On starting each day anew

   You know it's going to be a bad day when...
   You know it's going to be a bad day when you go to the kitchen in the early morning and find that you are out of coffee or you go out to start the car and you discover that you have a flat tire. And the spare tire.? Well... the spare is on the left rear wheel from the last flat tire while that's still at the local gas station being repaired.
   Or maybe worse,  there is a big puddle of oil on the garage floor. Is that from my car?
   You know it's going to be a bad day when  the tie you want to wear still has spaghetti sauce from the retirement party dinner held for your boss, two months ago. 
   You know that it may not be a good day because the shoes you had planned on wearing are now part of the toys in the dog's toy box. At least he has good taste. They were a pair of the ever popular Bass Weejans. 
   But is it the little things that determine whether it's a good day or bad one?
   After a seemingly good night's sleep, you hope that the new day will be free from worry and those little mishaps, those things that happen through no one's fault, that slow us down or distract us from the tasks at hand. (OK. you can blame the dog for the shoes, but if you had put them away where they belong....)
   Many of us live, or have lived hectic and busy lives, raising a family, working, sometimes feeling like that little mouse on the treadmill in that tiny wire cage.
   Even in a state of 'quasi-retirement', each day can still be very busy, fixing things, repairing things,  doing those little odd jobs around the house that didn't get done over the past some forty years or more and if something happens to disrupt the plans for the day like a bright warm sunny afternoon...oh well, there is always tomorrow. 
     Sure. There are some days that I wish I could do over, that didn't go the way I had hoped or planned, either the result of poor planning or maybe no plan at all, or because  some unexpected event  took me off track. Or was it just a day when you say to yourself..."I should have stayed of bed". 
   Not every day starts out as a bad one or a good one for that matter. But for those days that appear to get off to a bad start  by the end of the day there may have some things that happen to help  put a new perspective on things, on life. 
   Perhaps you meet a friend you haven't seen in years and you realize the two of you look exactly the same as you did 20 years ago, well almost. Or while looking for your favorite hammer in your tool chest you find something  you thought you had lost, which you did, but then, all of a sudden, you remember the 'safe' place you put it so that you wouldn't lose it, right next to your favorite hammer. Right!  :)
   But on this particular morning I was waiting patiently for the rain to stop so  I  could finish cutting the lawn I poured myself a cup of coffee and picked up a book from the pile in the corner of the room,  Hmm... Ralph Waldo Emerson. I wonder what he might have to say?
             “Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day is all that is good and fair. It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on yesterdays.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson
   OK Ralph, I get it!

A disclaimer......
   My intent had been to write about some of the funny excuses people will offer because they are having a bad day, you, a bit of humor. But earlier this week, the country was focused on the terrible event in Charleston SC and as I worked around the yard I spent some time wondering how someone could get to that "state of mind" to do such a horrific act and wondered why events like this are happening on a more regular basis. Life didn't seems quite so funny just then...
My point, this week's blog didn't end up the way I had planned.

Why did the chicken.....

   Without a doubt, for those of you reading this, most will be able to finish the sentence. It is one of the age old questions that continues to haunt mankind. Well, maybe not haunt, but, at least over the years, a question that has developed a life of its own. But why?

   The question may be very simple...why does a person or animal cross the road? What is it about the other side of the street that causes one to step off the curb and possibly venture into new territory?

   Now for the animal world it may be a very easy question to answer.

   This morning, for example, on my way to the auction, squirrels darted from property to property, from tree to tree and in all cases they are able to avoid getting hit by a car or truck, except if the driver, coming in the opposite direction toward me, decided that he wanted to hit it and swerved into my lane in an attempt to flatten the little fellow against the pavement, a squirrel pancake. With his focus only on the squirrel, it was a quick maneuver on my part that avoided an accident.

   Just out of town, there was a muskrat-like critter that had gotten himself stuck in the middle of a bridge and it was funny to watch as he raced to find a path across the bridge to safety. I can only imagine how his little heart must have been pounding.

   With late Spring and early Summer finally here, the nights are busy with all kinds of wildlife moving about, skunks being no exception and within about a mile of each other two skunks had failed to navigate beneath the wheels of a vehicle and had met with a sudden and I assume painful death, albeit a rather smelly one, as the scent still hung low in the early morning air. 

   And in case you weren't sure, or had forgotten, skunks don't move very fast, in fact, I think they waddle, so the likelihood of crossing  in front of a fast moving car with success is doubtful and as a driver you can only hope that you saw the skunk with time to avoid contact. Have you ever hit a skunk and then parked your car in your garage?

   Near the river, going to the auction and then later coming home, I passed two turtles as they slowly made their way across the road to get to the other side. 

   In some places turtles are a protected species and often there are even warning sign about Turtles Crossing. Sometimes people will even stop, pick them up and move them out of the busy traffic. The challenge for the turtles is to get safely to their nesting place. The challenge for the human is to not interfere with Mother Nature's  processes.

