What's the new year going to be like? I have high hopes that it will the beginning of a peace trend. This year is leaving the country with jangled nerves caused by thoughtless tweets and innuendoes, and the new national norm of a divided citizenry.
On a more personal level, I'm glad December is over. After weeks of flu, both my son and I were able to enjoy a very nice Christmas day. Our new year, 2018, will be greeted with enthusiasm and plans for Nu-House projects.
Our Houston, Texas weather is moderate compared to that of Lake Erie. My childhood was spent in Iowa, so I know what snow is, and how deep it can get, but the snow fall in Erie is truly awesome. In an old family photo album there are several snapshots of uncles standing on 20 foot high snow drifts. Now the only snow I get to see is that in a snow globe.
I haven't made my list of resolutions yet. I always make a list of about 10 things I know I'll probably do, and call them resolutions. I actually do many of them, but this year, I haven't given much thought to them. Who know? Perhaps this year I'll just watch the television news and complain about how things are going, while I sit back and ignore all the things I feel I should be doing. Perhaps this is my own personal 'new norm'?
For those of you that read this blog, I wish you a very merry and happy New Year. May 2018 bring you fulfilled wishes and continued good health. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Monday, December 25, 2017
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Christmas 2017 by KimB
Another winter, harbinger of the coming new year, has come and in many parts of the world a Holiday Is Happenin'! For some, that holiday will start Dec 25 1 and others it will be 12 days later on Jan 6 2 . Still more will have different dates and meanings to mark this particular time on the planet.
While many in the USA are focused on the bargains to be had at stores both physical and ethereal, there is a lot more to be found besides tomorrow's trash-n-dump that the unceasing barrages of advertising, both subliminal and not too subtle, tell us We Must Have!
If we take a moment to look beyond what's pushed, shoved and splayed across the micro-screens that now capture and occupy our every waking moment, we might find something different in front of us.
The winter solstice 3 marks the end of one period and the starting a new one. It is the day of least sunlight and the longest night.
An old song 4 commemorates this time:
The length of daytime depends on where you live on the planet. North of the equator, this day can be less than 4 hours long and gets longer as you move southward. The physical shape of our planet 5, it's path through the solar system, the tilt of the axis and it's relationship to the sun are what governs the solstice 6.
The solstice is a marker for seasons. Seasons are marked by calendars. In the USA we use the Gregorian calendar 7 but this isn't the first or only calendar 8. Calendars of all sorts and manners mark seasons and the repetition of days in a season. Clocks 9 mark the repetition of the hours for day and night.
But the solstice is not dependent on any of us. It happens regardless of us. We place extra meanings on some days and mark them as special but those are our determinations. The earth has it's own special days, and celebrates them with or without us. The winter solstice is one of them.
The solstice has been celebrated by humans for a very long time 10. It marks a special time not just for the planet but for us as a species.
It marks a turning point in our joint past, when we noticed the repeating patterns all around us. It marks not just our awareness but our ability to predict that repetition. The moment when our awareness, our consciousness, our sense of self in the environment, our ability to count and our ability to display that count and then to physically pass this information onward to future generations happened.
It marks the end of spoken memory and the beginning of modern memory: the memory of the solstice and what it means.
Take a moment to look around you. Notice anything special?
Something beyond price:
References
While many in the USA are focused on the bargains to be had at stores both physical and ethereal, there is a lot more to be found besides tomorrow's trash-n-dump that the unceasing barrages of advertising, both subliminal and not too subtle, tell us We Must Have!
If we take a moment to look beyond what's pushed, shoved and splayed across the micro-screens that now capture and occupy our every waking moment, we might find something different in front of us.
- The flitting of a small bird.
- A single snow flake.
- The fracture patterns of frozen water.
- The reflection of light as it bounces from a glass pane.
- The smell of cold air.
- The degrees of wetness in mud.
- The quilting of fallen leaves.
- The warmth of a hand.
- The smile of a stranger.
The winter solstice 3 marks the end of one period and the starting a new one. It is the day of least sunlight and the longest night.
An old song 4 commemorates this time:
They had not been sailing but a long winter's night,
And part of short winter's day.
The length of daytime depends on where you live on the planet. North of the equator, this day can be less than 4 hours long and gets longer as you move southward. The physical shape of our planet 5, it's path through the solar system, the tilt of the axis and it's relationship to the sun are what governs the solstice 6.
 |
| Solargraph: sun tracks |
The solstice is a marker for seasons. Seasons are marked by calendars. In the USA we use the Gregorian calendar 7 but this isn't the first or only calendar 8. Calendars of all sorts and manners mark seasons and the repetition of days in a season. Clocks 9 mark the repetition of the hours for day and night.
But the solstice is not dependent on any of us. It happens regardless of us. We place extra meanings on some days and mark them as special but those are our determinations. The earth has it's own special days, and celebrates them with or without us. The winter solstice is one of them.
The solstice has been celebrated by humans for a very long time 10. It marks a special time not just for the planet but for us as a species.
It marks a turning point in our joint past, when we noticed the repeating patterns all around us. It marks not just our awareness but our ability to predict that repetition. The moment when our awareness, our consciousness, our sense of self in the environment, our ability to count and our ability to display that count and then to physically pass this information onward to future generations happened.
It marks the end of spoken memory and the beginning of modern memory: the memory of the solstice and what it means.
Take a moment to look around you. Notice anything special?
Something beyond price:
The solstice is happening
 |
| Winter Solstice Stonehenge |
References
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_25
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_6
- a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice
b https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_solstice - a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Martin_(song)
b https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Barton_(privateer) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solstice
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendar
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic
Monday, December 18, 2017
Monday, December 11, 2017
Monday, December 04, 2017
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Our Privacy Policy Update for 2018
[note: Editor's Post]
It's that time of year where the massive tracking industries are hard at work planning to detach money from your pockets and transfer it into theirs.
Yeppers, it's holiday time and in the USA people will do all sorts of odd things they would never do otherwise, in the pursuit of those "hot" new item(s) touted by these same massive tracking industries as being the "in thing"; which means: you really don't have a choice about what you are getting.
So to get the basics out of the way:
There are others that do:
There! Feel Better?
Hmmm. Didn't think so.
In previous posts we have explored a number of issues regarding your privacy and the digital leashes go with all this mass data tracking. Those are all still happening. There hasn't been a lot of great news on the privacy front so far, but there are rumblings in different parts of the globe which may put a few dents in the "status quo" of monetizing the internet.
So, in furtherance of the annual explanation of why Everyone + Dog is tracking you and selling: you, your family, your kids, your friends, your neighbors, the strangers you pass by, the cars your drive in, the routes you take while walking, driving, biking and generally every time you take a "bio break", into digital slavery, this edition will review an area soon to be On The Plate of a lot of those who make vast sums of money from all that you provide them, like Alphabet / Google.
Alphabet is now the top dog in the Google 2 Complex of Obfuscations of their financial structures. All perfectly legal ... or mostly legal. The "mostly legal" part is important.
There is actually a lot of rumbling in the internet, much of which will be under explained, if reported at all, but the current structure has "a problem". There are a LOT of problems, but this one is going to be hitting the fan soon because it affects how the entire internet works. It is called the Domain Name System (DNS) 3 and Certification Authority (CA) 4.
DNS 3
Computers are essentially dumb. It doesn't matter that there are claims of Artificial Intelligence, with the emphasis on "intelligence", that are smeared like jam over the promotional advertising about AI, computers are just dumb and they only do what they are instructed to do. We instruct them to do lots of things from streaming movies 5 to twittering 6 to twitching 7.
The Domain Name System is how one computer can figure out where another computer is located on the internet. It forms part of the URL 8 that we type in or select by a clicking a link. But the URL we see or type is not necessarily where the browser gets directed (see our posts on Links 9).
Given that the internet was and is developed by a great number of folks happier to talk to a machine than another human being, the Grand Design was based on N U M B E R S.
Yeah, all that horrid stuff you had to put up with in grade school:
The Number System: IP Address
The Internet Protocol address (IP) 10 is arcane, even to those dealing with the technical aspects of the internet . Even if you are a technical programmer, you just hope that someone else gets assigned to deal with any IP Address issues.
Yep. It's that bad.
It's SOOO bad, that the Domain Name System was developed so fewer people would ever have to deal with IP numbers. The Domain Name System uses "words" rather than "numbers". Something much easier for humans to process.
The DNS : IP Fix
To fix the numbers problem, the DNS uses a cross reference table to match "words" to "numbers". The internet uses the words we type or click on and looks up the matching numbers. Since computers are excellent with numbers they figure out what all the numbers mean and voilà! you get the web page you wanted. .. maybe.
This is an example of how words and numbers are matched 11:
By now, given the subject of this post, I think you can begin to see "a problem". It's glaring and one nearly every person on the planet has experienced or struggles with: incorrect information. A simple typo and BOOM! example.com goes "somewhere else".
There are a lot of safe guards and backups to prevent an unintentional BOOM! but it still happens and it can happen intentionally too by hacking parts of the DNS system: DNS Spoofing. 12. DNS Spoofing is the same as a Re-Direct except ... it wasn't authorized. It is almost always "bad news". Re-Directs can be done much lower on the totem pole but DNS Spoofing hacks can happen anywhere along the entire length of the pole.
And just to be clear:
So to prevent some of this... Enter Stage Right: The Certificate Authority.
Certificate Authority 4
Certificate Authorities are Digital Certificates/Encrypted Signatures that are supposed to let you know the "Destination You Land On" is the "Destination You Requested".
Companies with web servers and sites pay the CA Authorization Providers at the top of this heap, to give them a certificate that your browser will check to verify that said company IS said company. The certificate is an encrypted key (you know, a combination lock) that will only match with said company. It doesn't validate that the site is "honest"; only that the site is "registered".
