• #atozchallenge,  fox,  life after 50,  nature,  photography,  spring,  writing

    #AtoZChallenge: Zee end!

    Okay, I might be cheating a bit with this last entry. I was thinking that while the A to Z Challenge is coming to an end, and April for that matter, spring is beginning to rock! Weeks ago, I saw our pair of foxes romping through the backyard, playing in the tall grass and pausing to eat something. Since it was probably a squirrel or rabbit or other cute, furry creature, I didn’t want to dwell too much on the circle of life. I was just glad to see that the foxes were back again this year. For the past five years, at least, the momma fox  has had (at…

  • #atozchallenge,  fox,  nature,  wildlife,  writing

    #AtoZChallenge: Nature

    Mama fox and one of her kits. A fallen tree is their habitat so we can’t clear it away. Photo by Diane Weidenbenner. My husband and I have .7 of an acre on the north side of a small town in Indiana. It’s an older neighborhood and one that isn’t “hip” anymore. All the chain restaurants, the Walmart, and the mall with Macy’s and Carson’s is located on the south side. We enjoy less traffic up north, and an Applebee’s was built shortly before we arrived. People would ask where we moved to and the follow-up comment was “They just built an Applebee’s up there, ya know!” Yes, we’ve heard!…

  • sleep,  trains

    “Z”zzzzz’s

    We live in Terre Haute, Ind., with a population estimate (as of 2011) of 60,961 (okay, I have to ask – where did they get the “1” from?) It’s a fairly small town compared to my birthplace of Denver, Colo. (estimate of 619,968). It’s amazing to me the number of sounds that we had to get used to, after moving here. Especially at night. When you’re trying to sleep. Photo thanks to en.gtwallpaper.com First, there are a lot of trains going through Terre Haute. I can’t emphasize “a lot” enough! There are trains coming and going. There are trains stopped, slowly moving forward or slowly moving backward. After awhile, the…

  • blessings,  wildlife

    Little blessings – an oxymoron

    I’m all about the little blessings in life. By “blessings,” I mean a special, unexpected sign or gift bestowed by God (I believe) to us. Not exactly the Webster’s Dictionary definition, I know. One of these blessings has been the wildlife that has appeared in our yard over the last few weeks. It’s not uncommon for us to have “sightings” of animals – a coyote, fox or turtle cutting through the backyard that runs parallel to Lost Creek. The blessing has been that we’ve had a family of foxes that repeatedly come out at dusk to romp, play, climb on our fallen tree and generally amuse my husband, Joe, and…