random thoughts – Day 2,388 (Wednesday) – prepping projects

The scrap bins.

With nothing on the calendar for the morning I was free to make it up as it went along (like many days, because life is good). I decided to browse the containers of scrap glass and cut some pieces for new patterns for the next time I’m in the glass studio.

It had been years since I last looked in the scrap bins. More precisely, the “bins” are two frozen mini éclair containers, one cardboard box, and one rectangle Rubbermaid container that live on the future cutting table in the future craft room at the house. The bins have existed for nearly 20 years since the last time I worked in glass. They contain a variety of colored, patterned, and clear glass. 

While looking for pieces that would have minimal cutting for the patterns, I discovered a trove of scrap already clean-cut in rectangles, triangles, and squares. These were set aside for a project that could be arranged to require no cutting or grinding.

Purple project number one,
cut and ready for grinding.

During the cutting of glass for the second project, there was an abnormal of bloodletting. I don’t usually get cut working with glass, but today was a different story. There were several tiny nicks but the many dots of blood on the pattern paper, the newspaper covering the table, and the glass made it look worse. 

Partly because of the cuts, and partly because it was a good stopping point, it was decided to stop when the pieces were rough cut for the second project. The glass for each was set into a plastic bag, ready for grinding and assembly. And it was good.

random thoughts – Day 2,387 (Tuesday) – dancing double header

Tuesday dance bag.

Tuesday is dance day. For a few years, there was belly dance on Tuesday nights in Hudson. This past summer, when belly dance class was on holiday, there was Denishawn in Fitchburg on Tuesdays in the late afternoon, which has been running for many years without me due to the inconvenience of a job that prevented attending an afternoon class, and then the conflict with the timing of belly dance class.

After a couple months of Tuesday afternoon dancing, beginning three weeks ago, belly dance resumed and the time space continuum caused the two dance forms to overlap. The distance between Fitchburg and Marlboro prevented attending both without missing a chunk of one, the other, or both.

As of this week, the Fitchburg dance group (two hours long) starts earlier, leaving me just enough time to get to the Marlboro class (one hour long), barring traffic jams, accidents, etc. And so it was done. The dance bag was packed with suede-soled ballet shoes and volleyball knee pads for the floor work, plus belly dance coin belts, a pouch with zills, and the light rubber soled shoes I wear for belly dance. That worked out, because the floor in Fitchburg was so slippery today I ended up wearing the rubber soled shoes to avoid wiping out and breaking something. As belly dance progresses, there will be veils and skirts needed, increasing the wardrobe packing.

The biggest impediment to connecting the two dance classes, roughly one hour’s drive apart, lies in leaving Fitchburg. Route 2 is across town from the dance site, with traffic lights and heavy volume in the way. With a lifetime connection to Fitchburg, I had anticipated this, so it wasn’t a surprise, just mildly annoying.

Another impediment in the journey is the inconsistent volume of the navigation on the phone. It might be the phone, it might be the app, I don’t know. What I do know is if I turn down the volume while playing chess on Duolingo, when it is turned back up for Waze, most of the time the navigation is at whisper level, at best. This leaves me on high alert the entire drive, radio silenced, ears staining to hear the traffic alerts and navigation, which can change based on traffic conditions.

Despite the navigation challenge, the driving was tolerable and both dance session were great. In the first dance group, we ran through all the warmups, stretching, and center technique, followed by the repertoire of dances. In the belly dance group we did an warmup and some hip technique exercises, followed by working on choreography. We finished up with arm technique exercises and a touch of improvisational movement. I almost wish every day was a double header dance class day, just without  the driving part. At least the scenery was pretty, with the leaves turning red, orange, and yellow along much of the routes. 

random thoughts – Day 2,386 (Monday) – glass and roasting

Crescent moon, foiled and ready for solder.

Mondays weren’t always fun, but with retirement and then stained glass class, that reputation has changed. It’s great spending time in a fully equipped studio with access to the expertise of the instructor. The plan for the day was to do the final grinding and fitting of the glass in the crescent moon which was cut in tones of yellows with greenish-gray that was started last week. The assembly step involves applying copper foil tape to the edges, and applying solder along the foil lines on both sides and the outer edges.

When that was done, there was time to start cutting the glass for one of the patterns I drew last week. It features clear textured and iridescent glass and a diamond shaped bevel. Before leaving for class I had browsed my clear scrap bin and chosen pieces large enough to work for the pattern pieces.  It was quick work with the cutter to score the outlines.

I have a cutter and lots of scrap from past projects just waiting to come out and play so I may hand cut the pieces for several projects and package a kit for each one to bring to the studio. This will let me spend my studio time focused on grinding, foiling, and soldering.

Fall roasting season has begun.

After class and back at home, the crescent moon was hung and attention turned to kicking off fall roasting season. Roma tomatoes, carrots, and onions were sliced and brussels sprouts were halved. Everything was coated in olive oil with salt and pepper and roasted in the oven. The veggies were delicious and served with creamy mushroom risotto and a satisfying way to celebrate a productive day.

random thoughts – Day 2,385 (Sunday) – weather and mystery

View on a wet and windy day.

The weather was wild throughout the overnight stretch from Saturday into Sunday. I was tired and went to bed at the very responsible hour of 10:00 and read for a bit, until I was sufficiently sleepy. There was a brief nap and then I was awake all over again. Still awake (and annoyed) at 1:00 am, with the wind howling and rain slamming from every direction, I did the thing I usually manage to avoid and picked up the phone. Soon, I was deep in a Doomscroll and it was suddenly 2:00. The phone was put down and I tried to sleep, unsuccessfully, and suddenly it was 3:00 and I was really annoyed, but I finally fell asleep.

