Metagraywacke and amazing big rocks (mountains)

 If you have no interest in geology, just skip this post. We visited the museum on Mt. Mitchell, and I only took a few photos. It was definitely user friendly with lots of gadgets to push, wind, pull or turn.

The monument on top of the mountain, which has been replaced by a big platform with lots of explanations of what you're looking at.

Yes, I've posted about climbing to the platform, and looking at each direction to see which peaks were out there. It's really kind of fun at the moment, but later on sort of boring.

I loved this rock's name!

I did pick up a piece of gravel at the picnic area, which of course is illegal in state parks, I guess. But it also could have come from miles away and been trucked in there.

The town of Black Mountain is about 15 miles due south of Mt. Mitchell as the crow flies. Of course I've never flown it, but drive along the parkway to get there, about 30 miles or so that way.

Manipulative Republicans posted such stupidly hilarious photos of a dying (or perhaps brain dead) senator...as well as this contrived AI three-armed wife and 6-fingered man! The video of him break dancing is really hilarious. All for the love of power of majority votes. What kind of people do this?

Power is not about exerting our will over others, it is about being in complete truth with yourself.

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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

They've politicized Social Security

 Last week I received a rare letter from the Social Security Administration.

From the same agency which I entrust my life's savings from years of working and sending money to be refunded when I retire...

Photo of the email as received, and I copied the text directly from the email with added red type for the political campaign messages.

This weekend, America celebrates its 250^th birthday. For over 90 of those years, Social Security has provided financial freedom for America's seniors. President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Administration are not only protecting Social Security, but we are providing meaningful and immediate relief to older Americans who have spent decades contributing to our nation's economy.

Just last year, on July 4, 2025, President Trump signed into law the Working Families Tax Cuts Act. This historic legislation included a tax cut that allows Americans 65 and older to keep more of their hard-earned Social Security benefits. Thanks to President Trump, over 35 million American seniors received an average of $7,500 in relief this tax season.

If you did not take advantage of the President's signature tax cut for seniors, I encourage you to review eligibility requirements through the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website for next year's tax filing season.

Under the leadership of President Trump, we are protecting and strengthening Social Security while providing world-class customer service:

• In SSA field offices, we've reduced wait times by 30 percent;

• On the phone, we've answered calls 75 percent faster;

• We're meeting the needs of seniors in the digital age with 24/7 access to online my Social Security accounts;

• We've increased the number of personal my Social Security accounts to over 100 million users and have processed over 100 million more transactions this year;

• For disability claimants, we have reduced processing times by 25 percent; and

• Our efforts to prioritize efficiency, streamline our processes, and decrease wait times are saving Americans time while delivering the highest quality service.

Put simply, America's seniors are winning! I'm honored to be in your service.

Happy 250^th birthday, America!

Frank J. Bisignano
Commissioner
Social Security Administration

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The Red Ink is mine, just in case you miss the political campaign statements, many of which are borderline false. (I will leave it to others to give corrections.)

This is crass campaigning on a legitimate government business agency. Isn't that illegal? Would the IRS allow it? Or the Veterans Bureau? 

I'm just sick! 

And angry!

And something beautiful to just show that the universe does offer beauty still!

Colorado columbine, aquilegia caerulea taken by a very good photographer.

It's our world

The Environmental Defense Fund posted on "Vital Signs" about the latest political ploy which will endanger the environment as well as many people.

Endangerment Finding repeal ignores decades of evidence, 

would harm millions of people.

"...under the Trump administration, the EPA promised fossil fuel companies “concierge, white-glove service” and offered some of the nation’s worst polluters opportunities to evade clean air safeguards. 

Here are three key points from that newsletter.

Climate pollution worsens asthma and other health issues

Without the Endangerment Finding, the air we breathe is about to get a lot dirtier and more dangerous. That’s because it is foundational to a host of vital clean air protections that limit pollution from power plants, oil and gas operations and vehicles. 

