My Critters

I have a few critters here in our flat. Some I do not want to show you - like the spider I tried and tried to kill a couple days ago but it escaped me anyway, through a crack between the window and window frame. Or the ants in the kitchen that come and go now and then. Or the flies. Oh what the heck... I have photos of them all! Why don't I show them to you? :) :) :)

My cat, Cheyenne, sunning herself in the doorway to the balcony, in the morning before it gets too hot. Her fur is a little scruffy in this photo - she's lost a lot of fur this summer due to the heat, I think. Also, she's an Old Lady Cat now, 12.5 years old! Hard to believe, but true.

Supervising my last weaving project, which still is not completely finished, so I haven't posted about it yet, but I will! She has her own little pillow to sit/lay on while she makes sure I'm doing it all correctly.

My goopies! The Russian pronunciation of guppies. :) :) Yes, I finally broke down and bought 3. Two females and one male. Aren't they pretty? (I had to darken the photo, tho, to bring out the colors because through the water they look rather pale and gray. Also, you can't see the male's tale in this photo - it's orange and black and much larger than the female's tails. Just regular, normal guppies like at your local pet store in America.)

And yes, they do reproduce. They also eat their young. :( But this one has survived so far!

They are really hard to photograph, darting here and there, somewhat scared of me still. I think there might be one other one in there right now, but I also am pretty sure that when I went to feed them this morning that I saw one of the females eat one. So...who knows how many babies are really in there? :)

We've only had one dragonfly in the flat this summer, not like the hordes we had a couple of summers ago! Maybe because the balcony door has been closed much of the summer due to the heat and high humidity?

Flies, flies, flies. Everywhere on the underside of the window bars in the bedroom window. So weird. They 'rest' there for long parts of the day. Sometimes they come in through the open window and rest inside. I could only see one today however, but this is what they do:

I like it when they stay outside. It is interesting to see them there sometimes. I've counted up to 13, some in groups of 2 or 3, others in a line, and some just here and there.

Ants! Yes, we have ants, especially in the spring. Oh my! They were all over the flat at one point. I'd be sitting here at the desk and realize an ant was crawling up my arm. Only found them in the bedroom once, but they are in the livingroom (we eat there) and of course, all over the kitchen. I did take a photo of them on the trash can, but you don't want to see that one. :) :) This is the kitchen wall, and I think that is a tiny piece of frozen spinach they found. After I took this photo, the poor little things just slowly slipped back down the wall a couple inches. I felt sorry for them and left. I have no idea if they ever made it UP the wall, where they were trying to go when I so rudely interrupted them.

This photo was from May. They are mostly gone again now. I wonder where they come from? I wonder where they go? I have no idea. I've tried to find where their trail ends, but it seems to be behind the cupboard - maybe through a nail hole into the wall? The walls are made of stone "bricks" that have holes like very hole-y Swiss cheese (less weight in multi-story buildings). I always think of the ants in Proverbs when I see them, and try to remember that I'm supposed to be like them.

And of course, there are the birds that come and sit on the balcony bars and clothesline, or even on the windowsill and peek in at me, too. :) This is one, another one actually poked his little head up over the window sill and looked me over real good before flying away. Others have sat on the bars and watched me. Should I be scared of The Birds? :) :) haha!

Spider alert!!!! If you don't like spiders, don't scroll down!

Ok, I did not get a photo of the spider, did not even think of taking one (but I should so I can identify it!!). But here is it's web - I did take a photo of the web the day before, in the sunlight. Left it so I could hopefully find the spider and kill it. The web is gone now, the spider, unfortunately, is not. :(

Yikes! I finally really looked at this photo and what do I see???? The spider!!! Took 2 photos and it's in both of them, but this is the best picture. Do you know what kind it is? Ei yi yi. Gives me 'the creep out' just looking at it!! I've got to kill it.

Ooops! Almost forgot this guy, a victim of the spider who lives between the windows in the office room (the other one was the livingroom spider - I have got to clean between the windows again!!! but I can't in the livingroom until the a/c unit is put away for the winter.) He appeared overnight in the window.

PS - Am I nuts???
hahahahahahahahaha

A Walk on the Wild Side

On the way to the post office today, this cat was quite intent on Mel's intentions. :-)

Can you see me up here?

Here I am! Watching a guy play fetch with his German Shepherd. Silly dog, just look at him!

Birdy, birdy on the street, hope a kitty cat you don't meet!

Cool and the gang - or maybe, Boyz in the 'hood - or maybe, the Three Musketeers! (Unfortunately, the beautiful yellow kitty in the back has a severe case of mange or something :( and has lost all the fur on his neck and chest.)

Snoozin' on a lazy afternoon. Hey, who's that behind me? Leave my tail alone!

Waiting. Watching. Thinking. Ignoring (but I know you are there!).

What. Is. Your. Problem??

That tree back there belongs to me. Don't believe me? Just take a sniff! Then you'll know I'm King Kitty Kat around here!

How many doggies are there?

Fooled you! There are five! :-) And mama dog was howling (howling!!!) at me as I took the photos from across the street. Kind of like "Go away and leave my puppies alone!"

