...and all's right with the world!
Every few years or so, something wonderful happens: all five naked-eye planets appear in the evening sky at the same time. You can walk outside after dinner, and without any kind of telescope, see Mercury, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter. Now is one of those times. --from "A Gathering of Planets," Science@NASA website (see address below)
With great disappointment, I canceled the You-Niverse: Star Gazing and Spirit Renewal retreat scheduled for March 19-20 for lack of registrations. So many people told me they'd like to come, but...you know...busy schedules took precedence...people thought it would be too cold in March... .
I guess I didn't really know what the facilitator, Dr, Gillian Gabelmann, had to offer for sure when I invited her
to create and facilitate this retreat, but I thought a little looking to the heavens would be entertaining. Little did I know! If I'd only known... .
Gill (pronounced Jill) drove 2 1/2 hours from Great bend, carting her telescope
with her so she and I could do some star gazing on our own. Most of the day was overcast and the weather seemed to threaten rain by evening. We weren't sure we were going to see anything because of clouds after dark. With a hopeful heart, Gill set up the telescope in the yard east of the Main House. While I prepared supper, Gill wandered outside every now and them, checking the sky and weather conditions.
Shortly after seven o'clock. with the light almost gone in the west, Gill and I and a neighbor I invited to join us went out to see what we could see.
Before this experience the sky made no sense to me whatever. I felt fortunate to find the Big Dipper at night. Planets looked like stars. I have seen pictures of constellations in books. But, you know, besides not being able to see those collections of stars in the night sky, the pictures in the books never really looked like dogs or warriors or bulls,
We found Jupiter first, shining brightly in the eastern sky. Through the telescope I could see four of its approximately 16 moons! Wow! Awesome! Then Gill pointed the telescope at Saturn, almost directly overhead. I could see the rings! The planet really does have rings! Patiently waiting for clouds to move along, allowing the planets and stars to shine through, we saw Venus, brazenly showing off her bright light to the west, and in the mix of it all we found Mars, as well.
Then the fun really began! With Gills' guidance, I found the North Star, the Big and Little Dipper, Orion's belt, shoulder, feet and sword (I didn't retain all the names of the stars I saw and many I cannot spell anyway!). I know where to find Gemini, the twins, and I found Pleiades - this is like a "mini dipper." How exciting it was when this group of stars popped into sight as I looked through binoculars for it. Yes, I cold see the grouping through binoculars! I
can do this star gazing on my own! I felt like my three-year old granddaughter when she saw the bighorn" cows for the first time last week. She was jumping up and down, with her hands held high above her head, squealing with joy. I'm not sure I was quite that animated, but I know there were squeals heard 'round the telescope last night!
I'd like to take a moment to credit my granddaughter, Allison, for my increasing ability to see old things anew. Her presence in my life has offered so many, many opportunities for me to look at life again with a childlike sense of wonder.
The three of us talked about how ancient the study of the night sky is. We who live in our brightly lit, "civilized" cities, miss out on so much not being in touch with nature, the sky, the land, the sea, the prairie like the ancient ones were.
Neighbor Nancy and I peppered Gill with questions about the night sky, the planets and stars, about gravity and weightlessness. Gill came eight back at us with answer after answer - in words and descriptions we could understand! Gill's a great - and patient - teacher! The one and only time we stumped her - I don't even remember the question and I'm not sure I could really say we "stumped" her - but after the briefest of pauses she told us the answer was God! God did it! Whatever the question was - God did it! And it made total and delightful sense to us!
The one who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning, and darkens the day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the Earth, the Lord is [that one's] name.
- Amos 5:8 (see also Job8:1-10)Sometime between March 24 and April 2, I encourage you to find a dark place, away from the city lights to look to the heavens and view the incredible light show God has to offer.
Enjoy the five while they're there, so easy to see in the evening sky. It won't happen again until 2008.
--from :"A Gathering of Planets." Science@NASA website (see link below)If you're interested in more information, check out the NASA website below for yourself:
Blessings and peace,
Billie
Ranch Stories
On ocassion I feel called to sit at the computer and share some of the sights, sounds and experiences of the retreat center, the ranch, the prairie, the wildlife, the people in my life. I hope you find these stories meaningful and interesting. Of course, there's nothing like experiencing the tallgrass prairie for yourself!
