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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Weather in the Tries: Stock up on ice, my friends. While Monday is a nice, low 85F for our high, we begin a low and steady burn to 87, 90, 92, 101, 106, finish the week off with Sunday being 103F. The good news is the pool is open and the sun is shining with no clouds in the sky.
To Baseball or Not Baseball: When I was a kidlet, living in Northwest Portland, Oregon, I loved baseball. I could sit on the front porch in the summer and have the radio on and listen to Bob Blackburn and Rollie Truitt call the games live from the Vaughn Street Park. It was many years later I learned they called the games from ticker tape that came into the radio station downtown. But I could hear the crowds roar from the stadium as well as from the radio.
I listened to the Countdown Podcast by Keith Olbermann for 20 Jun 24, in which gave an interesting tidbit about Willie Mays, and talked about why the World Series has lost so many fans through the years. That got me to thinking about why I no longer care for baseball all that much. I do admit, I’m not a huge sports enthusiast. I used to like American Football, until the dangers of being hit in the head came to light, and somehow, watching these overgrown kids playing a game lost its appeal. And now, they are discovering the same problems with Soccer (the rest of the world’s Football), and women are coming down with it now as much as men.
But back to my real topic, about how I lost my love of baseball. One of Mother’s friends took us to a Beaver’s game at the Vaughn St. Stadium. I was so excited to go. It was hot. We sat in the bleachers in the full sun for a double header. And it was duller than watching paint dry, or grass grow, or a rock at the ocean be ground into sand. There were these guys on the field, wearing their pajamas, and standing around and running and batting now and then. BUT BOB BLACKBURN AND ROLLIE TRUITT WERE NOT CALLING IT. Oh. Emm. Gee. Booooredom. Bob and Rollie called it for the radio, brought it to life, a life I expected, not the life that was before me.
Eventually, I think the Portland Beavers disappeared. I know they moved to a different stadium, I think it was Multnomah Stadium, but by then, I really didn’t care. The next time I heard from Bob Blackburn, he was the radio voice of the Sonics, and though I wasn’t a great fan of basketball, I was a great fan of Bob Blackburn, and I became a fan of the Sonics. I actually did see a professional basketball game back in 1970 when I believe the Sonics played a California team in Portland as an exposition game to help bring professional basketball to Portland. A young hotshot player was in the game, Kareem Abdul Jabar? Wilt Chamberlain? Kobe Bryant? I don’t remember, but he seemed to stand around center court and not do much. We were pretty disappointed in him until the next morning the headline said he made something like 53 baskets! A record at the time. And we realized he was so gosh darn tall, he’d shoot from farther back than most.
Since I no longer have Blackburn or Truitt to make sports come alive for me, I don’t listen or watch much anymore. And yet, if Keith Olbermann talks about sports, I’m spell bound. Those three men could, I’m sure, talk about the paint, grass, and or sand mentioned above, and make it the most interesting story on the radio/television/internet of the day. Oh, is Formula One racing a sport? I love F1 races as long as there is one really good, spectacular crash and THE DRIVER WALKS AWAY FROM IT! I also still watch the Thunder Boats when I catch them on streaming. And golf. I actually enjoy golf. Talk about going from the ridiculous to the sublime;-)
Oh, and I did listen to one World Series in 1969 when the Mets won their first World Series. As I recall I won a dollar off my grandfather on that one.
A note from/about one of my favorite authors, M. K. Tod: She writes historical fiction, and I’ve yet to read one of her books I didn’t enjoy to the max! She sent a note advertising her newest book, which I have but have not yet read, and asked the recipients to take a reader’s survey. Which I did, and was asked both in her email, and at the end of the survey, to share the survey link. She would really like to get men to take the survey, as well as women, so please consider it. The survey takes about 10 minutes, or less. It’s not often you are asked for input, to help writers write what you’d like to read, so here is your chance. Just click the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LSYVTG7
Photos of the Week: This is a wee quilt I am making a friend.It will be about 16×20 when finished. She picked out and bought the fabric, and wanted it to be Mount Shasta and three of her sister mountains. I call it Purple Skies Over Mt. Shasta and Three of her Sisters. The title is almost larger than the quilt. I hope to have it finished this week. Well, the piecing. Then I have to figure out how to quilt it.
from the desk of the big chihuahua; all week it will be sunny and really warm. I hope my human spends time on the patio, so I can go outside and keep her safe. I take my duty to guard her very seriously. she’s so funny. every time she leaves, she gives me a job to do. then she leaves and locks me in. how am I supposed to keep the hippopotamesses out of the parking slots? or the jiraffs and allegators out of our pond when I can’t open the door to go outside. and what are those things, anyway.
