27/06/2014

Morning notes

Leo negotiating a mealtime compromise

We think it's hard keeping track of toddlers and getting our kids to finish a meal. Try being the parent of a fledgling. This morning I watched the Mockingbird parents feeding their kids. One of the babies landed on a frond in Frida's palm tree and waited while they rustled him up a little grub then, when he'd had enough, flew off. A minute later one of the parents came back with another squiggly goodie but the baby was gone. Imagine if our toddlers could do that to avoid eating their broccoli.


"Frank, just one more bite then you can go play."

Also, all morning Sonny has been out on the screen porch ranting to his parents about how hot it is in Florida and it's only June, how he had a life in New York, ten years, how he learned all about being responsible during his forties, there, up north. His mom says something and he gets very animated about how he doesn't do anything illegal anymore but his deadbeat friends are cheating him out of a lot of money. I believe him.

Here's the thing. Sonny is a good guy at heart but his friends? I'm sure he's right. A rough lot. It's not his fault. He explains to her how, just recently, he went with some girl to help her rescue her drugged out friend and ended up getting "dragged into the middle of a situation".
"Then some guy walks up and threatens to put a bullet in my head", he says.
Also, he's upset because some strange guy just showed up on his Facebook page.
"I'm gonna erase the damn page. Everybody knows your business. People you don't even know. What's up with that? That's the most turmoil damn thing anybody could have made."
Pops is quiet but Sonny and his mom are deeply into it.
"Don't interrupt your Mother!"
"You're interrupting me."
"Can't I even talk?"
"My voice don't even matter around here, Mom! For years I've been telling you to drink that shit. You've been skinny for the last seven years but you only listen to Pam. You drink that and it's like an extra meal. It's like an extra meal throughout the day, but you only drink it when Pam tells you!"
When the conversation switches to Sonny's difficulty filling out rental contracts...
"It took 35 minutes just to fill out the damn form, then they wanted a credit card so I tore it up!"
...mom interrupts asking Sonny what he wants to eat.
"It all depends on what you want to do, Maw."
"You want pancakes with an egg?"
At this point, Pops mumbles something in a feeble voice and she yells,
"I'm not talking to you!"
Ok. Enough. The screen porch has reached sauna temperatures. BTW, if this sounds a little.... mmmmmm..... snarky..... I don't really mean it to be. First off, I would be the pot calling the kettle black. If you're a regular here you know that, by nature, I'm a total deadbeat. I get Sonny. I am Sonny. And anyway, you know... I don't judge. I just report.

photo by asha
Lucky Pierre and me on the job

26/06/2014

Morning and all is well along Alligator Creek

I've been doing a lot of obits these last few days so I thought I'd better sweeten it up around here with some happy things. So, this morning Sonny is out in the screen porch running it down to his mom about everything from "bingo to food allowances, calories, getting his own room at a motel, something that's sixteen dollars a day (probably the motel room), roller derbys, how a man can't live like that, taking showers outside from a bucket, carrying water down from the neighbors, what if the pipe breaks?, living in a trailer, how you need water for the toilet, how when you flush it it needs to go out" and on and on.

Sonny's been coming and going a lot lately and I was getting worried that he might have a job or a girlfriend or something like that so today is very comforting that he spent the morning ranting in the screen porch although he did just say something about "going out there" and "work" so let's hope he's not talking about himself. I know. I'm weird but hey. Some things should stay the same, at least for now.

So, we're off to the beach for a walk. M. Lee is currently training to do a solo century, which is a long long long lonely bike ride, maybe eight hours or more in the saddle. I am impressed but it makes my back hurt thinking about it. I did go to the gym yesterday though. Anyway, yesterday he ground out 75 miles so today we are going for a cool down, in 90° heat. In fact, he just came to the sliding glass door of the screen porch and gave me "the look" so gotta go. Pardon me. No time to edit. This is a post n go.

25/06/2014

Frostie the Snow Goat


Sadly sweet, plucky little Frostie the snow goat died suddenly a couple of days ago of complications from spinal injuries. Nevertheless, the kindness of those who rescued him and his love of life and determination to thrive is a heartwarming story for us all. Farewell, little guy.


23/06/2014

ARG!

View from the screen porch
posted from Bloggeroid

Arg! The guy next door has been vacuuming his vehicle for going on two hours now. He should know better. He's from California. Hey, buddy! News flash! You will never, ever get rid of all the sand. Get used to it. God! Oh, and guess what? The minute you get in the car.... sand. And don't forget your sand trap kids. And the dog? You guessed it. Sand, sand and more sand. WTF?!

22/06/2014

Charles Barsotti, bye-bye


Charles Barsotti. I loved the cartoons but knew nothing of the man until today, reading his obituary in his hometown paper, the Kansas City Star. Damn. Now I really really miss this guy.

https://thebark.com/sites/default/files/styles/full/public/content/article/full/4-barsotti_604x368_opt.jpg?itok=aUT2MNuo
Artist and nice guy: Charles Barsotti



21/06/2014

Happy Summer Solstice!

Longest day, shortest night and the official beginning of summer in the Western Hemisphere.

Now, I'm going to go do a Summer Solstice I Ching. Yes. I do the I Ching online these days. Don't even carry the book or use coins. Haven't for awhile. To a purist, of course, the idea of an online oracle must be total heresy  but that's their problem. Anyway, today's a good day to do a reading, as in tune in, tune up.

