by Kat | Dec 10, 2021 | General, In This Moment
It’s been a week, hasn’t it? Is it just me and does it feel like we are racing on to mid-December, except that December just began?! Fortunately, the mailbag has a letter or two to share!
Dear December Weather:
Mild is nice… in January, but I really like wintry Decembers…kthxbai
Dear PowerPoint Insurrectionists,
I am not sure if you all missed the zillions of company trainings that included a PowerPoint presentation from back in the ’90’s… but they were entire snorefests. Really… I think the response is clinically known as “Insta-tune out” but your feeble attempt did provide some hilarious fodder for the Twitterverse this week. I mean… I think we all have experienced Death by PowerPoint at least once in our lives. I am just insanely grateful you have not discovered the more engaging PowerPoint Alternatives! Back in the day, the most engaging Prezi was my go to training device… just sayin’.
Sincerely,
American’s Who Don’t Insurrection
And finally…
Dear Easily Entertained Self:
This week you found such joy in the simple things like turning a heel and neatly picked up gusset stitches. But the greatest joy ever might have been found in a wee little Gnome Hat complete with a pocket! I love your thoughts on adding a bit of whimsical stitching to embellish that pocket with a tiny snow flake! You go girl!
Signed,
One Whimsically Happy Knitter
And with that… I will leave you all to enjoy your weekend! See you all back here on Monday!
Photo by Suzy Hazelwood from Pexels
by Kat | Dec 3, 2021 | General, In This Moment
Oh Friday… I am so glad you are here and bringing this week to a close. I tried to write letters this week, but gave up and decided a bit of TGIF was more in order.
Thinking about —
Roe vs Wade and Sonia Sotomayor… specifically these words: “Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts? I don’t see how it is possible.”
And I am thinking lots about the lies that Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Coney Barrett glibly told in their hearings… their “assurances” in their belief in stare decisis – precedent – was how the court would decide. I wonder how that twat from Maine is feeling about her vote to confirm them this week. Coney Barrett set my hair on fire even more than all the others with her thoughts that women are all handmaidens and we can just give birth and give the baby away… thanks to The Land of Safe Haven in all 50 States.
I am sorry, Justice Sotomayor… but the stench is already there. There are 21 states with Trigger Laws all ready to go… The court is overloaded with political hacks and until the court is expanded (which should be happening NOW) I am expecting more of the same on things that will impact all of the citizens that the “moral-less minority” does not like.
Grateful for —
November was a hard month for me… emotionally and physically because when your emotions are in the wringer, your body feels those effects too. But I had one incredible saving grace this month… poetry! From the poems in my in-box to the poems on podcasts… each day brought a poem (or two) that helped me get through that moment… that hour… that day. So many have been printed out and are tucked in the pages of my journal, but the month ended with a poem that I think will stick with me for a very long time. I have it printed out and it is next to Derek Walcott’s Love After Love… I think they are the perfect poems to be read one after the other and I thought I’d share it with you all:
When your son abandons the lawnmower for the second time in as many days
Peter Grandbois
We all want to leave this widening night,
this barking at the thing we can’t see.
No one walks through their story un-stung.
This yard, this life, like a book of changes,
the moment buzzing by like a prophecy,
your body a constellation of pain.
We spend our time stumbling through the white fog,
searching the doctrine of our own breath
when all we need do is crawl deep inside
the silence that comes after and face
the teeming hole in the ground, the wasp’s nest,
that cousin of the eyelessness of space.
Do not fear the ache and swell my sweet boy.
It’s easy to hate what we’re given.
Copyright © 2021 by Peter Grandbois. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on November 30th, 2021 by the Academy of American Poets.
In search of any common sense, at all —
Another school shooting this week followed by a flurry of school closings/lockdown’s across the nation (even in Pittsburgh today) and I am just so angry and frustrated. But Garrison Keillor had some snarky wisdom this morning… and I will take the snark every.single.day.
…I worry about how the Supreme Court might rule if asked to defend the right of high school students to carry a loaded weapon to class. And what is the constitutional basis for compulsory school attendance? Why shouldn’t six-year-olds be free to take factory jobs? Their little hands would be perfect for assembling small parts.
I am sure this snark will be lost on that moral-less minority who might actually think that compulsory school attendance is not something for all children… because after all, what could be better than to give those kids an early start in those factory jobs at greatly reduced pay, because they are so small!
Finally —
The tree is up and almost all decorated (I have a few finishing touches to get to this morning) and the lights are out on our bushes! Christmas can officially begin! LOL (and so can the weekend! Steve has today off!)
See you all back here on Monday!
by Kat | Nov 19, 2021 | General, In This Moment
A couple of weeks ago, Bonny wrote some letters… they were so good! (And so inspiring!) I thought it might be fun to write a letter or two this week! Thank you Bonny for inspiring me! (I see that she wrote some more letters this week as well!)
