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| Spring 2007 |
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| Daffys 2008 |
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| Forsythia 2008 |
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| Spring 2009 |
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| Forsythia 2009 |
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Sky Watching
Here are some photos of the sky I've taken in the last 10 days, mostly while looking for Comet Pann Starrs.
The hole in the sky.
Is the mothership readying her fall from space?
Red sky in the evening.
Setting sun reflecting on clouds after a snow. Can you find the deer in the photo?
Sunday, March 17, 2013
The No Shows
I had hoped this morning I would be posting photos of my beautiful niece, Zoe, dancing at a competition at the Jefferson Center in Roanoke yesterday.
Alas, I didn't make the event. She was scheduled to dance at 5 p.m. so I arrived an hour early, only to find there was no nearby parking. All of the lots were full, and cars were lined along the streets.
The only place I could find to park was blocks away in an unfamiliar neighborhood that my husband had told me I should avoid. Since I was alone and I was having a terrible time walking any distance because of the arthritis in my feet, I was concerned about parking there.
I called my brother on his cellphone, and he told me, to my consternation, that my niece's dance program had just started! I was missing it. He said it had been moved up a full hour.
I drove around a bit more hoping a space would open, but none did, and I finally gave up. I was disappointed that I did not get to see her perform.
After I arrived home, I looked out at sunset and then later and later, hoping to find Comet Pann Starrs somewhere to the left of the crescent moon. I could not locate it, at least not with my naked eye. What a disappointment that heavenly event has turned out to be, at least from my hilltop.
 |
| Zoe' dancing at an event last summer. |
Alas, I didn't make the event. She was scheduled to dance at 5 p.m. so I arrived an hour early, only to find there was no nearby parking. All of the lots were full, and cars were lined along the streets.
The only place I could find to park was blocks away in an unfamiliar neighborhood that my husband had told me I should avoid. Since I was alone and I was having a terrible time walking any distance because of the arthritis in my feet, I was concerned about parking there.
I called my brother on his cellphone, and he told me, to my consternation, that my niece's dance program had just started! I was missing it. He said it had been moved up a full hour.
I drove around a bit more hoping a space would open, but none did, and I finally gave up. I was disappointed that I did not get to see her perform.
After I arrived home, I looked out at sunset and then later and later, hoping to find Comet Pann Starrs somewhere to the left of the crescent moon. I could not locate it, at least not with my naked eye. What a disappointment that heavenly event has turned out to be, at least from my hilltop.
 | |
| No comet here. Just an overexposed moon and some stars. |
Friday, March 15, 2013
Not Quite Spring
Yesterday I changed my header on both my blog and my Facebook page. I went with Spring - which isn't here yet.
This is what it looks like around my house today.
The irises are just barely above the ground.
The daffodils have not yet bloomed.
But the robins are in the yard!
My grandma always said robins mean spring.
This stuff is in the flower bed, again. I think it's some kind of dry land cress.
With the birds singing, can Spring be far behind?
The forsythia is budding.
But it has not yet bloomed. No yellow blossoms yet!
The grass is still pretty brown, too.
But next week it will be Spring! Only five more days.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Thursday Thirteen #285
Do you write in a journal? I have kept one forever - I have boxes full of notebooks in the closet, and oodles of files on my computer (some dating as far back as 1993). I write with and without prompts. Prompts are useful for those days when you want to write but don't have a clue where to go.
So I thought I'd offer up 13 journal prompts for those of you who keep a journal.
1. Complete the following sentence: If I could be another person, I would be ___________. Then write for at least ten minutes about why you would want to be that person. What would be the benefits? What would be the drawbacks? What characteristics does that person have that you would like to have? How might you cultivate those characteristics in yourself? And why would it matter?
Thursday
Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list
here. I've
been playing for a while and this is my 285th time to do a list of 13 on a
Thursday.
So I thought I'd offer up 13 journal prompts for those of you who keep a journal.
1. Complete the following sentence: If I could be another person, I would be ___________. Then write for at least ten minutes about why you would want to be that person. What would be the benefits? What would be the drawbacks? What characteristics does that person have that you would like to have? How might you cultivate those characteristics in yourself? And why would it matter?
2. What would you say is your greatest passion? What about ten
years ago, twenty, or thirty? Write about the changes in your interests and
passions and what has influenced you as you have grown and changed.
3. What is your favorite . . . book/movie/TV show/song? Why?
What is it about this particular piece of work that moves you? Does it offer a
lesson that you can incorporate into your life? Does it simply bring you pleasure?
Explain why this is your favored piece.
4. Write about something you fear. How do you face it, and then
move past it? What is stopping you from taking action?
5. Watch TV or read a magazine, newspaper, or Internet article.
Write about a story that: frightens you ... touches you ... angers you ...
amazes you. What is it about these stories that make you feel something? How
does each story resonate in your own life, if at all? Are your feelings about
this story rational? Are there changes in your life you can make to accommodate
your feelings?
6. Write about the best day ever in your life. What made it so
special? Are there components of that day that you would like to incorporate
into your life right now? If so, what is stopping you?
7. How has your day been? Write down the things that bothered
you today. Now skip a line and write down the things that were good and
positive about the day. Read back over the good and positive things about your
day. Now how do you feel about your day?
8. Recall the day you turned 16. Write about that day. What did
that 16-year-old want out of life? What were that young person's hopes and
dreams? Would you like some of that enthusiasm and youthfulness back into your
life? Why or why not? Do you still have
the same hopes and dreams? Why or why not? If you still have the same or
similar hopes and dreams, what can you do to bring them to fulfillment?
