Patchwork Prose and Verse
We were camping at Dames Ferry in Georgia this weekend when our 3 Schnoodles became captivated with the ducks flitting about in the waters of Lake Juliette. The stargazer window over the bed of our Little Guy Max never fails to hold wonder - whether stars or ducks, whether night or morning. There is always an exciting world to behold outside that window! Move Over, Stargazers! duckgazer window curious schnoodles camping flop-eared wonderment
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.
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…”
I do not own the rights to the video below.
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.
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.
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
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!
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 read This Morning .
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 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 | Indulge in photo excursions 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 | 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. |
Sarah Donovan is our host for Day 30 of VerseLove and our host of this space each month for writers who crave togetherness each month as we come together to celebrate our words and thoughts ~to share the joy of writing. She helps meet a deep need in each of us. I adore the prompt today, and I ran for my journal from 2019 when I saw the topic. I thought back to the first year I participated in VerseLove and looked for that first prompt that changed the trajectory of my life from grief over my mother’s death to connection with others whose pain shone through their heart holes, too, who showed me how to use the sunspots to write and heal. To every writer who shares the journey, thank you for all of the inspiration you bring. This morning, my grandson writes along with me as I revise my first-ever VerseLove poem, Blackberry Winter.
Blackberry Winter, Revisited
It’s a Blackberry Winter I wrote in 2019
beginning a poem about all the good things
later this morning, my first grandson
will make elderberry jam toast
plus cheese omelettes
on the Lodge cast iron griddle
wearing my apron
(he doesn’t know about the apron yet)
but first: raindrops on rooftop, fresh coffee,
wi-fi (stronger than coffee, finally), computer charged,
comfy chair, whisper-soft pajamas,
thoughts ready to materialize
three schnoodles tussling on grandson’s
sleepover mattress as we write together
in the living room
words forming on pages: his pen, my keyboard
to the first #VerseLove prompt of 2019 from Sarah:
….the good things in our lives….
there are those who bring
more warmth than raindrops and coffee,
more comfort than chairs and pajamas,
more joy than words ~
ancestors whose cast iron presence
and apron strings linger in kitchens
hugging us tight about the middle
and those we ancestor ~ grandchildren
who write right next to us
about all the good things in our lives
on this elderberry toast and cheese omelette morning.
– Kim Haynes Johnson, April 2, 2019 and 4/30/2023
Our host today for Day 29 of #VerseLove at http://www.ethicalela.com is Scott McCloskey of Michigan, who inspires us to rewrite the script of a time we wish we’d given a different answer. You can read his prompt and the poems of others here.
Kernels of Truth ten months after she died four months after he died you asked me what I thought of y’all and I told the truth you’re nice she’s nice but y’all don’t fit you thought it was that woman thing that I just didn't like her you had it all wrong there were those I thought would be a great fit for you readers travelers lovers of wine whose blood runneth blue this one wasn’t for you you’ve held my truth-telling against me all this time made me the unaccepting one and now after seven years of frustration figuring out discovering you finally realize all those reasons y’all don’t fit so next time I’ll tell the only truth you want to hear marry her then I’ll go make popcorn
Common Threads 