So Close

Whether you call it an end to war, diplomatic efforts, or a ceasefire, peace agreement, a treaty here and there, or an economic normalization agreement, we are getting closer to world peace... So close...

1. Egypt and Ethiopia
2. Serbia and Kosovo
3. Armenia and Azerbaijan
4. Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda
5. Iran and Israel
6. India and Pakistan
7. Cambodia and Thailand
8. Israel and Hamas

What do these situations have in common?  A world sick of deadly, destructive turmoil, the Team of Donald J. Trump and ... the man himself ... US President, Donald J. Trump.  Let us pray now for peace between Ukraine and Russia. I am thinking that, deep down, they want peace as well.  There needs to be an end to the killing and devastation all across the world.     Global Peace   Imagine that for a moment.

~~~~

Am watching the release of the hostages in Gaza as I type...

Can't help but think of this song -- a global anthem for peace that will probably play in your head for a while -- at least if you are anything like me who starts singing in my head after the first six words.

Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me;

let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be. 

With God our creator, children all are we.

Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me, let this be the moment now.

With every step I take, may this be my solemn vow:

To Take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally.

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me. 

                                                                (Jill Jackson-Miller and Sy Miller 1955) 

 (Are Ukraine and Russia on the horizon? May they build on success.)

Thanks for listening....

I understand errors.  I make them all the time. I am quite good at it. What I do not understand is why I don't always trust my gut when making decisions.  About a year ago now I purchased a new washer and dryer.  At the time I was tempted to go with another brand that I had never purchased before, but allowed myself to fall back into a comfort zone and purchased a familiar brand instead.  Big mistake. They don't make them like they used to. I tell my kids and grandkids to always trust their gut! Apparently I do not follow my own advice.

This is the issue as I see it .... What is up with new appliances? They are way too techy techy.  They think they should be able to tell you how to do your laundry, but ... they are wrong.  I get to decide how much water I want my clothes to slosh around in, and if I change my mind for any reason, I should be able to change the settling  -- even after I hit Start.   It seems like nothing can be changed … not one single setting …. Once you click Start, everything is set it stone – no going back. 

Sometimes the machine even locks you out. I particularly hate that.  You find a dirty sock on the floor between the bedroom and the laundry room and go to throw it into the washer and it won't let you open the lid for even a nanosecond.  It seems that if you want to change something, like water level or temperature, you have to attempt to start over --  wave your hands in the air, speak softly, make clicking sounds with your tongue and turn around three times before you hit Start again and then when that doesn’t work… you try something else until something finally does. One must never let the machine win. Never.  I don’t want to go as far back as a ringer washer or washing clothes down by the creek,  but seriously – something without stupid sensors would be nice. I mean I am smarter than they are and I still cannot figure out how to use many of the features of my phone -- this after several years of carrying it around with me. Duh!

One last thing.  It also annoys me that the buzzer on my "new" dryer doesn’t work any more, so I never know when my clothes are dry – have to set an alarm on my watch so I can get them before the wrinkles set in. (I have come to the point where I no longer/very rarely iron.) Wonder if I can YouTube how to fix that buzzer problem? Is YouTube a verb? Did I already try to do that? I am thinking I did and the wires looked scary, so I gave up the idea.  Will check again.

Old fashioned or just plain old? Could be both.  I long for simpler times and simpler appliances. I don't want a smart TV or a smart car  either.  Even my Jeep is too smart for its britches. They think they are so smart.  They are not.   Further -- I am sometimes not as smart as I think I am either. It's a frustrating spiral. The purchase of these appliances is a case in point.

Thanks for listening....

Crazy Crow Lady

Does anyone else find it odd that a group of crows is called a Murder?  I've read a couple of different opinions of how this might have originated, but neither of them seems to make much sense really. Even odder to me is that a flock of ravens is called an Unkindness.  Go figure. Guess it is just one of those sort of nutty things about language. Personally,  I prefer family or flock. Anyway -- 

For the past several months my yard and pasture have become popular with crows (at least I think they are crows) and I have decided, after a bit of research, that I would rather be their friend than their enemy.  After all, it's their world too -- just as much as it is mine.

Having the time to explore, I have found out a few interesting things about crows. Surprising to me -- they recognize and remember faces, make tools and hold grudges which to me are all good reasons to make friends with them.  They are, apparently, very intelligent creatures in a lot of ways. Some have even been known to bring gifts of shiny objects to people they like. Apparently the crows around me do not like me or have that gift giving tendency... yet.

