Boots, Gandalf, and Galadriel

Yesterday, I noticed a doe wandering around the house. From the way she was acting, I thought she either had a fawn close by, or was getting ready to have one.

I named her "Boots" because of her two front white legs.

Around 10 a.m., I glanced out my window to see Boots beneath the blue spruce, having a baby!

Unfortunately, because the tree limbs hang so low to the ground, I was not able to get good shots of the birth.

It turned out to be two babies!



One was a little darker in color and larger than the other.



They were about the size of large rabbits.

They moved out into the sunshine for a minute.

Mom stood up, and they went back to get their first milk.

Mom sure picked good covering, didn't she?

 

That was hard work, I'm sure, having just been born!

Then she moved them, as I knew she would. I went to the other window and grabbed this shot as they passed
our tiny little garden.

I was able to get a good shot of this one!

I waited just a moment - I don't walk that fast, anyway - and then slipped out the back door to see where they went.
I saw Boots with this baby, but the other was nowhere to be seen.



Then I spotted it peeking around this tree. It was a long way from it's mother. I started backing toward the door.



To my surprise, the little one went in the other direction.

I snapped shots as I backed away and went to go back inside.

The baby took a couple of hops, and ended up under another blue spruce.

And this is where it lay for hours.

I fretted over the little fawn most of the day, because I was afraid I'd interfered with some bonding process or something. I saw Boots come back about 11:30, but when I went out at 2 p.m. to see, the little fawn was still there. But sometime between 2 and 5, she came back and found it. I was quite relieved.

The little twins now sport the names Gandalf and Galadriel. In a few weeks I won't know which fawns running around here are them, actually, so I suppose every fawn this summer will be called those names.

It made for an interesting change of pace, at any rate.

Thursday 13

I was not able to have children. Therefore, I never comment directly on how other people raise their brats, er, kids. The obvious come-back is, of course, "What do you know? You never had a child." That's legitimate, so I keep my mouth shut unless what I have to say is a compliment.

But over the years, I have watched a multitude of parents with their children. I went to my nephews' ballgames and my niece's dances, when I could. I am not a hermit, and so I see children in public places. It is not as if I have never seen a child in the last 30 years.

Also, I like children. But I do not like all children. And more and more, I don't like your child, whoever you are, because your kid is foul-mouthed, rude, crude, whiny, or ignorant, and you don't even know it. Or if you do, you don't care. Or worse, you think that's normal and okay.

Personally, I do not think most people raise children anymore. I think adults befriend their little angel and they kowtow to them, and they allow the children to run the family. I think some adults forget that the marriage comes first, and the children second. I also think we have turned young adults into children, keeping them young for far too long. Maybe 18 is a little young to send them packing, but they should be away from mom and day by the time they're 25 or so.

Older generations knew this. Yes, they made mistakes with their children. Some were too hard on their kids. Some didn't raise their kids at all. But middle-class kids today? I have started staying as far from them as I can, unless they're a relative. So here are some of the things I've seen and wondered about.

1. Parents on their cell phones completely ignoring the child. That little box in your hand is not more important than the human being tugging on your leg. Please look up from your Candy Crush game and give the child another sip of Coke or take her to the bathroom or whatever it is that needs doing.

2. Allowing children to wander. This happens in restaurants more than it should. Parents bring in their kids, and the kids, apparently already wired, start racing around tables, jumping from chair to chair, and generally being pains in the ass to nearby patrons, who deserve better. And the parents? They carry on a conversation with their friends (or with their cellphone), totally clueless as to the havoc being wrecked by their young ones.

3. Allowing kids to yell. And yell. And yell. If you can't calm your child down within two minutes, then take the kid out to the car. Do you really think the people at the next table, or on the next blanket at the beach, or in the next aisle at the supermarket, or wherever you are, want to hear your little darling screaming constantly at the top of his lungs for 20 minutes? Guess what. We don't.

4. Not letting the child take the punishment. Sometimes kids deserve the F they received on the paper, and having mom or dad rush in and bitch at the teacher until she caves and makes it a C- does no one any favors. Sometimes they need to hear the neighbor next door yell at them because they stomped on her flowers. She's right, you know. They misbehaved. You should make them apologize, not yell at the neighbor.

5. Overprotecting a kid. Kids grow tough by falling on their bottoms and getting back up, whether that's a literal fall for a toddler or a metaphorical fall for the 8th grader who is having friend troubles. If you step in and solve every little thing, how is the child going to learn to be brave, to stand back up, to continue to work at an issue? You're just teaching them to run to momma or daddy. They have two feet. Let them stand on them.