(as an Asthma sufferer with Bronchiectasis (a COPD) I will not be able to go for walks safely.)

Climate pollution fuels hurricanes, heat waves and more dangerous weather    

A mountain of scientific evidence shows that climate pollution is warming the planet and driving more frequent and intense heat waves, storms, floods and wildfires.

As a survivor of the floods of Hurricane Helene, and having relatives in Florida who frequently have hurricanes, this is obvious to all of us!

Asheville NC Sept 29, 2024

Climate pollution makes gas, insurance more expensive  

Rising home insurance premiums, driven in part by climate-fueled extreme weather events, are placing severe financial burdens on Americans. 

Home insurance costs have doubled in parts of many states, including in California, Florida, Colorado and Louisiana over the last several years, making it impossible for some Americans to purchase insurance at all. In many of these disaster-prone regions home values have, at the same time, dropped by tens of thousands of dollars.

Driving a gas-powered car is about to get more expensive too. The Trump administration’s own analysis shows that getting rid of the Endangerment Finding will raise the price you pay at the pump, increasing gas prices by 25 cents per gallon by 2035. 

Without the Endangerment Finding, there will also be fewer jobs to help people pay for all these rising costs. Repealing the Endangerment Finding and vehicle standards is projected to cost 450,000 jobs across the country over the next decade. Those job losses have already begun: since the start of the year, the administration has cancelled $25 billion in clean energy manufacturing investments — a move that’s cost 34,000 American jobs.  

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Katharine Hayhoe also gives some environmental notes:

With the Winter Olympics in full swing, athletes are using their platforms to encourage action on the climate crisis. As the Associated Press reports, a coalition of Winter Olympians and other athletes delivered a petition with 21,000 signatures to the International Olympic Committee, urging the IOC to consider ending fossil fuel sponsorships.

and

 Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show drew attention to Puerto Rico’s ailing power grid, which has been battered by climate-fueled hurricanes.

and

Entertainment companies, sports franchises, media outlets and other cultural institutions won’t prioritize climate unless consumers demand it. So, demand it.

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Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world. 

- Howard Zinn

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Sorry Canadian friends. I didn't watch the game. I was watching the US win gold in Women's Single Figure Skating.

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Well, the doctors found another bug in my lungs – so I’m on antibiotics again. There were two recommended to treat this rare bug, but one of them makes me so dizzy I cannot walk. The other was one which I thought I was allergic to for the last 60 years. But I am giving it a try. My sense is that it wasn’t the antibiotic, sulfa, which perhaps made me throw up, but that it was the disease process which I already had. Anyway, I’ve now had 3 doses and I’m hoping that my tummy can accept it.

Who do you trust?

First a note about the new header (a  duplicate below because eventually I'll change the header)

The underside shows how I built the ceramic van  with slabs, painted with acrylics, and indicates the 12 years I drove that really cool van! Not sure which of my sons might like the clay version when I'm gone... 

I called it the Rovin' Toad...a play on Open Road which made the conversion set up. It slept 4 (2 children or small people up above). had a gas stove with oven, water heater, furnace, various configurations of seating/table/bed, a chemical toilet in a little closet, which we didn't use, and a few seat belts. It wasn't air conditioned, and I lived in Florida most of the time I owned it. I dream about it frequently still. The engine block froze over a long weekend in Gainesville FL over Christmas in '84.

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Back to trustworthiness.

My lifelong attitude is that people are naturally trustworthy. So a stranger is just as good as a friend who I just haven't gotten to know yet.

That's not exactly the case in all situations. Look at ICE and how people are being treated. I sure wouldn't trust anyone wearing that gear and a mask.

Strangers who give services in my home are sometimes the hardest for me to say I can trust them. A recent new cleaning person did an ok job. I'll hire her again.

But this morning I couldn't find my jewelry box (aka a glasses case.) I looked all over where it is usually kept, and nearby, and remembered the last time I picked it up and put things in it, prior to the cleaning woman, so she would be able to dust easily.

