Casual Friday – 5/15/15

Casual Friday BootsOn Fridays I join Amie of Amie Writes for Casual Friday, a post “with no structure, no rules, no prompts, anything goes.” Check out her blog, and join us in observing Casual Friday if you would like.

I am happy to report that last weekend’s task of cleaning out and reorganizing my closet was successful. I happen to be blessed with a huge walk-in closet. The amount of stuff grows in order to fill the space that is available. I can’t say that I did a major purge. I did get rid of some things but the biggest accomplishment was reorganizing so it feels uncluttered and well organized.

My daughter is here from Nashville for about a week. We picked her up at the airport last night and had dinner out. She is sleeping in today while I am going to work. The only bad thing about her visit now is that because a major project is being rolled out at my job on June 1, I can’t take time off. I will have to be content to spend the weekend and evenings with her. She chose to visit now because she starts a new job after Memorial Day and it will be a while before she will have vacation time. While here she wants to go through the clothes that are still at the house. Her new job requires her to wear professional clothes so she has to build a wardrobe. That will also entail some shopping time. Shopping is not my favorite activity and this shopping venture is likely to be quite a marathon, but I should be able to tolerate it since it happens infrequently. I know there are some people who live to shop and who would not describe a shopping trip as something to be tolerated. I, however, am not one of those people.

imageIn my “What’s New in the Spring Garden” department, I can report that my neighbors beautiful columbines are in bloom. They are “volunteer”, something she did not plant herself. We have a beautiful view of the flowers in her side yard from our kitchen window. I would not mind if they volunteered at my place.

Last weekend while sitting at my desk that overlooks our back deck, a flock of about 25 birds visited our bird bath. A unique characteristic was that the tips of their tails had a bright yellow band. It looked like each bird’s tail had been dipped in a can of yellow paint. As they sat around the rim of the bird bath the yellow tips flashed time and time again while they bowed to sip water. They also had  crests on their heads and red on the ends of wing feathers. A look at the bird book identified them as cedar waxwings. I was unable to get a photo but we watched the whole flock cavorting around the bird birth for minutes at a time. They arrived as a flock and left as a flock several different times over a period of several hours.

I do not expect to do any blogging during the next several days while my daughter is home. I hope everyone has a relaxing and enjoyable weekend.

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Casual Friday – 5/1/15

Casual Friday BootsOn Fridays I join Amie of Amie Writes for Casual Friday, a post “with no structure, no rules, no prompts, anything goes.” Check out her blog, and join us in observing Casual Friday if you would like.

Another week and another month in the books.

As I frequently ask, where does the time go?

We had an interesting weather week. From rain and snow on Saturday and very cold weather through Wednesday, it finally warmed up and Thursday was a beautiful day. Another beautiful day is promised today and the whole weekend should be great with highs in the 70’s. That is my favorite weather.  The last frost day here is thought to be around May 9, and many people follow a rule to not plant anything tender until Mother’s Day. A quick look at the internet shows later recommended dates this year, with one county extension agent suggested not planting tomatoes until after June 1. My gardener (in the guise of my sister) has been spending a lot of time outdoors working the soil and moving established plants from one area to another. We have very little grass in our landscape as we accommodate dry conditions and continuing water issues, but I did have to cut grass this week.

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Easter Morning Musings

It is a beautiful Easter morning in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I woke up early to go Mass and celebrate the greatest of all events of Christianity: the day that Jesus was resurrected into heaven to atone for the sins of mankind.

There was a slight chill in the air but also the promise of a beautiful day.  As the congregation gathered there was a definite feeling of hope and peace and grace. The sun was just rising and it seemed to be peaking out from under clouds which soon dissipated. We were left with a beautiful sunshine filled day. image

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Santa Maria de la Paz Santa Fe, New Mexico

In his homily, the priest drew an analogy using Jesus’s tomb that was found empty by his disciples on Easter morning. We should each look at the tomb within us, and tombs within society, and strive to empty them of negative things: violence, or love of material objects, or gossip, or disrespect. These negative things within each of us should be replaced with love.

The message of seeking love and happiness is oft-repeated outside of the Christian tradition as well as within it.  Much is written about filling ourselves with happiness and going forward with a renewed sense of goodness.  Easter represents new life Christianity, and it is no mistake that Easter coincides with spring which is also a celebration of new life. Continue reading