the friday feed: perkatory

A big thank you to Catalyst, the creator of Oddball Observations and his Friday Funnies for inspiring this blogpost.

Perkatory...isn't this the truth? You smell the coffee brewing and can't wait for that first hot sip to start the day. 

Hot coffee and a c-c-c-cold winter morning. How cozy to be on the inside looking out at the new fallen snow.

Do you see that circle in the snow? There's a story to that. One afternoon my son called and asked if I would pick his dog up from doggy daycare. "Sure, no problem." It was 6:00-ish and he would pick his dog up from my house between 7 and 8:00 p.m. (19:00 and 20:00). 

"Would you mind making some scrambled eggs for Brutus for dinner?"

"I can do that."

It took a few minutes to make the eggs. They were hot, the dog was hungry, and the snow was cold. Open the patio door, put the pan in the snow, the eggs cooled in less than 30 seconds, and when they hit the bowl, B-Doggie snarfed them down in no time.

There are times when you need to use what's in front of you. It may not be the most conventional way but it sure was a good solution.

ikigai

I love learning new words, words that come from different cultures, ones that may not have an English counterpart, words that encompass a bigger feeling, an action, or emotion in a way that English doesn't. 

Ikigai is one of those words. It's a reminder that joy and purpose can live in the same space. It's poetic and inspiring.

wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

It's been a quiet week. Winter Storm Fern has hovered over the Miami Valley with its bitter cold temperatures. Yesterday the mercury rose to 32° and after all those below zero days, 32° felt like spring was knocking at the door. Snow still covers the ground but it is slowly evaporating and melting. Maybe after the melt, we'll see some crocus pushing out from the dirt.

On January 30 the moon, with Jupiter to its lower right, sit up the night sky. It looked like a full moon but it wasn't. The full moon appeared on February 1. Todd was driving home from Findlay, Ohio. a couple hours north of here, after visiting a friend and his sweet mom who had been hospitalized. As we chatted, all at once an "Ohmygosh, you should see the moon rising!" It was a beauty and it wasn't dark yet. I went to the end of the street, stood in the middle of the cross road and got mooned! The full moon for February is the Snow Moon. It sure lived up to its name this year.

I've kept busy this week making some zines for my grandsons. AJ's birthday party is this weekend so he's getting two - one with the original party theme and one with the updated party theme. I also made one for Owen (3 1/2 years old) thanking him for choosing a loofah of many pastel colors as my Christmas gift. He and his mom went to the Dollar Store for his Christmas shopping spree and he chose all of the gifts for his recipients. In case you're wondering what a zine (pronounced "zeen) is, it's a small handmade book made by folding a single sheet of paper. They're fun to make and fun to receive. The art of writing thank you notes seems to have lost its importance. I grew up writing them and will continue to do so. One of my sons-in-law once commented that he really enjoys receiving my notes and letters. Letter writing is becoming a lost art.

The other day Todd was perusing the Kroger grocery ads and he pointed out that chuck roast was on sale for a good price. (Isn't it time to go to the grocery store...hint, hint?) A pot of beef stew sounded tasty so off to Kroger to find that chunk of chuck roast plus a few vegetable to put in it. I tried a new recipe, one where the meat was browned in a large pot on the stove top, add the vegetables for a few minutes to warm them up, and then put the pot in a low heat (325°) oven for two hours. Wow. It was delicious and will be my go-to beef stew recipe from now on. It made enough for a few leftover meals, too.

The big scuttlebut from yesterday was that the groundhog saw his shadow so six more weeks of winter. Actually Groundhog Day is the midpoint to spring so today marks the downslope to spring. 

The birds are busy at the feeders. Such a joy to watch them. Every so often a big flock of grackles comes and takes over the feeders. The other birds sit patiently waiting in the wings for the grackle feeding frenzy to end. Every so often, Todd will open the door and clap his hands to scare them off but they're back in 30 seconds. 

life is art

Life is art. Everyday we create, or recreate, our personal masterpiece. Masterpiece? I like to think that mine is a work in progress. People are compared to art because we all possess unique, subjective beauty, we tell stories and evoke emotional responses. Each person is a unique "piece." Humans, like art, communicate emotions, stories, and experiences. A person's life is a form of self-expression, similar to how art conveys messages.