Where did I put it? Did she take it? I hate thinking that, but as I struggled with opening drawers and cabinets, that came to my mind.

I finally found it of course. And I asked myself, do I trust strangers any more?

More questions might be lurking in our social networking sites... 

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Yes, I have one of these, but mine looks different.

Just saying...

We have a president (note no capital letters) who lies continually. And now he's not only called a female reporter a "Piggie" but said members of congress should be hanged (due to the above).

Remember the Mi Li incident in Viet Nam? Look it up if you don't.

What about things that just don't add up?

Social media loves  to show us the short-comings of others... or maybe in their world cats can say Woof!

But this is just wrong!

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On my other blog Alchemy of Clay (about art) there're some great sculptures!

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Today's quotes:

Truth-tellers are not always palatable. There is a preference for candy bars. 

-Gwendolyn Brooks, poet (1917-2000)

Faith is a cop-out. If the only way you can accept an assertion is by faith, then you are conceding that it can't be taken on its own merits.

 -Dan Barker, former preacher, musician (b. 25 Jun 1949)

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Today's goddess:

Amazon Goddess by Barbara Rogers, 2011

Is this real life in 2025?

 

From Phoenix AZ

What do you feel about all this? It makes me sad.

Great respect for a spiritual leader who believes and practices peace.

A picnic table waaay up there flung by flood waters of the Haw River in North Carolina (near Durham). Posted to Facebook on July 16, so it occurred the week before, when several days of flash floods happened (about the same time as New Jersey, New York City, Texas 2nd or 3rd version).

I won't say anything about the flooding in western North Carolina last fall.

I'm watching daily the fires in Colorado and Arizona and Utah and New Mexico on an app called "Watch Duty." My son in southwestern CO is dealing with lots of smoke where he lives...but fortunately no fires.

And the good news for today?

Meet 5 month old Cal and his mom, Alice. They were staff at the chiropractor's office this week. Did I mention how much better my neck is feeling? Now I do have to treat it by lying on a rolled up hand towel daily. There's nothing harder for me to do than lie still doing nothing. So I checked out an audio book!

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And a note: and don't miss the update at the end!!

Posted information from the Writer's Almanac - usually something I would believe to be factual. However July 16 is the birth anniversary of 2 people that are listed.

First is the woman whose religion I was raised in, so I do know her publications.

Birth anniversary of:

"religious leader and writer Mary Baker Eddy, born in Bow, New Hampshire (1821). As a child, she suffered from a spinal ailment and spent much of her life preoccupied by issues of health.

...She turned to the New Testament and was suddenly healed, which led her to discover what she later called Christian Science, or the "superiority of spiritual over physical power."

In 1875, she set down her principles in a voluminous work called "Science and Health, WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES", and in 1876 founded the Christian Science Association."

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Then the Writer's Almanac posted:

"It's the birthday of playwright Tony Kushner, born in New York City (1956). He's best known for his two-part play Angels in America (1991). He has written many plays since then, including ... 'The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism WITH A KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES' (2009)."

WHAT?

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I don't know Kushner's plays, but Mary Baker Eddy's book was "SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES." (See photo below)

Boy oh boy, did they mangle that one! (but keep reading to the comment update!)

Later that day my son, Marty, commented to my Facebook post with this photo.

Wikipedia says this:

The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures is a 2009 play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The title was inspired by George Bernard Shaw's The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism and Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.

Plot: 

The play looks at the life of a 20th-century thinker, retired longshoreman Gus Marcantonio, who is feeling confused and defeated by the 21st century. In summer 2007, his sister, who has been staying with him for a year, invites Gus's three children (who in turn bring along spouses, ex-spouses, lovers and more) to a most unusual family reunion in their Brooklyn brownstone

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So actually anybody could write a key to the scriptures.

