9th Year

This post was going to be several (innocuous) things. I wanted to celebrate the 9th anniversary of our house closing and the incredible saga of us moving in (amid three feet of crusty, frozen snow and all kinds of bizarre obstacles!) I also wanted to pay tribute to a new decade; a doubling decade! Happy 2020! May we see more clearly!*1
The hopeful little bowl of supermarket primroses*2 had cheered me up immeasurably: we keep having these dark, drizzly days (at least we're not on fire! Poor Australia!!) and despite the knowledge that the days should be getting longer, it really doesn't feel that way. I spent a day last week, laying in bed and reading seed catalogs and dreaming about this season's garden. That made me feel more alive!
But The Orange Menace and his cronies have other ideas and may have sparked World War III with some ill-thought out drone strike which will inevitably lead to retaliations... oh, hell do NOT get me going. You knew that the continuing impeachment saga was going to provoke tantrums and rash behavior and it did. No surprise! But really? Endanger life on this planet, why don't you?
I can't help it that I feel pretty grim right now. Despite having a house that I love, great companions- human and animal-, a show coming up and all sorts of exciting things afoot in my studio, I feel overwhelmingly troubled. Someone cheer me up... please!!

This bowl of berries has been holding its own since November. Minimal shedding and still colorful; I guess that's cheerful.
I don't know how, but I promise my next posting will attempt to be upbeat and lighthearted. Trust me!


*1 Why do I not think this is likely?!?!?!
*2 Supermarket primroses are the best! Cheap (usually on sale to boot) and if you plant them outside after the weather warms, they are hardy. I have a bunch of them in my shade garden and they come back year after year. Kind of amazing.

Enjoy It While Ye May!

I'm milking this dying bouquet because soon enough, the only flowers available will be the ones in my fertile imagination. Fall is here and it's blustery and we lost all our tender annuals- with the freaky exception of a particularly intrepid corner of zinnias! Actually, I've got quite an assortment of potted plants temporarily residing in my studio so we won't be entirely without greenery this winter. Now, where to put all those plants in the living room...
I'm also posting a picture here of an interesting visitor that Bob and I had late last week:

Look at that thing! He was BIG- way bigger than the photo suggests. This large insect was scaling one of Bob's sculptures and we couldn't help but notice him. He was carefully feeling his way up the steel... Here's his other side:

(I'm saying "he" but maybe it's a girl. I'm not sure how we tell.) Anyway, he/she was was oblivious to my efforts to document him/her.  We're guessing it's a type of cricket. Impressive and eerie.
But speaking of insects/bugs/pests/varmints/vermin and official lice...
Holy cow! Impeachment! Talk about draining swamps and all things pestilence! I can't look the news away and maybe the changing seasons becomes an advanced metaphor for changing directions in a seriously misguided administration. I could go on for days (and believe me, I'd rather discuss insects!) but did anyone really think that Rudy Giuliani (who DOES look like Nosferatu...) was a good guy? Please: the best thing that could have happened in this amazingly action packed week was that "two associates" of Giuliani's were arrested. More arrests to come. I'm on the edge of my seat and looking forward to designer handcuffs!

The Orange Menace Affliction

 (Above: (Fucking) Moron. This is a new piece channeling my "inner Rex Tillerson". Didn't know I had one, right? Well this is one thing I agree with him on...)
I have effectively diagnosed myself with Trump Anxiety Disorder. Having read several news articles (not fake!) describing exactly what I've been experiencing, I am a text book case. I just wish there was an easy cure.
I sleep badly. And then I wake up hoping the power is on- somehow this is my signal that a nuclear bomb hasn't been dropped on us over night. I figure if the electrical grid is functioning, we're still okay. I guess I should be glad for small things. Or maybe that's a big thing!
I can't stop reading/listening to the news. I wish I could control that impulse, too. Bob and I are news junkies at present: updating the progress of the Mueller investigation, scrolling to react to whatever insane tweet has burped forth from the White House.
I know we're not alone: every late night talk show is obsessed with the actions of him. Although at least we laugh when his actions are parsed and parodied! If we didn't laugh, we be screaming. Maybe that is the more appropriate response.
When will it end? But then I contemplate "president Pence". Not much better- a homophobic, women mistrusting religious zealot who is every bit as crazy and dangerous, just in a different way. Women would probably have to wear burkas if he ascends to the throne in case of impeachment or resignation. And if Pence is dragged down along with The Orange Menace, would we survive "president Ryan"? Oh please! He's the architect behind the rethuglicans cruel tax overhaul! Isn't there enough income disparity without Ryan soon claiming that because of huge deficits (because of those charming millionaire increasing tax cuts) there must be cuts to "entitlements" like Medicare and Social Security... Don't get me started!
And tonight is the much anticipated Alabama showdown between Roy Moore and Doug Jones. What has the rethuglican party come to that they would seriously consider a man who stalks under age girls at shopping malls and is a pedophile pervert because "at least he isn't a Democrat?" Is that really the choice? Bob and I have obtained pizza and wine and are planning on celebrating the weirdness of our times. Looks like it's gonna be a long night...