Art is also something we do, a verb. It's an expression of our thoughts, emotions, intuitions, and desires, but it is even more personal than that: it’s about sharing the way we experience the world, which for many is an extension of personality.

I really like this analogy. It puts art on such a personal, everyday playing field. Take your canvas or lump of clay or musical instrument, your smile or your wit, your grocery list or your to-do list or your dinners-for-the-week list, and share your most beautiful story.

Life is art.

 

monday's mulling: groundhog day

Groundhog Day, celebrated every year on February 2, is an unusual holiday that stretches back hundreds of years to European traditions and ancient times.

Why this date in midwinter? Groundhog Day stems from an ancient Celtic celebration called Imbolc, rooted in astronomy and marking the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. 

Groundhog Day is a quirky holiday celebrated in the United States and Canada. It’s a fun way to break up the winter season and look forward to spring. It’s based on the belief that some animals can sense seasonal changes, and their hibernation patterns will indicate the coming weather.

According to weather lore, if it’s a clear or sunny day, the groundhog will see its shadow and return to its underground home. This means six more weeks of wintry weather. If it’s a cloudy or snowy day, this plump little prognosticator will not see his shadow which means early spring weather is right around the corner.

The first official organized Groundhog Day celebration in the United States was held in 1887 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, and has become a popularized annual tradition. My brother, one of the many accountants in the family, worked on an audit in Punxsawtawney, PA for a few years. One evening he and his boss were at dinner and the restaurant was selling wine made at the Groundhog Winery. The server gave him the story about the winery, that it's home to Junior and Sis, two cute little groundhogs who are rumored to be 3rd cousins of the famous forecaster Punxsawtawney Phil. 

Cheers to you, Phil. After all the snow and the many days with below 0 temperatures, we sure would welcome some early spring weather. No pressure at all...
 

it's that kind of sunday

We are bombarded every single day with news that is bad, upsetting, unsettling, depressing, discouraging, frightening, painful, troublesome, distressing, frightening. The list goes on and on and on...

Goodness and kindness get overshadowed by the bad, upsetting, unsettling, depressing, discouraging, frightening, painful, troublesome, distressing, frightening....

You can't control what shows up in your head but you can control what you do next. Look for stories and actions that overshadow all the noise and negativity. Engage in a random acts of kindness - a simple, non-premeditated actions that brighten someone's day - or a good deed. When you pass along a kindness, that gesture may soothe a soul, bring a smile, or give hope that perhaps the world may not be so bad after all. 

In the big picture, random acts of kindness may seem small. But no matter how small, little kindnesses make a big difference. Remember...

“Treat everyone with politeness and kindness, not because they are nice, but because you are.”

~ Roy T. Bennett

dayton's precious natural resource

If you fly into the Dayton airport, you might notice an informational signboard about water as you walk toward baggage claim from Concourse B. 

Dayton benefits from a plentiful groundwater supply known as the Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer (GMVBA). Formed thousands of years ago by glaciers, the GMVBA is made up of loose, coarse sediments such as sand and gravel. This natural type filtration results in very clean water. Replenished by water that seeps down from the overlying rivers, this aquifer serves as the sole source of drinking water for the entire Dayton region. The City of Dayton provides drinking water to 400,000 people from this underground treasure.

The aquifer is stores approximately 1.5 trillion gallons of water. Rivers, streams, and lakes quickly recharge the aquifer, making the groundwater truly a renewable resource.

Around town you will notice “No Dumping” signs on sewers and storm drains. These signs educate the public that storm drains lead directly to waterways (rivers, lakes, oceans) without treatment, making it crucial to stop pollutants like oil, paint, or pet waste from entering them. The city officials realize what a precious resource we have and want to keep Dayton’s natural resources as clean and safe as possible for years to come. I just hope the data centers stay away from our area. They use up an incredible amount of water to cool the servers. (Google reported using more than 6 billion gallons in 2023).