The Lenten Spring is Here

Just a few words because my head is hurting and my mind is not behaving itself right now.
Great Lent is almost here; in fact, we are well into the preparation phase and the spiritual warfare has begun.
One word: logismoi.



"And quench the flame of my passions, for I am poor and wretched, and deliver me from my many cruel memories and deeds, and free me from all their bad effects...." --Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos

As I promised....

As I promised, I'm posting a picture of that armadillo I blogged about previously. It's not a very good picture, since the critter started scurrying away as soon as I approached; but the picture (if you click on it and see the larger version) is clear enough to tell it's an armadillo. He's a good sized one, too.

Critter trouble

Last night seemed to be a busy night for animals up around my chicken houses. (Click on the pictures to see a larger, more detailed version.) My husband bought a StealthCam* a few months ago, and we've been "watching" various spots on our property at night. I've captured photos of a large opossum up there in the poultry yard, which I've since trapped and re-located. Last night a younger 'possum came by less than an hour after this huge raccoon. This 'coon his huge. He (or she) has been digging under one of the henhouses trying to get in, and I blocked that up. You can see in last night's pictures that he still shows an active interest in the second henhouse. I think it's a matter of time that he/she will try again to get in there after my chickens.

There are other pictures that were captured last night that did not show an animal. However, it's obvious from the sequence that some animal was messing with the StealthCam. (Motion triggers the camera to take a pre-set series of pictures.) It had to be a large animal since I hang the StealthCam about four feet off the ground. That has me a bit nervous. I'll have to think of another place to hang the camera to try to capture pictures of whatever this animal is. It could be that raccoon coming back a few hours later. I think he could reach that high if he stood on his hind legs.

*Note: Neither I nor my husband are hunters, and we don't allow hunting on our property. We use the StealthCam solely to discover what's going on around our property when we're either asleep or not there. Anyway, it's FUN!

Locust Fork River Flood - January, 2009

I think our drought is over if the pictures indicate anything. (Click on the pictures to see a larger size with more detail.) One picture shows the flood, and the other shows the same area after the water drained away. Actually, the water drained away in just a couple of days, but I didn't get down there to take a picture until days later. I had intended to post this a week ago, but got distracted and forgot about it. We had over 7" of rain in less than three days at one point. The pictures show the one-lane gravel road that goes in front of my house. This is the end of the road that goes nowhere and ends up just fading away into the woods, so this is not the part of the road that we need to take to get out. At this point it is a steep grade going down, so it is quite deep even as the road disappears into the flood, which spread out into a literal lake. I think that it must have been at least ten feet or more deep at the deepest point. Fortunately, it completely drained away in just a couple of days, but the "low water bridge" was under water for a couple of weeks, so my husband had to take an alternate route to and from work. He noticed a couple of days ago that the barricade is down, so he says he will check it tomorrow morning to see if the waters have abated enough for the "low water bridge" to be passable.

We were not able to go to Church on Nativity because of the tornado and flash flood watches going on at the time. We seriously debated whether to go or not, but decided that two women (my daughter and I), one of which has a broken arm and neither of whom sees well after dark especially with rain reflections all over the place, and a three year old traveling at night for 45 minutes in good weather over back roads that are narrow and very curvy was not a good idea. It appears that we made the right choice because we later heard that there was a mud slide complete with boulders blocking one road, and at another place a bridge was washed out with water rushing over the road. What a night Jan 6/Dec 24 was! Now this week we are having record cold weather, and I'm quite tired of it already.

There's a new "critter" on the property.

The other night while I was calling my cats in for the evening (my husband calls it "cat calling"), I heard something scratching around in the leaves under the trees just inside the woods. It was dark and I had my spotlight (a flashlight just doesn't give enough light out here), so I went in search of what animal might be making the noise. I thought it was probably an opossum because I had seen a 'possum rooting around in the dead leaves in the same spot from which this sound was coming. I know it's pretty stupid to go out in the pitch dark with only a spotlight and no defense except a walking stick in a county where wildcats and cougars have been sighted and where coyotes and "wolf-dogs" roam (or so I've been told, but I've only seen tracks in the mud and not the animal; my husband did see a wolf-dog run through our property several years ago), but I wanted to see what it was. I finally saw it under the trees rooting around in the ground and forest debris. It was gray and about the same size as that 'possum I saw a couple of weeks ago (about the size of a large, domestic cat). But something about it just didn't look like a 'possum. For one thing, it kept its head down mighty low and under the leaves. I've never seen a 'possum do that. So, I very carefully, slowly, and quietly walked nearer until I was about 30 feet from it and could get a good look at it. It was an armadillo! I don't like armadillos. They are forever digging into and under everything. They do have cute faces, though--better than that mean, rat-looking opossum face.

