Full Posts from Current Stories Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7GKQV9NoneNora Clarkehttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7GKQV9http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7GKQV9
I have an older friend from my seminary days who took several years of spiritual development while on the faculty at Princeton Theological Seminary.  After exploring a variety of methods in the arts, he was able to select and settle into a fulfilling routine.  Among other things, he spends a significant portion of his daiy devotional time visualizing people in prayer.  I must say that I am deeply touched that I know that he prays for me and my husband on a daily basis.  Nevertheless, I am reminded of the adage that "Prayer changes only the one who prays."  When I myself did more intercessory prayer, I did have greater concern for others.  However, having left my personal boundaries underguarded in a certain employment situation, I am now more inclined to engage in activities that protect my core than that help me respect the core of others.  I suppose much of spiritual preference comes from learned experience.  

Resuming piano lessons this late in life has not been easy.  I did find myself a SUPERB teacher, but I have also had to enter second childhood, relearning technique from page one.  Playing piano demands intense concentration on my part, as I strive to change years of habit invested in tiny motions of the fingers, wrists, elbows and shoulders.  I have to concentrate so much on fundamental details that I can scarcely play the notes of an easy passage correctly.  To make matters worse, my sight reading has declined to next to nothing from years of little use.  Still, I cling to the idea of learning a new repertoire and of being a "pianist" for the rest of my life.  The strength of my identity as a pianist surprises me.  While I started taking lessons at age six, I did not take lessons continuously, but rather in increments of a year or two at a time.  Still, identity does form in the impressionable years of youth.  It is important to me to be a credible pianist after years of wishing that I were one.  I want to play, and I don't want to have to be ashamed of how I play.  I always did suspect that my renditions of the Beethoven sonatas caused the poor man to turn in his grave, wherever it may be.  Now my worst fears are now realized as I face the reality of my poor technique with my patient and supportive teacher. 

I suppose I also embrace music now because it structures time, much the same reason that I enjoy doing housework while unemployed.  I have always, anyway, needed a certain amount of structure to thrive. I can envision music increasingly structuring my time, for instance, when it just spontaneously injects melodies and harmonies into my head, or when I find myself mentally rehearsing a piece.   I do hope that I can ultimately master the new technique that I am exposed to, for it seems the only way up the long hill ahead. 

What gives you spiritual satisfaction these days, and why?
]]>Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -04001http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/CommentsRSS?Open&id=53D33E783863AA0385257487006DCF4Chttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/PostComment?RunAgent&id=53D33E783863AA0385257487006DCF4Chttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7GKHC9NoneNora Clarkehttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7GKHC9http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7GKHC9
This morning is the piano lesson.  Unfortunately, the book of Bach Inventions I ordered last Tuesday did not arrive until late Monday afternoon.  The assigned piece is really quite simple, but I am feeling old and stupid and unable to sight read.  It's going to be pretty rough at the lesson, I guess.  Fortunately, my teacher is an eminently empathic and reasonable person.  And Rome wasn't built in a day, after all. 

I really wish he would again send me out to get new music.  I want an excuse to go to the Music and Arts store again in Frederick, though I have no idea why.  Maybe it's just piano music greed and high aspriations combined. 

Job leads are again slow this morning, but I guess that's what one should expect in mid-summer during a recession.  At least yesterday I took my interview suit into the cleaners and will be ready should anyone actually call me up for an interview. 

I have chores to do today -- the usual Tuesday chores plus catching up with chores from the weekend because I wasn't feeling well enough at the time to do them.  Blech!  I do hate getting behind, but I hate even worse that feeling of sloth that arises when I let  things pile up.  Guess I better get to work.

Take care and have a good day.

