Author Archives: Lenora Good

Heroes and Hallowed Ground

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I have been asked by a friend who has recently been diagnosed with macular degeneration, if I could read and post my blogs. I am going to try to do so each time I write and post a Coffee Break Escape. The recordings will be on The Spoken Word page above. Heroes and Hallowed Ground is now posted for your listening pleasure.

Weather in the Tries:
Huzzah! Huzzah! Monday, today, will be 91F and it goes down from here—all the way to 74F during the days, and the nights drop from 68F to 53F. While it’s not bring out the down jacket, it may be time for a light sweater when out at night. And for sure a light blanket on the bed, or a summer quilt or two!

Heroes and Hallowed Ground: 
A great cartoon I found on Facebook: shows an old fashioned Catholic Nun in her black habit & white wimple walking down a school hall with a cat following. She had one hand holding the ear of a young Vance and the other hand holding a ruler. The bubble from the Nun says: “We’re going to have a little talk about childless cat ladies.” Love it! 

Another Facebook one I love shows a GI, with all identifying tags blocked, holding a sign that reads: “I have never stood in front of a grave and given a thumbs up with a big smile, but if I live longer than he does it could happen.” And now you know why last week’s post was so short. I was too angry to really write anything light and not angry.

It’s a week later, and I’m still irritated over his desecration of the graves of my family in uniform. Note, I said irritated. I was angry. By the time you read this, I expect the irritation to be mostly gone. There is nothing I can do about it, besides vote against him. And you already know I’m going to do that. Yes, I hope you do, too. But all I’m going to say about that is I encourage you to vote your own conscious, your own character, vote for the best woman to heal our country, just get out there and vote! 

I am not fond of plane travel. I do not like forced sitting that long. But I for sure will wear my WAC Veteran tee shirt and fly back east to have my thumbs up photo taken over his grave. I do intend to live that long! Besides, I pinky-swore with my friend Ann, to never die! Maybe I’ll do a “Fonzie” with both thumbs up, Aaayyyyy!

By the time you read this, I should have the two pins out of my toe and be able to walk more or less normal. At least, it should be my choice whether to continue hobbling or not. I imagine my foot will be a tad bit tender, but still, having the option… I can’t tell whether my foot is swollen or not, but there are times when it feels like there is some swelling under the assaulted toe, but since I can’t put my foot down flat, I don’t know if it really is, or just feels that way because of my current walking on the side of my foot.

Public Service Announcement: 
Getting ready for my road trip, leaving out at 0:Dark:00 on the 21 September. Have ordered some junk food to eat on the road, have ordered some instant coffee to take with, as I will be staying with people who don’t drink coffee, am beginning to figure out clothes, etc. The first week will be a writer’s retreat in Dallas, TX. (It will take me 3 days of driving to get there). Since I’m not writing anything prosy, and will only have my iPad to take, I am printing out a stack of poetry, and hope to maybe put a book together. A whole book, not a chapbook. 

Speaking of chapbooks, remember, Saying Goodbye to Thomas will be ready for pre-order next Feb/Mar. The amount books I sell on pre-order will set my royalty amount. And I want a huge amount. Not for me, but because all my royalties from the book, or any poems therein I sell individually, will be split between End of Life Washington and the ALS Association. So, start putting your list together of people you want to give the book to, and when I post the link, you can pre-order.

For those of you who pre-order, and would like a signed copy, or copies, all you need to do is send me a self-addressed stamped envelope and tell me how you would like it/them signed, and I will send you back individually signed book plates that can be placed in the books. You can email me when the time comes, to get my snail mail address, if you don’t already have it. 😉

Now We Know:
For years now, I’ve wondered when mass shootings happen and people want some honest gun control, not taking all guns, just banning assault rifles and asking for background checks, a certain party that claims family values, and children are important, and … yadda, yadda, yadda … and when the topic comes up, these people who bow to the NRA say, “Now is not the time.” Many of us have wondered if not now, when? Now we know. J. D. Vance told us, and NO ONE from the Republican Party changed or corrected what was spoken. I can’t remember the exact words, but basically, he told us that mass shootings in schools is the new normal and kids, teachers, and families have to learn to live with it. Now is not the time to discuss gun control, not gonna happen—EVER! If they have their way.

