This Week at Iten's Acres: Feathered Friends June 28, 2081

This week at The Acres and the environs of Morrow County:
Mourning dove, cardinal, blue jay, bluebird, meadowlark, red-headed woodpecker, chickadee, titmouse, indigo bunting, sparrow hawk, hawk hawk, wren, catbird, house sparrow, field sparrow, song sparrow, killdeer, yellow warbler, blue heron, green heron, red-winged blackbird, flicker, mocking bird, kingfisher, thrush, ruby-throated hummingbird, downy woodpecker, goldfinch, barn swallow . . .

Slow down--maybe even stop once in awhile. You're missing too much beauty.

The Man and the Mower June 17,2018

One of my favorite duties at The Acres is mowing. I find great joy in being alone painting with blades. I always do the back first--the meadow and the paths in the wild area. Though there is more to mow in the back, it takes a little less time because there are fewer obstacles--see flower beds in the dictionary. It's just primarily back and forth--until I have to wend my way around the trees and bushes in the orchard. Morning is the best time. The blue islands of spiderwort are at their peak. The daisies nod as I pass by, content to be beautiful right where they are. The "common" orange day lilies are blooming as well. They grow anywhere--wet, dry, open, overgrown. There's never been a mound of brambles so high that they can't reach their orange suns above the fray and into the sunlight. This week the wild meadow roses have begun to bloom--every shade of pink you can imagine. The noise of the lawn mower is drowned out by my thoughts and meditation. And the back looks like a park when I am finished. Perfect for a walk or two, of course. Or a sit in the chair on the hill egotistically admiring the art work. Sadly, I have not yet been joined by the velvet fliers.
Mowing the front takes a little concentration--so many beds to mow around. But it, too, is a serene exercise "Sailing" in seas of the beautiful. Perhaps it takes a little longer because I'll sit and watch the activity at the bird feeding station, as well. The front is full of islands of larkspur--dotted by moving black nectar gatherers. It is quite majestic to see thirty or so tall purple, pink, white flowers dancing in the wind. Yes, mowing at The Acres is not a chore but a celebration. A time to reflect, being lavished in beauty and a sense of His presence, an old man's living devotional. "For the beauty of the earth . . . Lord of all to Thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise."

A Good Day at The Acres June 14, 2018

A good day at The Acres today. It began with the highlight: on my early morning walk, I discovered a Japanese iris blooming in the wild area. Tricky Gardening Angels. I can only assume that sometime in the past--I have no memory of it--I must have tried to get one started out there. It's not like they're indigenous to Ohio--or that some creature would move it out there--but there it was! Gorgeous! (See this Saturday's slide show.) Yeh, I did a little dance in the pathway. Didn't pull too many muscles. Don't have too many.
Other Acres' stuff accomplished today: Got the foundations stones laid for three new gardens--two of them are really small. Tomorrow if I get an early start, I should be able to get them filled. No mulching done yet, though. Yuk. The lilies around the beds are crying out for help. (Not really, they just bloom no matter what--I'm the one that wants to give some room.) Also, got the "killing" done in a huge bed I need to re-do in late July. Got a couple small ones to re-do as well. And maybe another big one. If I live to be a hundred, I may get most everything done. I take great joy in the little steps along the way.
Non-Acre stuff today: grocery store, re-cycling place, Pizza Hut buffet, laundry, and reading. And it's only 6:30! I hope my old body will work tomorrow. =)Supper--I think I'm hungry for a little indigestion--White Castle here I come. (Some day we have to get a Hardy's up here!)
And, oh, the last iris bloomed. Lovely little lilac thing--smells wonderful, too. Yep, good day The Acres. But then again, aren't they all. Thank you, Lord, for gifts to bless our old age.

Females! June 12, 2018

i have a confession to make: the females love me. They just won't leave me alone--especially on these rainy days. Sure, Deep Woods Off helps, but no matter how much I spray on myself, they always seem to find the holes in my defenses. I know--I'm sweet and kind and don't have a sarcastic bone in my body, but I wish they would buzz off. Always whispering sweet nothings in my ears to see how I'll react. I hate, despise, abhor the mosquito. No, I hatedespiseabhor the mosquito. Think what a gift Noah could have bestowed on humanity--he just had to find two of them, right? I know, scratch that idea. I'm sure he had more important things on his mind, but . . . Sigh. And it's raining again. I guess I'll just have to endure all the attention. You know what they say, "All work and no spray makes . . ."

