Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. Do you have any Pepto-Bismol in your house?

A. Yep. Always have to have a bottle of the pink stuff around.

2. Do you have a favorite flavor of vodka?

A. I don't drink alcohol.

3. Is your backyard big enough to fit a trampoline?

A. Yes. It could be an airport if someone wanted to do that to it.

 

4. When was the last time you had eggs?

A. I had an egg sandwich for lunch on Saturday.

5. How often do you blow dry your hair, and what color is your blow dryer?

A. I blow dry my hair every morning. My dryer is brown.

6. Have you ever gone to bed later than three AM?

A. Yes. 

7. Have you been to a surprise party before?

A. I have. My father had a grand surprise party for his 80th birthday.

 

8. What is your least favorite month?

A. January. It's cold, it's dark, it's snowy.

9. Have you ever gone to see a movie the day it came out?

A. Yes. I saw all of the Lord of the Rings movies (it's a trilogy) on the day it was released. I also saw Wonder Woman on the day it was released, I think, and maybe a few of the Harry Potter movies. I'm 100% sure of the LotR movies; I think so on the others.

10. Do you like movies/books about drugs, and why or why not?

A. Not particularly, no. I don't like to see people compromised like that.

11. Do you have scrap paper by your computer desk?

A. I have scraps of paper everywhere, so yes.

12. Have you ever kept a bag from a store because you liked it?

A. I have kept bags because I thought I might reuse it, but not necessarily because I liked it.

13. Was the last thing you drank carbonated?

A. No. The last carbonated drink I had was a ginger ale in October 2020.

14. Do you own any yellow clothing?

A. I have one shirt that is yellow. I don't wear it often because it doesn't look good on me. It makes me look washed out.

15. Last person you argued with?

A. My husband. I live with him. We're going to argue occasionally.

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

Saturday 9: In and Out of Love

Saturday 9: In and Out of Love (1967)

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

1) In this song, Diana Ross is disappointed that she hasn't yet found lasting love. Do you think you can fall out of love? Or do you believe that if you fell out of love, it wasn't true love to begin with?

A. I think there are many different types of love, even within a single relationship. Sometimes love waxes and wanes, and sometimes if burns bright. If someone "falls out of love," perhaps it wasn't true love, but it was a kind of love, all the same. Or so I would hope.

2) When is the last time you literally fell, tripped, or stumbled?

A. Probably today only I don't remember it. I always have bruises on my arms and don't know where they came from.
 
3) This record was a hit with American Bandstand viewers. For weeks it was voted the song they most wanted to dance to. Did you watch American Bandstand?

A. I did.
 
4) This is one of the last Supremes songs that featured the most successful hit-making line-up: Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard. Florence's great-nephew, Christian Ballard, was a football star at University of Iowa and briefly played pro ball for the Vikings. The 2022-23 NFL season just kicked off. What team do you root for?

A. None, really. I used to root for the Greenbay Packers, way back when The Refrigerator was playing (wasn't that like, the 1980s?). But I haven't watched a NFL football game in 20 years.
 
5) Mary had a connection to sports, too. She donated her time and talent to raising money for Figure Skaters of Harlem, an organization that helps young people train for the Winter Olympics. Tell us about a charity you support.

A. I most recently gave money to Artemis Journal. The journal is a lovely creation of poetry and artwork. Proceeds from the sale of it go to victims of domestic violence. The nonprofit organization also partners with Taubman Museum to support the arts.

6) There's a children's playground in New York's Central Park named for the last surviving member of this trio, Diana Ross. It has swings, slides, a rope bridge, and a fountain that kids are welcome to splash in. If you were suddenly little again, which would you play on first?

A. The swings, I guess.
 
7) Diana owns an estate in Greenwich, CT, with lush gardens, a tennis court, and a pool. While the grounds are spectacular, she maintains the house itself is "nothing special" because the kitchen hasn't been renovated in more than three decades. Could your kitchen benefit from a makeover? Or are you fine with it as it is?

