Savoring Sunday ~ Nature Break

“A world without a Sabbath would be like a man without a smile, like summer without flowers, and like a homestead without a garden. It is the most joyous day of the week.” 

~ Henry Ward Beecher

Is it just me, or does food taste better on Sundays?  Our Lord on High certainly knew what he was doing when he prescribed one day a week to take a break... to have definable negative space between the busyness of everyday.  

This morning all the calories landed on the brunch plate. Cozying up to fingers of sausage were fresh cinnamon waffles slathered with cream cheese whipped light with cream  flavored up with sugar and real vanilla- topped with macerated strawberries and blueberries glazed with a drizzle of real maple syrup.  

On  the side, a creamy quiche filled with layers of cheese and Anaheim peppers  planned over from last night's light supper left us dreamy and full.

Overall, it's been a cool summer. Well into August already,  today the thermometer barely tripped into the mid- 80's.  It's kind of fun watching BBC  and hearing our temperature translated into Celsius- just a bit over 30 degrees):-  

The monarch butterflies are just now regularly sailing silently through the backyard. It doesn't matter what is on TV when this is the view from the patio.

It has been a superlative week communicating with colleagues, friends and family at home in the different latitudes of this great nation.  

North Dakota frog image by Trevor Plunk

 Trevor, our oldest son  works in oil and gas in flyover country.  He lives in one state, works in others. We joke that he is our Bedouin son- he owns what he can carry with him from field to field- including the camera he recently put a macro lens on. 

Image by Trevor Plunk

Trevor has always felt a kinship with all of God's creatures.  

It is not the prevailing thought of the popular culture, but it is my experience that many of the great conservationists are those who extract the earth's bounty for our daily use. 

Image by Trevor Plunk

Frogs and grasshoppers-  our son captured the miracle within ordinary inhabitants of the countryside.  

Tonight I'll say a prayer, asking God to watch over our family. I will thank Him for the crickets who serenade us all to sleep- those near - and those very far. 

 Until we meet again, Thank you for all YOU do to make the world more beautiful!

Happy Thanksgiving ~ What We Love About America

"Best of all is it to preserve everything in a pure, still heart, and let there be for every pulse a thanksgiving, and for every breath a song." 

-Konrad von Gesner

Plaque celebrating America on display in Jackson, Wyoming 

When I was fortunate enough to meet my husband on his International travels, my favorite question of people who visited the United States, was what impressions did they take back? 

The vastness of our land, the diversity of our people ~

Our friendliness. Our natural aversion to class distinctions. 

The changing of the seasons in Wyoming. The coldness of autumn's breath turns the leaves bright  while the angels  flocked the pine trees up higher in the mountains.

The greatness of this nation I shall always believe is inscribed in the coinage of the realm 

"In God We Trust"

What was the answer here when a child asked, "Are we there yet?"

 Before it was planes, trains and automobiles- immigrants crossed this continent-wide nation by  horseback and wagon.  When those failed, it was a very, very long walk. 

Sunshine breaking through in Idaho 

Modern transportation makes it easy to take for granted how fortunate we are to live at this very moment. 

Just traveling through my native Los Angeles County is equivalent to driving through a land  equal in acreage to the combined are of the states of Rhode Island and Delaware. The county's population is greater than 42 states in the Union. If it stood alone as a nation, our economy is the world's 8th largest.  

In addition, a normal year finds me mucking about gardens in nearby counties- San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura.

The last quarter I was also blessed to travel the states of Colorado, Arizona ,Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada and Arizona. 

It is good to travel. It is even better to be back home in Diamond Bar, California.

God painted parts of Utah in Technicolor 

Folders are stuffed with stories to query editors for interest. Hoping to find my stocking filled with that most wonderful three letter word in a four letter sentence. 
"Yes- You are hired."

So much to do. But as Stephen R Covey wrote, "First things First. " 

It was about this time last year a medical professional in the  hospital room of a loved one shared his belief that "Life is a miracle." 

The beauty of the desert exemplifies of what he spoke. In nature's vastness, so much has to go right for the miracle of a butterfly to come across an oasis with food, water, nesting and shelter.  For God's grace, He deserves credit for the biggest backyard habitat ever. Our planet. 

It is tempting to give into being overwhelmed with so much stacked about me. Yet handling it all is as easy as the title to the Stephen R Covey book, putting "First things First. " 

And so I say goodbye. Not forever. Just long enough to express my gratitude to the Lord on high in the tradition of my faith, as a Christian. Spend quality time with family. Renovate the office. Re-write a mission statement. Then back to the race which is the writer's life. 

