Month: May 2018

May 30, 2018 Scepter

~ Foodiness ~ 4 Comments

You never know what enchanting things are lurking down in the ankle region unless you are looking down and willing to lower yourself. I love these watchamacallits! They’re like tiny green scepters. I’ve seen them before and when they are backlit with sunshine, it’s as if they have gobbled up the light and are aglow with it. I don’t know their proper name, but beg you to allow me the Adamic privilege of naming them “Glowing Scepters.” (I feel certain that Anne of Green Gables would have come up with something far more fanciful and interesting.)

When a ruler wields his scepter, his subjects must bow in humble submission. It seems only fitting, then, that I had to bow low before these scepters in the grass. The God who made them wields them in the wilderness and I am happy to be one of His grateful subjects.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning.

May 21, 2018 Do It Again

~ Foodiness ~ 2 Comments

The 23-hour drive was nearly over, but like labor pains, our stops were becoming more frequent as my husband attempted to overcome lower back pain with stretching and walking. Meanwhile, I was also on the injured list and not driving at all because of a flare-up of tendinitis. We were limping our way to the finish line, but generally in good spirits. At the last stop about an hour north of our destination, I took a hurried photo, seeking to capture and tame this wild tulip with my magic box. I know that the world does not lack for photos of tulips. One tulip is probably pretty much like another. But all the same, I cannot, I simply cannot, feel ho-hum about this one. I am reminded of GK Chesterton’s thoughts about what we might call “monotony.”

Perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening ‘Do it again’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them.

Oh, may He never grow tired of making tulips. This one is a dandy. Do it again!

I’ll probably delete this in the morning.

May 17, 2018 Mist

~ Foodiness ~ 3 Comments

I love misty mornings. I love the way the mist softens and conceals, the way it makes the world a mysterious place. Clouds, ephemeral and ghostly, rest on the trees. The eye looks upon the shrouded landscape and positively hungers for the reveal that comes with the heat of the sun. Mysteries are meant to be solved; mists are meant to melt away so that what has been hidden will be ablaze with clarifying light. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know, even as also I am known. There is a mist here in this world that makes it hard to see – I do not know what true Beauty looks like. But one day, one glorious day, I’ll see the Beautiful Man face to face…and I’ll know. And I’ll be known.

Maybe I love mist because it reveals the longing in my heart.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning.

May 14, 2018 Fat Little Buffer

~ Foodiness ~ 2 Comments

I took a week off of blogging whilst we were traveling. I had thought to keep it up, but then a second thought (a vacationing kind of thought) overruled the first thought. There you have it.

During the aforementioned travels, we listened to an audio version of the P.G. Wodehouse book Love Among the Chickens. One of the characters, Ukridge, uses the phrase “fat little buffer” in describing a man he’s met. This phrase gets repeated a fair number of times as Ukridge labors to explain that no one could possibly object to being called a “fat little buffer.” I knew immediately that this phrase would have to enter my general lexicon. Doesn’t it just cry out to be spoken aloud? I enthused to my husband that I was so taken with the description that he could probably get away with using it on me, but then I tried it out experimentally: “How’s my fat little buffer today?” No. That will not do. At any rate, while we were listening, we stopped at a rest area and lo and behold, it was replete with fat little buffers! The technical term for these critters is probably “ground squirrel,” but we shall dispense with that and put them squarely in the FLB category.

Where has this phrase been all my life? Three cheers for Wodehouse!

I’ll probably delete this in the morning.

May 4, 2018 Nest

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Just a little something...“Just a little something I picked up for the new house – I know just where I want it to go!”

“I’ve got this eerie feeling I’m being watched?”

“Uh oh – I’ve been spotted. Stay still…stay very still.”

First of all, can you tell that these photos were taken through a window screen? I tried standing outside on the balcony to get an unobstructed view, but Mrs. Robin demurred to make an appearance with me right in plain sight. I just happened to see her yesterday when she was first checking out the place above the lamp as potential nest real estate. She hopped around up there, her little birdie feet slipping down every time she tried to get a purchase. It all looked rather precarious to me, but others of her kind have nested there before and perhaps the word had spread, even though we had removed last year’s model home when the occupants were done with it. Here’s an interesting thought: what if she was raised here last year? If so, she had to be rather puzzled about the disappearance of the old homestead.

At any rate, I’m impressed with her craftsmanship and look forward to watching her accomplish in about 8 weeks what took me 20+ years. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning.

May 2, 2018 Zoom

~ Foodiness ~ 4 Comments

I’m not sure yet what I want to say about this photo. I like it immensely. The idea of having a 70-300 mm lens never appealed to me in the past. I wasn’t sure what real benefit could be derived by being able to zoom further – big deal! When I was a child I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child… I didn’t realize what lovely things happen to the background when you use a zoom lens. This humble bit of wrought iron is on our front porch, but what really makes this beautiful to me is that the ugly pre-spring patchy lawn behind it has been transformed into a mellow greenish hue of undetermined detail. The bright blurred background allows the wrought iron piece to stand out in proud relief and strut its stuff. The lens allows me to see this is a way that I couldn’t with my eyes alone. It occurs to me that this is a gracious way to view a friend, or even an enemy – let all ugly background stuff become blurry and focus on the best parts.

Zoom, baby!

I’ll probably delete this in the morning.