Reading and Knitting Up a Storm...

Have you ever had one of those experiences where you're reading a couple of books concurrently and there's just a synchronicity about them? The books dovetail and you find more depth in the one book because you're reading the other. 

Well, that's going on with me. Remember, a blog post or so back, I was reading "The Cloister Walk" and then I said I was reading a book about congregations in conflict? Well - the more I get into each of them, the more parallels I find. It's like Kathleen Norris (Cloister) is helping me walk through the book on conflict. 

That's not something that happens often, and I'm really rather relishing it. Has that ever happened to you? If so, let me know - I want to know if I'm alone in this quirky thing.

Peace Rocks...

So today I planted another peace rock. This one was at Turtle Lake. I went from work today and drove out to the park. I needed a "piece of quiet" (to steal a phrase from Mary Engelbreit) and I sat on the bench, read a little of an old Time magazine and just kind of gazed. Meditated. Enjoyed the sounds of nature, and what the sky was doing. Then my phone beeped. Seems that funnel clouds were going to be developing. But, per the message, "nothing to worry about" --- because they didn't think they'd reach the ground. 

Illinois. August. Tornado season. Yeah. 

Thanks to global warming (or climate change - but I prefer global warming, thanks - it's more accurate), the weather this summer has been, shall we say, ODD. The month of August in Illinois is traditionally the hottest. 

Not this year. We haven't broken 80 degrees all month. That is not normal. As I was sitting on the bench, I remembered that I had the rock, so I grabbed it and stuck it near the bench. It's posted to Kindness Rocks Will County, so I hope someone finds it and then passes it along. 

Anyway, I then decided to take a small stroll around the area. The light was different, that's for sure. Not quite stormy, not quite bright. It was about 75 degrees but humid enough to feel like it was in the higher 80s - at least to me. 

Though my temperature sensor left the building a few years ago, so I have trouble with hot/cold. 

I took a bunch of shots, and I have to fiddle with them a bit. Turtle Lake is a nice place. We really should go back there to ride the trails. It's near a preserve area where part of it is shut off for certain segments of the year because the birds are breeding. Herons, cormorants, the odd pelican -- it's a beautiful spot. 

When we had decent winters, it was a great place for cross-country skis and snow shoes. 

Anyway, I came back home figuring that if funnel clouds were to appear, I should probably not be near water or an open area. I'm a little superstitious that way. 

Knitting Up a Storm...

After doing a couple of chores and waiting for the aforementioned non-existent funnel clouds, I set about putting a few more rows on the sock. 

I seriously thought about bringing out the scarf, or pulling out the sweater, but I want to get these off the needles and move on, so I figured this would be mindless enough so that I could watch TV, stroll around the internet and just kind of zone out. 

Knitting, for me, even with a complex-ish pattern, is meditation. And I figured if I was going to meditate, I may as well get socks out of it. I do a 7" leg, then I'll do the heel flap and finish it off. 

I should really try a new heel. On the next pair, maybe I'll attempt the Sweet Tomato heel. But when I'm doing a plain vanilla sock, I tend to keep it all fairly ... well, plain. I want to get to a point in my sock knitting where I truly can just whip up a pair without too much bother. I'm good with the cast-on, the ribbing, and the leg. Gotta work on the heel, the turn and then the toes. Everything else is pretty much gravy. 

Random Picture...

All I can say is "Thank goodness for yoga!" What, you say, does this picture have to do with yoga?

Well. Let me tell you. 

As I strolled along the bank of Turtle Lake, I was met by a plethora of grasshoppers. Quite a few dragonflies, too. Many of which were mating. 

Well, I'll leave you two alone, ya know... I didn't see a whole lot of different butterflies, which was kind of strange. The area is surrounded by milkweed, thistle, goldenrod, Queen Anne's Lace and any other number of wildflowers and native plants. I kind of thought I'd see at least one Monarch, or maybe a swallowtail. I saw lots of the white "cabbage" butterflies. And then I saw this little fellow. 

He didn't like me following him. But I managed to sneak up on him without casting a shadow (which was the part that freaked him out, I think). That's where the yoga comes in. 