It reminds me of how sitting on our community porch I'll usually be surrounded by talk of how the current climate crisis events of floods, fires etc. were all forecast in the Bible, and where and how. I usually just get up and leave. I've studied the Bible, with and without Mrs. Eddy's "Key to the Scriptures," and I'll prefer to not discuss it with my neighbors. Somehow science is still very important to me.

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Medical issues float around this body. It just changes focus like the days with storms, or dry hot, or hot  humid. I'm so glad I can see specialists as well as have a general practitioner to hopefully orchestrate all the others.

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Don't miss today's reminisce about the first man to step on the surface of the moon, July 20, 1969. Yesterday's Pages.

And getting back to climate change

 "Our mother spanked us and sent us to bed without dinner."

 There. That was finally the feeling as I drove past the horror of Swannanoa's crushed buildings again and again. I'm not going to immunize myself to it. They may scrape up the mud turned to hard clay, and the many branches and roots of trees. They (our really great workers) are making some places be able to operate almost as normal. I drove through the Dunkin Donuts and picked up a Boston Cream Donut yesterday! Then looked across the street at the decimated buildings next to the Swannanoa River.

Mother nature is definitely mad at us. Here we are, the people who love the woods, hiking, fishing, swimming...working just in order to have weekends and vacations enjoying her bounty. But we sure forgot how to live in harmony with her. (And this goes up to a much higher chain of responsibility...not only political but religious!)

It started maybe a hundred years ago...commerce along highways. People wanting to live closer to their work sites and thus building nearer and nearer waterways. Not making laws to protect the steep slopes as people built up and up on the sides of mountains.

Yep, Mother Nature, our mother just spanked us good! Western North Carolina was a really safe climate change habitat from all intents and purposes. We had to learn our lesson though. I don't mean causality, that the people themselves who suffered made this happen. It is the fault of our civilization, our communities doing just what they wanted without having nature in the equation.

I don't mean to berate anyone. I just want to share that I feel like I've been sent to bed without dinner after that shameful spanking of Hurricane Helene.  We who kind of were working to help the problem of disassociated humans perhaps coming awake enough to save our planet from climate change...as well as many completely unaware people...boom, we're back to horse and buggy life. No water or electricity, many without safe homes, and get this... days without internet or cell service! That's a big BOOM to all of us.

I'm sooo very grateful that after 52 days of using bottled water to drink (I hadn't before, because of the plastic thing of course) we can now drink safely out of the tap. I'm just doing dishes and showering for now with tap water. Lots of these bottles in my house to use anyway.

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From Heather Cox Richardson last Monday:

On Sunday, speaking from the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, President Joe Biden said that it would not be possible to reverse America’s “clean energy revolution,” which has now provided jobs across the country, primarily in Republican-dominated states. Biden noted that the U.S. would spend $11 billion on financing international responses to climate change in 2024, an increase of six times from when he began his term.

But President-elect Trump has called climate change a hoax and has vowed to claw back money from the Inflation Reduction Act appropriated to mitigate it, and to turn the U.S. back to fossil fuels.

His intended choice of Secretary of Energy is a laugh...an oil czar!

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I must take a deep breath and pay attention to the "things I can control in my life." Politics has left the building. But I read, and listen half-heartedly to the news, and console my friends. And look and listen around me.

Folks, there are some dangerous things happening out there now, just around the corner from you, from me, from my relatives in the bigger city. It's as if the hate groups have been let out of the cages and they are going rampant.

I'll go more in depth about my thoughts and their experiences in another post, trying to keep climate change the focus on this one. It's so easy to digress...

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A bit of good news: all the Black Mountain and Asheville plastic water bottles - are they recyclable?

YES!'

We have plenty of capacity to bring all of those bottles into our facility to process and ensure that they are properly recycled,” Lawson said via email. “Markets may go up and down on plastics and other commodities. However, we have and will always accept plastic bottles for recycling.”

Source: Asheville Watchdog Answer Man interview with co-owner of "Curbie" (Curbside Management"  in August 2024

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Today's inspiration:

As a human being living on earth, it is important to learn to ground yourself in relation to your earth mother.