December Diary

Most days are ordinary and unexciting; that’s everyday life.

1 – This is the day I usually put the lights on my two outdoor cedars by my front door, and I did it again this year. I’ve developed my own Christmas traditions as well as keeping some from my childhood.

2 – A dental cleaning and exam. The hygienist I currently have is not as gentle as the ones I had before. She sometimes hurts, which others didn’t, and this time my gums bled after I got home and brushed them. I haven’t said anything to her, and I don’t know her name. Still, perhaps I should call the office and ask for a different hygienist for my summer cleaning. Though when I did some research online, most dentists seemed to say it wasn’t unusual to have slight pain and bleeding if the hygienist did a thorough job. I wonder if that means my previous hygienists didn’t do a good job.

It began to snow as I walked home from downtown – flakes kept getting bigger and fluffier. We’ve had a break from cold weather and snow; this is probably the onset of real winter.

I also put up my Advent calendar and village scene on top of the piano. With the Christmas tree, I’ll wait as usual.

3 – Today was a vacuuming and floor washing day as well as laundry.

4 – Got my Covid booster shot.

6 – Quiet couple of days, colder weather. Have had a stiff and sore arm from the Covid shot, but no other side effects. Despite the cold, I did go for a short walk to and from the drugstore today.

7 – Dental appointment to get a small filling done; it wasn’t bad.

9 – The weather improved, and I went for a lovely walk and talk with a friend. We are lucky to have the river and all the trails along it.

11 – I drove out to Elrose to see Mom and be there for the Christmas party. They had their usual pair to play Christmas carols and it was nice to join in some of the singing. Mom had her eyes closed but at times seemed to move with the music. After Santa came to distribute gifts, we had goodies. I fed Mom her pudding and helped her drink her punch. After that, I took her to her room for a while, and she opened her eyes, staring out the window. Since she doesn’t communicate anymore verbally, it was hard to know what she was seeing.

16 – Birthday of one of my brothers. I’d sent him a card earlier, but also sent him a text on the day.

17 – Walked to Hues Art Supply on Lorne Avenue. I love this shop and it’s also conveniently located to my house. This day, all I bought was 4 gel pens with white ink. I love these for doing zentangles on black paper.

18 – Had a distanced, masked visit with friends in their house.

19 – A video interview with Sask. German Council to talk about the Frankfurt Book Fair, the popularity of Canadian books in Germany, and one of my own books.

The rest of the month – I’ll be cooking a turkey for Christmas, which I haven’t done for quite a few years, though I have on occasion rolled a turkey breast with dressing and baked that, or cooked turkey fillets. It will be a quiet Christmas, though I hope to Skype with my son and grandson. New Years, too will be quiet, though I do have some Grand Marnier to celebrate.

Happy celebrations, everyone!

November Notes

The month began with good weather. We had no snow, quite a lot of sunshine and pleasant temperatures for the time of year. Good weather for walking and finishing off any yard work. Of course, it made me think of the climate emergency that the world faces. Though it’s not unusual to have clement weather in November, it did remind me of the difficult summer – drought, fire, heatwaves, floods.

Personally, spring in my yard was wonderful – new plants doing well, decent weather.

But then no rain made things more difficult. Birds attacked my young plants even though I put out seeds for them and kept water in the bird bath. We also had a mouse infestation in my neighborhood.

Snow did come in November, as it inevitably does here, sometimes early, this year rather late. The lateness of snow felt good, a positive when so much else was negative.

Still, we have to look for the positives among the challenges. That’s what keeps life going.

For me, one of the positives has been to finish my fourth book in the fantasy series ‘The Leather Book Tales.’ I’ve done some of the interior production of the book and am now waiting for the cover to be designed.

I’ve also found time for water colour painting again, and I hope to do more. 

In the process of painting a butterfly for a card and looking for a good quote about butterflies, I found an American writer and educator called Alice Freeman Palmer. She grew up on a farm, the eldest of four children, during a time when women generally did not go to university. Her father left the farm to study to be a doctor, leaving Alice’s mother and the children to run the farm. Alice promised her parents that if they paid for her to go to university, she would work to help educate the younger children. She did this by teaching school, becoming a principal, and then a professor of history at Wellesley College. At the age of 26 she became President of Wellesley. She married George Palmer several years later and resigned from Wellesley, spending a couple of years as a travelling lecturer. Later, she was Dean of Women at Chicago University. Alice died too young, at the age of 47 from complications after surgery.

