Mosaic Monday #169: Two Anniversaries!

March 2, 2017 was my first ever blog post, and March 3 marked 5 years since my retirement.  My goodness, where did that time go?  I took the opportunity to review the nine posts I have made about retirement, prompting several observations and some resolutions.

In my first retirement post on March 13, 2017, I wrote: "I have paid my dues with hours worked over the last 28 years.  Let's do a quick calculation: assuming an average of 45 weeks of work a year and 66 hours a week, that is 32,670 hours more than a 40-hour week.  So, even though I have retired young by normal standards, I actually already worked the hours that equates to another 18.2 years."  In other words, I still have another 13.2 years to go before I recoup that overtime!!!

That post has been read 88 times and had no comments.  By the time I penned my next retirement instalment on March 27, 2017, I had picked up a few more readers (116) and two of them were commenting!  One was Tammy at T's Daily Treasures (tsdailytreasures.blogspot.com).  Tammy was instrumental in leading me to many of the other bloggers that are an essential part of my blogging community today!  The other was a former neighbor in Cleveland - you know who you are!

Cooking and food have been consistent themes in my posts, and April 7, 2017 is a good example.  In perusing these posts, I have realized that there are several recipes that we enjoyed that have since gathered dust.  We will have to remedy that situation!

My fourth retirement entry, on May 27, 2017 was a popular post - 205 readers and 23 comments.  In re-reading the comments, I was delighted to realize that I "go way back" with so many of my fellow bloggers - Sallie of A Full Time Life, Miyako of Orchid's Daily Voice, Wren of Little Wandering Wren, Sylvia of SMD Paper Arts, Mary of Red-Shouldered Hawks of Tingsgrove and Beyond and LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color.  It also made me wonder about some bloggers I "knew well" and have not heard from for quite a while - I want to reach out and see if we can reconnect.  By May of 2017, I had discovered Mosaic Monday and had begun linking to it - in that period, it was hosted by Maggie of Normandy Life - she has since changed her blog to turning the page (hazelbarn.blogspot.com) and does not post as frequently.

Faithful readers of my blog have become accustomed to my nicknames for the people in my life - #1 Daughter, #1 Son, Spousal Unit, Dear Neighbor Friend.  When I first began blogging, it was intended to protect our privacy.  In addition to avoiding the use of names, initially I didn't even include photos with our faces .... I am over that now, but these pseudonyms have taken on a life of their own, and I can't change it NOW!  This is especially true of Man with Hat, who was introduced in my fifth retirement post on July 14, 2017.  Some of my fellow bloggers, such as Phil of Another Bird Blog, join in the game.  Phil recently referred to my husband as Man in a Plane!  By summer 2017, Lorrie of Fabric Paper Thread and Kit of A Montana Life were regular commenters, and my posts were typically garnering more than 210 readers.

With my December 15, 2017 post, I paused to reflect on retirement thus far, utilizing recommendations from my work colleagues at my going-away party.  "Don't forget to start a new hobby, enjoy reading a book, stay active, laugh every day and eat, drink and be merry," they said.  I must have taken their advice to heart, because my next retirement post was March 3, 2019, a full 14 months later!  Along the way, I met Tom of Tom the Backroads Traveller, Margy of Margy Meanders, Carol of Comfort Spring Station, Eileen of Viewing Nature with Eileen, Ellen of The Happy Wonderer, and Lady Fi.

Yes, life was pleasantly busy in those 14 months - we moved into our dream log home, we were hired as Ambassadors at Whitefish Mountain Resort for the winter seasons, and several volunteer activities had landed on my plate.  I was also well on the way to becoming best friends with my dear neighbor.  So many blessings!