Armadillos are related to sloths and anteaters, according to the National Geographic website. They eat insects, snakes, small animals like lizards and mice, bird eggs, and sometimes carrion--even armadillo carrion. (Blyech!) Apparently the nine-banded armadillo is the only armadillo in the U.S., but I'd not lay a wager to that effect. Armadillos are mammals, insect eaters, prolific diggers, give birth to 4 same-sex young (developing from one egg and sharing one placenta) around July, and have low metabolic rates. When a female armadillo is under stress, they can "delay implantation" of their fertilized egg for up to two years; which results in surprise, "virgin births" and helps a single female colonize new areas. They like warm climates and sometimes cold weather can wipe out a whole population in an area. Supposedly they will not stay in areas where the soil is hard to dig, which makes me wonder why they're on my property, which is mostly clay. However, my little acres are quickly becoming "fire-ant heaven" with so many hills I can't even count them anymore, so maybe the armadillo is coming for the ants. If that's so, I'll hang out the welcome sign for them! Armadillos have long, sticky tongues like an anteater, and only a few teeth (molars) in the back of their mouths. Their teeth have no enamel, which makes no sense to me at all. They also love to swim, and my property is on the banks of the Locust Fork River, so they probably feel quite at home here.

It will be interesting to see how my little spot on this planet changes with these new "squatters." I suppose I'll have to be very wary of any holes they will dig in the ground. I've fallen so many times in the past few years, that I'm becoming quite phobic about it. (Once I broke off a front tooth--on Pascha morning no less--and had to have veneers on them, sprained my ankle, and recently I broke my elbow falling up in the poultry yard. I'm 60 years old now, and I just can't afford illness and accidents like I used to; I just don't heal as well or as quickly as I used to.) I'll try to remember to grab my camera when I go outside so that maybe I can catch a picture of the little fellow. They come out early morning and after dark, so that might prove difficult. I'm usually outside at that time, though, so the difficulties will be in remembering to get the camera and then getting close enough to actually get something on "film"! (Or would that be "on pixels" since it's a digital camera??)

Life just gets "curiouser and curiouser."

Leisure time reading

The Antiquary by Sir Walter Scott

I re-discovered this book on my bookshelf at home and decided to read it. I've read a few other Waverly novels, so I'm looking forward to this one. The archaic language and phrasing should give my brain a bit of a workout, too. lol The first sentence of the "Introduction" reads: "The present Work completes a series of fictitious narratives, intended to illustrate the manners of Scotland at three different periods, WAVERLY embraced the age of our fathers, GUY MANNERING that of our own youth, and the ANTIQUARY refers to the last ten years of the eighteenth century." Sir Walter Scott is a master story-teller, and I hope to re-acquaint myself with his works. I'm so glad I have the set of novels on my bookshelf so I don't have to search for them!

View all my reviews.

GameCam Pictures

My husband set up the GameCam several days ago and left it there up on top of the hill behind our house to see what, if anything, was going on up there. (My broken elbow is still healing, and is in a splint half the time, so I can't put the camera up "one-handed.") When I'm up there, it's all woods; I can't even see the house, not even in the winter time. Between 12/28/08 and this morning, 01/01/09, it took 51 pictures. It was set to take three pictures three seconds apart everytime it was triggered by some motion. Most of the pictures captured the wind blowing the branches. However, on the mornings of 12/28 a doe and on 12/29 a young buck triggered the camera. As far as I can tell, the camera is "silent," but these deer behave as if they know "something" is watching, or perhaps there's a small "click" as the camera takes a picture that gets the deer's attention. At any rate, it's really a wonder to be able to "see" what's going on when we're not up there. The date and time, and even the phase of the moon and the temperature, are conveniently "printed" at the bottom of each photograph. Click on the photos to see them full size.

