Joseph and Mary are on their way to Bethlehem. It about here I’d like to have action figures so that Mary could ride on the donkey. Joseph could also lead the way. Alas, their poses are immutable–one of the joys of ceramic.
Sorry, this is a day late.
Recently, my friend, Lin, asked me to post pix of my dynamic manger scene display. I promised to do that. It seems only fair as many of her friends wait eagerly to see her Christmas display and where will the pope and the hooker be this year.
Using figures that Sylvia’s mother made for us, I set up the scene as it might have been and follow the story as it may have developed.
This year, the story begins with the engaged couple, Joseph and Mary at home. This was before the Roman the census that required men to return to their ancestral homes to register for that census.
Thus we see the pair before their journey.
The contented cow awaits at the manger, which will become the focus of the story.
Subsequent posts will follow Joseph and Mary on their journey.
This spring, one fat fellow could frequently be observed grazing on the grass of our lawn.
Because this one is so shy, I have to shoot through the windows. The results are definitely degraded because of that. Sorry.
There’s another family of “charlies” living down by the road. I’ve seen the babies playing beside the ditch.
Sunday morning about a half mile from home, we saw a fox in the middle of the road. Eventually, she trotted over to the ditch and disappeared into a culvert. I’m told that foxes are plentiful in this area, but we rarely see one. One more jewel in the crown of that particular day.
The other evening as we were enjoying our evening meal, I saw a young doe on our lower lawn. This was by the row of ash trees. I did a double take as I realized she was not alone. On either side of her stood a small fawn. I wanted to capture this scene for you, so I got up and walked briskly toward the office to retrieve the camera. I hadn’t gotten through the kitchen when I heard Sylvia say, “Don’t bother. They’ve gone.”
And now, so am I.
I’ve written about my foot problems before. The problems began when heavy-duty pain sent me to a podiatrist. After consultation and consideration, he did a bunionectomy on my right foot.
Two years later, I still had heavy-duty pain. Again we consulted. I considered that a fused joint will not result in pain. He did a joint fusion.
The pain did not get better. More consultation. This time my podiatrist removed the hardware that held my foot in place after the joint fusion.
While it is still early to make a definitive statement, early indications point to a happy outcome on this long path.
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve tried to keep my foot elevated and that is something I can’t do here in the office.
In the lovely morning light, I saw him. He was showing off his beautiful red tail atop a utility pole. I scurried to office to retrieve my camera as excitement filled my entire being. This would be the image to grace this blog and I was overdue for the next post.
I returned to the window with camera hanging around my neck. I carefully raised the blinds for an unimpeded view, turned on the camera and removed the lens cap. My hands were shaking. So bad I had to fight to brace the camera as I zoomed in on the subject. Beautiful!
My hands shook with excitement and I lost my subject. Zoom out. There he is. Carefully . . . very carefully . . . zoom in. Relax and control those tremors. Control the breathing. Gently brace the hands hold the framing and click.
Before I could finish my business, the hawk went about his. Perhaps there was a mouse that needed companionship or something. I don’t know. Life seems to work that way some days.
No chance to get a pic of the pair of eagles recently spotted. There are times when all you can do is enjoy the views. That’s okay by me.
They don’t all elude the camera. This shy guy didn’t. I had to ask Sylvia to refrain from cleaning around the window while I got the camera for this one.
After posing for this portrait, the wee one scampered away before Sylvia got there with a damp dust cloth in hand.
As we prepare to say goodbye to this year, here’s some of my favorite images from this blog during 2016.
The year started (January 2) with a celebration of seven years of Secondary Roads.
In January, the old windows came out of the office (left), which were replaced with new ones (right). Later, the rest of the windows would receive the same treatment.
Out with the old. In with the new.
Bleak February was made cheery by a visit from a good friend, Sharkey, of My Quality Day. Lots of music, singing, laughs and conversation ensued.
Relief came in sight as winter gave way to spring.
Basking in the afternoon sun.
Spring means rain, and spring rain means a mess on our secondary road. It is part of the life that we have chosen and that we love.
Big excitement in April as a tractor fire closed off the road into Ionia.
We made a pet of a hornet who stayed out of swatter reach. (Sadly, he died a week later.) It is just as well. Some folks could neither understand nor abide the thought of making a pet of such a critter. (We really never wanted to pet him.)
I posted many, many pictures of flowers. Sylvia and I enjoy them so much.
Our granddaughter bring us much joy. We’ve watched her become established in her career. This year, she began a Master’s program in Nursing Education.
Wildlife outnumbers humans in our part of the world.
Do you know what bugs me?
It is storms that blow down trees.
As Halloween approached, workers finished the window replacement project.
This year saw our garden flourish. We’ve never had such rich harvests of jalapeños, butternut squash, zucchini, etc.
It has been a full year and while we are reluctant to see it go, we eagerly look forward to what the new year holds.
Sylvia joins me in wishing you and yours a healthy, happy and prosperous 2017.
What do you do on a sleepless night (if you ever have one of those)? Recently I faced that situation. I ended up in the office and looked out at the sodium vapor light that illuminates our house and barn and at night.
My view of that light from the office is through the limbs of an apple tree that is not properly pruned. (If it bore good apples, I’d take the time and expend the effort to prune the tree for good production. I’ve done that before.)
On this particularly night we had received a light snow that had frosted the branches of the apple tree. It made for an interesting sight.
I processed the image with Photoshop Elements to get an image that is more like what my eye perceived. It is only an approximation.
Reminds me of a giant spider web. Or maybe it’s a mutant sponge.
I thought that flash might help so I tried using that. With this result:
All the beautiful colors went away. Some sparkles from ice appeared, but this image only leaves me feeling cold.
I’m happy to report that after a medication change, I’ve not had any sleepless nights for some time now. I like that better.
We experienced our first frost of the season last night. It was a hard one too. What’s a body to do? How about pitch a tent in the garden?
That’s what Sylvia and I did last evening as the sun was setting. Call it a science experiment. We are trying to keep our jalapeño plant alive until November 20. (Typical first frost date for this area is October 20.)
We’ll see how our pepper plant survived when the tent is gone. For my part, faith and hope continue . . .
It was late in the afternoon. Evening was coming on. Out over the nearby woods, fog began to form as the moist air began to cool.
Soon the sun was going down, the breeze stopped blowing, the earth was still. It was like a dream in orange.
I sat in my recliner and relaxed . . . Later I opened one eye and peeked out. It was like the foggy dream in orange was continuing.
No drugs involved and no brain cells were injured in this process.