Dried Hydrangea Bloom in Sepia

Happy Weekend!

Neon Pipe Fitting

Four!

There’s a tortie street cat in my neighborhood who decided my house would be the perfect spot to have kittens. Yes, sucker that I am, I’ve been putting food out for her so she doesn’t need to roam.

At first I thought there was only one. A white one. The next day I saw an orange one. The day after that I saw a teeny tiny black leg.

Today when I got home mama was in the yard so I grabbed her food and my camera and ran. There are four. One of each color and a combo. Cute as can be but they really can’t stay. They’d keep making more and more kittens and get squished in the street. I can’t have that so the plan this weekend is to trap mama and scoop up the babies so they can all go somewhere safe.

Keep your fingers crossed and send out vibes to mama so she knows I’m trying to help.

Uh Oh!

I went off to the dreaded grocery store on Sunday, mainly for cat food but as always, I took a peek in the health aisle to see if generic Excedrin was on special As you know, I suffer from migraines and Excedrin is the one OTC medication that has any effect. Taking some instantly at the first signs of an onset can sometimes mean the difference between it receding to barely there and becoming a full-blown migraine so I try to keep some on hand at all times.

You can imagine my dismay to discover there wasn’t any. No, not merely empty spaces where it should have been. The entire section, brand name, generic, all of it had vanished entirely. It’s been replaced with all the standard stuff but who cares? None of that does any good so I’m better off eating M&Ms than taking anything else.

There was a minor recall back in January but even if that trickled down and caused it to be out of stock why obliterate the section? Or if they want to fill in the space why not just carry everything over and leave the tags on the shelf to indicate it’s coming back?

Yes, I will be asking next time I’m there if it’s still missing. Depending on the answer I may have to switch stores. I hate to shop so no way am I going to two. Or perhaps that won’t be necessary. I took my own advice and checked Amazon, since everything you could possibly need is available there. Yep, they had a generic brand at a very decent price so I’m good again.

Brava!

Yes, brava again. This time for the Little One. I saw her in her final school show Saturday, the Drowsy Chaperone. Nope, I’d never heard of it either and wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It was tremendous! I highly recommend it if you have the chance. It was kind of a take off on musicals, done in an old-fashioned setting but very current and so funny. If I’d known it was going to be as good as it was I would have gone Friday night too.

The kids did a great job. You could tell they were having fun by the way they were playing things up for the audience. That’s how it should be. Yeah, take it seriously enough to give a good performance but don’t forget to enjoy themselves as they were doing it.

I’m so proud of the Little One. Before the show she received the director’s award for the cast member who went above and beyond for her contribution to their shows over the years. I wasn’t at all surprised because that little girl has worked damn hard for them in every show she’s participated in.

Rumor has it she may be moving up to the local theater troupe if she stays in the area for college. I can’t wait! I’m sure she’ll shine there as well.

Out for a Stroll

Yellow Three

Yellow Two

Daffodil Days

Must Be Me

I went off to the eye doctor yesterday. It’s been over three years so I decided I was due. What should have been a simple, nothing special experience soon turned into an adventure. Yes, I know. Happens all the time with me. By now I should expect it.

It started out when I checked in. The ladies at the desk asked me three times if I hadn’t already been there. Um, no. I have my moments but I really do believe I’d remember leaving work and going off hours early for such an appointment.

Then I discovered the doctor I’d had for years was gone. Okay. I’ll give the new one a try. She was pleasant enough. I asked about wearing contacts again. I had to stop because I had some cornea problems a while back. She said she had no objection to it. Although I’d need to monitor how long I wore them very closely and be sure to remove them after an hour or so. I don’t know about you but my day typically lasts longer than that. If I can’t pop them in before I leave the house and forget about them until I’m back home again, I’m not interested.

Next she decided my eyes needed to be dilated to complete the exam. In the meantime she sent me off to look at new frames. I am EXTREMELY nearsighted. Without my glasses I can see maybe three inches on a good day. It makes choosing things that require me to be able to see somewhat difficult. There was a little boy who came to assist and I’m betting wished he hadn’t. I’d try something on, squint at the ultra blurry image in the mirror and ask his opinion. After the fourth “Oh they’re nice.” I realized it wasn’t working. So I told him to pretend he was with his girlfriend and have a real opinion since I was certain he wouldn’t let her go around looking like a mismatched dweeb. Believe it or not but it worked and he became truly helpful. I ended up with frames that are slightly unusual but they suit me. Since I’m slightly unusual too. No sunglasses however. They would have been an additional $500.

