Life and Taxes

Hello again! Where did the week-and-a-half go? My apologies for forsaking my post here.

You'd think there was some big deal going on that I wasn't present for this screen, but I've been wrapped up in tax stuff which I don't want to think about very hard to avoid regression to a quivering lump under my bed with my dust fuzzy company. Numbers and tallies are muse-killers for me. Taxes don't rise to momentous moments and neither does rendering unto Caesar even more out of my pocket.

What was momentous? Sunday when Aidan made his debut appearance at Kimmel Center playing in the Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra that he has been in all this season...

Kimmel Center (Verizon Hall) in Philadelphia.

They did a very, very good performance of Romeo and Juliet.

Aidan says, "They spelled my name wrong again!"

Aidan and cello taking the stage.

After the concert.

He'll have another concert before the season is over. Also, he has been working up a video for summer auditions. The music room stays the heartbeat of this old farmhouse.

Wendy's orchids are dressing up one of the dining room windows.

Goat and Lamb Cakes

This morning's rain is nourishing the spring flowers and washing away more of winter's detritus. Leaf and flower buds are bursting open. The frogs are active again after the cold snap. Polliwogs are over an inch long now at the pond.

Other creatures are busy, too. On a morning walk around the property perimeter that Wendy has been taking with the dogs, Fancy, who can usually be trusted to follow without her leash, suddenly dove into the bamboo patch along the neighbor's roadway. Wendy had to insist in order to get her back out and she came out dragging a deer leg. The family thought is that a fox dragged it there after finding a road kill. Yes, the poor deer are frequent casualties on these roads.  Their tracks are everywhere in the spring mud around the property.

John and Aidan stepped up and helped the assembly of Eggs Benedict that Wendy was preparing yesterday.

Later in the day, we all indulged in her wonderful, from scratch Angel Food cake with its topping of fresh strawberries and real cream whipped into a delicious froth. The result was just something that won't come out of a box or a squirt can.

We all missed Keoni even though we'd done an early Easter with him before he went back to Mercer.

One of the communications of the day was a walk down memory lane via email from Cousin Jackie. Her mom, who was also my Aunt and my Godmother, made Easter lamb cakes. After reading this lovely tribute, I went along to church and there on one of the kitchen's counters someone had brought a lamb cake for the dinner to follow services and the kids' Easter egg hunt.

In somewhat the same vein, Wendy gave me an Easter remembrance...

Two cakes of Wendy's lemongrass goat soap that she and her lady goats provided. The ceramic eggs and basket are a family Easter decoration that started from Aunt Irene's gift decades ago.

One morning this week was warm enough for a back porch beginning to my day. Bird sounds, dogs and Toby made a welcome return of the season. Toby climbed up on my shoulder again. All eighteen pounds of him. Wendy has seen him far along the farm's perimeter coming out of the woods. He is hunting far afield again.. He makes a sweep around Neighbor Joe's barn, too. It's too cold again this morning so the dining room is providing my look at daylight increasing.

The flowers are such a part of the season's awakening and were beautifully present yesterday in the church as I'd image many places elsewhere.

Beautiful flowers, beautiful music and beautiful message.

The Hyacinths smell wonderful and so do the goat cakes...

My sojourn at Marge's is almost drawn to a close. She'll be back from the warm(er) South by mid-week.

The snow that hit the region stayed north and east from us. It was only flurries here after considerable fluffing of weather feathers on the dramatic weather broadcasts. So, by the time Marge gets here, it will be spring again. Lots of her flowers are opening and the mighty wind today has somewhat dried out the squishy landscape, as well.

At Marge's which is 20 minutes away from RR. It's actually a couple degrees colder in Quakertown. Surprising how that makes a difference to the blooming schedules.

I've resumed my afternoon walks around Rhapsody Ridge and Keoni and Aidan accompanied me several times.

Oddly, on this walk, the frogs had become fairly quiet. We went to the little pond and found that there were clouds of frog eggs with dozens and dozens of blips on the surface of the water. Tadpoles! So, I guess all the racket the frogs were making last week was procreation in action.

The little white dotted clusters are the eggs with little polliwogs in them.

Even in the dead of winter when I am walking along the fields the earth is busy with forming life.  The leafless trees belie all the action going on. Under the ice or snow, it is as if the ground is breathing life. If it is very quiet there are sounds, little blips and gurgles, or maybe when the air is still, just a certain smell--wet leaves, dirt...it's not dead; it's busy.