Browsers act like gate keepers checking that the certificates are GOOD and if GOOD then the presumption is that the site is ... well... the site.
Because a good combination lock 13 actually works, there are those that work full time at breaking the locks. But a good lock, like any good lock, doesn't break easily. It's tough.
Once you have a valid lock and the keys too, Bob's Your Uncle! 14
All you have to do is get the Target to install the stolen certificate! Since the certificate appears to be all hunky dory legit, it's a snap.
WHEEEEEEE!!!
Except, there goes your bank account and your tax refunds (Is my name Trump?) and you get more headaches than just the normal after holiday bash hangovers.
The Bad Dudettes and Dudes in the world, work extra hard to make sure they can BOOM! these systems. They do a good job of it too. Open Season.
Oh WOW NOW?
There are agencies and governments and a few companies that are thinking of commencing to begin to get started on planning to ponder about these issues:
However, even the biggest companies are subject to these problems, governments are subject to them, along with anyone who uses a computer, program/app or smartphone. We The People are subject to it because The Metaphysical and Almighty THEY make a tonnage of money off the status quo.
The Money taken lands somewhere. That somewhere has 2 features:
There isn't any good method of repairing the system as is.
The existing system was designed for a different world and society, one where we trusted our friends and neighbors, and we talked with strangers and freely walked in parks. Where we housed the homeless and fed the poor and loaned our neighbors a cup of flour. When no one locked their doors and there was always room for one more at the table. One were we helped each other and exchanged knowledge without fear of reprisal, jail, torture and death. One where tolerance and trust was the most important part of our lives.
The new versions that are coming won't be any of the above.
KimB Editor
References
It's that time of year where the massive tracking industries are hard at work planning to detach money from your pockets and transfer it into theirs.
Yeppers, it's holiday time and in the USA people will do all sorts of odd things they would never do otherwise, in the pursuit of those "hot" new item(s) touted by these same massive tracking industries as being the "in thing"; which means: you really don't have a choice about what you are getting.
So to get the basics out of the way:
WE do not track or trace you.
There are others that do:
- Google (this is a Google blog site)
- We have a 3d party map that shows who visits the page
- An unknown number of trackers, tracers and surveillance devices
There! Feel Better?
Hmmm. Didn't think so.
In previous posts we have explored a number of issues regarding your privacy and the digital leashes go with all this mass data tracking. Those are all still happening. There hasn't been a lot of great news on the privacy front so far, but there are rumblings in different parts of the globe which may put a few dents in the "status quo" of monetizing the internet.
So, in furtherance of the annual explanation of why Everyone + Dog is tracking you and selling: you, your family, your kids, your friends, your neighbors, the strangers you pass by, the cars your drive in, the routes you take while walking, driving, biking and generally every time you take a "bio break", into digital slavery, this edition will review an area soon to be On The Plate of a lot of those who make vast sums of money from all that you provide them, like Alphabet / Google.
| Alphabet (2016) 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Alphabet Assets (stuff they own) |
$167+ BILLION | $167,000,000,000 |
| Alphabet Profit (weaseled) |
$19+ BILLION | $19,000,000,000 |
Alphabet is now the top dog in the Google 2 Complex of Obfuscations of their financial structures. All perfectly legal ... or mostly legal. The "mostly legal" part is important.
There is actually a lot of rumbling in the internet, much of which will be under explained, if reported at all, but the current structure has "a problem". There are a LOT of problems, but this one is going to be hitting the fan soon because it affects how the entire internet works. It is called the Domain Name System (DNS) 3 and Certification Authority (CA) 4.
DNS 3
Computers are essentially dumb. It doesn't matter that there are claims of Artificial Intelligence, with the emphasis on "intelligence", that are smeared like jam over the promotional advertising about AI, computers are just dumb and they only do what they are instructed to do. We instruct them to do lots of things from streaming movies 5 to twittering 6 to twitching 7.
The Domain Name System is how one computer can figure out where another computer is located on the internet. It forms part of the URL 8 that we type in or select by a clicking a link. But the URL we see or type is not necessarily where the browser gets directed (see our posts on Links 9).
Given that the internet was and is developed by a great number of folks happier to talk to a machine than another human being, the Grand Design was based on N U M B E R S.
Yeah, all that horrid stuff you had to put up with in grade school:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
The Number System: IP Address
The Internet Protocol address (IP) 10 is arcane, even to those dealing with the technical aspects of the internet . Even if you are a technical programmer, you just hope that someone else gets assigned to deal with any IP Address issues.
Yep. It's that bad.
It's SOOO bad, that the Domain Name System was developed so fewer people would ever have to deal with IP numbers. The Domain Name System uses "words" rather than "numbers". Something much easier for humans to process.
The DNS : IP Fix
To fix the numbers problem, the DNS uses a cross reference table to match "words" to "numbers". The internet uses the words we type or click on and looks up the matching numbers. Since computers are excellent with numbers they figure out what all the numbers mean and voilà! you get the web page you wanted. .. maybe.
This is an example of how words and numbers are matched 11:
| www.example.com | ||
|---|---|---|
| IPv4 Numbering | 93.184.216.119 | |
| IPv6 Numbering | 2606:2800:220:6d:26bf:1447:1097:aa7 | |
By now, given the subject of this post, I think you can begin to see "a problem". It's glaring and one nearly every person on the planet has experienced or struggles with: incorrect information. A simple typo and BOOM! example.com goes "somewhere else".
There are a lot of safe guards and backups to prevent an unintentional BOOM! but it still happens and it can happen intentionally too by hacking parts of the DNS system: DNS Spoofing. 12. DNS Spoofing is the same as a Re-Direct except ... it wasn't authorized. It is almost always "bad news". Re-Directs can be done much lower on the totem pole but DNS Spoofing hacks can happen anywhere along the entire length of the pole.
And just to be clear:
There is zero difference between people, businesses, agencies and governments engaging in such hacks.It works for all. Very ecumenical.
So to prevent some of this... Enter Stage Right: The Certificate Authority.
Certificate Authority 4
Certificate Authorities are Digital Certificates/Encrypted Signatures that are supposed to let you know the "Destination You Land On" is the "Destination You Requested".
Companies with web servers and sites pay the CA Authorization Providers at the top of this heap, to give them a certificate that your browser will check to verify that said company IS said company. The certificate is an encrypted key (you know, a combination lock) that will only match with said company. It doesn't validate that the site is "honest"; only that the site is "registered".
Browsers act like gate keepers checking that the certificates are GOOD and if GOOD then the presumption is that the site is ... well... the site.
Because a good combination lock 13 actually works, there are those that work full time at breaking the locks. But a good lock, like any good lock, doesn't break easily. It's tough.
So what do you do if you cannot "break a lock"?
You steal one with the keys attached.
Once you have a valid lock and the keys too, Bob's Your Uncle! 14
All you have to do is get the Target to install the stolen certificate! Since the certificate appears to be all hunky dory legit, it's a snap.
WHEEEEEEE!!!
Except, there goes your bank account and your tax refunds (Is my name Trump?) and you get more headaches than just the normal after holiday bash hangovers.
The Bad Dudettes and Dudes in the world, work extra hard to make sure they can BOOM! these systems. They do a good job of it too. Open Season.
Oh WOW NOW?
There are agencies and governments and a few companies that are thinking of commencing to begin to get started on planning to ponder about these issues:
- DNS can be broken
- CA can be stolen
Nothing to see here.. move along
but don't forget to leave your money on the table.
However, even the biggest companies are subject to these problems, governments are subject to them, along with anyone who uses a computer, program/app or smartphone. We The People are subject to it because The Metaphysical and Almighty THEY make a tonnage of money off the status quo.
The Money taken lands somewhere. That somewhere has 2 features:
- No Taxation 15
- Cleaning It Up 16
There isn't any good method of repairing the system as is.
The existing system was designed for a different world and society, one where we trusted our friends and neighbors, and we talked with strangers and freely walked in parks. Where we housed the homeless and fed the poor and loaned our neighbors a cup of flour. When no one locked their doors and there was always room for one more at the table. One were we helped each other and exchanged knowledge without fear of reprisal, jail, torture and death. One where tolerance and trust was the most important part of our lives.
The new versions that are coming won't be any of the above.
KimB Editor
 |
| Partial map of the Internet January 15, 2005 Each line is drawn between two nodes, representing two IP addresses. This graph represents less than 30% of the Class C networks in early 2005. 17 |
References
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphabet_Inc.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Alphabet
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certificate_authority
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streaming_media
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitch.tv
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL
- a) https://mrsbizzybsayshello.blogspot.com/2017/03/when-is-link-link.html
b) https://mrsbizzybsayshello.blogspot.com/2017/04/why-links-aint-links.html - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_address
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System#Function
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNS_cache_poisoning
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lock_(security_device)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob%27s_your_uncle
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_haven
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_laundering
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Internet_map_1024_-_transparent,_inverted.png
Monday, November 27, 2017
Sunday, November 26, 2017
1st Thanksgiving
We celebrated our first Thanksgiving in the Gnu-house with all the 'usual' fix-ins. We even had two kinds of cranberries, relish and sauce. That's high livin' if you ask me. After finishing all the leftovers, we followed my brother, Charles' tradition of serving Chili. Charles always teased us by saying it was a 3 or 4 alarm; but there was an off chance that he was actually serious, and we had to wait for the tasting to be certain.
We are still unpacking boxes. I'm not doing any of the work, I'm leaving that to others. I'm sitting poolside while the weather is so lovely and either knit or read my nook. The nook was a present from my daughter, her husband and my son when my kindle stopped working. I had to go to Barns & Noble and take a class to learn how the nook works and I'm still getting the hang of it. There are lots of aps on it that I have to learn. I like getting library books at any hour and any day.
