A plan . . .

Donald asked me what it is that I intend to do with this growing pile of word bracelets.

Give them away, I guess.

Right now it's just fun to sit down and make them.

Think of a word, or a phrase, choose some fun colors and . . . make a bracelet.  

That is as far as the planning went.

And he came up with a very fun idea.

Since Vickie and I will be in Paris on NO KINGS DAY and because Parisians will, of course, be having their own protest, Don suggested I take my bracelets and toss them out to people during the protest.  Sort of a Mardi Gras kinda thing.  I love it!  

There may be some puzzled faces for those who end up with bracelets saying things like "Make More Biscuits," "Hug More Necks," and that sort of thing.

Cultural exchanges are good, don't you think?  😊

Today - thoughts and things to do

Sometimes I come here to muse and meander.  Otherwise known as "just rambling on."

Today is a day of "just rambling on."

For example -

No. 1.  "Man, i really really need a hair cut."

No. 2.  "Climate Change is a Hoax"  -  (What Idiots Believe)

Not that Science gives a shit what anyone thinks.  Science is gonna just go on being Science, while idiots go on being idiots.

So.

Those were just things I was thinking about this morning.

Because, like many of you, I think (and fret!) about things a lot.  

We, the thinkers, are also the worriers.  

That means we worry that so many still honestly believe that climate change is a hoax.  Including the ignorant clowns in our present administration.  

I wish I could share this really simple guide to climate change with the nonbelievers, BUT, they are stuck in a belief SO deeply that they are just not interested in learning what Science has to teach.  

Anyhooooooo - 

Yesterday we had a 73 degree day.

Today we're having snow, sleet, and white out conditions.

I am not complaining.  I am much more a winter girl than a summer girl. 

I always count on a picture of one of the prettiest corners of our neighborhood from our friends at Plan B

We love our little Plan B Corner Store

Earlier this morning, before the weather (and the roads!) got bad, Don Barley took off and drove to town while I started thinking about packing for my upcoming trip with gal pal Vickie.

He picked up some Euros I had ordered through our credit union.   The young woman, Grace, who placed my order called and this was our conversation.

Ring, Ring.

Me:  "Hello."

Grace:  "Mrs. Barley, hi!  It's Grace from the credit union.  Mr. Barley is here to pick up your euros and I just need to make sure, since you were the person who ordered them, that it's okay."

Me:  "ha.  Oh, yes.  I know he appears to be an unreliable sort, but he's truly trustworthy.  It's fine, but I appreciate you checking."

Grace:  "<giggling>  Okay.  Thank you so much.  Have a good day."

And the ever-so trustworthy Mr. Barley brought home my euros and breakfast from Bojangles. 

 God love him.

Annabelle and I were happy he got back home safely because the roads got bad quickly, with accidents being widely reported.

Now that we're all where we should be, safe and snug, and after we shared a chuckle about my conversation with Grace,  I can concentrate on gathering a few things to pack.

I am concentrating on minimalism.

A few basic little black dresses, changing the looks with scarves and a kimono or two so as not to look like i only own two or three little black dresses, when in reality I own more little black dresses than should be legal.

Hmmmm . . . and maybe a little red dress or two . . .

Anyhooo -

While I'm doing all this thinking about all the things (climate change, evil people in D.C., packing suitcases, getting a hair cut (leave it long, or go shorter, or go real short .  .  .) I think I'll pour a fresh cup of coffee and go make a few bracelets.  

Have a good day!

😘

Saved By A Bead

 There's just no way for me to write a rant that would adequately express the disgust and anger and hurt and humiliation I, along with most of the world it seems, feel towards this current administration.  

So I make bracelets.

Read or hear a new lie?

Make a bracelet.

Read or hear the latest disgrace?

Make a bracelet.

Beads, in all honesty, may be saving my sanity.

Peaceful Beading to Resistance Beading

 And, in the blink of an eye, my bracelets went from sweet to salty.

Welcome to my studio aka our sunroom

I think I now have a new hobby.  

