Morning Report Friday Jan 19 What's In a Name

A bit chilly, downright cold actually this morning, tomorrow morning might be a bit colder even still. Warmup on the way after that it looks like. Both Eagle’s seemed just fine as they flew up and down the channel, eyeing the Ice Fisherman in case they offered them a snack. Heard some crows, not much else, some kind of Woodpecker back at the home feeder but I couldn’t make it out through my icy glasses.

We were talking about a name that makes the Junior appropriate in use yesterday. Grandpa’s middle name being Winthrop. His grandson took a liking to that and suggested that when and if he has a son, that will be his name? So what’s in a name and how special is a name? It’’s just a word, Right? Does the name determine who you will be, or do you shape the future of the name? What’s in a Name?

Morning Report Thursday Jan 18 Peace With A Purpose

Retirement has been considerably less conflicted than many of my years in the work world. I’m sure I cannot escape all conflict and I take the position that I probably wouldn’t want to anyhow. The mornings that we wake up to scenes like this one are not to be wasted. They are given to us so that we might enter into the world well fortified. The Gospel is not a sentence or command or request from God. It is a way of life offered to us by the One who knows the way. To Be the Gospel is to bring Peace to the places and people that are Peace Depleted.

One ancient place of No Peace was Ninevah. The prophet Jonah was called to go there and warn the inhabitants known for their wickedness that they were about to be exterminated. Jonah tried hard not to Be the Gospel, not to go. God sent him an Uber, and Jonah went for a whale of a ride, you might say.

And Jonahs message was accepted by the Wickeds. I think this disappointed Jonah more than anything. He seems to have wished for their destruction. But they picked up what Jonah was putting down and changed their ways.

I find so much in this ancient story for us today. Indulge me for a minute. I’ll play Jonah. I’m reluctant to enter into the world of Ninevah, or any place full of chaos and conflict. But God get’s me a ticket. And the story is off to the races at this point. I don’t think it will track Jonah’s perfectly, it may not have the same wonderful outcome. But we have to try. That’s the thing with God. He never quits loving us, even the wickedites among us. He might be a bit sneaky and love them even a bit more.

Here is a bit of the ancient story,

1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

Am I heading to Nineveh or Tarshish? It makes a difference. It sure did for Jonah, not to mention thousands of Ninevites. What are we waiting for?

Morning Report Wed Jan 17

Brisk morning, not much human activity, more Coytotes in fact. 3 of them. Two seemed to head off to the south shore across the ice. No eagles, heard some Junco’s, may have seen Blue Jay or two. Deb saw a lonely looking Goose later in the day. Coyotes seemed less averse to both of us got within 100 feet or so of her and a little more for me. One of them very close, the other two moving on sniffing around the lake edges and such.

Thursday Jan 11 Report

Getting Cold, quite cold. We walked the figure 8 loop, not too bad going south, but turn north and my face got some frost. Didn’t see much. Deb went up to the point and saw the last of the waterfowl. Sounds like it will be too cold to do much tomorrow. Wind chills minus 20 or more. Probably more. Some snow tonight. Bought some ARKA and GBTC today, interesting times for Bitcoin ETF’s. Snugging in to the house tonight through the extra cold weekend.

Jan 9 Morning Report

One cool and windy morning, felt like 3 or so. Maybe some BlueJays. Otherwise me, Bo and the Mrs walk along south lake in the deep drifts.

Jan 8 Late Morning Report

Took the south rout. A bit of snow this morning, more through the day. Didn’t see much for birds till we got up on the point, then a bunch of Geese and such. Did see one lone Robin in a small tree next to the south bridge. What was described as 3-6, 7-9 inches of snow is turning into a couple of inches. Maybe a large amount has fallen, but it has been melting with the mid 30s temps. So not a lot on the ground. Good thing I think, although kids are sledding down the hill and catching air.

Sunday Evening

Some nice sun on our walk this morning. We welcomed it since Monday looks to be a 6-9 inch snow storm, almost blizzard again. We saw lots of geese this morning and some 3 large flocks over the lake this afternoon. Mallards, Coots and the happy Mr. Bufflehead. No Eagles and maybe six or seven people. Pretty quiet. Things will change a fair bit, snow and cold coming in, next weekend maybe 30 degrees colder. Good day. Spring is a bit too far off, but you know, what you gonna do? Wait wait wait and try to be productive in the meantime.

