You are currently browsing the monthly archive for May 2009.
a.k.a. Gardening
Today was the first day I’ve been able to get out and work on our ever-so-neglected garden. Chris mowed and I trimmed; then I dug in (literally) to our garden boxes. I’m sure I pulled over 20,000 weeds by the time the sprinklers got to my section of the yard.
It was great to clean up, thin and remove the over growth while preserving the spider, rolly-polly, ant and worm populations. I definitely disturbed the eco-system in my 8′ X 4′ garden boxes. However, I did manage to save some snails. Saint Francis would be proud. Only indoors do I have a full contact sport of eliminating insects. They can frolic all they want out doors. I simply move them gently out of my way or even pick a different part of the boxes to work in when I’ve over stepped my boundaries.
While I’m waiting for the sprinkler program to complete I’ve made a nice little spot on the deck under the umbrella watching the birds. I need to pick up a bird book one of these days. I know the easy ones; the Robin’s and Doves, but there is these others, Finchs we think, that have taken up residence in our Martin house. And another interesting Robin looking bird that has very interesting markings on its chest and a white patch on its chin. I wish I had a telephoto lens to take a picture. They got a double dose of worming in with the sprinklers going this afternoon. They hopped around in the garden boxes and yard until they found their catch.
Playing in the dirt has always been a source of relaxation for me. Exercise secondary, as I can lift about 50 pounds of anything purchased at the greenhouse. But the best comfort I receive is being a part of this incredible nature that God provides for us. After the initial intrusion, felt by the birds, it’s really wonderful to be in the nature with them as they go about their of feeding babies, defending territory and calling to their mates.
On my way home I witnessed the cutest thing. A little boy was driving a little girl around in a pink Barbie Jeep. As I passed them, I slowed down to watch him park, get out walk around the Jeep and open the door for her. He then waited for the next little girl to come up to the car and he helped her in and closed the door, and away they went. It made me smile.
Sophie our Black Lab/Spaniel mix loves treats, snacks, food in general. But rawhides make her crazy.
Don’t get me wrong she loves them. They just make her do crazy things. Just today the weather was so beautiful that I watched her for 20 minutes try to find a place to sit and enjoy it. Chris was mowing and I on the deck was checking my email. I decided to log her antics with with rawhide instead.
First she followed Chris around the yard with the rawhide in her mouth. Trotting away from him on his return pass with the mower. Then around the back of the shed to the garden boxes. A quick “Sophie OUT! ” and she vacated the sacred boxes that she doesn’t understand. Why I can dig in them but she can’t? Off for another round of chasing/running from Chris, over to the corner where roses are to be blooming. However, it’s a weed/oat shrub at the moment. She finally relented and came up to the shade of the umbrella and released it to my care. I laid it in the shade where it sits. She on one side and the rawhide on the other. Content for it to not to be right beside her she sniffs the air and tries to catch the occasional fly the wanders over her fur.
Panting like crazy, the black fur is unrelenting, even in the mild 72 degrees of the early afternoon, she sniffs the rawhide but leaves it for later, as she goes into the house for a drink and maybe a cooler place on the couch. A few minutes later she joins me on the deck and contently watches the world go by.
The rawhide I am convinced will be enjoyed sometime today, just probably not in front of me.
With the risky NASA space operation on Hubble’s telescope completed, I had a light-bulb moment per se.
We tend to look at ourselves through the lens of a microscope. God looks at us through a telescope.
I’ve been delving into the lives of the Saints for some spiritual reading. I started with my confirmation Saint. Therese of Lisieux (or the Child Jesus, as she is often referred). As a Doctor of the Church, she is a powerhouse of information, inspiration and admiration. She had the gift knowing the Lord at a very young age. Her parents (Blessed’s in the Church) were instrumental in her development. Spending time getting to know St. Therese has been like looking through a telescope. A prayer card or Novena just doesn’t do her or any Saint justice. That being said, it was through prayer cards that I saw the microscope version of her life and yearn to learn more about her.
