Nothing but hurricane related whimsy this morning

Squirrel saved from a hurricane.

I was looking through my file of "fun" pictures on my computer. This one jumped out at me as endearing even without the caption. My first thought was awwwww. My second was: I happen to have what it takes to comfort a hurricane threatened squirrel should the opportunity present itself (again).

When we were little kids and Dad had occasional work travel that took him away for a week, he would sometimes bring us a little something. Not ALWAYS, as that would become an expectation and ruin the magical moment of: he did it again! One time he came home with three tiny teddy bears with movable arm and legs. The ones for Judy and me were a honey brown. The one for Jim was a chocolate brown. And I STILL HAVE MINE AND I KNOW WHERE IT IS.

Less than 2" tall when seated

  Remember the Columbus Day storm in 1962? I was 11, Judy 10 and Jim 7 (Mom got that project over quickly) and it was on a Friday, which was the day our cleaning lady Emma came. She spent a full day (arriving by bus and going home by bus) cleaning a not very dirty house. Everyone of us was clean and neat by nature and nurture (except Judy who was messy when living with us to register her resistance). Emma was a black woman if indeterminate age (Mom had no idea) who lived in a part of Portland we never went to. We kids enjoyed startling her when the vacuum was running until we became aware how bad that was for her. She never let on. She gave me and Judy each a brown baby doll to play with. We loved those, but I failed to hold on to that piece of my history. Emma worked for us though at least my high school years. I wish I had known how to get to know her better.

Judy and little brown baby doll

Just a bit more detail of our Columbus Day adventure. Our house was on a large lot in SW Portland which was fully forested when purchased. Dad bought it as half of the property owned by the family next door on the promise of clearing only what was required for house and driveway. The storm was making all our evergreens toss, whip, and fling branches - some quite large - including onto the long driveway. Mom decided that she needed to get Emma home, and needed to take all of us with her (I guess so she would a) not leave Dad three kids to raise alone or b) would be done mothering). We braved the driveway, heading east, through downtown where we passed car dealerships with all the showroom windows broken, and traffic signals almost doing loop-de-loops. We crossed a bridge, and got Emma home. I recall being horrified at the house we left her at. (Have I ever mentioned how much of a privileged bubble I was raised in?) When we returned home, of course there was no electricity, so Mom had us all in the family room, with only one large drape protected glass expanse - a door onto a patio - which was the largest buffer from trees we had. It was kinda scary, but not so much when Dad got home from the office. He always made me feel safe and loved. And here's another part I am embarrassed to admit: The next day Dad brought a large portable gas generator on a flat bed truck from the shop so we could save the food. Only one tree fell in our yard, well away from the house. Our house was intact (no flying roof as happened around us) and we had a fun time of it: Dad home, no school, temperate weather etc. Again, privileged.

That was some weird shit.

That was former President George W. Bush's comment following Trump's "American Carnage" inaugural address. From today's vantage point it is clear that it was not so much an indictment of America as the only campaign promise he fulfilled.

It might be safe to wake up.

The most hope I currently have for the unbelievable number of folks who wanted MORE of the same, is that some percentage of them will wake from the fever which so easily spread. Those MAGA rallies were super spreading events for which we never mounted a definitive defense.

I had planned to watch the inauguration real time, but it was Wed. morning which I see less of than other mornings ( following the Tues. Pot, Passion and Pizza date night). But I caught the end of Biden's address and all that followed. Then I watched clips of the two swearing in ceremonies. Wow! Two adults who I believe actually understood and meant to fulfill their oath. In addition, folks looked excited to take on the monumental task before them which will be complicated by Covid, obstruction, and state of the economy.

And I will add this in case you are not sure what I mean when I say economy: I mean the way ALL of us "earn a living" and interact with fellow travelers on planet earth. Just as everything is at core "political" it is also at core "economic". All of our choices (personal and communal) impact our world, even to the  most elemental aspects: the air we breathe and the water we drink. At least starting today our  Executive Branch is helmed by folks who will use science and compassion as opposed to trying to bully the world into submission.

Happy (it's possible) New Year

Two of my most endearing (?) foibles have conspired to make this report less whelming that it could have been. Foibles: #1 procrastination of anything requiring yard related effort and #2 a tendency toward exaggeration*.    --End of story set up--

On Dec. 30th sometime in the afternoon while I was napping (in preparation to observe the New Year alone and from behind eyelids) a wind gust in the mid 30's created a strange THUMP on my roof. I resumed napping though puzzled. When vertical I checked my roof from the backyard where a large tree looms over part of my roof, expecting to see a big limb. Instead my 9' diameter shade umbrella which (endearing foible #1 led to it's still being opened on it's stand well beyond any usefulness) was lying upside down on my roof. 

I knew I needed to snap a pic but did not (again endearing foible #1) which led tragically to the heartbreak of (endearing foible #2) i.e. will my readership believe me?

My boyfriend was a witness to the fact that Umbrella Was On Roof. He will testify under oath.

And the reason I cannot offer pictorial proof (the strongest of proof these days, as photos never lie) is that on Jan. 1st another gust in the mid 30's lifted the umbrella off the roof and deposited it approximately 30 feet away and down in my yard. HONEST. .

 I have spent several days trying to insert pics "proving" the strange journey of my restless umbrella. This is me giving up that attempt to make use of a photo editor software on which I have only mastered the most basic functions. My new and "improved" Blogger software also makes placing photos more problematic and less esthetic.

Anyhoo......... this is the landing spot for the first leg of my umbrella's journey. This leg required a minimum vertical distance of 12 feet combined with a SE shift of approximately 10 feet. If I knew it's weight (and I had not performed poorly in my first college physics course) I could perhaps calculate the necessary force to accomplish this. Let's just agree, that it was sufficient to get it airborne, but less than enough to clear the roof-line in it's bid for freedom. 

This photo shows the culmination of the second leg of the disappointing fight to see more of the world, which resulted in 12 foot loss of altitude and about 30 feet to the NW.

In summary, my Boyfriend can attest to the umbrella residing at both locations. It is once again secured in it's stand and awaiting a bath and proper winter storage. (Good luck with THAT (again endearing foible #1).

And finally, this article headline in the WaPo today** is a Classic solution in search of a problem.

6 recipes to use up the bottle of wine you opened last night

*I nearly used hyperbole instead, but I prefer to consider my embellishments for entertainment purposes to be "realistic", which a hyperbole fails to be.

**It was "today" when I started this blighted blog. But I just checked and the link still works.