Sunday Stealing: Cookies!

From Sunday Stealing

Cookie Meme


1. Are any of your friendships on a fine line?

A. Um. I guess that means are those relationships in trouble. If so, I am not aware of it.

2. Have you ever witnessed a birth?

A. I have seen dogs and cows give birth.

3. Where’s your favorite place to be when you feel depressed?

A. In front of my computer playing an RPG video game or caught up in a good book.

4. Are you currently looking forward to tomorrow?

A. Any day I can get up is a good day.

5. When was the last time you held someone’s hand?

A. This morning.

6. Have you ever faked sick?

A. Not really. I am sick enough without having to fake it.

7. Are you currently wearing jeans?

A. Yes!

8. Have you gone to a coffee shop within the past week? [i.e. Starbucks]

A. No. I don't go to coffee shops as a rule. And I also don't care what color coffee cups are.

9. Would you like to be able to read thoughts?

A. No.

10. Do certain swear words just roll off your tongue?

A. You're damn right they do.

11. Are you often the last one to understand a joke?

A. Occasionally, but not often. If it is a reference to current pop culture I might miss it.

12. Can experience be gained just by reading?

A. Since I read a lot, I certainly hope so.

13. Does playing the guitar make a person more attractive?

A. Since I play the guitar, that would be nice. But I have never given it any thought.

14. Have you ever slept in a tent, indoors or out?

A. Long time ago.

15. What does your hair look like at the moment?

A. It's silvery brown and I had it cut Friday, so it looks okay.

16. Are you mad right now?

A. No.

17. Who did you spend your summer with last year?

A. My husband and my friends.

18. Did you eat a cookie today?

A. I had a granddaddy cookie, which is what I call a Little Debbie Oatmeal Cookie.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9; The Night the Lights Went Out

Saturday 9: The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (1972)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

Well this is an oldie but a goodie! I always liked this song.

1) The lyrics tell us about a young man who stopped at a bar named Webb's before heading home. What's the last restaurant or bar you visited? What did you order?

 

A. Last restaurant would be Shakers. I ordered a chicken pot pie and a small salad with a glass of water, no lemon. I haven't been to a bar in 30+ years.

 
2) In this video, Vicki Lawrence is obviously lip synching. If you had to participate in a competition, would you do better at karaoke or lip synching? And what song would you choose to perform?

A. Hmm. I think I'd try the karaoke just to do it since I never have. The song I would sing would be You Needed Me, by Anne Murray.

3) Back when this song was popular, so was the Rubik's Cube. Can you solve that 3-D puzzle?

A. A very long time ago I could solve the Rubik's Cube in under 2 minutes, though it took me hours of practice to reach that feat. I daresay that is not the case now, since I haven't had one in hand for decades.

4) Vicki Lawrence is a hyphenate, meaning she's a comedienne-actress-singer. Using hyphens, describe yourself.

A. Wife-Writer-Photographer-Friend-Earth Lover/All-Around-Nice-Person (usually).

5) Back in the early 1970s, songwriter Bobby Russell first offered this song to Cher, who refused it. Give us the name of a song Cher did record.

A. Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves! Maybe I should do that one as karaoke.

6) Vicki Lawrence won her first big break playing Carol Burnett's kid sister because of her resemblance to the star. Have you ever been told you look like a celebrity?

A. I have not.

7) She also starred on Mama's Family in the role of matriarch of an argumentative Southern clan. As we head into the holiday season, do your plans involve a lot of family time?

A. At the moment, I do not have any holiday plans at all, except not to have any plans.
 
8) After The Carol Burnett Show and Mama's Family, Vicki became a staple on daytime TV. She hosted Win, Lose or Draw and was a contestant on The Match Game and $25,000 Pyramid. Do you watch much daytime TV?

A. No.

9) Random question provided by a Sat 9er: Bugs/insects. Do you like 'em or fear 'em? Tell us something/anything you know about them.

A. Bugs. I don't like them. I am not especially afraid of them unless they are large and scary. Mostly they are an annoyance. We have an influx of stink bugs in our areas, which is an imported pest that has taken over the east coast in the last decade. We didn't have them until about 5 years ago. We also have lady bugs in the fall which are some kind of imported lady bug and not native. They gather in clusters on the sides of houses.

 

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

That's the Best We Can Do?

