Things That Rock

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Scenes from the Suburbs: Wildlife Edition

Three years ago, we moved from a suburban city to a separate suburban city. Our previous suburb was more on the urban side of the equation; homes close together, retail within walking distance. Our current suburb has more in the way of wooded areas.

We saw plenty of wildlife at our old house: skunks and raccoons and groundhogs and bunnies and many, many deer.

The wildlife that visits our new house is a little more exotic.

First up, frogs. Frogs love our house. Is it because of the pool? Perhaps. The thing I didn’t know about frogs is that they can be SO LOUD. When one of them sets up a performance space near our bedroom window, it is impossible to hear anything else.

A tree frog resting on a metal window railing with a blurred forest background
Black frog swimming in bright blue water
Green frog resting on a weathered stone surface near a garden railing
Camouflaged gray tree frog resting on a stainless steel grill sign

This is not my favorite type of wildlife. Even if I know it’s harmless.

Dark green snake coiled on a rocky gravel path surrounded by grass

We don’t typically see coyotes, especially during the day. This was an exception.

Small brown rabbit near tall dry grass in an autumn woodland landscape

He’s a little hard to see; this is a still from a video Carla took from the car.

Speaking of Carla, she’s excellent at spotting wildlife. The other day, we were driving along, just about to turn into our development, and she said, “That’s not a hawk!”

It was not a hawk!

Tall autumn trees with sparse brown leaves against a bright blue, wispy-clouded sky
Bald eagle perched on a broken tree branch against a blue sky
Bald eagle perched on a broken tree branch against a blue sky

Any exotic wildlife spottings in your neck of the woods?

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Summer Uniform

WordPress, out of what I can only assume is concern for/disappointment in my lack of posting, has been giving me little nudges in the form of reminding me about posts I wrote each day in past years. This is how I came upon my Summer Uniform post from 2021. Which, you may recall, was just over a year into the Covid-19 pandemic. Shudder.

While I was none too pleased to think about THAT time in our collective history, I did enjoy revisiting my Summer of Shorts, and am pleased to note that I now wear shorts regularly (in summer) with nary a thought. But it also made me realize that I have a new uniform this year, and I’m loving it.

My uniform has four simple components.

Component 1: Wide-leg summer-weight pants.

If you recall, I’ve had some trouble tracking down the exact right pants. The current styles tend to accentuate my pelvic area, which is not an area I am keen to emphasize; no shade if that’s an area you want to flaunt. But I have found three pairs of pants that don’t do that, and I’ve been wearing them on rotation.

These linen cotton pants from Loft:

image from Loft.com

These linen blend pants, also from Loft:

image from Loft.com

And these pants from Old Navy:

image from oldnavy.com

I would LOVE some navy pants with a pinstripe, and am continually on the hunt. To that end, I tried to order these navy striped pants, but my order was cancelled because they sold out. And now they are back in stock (and on sale!) but not in my size. This is the holy grail of summer pants, for me. I’ve ordered, tried on, and returned an embarrassing number of similar options with no luck.

image from Loft.com

I am a big fan of this component because it feels like I’m wearing pajamas, but it looks like I have made a teeny bit of effort to look like I haven’t just rolled out of bed. I tend to get compliments on my outfits, too, which is always nice. (And when it’s cool enough, I add a denim jacket on top. Perfection.)

Component 2: Basic white top.

I’m pretty sure I first saw this top on Instagram, although I can’t remember where. It’s a nice, bright white. It isn’t see-through. It has a nice balance between T-shirt and tank top. And the material – some sort of polyester/cotton blend – has a nice weight to it that feels a little “dressier” than most tees. I love this shirt so much, I now have three – two in white, one in black.

image from amazon.com

Component 3: Long pendant necklace.

This may no longer be in style (if it ever was), but I wear a silver metal hoop on a long silver chain pretty much every time I don this uniform. I got it a million years ago and it’s long enough for the pendant to reach nearly to my navel. I’m not finding a lot of things that are similar, which tells me it probably IS out of style. Here’s a current option. I also love a necklace stack like this one or this one.

image from bananarepublic.gap.com
image from loft.com
image from amazon.com

Component 4: Comfy sandals.

You already know all about my favorite sandals. They continue to keep my feet happy without offending my aesthetic sensibilities (such as they are).

Flip flops (I have three pairs) or wedges.

image from amazon.com
image from amazon.com

By the way, I wore the flip flops on our spring vacation to California and they performed admirably. One day, my husband suggested we take a “short walk” from our hotel to the beach, and I figured I could handle a short walk in flip flops. (Normally I wear walking shoes for walking, because my feet are delicate flowers.) In fact, our walk ended up being 2.3 miles each way. In the hot hot heat. And my feet were totally fine! Any other shoes, and I KNOW they would have been at least sore and at worst full of blisters, but they were happy as could be. (My poor kiddo, who was wearing Old Navy flip flops, did not fare as well.) I could not have worn any other pair of flip flops for four-and-a-half miles. The experience made me fall in love all over again.

What are you wearing this summer?

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Seven for Sunday

It is now somehow March. With a new month, apparently, come new and disturbing things to occupy our collective attention.

I am extremely thankful that February has had, as its companion, Elisabeth’s latest exercise in finding gratitude each day. It has been a gift to feel obligated to focus my mind on the big and little joys that surround me. Thank you so much, Elisabeth, for leading this practice in tracking the glimmers of light even on dark days.