I don’t know a single Democrat, or Republican, who fears being deprived of their guns. They just want assault rifles banned. NO ONE needs an assault rifle unless they want to kill as many humans as possible in the shortest amount of time. That is the reason, not one of the reasons, the  reason, those weapons were developed for the military—to kill as many enemy as possible in the shortest time. If you take an AR hunting Bambi’s daddy, and use it, you won’t have enough usable meat to bother packaging and placing in your freezer for later eating. A total waste of good venison!

When ARs were banned in “…1994, it was only for ten years. The ban applied only to weapons manufactured after the date of the ban’s enactment. It expired on September 13, 2004, following its sunset provision.” (Wikipedia) Once the ban expired and the party who loves fetuses, but thinks kids make excellent targets for practice, blocked the renewal of it. 

“After Bill Clinton banned assault weapons in 1994, mass shooting deaths dropped by 43%. After the Republican Congress let the ban expire in 2004, they shot up by 239%. We don’t need to arm teachers; we need to BAN assault weapons again!” —Lee Turner, Democratic Congressional candidate for South Carolina District 04.

As Jeff Tiedrich said in his 5 September 2024 Substack article, everyone is entitled to my own opinion, “shove your thoughts and prayers, we’ve been thinking and praying since Columbine—and it hasn’t done shit.” I couldn’t have said it better. (If you’re paywalled on this one, let me know, it’s worth the read.)

In his Sunday article, “no, you fucking ghouls, school shootings don’t have to be a ‘fact of life’” Jeff has more good words to say. Normally, I’d apologize for the f-word, but y’all have heard it, deal with it. He’s right. And, frankly, if I knew of a stronger word, I think I’d use it. The time is NOW, lets get something positive done.

If you really want to own and fire an AR, then store it at your National Guard Armory, and only use it on their firing range. And for the sake of whatever god you may or may not worship, don’t buy one for your kid!!!

Photos of the Week—use your imagination and see:
   All the empty desks. 
   All the smaller holes dug in hallowed burial grounds. 
   The parents, siblings, grands, aunties, uncles, friends, family of blood and choice who cry.

from the desk of the very sad chihuahua;
mom says I need to write funny, but I’m still trying to picture the photos above. I don’t like what I’m seeing.

Earworm for the week:
Send In The Clowns — Ol’ Blue Eyes and Tony Mottola

MALA
Make America Laugh Again!!

OMG!! Dick & Liz Cheney endorsed and are voting for Kamala!!! 

PIFA
Politics Is Fun Again!!

Road Tripping in 3 Weeks

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Happy Labor Day. Support Unions.

Weather in the Tries:
Oh, dear. the temps will range from 100 (one day) as a high to 88 (one day), most in the warmer side of the 90s. The lows will be the low side of the 60s. That really makes it pretty livable.

Road Tripping in 3 weeks: 
I am getting ready to leave on a month-long road trip. The other day I sat down, and figured my traveling, dates of travel, dates of visit, etc. Got it all finalized, and then some friends in Berkeley let me know I need to stop and see them, too. Oh, the price of fame, poetry, family, and friends! 

One week from today, Monday the 9th, I get the pins taken out of my toe. I hope, oh how I hope, that I will be able to walk, if not like an Egyptian, at least with a modicum of normalacy. I don’t know how long it will take, but to be able to walk on my whole foot, not just the outside edge. A two-footed happy dance 😉 Happy, happy, dance, dance, dance!!!

For the first time since my surgery 5 weeks ago, my toe hurts. Sometimes. Housemate Dan figures it’s the nerves getting back together (yeah, it feels like needles in my toe.) Bad enough when I’m up, but oh, when it happens at 0:Dark:00 it’s enough to bring me out of a deep sleep.

Photos of a Few Weeks Past:
Ice Dragons Dancing. Don’t you just want to shiver looking at them? Save them for those really hot days!

