life — Page 75

Ode to our CR-V

July 29, 2021 at 10:07 am by Claudia

The CR-V left us yesterday. All of our worries about getting her started and was she drivable or would she have to be towed were for naught. The guys from the station jumped the battery, started her up with no trouble, and in less than about 5 minutes, she was gone.

All rather anti-climatic, as I said my goodbyes a few weeks ago, sitting in the car, making sure we were leaving nothing behind. I found some seashells from our last visit to California, found some spare change in the one of the compartments.

She was very rusty – everywhere – and had been for a long time. We bought her in California, where snow and road salt aren’t an issue, so she had no undercoating. That initial purchase was made because we were about to move across the country and my beloved red Honda Civic Hatchback would not have been practical. Don was driving the truck with all our belongings. I had to transport two dogs. So we picked out a CR-V that was already on the lot. She carried Winston, Scout, and me on our first journey from California to NY State, Scout on the backseat, Winston on the passenger seat. They were surprisingly good travelers, those two. She was our main car for most of our 20 years out here in the East. Yes, we had her for twenty years. She was unbelievably dependable for most of those years, though she was declining a bit when Don said he was going to drive her back across the country a few years ago to work on Margaritaville in La Jolla, CA. I tried to talk him out of it, but he was determined.

Don got to do what he had always wanted to do, drive Route 66 at the age of 66.

And then, after his run there, she took us on our journey up the coast of California and back across the country to NY.

She transported lots of tables and chairs and vintage furniture and dollhouses and plants and groceries and antiques.

She carried our dogs to roads where we would park and take them for a walk or on an adventure. She carried them to vet appointments. And she carried all three of our beloved dogs to the places where we would make the decision to ease their pain and let them go.

So many memories. So much life and love, especially with our babies. Twenty years, over 250,000 miles, dependable and true. Thank you, CR-V.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

Birds and Bears

July 28, 2021 at 9:04 am by Claudia

Some photos of mama and the babies for you. If you look closely, you can see the open beak of one of the babies.

Both of the babies. One is clearly bigger than the other. You can see the fuzzy head of the other baby on the right.

These were taken two days ago. They’ve grown bigger since then.

I imagine they might fledge on the weekend, but who knows? Mama is doing everything so they’re getting less food than they would if both parents were feeding in tandem.

Yesterday’s testimony by four heroes who sacrificed to help save the lives of our elected leaders and staff as well as our democracy was very, very moving. I hope you got a chance to see it. As to the comments of those who want to cover up the fact that there was a deadly insurrection, I’ll let you imagine the words that were coming out of my mouth.

And bravo to Simone Biles for making the decision that was not only right for her, but also for the team. She has my undying admiration.

I’m going to weed whack today. Things are very overgrown around here. It’s cooler today so it’s a good morning to get out there and do some work.

Oh, forgot to tell you…on his walk yesterday and just down the road from us, Don saw a black bear in the woods, maybe 50 feet away, and then the bear ran out of the woods and across the road! This is a very busy road and you don’t often see a bear running across it! He said it all happened so quickly that he could barely process it!

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Flowers, Books, Laptop

July 20, 2021 at 8:21 am by Claudia

I’ve never seen so many flowers on this particular day lily open at the same time. I happened to walk around the side of the house to this garden bed and what a sight to behold! If only day lilies weren’t day lilies, if you know what I mean. Shouldn’t these beauties be allowed to bloom for a week? Or longer?

Today promises to be sunny and hot, but where will I be? Driving over an hour to the Apple Store to finally take my laptop in. Reminder: the ‘t’ key isn’t working. All this time, I’ve been delaying appointments, either because of the weather or because of my shoulder/neck problems which made me uncomfortable driving. Or because I just wasn’t in the mood. I downloaded photos for the blog via my laptop and then wrote the posts on Don’s laptop. This morning, I downloaded several photos to the blog so I’ll have some available for future posts should I have to leave the laptop for repair – which seems likely. I forget how much I rely on my little computer.

Anyway, this will take up much of the day.

What else is new? I’ve been reading a book on Monet, which I’m enjoying. I’m reading an Elly Griffiths Ruth Galloway mystery. We are watching the Swedish version of Wallander and, let me tell you, it is stunningly good. Far better, in my opinion, than the Branagh version. I really like Kenneth Branagh, but Krister Henriksson, who plays Wallander in the Swedish version is brilliant, beyond brilliant – as is the rest of the cast. Henriksson is Wallander. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

We’ve been watching so much Nordic Noir that I now want to visit Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. If only…

I’m not hearing quite as much birdsong in the morning, which always makes me sad. I know it happens every year, but oh, how I miss it. There’s still birdsong, but not nearly enough. I did hear a wren this morning, but it’s now clear that our ‘tenants’ aren’t going to have another brood in our little birdhouse. Mama robin, on the other hand, is still on the nest. I watched her yesterday and I think she was feeding at least one baby, but I can’t swear to it.

Okay. Have to go and start getting ready for the trek.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Ode to our CR-V

Birds and Bears

Flowers, Books, Laptop

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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