It shapes me,
I shape it.
Before sunrise,
After sunset.
Most times, it slips through my fingers without notice.
But sometimes, a piece becomes special as a rare jewel,
And finds home in my mind and heart.
Tuesday’s Theme Music
It’s another sunny day in Ashlandia, where the tourists are everywhere and the air is ripe with the smell of cooking food.
Hi. It’s Tuesday, 11 Jul 23. Sunshine is our watchword. The other watchwords are heat, smoke, and fires. We’re heading back up to 90 F today. 69 F now, hazy. What’s causing that haze? Some report it as wildfire smoke from Canada. We hit the fire watch pages. NorCal and Oregon both have multiple fires burning. How close becomes the question? How big, how contained? And we worry about the people and animals there… 100 F is being projected for Saturday’s high.
I’ve been seeing the news about the Amish riding electric bikes to get around. Will they come up with an electric carriage? Each local community can make its decision about it whether ebikes are acceptable, based on their perceptions of the technology and the application of the Amish philosophy. I guess an ebuggy might be around the corner. Look out.
The Neurons plugged “Stormy” by Classics IV (1968), an AM radio regular during that era. Perversely, Les Neurons stuck the song into my morning mental music stream when I stepped out onto the back patio this morning. After greeting the cats, who’d gone out earlier, I considered the weather and said, “Looks like another sunny day, boys.” The Neurons remembered the line from “Stormy” that goes, “Bring back that sunny day.” That crept into my head and then splashed into the morning mental music stream (trademark pending).
Stay pos and work it out. There will probably be down days, but hopefully, up days will follow. I’m having coffee now; join me? Here’s the music. Cheers
Jolly Monday Strikes Again!
I needed some humor and Jill came through. Hope you find some of these funny. Cheers
Another weekend gone by the wayside, another Monday to start the week … ho ho ho. Well, at least you’re here to visit with us and we will try to provide some smiles, chuckles and laughs to get your week off to a fun start! Today, Jolly begged to be allowed to help Joyful in the kitchen … well, some of you may remember the two times Jolly tried cooking before and the fact that he damn near burned the house down, so he’s not allowed to even go in the kitchen, let alone touch the stove! But Joyful came up with a solution … surely he couldn’t make any disasters if we just made sandwiches … right? Well, except for nearly chopping off a finger while slicing tomatoes, all went well, so we are offering a salad ‘n sandwich buffet this morning! Grab a snack and let’s find some…
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Acflooftion
Acflooftion (floofinition) – the process of adding animals or materials associated with animals, such as food, toys, and furniture, to a location.
In use: “With one floof, little sign of acflooftion is usually noticed, but as more animals join the household, acflooftion accelerates, with more food and water bowls seen, along with toys, pet doors, and things like beds.”
Monday’s Wandering Thoughts
Just finished with our monthly food and friends deliveries. Run by the county, it’s a thing where hot meals with milk and dessert is delivered free for people’s lunch. They don’t need to be sick nor elderly; they just need to have a home, even if it’s temporary. Clients can chose to pay, if they’re able. Monday-Friday are the delivery days. Clients can decide which days they want it. Frozen meals can be added to cover holidays and weekends. My wife and I do one route, but it’s one of many routes, and two of many volunteers. One friend does it twice a week, every week. Respect.
I always end up wondering how people reached this point in their lives and what were they like before. I wonder about their relationships, marriages and divorces, careers and schooling, where they were born, how they came to be here in Ashlandia, and if they have family. Ours is a small route, normally nine to fourteen people. Some are temps but others have received food assistance for years. When their name is dropped from the ranks, we wonder what happened to them. Sometimes we learn, and it’s what’s expected, they passed away. Other times, they’ve gone into assisted living somewhere, hospice, or moved in with family.
I’ve seen others can do this path. Most of us in the US are on it. My mother-in-law’s route was through Parkinson’s Disease. Then a fall really undermined all aspects of her coping mechanisms, leading to a long demise. While Mom and her BF don’t have meals deliver, visualizing a day when that happens is easy. He’s in his nineties, she’s in her eighties. Both have health issues but cope. Still, they’re declining.
I even see myself on that road. I’ve suddenly gained weight. Energy level has dropped. Lethargy has risen. I see a practitioner, and they sympathize but empathize, I’m in good health. Hypertension and enlarged prostate is all that afflicts me. What I’m feeling is just the general demise of aging. It surprises me because that’s not what I’m used to being like. I have a hard time accepting it.
I imagine all the rest are the same, wondering, what in the hell happened to me?
Mootday’s Theme Music
Cool morning. Love the smell and feel of cool mornings like we’ve been going through. This one twitches my senses in a mildly different way, coming at me with a watery smell to it. Know what I mean? The cool air and smell reminds me of Korea. Not Seoul, but out in Pusan or Osan. Seoul, like many large cities, often just smell like food and vehicle exhaust to me. Not a great smell.
It’s Mootday, July 10, 2023. Moot, because it’s uncertain how it’ll turn. Most days start moot. Even by the end, they feel moot, with some things accomplished, some small personal victories to be celebrated, but more things just hanging over your head.
Current temperature in Ashlandia, where the air is clear but the trees are dying, is 67 F. Yes, the Douglas Fir trees are dying. Infestation and the stress and strain of drought are given as a reason. You feel for them, but all we can do is cut the down and clear them out because they increase our fire danger.
It’ll be in the mid to high eighties today, just as it was yesterday.
The Neurons have installed “Heat of the Moment” by Asia in my morning mental music stream. It might be associated my thought that the morning air reminded me of Korea. I went to Korea for the first time in 1981, and visited the country several times during the next several years, either on vacation or on Air Force business.
Stay positive and make the best of the moments. Thread them together into a good day. Coffee helps me in that goal. I’m gonna have some now. Here’s the music. Cheers
Another Space Traveling Dream
I dreamed again I was in my home. It’s the third dream in the series. I’m my current age, appearance, and so on. I’m aware that my house, with its yard, has been lifted from the earth and is traveling through space. Like before, I have a cutaway scene where I see this.
As in the prior dreams, my windows are open. Space’s darkness is beyond their screens. Unlike the previously experienced dreams about this, I’m unconcerned, because I know there’s some kind of protection around the house and yard. We are safe, traveling through space.
I’m at my desk, typing on my computer. I’m aware this time that a man is present. Off to my right, he’s not a shadow but is in like a shadowy orb. I don’t know who he is. He doesn’t bother me; he just seems to be a present to know. I also understand that he’s not grounded but hovering in the air. I think about speaking to him, but I don’t. I just continue typing.
Dream end.
Michael Seidel, writer 