Summer Planting

Dianthus in pots. One ended up in a bed
along the side of the house.

Officially, it is spring. At least in the calendars widely published. In nature it is the cusp of summer—a fulcrum of transition. I planted a few petunias and dianthus.

Officially, I've given up on the seed thing because I can't make it work anymore. I think of my grandmother standing in my teen room, indicating a pot of hard soil, and saying, "What's that growing in cement." I had no clue on how to grow plants. I am mildly improved after 45 years of trying.

I reached my apex a few years ago when half of the impatiens seeds I planted grew into viable flowering plants. That was when I realized I took no joy in the labor any more. And my policy is to avoid (as much as possible) activities that do not bring joy.

I'm not experienced in growing in this kind of climate, a sort of half-desert. It can be 80 one day and then drop to 39 by morning. This is spring. I'm told in the summer it's unrelenting heat punctuated by tornadoes.

Looking forward to it.

Petunias and a survivor of my seed experiment.

The Elaine Report: Feb 6, 2013

From Richard III to Beutel-Ei Nr. 1 in 8 steps.

• Reconstructing Richard III's Face So glad they did this! The portraits existent are so flat and characterless. There's a good description of digital facial construction and its limitations.
• Indian women robbed of their uteruses by money grubbing doctors ... and the government does nothing. Many women now convinced they cannot recover from illness without a hysterectomy. 
• New York city negotiating with Air BnB to keep visitors off the street. I was an Air BnB host for about a year. I met some intriguing, kind travelers who appreciated my local expertise. And helped pay my bills.
• Turns out being miles underground is the best way to study dark matter and get real peace and quiet.
• Microscopic nutrients from the Sahara rain on the Amazon. We are all one ecosystem, ya'll! Not a lot of other facts or explanations in this brief article with a Nikon-sponsored video of lovely shots of the Sahara.
• 21 Things You Should Never Buy at a Garage Sale. Full of ooky bugs and germs! Would have been better to tell us what we should buy.
• Internet to be replaced by esoteric time stream. Note the napkin sketch at the end of the article. Doesn't really help. Tumbled it.
• Technology aging backwards? I don't get it. Read about three paragraphs and became overcome by dark matter.
• Seamless beautiful backpack made of wool. The artist named it an Egg Bag. It is sort of egg shaped. Looks more like a Lady Bug to me. Pinned it.

Sky 255 & 256 - tropical planet

This took 9 hours to render which is why it gets two numbers. Nine hours!

I think it's the trees. I'm not likely to redo this anytime soon. I wish the mountain were more like a sand dune. Oh well.

Sky 230 - dark habit

I have a thing for mountains – no doubt.

If I ran the cosmos ...

If I were in charge, things would be organized and make sense. Not like the way they are in this cosmos which is full of randomness and chaos. I mean, how are you supposed to know you've got a message if everything is just chaos? Mediums and psychics make money pulling out the right messages and passing them on. I guess they would lose their jobs. But as enterprising business owners I'm sure they'd find another income stream.

Just imagine how nice things would be if tea leaves arranged themselves nicely at the bottom of the cup, your dirty clothes naturally floated into the hamper, trash into the bin, and fruit landed gently on the ground and waited for you to pick it up without rotting. The latter could be an issue if you rely on rotting to grow anything. So, okay, then things that are intended to rot – like fallen leaves and dead flowers – would automatically end up where they are supposed to be and they would rot quickly so you don't have to wait around for them decompose. And the used bowl shown here would have the remaining bits settled nice to the bottom of the bowl, not splayed around randomly and looking dirty. Hey! Dirt would be pretty!

On the other hand, if things were perfectly arranged all the time, anything that was not in place would stand out really badly. Actually, we may have that already ...
Current Fads
Listening. It Ain't Me Babe - Bob Dylan and Send in the Clowns - Judy Collins; high pitched whining in ears
Watching. It's Complicated (2010)
Activity. waking up
Gadget. iMac
News Sources. the news feeds in Safari, Twitter, Facebook friends
Reading. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen; Creative Visualization (sample) - Shakti Gawain; How to Get What You Want Just By Thinking About It - Me
Writing. uh...

100 Degree Weather - a Natural Dryer

I don't have a washer and dryer. My local Laundromat does not have air conditioning. In fact, I have as yet to discover one that does. It gets pretty hot inside with the dryers running when it's a mere 70 degrees outside. So, I thought I would take advantage of the heat and wash clothes in the bathtub and then hang them out. Good idea. After the first load I changed my mind. Would have been a great idea if I were 20 years younger.

