Fuschia or magenta, bright pinkish purple?

 

May I introduce my new Kalanchoe plant...(also in the header for a while)

I've not been feeling top of my world lately. Which means cutting back on studio time. It is easier to be at home when coughing a lot, and fighting a cold coming on perhaps. I am also having pain in my hands which doesn't get better by working in cold clay. Maybe arthritis. What part of me is working perfectly well? Mmm, that requires some thought. I've been told I have excellent kidney function!

And I found myself saving someone else's photo of digitalis. Interesting also in the purple/pink shades!

Sharing with Floral Friday Fotos

Today's quote:

We may honor some traits from our parents, while rejecting others and becoming our own person.

A loss like no other

 We lost a dear friend. 

I hadn't seen her in months, but knew if I had walked into a room where she was, she would have greeted me with the warmest smile imaginable. She would have inquired as to my life, and shrugged off her own many miles and many people she'd been around and affected.

I just saw the right poem for this loss.

When Great Trees Fall

by Maya Angelou

When great trees fall,

rocks on distant hills shudder,

lions hunker down

in tall grasses,

and even elephants

lumber after safety.

When great trees fall

in forests,

small things recoil into silence,

their senses

eroded beyond fear.

When great souls die,

the air around us becomes

light, rare, sterile.

We breathe, briefly.

Our eyes, briefly,

see with

a hurtful clarity.

Our memory, suddenly sharpened,

examines,

gnaws on kind words

unsaid,

promised walks

never taken.

Great souls die and

our reality, bound to

them, takes leave of us.

Our souls,

dependent upon their

nurture,

now shrink, wizened.

Our minds, formed

and informed by their

radiance,

fall away.

We are not so much maddened

as reduced to the unutterable ignorance

of dark, cold

caves.

And when great souls die,

after a period peace blooms,

slowly and always

irregularly. Spaces fill

with a kind of

soothing electric vibration.

Our senses, restored, never

to be the same, whisper to us.

They existed. They existed.

We can be. Be and be

better. For they existed.

The pottery studio has set up a little memorial for her in their window.

I also mentioned this dear woman's passing when I first heard about it several weeks ago HERE.

Mudbuddies meet for lunch

 We are a loose group of women, with interest in common at one point or another which led to Mudbuddies who sell their pottery during the summer months at the Saturday market.

But we did become friends and want to get together to keep in touch during the winter months also. 

Last Saturday we got together again.

My shy friends arrived...as I was already waiting by the window.

The wood fired oven is ready for pizza orders behind me. I was happily wearing the bright pink blouse I recently purchased in the thrift store!

Did I mention they are camera shy? We got there early (which is the way to get good service on Saturdays). 

One friend had the entre' salad.

And I had the side salad with only tomatoes!

I forgot to take a shot before eating almost half of my Shrimp Scampi on angel hair. This is one of my favorites, and of course half goes home to be another meal or two.

I ran into another former Mudbuddy this week in the studio, so our next gathering may include her as well! 

Today's quote:

Everyone is entitled to seek out their own path leading from the darkness into the light.

Thinking of climate change still

 

Glacial Longings 

by Elizabeth Rush

“I wanted to stand alongside this unstable glacier, wanted to witness freshly formed bergs dropping down into the ocean like stones, so that I might know in my body what my mind still struggled to grasp.”

Source; emergencemagazine.org

This thought stayed with me all morning, before I wrote this. To have my body know what my mind is still struggling to grasp about climate change. Yes, that's just it.

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

I offer the good news from Katharine Hayhoe this week also...

The news these days is full of innovative climate solutions from every corner of the globe. From groundbreaking renewable energy records in Texas and China to Hawai’i's renewable paradise, it’s clear the tide is turning. Here are five places where change is happening.

In Belfast, Northern Ireland, nearly half of the city’s heavy vehicles — including garbage trucks and sweet sweepers — are now fueled by vegetable oil rather than gasoline or diesel. The city hopes to convert all its vehicles to sustainable fuels by 2031.
 
In Nigeria, the new president Bola Tinubu announced in his inaugural address he was phasing out fossil fuel subsidies. The subsidies amounted to nearly $500 million a month. Tinubu is “re-channeling the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions.”
 
This past weekend, Texas set a new record with 36 percent of the energy on its grid being generated by solar. That’s in addition to the third that’s already coming from wind. Meanwhile in China, it’s estimated that carbon emissions peaked in 2023 and are now on the decline, thanks to a record renewable energy installation. This past year alone, China installed more new solar energy than the U.S. has in its entire history. I think it’s time for Texas to catch up, don’t you?
 
