I am the Audience

Learning a new trick

August 2, 2020

a day in this life, home

A decade or so ago, my friend, Ann, decided to try a block-a-month quilt project and learned a new trick that way. She has been a quilting fiend ever since. It’s been to my benefit. I have 2 gorgeous quilts that she made me and she made another one for my kid when they were getting situated elsewhere. Offspring loves that quilt.

I have tried various crafty things to keep my hands busy and none of them stuck. My paternal grandmother taught me how to make a cathedral window quilt. Ann helped me cut enough blocks of muslin to make one that would cover my bed. And there they sit. I took a class in chainmaille jewelry. Bought a collection of rings from a young friend who had gotten tired of it. And there they sit.

The only projects I stick with (much) are outside. I plant things, let the grass grow in the beds in the heat of summer, and fight the grass all Spring. And I do a little bonsai. Those are not things to do while I listen to a book during the blistering heat of the afternoon or watching TV in the evening.

I’ve been playing a lot of solitaire on my tablet and it was becoming really tedious.

So, when I saw a kit-a-month crochet ad on Instagram right after the shutdown started, I thought, “That’s kind of how Ann got started quilting. And I can quit after the first month if it just sits there. OR, I’ll end up with an afghan.”

I’m liking it. The kit teaches me 3 blocks a month and, in the end, I’ll have 30 blocks and the 11th month will be putting them all together. The difficult part has been getting a handle on how to do the end of the row correctly. I have ripped out you-wouldn’t-believe-how-many sections that either wanted to become trapezoids or magically expanded. But, that’s OK. It’s not like I have a deadline.

Frankly, the kits don’t come quickly enough because it’s too hot to do anything outside and I only work 2.5 days a week anyway. Three 9″ blocks hasn’t really been enough for the muscle memory to kick in either. And, I got the first kit done in a little over a week. So, being the mad genius that I am, I decided to do another afghan, at the same time, parallel to mine for my kid. Hello, practice!

Offspring likes black, grey and red. I am here to tell you that black yarn is impossible for 60 year old eyes to see worth a damn. So, they’re getting shades of grey and some finishing scarlet.

And, I still didn’t have enough to do. So, Ann gets one, too. She asked for “bright” and we had a photo consultation via text while I shopped, masked and well spaced, at Michael’s.

I have no clue what I’ll do with this new skill once I have finished a few afghans. Honestly. How many blankets can you give to your friends and family?
The wisteria died

August 2, 2020

a day in this life, bonsai

It put out some green and, then, just quit. I kind of think that what did grow was using food supplies that were still in the stem that I cut. And, once that got used up, it was all over. It didn’t put out any new roots.

Everything else is doing well.
Myrtle blooms

July 18, 2020

a day in this life

If I got the parent plant from a nursery, but this is a shoot, does that make it semi-yamadori?

I haven’t worked the trunks yet, aside from a little chop to keep it from being ridiculously top heavy, letting it get over the transplanting. But, the bloom makes feel pretty good about it.

The nursery stock it came from is ‘Tuscarora’.
Senses

July 17, 2020

a day in this life, dancing in the field of dreams

Our sensations aren’t the same. And… I think most of us know that some. But, it can be pretty dramatic and I believe we often don’t take that into consideration.

If you have ever been to a wine tasting and tried to compare notes with someone whose taste buds don’t match yours, you got a dose of awareness of that. That’s why it drives me crazy when the person pouring the wine tries to tell me what to expect. I will grant that there have been times when one of the really oddball descriptors have been shockingly accurate and it has bowled me over. “Leather? Tobacco? Really?” Yes. Really. Even though they aren’t words that one usually associates with wine.

Once upon a time, we got a Vanilla Chai Chocolate Bar. I had a piece first. My husband is a big fan of cardamom and I said “You are really going to like this. The cardamom is strong.” Later, when he finally had a piece, he said “I can barely taste the chai flavor because the vanilla is so strong.” I really like vanilla. So, this imbalance is incredibly unfair.

Later, I started making a lavender-vanilla simple syrup to make shrubs in the evening when I didn’t want something alcoholic during the cocktail hour. The recent crop of lavender kind of overpowers the vanilla and I told Chuck I think the next batch might just be all vanilla. He decided to try my concoction (he usually opts for ginger or mint syrup) and told me he could barely taste the lavender for the vanilla.

When I had been considering how our perceptions differ, I wondered out loud to a friend whether what we see isn’t actually the same. We label a certain wavelength “blue” and all call that wavelength by that name. But, there’s no real reason to believe that we are truly registering the same thing.

My friend was appalled. He insisted that if it’s the same wavelength, we must see the same thing. But, I still think that if our taste buds can register flavors differently, there’s no reason to believe our cones and rods don’t do the same thing. Clearly, that’s true for people who have various types of colorblindness.

I’m talking about something more extreme, though. I’m envisioning being able to slip my consciousness into your body and see that the sky is what this body sees as red and taste as lemon what this body perceives to be chocolate. We agree that a think* is pleasant because we like it. But, there’s no real reason to believe we are actually experiencing the same thing.

*Ha! Leaving the typo because it fits.
National Folk Festival

July 15, 2020

a day in this life, poetry and songs, Southern culture

The National Folk Festival has been around for 79 years. It’s a traveling event that stays in its host city for 3 years. The intention is to seed a local festival as it goes. Six years ago, it landed in Greensboro, NC. I was already working weekends and didn’t know I needed to take time off. We went on Friday evening and fell in love with the event. I take the weekend after Labor Day off every year, now.

This year, the pandemic has caused the North Carolina Folk Festival to be virtual. And they are doing it with panache. There are going to be virtual. This is unfortunate for the food truck vendors and the local artisans who populate the Marketplace. But, it means a few of the musicians still get heard. With air conditioning.

The festival is nominally free. They do ask for donations to help cover what sponsors haven’t and the easiest way to avoid being asked multiple times is to go ahead and cough up. They give you a sticker that says you donated and after than you’re left alone until the next day. I give gladly because I want it to keep happening and I like that everyone can come, even when they’re broke. Those of us that can, should.

The music is a little bit of everything from all over the world. Africa, Mongolia, Canada, Ireland, Louisiana, Memphis, the list goes on. Some has been wonderful. Some has been for other people. I love that there are so many choices.
https://ncfolkfestival.com/splendid-isolation-fiddle-tunes-from-ireland-scotland-and-north-america/

Learning a new trick

The wisteria died

Myrtle blooms

Senses

National Folk Festival