PNewL PNewS Volume 31 Issue 4

 

PNewL PNewS

Volume 31 Issue 4         “All the pnews that phits.”           February 2024

 

Let’s talk about Cooking

     I have a love/like/I don’t want to relationship with cooking. I never hate it, but there are plenty of times when I just don’t want to. The older I get, the more frequently that is true and the more often I find myself expressing gratitude to those who cook for me (most often in restaurants).

     I have had friends who raised children who proclaim they never cooked. What did the children eat? My mother did not really like to cook but she raised five healthy well-fed children, in a traditional protein/veg/carb manner. (She took to cooking more adventurously after we left the house when she had a more appreciative audience and only a party of two.) As a kid, I remember occasionally imploring her to think about dinner—it seemed like time was short and she was reading her book and making no moves towards the kitchen. Since her repertoire was pretty limited and she relied heavily on The I Hate to Cookbook, she had the timing down.

     Dad helped with meals occasionally—he was the grilling guy and had a brief interest in making fresh pasta but that was all pretty special occasion-ally. We didn’t really eat out because Dad ate out at lunch every day, so Mom cooked for a family of seven endlessly and we usually finished the meal in under ten minutes. We were ruthless and not an inspiring audience.

     I am a bit more adventurous than mom—and that’s probably because our situations were so totally different. Often cooking for “just me,” I can get away with a fair amount. I can eat just about anything (except liver—well, all organ meats—and beets…and don’t bother thinking you can get me to like beets). In addition, I have had the time to take cooking classes, and study recipes online and while traveling.

     I’ve been on a cooking jag of late. New York Times Cooking has been helpful—I like all kinds of Asian cuisine and they have been inspiring. And Instagram and Facebook think I need new recipes so they show me stuff. And a knitter I follow posts recipes every day of January which she calls Veganuary. I want to make it all so I make my grocery lists and come home with most of what I need but not all and then I can’t remember which recipes I’d bought for and inevitably don’t have all of what I need for any one thing so I make do.

     The other night when it was cold and blustery and I wanted comfort food, I did my occasional dinner from cans. This always seems like cheating, and unfair that it can be pretty darn tasty. Cans of beans (pinto or kidney or some sort of white bean), tomatoes (whatever kind is on the shelf), chopped green chilis + more heat (as Susan calls it), put in a big pot with sauteed onions and garlic (and whatever other veg is lying around) and chopped up sausage or in this case, leftover fancy hot dogs. Add a sprinkle of grated cheese. Ta da.

     I do get tired of things though. Sometimes when I look at the pot of whatever I came up with, I wonder who I think is going to eat it all but more often than not, it gets eaten. Leftovers are a blessing and so is a space in the freezer.

 

 

 

 

 

The Buster Report

I was kinda thinking there wouldn’t be a Buster report this issue. He has generally been pretty good. He hasn’t run away for more than a half-hour in a while. He is a crazily affectionate guy. He’s good company and he is good when he’s at Bonnie’s Puppy Camp.

     The other day, just as it was heading toward dusk, I looked out at the backyard, and there were two bunnies…playing…or doing a mating dance or some combo of the two. It was precious—they chased and hopped over each other. It truly looked like they were having fun. Then they departed for parts unknown. Shortly after, Buster wanted to go out, and he retraced every step those bunnies took…and he has been looking for them ever since. (Editor’s note: Shortly after writing this, I came home to find Buster had eaten half a bag of dates. Sigh.)

 

Just a Teeny Bit about Travel

Bill, Denis and I made another trip to Portugal—a little bit of Lisbon, several days of Tavira, and a road trip up and back. (It’s less than four hours so it wasn’t much of a road trip.) It was delightful. We went for the period before Christmas so we got to see how another country does it and I didn’t have to defend my lack of interest in celebrating the holiday. Our apartment was right across from an itty-bitty Christmas market and the venue for live music—they had a production of something each day in the run up to Christmas. Some of it was truly wonderful, some not so but still win-win. Oh and I was in Tavira with Bill and Denis! Always a good thing.

 

Things I am Learning

& Miscellaneous Observations 

• Don’t you love it when people who don’t respond to multiple emails are provoked when their emails aren’t responded to pronto? Pet peeve.

• Maybe this is just an introvert thing, but there are times when I am grateful for getting points for making a date to get together and then it’s cancelled for weather, illness, general malaise or some other snafu, and I get to stay home.

• I was once a very good speller. The computer has destroyed that.

• Sometimes I sit down and my watch warns me that I need to stand up to get “credit” for this hour. (I was just standing…) Smart watch? I’d like to quibble.

 • I saw on Instagram that there was a knit-tiny-things knitalong and that sounded like fun and there was a pattern for a garland that included a pig that I liked for $3. Such a deal! I bought it. It’s in Norwegian! I thought, how hard can it be? VERY. Google translate helped but there’s a long way to go. I’m a nut.

• I made an ATM deposit. I realized there was a mistake but figured that someone would find it when they audited the activity that day—it’s happened before. I guess they don’t look at them anymore. I called the branch to rectify the problem—it became my problem, not theirs. After convincing the branch manager that I was not a lying cheating scoundrel (I feel that way most of the time when I deal with them…and it’s a Credit Union for crying out loud…they are supposed to like the people…or so I thought), it took them two days to give me my $50 back. Note to self: be more careful.

• I took off for a morning of errands. At the first stop, I looked down and realized the black fleece jacket I was wearing was covered—covered—in short red Buster hair along with the occasional longer white Peggy hair. There was also a small something that when scraped turned into a fine powder that spread across the jacket. What to do? I decided to ignore it—I’m at the invisible age. No one will care, or notice, but me.

