This past week the days were filled with 30 mile per hour winds and temperatures that did not go above 30 F for very long. (It seems that the entire northern hemisphere of earth did not escape this frigid freight train that was storming its way to the equator. Even iguanas were falling out of trees in Florida like frozen gray green popsicles.) I watched out the window at the birds darting around the feeders. They were all puffed up like cotton balls of brown or tan or red or black as they tried to stuff themselves even more round with fatty seeds. I was getting so tired of staring out windows.
I put on my heavy winter coat and braved the winter winds to see what was happening down on the river. I had not been outside in three days and this indoor sentence was certainly getting on my nerves. I steeled my courage to head outside. The back door to the deck which had not been opened in days was stuck and stiff to open. I pulled hard and it released suddenly blowing open with the rush of bitter icy wind followed by tulip tree seeds that scattered across the carpet.
The wind whipped at my scarf and coat as I held on tight to my camera to keep it warm for just a while. The naked branches of trees above my head danced as if in some crazy drug induced trance. Everything was being pummeled by this arctic rush hour expressway.
I saw the scene in the photo above when I reached the river's edge. Waves had frozen in custard layers as they grazed the shore during the night. The tide was heading out but against the push of the wind onto the shore creating waves of ice. Nothing was moving along the edge of the river. Everything was still and frozen or hibernating somewhere.
A gust of wind pushed hard against my back and almost dumped me unceremoniously into the cold wet river. I planted my feet firmly and leaned into the wind, but found it hard to keep my balance as the gusts were not predictable and I was out on the edge of the open water and not in the small shelter of the woods.
This cold is below the normal and seems to be going on forever. Thankfully we have not had to contend with snow drifts or ice sheets...just endless blowing wind that was cold enough to freeze a witches...! Spring, do not be afraid, your turn is coming.
For those who celebrate this season of peace and love and understanding...you know the drill.
- Brave the cold winds and bring in all the lights and faded wreath from the deck that is on the side of the house facing the angry Nor'wester. Yes, your fingers are frozen as you try to untie the tie-holds. Just cut them and get on with this before your thumbs web to your fingers!
- Remove the lights from the gable while your wife holds the ladder and hope she is paying attention in these high winds and be thankful that you can't hear her whining above the moan of the Norther. Be sure to duck when that last line of lights whips across your back.
- Spend an hour trying to find the bag that the door wreathe goes in and try to remember where you pack the wreath hanger this time so you don't spend two days looking for it next Christmas like you did this year.
- Get the stool out and bring down all those high decorations on the mirror without breaking your neck or the mirror.
- Pack the votives that have been distributed romantically throughout the house including those with the candles you never got around to burning...maybe next year.
- Carefully take all the ornaments off the tree and pack in their correctly marked bins. Make sure you look at the bottom layer of the bin before you fill the top layer...it IS empty and you need to start packing there.
- Take the ornament bins downstairs so you have more room to dismantle the tree. You will have to count the number of steps (15) since you cannot see your feet around the bins stacked precariously in your arms.
- Label the outlets on the artificial tree (again?) so that it will go together easier next time and try to find why the second layer of lights would not light.
- Take the tree apart...it is heavy and it will require two people. Try not to yell at each other and try not to drop one of the layers on someone's foot, particularly the heavy metal pole end.
- The layers of tree are much like a Chinese puzzle as they fit in the tree bag...good luck!
- Zip up the tree bag...unless you notice that small red bird ornament on that bottom branch that was forgotten. Darn! Take the ornament downstairs and put it in the bottom ornament bin after lifting off the top bin of stuff... or just stuff it into any old bin that is easy to reach.
- Drag the tree bag downstairs to the basement trying carefully not to kill each other or damage the furniture or scratch the walls or stub your toes or tear the tree bag or swear out loud.
- Once everything is packed away be prepared to find that forgotten silver star hanging in the guest bathroom and that home-made wreath from the church still hanging on the kitchen window!
- Pour yourself some leftover eggnog with a stiff shot of bourbon and put your feet up, you have survived another season.
(This is a brief movie review and if you hate those you probably do not want to read this post.)
Spent a holiday afternoon watching the much touted (or maligned depending on which critic you read) movie, Avatar---in 3-D. Writer/Director James Cameron spared no expense and with such lovely and terrifying special effects, the movie should gender a return on these expenses. His previous work with deep water life can be seen in all the mimicking botany on the planet including the mesmerizing phosphorescence of plant life in each evening scene. He borrows Jurassic park sounds and uses similar animals to flesh out the wild animal part of the planet and ideas from Star Trek also seem to be there.
