Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda

I woke up this morning with "shoulda, woulda, coulda" running through my brain. I came up with all sorts of scenarios. I "should have" done this, which "would have" led to this, so that I "could have" done that. I think that we all suffer from this malady every now and then. Especially when confronted with questions from old friends that you don't know how to answer.

I was sent the line "roses are red, violets are blue" for me to complete. I really did not know how to react to this. I am not really the poetic type - even on such an elementary level as this. I know that this person is looking for a certain response, but I am not really sure that I am going come through as expected. I am going to have to cogitate on this dilemma for awhile.

Unusual Frost by Dory Schreuder

These are photographs taken by my cousin Dory at his home in Bozman, Montana, on Dec. 5, 2010, and if you click on them and open you can see all the detail and the sparkle. Mother Nature outdid herself when she created this wonder.

My cousins words: "We had a very heavy fog/frost at about 0 degrees. I took some photos this morning at about 10 degrees. The frost had grown crystals which stood vertically on most surfaces. The crystals were quite large.....big enough to photograph. When the sun shown on them, they were like thousands of mirrors reflecting light from everywhere. The photos only hint of the spectacle because the camera captured just the brightest."

I told my niece that I would tell her the story of how I met my cousin. So here goes.....

I was at work one day and taking dictation from a co-worker. We stopped for awhile so that he could gather his thought and I could rest my hand (that's right it was dictation done the old fashioned way with a pen, a steno notebook and Mr. Gregg's shorthand). We started talking about our families. He mentioned that he was from Montana and I told him that I had a great-uncle living in Billings. He asked me his name. "Harry Winfrey" I replied and that is when I found out that he was a great-nephew of Harry. (My Grandmother Hemping and Harry were siblings. I just realized that great-uncle Harry may have been my dad's namesake.)

As we talked more I realized that we had met many years before when my family had taken a trip to Montana when I was five years old. I remember him a little bit, but only because I knew him as the cousin that had been "stomped" by a horse. It only goes to show just how small the world was even back then. It is even smaller today.

Since then we have kept in touch. I moved back to Maryland and he moved to Washington State for awhile, eventually ending up back in Montana - his home state. He built his house himself. It sits on a a mountain top overlooking the town. He has sent some really nice pictures over the years and one day I hope to visit him there. Of course, it is going to have to be when the weather is warm as I am not a "cold weather" person.

Things happen in strange ways when they are meant to happen. Dory and I were destined to be reunited in San Diego, California, all those years later (approximately 25 by my count) and we have kept in touch ever since. This is not much of my dad's family left and I am grateful to having Dory in my life.

My Work Station

This is an antique secretary desk that my mom and dad gave me a long time ago. It is perfect for my laptop and other assorted things. At the moment it is squeezed in between my bed (to the right) and my window to the world (to the left). It is the place where I spend a great deal of my time socializing via electronic means - e-mails, FaceBook and this blog. I also do some writing - it is my way of venting, remembering and stretching my mind.

For a long time this little gem of a workspace sat in my other room - the one that holds my recliner, my television, my PC (which has since died) and my treadmill (3 years old and unused to date - time is coming though because I am losing weight to make walking easier - so far all I have had to do is cut back on my food intake and eat the right things).

When Adrienne visited me this last summer I moved it into the dining room so that we would have a place to set up the laptop so that we could download pics from cameras, set up files to share and put pics on thumbnail drives. It worked out so well that I decided to find a way to squeeze it into my bedroom - I succeeded. After tomorrow it will have even more room. I am putting up my new bed (a full size rather than queen - don't need all that room any more), moving out the cedar chest and putting in a much smaller table to become home for the small printer that I bought to hook up to the laptop. Then my workspace will be complete - fully functional.

I will continue to enjoy the best of all worlds - I can do my writing, listen to my music, watch tv programs that I missed, and keep in touch with my friends all while I keep track of what is going on outside my window (watching the seasons come and go as well as the wildlife that inhabit my yard on a seasonal basis). I can also give the cats back their window perch so they can enjoy the view as well.

Fall 2010 (November)

This is the beginning of fall at my house. The tree on the right was the first to drop all of its leaves and the tree on the left was the last. I can finally get the yard cleaned up next week. It will look so much better. Fall has been very confusing this year. Flowers in my yard (petunias and clematis) are still blooming - they just don't know to give up. I just hope that they come back next spring in all of their splendor.

I wish that I could figure out this photo thing - I know that I used to do it better but for some reason things are not working out like I want them to. The tree at the top is what my front yard looks like - thus being anxious to get the leaves gathered up and taken away.

Novermber 2010

Not much has happened during this month - the biggest excitement was that a young doe (100 lbs soaking wet) decided that she wanted in my yard. She did it the hard way though - through the gate rather than over the gate. She spent about 3 minutes in my back yard trying to get out. She hit and bounced of the fence several times before she figured out that she was better off going over. Once she did it took all of 1/2 second for her to be gone. I am just sorry that I didn't think of getting my camera until it was too late.