Saturday 9: Could've Been (1987)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) This wistful song is about a love affair that ended. What song reminds you of a long-ago love?
A. I can't think of one. "Longer Than," by Dan Folgerberg, is the song I share with my husband.
2) It was written by Lois Blaisch, a singer-songwriter who performs at clubs around Los Angeles and has sung outdoors at Disneyland. Would you prefer to attend a concert indoors, or outside under the stars?
A. Indoors, but only because of my allergies, and even indoors is bad because everyone wears perform or Axe deodorant.
3) This week's featured artist, Tiffany, appeared on the TV talent show Star Search when she was just 14. She came in second. Though she was disappointed, she admits she learned from it. She studied the singer who won and says it made her a better performer. Can you recall a time when you weathered a tough time and came through stronger?
A. When my husband I were attempting to have children, I went through many surgeries and a lot of agony and tears. It took years but in the end I think I am stronger for having suffered through all of that. However, it is not something I would wish on anyone.
4) Early in her career, she toured Alaska, opening for country legend George Jones. Have you ever visited our 50th state?
A. I have not.
5) Tiffany provided the voice of Judy Jetson in 1990's Jetsons: The Movie. Which cartoon did you enjoy more: the space-age Jetsons or the pre-historic Flintstones?
A. I like them both.
6) In 2007, she appeared on VH1's Celebrity Fit Club and lost 28 lbs. Are you making an effort to stay fit during this stay-at-home period?
A. Not exactly.
7) In 1987, when this song was popular, Aretha Franklin became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. What's your favorite Aretha song?
A. RESPECT
8) Also in 1987, third-generation race car driver Marco Andretti was born. Are you a race fan?
A. My husband is a racing fan, which makes me one by default. He is more into NASCAR, though.
9) Random question: Do you find it easy to sit still, or are you fidgety?
A. It depends on what I'm doing. If I am reading a book, I can be very still. If I am trying to work on the bookkeeping for the farm or my writing business, I am fidgety because I don't like doing it.
______________
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.
Saturday, April 04, 2020
Thursday, April 02, 2020
Thursday Thirteen
This is my 650th Thursday Thirteen in a row. That means I've been doing this every week for 12.5 years. I don't think I've missed a single week.
Such milestones should be marked with special notations, but all I can think about is how things have changed since the middle of March. This is because of a new virus called Covid-19. The virus has never before been seen in humans, and so we have no immunity to it. It has the capability to kill at least 3% or more of the population while sickening another 70%. In my county, that means about 1,000 people would die and another 23,100 people would be ill. Normally, about 325 people in Botetourt County die each year. So the death toll would triple.
These are things I want to remember about this time:
1. The children are not in school, and parents are home trying to teach when they have no clue how to parent, much less teach.
2. Restaurants are shuttered or are offering "curbside pickup" or delivery for take out. That's every single restaurant in the state, and many throughout the nation.
3. Many other businesses considered "non-essential" are closed or shuttered.
4. People have been told to stay home and not go to work, not to shop, not to be around anyone else.
5. "Social distancing" is the new buzzword. (I personally prefer "physical distancing" because I think "social distancing" has implications that are mentally unhealthy.)
6. Gasoline is down to about $1.60 a gallon, the lowest price it has been in years, but there are few cars on the road because people are not traveling.
7. Gatherings of less than 10 people are ok: more than that, and you're committing a Class 1 misdemeanor in my state.
8. Parks, hiking trails, etc., have closed because people apparently can't keep figure out what "stay six feet away from other people" means.
9. A shortage of critical and necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) is creating issues in large cities due to the Covid-19 crisis.
10. We are watching daily press rallies from #45, and near-daily press conferences from the Virginia governor.
11. People who are cautious are shopping in masks and gloves. Others, who are idiots, are going along as if this is nothing, bumping up against people and some really, really stupid people have been licking toilet seats to prove how stupid they are. Part of me hopes the idiots are right and this does turn out to be "nothing," but they are not right, as the body bag counts in larger communities indicate.
12. Panic buying means no toilet paper or cleaning products, even now, though it has been several weeks since this became a crisis here in the United States.
13. If anything, this proves to me the need for a cohesive, strong unified nation, and a federal government with strength and oversight that regulates well and thoughtfully. Unfortunately, we do not have that at the moment.
_______________
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 650th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.
Such milestones should be marked with special notations, but all I can think about is how things have changed since the middle of March. This is because of a new virus called Covid-19. The virus has never before been seen in humans, and so we have no immunity to it. It has the capability to kill at least 3% or more of the population while sickening another 70%. In my county, that means about 1,000 people would die and another 23,100 people would be ill. Normally, about 325 people in Botetourt County die each year. So the death toll would triple.
These are things I want to remember about this time:
1. The children are not in school, and parents are home trying to teach when they have no clue how to parent, much less teach.
2. Restaurants are shuttered or are offering "curbside pickup" or delivery for take out. That's every single restaurant in the state, and many throughout the nation.
3. Many other businesses considered "non-essential" are closed or shuttered.
4. People have been told to stay home and not go to work, not to shop, not to be around anyone else.
5. "Social distancing" is the new buzzword. (I personally prefer "physical distancing" because I think "social distancing" has implications that are mentally unhealthy.)
6. Gasoline is down to about $1.60 a gallon, the lowest price it has been in years, but there are few cars on the road because people are not traveling.
7. Gatherings of less than 10 people are ok: more than that, and you're committing a Class 1 misdemeanor in my state.
8. Parks, hiking trails, etc., have closed because people apparently can't keep figure out what "stay six feet away from other people" means.
9. A shortage of critical and necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) is creating issues in large cities due to the Covid-19 crisis.
10. We are watching daily press rallies from #45, and near-daily press conferences from the Virginia governor.
11. People who are cautious are shopping in masks and gloves. Others, who are idiots, are going along as if this is nothing, bumping up against people and some really, really stupid people have been licking toilet seats to prove how stupid they are. Part of me hopes the idiots are right and this does turn out to be "nothing," but they are not right, as the body bag counts in larger communities indicate.
12. Panic buying means no toilet paper or cleaning products, even now, though it has been several weeks since this became a crisis here in the United States.
13. If anything, this proves to me the need for a cohesive, strong unified nation, and a federal government with strength and oversight that regulates well and thoughtfully. Unfortunately, we do not have that at the moment.
_______________
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 650th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Monday, March 30, 2020
Pandemic 2020 - Day 18
It was a Friday the 13th when the United States stood still - and the toilet paper disappeared.
That day in March of 2020, the public realized that we aren't immune to things that affect the rest of the world, and the race to the grocery stores left everyone stunned and frightened.
Essential supplies vanished overnight.
Here at the ol' farm, I'd been stocking up a little bit at a time for about two months, picking up an extra can of soup and such here and there. We have always had plenty of toilet paper, a habit I apparently inherited from my grandmother. It's a staple we have always purchased in bulk and in multiples of that.
What I miss the most is the fresh food - and getting out of the house once a week or so for a tour around the grocery aisles. I have not been in a store since the 13th, as I have asthma and my husband believes that he has a stronger immune system than I do, even though he is older.
I've had a few Sunday drives with him, but mostly I've stayed home. It rained most of March, so the weather was dour and glum. This did nothing to help the situation. On warmer days I tried to get outside a little, wearing a dust mask because I am allergic to everything and the pollen has been high. I also was sick for two weeks with something - not Covid-19 - I had a little sore throat and laryngitis but ran no fever. It is another reason for my husband's insistence I stay home, though.
My hair is growing by leaps and bounds, and a week ago I took the scissors to my bangs. Unfortunately, I wear progressive lenses, and I can't see a thing without them, but I can't cut my hair with my specs on. The cut was too high and crooked, but the hair is out of my eyes for the time being. I discovered one needs a very sharp pair of scissors for hair cutting. Mine were incredibly dull. I thought about ordering a pair but apparently so has everyone else, as all but the very expensive hair cutting scissors were out of stock.
Oh well.
I still talk to my friends on the phone, and we text and email. Aside from my trips to the chiropractor and the grocery store, little has changed except for this general uneasiness that has gripped me. I've had vivid dreams and nightmares, and I've noticed it is difficult to concentrate. As much as I'd like to start a new project, I'm not sure now is the time to do it.