• An unintended consequence of lackadaisical laundry habits allowed me to go through my entire stack of blue jeans. Since I buy most of my clothes at Goodwill, the jeans are various sizes colors shapes and brands. Going through each one at the beginning of the season reacquainted me with my inventory. It’s almost like I planned it!

• I do not buy potato chips often. When I do, I need to buy the potato chips I like—not the ones I think I “should” or that are on sale—or I’ll just waste empty calories.

• I was driving home from downtown on a sunny day in later December. It was kinda warm and my windows were down. Two guys from the City (there was a white SUV with the city logo parked nearby), opened the fire hydrant, and blasted my car, inside and out, temporarily making it impossible to see. I was understandably shocked. Thankfully there was no one ahead of me or coming towards me and I was fine—shook up, but fine. My concern was that the person behind me was on a motorcycle! This all happened suddenly and there was no time to react. I drove the next quarter mile in a daze... By then I figured it was too late to go back and I was wet.

     When I got home, I wanted to let someone know, but who? I found a Facebook page for the Asheville Fire Department. (I figured they must know something about fire hydrants!) We had a friendly exchange and they determined the people were not Fire Department people. I wrote the Water Department and got no response. Then I wrote the Question Man at Asheville Watchdog, the independent online news source in town. He said he’d check into it. He did! He got about as far as I did, though someone from the City said they thought their people would be smarter than that but they’d tell folks to be more careful or some blahblah along those lines, and it was determined no motorcyclist had died on that day or been badly injured so there you have it. My advice: when you see someone messing with a fire hydrant, make no assumptions about their intentions.

• Just spent an hour listening to Brennan Center for Justice’ lawyers talk about some of the things happening in the courts these days. I am so glad there are people whose brains work the way theirs do. I could no more think or talk the way they do than fly (which no one should trust me to do either). It has given me something to ponder—how different people’s brains work. It made me wonder if that is the source of issues I’ve had and have with some other people—we just don’t get each other. Our brains work so differently and perhaps I don’t appreciate that the way I could. I am sorry it has taken me so long to grok this.

• I’ve been pondering my next tattoo. I have—to my mind—a great idea. My research has taken me down several rabbit holes/black holes of time. It’s potentially controversial if done disrespectfully and I would never want to do that. I have been contacting sources who have weighed in and I think I could do it appropriately. I still need to talk to people closer to it to determine if I am going to offend and then confirm some details. This is complicated (and permanent!) When I get somewhere with it, I will let you know. (Well, that was kind of mysterious—I love me a little mystery.)

• It has come to my attention that it is February 20th. How’d that happen? Seems we were just wading through the holidays and now we are waddling towards Spring. Slow down 2024! This is going to be long year—we need to pace ourselves!

 

It’s been a while...nice to see you again

PNewL PNewS Vol. 31 Issue 3

     

PNewL PNewS

Volume 31 Issue 3                      All the pnews that phits.”                    November 2023

 

     It’s been a while. The thought of writing a PNewS didn’t even cross my mind til way past the date I shoulda woulda coulda written it. That always says something to me. I’m either busy or depressed. This time I think it was a little of both—busy summer, little lost coming into autumn…often a little lost that time of year. During my Medicare “Wellness Check” (seriously??), I said I was a little down, I said it might have to do with the change of seasons or that I’d had a big project that ended, she said so start a new project!!! Ah youth. In the should-we-be-concerned depression screening, she manipulated the answers so that I came out okay. I appreciate that. And so here we go…

 

The Buster Report

     I just re-read the last issue of the PNewS. It’s hard to believe that all that wildness (Bears and Deer and Snakes, oh my!) happened in June. Seems like things calmed down quite a bit over the next couple months though I was out of town a lot in August. We had several more run-ins with bears but nothing disastrous, and eventually, they ate all the fruit that was available and broke a lot of tree branches and moved on.

     I took Buster up to the (extended) family place in Ontario, aka Osawa, for the first time. He was not perfect, as one might have guessed. He didn’t mind the power boat which surprised me. He got pretty comfortable in a kayak as long as he could tap dance on my legs between strokes (the bruises really were impressive). But on land, he had his own agenda. He bullied sweet dogs on one meeting and played the next time. He took long romps into the wilds and came back a little banged up. This place being an island was helpful as I knew he would come back but still…it was not always restful.

     Like Roger, he loved the campgrounds on the way north and on the return trip. He could happily go for walks from the time we arrived til I insisted we call it a night. There are so many smells and curiosities. The appeal is endless.

 

 

Just a Teeny Bit about Travel

(I thought I’d put it here in case you don’t care, you can skip it!)

• While checking into the campground at Pymatuning State Park Campground in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania, the young woman asked if I had any discounts. I said I was 66 years old—did that count for anything? And she gasped--audibly. That was unexpected!

• In August, I went to Montana to meet Felix and check in on his extended family. Felix was, of course, adorable. He is Sterling’s younger brother—he has to be! He was at the just slightly beyond the blob stage of infancy. Talking to him I felt like he was just about to become a conscious human, and by then I would be long gone. Sigh. Thankfully, his parents keep me up to date with his progress and it’s precious. I also got to see Peter who joined us from Oregon. Yay! A good time was had by all though the summer smoke season continues to be an issue.    