A bit after 8:00 I woke up tired, but got up anyway. It wasn’t until the coffee grounds and water were in the machine and nothing happened that I was aware the power was out. A text from the power company about the outage and a map on their system indicated 450 people in my chunk of town were out of power. The estimate for repair was 4:00 pm, which felt very far away.

Kudos to National Grid for under promising and over delivering. The power was restored at 9:20 am, coffee was made and consumed, and my world was returned to its axis. The weather was still wretched with a forecast for a full day of it, and it was decided to stay in and enjoy the rainy day.

There was another installment of the seasonal game “find the rest of the sweaters” when I prepared to dress and couldn’t find the one I wanted to combat the chill in my other game of “don't turn on the furnace.” The targeted sweater was finally located with a bunch more, and the final analysis is that I have many more sweaters than I need. Maybe. Life is uncertain and I can’t see the future, so it would be risky (foolhardy, even) to discard the nice office sweaters or the dressy sweaters just because they weren’t used last winter. 

Maybe I’ll finally create a social life in my new city and have a variety of places to go and things to do. Maybe I’ll be 20 years old again and be crowned the queen of some remote country due to an unknown lineage like in a Hallmark movie. Anything is possible, right?

In the weirdness of the weather and the power outage and the sweater agonizing/organizing, it was 11:00 am when I realized Kiki hadn't been seen since Saturday night when she got her treats before I went to bed. I walked around the house, calling her name and looking in all the rooms. She was in none of her known places. I finally found her blending in with the shadows in the darkest corner under the bed, which I had already checked. It felt a little like our first few weeks together in Lowell when she hid inside the box spring for weeks on end.

And suddenly, she appeared.

Once, I laid on the floor and stretched my arm under the bed to hand feed Kiki some treats. She stayed under the bed until nearly 9:00 pm, when she finally emerged, acting like nothing was different and she hadn’t been MIA all day. She wanted her cheeks rubbed and let me pet her from head to tail. 

It seems to be a continuation of Kiki mixing things up since a month or so ago when she stopped sleeping on top of the bed and with me at night, as suddenly as she started.

random thoughts – Day 2,384 (Saturday) – books, fabric, toad

New used books!

There were several things on the calendar for today and the threat of heavy rain and wind from the Nor’ Easter altered most of them. The situation is the same for events planned for Sunday, one of which was a belly dance show now postponed to January.

Today’s Octoberfest in downtown Gardner was modified and the bands were moved inside to the brew pub. The Chair Luge race component was moved to next Saturday. That was okay because it eliminated the street closures which made it easier to get to the library book sale. Not that I need more books, but that didn't stop me and of course I went.

Being indoor shopping for books was a great way to spend part of a cloudy, drizzly, windy morning. I stuck to the non-fiction section of the room packed with books. Unlike the fiction half of the room, the non-fiction books were grouped and labeled by major category, so it was less overwhelming. Plus, I had made a list of a couple topics I needed.

Cool skirt fabric, future dance stuff.

For the pittance of $8, I got some good ones including The City and the River (a history of Fitchburg), and books on gardening, stained glass, writing, and quilt blocks. Stained glass, gardening and quilt blocks were on my list, the rest were bonus books. The quilt block book will be helpful with stained glass designs, which is how I started out with them decades ago, with books borrowed from the library.

On the way home from the book sale, despite my best intention to be strong and avoid The Salvation Army Thrift Store, the car propelled itself into a left turn into the parking lot. It was the darndest thing, but it worked out, because I found a skirt in a really cool red, purple and black iridescent fabric. There is enough material to transform it into a belly dance belt and dance bra cover.

Itty bitty toad.

A trip was taken to the back yard to fetch the pot of lavender. When I picked it up, something on the edge of the pot moved. At first, I thought it was a leaf, but it turned out to be the cutest, tiniest little gray and lichen green toad, barely the size of a quarter. 

It sat on the edge of the pot long enough for me to run into the house for my phone, and come back out to take pictures. My little model was camera shy and kept turning its back to my phone's lens. After a couple pics it jumped off the pot edge onto the ground where it blended in with the landscape. 

The wind was crazy all day, and it rained intermittently, but it wasn’t the storm I expected. Facebook posts from friends in other towns reported downed trees, power outages, and flooded streets and I was saddened for them and glad that wasn’t the story in my immediate area.

The evening’s entertainment was baking an apple crisp with apples from Mom while the rain alternated between slamming against the house and falling gently. The hardest part of the baking was the fact that orange concentrate is no longer made by the major producers and is hard to find. I ended up researching how to make my own by boiling down orange juice. It wasn’t difficult, but it also wasn’t as thick as real concentrate and the apple crisp filling came out wetter than usual. It’s fortunate that that was the worst thing to happen in my day.

random thoughts – Day 2,383 (Friday) – shopping and pizza

The stream at the end of the street.

The weather forecast is for some crazy wind and rain so preparations were made. Luckily, not much needed to be done. The potted plants, solar lanterns, and small yard bird figurine things were all taken inside. The flower boxes near the front stairs were brough to the back landing under the carport. It took just a few minutes.

There was a trip to Aldi for the regular grocery shopping of the items I know cost less than Hannaford which is basically everything except Ben and Jerry ice cream (2/$7 at Hannaford, $4.85 at Aldi). It seemed to be annoying customer night. 

One guy stood at his cart which was stopped in the middle of the aisle, with two kids around eight and nine years old hanging off it and horsing around. Three of us stood there waiting for him to move the cart so we could pass. He finally did, and out loud to all of us said, “it’s a daughter thing.” Dude, how about you be the adult, not blame your kids for your obliviousness, and move the cart? Just a thought.

