We awoke this morning to a white wonderland of snow covered trees, bushes and grass. On the flat parts of the land we seem to have about two inches of snow, but the real beauty is the covering of each tree branch or bush, even the grass stems have their own individual covering of snow. Surprisingly, even the barb wire fences are covered with a tube of snow . The oaks are the most spectacular, lacy white on the few leaves remaining and each branch defined, with the larger branches showing dark on their undersides. The juniper look more like the Christmas pictures with large lumps of snow clinging to them.
As we ate breakfast this morning before going to church we watched the birds out the side windows as they hopped about looking for seeds. I almost split my sides laughing as I watched a Lewis's woodpecker try to land in a bush. Of course it expected to land on the top of the snow and instead its feet went right in until they hit the branch. After a second or two of contemplation it took off in a flurry of snow from its wings to try for another branch with the same results. After about four tries it finally found a dry branch, rested for a minute of so then flew back into the oaks to land on a trunk and start pecking for bugs.
Meanwhile a scrub jay was digging for seeds, sending snow every which way as it dug through it to the ground. Over to the side a pair of juncos were hopping up and down next to a tall weed trying to knock seeds out of it. They finally gave up and just flew up to hang on the stem while they picked the seeds out from the dried flowers. The dried sunflowers are too covered with snow to get to the seeds, but often we see the small finches clinging to them as they bend over until the bird is upside down picking at the seed heads.
Susannah and I plowed out to the wood shop to check on the feral cat that I think has been living out there. Saw it a couple of days ago when it took off as I approached. Looked like a pretty, long haired, dark gray cat it it got cleaned up a bit. I have been leaving dried cat food under the shop and something has been eating it, but I haven't seen the cat again. Footprints in the snow this morning seem to indicate that it has been living under the RV and traveling to the wood shop for food. Guess we will keep leaving food for it in the hopes that we can eventually tame it a bit. Besides, we could sure use a few less mice out there. In fact Susannah caught a couple of rats out there. Either that or the mice have gotten into the steroids. No, not the black rats of the city, we have several varieties out here including kangaroo, pack, cotton, and probably a few others. Wouldn't mind something making a meal of the ground squirrel that is tunneling under the well house and RV pad. Might even tolerate a few coyotes for that.
Speaking of coyotes, they have been getting a bit bold lately. Even saw one right next to the RV where Susannah has her compost pile. Chaco saw it about the same time I did and took off after it like an arrow. Thought for sure he might get a bite of its tail since he is pretty fast, but apparently it was neck and neck to the fence line and then Chaco let it go. Maybe that will be enough to discourage it from coming around. Doubt it though, all the neighbors are reporting seeing them along with missing cats, dogs, and chickens. I understand their pelts bring around $40, so some of the locals might have a little extra Christmas cash.
We are also on the outlook for a large mountain lion. It is not to unusual to catch a glimpse of one now and then, or hear a howl, but this one seems to also be getting a bit bold. When one stops being shy, it can become a problem. At least one steer has been killed by it, so it kind of has a price on its head. I told Susannah to make sure and take the dog with her when she goes back into the woods and quite a few around here are carrying guns when they go into the woods for any reason. Personally I would rather avoid it then have a confrontation. I did some cat tracks that were pretty good size, maybe three inches across last year. Never decided whether they were lion of bob cat.
We let the fire go out in the stove last night, it got too hot in the house to be comfortable. Still it was 71 degrees inside when we got up this morning. But it is about time to relight it, sit back and watch it and the snow, and have a cup of hot tea. It feels good to relax and rest today. I will be putting up a new 43 foot high vertical antenna this coming week for the Ham radio and have been laying the radial wires for the ground plane the last couple of days. 32 wires each 65 foot long doesn't sound like much, but it is two thousand feet of wire that is now laying out there, and I am tired. So I shall say good afternoon, and go enjoy the fire.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Rat-a-tat-tat, we're here
Winter is trying hard to stick its nose under the door. It has been snowing all morning, although there is no accumulation. However, when the clouds cleared off the Manzano mountains, there is a lot of white up there. And of course it has turned colder, yet the oak trees are still holding on to a lot of their leaves. Today is a fine day to sit back and rest.
Seems like the last couple of days has been dominated by birds. Off to the side of our house, where we look when sitting at the breakfast table, I have let the grass (well, maybe weeds, but anything that turns green around here is grass) grow tall, tall enough that when birds are picking at seeds only their heads show. Mostly right now we have Steller's Jays, Western scrub jays, at least three Lewis's woodpecker, and one starving hawk.
I have seen the woodpeckers around from time to time all summer, beautiful birds with a russet belly and wings when they fly. But suddenly a couple of days ago they seemed to attack our well house. We watch three of them clinging to the stucco sides as they explored it. Later we though someone was knocking, but it turned out to be the three of them under our porch roof testing the plaster. Susannah chased them off and I haven't seen them again, but I suspect they will show up again in a day or two.
The Steller's jays are fantastic. If you have never seen one, you are missing a great sight. Backs, bellies, and wings are deep blue, the heads are black with golden eyes. Perhaps the most striking feature is the large crest they bear, it always reminds be of a an ancient Spartan soldier, or perhaps something from long ago. They are constantly flying in and out, then hopping through the oak trees, or searching the ground for seeds. We have counted at least 10 of them, and I suspect there are more.
The scrub jays are not as colorful, but also plentiful. Turns out the young may stay around for several years to help their parents raise subsequent broods. I suspect the Stellar's do the same. All in all it makes for a colorful display while we eat breakfast.
Yesterday we had an increase in activity with the arrival of either a coopers hawk or a sharp shinned hawk, haven't been able to identify which. He (or she) has been trying hard to make one of the jays into dinner. Because of its failure, I suspect it is young, but it hasn't failed for lack of trying. Given that the jays are about 12 inches long and the hawk is no more than 14 it has been an interesting contest. The jays pretty much ignore it unless it is actually chasing them, then the two go twisting and turning through the trees until the hawk gives up. Then everything is quiet for a few minutes followed by another swoop for supper, while the rest of the jays go on feeding on the ground. Well, just saw him chasing a jay in the woods on the other side of the house, which I can see from the computer. I know that most young hawks starve to death before they develop sufficient hunting skill, and I hope this one learns quickly. On the other hand I am a bit partial to the jays, hope he learns to catch mice.
We have a large "deck box" out behind the well house. It is about 6 foot long and a couple of feet wide and deep. Susannah keeps trash there until we take it to the dump. Last year it was pretty badly mauled by a bear and since then she has kept the garbage separate. Guess she left some veggie matter in it and we found it drug about 20 feet off to the side. Couldn't tell definitely what drug it; Susannah thinks it ws a bobcat, I still suspect a bear. I am dubious of my suspicions because I think a bear would have opened it (the last one did, in pieces!) and it maintained its integrity this time. On the other hand I can't see a bobcat going after veggie matter. I did find some scat that looked like bear scat not far away, full of acorn husks. Guess I will stick with the bear theory, with the addition that it probably wasn't very hungry.
The gas furnace, which we use for cold mornings has been turned off and the wood stove has been burning since yesterday keeping the hose a warm 80 degrees. Amber is asleep in her bed on the window sill next to me, Chaco is sleeping in front of the stove, and Oliver, the not so smart tom cat, is prowling around outside, or maybe hiding under the RV. At any rate he does not want to come in. Susannah is puttering around in the kitchen, and I think it is time for another lot into the stove and a snooze in the recliner in front of the stove. It may be winter outside, but the fire is cozy that the Laing tribe, New Mexico division, is at peace.
Hugs,
Mike L
Seems like the last couple of days has been dominated by birds. Off to the side of our house, where we look when sitting at the breakfast table, I have let the grass (well, maybe weeds, but anything that turns green around here is grass) grow tall, tall enough that when birds are picking at seeds only their heads show. Mostly right now we have Steller's Jays, Western scrub jays, at least three Lewis's woodpecker, and one starving hawk.
I have seen the woodpeckers around from time to time all summer, beautiful birds with a russet belly and wings when they fly. But suddenly a couple of days ago they seemed to attack our well house. We watch three of them clinging to the stucco sides as they explored it. Later we though someone was knocking, but it turned out to be the three of them under our porch roof testing the plaster. Susannah chased them off and I haven't seen them again, but I suspect they will show up again in a day or two.
The Steller's jays are fantastic. If you have never seen one, you are missing a great sight. Backs, bellies, and wings are deep blue, the heads are black with golden eyes. Perhaps the most striking feature is the large crest they bear, it always reminds be of a an ancient Spartan soldier, or perhaps something from long ago. They are constantly flying in and out, then hopping through the oak trees, or searching the ground for seeds. We have counted at least 10 of them, and I suspect there are more.