We did have one issue come up this weekend - the mattress on the bed has developed a failure on one side. The mattress is still under warranty but it will be some time before we can attend to this matter. For one thing, I don't want strange people in my home right now and for another I don't think any of the mattress stores are open.
Today, Governor Ralph Northam initiated executive order no. 55, which tells us to shelter-in-place. We are only to leave our homes for food, medicine, and fresh air/exercise.
That's a rather clinical assessment of the last 18 days, I think. Perhaps I will get more into the emotional toll at another time.
For now, I simply wanted to make a note of this strange and unprecedented time in my blog.
Be well, dear reader, and may the universe look after you.
That day in March of 2020, the public realized that we aren't immune to things that affect the rest of the world, and the race to the grocery stores left everyone stunned and frightened.
Essential supplies vanished overnight.
Here at the ol' farm, I'd been stocking up a little bit at a time for about two months, picking up an extra can of soup and such here and there. We have always had plenty of toilet paper, a habit I apparently inherited from my grandmother. It's a staple we have always purchased in bulk and in multiples of that.
What I miss the most is the fresh food - and getting out of the house once a week or so for a tour around the grocery aisles. I have not been in a store since the 13th, as I have asthma and my husband believes that he has a stronger immune system than I do, even though he is older.
I've had a few Sunday drives with him, but mostly I've stayed home. It rained most of March, so the weather was dour and glum. This did nothing to help the situation. On warmer days I tried to get outside a little, wearing a dust mask because I am allergic to everything and the pollen has been high. I also was sick for two weeks with something - not Covid-19 - I had a little sore throat and laryngitis but ran no fever. It is another reason for my husband's insistence I stay home, though.
My hair is growing by leaps and bounds, and a week ago I took the scissors to my bangs. Unfortunately, I wear progressive lenses, and I can't see a thing without them, but I can't cut my hair with my specs on. The cut was too high and crooked, but the hair is out of my eyes for the time being. I discovered one needs a very sharp pair of scissors for hair cutting. Mine were incredibly dull. I thought about ordering a pair but apparently so has everyone else, as all but the very expensive hair cutting scissors were out of stock.
Oh well.
I still talk to my friends on the phone, and we text and email. Aside from my trips to the chiropractor and the grocery store, little has changed except for this general uneasiness that has gripped me. I've had vivid dreams and nightmares, and I've noticed it is difficult to concentrate. As much as I'd like to start a new project, I'm not sure now is the time to do it.
We did have one issue come up this weekend - the mattress on the bed has developed a failure on one side. The mattress is still under warranty but it will be some time before we can attend to this matter. For one thing, I don't want strange people in my home right now and for another I don't think any of the mattress stores are open.
Today, Governor Ralph Northam initiated executive order no. 55, which tells us to shelter-in-place. We are only to leave our homes for food, medicine, and fresh air/exercise.
That's a rather clinical assessment of the last 18 days, I think. Perhaps I will get more into the emotional toll at another time.
For now, I simply wanted to make a note of this strange and unprecedented time in my blog.
Be well, dear reader, and may the universe look after you.
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Sunday Stealing
Sunday Stealing
1. If there's a personal god, what quality would you most like that person to have (and why)?
A. Empathy. If a god has no empathy, how can she have compassion, love, understanding, and comprehension of the human condition?
2. What's your death-row meal?
A. Chocolate cake with chocolate icing, chocolate milk, a chocolate candy bar, and a banana.
3. Assuming we make it through this outbreak with minimal loss of life, what do you think our big takeaway should be?
A. That we are all one world and that there is no "us" versus "them" except in our own minds. Being prepared for eventualities is not a waste of time or money. Human lives are worth more than economic prosperity.
4. Whom do you find yourself missing more than you would've predicted?
A. No one, really. I stay alone except for my husband most of the time anyway, and the people I do interact with are generally still available to me via the usual methods - Facebook, the telephone, and text.
5. What brings you the most joy? Not happiness, not contentment -- JOY.
A. Being completely immersed in something to the point of forgetting about everything else.
6. Do you find yourself regretting anything you've said or done on social media?
A. No. I am particular about what I put on social media.
7. What are your favorite and least favorite things about your body and face?
A. Isn't my face part of my body? Odd phrasing. My least favorite thing about my body is my fat, and my least favorite thing about my face is my right eye, which sometimes droops. My favorite thing about my body is my hands, without which I would not get much done, and my favorite thing about my face is my eyes, without which I could not see. Plus they're a nice hazel and they change colors depending on my clothes.
8. What are your favorite and least favorite things about your life?
A. My favorite thing about my life is my creativity, and my least favorite thing about my life would be that I am alone too much.
9. How's the self-isolation affecting your libido?
A. That's just too personal a question to answer.
10. Which three places in the physical universe would you most like to visit?
A. (1) An M class planet in a galaxy far, far away (2) the sun, and (3) New Zealand.
11. On whom did you have a crush years ago? Have you ever told them?
A. I can't recall having a crush on anyone long ago. I'm 56 years old and any crush I would have had would have occurred when I was a teenager and long before I met my husband of 37 years.
12. How have your religious views changed since you were in high school?
A. I wasn't religious, then I was, now I'm not. Now I'm spiritual, not religious.
13. If you could change one law, what would it be?
A. I would put term limits on federal House and Senate seat holders.
14. If you could add one commandment to the original ten, what would it be?
A. All people are created equal and women are people.
________________
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.
1. If there's a personal god, what quality would you most like that person to have (and why)?
A. Empathy. If a god has no empathy, how can she have compassion, love, understanding, and comprehension of the human condition?
2. What's your death-row meal?
A. Chocolate cake with chocolate icing, chocolate milk, a chocolate candy bar, and a banana.
3. Assuming we make it through this outbreak with minimal loss of life, what do you think our big takeaway should be?
A. That we are all one world and that there is no "us" versus "them" except in our own minds. Being prepared for eventualities is not a waste of time or money. Human lives are worth more than economic prosperity.
4. Whom do you find yourself missing more than you would've predicted?
A. No one, really. I stay alone except for my husband most of the time anyway, and the people I do interact with are generally still available to me via the usual methods - Facebook, the telephone, and text.
5. What brings you the most joy? Not happiness, not contentment -- JOY.
A. Being completely immersed in something to the point of forgetting about everything else.
6. Do you find yourself regretting anything you've said or done on social media?
A. No. I am particular about what I put on social media.
7. What are your favorite and least favorite things about your body and face?
A. Isn't my face part of my body? Odd phrasing. My least favorite thing about my body is my fat, and my least favorite thing about my face is my right eye, which sometimes droops. My favorite thing about my body is my hands, without which I would not get much done, and my favorite thing about my face is my eyes, without which I could not see. Plus they're a nice hazel and they change colors depending on my clothes.
8. What are your favorite and least favorite things about your life?
A. My favorite thing about my life is my creativity, and my least favorite thing about my life would be that I am alone too much.
9. How's the self-isolation affecting your libido?
A. That's just too personal a question to answer.
10. Which three places in the physical universe would you most like to visit?
A. (1) An M class planet in a galaxy far, far away (2) the sun, and (3) New Zealand.
11. On whom did you have a crush years ago? Have you ever told them?
A. I can't recall having a crush on anyone long ago. I'm 56 years old and any crush I would have had would have occurred when I was a teenager and long before I met my husband of 37 years.
12. How have your religious views changed since you were in high school?
A. I wasn't religious, then I was, now I'm not. Now I'm spiritual, not religious.
13. If you could change one law, what would it be?
A. I would put term limits on federal House and Senate seat holders.
14. If you could add one commandment to the original ten, what would it be?
A. All people are created equal and women are people.
________________
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, March 28, 2020
Saturday 9: Somebody's Fool
Saturday 9: Everybody's Somebody's Fool (1960)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
None of this week's questions mention the corona virus. However, if you want to share how you're feeling about Covid-19 at this extraordinary time, please feel free to do so. You can share in the comments if you are so inclined. We need to support each other as best we can.