I finally got my old phone number back. After cancelling the Comcast TV service, and going with another TV service, AT&T had to give us temporary numbers until Comcast relinquished our old numbers, (the ones we had for years and years). I suppose it was because of all the data gathering that goes on now. Between all the data gathering and the constant advertising and touting of businesses, I long for the old days of life without digital progress. Maybe we should get back to teaching cursive? Maybe I would have to hold a real book to read a novel.... Are those days gone forever?
We are still unpacking boxes. I'm not doing any of the work, I'm leaving that to others. I'm sitting poolside while the weather is so lovely and either knit or read my nook. The nook was a present from my daughter, her husband and my son when my kindle stopped working. I had to go to Barns & Noble and take a class to learn how the nook works and I'm still getting the hang of it. There are lots of aps on it that I have to learn. I like getting library books at any hour and any day.
I finally got my old phone number back. After cancelling the Comcast TV service, and going with another TV service, AT&T had to give us temporary numbers until Comcast relinquished our old numbers, (the ones we had for years and years). I suppose it was because of all the data gathering that goes on now. Between all the data gathering and the constant advertising and touting of businesses, I long for the old days of life without digital progress. Maybe we should get back to teaching cursive? Maybe I would have to hold a real book to read a novel.... Are those days gone forever?
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Living in Gnu-House
We are adjusting to new experiences and routines. I haven't established a daily routine yet. The weather has been so delightful that sometimes I have breakfast in the patio and watch the three swirling rings of water that push the floating objects around the pool. Its very restful; like watching fish swim in an aquarium.
The other morning we had a small rescue drama. We noticed a tiny tree frog, about the size of my thumbnail, desperately trying to climb onto the disk that floats around the pool sending information to the satellite, which in turn sends information back to the pool monitor letting us know when and which chemicals to put in the pool, the green packet or the red one. The top of the disk was an inch too high for the tree frog to reach, but he kept trying. When we realized the little thing was not going to make it, we fished him out of water with a net. When we poured him out of the net onto the cement sidewalk circling the pool, he sat for a second, then totally collapsed into a flat speck on the cement.
We thought he had died. We just sat there processing the event and suddenly, the tree frog sat up and took a couple of hops. It didn't have the strength to hop again. After another moment or two, the little thing took another couple of hops toward the grassy area. It had to stop several times between hops before getting off the sidewalk, but eventually made it.
We surmised that the little tree frog had accidently fallen into the pool trying to catch a dragonfly.
The other morning we had a small rescue drama. We noticed a tiny tree frog, about the size of my thumbnail, desperately trying to climb onto the disk that floats around the pool sending information to the satellite, which in turn sends information back to the pool monitor letting us know when and which chemicals to put in the pool, the green packet or the red one. The top of the disk was an inch too high for the tree frog to reach, but he kept trying. When we realized the little thing was not going to make it, we fished him out of water with a net. When we poured him out of the net onto the cement sidewalk circling the pool, he sat for a second, then totally collapsed into a flat speck on the cement.
We thought he had died. We just sat there processing the event and suddenly, the tree frog sat up and took a couple of hops. It didn't have the strength to hop again. After another moment or two, the little thing took another couple of hops toward the grassy area. It had to stop several times between hops before getting off the sidewalk, but eventually made it.
We surmised that the little tree frog had accidently fallen into the pool trying to catch a dragonfly.
Monday, November 20, 2017
Monday, November 13, 2017
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Changes
A la Billie Holiday... There's been a change in the weather, and there's been a change for me. I've changed my place of livin' and things are new to me. All my routines are changin'; nothin's gonna be the same. The only thing I'm keepin' is my same old name.
I've moved from my city apartment into a country house my son bought recently. It's not deep 'country' but far enough for me. It has been many years since we've shared a living space and I'm looking forward to this arrangement. I have one wing of the house all to myself and he enjoys the rest. There is a lovely swimming pool and I enjoy having morning coffee in the patio pool side. One of the neighbors, on the far right corner of the back yard, has a horse that puts his head over the high fence and watches us as we chat over morning coffee.
I'm still settling in, but it won't be long before I start new projects and write about them. Keep tuned in.
I've moved from my city apartment into a country house my son bought recently. It's not deep 'country' but far enough for me. It has been many years since we've shared a living space and I'm looking forward to this arrangement. I have one wing of the house all to myself and he enjoys the rest. There is a lovely swimming pool and I enjoy having morning coffee in the patio pool side. One of the neighbors, on the far right corner of the back yard, has a horse that puts his head over the high fence and watches us as we chat over morning coffee.
I'm still settling in, but it won't be long before I start new projects and write about them. Keep tuned in.
Monday, November 06, 2017
Monday, October 30, 2017
Monday, October 23, 2017
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Wontons
Many years ago, a young Chinese student from Taiwan, studying at Stanford, taught me a recipe. It was how to make wontons and cook them in boiling water. I was surprised that a young man would know how to do this. It was a simple, ezpz recipe and I made it often.
Time passed; life presented turns and twists obscuring recipes and the wonton recipe was forgotten, until all these years later. Today, when I checked Chef John's latest recipe, I was reminded of the wontons. Scrolling thru the internet, I found numerous YouTube variations of the young man's recipe, Wonton Soup. Many of the recipes show how to flavor the boiling water, but many web sites prefer just plain boiling water, which is the way I learned this recipe.
The basic filling for the wonton wrappers consists of
ground pork
chopped prawns
chopped green onions
chopped cabbage
chopped chestnuts
minced garlic
grated ginger
sesame oil
soy sauce
drop filled wontons into boiling water and cook for several minutes.
The wontons can be eaten with any of the sauce recipes found on the web, or served in a bowl of hot chicken broth.
I often made this recipe with just ground meat, chopped green onion and minced garlic in a wonton wrap, boiled in water and served only with a little soy sauce.
Time passed; life presented turns and twists obscuring recipes and the wonton recipe was forgotten, until all these years later. Today, when I checked Chef John's latest recipe, I was reminded of the wontons. Scrolling thru the internet, I found numerous YouTube variations of the young man's recipe, Wonton Soup. Many of the recipes show how to flavor the boiling water, but many web sites prefer just plain boiling water, which is the way I learned this recipe.
The basic filling for the wonton wrappers consists of
ground pork
chopped prawns
chopped green onions
chopped cabbage
chopped chestnuts
minced garlic
grated ginger
sesame oil
soy sauce
drop filled wontons into boiling water and cook for several minutes.
The wontons can be eaten with any of the sauce recipes found on the web, or served in a bowl of hot chicken broth.
I often made this recipe with just ground meat, chopped green onion and minced garlic in a wonton wrap, boiled in water and served only with a little soy sauce.
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
How Does Your Garden Grow?
KimB
How Does My Garden Grow? A Failure
This year, like many, I planted a garden. March rolled around and the smell of damp earth and the slightly warmer days indicated the beginning of The Pilgrimages to the Garden Centers was at hand.
Like other years, I planned and schemed how to grow a garden, even though my garden is now reduced to a dozen containers, and coaxing them to yield something akin to the images of the vegetables on the seed packets is still the prime directive.
Unlike other years, of varied results of both success and failures, this year was a doozy.
One popular online tech mag uses the acronym TITSUP (Total Inability To Support Usual Performance) to describe the myriad failures of modern technology which are only getting more frequent as the quality of software and hardware plummet.
My garden went TITSUP: a complete failure to grow anything at all.
First off, after a brief success getting the tomatoes planted and some bush beans and the never ending attempt to grow potatoes (I'd have starved long ago if I had to live on what potatoes I grow), my back yard irrigation pipe broke.
Actually, the line had been leaking for some time and I paid numerous people to come to find the break and fix it but gosh, not a one would get out a shovel and dig along the pipe line to look for the leak 'cause that's what you have to do to find it: dig along the pipe line.
Finally, I just had to do what everyone has to do when help (paid for or not) is not forth coming: Do It Myself.
So... with great care, as I was recovering from a back injury, I started The Hunt. Ever so S L O W L Y I started at the last known puddle and carefully removed the dirt in the area and LUCK was with me: I found the broken riser on the first go. It had broken at the base and I started down a new educational pathway of learning about PVC Pipes, Risers and their Assorted Accessories.
Having successfully replaced the riser I looked at the others in the garden and decided to replace them too and install new drip top caps.
You know about tech upgrades? You know when you get that message:
Well... yeppers, TITSUP went the irrigation.
The drip top caps I selected for the top of the risers had several options and never in a minute thinking that anyone would be able to displace them, I set up 2 drip lines for every tree in my back yard. It worked great. Trees were happy. No water flowing places it shouldn't. All looked just hunky dory.
Until, my gardeners made their twice a year foray into the back yard to trim the trees. Heavy duty waffle stompers make short work of cheap plastic parts. My irrigation upgrades were toast. Back to the garden center I went, selecting a completely different sort of cap and installed those.
With the water back ON things looked OK, just before the next TITSUP event: SUMMER.
It was HOT. I mean, HOT. Not HOT as is cool or kewl but HOT as in scorching.
But I figured I had my water timers working and the new lines were working so.. I'm good!
Oh SO WRONG.
My backyard exterior water timer had gone: TITSUP.
And I didn't realize if for a L O N G time. Of course that's the one that ran the water to the garden area.
So... now I had a BIG problem. I'd never dealt with a water timer. You know that thing that the landscape folks install that turns on and off the sprinklers? I've had to set the date and time occasionally but the gardeners generally do all the "programming": A B C programs, Stations 1 2 3 4 5 6, Frequency (we have water restriction days), and other gardener lingo options. My gardeners also have an extreme reluctance to replace anything they didn't install themselves even when I pay them for it. I expect it's because they never know that that OTHER GUY did or didn't do during the original installation and cans of worms being the result. It also impacts the 10 minutes of Mow and Blow scheduling they allot my tiny front yard.
