So this is my happiest sight on the trail cam: a raccoon. Two years ago this would not have been unusual, but it has been a year and a half since the raccoon colony in our woods was wiped out, probably by distemper. It brightens my heart to see them on the cam again.
Is it me, or does this look like an old opossum? Maybe it is because it is in the middle of a good ear scratch, but the scene gives me cantankerous old dude vibes.
I lost my trail cam for a while. I forgot which tree I put it on. Honestly I forgot it was on a tree and not on a stand. I doused myself in bug spray and dove into the summer woods looking for it, and found it right where I left it last time. Hm.
Any who, there will be trail cam pics for a couple days.
My youngest is on a ceramic painting kick this summer. We go to pick up the fired piece, and paint another. Repeat. I’m learning about music theory particularly in the realm of Barbershop harmony, so I painted a mug in celebration of Harmonics.
I like that the “Fluted mug” looks like a digitized sound wave.
On the opposite side of the mug I wrote the harmonic series in scale degrees, because Barbershoppers are all about the overtones (in physics overtones and harmonics are different, while in Barbershop they are often used interchangeably.)
It greatly amuses me to paint the inside of the mug like it is already stained with tea or coffee. And, of course, when I get to the bottom of the mug, it is time to go sing.
It was just before 9:00am on Saturday March 7, 2015. Spring break had just started, but it was a cool Texas morning, so we started the gas fireplace. The flue failed, heat built up in the chimney and caught the material outside the metal pipe on fire. We saw the flames through the gaps in the mantel and fireplace. Our house was on fire.
We got everyone out, dog and cats included. There was no loss of life, but the fire took the chimney and the upper level. Smoke filled the whole house. We were displaced into a rental for six months while a contractor oversaw the restoration process. I wouldn’t wish fire or flood on anyone, but a single fire is easier than a flooded city, because there are good neighbors who can reach out and help, especially mentally.
Pouring through old photos for the Throwback Thursday posts sometimes do throw a kick to the gut. I decided not to pass this one by, but to remember. The biggest take away I had from the house fire is that it was all just… stuff. And we had so much stuff. The house had great storage areas, and we filled them. After the fire, I started reducing the sheer amount of things we kept, and believe me, plenty of things survived the smoke and then the ozone cleaning process. I still have too many things, and reducing is a work in progress. Things are not life, what we do with things is, but there is a balance to be found.
Critters and Craft 