The fluffy orange cat is named Oscar and he sits for hours upon hours staring out into space. What in the world is he thinking/dreaming about.
I got wrapped up in cleaning the last couple of days. I am drowning in.*&^%ing dog hair. I dust, can't really call it "dust" ... mainly scoop up massive amounts of dog hair. Same on the floor. I can vacuum one day and the next day it is all back. I just noticed the dogs have run through my newly planted shrubs last fall. I should walk down and see what the damage is ... but I just can't bring myself to doing that.
My
cousin in northern CA was in ICU for 6 days with Covid. She said it was
bad and she had to wait 8 hours in the parking lot before getting
into the crowded ER. Doctor told her Covid (new strain) is back. I
should call and see if there is a new booster available.
Robin and I stopped by many old cemeteries on our trip. It is surprises me to find graves from the 1800's and before. I love visiting my own grandmothers grave, touching the gravestone, sitting for a while to visit. During my ancestry search I have found many of my ancestors gravestones on Grave finder, some civil war and before.
I was brainstorming with myself this morning about possible shows for the local art center and for some reason gravestone art popped into my head. It in interesting and vast in the scope.
六角堂DADA, (translation: Rokkaku dō dada) artist. Saw the work then had to dig around the internet to find the source. It was worth the search. Do we call it Cubism?
Sölvi Helgason (1820-1895), or Sólon Íslandus as he also called himself, is indisputably Iceland’s most fascinating folk artist; a charismatic outsider both in his life and in his art. He was a rover, a scholar and an artist, but also a capricious eccentric who disobeyed the law of men and was hence punished with imprisonment.
Paper and pigment were rare commodities and hard to obtain in Sölvi’s times. His resourcefulness in acquiring necessary materials and paint his images under inadequate conditions, as well as receiving little understanding from his contemporaries, is indeed admirable.
Rich and colorful flower compositions characterize Sölvi’s works, and he repeatedly used the same floral patterns, either as the main subject of the image, or as background for portraits.
The mechanic tells me my car is ready for pickup. It has been raining, too much. I am feeling the gray. Doing dishes, cleaning, promised myself I will fold clothes later.
I have been thinking about death, maybe too much. My friend, Robin says she is afraid to think about it. I said, once you see someone die, it becomes all too real. I don't feel afraid to die, but it is uncomfortable thinking of it, how I will die and what it will feel like to know I won't be here anymore.
I am enjoying Night Country. Watched the last of Fargo and decided to go back and re-watch earlier seasons. I am think I am tired of stupid disaster movies on YouTube.
I talk to my friend Elana a lot, mostly about trump, and the war going on in Israel/Gaza and art. She loves the book The Swerve, I got the audible version. She insist I read it.
In the winter of 1417, a short, genial, cannily alert man in his late thirties plucked a very old manuscript off a dusty shelf in a remote monastery, saw with excitement what he had discovered, and ordered that it be copied. He was Poggio Bracciolini, the greatest book hunter of the Renaissance. His discovery, Lucretius’ ancient poem On the Nature of Things, had been almost entirely lost to history for more than a thousand years.
It was a beautiful poem of the most dangerous ideas: that the universe functions without the aid of gods, that religious fear is damaging to human life, that pleasure and virtue are not opposites but intertwined, and that matter is made up of very small material particles in eternal motion, randomly colliding and swerving in new directions. Its return to circulation changed the course of history. The poem’s vision would shape the thought of Galileo and Freud, Darwin and Einstein, and—in the hands of Thomas Jefferson—leave its trace on the Declaration of Independence.
From the gardens of the ancient philosophers to the dark chambers of monastic scriptoria during the Middle Ages to the cynical, competitive court of a corrupt and dangerous pope, Greenblatt brings Poggio’s search and discovery to life in a way that deepens our understanding of the world we live in now.
“An intellectually invigorating, nonfiction version of a Dan Brown–like mystery-in-the-archives thriller.”
Stephanie Maclean's landscapes celebrate bright, contrasting elements of blue skies, sun-beaten golden hillsides dotted with lone oaks, and deep, cool canyons. These new-world elements stand in striking contrast to the Scottish scenery of my youth, inspiring a modern, abstract style with simplified graphic elements and emphasis on a bright color palette.
