2 MONTHS AND A LOT HAS HAPPENED...

 Spring has sprung in the End of the Rainbow Valley. The tulips, daffodils, grape hyacinths, forsythia, bloodroot and apple trees all have bloomed, the valley has become lush green once again. It's been 19 springs since I first tasted nettle and freshly picked asparagus... 

Among the usual spring activity the barn has been mucked and  there's new life coming out of the barn. Three weeks ago  triplet goat kids were born. The first set of triplets I have experienced here and was able to see all 3 being born. Granddaughter Hannah named the new kids ahead of time saying they would be twins, Nono and Shananah. The unexpected third, a boy, was  named Doo Whop.

Yet with all these familiar spring sights and sounds like the mating owls , spring peepers and the return of the sand hill cranes, the sound of the rototiller was absent. The large garden plot will sit dormant this year as it  was Natureman who arduously prepared that soil yearly for another year of gardening. Seriously, it was always more than 2 people could eat and my pantry and freezers still have plenty to feed me another year.

Irv's absence makes itself known in so many ways including the daily walks to the mailbox with Balto accompanied sometimes by both barn cats Blanca and Bebe but it also now provides time for me to think about the future. 

Irv and I had many conversations in the past year and a half about  the future and how I would/ should proceed. He knew from 40+ years the work needed to maintain our lifestyle. The biggest decision had begun when Irv was diagnosed with the cancer pre COVID and we discussed putting the house on the market and moving to town. That was nixed right away as you know Irv insisted on staying on the land he loved. I worried about transporting him for hospital care during winter. Fortunately last winter was mild.

I did speak with a realtor at the time as moving would be an eventuality for me if left alone. One of the things Irv appreciated about me was my practicality and I didn't want to take care of that paper work if I was grieving.  Then COVID took over early last spring and I knew where I would want to be if another pandemic ever came our way. I'd want to be closer to family.

My Dad is 95, still living on his own in Little Rock, Arkansas. Fortunately  my brother and his family are also there.  It's my childhood home and I lived there also as a married adult for 6 years with children before moving to Milwaukee. So besides family and old friendsI know the religious community,  Jazzercise and Master Gardener programs.  After so many moves in my life I knew  I didn't  want to start all over in a new community, Little Rock was a no brainer.

So the End of the Rainbow Valley will go on the market this coming week. It's not easy leaving a place you love but the practical side of me knows it is for the best... Time is of the essence. 

Many folks have helped me over the past 2 months.  Actually  I'd leave someone out if I tried to list them all. Almost every day someone  helped  with something different from goat fencing, weeding , chain saw work and other household  repairs and chores.Both the barn and old house have been cleared out. Decluttering, sorting, dumping, packing, giving away have occupied numerous hours  and with the help of friends a lot of progress has been made.   Thank you all even if I didn't take you up on your offers yet. There is a lot of packing still ahead!

The boys and I spoke about it being premature to have Irv's Celebration of life this summer as  COVID is not over although many of us have been vaccinated.  In fact, some Balto family members were just diagnosed with COVID. So our intentions are  when we have the stone setting next spring , we will also have the Celebration of Life. Irv would want us to be safe.

Last Sunday I double masked after driving to Chicago and flew from  O'hare to Atlanta where I  have spent the past week with my daughter and her family. It has been wonderful to be together even in these uncertain times. We know there is a false sense of security surrounding us but we are together. Sometimes we need to feed our hearts as well...

Happy Mother's Day to all those who mother. Virtual hugs.

MONDAY MUSINGS: PARTING IS SUCH SWEET SORROW

 MONDAY MUSINGS has me musing about how those junior high (middle school) English Lit classes actually would find much more meaning in time. I knew there must be a reason we were reading  Shakespeare...

Natureman and I were just talking about the sadness one feels when couples don't last. Some of us were blessed with learning relationship failure in our youth and yes, I mean blessed because if we haven't had to learn about breakups, it makes them all the more difficult later in life. I had much more experience being there for my daughter with her boyfriend issues than my own limited high school relationships. I told her one survives and moves on... 