1) Next Wednesday is April Fool's Day. Do you have any pranks planned? Do you expect to fall victim to any April Fool's Day mischief?
A. No. I seldom do and this year things are so crazy we don't need any April Fool's mischief.
2) When she was a kid, Crazy Sam would fool her mom by putting bubble wrap under the bath mat so there would be a POP! when her mother stepped on it. When you encounter bubble wrap, do you always indulge in a pop or two?
A. Yes. It is rather hard to resist. That was pretty clever, putting it under the bath mat.
3) While we're using this song to celebrate April Fool's Day, it was written about another subject entirely: heartbreak. The lyrics tell us that at some point, we each get our hearts broken by someone who doesn't love us as much as we love them. Do you think that's true?
A. Yes. It doesn't have to be a lover, either. It can be a friend, parent, sibling, grandparent - pretty much anyone. Emotions wax and wane and I think most relationships have periods where one person is more loving or lovable than the other.
4) In 1962, this week's featured Connie Francis published a book aimed at teens called For Every Young Heart. It addressed topics like going steady and schoolwork vs. social life. Do you ever read advice columns or self-help books?
A. Yes. I read Dear Annie in the paper and I have read many self-help books over the years.
5) Connie Francis can play the accordion. Sam hasnever met anyone adept at this complicated instrument -- not even in her high school band. What about you? Do you play the accordion, or do you know anyone who can?
A. I have played the accordion though it was a long time ago. Apparently one of my friends has picked it back up and is sitting on her front porch relearning it during our physical distancing time.
6) In 1960, when this record was popular, Harper Lee's classic To Kill a Mockingbird was published. Have you read it?
A. Yes.
7) Also in 1960, one of Life magazine's best-selling issues had Sophia Loren on the cover. At that time, she was an international film star and considered one of the world's most beautiful women. Who do you consider one of 2020's most beautiful women?
A. I have absolutely no idea. I'll go with Gal Gadot because she plays Wonder Woman and the second movie is supposed to come out in June. I suppose that will depend upon whether or not the theaters are open by then.
8) A 1960 issue of Vogue acknowledged how expensive it had become to maintain a fashionable wardrobe and asked, "If you were to buy only one thing, what would it be?" If it's good enough for Vogue, it's good enough for Saturday 9: If you could purchase only one new article of clothing for spring 2020, what would you buy?
A. A really good pair of sneakers.
9) Random question: When someone makes you really angry, are you more likely to respond with stony silence or a big noise?
A. I tend initially to be silent but then have a long build up and explode, leaving the subject of my ire wondering what the heck happened because he or she is clueless.
______________
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. (#330)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
None of this week's questions mention the corona virus. However, if you want to share how you're feeling about Covid-19 at this extraordinary time, please feel free to do so. You can share in the comments if you are so inclined. We need to support each other as best we can.
1) Next Wednesday is April Fool's Day. Do you have any pranks planned? Do you expect to fall victim to any April Fool's Day mischief?
A. No. I seldom do and this year things are so crazy we don't need any April Fool's mischief.
2) When she was a kid, Crazy Sam would fool her mom by putting bubble wrap under the bath mat so there would be a POP! when her mother stepped on it. When you encounter bubble wrap, do you always indulge in a pop or two?
A. Yes. It is rather hard to resist. That was pretty clever, putting it under the bath mat.
3) While we're using this song to celebrate April Fool's Day, it was written about another subject entirely: heartbreak. The lyrics tell us that at some point, we each get our hearts broken by someone who doesn't love us as much as we love them. Do you think that's true?
A. Yes. It doesn't have to be a lover, either. It can be a friend, parent, sibling, grandparent - pretty much anyone. Emotions wax and wane and I think most relationships have periods where one person is more loving or lovable than the other.
4) In 1962, this week's featured Connie Francis published a book aimed at teens called For Every Young Heart. It addressed topics like going steady and schoolwork vs. social life. Do you ever read advice columns or self-help books?
A. Yes. I read Dear Annie in the paper and I have read many self-help books over the years.
5) Connie Francis can play the accordion. Sam hasnever met anyone adept at this complicated instrument -- not even in her high school band. What about you? Do you play the accordion, or do you know anyone who can?
A. I have played the accordion though it was a long time ago. Apparently one of my friends has picked it back up and is sitting on her front porch relearning it during our physical distancing time.
6) In 1960, when this record was popular, Harper Lee's classic To Kill a Mockingbird was published. Have you read it?
A. Yes.
7) Also in 1960, one of Life magazine's best-selling issues had Sophia Loren on the cover. At that time, she was an international film star and considered one of the world's most beautiful women. Who do you consider one of 2020's most beautiful women?
A. I have absolutely no idea. I'll go with Gal Gadot because she plays Wonder Woman and the second movie is supposed to come out in June. I suppose that will depend upon whether or not the theaters are open by then.
8) A 1960 issue of Vogue acknowledged how expensive it had become to maintain a fashionable wardrobe and asked, "If you were to buy only one thing, what would it be?" If it's good enough for Vogue, it's good enough for Saturday 9: If you could purchase only one new article of clothing for spring 2020, what would you buy?
A. A really good pair of sneakers.
9) Random question: When someone makes you really angry, are you more likely to respond with stony silence or a big noise?
A. I tend initially to be silent but then have a long build up and explode, leaving the subject of my ire wondering what the heck happened because he or she is clueless.
______________
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. (#330)
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Thursday Thirteen
In these days and hours of fury, when we're all trying hard to get along, I thought I might offer up some things I learned from having my husband home for months while he recuperated from surgery.
It was a huge change to our schedule - my schedule - so it took some adapting.
1. Find your own space. If you are a homemaker, for example, find a room or corner or couch or whatever to call your own.
2. If you had a home routine, try to stick to it. If you normally rose at 6 a.m., continue to do that. It helps to keep the rhythm the same if you can.
3. If you are married, learn to be friends again. I am amazed at how many of my married friends are not actually friends with one another.
4. Board games can be very helpful in passing the time.
5. Learn to shut the doors. If one person keeps the TV on all the time, shut the door and drown it out with music. Headphones are also useful.
6. Try to do some things together, like gardening or walks in the woods. While you're out and about, revisit old goals if you've been together a long time. What haven't you done that you can work toward together?
7. Create a key word that means all conversation and everything else must stop if one of you say it. This is a safety word that means, "I'm uncomfortable, things are getting out of hand." Make it a funny word and not something you would normally use. Our key word is "Hassenpfeffer" which reminds us both of a Bugs Bunny skit. Your key word could be anything, even a made-up word. The important thing is that you both honor the "total stop" when one of you says it.
8. If you clean and you're particular about it, do it yourself and don't ask for help. If the other spouse offers to help, give him or her some other chore than the one you're performing. Housework is never-ending and there are always drawers to clean out and straighten, trash to pick up or carry out, cabinets to wipe down. Don't turn down help, just turn it into something else other than what you're doing, unless what you're doing is a two-person job. (And don't complain about how the person does the other assignment, either.)
9. You don't have to spend every minute together simply because you're stuck at home with one another. Give each other space. Let the other person go read a book or watch TV. We all need our personal time.
10. Try not to argue over money. That might become difficult in the days ahead, but remember your relationship is ultimately the most important thing. Try to compromise on priority spending.
11. Let the other person take over a few chores he or she doesn't normally do. Maybe switch off so that one cooks while the other one mows for a change. Shake it up a little bit.
12. Try not to be critical of the way the other person does things. So what if the spouse folds towels differently than you do? They're still folded and put away.
13. Remember to breathe and try not to be too hard on yourself or your partner during this time of change. Despite the efforts to "return to our lives" things will be different from now on. There will be no going back. You may return to your job but you may not have the same people there. Stresses will change, and come and go, but hopefully you have a partner for life. That's the relationship to nurture.
_______________
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 649th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.
It was a huge change to our schedule - my schedule - so it took some adapting.
1. Find your own space. If you are a homemaker, for example, find a room or corner or couch or whatever to call your own.
2. If you had a home routine, try to stick to it. If you normally rose at 6 a.m., continue to do that. It helps to keep the rhythm the same if you can.
3. If you are married, learn to be friends again. I am amazed at how many of my married friends are not actually friends with one another.