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from the desk of Sammy brave dog;
oh, look. it automatically capped my name. it caps my name and if I type I it caps that, too. my human has a neat computer. and when she goes on her road trip, maybe housemate dan will turn it on and I can practice my typing. and send her emails. 

MALA

Make America Laugh Again

A Kinda Sorta Political Post

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Weather in the Tries:
Oooooh! Temps will be mostly in the 80s with a couple dips to the 70s, and the weekend in the 90s. Can ya dig it? And the lows will be in the 50s with the weekend being low 60s. A few years ago, this week, I went to the hospital to give birth to my Favorite Daughter. It was sunny, warm, and summer. When I came home a few days later, it was cold, rainy, and fall. Ever since then, I’ve associated her birthday with the advent of cooler weather. Her birthday is Wednesday, which should be spelled Wensday.

A Kinda Sorta Political Post:
I watched most of the DNC in highlight snippets, but the last night, I watched live. What a blast!  What humor! I don’t recall any of it being put-down, with the possible exception of one guy who said he was very impressed with the AI audience that filled the auditorium. He even managed to deliver the line and keep a dead-pan face, for a couple seconds.

The night before, I watched Tim Walz make his acceptance speech and was truly impressed. I would gladly sit at the table in the Walz kitchen and share an iced tea and maybe a white man’s taco/Bwahahahaha. One of the biggees of my admiration for them is the way they have raised their kids. OMG, that young man, Gus! Wow!! He was so proud when Dad gave his speech, Gus stood with tears of joy running down his cheeks, pointed at his dad on the stage and said, “That’s my Dad, That’s my Dad.” I nearly had tears running down my cheeks, too, from sharing his joy. 

I’ve tried not to go political here, but, alas, I’ma gonna do it. Admittedly, I watched only the highlights, and darned few of them, of the RNC, but the biggest difference I saw between the two was Joy. The DNC was full of it, the RNC sorely lacked. In seeing the snippets on the news, the MAGA crowd are always not just serious, but angry, vindictive. Or they look that way. As do a tremendous number of the evangelicals supporting the MAGA movement, whereas the MALA (Make America Laugh Again) people, whether democrats or republicans, find humor in their lives. MAGA wants to destroy, tear down, lock up, kill. MALA wants to build, unify, help, laugh. Pessimists v. Optimists.

Several years ago, when I was a good bible-toting Christian, Pastor brought up the subject of humor in church one Sunday (Baptists allowed humor? /snort.). Based on the adage that the nut seldom falls far from the tree, he decided Yahweh, father of Jesus, had a sense of humor—somewhere. But he had biblical proof that the son, Jesus, had humor: Matthew 19:14, Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” New International Version.

Yep, that was his proof. Remember when you were a kid at the park, and at one end was a guy yelling at the adults and any kids who wandered by, shouting about sin and salvation, heaven and hell, with more about the latter than the former? A ways down the park was a guy making balloon animals and telling funny stories? Where did you and your mates go? I can pretty much guess—you went to the guy who smiled, who made you and your mates laugh. You went to the guy who told funny stories, who made you laugh and feel good about yourself and being alive. Unless, of course, your masochism made an early debut and you went to the angry preacher and reveled in the pain.

Jesus tells stories that make children feel good about being alive, who makes them laugh. I don’t know why so many (alleged?) Christians are so severe, so lacking in humor, so angry, unless it’s power. Some will have power and therefore will continue the severity, the beatings, the hate, until morale improves. Because everyone knows if you make people fear you, especially through your God’s anger as delivered by his “chosen” modern day prophet ie, you, that person, that prophet, will   have   power! The great Walt Whitman once said, “Re-examine all you have been told. Dismiss what insults your soul.” [emphasis mine]

Photos of the Week:
The Great Blue is usually on the big pond, this is the only time I’ve seen him on our pond, and yes, that’s ice next to and on top of, the water. The pix were taken Jan ’23.

from the desk of the confused chihuahua;
my human got stitches out of her toe last week, and then her toe was taped down. I don’t understand, was it flying away. and why would she have stitches in her toe, was it falling off. anyhow housemate dan is walking me. my human says her toe doesn’t hurt, but it isn’t comfy. I still wonder how she got her toe in her sewing machine. and why she would do it. and why couldn’t she pull her stitches. humans are very, very strange. 