I do talk nicely to them, but I have not gone so far as to give them names, basically because I haven't figured out a way to tell one from another. I mean I can't even tell the difference between a crow and a raven. Another thing  ...  I wonder why I have never seen any baby crows  -- just an impressive increase in the numbers of these large black birds.   I do feed them once in a while, but not enough to make them dependent on me. Another reason I don't feed them on a regular basis is because I want them to eat bugs and pesky rodent like creatures that I would rather not meet. Plus there is the fact (just in case they are staying the winter) that I fear that I would not be a trustworthy food source in the snowy, icy months as I tend to hibernate. I don't want them mad at me.  I am totally outnumbered and their numbers continue to grow. Either that or -- they have a lot of company passing through.  Not sure which. 

I wonder where they sleep? Apparently they come together in the evenings into communal  groups -- especially in the cold months. Research indicates that they are monogamous and live with their offspring for a while as a family (I don't like calling them a Murder).  I also don't know what their nests look like and have never seen any large nests in the trees of my pasture and nearby woods.  I am curious.

It's odd really, but I find them to be friendly and in a way  -- protective somehow.  I like sharing space with them. I have potential to become the crazy crow lady.  I feel it. 

Things could be worse.

Update  -- I fear that all the crows that were hanging around are of the migratory type -- haven't seen any  since the day after I wrote this blog.  Drat. Hopefully they will be back in the Spring.

Wood Boogers

Got basically nothing done a couple of weekends ago, but ...  had a lot of fun with my son texting back and forth and talking on the phone. It was an off and on communication fest. Topic?  Cryptids. He taught me a lot, and I plan to do more research on my own.  My favorite name of a cryptid category so far is the Wood Boogers. Thus the title of this week's blog. 

The whole Wood Booger thing is Virginia's Shenandoah Valley and West Virginia's take on Big Foot or Yeti or whatever you want to call this particular creature. The term Wood Boogers was coined by European settlers in that area in the 18th century who found them to be much like Boogeymen. As far as my section of the US goes... mythologically ... the Pennsylvania Appalachian area is full of different sorts of mythical and perhaps not so mythical cryptids -- creatures like Big Foot, Moth Man, etc. Actually there are legends, mythology and folk lore of indigenous peoples across the entire planet  ... have been for a very long time as far as I can tell. 

Anyway - this whole "conversation" started with a post online by a former colleague of mine who posted a trail cam photo taken by a cam owned by a former student of mine.  I uploaded this creepy and mysterious photo to Chat GPT for identification and it was no help because AI saw a bushy tail that I could find no where in the photo -- so  -- I shifted to research through a TikTok link that my son sent me on cryptids.  I/we now like to think the trail cam caught a shape shifter and it is all very creepy. I find it interesting in all of this that I had never heard the word cryptid before.  I sort of like it. I definitely like learning new things.

Thus began my research on cryptids -- flying, reptilian ... even those cute cryptids like the Jackalope of the Great American West. This creature is a bunny with antlers -- a mix of a rabbit and an antelope or deer perhaps.  For those of you who live in this corner of Northwest Pennsylvania, you may remember the "stuffed" jackalope that sat behind the bar at the Deer Head Inn in Spring Creek, Pennsylvania years ago. Of course I also ran across many stories of the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot and the Pennsylvania Squonk of Lumberjack lore.  There is a lot of information out there. I still need to check out the myths and folklore of the Carpathian Mountain region -- apparently there is a lot there of interest as well -- of the super creepy variety.

All I need now it to have an encounter with one -- just one.  I have seen one UFO -- years ago nearby on the road between Canadohta Lake and Union City -- probably in the late 1960's. It was impressive. I am ready for the next step.  A  small Wood Booger a safe distance away would be ideal. I'll readily pass on the shape shifter variety and all the other scary ones.  

Tools by Season

Not in a philosophic mood today and sort of ready to get away from all the serious concerns of the world at the moment ... at least for a little while. For some unknown reason I am thinking about the basic and real tools of life... not mental tools... just physical/hands on/put your back into it working tools. Perhaps it is keeping busy as an escape. 

Now there are inside and outside tools to be sure, but with the change of seasons upon us, I am simply concentrating on the outside implements. I have come to the conclusion that there are basically ten or so important tools that make my life easier.  They are seasonal.

As Spring comes in, first in importance is my Grandpa's Weeder which allows me to dig weeds without bending over.  Second is a knife for serious digging in the soil that I, for some unknown reason, have dubbed the snake whacker. I have seen only one snake in the past twenty-five years and I didn't whack it.  I screamed.  Nevertheless... it is the snake whacker.  Oh ... I cannot forget to mention my trusty battery powered chain saw for small downed pasture limbs. Can't live without that.

