Scenes from a few years back: some town in Wyoming. Reminding myself that I much prefer the mysterious and lovely forests of the Eastern US.

It's just me: I was a child of the East, Northern Virginia, Northern Kentucky. Road trips through the Appalachians.  

Especially appreciating Pennsylvania these days.

 

My Approach to the Winter Solstice

 The late autumn and early winter season is challenging. 

Most discouraging is the steadily diminishing light.  The sun at the oddly oblique angle: cold sunlight, lacking warmth, yet in your eyes.

After many decades, I have worked out a system with myself: from late October to Dec 21 is the worst; just get through it somehow.  

Immediately after Dec. 21, my spirits perk up--I mean: the next day.  "It's practically Spring" I have said out loud. Others don't believe it, but I don't care.

The prospects for planting, the colors of flowers, again. Seed catalogs?

A few years ago, I nurtured butterflies in summer. It is a messy activity, so I have stopped doing it.

The Swallow Tail above was one of "my kids" from that era: perhaps its descendants will visit our yard again next summer. 

After Dec 21.

Rumor Has it I have Abandoned the Blog

 

No.

We traveled.

We met our Grandchild

I have kept active in my yard/garden all spring and summer.

I have walked and ridden my bike all summer.

The days are shorter now; that is a challenge this yard. I have grown accustomed to the activity in the yard.

We began the process of clearing out the house. Not urgent now, but better to do this things when we have a choice.

I am growing amaryllis plants from seeds that I hybridized, while I was plant sitting for my neighbor. I must have 20 plants; they are doing well. It takes them 5 years to bloom: I'm using them to motivate the instinct to survival. Glorious Amaryllis to counter balance dystopia and malicious Principality?

And I'm still reading the Lincoln books. Volume 2 of the Prairie Years almost done.

He was a complex guy.

Abraham Lincoln - The Prairie Years - Vol. 1 - by Carl Sandburg

 Lincoln and Illinois used to go hand in hand; not so much now.  Sandburg was born in Illinois in the later 19th Century when Lincoln Legends were everywhere. So it was natural that Sandburg could write a very good book about Lincoln. This is not a biography as much as a narrative history. It was published in 1925.

Forced to read other Sandburg in high school, I didn't enjoy his work; I almost skipped reading this book.

Lincoln was as interesting and nuanced a character as we could find; it's a good thing he was so famous, since his life is very interesting to read about.

He was self-taught and a life time learner; though he received some encouragement as he grew. His father did not encourage his learning to read, etc. --it took time away from the heavy farm work--as a boy and young man, Lincoln excelled at these things.    "Lincoln Logs" and "rail splitter": no kidding. William Faulkner told the story of a farmer in MS with 5 children that he taught to work very hard---just not for him; he was so hard on his kids they all left him to tend his farm alone in his old age. Lincoln's dad was bit like that.

The narrative is chatty and gossipy: Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks, was born out of wedlock, which may have resulted in the entire family moving west from Virginia to Kentucky soon after her birth (late 1700's); her mother did as she pleased until she finally settled on a husband she loved. Nancy was sent to live with a relative. Nancy was uniquely strange and mystical, solitary, religious; she died young when he was a child; suddenly from an infectious disease. A few years later, his sister died in childbirth.

These were hard losses. Fortunately, when his father remarried, the lady was kind, encouraging and comforting. As a teen, Lincoln chopped wood, cleared acres, helped on farms---and wrote letters for people for money---he had taught himself to write so well he could market the skill. 

All his life, he hand-wrote his own letters to hundreds of people. Even to the current time, examples of his work are sometimes found among  family papers in dusty old attics. When this book was being researched (1920's) those letters were everywhere: libraries, museums, personal collections. 

Also, when Sandburg did his research, there were still many people living who had known Lincoln in life; that's why the book is full of all the juicy nuggets, it seems: people would remember some incident concerning Lincoln as a child, young adult or as a circuit lawyer in the 1840-50's.

Notes made after completing the book:

Lincoln's mystical, slightly strange mother who died young, leaving him when he was about 9, went about her daily chores reciting Bible verses and scripture to the children. It was his foundation of moral teaching. He was a highly moral man, spiritual; but seldom went to church. He was regularly criticized for this, yet had a solid reputation as Honest Abe right from the beginning.

