Husband has been keeping the bird feeder in the back yard full this winter. Once he fills it, the sentinel chickadee who sits in the lilac hedge and watches him sounds the news, and pretty soon the feeder and the ground below are full of birds. They swoop into the feeder area in groups, and others wait their turn in the lilac hedge and the grapevines on our deck.
We have two very tall spruce trees in the front yard, and many birds hang out there, especially the Eurasian Collared Doves. They also visit the feeder and eat the seed that falls onto the ground. They nest in the spruces and we hear hungry baby doves all summer.
One day last week I was backing out of the driveway when I spotted an American Kestrel sitting on the ground in one of our flower beds right by the sidewalk. It was devouring a dove. The kestrel didn’t seem to mind me at all. It was intent on the fat dove. It always amazes me how small kestrels are. I love the bluish grey on the head and the checkerboard pattern on its underside and legs. It finally flew off with the dove in its claws.
This is not the first kestrel we have had. I have seen them swoop into the spruce trees on one side and emerge seconds later on the other side carrying off a squawking dove. It gets pretty exciting here sometimes!
Any close encountersfor you this past couple of weeks? What is your favorite raptor?
Our community of 28,000 people has four Catholic churches and a very large parochial school system. The churches were originally started for and attended by the various immigrant groups who settled here. The Germans from Russia and the German Hungarians attended St. Joseph’s Church on the south side (less affluent section) of town by the railroad tracks and stockyards. The more affluent Czech immigrants attended St. Wenceslaus, north of the tracks, and the most affluent attended St. Patrick’s Church in the downtown area. The 1970’s oil boom led to a need for another church, Queen of Peace, built in the area of new houses near the interstate.
The Catholic School system has a big Mardi Gras celebration/fundraiser every your during the first weekend of February, ostensibly close to when Mardi Gras happens, although this year it was way earlier than Mardi Gras since Easter is so late this year. The festivities take place at the Catholic High School, just a block from our house. We have never attended, but I understand that every year it is the same with games of chance, big dinners, cakewalks, and fun activities for children. This year, however, they added something quite surprising-dance lessons.
Local dance teachers came to teach Line dancing and Swing dancing, and most surprising, Salsa dancing. We have a fair number of immigrants from Central and South America, and a group of them started a Salsa dance company that is apparently very popular and booked way out for for engagements. They also perform every December 12 at Queen of Peace in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I found a video of Salsa dancing, and it just doesn’t fit the conservative stereotype of our Catholic community.
Can you imagine this happening at a Mass? It sounds like everyone at Mardi Gras had fun learning the moves. What next?
What are your memories of school dances?What is your favorite way to dance?
Last year our local college terminated the Theatre, Music, and English departments. There is a rather fine auditorium at the college that has remained pretty silent and unused for the last while. It is in the main building on campus and is surrounded by the library and classrooms. There are multiple ways of accessing the other rooms and hallways from the auditorium.
The Badlands Opera Company is putting on Into The Woods in a couple of months. They often use our church sanctuary for their productions, but this time they are using the college auditorium. Last week the Opera Company folks paid a visit to the auditorium to scope out the place and see what they would need to do to get it up and running. There is a loft above the stage that was used for costumes and props. It was left in incredible disarray by the theatre faculty as a sort of “screw you” to the college administration. Much to the Opera Company folks surprise, they noticed a cat sticking its head from out of the loft ceiling. They also noticed a litter box and the personal effects of someone who had been squatting in the loft.
They phoned the police and campus security, who secured the auditorium and found another cat. Both cats were taken to the city animal shelter. They also figured out who had been living in the loft and had him get his stuff out. I don’t know how long the guy had been living there. The college is upping its security. The Opera Company folks decided that they would only go to the auditorium in groups of three from now on. It was interesting that public comment indicated more concern about the welfare of the cats than the fact that someone had been living in the theatre loft. I hope they are comfortable in their new digs at the animal shelter.
What is the most memorable hotel you ever stayed at? What hotelwould you like to stay in if you got the chance.?
Well, today is my last day of full time work. I will be off for a month, and then start part time work at my agency doing evaluations after March 1. I am quite happy about this. I have no unfinished paperwork, and my therapy clients have been transferred to other therapists. Husband will keep on with his part time work. He is housed at my agency but is employed by the Human Service Center in Bismarck.
The past several months have been stressful because of getting all the necessary paperwork in to the the State Retirement office, applying for Medicare B and Social Security, and tying up loose ends. I had to formally apply for the part time position that was only advertised at my agency. I was the only applicant, as expected, and I had to dredge up my old resume, something that I haven’t had to use for a couple of decades. My colleagues are upset, and I find myself comforting them and reassuring them that I will only be gone for a month and then I will be back. That is getting tiresome. I feel like a parent having to reassure anxious children. They also kept asking if I wanted a retirement party, but I said that since I was returning in a month that would be sort of silly.
Everyone keeps asking me what I am going to do when I retire. My stock answer is “Clean the house”. I have discovered that at my age I can either have a clean house or work full time. I can’t do both. People seem to expect that I will do exotic travel. My new normal will be to have more time to sort through our things preparatory to moving and feel less stressed.