Summer tools are those of Spring with the possible addition of a weed burning tool, heavy duty weed whacker (the kind with plastic string) and lawn mower, of course.

Primary for Fall is a competent leaf rake, but also essential is a sturdy battery operated trimmer for cutting back the most stubborn plants at the end of the season -- hopefully well before the snows hit. I do not recommend cutting back in the snow. Plants tend to get slimy and gross ... or worse.

Then in Winter the shovel(s) appear or perhaps a leaf blower that can double as a snow removal device. Oh -- snow plows as well -- how could I have almost left that one out. I don't have a plow, but know someone who does. My plow guy even salts my driveway when necessary.  Huge ...  as there is a slight downhill slope that makes a walk to the mailbox terrifying on an icy day. I am at that stage in life when I no longer joke about breaking a hip. Have been in that stage for a while now. Can you relate?

So...  Those are the tools by season in Northwest Pennsylvania ... or at least the basic ones. Soon it will be time to dust off my shovels.  I have two. I live in a notorious snow belt after all. Winter sometimes comes early and... we have more than one kind of snow here.  If you live in snow country or are a down hill skier, you know what I mean.  If you don't... well... you are missing out on something that can be wonderful and difficult at the same time. You have to experience a true winter in snow country to fully get the meaning of that and to know that shovels come in wimpy and heavy duty.

Shine or Hobble

It's getting to be that time of year in Northwest Pennsylvania when flowers and other assorted plants are sending out droopy and tired    messages that they have had enough of the hot sun and occasional pounding rain, or lack thereof, and that they just want to be "put to bed" for the winter.  That "put to bed" phrase I borrow from my wonderful Mom. Fun, isn't it, how some phrases run through families? I can almost hear her saying that.   

I still remember one of my personal "phrase faves" from my when my son was little -- "No, I amn't gonna do that."  Anyway -- I was saying that one to myself when wondering if I should get up and out of bed this morning when I first woke up at 3 AM. "No, I amn't gonna do that."  And that was before I even tried to move.

Wonder where I am going with this?  I am hoping the first two paragraphs bring me to my point which tries to connect preparing for winter and getting up the next morning ... and does so without making me seem crabby.  The meme below sort of speaks for itself and ... if you are one of us who cuts back a bit too long on a nice day as summer comes to an end, and then "feels it" the next morning... you "get it". The meme below speaks for you too.  

I would like to meet the person who thought of this.  My kind of people.

                        Rise and shine! 

               Or rise and hobble with dignity -- 

                either way, coffee's waiting.  

                                                            (The Dadbod Veteran)  

The Saga of Peeps

Without a pet for many years, I recently had the pleasure of the company of a kitten for a few days.  We think she is a girl and that she is about 12 weeks old. We call her Peeps.  I turned 76 the day before she came to stay.  You can see, in that age difference, that the kitten had a distinct advantage, but we made out just fine.  I have lived with kittens and cats before.  I had forgotten what it was like. I do love cats and dogs. My scabs are healing nicely.

Below are excerpts from a bit of writing about living with a kitten after several years of being pet free. I figured Peeps' people would ask about how I made out with her...  so...

Day 1: Kitty exploration in general.  Seems to be just fine.  Ate well.

Day 2: Peeps is settling in nicely and, as I thought, is definitely not the demon cat I was warned about. She is a teeny, precious purring machine and other than liking to sleep on my face or neck last night off and on – no problem whatsoever.   A short time later....

Peeps just cleaned off my desk a bit as I type and is now playing with something over by the fire place that sounds like a piece of plastic – not sure what it is, but is think it is part of my paper cutter … oh wait a minute – she is now sitting on my shoulder after a flying leap from across the room.  It is clear to me at this moment that she did not have  her nails trimmed before her people left. I am sure the bleeding will stop shortly.  Just kidding…  I don’t think she even broke the skin.  Will double check that later – just in case.  

Update -- From the sounds of it now – Peeps appears to be trying to dismantle the doors on the fireplace – good thing she can’t open the doors and mess around inside that.  Curiosity killed the cat after all.  We can't have any kitty injuries. Not on my watch! Six more sleeps.