There is nothing really new about this story. The indigenous peoples of the planet are all spiritual and intelligent, even if sometimes immature. They 'connect' with all the living things on their planet and have strong family and ancestral ties. There is an earthling/indigenous being (interracial) love story, of course.
The earthlings are 99% evil businessmen or military killers providing the action of death and destruction by man and machine. The industrial military complex has but one mission, to retrieve important minerals without regard for indigenous life. Such lopsidedness gives the movie an unrealistic liberal skew. I would have liked to see more respect for our military by adding more good guys.
In spite of this heavy handedness, it is a good ride to be seen on the big screen, especially if you are a sci-fi fan as I am. That part of the story is pretty cool.
(The title of this blog was taken from the Hindu gift of Avatars and this blog was written the day after Christmas.)
I also saw Nine because I am a sucker for musicals. It was not nearly as good as Chicago. It lacked the energy and the theme was a bit old hat. Daniel Day Lewis does a great job of becoming the old Italian artist in spite of his size. Sophia Loren is sadly stiff in her old age, but I wish she had been given a longer part to warm that face up a little. The best show numbers are done by the two youngest in the cast, of course.
I thought that we had gotten all the decorations tucked away into their respective and carefully labeled boxes. We had braved the cold weather and brought in the extension cords and timers from outside. Then I looked out my window and saw that someone thought we were rushing things just a little. Fortunately, these sparkles do not use electricity and someone else is responsible for putting them away.
Being retired means, for most people, that everyday is Saturday or Sunday. Baring economic hardship, you can pretty much do what you want. Baring guilt trips or health restrictions you can pretty much do it as long as you want. Baring the attitudes of people you live with you can do it all day if you want.
Lie in bed and pull the covers over your head on a cold windy winter morning.
Grab the binoculars and watch the bird feeder for hours until your stomach reminds you that you have eaten nothing yet today.
Drink your coffee slowly and mindfully rather than in scalding sips on the way to work.
Read an entire book in one sitting.
Watch more than one movie on DVD in an afternoon.
Spend an afternoon wondering how on such a windy and cold day the geese can manage to tack their way flying down the river pulling into stalls and then tacking to the other side to continue with their progress. Takes them much longer on a day like today. Spend another hour trying to get a good photograph of that challenge.
And if you have a little Puritan work ethic in your soul, as I do, go through all those old files in the basement with your husband and reduce them to 30% by tossing or shredding the 60%...
OR actually exercise through an entire episode of NCIS which you have seen several times before!
Looking back over time, for some of us, this year was an arduous mountain to climb with no promise of a better view at the top. We were given the task of keeping one foot in front of the other with the only assurance that it could not go on forever. For others of us, this year was a swamp to slog through with pockets of quicksand that were eager to pull us down and each effort was accompanied by biting gnats that gave us no peace.
The smart ones among us saw only a morning with a fresh start and they inhaled the breezes that crossed the mountain trail seeing the beauty of new beginnings. Or perhaps, smiling through the parting swamp grass noticing the small birds that were being fed by those annoying gnats.
If you looked into the eyes of the smart ones you saw they offered you a hand and reminded you it is the journey itself that must be treasured, because the destination comes to us whether we stop and quit or go on and enjoy the trip.
(As an oddity, this is my 800th post today.)
The best time of the day for me is when I get up around 6:00 AM. The house is very quiet since hubby sleeps in until 7:30 or 8:00. The house is also still dark because it is winter. I make my coffee and open blogs as the sun slowly climbs up into the cold sky. In winter I hear the geese flapping and honking their way out of my side of the river into their bigger world of abandoned corn fields or sometimes escaping the hunters when I hear the pop of guns on the other side of the field. Today, I saw them high above the fog over my house looking as if they were ghosts of geese heading out to some mystical retreat. I hear the crows distant cawing ordering the rest of the birds around.
Yet, it is still relatively quiet here in my little corner of the world. I am surprised that I still need a little corner of time in retirement that I treasure. Time to be alone with my waking thoughts and time to write and create with my photography. Time to think about what lies ahead in my non-activity filled day. Time to hear my breath. Time to wait for the fog to lift.
No matter how you feel about this current conflict, please keep all the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines in your thoughts this holiday season and throughout the year. They have a big mission to accomplish under very difficult conditions and we want them all back home to reunite with their families as soon as possible!
