Life in the Bristolwood

After a rather leisurely restful day, it will be hard to get moving and into gear! I have already been up for a couple of hours, but was busy washing dishes (that seem to multiply every night under the cover of darkness) and laundry. I will not even comment on the (endless) amount of laundry I do!

Mark had rented a documentary from Netflix that he thought I might enjoy. It was entitled Devil’s Playground ; it turned out to be a very disturbing look at the Amish custom of “rumspringa“. This is a tradition that when a young person turns 16 years of age, they are released into the “english” world to experience sex, drugs, alcohol, smoking, and whatever other unsavory vices they might like to try….thus, the title.

As I watched this documentary unravel, there were a few kids that were the “main characters”. My heart grew so heavy at some points and I found this so upsetting. The fact that these people keep themselves so set apart from the world, only to release their youngsters into it so they may “sew their wild oats” before joining the church seems so ludicrous and without wisdom to me. I find it amazing that the parents can simply turn their kids out without holding back. I could never do that….

I lived in a town where there were a great number of Amish families and I had never heard of this custom before. I do know that there were dome rather humorous stories about the Amish and some of the things they did, but they were “harmless” and funny! One of them involved a certain “rabblerouser” Amishman who happened to own a car. Seems he kept it in his barn and whenever he wanted to drive it, he would don a football helmet and drive on down the road so as not to be recognized by his peers. I have no idea if this was true or not, but the kid who told me happened to be the son of the police chief in the small town, so it could quite likely be true!

I guess that the bottom line in this documentary is that people are people, and will seek after destructive behaviors if left on their own with no accountability. After watching the entire story, I went back and re watched it with the director and those involved in making the story talking about it as it ran. In the end, one of the youngster’s pretty much ruined his life and is now serving time. He was a rather remarkable young fellow….charismatic, charming, and so much going for him. In the end, it seems part of his destruction was his indecisiveness…. he could not choose whether he was Amish or “english“.

After watching this, I came down and we watched the Sabres vs the Philadelphia Flyers game. It was a little disappointing, as the Sabres lost! (to the last team in the east?) Ah well, it was OK, because in watching the game, it became obvious to me that none of the players were going to get rough….with the playoffs beginning this week, all of the players need to be in top physical shape. To get injured in a game that really didn’t even matter….well, why bother? It was an entertaining game, as the goalie for Philly was just recently sent there from the Sabres so they could pick up Danius Zubrus.

After the game, we had our dinner and spent the rest of the day just relaxing. Oh, as I was preparing dinner, Mrs Doe, Re, Mi, and Fa were outside the kitchen window, grazing like crazy on the new shoots of grass. I was making broccoli, so I went to the french doors and calmly talked to Doe. She wasn’t afraid at all and watched as I pitched the stem her way. After I was inside the house, she went over and looked at it, but passed it by. Phooey….I thought she would eat it!

I hope you enjoyed your day! It looked more like a Thanksgiving or Christmas Day here with the sudden spritzes of snow!

Yes, Jesus is risen, He is risen from the dead!

When I think of “Easter”, I don’t think of bunnies and eggs and baskets and all the other things. Instead, I am grateful for the Lord and that He laid down His life for all. We have never been big on all the candy and stuff, but we did buy some jelly beans and candy for the kids.

Last night the kids went to a teen skate, and while they were there, Mark and I went to a little WalMart Superstore. YIKES! It was nearly filled to the brim with people! This store has been rather traditionally quiet on Saturday nights, but last night it was packed with folks. I am not sure exactly what the occasion was….perhaps buying goodies?

When we left the store (we were in there for probably about an hour and a half) the snow was falling ever-so-softly in those pretty wet big flakes that were accentuated by the parking lot lights. It was so beautiful…and yes, I know it is April! It really was stunning and I do agree that I would have been much more impressed had this been around Thanksgiving time!

We picked the kids up at 10, then headed home. Hmmmm….Mark took the path less traveled. Oh, AND this path just happens to wind through the “higher elevations”. And, if you live in the Northeast, you just KNOW what that means! Yes, we were greeted by completely snow-covered roads challenging Mark to figure out WHERE the road was!