My letter to the editor that appeared in The Fincastle Herald this week (11/11/2015 edition)

Dear Editor,

A 7-11 store? Really? That's the best Botetourt can do for one of the most visible corners at its "gateway" area? A convenience store that has a high pay scale of $11.11 listed for its assistant managers and $9.06 for its sales associates?

This is why we're paying millions to improve this interchange? So the tourism director can stand out in front of an ugly parking lot with a placard that says Welcome to Botetourt - Buy a Slurpee?

Granted, any new structure would look better than what is there, but I thought the whole idea was to make this an attractive area. I looked up photos of 7-11 stores. There wasn't an attractive one in the bunch - they all look like, well, 7-11 stores.

Will the supervisors put proffers on this structure? Will they make the corporation brick it, put in a nice historical-looking building that reflects the Botetourt of old, not the Botetourt of the last 60 years, where mostly junk was built along our major travel arteries?

Hmm. Who will win in that discussion? My guess is the company with the money. Will we offer them some nice corporate welfare to ensure that they bring their ugly building and minimum wage jobs to our community? Maybe they won't have to pay their taxes for five years. We surely can't forgive their water and sewer hookup since we gave that power away.

After a recent vacation in Mount Pleasant, SC, I saw what good planning and zoning can do. It can create livable beautiful areas that people actually want to visit. I saw a gas station and convenience store in SC that was brick and so well-designed that you hardly knew what it was, save for the small signage. But we're Botetourt, and we don't do planned designs.

Even when we approve planned designs, we allow the builders to make so many changes that the end result is nothing like the original (hint: DTC's original plan called for 80 single-family dwelling units, 120 multi-family dwellings, 100 town homes, 40 civic units, and 280 commercial units. It was supposed to be a planned town. Do you see that there? I don't.).

So what's next? A Sheetz at the corner of Alt. US 220 and the proposed Gateway Road? They sell good hot dogs and offer more minimum wage jobs. How about a Walmart and a Lowes along that new lane? Those will surely bring in the tourists. It's not like you can't find one in every community.

Shouldn't we wait until our new county administrator is in place, until studies are done, and real plans are formed, before we approve anything at that entire interchange? If we don't, I foresee another hodgepodge of unplanned and ugly structures - gas stations with bright signs that light the night sky, chain restaurants with their chickens, cowboy hats, and bovine images. I imagine in a few years I will look toward Daleville to see a glaring white neon night sky that says, look, Botetourt failed again.

If 7-11 must to come to Botetourt, couldn't the supervisors direct them toward one of those ugly old worn down former gas station lots on US 220 north that are for sale? That part of the county's gateway needs fixing up, too. A 7-11 store of any design there would look better and at least fit in with the BP and Pizza Hut.

Must we give over our best locations to the first to raise their hands? Can't we think about it, and not give in to knee-jerk reactions?

Thursday Thirteen #420

My county, Botetourt, VA, is loaded with history. At one time the county stretched to the Mississippi River and up into Wisconsin. It's not so large today but we have many historical structures on the National Register of Historic Places.

Here are 13 of them.

The Phoenix Bridge

1. The Phoenix Bridge. This is a truss bridge near Eagle Rock.

2. Greenfield. Currently a major source of controversy in the county as the property was purchase by government officials 20 years ago. They want to move the historic structures to build a shell building in hopes that some big company will come in.



Botetourt Courthouse Steeple

3. Fincastle Historic District. The entire town of Fincastle is mostly a historic district. The town was established as the county seat in 1770. Fires took out a few blocks but many old buildings still exist in the town, including a number of historic churches.





4. Breckinridge Mill. An historic grist mill that no longer works. It has been turned into apartment complexes but the structure is still intact.

5. Bessemer. This is an archeological site of prehistoric Native Americans. The site was first discovered during road construction.

6. Buchanan Historic District. While not quite as old of an incorporated town as Fincastle, Buchanan has been around a long time. It was originally known as Pattonsburg and because of its location along the James River was an active port town. It was also a site of Civil War activity.

7. Lauderdale is a huge home located outside of Buchanan. It has been undergoing restoration for a number of years.

8. Santillane is a historic home located just outside of Fincastle. It was constructed around 1835. The family who originally owned it was the Hancocks, and daughter Julia married William Clark (of Lewis & Clark fame).