Although the whole idea was to avoid cooking myself, I also thought I might do something earth-friendly. It took three full bathtubs of water to do one load (one soap, two rinses). A machine would have been more efficient. But then it would also have used electricity. I'm hoping I reduced some of my carbon footprint by hanging the laundry out to dry. I hung them out around 10:30 a.m. By 2 p.m. they were bone dry (except for the dress). Excellent!

They aren't as soft or smooth as putting them in the dryer with a dryer sheet, but the smell is heaven! Next time (tomorrow?) I'm going to use the machine to wash and then the natural dryer. Care to know how it turns out?

Everybody's Gone for the Weekend

... and maybe longer. The depletion of humans has been going on for days now. I first noticed it two days ago when I quickly found a spot in the sun at Ellwood Thompsons to have my lunch. Now Richmond is practically a ghost town! This is great! The weather is lovely and I get all the hot spots to myself. No worry about dog crowding down at the river. Lots of space to roam in the parks. I can eat al fresco anywhere in all the best spots of any location. Few cars on the street (although the percentage of idiots seems to have mysteriously risen – guys on cell phones, old people asleep at the wheel, those who apparently live in their cars and don't feel the need to actually drive when on a road, etc.) Aside from that one little glitch it's great. I'm going to thoroughly enjoy my time alone in peace and quiet. No need to go anywhere. I have this lovely resort town all to myself in the fabulous Memorial Day Weekend weather. woo hoo! (Did I mention I'm happy to be alone here for a few days?)
Current Fads slacking
Listening. recently purchased tunes (unpublished); hedge trimmer and dogs barking (the hired help are doing a big number next door and she's not even there!)
Watching. Shrek (2001)
Activity. reading
Gadget. cell phone
News Source. Google News
Reading. The Haunted Abbot - Peter Tremayne; Real Energy - Phaedra and Isaac Bonewits; A Free Course in Making Your Own Talisman - Karl Hans Welz
Writing. not writing (except journaling and well, here)
Actually, it would be totally perfect if you were here, too.

Find Your Spot!

Here's a certainly interesting but lengthy quiz on what town in the great US of A would be ideal for you. Although they ask a lot of questions and do give you an opportunity to state a regional preference, they leave out that all important question, "Do you want to stay close to your family or the remnants thereof?" Anyway, besides that, they do a pretty good job (as good as any automated process can) in finding spots that fit the general criteria of "yours."

My number one town, Charleston WV, made me cringe. Definitely wrong! Turns out that Charleston is not a backwater and may even be on the move. However, the 26" of snow is off-putting, especially as I answered a "strongly agree" to the question "I'd like to live where the temperature is moderate all year long." Does 26" of snow and 25 degrees seem moderate to you? Move Charleston about 100 miles south and we might have something. On the other hand I don't see my family enough as it is and moving farther away can only make that worse.

However, they did come up with two spots I do like: Norfolk VA (#10) and Albuquerque NM (#9) and one spot I hate: Baltimore (#5!). I'm still going over the list and considering all the spots (well, except for Charleston and Baltimore). However, they listed Norfolk as having 7" of snow and that's just plain wrong. If they get 3/4" snow in Norfolk the town shuts down. And that hasn't happened in a long time.

So, watch out but take the quiz anyway. It's fun to think that if my life were no object I could live in any of these perfect spots. Oh, and they ask for your real information, so you might get unasked for solicitations afterward even though they say they don't send you that stuff unless you ask for it.

NOTE: The town I've lived in for 16 years is not on the list. Have I got it wrong all these years?

midsummer

Light candles. Blow them out in reverse. Pluck up tiny weeds. Remove the dried dead fronds of blooms returned to earth. Pace the garden. Note the flavor of the wind. Contemplate holly leaves dreaming of winter. Select a mimosa bloom for pressing. Hear subtle music.

Happy Solstice!

Songs of the Day: One Guitar, No Vocals – Leo Kottke

annoyers and annoyees

Neighbors are either annoyers or annoyees. Most of my neighbors are quiet people like me and therefore end up being annoyees. Two houses down is a couple who have broken the unwritten rule of physical annoyance by putting up a high privacy fence, filling their yard with a pool and building a huge high deck surrounding it. That way, whenever anyone is out on the deck they can look down over the fence at the rest of us. They had maybe two annoying parties last year. It wasn't really awful. They quieted down by 10:30 p.m. On the other hand, they have only invited the extroverts across the street for one swim. I know they don't have to invite the neighbors over for a swim, it's just one of those annoying things.

Today I had my annual unfriendly exchange with the little man next door. As usual, it involved him sharing his limited vocabulary at the top of his voice about my dog and what I can do with it. I listened to him rant for a few minutes.

Then, during a break in his ranting, I replied, "Are you suggesting inappropriate congress with my dog?"

