Category Archives: country living

Angry Birds acrobatics?

Posted by Mama's Empty Nest in Angry Birds, contentment, country living, distractions, front porch musings, front porch swing, hungry birds, nature, quiet evening at home, summer evenings and tagged with , , ,

It looked like a scene right out of Angry Birds.

Birds plummeted through the sky like they were being shot out of a slingshot or a rocket.

Last evening after dinner, hubby went outside to finish mowing our two-plus acre yard.  I plunked down on the front porch swing, enjoying the cool evening air and engrossed in a book.

I didn’t pay much attention to hubby’s mowing job, but the steady roar of our trusty John Deere lawn tractor sounded in my ears, as well as a car or truck passing by.  An occasional car horn toot to sound hello greetings from a friend driving past caused me to raise my head from my book and wave.

Suddenly the droning stopped and I heard my husband yell for me.  I stood up, turned around because he was in the side yard behind me, wondering what was wrong.  He was just sitting on the tractor with a goofy grin on his face and I couldn’t figure out why he wanted my attention.  And then I saw them.  Birds!

The birds were going crazy!  A flock of birds were swooping, dive-bombing and coming awfully close to my husband’s head!  They circled around him; they flew straight up into the air and then made a beeline for the ground.  They quickly darted through the air, floating and turning, soaring and swerving.

Hubby laughed, “Look at the bird acrobatic show!”  I watched as they catapulted through the air, lunging and plunging, flying and diving each time.  I felt certain they were attacking him because they flew extremely close to him.

“What’s going on?” I asked.  “Why are they angry at you?  Is there a nest nearby or what?”

“No,” he replied.  “This happens every time I mow.  I think I’m stirring up all the bugs in the ground and the birds are flocking in to eat them.”

A feeding frenzy.  Not angry birds, hungry birds foraging for a tasty treat, thanks to the human on the noisy mower.

Hubby shrugged, started up the tractor, and proceeded with his lawn manicure job.  And the birds kept up their acrobatic performance.  I imagine there were some satisfied songbirds with full tummies.

I sat back down on the porch swing, picked up my book, listened to the tractor’s constant hum, inhaled the scent of freshly cut grass, and a big satisfied sigh escaped from me.  Ah, life in the country…. no annoying noise, no loud neighbors, no steady stream of traffic, no distractions, no addicting games like Angry Birds.

Just a simple evening enjoying the simple things in life, including a few hungry birds.  In my Opportunity book, Chapter 8, Page 26, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

©2011 mamasemptynest.wordpress.com

Picture perfect mornings make me sing!

Posted by Mama's Empty Nest in contentment, country living, day off, music, picture perfect day, singing, summer mornings and tagged with , , , , ,

blogDSCN7828You awaken to sunshine streaming in your window accompanied by wafts of fresh, clean air gently blowing through the screen.

You realize it was so cool during the night, you pulled the quilt up over yourself and you’re snuggling inside it because it feels a little chilly.

No harsh buzzing of the alarm clock rings in your ears because it’s your day off work, but you do catch the lilting melody of song birds coming from outside.

You leave your place of slumber and glance out the open window to see the most glorious baby blue sky decorated with bits of cottony fluff here and there.  A dazzling sun gleams from the east causing the yard to look resplendent in verdant trees and grass.

The temperature hovers around the upper 60’s with an expected high in the mid 70’s. Throwing open the patio door and kitchen windows invites a cooling breeze into the house refreshing enough to compel you to linger at the kitchen table with your soothing hot cup of tea.  You observe a tiny sparrow hopping along the deck railing and notice butterflies chasing each other, flitting hither and yon.

There’s a faint rustle of leaves as the cooling wind blows through the trees.  You hear cicadas chirping, morning song birds, and occasionally a car driving by.  But that is all.  It’s peaceful and serene.  It’s beautiful and picturesque.  It’s life here at Mama’s Empty Nest.

And that’s my idea of a picture perfect morning.

That’s what it’s been like here the last few days and I can’t express how much I enjoy mornings like these.  Quote anthologist Terri Guillemets wrote this:  “I used to love night best but the older I get the more treasures and hope and joy I find in mornings.”   I couldn’t agree with her more, especially on mornings like these.

Yesterday all day I found myself singing “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” from the musical Oklahoma.  I’ve actually lived in that state and while I’m sure native Okies believe their mornings are the most spectacular, I beg to differ.   Rising to incredibly hot temperatures isn’t my idea of a beautiful morning, and that’s what I remember most about summertime there.  I’d much rather sing about mornings right here in my home state.

Treated to a repeat performance of my picture perfect morning today, my mind’s card catalog of songs brought up “It’s a Beautiful Morning” by The Rascals.

