Maine: straight up white milk

White Maine students are least likely in nation to see kids of another race at school

That was the headline in the Bangor Daily News today.

It’s little surprise that Maine — the country’s whitest state — has the country’s most racially homogeneous schools.

This was the first line of the article.  

Questions:  What does writing an article like this hope to prove?    Why is Maine the country's whitest state?  Why do public schools even exist?  

okay......I got a little carried away on that last one.  It's a well known fact that I am not in favor of public education.

Maine is a beautiful state.  Maine is mostly rural with lots and lots of trees.  Maine's biggest industry is now tourism.  Maine has lots of low paying jobs.   Maine is cold and snowy for at least six months of the year.  It gets dark at 3:30 pm in the winter.  Maine is buggy (as in mosquitoes and black flies) for another three months of the year.  Maine gets inundated with tourists for another three months of the year.  

.....am I painting a good picture of why Maine might not be on a majority of peoples lists of places to live?

We moved to Maine from New Jersey.  New Jersey is a very racially diverse state.  Maine is not.  Did that fact have anything to do with our decision to move here.  I would be lying if I said no.  When we were deciding to move away, we were looking for space, breathing room, but staying on the east coast.  We were also looking for a place that very few other people were going to.  Maine fit the bill.  Very few people want to move to a place like Maine.  Some think they do, but what they really want is a vacation.  Life in Maine is hard.  There are very few high paying careers type jobs here.  We love it here , we are making it work.  That's what you have to do to live here:  make it work, live on less, work more, or move away.  Plain and simple.  

I think I got a little long winded there! whew!  

Anyway, when we were looking for a place to live, were we aware of the fact that Maine was the "whitest" state.  Yes we were.  Just like we were aware of other places in the country that were the least "white'  .  If Maine, with all its beauty and shortcomings, just happened to be 90% racially "unwhite" would we have still moved here?  Probably not.  

So, look at it the other way.  If an "unwhite" family was looking for a new home in a new place they might also take into consideration the same things we did.  I don't see that as being racist, but I'm sure some will.

I believe that Maine is the "whitest" state because it's just darn hard to make it here. There are so many other places in this country that life is easier in.  Heck!  did I even mention the rocks?!!!   Just try and grow something here!  lol    In the almost 14 years that we have lived here I have not seen any evidence of racism.  Maine is the land of "live and let live"  Mainers can be very standoffish, but if you need something, anything, no matter who you are or what color your skin, or where you are from, they will be there for you. 

Writing articles like this without having solutions (should there even be one?)  is just plain
"looking for a fight".  Controversy at it's finest.  Should the government force some of us Mainers to move to Detroit?  At least it's still cold there!  Should the government force some native Mississippians to move to Maine?  They would surely freeze and go stir crazy!  

Last I knew this was still a free country and anyone could try and make a go of it anywhere they wanted.  (and could afford to--after all free doesn't apply to everything)

Maine: the way life should be! (once you get above Portland anyway.  )

Anniversary of our escape

Thirteen years ago we did what so many people wish they could do.

We ran away.

From everyone and everything we knew.

My husband quit his job with UPS.

We sold our house.

And we left.

Well, it wasn't that simple!  It was five years in the planning and dreaming and scheming.

Once we decided that we wanted to change our life, we had to decide where we would go.

We decided that we wanted to stay in the northeast, preferably by the sea, so we decided

on the state of Maine.

After spending a few years exploring Maine, we settled on a small town downeast near the

coast.

On our trip up to work with a realtor in 2004 we found our home!

Our little house (dbl wide ranch) in the BIG woods!

The day we moved in I had a brief moment of "of my, what did we do?"  but it quickly passed.

Our house was all alone on a dirt road surrounded by hundreds of acres of woods.  Coming from

our 1/5 acre lot in a subdivision was quite the shock.

Thirteen years later the portion of road in front of our house is paved (my car is happy!)  and we have

a few neighbors (i feel much safer)

But the hundreds of acres of woods is still right outside my door to explore.  It's quiet.  It's calming.

And I can do what I want without the "audience"

We moved here without jobs and with teenagers.  We knew no one.

Thirteen years later our family is grown and married and we have almost 8 grandchildren!  Our

children LOVE Maine and live nearby.  Everyone is successful.  God is GREAT!

