My heart is warm with friends I make,
   And better friends I'll not be knowing,
Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take,
   No matter where it's going.  

                                        ~Edna St. Vincent Millay

kathe's mother wanted to go on a train ride. 

they didn't have to ask me twice!

the stationmaster had a nifty contraption (oh goody!)

to get her into the train car with her walker.

these trains go every day, and even so

people here wave to the train.

occasional kayakers on the river - they look up and wave!

later some canoeists - they wave too.

the practicing crew team ignores us.

man in motorboat with live dog as figurehead - man waves to train.

dog barks!

people wave from an island in the river

and from an estate across the river.

(were they really playing croquet?)

some cute kids on bikes waiting at the crossing.

they wave to us.

a large man in a tomato field waves

then turns back to his task

bending over broadly - we giggle.

a muscled young man with two ginormous horses

working a vast field of sunflowers -

he stops and smiles and waves.

i try to snap a photo of him the horses but 

we zoom on by and i get a large bush instead.

when they give you your ticket

they should include

a white hanky to wave out the open windows.

.

autumn is here - let the fright begin!

                                         exploring a great hallowe'en sim with 2 friends - it had everything! most frightening of all -- the clowns in the haunted nursery! be sure to go to Bentham Manor in Sevenfold!

i can haz fluffyness

i have an adorable new avatar which is a fluffy persian kitten.  

a manual came with it, so it may have some animations or tricks i don't know about.

here's what the manual says.


このたびは、NEKOの製品をお買い上げいただき、ありがとうございます。

猫アバターの使い方について、ご説明させていただきます。

品物の内容は、大まかに分けると、専用ボディシェイプ、専用スキン、ボディクラッシャー（１，５２・Ｌ）、
猫の体の部品、で構成されています。


すべての部品を、アバターに装着しますと、猫アバターになれます。


＜装着する方法＞

インベントリ（持ち物）の中から、製品のフォルダーをご自分のアバターに、
ドラッグ、ドロップしてください。

または、フォルダーを指定して、ダイアログの「服装を置換」、
を選択することで、一度にすべての部品を装着することが出来ます。

注）ＡＯ等を装着したままですと、ボディクラッシャーがきちんと機能せず、体型が崩れる場合があります。

注）サーバー、通信の状態により装着に時間がかかる場合があります。
その場合、アバターが何も装着しない時間が長くなる場合がありますので、更衣室等で
装着されることを、お勧めいたします。

注）お座りのポーズが入っていますが、椅子などに座った場合、椅子のポーズの優先度が高い場合は、
きちんとお座りできない場合があります。


わからないことがありましたら、[ neko Devin ]まで。

では、猫ライフをお楽しみください（＾＾

angels

"mommy, jesus told me not to use the downstairs bathroom. there's something bad in there" said 5 year old -- let's call her 'joy.'
they are visiting my house for xmas: joy, her mom, her mom's sister with her hubby my brother and their baby.
joy's mother reassured her that she herself sat in the downstairs bathroom each morning and read her bible, and it was a perfectly ok place.
but either to allay the child's concerns, or their own, i don't know which, it was decided to hold an exorcismic sort of gathering that evening.
when the time came, my hubby went off to bed grumpily and the rest of us sat down in a circle in the living room.
then reassuring prayers and praise were offered up to a loving god, and angels were set over the house to guard it. it seems to me the angels were very tall - 60 feet? or am i confusing it with a movie i saw.
all of this happened years ago, but many times i have thought of those angels i don't believe in and of how comforting it is to have them there, and how happy and trouble free we have been in this place.
the little girl, grown now into a woman, was killed last week in a car crash somewhere down south.
i am so sad.

who let you in my dream? was i in yours?

i dreamed

there were small rooms many boxes

piled everywhere lots of people

much activity

new michael

sang without stop

all bob dylan songs

he knew all the lyrics perfectly

i said to him

we share a gene

for remembering lyrics

he smiled enigmatically

a delivery man came in

tall wild haired it was duane carleton

brought many more boxes

he and new michael

hugged and thumped

in masculine affection

and it was then i realized

they belonged to the same cult

each member had to learn

some important body of knowlege

to save it from

the destruction to come

new micheal's job

was to learn all bob dylan songs

in my dream

i knew the name

of their organization

LOFTUS

now awake

i invoke google

it gives me a site that sells rubber chickens

which i have been needing

since our kitchen remodeling

when my old one got thrown out

i go to the woods

and stayed alone in susan clarke's wonderful cabin to meditate.

it was so amazing.

here are some pictures i took.

