fun spontaneous happy hour yesterday
with longtime friends
relaxed and glad to be together
sharing stories and catching up.
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‘friends come and go like waves in the ocean but the true ones stick like an octopus on your face.’
-simplereminders
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art credit: pinterest
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two very different plays
in one very snowy week
the first, a poignant warning tale
the second, a funny bawdy farce
both about love, life, and loss
both great entertainment
both well acted
both good for the soul.
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‘the entertainment is in the presentation.’
-john mctiernan, american filmmaker and convicted felon
going over the frozen lake to mackinac island, michigan, 1950s
once the only way to get there in the winter months
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while inside:
The Mackinac Island library’s fireplace, which roars with warmth when the temps don’t soar. the fireplace is adorned with tiles that are works of art, and above the fireplace is a Shakespeare quote from “The Tempest,” which is set on a fairy isle, not unlike Mackinac. It reads,
“The isle is full of noises, sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not.”
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source credits Mackinac Island Library 2023, Michigan Historical Society
two more winter storms coming this weekend
i wish i had a pet snow chicken
no need for it to pull me on a sled
instead
we could fly downhill on a toboggan together.
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‘snow provokes responses that reach right back to childhood.’
-andy goldsworthy, artist, naturist
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image credit: sled chickens of the north, from the far side, by Gary Larson
a wonderful letter arrived in the mail
just in time for Valentine’s Day
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‘wherever you go, go with all your heart.’
-confucius
Beavers completed a million dollar dam project in 2 days
Beavers know a thing or two about efficiency — and this story is evidence of that. Last week, a beaver colony in the Brdy region of the Czech Republic cut out the middlemen and built several dams right where they were needed, all in the span of about two days. For context, the local government had a plan in the works since 2018 to restore waterways in the area, but the animals essentially beat them to it.
“They built the dams without any project documentation and for free,” Bohumil Fišer, head of the Brdy Protected Landscape Area Administration, said in a translated statement, per Radio Prague International. He added that the beavers saved the government around 30 million Czech crowns — the equivalent of $1.2 million.
The beavers’ craftwork will go a long way, benefiting the rare stone crayfish, frogs, and other wetland species. “Beavers always know best,” added Jaroslav Obermajer, head of the Central Bohemian Office of the Czech Nature and Landscape Protection Agency. “The places where they build dams are always chosen just right — better than when we design it on paper.”
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“clearly, animals know more than we think, and think a great deal more than we know.”
*irene m. pepperberg
*author of: ‘alex me: how a scientist and a parrot discovered a hidden world of animal intelligence and formed a deep bond in the process’
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source credits; nice news, brdy protected landscape area administration
this company knows how to mix things up!
what did you wear during your covid meeting days?
here’s something that i wore one day (with pajamas)
to surprise and cheer up my teaching partners and class
when we met online during this very challenging time.
channeling my inner llama
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‘if you’ve got it, flaunt it, and if you don’t got it, flaunt it.’
-mindy kaling, american comedian/actress
‘Ink, by Japanese artist under the nickname Avogado6
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‘there is something magical in seeing what you can do,
what texture and tone and colour you can produce
merely with a pen point and a bottle of ink.’
*-ida rentoul outhwaite
*Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, was an Australian illustrator of children’s books.
Her work mostly depicted magical creatures, such as elves and fairies.
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a little guy who i work with (age 5)
wrote this in his journal in response to my question
what a brilliant list.
translation:
1.kindness
2. goofiness
3. dignity
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‘it is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer.’
it was my annual day of getting my taxes done
really not sure
if this was a win or lose year for me
a hybrid year of working, retiring, one-offs, investments…
and I found myself once again with friendly judith
who I’ve gone to for years
I brought her favorite coffee and an energy bar
and settled in for a session at her desk
she has managed to work small miracles over the years
knowing exactly what to claim, how to claim, and the latest changes
even though I had some technical ‘glitches’
with me trying to download docs to her
we had lots of good laughs
and once again, somehow, at the end
I emerged a winner
here’s to you, judith
may you long use your magic math skills to help others.
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art credit: charles schulz
I didn't have my glasses on.... 