Love,
Nora
]]>Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/CommentsRSS?Open&id=116E5B51FD9CA37E8525748700484C37http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/PostComment?RunAgent&id=116E5B51FD9CA37E8525748700484C37http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7GJM9CNoneNora Clarkehttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7GJM9Chttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7GJM9C
Job leads are slow.  Although I received a few over the weekend, I received none today.  I wonder what's going on at Lawcrossing.com.  At least I did get two job applications filed.  They are in the mailbox, waiting for mail lady to arrive.  Last week I ordered two books for piano -- one a collection of Bach two- and three-part Inventions, the other called "The Great Lives of the Composers," which my teacher wanted me to bring to tomorrow's lesson also.  I ordered both last Tuesday, but neither have arrived yet.  I am so eager for the mail lady to get here that I even made myself go to Frederick to buy vacuum cleaning bags and drop off dry cleaning -- a watched pot never boils.  My ploy didn't work.  She is simply later than usual today. 

Sam was a naughty boy the other night.  He decided he didn't want Scott holding him, which is not uncomon with that wiggly one, and he reached out and bit Scott on the lip, actually drawing blood.  That bad boy!  Sometimes he is just very rude! 

Simba continues to lose hair, but, as the vet promised, Dorcas' parasite is already clearing up with the single dose of Ivermectin.  So all is well in wabbit world. 

That's about all the news.  The mail lady still isn't here and I can't figure out what to do next.  So what's new in the world of unemployment?!

Take care.

Love,
Nora
]]>Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/CommentsRSS?Open&id=4536ECB1F13676F185257486005AC4BDhttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/PostComment?RunAgent&id=4536ECB1F13676F185257486005AC4BDhttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7GGMAFNoneNora Clarkehttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7GGMAFhttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7GGMAF
Today promises to get quite warm, but we will have plenty to keep us busy indoors.  Earlier today, when it was still somewhat cool, I went back in the backyard to pick more red raspberries.  We have so many now that I had to take berries we were storing in the fridge and put them in three gallon plastic bags in the freezer.   Today it will be too hot to put the rabbits out until evening.

I just finished my first of two practice sessions on the piano.  It went relatively well, but I am still having trouble with my sevenths -- I try to stretch too much with my fingers and my left wrist starts jutting out in funny ways.  I guess I need to focus more on just hitting the notes, getting off them quickly and then moving to the next note with my whole arm instead of trying to stretch my fingers so much.  That's really basic but I think I'm already in a bad habit with the efforts at stretching and need to go back to square one with them.  I did not practice the Chopin -- I will save that for the later practice session.  I focused solely on the Haydn, but since it took me so long to warm up, I didn't really feel that I accomplished much with the Haydn.  Oh, well, I am confident that my extended warmup is helping me improve my basic technique so it was still time well-spent. 

In about an hour we head north for Boonsboro and the other end of South Mountain where we will visit Buzz and Frankie Everline, parents of my former live-in boyfriend.  I have not seen them for nearly five years now and have felt embarrassed that it has taken me so long to arrange a reunion with them when they live so close at hand.  We did invite them to the wedding, but they were unable to attend.  At least it finally got us back in touch though.  I am really looking forward to introducing Scott to them, to showing them pictures of the rabbits and the wedding, and to catching up with them.  I do know they have three lovely greatgranchildren now, who recently visited with their parents.  I think that is just fantastic! 

We are still working on the bathroom and will be occupied with that all week-end, but we will take time off again Sunday afternoon to attend a piano recital by one of my teacher's students.  He has just graduated from high school and is headed off to Brevard Summer Festival, which this year features, among others, Yo-yo Ma.  This summer music camp for high school students has quite a stiff tuition -- $3,000!  Hopefully the recital will help him cover those expenses, as there is a voluntary contribution.  It should be another quite good piano lesson for me, and I think Scott well enjoy the music.  Maybe he will get a chance to meet Prof. Lester as well.  That would be really nice. 

