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17 06, 2022

Invasion

By judythemorgan|2022-06-15T16:17:14-05:00June 17th, 2022|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Every year the principal at my school plants milkweed to attract Monarch butterfly caterpillars. He gives the speech about how fragile these caterpillars are and how everyone should look with their eyes and not touch them. If one happens to get on the sidewalk, students are to notify a teacher who will then safely move the caterpillar out of harm’s way.

The students do very well and each year we get to watch the Monarch butterflies emerge and fly away.

I must confess, that this whole process has become somewhat commonplace for me. I don’t get nearly as excited as the students do about seeing the caterpillars.

However…. this week Rachel discovered a caterpillar on our parsley plant in OUR front flower bed.

This was very exciting! We figured out that it is an Anise Swallowtail Butterfly caterpillar. It disappeared at one point, and I was very sad.

Then this morning I checked and there were THREE caterpillars!!I told Rachel we were being invaded! Her response: At least they are pretty!

Yes, yes, they are.

This is an exciting invasion!

15 06, 2022

Finding Stories

By judythemorgan|2022-06-03T09:02:17-05:00June 15th, 2022|#wordlesswednesday, Wednesday Quote, Weekly Quote|0 Comments

13 06, 2022

Wandering Writer and Stories

By judythemorgan|2022-06-03T08:54:31-05:00June 13th, 2022|Make Me Think Monday, Writer's Life|1 Comment

I am a wanderer. I love to see the world and the people in it. Oftentimes my wandering is dictated by outside forces, but I’ve always been ready to go.

I’ve wandered on foot, by plane, by bicycle, and by car.

I will meander through houses, mine and others, the woods and neighborhoods, stores, through cities and towns near and far.

Wherever I wander, stories find me and the memories of those encounters stay with me. Here are three that will always make me smile.

Once in Ireland, sitting at a Dublin train station, an older woman sat beside me and began to share about her family and her country. She told me she was returning home after being with her daughter, who had given birth to their twelfth grandchild. Another grandson, she said with pride in her eyes.

Yes, there were pictures and lovely tales of her family told as only the Irish can spin.

Recently in a grocery store not far from home, a young woman waiting behind me in the checkout line patted the multi-colored headscarf she wore. “Chemo,” she said. Her eyes misted. She shared her journey with breast cancer. I couldn’t stop myself I squeezed around my full cart of groceries and hugged her.

Walking with my dogs when we lived in the Rio Grande Forest always brought stories. Once a little girl playing outside at one of the rental cabins nearby ask to pet the dogs. My Old English loved on her. The Maltese jumped around all jealous then relaxed when she petted him too. As we walked away, the youngster plucked a purple wildflower and rushed over to give it to me.

Life is filled with so many chance meetings. Each encounter is unique, and I come away with a myriad of feelings from each.

Those characters and emotions from my wandering encounters frequently find their way into my stories. Not the specifics, of course, but the emotions and characterizations.

What about you? Do stories find you in your wanderings?

10 06, 2022

Refrigerator Art

By judythemorgan|2022-06-02T21:18:35-05:00June 10th, 2022|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|2 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

For as long as I can remember, things of utmost importance have been put on the refrigerator. Artwork took a prominent place on the fridge. In fact, making refrigerator magnets out of felt was a common art project when I was growing up. I continued the tradition with our own kids.

As our children grew up, the fridge became a place to put things I did not want to lose. For example, the phone number for the exterminator, a school calendar, or appointment cards. I suppose it functions as a physical PDA (personal digital assistant). Most people keep all this information on their phones. It is much easier for me to keep track of my refrigerator.

I was looking at our refrigerator this week.I noticed the graduation announcement, the prayer cards for missionaries, the magnet of my favorite comedian, an encouraging card, favorite scriptures, a world map, and my blue ribbon from the State Fair of Texas, all things that make me smile.

The most recent addition is the artwork by Alex. His mom has an abundance of projects he has made in preschool and she offered to share. We chose the bluebonnets and the rainbow tree.

Once again, our fridge has artwork on it and that brings the biggest smile.

8 06, 2022

Reading to Children – Kate DiCamillo

By judythemorgan|2022-05-29T15:09:18-05:00June 8th, 2022|#wordlesswednesday, Wednesday Quote, Weekly Quote|0 Comments

6 06, 2022

7 Reasons to Read this Summer or Any Time

By judythemorgan|2022-06-05T08:04:38-05:00June 6th, 2022|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Summertime signals lazy days of relaxing. Time to sit under the shade of the big oak tree, splash in the pool, or lounge on the porch swing, and do my favorite thing…read.