I took a large step forward with my left foot, bending at the knee. I had my right leg behind me, about 4 feet back, with my foot turned out about 45 degrees. My weight was distributed along the legs, with my feet rooting into the ground, with my trunk over my hips. 

As I leaned forward to position the phone where I could take the picture, I laid my left ribs along my left thigh. I had my phone ahead of me and pointed downward toward the little butterfly. I took an inhale, held it, snapped the picture, and then exhaled. I rose up on the next inhale, hopped my feet together and proceeded to clamber back up onto the decking area where some guy was fishing. 

Photo in high lunge... Oh, and did I mention I was totally unprepared. I was wearing Dansko clogs at the time... 

Thank you, yoga training! 

...And Then There Was This...

Well. It's been a week, that's for sure. 

The Mango Menace has literally and actually endorsed Nazis. White males, young and old, who feel threatened by "the brown" and anyone else who isn't white and male, are now free to use their tiki torches, wear their "uniform" of khakis and white golf shirts (as their fearless(?) leader wears on his golf outings), along with their cute little red baseball caps, and march against anything and everything. 

Oh, and mow down anyone who gets in their way. Because they feel "downtrodden." They feel "cheated." They feel "threatened." 

They're morons, just like their leader. The Sun Times put it very succinctly. He's a fake. 

Maya Angelou once said, "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time." This is true. He's shown us time and again (4 bankruptcies, almost that many wives) what he is. And what he isn't. 

What he isn't is a moral leader. What he isn't - is a leader at all. What he is is a bellicose bully who rants and raves, and who, when he's in over his head, acts just like the tiki-torch bearers in their "not brown shirts" uniforms. Full of false equivalencies, lies, misdirections and bluster. 

When and how can we get rid of him? A number of Republicans have taken to Twitter to denounce his tepid comments about the riots in Charlottesville. I mean, for God's sake - the man attempted to make Robert E. Lee and George Washington equivalents. They're not. A fifth-grader would probably know that. Apparently, that schooling that his KKK daddy bought for him didn't sink in. Or it wasn't supposed to in the first place. The degree was just something to hang on the wall. 

Republicans, I fear, will not move forward with any attempts to impeach him because they all want to be reelected and there's still enough of "the base" in their respective districts to make that a problem if they talk about Dear Leader in anything but the most glowing of terms. 

We need to get our country back on the footing it once was. We're an international punch line now, more than ever. So before he tweets the nuclear codes for his white-shirted tiki team, we need to get him and his minions under control. 

There's nothing wrong with being intolerant of people who espouse white supremacy views. It's a proven theory called The Paradox of Tolerance. It goes like this: if we do preach tolerance of abhorrent views, eventually those who espouse those views will - and this is proven - destroy us. Tear it all down. Or in Steve Bannon's words, "burn it all down." 

So. Let's figure out how to cut this crap out and nip it in the bud. Now. Before it's too late. 

Join an activist group. Participate. Write your Congress-critters and local officials. Speak up and speak out against hate. 

Those Statues...

So everyone's in a tizzy about removing Confederate statues from public areas. On one hand, I kind of want to say what the Republicans have been saying (screw the high road, folks - it's time to get down and dirty): "We won, get over it."

Even Robert E. Lee didn't want statues. I'm not kidding. According to this article, Lee said that he opposed memorials (except for gravestones for the fallen) because he believed that countries who erased all visible signs of civil war actually healed from the divisions faster. He was probably one of the least vile of the generals, and he fought for Virginia because, as a citizen of Virginia, he felt honor-bound to do so. He kept slaves, and some accounts say he was cruel. But he also said slavery was a "moral and political evil." 

So. To those who are crying about the monuments? Even your guy Lee didn't want them. 

What to do about them? Well, I'm torn. We can't and shouldn't erase or whitewash history. The ugliness has to be kept as witness. So that hopefully we don't repeat it. 

But I think you need to separate "history" from "worship." It's not an easy task, but if we take Lee's words to heart and work within guidelines, we can come to some sort of conclusion. I don't know. I'm not a historian - I'm a person who's trying to make sense of a situation that I never thought I'd see. 

Knitting...