A. My kitchen is 35 years old, so it could do with a little makeover. If I were to redo it, I would get cabinets of lighter wood. The ones in it are oak and they are dark. The older I get, the more I crave the light.
 
8) In 1967, when this song was popular, the best-selling camera was The Polaroid Swinger. When did you most recently take a photo? What was it of?

A. I took a picture of a picture. It's a black and white photo of the corner of US 220 and Main Street in Fincastle, before US 220 was ever built, circa 1910 or so. After this old mill was removed, my husband's grandfather built a store on this corner. That building still stands.

9) Random question: Come clean! Are there dirty dishes in your sink right now?

A. No. Generally, I do not leave dishes in the sink.

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

Free Range Zoo

Last week, we took a drive up the road a bit to visit a drive-thru zoo. I am not a fan of zoos, but this was allegedly an open zoo with the animals roaming about on 180 acres. While that may sound like a lot of land, it is not. Not for as many animals as they had in there.

The safari place sells buckets of food, too, and you are supposed to feed the animals from your car. This means the animals are conditioned to think that car equals food. Most of the animals hang out at the entrance of the park, because obviously by the time you get to the middle or the end, you've given out all of your food.

I found it terrifying to have the car suddenly engulfed by a slew of domesticated wild animals. I still have llama slobber on my car window, my repayment for not purchasing the bucket of food.

The following pictures were taken through the car windows, so there is some glare and reflection.

This is what greets you when you drive over the cattle guard and into the safari area.

They don't like unopened windows. Yikes. This is a llama.

These are either fallow deer or axis deer. I am not sure which.

When I saw this, all I could think of was hakuna matata, from The Lion King. However, the guidebook doesn't say they have wart hogs. This may be a kune kune pig from New Zealand.

I think this is an eland, which hails from Africa.

This may be an elk.

I am not sure whether this is a blackbuck from India or a scimitar horned oryx from North Africa.

Some kind of deer. Fallow deer, maybe.

The little axis deer are very small. They came from India. There were a lot of them.

More deer.

Notice the field. There is little grass there for the animals to eat.

This is a blackbuck, which comes from India.

I think this was another elk.

They don't mind getting close.

These were resting a little distance from the car. I think they're elk.

Elk, I guess.

They had several white animals. In the wild, when we see albino deer on the farm, it generally means the herd is too large and there has been too much inbreeding.

This is an axis deer from India.

I think I liked the zebra the best. This is a "Grant's zebra' from West Africa and/or Zimbabwe.

This bird was huge. Ostrich, I think.

This was further into the park. The animals all came running toward the vehicles. Note again the lack of grass in the fields.

A kune kune pig from New Zealand.

A llama who is figuring out it should have gone to the front gate, I suspect.

You could see the giraffes but they were in a different fenced-in area and so they did not come near the car.

A fallow deer. They are found in Europe and Asia.

The farewell team of llamas.

We probably won't go back. We both thought the animals looked listless and sad. We know how many cattle we can run on the pastures of our farm, and it's not anywhere close to the number of animals on this small acreage. The organization feeds hay and there appeared to be a steady stream of cars behind us with the animal food, but this is not what I consider fun. It was a nice outing with my husband as far as that goes, but animals like these need to be roaming free. At the least, the herds of small deer and llamas need to be thinned out. There were too many ostriches, too.

Thursday Thirteen

1. I have tried multiple times to create an account for my husband at our drugstore's website so I can keep up with his prescriptions, and every time it throws me out or won't accept it or whatever. I don't know if it's because we're using the same rewards card number or what, but it is awfully aggravating.

2. Yesterday I had to delete a comment from my Facebook page because someone called my husband names because he wants to stop getting the newspaper. The insult was uncalled for. I am not sure why people think they can write anything they want on these pages, or why they must be unkind.

3. Maybe unkind is the human default. It certainly seems to be at the moment, although I can remember when it didn't always feel like someone was out to get me.

4. My husband seems completely recovered from his hip replacement surgery. He took his time going back to his work and did his exercises. Patience in healing makes a difference.

