My husband and helpers are hoping to get the hay up today before the rains from Storm Sally find their way here tomorrow. The hay is not quite as dry as it needs to be, so this can't be stored in the barn. It will be left outside and probably used for hay for the cattle to rest in when there is snow on the ground.
Over the course of learning of my uncle's passing and the subsequent family interventions that required, Aunt Dot got in touch with family members, including me and my brother, via Facebook.
Until then, I'd heard nothing out of her for decades. I barely remember her.
When we became reacquainted on Facebook, we did not interact much. She remembered me as a child. I was quite young when I last remember seeing her.
She told me in a message that she wanted to write a book, that she was glad I'd become a writer.
I didn't offer to help her write a book. She had hinted at that in one of her messages to me. I told her I'd be glad to take a look at something she finished, but I wasn't going to write something for her. (I get asked to do that a lot - it generally goes like this: "My life is so interesting and really is a story that needs to be told, won't you write it for me and if it makes money you can have half." The latter is either stated or implied. I always say no. It's a rule I made years ago.)
She messaged me a few times and commented on a couple of my posts, particularly anything pertaining to my mother, whom she remembered fondly. I always responded and I was polite.
I had wished her happy birthday on June 24.
She had cancer - which I didn't know but apparently my brother did - and she died not long thereafter.
I don't know how I feel about this. She was not someone I knew. I mean, I knew her when I was a child, but as an adult, I did not know her except from our Facebook interactions. I had, in fact, unfollowed her because she was posting political and religious items that I simply did not care to deal with.
Maybe I feel a little confused because I unfollowed her. I didn't "unfriend" her. I just didn't want to be preached at. I don't go to FB for that.
From the comments on her timeline, she was well-loved by her friends. I'm glad to know that.
All I remember of Dot is that she was always nice to me and I had no reason to be unkind or cause disagreement with her. So I didn't.
And now I find she has passed away.
People pass through our lives, come and go, and are in and out. She was there near the beginning of my life, and I was vaguely there at the end of hers. Isn't it odd?
They ran in while others were fleeing.
Hot helmets clinging to sweaty heads
as each climbed flight after flight of stairs
helping, always helping, as bodies streamed downward
while they moved up,
boots so heavy they could barely lift their legs
as they reached another level.
Their breath sounding deep and heavy, hollowing their chests
as their oxygen began to grow low
from effort and time.
They felt the rumble as the buildings fell.
They could not run.
They could not flee.
They died heroes.
I shall not forget the 343.
-- A. Firebaugh
Today was flu shot day. It was also "husband is home and doesn't know what to do with himself day," which means I was a little out of sorts myself.
Tomorrow, hopefully, we will be both be back on our schedules.
I found out early this morning that my name is going to be in a book called Xena: Their Courage Changed the World, which is about the Xena fandom of the late 1990s and early 2000s. I am mentioned because of my involvement in WHOOSH.org, a website devoted to all things Xena: Warrior Princess. I wrote many show synopses for the show, a few articles for the website, and also did some editing for the website owner.
That was exciting news.
I meant to blog earlier but things were simply out of my hands today.
So here's a new song by Sheryl Crow that I really like.
Today, I present to you, once again, 13 memes from today's current, um, situations.
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Last week, I had my second haircut since the pandemic started. I had the hair stylist cut it short because who knows when things may shut down again.
Schools have opened, and there is already a reported case in one of the county elementary schools. It did not take long and I don't expect it to be the last one.
The upcoming elections have knocked the Covid virus out of the news cycle somewhat, although the daily newspaper and the local TV stations are still running reports on it constantly, updating numbers and pointing out hotspots. They are reporting too on how the local colleges and school systems are handling the pandemic.
We continue to "mask up" and mostly stay home. We are homebodies anyway so this is not a real trial for us. My husband can go out and do his farm chores without worry, and I am ordering groceries online and having things shipped to us instead of going out. I ventured inside Kroger on Thursday because they kept leaving things out of my orders and I finally went in after them, but I tried to be quick about it. The store has been changed around since I was last in it so it took a little longer than I'd expected.
I know other people are eager to be out and about. Not everyone likes to stay home. Some folks like to travel and others just need to be around people more than I. I feel bad for them because they can't do what they want. I have a blogging friend who is in a hotel right now and she said they aren't coming in and cleaning every day and they have to change their own sheets and things. If I have to do all that, I may as well stay home.
The most recent book I read is Making a Literary Life: Advice for Writers and Other Dreamers, by Carolyn See. It was written in 2002 and it was startling to see how much the publishing landscape has changed in the last 18 years. Some of the advice no longer holds true, but every story still needs characters, plot, location, and a time frame, so that was a good short refresher course.
Other things to note: protests continue, along with damage that I think is not done by the peaceful rioters but instead by people looking to make trouble. Hurricane Laura hit Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane, and we were supposed to have a great deal of rain from it but we had very little. California has had multiple fires again. The candidates are set for the November election.
Today, we have rain.
