Go Outside - and Good Fences

Good morning on this sunny Emancipation Day in the United States.

So in honor of that, and also that your taxes aren't officially due until the 18th of April this year-

let's all

GO OUTSIDE

Can you spot the barbed-wire fence here? The old grape vine is trying to conceal it.

"In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man,

in spite of real sorrows."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Observe.

Enjoy.

GOOD FENCES

It's been a busy work week, besides celebrating hubby's birthday on the 12th and our anniversary on the 14th. (He's already had 3 birthday celebrations) and our oldest son and his family are making us Beer Can Chicken or Juicy Lucy burgers on the grill tonight!

It's truly spring here, for the moment anyway.

So if you're wondering about my next few blogs-
read on.

(hey I have three glorious days off in a row from work!)

WOO HOO!

In honor of one of our favorite writer, hermit, dog/tree/nature loving blogger friend to many of us visiting here-

you know him as Mac or Floridian ace-photographer

Like he famously shares Florida for us,

I'll share a bit of Minnesota.

Hoping to catch just as many cool captures as Mac does.

Not to forget fences too.

Only the shadow knows

who this is.

"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet

 and winds long to play with your hair." - Kahli Gibran

Look there he is again.

He sure does get around, 

Blowing in the wind.

Here's a hint of what's coming in my next post.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

"We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.

Winston Churchill

Enjoy your day, take good care of you and see you all back here tomorrow!

The Life of a Few Good Critters

My critters this Saturday morning begins from-
Yesterday, after dinner Misty and I took a hike!

"To his dog
every man is Napoleon;
hence the constant
popularity of dogs."
Aldous Huxley

SATURDAY'S CRITTERS

"The donkey sweats so the horse can be decorated with lace."

Haitian Proverbs

Looking for clams.

Clams can only be dug up at low tides so it makes sense when you hear-

"Happy as a clam at high tide!"

Not all birds are meant to be caged.
Some like Lido, in this photo happily spent the day in Virginia City with us.

But that was moons ago.
Rest in peace dear sweet Lido.

By way of the following quote, I believe my long time question may just have been answered by Robin.

"Everybody is born so that they can learn to live a good life- like loving everybody and being nice, right? Well animals already know how to do that, so they don't have to live so long." - Robin Downing

Enjoy your weekend, take good care of you,

 and all the critters you are lucky to know.

Good Fences and Moments

"Some moments are nice,

some are nicer

some are even worth writing about."

Charles Bukowski

Mostly, all are worth remembering.

GOOD FENCES

and

A wee bit of England

"She smiled and said with an ecstatic air:

 "It shines like a little diamond."

"What does?"

"This moment. It is round, it hangs in empty space

 like a little diamond;

I am eternal."

Jean-Paul Sartre

"We make patterns. We share moments."

Jenny Downham

Any moment you can join a tour

will be moments long remembered.

Like a Jack the Ripper tour!

What tour have you taken lately?

Sparky - Saturday Critters

Happy day after "April Fool's Day" I hope nobody got too fooled!

SATURDAY'S CRITTERS

and Italic words for
 WORDS FOR WEDNESDAY 


Fire horses, bravely pulled engines and ladder wagons and raced fiercely to bring firefighters to blazing fires.

Fire Horses
sometime between 1918 and 1921

Number Twelve Engine
outside firehouse in Washington D.C.

Meet

Sparky the Fire Dog a true hero

(For Words for Wednesday)

One gullible misconception is, 
that a burning cigarette can do no harm.
It can lead to more than a lawsuit.
One harmful act and the insidious effect of a lit cigarette 
left unattended
 it's smug nature to feast on nearby objects
inflicting damage and spreads
 like an out of control weed
forbidden and off limits
it hungrily thrives on when
left unattended
all the bread or rather money in the world can't stop its destruction
only the tug of a water hose
at the hand of a firefighter 
unexpectedly
plucked from the warmth of his bed
to put the blazing fire out.
But!
In the end, man wins, and no human/animal losses.


The next photos below are from a recent fire in town this week
and the firefighter pictured is my son.  This is his first actual fire.
He's completed his schooling process to become a volunteer firefighter and had only gone on firehouse calls like, carbon monoxide to 911 medical calls and etc. until this burning structure.

Photo credits by the Farmington Police Department.

One cigarette attacks a garage with two cars inside. 

Never, underestimate the power of a burning cigarette.

Nobody ever called the fire department because they did something smart.

"The funny thing about firemen is
night and day, they are always firemen."
Gregory Widen, Backdraft

Rebuilding - Good Fences

Once upon a time there was a sturdy fence,
but not all good fences live a long fencing life.
They move on to other things.

