Sunday, April 1, 2012

Idiotic April

Spring  
by Edna St. Vincent Millay

To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.
You can no longer quiet me with the redness
Of little leaves opening stickily.
I know what I know.
The sun is hot on my neck as I observe
The spikes of crocus.
The smell of the earth is good.
It is apparent that there is no death.
But what does that signify?
Not only under ground are the brains of men
Eaten by maggots.
Life in itself
Is nothing,
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.
It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,
April
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.
We are way past the spikes of crocus season, Ms. St. Vincent Millay, and deep into the pinks and yellows.  I didn't remember this poem being such a downer, but it surely is fitting for this opening day of April, of Poetry Month, of yet another day of burning sinuses . . .  
our friends the Marlins' farm at Antietam from Canal Road
 

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Who Defended the Bridge?

The other evening our neighborhood friend who owns the Antietam Ironworks Inn asked me to use my fine Googling skills to find out which general defended the Antietam Ironworks bridge during the battle.  (He wasn't sure that in fact someone did, but he was under the impression that someone had.)
Unfortunately, I did not come up with a name or even that the bridge played any role in the battle except that Rebel troops crossed it in their journey to support Lee at Sharpsburg.  However, my short search did find that companies from the 13th Massachusetts camped here for a bit in 1861 (a year before the battle).  The letters at this site are very interesting glimpses into the soldiers' lives. I especially enjoyed a letter from James B. Noyes; apparently, the most memorable part of being in Antietam Village was the vicious attack of fleas!
Modern day defenders watching over the bridge

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Early Morels

It's an extra early season for mountain morel mushrooms, but they are, in fact, here and as delicious as usual!  Due to the extraordinarily warm end of winter and early spring, the daffodils, forsythia, redbud, dogwood, and morel are all popping, and we aren't complaining one bit!  Usually these guys don't make their appearance until around the second week in April; be sure to check out these two other posts for proof.

Spring in the Hollow

This was taken last week; the daffodils are quickly wilting away now. 
"For oft, when on my couch I lie
   In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
   Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils."
~Wordsworth 
The forsythia are quickly turning from brilliant yellow to lime green.
"The forsythia sings against a chorus
of green, yet the hue of winter looms."
~ Rosemary Royston
 
This is Bradford Pear, right?  This tree is along our northside fence row.
"no flower ever opened   
so staunch a white leaf,   
no flower ever parted silver
from such rare silver"
~ Hilda Doolittle
 
The redbud are beautiful right now.
"I will go, I said, to the country
When the red-bud blooms in the spring
And then, as of old, for sheer rapture
My heart will sing."
~ May Frink Converse
The dogwood are my favorite.
"But high o'er all the early floral train,
Where softness all the arching sky resumes,
The dogwood dancing to the winds' refrain,
In stainless glory spreads its snowy blooms."
~ George Marion McClellan
 


Antietam Sunrise

Life has proven extraordinarily busy lately, but when a sunrise like this presents itself, I'd be a fool not to slow down for a moment to take a shot.  I took this on our way to Hagerstown one morning last week during our usual hectic routine.  This is looking east (obviously) off Rt. 65 just north of the Battleview Market.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Anymore


Sometimes I hear something, see something, feel something,
and wonder why I'm not part of that - 
not doing that - 
not that
anymore.


Saturday, February 4, 2012

It's a Girl Scout Thing

We have recently learned more about a Girl Scout tradition called SWAPS (Special Whatchamacallit Affectionately Pinned Somewhere).  They are simply little somethings, often symbolic of an event, with a small identifying tag that Girl Scouts swap with each other and pin on a hat, t-shirt, rope, etc. 

Coming up in February is a special Girl Scout holiday called World Thinking Day.  It's a day when scouts and guides around the world get together to learn and think more about their sister scouts in different countries.  Our county's service unit is having a special day where each troop picks a country to represent.  Our troop chose China/Hong Kong!  We are responsible for making a display, 150 SWAPS, and a snack.  Our SWAPS are a combination of little pictures (dragons, Wall of China, etc.) and fortune cookies that we've made.  Here are some pictures of how to make the fortune cookie SWAPS (I think they're adorable!).
Cut out a circle of paper (I used a scrapbooking circle punch tool).  Pinch it in half (colored side out) - do not crease the fold.  I had to use my other hand to take the photo, but usually my other hand is holding that left side closed while my right hand is pushing in middle and pulling the ends down and together.  I used little glue dots (Zots) to put in the crease to keep the fold together permanently.  You could use regular glue, but you have to hold it closed for a bit. 

We printed out tags for the "fortune," which we glued into the cookie.

After adding the ubiquitous safety pin, we'll display our SWAPS in Chinese take-out containers (bought at Walmart in the party supplies section) on our table for the other Girl Scout troops to visit and swap. 






Sunday, January 29, 2012

I Got Born There, Mama

After the construction and grand opening of Meritus Medical Center off Robinwood, the demolition of the old Washington County Hospital has picked up speed and a few complaints.

Both of our girls were born at the old hospital.  It has been bittersweet to drive past recently and see the utter destruction of twisting metal, dust, and busted block.  SG said it best: "I'm kind of sad about that.  I got born there, Mama."

