Friday, December 29, 2017

and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out


I am anole. I am turtle at the bottom of the tank. I am cold and not inclined to motion, at least until the dog starts bouncing off my chest wanting her walk. 


Properly bundled and outside it's not so bad, as long as the wind doesn't blow. We walk briskly, the short walk, and even she is ready to be back inside by the time we return. Cold or not, these are the days of laying low as the last week of the year ticks by.

But it is cold...overcast, drier than the past two or three days, temperatures hovering in the low 40s, the high varying only a few degrees from the low. When it changes it will get both warmer and colder, cold enough that plants will have to come in again and others covered.

2017 has worn out its welcome and it's leaving in a wintry snit dumping feet of snow on much of the country. Good riddance I say.

Politically, it started out bad with Trump's inauguration and continued downhill from there. In one short year Trump has destroyed our standing in the world, ruined our relationships with our allies, sold off our national lands, admired our enemies, insulted our free press and intelligence agencies, rescinded decades of protective regulations for workers and the environment, gave the very rich a trillion dollar ta x cut...basically, if Obama did it then he is undoing it...and cost the taxpayers $100 million for him to play golf every weekend, Nazis actually paraded through the streets of America and Trump called them good guys.

Personally, I spent far too much time in doctor's offices and endured far too many tests. An exploration of my weird choking and throat spasms which was a colossal waste of time and money with an ENT who ignored the reason I was there and just wanted to fix my broken nose and then a stress induced 2 week period of episodes of rapid heartbeat sent me to a cardiologist who never addressed the episodes of rapid heartbeat but otherwise gave me a clean bill of health, no sign of any blockage. So, yay that!

The planet continued to produce extreme weather with a tornado that peeled off the roof of the antique store so no more Saturday job, a long hot dry summer here, drought in California, direct hits on the country from three major hurricanes in a row the first of which caused half our house to flood with us being rescued by airboat, 


record breaking wildfires in the Northwest and California, and this last month we woke up to 2” of snow one morning while the Northeast, in these last few days, is being buried by the stuff.


It wasn't all bad though. We spent a week in Hawaii with our twin granddaughters Jade and Autumn, their reward for hard work, graduating with honors and scholarships, before their first year of college. 


We had no commission work this year and with Marc's birthday this past Wednesday, he will start getting SS which will boost our income enough that we have decided to retire from the etched glass purposefully. The Wren Box and the Peach Box sold. I got my studio room remodeled from ceiling to floor.


And our spring garden produced an abundance of tomatoes and potatoes which I put up in the freezer and then lost it all when the electricity went out due to the flood. 

Three more days and I'd ask what else can possibly happen except that I know better than to invoke the gods.




13 comments:

  1. I had not realized that you lost all that hard work from your garden due to the flood. A double whammy. The twins are two beautiful girls. I wonder how they are liking being separated this year. Trump continues to astound with his ignorance; every day is a little more shocking. I guess all we can do is hope things improve in 2018. I wish the elections were in January!

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  2. You have two beautiful daughters. You have two successful daughters. You have a wonderful talent. To heck with all the other stuff.

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  3. Excellent summation! Congratulations on retiring. Any plans for what you'll do all day?

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    1. pretty much what I do now. deciding to retire was really just a recognition that our business had been slowly dying the last three years. so...read, garden, grow more food, work on the cast glass, travel a bit, start drawing for pleasure instead of work

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  4. No. Do NOT tempt the gods. They are just waiting to say, "Hold my beer."
    Seriously, though- I can't believe I didn't realize you'd lost all of your garden preserving work. Damn.
    But you sure did get a lot done in 2017. Yes, some of it was definitely not your choice, but you did it. You pushed through grief and pain and exhaustion and heat and all sorts of difficulty and now you have a beautiful new studio. And you and your granddaughters in Hawaii- that picture is pure bliss and beauty.
    So. To everything there is a season and obviously, this is the season for you to finally get some rest. Lay low, as you say. Rest up and renew your forces and when spring comes, you will be ready.
    For whatever comes. Which, let's just hope is all very, very good stuff including an indictment.

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  5. Quite a year ! Good stuff for you, albeit squeezed between the crazy, chaos.
    The next one has got to be a little bit better. Right?

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  6. I hear you on 2017. Congrats on officially retiring. I'm trying to hold out until next December, but I'm not guaranteeing I will. We'll see. as you know, I agree completely with you over the political mess we are in.

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  7. Love that picture of the three of you in Hawaii. I hope 2018 is much better than 2017. Hope springs eternal. Happy New Year.

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  8. Well I've loved reading your blogs over the year including a few political rants, haha. I will always thank you for introducing me to 7 eves by Neil Stephenson (I think) last year. This year I read his DODO and enjoyed that too.

    http://www.muttonstyle.com

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  9. I don’t know why the loss of the produce was like an extra kick in the gut - very sad!! And yes, this year can go blow.

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  10. My friend Ann, on whom I rely for much wisdom said, when I called her early in January to report Laura's head lice and remind her of the shared Santa hat, "When did you find out? What year?" It had all been in 2016, and she was elated. The end of the year from hell, 2017 would be just fine. 2017 was another year from hell, for many. Well, you and me. Perhaps it's the new normal. So, off to another year of not crossing karma.

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  11. It has to get better eh? Mine started off bad then got better at the end...Politically Elvis has left the building!

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  12. Well, you certainly had your share of misfortunes. May the new year reward you for it with grace and delight all through the coming months.

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.