And he said, "Yes, I am!"

Which surprised me because I didn't think his vocabulary extended to two syllable words. Then I listened to a further demonstration of his limited vocabulary while waiting for him to wind down.

"That fuckin' dog is the only fuckin' boyfriend you'll ever get," he threw at me while the dog barked madly.

"He's a damn sight better than you!" I retorted loudly, which shut him up. Once again, Elaine wins!

We didn't have our little conversation last year because the previous year he played his trump card by complaining about my dog to the mayor through a friend of a friend. That trickled down to my local animal control agent who agreed with me that the little man has some serious problems. (And lucky me, I get to be his neighbor.)

Subsequent to his fruitless appeal to the mayor, I won the last little shouting match, too. He had, as usual, entertained me with his limited vocabulary for about 10 minutes. As he was winding down, he shouted, "What about my right of quiet enjoyment?" To which I replied, "What about mine?" which shut him up instantly.

Maybe he'll learn one day that no matter how much he doesn't like me and my dog he just can't win that cockeyed little game. One mustn't like one's neighbors but one must learn be unannoying.

Fabulous Virginia Fall

This time right now, including yesterday and the previous couple of days and probably tomorrow and the day after, is the time to be here in Richmond. It's warm enough to eat outside in the sun while enjoying a view of riotous fall color. And listening to kids screaming and birds and squirrels carrying the news. It's really not fair to be inside writing a novel however far behind I am (about 10,000 words).

My greenleaf maple has finally, after four years, decided to become as advertised – edged in red in the fall. I really like the way the inside of the plant stays green while the outer edges get red. It hasn't done this before. It used to just drop its leaves.

And here I am inside not writing a novel and I'm really far behind. I will not stay home on Thanksgiving and catch up by writing 6,000 words in one day. I'm glad I got through it last year but it nearly took all the fun out of writing. The plan this year is to catch up by writing a little extra every day. Especially since Mom is making dinner on Thanksgiving and she's a great cook.

Too bad her great cooking talent didn't rub off on me or creep in by osmosis. Although I have managed to concoct a nice breakfast fritatta that's done all in the pan with eggs, cream, goat cheese and fresh spinach. I have it nearly every day.

Well, I have come far enough from the intent of this post and spent a long enough time not writing my novel. I must get back to it. If only I could justify spending $50 to get a legal copy of Documents to Go so I could write outside. Damn. I might do it anyway. Although, wouldn't that just take more time?

Season of the Pumpkin

Pumpkins aren't just for Halloween although that's one of their more enjoyable uses. Well, pumpkin pies are tasty, too. One year I actually went to the trouble of saving the carved out pumpkin and making pies with it. Another year I tried to make my own roasted pumpkin seeds. It was an interesting experiment but I highly recommend you buy them instead. Another year I got the little pie pumpkins. It's all the same. Pumpkin is pumpkin and it's all good.

Recycling is important with left over pumpkins. Don't let them sit on your front porch collapsing into gooey masses and attracting flies. Colorado and Ireland are particularly interested in seeing you properly recycle them. Just be sure you remove the seeds before you throw them on the compost heap or you'll have a boat load of vines next summer. The vines are quite attractive, especially as they cover up the rotting compost. However, you'll find yourself opening a pumpkin stand if you're not careful!

Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving without a pumpkin pie. I love it. I could eat it all year round. On my journeys around the world I discovered that there's nothing as American as pumpkin pie, even though here in the US of A the saying is "apple pie." Apple pie is actually not an American preserve. It's a self deception we live with every day. In Lebanon they make some tasty pumpkin items (for St. Barbara's Day if I remember correctly) but only in American do we make the pies. Or maybe it should be "There's nothing as American as sweet potato pie." But that's another story.

It's Blog Action Day!

I and nearly 16 thousand others are blogging about the environment today. What can you do? Recycle, reuse or don't use. The weekly trash per person should amount to one small bag (as in carrier bag or those plastic grocery bags). The rest should be recycled some how. I'm not there yet but it is my goal.

As a Graphic Designer I'm especially sensitive to packaging. A lot of which, especially in the cosmetics industry, is waste. Electronics runs a close second.

Current Fads
Listening. Time Waits for Everyone, Viggo Mortensen; birds
Watching. Inspector Lynley Mysteries (2007?); Shakespeare Wallah (1965)
Activity. leading a retreat
Gadget. none
News Source. the news feeds in Safari
Reading. The Runes of the Earth - Stephen R. Donaldson; When Things Fall Apart - Pema Chodron; The Schwarzbein Principle II - Diana Schwarzbein; Popular Science; MacWorld; The Washington Post (Yes, I really am reading them all right now—I'm a reading addict. What can I say?)