Why read? To quote Joseph Addison:

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”

Research backs up his words. Consider these seven reasons to read this summer or any time.

Reading strengthens the brain. As your reading ability matures, those networks also get stronger and more sophisticated. Readers are two and a half times less likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s later in life.

Reading reduces stress. A study showed reading only 6 minutes a day reduces stress by 68%.

Reading can aid in falling asleep. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic recommend reading as part of a regular sleep routine.

Reading helps reduce depression. Reading fiction provides a temporary escape from your world into the experiences of the characters. And reading nonfiction self-help books can teach strategies to help manage symptoms.

Reading fiction builds empathy by exposing us to life circumstances that are very different from our own. We experience the world as another gender, ethnicity, culture, sexuality, profession, or age in fiction. This can influence how we relate to others in the real world.

Reading ignites imagination and stimulates the memory centers of your mind. That, in turn, helps you recall information and expands your vocabulary.

Reading can lengthen life span. A twelve-year study of 3,635 adult participants showed those who read books survived around two years longer than those who didn’t read.

With those great reasons and the plethora of books available from libraries and online stores, why not grab a book and go read now? That’s what I’m going to do.

3 06, 2022

Ducks and Water Part 2

By judythemorgan|2022-05-31T10:21:11-05:00June 3rd, 2022|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

It is a well-known and documented fact that ducks like water. What I have discovered recently is that they prefer dirty water.

I regularly empty, clean out and refill the kiddie pool we use as a duck pond. Now that we have added more ducks, I do this more regularly. Ducks are very dirty. I’m beginning to think they like it that way.

Exhibit A: Ducks sitting in the muddy overflow and leaving the nice clean pool completely empty.

Notice Cooper, Rachel’s dog, keeping an eye on the hose. He likes to “help” me fill the duck pond and prefers clean water. He grabs it straight from the nozzle as I carry the hose back to the house.

The ducks are very entertaining. A friend says they sound like they are laughing. I do believe, however, that dogs are smarter.

1 06, 2022

A Writer’s Responsibility – Edie Melson

By judythemorgan|2022-05-29T15:02:24-05:00June 1st, 2022|#wordlesswednesday, Wednesday Quote, Weekly Quote|1 Comment

30 05, 2022

Memorial Day and TAPS

By judythemorgan|2022-05-27T10:49:03-05:00May 30th, 2022|Holidays, Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

On Memorial Day, I’m reminded of my days living on military bases and hearing TAPS played from the base speaker at the day’s end. We stopped what we were doing and stood at attention. The day had ended.

Hearing TAPS at military funerals always brings a tear to my eyes. I agree with Master Sergeant Jari A Villanueva, USAF:

“There is something singularly beautiful and appropriate in the music of this wonderful call. Its strains are melancholy, yet full of rest and peace. Its echoes linger in the heart long after its tones have ceased to vibrate in the air.”

There are no “official” words to Taps. These are the most popular and the ones that run through my head when the bugler plays.

Day is done,
gone the sun,
From the hills,
from the lake,
From the skies.
All is well,
safely rest,
God is nigh.
Go to sleep,
peaceful sleep,
May the soldier
or sailor,
God keep.
On the land
or the deep,
Safe in sleep.
Love, good night,
Must thou go,
When the day,
And the night
Need thee so?
All is well.
Speedeth all
To their rest.
Fades the light;
And afar
Goeth day,
And the stars
Shineth bright,
Fare thee well;
Day has gone,
Night is on.
Thanks and praise,
For our days,
‘Neath the sun,
Neath the stars,
‘Neath the sky,
As we go,
This we know,
God is nigh.

Today, along with the hot dogs, hamburgers, and swimming we associate with Memorial Day, let’s honor and remember those who have gone before.

27 05, 2022

Center of the Universe

By judythemorgan|2022-05-25T21:21:20-05:00May 27th, 2022|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

This is the curl in the back of my grandson’s hair and for the last week, it has been the center of the universe.

A universe I was part of for his last week as an only child, the last days where the earth revolved around him.

He was blissfully unaware of the fact that he would soon become a big brother.

I played the part of doting Grandma well. We had fruit snacks for breakfast making it the best day ever.

Until the trash truck came just as we arrived home after a grocery pickup.

We played in water and drew with chalk. (He may be a lefty which thrills his great grandfather)

We blew bubbles (notice the freshly bathed fire truck) and went to the library.

It was a fantastic week!

Then his life changed. The universe got bigger with one baby brother. It was nice while it lasted. Now Alex will learn that the center of the universe is big enough for two boys – at least in Grandma’s eyes.