Squishy mail! This is Expressions Fiber Arts, silk DK. It's mulberry silk, baby alpaca and a bit of nylon. It's scrumptious. I mean seriously, I want to sleep on a mattress made of this yarn. The colorway is Fairy Lights. I bought this as part of a "scarf kit" with some points (not many points, for sure, but hey...). And of course, I didn't want to do a "basic scarf" because I can actually knit and didn't want to bore myself to death with 3 or 4 feet of plain garter. I'll keep that for my eventual Dr. Who scarf...

Anyhow, I trolled Ravelry and came up with a 3-version lace scarf pattern that's from a company no longer in business. I chose pattern #3 (the most "challenging" of all of them) and started knitting. The scarf will ultimately be a little smaller than the "basic scarf" in the kit, but it's also got to be blocked in order for the lace to properly pop, so I think it'll work nicely. Maybe won't be so long, but it's ok. It'll be enough. 

As I worked with the pattern, I found it easy to sort of memorize, but like with any lace - you've gotta pay attention! I like the way the colors are laying out. I like the hand of the fabric. I'm going to love the drape. The sheen of the silk is beyond compare, and the halo of the baby alpaca is something that's going to feel so nice. Now, I can just hope that we get a cold enough winter to wear the scarf. It's either going to match (mostly) my parka, or it'll look good with my camel coat. 


My issue will be that, since I've lost so much weight (thanks, braces), the camel coat will be too big. I'll wear it anyway. Maybe I can figure out how to make a belt to wear with it. Or not... 

I've gotta think about that one. It's a custom-made coat, from a student of mine. I think I talked about it when she gave it to me. It was made for her aunt, now deceased, who was, as she said, "kind of busty" and had shorter arms. That's like me. So she didn't want to just toss it, but she felt a little weird giving it to me. I love it. It's very 1960s, with the camel-colored plastic buttons. I don't want to change anything. But I'm going to swim in it. 

In spite of gaining back about 10 pounds. Which I have to work on losing back. I've got to cut down on the sweets. I've started to stress eat.

I need to stress-knit instead. I'll get a lot more done. 

The Park...

I'm sort of on Day Four of a migraine that won't quit. I think I'm at the tail end, but it's annoying. The other day, my chiropractor adjusted me, and then I went to lunch. I decided to take a walk. The headache was kind of in mid-bloom, and I needed to get some fresh air. I'm near a sports park, and I had a rock I wanted to plant... So I found a path in the park, and took a little stroll. 

I'm not sure whether the weather is playing a part in this headache - it can, you know. But so can tightening my braces. And lack of sleep. And crappy diet. And I've been experiencing all of those. 

There was a bridge, so I took it and then took a few shots of the little creek running through the park. And then I thought about where to plant my rock. As part of the Will County Kindness Rocks project, I painted a batch of rocks (and I want to do more). So this one says, "bloom where you are planted." I wanted to put it somewhere kind of appropriate and not totally obvious. But not totally hidden. 

So I stuck it in a hydrangea bush. I'll have to go back next week to see if it's still there. Hopefully, someone picked it up. I have about 7 more to distribute. If you find one, go to Facebook and let them know you've found it!

Random Picture...

I've never watched an episode of "Game of Thrones" -- and I don't plan on it. But I've heard something disturbing. Apparently, there's a "character" in there called a "direwolf." The production is using Siberian Huskies as "direwolves." And so -- Game of Thrones fans will probably go all ape-crazy about wanting their own "direwolf."

Take my advice. 

Don't do it. 

I've had Siberian Huskies for almost 30 years. I'll give you the "don't buy a Husky" sales pitch. It goes like this: Yes, they ARE adorably cute puppies. And they stay "puppy" for at least 5 to 7 years. Even though they grow to be well over 50 lbs., they'll act "puppy" for longer than you want. 

They shed. Twice a year, 6 months at a time. They chew. They have opposable thumbs that come out at night where they will change the locks on your doors and drive your car. And move your furniture. If they think they're smarter than you (and they usually do think that), they'll take over. And that's not a good thing. They don't like cats or small dogs. Or rather, they do: for lunch. They've got a remarkably strong "prey drive" for a dog that doesn't hunt. 