I can't explain why that March 3, 2019 post had 409 readers, but I won't dig too deep!  Perhaps it was the fact that I included the speeches my kids made at the time of my retirement.  Or my reflections on the fortune cookie fortunes I have collected over the years.  Or that I had begun hosting Mosaic Monday by this time, which drew more readers.  Who knows?  I had made some new blogging friends, such as the delightful furbabies at Brian's Home, Jenn of Cottage Country Reflections, Pat of Mille Fiori Favoriti, Heidrun of Soul and Mind, Riitta of Floral Passions, Jill of Life Images by Jill, Su-sieemac of Barefoot Susie, Melbourne Daily, My Desktop Daily, Jan of Low Carb Diabetic, William of Ottawa Daily Photos, Linda of  The View from Squirrel Ridge, David of Travels with Birds, Bob of Birds and Nature in the Forest of Dean, Debbie of Its All About Purple and Bill of Somewhere in Ireland.

A year later, in the March 8, 2020 post, I reported that I had become over-involved.  "Looking in the mirror ... I have not succeeded in letting go of perfection and structure, and, despite my desire to enjoy more time crafting, these activities continue to get deferred because I have jumped head-first into volunteering, working and many other activities, which I give priority."  Sadly, in the two years since that post, this has not changed.  If anything, I have even more on my plate now.  This time, I AM resolved to make changes/room for craft projects, jigsaw puzzles, and flying my drone!  

My last retirement-themed post was March 21, 2021.  Montana was starting to emerge from the pandemic, but not to the point of throwing a party!  Serving as my own DJ, I spun up 5 songs/videos that represented freedom, "rocking through the wilderness", good friends, "lighting a fire for the silent and broken-hearted" and the desire for new experiences.  I reflected that "if I want to have freedom, I have to choose carefully where I invest my time."  As much as I prefer to know my schedule, I also regret the times when I have turned down an invitation to hike (or some other event) because I am committed.  So, my friends, as I enter the sixth year of my retirement, most activities are candidates for the chopping block.  I may give up volunteering at the Museum.  I am actively recruiting a replacement for my role on the Carnival Board.  I have even thought about how much time I should be devoting to blogging!!!

I am resolved to honor our family motto:

Watch this space!

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All of the pictures above were from the last 12 months.

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In the last two years, a few more bloggers joined my cherished circle: Sally of Crafts, Cavies and Cooking, Sue of Kiwikids Page, Diane of Lavender Dreams, Maria of Love the Planet Productions, Alan of Yogis Den, Sharon of Sharon's Souvenirs, Monica of Nature Footstep, Gillena of Verses, Jocelyn of Canadian Needle Nana, Judy of Life in Kentucky, Yoko of Stardust Talk, Raewyn at Stitching Farm Girl, Traude of Rostrose, Daniela of My Little Old World and Kim of Sarah Lizzies.  I apologize if I have inadvertently left anyone out!  Thanks to all in blogland that have made my blogging journey so fascinating and inspiring!

Mosaic Monday

Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.

Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.

The link will be open from 1 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Tuesday (U.S. Mountain time).

Remember to add the link to your Mosaic Monday post and not the one to your blog.

Please link back to this post so that your readers will be able to visit and enjoy more wonderful mosaics; taking the MM blog button from my sidebar is an easy way to link back.

As host I will visit every participant and leave a comment so that you know I stopped by.

Please try and visit as many other blogs as you can, especially those that join in later, so that everyone's creativity can be appreciated fully.

Thank you for joining in today and sharing your mosaics with us. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Mosaic Monday #141: Short and Sweet

 

My goodness, the first of August!  July spun past like a ride on the Scrambler at the county fair - fun, fast and leaving me just a little bit breathless!  So this post will be quick and quirky - a few happy highlights from July! 

Summer just isn't complete without some guacamole and a margarita (or two) to wash it down.

Spousal Unit celebrated a birthday during the month.  In keeping with the fish theme, he received a new fishing rod, a reel and some new line.  (Truth be told, he ordered it and I put bows on the packages!)

I am sure we are not the only couple that gives presents this way ... And then sometimes you just go ahead and get something you need want.  Such as the new binoculars I bought this month!

