The path of the years

Happy Birthday Lisa

Today is April 2, 2011, and our 25th wedding anniversary, and is passing just like any other day here on the homestead, a lazy Saturday, with the sun shining, and the snow melting a bit more, leaving only four foot snow banks now, instead of eight foot. We were married secretly at the” Little Brown Church in the Dale”, in Nashua, Iowa in a simple ceremony with the pastors wife as a witness. It is simply amazing to think of all the memories that are now gathering dust on the bookshelves of our lives, some have gone up in smoke, some are still smoking, and others have settled down into majestic moments of laughter and silence. With each milestone that has passed, another age line has evolved, another truth learned, another memento to be filed onto the bookshelf and hopefully many more to be discovered. Regardless of how settled we seem to be, nothing can be taken for granted anymore, and nothing will be the same as it once was. I have learned that nothing is stable or permanent anymore and the curves in the roads ahead are sharper, the hills are steeper, and the potholes deeper. Is this the life I thought would be, or did I even think of what life would be when I was 25 years younger? Too busy, too little time, too many important priorities, left very little room for dreaming of what lie ahead in the future, or where the road would lead. Now, we are still traveling, not running anymore, but walking along the center of the road  ... with new memories to be filed,… peering around the corners, rather than careening on two wheels at 75 miles an hour to get to the next plateau, there is no reason for speed now, the years are coming on fast enough for my fancy, and my foot is off the gas pedal.

Speaking of gas pedals, the little chevy truck we now own, is definitely slowing my logic down to a crawl….being very short….and very FLUFFY, I cannot reach the pedal unless I am setting on top of the steering wheel, which leaves creases across my bellybutton, and my chin on the speedometer. My nose rubs the windshield, and lord knows what has happened to the seatbelt. The seat is as far as it can go forward, and still my toes just barely touch the gas pedal. Never have I had such a problem with any vehicle that we have owned, and who ever owned it before left a sinkhole in the seat, so unless I can find a pillow to fit in it, I have to sit on the side of the seat so as not to be lost in the calamities of the instruments that tell me what speed I am traveling, and how much gas is left in the tank. From the outside it looks like a porpoise is trying to see between the steering wheel spokes …..gasping for air as I struggle to brake and complete whatever journey I have set out to conquer. All I gotta say is thank heavens for Cruise control, and four wheel drive buttons,….. If I had to get out and set the wheels, I would still be stuck in all the snowbanks that accumulated these last few months. Then there is no running board like all our other trucks had, and to get into this sardine can, is a performance that can only be matched by the best acrobatic moves around. Getting out matches the slithering of a snake out of the bull pen….finally hitting concrete surfaces. This was not my idea of transportation, but in these times, with the high gas prices, it has one very good point…it has good gas mileage…so …have to deal with it.

Early last week, before the last snowstorm hit, the geese were out in the pasture, following the alpacas out to some of the bare ground that finally surfaced. When it started snowing lightly however, the alpacas came in to the shed, while the geese comfortably settled into the tall grasses pulling at some tasty strands of weeds still left standing……Suddenly they melted flat into the ground, ..and a slow flying shadow circled around between the tree lines. It came from very high in the sky, and was sensed by them before I could even see what the problem was. As it slowly circled and descended toward the ground, they made a wild dash for the coop. My Toulouse geese are heavier than most geese, and it was surprising to see how fast they could travel, with their huge wings catching the air as they almost flew at ground level...... Suddenly I saw the problem; a huge, beautiful adult eagle had spotted them while on a hunting mission from high above, ...circling quickly and quietly looking for his prey. He landed in one of the tall oaks across the field alongside the pasture, and perched on one of the higher leafless limbs, ....watching,..... waiting……..I am not sure who would have won this battle, for the gander is very protective of his mate, ...even  hissing when I come near the nest to gather the chicken eggs every evening, ......this time the eagle lost the gamble, as the geese went in for the night, never to return that day, and the snow kept falling. He sat there for about an hour, preening his graceful feathers, always on the watch for the mouse, or inattentive squirrel, going after that last acorn on the ground. Then, with a flick of his wings, and one last long look, he took to the clouds, leaving the pasture free again.

Boredom has brought back an old hobby that I did as a child when my grandmother decided I needed to learn more then how to clean house....., and now am back at it again, crocheting up some of the yarn that has been sitting here for ages. At first I started to knit, but then a picture from one of th knitting forums  caught my eye, and walla!.......it was a perfect birthday gift for my eldest, whose birthday was arriving fast. The picture at the top of this page shows the color a lot darker , actually it is soft ecrue, or lite ivory. As you can see in the pictures, I actually finished the afghan in a few weeks, and am now working on Easter objects, that resemble the sugar craft learned when I was in the business of decorating cakes. The picture shown here  will be a surprise for the grandkids…These are things I used to make when I had my Cake Decorating business, made of sugar then, crumpling with time..now stiffened crochet thread hold spring fancies and maybe a candy or two.......but these will last much longer,.... I know they don’t read this, so it will be new to them..........but then  one never really knows  just what  lies around the corner....., now do we?