Jan 6 Morning report

The day rise was pleasant and not too chilly, with light winds about 25 feels like. Both dogs walked well and Deb and I saw hundreds of birds, Geese, Shovelers, Mallards and a few Coots. No Raptors to speak of today. Quiet day otherwise.

Falls, Morning Report Jan 3

Falling to the floor or ground is not good. I learned over the years that the cause of death for most seniors is directly connected to falls, subsequent surgeries and short failed recovery’s.

I fell or tripped over Bo a couple of nights ago, not too bad, but jarring. Then I fell yesterday coming down the slope. Not bad, more a slip and soft landing. I almost fell on the rock path on the north side of the lake as we tried to get both dogs down the hill. They were tangled together, Debbie was unaware of the mixup and was heading down the hill in her usual speed. At the back was me, and two dogs being led down the hill at her speed, something I do not try to keep up with.

As it turns out, the anticipation of the impending fall was as traumatic as the fall could have been. I didn’t fall that time, but I feel more stress over it that other actual falls. Kind of a Pre-Fall traumatic stress. I think it affected me throughout the day. As I think about it today, a day later, I think it was a loss of control that pained me the most.

It reminds me of driving and being in control of the car wheel while your passenger is imagining the worst as you drive and they worry. They have little to no control, you have much more control. You don’t have total control, but you can live with that as long as you can see a clear path ahead. Your passenger lives with extra stress. This can be moderated, but often is left alone, to take its emotional toll on the pax.

I feel a lot better today. I think my hormones were in flight mode yesterday and they have gone back into their caves and allowed me to function with less brain fog. Feels good. I just need to keep everything under control today.

So back to the birds, the picture below shows where they are piling up, near the spillway on the dam. Shovlers, Bufflehead, Coots, Geese and Mallards. No breeze, felt like 16, not bad. We both wonder what keeps the birds from moving South, what trigger is needed to get them back into the air? Could it be the ice overtaking the water? We’ll see in the days ahead as it should be all ice soon.

Now or Never, Maybe!

There will be no improvement after you die. Things will forever remain where they were at that last moment. At least on this earth. You could go either way with this, you could say, well, what’s the use if I work hard to improve my knowledge base, and skill base? If I’m going to die and that is the end of the game, then why even keep score?

I get that, it doesn’t quite feel right, but I get it. It kind of makes sense. But it still doesn’t feel right to give up somewhere in time, long before your final time has come.

The other way is to enjoy the life of improvement, not worrying about the score a the end, but the playing of the game as long as you have the strength to compete. Compete with whom you might ask? Well I don’t know. Yourself, those who have gone before you a family member, your version of who you think you should be, some historic figure. I really don’t have anybody in mind that I want to live up to. I just want to be the best me along the way and have some fun while I’m tooling along. I want to get better, in every way.

Morning Report Jan 2

The lake ice was everywhere except along the dam today. That thin strip of open water was an airport for Waterfowl, Mallards, Shovelers, Geese, Rudy Ducks, Wood Ducks, Coots and the lone Bufflehead we’ve been seeing. We started our walk greeted by a Red Tail, ended nearly with seeing Abby, the female Eagle. She sat in the tree, south corner before the bridge, mostly motionless. The dogs got twisted up and nearly opened me on the rock path down the hill by the parking area north side. My head been woozy ever since, getting a bit better this afternoon. Too many noises feel like needles piercing my brain. Hopefully better this evening. Anyhow, lots and lots of birds in small spot.

Jan 1

“Of all people only those are at leisure who make time for philosophy, only they truly live. Not satisfied to merely keep good watch over their own days, they annex every age to their own. All the harvest of the past is added to their store. Only an ingrate would fail to see that these great architects of venerable thoughts were born for us and have designed a way of life for us.”

