A Total Eclipse Experienced – Unseen

Monday April 8, 2024 dawned with the disappointing realization that we would not be seeing the total eclipse after all. But weather in Rochester, New York, south of Lake Ontario and Lake Huron, and east of Lake Erie, is infamously cloudy and rainy, so making a Plan B can become second nature.

Having learned of other things to be aware of in a total eclipse that are normally unnoticed, we went to an open plain south in the Finger Lakes to experience it as well we could, and to observe and the normally unnoticed. I didn’t realize how much incidental stuff most people miss.

It was quite moving and perhaps this effort at poetic prose may somehow capture a little of that afternoon.

———–

The eclipse had been nearing totality, and all that had life and breath felt the unseen approach.

Among the trees in the marshland
   Redwing Blackbirds fussed and settled.
A dozen crows hawk-chasing
   ceased pursuit as one,
the pursued silently also
   roosting, not too distant.
Geese came in for a landing.
   Spring Peepers’ songs died away. 

Through flat clouds unmarred by rain or gaps
   the Moon’s shadow brought the gloaming.
The air cooled nearly 10 degrees,
   the breeze becalmed to stillness.

Its intangible squall line seemed to quicken,
   racing inexorably across the plain.
Then, it pounced! Engulfing all
   in surreal midday midnight,
rapidly snuffing sunlight
   from horizon to horizon.

Awe was almost palpable.
Unable to truly capture
   the dark ineffable minutes,
      many still tried.

Then on the western horizon,
   a wide sliver of light peeped.
In fleeting minutes, gone too soon,
   we were astonishingly… uncovered!
With breathtaking speed,
   darkness rolled away, light returned,
Day swiftly resumed,
     while Moon’s shadow-storm raced eastward.

Watching its fleet shadowy retreat
   with its evanescent experience,
      longing to travel with it,
we spoke and realization dawned;
   those minutes of shadowed light
      had quietly birthed eclipse chasers.

Hand Sun

The morning sun
Streaming through the window
Gilding the margins of my hand
Glowing through my fingers
Revealing life

Best COVID-19 Parody Video – Ever!

An extraordinarily gifted friend of mine posted this fantastic parody video – Stay At Home / Let It Go. Enjoy!

Ramble #3 – another day in the life of…

**I’m not used to writing in such a personal and candid way, but maybe it will be diverting to someone.**

Well, college is “back” and I took my first online mid-term exam this morning. I was actually more anxious about how that would work, as in:

• Am I signed up with everything?
• Are my audio and video permissions on?
• Are all of my contact methods correct and current? Which will they use?
• And just exactly how are we going to be tested on ARABIC? (Yeah, Arabic. I lived in the Middle East long ago and decided to brush up on my basic skills so I could maybe practice a little on the folks who run some stores I go into.)

Yeah, that last point (the test) was a worry – few are comfortable with unknowns.  But I’m taking this course because I want to. I don’t need foreign language credit (should I decide to actually go back to school for another degree) so this’ll have no GPA effect, not that that was a concern.

Anyhow, turns out, the test went well and I had studied the right things, so I think I know what to expect next time. Whew!

However, the Arabic print was TINY (it was the prof’s first time doing this, too, so I expect a larger font next time.) I just did “Ctrl +” until it was large enough to see clearly.

Each person in the family has been handling this differently. Just FYI, we live in NY State. Uh huh. Yeah. But NOT in NYC or anywhere near it! It doesn’t seem to be as bad as the breathless media make it out to be.

Our daughter’s trying to mentally readjust to not working. She’s been cleaning her room and organizing. She also goes to different parks for walks every day or two. She has a friend (also “at liberty”) who’s now calling her “my dog” because she’ll text and say “Wanna go for a walk at (pick a…) Park?” She’s also getting more sleep and we’re seeing more of her!

Our son still works (and does college remotely – for 2 years, now) at the local airport. They just arrive early, clock in, wait in their cars for cargo planes to arrive (important shipping happens, you know), put on their usual gloves and gear, go to the planes, push and pull the big containers out and then in, then they clean up, log out and go home. It looks a little like this (from about 1:09 – 2:30):

My husband was part of a lay off from a medical device manufacturer, but is going back to work for a local, larger, competitor (no non-compete issues after the time off) next week.

I’ve my own plans to look into, but not until after April 1 when, God willing, things should become a little more predictable. In the meantime I’m doing a bit of tidying up, and getting my cooking practice back into shape. Most results are ranked 3-5 stars, most 4 stars; decent cookbooks help.

I should go walking and get out in the garden, but have been studying, updating computers, doing paperwork…. I also try to limit my TV and FB exposure. I find sites that present the facts and essential updates, but have REFUSED  to become “deer in the headlights” obsessed with this. I hate soap operas, and far too many people who seem to feed off that kind of drama seem to be “living the life.” No, thank you! I got tired of it quickly.