6. Thinking the kid is perfect. Your child is not perfect. No one is. I'm sorry you don't want me to tell you that having your child stick his tongue out at me (or giving me the finger) is not fine, but it isn't. That is not perfect behavior. That is boorish and rude behavior. And that drawing looks nothing like a dinosaur, so no, he's not the next Michelangelo.

7. Not teaching manners. I seldom hear children say the magic words of please, thank you, yes sir, and yes ma'am anymore. Actually, I don't hear that from many people at all, and those words need to make a come back. How hard is it to say "Pass me the salt, please" and "Thank you" when the deed is done?

8. Parents who live through their children. Didn't get to be on the football team in high school? Let's see if we can't make little Johnny a quarterback (even though he'd rather play chess) and turn him into a bruiser. Didn't get to learn French? Let's make Susie take it even though she'd rather learn Latin. Don't do that. They need guidance, not a dragging through the mud to make them do something just because you want to pretend it's really you out there. And for heaven's sake, don't have the wedding of your dreams when your daughter gets married. Let her have the wedding of her dreams. If they don't match yours, suck it up.

9. Not joining together as a team when couples parent. It makes me crazy to hear a dad say, "don't do that" to a misbehaving child only to hear the mom pipe up, "oh Bill, he's just being a boy, he's not bothering anybody." Yes he is, lady. He's bothering me. And you and your husband should spend some time discussing what you want in child rearing, and come to a compromise on it, and support one another.

10. Not giving children chores. I think children should have chores, and no, they shouldn't be paid for them. Some things should be done just because they are part of the household. When they're old enough, they should be able to strip their own bed, take out the trash, put their clothes in the hamper, wash dishes, or whatever. "Old enough" doesn't mean when they are 18, either. It means they receive certain jobs as they age. A two year old can pick up her own toys. Make her do it. (As an aside, I have been horrified to see some young parents on FB talking about when to potty train - and they think three or four is too young. I think that's too old.)

11. Not enjoying their children. This kind of goes back to #1. Your kids are not going to be little for very long. You are missing out on many things because you're so self-involved or whatever it is. You have to find that fine line between over-parenting and proper parenting. It's like the line between correction and abuse. I promise you, those lines are there somewhere.

12. Raising your kid to be what you want and not paying attention to who they are. Maybe you have a sensitive artistic genius on your hands, and you want him to play baseball. You are going to make the kid miserable, because he is going to try to please you and will fail. Maybe you want her to be a secretary in your business when you should be putting her through school so she can come back and be head of the marketing department, because she likes to write. Learn who your child is as a person, not as an extension of yourself.

13. Forgetting that your actions speak louder than your words. If you are a male who denigrates women, your son will grow up to do the same thing. If you are a woman who cowers from an abusive husband, your daughter will likely end up the same way. If you curse, don't expect those words not to spew from your child's mouth. If you yell, your kid will yell. If you demand, your kid will demand. If you want to raise a nice person, be a nice person.

And if you can't be a nice person, maybe you should not have had kids. 

Check out John Rosamond's "Bill of Rights" for kids for some quick advice on child rearing.

_____________

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 451st time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. 

It's my party. I'll cry if I want to.

So today is my birthday.

I am sick with a sinus infection and an upper respiratory infection (apparently two different things). My doctor yesterday gave me an antibiotic and told me to go home, go to bed, and sleep all I could.

My husband won't be taking me to dinner and plans with friends later in the week likely will be postponed. It is not the end of the world, but I'm not happy about it. Fortunately, I tend to celebrate my birthday all month. Why not, right? You're only going to have that particular birthday once.

Friends have already sent me nice cards. My father sent a gift card. My brother gave me an Erector set! (I'm coloring and playing with kid toys; apparently a full-on reversion to childhood is underway.) Another friend gave me a harmonica (though I won't play that while I'm ill - who wants a harmonica full of germs?) and a book, too.

A girl should be well on her birthday. A girl should not spend a beautiful day in bed.

But a girl will.

Wascally Wabbit

He's How Old?

Yesterday, my brother turned 50 years old. I have been older than 50 for almost three years now, but the idea that he would turn 50 seemed strange to me.

I still see him as . . . maybe 15? But there are lots of years in there, lots of time passed.

He was not a mean boy, but he was a boy. He cut all the hair off of my Barbies, including a Midge doll that belonged to my mother. I think she was more upset about that than I was. He left my bicycle behind my father's truck, and when my father backed over it, I took the whipping for leaving it there even though I had absolutely nothing to do with it.

