Time for gratitude

It's the end of the year. I mean the Georgia educational system school year. We start in August and we end in May, a month's difference than the school year I was employed by in Maine, which was on a September to June schedule.

End of year usually means reflection on the past and reviewing hopes for the future. I substitute taught in this system for two years and this year I got the permanent job. It has regular hours, medical benefits, and is clean work. More importantly, it's with kids, my calling and first love. It was a miracle that I got this job last July in a tight economy with many qualified applicants. I am grateful for it and count it as a blessing.

Best of all, I work in a school system run by people I admire and respect. I admire my principal who is a woman of great skills, passion for children, and integrity in her work. She is loyal to employees, but fair, and has high standards. I enjoy that she is approachable and that she runs a tight ship. She is also a Christian. What else can an employee ask for? Nothing.

I enjoy that the Superintendent is a moral man, a Christian who is also a man of great skills, has integrity, and is fair with high standards. It is important to me that I am part of a system that is run by people I respect. It is a terrible thing to be embarrassed by your boss. Rather, in my case, I have people whose example I strive to live up to. This is a blessing.

The school year beginning was a scary one for me because it has been 21 years since I was employed as an employee. I have either run my own business or have freelanced most of my life. But the people I work with are tremendous. I enjoy all my colleagues. They are good people! They are local moms and grandmoms, community members in this small community with whom I go to church, and see at the library, the Rec Department, the store. They are friendly and warm. They welcomed me, a stranger, into their fold and I am grateful to know them all. It is a blessing to like the people you work with.

After school today, the last day, I went grocery shopping. I value that I have a good, locally run grocery store just two miles from my work, and that quality, affordable foods are offered there. This is rare these days, that I can not only afford food, but I have access to GOOD food. I really love that a local family owns the store and they are civic minded. I would frequent their store even if it was not close, for this reason. I am grateful that I have good food in my fridge. I just finished scrambled eggs with fresh tomatoes, toast, and home fries. That's more than a lot of people get in a week.

I am really grateful that I have a solid bible-believing church to go to. This is rare these days. It is helmed by a wonderful pastor who is loving and friendly but also extremely knowledgeable about the bible and preaches with a passion and love for Jesus that just makes you love Jesus more. I enjoy the folks at my church and in my Sunday School class, who again, welcomed me into their world lovingly and openly. They have helped me when I needed help and I know they are there for me if I need help again, as they know I would help them too. It is a blessing to really like the people you worship with.

I am blessed I live in a place like this:

It is my back yard. I'm not homeless, and I don't live near a quarry, or a garbage dump or live in a place like Tijuana or Calcutta. The Lord gave me a beautiful, peaceful place to dwell when I am not at worship or work. What a blessing.

No matter the tumult in the world, I am richly blessed in my sphere and I know it. Summer itself is another blessing. It is glorious around here, and just 4 miles down the road is a State Park with a river to swim in and a waterfall to enjoy. Thank you Lord for the riches you've given me, and I am grateful.

Scenes from going to a friend's house

I went to visit a friend who loves in a part of the county I don't normally go, even though it's only three miles from my place. But it's the other direction and I never have cause to drive out that way. It's the usual beautiful scenes of farms, rural beauty, and cows, lol. We have rain today, thank the Lord, but last Wed. when I went out there we were in the throes of a looooong dry spell, and everything was just cracked and brown. But the haying must go on.

On the right, across from the hay rolls, was a pond and the cows drinking at dusk. I loved the white faced cow, who stared intently at me from the distance away I was shooting photos. The others are oblivious-

In cropping the photo off the cows, I noticed that there is a chair at the pond's bank, on the right side, where likely the owner does a bit of fishing. Or perhaps contemplating...either way, it looks nice. And the white faced cow is still standing guard.