So given the complete indifference of my gardeners to the plight of my newly discovered wilting plants, I made Pilgrimage to the Garden Center to learn about water timers. I had nightmare visions of complicated wires and plugs with E L E C T R I C I T Y (yikes!) but forced myself to face the onslaught of gardener lingo to preserve my poor wilting tomatoes.
Complicated it was. Hard to figure out it wasn't. For once technology was helpful: A big LED screen that had D I R E C T I O N S.
It wasn't long before I had it all sorted and was kicking myself for ever paying anyone to install one of these things again. You still need the pipes run and the valves installed and the base wires pulled near an outlet but the actually water timer is A SNAP. I spent more time trying to attach it to the exterior stucco wall than actually setting up the timer.
I was so impressed by the ease of setting up this timer I went back and bought another one designed to attach to the water spigot so I could run temporary water lines to some flower pots on the patio. No more dragging a hose or hauling a watering can to water the flowers which made my back VERY HAPPY!
So... with all this new water happiness how did the garden go TITSUP?
A power failure.
Nods. Technologies most fundamental flaw: it needs juice. No juice, no tech. Batteries only last so long and then: D E A D.
Without power a PC cannot turn on to log in to the support desk and a dead battery on a smartphone makes it just as bricked as a borked upgrade and a power failure causes water timers to reset to NOTHING and no water happens.
By the time I realized that the timer had crashed, with all that scorching heat, there was nothing left. The promising bush beans had vaporized. Not a green leaf to be seen in the potato pot. The sight of tomato vines draped over the edge of the pot in a laced lattice work of desiccated green lines was just pitiful.
Looking at the desolation of climate change, I had no recourse but to abandon any attempt at garden CPR. I didn't go to the garden area for a longish time. There was nothing there to check. Nothing survived the lack of water and the heat.
Or so I thought.
But you know, life is resilient. It never gives up. Plants have survived droughts and heat and cold for longer than we have. They are rather amazing.
I took a peek at the garden and was stunned.
There were 2 tomato vines struggling along. The plants were still trying. There won't be tomatoes for me but the plants don't know that. They only know to keep trying.
Next to the tomatoes was an eggplant. I thought it had long ago vaporized in the heat. The pot had certainly appeared lifeless but there it was ....
Life lessons: Life is more resilient than technology.
We put one foot in front of the other. We keep trying. We don't always succeed but when we do, when we exceed our own expectations, when we overcome self doubts, when we explore new options and take a chance on new opportunities, when we cast off fear of the unknown then we are rewarded in the most beautiful and unexpected ways.
How Does My Garden Grow? A Failure
This year, like many, I planted a garden. March rolled around and the smell of damp earth and the slightly warmer days indicated the beginning of The Pilgrimages to the Garden Centers was at hand.
Like other years, I planned and schemed how to grow a garden, even though my garden is now reduced to a dozen containers, and coaxing them to yield something akin to the images of the vegetables on the seed packets is still the prime directive.
Unlike other years, of varied results of both success and failures, this year was a doozy.
One popular online tech mag uses the acronym TITSUP (Total Inability To Support Usual Performance) to describe the myriad failures of modern technology which are only getting more frequent as the quality of software and hardware plummet.
My garden went TITSUP: a complete failure to grow anything at all.
First off, after a brief success getting the tomatoes planted and some bush beans and the never ending attempt to grow potatoes (I'd have starved long ago if I had to live on what potatoes I grow), my back yard irrigation pipe broke.
Actually, the line had been leaking for some time and I paid numerous people to come to find the break and fix it but gosh, not a one would get out a shovel and dig along the pipe line to look for the leak 'cause that's what you have to do to find it: dig along the pipe line.
Finally, I just had to do what everyone has to do when help (paid for or not) is not forth coming: Do It Myself.
So... with great care, as I was recovering from a back injury, I started The Hunt. Ever so S L O W L Y I started at the last known puddle and carefully removed the dirt in the area and LUCK was with me: I found the broken riser on the first go. It had broken at the base and I started down a new educational pathway of learning about PVC Pipes, Risers and their Assorted Accessories.
Having successfully replaced the riser I looked at the others in the garden and decided to replace them too and install new drip top caps.
You know about tech upgrades? You know when you get that message:
There's a new version available.and there's no way to say "NO!!!!"? Then your PC goes TITSUP and you cannot login to the Support Desk Website ('cause the manufacturer doesn't have phone support) or your not so smart smartphone goes TITSUP and becomes an expensive brick and you no longer qualify for a repair or replacement?
Upgrade your software.
Install Now?
Well... yeppers, TITSUP went the irrigation.
The drip top caps I selected for the top of the risers had several options and never in a minute thinking that anyone would be able to displace them, I set up 2 drip lines for every tree in my back yard. It worked great. Trees were happy. No water flowing places it shouldn't. All looked just hunky dory.
Until, my gardeners made their twice a year foray into the back yard to trim the trees. Heavy duty waffle stompers make short work of cheap plastic parts. My irrigation upgrades were toast. Back to the garden center I went, selecting a completely different sort of cap and installed those.
With the water back ON things looked OK, just before the next TITSUP event: SUMMER.
It was HOT. I mean, HOT. Not HOT as is cool or kewl but HOT as in scorching.
But I figured I had my water timers working and the new lines were working so.. I'm good!
Oh SO WRONG.
My backyard exterior water timer had gone: TITSUP.
And I didn't realize if for a L O N G time. Of course that's the one that ran the water to the garden area.
So... now I had a BIG problem. I'd never dealt with a water timer. You know that thing that the landscape folks install that turns on and off the sprinklers? I've had to set the date and time occasionally but the gardeners generally do all the "programming": A B C programs, Stations 1 2 3 4 5 6, Frequency (we have water restriction days), and other gardener lingo options. My gardeners also have an extreme reluctance to replace anything they didn't install themselves even when I pay them for it. I expect it's because they never know that that OTHER GUY did or didn't do during the original installation and cans of worms being the result. It also impacts the 10 minutes of Mow and Blow scheduling they allot my tiny front yard.
So given the complete indifference of my gardeners to the plight of my newly discovered wilting plants, I made Pilgrimage to the Garden Center to learn about water timers. I had nightmare visions of complicated wires and plugs with E L E C T R I C I T Y (yikes!) but forced myself to face the onslaught of gardener lingo to preserve my poor wilting tomatoes.
Complicated it was. Hard to figure out it wasn't. For once technology was helpful: A big LED screen that had D I R E C T I O N S.
It wasn't long before I had it all sorted and was kicking myself for ever paying anyone to install one of these things again. You still need the pipes run and the valves installed and the base wires pulled near an outlet but the actually water timer is A SNAP. I spent more time trying to attach it to the exterior stucco wall than actually setting up the timer.
I was so impressed by the ease of setting up this timer I went back and bought another one designed to attach to the water spigot so I could run temporary water lines to some flower pots on the patio. No more dragging a hose or hauling a watering can to water the flowers which made my back VERY HAPPY!
So... with all this new water happiness how did the garden go TITSUP?
A power failure.
Nods. Technologies most fundamental flaw: it needs juice. No juice, no tech. Batteries only last so long and then: D E A D.
Without power a PC cannot turn on to log in to the support desk and a dead battery on a smartphone makes it just as bricked as a borked upgrade and a power failure causes water timers to reset to NOTHING and no water happens.
By the time I realized that the timer had crashed, with all that scorching heat, there was nothing left. The promising bush beans had vaporized. Not a green leaf to be seen in the potato pot. The sight of tomato vines draped over the edge of the pot in a laced lattice work of desiccated green lines was just pitiful.
Looking at the desolation of climate change, I had no recourse but to abandon any attempt at garden CPR. I didn't go to the garden area for a longish time. There was nothing there to check. Nothing survived the lack of water and the heat.
Or so I thought.
But you know, life is resilient. It never gives up. Plants have survived droughts and heat and cold for longer than we have. They are rather amazing.
I took a peek at the garden and was stunned.
There were 2 tomato vines struggling along. The plants were still trying. There won't be tomatoes for me but the plants don't know that. They only know to keep trying.
Next to the tomatoes was an eggplant. I thought it had long ago vaporized in the heat. The pot had certainly appeared lifeless but there it was ....
a beautiful eggplant
with flowers
Life lessons: Life is more resilient than technology.
We put one foot in front of the other. We keep trying. We don't always succeed but when we do, when we exceed our own expectations, when we overcome self doubts, when we explore new options and take a chance on new opportunities, when we cast off fear of the unknown then we are rewarded in the most beautiful and unexpected ways.
 |
| Kim's Garden 10 2017 Eggplant Flower |
Monday, October 16, 2017
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Wild Fires
My beautiful California is fighting terrible wild fires. Television news about loss of life and destruction of homes is difficult to watch. I no longer live in California, but I'm well acquainted with both northern and southern parts of the state, having lived there and traveled it many, many times.
My first glimpse of California came as I traveled by train from the east coast to California during WWII. When we reached southern California, the train passed thru miles and miles of orange groves. The train windows were down and for some reason the train had slowed. We passengers could reach out and touch tree branches as we passed. The fragrance of orange blossoms was enchanting. It was like being in an exotic fairy land.
It was early morning when we reached Oakland and had to take a ferry across the bay to San Francisco. I had never ridden a ferry before and found it rather exciting. As the ferry crossed, I could see strands of fog wrapping the hills of San Francisco while sunlight shone on the tops. That view has never left my mind and is part of the reason San Francisco is still my most 'favorite' city.
I've lived in San Francisco and the peninsula as well as in the Los Angeles area. During those long ago years, family members, grandparents, aunts uncles and cousins lived in various parts of the state. When we meet these many years later, and tell stories about happenings in such and such a place, we know exactly the place talked about.
As I write this, desert winds are spreading the fires and the destruction grows. As a distant bystander, watching TV news about the fires, I can only hope those fighting them can soon gain control of this terrible wild fire.