The scrub jays are not as colorful, but also plentiful. Turns out the young may stay around for several years to help their parents raise subsequent broods. I suspect the Stellar's do the same. All in all it makes for a colorful display while we eat breakfast.
Yesterday we had an increase in activity with the arrival of either a coopers hawk or a sharp shinned hawk, haven't been able to identify which. He (or she) has been trying hard to make one of the jays into dinner. Because of its failure, I suspect it is young, but it hasn't failed for lack of trying. Given that the jays are about 12 inches long and the hawk is no more than 14 it has been an interesting contest. The jays pretty much ignore it unless it is actually chasing them, then the two go twisting and turning through the trees until the hawk gives up. Then everything is quiet for a few minutes followed by another swoop for supper, while the rest of the jays go on feeding on the ground. Well, just saw him chasing a jay in the woods on the other side of the house, which I can see from the computer. I know that most young hawks starve to death before they develop sufficient hunting skill, and I hope this one learns quickly. On the other hand I am a bit partial to the jays, hope he learns to catch mice.
We have a large "deck box" out behind the well house. It is about 6 foot long and a couple of feet wide and deep. Susannah keeps trash there until we take it to the dump. Last year it was pretty badly mauled by a bear and since then she has kept the garbage separate. Guess she left some veggie matter in it and we found it drug about 20 feet off to the side. Couldn't tell definitely what drug it; Susannah thinks it ws a bobcat, I still suspect a bear. I am dubious of my suspicions because I think a bear would have opened it (the last one did, in pieces!) and it maintained its integrity this time. On the other hand I can't see a bobcat going after veggie matter. I did find some scat that looked like bear scat not far away, full of acorn husks. Guess I will stick with the bear theory, with the addition that it probably wasn't very hungry.
The gas furnace, which we use for cold mornings has been turned off and the wood stove has been burning since yesterday keeping the hose a warm 80 degrees. Amber is asleep in her bed on the window sill next to me, Chaco is sleeping in front of the stove, and Oliver, the not so smart tom cat, is prowling around outside, or maybe hiding under the RV. At any rate he does not want to come in. Susannah is puttering around in the kitchen, and I think it is time for another lot into the stove and a snooze in the recliner in front of the stove. It may be winter outside, but the fire is cozy that the Laing tribe, New Mexico division, is at peace.
Hugs,
Mike L
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Intrusions at the Hacienda, Redux
Lately several people have given me a hard time for not posting on this blog, so I guess I need to bring you up to date on the creatures that have been visiting our house over the last month or so.
This seems to have been a good year for reptiles of one sort or another. Some weeks ago Susannah reported that a lizard had skittered in through the front door and sequestered itself under the bookcase that stands next to the door. Not a problem, I just opened the front door and slid the bookcase in front of it so that our invader could escape. The only problem being that there was no invader under the book case.
For me, I wasn't too worried. I just figured that some of the spiders and other bugs that had been sneaking in to find a snack would find themselves on the the other end of the hunt. I did worry about what might happen if said lizard did not get enough to eat and expired under one of the cabinets, that could be a stinky situation.
Well, the spiders, the bugs, and I were all saved when I saw the tail sticking out from under the baseboard. A little prompting and said lizard ran under the bookshelf and then outside and off to the woods. Maybe it had noted our two cats that prowl the house and decided that there might be easier, or at least safer pickings elsewhere. I am still not sure what kind of lizard it was, certainly not one of our normal rail lizards. A friend said it was most likely a western skink that could grow as long as two feet. It certainly had a sinuous way of moving as it took off.
Speaking of rail lizards, would anyone like a few? Seems we have had a successful breeding season and everywhere I look there a one to two inch long rail lizards taking off for shelter. Cute little things. Guess by next year that will be considerably bigger.
Susannah is (IMHO) a bit of a mail tape freak. You know, that transparent tape about two inches wide. She patches everything with it, including ripped paper grocery bags which she keeps in the kitchen and uses for trash bags. That's for background. About a week ago I was working in the shop when she stuck her head in and innocently said, "when you come in, would you mind checking the birdbath and telling me what kind of snake is there?" It took a second for that question to register but I still caught up with her before she got back to the birdbath where a little, about 10 inch, garter snake was curled up in a bit of water. The story is that Susannah went to get one of the bags and apparently the snake had gotten into it, tried crawling over the sticky side of the exposed mailing tape and had its chin stuck to the tape. Susannah thought it was dead until the tail moved. Since it was obviously still wiggling she got a pair of gloves on, carefully peeled the snake off the tape and then decided it was probably dehydrated and so took it to the birdbath, turned it loose and added water. She says the snake seemed to enjoy the water and seemed to be drinking for quite a while. She also claims it had probably been there for a week because the cat had been nosing around that area with great interest for that long.
At any rate a small garter snake has now joined the bull snake released by my shop to chase mice. They should eat well.
Speaking of mice, we have finally begun to allow our younger tom cat to join our female cat for nightly hunts. The results have been interesting in the number of mice that have appeared on our door step. I never thought house cats co-operated in hunting, but I may have been wrong. Most nights they leave at least on, on often two midnight snacks on the welcome mat for us. This must be doing something to the mouse population. I also finally had to bend up some wire mesh to make a ladder out of the water bucket we leave out for the dog. Without that too many mice were falling in and drowning. The water bucket was in competition with the cats, and was coming in a very close second. I don't have a problem with the cats hunting them, but I didn't like the thought of them slowly downing when they couldn't get out. Guess I have been there once or twice and didn't like the experience at all.
So why no posts? Well, I do have a good reason. I have been feeling considerably better over the last couple of months and have been spending a lot of time in the wood shop getting it back in shape and starting on a few projects. First we had quite a bit of foam insulation left over from building the house, and I have been using it to insulate the shop. Then I started using some of the black walnut that I bought dirt cheap a couple of years ago to build a decent workbench. Yeah, I can hear the screams from those of you that know what 2 inch thick black walnut sells for when they hear I am making a workbench from it. But I managed to get 1,500 board feet at a dollar a foot, so it is the cheapest wood that I can get my hands on. Still, a black walnut workbench :).
I had to finish the bench because I had been using a stack of 4 X 8 foot foam insulation as a work bench, and I got a new table saw. The saw is bigger than my old one, and if I wanted to get into the shop and USE the new one, the foam had to go to give me space. The foam was supposed to go up into the rafters on the roof of the shop. However, I am facing the ridiculous situation that I can move a 400 lb table saw off the back of my pickup into the shop by myself, but can't hold a 4 lb piece of foam up on the ceiling long enough to secure it. Ripped rotor cuffs are a real pain even if not in the a*s!
So! Even though I am recovering from my various surgeries and beginning to do things again, I do end up very tired after just a few hours of work, and just haven't been able to generate the energy or enthusiasm to write for the blog. Actually, right now I am on vacation and sitting at my daughter's computer in Northern Virginia. Susannah and I will be out here for a bit over two weeks ending with a trip down to Norfolk for my 50 high school reunion. Good grief, a half century since I left high school. I don't guess I would ever have imagined what all would happen in those years, mostly because I never much thought about what might happen. Such is life.
Oh yes, one final critter invasion. A week or so before we left New Mexico, I notice that every so often a humming bird would stick its beak inside the shop door, not see any flowers and take off. Then one day one came in to really take a look around. Maybe it was my red shirt? Anyway it fell into the trap of thinking that escape meant go up, which does not work well in a building. I tried to chase it out to no avail, and eventually it arrived at the highest point, that being inside of the turbine vent in the roof. You know, those kind of round things that are on roofs that help pull the hot air out? Luckily it wasn't turning very fast but the poor critter looked a bit forlorn up there sitting on one of the struts slowly going in circles. So, go get the tall step ladder, climb up holding onto the loft structure and finally stick a hand up in the turbine, stopping it. After several tries the hummer landed on my index finger and on the first try I managed to grab him. One wing, one foot, and a long beak sticking out from between my fingers as I worked my way back down to the floor. Surprisingly not a wiggle out of the little creature, not a bit of a struggle. I kind of wondered if it had run out of fuel. Sometimes you find them sitting in the grass, exhausted, but if you pick them up and set them where they can get to some sugar water they refuel and off they go again. Not this one, I got to the door, opened my hand, it it was a straight 45 degree climb into the nearest tree! Good deed done for the day I went back to making sawdust :). Guess all the hummers will be gone by the time we get back to NM.
Well, that should catch everyone up with what is going on, and I will try to do better in the future, although I doubt if anyone will be seriously injured if I fail :)
Happy first day of spring, and peace to all.
