http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:alrach&section=today deviantART RSS for by:alrach en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Wed, 09 Dec 2009 01:53:22 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/27945703/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/27945703/ Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:13:08 PDT

I have a defective knee apparently. It's been killing me since about August. So I haven't felt like going out and taking awesome photos. I'm missing autumn leaves, spiders, and worst of all I'm missing the cool Halloween stuff. But I do seem to be on the mend, I think I'll be OK in time for the ice storms.

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/27937314/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/27937314/ Sat, 24 Oct 2009 08:48:50 PDT
I have a defective knee apparently. It's been killing me since about August. So I haven't felt like going out and taking awesome photos. I'm missing autumn leaves, spiders, and worst of all I'm missing the cool Halloween stuff. But I do seem to be on the mend, I think I'll be OK in time for the ice storms.

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/27561250/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/27561250/ Sat, 03 Oct 2009 15:17:40 PDT
]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/27405132/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/27405132/ Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:14:09 PDT
Day one. They showed up here on Monday when the sun was shining at about 9:00, unloaded there trailer with stuff and proceeded to put it all over the yard. They climbed on the roof and immediately started making a big racket (it really freaked out the cats). The hubub lasted about 2 hours, then they left. I found out that they left because found they needed to fetch more decking, and we had 2 drops of rain (they can't work in the rain you know), so they said they would return the next day.

Day 2 They did return the next day as promised, bright and early. The sky looked really threatening, but they set out with their banging anyway. A bit later it started pouring down rain, they were still banging away, and continued through out the storm. Later the gang told me that they were working under a tarp. Hum... I asked if the roof was all water tight since they were only half done and rain was expected. They assured me it was and left at about 4:00. That night it once again rained cats and dogs and in the morning I noticed that inside of our closet was wet.


Day 3 We called the guy about the closet, and they sent out 2 guys to fix it. They fixed the leak, but the whole crew was not going to work, cause it was too wet. It never did rain.

Day 4 Total washout

Day 5 Total washout

Day 6 Hasn't happened yet. But it may rain again. but they will likely have to either get some decking or wait till it dries out, and that will take awhile, since it has been lying on the soggy ground, uncovered, in the rain for 4 days.

Well, Monday its supposed to be sunny.

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/27096698/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/27096698/ Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:48:45 PDT
]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/26953172/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/26953172/ Tue, 01 Sep 2009 08:38:06 PDT
Thanks for the faves I've been given lately. I'll keep looking for photo opps, maybe I'll find some nice Halloween Monsters in a little while.

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/26688035/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/26688035/ Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:37:22 PDT
It was the summer of 1973, I had just gotten over a long, serious, illness and thought that some thing different and enjoyable would be just what I needed. The family of a good friend owned a cottage on one of the Finger Lakes in New York and I planned on vacationing with them the end of July. Since my friend and I were in our early 20's, and officially adults, we were allowed to make the long trip from Indiana without the watchful eye of parents.

We found out that while we were up in New York there was going to be a small rock festival about 50 miles from where we would be. It was called Summer Jam , a one day event at the race track in Watkins Glen, N.Y. It was to take place the 28th of July, three bands were to play: The Grateful Dead, The Band and The Almond Brothers, three of our favorites. Of course we would go! Of course I wouldn’t tell my parents!

It would be fun. We would set out for the fest the AM of the 27th. Though they were expecting 100,000 people at the concert, Watkins Glen, being home to a racing event, was used to big crowds. There were concessions, and Port-a-Potties will as medical facilities if we needed it. No problem. So we arranged to be dropped off at the main street in Watkins Glen, we would walk to the racetrack, and purchase tickets at the gate. We would be picked up at the same place when the concert was over.

We got ready by purchasing back packs, that we bleached so they wouldn’t look new, and packed some meager supplies and bologna sandwiches. We had a blanket. I wore a halter top and jeans, but brought an old plaid shirt I found in the rags, because we were staying the night and I might get chili. Someone told me I would be glad if I brought a straw hat, to keep the sun off my head. So I did . Completely hippied out in attire, we set out for the fest.

We just followed the crowd, and it seemed we walked for miles. We never did see a gate. Someone in the crowd said that it was a free concert now, because someone cut a hole on the fence. There were cars abandoned on the highway. It was going to be as big as Woodstock.