My first glimpse of California came as I traveled by train from the east coast to California during WWII. When we reached southern California, the train passed thru miles and miles of orange groves. The train windows were down and for some reason the train had slowed. We passengers could reach out and touch tree branches as we passed. The fragrance of orange blossoms was enchanting. It was like being in an exotic fairy land.
It was early morning when we reached Oakland and had to take a ferry across the bay to San Francisco. I had never ridden a ferry before and found it rather exciting. As the ferry crossed, I could see strands of fog wrapping the hills of San Francisco while sunlight shone on the tops. That view has never left my mind and is part of the reason San Francisco is still my most 'favorite' city.
I've lived in San Francisco and the peninsula as well as in the Los Angeles area. During those long ago years, family members, grandparents, aunts uncles and cousins lived in various parts of the state. When we meet these many years later, and tell stories about happenings in such and such a place, we know exactly the place talked about.
As I write this, desert winds are spreading the fires and the destruction grows. As a distant bystander, watching TV news about the fires, I can only hope those fighting them can soon gain control of this terrible wild fire.
700 Post Milestone!
[Note: Editor's Post]
MrsB's Family Stories has hit another major milestone: 700+ posts!!
I don't think anyone imagined when we started MrsB's Family Stories that it would grow to become a favorite stopping off spot with so many people from around the world. People from all over visit here to read about our family and to share in our lives and adventures.
The repository of our family news and history has grown so much from those early days. While some voices have been lost, their memories and contributions remain. Every post and story reminds us of their wisdom and humor.
Take a stroll down memory lane and revisit some of their stories, try out a favorite recipe, laugh at their conundrums and revel in their insights.
Real memories are what you make. Real laughs and real tears too.
Hush Puppies, Cows Ears, Hot Peppers, Apple Butter, Learning to Crochet and a whole lot more are there to enjoy. Reminders that we are all pretty much going along the same path; so why not walk a fair piece of it with us?
KimB Editor (post 713)
April 2014 was our 500 Post Milestone
MrsB's Family Stories has hit another major milestone: 700+ posts!!
I don't think anyone imagined when we started MrsB's Family Stories that it would grow to become a favorite stopping off spot with so many people from around the world. People from all over visit here to read about our family and to share in our lives and adventures.
The repository of our family news and history has grown so much from those early days. While some voices have been lost, their memories and contributions remain. Every post and story reminds us of their wisdom and humor.
Take a stroll down memory lane and revisit some of their stories, try out a favorite recipe, laugh at their conundrums and revel in their insights.
Real memories are what you make. Real laughs and real tears too.
Hush Puppies, Cows Ears, Hot Peppers, Apple Butter, Learning to Crochet and a whole lot more are there to enjoy. Reminders that we are all pretty much going along the same path; so why not walk a fair piece of it with us?
KimB Editor (post 713)
April 2014 was our 500 Post Milestone
There are hundreds of paths up the mountain,
all leading in the same direction,
so it doesn’t matter which path you take.
The only one wasting time is the one
who runs around and around the mountain,
telling everyone that his or her path is wrong.
Hindu teaching
Monday, October 09, 2017
Wednesday, October 04, 2017
Country Music
When it was reported that the music concert shattered by gun fire was a Country Music Concert, I thought of my sister Adeline. She is no longer with us, but she was an avid fan of country music and performers. She followed their careers and subscribed to magazines with articles and photos of them. Adeline and I, and of course my brothers and other sister, grew up with country music. We heard the songs on the radio and sang them.
In those years, there was a radio program on Saturday nights the family often listened to. It was a live broadcast of a stage performance in Des Moines, Iowa, called The Barn Dance Frolic. It was an evening of country music, much like those held in Nashville, Tennessee at the times. As a young adult, I once attended a performance and remember how much I enjoyed seeing the performers on stage that I had heard on the radio.
I often think about the preferences my family had for music. Mom loved listening to piano music. One of my brothers loved Opera and another brother collected country music records. I enjoy the sound of violin, but listened to orchestral records of Mozart when I painted. My son likes Blue Grass. Adeline liked all kinds of music. When her children were young she checked out library music records by the arm load,; much of it, Broadway musicals. In later years when she visited me, she liked listening to one of the three famous tenors. Even so- she never gave up her love of country music.
In those years, there was a radio program on Saturday nights the family often listened to. It was a live broadcast of a stage performance in Des Moines, Iowa, called The Barn Dance Frolic. It was an evening of country music, much like those held in Nashville, Tennessee at the times. As a young adult, I once attended a performance and remember how much I enjoyed seeing the performers on stage that I had heard on the radio.
I often think about the preferences my family had for music. Mom loved listening to piano music. One of my brothers loved Opera and another brother collected country music records. I enjoy the sound of violin, but listened to orchestral records of Mozart when I painted. My son likes Blue Grass. Adeline liked all kinds of music. When her children were young she checked out library music records by the arm load,; much of it, Broadway musicals. In later years when she visited me, she liked listening to one of the three famous tenors. Even so- she never gave up her love of country music.
Monday, October 02, 2017
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Puerto Rico
E Gads! People are arguing over helping the Puerto Ricans recover from total destruction of their island! Doctors are pleading for medicines. Getting food and water to people and getting the communication system up and running again are things Puerto Ricans need. They certainly don't need criticism from persons enjoying the pleasure of playing golf as reported on TV.
Monday, September 25, 2017
Monday, September 18, 2017
Monday, September 11, 2017
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Monday, September 04, 2017
Friday, September 01, 2017
Hurricane Stress
I have to take breaks from watching the24/7 coverage of the disaster caused by Harvey. Having narrowly escaped the rising waters twice this week, I'm really counting my blessings! To watch the rescues and evacuations of hospitals, and hearing about the loss of drinking water in areas, plus the news of another hurricane heading this way, really adds to the stress of trying to grasp the enormity of this hurricane aftermath.
One almost forgets there are TV channels not covering the flood waters, but I did remember last night and turned the dial. So what did I watch? ICE ROAD TRUCKERS.
One almost forgets there are TV channels not covering the flood waters, but I did remember last night and turned the dial. So what did I watch? ICE ROAD TRUCKERS.
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Tuesday afternoon weather report
Rain stopped, crickets chirp
That's my version of Haiku
Late this afternoon, around 7pm the sun came out! Harvey is moving on but still causing havoc.
Monday, August 28, 2017
Harvey
The lightening flashed
And rain poured down
The wind was blowing
When hurricane
Harvey came to town
As Harvey churned
The Gulf coast waters
Creeks and bayous started to rise
As rain kept coming
Rivers reached new highs
Reservoirs and bayous overflowed
Creating new rivers
Where there were roads
Rains kept coming
And the waters rose
When will it end? No one knows
And rain poured down
The wind was blowing
When hurricane
Harvey came to town
As Harvey churned
The Gulf coast waters
Creeks and bayous started to rise
As rain kept coming
Rivers reached new highs
Reservoirs and bayous overflowed
Creating new rivers
Where there were roads
Rains kept coming
And the waters rose
When will it end? No one knows
Sunday, August 27, 2017
Rain, Rain and more Rain
I have a river flowing by my front door. There has been rain from the outer bands of Harvey, a cat 4 hurricane, before it even reached land. I watched the TV reports of the damage and flooding as the hurricane progressed, but my area was relatively free from the heavy wind and rain for a day or so.
Family and friends telephoned frequently to check on the weather where I live and to make certain I was not in danger. I responded to one and all that I had enough food and water to outlast any hurricane and I assured family members that all was fine. We discussed the predictions of flooded streets, but never having been discombobulated during past storms, I felt that in a few days Harvey would be history.
Weather reports warned of serious flooding and tornadoes, but it wasn't' until late Saturday evening that my area began having tornado warnings every 5 to 10 minutes, and that Houston would be hard hit around 9:00 pm. At 9:30pm, the street in front of my apartment building had become a fast flowing river. It was running so fast I could hardly believe my eyes. I had once seen water like that outside Tucson Arizona when I witnessed the Pantana running in a flash flood.
I'm writing this at noon Sunday and the river is still running. It has reached the top step of the landing to the entrance of an apartment foyer, but since the water hasn't gotten higher, I'll keep my fingers crossed. The sky is so dark with blinding rain I have to have lights on to walk around the rooms. The river is not running so fast now that is has become more of a lake. I think It's time for some COMFORT FOOD..
Family and friends telephoned frequently to check on the weather where I live and to make certain I was not in danger. I responded to one and all that I had enough food and water to outlast any hurricane and I assured family members that all was fine. We discussed the predictions of flooded streets, but never having been discombobulated during past storms, I felt that in a few days Harvey would be history.
Weather reports warned of serious flooding and tornadoes, but it wasn't' until late Saturday evening that my area began having tornado warnings every 5 to 10 minutes, and that Houston would be hard hit around 9:00 pm. At 9:30pm, the street in front of my apartment building had become a fast flowing river. It was running so fast I could hardly believe my eyes. I had once seen water like that outside Tucson Arizona when I witnessed the Pantana running in a flash flood.
I'm writing this at noon Sunday and the river is still running. It has reached the top step of the landing to the entrance of an apartment foyer, but since the water hasn't gotten higher, I'll keep my fingers crossed. The sky is so dark with blinding rain I have to have lights on to walk around the rooms. The river is not running so fast now that is has become more of a lake. I think It's time for some COMFORT FOOD..
Monday, August 21, 2017
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Equality
This nation is the only one in history founded on the moral principle that all men are created equal. Our founding fathers proclaimed to the world with the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal with rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness..
A great civil war was fought and won, reaffirming the moral principle of this nation. The rights of men to life and liberty was won on the field of battle and these rights are ensured by our Constitution.
A great civil war was fought and won, reaffirming the moral principle of this nation. The rights of men to life and liberty was won on the field of battle and these rights are ensured by our Constitution.