Weather in the Tries: Yikes! I started writing that this week would be cooler, and checked my phone to be sure I wouldn’t tell a lie. Well, part of the week will be cooler. Monday will be 71, Saturday will be 97. Hmmm, maybe I should consider switching to Celsius? It won’t affect the temps, but the number will be lower. A little psychological magic.
Monday will be 22, Saturday will be 37.Whatcha think? Shall I switch to Celsius until Fall?
Willed Body Programs: We have two Willed Body programs here in Washington State—the University of Washington in Seattle and Washington State University in Spokane. I want to donate my body to a Body Farm, there are six of them, but none of them in the Pacific Northwest. They are all in the South and East. The original one is in Tennessee, started by forensic anthropologist Will Bass. I wish we had one in the PNW. Alas, we don’t.
We do have Medical Schools, in Washington State, we have two of which I’m aware. The University of Washington(UW) in Seattle and Washington State University (WSU) in Spokane. Both accept willed bodies provided all the paperwork (oh, yeah, pages and pages) is complete and no next of kin objects.
The UW accepts bodies from anywhere in the state and will cover transportation, and eventual cremation, with the ashes being placed in an unmarked grave (columbarium?) in their plot at Evergreen-Washelli in Seattle when finished with the body. WSU will transport, free of charge for bodies in a more localized area and charge the estate for transportation from farther away. I don’t know how much they charge.
Links to both schools’ Willed Body Programs are above. For me it boils down to: Do I want my ashes to be turned into mud, or to enjoy the seasons mostly in the sun. And can my estate afford the transportation costs?
Both sites have easily read and understood directions. Some things will disqualify—certain contagious diseases (at time of death) as well as horrendous trauma. If you will your body, there is no guarantee at the time of your death that either school will have need of you. Both strongly urge all donors to have a Plan B.
If helping future doctors become good future doctors, this may be something for you to consider. This should be discussed with your family, as it will mean if you want a funeral, it will have to be without a body (I suppose you could use an empty casket. Hmm, would it have to be empty? Surely you can think of things to place in the casket to your weight? Those ugly sweaters Auntie Lenora did not give you (use them for wrapping so things don’t rattle), those computers you need to get rid of (especially the hard drives with incriminating letters?), those slick tires you need to dispose of? Well, you’ll think of something, I’m sure). UW will not return the ashes, WSU will, if requested.
What will your family do with them, anyhow? Why would they want them, unless they’re going to use them for something other than put them in a vase to grace your living room or to use as a door stop? Yes, I know, cremains may be used for several things, but will they really go to go to such lengths?
Anyhow, I will post the links to both in my doula site, in the Resources page.
Photos of the Week: Be careful for what you ask! This guy was lonely. He sent out a call.
And this happened in minutes. He was ignored by everyone.
from the desk of Sammy snuggle pup; my human sits on the bed to put on her socks and shoes. I lie in wait, and as she sits I sneak from behind her and crawl into her lap for pets and snuggles. for some reason, she enjoys it. I’ll have to do this more often, because I enjoy it, too. I also enjoy the warmer weather and sunshine we’re getting. happy dance time in my town.
Weather in the Tries: Oh my goodness gracious sakes alive! A week of sunshine is ahead of us. A tad cooler than yesterday, the temps will mostly be in the 80s until the weekend, when it will drop to the 70s. And the humidity, though higher in the morning and night, will be low enough that the heat will be heavenly.
Saying Goodbye to Thomas: In case you missed the wee bit in last week’s post about my chapbook being accepted, Finishing Line Press has accepted my chapbook, Saying Goodbye to Thomas. These are the poems I wrote, mostly in the final months of his life, about his dying. No, they are not all doom and gloom, you know me better than that. At any rate I think I’ve calmed down a wee bit from the excitement. It will spike again, when I get the contract. Then it will be really real;-)
Here is their acceptance. Well, a small portion thereof, I’m sure you don’t want to read the whole thing. This is the important part:
“Thank you for submitting to us. Your manuscript has been accepted for publication. We would love to publish your book.” Every time I read those three sentences I just get giddy all over again 😉
Please check Finishing Line Press out and consider buying a book. Small Press publishers are a mainstay for poets. Not sure which one to buy, get Finding Her by Kristie L. Williams. It’s a great book.
I’m a writer, I’m used to rejection. But sometimes, when enough come with no breaks, it’s hard to remember that editors aren’t rejecting me, they are rejecting my work. And they can reject it for a myriad of reasons. Maybe I used a word they don’t like, or I wrote about peace instead of war, or I wrote it in this form and they really love another form. Or, as so many rejection/pass letters state, my work just didn’t grab them. Any and all of those reasons are valid, plus the plethora I didn’t list.
