Saturday, September 29, 2007, 04:24
Rainbows
Thursday was one of those days when clouds moved through quickly so that one minute it was a bright sunny fall day and the next minute it looked like a big thunderstorm was looming and ready to break loose.
By the time I got home at about 6 p.m., the sky was in its "looking like a thunderstorm phase." Even though neither of us felt up to it, particularly, Randy and I went out to feed the horses. That's the thing about animals. They always need someone to take care of them, no matter how you feel.
We are still both not feeling very good. I keep thinking that this virus has to let up pretty soon. Doesn't it? But it just keeps hanging on. . .and on.
Anyway, we went outside to feed the horses. The sun was shining from the other side of the dark bank of clouds. I could see on the hills to the west that it was raining and that the rain was moving in our direction.
A minute later, a cold rain, driven by wind gusts out of the west, descended on Rural Route 2.
If we were smart, Randy and I would have both gone in the house until it let up. We wanted to finish feeding the horses, though, so we kept on. By the time we had carried water and put out hay, it was still raining.
"Let's stand in the barn. At least we'll be out of the wet," I said.
I had no more than said it when I looked up at the sky. It was still raining, but the sun was shining, too. My mother would have said that if it rains when the sun is shining, it means it will be a nice day tomorrow. In this case, she would have been right because Friday was a gorgeous fall day.
Anyway, I looked up at the same time Randy did as he was heading for the barn to get out of the rain.
And there, across the sky to the east, was a double rainbow.
It was the first rainbow of any kind we have seen this year. Usually we will see a rainbow at some point during the summer, but we didn't get enough rain this past summer to make a rainbow possible.
"Look!" Randy said as he stood beside me in the barn doorway. "The rainbow is coming down right in our yard by the driveway!"
And sure enough, it was.
I have never seen a rainbow ending in our yard before. Randy hasn't either.
We stood and watched the rainbows for a while, and as the sun dropped lower in the western sky, the rainbows moved farther to the east.
"That was really something," Randy said. "A rainbow ending in our yard."
The cold rain and the wind let up in a few minutes. The squall had moved away. I wish I'd had the camera outside with me to take pictures of the rainbows, but of course, I didn't. Once the rain was gone and the sun was starting to set, the air was so clear, everything sparkled. The world around here, the grass anyway, is now intensely green. We usually only see that kind of green grass in the spring. I guess that's what a few inches of rain will do when rain has been in short supply.
We finished our chores and then made our way back to the house.
The rainbows, all things considered, lasted for only a short time. But I will always carry the image with me of the rainbow ending in our yard.
Guinevere -- My 16-year-old silver tabby Guinevere is now finished with her six weeks of antibiotics. The swelling has mostly gone out of her face although she remains kind of snuffly. She is still eating, though, and her appetite is actually pretty good. For canned kitty food, at least. She doesn't seem interested in eating dry food. And the other day, she started sleeping in the rocking chair in the living room again on the quilt I have put there for the kitties. She always used to love sleeping in the rocking chair, but she hasn't slept there for a couple of months. I don't know how she will do without antibiotics. Time will tell whether she will continue to improve or if she will go downhill again.
Still Sick of Being Sick! -- Randy and I are both thoroughly sick of being sick. This wretched virus is hanging on for an awfully long time. I keep hoping every day that when I wake up in the morning, I will feel fine. So far it hasn't happened yet. Randy stayed home from work on Friday. And he admitted that he had felt so rotten all week that he could have stayed home every day and slept. Or at least tried to sleep. That's the bad thing about this -- sleeping and getting any rest is just about impossible. I guess we'll have to feel better in order to sleep. . .
LeAnn R. Ralph
Thursday, September 27, 2007, 05:04
Gangbusters!
Sunday when Randy finished trimming up at the cemetery, he brought home the urn I had planted this spring and put out for the graves of my mom and dad.
I planted some greens and ornamental plants and strategically placed the collection of plant stakes in the urn. I gave up on planting flowers a long time ago because the rose shafers won't leave them alone. The bugs eat anything resembling a flower right down to the stalks. I have a little wheelbarrow plant stake. And a garden fairy. And couple of stained glass flowers and other glass flower-type stakes that I put in the urn. This year I added a stained glass butterfly that I hung over the side.
One of the plants that I put in the urn is the green and white trailing ivy.
And for the first time this spring, I used the Miracle Grow potting soil that is supposed to hold water better than the ordinary Miracle Grow.
I have to say, I am quite pleased with the water-holding Miracle Grow. It didn't rain much this summer, but when I remembered, I would water the urn when we went to church on Sunday. My sister-in-law told me that when she would take Eli for a walk in his stroller, sometimes they would go to the cemetery and would water the urn. And I know that sometimes one of the other ladies at church would water all of the pots at the cemetery.
Between the Miracle Grow and the watering, the urn looks amazingly good for late September. Even though the temperature dropped down into the 20s earlier, apparently it wasn't cold enough right where the urn was to freeze the plants.
When Randy tried to pick the urn up on Sunday, he said he had difficulty actually picking it up. The thing did not want to come out of the metal pot holder that sits about three feet above the ground.
Finally it dawned him why he couldn't pick it up. The trailing ivy had trailed its way all the way to ground and taken root in the soil next to the gravestones. All of the plants look good, but the ivy is something else. Many, many feet of trailers have grown over the summer. I can't hardly believe that the ivy grew like gangbusters.
Well, at least I got *something* to grow. The garden was pretty much a bust. Between the drought and the squash bugs, we didn't end up with much of a garden this year. My daylilies on the east side of the house have pretty much died out, too, because of the dry weather. So the cemetery urn, for some reason, makes me believe that maybe I can hold out hope for a better growing season next year.
Virus -- I have to say, the virus that Randy and I have picked up sure is a doozy. I haven't been this sick in years. Coughing. Sore throat. Sneezing. Fever. Weak. Tired. Head congestion. Chest congestion. I will be very glad when it decides to give up and go away.
Fall Colors -- More of the trees are starting turn colors. Wednesday evening, Randy and I wobbled our way down the dirt road as far as the neighbors to take the dogs for a little walk. The sumac along the road is bright red. And some of the maples are turning bright red, too. And the air on a sunny afternoon is starting to take on that golden color that you only see in October. Where has the year gone to, anyway? Seems like it was spring only yesterday. And now the leaves are turning colors. The cemetery urn has come home. And the garden is finished for the year.
LeAnn R. Ralph