Then there’s Hawai’i, where 33 percent of people already have rooftop solar panels, 15 percent of new cars sold are electric, and the state just replaced their last coal-fired power plant with a giant 185 MW battery that can release the same amount of electricity as the coal plant, but much faster.

The Not So Good News:

As climate impacts intensify, there’s no shortage of not-so-good news around the world, either.

In Australia, invasive fire ants are travelling to new areas by forming rafts to float on torrential flood waters. “Fire ants are more active before or after rainfall and can form large floating rafts which move with water currents to establish footholds in new areas,” says Reece Pianta from Australia’s Invasive Species Council. 
 
In Colombia, El Niño is driving the dry conditions that are leading to raging wildfires that currently threaten about half the cities in the country. It’s clear that climate change is playing a role, though. Not only is it warmer than it would be otherwise but a recent study has determined that climate change, not El Niño, is the primary driver for the drought currently impacting the Amazon river basin, including the southeastern part of Colombia as well as regions of Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia. As always, climate change is a threat multiplier.
 
In Sierra Leone, climate change has exacerbated recent flooding and mudslides, leading to an uptick in human trafficking as people try to flee increasingly difficult circumstances at home. Many people have been lured to jobs abroad that turned out to be exploitative and not what they were promised. In the past three years, ”there has been an increase [in the number of people] and the vulnerability has increased too,” Christos Christodoulides, head of the UN Migration Agency in Sierra Leone, told Al Jazeera.

What you can do... she offers this:

Every day, we’re exposed to toxic fumes from the fossil fuels we use in our everyday lives. Electrifying our homes and appliances is a great way to improve our health, save money, and cut carbon pollution at the same time.

Rewiring America just came out with a handy Personal Electrification Planner that guides you through options tailored to your specific situation, whether you rent or own. The planner allows you to create a personalized electrification plan that aligns with your home, lifestyle, and your budget, and it's designed to be quick and user-friendly. If you live in the US, they also provide access to rebates offered under the Inflation Reduction Act, making the shift to electric more affordable.

Check it out and, as always, share what you learn with others around you!

Today's quote:

"We should treat all the trivial things of life very seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality." Oscar Wilde

On critical thinking

 

I like the way this breaks down the usual who/what/when / etc.  It makes me think a bit beyond my usual way of looking at things.

There are important things to think about today.

The election.

Climate change.

Health issues.

The dishes need to be done, and I'm the only one who lives here...

Today's quote:

I am especially glad of the divine gift of laughter; it has made the world human and lovable, despite all its pain and wrong."

W.E.B. Du Bois

In the studio again

 

My fellow clay artists were willing to be included in my selfie to prove I'm really back in the studio again.

I had difficulty finding parking. It was Saturday afternoon, and the small parking lots nearby were full. But fortunately I knew the bank up the hill would be closed, and it's parking lot is available on weekends.

Walking down the hill was easy enough. But I did take several stops on the way up (one with the camera pointed at something I'll share later) to catch my breath.

 What am I working on? Well a ruin of a castle tower, small, and a tree. And sometime next week I'll start on a dragon which will be part of this threesome. That's the plan anyway.

I've got a small amount of clay which my friend Cathy gave me, and she returned my two favorite tools which I'd given her when I quit three years ago, and she was still making pottery. Right now she's dealing with shoulder rotator cuff problems. So she's not making any pottery.

Got home and was glad to have a snickerdoodle cookie waiting for me, with some diet rootbeer. I was a tired and happy little potter.

Today's quote:

The little I know, I owe to my ignorance. -Sacha Guitry, actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright (1885-1957)

The face of the earth changes

 A video that's very short. Just Pangea to today...continental drift.

In my own life, Thursday this week was pretty full. First getting my taxes done with AARP which offers a free service for us elders. Then going to the clay studio for the first time and getting my hands in clay again...since before COVID's pandemic hit. I did it. Clay under fingernails. Wore a mask so no dust got in my lungs. And parked in the handicap slot just 2 from the front door.

However, there was apparently an eager young police officer from Black Mountain giving tickets out for minimal infractions. One woman had parked over the brick walkway...which is still part of the parking lot. And I got a ticket too. At first I thought it was because the disabled plaque was lying on the dashboard rather than hanging from the rearview mirror. But no, it was more obscure. My plaque says it expired in Aug 2022. However, I turned 80 before the end of that August, and I remember the letter for the renewal saying, if you turn 80 before your plaque expires, you no longer will need to renew it. Or something like that. I didn't keep the letter.

And that was what my parking ticket says...that it expired Aug 22. The ticket also clearly shows my age as 81. So in May I will go to court and plea that letter was my "get out of jail free" card. Of course tomorrow I'll call the DMV and see if I can find someone to send me that in writing again. It's worth 219 dollars or so!

