Sunday, March 18, 2007

"Read a book. Eat a banana."

100_2334


What is this? It's a female house finch in the barn swallow's nest from last summer, under my porch roof. I haven't even cleaned it out yet. Could there be eggs already??? It's below freezing at night!


100_2341


I caught a photo of her when she flew out. I think we have enough house finches around here. I certainly don't want to see more...


For the past week I’ve lost my drive and energy to post here. My sincere and underlying desire is to post, but the ideas and words are hard to find. When I think I have an idea, I quickly shoot it down. The plain truth is that I’m stuck in a rut. In a rut. Stuck. Stuck in a rut. Enough said?

Today, remembering when my daughter as a young child, I realized we were well matched in some ways. Unless we were physically active and busy participating, we were bored. We both had a “let’s get out of the house and do something” routine after the household chores were finished. We walked, swam, found time to be outdoors, and played every day. I used to budget funds during the summer months for a long walk to the snowball stand every summer evening with neighbors and friends. My favorite was Spearmint or Egg Custard with marshmallow and Gina's favorite was Sky Blue with marshmallow. In winter months during snowstorms, we didn’t watch from indoors, but ventured out there and caught snowflakes on our tongues and didn’t care to come back inside unless our toes and fingers were numb.

Days when we were trapped inside because of hurricanes, blizzards, or excessive heat, I always had a list of things to do around the house to keep me busy and Gina loved to work on arts and crafts with her little friends. However, now and then, the dreaded case of boredom would overtake her little soul and I’d hear her repeat, “I’m bored. There’s nothing to do.” My stock reply was, “Oh, go read a good book.” If I heard the same whine too many times in one day, I’d get exasperated and sharply reply without any sweetness in my tone, “You aren’t bored! Your problem is that YOU are BORING!”

Well, isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black. I’m not bored. I’m stuck in a rut because I’m just plain B-o-r-i-n-g lately.

Speaking of stock answers, this reminds me of the very familiar complaint from children while they’re hanging on the refrigerator or pantry door, letting their little high-pitched whiny voices be heard, “I’m hungry but there’s nothing to eat in this house!” Another stock reply I gave - “Have a pickle. Or, better yet, eat a banana!” I’ve been pushing bananas for years. It paid off a few times, though. Whenever Gina ate a banana before a butterfly, individual medley, or breastroke race in a championship she’d win – not by a few hundreds of a second, but by a yard. I can’t say enough about bananas and their benefit to your heart and body.

Back to being boring.


100_2347

Great photo, ey? My next door neighbors, to whom we have only spoken about five times in a year and a half, just listed their house today. I’m not sure, but I think their names are Beverly and Ken. Are they moving because of their boring neighbors or because they’re tired of the blonde woman snapping photos of the trees in their yard? I’m sure that’s not the case since they don’t socialize, but it did enter my mind for a fleeting second or two.


100_2345

Over the weekend, I tried to correct my boring self and ventured out in the sub-freezing wind chill to catch some glimpses of nature but failed. What I gained from that effort were reddened, freeze-dried face and hands. I also missed the best photo of a hawk. It would have been fantastic. The hawk saw me pull over and before I had my hand on the gear shift, the blankety-blank flew away. See the speck with a white belly in a photo taken two city blocks away? Could be a woodpecker... I am starting to curse at the birds.

My job is boring and a source of frustration, I'm tired of worrying about people and things beyond my control, I'm tired of my blog template, and my backyard birds are boring me to tears. Here's an example:

100_2350

I am laughing out loud! If that's not enough, here's another:

100_2357


Even my entertaining, begging for food, pestering, loving and farting dogs are boring me:

100_2360




If, after all of this boring talk you are wondering how it relates to the subject of this post, “Books and Bananas”, you have company. I’m clueless, too. I should change the subject to "Self Help". And you can bet your sweet bippy I will do it (help thyself). No more boredom for me! I CAN'T STAND IT. I just need a little time and a few more rants in between.


16 comments:

NatureWoman said...

LOL Mary! You crack me up even though you *think* you are boring! My Mom's line when, on the rare occasion I would say I was bored? "Find something to do or I'll find something for you to do." That usually meant work. Believe me, I hightailed it out of the house to find something to do for fun. I didn't want her getting any huge ideas about putting me to doing house work. Talk about boring.
Anyways, back to you, I hope you figure out a way out of the boring rut thing. I know you will! BTW I love your girls whether they fart or not! I hope you enjoy your days off, to the maximum!

LauraHinNJ said...

