Tree Topper

Posted on 01/12/2010 by Grumpa Joe

My tree of life turned out better this year than it ever was in the past. It’s been seven years since it adorned our home, and it took several years to build the ornaments, collect the birds,  butterflies, and flowers. I even found some stuff that I bought eight years ago, but never used before.. The tree is new too. I used a green tree once, and decided that the flowers and birds need a bright background to shown them off. Otherwise, they blend into the background like they do in nature. I chose white.

The first Navaho rug that caught my eye was in Sedona, Arizona. It was a five by seven Tree of Life pattern with a fifteen thousand dollar price tag. Looking back on it, that was a very good price. Much smaller rugs of that pattern go for the same price today. That is hindsight and Monday morning quarter backing. I couldn’t afford it then, and I still can’t afford it now. The alternative was to make my own.  Frankly, I like  mine better. I can change its appearance every year, yet hold the same theme and philosophical concept.

Barbara and I loved this design, and worked together to assemble the various components. We shopped everywhere we went. Often bringing home a new bird from vacation trips. The tree has great sentimental value, but unleashes melancholy from deep within that requires conversations with God to brighten up the darkness of my grief.

Filed under: Birds, family, Garden, grief, Memories, Tree of Life, Warm and Fuzzy | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Tree of Life

Posted on 30/11/2010 by Grumpa Joe

Ask me why I haven’t added entries into my web log this week. It’s simple. Christmas is coming. Yes, Christmas spelled with CHRIST. No sooner had the family left from Thanksgiving, then Grandma Peggy and I sprung into action. Let’s be honest though, sprung is not the correct word. It was more like a slow and easy if we don’t get it done today, there is tomorrow approach.

I’ll show examples of our accomplishments throughout December. Amongst my proudest accomplishments was re-assembling my Christmas Tree of Life. The idea is not original, it is based on a very old Navaho Indian rug.

The concept is simple, decorate the tree with ornaments that represent life forms. My tree has flowers, birds, butterflies, and some panda bears. Many of the ornaments were made with tender loving care by my Grand-elves in 1999-2000.

The solitude of decoration brought back memories of another life. This was a typical November day, with low dark clouds and off and on again drizzle that sometime turned to snow. The lights on the tree gave me the lift I needed to offset the dreariness of November 30, 2010.

Here it is partially completed.

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Filed under: Birds, family, Garden, grief, Memories, Tree of Life, Warm and Fuzzy | 2 Comments »

Wabbit War Mind Game

Posted on 08/07/2010 by Grumpa Joe

War is definitely a mind game. Strategy is critical to the success of one, or the other side. Right now, I am trying to understand the new strategy of the Alliance. This morning my intelligence indicated a new player on the scene. Could the Wabbits be so smart as to ally with the Herons? Even if they are not allies, the heron represents another attack on Grumpa Joe. Now, I have to fight the enemy on one more front. Wabbits, ants, mice, now herons; how many more will join the battle before I raise the white flag?

I thought I won the heron battle last fall, but I lost. I last saw him standing on the frozen pond waiting patiently for the thaw. The temperature turned down, and he disappeared. All winter, I waited  to determine if any of my fish had survived his onslaught. They did not; he had eaten every one of them.

The heron is a formidable enemy. He is cunning, clever, and observant. The least bit of noise or movement, and he flies off making a giant circle around the neighborhood only to return and land on the roof of the castle. When opportunity presents itself, he glides down to the water, and patiently fishes.

I avoided buying new fish because of the heron threat. I did not see Great Blue for months, so I finally broke down and stocked the pond with five bucks worth of Comets. The fish are so small, that I have only seen them three times in a month. They disappear rapidly under the foliage of the water lilies.

Today, I did maintenance on the pond. I trimmed the creeping water plants, pulled the string algae out by the bucketful, and cleared the skimmer basket. The heat has evaporated several inches of water, so I ran the hose to top it off. As I picked up the trimmings and piles of algae, I spotted a toad. Then, a few inches away from the toad, I watched a green frog quietly slip into the pool. The frog is another threat. Will he win out over the heron, and eat the comets? Or, will Great Blue have frog legs for supper?  It doesn’t matter; I’m screwed either way.

