(fascism)

Aug. 14th, 2025 08:47 am
elainegrey: Inspired by Grypping/gripping beast styles from Nordic cultures (Default)
[personal profile] elainegrey

Just a note to confirm that I remained horrified by the world, horrified by the Israeli government's treatment of Gazans and Palestinians, horrified by Putin's aggression against the Ukraine and his throwing Russians into the meat grinder of war to make that happen, sick to nausea of the US Federal government's "immigration" policies and enforcement ... and well, all of the policies, from the ones that directly impact me to the ones that slightly less directly impact me. But all of it impacts the nation's collective well being and  -- i just can't articulate. Only cry.

(morning writing)

Aug. 14th, 2025 07:41 am
elainegrey: Inspired by Grypping/gripping beast styles from Nordic cultures (Default)
[personal profile] elainegrey

Re-reading i see i was not clear in my comments about Dad's coming heart valve repair. I had gotten in my head that the open heart surgery would be possible for him AND would result in a long lasting repair. Since Dad is otherwise healthy, i imagine him having many more years.

I don't think he imagines himself having many more years that he wants -- and he dreads a lingering existence in which he needs others to care for him.

Realizing how long three months seems at the end of your life compared to how fast things are flying by for me right now.... well, the considerations around how to resolve Dad's heart valve have probably led me to think more about my limited time in this life than about his.

I spent a good bit of Sunday with him, helping him get his boat in the lake. Unfortunately the engine wasn't cooperating.

Also got some yard work done with the pleasant weekend weather.

It's back to sauna, glasses fogging over when stepping outside, windows covered with condensation, fog in the trees in the morning.

Fig season is beginning. I'm done with the mulberries and elderberries: the rest can go to the birds and other critters. The blueberries have tailed off as well. If i can motivate myself, i want to get winter plantings of brassicas and lettuces in. This month is hard to imagine as time to plant but since i didn't do much in the way of summer seedings (one sad marigold sprouted and is not thriving) I've nuked weeds and i can actually imagine preparing the beds.

I got some grass seed in the front right as rains were beginning where i scalped the lawn -- which was pretty much all invasive stilt grass. I have grass seeds for the orchard, too, where i will only focus on "the boulevard" and the square anchored by the corner of garage and house. Moss is taking hold  in a good bit of the orchard and, despite Carrie's running tearing out chunks of the moss, it would be nice to have something that needs less mowing.

Worked late yesterday, and maybe late earlier in the week? It's a blur.

Precipitation nil

Aug. 14th, 2025 06:57 am
jhetley: (Default)
[personal profile] jhetley
Air temperature 68 F, wind near calm, fog at the airport for visibility about a mile. Not seen here, but the radio towers seem to have vanished. They have offered us a chance of showers or thundershowers, but the only green globs on the weather radar are well north of here. Should be able to get out for a walk.

Vocabulary: Unintended Sidequences

Aug. 13th, 2025 11:51 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Clearly a portmanteau of "side effects / consequences."  I like it.
dialecticdreamer: My work (Default)
[personal profile] dialecticdreamer
Puzzling Out the Problem
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1584
[End of March 179-]


:: With Raisa in Igor’s arms, slowly filling her tummy, the adults’ conversation turns to her permanent placement. Many problems are discussed, but the goal is gentleness and a long-term, good fit for the baby. Part of the “Lost Son” story arc in the Frankenstein’s Family universe. ::




Murmurs seemed to chase the last bite of stew that Laszlo sopped up with his bread, using a spoon instead of his hand to push the morsel around. “And that’s another problem to take care of,” Igor laughed. “The diapers are near the hearth, to warm them,” he told Victor.

“She’s almost asleep, and a warm cloth to wipe up the mess will help her along,” Victor answered.

A moment later, Raisa lay swaddled in the same blanket, but any trace of the plaid rag was gone. Victor approached Laszlo slowly. “She’s in good health. There was no reasonable…” He pursed his lips. “Did anyone tell you if she was found washed, or if the people who called for Kálmán cleaned her up?”
Read more... )

Things we don't talk about

Aug. 13th, 2025 05:43 pm
jhetley: (Default)
[personal profile] jhetley
Humanitarian groups say that Sudan is a worse civilian crisis than Ukraine or Gaza.

Conservation

Aug. 13th, 2025 04:11 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Scientists confirm two new species of pika in the Himalayas after 20 years of research

Using data collected from 2003, 2023, and 2024, researchers Pan Xuan and Wang Xuming were able to delineate previously unidentified species as Ochotona galunglaensis and O. legbona.

“Our findings highlight the previously underestimated diversity within Conothoa and contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of pika diversity in the Himalayan region,” Xuan and Xuming observed in their study, which was published in Ecology and Evolution.

Pint-sized pikas, which resemble hamsters in appearance, are not rodents but lagomorphs, meaning that they are closely related to rabbits and hares
.


