Nature

The Harper Chronicles: An Update For Mom, and Squirrels

/ kellyfbarr / 1 Comment

Hi, it’s me again, Harper! Mom and I are happy for cooler temperatures. Mom now takes me out in the backyard once or twice a day, not just to do my potty, but to play and to run! I love to run!

I want to give you an update on Mom. She really has tried to faithfully post five days a week here and she’s accomplished it a couple times. However, it’s more than she can possibly do at this time. She has a lot of responsibilities: she takes Grandma to all her medical appointments because Grandma is alone and has some health issues; she takes care of me, which means feeding me breakfast and dinner, lunchtime treats, and after dinner, she gives me glucosamine treats to keep my joints healthy, and she walks me three to four times a day and I already mentioned our time in the backyard — yes, she goes out with me and plays with me. She takes care of our household, which means doing four or five loads of laundry every week, cooking dinner for two to four people, depending on who is going to be home, and cleaning the house. She also is an author and an editor, so she has to spend most of five days a week working on her current novel, doing what she can to market her book to make sales, and as an editor, she works on editing other author’s upcoming books for them. Therefore, I have to tell you that Mom will let me continue to post here every Wednesday. Other than that, Mom will post what she can, when she can, as far as the other days go.

Now let’s talk about squirrels!

See the squirrel in the photo above? Well, this is the largest yard in our neighborhood and there are always lots of squirrels in that yard. I used to want to chase them all the time, but soon realized I’m always on a leash, so I can’t chase them. So, now I will often stop and watch them. That’s what I did when I saw this guy, but I must have made him nervous because he started to move toward a tree.

The photo above is the same squirrel. Partway to the tree, he got curious and stopped to watch us.

We saw the squirrel in the photo above a day or so later in the same yard. He was enjoying a couple acorns and was startled when he first saw me, and he ran to the foot of the tree. Then he stopped, picked up another acorn and the two of us stared each other down for awhile. These little guys fascinate me. They move so fast I’d really like to know if I could catch one if I wasn’t leashed.

Places, Plants, & Animals

/ kellyfbarr / 5 Comments

This is a lovely Double Daffodil! What a beautiful, bright spring flower! I love flowers. There are so many different types, shapes, and colors of flowers. Some bloom in the early spring and are gone in just a few weeks. Others bloom later in the spring and last into the early days of summer while some last into mid summer, and some even bloom all summer. Then there are some that bloom in the fall, like the different colors of mums that are often displayed in front of houses, right next to pumpkins and corn shocks, in the area I live.

You might be surprised that there are even flowers that bloom in the winter! I know I was surprised to find that. I’ve never seen any in my area, although if we have a mild winter or several warm days near the end of winter, I have seen my crocuses bloom while there were still patches of snow on the ground. One year, my rosebush bloomed early and we had another snow after it bloomed, so there was a light layer of snow upon the petals of one of my roses.

Not only do flowers add beauty to our outdoor surroundings, but they add some wonderful fragrances as well. Be sure to take some time to enjoy the beauty of the flowers you see as you take a walk or a mountain hike, and breathe in their fragrances. The world may seem bleak and dark, but the beauty of God’s creation is still here to remind us that God is still present and in control. If we only seek Him, He will draw near to us.