There was a couple shopping for pasta dinner things who absolutely reeked of pot. I smelled it before I reached them and it lingered in my nose after I had moved on. Right about the time I shook the smell, I found myself with them again in another aisle. It reminded me of the time a skunk sprayed near the house and the cloud hung in the air for several days. Usually I enjoy taking my time shopping in Aldi, but tonight I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

The ride home featured a sky tinged in pink over the tree tops that blocked most of the view that I was sure was or would soon be spectacular. I love trees, but there are drawbacks. I paused to enjoy the pink sky reflected in the stream at the end of the street. 

Friday night pizza party.

Back in the house it was pizza party of one night, with the just bought $5.99 refrigerated four cheese pizza from Aldi. I added mushroom and onion slices and more mozzarella cheese before it went into the oven. I usually get six or seven meals out of it at one or two slices each, so it’s well worth the price. I love the comfort of knowing there are individual slices wrapped in foil in the freezer for those times when hunger hits suddenly or I just don’t feel like thinking about food.

random thoughts – Day 2,382 (Thursday) – glassy eyed

Look at that glass!

It was another day of quiet contentment. Another coat of Mod Podge was added to the photos on canvas project. When I got chilly I washed some dishes by hand and the hot soapy water felt sensuous and comforting and took the icy chill out of my hands.

Trips were made to the outside world to deposit a check and buy provisions including greeting cards, storage containers, and books for $1.50 each at Dollar Tree, and a few food basics at Hannaford because Ben and Jerry ice cream was on sale there.

The most energy was invested in frequently pausing the show I’ve been streaming on Prime (The Almighty Johnsons). One of the settings in the show is a bar with some cool stained glass windows over which I am starry-eyed and swooning, and I’ve been trying to get photos of said windows so I can design something similar (and smaller). Because it's a character a driven-show and not an architectural showcase, it’s rare for a scene to feature a window without people, and countless photos have been taken in the hope of getting one with minimal people. I think I got it enough to be able to sketch and plan. The stopping of shows to photograph cool glass windows and doors has been an ongoing situation. The Korean dramas have some stunners, along with beautifully decorated refrigerators. 

Another window!

The next step after all the glass sketching and planning is to start tracing onto glass and cutting, but there is a logistics concern. There is wall to wall Berber carpeting through most of the house, which, no matter how much care is exercised, is sure to capture glass bits (known from the experience of my own cut up feet). and I’m afraid Kiki will pick them up in her paws before I can get them all picked up with the vacuum. I haven’t sewed since June and am still finding pins embedded in the living room carpet (as recently as this morning) despite weekly vacuuming. 

The only floors without carpeting are the two bathrooms, the kitchen, and the laundry area. The kitchen has good natural lighting with the skylight, but I don’t think cutting glass on a kitchen counter is a wise idea, with food prep and all.

A good short-term solution is to keep registering for workshops at the Worcester Craft Center and using the nice tall counters, grinders, and soldering irons. The ideal home situation is to upgrade the lighting in the craft/still a hot mess storage room, and keep the door closed to keep Kiki out and her paws safe. The ideal extension to the ideal situation is removing the carpeting from the craft room and putting down vinyl, which is easier to clean with a damp mop, but would require emptying the very full room. I am not psychologically prepared to deal something of that magnitude just yet.

random thoughts – Day 2,381 (Wednesday) – nesting activity

Ghost shutters.

Fall has arrived in its chilly glory. The house was 55 degrees when I woke up. I am determined to not turn on the furnace yet. Oil cost a small fortune last year and it’s much more expensive this year.  It will be long season of long johns and sweaters and endless cups of fruit tea and bowls of soup.

A few cashmere and lightweight wool sweaters live in the drawer year-round in case there is a summer hike or bonfire to attend, and a couple more that were bought recently, so dressing was easier than it might have been. It was the favorite alpaca sweater for the win.

The contractors returned this morning to do more work on the house. The shutters that were removed yesterday left ghostly images on the house. The new siding will not include shutters.

Parts were painted from the current gray to the color of the siding (Moonlit Moss). There was some hammering and measuring. At 2:00, they disappeared.

Works in process.

While the contractor van blocked my car in the driveway and siding-related activities took place outside the house, nesting activities occurred inside. A decorated dance bra was deconstructed to study the assembly method and cut out the stretched out elastic straps for replacement. More stained glass designs were drafted. Three of the 4 x 4 canvases prepped on Tuesday received photos and the first coat of sealer.

The couch cover used for the summer because it’s cooler than the couch fabric and the southwest style blanket on the couch back that adds color and texture to the room were removed, laundered, and stored in a closet. The crocheted afghan from my aunt which is perfect for cooler weather and adds a a cozy texture was returned to the couch.

The fluffy purple bathrobe that lived in the bottom of the hamper since it got warm last spring, was finally washed and hung on the bathroom door. Summer capris were removed from the closet and replaced with the fall/winter pants. The productive day kind of makes up for some of the unproductive days preceding it.

random thoughts – Day 2,380 (Tuesday) – house stuff

Stuff coming off the house.

It was the usual lounge about on the couch drinking coffee morning, when, at 8:50, a white van pulled into the driveway and I launched myself into the bedroom to change out of pajamas and into jeans and a sweater. Years of quick ballet costume and fashion show changes has sometimes come in handy. The van had backed out and left, but a shiny silver pickup truck was parked out front. The van returned a couple minutes later with the contractor and his colleague, on site to begin the preliminary siding work and I was glad I was dressed.

I stepped outside for a quick touch base. It wasn't long before the old shutters, trim material, and skirting had been removed and stacked in the back yard. Later, while checking on the progress, I saw a bunch of white wood flower bed edging in the crawlspace that will be perfect for the flower bed planned for the side of the house. I asked the guys to pull it out and set it near the shed. I’ll clean it up and maybe paint it, then store it in the shed until spring. There may not be enough time to set a flower bed after the siding is completed, but I’ll be ready next spring. I'm also glad I didn't find any edging when I was shopping for it earlier. 