We obviously came here with resources ($ to buy our home from the sale of our home)  so we didn't

have to work as hard.  My husband and I have mostly worked part time for the years we have been

here.  Our wants and needs are simple so we keep our cost of living low.

It's not an "easy" life living here in northern New England, but it's a wonderful life.

And we've never regretted escaping from the rat race!

What's going on?

it's been a while since i just wrote about life around here.

so here goes.........

it's winter.  lately it's been cold, then its not so cold.  then it snows, then it rains, then it snows again.  that pretty much sums up winter weather on the maine coast!  i like the snow in the winter.  i don't like the rain in the winter.  especially on top of the snow.  we haven't gotten any big snowstorms yet, just a bunch of little ones.  we have had one frigid cold snap and now we are just entering another one.  they usually only last a few days around here.

it's been quiet on the wink. i even got to go ramble around in the snowy woods alone a couple of times this week.  so nice!  sometimes you have to make things be quiet on purpose.  you have to slow down and remind yourself that it is possible and very okay to enjoy quiet days alone; just the two of us.

things are going well in chicken land.  so far they are doing great with the cold and snow.  this morning i got up at 5 and went to check on them and the coop was about 12F and the outside temp was 3F.  i brought them water and scratch and turned on their light to get them moving and eating to stay warm.  they are about 8 months old now and i pretty consistently get an average of 56 eggs a week from the 9 birds.  it sounds like a lot of eggs, but in reality if we both eat 2 eggs per day that takes care of 28 of them!  then with baking and other recipes and maybe once a week giving the chickens a scrambled egg treat, we usually give away only about 18 each week.  we would give away more if people would remember to ask!

my other big project this winter is organizing my photos.  i've got a table set up in the dining room and enough bins or boxes to cover the years 1983-2016!  now i'm going through every loose photo and falling apart album, writing important info on the backs, weeding out blurry, dumb pics and organizing according to date.  then these neat little boxes will be condensed down and put on a shelf jeff has put up over the doorway in my craft room.

another ongoing project for me is lesson planning for my grandsons preschool homeschool.  i've stated before that i purchased Horizons preschool from Alpha Omega pub.  so far we love it.  my job is to plan out the lessons and assemble what momma needs to teach it.  the best part is that i will be able to use all of these lesson plans for all of the grands that will be homeschooled.  so i only have to do each grade once!  i love doing it!

i'm hoping to get a new camera soon so i can add pics to my blog!  my camera of 8 years finally stopped working, and as i am also pretty newly not working also (lol)  it is hard for me (even harder for me)  to spend money on myself.  but i really miss having a camera!

so i'm still trying to figure out where i'm going with this blog and what the purpose is.  i just feel compelled to keep on keeping on.  i have been blogging since i moved to maine 12 years ago.  i'm a xanga misfit, i loved the xanga blog!  i've had this one now for 3 or so years and i just need to spend more time on it and less time on facebook.  that is my goal for 2017!

well, until next time!

what's going on?

i have come to the conclusion that if i'm going to make my blogs like others i read then i need to take more pictures.
and since all of the pictures i take are of my grandbabies, then my blog would only be about them!

so here is what's going on

home organizing and cleaning:  my winter clothes are in and summer ones are out!  some went to the rag bag!  i tend to wear the same things over and over and over again.  went through my bookshelf and weeded out a small stack for goodwill.  i need to get on a cleaning schedule now that i am home every day.  it would make it so i didn't have to think.

crafting:  i made a no sew fleece blanket for sophie in purple camo!

cooking:  apples, apples, apples!!!  i went apple picking 3 times and i think i picked about 100 lbs!

so far i've made a ton of applesauce, six pie fillings, and a few apple cakes.  i'm going to make a couple dozen jumbo apple muffins and a few more apple desserts to keep in the deep freeze.

outside:  cutting down trees, raking leaves, cleaning the garage, and winterizing the coop.  the garden cleaned up so easily this year with having the chickens right there to feed the spent plants to!  i've also been working on a new garden area.

we cut our own wood

charlie keeping warm first thing in the morning.  we have yet to turn on the furnace this season

family:  lots of birthday celebrations lately and family visits.  these boys all love getting together.  their favorite thing to do now is to play hide and seek (charlie calls it hide and sneak)

the television goes on when the grown ups need a break!