Dear Neighbor’s With the Holiday Lights:
I really enjoyed seeing your Halloween lights in October during Sherman’s Evening Constitutional! They were just so fun but I was slightly confused to see that you went from Halloween to Christmas overnight and I thought I’d take a moment to introduce you to the joys that are November (you know, that month between October and December…) November is full of really lovely days! We celebrate Veteran’s Day and Thanksgiving Day. For the rest of the month it is all about savoring Autumn… leaves changing color as well as cooler days and nights. It just seems, well, commercial to be putting up and turning on your holiday lights on November 1st. I completely understand wanting to put holiday lights out while the weather is mild, but you know that you don’t have to actually turn them on immediately don’t you? Just a suggestion for next year!
Signed,
Your Neighbor who loves November
My Dearest Big Foot,
News Flash! Sock One is DONE! I hope to begin Sock Two later today. I think it will go a bit faster than the first sock because I seem to have more knitting bandwidth these days… which is a very good thing!
Love,
Your Knitting Half
And finally this week I really need to pen this letter (or ten) in reality… not just here in the blogosphere!
Dear Mental Health Crisis Centers of Michigan:
Yes, I realize that Crisis is a singular term… but really? Do you honestly think that a person having a mental health crisis has just one single problem? I did look after talking with all of you for any Mental Health Crises Centers of Michigan and found them to be a non-existent entity. You gave me a Mental Health Crisis after spending days calling and talking to therapists at your facilities only to be told that my loved one had “too many crises” and that they could not help. It made me understand in a profound way why we have so many homeless people… they too are probably in the crises category and deemed “incapable of help.” I knew that our mental health system was woefully lacking, but I did not truly understand how broken it is until this week. Despite your lack of help in even giving me other alternative places to call… by some miracle we stumbled into a place that would take my sister, no thanks to you at all. In fact, you all told me there was no place in Michigan that would take her. You really missed the mark on that one, unless you think Holland is really The Netherlands.
Signed,
The Woman who called you all this week
That is all I have for this week! Have a good weekend and perhaps write a letter or two! See you all back here on Monday.
Photo by Suzy Hazelwood from Pexels
by Kat | Oct 22, 2021 | General, In This Moment
It was a random week, punctuated by a few maddening moments.
With the latest update from my daughter… the tooth is still wiggly. Or at least it was on Monday! My daughter is back at work, which means Winston is in daycare and has had one illness after another. While we were there she shared how stressful being a “single parent” is (which I sadly know about all too well!) She is exhausted and I really wish I lived closer to be able to help her more! This is maddening moment number one for the week.
I sat down to begin the Great Advent Calendar project and as I read through the instructions again. I realized I need some ribbon… maddening moment number two because I made a list and got “everything” I needed… or so I thought. I will be making a trip to JoAnn’s today to get a spool of ribbon.
I have been valiantly trying to do Stitching In Hand and failing miserably, which brought maddening moment number three. I tried to give myself a bit of a grace period… you know, learning something new can be a challenge to the brain as well as the hands! It seemed easier to go in one direction… or so I thought, until I found that I was not going over enough threads on one row. I have ripped out all the “new” stitches put my hoop back on and went back to my tried and true method. Sometimes you cannot teach and old dog new tricks… or perhaps I need to practice on larger spaced cloth!
Being gone for several days at the beginning of October meant I did not get my act together to do any “Halloween” decorating until this week. I hauled the boxes upstairs from the garage (This is Pittsburgh… our garage is in our basement!) and then contemplated what to put out with less than 2 weeks left in the month. I pulled out my “Fall” decorations that can stay up through November and just got out a couple of things for Halloween. Some is better than none… right? Now I just need to make a decision about some kind of outside lights for Halloween night itself… None of which is maddening, thank goodness! lol
Have a great weekend everyone! I will see you all back here on Monday with my October Word update! (fun times!)
by Kat | Oct 15, 2021 | General, In This Moment
Whew! Re-entry week almost over and it feels like “normal” life is more normal!
My day started out incredibly when Steve sent me this link for my listening pleasure! (Adele’s new album drops Nov. 19 and I.can’t.wait!!)
The Loose Tooth is still hanging in there! (Heidi is a much more patient mom than I ever was, I would have pulled the sucker out by now! lol)
We had such strange weather in Michigan… practically no wind any day! Which meant no waves at the beach. It was so strange to stand on the Frankfort Beach and have Lake Michigan be like glass! 
I get my flu shot this morning… yay!
My knitting mojo has RETURNED! Thanks to Gnorwen! LOL Today is all about Arm Knitting and I am eager to finish the things on my list so I can sit down and knit!
Finally (so I can get started on my list!) I heard a poem by Connie Wanek this week and I have not stopped thinking about it since. I think there is some incredible wisdom on her words which had me nodding my head frequently. (And I had no idea that Connie has a collection of Mrs. God poems!)
Mrs. God
by Connie Wanek
Someone had to do the dirty work,
spading the garden, moving mountains,
keeping the darkness out of the light,
and she took every imperfection personally.
Mr. Big Ideas, sure,
but someone had to run the numbers.
Then talk about babies: he never imagined
so many.
That was part of his charm, of course,
his frank amazement at consequences.
The pretty songs he gave the finches:
those spoke to his
innocence, his ability to regard
every moment as fresh. “Let’s give them
free will and see what happens.”
he said, ever the optimist.
Connie Wanek, “Mrs. God” from Rival Gardens: New and Selected Poems.
Have a great weekend everyone! I will see you all back here on Monday!