They're not called "Houdini dogs" for nothing; they'll climb out, crawl out, dig out or jump out. The point is, they want "out" - all the time. They love to run. They are not good at recall. If you want a dog who'll come when called, who can reliably be off-leash and who will be obedient to your commands?

You do not want a Husky. 

So do yourself and the breed a favor. Skip the "direwolves." 

What Have We Come To?

My grandparents were first-generation Americans. My great grandparents, who were in my life till I was about 14 (when the last of them died) were immigrants. Ellis Island. 

My great-grandpa on my mom's side left Poland because he wasn't keen on the idea of being conscripted into the Army. He saw that the Russians had guns. And the Polish? Well, not so much. So he left for America. He landed in Philadelphia, and then made his way to Chicago. Seems the idea of coal dust wasn't his idea of prosperity either. 

My great grandmother (mom's mom's side) spoke 4 languages. She raised her kids and learned English by listening to the Chicago Cub games. So now you know how I got to be a Cub fan. It used to bother me when people would think that she didn't "know anything" because she spoke with a heavy accent. She knew, in my young mind, so many things. She came from Croatia. She spoke Croatian, German, Italian and Polish (not necessarily in that order). And English... She taught me Croatian, but when I started school, she insisted we speak English. I'm sad about that. I don't remember much anymore, and my mom remembers almost no Croatian or Polish herself. 

So here we are, direct descendants of immigrants. 

With a mango in the White House, who's got the intelligence, and the attention span, of a fruit fly. And the nuclear codes. 

And we have white supremacists marching in Virginia. People have been injured and died. Funny how there've been no arrests. I wonder why that is. Hmmmm. 

And the best the mango can come up with (seems he lost his tweet-fingers today) is that the violence "is on all sides." 

Somehow, the folks rammed by the car? There was no violence there. At least till the car rammed them. It took the Governor of New York to sound more presidential as he condemned the whole idea of Nazis (for that's what they are - you must see that) marching in America today. 

My uncles fought in the war. My grandfather didn't - truth be told, his health was not good, and while he tried to enlist, he flunked the physical. My second cousins fought in another war or two. The patriotism runs deep in this immigrant-family that I'm a part of, even though we're far removed in this generation from that "immigrant" label. I doubt that my great-grandparents would've passed the Occupant's "test" for immigration - even with their advanced language skills. Which gives me a twinge since the twitter-fiend himself can't speak English all that well...

And there's far too much sabre-rattling. He's threatened North Korea, and now he's threatening China. All to avoid - or attempt to distract us from - the Russian scandal that's brewing. He's trapped like a rat on a sinking ship, and he's determined we're all going to go down before he will. 

That scares me. It should scare any thinking person. What have we come to? What is it with the open, blatant, palpable hatred, racism, and disdain for our basic commonalities and what we used to represent?

I grew up learning that America was a melting pot. The best of my Polish ancestors met with the best of your Irish ancestors, who learned from the neighbor's German ancestors -- and together, we were one people, determined to make life better for the next generation. 

But that's disappeared. Much like the glaciers and the permafrost. 

Can we get it back? How? And how soon?

Peace Rocks...

Will County Kindness Rocks is a project I've become involved in with the yoga studio. Right now, we're trying to get a workshop going combining yoga and rock painting. As you recall, I painted this a while ago. 

Unfortunately, I didn't realize that mid-August was when people started taking their kids back to school (when did that happen so early???). So we cancelled the first workshop and will reschedule it. In the meantime, I'm going to paint more rocks, and distribute the ones I've already painted. 

The group doesn't have a website, but you can find them on Facebook, if you want to check them out. Also, if you see a rock somewhere? Post a picture of it for them and tell them where you found it! 

Given everything happening? Perhaps this is fanciful. Perhaps it's "nothing." But I can't believe we can't start something small and watch it grow. I don't believe it's too late. 

Knitting...

So. This happened. I got squishy mail, and it's a simple project. I was in love with the yarn, so I got it. It'll match my winter coat (which, what with climate change, may never see the light of day if winter is mild...). It's from Expression Fiber Arts, and it's a beautiful silk + alpaca blend. 

