Musings

Waiting worked

The storm did hit us, lots of rain and wind gusts (the former gone; the latter still somewhat active). We were lucky; it was far worse elsewhere. We didn’t lose power or internet, and we long ago perfected hunkering down. This solitaire with mahjongg tiles was part of my personal hunkering arsenal.

Yawn

I titled this showoff grass, and that’s about the extent of my “creativity” at the moment. G’night.

Look out!

Most recent binge-watch: “La Grande Maison Tokyo” (fiction). Tonight’s binge selection: “Lost Treasures of Rome” (science/NatGeo).

Surgical knee magic

I just read (okay: skimmed) a WaPo article by Andrew Zaleski that describes a new operation for people with knee cartilage problems. Surgeons put a pellet of calcium carbonate derived from coral exoskeletons (yeah, the reef kind) in the bone. Over time, the pellet is absorbed and the body makes a gooey substance that acts rather like real cartilage. It’s a fast operation, albeit with a different recovery curve than knee replacement. Zaleski describes two other new approaches with good results.

I’ll try to remember this. Right now my knees are okay (knock on wood), but they have had issues, and I baby them frequently.

Date: 17 Sept 2024. Title (that I saw online): Not ready for a knee replacement? You might be able to fix your cartilage instead.

Watching reality arrive

We heard that we should anticipate a deluge this afternoon. This became revised downward to…variable low-level precipitation—and what actually happened was…less (shall we say). So, we strolled the park, focusing on this…phalanx, we deemed it.

Leaf me be…

I can get mesmerized by patterns.

Happy feet

I’m so happy with these cool mornings…60s before 9am…lovely for a stroll/walk/jog/outing.

Outside money

Bumblebee

My NIL is nil. Well (duh), I’m not a college sports figure, so of course it’s nil.

This topic and the terminology springs from reading Joe Drape’s and Allison McCann’s article “In College Sports’ Big Money Era, Here’s Where the Dollars Go” in the NYTimes, dated 31, Aug—although I just found it today. BTW, NIL stands for name, image and likeness, if the acronym isn’t in your everyday vocab.

Floral irritant

Striding along under this lovely, towering magnolia, a high branch dropped a leaf that landed on my hat. It was not a small leaf, and it landed with a small thud. My neck is fine; I just shook that floral debris off and continued my walk.

Different me

Today I’m opting to shift my time-space. This flower photo is from a year ago, and was taken in the UP.

This notion builds from today’s news from Winder and Ukraine, the Mideast, etc., and from finishing “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig (2020).