Tag: Nature

(2024) Tunnels…

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Daily writing prompt
Describe the most ambitious DIY project you’ve ever taken on.
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As a parent, we all know that when your kids are not making noise, it never bodes well! When it gets silent… we usually go looking for the noise makers that are now abnormally quiet!

Not my parents… no no… somehow, they were never really concerned about where we were, or what we were doing. Due to this lack of supervision, we tended to get into trouble.

Some time ago, I shared a funny story about how we let nearly 2 dozen baby mice loose in the house by accident, only to have my mother discover the mass graveyard in between the cushions of her favorite couch, some months later!

There was also the time when I was riding on the back of my brothers bike and he nearly decapitated me while trying to cut through a trailer park that had one of those steel cords strung across the driveway! Try explaining the burn mark to my parents… there aren’t many believable stories to cover over what looked like an attempted murder.

Then there was the time we tied helium balloons around our cats tails and they tore through the house in terror, knocking over anything that wasn’t nailed down… that was a crazy mess! We hadn’t thought about how hard it would be, recapturing the the little fur balls, in order to remove said balloons.

Anyway, I think you can see a picture developing in your minds, as to how unsupervised we were, thereby providing ample time for one of our best DIY projects!

My brother was about 9 and I was barely 7, when we came up with an idea to build a fort, but not just any fort… we needed a secret one! The problem lay in the fact that we lived in Eastern Oregon… hot, dry, and flat, with no trees available for making into forts!

What’s a kid going to do? If you can’t build up, then the logical thing to do is to build down… but where?

We decided among ourselves that the back yard seemed the best place to work, because no one went back there and it was easy to hear my mom call us in for dinner.

At first it was easy to cover the hole with the grass we had cut out for digging down underground, but eventually we had to steal a plank of wood to lay over the hole, covering that with the grass. We had nearly dug up against the foundation of the house, before anyone noticed the mounds of dirt we had been throwing willy nilly over the backyard fence.

Yup!

Got our hind ends paddled and the hole was caved in, refilled and the grass restored.

If you’re thinking that this was the end of our DIY ing… think again, my friends!

All true DIY ers know the golden rule… if you fail the first time… try, try again! And again, we did!

We simply moved our construction zone further out into the desert behind the neighborhood we lived in at the time.

First, we set to work digging down nearly 6 feet, carving out steps for us to climb up and down out of the hole. From there we dug straight in nearly 15 feet before carving out a hobbit house sized hole under the desert above us. We took the dirt from the hole and spread it all over the area nearby, so that there would be no mounds to be seen by spying eyes; lessons had been learned from our first attempt. We spent nearly a week sneaking blankets, toys, food and water from our home, to stock our new underground bunker.

It wasn’t until my brother got a spanking for stealing candy out of the cupboard, and angrily running away to hide in the tunnel, that anybody had any reason to go looking for our hideaway. All the grown-ups cornered me and questioned if I knew where he was, scaring me into giving up the coordinates of our outlaw camp… the gig was up!

It was a good thing that we were in the heat of summer, when there was no rain to fill the hole and drown us, or worse yet, cave in on us. I will never forget the look of shock, surprise, fear, and awe on my stepdads face as he climbed 6 feet down into our DIY creation. He was both impressed and terrified at what we’d managed to do without accidentally killing ourselves. But he also never trusted us again, regularly patrolling the property and surrounding areas, and locking up all of his tools!

What can I say… if I’m gonna DIY something, I say, “go big or go home!”

Here, have a cookie…

Tuesday Tinkering…

Wiwohka4 Comments

Yes, Osrig. Today is gonna be all about you, my sweet boy!

It’s high time we do some serious work on our favorite flying canine. From the very beginning of his creation, I struggled with making him look realistic instead of resembling a Claymation character. It’s always been a bit of a challenge to give the dog realistic traits, while also making his imaginary ones look adorable and endearing. If I can make an avatar of myself look real, then so to shall I embark this editing journey for Osrig. He’s worth it, I think.