the music is used by permission of kourosh dini http://lifeinmusic.org/sky-lily/

best viewed full screen

on the doggy internet everyone is a dog

i'm digging a hole in the compost pile and our next-door dog is lying relaxed nearby on her property.  at first i feel bad for her because it is overcast damp and chill.
then i realize she has a coat meant for somewhere like the arctic! she probably feels we finally have some nice weather.
but she is tied out alone poor thing.
she barks. i look up. she has not moved, just a couple of deep loud laid back "woof"s. my ever-alert mind informs me that just previous, without my noticing, a dog up the valley barked just like that. Stella was merely commenting or replying, perhaps to a chain of dogs up and down the valley. she is not alone!
she is hanging out. not texting exactly, more woofing i suppose, with her friends. reminds me a bit of Rat Thing, one of my favorite creations of Snow Crash.
at the same moment it dawns on me that the bluejays are doing something similar, but with them, it is always crisis time!

where folks sit

walk up main street turn on tyson road

walk down back street past mill street

until it meets up with main street again.

i was going to snap chairs,

but got interested in porches too!

what are you going to do?

today is my last day at this job!
people are asking me "what are you going to do?"
i never realized what a complicated question that is.
do for the rest of my life?
for the next 5 years?
the next year? next week?
tomorrow?
stay tuned!

what no granola? no birkenstocks?

NO VERMONTERS IN HEAVEN
by E. F. Johnstone ~ 1950

I dreamed that I went to the city of gold,
To Heaven resplendent and fair;
And, after I entered that beautiful fold,
By one in authority there I was told 
That not a Vermonter was there!

"Impossible," said I. "A host from my town
Have sought this delectable place,
And each must be here with a harp and a crown,
A conqueror's palm and clean linen gown
Received through merited grace."

The angel replied, "All Vermonters come here
When first they depart from the earth,
But after a day or a month or a year
They restless and lonesome and homesick appear
And sigh for the land of their birth.

"They tell of its many and beautiful hills
Where forest majestic appear;
Its rivers and lakes and its streams and its hills
Where nature the purest of water distills,
And they soon get dissatisfied here."

"They tell of ravines, wild, secluded and deep,
Of clover-decked landscapes serene,
of towering mountains, imposing and steep
Adown which the torrents exulting leap
Through forests perennially green."

"We give them the best that the Kingdom provides,
They have everything here that they want;
But not a Vermonter in Heaven abides,
A very short time period here he resides,
Then hikes his way back to Vermont!"

.

Wootstock 2010

tinies are known for having tons of good clean fun in second life, so i admit it was a bit shocking to see so many of them stoned to the furry ears on rolled up waffle reefers, laying about on the ground muttering 'peace out man' or dancing hypnotically to the live music, which was FABULOUS. 

it was their annual two-day WOOTSTOCK freakout devoted to the motto 'make waffles not war' held on a farm somewhere in Raglan. we all had a great time dressing up and dancing and playing and half of us don't half remember it already!

 click pics to see BIG

a tale of suspense and mystery!

he was half way through his morning tea when the feeling of horror came over him.
last night unlike his usual sleepless nights, he fell asleep on the sofa after dinner and slept through until morning.
he felt rested!
yesterday his neighbor up the hill left for a week's vacation. she asked him to lock up the chickens in their coop each evening and let them out in the mornings.
but he'd fallen asleep.
the feeling of dread intensified as he headed up the morning hill, images of massacred chickens filled his mind.
he feared the worst and arrived at the pen
only to find...the worst.
some feathers.
no chickens.
none.
nada.
gone.
he looked through the fields and woods, called the neighbors, organized a disorganized search party.
eventually 3 chickens were found.
a 4th was found in a field, wounded, but refused to be captured.
attempts to lure it into a cage were getting underway when the farmer arrived to mow his field.
no! no! wait...we have to capture this injured chicken!
there were 8 chickens when she left for the week.
will there still be 4 when she returns?
something watches us and waits.
and they say we don't have much excitement around here!

why i not on F-book

suppose lex luthor or j edgar hoover tried setting up a form on the internet and requiring that everyone fill one out with name, picture, some personal information...would that have worked?

i'll bet you said NO WAY!

suppose someone or some corporation a bit more sly and results-oriented used the technology from Inception to infiltrate the dreams of some college student to influence him to create an internet site with information and pictures of everyone in his yearbook?