Traffic, Comer style

I work at a school so I have school hours, from about 7:30 to 3. This suits me, I have the rest of the day to do my own thing, while it's light out, and a break between school and teaching at church Wednesday nights. Occasionally I get caught in the big traffic jam at Comer Elementary. Leaving Danielsville Elementary school at 3, if I ride back down Rt 98 at just the right time, I get tangled up in the bus and parent traffic leaving that school. I live across the street. There really is so much traffic leaving the school and the road is such a major road in the county, that it does require a flashing '25 mph' signal for the half hour in the morning when buses arrive and at the end of the school day when buses leave. It also requires a policeman to direct traffic, which also suits me. I like having the law outside my house two times a day, with all the burglaries happening.

So yesterday was one of those days when I got caught n the traffic in front of the school before it dispersed. I laugh, because the 'traffic' usually doesn't usually back up for too many car lengths, and the policeman is skilled and keeps things moving along evenly. However something was different yesterday and I did sit there in one spot for about 10 minutes. After a while I picked up my camera, rolled down the window and started shooting. There are many rural scenes all around and within camera-shot, without a zoom, even, lol. I laughed at the irony of idling in traffic in front of the American iconic white picket fence, cows, and birdhouses. 

What I saw on my walk today

 

 

 

 

Blue, not the feeling. The color. updated

Blue is my favorite color. This is Ode to Blue in my life


Yoga widow in Comer


Vivid blue spring sky at Watson Mill Park


Penobscot bay Maine slate blue ocean and muted blue sky



Stained glass crescent moon in my window


Blue chemtrails over Georgia


Boarded up Blue Barn in Comer


Waiting for the train to pass, shot a car...that was blue!

Small Town Living

My town is so quaint. Mayberry-esque if you will. I am talking Comer-Danielsville...my haunts. I went in the pouring rain to Danielsville this morning to do some errands. They were small, mundane errands but each moment was filled with charm and small town comforts. As I pulled in to the tiny office complex on the north side of town, I saw that the hairdresser's sign, partially obscured by a high-profile SUV, said "Closed For..." but when I looked below the SUV it said "Renovations. Phew! I'm glad. It's nice to see a business renovating and not closing, in this economy.

At the insurance office I had a nice chat with the receptionist behind the window as I paid my renewal with a $20 bill. I noted that it still says "In God We Trust" on the reverse of the bill. I said t her that while a twenty used to buy more, as long as we adhere to the statement, then it'll buy us everything. She liked that and then we talked about what a shame it was that they took God out of the schools.

On to the library where I wanted to look at the newspaper as it was delivered to be the first to scan the employment ads. I am looking for a part-time job, after school or evenings. I did not find the employment ads as the employment section of the classifieds does not exist. Actually, there was no numbered section on in the columns but there were a a few display ads at the bottom of the page. About 8 of them if I recall. This was the Athens paper, a city daily. The same was true for the weekly that was just out. Oh, boy, things are tough.

I did see on the front page that the layout included a nice photo of two of the Friends of the Library volunteers setting up for the book sale. I love it when the library makes the front page of any paper. And coincidentally on the way out I ran into one of the ladies featured in the picture. We had a short chat about how nice it was for the editor to give that kind of prominent placement to the Library. I wished her good luck with the sale and got in the car for my next destination: the Dollar Store.

I needed a birthday card for the teacher in whose room I subbed as para-pro. She is turning 40 tomorrow! I chose a colorful one, and was checked out by a nice and cheerful gal. We had a nice chat about the weather. It was raining pretty good, and how lovely it is to have this refreshing rain that we need so much. She looked me in the eyes as we talked, rare for a checkout situation, but she smiled and said "have a wonderful day." I believe she meant it. Next stop: next door to the grocery store.

I only needed some creamer for my coffee and some eggs. Hmmm, eggs, which had been a stable low price of 85 cents for most of the summer, has gone up to 95 cents. The checkout gal waited patiently for the elderly lady ahead of me to get her checkbook out, and write out the check in quavery hand. The woman only had one bag containing two items but the checkout gal asked the lady several times if she wanted help out to the car. A nicety that hearkens back from days gone by. When it was my turn, she and I talked about food prices, how "everything is going up."