Back for the final check and it was time to pay. After much debate the ladies who thought I’d already been there stated my insurance doesn’t require a co-pay. Odd. I thought it did. On my way I went, only to receive a call from one of the ladies last evening requesting me to return and pay my co-pay. I think, after being assured I didn’t owe anything for the exam several times, it’s not right for them to charge me. But, since I don’t have my new glasses yet, I will more than likely end up paying it. After I chat with the powers that be there.

Happy weekend all!

Gone

Are my some days…

The adventures I meant to have

The trips, courses charted but never taken

The plans, formed and forgotten

The promises, made then broken

Laughter from back when I belonged

Lost in the wind, faded from my heart

Now, I am but one

Here all on my own

Without even a dream to warm my soul

© 2012 Barbara Huffert

An Extra - Bittersweet

The last hyacinth my dad gave me before he passed, ten years ago.

Yes, I’m playing with my nifty new camera again. For more of my photos, click here.

Saturday at the RSO

I went to the symphony again on Saturday. That’s twice this year! Unbelievable that I’d forgotten how much I enjoy it.

This time the soloist was violinist David Kim, concertmaster for the Philadelphia Orchestra. He performed a Saint-Seans’ violin concerto that was simply spectacular! After intermission, the Youth Orchestra joined the RSO for a piece and ended up playing two instead. What fun that must be. I really wish they’d done things like that back when I was playing. If they had, I might still be playing now.

Musically, it was an extremely enjoyable event. There was one tiny thing however. One of the gentlemen playing French horn had a very annoying quirk that I suspect people who perform with him get used to and stop noticing. They shouldn’t because, to the audience, his activity is annoying and distracting. You see, he twirls his horn. Oh, not fast and not to be flashy. My guess is that he’s emptying the spit to ensure the best tone possible but does he really need to do it between every phrase he plays? The other individuals didn’t do the same. Perhaps that guy is moister than the rest. Maybe I should call and request an interview so I can ask. Hmm, maybe not. That would probably be more than I really want to know about him. Anyway, the music was wonderful and that’s what really matters.

A reminder. Tomorrow is the vernal equinox. Stand your eggs on end!

I'm Watching You

Brava!

I went to see Eva May in her final high school performance tonight. This year’s show was The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet. It was hilarious and so well done. Very impressive.

Eva was Thing 1, a starring role as one of the narrators. It was perfect to show off her talent and energy. I so proud. She was spectacular! And so adorable.

I have to tell you it’s been an honor and a privilege to be able to watch her grow over the years. She was a cute kid and is now a lovely young woman. She’s about to graduate from high school and head off to college. I can’t wait to see where her future leads. One thing is for sure. The world hasn’t seen the last of her!

Happy weekend all!

One Voice ~ A Political Statement

Reposted with permission.

"To the gentlemen in charge of the government of this once great nation,

I am one male voice, a single but fearless voice, you will hear my words or you will not, but ignore me at your peril because your towers are no longer unassailable, your fortresses are no longer impregnable and the barbarians are restless, angry and growing more and more disillusioned by the hour.

We have, for many years now slouched in laziness before our television screens, with game controllers or remotes in our hands as your lackeys in the media ran an ever more insulting parade of what was supposed to be humanity past us in ever more highly defined detail. We as males watched ourselves carved into the stereotype of the bumbling, idiotic, bigoted fathers or husbands.

We have idly watched you generalize and commercialize our children into idiots, at your behest we left none of them behind but in doing so, we taught very few of them to climb, to fight, to strive or to think and you got what you wanted out of that, didn't you? You got entire generations too lazy, un-socialized, lacking in empathy and satisfied with the status quo to understand that something was very wrong!

