The next time, I only made it 9 days before I needed to get away  again. Now it's been barely a week and I had to get outta Dodge on Wednesday.  We've been distancing for over a month now and it's getting to me. The funny thing is, I don't mind staying home.  I can find stuff to do all day long, inside and out.  Flowers are blooming, I have a few things in the garden already planted, an enormous pile of books to read, and Nick & I get along just fine in each other's company. Benny is a constant source of amusement...and there's always Netflix. I think the issue is that age-old human thing: You want something more when you can't have it.  I want to go shopping, see a movie, go out for Chinese, have a drink at the local pub.  Whatever.  Anything.  Just. Let. Me. Out. H...

On Tuesday I'd been reading way too many sad and tragic stories about this wretched plague.  I'm not one prone to depression but damn, things are so bad right now, it's hard not to feel an overwhelming sense of doom and gloom as the victim count rises along with the deceased.  Nick came into my little office and caught me at a bad moment.  All he did was ask me how I was doing...and I burst into tears!  Is it a girl thing that we can hold it together until someone says something kind/nice and then we lose it?  It can't just be me. Within an hour of my tear-wiping-nose-blowing episode, the three of us were in the car and heading into the wilderness.  We drove about an hour, crossed over the river, and headed into the deep forest of southwest Oregon.  The weather was sunny and warm, skies were blue, and the world fell away behind us. View from the bridge we crossed heading into the woods; highway to the left, entering the forest on the right We ...

This morning I got a few emails from my dear friend, Morag, in Edinburgh. One email in particular made me smile. Since I haven't quite made up my mind on a blog post just yet, I thought I would share the humor. Without my daily yoga practice, I would be nothing  but  sprouts after three weeks of total isolation and nothing to do but bake, eat, cook, eat, try new recipes, eat, read a book, snack on whatever I've baked...you get the picture. I'll post again later this week, but for now...can anyone relate?