Today, the baby of the family, our grandson Beckham, turns 2. It’s the last birthday he’ll celebrate as “the baby of the family” before his newest sibling arrives in July. We celebrate our Beckham today, and all the joy he brings to us!
Beckham sharing his ice cream with his dad
Beckham Cash Meyer
Baby Beckham,
Everyone's joy!
Carefree days
Kayaking with Dad
Huddling up with Poppy
Appreciating these fleeting
Moments, savoring all the love
Careening on bare feet
Always listening for a blender:
Smoothies! (His favorite)
Here he comes to claim his own (or yours)!
Making his footprint on the world
Ever the sweet little boy, another
Year older and still,
Every day,
Reminding us how blessed we are to be family.
In a tender moment at Christmas, Beckham chose Poppy as his person to snuggle up to in peace and warmth. The magic of his eyes and twinkle-cheeked smiles before he settles in to get sleepy were moments etched in time!
I watched a baby bluebird hatch the night of a poetry reading two weeks ago, and the trio has flown, except for one egg that never hatched. Joy and grief in the same nest. Life is like that. Laughter and tears, joy and despair.
empty nest
that tiny bluebird
I watched hatch two weeks ago
has taken to skies
one little sibling
requiem in eggshell blue
heavenly flight of its own
Everyone, it seems, was wearing a hat last weekend – at the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky and on the opposite side of the pond in England, and all points in between at those smaller parties the commonfolk threw to celebrate these events. I chose a sun hat purchased at Marshall’s for $16.99, designed by the swank San Diego Hat Company to go with my no-frills weekend, just in case anyone is wondering, and although it was tempting, I didn’t adorn it with little hot glued horses running around the brim – or oversized flowers or bows.
A fancy Kentucky Derby hat, perfect for sipping a mint julep and watching a horse race
It got me thinking about all the hats we wear. Last summer, I sent adventure hats to the coastal grandkids – to wear on the boat, at the beach, in the kayaks – anywhere adventure calls! I got the kind with a chin strap so they wouldn’t lose them.
I sent these hats to my grandkids last summer – adventure hats!
Ironically, I lost my son’s borrowed boating hat when my cap caught a breeze on a fishing trip in April. I’d needed my own chin strap.
I recently bought a new sun hat for kayaking and camping to replace the monogrammed one that a student gave me back in 2010 as a teacher gift – I’d given it a hard look and realized its age, like a teacher ready for retirement who has been worn slap down through the years. It was time for a new one!
The hat I lost boating, before it was windswept into the ocean and forever lost at sea
Camping Hat (my Kentucky Derby/Coronation Day replacement hat)
Bartholomew Cubbins knew a thing or two about hats. Kings and Queens, Princes and Princesses know that head pieces such as crowns, tiaras, and hats make statements. The most famous crown of all time hung on a cross as a place in Heaven was built for us.
Kate and William sporting a tiara and a cap
Crown of Thorns – a symbol of the greatest sacrificial love of all time
A Kissing Fish hat for all our throw-backs
Golfing hats
Ice Cream Hats
Napping hats
Bicycling picnic hats
Marshmallow Roasting Hats
Swinging Bridge Hats
Stick-Your-Tongue-Out HatsUgly Sweater Run hats (with my son acting like a dancing reindeer after a morning run several years ago)
Kite Flying Hats
Birthday HatsMagical Old Silk Hat that Made a Snowman Dance
I shared a recent post where my dad entered a synagogue in Capernaum and he and his friend had forgotten to remove their Atlanta Braves caps (the monitor smiled and tactfully gestured for them to remove them), and it got me thinking about all our hats. With all the hats we wear, literally and metaphorically, what areyour favorite hats? Please share your best hats and hat stories in the comments, and if you have any great hiking hat suggestions, I beg your secrets!
My father, Reverend Dr. Felix Haynes, Jr., shares his sermon from a few weeks ago, as he reminisces about Holy Ground and his Holy Land travels with my late mother, Miriam, where they walked the streets of Capernaum. They traveled with members of their church to the Holy Land several times, most recently when they lived on Hilton Head Island, SC in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Capurnaum
ON CAPERNAUM
The setting of today's sermon is Capernaum, a very strategic location for travelers in Jesus’ day, always bustling and busy. It was a well-constructed city built 200 years before Jesus’ birth. The structures were made of unique materials, stone and plaster. Capernaum is situated on the picturesque Sea of Galilee. Just to the north, an easy walk begins the grassy slopes of the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus said, “Consider the lilies of the field…”
I remember well our visit on tour. As you enter, you see tall trellises with Bougainvillea growing in splendid floral beauty. Miriam walked over for a close look at the deep red and purple blooms, her eyes sparkling in complete wonder. Laurie Atkins, a member of our church traveling with us, joined her and pondered the amazing beauty.
