2022 Happy To Be Here

When I set out to walk the five miles to the studio today, I really didn't want to make the walk. I made arrangements with Zed to pick me up along the way. He didn't and that is okay. Somewhere along the walk, after picking up lunch, I started feeling better.  Other happy things from today include: Keziah was at the studio helping a friend work on a new gown. Other friends came to visit as well. It was good. Eventually I hit that time of day when I get tired and all I could do was put my head on the table and nap.  Before the nap I made some earrings. This is not something I am great at, but I think they came out nice.   I also did a small amount of weaving. My brain wasn't where it needed to be to do more than about an inch and my back started to hurt. I didn’t find a comfortable weaving position. Still glad that progress was made. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Yea...

Somehow I slept over nine hours last night. It was in two parts, but the first part was around eight hours. And yet, I have still been tired most of the afternoon. Then I stayed up way too late. Here are some happy things from today: One of the vehicles has been in the shop. I walked to pick it up. Crossing the small river along the way I noticed that the leaves are mostly gone. There is still a reflection of an evergreen on the water.   This is the last week to work in wet clay for the ceramics so I went and practiced a bit. I’ve decided that this medium may not be for me. I ended up with three more pieces and four or five that failed. I didn’t count the ones that didn’t make it. The clay can be reused.  The upper right one I made Monday.  The sycamore tree also has lost most of its leaves. The sun now shines on it making it beautifully bright. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every ...

For the last few days Gideon has been so excited. They are going to Texas tomorrow and he is looking forward to the trip and seeing his grandfather. They haven't seen each other since before Covid hit. I've been to Texas three times and seen him since the last time they went. It is great to see my grandson so happy.  Not that he isn't a happy child, he is, but he has been over the top!  Other happy things for me today: I walked some of the way to ceramics class. Keziah picked me up so we would be on time. There is a small river I cross over that I stopped to take a picture of. The colors are pretty there. I like the textures that can be seen below the water. In ceramics class we learned how to trim the bowls we made last week. Mine was thick so I took a bunch off. It is less thick now, and I like the look of it. Upside-down bowl. Two of my pieces have been bisque fired so far. Next week we go over glazing techniques. The sycamore tree near the studio has lost mo...

Yesterday I forgot a very important thing that I was happy about. Two of my champions showed up just to represent during court. I was thrilled. My exhaustion from the day left me with a poor memory. Some happy things from today: There is a line from Simon & Garfunkel’s song "The Dangling Conversation", “And we note our place with book markers/That measure what we've lost”. As I came closer to finishing two different works of fiction these lines kept crossing my mind. There are points in storytelling that have an anticipatory excitement. It could be a "Whodunnit?" type anticipation or something else, but with good writing, it is there. As books reveal that information, excitement can dwindle and the book soon ends. I'm not sure if that is what Paul Simon meant by those lyrics, maybe he meant time, but I’m looking at it as the loss of that anticipatory excitement. I finished reading The Three Miss Margarets by Louise Shaffer today. It was a ...

When I walked into work and saw that they placed me where I tend to have the most aches, I signed up to get voluntary time off. 25 minutes later I was out of there and heading home to do class work. After that, I tried to nap but couldn't. Instead I did dishes and cleaned the kitchen a little. Here are some other happy things from today: I left home just before the sun rose so I brought a flashlight. It wasn't dark, but the flashlight made me feel better.  Walking to the studio this morning in the brisk morning air I realized that these walks will be ending once the snow falls. There will not be enough room to safely walk some of the streets to get there. Plus the possibility of ice makes it just a bad idea. A nice talk with our studio friend and I am told which sidewalks are best to walk on near the studio come winter.  Walking over the Merrimack River there are definitely trees that are more empty than colorful. The beauty still lingers as it reflects on the water...

