now that the kayaks, the canoes, and the rafts
have left the river for the season
everything feels calm and slow and beautiful
in the meditative quiet
of the occasional fly-fishers.
—
“many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.”
~ henry david thoreau
pete’s glam shot
—
and just like that
in steps pete the cat
(i named him after my fav politician/good human, pete b.)
born memorial day weekend
found in the trunk of an old car in a barn
by faerie tales cat rescue
how could i not support a group with this name
how could i not choose this sweet guy to join our family
pete is a little shy right now and stepping out tiptoe-style
soon he’ll be prancing around
singing his song
in his white shoes
playing and bonding with olive.
both sweet and gentle cats
pete’s foster mom
said his hobbies are
watching tv, eating treats, and playing with feather toys
and
is the most affectionate cat she’s ever met
very similar to olive’s demeanor and minimalist athletic style
i see them as ‘soon to become best friends/siblings.’
—
-pete the cat
credits: pete the cat and his white shoes: eric litwin, james dean, harper collins publishing
quotes
A giant sequoia forest could soon be growing in a Detroit neighborhood. Arboretum Detroit, which owns and manages a system of parks in the Poletown East neighborhood, has plans to plant 200 giant sequoia trees on vacant land. The nonprofit has already planted about 20 of these fast-growing, carbon-eating trees around the neighborhood, but “we want to do a whole park,” said Andrew “Birch” Kemp, co-director and board president.
There are 100 sequoia seedlings planted at the organization’s nursery. The seedlings are watched over by one of the older sequoias. All 120 of the arboretum’s sequoias come from Archangel Ancient Tree Archive in Copemish.
“From the devastation of some of the worst pollution, they should be applauded,” David Milarch, founder of Archangel and a Detroit native, said of Arboretum Detroit. “We just provide the sequoias.” He estimates that, in 25 years, the seedlings will be 60 to 80 feet tall with trunks you can’t wrap your arms around.
Kemp picked them up last spring.“It was so hilarious, too, because we have a 2002 Subaru Outback and we were trying to fit 100 trees in there,” Kemp said. “They were successful in that effort and they were planted at the arboretum’s tree nursery. The hope is that the seedlings will be replanted at their permanent home by fall 2025. The arboretum is working to purchase the future forest land from Detroit Public Schools.” The city block is the former site of a school that has since been demolished.
After land is secured – whether it’s the school site or piecing together several parcels – the real work of park-building begins. That involves removing invasive species and trash, plus remediating the soil.“It’s like a sense of relief for the land,” Kemp said. New flora can be planted after the cleanup.
For this project, there will be 200 sequoias plus 200 native trees that would be interspersed. The sequoias, particularly good at scrubbing pollution, would be planted more “upwind” on the heavy pollution side with the natives downwind.The 20 older sequoias are about 4-5 feet tall with one coming in at 9 feet, proving they can thrive in Detroit.
“It will be something you can see and approach. They are going to live and do well.It’s unclear why sequoias are doing so well in Michigan, a climate that would usually be considered too cold for these trees. The natural range is the Sierra Nevada mountains’ western slopes, which is much warmer and dryer. Propagating trees like sequoias and redwoods is important, Milarch said, because they sequester 10 times more carbon dioxide than other trees. Only 4% of the world’s redwood and sequoia forests survive today.”
—
at the moment of kickoff
at my grandson’s game
the skies opened up
serving up a main course
of biting sideways rain
with a side dish of high-winded temperature drop
no lighting or thunder
so the game went on
having just taken the umbrella out of my car
at least there was a rain jacket still on the seat
yet quickly apparent that it wasn’t built
for sudden deluge-level weather
nor were the fans’ soon to be inside-out umbrellas
but they kept on playing and playing
while they didn’t win
they stayed in the game
as did the families/fans
showing a lot of heart
when we got to the car
as we made our way out
and onto the road home
the weather left
just as quickly as it had arrived
not one more drop of rain fell
not a wisp of wind was blown
not a chill in the air to be found
as we dripped and dropped in the car
laughing about the crazy storm
so looking forward to hot showers, warm food, and cozy, dry pajamas
our just desserts
after a game
well-played by all.
—
‘the best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.’
-henry wadsworth longfellow
‘we will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children.’
-jimmy carter
my favorite tree, the ginkgo. especially beautiful in autumn
—
Mikiko Noji (Japan, b.1978-)
At the Bottom of the Tree, 2023
ink and color on paper
—
“and all the lives we ever lived and all the lives to be are full of trees and changing leaves…”
-virginia woolf, to the lighthouse
Ginkgo biloba, commonly known as ginkgo or gingko, and also known as the maidenhair tree, is the only living species in the division Ginkgophyta. It is found in fossils dating back 270-million years. Native to China, the ginkgo tree is widely cultivated, and was cultivated early in human history. Ginkgo trees have beautiful green leaves that turn a luminous gold-yellow in fall. And on one day, after the hard frost, the ginkgo drops its leaves to the ground leaving a gorgeous carpet of color below.
celebrate national coffee day with a your favorite cup of coffee and this wonderful book
it’s the incredible but true story of a young man, Mokhtar Alkhanshali,
a beverage, a history, a mix of cultures, and pure perseverance
the unlikely and winding journey he took
from here to there and back again
keeps you wondering
will his dream come alive?
with a refusal to give up
a survival instinct
and lots of thinking on this feet
you’ll follow along
with this poignant, suspenseful, moving, and often funny story
as Mokhtar struggles to keep his balance
and not abandon his people
both near and far.
written by award-winning author, Dave Eggers
you can’t help but cheer him on
and you might even learn something along the way.