We have done nothing as you have sculpted the women into either vacuous tart tit-jiggling idiots, or when you couldn’t make them fit that mold you tried to make us believe that they were tyrannical, emasculating bitches and feminists and any woman that existed between those two extremes was by your calculations fat, insecure or meaningless. Women have been made to second guess themselves into creatures that they, we and each other are terribly uncomfortable with. Beyond that, your new agenda of inserting yourselves into their wombs, their medicine cabinets and their very bedrooms and the lack of resistance you are encountering, worries the hell out of me. These are the mothers of us all, and you do not have the right to make decision for them, or truthfully, for any of us. That was not the agreement when we gave you the jobs originally.

We have very quietly gone about our ant farm lives, buying what you sell us at ever increasing costs even though we now have the technology to figure out what your profits truly are, and yet, we have been silent. We have been silent as you backed us into a box where we could be watched and controlled, and a lot of us, a majority of us fell for it. You no longer fear us, do you? You have mastered us, made us into slaves, made us into worker bees to fuel your hive, even when we rise up, you know that you have destroyed our passion and our attention spans, you have made us afraid, greedy, selfish, and unable to communicate with each other the pain we are feeling at the death of all we were.

You have taken every advantage to further your own financial agendas, gathering the coins to you until you were inundated beneath them and unaware that some of us had begun paying very close attention.

Thomas Jefferson once wrote that “The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite.” And “A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned — this is the sum of good government.”

The government of this country was formed in order to ensure the freedom of its people! That is it, and that is all. Not to become wealthy and elite, not to regulate the very minutia of our lives. Nowhere were you given the right to control our sex lives, our explorations of self, our freedom to worship or not, our ability to defend ourselves from all enemies both foreign and domestic. You were not given the right to place yourselves in our wombs, bedrooms, temples, forests, homes, in our very day to day lives, this was a right you took, a right you assumed and we allowed you to do it.

“What if Democrats and Republicans were two wings of the same bird of prey?

What if elections were actually useful tools of social control? What if they just provided the populace with meaningless participation in a process that validates an establishment that never meaningfully changes? What if that establishment doesn’t want and doesn’t have the consent of the governed? What if the two-party system was actually a mechanism used to limit so-called public opinion? What if there were more than two sides to every issue, but the two parties wanted to box you into a corner, one of their corners?” ~ Judge Andrew Napolitano

At this point, I can see only two possible outcomes, but I am just one man, one voice, but all I can see is that you may win, you may turn us all into automaton drones, marching in quiet obedient lockstep to ensure your treasure chambers are full forever for your useless, uncaring progeny. You may win and regulate us into the most boring, empty, shallow, disrespected people on our planet, a people who cannot do as they wish on any level but have been trained since birth to believe that they are happy, fulfilled and living out their greatest passions when you and I both know that those people will never be aware of what those passions might have been.

Or something else may happen. We may ignite. We may rise, explode, rebel against the chains and subtle bondage that you have wrapped us in since we were wet from the womb! We may riot, burn, rage, tear down the walls that you will hide behind when you realize that we have surpassed the fear of your guardians and are willing to die to stop you. We may decide that we are willing to die to be free! Never happen? Look to your history books gentlemen, if you still are able to find them under all the receipts and cash.

You are making us into monsters. Filling us with fear of our own hungers, desires, dreams, and making us insane with the threats against our women and children. I am but one man, but my voice sounds eerily similar to other ones I have heard rising above the din, we are talking to each other, about you, in places where you cannot listen and maybe, just maybe we are going to make it stop…"

Copyright 2012 Lance Cheuvront

More Spring

Or perhaps I should say Fall, since this primrose has been blooming since September. Yes, that's how mild this winter is. Winter... Bah. It's in the 70's again. It should still be snowing. Have I mentioned how much I despise summer?

Pretty in Purple

You Know It's Too Hot...

When the bees are in full swing before the middle of March.

Saturday

I was out and about Saturday, playing with my new camera. It’s wonderful! A wee tiny Kodak, smaller than my cell phone with a 16 megapixel lens and all sorts of features. The best thing about it? It’s a very friendly little thing that is extremely easy to use. Wonderful, just like my last camera. Upsetting since Kodak cameras will cease to exist soon.

I went roaming all over the place, including the cemetery where my grandparents are buried. I haven’t been there in 24 years, since my grandfather passed so I decide to stop and say hello. I didn’t know exactly where they are just the general direction from the parking area so I was meandering. That’s okay. There are all sorts of interesting things to be found in graveyards.