One of Scott's friends and her husband caught a domestic rabbit that was eating their garden.  They emailed pictures and requested information on how to care for him.  They did put up signs so that the owner would come for the rabbit, but I think the wife is getting quite attached already.  I do hope they will keep him if the owner never claims him.  He looks a little bit like a miniature Flemish Giant sandy, but he clearly is not wild from the relaxed attitude and pudgy body that he has.  I'm not sure really how big he is or what breed he is.  Maybe a vet could help them out with that.  Alhtough in many ways he looks like a juvenile Flemish Giant, his paws are all white, not sandy, and his fur seems just a little too smooth.  Maybe they could get some help classifying him from ARBA.  I just don't know.  I probably should look into that.

Have a good weekend.

Love,
Nora
]]>Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/CommentsRSS?Open&id=BFED3F9AF460D86685257484005B73ABhttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/PostComment?RunAgent&id=BFED3F9AF460D86685257484005B73ABhttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7GFTKZNoneNora Clarkehttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7GFTKZhttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7GFTKZ
Kathy brought me a delightful birthday gift to dinner -- three garden bunnies all in different poses.  They are adorable!  After good food and conversation, we headed over to Hood College in my car.  I had never been there and was surprised at how close it was to the center of Frederick.  It is just a lovely Georgian style campus all in red brick with lovely white-painted columns on gracious entrances. 

The concert was grand!  We sat to the left of the piano so that I could watch Prof. Lester's hands and fingers.  What a great piano lesson!  The concert proved to be "all in the family":  Prof. Lester's wife performed, the violin professor at Hood, and his daughter, a lovely coloratura soprano, sang.  In addition there was an (unrelated) cellist who blended in beautifully for several lively trios.  The music was exclusively Haydn and Mozart -- just delightful.  I particularly liked tne Haydn sonata that Prof, Lester played, as it gave me some ideas for shaping up the Haydn sonata that I am working on. 

We had such a good time that Kathy and I decided we would try to go out to dinner and attend each of the remaining concerts.  This is the life -- to have friends to go to classical concerts with. . .

Today has been slow by comparison.  I stayed up a little too late last night and was groggy this morning, going back to take a nap even after my morning cup of coffee.  I did get my job applications done but didn't start practicing piano until relatively late in the afternoon.  I had hoped that the mailman would bring the Bach Inventions I am waiting for, but no such luck.  Maybe tomorrow. 

TGIF -- Scott and I will meet in Frederick in a little bit and get our funny fill of talking to absolute strangers.  It does seem to energize us and our relationship so we keep doing it even though we're married.  It is good to get away from the house, what with being home and unemployed all the time.

Have a good day.

Love,
Nora
]]>Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/CommentsRSS?Open&id=16529CE691E9074D8525748300788C29http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/PostComment?RunAgent&id=16529CE691E9074D8525748300788C29http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7GDPUMNoneNora Clarkehttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7GDPUMhttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7GDPUM
The Fourth of July it rained in the afternoon, but we were still able to go to the horse races over in Charles Town.  What an experience!  It is not far away so I hope we go again sometime soon. 

The rabbits are well for the most part though I did have to take Dorcas to the vet this morning for a bald spot on her back that looked like it had eczema.  The vet is very good with rabbits and recognized the problem even before looking at the slide under the microscope.  Dorcas has a parasite, the equivalent of rabbit lice, which is easily treated with an orally administered medicine.  The medicine, Ivermectin, is banana-flavored, and Dorcas loved it.  She breathed banana-breath all over me and begged for more. 

The wild red raspberries in the backyard have ripened.  I picked more than a gallon yesterday and was barely halfway through the bushes.  Today I will wait until the sun is further down in the sky.  Yesterday I got covered with sweat and insect bites! 

Scott's piano tuning kit arrived in the mail today so we are looking forward to a much better tuned piano in the near future.

That's about all the news.

Thanks for dropping by.  Let me know how you are doing.