As I get older some things have become difficult. I don’t have the same amount of energy, and winter is less enjoyable. Overly spicy foods don’t agree with me, and I have to take more care in general with what I eat. Arthritis and aches and pains constrain some activities.

However, if I pace myself and take breaks when needed I can still do things that I enjoy: reading and writing, cooking and baking, walking and gardening (or snow shoveling in winter), going to movies or streaming them on line.

Covid 19 has also made me cautious about being out in public and spending time with other people, but that can be mitigated somewhat by wearing masks and getting vaccinated (which I did some time ago). I’m hopeful that this pandemic will end eventually and that Covid 19 will be just another one of the flu varieties that we can cope with as part of everyday life.

Reading poetry can help, too.

November by the Sea (by D.H. Lawrence)

Now in November nearer comes the sun

down the abandoned heaven.

As the dark closes round him, he draws nearer

as if for our company.

 

At the base of the lower brain

the sun in me declines to his winter solstice

and darts a few gold rays

back to the old year's sun across the sea.

 

A few gold rays thickening down to red

as the sun of my soul is setting

setting fierce and undaunted, wintry

but setting, setting behind the sounding sea

between my ribs.

 

The wide sea winds, and the dark

winter, and the great day-sun, and the sun in my soul

sinks, sinks to setting and the winter solstice

downward they race in decline

my sun, and the great gold sun.

 

By the way, D.H, Lawrence also wrote a poem called ‘Butterfly.’ You can find it online.

October Observances

I’ve always liked the world ‘serendipity’ meaning, according to my old Third International Webster’s Dictionary, “an assumed gift for finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.” At one time I created a character called Serendipity Black who was a combination investigator and adventurer. I never wrote any stories about her though I think I did have some notes. I’m not sure that I’ve still got them – it was before the time of computers. Anyway, that’s for future investigation and possibly a future blog.

In looking up the word just now, I discovered that it comes from a Persian folk tale called ‘The Three Princes of Serendip.’ Something else to investigate further.

My serendipitous experience in early October occurred when I posted on Facebook some photos of plants from my garden that I was bringing indoors. One of these was a variety of basil I’d not grown before that I chose just because the picture on the seed packet was unusual. The leaves looked different but tasted quite like the basil I was used to. A friend asked about the photo, said she wasn’t familiar with that type of basil. This set me off looking at my seed packet again where I discovered that the variety was called Tulsi or Sacred Basil, highly regarded in the Hindu religion. The seed packed (which I hadn’t read earlier) also stated that the plant is a common ingredient in Thai cooking and medicinal teas.

I began to search for more about this and other types of basil, as I thought there was a variety called Thai Basil and I wondered if it was the same as mine. I discovered a great many valuable and agreeable things!

This is what I found about my basil. From https://www.verywellhealth.com/holy-basil-4766587  "But in Western medicine holy basil is perhaps most valued as an adaptogen (a substance that helps the body adapt to stress). The plant has been used to combat the negative effects of stress in the body, maintain stable blood sugar levels, and promote longevity."

I’ve made a tea with my Tulsi twice. I put several sprigs plus a mint tea bag and some honey in a teapot and poured boiling water over. I liked it and maybe it will have the effects mentioned above. I’ve got the plant in a pot inside so more tea coming up.

Additional information came to light. I usually grow sweet basil which comes in several varieties, often Italian.

Now that I've grown this different variety and found out more about it, after the fact (I did use some of it in pizza, and dried some and it seemed similar in flavour to my usual), I decided I needed to find out how many different kinds there are - lots!! These include other Italian sweet varieties such as Genovese and Napoletano as well as lettuce leaf basil. Yes, it actually looks like lettuce! This is one I’d like to try because you could make a lot of pesto from not very many plants. 

Then there are colourful types of such as Dark Opal and Purple Ruffles.                                                                                                 

For a somewhat different flavour you can try Lemon or Lime Basil.

And yes, there is a variety called Sweet Thai Basil but it seems to be different from Tulsi.