5. I learned yesterday that tonsils can grow too big and even up into your sinuses. I had no idea. I had mine removed in 1993 because they stayed infected. The doctor told me at the time that I would be off work "a day or two" and I was off for two weeks. I never was able to get my final surgical checkup because the doctor passed away about four weeks after my surgery.

6. The headlines this morning indicate the possibility of a rail strike continues. I have no idea what comes in here by rail. Given that we have slow trains (no bullet trains like Europe and Japan), I suspect most of our goods are hauled by truck.

7. I asked my husband if I should be stocking up on anything. The only thing he is worried about is ketchup. He heard somewhere that there may be a tomato shortage because of drought in the west.

8. Shortages are good reminders of how connected we are, although I doubt most people look at it that way. But we should remember that the breeze from a butterfly over in Japan eventually affects someone in Virginia. Or that war in Ukraine affects grain quantity. Whatever. The connections are there. We may never know how, though.

9. September mornings remind me of school days, standing outside waiting on the bus. Usually, my brother and I stood together and argued. One morning, when I was feeling particularly melancholy, I asked him how he would feel if I'd never been born. "I would cry until I die," he replied. I have never forgotten that. It was such an honest and heartbreaking answer.

10. My brother and I fought constantly as children, but we are quite close as adults. Closer than many siblings, I find. We both know that at this particular moment in time, the two of us are the only ones who remember or know many things about the younger versions of ourselves. We are family not only by blood but because we choose to be.

11. We had some memorable fights as children, though. Once on the bus ride home, we began arguing over something, and he called me "a Playtex deodorant tampon," which upset all of the teenage girls on the bus and had me laughing hysterically. I remember it because so many other people heard it and were appalled.

12. I have no idea how I have bounced around so much in this entry. I thought I'd find a topic and stay there, but apparently my mind is all over the place at the moment.

13. Whew. The end!

___________________

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 773rd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

The Death Knell of The Roanoke Times

My husband's howl of frustration early yesterday morning had me out of my office chair and racing toward the kitchen.

"They did away with the comics. We won't be renewing our subscription," he announced as I turned the corner from the hall into the great room.

With that, our mutual 39-year love affair with The Roanoke Times will soon be at an end. Our subscription is up for renewal in about a month.

From the looks of it, we won't be getting a daily newspaper for the first time in our long marriage. And I, who have been reading the paper daily at least for the last 55 years, won't have that bit of information and entertainment to preoccupy me at breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

I always did like to read the paper with a meal.

The Roanoke Times and I go back a long way. I remember sitting at my grandparents' kitchen table, reading the front page, when I was five. I overheard my grandfather asking my grandma what I was doing, pretending to read the paper. I promptly began reading it aloud to him. My grandmother assured Grandpa that I didn't really understand what I was reading, I just knew the words.

She was wrong. And right. I was five, so of course I couldn't really understand the headlines of war in Vietnam, the numbers about budgets, the discussions of race, the talk of hippies. But I began to understand, and I suspect I understood more than the adults around me thought.

One of the first things my husband and I did after we married was obtain a subscription to The Roanoke Times & World News, as it was called then. We received the afternoon edition, which ended eventually and in 1995 the paper changed its name to The Roanoke Times and only put out a single daily edition.

I wrote for The Roanoke Times & World News for a while, freelancing for what they then called "The Neighbors" section. This was a pull-out magazine type of news with feature stories about various areas in it. I also covered graduations and occasionally ball games, calling those stories in "old school" - from the floor of a payphone at the Salem Civic Center or the high school. I'd sit in the little booth, glancing at my notes and making the story up in my head. I repeated it on the phone to Charlie Stebbins, who taught me to say things like "end graph" and "sub headline" or whatever the story called for, while I was quickly scanning my scribbles about pomp and circumstance or jump shots, composing in my brain. It had to be done then in order for the story to make the morning paper.

There were no delays.

This was in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I think. I did it for a few years, off and on.