In the case of the Disney image of forever marriages we grew up with and even the marriage vow line "for better or 'worse' " the worse should be italicized. Some times couples become so toxic, it is best for them to go their separate ways. As Judge Judy reminds us (on numerous episodes I have watched during this COVID year) most marriages will result in divorce... I too became one of those statistics almost 20 years ago. And one does survive and life moves on...

So to my red headed friend who is moving on today, I wish you the best because even if "parting is such sweet sorrow," you will survive and life will go on... 

Appropriately named my puzzle of a tulip bouquet today for you and every woman a world of possibilities...

                           Happy International Women's Day!

TBT: THE OTHER BALTO

 TBT: It was two years ago today we picked up Balto from his foster home in Beloit. It was his next to last stop in his journey from his home state of Texas.  

He was pretty chill sleeping most of the way back to the Coulee Region. 

Little did we realize how he would take almost a complete year to acclimate to his new home in the End of the Rainbow Valley.  He wasn't so keen about the ice and gingerly navigated the remaining snow.

At first I thought he needed to be renamed 'Houdini' as he was an escape artist. He definitely didn't like staying in his crate when we had to leave even though he had slept in one at his foster home.  Somehow he would squeeze out of his wire crate any time.  Poor guy was having separation anxiety. 

Then, I  thought we might need to rename him to Shadow as wherever we went in the house he was underfoot and he's a lot of dog to be underfoot... 

We were soon to discover that in his previous life  he had been taught to stay out of the kitchen so he would patiently sit at its entrances. And even though he would not beg at the table, he would go help himself to food left out on counters, island/ table if we weren't around/ paying attention.  Yes, our neighbor even found out after inviting him in as he made a made dash to their kitchen polished off a 1/4 pound of their thawing hamburger...

This dog still doesn't go out far from the house to relieve himself regardless of the season. But he now will venture out for treasures and return with deer carcasses to chow down on outside our bedroom window.  (Romeo, our other dog had used that very same spot too. )

Balto has a super sweet temperament. He gets along well with the cats and goats. Chickens, not so much. Balto can't hold his 'licker' and one is sure to be licked. He loves being petted and has the softest head.

Never have I seen so much hair come out of a pet which he sheds 3/4 of the year. He does love being groomed and quite proud of his looks.

 In honor of his adoption day we treated him to a day in doggy day care at Pet Me Scratch Me. He is even getting a brush out. I think that's something like a Brazilian Blow Out.  LOL.

He's one happy guy and we're one happy couple to have him share our life here in the End of the Rainbow Valley.

          Happy 2nd Anniversary Balto!

MALES AND DIRECTIONS : STORY TIME

 Yesterday although Tuesday must have seemed like Monday for two movers en route to pick up my neighbor's load for storage. Especially since their GPS took them on quite an excursion to the End of the Rainbow Valley.

I was finishing up my hour of Jazzercising on line when a text dinged with my neighbor saying her moving truck had continued straight past her house and was heading towards the end of the valley.  1/2 mile isn't that far out of one's way except when it's winter with some country dirt road still with remnants of ice on north facing hills and snow piled up along its pin curves and you're driving a large moving van.

In addition to those obstacles once they would reach our house there would be no place to turn around. After hearing their approach after the last tight pin curve, I looked out the front window to see the truck heading straight towards the house.  I bolted out the door gesturing for them to stop with both palms facing them with a pushing movement to have them back up. They stopped and backed up.

I grabbed a mask but  didn't even take time to grab a coat as I scurried down the road to the much smaller pull off at the pin curve (Smaller due to snow plows winter's work.)  They were now backwards but at a bad angle. The driver is out of the truck assessing the situation and concerned about the ice and traction on the hill.