MALA

Make America Laugh Again

Something Different

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Weather in the Tries:
Oh my goodness gracious sakes alive! The highs this coming week, according to my phone, are all in the 80s! With the night lows dipping as low as 59, but most at 60. In other words, we have reached perfection! 

Something Different:
I figured y’all were probably not looking forward to any more one-legged happy dances, besides which I overdid it this last week, and I’m doing my Happy Dance sitting in my chair. You know, waving my arms. Oh, sigh, at my age, one would think I’d know better. I don’t. But I do get my stitches out in a couple hours;-)

I’ve spent the last few days at my computer, wondering what to write about besides my personal happies or woes, and it wasn’t until last night that I saw the most fascinating video on YouTube that it dawned on me. So, yes, a shorter blog, but a longer video. It’s something like 28 minutes long, but I was spell bound the whole time, and hope you are equally fascinated by “the process of making a cello. A high-end Japanese cello crafted by one artisan in six months.”

One of my all-time favorite movies is Departures. It’s a delightful Japanese romcom about a young man who buys an expensive cello and then learns the orchestra in which he plays is being disbanded. He and his wife move back to his hometown and his late mother’s tea shop. He answers an ad for a job for ‘departures’ thinking it’s with a travel agency or travel-related job. He shows up, and is hired on the spot, and it’s for a mortuary, the ad had a typo—it should have read ‘departed’. If you don’t know, Asians have a real phobia of touching/dealing with corpses. (I saw an interview of the ME of a large and populous county in Florida (Dade?). She was Asian (Chinese?) and when asked how her family accepted her profession, she laughed and said they didn’t know. They thought she was a practicing physician. Fortunately, she said, they lived in Canada and didn’t watch American tv.

Back to the movie, if you like cello music, you really ought to look for it. As of this writing, I think YouTube is streaming it as well as Apple TV. Possibly other places. However, if you would like to see how cellos are made, clickhere.

Photos of the Week:
Watch the video. Pour a cuppa, settle in, and watch.

from the desk of the ferocious guard dog;
I don’t understand you humans. you sit around watching a screen all day, and if you were outside, you could watch birds and squirrels, and if you got your nose closer to the ground you could smell the most delightful messages from other dogs. my human doesn’t even walk right. she needs to get down on all fours and have fun.

Make America Laugh Again!

Still Dancin’ the Happy

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Weather in the Tries:
We are looking at a week of day temps in the 80s, night temps in the 60s, with Tuesday being the outlier on air quality. All week will be in the yellow except Tuesday will be red—unhealthy. As much smoke as we have now, I’m surprised we’re still in the yellow, moderate level. 

Still Dancin’ the Happy:
Yeah, my dancing is still one-legged, though I can now walk on the side of my poor, assaulted, wounded foot that is home to said toe. The use of the walker is now more for balance, and if I go to any sort of crowded venue, a protective cage.

And I’m still wearing the oh-so-stylish (NOT) shoe, also more as a visual to warn people I’m injured. The dr. was quite pleased with the foot once the dressing came off. I am now down to one band aid. And the shoe is now a tad too big. But I can wear my socks on both feet 😉

Still haven’t walked the beast. Hope to do that this weekend. I’m fairly confident that if I use the walker, and have something to hold onto, that I can properly pick up offerings to the Grass Gods and dispose them to nearest dumpster. Oops, I mean altar. 

The stitches will come out in one week, the pins in four weeks. Then I’m good to go, and the dr. said my road trip won’t be affected. Phew! And once the pins are out, I can take a real shower! I can get my foot wet! Oh, it will be so difficult not to break into a happy dance in the shower, but I shall contain my enthusiasm.

I have a bath stool, but I have to cover my foot, and use the handheld shower. No way am I going to stand with one foot on edge. And if I cover my foot, and hang it outside, a certain amount of water goes out, no matter how careful I am, and then I have to clean it up, and life is, at times, hard, Bunky. So I’m pretending I’m back in the Army, and bathing out of my helmet. Except I use the sink 😉 Believe me, I feel considerably safer. 