 

Things I am Learning

& Miscellaneous Observations 

• I took a class in “amigurumi” which is very tight crochet of little critters. The description made it sound like I knew just about enough to do it. Turns out I was wrong. About a half-hour into the class, I said to the teacher that I was going to watch and listen to the rest of the class because I was not able to do what she was doing. It was a combination of a couple things—my crochet skills are lacking and her project was complicated. She looked so disappointed (and I don’t like to disappoint). A few minutes later another student agreed. The third (and only other student) was an experienced amigurum-ist(?). We watched the two of them whizz through the project (a llama). I felt badly for the teacher though when she suggested that our “old hands” might be the reason it wasn’t working for us, I decided to worry about her feelings a little less.

• I have been working on an inbox emptying project and took the opportunity to say hello to some folks I hadn’t said hello to in a while as I found years-old emails in the inbox. It’s fun for me—during the pandemic I sent a lot of cards but emails are okay too. The inbox emptying project came up after two days of driving which I am finding is getting harder on the body as I age. To give myself credit, I am a pedal to the metal kinda gal—ten hours minimum is my usual jam. But I am finding that 10+ is beyond my comfort zone now, and the day after I need a nap though I usually “need” a nap—I am the napping sort. Emptying the inbox is a thing I can do on those days.

• Yesterday, I was dealing with a slow response on my computer and got overzealous and moved my entire inbox to the spam folder. Expletives were spat. It took some time to weed out the spam from Things I Thought I Needed…some messages dated back to pre-pandemic. It was interesting reading messages early on in the shutdown…we were so naïve. The Inbox emptying project needs to continue. (I remember when I thought I could keep my inbox to under 50 then under 100 now over 1800.)

• I spend summer mornings sitting on the front porch and doing what Peter calls “paperwork.” Often, as I have mentioned before, my internet SUCKS. Today I had all my electronic toys out with me and when one said it couldn’t refresh my feed, I picked up another and asked it to do email. Sorry hon—when the internet ain’t working one, it ain’t working on any of em. Surprise.

     Today I brought a bunch of stuff out on to the porch—magazines I needed to decide if I’d read enough to recycle, lists, papers to organize, and a bag of stitching supplies to go through. Guess which one I did first?

• I just found a list…there are so many floating around…This one said

…Blueberries

…Toilet

And I knew when that was and why those were on a list. And I knew I could throw it away.

• There was a poison ivy report on NPR. It included the fact that rising temps are good for poison ivy, improving the environment for it to grow. I can vouch for this. My neighbor wants me to spray, which is so hard, but there is a quality of my life issue (and hers) now. Ugh.

• I went to an inspiring Open House at The Industrial Commons in Morganton NC. It is an incubator for employee-owned businesses. I was wowed. Some of the businesses are textile related and a couple are textile recycling related, marrying two of my favorite subjects.     

     For example, Material Returns recycles socks. Smart Wool has receptacles all over the country for Smart Wool socks. You can get a bag, put all your worn-out socks in it, Smart Wool and others, and they send the bags to Morganton where they are separated (I watched the kid who does it) and the Smart Wool is ground up and made into new Smart Wool yarn and socks (“Second Cut”) which are at least as strong as Smart Wool if not stronger, and the other socks are ground up into “shoddy” which becomes among other things, car seats. They recently received their millionth sock. I love all of this.

     These businesses are housed in a reconfigured manufacturing plant. My tour guide through the facility was the guy who works with the businesses to improve their administration. I think it was called Workplace Development. In describing what he does, he said “People don’t leave jobs, they leave bosses. And I want to help people become better bosses.” (The first part of that quote is word for word, the second sentence might have been the gist of it.) I loved that too.

     They are in the process of creating a downtown campus for these businesses as well as housing for their employees on what appears to be property that is an eyesore in the middle of town. Another win-win. These folks are on fire! [A month or more later: they really are on fire…they are getting funding from everywhere. Truly inspirational.]

Bon Voyage Jimmy Buffett

     I first heard "Come Monday," still my favorite Jimmy Buffett song, when I was working as the assistant cook at Montana Outdoor Leadership Expedition in West Yellowstone in the summer of 1975. It played on the local country-western radio station--which had an active request line. I called in daily...as I recall.

     In college, Monica and I took one of the administrators, Andy Key, to a Jimmy Buffett concert since we were always saying we'd be Jimmy Buffett groupies when we grew up--he was curious. I remember stopping at some place like Denny's on the way home, where Andy and Monica smoked cigarettes (maybe I did too?) and we drank coffee and ate midnight breakfast, to compare notes after the concert. Andy wasn't impressed.

     Monica died not long ago and I can't commiserate with her about Jimmy's death though we gave up our interests in being JB groupies around the same time our paths went separate ways.

     When I was at Saturday Night Live in 1977, John Belushi invited me to go to the After Party for the Hotel California show (The Eagles with Jimmy Buffett opening) at Madison Square Garden. I told him I couldn’t. (I was young and not very savvy and didn’t have money for cab fare home after.) I asked him if he would get me Jimmy Buffett’s autograph. He did. The next morning, he summoned me to his dressing room to deliver the autograph and tell the story—meeting Jimmy Buffett for the first time, saying before we get into it, I have to ask you this favor, etc etc. He was so proud of himself and I am grateful for the memories.

 

Things I am Thankful for

Well, lookie here…I waited a few extra days to get this out and it’s November and time to be thankful (I am thankful other times of year, but this is the Official Thankful Month of the year, eh?).

