Words for Wednesday

  The sun coming up over the mountain was a refreshing sight on the first morning of 2021.  The past year had been filled with such a diverse assortment of fear, anger, and pain, it was almost as if the universe had conspired against all of them.

   She wished she could set all the clocks in reverse and start the year again.  Most of all, she wished she could take back the terse words she had said to family and friends when she had been nursing resentment.

    As she poured a glass of water over the smoldering remains of the small pit fire she had used to burn her list of regrets from 2020, she decided that she would consider the past year a dress rehearsal and a lesson in patience and compassion for the years to come.

*~*~*

Words for Wednesday is a traveling feast of creativity, and can currently be found [click here> on the Elephant Child's blog. 

macro geekdom

I found my macro lens!

For some perspective, this is what the sand stars look like to the naked eye...

creating origami German bell ornaments ...

    Work today was a mix of crazy back-to-back calls this morning, then nothing for more than an hour the latter part of my shift.  

     I spent my time turning some of this year's Christmas cards into ornaments for next year's tree using [click here> this tutorial from Pinterest to make origami German bell ornaments.  Next year I will find a different origami pattern to use.

     They were incredibly simple to make, however, be forewarned that some cards are difficult to fold and may tear at the small corners ~ an easy issue to hide when you glue the corners together.  

     Also ... glittered cards?  Glitter EVERYWHERE!  Do not put your hands anywhere near your eyes until you have washed your hands a gazillion times.  Trust me, I speak from experience.

     Finally, the instructions state to glue, then rubberband them until they dry to keep them from popping open.  Uh, hello?  Hot glue?!?!  I have absolutely zero patience when it comes to making crafts.  I admit, it is a character defect I am not likely to work on in the future.

     After folding each card, before I glued them and started on the next one, I wrote with a gold Sharpie the year and who sent the card on the outside of them.

     Photo cards get a place of honor on my refrigerator until next year!

A white Christmas after all ...

Lucy likes to eat snow. 

Gracie ... had more than enough snow when she was struggling to survive in the MI U.P. and now refuses to go out in it.  I don't blame her.

Charlie likes it, but I think he was glad that it wasn't deeper than he is tall.

geeking out on Christmas Eve ...

     I'm working today, and as to be expected, the calls have become so infrequent that my computer keeps timing out.  So I'm on an archeology geek trip ...

     A little while ago I saw a story online about [click here> a beach in Japan that was made up of stars.  My attempts to find a contact in Okinawa or Japan to send me some sand to look at failed.

     But then I was unpacking and came across a small bottle of beach sand from Guam that a past co-worker had sent me, and I wondered if the sand in Guam was close enough to Japan. (and to be totally transparent, she was super sweet to have sent it to me, but for the life of me now, I can't even remember where I was working at the time.  I blame trying to be more green and recycling my brain cells on a frequent basis)

     So today I dumped it into a crystal coaster, grabbed my magnifying glass with a bifocal, and began to explore!

     One sore neck and back later from trying to get as close as I can with my one good eye, I found stars!  And teeny tiny baby sand dollars!  And itsy bitsy teeny tiny seashells!

     As soon as I can remember where I put my macro lens for my phone camera (have I mentioned a gazillion times yet how much I hate packing, moving, and unpacking?), I'll update with better pictures, but for now, feast your eyes on this!

     I also have two other small bottles of sand from Thailand and the Philippines, but the grains are soooooo small, that I'm not sure I'll be able to see anything unless I get a much stronger magnifying glass.  I'm not even sure I'd be able to pick anything much smaller than these with my tweezers!

     In other not-as-exciting news, it is looking less and less like a white Christmas for me this year.  YAY!  It has been raining all day, and temps are in the low 50's.  Overnight, temps will drop to the upper teens, however, the rain should be ending and any snow before then may not stick because of how damp the ground is.  Ice, however, is another story.

      Charlie, the cats, and I have no plans for tomorrow except to sleep late, take naps, make phone calls, and maybe go to bed early.  Oh, and geek out over sand stars, watch dysfunctional family Christmas movies and laugh at how much they remind me of my own.

     Merry Christmas, happy holidays that you choose to celebrate, stay safe and healthy...  and be kind out there.  It's been a hard year for everyone.