And more varieties yet! So if you're feeling adventurous next spring, try some of these. https://morningchores.com/types-of-basil

October has continued with very nice weather (serendipity?), though we do need rain. I’ve been able to do lots of clean up work in my garden, though there’s still work I want to do – prune my Saskatoon bush and my raspberries, and some more raking of leaves.

I’ve been reading a lot – old books (The Godstalk Chronicles by P.C. Hodgell, Fer-de-lance by Rex Stout) and ones new to me (John A. The Man Who Made Us by Richard Gwyn).

In regard to Rex Stout (he wrote mysteries about the gourmet and large detective Nero Wolfe) I had another serendipitous experience. I was browsing Hoopla (the site connected to your library that has eBooks, TV and movies) and I came across a 2012 TV series that features adaptions several of Rex Stout’s books. But it’s an Italian series with English subtitles. The main characters (Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin) have been transported to Italy. Though they are still characterized as American, they both speak fluent Italian. I’ve watched two of the episodes so far – what a romp!

September Scenes

The most exciting thing I’ve done in a while was to fly to Edmonton to visit my son and grandson.

I hadn’t been flying since well before Covid happened, so I had a bit of anxiety about preparing myself for that. It turned out to be easy and quite stress free. For the first time in my life I was able to use a digital boarding pass (I know, I know, I’m way behind the times but for years all I had for a mobile phone was a flip phone and my iPhone is just over a year old.) and that turned out to be easy once I figured out how to get it onto my phone (I now have the airline app on my phone.) I knew I’d have to wear a mask from entering the airport, during flight, and leaving the airport. That was all fine with me. I’ve been wearing masks in public indoor places continually even after our **!! ## ** premier removed all health directives and put our province into a Covid 19 upsurge.

It was great to see my son (I hadn’t seen his new house at all because he moved into it just over a year ago.) and grandson. I’d worried a little because I didn’t plan to wear a mask around them and of course they have different contacts than I do, but I knew my grandson’s school was masking and so was my son at his workplace. We spent lots of good time together, from shopping to walking, to playing games, to chatting. And we wore masks in public spaces. Thankfully both the Alberta government and the Saskatchewan government reintroduced health directives.

My grandson and I made pizza together from scratch.

My son and I visited the Millcreek Nursery, which is a farm inside Edmonton. I’d love to spend more time there, but we just went to pick up some plants for his yard. We planted an apple tree, two Haskap berry bushes and a Saskatoon bush.

   It was a great visit and I felt reasonably safe. I enjoyed getting to know my son’s new neighbourhood. And it was fun to share election night with them, watching their riding go NDP and Saskatchewan go blue (not a surprise, but one can always hope.).

Now I’m back home debating whether I should get tested for Covid or not. I never have had a test and am fully vaccinated. I feel fine and I saw that waiting times at the drive through were up to 4 hours. So far I have decided not to go unless something changes in the way I feel.

Neighbours kindly watched over my house while I was gone and all is well, except like many other areas, this neighbourhood has a mouse problem. I’ve caught a few in the garage and reset my traps.          

I did some leaf raking yesterday and will be finishing my garden clean up – emptying plant pots, digging the last of the carrots, cutting back perennials and raking more leaves.

September is nearly over but we’ve been given the gift of good weather for at least a while longer.

 

August Angst

Angst is the German word for fear. It's a reality, I fear, I forgot to post in August!

It was a cooler month, with quite a bit of rain and when the sun shone I was busy painting my garage. In between times I read, napped, wrote, and went for walks.

I promise to write more in September - I have gotten on Tik Tok and made some videos.

July Jingle

Like the white rabbit, I’m late

for an important date.

I usually post a blog once a month

on a Sunday, oh what a dunce

I am because I forgot this time

to be on time but that’s no crime.

July is almost over, and Sundays are gone

though a new month will dawn anon.

I’ll quit while I’m ahead

before more of my rhymes fill you with dread!

No white rabbit but a hare instead -

June Journal – Battle of the Birds

 I used to feed the birds only in the winter and have a bird bath in my back yard in the summer.

The last few years I’ve fed the birds in the summer too and had two bird baths. I thought feeding the birds in the summer might keep them away from my strawberries and Saskatoon berries. That didn’t work.