The trail cam didn't deliver much in July, but sometimes one terrific picture is enough!

Of course, one of my posts would not be complete without a few plants ...

I think it's fitting to close with a sunset from a recent evening, kayaking with my Dear Neighbor Friend.  I hope July was a sweet month for you!

Mosaic Monday

Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.

Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.

The link will be open from 1 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Tuesday (U.S. Mountain time).

Remember to add the link to your Mosaic Monday post and not the one to your blog.

Please link back to this post so that your readers will be able to visit and enjoy more wonderful mosaics; taking the MM blog button from my sidebar is an easy way to link back.

As host I will visit every participant and leave a comment so that you know I stopped by.

Please try and visit as many other blogs as you can, especially those that join in later, so that everyone's creativity can be appreciated fully.

Thank you for joining in today and sharing your mosaics with us. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Mosaic Monday #125: At a snail's pace

Occasionally, a book comes along that moves me.  It stirs my emotions.  It provokes new thinking.  It re-frames some of my personal experiences.  "The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating" is one of those books.  It was on loan to Dear Neighbor Friend from one of our mutual friends, and DNF passed it on to me.  I am so grateful - she knows me well!

Set over the course of one year in a studio apartment in Massachusetts, Elisabeth Tova Bailey recounts her miserable time bedridden by a mysterious illness she contracted during a trip to Europe.  Depressed, infirmed and without a reason for living, everything changes when a friend brings a pot of wild violets to cheer her; a snail has hitched a ride on the plant.

***All content in italics is from the book

There is a certain depth of illness that is piercing in its isolation; the only rule is uncertainty, and the only movement is the passage of time.  One cannot bear to live through another loss of function, and sometimes friends and family cannot bear to watch.  An unspoken, unbridgeable divide may widen.  Even if you are still who you were, you cannot actually fully be who you are.  Illness isolates, the isolated become invisible, the invisible become forgotten.  But the snail ... the snail kept my spirits from evaporating.  Between the two of us, we were a society all our own, and that kept isolation at bay.

Within the first few pages, I wondered when the book was written, because I was struck by the parallels to the impact of the pandemic on the human race.  As Bailey notes in the Epilogue, her snail observations were from a single year of her two decades of illness.  "The research for the book and the gradual process of its writing matched the pace of its protagonist and were just as nocturnal."  The book was published in 2010, a full decade before the pandemic began.

Many of us have written blog posts about lessons learned during the pandemic, or silver linings to the metaphorical storm clouds.  This book made me consider anew those that have been isolated by the pandemic.  I paused, deep in thought about family members and friends who have faced (or are currently facing) life-threatening illnesses.  I renewed my intention to be there for those who may be suffering.  

I also resolved to continue to celebrate moments big and small.  This will get easier as more of us are vaccinated! 

I could never have guessed what would get me through this past year - a woodland snail and its offspring; I honestly don't think I would have made it otherwise.  Watching another creature go about its life ... somehow gave me, the watcher, purpose too.  If life mattered to the snail and the snail mattered to me, it meant something in my life mattered, so I kept on ...  Snails may seem like tiny, even insignificant things compared to the wars going on around the world, or a million other human problems, but they may well outlive our own species.

It's human nature to think our problems are gigantic compared to others'.  This slim little volume helps to stamp that out with a healthy dose of perspective.  On again, off again snow during late March, and a windstorm that knocked out our power - hah!  Mere trifles!!!

(On March 28, #1 Son was on the way home from work on Big Mountain, and two miles short of the house, this tree was across the road.  If you look closely, you can see the powerlines caught up in the branches.  No wonder we were out of power!  Fortunately, there is another direction to access the house - he had to backtrack a bit and go around the long way.  Power was restored after about 5 hours - we are always so impressed with the service, given that they are normally dealing with multiple outages.) 