4. Board games can be very helpful in passing the time.
5. Learn to shut the doors. If one person keeps the TV on all the time, shut the door and drown it out with music. Headphones are also useful.
6. Try to do some things together, like gardening or walks in the woods. While you're out and about, revisit old goals if you've been together a long time. What haven't you done that you can work toward together?
7. Create a key word that means all conversation and everything else must stop if one of you say it. This is a safety word that means, "I'm uncomfortable, things are getting out of hand." Make it a funny word and not something you would normally use. Our key word is "Hassenpfeffer" which reminds us both of a Bugs Bunny skit. Your key word could be anything, even a made-up word. The important thing is that you both honor the "total stop" when one of you says it.
8. If you clean and you're particular about it, do it yourself and don't ask for help. If the other spouse offers to help, give him or her some other chore than the one you're performing. Housework is never-ending and there are always drawers to clean out and straighten, trash to pick up or carry out, cabinets to wipe down. Don't turn down help, just turn it into something else other than what you're doing, unless what you're doing is a two-person job. (And don't complain about how the person does the other assignment, either.)
9. You don't have to spend every minute together simply because you're stuck at home with one another. Give each other space. Let the other person go read a book or watch TV. We all need our personal time.
10. Try not to argue over money. That might become difficult in the days ahead, but remember your relationship is ultimately the most important thing. Try to compromise on priority spending.
11. Let the other person take over a few chores he or she doesn't normally do. Maybe switch off so that one cooks while the other one mows for a change. Shake it up a little bit.
12. Try not to be critical of the way the other person does things. So what if the spouse folds towels differently than you do? They're still folded and put away.
13. Remember to breathe and try not to be too hard on yourself or your partner during this time of change. Despite the efforts to "return to our lives" things will be different from now on. There will be no going back. You may return to your job but you may not have the same people there. Stresses will change, and come and go, but hopefully you have a partner for life. That's the relationship to nurture.
_______________
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 649th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
I Made This Up
My tooth ached. I was going to have to venture out.
I had no idea what I would find. I hadn't been off the farm since 2020, when the virus hit and people in the United States began to drop like flies.
Mama and me, we were in the hills on our farm. I had Internet, though, because we weren't that rural.
I was in my last year of school, and would turn 18 in June.
But I'd never finish that last year.
Mama made me stay home even before the officials began telling everyone to practice something called "social distancing." We stayed home as long as we could, but the sugar and salt and other items began to run out.
The day Mama decided to go to the store, I cried.
"You stop that now," she chided. "But if I don't come back, don't you leave this place. Don't you leave until someone you trust says you can."
She never came back.
Mama could have been killed in a car wreck for all I knew. I feared she'd been taken, though. I'd read stories in the far corners of the Internet that the government was using this virus thing to take people, to simply steal them away, and then declare them dead.
I don't know what they were doing with those folks, and I didn't want to think about it.
The world began shutting itself down. For a while I tended the farm and things seemed like they might be normal. School maybe would be in my future in a few months, according to the TV. I was still online, things were still working. Mama had lots of money in her accounts from when Daddy'd died in an accident at work. I kept paying the bills when they came.
Then after some folks went back to their normal, the virus hit again.
I think most everyone died.
The TV stopped. My friends quit posting on Facebook, with no explanation. The guy who delivered the gas, who was the only person I'd seen on the farm since just before Mama left, never showed back up so I began rationing that so I would have it. Fortunately, Mama had filled the big tanks down at the barn.
Bills no longer came. Some things kept working though, like electricity and my Internet connection. The lights flickered sometimes during a storm, and once the Internet disappeared for days but it came back. The stuff still worked and I still used it.
I hadn't seen any updated news or information from anyone since late in 2021. That was four years ago.
There were no new videos of folks doing silly things to cheer one another up. No new videos of cats and dogs.
I'd been alone for 8 months when I felt like the world had stopped and left me alone. I didn't need the things Mama had gone after and I was afraid to leave the farm. I didn't have anyone to trust, really. We lived off the road a good ways, and the driveway was hard to spot. The last time I'd walked up there, it was so overgrown no one would have known a house was behind the trees.
I lived off of what I grew and canned. I had peach trees and I kept the seeds from the vegetables so I'd have enough for the next year. The cattle ran wild except for the six or seven I could manage. Once a year I shot a wild one and cut up the beef, canning most of it in case the electricity went out.
Never saw a soul, though.
Didn't see airplanes in the sky, or hear a car. It had been so long since I'd heard that lonesome whistle of the train way down over the hill that I'd about forgotten one once ran through there to the cement plant.
I checked the Internet every day after I did my chores. There were so many youtube videos I figured I could sit there and learn new things for years even if no one was putting up new stuff.
Then my tooth started hurting.
I googled how to fix your tooth and found that pulling it was about the only remedy without a dentist.
So I decided it was time to go see a dentist.
The ol' Toyota truck hadn't been moved much. I'd used it to drive to the mailbox for a while, but after the mail no longer came, I only turned the engine over once or twice every few months, to keep her running. Now I had to hope she'd hold up for the 15-mile trip to Daleville.
Getting out of the driveway was harder than I'd expected it to be. The dirt driveway was overgrown and I had to stop and cut down a few small palmetto trees every now and then. Bending over made my face throb with that tooth. Boy, did it ache.
The chain had rusted across the drive, but a spritz of WD-40 let me get that open. I was on the road, and now anyone could see that someone had driven back into that nearly invisible spot in the trees.
I did not pass a vehicle on my way to town. Nor did I see children playing, or clothes drying on clotheslines, or see another farmer making hay or a woman working in her garden. Every house I passed looked vacant.
Pulling onto the main road, I saw that the businesses along US 220 looked about the same as they did along Gravel Hill Road. Empty.
Empty like in the morning someone might come in and do a little cleaning. Not empty like vagrants had moved in and broken all the windows. Empty like someone had simply closed the door and then, "poof," no one went back.
I moved on through the community. No movement. No dogs, even.
My scream was audible when a cat darted across my path. First living thing I'd seen the whole trip.
I pulled into the dentist office and looked at the shuttered building. The windows weren't broken. The doors weren't open. No lights on. I hopped from the truck and tried a door.
I was going to have to break in.
I had no idea what I would find. I hadn't been off the farm since 2020, when the virus hit and people in the United States began to drop like flies.
Mama and me, we were in the hills on our farm. I had Internet, though, because we weren't that rural.
I was in my last year of school, and would turn 18 in June.
But I'd never finish that last year.
Mama made me stay home even before the officials began telling everyone to practice something called "social distancing." We stayed home as long as we could, but the sugar and salt and other items began to run out.
The day Mama decided to go to the store, I cried.
"You stop that now," she chided. "But if I don't come back, don't you leave this place. Don't you leave until someone you trust says you can."
She never came back.
Mama could have been killed in a car wreck for all I knew. I feared she'd been taken, though. I'd read stories in the far corners of the Internet that the government was using this virus thing to take people, to simply steal them away, and then declare them dead.
I don't know what they were doing with those folks, and I didn't want to think about it.
The world began shutting itself down. For a while I tended the farm and things seemed like they might be normal. School maybe would be in my future in a few months, according to the TV. I was still online, things were still working. Mama had lots of money in her accounts from when Daddy'd died in an accident at work. I kept paying the bills when they came.
Then after some folks went back to their normal, the virus hit again.
I think most everyone died.
The TV stopped. My friends quit posting on Facebook, with no explanation. The guy who delivered the gas, who was the only person I'd seen on the farm since just before Mama left, never showed back up so I began rationing that so I would have it. Fortunately, Mama had filled the big tanks down at the barn.
Bills no longer came. Some things kept working though, like electricity and my Internet connection. The lights flickered sometimes during a storm, and once the Internet disappeared for days but it came back. The stuff still worked and I still used it.
I hadn't seen any updated news or information from anyone since late in 2021. That was four years ago.
There were no new videos of folks doing silly things to cheer one another up. No new videos of cats and dogs.
I'd been alone for 8 months when I felt like the world had stopped and left me alone. I didn't need the things Mama had gone after and I was afraid to leave the farm. I didn't have anyone to trust, really. We lived off the road a good ways, and the driveway was hard to spot. The last time I'd walked up there, it was so overgrown no one would have known a house was behind the trees.