...in the expectation (evil genius' expectation, not college student's) that this would be irresistable and soon everyone in the world for the most part would want to be on it?

don't worry about me being disappeared, very few people read my blog, and anyway it's a bit like telling people you were abducted by aliens or saw big-foot.

yeah, right.

well you looked like you were asleep, you were even snoring!

seeking oblivion i arrive at sleep's door
knock knock knock knock!
the door does not open.
i knock louder, pounding.
"are you prepared to sleep?" asks a poster.
teeth brushed, face washed.
wearing soft clothing.
what more?

my body then.
beginning with toes i command relaxing.
feet
ankles
calves
knees
i continue on and on
finally unclenching
neck
jaw
scalp
now all is calm and soft.

gently i knock again.
the door moves a crack.
one eye to the opening i gaze in with envy.
cats dozing in fields of poppies,
bats swaying peacefully above
and in distant water dolphins
hang motionless just beneath the surface.

but no!
before i can melt into mist
and flow through the opening -
hands take hold of me!
my job! my bank account! what i said to my friend!
no no no....pulling me back from sleep's door!
let me go!
let me dissolve and think no more today.
i grab the handle holding on for all i am worth!

suddenly!
the hands let me go
and i rebound,
flung through the door into sleep
not even knowing i am there
until the sun wakes me to another day.

jobs i have had - what next?

(other than summer jobs)
occupational therapist in Boston
recreation director in New Hampshire
head start in New Hampshire
medical record transcription in Florida
department store clerk in Vermont
head start in Vermont
upward bound in Vermont
piano teacher Vermont
head librarian Vermont
office manager Vermont

.

contemplating ramadan

fasting all day - could i ?

eat nothing -

from breakfast to lunch?

maybe.

drink nothing -

from breakfast to lunch?

doubtful.

(here i take a sip of coffee)

eat nothing -

from lunch to dinner?

gasp! (reaching for a cookie)

drink nothing -

from lunch to dinner?

impossible!

and besides -

these northern August days are long!

in Alaska do they get to eat at all?

holed those reigns! spellchecker is here!

(i dint write this, someone passed it along to me - maybe you've seen it before)
 
Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea,
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight for it two say,
Weather eye and wring oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long,
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.
To rite with care is quite a feet
Of witch won should bee proud,
And wee mussed dew the best wee can,
Sew flaw's are knot aloud.
Eye have run this poem threw it
Your sure reel glad two no,
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.
-Sauce unknown

Dilgo Khyentse 100 years - the return!

washing the saki and wine from my hair - i wonder if it attracts yellow-jackets? - i'm thinking of how much fun i have as a buddhist.

as a young lutheran i was allowed to take communion after 2 years of memorizing luther's small catechism.

i never imagined there was a religion that could transmit sacred empowerments to me by tossing flower petals in the air and reading to me (and 300 others) in tibetan for hours and hours, followed by a joyful celebration.

unlike 'holy communion' these revered holy men and women came right into the crowd, all of them in a line, each bestowing a different blessing/transmission, the touch of a transmission object to the head, or cinnamon candy in the hand, powder to make a mark on the forehead, and both wine and saki, just a bit poured into my outstretched hand, and then slurped and my hand rubbed across the top of my hair.

i wonder what the folks who have that "common cup" vs "individual cup" argument (you know who you are) would say to the "just use your hand" idea?

(click to enlarge photos)

here's a link for the curious
more information 

and know where your towel is

to endure cold rain
or the burdensome umbrella
which one do you choose?

the return

his first trip to the USA in this lifetime
an amazing event right here in Vermont, and i'll be there this weekend!
The Return

this explains everything -- really!

an earwig whose life
led it into my kitchen
and onto my counter
lay dead in some honey
left in a small glass
overnight on the counter
from soothing my throat
that was sore from my coughing
to dislodge the cheerio
drunk from my tea.
the cheerio was on
the spoonful of milk 
from my cereal i add 
to my tea every morning
but this time a cheerio
got in and choked me
and made my throat sore
and the honey that soothed it
has killed this small earwig
and there you have karma
in case you had wondered

.

washing machines

one of my friends has to get a new washing machine, so i've been surveying other friends to see what they have and how they like it. of all the choices, it seems my Second Life washer is the best!

it's attractive, easy to operate, never breaks, 
plus it does your clothes, your hair, you, even your shoes

it uses very little water, and is LOADS OF FUN WHIRLING YOU AROUND
until it spits you out along with some bubbles

all clean and refreshed.

the brand seems to be Surprising Laundry, and on top of all that, it was FREE!
 

no no no not the crickets!!!