Santillane


9. Wheatland Manor. This historic home is located between Fincastle and Buchanan.

10. Wiloma. Another historic home located near Fincastle, constructed in 1848.

11. Nininger's Mill. This is also known as Tinker Mill. The grist mill was originally constructed about 1847.

12. Greyledge. Located near Buchanan, the original structure was built around 1842.

13. Bryan McDonald House. This is one of the older homes in the Troutville area. It was built in 1766.

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 420th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Majesty Put to Rest

I saw this buck in velvet in August.

 

My husband killed a buck on the first day of muzzle loader season, October 31. He says it is the same deer. Looking at the photos, I suppose it is.

Rest in peace, forest prince. (I always like them better alive.)

What Do Old Princesses Do? Drink Bad Coffee.

I am, I admit, a bit of a princess. I do not tolerate discomfort well. I can feel the pea beneath the mattress and I might complain mightily about it the next morning. Or I might suffer in silence. It depends on my mood.

Hot, cold, aches, pains - while I have a fairly high pain tolerance, I don't like any of it. Things must be my way - my teeth brushed, my deodorant just so, my clothes washed in certain powders because of my allergies to the world.

My food must be what I like even if it isn't the healthiest stuff, and I don't like spiders and snakes. I want things clean but I don't necessarily want to be the one doing the cleaning.

No dogs allowed, no dirt on the carpet, no noise when I'm trying to write. Temperature just so.

Yeah, I'm a little prima donna. Or something.

This morning I was reading this weird thing going on about red cups at coffee shops and how this is part of that silly non-war on Christmas that crops up every year. It is so stupid that it makes my eyes roll of their own accord. Even people who post the "I will say Merry Christmas not Happy Holidays" things on Facebook thought this particular brouhaha was over the top.

Some of my more liberal Christian friends were wondering where the real Christians are. You know, the ones who buy a cup of coffee for the homeless guy outside, not worry about the color of the cup of their latte. Such a society we've become, where this kind of nothing becomes the topic of the day. We're so bone-headed and stuck that we don't even realize what fools we are.

Anyway, a picture of older woman digging through the trash crossed my page in regards to this - you know, what are the Christians doing about the homeless sort of thing. Which is a good question. But mostly it made me think about growing old.

I am so finicky I fear that my old age with be a total disaster. I will want my Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm and the nursing home will tell me I can't have it. I will want my bath and my toe nails clipped back, and they will tell me it isn't time yet for either. I will want my hair cut and they will say not now.

My world will be uncomfortable and I will be so out of control of my life that I will wonder what I am still alive for.

And then I thought about all of those folks in nursing homes, who are living like that. Living but not. Feeling pain but unable to do anything about it, not even take a Tylenol. I can't help but wonder where the love is in that. What are we doing, when the breathe is more precious than what goes on in the heart and soul? How many of those folks would have preferred not to have survived that hip surgery or the heart attack or the stroke? Is it truly more moral to make people suffer until finally they give up the ghost?

People cry out because they can't get their coffee in the cup they want, while others cry out because they can't get their toiletry needs met. And who has the loudest voice? The idiot with the coffee cup, obviously.

I am so confused about how our society works. Nothing about it makes any sense to me any more. I used to think I understood it, or parts of it, anyway, but now it is like smoke. My values and morals reside within me, and they say screw the coffee cup, go help the homeless person. But I'm not sure these values are the those of the majority anymore. I think they were once, long ago. Maybe even before I was born.

Now people just say get your own coffee cup and step over bodies. Is it really that bad? Or does the media make it seem that way?

I fear old age. I fear being trapped in a shell of a body, my mind wandering because that is the only way I can deal with the pain that those around me ignore. The only way to deal with the loss of my chapstick or my favorite pillow or whatever it is I need for comfort, maybe, would be to lose my mind if my body didn't give out first.

My grandmother is 94 (?) and sitting in a wheelchair in a nursing home in California. She doesn't know anyone. I doubt she is happy, comfortable, or glad to be there. My other grandmother stayed in a nursing home for several years. I dutifully visited her every weekend, including the weekend before she passed away. I remember her main complaint was not physical discomfort but the food she was served. They gave her food that diabetics should not have been eating, loaded, apparently with the salt that someone with high blood pressure is supposed to avoid. I was pretty sure the place was trying to move folks along with the diet.