But I kept up the feeding in the summer and the bird baths because I enjoyed watching my little feathered friends play. They did get into my Swiss chard before it could grow enough for me to eat, and they got some of my lettuce. I put up with all that. I sometimes spread netting (I put some over my strawberries this year) and that helped. I also grew Swiss chard in a pot this year so I could eat some.

This Thursday I visited Wild Birds Unlimited to check out their heated bird baths (very expensive) for winter (decided to give those a miss for now), and to buy a couple of different seed and insect bells to treat my birds.

I had run out of bagged bird seed and put up one of the seed bells. The birds couldn’t find it and on Friday evening, in their feeding frenzy they attacked my human garden edibles with a vengeance! They even started eating the rhubarb leaves, which are toxic in quantity! One little bird got stuck in the netting I’d put up to protect some spinach. I managed to free it. I noticed a bird feather stuck to my pot of basil on my deck and a couple of the plants were eaten.

I had never found HItchock’s movie ‘The Birds’ scary, but Friday evening I identified with it!

I got so annoyed that I removed one of my bird baths and started thinking about stopping feeding the birds in summer. I would (if they could find it) let them finish off the seed bell and then I’d stop feeding them until late fall. I might even remove my last bird bath I thought.

Saturday morning I woke up with the thought that I could move seed bell and bird bath to my front perennial garden – no human food there for them to decimate.

I’ve done that and have also watered there in hopes of attracting the birds to extra water that may lead them to the new bird bath location and the hanging seed bell nearby. Maybe they will stay out of my back yard.

I may also put wind chimes into my back yard Saskatoon bush because I’ve heard they don’t like the sound and also don’t like sunlight flashing off shiny things.

Though by Sunday they still hadn’t found the new location, I hope the birds will eventually find it and like the new location for the bird bath and feeding station. I do like watching them and can do that out my front window.

Other friends have found this a bad year for birds – I wonder if there’s less other food because the weather has been so dry?

I’m thinking of putting out some loose seeds in one of my feeders at the front it they don’t find the bell soon.

The battle of the birds and human many continue.

May Meanderings

 Meander in Latin means a winding course. The word may have originated from the Greek name for a river in Caria which was a winding one – Miandros.

Originally when I thought of this blog, I planned to post photos and commentary of places that I wandered to this month. And I will include a couple of photos, but I ended up meandering through a historical person’s life, and that is my main topic this time.

I think I first came across the name William Marshal in a book of my father’s called ‘Below the Salt’ (published in 1957 by Doubleday) written by the Canadian writer Thomas B. Costain. (A meander - By the time this book was published Costain had written nine novels and three histories in fifteen years. Costain does not seem to be well known or mentioned these days, but I like his books. He was also an editor at McClean’s as well as an associate editor at Saturday Evening Post and later an advisory editor at Doubleday.)

‘Below the Salt’ is sort of a time travel book in that one of the main characters keeps having dreams of a former life during the time of King John and the Magna Carta. William Marshal was a knight and earl involved in this time, though he is a minor character in the book.

Recently I’ve been watching a documentary on Acorn TV, called ‘Tales of Irish Castles.’ One of the episodes spent quite a bit of time on William Marshal and I learned that Marshal married the heiress Isabel of Clare, who had lands and castles in both Wales and Ireland. The narrator said that the two of them had a happy and prosperous relationship during turbulent times. He also mentioned that Marshal was known as “the greatest knight” during his lifetime. I wanted to know more.

In the Saskatoon Public Library, I found the book called ‘The Greatest Knight’ by Thomas Asbridge. The first really fascinating fact was that in 1861 a young French scholar (Paul Meyer) came across a rare manuscript at a Sotheby’s auction. (Another meander – Meyer was called as a witness in France at the Dreyfus trial in 1898, as a handwriting expert.)

Meyer examined the manuscript and noted that it “Contains an original chronicle, which seems to report the conflict that broke out in England during the reign of Stephen, nephew of Henry I.” He thought that the manuscript (written in Medieval French verse) had not been opened or touched for about 250 years. In the auction the book went to a famous book collector and antiquarian, Sir Thomas Phillips. Meyer did not see the text again for twenty years. When he finally got hold of it again after Phillips’ death, Meyer discovered that it was the life story of a man called Guillaume le Maréchal (William Marshal).

