Spring 2011.

"In the cherry blossom's shade there's no such thing as a stranger."
-  Issa

Cherries and pear blossoms finally greeted us this weekend! Tomatoes are planted and baby robins are leaving their nests. There is nothing more energizing that a new spring. Full of hope and new life.

At last. The color green.

It has been a long winter. Welcome spring sunsets and green lawns.

If spring came but once a century instead of once a year, or burst forth with the sound of an earthquake and not in silence, what wonder and expectation there would be in all the hearts to behold the miraculous change.

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Morning Visitor.

On our rare, sunny mornings so far this spring, this beautiful little dove has greeted me from a warm spot on the northeast corner of our porch railing. I sit peacefully and greet him back.


“And there my little doves did sit
With feathers softly brown
And glittering eyes that showed their right
To general Nature's deep delight.”
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Passing Time.

"February is merely as long as is needed to pass the time until March."
-   Dr. J. R. Stockton 

What lies ahead.

It is January 27th and I've already reached the point of being tired of the cold and snow.  After reading the weather report for the next 4 days - more snow, more cold - I just needed a warm reminder of what lies ahead. All the good stuff that comes after the cold. It can't come soon enough.

Just wait a few hours.

Just last Thursday, it was foggy and 45. The warm weather had melted the December snow in less than 48 hours. But as we know here in Michigan, just wait a few hours and it can all change again. So, over night and today, we were rewarded with a new blanket of snow. Ahhh... pure Michigan.

December 2010

"May you have the gladness of Christmas which is hope;
The spirit of Christmas which is peace;
The heart of Christmas which is love."
-   Ada V. Hendricks

A "mist"ical journey.

 

Sorry. That was a bad play on words. Today's warm air brought the fog and drizzle to Central Michigan. This was a little clearing along the drive this afternoon. I love fog, and all the magical and mystical cliches it brings to mind.

Greetings from tropical Michigan.

It was a balmy 35 degrees today, and the prediction is for warmer weather going into New Year's eve. Upwards of 45 degrees. I've got my sunscreen stored right next to my mittens. It is MICHIGAN after all. Next week, I could need a shovel.

A Frosty Morning. Part 2.

A Frosty Morning.

After The Storm.

Forty-eight hours later, looks like we will get our white Christmas. 
So beautiful!
(Remind me of this enchantment in February and March!)


"The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event.  
You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?  
~J.B. Priestley

The Calm Before The Storm.

We've have had only traces of snow so far. I'm not complaining, mind you, because I hear it may be coming all at once this weekend. So, the waiting has begun.

November Morning

by Evaleen Stein
A tingling, misty marvel
  Blew hither in the night,
And now the little peach-trees
  Are clasped in frozen light. 
Upon the apple-branches
  An icy film is caught,
With trailing threads of gossamer
  In pearly patterns wrought. 
The autumn sun, in wonder,
  Is gayly peering through
This silver-tissued network
  Across the frosty blue. 
The weather-vane is fire-tipped,
  The honeysuckle shows
A dazzling icy splendor,
  And crystal is the rose. 
Around the eaves are fringes
  Of icicles that seem
To mock the summer rainbows
  With many-colored gleam. 
Along the walk, the pebbles
  Are each a precious stone;
The grass is tasseled hoarfrost,
  The clover jewel-sown. 
Such sparkle, sparkle, sparkle
  Fills all the frosty air,
Oh, can it be that darkness
  Is ever anywhere!

Focusing on what is important.

Life is short. God's way of encouraging a bit of focus.

-Robert Brault

As if I need a reminder, Lord.

Yesterday spent with my sister (the one without the butt) and her youngest child, brought to focus the lessons learned about how short life is.

Justin graduates in May, the second youngest grandchild on our side of the family.

I remembered the first time we photographed him down by that old barn. I have to admit, I was nostalgic for that little guy. The one who WASN'T a teenager, and who would SMILE for the camera.

