Thursday Thirteen

Tomorrow is my 33rd wedding anniversary. So here are 13 pictures of my favorite guy.

Promotion to battalion chief.

Newly hired firefighter.

My hard-working farmer.

Racing out the door.

The day I caught him!

Having a gab-fest with a neighbor.

The grizzled hunter.

The capture!

Wee tot with his mom.

Taking in the arts.

Visiting the mountains.

Working hard in the hay field.

Laughing with family.

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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 474th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. 

Monday Moon Set (6:30 a.m.) 11/14/2016

Bad Moon Rising

The moon rose full (or close to it) Sunday night (11/13/2016) around 5:20 p.m., a little later than I anticipated based on moonrise charts. This was one of those media-created events, a supermoon, reportedly closer to the earth and looking very bright indeed. I was not in a good position for spectacular photos - those pictures of the moon overtaking a boat or the Eiffel Tower or whatever.

As Neil DeGrasse Tyson said on my Facebook page this morning, the difference in this moon and any other is the difference between a 16" pizza and a 16.05 inch pizza. I like the moon, though, and the night sky, and the stars, so I don't mind the hype. If it makes people aware of nature, even the far-away, distant mood, it's not such bad press.

The moon rising over the trees east northeast. We were standing on the hill near The Austins.

She creeps a little higher.

There she is, all bright and beautiful.

Now she sits on the mountain.

Having nothing with which to really put the moon into perspective, I crouched down and shot a photo of the
moon with the tail light on my car. I doubt that's a shot you see often, anyway.

About five minutes later, through the trees at home.

She's over-exposed, my moon in this photo, but she's over the Peaks and the Blue Ridge.
 

Sunday Stealing: Ask (Part II)

From Sunday Stealing

Ask, Ask, Ask (Part II) (Part I is here.)


26 - Did you have an accident last year?

A. I hit a deer with the car in December. It did no damage to me, and I thought it did no damage to the car, because it was a glancing blow (the deer ran away), but as time has passed, I have come to realize that it dented the driver's side door a little bit.

27 - Do you have any famous relatives?

A. Not that I am aware of.

28 - Did you ever have a kiss under the moonlight?

A. Of course.

29 - Have you ever been jealous?

A. I am a human being. Of course I have. Saints don't exist except in story books.

30 - How can you prove your love to someone?

A. You can't. You can give chocolates, hugs, and kisses, but that doesn't prove love. The thing that proves love, for me, is time. Time known and time spent together.

31 - What are you thinking right now?

A. That SNL's cold opening of Cohen's Hallelujah last night was so heart-wrenching that I am now going to learn that song on the guitar. That the moon is supposed to be spectacular tonight and I need to find a good location to watch it rise in hopes of taking great photos. That I can only do so much to assuage the insanity in a crazy, foolish world. That pain means I am living. That my friend who is today taking her last breath from a quick bout of cancer does not know that I thought she was a very special person, because I never told her, and now she cannot hear me. That my five-day headache has to end soon. That my inability to sleep may have something to do with forces beyond my control. Did the super moon contribute to the earthquake in New Zealand that I just heard about? Is my husband going to be okay rounding up the cattle by himself this morning? Maybe I need a Tylenol. The answer to all of life's questions is 42. There are lots of plot holes in the Lord of the Rings movies, if you stop and think about it. I wonder why Callista Flockhart is no longer on Supergirl. Will I have the stomach to watch 60 Minutes tonight? I hope my friend who is driving to D.C. today will be okay. (As you can see, my mind races and never stops. I think I am the only person to take biofeedback lessons and fail them.)

32 - Have you ever sacrificed something important to you for someone you love?

A. I don't see how I could have been married for 32 years, 11 months, and three weeks (my anniversary is Friday), without having made such a sacrifice. When you love someone that is what you do. You stay in a job you don't like. You clean the toilets when you hate to do that. You don't pursue your Ph.D. when you really want it. And if you're my husband, you stay with your wife even if she is unable to have your children.

33 - Can you live without internet?

A. I did for about 34 years. I don't see why I couldn't do it again.

34 - Have you been so emotional that you can’t find words to explain how you feel?

A. Yes. Are these questions meant for interstellar travelers who may not experience human emotions?

35 - Did you ever badmouth someone?

A. We just had an election. My side lost. What do you think? However, I did it in the privacy of my home, to empty walls, and not on social media (well, not in any overly demonstrative way). I will eventually have a blog entry about it but I am waiting until I can write with logic.

36 - What do you prefer, jeans or skirt?

A. Jeans.

37 - Do you have trust issues?

A. I have major trust issues.

38 - What's something that you made all on your own and are incredibly proud of?

A. I have a body of written work that spans 30 years and takes up an entire storage building. Most of it is published. I have not written a book but I suspect I have written the equivalent of 100 books if not more. Heck, just the print-out of my blog from 2006 encompasses 25 soft-cover books.

