OK, Women Let's Do This!

 

Marble figure of Artemis of Ephesus, probably 100-200 AD Roman Imperial Period 36 cm high

For all the women who were focused outwardly at pleasing others for so much of their lives...may they find their strength to be themselves, to stand for what they think and love, and especially to just relax and BE.

And a big salute to the men and other women in our lives who stand with us and support our strength and our emotions when we need them.

And of course, sayings to quote from the internet...duh!!

On July 3 someone else had a U-Haul truck where they were putting something.

Soon, grasshopper, soon...I shall also be doing a similar act. Now to decide whether to keep the little spirit house that is on my porch in the foreground. The cactus, no. But what to do with the little house...

Ah, I gave the smaller Haniwa one to my next door neighbor, and I'll keep the Spirit House. Here's a shot with both of them in a gentle rain yesterday.

I was trying to capture the mountain echoing thunder. Not sure it came through however.

Which reminds me to smudge with white sage to cleanse the apartment of any lingering vibes from my life here for 11 happy and sometimes sick years.

The place I am going is 166 miles from here! Monument Valley, Utah. 

Where I'm coming from...taken along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.

=======

PS, men are welcome to also "Do This!" Whatever they learn from powerful women creates a good balance...nobody is responsible for anyone but themselves!

But please, patriarchy has accustomed all of us to look to men to be the decision makers, protectors, educators, and above all else, leaders. Take it easy guys, these qualities may also be fulfilled quite adequately by women. Look for sharing. Look for speaking of feelings and intuition...yep, you've got it too! Equalitarianism is quite possible. So men can relax and enjoy following the community of women. Seriously! It won't be abusive, because a matriarchal structure is not power-over, but power-with each other!

-------------

Neighbors

 

OK the universe just posted this by mistake, but perhaps it's good to see since we've got quite a lot of the opposite kind of weather these days!

My shaky hands/fingers will sometimes do whatever I have little control over.

I walked (last week) to the top of the hill in the apartment complex in North Carolina. Just to breathe deeply the cool air...though later in the day it was muggy as can be, triggering lots of coughing fits. But for a while I could just get out of breath and stop for a bit to catch my breath. At the top of the parking lot, where I stopped, I found a neighbor having breakfast.

After my first photo on phone, I kept walking and taking more, hoping to get a closer image with my 5X magnification limit.

He actually continued nibbling in between these shots, perhaps 10 seconds apart.

Sharing with Saturday's Critters.

Some other views of my neighbors...

And my back was aching as I walked back down the hill.

-----------

And as I move away from the familiar to be closer to at least one family member, I was happy to help out my next door neighbor this week. She lives here to be close to her daughter who just had a second baby. My neighbor doesn't drive much, but keeps her van running. She needed a ride to pick it up. I needed ice cream. So the cost for her was to stop at the "Blue Cone" for ice cream on the way to her car place where it had been worked on. Mmm, that soft serve locally owned little store makes just the right coolness for a hot day!

Yes, neighbors are important, as are family, and especially our chosen family, our friends! At least for me that's what I've learned in this lifetime.

------------

There is nothing more difficult yet more gratifying in our society than living with sincere, active, constructive hope for the human spirit.

MARIA POPOVA

----------------

To be fair to phone readers, and Vicki Lane, who commented on the header, here it is.

Photo from the U.S. Coast Guard Eagle, her sister ships, Portugal's Sagres, Romania's Mircea and Germany's Gorch Fock in the Sister Ship Race (Germany won) on the way to Boston July 11, 2026

Old places and some recognition

 

The Black Mountain library, 2026

Entrance to library 2023. the plantings have been cleared by the Beautification Committee and so no more Harry Lauder Walking Sticks or bulbs which pop up early each year. Now we have staid evergreens.

Black Mtn Depot 1910. Photograph by Herbert W. Pelton

Undated postcard but still from yesteryear!

A train at Black Mountain depot, undated.

Black Mountain College Studies Building at Black Mountain College has been named one of just 10 historic places in the United States as part of the World Monuments Fund’s Irreplaceable America list.

A historic building gained "World Monuments" status. It was part of the Black Mountain College.  

Sharing with Sepia Saturday

—————

Yesterday I decided to plan to get everything packed quickly and then have a last vacation here.  Why didn’t I think of that before? Lots of reasons, mainly health!

So I struggle along. Work a while. Rest a long while. Feel overwhelmed a lot!

-------------

Talked on phone with my son who reassured me that the wildfires north of his town  are not of any concern, and the one in Mesa Verde National park was contained and put out. That was a relief. I remind myself that he had been a wildland firefighter for the National Forest Service for several years, and for AmeriCorps before that.

And the biggest personal relief, which I really didn't expect, was my son telling me to stop thinking I'm going to be a burden to them. I keep doing that, I guess. It does seem to be in my DNA. So I'm going to be a gift to them. I will arrive with a big bow on top of my head. Mom the gift.

Thankful Thursday again!

 

If I don't comment for a while, I'm pushing things into boxes. Taking boxes to thrift stores or the garbage! Or piling up the ones to keep and take to Colorado in a bit more than a week. My brain is fried.

Sharing with Thankful Thursday!

And near where my son lives in Cortez CO...

Lightning sparked the Long Canyon fire in Mesa Verde National Park on Monday, shutting down some of the park's popular attractions, the National Park Service said.

The Ferris Fire has moved south from Delores County into Montezuma County as of July 8 - the county where my son's home is.

“Be a nuisance where it counts. Do your part to inform and stimulate the public to join your action. Be depressed, discouraged, and disappointed at failure and the disheartening effects of ignorance, greed, corruption and bad politics—but never give up.”

~ Marjory Stoneman Douglas