This past year my blog readers have been more than generous with their comments. I am told by REALLY good writers that they enjoy what I write. I am told by REALLY good photographers, that my photos are sometimes exceptional. I have been told by warm-hearted and generous bloggers that they share my feelings and ideas and were sometimes inspired by what I wrote. What wonderful gifts I have been given in your comments. I admit that my blogging is usually words thrown out on the screen without the care and thought that many of you give to your writing. Some of you have 100's of blogger fans that read and/or comment on your blog and I am so surprised and humbled when you take time to visit and leave a comment on mine. You cannot imagine how inspiring that is!
In my culture, land of abundance, this is the season of giving and I am so rich this year that I am going to provide a trunk full of gifts for my readers. Yes, this is for you.
Wrapped in bright red paper with a green bow is this very large box. Inside I give you tomorrow. It comes both with clouds and sun and warmth and cold. It only came in large sizes. It is magical in its magnificence. It is perfect in its wholeness. It is filled with small surprises and big purpose. Do not set it aside (back under the tree if you have one), but please use it all wasting no part when the morning kisses you awake tomorrow.
Wrapped in bright green paper with a red bow in a slightly smaller box, I give you the sounds and smells of spring. No batteries are needed. When you lift the lid and push aside the tissue paper, close your eyes and open your nose and your ears. Can you smell the fragrance of those tiny white daffodils? Can you smell the perfume of that purple trumpet flower? Can you smell new rich earth and green grass? And listen, don't you hear robins chattering and wrens scolding and chickadees trying to shush them all as spring rains tap against new lime-green leaves? OK, now you have to replace the tissue and close the lid and wait until another gray day when you need this reminder of spring. You don't want to use it all up before spring actually arrives! (Those of you in another climate can put this in the back of the closet as it will keep until your gray or winter days arrive.)
Wrapped in paper covered in laughing Santas is this medium sized box, and I ask that you hold on tight. This is because inside is a big red bowl full of rolling laughs. Do not eat them all at once or your belly will shake too much. Also, be sure to share them around the room as laughter is always better when enjoyed with others.
Next, wrapped in paper with golden glittering stars, I give you the gift of a child's smile. What? You say there are no children in your life. Then you must open your eyes and watch closely because somewhere near you a child IS smiling or needs to smile. Then again you can enjoy this gift sooner if you go out and help a child smile.
At the bottom of the trunk, wrapped in white paper with silver icicles in a very small box, is the jeweled gift of eternal/internal peace. Sometimes peace is so light that you cannot hold it; sometimes peace is so blinding that you cannot see it. Therefore, you may think this tiny box is empty. But it is not. Lift the lid and close your eyes and breath in deeply and very gently. There it is. It has entered your soul. It is gently filling all the nooks and crannies of your mind and heart with a soft warmth. It is, perhaps, my best gift as one size fits all.
Oh, I almost forgot. This last gift is for my bloggers that are fighting the bigger challenges in life these days. Down in the bottom corner of this dusty trunk is a platinum pill box and inside are little nanobots that come with tiny platinum hammers. Their job is to smash replicating cells inside bodies of those fighting difficult diseases. They are like the energizer bunny in that they never quit so you need only take a few every once in a while when you think you can no longer find energy to fight the good fight.
Now as we sit surrounded by piles of bows and wrapping paper, I wish all the happiest of holidays.
Hmmm...excuse me...I think I smell cinnamon...
Lessons from a Windows 7 user (I know, I know...I promised>):
- The version of Freecell that comes with my PC has lovelier graphics but is much harder to play. I can't win most of the games like I used to.
- USB ports sometimes recognize what you plug into them and sometimes Windows 7 is off polishing its mother board and ignores your hardware. (Maybe computers are so snarly because they don't have a father board? Is he out running another background check on a virus?) PS...Through training I think my PC is beginning to get the hang of my plug-ins at long last!
- The default on this new version of Windows does not change how your mouse looks (remember the hourglass) when it is thinking. That means that sometimes you think 7 is done thinking and you move your mouse elsewhere...but nothing happens because it is still thinking!
- Windows 7 does not like anything 'old' and there are not enough Windows 7 users for software companies to make something 'new'. Use your old software at your own risk and good luck finding compatible new versions on the Internet.
- Windows 7 gives you lots of 'helpful' little pop-up windows asking you questions when you are trying to move or upload something as it accesses various software "assistants" and it sometimes makes me a little dyslexic as to which one to choose. Sometimes the windows hide behind each other and you don't even know it has been hanging until you close all the windows.