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

heard the first one yesterday. you know what it means...summer is coming to an end. my heart always sinks when i hear the first cricket, just when i am getting warmed up finally!
i can't help but remember Charlotte's Web:

The crickets sang in the grasses. They sang the song of summer's ending, a sad, monotonous song. "Summer is over and gone," they sang. "Over and gone, over and gone. Summer is dying, dying."
The crickets felt it was their duty to warn everybody that summertime cannot last forever. Even on the most beautiful days in the whole year--the days when summer is changing into fall--the crickets spread the rumor of sadness and change.

postcard from the vacationing blog

i am like a god! a carelessly destructive one, as most seem to be, whose purposes are unfathomable to the creatures whose lives i disturb.
six cords of firewood for the winter were delivered and dumped in our driveway a month ago.
most years i would be stacking it in the garage, whenever so moved, not rushing, enjoying the process, but not this year.
john has promised the job to the kid (the one who mows our lawn) and arranged to pay him by the job. is it my bit of scottish DNA playing up that keeps me therefore from moving so much as one piece? perhaps i could divide the number of pieces into the quoted price and subtract each one i move?
today i had to relocate a few pieces to weigh down the tarp over the lawn mower. (i've learned not to say tarpaulin, as i have gone into stores to ask for this and been told they never heard of such an item).
as i said, the wood has been there a month now. i picked up the first piece, at the edge of the pile, and there, curled under it, was a red eft, surely one of nature's most sweetly innocent and vulnerable looking creatures. i carefully replaced the wood feeling like i had done something bad.
as i went on choosing and removing pieces, i caused monstrous upheavals in critter land. entire nations of earwigs... mothers, fathers, babies... were sent screaming in panic in every direction!
ants of course live and store their eggs everywhere, and can hardly be avoided being disturbed with every step. it doesn't help to know that ants will die if lost from their family of sisters, and that earwig mothers actually watch over their young until they grow big enough to fend for themselves.
the slugs...well i'm not sure if they were male, female, both, child or adult, and i'm not even sure they noticed that the log was moved. i have read that slime mold is quite intelligent, but i don't know of any research involving slugs.

avatars?

for his children to play with, he carved 3,500 individual pieces from scrap wood and hand painted them in his spare time over 40 years. that's the Kirk Bros Circus by Edward Kirk. this includes the animals, the aerialists, the pop-corn vendors, wagons, tent poles, and the audience, and more, each individual...and the arms are attached, not clothes-pin style! the Shelburne Museum has this on display - it's huge!

 the museum also has the most amazing collection of over 500 old circus posters, too!

and if that's not enough, it has Roy Arnold's miniature carved circus parade, scaled 1' = 1 foot, and it is 525 feet in length. Shelburne Museum has a special building dedicated to it so that you walk through a curved narrow building unable to see ahead too far, as if the circus were coming along past you. there are 400 horses, each individually carved. and very ornate wagons for each performer or animal! one wagon, based on a real one, has 40 horses pulling it. the real one had reins that weighed 72 lbs!
 
i wish i could find an online in-color picture of a particularly ornate colorful poster with a great deal of captions using all the literary devices known to circus, (hyperbole, aliteration, testimonials) to entice the customer -- it's Minting the Marvel who rode his unicycle up and down a steep high spiral in the Adam Forepaugh and Sells Bros circus...the MOST HAZARDOUS JOURNEY EVER TAKEN BY MAN! hah...he wasn't even knitting!

DNR

a perfect day for the company summer outing! we spent the afternoon at the lake with burgers and hotdogs and potluck salads and desserts. a bright warm sun, the sky blue with those fluffy decorative clouds, and the breeze was cool and steady. we had horseshoes and vollyeball, and some of us went out in the park's pedal boats. willie's wife didn't want to pedal, so i went with him. after a tour around the lake looking at some of the houses, we pedaled out to the middle and sat in the sun for awhile. something reminded me...willie has a pacemaker and a heart condition.

"Willie" i said "should you be doing this? you could have a heart attack."

"i could!!" he said brightly.

"well what should i do if you have one?" i said.

"nothing." he replied.

"do you have a DNR?"

"yep."

"well, ok then."

best movie ever? could be!

still the greatest movie ever made...EVERYONE is in it! and great music too!
who better to watch with than a drive-in full of tinies!


and Makepeace!
it's
THE MUPPET MOVIE!!!

madeleine sighting!

