Sunday, August 30, 2009
Sign of Fall
It must be fall. I know the calendar still says it's August, which means it is technically still summer. But the spiders around here either can't read a calendar or don't care what the actual date is. They are starting to invade the house big time, which means it is fall on the north coast of the US. However, the spiders that have been intruding into the house this year are different from the normal fall intruders. This year's interlopers are dark brown or black with rather long legs (I don't believe they are daddy long legs), instead of the yellow invaders I am used to from past years. What happened to all my yellow friends? They at least seemed able to stay in the upper corners of the rooms and keep mostly out of sight. These new invaders are all over everything. It seems that anytime I go from place to place in the house, I am being surprised by a spider web. They are strung between lamps and tables, down (or up) window frames, between the computers, across bookshelves, even in the shower if it is left unguarded for half a day.
I have always prided myself on being fairly tolerant, with a live and let live attitude. This was never a problem with the yellow spiders of the past years. (I almost started to write little yellow spiders, but they weren't very little by my definition of a spider.) But I draw the line at having to constantly brush away spider webs, especially around my head. I have tried to relocate the spiders outside, but this doesn't seem to work. Either they make it back in before I can close the door, or they know some secret entrance of which I am unaware. Maybe they are breeding in the attic! Whatever it is, they had better be on their guard, because it's no more Ms. Nice Gal. I may even get out the vacuum. I hate spider webs in my hair and face!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Writing
Just finished mopping floors and moving furniture around. I think I did this because I'm having a hard time right now with my writing. I know all I have to do is sit down, open a word file and start writing. The words will come. But I just feel so unproductive right now, like maybe I'm not meant to write. I am truly amassing a large collection of rejection slips; should I keep on writing?
Of course I should. My stories are outlets for my feelings, thoughts and observations. I will continue to struggle with trying to get my thoughts down onto paper, or rather, in the computer. I even have this nifty little keyboard with a tiny screen called an NEO by AlphaSmart. I can take this keyboard out by the lake or in the backyard or on vacation and work on my stories on it. When I get back home, I just download what I have written into the computer and go from there. Is technology great, or what?
So there it is -- I have to write. One of these days, the magic news will come -- someone, somewhere will like a story of mine so much that they will publish it, and maybe even pay me for it!
For all his faults, Senator Ted Kennedy was a true patriot and an outspoken liberal Democrat, always working for the good of the country, A friend of mine, Bob Van Der Velde, had the best comment on a sad day via @jenhouse @dannyfriedman @azchela: "In Lieu of flowers, please pass health care reform".
Of course I should. My stories are outlets for my feelings, thoughts and observations. I will continue to struggle with trying to get my thoughts down onto paper, or rather, in the computer. I even have this nifty little keyboard with a tiny screen called an NEO by AlphaSmart. I can take this keyboard out by the lake or in the backyard or on vacation and work on my stories on it. When I get back home, I just download what I have written into the computer and go from there. Is technology great, or what?
So there it is -- I have to write. One of these days, the magic news will come -- someone, somewhere will like a story of mine so much that they will publish it, and maybe even pay me for it!
For all his faults, Senator Ted Kennedy was a true patriot and an outspoken liberal Democrat, always working for the good of the country, A friend of mine, Bob Van Der Velde, had the best comment on a sad day via @jenhouse @dannyfriedman @azchela: "In Lieu of flowers, please pass health care reform".
Monday, August 24, 2009
Best Thing
I just finished up a wonderful swim in our Endless Pool. Before the swim, my sister and I had been having a very spirited discussion about health care; and I just couldn't see why she was being so dense (hope she doesn't see this!). We are definitely at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to health care and almost anything else about the Obama presidency. I am sure neither of us is going to change the other's opinions, so we have agreed to disagree.
Anyway, after my swim, our differences don't seem so important anymore. I would call my feeling right now a runner's high, only because that is the term most people are familiar with. I have to admit, I seldom reached this pleasurable height when I ran, but I feel so wonderfully mellow when I'm done swimming. I think I will now go have cup of tea and read out on the swing overlooking the lake.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
No Frustration
For several days, we have had little or no water. It is almost impossible to take a shower. Doing the dishes is an hour-long event. Yesterday we called the water company (for the second or third time this summer, to say nothing of the times a representative has been out here due to someone else in the neighborhood calling). We were told that too many people were watering their lawns and the company's pumps couldn't keep up with the demand. Does that sound plausible to you? I didn't think so.
This same water company has spent the last several months putting in new water lines in parts of the Headlands area; now we have trouble getting water. At one point, we were told that our house and several of the neighbors' had no water because another neighbor was filling his pool. Another time, the shortage was blamed on a neighbor who said her water was brown when she tried to wash clothes. The water company's solution? To open a pipe and let water run down the bank onto the beach, which they called flushing the lines. This was done several times over the course of the last three months. Did it help? I think the only thing it did was to help make the lake bank more unstable than it already is, and keep the neighborhood from having water.
I probably sound like a whiner, and I admit I feel like one right now (Den says I need the practice). I know that millions of people the world over have never had clean, running water; but we have had it and we do expect it, so it is frustrating not to have it now. I wonder, is it possible that the new lines the company put in are now too big for the pumps that are being used to pump out the water? Maybe they just can"t pump it hard enough to create any pressure in the lines. Would they tell us if that were the case? Or maybe they just don't care about us because only six or eight houses are affected since we live on a dead end street off a dead end street. They wouldn't feel like that, would they?