New Life 3/14/04
3/14/04I am surrounded by new life here at the retreat center. Last week I noticed daffodils poking their heads up through the ground. Today they are all grown up and just waiting in their fullness for the right moment to open their buds to the rich, buttery color of their flowers.
The surprise lilies are surprising me as they, too, poke their heads through the dirt. They are all over along the north side of the back porch. I didn't realize I'd planted so many.
The irises I've been watching all winter are multiplying under the ground. Next to the many I transplanted last fall, there are many more new shoots coming up for air and sunlight.
I am watching and waiting for the arrival of daisies and gladiolas, day lilies and ribbon-grass-from-Maine. There's some orange flower . . . a poppy, maybe that I also moved last fall - still hidden under the millions of oak tree leaves.
The snow and rains have been good to the prairie over the last few weeks. Green vegetation is spreading its life all around the area. Out by the chicken coop, the ground has transformed from winter brown to spring green in only 4 or 5 days. It will soon be time to bring out the mower and edger for the summer - but not yet. Not yet. Now is the time to enjoy the color, to enjoy the spreading new life.
Across the drive from the Main House the are longhorn cattle waiting - waiting to be sol at auction next week, yes, but also waiting a pregnant wait - literally. It's as if they are in the labor room of life, waiting for their calves to be born. Over the last three days I've seen one - no, two! Now 3 and 4! There's 5! Yes, now there are 6 new calves, the last with a still wet umbilical cord. How did I miss the birthing? I was only away from the large kitchen window, my waiting room and observation window for only fifteen to twenty minutes. This little one came quickly. Now I watch it frolic near it's momma. Full of life. Frisky.
After the winter cold, I'm eager to be out and about, frisky myself - well, as frisky as a woman 54, fat and physically unfit can be! :-) At least I know my heart's in good shape!
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Tallgrass Spiritual Retreat Center:
Where Women Find Their Way
1780 Thurman Creek Road
Matfield Green, Kansas 66862
620.753.3465
Rev. Billie Blair, Director
Photo by Marshall Hutchinson
God is in the heavens... 3/20/04
3/20/04
Tallgrass Spiritual Retreat Center
Where Women Find Their Way
I watched Ghost Whisperer last night and I was surprised that I felt a little unsettled afterwards. I really enjoy that show. This one was a little scarier than usual, though! I went into my office about 10:30pm and as I sat at the computer, I suddenly heard a movement on the other side of the bookcases. I wasn't scared; I was "unsettled," though. After several minutes, I heard it again - a rustling, low, towards the floor. I quietly got up and moved toward the aisle between the bookcases on the wall and the bookcases on the other side of the desk area. I peeked around the corner - and there it was, running for cover - a MOUSE! A healthy looking mouse!! It ran north towards the window wall under some stuff, laying on the floor - a reason to be just a little frustrated with myself for not having the floor completely cleared of "stuff!"
I immediately went out to the kitchen to get a piece of red-colored mouse bait I had out there, a leftover piece that had evidently done it's work on another mouse. I came back to the office and set the mouse bait on the floor near the "stuff," and went back to the computer. A few minutes later, I heard the rustling again. I waited a few more minutes, then got up to look. I wanted to know if the mouse had been interested in the bait. It had not only been interested, it tried to take the whole piece (about one quarter the size of the mouse!) "home!" It was laying across the top of a black bag that contained a video camera and equipment that had been given to the retreat center. I knocked the bag over to see if the mouse ran out from it. It didn't. If it was in there, it wasn't moving. The red mouse bait fell on the floor, as well as pieces of green mouse bait I'd had in the pantry that fell out of the bag. too! Oh, my!! It had been living there for a little while, I guess.
I sat down again at the computer, wondering what I could do, how I was going to get rid of this thing. I wasn't trusting the bait! I was watching YouTube videos of Taylor Hicks (5th season winner on American Idol whom I'd just discovered for myself yesterday) which were keeping my spirits lifted. I heard the rustling again, then later again. How could I get rid of this thing TONIGHT, I wondered!?!?!? If it got in the bag again, could I be quick enough to close the bag up and carry it outside? Would I be quick enough AND could I close it tight enough?!?!? I sure didn't want the mouse jumping out and running up my arm - which seemed a real possibility - the drawstring on that bag doesn't close tight, I was thinking!