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

And a few notes from Katharine Hayhoe's newsletter last week. She went to another big conference, the  World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She said she was inspired by:

...all the people I met at WEF who were there to advocate on behalf of those living in poverty, war, disease, or scarcity. As Jane Goodall said during one of her talks, “If you don’t have hope, you give up, you become apathetic, and you do nothing.” From obstetrician Jemilah Mahmood who founded the Malaysian Medical Relief Society and leads a center for planetary health, to entrepreneur Alloysius Attah who provides small shareholders in Africa with access to cutting-edge information and training that helps them grow more food, most people I met were far from apathetic. Rather, they are fighting tirelessly for the changes we need to ensure a better future for everyone.

IKEA CEO Jesper Brodin considers sustainability and nature as essential to his business model. “I start with the rationale, ‘How could it be possible to build a future business model on depletion of [natural] resources?’ It’s simply the absolute worst idea,” he said during our WEF panel. “That doesn’t mean that the transition and transformation is easy. But I do believe that all of us need to go through a massive transformation.”

Since 2016, IKEA has grown by 30.9 percent while cutting their absolute carbon emissions, by 24.3 percent; and one of the most encouraging panels I co-hosted with Jesper was the launch of Action Speaks, a platform to share and scale business climate action world-wide. 

 What can you do?

Climate Fresk is dedicated to expanding access to climate education through three-hour workshops they host all over the world. It’s a fun, interactive experience that includes flash cards and other learning opportunities that leave you equipped and ready to have your own conversation on how every decision is a climate decision.  

https://climatefresk.org/world/registration-workshop/

 

Self sabotage

" I’ve tried to develop a knowledge of how "I tend to sabotage myself. I carefully examine the recurring adverse events of my life.

THis is from Heron Dance, a gentleman who definitely lives a life closer to nature than I do, and posts a newsletter about creativity. But he echoes some of my thoughts, my need to be creative, my need to be closer to the natural world around me.

So I'm looking at myself in a mirror of observation. Not criticism. Just seeing where I'm falling short, or indeed, sabotaging my own best efforts to live according to my own higher self.

He says that for him:

"When I am overtired, my life lacks a flow, lacks momentum. Lots of little things go wrong.

That may be the beginning of my frequent ill periods, where coughing, breathing problems, even fevers keep me from participating at all in my own life.

The beginning for me does have the similar overtired place where I've overextended, thus start coughing. Then I am in bed, too stationary, and at computer more and more.

So for me an indicator is more time at computer!

As well as coughing more.

And getting out of breath when just walking on a flat surface for say 100 feet or more.

These may be based on my not taking care of my home and health-supplies. (DING DING DING)

I'm aware how mold exists in the walls, coming into the windowsills when it has a chance, and appearing at drains if I haven't used them in a day or so. (Hey Barb, there are only 4 drains in the whole apartment!) DING

Non-tidy housekeeping is my number one self-sabotage. DING DOODLY DING!!!

I've asked friends if they know anyone who would do small apartment cleaning, say every other week? I could afford the current rate I think. But there don't seem to be any available people.

Maybe I'm not trying hard enough. I want someone who is already known by someone I know. I'll see if I can ask more people I know, without using Facebook of course. That's how I got the woman who stole some medications from me (not one of which would change her moods).

Heron Dance says:

"To try to break my old patterns I keep a list. On that list are things to beware of...

That's what this blog is starting for me right now. I just enjoyed a chocolate cookie and a glass of Almond Milk.,as I typed my thoughts, and those of Heron Dance...and thought more about my list. 

Consider your health. In my life, when my health has deteriorated, as with cancer, it has been after an extended period of living in ways that are not in sync with my beliefs and values about what is important in life.

To get back in sync, all I need to do is to walk in a forest of big trees, to sit down at the base of one, and watch for half an hour or so. 

So as close as I have recently been to being in a forest of big trees, which are on all the mountains around me, is to see photos, paintings, and other people's experiences in the forest...all on this computer.

But I know baby steps are the best way for me to live.

The goal is to go to the forest.

First step, turning off computer.

Second, cleaning something.

Third, go back to clay studio to unwind.

So those are 3 steps to get into the forest. Funny sounding, eh?

I'll let you know when I get there!

Note...two hours later, I've been off computer, and scrubbed the bathroom sink. Wow, such a lot of dust around things that I use every day or so, so now I know what's waiting for me in each of these endeavors. 

For my readers who have tidy homes, I somehow missed getting the gene, or learning a routine, or even having an impulse to clean house. I am a slob. But that's making me sick...therefore...