It's Lenten season and next to this wing of the church Spring has brought her glory.

Some stories for the church newsletter kept me busy for awhile. And, a visit to the ophthalmologist had good news. The old lens piece that was left in my eye after the cataract operation is now gone. It successfully self-absorbed after more than five months of five times a day eye drops.

It was special having Keoni home for his Spring break which was graciously extended by his school so he could play a solo with the Warminster Symphony Orchestra. I had a good seat so I got the whole performance of Wieniawski's Violin Concerto #2 on my iPhone...

Here's what we looked like after the performance.

Enjoy Springtime everybody in the Northern Hemisphere.

Frog Song

Winter is fading rapidly into spring.

Cattails' ragged remains soon will be Nature's compost.

The roadside tree-trimming has begun again. During weekdays, it can be found everywhere. Trucks and equipment are again filling potholes and repairing chewed off edges of the narrow roads, as well. I think twice about my routes.

Early in the week flowers began appearing on Marge's landscape...

And at Rhapsody Ridge...

By mid to the end of the week I was taking afternoon walks again at RR with Aidan. Past the lower pasture in the neighbor's field, there is a small pond that is brim full right now with all the rains.

Aidan helped try for some frog action shots. The frogs are deafening...








And we managed a couple stills as well...

It's Spring Break for Keoni and Caroline. She spent a few days at RR for R&R.

Keoni will be performing at Warminster before he returns to Mercer.

Every day is R&R at RR for Toby.

Keoni managed to score two evenings at Kimmel Center for the Philly Orchestra's performance of Mahler's Eighth. His description made me think of what a very fine thing it is that we live in this proximity to Philadelphia.

By week's end.

The warm days are see-sawing with some gloom and rain, but temps remain above freezing. I haven't seen much of the fish in Marge's pond but am trusting they're there below the leaves blown on top the bird net over the pond.

Watching one season blending into another is endlessly engrossing. And at all times, the outdoors draws me into the complexities and wonders of the planet we share, and beyond dust fuzzies.

Thirteen, Paint Balls and Tuxedos

Last Saturday, Aidan and three buddies put the finishing touch on the part of his birthday, that was delayed a week, at a nearby, outdoor, farm-to-millennial, paint-ball extravaganza. They played multiple sessions and were ready for the tables Wendy and I shoved together for a family feed at Jesse's BBQ.

John, who was their chauffeur, held up well but was as starved as they were.

Fed, and in their second wind they played some backyard soccer for awhile at Rhapsody Ridge. I'd have opted first for the chocolate cake and birthday remembrance time, but they were in the thrall of a gorgeous afternoon and action.

They were no less enthusiastic about Wendy's wonderful German chocolate cake that was so deliciously rich I believe it will put me on those anti-cholesterol pills.

Even as they are passing into teen-hood these youngsters weren't too embarrassed to sing Happy Birthday.

The next day, Sunday, it was Aidan into his tuxedo for his PYAO concert at Union League. Somehow, John and Wendy delivered him to his morning cello lesson, John played in a Bocci tournament, they parked one vehicle at John's work, delivered Aidan to orchestra rehearsal in Center City, hung out at the Perch Club, met me there after my train ride into the city, and we walked together to the classy venue.

The ballroom where they played.

 George and Martha were there...

...and so were dozens of portraits of presidents and important people in government. I didn't find any Democrats.

The music was wonderful though the venue on a ballroom floor was level making it difficult to see. So, a couple shots that are sort of "Aidan was there" photos...

Orchestra gathering.

The sound was great in this space.

Afterward at the cookie reception, a split-second quiet moment photo-op for grandma.

Cello language conversation.

...but regardless the seeing, the performance was remarkable, and I got to hear some of it again yesterday evening that Wendy had picked up on her iPhone. It was playing on the amplifier when I stopped in at home to greet Keoni who just arrived from Mercer for Spring Break. He had some incredibly difficult music to share too that he's begun to work on.

The Earth is swinging us toward our springtime. The daylight is uplifting. Outdoors beckons. I am glad to be shedding the strain and the viruses that plagued recent weeks.

Art Painting & Paint Balls

Well, I almost got back to normal, then allergies became a cold. A couple of days indoors mostly, leaving trails of unfulfilled ambitions and kleenex. Just as well I was indoors since the winds were mighty. Even the squirrels stayed indoors the worst day. The recent heavy rains just about finished off the ice moguls by Marge's curb. Here's what was left yesterday morning...