—Senica

Dec 30 Morning Report, evening edition

Beautiful morning and beautiful day, Christmas for us since Michael is back home. Nice gifts and spirit about the day, good games tonight. Both Eagles this morning, Bufflehead, quite a few of Shovelers, Mallards, Geese and a Grebe or two, Bluejays and Juncos. Sharpshinned hawk chasing Bluejays. Pretty calm, even though chilly. Beautiful sunrise. Kristy made a very nice Mexican meal for us and we gobbled it down. Lovely day.

Dec 28 Morning Report

Michael made it after some wild encounters on his trip from Florida. Got in last evening, settling down. Tucki taking well to the new place and faces. Took her around the lake this morning, did fine. Eagle, Red Tailed Hawk, Blue Jays, Geese, Mallards. Deb’s birthday tomorrow. We’re all in for some sleep here this morning, kind of mentally tuckered from the stress of his trip. Safe and Sound.

Morning Report Dec 26

About 11 last night Deb woke me up to come check out the commotion in the parking lot behind house. Looked like some drug use going on, LPD and ambulance took one fella away and his girlfriend. Pretty wild scene. Kept us up late so I slept in this morning as Debbie went for walk. She met up with Abby flying in front of her and Bo. Michael in Arkansas, west of Memphis, on i40. Not sure which way he is coming back, through the hills of Ark Ms, or take 40 out west and up west side of the two states. We’ll know soon enough I guess. I staying indoors pretty much all day yesterday, so I’m ready for some air.

Morning Report

So this is Christmas Eve. Abby was out as we headed around the South pond in light rain. No luck finding the nest, we should have known where it was but no dice. Lots of geese. Michael going through Tallahassee this morning on his way north by west. He slept in Walmart parking lot. We’re out for brunch with Kristy.

Report and Evening

Michael called early this morning while on our walk. Made it to Chiefland Florida this evening. Aiming for Arkansas tomorrow. Saw a Coopers Hawk this morning, Abby and Edward, Blue Jays, Coots, Mallara’s, what else? Watching Michaels progress today. See him soon. Made Pen for a friend for Christmas out of some Arizona desert wood, beautiful stuff. Key chain tomorrow for another friend. Looks like lots of rain in morning, might be a short walk. Winter Storm watch for Christmas on Monday, up to 6 inches of snow. Could be a white Christmas.

Evening Thought--Prospering In Place.

I have always loved the mountains. They were something of a sanctuary and a refuge. The stress of my work, was indeed, my stress, my work. A trip to the mountains could take away some of the pain and anxiety of that work. I gravitated to the mountains and always hoped to live near them, even in them.

Debbie never had the same ideas, like the need to get away and certainly the need to go to another state with satisfying mountains. So I made several trips over the years to the mountains, just me and my car. They were good, if not a bit lonely.

When I realized that I would probably never live in the mountains, I began to accept that fact, maybe some 20 years ago or so. In fact, I learned to bring the mountains to me, in the form of woodcrafts, and other vacations or staycations. What I was really learning was a sense of satisfaction no matter where I was and what I could do.

I was able to transfer the psychic energy of planning, dreaming and engaging with the mountains into other pursuits, closer to home. I’ve still made trips out west, deserts, mountains and the Pacific, but I was not in the same need of repair or level of repair after I made that change in mindset.

You might say I learned to find peace no matter where I was at. I actually think it’s more than that. I had to learn what made me search for that peace in the first place. I had to get in touch with my own pain and find out why I felt the pain and then find alternative and sometimes better ways of dealing with that pain. Many times, I didn’t deal with it well or at all, stuffing it, ignoring it, or suffering through it.

It’s taken me a year of walking around the lake out back to get a fuller measure of what this place has to hold for me and Debbie. It’s been an experiment in not running away, but prospering in place. Something I hope for others to learn.

Report

Warmer this morning, 40 or so, felt good enough to lighten the clothing a bit and leave the gloves at home. Felt just a little lighter, good feeling. Some fog, no sun, kind of gray, but zip in our step. We made it around pretty quickly, stopping to say hello to the doggy brigade on the north side. Michael called as we neared him with some bad news, hopefully turns into good news. Mallards, Geese, Blue Jays, Juncos, Coots and Mr. Bufflehead. Several calls to Michael, keep his spirits up. Christmas is near, he might be back in town soon. Hope so.