9. When someone asks, "What do you do?" what do you
say? Do you begin with, "I am . .." or "I work . . ." or
some other verb? In what ways do you identify yourself with the work or the
things you do on a daily basis? In what ways do you separate who you are from
what you do? Do your answers differ depending on who is asking (for instance,
professional versus social setting). Why or why not?
10. What would you prefer that no one know about you, and why?
What do you do to keep your secret?
11. If you could be truly vulnerable, let down your guard, and
tell your true story to someone you've just met, without fear of judgment, what
would you say?
12. How do you define your life? Is your story one of pain, or
of happiness? Do you see your life as easy or difficult? What would your life
look like if it were viewed from someone else's perspective? For example, if
you see your life as difficult, how would your life look to someone who is in a
situation you consider worse than your own (extreme poverty, war, etc.). If you
think your life is easy, what kind of person might consider your life
difficult? Does viewing your life from a different perspective alter the way
you see it? Does it change the way you tell your story?
13. If you could learn anything new right now, what would it be?
Is there anything holding you back? What is it, and what would you need to do
to start learning about this topic or skill?
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Caught the Comet, Sort of
Last night (Tuesday 3/12/2013) we went comet watching again.
We didn't think we saw it.
But when I downloaded my photos, and blew them up, I found it!
It is in the middle of the red circle below. Hopefully you can see it if you click on the photo to make it bigger.
I will keep looking and trying to obtain a better photo of it. This might be as good as it gets, though.
We didn't think we saw it.
But when I downloaded my photos, and blew them up, I found it!
It is in the middle of the red circle below. Hopefully you can see it if you click on the photo to make it bigger.
I will keep looking and trying to obtain a better photo of it. This might be as good as it gets, though.
Books: The Rope Walk
The Rope Walk
By Carrie Brown
Copyright 2007
321 pages
This is, I think, a young adult novel about 10-year-old Alice. It's a coming-of-age novel that has been influenced by To Kill a Mockingbird, for one, and a lot of MFA education for another.
We meet Alice on the day she turns 10. She also meets two people that day who will play an important part in her life over the summer. One is Theo, a boy her age who has come to this quiet little Vermont town to stay with his grandparents. He is a mixed-race young man who is headstrong, knowledgeable about the world, and vibrant. He is also incredibly independent and the reader cannot help but love him. Alice, who seldom watches TV and lives in her head, certainly needed someone like Theo in her life to shake it up a little, though with five (or was it four?) brothers and a father you'd think she would have plenty going on. But no.
The other person she meets is Kenneth. He is an older man, an artist, who is now sick and ill with AIDS. Both of these fellows will lead Alice down a trail she never intended to follow.
Together Alice and Theo befriend Kenneth and they decide to give him a gift of independence. Kenneth can barely see and with his weak body he has trouble maneuvering. They create a path through the woods for him, complete with a guide rope, so that he can walk alone through the forest he loves.
Their gift turns out to be a curse for its givers but a blessing, of sorts, for the recipient. Alice learns hard lessons and finds growing up to be difficult at best. Actions have consequences, often unintended ones, and living with the results sometimes can be hard.
The Rope Walk starts out slow. It took me 70 pages to get into it, and those pages took me many days, not an evening as I expected when I first picked up the book. I thought I may not finish it but the story finally found its footing about a third of the way through.
The author goes into poetic detail about everything, from the way people smell to the play of light and whatever may be in between. I can endure this generally and when skillfully done I even enjoy it. However, in this instance, I felt like the language inhibited the story, especially in the first part of the book.
Single sentences are whole paragraphs long.
Here's an example from page 258:
"His posture, his hungry, almost ardent exploration of the drawing, reminded Alice, as she stood there with the flowers in her arms, of her own yearning into thin air from the edge of her windowsill, the way she inclined toward that bright, busy emptiness, seeing there the crack in the rock, the secret fissure in the wall, the door hidden by ivy that would open, if only you could find your way through, into a secret garden, the dusty backstage and marvelous winding catwalks of the world, the echoing pavilion in which the clanking, whirring, brilliant machinery of the universe was stored."
Whew!
Don't get me wrong. The writing is beautiful and full of important messages. Maybe this isn't a young adult book, really, but instead a book for adults about a young person.
The Rope Walk won all kinds of awards, so don't mind my picky comments about sentence length. I'm just a Hollins grad who's published about 3,000 articles, but never written a novel, so what do I know?
Author Carrie Brown is the Distinguished Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at Hollins University. She autographed this book for me in 2012 when I heard her read at Hollins last year. I like to support the Hollins writers. I can't remember what Ms. Brown read from but I don't think it was this work.
You can watch an interview with her about writing and this book at this link. She has a new novel coming out later this year.
By Carrie Brown
Copyright 2007
321 pages
This is, I think, a young adult novel about 10-year-old Alice. It's a coming-of-age novel that has been influenced by To Kill a Mockingbird, for one, and a lot of MFA education for another.
We meet Alice on the day she turns 10. She also meets two people that day who will play an important part in her life over the summer. One is Theo, a boy her age who has come to this quiet little Vermont town to stay with his grandparents. He is a mixed-race young man who is headstrong, knowledgeable about the world, and vibrant. He is also incredibly independent and the reader cannot help but love him. Alice, who seldom watches TV and lives in her head, certainly needed someone like Theo in her life to shake it up a little, though with five (or was it four?) brothers and a father you'd think she would have plenty going on. But no.