I lived off of what I grew and canned. I had peach trees and I kept the seeds from the vegetables so I'd have enough for the next year. The cattle ran wild except for the six or seven I could manage. Once a year I shot a wild one and cut up the beef, canning most of it in case the electricity went out.
Never saw a soul, though.
Didn't see airplanes in the sky, or hear a car. It had been so long since I'd heard that lonesome whistle of the train way down over the hill that I'd about forgotten one once ran through there to the cement plant.
I checked the Internet every day after I did my chores. There were so many youtube videos I figured I could sit there and learn new things for years even if no one was putting up new stuff.
Then my tooth started hurting.
I googled how to fix your tooth and found that pulling it was about the only remedy without a dentist.
So I decided it was time to go see a dentist.
The ol' Toyota truck hadn't been moved much. I'd used it to drive to the mailbox for a while, but after the mail no longer came, I only turned the engine over once or twice every few months, to keep her running. Now I had to hope she'd hold up for the 15-mile trip to Daleville.
Getting out of the driveway was harder than I'd expected it to be. The dirt driveway was overgrown and I had to stop and cut down a few small palmetto trees every now and then. Bending over made my face throb with that tooth. Boy, did it ache.
The chain had rusted across the drive, but a spritz of WD-40 let me get that open. I was on the road, and now anyone could see that someone had driven back into that nearly invisible spot in the trees.
I did not pass a vehicle on my way to town. Nor did I see children playing, or clothes drying on clotheslines, or see another farmer making hay or a woman working in her garden. Every house I passed looked vacant.
Pulling onto the main road, I saw that the businesses along US 220 looked about the same as they did along Gravel Hill Road. Empty.
Empty like in the morning someone might come in and do a little cleaning. Not empty like vagrants had moved in and broken all the windows. Empty like someone had simply closed the door and then, "poof," no one went back.
I moved on through the community. No movement. No dogs, even.
My scream was audible when a cat darted across my path. First living thing I'd seen the whole trip.
I pulled into the dentist office and looked at the shuttered building. The windows weren't broken. The doors weren't open. No lights on. I hopped from the truck and tried a door.
I was going to have to break in.
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Found Geronimo's Rifle
My husband set out today to visit the big bad world, leaving me here to watch the home fires.
I worried terribly the entire time he was out. He doesn't want me out in the world right now because I have asthma and seem to catch a virus every time we drive by the elementary school. Better to hole up and wait it out.
He was doing routine things, of course. He took the dump truck to the garage for a state inspection sticker.
Then he went to the grocery store, where he came home with a multitude of items, many not on the list, like Little Debbie cookies, pork chops, etc. He said the shelves were bare in many places but fortunately we've enough staples. I'd sent him after fresh fruit and perishables, not Geronimo's rife or toilet paper.
Mostly he ventured out because he needed a medication refill, and the drugstore is inside of the grocery store. We felt like if he was going out, he may as well pick up some food items while he was there.
Fortunately, he did a good job and came home with most of what I needed. He shopped for his mother, too.
He said the biggest problem was the lack of items on the shelves and the fact that he seldom does the food shopping so he doesn't know where anything is.
I made him dump the groceries on the doorstep. I wiped each item off with an antibacterial wipe before I put it away, and washed my hands probably 8 times while I was doing that. He ate his lunch in the garage off of a paper plate. I tried to stay six feet away from him, which is rather hard when you're used to throwing yourself into someone's arms.
Then he loaded the truck up with our trash and headed off to the landfill. Not long after he left, I received a call from my father, who said he was resting on a bed at the Velocity Care because he'd fallen and now had 6 staples in his head. My father is 78 years old. He said my stepmother was in the parking lot and he didn't think he had a concussion, although how you could cut your head that badly and not have a concussion is beyond me.
Some things I have considered today that I hadn't been - the newspaper, which we still receive, apparently is good for holding this virus for 24 hours. I sprayed the front and back pages down with Lysol.
That made me wonder about the mail, since I read that the virus stays on cardboard for 24 hours. Do we not touch the mail for a day? When (if?) a package comes, should I give it a kick into the garage and leave it sitting for a long time before I open it?
I gave my husband orders to strip in the garage, wash his hands, drop his laundry in the washer, wash his hands again, and then take a shower.
He did this, and also wiped down everything in his pockets, including his pocket knife, wallet, and keys, with an antibacterial wipe.
I jokingly told him he didn't have to wash his socks with his pants because I thought the stink there would kill be the virus. He threw them in there anyway. Ha.
So this is our brave new world. For us the biggest changes are trying to be less germy, but we live on a farm and dirt has always been a big part of our world. It is hardest on him, I think, because even though I have complained for 37 years about him tracking in mud, he doesn't stop to take his shoes off.
At least now he is taking off his shoes before enters the house.
I worried terribly the entire time he was out. He doesn't want me out in the world right now because I have asthma and seem to catch a virus every time we drive by the elementary school. Better to hole up and wait it out.
He was doing routine things, of course. He took the dump truck to the garage for a state inspection sticker.
Then he went to the grocery store, where he came home with a multitude of items, many not on the list, like Little Debbie cookies, pork chops, etc. He said the shelves were bare in many places but fortunately we've enough staples. I'd sent him after fresh fruit and perishables, not Geronimo's rife or toilet paper.
Mostly he ventured out because he needed a medication refill, and the drugstore is inside of the grocery store. We felt like if he was going out, he may as well pick up some food items while he was there.
Fortunately, he did a good job and came home with most of what I needed. He shopped for his mother, too.
He said the biggest problem was the lack of items on the shelves and the fact that he seldom does the food shopping so he doesn't know where anything is.
I made him dump the groceries on the doorstep. I wiped each item off with an antibacterial wipe before I put it away, and washed my hands probably 8 times while I was doing that. He ate his lunch in the garage off of a paper plate. I tried to stay six feet away from him, which is rather hard when you're used to throwing yourself into someone's arms.
Then he loaded the truck up with our trash and headed off to the landfill. Not long after he left, I received a call from my father, who said he was resting on a bed at the Velocity Care because he'd fallen and now had 6 staples in his head. My father is 78 years old. He said my stepmother was in the parking lot and he didn't think he had a concussion, although how you could cut your head that badly and not have a concussion is beyond me.
Some things I have considered today that I hadn't been - the newspaper, which we still receive, apparently is good for holding this virus for 24 hours. I sprayed the front and back pages down with Lysol.
That made me wonder about the mail, since I read that the virus stays on cardboard for 24 hours. Do we not touch the mail for a day? When (if?) a package comes, should I give it a kick into the garage and leave it sitting for a long time before I open it?
I gave my husband orders to strip in the garage, wash his hands, drop his laundry in the washer, wash his hands again, and then take a shower.
He did this, and also wiped down everything in his pockets, including his pocket knife, wallet, and keys, with an antibacterial wipe.
I jokingly told him he didn't have to wash his socks with his pants because I thought the stink there would kill be the virus. He threw them in there anyway. Ha.
So this is our brave new world. For us the biggest changes are trying to be less germy, but we live on a farm and dirt has always been a big part of our world. It is hardest on him, I think, because even though I have complained for 37 years about him tracking in mud, he doesn't stop to take his shoes off.
At least now he is taking off his shoes before enters the house.
Monday, March 23, 2020
Thrift Store Jungles
People on Facebook are saying that, during this time of pandemic crisis, they are clearing out stuff.
Decluttering.
Organizing.
Rearranging.
Goodwill and similar resources will be the recipients of discarded, yet still useful, items, I suppose.
I don't go into Goodwill not because I'm too good for it but because it smells like my attic. I don't go in my attic, either.
Both upset my allergies.
This is not the time to have a yard sale, not when folks are supposed to be separated and no more than 10 people in an area at a time. Perhaps in 10 weeks there will be lots of yard sales.
The last time I went to a yard sale was probably 20 years ago. I went in the early hours and the dew was still wet on everything. I slipped on the asphalt at the home with a steep driveway and fell. I tore my pants, bruised up my arm, and bent my glasses.