 I tell him my neighbor called to warn me they had missed her house so I needed to stop them before they got stuck up at my house with no place to turn around. I share NOBODY comes back here in the winter. He told me what he was trying to do and I said what you need to do is this. " Back up towards my house to be facing the right direction so the cab can be headed down the hill." "Oh I was trying something else but that makes sense," he quipped, visibly frustrated with the difficult angle and the ice not being the issue now. "Trust me," I add, "This is how you get out."

 I returned to the house and when the truck still hadn't appeared at my neighbor's, she texted again some 20 minutes later. Gee, I'm thinking, maybe the truck got stuck in a small ditch on the inner curve. I did hear the truck revving but then finally saw the cab on the drive below our house heading in the right direction. Whew.

10 minutes or so pass and I hear the truck approaching again and it was back in the pull off space by the pin curve.  Dang, maybe they had they come across someone else coming down our drive towards them.

The neighbor soon negated that possibility when I texted her they were back at the the curve. She had called their boss, explaining their demise. He couldn't reach them probably due to poor reception. The minutes ticked off and I could still see the moving van at the pull off.  

My coffee zoom time was interrupted again when the 2 men are now walking up towards the house. "What's up?" I shouted. The truck was now stuck in the snowbank, did I have any salt and sand? "Yep. there should be a plastic garbage can right next to where you are." "Oh, okay, thanks."

Time goes on and I return to my Zoom coffee time. I figure it's going to take a while and am not paying much attention until I see the truck backing up slowing. Oh good they finally have the cab heading in the right direction. But they continue backing up all the way to the house. What the heck?   I go back outside . What's going on? The helper gets out and says the GPS says their pickup is here. 

Seriously,  OMG. 

 "My neighbor is waiting for you. She's your customer, not me."  

I guess they've got quite a story to tell when they eventually get home. My neighbor asked me if she should trust them after storage to get her stuff to Georgia. 

What do you think?

Fast forward a couple hours. I get a text from the neighbor saying a bucket truck from the power company is coming our way...

 Give me a break. There he is outside the house, lights flashing.

 I  greet him outside as he's putting on his hard hat. He comments they are checking lines and needs to get to my transformer. He adds "I bet you don't get many unexpected guests back here, do you?"

 If he only knew...

MONDAY MUSINGS :THE SUBLIMINAL/THE OBVIOUS?

This week's Monday Musings have me musing about how many subliminal messages we receive. You know marketing employs this technique to get us to crave a particular product when we didn't even know we wanted it/ maybe it was just to remind us that we did.  We could call it brainwashing when something is repeatedly said over and over again so whether it is true / not, we believe it is. Images can work that way too. Some are more obvious than others...

Do you remember those images where you are asked to state what you see first? 

Did you see the couple facing each other/ the apple core?

When the following photo appeared of the upcoming CPAC stage, my jaw dropped in disbelief as I immediately saw the nazi symbolism . 

Trust me this was no unintentional design of using the Odal rune. 

 If you're not familiar with nazi/ neo nazi symbols below is a collection from Wikipedia followed by their brief descriptions.

Most of us are most familiar with the swastika.  (Not to be confused with the manji symbol swastika in Japan – which usually points counterclockwise, the reverse of the Nazi symbol and has been used for centuries in Buddhist decorations and to denote Buddhist temples on maps. )

• 

  The Reichsadler of Nazi Germany (1933–1945); the Parteiadler, the emblem of the Nazi Party, was very similar

 
• 

  SS death's headinsignia^[27]

 
• 

  Horizontally aligned Wolfsangel, used by the 2nd SS Panzer Division^[28]

 
• 

  Vertical Wolfsangel

 
• 

  Odal rune^[18][19] (also used by the American-based "National Socialist Movement"since November 2016)^[29]

 
• 

  Sig runes

• 
  

  Algiz rune

 
• 

  A simplified version of the Celtic cross is used by various neo-Nazi groups

 
• 

  The broken sun crossused by the German Faith Movement and the 5th SS Panzer Division, also used by the Thule Society^[30][31]

