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December 28, 2006

Postal Pigeons

The other day I was thinking about how nice it is to see the birds line up on our power lines. They look like clothes pins teetering in the breeze.
I like how they shift and coo. They’re lovely.

Did you know that at one point in history pigeons were postal workers? Well, at least a breed known as the “Homing Pigeon”. Anyway, people would put messages on thin paper, tie it to their little ankles, and send them off. Supposedly Egyptians and Persians were the first to discover their amazing talent. Nobody knows the reason for their traveling precision, but there have been several theories; some say they use the magnetic fields of the earth to guide them while others attribute their ability to a keen sense of manmade landmarks. As I write this, I can’t help but wish people still sent messages like that. If one comes a-tapping on my widow tomorrow morning I’ll weep with joy, pet its iridescent feathers, and give it seeds for the journey back. What a wild world we live in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homing_pigeon

Posted by Heidi V. at 04:58 PM | Comments (1)

December 26, 2006

Christmas List

NEW OVER THE RHINE CD: Check!
SLOTH: Nope, checking it twice, yep it’s a nope.
WHITE QUARTER HORSE: No.
BABY: Uhn-uh.

Although I did not get a sloth, white quarter horse, OR a baby I did receive many great gifts:

A neat mug made by my Cousin Jamie named "Tumnus". It has little faun horns for the handle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumnus . I’ll see what I can do about posting a mug shot.

TWO Huge, and may I add, well-earned bruises from a vicious soccer game on Christmas day!

THREE bottles of wine. O.K. I’m getting the feeling people think I’m a lush. I assure you that I’m not a lush! I just SEEM a bit drunken in my natural state cause I like to laugh. Honestly, you don’t have to be drunk to laugh uncontrollably---it’s the result of a healthy hypothalamus. http://people.howstuffworks.com/laughter4.htm SEE?

I hope all had as Merry a Christmas as I did filled with family and friends!

Posted by Heidi V. at 05:31 PM | Comments (7)

December 18, 2006

Fa la la la laaa la la hack, weeze

So, last night Jacob and I went over to the Wachsmuths’ to decorate the Christmas tree. The evening was lovely: a nice candlelight dinner plans to adorn the tree with garland and bobbles of all different shapes and sizes, carols sung by a woodstove. Jacob and I were really having a good time mixing and a mingling with Jacob’s brother Ben, and sister in law, Rachel, when I heard Ben say, “Wow we might want to clear out of this room.” Before Ben could add the word “Now!” Jacob, Mom, Laura, Dad, Worku, Rachel, Ben and I were overcome with hacking coughs. Now, I know I have a tendency to exaggerate but when I say OVERCOME I mean OVERCOME! From what I could see-which wasn’t much due to the tears welling in my eyes-the room was in mass exodus. Garland and ornaments trailing behind in a blizzard of confusion, I nearly ran over Jacob’s mom trying to find the door, as Rachel pulled her little ones from their slumber.

You may be wondering what caused such a commotion. I assure you it was not consumption. However, consumption (the literary name for Tuberculosis) would have been VERY Charles Dickens. He, like all good 19th Century Novelists, loved nothing more than to kill off his characters with a bad case of tuberculosis. Gotta love the Victorians! However, it was not TB. Actually, Ben(Jacob's older brother) had nonchalantly lit Abby’s keychain lighter (Abby is Jacob's younger sister) to discover the keychain lighter was NOT keychain lighter…it was a MACE dispenser! Hack Wheeze! So, friends, if in doubt about keychain accessories this holiday season, assume the worst.

Posted by Heidi V. at 03:10 PM | Comments (11)

December 04, 2006

Winter Wonderland

Friday was blustery blissful. I woke at 6’oclock expecting my comforter to yawn me out into my daily routine, but when I heard the radio say, “treacherous roads,” “numerous cancellations,” and “stay in if possible” my heart leapt with a surge of snow day glee! After giving a way-too-loud-for-6-in-the-morning cheer, I softly pitter patted back to bed and let the heavy comforter smother me. I did my best to wake Jacob with a little spiel about how we were like Eskimos and our comforter was like a sunken igloo, but he was out like a hibernating bear. I decided not to bulldoze Jacob out of bed, instead I would bait him with the smell of coffee and eggs. I flurried about the apartment making breakfast and planning all the fun things we could do with our day: snow angels, a winter walk, sledding. After a long breakfast Jacob and I trekked out to meet our street full of neighbors scraping/ice picking their cars. We joined with the gusto of Edward Scissor Hands (he’s a movie character that quickly sculpted an Ice masterpiece with his scissor hands. The ice shavings became snow…great movie). I think we'd only been scraping 5 minutes when neighbors offered to help (pure love…well…partial pity…we were using spatulas cause our scraper was missing).
The award for most ardent helper should have gone to Rachel Patrick; she tackled the deepest ice layers on Jacob’s car. However, when I assured her that her reward was in Heaven, she sought earthy gratification (nailed me with a snowball). Because Mrs. Patrick sought an earthly reward, I nominated Ed Crim; he pretended to be an artic explorer rescuing Jacob from an avalanche. HA!

Strangely enough, it wasn’t until Jacob and I had our cars ready to drive that remembered WHY we were home in the first place…to AVOID driving. With the revelation of the true meaning of “snow day” we decided to take a walk and it was WONDERFUL: Trees bowing with ice and frosty berries, one big slip-and-slide of a street, intermitten rays of sun shimmering down on a blanket of diamonds. Here was my favorite shot. I liked it because Jacob didn't know I was going to take his picture.

My only regret was that there was not a third party so that he and I could get good Christmas card shot. I take that back, I also regretted that there were no snow people to pummel----nothing like giving a snowman a good kick to the shin (third ball down in the front). I like to preface the attack with a "Don't look at me with that icy glare! Frozen in fear eh?"

Have a wonderful winter friends!

P.S. For Christmas I want, a baby, a sloth, a white quarter horse, and the new Over the Rhine CD. I’m thinking the CD’s covered.

Posted by Heidi V. at 10:37 AM | Comments (16)