W.Va. lives up to its reputation

Yes, I voted here, in my legitimate primary election... and apparently, judging from the "thank you" email and other messages I've been getting, I also voted in West Virginia.

May Day

First of May - oh what am I supposed to remember? Turn over the calendars, pay the bills, and...??? Take books to the library book drive, change the display of picture books at Wonderlab, yes, and....???

Well, I forgot about leaving a basket of flowers at the doors of friends. I only remembered it when I found a fragrant basket on our doorstep. Our Mimi doesn't forget.

Can't let April go without a Poem

When April scatters charms of primrose gold
Among the copper leaves in thickets old,
And singing skylarks from the meadows rise,
To twinkle like black stars in sunny skies; When I can hear the small woodpecker ring
Time on a tree for all the birds that sing:
And hear the pleasant cuckoo, loud and long --
The simple birds that thinks two notes a song:

When I can hear the woodland brook, that could

Not drown a babe, with all his threatening mood;

Upon these banks the violets make their home,

And let a few small strawberry blossoms come:

When I go forth on such a pleasant day,

One breath outdoors takes all my cares away:

It goes like heavy smoke, when flames take hold

Of wood that's green and fill a grate with gold.

"April's Charms" by William Henry Davies.

Egg Moon

The Egg Moon, the full moon of April, is rising tonight. And although I went out while the moon was rising and cardinals and towhees were still chirping their bedtime notes, I was not soon enough to save my bird feeder from the raccoon.

It lay again in pieces on the ground.

The little sounds of sleepy birds, the piping of the spring peepers, and the smell of honeysuckle kept me out in the night chill for a while.

Hope you are watching the Egg Moon where ever you are.

Happy Anniversary

Here's to a happy year sitting by warm waters full of life.

What to do on a rainy Sunday

What you need on a dreary rainy day is a splash of color...

a trip to the greenhouse to remind you that sunny days will return
and sooner or later we'll all get our gardens in.

Not Now

"Tommorrow we'll get up early and go to the garden show" I told Granddad.

"Get your books together to take to the library's book drive tomorrow" I instructed.

"We'll remember to turn the calendar over tomorrow" I said.

Early this morning I woke him up. "The garden show starts at 10", I said. "Let's go early to avoid the Little 500 traffic."

Then I opened up the newspaper.

Oops.

Turns out today is NOT May 1st.

No garden show.

No book drive.

Somebody needs to keep track of time here.

Guess Granddad better do it.

Official Business

The serious-looking envelopes arrived a while ago. Inside were forms and detailed information about how to fill out each form. I didn't actually have all the facts at hand so it took me a while to get things together. Then it was time for a trip to the Courthouse.
I spent some time going from the Auditor's Office to the Treasurer's Office and back to the Auditor's Office again - but everyone was pleasant and helpful and knew what I should be doing so at last it was all done.
I think having a lovely Courthouse building helps a lot when one is doing Official Business.

Going to Goose Pond

Yesterday a friend and I went driving to a wetlands somewhat farther from home than Stillwater Marsh. This is Goose Pond, a glacial basin that had been drained for farmland. Now about 8000 acres are being restored as marsh and prairie -prime birding terrain. "There it is", we said, as we drove on past, looking for the turn off to CR200S...

"There it was", we said, as we drove on into the country side beyond it. Not a waste - a half mile beyond the marsh there sat a bald eagle on its nest. After admiring it, we turned around and headed back.

Once we found the tiny gravel road and the information kiosk, we were set. Parts of the marsh were ponds, with dikes along them on which we could hike.

We didn't actually do much hiking - just stood on the dikes listening to the wonderful calls of the abundant red-winged blackbirds and the various quacks, honks and whistles of the waterfowl.

You can spot the coots in this picture and just imagine the thrum of the bullfrog, the flutter of the orange butterfly passing by, and the mysterious splashes in the nearby cattails.

It was dry for this time of year. The only other vehicle we saw on this tiny county road was a piece of farm equipment that went slowly lumbering by.

The dust cloud followed it down the road. Even after it turned on to the next road and we couldn't see it anymore, we could follow its progress by the cloud of dust.

Off in the distance we saw a line of large birds flying. "Not geese" we said - too quiet.

They came closer...

until they flew directly overhead.

Now we could clearly see they were a flock of American White Pelicans - maybe 50 -60 birds in all - heading off into the northwest.

Oh, I AM a fan of wetlands!

No go

Granddad diligently supervised the garage door repair person but it was no use.
Nothing would make the old opener work.
Not even "Open Sesame".

