Category Archives: Blogging

Pause

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I have been thinking about this for a while. I want to take a vacation from writing on my blog. Or at least a vacation from having to make a comittment to writing x times a week. I have been feeling something wanting me to look at my direction. Time to take a break.

Featured image ‘Yoga-give me a break!’ by Andy Morffew on Flickr.

My Kryptonite

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“Solitude matters, and for some people, it’s the air they breathe.”
― Susan Cain

I know which things are kryptonite to my HSP* Introvert temperament. I can list several:

  • Large social gatherings
  • Noisy, crowded places
  • Making a lot of small talk
  • Spending a large part of my day or evening socializing with not enough alone time
  • Engaging in a lot of new experiences/activities
  • Having a crowded schedule during the day with many demands on my time
  • Spending a lot of time on social media
  • Getting overstimulated by all of the above and becoming exhausted

So why do I forget all I know about what leads to a very unpleasant state of fatigue and feeling depressed, and engage in too much of the above list, then find myself suffering the previously mentioned consequences.

http://gph.is/XJkTR3

*Highly sensitive person

Featured comic strip image of Adventure Comics via Joel Kramer on Flickr. Exhaustion GIF via Giphy.

Strange Birds

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To wear a hair shirt means to suffer a self-imposed punishment, trial, or burden. Those who are sentenced to prison have their punishment imposed on them from society. A very famous prison is located on an island in the San Francisco Bay. It’s name is Alcatraz. The name Alcatraz is thought to have originated from the Spanish word alcatraces for “strange birds.” There are many sea birds that nest on Alcatraz Island. It has a very interesting history. Many people are familiar with the name Alcatraz, the high security Federal prison, that housed some of the most hardened criminals. Reading a few short biographies of some of these men, I realize that their life stories would definitely make great films, and of course, some films have already been done. There is also a great sense of darkness about these men and this prison.  Al Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly, Robert Stroud, Roy Gardner, James “Whitey” Bulger,  and Mickey Cohen are some of the more famous inmates. Roy Gardner was called the ” King of the Escape Artists” because he managed to escape twice while under guard by U.S. Marshalls and escaped from prison twice. No one escaped from Alcatraz.

Fake head made by prisoners in escape attempt via NPS Alcatraz Island website

Image of human head via US National Park Service Alcatraz Island website

“In 1962, three inmates attempting to escape from Alcatraz created fake human heads out of cardboard and human hair. They placed the heads on their pillows in their cells so it appeared as though they were sleeping.” ( NPS Alcatraz Island website)

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Christmas 1954 menu for prisoners via NPS Alcatraz Island website

Nowadays, the prison is empty. Wild birds make their homes on the island and they are free to fly away.

Snowy Egret of Alcatraz Island via National Park Service

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt word for today is “hair.” Information for this post was obtained from The US National Park Service Alcatraz Island website and Alcatraz History.com. Featured Image of ‘Snowy Egret with mating plumage’ via NPS Alcatraz Island website.

Thank You Note

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I have a group of regular readers who have been reading and commenting pretty much since I started blogging in 2014. The size of my readership fits my personality as I enjoy getting together with a few friends at a time. I appreciate the followers and readers I do have and especially those who drop by, like, and comment on my posts. Thanks guys. ❤

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Notes On The Sagebrush has 501 followers

Leavings

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When you walk through a grove of trees, depending on the type of trees, you are walking over fallen leaves, twigs, small cones, pine needles,and dead foliage and such. The twigs,leaves, and cones crunch under your feet yet muffle the sound of your step and release a woodsy frangrance. Besides providing a fragrant carpet these leavings return nutrients to the earth. Let me leave something that contibutes to life.

Did you see the Google Doodle about Fred Korematsu?  January 30 is Fred Korematsu Day in California, and he would have been 98 years old. He died in 2005. He was a civil liberties activist who fought against the internment of the Japanese during WWII. I don’t know how he survived psychologically all the oppression he experienced, but he did. What an inspiration he is. If I could have a fraction of his courage. Click on the links and read about him, you won’t be disappointed.