All images and words on this post are copyright protected by Lydia Plunk

Brunch with the Birds- Glass Gem Corn

" Hold fast to your dreams, for if dreams die, 

life is  a broken-winged bird that cannot fly." 

~ Langston Hughes 

American Poet, 1902- 1967

The Westin La Paloma hostess graciously accommodated my desire  to share the magic of brunch without my lens intruding on the privacy of the other diners by opening the quiet side of the dining patio. 

The little birdies birds hover over left over crumbs on the tray drive staff batty - but really, don't you find their bold innocence charming?  

My waistline never missed the little bit of egg soaked English muffin set on the water feature's ledge.  

There is magic created whenever we commune with nature. Near our patio is a fountain. I feel inspired to set near it a platform where we might literally break bread with our feathered neighbors. 

Un-retouched Glass Gem Corn image courtesy of Native Seeds SEARCH

It is my prayer to make it to the top of the waiting list at Native Seeds SEARCH  for the beautiful Glass Gm corn. The un-retouched photo, borrowed from their web site  has created quite a waiting list ahead of me. 

Last week was my 37th Anniversary. I would like you to know something of him, for my life would not be all that is has been without Gerry's love, fidelity, sacrifice and companionship. But I don't want this story of a uniquely American man lost among other details. So if God and the computer are willing, I will post my homage to a very good man tomorrow. And if there is only one post of mine you ever read- let it be this next story. 

God bless you all for coming by.  


Words and Images, unless otherwise noted, are copyrighted by Lydia Plunk. All rights reserved.  

09/11 Thoughts ~Loveland, Colorado~The Benson Sculpture Garden~ Part III

Patriotic American mini flag by Toland

 

September 11, 2001 was like so many other days. Yet like no other. Not in my lifetime. Such a beautiful day. A clear sky day turned somber. In the weeks which followed, in my hometown we met at the corner of Diamond Bar and Grand.

We marched clockwise around the intersection, waving flags. Many lit candles.  The crowd grew.  Probably in the hundreds. The patrol cars pulled up, the officers wanting to know who was the organizer.

No one. We were just citizens united in our grief. Offering comfort to each other.

We promised never to forget. We fly flags to promise this.

Today, on the 11th Anniversary, came a sobering reminder of what we have lost between now and then. Commitment and Clarity. Why else the American Embassy wall breached, an American killed at the US Consulate in Libya. Our President too busy for our steadfast ally in that dangerous neighborhood, Israel.

God bless Jordan for harboring the refugees from Syria. May the missing relatives of people I know turn up safely there. 

I cannot make the world safer. All I hope, is to spread a bit of beauty to those I am honored to visit this site.  

 

I have been remiss in not sharing more of the setting of the Benson Sculpture garden, which rims the lake. Cattails. Pine. Aspen. Beautiful apart, gathered together, they elevate each other's beauty.

 

Where there is water, there shall be geese.  What is evocative about this park is how God and man have worked together.

SWAMP DONKEY, Bronze by TD Kelsey

 

  Sited at the edge of the bog, the majesty of  large game,  realistic and rightly romantic.

 

Our oldest son confirmed, swamp donkey is Canadian for moose. It is also slang for many other things which I am going to forget I found on the blogosphere.

 

If today was emotional for you- click on Baby Moose in Sprinkler  to get back in touch with the emotion of  innocent joy.

Independence Day ~ Wildlife ~ Brush Fire ~ What is Important ~ An American Girl

"To everything there is a season, and time to every purpose under heaven..." 

~ Ecclesiastics 3:18

The height of summer - bunnies on the grass... Sipping nectar from once was a tiny sapling my mother grew from seed of her own tree...

                           

Hummingbirds on high...

What could possibly disturb our paradise?

Even when the hawks (see one camouflaged in  a tree across our ridge)  careen through our backyard trees like jet fighters on a mission, they are mostly Coopers- not powerful enough to pick up our puppies in their talons. 

However, Mr. coyote showed up before lunch.

He hung around for a good hour, leaving us to believe his den is nearby. Thinking about the downside of cohabitation with this particular indigenous species.  Sometimes it is hard to appreciate his attributes- coyotes suppress populations of rodents, skunks- and yes, the rabbits that are so used to my husband they think he is one of them- some days gathering around where he enjoys his coffee on our patio. 