When he was in the 4th grade, the school bus driver went off and left him. This was not a small thing in a rural area - both of my parents were working, the bus ride was an hour long, and I had no way to let them know he was stranded at the elementary school (this was in 1975, after all). On top of that, the bus driver had said he could go back in the school and get something he forgot, and then left without him. I told her off as I exited the bus.

I went straight to the principal the next morning to report the bus driver, who had already beaten me to the punch, of course. But given the circumstances, I was not punished for my impertinence in defending my sibling.

In high school, I nearly was expelled because some kid was picking on him (he was a freshman, I was a senior), and I jumped on the bully like a goat on a green grass. You just did not pick on my brother if I was around.

After I married, I didn't see so much of him, of course. He was finishing high school, busy dating, and setting himself up to go to work for our father. He married once, divorced, married again, gaining not only a wife but a stepson when he was about 26. He and his wife then had two children of their own.

He was 34 when our mother passed away. Even now, 16 years later, I will never forget the look on his face when I met him in the hospital halls and told him she had pancreatic cancer. Some things burn themselves into your brain.

Every year, even during some rough family times when we were barely speaking, we exchange Christmas presents. It is tradition for us to open the present from each other on Christmas Eve. We didn't break it. Or at least, I didn't. There were a few years I didn't see him on Christmas Eve, so I don't know if he opened whatever I sent him. I hope so.

And now he's 50 years old. He runs a big company, his children are grown, or nearly so. We talk a couple of times a month on the phone.

He's an antique, just like I am. But I will always be older.

Me with my little brother.

Christmas circa 1974, maybe?

 

My brothers' senior picture.

My brother at my wedding.

My brother last year at his daughter's baptism.

My brother last month.

Sunday Stealing: Meal Skipper

Meal Skipper Meme

1. Do you skip meals sometimes? A. Yes

2. Last time you overate? A. My husband's birthday.

3. Do you like Mexican food? A. No.

4. Do you like Chinese food? A. Yes.

5. Do you like Italian food? A. No. Well, I do, but it doesn't like me much.

6. Do you like American food? A. I guess so. What exactly is American food? Kellogg's cereals?

7. Have you ever been on a diet? A. I'm old and fat. What do you think?

8. Do you like vegetables? A. Yes.

9. On a scale from 1 to 5 how much do you eat a day (1= not eating, 5= eating 3 meals)? A. 5

10. Do you think you eat healthily? A. Not really.

11. Do you think you are ugly? A. This is not a question I care to answer.

12. Do you like your hair? A. It's okay.

13. Do you like the way you look? A. Generally.

14. Would you want to change anything? A. I'd like to lose weight.

15. Do you ever wear a lucky color? A. No.

16. Do you care how other people see you? A. Sometimes.

17. Do you or have you ever worn braces? A. Yes.

18. Do you wear glasses and/or contacts? A. Yes.

19. Do you want to gain weight, lose weight, or stay about the same? A. Lose weight.

20. What do you do if you have the flu? A. Go to bed.

21. How many tries to get your drivers license? A. One.

22. Are you saving up for anything in the future? A. Yes.

23. Do you have a lot of spare time? A. Yes.

24. Do you consider yourself a responsible person? A. Yes.

25. Do you consider yourself a lazy person? A. No.

__________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Ode to Billie Joe

Ode to Billie Joe (1967)

If you're not familiar with today's song, you can hear it here.

(A favorite of mine!)

1) This song takes places on "the third of June," which is described as "another sleepy, dusty" day. Describe the weather where you were on Friday, June 3, 2016.

A. Yesterday we had thunderstorms in the afternoon. It was quite hot and humid for early June.

2) In this song, the family sits down to eat and discuss the doings of their friends and neighbors. Mama, Papa, Brother and Sister were at the table. Who did you have dinner with on Friday?

A. My husband. We had a salad.

3) Young Billie Joe MacAllister playfully put a frog down another kid's back. Do you see many frogs where you live?

A. We have little tree frogs that sometimes attach themselves to the glass on the doors.

4) This song made Mississippi's Tallahatchie Bridge famous. What's the name of a bridge in your neighborhood?

A. Hmm. Catawba Creek Bridge, I guess. Which is not much of a bridge. There's a swinging bridge in Buchanan, but I don't know if it has a name.

5) Bobbie Gentry often performed with Glen Campbell. Mr. Campbell's family is very open about Glen's battle with Alzheimer's. Is anyone in your life facing this terrible disease?

A. My grandmother, who is 96, has dementia, which is not exactly the same thing.
 
6) "Ode to Billie Joe" was made into a movie directed by Max Baer, Jr. Mr. Baer is better known for playing Jethro Bodine in a famous 1960s era sitcom. Can you name it?