I don't expect any of this to change. I expect it to get worse. In older days, the young folks built a house hooked onto the parental house, and the old people peeled potatoes or did whatever they could to help, and then they died. They weren't warehoused and put out of the way when they became a burden. And their children didn't worry about the color of coffee cups. They drank out of chipped stoneware and were grateful for it.

This blog entry had no focus when I started it, and it still has none. I just needed to write, and I started writing. Sometimes I do this and I delete it, or I never publish the post. I think I have about 75 draft posts in my blog, things no one will ever see.

There's no reason not to hit the publish button on this, even if it lacks the cohesiveness I prefer in my work. Sometimes, I think, it is good to ramble. It is good to be lost and wandering. It puts hair on your chest, as my father might say. Not that I need any there. But I suppose you never know.

I do know I don't drink coffee, and I don't care what color my cups are. I know I give money to various charities several times throughout the year, the ones I think make a difference. I know I use my connections to put one person in touch with another, to meet a need or to make a change when I can. I try to influence folks around me to be their better selves. I try to be my best self but think I'm a miserable failure at that. Maybe we all are, I don't know. I know some people think they never fail at all.

Anyway, I will stop rambling. I know you'd rather see a picture of a pretty deer or a lovely landscape than read the wanderings of a tired aging brain. So here you go. One lovely picture, coming up.

The 9th Annual Founders' Day Dinner

Friday night, the Botetourt County Historical Society held its 9th Annual Founders' Day Dinner in Fincastle at the Methodist Church Family Life Center.

The Fincastle Herald, the newspaper for which I freelanced over the last 30 years, invited me to be there. The editor, Edwin McCoy, was the recipient of the Emily G. Honts Heritage Award because of his contributions for keeping history in front of Botetourt citizens through the newspaper.

Ed graciously asked that I come along because I have written a number of those historical pieces. He was kind enough to mention me in his acceptance speech when he received his award.

Many of the county's elite turned out for the event.

Fincastle District Supervisor Jack Leffel speaks with one of the citizens he represents.

Alice Crowder and Priscilla Richardson, two of the county's fine ladies, speak with an unknown person.

Dinner was prepared by members of the Methodist Church.

Ed's wife, Teri, and me.

Me and my friend, who was also my "date" for the evening, since my husband was working.

Ed doing what Ed does best.

This is an historic sampler that the Historical Society is trying to preserve.

Owner of The Fincastle Herald, Connie, in the middle of the table (brown jacket).

Food porn. This is what I had to eat.

Jack Rader, Historical Society President, offers words of welcome.

Angela Coon (Loretta Caldwell behind her in the red) presented Ed with his award.

Ed listening intently as Angela talks about all the things Ed has written about in the last 30 years.

Ed receiving his award.

Standing ovation.

My neighbor, Pat Honts, also received an award for her volunteer service.

Ray Baird gave an interesting talk on Patrick Henry and Botetourt County. He was dressed
in period clothing.

Sunday Stealing: Big Bad

From Sunday Stealing

Big Bad Meme

1. Is there anyone else in the room with you atm? What are they doing?

A. I don't have an ATM in my house, but I certainly envy anyone who does. How great would that be, to have money available like that. Oh. Wait. You mean "at the moment." I'm alone.

2. Do you show your teeth when you smile, or do you prefer smiling with your lips closed?

A. I've never given this much thought, but my teeth show in my photo here.

3. Would you rather be told the truth, even if it isn’t what you want to hear?

A. I prefer the truth, yes. Unless it's Christmas and you've bought me a present. Then you don't have to tell me the truth.

4. What is something that you plan to buy, as soon as you’ve saved up the money for it?

A. I may purchase a MAC if Windows 10 continues to be the bane of my existence. But I have other things that need to be taken care of before I do that.

5. Do you play Sudoku?

A. No.

6.  Have you ever had a migraine?

A. Yes. I used to average about three a month, for three days each, and ultimately this led to my starting a freelance career. No employer wants to keep around an employee who is sick that often. They have diminished as I've aged. Also, for fellow migraine sufferers, I have found that a combination of magnesium malate (has to be that kind) and Vitamin B2 makes a big difference in the frequency and severity of the migraine.

