Cooking With a View

I never tire of the sweeping view, especially whilst cooking and standing at the kitchen window.

How blessed we are to have found this place and recognized it as home.

Thirty-two years ago I would hum happily en route to this 20 acre plot where there was no home yet . It was a place in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia where we could imagine a future.

The land stayed unspoiled. The house Bill designed sustained us.

And “the future is now.”

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The Enigma Bundle

We have our little rescue dog for almost two years now!

She is still an enigma, a bundle of odd behaviors and idiosyncracies.

Here is Elsa.  And if you are a dog psychologist, maybe you can explain who she really is. 

Bathroom Pleasures:  You have your place and I have mine!

We have acres of grassy lawn but Elsa prefers to water the small rock bed just outside the front door.

There is a surprising benefit from this odd preference.  Since no weed can survive Elsa’s acid rain for long, the rock bed stays her pristine and weed free watering place.

Maybe in her previous lifetimes she was walked on leash in a neighborhood of homes and chastised for going on a neighbor’s grass.

Play? 

Huh?

Elsa does not play, will not fetch a ball or anything else, and has no apparent interest in stuffed squeaky animals or even treat-stuffed toys.   Squeak a toy at her and she will turn away as if to say, “Stop hurting that poor little thing!”  Throw a ball and she will watch its trajectory without moving a muscle.

No!  No!  Nooooo!!!!!  Not the Car!!!!!!

Elsa does not enjoy riding in the car.  She acts excited pre-entry, but once inside,  hunkers down to shiver and shake in fear.  Fear of what?  Why doesn’t she look out the window or enjoy the breeze in her face like other dogs do?

Most times Bill drives and I ride in back with Elsa, who promptly puts her head in my lap and shakes and shivers.

Yes it is true! The Sky is falling.

Our poor little pup is terrified of thunder, airplanes, rain, far off traffic noises, falling branches, gunshots, firecrackers, and more.  She is under my desk as I write this (shaking and shivering).  I am sure she thinks the sky will fall because she is constantly looking to crawl under something.

 If I am quiet will they come?

She is quiet and respectful of visiting deer, squrrels, groundhogs, birds or rabbits and never barks at them even when they get wind of her and begin to flee.

I have never had a dog who didn’t enjoy barking at visiting creatures, especially when they turn and run.

Well, she does bark at people (who I consider the most predatory anyway) and she did bark at that bear who came through.

I think she thinks protecting me from truly dangerous looking intruders is her real job.

The Lady-Who-Limps Saved Me.  I will never leave her side.

Oddest of all, Elsa prefers my somewhat droll sedentary company to any other living thing.  She rarely leaves my side and has evidently decided I am the only human who counts.

I totally agree with that last assessment of course.

And I enjoy the adoration until she follows me into my own non-rock bathroom.

Are you inviting me to get up there on that sofa with you?  What will happen to me THEN?

There are times I would really love it if Elsa would jump on the couch or the bed, just for a hug.  But even when I invite her, she refuses.

It is probably a good thing that she is never on the furniture since she is a prolific shedder.  Again, I suspect she had some harsh training to keep her off the furniture. No amount of cajoling will entice her up, even in a thunder storm when she really wants to be cuddled.

I think I kinda like it here!

What Bill and I notice lately though is a more trusting happy dog who does a whole lot of tail wagging (on those occasions when she isn’t shaking in fear of something benign).

Elsa is full of strange behaviors and habits and fears, but maybe aren’t we all?

She is a little bit off, a little imperfect, a lot insecure, but aren’t we all?

It will be a two year anniversary soon and we think Elsa knows this is her safest place and where she lives with her most ardent fans.

And we know we will always be warned of visiting bears and unknown humans, and we are serene in the knowledge she will tell us when the sky is falling too.

 

 

 

 

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Blue Ridge Mountain Magic

There is something enchanting about the ethereal mists in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.  I am still breathless for a moment when the world is quiet and serene.