Good news, but hardly a surprise. Pikas are currently alpine species. That means they are easily isolated and thus prone to speciation. Think of mountaintops as islands, in the sense that creatures dwelling there find it difficult or impossible to move from one to another.

Birdfeeding

Aug. 13th, 2025 02:21 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is mostly sunny, humid, and hot.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I potted up 4 asparagus berries from the Charleston Food Forest.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

Poem: "To Allow in More Light"

Aug. 13th, 2025 01:13 pm
ysabetwordsmith: (monster house)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem came out of the August 5, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by [personal profile] janetmiles. It also fills the "As If By Magic" square in my 8-1-25 card for the Crime Classics Bingo fest. This poem belongs to the series Monster House. It falls between "Secondhand Sight" and "Paper, Scissors, Stone" so reading in that order will make more sense.

Read more... )

Hard Things

Aug. 13th, 2025 01:11 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Life is full of things which are hard or tedious or otherwise unpleasant that need doing anyhow. They help make the world go 'round, they improve skills, and they boost your sense of self-respect. But doing them still kinda sucks. It's all the more difficult to do those things when nobody appreciates it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our accomplishments and pat each other on the back.

What are some of the hard things you've done recently? What are some hard things you haven't gotten to yet, but need to do? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your hard things a little easier?

(no subject)

Aug. 13th, 2025 11:18 am
jhetley: (Default)
[personal profile] jhetley
Well, the air quality is now up into "unhealthy" at the airport. And air temperature 88 F. Glad I got my walking done already . . .

Hand-basket city

Aug. 13th, 2025 07:10 am
jhetley: (Default)
[personal profile] jhetley
Air temperature 68 F, wind south about 3 mph, sunny. Heat advisory continues. Air quality "moderate" with AQI 90. Watered the new salvia plants out front, in an attempt to shake rain out of the chance of thunderstorms tonight and into tomorrow. Walk early or not at all.

Sufficiency and Wellbeing Magazine

Aug. 12th, 2025 05:58 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This is an online magazine that is anti-capitalist and degrowth.  It's something you can read when you get disgusted with enshittification and planned obsolescence and all that crap.

Anticipation (part 3 of 3, complete)

Aug. 12th, 2025 04:15 pm
dialecticdreamer: My work (Default)
[personal profile] dialecticdreamer
Anticipation
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 3 of 3, complete
Word count (story only, in total): 4140
[Early November of 2016]


:: Written for the July of 2025 Magpie Monday, from a prompt by [personal profile] fuzzyred, the story has been sponsored by [personal profile] mama_kestrel with my deepest thanks.


Back to part two
:: Thanks for reading! ::




= = Halley= =


Halley accepted the oval platter with careful hands beneath the extra-long dishtowel. “Nonna,” thon began carefully, “I need a good idea for a baby gift.”

The elderly Italian woman’s eyebrows climbed higher than the frames of her oversized, yellow-tinted bifocals. “Whose baby, little one?”
Read more... )

Anticipation (part 2 of 3, complete)

Aug. 12th, 2025 04:10 pm
dialecticdreamer: My work (Default)
[personal profile] dialecticdreamer
Anticipation
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 2 of 3, complete
Word count (story only, in total): 4140
[Early November of 2016]


:: Written for the July of 2025 Magpie Monday, from a prompt by [personal profile] fuzzyred, the story has been sponsored by [personal profile] mama_kestrel with my deepest thanks.


Back to part one
On to part three

= = Aida= =


The teaching assistant stepped slightly into Aida’s path as the other students filed out of the lecture hall. “A moment, Miss,” he began. One hand dipped into his sand-colored suit jacket, worn over a white polo shirt. “You’re making arrangements to miss class from the end of November until nearly the first of January, but only listed ‘family reasons’ on the form,” he began carefully. “Is everything all right? I know that the United States is far away, but… It seems like a long gap.”

Aida glanced around at the nearly empty lecture hall, and wet her lips. “Mukhtar… It really is complicated, and personal, but not a secret. I can explain but it’ll take quite a few minutes.” She waved a hand toward the stacks of papers and the rolling file box that he habitually strapped his backpack to when hustling across campus. “I can help clear up, or walk you to the next lecture?”

“You don’t have class now?” he confirmed.
Read more... )

Birdfeeding

Aug. 12th, 2025 03:03 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is partly sunny and sweltering.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a flock of sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I potted up 12 sweet cherry seeds.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I did some work around the patio.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/12/25 -- I watered some plants on the old and new picnic tables that were wilting, then did the telephone pole garden and a few of the savanna seedlings.  I'm annoyed that some plants are wilting so soon after copious  watering, because I can't haul that hose around every day, or even every few days. >_<

I've seen a skunk on the patio.

I am done for the night.

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