Funny stuff

Tim found this on Youtube recently while we were packing.  I think it's hilarious and worth sharing.  Get ready to giggle.

Moving kinda sucks

Forgive me if the title of this post seems whiny, but at this moment I am very much over the whole moving process.  Selling our house, packing up every last possession, putting stuff into storage, deciding what will go with us and trying to find a new place to call home on the other side of the country (over the internet!) has caused my stress level to ratchet up a bit lately.  That being written, I will admit there have been fun moments too.  Two days ago I found some old costume stuff that I modeled for Tim.  He laughed and took some photos.  Our poor cat, on the other hand, was terrified by my beehive wig.  Can't say I blame her.

Since I've lived & worked seasonally for about fifteen years now, one would think I should be used to frequent moves.  I suppose I am, and I absolutely know that relocating can be very exciting.  A new home.  A new location.  A new job (crossing my fingers).  The possibility of new friends and countless new experiences.  All of these things I am looking forward to.  Being closer to my family is another.  I am a daughter, step-daughter, sister, aunt and great aunt.  It's hard to think that my niece is old enough to have babies of her own, but there it is - she has a two and a half year old boy who loves to sing, dance, laugh and talk on the phone.  I cannot wait to spend time with this little guy!   Just like his mamma, he also has an infectious giggle.

Here he is at around six months old

So Tim and I are leaving beautiful, small town, southwestern Montana for beautiful, small town, upstate New York.  He wants to change direction from being a meteorologist to someone who studies climate science and policy.  We will very soon be heading off to the Hudson Valley region so he may attend graduate school.  I have a zillion things in mind for myself, firstly finding a place to lay our heads and suitable work followed by exploring as much as possible in any direction.  We will be about 90 minutes north of New York City where I hope to rekindle my affection for its museums, parks, truly good pizza and interesting people.  We'll also be equal distance from my hometown.  This should allow for lots of family time.  I haven't spent Christmas at home for fourteen years.  Very much looking forward to that.  I love looking through the old ornaments my mother has kept since we were wee kiddies. 

In the end, the tasks of moving do kinda suck.  Leaving friends and an area that I adore will definitely suck.  But change can be oh so good, and being around family should be great.  Perhaps I can focus on that while we are driving across this huge country, ticking off the states and adding on the miles.  I have decided this will be my goal while also listening to several podcasts of Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me.  Looking forward to Mo Rocca, Paula Poundstone, Roy Blunt, Jr. and Carl Kasell.  Goodness that show makes me laugh!

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As an aside, here is a pretty positive thing that happened yesterday:  I checked my mail after returning the Uhaul truck and picking up my car following four days of check ups & parts getting replaced to find a gorgeous magazine and letters from two wonderful women whose friendship I cherish.  Am I a lucky girl or what?  I may be dreading the 2,000 + mile drive back east, but tonight I will find the time to grab a cup of tea and settle into my camp chair for some reading.  I do so love that I have friends who still write letters!

 

Bloem, Fiora, Hana, Blume, Bunga, Fleur, Floare, Flor

part of my of my tea cup and saucer collection

The title of this post contains words in various languages that translate to "flower."  I simply love flowers.  I don't often buy them for myself or frequently keep them inside my house.  I don't even have house plants, mostly because we don't live in one spot long enough to care for and keep them.  But I adore flowers.  Whether they are the beauties I see in my front yard as I sit at my desk or felt flowers, fabric flowers, wooden flowers, ceramic flowers or pressed flowers - I enjoy them all.

sculpture on a memorial in Vienna

To me, flowers in all varieties provide a boost of happiness and joy.  They inspire relaxation.  I truly delight in the many colors and shapes of ornament that mother nature has devised.  I am the dork in botanic gardens and city parks taking dozens and dozens of photos.  Roses, lilacs, columbine, clematis, hydrangea, peonies, poppies, what have you - they're all ogle-worthy to me.

fun rose fabric from Joann Fabric and Craft

ceramic pansy pendant

My affection started when I was young.  I grew up in a house across the street from a greenhouse.  They sold flowers and plants in a small front shop.  Behind that was a large greenhouse.  I would often go inside to wander the rows of seedlings and full grown plants and flowers while soaking in the humidity and smell of soil.  They were very tolerant of the neighborhood kids doing this, thankfully.  To this day, anytime I go into a flower shop or greenhouse I am instantly transported back to this first glass-enclosed haven.