This same water company has spent the last several months putting in new water lines in parts of the Headlands area; now we have trouble getting water. At one point, we were told that our house and several of the neighbors' had no water because another neighbor was filling his pool. Another time, the shortage was blamed on a neighbor who said her water was brown when she tried to wash clothes. The water company's solution? To open a pipe and let water run down the bank onto the beach, which they called flushing the lines. This was done several times over the course of the last three months. Did it help? I think the only thing it did was to help make the lake bank more unstable than it already is, and keep the neighborhood from having water.
I probably sound like a whiner, and I admit I feel like one right now (Den says I need the practice). I know that millions of people the world over have never had clean, running water; but we have had it and we do expect it, so it is frustrating not to have it now. I wonder, is it possible that the new lines the company put in are now too big for the pumps that are being used to pump out the water? Maybe they just can"t pump it hard enough to create any pressure in the lines. Would they tell us if that were the case? Or maybe they just don't care about us because only six or eight houses are affected since we live on a dead end street off a dead end street. They wouldn't feel like that, would they?
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Too Much To Do
There's always so much to do -- most of it work. I just finished washing the hardwood floors in the bedroom and the office. As I sit here writing, I can look around and see an unlimited amount of more work waiting for me. I need to bring boxes down from the attic and shred old papers (tax returns from my mother and mother-in-law); fill the boxes back up with the papers I have pulled from the files down here (more recent tax returns, etc.), and return the boxes to the attic. The office needs a good going through, windows and curtains washed, cabinets cleaned out, to say nothing of the computers. I know I need to back up some information and delete some I no longer use. I don't know what Den has on his computer, but it's a safe bet he has stuff there that also needs cleaning out.
See what I mean about there always being work that needs doing? And we haven't even gotten out of the office! Kitchen cabinets need reorganizing; bookshelves need cleaned and organized; the refrigerator needs cleaning out, the windows need washing -- the list seems endless and I get tired just thinking about it. Then there's the outside -- flower beds and vegetable gardens need weeding (always!); roses need deadheading; grass needs mowing; and I want to rearrange the back garden with less patio blocks and more green. We need to finish painting the house, fix the roof and clean out the garage. (The word "we" in the last sentence means Den.) I never did get the picnic table and swing stained this year, something I should have done in May.
These are the things that need doing, but what about the things I want to do? I have to admit, I probably did more of them this summer than I should have, thus leading to all the things that didn't get done (see above). I took walks, swam, read (a lot), visited with friends and relatives (both in person and through the computer), went dancing, worked on my writing, drawing, knitting, crocheting and quilting.
But all the time I was enjoying myself, I was also feeling guilty. Was this because of some inner makeup, or the way I was raised or a combination of both? The big question I have is -- Do men feel this way, too?
See what I mean about there always being work that needs doing? And we haven't even gotten out of the office! Kitchen cabinets need reorganizing; bookshelves need cleaned and organized; the refrigerator needs cleaning out, the windows need washing -- the list seems endless and I get tired just thinking about it. Then there's the outside -- flower beds and vegetable gardens need weeding (always!); roses need deadheading; grass needs mowing; and I want to rearrange the back garden with less patio blocks and more green. We need to finish painting the house, fix the roof and clean out the garage. (The word "we" in the last sentence means Den.) I never did get the picnic table and swing stained this year, something I should have done in May.
These are the things that need doing, but what about the things I want to do? I have to admit, I probably did more of them this summer than I should have, thus leading to all the things that didn't get done (see above). I took walks, swam, read (a lot), visited with friends and relatives (both in person and through the computer), went dancing, worked on my writing, drawing, knitting, crocheting and quilting.
But all the time I was enjoying myself, I was also feeling guilty. Was this because of some inner makeup, or the way I was raised or a combination of both? The big question I have is -- Do men feel this way, too?
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Finnish Heritage Museum
Earlier this afternoon, my sister and I went to Fairport Harbor to check out the Finnish Heritage Museum. We watched a wall hanging being woven on a 100+ year-old loom that was in pieces when it was given to the museum. The loom was huge -- taller than me and about 5 feet wide. It looked really complicated to use. How could someone design something like that so many years ago? How did they know that if they put this wheel here and ran that thread there, they could weave a beautiful picture of a church with trees around it?
Along that same line, who discovered that you could twist a strand of yarn around a hook, or pull it through itself with a pair of needles, and it would make something warm and beautiful? Who discovered all the intricate needle movements that would make the stitches we use today? Who discovered that you could use hair from animals to make yarn in the first place? I'm sure someone has the answers to these questions, but I won't try to research them. It is more fun to wonder.
Oh, and yes, the Finnish Heritage Museum is well worth the visit. You can even buy a cup of coffee and a slice of home made nisu after you browse the exhibits. If you can't make the trip to the museum in person, the website is: www.finnishheritagemuseum.org.
Along that same line, who discovered that you could twist a strand of yarn around a hook, or pull it through itself with a pair of needles, and it would make something warm and beautiful? Who discovered all the intricate needle movements that would make the stitches we use today? Who discovered that you could use hair from animals to make yarn in the first place? I'm sure someone has the answers to these questions, but I won't try to research them. It is more fun to wonder.
Oh, and yes, the Finnish Heritage Museum is well worth the visit. You can even buy a cup of coffee and a slice of home made nisu after you browse the exhibits. If you can't make the trip to the museum in person, the website is: www.finnishheritagemuseum.org.
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