Happy New Year - Mostly cloudy and overcast with just a bit of blue sky peeking through here and there. Temperature of 28° with the wind chill, it feels like 18°. I drove up to Lake McKinley in a warm car to take HD's first of the month (also first of the year) photo. I was only out of the car a few minutes and about froze! Of course, as Bud said, I wasn't dressed for the weather. Mr. Iron Man (aka Hubby Dearest) walked almost four miles in a bit more than one hour. 

As has been my practice for many years, I do not make any New Year's resolutions, but, reading some of my January 1st journal entries from years past, it is obvious I was always looking to improve myself. 

January 1, 2000 was the big Y2K worry but the lights stayed on. The only problem at work was that the computer did not back up. Two weeks later I went to Des Moines to pick up my new car - Scilla - the sweet little manual 5-speed, '93 Ford Escort station wagon, with only 30,000 miles, that I had picked out, made the deal for and bought all by myself. 

January 1, 2001 - I was keeping track of everything I ate and how many calories were in it. (That must have been when I weighed almost 200 lbs.) 😔

January 1, 2006 - I was once again promising myself I would journal every day! (Didn't happen.) Only three others entries in January and then nothing until December. My entry on January 3 was this quote: "Regrets are a waste of time. They are the past crippling you in the present." (Federico Fellini)

January 1, 2009 - I was still "going to make an effort to write ((journal) more". But I was exercising! We had joined the Y when we moved to Creston. I was walking one mile, biking five miles, doing multiple reps on all the weight machines, at least five days a week.

In August 2009 I began writing a blog which has almost entirely taken the place of journaling.

In August 2020 I repurposed my Dream Journal to a Quotes Journal. Following is a sampling of some of those quotes.

"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." (Anais Nin)

"Nature always wears the colors of the spirit." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

"The leaves of memory seem to make a mournful rustling in the dark." (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

"These pictures of her, like everything else, are drenched in time." (Margaret Atwood in Cat's Eye)

"The who you are with others is not you. To be lonesome is to be who you most fully are." (Charles Frazier in Varina)

"The essential self is fixed well before the 13th birthday. It may be influenced by experiences but it is seldom changed." (P.D. James in her short story The Yo-yo)

"The grab bag nature of my mind." (Ivan Doig in Last Bus To Wisdom)

"Nature reserves some of her choice rewards for days when her mood may appear to be somber." (Rachel Carson) 

"Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt." (Oscar Wilde)

"A lifetime isn't long enough for the beauty of this world and the responsibilities of your life." (Mary Oliver)

"Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life." (Rachel Carson)

"Poetry begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a loneliness." (Robert Frost)

"The child I was is with me in the present hour. It will be with me in the grave." (Mary Oliver)

"Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at anytime and be yourself." (Hermann Hesse)

"Writing is that oddest of anomolies: an intimate letter to a stranger." (Pico Iyer)

"True solitude is found in the wild places, where one is without human obligation." (Wendell Berry)

"To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone gives you courage." (Lao Tzu)

                 

Lastly, as the first day of January winds down:   

"And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us, new, untouched, full of things that have never been." (Rainer Maria Rilke) 💖

December 2024 Reading List

Nine books read this last month of 2024, including some new authors.

Taken and Threads of Suspicion are both by Dee Henderson, a new author for me. They were okay reads but not quite my cup of tea.

Here One Moment is the second book I've read by Liane Moriarty an author recommended to me by a friend in 2019. I 'rediscovered' her while looking through my authors list. I'm glad I did.

What Alice Forgot and Big Little Lies are also by Liane Moriarty. Her books are set in Australia and have a different style, but one I like. I have two more on my list for the next 'stock up on books' trip.

Moral Disorder and The Year Of The Flood are both by Margaret Atwood. These were the only two books of her's at my library that I had not read. It was time. The first is a collection of connected short stories. The second is one of her dystopian novels. I do not like dystopian works. They come too close to what I fear for our world. But Atwood is an excellent writer. The flood of the title is not water but a pandemic. 

Slow Dance and Landline are both by Rainbow Rowell an Omaha author also new to me. I decided to read some of Reese's Book Club picks and Slow Dance is one of those. Again, not quite my cup of tea.

That's a total of 85 books read this year, down slightly from 2023. I'm already looking forward to '25 - there are several books on my list by some of my favorite authors. Hopefully a few of them will be on the shelves in January.