Guacamole Salad

Ingredients:

3 medium avocados, peeled and seeded
1 small onion (red, yellow, or white—may use spring onions or shallots)
1 ½ tspn soy sauce or similar flavoring
2 or 3 tblspns balsamic vinegar
freshly ground pepper, black or white (to taste)
lime juice from ½ lime

ripe tomatoes, sliced or diced
fresh alfalfa sprouts

Method:

Put first six ingredients in a blender or VitaMix and puree to desired smoothness. (You may want to leave it somewhat chunky, or completely smooth.) Place tomato on a plate and arrange alfalfa sprouts on top of tomatoes. Drop a large dollop or two of the avocado mixture on top of the sprouts.

Makes a nice complement to grilled shrimp, fish, or chicken. It's nice all by itself with fresh, crusty bread, too, for a very light lunch.

The Lizard in our Basement

When the outside temperatures get below 50 degrees F, my husband brings his citrus trees into the basement and places them under some full-spectrum lights in front of a sunny window to live all winter. This little lizard came in with the trees this year. He's the cutest thing. I disturbed his sleep to take this photo. I had hoped to catch him sleeping, but he opened his little eyes just the merest bit to see what was going on. He lives in the trees down there, and catches who knows what. Spiders and flies, I guess. He seems happy, and my husband, softie that he is, calls him "my lizard." Awww. I've become rather attached to the little thing, myself.

URGENT NEED

I have a very dear friend who has an urgent need right now. Her name is Elizabeth Riggs, and she has suffered decades of constant pain from Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromalgia. She currently is disabled to the point that even standing is difficult. Recently she acquired an assistant dog, Emmy, from PAALS on the condition that she raise $7,000, which amounts to about one third of Emmy's training, vet care, and upkeep. Emmy came home with Elizabeth this past September, after an intensive two-week training for both Elizabeth and Emmy--at further cost to Elizabeth. Now that Emmy is home with Elizabeth, she helps by picking up Elizabeth's cane, keys, cell phone when she drops them. Emmy helps steady Elizabeth when she gets out of bed or up from a chair. Emmy helps by pulling the laundry basket for Elizabeth, taking clothes out of the dryer, and by turning on lights when they go into a room. Before Emmy came, Elizabeth couldn't even walk down her driveway to get the mail; now she can do that! Recently Emmy literally saved Elizabeth's life by steadying her when Elizabeth suffered an episode of vertigo at the top of a long flight of stairs! Emmy is also learning how to call 911 on a special phone in case of that need. I cannot stress strongly enough that Elizabeth needs Emmy in her life--for her physical well-being and safety, and for her spirit. You can read all about this on Elizabeth "Living With the Woof" blog. If Elizabeth is not able to come up with her full $7,000 obligation to PAALS by the end of January, 2009, she will lose Emmy. Emmy will have to go to another person. This will be devastating to Elizabeth on so many levels, and Emmy will also be traumatized because Emmy and Elizabeth have bonded with each other and have become a true team. I know times are tough for everyone these days, and especially in this economy. However, if you can at all, please, please consider making a donation in Elizabeth's name to PAALS. You can donate from the website, and please make sure that you note on your donation that it is "for Elizabeth Windy Riggs' dog Emmy."

Elizabeth has been and is such a help to everyone who knows her. She has been a particular help to me over the past couple of years when I was going through a most difficult time, and she helps everyone she meets without discrimination, and she helps when she needs help herself. She encourages and supports daily when she herself could use the same encouragement and support. She constantly gives of herself to so many people. Now it's time for us, her friends the recipients of her love and support, to do what we can to help her. Please send a donation of whatever you can in her name.