I've got a couple of her hanks, and I can't wait to knit them up. Not for socks -- I'm doing shawlettes and this scarf. Of course, she's gorgeous and doing what she loves. 

Sometimes, I'm jealous. Lately, I've been feeling that life's passed me by, and now we're on the brink of disaster and what have I done? 

I know - tomorrow is another day. Thanks, Scarlet O'Hara. I'll try to remember that. It's overwhelming and I feel like I need to climb into a knitting hole or a reading hole. 

Ok, breathing... I went to my friend's house and helped her out with a project. As we were sorting through her stash, looking for needles, I was helping her organize projects + patterns, so that she could work on them without having to continually dig for stuff. She's got some medical problems and wasn't eager to go down to her basement unless someone was there - just in case. 

As we were going through her various totes (and thank goodness she had totes!), she said, "You can have this..." I asked her if she was certain, and she said, "I'm old - I'm probably not going to knit this up. And you deserve it." 

"This" -- this is Mongolian cashmere. From Mongolia. She brought it back when she went on a mission trip to teach music to kids. It's a kilo (more or less). Mongolian cashmere... Now, lest you keel over in a faint - she told me she paid the equivalent of $10.00 for it. Ten bucks. I'm going to keel over in a faint. 

It's so squishy and beautiful! So it's going to turn into a hap, I think. And if there's enough, maybe a very small Orenburg shawl. I have to figure out how to read the patterns for those, since they're not even a traditional "knitting" pattern, but lines and dashes. Yikes... 

And the sock continues. I'm about a quarter of the way down the leg of the second sock. Then, it's back to the February Lady Sweater, and the Soul to Soul sock so that I have two pair in a summer! 

I really have to repair the Shape It scarf. Maybe I'll bring it to my friend (I'm going to visit again soon), just so she can see what's going on. I'm also bringing over my haps book and the Orenburg lace book. 

There will be progress pics soon on the knitting on the needles. I thought I had a couple recent shots, but apparently not. 

Baking...

Russian Frosting Tips. Not as simple as Pinterest would have you believe. There's a real bit of "finicky" when it comes to the frosting. And thanks, but NOT on mini cupcakes! The tops wanted to peel off... Not cool. So my original recipe for buttercream - needed to be a tad stiffer. I stiffened up the pink, but it wasn't really enough. 

And the peach/orange? It was a bit too stiff. So the flower shapes there didn't quite "blend," where the roses (the pink) blended a tad too much. 

So it's a work in progress. 

Now, in fact, the roses were a piece of cake. So to speak. Normally, you'd do them by piping a cone of frosting, then switching to a rose petal tip, and spinning the cone of frosting on a frosting nail, crafting the rose petal by petal. I've done that for years. You have a little scissor-like device that you can remove the roses with and place them directly on a cake. Or you can do what my dad taught me: flash freeze them and put them on the cake after you can actually handle them. 

To do roses "the hard way" the frosting can be a little more "droopy" so the rose petals roll out a bit. 

For the Russian tips? It's got to be stiffer than I had it. Hubby helped me stiffen up the orange/peach, but I think I overcompensated on that because those are supposed to be fancy tulips. I had some yellow frosting and I was going to use a Number 1 tip to put the yellow on the stamens. But after 48 flowers? It's ok. Nobody will complain. 

But I want to fiddle with them a bit more and try to get the frosting where it needs to be. I also want to do a "cheat sheet" so that I know what each tip does. 

The tortellini salad is done, and all I have left to do is the baked beans, which I can deal with tomorrow after church. Brother is buying Popeye's chicken (change from the burgers/dogs/brats we were having) and Sis is doing potato salad. Now, if the weather cooperates, we should have a good party. Not sure if I'll bring candles. I didn't make 80 cupcakes (not going to happen...)... 

How Does the Garden Grow...