A. Beverly Hillbillies

7) Bobbie Gentry made one of her last public appearances in 1981 on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Johnny is now seen in reruns on the Antenna TV channel. Think of the last TV show you watched. Was it new or was it a rerun?

A. The last show I watched Mysteries of the Museum, and I think it was a rerun but I had never seen it.

8) In 1967, when this song was popular, Sweden changed its traffic laws and Swedes began driving on the right. Have you ever driven in a foreign country? If so, did you have a hard time adapting to their laws?

A. I have never driven in a foreign country.

9) Random question: Which would you rather have more of -- compliments or hugs?

A. That's a tough one. I can't make that choice.

_____________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

Evening Visitor

Thursday Thirteen #450

Today we're talking TV themes. Which ones do you remember?

I like the ones with songs the best. Here are a few:

1. All in the Family

2. Gilligan's Island

3. I Dream of Jeannie

4. The Munsters

5. The Addams Family

6. Big Bang Theory

7. Game of Thrones

8. The Brady Bunch

9. The Andy Griffith Show

10. Bewitched

12. The Beverly Hillbillies

13. The Facts of Life

And as an extra, one of my favorite shows ever:

Xena, Warrior Princess

What TV themes do you like?

_____________

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 450th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. 

Now I'm a Cougar

Oh, you little dickens. Look what you've gone and done. You've turned me into one of those cougar women, chowing down on the smaller and more helpless.

How the hell did you get in my grocery cart, anyway? Did you grow legs?

First I was in love with that Extra Large Hershey's Symphony, which was bad enough, and now I've gone and become one of those older women preying on the young. Come here, little chocolate. Come on over and see what it is a mature lady has for you, yes? I've got it going, you young 'un, you. Let me show you exactly how it works, and who is boss.

You are the boss, baby. You are chocolate. You are milk chocolate and you are smooth and creamy. You are instant gratification. You are me at the age of seventeen, when I could wiggle my butt and make the boys pant without even knowing it. That age when I could toss out a "come hither" look and wait for the wolf whistle. Yeah, that's who you are. You think you're the king, don't you, baby.

But I'm the older woman in this relationship. I'm the adult, don't you forget it. So get your little ass out of my grocery cart next time I'm in the store. Stop wolf whistling at me, 'cause I ain't having none of it, not me. I am a married woman with a great big behind and I aim to put a stop to that.

And I can't put a stop to that with you hangin' on my every word, now can I? I can't make that big butt disappear when you keep calling out my name, still whispering in my ear every darn time I enter the supermarket. Stop that singing, do you hear me? I am old enough to know better and I demand that you stop that siren song.

No more wiggling that little edge of paper, no more hiding that "220 calories" mark behind some other piece of candy. You show yourself for what you are, you little flirt. Yeah, don't tell me you like me big and round. I don't want to hear that talk, that's for somebody else with a grocery cart. You turn around now, and go on back home to that Hershey's Symphony bar. He'll tell you. I gave him up for good.

You're going next. Yes, you are. I said, yes you are. You heard me. Go on, now. Go. I want to see your behind heading out toward that trash can.

Don't whimper at me. I don't want to see those chocolate puppy dog eyes. Turn around now. Stop whining.

Well, ok. Maybe you can stay overnight. Just this once.

Athena

I am fairly certain this is not how the goddess Athena would have looked to Greeks back in the day.




 

Medium: Crayon

When I first saw the coloring page, my immediate reaction was to make her look more like, well, this . . .

You know, like an Amazon. More Xena, if you will. More brown leather and less color.

But after studying the picture, I determined there wasn't much Amazon there. All of that draping and that parade helmet - that's not an Amazon. Besides, Artemis was the goddess of the Amazons, not Athena, though apparently Athena looked favorably upon the Amazons, too.

Athena, aka Pallas Athena, was the Greek goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, mathematics, strength, war strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill. That's a lot to put on one goddess, but she must have been up to the task.

She allegedly sprang from Zeus' head, in full-blown armor. That had to have hurt, eh? But not too much, as she was the favored child of Zeus.

To mankind, she offered up the gifts of the bridle, so man could tame horses, the trumpet, the flute, the pot, the rake, the plow, the yoke, the ship, and the chariot. She must not have had much spare time.

In later legends, Athena was the opposite of her brother Ares, who favored violence, bloodlust, and slaughter, while Athena represented the disciplined, strategic side of war. She was more interested in truth, justice, and moral values than in blood and guts.

Her holy tree was the olive tree and she was often symbolized as an owl. She has been known to take the form of other birds as well.