American chop suey
with provolone.

When I got to thinking about food I decided to make American Chop Suey, one of my favorite dishes going back to childhood. There was extra cooked macaroni left from the macaroni and cheese bake of the other day so one step was already done. After the green pepper and onion were chopped and cooking, I realized the can of diced tomatoes believed to be in the pantry didn’t actually exist, but there was a jar of sauce. Later, I discovered all the sliced American cheese had been used in the mac and cheese and there was none to break up to top the stuff on my plate like I did when I was a kid. The sauce was bit thick and the provolone cheese I used on top wasn’t correct, so it wasn’t exactly like the memory of Mom’s American chop suey, but it still tasted pretty good.

The afternoon included painting several 4-inch by 4-inch canvases black. Two are for a specific project, but it seemed wise to prep some extras while I was at it. I printed one of my favorite Kiki photos and will mount it tomorrow. Another one will feature a photo of Moose and Winston looking adorable.

random thoughts – Day 2,379 (Monday) – hearts of glass

Copper foiled heart.

My second of three classes in the copper foil technique developed by Louis Comfort Tiffany and his Tiffany Studio was today. I learned the step of applying the copper foil to each glass piece, and then soldering the pieces together to finish the piece started last week. It’s a heart rendered in various textures of clear glass.

The foil process was fun and nowhere near as intimidating or dreadful as I thought it was during my disastrous previous attempt, but back then, I was winging it on my own. This time, I have the benefit of an experienced instructor who taught me today how to smooth the foil and keep the solder lines smooth, and it went a million times better.

Plans for future glasswork.

There was enough time left in today’s session to choose another template, select glass from the scrap bins, cut the pieces and do an initial grind to smooth the edges. This all went much quicker than last week because the process was fresh in my mind. Next week, I’ll do a final fit on the new piece, apply the copper foil, and solder the piece.

After I got home, a few new heart patterns were drafted for future pieces. These will include bevels because I love bevels, and there are still quite a lot of them left from my Tennessee stained glass production frenzy.

 

random thoughts – Day 2,378 (Sunday) – tori day

Tori at Saima Park.

The quest of visiting fall events continues. It’s the crazy time of year when everything is happening at once before the season turns to winter and bad weather can sweep in and really mess up the best planned events. Attending the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race on Saturday meant missing the Johnny Appleseeed Festival in Leominster. After I was home from Lowell, I learned there was also an Indie Book Festival in nearby Winchendon, but it was too late to get to it before it ended. Maybe next year.

Today was the Tori (Finnish Market) at Saima Park from 10-2. For a few years I had dance class on Sunday mornings until noon and by the time I left class, the car would just autopilot home and I would be just far enough away when I remembered the tori that it felt too late to turn back.

This morning, I got my arse into gear and dressed for the chilly damp weather. It was drizzling with rain predicted for later, which I thought would keep the attendance low, but at around 10:30, the place seemed crowded. An attendant directed cars to the few open spots on the lawn near the pavilion, but I found a spot outside the gate and grabbed it. My hair was still damp from the shower and a walk in the drizzle wasn’t going to make it any worse. My friend who was working at the event thought maybe more people had come early to avoid the heavier rain predicted for the afternoon.

Tori haul.

Vendor tables lined the perimeter under the pavilion with another island of tables set in the center. My first target was The Kitchen Garden’s table for coffee bread and rusk, which is hard toasted thin slices of coffee bread, and probably the Finnish equivalent of biscotti in texture, which usually sells out early. This bakery is one or two towns away from home and I can get these items almost any time I want, but it’s more fun to get it at the tori while looking at a bunch of other stuff. The cinnamon rolls and other sweets were successfully resisted.

There was local honey and beeswax candles; handknit hats and scarves; decorative items; handcrafted tonttu (Finnish gnome); dishware made in Finland (Arabia) and candle holders (iitala); photography; and decor. One vendor had mugs, placemats, dish towels, tee shirts, woven straw decorations, plastic license plate holders declaring "Proud to be Finnish" and "Finn Driver", and tons of other things, and I bought some coasters and a painted tile.

At another table I bought Karjalanpiirakka (Karelian pasty of rice porridge baked in a rye crust). We made these in the Finnish language class I used to take. I know how to make them, but for one person it’s just enough work and enough of a yield to be too much. Buying four already made pasties was much more reasonable. As soon as I got home, they were heated for brunch. Maybe I’ll make some for Thanksgiving or Christmas when a lot of us gather and I won't be dealing with storing and eating dozens of them.

Baked mac and cheese.

The dreary weather inspired cooking and a macaroni and cheese dish was baked using all sorts of random cheese bits in the freezer for exactly this reason. Provolone, America, feta, and sharp cheddar all went into the mix with parmesan and paprika on top. I meant to add cottage cheese but I forgot to take it out of the fridge and in my world, it’s often out of sight, out of mind, as the saying goes. 

In any event, it was gooey, warm comfort food for supper on a yucky day. Tomorrow, most of it will be packaged for the freezer for future fast meals and cruddy days. 

random thoughts – Day 2,377 (Saturday) – goats, kinetic sculptures, kitties

Goats ready for head rubs.

After a couple years of missing it due to scheduling conflicts including dance troupe performance commitments, today my friends and I went to the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race. It was a beautiful day to be outside watching people powered machines race on cobblestones, in a mud pit, and in the Merrimack River. 

On the way to Lowell, we passed an arts and crafts fair on the common in Townsend and stopped to check out the booths and especially the goats, because, well, goats! The goats were eager to receive head rubs and kind words and we were happy to deliver. As we got back into the car we noticed there was also a pen with pigs and sheep.

Godzilla exits the mud course.