Last stop was the school, to deliver the card. I had intended that the School Secretary could put it in the teacher's box since school was in session and unlikely that the teacher would be out of class, but she was in the office when I got there! I was thrilled to be able to give her a hug. She said that her colleagues had put up a banner and placed a cane against her door this morning, a not so subtle allusion to being over the hill. LOL, we laughed and hugged again. It felt good to be able to wish her a happy birthday in person.

Since it was the middle of a workday and it was raining, traffic, such as it is in Madison County, was light. I arrived back home from my little errands happy to have made personal contact with some nice folks, done my tasks, and mentioned Jesus in public. I live in a nice place and I am grateful to the Lord for bringing me here.

The thrill isn't gone

I moved to Madison County, Georgia three years ago next week. It has taken a while to become accustomed to the South's customs. I suppose that it has taken my friends and acquaintances a while to get used to my accent. But the things I thought I would love about Georgia haven't diminished with familiarity, they have grown.

In Maine, it is cold most of the year. Too cold to have windows open. Too cold at some points to even go outside. To save on very high energy bills, it is common to seal the windows over with plastic sheeting to prevent drafts. Sealed in for most of the year...and the big day when we punch through the plastic to open the first window of spring is almost ecstatic in a reverent kind of way.

How sad to be sealed off from the sound of the birds and the rain and the leaves quaking n the summer breeze! How sad to turn our lives inward to the couch and the musty stale air of a place sealed in for too long! I love that I can lay on the bed in mid-September with windows open and the temperature in the apartment just right and listen to the rain and the cars splashing through puddles. Above, Bert and Luke appreciate the outside smells.

In Gray, Maine right now it is 50 degrees. In Comer, GA it is 70 degrees. I raise my windows in March and don't close them until October. In Maine it is the opposite. Yeah, the thrill isn't gone. Georgia is great.

Low hanging fruit

All the lower apples have been picked. Now I need the ladder to get the higher-ups. There is only so much low hanging fruit to be had, lol.

There is a nice 'hole' I can pop up into and have a 360 degree access to some fruit bearing branches. I noticed yesterday just before dusk that there were many large butterflies swooping around and landing on the branches. I worked hard to get a good shot but this one was the best I could do, from below, using zoom. They avoided me even though I stood quite still. I thought they were big for butterflies. And they moved fast. No lazy flitting for these guys. They zoomed.

I miss the fog

My friend Jeanne is a great artist and a wonderful photographer. She recently posted this photo of her morning awakening at a camp on Crescent Lake, Maine. What a gorgeous photo, and it truly captures what Maine in summer is all about. Loons, a quiet lake, fishing, quiet putt-putts as the sun rises. And fog.

I never thought much about fog. On my last trip several years ago to Lubec, I tried to photograph fog and learned about light bouncing everywhere but where you want it ... but I realized after seeing Jeanne's picture, that I miss the old fog. And foghorns.

On a Georgia summer morning we may get some fog for short periods as the warm ground meets the briefly cool air. But that is just temporary fog, not the earth-to-sky, enveloping, dripping, getting lost kind of fog. The kind of fog I see mostly is on the way to work in the morning, like this:














On that trip to Lubec Maine, I was working one sunny morning at the table by the bay window of the cottage I'd rented by the Cove. I looked up some minutes later to see:












The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on...

[Fog, by Carl Sandburg]

The fog had come in like that, silently, on cat feet, and continued coming in until even the near boats at moorings were obscured. I smiled, basking in the wonder that is a foggy day in Maine, never thinking that I was taking it for granted, and that little cat feet of fog did not exist everywhere.

Figs are in!