Last year one of his compatriots followed a medium sized dog through a doggy door - into the house.


Over the years in Diamond Bar, we've listened to neighbor's pets become part of the food chain (and when this happens it doesn't matter how long the pet suffers, the police do not respond). A babysitter reported being followed up the street while she fearfully hurried the baby stroller. There was the teenager who had to wait for mom to call to say the coast was clear- a pack was circling the yard when the girl first tried to come home. Our former veterinary doctor  shared a doberman being killed in a coyote attack.

Handsome creatures, coyotes are opportunistic terrorists hiding in the tall chaparral. Be advised if you live in the foothills- all it takes is a moment's inattention. Our Tahoe got away with going nose to nose with a young male once. She was alone in the backyard less than a minute. What probably saved her life was "the barking bunny" confused the predator long enough for Gerry and I to come running from different directions. The coyote sailed over the back fence like Superman: in a single bound it cleared the fence and the ravine. 

As if this wasn't enough excitement for our July 4th celebration

It wasn't just our barbecue smoking up the skies. Our first hint was the LA County Fire helicopter.

There was a small uphill brush fire not far past "our ridge"

Even with winds strong enough to pull the palm fronds like windsocks, emergency services did not sound concerned. With a high temperature of the day a beach-like  76 degrees, everything was speedily under control. I doubt most of the town even knows there was a fire. 

There is a time and place for everything. Tonight it would be dinner for two. At home. I cut off writing before noon. We took a needed break from studying our downloaded copy of the Supreme Court Decision on the Affordable Care Act. Our personal  anxiety over its ramifications for our family could use the day off. The Act helped other people and somehow the brilliance of this nation's framework to work things out over time will prevail. 


The Fourth of July is a holiday. Time to get in the mood with proper preparations. While Gerry solved the woodworking issue of what to do when a board of black walnut does not want to stabilize, I cooked to a moviethon of favorites.  Glory . The Patriot.   The board where the food waited to be heaped onto our plates groaned under the weight of 

Cherries

Twice baked potatoes 

Barbecued corn on the cob

Fried Okra 

Barbecued short ribs -

We ate to the new classic movie The Help. We chatted away at ALL the GREAT changes in life we have lived to see.  We are eager for the day when Emma Stone wins her first Oscar.  

We will share the barbecue rib technique soon. Absolutely the BEST ever. Only topped by 

                                                      Homemade Ice Cream. 

Custard based- so good I think I could go shopping and my husband wouldn't care what I bought, just so I make him more):- 

Now, I can't leave you with that substandard picture of dinner as the last personal impression of what you saw on this blog. So I leave you with this image of my model- niece Abby Plunk, so pretty in pink. Abby - if you see this- know we pray for God's blessing on your journey.  To us- You are as quissentential an American Beauty as any rose.

Thoughts On Independence Day

United States Flag, Gene Sasse photographer

"Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God."
~ George Washington

California Capitol. Gene Sasse photographer

"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South."  
~ Abraham Lincoln

Colorado Springs, Garden of the Gods 

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” 
― Theodore Roosevelt, Strenuous Life

Native Colorado scrub brush

Some of the greatest serenity I have known has been on horseback. As a young girl, my Uncle Frank would lift us nieces up onto his horse to watch the fireworks go off at nearby Disneyland. The 4th of July- it is the one day in the calendar I don't think my father ever drank to excess on.  The date bordered on sacred in our family. 

 With the devastation in Colorado Springs, I am glad I have these memories recorded from a ride through The Garden of The Gods Park. Due to the wildfires, it is currently closed. 

Pikes Peak- the inspiration for Katharine Lee Bates "America the Beautiful"

My husband was assigned to Colorado Springs for 30 days, which turned into 13 months. It was in the Holiday Inn there that he learned to inlay wood- it gave him something to do more interesting than just get up, go to work, dinner and TV. Towards the end of his stay, rather than have him bring his laundry home for 4 days, the company authorized my visiting him there. 

What I remember most about Colorado is clean unspoiled air. I think it is safe to say that this nation is united in praying for the environment the state is rightly renowned for quickly heals. 

Whatever our differences politically, in the contentious months that bare down prior to every election like the sun on the Mojave Desert, it is my prayer that our collective nation   comes to again remember  that people are more than their politics. 

The Weather, Hawks and Wildlife Report

When the skies cleared, the red tailed hawk took to gliding over the air currents .

 

Weaving hither and about, it mesmerizes like the swinging watch of the hypnotist.