In the race area, we caught part of the procession down "Boneshaker Alley" on the rough and rugged cobblestones. Then, as we walked from the cobblestone area to the mud pit zone, we encountered some of the machines that ran into various troubles with snapped chains that hindered their progress on the paved asphalt streets of Lowell. 

Individuals and teams with racers of all ages (usually in costumes) pedaled the rigs on land and mud and added oars and rudders in the water segment. Some of the teams were STEM programs from regional schools and the kinetic race feels like the best group project ever.

The mud pit had several sections of bleachers on each side of the mud section, added since our last time attending. It's fun seeing the event grow.

Sculptures included a fire truck, Laika the Russian Space Dog (1957), a lobster, a snail, a big black dog, Godzilla, Bender the robot from Futurama, and other things I can’t recall. Spectators cheered and enthusiastically encouraged each rig.

Big Dog powers through the water.

The mood was festive at all three locations. At the river, food trucks selling Thai, sausages, sweet treats, and other foods were on site, but we opted to dash across the street to Heritage Ice Cream for sandwiches and fries and enjoyed the shade, A/C, and restrooms before settling in under the sun on the river wall for the water action.

After the race segments, we checked out LaLa Books on Market Street and then the Lazy Cat Lounge on Merrimack Street which has cat themed artworks and products, coffees and teas, and a room dedicated to interacting with cats. Two tuxedo cats napped in beds in a window.

Kitty plotting an escape?

A beautiful creamy white and tan cat was in the shop when we arrived, but was soon moved into the cat room when the shop got busy. The kitty wistfully peered through the window into the shop, looking like it was plotting an escape.

A group of young adults had a reservation for a birthday party in the cat room which features the Lounge’s “house cats” and cats available for adoption. It seemed like the best birthday party setting ever, and I wished there was such a place in Gardner. My friends said I should open one. Hmmmm.

random thoughts – Day 2,376 (Friday) – farmers' market

Westminster Farmers' Market.

I woke up this morning thinking it was Saturday. I was about to call Mom to see what she was up to, but then I remembered it’s Friday and she usually has plans on Friday. And then I forgot the day again. This went back and forth until mid-morning and I was finally fully caffeinated and had the day straight and was able to proceed.

Since May when I learned of it, I have intended (in general) to attend the Westminster Farmers’ Market. It’s held on Fridays from 3:00 to 6:00 and features a musical act along with the produce sellers and other vendors. Many weeks I forgot, and in some of those cases, when I remembered, it was too close to the closing time to bother. Some weeks I reconsidered because I didn’t like the weather. Some weeks I was just too lazy.

This afternoon, still cognizant it was Friday, at 3:15 I remembered about the Farmers’ Market. I sprang to action, meaning I put on shoes, grabbed the keys and phone, and left the house. It was a gorgeous day for an outdoor market – sunny and warm, but not too hot.

The market is on the town common which is large and sprawling. Tents shaded vendors selling local fruit wines and mead, art work, baked goods, local honey, granola, cut flowers, vegetables, knife sets, alpaca socks and gloves with alpacas for petting and feeding, and an ice cream truck. Regional band Chuck and Mud played on the gazebo. A cornhole game had some well behaved children tossing bean bags towards the boards painted with an ear of corn.

Across from the Farmers' Market.

Across the street from the common a stone wall ran along the edge of a yard, and between the giant pine trees sat a swing and a view of nearby Mount Wachusett. It was the perfect New England setting for a Hallmark Movie. If I lived in the fantasy of rom-coms, I might have expected to meet a handsome local as we both reached for the same ear of corn, pair of socks, or loaf of bread, but I don’t live there (most of the time) and that did not happen. Despite the absence of a movie worthy cute-meet, it was still a lovely event. It runs for another three weeks, so maybe next week.

random thoughts – Day 2,375 (Thursday) – surprises

September blossom!

During the morning exercise of standing at the bay window and looking up and down the street, then opening the front door to check the weather, there was a little surprise. Three months after blooming, one of the rhododendron bushes has a random new blossom! That was about the last thing I expected to see this time of year.

In the latest installment of the mostly unplanned recent art supply accumulation project, 4” x 4” block canvases were the acquisition target. I bought some from the massive Internet retailer a couple years ago and that was the first place I checked for more. A pack of nine canvases was listed at $21.

New art supplies!

To practice some due diligence and also because I love a bargain, I checked the chain store retailers, starting with Michael’s. It was my lucky day and they had the same item on 70% off clearance for $7.79 for the nine pack. Two packs were showing in stock in Leominster, the closest location. I exercised the buy online pick up in store feature and a couple hours later I was headed back home with twice as many canvases for less money. Score!

The afternoon featured a spontaneous visit with a couple friends and going through some belly dance costume parts. Now it is time to get busy making costumes. And creating on small canvases. And a dozen other things.

random thoughts – Day 2,374 (Wednesday) – day time

Even though I haven’t worked for more than a year now, I still kept the morning alarm set for 6:30 a.m. Many mornings, I hit snooze and sleep in ten-minute increments until I stop snoozing and hit stop instead. Then, when I finally wake-up wake up around 8:00 or 9:00, the first thing in my head is “oh-crap-the-morning-is-half-over.” But I keep doing it.

Sometimes I wake up early. Like, 4:00 this-is-too-frigging-early early. That is annoying, but I can usually fall back to sleep to an hour that feels more reasonable.

This morning, Kiki was meowing. She’s been very vocal lately, walking around meowing and only stops when I give her the Temptations Treats to which she seems to be addicted. I hoped she wasn’t demanding her morning treat early because that is just rude. I noticed a pinkish glow through the bedroom blinds and got up to check things out from the living room windows where the blinds lower from the top.

Morning light, 9-16-2026.