The figs are ripe! I wrote before about finding a fig tree on my property. I love figs, and since they are such a delicate fruit and therefore so little shipped, I am thrilled to be able to go out and pluck to my heart's content. Many of the figs are ripe enough to eat now, so after hanging laundry (the line is next to the fig tree) I started picking.

I heard an angry bird squawking on the wires above the street and knew that a baby was about, somewhere. Ha ha, I have thoroughly learned that lesson! None were visible at that moment however. So I made my way around the interior of the tree, picking and dropping gently into my shirt held away from my body and gathered like a handkerchief. Then I saw him. The nest was just above, and he was stock still on a branch, huddling and shaking. Poor baby! I said that I would be out of there tout sweet, but snapped this photo first. His mom swooped in a moment later and I shot a pic of her too.




Tonight's dinner will be light since I ate with friends and had salmon and potatoes and fresh tomato salad for lunch. Dinner: sliced, chilled figs atop grilled slices of very thin smoked ham (not prosciutto, but I wish!). Grilled hunks of crusty whole wheat specialty bread drizzled with olive oil. Accompanied by iced green tea and a compote of blackberries and blueberries. Yum!! Living off the land. Almost.

Speaking of that, the apples and pears are coming in. I'm picking pears tomorrow for my friend, the one who has picked and given so many blueberries to me. I mean, huge quantities of blueberries, she picked 45 quarts worth. I was on the receiving end of 10 quarts. We are in a barter economy now. I have a lot of pears to pick to make an even barter!

Sigh. Next week is the last week of summer. August 3 I start school, and since I am a long-term sub in a pre-K, the principal wants me at the pre-planning meetings as staff. That's Monday, Aug. 3 and the kids come in August 6.

To Sir with Love!

Getting the boot

Life in rural Georgia often means visual surprises. Hay rolls made into snowmen, advertising fresh corn. Escaped goats crossing the road. An over-exuberant rooster crowing us into church. And yesterday's surprise, a man's boot carefully placed on the cow pasture fence post.

This is why you can't sit on the grass in Georgia

Ahhh, dusk. The low setting sun casts long shadows on the bushes and trees. The air is golden, and the birds flit from tree to tree as they prepare to roost for the night. All is well in my backyard. Peaceful. Bucolic.

Except...

A deadly enemy lurks beneath my feet. The newly mowed sweet grass hides an army busily creating for itself another fortress. Though the army is busy, any intrusion upon their empire building will immediately result in attack. The attack is pointed and the pain sure. It's the FIRE ANT, enemy of the bare feet. Enemy of the grass-sitting lounger under cool evening skies. Enemy of all that is good and kind.

Flags, a reminder of what's behind them

Thank you soldiers who fought for our flag and everything the flag means means, and thank you for fighting for what is behind the ideals of red-white-blue!

North Yarmouth, Maine













Gray, Maine


















New Gloucester, Maine













Eastport, Maine (USS McFaul)















Lubec, Maine














Comer, Georgia














Comer, Georgia

Babka for breakfast

It's always great to have a farmer's market in your town. Mine is only a mile and a half away, a block behind the Post Office and the Dollar Store, the other two popular destinations in Comer.

Even though this is only the second week of this season's market, there were quite a few vendors. The main produce being sold was early lettuce. There were plenty of seedlings, soaps, lotions, baked goods, and jewelry, though.

I was dying for a muffin for breakfast, so that is what I looked for. No muffins but mmm, homemade focaccia with olives, rosemary and tomatoes; and chocolate babka.

As I strolled the aisles under the metal roofed lean-to, a woman vendor played a zither. A man in the back was painting posters on the stage. People chatted, kids drew with chalk on the entry concrete pad, and cars came and went.

Nice hometown. Nice thing to do on a Saturday morning. Now I am enjoying a second cup of coffee, my hometown newspaper, and babka for breakfast.

We are OK!

Wow, that was some night. North Georgia was hit hard by severe thunderstorms, high winds, and tornadoes. Some tornadoes touched down around us here in Madison County, but in my immediate area (standing on my front step and looking 360 degrees, lol) I do not see any trees down or homes damaged.