- A fancy new feature of Windows 7 that would only appeal to the designers or 14-year-0lds is that you can 'shake' the window in which you are working and it will automatically expand to the full screen. This unfortunately also happens if you cannot see the mouse pointer and you are moving the mouse rapidly back and forth to see where the pointer is located and the screen jumps to full view. Very annoying if you have several windows up at once.
- The last thing I noticed on this PC, although not a function of Windows 7, was that the flash drive port is a little tight. My husbands X-rated response..."Well, of course. It's a virgin port. It should be a little tight." You can see how much tech help I get from him!
They never dreamed that our thoughts would follow electrical pathways in the air and invade the day of those we know, or like, or love, in the flick of a second without imparting any thing of importance. They could never envision that we would be powerful enough to place electronic eyes everywhere and see from the mountains to the beaches to the bedrooms, all from the comfort of our throne.
They never could imagine that we would make new 'better' versions of living things and parts of living things to suit our tastes, both physical and mental.
They would have been aghast at the weapons of mass destruction with which we play so eagerly every day.
They never knew that we would become the false gods sitting on the mountain in huge temples of artificial gold growing ever so fat and complacent as we proselytize about truth and justice. They would be so frightened for us, their children, if they could have seen this future. They would be even more surprised that being so powerful we naively fear the strangest of things, such as the arrangement of numbers on a calendar. We are like mind-compromised children, fascinated by every little thing but learning nothing as we poke and pry and tear things apart.
The world is full of stuff and this is very evident in the United States at this time of year. Our primary economic goal it seems is to produce new stuff to replace the old stuff.
We get so much stuff that we have to rent spaces outside our homes in which to hoard what we no longer need or use. (Yes, I have harangued on this theme before.) There are those that produce paper instead of stuff (not the authors or poets), but the others, and they are a bunch of crooks so I give them no space or comment here.
Stuff includes toys that break the day after Christmas, electronic devices that are old and dated within months, cars that lose their value once sold, new clothing that is too tight, too bright, and too sad to wear, the rarest of foods that cost more than would be spent on food for a year in a third world country, and those sparkles that say 'I make more money than you' and also outshine the person it was bought for. (Unless you are thinking of that famous bra which is worth more than some countries' budgets.)
I do not need more stuff, but not because I am so pure or so rich or so zen, but because I have purchased lots of stuff and I now know its true value. I have thrown away more stuff than can be gathered in an all day Christmas sale....perhaps an all week Christmas sale. I need nothing. (Except that new PC so that I can tell the world my thoughts, of course. Although, truth be told, it is not really necessary to my life.) I am old enough that everything I wear can last me until I die. My house is so crowded with furniture that I could get rid of much of it. The garage needs a real cleaning as does the basement in this NEW house. And I won't even begin to detail the kitchen with cupboards and drawers hiding every gadget known to cooks. So much for going through another holiday of being 'stuffed.'
Next year I am going to take the reins of this holiday giving in hand early and send out a list of what I really want. More of their time. That will fix them!
As most readers know I am not a religious person, but do enjoy the lovely holiday music that has come about for Christmas. Here is a tongue in cheek version of monks singing The Hallelujah Chorus---one of my favorites!
Hallelujah
I guess I was somewhat powerful as I removed the sky of the gray...see prior post...and this was my reward! Be sure to click on the photo for your reward.
Today has been one of the grayest and wettest days thus far. I am hoping that this will not be a consistent pattern for the winter months, because we have been having luscious weather and I have gotten used to that and this weather is beginning to get on my nerves.
I decided to post a few flowers photos to cheer myself (and you all) up. I was cleaning out old folders downloaded to this new PC and loading some new photos off the camera.
These yellow strawflowers above were still blooming yesterday on my deck in spite of weather dropping to the 20's C at night and barely breaking 40 C most days. They do look a little bedraggled today.
This other flower below is one I took at the conservatory at Biltmore. It is a lovely varigated hibiscus that I had never seen before.
OK, that cheered me up a little.
I am still fiddling with my PC and trying to get my photo software packages to work like well-behaved children instead of Monk. (If you don't watch TV you will not get that statement.)
Jarielyn said she had luck by calling support for her new laptop. Being old at this game, that thought never occurred to me! That gave me visions of bathing in ice water. I had the experience in past of waiting on hold for hours and then patiently waiting while the tech on the other end walked me through all the things I had already tried...again!
Two cute little bugs that I have never seen before and which I corrected by searching the web were: my apostrophe key defaulting to the search box at the bottom of the screen and not typing the apostrophe in the text of the emails. For several days I have avoid using contractions and possesives...but found on the web a toggle fix using the numlock key.