It is a bright, sunny, blue sky kind of day. Beautiful outside. The wind is blowing, a fairly stiff breeze right now. Mel went to the store and I am here alone at the moment, balcony door wide open, listening to Galena Downstairs talk from her balcony to someone on the street. Dogs are barking, I can hear the heavy traffic from on the other side of our building and the washer in working away in the kitchen. Everything is "normal".

So, tell me - why do I have this overwhelming, at times, feeling of dread?

I am waiting.

Expectant.

Wondering.

What is going to happen next?

This feeling actually started 3 or 4 days ago. I went to bed the other night expecting to see in the morning that there had been another big earthquake somewhere in the world. In fact, over the next day, there were several 6.0 and above quakes in various parts of the world, but mostly, of course, in Japan. I'm still waiting for another big one. I really do think it's going to happen. I even dreamed about it.

Last night, just before we went to bed, FoxNews posted an article on George Soros and what he is doing right now. Why Are the Media Ignoring Plans By George Soros to Remake the Entire Global Economy? Not something you want to read just before you go to sleep. I had nightmares off and on all night, and I usually do not have bad dreams. These dreams actually had to do with the Union Printers' Home in Colorado Springs - a place I grew up near. Unsettling dreams, uncomfortable dreams, scary dreams of a place I have never been inside and have really paid no attention to since I was, what? 15 years old?? Somehow it was all tied to Soros. But back to Soros himself, I told Mel this morning as we were discussing what is going on, that I believe this man is controlled by something outside of this world, and I'm NOT talking about space aliens! God is controlling him, but in that, it is very possible that God has given him over to Satan for Satan to use during these last days.

In writing all of that above, with his power today, I wonder if these words will come to him or to someone high in his organization? It is probable - the internet is wide-open for any one to read. Therefore, George Soros, you need to confess your sin, repent and ask Jesus Christ to forgive you and save you. Now. Before it is too late. That time is coming very soon. Christ is returning very soon to judge the inhabitants of the earth, both the living and those who have already died!

It has been a while since I've read in the main stream media about mass animal deaths. That is part of the reason I read that other website I wrote about a day or two ago. The mass animal deaths have not stopped. Just this morning there are two more reports about fish kills. They are labeled as being "natural" due to fish not getting enough oxygen due to ... fill in the blank. Birds are dying, fish are dying, porposes and dolphins are dying. The sea and the sky creatures are dying in unusual numbers. And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. Genesis 1:20-23
The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. Revelation 8:8,9

Sometimes I feel like we are experiencing a mini-tribulation period, like God is giving us a taste of what is to come. But is anyone listening? Is anyone paying attention?

Actually, I have wondered recently if we are actually in the Tribulation period and it only seems to us that things are not all that bad. Maybe things really are that bad and we just are not aware of it yet? With the tsunami destroying boats and ships, as well as houses and other buildings on land, with the reactor in Japan spewing out radiation in the air, on land and sea, with Chernobyl still hot and a very real and present danger to the world ... The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water — the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.Revelation 8:10,11

Last summer huge swathes of the world burned - Alaska, Russia, the US. Actually, over the past few years even more has burned - Australia, Greece, other parts of Europe. Add it all together and a large percent of the earth's surface has burned in the past 10 years or less. The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. Revelation 8:7

I no longer believe in a literal seven year tribulation, but rather in a perfect time period of tribulation.

What is happening in the Middle East? Every day we hear of more unrest, more people killed, more violence. Some of it is unimaginable. And what of the violence and horror that has happened in the past 100 years? Nazi Germany killing people and doing experiements on humans that are unbelievable in their horror. People doing that to other people. And recently I listened to a sermon by a young man who talked about what the Japanese did to his Korean people, as well as Chinese and other nationalities in that part of the world, before and during World War II. The reports are that their experiments on living human beings of ALL ages, including newborn babies - those experiments made Nazi German experiments throw-up when they toured the facilities. I was totally sickened myself, and I have no idea what those experiments were, nor do I want to know. I know enough of what the Nazi's did from all the reading I did when I was in high school (including QB VII, by Leon Uris - I've never forgotten that book).

I know that God is not finished with the country of Israel yet. I do not believe the Dispensational point of view exactly, nor do I believe that there is any way for Israel to be saved other than belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. But God is still working in that country, in those people. I have a feeling that things are literally going to explode there very soon. And it is going to be horrible and amazing at the same time.

So, today I write out some of these things, trying to get a mental handle on it all. I wonder, too, about all of the UFO stuff going on all over the world still. People are still seeing strange lights and crafts in the air, both during the day and at night. Some is faked, much is real. Unexplained. Unknown. But we live not just in this physical world that we can see, touch, taste, hear - but we also live in a spiritual world and there is a spiritual battle raging all around us. As the time draws near for Christ to return, and all that accompanies that time, I believe that unseen spiritual battle is going to become more and more seen. When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked.
“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
And Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. II Kings 6:15-17 How thankful I am that God has assured us "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them". We can rest in that.

So, the feeling of dread is still there. The feeling of waiting. Of anticipation. Expectation. Waiting.

And while I wait
and watch
and listen
and think

I must do.
Do what God has called me to do. Read His word, pray, listen for His voice, do the things my hands find to do, and do them with all my might.