The other person she meets is Kenneth. He is an older man, an artist, who is now sick and ill with AIDS. Both of these fellows will lead Alice down a trail she never intended to follow.
Together Alice and Theo befriend Kenneth and they decide to give him a gift of independence. Kenneth can barely see and with his weak body he has trouble maneuvering. They create a path through the woods for him, complete with a guide rope, so that he can walk alone through the forest he loves.
Their gift turns out to be a curse for its givers but a blessing, of sorts, for the recipient. Alice learns hard lessons and finds growing up to be difficult at best. Actions have consequences, often unintended ones, and living with the results sometimes can be hard.
The Rope Walk starts out slow. It took me 70 pages to get into it, and those pages took me many days, not an evening as I expected when I first picked up the book. I thought I may not finish it but the story finally found its footing about a third of the way through.
The author goes into poetic detail about everything, from the way people smell to the play of light and whatever may be in between. I can endure this generally and when skillfully done I even enjoy it. However, in this instance, I felt like the language inhibited the story, especially in the first part of the book.
Single sentences are whole paragraphs long.
Here's an example from page 258:
"His posture, his hungry, almost ardent exploration of the drawing, reminded Alice, as she stood there with the flowers in her arms, of her own yearning into thin air from the edge of her windowsill, the way she inclined toward that bright, busy emptiness, seeing there the crack in the rock, the secret fissure in the wall, the door hidden by ivy that would open, if only you could find your way through, into a secret garden, the dusty backstage and marvelous winding catwalks of the world, the echoing pavilion in which the clanking, whirring, brilliant machinery of the universe was stored."
Whew!
Don't get me wrong. The writing is beautiful and full of important messages. Maybe this isn't a young adult book, really, but instead a book for adults about a young person.
The Rope Walk won all kinds of awards, so don't mind my picky comments about sentence length. I'm just a Hollins grad who's published about 3,000 articles, but never written a novel, so what do I know?
Author Carrie Brown is the Distinguished Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at Hollins University. She autographed this book for me in 2012 when I heard her read at Hollins last year. I like to support the Hollins writers. I can't remember what Ms. Brown read from but I don't think it was this work.
You can watch an interview with her about writing and this book at this link. She has a new novel coming out later this year.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Comet Watching
Saturday was not the night to watch for comet Pann-Starrs: that was Sunday night, and we had clouds. But I took the camera out Saturday to take photos and get a kind of baseline of the sky.
The sky was lined with trails from airplanes.
This is not a comet. It's an aircraft. I think.
If you look along the mountain ridge top, you can see the trail of an airplane glowing in the light of the setting sun.
I have not yet seen the comet, but it certainly was a pretty sky. I will look again on the next clear night.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Finish the Sentence
I went all the way back to 2008 to hunt up these questions from Sunday Stealing. This is the "finish the sentence" meme.
1. My uncle once . . . cut open the back of his hand on a piece of glass. I could see the tendons in his hand moving when he wiggled his fingers. He needed stitches.
2. Never in my life . . . have I sailed away on a cruise ship.
3. When I was five . . . my parents sent me to the hospital to have a large mole removed from my chest.
4. High school was . . . not the best years of my life.
5. I will never forget . . . to brush my teeth.
6. Once I met . . . the current governor of Virginia.
7. There’s this boy I know . . . who is now a grown man.
8. Once, at a bar, . . . I played music in a rock and roll band.
9. By noon, . . . I’m ready to eat lunch.
10. Last night . . . I had a long talk with my husband.
11. If only I had the ability to . . . go back in time and talk to my younger self. I would fix some mistakes.
12. Next time I go to church . . . the roof will probably fall in.
13. What worries me most . . . is that I am growing old.
14. When I turn my head left I see . . . two clocks and a camera.
15. When I turn my head right I see . . . a calendar and a pile of cards sent to me by friends.
16. You know I’m lying . . . when I can't look you in the eye.
17. What I miss most about the Eighties . . . is how young I was.
18. If I were a character in Shakespeare I’d be . . . Hamlet, except I'm the wrong sex.
19. By this time next year . . . I will be another year older.
20. A better name for me would be . . . Queen Anita.
21. I have a hard time understanding . . . why people are mean.
22. If I ever go back to school, I’ll . . . earn my Ph.D.
23. You know I like you if I . . . give you a hug.
24. If I ever won an award, the first person I would thank would be . . . my husband for putting up with me.
25. Take my advice, never . . . go swimming with your mouth open.
1. My uncle once . . . cut open the back of his hand on a piece of glass. I could see the tendons in his hand moving when he wiggled his fingers. He needed stitches.
2. Never in my life . . . have I sailed away on a cruise ship.
3. When I was five . . . my parents sent me to the hospital to have a large mole removed from my chest.
4. High school was . . . not the best years of my life.
5. I will never forget . . . to brush my teeth.
6. Once I met . . . the current governor of Virginia.
7. There’s this boy I know . . . who is now a grown man.
8. Once, at a bar, . . . I played music in a rock and roll band.
9. By noon, . . . I’m ready to eat lunch.
10. Last night . . . I had a long talk with my husband.
11. If only I had the ability to . . . go back in time and talk to my younger self. I would fix some mistakes.
12. Next time I go to church . . . the roof will probably fall in.
13. What worries me most . . . is that I am growing old.
14. When I turn my head left I see . . . two clocks and a camera.
15. When I turn my head right I see . . . a calendar and a pile of cards sent to me by friends.
16. You know I’m lying . . . when I can't look you in the eye.
17. What I miss most about the Eighties . . . is how young I was.
18. If I were a character in Shakespeare I’d be . . . Hamlet, except I'm the wrong sex.
19. By this time next year . . . I will be another year older.
20. A better name for me would be . . . Queen Anita.
21. I have a hard time understanding . . . why people are mean.
22. If I ever go back to school, I’ll . . . earn my Ph.D.
23. You know I like you if I . . . give you a hug.
24. If I ever won an award, the first person I would thank would be . . . my husband for putting up with me.
25. Take my advice, never . . . go swimming with your mouth open.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Bye Bye BAM
This morning as I was slowly reading the Sunday paper, an advertisement in the main section caught my eye.