     I am thankful for people who actually read this and even for those who mean to read it but never do…and for the change of seasons here in Western North Carolina…and for family and friends that feel like family…and I am thankful for all my privilege (I admit it, no matter how guilty it can make me feel) and I wish I could spread it out further. I am thankful for black coffee. I am thankful for being able to travel and hope that continues for the foreseeable future. I am thankful for people who do the hard work of trying to keep our world going in the right direction even when it feels like we are so far off the path. And I’m grateful for the wackadoo little dog who gets me out of bed and moving every single morning.

            Here’s to you all.💖

 

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”  Maya Angelou

 

PNewL PNewS Vol 31. Issue 2: A Wild Wild World

 

PNewL PNewS 

Volume 31 Issue 2          “All the pnews that phits.”            June 2023 _____________________________________________________________

A Wild Wild World

This has been the craziest season for wildlife interaction. I am beginning to wonder what is next. Let’s see--where did it start? I think it might have been a turtle—a box turtle or a snapping turtle? Can’t remember. Buster barked and I walked him away. Then there was the snake in the driveway who was all squiggly (fear reaction)—may or may not be the Snake Now Known as Ursula.

        Then there was the bear Buster found in the gully across the road. She had been seen with two babies. Buster had a long loud discussion with her—she snorted and stomped around in the water. It felt quite real. I called Jeff on the phone and asked what he would do if he were me. He said he'd be right there. He used his Big Boy voice and Buster left the bear in peace. (Helpful information: Buster does not listen to me. While Jeff’s voice is authoritative, mine is the end of fun.)

     There was the baby deer found after the tractor mowing (enough info). And then there were the two bear moms + two cubs each on the Parkway. And finally… no, not finally, but lastly for now, the Snake Now Known as Ursula. I heard noises in the garage and went out to find shelves cleared and things broken. Then when I got in the car and threw stuff on the passenger seat, I noticed her on the dashboard, directly in front of me. I ejected myself out of the car, leaving the driver’s side door open and screamed at her from the passenger side: I HAVE TO GO—YOU NEED TO LEAVE. She slithered out. I drove away.

     Later, I heard her in the ceiling above the front porch while in a zoom class, then in the crawlspace above the kitchen. I have a video of Buster barking at the ceiling. Yes, sweetie, it’s confusing. Today, I went out in the morning and didn’t see it but at noon noticed a very long fresh snake skin in the bush along the sidewalk so I am thinking Ursula is still in residence.

     Recent addition: I took Buster and his neighbor buddy Everly for a walk which ended in a challenging interaction with a deer and maybe a baby. I had never heard a deer in distress or seen a deer attack—or attempt to attack--a dog. I’m feeling like this is going to be a long summer.

 

Three Boxes a Day—or Not

I was having a conversation with yet another of my people of a certain age (mine or usually older) about the amount of stuff we have that we don’t want to leave behind for someone else to deal with or just the amount of stuff in general or we want to move but not all the stuff. With all my remarkable intelligence (not), I boldly said, go through three boxes a day. (This person has a lot of boxes—I was trying to say do something manageable…and keep doing it… but I sounded so confident about three boxes. I am full of it.)

      When I got home, I looked around and I thought, I am full of it. I couldn’t get myself to go through three boxes. I could maybe get to a pile or a drawer, but every day? I am an arrogant all-knowing goofball. It’s official.

 

“There it was again—adults and their on and off again relationship with the truth.”

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

 

Just a Teeny Bit about Travel

     (See comment below. Sorry, I just can’t resist. I’ll try not to bore you!) I went to Iceland again and it was as wonderful as it was the first time, only different. The writing workshop was friendly and helpful and entertaining and all the right things with people I have known for many years. And then I flew to Akureyri in the north and drove around for several days on my own. Just writing that made me feel all warm and fuzzy. It is a magical country. While most of the people live in the south—I’ve heard 300,000 of the 380,000-ish residents live in the south—the north is sparsely populated and there’s a lot of wide-open spaces up there. In one town, I was directed to what turned out to be a hardware/garden and office supply/craft store (and more) to buy yarn. There just aren’t enough customers to warrant having a bunch of separate stores! (In another town, there was a Hardware/Liquor Store.)       

     And I got my fill…well almost…of puffins! I went to the end of the road at the northeastern edge of the country and there they were, flying around like drunken sailors, smashing into the ground and the water. They have very few things they have to do—flying is one of them—why haven’t they gotten better at it?? They nest on a rocky and grassy promontory beyond the town in Borgarfjörður Eystri. They say there are 100 people living there and 1000 elves plus in the spring and summer thousands of puffins. Lovely! (And I learned that in the off season, their beaks are grey. They are not trying to impress their mates! Fortunately, much of that time, they are at sea.)

      Other highlights were hot water places. Most people know about the Blue Lagoon, but there are now places all over the country where going out for a soak in a large artfully crafted pool filled with geothermal hot water—some more elaborate than others—is a sociable thing to do. I highly recommend the one outside Husavik. The views are breathtaking.

     No problem with snow this year but the fog on the way to the airport was pretty intimidating. I had not allowed a lot of time for making my pokey way that morning but as it often does, it all worked out. Lucky me.

     And then Buster and I did another road trip—this time to the Northeast. We stayed in a couple state parks—one in Delaware because I am trying to sleep in all the states and that’s one I haven’t been to before, took a ferry to New Jersey, and then landed in the driveway of David and Kim’s houses and Laurie’s house and Kim and Toby’s house. I had overbooked the time so I had to do some trimming but all in all it was a most excellent time with good visits and new scenery.