It’s really nice when acceptance letters come in like rejections usually do. Within a month, I had something like 8 poems accepted/published. Huzzah! for editors 😉
Depending on your frame of mind, you may or may not want to download the WeCroak app. They will send you 5 messages a day to remind you, you are not a permanent fixture as a live person. It’s inspired by a Bhutanese folk saying: to be a happy person, one must contemplate death five times daily. I just went to the computer one, and they have “the final word on advice columns” you can ask Death for advice on current events, relationships, etc. and so forth. I’m enjoying it very much, but then, I’m weird. However, should you get it for your phone or ipad or watch or whatever, let me know what you think of it. They have both ios and android.
I keep hearing Johnny Mathis singing Chances Are. Yeah, I’m wearing that silly grin, but it’s not because I’m in love with some guy, it’s because my book about my Elder Brother of Choice is being published. Oh, happy dance, happy dance. Oh, wait. Yeah, I am in love with some guy. He’s a spoiled rescue dog!
Speaking of being a spoiled dog, he’s finally taking treats from my hand! That’s huge. I used to have to set them down and walk away, or gently toss them near him. Even the one that looks like a stick to him. Especially the stick one. Now he takes it from my hand. Sometimes it takes a bit. I’d sure like to know how badly he was abused. I think it’s worse than I imagine, which makes me want to hold him and cry and then go find the abuser and abuse him the same way he abused this poor puppy.
Photos of the Week:
Thomas loved watching the bunnies in the yard.
And he loved tossing peanuts out for the crows. One was fairly tame, Thomas called him Podjo, Old Friend.
This Rosemary plant is huge, and was right next to the outside door to Thomas’s area, and when the sun shone, and it was warm, we’d open the door and enjoy the perfume.
from the desk of the big chihuahua; my human seems tremendously happy i am now taking treats from her hand. i wish i could tell her why it took so long, but she has been patient. sometimes, i still can’t do it, but she doesn’t seem upset when i want it tossed to me.
Earworm of the week: Need you wonder? One of my girl-hood heart throbs, Johnny Mathis sings Chances Are.
Weather in the Tries: Days in the coming week will ge as high as 95F, or higher. In fact, we have 2 days scheduled in the 70s, 1 in the high 80s, with the last four in the 90s. I believe the swimming pools will be crowded 😉 We have two pools. This complex used to be large, and then the owners divorced and one got Clearwater Bay, the other got Herron Lake (sic) but about the time we moved in, they went back to one complex, but maintained the two names and two addresses. And each complex has their own pool. Isn’t that just a fascinating bit of trivia? Not.
Holidays and… New Title: Happy Dance! Happy Dance! Yessiree Bobcat, last Monday was a holiday and I took it. For those of us who used to work for The Boeing Company, it was our first 3-day weekend of the year. The company and our union negotiated trading the week ends until Memorial Day for the days off between Christmas and New Year. Having those days off in the winter were marvelous. If the days fell ‘right’ we could take a couple days of vacation and get two weeks off. It was worth the price! It gave us workers a great break, and the company a chance to do annual maintenance without us underfoot!
Last Thursday (30 May) was the first Deathversary for Thomas. I went back to the Dark Side and spent some time with my Bonus Sister. On Friday, we took some of Thomas’s ashes down to Golden Gardens Park. Bonus Sister Sheryl found a nice tunnel of greenery we walked through to the beach. It was quite windy on the water, but my Bonus Sister found a large, flat piece of seaweed and put the ashes in it, rolled it, and tossed it into the water. Sadness accompanied us, for a short time, but once he was back in the water, his beloved Puget Sound, we wore far more smiles than tears.
On the way back home, she stopped by the Nordic Museum, where we took photos of Frankie Feetsplinters, the resident troll, then went inside to the snack bar and had a very good Ginger Beer (Reed’s Extra—look for it) and a cookie. Then back home for happy hour with the two across-the-street neighbors who were so good to Thomas and Sheryl and me. It was so pleasant, we sat on the patio! There are trolls all over the western part of the state. Or at least Puget Sound area. All made from reclaimed wood. All made by Thomas Dambo.
On Saturday, we were invited to a good friend’s houseboat on Lake Union, where we were feted with salmon grilled on a cedar plank. OMG! It was marvelous. cooked to perfection! We ate on the deck, watched the water traffic and had a marvelous visit. Thomas used to love going to the houseboat to visit and eat. We sat outside and after the other guests left, we watched the sunset, and dropped some more ashes into the lake, followed by a tequila toast to Thomas. Hope the fish appreciated that very good tequila! Sheryl found one of his poems, Water Remembers, one of the last ones he wrote, read it aloud, and then we left.
