Author Archives: beth

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About beth

Ann Arbor-ite writes about enjoying life with all of its ironies and surprises.
May27

cat burglar.

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a small sampling of some of the things that Pete the Cat

has taken into his lair and placed in his special box

sparkly pipe cleaners, a kitchen sponge, a sheep (now just a shaved body),

and a stuffed animal shaped like a peanut

but now

I have to ask:

‘hey, Pete, where’s my shoe?’

I woke up with one of my Birkenstocks

next to my bed

sometimes when I’m sitting down and wearing them

he takes one off of my foot

carries it around

so I have no idea where he found that one

 wonder where the other one is

I looked everyhwere

 finally

hours later

he casually walked into

the living room

carrying it and setting it down on the rug

no big deal

he must have another secret hiding place

where he keeps the rest of his stash

I wonder what else is missing?

‘my dear, i’m a cat. everything I see is mine.’

source: the red pyramid

—

Below are a few funny comments from people on reddit about cats stealing things:

Does anyone else’s cat steal socks and carry them around the house? I found four

just yesterday and decided to try to sock shame her. I’m sure she was unfazed.

May26

lest we forget.

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May25

silent sunday.

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fiddleheads 

baby ferns

one of the most beautiful things in nature

their name comes from their resemblance 

to the scrolled end of a violin

there’s a certain magical quality about them. 

—

‘if you listen carefully, the silence is beautiful.’

-purpleclover

 

 

 

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photo credit: solstice

 

May24

hair show.

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when i sit in my stylist’s chair

she asks me what i’d like to have done

i’m pretty casual and relaxed about my hair

 looking to my right

I say

well, actually the exact opposite

of whatever is going on

with the woman’s head in the mirror next to us

and i’ll be happy, thanks.

—

‘happiness is meeting the right hairstylist.’

-author unknown

 

May23

cat art.

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i stared at this for a long time.

—

”mystery is at the heart of creativity. that, and surprise.’

-julia cameron

 

 

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art credit: artitsallinsideus(mitch), cat art

May22

the quilters.

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THE QUILTERS, an award-winning short documentary, now showing on Netflix, follows the daily lives of several men, spending most of its screen time inside the sewing room at South Central Correctional Center, a Level 5 maximum security prison in a small town near St. Louis.

As they follow several quilts from design to completion, audiences will come to know these men, witnessing their struggles, triumphs, and sense of pride as they create something beautiful in this windowless, sacred space, deep within the prison walls.

The camera follows the quilters up close as they work individually on their creations and also captures the power of this group as a collective, a well-oiled, collaborative machine that hums along like the sewing machines in front of which each man sits.

The craft of quilting has been carefully and beautifully shot, with tight focus on the men’s hands, the sewing machines, the textures and colors of the fabrics, and the creative design of each quilt which is personalized for a foster child and gifted to them for their birthday.

This short film will move your soul. 

—

‘people find meaning and redemption in the most unusual human connections.’

-Khaled Hosseini

*Khaled Hosseini was born in  Afghanistan,  moved to the United States in 1980, and is the author of the New York Times bestsellers, The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and, And the Mountains Echoed.

 

 

 

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credits: Netflix, Youtube

May21

have a cup on international tea day.

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(not me, or my people, and I wasn’t invited to the tea party)

“In Ireland, you go to someone’s house, and she asks you if you want a cup of tea. You say no, thank you, you’re really just fine. She asks if you’re sure. You say of course you’re sure, really, you don’t need a thing. Except they pronounce it ting. You don’t need a ting. Well, she says then, I was going to get myself some anyway, so it would be no trouble. Ah, you say, well, if you were going to get yourself some, I wouldn’t mind a spot of tea, at that, so long as it’s no trouble and I can give you a hand in the kitchen. Then you go through the whole thing all over again until you both end up in the kitchen drinking tea and chatting. 

In America, someone asks you if you want a cup of tea, you say no, and then you don’t get any damned tea. I liked the Irish way better.” 

― C.E. Murphy

—

International Tea Day is an opportunity to celebrate the cultural heritage, health benefits and economic importance of tea, while working to make its production sustainable “from field to cup” ensuring its benefits for people, cultures and the environment continue for generations.

 

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photo credit: Irish Tea Party early 1900s, Valentine’s of Dundee, Scotland

 

May20

bloom.

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one of my daughters

gave me

a small bunch of peonies

when suddenly

one bloomed 

 making a very grand entrance.

—

“a flower does not use words to announce its arrival to the world; it just blooms.”
― matshona dhliwayo, canadian philosopher, entrepreneur, and author

 

 

May19

‘there is a place where the sidewalk ends.’ – shel silverstein.

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  • walking downtown
    loving the sign
    showing and telling me
     where the sidewalk ends
    different today than yesterday.

    —

    ‘you could start at a path leading nowhere more fantastic
    than from your own front steps to the sidewalk,
    and from there you could go… well, anywhere at all.’

    -stephen king

May18

left or lost?

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came across this journal

tucked into the base of a tree

was it left for someone to find?

was it lost by someone and dropped?

either way i left it undisturbed

to finish out its story.

 

—

‘the true delight is in the finding out rather than in the knowing.’

-isaac asimov