“this color smells like love.”
“if i put this red piece of tape here it might keep all of this stuff from falling off my plate.”
—
“the good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.”
-bertrand russell
Jan6
Author Archives: beth
Jan5
gather here.
when grandie v and i
have finished building our indoor winter fairy village
with jewels and feathers and sparkles, a flower vine swing, love tape, and puff ball beds
it is very important to write about it and invite them to move in tonight.
—
“when I sound the fairy call, gather here in silent meeting,
chin to knee on the orchard wall, cooled with dew and cherries eating.
merry, merry, take a cherry, mine are sounder, mine are rounder,
mine are sweeter for the eater, when the dews fall, and you’ll be fairies all.”
-emily dickinson
Jan4
one man’s castle……
mars cheese castle in kenosha, wisconsin
Some people eat cheese. Others make it. Still others sell it. And some, like the Ventura family, honor it with a magnificent roadside castle. Since 1957 the Mars Cheese Castle has proudly dispensed a wide selection of cheese and related products to travelers looking to take home a memento of their journey through Wisconsin. Originally opened as a gas station in 1947, Mars Cheese Castle eventually grew to become the largest, oldest, showiest purveyor at the junction of 1-94 and Wisconsin Highway 142, a spot once dubbed “Wisconsin’s most visible cheese interchange” by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The store was named not after the planet but after the original owner, Mario Ventura Sr., though this detail hasn’t stopped the venue from incorporating a small touch of outer space into its castle motif.
In 2011, plans to widen I-94 forced Mars Cheese Castle to abandon the storefront it had used for over 50 years. Rather than mourn the loss of their beloved fortress, the proprietors used the opportunity to update the store’s image. Whereas the turrets on the former building’s facade merely suggested a castle, the new, larger store, outfitted with a drawbridge and a watchtower, is an abode truly fit for a king (of cheese). In exchange for its willingness to relocate, the state agreed to allow Mars Cheese Castle to keep its iconic sign, which, at 80 feet tall, violates current height restrictions for signs along the interstate.
Though cheese is, of course, the main attraction, Mars Cheese Castle also sells a variety of food items, and cheese-themed knick-knacks, including the state’s most essential souvenir, the famed Wisconsin cheese-head hat.
Mars Cheese Castle’s iconic sign stands 80 feet tall
—
“how can anyone govern a nation that has
two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese?”
-charles de gaulle
–
credits: atlas obscura
Jan3
*on the other hand.
(not me, just a low-budget re-enactor)
when my garage door opener stopped opening
the garage door opener guy came over to check it out
his prognosis:
it was going to need to be replaced
it was quickly wearing out and about done.
when i asked if it was like when your grandma is slowing fading away
he said:
“grandma is dead.”
with that, he disconnected it
told me that i would acquire new muscles
opening and closing it by hand each day
until i got a new opener system.
i figured i could put it off for a few days and then deal with it
but life interfered
as it so often does.
this morning
as i was headed out for the day
i grabbed the door to close it
but
four fingers of my hand
somehow got stuck in the folding panels of the door as i rolled it down
i yelled out and quickly sprung into action
used my other hand to open it back up
fueled by superhuman (sort of) strength and adrenaline
to save the hand that felt like
it was being painfully crushed by an angry gorilla.
with teeth.
on caffeine.
i saw myself in a precarious position
with no time to waste
like
james franco
in “127 hours”
where he had to use his dull pocket knife to saw off his arm
that was wedged between boulders in order to save his own life.
(james, before he sprung into action)
once i freed my hand
i surveyed the damage
four squeezed fingers
with deep scarlet creases
swollen and throbbing
but all parts still there
good news.
i drove with one hand to the home improvement store
walked to the back
found a wonderfully friendly worker who turned and said
“follow me to the wall and i hope i won’t be moving too fast.”
to which i replied:
“well, you do have an advantage.”
his response –
“really? i am in a wheelchair and you are walking on two legs.”
okay, so yes.
didn’t think of that.
put my little mishap into perspective.
he turned and smiled and said:
“i’m just kidding, but i am in a wheelchair.”
yes.
and that was it
he was great
we talked about his kids and school and teaching and accidents
the new stuff is ordered and the guys will be here this week to put it all in.
in the scheme of things
not too bad
not like the time i broke my toe dancing in the house and kicked the bathroom door when leaping.
or the time i sprained my foot playing family extreme badminton barefoot.
or the time i got my fingers caught in the hand mixer
when i was trying to pull out the beaters and it was still plugged in.
or the time i_______ (fill in the blank here numerous times)
no, not like those times.
but i’m thinking i should maybe ask for a pocket knife for mother’s day.