As your walk the cobblestone streets, you observe the archaeological structures and artifacts that tell a story of rich biblical history. Capernaum is an education in the ministry of Jesus.
The two most striking sites are the synagogue and the ruins of the home of Peter’s mother-in-law, where Jesus healed the palsied man. There is a bench on which Jesus probably sat when he taught at the synagogue on that memorable day. The flat roof was made of a sturdy mud-cement compound. This would be a “patio” where on warm evenings one could catch the sea breeze.
Holy ground!
Jesus considered Capernaum a “home base.” The house is a three-room structure, one for sleeping, one for cooking and eating, and one for animals. There was also a courtyard. Today, a church has been constructed over the ruins of this house with a centered glass floor area where you can look down and see the interior where Jesus healed the palsied man. When my colleague, Woodrow Hudson, and I entered that church, we had forgotten to take off our Atlanta Braves caps. The monitoring priest smiled and tactfully reminded us to take off our hats.
Holy ground!
I did a short message on the four friends who brought their friends to Jesus to our tour group.
We moved about reflecting, remembering, and privately worshipping. I joined my dear wife who said, “This is one of the most beautiful and sacred places I have ever been.”
Holy ground.
And I stand there again every time I remember Capernaum.
We got on the bus to travel north toward Mt. Hermon. This scene remains vivid in my mind: Laurie Atkins looked out the window at the flowers in the field on the mount of the beatitudes, still struck by the Bougainvillea of Capernaum and musing. Mr. Laurie Atkins was the town engineer of Hilton Head, responsible for irrigation and all the lovely landscapes in the main streets of Hilton Head Island in those days. He said to me, “I wish I could get truck loads of dirt from this place to take home with me.”
Holy ground!
I have truck loads of memory from Capernaum, …the most beautiful and sacred memories…”
Bougainvillea at the entrance to Capernaum, the Town of Jesus
Male American Goldfinch at my window feeder on the Johnson Funny Farm – so close you can see his knobby knees!
One of the greatest pleasures in my life here on the Johnson Funny Farm in rural middle Georgia is birdwatching from the comfy chair by the window in my reading room. Each spring, we deep clean our feeders and add a new type to the all-you-can-eat bird garden buffet. Two years ago, I added four clear acrylic window feeders – and now we each have a coveted seat right by the window, with a front-row view.
The American Goldfinch is one of my favorite visitors. We also have Cardinals, House Finches, Pine Warblers, Indigo Buntings, Black-Capped Chickadees. and different varieties of nuthatches. sparrows, and wrens who love these smaller covered feeders. When it rains, they like to sit “inside” like the kids in The Cat in the Hat and look out their “window.”
We can get so close to our birds that we can see if they are missing any feathers or tell if they might have been in a fight. If we had ever wondered whether birds have tiny teeth, we could tell that, too. We ease up to the window and take a mannequin stance, careful not to throw our breath fog on the glass. The reflection from the outside makes it easy to remain undetected for long periods of time, watching our little frequenters blissfully fill their bellies with seeds, nuts, and berries.
A wide variety of birdseed mixes brings the fanciest charms and flocks and hosts and herds (I’m including a fuller list of specific bird group names at the bottom of this post). I found a chart at Pike Nurseries that has been helpful in matching seed, feeder: and bird type to maximize our traffic. For example, I look at the foot perch size, the encased wire openings for smaller birds, and the opening sizes where the seeds come out. All of those, along with location of the feeders, make a difference in all the species we have been able to attract. When Ace Hardware has a Buy One, Get One Free sale on brand-name birdseed in my small town, they know I’ll be there to get a cart full.
And these winged angels sing the most glorious songs of food blessings to their creator that I want to name them all Little Tommy Tucker!
If your mother doesn’t have a window feeder for the birds, it would make a lovely gift next weekend, along with a variety of seeds! I’ll be filling my feeders and remembering my mother, who shared with me the sheer joy of bird watching.
This chart makes attracting birds easy by telling which types of foods they like.
