Volume 26 Issue 4 “All the pnews that phits.” November 2018
The last couple of months have included a pretty interesting collection of events and things to do. I am grateful for all the things I am able to do and frustrated by the number of things I simply can’t find time for.
It all started with the Asheville Van Life Rally at a new event venue in the hills to the west of town. It was a lovely setting in pristine condition, complete with retro Airstream trailers that had been refurbished and set permanently in place as accommodations. Very classy. The organization was soorganized. Van Lifers were permitted to arrive on Friday afternoon and when we got there, folks were already deploying their rigs. Gini and her dog Blaze had come in especially for the event. We, each in our van with each of our dogs, were directed to the end of the line, which wound up being perfect. We were up against the woods, which provided much needed shade and we were far from “downtown” camperville.
On Saturday, the van population was at the max and the event was opened to day-trippers only. Throughout, there were vendors and food and drinks and music and demonstrations. The atmosphere was truly wonderful—like-minded people wandering around chatting and comparing set-ups. I wound up learning a fair amount I hadn’t known about the company that created my converted van—folks had read about it but never seen one. It was fun. I wound u volunteering to help at the front gate for a bunch of hours and that was pretty fun too. The front gate was closed to anyone but vendors and volunteers—everyone else had to be directed to the lots where they could park and ride back in a shuttle. As I started to greet folks, I asked, What’s YOUR story? being a bit smart alecky and soon I learned, everyone did have a story. Through three plus hours of standing at the gate I would guess maybe four people were rude—mostly entitled people in expensive cars. Pretty good odds.
The next weekend was the Asheville Quilt Show, which we describe as a regional show with a national reputation. Because we offer some pretty nice prize money, we get some pretty nice quilts to exhibit. This year was no exception. It’s a well-done event, which, to my mind, requires a ridiculous amount of work. Fortunately, there is an army of worker bees and Type A-s to coordinate all of the bits and pieces that add up to a successful show. Year after year.
Meanwhile, I started taking a class called Building Bridges, which is offered by yet another dedicated troop of volunteers. BB is a nine-week course aimed at providing a safe space to look at racism, historically, big picture and here in Asheville. I believe it has changed my life. While it is easy to think we have a handle on this in our own minds, trust me, we don’t. It wasn’t always fun but it wasalways enlightening. Through readings and large group presentations and small group discussions, we explored some pretty sensitive issues. One of the evenings started with a slide show of pictures of the Jews killed at the temple in Pittsburgh and the two African Americans killed at the Kroger in Kentucky--all victims of white supremacy. We were asked to take a few moments of silence. I cannot tell you how emotional this was to me. It is easy--well I am not sure easy is the right word--but it is a bit of a remove to talk with friends about how depressing and crazy and messed up this world is and not necessarily really feel it but to sit in a room that used to be a place of worship--a room that has to be locked once we are inside...just in case--with a group of people who are trying to better understand this crazy world...to be quiet and watch the names, ages and faces of the people who were now gone: It was incredibly powerful. (Later in the small groups, the facilitators said there has had to be one of these altered programs in something like three out of the last six sessions because of the frequency of episodes of violence in our country.)
Did you know there is actual research that racism is having a huge health impact on people's lives--the stress causes cancer, strokes, heart disease, premature babies etc. in higher numbers among people of color? Did you know that the African American population in Asheville has gone from 19% to less than 10% in a decade? If young people can get out, they do not come back—I think this may be true of young white people too but have no data.
Have you taken these tests? Highly recommend
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html
http://www.antiracistalliance.com/Unpacking.html#top
http://www.antiracistalliance.com/Unpacking.html#top
Have you read these books? (Highly Recommend)
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migrationby Isabel Wilkerson (I didn’t even know about the Great Migration.)
The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas
I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made forWhiteness, Austin Channing Brown
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir,Patrisse Khan-Cullors
In our final small group, we agreed that we had only just begun. The youngest member among us said she wished she knew 10 years ago what she knows now--one of the oldest members said she wished she'd known it 55 years ago. Several of us mentioned conversations we'd had with friends--some who didn't believe in white privilege, some who we felt we'd made to think. I said I had found a great deal of comfort in being part of it because while the worldiscrazy, I at least felt like I am making an effort to understand some of it better and to be hopefully better prepared to be part of the change that is coming.
