Whippoorwill Road

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Hanging Out on a Sunday

Another son is home visiting and once again, it's time to welcome him home, family style.

This is serious brother bonding time.

It goes some thing like this: "Hey, how's it goin', man?"

"Good, dude. How's it goin' for you?"

"It's goin' alright. Whatcha' been up to?"

"Nothin' much. Whatch' you been up to?"

"Nothin' much. Lookin' for a new job..."

And it goes like this the whole time the Lacrosse ball goes back and forth. Back and forth.

Then later, we are bombarded by what I call, 'THE SWARM'.

Great. (*sigh*) We have a visitor.

Just what we need: another dog. My son's dog is very excited.

My son's dog runs, plays, growls and wrestles the visitor.

Our dog is bored (yawn).

He is having no part of the action.

"Does anybody see what's going on here?"

The visitor seems to be thinking, "I'd like to be included."

My son's dog seems to be thinking, "Really? Do we have to do this, NOW?"

Eldest-Son wants to show the world that his dog is not the vicious, food grubbing mongrel that I make him out to be.
Smarty-Girl doesn't want to show the world that she's still in her PJ's at 3 in the afternoon.
New-Man wants to show the world that'll he'll always rise to the position of 'Protector'. 'Hero'. 'Guardian of the Under Dressed'.

Don't try this at home.

Ta-Dah!

Lips still intact! Even after several demonstrations.

Will the house remain intact, is the better question.
Eldest-Son and New-Man continue the male bonding by a vigorous game of wrestling.
Please note the scene here:
Two men on the floor, creating havoc.
Buns slightly behind them.
Smarty-Girl on the computer, cautioning Buns to stay clear of the mayhem.
He-Man un-phased by any of the hoopla going on around him.
Watch him....

Are you watching He-Man?

Impressive, isn't it? No matter the chaos, not one muscle moves. Not one twitch, one shudder. This is pure calm in the midst of a storm.

Finally, one of them is down for the count. Buns tries to revive him.
Where was Next-Son, Clay during all this?
Just yards away in the guest room, sleeping! Soundly!

Family dinner. Now a rare occurrence except for holidays. Such a treasure.
Here's some of the topics of conversation at this dinner table: Battlestar Galactica, Peter Jackson's 'The Hobbit', The Walking Dead, Modern Family, Avatar...
Then it evolved into politics, oil, alternative fuel...

Until Next-Son,Clay gets up to find Eldest-Son, Chase's watch chewed up by Buns.
Which prompts him to discuss his fantasy to coat his watch with hot sauce in order to teach Buns a lesson.
Which prompts Smarty-Girl to passionately discuss the cruelty of animal testing. Especially on rabbits since they have no tear ducts and their eyes can't water. She continues to describe they can't vomit either and they can have digestive problems.
Which prompts her to cry just thinking about the cruelty of it all.
Which prompts her two brothers to break into hefty laughter.

Which prompts Clay to say I've become a heartless blogger.

My daughter's crying and I'm snapping pictures.

Which prompts me to laugh....

These 'kids' are so fun to hang with

on Whippoorwill Road.

Love,

Bernadine

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Mamma-cita's Birthday

It's my mom's birthday. Today we celebrate.

My mom, dad, sister, niece and nephew arrive at 8:30 am.

Next, my brother in law, another sister and another niece arrive.

We greet each other with big smiles, hugs and excitement.
Then, we're off for a special day in the Georgia wine country.

First stop: shopping in the charming town of Dahlonega. Home of the first gold mine site in America.

It was a perfect day for walking. Clear skies, crisp weather, warm sun.

All sorts of things to catch the eye...

...and the imagination.

This is 'Marble Mecca' for my dad. He loves marbles.
Not because they take him back to childhood. Rather, he grows fruit trees and feeds wild birds and grows a garden. The squirrels wreck havoc. They are his Archenemy.
He makes homemade slingshots and marbles are his ammo. Get my drift?
He has five buckets worth of marbles scattered throughout his yard.

The shops in Dahlonega had all sorts of interesting things.

This may have been the most interesting, entertaining and creepy thing, all rolled into one. An 'animatron' telling your fortune, describing your character and ending with your personal lucky numbers.
The little ones were glued. So were the big ones.

An uncle sharing a special moment with his little niece.

Then, a lovely family homestyle lunch to carry us over until...

...the great wine tasting begins.

