Ash Wednesday Thoughts

Posted on by
49
brother and sister at piano
My kids at a piano recital. I’m posting this photo from years ago because my daughter would say she was giving up piano lessons for Lent.

I’m going to try and go to Ash Wednesday services today. I say “try” because the church by our house is so busy! On special days, I can’t make a right hand turn to go 1/2 mile to get to the parish because the cars are lined up at least a mile down the street. I sit at the stop sign, hoping for someone to let me in. I’ve had to turn around and go home because nobody let me in. How Christian of them!

I do believe that Lent is a good time to reflect on our lives. One Ash Wednesday service in past years stands out to me. Rather than giving something up — like chocolate or alcohol — the priest suggested doing something. He talked about investing more time in prayer or volunteering to help someone else. He felt it should be a time of giving of ourselves. He suggested reading the book of Mark from the Bible during the 40 days of Lent.

I’m a convert to Catholicism so I had to learn about Lent. I didn’t grow up with it. My kids did and my daughter always said she was giving up piano lessons for Lent. Yes, she hated piano. I thought piano had so many benefits and forced her to take lessons, years beyond what I should have done, she often reminds me.

If you don’t observe Lent and wonder what it’s all about, here’s a definition from Britannica:

Lent, in the Christian church, a period of penitential preparation for Easter. In Western churches it begins on Ash Wednesday, six and a half weeks before Easter, and provides for a 40-day fast (Sundays are excluded), in imitation of Jesus Christ’s fasting in the wilderness before he began his public ministry. In Eastern churches Lent begins on the Monday of the seventh week before Easter and ends on the Friday that is nine days before Easter. This 40-day “Great Lent” includes Saturdays and Sundays as relaxed fast days.

Here’s a link to Good Housekeeping’s article called 25 Creative Things to Give Up for Lent in 2021: From gossip and complaining to junk food and coffee, ditching these habits could change your life by Juliana Labianca. There are a lot of good ideas to do in that article that could improve your life — whether or not you observe Lent.

Another thing I’m doing is taking a 40-day Lenten Challenge on the Hallow App. It’s with Mark Wahlberg, Chris Pratt, Jonathan Roumie and Fr. Mike Schmitz. If you haven’t tried Hallow, I really enjoy it and recommend it to add to your prayer life.

Do you have plans for Lent? If so, what are they?

What are your thoughts about doing something as opposed to giving up something?

What happens when I fill the bird feeder

Posted on by
40

When I fill the Bird Buddy feeder I sometimes spill a bit of bird seed. Then if a quail gets into the feeder, he kicks the seed down to the ground and all his buddies show up.

I mentioned this in a comment to blogger Edward Ortiz and he said he’d like me to post a video of it in action. I finally got a quail to cooperate and jump in the feeder and kick the seed out. As you can see from the photo above the buddies were more than happy to show up for their part. If you want to read some insightful, well written pieces about leadership, history, religion, and current events — check out his blog.

It’s not the best video, you mostly see his topnot bouncing around. But if you wait he’s gives a good kick on the birdseed. It’s interesting that the quail on the ground often use their feet to scratch and look for more food.

Red isn’t one to kick birdseed to the ground — or share!

I’ve got a busy week ahead with some long days. I hope I have the energy! I’m looking forward to Friday when our daughter visits from Berkeley!

What’s on your agenda for the week?

We Got Pink Slipped — Again!

Posted on by
76

Not only did we get our second violation, the City of Scottsdale recycling cop came in person and knocked on our door to talk to us.

I wrote about our first offense and our bad, bad neighborhood along with coyotes HERE.

This time we were told we have one more chance at recycling. If we have three strikes we are OUT! The recycling police will take our bin away and we will put everything in the regular trash bin. This time it was plastic bags from the grocery store. I always thought they were supposed to be recycled, so I learned something new. I’m super careful about what gets recycled and break down all the boxes from Amazon that seem to be flowing freely to our house daily. It was a shock to get an in person visit.

On my small walk yesterday, I saw a neighbor had a pink slip on their recycling bin. I wanted to take a peek at what offense they had committed. I walked over to the bin to see what their pink slip said but my husband thought I was being nosy and objected.

On a brighter note, look at how the Christmas Cactus bloom I posted Wednesday looks today!

Here are a couple nature shots I took this week:

Mourning Doves at the bird bath.

The squirrels eat the blossoms on the barrel cactus.

Here’s looking at you, Red!

Have a great weekend! What are your plans for this second weekend of February?

Blooms, blossoms and cacti

Posted on by
57

I was given a Christmas Cactus by a friend four years ago. It looks pretty healthy, but until this past week, it’s never bloomed. Fellow blogger Busy Bee Suz who has a green thumb — which is something I lack — suggested that I move my Christmas Cactus. I moved it by the sliding glass door and a few weeks later it has two buds! How exciting is that?

While I switched from my 80-400 mm lens that I use to take Red and Mrs. photos to my 105mm Macro Lens, I took a few other photos. These were outside in the backyard.

We have three bougainvillea we planted a few months ago. They are thriving in the sun. In Palm Springs, we had bougainvillea that never took off. This is very encouraging!

Aren’t they beautiful?

Yesterday was my first day I managed to take a little walk post surgery. I was disappointed because my foot hurt in my tennis shoes. I had to wear flip flops with very little support. My foot is bruised and a little swollen so the tennis shoes rubbed my foot and were a no go!

It felt good to move around even though it was a short walk. My husband and I like to walk and talk. I shared a memory with him from my childhood. It was good to laugh together.

