After I found the mourning dove nest, I decided I needed to spend some time in the yard just doing nothing. Do an inventory of what is going down outside and see if I have any new mates. I like doing that. My trees are big enough now that I can go outside and take my shirt off and not be self conscious, and I like to find a nice partially sunny spot and just sit down and do nothing. It’s nice.
Today it was very nice because there was a breeze and it was nice and cool in the mid seventies, and the grass was cool and soft and it wasn’t so hot out that you could still smell the flowers and plants in the air, and I just sat there for a while and decompressed.
Even though I have just a normal sized yard, there is just so much going on. Just hundreds of birds singing, hummingbirds darting about, and just an entire universe of things happening. I don’t understand how so many people seem to think they are the center of the universe when if they would just sit quietly in the woods for a little bit, they would really just how inconsequential they are. Were I to have dropped dead right then and there, it might be a little disruptive friends and family, but 99.99+% of my back yard wouldn’t even notice and would just keep on keeping on. Hell, if I were left there undetected long enough, there would be a flurry of new activity.
I was very happy, btw, to spot that mourning dove nest. I had been upset this year by the lack of wrens and finches nesting in the front yard (I have seen lots of chipmunks that were never there before, so I think they may have scared the birds off), so it was nice knowing I had some new tenants.
I wish everything outside my yard didn’t suck so hard.
War For Ukraine Day 124: The Butcher’s Bill For Putin’s War Crimes Goes Up
NotMax
::runs to shut down the Google Earth tab::
:) //
Benw
I’ve been doing a lot of inventory lately and its really helped me start to unfuck some things.
You’ve either become a sailor or an Aussie :)
John Revolta
Dolce far niente
lurker
NSA gave up on surveilling Cole because he kept breaking satellite camera optics this way…
Alito has something on the shadow docket about how the willow is too close to the house…
be careful out there..
; – )
Ms. Deranged in AZ
John, as long as there was no mops or mustard involved, I say good on ya!
CaseyL
You have created a wonderful oasis. Enjoy it!
eclare
@John Revolta: I just googled that phrase, it’s perfect. We could all use a little more.
Martin
Christ. At least 46 migrants dead in a truck in Texas. 14 survivors transported to hospital.
SiubhanDuinne
@Martin:
Was just reading about that. Ghastly and tragic.
SiubhanDuinne
And of course Greg Abbott, who never saw human suffering he couldn’t politicize, blamed Biden for the whole thing.
NotMax
‘@SiubhanDuinne
Greg makes Bud Abbott look like a combination of Albert Schweitzer, Fred Rogers and MLK Jr.
He’s 200 pounds of vitriol stuffed into a half pound bag.
smike
@SiubhanDuinne:
As a Texan, I’d like to see the headline, “Abbot ineffectual against Biden, who takes charge in Texas”
frosty
@eclare: Many years ago during my European “walkabout” I ended up on a Greek island for a little while. Ran into an Englishman during the usual mid afternoon hangout at the taverna. I asked him what he did and the answer was “Oh, I’m idle.”
NotMax
‘@frosty
Eric?
:)
eclare
@frosty: What a wonderful story, and the Greek isles are a perfect place for idleness.
ghost cat
You’re right–thanks for the reminder. The level of suckitude is indeed high. I don’t have a garden at the moment, but I have a lot of memories of my most favorite garden ever, in my back patio in Tucson. I filled it with cacti and succulents and native wildflowers, so it looked a bit different from yours. I can close my eyes and pretend.
Today I read Manchin’s statement about how he’s “deeply disappointed that the Supreme Court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.” I wanted to tell him to shove his lame excuses up his a$$ with a gob-covered coal axe. I spent about a half hour trying to decide if I wanted to call his office or leave a tweet. What a waste of my time. All he’s ever cared about is using his office to increase his family’s wealth. I doubt he gives a shit about what I or anybody says about his actions.
Last Friday (I think), Rebecca Traister was interviewed by someone on MSNBC (maybe Chris Hayes) about an article she wrote recently about how it’s especially important now to keep hope alive and use it to push through the awfulness that is unfortunately expected to get worse–there are 6 abominations on the SC who are just getting started. But there are also countless women who need help dealing with their pregnancies RIGHT NOW. I live in New Mexico, and abortion is legal here, so there are women from other states who are already traveling here from out of state for reproductive health care. And organizations that will be helping these women need money RIGHT NOW. My time is better spent on figuring out who needs money the most down here rather than on the flaming gas balls of fury induced by Joe Manchin and the SC.
frosty
@NotMax: Heh.
opiejeanne
@ghost cat: We have given money to Planned Parenthood every year, a small chunk that we can afford, and on Twitter today I noticed a pro-choice organization saying to not give money to PP, to give it to them instead. Didn’t have time to dig through the string of their tweets at that moment, and couldn’t find the tweet later to find out if they were dissing PP or this was just because their need is immediate. I think they are trying to provide transportation and housing for women in need of medical care in other states.
