Small things and noticing nature

It was a long but uneventful plane trip.

I was reminded by Nance’s blog post to make note of Small Things That Make Us Happy.  Earlier this year I was attempting to Notice One Thing In Nature.  Either or both would be a good discipline for me to resume.  

Small things that made me happy this week

1. A long, unhurried phone call with Younger Daughter, a visit from Older Daughter & her husband, and a visit from Son.

2. The Common Household Husband got Indian food takeout for the day of my return from my business trip.

3. The 3-hour flights for my business trip, both there and back, were completed without trouble.  And so were all the trips to and from the airports, via Uber (although I am a techno-idiot and had trouble figuring out the Uber app, which I seldom use).  Maybe these are not such a small thing.

Noticing Nature

My business trip was to Colorado, near Denver, for 1 ½ days.  The terrain was noticeably different from Southwestern PA.  Near the Denver airport, the land was flat and dry.  No trees.  As we drove north, trees started to be more numerous (but not as dense as SW PA), and the grass was a bit greener.  After a while I could see the Rockies in the distance.  But I didn’t take any photos.

First glimpse of Colorado,
in Uber driving away from
Denver airport

Four good things

 It’s been a horrible week.  I don’t believe in just tossing it off and saying everything will be fine all the time.  I can’t pay attention to all of it, but I intend to remain aware of reality in at least some arenas.  

However.  Right now, in a desperate attempt to save my sanity I am going to list some good things about the past week.  

1. We unfroze the frozen water pipes in the kitchen.  No burst pipes.  

2. Yesterday it was finally warm enough to do one outside task: I got my car washed.

While the modern car wash itself is the moderately terrifying inside task of sitting in the car surrounded by soap and large brushes coming at you, it is mainly an outside task because of the vacuuming of the car interior. 

I found a nickel as I was vacuuming.  Thomas Jefferson’s image is on the nickel.  We know his story.  What is Tom thinking right now?

3.  Celtic folk music.  

While looking for a recording of "The Canticle of the Turning," possibly the hymn most defiant to the patriarchy (based on this scripture), I found this:

Siskin Green: Will Your Anchor Hold?  A recasting of a stodgy old hymn.

One of my children sent me some videos by this vocalist.  The video is weird, but I love when she sings “We’ll all go together.”

4.  I returned my two physical library books.

Our public library is undergoing a renovation so we went inside to look around.  In the children’s section they have an axolotl!  For some reason that makes me happy.  Also this week I did a deep dive into some blog posts about books.  (That said, most of the books I am reading right now are not terribly optimistic.)

New England just completely
broke away from the
United States of Cookie.  Apt.

Kochanim: Ahava and Shalom

Art sent to our synagogue from a Hillel in New York state, to express love and caring for the Jews of Pittsburgh following the Oct 27, 2019 terrorist shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue.

 כוכבים

                                                 Kohanim - stars

Jubilate with Cake

Going Gray by Elise Neill
On display at our township's
first ever Recyclable Art Show

In the third week of the eighth month, there shall be a celebration. And though it is not a celebration you particularly want, as you need no reminders that you are getting older, thus shall the Lord command:

Thou shalt eat of cake, provided by the Common Household Husband, and there shall be some cake saved for him, even as he is only meant to eat of jello in his current state. Thou shalt not bring him any bagels.

Thou shalt enjoy presents, possibly including sticky notes, and thou shalt wonder whether your daughter actually finished cleaning up her room yet, as you did really want that her to find that shirt that she bought from bell choir, where they make a joyous and very loud noise.

Thou shalt be thankful that you have the option of getting one year older, lo, as opposed to disintegrating into dust as your children often remind you you shall. Thou shalt remind thyself that the birthday celebration is as much for others as for thyself, as demonstrated by the male progeny returning to the house of his parents, for this birthday is just as much about allowing others to eat of cake as it is for thyself to eat of cake.

And lastly, thou shalt not regret not having time to make a pie. For having a husband in the hospital is hard enough, without having to think about baking anything for a while.

                                                                      -       The Book of Jubilations 9:1-14 

This ancient passage was revealed this week by Younger Daughter.  For my birthday she presented me with a twenty-page tome entitled The Common Household Bible.  This venerable volume consisted of my scripturish blog posts, interspersed with holy writings (newly revealed to Younger Daughter as she sat in her cave-room) pertaining to the Common Household, the passage above being just one example.

