If we were having coffee: Deluge

In the marsh during a misty day and a super high tide.

It’s a relief to hear the rain.  It’s the sound of billions of drops, all equal, all equally committed to falling, like a sudden outbreak of democracy.  Water, when it hits the ground, instantly becomes a puddle or rivulet or flood.

~ Alice Oswald

The day the rain started.  (On the way to the Chesapeake Bay Farms Dairy for ice cream.)

If we were having coffee, tea, or some other beverage, I would welcome you back to the Wabi-Sabi Ranch with open arms and hugs (if you’re amenable to hugs, that is).  It is great to see you again!  Come on in, and let’s have a seat wherever you like.  If we settle in the kitchen, we can watch the cardinals eating the berries in the juniper.  If we settle in the living room, we can watch whatever happens to wander by in the backyard.  It could be a deer or a fox or a couple of wild turkeys.  If we decide on the porch, we will have a good view of the gardens on one side and the loblolly pines that lead into the woods on the other.  The deck and front porch are possibilities, too, as long as you don’t mind the warmth and humidity.  It’s not as hot as summer, but not cool either.  It’s the kind of weather that makes my hair frizz and curl and look a little crazy.  My hair has been that way for most of this week.  There is a low pressure system sitting and spinning out in Kentucky that has been bringing us bands and bands of rain and storms.  Hopefully it will move soon and allow us to see the sun again.  I think this latest round of showers will be the last for a while.

I almost missed her as she went strolling by one morning.

How are you?  What have you been up to since our last chat?  Have you traveled anywhere?  Seen anything worth chatting about?  Had any good conversations?  Taken any good walks or hikes?  Learned anything new?  Have you seen any good art?  Gone to any festivals or fairs?  Have you read any good books or seen any good films?

Hi! (This little guy — a donkey at Chesapeake Bay Dairy Farms — was only two weeks old when I took this photo.)

I think it has only been about three weeks since our last coffee chat, but it seems longer.  Maybe that’s because I’ve had so much going on.  I’ve finished one or two books, started another one or two, and watched one or two films.  I am currently reading Lit: A Memoir by Mary Karr.  As you might recall, I read the first two books in Ms. Karr’s memoir series (The Liar’s Club and Cherry).  Ms. Karr’s writing is engaging, and that’s what pulled me into her story enough to want to read the second and third books.  She has also written The Art of Memoir which I am considering reading although I don’t have any intention of writing my own memoir.  However, I think learning to write a memoir will come in handy when I finally get around to finishing up my novel.

Passing by Pocomoke River State Park on our way to Assateague Island.

Speaking of my novel… if we were having coffee or something else to drink, I would tell you that I’ve gotten out of the habit of writing on a daily basis and that has put my novel on a long pause.  I think my regular writing habit became erratic back in April and I haven’t had the time or inclination to get back on track until today.  I’m starting with this blog post, and thinking that regular blogging will give me enough practice and confidence to work on my book once again.

Winding road.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you all about my niece’s visit.  We managed to get a lot of work done in the scrounger’s garden.  Mostly we weeded, reestablished the path (which was overgrown with weeds and grasses), and mulched.  We also had a bit of fun painting some old pots and pans that M and I found during our clean-up of the ranch.  I’ll take some photos of them soon to show you.  We did not get around to expanding the garden, but K did dig up some of the irises which frees up the area so I can extend it in that direction if I so desire.  Unfortunately, I didn’t take any “before” pictures of the garden.  Here is an “after:”

After all the work.

While K was here, I treated her to a day with the hair coloring genius/artist who does my hair.  It took a while, but when it was all finished, K had a new style/cut and several new colors (magenta, purple, and blue) in her hair.

Beautiful hair with beautiful colors.

My brother (K’s father) and his new wife and son came for a visit over the weekend while K was here.  I think I might have told you that my brother’s new wife is from Vietnam.  There is a bit of a language barrier there, but we’re all working on it.  We went to Assateague while they were here to see the horses and spend some time on the beach.  The weather was not cooperative.  There was a heavy, misting rain, and it was terribly windy.  We were all pretty wet and cold by the time we left.  On the plus side, we did see the horses, including one of the foals.  Some idiot thoughtless person decided to try to pick up (lift) the foal which brought on the wrath of a couple of the park volunteers.  I do hope they issued a citation.

One of the wild horses of Assateague.

If we were having coffee, tea, water, or some other beverage, I would tell you that I haven’t been feeling well the past few days, but seem to be on the mend today.  I am fairly certain it was my body’s way of telling me to rest for a little while.  It has been a good time to take a rest.  The weather has been dreary and we have gotten a large amount of rain.  In fact, we had so much rain that a lot of schools and businesses (including M’s place of employment) were closed on Thursday (and some on Friday) due to flooding.  We received more than 6.5 inches of rain here at the ranch.  It was probably more, but our rain gauge was overflowing when we woke up on Thursday morning.  The wee hours of Thursday morning were quite noisy with thunder, hail (it sounded like rocks hitting the house), and bright with almost continuous flashes of lightning.

Flooding in Princess Anne (from the Manokin River).

We have been fine here at the ranch although we have had some super high tides, the kind that result in the fish swimming on the woodland trails.  The backyard had some rather large pools of water, but the rain garden and the marsh were taking care of that the last time I checked and they might be gone by now.  That is one thing I’ve noticed about living near a marsh.  It’s like a sponge.  Excess rain gets soaked up and, I suppose, carried out to the bay.

A fish in an aquarium at the Assateague Island National Seashore Visitors Center.

If we were having coffee, tea, or something else to drink, it would probably be time to turn this over to you.  Thank you so much for stopping by for another chat.  You’re welcome to stay for a while.  I don’t think we’ll see a sunset tonight, but you never know so we should keep an eye on the clouds in case they clear.  Sunset is now at 6:45 PM.  We can try to go to the Point if it looks like there will be something to see.  I’m not sure we’ll get there.  It depends on the tide.  The road floods during the super high tides.  I’ll check the tide charts and we’ll take it from there.  We can always go out to the dock although if it is high tide, that will require some wading so I hope you brought your wellies.

A sunset from last week.

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂  And be careful on your way off the peninsula.  There’s flooding throughout, most of which has probably receded by now, but you should still be on the lookout for it since we had more rain this morning.

At high tide.

This post is in response to Part Time Monster’s #WeekendCoffeeShare.  Thank you to Diana for hosting it.  Also, a big congratulations for the #WeekendCoffeeShare being featured on WordPress’s Daily Post.  So glad to see it being shared among the rest of the community!  Put the kettle on, start the coffee maker, open a bottle of wine, or whatever your preference is, and join us.  I’d love to hear all about what you were up to this week.

At the end of the day.