"Humanity is exalted not because we are far above other living creatures, but because knowing them well elevates the very concept of life."  Edward O. Wilson, Biophilia, 1984

I don't need much reminding about the importance of protecting wildlife, but this book re-opened my mind to the vastness of the species that surround us, whether we notice them or not.  I am not going to take the space to write about it in this post, but I currently have a bee in my bonnet about proposals to allow new methods of killing wolves ...

My trail cam has given up the ghost, and my new one will not arrive until sometime in early May.  Sigh.  So my trail cam photos are few this month.  But no less special!

I am in the perfect habitat for me.  It goes beyond the physical characteristics of the woods that surround me, and the roof over my head -- it's about the simple activities of my days, and the people who populate my world.  

DNF surprised me with some "bunny" Peeps, and Head Chef concocted a recipe for a "Himalayan Martini".  We first encountered this palate-pleaser at the Village Martini and Wine Bar in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.  

In one of my crafty moments, I made these "flowers" from glittery wired ribbon to augment my Easter decorations.

I am particularly proud to have finished this cross-stitch this month.  It was given to me by my dear sister-in-law.  I had it professionally framed at Michael's and now it proudly hangs on our gallery wall.

"The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating" has been called a nature-memoir, and it was not lost on me that this is exactly the kind of book I would like to write, someday.  (Not the illness part, but the nature and the memoir parts.)  

"Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."  Rainer Maria Wilke, 1903, from Letters to a Young Poet, 1927

I am indebted to DNF and our mutual acquaintance, for bringing this eloquent, bewitching, tear-inducing, galvanizing book to my doorstep.  

Late one winter night, I wrote in my journal:  A last look at the stars and then to sleep.  Lots to do at whatever pace I can go.  I must remember the snail.  Always remember the snail.

******

Happy Easter to all of you who are celebrating our risen Lord!

Mosaic Monday

Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.

Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.

The link will be open from 1 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Tuesday (U.S. Mountain time).

Remember to add the link to your Mosaic Monday post and not the one to your blog.

Please link back to this post so that your readers will be able to visit and enjoy more wonderful mosaics; taking the MM blog button from my sidebar is an easy way to link back.

As host I will visit every participant and leave a comment so that you know I stopped by.

Please try and visit as many other blogs as you can, especially those that join in later, so that everyone's creativity can be appreciated fully.

Thank you for joining in today and sharing your mosaics with us. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Mosaic Monday #117: The Circle of Life

Winter can be cruel to animals.  Food is scarce.  Water is frozen.  Temperatures are inhospitable.  In Northwest Montana, the scene is played out before our eyes each season.  Deer nibbling at dried grass that would not appear to offer much substance.  A path through the snow, where the mountain lion dragged the deer.  A carcass half buried in the woods, the lion's "refrigerator".  It can be distressing, but it is the circle of life, the delicate balance that keeps the weak out of the gene pool and a check on overpopulation of any one species.  Recently, my "back yard" gave me a ring-side seat to one of these events.  Don't worry, it's not too terribly gruesome.

On January 24, I was walking along the lake at the bottom of our property, ever hopeful that the otter might have returned to the spring (see this post for my otter encounter last winter).  As I approached the open water, a slight ripple broke the surface and I held my breath.  Closer, and no sign of an otter.  No slide marks, no sleek sable-brown body.  Sigh.  Instead, fish.  Dozens of fish, roiling the water.  What?  Check out this video.

Most of the fish are pike, with one or two perch for good measure.  How did they get here, and why this patch of open water, you might ask.  The fish have always been in the lake, but the impetus to reside near the spring is more of a mystery.  I certainly didn't observe fish at this location the last two winters.  I described it to my Dear Neighbor Friend, and a few days later she sent me a link about low oxygen levels under ice.  