Love,
Nora
]]>Wed, 9 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/CommentsRSS?Open&id=D1D30A2BB820F5808525748100670301http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/PostComment?RunAgent&id=D1D30A2BB820F5808525748100670301http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7G6VKYNoneNora Clarkehttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7G6VKYhttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7G6VKY
I sanded so much and inhaled so much sawdust and paint dust it is unreal.  I now sit on the front porch swing, willing my lungs to clear with some of the fresh mountain air.  Scott just got home.  He was a little later than usual, as he stopped by GNC for some almond oil to recondition one of his clarinets.  Apparently the clarinet needs to soak in the almond oil for about a month!  Because I am hoping to play duets with Scott once I start taking piano lessons, I am pleased that he is getting his instruments back into working order.  I am also pleased that he can tune my piano for me.  I still need to get him tools and equipment for that though.  Or rather, I need to coax him into ordering what he needs online so that I can then pay for it for him. 

I love having my wedding band back.  The jeweler made a few adjustments to the setting to make sure no more rubies would fall out, adjustments that are not so attractive to me, but I am just happy to have my ring back.  It feels good on my finger and it's good for my heart and soul.  Now I just need to get used to playing piano with it on. 

Tomorrow will be a full day today.  In the morning I have a physical; in early afternoon I have my piano audtiion with Prof. Noel Lester.  I am eager to meet him and wonder if it will be a good student-teacher fit or if he will suggest someone else as a teacher for me.  At any rate, whatever the result, at least I will at last by working on real piano music again.  I am thrilled to see Scott reconditioning his lesser clarinet (and then his better one, once he has experience at it).  We plan on playing duets, me on piano and him on a variety of instruments.  That's one reason why I need a good teacher.  I need a teacher who knows the available chamber music as well, and Prof. Lester certainly does. 

The evening is pleasantly cool, and Maddie, Jemimah and Sam play in their outdoors pen.  Dorcas is content upstairs with her pellets, now that I have moved Tucker's dry cat food out of her reach onto the window sill.  I am surprised she did not get sick from eating the cat chow! 

My birthday is coming up soon, and we plan to go to the Charles Town Races and Slots to celebrate.  I have always loved watching horse racing on television and wanted to see it for the first time live.  It should be very exciting, I think. 

Have a good day/evening.

Love,
Nora
]]>Wed, 2 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -04001http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/CommentsRSS?Open&id=5C4C49E48BA3D7338525747A0082DA92http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/PostComment?RunAgent&id=5C4C49E48BA3D7338525747A0082DA92http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7FYV57ProfessionalNora Clarkehttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7FYV57http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7FYV57
The window sills continue to make progress slowly.  Today after scraping them, I went upstairs to my bedroom to read a book and fell asleep.  I don't usually nap well, but this nap felt absolutely luxurious.  I woke up so refreshed.  I'll have to try reading in the afternoon more often as long as I am unemployed! 

The cats and rabbits are all well, and tomorrow I take Max to the vet-opthalmologist to have his eye-stitches removed.  Then I shouldn't have to visit any vet for a while.  Yay! 

Have a good evening.

Love,
Nora
]]>Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/CommentsRSS?Open&id=EF03F9E885EE9F8D85257474007F9162http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/PostComment?RunAgent&id=EF03F9E885EE9F8D85257474007F9162http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7FVRUYRabbitsNora Clarkehttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7FVRUYhttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7FVRUY
Scott and I want to breed Sam, our sandy Flemish Giant buck.  We want to get a doe with complementary features and breed more sandies.  Once we do that, we will be the only Flemish Giant rabbit breeders in the state of Maryland registered with the National Federation of Flemish Giant Rabbit Breeders.  That'll be pretty neat.   I think it's time to start thinking of a catchy name for the rabbitry.  We should ultimately have a website, etc. 

The breeding stock and litters will be outdoor rabbits.  We will build hutches for them under the overhang of the barn, where they are well-protected from the hot summer afternoon sun and from winter ravages.  We'll make one very large hutch for the doe and her kits and then a number of smaller hutches for individual kits once they are weaned.  One of the NFFGRB newsletters makes the point that you should keep kits in individual hutches, eating pellets, for a week before selling them off to other owners.  It sounded like a good idea to us. 