close up of the bouquet Tim sent for Valentine's Day

I don't have a Pinterest board, but I do have a huge folder on my laptop full of flower pictures that I add to regularly.  I use it as my desktop background, the photos changing every 10 seconds so I can enjoy the rotation every day.  I also cut out flowers from magazines and seed catalogs.  Some might say I'm a little......obsessively fond.  I'm okay with that label.

felt flowers that become colorful mobiles

Thinking about the great outdoors...

New York is on my mind

I work with a woman who grew up rather close to where I did, and we're about the same age.  We talked for a while yesterday about all of the things we love about upstate NY.  The scenery, fall foliage, good pizza, favorite diners, shopping malls we loved as teenagers that no longer exist, the Adirondacks, the weather, the Mohawk River valley, old amusement parks, etc., etc.  It made us both a bit melancholy but happy to know someone who shares similar memories.

I've lived out west for about fifteen years now, and I'm finding it difficult to leave an area that means so much to me.  It's not just the prolific wildlife and the gorgeous mountains.  It's the people.  It's the wide open spaces.  It's the kindness you find pretty much every where you go.  It's having pronghorn just beyond my back yard and horses during the summer who come to our fence for apples and carrots.  It's the amazing sunsets and June thunderstorms and short summers that make you appreciate each and every day the warm weather lasts.  And it's the place that made me realize my life had a lot more potential than the narrow existence I believed I was destined for where I grew up.  I don't know that I would have traveled down the path I've walked for the last fifteen years if Yellowstone didn't pop up on my radar.  And, man oh man, am I glad it did.  I've written about this before briefly, but the park and living in it changed my life.  And it led to many other adventures I might never have experienced otherwise.  (Practicing gratitude for this right now!)

We will soon be moving away from this part of the country, and while I'm excited for the next adventure, I'm also sad to leave behind my life in Montana.  As they say, change is good, which I know to be true.  So.....on to the next place in the next month or so.  Meanwhile, I'm in a New York State of Mind.  Been singing the song by Billy Joel for weeks now, even humming it at work.  

Birdies

I'm a little bit of a bird nerd.  Not so much that I have a life list where I check off species as I see them.  Nor have I traveled the globe in search of rare or endemic birds, hoping for a glimpse or a photograph (although I do yearn to see a blue-footed booby before I die).  But I've always been a fan of our avian friends.  Where I grew up, mourning doves, cardinals, robins & blue jays were rather common backyard birds, although I'm not sure that I fully appreciated them until after I lived in Yellowstone.  That is where I truly fell in love with birds.  Wyoming and Montana have prolific wildlife in general.  I certainly have enjoyed the mega fauna like bison and elk.  Sightings of critters like marmots and pikas always make me happy.  However, it has often been the birds that delight me most.  Everything from hooded mergansers and buffleheads to harlequin ducks and American white pelicans can make a day in the great outdoors well worthwhile.  Even mallards and Canada geese are pleasurable to watch, despite how everyday they are in many places.

There is a deck overlooking a marshy field at my workplace, and this is where I eat lunch most days.  The area is plentiful with killdeer, red-winged black birds, yellow-headed blackbirds, sparrows and meadowlarks.  Currently, there is a resident sandhill crane couple with a chick.  I occasionally see a pronghorn or two on the hillside adjacent to this area as well.  All while eating lunch.  What a gift!

This evening I thought I would share some images of birds that I've had the pleasure to watch and photograph in various places.  Hope you enjoy them.

raven in Bryce Canyon National Park

black swan on Lake Rotorua in New Zealand

hooded crow that nested in the tree outside our apartment in Vienna

heron at the Stadtpark in Vienna

a seagull I named Pete on the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland

swans and cygnets on the Danube

this colorful guy hung out with us while we ate lunch in a park on Kauai

Okay...so these guys aren't wild.  This is the parliament of owls that lives on one of my bookshelves.

Friday flowers