This is a work of love and I love it.  It provided much levity during a week which was difficult, not only for national news (which is always difficult these days), but also because of the Common Household Husband’s quite brief stay in the hospital.  (Please do not tell my mother he was in the hospital.)  He is out of the hospital and doing fine.

The cake was chocolate with chocolate frosting and raspberry filling.  And then there was another chocolate cake with chocolate frosting at book club. Jubilation!

Favorite books read in 2018

The feature of my reading habits this year seems to be re-reading.   Even though there are a thousand books on my “to read” list, re-reading is great.

The best fiction I read (for the first time) in 2018

Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, text by Kate DiCamillo; illustrations by K.G. Campbell.  © 2013. 

A Christmas Memory, by Truman Capote. © 1956. Actually three short memoirs. 

On The River (Bassville Stories Book 2) by Melissa Westemeier © 2018.

This is How it Always Is, by Laurie Frankel © 2017. 

A Hatful of Sky, by Terry Pratchett. © 2004. Young Adult novel. 

The best non-fiction I read (for the first time) in 2018

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, by Bryan Stevenson.  © 2014.

Letter from a Birmingham Jail, by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., 16 April 1963.  This is a 13-page letter, not a book.

The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia, by Masha Gessen. © 2017.

Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela

by Nelson Mandela.  © 1994. 

Books I re-read in 2018

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte © 1847 under the pen name Currer Bell.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

The President’s Hat, by Antoine Laurain.  © 2013

Far from the Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy.  1874.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling.  © 1997 (or 1998 in US). 

Joel (The Bible).  © 9^th to 5^th Century BCE.  Features many locusts.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J.K. Rowling, published in the UK on 2 July 1998 and in the US on 2 June 1999.

Least favorite

Usually if a book falls in this category I am unlikely to finish it, so it never goes on my list of First Lines.  In this case, there were two that I finished, although I did not enjoy reading them.

Skipping Christmas: A Novel, by John Grisham. Quite annoying.   I have no reason for why I actually finished reading it.

A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles. © 2016.  I know, I know.   Everyone else in the world enjoyed this book.  I just couldn’t get into it.  It was exciting at the end, though.  I read it for book club.

Baking, Listening, Digging, Talking, Painting, Standing

While I am not experiencing a lot of despair due to personal reasons, I’m in quite a bit of despair about the world, the country, the state.   In the next post, I’ll give details about that, but first I wanted to try to stay positive, and remind myself of the ways that I have been keeping total despair at bay.

  1.  Bake a pie. 

I made this pie partly because I knew my son would be coming home at some point, and he likes pie.  But I also made it because making pie is therapeutic. 

I took this...

And made this.

I did not have shortening in the house, so I had to use butter for the crust.  I know it is possible to make a great crust using butter, but it is not in my skill set.  So the crust was not optimal.  I will have to bake another pie soon.

Blueberry pie filling looks kind of wicked when
 it is raw.  And then you bake the hell right
out of it.  So it's great for fending off
the feeling that the world is going to hell
in a handbasket.

Rolling out the crust, I thought, this looks like Australia.  But it turns out it looks more like the Big Island of Hawaii, the one where the goddess Pele is exploding with rage at the current state of the world. 

As I rolled this crust out, I thought it looked
 rather like Australia.  But I was wrong.

 2.  Go to a concert.

We had the great fortune to receive the gift of tickets to this concert.  I never in my life thought I would have the chance to hear Yo-yo Ma in person.  It was a wonderful concert.  Yo-yo Ma is the sort of person who exudes hope. 

3.  Dig in the dirt

I was not optimistic at all that I would find time to plant the six flowers I bought at the farmer’s market.  But digging in the dirt, working alongside Younger Daughter, was balm for the soul.  We planted snapdragons and these yellow flowers that I don’t know the name of.

4.  Talk to a friend

I was so agitated on Thursday that I completely neglected an appointment to meet a friend.  I was so looking forward to this!  But I was consumed with anger, shame, and dismay at my country.  I am grateful that my friend was forgiving. We had a good chat on the phone.  She kindly suggested that I spend some time looking for the helpers.  They are everywhere, and you can see them if only you look.

5.   Make protest signs

In the past few weeks, I’ve painted a lot of protest signs.     

I bought more blue paint.  Also added an "e" before taking this
sign to the protest.

 6.  Protest

I know I don't have to stand out on the street, but that is indeed one option.  It's one I like to do in solidarity with others.

Shadows of protesters outside our
Congressman's office.