List of bird group names retrieved from: http://birding-world.com/names-bird-groups/
Aerie of hawks
Band of jays
Bazaar of guillemots
Bevy of larks
Bevy of quail
Bevy of swans (when in flight)
Boil of hawks (when in flight)
Bouquet of pheasants
Brace of grouse
Brace of pheasants (when dead)
Brood of chicks
Building of Rooks
Bunch of ducks (when on water)
Bunch of waterfowl
Cast of falcons
Cast of hawks
Chain of Bobolinks
Charm of finches
Charm of hummingbirds
Cluster of Knots
Colony of gulls
Colony of vultures
Company of parrots
Squadron of pelicans
Company of widgeon
Concentration of kingfishers
Congregation of plovers
Constable of Ravens
Convocation of eagles
Covert of coots
Covey of grouse
Covey of partridge
Covey of ptarmigan
Deceit of Lapwings
Descent of woodpeckers
Desert of Lapwings
Dissimulation of birds
Dole of doves
Drift of quail
Dropping of ducks (when on water)
Exhaltation of larks
Fall of Woodcock
Flamboyance of Flamingos
Flight of cormorants
Flight of doves
Flight of Goshawks
Flight of swallows
Fling of Dunlins
Flock of birds
Flock of birdwatchers
Flush of Mallards
Gaggle of geese (when on ground)
Gathering of birdwatchers
Gulp of Cormorants
Herd of cranes
Herd of Curlews
Herd of wrens
Horde of crows
Host of sparrows
Huddle of penguins
Jubilee of eagles
Kettle of hawks
Kit of pigeons (when in flight)
Knob of waterfowl
Murder of crows
Murmuration of Starlings
Muster of Peacocks
Muster of turkeys
Mustering of storks
Mutation of thrushes
Nye of pheasants
Ostentation of Peacocks
Pack of grouse
Paddling of ducks (when on water)
Parliament of owls
Parliament of Rooks
Peep of chickens
Chattering of Choughs
Pitiousness of doves
Pitying of turtledoves
Plump of waterfowl
Plump of wildfowl
Quarrel of sparrows
Raft of coots
Raft of ducks (when on water)
Raft of loons
Rafter of turkeys
Richness of Purple Martins
Rookery of penguins
Scold of jays
Sedge of Bitterns
Siege of Bitterns
Siege of cranes
Siege of herons
Skein of geese (when in flight)
Sord of Mallards
Spring of teals
Stand of flamingos
Strand of Silky Flycatchers
Sute of Mallards
Team of ducks (when in flight)
Team of geese (when in flight)
Tiding of magpies
Tittering of magpies
Trembling of finches
Trip of Widgeon
Trip of wildfowl
Trouble of hummingbirds
Unkindness of Ravens
Volery of birds
Walk of snipe
Watch of nightingales
Wdge of swans (when in flight)
Wedge of geese (when in flight)
Whisper of snipe
Whiteness of swans (when in flight)
Wing of plovers
Wisdom of owls
One of my 2023 goals is spending more time outdoors, taking more notes in nature observations, and learning more about the ecosystem and the creatures that do jobs I never fully appreciated until I became a little more educated on their roles in this great universe. A couple of days ago, I shared the plans for our bat hollow. Our first bat box has been installed, with more to follow. Today, though, is about another mosquito controller. Purple Martins, like bats, are environmentally-friendly critters who help control mosquito populations.
We weren’t sure how “involved” it would be to assemble a purple martin house. These houses are generally either a string of gourds hanging high, or a house reminiscent of a high-dollar condo situated on one of those tropical islands where the drinks all come with those little umbrellas and everyone wears floppy sun hats and sunglasses with cat-eye bling that sparkles as they sit back and sip in the breeze. Gourdless, we bought the high-dollar condo for them and discovered the pole was the same price as the house (12-20 feet in the air these places must be), AND has to be cemented into the ground.
So we took the unopened box camping with us one weekend, grabbing a multi-tool as an afterthought in case we needed a Phillips Head screwdriver or something. We found it remarkably easy to put the house together, and while we needed more than two hands, much of the structure was tabbed and punched so that it didn’t require a tool except on the roof. We put it together and brought it home. My husband fought mosquitoes with his bare hands while using post-hole diggers to set it deep in the ground, and then dumped a bag of Quikrete in to let it set overnight. We raised it to the heavens the next day, and now we await the migration that has, probably, mostly already happened. The late stragglers will find a vacancy in the inn…..we hope.
