The Fox Whisperer

Yet another blog without a photo, and oh how I wish there was one, or better yet, a series. But even if my camera had been in my hand, turned on, I would probably have missed the shot. It all happened so fast.

Tina wanted to take the dogs out for a run in the country. They looooooove the drive, and the gallop through the grass with the wind whipping through their ears. And there's not much longer till anything fun outdoors is only a distant memory. So we packed up all 3 dogs, all 3 kids, and drove out on the gravel roads west of town.

Last week, Tina had found a beautiful old abandoned house, and wanted to show it to me. We parked down at the road, and walked up the long, curved ruts that had once been a driveway. True to her description, it was beautiful. All the windows were gone, so you could look right in and see all the incredibly bright colors that had once been on the walls, and yes, the ceiling. The lower part of the walls had been forest green, with a vibrant yellow on the upper part, and the ceiling was a deep royal blue. Old cupboards still cling to the walls, and gorgeous disintegrating doors sag forlornly.

Tina went right on in. I didn't. As much as I like to explore, I have this thing about not wanting to plunge suddenly into dark basements, leaving chunks of my body behind on the way down. I'm just funny that way. Tina thinks she will somehow just know when the floor is unsafe, and that she can float if anything goes wrong.

Those little differences of world view leave her with all the best things to see, and me outside, pressing my nose against where the glass used to be. "At least you won't fall into the basement," I try to console myself.

While Tina gingerly worked her way upstairs - it not being sufficient to fall only into the basement, she wants to fall through the ground floor first and THEN into the basement - I began peeking into each window, feet planted firmly on the ground.

Right above my head, I heard her squeal or squawk or something, and this awful-sounding noise right above Damon and me. I ducked my head and closed my eyes. Don't fall on me! Don't fall on me! Don't fall, either....

A plopping sound and instantaneous ruckus behind me made me whip around, only to see a glorious red fox streaking off into the sunset, Finley hot on his poofy tail, and all the other dogs hot on Finley's hindquarters. Finley has no tail, so that's probably why he was so intent on capturing that one, to assuage his inferiority complex.

As it turned out, upon having his second-story haven disturbed, the courageous flying fox took to the air and hurled himself out the window, leaping far out directly over Damon and me, and was well on his way to Canada before I even saw him.

Finley has never chased a fox before. I have never seen a wild fox so close, much less had one jump over the top of me before. Tina has never startled a fox in an upstairs bedroom before. It was a day of firsts. I'm guessing there may have even been a couple of firsts for the fox.

Cringing and looking upward for more raining foxes,

Noni Beth

The Lutheran Church Strikes Again

I admit it. The title is a masterpiece of responsibility-shifting. It really isn't the Lutheran Church's fault that things keep happening to me. Every time I play for them.

So I got all ready, and right on schedule about 13 minutes before the hour, picked up my music to walk out the door, and went to the little peg where my keys were supposed to be.

No keys.

Reaching warp speed in less than 2.7 seconds, I tore in quick succession through my purse, book bag, camera bag, kitchen counter, and bedside stand. No keys, not even in the ignition.

Time was running out. With blinding speed, I dumped the stuff out of Devon's backpack, ran to the car where my music and glasses were set neatly, and dumped them in. Somehow I missed the glasses, a move I would regret for a good hour. Then nothing else for it, but to grab the nearest bicycle and start pedaling.

The dress I had chosen was very low-key and modest - a long, narrow pinstripe skirt that buttoned up the front, and a white shirt. Not exactly designed for biking, but no time to change. It took two hands on the handlebars to get going, since my feet would hardly reach the ground in my leg-hampered condition. Then it took the next 500 feet to pull myself back into a mostly-clad condition.

My only hope going through town was to ride so fast that no one could see anything but a blur. Unfortunately, steering with one hand and trying desperately to hold myself together with the other, I just couldn't pedal as fast. Jack, down at the shop loading his work truck for the day, came out the door just as I went by, of all the luck. His maniacal laughter followed me most of the way to the church.

One advantage of being a couple minutes late is that, once I turned onto the highway and headed for the edge of town, no one was around so I could let go and ride like the wind. Everyone was so happy to see me that no one commented on my windblown, gasping condition. To my face, at any rate.

After that, the discovery that my glasses were still at home and I would have to squint my way through the whole service, was anticlimactic. I sure wasn't riding back to get them.

Next time they ask me to play, I think I will get dressed Saturday night and go spend the night in one of the pews.

Still twitching from too much adventure,

Noni Beth

Phot-hography...aka Taking Pigtures

Our friends who gave us Bunny, have given us more than just their treasured friendship and a baby cottontail. They also share generously of their manure, and thankfully, gardening advice.

The kids are always so excited when I shout, "Okay, who wants to go get poo?" Well, nobody was complaining about carrying buckets on this particular day, when we were invited to help feed the pigs on the same farmstead where we get the manure for our garden.