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

Late PS.

Woke at 3:30 am, got up at 4:15 and decided AC has sent me some of his night-time-waking juju, so I'm here eating a chocolate croissant and drinking some juice. Reading whatever. Hoping I can get an hour or more sleep before my 9 am coffee date comes to pick me up. We're going to Thirteen Penney's where there's a thrift shop attached. Then yoga may happen, then lunch. But this afternoon is perfect for a nap...

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And again at 8 am, my laptop died somehow with that early morning post, so I'm on my old 2010 or so oldest laptop, which takes about an hour to open blogger. Haven't tried email yet! So glad it still plugs along!

Imbolc or Brigit's Day

As of last year, a great new national holiday in Ireland! 

Brigit's Day on February first! Here's an article from the Irish Times in 2023 where they said:

"Our first St Brigid’s Day public holiday. Brigid, Brigit, Bridget, Bríd, Bridie: whatever we call her, she was some woman, and her day, Lá Fhéile Bríde, or Imbolc, on February 1st has long heralded renewal and the traditional start of spring in Ireland."

Brigid the Triple Goddess, by Courtney Davis

Imbolc, another term for this day, was to celebrate the earliest spring milk in the sheep...which in our area don't lamb for another month. But ancient ways cannot be ignored.

All of our first histories were oral history. Until someone started writing down the old stories. So earliest stories may differ from place to place.

Brigid was honored as a goddess first...of smithcraft, poetry and healing. The most miraculous events in her life were retold at this time yearly. She taught her skills to other women - midwifry, or metal working, or writing of poetry. She is noted for teaching people how to keen after losing a loved one. And she is noted as the person who first used whistles to send signals to mates during nighttime battles (I won't go into why she ended up in a battle.) 

Brigid, the bright firey red one

Once she asked the king for an area where she could build a nunnery, or maybe to raise her animals and crops. The king smiled (you know that kind of smile) and said that she could have all the area her cloak could cover. Like that was a gesture of good will!

But Brigid had a magical cloak, and when she threw it out over the green hills of Ireland, it covered the whole of the island (or at least as far as the eye can see.) 

The Catholic church came into Ireland later (you've heard of St. Patrick?) and yet there soon was this wonderful Saint Brigid. Her good works seemed very similar to the goddess Brigid. There was a physical well where healing might take place. And an eternal fire that was tended by the followers of the Saint, only women allowed. The story was that they would tend the fire for 19 days, and then on the 20th Brigid herself would keep it burning. The original well still exists, and the place where fires were tended.

That the whole country of Ireland has made this a holiday speaks to the love of the Irish toward their historic goddess/Saint.  And having February 1 as her holiday gives a good celebration that's needed in grey winter...though with a promise of spring.

Of course there are rituals associated with Brigid. Kindling a fire. Blessings with pure waters. Blessing of the candles (fire sources). Reading poetry. Tying little ribbons, clouties with wishes for healing on branches of trees at her well, or other trees. Putting your own mantle (or any fabric) across a bush the night before Brigid's day. Making tiny straw Brigid crosses or little effigies of her.

I'll be at a Brigid's ritual on next Sunday afternoon. Our earlier UU church service will also speak about Imbolc.

Brigid Dark and Bright

In the steep and common path of our calling,
Be it easy or uneasy to our flesh,
Be it dark or bright for us to follow,
May your perfect guidance be upon us.
Brigid of the Forge, be thou a shield to us!
Brigid of the Fold, be thou our shepherd and our healer!
In each secret thought our minds may weave, Brigid of the Loom, give us sweet clarity.
In our grief or pain or sadness,
Brigid of the Well, heal us, strengthen us, stand with your mighty shoulder near to ours.
And in our joys and in our bliss, Brigid of the Hearth, Keeper of the Bread plate, Maker of Beer,
Dance with us as we waken the great round garden of the world.

just look further through the telescope

 Sharing a wonderful short video (if you like stars that is...) Thanks to another blogger who shared this!!

 CANDELS Ultra Deep Survey Field

I did love this decorative puffy coat which had so many cool features a la the 80s. But I let it go and gave it to a thrift shop last week. That was hard. Enough that I even took these photos of it! But I have a new sedate "what-a-81-year-old-woman-should-wear puffy coat". Plain. Dark olive. No iridescence. No faux Chinese characters. No gold threaded braid! I'm closer to the earth now. This coat is for someone who's still among the stars.

"Rollright Stones" 

This is in celebration of my having taken down my Christmas lights. They are on the way to being stored in the big Christmas tub. But hey, there might be some stars shining here too!

Have a great Wednesday...whenever you read this!