 
• 

  The Hammer and Sword utilized by adherents of Strasserism

 
• 

The eagle atop swastika (German: Parteiadler), the formal symbol of the Nazi Party

The SS bolts, the runic insignia of the Schutzstaffel[11][12]

Various runes from the runic script, such as the Odal/Othala, Algiz/Leben, Tyr/Tiwaz runes and other rune-like symbols[13][14] such as the Wolfsangel[15]

The black SS uniform

The brown shirts of the Sturmabteilung

The death's head insignia of the SS-Totenkopfverbände and concentration camp units[16]

The Black Sun (German: Schwarze Sonne/Sonnenrad) used by Heinrich Himmler of the SS.

The crossed hammer and sword of Strasserism, a strand of Nazism that has an anti-capitalist and socialist ideology.

The broken sun cross swastika.

Neo-Nazis however also employ various number symbols such as:

• 18, code for Adolf Hitler. The number comes from the position of the letters in the alphabet: A = 1, H = 8.^[21]
• 88, code for 88 Precepts. A manifesto written by David Lane, a late 20th-century American white supremacist, on the proper organization of a white nationalist nation, 88 Precepts is a treatise on natural law, religion and politics.^[22] However, according to the Anti-Defamation League, it is code for Heil Hitler. Again, the number comes from the position of the letter H in the Latin alphabet.^[23]
• 14, from the Fourteen Words coined by David Lane: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children."^[24]
• 14 and 88 are sometimes combined with each other (i.e. 14/88, 8814, 1488).^[25] They are also sometimes depicted on dice.^[26]
• Celtic Cross, originally a symbol used to represent pre-Christian and Christian European groups such as the Irish post-World War II it has been used by many neo-Nazi groups.

It would be prudent to be familiar with these symbols and to understand the real presence of evil and hatred.

I'd say it is a lot more obvious than subliminal, wouldn't you? And do you know as I listened to the words said on that stage they also matched the evil and hatred.

FOTO FRIDAY: MALES RULE?

 

FOTO FRIDAY this week is about MALES ruling... Well, that is a funny thing to say in the End of the Rainbow Valley where Natureman proclaims equality. 

Well, that is if you look at our front view captured in this Kodak moment.  I've mentioned that we have 7 pairs of cardinals this winter who frequent our feeders. It seems our front feeder is dominated by the males and the females tend to be having their coffee klatch at the side feeders... 

Zoom in below and see how many males you can find...

Whoa, I see one female who's making a move!

Have a male ruling your roost? Send me a pic.

Did you catch last week's FOTO FRIDAY: DING DONG?

WHITE WASHING

This past week Natureman and I joined a live program with touted  expert on Islamophobia, Todd Green, a Luther College associate professor of Religion speaking on "Rethinking Christian Responses to Islamophobia. "  

Green characterizes the last two decades of our White Christian  nation's dealing with Islamophobia as 'disappointment.' Prof. Green points out that it was under our watch the path was made for the exploitation of fear and hatred towards our Muslim brothers. Several candidates made Islamophobia part of their platform in the 2015-2016 election, using issues like registration and ID cards for Muslims, comments like "Islam hates us" and calling for a shutdown of our borders to Muslims. Trump's most ardent supporters were Christians, White Christians. So as a nation we need to reflect why White Christians were part of the problem rather than part of the solution to Islamophobia.

 3 common contributing misunderstandings to combat Islamophobia. According to Green the 3 misconceptions  are primarily driven by :

 1. Misconception is driven by ignorance which is really racism.

 2. Misconception  is primarily the responsibility of Muslims to challenge  whereas it should be the responsibility of Muslim allies to  challenge specifically white christians

 3. The misconception Islamophobia is our national response to 9-11 which is not natural but rather contrived for political and financial gain. 

Very valid points but I think we also need to look at the role religion has always played throughout history. Has there ever been a time that church and state have ever really been separate? Think about what we all can do to not just help eradicate Islamophobia but to rethink our actions regarding nationalism, racism and yes, religion'ism'... There's a reason it's called white washing.