As we drove along, I kept asking Mark if his knuckles were white yet! I could sense his great relief when we finally reached the little valley town just a few miles from our house. The snow was greatly reduced to just fine little flakes in the headlights and I think I actually heard a huge sigh!

I was awakened this morning to the sound of the snowplow coming up our hill, and when I saw the trees outside my window frosted in white, I just wanted to close my eyes and roll over. But, I did indeed get up with the boys and we went outside into the 16 frosty degrees. Wow! To add a bit of insult to injury, the weatherman announced this morning this day shall be colder than our Christmas Day was! Hurrah, hurrah….

We didn’t make plans with my parents to get together, so our day will probably entail spending a leisurely day grateful for a warm hearth! I do have a Honeysuckle White turkey breast that I will roast later in the day, along with lots of sides to go with it. I always stand amazed that I forget to plan meals for holidays. But, there is plenty in the pantry and refrigerator to make for a delicious meal!

To you and yours, Happy Easter!

Woo hoo! Am I psyched? You had better BELIEVE it! This afternoon, the Buffalo Sabres made history in clinching the President’s Cup. This is a prestigious award in the NHL, going to the top team in the league!!!

The Sabres have one more game to finish off the season. It is tomorrow afternoon and will be shown on NBC tv at 1:00 pm, EST.

After this, it is on to the STANLEY CUP!

Goooooooooooooooooo Sabres!!!!!!!

Yesterday night I was watching an American Idol rerun and I guess they were doing some charity thing and part of the show was showing a trip that the host and one of the judges took to Africa. They visited poverty stricken communities where kids, younger than me, were raising their brothers and sisters and living in dirt huts after their parents died. While in Africa they met people who died only hours later. The conditions were horrible. After the 3 minute clip finished, the host remarked “I know this is hard to watch for most of us…” What? Children and families are dying and starving and literally living in a hell, and we find it hard to watch? My heart just breaks, we are so comfortable sitting there trying to relax for the evening, while kids half way around the world are sleeping on mats on the ground wondering if they’ll get to see the sun rise tomorrow. And its “hard for us to watch”…

What amazes me is the mentality that these people have, they don’t want pity and they don’t want to cry about it. They accept that this is how things are, and they carry on. They bounce back, because they don’t have time to think about it, they need to support their family. We could learn so much from this, we get so set in our ways, wake up, grab a coffee, get to school and work, get home, relax and get ready to start over again. We’re living in our own world, and we go on uninterrupted, and inconvenienced by other’s pain. If only we opened our eyes, if only we could reach outside of the cycle. If only we would stop caring so much about the shoes, and the clothes and the music, and broke out of our complacency to feel the pain of those around us.

I may never make any kind of lasting achievement for myself, and if I die tomorrow maybe no one will remember my name. All I can do is try, not for my own prosperity and satisfaction, but to live only for others. To act. To live outside our needs. To give everything, and want nothing. Besides, its not my name I want everyone to remember, my name won’t get you anywhere. To be remembered only as the one who followed Him. Jesus Christ is the only name I ever want to carry. And to say I did not live for myself, but for Him.

I have decided that living in the Northeast means that each and every day *is* a weather challenge! Especially this time of the year. The weather “turns the corner”, so to speak, and everyone gets ready for the new season. Then….kaboom! The weather returns to its former state and we are left wondering….

Yesterday, I decided to return the large bag of soda cans and several smaller grocery bags of soda bottles and cans to the store. I crawled up into the truck, gathering them more towards the back so I could hop down onto the ground and grab them out. (I guess it is pertinent to mention that at five feet, one and one-half inches tall, it is a bit *hard* to reach things from our four wheel drive Silverado truck if items are not close to the back.) So….I hopped down after getting the bags readied, and walked about two feet from the truck towards a shopping cart to carry the bags.