I watched the storms' progress on the television through the afternoon, tracking them from TN and AL as they moved toward the east. It is no small comfort that I can see super-cells as they form and storm and raze their way across several states, knowing they will hit me at some point. It's even worse when you know they'll strike after dark. I don't know why, but there is a small comfort in being able to look out the window and see if there are lowering clouds or even a funnel. Not knowing make the imagination go wild.

As sunset approached, the skies darkened and the first rumbles of thunder rolled across Madison County at about 7pm. We were issued the first Tornado Watch, meaning conditions were such that a tornado could form. I activated my NOAA weather radio and watched the weather on local tv. At about 8:30 we were issued a tornado warning, meaning that tornadoes had been spotted in the vicinity, so I grabbed the cats and threw them into the bathroom.

Upon moving to this apartment I determined that the best place for storm hideout would be the bathroom. It's only a two-room studio and each wall is an outside wall with a window. There isn't a basement crawl space. The bathroom is the central part of the apartment, as most central as a person can get in two rooms, lol. Though there is an outside wall, the window on it is small and the tub wall is a half wall, so with the advice to "put as many walls as you can between you and the outside," and to stay on ground level, the tub is the spot.

When the loudest crack of thunder I've ever heard shook the house and the hail begin, It was time to hide. I brought a flashlight in with me along with the weather radio and a huge pillow to cover my head.

My poor cat Bert was petrified. He's the sensitive one, needing time to adjust to every change in the apartment, whether it's a new throw on the bed or a new picture on the wall. Nothing escapes him and he needs time to decide whether this little change is or good or for ill. You can imagine the fear in his tiny kitty heart when he heard howling winds, hail beating against the window, and thunder so loud it rang in my ears. He was shaking and quivering and nestled into a tight ball next to my belly as I lay sideways in the tub, the pillow over both of us. Luke? He wanted to play.

We all stayed there for about half an hour. At times the hail was so heavy against the window that I dared get up to drape a towel over the it, hoping that if it cracked or blew out that at least the towel would catch some of the glass. I did wear shoes into the tub, knowing that if there was debris later that I could walk out (hopefully).

So you just lay there, waiting. Will the wind pick up in intensity and make that "roaring sound" everyone talks about as the signature sound for imminent destruction? Will a tree fall on the house? Will lightning strike and start a fire?

There's nothing to do except pray and wait.

After half an hour the winds eased I emerged from the bathroom, leaving the cats in there a while longer (I knew I'd never find Bert again if we had to ditch), but still kept the tv and weather radio on alert because the cells were still stampeding. The lightning kept up for a while longer and the winds were heavy too. By 9:30 the worst seemed to be over and the last tornado watch for our county expired at 10pm. I called my two elderly friends and they were OK as well. We never lost power, thank goodness.

Phew, that was en experience I am loathe to repeat! At least today dawned sunny and clear. Things are back to normal. All except for the unfortunate towns that were hit and I am sad to read that there were deaths. The roulette of life...only God knows when it's a person's appointed time. Apparently, mine was not yet.

And away we go!

Welcome back, hummingbirds!

It took only two days for them to find my new feeder. Looks like this one has been feeding pretty well all along!

A foggy morning today

And it's cold, too!

Pastoral Sunday sunset

At sunset, some pics of my blooming backyard

Birds on the wires.













My favorite scene. The backyard is full of birdhouses, and at first I did not know they were used. But they are, no vacancies here!














Here is a close-up detail of birdhouse featured above. Well used.


















Blossoms in the sun.


















Bird happily singing. There are SO MANY on the property, it is such a pleasure to raise the windows at sunset and listen. Just listen.















Bird bath. I will endeavor to keep them filled. There are several on the property. We have bird houses, bird baths, and trees and shrubs, many of them flowering. I am glad there is no "yard art" or other ornamentation.