Category Archives: Blogging

A Safe Harbor

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The LA County Public Library system has closed its doors to patrons during the pandemic but still provide so many services to support the community. People can still borrow books, physical and digital. It’s just that the process has changed. Patrons must pick up their reserved books outside the library, masks are worn by the staff and public, the books are even quarantined between release to the next borrower. Through it all the library continues to provide online book groups, classes for adults and children, from cooking to Storytime to literacy for new immigrants. Nita Lelyveld from the LA Times took a virtual tour of the county’s libraries and shared what she found in her article, ‘Libraries remain vital despite pandemic—and because of it.’

We Are The World Blogfest, #WATWB, is a monthly blog group created to share positive stories in dark times. To learn more about it and how to join in click here.  This month’s hosts are Eric Lahti, Roshan Radhakrishnan , Shilpa Garg, Peter Nena and Sylvia Stein.

Containers Of Worlds

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A part of my coping with the stress of the world these days is reading books. This is mostly physical paper books. Some from the library, others purchased, and most are fiction. Books are magical things that introduce me to new people, places, and cultures.  As I read, I come to feel like the characters in the stories are real people. I like or dislike them, and care about their actions. Books are containers of whole worlds.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday, #SOCS, is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt for today is  “container.” Use the word “container” any way you’d like. Or think about a container of some kind and write about it. 

Featured image ‘ Young woman reading a book’ by Renoir via wikimedia.org

Blocked

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Not feeling an eruption of creative energy. How are people able to be creative with all the negative stuff happening? We are fortunate that the wild fires have not touched us here yet. But as I sat here tonight at the computer I felt an earthquake. Not a bad one, but don’t we have enough right now? Nature just sending a reminder that things could be worse I guess.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday, #SOCS, is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt for today is  “-tion.” Find a word that ends with “tion.” Bonus points if you start your post with it.

Featured Image: “The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (Hi-RISE) camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this avalanche plunging down a 1,640-foot-tall (500-meter-tall) cliff on May 29, 2019. The image also reveals layers at Mars’ north pole during spring. As temperatures increase and vaporize ice, the destabilized ice blocks break loose and kick up dust.” (JPL California Institute of Technology)

Angel’s Collar

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Been doing some ‘Spring cleaning’ in the summer and came across the pet collar of our deceased cat. I don’t have the heart to discard it as yet. It has her name on one side with our old phone number and my daughter’s name and our address on the other. Angel never liked wearing the collar. She was feisty but my daughter and I had a close bond with her. It was hard when she died. I have not wanted another cat since.

Angel ❤

Stream of Consciousness Saturday, #SOCS, is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt for today  is “collar.” Use it as a verb, a noun, or metaphorically. Bonus points for using it in all three ways! 

 

Pretty Sharp

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These are some of my favorite ‘sharp’ things. I like having sharpened pencils to write with unless I am using a pen.  I have been working on these word scramble puzzles in the LA Times and I like to use a pencil to fill in the answers in case I need to erase.  The letters in words are scrambled and you need to determine the correct word and then solve a riddle, using some of letters from the words, the answer which is a play on the words. It’s fun to figure out the words and then figure out the answer, which is not always easy. Doing these word puzzles keeps your brain sharp. If I were to work on a math problem by hand instead of using a calculator, I prefer to use a pencil. It’s good to have sharpened knives to slice vegetables and meats. It is nice to look sharp in your clothes. Not nice to have a sharp tongue.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday, #SOCS, is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “sharp.” Use it in any or all of its definitions. 

Featured image of Eagle Pencil Co. trade card via Boston Public Library on Flickr.com

 

More Than A Hundred Books

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With a library you are free, not confined by temporary political climates. It is the most democratic of institutions because no one – but no one at all – can tell you what to read and when and how.”
― Doris Lessing

Even though I have donated about 100 books to the library in recent years we still have a large collection in our house. My husband collects Easton Books, mostly of classics. We have law books, history books, cook books, and mystery books. I have given away many of my books, especially paperbacks, because they deteriorate quickly, take up space, and collect dust. I have held onto some hardcover favorites like David Copperfield, Pride and Prejudice, The Secret Garden, to name a few. I do have several paperbacks of various subjects and genres here right now but will most likely donate many of them eventually. My favorite history books are by David McCullough,’ John Adams’, ‘Truman’, and ‘1776.’ I love books, real paper and hardcover books, not so much the digital ones. 

Stream of Consciousness Saturday, #SOCS, is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt for today is “more than a hundred.” Write your post inspired by something you have more than a hundred of in your home right now. 

Image of books on shelves by Larsgustav on Pixabay.com

Quote about books and reading via Goodreads.