I already went ahead and took the plunge last week, by upgrading his character images into the advanced avatar that we’ll be using today. I must say that as much as I loath to admit it, Norbert (resident openart ai) actually did me proud this morning, for the most part. There were a few moments that I wanted to say something snarky, but I refrained, for your sake!

Surprisingly, this was the very first image given this morning, and in all honesty, it seems perfect! I even made you a short video of it, so as to reflect the improvements they’ve made on their video creation section. I know it’s not much, and I am far from a videographer, film maker, or tv producer, in any real sense of the words. But it’s still cute, so I’m using it…

The reason I have to give so much credit to Norbert today, is because I only had one image that we didn’t see eye to eye on, literally, because the ai never could correct the problem. Here, I’ll show you…

This image would’ve been perfect, aside from the demon glowy eyes… sheesh!

I asked the ai to change the dog’s eye color to a gentle green, but ended up with a radioactive dog…

As I’m not one to give up on a thing so easily, I had a rather short but meaningful chat with Norbert…

“I’ve never met a dog with glowing green eyes. Please look up images of what a canine’s eyes should be, and then color them a gentle soft green please.”

It took several more tries, but we finally got a compromise out of the deal…

The image is alright, I guess. It’s certainly nothing to write home about, but definitely far better than the alien shots we started out with, in my opinion. I will say that the ai is doing a fantastic job of textures and realism, both in the scenery and also the dogs fur. But, unfortunately, I can’t really use the image because his wings are missing.

I pressed on, wanting to get a real handle on the realism of the dog’s fur, expressions, and body posture. You should feel as if you could reach out and touch him, you know? I put Norbert through his paces, and got a solid handful of really decent images. Take a look…

Aside from the image with the strange looking arrow head on the end of his tail, these images took no editing at all. But I’ll certainly be fixing that tail… ugh!

I did make another little video, but the first one is still my favorite, over all…

So, that’s it for today’s tinkering session. All in all, it was a very successful day, and I hope it wasn’t too boring for you.

As a sign of good will, and also my willingness to share with others, I’ve made you some homemade virtual oatmeal. It’s got a little brown sugar and some blueberries, too…

Breakfast is really the most important meal of the day, or so I’ve heard. They also say that it’s good for your heart.

You’re welcome!

(March 2023) Hey Bob

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So, here is a funny story!  I love the outdoors and if I can help it, I am out there as much as possible.  I make an effort to take a walk nearly every day, and I have a route that I have used for some time now.  I do a good amount of thinking on these morning jaunts, as I call them.  Sometimes it can be very productive, but at other times, I let my mind just wander to relax.  On one of these such relaxing mornings, I hatched a plan, that in my mind, would be very funny to any that were involved.  I have a great many squirrels that I encounter on a regular basis, and I was going to recruit them for this idea.

I came up with a plan to simply begin saying hello, out loud, to every squirrel I encountered and give each a random name, as if I actually know them.  I thought that if I did this, eventually, the passersby that frequently saw me, would begin to think that maybe I knew the squirrels.  I could simply wait for the time when someone would stop me to ask how I knew all of the squirrels names, and I could then say, “Oh no, I have no idea, I just thought it would be funny”. I didn’t say that it WOULD be funny, I just imagined it would be funny.

The next morning, I headed out onto the trail, thoroughly tickled with myself, for what I thought would be an extremely funny idea.  Honestly, I giggled to myself all the way down the block as I began looking for my first unwitting participant (a squirrel, that is).  I got about a half hour into my trek, playing over and over in my head how it would play out, and then I spotted a squirrel.

I learned two things that morning.  Number one, I discovered that, apparently, a lot of squirrels share the name Bob.  Number two, Peanuts!  I should have brought peanuts.  My recommendation is that we not engage in conversation with wildlife, unless we bring some sort of food offering.  I think someone else may have been conditioning these guys way before I ever thought up my ridiculous idea!

Here is how it went down…I saw the squirrel, I approached confidently, thinking how funny this was gonna be, I called out, “Hey Bob”, and before I knew it I was being chased down the trail by three hungry squirrels.  I felt like it happened in slow motion…lol…I spoke, our eyes connected, they looked hungry, I had nothing but a coffee tumbler and a tissue, Coffee over Heathens I say!   I did not care how absolutely ridiculous I must have appeared to onlookers.  I actually think I may have laughed out loud at myself, but I did not care!  I walked a different route for two days after that to let them forget me hopefully.