Hugs,
Mike L
This seems to have been a good year for reptiles of one sort or another. Some weeks ago Susannah reported that a lizard had skittered in through the front door and sequestered itself under the bookcase that stands next to the door. Not a problem, I just opened the front door and slid the bookcase in front of it so that our invader could escape. The only problem being that there was no invader under the book case.
For me, I wasn't too worried. I just figured that some of the spiders and other bugs that had been sneaking in to find a snack would find themselves on the the other end of the hunt. I did worry about what might happen if said lizard did not get enough to eat and expired under one of the cabinets, that could be a stinky situation.
Well, the spiders, the bugs, and I were all saved when I saw the tail sticking out from under the baseboard. A little prompting and said lizard ran under the bookshelf and then outside and off to the woods. Maybe it had noted our two cats that prowl the house and decided that there might be easier, or at least safer pickings elsewhere. I am still not sure what kind of lizard it was, certainly not one of our normal rail lizards. A friend said it was most likely a western skink that could grow as long as two feet. It certainly had a sinuous way of moving as it took off.
Speaking of rail lizards, would anyone like a few? Seems we have had a successful breeding season and everywhere I look there a one to two inch long rail lizards taking off for shelter. Cute little things. Guess by next year that will be considerably bigger.
Susannah is (IMHO) a bit of a mail tape freak. You know, that transparent tape about two inches wide. She patches everything with it, including ripped paper grocery bags which she keeps in the kitchen and uses for trash bags. That's for background. About a week ago I was working in the shop when she stuck her head in and innocently said, "when you come in, would you mind checking the birdbath and telling me what kind of snake is there?" It took a second for that question to register but I still caught up with her before she got back to the birdbath where a little, about 10 inch, garter snake was curled up in a bit of water. The story is that Susannah went to get one of the bags and apparently the snake had gotten into it, tried crawling over the sticky side of the exposed mailing tape and had its chin stuck to the tape. Susannah thought it was dead until the tail moved. Since it was obviously still wiggling she got a pair of gloves on, carefully peeled the snake off the tape and then decided it was probably dehydrated and so took it to the birdbath, turned it loose and added water. She says the snake seemed to enjoy the water and seemed to be drinking for quite a while. She also claims it had probably been there for a week because the cat had been nosing around that area with great interest for that long.
At any rate a small garter snake has now joined the bull snake released by my shop to chase mice. They should eat well.
Speaking of mice, we have finally begun to allow our younger tom cat to join our female cat for nightly hunts. The results have been interesting in the number of mice that have appeared on our door step. I never thought house cats co-operated in hunting, but I may have been wrong. Most nights they leave at least on, on often two midnight snacks on the welcome mat for us. This must be doing something to the mouse population. I also finally had to bend up some wire mesh to make a ladder out of the water bucket we leave out for the dog. Without that too many mice were falling in and drowning. The water bucket was in competition with the cats, and was coming in a very close second. I don't have a problem with the cats hunting them, but I didn't like the thought of them slowly downing when they couldn't get out. Guess I have been there once or twice and didn't like the experience at all.
So why no posts? Well, I do have a good reason. I have been feeling considerably better over the last couple of months and have been spending a lot of time in the wood shop getting it back in shape and starting on a few projects. First we had quite a bit of foam insulation left over from building the house, and I have been using it to insulate the shop. Then I started using some of the black walnut that I bought dirt cheap a couple of years ago to build a decent workbench. Yeah, I can hear the screams from those of you that know what 2 inch thick black walnut sells for when they hear I am making a workbench from it. But I managed to get 1,500 board feet at a dollar a foot, so it is the cheapest wood that I can get my hands on. Still, a black walnut workbench :).
I had to finish the bench because I had been using a stack of 4 X 8 foot foam insulation as a work bench, and I got a new table saw. The saw is bigger than my old one, and if I wanted to get into the shop and USE the new one, the foam had to go to give me space. The foam was supposed to go up into the rafters on the roof of the shop. However, I am facing the ridiculous situation that I can move a 400 lb table saw off the back of my pickup into the shop by myself, but can't hold a 4 lb piece of foam up on the ceiling long enough to secure it. Ripped rotor cuffs are a real pain even if not in the a*s!
So! Even though I am recovering from my various surgeries and beginning to do things again, I do end up very tired after just a few hours of work, and just haven't been able to generate the energy or enthusiasm to write for the blog. Actually, right now I am on vacation and sitting at my daughter's computer in Northern Virginia. Susannah and I will be out here for a bit over two weeks ending with a trip down to Norfolk for my 50 high school reunion. Good grief, a half century since I left high school. I don't guess I would ever have imagined what all would happen in those years, mostly because I never much thought about what might happen. Such is life.
Oh yes, one final critter invasion. A week or so before we left New Mexico, I notice that every so often a humming bird would stick its beak inside the shop door, not see any flowers and take off. Then one day one came in to really take a look around. Maybe it was my red shirt? Anyway it fell into the trap of thinking that escape meant go up, which does not work well in a building. I tried to chase it out to no avail, and eventually it arrived at the highest point, that being inside of the turbine vent in the roof. You know, those kind of round things that are on roofs that help pull the hot air out? Luckily it wasn't turning very fast but the poor critter looked a bit forlorn up there sitting on one of the struts slowly going in circles. So, go get the tall step ladder, climb up holding onto the loft structure and finally stick a hand up in the turbine, stopping it. After several tries the hummer landed on my index finger and on the first try I managed to grab him. One wing, one foot, and a long beak sticking out from between my fingers as I worked my way back down to the floor. Surprisingly not a wiggle out of the little creature, not a bit of a struggle. I kind of wondered if it had run out of fuel. Sometimes you find them sitting in the grass, exhausted, but if you pick them up and set them where they can get to some sugar water they refuel and off they go again. Not this one, I got to the door, opened my hand, it it was a straight 45 degree climb into the nearest tree! Good deed done for the day I went back to making sawdust :). Guess all the hummers will be gone by the time we get back to NM.
Well, that should catch everyone up with what is going on, and I will try to do better in the future, although I doubt if anyone will be seriously injured if I fail :)
Happy first day of spring, and peace to all.
Hugs,
Mike L
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Intrusions at the Hacienda, Chapter 11
Kind of a surprise to look out the kitchen window and find this hansom fellow in the back yard, but that is life out here in New Mexico, you just never know what is going to happen next.
This view was, as usual for such events preceded by a surprised yell as I was relaxing at my computer enjoying a cup of coffee. Rushing out to see what disaster was threatening I was met by this beautiful horse and two of his buddies. Susannah had glanced out the window just in time to see the west end of this east bound creature go by, and thought it might be a neighbor coming to visit. Nope, just three unidentified horses that were enjoying the fresh grass in our back yard, having traveled down our 400 foot drive from the highway.
After getting this picture and several others (not as good) I realized that I had seen at least one of these fine specimens on some property up the road. We did know the owner of that property and so gave a call. Susannah got the owners son and when she described the three horses he recognized them as belonging to his sister and the two of them came over to retrieve them.
That was when the fun began. Apparently they much preferred the fresh grass of our yard to the hay that was offered to them to induce them to follow their owners home. Quite honestly, I just about laughed myself silly watching them try to round up even one of the horses. I remembered the "fun" several of us had trying to convince a young steer to move to a different pasture one time. We never did succeed, had to bring a real cowboy in on a horse to move that demented thing.
At last the black and white one was haltered and was last seen walking behind a slow moving pickup with its nose in a bag of oats and the son strolling along side of it hold the halter. We told them to take their time getting the other two, we didn't mind the loss of a little grass, but they said they would be right back as soon as they got that one home.
At that point I retreated to the house, still chuckling. On the other hand, I also remember the night I tried docking our 40 foot sailboat with a side wind and a whole party load of people on a boat next to our slip. Normally I had no trouble docking with grace, but no such luck with that group watching. In the end they took mercy on me, grabbed a tossed line and pulled me into the dock. So I decided that maybe they would have better luck with the last two horses if I didn't watch.
Susannah was not so nice and enjoyed watching the Chinese fire drill that apparently ensued when a bunch of people returned and tried to chase those ponies up the drive way. Eventually they made, and Susannah said they turned right at the highway and preceded to head home, about a quarter mile away. Must of done ok because the next day we drove by and they were happily grazing on their own property.
Another normal day at the hacienda. No, we really don't miss television, there is generally something more interesting going on around here, even if it just the humming bird fights at the feeders or the moon going down behind the mountains or maybe a coyote trotting across the yard going somewhere as straight as an arrow. Real excitement here is watching a thunderstorm come down from the mountains and head our way bring some much appreciated rain.
Ah, the sun is now behind the mountains, a soft breeze is blowing as things cool down, and the trees over in the oak grove are muttering and fussing before settling down. All is well.