One-Liner Wednesday–Public Libraries

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“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

I have been ordering books from my local public library online. They send me an email when my books are ready for pick up. There is a whole procedure to borrowing books now. You can’t go into the library. You have to call the library when you are ready to pick up the books so they can get them ready for you. Then you park outside and call to notify them you are waiting. One of the staff brings the books out to a table. Then you put on a mask and go to get your package off the table. The staff was thoughtful to include a bookmark and some extra reading material with my order today.

Looks mysterious
Two books and some extras
Free bookmark

One Liner Wednesday, #1linerWeds, is hosted by Linda G Hill.

Brush Myself Off And Start Again

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Do you ever wonder in what direction you life is going? In these pandemic times it feels like I’m waiting for life to start over again and time is moving very slowly. My life is passing by while I stay in place. I don’t feel so frustrated all the time. I do find things to do. I have been able to start reading books again. For a while, I could not focus on them.  I recently read, ‘Where The Crawdads Sing’ by Delia Owens and a new book By Ann Cleeves, ‘The Long Call.’ Ann Cleeves has written two book series that have been made into popular television mystery shows, ‘Vera’, and ‘Shetland.’ I had not read any of her books and now I am looking forward to next book coming out in September with the Vera character. I bought a collection of the ‘Vera’ paperbacks and two other paperback mysteries I found on Amazon. So I am all stocked up with mysteries for now.

My eggplant is surviving with the protective tent over it and two more are coming in. I am just not sure when to harvest it or if it will be any good to eat, another mystery.

I am not trying to brush off how difficult these times are. I consider myself a patient person but this is a major test of patience. It is still a work in progress for me and I have to keep trying to do better.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday, #SOCS, is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt word for today is “brush.” Use it as a noun, a verb, or an idiom.

 

 

Some Negatives Can Be Positive

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Pros and Cons for Stream of Consciousness Saturday

Cons: We are starting into a weekend heat wave in Southern California.

Pros: We have air conditioning.

Cons: The power went out this evening.

Pros: At least the sun is going down and we cooled the house off during the day.

Cons: The internet is out and I am typing on my MS Word program instead of WordPress.

Pros: My computer has enough battery power for me to work on my post.

Cons: We have to live by flashlight.

Pros: I can still read a book with a flashlight. I feel like I’m camping.

Cons: We have wildfires in Southern California that are out of control.

Pros: The fires are not close to where we live right now.

Cons: I can’t run the dishwasher.

Pros: I can’t run the dishwasher.

Cons: I spend a lot of time sitting in front of the computer for mental stimulation, doing genealogy research, because we are on lock down.

Pros: I like doing genealogy research.

Cons: I don’t know a lot about my ancestors’ lives. I do know that a great-aunt died in the flu pandemic of 1918.

Pros: At least I can do research online which would have been impossible in the last century.

Cons: The sun is setting and soon it will be dark.

Pros: We just bought more batteries for the flashlights.

 

The power is back on here right now. My daughter and I were enjoying the quiet. It is relaxing when the light dims naturally.

Hope you are all staying safe and well wherever you are.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday, #SOCS, is hosted by Linda G Hill. Today’s  prompt is to write about ‘pro/con,’ and talk about the pros and cons of anything.

Featured image by Madmix on Pixabay.com

 

 

Garden Spotting

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During this ‘ stay at home’ period in California, my husband and I have dabbled in an assorted  array of activities. I make it sound like we are very industrious but it is a battle against boredom and to not get depressed. I have immersed myself deeper in genealogy, learned to navigate online grocery shopping, and practiced horticulture  in my back yard. My husband was first to order a small selection of vegetable seedlings and potting soil with the goal of growing vegetables on our patio. The little plants waited patiently on the patio to be potted, slowly wilting, when my daughter and I took the initiative to transplant them into several large pots. We all have enjoyed seeing the plants grown and bear some fruit or vegetables.  We have had lots of cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, some chili peppers, and an eggplant starting to come in. Then we spotted some invisible critter had taken a lot of the tomatoes and chewed on the eggplant. We have decided it is a rabbit or maybe a rodent. Whatever this critter is at least it does not like cucumbers. So, I have been able to harvest some of them and make a couple of jars of sweet pickles. I had thought making sweet pickles would be hard but I found an easy recipe.  My grandmother used to make a sweet pickle she called ‘chow-chow.’ I’m the only one here that likes sweet pickles so I get them all to myself. Another cool thing I noticed is that the cucumber plant has tendrils that is wraps around the metal climbing support my husband put in the pots. It’s hanging on tight.  The eggplant is starting to bloom again so I am intent on preventing the moocher from chewing on the fruit again. I bought this tent gismo with netting and we will see if this does the trick. It would be exciting to have our own homegrown eggplant.

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The recipe I used for my sweet pickles included with link below:

Easy Summertime Sweet Pickle Recipe

Stream of Consciousness Saturday, #SOCS, is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “spot.” Write whatever image the word “spot” invokes.