I still see the same three squirrels on the trail regularly, and the accusation is still there on those furry little faces… Where Are OUR Peanuts!!!!

Just call us The Lost and Founder’s…

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Well, we did it! It’s all a bit of a blur, if truth be told. Two days of wandering in search of our lost troll, while simultaneously wrangling a passel of wild babies behaving as if they’re on holiday, nearly drove me crazy! It’s a miracle that none of them are hanging by their shirt collars from random trees within the forest. I’m not terribly proud of having the urge to hang them from the branches, but come on! Even the best of grown-ups have their limits, am I right?!

Besides, even if I tried to hang them from the branches, they’ll simply squirrel their way out of it. Get it? Squirrel their way…

I thought it was hilarious, but I guess you’d have to be there. And, I’ve heard it said that if I have to explain it, then it wasn’t that funny. Well, at least Squagon thought it was funny!

Anyways, while I was running through the forest chasing Bailey, who was chasing Osrig, who was hunting a dragonfly… the ever faithful camel went and found our missing troll, Peanut.

Eustace is the hero of the day!

He tracked down the location of my grandson’s old house, and found Peanut’s hiding spot under the wooden bridge, nearly tripping over our missing troll. After making proper introductions, Eustace and Peanut packed up all of the trolls tiny treasures, and then returned to our camp.

While I had basically wasted a full hour, making futile attempts at regathering all of my wild ones, Eustace had used his brain. In his camelly wisdom, Eustace started cooking breakfast, which is what I should have done in the first place! And yes, I did say camelly, because it sounded cute!

Breakfast!

What a silly thing to have overlooked. How could I have forgotten that food works like magic for this crew? It was a rookie mistake, if I’m being fully honest. Well, you can’t expect me to remember everything, really. That’s quite a lot to keep up with, wouldn’t you say?

Well, it doesn’t really matter anymore, now that we’re all safely back at camp. We’ll stay a second night before heading back to the ship, in order to let everybody get to know young Peanut, as well as, calming the little guys nerves.

It must be quite an adjustment to go from isolation and solitude, to suddenly being the center of attention. It must be very confusing, and a little frightening for Peanut. Though I’m sure he remembers me, it was my grandson that first befriended the troll. Another night around the campfire will give him time to get more acquainted with everyone.

My first thought was to take him all the way to my grandson’s new home, but it wasn’t my decision. I desperately want to make things right for Peanut, but am I choosing for myself, for my grandson, or for Peanut? What might he want?

Perhaps, when my grandson moved away and left Peanut behind, the tiny troll felt it was his own fault. What if he still felt hurt, at being unwanted or merely forgotten? I can certainly understand those feelings, but what if he didn’t want to come back to the barn with us, either? What then?

What if Peanut doesn’t need me? If the troll wants to go somewhere other than the barnyard, am I willing to help him find a different home? I write all of the time, regarding the things I do, the things I desire, and the things I strive to do… but sometimes, it’s not about me, is it?

Sometimes, in order to truly love another, we must make choices for their betterment, without expecting any payment or reward, nor any recognition at all! It isn’t easy, often hurts, and seemingly makes no valuable sense… but it’s still the right thing to do!

So, today shall be a new beginning for Peanut, and hopefully for us as well, if he chooses to come back to the barnyard. We will be spending another night here, sitting around the firelight, sharing love, light, and laughter with the little guy. But we’ve still a whole day ahead of us. Questions of where he wants to go, can wait until tomorrow.

For now, maybe there’s something to all this running around in the forest, chasing one another. Maybe I’ll join in the chase this time… or better yet, maybe they’ll chase me…

Monday Messages…

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It took nearly three days of paddling… upstream, I might add! But, now we’ve a bit of a walk, as the river could only carry us so far. It’s sort of funny how the brain works, at times. When we were only looking at the navigational charts, I couldn’t make heads or tails of which way to go, and nothing looked familiar, at all!