On Tuesday morning, I tried to post this blog, but as I discovered this morning, Word Press has gone in and changed things that weren’t broke and… Yes, Auntie Lenora got very frustrated, so she went to lunch with a good friend who used to live in the Tries, was forced to move to the Dark Side for personal reasons, and is looking at apartments to rent here, so she can move back. She thinks she found one, I hope so. It will be great to have another friend close by.
Got home from a great gab fest and then had some pooch time and a nap. Woke from the nap to an email that Finishing Line Press has accepted my chapbook, Saying Goodbye to Thomas. What a fantastical addition to the blog, eh? So, prepare yourself for updates. I do know one of the things they require are pre-sells, and when I find out more about it, I will be asking you all to buy a book. Or two or more. When I do ask, there are two things you should consider: 1. No, is an appropriate answer. (You won’t have to see me cry.) and 2. Remember, I am making no money off this book. All royalties will be divided in half, with half going to the ALS Association and the other half to End of Life Washington. Both of which brought a lot of help and succor to Thomas.
Pictures of the Week: Sheryl walking through the tunnel to the Sound
A sloop, as seen through the tunnel. Thomas had a sloop. The mountains in the back are the Olympics. They used to be white all year. Amazing what a hoax can do, isn’t it?
Frankie Feetsplinters, Troll
Crossing Lake Washington on one of the floating bridges with Mt. Rainier in the background
Sunset on Lake Union, Seattle
from the desk of the not lonesome anymore dog: my human came home. my human came home. she was gone like forever. i didn’t think she would ever come home, but she did. housemate dan said she would, but i wasn’t sure. it was so lonely, especially at night. it wasn’t warm, she wasn’t there. but she’s home now. see me do my happy dance.
“Life is a song – sing it. Life is a game – play it. Life is a challenge – meet it. Life is a dream – realize it. Life is a sacrifice – offer it. Life is love – enjoy.” ~ Sai Baba
Weather in the Tries: Well, it’s gonna be a bit cooler this week, hi 60w to low-mid 70s, with a chance 35% of us will get wet. Or is that a 35% chance it will rain? Or will we only get 35% of the raindrop? Sammy doesn’t know any better than I do. Oh well, it’s all gonna change anyhow.
Spring Cleaning of Poetry: I decided to finally tackle the small mountain of papers stacked haphazardly on my desks. Yes, I have two. The one on which my computers sit and the one behind me that collects the overflow. I decided to deal with all those papers (really, it was an organized mess, I pretty much knew what was in each pile) yesterday. And then I became concerned when developers started calling me to inquire about the view property. So I now have no view property and a couple of well-organized piles of paper, most of which will be filed later today.
All of which is to try to explain why I’m late.
I found a stack of poetry I need to go through and sort. A lot of it seems to deal with Thomas, I may have enough for a real book. Found a snarky one I totally forgot I’d written. Read it to my Sunday Group, and they loved it.
This morning, I hit the deck running, as they say somewhere, got to my computer and first thing up, was I was asked by an editor to submit a poem! Well, that, obviously had priority. It went out before I’d had more than a couple sips of coffee, and then there was Word Jammin’ I had to connect with to get my tickets to tonight’s show. Love this zoom program! It’s not an open mic, but four poets and the hostess, reading. High energy. Not the kind of poetry I write, but oh, do I love to watch. I’d say it’s like a Slam on Zoom, but I’ve never been to a poetry slam, so I can’t do that. And it may be way off base.
Another nice thing about Word Jammin’ is they’re on NYC time. Three hours ahead of us! I can watch them, then go to my writing meeting.
And then, just as I finished my first cuppa, my four-legged friend came in and asked for breakfast and a walk. So, we are back, and my second cuppa has been steadily emptying.
Photos of the Week: These are the honeysuckles outside my office window. I was going to put them up last week but am glad I didn’t. The lower blossoms, closer to the window I look through, have finished blooming. But, I have photos to look at whenever I want 😉
from the desk of the happy-dancing dog; my human takes me walking in the sunshine, oh can you see my happy dance/ that’s supposed to be a question mark, but my paws can’t hold the shift key. my human says you can handle that. thank you. and dance your happy dance every day. after all, if you’re looking down at the grass, it’s a good day. besides, as my human says, it will make people wonder what you’ve been smoking, drinking, or eating.
Earworm of the Week: Would you believe I’ve got Tevya worming his song, If I Were A Richman through my ears. Actually, it’s Topol singing. This clip is from the movie.