"i saw madeleine!" said john.
i was amazed and very happy!
last year our new next door neighbor was clearly pregnant, and sometime in the winter, when neighbors don't get much of a look at each other, she became coat-won't-button size and then apparently had her baby.
we didn't see baby, but john talked briefly with mr. neighbor one day and asked what they named their baby.
"madeleine" was the reply. they aren't the talkative sort.
usually people walk up and down the street with their offspring on their back in the winter, but they didn't.
then spring came and we listened for baby sounds from next door, but heard none. we saw them in their back yard, chatted with them across the poison ivy patch that makes good neighbors, but never saw a baby. and they never mentioned one!
we began to wonder if perhaps ... something bad... had happened?
they'd had a baby and given her a name, but didn't seem to have one? not something you can ask about after 6 months!
then finally today summer came, and after about 8 months, there was madeleine being strollered up the street for all the world to see, and cute as could be!
whew. we are sooo happy!

Raglan Shire vs Elf Clan

a few snaps on the Tiny World Cup match referred to on my previous blog
it turns out Osprey was a ref! sorry i mean she was a goalie!

here's a detailed description by Elf Clan's Erin Padar
http://elfclan.ning.com/profiles/blogs/da-greatest-soccer-game-ever

it's a tie!

i did it!  i went to a second life event and remembered to take pictures! it wasn't hard because whenever i am at events with tinies, i just reach for my camera cause they are SOOOO CUTE!  today after the Tiny World Cup game with the Elf Clan (it was a tie) the celebration was mostly tinies, who love any reason to celebrate!  here are some snaps. i forgot to get names, altho the debonair warthog in the tux and top hat is my friend Monty. oh and i am the gerbil in the pith helmet with goldfish swimming round me.

Eshqua Bog June 15

1700 miles from my everglades walk, another kind of orchid is in full bloom.
the Showy Lady's Slipper, threatened or endangered in most states, is alive and well in Vermont's 2 acre fen called Eshqua Bog.               my pictures don't do it justice!

just a few miles from my office, on a dirt road off a dirt road off a back road. the show goes on for one rainy week each year. you walk on muddy trails or some boardwalks with orchids on every side, in amongst the ferns and cattails and all manner of bog plants.

there are some informational signs near the ground. at one spot if you push away a pretty 3-some of green leaves, you can read a sign that says "poison ivy" and gives its latin name.

and best of all -- there are no alligators.

bumper cars!

when i get involved in something fun in Second Life, i forget to take pictures! what kind of blogger is that! on Sunday at Show & Tell, Lorin showed the cutest funniest little bumper car that you wear as an avatar, with the funniest sound effects and crazy physics. 
he blamed it on Madcow, altho Lorin did the sounds of course. then he gave them out free to the audience and we started changing into bumper cars and it was a free-for-all! so much fun, but i never took a single snapshot! 
oh and then Blood showed a tiny flying pirate ship he's made, that you wear and you become the captain behind the wheel as you fly around...he wasn't giving them away, but they will surely be available in Raglan.  again...no picture to paste here! i vow to do better by my blog in the future.
here's a picture of me as a bumper car, taken later

 

singing!

what's that?
some kids.
oh it sounded like music.
it is -- they are singing.
outside?
yes two girls going down back street.

my mouth and eyes open round in astonishment
i thought that went out with hula hoops!
my friends and i used to sing all the time
walking all over town
even in college walking to get our mail we'd sing.

we did too -- even guys did
we sang top 40's songs
walking around, boys and girls,
or in the gym.

we sang on the playground too
do kids still do that?

*shrugs*

why did they stop?

uncanny cat

i was sitting in my gypsy wagon home in second life. i'd stopped in after a few days absence to check messages and clear up notices. some commotion was going on under the wagon...oh it was fussby, my cat, banging around disturbed and frantic.
i know very well he is just a computer program, a very clever one that behaves like a cat! and yet i felt his disturbed state. he wanted to be with me, but has never figured out to go up the stairs and enter the wagon.
i went outside and he ran to me right away. a creepy feeling came over me. he missed me. he was lonely. omg. too creepy.
i sat on the ground and he came over to my lap. i petted him. he purred.
i'd been about to click off, but decided to put a pillow down by the river and lie down. he came over and lay near me, calm now. 

i left my computer on so my avatar would remain with him until i went to bed in real life and left second life.
this morning i checked on him and he was sleeping peacefully in his basket, even as i did a few chores around the wagon.

 
it's the uncanny valley created by my own projections...or is it?