To and fro, searching for food. Small rodents, snakes and the like

I wonder if the smaller Coopers Hawks will come visit this summer. 

The sparrows pay no mind. It is rare that little birds are snatched from bird feeders. That is usually the scalpel precision of falcons. Otherwise, the arms of the mature cultivated garden make it difficult  for larger predatory birds to successfully swoop in  for dinner..

Other than the striking emerald green laws, it is hard to imagine the pounding the rain gave last weekend. 1.10" between midnight and daylight, with a thunder strike nearby.  My husband told me the lightning flash and thunderous cymbal crash were nearly syncopated. The house heaved- awakening me from a deep slumber with thoughts of tornadoes. It mustn't have hit a house: such close calls with disaster usually makes the news, Things that  because things that frighten make the news.  

The wind blew dry anything it didn't plain blow-away. The smallest portion of warmth is enough to bring out the butterflies. Swallowtails and Painted ladies this week.


Painted lady nectaring from a scabiosa

 When spring is young, even the lizards are lovely. I've never noticed one with such a beautiful blue belly.

Or maybe this wonderment was here all along. What changed is this winter I got a lesson in slowing down. In paying attention to the details. In savoring life.  

God bless you all. Thanks to the support and prayers of people like You, I understand the importance of the expression "Thank God that's over with." 



Thank you to Gerry Plunk for using my camera to take these photos while I was locked up in a witness hearing room. Glad to be home.  

Exceeding Normal~ Simple Pleasures ~Super Bowl

"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. "

Benjamin Franklin

 What sweeter sound is there than the cooing of dove? Look closely in the branches and see what lovely shape is nervously anticipating that the barrel I have aimed at him might not be a camera, but a gun? He needn't have flown off. I wanted to sing he and the family back "It's okay- I cancelled my NRA membership."  

Sometimes I wish I were more like the wind vane. Proudly it goes about its business, without fear of disappointing or disputable errors. 

I must get about during normal hours to capture the V- formations of ducks declaring it time for snowbirds to settle in our mild clime. Not to excuse, just to explain- last week we had the rare opportunity to be with people who normally exceed normal - medical professionals and their support staff. 

Many came to America for an education, then stayed for the greatness of this nation that generously welcomed them. Some have family left behind where there is great strife. Places where nature's nasty side leaves scars over decades; countries that do not hold human life with the same respect as the United States has a long tradition of. 

 As these people cared for my loved one, I promised to pray for theirs.  

The simple mural with a ship and pipe painted like a light house was a primitive salute to the healing powers of an ocean view room. Kenny, our youngest son who lives in Huntington Harbor, had to hold back a bit of a giggle at how the child-like scenic charmed his parents.

pebbles mimic water smoothed rocks

Pebbles on an outcropping roof made me laugh for all the times my knees have suggested trading in my hillside haven for a raked pebble patio.

What beach scene is complete without palm trees?

Never underestimate the power of simple symbolism  in promoting healing.

Now, a  hospital room is not the "normal" place to hold a Super Bowl Party- but when the host can't be in front of his own big screen- his wife goes wherever he is. With pleasure.

"Normal" years, my husband's request for game time food can be summed up by the end result - heart burn.  This year offered the chance for his wife to discover the simple joy of sneaking a single bottle of Cook's Brut Champagne- like is nested in a 4 bottle picnic pack to serve over ice in the ubiquitous Styrofoam cup. 

The crispy bubbly turned out to be perfect to sip with the childhood delight of cheese squeezed onto buttery crackers . I know, there goes any reputation for being a bit of a snob on food and drink. Maybe this isn't as fine a combination as Miranda Lambert holding hands with her husband Blake Shelton while serenading a nation with America the Beautiful or as sublime as Kelly Clarkson's Star Spangled Banner- but it was darn good in the tradition of simple pleasures. 

Gerry is home now. Just a few short weeks and we are wiser and healthier and full of more faith than before how miraculous life hit home with the precision and impact of a guided missile.

 For every challenge- what we have to be grateful is 10 -fold.  As much as I look forward to what his returning to work means as a sign of life having returned to normal, I am already missing his daily around the clock companionship.

Our oldest son is flying in from fly-over country tomorrow. I have reams to write. But my fingers may not be typing. Trevor is a man- the practiced normalcy of writing is far exceeded with wanting his words to fill every cranny of my consciousness.

Time is never squandered when it is used to bond with loved ones.