Celebrating with Bells

Old brass bells found in box of books. Now they hang from the doorknob of a new door.

 The holiday decorations in our house are getting sparser as I age, especially since it has always been only me that puts them up and takes them down. The bells help celebrate the “reason for the season”. I put the new keys to the new door on a guardian bell key fob. Keeping with the bell theme, I decided to hang the bells pictured above from the door lever. They make a strong and clear clanging that is musical to my ear.

This new door was one of the upgrades that was researched this summer. Planning ahead is always a good idea. This door is fully accessible and opens out to our deck, patio, and back garden. It replaced an old sliding glass door that was too narrow to be fully accessible.

As I went through the old Christmas decorations picking and choosing a few reminders of the season, I found a garland of tiny gold bells. Hanging them over the new door was my private celebration. The 3 brass bells were found this summer in old box of inherited books. They seem appropriate for Christmas, and I can imagine them being attached to a gift box of books. Giving books for Christmas was something my great aunt Bess liked to do. You cannot take the teacher out of an older retired teacher.

This Thanksgiving season I am grateful for many things. My father’s favorite poem, Desiderata, comes into my mind. He used to have it on a poster in his home office. My favorite lines from this poem are: “You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”

My hope during this time of year is that love and faith continues to guide me. And to anyone that might read this post, I hope that you can find peace and joy during this season of Thanksgiving.

Sincerely, Kathy aka Katherine

The Beaver Moon

Tomorrow night 11/15/2024 will be the peak of the last super moon of 2024. (AI generated image)

The chill in the air today gave me hope that our winter will be memorable.

The beaver prepares for winter. It builds a dam and stores up food. Here it looks to be praying by the water, asking the moon for guidance. This month’s full moon is named in its honor.

This reminds me of the new Reservoir Park in Loudoun County, which is a partnership between Loudoun Water and NOVA Parks. It is situated on the southeast side of Beaverdam Reservoir. I have not yet had a chance to visit it this year. I will have to put this on my 2025 list of things to do if I do not get a chance before then to visit it.

My hope is that the sky will be clear of clouds tomorrow night. It is raining now and expected to continue through until morning. Shine bright Beaver Moon!

Pizza Night

I would highly recommend this Crate and Barrel pizza plate. It thoroughly cooked the whole wheat dough. Additionally, it is light weight and easy to clean.

The only problem was I added too much cheese. There are sliced peppers under all the cheese that you cannot see very well. Next time I will make it with less cheese and the sliced peppers on top.

The pepperoni is for my daughter.

Baked a Mincemeat & Pear Tart Today

I voted around 10:15 EST in Virginia today. This is the sticker I was given.
I used a None Such jar of mincemeat and added thinly sliced jarred Pears from Wegman’s.
I made a streusel topping, then added some toasted black walnuts in the middle. Oops, I misspelled streusel on the picture.
It is evening now.I am not so sure I will be able to successfully avoid election coverage. My curiosity will probably make me look.
Evening update: The tart has now been taste tested. It is delicious!

 

Sweet Olive Whispers

Sweet olive flower artistically designed as a drop earring. I imagine it can whisper.

Osmanthus fragrans is its scientific name.

This flowering plant is native to Asia from the Himalayas through several provinces in China, Taiwan, southern Japan, and S.E. Asia as far south as Cambodia and Thailand.

In China, it is the “city flower” of several cities, and in Japan it is a “city tree” of several prefectures.

In Chinese mythology it is said that it grows on the moon. Wu Gang was a Chinese character who is known for endlessly cutting it down. It is seen as a divine punishment for him because this “self-healing” Osmanthus could and would regrow an equal amount every day.

I was inspired to look up this flowering plant when I saw this pair of earrings today. All the information here I have gleaned from Wikipedia. The picture has been edited from a picture on the Etsy website. Wikipedia did not suggest this flower can whisper. This thought came from my imagination, and when I read about the mythology, it confirmed to me it must have magical powers. Ha!

I even looked to see if I could grow this fragrant flowering plant in my garden. I think it needs a slightly warmer garden zone than where I am located. In the future when I get the chance to seriously renovate my garden, I will explore this possibility again.

Shakespeare Sunday

AI generated image with the prompt: “Prim-rose path with gate”

I was looking through my medicine cabinet this morning when I saw the Prim-rose Oil hiding in the corner. I have not used it in a long time, and I decided to look up “primrose” in my dictionary, even though I knew it to be a yellow flower.

Right below the “prim-rose” entry was the entry “prim-rose path”. This turned out to be far more interesting. This phrase was made famous by William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. According to my dictionary, it means “an easy or pleasurable way of life, especially one that leads to disaster.”