The Memory

When I was three and my brother was five, we went as a family to a church retreat camp staying in a tiny cabin in the woods of Washington. There were families from our Presbyterian church as well as ones from other parts of the state. Along with the small cabins, there was a meeting hall where we gathered as a group.

I remember sitting in the first row with my family, when the pastor asked if anyone wanted to share something with the group. My brother jumped up. He grabbed the microphone and belted out “Edelweiss” from the Sound of Music! I wonder what my parents thought? As his worshipping little sister, I was so proud.

“Blossom of snow
May you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever…”

These lyrics were stuck in my head after photographing the blossoms above. That’s probably why I remembered this blast from the past.

We have lots of these cacti in our yard. They are only about three feet tall, much smaller than saguaro — although they look similar. I think they are called Cardon Cacti and they are spikier than saguaro cacti.

Do you have any silly memories to share from your childhood?

What would you have thought as my parents when my brother sang Edelweiss?

More Red and Mrs. on a Sports Day

Posted on by
44

I was engrossed Sunday as I wrote this watching Scottie Scheffler in the Waste Management Golf Tournament, which was played in our new hometown. We did make the mistake of driving near the tournament to go to out with neighbors. It’s a zoo and too much traffic! Remind me next year to stay home.

It doesn’t look like Scottie, the number one player in the world, is going to win this year. His first tournament win was several years ago here. But he came from at least seven behind to almost win. If he had more than one more hole to play, I think he could do it!

Scottie Scheffler earned his first PGA Tour victory at the 2022 WM Phoenix Open on February 13, 2022. He defeated Patrick Cantlay in a sudden-death playoff on the third extra hole at TPC Scottsdale. 

He had several crazy shots including chipping in from a bunker and putting one in from off the green 72 yards away! I grew up playing golf, but ever since my ACL surgery and two surgeries this year, it’s been spotty for me playing. I was five years old in my first tournament where we ended up tied and it went into sudden death. I ended up in second place and that trophy I had stared at for a month didn’t go home with me! But mom and dad bought me a chocolate bar and I survived.

As I waited for my Seahawks with QB Sam Darnold to play in an hour, I snapped a few photos of my favorite duo: Red and Mrs.

They did a lot of posing for me. Red in the Bird Buddy and Mrs. on the cactus statue.

Did you watch the golf tournament of Super Bowl? Who were you rooting for?

Gilded Flickers, Gila Woodpeckers, Mourning Doves and Red

Posted on by
55

This video from my new Bird Buddy feeder begins with a female Gilded Flicker. Then a male, with the red markings on his face, takes over. I see Gila Woodpeckers more than these larger woodpeckers. The flickers have spots while the Gila Woodpeckers have similar colors but a black and white pattern on their backs.

The new Bird Buddy has a longer battery life than my old one. I do have them both up and running, but I have to charge the older one more often — which I did yesterday. The birds seem to prefer the new feeder or maybe it’s the placement? I turned the feeder around because I was getting photos of my neighbor’s house. I don’t know the neighbors to the left of us, but somehow I doubt they’d want me making videos of their yard and posting them on my blog!

This video captures a Gila Woodpecker so you can compare it with the Gilded Flickers above. There are also House Sparrows and Mourning Doves taking their turns. The first two videos are from the new feeder.

These battling Mourning Doves are from my first Bird Buddy feeder. You can notice a difference in the quality of the video. Or maybe the camera needs to be cleaned?

Since I’m in Arizona, I’m keeping track of the missing Nancy Guthrie story. I hope the family gets answers soon!

Red and Mrs.also paid a visit to the new feeder.

What are your plans for this weekend? Are you rooting for the Seahawks?

Giving the boot

Posted on by
52

Red and Mrs. are back to a normal routine in our backyard. Maybe this spring we’ll have some baby Reds?

Yesterday was a Red Letter Day — plus I got the photo above of Red! I went to my post op appointment with my favorite surgeon. My surgery on my foot was a little over two weeks ago. The dressing and sutures were removed. Yay! I finally get a look at my “elective foot” as Tippy Gnu from Chasing Unicorns called it. (That’s in reference to the procedure first denied by our insurance company. They said it wasn’t medically necessary.) Like I wrote before, what is necessary about walking and wearing shoes?

My foot is black, blue and swollen. The bright news? I wore flip flops out of the doctor’s office instead of the infamous boot.

Here’s the boot from last June, post ankle surgery.

The infamous boot where it sits today until next time.

I would love to toss the boot into the trash. But my surgeon said I may need to have a follow up surgery in the distant future if I have pain. I’ve placed the boot in my closet up on a shelf where Olive the cat would sit and watch birds.

I’m excited to get out of the house and I’m meeting my lunch bunch at Kiki Rae’s. It’s a cute restaurant in Cave Creek with Pacific Northwest specialities like clam chowder, fish and chips and steamers. They even serve Seattle Dogs which are hot dogs with cream cheese and caramelized onions. As a native of the PNW, it’s a treat to have a restaurant serving my favorite foods from childhood and college.

My lunch bunch are two friends from my previous life in Palm Springs, pre kids. They were graphic designers I worked with in my PR Days. When I moved to Arizona a friend told me to look them up — they moved here 10 years before me. We’re all within a few miles of each other and meet up for lunch several times a year.

Here’s to giving the boot to the boot, regular visits by Red and feeling better!

What are some of your favorite foods from your childhood?

Do you have traditional or specific foods that are unique to your area?