Strange view updated for Monday

 Visitors parked across the way. The lavender cast in this color is missing. I don't know when it arrived or left but I must have looked at it a hundred times. Somehow wanting it to fly away like so much vapor. I swear I had a pair of Easter shoes that were the same color. Anyway....

But I've been busy shoveling around words and sentences. It's thirsty work. And damn little to show for it at this point. This book could get out of hand page-count-wise very easily. 

How to add a new adventure only retelling necessary details from the first three books? The main characters went through a lot of changes in a short time. From strangers to married in only five months. That's a lot of heat. Now, how to keep that pace without getting carried away. 

Fuck if I know how to do that.      (out loud!)

Dee's to-do list is enough to send me back to bed. 

The only thing I promise today is to buy and distribute more birdseed. Throw in some cheap peanuts and raisins. Winter is going to be long and hard for the feathered folk.  I don't have a feeder. Just throw stuff on the ground up under the crape myrtles away from the cat crew. That bare spot on the ground in the picture sees a lot of action. If it gets above freezing, I'll put fresh water in the big clay dish. 

 At this moment a gang of bluejays is warring with the squirrels. Doves patrolling. In a while, they will leave and the littles will take over shuffling the leaves around to get at what the big greedy ones missed. Sparrows, wrens, chickadees. Midday I may see bluebirds and cardinals fussing with one another.

This week I will vacuum upstairs and clear off the work table.  Laundry with clean sheets will happen along the way. Maybe.

summer dreams

I really shouldn't complain. It's not like we've had days of below-freezing temps and inches or feet of snow. The featureless wet/cold of winter here wears on my nerves. It sneaks up on you and eventually sneaks away.

I've been cruising the web for beach vacation stuff. Just looking really. Destin is six hours due south and Savannah is six hours due east. Seven if you loaf but then I need a half-day nap to recover. 

The health and safety issues around car camping are real considerations, especially if I go alone. 

Ah, youth. 

Once upon a time, I drove to Cape Cod with some friends not considering staying overnight. Young overindulging fools slept in a hole in the sand on the beach. Rousted but not arrested by the fuzz before dawn. 

In the ladies' room, I stood on the toilet seat and poured a gallon of water over my head for cleanup the next day. 

On the way home we had to panhandle in traffic for the Mass Turnpike toll. Sheepishly offered two postage stamps and forty-six cents to the toll officer. He took the driver's license info and waved us on to face a ticket later. 

It was a fine night for a beach walk.

Words to thread

 

This picture was wildly popular on Instagram yesterday. The only reason I can think of is that many people truly have run out of fucks to give. 

I have on several accounts recently, but it's as tiring a carrying an old grudge. Dumping the put-upon, long-suffering persona is leaving some marvelous clear space for other actions. 

Another pillow? A new sentiment will need a new font. A good reason to break out the sketch pad. 

Great. Put another quarter in the jukebox. Commit the piracy of lyric lifting or just be inspired.

And there it was, right under my nose. 

Other arting

I've used this melamine plate as a palette since we moved here in '93. I was dazzled by the Nam Dae Mun farmers market. Aisles full of food that, for the most part, I couldn't imagine eating, but the inexpensive cookware, dishes, cutlery, and gadgets were like catnip. 

Today I upgraded a piece of dry wood to a walking stick. Or a shillelagh, or wizard's wand. I do very poorly with canes. Trip myself and lose them. A shoulder-high stick helps my posture and mobility. This one should also keep trolls at bay when it's finished. 

I need beads and bells.

This venture was inspired by the King of Wands.

An inner spiritual change is often heralded when this card appears. The King of Wands invites us to act as he would to solve our problems. His vision is one of ideal reality, and his vision is that humanity might always be better than it is. He is the warrior of light who stands up for something that matters, and his appearance is an invitation for you to do so as well. If there is a cause you wish to support, but you are unsure of your position, you may proceed with the knowledge that your base of power is strong. Enjoy the King's power and authority, but be sure to use it for productive means. Take your responsibilities seriously, think of new ways to do things, and never stop believing in yourself. (J.Rioux)

art by David Palladini

 

We were missed - updated

 

Back from the country, the cats spent the day letting me know they were peeved with my absence, but Charlie's brief visit was welcomed. He is warily gentle with them.

They have a pair of guinea pigs now, but I don't think they have a lot to offer beyond learning how much care goes into keeping caged animals safe and healthy. 

He wants to have two cats, but that is not my call so he gets to enjoy visiting with mine. 

We spent a lot of time talking. He wants to know what life and the world were like when I was his age. We are time travelers flitting back and forth between now and then.

Home now, I have a weekend to breathe and relax before I get back to the adulting stuff.  Since I quit the day job,  I find it's good to pay attention to the weekend otherwise the days all run together.

I'm not getting out enough and will have to attend to that. 

Georgia's gray and wet winter is delivering. Chores out of the way, I chill. 

Moments after I typed this, Jake called asking me to come fetch him and Charlie. There had been a  wreck. Everyone was cleared by EMTs on the scene. His truck looked pretty bad. I got to them in a half hour and waited there for Missy to come take them the rest of the way home. Life turns on a dime.