39 - Who’s the person who first comes to your mind when someone mentions “love”?

A. My husband.

40 - Who was the last person you hugged?

A. My husband. He kissed me before he went out the door to round up the cows.

41 - Do you believe in the phrase “If it’s meant to be, it will be”?

A. To a degree. I think things just are; there really isn't a force of will behind what happens in life.

42 - Do people praise you for your looks?

A. Nope. Although I have been told I have nice skin. I am never sure that's much of a compliment, but I take it as such.

43 - Do you believe in destiny?

A. No. Stuff just happens.

44 - Have you ever thought “I already found my soulmate”?

A. I think if I have a soulmate, my husband is probably it. If he isn't, what difference does it make?

45 - Do you like nicknames that are from your name?

A. Depends on who is saying it and what they are calling me.

46 - Could you ever be a vegan?

A. I rarely eat red meat. I don't know that it would be much of a leap to give up chicken and pork, too. Eggs might be a problem. I like eggs.

47 - Do you currently have bruises on your body?

A. My physical therapist, twice a week, digs her hands into my stomach to try to loosen scar tissue that has bound my organs together. She leaves massive bruises on my belly. And if you think it sounds like it hurts, let me assure you that it does. It leaves me barely able to walk out to my car. Some days she has to help me to my car.

48 - What should you be doing right now?

A. It's not even 8 a.m. on Sunday. I think I am okay with what I am doing at the moment.

49 - I read in a magazine that shoulder pads are coming back. Are you happy to hear this or do you not find them to be very attractive?

A. I never minded them, and I think they make me look better. So while I actually have not given it any thought, it is not a problem.

50 - Did you ever feel like you’re not good enough?

A. I have never been good enough. My mother made sure I knew that from the moment I was born.


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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.

Moon Set Over North Mountain 11/13/2016 5:30 a.m.

Camera: Nikon P500

The Moon Tonight 11/12/2016

Waxing Gibbous 96%

I shot these photos with a Nikon Coolpix that I keep in my car. I paid $60 for it at Walmart a few years ago. I was pretty pleased with how these came out. If I could have moved around a bit better, I could probably have done more with them.

Saturday 9: Gilligan's Island

Saturday 9: Ballad of Gilligan's Island (1964)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This is about the fateful cruise of the S.S. Minnow. If you had a boat, what would you christen it?

A. The Melpomene. (That's the Greek Muse of Tragedy.)

2)  "No phone! No lights! No motorcar! Not a single luxury!" To Sam, those sound more like everyday essentials than luxuries. If you were shipwrecked with the gang, what standard amenity would you miss the most?

A. Electricity.

3) The uncharted isle was in the Pacific, near Hawaii. Have you ever been to our 50th state?

A. No, I have not.

4) Natalie Schafer, who played Mrs. Howell, refused to divulge her age. Are you honest about how old you are? Or do you fudge it?

A. I have earned every day of my 53 years. Why would I lie about it?

5) Gilligan's Island featured many dream sequences. (Like the one where Gilligan dozes off and dreams that he's Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk.) Have you had any vivid dreams lately?

A. My dreams generally are vivid, but are more night terror than dream. I wake myself (and my unfortunate husband) up frequently with screams, cries, and an occasional bout of sleepwalking. Looking back at my journal, the last dream I recorded, which was on 10/1/16 even though I know I've dreamed since then, just not written about it, said this:

"I dreamed that all of the states in the US were fighting one another, and we (Virginia) were at war with West Virginia, and I was on the pacifist side, trying to stop the war with philosophy teachers and other professors and educated people who didn't believe in fighting or what was going on. Very strange."

6) The pilot was filmed in November, 1963, in Honolulu. The cast and crew were actually onset when they learned of President Kennedy's assassination.* Because on location filming was so expensive, they couldn't afford to take any time off.  Tell us about a time when you had to work, even though your heart and head weren't in it.

A. Nationally that would have been Wednesday, only I don't have a job anymore so I took the time to pull the covers over my head and eat too much chocolate. Prior to that, my answer would have been during my mother's illness and death.
 
7) During the show's run, Mary Ann (Dawn Wells) was the clear fan favorite, receiving twice as many love letters as Ginger (Tina Louise). Have you ever written a fan letter (or posted a fan tweet or Facebook post)?

A. I have autographed pictures of Charlie Sheen (when he was young and before he went crazy) and Bonnie Raitt. I follow a lot of famous people on Facebook - writers, singers - and sometimes I may respond to something, but not often. I also have an entire shelf of autographed books.

8) Sam chose this week's song because it was going through her head, over and over again! Tell us a song that burrows into your head and stays there.

A. That varies, and at the moment nothing is stuck there. It is very dark and depressing in the interior. (I think Sam has been watching too much METV.)