Suddenly, this ***HUGE*** gust of wind (Mark, who was sitting inside the truck, called it a sudden hurricane-force wind!!!) caught the smaller bags and they were lifted into the air and sent sailing across the parking lot! I chased and caught up with two bags, but two others landed probably a good three hundred and five hundred feet from the truck. I felt so silly…I just took my two bags I had in my hands and walked back towards the truck. Ben had jumped out and raced after the farthest bag, then a young guy who works at Wegman’s grabbed a shopping cart
(HOW did he just happen to have that cart right there?) and gathered the bottles and cans from the other bag. Within about, oh, five minutes, all of the bottles and cans were back in my possession. I thanked both Ben and the young man….profusely…..then headed into the bottle return area of Wegman’s.

This morning, we are nineteen degrees with a bitter wind that would chill a snowman’s heart! The forecast calls for one to two inches of accumulation (yes, of sn*w!!!!) AND 20 degrees below *normal* temps. Hmmm…so, what IS normal?

Well, no matter whether this weather is agreeable or not, we gotta take it!

You know, in the Garden of Eden? This morning, Mrs. Doe came back again with Re, Mi, and Fa. The youngsters bolted off into the woods, but as I spoke to Doe, she actually turned around in her tracks and walked a few steps towards me! I was standing on the back deck….does she look frightened?

I was anxious to take some pictures today, as the woods is beginning to “brighten” up a bit. AND, I am so antsy to try out the new camera in lots of different modes with different lighting and such. My biggest problem right now is that the current lens I am using doesn’t do so well in low light situations, and I am awaiting a new lens. So, while waiting, I will be patient and make the most of what I have.

As I was getting up this morning, I noticed that my (other) weird Christmas Cactus had such a pretty blossom on it, I just needed to take a picture. I love the colors in this one….the streaks of color are stunning! Oh, and now my Christmas Cacti have bloomed for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and you had better believe there are going to be even MORE flowers for Easter!

After taking pictures of the deer and plant, I decided to go outside and take some pictures…..Hmmmmm……what can I take pictures of? Let’s see….

Ah yes, this morning, my little miniature Daffodils were nearly blooming! How exciting!

And how about this? I had two very perplexed and frustrated black-bearded little boys looking longingly through the french doors as I walked outside to snap a shot of their morning offering. There is their special ground turkey meatloaf, ground green beans, a few blueberries, cranberries, a small spoonful of virgin coconut oil, topped with a teaspoon of flax seeds! What you cannot see is a bit of olive oil and fish oil drizzled over the top. As I made my way back inside with the dish, I was seriously thinking I was about to be mugged, but the little boys were gentlemenly. Well, until I put the food into their bowls!

This afternoon, Ben wanted to ride his bicycle on our road. Where we live is so steep, there was no way he could ride it unless he had worked at it for quite some time! So, we loaded his bike into the back of the Explorer and I drove up to a more gentle incline. Ben was so happy to ride along and I followed behind. As Ben rode, you cannot imagine my delight when I saw man walking a Wire-Haired Dachshund!

What was humorous about all of this is that I was on the phone with Carly, who owns the cute little Black and Tan Dachshund, Joe! I stopped the car and got out to talk with the man. You see, Bob the UPS man had already told me who this man was, as I had seen him walking this pup several months ago and inquired. It is so rare to see one of these dogs, so I asked Bob and he knew exactly who this was!

I got out of the car and introduced myself and asked if I could take pictures. Of course! This neighbor is so proud of his little girlie. She is of European lines and is a licensed “Deersearch Dog”. When a hunter injures a deer and cannot find it, he can notify this pair, and little Karma may then search the woods until she finds it. I learned that they were featured last fall on a page of the local newspaper!

Isn’t she a cutie? I love the way her paws turn out and that little beard! As I bent down to say hello, she came right to me and smothered me in kisses!!!

I caught up with Ben and he rode on and on for awhile. Near the end of his ride, there is a big hill. Ben loved gliding down the hill. So much so, he went back up the hill and rode down once again!

When we got home, I was surprised to see that my mini Daffodils were now blooming!