October 2010

"As autumn returns to earth's northern hemisphere,
and day and night are briefly,
but perfectly,
balanced at the equinox,
may we remember anew how fragile life is ----
human life, surely,
but also the lives of all other creatures,
trees and plants,
waters and winds.

May we make wise choices in how and what we harvest,
may earth's weather turn kinder,
may there be enough food for all creatures,
may the diminishing light in our daytime skies
be met by an increasing compassion and tolerance
in our hearts."

-   Kathleen Jenks, Autumn Lore

Morning Glow.

"There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October."
-  Nathaniel Hawthorne

It's Good.

I don't need fortune and I don't need fame, send down the thunder Lord, send down the rain
But when you're planning just how it will be, plan a good day for me. -Don Williams

I have a sign in the house that teases "Lord I hope this day is good."  My daily reminder that each day brings a new opportunity. It is even more meaningful on a Monday, for obvious reasons. 
This was today's sunrise. 
A beautiful reminder that the day and week are off to a pretty good start.

September 2010

Not so PURE Michigan.

"If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them something more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it."
–President Lyndon B. Johnson, on the signing of the Wilderness Act of 1964



I know that the purpose of this blog is to write about the good things in life. The meaning of this journey we are on, etc. But sometimes that feels like I'm just burying my head in the sand. And, it feels almost selfish to ignore the things that are happening in this world, that will ultimately effect the journey through life of future generations. So, yes, once in awhile I feel the need to vent. This is one of those times. 


This past week was a harsh lesson in reality.
The gas companies have come knockin' in our small communities. 
We are losing the fight. 


Since June, after watching a terrifying documentary called "Gasland" (See HERE) I've been struggling to come to terms with this inevitable new reality. (HERE). Yet, since it seemed so far away, and was happening elsewhere, I've continued to hope for a miracle. (And, yes, others have prayed, but that hasn't worked either).


In July, I even used the Kid Rock card. (HERE). But, since no one reads this blog, the only one comforted was me. But others with much larger audiences have written (HERE). Still nothing. It is if no one was reading. No one was listening. And no one was asking questions. But still I held out hope. 


Until last week, when it landed in our small communities in Central Michigan. And no one seems to care. And that is the most frightening. Some of us send them emails with the links to articles on what others have experienced, no response. Others put up signs, and people seem to drive right by. It is a hard fight with neighbors, and friends. And no matter how hard you try, it usually boils into a political argument. The information, no matter how truthful, is dismissed as left-wing hysteria or, my favorite, mainstream media garbage. And then I'm left to wonder, now who is burying their head in the sand?


I'm on the losing side of the argument because their is no financial reward for them to agree with me. The dollars are too tempting, I understand the economic times we are in. So, do the gas companies who are preying on these folks.


But, sadly, everyone will eventually lose here.  My neighbor's decision based on their own short-term financial needs will not only effect the long term health of their children, but mine. They are willing to trade the possibility of contaminating their wells and exposure to cancer causing agents for the sake of a few thousand dollars now. Those same agents, can slowly leak into my water supply as well. They can be consumed by the wildlife that we all hunt and they can enter the plants in the gardens we grow. Many of my neighbors are cattle ranchers, farmers and dairies. Will I be able to trust the word "organic" again?


These companies have already bought off the Michigan state legislature, and the Federal Government. The company sales people aren't going to tell you about "fracking" and what it will do to our water supplies, to our wildlife, to our children and to our future. And, these are the same companies that will continue to pour money into elections and groups like the Tea Party HERE. This chaos and bickering will continue to keep our eye off the ball and their profits will continue to pour in. A vicious circle with the Oil and Gas companies laughing all the way to the bank, and small town, middle America poisoned and dying.

How representatives from these companies mislead home howners:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/18/post_676_n_850425.html 

Carcinogens injected into wells:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/17/fracking-report-carcinogens-water-wells_n_850159.html