To me, the small town girl(and a bit of a goody-goody), it seemed like we were in a parade. There were people selling pipes and things from the trunk of their car. There was a pick up truck on which someone had built a log cabin, complete with a back porch where people sat smiling probably because they didn’t have to walk all that way. I remember being so very tired and the stupid hat just bothered me. I threw the hat down. Thirty seconds later someone came running up handing me the hat "here, you dropped your hat" I said thanks, but dropped it again, only to have some other polite hippie do the same thing. About the forth time, I was successful at getting rid of my hat.

We finally got to our destination we spread out blanket out about 150 feet from the stage. Others did that too, that was to be our home for the weekend. After a short rest, we ate our bologna sandwiches and drank some of the water that we were lucky to get. A can of tuna fish was being passed around from somewhere, we scooped a bite out of the can and passed it on.

We wandered up to the stage, where I stood in awe looking at this guy wearing a diaper of sorts and a guitar, dancing around, apparently in a trance. There were also girls in white dresses, and no underwear twirling around to the strains of recorded music of Jefferson Airplane and others. We stood there staring awhile and decided we had better take out seats, as we heard that the bands were going to play soon for a sound check.

The sound check lasted the rest of the afternoon and long into the night. Apparently we fell asleep somehow, and when we awoke the were people everywhere. Although people respected our space somewhat, our blanket seemed to be the most direct way to the stage. Soon after we were awakened, it started to rain, and so we left. So did lots of others. I remember walking down a hill to the town, dripping wet. We found our ride and while waiting for them we met a guy from Indiana who failed to meet up with his people and gave him a ride all the way to I-65 (about, I don’t know , 1000 miles).

Yes, it was like Woodstock. The crowd was bigger, we had our own rainstorm with lots of mud and lots of hippie looking people. But it was a different time, it probably will never make the History books like Woodstock did. The Vietnam war was over, and people just wanted to have a good time without protests and politicizing. Which, I think, w... ]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/26657054/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/26657054/ Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:48:27 PDT The photo is "A Glimpse of the Sunset" Here's the link [link]

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/26318344/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/26318344/ Sat, 01 Aug 2009 13:06:07 PDT
Boy am I glad that was just a dream (I hope)

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/26205286/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/26205286/ Mon, 27 Jul 2009 06:22:14 PDT
]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/26123600/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/26123600/ Thu, 23 Jul 2009 06:42:53 PDT
After lying there a minute I realized that I was conscious and only slightly bleeding, since no one was around to help, except said cat, I figured that I had better pick myself up and get into the house. I soon realized that I had broken a front tooth, the tooth had somehow ended up in my hand. The first thing I did after stumbling into the house was call the dentist. Since I had the tooth, I hoped that maybe they had some special glue and could glue it back on. The receptionist said that, no, there wasn't a glue, but I should come in anyway, and they would see what they could do.

At 1:00 I climbed into the dentists chair, the dentist got my hopes up by saying that he could probably fix it temporarily that day. When he started poking around more, he saw that it was cracked through to the root and had to come out. Sheesh! So out it came.

Now I have road rash on my face, bruises on my face AND A missing tooth. That was an ugly tooth anyway!

The dentist said he will have to put in a bridge when it healed a bit.

I won't even talk about the reaction that I had to the pain meds, except to say that I would have rather have had the pain.

Groan

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/26047939/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/26047939/ Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:53:39 PDT
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]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/24919723/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/24919723/ Sun, 24 May 2009 07:19:49 PDT
I also got a new kitty, much to my husbands dismay. I'm becoming that crazy cat lady. Kitty was newly orphaned and is not really weaned. He can eat, he has teeth to bite me with, but he would rather suckle if he could. He was covered with mud and ticks when my mother-in-law found him. I'm sure I will post pics of him here when has calmed down a bit and stops being bug-eyed scared. I think his name is going to be Vinnie

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/23845314/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/23845314/ Mon, 23 Mar 2009 08:31:01 PDT
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]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/23229604/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/23229604/ Mon, 16 Feb 2009 07:00:54 PST
We went to see "Coraline" Saturday afternoon. We saw the 3-D version. Our whole family are "Nightmare before Christmas" freaks, and this movie was by the same director and made much the same way that "Nightmare" was. It was mostly done with stop-action animation, the old fashioned way. Not completely the computer generated stuff. We all loved it. I highly recommend it!