This past week was a birthday week, and since many of the things that made this week’s gratitude list are birthday-related, I’m going to deviate from how I’ve tracked them. Instead of going day by day, I’m just going to make a big list.

  • Sunshine!: We’ve had more sunshine than not this week, and I’ve loved it! Spring feels like it is trying extra hard to burst forth into our lives and I appreciate the effort.
This is a photo from a few weeks ago because somehow I didn’t take a single outdoor photo all week.
  • Lunch with Mom and Dad: I got to go out to lunch with my parents, which is always so lovely. Having them nearby is something I do not take for granted, and I am so glad they enjoy my company as much as I enjoy theirs. After lunch, my mom and I went for a little stroll in the sunshine. Wonderful.
  • Baking Projects: I did a bunch of baking this week, which is always enjoyable. My attempt at lemon bars was a bit of a flop (I forgot the salt entirely and then I’m pretty sure I underbaked the crust), but! I did make a delicious loaf of perfect sandwich bread from scratch. And I transformed a pair of extremely past-their-prime bananas into a snack cake that my kid and her friend gobbled right up.
  • Sleepover: The kids were off school on Friday again (don’t want them to have too many five-day weeks!), so my kiddo had one of her closest friends stay the night. We went out to dinner, then grabbed ice cream, and the girls had a wild time watching movies and giggling and staying up way too late. Even though the noise grates on me, I am so grateful that my daughter has this friendship in her life.
  • Birthday Cat: My kitty turned one, and it was fun to celebrate him. He brings me more joy than I ever could have imagined, and I am grateful for him every day.
Such a distinguished gentleman.
  • Checking Off an Onerous Task: My car was due for a checkup, which I *hate* doing, for so many reasons. The experience was comically awful, but now it’s DONE, and I don’t have to get a checkup for a long time!
  • Long Distance Love: I got so many cards and texts and phone calls for my birthday, it was staggering. I feel so very lucky to have so many wonderful, kind, caring people in my life.
  • Mexican Food and Margaritas: My husband wanted to know if he should make reservations at a steak house for my birthday, but you know what? I wanted mediocre Mexican takeout and margaritas from a bottle. That’s what I got and hoo boy, was delicious.
  • Flowers!: My back-home best friend sent me the most gorgeous bouquet of flowers!!!! Lenny of course had to inspect them (and taste a leaf immediately, which is why I can only buy cat-safe foliage; he threw it up later which was super fun for all of us) before I moved them to one of the few cat-safe spaces in our home.
  • Call Week Perspective: Call weeks remind me how grateful I am for all the weeks my husband is not on call.
  • Tea!: My parents gave me an extremely generous check to use on something frivolous, which I am looking forward to spending. Since my mom likes to have something for me to unwrap, she also gave me two tins of looseleaf tea that sound fun and delicious, and a little tea strainer that looks like a leaf!
  • Clean Sheets: While my kid and her friend slept in, I laundered all the bedding. I just LOVE slipping into a fresh, clean bed at night. It’s a small thing, but it brings me pleasure.
  • Books!: My husband got me a stack of great books to read, along with a couple of other gifts. He knows me so well; these books all sound fabulous and I can’t wait to dive in.

  • Surgical Success: A beloved family member had surgery this week, and – even though we don’t yet have the results – the procedure itself went smoothly and the family member is doing great.
  • Yoga Nudge: Julie has invited everyone in blogland to join her, virtually, for yoga practice every Saturday. I finally got my rear in gear and managed to do this video – which was all about slow, intentional poses with lots of deep breathing and mindful exploration of gratitude. I hated every minute of it. But, as with many things that are both difficult and worthwhile, I am so glad I stuck with it. Forcing myself to slow down, mentally and physically, is something I struggle to do, and long after the video ended I was enveloped in a sense of serene calm. Oh right; this is why we’re supposed to try things that we don’t normally do, and to push outside our comfort zones once in awhile. I am grateful for that reminder, and grateful to Julie for facilitating it!
  • Long Distance Friends, Again: On my birthday, I got a call from a friend I haven’t seen in seven years. This is one of my favorite people in the world, and I really don’t know why we lost touch – I want to blame children and careers and time zones, but I really need to just look harder at how I can make connecting with him more of a priority. Anyway, he called me and asked where I was, and I told him. Since it was kind of an odd question, I asked where he was, figuring he was in Europe or on a ski hill somewhere. But no, he was IN MY TOWN. He ended up coming over for dinner that night and spending time reminiscing with me and my husband and catching us up on what’s been going on since we last saw him. It was so incredibly special, and I don’t think I can adequately express how grateful I am that we were able to get together.
  • New Rug: We finally finally ordered a new rug to replace the IKEA rug that’s been under our kitchen table for fourteen years. For the most part, I still like it. But it has become a tripping hazard and Lenny likes to hide hair ties underneath it, which is making the problem worse. We haven’t managed to remove the new rug from its package yet (see above re: Call week), but it’s HERE and I’m excited!
  • Forty-Five: Even though forty-five feels startlingly old, somehow, I am grateful for this birthday and for every birthday I get to have. Growing older is, a lot of the time, a pain in the ass, but above all, it is a gift.
The thick envelope on top of the yellow package contains my colonoscopy instructions. Woot.

Many thanks to Elisabeth for leading another month of the FIG Collective.