Posts from the ‘Front Porch Musings’ category

The woods I live in

My name is on the deed and I have probably called them my woods on occasion but I have always felt more steward than owner and I believe that is as it should be.

I had these woods logged – for the health of the woods and for fire safety…theirs and mine.

For the past 5 months plus 11 days especially, these woods have been my steward.

I have been able to relax with Karl in the last weeks, but there were weeks when I kept him very close – watching, being with him. I walked the woods in pitch dark, tethered to him, trying not to interfere with him and not once did I trip or fall…something I am able to do easily in daylight hours on my own :)!

One night, he had an intestinal bug – I believe unrelated to everything else. It came on quickly…you know the thing – the vomit/diarrhea bug that makes you want to sleep on the bathroom floor. We were out in the woods through the night, nearly on the hour until 3 a.m. when it started to slow down. It was November. It was snowing. Thankfully it was not cold – not arctic cold as it had been the week before.

I have never been afraid in these woods – day or night. I am watchful and I listen. I watch Karl and the birds and the deer and the only thing I have ever felt was peace.

The woods I live in.

An hour after Sunrise.

We’re still here

I don’t think it is noticeable (a GOOD thing!) but I did upgrade the underlying WordPress software which is step one in making the format changes I’m planning. The other thing not really noticeable…Bob has lost a bit of weight…

This first week “back to normal”…always a bit of a wrangle to get back in my working routine.

And then it snowed nearly 4 inches with a sloppy warm up forecast so extra time to clear snow while it was light and easily clearable.

We are all well – still working on the correct amount of insulin for Bob’s diabetes but neither the diabetes nor the treatment is affecting his normal routine. Karl continues well and we enjoy daily excursions in the snow. And I’m enjoying the boys, enjoying Winter and getting back in the swing of a normal work week.

We’re still here.

A Brand New Year: Part 2 – Fair warning, a change is coming

January 2, 2011 – For me, this is the last holiday day. Tomorrow is “Get to work” for 2011. I’m happy to do that. I anticipated doing more during the 2 week holiday period, work-wise, but I “hit the wall” right before Christmas and for the most part did not much :)!

I thought a lot, though!

One of the things I’ve been rolling around is what to do about this blog.

I thought about stopping. I thought about starting over with a new name and idea. I thought about just doing photos…but I enjoy writing sometimes… I’ve been back and forth and up and down.

A recurring theme in my thinking is if I continue, how to continue and just “live my life”. This may not make sense unless you blog also but for me, living alone and choosing to be mostly alone, there is often a blog post running through my head about everything/anything I’m doing. I want to get rid of that. I want to live my life and share bits of it, share things I see via photos, share Bob and Karl…Oh…I’m doing that, but how to change how it feels to me???

The current blog format and the past history of the format steer me into a “what do I share today” mentality. New Year’s Day, it came to me that I’d like to be able to share bits and pieces of my day as well as essays or photos. And I’d like to be able to sort through all of that in a different way. And, although I don’t want to turn into a cooking blog by any means, cooking is something I enjoy very much AND it is a fun challenge to photograph food. I have been thinking about a “What’s cooking” side blog….what to do, what to do???

I had a picture in my head of how a new “From the Front Porch” might look. I doodled on a legal pad and quickly put together a layout of what I thought I wanted. I thought I’d have to code it myself but decided to look at themes…lo and behold my thoughts of layout are not that original…what I want to do is apparently called a magazine layout and there are customizable themes.

So…finally getting to the point if you’ve stuck with me this far…I bought several magazine themes and will be trying them out – LIVE!!!

I have a test domain and I was going to fiddle around there, but now we come back to “TIME” – that thing that none of us can make more of. And, it is not like I make a living with this blog – it is a hobby :)!

Sometime this week, I am going to throw caution to the wind and change the theme and the WordPress version all in one fell swoop. And things may look wonky and confused. Links may not work. One day this blog may look one way and the next, YIKES!!! As I have time, I’ll post and tinker and one day it may be what I envision.

Fair warning, a change is coming :)!

A Brand New Year

The first day of 2011.

I don’t typically make New Year’s resolutions. At any time through the year, if something in my life is causing me to fret or robbing me of serenity or time! – I try to look at it and determine if it is something that I can do differently. And I might even make a list of things to change or write something that triggers awareness in a post or in my quote journal or on the spreadsheet I use daily to track my work time. Writing it, helps me focus and be aware of when I’m doing the thing I’d like to not do or do differently.

Recently I came on a translation of a Vietnamese saying which I paraphrased slightly and added a 2nd line to suit me:

Exhale the negativity within you which hinders the Spirit.

Put on the armor of Light.

This is as close to making a New Year’s resolution(s) as I get. It is more mantra. When I find myself sinking into anger, fear or worry – I think EXHALE – and imagine all of whatever leaving me to be replaced by the Love and Light of God. Works for me every time :)!

It is a brand new year – 2011. I’m starting it in Light and Love.

Photo from blog post: October 23: Bros in the Sunshine

Christmas Tradition

Karl and I have a Christmas Tradition. Early afternoon on Christmas Day we go for a long walk. I always hope that I can be on snowshoes and this Christmas I was. The deep snow from November had melted, then froze and earlier this week was topped with two fresh inches. It was perfect. We circumnavigated the property and the state land…in no hurry. The freezing fog had fed the hoar frost so the woods appeared like a frozen swamp – icy tendrils hanging off branches and moss.

Although the fog made the 24F temperature seem colder, we were both warm on our return so ended with some time on the front porch.

I sipped on fizzy apple cider and sat enjoying the quiet.

As Karl and I sat and watched, the sun came out, the fog lifted, the trees sparkled.

Christmas Tradition.