school:  cruising right along with prepping lesson plans for sarah to teach ethan.  I hear that calvin is paying lots of attention and learning lots too.  maybe they can be in the same grade at some point since they are only 18 months apart in age?  i've also started to put together a learning packet for charlie at his mom's request.  with winter on our doorstep it will be perfect learning time!

faith:  every morning i do bible writing.  i'm in isaiah 24 right now and its very interesting.  learning a lot.  also attend a bible study with a couple friends and we are studying Girls Gone Wise.  AND, i also do a bible study on facebook for me and the girls, right now its Conversation Peace. 

well, that's it from the wink!  

week off aftermath

i'm still at it!!!!  week before last i took a week off from micro managing my food and exercise.  i purposefully did not weigh in for a week after that ended and i was still at a 9 lb. loss.  that was last week.  i haven't weighed in this week.  i think i'm going to try to not do it until friday.

i'm still keeping track of everything and exercising.  now that the weather is nicer there are many more opportunities to hike and garden.

i FEEL so much better, even though its just been 9 lbs.  imagine how i will feel when i've lost it all!
wow, i will probably just float away.

we have committed ourselves to do at least 10 hikes in Acadia National Park this season.  #1 is done
on sunday we hike The Great Head Trail

The Great Head Trail is an easy hike around a peninsula that juts out into the ocean.  there is very little elevation gain and the hike was about 2 miles at the most. (we left from sand beach parking lot and returned across the beach).

tomorrow i am going to an Autism walk in Bar Harbor so that should be about 2 miles on flat roads. oh, and its supposed to rain.  ugh.    

as long as i'm being scattered.................

garden

this year i have one less long bed because we took it away to fit the chicken coop and the enclosure (which is not enclosed yet)  so we will be extending the bed all the way on the left and building another smaller one in this area.

i'm getting very close to getting my chicks.  we've gotten this far on the brooder box (thats a light sitting on top of the wire.  i went with a Brinsea ecoglow brooder to simulate the warmth of a mama chicken.  i'm afraid of heat lamps & i love my house.  the plan is to get 6 chicks and they will outgrow this in a few weeks and then we will go to plan b (whatever that is)

exciting times on the wink!

Day#30 I made it!!!!!

yup, it's finally hot in maine!!!!!!  depending on where you are, of course!  yesterday and today were in the upper 80's at my house and inland, but lower along the coast.

i bought this pool at marden's for the awesome price of $15.  it's supposed to be for the boys, but i told jeff to fill it up on friday and we enjoyed lazing in it yesterday and today when the afternoon got too hot.  we are surrounded by lakes, but i just want peace and quiet and privacy.

well, i think after blogging every day for 30 days, writing a blog a couple times a week should be easy? i'm hoping that this summer is not a busy one.  i want to take time to rest and relax and breathe.

Day #28 farmers market

this year i am trying to go to the farmers market each week.  i did not plant a garden this summer so it is really important to get me some fresh, fresh, fresh veggies!

the season has been really slow in starting this year, but i think its going to be a good one.

here is my bounty from todays market

i purchased 2 really large heads of leaf lettuce, a large bunch of swiss chard, a large bunch of spinach, 4 medium heads of brocolli, 2 large bunches of radishes, 2 pints of strawberries, and 2 containers of goat cheese spread--all organic.  

eating healthy does not come cheap.  these purchases cost me $43.  however salad greens are the basis for all of my lunches and dinners and these will last me all week.  

i'm looking forward to visiting the market each saturday morning & i'm considering joining a CSA next summer.

Day #25 thirty one years

thirty one years we've been married and we are still trying to learn how to do this thing!!!!  but i will say that we will die trying thats for sure!

so this is how we did this anniversary thing

slept in a bit later
went for a walk
spent the afternoon with calvin & ethan   (their parents are running vbs at their church this week)
went to a local take out place called crosbys and got a fried scallop meal & a fried shrimp meal with fries, onion rings, roll, and cole slaw, then drove down to the waterfront and ate in the truck (it was raining)

well thats how it went.  not too exciting, except for the dancing around the living room with the boys part.