   Earlier in the week we decided to take a quick trip to Bangor and hopped on Rt 95. Rt 95 is a four lane highway with newly posted speed limit signs of 70 MPH. (Yes. We do have four lane highways in Maine.) About 4 miles from home, appearing to be stranded in the middle of the busy highway, was a turtle, still alive, but... for how long? With cars speeding by in both lanes it was impossible for anyone to stop or even slowdown. If he were fortunate enough to get safely from one side of the highway to the other, he (it was probably a 'she' looking for a nesting area) was one very lucky turtle.

   Crossing streets and busy highway this time of year can be very dangerous and challenging as the amount of roadkill will attest. So, here is a potential word of warning to those who may venture out to cross the road to get to the other side.

   Currently the legislature is in session in Augusta and according to the news reports there is a lot of bickering and fighting taking place this year between the Democrats, Republicans and let's not forget the Governor. Those elected to serve and represent us, yes even the wildlife,  race back and forth between home and the State Capitol almost daily, their minds possibly on things other than their driving.

    My suggestion...Fair warning! Whether you are a turtle, a squirrel, a chicken, a duck,  a skunk, or even a Democrat, Independent, or a Republican, you may want to look both ways (twice) before stepping off the curb and venturing across the busy road or highway in order to “get to the other side.”
   After I had posted this, a friend commented that I had not mentioned the 'turkey',  wild fowl often seen in large numbers in the area. (It's interesting how turkeys, like thinking birds, will hang out together.) I know they are constantly crossing roads and highways, I just haven't seen any here for a while. Perhaps they are all meeting in another part of the state for a while......

                                      

Sometimes all you need is just a quiet place to sit...

   Compared to other places along the East Coast, the sun comes up pretty early in the morning in Maine and the closer one lives to Downeast, the earlier it seems. But the early sunrise also means an early sunset. Either way, there is an opportunity to view some of nature's artful handiwork, with its blend of light, colors and sometimes even sounds. How and where it is enjoyed can be equally as Maine-like.

   Although still an hour or so before sunset, a walk to the top of the local ski slope gives a 365 degree view of the surrounding area and even during the short visit, the area changes in appearance as the sky begins to darken, first with the  colors, then with the long shadows cast across the river valley as the sun sets behind the surrounding mountains and evening settles in.

   The early morning can also offer a different view of nature's work. Lucky and I are often on our early morning walk (waving at passing cars, remember) as the sun peeks over the horizon, lighting up the sky with a rainbow of colors and accented with rays of light poking between the trees. And just in case you need a reminder, while this is not a city and we do not have many tall buildings, we do have trees, lots of them and some of them get  pretty tall too.

   But there are other ways to enjoy sunrises and sunsets and not ever leave the comforts of the house. It's called having a porch and with some comfortable chairs, wicker perhaps, it  can be just the right place to sit and read, watch the sun come up in the morning or drop below the horizon at night. It can serve as a place to enjoy the peace and quiet of the surroundings, with the exception of the occasional chorus from the frogs and tree toads at night or the early morning songs from the birds.

   Like most other things, the porch has a history and development of its own and while one may think the porch is a uniquely American invention, it's history dates back to the medieval time in Europe.

   Porches became very popular in the United States, especially in the Southern states, just prior to the Civil War. They were an important part of many Southern homes, most commonly built on the front of the house, as a place for people to get away from the heat of the daytime sun or a place to cool off in the evening. Often being located near or surrounding the front door, they also served as a place to welcome guests and weary travelers.

   Porches became a bit more popular in the Northeast after the war when returning soldiers, having enjoyed the pleasures of the porches in the South, began adding them as additions to their homes. But their popularity never seemed to catch on due in large part to the styles of the New England houses, not being conducive to the architectural features of a porch, and the short season to enjoy the outside. Who likes sitting on a porch in the middle of a snowstorm?

   Now, what is interesting is that our house looks like a home that belongs in the South on a plantation somewhere, white, two story with lots of windows and four large columns across the front supporting the roof over... a porch. It's a very southern style look and some in town refer to it has the 'house from the South'.

   On the back of the home is an additional “sun room” similar to a porch, with windows so it can be used in the winter months and screens for the warmer weather. The view from the sun room looks out over the pond and woods of the back yard. And, the sun room faces to the east, a place to catch the early morning sunrise with that first cup of coffee.

   The front porch faces West, a place to in the rocking chair and view the evening sunsets, if Lucky and I haven't climbed to the peak of the local ski slope.

   Now I know that every day does not necessarily begin with a beautiful sunrise or end with a picturesque sunset. It's just like life. But regardless of the time of day, having a place to enjoy a few quiet moments, even with the frogs, during what sometimes turns out to be a very busy day, can be peaceful.

   Oh, by the way, even in the middle of a rain storm it can be comforting and peaceful to sit and watch the lightening dance across the sky and listen to the thunder roll. It can still be a quiet place to sit and......             
                                         

 

                                         Crab apple tree in full bloom in the evening sunset.