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/22883082/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/22883082/ Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:40:11 PST
]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/22510133/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/22510133/ Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:40:16 PST
We had seen that it had been inspected which didn't surprise us, but when we opened the package completely we found that in addition to the Christmas card wishing us well, was a nasty letter from the US Customs and Border Protection! They informed us that the shipment contained items that were determined an illegal importation had been seized under "schedule I and II controlled substances" which outlawed various named drugs and firearms. It went on to say that "these items are considered contraband and are immediately forfeited to the United States". And sure enough, both boxes and been opened and the eggs were removed, leaving us with the only the legal contents, which were the cardboard box and the plastic, egg shaped tray. We are assigned a case number.

With strains "Alice's Restaurant" running through my head, I thought that somewhere in Washington is a study in black and white of David and Charla and their wayward German friend's attempt to smuggle chocolate eggs into the country. Is this just another example of blind justice or is is it just a case of the g-men at customs enjoying the chocolate and playing with the toys?

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/22466638/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/22466638/ Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:53:44 PST
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]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/21852496/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/21852496/ Sat, 06 Dec 2008 17:58:41 PST
Actually though, I've been bah, humbugging Christmas since *I* left home. You feel obligated to visit every relative, in-laws and out-laws alike, and spend hundreds of dollars on gifts for people who don't need or want anything. Christmas is just a big ball of stress with tinsel on it.

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/21795323/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/21795323/ Wed, 03 Dec 2008 07:02:30 PST [link]

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/21579000/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/21579000/ Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:39:00 PST
We got a nice rug upstairs recently, but by the time we did, I had forgotten about the old vac. I finally remembered it today and brought the thing upstairs. I had almost finished vacuuming, when it found a sock hiding under the bed. Now, every other time when it finds something large, it just wedges itself on the brush cylinder, and I pull it out, and all is well. Did it do that this time? Nooooo!

The formerly wimpy vacuum this time pulled the sock into the motor, and smoke started pouring out of it. I quickly as I could, unplugged the thing and armed with my trusty automatic screwdriver proceeded to take the whole damn thing apart. I successfully removed the sock and put the thing back together properly. The motor turned on OK, but lots of sparks and smoke came out. I was proud that I got it back together again, and got my sock back, but sad because the first time I used the thing, it destroyed itself. It must have been mad at me for buying a replacement and putting it in the cold garage.

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/21373148/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/21373148/ Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:36:54 PST
All my life I have just raked leaves up to the curb and the city comes with this big noisy machine and sucks them up. This year the city has decided not to vacuum them, they will (out of the goodness of their hearts, no doubt) pick them up, but only if they are in bags--and they don't want any sticks with them. There are lots of elderly people who aren't able to stuff bags and drag them out to the curb. Just raking them is hard enough. Even MY back and knees hurt when I got through and I'm not very old. It also makes me sick to think of all those biodegradable leaves in PLASTIC bags sitting in a landfill somewhere. The farmer with a corn field behind our house, says they mess up the crop. We certainly can't burn the leaves, and letting them lay kills the grass. We have no choice.

We have to haul our own trash, our basements flood, the drinking water contains all sorts of pollutants and now we have to bag leaves. What are our property taxes paying for anyway?

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/21197749/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/21197749/ Tue, 28 Oct 2008 06:37:50 PDT
Five years later, while attending college at IVY Tech. I met this tall, skinny, funny-looking guy with long hair. He drove an old, black, 1956 Cady. He told me of his Halloween adventures he had while dressed as a vampire. He was in a theater group at his college, and learned how to apply make-up for a pretty convincing vampire. A year later, I married the guy. His name is David.

We tried to get others in the spirit of things by having (lame) parties or going trick or liquor-ing. The most fun we had back then was dressing up, going to bars. Several had Halloween events. For some reason we would always leave before the costume judging.

One year I won a ham for the "prettiest costume" at a party where I worked. I was the Velvet Vampire. I made the dress out of an old velvet jump-suite that I got at Goodwill, I made the cape and found knee-high patent leather boots at a yard sale. The most expensive part of the costume was the long black wig.