***yesterday i discovered a really pretty honeysuckle plant that i had chucked into the woods after we dismantled a garden bed against the house when we moved in ten years ago.  evidently it had just languished unnoticed all this time until we cut some trees down in that area.  now its everywhere!

really pretty orange/red flowers

as long as i'm sharing pics i think i'll share these two i took this morning

we just re-did the front porch & lawn area.  flowers are doing awesome.  grass?  we are definitely not grass growing kinda people.as long as its somewhat green we are good.

our back deck is gone!!!!! i am so happy!!  jeff  put up those crazy steps so he can go in and out.  we need to do some work on the slab and skirting and grading the ground and then he is going to build a much, much smaller deck.  and oversized porch. 

Day 21 summer solstice

This morning in ellsworth maine the sun rose at 4:48 a.m.  and it will set this evening at 8:22 p.m.
this makes the longest day of the year 15 hours and 34 minutes long.

it is a sunny day with a bit of a breeze.  mosquitos and black flies are not bad at all, but the deer flies are pestering.

we did some errands this morning.

finally made it to the farmers market and bought lettuce, swiss chard, and spinach.  in this part of the country that is what is currently available locally grown (he had some bok choy & rhubarb also)

got new phones!  hubby is not only figuring out the texting keyboard, but also touch screen.

picked up some groceries.  with these prices i may just finally lose some weight!!!

crafting stuff for the summer--mostly some decorations (banners & such) for baby charlies dedication/ethans 2nd birthday.  we will be having a combo celebration.....

,,,,,,,,,,and we are having a home dedication!!!!

the theme is patriotic--lots of ideas on pinterest

here is one project

frames from the dollar tree--spray painted & the rest i found on pinterest and printed off.  i made two of the one in the middle because i really love it!

happy first day of summer!!!!

oh, and the high temperature for today is 72* after a low around 50*

Day #20 rosa rugoso

wikipedia calls it an invasive weed.  it is not a native plant, but it smells heavenly and looks beautiful

Day #18 wild flower finds

about a week ago i was driving down the road and i noticed some different leaves occasionally along the side of the road.  so i went for a walk and this is what i found

wild irises?!!

yeah.....i went back with a shovel and a bag and scored me quite a few of these.
i'm assuming that when the road was paved a couple of years ago they seeded the shoulders with wildflower mix and its taken that long for these to appear?

so while i was at it i also went to another spot where every year i spy these beauties

wild columbine

there are purple and pink and a bluish color.  i've seen them there in the ditch for quite a while but i always forget about them.

add these to the lupines i snitched off the side of the road a few years ago, plus the chives, and the day lilies and i've got quite the wildflower garden going along the side of the driveway.  

here are a couple more photos taken on a walk on the wink

there are blueberry fields on the top of the road with a lonely little camp in the middle of them.

these are bee hives brought all the way here from Florida to pollinate the blueberry crop.  

Day #3 Beaver Pond

There is a creek that flows through the woods across the road and then crosses under our road a little ways past our driveway.

we don't go in the woods across the road as much as we go in the woods out behind us.  it had been a few years at least since we hiked around there.  the logging roads are pretty overgrown and its not easy hiking.

recently a neighbor asked if we had been over there to see the beaver pond.  we had not.  amazing!  where once a small creek meandered through the woods a pretty significant dam had been constructed and acres and acres of land flooded.

my camera does not do the scene justice.

there is a fairly large looking beaver lodge way across from where we were standing.  i didn't have time to explore and get better pics, but this must have been here for at least a few years.  the pines were dying from standing in the water, but the water was teeming with tadpoles!  i bet its teeming with mosquitoes too, but since it is somewhat non-stagnant, maybe it won't be too bad.

so this is where all of the different sounds i've been hearing this spring and last year have been coming from.  just before we found out about the pond we had been discussing the loudness of the frog sounds were coming from across the road.  there were no ponds or vernal pools in there the last time we had explored.

the acreage that this pond is located on has been for sale since we've lived here (10 yrs.)  i've seen it advertised for subdividing and developing.  hopefully the beaver has put a damper on that for the time being!

return to blogging?

i have my new laptop and i plan to start blogging again.  i'm going to do a 30 day blogging challenge for the month of june.  hopefully that will jump start me!

i have very little free time.  no....that's not true.  i only work 25 hours a week, but i fill up the rest of my time with babies, crafting, and gardening.  so really, i have no free time after that!

its still cold here. we've had a couple warm days.  its been a cool, damp spring right on the heels of a long, cold winter.  still everything has greened up and life goes on.

ahhhhhhh, babies!!!!!!!