One of my super good friends bought me a walker, and lemme tell you, it has been a godsend! Now, I am happy to state being allowed to walk on the outside edge of my foot, I only need it for balance. I have to walk on the outside edge, and drive with the outside edge of my foot on the Go pedal. As long as I pay attention to where I put my feet, and stay on the level, I’m doing fine. Now, I’m wondering how long it will take me to walk normal once the pins come out. But it will be great to do a two-footed happy dance when it happens 😉

Photos of a While Back:
The bunny was a friend of Thomas. Bunny had a crippled leg, but was pretty brave when Thomas watched him in the back yard.

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I think this is a Peony bud with a visitor. I truly appreciate the telephoto lens on my camera. I got my photo, and the Dude Stinger took off in an opposite direction.

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Quote of the Week:

MALA!

Make America Laugh Again!

One-Legged Happy Dance

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Weather in the Tries:
Holy Kamala! Monday is the only triple digit day forecast for the week. Gonna be all the way down in the 90s. Oh, can you see me do my one-legged happy dance? Now, where is my parka……

And why, you are asking, is it a one-legged happy dance?
Because on Tues last, I had the double hammer toe of my right foot fixed. I can put weight on my heel, and only my heel, and I cannot pass Go or collect any moneys. Shuckins, I can barely make it from my bedroom to my desk, to the kitchen. My walker helps, but if I’m taking dishes with food in them, I have to use my cute little pink steno chair so I have something to set them on. A steno chair makes a fair walker, but probably not as safe as the real McCoy. 

I was told if I wear a bra, make it a sport bra, but nothing with an underwire. I had to ask the nurse why? Was I going to have a scar from my toe to my boob? Anyhow, Dr. uses a cauterizer, and though they have a grounding pad under me, they just want to be sure nothing untoward happens. Believe me, that was a relief. But that woulda been some kind of scar!

I spent the first 4 days either on my bed with my foot elevated, or at my desk with my foot elevated. No swelling. And really good drugs that did nada, so after two of the pills, I moved over to over the counter NSAID instead of the oxycodone. Those NSAIDS worked a whole lot better. And 6 was all I required! Last one was Thurs morning.

Housemate Dan has been in charge of the hound during this fun time. Since I can’t put any weight on the toe part of my foot, it’s a tad difficult to pick dog dishes up from and put them down again on the floor, and no way can I go outside and walk him, let alone bend over to pick his offering to the Grass Gods then throw it into the Alter/dumpster. Sammy is very happy that the Grass Gods always accept his offering. Me, too./snort/ 😉

Photo of the week:
Wounded foot. Isn’t that exciting? I have YES on my right leg, as well as the dr’s initials, and NO on my left leg. Indelible ink. The ink is still on me. I can’t get my foot wet, and even with a plastic taped to my leg, I can’t stand in the shower to scrub, I have to sit. And scrubbing the ink off is not a high priority. Yet.

from nurse chihuahua;
sorry, folks, can’t sit in my chair when my human is in it. and if she’s not in it, I have to be next to her and act as guard dog. it would be easier to take care of my human, if I had longer legs and opposable thumbs.  

“A mind, once stretched by an idea…”

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Weather in the Tries:
Oh, baby, it ain’t gonna be cooler for long! Monday and Tuesday in the high 80s, Wed 91, Thursday and on–triple digit. Unless the weather person didn’t read the tea leaves correctly, or some activist opened the cage all the butterflies of Peking were wintering in, or the weather computers and storm models got hacked, or… well, you get the picture. I hope. In the meantime, the Brave Dog and I are enjoying nights cool enough to sleep well.

“A mind, once stretched by an idea can never return to its original dimensions.” Ralph Waldo Emerson:
Boy Howdy! Am I ever giving my mind a good stretching—up/down and across this way and then that way. You’d think, after the nine years five months and 23 days I spent in uniform, I’d have learned the age-old military commandment: Never Volunteer! But I didn’t. And the training I’m getting for my volunteer ‘job’ is pretty thorough and pretty mind stretching, for me at least.

