Patterns......

One day last week we got some nice fresh snow. Port Washington looked so pretty with the white frosting covering the trees and the park right outside our windows. Our neighborhood was fresh and new for a few hours. It was good packing snow too. I know this because as I drove down the road toward the grocery store at noon there were snowmen standing at attention on lawns all along my route. I remember those fun making-snowmen-with-kids-days!

During the early afternoon I took Mr. Fenway for a walk just to get some fresh air. He doesn't like to go too far when its snowy and his feet might get cold...but we did make it around the block. Coming back toward our condo I noticed someone's footprint.

The boot left a very distinct pattern. So I carefully put my foot down to check the tracks I was leaving behind. It wasn't as interesting.

I turned down the sidewalk toward the building's entryway and noticed that the snow was gracing the stone wall that marks the border of our property. A zig-zag pattern.

Hmmmm......patterns.....made me think of quilting so the rest of the afternoon was spent happily playing with my fabric stash. Thanks Mother Nature.

Once Again.....Weeping.....

I don’t really watch sports on TV.....and that’s practically breaking the “law” here in Wisconsin. I am one of the very few who never know when the Packers are playing and I don’t own a green and gold anything. When Dave does watch a game I find a good book to read, walk Fenway or quilt.

So it does surprise me that the tragic death of a basketball superstar on Sunday brings tears to my eyes. But the news coverage has been focused on the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his teenage daughter and seven others. The tributes that are coming in, the films and photos focused on Bryant.....his talent.....his smile.....the good things he did for his community. It is very obvious, that from a very young age, while not perfect, he was a force to be recognized.

And suddenly gone.

The focus is on him but newscasters have been careful to honor everyone who was lost and  to recognize the grief felt in so many homes.

I just have an image that won’t leave my mind......as do many others, I wonder about the last minutes of that doomed helicopter flight. Did anyone on board realize they were in trouble or did they just slam into the hillside with no notice. Which would be “better”? Part of me hopes no one knew...there was just conversation and some laughter.....and then gone.

But part of me also pictures Kobe, the parent, gathering his daughter into his arms to hold and protect her one last time.

 (Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)

Which would be “better”.......

Night and Day....

Port Washington seems to be home to thousands of Canadian geese during the winter. I guess they migrate from the colder north to "warm" Wisconsin? The flocks gather in the water around the marina for the night and take off each morning to forage in area farm fields. At certain times of day, morning and late afternoon, the skies over our condo get very noisy indeed.

Driving home yesterday afternoon along a country road just south of town I grabbed a few quick shots. Hundreds of geese were rummaging through snow covered no-more-corn fields.

Others seemed a little "smarter" and went two blocks south and found it easier to find their lunch. They walked across the field only disturbed when I stopped, opened the car window and tried to grab a not-too-good picture.

And then, this morning, I watched as some of them began their morning take-off. The honking grows and echoes as one flight after another takes to the sky and heads out of town. It's like the leaders take off and call to the others "Come on guys....corn scraps await!"

It's "just" Canada geese in the neighborhood....common I know, but still a reminder that I am surrounded by nature and should stop for a minute take notice....look and listen. I do.

Cross It Off.....

I seem to live with lists. If I don't write things down on a piece of paper tasks don't seem to get done. And yes....sometimes I use the notes app in my phone but have often deleted that by mistake and then my important reminder is gone.  So I fall back on paper and pen.

The other day the list started sort of like this and as I finished one little task after another I would cross it off. And also ended up adding a few in between. At one point I had the first list, a list to start the next day and a reminder of some other "bigger" stuff to be done before we do a little traveling.

My lists have my name at the top....Dave has his own responsibilities and To Do Stuff. (I often put things on his list when he's not around.) I think I use my lists to remind myself of all the little tasks I want to finish before going to bed but might forget if they aren't written down. I hate to wake up in the middle of the night only to think "Oh THAT!" On the other hand my lists let me cross stuff off and that's very satisfying. 

So I will continue my old fashioned organizing system....especially when I head out to the grocery store. You don't even want to know what I bring home for the refrigerator and pantry when I forget that list at home. Inevitably it's the most important item that I really needed  for dinner. 

A Grey Result....

It is COLD today in Port Washington and the forecast predicts this will last through the weekend and we may get some snow. And it's GREY in Port Washington, the sky, the trees, the shrubs...even the water in Lake Michigan is all a "muddle". But at least it's not quite as dramatic as last weekend.

We had huge waves crashing ashore and they did a lot of damage to the walkway out to our lighthouse. It was amazing to watch from the window.

(Photo courtesy of Bill Schanen IV and the Ozaukee Press.)

This was from the summer we first moved to Port when we took two of our grandsons on a walk out to that very same lighthouse....it will be awhile before that's possible once again. Look at the difference!

On Tuesday Fenway and I took one of our normal walks along the lakefront.....just north of this walkway. It's a bit more sheltered so I was not aware of any damage, but I was aware that every rock and boulder boasted a coating of ice as a result of the gale. They were all covered by at least an inch of frozen lake....and once again dull and brownish grey.

I was taken by the shapes and thought to myself "Now if that was fabric, I'd buy a few yards!"

And So Why Would I Weep......

It's January 15, 2020. A day that will go down in the history books.....but it started, in my world, with a normal once-a-month quilt guild meeting. The third Wednesday morning of the month....one of the favorite days on my calendar. Driving with a friend down toward the city and turning a few corners to get to the church where we meet.

Our members gather, first a few of us for a board meeting, and then the rest of the quilters come in and shrug off coats and smile and greet each other. We talk and find our chairs. We spend the first part of the formal meeting watching a wonderful power point presentation in which a talented quilt artist shares her process and her inspirations. We admire her work, we marvel at the details. We ask questions and she answers.