This would be the reason i don't blog very often

In other news.........it is still winter here no matter what the calendar says.

5-6  inches of snow in the night. We woke to a blue sky and bright sunshine. The temperature was about 25 or so today-a real heatwave! We finally got out the snowshoes and took a mile long trek through the woods out back . I haven't been spendkng nearly enough time outside this winter-its been so frigid and windy!  Tonight we are expecting another round of snow and another sunshiny day tomorrow.
Today was a stay home day, i spent some time rearranging  my kitchen cabinets a bit and jeff and i discussed some kitchen improvements that are in our future. I took care of some other odd jobs but mostly i tried to rest up.

The house always seems extra calm and quiet after taking a precious little boy home. We had ethan overnight and brought him home around 5 pm. He is so funny and sweet. He has become very easy and enjoyable to have stay over. Joe didn't stay the night this week. Meghan is weaning him off his pacifier ( he is 2 1/2) so we decided to wait until this is accomplished. So far, so good!
So far february in maine has been cold and snowy. The past week we've been getting storms every other day it seems.
I've been setting a weekly goal of 10 miles for my walking, but i haven't been hitting it. So far this week i've made it to 5 miles! Weight loss goals are suffering too- my motivation is low :(
I switched to some homemade deodorant a couple weeks ago and so far i like it!  Today i made some shampoo and used it this evening-it smells very pepperminty! We have been trying to cut down on the amount of chemicals we are using.  I'm going to make some air freshener spray next.

winter doldrums ?

so, i'll start this post off with pics of my two younger grandsons.

my little charlie baby.  he is 2 1/2 weeks old and he has just stolen my heart.  he is getting adjusted to life on the outside pretty well.  ben is laid off for the winter so the three of them are enjoying just hanging out and bonding.

this is my #3 grandson, luke.  he is 3 months old now and a happy, happy, happy baby.  meghan has returned to working a few hours a week so jeff and i get to spend a few hours with him and joe (then i take joe home for more bubby time!)

i won't complain about the cold because i know the rest of the country has been cold too. especially in places that don't usually get that cold.  we haven't had any more ice and i guess we've been having a fair amount of snow. but except for a few days this month when it warmed up into the 40's and we thawed a little, its been frigid temperatures for the last 6-7 weeks at least.  i think its been the coldest winter since i've been here in maine (10 years now).

anyway, on the bright side each day is lighter and i find my mood improving and i'm not lighting up every room the way i was in december/early january.   winter has its struggles, but i still wouldn't trade living here for anything.

we've gotten into a pretty good rhythm of working (me 20 hrs & jeff 24 hrs) spending time on home projects and spending time with the kids/babies.  i want to make sure that i am a part of each ones life on a regular basis.  joe and ethan now come and spend the night once a week.  when the weather gets easier i will try to spend more time with them both one on one. i love being bubby!!!

i haven't been crafting anything lately because i am trying to organize my craft supplies.  i need to know what i have and i need to know what i need to properly store them in my new craft room.  its slow and tedious but i am slowly making my way through tote after tote.  once that is done then i have some sewing projects and lots of scrapbooking to do.

now that my daughter doesn't need me cooking meals for them, i've been cooking very little the last week or so.  i'm trying to eat a more "raw" diet so i've still got lots of prep to do, but no big, heavy meals.  i've been juicing more regularly too.  i feel like i have so much more energy when i eat this way.

until next time!

maine ice storm 2013 followup

well, its been over a week now since the ice storm and the ice is still with us.  today the sun finally came out for more than a few minutes.  the wind kicked up and the ice laden tree branches swaying in the wind sounded like leaves rustling.  some ice was falling, but not much.

the old farmers almanac had predicted a colder and snowier winter for northern new england.  so far, so good.  frigid temps again for the next few days.  this is the 3rd frigid cold snap in the last month.

 

 

we had a quick snowstorm drop 6-7 inches of snow last night.  this morning was all pretty and rosey looking

 

   

maine ice storm 2013

 

 we had a pretty bad ice storm around these parts that started on saturday december 21st and ended late on monday december 23rd.  many people lost their power on saturday, but ours didn't go out until monday morning.  right after i had gotten up, but right before i made my coffee :((
this first pic is how it looked out my back door on saturday morning.

