Sunday, September 25th 2022. Week 38
Releasing animals into the wild
This video is kind of a mixed bag but I know exactly what these animals feel like. I’ve been there a number of times in my life. It’s one of the great epic feelings when people you’d rather not be with finally let you go.
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It’s about a quarter to 9:00. This is another one of these mornings like last week where I have a completely restful initial sleep but have no particular reason to jump out of bed for an early wake up and then hitting the snooze button forever. My ex partner just called to tell me that she’s coming up and will be here at about 10:00. I guess she has her best schedule worked out.
She says her back hurts. I don’t know whether this is from Thursday or not. She is not as Sherlock Holmesian as I am. The comment that her back hurt came as I asked her about why she planted the pear tree both in the road between our boxes and in the canal. I guess it was a language problem. She didn’t understand but we needed to plant the tree next to the canal so that the roots could enjoy the extended water not in the canal and in the road to block both of them. I don’t think she wants to replant.
But what she is looking forward to and I am too if I can help a bit is planting what was last year’s potato box in strawberries. This I am looking forward to very much.
Today is the first time we have had all of our resources on hand. We have all of the fertilizer that I ordered and we have a huge hay ball ready to be eaten from for a very long time. I also noticed that we have a couple of long posts. These are natural wood and I think they were used for supports on the cart that brought the straw. These are either mine, and I can definitely use them. They are quite decorative and I think they would be perfect to go with the grape Vines or grape gazebo or whatever we end up building finally for them. Or, it has to go back with Ghenna who just simply forgot to put them back on the cart when he delivered the hay. Materials always seem kind of fluid with Ghenna so it’s hard to say what the truth is.
My day off was spectacularly nice. This was as perfectly restful and comfortable as any day off I can remember. My body felt absolutely lovely and all I was was successfully comfortable all day and both evenings.
I had three meals and my belly is still full. I wouldn’t say that they were all epic. Saturday morning was pretty epic I would say. It didn’t destroy me but it was a pretty decent sized meal.
Friday night had a little bit of sesame oil in the pot to cook up a wide variety of veggies and greens. There were a bunch of my potatoes with some tomatoes, zucchini, a giant onion, garlic, some nice cabbage greens, head cabbage and even fresh cilantro. All of this got stir fried nicely and in the end I added some water both to steam the noodles and collect the fonde. Very light, very delicious, not even remotely expensive and topped it off with a ludicrously rich peanut hummus that was kind of spicy with chili peppers, fresh black pepper and some local spices we saved.
My meal on Saturday morning was a curry soup. I used the remainder of the peanut Thomas as a curry base and added it to a soup of peas and lentils and a few more veggies. Very rich. I even added some whole wheat flour to the soup to make it even more thick. I guess you could say it was almost a vegan chowder/Curry. Terrible food for clothing. Wonderfully warming and calming.
After that, I really didn’t eat anything all day because I wasn’t hungry but a little bit late last night, I made some buckwheat porridge with just a couple of veggies tossed into it to cook and give it flavor. I had two small bowls and pretty much that was it for me. Nothing but comfort food but all of it is probably pretty healthy for the human animal. And I’m waking up this morning without any signs whatsoever of diabetic problems due to sugar overload so I must have done this well as well.
I just feel good. There’s no other way to say it. I just feel good. I feel physically good and I feel professionally happy.
One small thing from last week is that I failed to mention the autumnal equinox. That was September 22nd at some time. My thinking is that this had something to do with things as well. The equinoxes are not really as profound as the two solstices. The solstices are a stopping and starting. There is an apex and a nadir, a day with the maximum amount of sunshine possible and then the absolute shortest day of the year. The Christians chose to put their icon’s birthday right in the middle of the winter solstice. More usurpation. You definitely feel those days more than the midpoints between them.
Perhaps however this equinox has something to do with this feeling of comfort. If the world is broken up into four periods, a little bit more than 91 days each, 13 weeks and change, this change would be the break between fall and winter and maybe this means something to my DNA. Maybe what’s going on here on my little piece of dirt is illustrative of the way the world works in connection to agriculture. Maybe we are done working.
It’s hard to really believe in this however. There is still food waiting to be harvested and there’s still some buttoning up to do. Maybe another month or 6 weeks before we are completely finished with everything. 6 weeks would be half of that season. And then the same 6 weeks before we start working happens during the next quarter. The earliest seeds need to get planted somewhere around Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day is when the Sun actually makes its first noticeable appearance that it’s coming back. The first yellows and oranges start creeping into the spectrum up here at 52° north latitude. That’s also 6 weeks almost exactly after the solstice. Six or seven.
