Jan7
years.
Tag Archives: life
Jan6
big things i learned from my tiny kinders today while creating with them.
“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
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
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.
Dec17
liquid assets.
Cuba offers rum to pay off $276m Czech debt
Cuban rum is a popular tipple in the Czech Republic. Cuba has come up with an unusual way to repay its multimillion dollar debt to the Czech Republic – bottles of its famous rum, officials in Prague say.
The Czech finance ministry said Havana had raised this possibility during recent negotiations on the issue.
Cuba owes the Czech authorities $276m (£222m), and if the offer is accepted the Czechs would have enough Cuban rum for more than a century. However, Prague said it preferred to get at least some of the money in cash.
Havana’s debt dates back from the Cold War era – when Cuba and what was at the time Czechoslovakia were part of the communist bloc. Cuba now does not have much money but it does have lots of rum – hence this unusual proposal, says the BBC’s Rob Cameron in Prague.
The Czech finance ministry said repayment was possible either with rum or pharmaceutical drugs. But Cuban drugs lack EU certification, so repayment with a more traditional medicine – popular in the Czech Republic – may be easier to arrange, our correspondent adds.
—
“the best solutions are often simple, yet unexpected.”
-julian casablancas
—
credits:bbc news, reuters,
Dec14
birds.
kinders watch
to see when the birds will come
to eat the treats
they’ve made for them
and hung up high in the trees
so they don’t go hungry in the winter’s snow.
—
“be grateful for luck. pay the thunder no mind – listen to the birds. and don’t hate nobody.
-eubie blake
I didn't have my glasses on.... 