The Wisdom of Age

Today is my 60th birthday, and already some friends are commenting on all that "wisdom" I've gained over the years. Of course, these friends are as much as 15 - 20 years younger than I am. Well, I surely don't feel like I've gained any wisdom--a lot of experience, yes, but wisdom? I'm not so sure. The only things I can say are:

1. If you have to ask yourself if what you are about to do is right, then it's not.
2. If you wonder if someone will be hurt by something you're about to say, don't say it.
3. People don't want to hear about your problems; they want to tell you theirs. Try to listen--with empathy even if it kills you, then go find your friend who's your own age and let'er rip.
4. Keep your advice to yourself. People won't believe you, and they're going to do what they want anyway. You did the same thing at their age. Be there to pick up the pieces without saying, "I told you so."
5. Try to find a friend or two who is your age or even a few years older so you can have a real conversation.
6. Don't wear large flower print dresses. For that matter, don't wear small flower print dresses. Dress all in one color, or at least at the same end of the spectrum! (Unless you're going to a Red Hat event.)
7. Wear sensible shoes and to yeck with the "fashion conscious" snobs. They don't have to worry about broken bones--yet.
8. Take long, slow walks in the sunshine and wind and be happy that you don't have to worry about a toddler running off from you.
9. Listen to music from the 1940's, 50's, and maybe some from the 60's if you want. If people leave the room in disgust, you can turn up the volume and actually hear it.
10. When someone complains, always start your response with, "In MY day....." ;)

That's about it, folks. Maybe I'll think of more stuff later, but I wouldn't bet the grocery money on it.

"Biggest" Moon in Fifteen Years

Last night the moon's orbit came to its closest point to the earth in fifteen years.  This, according to this article, is called its perigee.  Since the moon was full last night, it made it look something like 14% larger than usual, as well as brighter.  I suppose this event holds many allures for the scientist and astronomer; but, being neither, I just think looking at a full moon when it looks even fuller than usual is a beautiful event.  Actually, I had no idea this was happening until my husband called while he was driving from one office to another (yes, after dark--he works long hours) and told me to look outside.  The moon was hanging very low in the sky and shining for all it was worth.  I grabbed my camera hoping that I could capture something to show this once in over a decade happening.  It was still just light enough to be able to see trees as trees and not as black silhouettes (although they came out that way in the picture).  I'm quite happy with my picture even though it doesn't do justice to the size of the moon I saw.   I stood out there as long as I could stand the cold and just looked at it.  I'm glad my husband called me.  He knows I love beauty and nature.

Winter Storm

Last night the thunder crashed, the lightning flashed, the wind roared, and the weather radio pierced our sleep every 20 minutes or so with another severe weather warning. There were even a couple of tornado warnings in our county. For three hours this went on disturbing our much needed rest. This morning we found the earth swimming. Water is everywhere, even in the chickens' feeding station, which is covered and stays dry during most storms, and the piney forest is in tatters from the wind and rain. The woods has been quiet out here for the past several days--quieter than usual with a brooding silence that got on my nerves, but was a welcome relief to my dear husband, whose ears are daily assaulted with the incessant noise pollution of the city. This morning the quiet feels like the relief after an exhausting struggle. Not a breeze blows the dripping and tattered leaves left dangling on the trees. It's warm out, warm enough to bring out the critters and creepy crawlies that will keep my chickens happily scratching all day. But this will soon change to freezing temperatures and bring "snow flurries" after midnight tonight and possibly tomorrow, too. I expect to see a flake or two floating in the air. The water in the ground and on the streets will freeze early tomorrow morning and tomorrow night, and "winter" will be back again. We'll have a cozy fire in our heating stove, and snuggle and bask in its warmth. Such is "winter" down here in the deep South--never really winter for long, because Spring can never wait her turn, but comes in snatches, loosening winter's icy grip and stealing the earth's rest as the storm steals ours.

Nighttime visitors

My husband recently bought an infrared "gamecam" that we can strap to a tree or post, program it, and let it capture photos of whatever moves in front of it until we turn it off. It's turning out to be my new toy, and I'm having a ball with it! So far we've captured photos of our cats, raccoons, and possums. At left is one of a raccoon crossing our yard. Usually the critter that trips the shutter is moving so fast that only a part of it shows in the photo. I think there must be a couple of seconds lag tme before the photo is taken. It certainly makes life interesting!

Praying

I've been thinking a lot about praying lately. I make a distinction between praying and prayer; which other, more intelligent and experienced people than I have written about. I've specifically been thinking about how hard it is to begin to pray, i.e. get up off my, umm, couch and pray, as opposed to how easy and comforting praying is once I'm actually praying. In a nutshell, the problem lies in my own self-indulgence. Now, if I could only re-assign those self-indulgent feelings to praying, perhaps I wouldn't be thinking so much about it. The quote below says it better than I can.

