I have the most amazing commute and wanted to take a picture of the fall colors, but on the perfect days to take a picture, I was running late. When I was on time, the light just wasn’t quite right. Then we had that night with below freezing temperatures….
A couple of blocks before my school, there were two brilliant yellow trees with a scarlet tree between them. One night of cold, windy weather dealt with that pretty picture. Still, there’s a permanently beautiful view across the valley from the crest of a hill by a cattle ranch. Clouds roll across the creeks and the sky is often a brilliant blue, even right after sunrise. Even though I don’t have pictures to share with you, I see the views clearly in my mind and they bring me great joy. Those views also inspired me to buy a 2020 calendar featuring the Cotswolds in England — one of my favorite places that has similar terrain to where we now live. (Talking to high school friends on Facebook has been making me homesick!)
The commute home is almost as beautiful, but the long-range views are missing. Then I pull into our driveway and see our land. Between the two commutes, I spend the day enjoying teaching and being with my students and all the wonderful people with whom I work. True, I get overwhelmed with grading and lesson planning sometimes, but 90% of the time, I’m smiling (on the inside at least)!
When I get home, I’m often surprised at the changes that have taken place while I was gone. Our neighbor’s son is clearing undergrowth for us when he has time. As our views open up, we’ve changed our minds about where to build the house, and then changed them back again, only to change again a day later.
We know that we want the back of the house to look out toward the woods and possibly with a view of the creek, which is to the right of the above scene. We’ll be right at the transition from planted pines to hardwoods within hearing of the creek, regardless of quite where the house ends up.
Just like the ever-changing location, we’ve changed our minds about the house more times than we can count. However, we keep coming back to Whisper Creek from Southern Homes. We’ve talked about changes to all of the house plans we’ve looked at, including that one, but now that we’ve decided to replace the second bathroom with a tornado shelter, we’re content to leave everything else alone! The kitchen provides all the room I need to can veggies and make jam, and the porches are just the right size. We don’t like the mixed siding on the outside, but using the same siding everywhere is not a structural change. I found myself mentally planning paint colors and countertops this morning, and that hasn’t happened with any other plan in the four years we’ve owned the land!
Yes, it’s been four years. I’m glad I have old blogs to look back as we thought it had been five years. We have so much to be thankful for going into another wonderful Thanksgiving. The move here has done wonders for our mental and physical health, and we are overall healthy. We have friends and family who are worth their weight in gold, and may start building our forever home before Thanksgiving 2020 rolls around. We are going into winter with more hives than before, and I have an “Early Bird” chicken catalog to peruse. Life is good!
I saw pollinators that I don’t remember ever seeing before and quite a few that are regular visitors on the blossoms today. A large variety of butterflies passes through almost year round, and carpenter bees are a permanent (and unwelcome) fixture.
The Assassin Flies like to hang out by the lily pond and I find it very upsetting to see one cradling one of my honey bees like a baby only to suck its brains out! Luckily there are fewer of those around.
I’ve seen red wasps on the buckwheat in the evening, but this morning was all about the bees – honey bees, bumble bees, and tiny bees that I don’t have a name for. Butterflies are making the best of the pink clover, and the dog was fascinated by something in the wood line. All in all, it was the perfect way to start the day.
Surprise, surprise, we are also almost at the end of the school year. I’m so used to teaching into June that I can’t quite wrap my head around the fact that next week is the last one for seniors. Some seniors stopped coming to class over a week ago, which has me concerned about them maintaining a passing grade, but hopefully they’ll be back tomorrow. We also got to the end of standardized testing last week, and teachers and students alike are glad to have that over with! It’s been an interesting year, as any first year at a new school is, and I’m glad that school will be over before Memorial Day. It was always such a struggle to keep students focused after Memorial Day, especially students who took AP and IB exams at the start of May.
Lazer Creek Apiary 