View from Home The Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia

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Love and Freedom

Little Elsa, the rescue dog, has been with us for five months.  And even with wide open spaces and acres where she can run, we have been walking her on a leash.  It was our fear since we did not know her background, that she would run away or disappear into the woods and be hurt or lost.  We love her now too much to risk losing her to a taste for freedom.

But we have had dogs here before.  Two Golden Retrievers (Peaches and Carrie), Rudy (a misunderstood Pit Bull) and Rozie, our other mixed breed love, who all lived to old age. None of them ever required leash control on home ground since we have ample space right here for long country walks and little traffic to worry about.

One day Bill and I knew it was time to finally set Elsa free to stretch her legs and run with the wind.  Removing Elsa’s leash was a terrifying move for all three of us.

Elsa could not believe her luck when the door opened and there was nothing holding her back.

And out she went – running and running and sniffing and sniffing.  Oh no!  Will she love freedom too much to return?

Out of sight she went with us

calling and calling

and so worried for her safety.

And suddenly,

THERE SHE WAS!

And suddenly

she tore off again, running and running and free!

And THERE SHE WAS

walking in sight of us without a leash!

And again, running and running

and exploring the world.

And finally she was walking with us

and met us at our door.

Home!

All three of our hearts are swelling with pride and love.  We have all seen and felt the utter joy of freedom in the shape of a little rescue dog who has probably never felt it before.

 

 

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Oh, Virginia

 

In a moment like this

I think there is no finer place to be

than in my own back yard

viewing

the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

 

 

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Homeward Bound and Almost Home

The road is long to my old Virginia home

but sunlight shines the way

and I recognize clear skies and

empty roads, and I can

watch the tall trees sway.

It looks like home just there

where the road rises and dips

with its artistic flare, and

where honeysuckle scents the air.

I am homeward bound  

and I am almost home.

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Summer Fenceline

Fencing in the last of summer to look back upon and reflect.

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Brave Bambi – One Out of Three

Yesterday we spotted a Mommy/Doe and her triplets!  We passed them on our country road in a neighbor’s horse pasture.

I looked up and around and what did I see?

Three tiny rein-deer staring right back at me.*

And there they were, the Mom and her three fawns looking at us through the pasture fence.

They were startled by our car and quickly ran away, except for one.

A courageous baby remained to stare us down.

I call her Brave Bambi.

She and her siblings are so tiny  (even though Bambi looks fairly large here), they actually resemble stuffed toy gifts for infant humans.

Note: The deer in Virginia are actually not “rein-deer.”  Ours are white-tailed deer who live in meadows and forests, and have poor adaptations for snow, whereas reindeer live in cold areas and have special split hooves for walking on ice and snow. Both male and female reindeer also have antlers.  In contrast, only the male of the species for White-tailed deer have antlers.

From: http://www.reference.com

 

 

 

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Rusty Charm

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Walter and Me

This looks like Walter but the image is from en.wikipedia.org

I wasn’t ready to believe it but the sun came out yesterday – all day.

And I found myself reclining on a deck chair with bared arms and legs in way of confirmation.

They say twenty minutes of exposed skin to sunshine helps your body create its own Vitamin D.   Ahhh – warmth that seeps into your bones and Vitamin D too!

Yes, it’s here!  

   It is truly summer!  

It must be summer because the sun is shining.

Even our resident groundhog (who I secretly call Walter) came out of his underground den.

I could not get a closeup shot but I saw him all stretched out on the warm concrete pool deck.

At first I thought Walter was dead and was making plans for a decent burial.

Can you see Walter?

Then Walter stretched!   It was one of those big luxurious catlike stretches.  Walter was lying flat on his back and his little legs came straight out and he looked soooo happy.

Then there are the summer shadows and shady places that take me back to childhood somersaults and playing in the grass.  Those were the days when Mom urged us to get out of the house (unsupervised) and “Don’t come back until I call you for dinner!”

Childhood Memories Under the Maple Tree

I’m too creaky for backbends and cartwheels, roller skating and climbing trees.

But it’s summertime in Virginia now.

I think I will join Walter in another big sunny stretch.

 

 

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