Friday, November 18, 2005

great gray owl and other blessings

Great Gray is back! That is, if she (or he) ever left; I suspect that it was here all summer, being that we saw it in May. The Hermit saw the owl this morning in the elm tree at the edge of the swamp, near my garden. I went for a short drive this afternoon with Mr. Attitude, hoping to see it, but was unsuccessful. Sometimes The Hermit has all the luck; he also saw a golden eagle.

Blessing #2: Yesterday The Hermit bought a pickup truck load of firewood, a lot of it oak, for only $35! The going rate around here is $100+, but he stopped in at a place that didn't even have an ad in the paper, and asked if they sold firewood, as they had a small sawmill. Because firewood isn't their main business, they weren't concerned with getting a high price for it, although it is good wood. This will heat our home for over a month, and now we know where to go for more!

Another blessing: The Hermit met with the high school principal today about a possible long term substitute teaching position in biology. It turns out the principal is very interested in incorporating environmental education into the curriculum, and at the very least he wants The Hermit to teach a teacher training workshop in environmental ed! It's so nice to hear that a local education administrator is interested in the big picture and wants to do something about it. And the extra money would come in very handy right now, and he would have the summer off to work on the house!

It's nice to have some blessings come our way in November.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fabulous!

Madcap said...

So many flavours of wonderful! That's all great news, I'm happy for you folks. See, these are the sort of things that should happen in November, just to keep our spirits up!

Anonymous said...

That old, dead oak Libby split a few weekends ago burned forever in the fireplace and left plenty of glowing embers. Nice stuff, especially for having been dead for the last 30 years or so. Good news about the firewood, though if you're ever in Missouri again and need to cut and split yer own wood, come by Roundrock. We'll have some beers and conversation, too!

Kathie said...

Congrats on all the good news and blessings!

robin andrea said...

Your good news is so very good. I am glad that November has brought you such bounty. I hope you get to gaze for a very long time at that Gray Owl.

Anonymous said...

great news Deb! I missed the huge irruption last year, but plan on taking a winter vacation in the U.P. this season in hopes of viewing Great Grays and Hawk Owls. One has already been sighted in the northern Lower Peninsula, but it is already being chased by listers. (insert grrrrrr here!)
And yikes, $35 for a truck load of firewood is a real steal! It's becoming increasingly difficult to find in our area and what we do find is always overpriced and green.
Blessings indeed come in many packages :)

R.Powers said...

Hey that is good news. One of the great private life benefits of teaching is being off when the kids are off. It's hard to put a price on that. I hope the Hermit survives subbing!

Walter Jeffries said...

That's a great price on firewood! I see it selling for up to $200 a cord in the papers around here. Crazy. Makes me really glad I'm not buying wood - we cut our own.

Deb said...

It's Sunday night, and I didn't see the owl all weekend! :( Oh well, I'll keep looking, I know it's there.

pablo- I wish I had a wood lot like Roundrock! I'll have to take you up on that some time.

I wish I had the energy to respond to everyone, but I had a busy weekend; I'll write about it tomorrow!