Not a soul saw me fall, as best I could tell. If they did, they didn't say anything.
I picked myself up and went home, and haven't been to a yard sale since. If I were an eBay seller, though, I would go to yard sales and auctions because people rid themselves of nice stuff sometimes. However, I am not an eBay seller.
Most folks have too many things. Sometimes there is a good reason for replacements or buying new. For example, I have sneakers that I replace every six months. They're still basically good shoes, they've just worn too much for my feet. I have very picky feet that require a stiff-soled shoe. After a while, the soles become loose and I begin having pain. That's when I know it's time to buy a new pair of shoes.
I don't think I've bought a pair of worn shoes. I wonder if they really sell them at Goodwill, or do they go to some other place to be melted down or whatever one might do with a shoe.
Other times, though, people buy new things for unknown reasons. I have a pair or two of shoes that I doubt I will ever wear again, shoes I bought to wear to a special event. I wonder when we will have special events again.
At any rate, when the curfews are lifted and we're all free to go back to browsing things, I look for eBay and the local thrift stores to have loads of stuff available because people are home going through boxes and realizing they've done without this whatsit for 10 years so they may as well rid themselves of it.
I am not doing any of that at the moment. I am home all the time anyway and I clear stuff out when the mood strikes me. Besides, the things I need to clear out are generally papers and they need to be burned or shredded, not sent to a thrift store.
Maybe clearing a shelf would be good therapy, though. Perhaps I'll give it a go, and send my own things to the thrift store jungles.
Decluttering.
Organizing.
Rearranging.
Goodwill and similar resources will be the recipients of discarded, yet still useful, items, I suppose.
I don't go into Goodwill not because I'm too good for it but because it smells like my attic. I don't go in my attic, either.
Both upset my allergies.
This is not the time to have a yard sale, not when folks are supposed to be separated and no more than 10 people in an area at a time. Perhaps in 10 weeks there will be lots of yard sales.
The last time I went to a yard sale was probably 20 years ago. I went in the early hours and the dew was still wet on everything. I slipped on the asphalt at the home with a steep driveway and fell. I tore my pants, bruised up my arm, and bent my glasses.
Not a soul saw me fall, as best I could tell. If they did, they didn't say anything.
I picked myself up and went home, and haven't been to a yard sale since. If I were an eBay seller, though, I would go to yard sales and auctions because people rid themselves of nice stuff sometimes. However, I am not an eBay seller.
Most folks have too many things. Sometimes there is a good reason for replacements or buying new. For example, I have sneakers that I replace every six months. They're still basically good shoes, they've just worn too much for my feet. I have very picky feet that require a stiff-soled shoe. After a while, the soles become loose and I begin having pain. That's when I know it's time to buy a new pair of shoes.
I don't think I've bought a pair of worn shoes. I wonder if they really sell them at Goodwill, or do they go to some other place to be melted down or whatever one might do with a shoe.
Other times, though, people buy new things for unknown reasons. I have a pair or two of shoes that I doubt I will ever wear again, shoes I bought to wear to a special event. I wonder when we will have special events again.
At any rate, when the curfews are lifted and we're all free to go back to browsing things, I look for eBay and the local thrift stores to have loads of stuff available because people are home going through boxes and realizing they've done without this whatsit for 10 years so they may as well rid themselves of it.
I am not doing any of that at the moment. I am home all the time anyway and I clear stuff out when the mood strikes me. Besides, the things I need to clear out are generally papers and they need to be burned or shredded, not sent to a thrift store.
Maybe clearing a shelf would be good therapy, though. Perhaps I'll give it a go, and send my own things to the thrift store jungles.
Sunday, March 22, 2020
Sunday Stealing
Sunday Stealing
1. Has the COVID-19 affected your work environment?
A. I work from home when I work. So no.
2. How are you feeling about the Coronavirus?
A. I think the United States had a lackluster response to this at best. We were ill-prepared for something of this magnitude even though we've known about it since at least January. Some people in high places did not take it seriously.
3. Has anybody you know been tested / have you?
A. My nephew has been tested. He works in a hospital environment and came down with symptoms. He can't go back to work until he has the results back.
4. Do you have any friends stuck in any exotic locations?
A. Not that I am aware of.
5. Have you changed any of your personal habits due to the pandemic?
A. I don't go out now and I wash my hands more. I make my husband do a sexy striptease in the garage and then come in and wash his hands after he's been among the public.
6. What is the craziest thing you've seen or heard about the outbreak?
A. Some of the "cures" I've seen have been silly. Someone suggested pouring cold water in front of your face while at the same time blowing hot air through a hair dryer up into your nose. Something about moist heat killing the virus.
Sounds like a recipe for electrocution if you ask me.
7. Do you think our politicians are doing enough to curb the crisis?
A. I think our politicians are assholes.
8. Have you stockpiled anything because of the crisis?
A. I have always been a toilet paper hoarder, so I have my usual amount of items of that here and did before it became a thing for everyone else. We also stocked up on canned goods, like soup and green beans.
9. What do you think you will miss the most if you are subject to a lock in?
A. Not a whole lot as I don't go out that much anyway. Although it is nice to be able to simply pick up and go to the store if I want. Right now I am not doing that.
10. What is the weirdest rumor you've heard about the virus?
A. Isn't this the same as #6?
11. Do you have a favorite meme about the virus?
A. No.
12. Has the virus made you grateful for anything?
A. I am grateful my husband is still home on sick leave from his ankle surgery and not out on the front lines of this pandemic. He's a battalion chief with the city fire department.
13. Have any of your plans been upset by the outbreak?
A. Not so far. We will see how it goes as time passes.
14. Are you planning do to anything different because of the COVID-19 outbreak?
A. I am not going out much and I really need a haircut. So my hair is growing.
15. What do you hope to see in six months time?
A. Healing, and lots of change as people realize who are really important. It's not the politicians, that's for sure. It's the stock clerks, the firefighters and paramedics, the nurses, the doctors, and the people who drive the trucks, and we can't forget the farmers, because without them, there would be no food. If we're lucky, this will bring on an entire societal change for the better. That's my hope.
16. Has the Coronavirus upset your mental health in any way?
A. Listening to certain politicians has frayed my nerves, so I have stopped listening. I read the newspaper everyday and I watch the local news. That is all I need to know.
________________
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.
1. Has the COVID-19 affected your work environment?
A. I work from home when I work. So no.
2. How are you feeling about the Coronavirus?
A. I think the United States had a lackluster response to this at best. We were ill-prepared for something of this magnitude even though we've known about it since at least January. Some people in high places did not take it seriously.
3. Has anybody you know been tested / have you?
A. My nephew has been tested. He works in a hospital environment and came down with symptoms. He can't go back to work until he has the results back.
4. Do you have any friends stuck in any exotic locations?
A. Not that I am aware of.
5. Have you changed any of your personal habits due to the pandemic?
A. I don't go out now and I wash my hands more. I make my husband do a sexy striptease in the garage and then come in and wash his hands after he's been among the public.
6. What is the craziest thing you've seen or heard about the outbreak?
A. Some of the "cures" I've seen have been silly. Someone suggested pouring cold water in front of your face while at the same time blowing hot air through a hair dryer up into your nose. Something about moist heat killing the virus.
Sounds like a recipe for electrocution if you ask me.
7. Do you think our politicians are doing enough to curb the crisis?
A. I think our politicians are assholes.
8. Have you stockpiled anything because of the crisis?
A. I have always been a toilet paper hoarder, so I have my usual amount of items of that here and did before it became a thing for everyone else. We also stocked up on canned goods, like soup and green beans.
9. What do you think you will miss the most if you are subject to a lock in?
A. Not a whole lot as I don't go out that much anyway. Although it is nice to be able to simply pick up and go to the store if I want. Right now I am not doing that.
10. What is the weirdest rumor you've heard about the virus?
A. Isn't this the same as #6?
11. Do you have a favorite meme about the virus?
A. No.
12. Has the virus made you grateful for anything?
A. I am grateful my husband is still home on sick leave from his ankle surgery and not out on the front lines of this pandemic. He's a battalion chief with the city fire department.