It’s all got kind of a Stonehenge-like symmetry to it, doesn’t it? Maybe this is kind of strange talk or even idle blabbering if you’re still on a money clock. Money clocks have no relation to season. Factory production goes on universally regardless of need except for the profits of the owners. The money clock beats on endlessly from cradle to grave, kind of like a football game where it only briefly notices people’s bodies that break along the way only long enough for them to be cleaned up so the game can continue. The game never stops. People never stop harming each other. People never stop getting hurt and people never stop cheering for the Carnage.
I also watched a little baseball this weekend. I caught Albert Pujols catching 700 lifetime home runs. He seems rejuvenated this year back in St Louis. Perhaps going to Los Angeles was a mistake. I always feel that going to Los Angeles is a mistake. I still hold my San Francisco prejudices sacred in this regard. The Mets are on fire with perhaps the two greatest pictures in the game throwing for them and a team of batters playing way above their heads. And last night, I watched the last few innings of the Yankee game just to see if I could catch the amazing Aaron Judge having one of the greatest hitting seasons ever. It’s kind of a shame that there is so much money involved in his epic season. He’s kind of dragging the Yankees along here. They started out as a juggernaut and then became simply an average team except for him. He lost a couple of ticks off of the triple crown to Xander Bogaerts during the game. The Yanks won though and to Judge, that’s the most important thing. That and receiving more money than God in his next contract, wherever that puts him. Hope it’s not LA.
I often regret never having written seriously about sports. I’ve never considered myself a sports writer but perhaps that would have been something that would have changed my life. If I had started writing about baseball, I would have had a pedigree for it. I like the sport quite a bit and I was a pretty good player but I also read many, many books about baseball during a time when it was very possible to write about baseball. I would also fall into the rabbit hole of statistics thanks to Bill James and his baseball abstracts but I would also marvel at the pure physicality displayed on the field. I can still watch replays of Canon arms or watch Nolan Arenado Pick at third Base endlessly.
I wonder if that would have changed the trajectory of my life somehow. When I was doing a lot of traveling during the 90s, I wonder what my life would have been like if I was writing during this period. I was not really in pursuit of gold or I would say that it would have been quite the Jack London trip. I still remember a lot of those episodes clearly and a lot of things have ended up here one way or the other. But I wonder how it would have changed my life if I had been doing those travels between baseball games or to have been waxing poetic about the characters and situations I ended up in while traveling.
That’s not what I did though. I was interested in writing theater plays. That’s the thing I was really interested in. I read all of Shakespeare. When I finally picked up the pen and started writing, I was most interested in creating theater scenarios. I thought it was a dying art. But I also saw it as a chance for social satire or at least poignant noticing about the human comedy or more specifically its failures. That ended up to be mostly what I wrote about and I guess I still do. I guess this is why somebody called me a chronic complainer last week. I tend to notice the flaws in the garden more than the positives.
It is possible to notice perfection. It is possible to stare and admire something completely beautiful. The other day, I found something that I thought perhaps could be the most beautiful girl in the world. It was something that Instagram put in front of me for a second and it just blew me away. Here, take a look:
Anastasia Pshokina is from Odessa and she is just a spot on musician with excellent funk chops, a sweet voice and even a pretty fierce dancer. I mean, just in one particular moment this girl rang every Bell and blew every whistle. Seriously, you can say nasty things about me for being male but just listen to her play the bass.
The problem however, and there absolutely is a problem with something like this, is that it’s a rented moment. This girl is absolutely as hot as a female can be right now exactly at this moment. This is the absolute flower of her beauty and her talent simply takes that to a new level. But time does have a way of changing things. The stress of living in Ukraine will definitely change things and it even adds an air of desperation. It’s hard to believe in the beauty and the escape when you realize it’s crushing economics and politics around her. Or even what happens to her after her “escape”. Nothing really grows well in a Russian garden and wartime is not really such a beautiful place to try and grow up.
See what I mean? You can stare and listen for a moment and end up doing a face poem at how perfect the picture is. But pictures are of the moments we wish to remember, the absolute highlights and not the lifeline which inevitably and absolutely and categorically can never possibly live up to those Apex moments.