'Tis the season ...

... to be extra compassionate to each other.

 

Truth. 

To put things in perspective, I spoke to a woman on the 12th of this month who was struggling to hold it together that day. 

She was trying to get much-needed thyroid medicine, however, her credit card and bank account had been compromised and they hadn't been able to issue her a new one because she was moving in the next few weeks. 

She was moving because her house had burnt to the ground a month earlier, burning her father and 3 dogs alive. The 12th was also her father's birthday, and she was just so overwhelmed. One of her *friends* had told her that "at least her father hadn't died of Covid19." She cried that they somehow thought burning alive was better than Covid. We talked some more, prayed, hugged by phone. 

We never know what is on someone else's plate. 

Be kind to everyone.

Christmas week ... Wednesday

 

A panoramic view of the Allegheny mountain range from an overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I believe that is the Shenandoah Valley.

I had an AWESOME visit with my sister and nephew.

Uh... cookies did not last 24 hours.  Can't imagine why.

My new favorite thing to get as a gift ... hand-painted rocks, painted by the giver.  This one was painted by Kat, and the quote is from Claude Monet.

Kat was amused by Charlie's underbite.

Charlie not so much by Kat's sense of humor.

Christmas week ... Tuesday

    So here is my new holiday season tradition ... since the majority of my Christmas ornaments are still in WI, and there *just so happens* to be a Christmas decor shop here that is open 365 days a year here ... whenever I visit family or friends for Thanksgiving or Christmas (or those that come to visit me), I'm going to purchase matching ornaments.  One to gift, and one to keep, that will remind me of the holiday spent with them.

    This first one for Kat and me is especially meaningful because both of our dads are gone, and folklore has it that a visit from a cardinal is a visit from a loved one that has passed away.

     I'm also going to find an origami pattern to make ornaments out of the Christmas cards I receive this year.  I've seen some on Pinterest that I really like.

     Busy, busy, busy!

Christmas week ... Monday

    I love how these girls can snuggle together like they did when Lucy could still fit in my hand.  Although, full disclosure, this cuddle session came after an ugly discussion between the two of them over who was going to fit where.

    Tomorrow, I will get to see my sister Kat whom I haven't seen in more than six years.  I'm super excited!  She doesn't know it yet, and I won't share here until Thursday, but I'm starting a new holiday tradition this year and she is my first.  

     One of the things I'm most excited about with finally getting my 'life' back is that I get to start my own holiday traditions.  If I'd had more time in late October and November, one of them would have been making the German Christmas cookies from my grandmother's recipes. 

   I received a Christmas card today from a friend in the MI U.P. that was a first.  It had goats on it!  And a pig!  Sara is an amazing person!  She and her husband built their home by hand, retiring the yurt they had been living in for several years.  They raise goats for milk and cheese; chickens for eggs and duh, chicken; pigs for bacon; and grow their own garden.  I wish I could have been like her when I was younger!  I will confess that she tried to teach me how to milk a goat once and I was a huge fail.

    I think my goals wall in my office is finally finished.  At least until I can travel again.  It would be so awesome to have pictures all the way up to the ceiling!

kitchen window ...

  Tho not quite the view as my Wisconsin kitchen window had, this one still offers promise.  My bird feeders are best viewed out the kitchen door window, but I may add some squirrel feeders here in the side yard at some point.  I'm already planning and plotting for hostas and other shade-loving plants in the spring.  My cherished lillies-of-the-valley, however, will be planted where I can see them from the kitchen door while I'm watching birds and adding to my eBird count.

   I broke down and bought myself a tiny European Cypress Christmas tree and found an origami tutorial on YouTube to make a star for the top.  My overachiever paperwhite is blooming.  I've wanted to force paperwhites for ages and finally found some.  When this season is over, I'll save them for next year and find a proper glass vase for them.  Ditto the Amaryllis.  My jade plants are slowly recovering from the freezing drive down, but the jury is still out on my Hens & Chicks.  

... all is calm ...

    A co-worker recently asked me how my dog liked the new house and state, and it occurred to me that there has been a significant change in Charlie since we arrived.  A reflection, I was told by a friend, of the change in me also.