Lincoln was a Stud when he was young. 6 ft 4in and the strongest young man around. Not a bully, but the one the other boys called when they needed help with a bully. He had a following right from the start this way, his club. 

He worked harder than anyone else, too. His moral fiber was secure; he did not drink though he was not a Temperance Man. He piloted a flatboat on the MS River  to New Orleans, taking a steamer back. Then he settled in Salem IL. He had seen a certain girl there.

His love life? Back in those early days in Salem he fell in love with Anne Rutledge and she with him. They were engaged. It was perfect. Then malaria came to town: within days she was gone  "into the silence". Lincoln nearly went mad with grief. He was already full of gloom and abandonment from the deaths of this Mother and sister and others. He was obsessed with death. Friends helped him through it and he pulled himself together somehow.

Later in Springfield he endured a difficult courtship with Mary Todd, which led to marriage, after some break ups and make ups. Mary was rich and politically connected. Friends thought they would work as a political couple, and they did. He was the public face and she worked behind the scenes. She was educated, smart, social---and she was also the child of a mother who died young. She had abandonment issues so severe she could not get along with her step-mother. As a child in Lexington KY, she had to be boarded at her school, two blocks from her home. 

The couple was united in their love for their children---and only one survived. The line was not prolific; if memory serves, the last direct descendant of Abe and Mary passed away about 1980?

At the current time, with our world falling apart, it seems sometimes, just like Lincoln's was, it comforts me to read a book like this. They writing style was excellent. I'm read a first edition; copies of these are hard to find. Other editions are condensed and abridged, but the original was great.

Art Museum in Muskegon, MI---a couple of years ago

 I have lived on the shore of Lake Michigan (off and on) for 60 years, but never took a boat trip across the lake; a couple of years ago we did that; and explored the town. We found this The Muskegon Museum of Art. It's a small, convenient museum--perfect of an afternoon.  

Old-time, pre-pandemic fun!! 

Day Lily Season: In just a few days it starts.

 

My entire yard will be full of them.

Memorial Day Reading

 By chance, I found myself reading two books about Arlington National Cemetery:

"On Hallowed Ground" by Robert M. Poole and

"Where Valor Rests" which is a National Geographic picture volume

My parents are interred in Section 69 at ANC, on a small rise overlooking the Pentagon. What I did not realize until I read these books: shortly (2 years and 4 months) after Mother's burial, on Sept 11, 2001, the American Airlines Flight 77--doomed--came screaming in only tens of feet over the Section, aimed at the West Face of the Pentagon. Debris from the attack was scattered all over the Section, which was declared a crime scene.

Because our family lived for a time in Alexandria VA in the 1950's, I have some memories of the Cemetery. Times were freer in those days: on a nice day, Mother would bring us kids over to tour the Mansion, or at least the grounds, and explore the Cemetery on some lovely spring or summer day.

As a military family, we could use the rec facilities at the adjoining Army base, Fort Myers. We swam in the pool there frequently, in days before air conditioning.

On Memorial Day in 1958 the Unknown Soldiers (remains) from WW2 and Korea were interred. There was a huge ceremony, with President Eisenhower, national and world leaders attending, just a few miles from our home.

No, I was not invited: I was 10. But my Dad was a member of Army Counter Espionage (a security force); every one of those guys in or around DC was called in to do security for the event. He spent the day in a hot car on one of the winding lanes of the Cemetery, with all the rest, keeping their eyes open for trouble.

We--Mom, my brother and I watched the event on TV. It was among the first such events televised in the US.

The Lee Family of old, had direct ties to George Washington, through his wife. Washington's campaign kit, including a large tent and lots of furnishings, ended up stored in the Lee Mansion on the property; rescued by one of the servants, presented to the Union Army. Other Washington artifacts were looted. But the campaign kit is on display at the Yorktown battle museum which we say a view years ago.

History.  It flows along, it flows through us all. 

One of our great nephews had a couple of tours in  Afghanistan in the first decade of the current century. He lost friends; they are now interred in Section 60, the Saddest Acre in America. He very nearly ended up there, himself.

Say Hello to the Oldest First Time Grandmother on Earth

 Thank You, and Amen

Replaying Good Old Times....since the present isn't all that inspiring.

