Brown Thrasher Bathes

I have some essays on the back burner, some poetry waiting in the wings, but for now, you can kick back and catch a view from my back porch.

 

-

Monday Music: I'm Yours (Jason Mraz)

Nine good minutes of your day can be spent listening to Jason Mraz talking about songwriting and creativity and then hearing him perform, "I'm Yours."

 

_

Saturday Haiku: Watchful Morning

 

some will watch
some will watch and wait
some will run

____________________

Photo by Charles Kinnaird

-

Chickadee Swing

 A pair of chickadees checking out the backyard feeder.

 

-

Monday Music: Freedom (Jon Batiste)

In recognition of  the first celebration of Juneteenth as a national holiday last Friday, here is Jon Batiste with his new recording, "Freedom." Watch this space for more on Juneteenth later this week.

 

-

Saturday Haiku: Woodland Nights

 

barred owl calls
in distant woodlands
spirits soar

________________________

Image: Dark Forest (Stock Photo)

-

Our Backyard Raised Bed Planter (a Photo Essay)

So earlier this year, I built a raised bed planter for my wife. She found a good plan on YouTube which I basically followed except on a few points. Number one, I didn't have all the power tools he has, so I had the good people at Home Depot cut the wood for me. I didn't have the clamps and router, etc., so I improvised in constructing it. 

For the legs, I found the 4x4 Douglas fir post but since it comes in an 8-foot length, I simply cut it into four equal sections. That made it a little shorter than the plans, but I avoided having to purchase a second 4x4 and having so much leftover wood. 

You can see the video that I sort of followed at https://youtu.be/DMORpDWq-q8.

 

For the sides, I had difficulty finding cedar. I even looked for cedar fencing to try to make that work, but could not find anything I could use. I settled on poplar, which does not have the rot-resistance of cedar, but it was available and relatively inexpensive. 

 

The other change I made is with the bottom. I used hardware cloth, as the plan calls for, and you see pictured landscaping weed-block cloth over that.

 

In the end, however, decided to use nylon screening (not pictured) instead to ensure good drainage. 

And the seedlings begin to grow...

                            ...and bloom...

...until now we are harvesting some produce.

The radishes and zucchini were grown in the raised bed planter, The green beans in a wine barrel planter, and the peppers were grown in a flower pot.

So I sliced up some green and yellow zucchini, chopped a little freshly harvested bell pepper, created a pizza sauce with tomato paste, onions, and Italian seasoning, and rolled out some pizza dough for an artisan flatbread dinner. 

And that is how we got our produce from the garden to the table. 

-

Monday Music: The Trail of the Lonesome Pine

Since it was 54 years ago this month when The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released, I was reading about all the people pictured on the album cover. The article at udiscovermusic told about each person, and the list included both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. It mentioned that "A recording by the duo (“The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine”) reached No.2 in the UK singles chart in December 1975." 

Well, I found that fascinating, so I searched for it on YouTube. The clip is from the Laurel and Hardy movie, Way Out West (1937), and it is apparently a classic in film history. Actor Chill Wills provided the deep bass voice that you hear coming from Stan Laurel.

 

-

Saturday Haiku: Peony Blossom

 

buds unfold
invitations sent
world dances

__________________________

Photo by Charles Kinnaird

-

Friday Funnies: Gary Larson Rides again

A relatively new cow funny from Gary Larson's Farworks

 

-

Mourning Dove Walk

A mourning dove takes a morning walk in the backyard, joined briefly by a young female cardinal. In the background, one can hear sparrows, a mockingbird's song, and brief comments from a crow.

 

-

Ubi Caritas (Maurice Duruflé) Performed by Octarium

 

 

Maurice Duruflé: Ubi Caritas

Performed by Octarium from the Essentials album

Krista Lang Blackwood, artistic director

 

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.

Where charity and love are, God is there.

 

Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.

Christ's love has gathered us into one.

 

Exultemus, et in ipso iucundemur.

Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him.

 

Timeamus, et amemus Deum vivum.

Let us fear, and let us love the living God.

 

Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.

And may we love each other with a sincere heart.

-

Saturday Haiku: Towhee Bathes

towhee bathes
Buddha relaxes
time of peace

____________________

Photo by Charles Kinnaird

*Author's Note: The traditional haiku form is three lines with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third. Haiku enthusiasts today often shun the 5-7-5 rule, saying that shorter is better. Some say that because of the language differences, 3-5-3 is closer to the Japanese haiku. I sometimes use the 3-5-3 format for haiku but often like the leeway that 5-7-5 allows. Throughout the month of June, I will be using a 3-5-3 guide to practice more use of the shorter haiku format.

For more about writing haiku, see my "Notes from a Haiku Workshop"

-

Sparrows Foraging

Some sparrows foraging in the clover. You can see one of them take off after a bumblebee, then watch another combing through the grasses. If you turn on the sound, you'll hear birds from all around the yard and in the trees.

 

-