Mike L
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Intrusions at the Hacienda
The last couple of days have been interesting in terms of the local wildlife. Day before yesterday I heard Susannah yelling in the living room and rushed to see what had happened. She had opened the door to go out, and for some reason a humming bird had flown in and headed for the window to go back out again. Unfortunately for the hummer the window was closed and before Susannah could do anything Amber, the cat, was up on the window sill, the bird was batted to the floor and the prcess of digestion started. I arrived in time to see the tail vanish. Amber was evicted since we figured the feathers were going to quickly come back up.
I hate to lose a hummer, although the truth is we have more than enough to feed two cats. Right now the population is high enough to go through about a half gallon of sugar water a day, and the consumption is increasing as the word gets out that high quality food is available at Mike and Susannah's place. Fascinating, two feeders, 8 spots to feed from total, and both birds are fighting for the same spot! While fascinating to watch, and really beautiful, they have no manners or social graces at all.
Right now we have green birds with black heads and red throats, but any time now the rufus birds will arrive in great numbers. They look like burnished pennies, bright copper with a red throat that seems to glow like a burning coal. Nope, manners are just as bad as their cousins, they are just prettier.
Then yesterday, as I struggled to wake up over my first cup of coffee while staring blearily at the computer screen in the study there was a a scream of "Michal, there's a snake in the door!" Now I admit, I wasn't quite fully awake, and I was trying to picture how a snake could be in the door. Perhaps embedded in the wood? Anyway I rushed to the living room, and from under the front door about a foot and a half of bull snake (also known as a gopher snake) tail twisted and turned. Opening the door, hoping not to hurt it, drug it inside where it tried to make an escape. No luck! We have laminated flooring, and apparently the stuff is just too slick for a snake to make progress, so mostly it just wiggled from side to side having no success in making progress.
I guess I should have grabbed my camera and gotten some pictures since it was pretty young, only about 2.5 feet long, and its skin was bright and shinny. I suspect if we really looked around we could find the skin that it had probably just shed. Oh well, forgot about that as I put on a pair of gloved and finally managed to pick it up despite the fact that it was moving as fast as it could, but not going anywhere. I don't mind handling non-poisonous snakes but do take the precaution of wearing gloves just in case they get too frightened and try biting when first picked up. Generally they settle down in just a minute or two and after that are safe to handle.
No problem with this one, it had a one track mind and that was to go someplace else. So we carried it out into the woods where I hope it can escape both cats and dogs. And as we walked along it found it could move in my gloved hands and so headed out, from one hand to another as fast as it could go, probably about as fast as I was walking had it been on the ground. When we reached the woods near my work shop I let it go onto the ground and it kept on going as fast as it could into the trees and grass, hopefully to grow a bit and keep the mouse population down a bit. Most likely it will also have an effect on the grasshoppers, the lizards, and best of all, on other snakes. Rattle snakes have not been seen around our property, but they are most certainly in our area, so the production of bull snakes is highly encouraged.
As I watched out the window this morning while exercising, the dog and the phoebes were competing to see who could catch and eat the most bugs. At least I guess that was what they were eating. Chaco just gobbles them up, the phoebe would catch one, go bang it on a rock and then either eat it or take it up to the nest. Haven't poked my head up to see if it was feeding its mate or newly hatched chicks. Since I generally see only one at a time out, I suspect that they are still next sitting. They present quite a drama as they swoop and then hoover, standing still in the air, then dropping to grab a bug. Or sometimes swooping down to catch one out of the air. Between them and the humming birds I sometimes wonder if it is safe to walk out onto the pourch. I can picture one of them stuck in me like a arrow in a tree.
I wonder what I next adventure with the local wildlife will be.
Hugs,
Mike L
I hate to lose a hummer, although the truth is we have more than enough to feed two cats. Right now the population is high enough to go through about a half gallon of sugar water a day, and the consumption is increasing as the word gets out that high quality food is available at Mike and Susannah's place. Fascinating, two feeders, 8 spots to feed from total, and both birds are fighting for the same spot! While fascinating to watch, and really beautiful, they have no manners or social graces at all.
Right now we have green birds with black heads and red throats, but any time now the rufus birds will arrive in great numbers. They look like burnished pennies, bright copper with a red throat that seems to glow like a burning coal. Nope, manners are just as bad as their cousins, they are just prettier.
Then yesterday, as I struggled to wake up over my first cup of coffee while staring blearily at the computer screen in the study there was a a scream of "Michal, there's a snake in the door!" Now I admit, I wasn't quite fully awake, and I was trying to picture how a snake could be in the door. Perhaps embedded in the wood? Anyway I rushed to the living room, and from under the front door about a foot and a half of bull snake (also known as a gopher snake) tail twisted and turned. Opening the door, hoping not to hurt it, drug it inside where it tried to make an escape. No luck! We have laminated flooring, and apparently the stuff is just too slick for a snake to make progress, so mostly it just wiggled from side to side having no success in making progress.
I guess I should have grabbed my camera and gotten some pictures since it was pretty young, only about 2.5 feet long, and its skin was bright and shinny. I suspect if we really looked around we could find the skin that it had probably just shed. Oh well, forgot about that as I put on a pair of gloved and finally managed to pick it up despite the fact that it was moving as fast as it could, but not going anywhere. I don't mind handling non-poisonous snakes but do take the precaution of wearing gloves just in case they get too frightened and try biting when first picked up. Generally they settle down in just a minute or two and after that are safe to handle.
No problem with this one, it had a one track mind and that was to go someplace else. So we carried it out into the woods where I hope it can escape both cats and dogs. And as we walked along it found it could move in my gloved hands and so headed out, from one hand to another as fast as it could go, probably about as fast as I was walking had it been on the ground. When we reached the woods near my work shop I let it go onto the ground and it kept on going as fast as it could into the trees and grass, hopefully to grow a bit and keep the mouse population down a bit. Most likely it will also have an effect on the grasshoppers, the lizards, and best of all, on other snakes. Rattle snakes have not been seen around our property, but they are most certainly in our area, so the production of bull snakes is highly encouraged.
As I watched out the window this morning while exercising, the dog and the phoebes were competing to see who could catch and eat the most bugs. At least I guess that was what they were eating. Chaco just gobbles them up, the phoebe would catch one, go bang it on a rock and then either eat it or take it up to the nest. Haven't poked my head up to see if it was feeding its mate or newly hatched chicks. Since I generally see only one at a time out, I suspect that they are still next sitting. They present quite a drama as they swoop and then hoover, standing still in the air, then dropping to grab a bug. Or sometimes swooping down to catch one out of the air. Between them and the humming birds I sometimes wonder if it is safe to walk out onto the pourch. I can picture one of them stuck in me like a arrow in a tree.
I wonder what I next adventure with the local wildlife will be.
Hugs,
Mike L
Friday, May 29, 2009
Yes, We Had No Rain Today
For several days now the weather forecast has been for thundershowers, but the reality has been rather disappointing. The mornings have been beautiful, with wonderful blue skies that slowly grows a few fluffy clouds that shine with summer whiteness. They grow and late afternoon they begin to glower with the threat of rain that is all bluff.
Slowly they drift to the east with nary a drop of water falling to earth. Ah, but that doesn't mean it didn't rain. The clouds get heavy with water and finally begin to leak and you can see the dark drift of rain falling from them, but it never reaches the earth. The air is as dry as the ground, and greedily absorbs the moister evaporating it before it can reach the thirsty earth. Perhaps tonight, or maybe tomorrow morning more clouds will pass and will be more generous.
Yeah, those little wisps coming down from the clouds in the middle and right of the picture are the virga. Perhaps as they move east the rain will intensify sufficiently for a few drops to fall, what we call a 4 inch rain, one drop every four inches.
I won't complain too much, we have had several heavy showers, and things are turning green and some of the wild flowers are beginning to crop up. And we still have a couple of more days of forecast showers, so perhaps we shall be lucky and God will bless us with a good deluge or two.
Mike L
Slowly they drift to the east with nary a drop of water falling to earth. Ah, but that doesn't mean it didn't rain. The clouds get heavy with water and finally begin to leak and you can see the dark drift of rain falling from them, but it never reaches the earth. The air is as dry as the ground, and greedily absorbs the moister evaporating it before it can reach the thirsty earth. Perhaps tonight, or maybe tomorrow morning more clouds will pass and will be more generous.
Yeah, those little wisps coming down from the clouds in the middle and right of the picture are the virga. Perhaps as they move east the rain will intensify sufficiently for a few drops to fall, what we call a 4 inch rain, one drop every four inches.