William Marshal was first mentioned when King Stephen of England took him hostage as a five-year-old, in guarantee for his father’s word in the great conflict over the English crown after Henry I’s death. William’s father broke his word and decided not to support King Stephen. The latter decided to hang the young boy. Luckily this didn’t happen. William was the youngest son of John Marshal and had no prospects. He remained a hostage for some months but was eventually returned to his family.

Around the age of twelve William was sent to Normandy, to a kinsman of his mother’s. At this time the English kings held England (as well as parts of Wales and Ireland) and lands in what is now France. Henry II (who took over as king when Stephen died) held Normandy, Anjou, Maine, and Brittany. From his marriage to Eleanor, he also gained Aquitaine. William Marshal spent most of his young adulthood in these Angevin lands as a soldier and knight.

Since he had no family expectations, William had to find ways to support himself. After patronage from his Norman kinsman was withdrawn William went on the tournament circuit. In those days, tournaments did not involve the structured jousting we often see in movies and television, but rather melees where groups of knights fought each other in open fields. Whatever horses and equipment a knight could capture became his and any other knights he captured had to pay ransom to be released. William became good at this and did very well for himself in horses and funds.

For a time, William served in the retinue of Eleanor of Aquitaine and later in that of Henry, the young king. (Another meander: King Henry II was worried about the succession as he’d experienced the civil war in England, so he had his first-born son crowned while Henry II was still alive.) Henry II and Eleanor had five sons and three daughters. Three of the living sons (Henry, Richard, and Geoffrey) though given lands across the Channel from England to look after, each at one time or another revolted against their father or fought each other. William Marshal supported Henry the young King until the latter died in battle.

Henry II forgave Marshal for supporting his son in rebellion and took him on after William had returned from a brief crusade to the Holy Land. When Henry II died, Marshal served Richard I (the Lionheart) and became co-justiciar of England while Richard was on crusade. (Meander: Marshal once spared Richard’s life when the two of them fought on opposite sides.) Around this time Marshal also married Isabel of Clare, whose lands made him one of the richest men in England. On the way back from the crusade Richard was taken prisoner in Austria and held for ransom. Richard’s brother John was hoping to take over the kingdom, but Richard returned, and attempted to take back some of the Angevin lands that John had let go to the King of France. William Marshal fought at Richard’s side.

When Richard eventually died, Marshal was able to work, though with difficulty, for King John, who was reviled by many in his time and in the centuries to come, so that no other English king has ever taken that name.

In 1205 William Marshal quarreled with King John and went to his and Isabel’s estates in Ireland for a time. He returned to royal favour in 1212 and was a negotiator at John’s side during the baronial rebellion which began in 1215 and led to the signing of the Magna Carta.

By the time he died in 1219, William Marshal had lived through the reigns of four kings and served three of them.

“In many respects, William Marshal was the archetypal medieval knight. His qualities epitomised, perhaps even defined, those valued in late twelfth- and early- thirteenth century Western European aristocratic culture. His storied career stood as testament to what knights could achieve: the heights to which they could rise and the extent to which they could shape history.” – from ‘The Greatest Knight’ by Thomas Asbridge.

April Annals

 

‘April is the cruelest month’ wrote T.S. Eliot.

Here in the northern prairie, it doesn’t even breed lilacs yet. This year we’ve had spring-like weather followed by snow. Not unusual for this location.

However, I have small lettuce in a tub, rising toward a grow light, and below under another light, several small pots of tomatoes.

I’ve raked away some of the debris from grass out front and in my back yard, though I don’t have much lawn and plan to remove more sod this spring.

Covid 19 is still the dark shadow hovering over all of us, even if some of us have been vaccinated, partially or wholly. This virus keeps mutating, and we don’t know what’s going to happen next. Older people were most affected at first, now it’s the younger ones among us.

Those of us who read up on the 1918 pandemic aren’t much surprised by any of this. History does repeat itself, though now we have vaccines.  The first mention of the 1918 flu occurred in April of that year in a public health report from Kansas. (No one seems to know for certain where this flu originated, though it spread through Europe and other places). The first wave was mild and began to die down, but then a second wave hit as the war ended. Patients often developed pneumonia and could die within a couple of days. A third wave came in the winter or spring of 1919. Although cases declined that summer, some historians say that a fourth (milder) wave occurred in the winter of 1920.

