Plenty of cows will see it, but they don’t vote.

So here’s my e-sign. No, that’s not really my yard. But yes, that’s really my vote!

Updated to add: They now have magnetic bumper stickers — much more up my alley of effective advertising!

In spite of this, I find much beauty in the absence of the flowers and leaves: the expansive, shaggy tans of the dry grass against the still-blue sky, the bright green winter rye growing thinly in the black fields, and the highly saturated pinks and purples of the sunrise broken by the skinny black silhouettes of naked trees. I like seeing the long rows of round hay bales, stores lined up neatly like so many cans on my full pantry shelf. I love the crisper gleam of the stars at night when the air is cold. A pair of doves cuddle on a bare branch, a flock of fat meadowlarks glean seeds from the field. Looking at the stack of wood near our porch, I almost already feel the warmth from the fires they will sustain in our wood-burning stoves. And the buckets of pecans we’ve collected foretell many tasty baked goodies.

Like a Wyeth painting, the December to February landscape around here may be dry at first glance, but a careful observer will find much beauty that brings joy.

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“Waiting for your ride?”

“Yup.”

“Me too.”

Awkward silence. The front of the library is a big enough space, and he didn’t have to be standing that close to me, unless he intended to make further conversation. He did.

“You look awfully familiar. Don’t I know you?”

“Probably not.”

“Yeah, sure I do. Haven’t I seen you around [Local] High School?”

“No. I graduated from [another local] High in 1999.”

“Oh.”

Poor guy. When you’re in high school your pickup lines are pretty lame to begin with, but at that age you also haven’t learned the college guy’s screening process: check the left-hand ring finger before starting conversation.

I’m only 25 years old, definitely still young, but not that young. Is this a compliment, like getting carded when you’re forty? Or is it more like being asked by the door-to-door salesman if your mom is home, when you are the mom in the home?

Most people think bagpipes are annoying. I suppose I love them because they remind me of my favorite movie of all time, Brigadoon. My grandfather also loved bagpipes and my grandmother’s Scottish heritage (her father was a direct import), so much so that bagpipes played Amazing Grace at his funeral and we all wore our Macaulay plaid, even though it was her heritage and not his.

I also love the tinwhistle that is often featured alongside the bagpipes in Scottish music. I got a tinwhistle for Christmas and have been learning to play it. It’s a fun, easy instrument and is fairly intuitive to learn. Most people will recognize the sound of the tinwhistle as the featured instrument in the Titanic theme song. I think it will make a great first instrument for the kids, as it is inexpensive, portable, and simple to learn. In fact, you can teach yourself to play by ear, without having to read a note of music!

In the meantime, I am going to post some of the things I have emailed out to friends and family before, some classic moments from our home.