I finally finished dirty dished from last night. I told everyone to leave them last night.
I am wishing the rain away!!!
So much rain, so little yard for it to fit into.
Today is my "funday" ... going to get kids in a minutes.
So, I use old toothbrushes to clean with. The other day I noticed one was upside down in the cup and that should have warned me. I was brushing, the toothbrush had a Windex smell. I asked Noah and she said she cleaned the bathroom mirror with it. Then yesterday, I saw her with another toothbrush cleaning one of her toys! Nothing is sacred.
I forgot to mention all the stupid disaster movies I have been watching. A bunch about lightening ... funny enough, many of the films are filmed in Seattle. Last night I delve into bad tornado movies, then watched a couple of volcano and killer wave situation. The killer wave had a scene where the captain of the ship is heroically holding on when someone falls overboard, pan to the drownging man ... just hanging out in calm sea water. Some of these can be pretty entertaining.
Miles Jaffe adds a sense of size and laughter in his art. And his Instagram. Found via Artwork Archives.
I had an extraordinary thing happen today. I took Noah to Fred Meyer to look for a lunchbox (they don't have them now) and picked up a handful of grocery items. Checking out I was talking a lady in front of me with yellow roses and commented on how much I loved them, and so did she. Turns out we were both from Texas (Yellow Rose of Texas). And we had a short, pleasant visit. She moved my groceries ahead of hers and said, check her out before me. I said, oh no, that is not necessary and she insisted. Then ... she paid for my groceries and said someone had paid for hers the week before. Of course, I protested but she said, "pay it forward next time".
I have never been so stunned. I wondered how bad I looked! Maybe I looked indigent? Matt said I looked fine. So this stranger was just doing me a kindness and it was wonderful.
After Bri put the ornaments away, I am trying to get the tree un-fluffed, repacked and put away. I am waiting for Matt to finish his marinade to help me take the very top portion down. I am not getting on a ladder today.
I feel like I am being punished a little when I have to take the tree down.
Tree up, tree down. Bri is helping a lot with this process.
But it made me remember when I was a little kid and the first time my mom woke me up in the car to make me walk inside instead of being carried. That is funny, I remember that awful, brutal awakening many times. Same with decorating Christmas trees. They don't magically appear and vanish as they did when we were small. God, it is hard to grow up, isn't it?
David (nor now Matt) will never voluntarily start decorating a tree. If was left up to David, and in the beginning I did that ... it would be Christmas eve before he decided it was time. Even if we. had to purchase one! I do remember hauling a big tree in the house at the last minute and vowing to buy tall, slender fake trees which I could handled myself. Which is what I did.
I would love the vacuum up all of those pesky fake tree needles tonight if at all possible.
Consider what we had, what we have lost in our lives. Lives full of losses, that is how a normal life will play out.
I saw an older woman asking her husband what he wanted for dinner while leaving the grocery store. I felt a little pang of sadness. Then drove past a man walking his cute Cocker and thought about our most beloved Scooter. I thought I would die the day we lost him. The sudden sadness hit me hard and my eyes started to sting from oncoming tears. The rest of my drive gave me time to think and cry harder if I was going to ...
Life is full of loss. Great-grandparents, favorite aunts and uncles, grandparents, parents, pets, husbands and wives, friends. If you are very unlucky, you lose kids. We move away from our friends and sometimes never see them again, a loss. I know mom would talk about how much she missed her mom and her friends.
It feels the older we get, the more we expect and accept loss. Thankfully, I feel that my life has been full and filled with love and I am thankful.
"We are told that if we work hard, take care of others, and show kindness and generosity, we will be secure and happy. Do everything right and nothing will go wrong. Oh if only… What is the explanation for tragic and sudden death? What is the explanation for childhood cancer? What is the explanation for natural disasters (I know, climate change) and freak accidents? Why are good people alone and struggling? Why are some children born into abject poverty and abuse while others have every privilege afforded to them?