Amma Theodora said, "It is good to live in peace, for the wise man practices
perpetual prayer. It is truly a great thing for a virgin or a monk to live in
peace, especially the younger ones. However, you should realize that as soon as
you intend to live in peace, at once evil comes and weighs down your soul
through accidie (listlessness/ boredom/despondency), faintheartedness, and evil
thoughts. It also attacks your body through sickness, debility, weakening of
the knees, and all the members. It dissipates the strength of soul and body, so
that one believes one is ill and no longer able to pray. But if we are
vigilant, all these temptations fall away. There was, in fact, a monk who was
seized by cold and fever every time he began to pray, and he suffered from
headaches too. In this condition, he said to himself, "I am ill, and near to
death; so now I will get up before I die and pray." By reasoning in this way,
he forced himself and prayed. When he had finished, the fever abated also. So,
by reasoning in this way, the brother resisted and prayed, and was able to
conquer his thoughts.

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quote archived as a blog at: http://wordfromthedesert.squarespace.com/

**UPDATE**

Non displaced fracture
Hairline crack and much soft tissue swelling
Location: Radial Head, left elbow
Blood in soft tissue, radial head fracture

continue with current OCL cast
come back in 1 week & possibly get removable splint
then begin gentle stretching to facilitate full flexibility
may lose 10% extension -- may never be able to fully extend arm
more x-rays at 3, 6, & maybe 9 weeks
suggest cold packs & elevation to decrease swelling

Need to start stretching it in ten days when I get removable splint
I tend to heal slowly, so I don't expect splint next Monday

it's official

I have a fracture in my left elbow. Actually, I don't know exactly where, but it's very near my left elbow if not in it. I got a temporary "OCL" cast on it tonight, and I have to see an orthopedic surgeon bright & early Monday morning at 7:30 to get a huge, heavy permanent cast from above my left elbow down to my hand. I guess I'll have it on for 6 weeks or so. I'm sure I'll have my "moments" during that time, but for right now at least, I see this as a time to sit back (metaphorically), reassess, rest, and in effect start over. I will have to learn how to do things with only my right hand--thank God my right arm is ok. Two summers ago when I tore my right rotator cuff, I had to do things with only my left hand. But this is different. It will be interesting.

here I go again.

Last evening (Nov 20) at about 4:40 as I was up in the poultry yard putting up chickens. was walking with my walking stick on the slope that *is* the poultry yard looking for eggs because the chickens have taken to laying every where. pine straw slipped under my left foot, left hand went out reflexively to catch me, fell straight on outstretched arm. left elbow hurts. tiny twists of hand, like drying hands with towel, etc., hurts like knife going into elbow. stupid chiropractor office closed on fridays I think. I will call tomorrow morning to make sure. I immediately put on cold 30 min then hot water bottle 30 min. not sure of time, but close enough. no more than 30 min. typing is becoming painful, so I guess I should curtail that activity. can't straighten arm out completely, either. here I go again.

====================================================================

about 9 pm went to er

11:57 pm - got back from er. dr said maybe hairline fracture. radiologist will make final call. gave me lortab before I left.

Friends

What are these people we call "friends"? Who are they? How are they defined? How do we find them? How do we make and keep "friends"? How do they make us feel connected? What makes you feel 'connected' to your friends? I'm curious to know what others think about this.

Growing Pains

In the past few months I've been growing and changing more than I have in the past few years. As a result, I've spent less and less time at my old, online "haunts," and more time with myself, my home, and my children. I do have a few, new online "haunts" that for special reasons I keep up with. They are Contemporary Orthodoxy and Contemporary Orthodox Thought. I also check into a new blog, Observational Commentary.

I've just finished reading Kyriacos Markides' book The Mountain of Silence. In this book, Kyriacos records his conversations on living an Orthodox spiritual life with the Athonite elder, Fr. Maximos. I am thrilled with this book. It is written in an easy style that takes the reader along with Kyriacos on his visit to Cyprus, including wonderful descriptions of the country and the monastic life at the monastery he is visiting. I find Fr. Maximos' answers to Kyriacos' questions insightful, inspiring, and intelligent. I can't say enough about this book. I read it to my husband, and he liked it, too. We have bought a second copy to keep ourselves and have given our first copy away. If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it.