-

bats gone

evenings we sat out late with friends at the picnic table and at dusk the bats appeared.
startling and a little frightening, they'd fly right towards you and then
suddenly
without slowing down
fly up
over
or around you.
we learned not to freak out
they ate the mosquitos, and
they were our bats after all.
sometimes the children danced around as the bats swooped.
bats sleep more than any other mammal, so soon it was dark and they were gone to roost. we never knew where ours lived, never saw them come out of some hole or tree.
we assumed they lived in the old barn two houses up, or maybe even in our garage, altho we never saw one there.
one summer a single lone bat lived in the eaves of our back porch and we had to sweep bat shit off the chairs every day.
probably a male, as we read that they live alone, but we called it Nora Batty after the tv character.
each year we had fewer bats it seemed, until we hit six.
in spring we watch for them and count.
they held steady for a few years
against white nose fungus and upgrading of houses,
but this year
there are none.
the empty dusk feels lonely.

strange doings in town

the phoebe, guarding his nest, is making the cat-alert sound.
eventually an orange stripey one materializes from under the car
and saunters off past our garage leaving momentary silence.
which is when i notice the background noise, actually quite loud,
but so familiar to me from my childhood as to be of no interest - construction/destruction noises. the beep beep beep and crashing and wrenching.
something is being torn down.
oh yes, Jason's house. one block over
right by the brook, the river, the rushing tumbling frenzy
of rocks and ice-cold water cascading down the hills over rocks and ledges,
making waterfalls and swimming holes where generations have bruised their
numb blue feet and learned to swim.
a rich man, a very very very rich man,
has decided this ugly house should not rest beside and in fact own all this natural beauty.
Jason was raised in the house, and now raises his family there,
his parents have moved a few towns over.
he has site preparation experience and the contacts
and equipment needed to destroy his own house.
first he is demolishing the garage ... which was his father's livelihood years ago,
but burned to the ground, and we the neighbors all pitched in so he could rebuild.
sure it was ugly, but the river and falls were beautiful despite it, and they are good people.
happily, Jason and his family will still be in town. 
they're buying 70 acres of woods and meadow
and building themselves a log home.

new hairs in second life

tried to email pics of my new hair -- it moves so well when dancing, doesn't stab me  -- but got nowhere, so i'll just put them here to share! (click to see larger)

porn for candy lovers

a few years ago for a winter project john and i decided to try to rate all the dark chocolate bars we could get our hands on. we wrote up the ratings and emailed it to everyone we knew. it was fun!

now i've found a site that takes it even further with sort of pinup centerfolds for candy lovers!

"Meticulously photographed and documented reviews of candy from around the world."

you can search by country, ingredients, ratings, maker, everything but maybe color!

to sleep....why bother!

the sun pressed down on the fields like bleach.
the temperature rose into the 90s, and people who laughed boldly in the face of 30 below cower in whatever air conditioning they can find.
by 8 pm it was still daylight despite the drop of the sun into the western hills, as
the ginormous moon in the east continued to broadcast the sun's rays.
upstairs under slanted ceilings of the cape, built to stay warm not cool, it was stifling.
the bedroom was bright with light from the windows, wide open to catch any stray coolness rising off the rivers,
by 9 pm non-stop violent flashes crack the crazed sky to the north.
no sound of thunder.
falling asleep despite all this, until quiet thunder wakes me and then -- tock --tock -- clunk ...clunk the rain and hail begin.
soon the cracking thunder rolls truly thunderously, and the hiss clunk tock and rattle accelerate on the metal roof.
no sleep now, until things slow down and ... actual cool air comes in the room!
at last.
but then suddenly come the fire engines, fast as lightning thru the silent village, sirens blaring, outrunning even doppler!  at least the fire is not nearby, or they would not be speeding thru.
i fall asleep and dream of florida.

phoebe disguises self as clothespin

here is the little sneak who built a nest on my porch light fixture (see previous post)

and below is a special SCRATCH AND SNIFF of my lilacs!! click picture for full effect

Bay City parade with Ducks On Bikes!

anyway, the ducks had a blast in the Bay City 2nd Anniversary parade, and even more fun at the after party, which Osprey captured so well -- so much energy and fun, i just wish you could hear the quacking and the blutophones.

some of the ducks got into line-dancing and had a real talent for it!

back porch mystery!

another mystery. something on the floor of my back porch got my attention. here's what i saw. can you guess?

tiny broken eggs! awwwww.
i knew phoebes had been scouting the porch, but i thought they had rejected it...no place to build!
i checked the rafters and saw no nest. uh-oh!

there, on top of the light...those idiots!
but still...why are the eggs on the ground? is this couple new to it all and built a bad nest? did we leave the light on and cook the eggs? did one of those bad cowbirds throw out the eggs and leave their own to be raised as phoebes?