Another time, I made a really cool space alien costume out of an awful bed spread that husband’s grandmother gave us for Christmas. The bedspread was iridescent purple. I made it a big, hooded cloak out of it. The cloak made the person wearing it look huge, because it had two inch thick shoulder and back pads. We made 3 fingered gloves out of black, rubber welding gloves with some of the fingers taped together with claws on the fingers, with the help of little clown heads that were supposed to be cake decorations. We covered a fencing mask with cheese cloth which we dyed black. But what really made the costume was the red LED eyes, that David rigged up.

But, I guess that Halloween became the most fun when we moved here and could have bonfires right in our own backyard. We also had a little daughter that gave us an excuse to have big parties. And did we ever have parties!

We would start in July and begin transforming our small basement into such a spook house, it was unrecognizable. It was never gory like some haunted houses are. It was "other worldly". There were "hallways" that we made with black plastic. We used clever lighting, that gave the illusion of movement. We also used and lots of glow in black-light stuff. The creatures at first were made primarily of clothing or costumes stuffed with plastic bags. Later we purchased mannequins and wig stands from flea markets for them. David even rigged up a wall of moving hands by using a ice cream maker motor and a bunch of pulleys.

In the back yard we would have a pinyatta that would fly out of a window. The kids would try to break it with plastic axes. And, of course, the bonfire. When the kids were small, the fire was small .

I always decorated the front porch with a gigantic spider web, woven by hand, made out of white yarn. It stretched the width of the entrance way.

Sometime around here I started making actual costumes.

Now we and don’t do much of that stuff anymore. But the daughter has Halloween awesomeness engraved in her soul. Its up to her AND all of you to make sure Halloween never dies, but keep it fun. The world has enough violence these days.

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/20295570/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/20295570/ Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:47:28 PDT [link]

If you want to see more of her work, just "google" Lorraine Schleter

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/19288172/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/19288172/ Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:33:22 PDT
I had played it up to my daughter who had, of course, seen fireworks before. I told her how you really had to experience the whole sensory phenomenon, and the intamacy of the crowds as they gathered on blankets, maybe a little too close to the action, to see the show. You have to feel the boom in the pit of your stomach and smell the gunpowder.

This year the fireworks show was as awesome as ever. It probably would have been more of a carnival atmosphere if it hadn't rained cats and dogs there till about noon. The display only lasted about 15 minutes, but they shot off one after another. I think it lived up to expectations.

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/19054345/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/19054345/ Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:54:38 PDT
Eighteen years ago we moved into this house and did remodeling and stuff. This room where the computer sits was never really finished. Before I could paint the walls my dear husband "wallpapered" the walls in hotwheels cars still in their packages. I wasn't gonna dust the darn things, and he never did, so each package got so much dust on it that one could barely see the cars (as if anyone wanted to). Anyway, he finally decided that he was old enough to put his toys away, and I get to have a regular room. That means lots of work for me.

But that's OK. I kinda fancy myself a decorator and I love doing it. I leave necessities like cooking and laundry go when I have a project like this.

We have replaced the windows already and put up new trim around them. I haven't chosen for the color for the walls yet, but I have narrowed it down. I hung up new roman shades and I am going to design and make some valances. We want to put some kind of new floor covering down too, but we are not sure what kind yet.

We still don't have the toys put away, so its gonna be a long ordeal. At least I probably won't have to disassemble the computer and go offline (gasp!) at anytime.

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/18525175/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/18525175/ Tue, 27 May 2008 10:37:21 PDT I really enjoy watching the people in costumes, and the regiments of various soldiers marching throughout the park.

Daughter and her boyfriend met us at the Rend. and then we took her home with us. After dark that night we had one of our famous bonfires. It was just like old times!

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/18462060/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/18462060/ Fri, 23 May 2008 11:25:39 PDT
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]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/16659503/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/16659503/ Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:43:43 PST
I want to thank all those poor utility workers who climbed the poles left standing in 30 mile an hour wind gusts and 13 degree temps. With so many poles down, everyone thought that the electricity wound be out till Thursday, but thanks to all their hard work plus a little ingenuity most people has power restored by the next morning. Our fair power co, Vectren, trucked in a temporary power station and got the power restored to most of this town. Thanks to these workers, these Main Street heroes, we got to be all warn and cozy 24 cold hours sooner.