Some were full-bodied, a robust bouquet of plum and blackberry, finishing with soft tannins tickling the pallet...
Only kidding. We're novices and don't know the first thing about describing wines other than, "We like this one," and "Ewww... that one's awful."

"To Healthy Living, Good Health and Life with Loved Ones. Cheers."

Mamma-cita unwraps her birthday gift in the vineyard.

The cousins share a moment on some kind of high tech gadget.

While this little girl finds pleasure in the simple things.

It was a lovely day. The sun is beginning to set.

And it's time to make the journey home.

Happy Birthday, Mamma-cita.

May there be many more beautiful sunrises and sunsets in your life.

Love from Whippoorwill Road,
Bernadine

Friday, March 9, 2012

I Thought We Were Being Robbed

I arrived home after work Wednesday and found this strange car parked in my driveway.
The tag was out of state. My husband wasn't home, New-Man was at school and the dogs were no where to be found. The automatic garage door was wide open.
My heart started pounding. I was sure I caught a perpetrator red handed. I imagined him (or them) having a field day inside the house.

Being the daughter of a retired detective, I tentatively pulled my truck up the driveway and snapped a few photos so the police would have the make, model and license plate number for a positive ID later.

I wasn't sure what to do next. Do I call the police now? Or should I turn around and call them at the entrance to our long driveway, thereby blocking the only escape route for the getaway car?

I was just about to start dialing when all of a sudden, someone opened the door to the house and the dogs bounded outside. HUH?
I stared with bewilderment. Did the perps know I was outside? Had they seen me? Were they about to make a run for it?

Then the door opened again! And lo and behold, it was...

...Next Eldest son. Home for a surprise visit (in a rented car)!

After my heart settled down and my breathing returned to normal, I gave him a big "Welcome" greeting.

Buns is just thrilled to have someone new to explore.

I think they're having a staring contest to see who will be the first to look away.

We don't throw baseballs or footballs around here. To welcome one of the sons back to the homestead, we throw Lacrosse balls.

It's our family's national past time. All three sons played in high school.

After Next-Son, Clay threw this ball, he yelled, "INCOMING" at me. Sometimes you have to pay the price to "get the shot" in order to store a great memory on disc. I'm fine. It missed. Thanks for wondering.

Now that you know we weren't robbed and I wasn't clobbered by the Lacrosse ball, let me divert your attention elsewhere.

Let your eyes float downward on the picture above. Notice anything? How about the sad condition of this lawn?

It was lovely when we put in new sod but the trees soon shaded it to oblivion. Now, it's just a long green expanse of some grass but mostly weeds with a touch of my favorite green earth covering: MOSS.

I truly love this stuff.

I was coming out of the hairdressers and spotted this. I hesitated.

Then, throwing all dignity aside, I snapped these photos even though it was almost dark.

Moss in Georgia 2012

This is a lovely carpet of moss growing on a lawn in Maine. It was in October 2011. It was so lush, soft and green. It was calling my name. I wanted to lie down on it and roll all over. I refrained from doing so. I didn't want to lose friends.

A close up of the same lawn.

Moss on my friends front door brick steps and guard rail in Massachusetts. October 2011.

Moss in the woods in Wilner, Switzerland. 2009

I wish I had taken more pictures of the rocks, fallen logs all covered.

Moss in New Hampshire woods. 2007

I know I've taken you on a lengthy tortuous journey on this post but bear with me. Wrapping all this up, remember the boys playing Lacrosse in the back "yard"? Imagine, that whole strip of green weeds being a dense, lush carpet of thick, soft MOSS. Wouldn't that be a sumptuous delight for the eyes and feet?

Imagining on Whippoorwill Road,

Bernadine

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Rambunctious Buns II

Uh-Oh... Buns is at it again. Getting into and onto places he shouldn't.

My big concern is not that he's discovered how to jump on the coffee table but that he'll chew on my antique wooden tray.

Therefore, if Buns is out of his cage, free roaming, I'm monitoring his every move.

Crazy Buns looks like he's playing Ring Around The Rosy.

That's a very important "vignette" he's messing around with there.

We often watch movies with all the lights out and candles lit.

Decorated matches were kept in the bird stand for convenience of lighting the candles. But he'd grab them with his mouth, carry them off and have a quick munch or two. I had to take them away.

He's looking for his "no-no sneaky treat".

Buns is bummed. This is his look of disappointment. He'll just have to get over it: A movie is coming on and it's time to grab the matches, shut off the lights and fire up the candles.