To pretend that I have suffered more than others would be living a lie. That does not lessen my injury or provide comfort. My youngest daughter suddenly died before she turned 20. I have been in the depths of despair. I no longer wished to be in this life. How cruel to outlive your child — the torture of breathing when your child is no longer able to. I didn’t even want to be in my own body because it had betrayed me by staying alive. I felt like I had died too, just nobody noticed. This loss is out of order, it is against the rules, it is unfair, it is grievous. I have lost more than many but less than some."
The gulls are very close to the house this morning and having a very loud meal somewhere.
The birds have been oddly hyper-active since coming out of our deep-freeze ... they almost act like they are getting ready to mate? Is it too early? The crows, Stellar Jays and all other birds are back after hibernating, I guess ... I did not see them for days, only the hummingbirds and smaller birds.
I don't know about the rest of you but my days are running in together, maybe it i the winter ho-hums.
The dogs wake me up early (330a) to go potty (Murphy's big wet nose running all over my face), going back to sleep (sort of), then either the kids wake me up or the dogs want to go out again. Then Pixie wakes up around 9a and wants out, then immediately needs food. I make my coffee around then ... and spend an hour trying to drink it and reheating it.
I get my blood going by watching politics and checking if trump has passed away the night before. Next, do the dishes from the night before and then figure out what the rest of the day holds for me.
Most of it is letting dogs in and out and trying to keep the cats in. Fetching meals and drinks for the kids.
Yesterday, as promised, I took the girls to Target to buy them their "bribery goodies" for keeping the sinks toothpaste-glob-free for two weeks and completely cleaning their room.
I will spare you the details and the final total, only to say it was expensive and fun. LOL.
I have started using David's expensive Boise noise-canceling headphones. I don't think he ever used them. Bri finished taking the Christmas decorations down yesterday.
I still point out stuff that Bri can just get rid of. Little antiques to sell, or glass jars of 20 Mule team borax that she can throw out. Matt and Bri went off the buy a new Grohe faucet, soap dispenser and garbage disposal. Spent the rest of the night installing them. Both plumbers I had contacted started at $125.00 an hr, $200 fee to just come over plus all other charges. Matt said he would just do it and I would pay him. The last Grohe faucet was a great one, but Mason has used it to pull herself on the countertop a few too many times and it was coming undone. I guess we could have tightened it but it has been repaired once and I thought we needed a new one. Plus the garbage disposal was coughing up some pretty disgusting food remnants. Anyway, all done.
So now is chance to turn away ... the rest of this is political crap that is driving me insane the last couple of days. The trump video is a response to another video about how trump was sent by God, if you haven't watched this delusional piece of propaganda ... it is a must.
Trump appears to confuse Haley and Pelosi while making false Jan. 6 claims in New Hampshire
And then this this morning
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., balked at the idea that Trump has “lost a step” in an interview with NBC News, insisting that despite the former president mistakenly referring to Haley instead of Nancy Pelosi at a rally last night, it “wasn’t a mix-up” at all.
“The reality is Nikki Haley is relying on Democrats, just like Nancy Pelosi, to try to have a desperate showing,” Stefanik said.
Pressed by NBC News that Trump was talking about Jan. 6 when he misspoke, Stefanik doubled down:
“President Trump has not lost a step. He is a stronger candidate” now than in 2016.
Stefanik also dodged multiple times when asked whether she'd vote to certify the 2024 election results should Biden win again.
Asked whether she wanted to join the ranks of Trump’s potential running mates, Stefanik said she’s “focused” on her job in Congress and that “it’s a long time between now and November.”
Stefanik appeared this morning at Trump's campaign headquarters in New Hampshire, where she was met with "VP" chants.
Amy Ponteri work in a local Emergency Department as a mental health therapist. When CoVid-19 hit, her co-workers and she couldn't tell each other apart in all our PPE. There was the personal flair of goggles and homemade caps and masks, but then we had to look --really look--at each other's eyes. These are faces that are alongside me every day, but suddenly she was seeing them anew and seeing --really seeing--how they put themselves on the line for others. Not just during CoVid-19 but every time they show up to work.
These very touching graves with dogs statues