As I strolled, I noticed what could only be a cemetery employee watching me. Who else would be standing on the office steps in a suit on a Saturday afternoon when there’s no burial in progress? Eventually he became curious enough to ask if I was looking for something specific. That cemetery isn’t the old, pretty one where they’re used to people wandering through it so I’m guessing me doing that aimlessly was out of the norm.

I followed him into the office and proceeded to take pics of the old locator maps as he tried to find them for me. What a cool place it turned out to be! As it happens, I was about 15 feet from stumbling over my grandparents before he interrupted. How’s that for not being there in forever?

Before I left the office I thought it best to ask if it was okay if I poked around, explaining that I had a new camera to play with. Being charming as I was, he couldn’t refuse.

Happy Spring!

My Lastest Project

Washable wool. Lightweight but warm. Very soft. A birthday present for a very dear friend who lives in Minnesota where there's perpetual winter.

Happy Weekend!

Depressed

It wasn’t a bad day. Or it didn’t start out that way. There’s a mini daffodil blooming outside the window where I have my lunch so today I went out and sat with it. It was 68 and sunny. In March. So wrong but I’m dealing with it. The flower makes it worth it.

And then I got home to find a statement from my health insurance people. A few weeks ago I went off for a mammogram. I’m old and they tell me it’s necessary. Not fun but not the most awful experience ever.

My employer has us pay a portion of our insurance costs as just about everyone else who is employed does. On paper, it looks okay. Average. Could be better. It could also be much worse.

I opened the envelope and had to read it three times before it sank in. My routine test, a covered test, performed by an in-network provider is going to cost me $546.31. Yes, that’s correct. Not a typo. $546.31.

The mammogram was in preparation for my yearly check-up. Nothing fancy. Just the standard female stuff. I’ve already gone off and had it done. Now, after seeing that, I’m dreading the next envelope. Breaking out in a cold sweat just thinking about it. Getting more depressed and panicked by the minute.

But I went over to the corner bar for dinner anyway. Hey, everyone deserves a decent last meal. I see many, many more marshmallows in my future. I’ll have to stock up after Easter when the nummy flavors are on sale.

Dinner

Since no one in my house stopped on the way home to pick up dinner and no one bothered to cook, I had to fend for myself. The result? French vanilla mini snowman marshmallows. What? Doesn't everyone have a bag tucked away for just such occasions? I recommend eating them while wearing your cheeky monkey blue and green PJs. Makes em taste better.

Have I mentioned I live alone?

A Thought

New Does Not Always Mean Better

I was at the grocery store the other day, a chore I truly despise. I like to be there and gone in as little time as necessary. If Reading had decent stores with locally produced items made with fresh ingredients I might feel differently. Perhaps. Perhaps not. The closest we get is the farmers’ market which sells fresh items though not necessarily local. I am more tolerant there so who knows?

But I digress. As I said, I was running through the store and stumbled upon a Cheez-It display. I like Cheez-Its and it’s been some time since I had any. They were on sale so I decided I’d allow myself an unbudgeted treat.

Only as I was reaching for a box I noticed they now come in mozzarella flavor. Mmm. I love mozzarella so why not give them a try? Why not indeed. They taste nothing like mozzarella. Nor do they taste much like Cheez-Its. They’re the proper size and shape. And they’re crunchy. I’ve been nibbling on them for two days now and I have yet to determine if I like them or not.

If Only...

I was reading an article at lunch today about a man who is a cook for an expedition at the South Pole. They gave the link for the site through which he got the job so naturally I had to take a peek.

Oh yeah. I found several jobs I’d love to take a stab at. But I have critters in my care, not to mention all the other multitudinous responsibilities I’ve acquired over the years. Although those I could walk away from today. Easily. The critters, on the other hand. Well, their lives currently depend on me and I’m not about to throw them away.

Yes, I do realize I’m a bit old to be running away from home but some days it sure is tempting. Today is most definitely one of them

Lookee!

See the pretty magazine! Guess what? One of my poems is in it! I’m so thrilled and honored because there are many, many truly talented, amazing people published here along with me. If you enjoy poetry, photography, and short stories as well as original artwork, this is something you won’t want to miss.