Roadtrips...

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. (Lao Tzu)
My idea of a great definition of a roadtrip!

Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything. (Charles Kuralt, On the Road With Charles Kuralt)



Arco, MN - in 1936 H. Pedersen bought the Texaco gas station in this tiny town and began to cover it with his rock collection (notice the Texaco stars). When he passed away in 1942 his son took over and created many smaller pieces including the Statue of Liberty. The gas station is now a private home and some of the smaller pieces are displayed in a local park.

Voyaguer along the MN/Canadian border and a Smokey the fishing Bear also in one of the small towns up there. Jeff is such a good sport to pose for me :-)

Funny you should ask...

Why do we say something is out of whack?
What is a whack?

Why is it called "after dark" when it is really "after light"?

If a word is mispelled in the dictionary,
how would we ever know?

If the #2 pencil is the most popular,
why is it still #2?
(Bernard Brunsting)





It's January, the garden is frozen and there are only so many photos of the backyard birds I can show you so it's time to break out the archives...we stop and check out many things on our motorcycle roadtrips so I thought I would start to share a few of them with you.


Giant loon at Vergas, giant turkey at Frazee and giant pelican at Pelican Rapids.

a little bird...

Once I saw a little bird
Come hop, hop, hop,
And I cried, “Little bird,
Will you stop, stop, stop?”

I was going to the window
To say, “How do you do?”
But he shook his little tail
And away he flew.
(Mother Goose)




I have been enjoying the winter birds viewed from the warmth of my windows as they go about feeding in the backyard. We have many downy woodpeckers as well as the almost identical but larger hairy woodpeckers feeding on the suet and peanut feeders. The first photo is a male hairy woodpecker and the second is a female downy.
Even though I am not a fan of the messy sparrows these 2 did look awfully cute as they warmed themselves in the sun.

Changes?

Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family.
(Anthony Brandt)




Sunrise one morning this week...Sunset highlighting an unusual cloud formation last summer.

28 years ago we were blessed with our firstborn - it changed everything. We were no longer a couple but a family and what a joy it has been. Sunrises came and went, calendars flipped through the years, gray hairs grew in, technology changed, others entered our lives and sadly others left but we are a family and always will be. People warned me about childbirth but no one told us we would be the happiest over your accomplishments, the saddest over your hurts and the proudest to claim you as our own. Happy Birthday Nathan!

Follow me...

Follow me where I go what I do and who I know
Make it part of you to be a part of me
Follow me up and down all the way
Take my hand and I will follow you
(lyrics by John Denver)

Gabi went out to help me feed the birds this am and was quickly on the trail of all the bird tracks everywhere. Her nose was to the ground and away she went - down the path, up on the cabin porch, across the frozen pond, back to the garage and through the whole circuit again and again. She definitely was following up and down! At one point I saw the footprints of a bird, Gabi and myself and the "Follow Me" song popped into my head and I've been hearing John Denver ever since :-)
We had a dusting of snow last night but still not enough to cover the brown lawn. This lack of snow is setting records as the first snowless winter this late into January in decades. I don't really care for the mess, the hazardous roads and everything else snowstorms bring but now it might be time to worry about the lack of preciptation for the area farms and gardens.

Sunset Symphony

It comes...
every evening
without fanfare or drums
it comes...

it comes softly as a lullaby
beginning with a golden glow
encircling a cloud...
and then the glow begins to grow...
pinks and violets fill the sky
a ball of orange delights the eye
then cymbals crash, the trumpets blare
a symphony has filled the air,
a silent symphony!
Applause! Applause!
a spectacular show!
then the ball of orange, ablaze, aglow,
sinks slowly out of sight...

God has tucked away a day
and ushered in the night!
(Alice Joyce Davidson)

I love a good sunset and last nights (Jan. 9th) was no exception!

The Eagle

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
(Alfred, Lord Tennyson)

I spent some time storing photos from my computer to CD's this weekend and thought you would enjoy these eagle shots taken along the north shore of Lake Superior last February. On this particular day we were lucky to see 6 eagles along Hwy 61 and this guy posed in a tree right above our car. What majestic birds they are and I am thankful I was able to have this up close and personal view of one of them.

Slippery Sam

Slippery Sam was a slippery seal
And a slippery seal was he;
He slithered and slid to the sandy shore
Then he slipped back into the sea.
(author unknown)
Usually in January most Minnesotans are dreaming of a warm winter get-a-way to escape the cold, snow and ice. Thus was the case of winter 2006 when we had the warm beaches of LaJolla, CA to look forward too during the doldrums of winter. What a wonderful get away it turned out to be...good times, good weather and good memories. However, this winter nothing warm is planned but I don't seem to mind as even though it is January 6th it doesn't seem like winter has arrived yet. I'm sure I'll be changing my tune in another month or so and wishing for warm ocean beaches.




What's wrong with this picture?
No snow and temps in the 40's. . .who moved Minnesota?

Always happy. . .

They look at me with eyes of love;
They never hold a grudge...
They think I'm far too wonderful
to criticize or judge.
Gabi & Ruger, our faithful companions, are always happy. In the summer, they spend hours waiting for me to get done in the garden in the hopes I'll take them for a walk. Now that winter is here they watch me go to the mailbox to get the mail hoping I'll start walking down the road and they can accompany me. After many disappointed moments when I only got the mail they have learned to wait by the house :-) They are my best exercise motivators. They are smart enough that when they see Jeff come out of the house with his orange hat on that they get to do their very favorite thing which is pheasant hunting. They run ahead to the truck and are in the box before Jeff can even get the portable kennel loaded and won't leave the pickup when he finally comes home.Yup, these two are always happy, always faithful and I thought they deserved a little recognition so I entered them in a calendar contest. I was so excited to receive an email saying the first photo was selected to be in the Tri County Humane Society 2007 calendar. Turns out they only warranted a small date sized square at the end of April so I decided the big photo needed to be posted here.

Marsha's garden. . .

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words so I took a picture of the first page of my new "Marsha's garden" coffee table book.


I must have done some things right in the "garden of life" along with Jeff to have raised these 2 wonderful kids who are kind, intellegient and caring. We can't take credit for Scott but Jayme chose wisely and we are happy to claim him as our future son-in-law.


We love and appreciate all three of you!