Day 3: Peeps and I are getting along just fine.  Counting today her fam will be picking her up after five more sleeps.  They warned me that she can be sort of a demon kitty once in a while, but I find her to be more of an attack cat or Ninja as she lurks under my bed only to dart out and attack my feet as I pass by.  This new development is a bit unsettling.... Five more sleeps.

Day 4:  Peeps and I need to be a bit more active today.  Am hoping to tire her out a bit before heading to bed this evening.  She walks on me off and on all night and purrs very loudly – sort of like a jet engine coming in for a landing on my house.  I think she misses sharing a comfy dog bed with her huge German Shepherd buddy and crawling all over her.  No wonder the Shepherd sometimes puts Peep’s entire head into her big dog mouth.  I totally get it. 

Hoping for a good night's sleep, I tried to keep Peeps awake yesterday afternoon, but there is no reasoning with her.  When she falls asleep she is like a sack of warm breathing fur covered Jello. If you even try to stand her up, she just purrs and settles into whatever is underneath her.  She is a teeny cuddling creature… so cute… just a bit too much energy for me sometimes.  Right now – she is the picture of innocence all settled in the reclining chair across the room.  I am wearing a thick hooded sweatshirt this morning so that when she decides to leap onto my shoulders, her claws will have a thick layer of fabric that will offer my skin a chance.  I am not stupid. I have lived with cats before. 

Just got an idea – perhaps Peeps might like to explore the basement today instead of napping.  I could sweep around the edges while she explores everything.  I think this plan has possibilities.  We will see.  Four more sleeps.    

Day 5:  Peeps slept through the night last night with no walking on my face or trying to sleep on my neck.  I fed her three times yesterday instead of the two times that were suggested + she had exploration time in the basement – plan to do the same today while I am cleaning down there… and she has already gobbled down breakfast... the first of three meals. Am hoping this sleeping through the night will continue.  I get up early enough as it is. (Note -- a second time of basement exploring didn't work. Peeps definitely has a mind of her own and her own agenda.)  Three more sleeps.

Day 6: All’s well here.  Peeps has settled in nicely, but in a fit of zoomies and her decision to repeatedly attack my feet by biting them, she earned a time out in my bedroom for about a half an hour yesterday afternoon. I have decided that I need to wear thick socks at all times.  Her little teeth are very sharp. Needles. She looks so bright eyed and innocent, but when she gets going, she is a challenge.  Don’t think she speaks English yet, but basically she is doing well here without her fam. 

My Granddaughter texted yesterday in response to a couple of pics I texted her. (The only time Peeps holds still is when she is sleeping.  Photos are rare.) She asked that I tell Peeps that she misses her.  I did. Peeps just looked at me with a blank, but sweet kitty expression and softly bit my thumb.  We are working on communication skills.  I definitely like having her around, but… two more sleeps. 

Day 7: Peeps, who is the size of a large sandwich roll, knocked the heavy lamp off the table next to my reclining chair yesterday while I was talking on the phone.  That seemed to end the zoomies for that episode. The lamp is totally fine.  I may have to knock it off myself today to calm her down when she is zooming. She goes from cuddly little fur ball to monster kitten flying around like a attack bat. She loves having the chairs back from their reupholstering, btw.  (They were just returned today.)  She can fly from the book room doorway, a few feet away, to land on an end chair, jump from there to the table and after a quick slide across that - skimming the centerpiece as she goes by – land on the chair at the other end of the table.  It is impressive.  I think I should remove the centerpiece at some point to give her a clear slide.  She tends to like to do that in a leap, fly, jump, slide, repeat mode.  She amuses herself.  It’s all rather astounding.  If I could get her interested in sliding everywhere, I could borrow her once in a while and never have to dust again. The problem is, as I mentioned before, she doesn't speak English yet. Or it may be that cats just do their own thing or that she is ignoring me.  I should know that really. Okay am off to see what cord Peeps is chewing on now. Those sharp little teeth!  One more sleep.  

Day 8: Peeps is doing her leap and slide thing across the dining room table at the moment… she sounds like a herd of baby elephants who can run very, very fast.  Ah Peeps!  It’s going to seem so very quiet and calm once you go home this morning to your family of people and your dogs too. Am thinking that especially the Shepherd puppy, who is the size of a small camel at this point, has probably missed the little Peeps.  They are an odd pair of buddies.  Wonder what it is like if they both get the zoomies at the same time??? I am almost afraid to ask if that has ever happened? The older, more mature and sensible dog, seems to ignore them both.  Smart one.

Peeps can come again to hang out another time. I will rest up and try to be ready. Hopefully she will understand English by that time. Do cats outgrow Zoomies?  I am trying to remember.