Loose Leaf Notes

1. We called them black widow spiders when we came across them in the blackberry patch. But they’re really black and yellow garden spiders. They’re beneficial to the garden and are NOT poisonous to humans. This one lives at my daughter-in-law’s flower farm HERE.

2. I was recently struggling to cut a plastic bag for a window covering while Joe was pressure washing our log cabin when I heard myself say to Joe, ‘these scissors just aren’t cutting it.’

3. Speaking of plastic bags reminded me of this dramatic dance scene from my friend Katie Wells’ one woman show, “Love Letters to Humanity.” Katie’s performance will stream live on Sunday on the Embodiment Conference, an online event featuring world class teachers offering practical tools for times of turmoil.  HERE is trailer of Katie’s performance.

4. Beer in a can is like olive oil in plastic.

5. I had a beer while we were in Hot Springs NC that was called Freak of Nature.

6. We soaked in a hot mineral tub at a spa that was once a German internment camp, walked a boxwood labyrinth with a water fountain at the center and woke up to a train whistle.   More HERE.

7. Joe likes the break from the weekly zoom substance abuse day program that he runs to get his hands on to something, like the jackhammer above.

8. I like to get my hands on flowers.

9. I recently had a COVID test, which was easier to get than the fridge we were trying to buy after ours broke down. Little did I know there was supply chain disruption on appliances caused in part by COVID-19.

10. The test was negative (as I expected) but the fridge we had to settle for was an older model and smaller than we wanted.

11. Go Directly to Jail: It’s a hotel in the works, for one thing, with three large rooms and several bunk rooms upstairs. There’s a lobby, a bar and a deli restaurant being created downstairs and a large deck by the railroad tracks that is overlooking the river outside. Everything is themed with the community’s rural history as seen through the jail, once a hub of the town. The space includes installations throughout, bricks made by Josh’s mobile brick factory, stamped with stories that he took from interviews and the words and designs of everyday people in the Marshall community and beyond… More on my son’s Old Marshall Jail project that includes a picture of his old radiator fence HERE.

12. “When I hear people talk about life getting back to normal after the vaccine, frankly I have qualms. I’ve lived a long time and seen a number of normals and don’t think normality is what we should settle for. Some of us have come to appreciate this simpler contemplative time. I don’t long to be in crowds again. I don’t miss going to restaurants, the shouted conversations, the strangers at your elbow. I prefer Netflix to movie theaters, the popcorn is better. And dinner parties — do we have to? I remember that awful point in the evening when you try to think of a nice way to say, “I wish you people would all go home now.” -Garrison Keillor

13. Hold on tight / to its rocky boat / when the world is spinning / out of control / All hands on deck / to make a careful twist / Not too far right / Not too far left.

_________Thirteen Thursday