9)  Random question: You went to a discount store and got an amazing bargain -- a pair of dress shoes for just $4.99. You go to a formal event and someone compliments you on those great shoes and asks where you got them. Do you tell the truth?

A. I don't know. It would depend on the person offering the compliment, I think. If it were my best friend, sure. If it were someone I hardly knew, I would offer something vague, like, "I bought them at a shop in Roanoke."


*That's why, in the credits for the black and white seasons, the flags are at half-staff when The Minnow leaves the harbor.


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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.

Quote of the Day

It has always seemed strange to me . . . The things we admire in men - kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling - are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest - sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest - are the traits of success. ~ John Steinbeck, Cannery Row

Thursday Thirteen

Songs for the times . . . in my mind anyway . . .

1. I'll Stand By You, The Pretenders (even if you are not my friend or family, I will defend you. Can you say the same? I don't feel it.)

2. The Winner Takes It All, Abba (guess you know where this one belongs. Phhtttt.)

3. 99 Luft Balloons (99 Red Balloons), Nena (nuclear holocaust)

4. 1999, Prince (don't we wish - what would we have done differently?)

5. Bad Moon Rising, Credence Clearwater Revival (I see earthquakes and lightning. I know the end is coming soon.)

6. One of the Living, Tina Turner

7. We Don't Need Another Hero, Tina Turner (The last generation, the ones they left behind.)

8. Another Brick in the Wall, Pink Floyd ('cause "we don't need no education," now do we? We need it more than ever.)

9. Where Have All the Flowers Gone? Peter, Paul & Mary (When will we ever learn?)

10. Strange Fruit, Billie Holiday (shouldn't even be an issue . . . but it obviously is)

11. War!, Edwin Starr (what is it good for?)

12. American Woman, The Guess Who (Pull together, ladies. Let's kick some A$$ in the next few years.)

13. I Am Woman, Helen Reddy (Still here, we ain't stayin' down, damn it.)

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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 473rd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. 

Post-Election

And now we are truly under the rule of lesser men.


HILLARY CLINTON WON THE POPULAR VOTE. But she did not win the election.

This One's For You, Mary Johnston

The hallowed halls of the Virginia General Assembly never heard such a speech as the one Mary Johnston gave before the learned politicos on January 19, 1912.

An advocate for a woman’s right to vote, Johnston, a Botetourt County native and by then a much-accomplished and well-respected author (she wrote To Have and To Hold, The Long Roll, Hagar, and 25 other books, a play or two, poetry, and short stories), told the legislatures that she paid $1,000 annually in taxes to the state, yet had no voice in how the revenue was spent.

Her family settled western Virginia and had fought in all of the country’s wars up to that time. Yet recent male immigrants, who knew nothing of democracy, she said, were treated as if they knew better than she what the interests of the state might be.

“We are asking that those who live under the laws of a state . . . may have something to do with the making of those laws,” Johnston said in another speech, this time before a meeting of governors. “We are asking that we who pay a very considerable portion of the taxes of the State and of the country may have a voice in the apportionment of those taxes. We are asking that we who work may have a say as to the conditions under which we work.”

For six years, Johnston gave up much of her life so that women could obtain the right to vote. She suffered from vicious personal attacks from anti-suffrage groups. She did not give up.

In 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution gave women the right to vote. Now, 104 years after Johnston spoke before the Virginia General Assembly, and 96 years after women received the right to vote, a woman is on the ballot, running for president in one of the two major parties.

At this very moment, there are folks working to undermine a linchpin of democracy that 50 percent of you, male and female, black or white, apparently take for granted. Or did that hashtag #repealthe19th not catch your attention?

I voted for Secretary Clinton because she cannot be the crooked thief that she has been accused of being. If so, she must be the smartest crook alive, given that for 25 years she has withstood a constant barrage of hatred, vilification, smears, mudslinging, and investigations. Surely if there was something to the charges, somebody would have figured it out by now.

She is resilient. I admire that. She is intelligent. She is informed on the details of domestic and foreign policy. She is, in my opinion, the most highly-informed and best-trained person to ever run for the office of president. She may be hawkish on foreign policy, but I know from my work as a news reporter that people often change their minds when they take office. The view is different from the Oval Office.

Is she lily-white perfect? No. How could she be? Snow White doesn't stand a chance in this world - and you're never going to get a perfect person in the White House. Her character flaws are miniscule compared to those of her opponent. If a man were running with her flaws, he would be considered a saint.

I like Hillary Clinton because I have followed her career for many years. I've read autobiographies about her. I've also read the Democratic Party Platform, and I applaud it's goals. I read through the Republican Party Platform and not once did I see the word "art" in there. Maybe I missed it. But it is in the Democratic Party Platform, right in the table of contents, and art is important to me. Art makes for a better world. The lack of it makes misery.