I won't complain too much, we have had several heavy showers, and things are turning green and some of the wild flowers are beginning to crop up. And we still have a couple of more days of forecast showers, so perhaps we shall be lucky and God will bless us with a good deluge or two.
Mike L
A Bit of Wimsey
Susannah decided to lighten up my life an early Father's Day gift and so now I have a group of Kokopellis climbing up my wall.
There is some mystery about just who or what Kokopelli is, and I think that while we were volunteering at an archeological park in Arizona we heard most of them. In general he is considered to be a fertility symbol, and some think that the basis may have been traveling traders that announced their arrival by playing the flute thereby hoping to avoid being greeted as an enemy with a flight of arrows. Of course, all the traveling salesmen jokes would apply to this inturpretation. In any case, he is generally thought of as kind of a tricktster playing jokes and is associated with livelyness and fun.
On the other hand Oliver, who considers himself editor in chief and prefers to hang around Susannah's desk since it is normally neater than mine, much prefers a quieter surrounding. He refused to comment vocally on my new decoration by never the less managed to express his opinion.
Oh well, I long ago learned to let sleeping dogs lie, and since Oliver has joined our family I am also learning to leave sleeping cats lie. Turns out they are much better armed then dogs and more difficult to disengage from when they grab you with their claws.
Oh yes, I am taking sleeping lessons from Oliver, but don't believe that I shall ever achieve the mastery that he has managed to acquire.
Mike L
There is some mystery about just who or what Kokopelli is, and I think that while we were volunteering at an archeological park in Arizona we heard most of them. In general he is considered to be a fertility symbol, and some think that the basis may have been traveling traders that announced their arrival by playing the flute thereby hoping to avoid being greeted as an enemy with a flight of arrows. Of course, all the traveling salesmen jokes would apply to this inturpretation. In any case, he is generally thought of as kind of a tricktster playing jokes and is associated with livelyness and fun.
On the other hand Oliver, who considers himself editor in chief and prefers to hang around Susannah's desk since it is normally neater than mine, much prefers a quieter surrounding. He refused to comment vocally on my new decoration by never the less managed to express his opinion.
Oh well, I long ago learned to let sleeping dogs lie, and since Oliver has joined our family I am also learning to leave sleeping cats lie. Turns out they are much better armed then dogs and more difficult to disengage from when they grab you with their claws.
Oh yes, I am taking sleeping lessons from Oliver, but don't believe that I shall ever achieve the mastery that he has managed to acquire.
Mike L
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Of Cats and Dogs
While I am posting pictures, thought I would post a few of the "family" although you will have to wait for a good picture of Susannah. The first picture is of Amber, the cat that adopted us down in Texas by crawling out from under an RV and literally wrapping herself around my ankle. I caught this picture of her "the morning after the night before" that she decided not to come in and spent the night out.
I think it is pretty obvious that she really enjoyed herself.
Our other cat is Oliver, and we saw him up for adoption at PetSmart. Amber does not like to sit on laps, and her purr is so quiet that most of the time I can't hear it even when holding her. So when they said that Oliver loved to sit in laps and purrs loud we paid the fee and took him. He does like to roll in the dirt.
They were half right, he purrs loud, but only sits on your lap when HE wants to.
The brown lump is not really eating my slipper, he is just resting his head on it. That is Chaco, and I met him when Susannah and I were shopping and they had an adoption fair outside the store. This was just after my radiation treatment so she told me to go look at the dogs while she went in and shopped. When she came out Chaco was sitting with his head in my lap, and I could read Susannah's lips as she said "OH! S**T!" He has turned out to be a wonderful dog, and after about 9 months even Susannah has found she likes him. But I probably will never get a picture of Chaco sleeping with his head on HER foot :).
Oh, the big lump sitting in the chair is me relaxing in front of the wood stove on a cold night with my admirers around me.
I think it is pretty obvious that she really enjoyed herself.
Our other cat is Oliver, and we saw him up for adoption at PetSmart. Amber does not like to sit on laps, and her purr is so quiet that most of the time I can't hear it even when holding her. So when they said that Oliver loved to sit in laps and purrs loud we paid the fee and took him. He does like to roll in the dirt.
They were half right, he purrs loud, but only sits on your lap when HE wants to.
The brown lump is not really eating my slipper, he is just resting his head on it. That is Chaco, and I met him when Susannah and I were shopping and they had an adoption fair outside the store. This was just after my radiation treatment so she told me to go look at the dogs while she went in and shopped. When she came out Chaco was sitting with his head in my lap, and I could read Susannah's lips as she said "OH! S**T!" He has turned out to be a wonderful dog, and after about 9 months even Susannah has found she likes him. But I probably will never get a picture of Chaco sleeping with his head on HER foot :).
Oh, the big lump sitting in the chair is me relaxing in front of the wood stove on a cold night with my admirers around me.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Mini-Vacations
I often complain that one of the bad things about being retired is that Susannah and I seldom manage to get a vacation. Some people might think that everyday is a vacation once retired, but believe me, it just isn't so. This spring we decided that we would break the habit and take a four day vacation and go north of the border, New Mexico/Colorado, that is and spend some time at Pogosa Springs and spend some time soaking in the hot springs there, enjoying some excellent food, and giving me a chance to try out my new camera. I could complain that we picked the wrong days to go given the rainy weather, but last time we went we had sleet, freezing rain, and snow. So this trip might be considered an improvement, although the snow was rather beautiful and it fun to sit in a hot spring and have the snow falling around you.
When we left Tuesday morning it was a beautiful day with blue skies and just a few clouds drifting across the heavens. It was also warm enough to cut the air conditioner on from time to time. The first part of the trip was through the high planes and then into more desert like surroundings, and at one point we cross a massive volcanic dike where magma surged up through a crack in the surface of the earth many centuries ago. As the ground has weathered away it has left what looks like, to me at least, a dragon laying across the desert, or perhaps an "earth" serpent swimming through the sands and rocks of the area.
So I stopped the car and produced the above picture. Not shown is the fact that on the right side of the rode the dike continues off to the horizon. You can click on any of these images to get a much higher resolution image.
After a restful stop for lunch in Espanola we continued north climbing in elevation and moved into the red rock area near Ghost Ranch. Someday I am going to have to take a day to go up there and just take pictures. As it was the sky was starting to spit rain drops, and while not really a rain it was apparently enough water flow to prompt the request for a pit stop, and being the good husband that I am we turned off for a short trip to the visitor center at Lake Abiquiu. Not one to pass up a chance we did manage to get this picture.
Ah, the black marks give away the secret that these are really composite pictures made up of several individual prints and then stitched together to make one big picture.
At any rate we arrived about 4:00 pm, settled in, soaked, then had dinner and soaked and then collapsed into bed. The next morning we walked across the foot bridge over the San Juan river and I decided to see how well I could manage to picture the area where they have the hot tubs. This was the result, and I can see that I need to be more careful to fill in the gaps.
The resolution in the original is just about good enough to tell which of the women are wearing bikinis, so I am a bit disappointed in how they are coming out in this posting.
For one final picture, we drove up to the top of Wolf Creek Pass where it crosses the Continental Divide. And here I made a big photographic mistake. I decided to wait until we came back before taking some pictures of the mountains, and by the time we returned the clouds had set in and rain obscured them from view. Oh well, I did take this one on the way down, and it gives you some idea of the park like effect in that area. And here it is!
Friday morning again dawned with lots of clouds and rain, so I did not even try to get back up there for more pictures. Maybe sometime in the future.
We took it slow this trip, and it paid in terms of being more relaxed and an incredible 33 mpg average over the trip. Anyone who tells you that their mileage is as good at 65 as it is at 55 is either lying or hasn't tried it. Our dog was glad to see us again, he hasn't hardly left my side since we have gotten home. The cats, however, are still somewhat pissed, but at least amber is not swatting at us every time we go by.
Ok, the field is open for criticism and advice on how to take, process, and post pictures here in blogdom. Feel free
Mike L
When we left Tuesday morning it was a beautiful day with blue skies and just a few clouds drifting across the heavens. It was also warm enough to cut the air conditioner on from time to time. The first part of the trip was through the high planes and then into more desert like surroundings, and at one point we cross a massive volcanic dike where magma surged up through a crack in the surface of the earth many centuries ago. As the ground has weathered away it has left what looks like, to me at least, a dragon laying across the desert, or perhaps an "earth" serpent swimming through the sands and rocks of the area.
So I stopped the car and produced the above picture. Not shown is the fact that on the right side of the rode the dike continues off to the horizon. You can click on any of these images to get a much higher resolution image.
