the mark haley holler: Perfect Moments

Not too long ago, my firstborn baby turned 8. How time does fly! So happy belated birthday to Charlie. It got me thinking, that flying time... What are the moments I wish I could catch hold of? We had one not too many days ago. Thanks to the generosity of a shared garden with a couple of neighbors, I've been doing a lot of canning this summer. One day it was banana and jalapeno peppers. I brought the banana peppers outside to the picnic table so I could cut them while the kids rode bikes and scooters, but instead, they joined me at the table to help. Since that's a habit I like to cultivate, I busted out the butter knives and let them massacre the peppers as they wished. The seeds stick all over everything when you push them out of their pepper womb. In a fit of high spirits, I started flicking them at Charlie, who feigned indignation, and started tossing them back. Soon we were sprinkling handfuls on each other's heads, giggling, "What attrocious manners you have! Who taught you such bad manners!" And I thought... This. This is a perfect moment.

If I am not careful, those perfect moments skim past unnoticed, or they never happen at all. What if I don't let my kids help me because they can't do it perfectly? What if I am too concerned with the state of the inside of my house to step outside into the wonder of a Fall day? Over the weekend, Daddy was feeling sickly and needed a quiet house in which to take a nap. I was keyed up with anxiety: I had peppers to can, and salsa! No time for long excursions! But Daddy needed that nap, and I had to get the boys out of the house for it to happen, so it was time for a hike. Never have I appreciated "wasted time" so much. We walked all the way to the Richland creek, about a mile and a half. And I saw colors and life so vivid it made me forget about the chores left undone at home. Fall trees showed off their best colors, and Monarchs, not to be outdone, posed on the New England Asters. The boys rested under a stately old oak tree along the road, gathering acorns, which we will try turning into acorn flour. Charlie had his camera too. "Mommy! I found a PURPLE thorn!" We hopped a couple of fences and trespassed in a couple of cow pastures where we took pictures and had a brief lesson on the difference between Kentucky field stones and dried cow patties. I found a new species of Aster. At the house near the creek, a wedding reception went on, Kentucky style. Poofy white dresses and big trucks fording our favorite creek. The kids were tired on the way home. So tired that we stopped for a while on an unsuspecting neighbor's porch to rest, unbeknownst to the inhabitant of the home. And by the time that we made it home, I was ready to eat my own left leg. But for that space of maybe three hours... We were all a little more awake than usual. A little more alive. These are my perfect moments.

Storms and Rainbows

The stormfront pictures above were taken about 1 minute apart from each other. That was a wild night.

My Neighbors Know I'm Buggy

Rob and Dawn brought me this newly hatched Tobacco Hornworm-turned-Sphynx Moth. He was four inches long in the wing by the time he'd dried out.

A Walk in the Woods

Left: White Mist Flower Right: Weird little mushroom?

Left: I don't know what that is... Right: Family Collybia?

Left: Box turtle who was a little too orange to hide from us. Right: I think that's Gensing.

The box turtle road with us all the way from the woods to the garden where we did an emergency frost harvest. I'm sure he loved it. Just look at his face. He's thrilled.

Around the Homestead

Right: White chicory! Left: Um...

HUGE Preying Mantis came out to... prey... Heh heh...

Weird digging blue wasp

Left: Bittersweet Right: Small Mantis

Pine coneheads...

Weekend project: pallet wood shed.

Let's go fly a kite!

Bushy Aster?

I told my friend that, as a general rule, interesting caterpillars make boring butterflies, but in this case, I was wrong, as this caterpillar with wild iridescent blue spots and spines becomes: