2022 Happy To Be Here

7:45 AM For some reason, I was surprised to see so many people at the beach this morning. I don't know why this surprised me, it is a vacation week. There weren’t a lot of people, just more than I expected. It is also beautiful and peaceful. The sounds of the waves crashing and mumbling their way in and out from the shore keeps away any noise of cars traveling by. I came to the beach to try to catch the sunrise but with cloud cover I either missed it or couldn't see it. It has been a long time since I came to the beach. I'm writing this while sitting on a cold, damp rock in North Hampton, NH. It is utterly enjoyable to just 'be' for a little while. Water moved rocks during a recent storm. People move rocks too. 8:31 AM I walked about 2.4 miles back and forth along the sidewalk and on the rocks and sand. There was one person who took a quick swim and another who was on some kind of surfboard. Dog walkers, joggers and others were also out in the bright Decembe...

Never would I have imagined as a child or young teen that someday I would be sitting in a pavilion almost every August, wearing medieval clothes.  The SCA found me when I was 19.  At that age, I did not think that I would still be playing in the SCA at this age.  Now, many, many years later I raised two children within this community and my daughter is raising her son here too.  Other happy things from today: --Gideon (my grandson) and Zed (his dad) arrived to join us at Pennsic.  They were tired after the long drive. --Very early this morning Keziah and I got up and did a volunteer shift with the 'Watch'.  This is basically driving around in a golf cart making sure fires are attended and people aren't looking for some kind of help.  We had a radio to call in for more help if needed.  My body wasn't happy about being in the cart for three hours, other than that, it went well. --We saw the sky lighten as the sun rose. ...

It was another busy day setting up and trying to get organized.  I finally went through the storage trailer that we keep on site and got almost everything labeled as to who it belongs to.  When things are only seen once a year that can be hard.  Other happy things from today: --The common tent is up.  That means we have more shade available during the day and dry space when it rains.  Two nice men from the camp next to us helped us put it up.  Because of covid, we are only keeping two walls up for shade and the others down for air circulation.  --The only things left to finish setup are digging a fire pit and putting some lights in the common tent.  We bought the firewood today so we are ready to burn. --There was a small rain storm that barely got anything wet.  This was followed by beautiful skies. ☮️ Thank you for being part of my happy things.  Stay safe. 

Clouds can make some gorgeous formations. They can be huge, small, puffy, or flat. They can also resemble things– a dinosaur, dog, dragon, or dancing bear. I didn't get a picture but saw what seemed to be an upside-down shark and it got me thinking about teleportation. Would that upside-down shark look right-side up to someone five or ten miles to the west of me? Or would it just be a blob? Perception makes a difference.  Depending on the atmospheric conditions the clouds can be ever changing or seem to be standing still. But how different they may look to the person in the next town over is where teleportation comes in. A person could witness them from multiple positions with just moments between the viewing. And that would be cool. Other happy things from today: I only got a few things done but Keziah was very productive and I am proud of her for all she accomplished today. One of the things I worked on was pulling weeds in the flower beds. One iris is open. Last fal...

Mondays are usually the days that I walk with my friend Amy. Today we walked a popular rail trail near the airport. We saw a plane or two fly over that wasn't from a commercial airline. They were loud enough that we stopped to look. They reminded me of something the military might use but I saw no recognizable markings. It was a nice walk. Here are some other happy things from today: Spending time at the studio seems to always be a good thing. I worked some more on the Viking dress. If I have the energy after work this week I may do a little more tomorrow. The lily pads are budding on the pond we walked by.  The green circles with yellow buds poking up are hard to see in the photo. Since the last time we walked this trail someone has put up QR code signs to teach different things along the trail.  One also had the following cute sign. We didn't stay out as long as we might have because there were supposed to be passing storms.  When we got back to the cars and out...

Today turned into a self care day. There were many things that I hoped to accomplish. Most didn't. I'm happy for the things I did get done: The portable AC is back in my room for the season. The temperatures have been in the 80's already and now I'm ready to stay cooler. In the triangle part of the driveway some of the paperwhites that I planted last fall have bloomed. I'm thankful to my aunt for letting me have these from her yard. There were thunderstorms today and I was walking this evening when one came by. I got home wet and closer to my step goal. More pacing inside and I achieved it. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year , Joan Borysenko. And Tracking & The Art of Seeing: How to Read Animal Tracks and Sign , by Paul Rezendes. Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

This evening I took a two mile walk in town. On the way south on the street I had a lovely conversation with TF. On the way north, the wind was blowing so the conversation ended. Instead I got to watch the sunset. The clouds were layered and the different layers changed colors differently. There were various shades of orange/peach and dark gray lavender and pinks.  Other happy things from today: I’ve been enjoying watching the bulbs, tubers, and rhizomes start to grow in the triangle. I’m kind of wishing I had planted more, but they have room to multiply.  Hopefully the pips will start coming up soon too. One of the cats decided that the bathroom sink looked interesting.  😁 Most of the afternoon I spent at the studio. I printed out a flat cap pattern, made some adjustments, then made the hat–out of an old pillow case. It came out pretty good.  Day 98 of the A&S challenge was making a hat.  It took a lot longer than the 15 minutes needed to complete...

Days off can be the best. Also the most tiring. I've been awake too long. The evening ended with friends and games. We played a different version of Kill Dr Lucky. We also played a new-to-me-game called Codenames. Other happy things from today: In the morning Aesop (the dog) and I took a walk around the back property.  There were wisps of clouds rising from the trees in the distance. I started a walking group on Facebook and a few of us met up for our first walk today. We walked a little over four miles on a rail trail. It was a beautiful day to be outside. Sometimes little things can drive me crazy (figuratively). One such thing for me are the towels in the bathroom. We have them hanging on hooks on the door. The problem is when people close the door they sometimes fall to the floor. I've been thinking for a while that I could add loops to the towels and they would stay hanging better. I began the process today with some of the towels. It isn't pretty, but it shou...