Happy Winter Solstice

 

(The Telegraph)

Kitchen Hacks

I store a roasting pan in my oven because I do not have any other place for it and keep forgetting to take it out before I preheat the oven. Last week I came up with the idea of having a kitchen magnet made with the words "Check Oven For Pots and Pans" to put on the stove right next to the start button on my stove. Let's see how long it takes before I stop noticing it is there.

Re: Donald Trump's Behavior Since He Lost The Election

A Journal of the Plague Year

Last week my husband became sick with a fever of 100.7 F so he signed up for a COVID-19 test. The only opening he could get was Tuesday morning of this week. Yesterday we got the results back- negative. This morning I realized how much of a relief that was for me because when I woke up I did not feel as if a great weight was on me. This afternoon I realize just how much pressure I had been under since he first got sick because I am now exhausted in the same way I would be exhausted at the end of finals week in college.

Twilight Sky And Moon

 

Light Shadows 37

 

Caught In A Trap

I can't walk out
Because I love myself too much, Baby

Why can't you see
What you're doing to me
When you don't believe a word I say?

"He who will no longer be named" has his presidency end with Rudy Giuliani trash talking the media at a small landscaping business (It who will not be named) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Not something our founding fathers would have envisioned.

#ClasslessToTheEnd

 

The Leaves Of Autumn

 Beautiful autumn Saturday in Sunshine Park.

The park is carved out of farmland with fallow corn fields at the north- northeast end of it.

Looking back up the walkway.  The yellow tree in this photo is just beyond the yellow
tree in the other photo. The tree on the left is the one on the right in the other photo.

No To White Supremacists

 We have a neighbor who has been in my house. Who is a dog person. Whose wife died a year ago and who we emotionally supported for the last year. He is now flying a Don't Tread On Me flag and the Betsy Ross flag. Either he is a white supremacist or he hasn't a clue to what it means. Either way, I'm shunning him.

#IgnoranceIsNotADefence

RIP Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933 - 2020)

“Many admirers of her work say that she is to the women’s movement what former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall was to the movement for the rights of African Americans. I can think of no greater compliment to bestow on an American lawyer.”

-President Bill Clinton, 1993

The Notorious RBG will be missed. I grieve for our country.

The Best Laid Plans Of Mice And Women

 At the beginning of this COVID mess I had big plans. Get up early, sew, color a page out of one of my coloring books each morning, study Spanish, bake my own bread, make my own yogurt, and work in my garden. Now I am at the point where I am still in my PJs at 10:00 in the morning and wondering if there is really any reason to get dressed.

Hello!

                 "Can somebody come get me. I'm waiting patiently here."

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

I was just outside removing chair cushions from the lawn furniture to get ready for tomorrow's storm. That's when I discover that we not only had smokey air last night, we had wood ash floating down. The wood ash has been lightly sprinkled over everything outside and left a line of burnt particles in front of the garage door.

(Photo from the Fort Collins Coloradan newspaper)

Why To Only Buy Bottled Drinks At 7-Eleven

I went to the Vet to refill some meds for Belle and on the way home I stopped at 7-Eleven. While paying for my stuff a women came up and stood beside me (thank god she was wearing a mask) and placed a 7-Eleven large cup of pop on the counter next to me. The clerk notice that she had taken two cups, one inside the other, and told her that she should not have taken two because larger cups were more expensive to order. The women pulled the outside cup off and then put all the fingers of one hand inside the cup as she placed it on counter. I don't know if the clerk put the cup back but I do know that watching that woman set that cup down was probably the way she and a lot of other people normally pulled cups apart when then accidentally grabbed more than one cup. I'm so glad I've never bought self-serve fountain drinks from 7-Eleven.

I See The Light

Yesterday morning when I got up I felt energized by the morning light. Something was different. Then I realized there was no wildfire smoke in the air. The light was "clearer."

This afternoon I went out for a walk and put my amber tinted sunglasses on. When I stepped outside I thought, "Whoa." I hadn't notice that when we had smokey air it had turned the sunlight the same yellowish color. Kind of interesting.

Doggie Dreams

 I've been dreaming about my dog Dusty (He died in January) for over a week now. At first he was just in the background of my dreams but the night before last he came close enough to me so that I could pick him up. I was carrying him through a field and the next instance we were in the work pit of an old garage that was filled with water. I struggled to get him out of the pit. After I set him up on the concrete I woke up. Last night Belle was also in my dream and both he and Belle stayed close together. Belle and I were the only ones in the dream who could see Dusty. That I found out when I ask other people in the dream if they could see him. Everyone I asked said no. Now I wonder why I am dreaming about Dusty every night.

Two months ago Belle had a seizure. The Vet gave us seizure medication but said she wasn't sure just why it had happened and that it could be from a brain tumor. About a month ago Belle had another seizure. The Vet increased Belle's medication and said she was now sure it was a brain tumor. She could not say how long Belle had before the tumor would end her life but it was probably no more than a year. We have accepted the fact that Belle will not be with us a year from now and are just enjoying each day we have with her.

So, about the dreams. Am I dreaming about Dusty because he wants me to know he is here? Am I dreaming about Dusty because he wants me know that he will be here to be with Belle when it is her time to leave us? Is he here to tell me that when Belle does leave she won't be alone? Is he here to tell me that her time is closer than I thought? I am OK with all these reasons but I am worried that the last question is the main reason why he is here.