This is the last entry for JustJotItJanuary hosted by Linda G Hill. The word prompt for today is ” detritus ” suggested by Lorraine of Lorraine’s Frilly Freudian Slip https://myfrillyfreudianslip.wordpress.com/

I have aimed to keep my posts positive lately in hopes of uplifting spirits. We are in an unsettling transition time that feels like the ground is moving under our feet. We must speak up if we think something is wrong. Featured image is of ‘Fallen Giant Sequoia cones and foliage; Sugar Pine and White Fir foliage; other woody debris’ by Walter Siegmund via wikimedia. Photo taken at Mariposa Grove, Yosemite, California.

'The Umbrellas' by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Blue

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I am not blue about the winter weather in Southern California. I am liking it after 6 years of drought. It is nice to have colder temperatures and rain for a welcome change. I am working on keeping an even keel and not feeling anxiety about this transition period in my country’s leadership. There have been other times during my life that there has been tumultuous and anxious times in my country. The country and its people survived. The featured image at the top is ‘The Umbrellas’ by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1881-86). He used a lot of blue in this painting. The pigments used for the blues were cobalt blue and ultramarine. I am wondering why he chose to use to so much blue . It was a popular fashion color in France at the time. Many artists use color to express a feeling. Could it be that the rainy weather calls for a subdued color pallette. Subdued is a good feeling right now. I would like to maintain that feeling, calm and subdued but not blue.

A short video about the painting by The Frick Collection on You Tube:

JustJotItJanuary is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt word for today is ” blue” suggested by John Holton at The Sound of One Hand Typing, https://thesoundofonehandtyping.wordpress.com/.

compromise

 

Herstory

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“I counted everything. I counted the steps to the road, the steps up to church, the number of dishes and silverware I washed … anything that could be counted, I did.”    -Katherine Johnson

Really like that a light is shining on women’s history in science. Washington Post had an article by Victoria St. Martin on Katherine Johnson, (now 98),  who is one of the mathematicians who worked at NASA and is featured in the film ‘Hidden Figures.’ I found a great video of Ms. Johnson talking about her life and work on The Makers website. It is worth it to click on the link and watch. Here’s another video from PBS about the film.

 

Here’s a video (below) from the NASA website about Katherine Johnson’s life and career. It’s very inspiring, ‘The Girl Who Loved to Count.’

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Katherine Johnson recieves Presidential Medal of Freedom 2015

JustJotItJanuary is hosted by Linda G Hill. And we’re almost through with this blogging challenge but click on the link to see what it’s all about and read some of the other blogs that are participating. Prompt word for today is “history” suggested by K L Caley of New2Writing, https://new2writing.wordpress.com/.Featured image, at top, of Katherine Johnson in 1966 and image of her recieving the Presidential Medal of Freedom via NASA on wikimedia.

compromise

Redwood

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Sequoia sempervirens, Coastal Redwoods of California, can grow up to 367 ft (112m) tall, 22 ft wide ( 7m) at the base, the size of a 35 story building. Your kind has been on the earth for 22 million years, in the same location, from Big Sur to the Oregon Border. You receive moisture from the foggy ocean mists, you are resistant to insects and fire. You regularly live 600 years and can live up to 2000 years. You were around in the Jurassic Era, 160 million years ago. What did the dinosaurs call you?  You ranged across 2 million acres and now your protected forests are down to 4% of that due to the logging that has occurred. I have walked among your groves and felt very small, felt like I walked in a prehistoric landscape of giant trees. What wisdom would you have to share? I will keep your secrets.

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Beautiful photos  by National Park Service via Redwood National and State Parks, California, where you can find more great photos. Most of the Information for this post via the same website. I have visited these magnificent trees. 🙂

Stream of Consciousness Saturday and JusJotItJanuary hosted by Linda G Hill. Prompt words for today “wood/would.”

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