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/16399242/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/16399242/ Mon, 14 Jan 2008 07:55:34 PST
We considered an on demand water heater, but they aren't that good for an existing house.

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/16032009/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/16032009/ Fri, 21 Dec 2007 16:07:58 PST
]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/15919244/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/15919244/ Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:07:43 PST

and where is this sunshine the weatherman promised us anyway?

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/15819384/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/15819384/ Thu, 06 Dec 2007 10:25:09 PST
Walking through the woods when no leaves were there was a different experience too. We saw something that we hadn't seen before., some structures that kinda looked like foundations from a distance. Up close they looked like dry wells. We asked a guy who worked there about them. He said that back in the day, the villagers tried to bring money to their village by building a lime kiln to separate the rock from the lime to make fertilizer.

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/15670967/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/15670967/ Sun, 25 Nov 2007 20:06:58 PST

The next day we had Thanksgiving dinner at sister-in-law's.


The after that day my nephew was becoming an Eagle scout and I promised to bake a kind of fancy cake for the reception after it. Daughter won't eat food with a certain kind of preservative in it, so she refused to use a mix and baked a cake from scratch. That would have been OK, but she filled the pans too full and the batter became like a volcano, spilling all over the oven! By the time we finished, it was mid-night.

The following morning she had a local TV interview. We had to be there at 6:45, so we had to get up at 5 am.

After that we put up the Christmas tree,
after that, we went to see nephew become the eagle scout.

The next day, we took her back to college.

These few days felt like a week! Whoosh!

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/15356818/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/15356818/ Sun, 04 Nov 2007 06:09:00 PST
On Thanksgiving Day our family of four all piled in the car and drove three whole blocks, to grandma and grandpa's house. My mom was the only member of her family to reproduce, so my sister and I were the only kids there. I remember sitting in this big chair surrounded by looming adults all talking about whatever things adults talked about.

The dinner was the main event. All around me I heard superlatives about how good all the food was. I didn't like it. The turkey was just OK, I hated those awful yams and the cranberry sauce looked good, but tasted bitter. I feasted on mashed potatoes.

Today it is not much better. Big family gatherings scare me.

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/15332017/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/15332017/ Fri, 02 Nov 2007 13:52:11 PDT
]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/15200221/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/15200221/ Wed, 24 Oct 2007 10:34:05 PDT
Do you believe?

The trees give as unholy brightness

And cover the earth with rust.

The rain can't be seen

But you can feel it----

If you are brave enough to leave your fireside.



(wahahaha)

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/15011230/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/15011230/ Thu, 11 Oct 2007 06:53:12 PDT
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]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/14843788/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/14843788/ Sat, 29 Sep 2007 16:04:59 PDT


But what I really wanted to say is that husband and I are friends with some people who own a plumbing and hardware store. The store has a really nice store front window that show off toilets and stuff in. This year I talked the proprietors into letting us do a Halloween window. We gobs of Halloween decorations left over from 15 years of parties. Its not just your run of the mill kiddie decorations either. I think we will be able to do a wonderful display. I think there will be some movement in the display too.

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/14790021/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/14790021/ Tue, 25 Sep 2007 17:25:31 PDT
This brings to mind thoughts of the WWI dog fights or at least Snoopy and the Red Baron, but I’m talking about the hummingbirds in my back yard.

I think I have only seen three or four of them, but the four have entertained my husband and I all summer. From their first appearance in the spring, we are always amazed by how small and bold these creatures are. We often see one trying to get some sugar water from the feeder and another will come buzzing from out of nowhere and chase the first one off. He doesn’t want a drink, he just doesn’t want the other to have it. Or sometimes two of them will hover over the feeder, both of them daring the other to try to get any closer. Then they both fly off. I’m surprised that any of them ever get a drink. We have even heard two of them collide in mid-air, numerous times. But they always recover and return to fight some more.

They seem to have no fear. Our first feeder hung on a clothes pole about 3 feet away from our deck. They would buzz past our cats heads without even a straying from their path. The cats, in turn, ignore the birds, even though they could easily catch one. The birds are about the size of cicadas and we occasionally see the cats, looking wild eyed, with a cicada in their mouth, but never a Hummingbird, thank goodness. The little guys orbit human heads too, leaving one grateful they mosquitoes.