Maybe this is why I am a chronic noticer of problems. I pick out the flaws. The flaws can be fixed and in doing so, we create something slightly more perfect. It’s not only dwelling on the negative, it’s trying to help Hope along. When you polish the dull spots and mend the cracks, you’re working in the hope of something better in the future. Certainly, that future could have as its Apex only a fleeting moment or a collection of fleeting moments but still, it is a lot more satisfying to push up the things that need help than it is to worship the things at the top of the mountain. I have a job to do where things are not right and I’m pretty much left alone as an observer when I’m looking at something flawless.
I mean, look at Aaron Judge right now. Look at this baseball player we have on the planet Earth right now. Look at his swing. Look at how he plays the field. Look at how he handles his teammates. Look at Aaron Judge right now and tell me that this is not an apex moment.
Well, I mean, he does strike out a lot. And yesterday, in his third advant and facing a picture that did not want to throw strikes, he insisted on swinging the bat at 0 and 2. He needs hits and he needs homers and taking walks might be good for the team but it doesn’t serve his purpose. He could have taken one or two more and the free trip to first but he started putting his swing on it even though he wasn’t getting anything to hit. He worked himself to two and two and then fouled off a couple of balls before getting sat down on a check swing that allowed the bat to go across the plate honestly. He was angry at the call but probably more angry at himself. I mean, he’s just a guy. He is not a god. He’s just a guy having one of the most amazing years of all time but also someone who strikes out 160 times.
Anyway, I have got to get moving. That 10:00 time is coming up quickly. I don’t have to be so helpful today. I still don’t really have a leg to stand on but I’m not in pain and I am again on the road to healing with slightly less problems ahead of me in the future. Potentially, I might not even need surgery.
So, I’m going to get up and get started and we will see how this day progresses. Strawberry Fields forever?
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It’s about a quarter after 11:00 and it is another of those astounding fall days that you dream about. The trees are just thinking about the possibility of changing color but those who do not engage in such an artful practice are simply letting them go. My big walnut tree is absolutely beautiful with light yellows and oranges taking over as the absolutely useless leaves fall to the ground. I love walnuts. Walnuts are my favorite nut in the world though I am a bit crazy over peanuts to tell the truth. But that element that they bring with themselves. That damned juglone makes planting food plants nearby dangerous and basically makes everything except for the not themselves worthless. I love the citrus smell very much but that’s it. You can’t really compost the leaves and you can’t really use them as mulch. The best you can do, and this is the lazy method, it’s just let them fall and do what they do and soak into the soil and be happy for however many nuts you can find along the way.
My ex-partner is here in a frustrated and frustrating mood. She’s in her black disco pants again. I guess she’s not going to the Disco anymore so these pants are perfect for gardening now. We had a conversation about what to do about planting. Her idea is that we cover all of the manured soil with topsoil and then plant. My best idea was just to do what we always do and dig a hole and put the healthiest potting mix we can under and around the new plants and then water them in. She was a hard sell for a couple of sentences. Her mind had a clear picture in it and she didn’t want to break that picture. She would probably have won the argument had I not brought up that it takes 14 wheelbarrows to put a layer of topsoil on that particular box. Her back stood up and voted in favor of our normal method and we were done.
The hose was just standing here and I noticed that the cabbages in the boxes were looking a little dry. We’ve had a lot of rain lately and a lot of green has seeped into what was something that looked a lot like North Texas a couple of weeks ago. New grass is coming in because of the greenery. I haven’t heard anything about the appearance of mushrooms in the forest and even the little button mushrooms that I get occasionally here along my path didn’t show up this year. I’ve seen films from people in different regions who have found monster mushrooms in their local forests. I don’t know. I don’t hunt for mushrooms and I very much doubt hunting mushrooms is going to be in my future very often. I could be wrong and I could catch the bug. Right now, I’m happy catching my neighbors as they walk past my house down the road and offering a little bit of money for some of the mushrooms they have found.
I am on a cane today. No crutches necessary. I got up this morning and felt great. No pain and no infection and when I stood up, it felt strong. I’m definitely on a good path. For sure, there is not a doctor in the world who would be happy to see me walking around. I happen to be my favorite doctor in this regard. My doctor always prescribes the best medicines for the moment and knows exactly how I feel.