I’m learning to become proficient and use a very involved and dynamic database. Of course, someone with all the fat fingers I have can’t be trusted to play around in the live data base, so they have set up a parallel (?) one we can use to learn on. Of course, it’s made to use Chrome or Google, and I use Safari. There are, I gather, some differences. In their favor is the individual classes, online, are quite good, and once I’ve done it, I’m pretty good to re-do it. Even that little bit of muscle memory helps. And all the folks I’ve met so far are very helpful and supportive. Aaah, who says you can’t teach an old lady new tricks? It just takes longer 😉 And oddly, I’m even remembering some of the stuff I learned at The Boeing Company so many years ago from some of the computer geeks 😉

All that to say, this will be short today, as I’ve got homework to do (before the dog eats it). 

Photo of the Week:
Went out for dinner on Friday night, we ate outside, and yes, we could smell smoke, and you can see it here, but it was still better than being inside where it was loud. How loud you ask? Imagine a metal building with nothing in it to absorb sound except a few adults. Now, add to the mix 300 unsupervised two-year-olds running around yelling and screaming in their high-pitched voices that sound like huge mosquitoes buzzing. It was louder than that. And the air quality was in the moderate range. Still, a gorgeous setting sun.

FMQ Looks Soooo Easy!

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Weather in the Tries:
Got up to 107, again, yesterday. Today it’s only gonna be 100, then the temps will drop to 86 on Thursday and up to 93 by next Monday. IF the prediction holds true. That’s always iffy. Depends on how big the competition between the butterflies of Seoul and Hong Kong. I understand their teams have some of the most ferocious wing beaters going. Beijing’s aren’t too bad, either, but they lost the competition this year to Hong Kon and Seoul. Keep your rain gear handy. Yep, I’ll see your Olympics in France and raise you two teams of Pacific Rim Butterflies!

FMQ Looks Soooo Easy!
Boy Howdy, I watch the Quilting Nerd show , I sit straight, make my hands follow hers to learn the motions, then go into my machine, it looks so farking easy, I work at it, then have to quit because I understand the salt of my tears will damage my machine. Besides, it’s too farking hot.

By the way, if you have a quilt you’d like professionally quilted, you might want to check her out. Her studio is here. She does both long arm, and domestic quilting.

Anyhow, I did figure out how to get my presser foot raised a wee bit last Monday, so didn’t have to take it to the sewing machine doctor (unfortunately, they aren’t covered on my health insurance). So I was/am able to practice. When it cools down somewhat. 

The “What, Me Complain?” desert dog is still sleeping on the floor most of the night. He’s not complaining, but he says it’s warm enough. But our afternoon nap/snuggle on the bed, he’s right next to me, stretched out and snuggled to my thigh. Although, today, he did evenutally move away a couple inches. 

Photos of the Past:

Egret across the slough where I used to live on the Columbia River

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Osprey nest out in the Columbia river, just about the middle if I’m remembering correctly.

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Cormorant on the shore of the Columbia. Like the Anhinga’s in Florida, they have no oil in their skin to help them stay afloat. After a few dives, they have to come out and sit in the sun (if they can) but hold their wings out to air dry.

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from the desk of the hot dog;
Sammy says he’ll write when he’s a few degrees cooler as my lap is just too hot to stay put.

TV Series of the Week:
Netflix, Korean 16 episodes, My Demon. Lots of eye candy, and a fun story. And God is wonderful. She just damn near stole the show! A fun RomCom.5 stars! Excellent subtitles. Of course, if you’re fluent in Korean (Hangul?) you don’t need the subtitles 😉 The Asian Wiki has some info about the story and cast, here.

Music of the Week:
Jesse Cook-rumba-flamenco music think I’m gonna have to save my pennies and buy a couple of his cds. Especially before I leave on my road trip!