It seems that walking to or from the ceramics class on Mondays is the easiest way for me to get my step count. I don't have to walk all the way, just most of it. Keziah picked me up on her way there so we could be on time. I was able to get one cylinder thrown and one piece trimmed in class. I only have a partial picture of the one I trimmed.  It was already on the shelf when I thought of taking a picture. It is now drying and waiting to go into the kiln for the first time.  Some other happy things:  The reflection of the trees on the Merrimack River as I walked this morning was captivating. The river was fairly calm and the trees were colorful. Lately, Gideon, my grandson, has been asking for hugs more often. This is a happy occurrence for me. Kids go through stages; I'm liking this one. With the dog, Aesop, no longer living with us, the cats are all over the place. They love that there is more time for us to play with them. I miss Aesop, but from what I've hear...

Instead of falling into a restful sleep yesterday I had an anxiety attack. Eventually, sleep did come but the end result is that I felt sick at work and came home early. I decided that feeling shaky and dizzy near machinery was a bad idea. Here are some happy things from today: It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep when I returned home from work. I even slept later than I wanted to. Somehow, I still felt tired all day, but the shaky and dizzy was gone. I worked on the module for my prerequisite class while the rest of the house still slept. Keziah wanted to go to the studio so I walked part of the way there and she picked me up for the rest. I got some pictures of the Merrimack River from the south side of the bridge.  Yesterday the pictures were from the north side of the same bridge. At the studio I worked more on the module and did some weaving. It is my attempt at finding some balance between the class work and the SCA crafts.  It is also more comfortable to wor...

Over the weekend I wanted to work on my prerequisite class but I didn't. I made a point of working on it this morning before ceramics class. This course is supposed to take about 240 hours to complete. I already doubt my ability to get it finished before January just because of time. The more I complete, the more I will know and that counts too. Other happy things from today include: Ceramics class went well. I made a slightly warped cylinder. The class worked on handles, but I'm not there yet. In the picture, last week's is the hourglass sort of shape.  This week's is the other one. Walking home from the studio I found myself humming notes… no particular tune that I know of or remember. This is an unusual thing for me.  I think it is a good thing. Along the walk I finally got close enough to a plant to take a picture and identify it. The common hibiscus seems like a plant I should have been able to identify, now I guess I can. I crossed the Merrimack River.  ...

My happy things today started with archery in the morning. I shot well (for me) in my first round but got tired as I continued to practice.  It is also great to visit with my friend who holds the practice. Next I went for a walk along a rail trail not far from where I went to archery practice. The trail is by a small river with some trees that have started to turn yellow and orange. It was lovely. I didn’t bring my backpack or a pen but I decided to look for some Geocaches along the trail. I found two out of the three I looked for but I didn’t log them on my account since I had no pen. It was still fun to find them. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year , Joan Borysenko. And The Three Miss Margarets , Louise Shaffer. Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

 In the last few days I have completed the first three modules of the prerequisite course I'm taking to try to get into a different course next year.  These were the short, this is how the course will work modules and a very introductory coding one.  The modules get longer and more in depth as the course progresses.  It feels good to have started it.  Other happy things from today: After leaving the car at the shop to try to get it inspected, I walked to the studio.  Here are a couple things that made me happy along the way. My protege came by the studio and helped me to get started on warping a loom.  There are more champion's bands to make and I would like to finish them soon. In the evening a few of us went to the movies to see Avatar in 3D.  It came out originally in 2009 but I hadn't seen it.  Gideon hadn't either and we all enjoyed it.  I look forward to seeing the next movie, Avatar 2: The Way of Water , coming out toward the en...

Our couch has a cover for it that I am having a hard time keeping on right now.  It slips, I try to fix it and it slips again.  I need to pull the thing out to fix it right and I haven't taken the time to do that.  Anyhow, Aesop, our dog, decided he liked the cave that was created by the cover slipping and made himself comfortable. Here are some other happy things for Saturday: I decided to walk the four miles into the city today. It would have been slightly more pleasant had I remembered to wear a hat. Somehow I didn't get a sunburn.  Here are some pictures from the walk: Zed, Gideon, and Aesop were already in the city with friends. I thought they had left already and was pleasantly surprised to find them ordering some lunch at the new place in town. It was a nice short visit with all the people and Keziah came as well to bring and Aesop me home. There was a bunch of stuff that I borrowed from a friend for Pennsic. I visited with her and returned most of the s...