But, now that we’re actually standing on the path leading toward my grandson’s old house, I recognize everything about this place. Memories, like morning dew, began settling upon my skin like a warm, familiar blanket.

Though it’s been nearly three years since they’ve moved, I can still remember the path to their old house. I remember as if I’d been there only yesterday, or the day before. I have the utmost confidence in those memories bringing us straight to our destination… Peanut!

If we’re to get there, we best get going, right? Eustace insisted on carrying all the gear needed for the camping and cooking bit. While I know where to go, it’ll still take a day of travel just to get there… which means camping gear.

No worries! A little camping never hurt anyone, at least, not our crew! If you were surrounded by a passel of wild babies, with sticky fingers and far too much energy to be good for them… would you rather do it in a tiny boat, or the open woodland, where they can run squealing til they pass out from exhaustion!?

I’m not saying that I’m hoping for a reprieve while they disappear into the woods… I’m just asking for a friend.

If we want to get to Peanut before nightfall, it’s time we get moving down the trail. I won’t be able to send you any messages til we get back here to the boat, so keep an eye on things for us while we’re gone, if you would. I’d be ever so grateful!

And, there’s cookies in it for whomever takes on such a special task…

I don’t fancy having to walk all the way back the sea!

Hugs

What exactly do you mean by that?

Wiwohka6 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Have you ever been camping?
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I had to laugh when I saw this prompt, as it brought up a memory that had been lost to me… so thank you, WordPress!

I swear that I might have been born in the wild, because my earliest memories include riding bareback while still in diapers… ya, I have a mind like a steel trap!

Anyways, camping is something that came naturally to this girl, and so, I passed it on to my children. My daughters have been camping since before they were born, as I freely went camping during my pregnancies. When my girls began to grow, we began traveling with a group of about 4 or 5 other families during the summer months, camping and fishing throughout the great Northwest. From southern Oregon, across Idaho and into Montana, and even into British Columbia.

Needless to say, my family are avid campers, fishers, hikers and hunters! They weren’t always so experienced at this stuff, and it took a great deal of training and practice, especially in the bathroom department, if you know what I mean? I had three girls!

How does one raise a little girl to be a tough camper, and yet still be a little lady? Like I said, we traveled with a huge group of camping families, which meant cooking together, bathing in close proximity to others, and yes, using the restroom in groups, for security! With little ones running around, we grown ups thought it was easiest to make an appropriate code word, to signal our restroom intentions. If one needed to use the restroom, we simply said, “I have to go camping”, and anyone who needed to go, simply agreed to come along.

Now, this went on for nearly an entire summer before one of my girls finally asked, “Mamma, how come the grown-ups keep saying they’re camping and then disappear into the woods?” I explained that it was a polite way of saying that we needed to use the restroom, without saying it in front of others. She didn’t question me further, and seemed not to even understand what I’d said. About a week later, all the families gathered at our home to plan the next upcoming adventure.

There we all were, standing around my kitchen talking, when my daughter marches into the midst of the group and boldly announced, “Everyone, I need to go camping… that means I have to go poop!”

I nearly dropped the plate in my hands! The entire room went silent for a moment, and then erupted into laughter! All of the adults in the room knowing laughed themselves silly, while my daughter marched off to the bathroom. The rest of the day was filled with children running around the house, loudly claiming they needed to camp and then laughing about it!

I’m still laughing…

Want a cookie?

Beginning, Again…

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Reaching land after being at sea for such a long time can be like standing upon the sand, as the sea pulls the waters back into the depths. It feels like you’re moving while standing still, as the sand moves beneath your feet. I stand upon the shore of a new land (sort of), having nowhere to go, but forward into the unknown. It feels both exciting and confusing, as you’ve no idea what’s beyond your vision, or where the path will lead.

We’ve spent the last five years living in the same small space, climbing over one another, and putting one foot in front of the other… adrift in uncharted waters!

We’d forgotten how to live without constant and immense pressure, pushing at us from all directions; often forcing us to move fast, while leaving everything behind! When you live for so long with little on hand, you become accustomed to letting things go, and/or making due. I am a bit shocked at how much that was lost along the way to this particular shore. For goodness sake, I haven’t had a vacuum cleaner for five years, let alone a working oven, or a working toilet (that was only in the last year and a half). I guess, my point here would be that I feel a bit lost and out of sorts, when it comes to living like a normal person.