I PROMISE:

• I will NOT go “political” and attack and groups or sides. I might personally be annoyed at some individuals, if it seems the greater good is less important than their agenda or axe they are grinding, but I doubt I’ll bring it up. I’ve HAD IT up to my back teeth with such hysteria. It accomplishes nothing good, and makes me very cross. I’ve “hidden” certain posts shared on my page because they were pointless, mean-spirited, or the workings of disordered minds.
• Speaking of that last bit, NO conspiracy theories here! I don’t need no tin foil hat. Truth itself is often so strange (it’s no one’s business how I know) that there’s no need to make up or buy loony stuff.
• I will try to share just life, facts, trivia and the mundane challenges of my life, similar to what so many of us are facing.
• I will try to share things that remind us that there’s life still happening beyond this, for if all you do is look down, you’ll certainly only see trash and dirty worn-out shoes, and miss the sun, moon, stars, trees, animals, flowers, beauty, and pleasing sounds and smells that are there to appreciate, if we’re just willing.
• I will try to always share knowing that eventually this, too, will pass, and then we’ll need to handle wherever the waves tossed to us, and we’ll need the useful and helpful.

I’m going back to Duolingo and Youtube for more language practice, then email the prof about how to submit my homework.

The sun is peeping through the clouds now and again and I may go take pictures of the flowers. I also went to the park a few days ago and have some pictures to share another time. Later, folks.

Be sane.

Be wise.

Be well.

Ramble #2

Here’s some Sunday morning singing. At least here in Rochester, NY the sun is shining (imagine a shocked emoji). So if it isn’t where you are, I am sending some to you.

By the way, if you have trouble playing the videos, turn off your ad blocker for this post/page. I was having the same problem! I don’t think WordPress is putting very many ads on my blog, anyway, as I don’t see any now.

Let’s begin with our Ladies Choir singing Down to the River.

 

Next, our “soloist” with presents Whom Shall I Fear (The God of Angel Armies).

 

Then, our mixed choir with In Christ Alone.

 

And finally, a little contemporary encouragement: You Will Be Found” from “Dear Evan Hansen”

Ramble #1

Wow, things change quickly in New York state! But I am glad we live in Rochester and not NYC. I like my green space. I have never talked about myself before, but I just feel like talking to…whoever wants to read. I don’t even know what to call it, so it’s a ramble, I guess (though I’ve considered calling it a mumble).

But I live in present,

not dwelling on the past,

nor conjecturing about the future.

not blaming any person or group,

not fearing the unknown, focusing energy on today.

Sanity is much easier that way.

 

My husband is still unemployed (next week exactly 2 years after the layoff), but he’s supposed to start a new manufacturing job on the 30th. So far we’ve heard nothing from the company, or any government entity, that would indicate he’s NOT going to start work. We are going on the cautious assumption that no news is good news. We’ve been through so much these 2 years that we are simply…waiting. We are ready to deal with whatever happens, because we no longer live at either extreme. That’s been shaken out of us. We’d be disappointed, but not like we would have been before.

My daughter’s coffee shop job at the hospital is “on hold” starting today. The company will rehire any employees when circumstances allow. She’s rather relieved, actually. It had been tense there with all the restrictions being instituted. She’s trying to come to terms with this “free time” in her own way. It’ll take her a week or so, I think.

I’m self-employed as an interpreter and my jobs are mostly evaporated. I’m supposed to work the Census starting in April, but….we’ll see. I really need to use my time well and catch up with paperwork quickly. I’m taking a class at our local community college (Arabic), but now we’re going online. THAT will be interesting. Especially doing an upcoming midterm. We’re supposed to be doing writing as part of the grade – how’s that going to work?

My son is the only one still working as the (PT) Cargo Lead at the airport – loading and unloading cargo from cargo planes. Not much people contact there, and plenty of fresh air. When he comes home he studies for four CLEP tests needed to finish his first two years of college. But he can’t take the exams until colleges open again, so he’s moving ahead with studies and will see how many he can do when the time comes. In general, he’s feeling the pressure.

They’re both still under 26, and it’s a good thing neither has moved out yet; it would be very hard on them right now. As now-former-homeschoolers, we know how to stick together and support each other. I grew up in places where I saw this modeled, and it has many benefits.

 

I changed to a (mostly) plant-based diet a few years ago for my health, and my family mostly follows. We all feel better. But if they want cheese or eggs or hot dogs, they buy them. Occasionally I have a small “celebration day” with them, but it doesn’t tempt me to go back. It’s also MUCH cheaper, even if I buy organic.