Some fences aren't as pretty as others

but they serve a worthy purpose. 

On the life of a fence, serving is never ending.

GOOD FENCES

Often those fine serving fences become

Chairs!

and artful picture pieces!

How incredibly constructive to discover a fun wooden-build-your-own wooden fence or whatever waiting just for you!

It's true very often many fences get lost in the background.

But a fence that becomes a chair in a city park lives on to show off!

"Everything vanishes around me, 

and works are born as if out of the void. 

Ripe graphic fruits fall off. 

My hand has become

 the obedient instrument of a remote will." 

Paul Klee

artist

So explains the life of many a good fences, wouldn't you agree?

My hubby has a pile of sturdy wood fencing his sister begged him to take down.  She wanted a clear view without fencing.  So now it sits here in a heap waiting to be something.  Hopefully, I'll be able to share it here (someday) in a new life form! We'll see.

Bunnyfest - Magpie

A Magpie Tale

THE MAG

Pass The Bread Please

Easter is To Me

Memories of eating

real bread squares 

and cold grape juice

and singing.

Enhancing the perfect white egg.

and yellow daffodils.

PEEPS!

Chocolates.

Sunsets arriving later.

Animals in our lives.

open meadows

green grasses

fresh air

skipping

through fields

of springtime fair!

Bringing out our trusty old golf cart.
Accepting the years 
as little ones 
grow!

Decorating the table!
Twinkle lights.

Fixing everyone's favorite dishes
laughing
joke telling

funny happy faces.

Did I mention peeps?

Reflecting on those not with us.

Memories.

Big hats
fancy bows
Easter Egg Hunts
The Golden Egg

and 
a giddy up
in everyone's step
kindness
togetherness
that's about it!

"In the oddity or maybe the miracle of life,

the roots of something new

frequently lie in the decaying husks

of something old."

Craig D. Lounsbrough

Enjoy your week and take good care of you!

More Than Milk and Bread - Saturday Critters

It's Saturday morning before Easter, I'm betting Peter Rabbit is busily, scurrying about hiding his last baskets of eggs!

SATURDAY CRITTERS

RUSTY

This is the story of 

how one trip to the market changed

 so many lives, for the better.

In our family, dogs never go unnoticed.

Yes we meet and greet them all.

Such was the case two years ago on a dark and cold November

evening.

My youngest son, and his two boys were headed into the grocery store when out of the blue here comes this big dog running non-stop right over to them.

Of course my concerned son said, "What the heck!" and gave up shopping.

"Who owns this dog?"

After a bit of searching, my son located the owner (he lived across the busy street) with no fenced yard, and had a toddler with him.

Long story short, the man said he couldn't keep his dog, RUSTY in their yard, and he/Rusty often led his son across the road.

Really? The dog led the boy. Okay.

So naturally when the man asked if my son wanted Rusty, fifty-dollars later my son brought home the sweetest, loving, devoted and watchful dog, named Rusty and added him to the family. 

There was a bit of #@$%^& silly stuff from my daughter-in-law feeling she should have been asked first, but goodness this was a crises situation.

He who snoozes loses.

Rusty loves his new home. Once when the family accidentally left the front door open, the cats ran out but Rusty stayed right there on the front porch until they drove up and he quickly ran back inside and took his usual spot to greet them. 

"Dogs are our link to paradise.

They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent.

To sit with a dog on a hillside

on a glorious afternoon 

is to be back in Eden,

where doing nothing was not boring

it was peace."

Milan Kundera

Now kitty-cats (this is one of Rusty's new pals) they are a whole other kind of personality!

Enjoy your weekend, have a Happy and Blessed Easter!
and take good care of you.

Mysteriously Classic

Welcome to

SEPIA SATURDAY

"The true mystery of the world is the visible

not the invisible." -

Oscar Wilde

(click on photos to enlarge)

No matter where you travel

there is always more mystery to unravel.

A story about the door built to nowhere inside the Winchester House.

A must to see, please click the link above.

The Winchester Mystery House

"It is the dim haze of mystery that adds enchantment to pursuit." -

Antoine Rivarol

How about a mystery right in Minnesota?

Located up on a hill sits

The Robert M. Foster House- Preston, Minnesota.

It's a bit closer to home for me to visit the

Mystery House - located in Minnesota

Inside the mystery house- oops

Forestville State Park where a worthy adventure awaits.

One more mystery to discover if you will

I ask, what could be more classic than a vintage Volkswagen Beetle smack in the middle of a great mystery?

Where- The Mystery Hole

near Ansted West Virginia

"It's the unknown that draws people." 

E.A. Bucchianeri

(Brushstrokes of a Gadfly)

So what mysteries will you uncover?