Mokhtar Alkhanshali and company
—
“Al-Shadhili became known as the Monk of Mokha, and Mokha became the primary point of departure for all the coffee grown in Yemen and destined for faraway markets.”
-dave eggers, the monk of mokha
—
credits: Dave Eggers, 2018, NYT bestseller, Knopf Publishing
not me, nor my moose playmate, but i was caught equally unaware
—
have you ever played a game of tag and you didn’t even know you were in it?
this happened to me recently when a couple of bloggers/friends tagged me
inviting me to play a game of blogger tag and to then pass it on.
oh my, i didn’t have my glasses on! i should have looked behind me! now i see, i’m it!
i’m all in now, and i’ll start by answering a few questions:
how did you come up with your blog name? (beth kennedy – ididnthavemyglasseson.com)
it was something that my daughters have said to me, about me – that things in my life have happened or have not happened because i didn’t have my glasses on. so many possibilities. (good name for a future book?)
if your blog was a person (fictional or real), who would it be?,
my blog is a bit all over the place, but it’s always me. maybe pippi longstocking? no stranger to counterculture, pippi can be seen around the world in tattoos, celebrity photographs, works of graffiti and on catwalks as a symbol of female strength, resilience, kindness, fairness and acceptance. while i’m not famous like pippi, and my dad was not a pirate like hers, i love that she had her own way of seeing and living in the world, and i try to embody all that she symbolizes.
what helps you create new content if you feel like you need some inspiration?
mostly just from being out in the world, with my eyes wide open and with glasses on. there are endless people, places, things, conversations, thoughts, and circumstances out there, and also right inside of me. i read lots of articles, especially the tiny almost forgotten ones, love the real newspaper and books and magazines. i’m drawn to the often-overlooked, the unusual, the details and nuances of life, and learn so many new things every day from endless sources. living is an inspiration in itself, and i’m still so excited when i wake up in the morning to see what each day will hold, just like when i was a little girl.
is there anyone you would like to collaborate with?
i am a huge fan of collaboration and enjoy working and creating ike that. everyone has a different perspective, experience, and has something to bring to the table. before i changed careers and became a teacher, i worked in the advertising world, and i’ve always loved to brainstorm, bounce ideas off of each other, and be open to all ideas. the world is so interesting because of the fact that we are all unique. together we can make each other even better.
is there anything more you wish you had or would like to learn as a blogger?
yes! everything in the world of blogging has been mostly trial and error for me, heavy on the error, but somehow i’m doing it. i happened into blogging kind of by accident, through a series of circumstances, and i have never looked back.
tech is an important part of blogging, and it seems to be my nemesis. while we continue to be at odds, tech and i are polite with each other most of the time. i learn a ton from other bloggers, how to do things, what not to do, and i’ve learned so many things along the way, especially that the connections made through blogging are what make it all a worthwhile enterprise. i have no financial motive in blogging, just a creative outlet for me, where i really enjoy the give and take of the readers and writers.
“i think one of the most beautiful gifts to self is: saying ‘i don’t know how, but I’m going to find a way for us to get through this.’-helen marie
do you have a specific style of blogging?
my blog is a jumble of lower case letters, (i love how they look on a page, they seem more poetic to me), stories, poems, quotes, photos, movies, news, nature, children, family and friends and pets, emotions, places, food, and everything else, all rolled into one. you never know what it will be. i often don’t even always know what it will be when i begin writing it and putting it together. i’m a bit of a minimalist, so they’re often quite short, but i love mixing things together that are generally not seen in one place. a collage of life. in the last number of years, i’ve tended to blog every day, and i like the rhythm of that.
here is how a blogger friend described it in response to one of my posts:
‘The Peanut Car looks like something that I would see passing by in a Parade. I expect the clowns (at least 50) to jump out any moment. In fact I always think of your blog as an entry in a Parade. Each different, yet in the same style. Not too long. Not too short. I’m always looking forward to the next float. ” (thanks, ladysighs)
—
now that i’ve finished the first part of the challenge,
the next part is to pick a few fellow bloggers/friends to play and to pass it on, so here goes:
(no worries for non-participation, there is always an option for a 3-day long marathon game of monopoly with people who each have their own set of rules, and my feelings won’t be hurt at all.)
so – tag, you’re it! and i hope you play:
Mark at: https://markbialczak.com
Joy at: https://joyful2beeblogs.com
Roy at: https://reelroyreviews.com
this game of tag is a not so scary after all.
—
‘blogger because badass isn’t an official job title’
-author unknown
—
image credits google.com
while i am a fan of pop-up street art
so unique and free-spirited
i took a pass on this item
might be a perfect match for someone else.
(i almost glanced over my shoulder to see if it was following me.)
—
‘where there is no imagination, there is no horror.’
-arthur conan doyle
this is not me, but if i had a rock room it might be me.
i am always looking for them no matter where i am
when i find one
voila! – it’s magic
i only keep the very special ones.
—
‘rocks are records of events that took place at the time they formed.
they are books. they have a different vocabulary,
a different alphabet, but you learn how to read them.’
-john mcphee, american writer and pulitzer prize winner
I didn't have my glasses on.... 