–
*disclaimer: this blog post was written with my ‘other hand’ and i am not responsible for errors.
—
“they’re funny things, accidents. you never have them till you’re having them.”
― a.a. milne
—
credits: fox searchlight films/127 hours, lowes, google images
Jan2
refreshed.
waking up in the irish hills looking out on the frozen lake
after a night spent bringing in the new year with special people.
—
“in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter,
for in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.”
-khalil gibran
Jan1
hope in the new year.
“the holidays drape us in magic and give us the hope
that we can do better than we have done in the past.”
― toni sorenson
—
image credit: bryan david griffith (former engineer who became a nature photographer)
Dec31
observer.
—
credits: terry gross – fresh air/npr radio, google images
Dec30
vitals.
glen frey the cat not the rockstar
has been rescued by me
twice now
both times from precarious situations
he was always very skittish and fearful of most everything
probably based on the traumatic experiences he’d been through
but
after the second time
he suddenly
became very affectionate
and clearly decided
that it was important
to remind me of this
each morning around 3:30
he does this in a way
that there can be no doubt
jumping on my bed
nuzzling/pummeling me with his head
kneading everything he can find
purring loudly
circling around me
and somehow it feels like he is
an giant octopus nudging me to wake up with his head and eight hands
until i am sufficiently awake
then he finally settles in
laying on my feet
with what feels like an immovable 237 pounds or so of pure cat muscle
and promptly goes to sleep
snoring and in deep r.e.m.
maybe he thinks we are on guard duty and need to take shifts?
who needs an alarm?
—
“i read that when cats are cuddling and kneading you, and you think it’s cute,
they’re really just checking your vitals for weak spots.”
-kandyse mcClure
Dec29
the odyssey.
pretzel rod, the albino leopard gecko (pre-odyssey).
last weekend
i stayed with the grandies
while their mom and dad were out of town
and
for some reason
during the last hour i was there
the two friendly house cats
decided to make a snack out of p-rod.
i had no idea this happened until i got home and got the call:
“the cats somehow got the screen off of the top of his terrarium and ate the gecko!”
imagine how badly i felt
that the murder had happened on my watch.
grandie f had just gotten this young gecko
for his birthday 6 weeks ago and was very sad.
he had replaced pretzel,
the tiny, twisty snake who was let go in the backyard.
the next day i picked him up at school and we planned
to make a memorial stone for pretzel rod to put in the garden.
we talked for a while about love and loss and pets and nature.
imagine my surprise when i got a call late that night that he had been found!
he must have crawled into the boys’ dirty laundry
which was on their bedroom floor
to escape the cats
hid out for 24 hours
then was scooped up
unknowingly
put in the washing machine
with the laundry
where he was washed, rinsed and spun.
what?!
he had survived
a feline attack
a day in smelly boy pants
fear
starvation
and
waterboarding?
he was washed, spun and rinsed
but there he was
sitting on the bottom of the washer
and after all of this, he was alive!
f yelled out over the phone:
“and he’s getting stronger by the minute!”
mom and dad said he looked rough and didn’t know if he’d make it
but he was indeed alive.
my task the next day was to get him some special treats
wax worms
(the big macs of the lizard world)
from the pet store to see if he would eat.
sure enough, he had some dinner
the first he’d eaten in a few days.
hopefully he’s on the mend
and we won’t have to go through a ‘second death’.
he looks a little lighter in color,
has some bite marks from the cats,
and doesn’t move as much
but he is alive and that is amazing.
—
“it is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― leon c. megginson
Dec28
the afternoon.
I didn't have my glasses on.... 