After a restful stop for lunch in Espanola we continued north climbing in elevation and moved into the red rock area near Ghost Ranch. Someday I am going to have to take a day to go up there and just take pictures. As it was the sky was starting to spit rain drops, and while not really a rain it was apparently enough water flow to prompt the request for a pit stop, and being the good husband that I am we turned off for a short trip to the visitor center at Lake Abiquiu. Not one to pass up a chance we did manage to get this picture.
Ah, the black marks give away the secret that these are really composite pictures made up of several individual prints and then stitched together to make one big picture.
At any rate we arrived about 4:00 pm, settled in, soaked, then had dinner and soaked and then collapsed into bed. The next morning we walked across the foot bridge over the San Juan river and I decided to see how well I could manage to picture the area where they have the hot tubs. This was the result, and I can see that I need to be more careful to fill in the gaps.
The resolution in the original is just about good enough to tell which of the women are wearing bikinis, so I am a bit disappointed in how they are coming out in this posting.
For one final picture, we drove up to the top of Wolf Creek Pass where it crosses the Continental Divide. And here I made a big photographic mistake. I decided to wait until we came back before taking some pictures of the mountains, and by the time we returned the clouds had set in and rain obscured them from view. Oh well, I did take this one on the way down, and it gives you some idea of the park like effect in that area. And here it is!
Friday morning again dawned with lots of clouds and rain, so I did not even try to get back up there for more pictures. Maybe sometime in the future.
We took it slow this trip, and it paid in terms of being more relaxed and an incredible 33 mpg average over the trip. Anyone who tells you that their mileage is as good at 65 as it is at 55 is either lying or hasn't tried it. Our dog was glad to see us again, he hasn't hardly left my side since we have gotten home. The cats, however, are still somewhat pissed, but at least amber is not swatting at us every time we go by.
Ok, the field is open for criticism and advice on how to take, process, and post pictures here in blogdom. Feel free
Mike L
Monday, May 11, 2009
Talking Trees
The oak trees on the south side of our house are having a discussion. I can watch them out the side window as I write this, and I am pretty sure they are discussing whether the weather man is wrong about rain this afternoon. As the breeze blows through their tops, they lean over and whisper to one another about the clouds that are drifting over us from the Manzano Mountains to the West. Our tree-rex lives in that particular patch of oaks. He is a branch that sticks up above the others and looks like a T-Rex with its mouth open. This will be the third year that he has been with us and today he seems quite vocal. Right now he is a bit spotty, but I think he will take on more substance as the leaves continue to come out. Guess he likes it here, and I enjoy watching him.
This morning dawned with a blanket of clouds covering us and going right up to the mountains. There a bit of sunlight managed to sneak through to light a strip of green just below the tops that were hidden in the soft white. The day tossed the blanket off and the sky has been mostly clear, just a few white flecks punctuating the blue to give it character. But now as the sun sets the clouds are forming again, and I can see rain falling from them in places. But alas, it will not reach the ground. The air here is dry, and I can watch the rain vanish into the air as it drops toward the thirsty earth. Our here they call it virga or Katchina hair. We often watch it sweep over us, with maybe a drop or two reaching us. We often get six inch rains, that is one drop every six inches.
Our phoebes, the birds nesting in the corner of the porch, have stopped their frantic activity. I think that they have finished upgrading the nest for the spring, and are probably now sitting on eggs, or laying them. Susannah has been moving the yard around and has moved the garden cart which was a favorite spot for them to stop at before entering the nest. It was funny to watch one of them land on a tire when the cart was overturned and have the wheel ever so slowly turn until they had to hop a bit to stay on top. I wonder how many families they will raise this year. Last year we think they raised two, three the year before. We pretty much leave them alone since we wouldn't want to be disturber all the time either.
The moon has been full, and that means both of our cats would love to spend the night outdoors. We try not to let them, owls and coyotes take their toll and we would kind of like to keep the cats around for a while. But night before last Amber refused to come in, running across the yard at full speed, then hiding in a bush only to dash back to pounce on a grasshopper, or maybe just a stick. She always comes around when we call her, I think to let us know her intention, then vanishes if she has decided to stay out for the night. I was up early yesterday and here she came, walking across the yard, tail high in greeting, ready for me to open the door and let her in. Breakfast first, then she retired to our bed for the day, one paw across her eyes to keep the light out. Don't know what she did over night, but she sure looked like "the morning after the night before." Been kind of quiet since then.
The sun is behind the mountains now, and peacefulness seems to be sweeping over the high plains. There are still patches of blue sky to the east, but mostly slate colored. Over head the virga looks white and twisty, and when I stuck my head out the door there is a warm breeze blowing from the mountains, but the trees remain still. Our tom cat, Oliver, is sleeping in his bed on the desk next to me and all is well. It has been a good day. I did some work in the wood shop, then did my exercise, and now having had dinner I am ready to rest for the evening. Perhaps a soak in the hot tub on the porch, looking at the starts are the lights of airplanes, and then to bed, preparing for another day tomorrow.
Hugs to all,
Mike L
This morning dawned with a blanket of clouds covering us and going right up to the mountains. There a bit of sunlight managed to sneak through to light a strip of green just below the tops that were hidden in the soft white. The day tossed the blanket off and the sky has been mostly clear, just a few white flecks punctuating the blue to give it character. But now as the sun sets the clouds are forming again, and I can see rain falling from them in places. But alas, it will not reach the ground. The air here is dry, and I can watch the rain vanish into the air as it drops toward the thirsty earth. Our here they call it virga or Katchina hair. We often watch it sweep over us, with maybe a drop or two reaching us. We often get six inch rains, that is one drop every six inches.
Our phoebes, the birds nesting in the corner of the porch, have stopped their frantic activity. I think that they have finished upgrading the nest for the spring, and are probably now sitting on eggs, or laying them. Susannah has been moving the yard around and has moved the garden cart which was a favorite spot for them to stop at before entering the nest. It was funny to watch one of them land on a tire when the cart was overturned and have the wheel ever so slowly turn until they had to hop a bit to stay on top. I wonder how many families they will raise this year. Last year we think they raised two, three the year before. We pretty much leave them alone since we wouldn't want to be disturber all the time either.
The moon has been full, and that means both of our cats would love to spend the night outdoors. We try not to let them, owls and coyotes take their toll and we would kind of like to keep the cats around for a while. But night before last Amber refused to come in, running across the yard at full speed, then hiding in a bush only to dash back to pounce on a grasshopper, or maybe just a stick. She always comes around when we call her, I think to let us know her intention, then vanishes if she has decided to stay out for the night. I was up early yesterday and here she came, walking across the yard, tail high in greeting, ready for me to open the door and let her in. Breakfast first, then she retired to our bed for the day, one paw across her eyes to keep the light out. Don't know what she did over night, but she sure looked like "the morning after the night before." Been kind of quiet since then.
The sun is behind the mountains now, and peacefulness seems to be sweeping over the high plains. There are still patches of blue sky to the east, but mostly slate colored. Over head the virga looks white and twisty, and when I stuck my head out the door there is a warm breeze blowing from the mountains, but the trees remain still. Our tom cat, Oliver, is sleeping in his bed on the desk next to me and all is well. It has been a good day. I did some work in the wood shop, then did my exercise, and now having had dinner I am ready to rest for the evening. Perhaps a soak in the hot tub on the porch, looking at the starts are the lights of airplanes, and then to bed, preparing for another day tomorrow.
Hugs to all,
Mike L
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Byzantine Mass
Susannah and I did something a bit different this Sunday. Instead of attending mass at our normal parish we drove into Albuquerque and attended a Byzantine mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Byzantine Catholic Church. Many of us in the Latin rite of the Catholic Church are unaware of the rich diversity in the Catholic Church that exists in the Eastern Rite churches. For those that are not aware of these Churches, be assured that Latin rite members are welcome there as they are welcome in our churches. We are free to go to receive communion, go to confession, and attending mass fulfills our Sunday obligation. So no, we did not miss mass this Sunday :)
Since neither Susannah or I have attended a Byzantine rite mass in decades, we pretty much watched what others were doing and followed. You know, when in Rome do as ..., or in this case when in Constantinople do as the ...
The first thing we noticed on entering the church was the alter. Set up on a platform with a screen separating it from the rest of the Church it faced in the ad orientum direction, that is the priest would have his back to us. The screen had three doors, one in the middle about wide enough for two people to stand in, and one on either side. The screen was hung with beautiful icons, as were the walls of the church.
The second thing noticed was no kneelers. In the Byzantine rite you are either standing or sitting, you do not kneel. Kneeling has a different meaning in the east. On that note, you do not genuflect when entering the pew, but rather perform a deep bow toward the alter and cross yourself.
