Musings

I did finished my reading for my next book club. The assignment was to read the biography of a woman. I picked Mabel Dodge Luhan (1879–1962) because JCB gave me a volume of her memoirs a loooong time ago, and I’ve never read it. Turns out she was quite a character. Dodge was husband number two, and Lujan was husband number four—although she changed the spelling (perhaps unpredictably, she reserved their post office box in the name Lujan). She and number four lived in Taos for over four decades, and now I’m jonesing to visit Taos…and contemplating staying in the Lujan’s/Luhan’s Big House.

Posted at 8:50 PM | Comments Off on Stashes

Preparations have begun. As in, the Guru and I gathered up veggies and some other items at The Sto to begin feast prep. The organic turkey is ordered for Monday. And the dressing cubes now are drying out. (Organic sourdough, if you’re interested.)

Posted at 7:23 PM | Comments Off on Smells like bread

Errands today included a stop at the bakery. Mmmm. Raspberry chocolate mousse. You apparently can order this as a sheet cake (mousse), if you want to serve a crowd.

And over by the registers, they had oversized candy canes…already! (But they look tastier than the usual inexpensive ones.)

We just bought bread and deli-protein for our evening meal—no sweets. Waiting for next week for that….

Posted at 6:25 PM | Comments Off on Bakery yums

The other day I read that narwhals are excellent at finding cracks in the sea ice (breathing holes) and mapping their environment using echolocation. The part that stuck with me is that they use “phonic lips” to make the clicks and buzzes. Not sure if that’s a typo…phonic lips to make phonic blips?

I also read today that in Medieval Europe they seeded fields with both rye and wheat, and both the mixture and the flour/bread made from it were called maslin. Turns out the word is etymologically related to miscellany, and can also be used for a metal blend mimicking brass, so that there could be a maslin kettle. Chaucer spelled it maselyn. Note that I checked, and King Arthur doesn’t sell a maslin flour. You could make your own….

This program accepts phonic lips but wants maslin to be marlin. Not.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Do I read too much?

We couldn’t smell the wildfire smoke, so we went over to the Old Fourth Ward park and walked around the lake, up and down, but took it easy. (Knee MUCH better, but still a tad ailing.)

And, we even spotted a turtle! Minnows (not pictured)! Slightly larger feeeesh (not pictured)! So, despite the horrendous murkiness, this water supports turtle food, and hence, at least one turtle.

Posted at 8:26 PM | 2 Comments »

The last of the summer’s flowers are doing the fade as the leaves fall. Here’s a lovely memory of the lushness that’s gone. And, yes, the color hasn’t been boosted. [I have a version on my iPhone’s lock-screen.]

My dictionary says that hark comes from a hunting term referring to hounds retracing their steps to find a scent they’ve lost. Appropriate with a flower picture.

Posted at 5:28 PM | Comments Off on Harking back

The Guru says it smells like Mexico outside; he means it smells an awful lot like burning garbage. And has for days. Even though it’s wildfire smoke. The new normal.

Also, we encountered the first Salvation Army bell-ringer of the season today doing errands. I don’t know how long they’ve been mobilized for this season, as lately we haven’t been erranding in the places they set up their pots.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Outdoor report

Look at that ringfort density! That line is 2 miles long. These people were pretty close neighbors (dispersed homesteads); you could go next door for a cuppa…something, not sugar or coffee. Some of the greater distances are across creeks/marshier areas. Crannogs are artificial islands—very defensible housing locales. See how small many fields are today?…a legacy of thousands of years of chopping up control of the landscape.

Posted at 10:22 PM | 2 Comments »

There’s been a wee bit of talk around here about maybe going to Ireland. Of course, one of the first things I did was take look at the archaeological remains there, and whew! Turns out there are thousands THOUSANDS of ringforts, aka ráths or cashels, sometimes dún elsewhere…. Some are simple earthworks, not particularly large. Others are large, huge and stone-walled. Some are dual, figure-eights. They dot the landscape across much of Ireland. Some are plowed up and otherwise disturbed. Some seem to be in pretty good shape. There are zones where they are pretty dense, probably reflecting a mosaic of control of the landscape for fields and pasture in a zone around each ringfort.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Wander-thoughts

As I went into the grocery store, I saw this Brinks truck, with its rearview mirrors on red-painted stalks. I came out and it was gone and three fire engines were in front of the Ponce City Market (rear, with letters atop roof), up on the sidewalks. Traffic still was a snarl, and I managed to sneak out of the parking lot by the side exit. I rolled toward my next errand stop and with some clever lane-changing, managed not to get snagged behind a slow-moving city bus.

It was my trip to see logo-ed vehicles.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Urban excursion