Happy New Year - and Happy Reading!

The Year Pictured - 2024

Most years I choose one of my most liked photos to represent each month. These are my pick pics for 2024.....

January 10 - snow on the ground and ice on the trees.

February 20 - swans at Green Valley Lake! A first for me.

I sent my photo to WHO-13 and it was used during their weather segment.

And that brought a new friend into my life, my e-pal Leslie. 

March 21 - the earliest I had seen the Kingfisher at the pond. The willows were just beginning to green.

I couldn't believe it when I saw the first one in April, 2018. I never get over the excitement of seeing these birds. 

Adding them to my life list was something I did not believe would ever happen.

April 15 - violets have always been one of my favorite flowers. I began picking bouquets of them when I was a little girl and I still do.

I especially liked the composition of weathered boards, bright flowers and green and brown leaves.

May 7 - on my brother Ron's birthday, this raft of male wood ducks rendezvoused along the edge of our pond. I theorized all their mates were tending the nests.

June 11 - I was so surprised to see this large dragonfly sitting on the lamb's ears with its wings splayed flat.

That it was Grandpa Joe's birthdate gave it special meaning.

I'm doubling up on June because I could not choose between the two photos.

June 7 - the sky gives us so many opportunities to see something special and when I do, I am thankful to be looking up at just the right time.

Capturing the wavy iridescence of these clouds was especially gratifying.

July 22 - early a.m. A flash of blue and some red.  The blue a reflection on oak leaves.

The red the sun shining on the old black willow tree.

Do you see a dragon's head? Or a raptor's head and wings? I do. A flight of fantasy.

August 20 - the first supermoon of 2024; also a blue moon which generally means the second full moon of the month, but in this case was the third full moon in a season with four full moons.

It is generally referred to as the Full Sturgeon moon, but I prefer Full Corn Moon (Ojibwe), Flying Up Moon (Cree), or, new to me, Black Cherries Moon (Assiniboine) for when the chokecherries ripen.
 

August 30 - yes another bonus photo month, but not my photo.

This was taken by my stepson Mark when he and Juliet were visiting us from NYC.

It's not just the sunset or the cross, it is also the spider web and the little dot on the corner post. Altogether, very pleasing in my opinion.

September 16 - other than short trips here in town, I hadn't driven myself anywhere else this year. When you get older you start giving up some of the things you used to do without a second thought. But on this Monday morning I decided to try a short trip into the countryside. I ended up coming into Green Valley State Park from the west. I took several pictures along the way, but this one, with the sun sparkling on the water, was my favorite.

October 12 - family photos at Pammel State Park with just a few nature pictures thrown into the mix. 

I took a photo of a big black wolf spider in the leaves, but this isn't it.

Just a couple yellow leaves among the maroon ones.

November 11 - Armistice Day and another lovely sunrise.

I always love it when I get my photos uploaded and discover that there is a bird or birds in the picture. It feels like a bonus - some added natural elements I hadn't tried for.

December 17 - one of the most dramatic and colorful sunrise photos in an entire year of sunrise pics.

It is moody, striking, awesome, arresting, conspicuous and a whole bunch more adjectives I could use.

Once again, I was in the right place at the right time. When this happens, I have to think, "What about all the times I'm not looking. What have I missed?"

It is discouraging that I can't get out and enjoy nature and taking photos as much as I used to. Still...I'm grateful for what I still can capture. 

The Painted Drum

I try to read every book by Louise Erdrich because she is such a good author.

Have I read The Painted Drum? Most likely I have. Gibson Memorial Library does have it. It came out in 2005, before I started keeping track of my reads.

But it goes on my current to be read list because I recently read the following excerpt which motivates me to read it again.

"There is a beauty in the fragility of life, a sweetness to be savored in its fleeting moments of joy. For it is in the rawness of our experiences, both the joyful and the sorrowful, that we truly come alive. We are not meant to shield ourselves from the pain of life, but to embrace it fully, to let it shape us, to teach us, to make us more human.

