View From My Window

Last year I was made aware of a Facebook group called "View From My Window" and if my memory serves me, which we all know is not guaranteed, I touted the wonder of it at the time. Begun in the early days of the pandemic it was meant to simulate travel for all of us who were mostly housebound. Well, it is still going strong and the views I have seen from around the world, those of ordinary people, have been  not only beautiful but eye opening as well.  What I so like about it is that it is the antithesis of what I've generally been shown on the news about life in places around the world.  Who knew that in Kabul, beautiful backyard gardens remain intact? Of late, instead of just a photo, individual stories are included, some life affirming and some not so much. What it has shown me is that our sameness far outweighs our differences. And while not all of these photos are from my window, they aren't too far from that concept. Most of them anyway!

Honestly, this time of year the sunrises are magical changing from one day to the next.

That is if we are meant to have clear weather and by that I mean no rain. Mostly that has held true, but last Thursday night it began raining and I swear it brought back memories of Vancouver as it went on and on and on, lasting all day and into the night. 4.5 inches worth.

I think every one I know was going a little stir crazy as we are accustomed to outdoor activities on most days! No pickleball for us that day and neither did we play on Saturday morning as the courts were soaked. Some diehards did later  in the morning but by then it was on to college football for us. 

Along with beautiful sunrises, there are more ducks than in the summer. 

Bruce gathered up some fallen logs and made a few perches for our duck friends.

Roaming the shoreline I saw a turtle in the water scurrying to deeper waters.

In part I've been roaming in order to practice with the Panasonic camera that had been collecting dust. Every now and again I get a good shot with it, but I trash far more than I keep!

I have been traveling the world through photographs, I've been doing the same with literature. Here's what I've read lately:

• Heatwave by Victor Jestin   A French novella about a young man's split second choice and the mental consequences of such.
• Three O'Clock in the Morning by Gianrico Carofiglio  Another short novel written by an Italian novelist about a father and son becoming more acquainted through extraordinary circumstances.
• Heaven and Earth by Paolo Giordanao  More young people living in a commune type environment set in the Italian countryside. 
• Songs for the Flames by Juan Gabriel Vasquez is a collection of short stories mostly set in Columbia.

The above all written by men and the two novels I mentioned recently were written by an English and Scottish woman. I'm an equal opportunity reader as long as the story is good! Soon I will be re-reading our talented British son-in-law Tom's novel that he has been working on and is requesting opinions before it goes to an agent. This is so exciting! He's changed the title a few times and you know me, I could not resist suggesting even more options that were politely declined. Ha ha! While I enjoy writing, I have zero imagination when it comes to fiction and maybe that is why I love it so much. Anyway, I anxiously await the arrival. Finally, after two long years, we will be seeing them in person when they come in late December for a short Christmas holiday. Aren't we ever so fortunate to have FaceTime which has done an admirable job keeping us connected? Obviously not the same as in person, but certainly better than email.

Is time flying by for you? My goodness it is for us. Imagine that Thanksgiving is only weeks away. Speaking of time, Mary wanted some images for her new place that were taken on our lake now that she lives on it too so I spent some time in my library looking for anything worthy. Well, lo and behold, I came across the photograph that I took of our tree when it first went into the ground. Oh my goodness has it grown since March of 2019!

Just the other morning I'm pretty sure I saw a female Baltimore Oriole in it along with a couple of Tufted Tit Mouse. A few days earlier Bruce got on the steps and trimmed some of the top off because it is so big. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine it would come to this.

Look at this pretty Limpkin looking for snails that I found this morning.

Late last week while Bruce was fishing on the big lake he came across a swan, an interloper in that environment. I'm pretty convinced that it was shunned and driven off of Lake Davis. From his image it appears to be a juvenile which is why I'm thinking that way. We had gone on a walk at Lake Davis where I am happy to report there were signs of recent sidewalk grinding leaving it far flatter than it was. The swan family has but two juveniles remaining from the Spring, one of which looks like this.

We noticed a solitary swan away from the family unit which is why I'm thinking that it is looking for a new home. It would be awesome if we could have swans on Lake Pineloch, but I'm not holding my breath.

We also saw an Anhinga catching, 

and not releasing.

Holy cow, I am wearing pants for the first time since early March! Aside from the mini monsoon, the weather has been perfect. Clearing up any confusion I might have created, our air conditioner is working just fine, it is just that we don't need it because the humidity has dropped along with the temperature. Woo hoo!

Following church on Sunday we decided to try a new restaurant, or at least new to us, called Russells on Lake Ivanhoe. Turns out we enjoyed it quite a bit. As is often our custom we sat at the bar and watched the action. We could tell our bartender was really having to hustle and patiently waited our turn.  Come to find out, her coworker called out sick so it was only her to manage the customers. That is until the owner pitched in to help. Plus they had live music which was quite nice. So who do you think is who in the photo below? 

We had a chance to chat with the owner and learned that she and her husband own about four other restaurants, all of which are having staff shortages. It was darn impressive watching her helping out her employee, something you don't often see. The bread pudding was so good.

Seeing the view from windows found far and wide in our world, it is easy to get a serious case of wanderlust and if I'm honest, envy. Truth be told, we still have it pretty good here even if we don't get fall color. Instead we get this to admire.

The above was taken from my car window after I pulled over to the side of the road in wonder at the glorious pink against the crisp blue sky.

I guess the moral of the story is that we are far more alike than we are different. That said, seeing kangaroos in folks front yards is really something. Of course they probably never see this in their back yard.

Hopefully, if you are on Facebook, I have convinced you that the group is well worth seeking out and following because who doesn't like seeing a giant bear in a back garden 17 miles outside downtown Los Angeles?

your friend,

Gail