I try not to spend too much time agonizing about what may or may not happen with this pandemic. I have writing to do, reading, walks to take, movies and shows to stream, water colour and drawing to do, baking. I live alone and find ways to entertain myself; can connect with family and friends through various media.

The price of lumber and renovations have gone up; one of the consequences of the pandemic. However, I managed to find lumber to replace a fence and found a contractor who has time to undertake the work. Hopefully, that will get done in early May. I’ve put my bathroom renovations on hold. Maybe they’ll get done next year.

I’m looking forward to puttering in my garden. There’s always work to do there, plantings that can be thinned or moved, new arrangements made.

The fence that doesn’t need replacing this year does need to be stained again. My garage can certainly do with a coat of paint.

It’s too early to do most of that work, though I can do more raking to uncover those perennials that are already reaching out of the earth into the sun. I can dig up the patch of sod that I’m going to remove this year.

Last fall I planted tulip bulbs called Jazzberry Jam. They are white with red stripes. Fingers crossed that at least some of them will have survived!

April is a hopeful month.

March Musings

The ancient Greeks believed in nine muses, and five were for different genres of poetry. I’m not going to list those – you can easily find them online.

Painters, writers and other artists sometimes claim to be inspired by a live muse, a significant other, etc.

Personally, I don’t have a real-life ongoing muse, but my imagination has been kindled by various people, writers, musicians, historical and mythical figures, and ordinary people.

Sammu-Rammat, also known as Shammuramat, and Sammuramat, probably ruled the Assyrian empire from 811 to 806 BCE (Before the Common Era), as regent for her young son. It was unusual for a woman to rule in Assyria, and she had a difficult job to do. Her husband, Shamshi-Adad, had helped his father prevent an attempt by another son to take the throne. This civil war depleted the resources of the kingdom, and the Assyrian Empire was weakened. Sammu-Rammat supposedly accompanied her husband on at least one military campaign. After her husband died, she defeated the Medes and annexed their territory. She had her own obelisk inscribed and placed in the city of Ashur. It was the Greeks who remembered her and later called her Semiramis. There are many stories and legends about her, but little is known for certain; much of the above is speculation.

I thought of her when I created my blog and publishing company, Serimuse.

Singer Tina Turner has been an inspiration to me for years because she persevered through many challenges and continued to perform as she grew older. I just found out that there’s a new documentary called ‘Tina’ which premiered at the March 2021 Berlin Film Festival and will be released (at least in the U.S.) at the end of this month. Tina stopped touring some years ago. She is 81 now and living in Zurich. I plan to see the film when I can.

A legion of writers inspired and continue to inspire me, from Charles Dickens through L.M. Montgomery, Margaret Laurence, Octavia Butler, Guy Gavriel Kay, Elizbeth Moon, Andreas Schroeder, Lorna Crozier, Janet Kagan, J.R.R. Tolkien, and many more.

Of course, I also remember my father who died a year ago (March 11) at the age of 97 and influenced me in so many ways. I wrote in a blog at that time:

He loved to tell stories, used to make up bedtime stories on the spur of the moment. That’s probably where I got my drive to write. He loved to read, too. I remember going to libraries with him in Germany. And he had a prodigious memory for facts, whether things he’d personally experienced or had read about.

Dad was interested in the world around him, the cultures and history of other countries, in art and music. This began my own understanding that variety is indeed the spice of life, that differences are not things to be feared but celebrated, and that we can each contribute in our own ways.

February Facula

 In the past I’ve often written about words that interested me. This year I’ve decided to title each blog post so that the letter of the month matches with another word. Hence, January Jottings last month.

Facula are bright spots on the surface of the sun. The word has also been used for bright spots on other planets.

There are fish called facula butterfly fish.

I chose the word because at this time of year I’m in dire need of bright spots. We’re in the midst of Covid, vaccines are slow getting to us, and here in Saskatchewan we’ve been having windchills of minus 40 and lower for days.

When I started writing this blog post, I hadn’t been out walking for six days.