Monday, August 14, 2017
Words to live by
Gettysburg Address
--------Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Declaration of Independence
---------We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
--------Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Declaration of Independence
---------We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Monday, August 07, 2017
Eagle Huntress
I recently watched a spellbinding documentary filmed in2016 called Eagle Huntress. Its the true story of Aisholpan, the thirteen year old daughter of a Kazakh nomadic Mongolian family. Her family spend summers , living in a yurt in the Altai mountains, and spending winters living in a house in town. Her father is an eagle hunter and this 13 year old wanted to become an eagle hunter too. Its traditionally a male event, but with her father' help she learns to train Golden Eagles.
Her father also helps her capture her own Golden Eagle to train. Her father also supports her when she wants to enter and participate in the annual Golden Eagle festival where men show off their eagles in the many ways they have been trained to provide both food and furs.
Facing both disbelief and strong opposition from the men, she competes and ends up winning the competition. Her eagle even breaks a speed record in one of the events. After the festival, she must complete another stage in the bird's training in order to be known as an eagle hunter. She travels with her father during the winter into the mountains to hunt for foxes. After several misses, her eagle successfully kills its first fox.
This 13 year old girl becomes the first female eagle hunter in 12 generations of her Kazakh family.
Her father also helps her capture her own Golden Eagle to train. Her father also supports her when she wants to enter and participate in the annual Golden Eagle festival where men show off their eagles in the many ways they have been trained to provide both food and furs.
Facing both disbelief and strong opposition from the men, she competes and ends up winning the competition. Her eagle even breaks a speed record in one of the events. After the festival, she must complete another stage in the bird's training in order to be known as an eagle hunter. She travels with her father during the winter into the mountains to hunt for foxes. After several misses, her eagle successfully kills its first fox.
This 13 year old girl becomes the first female eagle hunter in 12 generations of her Kazakh family.
Tuesday, August 01, 2017
Electrical outage
We had a power outage last night. It was different from precious outages. Not all the outlets in the apt went out at the same time. Around 8:45pm everything went pitch black and silent. The TV, the oscillating fans and the AC all stopped working. I managed to feel my way to the bedside table where I keep an emergency light.. It had been 95 degrees that day so I had to fish around for my tiny handheld fan.
I discovered that the oven light and the microwave were still working as was the outdoor light on a neighbor's garage. The shops on the other side of the street from my apartment complex had lights, but otherwise the whole neighborhood was dark. The garage light was quite a distance away, but the light shone thru my bedroom window. It was very dim but enough to let me see the objects in the room. I rolled up the venetian blind to let the light shine in while I sat in the dark room and contemplated the situation. What to do Percy? What to do?
I had watched a movie on TV the day before about a legendary escape of Marines during the Korean War. A group of Marines were completely surrounded by Chinese soldiers near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. A Marine officer decided to lead his men, single file over the mountains, in the dead of night where they couldn't even see their hands, during a blinding snow storm with temperature far below freezing. The details of that struggle are mind boggling, and as I sat in the dark, I thought of those men tying to make their way to freedom.
The day had been 95 degrees and I was unsure how long the battery in my tiny fan would last, so I waited as long as I could before turning it on.. When I thought of turning it on, I'd count to a hundred 2 or 3 times, then use the fan for a couple of seconds. As I counted my blessing and thought about the Marines as distraction, then counting thru the hundreds before using the fan, I managed to spend most of the evening sitting in a chair. When my watch said 10 o'clock, I went to bed. I knew the electrical workers were busy trying to rectify the situation, but having lived thru Ike, the hurricane when we were without power for 8 days, I didn't know what to expect. Happily the power came on while I was sleeping.
I discovered that the oven light and the microwave were still working as was the outdoor light on a neighbor's garage. The shops on the other side of the street from my apartment complex had lights, but otherwise the whole neighborhood was dark. The garage light was quite a distance away, but the light shone thru my bedroom window. It was very dim but enough to let me see the objects in the room. I rolled up the venetian blind to let the light shine in while I sat in the dark room and contemplated the situation. What to do Percy? What to do?
I had watched a movie on TV the day before about a legendary escape of Marines during the Korean War. A group of Marines were completely surrounded by Chinese soldiers near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. A Marine officer decided to lead his men, single file over the mountains, in the dead of night where they couldn't even see their hands, during a blinding snow storm with temperature far below freezing. The details of that struggle are mind boggling, and as I sat in the dark, I thought of those men tying to make their way to freedom.
The day had been 95 degrees and I was unsure how long the battery in my tiny fan would last, so I waited as long as I could before turning it on.. When I thought of turning it on, I'd count to a hundred 2 or 3 times, then use the fan for a couple of seconds. As I counted my blessing and thought about the Marines as distraction, then counting thru the hundreds before using the fan, I managed to spend most of the evening sitting in a chair. When my watch said 10 o'clock, I went to bed. I knew the electrical workers were busy trying to rectify the situation, but having lived thru Ike, the hurricane when we were without power for 8 days, I didn't know what to expect. Happily the power came on while I was sleeping.
Monday, July 31, 2017
Monday, July 24, 2017
Saturday, July 22, 2017
A Moment in Time
This morning I experienced a moment in time that diverted my attention away from my computer screen. I was watching a chess tournament with some of the world's best chess players. There were six boards showing the moves as each game progressed. Each of the boards showed games at a different level of the game and it was interesting to anticipate the moves of players as they took turns in moving knights and bishops this way and that.
As I followed the moves of each player, I happened to glance out the window and noticed a single strand of spider silk glinting in the sun. It stretched from a hanging plant at the edge of the window, across the width of the window and disappeared in the plants below the window sill. A barely discernible breeze moved the strand of silk in and out of the sunlight. It shimmered in the sun for only a moment before it was lost to view. It was so lovely I waited for it appear again, then I noticed a tiny flying insect, possibly a mosquito, flitting around the hanging plant. It was very tiny, but the sun shone thru the wings and I could watch it hover over the plant leaves. I didn't land, just hovered as if looking for nectar or moisture.
As the bug flitted around the plant, I became mesmerized watching and waiting to see if it would become caught in the spider web. I knew it was inevitable that the insect would land on the web strand when out of view, or when glinting in the sun, but as minutes went by, the little thing kept flitting in its random up, down and all around, over and under the strand of silk.
I lost all interest in the chess games as I watched this mini game of cat and mouse between the spider web and insect. I wish I could tell you how this moment in time came out, but I had to answer the door. When I came back to the computer room, the sun had moved, and I couldn't see the spider web strand or the insect, I don't know if the insect fell victim to the spider web, or if the little thing flew off to another plant. The chess games lost their appeal so I turned off the computer and will learn the outcome of the tournament tomorrow.
As I followed the moves of each player, I happened to glance out the window and noticed a single strand of spider silk glinting in the sun. It stretched from a hanging plant at the edge of the window, across the width of the window and disappeared in the plants below the window sill. A barely discernible breeze moved the strand of silk in and out of the sunlight. It shimmered in the sun for only a moment before it was lost to view. It was so lovely I waited for it appear again, then I noticed a tiny flying insect, possibly a mosquito, flitting around the hanging plant. It was very tiny, but the sun shone thru the wings and I could watch it hover over the plant leaves. I didn't land, just hovered as if looking for nectar or moisture.
As the bug flitted around the plant, I became mesmerized watching and waiting to see if it would become caught in the spider web. I knew it was inevitable that the insect would land on the web strand when out of view, or when glinting in the sun, but as minutes went by, the little thing kept flitting in its random up, down and all around, over and under the strand of silk.
I lost all interest in the chess games as I watched this mini game of cat and mouse between the spider web and insect. I wish I could tell you how this moment in time came out, but I had to answer the door. When I came back to the computer room, the sun had moved, and I couldn't see the spider web strand or the insect, I don't know if the insect fell victim to the spider web, or if the little thing flew off to another plant. The chess games lost their appeal so I turned off the computer and will learn the outcome of the tournament tomorrow.
Monday, July 17, 2017
Monday, July 10, 2017
Monday, July 03, 2017
Monday, June 26, 2017
Sunday, June 25, 2017
Plant update
I had to replace my two little Venus Fly Traps. I thought I was following the right care regime, but they died. Probably one reason for their demise was hunger. I had them sitting in a tray of water like they were in the shop, not realizing those in the shop were only temporarily sitting in water, then removed.
These two plants are not in the house. they are outside near the vegetable garden. They seemed to be thriving but they weren't eating any bugs. My son thought of putting a crumb of chocolate candy near by and that attracted a lot of ants, but they didn't crawl on the plant where they could have been trapped. Then my son put a tiny piece of fresh peach near the plants. That did the trick. Little fruit flies were attracted and now all the traps are closed. The plants are finally eating. I don't know how long it will be before they will want another meal. I have a lot to learn about these new pets.
These two plants are not in the house. they are outside near the vegetable garden. They seemed to be thriving but they weren't eating any bugs. My son thought of putting a crumb of chocolate candy near by and that attracted a lot of ants, but they didn't crawl on the plant where they could have been trapped. Then my son put a tiny piece of fresh peach near the plants. That did the trick. Little fruit flies were attracted and now all the traps are closed. The plants are finally eating. I don't know how long it will be before they will want another meal. I have a lot to learn about these new pets.
Monday, June 19, 2017
Friday, June 16, 2017
Temari project
I've been busy with my temari project. It's slow going. One would think embroidering some geometric shapes onto a Styrofoam ball with bright colored embroidery floss would be rather simple. I can't speak for others, but I'm finding the learning curve more complex than I had assumed when I first saw pictures of them on the internet.
The folk art of making temari thread balls originated in China and was introduced to Japan in the 7th century. Remnants of old kimonos were wadded into a ball shape and wrapped with strips of kimono fabric. The stitching became more decorative, displaying intricate embroidery. Women of the Japanese upper classes and aristocracy competed in creating beautiful temari, turning the craft into an art form.