Therefore, I really need to go check the washer and give the dial a bump (cold wash) and finish cleaning the flat and getting it ready for company tonight. Valentina and Lyena are coming over simple so Lyena can ask Mel questions. Questions she has from her Bible reading, from what is happening in the world around us, from her thinking deep, deep thoughts. Maybe I'll also have time to go over and see Ira, maybe not - the day is flying by.

Bit's n Pieces

The photo in my current blog title is of Iridescent Clouds and was taken while we visited Mel's dad and step-mother in November, down south of Pueblo. Mel's dad noticed the clouds while he was doing something at the kitchen sink and looked out. He is a sky watcher, too. In fact, I had a blast with him, sitting out on the back deck one night, watching a thunderstorm out east along the Kansas border. Absolutely beautiful lightning display. The iridescent clouds were beautiful and more than a little bit freaky. I'd never seen them like that before. Then, a week or so later, we had another display, only this time up in Woodland Park. Wow.

Ei yi yi. I MISS sky watching here in Ukraine. I cannot express how much I miss it. And because of that, I'd better get off that subject right now before I fall into a (what word am I looking for? I had it there in my mind 10 second ago!! I know "lump" is not the word I am desperately searching for! hahahahaha!) slump? Is that it? Add another ei yi yi to this paragraph, but also a lot of internal laughing, cuz I think it's funny that my brain does this now. Ah - menopause, ya gotta love it, or you'll go insane.

Mel put on Rocky Mountain Solitude I could listen to this music all day long. My heart sings with it. I want to close my eyes and lose myself for awhile in the music - therefore, I'll be back in a little while.

~*~*~*~*~
Ah, that was nice, really, really nice. I needed that.

While we were at the Georgian National Dance Company performance the other night, I watched and listened and thought about what marvelous bodies God has given us. And I thought about how wonderful it will be when we get to heaven and dancing like that will be done totally and completely to the glory of God, and God alone. I thought about how it will sound with all of the different kinds of music that each culture will bring. And how instruments and voices will be played and lifted up in song completely to the glory of God. It's difficult to imagine that because so much of what we do now is filled with pride in ourselves and comparrisons to others - did I do better than so-n-so, are they better than I am and so forth and so on. In heaven it all will be for God, gifts to Him, and I am sure we will rejoice in what we can give and what others give as well - no envy or jealousy at all. How wonderful!

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Once again my mind is turned to nature and what is happening in our world. The earthquake in New Zealand, all of the damage and destruction and death. Oh my. Yet, it is just one more. One more quake. And more will come, are coming, all over the world. There have been many earthquakes in Turkey over the past 36 hours, ranging from 1's to 4.8. Nothing is heard about these on the news, and so far I have not seen any of them reported on the USGS earthquake page. I wonder why? They are reported here on theEuropean-Mediterranian Seismological Centre page. I wonder, if a big one hits Istanbul, will we feel it? Turkey is not that far away, and we did feel the 6. pointer that happened in Romania, but then, there is a Sea inbetween us and Turkey. And thinking of that - Kherson is located just a few km in from the Black Sea, right on the Dnipro - so if there is a quake, would it, could it cause a tsunami in the Black Sea that could actually make it's way up to us? Due to the geography of the area, I'm not sure it would round the corner and come up the delta to us or not. But it's on my mind - as are the HUGE dams to the north of us on the river. Good thing our lives are in God's hands and not mother nature's!!

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There was a report of mass bird deaths down in the Crimea. Many blackbirds found dead in Ukraine
I wonder what that is all about. We sure have a large amount of birds flying around here, now, way more than we used to have. Ravens and other black birds, and then there are the pigeons that are new to our part of town. Saw a woman the other day, out in the area across from our building, feeding the pigeons. Couldn't help but think of Mary Poppins and Feed the Birds. Also couldn't help but think what a nuisance they all are, pooping everywhere. Ah well, I love feeding wild birds in Colorado, and I used to feed them here (sparrows and chickadee type birds), too, until Galena Downstairs complained about all the bird poo on her balcony from them.

~*~*~*~*~
Well, I started this post several hours ago and it's just not getting done. Therefore, I will post what I've got written now, and maybe later, if I want to, I'll write some more. We'll see.

A Great Horned Owl Story

I'm taking all the names out of this and only using initials. It's the story that I find very interesting and I really do think it needs to be written out and published in some way for kids.

Facebook conversation:

B: After he killed his 9th and wounded his 10th one of my laying hens, our elusive predator got shot last night. Sadly, he was a Great Horned Owl who looked VERY much like a bobcat with a chicken in his mouth when he lost his life. We've called the Game Warden, paid the fine, and hopefully the rest of my hens aren't too traumatized to begin laying again.

S: Are they a protected species--and are you just supposed to let them eat your hens!?

B: They are protected, and yes, when it comes down to it, you ARE supposed to let them eat your laying hens!

L: How much was the fine? If you pay the fine, can you stuff him and put him on the wall?

B: He gave us the lowest possible fine, $70.00, which was VERY merciful, as shooting a raptor can even involve jail time, although he saw the pile of headless hens by our back door, and noted that the framed face, triangular ears and yellow eyes are VERY similar on bobcats and these owls. And No, he took the owl away so we cannot stuff him and put him on the wall, which is a shame, because he was a gorgeous creature with about a 4ft. wingspan.