George can attest to the fact that the basement cafe used to make great BLT's and chocolate milkshakes.  That's all he ate when we stayed there.




Saturday, January 21, 2012

Frog Hollow Skies

We finally have the first measurable snow on the ground since Halloween.  Now, the sky is spitting icy rain, and the lane looks treacherous.  The girls have birthday parties this afternoon, and we're hoping we can make them.

At least we have had some beautiful sunrises lately.  The two pictures below (in no way edited!) were taken about two weeks ago from our deck.  You can't beat this view!




Thursday, January 19, 2012

Post-Christmas/Post-Strep

I had every intention of posting each day of Christmas, but got hung up around Day 10.  You may have thought it was a result of our going back to school and work, and certainly that fact played a part.  But mainly my attention suddenly got diverted to the toilet - yes, the toilet - on the eve of our return to reality.  If you get grossed out easily, stop reading.  No, I'm not talking poop here.  Just blood.  The youngest one, just a few days from her sixth birthday, called me to the bathroom that night because her "pee look[ed] all brown."  Completely freaked out, I googled and realized I should call her doc immediately, which I did, and they wanted to see her pronto.  We high-tailed it to Frederick for a late Monday evening appointment; urine analysis, once-over, no other symptoms, no weird kid injuries, nothing in the urine but blood and protein (no infection obvious) -- so, "come back in two days to see what the lab says."  We go back; labs say nothing - another, more comprehensive once-over - "go to Robinwood now - get an ultrasound of her kidneys and bladder and get a blood sample.  STAT."  Done.  Wait.  Wait.  Wait.
Finally, Thursday afternoon I got the call that the only thing they could find was that such-and-such levels indicated that she "recently" (within a couple of months) had strep.  ("Do you remember her having strep?"  "No.  Bad stomach-bug before Thanksgiving?  But no strep - throat or skin - that we can remember.  Wait a minute - she did have a little fever one day.  She did have itchy hands one afternoon.  Does that count??")
So, they think she had/has something called post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis (GN) - "a disorder of the kidneys that occurs after infection with certain strains of Streptococcus bacteria"  - according to this website.
Dr. Crowder, one of the very talented doctors at The Pediatric Center in Frederick and surrounding areas, told me that they see about ONE of these cases a YEAR!  How crazy is that?!  That MY kid would be so unique . . . Another doctor who worked with us, Dr. Chaitovitz, explained to me in terms that even I could understand how this little disorder works:  kid gets strep somehow (usually the skin-brand), strep goes untreated, strep hangs out in the body for a while, strep finally finds kidneys and "attacks," kidneys create an antibody to defend the kidneys, the antibody makes the kidneys "leak" blood and protein (therefore, the cola-colored urine).  They treated her with an antibiotic to be certain that the strep is gone, but they are continuing to keep a close eye on her blood pressure and weight to be sure she's not going into kidney failure, which can and does happen with some of these affected kids.
So far, SG has had impeccable blood pressure and she's not taking on any "water weight," so they are convinced that her kidneys are working fine.  But just to be sure, we get to go back often to see our nurse and pee in a cup!  She's not had ANY pain or discomfort and her urine is looking normal (although the doc says there are still blood and protein there - we just can't see it.  It'll be like that for up to a year!).
So, if your kids are feeling "streppy," go and get that culture and make them take their Amoxicillin!  Brown pee is SCARYYYYYYYY! 
the birthday girl at her party ~ the guests had no idea about her wee issue . . .


Monday, January 2, 2012

9th Day of Christmas

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me -- a morning to myself!  He and the kids are off to my sister's house, and I'm here alone left to be sure that we are ready to face the world again tomorrow.  Yes, Winter Break officially ends today.  So, on this day of cleaning, organizing, preparing, and planning, I will reflect a bit on how I can aspire to what are called the nine "Fruits of the Holy Spirit," from Paul's letter to the Galatians:  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ~ 5:22-23


I could certainly use a lot more of each of these, especially as I face 2012.  Couldn't we all?

Here's the view off our deck this morning ~ beauty in a twisted, tangled mess of Mother Nature ~



Sunday, January 1, 2012

8th Day of Christmas A.K.A. New Year's Day 2012

Here's your heart attack!  Tonight we ate our good luck pork in the form of barbeque ribs.  We had green beans (green to bring money!) and garlic parmesan mashed potatoes (I don't know what they symbolize).


These are my oven-roasted ribs ~ they melt in your mouth!

Sylv's on your fourth rib!  She's decided that, in fact, Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce is better than the Almighty A1.  

Everybody seems to have their New Year's Day traditions, and my German family always always always had pork and sauerkraut, usually slowed cooked in the Crock Pot all day and eaten at the Taneytown Activities Building to celebrate my great-grandparents' anniversary.  George and the girls hate the smell of kraut, so I don't even bother with that anymore although I used to.  My stepdad is Pennsylvanian Dutch, and his mom always made a hog maw for the occasion.  As a kid I couldn't stomach the stuff (yeah, pig's internals stuffed with potatoes, pork, etc.), but now that our friends the Mullers have us down for their wonderful version, I hate to miss it!  Next week we hope to get our hog on again!
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