This may be what I'll be doing during those 3 a.m. wake-ups when I can't get back to sleep.

Making pretty little Fuck Trump bracelets.

tee hee

Whatever works - Right?!

Today.

 Today I will have a peaceful day.

Choosing creativity over reading, watching, listening to the news.

We are, absolutely, allowed to experience joy while the world around us spins out of control.

Feeding our souls and replenishing our spirits are gentle, positive acts of resistance.  

Necessary.

Today I choose to create.

I love trying my hand at something new.  

The newest is finally getting around to making beaded bracelets.  Late to the game, but better late than never.  And - It's fun!

(Please my excuse my raggy hair.  Yes, it is in need of a good cut.  Yes, it could use a brushing.  We're pretty laid back here, so if my hair doesn't get brushed we pretend not to notice . . .   Besides.  I've got important stuff to do!  Bracelets to bead!  and, you know, stuff . . . )

The world is on fire and has gone crazy.

But, home is a place of calm.

And the place where I remember to breathe

❤ ❤ ❤ 

Orange Energy

       by Stephanie

All I want to do is delight—

Throw the mask off,

Not care and not worry,

Not explain what I mean nor

Define what I do.

Just be whatever I feel like being.

Just relish in the energy of this moment.

I want to be so alive that

I feel like the moon,

Throwing tides just for fun,

Creating because it’s what I’m

Here to do.

I want to love the color orange,

Just because it craves delight too.

I want to cry because

I’m so in love with the miracle of

Being alive.

I don’t want to feel like I’m

Striving.

I want to try and feel like I’m

Flying.

I want to write the poetry,

Read the poetry, and

Breathe the poetry.

I want my life to be a

Beautiful,

Messy mosaic that even I

Can’t help but fall in love with.

Create! Create!

I feel the winds of fury

Blowing through me.

Even my bones are smiling.

I hear my veins pulsing with

Desire, like branches

Dancing in the breezes.

Wildflowers are waving and

The ocean blossoms with a new idea.

Crazy and beautiful is

How I want my life to feel.

Let it be. Let it be.

I write to be free.

I read to tap in.

I absorb the poetry.

And so it shall be.

And now I am this energy.

💝  💝  💝 

Counting the days . . .

 and the euros . . .

Breaking into Monsieur Piggy for euros for my upcoming trip.

Hmmmm . . . not as much here as I thought   😒

(202) 224-3121

 85 schoolgirls were murdered by this administration in a senseless, unauthorized attack on Iran.

Please take a few minutes to make a phone call or two.  

(202) 224-3121  

💔  

PLEASE SHARE! ! ! !

The History Teacher by Billy Collins

Trying to protect his students' innocence
he told them the Ice Age was really just
the Chilly Age, a period of a million years
when everyone had to wear sweaters.

And the Stone Age became the Gravel Age,
named after the long driveways of the time.

The Spanish Inquisition was nothing more
than an outbreak of questions such as
"How far is it from here to Madrid?"
"What do you call the matador's hat?"

The War of the Roses took place in a garden,
and the Enola Gay dropped one tiny atom
on Japan.

The children would leave his classroom
for the playground to torment the weak
and the smart,
mussing up their hair and breaking their glasses,

while he gathered up his notes and walked home
past flower beds and white picket fences,
wondering if they would believe that soldiers
in the Boer War told long, rambling stories
designed to make the enemy nod off.

No Unsolicited Advice. Except from Walt Whitman

 I've never been one who appreciates unsolicited advice.

Never.

However.

Picking up an old copy of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass and reading what Mr. Whitman advises gives me a different perspective.  

But.

Even though I can appreciate what he has to say, I'm sticking by my own philosophy of "No Unsolicited Advice!"

I mean it.

Mr. Whitman gets a pass.  The ONLY pass.

* * * 

"This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body… The poet shall not spend his time in unneeded work. He shall know that the ground is always ready ploughed and manured … others may not know it but he shall. He shall go directly to the creation. His trust shall master the trust of everything he touches … and shall master all attachment."

   -  -  -  Walt Whitman