So yeah - the brown-eyed Susans definitely need splitting! They've really taken over that small front bed. The other side is more purple, and I tried to get a few of the bees buzzing around, but I missed. I do think I got buzzed by a hummingbird as I took this picture. They were hanging around the feeders and the phlox (the pink stuff there in the back). I thought it was a cicada or a big dragonfly, but upon reflection -- it was probably a hummingbird. I wasn't really paying attention and sometimes at this time of year, they get a little aggressive when you "bug" them while they're eating. 

I didn't see any butterflies on the dill this year. And the hostas are looking scraggly. I have to thin out the lily of the valley soon. I'll put it over near the rectory when the party stuff is all over and I have a weekend to devote to that garden. Whoever we hire as a new vicar will appreciate a maintenance-free (sort of) garden. 

This is the galardia - or at least that's what my old neighbor Mrs. Silver used to call it. It's a variety of brown-eyed Susan, and it comes back reliably every year. It's compact, and doesn't take over like the stuff in the square garden. It seems like this one likes the corner it's planted in, and it's been a steady pop of color for a couple of years now. 

I've seen this in borders before. I had some in the square garden, but we had a nasty winter and it did kill just about everything in that spot. 

Anyway, this is an easy one to grow, and all you have to do is leave it alone. The smaller birds eat the seeds you see in the seed heads, and whatever's left just re-seeds itself and comes up the next year. It'll bloom clear through till Fall and if the season is mild enough, it'll go till it snows. I've rarely seen this plant droop, where the bee balm, even though it's supposed to be a "native" plant? It gets a little touchy when the weather gets sticky. 

I have two milkweed plants, but they haven't bloomed. On the other hand, I've seen milkweed which has already bloomed for the year. I have no idea - perhaps it's one of those that takes a couple years to get established. I also have the seeds that my friend sent me from the UP. Those have to be planted around the first frost (this ought to be interesting, trying to figure that out), because the seeds have to be exposed to cold in order to establish themselves to bloom in the coming spring. 

Random Picture...

This is what I've been reading (among other things). The short stories are amazing. You get drawn in and you don't want to come out. You get a mental workout trying to figure out the twists and turns. And then they happen and you're surprised. 

Till you think a moment and realize -- "No, that was the genius plan she had all along." 

And then you want to take every word you've ever written and put a torch to it, because you know that even on your best day, you can't write what she tosses in the garbage. 

And then. Because you're a writer. You write. Again and again. And you keep trying. Because words matter. You realize that the only way you can make them matter more is to write more. Write more, write as a habit, write as a mission. Write like you read, write like you knit, write like you sing. Write like you mean it. Write like you breathe. 

Bit by Bit and Piece by Piece...

...just about sums up my approach to cleaning the house. 

Yes, I know. It's only Hubby and me. And 3 large hairy beasts (the dogs, a/k/a "The Girls"). And the occasional Kid who comes back. But only for a visit. 

Except now, Kid #2 is moving and is "temporarily storing" some stuff in our already-overflowing basement. 

Kid #1 has already informed me that, upon our demise, he's putting a large dumpster out in the front yard and sticking a "For Sale As Is" sign in the yard. Lest you think he's joking? He's not. And please - don't misunderstand. We're hardly in the category of "hoarders." It's not as clean as my mother or grandmother would want it, but it's not "Let's call the health department" bad. 

So today, after a couple hours at work, I tackled my Aunt Mary's sewing machine, a cabinet model that used to be the table for Arlo the now-dead canary. He moved from Aunt Mary's to the front window daily. So I also did his front window table. I also dusted the bookshelf and rearranged some stuff, dusted pictures, and lit a candle for a friend's daughter who's having surgery. 

The stuff on the sewing machine has been disbursed to various other locations, including the back room. Which, of course, is where Kid #2 is storing MORE of his stuff... (sigh).

Rocks in My Head...

So I went to the gem/rock show this weekend. As I may NOT have mentioned -- in my new job, my office is next to the X-ray room. Now, I'm not superstitious. But I don't want to glow; nor do I want to wear a lead apron all day! 

There are some rocks and crystals which, because of their properties, do protect against EMF. So I went looking. I bought a few pendants, and I have some to set on my desk. As you can see, I have a nice haul here. I had already had a bunch of tumbled amethyst. But I added a few nice ones to my stash. 