I daresay few young writers today will ever have that experience, not with their laptops at the ready and the Internet satellites beaming their words instantaneously to the news editor's desk. They won't know what it is like to work with someone else to get a story out, not like that, anyway.

So, I have watched the decline of The Roanoke Times with dismay. It echoes what's going on around the nation, and I suppose the world. The younger generation turns to Instagram and social influencers for their news. They don't know the joy of reading a long, well-written and thoroughly researched article. They listen to podcasts to form their opinions, and we've created a vast echo chamber for one another. We can select to listen to only those folks we agree with. (And let's not forget to mention where the news actually comes from - newspapers like the dying Roanoke Times.)

At least in The Roanoke Times, which is not, as some people claim, a "liberal rag," there was a variety of opinions in the op-ed pages. Reporters' opinions were generally left outside of the story, though as the times changed and opinion reporting became more the norm in TV outlets, objective journalism began to fall by the wayside.

I still see good journalism, but most people, I have learned, read a story and only see what they want to agree with anyway, whether the story actually says what they think it says or not. Or at least that was my experience with the thousands of articles I wrote, because the Republicans thought I was one of theirs, and the Democrats thought I was one of theirs, and for decades I never said anything about which tribe I belonged to, and even today, when many people would label me a Democrat, I reject the label more and more, because there's not really a party out there that represents me. I am no one's huckleberry.

The Roanoke Times used to come to us on Sunday fat as a hog that was overfed the previous day, ads bursting from it, with articles from local reporters who busted their ass to investigate, and investigate thoroughly, the issue of the day. Some of those articles could be quite long, running on for pages.

I read them with relish.

But the advertising declined, and the paper thinned. Old reporters retired and were not replaced. Now, others have been forced out, and others still have jumped from what is obviously a nearly sunken ship.

The paper is attempting to go completely digital. Alienating those of us who still prefer paper is the way to do that, apparently, given the recent changes to the print edition. More and more, they want us to use our smart phones and hit the QR code (which is something I can barely manage, so I shudder to think what the older folks do) and visit the website.

There's something glorious about reading a paper, a thrill that I do not get reading the same thing on a computer screen. It's similar to holding a paperback instead of my Kindle; it's really not the same experience. It's also not an experience that folks under 30 comprehend, given a conversation I had today with a young friend who doesn't understand the allure of getting a little black ink on your hands while you are eating your chicken salad sandwich at lunch.

A newspaper is a work of art, full of other art forms. The advertisements could be an art, the comics are art - the writing frequently was (and sometimes still is) of the level of art. The newspapers I remember - not the skinny little things of today - were feasts of delight that had a little something in it for everyone, a virtual potluck of information and entertainment unmatched by anything else available.

And to think that the owners - hedge fund operators, really - have let this artform languish to the point of death is ghastly and appalling. To know that it is because of the almighty dollar bill is gut-wrenching.

To think that it was likely inevitable is the most depressing thought I will have today.

Thanks for the good times, The Roanoke Times. I salute what you once were and mourn what you have become.

The Day After 9/11

When the first plane hit the Twin Towers in New York City on September 11, 2001, I was working a part-time job at a law office to supplement my freelance income.

One of the lawyers rushed in and told us to turn on the TV. We did, just in time to watch the second plane hit.

At first, we weren't sure we'd seen what we'd seen, but as CBS replayed it and began analyzing it, and then more reports of hijacked jets came in, and the Pentagon was hit, we realized this was big stuff.

We all stood around the small set, watching. When the towers tumbled, my coworker gasped. "All of those people," one of them exclaimed.

"All of those firefighters," I murmured. Being married to a firefighter, I knew who was climbing the stairs while everyone else was fleeing.

The lawyers closed the doors and sent us home. Everyone in the small county seat headed home. My husband was out with his father installing a septic tank, and I had no way to reach him. This was 2001, after all - and he didn't have a cellphone. I wasn't even sure where he was.