A couple of weeks ago, we put up another feeder thinking that we would calm them down by making the food more plentiful. We heard the Morse code-like sound of what we thought must have been the birds announcing to their kin that there was another feeder that needed to claimed. Soon we learned that instead of making peace, we only made the competition worse, especially for the one who sits on a high branch and watches. Now the dominate bird has 2 feeders to guard. It must drive him crazy constantly zooming back and forth from feeder to feeder.

Since we are in the midst of a drought, food is scarce, and the hummers now have to share the larder with the honey bees. The creatures come to feed at different times of the day, so they don’t have to compete with one another.

Too soon it will be Winter, and birds, bees and humans will be doing what they must to keep warm. But I’m sure that next Spring, the hummers will be their don their little scarves and goggles for another season of battle.

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/14630940/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/14630940/ Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:20:53 PDT "Measuring it", he said.
"Da" I didn't say.
"Why?" I did say.
Turns out he was measuring the wrong roof, our street has a North and a South address and our house number doesn't mention a N or an S. I think we need a more specific house number. Glad I was dressed!

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/14592390/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/14592390/ Tue, 11 Sep 2007 16:21:35 PDT
It was a beautiful day on September 11, 2001 too. The sky was blue, the cicada’s were chirping loudly and I was happily baby-sitting my infant niece. I was half-way watching "Good Morning America" on TV when Peter Jennings broke in with the horrible news about a jet flying into the world trade center. The news kept getting worse and worse. I saw the tower collapse, I heard about the jet crashing in Pennsylvania and the jet crashing into the Pentagon . In the midst of the confusion, I held on to my niece, my hope for the future. When I recovered somewhat from the shock, I flew my flag.

Patriots Day is apply named. The terrorists thought they could break the back of America, but it had the opposite effect. Patriots came out of the woodwork. Streets were lined with flags and it seemed as though the whole world was a US patriot.

I was raised as a Patriot since my father fought in WWII and, my mother was always active in the American Legion Auxiliary. I was used to people of that generation getting teary-eyed when they talked about the Pearl Harbor attack, but I never really understood.
Now I do.

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/14351438/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/14351438/ Sun, 26 Aug 2007 15:22:29 PDT
As for the adventure, well now I know what Garcia meant when he sang about "what a long, strange trip it's been". Now its back to reality. Maybe it was all a dream. I'll have to keep checking the Writers of the Future web site just to be sure it really happened! [link] (Check out the blog section)

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/14223382/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/14223382/ Sat, 18 Aug 2007 09:07:47 PDT
I'll bet you don't remember that song. Is it Seals and Croft? I'm not sure.

Anyway, we are going to LA (where Ventura Highway is, I saw it on the map) on Wednesday to see our daughter receive an international art award. Actually, it is in Pasadena, but we are flying to LAX.

A couple of firsts for me. First time west of Saint Louis, and first time on a commercial flight.

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/13992014/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/13992014/ Thu, 02 Aug 2007 20:05:49 PDT
(I have no idea what kind of a mood llama is, but it somehow seemed appropriate. )

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/13889617/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/13889617/ Thu, 26 Jul 2007 15:15:52 PDT
]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/13842365/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/13842365/ Mon, 23 Jul 2007 06:01:23 PDT
Being a new empty-nester, I feel a new obligation to her. The tide has turned, she took care of me in the past and now she needs me there to take care of her for a few days. I do realize this, but it doesn't make it any easier.

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/13481841/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/13481841/ Mon, 25 Jun 2007 07:12:09 PDT
Our family has been friends for quite a few years with a family that are throughly American but are from Cuba and Spain. They speak both Spanish and English equally well. In about 2003, they took in an exchange student from Germany. The student loved it here. This week, the student and his family are in the States for vacation and stayed with our friends for a couple of days. Yesterday, and we all got to spend some time together at my husbands parents farm. Its not really a working farm, but they have quite a few acres that they try to keep up and its quite beautiful. I think all of us had a wonderful time.

We felt like we were having an international festival right here in our little town in Indiana. How nice it is that 4 different cultures can come together and mix so easily. Kinda gives me hope for the world.

]]> ~alrach http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/13442340/ http://alrach.deviantart.com/journal/13442340/ Fri, 22 Jun 2007 05:44:36 PDT
]]> ~alrach