Crystals and stones are used in alternative healing, as meditation devices, and there are even people who "infuse essential oils with the power of crystals." Now, that's a step too far for me. My Young Living Essential Oils are pure enough, thanks!

The Rock Guy said to me, "Oh, there's black tourmaline (I knew that one), and hematite (ditto), and then there's shungite - the hottest thing out of Russia."

You mean aside from Nectarine Nemesis and his kid?? No, seriously - I had heard of the properties of shungite, and I found a few really pretty examples, so I got them. As far as EMF protection, the kyanite is also on the same order and it comes in a couple of different colors. I love black stones, and I love clear quartz. I also found a nice chunk of Iolite, a "water stone." 

I also couldn't pass up the lovely jade rock, nor the tumbled and ever-so-slightly faceted garnet. 

I did buy 2 rough stones for meditation, to put by my little Buddha. So, right in front of Buddha, on the left, is a cluster of citrine. Right - the November birthstone that's usually depicted as (so says Hubby) "urine yellow." It can actually range from nearly clear to a deep brown. This, even though it's hard to see, is a rich orange/rust. He couldn't believe it. And next to that is a rough green opal. 

On either side are the rocks from Lake Michigan. They're similar to the kinds of rocks we'll be painting at the studio for our "Yoga and Peace Rocks" workshop. I got a little bit of a head start on that with a painting project (see below). What I like about one of the rocks here is that, even though you can't see it - on the rock at the farthest left point? There's a heart-shaped lighter area. That was one I spotted right away and couldn't wait to grab it up and bring it home. I don't even care about the geological properties. I just think it's really neat. 

Peace Rocks...

I don't know if you've noticed them in your area, but around here, we're seeing "peace rocks" or "kindness rocks" around the trails. There's a local organization that's coordinating painting dates and you take your rocks home after they've sprayed them - and drop them where you want to. Usually, it's on the trails so someone else can find them and take the word or words to heart. And then they pass them on. 

Naive? Maybe. But it brings a smile to your face, and Heaven knows we can use more of that. And who knows? Kindness ripples. It's gotta start somewhere. 

So in August, we're going to hold a workshop. I'll lead the students in a short yoga practice (just some really basic stretches), a Metta meditation - which is lovingkindness, and then we set up to paint. Renee and Joy will bring both shale-type rocks and river rocks. And some will be pre-painted with a base color, so that all we need to do is use permanent markers and/or paints to write or draw what we want on them. They have a little "short affirmations" book that you can use to draw some quotes from, and obviously - small rocks, so small quotes! 

One of my students says she's already found a rock. She picked it up and placed it somewhere else. 

That's the idea. Simple. Perhaps incredibly naive, given what's going on in the world and especially in this country. But we have to make ourselves more mindful. We have to make ourselves more civil. One representative in Illinois is proposing "National Civility Day."

Oy... Everyone: news flash.... Be a nice human. That should cover it. 

Orchids...

I have twice been given orchid plants. One is in the studio, and it's having a bit of a rough go. I may have to move it, because it might be too warm where it is. This one is the one I had in my old office. I just repotted it today. I had to buy the orchid mix online because all we get around here is the soil - and I prefer to pot them in bark. I stick a couple ice cubes in there about once a week or so, and then we're good to go. I know that some folks put them on a large tray with pea gravel and keep it wet - "constant humidity" they say. In my experience, it doesn't matter one way or the other. It's mostly temperature, remembering to water it and having good growing medium. 

So this one is sitting on Aunt Mary's sewing chest, because the instructions recommended letting it be in a little less light for a few days. We'll see how this goes. But it looks lovely, doesn't it? 

This is really 2 pots in one. Each are stand-alone, but I noticed that the darker brown plastic one, which has holes in the bottom, fit nicely inside the copper-ish one, which is advertised as an "orchid pot." But with no drain holes. Together, though - they make one very nice container. As I recall, this is a white one. The stalk, though you can't see it, has another shoot on the end of it. We'll see if it blooms again. The one in the studio did re-bloom, so I wonder if it needs fresh bark. I'll be bringing it home and hopefully getting it freshened up. Maybe that'll give it a boost. Need to dig out Orchids for Dummies to see what's going on.