M: Sad for the owl;happy for the chickens!

J: Glad to hear your shot the predator.

G: relieved that you will now get to eat a few eggs alongside your 75 chicken pies.

M: You have to pay a fine, to protect your chickens? That's ridiculous, to me.

B: I guess that there are idiots out there that kill them and market their parts just for the fun of it, and that's why they're protected, but yes, there's a real conflict when it comes to which life(ves) to save!

C: Sorry to hear about the owl kill. They are such beautiful creatures - and just doing what God did create them to do - hunt. But I'm also glad your chickens are safer (I assume from this that they are not penned at all?). When was he hunting your chickens? Aren't they in a coop for the night? I've only seen Great Horned Owls at night, that's why I ask. And - is it legal to shoot bobcats?? I think it's strange that the owl only ate their heads (I assume that's all he could get down his throat?). What a waste! I think you need to get one of your kids to write up a report with all the interesting details about owls, chickens, Colorado laws and so forth just so I can read it! :-) I'd really like to know more about all of this simply because I'm very curious. You may have to do what my Uncle out at Calhan does - keep your chickens in a very large chicken-fenced cube to keep raptors, foxes, skunks out.

A: I think owls just like the brains..

B: C, My chickens were in an enclosure with 8ft. fenced walls, a little shed for them to roost in at night, and a tarp "tent" covering their feeder/waterer area, with only about a 4ft. margin of uncovered space w/in the fence and around t...he tarp so they could walk out there and get sunshine during the day. We have hawks around here often, but have lost very few poultry to them, as they instinctively run for cover whenever any shadows pass above. We really thought that our predator was a bobcat, because we'd seen cat tracks around the pen, and figured he only ate the heads b/c he couldn't get them over that 8ft. fence.

B: This owl was waiting until night, when all of the chickens were roosting in the shed, swooping down within the walls, then walking under the tarped area, grabbing them off the roost, biting them in the neck, drinking their blood (very neat kills, not a drop anywhere,)then eating only their heads, and starting on another one immediately. He did up to 3 per night for a week before A. shot him. Yes, it is legal to shoot predators who are in the act of killing your livestock if they are not a protected species, as raptors are.

C: Thanks, B. I can't help but think what a great example this owl is of sin in a person's life. Those chickens looked harmless and were easy targets for a creature that usually has to hunt all night for his dinner. Yet, in the end, they actually were his complete downfall (in his case, his death). Thanks for giving more details. Seriously, this whole event should be written down - it would make a great story for my grandson. Maybe he would learn something from it!

B: I have a safer, totally enclosed pen for my best layers inside the barn. He ate 3 of them before I moved them inside and put my older layers out in the pen I've just described. I knew that it was not a totally predator-proof pen. Just the same, the Game Warden said that this was extraordinary behavior for an owl.

B: Hey! we crossed comments! I was typing while you were. Yes,it's a very interesting story.

I highlighted the sentence in red because I found it very interesting in light of Revelation 6:8 "I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth." I think we are going to continue to see more and more strange animal and wild animal behaviors like this.

More Mass Animal Deaths ;-)

This was posted on the google map, Mass Animal Deaths:

Dozens of Birds Found Dead in Romania
Updated 5 hours ago

Jan. 11, 2011 CONSTANTA, Romania - Dozens of starlings were found dead in the town of Constanta, a small village located 160 miles east of Bucharest, Romania. After local veterinary ran tests on the birds' livers, they discovered that the birds had drank themselves to death.


News

Update: There was nothing mysterious about the death of a flock of birds in Romania last week -- they were simply drunk, veterinarians said.

News


I thought this was a joke. The first time I read it the update was not there. So, today when I saw the update, I clicked on the "news" and this is the article from that:


Dozens of Birds Found Dead in Romania, by Larry Seely
January 11, 2011 11:45 AM EST
Dozens of starlings were found dead in the town of Constanta, a small village located 160 miles east of Bucharest, Romania. After local veterinary ran tests on the birds' livers, they discovered that the birds had drank themselves to death.

The birds had eaten leftover grapes left from local wine makers who were making the wine and failed to cleanup the mess in a timely manner.

Residents of the small town alerted authorities after they discovered the dead birds on the outskirt of town. The locals were worried that it could be a case of avian flu, but the local DSVSA ruled out that possibility quickly.

The Starling is a small bird that has bright blue and orange coloring and found all over eastern Europe.

The incident came just days after news of bird and massive death of fish had hit several countries, including the United States. With all the media attention around the globe people are bound to jump conclusions, but there will usually be reasonable explanations.

Actually, I found it very Ukrainian - sounded like a Ukrainian joke. :-)

Mass Animal Deaths, Ravens, and so Forth

I've read with interest a couple articles about birds and fish dying by the thousands and hundreds of thousands. There is an interesting map here: Mass Animal Deaths. I don't know exactly what to think about this and I don't know if it's really related to Hosea 4:3. "Because of this the land dries up,
and all who live in it waste away;
the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea are swept away."
I'd have to study that passage out and see if it is really prophetic for End Times or not.