13. Have any of your plans been upset by the outbreak?
A. Not so far. We will see how it goes as time passes.
14. Are you planning do to anything different because of the COVID-19 outbreak?
A. I am not going out much and I really need a haircut. So my hair is growing.
15. What do you hope to see in six months time?
A. Healing, and lots of change as people realize who are really important. It's not the politicians, that's for sure. It's the stock clerks, the firefighters and paramedics, the nurses, the doctors, and the people who drive the trucks, and we can't forget the farmers, because without them, there would be no food. If we're lucky, this will bring on an entire societal change for the better. That's my hope.
16. Has the Coronavirus upset your mental health in any way?
A. Listening to certain politicians has frayed my nerves, so I have stopped listening. I read the newspaper everyday and I watch the local news. That is all I need to know.
________________
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, March 21, 2020
Saturday 9: Complete Symphonies
Saturday 9: Complete Symphonies (2019)
This week we're classing up the joint with a well-received box-set by the Danish Chamber Orchestra. You can listen to the orchestra here.
1) Beethoven is one of classical music's best known composers. Do you often listen to classical music?
A. I do on occasion. I wouldn't call it "often."
2) Though a musical genius, Beethoven never learned to multiply or divide. When faced with a simple arithmetic problem, do you do it in your head? Or do you rely on the calculator in your phone or on your computer?
A. It depends on the problem. Simple arithmetic I can do in my head. Nowadays, I just yell out to Alexa and she solves it for me.
3) Beethoven bathed often, which was considered "quirky" for a man of his time. (Understandable, since you had the heat the water, haul it to the tub, and then empty the tub bucket by bucket when you were done.) Do you bathe in the morning or in the evening?
A. Both. I take a long shower in the morning and quick "rinse" in the evening. I have reasons for this. If I don't shower in the morning I look like hell and if I don't shower at night I wake up sick from going to bed with dust and allergens in my hair.
4) Adam Fischer conducts the Danish Chamber Orchestra for this 5-disc set. He began his musical career young, when he sang in the children's choir of Budapest's National Opera House. Have you ever sung in a choir or chorus?
A. I played in a rock band. I was in the chorus in the 7th and 8th grades.
5) Mr. Fischer was awarded the Gold Medal of Arts from the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Tell us about a prize or award you have received. (Yes, that ribbon you earned for penmanship in second grade counts.)
A. In the second grade, I won second place for a drawing I made about littering. I used a stick person and showed him/her/it tossing trash in the can. I made it "3D" by wadding up a bit of tissue for the trash and cutting a toilet paper tube in half to create a trash can. I won $5 for it and they paid me with a check, which I signed upside down and my mother got angry because I didn't know where to sign a check. I was 7. What the hell did she expect?
6) The Danish Chamber Orchestra is beloved in Demark. When, in 2014, the Danish Broadcasting Company announced it would no longer fund the Orchestra, citizens began a crowdfunding campaign and raised more than $1,000,000 to keep the music playing. Have you ever contributed to a crowdfunding platform, like GoFundMe, Kickstarter or FundRazr?
A. I gave to a GoFundMe once and felt taken afterwards, so I won't do that again.
7) The Orchestra's "home" is the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen. Where were you when you last heard music played live?
A. I was at the Harvester Performance Center in Rocky Mount, VA. I was listening to Tommy Emmanuel play guitar. Check him out here.
8) In 2019, when this boxed set was released, China became the first nation to land a spacecraft on the far side of the moon. Are you fascinated by stories about space?
A. I love stories about space. I check out the NASA site a lot, I look for the International Space Station when it flies overhead, and I go outside and watch meteor showers.
9) Random question: Tell us about your week. These are extraordinary times, and it might feel good to share.
A. My county had its first confirmed case of Covid-19 yesterday, and today there was another run on the grocery stores locally. Having it so close makes it more real, I suppose. Mostly I have been home and I have been sick with some kind of something, but I've not run a fever. I think it is allergies. I did not go to my doctor but I emailed her so she is aware. I am going to go rest after I finish writing this. I also resolved Friday that I will not listen to someone who constantly demeans the media as journalists do their best to keep the public properly informed in demanding times.
______________
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.
This week we're classing up the joint with a well-received box-set by the Danish Chamber Orchestra. You can listen to the orchestra here.
1) Beethoven is one of classical music's best known composers. Do you often listen to classical music?
A. I do on occasion. I wouldn't call it "often."
2) Though a musical genius, Beethoven never learned to multiply or divide. When faced with a simple arithmetic problem, do you do it in your head? Or do you rely on the calculator in your phone or on your computer?
A. It depends on the problem. Simple arithmetic I can do in my head. Nowadays, I just yell out to Alexa and she solves it for me.
3) Beethoven bathed often, which was considered "quirky" for a man of his time. (Understandable, since you had the heat the water, haul it to the tub, and then empty the tub bucket by bucket when you were done.) Do you bathe in the morning or in the evening?
A. Both. I take a long shower in the morning and quick "rinse" in the evening. I have reasons for this. If I don't shower in the morning I look like hell and if I don't shower at night I wake up sick from going to bed with dust and allergens in my hair.
4) Adam Fischer conducts the Danish Chamber Orchestra for this 5-disc set. He began his musical career young, when he sang in the children's choir of Budapest's National Opera House. Have you ever sung in a choir or chorus?
A. I played in a rock band. I was in the chorus in the 7th and 8th grades.
5) Mr. Fischer was awarded the Gold Medal of Arts from the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Tell us about a prize or award you have received. (Yes, that ribbon you earned for penmanship in second grade counts.)
A. In the second grade, I won second place for a drawing I made about littering. I used a stick person and showed him/her/it tossing trash in the can. I made it "3D" by wadding up a bit of tissue for the trash and cutting a toilet paper tube in half to create a trash can. I won $5 for it and they paid me with a check, which I signed upside down and my mother got angry because I didn't know where to sign a check. I was 7. What the hell did she expect?
6) The Danish Chamber Orchestra is beloved in Demark. When, in 2014, the Danish Broadcasting Company announced it would no longer fund the Orchestra, citizens began a crowdfunding campaign and raised more than $1,000,000 to keep the music playing. Have you ever contributed to a crowdfunding platform, like GoFundMe, Kickstarter or FundRazr?
A. I gave to a GoFundMe once and felt taken afterwards, so I won't do that again.
7) The Orchestra's "home" is the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen. Where were you when you last heard music played live?
A. I was at the Harvester Performance Center in Rocky Mount, VA. I was listening to Tommy Emmanuel play guitar. Check him out here.
8) In 2019, when this boxed set was released, China became the first nation to land a spacecraft on the far side of the moon. Are you fascinated by stories about space?
A. I love stories about space. I check out the NASA site a lot, I look for the International Space Station when it flies overhead, and I go outside and watch meteor showers.
9) Random question: Tell us about your week. These are extraordinary times, and it might feel good to share.
A. My county had its first confirmed case of Covid-19 yesterday, and today there was another run on the grocery stores locally. Having it so close makes it more real, I suppose. Mostly I have been home and I have been sick with some kind of something, but I've not run a fever. I think it is allergies. I did not go to my doctor but I emailed her so she is aware. I am going to go rest after I finish writing this. I also resolved Friday that I will not listen to someone who constantly demeans the media as journalists do their best to keep the public properly informed in demanding times.
______________
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.
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Thursday Thirteen
1. It is hard to write a Thursday 13 when your mind is full of news, which is all bad, and all about a virus that could mutilate your lungs.
2. Since we're all at home, I wonder what we are all doing now. I'm not doing anything much different from what I did before - I live in a rural area and after my husband's surgery in November, we have pretty much been self-isolating since then.
3. My daily routine consists of cleaning the house, reading lots of news, reading or listening to a book, writing a blog post, writing emails, fixing lunch and dinner for my husband (we each do our own breakfast), and generally puttering around.
4. I miss the routine of work from when I had full-time freelancing going on. I had a more regular schedule, I saw more people, and felt like I was generally more involved in the world and more active in society.
5. Yesterday I participated in the Roanoke Valley Day of Giving, because I wanted to do something positive. Handing out dollars is not necessarily the best way to give of myself, but it is one way.
