OT ~ Welcome to Saturday!

Sit-a-while
on swinging porch
where tin-dippers and
sweet water
in cool touches
meet lips
from hand dug wells.

Good morning good people!
A week of blending experiences juxtaposed between flyfishing with my son and paying for Mom's care and the bills leaves me in a spent space as i write. Putting away the Golden's water bowl this morning, emotion both lifts and haunts me, how long will the bowl be stored; the life-giving, sustaining water vessel which laps up happiness?

Into the unknown i step as the sun rises and time moves, each hour bringing mysteries to be told, first encounters of similar kind binding, bonding, burning impressions individually waiting for answers that may not come.

'Tis' the fate which can not be driven troubling me with Irma bearing down in obvious metaphor to the feelings on this day. i'm almost immune to nature's wraith, its 'shock and awe' having no league with bombs dropping through silent skies.

Will nothing awake the slurping supplicants, the climate deniers, the warmongers, the sycophants, the greedy to the beauty at hand, to life's formidable, enduring, evolving treasure?

"It's in our interests to have this war," the pundit said.

Morning poetry:
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

~ Robert Frost, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”

Morning paintings:

“A House Collapsing on Two Firemen," Shoe Lane, London, ~ Leonard Rosoman, 1940

Transcript of Fire Swept Algoma - Frank H. Johnston, 1920

Rosalyn Drexler, "Self-Defense," 1963

Morning NASA image, Irma:

Please, please be safe everyone, Florida friends and Western friends in fire danger.
I'll try to keep the latest on Irma posted throughout today.

“A day spent without the sight or sound of beauty, the contemplation of mystery, or the search of truth is a poverty-stricken day; and a succession of such days is fatal to human life.”
~ Lewis Mumford
Morning music:

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mhagle's picture

The poetry in words and art touch my soul.

My nephew and sister-in-law are in Naples. It is not a mandatory evacuation zone, so they are hunkered down sitting it out with supplies, etc. Still, horribly frightened.

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

smiley7's picture

@mhagle @mhagle

Very concerned for Naples with the new, more western track, Naples' storm surge could be significant. Happy your relatives are not in a mandatory evacuation zone, that infers that they are out of a predicted flood area.

Thank you for the kind words this morning, always a pleasure to see you.

I hope to post news as it appears today, so i'll pay special attention to news of Naples as i think, in addition to your relatives, c99 members live there or in communities nearby.

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

lovely Mozart symphony to start the day. Nice selection of artwork, too. The one screenshot certainly illustrates how 'perfect' Irma's eye is--or, maybe was, since I've heard that it has disintegrated somewhat since it hit Cuba.

I join you in hoping that Everyone in the path of Irma, and the western wildfires, manage to stay safe. Obviously, that includes their pets.

Mr M reminded me that we could tune into Channel 202, The Weather Channel on XM, instead of (me) constantly switching cable news channels. Duh!

Anyhoo, I look forward to reading updates on Irma. If I should hear anything on TWC that I think isn't being reported on network/cable news and weather broadcasts, I'll post it here.

BTW, glad you had the special time with Son. Pleasantry

Mollie

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

smiley7's picture

@Unabashed Liberal

A belated thank you for the Medigap information, very useful to me as i intend to search high and low for a less expensive gap plan, and as or more important, a better drug plan for the coming year.

And cheers for staying of top of the sneaky 'cat-fooders' in DC.

Are you traveling? BTW, loved the clip of the freed dog with new fence you posted on the Blues this week. Happy camper, the doggie is, now. Smile

Take good care!

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

@smiley7

happy if it helps even a little bit. Again, the Farm Bureau Insurance rates in NC are considerably higher than I had hoped, or expected. I think that one pays quite a premium for BC/BS's 'brand,' which is not to say that they aren't a good insurer--they are. But, as you know, when it comes to a Medigap plan, the 'same letter' plan, pays the same, regardless of the insurer. So, unless an insurer is known to have 'awful' customer service, it's reasonable to shop around for the best/lowest premium. We also dread looking at Part D plans--but will. Gotta watch those pennies!

Wink

We decided not to get on the road the other day, because a little checking showed that the entire Southeast region's a mess--traffic-wise. Wasn't worth the hassle.

