Hawaiian Memory

Flashback.
Hawaii -- October 2001.
Dad and I had just finished breakfast at the Volcano House. We'd had pancakes and eggs, of course this was not the food that was supposed to be on Dad's diet, but we had splurge from his regular oatmeal breakfast.

We decided to step into the trinket shop and browse before heading out to take a tour of the volcano craters. I found a couple of post cards and was checking the price of film. Remember ... this was the pre digital era for me.
I'd decided I had enough film with me to last the day and aside from purchasing some bottled water there wasn't anything we really needed.

I walked up with Dad to the check out.
Dad even with his macular degeneration disease which had made him legally blind...spotted the candy bars.
*I want a Butterfinger,* he said.
*Dad, you just had pancakes, you don't need a candy bar.* I edged up to the counter and smiled at the clerk.
*I want a Butterfinger.* He repeated just a touch louder, and began to reach for the candy.
*You don't need one,* I sort of hissed at him, dropping my cards on the counter and handed over two water bottles.
The lady smiled at us and asked, *Find everything okay?*
[I hate it when they do that!]

Dad took it as his cue.
*My daughter won't buy me a Butterfinger candybar,* he quipped, *Isn't that mean of her? Her poor old dad just wants ONE candybar and she won't let him have it.*

I looked sideways at Dad. Oh geeze. I reached down for the Butterfingers and dropped two onto the pile for the clerk to ring up.

*Now that is a nice daughter isn't it?* Dad said, smiling his old man charming smile at the clerk, who of course smiled back and nodded.
*But now she'll probably make me ride in the trunk back to Kona...* he paused for effect, *...like she did on the way here because she said I wasn't behaving.*
He clutched the now paid for Butterfinger ...
and started to slide out towards the door.

The clerk stared at me as if I was from Mars.
I was seething...or embarrassed...or

When I hit the parking lot on Dad's heels he was laughing. I couldn't help it, I unlocked the Dodge Neon and burst out laughing too.

We slid in together and I turned to him. *You know, I should make you ride in the trunk! What if that clerk thought I was abusing you!*

Dad grinned, happy to have gotten one over on me and happier yet to be the recipient of a Butterfinger.

So now I cannot see a Butterfinger without thinking of Dad 'riding in the trunk'. I cannot think of the volcanoes in Hawaii, without thinking of that moment in the store when my Dad got one over on me.

Butterfinger.

Music to my ears

Yesterday I was doing some yard work. Shoveling gravel back onto the driveway--the result of a heavy and long winter where the skid steer had piled huge amounts of snow.

I was so tickled to hear the house wren! Excited enough to get my husband and get him to come and listen also. What pleasure it brought to the both of us.

When I was a kid, my Grandma Lind always talked about the birds and was able to identify any bird by it's song or call. She used to complain that the wren was always 'scolding' her for some reason.
We'd be working in the garden and we'd hear the wren:
Wren Song

And Grandma would look up from her hoeing and smile. *That darned wren, why does she always have to scold me?*

From then on I could never hear a wren without thinking of my Grandmother talking about the fiesty little bird that was always too busy for any pleasure and would scold humans for not working hard enough. Well that was my Grandmother's explanation.

My next favorite bird song is that of the Chickadee. When my older boy was young, he could imitate them perfectly.

Black Cap Chickadee

And lastly my favorite song to hear is the wood thrush. We hear this when we go to Wildcat Mtn State Park and ride. The recording I found doesn't do the thrush justice but we often stop our riding and just sit and listen to them. Their songs are hauntingly beautiful.

Wood Thrush

So on this dreary day of snow in late April...I give you some songs to enjoy. Click on the link to the wood thrush and listen to 46 seconds of gorgeous music.

What was I thinking?

Gloomy rainy morning.
Dark, dreary, kind of ugly...

Soon I found myself doing something quite out of character.
Cleaning the House.

The top of the fridge....
Way scary place.
I never look up there so I didn't see the grungy dust Bison gathering in great herds...ready to launch an attack.

Windows...
The window washing lady never came around, I was hoping someone else would do it...I was hoping the thrashing rain last night would clean them. Alas, I did some windows too.

Floors...
This includes the vacumming, shaking rugs, washing rugs, and then washing the floors. It is still 'mud' season, but it was getting hard to tell the mud from the rest of the floor.

