Stormy Skies

Some pictures from a passing storm a week ago.  It was quite impressive-looking and rolled in very fast.  These three images were snapped just moments apart.

The storm brought some thunder and lightning, but blew through almost as quickly as it came, leaving only a little rain behind.

By this time last year, we'd had our first snow.

The following was posted on Facebook:

Well.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

And now for something completely different:

It has been an extremely wet summer here,

resulting in odd and unusual fungi growth all over the yard,

the likes of which I have never before seen.

This Very Happy Fellow,

who was about ten inches tall, I kid you not, 

appeared just outside the back door:

I mowed him off...sorry, guys.

His friends came to avenge him and there is a small forest of these things out there now.

I'm a little bit afraid to go outside...

Was Keiner Wagt
I ran across this song in a Ravelry group, and was instantly entranced by it. I don't speak German, but the singer has a sweet, yet world-weary voice, and the tune is so lovely I had to listen several times. With the help of Bing Translator I was able to get a rough translation which I then attempted to convert to understandable English.
This song illustrates beautifully that which I tried to convey in a recent post: Go forth, and make the world better.

This song is performed by Reinhard Mey, appears on the album Mairegen (2010) and features Konstantin Wecker.

Reinhard Mey:Was Keiner Wagt

Was keiner wagt, das sollt ihr wagen
Was keiner sagt, das sagt heraus
Was keiner denkt, das wagt zu denken
Was keiner anfängt, das führt aus

 Wenn keiner ja sagt, sollt ihr's sagen
Wenn keiner nein sagt, sagt doch nein
Wenn alle zweifeln, wagt zu glauben
Wenn alle mittun, steht allein


Wo alle loben, habt Bedenken
Wo alle spotten, spottet nicht
Wo alle geizen, wagt zu schenken
Wo alles dunkel ist, macht Licht


Wo alle loben, habt Bedenken
Wo alle spotten, spottet nicht
Wo alle geizen (Alle geizen)
Wagt zu schenken (Wagt zu schenken)
Wo alles dunkel ist –Macht Licht

My translation, and all mistakes are my own:
What no one dares, then you shall dare it
What no one says, then you speak out
What no one thinks, then dare to think it
What no one starts, then you must do


If no one says Yes, you should say it
If no one says no, then you should say
When all doubt, dare to believe
When all join, stand alone


Where all praise, you have concerns
Where all mock, do not mock
Where all skimp, be generous
Where all is dark, make light

Where all praise, you have concerns
Where all mock, do not mock
Where all skimp (All skimp), Be generous (Be generous)
Where all is dark, make light

Recordings by Reinhard Mey are available here: Amazon

  

October

 

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Semi-precious


 I went for a walk in the marsh last evening to see how the colors are coming.  As I entered a clearing just behind the barn, I found this young whitetail deer, grazing across the stream about twenty feet or so away from me.  It was old enough to have lost its fawn spots, but not fully grown.  We watched one another for several minutes while I snapped pictures as quietly and calmly as I could.  I was able to take several small, slow steps toward it, but finally got too close for its comfort, and it turned to run away.  It slipped in the damp grass and fell, hard, but soon gathered itself and disappeared into the woods.


 

 

Some early fall color in the marsh:

Wild grapes

Rose hips

Moonrise

Frankly, scarlet

September

Birthdays: Andrea turned seven, Robby turned five

There is a new puppy in their family. His name is 'Thor', which was Robby's in-utero name before we knew he was a boy... "Thor-ina" : )

The puppy is adorable and doing well in a home where his greatest danger is being loved to death!

September is also the month where the sky looks like this:

...and we begin to think of winter.  We had our first frost of the year on the first day of October.  The leaves are beginning to change, and if it does not become too windy and wet, I suspect that it will be a marvellous year for fall color.

It is also a time when I begin to think of 'time too short, and running fast'.

I told a friend recently that when I look in the mirror I can see every minute of these past few very difficult years on my face, and especially the marks of these most recent thirteen or fourteen months.  I think that I am beginning to try to come to terms with my own mortality, and I am not liking it much, I fear.

I guess we all reach a point where we must face our life's accomplishments, or the lack thereof.  I had thought, by this time, that I would have 'made a difference' in this world, but I don't know that I have, or, if I have, that it is a positive difference.

There is much that bothers me, and I have many regrets.  I have always believed that every person is obligated to do something to justify their presence on the planet, and am unsure that I have done my part.  Perhaps we don't know what our impact has been, and only those we leave behind us will see it.

So often, I meet someone who knew my mother and it warms my heart to hear their comments about her.  She was a dear soul, always ready to give more than her share, always there to help a friend.  She was deeply loved by so many!  I hope that those who loved her told her so, often, and while she was still alive, but fear that that was not the case, as we do not do these things nearly enough. 