I am really not going to describe the mass, the liturgy is far more elaborate than that of the Latin rite. I think we had about the bare minimum number of people on the alter, 4 pre-teen alter boys, two young adult alter boys, two deacons, and the priest. There was also a candle bearer that showed up while the Gospel was read and at other important parts of the mass. There was also a cantor that chanted the Epistle and an excellent choir. All this in a church that probably would not have held 150 people!
I believe there were four processions, and I lost count of how many times the deacons incensed the alter, the church, and the congregation. Do not go to one of these masses if you are allergic to incense. The Gospel was not read, it was chanted, and chanted clearly enough that I didn't need my hearing aids.
Some things that stick in my mind. At several points the deacons would leave the priest's side, come out the side doors, move to the center and facing the congregation one would chant "WISDOM" and the other would then chant "BE ATTENTIVE". Their voices were deep, and I certainly took notice. From time to time they would change and the first would chant "BE ATTENTIVE" and the other would follow with "WISDOM".
Prayers were chanted, the responses were chanted by the congregation. Most of the prayers were recognizable, and the order of the mass was not a lot different than in the Latin rite, but different enough and longer so that I knew I was someplace different than normal. I found it very soul satisfying.
Receiving the Communion was quite different. The hosts are cubes of bread that are added to the chalice. Each person goes forward with hands crossed over their breasts, opens their mouth and the host soaked in wine is placed in their mouth with a golden spoon. I should also mention that in the Eastern rites children receive first communion with baptism, and while I knew this, it was still a surprise to see infants carried by their mother receive communion just like the adults.
I also want to mention that the sermon, while long did not seem so, and was one of the best I have heard in years and was given by the deacon. As mass ended I was shocked to realize that it had lasted for a few minutes short of 2 hours.
As an after note, I was talking to the priest after mass and he asked how I liked the sermon. I told him that I thought it was excellent, and asked if it was always of that quality. His replay was "well, I normal preach, so you will have to ask someone else." Oh well, we shall be going back from time to time when our need for solemnity gets the better of us, so I guess I will find out :).
I was going to say that if you get the chance to attend an Eastern rite mass, don't pass it up. I won't say that, I will say instead make the effort to find one and attend it. There are many Eastern Rite churches in union with Rome, each a bit different, but all having rich liturgies that are beautiful. I should mention that the Orthodox Churches have the same liturgies, but are not in union with Rome, so are not appropriate for Catholics to attend.
Come, explore the richness and diversity of the Catholic Church.
Since neither Susannah or I have attended a Byzantine rite mass in decades, we pretty much watched what others were doing and followed. You know, when in Rome do as ..., or in this case when in Constantinople do as the ...
The first thing we noticed on entering the church was the alter. Set up on a platform with a screen separating it from the rest of the Church it faced in the ad orientum direction, that is the priest would have his back to us. The screen had three doors, one in the middle about wide enough for two people to stand in, and one on either side. The screen was hung with beautiful icons, as were the walls of the church.
The second thing noticed was no kneelers. In the Byzantine rite you are either standing or sitting, you do not kneel. Kneeling has a different meaning in the east. On that note, you do not genuflect when entering the pew, but rather perform a deep bow toward the alter and cross yourself.
I am really not going to describe the mass, the liturgy is far more elaborate than that of the Latin rite. I think we had about the bare minimum number of people on the alter, 4 pre-teen alter boys, two young adult alter boys, two deacons, and the priest. There was also a candle bearer that showed up while the Gospel was read and at other important parts of the mass. There was also a cantor that chanted the Epistle and an excellent choir. All this in a church that probably would not have held 150 people!
I believe there were four processions, and I lost count of how many times the deacons incensed the alter, the church, and the congregation. Do not go to one of these masses if you are allergic to incense. The Gospel was not read, it was chanted, and chanted clearly enough that I didn't need my hearing aids.
Some things that stick in my mind. At several points the deacons would leave the priest's side, come out the side doors, move to the center and facing the congregation one would chant "WISDOM" and the other would then chant "BE ATTENTIVE". Their voices were deep, and I certainly took notice. From time to time they would change and the first would chant "BE ATTENTIVE" and the other would follow with "WISDOM".
Prayers were chanted, the responses were chanted by the congregation. Most of the prayers were recognizable, and the order of the mass was not a lot different than in the Latin rite, but different enough and longer so that I knew I was someplace different than normal. I found it very soul satisfying.
Receiving the Communion was quite different. The hosts are cubes of bread that are added to the chalice. Each person goes forward with hands crossed over their breasts, opens their mouth and the host soaked in wine is placed in their mouth with a golden spoon. I should also mention that in the Eastern rites children receive first communion with baptism, and while I knew this, it was still a surprise to see infants carried by their mother receive communion just like the adults.
I also want to mention that the sermon, while long did not seem so, and was one of the best I have heard in years and was given by the deacon. As mass ended I was shocked to realize that it had lasted for a few minutes short of 2 hours.
As an after note, I was talking to the priest after mass and he asked how I liked the sermon. I told him that I thought it was excellent, and asked if it was always of that quality. His replay was "well, I normal preach, so you will have to ask someone else." Oh well, we shall be going back from time to time when our need for solemnity gets the better of us, so I guess I will find out :).
I was going to say that if you get the chance to attend an Eastern rite mass, don't pass it up. I won't say that, I will say instead make the effort to find one and attend it. There are many Eastern Rite churches in union with Rome, each a bit different, but all having rich liturgies that are beautiful. I should mention that the Orthodox Churches have the same liturgies, but are not in union with Rome, so are not appropriate for Catholics to attend.
Come, explore the richness and diversity of the Catholic Church.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Who Speaks for the Catholic Church
Many thoughts are floating around in my head this morning as I think about the reports in the news and on the internet of the flap over Notre Dame's invitation to Pres. Obama. I find a wide gap between Bishop Wuerl's opinion that in the long run education will win out and bishop Burke's bombastic condemnation of the Obama Administration along with Notre Dame. Since both are bishops, and speaking as bishops, I have to wonder which one I should follow, and I find no hard and fast guidelines.
In my own mind bishop Wuerl seems to be acting more like Jesus in his teaching and compassion for his flock, while Burke seems more like the crowd yelling "crucify him." I also have a large problem with Bishop Burke's claim that Notre Dame's invitation is the "greatest scandal." Is asking our president to speak really a greater scandal than the sexual abuse scandal? Never have the bishops ever raised their voices in such protest of that behavior. I can not help but wonder if perhaps they are trying to create a scandal that would overshadow their own behavior in moving abusive priests around to abuse again.
Perhaps the most shocking information to come out of this flap was the Pew report that half of the Catholics had never heard of the controversy over Obama's invitation. I am not sure whether I am more shocked that half of the Catholics don't care enough to follow what is going on in their church, or that the Bishops have so completely failed to communicate with their flock. But then again, I wonder what percentage of the priests are aware of the debate. I have seen some evidence that some priests are so busy in their own parish that they don't have the time or inclination to look outside of it. In either case, I think that the Church has a real disaster on its hands.
There is no doubt in my mind that the US is facing a problem of moral indifference or that respect for life is declining. But I do not believe that the non-Catholic world or the press is anti-Catholic. I believe that for the most part they are pretty indifferent to what we as Catholics believe and practice until we start putting pressure on them to conform to our beliefs. Then we get a defensive response that we claim is an attack on our faith. I have seen this in many political situations. In my view the American bishops have failed to lead us, to set examples for us, to be role models. Now they are trying to find someone to blame rather than take responsibility and move to correct the situations. We certainly saw the same behavior with the sexual abuse scandal. It was the fault of the anti-Catholic news, it was caused by the money hungry lawyers trying to rob the Catholic people, etc. The bishops have yet to take responsibility for that, and I doubt that they will do any different in this case. I do not believe that they will gain any credibility until they change this behavior and publically acknowlege their faults.
Let me put a caveat in here. I believe that there are bishops out there that are trying to lead in a Christ like way, there are some that are good men, and some that are at least good CEOs. The later is not something to be sneered at in this day and age, I am NOT damning with faint praise! But they seem to be silent. Approximately 1/4 of the active bishops have condemned Notre Dame, 2 retired bishops have supported the university, one claiming that he knew of active bishops that agreed with him. But why haven't they spoken? Are they trying to avoid more scandal by not throwing gas on the fire? Are they not speaking because there is an unspoken agreement that a bishops does not disagree with another. If so, then all we will ever hear is the support of the first to speak, right or wrong.
In my mind the Church is a wonderful collection of people, having diverse customs, different languages, varied tastes, and conflicting beliefs. My wife believes priests should be celibate, I don't. The western Church leadership seems to agree with her, the Eastern rite leadership seems to agree with me. Could it be that neither of us is right or wrong? Can we as Catholics tolerate these differences? Some things, like abortion are undeniably wrong, but there are differences of opinion in what is to be proscribed by law. Can we tolerate these differences of opinion? I believe that in a pluralistic and free society such as we have in the United States, that it is far better to convince people then it is to force them.