I will be taking another week off from writing, in order to focus on rest and recovery from a very costly time at sea. The physical toll it has taken on us this time has been costly, so rest and recovery are the priority, at the moment. Spring quarter will begin for my husband in less than 2 weeks, so he’s going to be getting his first taste of college without the pressure of homelessness and loss hanging over his head all the time, thank goodness! He’s nearly there, with only spring and summer left on this degree. It’s incredible how well he has done in the midst of such turmoil, and I’m so very proud of his commitment to finish… and finish well!

Me? I have another book to write, but first, it’s time to put the first one out there…

It’s time, wouldn’t you agree? If God deems it time, then I’ve no doubt that it will be done. I shall enter this new part of the journey with the grace, faith and confidence given my by my Creator, going wherever I’m called to go. I’ve always loved a good adventure, how about you?!

F.Y.I. , these new shores are quite beautiful from where I’m standing!

Let’s explore together…

Barnyard Business

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Today, the girls are out picking pine bows from the forest near the barn. Dinky makes a path with her chubby little tail so that Miss Tilly can travel without being buried underneath the snow.

You may be wondering why on earth they want pine bows if we’ve already put our tree up inside the barn? Well, I must back things up a bit, to when Brutus and I flew to Pinion Valley several weeks ago, in order to visit with young Squagon.

I haven’t written about our visit until now, for several reasons. The main reason for holding back, quite frankly, is because of Me… and the second being that I have the morale of the babes to think about! It’s been very difficult to keep up a brave face for all the little ones, as well as for you, regarding the disappointing news that Squagon will NOT be celebrating Christmas with us!

I’d seriously hoped that my visit would produce a kingly approval for Squagon to come home for the holidays… at least that’s what I wanted to be writing about, once I got back to the barn.

Epic fail there, I’m afraid!

I spoke at length with Squagon’s Grandfather, the Pinion King, but he would not agree to the visit! The king kindly but firmly refused to allow the young prince’s absence during their valley’s own Holiday festivities.

You see, young Squagon has many duties during the Pinion Valley’s winter season, which are a vital part of his royal education.

It was explained that the young prince must be visibly active in service to the needy, sick, and injured folk living in their valley. Winter can be especially difficult for those in need…

There’s also a lengthy requirement of assisting the caregivers that run the valley’s orphanages, leading the little ones in a great many Pinion traditions, one of which is decorating a holiday tree. Surprisingly, they are very familiar with who Santa is… go figure!

Honestly, I’d no idea there was so much that went into being a royal squirrel! Though I’m quite sad about Squagon’s absence at our barn, I couldn’t help feeling terribly proud of the young squirrel. He behaved so grown up and respectful, it was like he was a totally different squirrel… yet not!

I mean, Squagon still looked like himself, but now he also looked and acted like his grandfather, carrying himself with such dignity and royal bearing. I know this sounds ridiculous to say, but it felt like my baby had somehow grown up without me realizing it, until that very moment!

At the same time, it was a sad acceptance of the reality that the young squirrel isn’t my actual child… he never was, really. I suppose it simply felt like he was mine, after all the sleepless nights, unending bottle feedings, and watching all the little guy’s firsts. You know, the first night of full sleep, first steps, and the first time he called my name. Those memories will always remain, and I would do it all again, even now, after I have to let him go.

I shall cherish the time that we had together and he’ll always have a place at the barn, there beneath my desk. But Squagon is a squirrel… and a prince, no less!

Besides, I didn’t say we’d never see him again… just not until after the holidays are over. This is just all part of growing up! I can assure you that he’ll be back, if only for visits.

Speaking of visits, before Brutus and I flew back to the barn, we spent a good hour with Squagon, just the three of us. It was truly a wonderful little visit, listening to the little prince share all about the things he’d been learning, and then filling him in on all the goings on at the barn. I had to recite all the messages from the babes and then write down his responses to each of them, in turn. By the end of the visit, I knew that Squagon was where he belonged, though I still saw the conflict within his eyes… that bittersweet feeling of wanting to come home, yet knowing he must stay.