You cannot know how much the sight of those three little flowers made my heart sing! We got up to 60 degrees this afternoon, and tomorrow, we are supposed to be warm once again. Until the afternoon. Then, our weather is supposed to degrade to the point that the temperatures drop into the 30′s by evening! The weatherman says “snow” in the forecast….well, with Easter around the corner, what else should we expect? We *are* in the Northeast, after all!

I went inside the house, and in looking out the french doors, who should I spot grazing up behind the house once again? Yes, Doe, Re, Me, and Fa! Just like the Garden of Eden, I tell you!!!

Yes, today we went up to visit Mark’s mom and to take her to a doctor appointment.

So, do you suppose the driver knew the engine compartment was exposed for all of the city to see?

Mark and his mom went into the appointment and the kids and I went to Wendy’s to grab a small bite to eat. The kids were hungry and it was a great way to pass some time.

Afterward, Mark wanted to stop by Daddy’s Junky Music. That isn’t my idea of fun, so Michelle and I sat with the pups out in the car. The boys were so good! They always are, though. Earlier in the day, Michelle trimmed Murphy. She can’t stand the thought of him looking “bushy”, so she is always trimming! She plans to do Angus tomorrow and he hates having the clippers anywhere near his face, so I grabbed my little folding scissors and trimmed quite a bit off his head and face. He didn’t like it, but he was so good!

Remember I said it was windy today? Yes, the car is really sitting still. I tied Angus to the steering wheel and Michelle was holding Murphy’s leash! The boys’ beards and eyebrows were blowing like a flag in the wind! That is Angus on the left with the “smile” on his face! You can see his eyes…..before I touched up his face, they were almost hidden!

We went to a couple other stores, and by the time we got home, it was nearly 9:30. What a long day!

Anyone who knows me well knows that I rarely sit still during the day. Sometimes I get to feeling like a gryroscope, spinning round and round.

Well, it is a rare day when I can actually sit down long enough to watch a movie. AND, you better believe it had better be GOOD if I am spending time like that!!! The other day, Ben gave me his I-Pod to watch a movie Mark had put on it. The name of the movie is I Am David.

If you are looking for a movie that the entire family can enjoy together without mom and dad turning red and fast-forwarding through stuff that is inappropriate, this is it. The movie is just so good and that is all I am going to divulge!

This morning, as I was making my bed, I looked out the window and there was Mrs. Doe standing down in the woods. She was so pretty. So, I grabbed my camera and took some pictures. The quality is crummy because they were shot through my (dirty!) bedroom window. Drat.

It was only after I started to look through the viewfinder that I realized that Re, Mi, and Fa were following in the rear. I was unable to get the three of them together, as they were so scattered. They must be Mrs. Doe’s brood from last year, as they are rather small compared to her. It seems like the deer near us have twins or triplets all the time, as it is not uncommon to see a Doe with two or three younsters in tow.

Tom is in the center of the picture, along with four of his girlies. Once again, these pictures were taken through a window that was less than “stellar”. In other words, it was a MESS! Anyway, back to Tom…..

As if on cue, Tom spread out those tailfeathers and strutted his stuff! AND, as if that was not enough,

Tom must have thought we would like to see his posterior as well! He strutted about, turning around and around as he went. It was too funny to watch, but perhaps that is how he captured the hearts of his nine lady friends?

I was totally bummed by these pictures, not only because I took them through glass, but they are out of focus because I had been fiddling around with the dioptor adjustment last night, and thought I would “callibrate” it correctly this morning. Then, the wildlife began their show and I never got around to making the correction.

Then, there is this picture I took last night….

I had taken the Scottie boys out for their final constitution, and I grabbed the camera on the way out. The moon was so cool the way it kept coming in and out of the clouds. I (*tried*) to plant my elbows against the railing on the porch, but with two wild Scottie boys on two separate leashes…..well, you get the idea! Anyway, I thought this pictue might be a cool one to begin a mystery………………………..

Did anyone else get a kick out of Google’s silly April Fool’s joke this morning? Mark and I giggled and teeheed as we read about their new FREE broadband TiSP offer. Gads, methinks their humor is going down the toilet! hehehehe