Books-A-Million in Roanoke is shutting its doors.
The bookstores are dropping like flies that have passed through a cloud of Raid. Soon not even the chains will have bricks and mortar stores, and we'll all be ordering off Amazon.
This is not the first major bookstore closing recently. Ram's Head Bookstore, the area's largest and most interesting independent book dealer. The owners retired, closing the doors. Printer's Ink also closed its doors. Also, while it affected fewer people, Hollins University's bookstore stopped stocking textbooks.
Soon we'll be left with only Barnes & Noble in this area, which according to reports is teetering financially.
This scares me. It also makes me very sad.
It scares me because Amazon has already shown, in at least a few instances, that it won't hesitate to reach into your Kindle and pull your purchase back. And the fact that it can do that is frightening. Why should this company have the final say over what you read, what you learn, and what you think?
What if, say, the government decides that you shouldn't be reading 1984, because it might give you ideas? And you bought it on your e-reader, not as a hard copy? And then poof, it's not there anymore, so you can't go back and revisit that again. In part that's because you're not buying the actual book, you're buying a license to read the book. While the model may eventually change (thanks to litigation, necessity, and money (but not morality)), that's how things are at the moment. E-readers are also moving from their own stand-alone units to being on apps on mobile phones and tablets.
I don't know about you, but my eyes are not too happy about trying to read a long work on an e-reader, let alone on a phone screen. I have an e-reader and still prefer a real book. I don't have to plug up a real book. And a real book doesn't access my email or Facebook or have other distractions.
So I guess I'm a dinosaur. I like paper.
The loss of yet another bookstore in my area means I will have one less place to go and feel at home. One less place to browse to find things I might not otherwise read. One less way to enlarge my world. One less place to get away from it all.
It seems like everything I care about - reading, liberal arts, art, English, morality - all of that stuff has gone by the wayside. There are enclaves of writers and readers still, but more and more they are being cast aside like so much rubbish. All that matters anymore are tech inventions - being able to code is so much more desired than being able to write a strong sentence.
We are losing so much in this headlong dash to destroy ourselves that I am starting to think it will be a good thing when we are all gone. Mother Nature must be throwing up every time she looks at humanity.
I used to embrace technology but I eventually realized it was an insidious beast that eats its young. I stopped trying to keep up with the new and improved in the race to the bottom. I refuse to go there though I know now that is where I will end up in this topsy-turvey world we have created.
Books-A-Million opened its chain store in Roanoke in the late 1990s. I thought it was great. Rams Head was over on the other side of town for me, and while BAM didn't have the same stock of poetry and writing books, it carried some. When WaldenBooks closed it was nice to know there were other choices.
I frequented them all and alternated purchases between them. Each offered a unique selection, a different feel. And now they're gone.
Bye Bye BAM. I guess B&N will be next.
Books-A-Million in Roanoke is shutting its doors.
The bookstores are dropping like flies that have passed through a cloud of Raid. Soon not even the chains will have bricks and mortar stores, and we'll all be ordering off Amazon.
This is not the first major bookstore closing recently. Ram's Head Bookstore, the area's largest and most interesting independent book dealer. The owners retired, closing the doors. Printer's Ink also closed its doors. Also, while it affected fewer people, Hollins University's bookstore stopped stocking textbooks.
Soon we'll be left with only Barnes & Noble in this area, which according to reports is teetering financially.
This scares me. It also makes me very sad.
It scares me because Amazon has already shown, in at least a few instances, that it won't hesitate to reach into your Kindle and pull your purchase back. And the fact that it can do that is frightening. Why should this company have the final say over what you read, what you learn, and what you think?
What if, say, the government decides that you shouldn't be reading 1984, because it might give you ideas? And you bought it on your e-reader, not as a hard copy? And then poof, it's not there anymore, so you can't go back and revisit that again. In part that's because you're not buying the actual book, you're buying a license to read the book. While the model may eventually change (thanks to litigation, necessity, and money (but not morality)), that's how things are at the moment. E-readers are also moving from their own stand-alone units to being on apps on mobile phones and tablets.
I don't know about you, but my eyes are not too happy about trying to read a long work on an e-reader, let alone on a phone screen. I have an e-reader and still prefer a real book. I don't have to plug up a real book. And a real book doesn't access my email or Facebook or have other distractions.
So I guess I'm a dinosaur. I like paper.
The loss of yet another bookstore in my area means I will have one less place to go and feel at home. One less place to browse to find things I might not otherwise read. One less way to enlarge my world. One less place to get away from it all.
It seems like everything I care about - reading, liberal arts, art, English, morality - all of that stuff has gone by the wayside. There are enclaves of writers and readers still, but more and more they are being cast aside like so much rubbish. All that matters anymore are tech inventions - being able to code is so much more desired than being able to write a strong sentence.
We are losing so much in this headlong dash to destroy ourselves that I am starting to think it will be a good thing when we are all gone. Mother Nature must be throwing up every time she looks at humanity.