Knitting...

So you see it's a heel, and you see the gusset there. I'm liking it. Just a few more rows till I can just whip along on the foot. 

I haven't done anything with the sweater, which is fine right now. It's going to move along quickly - at least this body section. The sleeves may be interesting, but I don't know. It's been a long, long time since I did sleeves, especially set-in sleeves. These are also 3/4 length. And I'm the queen of short arms - so Heaven only knows what I'll have to do to finagle them. They "bell" out with the lace, so I'd prefer to keep them at the 3/4 length. 

I've been drooling over some shawls and shawlettes. I have some lovely sock yarn - fingering weight - that I really don't want to use for socks. I have a mulberry silk blend that - really -- I do not want to stick in a shoe! It's in an amethyst color-way with shades of blue, so if I do this right, and can find both a simple + complex enough pattern? Beautiful biggish scarf/shawlette thingie. I'd like to find something solid bodied, with a lace edge because I'm afraid that if the yarn flows like I think it will, the lace will muddle the color, or the other way round. It'll be too busy. 

For what I paid for the yarn, I want it to be the star of the show. I have 3 of those skeins (different colors and different dyers) - just so gorgeous that you don't want to make a pair of, let's face it, "disposable" items like socks. 

I also want to do a little "medicine bag" for my other loose stones. I'm going to see if I have more of Sonda's blue/white hand-dyed. I did a hat with that, even though it was fingering-weight (socks). It's a very light hat, and not suitable for heavy winter weather. But it's a nice one for Fall and early winter. I made a mala bag out of some of the leftover, and I think I may have enough for a medicine bag for the stones. 

Reading...

As always, re-reading the classics! So I was griping about Murder on the Church Council. And the ending was not cool. I mean, it made sense. But it was like, read-read-read, story-story-story and then, "Oh my God, we have to END this sucker" and BOOM! Denoument and over. What??

And seriously, as crazy as it may seem, the typos and inconsistencies bothered my enjoyment(?) of the book. 

So in between reading a book on the Episcopal Church, I started re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird. I want to see how they sanitized the movie. If you read it, Go Set A Watchman, the "missing" Harper Lee book, had Atticus as quite the racist. And that was purportedly the first draft of Mockingbird. And the movie? 

Well, Gregory Peck. Even though he was an incredibly versatile actor, I wonder if he wanted to be best-known for a role in which he was a virulent racist? 

I don't know, but much like Hitchcock's Suspicion - they changed the original ending because Cary Grant couldn't be seen as a villain. The original ending was purported to have had him killing off Joan Fontaine. But the ending was changed by studio bosses. 

I read that Cary Grant REALLY wanted to kill off Joan Fontaine, because he was tired of "always" being the good guy. But the studio didn't want to mess with his pristine reputation as the hero. 

And I don't know - maybe Gregory Peck said, "Let me do this - I have the chops and I need to do it." Maybe - it could happen - he said, "No, let's clean this up a bit." I haven't seen anything to lead me to believe anything either way. It's just a thought because I know that the book is never like the movie. 

But I have a theory. Everyone should re-read the things they read in high school English class, when they've got some living and some years behind them. That's the only way really (unless you were born an English teacher) to really appreciate what you read when you were a teenager. Even if you loved them the first time - read them again. 

You'll have a whole new experience when you do. 

Random Picture...

Where I went for the rock painting project was at a park. I had some time, since I had put the wrong time on my calendar and I was a whole hour early. It was ok - I had a book, though I wish I had brought my knitting! So I read and I sat. Turns out that I was in the wrong section of the park anyway, which I figured out about 10 minutes before it was supposed to start.

I found them. But in the meantime, I got this shot of the little lake there. People were fishing, and some folks were walking around the path. I have no idea what kind of fish are in there, though I suspect perch. 

It was a pleasant evening for nearly-August. Actually, it was nippy! At least for us in summer. The breeze ruffled the water, and the willow tree was skimming the surface. 

I didn't see any little fishes breaking the surface, but that's ok. I was more intent on framing a decent shot in the fading light. I only had my phone with me, so this is the best I could do.