Good news

Congratulations to the Krenz family on the birth of Jesse Alexander!

Elena, you're a big sister now!

We're so happy for you!

Librarian digs in

I went to find Hoosierkitty this morning and found her buried in books. This is the view from what is supposed to be the doorway to her office - it was not at the time functioning as a doorway. And there is a cart full of books at her back, effectively filling all the rest of the space in there. Aha! I said, I am observing one of those Autumn rituals not unlike the business of the squirrel under the nut tree.Here in fact we observe the Autumnal burrowing instincts of the libri mulier surrounding herself with shelves and shelves of books. These walls of old books are not built for nourishment - no, the books collected for the coming winter's reading are kept in stacks and stashes in the librarian's various denning places. Instead these book-walls provide the harried librarian with a feeling of security and comfort, where she can be undisturbed as she busies herself within them in useful ways, in this case clearing away their old records and making space for the storing of newer materials.
I did, for a moment, long for some book carts of my own to gather around my computer desk...

Officially Fall

Happy Autumnal Equinox to all of you! Stay in balance.

A chunk of alabaster

Granddad is delighted with this newest addition to his rock and mineral collection. He'd love to show you how he cleaned it up.
The light almost shines right through this lovely chunk of alabaster.
Thanks to Dr. HF for finding it and thinking of him, and thanks to HoosierKitty for carrying it across the ocean!

We're ON

I may still feel powerless, but the electricity is back on! If you listen hard enough you can hear the washing machine, the dishwasher and the refrigerator going right now. There's a hum in the background from the pool pump and a little buzz from the lights. The alarm clock is back to keeping time and waking us up. The cell phone is re-charging and there's a dial tone on the regular phone. This all seems miraculous to me.
And what did I miss most during our lengthy outage? That would have to be the computer, now my major connection with all of you.

Give me an Ohm

I sing the House electric
The currents of its wires energize me, and I energize them
They will not turn off till I turn them off, respond to them
And plug them in, and charge them full with the charge of the Power.

(with appologies to Walt Whitman)

What you really need...

In order to blog, what you really need is electricity.
Which we currently do not have.

(So how am I posting this? I'm at the library.)

Worn out books

The library looks as if it is full of great books - and it is - but some of those books are getting worn out. This week I had the job of finding well-worn copies of the classic titles that every library needs - most of them not just well-worn but worn out - and photographing them.

You can't just toss that poor old copy of Charlotte's Web, you know. You need to replace it - and that takes money. With a budget barely able to add the new books we need, the replacement money will hopefully come from a grant.

Hence, the photographs.

Tattered and battered, written-in and torn - and still being read over and over year after year. Surely the Foundation will find itself moved to fund new copies of these treasures.

A toast

Here's to the end of summer and to the safe return of all travellers.

Unexpected at the Farmer's Market

I expected to find melons at the Farmer's Market (you know how I feel about melons) but I didn't expect to run into a sandwich-board man carrying a petition for the library to buy more books. What a concept!

You know the library's doing something right when it rouses passion in the community.

Pulling Cattails

Pond? What pond? Yes, there is a pond under all the cattails and reeds and waterlilies.

And it's about time someone got in there and pulled up some of those cattails. I mean, really, we ought to be able to see the water!

Uhh - who exactly is going to wade into that algae-filled water? I guess I am. Frogs scatter as I plop into the scum. The mucky bottom grabs my sandals so that I step with a glop and a sploosh.

It proves harder than you would think to pull up cattails. I have to rock them back and forth until I feel the root give and then ease them up. Then I throw them like spears up on the bank, until I am in the middle of the pond and just stack them beside me to carry out.

I can't think about what is in this water, wrapping itself around my ankles and crawling up my bare legs. It's thick. The pond has outdone itself in fecundity. I notice a turtle poking its head up by the bank. It gives me a resentful look before it slides back down under the pondweed.

Ah, here comes the man to help. Not to get into the water, but to pick up the armfuls of cattail stems and carry them off to the compost pile.

"Maybe that should be your last one" he says, as I grab a giant cattail in the middle of the pond. The water laps around my thighs as I pull, jiggle, and pull again. I'm thinking about the great, big, enormous turnip that won't come up. I give a mighty yank...

the cattail comes UP

I go DOWN

OH YUCK!