I used to embrace technology but I eventually realized it was an insidious beast that eats its young. I stopped trying to keep up with the new and improved in the race to the bottom. I refuse to go there though I know now that is where I will end up in this topsy-turvey world we have created.
Books-A-Million opened its chain store in Roanoke in the late 1990s. I thought it was great. Rams Head was over on the other side of town for me, and while BAM didn't have the same stock of poetry and writing books, it carried some. When WaldenBooks closed it was nice to know there were other choices.
I frequented them all and alternated purchases between them. Each offered a unique selection, a different feel. And now they're gone.
Bye Bye BAM. I guess B&N will be next.
Friday, March 08, 2013
More Snow Pictures
This is how much snow I measured Wednesday morning on the deck after it snowed Tuesday night.
About midday, the sun tried to peek through.
I might tire of the view from the front door one of these days.
But probably not.
Now *this* is a pretty shot.
I am not anticipating any more snow this year.
After this last hurrah from Ol' Man Winter, I look for Mother Nature to bring out her Spring finery.
Because, you know, it's March.
And while I remember the March 1993 blizzard,
I really don't see it happening again.
I find snow peaceful and calming, for a little while, anyway.
I know that's not true for others.
My husband, for example, has to feed cattle and drive around in it.
But you can't tell me that the boy in him doesn't secretly like to leave tracks in the snow.
Thursday, March 07, 2013
Thursday Thirteen
More In the News . . .
1. Scientist Predict Doom but are Optimists About It
2. Federal Meat Head Resigns
3. Supreme Court Ponders Executing Innocent Person
4. Women's Whine and Cheese Party Set
5. Spay/Neuter Clinic Set for Low-Income Families
6. Homicide Victims Rarely Talk to Police
7. Travel by Ship Eliminates Jet Lag
8. New Dishwashers Leave Plates Clean Enough to Eat Off
9. Federal Openness Workshop Closed to Public
10. New Sick Policy Requires 2-Day Notice
11. Doctor: New Execution Drug Risky to Inmate
12. Parents Keep Kids Home to Protest School Closure
13. Starvation Can Lead to Health Hazards
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 284th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
1. Scientist Predict Doom but are Optimists About It
2. Federal Meat Head Resigns
3. Supreme Court Ponders Executing Innocent Person
4. Women's Whine and Cheese Party Set
5. Spay/Neuter Clinic Set for Low-Income Families
6. Homicide Victims Rarely Talk to Police
7. Travel by Ship Eliminates Jet Lag
8. New Dishwashers Leave Plates Clean Enough to Eat Off
9. Federal Openness Workshop Closed to Public
10. New Sick Policy Requires 2-Day Notice
11. Doctor: New Execution Drug Risky to Inmate
12. Parents Keep Kids Home to Protest School Closure
13. Starvation Can Lead to Health Hazards
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 284th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Wednesday, March 06, 2013
Overnight Snow
We had snow overnight.
My husband guessed 6" after shoveling the deck.
But neither of us measured it.
It always makes for a lovely photo.
I took these as soon as it became light, because the wind is blowing.
The snow will be out of the trees soon.
Then the photographs won't look so lovely.
Because the white against black makes the beauty.
Tuesday, March 05, 2013
Monday, March 04, 2013
Who Knows What It's Worth?
Again these are from Sunday Stealing. Apparently these are questions from a 5,000 question meme. Ye gods! By the time you did all of those questions you should know yourself pretty well!
Anyway, Sunday stealing had numbered these, and I haven't done the first 100. I suppose I will have to go back and pick those up sometime.
101. What does happiness/joy feel like physically?
It's a jiggle in your tummy, and a wiggle in your brain! It's a dancing in your feet that you simply can't explain! It's a shimmy in your heart place and a smile upon your lovely face!
102. List five things you love starting with the one you love the absolute most.
A. My husband
B. My brother (even if he is a ... ha, I know you read my blog, bro!)
C. My friends (in multiple, yes)
D. My other family members (also multiple)
E. My home
Oh. Wait. It says list five THINGS. People aren't things. Let me try this again. I tend not to love things, really, but here goes:
A. My home
B. My car
C. My books
D. My computer
E. My guitar
Nary a single one. Can you believe that? We did order a movie called Hope Springs on the pay-per-view on the television, but I suppose that doesn't count.
My husband wants to go see that new Long Ranger movie with Johnnie Depp when it comes out.
104. If you could have 3 wishes...but none of them could be for yourself, what would you wish for?
I'd like to see world peace but shoot, that ain't never gonna happen, I don't care how many djinn (or genies) are out there working on it. So how about this:
105. In what ways do you relax and de-stress when you are really tense?
I do tai chi, believe it or not, which helps a lot. I also read, play video games, and take walks.
106. How much money would it take to get you to sell your blog address?
Hmm. Not something I have ever thought about. One of the websites that values blogs says mine is worth $218,000! Hard to believe that, and I don't. Another says it's worth about $1,100. So let's go with a number somewhere between those.
107. Have you ever been hunting?
Yes, but I wasn't holding the gun.
108. Have you attempted this 5000 question meme in the past?
No. I'd never heard of it before.
109. What do you think of cloning?
I don't think much about it but it seems dangerous.
110. Do you read or watch TV more often?
Read.
111. With all this talk of terrorism going around are you willing to sacrifice rights and freedoms for increased safety?
It would depend on exactly what "right" I suppose, but in general, no. I don't think it makes you any safer. A lot of other people disagree, it appears.