The sky over the trees and houses across the street was pinkish and getting pinker. I thanked Keeks for meowing me awake and watched the sky. The view was better from the front door, which meant I was on the front steps in my pajamas at 6:20 this morning, taking pictures of the sky, hoping no neighbors were up looking out their windows and glad that they were at least the nice matching pajamas. I knew better than to dress first because I would miss the entire morning spectacle. And sure enough, it was over in just a couple minutes.

After the sunrise the coffee was put on and I dressed for the day. By 10:00, I had eaten the current favorite scrambled egg, cheese, and veggie breakfast burrito and visited with Mom next door. There was a long-overdue appearance by the contractor who usually has many excuses and very little concrete, helpful information. He dropped off scaffolding to allegedly soon start the siding, just three months after the initial timeline.

The early start meant the day felt long and luxurious. A book was finished. A new one was started. There was a noontime walk and a 2:00 oil change. Trees and shrubs were trimmed. There was a second walk at 6:00 p.m. There is a lot to be said for being up early on a beautiful day. I need to start doing it regularly again.

random thoughts – Day 2,373 (Tuesday) – changes

Grass grows lush where
 it isn't wanted.

With the yard mowed on Monday, a bit of time today was spent pulling out the grass that grew back in the planting area under the tree out front. It wasn’t a perfect result, but it’s better than it was before. 

The whole time, I marveled at the ability of grass to grow back lush and healthy where it isn’t wanted and was previously pulled out, but not where it used to be, specifically the still partially bald rectangle where the dumpster sat for three months and was hauled away two months ago. Amazing.

Later in the day, it was a shift in schedule and tempo as Tuesday ballet was traded out for the return to Tuesday belly dance. The place in Hudson where we danced the past couple years was sold and we are in a new to us space in the neighboring town of Marlboro.

New dance space.

The new space is large and lacks columns throughout the room, and for that we are most grateful. Constantly being mindful of not crashing into a wood column is not something I will miss. The old space has a wood floor and the new is multicolored tile, which will be helpful for keeping lines straight and evenly spaced.

It was nice to be back in the coin belt and to see familiar faces and a couple new dance mates. We have a different instructor who has a long association with our regular teacher, so it is mostly familiar. Some things might be a bit different and that is okay and a good way to grow. We had a warmup and followed it with starting to learn an unfamiliar choreography. Suddenly, our time was up. It was short, but good.

random thoughts – Day 2,372 (Monday) – new old things

Worcester Center for Crafts.

It was a day to try new old things when I started in a three-week stained glass class at the Worcester Center for Crafts, where I studied darkroom photography once upon a time many moons ago. There was construction and the street was mostly closed, but the Center had sent an email with instructions about it last week. After navigating the police detail and the equipment, I accidentally parked in the wrong lot and was on the far side of the building and had to walk around to the main entrance. I was assured it would the accidental wrong parking would be okay for today.

While in Tennessee, I took a class and went on to make and sell glass a lot of pieces. When X2 and I split up and I moved from his house, the grinder, tools, spool of lead came, and inventory of glass sheets came with me. And then it all came to Massachusetts and lived in storage for three years while I looked for a job and a house, where it wasn’t touched again until nine years later when I moved from Lowell to Gardner.

And now, it’s time to get busy again, but first, I wanted a refresher in the tools and cutting technique, and while I was at it, figured I’d learn something new with the copper foil method. I tried it on my own once, and learned it requires a steady hand for all the lines of solder. It felt more productive to stick with the method I knew. But after the next few weeks, I’ll know both methods.

It was fun being in the glass studio. I chose a template and selected some bits in various textured from the clear glass scrap bin. I got an instant reminder about cutting textured glass. It’s trickier to cut a clean edge than smooth glass and I spent most of the class time at the grinder, working all the edges so they will fit snugly during assembly and soldering.

Grinding glass is kind of fun and meditative. I was in the zone, intent on smoothing edge after edge and rewetting the grinding head, checking the fit of the pieces, and only half hearing the conversations going on behind me. Before we all left the studio, there was a chat about Worcester restaurants including Korean, Indian, Thai, and Chinese. I was a little hungry and by the time I go to the car, food was all I could think about.

Supper.

The ride home was spent thinking about dinner and all the things in the pantry I didn’t feel like cooking. Chinese food was the winner of the debate, partly because the other food types don't exist in Gardner, but only after I got home and checked the pantry and fridge to make sure I hadn’t forgotten about something easy and delicious. There was definitely no scallion pancake, crab rangoons, or pad thai.

It must have been the sweet spot for ordering and delivery, because the food was at my door in next to no time. I was already done eating at 5:09 when the clock ticked with the early side of the delivery window. That left me plenty of time to mow the yard. And the best part is, there are leftovers.

random thoughts – Day 2,371 (Sunday) – snack pendulum

The snack pendulum has swung back to the produce department. There was a brief flirtation in the salty snack arena involving a family size bag of potato chips. Mid-August had a summer romance lasting a few weeks with homemade carrot cake cupcakes and a grocery store carrot cake. Prior to that, it was dairy heavy with Greek and Icelandic yogurts, and before that, there was an extended infatuation with fruit salads made with combinations of cantaloupe, pineapple, grapes, strawberries, and blueberries.

Back on the green grapes.

The past few days have seen a renewed obsession with chilled, crisp, green grapes. About 1.5 pounds were consumed from Friday night to Sunday. So delicious. A restocking run will likely take place Monday, but the ongoing appeal of the grapes will be closely monitored. 

The last grape kick saw the trashing of a colander full when maximum capacity intake was reached. Without warning, the pendulum had swung, and despite an aversion to food waste, my palate had shifted and suddenly green grapes were out of favor again.