I walked into my quiet, empty home and turned the TV on. I sat for hours, watching over and over as the towers burned and then fell, again and again in replays. I listened to stunned announcers try to make sense of this attack on us, heard their voices falter, heard them try to distinguish facts from guesses.

My husband did not come home until about 4 p.m., a little early for him. Someone had seen them working and stopped and told them the country was under attack. My husband and father-in-law had packed up and came home.

So, my firefighter saw the towers collapse in a replay, but he did not see it real time. He did not know, at the moment he was watching, the exact minute he was watching, that people were dying. By the time he watched the towers fall, those folks had been dead for hours.

He was devasted, of course, by the loss of his New York brothers. Firefighters are a close-knit group. Losing 343 of them in one blow was tragic.

But I had seen it happen in real time, along with millions of other people.

Every year since then, I have hunted up footage of the fall of the towers around 9/11. I have watched numerous documentaries about it, seen the conspiracy theory videos, or a lot of them anyway, and occasionally stumble upon some recently uploaded footage someone in New York shot out of a window and then forgot about it.

Different angles of the second plane hitting are always gut-wrenching. I've only seen a few shots of the first plane hitting; no one knew it was coming, after all, so cameras weren't pointed there. However, there is one video that shows the first plane hit; an interview some blocks away, and they heard the plane suddenly come in and the videographer caught the moment of impact.

You can see that here at about 19 seconds in:

In the days after, I remember seeing blue skies unmarred by the trails of aircraft, because the planes were grounded. It was eerie to look up and see the sky so blue without the chem trails of planes, the crisscross patterns that indicated people were going on about their day, flying hither and yon without a care.

People were quiet, at first, and helpful, at first. But after a few days, the air changed. I felt anger, hatred, and evil seething in the store when I went after groceries. It has ebbed and flowed over the last 21 years, that feeling that I have when I am in a crowd, but it has never gone away, not since September 12, 2001. For a day - maybe two - we were one nation, pulled together by the horror of what we'd witnessed.

But after that? We were an angry, scared bunch of people, and we've stayed that way. We frayed. We pulled apart. And the distance and the turmoil grew, and in the end, the terrorists won after all, for all that they've been dead for 20 years.

In the end, they destroyed us - because we have destroyed ourselves.

We've raised an entire generation in that atmosphere of fear and hate. They don't know anything except fear and hate. That's all they know.

What has it been like for them, growing up in this new world that we allowed to happen, the one where everyone is afraid, and big men must carry guns with little, deadly bullets to compensate for their fears?

I know what it has been like for me to live in this time - it's been basically an ulcer-creating atmosphere. But what must it be like for those young folks, the ones who are now turning 21?

What do they think and feel, having grown up every moment with this disease of the soul, this dark pall that has fallen over this nation?

I remember the blue skies on September 12. I looked up at the blue, blue skies, those brilliant September skies.

And the memories of what we were before, knowing what we could have been, and the thought of those clear blue skies, are what pulls me through.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. What flavor Popsicle is the best?

A. The blue one. I think they call it blue raspberry. I'm not sure it actually comes as the brand Popsicle, but it comes in frozen ice things.

2. Do you have a DVR feature with your cable?

A. We have satellite TV and it has a DVR feature. It saves a lot of arguments over what to watch.

3. How many drawers does your dresser have?

A. Ten. One of them is empty.

4. Is your closet a mess?

A. I wouldn't call it a mess, but it could use a little attention.

5. Have you ever solved a Rubik's Cube?

A. Oh yes. When I was teenager, I could solve one in under two minutes. I doubt I could do that now; it's been so long since I had my hands on one.

6. Describe your favorite pair of pajama pants:

A. I don't wear pajama pants. I wear gowns.

7. What color is your wallet?

A. It is brown, and it is over 30 years old. I've attempted to replace it a few times but have not found another I like as well as this one.