So do not be afraid to love, to open your heart to the world, even if it means risking heartbreak. For the sweetness of love far outweighs the bitterness of loss. And when the inevitable pain comes, find solace in the beauty of the world around you, in the simple pleasures of life, in the memories of love and laughter. For even in the midst of sorrow, there is still beauty to be found." ~Louise Erdrich

 

Same Hill, Different Drivers

Chances of freezing rain and icy roads are in our forecast for tonight. I have a number of distinct memories about icy roads but the first I always think of is this:

Circa 1957 - Dad, Ronald and me in the car heading toward Corning on State Road 148. It was either a Saturday morning or the school buses didn't run because of the ice, but school was still open for town kids and country kids who could get there. I think the latter.

It was before 148 had been graded and paved - still the old blacktop. Going down the icy hill a mile and three quarters north of Vogel's corner, I started telling Dad he was going too fast; "Slow down!" I was sure we were going to go into the ditch. His response was something like: "It doesn't make any difference how fast or slow you drive on ice. You can start sliding either way."  I think he also said something about needing enough speed to get up the next hill. Either way, my dad enjoyed driving fast, turning sharp corners, taking chances. I believe most men do. 

Dad also really liked going to the car races. He never drove stock cars but I think he would like to have. After watching Jimmie Lynch and the Death Dodgers on the track at the fair grounds, he made several fast loops around the light pole in the barn yard when we got home. Whee-e-e! 

Different season, different driver: Mom's driving was the opposite of Dad's. Where Dad would keep his foot on the gas until moments before he turned off the highway onto the gravel a mile east of our farm and then hit the brakes, Mom would let up on the gas pedal as we passed Tracey's and coast the rest of the way to the corner before gently breaking and turning onto the gravel.

Circa 1955: Same hill north of Vogel's corner, but on the uphill side and during the summer. Mom with both hands on the steering wheel, traveling at or below the speed limit when suddenly she shouts: "Hold on!" and braked hard. There were no other cars nor loose livestock around and there was hardly time to brace before she braked. "What on earth?" There was a huge blacksnake slithering across the road. My first thought was she didn't want to run over it, then she told us that was the way to kill a snake on the road, braking and sliding across it. As I recall, the snake was still moving toward the ditch after we passed. She didn't kill it. Frankly, I was surprised she tried, because she never killed garter snakes, so it must have had something to do with the species or size of the blacksnake. 

Also, this might have happened earlier than '55 because I don't remember my little brother being in the car, just Mom, me and Betty. I drive like my Mom, though to be honest there were times in my life when I did drive too fast. And back to Dad's comment about driving on ice, I thought then, and still do, that if you lost control on ice it would be much better to go in the ditch or hit another car going slow rather than fast. 

On a totally unrelated topic, for the benefit of family members and friends who haven't heard --

Early this a.m., the venerable Red Star Mill was destroyed by fire. I cannot tell you how many times I have gone there to get feed for Mom's livestock as well as my own. A lot of memories for everyone. It looks like the Red Star Feeds building and office were heavily damaged too. Very sad. 

Late Autumn Saturday Sunset

 

Waxing New Moon 

Hope you are enjoying your evening.

Happy Street Finds

 

As you know, HD has long been bringing me treasures found on his walks. Often they are coins, rocks, beads, something shiny.

But this plastic offering he picked up last month had me stumped.

It is small, 3" x 2-1/2" and was very dirty. He found it in the street down at the end of Golden Shores.

If it wasn't for the words on the back - Have a Nice Day and Sheriff Harry Lee - I never would have figured it out. As it was, it did take awhile searching the internet before I found that Harry Lee was the long-time (1980-2007) sheriff of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.

I couldn't figure out what had been in the hole until I saw online that it was a magnet.

But from Jefferson Parish (Greater New Orleans area) to Creston, Iowa? How did it get here? Had it been attached to a car and fell off?

Further searching showed that there were a number different Harry Lee refrigerator magnets. (I counted ten.) Apparently Lee threw them from floats during Mardi Gras parades. This street find ranks high on the unusual list.

Totally unrelated, I know, but while the Happy in the title of this post could refer to the smiling Sheriff Lee, it actually refers to this bottle of Clinique Happy perfume which granddaughter Deise gave me on Thanksgiving.

I don't know if she remembers when I used to wear this fragrance all the time or if she just thought I might like it. It has been years, but I do still like this fragrance described as having "vibrant notes of red grapefruit and bergamot with sensual ones of Hawaiian wedding flower and spring mimosa."

Wearing it again brings back memories.

Thanks Deise. 💛