    In Wisconsin, he barked constantly.  At every sound, every car door slam, every dog bark, every shadow of someone walking past the house.  He was constantly on edge and defensive.  Which when I thought about it, made sense.  He never knew who [or rather what] would be coming through the door.  An angry man, a drunk man, a high on meth man.  He never knew if someone would slam in the back door, the front door, break a window, rip out a screen and come in a window.  He never knew if the man would be alone or with other drunks, and high, angry men.  If they would play loud, electric guitars all hours of the night with amps that popped and terrified him.

    Here, he has rarely barked, and even the few times when a stranger was at the door or in the house to make repairs, he was quickly forgiving and welcoming.  He is relaxed.  Peaceful, and sometimes I catch him just sitting calmly on the back patio, enjoying a spot in the sun, watching the world go by.

    There is a dog one lot over that barks constantly.  Charlie could care less.  Cars come and go on the street, much closer than they did in Wisconsin.  People get in and out.  Charlie could care less.  Although he does still hate the UPS driver.

     When we go for rides around the area, he has a sense of curiosity about him, rather than apprehension.

     The birds here seem to be a little unsure about my intentions with feeding them.  I've had feeders out for the past two weeks and they still appear to be full.  I finally put some food in a tray on the patio table to see if they just didn't like what I was offering.

    I think it is just that there is an abundance of 'wild' food available.  I haven't seen any chickadees, but tufted titmice are the local comedians.  There are three of them that I've seen at one time, and they sneak down to the tray like they are little thieves, grab a sunflower seed and dash off like they are afraid of getting caught.

    The cardinals, however, just settle in and eat their fill, completely ignoring the other birds.

    Carolina wrens are really the only ones I've seen at the feeders, and they are pretty happy with not having any competition.  I'm hoping that I will see more birds in the spring and that I can finally identify the trees in the back yard.  It is a toss-up between green ash or dogwood.

St. Nick's Day ...

Image Source: Pinterest

 

 One of my favorite childhood memories was of waking up the morning of December 6th to see whether or not I got candy or coal in my shoes.

  As an adult without children, I would try to evoke those memories again with (ex)-husbands.  New slippers.  Annual tree ornaments.  Fishing lures.  Guitar picks & strings.

  This year, I unpacked a little.  Decorated a little.  Got happy a lot.

  The tree topper angel on the wall is holding a place for what will be a wall tree with no-damage Scotch hooks.  The TV table is doubling as a fireplace mantle for my stocking.

  My futon arrived a week early, Charlie approved.  I still need to get a rug and after doing some rearranging, I realized that there will be room for a bar height dining table and four bar chairs.

  The office is slowly coming together.  The wall to the right, across from my desk, is my "goals" wall, which is currently featuring photos and mementos of places I've been.  My goal is to travel again.

  Behind where I sit are photos and "encouragers."  Words of wisdom that will be seen in the BigBossCam that watches me while I work.  I'm still hopeful for a supervisor slot.  

  Here's to holidays filled with happiness, growth, and new beginnings.

Lost on mountain roads...

  Charlie and I decided that today would be a good day to continue exploring our new home, and on a whim after dropping mail off at the post office, I decided to go see the White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatchery since a sign across from the post office said it was only four miles away.

  When committing to a narrow, winding mountain road with hairpin turns, one-lane bridges, and tunnels you must be sure to have a full tank of gas and not a full bladder of coffee.  There are usually no gas stations on the road, no restrooms, and not many areas wide enough to make a U-turn.

  A quarter tank of gas into the drive, when it felt like the coffee was backing up into my kidney, I backed the truck up onto a 90-degree angle dirt driveway and reversed our route. 

  We stopped briefly at Tuckahoe Lake (hoping for some privacy for a lakeside bladder break, which was not to be).  We never did find the fish hatchery, even though there was another sign pointing towards it along the road.

  Once home, Google Maps showed that the initial sign I saw for the fish hatchery was facing the wrong way, and if I had turned left instead of going straight, it would indeed have been just four miles from the post office.

  Instead, we went 38 miles into Virginia and very nearly into North Carolina.    Note to self:  GPSs are only as good as the idiot drivers that use them.