time will tell, now we have to leave the light off and tiptoe around on the porch for a few weeks, chase local cats away, until our babies fly!

more strangeness

i wish i had actually made an entropy detector, i could have tested it yesterday.
how many people actually sit down and write a letter to someone by snail mail? i sure don't get many...a card now and then with a note on it ...that's about it.
yesterday, sunday, a beautiful spring day at last, although there was another hard frost last night, friends called in the morning and then drove over to our house. they brought a letter they had gotten (hand-written!) in the mail. they wanted john's opinion.
that done, we spent half the day digging up perennials to share with them.
after they'd gone, and after i had been a duck-on-a-bike in a second life parade, another friend called. he then came by with a letter (hand-written) he had gotten and wanted john's opinion.
low entropy? i think so!
i should have bought a lottery ticket!

spring birds and snow birds

yes, my poppet, the birds are back!

remember when we watched flocks of geese flying overhead? now the pretty warblers are back too, and the snowbirds.

what's that? you want to be a bird? 
in this life, someday you can be a snowbird.

oh yes, my dear, the snowbirds can fly.
they love the sun and follow the long days. in the spring they flock together to fly north and spend summer where days are long; but not so far north that they will be very cold!

in winter when days grow short, they fly back south, but not so far south that they will be in strange and dangerous lands.

do we see them fly overhead?
sometimes we do, but mostly they are above the clouds, and in an airplane.

not long ago, i had the great good luck, i will show you a picture dear, to witness a large flock in florida just getting ready to board their plane -- heading north to connecticut!
more than 15 of them had gathered in one flock, in their spring colors, all in a line, ready to fly!

stolen from the Valley News

from today's Valley News

Troublesome Beavers Win the Day in Thetford
By Kerry Trotter
Valley News Staff Writer

Thetford -- If beavers could party, there might be a few near Godfrey Road wearing lampshades about now. Town officials announced yesterday that the family of beavers once sentenced to death would be spared, as funding has been secured for a steel plate to reinforce Godfrey Road, where an aging culvert and beaver dams have combined to undermine the road surface. “I feel really good about it because there were so many citizens who worked so hard on this issue,” said resident Laura Shepard. “Everybody had a part to play and everybody played it for a good resolution.” At Monday's Selectboard meeting, it was Shepard who alerted the board that the grant awarded to the town for a new box culvert at the trouble spot could be amended to include money for a plate. Selectboard Chairman Tig Tillinghast, in contact with the same state official as Shepard, received confirmation and was given the go-ahead to buy a plate. While many logistical odds and ends remain, planning is under way and the plate should be installed soon. Monday's Selectboard meeting yielded a 3-2 vote in favor of allowing three days to explore the possibility of acquiring an inch-thick, 8-by-20-foot steel plate that would ensure safe passage over the culvert.
Many in attendance complained that three days was too little time to scrape together the money-- $2,500 to rent a plate, $3,500 to buy. Tillinghast said that within 18 hours of Monday's meeting he'd received enough pledges from townspeople to fund a rental of the plate, and now those folks can hold on to their money.“We knew we were going to pursue an increase in the grant,” Tillinghast said. “We didn't want to put it on the taxpayers.”The steel plate suggestion came courtesy of Fran Haugen, whose fix has been dubbed “The Fran Plate” around Town Hall. "I'm pleased the idea was acted on,” Haugen said. “That was very gratifying.”Godfrey Road spans Class II wetlands, where a handful of beavers live and dam. A vessel of choice had long been the old culvert near Quail John Road. Initial jury-rigged attempts at blocking off beavers' access were unsuccessful, and a sizable clog developed.
About three weeks ago, foreman Doug Stone arrived with a backhoe and a large log to ram through the debris, and the washed out road beneath Stone's wheel buckled. The Selectboard, fearing worse could happen, acted swiftly and voted to trap and kill the beavers. The decision prompted vociferous opposition among many townspeople, special meetings, several delays, some creative thinking, and now, the final beaver repriever. The dilapidated culvert, which some say posed a safety risk even without the beavers, now has a plastic culvert around it. The opening has since been effectively fenced to keep the beavers out, and Stone's daily visits amount to removing a little mud and some grass. The Selectboard has been paying midnight visits to keep an eye on water levels. Since the washout, all's been quiet on the Godfrey Road front. The plate installation will require continued monitoring of the area, and Tillinghast said the grant money would include a flow control device that would act as a beaver deterrent. The new, bigger culvert, which may arrive as soon as June, is expected to be more beaver-friendly. As for the plate, the chairman is pleased with the outcome. “We are preserving this long-term ethic Thetford has that we live among wildlife,” Tillinghast said, adding that respectful discourse fueled a favorable outcome. “We really didn't want to kill the beavers.” The hefty number of the wetland-dwellers in the area and beyond surely means more human-beaver conflict down the line, but officials and residents have done their homework and now know what to expect. “It's not a fait accompli,” Haugen said, “but it's certainly looking good.”