I'll probably post the result here later. Today's entry is already one of those run-on repost reposts. In the meantime, we pause for a public service announcement.

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The Seattle Humane Society is holding a Summer Solstice Adopt-a-thon. Good luck doggies. I hope today you all get your new fur-ever homes. I know. Corny.
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So on to the Summer Solstice reading...
Cast Hexagram:

13 - Thirteen: T'ung Jên / Social Mechanism

"....You are not building a new organization, but shoring up an existing infrastructure.
It's worth the effort, because it will provide union, community, and an ironclad alliance."

Transformed Hexagram:

51 - Fifty-One: Chên / Thunder

"....to one who understands its significance, this thunder is a signal to repent.
Centering the Self, seeking balance, the enlightened person will respect and align himself with this Higher Power, while his fellows remain subject to the whims of every passing storm."

Just read that a very experience hiker had gone missing on Mt. Rainer. That gave me a start as my nephew is climbing that mountain today, along with his girlfriend and some buddies. I've been wondering if he's going to propose to her when they get to the summit then the headline about a missing climber popped up on Yahoo. Turns out it's no one in their party which a relief but, of course, I'm sorry anyone is having trouble up there. Six people fell to their deaths on Mt. Rainer just last month. Conditions are still too dangerous for crews to attempt to recover their bodies then a member of the rescue team searching for Karen Sykes, the climber who just went missing, was hurt when he punched through a snow bridge and had to be airlifted out.


13/06/2014

Squirrel with a nut!

Squirrel with a nut!

And now I am off to do my five minutes. That is all.

11/06/2014

Rainy morning update

For the last two mornings I've been practicing doing my "five minutes" of writing, writing writing, not blog writing which M. Lee claims is not writing at all. I differ with that opinion but I know what he's getting at. Anyway, two days ago I (once again) rose to his challenge and made myself "work". In other words, I stared down the blank page, fought off the Brutal Editor and scratched out a few words. So much easier to do this. Or, easier yet, photographs.

But, then again, griping about writer's block, is a device. I just need something to replace the current top post. I'm tired of that vulture staring at me whenever I drop by to grab a link or see if anyone on my blogroll has done a new post. By the way. Where's the Deconstructionist? It's been almost a year now! I know. Busy. But, back to that vulture for a minute. It feels like my blog is the roadkill laying in the street, and beyond that, the rest of my writing, what little there is of it, or might ever be, and that gets old.

It's bad enough that I'm already feeling pretty uninspired lately. I like Florida but I'm also really isolated here. Okay, I feel like that everywhere. On the upside, we have a healthy routine. We bike, swim and go to the gym on a regular basis. I'm grateful for that. But, once again, no friends, no history and not much chance of either. How would I make it different? At this point, I'm not sure I can. We'll be gone in a couple of months and do it all over again somewhere else. It's the curse of the road. Love it or leave it, right? My family is my anchor but they have their own lives. And so do I. I don't want to "live through them". That sounds so sadly vampirish and just plain sad. Even being a grandma is a relationship, certainly a wonderful one, a precious gift, but it's not my identity. And, I'm not "retired". I cannot even begin to wrap my head around that word. It doesn't make sense to me at all. I always have a project, a goal, a dream and my own personal nightmares.

I know. So get on with it. Blah blah. I've written about this before. Boo-hoo. The feelings will pass, even if the situation does not. I'll get to the Florida Writer's Association meeting next time they meet. That will help. They're nice folks and dedicated writers. Excuse me but it does help to sort it out here. So okay. Thanks for listening. I've got my feet back under me now.

In other news, the fight for domination of Frida's pineapple palm tree is all but won by none other than Diego Rivera, champion of the Battle Royale. The twins and Leon Trotsky gave it their best but Diego is a fearsome foe. You might ask, how can I know it's him? After all, we are talking about squirrels, are we not? Well, Diego has a distinctive tail. Of course, he's fatter and fuller than he was back in Frida's day, and that funny little ratty tip of his tail has filled in some, but the kink is still visible and the tip is still a bit on the ratty side. Plus, that's who he is, whoever he is. Easy.

05/06/2014

Roadkill Cafe

Taken from my car window
A vulture enjoying a tasty lunch at the Roadkill Cafe., 

Taken from my car window, this fellow did not even consider moving when I stopped to photograph her. And why should she? Who better to the task of cleaning up the dead?
posted from Bloggeroid

04/06/2014

Notes from the porch

Life here along Alligator Creek can be deceptively simple. Days have a rhythm unlike other places we stay. It's an end of the road thing, days marked by sunrise and sunset, rather than the human impositions that generally mark time. And so, a week plus in, and I have hardly done a thing. Again, I am sitting in the screen porch, birds are chirping, Swami and Minerva are here also enjoying the light as it works its daily way through the fronds of Frida Kahlo pineapple palm. And, new to the troop, Molly McGee is also here enjoying the morning.

I haven't talked about Molly before although she appears in a couple of the photos I posted of our cross-country drive, not here but on instagram. But more about her later. I'm still sorting that one out myself. So. The day is far too begun. M. Lee is on a bike ride and I need to get out of here before he gets back. Otherwise, I will really feel like a slob.