Walked 10 electrical poles past the tractor tire…not all the poles were equidistant from each other, but 10 poles is 10 poles, right? It’s simply a visual reminder of my progress. Another reference point would be walking to the first canal past the new grove of pecan trees. I’m a landmark kind of navigator.
--------------------
My entertainment when I walk is
either music or podcasts. I have
listened to audio books in the past, but I find that nature distracts me too
easily when I walk out here…which means I have to rewind the book so I don’t
miss any relevant information. Best to
leave audiobooks for when I sew. Today I
listened to two episodes of ‘It Was Said’, a podcast narrated by Jon Meacham. Each episode is 30 to 35 minutes…the fact that
I got in two of them today in the mile that I walked…well, that tells me that
I’m not walking at any medal winning speed.
Anyway, “It Was Said” looks back on some powerful and timeless speeches
in history. Jon Meacham is an
award-winning historian and perhaps, most importantly, has a very listenable
voice. The voice is key when listening to podcasts or audio books. I like historical podcasts and I like Jon
Meacham’s voice which makes “It Was Said” a great companion on my walks. I like
his “Hope Through History” podcast, also.
All episodes are very repeatable…sort of like re-reading a favorite
book.
The first episode was about a speech Nelson Mandela when he was on trial
for sabotage in 1963. He was a member of
the African National Congress, which was opposed to the Apartheid government
and after delivering his remarks, was found guilty and incarcerated from 1964
to 1990. These were last lines of his speech: “I have fought against white domination, and I have
fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and
free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal
opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if
needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” Nelson Mandela,
Speech from the Dock, 20 April 1964
The second episode was about Ronald Reagan’s speech on the 40th
anniversary of D-Day, the storming of the beaches of Normandy. The speech was
eloquent as he had very good speechwriters and his delivery had all the right
touches because he was after all, first and foremost, an actor.
------
Kim uses his walking time to make phone calls when he’s not listening to
a podcast.
--------------------
Need to fix a specific part on your car? Learn about metal detecting, astrophotography
or needle felting? There’s a video for
all that and more on youtube.
Since I finished my penguin, White Flower, yesterday, I’m geeked about
expanding my skill. I’ve had a vision of a hippo rolling around in my head…no kit
with directions for this one, totally freestyling it. However, I’m unsure of how to create a
critter with legs (have only done a snowlady and a penguin ), so today I
watched several videos about building wire armatures for critters. It’s amazing
how engrossing those videos were…so much so that I totally lost track of time. I
sure hadn’t planned on spending over ninety minutes sitting in the camper on a
beautiful day, watching videos about felting but it was a great way to pick up
some tips from people who know so much more about it than I do.
After watching the videos, I don’t think I’ll go the armature route with
the hippo. It shouldn’t be too far off the ground so the wire wouldn’t be
necessary for strength.
------
Update: When we were out on a bike ride, I was thinking over the process of making the hippo and decided to use the wire armature after all. Not only would it be good practice, but it would also help me maintain the scale I have in mind….at least that’s how it works out in my mind. So, I got to building
--------------------
After watching lizards and hummingbirds for about an hour and planning
how to expand our feeder capabilities, we went for a bike ride. Rode through Arizona City to IR 15, then turned
right toward Casa Grande. From there we took the Jimmie Kerr Hwy back to Eloy.
Short ride but good to get out.
--------------------
No bunny action on the pile of carrots overnight. I know because I took
a picture of the pile of carrots last night and they were in the exact same
configuration this morning. In fact, we
haven’t seen the bunny at all today and as of this evening the carrots are
shriveling up from the heat and sun. Hope the bunny’s okay.
--------------------
Kim has been checking the clear sky chart throughout the day, hoping to get
a clear enough timeframe to image. The chart said it should be clear until
about 10 p.m…but the sky wasn’t looking too promising when I was outside about
6:30, but clouds have been known to blow over quickly. Can’t do anything about
the weather, except maybe pout.
Update: He actually got two
imaging sessions tonight because the sky was clear, then cloudy, then clear
again. He wasn’t thrilled with the amount
of data from the first session but can add it to the second session. 👍
--------------------
Mike Left was a somewhat tortured soul; I had never met him or knew of
him in all my years in Charlevoix until I married Kim. Mike gravitated to Kim and Kim was willing to
be a friend to someone who didn’t have many, so Mike spent a good deal of time
at our house. That was always an interesting experience. Mike would feed our
cats and watch the house for us when we first started coming out here. In fact,
one time he called to say he was watching the house, as in sitting in the
driveway at that moment, watching the house.
Kim was a good steady friend to Mike over the course of 9 or 10 years,
but the one thing Kim wouldn’t allow was for Mike to come over to our house when
he had been drinking. The last year or so, Mike had unfortunately started
drinking again so we didn’t see much of him; but he did call Kim on our way out
here, trying to find lodging for a homeless friend. That was the last we heard from him. Got a phone call yesterday from his mom, Kate,
telling us that Mike had died, either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. She’s currently in Florida where she received
the call, so the details of what happened were a bit fuzzy. Hadn’t seen him in a while but I always had
hope that he could get himself back on track by doing the next right thing. Farewell, Mike.
No comments:
Post a Comment