     Next up (that’s just a phrase, I have other things coming up sooner but this is now high on the list), I want to visit the State Parks of North Carolina. I am such a fan of these facilities, it’s time to check out the ones close to home.

 

“It’s not your imagination: most people are awful.”

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

 

Things I am Learning & Miscellaneous Observations 

• It has been brought to my attention that I may not be disciplined enough to be a writer. I was also told I talk about travel a lot (too much?). And lastly, I was also told that I need to remember it’s not all about me, that I am a minor character in other people’s dramas. All interesting feedback. Anyone else?

• I am the Queen of Bad Email Management. My worst habit is reading something, nodding, saying Okay by me but never responding so the person who asked the question or made the suggestion never knows what I am thinking. Apparently knowing I do this has not improved anything.

• I was listening to NPR the other day and they interviewed the mystery writer Dennis Lehane. He has started working on a television project which suits him better and he’s not sure if he will write another novel. He said his most recent book “needed to come out of me which is how you become a writer in the first place.” I feel a little bit like this pnewsletter needs to come out of me and maybe that’s why it comes to you on a varied schedule. While I don’t seem to have the discipline to be a real writer (see above), I think I will just keep faking it.

• Cathy and I went to hear Barbara Kingsolver talk about knitting. It was an odd evening. Turns out it was the closing night of a weekend knitting “camp.” I felt like I had arrived late to a very friendly party so I didn’t know the in jokes and hadn’t made friends. Everything Kingsolver said was greeted with knowing laughs and applause. It was kinda fun and kinda tedious. She said this was much more fun than a book tour because she really wasn’t selling anything and she was hanging out with knitters. She also said she’s had several (5?) operations on her hand and can no longer hold a pen so she can’t sign books, but she can still type. She doesn’t want to think about a next surgery as she figures that will be the one when she will no longer be able to knit.

• There just may be a sesame seed shortage. I went to my usual spot to buy sesame sticks and there were none to be found. Then I went to another place—nada. (I think there were a few more stores in there.) Then I googled it and learned that a lot of sesame seeds come from India and due to climate change, flooding has damaged crops and many of the seeds have been defective (!?!). It made me think of the fragility of our environment and the potential for loss when something we probably don’t think a lot about comes from one place. Harkens back to the discussions of supply chains back in the not-so- distant past. (This morning alone—it’s 7:53am—I’ve heard that there is a pine nut shortage (an insect is eating them in Lebanon) and a sriracha shortage (droughts in Mexico.))

• It is impossible to keep my fingernails clean on the van trips. No matter how many times I wash my hands….

• When plotting my course on a road trip, I don’t always notice much other than “includes toll roads,” which, by the way were everywhere in the Northeast. $2.10? Every five miles or so? New York! Give me a break! But I digress. I have an itty-bitty problem with bridges and tunnels and I think map apps might want to warn those of us who don’t like them that “This route includes bleeping terrifyingly long tunnels.” (Iceland, I am looking at you here!) Mostly I am okay but lengthy examples of either are not my favorite. And there I was, paying a $14 toll to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel, which by the way is a bridge tunnel bridge tunnel bridge, if anyone is keeping score.

• Proof that my memory is not as bad as I thought: I found the thumbtacks in the first place I looked. And it’s not an office drawer—way weirder than that. Ta-dum!

 

“Change is what we’re chemically designed to do.”

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

 

I keep looking at this blank little corner of the pnewsletter (in the pdf form) and thinking—do I just keep blathering on or leave it blank, or explain that I know it’s there but I really want to get this out so you get a slightly unattractive white space, or do I bump up the font size? Or I could add a photo. That’s it—an itty-bitty photo of my friend Ursula the snake on the dashboard. It’s small in hopes it is not hard on people who fear her.

 

PNewL PNewS 31.1: Travel, Travel, Everywhere

 PNewL PNewS

Volume 30 31 Issue 5 1                  “All the pnews that phits.”                  February March 2023

 

The Travel Schedule is Filling Up Again

I returned to Portugal for another visit to our town of Tavira and for more adventures with Bill and Denis. It was really nice. (A writing teacher told me not to use the word nice so let’s say it was comfortable and relaxing and fun and beautiful and everything a vacation should be. I just thought nice was shorter.) I understand why people return to places. As I thought about this trip, I wondered if this would be the last time. Maybe it will be, maybe it won’t, but for me, I don’t feel “done”—being comfortable, relaxing in a beautiful place and having fun seems “all good.”      

We had a convenient apartment on the river that runs through town that had balconies on two levels. Excellent people watching. The ferry to Ilha de Tavira was across the street…excellent Indian food was just below us, but not in an odor-invading-the-apartment kinda way. We went on exploratory drives and walks, wandered, ate well. The pace was just right. I could do it again.     

When I start planning a trip, there is usually at least one day, if not a few, that make me…not nervous, but aware of the challenges…and those days often involve public transportation. For some reason, I don’t trust it. This trip, that day was the one when I ventured off on my own via train from Tavira to Lisbon. The train was very pleasant though I am certain I didn’t sit in my assigned seat. I am still not sure there were assigned seats, but I know I was in the right Class—First! Half-price for old people!

First, I figured out which station was the closest to my Lisbon hotel—the train did not go to the truly closest one so I went for the second closest. I scoped out the route from the train station—58-minute walk vs 2-3 buses/metro with a roller bag and a daypack. I opted for the walk. I really like to see where people live. It was a beautiful day. 