These adolescent pigs were tame enough to eat right out of our hands.

Somewhere, I've got a picture of Tiggy in her pink shirt and little braids slopping the pigs. I'll post it when I find it.

Somewhere, there is a picture of me in my work clothes and ponytail, slopping the pigs. Though a cherished bit of family history, it will never see the light of day. (With appropriate bribery one of the children may show it to you in person, when you come visit.)

Next year, there will be more little piggies to visit. Sigh. It's very hard for vegetarian kids to become attached to farm animals.

Until the next adventure,

Noni Beth

THE END

Another Short-term Guest

No, Expensia isn't the short-term guest. She has long-term tenancy, and so considers herself a part of the welcoming committee for any of the refugees that find their way into our home. Especially the tasty-smelling refugees.

A friend of ours found a tiny little bunny under attack by the family cats, rescued it, and brought it to us, much to Expensia's delight. Not as much to my delight, since I tried to conceal Bunny's presence from the children by putting him/her/it in a cat carrier and artfully arranging laundry over it so it looked boring.

Boring to everyone but Expensia.

Naturally, Devon was the first to find it, his interest piqued by the cat's insistence on sitting atop the cat carrier, or staring fixedly through the air holes in the sides and meowing. Thus he got to help me feed Bunny his/her/its last meal. At least he was up-to-date on his rabies vaccinations...

The next morning, Bunny was gone, and I don't mean missing from the cat carrier. We put her out with Fezzy, Mourning Dovie, Robinny, and I forget who else. Thanks for visiting, Bunny.

Until the next adventure,

Noni Beth

A Year in the Life of a Tree

DECEMBER 2009

I am learning that digital cameras weren't meant to function in subzero temperatures. Not my digital camera, anyway. It took the picture, but complained bitterly.

JANUARY 2010

Tina and I both thought the tree would surely be covered in snow, right up to the tippy-top. Though plenty has fallen, it keeps blowing away.


FEBRUARY 2010

Yes, I'm serious!

A little later in the day I took this one. And wow, the tree is still there!

It's been foggy some, freezing fog of course, but this day was sure a doozy. Driving along, about all you could see was the road for a little ways ahead, since everything on the sides was white, and the snow blended seamlessly into the fog.

MARCH 2010

Does this photo look familiar? I'm having such an odd sense of deja vu all over again.

STILL MARCH 2010

The only time I had ever seen anything like this was in It Could Happen Tomorrow about the ice storm. You can imagine what the poor power lines looked like! We had more outages than you could shake an icicle at.

APRIL 2010

What a difference a month makes! Almost everything has melted, and things are just beginning to grow. The red-winged blackbirds just returned, and if their songs could show up in the picture, there would be so many you couldn't even see the tree.

MAY 2010

It's yo-yo season. First the weather was so warm I got out my shorts, and then with very little warning it was snowing again. Sun, rain, more snow, more sun.

Everything is turning green - the grass, the leaves on bushes and trees, the roof of the abandoned house next door...

It's very windy, too. When you come to visit me, you won't have any trouble figuring out why this whole part of the country is a windmill-full energy mine.

Bring your Aquanet!

JUNE 2010

Once it decides to green up around here, it does it in a hurry! The lilacs are nearing full bloom, we've had to mow the lawn several times, and it's almost time to set out tomatoes.

Which could be why the ones I planted several weeks ago were not doing too well. Live and learn.

I built a portable greenhouse (of sorts) around them, so I think that story will have a happy ending.

JULY 2010

What a busy month, and fairly hot (for here). Tina was very cranky with the lentil farmers, who accelerate the drying of their crop by spraying Round-up and other herbicides to kill the plants.

No, it's not the use of chemicals on the plants that has her up in arms - live lentils are a lush green with a hint of yellow, that is her new favorite color. Dead lentils are brilliant wheat-yellow and orange. Not her favorite color.

AUGUST 2010

After a string of thunderstorms, with two tornadoes causing a total of three deaths near us, August took a quick turn for the chilly. After a bit it warmed back up again, but there is no doubt that fall is on the way.

For one thing, the birds are just beginning their southward migration. For another, the kids are back in school. Oh, yeah!

Born to be Wild

Now that Diesel continues to have bladder control problems following his lengthy illness, we have been encouraging him to go outside for almost the first time in his life. Definitely the first time on purpose. Hey, it beats being shut in the laundry room all the time so he's never more than four steps away from his litterbox.

For the first time ever, he gets to run free outside, feel the grass under his little cat paws, watch the songbirds with no glass between, and best oh best of all, climb trees!

After this little foray into tree climbing, Diesel decided to be an indoor cat for almost a week. He hid in the laundry room, tucked away behind the washer and dryer, nose pressed into the corner, clicking his little heels together and whispering, "There's no place like home! There's no place like home!"

Until the next adventure,

Noni Beth