 

jeff and i spent the weekend just keeping up with stuff and hanging out while the lights blinked occassionally.  sunday the power went off and on a couple of times but not for longer than an hour.  monday morning i got up at 6:30 and turned on the coffee pot, but before my coffee could brew the power went out and we knew that was it.  the ice was getting thicker and thicker.

 

we had the woodstove going and lots of bottled water and food we didn't have to cook, so we were good.  when darkness started to fall we got out all of our candle lanterns and some flashlights and spent the evening just chilling out--mostly with jeff playing his guitar--and talking--and drinking a little whisky--maple flavored jim beam--yum!!!

 

when we got up on tuesday morning it was all done and then we had to work to get out of the driveway.  we went to our daughters house--she had power.  one sons home also kept power but the other didn't--his was actually out for 3 days.

 



 



 

 

 

 

 



we had to cut down a whole bunch of young birches and wild cherries that bent over and blocked the driveway.  a couple of them were touching the phone line, but it held up.  a couple of branches were overhanging the power line, but the power company came and trimmed them back.

 

the roads were all good down to julies (14 miles of back road) we had to drive around many drooping trees, but none that totally blocked the road. 

 

funny picture of jeff conquering the elements!

 

 

 

 

i took my christmas morning food to julies to prepare and we planned on going to the sons house with power on christmas morning.  we also took showers there.  then we stopped at the grocery to stock up on snackies and then to mcd's for our christmas eve dinner.  we were on our own for christmas eve and i don't even know if there was church services.  at that point we were too tired to care much.

 

when we got back home the sun was shining and the ice was beautiful.  pictures cannot do it justice

 

 

 

the temps were very cold that night--near 0*  i put on my down coat and went outside to look at the stars.  it is very, very dark here anyway because of no street lights and very few houses, but with no lights from any houses at all it was  actually very nice!

 

we brought in more wood and packed all the dirty dishes into a tote to put in the garage until the power went back on because they were just bugging me sitting there.  got all the candles lit and settled down with our snacks.  around 7 pm the power went on!  i hardly noticed it because everything was turned off so i just heard the soft hum of the fridge going on.  i jumped up and ran around and turned every light on!!!! 

 

then the power went back off!!!!! 

 

it came back on for good (so far) about an hour later.

 

it was kind of a happy/sad kind of feeling though. 

 

it snowed a few inches on thursday and the snow clung to all the ice and made it look even prettier

 

 

it has stayed cold for the most part and we've had very little melting.  this morning the sun was trying to come out and the temps got up to about 33.  some ice was falling, but i think there is still so much ice out there.  tonight its freezing rain again and we are expecting 6-10 inches of snow?  then potentially another coastal storm on thursday into friday. 

 

and we've only just begun.........

 

 

i should mention that there are still some mainers who haven't gotten their power back yet.  a lot of people didn't have power again until saturday--we were very fortunate considering we live in an outlying area that we got our power back so quickly.

 



 

 



 

down day

no worries! i'm happy!  this has been my only day in the past week to just stay home and i'm finding it hard to just sit down!!!!

i went on a trip down to mass. to go to IKEA with a friend. we had an awesome time and came back with her entire car filled with my stuff.  she promised next time she would fill it with her stuff too!
this was a long awaited spending spree that jeff agreed i should go on.  i ticked off tons of items from my wish list.  it was all about me (for a change)

.....however,


i did buy these cute little blue chairs to go with a little white table i got from ikea a few years ago--perfect for the boys

its a warm, muggy day today. probably the last one we will have this season. fall is upon us. its been a pretty wet summer and i haven't ventured up to my chair in the woods. i did today but the mosquitos are still pretty bad. so i came back down to the yard and let the dragonflies protect me from the bugs.  i even had my bug zapper, but there were just too many of them buggers!

 i haven't done my "ings" in a while, so here you go

 

listening:  leaves rustling, crickets chirping, logging trucks rumbling

eating:  nothing

drinking: water

wearing:  blue sweats, white & blue tee with butterlies & sneaks

feeling:  okay. not too anxious or worried.  restless

weather:  nice early fall day, slight breeze, blue sky, warm and humid

wanting:  to shower, i feel buggy and sweaty from my walk

needing:  to focus more on most important tasks

thinking:  about what to make for dinner, i haven't been shopping too much lately for food

seeing:  the woods beginning to yellow, maples reddening, sheets flapping on the line; pink & red, my home sweet home

enjoying:  being home today