In other news, the black raspberries came in last week.  Early in the week I made a black raspberry pie; more berries ripened, and then I made some black raspberry kuchen, but I didn't like that recipe as well as the pie recipe.  The red raspberries will ripen soon, and Scott and I will make raspberry ice cream using the old wooden-bucket ice cream maker my parents gave us the last time we visited them.  It will be the first batch we have ever made together.  Scott likes his ice cream totally from cream, with no milk added.  I can hardly wait.  This is going to be one rich treat. 

I continue sanding down and refinishing window sills, and I have even started practicing piano again.  I am looking for a piano teacher and waiting to hear from someone who was recommended to me -- Noel Lester, the music Chair at Hood College in Frederick.  He seems to have a quite active performance schedule so I wonder if he is really able to take me on as a pupil.  Maybe he can at least recommend someone else.  At any rate, every time I play this piano, I am impressed at what a good piano I managed to purchase this time around.  I can get far more precise dynamic effects from this keyboard than on any other keyboard I have ever worked with.  It makes me very excited to brush up some old pieces and learn some new material as well. 

Mom is up in New York visiting my sister and her three children.  I have invited her down here for a side trip, but I think it probably is a little long for her to do that.  Dad seems to be managing on his own just fine, a good thing.  My sister Laura is preparing to go to Monterey, CA for the World Aquathlon Championships.  She has a new wetsuit and is very pleased with it, really looking forward to the competition and to the opportunity to meet and make new friends. 
]]>Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/CommentsRSS?Open&id=CD9B06FF9264B948852574710070BE6Ehttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/PostComment?RunAgent&id=CD9B06FF9264B948852574710070BE6Ehttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7FKSN8NoneNora Clarkehttp://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7FKSN8http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/d6plinks/BULE-7FKSN8
We married joyously on Friday, May 16, and then we spent a long weekend in Ocean City, Maryland as our honeymoon.  Cleaning the house to have guests over after the wedding inspired me to take on a number of house projects, and I am pleased to report that after a couple of weeks Scott came home from work and sweetly thanked me for making our house into a home.  The latest project has been stripping down the window sills and finishing them in polyurethane.  Thank goodness for power tools -- I love my belt sander and the random orbital sander now.  Only the guest room window sill is finished so far.  Tonight we will finally move the mattress into it, and then I can hang a nice set of curtains that I found in the room over the kitchen when I reordered everything up there.  Then we can have guests though we probably won't have our first guests until September, when my parents may come to visit. 

All the animals are well.  When we got home from our honeymoon, we saw that kitten Max had quite an infected left eye.  He had ruptured the cornea, and but for a timely skin graft, would have lost his left eye.  The skin graft was affixed with 21 stitches in a thread thinner than human hair.  The stitches will come out in about two weeks.  Max seems entirely healed already and back to his boisterous kitten play. . . We are thinking of obtaining a Flemish Giant doe to breed with Sam, but we have to learn a whole lot more about bloodlines before we do that.  Unfortunately, the next show we will be able to go to is not until early September.  Oh, well, something to look forward to in the future.

The job hunt continues.  This time around I am actually applying both for attorney positions and public affairs specialist positions.  Always with the federal government.  I didn't realize what a great workplace Customs was until after I left.  Well, live, reflect and learn.

Married life treats us well.  We continue to go out and "date" , and tomorrow night we will be having dinner with a couple who could not make it to the wedding but wanted to ask us to dinner as a "next best".  I have never met them, but I am looking forward to this. 

Hope you are well.  Stay in touch and let me know how you are by leaving a comment.

Love,
Nora
]]>Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/CommentsRSS?Open&id=DC150D717A34409385257467007434C7http://www.myrabbits.org/wabbits.nsf/PostComment?RunAgent&id=DC150D717A34409385257467007434C7