Morrow County Dictionary: June 9, 2018

Morrow County Dictionary:

Mosey--it's how one gets from one place to the next place--antonyms--"hurry"; "now"; "today would be nice"; eliminates the word "late" from one's dictionary as in "the late Al Iten."
Morning: when the day starts--before the sun comes up
Rested: what one feels at the end of the day when the body is tired and the bones ache because you've been doing manual labor--the soul sighs. "now wasn't that a good day!"
Wave: required hand motion when anyone goes by--always returned with a smile
Honey: the real name of every male over the age of sixteen--sometimes shortened to "Hon," as in "Thanks, Hon."
Serenity: the practice of sitting quietly on the top of the hill and ignoring time as a thing--usually accompanied by a light cool breeze, flashes of bluebird, goldfinch, and robin
Meditation: the act of spending two hours on your riding mower talking to yourself and Him. Sometimes accompanied by a host of velvet flying aircraft.
Oratorio #1: a competition between the feathered friends to see who can greet the morning with the loudest, most joyful song of praise. No sun is required. Usually won by the robin.
Oratorio #2: bass choir that hangs out in the pond and harmonizes all night long--usually accompanied by brief flashes of light everywhere
Rain: useful for slow walks, filling up the pond, reviving the bog; tears of joy for the flowers and trees--growth spurt encourager--except for the old man
Gardening Angels--those responsible for all the surprises at The Acres--laughter and tears encouraged; dancing a must
Symphony: booms and flashes of light that come with a hard rain in the darkness
Beauty: everything around you
Homesteader: aka "the Boss"; "wet dish rag"; "Dumb animal"--queen of The Acres
Neighbor--the people that live next to you that you actually know by name and talk to
Enemy: squirrels (tree rats), chipmunks, groundhogs, skunks, 'possum, raccoon
Books--enlighteners in the dark hours
Summer: a ten week weekend

The Routine: June 8, 2018

Well, I have finally started to settle into my summer "routine." Rise early, feed the cats, feed my feathered friends, feed the old man. (I cheated today and went to the clown's place.) Psyche has returned which can only mean that she has kittens nearby. I barely saw her for a year, and suddenly, she's a daily drop by. Helps Shadow eat his breakfast. He backs off when she shows up and waits his turn, so we know who the boss is--little sister. She failed motherhood last year. We will see about this time around--maybe.
Each day I do a little something that looks like work. Yesterday, I started a flower bed, trimmed around a little bit in preparation to do some mulching today, moved a few iris, mowed the front of the Acres. Today, I'll do a little more bed building and start the mulching. The iris are all but done--a few are still blooming and my Gardening Angels saved a new one for next week. It just started to bud this week. I will find out next week what color it is. "Tune in" to the Saturday slide show and eventually it will be there. The lilies are just starting to bloom, and it's going to be a banner year for larkspur--they do an impressive job of re-seeding themselves--as active as the love-in-the-midst, of which I have millions. The roses have started to bloom as well--some reds and pinks. I don't know what other surprises my Angels have for me this summer, but I will be content with the "resurrection" of the one iris that hadn't bloomed for five years. It was a beauty I brought up from Mom and Pop's. Thought I would never see it again, but "presto" there it was. Maybe the other one I really love is around somewhere as well . . .the angels are just keeping it until next year. Can't have too much excitement in one summer--the old heart may not be able to handle it.
I take at least one weekly trip to the Pizza Hut buffet. Get a daily newspaper (It's an old people thing kids). Take my many walks and sit-downs on the hill. (Lots of bluebirds around this year!) Spend the darkness reading. I was going to run down to Cincinnati tonight for the Cards and Reds, but it looks and feels like rain. Don't want to sit through a long rain delay in the evening. Get home too late. I think Sunday is an early game; maybe that one. Rain won't matter then. One last Senior Graduation party tomorrow. Then, I think that may be it. What a lovely summer time rut I can get into then. Ah--a hermit's dream.

Backroads of Morrow County Update: June 6, 2018

Backroads of Morrow County Update:
I took The Last Ride on its first ride through the backroads of Morrow County this evening. A rainy day had given way to a brief moment or two of sunshine. Mountains of white clouds formed a ring around the sky with lower wisps of gray clouds gently wafting into the east. Everything is by now, of course, green. The corn and soybeans have united the fields into blankets of green in their attempt to catch up to the wavy acres of wheat. The trees are leafed out--the patches of woods thickening into shadows. The fields still reveal their contours; corn and beans are not high enough to hide the outlines yet. There is not much color other than the green. Some sprinkles of daisy and patches of yellow trefoil. Not much else. Two deer watched me creep past undecided about melting back into the thicket or testing my reflexes by darting across to the other side right in front of me. They took the stay put approach and just watched me slowly slide by. The mourning doves and red-winged blackbirds control the wires and the roadside ditches. The meadowlark is in his favorite field. The calm of the countryside is cathartic for this old man and his love of the melancholy and serene. The highlight of the journey was the magnificent rainbow that filled the sky to celebrate the end of the rains--at least for the moment. It spread from horizon to horizon. Proof once more that this is my Father's world: the God of Beauty, the Covenant Keeping God of Promises, the God of Mercy. I'm sure--Lord willing--that this will not be the last ride for The Last Ride. My fellow Morrowites will have to get used to the black car cruising their back roads instead of a little red wagon. No fears--I'm sure they'll wave. Friendly strangers are accepted on the backroads on beautiful, sun-lit, rainbow sky days in Morrow County.