Thanks for watching the Fences For Fido video! I'm planning to use that sig line once a week or so, in hopes that their wonderfully kind deeds will reach a wide audience. I especially enjoyed the video of 'Cupcake,' because she sorta favors our (late) sweet terrier mix, 'Biggun.' (her nickname)

Those are some excellent Irma updates--thanks! I've had to be away from a radio much of today, but have gotten the impression that Irma's weakened a bit. Sure hope so.

May be dropping back by to post a Mike Allen piece. It's sorta depressing, but I think he may be spot on. He's predicting that DT will start making 'bargains' with corporatist Dems. Heaven help us all, if that happens. At least until now, except for some deregulation, DT's been very ineffective.

Have a great rest of your weekend!

Mollie


"I think dogs are the most amazing creatures--they give unconditional love. For me, they are the role model for being alive."--Gilda Radner

"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went."--Will Rogers

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

Raggedy Ann's picture

Thank you for the lovely walk in beauty this lovely Saturday morning. Mozart - my favorite - the art - the poetry. I'm taking a poetry class this semester. Writing, that is. Challenging, I find.

Have a beautiful day, everyone! Pleasantry

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

smiley7's picture

@Raggedy Ann

You are welcome, my pleasure. Poetry comes best with emotion, i've found, the words flow from somewhere when they are ready; almost an out of mind feeling.

Our morning poet, Frost, sounded his way, i recall, the sounds convey meaning, i think he meant.

Whatever, i find it to be a great release for me, at times, and as a novice, very much appreciate folks reading the work and enjoy the comments.

Please post your poetry here and give the morning desert a smile for us.

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smiley7's picture

Going to be a long weekend in Florida as hurricane Irma is arriving, Miami, now:

The Guardian live update page: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/sep/09/hurricane-irma-florid...

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/hashtag/HurricaneIrma?src=hash and https://twitter.com/hashtag/irma?f=tweets&vertical=news&src=hash

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divineorder's picture

"Walk in beauty." Dineh proverb.

Hugs to all.

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

smiley7's picture

@divineorder

amen, brother, amen... Uwoduhi, beauty in Cherokee.

hey, pm me if you still have the travel site, i lost its bookmark, thanks.

Hope you two are well and in good spirits and very much enjoy your adventure photos, i catch them on the Blues.

Great to see you!

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Arrow's picture

Irma is on my mind this morning. Sister and brother both in Tampa Bay area.
Naples...it depends if it tracks even further west. Much of the punch will be initial landfall. Hopefully, that will be over the unpopulated Everglades.
Storm surge map now is only 1-3 feet as the winds will blow offshore and away from the coast.
All we can do is wait and hope.

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I want a Pony!

smiley7's picture

@Arrow

May your brother and sister stay safe. Irma is so large, and it's track unpredictable, plus the tornado possibilities warrant our concern. Pleased to see social media as a new helping hand in these kind of circumstances. For instance, Gov of Flordia put out a call for nurses and many responded on social media, don't know how they will connect travel-wise, but info is getting out, an improvement to the old days.

Not a praying man, but, sending hugs to you and all concerned this long weekend.

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MarilynW's picture

For the first time in days people here on Vancouver Island could take deep breaths. Our air is low risk today.

I've had headaches for a week. I don't know if they are caused by the smoke because I had a head injury in late August.

