Loose Leaf Notes

1. “I know I’m going to get ratioed for this but I miss the two spaces after a period.” – Seen on Twitter

2. ‘Ratioed’ means that a tweet or post gets more replies than likes. It suggests that the tweet has lit a fire among Twitter users, with people clamouring to join the debate more than passively agree.

3. Earth Day: Let’s hope “Save the Earth” isn’t just a sticker on a gas guzzling bumper.

4. My morning tea is such an oracle, and the misty steam is like the embodiment of the memories and people I have loved.

5. “One of the elemental dynamics of self-compassion is to understand how much we need to be left to ourselves, and how much, in a way, we need to leave ourselves alone. Aloneness begins with puzzlement at our own reflection, transits through awkwardness and even ugliness at what we see, and culminates, one appointed hour or day, in a beautiful, unlooked for surprise, at the new complexion beginning to form, the slow knitting together of an inner life, now exposed to air and light.” David Whyte

6. The Academy Awards is my version of the Super Bowl. I love movies, the fashions, the speeches and all of it. This year some of the oddball highlights were Daniel Kaluuya seeming to thank his mom and dad for having sex so he could accept his best supporting actor award, Francis McDormant howling like a wolf during her best actress acceptance speech, and Glen Close for rightly guessing Da Butt wasn’t an Oscar nominated song in a game and then getting up and doing the Da’Butt dance. See HERE.

7. I remember riding the brakes / going down hills on my bicycle / and choosing the black cowboy hat / over the white one / and the first catechism question / out of a list of sixty-nine / that we memorized and recited / Who made you? – Read What Else Did He Make in its entirety HERE.

8. “In the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Emily Copus cloaks the land in vibrant blooms. Tulips, ranunculus, and dahlias dot her farm, Carolina Flowers…To most people, her work in Marshall, North Carolina, a tiny town on the banks of the French Broad River, seems like a dream. She walks between rows of kaleidoscopic petals at dawn and spends her weekends designing for mountain weddings…” -My daughter-in-law and her flower farm, Carolina Flowers is featured in the new issue of Southern Living. Check it out HERE.

9. AND WOW, she and my son just opened The Old Marshall Jail on the French Broad River in Marshall NC. After five years of renovations and repurposing, the OMJ now houses a hotel, deli and bar and Zadies Grocery Market. See HERE. 

10. Moon Plate – Bright sustenance / Soul nourishment / A full serving / Feast your eyes

11. This redbud is giant banquet for pollinators. When I walk by it, I can hear them feasting.

12. Daffodils make me think of THIS.

13. “I have always found goodness in the people I met, everywhere I went in the world. So this is for anyone who had the faith and the courage to hold on to the goodness in themselves, and to hold on to the goodness in each other, no matter how difficult it is to do that.” – Chloe Zhao Oscar winner for best director and picture, Nomadland.

____________Thirteen Thursday