8. Do you find flea markets and thrift shops enjoyable?

A. I would if they didn't smell musty and dusty. But they do, and I have asthma, so I seldom go in them.

9. Have you met amazing people online?

A. Of course! All of my readers are amazing people. My blog buddies are beyond amazing!

10. Would you be happy if I colored a picture for you?

A. If it would make you happy, then I would be delighted to accept such a gift.

11. What show do you think 'made' the 90's?

A. I'm going to guess it was either Seinfield or Friends, but I watched neither of them. For me, the show that made the 90s was Xena: Warrior Princess, which premiered on September 4, 1995. A second show would be Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which premiered in 1997, but it spanned more into the 2000s than Xena did.

12. Are you happier now than you were last year?

A. I think I rate my happiness about the same as last year.

13. What are you currently drinking?

A. Water.

14. Do you trust people easily?

A. No. I used to, but over time that's eroded.

15. What are you looking forward to in the next three months?

A. Halloween, watching Ring of Power, The Voice, and eventually the new Top Gun movie whenever it makes an appearance on TV. I am also looking forward to another season of His Dark Materials, Gentleman Jack, and My Brilliant Friend on HBO. We have no vacation plans. Maybe next year.

Thanks to Kwizgiver for stepping in to help Bev with Sunday Stealing!

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

Saturday 9: No Roots

Saturday 9: No Roots (2017)

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

1) This song is about a woman who has moved a lot and is always packing boxes. Do you have packing materials (boxes, bubble wrap, packing tape, etc.) in your home right now? Do you have them on hand to ship things, or are you preparing for a move?

A. I have boxes and tape here. I use them for returns, mostly, or have them for Christmas. I am not preparing to move.

2) She sings that she moves from place to place, collecting memories. Would you rather travel light and travel often, or put down roots?

A. I put down roots. I have been in the same place for 35 years. But I always thought I would travel. Guess not.

3) She can recall all the gates and house numbers of all the places she's lived. Does your current residence have a fence and gate? Did your previous one?

A. My driveway has neither fence nor gate. My driveway runs between two fences. We could gate it if we wanted, I suppose, but there is no need.

4) This week's artist, Alice Merton, moved often as a child as her father's job took the family from Germany to the US to Canada to England back to Germany. She wrote this song to help her deal with feelings of loneliness and longing. When you're feeling overwhelmed, how do you work through the feelings?

A. Sometimes I go to bed and go to sleep. Sometimes I cry. Sometimes I call a friend. Sometimes I write it out. Sometimes I write a song.

5) Alice is still on the move. Soon she'll be performing throughout Europe. Have you ever had a job that required you to travel? If yes, did you enjoy it?

A. I have never had a job that required travel.

6) "No Roots" is a favorite of Kelly Clarkson's, who has performed it on tour and on TV. When you think of Kelly, is at as a singer, a judge on The Voice, or as a talk show host?

A. I think of her as a singer and as a former judge on The Voice. She isn't going to be on that show this year. I have not seen her on her talk show host except occasional YouTube video clips.

7) In 2017, when this song was popular, Faye Dunaway made Oscar history by announcing the wrong winner for the biggest award of the night, Best Picture. It wasn't her fault as she was given the wrong envelope, but she's one who made the on-screen flub seen around the world. Have you recently had an embarrassing moment?

A. Not that I can recall. It's rather hard to have those when you're mostly at home.

8) Wonder Woman was 2017's most popular movie. She was originally introduced in a 1941 DC comic book. Comic books remain a big business. Have you ever been to a comic bookstore?

A. Oh yes. There used to be two here; I think there is only one now. I haven't been in a comic bookstore in years, but I always liked going.

9) Random question: Is your skin itchy this morning?

A. No.

_______________

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

Stuff I Want to Remember

Queen Elizabeth of England passed away yesterday at the age of 96. King Charles III now reigns there.

The FBI searched the home of a person who should never have been president in the first place in August.

States rights have consequences even for rich people (Bannon).

The Supreme Court tossed out Roe v. Wade by handing it back to the states.

The redistricting process in most states is gerrymandered.

Republicans have not won the popular vote in about 40 years (I need to look this up).