Somebody nearby is warming their house but they seem to be using wood happily enough. I don’t mind the smell of wood smoke in the air. It’s Sunday morning so nobody is running gasoline powered instruments to destroy things. The sun is shining and with the exception of the sound of a train running in the distance, there is no sound but for the buzzing of insects and a few stray crickets who haven’t quite figured out that the evening is over. A rooster demanding to be paid attention to and a few of his buddies is all.
Do you like the sound of quiet? Do you enjoy the sound of peace? I wonder how far from the consciousness of our leaders this sound really is. I doubt from the moment they step into the office or even step towards the office, they never know the sound of Peace again. Only the cacklings and arguments of their people. Either genuine political conversations or, and this I believe more to be the truth, obsequent flatterers and envelope givers and the sound of their own voice never ends. Just a constant barrage of lies and compromises and demands.
I saw one brief video yesterday that really touched me. Perhaps you’ll get the connection quickly. It was some commentary of a film of Hitler attending the 1936 Berlin Olympics where Hitler is tweaking. There’s no other way to say it.
So, this opened the door to quite a few thoughts about Hitler’s drug use and what was the man’s mindset as he was making all of those wonderful fascist decisions that he’s now so famous for.
I’m just saying that when we consider the State of mind of our leaders, people who have great influence over our lives and allow themselves the right to make moral judgments on us and about what we can and cannot do, it’s quite interesting that we do not include drug testing as a normal part of our vetting process and definitely our voting process. I mean, if we have a leader stand up and propose something that seems to a huge member of their constituency to be an unwanted or even insane decision, why is it an element of employment or participation in sports that there be mandatory drug testing but not in leadership? Why do we believe that judgment should not be as easily impaired for important decision making as it is for inconsequential things like one’s ability to make some money to afford their lives?
I’m just surprised we never consider this to be a part of our normal Democratic process.
It is a discussable topic that this war might not need to continue. It’s a discussable topic whether or not Russia actually needs this little parcel of land on the Eastern side of Ukraine at all. It’s a monstrously large country already. They have holdings through eight time zones. It seems strange that they would go all in for a few Ukrainian towns leading to the Crimean peninsula. I wonder if it’s really worth it to bet the entire planet on the whim of one man’s idea of necessity.
I mean, there is absolutely no question that there is no moral high ground on the part of the Russians. There is no evidence of any kind that the ukrainians were any more corrupt or morally bereft than the Russians were. Truth be told, Ukraine has been a destination for sex tourists for quite some time. No one would ever doubt the level of corruption down there or what happens to people’s lives when they are held in perpetual poverty and need to do what they have to in order to get by. But there is no evidence that the Russians are any better by any means or that they are at any professional level as far as taking care of their own people. No one would ever question Russian corruption exists.
But it really absolutely seems to be a drug addict’s decisions to be willing to sacrifice one’s life and the life of every single person around them. For any of us who have ever had a drug addict in their families, it’s not only the economic drag that drives you crazy but the insanity, the acrimonious interactions and the usuriousness that just destroys everything. Just being around Ghenna for a couple of weeks has me hating living here. Turning off the tap on him and reminding him of his actual status here was enough to make my life improve a thousand percent.
I’m sorry, the film was wrong. Greed is not good. Greed is very bad. Greed is overusing resources that should be used carefully and gently. Greed is narcissistic. Greed is automatically a problem to others. Greed automatically puts a strain on everyone and everything. And greed mixed with pure addiction is mania and insanity and psychopathic behavior.
I mean, the world was not as photographed as it is now. People were not as self aware or self-conscious as they are now. We didn’t have a generation of children who grew up with cameras on them daily, either inflicted by their parents or self-inflicted. People didn’t sell themselves as a broadcast internationally in 1936. So if Hitler is sitting in the box and tweaking like an autistic body Rock in front of 100,000 people, there’s no reason for him to feel that people would be thinking badly of him. He’s the head of the Third Reich, he’s not going to have problems with internet trolls. And if he is obsessively masturbating with a pistol or a cane in public, what harm could this possibly cause to his political career, right?
I’m just saying that we need to be aware of such things. I think this is one of the reasons governmental behavior has to have many, many, many checks and balances and one reason I think that we should never allow for professional politicians in general. We have the technology to vote on things generally all the time. This business of getting someone a job to work behind closed doors to make under the table deals and only come up for air to beg and preen and make promises every 4 years is a ridiculous way to run things. It’s our public funds, why is it a given that we have to give away our rights to pay attention and see for ourselves? Why is it a complete social obligation that we allow others to make all of our decisions for us even when those decisions are costing the lives of tens of thousands of people or even millions becoming negatively affected? I mean, remember Madoff and the Ponzi schemes and the Wall Street crash? Why exactly are we putting so much money in the hands of some people based upon some promises of their own personal expertise?
