Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Ode to our CR-V

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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

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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.

Tuesday Thoughts

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I slept in this morning because I had problems falling asleep last night. Note to self: no more staying up late because of the Olympics. I regret to say that I have become that person who doesn’t do well if her daily routine is thrown off. I’m grateful I got some sleep, but here I am at 9 am, still groggy, still barely awake, trying to compose a post.

But it’s beautiful outside; very sunny and bright. My view to the right from my blogging chair in the  den? Flowers – all of the flowers at the back of the big garden bed; brown-eyed susans, tall David phlox, along with the sunlight drenching the leaves of the catalpa.

I’m very, very grateful for this house and our property and the gardens I have built up over the past 15 years. I’m grateful for mama robin who is feeding two babies all by herself and for the babies that are getting bigger every day. I’m grateful for all the bird nest adventures we’ve had this spring and summer; three nests, three broods.

My list could go on and on but I’ll stop there. In the midst of the madness of this world, I have to stop sometimes and concentrate on the good. It isn’t always easy. Will we ever work again? I don’t know. Don asked that question yesterday. Just when we think we might be coming out of this pandemic, selfish people who refuse to get vaccinated help fuel a fourth wave. The ramifications of that are enormous. Too many people will die needlessly. Needlessly. Too many people will be forced to cope with more lockdowns, children are at risk, families once again unable to see each other, businesses going under. All of this, why? Because a simple vaccine that will save lives has been politicized. I look at my smallpox vaccination scar from childhood, clear evidence that vaccines work. But we live in a world of conspiracy theories, of cult-like lemmings, ready to go over a cliff just to spite those who have real expertise and who are trying to save them.

I predict – and I hope I’m wrong – that theaters will be impacted by this once again. As will television and film. So, the question “Will we ever work again?” is real. I hope we do. We need to work. Don, especially, needs to work. He desperately wants to work.

Anyway, nothing I’ve said here is new, but it’s now been a year and a half since either of us has worked, longer for Don because he hadn’t worked for a few months before the pandemic started. I had just finished a coaching job a couple of weeks before lockdown.

Okay. Enough complaining. I confess we have lived in a world for the past five years that I don’t understand, don’t want to understand, and am bewildered by. And it just seems to get worse.

I haven’t painted in a few days – maybe I’ll feel motivated later today. I’m reading a lot and that’s a good thing. I received three beautiful portraits of the dogs in the mail and I’ll share them with you when my laptop comes back and I can take proper photos of the artwork. I miss my laptop! But I do know that Apple received it yesterday and the repair work is in process, so hopefully, I might get it back by the end of the week.

I also got a notice in the mail that the miniature show I attend most every year (near Hartford) is back and will be held in September. I really want to go. Masked, of course. Fingers crossed that I can.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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