October 10, 2008
Written by:
Katie
Every once in awhile when I get up in the morning before all of the kids I have to come to the conclusion that I have no idea what we will eat for breakfast. Then when I finally think up some fun and yummy meal and I check the two refrigerators and one upright freezer I have another realization. We don’t have the yummy food for the yummy meal.
Those two things seem to go hand in hand. The not knowing and not having. I need to be a little more organized about these things. But have you seen my house lately?
And now let me tell you how this always works out. I ponder and think and ponder some more. Then I think, "By the time I run to the store and get home and unpack and cook the meal…well, it will be lunch by then!!"
Then I start all over with the thinking. And I always always always come back to "Hey, eggs sound good." My poor kids eat eggs almost every morning. And I hardly mix it up for them either. "Do you want scrambled or sunny side up?" On the other hand I could just choose for them and then when they ask in their sweet little voices "Can I have scrambled eggs please, Mother Dear?" I could yell "No, you little heathen!! Get out of my kitchen before I force you to eat left over liver meatballs!" That would show them.
And now I am thinking that maybe I should stop rambling on about breakfast food and explain the pictures.
Recently the days have been getting shorter and shorter so when I make my runs to the store to buy my eggs (which happen to be local and it appears pastured) the sun is just peeking up over the horizon. Or it is spreading it’s rays over the tops of the trees and the scene at the top of the bridge over highway 60 is amazing. I wanted to capture these scenes for posterity.
The other day Jodi and Jonah were awake early and so I grabbed my camera and we set out to the store with the intention of snapping some pictures and grabbing some eats.
I sat on that overpass for 15 minutes listening to music and snapping photos. At one point a sweet old man stopped and asked if I needed help. Thankfully I had a large black camera in my hand so when I said "I’m just taking pictures, but thanks!!" it was very believable. I did feel bad that he stopped though.
And for some reason I really like the power lines doing the cris-cross thing. I can’t explain it. Maybe because it is part of Mansfield and I like Mansfield so much. The checker this day was so friendly and she chatted with me. She asked if we had just moved here. I love small towns. You don’t get that at Wal-Mart.
And the eggs were delicious!!
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October 9, 2008
Written by:
Katie
Out walking in the frozen swamp one gray day,
I paused and said, "I will turn back from here.
No, I will go on farther — and we shall see."
The hard snow held me, save where now and then
One foot went through. The view was all in lines
Straight up and down of tall slim trees
Too much alike to mark or name a place by
So as to say for certain I was here
Or somewhere else: I was just far from home.
A small bird flew before me. He was careful
To put a tree between us when he lighted,
And say no word to tell me who he was
Who was so foolish as to think what he thought.
He thought that I was after him for a feather —
The white one in his tail; like one who takes
Everything said as personal to himself.
One flight out sideways would have undeceived him.
And then there was a pile of wood for which
I forgot him and let his little fear
Carry him off the way I might have gone,
Without so much as wishing him good-night.
He went behind it to make his last stand.
It was a cord of maple, cut and split
And piled — and measured, four by four by eight.
And not another like it could I see.
No runner tracks in this year’s snow looped near it.
And it was older sure than this year’s cutting,
Or even last year’s or the year’s before.
The wood was gray and the bark warping off it
And the pile somewhat sunken. Clematis
Had wound strings round and round it like a bundle.
What held it though on one side was a tree
Still growing, and on one a stake and prop,
These latter about to fall. I thought that only
Someone who lived in turning to fresh tasks
Could so forget his handiwork on which
He spent himself, the labor of his ax,
And leave it there far from a useful fireplace
To warm the frozen swamp as best it could
With the slow smokeless burning of decay.
Robert Frost
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October 9, 2008
Written by:
Katie
The stove is now happily installed in the house. We still have to open some windows to cool things off when we use it but oh, we enjoy it so much. There was great excitement when the wooden box came in and Jeff used the pry bar to open our package. I had pictures but I was forced to take them with the kids’ camera due to my missing battery charger. And I’m not going to share with you the details of the stove unwrapping because I don’t like the pictures the little camera takes and I can’t stand to edit them. I find myself throwing my hands in the air repeatedly when I look at the pics. "What will I do?? These can’t be salvaged!" And I used to be perfectly happy with my little camera.
At night we close up the house and stoke the fire. In the morning there are coals and we stir them up, throw some wood in and start all over again. I figured out ho to make alot of smoke billow into the house when I tried to revive the fire one morning. One word. Damper.
Now we need to teach the kids how to feed the fire. It is not a complicated procedure. And based on my boys’ current preoccupation with fire (although it seems they never outgrow it) I should never have to tend to the stove again. I’ll just sit near it and warm my tooshie.
The warm air pools in the diningroom and kitchen. Then it seeps into the livingroom making it toasty warm (and if you have a baby sleeping on your lap it gets overly warm). Then it slowly meanders up the stairs and into the sleeping quarters. It remains to be seen whether the master bedroom will stay comfortable but thankfully we have 3 warm bodies all snuggled in one king size bed with two quilts and many pillows available. Jeff is like a heat pump and I’m sure I’ll have no trouble find a place to warm my feet.
Thanks, Honey!
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