Friday, July 18, 2014

End of Day Exhale



Tonight the railroad crossing at the south end of Wadena was red-light-flashing and ding-ding-dinging, but nothing was happening and no train was in sight. At the north end, on my way home after picking Emil up, two or three bright orange engines were parked on the track to the left of the highway. And the lights, and the dinging, and all the drivers wondering what the heck, why.

The photo above was taken one evening last week as I headed north out of town after work.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

It gets in your eyes


Smoke is coming down from the north. Or so they say. I haven't had a whiff of it yet.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Detour through Wadena


Because of flooding and highway damage near Elfros on Highway 16, Yellowhead traffic has been detoured through Wadena for the last couple weeks.

Which means the service stations are just a-hoppin', as are the grocery store, the bakery, and most likely a good number of other businesses in town.

I picked Emil up from Camp Easter Seal down at Manitou Beach late this morning. He had a fine time -- among the things he mentioned on the drive home, he said he rode on a pontoon boat, petted the horse, went to a dance -- oh it's a long story of busyness and fun. "And now I can look forward to going to Poppa's on Saturday."

Onward and upward.

Monday, July 14, 2014

The Heart Sinks


May those who loved young Nathan O'Brien and his grandparents draw strength and comfort from somewhere.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Quick 'n' Dirty

Joanne

They stopped in on their way past, just long enough for a cup of tea / glass of wine / cherry pie / toothbrushing.
Mahhhvelous


Saturday, July 12, 2014

Company


We've got company. This is Gunnar, the apple of Scott's eye, with his fiancée Melissa and their beast Payton.

They've come from Calgary for a wedding today, where Gunnar is one of the groomsmen.


There is smoke from fires in the north country, and the day so far is cool and windy. It's an outdoor wedding at Rosebud Hall, just a mile straight east of Golden Grain Farm. I hope the bear seen just north of the hall a few days ago doesn't make an appearance. Maybe the wind and smoke will keep the mosquitoes down. They are horrible this year.


Friday, July 11, 2014

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Saturated but oh so Green

The ditch beside our road is now a slough.

Somehow I forgot to mention that a bear was seen in our neighbours' farmyard, which is not even an eighth of a mile north of our place. I should be nervous, but for some reason am not. I guess it's because I didn't see it myself. Bears are a rare sighting around here; I've never seen one.

Also, I assume the dogs will alert me if a bear is near. I never get down the road without the two of them.

After the rains, I was advised to watch Ducky Doodle closely, as the rushing water could sweep him off his feet.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Lacking a Lumberjack

Victim of windstorm
Someone (not mentioning any names, but someone resembling a lumberjack more than I do) needs to fire up a chainsaw and get this baby squared away. It's been in the ditch alongside our yard a week or two already. How time flies, doesn't it.

There is a downed tree right along our driveway and I think it's been there since last fall, and someone (not mentioning any names, but resembling a lumberjack) just pushes the snow / mows the grass around it. Maybe there isn't much hope for the tree above, then, either.

I should hang a shiny dangly thing on it!


Monday, July 7, 2014

High Water


There is a lot of water around, I mean more than usual; the creeks are running high and, not far away, some lakes are looking like oceans.

For the first year since we moved to Golden Grain Farm, our basement has remained dry all spring. Hooray for filled-in lagoons, newly installed weeping tile, and power that hasn't gone off, which means the sump pumps, which seem to run every five minutes, keep on working. It was costly but oh so worth it.

The mosquitoes are another story. Remember that Hitchcock movie The Birds? It's like that, only with bloodthirsty stinging insects. Outside in the evening, you hear the hum. Sometimes you have to outrun them.

And because this song is hilarious and true (if your husband has cattle, you know it), and Corb Lund the Alberta songwriter is a smart witty funny man, I give you this:

Sunday, July 6, 2014

July 1st - how's the weather?

This his how warmly I had to be dressed to go walking on July 1st. 
And sometimes, carrots are your neighbours.
(Do you ever hear things that seem a bit sideways while listening to radio or TV? And you are sure you didn't hear right?)

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Eyeball Fatigue

Our windows have been wet in these relentless days of rain.

Working for a newspaper, my errors and oversights are often brought to my attention.

I try not to be embarrassed or ashamed, and take note of where to pay closer attention or take more time, but it still chagrins. It irritates. Irks. Dumbfounds, even.

There is some kind of blindness, where I look right at something and don't see it, or see something different. 

Eyeball fatigue. 


K.

The rain has stopped and there is some blue sky. A breather.


"The secret to getting your home in order is moving your arms and legs." (flylady.com)
Ha!

Monday, June 30, 2014

Paper Challenged

In a search for a piece of paperwork, I ended up with piles of printed material everywhere. It needs to be dealt with. Sigh.

From an old journal, in 2005, when Everett was 12:

On the drive to school this morning Everett said he didn't have any dreams last night. 
"I only have dreams when I sleep in your bed, Mom. Your bed must be enchanted or something."


Mom gives Everett his first and only lesson in embroidery:


From My journal:

Everett came running and bouncing onto the bed with the biggest, most beautiful smile on his face. 
"Why so happy?" I asked. 
"I'm not!" he insisted.

I am seriously paper-challenged. And I don't want to deal with it. Time to pay a call to Flylady.com.

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Haley Jo

Haley Jo is happy to make your acquaintance.


Did this sight make you laugh out loud in pure delight?
Then you and I have something in common.

Haley Jo is my one-year-old cousin once-removed. (Heather's girl.)

I sometimes babysat Heather when she was around this age. She was the smiliest baby I have ever known. And her own two babies have the same smiliestness.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Thoughts upon Thoughts

Perking along in the morning
Bedraggled after a rainy day
 While searching online for poems about rain, I came across the following quotation and forwarded it to my friend Julie.

“Love, like rain, can nourish from above, drenching couples with a soaking joy. But sometimes under the angry heat of life, love dries on the surface and must nourish from below, tending to its roots keeping itself alive.” ― Paulo CoelhoBy the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept

Dear K,
For me the roots are like when I remind myself of the early days of being together, the obvious admiration he had for me, also my own blood tradition of families who stayed married for 50 years or more.  The roots might include our own determination and a higher power which breathes life into everything.
Another thing I learned is that I blame him before considering my own behavior which is all too common in every breakup.  If I do what I can to cooperate, it helps.
Just some thoughts.
J

Dear Julie,
For me, the roots are the day-to-day living, or what you once phrased "fundamental caring."
You might be mad, or hurt, or disgusted, or disappointed, or disheartened, or whatever, but you don't stop loving on a very basic level (the roots). So the rest of it, above or on the surface, is like the emotions - changeable like the weather, as you once also said. 
I always assume I have a causative part in what happens, though I sure as hell don't always see what it is, and have started to wonder whether it's true or not, or just one of those beliefs we accept in a blanket way not based on our own observation. 
Just some more thoughts,
K.