The wander was great—first through a business section, then alongside parks with lots of kid noise and activity, then through residential, and down an alley between a hospital and a funeral parlor (interesting juxtaposition). Then I hit the hills which Lisbon is famous for. As my phone was starting to die and I was losing my map, I was heading straight up…on cobblestones, dragging a suitcase, after an almost three-mile hike across the city. When I got to the hotel, the woman at Reception asked where I came from and how I got there. I told her and said I walked. She said, “No! No! Too far!” The next morning, with sore arms and a kink in my back, I might have agreed but I did enjoy it. I am becoming more particular about museums and sights, and more interested in wandering, sitting, listening, observing, and, of course, supporting local artists/makers (aka shopping). 

The next adventure included the van and the knucklehead dog. Laurie had a few days window in her grueling social schedule in Key West—she had a spare bed and they allowed dogs. I could get there—it was only a 16-hour drive! I’m in. With a dog, the driving guesstimate needs some adjusting. It was more like 18 hours or maybe more. We left town on the Friday of President’s Day weekend—February in Florida. Remember what that was like? Yeah, I kinda forgot. It was also the weekend of the Daytona 500. Hotels were booked…solid. Super 8, somewhere along I-95 was charging $200+ plus a dog fee. We opted for sleeping in a rest area which was remarkably civilized with nighttime security…and almost full when we arrived at 9:30pm. (Before you gasp too deeply, I was in the van. We were much better equipped than most!)

Key West. What to say? It’s a unique experience. So many people and lots of alcohol with a few surprising reprieves. We hung out and at each meal, planned our next destination for eating. It was a good visit, with the exception of Buster’s need to go out at 5am. I realized after a couple days that he was really hungry after our lengthy walks around town. When I fed him, he let me go back to bed. (It was not all bad—being out on Duval Street at 5am is a peaceful perspective.)

On the way home, we stopped to see Ann and Lynne on the West Coast of the state. More good visits with old friends, except for Buster’s run for freedom…again at 5am. Fortunately, Lynne found him trapped in the backyard of a neighbor and we were on the road again.

 

Things I am Learning & Miscellaneous Observations 

• My life would be far less interesting without Libby, the digital online library connector. When I turned my phone off the other day and turned it back on, I was told that the data from Libby had been erased. I was about to drive home. I didn’t have time to look at it. As I drove home for 30 minutes in silence, I wondered what the loss of my Libby data meant—it felt big. (First world problem) When I got home, I found it was not lost and it may have been a bad Wi-Fi connection. My whole shelf was still there. The books I had on loan were still there. It had lost where I was in the book I was listening to but I could work with that. Our digital lives are so fragile and yet feel so sturdy when they work.

• I was walking around the yard this afternoon thinking, I need to find someone to help tame this mess…not because I am too old to do it but because I am old enough to know I don’t want to do it. I thought that sounded pretty smart!

• A 40-year-old friend (what are they called? A shallow dive down a rabbit hole says Generation X) once told me that I didn't understand one of the popular movies in a series because I hadn't seen all the predecessors... I wondered if that was the case with "Everything Everywhere All at Once." I found it entertaining but… Best Picture? I’m obviously nobody’s target audience!

• I went to a play that was really interesting. It is called “Every Brilliant Thing” and it lasted about an hour. It's a one man show--the man tells his story, growing up the child of a suicidal mom. In reaction to that, he starts making a list of "Every Brilliant Thing" to remind his mother of all the things that are good in the world. #1 is Ice cream. He adds to it throughout his life. During the play, the other characters are people he drags up on stage from the audience--his favorite elementary school teacher, his dad, the old people he sat next to when he was at the hospital waiting to find out if his mom was okay. He would also yell out a number and people in the audience had been given papers with numbers on them and they’d call out whatever Brilliant Thing they’d been given. When he fell in love, the list was boosted to hundreds of thousands and by then it got to be a group think project—together they got it to 1,000,000. It was really charming despite being about a sad subject. Highly recommend if you ever get a chance.

• The Doctor’s assistant asked me if I’ve traveled internationally in the last five years and if yes, where? Are you kidding me? I need to prepare for questions like that. When was five years ago? Even with COVID, that’s hard to figure—I travel! The PA seemed really surprised.

• The first time I went to Portugal, I got a haircut and it was so much fun. She didn’t speak English, I didn’t speak Portuguese. We had the whole salon laughing. Recently, I decided I needed at least one more tattoo—a bracelet. When I was looking for the artist to do the bracelet, I started following folks on Instagram. It can be pretty obvious the sort that would be good at a delicate bracelet vs the ones that do very black goth-like scary faces with drool or anime or…full sleeves. I found a Tavira artist I liked and made an appointment with her but she wrote it down wrong and we never connected. Then I found one in Lisbon and bingo! She was really fun to talk to, did a fine job on the ink, and got me to the metro safely—we had a very entertaining afternoon and I saw a part of Lisbon I wouldn’t have gone to otherwise. 

• This trip was the first time my white hair or aging face inspired people to offer assistance. In one case, a woman grabbed my bag and pulled it across the gap. I was humiliated and grateful. I am now that person.

• In a related topic, I am coming to grips with the difference between how I see myself and how I look on my passport photo. I just had the picture taken and am already dreading looking at it for the next ten years.

• For several minutes on a beautiful afternoon in Lisbon, I sat in an outdoor café and did not hear any English. It was refreshing. Then a multi-cultural threesome sat down and it appeared that they had English in common. They each had different accents. It was nice, but I did have to listen to small talk that I could understand. It’s always something!

• Climbing the hills of Alfama in Lisbon, a not-so-young child said to his mother, “Carry me!” This is THE reason parents need to be young.