The second interesting bug was my camera (Canon EOS) would not download photos...kind of REALLY REALLY annoying as you know how much I love diddling with my photography. Well some geck online found that if you reset the camera menu to downloading to a printer instead of the PC this will work in Windows 7. Don't you just love how Microsoft's mind works?
Now I must figure out why my microchip ports on the front of the PC are not lighting up or being recognized when I put memory chips in them. They were working just fine a few days ago.
One thing Windows 7 has accomplished...fewer readers to my blog. Who wants to read this stuff! But my blog is where I get it off my chest...I was going to write a Bagman comment here about my chest...but I will refrain and go get another cup of coffee instead.
I am all about saving trees, but this is the entire documentation I got for setting up my PC and monitor. When I called the store and asked about the manuals, they said they were online. Perfect to access if you have your PC up and running...BUT!
I was trying to figure out the numbers on the various ports in the back and the front and how to recognize them. I even looked for an image online. After trial and error I got the printers plugged into the best ports.
Why did I go with HP you might ask? Well, my recent one lasted almost 10 years and actually it is still running, only very slowly.
Since we are both retired and our holiday parties with former workers are such a drive in this weather, we are not going to them. We do not belong to a church and so will not be attending any of those holiday activities. Since we do not have children in school, we are no longer going to those events. Our new neighbors used to have a holiday get together but that is no longer done.
Looks like we will just be heading out to our daughter's for the Christmas Eve and Christmas day family activities.
Yes, we could probably throw a get together for the few folks we know here, but my heart is not into that kind of work when the weather outside is frightful and many are traveling.
I don't miss these parties in actuality. They were nice and the food was nicely caloric and I was a master at the small talk. But I am calmly happy doing not much these days.
Things I learned today (and which you probably have no interest in):
- New PCs (with an II X 4 910 processor) are faster but not amazingly faster than my old one.
- Windows 7 WILL lock up if you are trying to install some driver or software that is not compatible and then it will not let you get the CD out and then it WILL crash. You know that commercial where the PC guy tries to one-up the laid back Apple guy? Not so funny anymore, somewhat like a documentary in my view. Good thing I know just enough about computers to get myself out of trouble.
- The design of this new HP has the button on the top right corner where it is very easy to hit and turn off when all you are doing is checking a connection in the back of the PC.
- It also has a very CHEESY CD eject button. Something one would find on a much cheaper computer.
- The new wider HD monitor that I got for almost free because I had a coupon from Best Buy is to die for. Now I can watch all those important YOUTUBE productions of people's cats and babies in high resolution....!
- After an entire day I have one printer up and running...the free one I got with my camera purchase years ago that uses tons of expensive ink.
- I have not given up on the old workhorse HP932C printer because I just spent $30 on a cable for it!
- I worked for about ten minutes clicking and restarting and by luck got both monitors to display!
- I have not purchased any new software and am forcing the older software to work...for now.
- The house has not been vacuumed in days nor laundry done because my husband had an old laptop repaired when I got my new one and we are glued to our separate PCs right now.
- Interesting but the new monitor makes some of my photos look worse than I thought and others much better. Go figure. Must be my old eyesight.
- And as an aside I find the nerdy geeks that repair or adjust my PCs when I do call them in are really nice kids and homemade cookies go a long way. It is the developers that are aliens from outer space!
- This is both my birthday and Christmas gift I have been told, and I love it in spite of all the getting to know you dance (war).
I am struggling with all the changes that happen when one goes with a new computer. Some things went easily such as ONE of the printer installs and getting the online to work. The other printer my old workhorse a HP deskjet 932C has a Windows 7 driver some where out there. I am dwnloading about 32 windows updates, maybe I'll get lucky. I did get lucky with the dual monitor setup. Didn't want to give up my old monitor and now have TWO monitors...one for blogging and one for photos.
Others such as installing all my old 'licensed' software packages are not going so well. Most have been stalled perhaps by this 64 bit Windows 7 system? I have been told that many old software packages just will not work with 64 bit.
I have the choice of buying all new software or calling in a professional to fix all this. Neither are going to be very cheap!
I will return, once I can get this stupid pre-installed cable from the back of my brand new monitor and install the HD cable I bought. It appears that I need to get a pair of pliers. Beware of PC workers carrying pliers or screwdrivers.
Other things I have noticed that are cramping my style is that new features do not easily let you change your home page to that old familiar one and this keyboard...they keep moving the delete key!!! AND I HAD FORGOTTEN HOW NASTY these companies are forcing one to use Yahoo or AOL as the home page on install!
On ward and upward.