What I have noticed is the birds. Ravens - I mentioned them in an earlier post and I commented on them several times over the summer on facebook. What I also noticed was on the way from Kiev to Kherson this time was a very large number of large raptors. We called them hawks - I assume that's what they were. They were quite large, with white breasts and dark backs. I don't remember ever seeing hawks here before, yet just casually watching the roadside pass by, I saw well over a dozen near the highways. I was struck by it then and wondering why there were so many now.

And on the edge of PerviMaisk, near a dumping area, there were thousands and possibly hundreds of thousands of black birds, most likely ravens. Could have been very large black birds, but ravens seem to rule in this country. They filled the trees and the fields and were flying in swarms all over. As we drove through the city, there were other groups of them here and there.

And this summer - one evening at sunset while Stirling and I were out in the fenced yard, the ravens started flying over. After watching them awhile, I started counting. Counted over 50 and gave up. Again, there were at least 100-200 of them. I could hear, but not see, others flying up over the ridge. Several dozen roosted for several nights in the aspen trees around my parents place. During the evening I could hear them rustling around and occasionally dropping small branches down on to the ground. It was weird - I thought so then and I still think so. I've NEVER seen ravens like that at my parents place in the past 40 years. Mom and Dad had never seen them like that either.

So, something is going on. I don't know what it is, for sure, but something is definitely happening in the world around us that is unusual.

English Standard Version (©2001)
"Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God," Revelation 19:7

Little Birdie on My Windowsill and More

I had another little visitor this morning. The camera was in the living room so I had to go get it and was afraid this little guy would fly off before I got back. But he stuck around just long enough to get his photo taken. There are several birds flying between the tree and just to the right of our window. I wonder if the crack in the building is back? The birds used to build nests in that crack each spring and I could sit here in the office and listen to the baby birds chirping in the wall beside me. No more. :( Nope. It's still filled with that black tar someone filled it with while we were gone a couple years ago. However, if you look closely, you can see that the plaster is beginning to crack off on the other side. When I looked up there from ground level yesterday I could see that there are a whole bunch of cracks above our flat. It's just the plaster that's on top of the stone/brick the building is actually built of, but I know the rain here eats away at brick and stone and causes a lot of damage. (I think that is called "acid rain". Ha.)

Here are the two photos I took last night when we went out to find the noctilucent clouds which didn't exist but saw the ISS instead. Whew! that was a sentence!

While taking this first photo I held the camera at one angle and it focused on the cemetery and the gravestones which totally washed out the sky. It does give a good view of where we were at, though. This is a Jewish cemetery and it is located directly across the street from the building next to us (our building is on a slight bend in the road). We usually walk on the 'our' side of the street and then cross over at a cross walk to get to "our" Oskar store which is located right next to the cemetery. Last night we crossed at the corner of our building where they have put in a new stop light. That was a whole lot easier than trying to wait for speeding traffic and being afraid someone would run over us in the cross walk! I don't know why people have to speed every where here. I mean SPEED - like 60 miles an hour and accelerating down 3 blocks between stoplights when the limit is no more than 35. ALL the vehicles do this, not just the "speeders". It is very frustrating and dangerous - more than one person has been killed in the cross walk to the store in the years since the store was built. But I digress - altho the subject of this paragraph IS supposed to be the cemetery across the street...... And here is a photo from a slightly different angle. For both photos I set the camera in a hole a chain link fence which surrounds the cemetery to stabelize it, angled it differently and used a non-flash setting. I like the way this one looks. The sky was very pretty last night with lots of orange and pink near the horizon. Now, to the photo above, just add a bright light about the size of Venus at sunset, and fly it across the left side of the photo, way up high. That is the ISS. :) :)

Well Hello There!

I was sitting here reading my morning blogs and news articles when a little visitor arrived on the window sill. Up here on the 3rd floor! As far as I know, this is the first pigeon we've had visit our window.He/she looked around for a bit, even popping it's head up and giving me the 'yellow eye stare' in through the window. I wondered if it could actually see me, or was just looking at it's own reflection. I don't have a light on so my guess is that he/she saw him/herself. On the other hand, that window really needs to be washed. It's covered with dust and rain drop prints, so maybe it could look in and see me sitting here. I'm glad the camera was right here beside the computer this morning!After about 30 seconds a buddy flew up and chased him/her off.

I used to feed birds on the balcony, but they dropped seeds and birdie poo on the balcony below us which rather upset our very upset-able neighbor. I can understand why - I would not like that either, especially if I was as infirm as she is and then had all that extra cleaning to do. That, and the concern over bird-flu.

Someone(s) is feeding the pigeons at the bus stop just a building away from us. I wonder if that's where this one came from? They reproduce so quickly. I hope we are not inundated with them because then the mourning doves and other birds will be pushed out.

I love the little birds - wish I could still feed them! I'm just glad I can listen to them chirping away off and on all day. One of these days someone will probably cut down the half dead poplar tree directly outside our window and then most of those birdies will fly away to new homes. But I don't want to think of that right now! :)

I'll Blame Sue

When I become permanently molded to my office chair I'll blame Sue. Yes, I'll blame her. She knows my weaknesses and yet she still sent me a web address that she knew I would become addicted to immediately.

Sigh.

ha ha ha Oh dear. Here is the web address: Cornell Lab of Ornithology NestCams Barn Owl, Italy, Texas.