I’m getting better at it – I have more recipes, and I even bought a new cookbook that I am really enjoying because the recipes are simple and most are delicious. I’m glad, because I had started to get really bored and needed new inspiration. I have even some found good recipes using beans (dry or canned), which really pleases me. My favorite so far is a black-eyed salad, which is 5 Star! Nice change, because before this I had never found a way to eat them that didn’t make me want to just pass for that meal.

 

The garden is awaiting me. Sigh…I wish I could plant early vegetables, but I have invasive jumping worms, which is a disaster! The soil is like coffee grounds on the top, and the lawn is spongy. There is a possible control, though – I need to find someone with hungry chickens to bring them over and we’ll sit outside in the sun and breeze, drink hot beverages, and talk while watching them root through the mulch for those destructive monsters.

 

I am grateful that we are not sick, though we each have our own personal physical issues, but except for my son’s Type 1 diabetes, nothing seems acute. Now that my daughter is home for a while we may go for walks in the morning. I’d like that, and I definitely need to get some exercise.

 

That’s enough for now. Time to get some last minute things done before, like get some Duolingo time in (I’m doing Hindi and Arabic) before I lose my streak. I have, however, been putting in less time, recently. Of course. Been a little preoccupied.

 

An old hymn has been running at the edge of my mind, so I will share. It helps me, anyway, and I love Guy Penrod.

God sent his son, they called him Jesus,

He came to love, heal and forgive.

He  bled and died to buy our pardon,

an empty grave is there to prove our Savior lives, and

 

CHORUS

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,

Because He lives, all fear is gone.

Because I know, He holds the future.

And Life is worth the living, just because He lives.

 

And then one day, I’ll cross the river

And I’ll fight Life’s final war with pain.

And then as death gives way to victory,

I’ll see the lights of glory and and I’ll know he reigns.   (chorus)

Desperate Deflection?

I have long pondered, in astonishment and exasperation, the apparently inexplicable and irrational conduct which a portion of our elected representatives have DEvolved into.  Yet, in spite of the prevailing confusion, contention, and obfuscation, clarity has looked past the raging, swirling, all-consuming insanity to ask…

WHAT ARE THEY HIDING?

It’s an obvious question, for there’s a parallel between many of the current shenanigans and those of successful pickpockets and con artists. It should’ve been asked and pursued years ago, but better now than never. Americans are owed answers after all they’ve been put through.

More to the point, what mouldering skeletons do the major media, Pelosi, and her hungry, yapping hounds of Hell want so fiercely to keep from being sniffed out and unearthed from their own murky back yards?

This post will not speculate on what unholy secrets there may be that the pack appears to be so terrified might be uncovered, even to the point of obsessively and relentlessly howling for another’s destruction in a desperate act of deflection.

Do they mindlessly obey Alpha leader, or do many quake in furtive fear that other members might turn upon any deemed wavering or “unfaithful”? Is there any humanity left among these ravening wolves?

It is hoped that they are aware of the implied consequences of forgetting Jesus’ words to “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” and reconsider their actions. They’d do even better to heed Hosea’s warning: “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind…” Or perhaps they can only grasp the more overtly ominous significance of a contemporary phrase:

Such uncivilized, degenerate behavior is so unprecedented in recent memory, inexplicable, and out of proportion, that it can only be perceived as desperate, or even (dare it be suggested?) demonically inspired. It’s certainly not actions derived from patriotic love of country, or even of honest people of goodwill pursuing the well-being of citizens and a peaceful, bright future for the Nation.

Before the President was elected, the call to “Drain the Swamp!” motivated many voters. It had apparently been dismissed as cute and insignificant, for the unexpected election outcome for certain self-styled know-it-alls and self-important talking heads led to a very public and shameful melt-down. That rapidly degenerated into seething humiliated rage, subsequently employed to goad Swamp denizens to greater heights of rage.

What seems to have been forgotten or unanticipated by the electorate is that when swamps are drained, things get ugly, both before and after. One nearly always finds evidence of formerly hidden crimes, dead bodies, and angry alligators facing possible starvation (whose attacks involve dragging their prey into the muck).

Any good soldier knows, but fed up voters didn’t fully take into account, is that “when you’re up to your ass in alligators, it’s hard to remember that the original intent was to drain the swamp.”

So know your adversary, remember your original intent, and watch your ass.

“Tell It Like It Is” by Ralph Carmichael & Kurt Kaiser

I got a musical bug in my ear and searched all over the internet for the lyrics to any of the songs in the musical “Tell It Like It Is” by Ralph Carmichael and  Kurt Kaiser with NO success. Weird. In fact, I finally sought and bought the vinyl (with lyric sheet) from England (I am in the US) just to be able to hear the songs and see the lyrics. So, folks, here they are – the ONLY place you can currently read them on the ENTIRE INTERNET!