DNC Platform:

"Promoting Arts and Culture
Democrats are proud of our support for arts funding and education. We are committed to continuing the policies and programs that have already done so much for our creative arts industry and economy. Investment in the arts strengthens our communities and contributes to our nation’s rich cultural heritage. We will continue to support public funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, for the National Endowment for the Humanities, and for programs providing art and music education in primary and secondary schools. The entire nation prospers when we protect and promote the unique artistic and cultural contributions of the women and men who create and preserve our nation’s heritage." (page 21)

Mary Johnston, I think, would approve of my vote.

The Eight-Point Buck

This lovely and magnificent-looking creature had the misfortune of passing in sight of my husband's muzzleloader on Saturday. He is now hanging in the butcher's freezer.

Fortunately I was able to grab a few shots of him through the window before my husband saw him.

I would much rather shoot deer with a camera than with a gun, though I know hunting is necessary to keep the population down. We are overrun with deer here on the farm and they do a number on the crop fields every year.

But still, the vision of him bounding along the woodland path is more dear to me than his antlers on the garage wall.

Sunday Stealing: Ask, Ask, Ask

From Sunday Stealing

Ask, Ask, Ask

1 - Who was the last person you texted?

A. I last emailed the phone of a friend who had a birthday on Saturday. (That is my version of texting.)

2 - When is your birthday?

A. It is in June. I'm a pesky little Gemini.

3 - Who do you want to be with right now?

A. Nobody except my husband, although if someone wanted to drop by and give me a hug I gladly would accept it.

4 - What sports do you play?

A. None.

5 - Who is the first person in your blogroll?

A. Around Roanoke, by Tanya. It's a local blog and I have met the blogger in person. She ain't from these here parts and it is always interesting to me to see how someone else views the area.

6 - What is your favorite song at the moment?

A. I am Woman, by Helen Reddy (because I am a Nasty Woman.)

I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'Cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again

[Chorus:]
Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman

You can bend but never break me
'Cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any longer
'Cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul

[Chorus]

I am woman watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
As I spread my lovin' arms across the land
But I'm still an embryo
With a long long way to go
Until I make my brother understand

Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to I can face anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman
Oh, I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong

I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong
I am woman

7 - If you were stranded on an island, who do you wish to be with?

A. My husband, along with a chest full of books and another chest full of vegetable seeds, and the island should have fresh water and food. Otherwise I don't particularly want to be there.

8 - What do you feel right now?

A. Anxious, fretful, terrified, and a little bit crazy

9 - What chocolate is your favorite?

A. Any chocolate is my favorite. Dark chocolate, however, has started to bother my ulcers so I am eating less of it than I once did.

10 - How many boyfriends/girlfriends did you have?

A. I have no idea. I dated in my teens but I met my husband when I was 19 and we were married when I was 20.

11 - Why did you create a blog account?

A. To blog. Initially, I blogged in 2003 about the Iraq War, which I greatly opposed, under a different pseudonym, and then I used AOL Journals for a while as a creative outlet and for something different from news writing. When the company did away with that, I moved to Blogger. It has become a place for me to think, to meet people (hopefully making more friends than enemies), and to stretch in my writing if I choose. 

12 - Who is your favorite blogger?

A. I like all the Saturday 9 and Sunday Stealing folks, even the ones who don't come visit me back. Or maybe they visit but don't respond, I don't know.

13 - Where do you want to be right now?

A. I'm fine where I am.

14 - What do you want to be in the future?

A. Healthy. Able to work. Less anxious and depressed. Still living in a democracy and not the dictatorship that I fear we're headed for if D.T. wins the election on Tuesday.

15 - When was the last time you cried? Why?

A. Earlier in the week because I was in a lot of pain. Sometimes it is very tiring.

16 - Are you happy?

A. I am not unhappy. But I am terribly anxious.

17 - Who do you miss?

A. I miss my grandmother sometimes. She died in 2007.

18 - If you were given a chance, would you like to have a different life?

A. I would not mind having the opportunity to make a few retroactive changes. For one thing, I would have taken better care of my health, and started things like yoga and acupuncture when I was in my 20s instead of my 40s.

19 - What was the best thing you were given?

A. My wedding ring.

20 - Who was the last person who called you?

A. My mother-in-law.

21 - What is your favorite dish?

A. I don't really have one, but I do not eat much red meat or things with tomato sauce on them.

22 - Who is your best friend?

A. My husband. I have several women friends whom I might call "bestie" but I wouldn't want to single anyone out.

23 - What is your biggest regret?

A. Not being able to have children.

24 - Have you ever avoided your partner?

A. I've been married for 33 years. Of course I have avoided him.

25 - Who do you spend crazy moments with?

A. Myself. Why would I want to impose that on anyone else?

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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.