As I said before, war is strategy. Grandma Peggy hates Great Blue because he eats fish. She will not have a fish eater as her ally, but she will remain faithful to the flower eating Wabbits. How do I resolve the dilemma of split Alliances? In one case she is with me, in the other she is against me. It’s a losin fight.

Filed under: Birds, Fish, Garden, Gardening, Pond, Wabbit Wars | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Illegal Alien Invasion

Posted on 18/06/2010 by Grumpa Joe

 Wabbit War Press Release

Grumpa Joe has had the barrier area under tight surveillance for the past forty-eight hours. The enemy has retreated, or has changed tactics. Osama de Wabbit has gone underground. Most likely, he is hiding in a cave of foliage somewhere in the area. Meanwhile, the Alliance has strengthened (Grandma Peggy and Osama de Wabbit) with the addition of mosquitoes, and stripped ground squirrels.

On several forays to improve the barrier in the evening hours, Grumpa Joe has encountered heavy concentrations of buzzing mosquito kamikaze fighters. He retreated in order to minimize bloodshed.

Grumpa Joe has not sighted Wabbit during daylight hours prompting him to believe Wabbit is now attacking under cover of darkness.

The barrier remains breached, and damage to prized horticultural specimens continues to occur.

Grumpa Joe is forming a commission of Master Gardening experts from universities throughout the Big Ten to investigate the problem.

The lure of Grandma Peggy’s Free Seed for Birds Program has caused an Illegal Alien invasion. Wabbits, young and old are coming to assist Osama de Wabbit eat free. The FSBP is stressed by the additional burdens placed on it. The rate of consumption has doubled since the beginning of June, and is burdening the resident taxpayer. Additionally, two robins died after slamming into the picture window during aerial pursuit. Grumpa Joe sadly gave them appropriate “Aerial Burials.”

Grumpa Joe must secure the barrier before the garden becomes bankrupt of colorful floral displays and natural food sources for birds.

Filed under: Birds, Cartoons, family, Garden, Gardening, Pond, Satire, Writer | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

City Farm

Posted on 22/05/2010 by Grumpa Joe

 

    I want this post to bring nostalgia to old timers, and to serve as a primer for young people. The current recession is not letting up. There are signs of economic recovery, but the news from Europe is not very good. The result may be another recession even deeper than the one we have now. The story below is from my childhood. My parents lived through the Great Depression. They knew how to survive. I was born at the end of the depression. My parents lived as though tomorrow would bring another depression. It took seventy-one years to happen, but it has finally arrived. We are on the edge of another Great Depression.

     We lived in a small two-story frame house situated on a 25 ft. wide lot in Chicago.  The house had a porch with steps leading to the city sidewalk.  Between the porch and the side walk there was room for a strip of flowers and a patch of grass.  The parkway had grass and occasionally a tree

     The space between our house and the neighbor’s was a gangway just wide enough to walk through. The back yard is what I want to describe in detail because it saved my family from starving. Immediately behind the house, dad had a postage stamp size lawn bordered on two sides by a flowerbed.  The third side was the sidewalk leading back to the alley; and the fourth side was the house. 

            At the end of the lot, dad built a one-car garage built directly on the ground.  He added a chicken coop to the side with a fenced open space for the birds.

            The plot of ground in between the garage-chicken-coop complex and the flowers along the edge of the lawn was mom’s veggie garden.  The lot was 120 feet long.  In that precious space, mom and dad managed to have a front lawn and flowerbed, a three-bedroom house, a back lawn and flowerbed, a vegetable garden, a chicken ranch and a garage.

            Mom had most of what she needed to feed the family growing right in the backyard.   She planted tomatoes, onions, kohlrabi, cabbage, corn, carrots, parsley, beans, peas, lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, zucchini and more.  What we could not use immediately, she preserved by canning (no freezers).  The chickens provided us with eggs and meat for Sunday dinners. When we did not have chickens, she switched to raising pigeons, and even rabbits.

    When mom could not grow enough in our backyard, she found an empty lot a block away and started another garden.

     Are you ready to begin farming the backyard to feed your family, or are you going to line up to get food stamps?

Filed under: Biography, Birds, Characters I knew, Conservative, economy, family, Garden, Gardening, liberals, Memories, Society, Warm and Fuzzy | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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