Molly Bee's Attic

As I was out adventuring on Sunday afternoon, I saw a sign on the highway that said 'Scenic Overlook', so I pulled off the road and into the upper parking lot. I am a sucker for 'scenic' anything and also for those markers for historic places you come across sometimes. (In Maine we call them 'rocks with writing on them' because the metal plaques are usually attached to huge, usually granite, boulders, but here in WI, they are usually in the form of an actual wooden sign.  But I digress...). I knew it had to be something really beautiful because I was in the Driftless Area of Wisconsin. The Saint Laurentide Ice Sheet never made it down this far in the last Ice Age. The area wasn't scraped clean by the rampaging berg and rushing waters, so it's all the original Cambrian seabed underneath. Lots hills and vales! I also knew, that if the powers-that-be thought it was important enough to build a groovy, and quite obviously spendy, pedestrian bridge over...

I decided that Sunday looked like a good day for adventuring, so I headed over to Governor Dodge State Park for the afternoon.  I've only lived in Wisconsin for going on 30 years so I figured it was time. I had heard that there was a waterfall in the park so of course that was my goal. Turns out, it was just down the road a piece from the front gate so it wasn't hard to find.  The path through the woods was paved, short and very pretty until you get to this part (up at the top): 'Natural Rock Staircase'...my back pockets!!! Climbing down was a lot scarier than these pictures make it look. It's all an uneven jumble of rocks to the bottom and pretty steep. Thankfully there is an iron pipe railing to hold on to or I probably wouldn't have attempted it. Some of the 'steps' are pretty far apart for those of us who are short on one end, but I made it to the bottom unscathed! I was rewarded with this bit of loveliness! Stev...

My life these days seems to have gone to the birds. Remember last summer when it was all about hawks for a while after I watched that one die on a live wire on Odana Road and took it to the police? For two weeks afterward I was inundated with close encounters with raptors. This new bird thing started when I was in Maine and a hummingbird got trapped in the garage. No amount of cajoling would entice him to fly out on his own, so I went up on a step ladder and plucked him out of the corner and took him outside. I sat with him in my open palm for a couple of minutes while he regained his composure and then he flew off. Gosh, that is the closest thing to magic there is; holding that shiny, emerald in your hand. It's like holding a fairy! When I got home from Maine, I decided to put up bird feeders for the first time. Don't tell the birds, but I put them out by the front window so the cat would have something to keep him entertained-and they certainly do! I tinkered with it a doze...

I've been tangling my brains out this spring for stress reduction. I've been ruminating on these new tangle ideas for a while, so last night I took a couple of hours and put them together for my Tangle friends who will be meeting up this Saturday. I'd love it if any of you tanglers out there would be so kind as to try one or both and see what you can do with them!