Rent-Free Purple Martin Condominiums, Johnson Funny Farm, April 2023
Johnson Funny Farm bee haven, April 2023 – baby bees at top right corner and entering bottom left tube
Forget Lonesome Dove. This one’s all about the lonesome bees – and putting food on Earth’s tables. One of my 2023 goals is spending more time outdoors, taking more notes in nature observations, and learning more about the ecosystem and the creatures that do jobs I’ve taken for granted. A couple of summers ago, we bought a bee house to provide safe spots for solitary bees like mason bees and leaf cutter bees to nest. These pollinators help plants like fruits and vegetables thrive. We have enjoyed watching the little bees come and go – they’re so cute – and so helpful! In rural areas like ours where agriculture is the name of the game, bees matter! Help with pollination – NOT PESTICIDES! We are doing one small part to make a difference – and watching it happen thrills our souls!
Lonesome Bee Haven
lonesome bee haven
apiculture hideaway
pollinator post
baby bees buzzing
busy building businesses~
hungry world feeders
Aidan enjoys helping us outdoors when he comes to visit the farm!
One of my 2023 goals is spending more time outdoor, taking more notes in nature observations, and learning more about the ecosystem and the creatures that do jobs I never fully appreciated. Both my mother and grandmother, avid gardeners, died of Parkinson’s Disease, a neurological disease that has been linked to pesticides. If my fish are not wild caught, I don’t buy them (my takeaway from Silent Spring). I’m doing all I can – one small part in a big world – to make a difference where I can.
I was driving along our rural highway last week and felt tears well up when I saw a sign advertising 52 acres for sale. I drove back around the loop, looking at all the trees – all the homes where right now, there are baby birds and deer and foxes and squirrels whose homes will be felled with the blade of an ax when the money changes hands. It hurts my heart for them.
We have been considering ways to control our mosquito population (quite possibly the only critter in the entire universe I would vote to eradicate), and one of our ideas is installing a bat village. So this past Saturday, I raised my husband and grandson up in the tractor bucket to install our first bat house. We’ve seen bats out by our driveway for the past several years, and we hope we can attract them to the bat houses from wherever they are living (we checked the barn and see no signs). We’ll add to the village over the next couple of weeks, even though the boxes should have been up by now since they are more likely to be inhabited over the summer when the bats emerge from hibernation in the spring, according to Google. I read somewhere that the occupancy likelihood is only 35%, but we’re going to give it a go since we know we have them nearby.
Plus, Halloween. It will just feel a little spookier and more seasonally festive when the pumpkins frost over and moon shines through the trees. We’ll enjoy batwatching almost as much as birdwatching!
~~Bat Hollow ~~
house installation
erecting a bat hollow
mosquito control
spooky October
Loblolly pine neighborhood
for night flight critters
vampirish creatures
welcome wagons circled up
upside-down hangout!
My husband takes direction on the exact placement of the box, which should be at least 12 feet off the ground. Bat Box #1 being installed
The first of the three bluebird hatchlings; one did not hatch.
I’ve spent the months of March and April writing among friends, celebrating the Slice of LIfe Story Challenge and #VerseLove – – and spiffing up my bird and butterfly garden. Each year, we discard any cracked feeders and add a couple of new ones so that we maintain the work that began in spring 2009, shortly after we moved to the Johnson Funny Farm on New Year’s Eve 2008.
I caught butterfly garden fever from my mother. Throughout her years, she planted fennel as host plants for butterflies to lay their eggs. Every summer, her fennel plants would sag with the weight of the caterpillars, each happily munching away to becoming a chrysalis before emerging as a black swallowtail. She also threw out rotting fruit for them to feed on, and taught me to do the same. She had attended a butterfly gardening workshop with one of the leading butterfly garden experts in Georgia and learned that butterflies like to feast on urea. So if you ever see an upside-down garbage can lid with rotting oranges and a wet sponge in a garden, you can bet that someone knew to invite their little grandson to go tee-tee on the sponge to make the butterflies happy. Mom grew nectar plants nearby, such as butterfly bush, azaleas, lantana and coreopsis. Every once in a while I can keep a flower alive, but it takes a modern-day miracle to make it happen.
A miracle. That’s why a week ago Thursday for the Open Mic, I changed up my whole reading plan less than an hour before the long-awaited event started. I’d stepped outside to toss a lemon rind out and to fill the bird feeders and birdbaths and check the bluebird house (again) to see if the eggs had hatched. I could see a tiny notch in one egg, and I knew the hatchling’s head would emerge within the hour if all went well. I waited awhile, watching from the front porch, and when I could see that no parents were coming and going, I returned in time to capture the moment of wonder! Watch the video at the top, if you haven’t already.
