Deer, Oh Dear!

There's a lot of snow on the ground at the moment. Piper has to take great leaps when she gets off the trail, because she's buried up to her shoulders (she still loves taking a run, though). So, the deer are out looking for things to eat.  

This young doe came into my yard with several of her buddies and continued working on trimming the shrubbery around my house. 

She looks pretty satisfied with her gardening efforts, doesn't she? 

This last picture is one I took a couple weeks ago down on the family property, before the snow was knee deep. You know how much I love catching a good action shot. This young buck took a dash across the field and I captured him mid leap. He has forked antlers, so he reminds me of the old fiddle tune, "Forked Deer" that I play on the mandolin. My brother reports that he's shed his cute little forked antlers at this point, but he'll grow bigger ones next year (and this year's spike boys will become next year's "Forked Deer"). 

Happy Independence Day!

This year, there won't be any fireworks or air shows in my Independence Day celebration post (or any of my Independence Day celebrations, for that matter). 

 

This year, there will be much quieter celebrations with little Piper, who thinks loud noises are very, very scary.

Piper will get to gnaw on a new marrow bone to distract her from all the booms and we'll be listening to music down in the relatively sound-deadened basement while I tackle a few chores (like slicing up some Tan-Z Kut and breaking down boxes). 

We'll take some nice walks early in the day - before the lights and explosions begin, making it a good day all the way around. 

But, America's birthday simply couldn't be allowed to pass without at least a small commemoration here on the blog!  We have a wonderful country filled with amazing beauty and founded on excellent principles. We're very fortunate. 

Happy Independence Day! She's a grand old flag - forever in peace may she wave.

Well, I Swan!

After seeing these two swans moseying along in the still unfrozen bay, I started wondering (I wonder as I wander) about the old idiom, "I swan!". 

So, still counting myself among the ranks of the terminally curious, I started doing a little research. Apparently there are a couple different idiomatic uses of swan. 

In England, one travels in a leisurely manner, enjoying the journey without hurry or fuss. Also, often without concern for anyone else's comfort or convenience - so, I suppose swanning along could cause consternation and a few ruffled feathers along the way.

These two were certainly taking their time, mostly letting the currents lead them as they dabbled for food.

In the Southern United States (and Oklahoma, they tell me), the phrase, "I swan!", is more of an exclamation of surprise or sometimes a verification of fact, perhaps coming from a northern England dialect meaning, "I'll warrant", or "I swear".

Well, I swan, these birds are staying in the cold winter climes far longer than I expected they would!

It's always interesting to discover where bits of our language had their roots. Also, bonus points for anyone who caught the song reference in this post and sang along. :)

 

Happy New Year!

It's that time again -- already!

A brand new, shiny year feels a little like a pristine supply of #2 pencils and blank notebook paper at the start of a new school year.

Setting new goals (or revisiting old ones that haven't been accomplished - yet), fresh hopes and plans.

I don't have any big resolutions - just things I'd like to keep working on. Things like continuing to improve mandolin playing and harmony singing, carving new images for printmaking, and chipping away at organizing my house - it got out of hand in a few places, somehow.... 

If you are thinking of any goals or plans, I wish you success. And generally, I wish  you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2024!!

 

 

The Big Mon

I warned you that there would be one more post about mandolin camp and the fallout from the experience, so here we go. 

I had been interested in getting a better mandolin than the one my brother got me started with and he was encouraging me to upgrade, too. During camp, I asked each of the instructors for instrument recommendations (short of getting an antique Gibson or a custom made extravaganza that would be way beyond my budget) and they each had really good suggestions. Then, I did a bunch of research about each of the possibilities. 

My brother and I took a road trip to the Northfield showroom and tried out a number of mandolins (all of which had good features and would have served me well).  After playing and narrowing the field to a couple of favorites, this is the little beauty I ended up getting. It's not only quite lovely to look at, but it has an amazing presence and sounds fantastic. It's a way more marvelous instrument than I even begin to deserve at my level of ability, but I'm practicing hard and hope to eventually play up to its capabilities - or at least get a lot closer than I am at the moment!

I'm sparing most of you the excruciating details, but if any instrument affectionados are reading this and want to know the technical specs, just ask and I'll be happy to give more information. 

One of the camp teachers told me that I'd probably never need another mandolin after this. I believe him!

Mandolin Magic

There was enough interest in my mandolin camp adventures, that I am going to share a little bit about the experience, which was amazing.  

My personal mandolin saga began about five years ago, when my brother handed me a mandolin and asked me to play with him for an event in honor of an old family friend. I learned a three chord wonder song and sang harmony with him. We've been playing and singing together ever since. There's nothing quite like sibling harmony.

Since that fateful day, I've been trying to teach myself how to play, with books and online videos and just stumbling around. I had reached the point where I felt I was on the edge of beginning to understand something about the instrument and needed some help to fall off on the right side of that edge. I searched for mandolin camps in my state and there was one quite close to me, so I signed up! And, oh, talk about pre-camp jitters!

Great Lakes Mandolin Camp was held near the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore, which is quite beautiful. This is the sunrise viewed through my bedroom window the first morning of camp.

It was a weekend full of mandolin immersion, with classes taught by superb mandolin players, jam sessions (structured and informal), individual master classes, student and faculty concerts and lots of great stories about mandolin legends.

Brian Oberlin, the camp organizer, Emory Lester and Don Stiernberg taught a number of different mandolin playing styles ranging from classical and jazz to swing, bluegrass and old time. You can look these artists up online and listen to some of their music, if you're interested. They all have YouTube videos, websites (and CDs you can purchase, if you are captured by the sounds). 

 

Music theory was the easy part for me, since I took both voice and piano lessons in my youth, but there was so much information that sailed right over my head that I have plenty to work on and try to master before next year's camp (I have been practicing like mad and I can at least dream about mastering the material, right?).  So, yes, I'll be going again, if it's at all possible. 

Oh, and there will be another post about one of the results of this weekend adventure. How's that for a teaser?

 

Dunes Buggy

I went to mandolin camp a couple weeks ago (yes, you read that right) and before I headed for home, I took advantage of the fact that I was right near the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore and took a lovely walk along one of the winding trails leading through the dunes.

Before making its way to the actual dunes, the path led through the woods, where there were all kinds of migrating birds chattering in the trees. I managed to catch a couple warblers perched and peering at me out of the foliage (you might need to click on the photo to enlarge it in order to find both of them, since they blend in with the yellow leaves - and are nearly the same size).

Sticking with the yellow theme for just a minute, after emerging from the woods, I came upon some showy goldenrod growing bravely in the sand. It is showy, isn't it? It belongs to the aster family and is quite popular with pollinators.

I finally got high enough to glimpse Lake Michigan over the dunes and, if you look closely, you will also see some birds dotted against the sky. We'll get back to those shortly.

There were spectacular views all along the trail, as well as interesting flora and fauna.

The birds I mentioned earlier were a migrating flock of horned larks and they would soar into the air whenever they felt disturbed by something and then swoop back around to alight in the dune grasses to forage, disappearing entirely - at least to the naked eye or my camera. I couldn't manage to get a closer look at these birds.

Snags left by long deceased trees created interesting sculpture gardens here and there. Those trees had a rugged life out in the wind and sand. 

Dune grasses were another visual treat, especially when juxtaposed with the blue of the sky.

Seriously, aren't the tans and blues beautiful together? 

 

So, all in all, it was a lovely and peaceful walk after an amazing four day musical immersion experience!  I may even share a little about that, if anyone seems interested!