By the way, what is it with Texas - Paris, Italy, Odessa - those are 3 European towns I know right off - are there more in Texas? Ok, ok - Italy is not a town, but I didn't sleep well last night and I included it in there anyway because I just didn't want to write a whole 'nother part of a sentence saying something like "2 cities and 1 country that just had a big earthquake".

Anyway, I now have a pop-up view of mama barn owl on my desktop and through the wonder of the internet I can watch her scratch, stretch, stand, flap her wings, nestle back down on her eggs and clean her toes. It's quite interesting.

On to another subject entirely, although it does relate to the part where I didn't sleep well - YouTube.

Mel is not here for two nights, gone to presbytery meetings. I was watching stuff on YouTube last night (stuff on the Aztecs and giants and things off BBC and The History Channel - stuff we cannot see here so I'm glad it's on YouTube or I'd never see it). I yawned and wondered why in the world I was suddenly so tired. I looked at the clock on the computer and it was 2:00 in the morning! ei yi yi!

So, I shut everything down and went to bed. Within 30 seconds of the lights going out, I was being buzzed by a mosquito. I'd tried to kill one earlier in the evening but could never get it. It bit me on the arm, I have no idea when (maybe during one of the reenactments of Aztec human sacrifice?). I covered up as much as I could and then realized the nasty little thing was biting me through the sheets!

Finally, I sat up, turned on the light, put in my contacts, looked at the clock and it was 3:00 in the morning and I still had not been to sleep. I couldn't hear or see Mosquito anywhere, so I lay down and looked up at the ceiling - nope, not there. I glanced at the wall above and behind my head - and voila! A little black spot on the white paint, just above the headboard. I sat up, drew back my hand and whapped that little critter with my palm. Blood all over the place - on the wall and on my hand. sigh. I'll clean it up in a little bit.

Happy now, I lay back down, pulled up the covers and within 30 seconds there was another mosquito whining in my ear. Literally. I slapped my forehead when I felt it go by and then - nothing. I think I got it. No more sound.

Just as I was dropping off to sleep, zing! Whining in my ear again and across my forehead. I smacked myself on the nose - and felt that little sucker die, right there. When I looked at the clock beside the bed, it was almost 4:00.

I slept till 7:10. Got up for several minutes, went back to bed and slept until 8:45. It is going to be a long day.....

But! Now I can watch Mrs. Barn Owl and keep myself awake today!

Major Remont

I love that word: remont. It's Russian for 'remodel' or 'reconstruction' or 'fix up your flat' or 'get rid of the cracks in the facade and paint the building again.' And lots of other things, as well. I've heard it used in a variety of ways. I use the word all the time, mostly because it's so easy to say. Reee-mont.

A few weeks ago I wrote that the neighbor across the landing from our flat died. Well, whoever owns the flat is now doing major remont to it. It started yesterday morning at 9:00 and went on all day long.

BANG! SLAM! CLANG! BANGBANGBANGBANG! rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Way into late evening.

I noticed sometime during the day that another toilet had flushed it's last flush and was sitting all dejected out by the dumpster.

Mel left and a few minutes later he called me on his mobile phone to tell me that it wasn't just one floor in our podyezd doing remont, but at least two floors. Remont in the toilet room at least, and maybe in the bathroom as well. We aren't sure.

They are at it again this morning.

(read the loud words in bold print a few sentences above for sound effects.)

But this time when I look out the window, this is what I see! Three floors are getting their toilet rooms remonted (I even past tense the Russian verb in English). As is my want (is that how that phrase is said?), something immediately came to mind:
"Down by the station, early in the morning, see the little puffer bellies, all in a row." Now that song is stuck in my head. The song has absolutely nothing to do with toilets sitting out beside the dumpsters, but it does at least connect in that they are sitting out there early in the morning all in a row.

Sometimes I wonder about me.
And then I laugh and say to myself, at least I am interesting to myself and don't bore myself to tears!
ha ha

As I was busy taking photos from the kitchen window, which has a better view than the balcony but needs to be washed and makes the photos a bit blurry, this guy came by and I just had to take his photo. I think it's just inevitable - there is a toilet, he's a boy (ok, an older boy, granted), he must put something in it. :)
And last, but not least, a little flock of sparrows sat on our balcony cage and grapevine and watched him. Here is one little guy, just before he flew away.

Little Blue Flowers

We walked down to the city center today. It was really nice to get out and walk. I love walking. I’ve walked miles and miles and even more miles over the past 20 years. My favorite place to walk is in the mountains on a trail, out away from everyone, just listening to the wind in the pines. But, since I live in a city of close to 500,000 people right now, I choose to walk in quieter neighborhoods whenever I can – that is the nearest I can get to being “close to nature.”