“It’s a beautiful mornin’ ahhh

I think I’ll go outside a while an jus’ smile

Just take in some clean fresh air boy

Ain’t no sense in stayin’ inside

If the weather’s fine an’ you got the time

It’s your chance to wake up and plan another brand new day

Either way

It’s a beautiful mornin’ ahhh”

Morning songs just keep playing in my head on this magnificent Page 11, Chapter 8, in my book of Opportunity.  Cat Stevens’  “Morning Has Broken”  comes to mind.  As soon as I run through that song, a Herman’s Hermits tune, “I’m Into Something Good,” follows with “Woke up this morning, feelin’ fine, there’s something special on my mind.”

When I dig a little deeper in my song file, I find myself singing “Good Mornin” from that marvelous old movie, Singing in the Rain.   That tune reminds me of crooning my version to our awakening children when they were young:  “Good mornin’, Good mornin’, You slept the whole night through, Good mornin’, Good mornin’ to you!”

And lastly, I find myself humming an old English folk song called “Early One Morning.”  I don’t recall when I first heard that song because it seems like it’s always been in my memory. “Early one morning, just as the sun was rising, I heard a young maid singing in the valley below.  Oh, don’t deceive me, Oh never leave me. How could you use a poor maiden so?”

What about you?  What morning song are you singing on this fine day?

© 2011 mamasemptynest.wordpress.com

Rockets red glare over our house

Posted by Mama's Empty Nest in blessings, country living, fear, thankfulness and tagged with , ,

Image via wikipedia

It’s the evening of the 4th of July.  After a busy weekend, I’m resting in my overstuffed easy chair in our family room with my feet propped up on the ottoman.  The French door leading out to our backyard deck is flung wide open letting in a nice cool summer evening breeze.

Hubby is watching something about the Revolutionary War (he’s a real history buff) on the History Channel on TV and I’ve been catching up with my blog reading and Facebook friends’ news.   A couple of hours ago, we stood on the deck waving goodbye to our son and his girlfriend who were here for the weekend.  They’re headed back to the other side of our state where she lives and the state next door where he lives.

Mama’s Empty Nest is quiet once more after a weekend of young people coming and going.  We hosted a picnic for some of son’s college friends, now married and immersed in their careers in the city near us.

The sound of young adults laughing and enjoying conversations and games made Papa and Mama happy.  But now, everyone is gone, the sun is setting, and all I hear are birds singing.  Sounds so peaceful, doesn’t it?

All of a sudden, this strange VERY LOUD metallic sounding noise pierces the silence.   Startled, I ask hubby, “What in the world is THAT?”

He listens, shrugs his shoulders as the noise escalates and we realize it is coming from the sky above our house!   Our first thought, because we are in its flight pattern, is it’s the Med-Evac helicopter which life flights serious emergency patients from our local hospital to city trauma centers.

But no, the sound becomes absolutely deafening like a jet – a very low flying jet – getting closer and closer and louder and louder until it seems like it’s going to crash into our house!

Hubby runs out onto the deck and I think, “Should we head for the basement instead??”  The noise overwhelms us so much, it panics our cat and she darts wildly into the house.

My instinct is to run and hide somewhere, but instead I follow hubby outside with my heart pounding so forcefully I truly thought it was going to jump out of my chest!  I’m literally terrified and expecting to experience impact when an airplane falls from the sky and lands on my house or my home is obliterated from a falling bomb!  (Yes, that thought really did run through my mind!) Suddenly we see what looks like a fighter jet whoosh by in the sky.

So much for a quiet evening at home.  The jet zooms off towards the city, and we still don’t know why it was flying up here in our rural neck of the woods.  All I know is it took a while for my heart to resume a normal beat, I really was that frightened.

No need for fireworks at our house on the 4th of July!   We had our own experience of “rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air.”

The experience made me thankful though (after I calmed down!) because I realized how very blessed and fortunate I am.  My family and most likely yours too has never, ever had to live in a war-torn country where the ear-splitting sound of a jet plane flying over to drop explosives on your home is as common as daily life.

It also reminded me how horrifying that day in 2001 on a September morning was and how unbelievably petrifying it must have been to experience that shocking event first-hand.

And I’m realizing today in the 6th chapter of my book called Opportunity on Page 5 that I take my blissful home for granted.   I take peace for granted.  I take life for granted.  And it all could vanish in an instant.

So I’m thankful to God my Father for the unbelievable blessings He’s bestowed on our country for so long and I pray for His continued favor and protection for all of us.

©2011 mamasemptynest.wordpress.com

Country sights….and smells

Posted by Mama's Empty Nest in contentment, country living, family, summer days and tagged with , , ,

Image via freefoto.com

I love living in the country, really I do.  When we moved here from suburbia,  my family and I concocted a little ditty on our cross country car trip from there to here.