Like I said, it’s a beautiful day today. I’m just sitting here on a chair annoying my ex partner with my personal expertise on planting. It’s kind of like being a chef. You need the correct amount of ingredients to get a good mix.
I guess if I shut up, it really will be quiet out here. Maybe I shouldn’t be so selfish and let the world be at peace for a while.
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Lies and Russian propaganda.
How do Russians feel about mobilization? Moscow interviews.
Protesters tortured by police.
Scenes and interviews from the Georgian border.
And I have heard reports that if you have a Z sticker or flag on your car, they are not letting you in. Sorry Vlad.
And finally, an update from Zelinsky.
Truly, I don’t know of any world leader who should get Man of the Year or an MVP award other than Mr Zelinski. I am not completely in favor of all of his policies and I think quite a bit of his obsequiousness towards Europe is not going to lead to sustainable happiness for whatever Ukraine looks like in the future. But give credit where credit is due for energy and perseverance. He has taken the hero call and he has picked up the ball every day. And even if we only see him as a figurehead as much or as more as a decision maker, the guy is absolutely in the game for every play and making it hurt every chance he gets. Standing ovation for this guy. A Ruthian year for the president of Ukraine.
Truthfully, thinking ahead to the next contract year, I wonder how many Russians would rather see Zelinsky in charge. I wonder what Russia would look like under his guidance.
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Another thing I have failed to notice coming is that this evening begins Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Year’s.
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. It is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, and a day of judgment and coronation of G‑d as king.
Rosh Hashanah is the birthday of the universe, the day G‑d created Adam and Eve, and it’s celebrated as the head of the Jewish year. It begins at sundown on the eve of Tishrei 1 (Sept. 25, 2022) and ends after nightfall on Tishrei 2 (Sept. 27, 2022).
The central observance of Rosh Hashanah is blowing the shofar (ram’s horn) on both mornings of the holiday (except on Shabbat), which is normally done in synagogue as part of the day’s services.
Rosh Hashanah feasts traditionally include round challah bread (studded with raisins) and apples dipped in honey, as well as other foods that symbolize our wishes for a sweet year.
Other Rosh Hashanah observances include candle lighting in the evenings and desisting from creative work.
Together with Yom Kippur (which follows 10 days later), it is part of the Yamim Nora’im (Days of Awe, or High Holidays).
I guess this works out for me because I don’t really do that much work these days. It would be pretty easy to put a limit on outside help for Monday and Tuesday. About writing, that’s difficult to say. I’m not exactly sponsored in this so it’s not like I’m earning any money at it. I don’t remember having any blank spots in my ear. I guess I’ll play it by ear and by feel. You’re definitely supposed to refrain from creative work ironically enough so it’s not like I could just take a break from writing about the dramas of local alcoholics and put together some kind of playwriting. That would be pretty much against the rules. But then again, most of the rules end up being pretty hypocritical in practice and then of course there’s all that bloody barbecue. I say I’m going to play it by ear.
I’m usually not very observant of the holidays anyway except for taking a day off every week but maybe this would be a nice excuse to keep the alcoholics away.
Technically, it’s interesting to have Rosh Hashanah exactly on this day. Again, it’s kind of borrowing from the naturally occurring equinox to say that this is where the New Year comes from. It’s definitely a harvest holiday and foods should have sweetness to them, nuts and raisins and fruit etc. And also, even though this is the celebration of the beginning of the story and Adam and Eve etc, there are still three Torah readings left and the readings for this period of the celebration are different and unique.
I think we should all take notice. We are having a change in seasons and a specific moment in our journey around the Sun. For those of us who believe in God in one way or another, either as the genuinely brutal son of a bitch who doles out punishments more often than blessings or as simply another word for nature and the planet that has allowed us to come to be, I do not disagree that a little thankfulness, respect and even some attention to common Sense teachings, moral and otherwise, are a pretty good idea. Any rules to live that say be good to each other and be fair and kind with others it’s not a bad thing. I’m personally not so in need of barbecue but you get the idea.
Anyway, shana tova! Happy New Year and enjoy the sweetness of the season. And for sure, just like on any New Year’s, we should all make resolutions to be better next year. Amen.
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