The man is doubled over, hooting with laughter. I drag my slimy, mucky self up out of the surprisingly cold water.

"Yes," I say, " I think that was the last one."

I can't get into a hot shower fast enough.

Expect the unexpected

Ignore the horse and rider in this picture and just notice the structure we're in.Isn't that nice? Shady on a hot day, windows to let a little breeze through...

Yesterday started out as an ordinary day. It was hot, and the horse was mellow. A preschool boy was taking a lesson on a little pony as Scotty and I began to trot around.

Did I notice anything unusual?? Perhaps fewer of the ever-present sparrows who are having a fine life living on spilled grain and hayseeds?? Nope, if there were no birds in the arena it didn't strike me as anything worth noticing.

Did I look up in the rafters?? Why would I do that? Of course I didn't.

You can tell what's coming, can't you?

It was a hawk. A BIG hawk. A terribly dangerous horse-eating hawk that swooped down and smacked itself against the window. Right in front of us.

The horse and I left the ground as if we'd been picked up by an eagle.

I could actually see the white all around his terrified eye as we thrashed backwards and sideways away from peril.

He calmed down a lot quicker than I did. It took some doing to unwrap myself from around his neck.

We're both keeping an eye on those rafters from now on.

Greedy

This weekend I am a glutton. I want it all.

I remember long ago pushing a shopping cart with a toddler who made up a song and sang it all through the store - "I want, I want, I want".

That's how I feel.

I want every kind and variety of tomato. I want bags and baskets of peppers and eggplants and melons and purple potatoes and sweet peaches.

I want to taste all the salsas at the salsa contest.

I want to hear all the music and dance in the street.

I want just about everything at this art fair.

I want cups from this artist and prints from this artist. I drool over Smoky Mountain prints and delicate glass vases.

Over-stimulation? You bet!

Just don't turn me loose with any money.

House painting

Last spring we decided it was time to paint the house. The cracked, peeling old paint was showing its age. Time for a big decision - what color to use? Shall we be bold - take a risk - go for a deep blue or a dark green? How about a sandy tan to go with the limestone? What about the red door? Are we ready for changes?

Such decisions. It was all summer before the painters came.
And carefully matched the old color exactly.

We like that color.
We'll take our risks elsewhere.

Still sweet...

August 26, 1969.It's still sweet.

Old Friends

The Librarians Emeritus Group recently gathered for food and conversation.We had a lot to catch up on. "Why don't we do this more often", we said, as we always do.

Since we retired, we're all so busy that it's hard to find a time to get together.

Cute...corn?

I know: you think cute, you think puppies. Or kittens. You don't think vegetables. But here's Granddad's little garden of cute vegetables.Granddad had great plans for it. He stuffed it full of seeds and plants - sweet potatoes and pumpkins, radishes and peppers, tomatoes and corn. Corn? In that tiny space? It may look puny, but just see what he's harvesting...cute little vegetables. Note the teeny tiny eggplant.And this ear of corn - why, that's the BIG one.
Most of them were this size.

Now aren't they cute?

Toby moves

Come on in

and see Toby's new digs."It's modest, but it's home," says Toby.
"It's just me and my guy" says Toby. "No dogs."
He's got his guy wrapped around his paw.We all wish Toby (and his personal attendant) all the best in their new home.

The attraction of quackery

Yes, this is my new magnetic bracelet. It came with a tag that carefully said "Believed to have healthful benefits".

What's that? You don't think it will cure my ills? Why Cleopatra herself wore one, don't you know, to keep her beauty ageless.

Yes, and Queen Elizabeth I was treated with magnet therapy by her personal physician. (and no, I'm not considering lead or arsenic as beauty aids)

In the 18th century good old Franz Mesmer used magnets as well as mesmerizing for therapy. I read on one website:

"Mozart was so enthusiastic about Mesmer's therapeutic successes that he referred to the beneficial effect of magnets in his opera "Cosi fan Tutti". (Despina sings: "This is the magnet, the Mesmeric stone that originated in Germany and became so famous in France.")."
I have every expectation of being more energetic and less sore.
How can it possibly fail?

After eating Chinese in honor of the Olympics

I'm keeping my eyes open.