It’s anyone’s guess what the next snack attack will be. Based on the absence of a Costco in the immediate area, it’s likely to be the seasonal favorite and historically affordably priced big ole Costco pumpkin pie. I hope celery and ice cubes come around for an extended turn soon. Sometimes, I wish I had loyalty to one, low calorie, high nutrition snack which would make life a lot easier. 

random thoughts – Day 2,370 (Saturday) – seasonal gifts

Turning to gold.

The season is changing and nature is delivering gifts. The leaves on the tree out front have a couple spots where the leaves have already shifted from green to something akin to the Harvest Gold color that was popular in the 1970s. The yard needs mowing again, but there won’t be too many more needed and before too long, shoveling the stairs and walk will be the required yard activity.

Out back, the goldenrod is hanging on with golden color and is still attracting pollinators. I’m so glad I didn’t mow it down. According to some guides, the first autumn frost is roughly six weeks after the goldenrod begins to bloom, and based on that lore, we'll be waking up to frost almost any minute now. There are a couple random plants with fluffy balls like dandelion puffs mixed in the goldenrod crop. 

There is a massive pine tree in the woods that stands two or three times the height of the house. It dropped a couple large and lovely pine cones in the yard. Soon the showers of pine needles will commence.

Still golden.

A bear passed, unseen, through the back yard and left offerings of scat two days this week. At least a dozen holes of varying size and depth appeared seemingly overnight, dug by unknown critter vandals.

Elsewhere in the neighborhood, acorns litter the edge of the street and the tips of a few tree branches have turned red. One tree I passed today has been suddenly liberated of its leaves, but the branches still have some crabapple things dangling like holiday ornaments.

random thoughts – Day 2,369 (Friday) – 25 years ago

 Note: This is a reprint of my post about 9/11 from September 11, 2021. 

On a long ago Tuesday morning, I drove down Providence Boulevard (Rt 41A), crossed the Red River, and continued to Franklin Street in downtown Clarksville, Tennessee. It was the sixth day of my new job as a staff writer at Our City, the free weekly newspaper covering news and entertainment for Clarksville, Hopkinsville, and Fort Campbell. Each Wednesday since arriving in Clarksville in March, I had made it a point to find a rack and grab a copy of the paper. I was thrilled to be working in my second professional job as a full-time writer and the first writing job with bylines. 

My assigned beat was Hopkinsville and Christian County, Kentucky, just over the state line down Highway 41A past Fort Campbell (Home of the 101st Airborne). It required attending County Commission and City Council meetings, and covering the occasional arts event. Even though government and politics had never been an area of interest for me, I would have gladly covered trash pickup routes if assigned.

That sunny morning, I parked in the designated spot outside the building and headed inside to my desk. On Tuesdays, the writers would be busy working on the following week’s story assignments, the sales folks would be selling ads to pay for the printing of those stories, and a large newspaper publisher in Nashville would be printing the current week’s issues which would hit our distribution racks the next day.

I had barely made it to my seat that particular morning when the desk phone rang with a call from the husband/reason I was in Clarksville. He was at home during what would turn out to be his last couple weeks of a job search. He asked if I had heard the news, then told me what was playing out on TV at the World Trade Center. Meanwhile, phones were suddenly ringing all over the office with calls for colleagues with the same horrible news. Shock rippled through the office. There were tears.

The surreal day unfolded. We covered local news and events, and there was no TV in the office. We were in the weird space of knowing that terrible things were happening and being largely cut off from the streams of information. The rarely used radio was turned on and played throughout the space. It wasn’t enough, and during the day our group made several trips next door to a neighboring business to crowd in their conference room to watch the coverage on their TV.

At home, the wretched day became a freakish night glued to the TV news. The Ex and his active duty friends wondered if he might be called back for active duty, having just retired from the army in February. Calls were made to and from family around the country. Time lost its usual cadence. The roulette wheel of emotions would settle briefly on numb, angry, shocked, or sad, before moving on to another and then another.

Fort Campbell heightened its security to Threatcon Delta, its highest level. Access was limited to one gate and no visitors were allowed. All military personnel were required to present IDs to enter and the traffic stretched down Highway 41A for miles in each direction.

On Wednesday, the upcoming issue’s cover story was reformatted. We writers hit the phones and the streets to interview people for their reactions to the events of the previous day. I crossed the state line into Kentucky to chat with people in parking lots and lunch spots.

My first issue with published articles is the September 19, 2001 issue with the cover article titled, “September 11, 2001: What We’ll Remember.” People we interviewed expressed feelings of shock, fear, grief, and pain. They told us about the phone calls they made or received upon hearing the news. One woman told me her mother-in-law called her with the news and to express her firm belief that it was “biblically, the end of time.” A Rite Aid worker told me the store had sold out of its entire stock of American flags.

At a popular Hopkinsville burger diner,  I overheard someone in the lunch crowd say, “We are going to see things we have never seen before in this country.” They were prophetic words 20 years ago, and they still ring true today.

random thoughts – Day 2,368 (Thursday) – shopping and playing

Thursday often means time spent with Mom and Sis and today, we went shopping. Sis hoped that Ocean State Job Lot would have a few specific things she needed and we set out.

The store was a bit chaotic. U-boats loaded with products or in some cases, empty boxes, clogged several aisles, which are already a bit narrow. I was nearly run over by the same woman and her shopping cart at least three times. There seemed to be an abundance of manager-level types scurrying around. A woman sat atop a tall ladder organizing boxes on the top shelf and explained to a guy standing at the bottom that the coffee would be separated by decaf and caffeinated. I was standing in an aisle nearby and overheard this conversation between colleagues.

Guy: I like your shirt. (From where I was standing in, the back of it seemed to be a plain dark blue short sleeved tee shirt.)