You sound just like my mother did! She would force us out of the house and, as likely as not, we forgot our boredom before long. At least we were out of her hair for a while.

I'm bored too, Mary. With the job and the routine in general. I hope it's a seasonal thing and will pass with sunnier days and the chance to do more and different things. I spent all day today inside in front of the tv - BORING! - but it was kind of nice for a change to be a total slug.

KGMom said...

Are you saving your energy for work tomorrow? That's why no ideas are coming?
Don't worry. They will.
Your boring bird photos are just fine--even the doves' feathers can be seen.
I hope your dogs don't know you said they are boring. The matching scarves--too cute.

Ruth said...

Everyone needs spring badly. Once things are growing and the weather stays warm, the blahs will go away I am sure!
Ruth

Cathy said...

Mary! That unidentified bird is a shrike! You lucky. You're getting some great pictures. The doves on your feeder are so sweet. Ditto the darling pups. You know what your problem is? Spring fever. Just kick back and enjoy.

Mary said...

Cathy! I pulled out my guide and it's a Loggerhead! Wahoo! Thanks! Oh, I wish I would have ran closer...

Anonymous said...

LOL, I am bored also!! That's bored with the weather! Spring fever for sure! Although, interesting seeing your finch in the old swallow nest! Guess it makes their job easier using someone elses nest! Also, had to say bravo job with the dove shots!

Susan Gets Native said...

All of us are going wacko waiting for Spring.
But no worries, Mary dear. Soon, there will be lots of birds at the feeders you have never seen, so keep spare batteries at hand for the camera!

And you saw a shrike. You are a stinker.

Jayne said...

Bananas... I've been leary of them ever since I brought home fruit flies last summer! Ebb and flow, ebb and flow... as my mom would say, "This too shall pass." :c) In a few short weeks, we'll be in shorts out in the sunshine frolicking in the green, green grass... hold on Mary!

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

I hate bananas.
I was feeling pretty flat for a while too, but I think it's passed for me. Now I'm on to feeling restless and a bit aggitated! It's like I'm waiting and looking for something but I don't really know what. I think this winter has made us all just a bit nuts!

...and yes you are a big stinker!
Loggerhead Shrike!!!

Julie Zickefoose said...

I hope I have boring birding like you do. Loggerhead shrike. Pffft.
Even when you feel boring, you're entertaining. It's OK not to blog when you feel like that. But I'm glad you did. And I'm glad you pointed your camera at that woodpecker. Tee hee.

JZ

Anonymous said...

Hey Mary, this time of year I always get bored to tears and my best cure is going to a flower and garden show if one is near by and if not I find a nursery or dreaded large home depot type store and start seed and bulb shopping trying to convince myself that while it still may be cold I'll soon be in 7th heaven gardening. There is snow on the ground up here but I spent a boring day going through my seed catalogues looking for my newest challenge. Forget eating the bananas...grow one instead! Then you will waste all kinds of time trying to make it thrive and then figuring out what you did to kill it LOL you won't have time to be bored! It will also give you something to write about when at a loss. LOLOL

Mary said...

Pam, my mother always found work for me so I stayed away, too!

Laura, being a TV slug is great once in a while but I don't know about you - I've had too many of those lately :0

Donna, I wish I had ieas to save - I don't have ANY! LOL! I'll get them back...

Ruth, I know you are right. Just when I thought spring would stay, the frost ate the canna, hydrangeas, and a fern... :o(

Mon@rch, I always thought bird eggs came much later in spring...

Susan, I know we have all been wacko. I'm just more impatient than most people.

Jayne, you're afraid of bananas??? LOL!

Lynne, I self-diagnosed myself with SAD (seasonal affective disorder). It's not a myth.

Julie, HA HA... Looked like a woodpecker to me. For some reason, though, I saved that photo! Glad I did.

Jayne, where do you come up with such wild ideas??? You know what? I'm going to look for a banana tree.

LostRoses said...

Very funny post, Mary, I think we can all relate to one degree or another! Here's one way to combat boredom - get so behind on everything you need to do that you'll find it impossible to be bored! As for being boring - you're not!

Anonymous said...

Mary, I hate to say it, but your boredom cheered me up! Why don't you put all of this stuff in a book? And, I loved that bored dove shot!

Annie in Austin said...

Eight white-wing doves sitting on the edge of a birdbath is the most exciting the birdwatching gets around here. Your bird photos are like a travelog for me.

Mary, you've had so many exciting peaks lately - maybe when you're on normal, level ground now, you perceive it as a valley?

Annie the Garden Blogger