6. Before the coronavirus forced us all to self-quarantine, I had been contemplating where I would like to volunteer my time in an effort to force some change into my routine. I've put that on hold for now. Everything is closed, anyway.
7. I have a calligraphy kit and a jewelry-making kit here. I received both for Christmas in 2018, and didn't get to them because I was called to write my county's 250th anniversary magazine. I think I may have time to pick those kits up now and see if I can develop a new skill.
8. Many learning opportunities abound online, too. Open Culture is a free one-stop shop for learning, if you're into that. You can also spend money on things like Masterclass, The Great Courses, or pretty much anything else.
9. YouTube has videos that can teach you yoga, tai chi, guitar, etc. There is no reason to be bored or to stop learning if you're not sick and in bed.
10. I wonder how much of these changes will become a part of our life in the future. Are these temporary societal structure changes, or will some become permanent?
11. I wonder if businesses will discover they don't need office space. Will we have ghost buildings everywhere, and industrial parks sitting empty?
12. Some things require you to be onsite, though. I can't imagine that everything can be done at home. I can't make a car at my house!
13. I hope everyone is trying to destress during these stressful times. Breathe, visualize something lovely, and let it all go away, if only for a moment. Trying times call for different measures.
Here's a meditation video on youtube. Check it out and feel better all over! It only takes 5 minutes.
_______________
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 648th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.
2. Since we're all at home, I wonder what we are all doing now. I'm not doing anything much different from what I did before - I live in a rural area and after my husband's surgery in November, we have pretty much been self-isolating since then.
3. My daily routine consists of cleaning the house, reading lots of news, reading or listening to a book, writing a blog post, writing emails, fixing lunch and dinner for my husband (we each do our own breakfast), and generally puttering around.
4. I miss the routine of work from when I had full-time freelancing going on. I had a more regular schedule, I saw more people, and felt like I was generally more involved in the world and more active in society.
5. Yesterday I participated in the Roanoke Valley Day of Giving, because I wanted to do something positive. Handing out dollars is not necessarily the best way to give of myself, but it is one way.
6. Before the coronavirus forced us all to self-quarantine, I had been contemplating where I would like to volunteer my time in an effort to force some change into my routine. I've put that on hold for now. Everything is closed, anyway.
7. I have a calligraphy kit and a jewelry-making kit here. I received both for Christmas in 2018, and didn't get to them because I was called to write my county's 250th anniversary magazine. I think I may have time to pick those kits up now and see if I can develop a new skill.
8. Many learning opportunities abound online, too. Open Culture is a free one-stop shop for learning, if you're into that. You can also spend money on things like Masterclass, The Great Courses, or pretty much anything else.
9. YouTube has videos that can teach you yoga, tai chi, guitar, etc. There is no reason to be bored or to stop learning if you're not sick and in bed.
10. I wonder how much of these changes will become a part of our life in the future. Are these temporary societal structure changes, or will some become permanent?
11. I wonder if businesses will discover they don't need office space. Will we have ghost buildings everywhere, and industrial parks sitting empty?
12. Some things require you to be onsite, though. I can't imagine that everything can be done at home. I can't make a car at my house!
13. I hope everyone is trying to destress during these stressful times. Breathe, visualize something lovely, and let it all go away, if only for a moment. Trying times call for different measures.
Here's a meditation video on youtube. Check it out and feel better all over! It only takes 5 minutes.
_______________
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 648th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
We Went Searching
In a dream, I looked all around me for something I'd lost. I climbed over a mountain and ran across a meadow (you can do all that in your sleep).
Thing is, I didn't know what I'd lost. But I was frantic for it, whatever it was. Finally, I found my husband, who was in a cornfield chastising a calf for running through the electric fence (they've been doing that for real recently so I know where *that* came from).
"I've lost it!" I cried, throwing myself into his chest. His arms folded around me.
"We'll find it," he said.
So we started looking. He didn't ask me what I'd lost, and I never told him, but we went searching for it.
I looked under couches and in drawers. We were in our house now. He went into the garage.
The scenery changed and I was in a desert, very hot. My mouth was dry. I was still searching, though. Sand fell between my fingers as I pawed at the landscape.
I wondered why my husband wouldn't come in from the garage and bring me a glass of water.
Dreams are so very odd sometimes.
I woke with the alarm, so I don't know what I was looking for, or if I ever found it.
The sense of loss has stayed with me all day. What did I lose? What have I lost?
What am I missing?
Who have I forgotten?
We live in perilous times, but we have always lived in perilous times. There are things going on now that I find awful - I think it there is something seriously wrong with a country that has so many poor people who can't feed their children that the schools have to turn buses into food trucks and send them to ensure children are eating.
But we have always had poor people, and children who needed to be fed. (That is no excuse, we should be better than this.)
I have read many, many issues of old newspapers, local and national. I like to read those old issues. Because you know what? The discussions are generally the same.
How do we pay for this or that? Is this the role of government or the private sector? How much is too much and when is it not enough?
I don't even need to look up anything to know we've been through epidemics before. Not just the Spanish flu in 1918, but also polio, tuberculosis, whooping cough, measles, etc.
What am I looking for? I think in my dream I was looking for comfort, for solace, for some kind of control over something over which I have no control - as we all are, when we buy toilet paper or comfort foods or whatever we do to feel like we have some grasp on a situation.
We searched for an intangible, my husband and me, as we waded through my nightmare.
I would like to see leadership during a pandemic but all I see is someone parading the leaders of big companies out in press conferences, shaking hands when they should all be standing 6 feet apart. Certainly no leading by example there.
What else am I looking for? Maybe self-direction. Maybe assurances. Maybe nothing. Maybe I have nothing to look for, I just think I do, because we live in such a lackluster world with lackluster lives.
We went searching, my husband and I, in a dream. He went into the garage. I ended up panting in a desert.
At least in my mind, I sent him some place safe.
Thing is, I didn't know what I'd lost. But I was frantic for it, whatever it was. Finally, I found my husband, who was in a cornfield chastising a calf for running through the electric fence (they've been doing that for real recently so I know where *that* came from).
"I've lost it!" I cried, throwing myself into his chest. His arms folded around me.
"We'll find it," he said.
So we started looking. He didn't ask me what I'd lost, and I never told him, but we went searching for it.
I looked under couches and in drawers. We were in our house now. He went into the garage.
The scenery changed and I was in a desert, very hot. My mouth was dry. I was still searching, though. Sand fell between my fingers as I pawed at the landscape.
I wondered why my husband wouldn't come in from the garage and bring me a glass of water.
Dreams are so very odd sometimes.
I woke with the alarm, so I don't know what I was looking for, or if I ever found it.
The sense of loss has stayed with me all day. What did I lose? What have I lost?
What am I missing?
Who have I forgotten?
We live in perilous times, but we have always lived in perilous times. There are things going on now that I find awful - I think it there is something seriously wrong with a country that has so many poor people who can't feed their children that the schools have to turn buses into food trucks and send them to ensure children are eating.
But we have always had poor people, and children who needed to be fed. (That is no excuse, we should be better than this.)
I have read many, many issues of old newspapers, local and national. I like to read those old issues. Because you know what? The discussions are generally the same.
How do we pay for this or that? Is this the role of government or the private sector? How much is too much and when is it not enough?
I don't even need to look up anything to know we've been through epidemics before. Not just the Spanish flu in 1918, but also polio, tuberculosis, whooping cough, measles, etc.
What am I looking for? I think in my dream I was looking for comfort, for solace, for some kind of control over something over which I have no control - as we all are, when we buy toilet paper or comfort foods or whatever we do to feel like we have some grasp on a situation.
We searched for an intangible, my husband and me, as we waded through my nightmare.
I would like to see leadership during a pandemic but all I see is someone parading the leaders of big companies out in press conferences, shaking hands when they should all be standing 6 feet apart. Certainly no leading by example there.
What else am I looking for? Maybe self-direction. Maybe assurances. Maybe nothing. Maybe I have nothing to look for, I just think I do, because we live in such a lackluster world with lackluster lives.
We went searching, my husband and I, in a dream. He went into the garage. I ended up panting in a desert.
At least in my mind, I sent him some place safe.
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