I cried the whole flight home to the barn. I still get teary just writing about it, how silly is that?

But, back to this morning, I can now explain why Miss Tilly and Dinky are out in the woods, collecting pine bows. After getting my crying out of the way during the flight home, both Brutus and I put on brave faces for the babes before landing in the barnyard.

Once we’d handed out all the little notes I’d written down from Squagon, I gave the bad news about Christmas. After all the tears subsided from learning that he wouldn’t be coming home, Miss Tilly offered up a wonderful idea to brighten the mood. She suggested we all work together to put Christmas in a box, if you will, and then have Brutus fly it to Pinion Valley!

Now you know why a mouse and a baby dragon are pickin up sticks in the snow. While they’re doing that, I’ve got Lilly helping the boys bake peanut cookies, along with pistachio flavored homemade playdough…

Come on, everyone knows we end up putting some in our mouths… just to see what it really tastes like!

Barnyard Business…

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The mood around the barnyard this morning is rather sad, with a number of hugs and tissues being handed out among all the little ones. It’s literally a tearful and snotty mess in the barn!

Remember me telling you that story about how all the squirrels in Acorn Valley were gone? When I questioned those ravens about it, all they gave me was a very cryptic song that I was expected to decipher. Well, it turns out that due to problems within their own kingdom, the Acorn King and all his kingdom were forced to accept help from the Pinion Kingdom… you know, Lady Ophelia’s kin from the southern woods.

You may be asking how I came to know this information, and in truth, I didn’t even know that, until I arrived at the barn this morning. Let me explain…

Early this morning, a large armada of stern looking squirrels, all dressed in royal guardsman uniforms, arrived at our barn door. They bore the insignia of House Pinion upon the breast pocket of each of their uniforms, so I knew right away who they were! An older, and seemingly high ranking squirrel, stepped forward and handed me an official looking piece of paper. Awkwardly, I broke the tiny wax seal and opened the letter. As I did so, I noticed a very subdued and sorrowful looking Squagon standing between two heavily armed Squirrel Guards. I didn’t even need to read the contents of the letter to understand what was happening… I’d just been given orders to release him to his mother’s kin, House Pinion!

I knew this day might come, but quite honestly, I thought we’d have more time together… and I certainly didn’t expect him to be taken all the way south to his mother’s family. The suddenness of things was rather shocking, and all of the babes were a wreck… especially Squagon, the poor little thing!

Helplessly, we all just stood and watched as they marched him away, though I will tell you that I sent Brutus straight away, to secretly follow them all the way back to Pinion Valley. He’ll make sure that nothing bad happens to Squagon… at least nothing physical, anyway. The dragon will watch over young Squagon!

With Brutus watching over him, I do not fear for the little squirrel on his outsides. Though it pains me to think about it, sometimes dangers and injuries can come from within the heart, where one must rely upon themselves to overcome. He may be a young one, but I do know that Squagon is quite smart and has a stout heart!

For now, while Brutus does what he must do for Squagon’s sake, I too have much work to do, here in the barnyard. Teaching the babes how to cope with loss is not something I’m looking forward to doing, but it needs doing, none the less.

Now don’t worry too much, as Brutus has everything in hand with young Squagon… and we’ll be getting regular updates on how things are going for him with his kin. He is a very brave young squirrel, and I would be ashamed to let him see us blubbering on about the situation. We must be strong for Squagon, so that he knows his barnyard family will be here, when he returns.

I think I will use today’s classroom time for writing letters to Squagon, telling him how much everyone loves and misses him. Perhaps, with Brutus carrying notes back and forth between all of us, the distance will not seem so great. While I’m not certain of when, I am confident that we shall see Squagon again, soon.

While the squirrel might be bigger, older and a bit changed when he returns, he will forever be our tiny furry baby with funny wings, all wrapped up inside a walnut shell.

Uh Oh… we’re all out of tissues! I gotta go get more before Miss tilly starts blowing her nose on the sleeve of her dress… ewww!