There are a few times in life when you leap up and the past that you’d been standing on falls away behind you, and the future you mean to land on is not yet in place, and for a moment you’re suspended knowing nothing and no one, not even yourself. — Ann Pachett, The Dutch House
Oh boy, another Monday.
It seems like last week the world began to be more topsy-turvy, and overflowing with uncertainty. I cannot get Danny’s voice out of my head because how he describes it is exactly so! The footing has fallen away, and the firmer future is still 58 days away. So here I am, suspended in knowing nothing and no one… not even myself.
I don’t like feeling so helpless with this uncertainty. One thing that is definitely certain – this virus is here and active. Sadly, not everyone gets that, or is it really that not everyone cares? But out in that “not everyone cares” world, are those I hold most dear. There they are braving places where the virus is like a speeding train… work. And I am truly at a loss this morning. Honestly, I am just so damned mad at people, ALL THE PEOPLE!!
I was certain that there would be no magic to fix all of this, but then this morning I heard this poem by Joy Harjo and as I let the words wash over me, I felt the tiniest crack in the dread… the uncertainty.
To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear;
Can’t know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.
See you all back here on Wednesday… I am excited to share some FINISHED THINGS with you!
It feels like I survived the wars this week, and came out standing!! Nothing takes your mind off the insanity of politics like a plumbing problem… however, I hope we are good on plumbing for the rest of the year! LOL
There were some lovely little bright spots this week, though…
I was excited to see a trailer for Between the World and Me, airing tomorrow on HBO (and HBOMax) at 8PM.
And, finally… I have a baby in knits! Winston has finally (sort of) grown into the vest and socks I made for him! I think it will fit him for at least for a little while. If I can’t hug him in person, it is nice to know he is snug in something I made him – each stitch filled with love, prayers, hope for his future, and joy in his being.
That is all I have for this week. I hope your weekend is full of good things! See you back here on Monday!
The best laid plans of knitters and stitchers often go awry…said makers everywhere at one time or another
Greetings Unravelers,
I hope you’ll excuse my play on Robert Burns writing, but it truly sums up my week thus far! (BUT, the water is flowing OUT again! No more clogged drain! Some days it’s the small things to be thankful for!)
I haven’t much knitting to show (but in the brilliant words of Bridget… I have a HO*) and not a lick of sewing. I learned the hard way this week that putting things off can have “finishing” consequences…as in, no finished bag this week as I’d planned. Yes… in my plan, Steve would have watched the Steelers Sunday afternoon while I sewed. The Plumbing Gods had different ideas for my weekend. I have about 3ish inches of knitting on sock two before the toe decreases…it is getting there!
However this is not a blog of excuses (okay, so maybe it is, lol) so I do have that sock to share. AND!!
And as you can see there has been some spinning because I have another skein of yarn finished. One more to go and my hope is that I will have enough to knit a simple top down sweater. I don’t think you can see the difference between the “set” skein and the just off the wheel skein… but to my eye the difference is notable. This fiber (Falkland) bloomed nicely in the bath! Skein two will be getting a spa treatment later today. I have not measured the finished yarn yet, but pre-finishing I have roughly 400 yds of fingering weight yarn.
And!! Yesterday, we even had a brief sunny interlude (thankfully, so I could get some photos!!) in our otherwise blustery, snowy day!
The reading continues to be slow. I have one finish, and it is such a curious book!
This book fills the “captivating read” category and then some! Even if the premise is utterly unbelievable! But, if you look beyond the unbelievable, you begin to see Wilson frame for you some questions: What is success? What is failure? What makes up a family? AND What do you do when the hand you’ve been dealt just plain sucks?
The book moves between the past and the present…giving the reader everything you need to know to start to ask yourself the questions. I began to hope early on that Madison would get what she so richly deserved, although I won’t tell you if she did in the end.
The real winners in the book are Lilian, Bessie, and Roland. While the end was very predictable, it just felt so good. They take the cards they were dealt and turn them into winners!
Want a quick, enjoyable read? This is it!
*HO: Half an object, as apposed to FO, which is a finished object!
That is all for today, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
Today is going to need all sorts of magic… I have a clogged drain and no amount of *anything* worked to unclog it on Sunday and we tried practically all.day.long! It made for a contentious, irritating day… and yes, there were LOTS of raised voice conversations. So when I found this in my in-box yesterday, it was exactly what I needed. So with a nod to the brilliant Sarcastic Lutheran… I present my take on the Serenity Prayer for a Monday Morning!
Dear Monday
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change or fix like…
clogged drains
laundry
neighbors who are on the opposite side of the political spectrum from me
Give me the courage to change the things I can (and a willing heart to do them!) like…
my attitude… hoo boy does it need an adjustment
renewed contentment with simply staying home
the sheets, it is Monday after all
And the wisdom to know the difference…such as
Not moving the things from one list to the other and vise versa.
AMEN!
P.S. I have been doing lots of OLW contemplations… and I think I might have found my word. Maybe.
Every Friday, I like to high-five myself for getting through another week on little more than caffeine, willpower, and inappropriate humor. — Nanea Hoffman
Hello, Gentle Readers and Happy Friday!
I hope that none of you suffer from triskaidekaphobia and that today is simply the gateway to the weekend!
Here in the ‘Burgh, its been a week of all.the.weathers! We have had sunny, clear days with temps in the 70’s, we have had soggy, rainy days with loud claps of thunder for extra emphasis, and this morning… a hard frost greeted Sherman and I as we went out for his morning constitutional. This meant it was a very short trip, with lots of those “looks”… yes, his little toes were cold! lol
This week, I found some very good things to share with you all!
First up, contemplating Thanksgiving with a group of your family or friends? You might want to utilize the COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool. It also helped Steve determine the risk for everyone at his office (they have a 27% risk) and thus, lay the law down about mask wearing at all times…no exceptions.
Thanks to Andy Slavitt’s podcast this week, I discovered Livinguard masks and we ordered some! But I found especially useful the parts on grocery shopping, which I confess have become quite lax on the amount of time spent in the store… wandering, looking, dawdling. A wake up call for me…in Allegheny County (where I live) if there are 50 people in the store the risk jumps to 72% (yikes! and there are usually more than 50 people there, so yeah.)
Finally, Good Knitters, TODAY IS YOUR DAY! It is Cardigan Day! I mean… it is a day made for us, amirite?!? That this coincides with World Kindness Day is just the icing on the cake. Because the most famous Cardigan wearer in the world was also the kindest person ever. So get your cardigan on and spread some kindness today! However, you all have LOTS of work to do to beat Sarah! She wins Cardigan Day, hands down!
Armistice Day…”on this day, at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War ends.”
Somehow this is not something that is celebrated here in the United States. We call it Veterans Day…but there is something meaningful about those words. 11… 11… 11… The Great War Ends.
My making is at a stand still… as is my reading. Nothing new started. Nothing in process finished.