7. What was the last book you read for pleasure?

A. Salvage the Bones, by Jesmyn Ward. I am currently listening to V is for Vengeance, by Sue Grafton. 

8. What was the last item of clothing you purchased for yourself?

A. Last night I bought myself a new pair of house slippers.

9. Your first serious relationship, do you still talk to him/her?

A. No.

10. Who is the last person you texted?

A. I don't text.

11. How close is your family?

A. My brother and father live about seven miles from me. My mother-in-law is within sight distance (about 1/2 mile away).

12. Is there anything too serious to be joked about?

A. Gun violence. Slavery. Rape. Murder. Etc. I know those things are joked about but they should not be. 

13. Do you like to understand and have good knowledge of things?

A. I do.

14. What is worse? Back pain or shoulder pain?

A. Pain is bad wherever one has it.

15. Have you ever almost fallen off of something high off the ground?

A. I don't recall.

16. What’s one fruit you love in drinks?

A. I only drink tea or water.

17. What is something simple that you’re afraid of?

A. I'm not a fan of rats or spiders, if that is what you mean.

18. Has this weekend been good?

A. It's been okay. My husband took me to dinner. Winner winner!

19. How much time do you take to get ready in the morning?

A. About 45 minutes, including shower and everything.

20. Last movie you watched in theaters and with whom?

A. The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies with my husband, which premiered last December. We don't go to the movies much.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Random

Saturday 9: All Random


This week's Saturday 9 is refreshingly theme free, featuring questions submitted by regular Saturday 9ers. Crazy Sam really appreciates all the help she received with this week's meme, and is jealously protecting all your unused questions. Expect to see them sprinkled throughout Saturday 9s in the future.
 
1) Do you prefer your pickle sliced thin, sliced thick, or in a spear?

A. I like Gherkins or small pickles which look like baby cucumbers, and they have to be bread and butter. I don't like dill pickles. I guess that a baby cucumber would be like a spear.

2) What kind of eggs do you like best for breakfast?

A. Scrambled.
 
3) If you got 2 pennies for change, would you pocket them or leave them on the counter for the next person?

A. If the counter has a "leave a penny, take a penny" cup, I leave them. If not, I put them in my pocket.
 
4) You’re now in charge of the manners for the planet. Tell us the new rules for cellphone etiquette.

A. OMG. Put that thing away! You are not allowed to use it when you are outside of your home unless you are an emergency services person or an expectant father whose wife is due to give birth within 24 hours. If you must take a call, then you (a) stop the car and pull over, if you are driving, and if elsewhere (b) go into the restroom (but please not into a stall, that's just, eww!) or outside away from other people (preferably sit in your car in the parking lot) if you are somewhere in public and (c) don't scream into it so that everyone can hear your end of the conversation no matter where you are. For heaven's sake, people. Look at one another when you're talking and stop playing Candy Crush. You only have one life. Live it! Feel the air, see the sunshine, hear the crush of grass beneath your feet, not the tweet of some damn machine.
 
5) You’re about to write a novel. What genre will it be (sci fi, chick lit, historical fiction, comic …)?

A. Magical realism.  (Magic in a realistic world.) I'm actually participating, poorly, in National Novel Writing Month right now (NaNoWriMo). See me writing blog meme answers instead of working on the novel?
 
6) Is it a bad thing to lie to save a friend’s feelings?

A. It depends on the situation. "Do I have spinach between my teeth?" rather demands a truthful answer. If she is wearing an orange dress that she obviously loves, but it makes her look like she has jaundice, then "it's a lovely dress" is fine. After all, the dress might be lovely (just not on her) so you're not exactly lying. Right?
 
7) Is your big toe your longest toe?

A. Nope. My second toe is my longest toe. I think this is supposed to mean something, but a quick search of the Internet, our great god of knowledge, reveals multiple suggestions as to what it might be.
 
8) Hot stone massage: yea or nay?

A. Any massage receives a yea.

9) Do you check the mirror before going out?

A. Depends on where I am going. Grocery store? No. Meeting with high ranking officials? Yes.
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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

More Autumn Color

Tinker Mountain

Leaves at my physical therapist's office.

View from my cousin's house

Additional view from my cousin's house. That green field in the middle there at the foot of the mountain has a house backed
up against the woods; that is my father's home.

Again, from my cousin's driveway.

Lovely mountains.

More yellows this year, I think.

Recent rains really greened up the fields.