I’m in Washington state, and I want to help with this cause: I can give some money, but I can also provide transportation and a quiet guest room. I just haven’t figured out which organization would best fit my desire to help.
Martin
@SiubhanDuinne: Apparently Operation Lone Star is a complete failure.
Martin
Hmm. News is suggesting Cassidy Hutchinson is the witness tomorrow (Mark Meadow’s aide). If so, not the witness I was expecting. I wonder if something shook loose over the request for pardons.
Amir Khalid
@Martin:
As I recall, video testimony from a Select Committee staff investigator featured Hutchinson talking about people who had approached her to pass along their pardon requests.
JoyceH
@Martin: And being reported that the committee did not release the witness name when they announced the hearing and that some sort of modifications are being made to the hearing room, due to credible concerns about the witness’s safety.
I think we should all take a minute and consider the above, along with the fact that this is a hearing dealing with politicians and government employees, not the Mafia and organized crime. This is what the GOP has become.
eclare
@JoyceH: I read that the documentary filmmaker now has a security detail as well.
Martin
@Amir Khalid: Yeah. I don’t think they approached her, but as Meadow’s aide, she would have known who was requesting pardons since that would have been handled by the Chief of Staff and my guess is she was the internal interface between the COS office and the the OLC, etc. or whoever assists the President with the review.
Martin
@JoyceH: That would also explain the last minute announcement. Perhaps this is the Congressional equivalent of the pre-dawn raid.
Amir Khalid
@Martin:
Hutchinson said a few people did approach her directly, maybe to enquire about how to seek a pardon. But as you say, the important thing is, Hutchinson has direct knowledge of who sought a pardon via the CoS’ office.
NotMax
If this was a made for TV movie (on a lesser tier channel) the surprise witness would be Barron, flanked at the table by stacks of audio and video tapes..
(Not in any way suggesting it in reality, just spitballing a theoretical 2 a.m. writers room confab.)
:)
Ten Bears
If you ever really want to feel inconsequential ~ float the Grand Canyon …
Martin
Ok, supposedly here’s the big rumor.
Apparently Adam Holder recorded a conversation among the Trump kids and folks like Bannon and some aides at the Trump hotel on the night of the first presidential debate (sept 9) where they discussed a plan to prevent the certification of the vote on Jan 6. Bannon told reporters that evening that the Democrats would push fake electors on Congress on Jan 6, the GOP would block that and Trump would win in a contested election.
Hutchinson might have been aware of this meeting as Meadows most likely would have been in attendance.
Apparently there’s video.
NotMax
‘@Ten Bears
Quasi- obligatory?
:)
Ten Bears
@NotMax:
debbie
@Martin:
Always with video for these guys. They should have just stuck with pocket mirrors to view their glorious selves. //
lowtechcyclist
@SiubhanDuinne:
I guess the whole “too soon to politicize this tragedy” bit only applies to gun massacres.
rikyrah
Just reading that…sounds glorious
Nancy
@opiejeanne:
I saw that or a similar statement and the message I got was that PP has plenty of money (I’m not necesarily agreeing here) and that local groups need our help now.
When the pending decision leaked, I’d started donating to a group that provides support for travel costs and places to stay for women who have to travel for necessary medical care called the Brigid Alliance,
https://brigidalliance.org/
Gives me hope that groups like this exist. There are others as well.
Despite cash shortages in my life, I can send them $10 a month.
Nancy
And now back to John’s original topic, I love my back yard and I love his description of his. The peace he found reminds me that I need to get out today and just be there.
Raoul Paste
Now THIS is a respite post!
Nice
Mike Burylo
I’m fortunate to have 20 acres of property, both wood and field. My most favorite thing is to sit on the patio or deck and watch the activity. I’m always amazed at how busy it is. A little bit of property supports such a wide range and diversity of life.
J R in WV
For me just walking out to the car, a 230 foot long path through the woods, is a welcome nature relief. Right now I can check the progress of the underground phase of the Ramp life cycle. They leaf up Very early in spring, before even the daffydils, which is when people dig them. But those leaves die back long before summer heat is upon us, while the ramps continue to do their thing, spreading via root runners.
But a little later on, by June or so, the patches of ramps put up a thin red stalk with an arrow-head shaped bud on the end, which opens up into a round cluster of tiny white blooms. Only mature ramp patches can do this, they look like little fairy lights floating 5 or 6 inches above the ground. Later on towards fall many of these will set a few seeds. It allows the ramps to spread farther than the root runners can in one season.
Pretty, and next spring they will be so tasty fried with potatoes.