Gal: Thanks! I got it at TJ Max. Or maybe it was Marshall’s. I like it a lot. It’s not too clingy. I sweat a lot, like a LOT, and I hate it when my shirt sticks to me.

Okay, then. 

As the coffee was being stacked nearly to the ceiling, another managerial type came around the corner quickly and nearly crashed into me and a worker. At the end of another aisle near the doors to the stockroom, a guy wrestled with a Ty branded round tiered shelf display. He tried to nudge a board with wheels on it under the fixture and it wasn’t going well. I was trapped in the aisle so I tried to find the trail mix I like. The fixture was successfully relocated, but the trail mix wasn’t found.

The pause while trapped in various locations by abandoned shopping carts and retail tools was a nice little break for me. I had been busy tidying merchandise in various aisles while searching for the things I wanted. The toothpaste was messy. The socks were all mixed up. The office supplies looked like a cyclone tore through (I fixed them). The canvas panels were disorganized and I had to sort them in my quest for the smallest canvases available (none suitable found). 

Shut the Box.

Straightening store merchandise seems to be the form of volunteer work to which I am naturally suited. I did the same thing in the crafts department at WalMart yesterday, tidying the stencils, the paints, and all the little wooden shapes and letters for craft projects, because one empty bin had an image of a paw and I wanted to find said paw. Instead, I found crown, bird, and gnome shapes scattered everywhere and got them set back where they belonged. I should probably get myself a paying gig with an employee discount.

After the shopping, we couldn’t figure out what to do next, so we went back to Mom’s. I grabbed the new Shut the Box game from my house and we played that for a while. We were devising ways to turn it into a gambling game, and then we read the pamphlet in the box and learned it’s a traditional pub game often played for money so we were clearly on the trad-pub track. Today was considered our practice run, and the next time we may be playing for cash.

random thoughts – Day 2,367 (Wednesday) – breaking up, moving on happily

Bob Ross!

After a nearly decade-long relationship, Xfinity and I have broken up. It was a long time coming, mostly because in both cities I’ve lived in, I was waiting for there to be an alternative available in my area. I was excited when I saw the new provider’s trucks and techs working in my neighborhood several months ago. A postcard campaign followed and I responded by phone and again online, and last week, the promised message to schedule installation arrived and today was that most glorious and exalted day.

The installation window was between 10 and 12 and the technician arrived at 10:15. Magical cable was strung to a new box on the house, a modem and router were connected, and the account was set up. The installer said his colleague was doing an installation down the street and I’m the second house on the neighborhood to be connected. Danggit. If I’d taken the 8-10 installation slot I could have been first in the hood.

The installation was easy, just like the company claims. Cancelling the old service was a little less easy. First there was the quest of reaching a human, which required getting past the gatekeeping recording and then dealing with the “AI Assistant” Boss. The “Assistant” asked the reason of the call (“I want to cancel service”). It asked if I wanted to “review service” or “downgrade service.” I repeated “cancel service” in a highly enunciated, probably bordering on aggressive manner. Then the robot said “discontinue service.” Right. Because that is how mere mortals talk. Yes, “DISCONTINUE.” At least I was finally connected to a human.

The robot may prefer pretentious-speak, but the human was well versed in sales-speak. She thanked me for being a customer since December 2016, asked how she should help (“cancel my service”), then why I was cancelling (“I have a new provider and it is $100 a month less expensive”). She went into a spiel about their other “new lower priced tiers and packages” blah blah blah. She asked when I got my latest pricing info, said she didn’t see any calls logged on my account, then seemed to suggest it was my fault for not knowing they had lower priced packages because I never called to ask. I told her the menu and AI hell involved in calling were a huge deterrent, but I used their online tool which informed me I was already getting the best package and price. I wish I told her I wasn’t aware of the need for an annual college level research project into my pricing.

Anyway. The cancellation order was placed as of 11:59 tonight and I will be receiving a refund of a chunk of the payment made last week. That got us into the return of the TV box, power cord/adapter, and remote. The two options were to bring it to The UPS Store, which required an 18-mile trip to the only nearby location; or UPS could pick it at my house, which would require packing/boxing the equipment and printing a label, which is easy except for the part where I don’t have a printer.

At The UPS Store, the clerk was a delight, the other customers in line were fun, and the visit went by quickly and pleasantly. With a massive WalMart across the parking lot, I once again set aside my general objections to the place and went in. I had driven for a half hour, so I might as well make it worth the journey.

New (mostly clearance) craft supplies!

The Leominster WalMart is spacious. The crafts section felt huge compared to Gardner’s. The pattern file drawers are labeled and there are pattern catalogues to browse. There is a larger inventory of pre-cut fabrics. There were items I didn’t recall seeing in Gardner in my many craft department visits, and I engaged in my renewed hobby of buying craft supplies with the purchase of reusable stencils, stencil brushes, and five clearance priced wood crafty frames (75 cents each!).

Then, I trudged the quarter mile across the store to the grocery section and discovered the store brand pints of sea salt caramel ice cream cost less in Leominster than what I paid in Gardner five days ago ($1.78 vs $1.96). And the Gardner price of five days ago was nine cents higher than what I paid a few weeks ago and it’s starting to feel like the same mysterious, magical pricing the old cable/internet company uses. Maybe WalMart thinks the Gardner folks are fancier or have deeper pockets or want us to call and ask for better pricing or something.

Back at home, it was a toss-up whether to finally explore the channels available through my Samsung Smart TV that I’ve had for many years, or start stenciling every smooth surface in the house. The TV exploration won (for now) and I learned I have a Bob Ross channel! Had I discovered this years ago I might be an expert at painting happy little trees for squirrels to play in. Bob Ross said, “It's so important to do something every day that will make you happy.” Well, today it was multiple things, including cutting the bondage of cable and shopping craft supplies.