Then we move to a sort-of-brief business meeting and discuss our budget for the year and up-coming workshops and then take a break to enjoy the treats provided. Conversations bubble up all over the room as monthly friends reconnect. And then it's back to our chairs for the really fun part of each meeting, show and tell. This is the part where we get to see completed quilts (all styles!) and projects started. It's always inspiring and interesting and many "oohs and aaahs" echo throughout the space.

Then a stop for lunch where three of us continue our conversations and laughter, then the ride home and back to regular day stuff. Until about 4:15 p.m. I was busy stretching and pinning yet another quilt and smiling along with the Ellen Show on TV. When that music interrupted the program....the formal sort of music that means a special announcement is coming. The one that always makes me feel a little frizzle of concern as George Stephanopolis begins.

And I pause to watch Nancy Pelosi and the members of the House of Representatives charged with delivering the articles of impeachment of President Donald John Trump to the Senate. She makes a brief statement, solemn and careful, signs the documents and then the 7 impeachment managers walk silently down the hallway connecting the two chambers. In this hallway, normally filled with activity, staffers and tourists there is emptiness. No one speaks. And my eyes fill.

Why? I make no secret of how I feel about the man currently sitting in the oval office. So why does this march into the history books make me so very sad. I guess, for me, it's just a really sad day for America. A day that will fan the flames that divide our Country.

The Senate accepts the documents and Mitch McConnell makes his solemn remarks....and ends with a sort of out-of-place statement about some new trade deal 45 signed today that will be great for the Country and great for our citizens.

Mitch accepted the documents.....who the hell knows what will happen tomorrow or how many furious tweets will flash out on 45's twitter feed.

Tears for America.

Black and White.....

Interesting times these. New headlines every day and new "interpretations" of those stories every day. Yesterday I was working in the kitchen with TV on in the background....some detective series. During the breaks there were interviews with real life investigators about how they do their jobs. How they interview suspects to get to the truth. One such comment is still floating around in my brain.

The investigator was saying how he circles back and re-asks questions....especially if he feels the individual across the table is being less than forthcoming. His comment was something like "The truth will come out easily and naturally and will remain consistent. If someone is being less than truthful they will have to think about their lie and try to remember what they said the last time, so details change."

His description of his interview process makes me think about the latest USA-Iran tragedies....and 45's continually changing "explanations" of why he made the decisions he did. It's not the "assassination" of the "really bad guy" that troubles me (or many Americans), it's the reasoning behind the drone strike. And the less-than-complete discussion of the actual "imminent" threats that caused 45 to flex his muscles. It's his seeming lack of understanding of any repercussions after the strike.  It's me wondering about just how many of our embassies really had been threatened since US foreign service and intelligence community doesn't seem to be fully supporting these statements. The fact that in the past week the explanations have changed slightly day by day makes me think....hmmmm....something is not quite right here.

And why would I believe 45? His truth-telling track record is less than stellar. Certainly our Country's decades long relationship with Iran and the rest of the Middle East has been very challenging. But it's not black and white.....there is so much grey here. So much confusion, so much disinformation. And the sad tragedy of an airplane full of non-military individuals shot down because Iran mistook the plane for a missile. Would that tragedy be today's news if 45 hadn't sent the drone strike, killed an Iranian leader?

I have to think those people, men, women and children, were innocent victims. That tragedy forms another block in the wall that separates us from citizens who live in countries that don't look like ours. Another event that blocks attempts at understanding or respect for different histories and unique traditions.

These thoughts of mine are a bit of a "muddle" and I know I am influenced by the fact that I don't respect the man sitting in the oval office, I don't respect his experience, I don't respect his decision making processes. I think his thought process is flawed.

And a plane full of people falling out of the sky seems to be the latest result.

The Brown is Back.....

When we get wind from the southeast Lake Michigan reacts quickly. Our lovely blue expanse turns brown as the sandy bottom close to shore gets churned up by the waves. It's amazing how quickly this huge body of water can change....not only day to day, but hour to hour.

So yesterday Fenway and I bundled up for our morning "do your business" walk about 9:00. The wind almost took my hat right off my head, but we walked toward the lake for our usual excursion.

Using my phone I snapped a couple pictures and stopped to talk to another walker about just how powerful Lake Michigan can be. When she flexes her muscles you pay attention!

And, when the waves are breaking on shore you don't walk too close to the breakwater or you get hit with spray. 

Today's walk was completely different. The wind is gone, the lake is flat.....but it will take days for the brown to disappear and blues to return. Always interesting.....Mother Nature and her paint brush.

Back in the Box.....

Once again we've turned the page on the calendar and started a new year. The holidays are over. The decorating, the socializing, the family time, the food, the drink....we all pack a lot into just a few weeks during each December.

Dave and I had a very nice end-of-the-party-season open house on Saturday afternoon. It was a lot of fun to gather family and friends for one last conversation and time together while our condo was still boasting our red "stuff". Years ago we started asking guests to bring a voluntary donation to our local food pantry instead of a hostess gift....and, as always, our friends were more than generous.

We had fun....and then it was Sunday morning and we began the put-away-the-red-stuff challenge. With music on in the background we moved from room to room trying to find everything before we sealed up the boxes. (Inevitably there will be one something that is still hanging around and we will find it by spring so it stays in a drawer by itself until needed.) This year's gather-up went pretty quickly and we were about done by lunch time.

So the holiday decorations are back in their box and the bags of food items will be delivered to the pantry on Tuesday.

Ooops.....I should say boxes.