Manna and don't forget the beer!

 Yes, I am pre-posting these days.

When I had a chance to sit down in air conditioning, when my cough and my tremorous fingers were calmed, and when I wasn't moving at 70 miles per hour down the interstate towards the west!

Well, only a little of that has already happened. The trip doesn't start till next week actually.

But I figure I'll have dinged somewhere on my body packing or moving things around...and will wear at least one bandage. Yes, I left them out till last to be sure to have them available for my thin skin which tears so easily.

There are extra precautions when moving at 83-11/12ths years of age!

Last week I stopped at my favorite bakery and picked up the loaf of sandwich sourdough bread, and day old cookies, which promptly went in the freezer. Snickerdoodles and chocolate chip. Mmm, "manna" never looked so good. And what about that almond croissant? Well it was gone in 30 minutes while  reading blogs and Substacks.

Did I post this before? Probably. A neighbor had a little U-Haul just like the one we're going to load up next week. They got volunteer Mormon missionaries to help. The hardy young men were out in the 90 degree heat moving furniture, wearing their customary uniforms of white shirts and ties. No kidding. Ties tied. Shirts sticking to their backs. And they wouldn't probably get to enjoy a few beers afterward. 

Which reminds me to stock up on some beer next week for my friends who will move many boxes and load them also.

Wait wait, my son says no beer. And he wants to just drink whatever water might be available at gas stations etc. He doesn't care about all the different microbes as we cross the country. But I do.

I'll bring a couple of gallons of filtered water along, with my own microbes. I know once I'm in Colorado I will acclimate to their waters. But hey, he's young and my son likes to make some of these decisions. (I will also get a case of the Orange flavor LaCroix that he likes) Maybe. Or just take him grocery shopping the evening before loading the truck. Maybe... We have a small cooler to take my yogurt and some fruits. He's not sure he wants anything in it.

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Still packing...

A rock or two that is not going to be lugged across the USA.

Yes, I must keep the Buddha, and probably the soap dish I made. They were packed into one or another box with bigger things. It will be so funny to find treasures in with mixing bowls or socks. And my friend Suzanne is willing to take the rocks to add to her garden! So happy, because she has a couple of my goddess figures already. I believe she has the female Ent.

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Speaking of females who know their way around the world...

Wonder how our lives would be different had she not caught pneumonia the last weeks of her campaign and somehow so many women voted against her!!

And another woman who could have certainly done a better job than tRump's fiasco!

What's wrong with you people?

OK, nothing is wrong with people who're reading this, because you probably (I hope) didn't vote for tRump. But the millions who did? And so many of them women? HEY THERE! You are CRAZY, or just drank the Kool-Aid!

So if you voted for tRump, I will not ask again, "What's wrong with you" I will just encourage you to forgive that lapse and move on to support anyone else who comes along (besides Vance or Johnson), preferably a Democrat or a Democratic Socialist.

Or you can  expect more of this (taken Jan 6, 2024)

OK, calm down again...de-stress-i-fy. 

Breathe deep.

Resist. 

Breathe!

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Peace is an invitation in daily life to breathe deep, right here, in the uncertainty.

MORGAN HARPER NICHOLS

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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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

MARIA POPOVA

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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

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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!

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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.