 

My last photo from Rome taken the day before we left, two years ago. I liked intimate little details such as this.

Pretty sure this is the court yard of the American Academy in Rome.

In Trastevere, a famous church with a famous Bernini sculpture and other inspiring art.

Anyone who ever was in Rome knows about these. I loved these.

One of my favorite photos of the entire trip. In Trastevere. I'm happy we stayed in Trastevere; that I successfully figured out a good B N B and that it all worked so well.

Reading Old Books, Again: "The Sketchbook" by Washington Irving

 Washington Irving was born just as the American Revolution was ending; he died right before the American Civil War began; interesting time for a life-span. He came from a wealthy, influential family.

Over the course of his years, his many published works made him America's most famously published and popular writer before Mark Twain. He was so loved that, even today, if you notice the name "Irving" on any place/location (that may have existed before 1900) it was probably named for Washington Irving. I learned that Irving Park, IL is such a place, for example.

The Sketchbook contains his famous "Rip Van Winkle" and "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" stories. It is different to read the stories as they were originally penned than to see them recreated as movies or cartoons for children. 

The book is written as a "travel", based on Geoffrey Crayon's sojourn in England about 1820. He likes the simple, rustic and rural English country life--he glorifies this richly and well. 

He wrote about King James I of Scotland, held as a royal hostage in the Tower at Windsor Castle in the early 1500's. As I watched the images of the castle on TV during the funeral for Prince Phillip, I wondered where the young king was held; and I thought of Irving, visiting the castle about 1820; he felt that was "modern times": he looked back at 1500 as if it were deep history; by now, 200 more years have past.

That kind of timelessness flows throughout the book. Such as, an idle hour solitary tour around the inside of Westminster Abbey, with no one to disturb his ramblings. In his day, the place had a boys' school attached (maybe still does?) with the sounds of kids playing just outside.

He held Shakespeare in almost godly reverence and wrote about his visit to Stratford-on-Avon; the town was a tourist trap even then, with fake relics of the Bard on sale around town like pieces of the True Cross.

Irving had a creepy or maudlin streak: I read somewhere he was mourning the death of his 17 year old fiancee from TB. He was about 35 at the time; another case of a man in his 30's engaged to a teenage girl. It gives us the creeps today, but was common in the distant past.  He wrote several stories of love gone wrong (and the girl wastes away to death), "the horrors of the tomb", regrets of the living as they mourn the dead, etc.

There's a series of stories about being invited to spend Christmas at an isolated estate of a family that tried to preserve the ancient customs of the land. These essays are said to have influenced Dickens, much later, to write "A Christmas Story".

At first, I was wishy-washy about finishing the book, but I did. I have internalized the material. My understanding of the world has increased by this experience. 

Now what shall I read?

Fail: Tried to read The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott

 I wanted to love this book; since I read Mark Twain's Travel book, Following the Equator, I wanted to read something else about India. A novel seemed perfect.

But not this one. It is one of those "pages by the pound" novels where it seems a book worth 200 pages by its plot somehow expands to 500 pages.

Not only did it not pass the 30-page test, I could not make it past page 23.

Sad. It had potential. And I feel dejected when I cannot wrap my mind around some novel I'd like to enjoy.

Springtime of the Year

 A yard full of daffodils, siberian squill and the beginning of Virginia Bluebells.

The dandelions and violets were in bloom in Tennessee, where we were last week.

Right now?? It is cold and I see a snow shower outside.  

I'm Doing The Best I Can, Under the Circumstances.

 The Unsustainable Circumstances.

Reading Old Books ( "Revolutionaries" by Jack Rakove )

 Or, if not that, then read books about old subjects.

Also note: I read an article lately which pointed out that professional librarians have been instructed to discard old books in favor of newer titles and electronic books. The author learned this when he failed to locate an titles by Dostoyevsky in his local library, and dug deeper.   

Treasure the Second Hand Book Store, I guess.

I finally completed "Revolutionaries-A New History of the Invention of America" by Jack Rakove.

He takes a modern approach to analyzing the characteristics of the principals of the American Revolution. In turn, he discussed the entire situation they faced: the crisis of the French and Indian War caused the British to try to force the Colonies to pay the costs of having the British Army's protection by imposing several new taxes and fees on every aspect of life and commerce. The Colonists figured they could protect  themselves, if allowed.

The book felt like an associated group of essays packaged together for a book. But that was ok.

Things I learned:

The Boston Tea Party: today, it is taught as if it was a joke or a prank; it was a huge assault on British commerce: the value of the tea was nine thousand pounds sterling. Real money in those days.

John Adams--the crankiest Founding Father. He might have been a teacher or a minister, but he chose to study the law. Rakove says that of all the Founders, Adams' life changed the most from his humble beginnings: most of the others were wealthy business men or gentlemen of the Planter Class.

Today, we know his cousin Samuel Adams from the beer label. But Sam Adams managed to bankrupt the family brewing business. He was a born revolutionary politician.

I did not realize that Benjamin Franklin (among the oldest Founders) was already world famous for his time, by the 1770's. He had lived in Britain, representing the Colonies. He was a complete, one-of-a-kind character. He and John Adams did not get on well: Adams was too brittle and sensitive; Franklin didn't care.

General Washington: by the end of his relatively short life, his popularity had reached Devine proportions. Though he surveyed the wilderness and fought in the French and Indian War, his ability as a general in the Revolution came from the skills he had learned managing this large plantation in VA: managing men, managing material, patience, honesty, authority. He was unusually able to compartmentalize--keep working "forward" in spite of what might be going on (or going wrong!) at the moment.     And George Washington Prayed All The Time. God was his best friend.

George Mason's vision of independence, due to his interest in the Virginia constitution was more important than I knew. As a child, I was taken to visit his beautiful plantation home, Gunston Hall, near Mt. Vernon. He and Washington were neighbors.

It is a meaty book. The author provides a deep dive into the life of the American diplomats: Franklin, Lee, Adams, John Jay and eventually Thomas Jefferson. They lived in a separate world from the fighting back home.

Often, Jefferson is idolized. This book also mentions his rather selfish tendency to concentrate on his own "pursuit of happiness" (remaining in Virginia when he was needed in Philadelphia with the Congress during the War), such profligate spending that enslaved families had to be separated by sale to clear his debts after his death. We will never truly understand his relationship with Sally Hemmings. As a reader of Faulkner, I am suspicious.

James Madison. We owe him everything for the elegant Constitution he crafted and nurtured. It was a complicated process to get the unique document into law. Shame it is being ruined.

Was Alexander Hamilton like a Trump of his day? He was not born rich, but found a way to be rich, he never took no for an answer but kept campaigning for what he wanted. He wanted a strong, central Federal government on sound financial standing. 

I didn't know how many of the Founders did not get along well: Hamilton was at odds with Jefferson and Madison. And Aaron Burr was just a bad operator--always cooking up some kind of trouble, besides killing Hamilton. Adams was prickly and insecure; besides Franklin, there were times he was at odds with others, like Jefferson. Though they died on the same day: July 4, 1826.

Exciting Signs of Spring

 On morning walks the past days:

An entire flock of Cedar Wax Wings! These I haven't seen in our town for many years.

Yesterday, a pair of Red Bellied Woodpeckers seemed to be conversing--perhaps planning a nest and a family?  These birds are a bit raucous and don't seem to enjoy company. This pair were playing nicely, it seemed to me.

I'm glad to see the less common, "prettier" native species able to nest and raise families in our simple suburban area. 

A few years back, there was a nesting pair of Marsh Hawks with young in the nest at our nearby park.

At the local golf course--thick with large trees--I saw what appeared to be an adult Red Tail Hawk with a first year young tagging along. That was just a month or so ago, before it got so cold.

On A Lighter Note: Third Rule

Don't be like me: I'm 72 and 1/2 years old and I only just learned what a useful product Bar Keepers Friend is. 

Think of all the kitchen sinks I have scrubbed with products like Comet, etc! That don't work very well.

It makes me wonder what else I have missed in life. Haha.

The Second Rule of "Old Lady's Game", I just figured out.

Recent news items have reminded me of the of antics of the Governor of New York State during the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis.

In spite of the Federal Government's providing NY with hospital facilities for Covid patients, the State of NY put the Covid patients into regular nursing homes.

Gasp.   Spreading the disease to thousands of old people and killing more than 15K.