How about veganism?

First update from my life: Weather sunny and cool on Monday...I watched my weather forecast as the snowflakes disappeared from it's continued hopes last night. Nada. Maybe a few but the ground was too warm, so nothing but a bit of moisture.

The apartment inspection went well, and my friend texted to cancel our date later in the week because she has a sick granddaughter to care for. Those things happened at the exact same time. I just sat and let the manager look all over the kitchen (where I'd recently dragged a wet rag across the worst offenders in the refrigerator...it could well have still been wet!) I managed to finish my book and vacuum yesterday, and this morning finished doing the dishes. I scooted some laundry baskets away from under the air handler, since we're not suppose to have anything there. So I passed.

And I texted my friend who had no idea what I was talking about "they were here" etc...until I mentioned the inspection. So we celebrated by going to Ole's Guacamole for lunch, and I brought home half my food to add to dinner tonight.

HERE's the information I wanted to share with you!

Veganism

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has said that animal agriculture contributes as much damaging greenhouse gases as the direct emissions from every car, truck, train, and plane on the planet.

How can that be? Well, there are many steps in the process to bring animal products from farm to table, and they all produce greenhouse gases.

Time is running out. Global greenhouse gas emissions must fall by about half by 2030 to meet the internationally agreed target of 1.5C of heating, but emissions are still rising.

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has singled out meat-eating for a key piece of blame. Research from 2020 found that methane levels were the highest on record, driven by livestock farming and fossil fuels. Methane is 28 times more powerful than CO2 at trapping heat.

Will eating vegan make a difference? Researchers from the University of Oxford reckon it will. In 2019 they said that veganism is the single biggest way to reduce our impact on the planet.

SOURCE:  emails at veganuary.com.

Then they recommend watching the video "Cowspiracy." But it has a charge, so I'm not. I did sign up for "veganuary," (going vegan for January) where I've received some yummy recipes. Today's was: 

Cheesy Spinach & Kale Dip which of course was vegan!

Monday with changes happening

Several influences on my mood today. Apartment is being inspected by the owners. I haven't felt up to doing much to tidy/clean, and am so low in energy with frequent coughing that it will be the way it is.

Seeing The Albatross movie again yesterday left me with some deep feelings of connection with all life.

Suzanne welcomed everyone and explained what the Climate Conversation group was.

It was also good to see several old friends from the Swannanoa Watershed Network group...as well as some people that nobody knew that just heard about the movie.

Yet a strange thing happened. I remembered some scenes that were no longer part of the movie. How could that be? Maybe I'd seen some background material after my first viewing over a year ago. But I could have sworn these scenes happened. And I didn't leave the room at all yesterday, so they were just gone.

And that is one reality I'm dealing with. The movie was being streamed from an internet source, so someone could have edited it.

I'm returning to the clay studio later this week. So I need to get my tools together. This is a reality I've been hoping for, but am just sitting here thinking, tomorrow. Well, girlfriend, it's Feb. 1 this week!

A Yoga Cat from several years ago...doing the Eagle Pose, given to my yoga teacher, Deb Vingle!

I finished (after slow several pages a night) in one afternoon reading Ruth Ozeki's "A Tale for the Time Being" where some weird time slips happen, with dreams included and quantum physics thrown into the magic.

If these time slips hadn't happened, between Ruth being a reader of a diary and the actual events written about in the diary, the book wouldn't have worked.

So now I'm paying attention to life (thanks to Albatross) and wanting to make Mandalas to reinforce my feelings of connection between everything, and knowing my dreams aren't as vivid now that I'm not having the fevers. And throw into the middle of that the mundane house inspectors, and my hopes to work in clay which are still in the realm of fantasy but need to be brought into reality soon!

 But I want to hang onto the magic. Please.

Today's quote:

Still reading your blogs too!

 

Working Late by Ray Hendershot

Jan. 27 officially became Jimmy Buffett Day in Florida, which also was the date celebrating it becoming a US State.

Today's Quote:

What is the opposite of two? A lonely me, a lonely you. -Richard Wilbur, poet and translator (1921-2017)

Still networking...

 I may be cutting back on most of the activities I take part in. But I'm the "projectionist" for a movie screening for the Climate Conversation group today.

I bring my laptop, and stream the movie from Vimeo into the PA setup, and then through their projector onto a large screen. The audio has to go through my headphones jack on the laptop.

We're expecting 10-20 people. Wow! 

The movie is "The Albatross" by Chris Jordan. Not the one about coming of age. It's about the birds.

Today's quote:

The sheep will spend its entire life fearing the wolf, only to be eaten by the shepherd... African Proverb