God sees us through the lens of His telescope. In order to get the whole picture of us whom He created, He must use the telescope. He uses that information to guide us when we knock on His door to seek advise. God promises that when we knock it will be answered; when we seek, we will find; and when we ask it will be received.
As I write this I am sitting on my deck enjoying the songs of the birds. The day is more beautiful than I imagined. The little boys next door are playing with Bosco and Sophie is snoozing on the deck. The blue sky and slight breeze make days like this God given.
When I was a little girl I played a game when I couldn’t sleep or got scared at night. I would imagine myself in the corner of the celiling lookikng down at myself. I used my minds eye to view my life from God view. Today I wonder what He thinks as he looks down with such a clear view.
A couple months ago we spotted a Jack Russell terrier in our neighborhood. No tags, sniffing the mail boxes down the street. Being dog lovers and responsible owners, we hoped the dog found it’s way home.
Thus begins the saga…
No such luck. For the last few weeks we have discovered that not only does this dog not have a home, it has made friends with Sophie, is resourceful and enjoys sleeping on our couch! Yes, it has not only figured out how to sneak under the fence, but also follows Sophie in to the house, via her doggie door.
After a few weeks of strange activities; toys in the front yard, wrestling matches in the living room, and a complaining neighbor, we are now in the full contact sport of “dog catcher”! One of our neighbors has seen the dog so much, they thought we had a new dog. NO, just a volunteer.
Before these antics got to be a nuisance; we thought it was kind of fun. You know, it already likes Sophie and they seem to get a long great that maybe we can catch it and maybe adopt it.
New course of action…
After talking with several other neighbors, it seems that the barking dog has not been Sophie or the poodle mixes around the corner, the cop’s dogs or anyother dog in the neighborhnood. No, it would be the stray…probably dropped off by some idiot who thinks 48th and Giles is the country. While I’d like to live in the country someday, I know that I do not!
No longer fun and games!
I enjoy the idea that Sophie has such a great disposition that she can make friends so easilly, but I don’t want fleas in my house…potentially. Or the reputation of a neglectful pet owner. Sophie has gotten the blame for someone else irresponsibility.
I’ve been given advise about a live trap, but am not sure that’s what we will do. It would be nice to just keep it out of our yard and let someone else be the “dog catcher”.
As the saga continues, I’ll update my post.
So much has happened since I last wrote in March.
First off I planned a surprise birthday party for Chris all the while planning a meeting in Chicago for my day job.
In the meantime, getting the guest room, master bed room and basement organized. We shelved books, cleared out the chapel area and moved my office downstairs. That was all second week or so in March. My Lenten journey had been going fairly well. Limited myself to 2 hours of TV a week, that was successful. Not eating meat all Lent didn’t work as well, but my prayer life made up for that.
Getting ready for Passion Sunday and Holy week to come, I was in a car wreck on the way to work April 3rd, and broke my wrist. No, not from the air bag, from grabbing for the emergency break. Crazy, how fast something like that can happen. The other driver was ticketed and Chris and I spent the majority of the morning in the ER. With a fresh splint and Vicodan prescription we headed home for a weekend of painkillers and a whole-lotta sleep. For such a small (non-displaced fracture of the Radius bone) break, it hurt a lot. I have a pretty high pain tolerance (well, for not giving birth), that I thought I could just tough it out. God invented prescription pain killers for a reason. When my wrist stopped throbbing, I was able to switch to Aleeve and now I’m pretty much pain free 5 weeks after the accident.
My prospective of my day really changed. I can and still do, sense the deliberate tone in my choices. The way I ate to the way I talked on the phone to people, the way I interacted with Chris, to my prayers to God; everything was affected by my accident.
I really felt that this catching up I was doing was preparing for some life altering experience. Not sure what that meant then. But now it seems like it was to slow down and ask for help. Keeping prayer and my relationship with Chris the mainstay of my recovery process, I’ve been able to slow down and look at the gift of the present and not rush everything.
It’s been an amazing journey and I look forward to what the rest of today brings.