I pursued this idea further and discovered a great webpage: https://nosweatshakespeare.com/blog/what-is-the-primrose-path/

At this website I learned that Shakespeare used this metaphor in more than one place. I also learned that Shakespeare’s idea goes hand in hand with the bible verse: Matthew 7:13. So, I looked up this bible verse. It states: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.”

I am not a Shakespeare expert nor a Bible expert, so I will leave the comparison for you to explore, and to draw your own conclusions. I do think the lovely primrose should not be maligned for it is those who knowingly walk the wrong path with evil intent that are at fault. It matters not whether the path has flowers or whether the gate is narrow or wide.

 

 

 

A Change of Seasons

First day of fall surprise– Two blooming “Going Bananas” day-lilies.
Last night desire was running with the undercurrents in the room.
My senses were on high alert. That sensual feeling that seeks me out now and then was reaching through the invisible walls around me.
And then I fell asleep.

I woke to the first day of fall which can also be called autumn.
Out my window I was surprised to see two bright yellow day-lilies blooming once more.
It does not look like a change of seasons from the past.
The rain last night brought renewal in its wake.

I also spotted a little chick-a-Dee and a tufted Titmouse.
I have not seen either in quite a while. It is a joy to watch these birds in flight.They look like they are jumping through air.
Katherine Phlox back from the mid-summer browning.
Another surprise this morning was the blooming Katherine Phlox.
It had dried out in our summer heat. I had cut it down and watered it well, and then it was forgotten. Today it is blooming again.

I have a feeling that this fall will be full of renewal.
Happy Sunday!

Sally Ride Dr.

This is an AI generated image. The prompt was “general dynamics artificial intelligence.” I was curious how AI would picture artificial intelligence.

I pass Sally Ride Dr. almost every day I drive home. Occasionally I take a different route. This past Friday I finally wondered what was located on this road. I looked it up to discover a General Dynamics location was there.

I knew the name Sally Ride because she was an incredibly accomplished woman who worked for NASA as an astronaut for several years. She had a long and impressive resume. Sadly, she is no longer alive, though her legacy lives on. Today I discovered one of her projects which coincidentally is specifically for middle school students. Here is the link: https://www.earthkam.org/about .

The name of this drive has been in my mind all weekend. I learned that Dr. Sally Ride graduated from Stanford University in 1973 with a double major in Physics and English. She continued at Stanford, earning her Master of Science and doctorate degrees in physics in 1975 and 1978. In 1977, Ride answered a newspaper ad placed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

After learning this I think they should rename the road: Dr. Sally Ride Dr. This would make me smile.

I am a little hooked on using the AI image generator. I wanted a picture here, so I indulged my curiosity. Here it is alone at the office working unassisted.

 

Apple Season

As we enter September, the relief of cooler weather will arrive. This morning the thought of apples came into my mind. Fall is full of festivals and apples in Virginia.

I stayed up late last night finishing the book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I picked it up Friday at a thrift store along with his book, The Girl Who Played with Fire. After finishing his first book, I will have to wait to read his second. The book is a thriller, and it took my mind into a horrible darkness that can reside within some humans. The dragon theme has now been fully played out. I am ready to move on.

Twenty twenty-five is the year of the Snake in the Chinese zodiac. Perhaps this thought brought apples into my mind.

“Virginia is for Lovers” is an advertising slogan that was created in 1969. It has greatly helped tourism in my state. Virginia has an abundance of apple festivals in September into October. Here is a link if you are interested: https://www.virginia.org/things-to-do/farms-and-agriculture/pick-your-own-farms/apple-picking/

Moving into the theme of apples, festivals, and love brings my mind into much lighter territory.

The apple is also a symbol for education. Out of curiosity, I asked the AI image generator for an apple cut into fifths. Here is its first attempt. I realized I needed to be more specific. I asked for one apple cut into equal fifths. Finally, I asked for the heart of an apple. The image above is the result. This is my favorite.

Have Faith

This is another AI generated image. This one was prompted with the words “sea witch”.

This summer I have read books about dragons and witches. I discovered the writing of Ursula K. Le Guin and her EarthSea books. Most recently I finished reading her book, Lavinia. I revisited the writing of Kelly Barnhill. A few years ago, I read her book, The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Since this is “the year of the dragon”, I had to read her book, When Women Were Dragons.

I have come a long way since I started writing for therapy. I used to read mostly nonfiction. Now I read mostly fiction. Historical fiction is good, but to truly escape reality you need to read fantasy.

Once I set the books down the reality of my life always comes back to me. The themes in my real life are persistence and resilience. My real life requires me to have faith. Having faith that the sun will rise and set each day is an easy faith. Having faith that humans can work together for a better world requires a stronger and more active faith.

I start back to work tomorrow. I need to have faith that I can make a positive impact on the lives of middle-schoolers by helping them to grow stronger and smarter, and to have faith that we can all work together for a better world for all of us.