112. What is the punishment you would come up with for Osama Bin Laden if you caught him alive?
That is not for me to decide.
113. Have you ever named an individual part of your body?
No. Eww.
114. Have you ever been on the radio or on TV?
Yes. I was on TV a very long time ago.
115. Have you ever won a lottery, or sweepstakes?
Are you kidding? I never win anything like that.
116. Have you ever won a contest or competition?
I've won writing contests. I suppose those count.
117. Have you ever watched The Joy of Painting show with Bob Ross (check out this link if you don't know who he is. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Ross_(painter)?
Um. No.
118. Do you know what your grandparents and your great grand parents did for a living?
My maternal grandfather worked for Kroger in the warehouse. My maternal grandmother was a homemaker but she did spend some time in the meat packing business at a place called Valley Dale. My paternal grandfather was an insurance adjuster. My paternal grandmother was a homemaker.
My maternal great-grandfathers were farmers; their wives were farmer's wives and homemakers. My paternal great-grandfathers I'm not sure about but I think one of them was a minister who owned a brothel.
119. Is there anything really interesting in your family history?
My lineage goes back to the Revolutionary War and my direct many-great grandfather fought in the Civil War on the Confederate side. Some of my line traces back to Ireland.
120. Is there anyone you trust completely?
No.
Anyway, Sunday stealing had numbered these, and I haven't done the first 100. I suppose I will have to go back and pick those up sometime.
101. What does happiness/joy feel like physically?
It's a jiggle in your tummy, and a wiggle in your brain! It's a dancing in your feet that you simply can't explain! It's a shimmy in your heart place and a smile upon your lovely face!
102. List five things you love starting with the one you love the absolute most.
A. My husband
B. My brother (even if he is a ... ha, I know you read my blog, bro!)
C. My friends (in multiple, yes)
D. My other family members (also multiple)
E. My home
Oh. Wait. It says list five THINGS. People aren't things. Let me try this again. I tend not to love things, really, but here goes:
A. My home
B. My car
C. My books
D. My computer
E. My guitar
103. How many movies have you gone to see this year?
Nary a single one. Can you believe that? We did order a movie called Hope Springs on the pay-per-view on the television, but I suppose that doesn't count.
My husband wants to go see that new Long Ranger movie with Johnnie Depp when it comes out.
104. If you could have 3 wishes...but none of them could be for yourself, what would you wish for?
I'd like to see world peace but shoot, that ain't never gonna happen, I don't care how many djinn (or genies) are out there working on it. So how about this:
- equality for women
- health care for everyone
- no more poverty
105. In what ways do you relax and de-stress when you are really tense?
I do tai chi, believe it or not, which helps a lot. I also read, play video games, and take walks.
106. How much money would it take to get you to sell your blog address?
Hmm. Not something I have ever thought about. One of the websites that values blogs says mine is worth $218,000! Hard to believe that, and I don't. Another says it's worth about $1,100. So let's go with a number somewhere between those.
107. Have you ever been hunting?
Yes, but I wasn't holding the gun.
108. Have you attempted this 5000 question meme in the past?
No. I'd never heard of it before.
109. What do you think of cloning?
I don't think much about it but it seems dangerous.
110. Do you read or watch TV more often?
Read.
111. With all this talk of terrorism going around are you willing to sacrifice rights and freedoms for increased safety?
It would depend on exactly what "right" I suppose, but in general, no. I don't think it makes you any safer. A lot of other people disagree, it appears.
112. What is the punishment you would come up with for Osama Bin Laden if you caught him alive?
That is not for me to decide.
113. Have you ever named an individual part of your body?
No. Eww.
114. Have you ever been on the radio or on TV?
Yes. I was on TV a very long time ago.
115. Have you ever won a lottery, or sweepstakes?
Are you kidding? I never win anything like that.
116. Have you ever won a contest or competition?
I've won writing contests. I suppose those count.
117. Have you ever watched The Joy of Painting show with Bob Ross (check out this link if you don't know who he is. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Ross_(painter)?
Um. No.
118. Do you know what your grandparents and your great grand parents did for a living?
My maternal grandfather worked for Kroger in the warehouse. My maternal grandmother was a homemaker but she did spend some time in the meat packing business at a place called Valley Dale. My paternal grandfather was an insurance adjuster. My paternal grandmother was a homemaker.
My maternal great-grandfathers were farmers; their wives were farmer's wives and homemakers. My paternal great-grandfathers I'm not sure about but I think one of them was a minister who owned a brothel.
119. Is there anything really interesting in your family history?
My lineage goes back to the Revolutionary War and my direct many-great grandfather fought in the Civil War on the Confederate side. Some of my line traces back to Ireland.
120. Is there anyone you trust completely?
Sunday, March 03, 2013
The County "Fathers"
Every month I attend the county's Board of Supervisors meetings. I cover it for the local weekly newspaper. They used to hold the meetings in Fincastle, which is the county seat, but now the meetings are held at the Greenfield Education and Training Center located in Amsterdam.
The public rarely attends these meetings. Only a few people (other than county employees or other county officials) come almost every time. One is a member of a homeowner's association, the other is a county surveyor. Another who comes somewhat regularly is ... well, I am not sure what he is, other than an interested citizen. Other people show up when they have some reason to - maybe they need help with something, or they want something changed. But for the most part the county does its business and the public doesn't seem to care, until it time to raise taxes. I wish more people would come to the meetings, to watch and see how the regular business of the county is handled.
