A Slower Pace

Our garden was put out in April/May (depending on which plants you’re talking about). While it really hasn’t started producing, we can begin to see the fruits, er…..vegetables of our labor. This afternoon my wife pulled a sweet onion to test and while it was still early and only the size of a raquetball, it was very sweet and delicious. My son and I split it and ate it raw.

Later, while driving around the back property examining the corn coming up, I spotted a mulberry tree. I did not know there was one back there so I took my son to it and introduced him to the very staining, but very sweet fruit. I drove the farm truck right up under the tree and we stood on top of the truck roof harvesting delicious sweet mulberries putting them right into our mouths. My son loved it and it is now one of his favorite places on our property.

And earlier this week I plucked the first ripe raspberry from our bush out front. I planted it four years ago and it has just exploded. This year looks to be a good year for raspberries and wild blackberries. I can’t wait to go pick some and have my wife make some awesome cobbler. If y’all have any good recipes, send ’em my way.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Fireflies are one of the really cool things about being in Kentucky. I grew up with them in Texas and think they are one of God’s amazing creatures and gifts. So every year we look forward to when they come out. There is just something about sitting on the porch and watching them flicker on and off. It’s even cooler to watch the amazement of a child as they catch them in a jar.

So tonight was our third night in a row to seeing fireflies outside. Looks like they are really here and we can enjoy them all summer.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

The other afternoon as my son and I were returning from Lowes, we happened upon a lone turkey hen on our country road. I slowed the truck down to a crawl so we didn’t spook her. She slowly meandered along the fence line looking for an easy escape but not necessarily wanting to fly her way out of it.

She kept going down the fence line and wasn’t finding easy egress. I lifted my foot off the brake and just let the truck idle along our lonely country road. We eventually caught up to her and she was getting a bit more frantic in getting away. However, she couldn’t find a break in the wire fence and hid in the brush, which gave her cover but also prevented her from utilizing her flying option. My son and I ended up only 6-8 feet away from her in the truck. We were able to get a really good look at her. I had never been that close up to a wild turkey and she was beautiful. We were both amazed we were able to get so close. After a long look, I decided to slowly idle away to give her some relief and an opportunity to get back under cover. It was a neat time though.

On my way home from work this evening, I spotted an even cooler scene. Along two ponds on my work commute there are two geese raising their goslings. I have spotted them in the field with their young blobs of feathers. Well, tonight they were all out swimming. One of the geese was leading the armada in the front and the little goslings were all following in a neat line bobbing about. The other goose brought up the rear as expected. It was a beautiful sight of nature and I enjoyed the 10 seconds or so that I could catch a glimpse of as I drove by.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

This morning on my drive to work I looked over at a wide open field. In the middle were several brown objects milling about in the green grass as the sun rose. They turned out to be turkeys. And similar to Sunday’s observation, one of them was a tom turkey all puffed up with a full fan spread of feathers. He was wooing 3-4 females. It amazes me how much bigger and spectacular the males get when they are courting.

I find it interesting that I had never in my life seen this type of display and then I witness it twice in one week.

Pretty cool!

Happy Friday, y’all! If you are in the Louisville area, there is lots going on this weekend. The weather is supposed to be beautiful after tonight’s expected storm blows through. And good thing too, because we don’t want it messing up the airshow tomorrow or the evening’s Thunder Over Louisville. Let the Derby festivities begin!

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

The weekend that God has laid out before us shaped up to be even more glorious than I could have planned or expected. It started off with wonderful worship on Friday evening. That was followed by my normal Saturday morning Men’s Breakfast and Bible study.

On my way home, I took a nice country drive detour through a local town so I could swing by the local country store for garden starter plants. Unfortunately, they were not put out yet but I did pick up a couple of things. My conversation with the clerk was very pleasant and somehow turned to prayer. His mother-in-law Tina isn’t doing too well. He also shared with me that this last week his 93 year old dad gave him a scare with an emergency room visit. I said I would keep them both in my prayers and he was very thankful.

Our Saturday late morning and afternoon were spent preparing for our first “party on the patio” or “POP” as my wife refers to them. We invited quite a few families from church over to have good food, games, fellowship, and an impromptu bonfire. We all had a great time. The adults could eat and chat while all the kids were able to run around playing with each other. It all moved from inside and the patio to the back lawn as we set fire to a brush pile and then added more fuel to the fire. Chairs and quilts were brought out as everyone spent the remainder of the evening hanging around the bonfire and enjoying one another’s company.

Sunday morning I arose early to put water on the still smouldering fire. As I was doing so, I heard across on another farm the gobbling of wild turkeys. They were gobbling up a storm and it was so neat to hear them cut the quiet of the morning with their banter.