On a different but somewhat connected note, I had something happen the other day that made me smile...I was at work in my store, and a man and woman walked up to the counter.  The woman looked closely into my face and asked where I was from, as she was certain that she knew me.  We conversed for several minutes, sharing life information and details.  Her face was familiar, but I could not dredge up from my memory the details of our connection, and nor could she.

Then she asked, "Did you ever work at Concord Mall?" and I knew then how she knew me.  We worked together thirty-two years ago in a Montgomery Wards store, she in Appliances, and I in Paint and Hardware.  We had only seen one another once or twice in the intervening time, and the last encounter was decades ago.

She recognized my voice, before she even saw my face.

This has happened twice now, in less than two years.  I never thought that my voice was particularly distinctive, but apparently it is so.

We cannot know the impact we have made in our lives.  Let us try to remember, and measure our words and actions against those who witness them.

Summer Knitting

I've done some. I have lots of projects on the needles, started one pair of socks three times and ripped them back twice. They may never be finished.

Knitting is therapeutic.  It helps keep my hands occupied and my brain busy.  I've needed that. I'm glad that my friends let me knit for them in order to preserve my sometimes fragile sanity!

Socks for Robin in New Jersey





Fingerless Mitts for Jen in New York




Hat and socks for Miss Pepper in Louisiana



Sample Toddler Sock for a small class I taught last Spring




Socks for oldest granddaughter




The beginnings of a pair of Pay-It-Forward socks. I am not loving this yarn and having a hard time making myself knit with it.

 

If you look closely, you can see three hummingbirds in this picture.  There is a feeder outside the back door, and we're visited there every day.



 Late Summer in the Marsh...

Cattails

  
Just a few images from my little slice of Heaven.  There are approximately five acres of marsh behind the house, containing abundant flora and fauna. We've mowed some small paths through the brush, but have left it mostly wild.  It is quite lovely and peaceful, and there is always some new sight to see.

Winter food for the birds

 

A small exercise in waterway diversion

Wildflower-lined path

A view from the bridge

Sunny clearing

    This is a very good place to be...

I find that I need a memory refresher!  I do, indeed, know what constitutes music a cappella...music performed with only the human voice as instrument.  Some of the songs I posted here are NOT a cappella at all.  I can only plead that when thinking of these songs I remembered only the vocal parts and not the instrumentation that accompanied them.  Still good music, still amazing vocal arrangements and performances, but most definitely NOT a cappella.  oopsie...
And now, for your listening pleasure...
I love music a capella.  There is a TV show coming for another season called "The Sing-Off" that is all music made with just human voices, no instrumental accompaniment...I think I'm going to love it!  Here are some singers I admire and some songs they've sung a capella .

James Taylor, of course:

 

Is That the Way You Look? Click on the linkie thingie there to the left. I couldn't find a video of Taylor performing this song, but found this very silly video of a couple of kids 'dancing' to it. The song is not entirely a capella, but still great.

and another James Taylor: 

Noticing a theme here? What can I say? The man can sing!  

A Huey Lewis cover of a classic hit:

I've been playing that one in my car a lot lately...very, very loudly!

And one from Billy Joel:

Be aware that my dialup Internet connection prevents me from previewing any of these links, so I hope that I'm giving you the right ones! :D  Enjoy!

Another Family Reunion

My husband's family this time, and a wonderful time it always is!

There were people from Indiana, Kansas, Texas, Kentucky, Michigan, and Florida.  There was a LOT of wonderful food, many hugs and kisses, countless stories told, and much love shared. 

Cousins Rose and David arrived at our home on Thursday and set up camp in our side yard.  We always look forward to their visit!

Some of us gathered at Uncle Ervin and Aunt Bonnie's on Friday night for pizza and to wait for the Kansas branch of the Mullets to arrive. 

The family met, as always when the reunion is held in Indiana, in Goshen on Saturday for lunch, and then we were honored, as we have been for the last three years, with an after-party of sorts at our home for playing, and talking, and eating, and mosquito-slapping and s'mores, and wading in the creek on Saturday evening. 

On Sunday evening we had an abridged repeat of Saturday's fun with another, smaller gathering at our house to clean up some leftovers, wander the marsh behind us, chat and laugh, and singing along with Three Dog Night in the kitchen.  

Only one lawn chair was killed in this year's adventure, and all frogs caught were soon released.  As always, there were far too many pictures to upload and far too many of you are not shown here, but it was so fine to see every one of you. You are all loved! 

Thank you, Marti, for sharing your photos.

There were 1:

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

Two:

Three:

Four:

generations represented.

There was frog hunting:

and wading in the stream

and pizza

and a brand-new tattoo

  And Cousin Rita has found her signature pose.  

 

I am so lucky to have married into this family!