The policies of Republicans are not popular with the majority.

Hillary Clinton still has power and influence even though she's no longer involved in politics (but her emails!).

The news today is the same as it was 100 years ago, so breathe deep and move on with your life.

What will be, will be.

Thursday Thirteen

For Thursday Thirteen today, we're visiting the Botetourt History Museum, which has a new location in the county seat.

The former location, one of the oldest buildings in town, is being moved about 50 feet from its present location to make way for a new county courthouse. The old one is scheduled to be torn down in the next year and a new one constructed.

Anyway, here are some photos from the Museum, which is now located about a block from where it used to be, and is on Main Street.

The photos, which I took from my iPhone, loaded backwards in the blog. I have no idea why.

An old switchboard from way back.

A mortar and pestle used by First Nations Settlers (Native Americans)

A stand of antique stuff. I didn't pay that close attention to what was on it.

I think, but am not sure, that this is a spindle or yarn doohickey.

This is a Chickering piano. See the captioned piece above for its history.

This small book was in an enclosed case. It's dated 1857. Just note what it says.

This is a picture of Grove Hill, owned by the Breckinridges. This large plantation once took most of the land in the area of Catawba Creek outside of Fincastle. The home burned down in 1909. Some of the bricks were hauled to New York and used in a home there.

To Have and To Hold was written by Buchanan native Mary Johnston. It was the best-selling book in 1900. It was made into a movie.

A book presser, used in book binding.

Antique tea set.

The desk from the law office of James Breckinridge.

A bad picture of an article from about 40 years ago that shows the former Museum location.

The Botetourt County Historic Society has a number of books available, both for sale and for research, if you want to sit and review them.

This was on a mantle in the main entry room; I liked the picture. Fincastle does have a Lewis and Clark connection; William Clark's wife, Judith Hancock, was raised down the road in the plantation known as Santillane.

The exterior of the new location of the museum.

___________________

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 772nd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Why I Still Mask Up

I am a masker.

And proud of it.

I've had only one person comment to me about wearing a mask, and it was someone I know, and someone I no longer care to be around. It was a man and the comments (he said something to me 3 times, with the last time being the deal breaker) were along the line that healthy people didn't need to mask, and the last time he saw me as I was leaving a store and he snickered, "You really think that mask is going to save you?" I walked right past him without a word.

I don't know why people think they have the right to comment on other people's actions or appearances, especially harmless ones that don't affect them. Now, if I were running my buggy into someone's heels in the store, of course I would expect them to turn around and tell me to stop. I have affected them. But wearing a mask affects no one. I happen to think that when we're in a high transmission area, as we are at the moment, and you don't wear a mask, then you're ignorant and part of the problem, but I don't go around telling people that. I do my thing and move on. Live and let live and all of that.

I wear a mask because I could have Covid and not know it. That's the way it works. I have allergies and I frequently have sinus drainage, a sore throat, and other symptoms that could be Covid. I test myself when things are flaring up, but I don't if I'm feeling ok. But I could be positive and not have tested at the right time.

And I'd be pretty upset if I thought I went out when I shouldn't have, without a mask, and killed somebody's grandma.

Also, I acknowledge there's a degree of feeling safer in a mask for me. I have not picked up every virus and bacterial infection around since I've been wearing masks. My allergies are not as bad if I wear a mask when I'm outside. They may not keep me from getting Covid, but they keep me healthier.

If I see someone obviously sick in the store, I leave. I have sat in the parking lot at the post office for 10 minutes waiting on the crowd to die out when I saw that most of its customers had no mask on. My time, my choice. 

My doctor has assured me that the likelihood of my dying from Covid, even with the vaccinations, is higher than average. I have asthma and other underlying health conditions (and I am judged on those, too, though those who judge haven't a clue of my history). I am taking care of myself, and I haven't time to worry about what other people do. (I also am carrying around a letter from my doctor that says I should wear a mask at all times because of my health.)

I don't understand why this is an issue, or anyone's business but my own.