I have walked parts of the Rainbow Trail along the eastern edge of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the Wet Mountain Valley of Colorado. Once you get up to the trail from the parking areas, the trail itself is fairly level. It has its uphills and downhills, but not like the hike UP to get to it! While Mel was in seminary in the early 1990’s, I took the kids hiking/walking on the Rainbow several times. On days that Mel was off work and not in class (rare, but days treasured highly!), he and I and our dog, Honey, would often walk parts of the Rainbow, or some of the trails that branched off it into the steep valleys of the Sangre de Cristos. One time we saw fresh bear tracks, so fresh I’m sure Mr. Bear was watching us from the shadows. Several times we saw deer and elk, and a couple times we watched a coyote run away from us across a nearby meadow. Although I think porcupines are very interesting creatures to look at and watch, it was no fun to meet them on the trail. Well, I should say it was no fun for Honey. I’ll never forget the third time we met a porky on a trail. I remember it in slow motion … dog sees a critter and bounds after it, Mel and I yell, dog realizes it’s a porcupine, front paws stretch out front in a sudden braking movement just like in the cartoons (I could almost hear the screeching brakes and see the dust rising), and porky just ambles along like he doesn’t have a care in the world. We should all be so peaceful, unworried and self-confident! (A side note: we did not let our dog chase wildlife, but Honey had met two other porkies up front and personal, with disastrous consequences to her nose!)

Honey and I walked all over the Wet Mountain Valley. Several times a week she and I would drive down to the southern part of the valley, park and walk the quiet country roads. I always knew spring had really arrived when the redwing blackbirds began to appear. Male redwings would stake out their territory and guard it fiercely. As Honey and I walked along the gravel roads, I would delight in the sight of these birds sitting on their fence posts, singing their mating call loudly in the spring breezes. Meadowlarks arrived soon after and added their unique and beautiful song to the chorus.

One day I will never forget. Honey and I walked over the top of a low hill. Off to the left in a pasture about half a mile away and below us I saw a herd of two-year-old calves, maybe 50 or 60 of them, running. I stopped to look more carefully. Why were they running? Honey didn’t notice and didn’t care – the scents among the grasses and wildflowers growing along side the road were much too enticing for her to notice anything else at that moment. As I watched the calves running, I realized a large dog was chasing them and I quickly scanned the pasture to see if a rancher was out rounding the calves up. No pick-up, no person on horseback. Oh no! That was a dog that would soon be shot (any dog found chasing farm animals is fair game and the law upholds the ranchers right to kill them). Suddenly the dog stopped, turned and ran the opposite direction – and the calves turned and started chasing him! After a minute or so, the dog ran under a fence, up onto a small rise a few yards away, turned around, sat down and stared at the calves. I could almost see his tongue hanging out and his sides heaving as he panted. The whole herd ran up to the fence and stood there looking at the dog. The dog, I then realized, was actually a coyote! Coyote sat there for a couple minutes, resting – and I am sure he was laughing as coyotes are known to do. Suddenly he jumped up and trotted off in the opposite direction of the calves, leaving them bawling after him. I think both coyote and calves had had a fun time in the spring air.

A few nights later, Mel and I, along with Honey of course, went for a moonlight walk along the same road. We topped the hill and were enjoying a view of the snow-covered mountains shining in the blue light of the full moon. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, we heard the sound of thundering hooves running, running, growing closer and closer, louder and louder. I turned around in panic – was the fence down? Where was that sound coming from? Should we run and crawl under the fence in the other direction? “Mel! What is it? What’s happening?!!!!” And then, 50 or 60 two-year-old calves came to a dust raising halt not 4 yards away. Lined up along the fence, white faces glowing in the moonlight, dark bodies hidden in the shadows, they quietly stared at us with black eyes. My heart was in my throat and beating wildly. Suddenly I was laughing almost hysterically. Those calves had seen us walking in the moonlight and wanted to find out what we were. No fear in them! I, however, gained a couple of gray hairs that night, I’m sure! (Mel had seen them running toward us and saw the fence was up and secure – he has great eyesight, even in the almost dark of a moonlit night – so the experience hadn’t startled him like it did me.)

I have had no experiences like that while out walking here in Ukraine, in the middle of a city. I’ve seen lots of dogs and cats, hundreds of sparrows and ravens, and even a few chickens pecking at the side of the road. I’ve been stopped in my tracks by cars driving on the sidewalk, or speeding down the street. And I’ve been waylaid three times by the same two Jehovah’s Witnesses women (don’t they remember me? The foreign woman who can’t and won’t speak to them?). But no coyotes, no calves, no quiet moonlit walks with my husband.

While traveling to Yalta on the Crimea peninsula six years ago, our driver stopped on the side of the road and showed us some tiny blue flowers growing in the wild grasses. He told us that their little bulbs were edible, that during the famine years instigated by Stalin, many Ukrainian people had survived by digging up the bulbs of those little flowers and eating them. He took out his knife and dug one up, cleaned it off gently with his fingers and gave it to me to eat. I ate it and it tasted good. Today as I walked along a quiet street I saw dozens of those little blue flowers growing up against houses and fences in private yards. I may live in a city now, but God knows that my heart longs for, cries for, desperately needs the quiet beauty of nature. Little blue flowers fed Ukrainians years ago and saved their lives. Little blue flowers now feed my soul as I feast my eyes on them. They are so much smaller than a mountain, but healing none-the-less. Thank you, Father, for hearing the cry of my heart.

Birds - February 2005

February 26, 2005

It snowed off and on all day yesterday - huge fat flakes. But you'd hardly know it this morning. Most of it melted before the day was done. I enjoyed so very much watching the birds at my little feeder on the balcony. ("Balcony" sounds so much greater than the tiny little outdoor cage we actually have....) There were more birds than usual due to the snow covering their natural feeding areas most of the day. I've again put out yellow millet mixed with raw black sunflower seeds in the shell. I can buy both either at the street markets or at Oskar - they are food products for human consumption.