As we made our way down the street on the way to church in my wife’s truck, we passed by the gravel drive to one of the farms across the way. Something in the middle of the drive literally made me halt the truck and back up — against the wishes of my wife who was reminding me that we were late. What caused me to veer from our drive to church was the sight of two turkeys about 20 yards away. And it wasn’t just two turkeys which we tend to see with some regularity here in the Kentucky countryside. It was a male tom wooing a female hen. He was astrut in full fan and all puffed up. I had never seen such a thing. Usually they are just normal looking turkeys and I had a hard time identifying the males from the females. But when the males puff up, fan out and strut they are truly amazing. This tom was trying hard to woo the female as I described it to the kids. We watched only for a minute so as to not impede on his, hopefully, successful mating ritual. All in all, a very cool sight of nature. The picture below is not what I saw, but a good idea of the difference of the male vs the female when strutting.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know that I enjoy my country drive to work. Whether going to work or coming home, it is a decompressing time that allows me to soak up God’s creation whether it is gorgeous outside, raining, cold and snowy, or picturesque. There is so much for me to look around and ponder. To see His creativity. And if I am aware and observant, there is always something neat around me.

This morning was no different. I was about 3 miles from the house when, out of the corner of my eye from the direction of the rising sun, I see a brown bird flying at a 45 degree angle towards the car. I figured it was a hawk…..until it got closer. Then it began flapping its wings frantically. It seems that the female turkey hen didn’t want to hit (or get hit by) my car driving along the country road. She barely cleared me and I leaned forward to look out and up the windshield to see this large hen 3-4 feet above my car.

Once clear, she stopped flapping and resumed her glide into the trees and away from harm. All I could say was “Cool!”.

An even better drive was last Thursday. It was a day after the full moon and it was hanging low in the western sky brilliantly beaming out against the clear morning sky. As it descended, it got bigger — just like it does when it rises. In itself, it was a beautiful picture.

And then I looked in the rear view mirror to see the glazing ball of orange rise across the Kentucky countryside. I literally could get both glowing balls into my field of view as I looked ahead at the moon while the rising morning sun was in my rear view mirror. As I changed course down the highway while there were no cars around, I literally could turn my head back and forth, east to west, sun to moon to capture a truly amazing rare sight.

It only lasted a few minutes and I felt like I was a witness to one of God’s nature creation secrets. I wonder how many others were able to enjoy that morning gift last week.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Below is a picture of the results of my hard work last night. We are ready for planting and I am excited for food production this year. There is just such a good feeling and satisfaction from growing your own food.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

It has been a while since I have posted about my morning commute drive in. And this morning I have reason to write — it was truly spectacular. It started off with the big orange ball right above the horizon. Except the big orange ball I am referring to is the full moon. It was suspended just above the stick treeline, its orange luminescent sphere radiating against the dark blue western sky. It was so beautiful that I had to call home to let the Mrs. in on the beauty of God’s creation this morning.

A few miles after spotting the lunar scenery I passed by two ponds that are a part of my every day commute. A wispy mist hung above the ponds and on one of them I spotted a lone white swan. Again, another beautiful example of God’s creation this morning.

And further into work as I cruised along the Gene Snyder freeway I was glowed by another ball of orange, this time to the east in the form of the rising sun. It slowly elevated so as to illuminate the day which was off to a very fine start.

I pray that you were able to stop for a moment and marvel at the beauty of God’s creation all around each one of us. If not, don’t wait until tomorrow morning. Start now.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Today was absolutely gorgeous. Nice enough for me to wear shorts. It was sunny, blue skies and hit 72F! My drive home was nice and upon returning home we all enjoyed a nice family dinner together. Afterwards, we headed out to the front porch where the kids ran around and I checked out many of my trees budding. From a distance, the willow tree looks like it has a green haze on it and other trees have little buds beginning to show.

I broke out the cornhole boards and got my first back to back cornholes of the season. There’s not much that can beat beautiful weather in your front yard with the family and a cold drink in one hand and a cornhole bag in the other. And as the sun retreated through the stick figure treeline, we headed inside for a family movie night featuring Planet 51. And now I am in bed with the Mrs., blogging and watching the state mandated March Madness viewing on TV. Life is good!

I am looking forward to the men’s breakfast and Bible study tomorrow morning. And then a laundry list of “git-r-done’s” which, surprisingly, I am going to enjoy.

I hope you enjoy your weekend. I sure will mine.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

While Saturday and Sunday were absolutely beautiful and mild, today beat both of them. It got up to 65F degrees and the sun shined brightly. The kids spent all day outside after school was done and my wife relaxed on the front porch for about an hour.

After dinner I walked to the back where our property backs up to another 200 acre farm. There are two horses that the kids have been taking apples and carrots to along with rows of hay rolls that they play on. Not having any apples or carrots, I picked some onion grass to feed the horses. I then walked out to the middle of the harvested corn field to visualize where I want to build my off-the-grid house. It was dusk and the sun was going down. The airplane contrails were beautifully changed from their normal white to a stunning orange-red. The air was still and you could hear the kids’ happy sounds and noises bounce off the distant treelines. It reminded me of back when I was a kid and we’d play in the neighborhood and hear playing sounds. Except this was out in the country and even better. A calm and serene feeling came over me and I just soaked it all in as I said a thank you prayer to God for allowing this to all be ours.

The sun released the rest of its light giving rays and we walked home on the gravel drive at last light.

On a different note, God made me laugh this morning. I was doing my morning devotions with breakfast and I turned directly to Romans 2. I mean — directly to the page. No turning, no trying to get close. Right smack to the correct page. I chuckled and recalled only one other time that has happened.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net