Category Archives: Whatever

Snapshots, Whatever

Spare me!

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The pic has nothing to do with this post, exactly. Just my brother Kevin and I the other day after a pomertini or two. (Pomertinis are healthy and full of antioxidants, you know, or at least that’s what my SIL said when she kept pouring them!)

Anyway, maybe it was the vodka, but at some point on Thanksgiving we got to talking and laughing about Christmas and gift-giving. Kevin has a way of making everything funny, yet the gist of what he said was pretty depressing. Each of us, in my family anyway, spend an awful lot of time stressing about Christmas and wasting money to buy each other stuff we don’t need. We all make enough money. If we need something (or heaven forbid want something) we buy it for ourselves. Simple as that.

We wised up somewhat with gifts for my dad before he passed away. For a few years we rented a big stretch limo to take the bunch of us into NYC for dinner and a visit with the Rockettes, each of whom my dad was (not so) secretly in love with. Those gifts weren’t about money, but instead time. Time spent with his kids and grandkids doing something that made him happy. Much more meaningful than a silly tie or gadget for his computer.

We often talk about doing something similar for ourselves. Just planning a day to do something fun together, rather than buying gifts, but we always cave in and end up at the mall in a frantic dash with the rest of humanity. Hard to resist, I guess.

So… I’m hoping to be spared the craziness this season. I just need to come up with some ideas for things we might like to do together. And I need lists for the kids… cause they shouldn’t be spared and no Christmas is complete without at least one awful afternoon in a toy store.

Whatever

Presents

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A gift from the spring garden.

Cathy at Looking Up is sharing the nicest sort of meme on her blog and I thought it might be nice to play. The idea is that I’ll send along some little gift to the first three people that comment here, so long as you continue the giving by posting the same meme on your own blog. I’d like to think up some way for people who don’t have blogs of their own to play along, as it seems you all are always left out of the fun, so maybe I’ll dream something up for that possibility.

Cathy explains that the gift needn’t be of any real value, but should instead be motivated by the beauty of sharing some small part of yourself, or something you make with your hands, or grow in your garden.

In the neighborhood, Snapshots, Whatever

The long way home

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“Or you could be the one who takes the long way home
Roll down your window, turn off your phone
See your life as a gift from the great unknown
And your task is to receive it
Tell your kid a story, hold your lover tight
Make a joyful noise, swim naked at night
Read a poem a day, call in well sometimes and
Laugh when they believe it”
–Mary Chapin Carpenter from “The Long Way Home”

I’m calling in well tonight.

Whatever

Today

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My idea tonight, to mark the passing of two years of blogging, was to select a favorite post from each of the past twelve months. Reading through the archives this evening I found I couldn’t possibly do that, as some months were so full of wonderful things and others full of sadness of some sort or another, and other months were filled with posts but empty of any real thoughtfulness… and how do I choose among them for a favorite?

Being easier on myself, and not so much in the mood for making all those links, I thought instead I’d post just twelve favorite photos from the past year, but I can’t even seem to do that. Most of the photos I share here are so essentially tied to the mood of the posts that I can’t really separate them.

I can say that my enjoyment in blogging hasn’t diminished, although my enthusiasm has waned from time to time. I’m still glad you come around for a visit now and again and hope you’ll continue to share your friendship here with me. I do wonder what we’ll dream up to ramble on about in this next year.

Whatever

Send mittens

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I’m working on a theory and need you to play along with me here. Given my history with phone issues, I think there must be some sort of conspiracy at work in my life: I’m convinced that all the phone companies are out to get me, even the cell phone companies.

😉

Why can’t I sit on my couch and make a call on my cell phone? Should I really have to drive or walk halfway to the next town to be able to hear the person I’m talking to? How is that fair?

So tell me. How many bars do you have at home? Do I maybe need to switch providers (again) and hope for better service? Cave in and pay AT+T for long distance to avoid shivering in the cold this winter? Give up my faraway friends?

Do tell. And send mittens.

PSA, Snapshots, Whatever

Rearview

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This is what happens when you put a bored kid with a camera in the backseat while you and her mom drive around looking at scenery. She also took pics of the contents of my purse. And the sandy floor mats. Lots of pics of sandy floor mats.

Don’t forget to set your clocks back tonight. (Yes, I’m doing the happy dance because of that extra hour of sleep!) Although now that I think about it, it means that Luka will have me up at 4 to pee.

;-(

I’m at the bird observatory tomorrow so there’ll be beach pics for those of you missing the shore.

Garden, Seasons, Whatever

Autumn in our hands

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Thanks to everyone who took the time to send pics! We’ve made a lovely mosaic of fall color, don’t you think?

Hand and leaf ID’s are as follows (clockwise from top left): Redbud, I think (from the Net), Piracantha berries from Donna who doesn’t have much color yet, Maple from Nina, Pin Oak from Mary, Locust from John, Maple from Ruth, Maple leaves (from the Net), Striped Maple from Al (also called the Moosewood Maple or the Goosefoot Maple which I can totally see – thanks Mojoman – I learned a new ID with that name!), Staghorn Sumac from Ruthie J., Larch needles from me, Sourwood from Jayne, and Dogwood from Larry.