I like all of these fellows; they are nice men. I think if they had a bit more input from the citizenry - everybody, not just the ones in their own political parties or their own cronies - things might work a little differently, and probably for the better. But a lackluster citizenry tends to end up with the governance it deserves, I suppose.
The board meets on the fourth Tuesday of every month at 2 p.m.
Aren't they an official looking bunch?
This is Steve Clinton, the supervisor chairman. He's been on the board a long time. He represents the Amsterdam District, which is the area around LBHS, Daleville, and out my way. He is my supervisor.
On the left, Mac Scothorn is a newbie on the board. He represents the Valley District, which is the Cloverdale Elementary/Read Mountain area of the county. On the right is Terry Austin, another long-time member and the vice-chair. He represents the Buchanan District, which is, logically, in the Buchanan area.
On the left is Jack Leffel, another newbie, who represents the Fincastle District. That area takes in Fincastle/Eagle Rock - the northern end of Botetourt. On the right is Billy Martin, who represents the Blue Ridge District, which of course takes in the Blue Ridge area. He has not been there as long as Austin and Clinton but longer than the other two.
This is what it looks like from my vantage point. I sit and listen, take lots of notes, come home, write about what I heard. I try diligently to keep my opinions to myself when I am doing my newspaper work, and just report on what they said and did. I let the readers decide if they are doing good or bad. The meeting last week was a little boring so I got out the camera. Unfortunately the only one I had with me was not my good one so the photos are not the best. But what do you expect out of a $69 camera?
The public rarely attends these meetings. Only a few people (other than county employees or other county officials) come almost every time. One is a member of a homeowner's association, the other is a county surveyor. Another who comes somewhat regularly is ... well, I am not sure what he is, other than an interested citizen. Other people show up when they have some reason to - maybe they need help with something, or they want something changed. But for the most part the county does its business and the public doesn't seem to care, until it time to raise taxes. I wish more people would come to the meetings, to watch and see how the regular business of the county is handled.
I like all of these fellows; they are nice men. I think if they had a bit more input from the citizenry - everybody, not just the ones in their own political parties or their own cronies - things might work a little differently, and probably for the better. But a lackluster citizenry tends to end up with the governance it deserves, I suppose.
The board meets on the fourth Tuesday of every month at 2 p.m.
Saturday, March 02, 2013
On Being Happy
This is from an article I read yesterday:
When I was reading those statistics I was reminded of Will McAvoy's opening speech in the fictional HBO show The Newsroom, where he points out that the USA is not the greatest nation in the world. "We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and in defense spending, where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined," McAvoy says.
I guess if you want to be a nation of poor, miserable, lonely drug addicts with prison records who die early deaths, we're doing just fine.
I would like to think we're better than that, but obviously we are not.
As I write this, we are into our first full day of something called a "sequester," which entails $85 billion in cuts to federal spending. The cuts are across the board and who knows what the fall out will be. Will grandmas who depend on Meals on Wheels end up with no lunch? Will children in Head Start fall behind? Will our shores go unprotected because we're still outspending the world in defense efforts?
I don't know. I am fairly sure that these cuts will only add to the happiness quotient of certain rich white men and others who call themselves "teapartiers" because they don't know any better. And I think that last category of folks will ultimately end up miserable because of it but likely will never know what hit them. They'll be too busy blaming something else.
But back to being happy. What is happy, anyway? This article says this about happiness:
Many people confuse pleasure with happiness. I take great pleasure in eating fine chocolate, but is that happiness? Maybe momentarily. But happiness, I think, is something long-lasting, that is there nestled in a corner even during times of great grief. It is that little grain of happiness that allows people to endure and go on, perhaps.
According to this article, you need three things to be happy:
I am not a happy person. I am the first to admit it. Life has been tough on me, and frankly I have had way more than my fair share of crap and BS over the years. On occasion, I have told people bits and pieces of my life and made them cry, so I don't talk about it in public. I certainly don't write about it in my blog where the world can see it. I don't like to make people sad.
I will say that my self esteem is in the toilet and generally always has been. Part of that comes from being born a girl, a misfortune of nature that I could not possibly overcome. It is the biggest reason I find feminism and women's liberation so heady, because I have known from birth that others thought me inferior simply because I didn't have a penis. Finding out that that inferiority is unwarranted is a wonderful thing.
However, many folks seem hell-bent on proving to me that I am inferior, a nothing, and to ensure I know my place. I find that continues to happen today, often to my great surprise. Sometimes it comes at me from completely unexpected quarters - there I am minding my own business and boom! someone lets me know that I should not be strong-willed, express an opinion, attempt to do my work, try to better myself or my world, or what-have-you. I guess this is because I think differently than most, I am analytical, and, I have finally learned, I really am a fairly smart girl and few people like smart women. It is not because I am wrong, because frequently I am right or proven right later (if I'm wrong then by all means correct me, says the doormat). Sometimes it feels as if the entire world has gathered at my doorstep explicitly to rain anvils down on my head and beat me to the ground until I'm a sobbing, bloody pulp.
Frequently, they succeed.
However, I always get back up again. I may not be a happy person, but I am a resilient one. I am growing older, though, and I don't bounce back quite as well as I once did. I also find that with each knock-out punch, however brief, I become more cynical. One of these days I might even wake up from one and find I have become mean due to brain damage.
I have had a tough time lately. I will be turning 50 in a few months, and I am not taking it well. My health is in decline despite efforts to do better. I've been diagnosed with a number of problems that are chronic and that will require attention for however long I have left. My life probably peaked about six years ago and its all downhill from here. My happiness outlook is not very good, to be perfectly honest.