And finally, during October, I took at class on Smartphone Photography. It wound up being very helpful. I learned some about photography, some about my phone and some about apps—there are tons—for free or for a buck or so. Seems there was something else I was going to say, but I s’pose that’ll do for now.
Things I am Learning
& Miscellaneous Observations
• I am going to a conference in a few days and I need to sort out my knitting projects. Conferences tend to mean I need mindless projects—those where it’s pretty much straight knitting, very little pattern to follow. I started one project that had a lacy edge followed by solid knitting for miles. It’s a new pattern that hadn’t been debugged. I was stumped. The creator finally wrote back with the fixes but I had, meanwhile, started several other projects…just in case. One I started has a pattern that seemed memorize-able. Just in case that doesn’t work, I have a piece that has a lot of boring with a little something here and there that can be worked around. It’s a good thing I am taking a big suitcase.
• I just realized I have lived in NC almost twice as long as I lived in Florida. That’s weird.
• It seems to be the season of burned out headlights. I thought it was just out here in the boonies, which is a scary place to be driving towards a Cyclops vehicle but in town it is the same scenario. I wonder why—change of temperature kills a headlight? [Ed. Note: There seem to be a lot of burned out headlights here in Portland as well.]
• My neighborhood has been sounding like a kennel lately—large numbers of barking dogs. For a while I thought it might be coyotes but I have been told it’s bear season so the dogs are on the hunt.
• I thought I was kind of unusual because I have a very narrow range of temperatures that are perfect to me—and wind and humidity have an impact as well. Recent conversations prove it’s common. My favorite temperatures used to be higher but I’m close to dipping into the 60s.
• I think shoelace designers (there has to be that job, don’t you think??) should be ashamed of themselves. For years, laces have been so long I have wondered where all that lace is supposed to go. Recently I bought a pair of shoes with laces of a reasonable length but they don’t stay tied. People! This shouldn’t be that hard!
• A few days ago, I took what might be one of the last outdoor showers of the season. I waited until the sun was on the shower and it was over 60 degrees outside. It was hard to get started and then I found, once the water was hot and the breeze was cool and the sun was bright and shiny, it was hard to get out. Delicious.
This morning, I brought the soap and shampoo in from the outdoor shower because the temps were in the 30s. This afternoon, I took a shower in the outdoor shower because it was warmer outside than in. My furnace has been out for 11 days—the joy of living in a small town is that furnace fix-it people get backed up and just can’t make any more appointments. I have learned how depressing being cold is. I feel for people for whom there are no choices. [Ed. Note: The furnace fix-it man showed up within the window promised (score!). He was way nicer—and more sympathetic--than the person who made the appointment, thankfully. He disappeared into the bowels of my house and came up with success…the problem was bees. BEES. They had set up shop in the…exhaust pipe?...of my furnace which was somehow preventing the blower from going on. I don’t know—I can’t hold this info in my head…anyway, it’s fixed and it was relatively inexpensive! Yay. And now when I come inside, it’s warm…almost hot because I am not used to any heat. Yay again.]
• I know I am sick…when all of my cordless technology batteries die and I don’t care; …when I realize I actually have a whole bunch of food in the freezer that can sustain me without having to go to the store (a gallon of homemade chicken broth= score!);…when I am willing to accept help.;…when reading the newspaper in bed is hard.;…when I stay in the same clothes for several days at a time;…when I walk in from a trip and can’t unpack my luggage or unload the dishwasher;…when the thought of red wine upsets my stomach;…when I am so close to finishing the PNewSand I just can’t get the middle part right…for days;…when I can’t do anything other than pet Roger and sleep—no mindless knitting, cooking or quilting;…when I actually think to take my temperature and it’s 102.
• On a related topic, please get a flu shot (Yes I usually get a flu shot, no I hadn’t made the time for it yet, yes I learned my lesson.) Feel free to think you never get the flu, you do other things to avoid it, and you are not the flu type. But should it hit you—it takes way longer than you think. And according to Ernie, it kills more people annually than car accidents. Plus it makes you feel very weak and old, which is sad.
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