So . . . I heard it moving again and got up to look. I thought I saw a movement. It was SO quick, I wasn't for sure. It was just barely a flash of gray movement into a box of old ceramic tiles I have in the office. I decided to BELIEVE myself, to believe that I REALLY saw the mouse jump into the box. It had a lid on it that was pulled away at one corner - where and how the mouse got into the box. Thinking as quickly as a 59 year old brain can think, I put a flat, suede presentation folder over the offending opening and ran to the kitchen for a plastic bag. The quickly-devised plan was to put the box in a plastic bag - and then decide what to do. At least I would have the critter contained.
This bag idea was not as easy as I thought it would be. First of all, the trash bag was only big enough to hold one half of the box. Second, the box contained old ceramic tiles which are VERY heavy!! I couldn't get my hands under the box to lift it up to scoot the box into the bag - at least not easily. I WAS determined, though! There was a tube of liquid nails laying by the box (I intend to put wooden backs on the ceraminc tiles with the liquid nails and then draw on the front side of the tiles). I was able to slip the point of the tube under the box enough to get my hands underneath and lift the box enough to slide the bag along the underneath side - constantly aware that the mouse could jump out at me!!
But, as I mentioned, the bag was only half as long as I needed. Repeating my trip to the kitchen, I grabbed another trash bag and worked to slip it over the other end of the box, using the tube of liquid nails once again. Ah ha! The mouse was contained - I hoped! BUT, but, the bags were merely overlapping - there was plenty of space from which the mouse could flee, so back to the kitchen I went to get the masking tape, thinking "I wish I had duct tape - it's stronger!". I taped the bags together around three of the four sides - I could not get tape under the box - it was just too heavy.
I stepped back to admire my makeshift mousetrap, hoping that darned critter was really in there. I wasn't for sure. OK, so now what? What does one do with a possible mouse caught and sealed in a box of very heavy ceramic tiles??? If I left the box overnight, hoping the mouse would suffocate inside the trap (yes, I was hoping that the warning on the side of the bag not to let little children play with plastic bags because they could suffocate would WORK just that way with this mouse), I wondered if the mouse would eat itself out of the box and the bag before death-by-plastic-bag could happen. There seemed to be a lot of air puffing out the sides of my trap.
Ok, ok, so now feeling like a murderer hiding her deed-of-death in a rolled up carpet or trunk, only my choice of secrecy was a very heavy box of tiles, I dragged and pushed and shoved that very heavy box of tiles through the house, down the hallway, through the living room and out to the front door. The threshold at the front door became a big problem! First I had to remove the rug I had at the door, then I discovered that the box could not be shoved over the threshold - there was too much of a "bump" at the door. I was going to have to lift the very heavy box to actually get it out of doors. Oh, my. . . oh, my. . . oh my aching back! I knew, though, that I did NOT want to find that the mouse had gotten out in the living room the next morning!!
OK, so lean over I did and, carefully, using my legs and not just my back, I lifted the very heavy box over the threshold and sat it down immediately on the other side of the open storm door. Hmmm . . . not too smart to let the mouse-I-hoped-was-in-the-box out right by the open front door - it might run back in the house where it was warm! So, I shoved and pushed and heaved the box out to the middle of the front porch, so I could close the front door and, also, so I had room to get myself away quick, if/when the hoped-for-mouse hopped out.
Next, I pulled off the tape, as I started thinking "I'm going to feel really silly if there's no mouse in here! At least no one's going to see me doing this at midnight on the front porch!" I pulled off the tape and, still not being able to get my hands under the very heavy box, I decided to tip it over with my knee, allowing the partially opened box top to lay on the floor of the porch, hopefully an easy get away for the mouse. As I pulled back the plastic, THE MOUSE JUMPED OUT OF THE BAG!!! Fortunately it headed for the stairs. In one great leap it made it from the box to the top of the porch stairs and, because it was moving so fast, I'm not for sure about this, but it looked to me like a "Supermouse" as it bounded from the steps to the ground in one giant leap, totally skipping the steps on the way down.
I do not know how to express the huge relief I felt! I felt like I'd won the battle of the mouse - and the mouse won, too! WooHoo!
This is the second mouse I've rescued in my years out here. The first one I rescued from a pail of water sitting outside the back door. That was hard enough to do. I could have easily walked away and let the mouse drown in the bucket, but not really. I couldn't get the look in those beady, pleading, little eyes out of my mind as it mouse-paddled around the pail, trying to get out. I do not want to become known in the mouse world as The Rescuer! I'll stay out of their world and I want them to stay out of mine!
Billie
Mouse Courage! 10/13/09
10/13/09