We sang it to the tune of the old TV show theme song, “Green Acres.”  Oldest daughter wasn’t too sure about leaving the suburbs behind for life in the country, so our song went something like this:

[Mama & Papa sing]  “The country is the place to be,

Country livin’ is the life for me,

Land spreadin’ out so far wide,

Keep that shopping mall,

Give me that countryside.”

[Oldest Daughter sings] “The ‘burbs are where I’d rather stay,

I don’t know how to rake in hay,

I just adore the city view,

Daddy, I love you but give me Murray Avenue.”

[Papa sings] “Fresh air!”

 [Oldest Daughter sings] “Washington Square!”

[Papa] “You are my daughter.”

[Oldest Daughter] “Goodbye, city water!”

[Everyone] “The country we are there.  Da-dum, da-da dum, dum dum!”

Our family, including all three children, adjusted quite well to life beyond the ‘burbs, even if oldest daughter was a little frightened by cows when she trained for her cross-country season running on country roads.   And when we finally built our new home, we managed to acquire city water!

I reminisced about our move here just the other morning because we mark our 13th anniversary of living in the country at the end of this month.  That milestone makes this place the abode where hubby and I have lived the longest ever in our married life.  Like a well-seated tree, the roots burrow down pretty deep now.

So when I awakened early just the other day, I paused for a minute before I began my morning routine.   The evening before had been cool and we slept with our bedroom windows wide open.  I always sleep well when fresh air wafts into the room.

That morning, sunshine poured through the windows, and I could hear the serenade of several birds singing their good morning song. As I listened, their melodies were the only audible sound.  No traffic.  No noisy trucks, no honking horns, no loud people, just song birds.  What a lovely way to wake up!

While I sipped my morning cup of tea in our breakfast nook, the view out our back windows provided a lush landscape greeting my sight.  No tall buildings, no houses, no sidewalks or streets.   Just leafy trees, a verdant hillside and a farmer’s field.   Flowers in brilliant bloom in our yard added to the assortment of a colorful feast for my eyes as well.

Driving to work that morning, I cranked open my car windows and that’s when I caught a whiff of a delicious odor – the indescribable smell of freshly mown hay.  Yes, there he was –  the farmer driving his tractor over the field, performing the first hay cutting of the season, hay that will be gathered up into large round bales later and will dot the meadows.

Summer time has arrived in the country, even if the calendar doesn’t say so.   Mornings like these which evoke such feelings of bliss make it seem like all is right with the world.  That is, until I caught another distinct odor – road kill, and in this case the most smelly kind -  a skunk.

And that reminds me of another song.  Anyone ready for a round of “Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road?”

Ah, life in the country….in my Opportunity book, Chapter 6, Page 9, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

©2011 mamasemptynest.wordpress.com

Snakes alive! What if??

Posted by Mama's Empty Nest in country living, gardening, Home and tagged with , , ,

Image source unknown

Hello, my name is Mama’s Empty Nest.  And I have a habit I need to confess.

Yes, I am a what iffer.  I’m one of those people who always thinks “what if?”  I’m sure I’ve driven my kids insane by telling them to plan ahead, be prepared for any emergency because what if this, that or the other thing happens?

You know, keep a blanket in your car trunk because what if you get caught in a snow storm.   Carry a bottle of water with you because what if you’re stranded somewhere and the temperature soars.   Make sure you have batteries for your flashlight and while you’re at it, stock up on some matches and candles because what if the power goes out.

I’m like the female version of the quintessential Boy Scout.  Be Prepared.   That’s my motto.  And I can’t blame it on scouting because I never did join Girl Scouts.    It seems I was just made this way and I really can’t stop myself from thinking it.   Perhaps I need to join WIA (What Iffers Anonymous)!

Just the other day, I caught myself saying “what if?”   Early in the summer season, hubby’s garden plot starts sprouting good stuff; leaf lettuce and spinach already grow in abundance.   The strawberry patch yielded two quarts of delicious red berries in two days’ time, and there are plenty more to be picked.

Sunday evening, hubby and I leisurely lounged on our deck, watching the sun start to sink lower into the horizon, basking in a balmy breeze and cool temperatures.  Then I decided to visit the berry patch and noticed more ripe, juicy berries needed plucked.

I didn’t want to take time to change from my sandals into socks and tennis shoes, so I stepped among the thickly woven plants.  Of course when you pick strawberries, you have to bend over and search underneath all the leaves for the fruit.

And that’s when it happened.   A thought jumped into my mind as suddenly as a flash of lightning lights up the sky.  What if there was a snake hiding underneath those leaves?  I stood up immediately, voiced my thought to hubby, who looked a smidge alarmed.   (I’ll clue you in on that in a minute!)

I looked at my feet bared in sandals and gave a little shudder.  The thought of a garden snake slithering out of hiding across my toes or my hand as I checked for strawberries gave me the willies.  I’m guessing the idea probably unsettled my husband just as much.