How do you handle life transitions? What do you miss the most from your longest held job? What don’t you miss at all?
YA doesn’t like a big fuss made about her birthday. This year she did request a birthday breakfast at one of her favorite places – The Lowbrow – but that was it.
This is hard for me as I love making a fuss. In my old job, everybody was in charge of someone else’s birthday. Card and treat. For the last several years of my employment, I had Norma’s birthday. Norma loved having a fuss made over her almost as much as I loved making a fuss; we were a match made in heaven. I miss those days.
Anyway, YA doesn’t ever want a gathering, a cake, a fuss. About five years ago I made a banner that I hung up in the dining room and then I added balloons for her age. She allowed this so that’s my go-to these days…. I hang up the banner and put up the balloons.
I figured out that year that I could extend the festivities a bit by celebrating the dog. YA is 20 years older than Guinevere so all I had to do was take down the “2” balloon, leaving the “5” balloon up for the dog. It’s the only fuss that Guinevere gets; she doesn’t even like the balloon. If you take it down to show it to her, she runs out of the room.
This year, with Guinevere turning 10, I did have to get a “1” balloon to make her age correct. Seemed a little silly to buy a balloon for the dog, but I did it anyway. Since I’m not making a big deal about Norma anymore, I guess the dog gets the attention!
My guess is that I’ve thought more about jury duty than most folks. With my dad being a trail lawyer and our shared love of Perry Mason, I’ve known about juries from childhood.
About 35 years ago I got a summons for jury duty but despite sitting patiently in the basement of the Government Center every day for a week, I didn’t get impaneled. On Friday afternoon they released me and said I didn’t need to return.
Right before Christmas I got the Summons in the mail. Things have changed somewhat in 35 years (doh!). The biggest change is that you don’t have to show up on Monday morning and sit all week. You get assigned a group number and twice a day you check online (or call in) to see if your group needs to go in. One thing that hasn’t changed much is the stipend. It’s not enough to pay for parking downtown (which is just outrageous) so if you are on a fixed income, if you drive and park, it’s like you’re paying to get on a jury. I took the bus.
My group didn’t get called in until mid-day on Thursday (12:15 notice that you have to be at the Government Center at 1:30). The waiting area is now on the 24th floor and is referred to as “The Jar”. Hmmmm. There were 33 of us in the room; orientation took 15 minutes and at 2 p.m. they pulled the first group of 22. That left 11 of us, not enough for a jury. I assumed at some point 10 folks would come back and then there would be enough of us if they needed to call a new group. Nope, at 2:15, the 11 of us left in the room were sent home and told we didn’t need to come back in the morning or the following week. Our service is complete – we won’t be eligible again for 4 years. (This puts me above the required age limit so I can decline with no reason if I get called again.)
45 minutes of jury duty. I spent more time on the bus than doing my civic duty. And if you add all the time I spent researching how it works these days, rates at downtown parking ramps, bus routes and senior discounts not to mention the weather….. way more prep time than jury time.
I’m not begrudging the time – I do actually think of it as my civic duty. I know I wouldn’t want to be on trial and have it go wrong because you couldn’t find enough folks for a jury. Although I do think it would have been more fun to actually get impaneled and see a real trial!
A high school classmate of mine has found a really interesting gig lately. She has become an international house and pet sitter. I had never heard of this before, but there are companies you can sign up with who certify you as a good and responsible person, and then allow you to travel to house sit for people. You have to pay for travel expenses, but you stay for free in the home you are caring for.
My friend is currently in the south of France in a lovely old farm house caring for a couple of dogs, two cats, and some chickens. She is working remotely at her job in the States while she is there. The most difficult part of her current stay is firing up the stoves that warm the house. This place has no central heating. When she isn’t working or hauling wood and coal, she is traveling to quaint villages and markets nearby. The only down side to her current trip is that her luggage first went to the Canary Islands before it came to her.
Her previous stay took her to Montreal for two weeks. There, and now in France she stated that the neighbors take a keen interest in her and take her all around to show her sights, feed her, and socialize. I don’t think she speaks French, but that hasn’t been a problem. I am curious where she will go next.
At the sibling gathering (while I was visiting Nonny in St. Louis earlier this month), someone must have mentioned something about heated floors. I made a note on my post-it note app, assuming (ha ha ha ha) that the words “heated floor” would trigger my memory for what I thought might be a blog piece. Again, ha ha ha ha.
About 25 years ago, I had a site inspection scheduled to San Francisco and Napa. The morning of the trip, the client called to cancel due to his wife’s illness but he told me to go ahead, see what I needed to see and take good notes and pictures. No problem on my part.
The plan for the group was to do a day of wineries and a lovely lunch. However the group was too big to be at any one winery at once (most of the Napa wineries are actually pretty small) so we needed to split up the group. Group A and Group B went to different wineries in the morning, had lunch together at a place that could hold them all and then the groups would flip and do the wineries for the afternoon. Easy peasy, right?
In one long day, I visited 11 wineries to find the four that would work well for the group. Each owner met me, toured me around and… offered me samples. There didn’t feel like a gracious way to turn down the wine. Even though I never finished an entire glass, by the end of the day, I was a bit tipsy. Add to that the weather was chillier than had been forecasted and my coat was not up to the job. By the time we got to the hotel, Meadowood Resort, all I wanted was to have a bit of room service and collapse in a warm bed.
With all that liquid refreshment, I ended up having to visit the bathroom in the middle of the night. It was chilly as I walked across the bedroom and then…. oh my stars… the bathroom floor was warm. The first and last time I’ve personally ever come across heated floor tiles. And of all the times I could truly appreciate them, there they were! When I finally left and headed back to bed, I slept like a baby.
If this wasn’t what I was thinking about when somebody at the sibling gathering mentioned heated floors, then I’m completely in the dark.
If money weren’t an issue, what home improvement would you like to make?
Bachmans is a fixture in my life. In addition to the many times I stop by in the spring, summer and fall, it’s also located on my main conduit for when I am out and about. I go by it five or six times a week. Last week was the first time I’ve visited the shop in January.
Two things took me there. I’ve written about the hot sauce bird seed cylinders that I discovered – it turns out they have them at Bachmans. Also, if you go to visit your mother and forget that you need to mail your Bachmans bill before the trip, you can stop by the store and they will process the payment for you on the spot. Saves a stamp as well!
I got there right at 10, when they were opening and the gal unlocking the door said she would let me in but that I would need to leave using the gift shop/Patrick’s Bakery door. As soon as I stepped inside, I saw why. What I consider the main part of the store was absolutely empty. No bulbs, no seasonal anything, no shepherd’s hooks, no fertilizers, no merch on the endcaps, nothing. And looking out the sliding doors towards the back were row after row of empty tables and shelves. It was the eeriest feeling.
The gal at Customer Service told me they do this every winter; they start to ramp back up towards the end of February. That’s when people start thinking about seeds and getting started indoors for the eventual return of warm weather. The gift shop is open through the winter – if you need something for Valentine’s (including cut flower bouquets), Bachmans is ready for you.
Luckily the bird seed section on the far wall towards the back is still available. It’s nice to know I won’t have to drive to St. Paul if I need another hot sauce cylinder before spring!
I took a couple days off work at the end of the week with the warmer temperatures to finish a couple of outside things in the machine shed. Replaced a tire on one of the trailers and finished the last corner of the shop wall, with the exception of the last piece of steel that the electrician told me to hold off installing until they run conduit.
On Wednesday I went to Meyer’s Seed in Potsdam and ordered seed for this year.Trying a different variety of oats called Rushmore. Oat seed is $16 a bushel, and I got a bit of a discount for ordering early. I ordered 80 bags. Retail price on a bag of corn seed is $360. Again there was several discounts so I am not paying nearly that much, and thankfully I only needed 20 bags. Soybean seed, depending on whether it’s treated or not, is somewhere between $50 and $60 per bag.
I don’t need to get into all the different weights of the seed bags, and seeding rates, I’ve talked about that every year. When I left Meyers, I turned left on 70th Ave. and took that gravel road for 10 miles straight south until I came to County Road nine, took a right there which brought me right to the college. We had a commencement planning meeting. Couple of months the school year will be over and we’ll be dealing with commencement. Five miles down that 10 mile road, I parked in the middle of an intersection to take these photos. Probably could’ve parked there for an hour and not bothered anybody.
I got a free hat when I ordered seed!
Although with these cold temperatures I think he’s gonna want the stocking cap back.
About 10 years ago we bought a new washer and dryer. It has an automatic soap dispenser, so every couple of months we fill the reservoir with soap and don’t have to think about it. A few years ago when my mom was still in independent living, we were doing laundry for her and at one point in time one of my siblings made some comment about the detergent and if the rest of us were using the liquid or the powder. Gee, I kind of forgot about detergent, I hadn’t been adding any. I remembered that story this week as I did two loads of laundry at our neighbors house while they’re on vacation and our laundry room is still torn up. Kelly came with me as I swapped the second load from the washer to the dryer and I showed her the detergent I was using. She pointed out it was fabric softener. Well, now that you mention it, it was blue. It sure did smell nice. What I noticed was a big jug on top of the washing machine with a little cup and spout just like the red detergent container has. Once again, the best of intentions tripped up by my lack of attention to details. Remodeling update: On Friday, the guys started installing sheetrock. The electricians spent three days here, we got three new fans, code requires hardwired smoke detectors in all the bedrooms now, (not just in the hallway outside) so got four new ones to replace two battery ones we had. We also had them run two Cat 6 ethernet lines from the utility room to the TV and office. And a coax (antenna cable), to the TV. That way I can replace the line that’s been running over the roof, down the front of the house, and in our front window for 40 years. Kelly is almost as excited about getting rid of that wire as she is about the new bathtub. I’ve been watching some guys working on a cell phone tower along our driveway the last few days.
I sure hope they finish before it gets any colder.
IF YOU WERE GOING TO WORK OUTSIDE, IN THE WINTER, AT THIS HEIGHT, WHAT WOULD YOU NEED TO GET FOR FREE?