It only takes a moment to understand the 'how to' instruction on making them, but executing is another matter. Following instructions on wrapping and laying fiberfill batting around a Styrofoam ball, then winding sewing thread around and around the ball for a sewing foundation was easy. I wrapped five Styrofoam balls while I watched TV one evening , thinking I'd start decorating them the next day.
Little did I realize my wrapping was going to be a problem. After dividing one ball into a simple eight division with thread to use as guide lines, I precisely placed pins at the north and south poles and at equal distances around the equator. After threading my needle with bright floss, I started to decorate a diamond shape. That's when I discovered the wrapping problem. I should have used more thread in wrapping which would have made it easier to use the needle. It also dawned on that it would have been prudent to have wrapped only one ball instead of five.
While I was embroidering, I thought of my sister, Esther. She was a genius with a needle. She did needlepoint, crewel, counted cross stitch, all manner of embroidery as well as numerous hand sewn quilts. Anything requiring the use of a needle was an easy task for her. She designed dresses for her three daughters and sewed them on the machine. She even made western shirts for her husband. I wish she was still with us so I could tell her again how much I envied her talent.
Esther would have shown me how to do the types of stitches traditionally used on temari, but now I have to study how to do them. I was tempted to stop working on the ball when my stiches lacked fineness and looked so amateurish, but I decided to finish it because we all know how to get to Carnegie Hall. Practice, Practice, Practice.
The folk art of making temari thread balls originated in China and was introduced to Japan in the 7th century. Remnants of old kimonos were wadded into a ball shape and wrapped with strips of kimono fabric. The stitching became more decorative, displaying intricate embroidery. Women of the Japanese upper classes and aristocracy competed in creating beautiful temari, turning the craft into an art form.
It only takes a moment to understand the 'how to' instruction on making them, but executing is another matter. Following instructions on wrapping and laying fiberfill batting around a Styrofoam ball, then winding sewing thread around and around the ball for a sewing foundation was easy. I wrapped five Styrofoam balls while I watched TV one evening , thinking I'd start decorating them the next day.
Little did I realize my wrapping was going to be a problem. After dividing one ball into a simple eight division with thread to use as guide lines, I precisely placed pins at the north and south poles and at equal distances around the equator. After threading my needle with bright floss, I started to decorate a diamond shape. That's when I discovered the wrapping problem. I should have used more thread in wrapping which would have made it easier to use the needle. It also dawned on that it would have been prudent to have wrapped only one ball instead of five.
While I was embroidering, I thought of my sister, Esther. She was a genius with a needle. She did needlepoint, crewel, counted cross stitch, all manner of embroidery as well as numerous hand sewn quilts. Anything requiring the use of a needle was an easy task for her. She designed dresses for her three daughters and sewed them on the machine. She even made western shirts for her husband. I wish she was still with us so I could tell her again how much I envied her talent.
Esther would have shown me how to do the types of stitches traditionally used on temari, but now I have to study how to do them. I was tempted to stop working on the ball when my stiches lacked fineness and looked so amateurish, but I decided to finish it because we all know how to get to Carnegie Hall. Practice, Practice, Practice.
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Ripples 21 by KimB
[Editor's Note: Ripples is a serial story.
UPDATE 10/2018:
The author makes no guarantees as to completing the serial.
Publication dates are located in the left side menu.]
The noise of the outside world ended as the doors closed behind her. The soft swoosh separated the outside and from the inside.
Inside the light was different. The colors and hues a monotone. She looked behind her through the dark glass panes designed to change bright into dim and hot into cool.
Turning she passed down the hallway into a cavernous room. Bright lights and cold air redefined the outside and nullified it.
She was still welcome here. Just.
Tables and chairs, a few scattered couches, their cushions sagging from use, kiosks with pamphlets and row upon row upon row of the most valuable thing on the planet. More valuable than all the physical wealth of the world, yet only a small fraction of what had ever been.
There was so much and yet there was so little. What seemed like endless rows ended. Shelves that might go forever halted. Spaces. Empty Spaces. Places where things ought to be; yet were not.
There were those who believed that the most valuable thing on the planet was theirs and theirs alone. Theirs to do with what they wanted. Theirs to constrain. Theirs to control. Theirs to obscure. Theirs to obliterate.
There was a hunger there. A gnawing hunger. A covetous hunger.
The building devoured the rows. An empty shelf, the carcass of its latest feastings. The building ground its way through the rows and shelves granting wishes to those who believed it all belonged to them.
But of course it didn't.
The digested leavings, a compost of nothing, were what was then offered. A goulash without content or context. The texture, substance and weight removed. The aromas of spices and nuances of flavor sanitized into a dreary gruel. Visible only under the proper circumstances.
Teased, tempted and threatened, the custodians yielded up what was Everyone's. Abdicating the rights of the world to those few who claimed it. Permissions granted by physical possession; then jettisoned. A deliberate action of abandonment.
The most valuable thing on the planet lay chained to a future of instability. The engorgement lasting the span of months or at best years and then lost. Some would be lost forever.
A civilization burning its heritage. No need for flames this time. The building would devour all and there were many who would help it do so.
Foolish hubris.
Yet what was lost, might be found again. The most valuable thing on the planet was still there.
She made her way towards a desk to seek answers from what remained.
UPDATE 10/2018:
I am invoking the No Guarantee to Finish option
I've not run out of ideas but there is a definite lack of incentive to continue.
Such is the end of all serials.
The author makes no guarantees as to completing the serial.
Publication dates are located in the left side menu.]
There will be a break in publication
until the author writes new episodes.
21 Leaves on Leaves
Mild. Warm. Hot.
Cool. Cold. Frigid.
Dark. Dim. Bright.
Silent. Silent. Silent.
The noise of the outside world ended as the doors closed behind her. The soft swoosh separated the outside and from the inside.
Inside the light was different. The colors and hues a monotone. She looked behind her through the dark glass panes designed to change bright into dim and hot into cool.
Turning she passed down the hallway into a cavernous room. Bright lights and cold air redefined the outside and nullified it.
She was still welcome here. Just.
Tables and chairs, a few scattered couches, their cushions sagging from use, kiosks with pamphlets and row upon row upon row of the most valuable thing on the planet. More valuable than all the physical wealth of the world, yet only a small fraction of what had ever been.
There was so much and yet there was so little. What seemed like endless rows ended. Shelves that might go forever halted. Spaces. Empty Spaces. Places where things ought to be; yet were not.
There were those who believed that the most valuable thing on the planet was theirs and theirs alone. Theirs to do with what they wanted. Theirs to constrain. Theirs to control. Theirs to obscure. Theirs to obliterate.
There was a hunger there. A gnawing hunger. A covetous hunger.
When they claimed it was More. They provided Less.
When they claimed it was Better. They offered Lesser.
When they claimed it for All. They gave only Few.
It was Nothing. It was Petty. It was a Lie.
The building devoured the rows. An empty shelf, the carcass of its latest feastings. The building ground its way through the rows and shelves granting wishes to those who believed it all belonged to them.
But of course it didn't.
The digested leavings, a compost of nothing, were what was then offered. A goulash without content or context. The texture, substance and weight removed. The aromas of spices and nuances of flavor sanitized into a dreary gruel. Visible only under the proper circumstances.
Teased, tempted and threatened, the custodians yielded up what was Everyone's. Abdicating the rights of the world to those few who claimed it. Permissions granted by physical possession; then jettisoned. A deliberate action of abandonment.
The most valuable thing on the planet lay chained to a future of instability. The engorgement lasting the span of months or at best years and then lost. Some would be lost forever.
A civilization burning its heritage. No need for flames this time. The building would devour all and there were many who would help it do so.
Foolish hubris.
Yet what was lost, might be found again. The most valuable thing on the planet was still there.
She made her way towards a desk to seek answers from what remained.
Monday, June 12, 2017
Saturday, June 10, 2017
Othello and the Blue Blanket by KimB
MrsB always has a project or two or three or four or a dozen, at any one time. One of her many projects is knitting. Currently her focus is on baby blankets or small shoulder throws that ward off a chilly draft.
While she always plans to sell them, many of them end up as presents for birthdays, holidays, Christmas, New Years, and as Monday Morning Post Office surprises.
Every one is unique, like MrsB herself. She gets an idea and branches into a hundred directions at the same time. Her mind overflows with ideas and patterns. She works and works and rips and rips and works again and again until it matches her imagination. As soon as one is done, another is being started: another pattern, color, style to be turned into something practical and a unique piece of her.
Because only she can make these, don't you see.
Otherwise they wouldn't be a MrsB Baby Blanket. In a time of robotic automation, she works by hand. In a time of mass duplication, she makes one. In a time of orchestrated sameness, hers are extraordinary.
They are wonderful to look at and soft to the touch. They hold just the right amount of warmth when you want a nap and provide perfect comfort when getting over the sniffles.
I guard them jealously. I am careful about how I use them.
I am also en-garde against the cats ... and ... their claws.
Recently, I let Allen use one of my favorites: a Blue Blanket. It is soft to the touch, a wonderful shade of blue and the pattern of waves is like lace. After his nap, he folded it up neatly and left it on the dresser for me to put away.
He wasn't the only one watching though.
Othello, who rarely gets on the dressers, preferring instead the overstuffed padding of a leather recliner, noticed the blanket on the dresser. Slowly, slowly, he inched his way to the dresser. His eyes riveted on the blanket.
Quietly we watched him. He was so intent he didn't realize we had spotted him heading for the blanket. I was ready to dash in to rescue the blanket but Allen indicated we should wait and see what Othello would do. After all the Blue Blanket was folded into a small square and Othello is a very big cat.
Very carefully Othello looked and sniffed at the folded blanket and ever so gently, started to unfold it by pushing his head and nose into different seams. He carefully pushed this way and that, until he had it "Othello Size" and then cuddled up for a nice snooze hugging part of it as a pillow.