Walls...
If I put on my good glasses and looked hard, I could see cobwebs building and multiplying before my very eyes. I took drastic measures. I used a kitchen chair and soapy water, and washed those buggers away.

Dusting...
Never have figured out the allure of dusting. But I did decide to put away every knick knack I could lay a hand on.

I was saved by sunshine...bright beautiful sunshine. And my hubby came in to ask if I was going to clean Peach's stall like I'd promised to yesterday while riding!

Yes! I don't mind cleaning a stall...but the house.

Hmmm, some sort of strange priorities going on here.

Does this saddle make my butt look big?

Sunshine is a mule concerned with her looks. I mean truly she is, her mom Cheyenne was always fussing about which saddle pad would make her 'look' better. So I guess the little red mule may have inherited some of that.

Sunshine did not inherit her mom's tendency to absolutely freak out at things though. Instead she has the tendency to do a half 180 and then stare at the offending 'monster'. This is nice because you aren't trying to evade trees and branches in a heavily wooded area on a bucking bronco.

I had intended on riding solo, or trying it in the woods with Sunshine, but hubby decided he'd come too. He brought Opal, who is 22 years old. Opal was more of an idiot than Sunshine, who had a stellar performance.

Except for the monster mule eating chipmunk that was lurking dangerously inside a downed tree. Sunshine turned and stared. She 'thought' about spooking...she watched the log. The chipmunk squeaked at her.

She snorted.
Then I leaned over and whispered to her:
*This kind of chipmunk only eats mules who's name begins with an 'O'.*

Sunshine sighed and we moved on.

I love it when a ride goes so smoothly.

Out for a breath of fresh air..

Today turned out remarkably beautiful. The predicted rain didn't really occur. In fact it turned out warm and sunny so that I became very tempted to saddle up Badger and see if I could find the trails I'd marked and cleared. Some of the trails were simply deer paths that I cleaned up a bit.

I took my flip video and thought I'd try it while riding. I only used it on the easy part of the trails as sometimes I have to urge and guide Mr. Mule with both hands when he decides that 'his' way is a better way ... especially while crossing steep ditches.

He did very nicely crossing the water. We had to re-learn some manners while crossing a ditch though.
NO JUMP
Mr. Mule can walk nice.

By the time we returned he was sweating around his ears and acting as if I'd taken him on a 100 mile ride.
Naw, he wasn't that tired, but the sun came out and it warmed up quickly. This made Mr. Mule hot in his still shaggy winter coat.
It was lovely!

Time well wasted

I packed up my cameras, and headed out with Morris, the Brave to take a long awaited hike into the neighbor's valley and do some spring exploring. It has been so long since I've walked on the ground there!

The last time I walked through this valley I was wearing snow shoes!
Now spring has arrived, with such wonders as Skunk Cabbage ... pretty to look at but don't mess with it.

Today and tomorrow will be filled with rain. That is okay, the south hillsides were actually quite dry.
I took the second photo of one of the places that I used to cross this small creek quite often. You can see what last year's flash flood did to it and how the spring 'runoff' has caused erosion.

It never ceases to amaze me, this Mother Nature thing. She is always re-decorating and people....and the DNR are always trying to come up with ways to 'better' her improvements.
I say leave it alone.

Boot Sucking Mud Season

It happens every year. Anyone who owns livestock knows what I'm talking about. Tis the season where the ground that used to be solid becomes a sucking quagmire that even your livestock wishes to avoid in their winter pasture.

When I took Sunshine back out to her pasture I tried to lead her through the gate. I stepped out carefully.
And there I was.
Stuck.
If I lifted my foot, I was going to loose my rubber chore boot in the muck.
I couldn't go forward, I couldn't go back.
And Sunshine stood looking at me as if to inquire as to what my problem was...but she knew because she didn't want to go through it either.

I tugged on her lead rope just a bit and got her to step up to me. There I put my arm over her neck on hung on to her for balance while I worked my stuck foot out of the muck.
She stood quietly. And I thanked the 'mule gods' for giving me such a patient little mule.

I untied her halter and used her to make my way back to solid ground, the muddied water and muck came very close to my boot tops.
[Note to self: get higher chore boots?]

I flicked my hand at Sunshine while I closed the gate and she carefully, daintily made her way through the 'boot sucking mud' and out to dryer ground where she rolled and sighed deeply.