•   In January, I lost a(nother) dear friend to cancer. It sucks. Enough! Stephanie was one of those people I assumed would be around forever. We’d been college roommates, and survived a bunch of different experiences – 45+ years of experiences. I think of her all the time—things I’d ask her, things we need to talk about. I think of her husband and sons and grandchildren often. It all seems so wrong. Bon voyage, my friend. I hope you are now free of pain. You are missed.

• “Grocery list.” This was supposed to be a prompt to remind me of something I had thought was interesting at some point—something I wanted to tell you about. It is not ringing any bells. 

• During lunch with some favorite people, the conversation turned to tattoos. Tara described her daughter’s tattoos as “clip art.” I know what she means—multiple unrelated tattoos. I fear I’m getting there but not really. I’ll keep it in mind. 

• I was telling someone that I was driving some of our Afghani boys—from Track practice home and home to Soccer practice. That someone (one of my clever friends but I can’t remember which one. Ack) said—you’re a Soccer Mom. Indeed. 

• I hit a point yesterday when I was making some travel plans when it flipped from a tedious list of things to do to OMG I’m going on an adventure! I never know when that moment is coming. This trip, a return to Iceland, has felt challenging because of memories of driving in snow…in the southern half of the island. This time, I’m going to the northern half. I’ll be on major roads, but major roads are not as major as, for instance, here in Western North Carolina. Weather is an interesting component in this destination. While I was researching accommodations, I read a comment about a good meal just across the street and something clicked—I know about that restaurant--I've heard great things. I could stay across the street and eat good food! Yay. It’s the little things. I’m ready to go!

• I am not even going to tell you when I thought this issue would go out. Finally, here. It’s yours. 

 

"Forward, in all directions!" Flying Karamazov Brothers (According to Becky)

 

 

PNewL PNewS 30.4: Road Trip with Buster & Other Tales

    PNewL PNewS

Volume 30 Issue 4                     “All the pnews that phits.”                          December 2022                                                     

In Which Buster Learns About Cactus Prickers and How Much He Dislikes the Car

     I decided it was past time for a road trip so…let’s go camping!…in November!…on my way to a meeting in New Mexico! And as long as I’m going as far as Albuquerque, how about flying to San Francisco for a Girl’s Visit because I can fly direct? Made sense to me at the time. It actually worked pretty well…except for the quivering dog and the way the wind howls across Oklahoma in mid-November, and the cactus.

     I thought he’d get over it or get used to it or something, but no--Buster shook every time I loaded him into the van and for most of the time the van was in motion…for approximately 2700 miles. I finally realized letting him sit in my lap, he would fall asleep and stop shaking. It was only dangerous three times during those 2700 miles and fortunately he weighs less than 30 pounds.  

     I allowed an extra day driving out to ABQ because…what if Buster escapes and I have to spend time looking for him or he hates campgrounds and I need to acclimatize him to the road? I never thought I’d have to coo at him for hours at a time. “You’re going to be okay, you’re fine, you’re safe, we’re together.” 

     Coincidentally, Asheville and Albuquerque are both on I-40 which allows for a lengthy opportunity of boring—but frighteningly fast—driving so I decided to take an alternative route on the way that took us into Georgia and Tennessee and Alabama and Mississippi and back to Tennessee where we connected with I-40. It turned out to be a good plan—the roads are suprisingly good and, well, pretty. Rural south is…hmmm…rural and peaceful looking. I-40 isn’t all bad but those states in the middle of the country? There’s just no really great way to get across them. Suck it up and drive--don’t think about the sand through the hour glass. And in November? The wind is amazing and there isn’t much out there to block it. 

     We had good campground experiences for the most part. Buster loved campgrounds and we walked for miles up and down the various circles. One in northern Texas was named for a lake that is no longer there. No one else seemed surprised. I guess they read different reviews than I did (which included a lake). That place had great trails because Yamaha had partnered with them to put in dirt bike and/or ATV trails and it was off season. This is where the cactus prickers and just plain old hiding in the grass prickers started. It was a little herky jerky on walks, pulling things out of Buster’s paws, but it was okay. 

     We spent our last camping night on the edge of a small town in Oklahoma. It was lovely—at the town reservoir with water in it!—and a great sunset. On the other hand, they locked the bathrooms at 5pm. (Where’s the OMG emoji?) It seemed out of place that there were huge houses overlooking the campground and the reservoir. I think the couple in the trailer next to us did not like each other very much. And it was so cold and windy I kept thinking this must be what it’s like to be homeless. I was kind of miserable, but Buster was fine—we weren’t moving.

     Then we got to Albuquerque, parked in Wendy and Joel’s driveway (They were in California!). I got to talk to Wendy a bit on the phone which was nice. We got to walk around their neighborhood which was also nice until Buster wandered into a front yard and came out with lots of fine long prickers sticking out of his side. He didn’t like it much and isn’t too smart so this happened a few more times.

     Then I went to Northern California to see some of my nearest and dearest and we had a really good visit and Buster went to Puppy Camp which was depressing and I tried not to think about it. And the meeting happened at a very pretty place and was a wonderful reunion of a lot of people I hadn’t seen in years, and then I got Buster and threw him in the van and instead of taking five days, we got home in three!

      So I guess Buster isn’t going to take to being in the car, I guess some dogs just don’t but it’s not like he gets a pass, we’re just going to have learn to put up with each other’s shortcomings. Happens in the best of relationships.