Quote of the Week compliments of Holidappy.com:

“The trouble with quotes about death is
that 99.9% of them are made by
people who are still alive.” ~Joshua Burns

My First Foray into FMQ

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Weather in the Tries:

MOS (more of same), i.e., hot, hot, hot, sunny, sunny, sunny, more triple-digit days than double-digit days. The really hard part is it doesn’t cool down all that much at night, even the Brave Dog is sleeping on the floor. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough room on the floor for the both of us. The things I sacrifice for my dog.

My first foray into FMQ:
Well, technically, it’s my second foray into Full Motion Quilting on a domestic machine. I took a short journey into FMQ about 25 years ago. Not much of a journey. Not even sure I got more than my big toe wet.

FMQ means one drops the feed dogs on their sewing machine, attach a “hopping foot” (on some machines it hops with each stitch, on others it just sits there and looks at the sewist as s/he moves the fabric back, forth, right, left, anywhere in between. It goes where the sewist wants it to go. Well, it goes where the sewist’s direction pushes/pulls the fabric, which, in my case, is not where I want it to go.

Got my new machine all set up, ready to go, and the presser foot brings the hopping foot too far down, compresses the sandwich, and I can’t move the fabric at all. I managed to do was hold the presser foot up the measure of a gnat’s ankle to knee, and I could move the fabric/sandwich. Alas, I could only move it with one hand and couldn’t guide it. 

The sewing machine dr. is out of the office until at least Monday. The Toe dr. comes before machine dr., though.

Why I’m seeing a toe doctor:
When I lived in Albuquerque, I broke one of my toes, twice. At least I think I broke it twice. I broke it once, and about three days later, I broke it again. I think. I taped it, but the tape drove me nuts, so I pulled it off, and wore one of those flat shoes they gave me when I broke my ankle bone. So, my toe healed, and I forgot about it until about 2 years ago when I realized it wasn’t bending like it should. Thomas was alive, and when I told him, he thought I should immediately go to the dr. Yeah. Right. I had enough on my plate, didn’t need to go see a dr. about my index toe (well, whatever the toe right next to the great toe is called). And I forgot it again.

So last fall, it really began to bother me. I had an appt with the podiatrist for my neuropathy, and he looked at the toe. I have a double hammertoe. One part is growing down, and the very end is growing up. He said it would be an easy fix (Note: Definition of minor surgery, don’t you? Yeah, when they cut on someone else). Great, sez I, in your office? I can watch! He heard the question mark, but not the exclamation mark. “No,” said he, “in a surgery center, we’ll put you to sleep. I have to break the toe in two places, and we have to take x-rays.” Uh, no. I’ll shop around some. I mean, wouldn’t it be easier to move my foot if I could help? And if I faint, how far am I gonna fall? 

I know. I’m truly weird—and curious. But, isn’t that why you love me?

So, I’m going to see a different dr. today. One who I hope is more reasonable than the other guy. I decided last fall that summer would be the perfect time for this mutilation to my counting-buddy digits. There will be a steel rod placed under the toe for about 6 weeks, and it’s warm enough I can sleep with my foot uncovered. Always thinking, I am. 

He shot the OP!
By now, you know the OP has been shot, and is missing, I presume, the top of his right ear. He’s lucky he isn’t missing the top of his head! I wonder if he’ll leave the ear and wear his scar as a battle cry, of if his narcissistic self will have it surgically repaired/replaced before showing it to his adoring followers. Either way, I’m actually glad he survived and didn’t become the Great Martyr for the cult. Wonder if any in the GOP will vote for a ban on assault rifles now?

In the meantime, I think the authorities should refrain from publishing the (alleged) shooter’s ID. If shooters received NO named publicity for their acts, maybe others wouldn’t try to outdo them. We really don’t need to know the name of the shooter. The only thing we use their name for is salacious gossip.

Photos of the Week:
Well, I had hoped to show you my first FMQ pieces, alas y’all gonna have to wait until next week. BUT I can show you the finished top to my friend’s wee quilt. I’ll quilt it when I’m comfortable doing the FMQ. I’ll show you that, too. Someday.

Video of the Week:

A very interesting almost-an-hour video that shows and compares old Japanese homes, and new ones. Interesting differences between Japanese culture and European/American culture. But the architecture is what caught my eye.