While she always plans to sell them, many of them end up as presents for birthdays, holidays, Christmas, New Years, and as Monday Morning Post Office surprises.
Every one is unique, like MrsB herself. She gets an idea and branches into a hundred directions at the same time. Her mind overflows with ideas and patterns. She works and works and rips and rips and works again and again until it matches her imagination. As soon as one is done, another is being started: another pattern, color, style to be turned into something practical and a unique piece of her.
Because only she can make these, don't you see.
Otherwise they wouldn't be a MrsB Baby Blanket. In a time of robotic automation, she works by hand. In a time of mass duplication, she makes one. In a time of orchestrated sameness, hers are extraordinary.
They are wonderful to look at and soft to the touch. They hold just the right amount of warmth when you want a nap and provide perfect comfort when getting over the sniffles.
I guard them jealously. I am careful about how I use them.
I am also en-garde against the cats ... and ... their claws.
Recently, I let Allen use one of my favorites: a Blue Blanket. It is soft to the touch, a wonderful shade of blue and the pattern of waves is like lace. After his nap, he folded it up neatly and left it on the dresser for me to put away.
He wasn't the only one watching though.
Othello, who rarely gets on the dressers, preferring instead the overstuffed padding of a leather recliner, noticed the blanket on the dresser. Slowly, slowly, he inched his way to the dresser. His eyes riveted on the blanket.
 |
| Othello unfolding the blanket |
Very carefully Othello looked and sniffed at the folded blanket and ever so gently, started to unfold it by pushing his head and nose into different seams. He carefully pushed this way and that, until he had it "Othello Size" and then cuddled up for a nice snooze hugging part of it as a pillow.
 |
| Othello and the Blue Blanket |
Friday, June 09, 2017
Fallin' In Among 'Em by KimB
MrsB will be 95 soon. It's an amazing milestone. Hers is an amazing life.
Nearly 65 years ago I "fell in among 'em". At least that's what MrsB (my Mom) always said about family: you just "fell in among 'em". There were times that "being among 'em" was a trial but there were more times that "being among 'em" was more fun than anyone can imagine.
MrsB (aka my Mom) always had a knack for taking what some might call "bad" and turning it around to something "fun and good". We could make up the most imaginative games with all sorts of arcane rules and just have a go at making the best of things. Whenever anyone was glum or down in the dumps, she had a fix: a card game tournament, a guessing game, a look-it-up game (way before internet when you actually had to look things up in B O O K S), or doing art projects like: drawings, watercolors or papier-mâché.
Those who stop here to read her stories or see her art work, know she is very special lady. Not just to the family but to everyone that meets her. She makes everyone feel like they "fell in among 'em" and that they are right at home.
Our stories still make us laugh:
MrsB has so many talents it's hard to grasp all the things she does. She rarely has time to "just do nothing". She works on a myriad of projects: finishing one and starting another. There is no time like "now".
There is something about everything she touches or does. It's hard to describe but there is a quality to her works the defies the plasticized, repetitive, stamped, sameness that flows around our modern lives; this sameness that we accept with few questions. The demands of oligarchs, mega-corporations and the self-centered-wealthy to: buy-this, use-that, do-this or else risk "not being IN".
Everything about her is unique. Everything she does is unique. Everything she does comes from an inner self that she pours into anything she touches: her family, her friends, her art works.
It's nearly 65 years now that I've "been among 'em". There were "good times" and "times made good". There were "better times" and "times made even better". MrsB and her life stories, the lives and stories of all our family and those of our friends both close and far are samples of "good times" and "good times made better".
I think it's a darn good thing I "fell in among 'em".
Happy Birthday Mom
Nearly 65 years ago I "fell in among 'em". At least that's what MrsB (my Mom) always said about family: you just "fell in among 'em". There were times that "being among 'em" was a trial but there were more times that "being among 'em" was more fun than anyone can imagine.
MrsB (aka my Mom) always had a knack for taking what some might call "bad" and turning it around to something "fun and good". We could make up the most imaginative games with all sorts of arcane rules and just have a go at making the best of things. Whenever anyone was glum or down in the dumps, she had a fix: a card game tournament, a guessing game, a look-it-up game (way before internet when you actually had to look things up in B O O K S), or doing art projects like: drawings, watercolors or papier-mâché.
Those who stop here to read her stories or see her art work, know she is very special lady. Not just to the family but to everyone that meets her. She makes everyone feel like they "fell in among 'em" and that they are right at home.
Our stories still make us laugh:
- The weekend at the beach when the park service decided that under an austerity program they would no longer buy minimal waxy toilet paper for the outhouse and supplied rolls of TP that had splinters in it.
- The time in Mexico when she found someone in the Mercado (open air market) selling peanuts and ordered 1 kilo of them.
(You have no idea how many peanuts make up a kilo and we ate them for several years.) - The time I came home with a wild opossum as a pet.
(Which got turned loose in an orchard and at least avoided the stew pot a while longer.) - The time my uncle pulled out a rifle and threatened to shoot her.
- The times she stood up to be counted and was noticed. The small Southern Town in the 1960s where she was noticed driving past a gathering near the local jail to see what was happening for herself. Our friends got a warning that a burning cross was going to be on their lawn if they didn't get "That Yankee Lady" out of town.
- The times she would not back down. Not for anyone. She did not tolerate discrimination, racism or sexism. She didn't tolerate those that took advantage of others.
- The time I applied for my first "big cook job" and was turned down because I was a woman and they didn't hire women for those positions. She made me to go back and DEMAND that job.
I did. I got the job. - The amazing dinners and family gatherings. Like the time we gave 7UP to Grandmother and told her it was champagne and she got all woozy-drunk.
MrsB has so many talents it's hard to grasp all the things she does. She rarely has time to "just do nothing". She works on a myriad of projects: finishing one and starting another. There is no time like "now".
There is something about everything she touches or does. It's hard to describe but there is a quality to her works the defies the plasticized, repetitive, stamped, sameness that flows around our modern lives; this sameness that we accept with few questions. The demands of oligarchs, mega-corporations and the self-centered-wealthy to: buy-this, use-that, do-this or else risk "not being IN".
Everything about her is unique. Everything she does is unique. Everything she does comes from an inner self that she pours into anything she touches: her family, her friends, her art works.
It's nearly 65 years now that I've "been among 'em". There were "good times" and "times made good". There were "better times" and "times made even better". MrsB and her life stories, the lives and stories of all our family and those of our friends both close and far are samples of "good times" and "good times made better".
I think it's a darn good thing I "fell in among 'em".
Happy Birthday Mom
Wednesday, June 07, 2017
Ripples 20 by KimB
[Editor's Note: Ripples is a serial story.
The author makes no guarantees as to completing the serial.
Publication dates are located in the left side menu.]
The tall trees swayed with the air currents, their ballet inscribed on the grass. Free to all.
No one watched.
Well, almost no one, she thought. I am watching. I am one. One is All.
She watched the shadow play and admired the tall trees striving for sunlight.
The trees moved in their own rhythms, seemingly unaware of their admirer. Survival when surrounded by concrete was difficult, sometimes impossible. Their daily struggle never ceasing. Their wind dancing an infinite expression of life.
A visible manifestation of: I AM.
She understood.
With some regret, she turned towards the building centered on a concrete base with its attending pools of asphalt, ringed by the dance of life.
She wondered, did the building ever watch? Did it feel the cool of the shade? Did it notice the leaves when they fell or when they swirled around the doors? Did the building sense the life around it?
So many modern buildings had been imbued with technology and sensors. They could tell time and weather. They could heat or cool themselves. They could open doors or lock them. They could summon assistance as needed. They could count what was inside. They knew those who entered and tracked them until they left. They had eyes to see and memories too.
Did the building notice the sky dance?
Perhaps.
But what did it make of the graceful arcs and swirls, the swaying in the sun and the cool grass beneath, the smell of damp earth and the fragrance of pine, the feel of soft leaves or the crunch of dried ones? It lived in a different way. It had no need of air or nourishment or love.
She thought it might be resentful.
She entered the building. Looking for answers. She knew inside there would be many answers. Many answers to many questions.
But would there be answers for her questions?
She would have to ask.
The doors closed behind her.
The author makes no guarantees as to completing the serial.
Publication dates are located in the left side menu.]
20 Paper Only
Shadows dancing.The tall trees swayed with the air currents, their ballet inscribed on the grass. Free to all.
No one watched.
Well, almost no one, she thought. I am watching. I am one. One is All.
She watched the shadow play and admired the tall trees striving for sunlight.
The trees moved in their own rhythms, seemingly unaware of their admirer. Survival when surrounded by concrete was difficult, sometimes impossible. Their daily struggle never ceasing. Their wind dancing an infinite expression of life.
A visible manifestation of: I AM.
She understood.
With some regret, she turned towards the building centered on a concrete base with its attending pools of asphalt, ringed by the dance of life.
She wondered, did the building ever watch? Did it feel the cool of the shade? Did it notice the leaves when they fell or when they swirled around the doors? Did the building sense the life around it?
So many modern buildings had been imbued with technology and sensors. They could tell time and weather. They could heat or cool themselves. They could open doors or lock them. They could summon assistance as needed. They could count what was inside. They knew those who entered and tracked them until they left. They had eyes to see and memories too.
Did the building notice the sky dance?
Perhaps.
But what did it make of the graceful arcs and swirls, the swaying in the sun and the cool grass beneath, the smell of damp earth and the fragrance of pine, the feel of soft leaves or the crunch of dried ones? It lived in a different way. It had no need of air or nourishment or love.
She thought it might be resentful.
She entered the building. Looking for answers. She knew inside there would be many answers. Many answers to many questions.
But would there be answers for her questions?
She would have to ask.
The doors closed behind her.
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