Rain

 Today's bit of rain made me think of:

"Rain, rain, go away
Come again some other day
We want to go outside and play
Come again some other day

Rain, rain, go away
Come again some other day
We want to go outside and play
Come again some other day

Rain, rain, go away
Come again some other day
We want to go outside and play
Come again some other day".

     This little verse made me think of my mother who quoted this on rainy days. She could recite many poems from memory. That's, memorizing, is not a gift that I've been given. Joanne had it. Memorizing Luther's Small Catechism  when I was in confirmation was a struggle.

     In previous times, I was going to write in normal times  but this probably is the new normal, today's moisture would have been snow. The Mpls. Paper reported today that the official snowfall last year exceeded 92 inches. Much of that had fallen by this date. 

Takk for alt,

Al

     Today's random picture is lunch time at my Thai school.

Change

      The change has been gradual over several years. Today it became more obvious. The change is in the way I hunt pheasants. Unlike some other forms of hunting, pheasant hunting is primarily walking. These walks could be done without a gun, but it's not likely to happen. Today much of the terrain was over old pocket gopher mounds obscured by tall grass. Yes, I picked my way very carefully. 

     So what is this change? In former years I'd actively position my walking to be in the best proximity to where a pheasant  might flush. Gradually as time has passed I find myself forgoing proximity for ease. The ground is smoother, the grass shorter, the walking easier are now options of choice. I'm very willing to sacrifice the higher probability of being within gun range to a bird for the easier path.    

   Part of the change in me is that I'm content with difference. Seeing birds, several of which I saw at a distance today, is satisfying. Not a shot was fired and that's okay. 

   Speaking of seeing I saw a nice, young buck. It was fairly large. It's antlers were quite small. I'm happy it escaped with its life the recent deer season. Perhaps I'll be fortunate to see from time to time as it grows. 

Takk for alt,

Al

October?

      October, or perhaps November, weather continues deep into December. Thee is no snow here. The little pond across the street is dry as are many of the sloughs. Dawn is fond of saying "The snow can come in March." She's correct. The cows are in the corn munching on corn stalks and saving farmers the need to use precious hay. The mild winter that was predicted is materializing. Attempting to cross a narrow stretch of ice it was quickly apparent that it wasn't solid. Moisture is certainly needed prior to growing season but March would be an ideal time to receive it. The sun, low in the southern sky, is evidence of the season. Now we're about a week from the shortest daylight of the year. While it's not evident immediately the knowledge that daylight is returning gives me an emotional boost. Jurisdictions are saving money with no snow to plow.

Takk for alt,

Al

                           Sunset on Crete.

Wonder

       The church is observing the season of Advent, four weeks and four Sundays leading to Christmas. This year Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday so Sunday morning services will be the fourth Sunday of Advent.  The secular world has no use for Advent and quickly moves from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

    Advent is intended to be a reflective season of wondering about the mysteries of the Divine. Mysterious wonder is typically not a large part of our experience. It is well to have a season to challenge us to wonder. What exactly is the numinous and what has it do with us? Is there more to this life than what is apprehended by the five senses? This Advent Season of wonder is intended to prepare the wonderer for the entrance of the Diving.

    A pastor friend was meeting with a small group of the faithful. For two hours they discussed wonder and what it means. One of this group declared "kids can wonder adults worry." This brief statement contains profound wisdom. Is there a chance we could replace worry with wonder?

    Wishing for you a wonderful Advent!

Takk for alt,

Al

Grief now...

       After breakfast I typically read the Minneapolis StarTribune online. As is common with persons of a certain age I always look at the obituaries. Today there was an obituary of the wife of one of Joanne's counseling colleagues when she was a counselor in the St. Louis Park, MN. high school. That was "one of those times."

     What are "those times?"  After a death the bereaved loses a history partner. Seeing that obituary today would have prompted significant conversation with Joanne were she still alive. We would have remembered, Charlette, the bereaved. Likely we would have reminisced about being a guest in her home. No doubt we'd also have mentioned, Paul, her husband and told stories about him too. No one else would share our perspective, that's a significant factor in life in the land of grief.

Takk for alt,

Al

In answer to Michelene's questions about phragmites. They were introduced from Europe many years ago. On the recent trip to Greece we saw many phragmites, perhaps they are native there.

Answer

      In response to a post recently about hunting in phragmites PMF in a comment asked if they are invasive. The answer is, yes. They compete with cattails which are better habitat for wildlife. Phragmites are very tall reeds. They have very little undergrowth so the ground under them is somewhat bare. On the other hand cattails have much growth near the ground. Wildlife buried in cattails are almost totally shielded from wind. Pheasants snuggled down in a cattail slough can withstand severe blizzards because of the protection from wind. Phragmites do offer that.

    Phragmite control is difficult because they grow in wetlands. That makes it impossible to use machinery to eliminate them. Ideally they would be mowed and the regrowth sprayed but that can't be done when they ground is too wet. Consequently, they continue to spread unhindered. Invasive cedars can be cut individually but that's not feasible with phragmites.

Takk for alt,

Al

What’s wrong with too much phragmites?

 It can take over an ecosystem through its dense plant stands, which can prevent other species from being able to grow in the same area. It also negatively impacts wetland wildlife habitats. Additionally, the invasive plant outcompetes native plants by releasing chemicals in the soil that can keep other plants from growing.

Good Read!

       Joanne had the practice of giving a book one chapter.  If the first chapter failed to engage her she'd move on to another book. With that in mind I was very close to moving on from Absolution, by Alice McDermott. It's one of those novels that improved the farther one read. the first chapters descriptions of who was wear what quickly gave way to an interesting story. 

    Tricia, newly married, accompanies her engineer husband to an assignment in Saigon, Vietnam, in the early sixties. They were there only a short time but that experience, her reflections on it, and the relationships she established create the gist of the book. She's the primary narrator of the story and only later do we learn to whom she's narrating. Then that subject narrates her story and the narrations go between them,

    On the book's jacket Tim O'Brian writes "With Absolution, Alice McDermott delivers another elegantly written, immaculately conceived novel that immerses the reader in the contradictions and moral ambiguities of the human heart."  This is accurate and well said. At 324 pages it was a quick read.

   It also gave me opportunity for indulging my smug sense of superiority as I found an inaccuracy. 😁 On more than one occasion (see p. 40, e.g.) it names the piastres as Vietnamese currency.  That's Middle Eastern money  and is not used in South Asia.  In Vietnam the Dong is used and on December 5, $1.00 was worth 24,272 dong. 

   One of of my two readers, if not you  then the other one, reported having read A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them, by Timothy Egan.  He was rightly impressed by it. I read it on Kindle, which has the disadvantage that it cannot be leant to another. It's a very valuable book.

Takk for alt,

Al