It’s true I don’t like spiders and snakes.  My hubby gladly protects me from spiders and other critters, but he positively loathes and fears snakes.  I learned that fact early in our marriage.

As newlyweds, we lived in the southwest – rattlesnake territory.   One weekend we decided to take a walk through a wooded area near our apartment.  As we were maneuvering along the trail, a small snake (although not a rattler, fortunately) suddenly appeared out of the brush and scurried out onto the path in front of us.

His unexpected appearance startled me so that I literally froze.  I just stood there, mouth gaping open, staring at the snake, unable to move.  When I finally came to my senses, I realized that my strong, valiant military husband was gone.   Gone!  Left me standing there in a staring contest with a snake!

One sight of that slithering reptile and my hubby hightailed it out of the woods.   As fast as he could.   By the time I conjured up the good sense to join him, I realized he was already standing in the apartment complex parking lot.

I’ve never let him forget that story and it has provided some good-natured fun-poking over the years.  But the story illustrates how much he hates those creatures.   His first thought was “get the heck out of here” and I can’t blame him.  I still jokingly rib him for not protecting me from that reptile or at least grabbing my hand and dragging me with him.  Oh well, he reminds me, even the extremely brave and adventurous Indiana Jones had a fear of snakes.

I’m happy to report we did not see a snake in our garden the other day, but I suspect from now on, I may have to take the hoe with me just in case…you know… what if??  When I was growing up, I remember my mother took care of garden snakes that way.  She was fearless and chopped their heads off with the hoe.

I tried this once when a tiny snake surprised me, but by the time I found the hoe in the garage and went back to do some serious damage to him, he had long disappeared. That experience just provided more fodder for my “what if” scenario….see what I mean?  Be prepared!

And that reminds me on this 7th page of Chapter 6 in my book called Opportunity, I need to become more like my mother.  If I could just make a coconut cream pie from scratch like her, my hubby would be thrilled.  For now, he’ll just have to be happy with my good intentions of “taking care” of the little garden snakes, as long as he protects me from all the other stuff.  But if we ever meet a big snake, we’ll both be “out of here!”

©2011 mamasemptynest.wordpress.com

If summer were a picnic

Posted by Mama's Empty Nest in country living, family, picnics, summer days and tagged with , , ,

blogDSCN7607The calendar still says May, but the temperature outside registers middle of summer heat.

Hot, humid weather is upon our country home and it’s not Mama’s favorite!  I so thoroughly agree with British novelist Jane Austen who wrote:  “What dreadful hot weather we have!  It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance.”

Sprawled on my family room couch, determined not to turn on the air conditioning because “it’s too early,” dressed in old summer clothing in which I sure wouldn’t want to be seen in public, and gulping down glass after glass of ice water, I truly do feel quite ‘inelegant.’ 

I think most people yearn for summer and its heat, but I’m not one of them.  I’d rather enjoy a day like we had last Thursday.

Middle daughter and fiancé drove up to Mama’s empty nest for a couple of days’ visit before fiancé heads off to another state for graduate school.   We won’t get to see him much in the next year as he undergoes intense studies, so we wanted to make his visit enjoyable.

We spent one day wedding planning; I’m not sure that was very thrilling for him, but we wanted to get his opinions and input on a few points.  Since he and Papa endured the shopping excursion and all the ‘wedding talk,’ I thought we should plan an outdoor fun day next.

We awakened early, packed a hefty picnic lunch in the cooler, and set out – just the four of us – for one of our state parks located in a national forest.   The day was sunny, warm enough to be comfortable, yet with a nice cool breeze.  Perfect!

After a lovely drive, we showed fiancé where I spent many summer hours and weekends as a child and teenager – my parents’ camp.  Now owned and improved by a family friend, we drove by the camp and stopped for a little look-see.

blogDSCN7614From there, we traveled into the park.  We hiked the short trail to the ranger’s fire tower and stopped here and there for picture-taking as daughter was trying out her new SLR camera.

Later we drove along the river that meanders through the area.  Since it was the Thursday before Memorial Day weekend, the park was rather empty and peaceful.  The picnic area along the river was all ours.  We had our choice of the best site.

What more could we ask for?  People we love, a peaceful, flowing river, sun streaming through the trees, and blissful quiet away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life – it was like a painting of serenity.   Two lone kayakers floated down the river and waved to us and they were the only other people we saw there while we partook our lunch.

If each day were a delightfully bearable summer day like that, I would relish the season more.   But I will be grateful for that one perfect day even now on this 31st page of Chapter 5 in my Opportunity book as I swelter and sweat.  I’ll just close my eyes and picture our picnic in the woods.

“Among the delights of Summer were picnics to the woods.” ~ Georg Brandes

©2011 mamasemptynest.wordpress.com