I've even thought about stopping my blog, because I have been unable to keep thinking of happy - or at least neutral - things to write. Maybe it is time to move on.
But I do like making others happy, or at least giving them pleasure. I may not be able to do it for myself, but I wonder, can I do it for you?
While the United States has one of the world’s largest per capita GDPs, it trails most other wealthy countries and some poorer ones in many ways. A few examples:
Yet sadly, the American economic model is becoming more dominant, even in Europe. We are sacrificing our health, happiness, social connection, leisure time, and the environment in the blind pursuit of growth. We can’t go on like this.
- Americans are more likely to report experiencing stress than are people of 144 other nations. Rich and poor Americans are more likely to be anxious or worried than people in 88 other nations. The United States ranks 11th in “life satisfaction” according to the Gallup-Healthways poll, but well below Denmark, Finland, Norway, and the Netherlands.
- Americans consume nearly two-thirds of the world’s antidepressants.
- More than a third of Americans over 45 report being chronically lonely, up from 20 percent in 2000.
- U.S. life expectancy is 50th in the world according to the CIA World Factbook, shorter than in any other rich country, despite the fact that Americans spend twice as much on health care per capita than other countries do.
- Rates of poverty and child poverty in the US are the highest among wealthy countries, and more than double the average in Europe.
From - The Happiness Initiative: The Serious Business of WellBeing
When I was reading those statistics I was reminded of Will McAvoy's opening speech in the fictional HBO show The Newsroom, where he points out that the USA is not the greatest nation in the world. "We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and in defense spending, where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined," McAvoy says.
I guess if you want to be a nation of poor, miserable, lonely drug addicts with prison records who die early deaths, we're doing just fine.
I would like to think we're better than that, but obviously we are not.
As I write this, we are into our first full day of something called a "sequester," which entails $85 billion in cuts to federal spending. The cuts are across the board and who knows what the fall out will be. Will grandmas who depend on Meals on Wheels end up with no lunch? Will children in Head Start fall behind? Will our shores go unprotected because we're still outspending the world in defense efforts?
I don't know. I am fairly sure that these cuts will only add to the happiness quotient of certain rich white men and others who call themselves "teapartiers" because they don't know any better. And I think that last category of folks will ultimately end up miserable because of it but likely will never know what hit them. They'll be too busy blaming something else.
But back to being happy. What is happy, anyway? This article says this about happiness:
According to psychology research, . . . about 50 percent of how happy you are depends on genetics, 10 percent on environmental factors (such as the state where you live!), and the remaining 40 percent on things that you can control day-to-day. -- Revealed, How Happy Your State IsOkay, that is how happiness happens, I suppose. According to this article, my state, Virginia, has a 67 rating in the happiness scale, just a little above average. Hawaii is number one and West Virginia, right next door, is dead last. As best I can tell, the results are from a couple of years ago. I hear a lot of grumbling about the state government these days; maybe we're not so happy here anymore.
Many people confuse pleasure with happiness. I take great pleasure in eating fine chocolate, but is that happiness? Maybe momentarily. But happiness, I think, is something long-lasting, that is there nestled in a corner even during times of great grief. It is that little grain of happiness that allows people to endure and go on, perhaps.
According to this article, you need three things to be happy:
- self esteem
- a life purpose
- reliable "tools" (attitudes, beliefs, etc.) that work to bring you joy.
I am not a happy person. I am the first to admit it. Life has been tough on me, and frankly I have had way more than my fair share of crap and BS over the years. On occasion, I have told people bits and pieces of my life and made them cry, so I don't talk about it in public. I certainly don't write about it in my blog where the world can see it. I don't like to make people sad.
I will say that my self esteem is in the toilet and generally always has been. Part of that comes from being born a girl, a misfortune of nature that I could not possibly overcome. It is the biggest reason I find feminism and women's liberation so heady, because I have known from birth that others thought me inferior simply because I didn't have a penis. Finding out that that inferiority is unwarranted is a wonderful thing.
However, many folks seem hell-bent on proving to me that I am inferior, a nothing, and to ensure I know my place. I find that continues to happen today, often to my great surprise. Sometimes it comes at me from completely unexpected quarters - there I am minding my own business and boom! someone lets me know that I should not be strong-willed, express an opinion, attempt to do my work, try to better myself or my world, or what-have-you. I guess this is because I think differently than most, I am analytical, and, I have finally learned, I really am a fairly smart girl and few people like smart women. It is not because I am wrong, because frequently I am right or proven right later (if I'm wrong then by all means correct me, says the doormat). Sometimes it feels as if the entire world has gathered at my doorstep explicitly to rain anvils down on my head and beat me to the ground until I'm a sobbing, bloody pulp.
Frequently, they succeed.
However, I always get back up again. I may not be a happy person, but I am a resilient one. I am growing older, though, and I don't bounce back quite as well as I once did. I also find that with each knock-out punch, however brief, I become more cynical. One of these days I might even wake up from one and find I have become mean due to brain damage.
I have had a tough time lately. I will be turning 50 in a few months, and I am not taking it well. My health is in decline despite efforts to do better. I've been diagnosed with a number of problems that are chronic and that will require attention for however long I have left. My life probably peaked about six years ago and its all downhill from here. My happiness outlook is not very good, to be perfectly honest.
I've even thought about stopping my blog, because I have been unable to keep thinking of happy - or at least neutral - things to write. Maybe it is time to move on.
But I do like making others happy, or at least giving them pleasure. I may not be able to do it for myself, but I wonder, can I do it for you?
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