I headed out to the poetry reading, leaving my own poems at home, selecting one by by Mary Oliver instead. I stepped onto the stage and readThis Morning.
Reading poetry at the Open Mic, 1828 Coffee Company, April 2023
Since yesterday was the last day of VerseLove for 2023, I decided to make May 1 my official personal goal update day for April. For the past two months, I have participated in both the Slice of Life Challenge and VerseLove, writing daily with those groups and responding to the writing of others. Tomorrow I’ll return to daily blog poetry and stories, but for today, I pause to reflect on my progress on my yearly goals and establish a couple of new ones.
Category
Goals
My Progress
Literature
Read Around the USA Give Away Books Reorganize books Send out Postcards Blog Daily
I’ve read three books with the Book Girls Read Across the USA Challenge, and I’m continuing to read across the USA – – just on my own timetable and from my own choices. I’ll continue on this goal and log it on the map throughout the year. I have given away enough books for the time being. I have extra shelves, and I’ve decided to reorganize before giving more books away (this goal shifts to reorganizing now). I’m still sending out postcards each month. I enjoy the quick writes and the reminder to look for postcards wherever I go. I continue to blog daily.
Creativity
Improve blog photos Indulge in photo excursions Create photo montage Flower Press during May Refinish my kitchen table
During April, I created a Progressive Poetry Walk around our courthouse square where I live, and also created minilessons, with QR Codes and poetry stations throughout our county to celebrate National Poetry Month. I have offered poetry writing workshops and recorded poets reading their poems, and framed the QR Code links where people could view them. I have a new phone that helps with blog photo improvement and have discovered that photo excursions? They are opportunities to seize every day, more discovery than quest. Since my photo montage is temporarily as complete as I need it to be, I’m establishing a new creativity goal this month: flower pressing. I’m gathering and pressing over the month of May as flowers start to bloom and everything bursts with color. These will be used to press between glass frames and also to send botanical notecards. I’ll also strip and paint my kitchen table and chairs.
Spirituality
Tune in to church Pray! Keep OLW priority
We tune in where Dad is preaching on Sundays (First Baptist Church of YouTube) or a church he regularly preaches in. I continue to honor my OLW by making my drive to work my prayer chamber.
Reflection
Write family stories Spend time tracking goals each month
I’m writing some family stories, but this month has been particularly devoted to poetry, so I’ll resume more stories in May. I am tracking goals diligently and need to spend some time this month establishing new ones. I’ll share those in May.
Self-Improvement
Reach top of weight range Maintain Weight Give away too-big clothes
I reached the weight goal and then got comfortable. Life happened. Yes, I’m beating myself up a little, but tomorrow is the day to jump back up on the wagon. It’ll be May 1 and time to hop back on Optavia and get to the goal. Once I reach it, my solid plan is to transition to Weight Watchers for counting points and adopting a more sustainable eating plan. I’m still not to the goal of maintaining – but I am leaving this goal in place. That is obviously the challenging part. Giving away too-big clothes – I’m eliminating this, as I think I’m where I will be for the long haul. I’m thinking of publishing a volume of poetry, so I’m looking at The Book Patch as a self-publishing option. I’ll attend a session with Sarah and writers from ethicalela to discuss another publishing option with our poems we have published on http://www.ethicalela.com during VerseLove and Open Writes.
Gratitude
Devote blog days to counting blessings
I began the month on a fishing trip with my firstborn grandson and ended the month with him at our house for a sleepover. I spent time with all the grandchildren in early April. I also spent time helping my brother with a family project this month.
Experience
Embrace Slow Travel Focus on the Outdoors
We made a decision to sell the Keystone Outback and keep the Little Guy Max, so we sold the large camper on Easter Sunday! We have erected a purple martin house and a bat house to help with our mosquito populations to avoid using pesticides that may harm other flora and fauna in the funny farm ecosystem. We are working on the bird and butterfly gardens, adding a few nectar plants adjacent to the host plant area (strictly fennel) and tracking birds that come to our feeders. I also added two solar fountain spinners to our birdbaths to give the birds moving water that they love. We have a chair and a half that is a nice way to relax in the evenings, watching birds and processing the day in conversation and hot tea by the bird garden window. We began official plans for vacation: driving half of Route 66.
Common Threads 