The Romans called her Minerva. She may have been a Mycenaean goddess adapted into Greek mythology. An Egyptian goddess, Neith, was also identified with Athena. Neith was the war goddess and huntress deity of the Egyptians since the ancient Pre-Dynastic period. This goddess was also identified with weaving.

The goddess Athena encouraged everyone to use intuitive wisdom rather than anger or violence.

Maybe somebody should have listened.
 


Memorial Day 2016

Medium: Colored Pencil

Sunday Stealing: Sit Right Down

From Sunday Stealing

Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter Meme


•When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper? A. If personalized long notes on Christmas cards count, then Christmas. Otherwise, it has been quite a while.

•Can you change the oil on a car? A. I used to be able to. I still know how to measure it but I have a husband for the other issues.

•Ever gotten a speeding ticket? A. No.

•Run out of gas? A. Not that I recall.

•Favorite kind of sandwich? A. A good chicken salad sandwich is always welcome.

•Best thing to eat for breakfast? A. Eggs, bacon, grits with butter, biscuits and gravy.

•What is your usual bedtime? A. 10 p.m.

•Are you lazy? A. No, I am in constant pain. There's a difference. I have worked for as long as remember, and even now I try to find things to do to keep busy.

•When you were a kid, what did you dress up as for Halloween? A. Hobos, fairy princess, witches, the usual.

•Do you have any magazine subscriptions? A. I subscribe to O! and Reader's Digest. I have let my other subscriptions lapse.

•Which are better, legos or lincoln logs? A. There is no right answer to that question. Any one with a creative bent would love either. I'd also like to have an Erector set.

•Are you stubborn? A. I can be.

•Who is better . . . Leno or Letterman? A. I used to watch Letterman occasionally. But I don't have an opinion on "better."

•Ever watch soap operas? A. A very long time ago. When I was too young to be watching it, I loved Dark Shadows. Later, I was a fan of The Guiding Light.

•Afraid of heights? A. Not really. I do not like elevators, though.

•Sing in the car? A. Of course.

•Dance in the shower? A. Of course.

•Dance in the car? A. Well, as well as one can dance in a car.

•Ever used a gun? A. I have, yes.

•Do you think musicals are cheesy? A. I wish life were a musical. Wouldn't it be fantastic if we were at the mall, and suddenly everyone burst into song? I think that would be splendid.

•Is Christmas stressful? A. Yes.

•Ever eat a pierogi? A. I don't know what it is, so I don't think so.

•Major annoyance right now? A. Just an overwhelmed sort of feeling that I can't make go away. Plus there is this tune on a Land Rover Evoque commercial that is driving me kind of crazy because it is from something from my childhood, but I can't remember what. I also can't find the darned commercial online so I can try to figure out the tune. Everything else is just sad and pathetic, and who wants to read about that.

•Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid? A. Geologist, archeologist, writer, historian, librarian, teacher. What I really wanted to be was the next generation Carolyn Keene, and write Nancy Drew books. But that did not happen.

•Do you believe in ghosts? A. Sure, why not. There is just as much evidence for them as there is for all the other BS that people believe.

__________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Star Spangled

Saturday 9

Memorial Day is a federal holiday designated to honor American service people who died in battle.
The Star Spangled Banner, as sung by Whitney Houston.

1) Are you a veteran? Are there veterans in your family? Do you know anyone who is active military? (We are grateful and want to hear about it.)

 

A. My father served in the Army in the late 1950s-early 1960s. My grandfather fought in WWII. I have several uncles who served in the Armed Forces as well.

 

2) Memorial Day kicks off the summer season. What's your favorite picnic food?

 

A. Watermelon.

 

3) Let's celebrate the Memorial Day holiday with ice cream. What's your favorite flavor? Cone or cup?

 

A. I would love to have a hot fudge sundae with whipped cream and a cherry on top. That would require a cup.

 

4) This marks the weekend when Americans step up their outdoor activity and do things they may not have been able to do during the winter months. For example, when is the last time you rode a bike?

 

A. About 25 years ago.

 

5) Or went hiking?

 

A. About 4 years ago. 

 

6) Or rode a horse?

 

A. About 35 years ago.

 

7) Or toasted a marshmallow?

 

A. About 35 years ago.

 

8) As you answer these questions, is there an air conditioner or fan on?

 

A. Air conditioner.

 

9) Crazy Sam needs your help: What song or a performer would you like to see featured in a Saturday 9 this summer? You'll begin seeing your suggestions as Saturday 9 themes in mid-June. Thanks!

 

A. Hotel California, by the Eagles.