                                    

                                Things I am Learning & Miscellaneous Observations 

                                    (of One with a Phenomenal Amount of Privilege) 

• Sometimes I understand why people become criminals —being a good law-abiding person doesn’t always get me anywhere. I do not hear from my credit union very often but when they call, I feel like I have done something very bad. “You deposited a check unlike any you have deposited before—we’re putting a hold on it!” So there! And how dare I get a check to Peggy and not Margaret! I would like to suggest they look at the customer’s history before they start accusing folks of depositing odd checks in odd amounts with odd names like it’s a very very very bad thing—I’m a pretty reliable loyal customer with a stellar record. So there!

• Around the first of the month, I googled the price of an ink cartridge on the Staples website. As of the 5^th, I have gotten EIGHT “reminders” that there is still something that could be mine if I just paid for it. What a unique concept. Hot tip: when I went to the Staples store, I noticed the in-store price for the ink was $3 more (may have been $4) than online. I said to the cashier, what’s up? She said I don’t know but we have the policy of matching any lower price even our own. Cool.

• Dear Washing Machine: I would like to thank you for your years of service. But I would like to quibble with the way you tell time. 28 minute quick wash is NOT 28 minutes. I KNOW that, but I forget a lot. I wish one of us could remember.

• Dear Frontier: I still really really really don’t like you (I’m trying not to say hate.), and if I had a choice, I would leave you forever. Have a nice day. 

(Ironically, some big grant to provide internet services to rural areas was given to Frontier. I may be stuck. Sigh.) 

• There are a bunch of free movies available on my “smart” TV. They are consistently… lightweight and, well, not very good. A mother just told her kid that she would never be alone if she had this snow globe. SERIOUSLY??? Who writes this stuff? I am going to watch an episode of The Sopranos. I never watched it before. I know I’m the only one in history. The writing is a lot better. 

• I go through cycles—ones when I can’t find things I use a lot followed, unexpectedly, by one where everything surfaces. I’m in the latter right now and it is so refreshing.

• Buster, the dog, is a hunter. I have to accept that. It’s not my favorite part of him but I don’t know what else to do. He got a couple voles last week. I was impressed as he is not always successful. With the bird feeders back up, he’s keeping an eye on the squirrels that clean up the seed off the grass. He stalks them. He got close once but…sorry, pal…there’s no way.

• Speaking of voles/moles, my neighborhood is overrun. My yard is soft and mushy with tunnels everywhere. Same in the fields across the road. When we had the freezing temperatures around Christmas, the tunnels became ankle bending and trip hazards. It sounds weird but walking, like I do, over the same terrain every day, it’s a wonder when the ground I walk on changes so dramatically.

• I don’t see items on a website that are in a box specifically for readers to notice. My eyes go straight over it. Put DONATE or LOGIN in the upper right-hand corner in plain text and I am there. Put it in a red box? I do not even see it. I have started training my brain to look for the obvious and it has been hard.

• After a burst of cleaning-out-files energy, I have bags of paper to shred. Apparently, December is not a popular month for shredding so here they sit.

• I have driven in each of the 50 states, so while I was on this most recent road trip, I started to add up the number of states I have slept in. I am still working on it as there are a couple I need to think on more. For instance, I know I have slept in one if not both of the Dakotas but I need to look at a map. And West Virginia* and Maryland both seem like good candidates but I can’t figure out when. On this trip, I added Oklahoma and Alabama, though I may have slept in Alabama coming back from New Orleans but it was dark and it was a funky motel and it could have been Georgia. Too much information? I am at a solid 42 with four three in question and four I need to aim for. *I just remembered when I slept in West Virginia!!

• I headed into Christmas Day with few demands on myself. I wanted to make two dishes for a good meal, both Asian, one soup, one noodle. And I wanted to cut a steek into a sweater I started in February in the “Bang out a Sweater in a Month” challenge which I did not finish in a month and put away until I made it the centerpiece of my Christmas Day plan. It is now dark and Buster is snoring and I have obviously failed miserably at all of them. The ingredients are all where they were yesterday and the sweater is in a bag at my feet. I actually want to finish the sleeves before I steek and I was obviously misinformed (by me) as to where I was in the pattern. My goal is to now finish the sweater before the year ends or perhaps on 1/1 so I can list it in my 2023 Challenge. (Oddly, I like knitting challenges.)

     I did eat today, though, looking back, I am not sure what it was. You know: breakfast, lunch, dinner, like every day. I finished cooking bagels I started the night before—I added buckwheat flour which may have been a mistake but not a big one. I made a NY Times Cooking recipe that involved puff pastry and almonds and cranberries. I made chicken stock and started the yogurt. Three dog walks. Finished my Joe Pickett #21 audiobook. It was a productive day, just not the one I had planned. That’s the nice part of having my own Christmas Day.

 

Things to be Thankful For & NY Resolutions

During the pandemic I kinda dropped this tradition, partly because of space and partly because, well, it was the pandemic and a lot of things changed. I just looked at the last time I did it and it’s all the same dang stuff on the Resolution side so I’ll skip that and try to resolve something…

Things I am Thankful For

• Roger the dog for 3/4 of the year and leaving the legacy of being such a good teacher for Buster who has become a pretty good friend despite being a rascal, too

• Friends and family

• The interesting way people kinda wander in and out of my life—and that they wander back

• Between the holidays, I kept thinking about the year and feeling really grateful. The work and play and travel and the new people who are becoming friends, especially in the creative world. It all feels a little bit remarkable. Somehow I thought as a kid you just coast after a certain age. Hell no!

Happy New Year! Here’s to you for getting this far!