some snow early sunday and some more late last night

and this isn't really a poem, i just write this way

at 6 pm saturday night
out back i saw the small rain,
the pale light spring rain
a curtain of fine rain

the sun had slipped below clouds
and shining through the drops,
lit them like some rain of gold.

i ran to the front
looked to the east
to the field and hills
and there it was... a rainbow!

entranced, absorbing its magic
i...but where's my new camera!
ran back
and the rainbow was gone.
------
at 6 am sunday morning
out front i saw white blossoms
of may...no no
what's falling is ...snow.

a surprise gift for sunday's early risers
the meditators and turkey hunters
later in the morning we meet at the store
buying coffee we smile at each other

did you get your turkey?
did you get enlightened?
did you see the snow?

we smile like people who share a secret
the secret that the world is wonderful
sacred
unpredictable
and we are part of it


clouds at play today 
click to enter picture :-)

maybe i can teach it to recite my cell phone # which i keep forgetting

my tinnitus has learned

the tune of my cell phone alarm
that wakes me each morning

friday after work

friday, after work
something softens
unclenches
relief from some tightness
some holding together
you breathe

like when school ends for summer
your last cancer treatment
or you wake with no fever
or leave your abuser
your project completed
you ace the performance
drive home thru the blizzard

now unclench,
let your guard down,
and open your heart,
take your time,
smile

and why not live there?

why not live at Friday after work?
why not live at breathe deep,
school's out, fever's gone?
why not leave the guard down,
heart open,
time pliable?

oh no
i couldn't possibly
or could i?

strange happenings in second life

recently, in early april, a major dramatic erasure occurred in Rodeo. As part of the loss, the Eleanor Theatre, home of The Show Must Go On, was destroyed, and objects there returned to the inventory of whoever owned them. as Salazar Jack reported "The officers of the Phyneas Jack Memorial Trust have begun deliberations on how to proceed following the dramatic erasure that occurred in Rodeo recently. As of this morning Linden Lab has stated that, “...we cannot complete your rollback request. Region [Rodeo] is a mainland island and rollbacks are only able to be performed on private islands." The Trust continues its' own investigation into the incident and will be providing its' data and findings to the Trust group as soon as possible."

stored backstage in the theatre, before everything went boom, was an object that i was the nominal owner of  -- the large particle accelerator Osprey had made for her nearly nude dance number. this came hurtling back into my inventory. it's really hers, but she assigned it over to me so i could move it out on the stage while she stripped down to a few strings. (must be string theory).

 i was concerned about having such a dangerous object in my inventory, so to get rid of it, and allow others to admire its beauty, i set it up in a field belonging to a friend of mine. here's a picture of it, altho it looks much prettier if you can see it spinning. i had complained to osprey, but her reply was this:
"Oh, dear! Did I somehow make it so that you had to own that incredibly dangerous piece of machinery so you could move it for my act, then just now returned it to you so it now festers in your inventory instead of mine? SO SORRY! I'm not sure how that happened!
*covers smile with hand while pretending to be surprised*"

hmmph. well now it was on Karuna's land. where it spun prettily until sometime last saturday when apparently Karuna's land went BOOM too, and this hole in the ground, this is all that is left! (there was a lovely 3 story house there, hills, a field, a swimming pool...all gone!) a rollback may be possible here, as it is private land. here's how it looks now:

coincidence? you be the judge.

500 Linden 3rd prize (enough for great hair, shoes, or even a gown!)

some of mudpie's notes for haiku are already on this blog somewhere, but mudpie put together 4 and submitted to a Community Virtual Library (Second Life) poetry contest and won 3rd prize of 500 Lindens.  You've one third prize in the CVL Poetry Contest for "Notes For Haiku"  I'll be sending you $500 L in SL tomorrow or later tonight.

notes for haiku
by mudpie mornington

drum is cracked
still sounds
can't be repaired

gorilla mother carries dead baby
shakes it now and then
it has not decomposed

water stain on the ceiling
has no shape no message
that is the message

small snow trail track ends
in strange sweeps and ripples
blood and a feather

http://infoisland.org/2010/04/20/library-news-events-april-23-29/