The rewards of observation

Hi everyone,

Writers are forever telling kids (and others) that ideas are often inspired by observation. Yesterday a small invasion of blackbirds provided me with a fun example that will go into a PowerPoint one of these days. The marauders chased away all the smaller birds around the feeders, helped themselves to grass seed recently sprinkled on bare spots in our yard, and topped it off with a quick drink for the road. I snapped a few pictures from my kitchen with chairs and tables in my way. I didn’t dare get closer to the sharp-eyed pirates. Even so, I was rewarded with a drama worth watching and tucking away for a time when such behavior might be needed.

Just what I need, a little splash and a cool drink. Ahh.

Mine, ladies. Don’t even think about it.

What did I just tell you???

Sulk all you want, but this water belongs to me!

Understood?

Sometimes you simply have to remind them who’s boss.

Hey leave me out of this. I only drink chlorinated water.

My night to cook

Hi everyone,

Yesterday we drove two hours to Versailles, Missouri near Lake of the Ozarks so I could talk to kids in the Morgan County Library summer reading program. (I had a fine time!) Last night we lounged lakeside and enjoyed dinner as the geese paraded by on their evening constitutional.

Sandy offered to cook something for dinner but I volunteered to prepare a special delicacy of mine instead.

It just doesn’t get much better.

Time to sit back a bit

Hi everyone,

It has been a good week. Today we’ll do a few chores and relax a little. For one thing, there’s our toad tadpole farm to keep an eye on.

Birds to feed.

Maybe some pool time and let the evening come softly.

I wish you all a nice weekend.

My wish for you

Hi everyone,

It’s a calm morning on Goose Lake. Here’s what it looks like if you sit on a lounge with your feet pointed toward the lake, head at rest, eyes looking up. Simple beauty, rest for the soul. I know we don’t all rest at the same time or in the same way, but we all love beauty, and that’s my wish for you today – simple beauty.

One of those embarrassing times

Hi everyone,

We all have our moments. Snakes, when they’re shedding their skins, are not at their best. Certain crustaceans, such as blue crabs, split out of their shells in order to grow, and during that brief period are lucky if they don’t wind up on a restaurant table. Teenagers can testify how embarrassing their skin can look when zits — those badges of youth — decorate their foreheads.

Nature has its way with lakes, too. When spring weather warms the water, from the top down, it eventually reaches cooler water deeper down and frees it to circulate upward, carrying with it unsightly clusters of sodden vegetation from the lake floor. The lake “turns,” and in so doing becomes a rather ugly mess for a time until a new balance of temperatures is reached and the lake’s complexion regains its smooth serenity.

Our stairs and landing are repaired just in time to see poor Goose Lake begin to spew up those ugly pustules that mark another cycle in the life of a lake — embarrassing but necessary. This, too, shall pass. However, in the meantime the lake leaves itself exposed to the wicked pens of poets who choose to describe its current condition in couplets of dismay and revulsion. You are hereby invited to become one of those poets.