I have enough food to last, but I definitely have cabin fever. I keep thinking about walking to my nearby grocery or drug store for a few treats and additional food. After all it’s only a 15-minute walk either way. In the past I’ve prided myself on keeping active all winter. However, I’m getting older and less motivated. My car is in the garage; I could plug it in for 3 hours and drive somewhere, but then I’d have to get outside and leave my car and get back into it cold. None of those thoughts help right now, and neither does stepping outside my front door to check my mailbox..

So I’m considering bright spots.

I have shelter, clothing and food. I have books to read, electronics to keep in touch with others and to entertain me. I finished my crossword book, but not my Sudoku book. I have writing to do and income tax to get organized. The latter isn’t a very bright spot, but it’s something to do, and I will feel great when it’s all done and ready for my accountant in March. I still have micro greens growing (seeded them January 1), and soon I plan to seed tomatoes. I have grow lights to help them along. I do yoga most days. My house has internal stairs so that’s another way to get exercise. My house is relatively warm, though it’s old and can get drafty in the wind, but I have two rooms with doors that close and an electric heater for each room, so I can get cosy. I have sweaters and blankets. The days are getting longer and at worst spring is about two months away.

A super bright spot for me this month was being privileged to co-host an Artful Readings book discussion on Zoom with the Remail Modern. We discussed ‘Startide Rising’ by David Brin, as well as the Xadie Za art installation associated with it. It was a small, but articulate group; discussion ranged widely from dolphins in space to racism, bigotry and colonialism, art and science fiction.

Late wednesday afternoon the windchill went up to -39! I’d been wrestling with some recalcitrant income tax stuff and had just succeeded in conquering it when I found this out. So, high on one success, I decided to parka and bundle up and go. It wasn’t bad. I remembered that it never had been bad once I‘d gotten out. My clothing is warm, and walking creates heat. Once again, I conquered the inertia of the mind.

I baked chocolate chunk cookies on Thursday – delicious. Put some in the freezer for future treats.

And the severely cold temperatures will end soon, in a few more days, hopefully!! By Monday! Think positively.

January Jottings

For many of us, January is a time to both look backward and forward. We might assess our year just past and decide what was good and what we want to change. We may go into the new year with hopes and resolutions. 2020 was one of the most difficult many of us have ever had to face. I don't think that 2021 will be particularly easy.

I've always known that I can function on my own, in solitude, and 2020 has confirmed that. I'm not a complete hermit, however, and I miss the face to face contact with certain family and friends. It's just not the same looking at them on a screen and trying to have a meaningful conversation there.

At the beginning of this pandemic I read all I could about the 1918 influenza. I learned that it had several waves and that it lasted at least a couple of years. The people and communities that survived best were those that wore masks and reduced their contacts with others. So I was somewhat prepared. That didn't make it much easier, however.

Like most people, I've had my ups and downs. So far, I've remained healthy, though as usual I've had to deal with the effects of aging: arthritis, changing sleep patterns, and digestive disturbances. Some of these symptoms are part of Covid also, so I've had to be calm about them.

However, just as the 1918 pandemic eventually ended as the most vulnerable died and others gained immunity, I believe that this pandemic will end, too. Vaccines will help. The 1918 flu mutated into one much less virulent and deadly and became just one of the flu strains that we deal with each winter. Hopefully something similar will happen with this one.

I hear people talk about all the things they will do when this pandemic is over. I recently heard a radio interview in which an author who studies pandemics talked about it taking several years for communities to recover from pandemics.

We've seen economic, social, political, and other consequences already. Will we make a better world as a result of this? I hope so.

Some talk about how much they are looking forward to travelling again. I love to travel, too, when I can afford it, but I'm also aware of how travel has made us all more susceptible to illnesses and pandemics. Do we really want to take those risks again with wide open travel? Do we want to continue to feel entitled to travel as much as we wish and can afford? Will we keep ignoring the causes of climate change?

In many ways we are lucky in this pandemic. We have many ways of keeping in contact with those we care about, ways that weren't available to people in 1918. Our medical knowledge and health care systems have improved since then, though we also see the cracks in the systems. The ability to manufacture vaccines in months rather than years is a huge advantage and a great success, showing the best of humankind. We've also seen the worst.

I've confirmed things that I knew about myself, found ways to survive and deal with ups and downs. Even found ways to thrive at times. 

I look forward to having more freedom than I currently allow myself. But I think that I will also continue to be more cautious, at least for quite a while.