I scanned the lyric sheet and saved it as an image file because I don’t have time to type them up. I realize they aren’t as easy to read this way, but if anyone cares to do that little job and sent me the text, I will post it and credit you. Someone finally uploaded it to Youtube a few months , so  that is at the bottom.

 

School lunches – around the world

Well, these pictures of schools lunches around the world are definitely worth more than a thousand words! The ones you see here make me hungry!

Brie, green beans, carrot, rare steak and pudding of kiwi fruit and apples is served in French schools.

In France (again), school lunch is an art form: hot, multi-course and involving vegetables. A meal of rice, salmon, ratatouille, a slice of bread, a salad with celery and carrots, and an orange and donut at the Anne Franck school in Lambersart, northern France.

A meal of traditional flavours: Brazil’s rice and black beans, baked plantain, pork with peppers and coriander, green salad and a seeded roll.

Rice, a chicken croquette, a piece of taro root and yellow pea soup is the school lunch in Old Havana, Cuba.

In Japan, school children tuck into fried fish, dried seaweed, tomatoes, miso soup with potatoes, rice (in the metal container), and milk.

Wholesome: Seeded roll, shrimp with brown rice, gazpacho and tri-colour peppers. Dessert is half an orange.

A serving of borscht (beetroot soup) with pickled cabbage, sausages and mash. Dessert is a sweet pancake.

Greek school lunches feature baked chicken with orzo, stuffed grape leaves, salad of cucumber and tomatoes, yogurt with pomegranate seeds and two oranges.

Bowls of salad are ready to be served at Delcare Edu Center, a local kindergarten and child care center in the business district of Singapore.

A healthier UK school dinner: Two trays at a primary school in London. The meal at right consists of pasta with broccoli and slices of bread, and fruit. At left are vegetable chili with rice and broccoli, sponge cake with custard, and a banana.

And another UK meal for kids: frankfurters and beans, a baked potato, corn on the cob, slice of melon and a box drink.

South Indian school children eat off a thali plate which has white rice, sambar (dhal), smoked gourd vegetable stir-fry, curd, buttermilk and kesari, a type of sweet dessert made from semolina.

Lunch in an Estonian school is rice with a piece of meat and purple cabbage. They also have bread and a get a cup of chocolate drink .

Balanced diet: Italian children get pasta, fish, two kinds of salad, rocket and caprese, a bread roll and grapes.

In Finland lunch is mainly a vegetarian affair of pea soup, carrots, beetroot salad, crusty roll and sweet pancake with berries to finish.

School lunch in Alba, Spain (left):  white flesh peaches, strawberries and yogurt melts, cous-cous, broccoli, cucumbers and roasted salmon; (right): Poached apple pears, strawberries and blue berries, boiled swede and fresh garden peas.

South Korean children tuck into broccoli and peppers, fried rice with tofu, fermented cabbage and fish soup.

And then, there are U.S. school lunches…

School lunches in the United States stand in stark contrast to the wholesome, and in some cases even decadent, meals served to kids in other markedly less fortunate nations.

By the way, did you know that most U. S. schools NO LONGER ACTUALLY PREPARE THEIR OWN MEALS? Yes, they have been outsourced to, primarily, fast food places, and THIS  is what your school taxes are paying for. Happy? Hope not.

This is only “balanced” in the minds of embarrassed parents and school lunch servers, bureaucrats and the lobbyists who have paid them off. Actually, most schools I am acquainted with would just have pizza and soda, although there is a growing backlash, just not large enough.

This is the kind of junk they have been eating all year and we wonder why our kids misbehave, can’t concentrate, are growing fatter every day and don’t know what healthy eating looks like except on government flyers. Will you sit by and let it be the same come Fall? Your kids will likely eat better when NOT in school.

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but I would like to add at least one: Pathetic.

Feel free to add your own adjectives.

 

Images and descriptions from:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2958640/Photos-school-lunches-served-world-reveal-just-meager-America-s-meals-compared-cash-strapped-nations.html

Benefits of Reading – Infographic

This infographic about reading is so beautiful and so cool I just had to share!

The Metamorphosis Journal

82 delicious layer, 12 hours of work dedicated to those who adore reading and book. Feel free to share it, and if you wish to make a print of this for educational purposes, don’t hesitate to contact me in order to get a free, print-resolution copy.

Update: Some people asked for a print of this infographic. But, unfortunately, they had problems with meeting printing requirements. If you wish to have it ready in print, it’s available here on Zazzle. You can change the size as it please you, but please consider keeping the text readable.

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