In especially long, harsh winters a winter fish kill can occur. During periods of prolonged ice cover, the lake is sealed off from the atmosphere and cannot be recharged with oxygenated air. Furthermore, ice and snow reduce the amount of sunlight reaching aquatic plants, thereby reducing photosynthesis and oxygen production. All the fish and aquatic organisms in the lake use up the oxygen, and when it does not get replenished, oxygen levels can get too low for fish to survive. Winter kill begins with distressed fish gasping for air at holes in the ice and ends with large numbers of dead fish which usually show up as the water warms in early spring.

We don't know for certain this is the problem, but it is one theory.  It might also  explain why the fish have not returned to the main body of the lake.  (An alternate theory is that the passage back to the lake is now frozen.)  In any event, within a couple days of my first sighting, several of the fish had died.

This site is visible from our house by spotting scope and binoculars, and although you cannot see the fish, you can easily detect critters around the open water.  Not surprisingly, crows began to gather, sometimes a dozen at a time.  

But they were not the main attraction.  One afternoon, three bald eagles and 2 golden eagles were in the vicinity simultaneously!  At my next opportunity, I placed my trail cam at the site, and I was thrilled to see these majestic raptors on film the next time I downloaded photos. (I apologize in advance for the number of pictures - trust me, these are the best of hundreds that the trail cam snapped in a span of two hours!)

In the two hours caught on film, the golden eagle ate at least 7 fish.

Interestingly, the article noted that perch and pike are generally tolerant of low oxygen.  If that's the case, then the dead fish you see floating here might have died for other reasons.  (I can't be certain, but it would appear, from the color of "dinner", that the eagle was selecting live fish.)

And then it got even better; the bald eagle arrived!

Before these pictures, if you had asked me about relative stature, I would have guessed the bald eagle to have the size advantage.  Wrong!  Having the bald eagle in the shot emphasizes the gigantic frame of the golden eagle.

The bald eagle wasted no time in snagging a fish, and departed as soon as the prey was consumed.

The golden resumed fishing, with vigor.  I am sad for the fish, but the raptors are clearly benefiting from this ready source of sustenance.

After the initial flurry of activity around the open water, we have observed fewer raptors, and the crows seem to have moved on.  Four days after I retrieved the above photos, I returned to check the trail cam.  I was particularly hoping to see some other critters - maybe the otter?  Also, we know we have wolves in the area; the photo at left was taken the same day as the video of the fish at the beginning of this post.  I was curious if the wolves, or the plentiful coyotes, would take advantage of the situation as well.

I was rewarded with one blurry photo of a coyote; based on the position of the camera and the fact that it takes three photos in one go, I suspect that the coyote did not stop at the spring.

Only one raptor appeared on the trail cam, and that was a bald eagle in flight.  My theory?  Most of the live fish have been consumed and the raptors have therefore lost interest.  (By the way, isn't it fabulous technology that the camera detected the eagle AND took this shot?)

So, now I wonder what we will face when the spring season arrives.  Is the open pool of water an isolated case, or will the entire lake be awash in dead fish because of low oxygen levels throughout the lake?  Can the lake replenish itself with fish?  If some fish remain, breeding will restore the fish stocks.  If all of them are gone, since the lake is spring-fed, the only natural source of new fish would be those that might swim UP the stream from lakes lower down in the system.  Could be a tough putt - there is a substantial beaver dam where the stream meets the lake!  But, in my experience, nature finds a way.  That's the circle of life! 

 

Mosaic Monday

Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.

Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.

The link will be open from 1 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Tuesday (U.S. Mountain time). 

Remember to add the link to your Mosaic Monday post and not the one to your blog. 

Please link back to this post so that your readers will be able to visit and enjoy more wonderful mosaics; taking the MM blog button from my sidebar is an easy way to link back. 

As host I will visit every participant and leave a comment so that you know I stopped by. 

Please try and visit as many other blogs as you can, especially those that join in later, so that everyone's creativity can be appreciated fully. 

Thank you for joining in today and sharing your mosaics with us. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter