#81 - Connect the dots (or the drives...)

It's "upgrade your technology" day.  This is the first entry (almost up to a full week in a row, right?) using the new computer set-up.  Transferring files over the network is slow moving (even with our fast network settings), but I decided it was the right way to approach it.

This all started way back with Guttenberg, didn't it?  I mean, the beginning of knowledge being passed around, on display, connecting us all.  If it weren't for the printing press, where would we be?  Everything just seemed to have snowballed up from there. Machines slowly snuck into our lives (cotton gin, telegraph, electric lights, manufacturing, motor vehicles, computers) and now?  I believe that everything that's happening in our current state of civilization isn't really much different from the way it's always been.  It's just we hear about it instantaneously. Everything.  Everywhere.  And yes, all at once (such a brillliant film).

There's no denying that the advent of those chips that allow immediate communication (in all its forms) has changed us.  It's changing us.  It will continue to change us.  But the core of what's there - tribal infighting, procreation, agriculture,  communication and even love - isn't very different from what it was thousands of years ago.  Except for the massive amount of debris, garbage, refuse, detritus (chose your favorite word) that we've created.

And I've just added to that by purchasing a new small communication device.  Yes, the dots are all connected.  And I'm just one infinitesimal spec.  So are you.

#80 - It's gettin' hot in here

Things are heating up.  We know the planet is, and it's going to be a doozy over this coming Labor Day weekend.  In our little county, even the ants will be hot, though you'd never know it by this morning's foggy start.  Tomorrow the oven begins a pre-heat session, and over the holiday weekend (of course!), it's forecasted to be up to 106!  Now that's hot.

The house stays relatively cool, though when it gets that hot, even in this non-airconditioned home, it'll feel warm.  I think the time will be ripe for keeping all the fans on, and perhaps digging into the Imperial Man's boxes.  There may be a photo upcoming yet...

#79 - This is getting to be a habit (or is it habitat?).

Interesting how I'm thinking now each morning about what I might write about.  They say it takes 30 days to turn something into a habit.

According to the OED, the word HABIT originates from the "Latin Habere:  to have, consist of,  from the Latin habitus ‘condition, appearance’; the term originally meant ‘dress, attire’, later coming to denote physical or mental constitution" whereas the word HABITAT comes from Latin habitare, then Latin habitat meaning 'it dwells.'

That's some food for thought. I guess we develop habits based on our habitat.  If we dwell in it, eventually our appearance will be based on where we dwell.  Makes some sense to me.  If we live in clutter, our life will feel cluttered (somehow the original Vault Goddess resembled that remark, for certain; it's what I'm trying valiantly to overcome).

So, can the reverse be true?  If we follow a habit, will it morph into becoming our habitat? In other words, if I write enough, will it turn into a book?

Guess I need to work on developing that habit to find out.

#78 - Shrubs (the drinkable kind)

I love shrubs.  I discovered these about 8 years ago, and have been fascinated and enamored of them since then.  Harkening back to the 1700's or earlier, depending on your source (for a great read, see Joyce White's "Shrubs in History" blog (thanks, Joyce), I believe originally they were a way to preserve the fruits of summer, often in an alcoholic way, but not always.

The types of shrubs I love are really drinking vinegars, and a way to combine ripe fruit and herbs to create a combination of simple syrup and cocktail mixer. The one I have ripening in the fridge at the moment is a Fig and Lemon Verbena shrub.  Mine will be ready in about 4 days, and I'll be asking my dear friend, who is really a phenomenal mixologist with a day job in day care, to help devise the perfect cocktail for this one.

Photo coming at a later date.

# 77 - Daily Reminders

First, pats on the back for 3 days in a row. Yeah, ME!  Might I actually become dicsplined enough to do this each and every day?  You'll be the judge of that (and this content will too).

I think I might finally be learning what this editing thing is all about. It's like weeding but in all things, not just the garden. This morning, I managed to remove several plants in the garden that just were not thriving, and instead of continuing to attempt to revive them, I realized they just needed to go.  More and more, I look around my "habitat" and am starting to "Kondo" the hell out of everything.  Which feel really productive. And good. And oh, so necessary.

Theatre keeps creeping around the edges of things these days.  We will have to see if that's just weeds growing, or if there's some great volunteers lurking under there that are worth tending to and nourishing into something more.

Off to package seeds as a gift for friends moving away to their first real home.  Thrilled for them (and for us to visit, since they're going to Ashland, OR.  We haven't been to see the Oregon Shakespeare Festival up there in years, so we can hope for a quick trip next season.

Tomorrow perhaps I'll find some interesting picture from the Vault - I need to get back to doing that.

#76 - "It's Habitat"

 Hey.  Two actual days in a row.  Who knew I could be so disciplined?  Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves, now.

Still in the clean/organize/purge/figure out what the flock is going on mode.  I am trying very hard to:  1) take baby steps; 2) practice gratitude; 3) remind myself that every journey begins with a single step, and mostly 4) remember, in the words of my dear friend Katy, "It's Habitat."

What did Katy mean by that exactly?  Well, one day I was bitterly complaining to Katy about the weeds in my yard.  She said, "Laura, remember:  it's habitat."  Is this akin to the saying "one person's trash is another person's treasure"?

I do have a creature comfort filled habitat when I am hunkered down.  I wonder why I have what I have and why it's, in way too many ways, so similar to the original Vault Goddess' abode.  Wait, that's not really true.  It's the carefully curated collection of T H I N G S that surround me.  Some, are not really MY things, and I have had them for almost 15 years.  Others belonged to the ImperialMan and I've only had those for 5 years (and even that's way too long).

Sounds like that's the next task.  Weeding my habitat of the things of others.  Ok, we'll add that to the To Do list.  I'll try and see what can be done, reminding myself to take those baby steps, practice gratitude, and if I do just one thing every day,  eventually the true habitat will reveal itself.

Hope springs eternal.

 

Now Serving #75

What a difference a YEAR makes, right?

Ok, it's been just about 525,600 minutes since the last one (you'll get that reference if you're a musical theatre buff).  Now that I'm officially no longer a member of the RAT RACE, I really should have time for doing this every damn day, shouldn't I?  

My MOH (that's maid of honor, she knows who she is), just was reminding me earlier today about The Artist's Way, and talking about the daily writing discipline.  You get up early every day, and write 3 pages, and then never read them again. Ever. I described this as an artist "exfoliating" the muse as it were.  It's building up muscle memory to just get the creative engine tuned up and warmed up.  All part of the ritual of creativity and art, right?

And how exactly is it that I am (still, at this ripe old age) trying to find my focus.

We are in the process of readying for a new upgraded computer. Me and technology - we have storied history, we do. Trying to coordinate files and folder to transfer to a new computer when the time is right.  I did manage to retrieve one of the many back up drives, and found some choice nuggets of writing;  mine, my siblings, the original Vault Goddess' pre-final India trip emails, and photos too.  But I was most struck by the old "movies" I had created.  My son's surprise HS graduation party. My mother-in-law's 90th birthday party movie "(Her Name) In Her Own Words."  OMG.  I just realized that was the first In Her Own Words movie I created.  The second was the one I accidentally directed last year in April 2021 for a women's play festival titled In Her Own Words, right? Is the universe trying to tell me something?

Since it's been a minute since I posted any photos, let's do that now. Something from the Treasure Vault that hasn't been floated in a while:

Yup - an oldie but a goodie.  Read from GIRL FROM CHICAGO... Sister of the original Vault Goddess.

Only tomorrow will determine if we're going to be calling #76 next.