And then covering up the actual number of deaths!

A move so stupid that it is difficult to believe it was not intentional. And these people were citizens, taxpayers of the State of NY--presumably with families. Perhaps and probably these were mainly Democrat voters.

So my Second Rule is: For Fuck's Sake, don't allow yourself to end up in a Blue State Nursing Home.

There is no telling what these people might do. 

As soon as I remarked about the "walkable weather" we had, It Snowed and Got Cold!

 What did I expect?

As I may have mentioned, we are considering a "relocation". The goal is to position ourselves within a 1 day's drive of both of our kids' homes. Not too close--we don't want to scare them. Haha.

So they can move?  Therefore, our relocation needs to be somewhere that we like for its own sake.

But first, we "Death Clean".  Our local Goodwill Store is getting all the little stuff; the rest is going on Ebay. It is shocking what people will purchase on Ebay.

It will take "a minute", as people say, these days.

We have learned we are expecting our first Grandchild in May.  Blessing.

So I am working on a Nap Quilt for her. We might be some of the most elderly 1st time grandparents on the planet.

Reading: I am shoveling my way through "Revolutionaries: A New History of the Invention of America". At first, I wondered, since we have lost the Republic, why make myself miserable by rubbing my nose in it???  But the book mainly relates the lives and qualifications of a handful of the principals of the Revolution and early Republic. Those men would be dead anyway, no matter what the state of our current situation. So it seems"elevating" to gain more insight on their experiences.

The book was published in 2010; the author is Jack Rakove, Professor at Stanford University. I wonder what he thinks of our current situation.

It's Good for Me to Take Long Walks

 I meander about the streets of the town for perhaps an hour and a half, most mornings.

Our winter is "walkable" this year: little snow and ice.  And that is a big Blessing, I should note.

We need to count our Blessings!

Road traffic is very light and foot traffic is freakishly rare. Me and a few dog walkers and one or two others.  It is like one of those stories from the 1950's where, after the A-Bomb, someone finds themselves to be the last person left on earth.  It is weird.

I don't think there is any Covid-19 out there in the cold, depopulated sunshine and fresh air. So I'm not afraid to go for a walk.  Or maybe it is simply too cold for people to come out?  (I have been known to walk in bad weather.)

Having said that, I am careful to "avoid" coming near to people, out on a walk or in the grocery store, or so on. We are eating lightly, with pretty good nutrition, no alcohol or etc., taking our few meds and trying to sleep as well as possible. I take melatonin every night so I get 5 or 6 hours of sleep.

Powerful forces seem deliberate about ruining the economies of the world; just senseless destruction: "If we can't have it, nobody will"- that kind of logic.       

The entire situation is "to be survived".

Really Bad Babysitters: #2 If you hate to see Cheaters "win"

 and thieves go unpunished and justice left undone....then this feels like a pretty rotten day.

And it is.

However, You are Not the Only One. 

About to be Left with the Really Bad Babysitters???

The Current Situation:

 A year or so ago, I was chain-reading every Alan Furst novel I could find in my local library--which has all of them.

He writes historical thrillers of the brave resistance fighters and simple citizens of Europe during the rise and fall of the Third Reich. Very readable and inspiring novels. 

I wondered how the people must have felt in those occupied authoritarian nations: soon I will learn, I guess. 

I have managed to avoid the Covid-19 virus by living my normal reclusive life: I don't miss "people" very much, if I'm being honest. Socializing now seems like "play acting". 

However, I insisted on doing my own shopping and errands:

#1 Rule of Old Lady's Game is remaining actively busy at taking care of the things I should do. Not letting others do these things, or delegating to services. (I like selecting my own produce).

I am very careful about cleanliness when doing these errands.

After all, in past years, I avoided catching SARS and MERS, other plagues we didn't start ourselves. But I understand that if a person is naturally inclined to like socializing then it is difficult to stay away from friends. So far, so good.

I go for an active, hour long walk most days; though after nearly 40-years of living in the same house in the same neighborhood, I am bored to my bones. It is flat around here, and I miss a few hills and vistas.

I was the child of a military family--an Army Brat. A move every year or two or three was hard-wired into my system----and here, I have lived for nearly 40 years.  So we shall see. There is the beginning of a plan.