I haven't been back to the park yet to see if the snow repository at the basketball court is melted. I avoided destroying Marge's lovely, but sodden, landscaping in the backyard by treading very carefully while I refilled bird feeders. The squirrels appreciated me doing that. Pretty soon the birds will, too.

I want to pass along a recent, wonderful Facebook discovery. Decades ago my Drawing I and II instructor at Pima College was Jim Waid. Say what you want about FB but aren't we all glad for finding the special people we've known and maybe lost connections with. He persevered with his painting and saw success. He posted one of his paintings exhibited at Tucson Museum of Art that starts today through June 10th.

I see in his FB comments section it is six and a half by eight feet. There are plenty more works to see on his Facebook page.

I just tried unsuccessfully to photograph the squirrel hanging from the bird feeder in the yard chowing down his morning portion. That next life when I'm a wildlife photographer will solve the logistics of getting into a favorable position with possibly a longer lens to show off the little acrobat hanging upside down, eating. He/she had to shinny up and over the steel 3/8 inch post to do this.

A different use for paint is about to take place. Aidan gets to complete his birthday (a week ago) celebration with friends at the paintball place this morning. Wendy and I are going to go at midday to secure a place to sit at Jesse's barbecue for the celebrants' lunch.  And ourselves--Jesse's has local and regional renown. Mmmm-mmm.

Weather Report: Unfurled Umbrellas Jousting into Wind-Driven Torrent

Comcast's passive aggressive approach to customer service has at last yielded reconnection to Marge's Internet which was down for over two days. The tech was a good guy not-withstanding. I do wonder sometimes if Comcast gets away with treating their techs the same way they treat their customers. Poor things.

If ever I wished I had a picture it would be Cousin Jim, his wife Nancy and I bent into our umbrellas braced against the wind and rain as we hurried across the parking lot to the SEPTA Regional Rail Station...

Jim and Nancy

...to take ourselves to Philly for some historical visiting at the Independence Hall complex which is otherwise known as Independence Mall in Center City. I'm qualifying this because, from the sounds of it, Jim rightly thought the latter was a shopping place and I've no doubt he'd have thought very little of rain-jousting for such a goal. But with the clarification that it was the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall and related structures, Jim's enthusiasm returned. He and Nancy are so game. They said, "Oh well if the weather gets too bad we can just come back."

So, that attitude brought us through to access all of Independence Mall's historical site nearly devoid of tourists and the National Park Service wasn't charging anything that drenched day.

Rocky Balboa helping out.

Jim and Nancy with the Liberty Bell.

The docents were all on duty and quite relaxed as only a handful of people gathered for tours. Since Justice Scalia's death only was only two days before, it was grounding to see the Supreme Court's chamber...

1791-1800 the Supreme Court met here in Philadelphia. Since a new justice is now to be considered, here is a page from the .gov site if you want to brush up on the Supreme Court FAQs:
Supreme Court

...where all six justices presided. That and the House of Representatives meeting room and upstairs the Senate chambers put a perspective on our current times that felt encouraging that we are somehow going to get through the mess we are now facing. There was something collectively stronger going on that got this country's ball rolling than I think we realize. When we finished touring, the rain stopped for our walk back to Reading Terminal Market and the train station.

It was a distinct pleasure to host a supper with Jim and Nancy, Wendy, John and Aidan all at the Harleysville Hotel restaurant for a Philly Cheesesteak sampling by Jim and Nancy and H. Hotel's famous wings for the rest of us. Plenty of common ground conversation was found and explored, including Jim, Nancy and John's discovery of their mutual computing foundations in the languages of cyber-world history which didn't sideline Wendy with her online business history nor Aidan's young experience growing up in our world of cyber communication. Far-ranging conversations developed and it was as satisfying as the food was to hunger.

There was time the next day for a tour of Rhapsody Ridge. Wendy was home to show us around the place.

Jim and Wendy after the goat inspection. It was the goats' and horse's first day out in the pasture after the recent crazy weather.
Toby is hurrying to assist the tour.

Shoutout to Marge: Thank you, for sharing the comfort of your home to these traveler's who'd "frozen their butts off" in the minus 27-degree wind chill experience of Boston's Amtrak station waiting for the train to Philly.