The sparrows seem to prefer the millet which kind of surprises me. But we have some birds that look a lot like chickadees, gray backs, black caps, white throats, but they have greenish yellow breasts. They act like chickadees, though - won't eat the millet but pick up one sunflower seed at a time and always fly off into the trees to either eat or store them. Yesterday I realized that while the sparrows were gone one little guy was patiently tossing millet out with his beak onto the floor of the balcony and even off onto the sidewalk 2 floors below, searching for sunflower seeds. The mourning doves love it when they do that because mourning doves are ground feeders and won't come up to my third floor bird feeder. I know a lot of it is wasted that way because people walk on it and squish it into powder before the mourning doves have eaten it all. I have 3 or 4 cups of sunflower seeds in a bag in the container I use to store their food, so I quickly pulled it out and put a handful on a plate and set it in the corner on top of the railing, wedged underneath the security bars. Within a couple minutes they were back - at the feeder. I watched and sure enough, it wasn't half a minute later and the little guy tossing millet out again spied the black sunflower seeds on the plate below. No more tossing millet for them!

I love to hear the sparrows chatter at each other - they sound so cheerful. I find that funny, actually, because when they are chattering away at each other it's almost always because they are arguing over who gets to eat. "Get out of my way!" "It's MY turn, you've been there forever!" "Hey! Let my wife have some of that millet, you pig!" "I'm bigger than you, I'm more important than you, I deserve to eat NOW and as much as I like!" So, they fight and squabble and fly into each other to get each other to move, and chirp at each other from nearby grapevine branches or even while sitting on the closer cross-bars. And I sit here at the computer, listening to them outside the office window, and casually think to myself as I'm busy writing or working on something - "what cheerful little guys they are! I wish I were as free as a bird..."

This morning I woke up again before it was light. Mel was sleeping very restlessly and I kept turning over, disturbing him, so I decided to get up. But while I was in the process of deciding to get up I could see movement outside our bedroom window against the dark gray sky. Without my contacts in all I can see are the fuzzy outlines of the bigger tree branches and movement when the crows fly. Nothing is in focus and I can see no smaller items at all. But I knew what was going on because I've watched it before. Every morning the crows gather together for a morning fly-about. Sometimes there will be a hundred or even more. In Kiev I saw a huge flock, must have been 500 or more, flying in circles above the courtyard of Predslava one morning. They swooped and glided and swirled ever higher up as they caught the updraft from the heat escaping the surrounding buildings. Eventually they were all high enough to disappear into little specks on their way to various parts of the city. I wonder where they all come from each morning? Where do they spend the night? And loud! Oh my, are crows loud. Crows here are bigger than American crows by quite a bit, but they are smaller than a raven (they are called ravens, tho - but compared to ravens in Alaska, these guys are pretty puny).

Well, yesterday morning and this morning I was awake and up to watch the morning fly-about here on our street. I like to think of the crows as the mafia of birds - they dress all in black, they have huge weapons (their beaks), they intimidate all the smaller birds, they are involved in waste management :):), they gather for important meetings and rituals every day, and they rule the skies. Yesterday straight off our balcony and maybe 10 feet higher I noticed a pair of mourning doves sitting on a branch, about 10 inches apart. A crow flew in and settled on another branch a yard or so away, at the same level. And a second crow arrived and settled down on a nearby branch of another tree. Within seconds the two mourning doves had skooched closer and huddled together. I wondered if it was for protection, or if they would have done that whether the crows were there or not. I always see these two mourning doves together and I thought to myself, he's protecting her as best as he can from the bad guys. Alas, I was busy and didn't see the end of the confrontation. But to my knowledge the mourning doves will be cooing outside later today and the crows never seem to disappear.

All of this reminds me in many ways of human relationships and society in general. I'm very anthropomorphic.

Ravens in North America are so beautiful, so big, so strong, so intelligent - no wonder they are favored by the American Natives in the States and Canada for totems and in their folk stories. While we were at Canyonlands National Park in January, I fed some whole grain bread to a couple of ravens in the parking lot of a trail head (shame on me! Don't feed the wildlife!). When it came time, one of the ravens tried to prevent us from leaving by actually dive bombing the car twice as we pulled out onto the road!

Thinking of ravens in Alaska being so much bigger than the crows/ravens here in Ukraine (and maybe all of Europe?) - I wonder why the North American seagulls on the Pacific Coast are so much bigger than the seagulls along the southern Atlantic coast - and why all of them are so much bigger than the seagulls here in Ukraine? And now, thinking of seagulls - did you know the Russian word for seagull is tchaika? Which when turned into a family name becomes Tchaikovsky. So the great Russian composer was Peter Illyich Seagull. (I wonder if that's where the idea for the name Jonathan Livingston Seagull came from???) And progressing on to name meanings - Wayne Gretsky is of Ukrainian descent and Gretsky is the Russian word for walnut. So the great hockey player is actually Wayne Walnut. Somehow Wayne Gretsky just sounds a little more intimidating on the ice than Wayne Walnut, don't you think??

All for this morning. I think you've probably had enough!