Off to a good start

On Saturday Granddad and I went to the Farmer's Market. The Morris Dancers were jingling and clacking and welcoming spring.
There are fresh farm eggs and tender baby greens and sweet little radishes for sale - and lots and lots of plants.
It was a chilly morning so we resisted most of the plants. Except for one:

How could we resist this? We came home with three little sprouts.

The Case of the Missing Librarian

Last night Hoosier Kitty and I went to a Family Playwright Project play at a local elementary. The cast and their families had spent eight weeks writing and rehearsing a play that was their response to losing their school librarian.

They made the local news and more -they got national recognition for it from American Libraries and PBS.The kids came up with a happy ending...

but I doubt real life will in this case imitate art.

Fastest Spring on record

SLOW DOWN! You're moving too fast!

Gotta make the moment last! No sooner do I take a picture of buds than the entire tree bursts into bloom.

Things that just came out yesterday are finished blooming today.
Everything is blooming at once! It's too much.
Spring, you've got to slow down!

Support Our Schools

There was a rally to support our schools just after the farmer's market yesterday. If you went to Honey Creek you'll recognize the figure in purple behind the table way in the back.
I found myself in a crowd of familiar faces - librarians, teachers, parents - and was pleased to hear a speaker talking about Mimi and her contributions to the development of school libraries.

We had some good ideas and strong opinions about the problems facing our schools.

And here's the reason we were all there.

Shades of Dick Tracy

The computer video phone call reminds me of early comic book science fiction.

I love it.

It's just what I thought it would be when I was imagining the future.

I get to see your pets...

what you're wearing...

...and how you amuse yourself while you're talking to me!

A Tale of Two Courtyards

I have been subbing last week and this in two similar school buildings - both schools built around a central courtyard, both libraries having a window out to the courtyard. Both courtyards are the same size and shape. I have been fascinated by the differences in these two situations. On the southwest side of town, the school serves a lower-income, blue-collar population. The school is kept very clean and tidy. Their courtyard, as you see, is easy-to-clean concrete, with four planters, each with some minimal shrubbery. I was there all last week, but I saw no indication that students ever were allowed in the courtyard.

The other school is on the near north-east of town and serves the children of most of the University's graduate students, the gifted-and-talented program kids from all over the county, and a mix of mostly middle-class kids. Their courtyard features a tiny pond, an arbor, benches to sit on, and lots of flowering plants. It's clear from the activity I spy out there that teachers use the courtyard for a variety of learning experiences.

I wonder about the striking contrast here.

Sure economics play into it, and school philosophy - but I suspect that somewhere along the line there was an energetic and enthusiastic teacher who made a difference in designing the garden one.

Happy Easter

Easter dawned bright and warm, and full of bird song and flower - a greeting card morning. Fresh flowers went on the table.

Hoosier Kitty arrived with roses, a basketball quilt to show off, and an unusual Easter gift - a possum skull.

Also champagne, with which we toasted the season and each other and everyone who wasn't there and everyone who was ( did I miss a few toasts?)

The strada rose most spectacularly and made it to the table to be admired before falling back down and proving as tasty as it was decorative.
Somehow the pictures of the table and the fruit, muffins, multi-colored potatoes, and so on turned out a little blurry. Could it have been the champagne?

Funny, there aren't any pictures of the chocolate bunnies...the chocolate eggs.... the chocolate wrapped in shiny foil....where did they all go?

We missed many of our usual crew, but were able to talk with some through the magic of video computer calling - not quite like being there, but plenty amusing.

A sunny afternoon and a stroll down by the pond rounded out a lovely day.
Hope all of you had a happy Easter too!

Mark your calendars now

Granddad got this notice in the mail yesterday: When I came home it was the first thing he showed me. "Put this on your calendar" he said. Anyone want to go with him? We had a good time last year....and the year before...

because, really, you just can't have too many rocks.

Round and round

This week I've been subbing at a smaller west-side school. In the morning I have hall duty - that is, I stand in the hall by the gym doors and reinforce good walking behavior. The first morning I was surprised at the crowd of kids rushing past me - more than I thought the school had. Then I began to recognize a shirt here, a backpack there, a pair of friends, a certain grin. I knew I'd seen those kids go by once already.
Turns out, this school is built in a giant square with a hallway going completely around it. Every kid comes in and has to walk all the way around twice - that is, they have to pass their classroom door once and the second time they can go in. So every morning the parade takes every kid past every duty teacher (you can almost tell who is starting off on the wrong foot, who is excited about something, who is on the outs with a friend, who is feeling under the weather)- and everyone has had some exercise before they sit down for morning announcements.