It was a clear day at Nat Bailly stadium, Vancouver BC and we had good seats to watch a minor league game and cheer for the Vancouver Canadians. I looked around overwhelmed by the beauty of the place. There's a tall forest behind the ball field. My companion was bending over looking in our bag asking me if I needed anything, I said "No, I want to watch the first pitch." We were sitting behind 3rd base. I heard the crack of the bat hitting the ball, the first pitch, then I saw a white flash just miss my head. Before I could finish the thought "it missed me" the ball banged into the tin divider behind us and hit the right side of the top of my head. I really did see stars. I cried a lot, not as much over the pain but the thought of brain damage. Ushers and members of St. John's Ambulance crowded around me asking me if I was okay and what did I need. "Ice, I need ice for my head." I heard yelling for "ice right now." Someone, I later found out it was an usher held an ice bag on my head and had his arm around my shoulders. For a few minutes that was all that anchored me because I kept my eyes closed to blot out reality. A tylenol from my friend and lots of water, they kept telling me to drink water. St. John's Ambulance gave me tests for cognition, ( I got the date wrong!). The pain subsided. We don't know what happened to the ball that hit me. At the end of the inning the player in left field who had just caught the fly ball came over to me and gave me the ball. There was clapping and cheering from the crowd for his gesture. My grandson has the ball now along with the story to go with it. I watched the game, I had chicken strips and fires and a double scoop of strawberry ice cream. It was for medical purposes to prove that I didn't have nausea. The Manager of the stadium came down and gave us his card, "anything you want, anything you need, just call me." The usher who had held me came down to see me as the game was ending. He said "I was worried about you, but every time I looked at you to see if you were okay, you were eating." I laughingly said "I'm not okay, I still need more sympathy, bring it on."

I saw my doctor two days later and he couldn't find any symptoms of concussion or brain damage. But he said to be watchful. I have a list of things to watch for like "unremitting headache." I also think of the wonder of life, when you can be so happy one moment and then you get a ball in the head to remind you of the delicate balance of life.

Thank you Smiley, it's always so nice to meet you here. I played the Mozart all through writing this.

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To thine own self be true.

smiley7's picture

@MarilynW
thank god you are okay. Glad you saw a doctor. On a clear day, you can see forever comes to mind, another metaphor of life's daily consequences as you say, the delicate balance.

All this environmental damage shakes me as you know, environmental writing was a major focus in journalism. Health has prevented me from being in the game for two years, now, and i'm anxious and frankly, feel a little guilty in not producing work for good causes. I do follow my friends' contributions at Appalachian Voices and the Sierra Club and it's past time i get back in the game. It hurts to see all the hard work, the many successful campaigns we mounted to clear the air and protect the water go languishing into the night of ignorance, avarice and piety. Turning back the clock can not be acceptable and as i thought in writing this morning, 'when will they ever learn?"
Guess, we must teach them, again and again.

Miss seeing your artwork, have any pieces you would like to post? Would be a treat to post them on Saturday's OT!

Please do take good care and thanks for sharing, it's always great to see you.

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MarilynW's picture

@smiley7
I'm with you on the environmental activism. Been there since the 1960's. Even my family was not sharing my views in those days. But more lately I began to feel "what's the use" with Capitalism/climate deniers seeming to win the struggle.

Although it's discouraging at times we mustn't lose sight of those quiet heroes who continue to work towards climate change mitigation, from inventors to the average person.

So far the science says warmer oceans is a major cause of stronger hurricanes.

Now we really know that we shouldn't build on flood plains and on coral reefs that could protect us from storms.

Thanks again for your encouragement. I'll have a little gallery for next Saturday.

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To thine own self be true.

smiley7's picture

as 15 feet.

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MarilynW's picture

@smiley7
15 feet

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To thine own self be true.

enhydra lutris's picture

exactly like that picture of Irma.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

smiley7's picture

@enhydra lutris
familiar Smile

Good morning to you. I read the heat has dissipated in your area and now the humidity after the extreme heat is a threat to the grapes as it may activate mold, hope that doesn't happen.

Shop downstairs, the next door up on main still sells and designs their own colorful shirts.

Did you also have a pair of 'real' patched blue jeans?

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enhydra lutris's picture

@smiley7
already had reinforcement patches and were really hard to damage. It's funny, as a kid my mom pre-patched our pants as a defensive measure, knees only, iirc, which was a practice I continued myself out of frugality. As a result I never really knew it was a thing when it became one.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Arrow's picture

This guy showed up at breakfast ..
Boobie!! ( see his blue feet)

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I want a Pony!

enhydra lutris's picture

@Arrow

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

smiley7's picture

@enhydra lutris @Arrow

to el, way cool. If i may suggest to JtC that we nominate the bird as an guest member of c99.

Oh, what a treat, the moment the Boobie set down near you must have been and a big thank you for sharing!

Found this:

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smiley7's picture

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