So it's been a while since I touched base (on so many fronts).  Lyn and I returned from a 10 day road trip to KS where we found all in good health and spirits.  The wheat harvest was underway in the Winfield region and, if the rains would let them, the folks should have a pretty good yield.  Lots of amber waves of grain, although they are planting more yellow varieties lately instead of the "Russian" red.  Still cannot get used to wheat only being about 18" high and ready to harvest.

The front garden has crocosimia in bloom (palm frond leaves with a vivid scarlet flower), purple coneflower (echinecia), coreopsis( small little yellow flowers) and orange day lillies.  Hummers are regular visitors, and we have a pair of cat birds nesting in a holly that give the jays a run for the money in the scolding department.  I constantly am fooled by the mockingbird either mimicking someone or making up new noises and sending me scrambling to see "what the heck is THAT!?".

Rose moss loves the hot weather we have been having.  The gladiola are up and about to bloom, as is the hydrangea.  Our hibiscus on the patio are fragrant, and I hope to make some tea later.

I start my new job with the US Army Corp of Engineers, Transatlantic Program Center, Afghanistan Engineering District on Monday.  You can check the website http://www.aed.usace.army.mil/ for a peek at some of what I'll be doing.  I will be working in Winchester, VA, about 20 miles north of here, but there will be some travel involved...  Am really excited by the opportunity to help the country get back on it's feet.

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Closer To Fine

Indigo Girls

words and music Emily Saliers

I'm trying to tell you something about my life
maybe give me insight between black and white
and the best thing you've ever done for me
is to help me take my life less seriously 
it's only life after all
yeah

well darkness has a hunger that's insatiable
and lightness has a call that's hard to hear
I wrap my fear around me like a blanket
I sailed my ship of safety till I sank it
I'm crawling on your shores

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains
there's more than one answer to these questions 
pointing me in a crooked line
and the less I seek my source for some definitive
(the less I seek my source) 
the closer I am to fine
the closer I am to fine

and I went to see the doctor of philosophy
with a poster of Rasputin and a beard down to his knee
he never did marry or see a b-grade movie
he graded my performance, he said he could see through me
I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind
got my paper and I was free

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains
there's more than one answer to these questions 
pointing me in a crooked line
the less I seek my source for some definitive
(the less I seek my source) 
the closer I am to fine
the closer I am to fine

I stopped by the bar at 3 a.m. 
to seek solace in a bottle or possibly a friend
and I woke up with a headache like my head against a board
twice as cloudy as I'd been the night before
and I went in seeking clarity.

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains
yeah we go to the doctor, we go to the mountains
we look to the children, we drink from the fountains
yeah we go to the bible, we go through the workout
we read up on revival and we stand up for the lookout
there's more than one answer to these questions 
pointing me in a crooked line
the less I seek my source for some definitive
(the less I seek my source) 
the closer I am to fine
the closer I am to fine    
the closer I am to fine

    
    
The lyrics about going to "...the doctor of philosophy..." remind me of 
Dylan's "...20 years of schoolin and they'll put you on the day 
shift.  Look out kid..."


But then, we're all dust in the wind. I chose this version the Kansas tune 
because I liked the other video representations even less.  
Treat yourself to listening to other great performers interpreting this 
ballad.    
    
    
    





        
    
    
    





        

Indigo Girls: Closer to Fine, Toronto

Kansas-Dust In The Wind

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Angel from Montgomery by John Prine and Bonnie Raitt

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Amaryllis

Two pretty flowers!  A neighbor had moved last year and graciously willed me several of her plants.  She had a tub of these amaryllis that I separated and let breath in some other pots (not too much-they are reported to "like" somewhat crowded potting).  This was the biggest bulb of several and I have let it flower indoors.  The spread on these flowers are at least 8".

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    Hello world, and thanks family for the encouragement.  We have a new cat-jack-who has joined me in one of my hobbies: birding.  We have repeatedly belled him to give the feathered friends more warning, but the sneaky devil is quite adept at hooking it on things so that it breaks away, kind of like it is supposed to, only not so much.

Yesterday our resident brown thrasher couple were grubbing under one of our rhododendrons.  We have a window that overlooks our patio on that side that Jack thinks was made for him and bird-o vision.  The cascading waterfall I made on the patio is a good attractant, and our woods are home to a wide variety of critters, especially at this time of year and in the fall when all of the tropical and subtropical migrant songbirds pass through. 

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Anemonies, violas, bluebells

 I am a little disappointed that the color looks washed out-I'll try in the morning when the light will be better.  The native Virginia bluebells are abundant and full in the woods all around us.  Vinca minor, dutchman's breeches are blooming and, later on, trillium in whites and reds will be out.  You can see several hostas starting to poke out. 

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