Mike L
In my own mind bishop Wuerl seems to be acting more like Jesus in his teaching and compassion for his flock, while Burke seems more like the crowd yelling "crucify him." I also have a large problem with Bishop Burke's claim that Notre Dame's invitation is the "greatest scandal." Is asking our president to speak really a greater scandal than the sexual abuse scandal? Never have the bishops ever raised their voices in such protest of that behavior. I can not help but wonder if perhaps they are trying to create a scandal that would overshadow their own behavior in moving abusive priests around to abuse again.
Perhaps the most shocking information to come out of this flap was the Pew report that half of the Catholics had never heard of the controversy over Obama's invitation. I am not sure whether I am more shocked that half of the Catholics don't care enough to follow what is going on in their church, or that the Bishops have so completely failed to communicate with their flock. But then again, I wonder what percentage of the priests are aware of the debate. I have seen some evidence that some priests are so busy in their own parish that they don't have the time or inclination to look outside of it. In either case, I think that the Church has a real disaster on its hands.
There is no doubt in my mind that the US is facing a problem of moral indifference or that respect for life is declining. But I do not believe that the non-Catholic world or the press is anti-Catholic. I believe that for the most part they are pretty indifferent to what we as Catholics believe and practice until we start putting pressure on them to conform to our beliefs. Then we get a defensive response that we claim is an attack on our faith. I have seen this in many political situations. In my view the American bishops have failed to lead us, to set examples for us, to be role models. Now they are trying to find someone to blame rather than take responsibility and move to correct the situations. We certainly saw the same behavior with the sexual abuse scandal. It was the fault of the anti-Catholic news, it was caused by the money hungry lawyers trying to rob the Catholic people, etc. The bishops have yet to take responsibility for that, and I doubt that they will do any different in this case. I do not believe that they will gain any credibility until they change this behavior and publically acknowlege their faults.
Let me put a caveat in here. I believe that there are bishops out there that are trying to lead in a Christ like way, there are some that are good men, and some that are at least good CEOs. The later is not something to be sneered at in this day and age, I am NOT damning with faint praise! But they seem to be silent. Approximately 1/4 of the active bishops have condemned Notre Dame, 2 retired bishops have supported the university, one claiming that he knew of active bishops that agreed with him. But why haven't they spoken? Are they trying to avoid more scandal by not throwing gas on the fire? Are they not speaking because there is an unspoken agreement that a bishops does not disagree with another. If so, then all we will ever hear is the support of the first to speak, right or wrong.
In my mind the Church is a wonderful collection of people, having diverse customs, different languages, varied tastes, and conflicting beliefs. My wife believes priests should be celibate, I don't. The western Church leadership seems to agree with her, the Eastern rite leadership seems to agree with me. Could it be that neither of us is right or wrong? Can we as Catholics tolerate these differences? Some things, like abortion are undeniably wrong, but there are differences of opinion in what is to be proscribed by law. Can we tolerate these differences of opinion? I believe that in a pluralistic and free society such as we have in the United States, that it is far better to convince people then it is to force them.
Mike L
Thursday, May 7, 2009
I guess I have to post :)
Spring is coming to the high plains here in New Mexico. As I did my morning exercises and watched out the window a small rail lizard scurried out from under our overturned garden cart and practiced its mating dance. Either that it was also doing morning exercises in the form of push-ups. Makes me envious, I never have been able to do them, and certainly not that fast.
Meanwhile a pair of humming birds were fighting over the sugar water left in the feeder at the end of the porch where a pair of birds are building their nest. In another week or so we will be having to fill the feeders several times a week to keep the hummers happy, but we really enjoy watching them. I have counted as many as 20 of the little guys around one feeder, and they have no manners at all. Talk about having to protect your tail :).
Sad to say it is also a bad season for the bull snakes that we have around. The days are warm but the nights still cool, and they tend to crawl onto the blacktop roads to get warm at nights. The desire for heat is often fatal. We like having them around, they keep the smaller varmints down, and also seem to chase more dangerous snakes away. There are rattle snakes in the area, but seem to be around our place. I have a friend that has lived with a 6 foot diamond back on his property for quite a number years. They have a live and let live policy that seems to work pretty well, although he tells me it cost him a fortune when his dog violated the rules. The snake won that fight, and the dog now respects its right to hunt mice whenever it wants to. And the vet is considerably richer.
I need to go out and check the apple trees and see how they are doing. The Spanish are said to have planted the first apple trees around here back in the 1600's. History goes back a long way way here on the Land Grants. We have two trees hiding back in the woods that we are told come from that original stock, one yellow, one red. The apples are small, but I think that they are the sweetest that I have ever eaten. Last year the frost got them, and we do have to share them with the bear that wonders through from time to time. He also seems to like the choke cherries that grow on one tree back in the woods.
Not sure what wandered through last night, but whatever it or they were, the dog was sure upset. Nothing showed up in the flashlight, and when we called the dog in he was ever so proud of himself for having defended us so well. My best guess is either the bear checking the apples, or a couple of coyotes hoping we had left the cats out for the night.
I hated to do it, but did have to shoot a coyote a couple of months ago. He was part of a pack of four that were right beside our house trying to take down our dog. He put up a pretty good fight, but the second time they came around was a bit too much. This group did not look like the standard scraggly coyote that you usually see. Their fur was long and almost golden in color, beautiful animals and obviously well fed. Probably explains why so many local cats and small dogs have disappeared over the winter. The wife and I haven't seen them around since, but we know they are somewhere around.
Patches of green are showing among the gold of last years tall grass, and if you look close there are small purple flowers hugging the ground, the dog is looking for shade to lie in rather then the sunny spot. It all says that spring is here again.
Meanwhile a pair of humming birds were fighting over the sugar water left in the feeder at the end of the porch where a pair of birds are building their nest. In another week or so we will be having to fill the feeders several times a week to keep the hummers happy, but we really enjoy watching them. I have counted as many as 20 of the little guys around one feeder, and they have no manners at all. Talk about having to protect your tail :).
Sad to say it is also a bad season for the bull snakes that we have around. The days are warm but the nights still cool, and they tend to crawl onto the blacktop roads to get warm at nights. The desire for heat is often fatal. We like having them around, they keep the smaller varmints down, and also seem to chase more dangerous snakes away. There are rattle snakes in the area, but seem to be around our place. I have a friend that has lived with a 6 foot diamond back on his property for quite a number years. They have a live and let live policy that seems to work pretty well, although he tells me it cost him a fortune when his dog violated the rules. The snake won that fight, and the dog now respects its right to hunt mice whenever it wants to. And the vet is considerably richer.
I need to go out and check the apple trees and see how they are doing. The Spanish are said to have planted the first apple trees around here back in the 1600's. History goes back a long way way here on the Land Grants. We have two trees hiding back in the woods that we are told come from that original stock, one yellow, one red. The apples are small, but I think that they are the sweetest that I have ever eaten. Last year the frost got them, and we do have to share them with the bear that wonders through from time to time. He also seems to like the choke cherries that grow on one tree back in the woods.
Not sure what wandered through last night, but whatever it or they were, the dog was sure upset. Nothing showed up in the flashlight, and when we called the dog in he was ever so proud of himself for having defended us so well. My best guess is either the bear checking the apples, or a couple of coyotes hoping we had left the cats out for the night.
I hated to do it, but did have to shoot a coyote a couple of months ago. He was part of a pack of four that were right beside our house trying to take down our dog. He put up a pretty good fight, but the second time they came around was a bit too much. This group did not look like the standard scraggly coyote that you usually see. Their fur was long and almost golden in color, beautiful animals and obviously well fed. Probably explains why so many local cats and small dogs have disappeared over the winter. The wife and I haven't seen them around since, but we know they are somewhere around.
Patches of green are showing among the gold of last years tall grass, and if you look close there are small purple flowers hugging the ground, the dog is looking for shade to lie in rather then the sunny spot. It all says that spring is here again.
Monday, April 27, 2009
New Beginnings
I have resisted setting up my own blog for some time now because I am not sure that I have the time or inclination to keep it up. On the other hand, I am kind of tired of having to sign in as anonymous whenever I want to make a comment on another blog. So here I am, and we shall just have to see how it goes.
Give me a little time to figure out how to work this thing, and maybe I will start posting on subjects dear to my heart.
Mike L
Give me a little time to figure out how to work this thing, and maybe I will start posting on subjects dear to my heart.
Mike L
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