Quote of the Week Sent to my a friend.

“If life must not be taken too seriously,

then so neither must death.” ~Samuel Butler

As You May Imagine

5 Replies

Weather in the Tries:

Oof Da! Can you say: Sun? Can you say: Hot? Yep, that be us. Am listening to the ambient music, Miyamoto Musashi: Embracing Loneliness. Not that I’m lonely, but it’s raining in the video. You know, cool.

As you may imagine:
Well, I imagine you can imagine this past week was not the bestest in my world. It took a few days for me to get over SCOTUS’ ruling on Monday. Maybe not over it, but through it. Through most of it. 

On the sunny side of the street, I was in a bookstore the other day, and came home with two books. Yeah, I know, you’re so surprised. /snort/ One is a book of poetry by Margaret Atwater. I love her poetry, and haven’t seen a new book of hers in a long time. So I am reading Dearly before I turn the light out at night.

The second book is, The Book of Delights by Ross Gay. A small book, maybe 5” x 8”, filled with delightful 2-3 page essays he wrote over a year finding delights where he could, including memories. It is a delightful book, and just what the doctor ordered!

Should you find yourself wandering in a bookstore, wander over to the poetry/essay section and look through his book. Take the time to read a couple of his essays. Shucks, while you’re there, look at Dearly by Margaret Atwood, even if you don’t like poetry. Particularly if you don’t like poetry! Her poems are mini stories in a different form. Try a couple. Perhaps you will walk out of the store with two books (or more).

Also, I discovered some new-to-me channels on YouTube and I thoroughly enjoy them—woodturning and woodworking channels! Absolutely great ways to get my eyes and ears out of the news that is so damn depressing. My two favorite woodworking channels are Foureyes furniture and Blacktail Studio. The guys are fun, they explain what they are doing, what they did wrong, and how they fixed it. I love how they work, too. Would I ever spend $15K on a table? uh, no, but if I decided to, it would be from one of these two guys. And I must be learning something—on Sunday I decided to watch someone else make a table. I was quite taken with the top and I wanted to see how he made it. He made it cheaply. Where the guys above glue and clamp, this guy used way less glue and nails. Where Chris (?) and Cam (above furniture builders) take the time to get every join perfect, where they use several grits of sandpaper, where they spend time finishing their work, the table I was so taken by was very shoddily made. The joins did not match, the sanding was perfunctory, and the finish was sprayed on. I watch they guys for entertainment, but apparently, I’m also getting an education.

If you are in the market for some new and high quality furniture, I strongly suggest you watch a few episodes of the guys at the links above. Not that I’m recommending them to you (which I am) but to see how they work, and what to look for when you go shopping. 

By the way, Cam at Blacktail Studio is the one who came up with the Damascus Denim Desk. Yes, a desk made out of denim. Check it out here. Talk about fabric art!!!

Photo of the Week:
Yep, it’s me. I had to get some new headshots for the new book, Saying Goodbye to Thomas, which will be ready for pre-order probably in in Feb/Mar 2025. As you undoubtedly know, there are few things I hate worse than having my picture taken. From my POV, I look like Sophia Loren. From the camera’s POV, I look like me. God, what a let-down for all concerned.

photo by Katrina

from the desk of the hot dog;
the one and only bad thing about the heat is sometimes the hard, black surface of the driveway where most of my walking is done, is too hot for my feets. otherwise, all this sun and hot is pure heaven for this desert dog. can you see my tail wag.

Music of the Week:
Miyamoto Musashi: Embracing Loneliness. Great ambient music to have on, turned low, and write or study by. There are several pieces online for this music. I think if I could play it on the bedside radio I do not have, I could easily sleep with it. No, it doesn’t make me sleepy (couldn’t work or study if it did) but I think it would make great sleeping music.

Quote of the Week:

“Re-examine all you have been told.
Dismiss what insults your soul.”
—Walt Whitman

ps: 
Looking for a nightmare? Give this site a once or twice over: American Autocracy Threat Tracker. Truly scary stuff! But necessary. How sad is that?