ONE BUNNY THE SIZE OF A LITTLE MOUSE sat on our back patio. He hopped, skipped and jumped toward the hosta bed and nosed in. Later I saw his little face peeking out. He looked like an elf in the leaves. The next time I looked out, there were two little elves peering from the hosta cover. The mother rabbit was nowhere in sight and I wondered how she'd let these two little creatures out alone  to face the dangers of the world. The bunnies nestled together in the greenery until dark. I wondered if it was their new home. If I parted the leaves, would I find small green beds, white coverlets and hanging blue coats? Like the cozy room in the Peter Rabbit book. I'll just keep it in my imgination. 

Spent hours cleaning my office so I could find my new Internet accounts and passwords since I have not been able to Blog. Couldn't remember what it was, and couldn't find the slip of paper that had my user name and password jotted down. Any hints on how to stay organized? Finally found it on a sticky yellow pad below my screen. Since I've just started exploring ebooks for my writing, I've found there are many, many sites that can be part of the publishing and marketing process. Previously, my writing was published the old fashion way and the PR carried out the old fashioned way, attending meetings, conferences, conducting workshops, then handing out cards and giving info on the newly published book or anthology. Now, I'm scrambling to get organized for this new way to proceed. Sticky notes are not the answer. Back to cleaning. Back to organizing.     

JUMPED TOO SOON TO MY CONCLUSION
   The geese are still here. Guess they've been hiding in the rain. I don't know who Critter Control sought out and took away. Hmmm, haven't seen the turkeys lately. I do like to keep track of the critters that wander across the back yard. Bob saw a mink last night, but I missed it. Last year neighbors said mink lived in a connected pond, but I wasn't sure they were still around.
    Everytime I get out of the car in the garage I see the box of little jam jars reminding me of my once aspirations. The jars have been there for a couple years, since I did intend to can some tidbit or other. Yesterday, in the spirit of cleaning up garage shelves, I brought them inside and looked up recipes. Ended up doing freezer strawberry jam, since it sounded easier than canning and lasts one year in the freezer. I sold my canning gear in a garage sale a couple years ago, so I'd planned to can in my tamale pot, but was uncertain if that would work. I found "no sugar" jam recipes available and I ended up with 9 little jars to keep and give away to family and friends. The jam was tarter than usual, a taste I appreciated, since I do not like super sweet things. Now, what to do with the rest of the junk (or valuables, depending on one's frame of mine) that rests on my side of the garage.   

AN ENDING
Looks like my blogging goose stories are finished. Yesterday, I saw a yellow Critter Control truck arrive on the lakefront road. I wondered what animal had offended. Yesterday afternoon, I watched for the Canada Geese family to arrive outside our home, birds shuffling through the grass, pecking about for bugs, then collapsing into feather heaps along the banks. The three babies had grown out of their fuzzy yellow fluff, but not yet found their colors. I was anticipating watching them mature. But no geese spotted today.
   I know several residents do not like them, and may have complained, yet I enjoy seeing the majestic water fowl outside my window as I write. So I am sad and lonely today because my companions have probably been removed. I did not even get to say goodbye. Unless the birds happen to read my blog. In that case, fare thee well, beautiful winged creatues.
   I was told that sometimes the geese are taken to a reserve, but I wonder if it's like the words I heard as a child. "We took the pet (dog) (cat) to the farm." I never had the courage to ask any further questions. And I find myself in the same spot this afternoon. I'll hold them in my memory.  

MY APOLOGIES

So sorry geese, you may not have been the culprits that nibbled off my purple flower top and lily buds. Others folks have come forth, and pointed fingers at different possible garden intruders. Rabbits. Squirrels. Ground hogs. True, all these furry friends come near the garden patches, and I have no evidence of the guilty parties. I based my guess on the long, slender necks of the Canada Geese, whose beaks were the exact right height to bite off a morsel or two. Today the little goslings pecked away at the debris that had washed out from our gutter tube. After the rain, there were clumps of seeds. Elm seeds, yum. This year I planned to buy a tomato plant for the deck, but when I checked to see if the leaves and stems were poisonous, the answer was yes. Our cat hangs out on the deck. Silly cat, she’s prone to chewing on floral leaves, petals etc., so looks like I will buy my home grown tomatoes at the Farmer’s Market this year. 

DAY OF THE GOSLINGS

   I call today “the arrival of the goslings”. For the past two years, we’ve lived along a pond, fed from a natural spring. After the winter goes on its way, Canada Geese drop by, and stay to raise their families. Many in our neighborhood are not fond of the geese. “Messy”, they say, and that is probably right, but for me, it’s an exciting sight to have large, wild birds with long, elegant necks parading past my window.  This morning, I saw three babies following after mama and papa. The goslings were still yellow feathered, but I could see an overshadowing of brown and grey. Today, the geese settled in down by the water. Later, they nibbled on grass and bugs and apparently lily buds, since some stalks were snapped off when I checked after they were gone. I also had a lovely, purple flowered stalk by the back door, and when I checked, it was gone too. Maybe next year, this illusive bloom will receive a name, if I get to it before the geese do. Eventually, the birds left via the pond, with wide V’s trailing behind them. It always makes me sad when they desert me.       

A blog about writing, nature, cooking, an occasional philosophical bent &/or random thoughts. Since my mind leaps about like a hooked fish, I need a large menu of topics to jolt my thoughts.

   It did take a while, but I’m finally jumping in the darn, bloggin’ ocean. Brrr and shivers. By way of introduction, I’m an author, published traditionally in several anthologies, also have POD’s, and an ebook just barely out. Won some writing awards for two nature books. Made very little money. Isn’t that the way with so many of us? Do we quit? No, we do not. Enough of that.

When I’m asked why I write, I find many reasons, and for some of us lucky ones,, writing is a kind of healing.

It waits there, something white and blank, always open to me no matter what I choose to reveal or unburden or imagine. There is no judgment. Writing absorbs my efforts to face life events that whip around the corner and push me down, sometimes flattening me with unwanted surprises. And once the words are there for me to re-read and study, then understanding begins to find a way. Through phrases, sentences and paragraphs, the page pitches my thoughts back at me and if I don’t duck, it is a beginning.