Tag: life

healthy hacks

Spring Ick

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The icky pollen is everywhere this time of year. It’s on the car and the rain just isn’t washing it away! The rain puddles even have the remnants of pollen corralled on its surface. The windows have pollen dust all over. It’s in the air. It’s on the ground. It’s everywhere.

The dog’s nose has a yellowish-green hue to its nostrils after playing outside. I even have to brush the pollen off the fur or the pollen with coat the hardwood floors when the dog prances by. Getting this close to pollen indoors drives me nuts.

My feet seem to bare the same yellowish glow whether I’m in flip flops or shoes. The pollen even seeps through my socks on heavy pollen days. It’s definitely gross!

When I play tennis I can see if the ball is “in” or “out” because it leaves a mark in the pollen. This sounds crazy but even if the pollen was blown of the court it would be right back on it. It just seems to be anywhere and everywhere. Including my my lungs and nostrils.

The itchy, watery eyes are pollen-related. No COVID here. Just some good old-fashioned allergies in the spring. A few sneezes here and there cause a glare or stare if you are in public these days. Just another effect of Covid that leaves one  embarrassed.

Big sigh for sinuses and allergies these days. Hope you are not as miserable as me this allergy season.

nature

Rain, #2

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The forecast was rain all weekend. The breaks in the clouds would seem to be at odd times in the midst of the storm(s). It’s the raining season yet the to-do list grows. Off we go to battle the elements.

Day 1 seemed okay. Not too much rain on the humans however the puddles and mud were abundant from the days and hours before. Thank goodness for some mud boots. We put in yard work where we could. We played a little too because we could.

Day 2: 100% rain. How disappointing! We wake early to the sounds of roosters. Off to walk the dog and feed some peppermints to the horses. It’s so cute to hear the horses crunch on the hard candy mints. They may even like the hint of fresh breath in the morning. The mints are just as refreshing to them as they are for me giving them.

I opted to be beat the rain storm from point a to point b. It worked. I was about an hour or so ahead of the eye of the storm. The cute little pup and I decide to take a little nap by the window on this rainy day.

Ah how the rain can just drain even the most energetic pup and say it’s time to nap. Zzzz  zzzzz to the sound of the rain and its anthem. A little thunder. Some big booms. The large drops of rain. Then the fierce and fast rain that goes on for a long time. Reduced to a little soft spit of rain. I watched the storm from my window. Dozing in and out of sleep. Now it’s time to rise.

The sky still appears grey but the sun wants to poke through. The birds are back to chirping. The trees are being quiet although the leaves are on the ground from the winds that just shook them about. My crew snoozed while another crew entertained themselves at the other end of the rain storm.

It’s funny how the rain can hit one’s day. This was my rainy Sunday. Hoping for sunshine and lollipops next Sunday.

challenges

Frustrated 2.0

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I started this post a few weeks ago and then stopped. Just stopped mid-stream. The post was negative. I don’t like to write about negative attitudes. However, here I am a few weeks later and I’m crotchety again. Go figure.

I’ve been dealing with chaos for a couple of months on a few projects. One stalled for this reason. Another sidelined for a different reason. Lack of human capital on another. Just one roadblock after another.

I’ve kept my calm. I’ve committed to endure the test of time. What I have little tolerance for is ignorance, laziness and stupidity. When any of those factors hinder my progress I want to bang my head on the wall. Literally and physically.

Sometimes I just don’t get how something so simple seems so challenging for others. Am I a details snob? Weather has been rain rain and more rain. This hinders outdoor projects. Supply chain issues hinder renovations on the home front, even something as simple as getting a fence put in.  Transportation issues arise. Add in price increases due to supply and demand. Thanks Corona. Thanks for complicating life on a whole different level.

Some examples to note for my review in the future when I revisit my blog time capsule: I went to Best Buy it was closed at 8pm on a Saturday. Wow. I went to a furniture store for a need and guess what they close at 7pm on a Friday. Places are still buttoned up tight from Corona. I hadn’t seen it as much as I’ve been on the home front a bunch. Just a big wake up call I suppose.

All these small things keep adding up and boom stupidity hit. Lack of preparation on somebody’s part causing an emergency on my end. Should life work that way? Most days I bend and flex but some days I draw a line in the sand and say no way. Solve your own issues. I have enough of my own.

When I look back 20-25 years, I had to lean on myself for problem solving or engage resources to help in shortcomings. Today’s younger generation is just not built the same way. If google can’t fix something you might as well call in the marines.

Maybe we need to go back to the card catalog and encyclopedia days and do some leg work to get answers vs. having google supply a cheat sheet.

I am cranky so this is my cranky pants post. You may see one or two of these a year. So sad to say the first one is already in the books.

author moments

Symbols

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Meaning is hidden everywhere. Places. Signs. Memories. That little park you pass on the way to work every day is the place where someone proposed. It is also the place where some friends had a huge fight. It’s the place where a kid broke her arm and ended up in a cast. Maybe it’s even the place someone first learned to drive, smoke pot, who knows. Countless scenes in countless stories have taken place there. All in the little park you pass each day without thinking.

Meaning, symbols, roadblocks are everywhere. We stumble over the hearts and sometimes heartaches of others without even knowing it.

Music is potent for memories with me. I grew up singing and listening to tunes all the time. Paul Simon, the Statler Brothers, and Dolly Parton on my parents’ 8-track tape deck in our conversion van. Show tunes and standards I belted out with our player piano in the basement. And then the love songs I would pine over each night, wishing in vain someone would dedicate something to me. It took decades for me to listen to the music of Chicago without bristling or quickly switching it off. Even today, there are songs I may never listen to again. Places I may never go. Overly sensitive? Perhaps. After all, it is just a place, a song, who cares?

Maybe I’m just too much. I willingly embrace being labeled sentimental. Someone watching closely may see the quick shadow roll across my face when that potent memory pops up. Most will miss it.

Just part of what makes me me.

For some people, cardinals are a special symbol. A reminder or even a visit from someone departed and dear. A symbol more purposeful than just happenstance…a place you used to go, a song you used to sing to. This is more of a sign. For me, it’s ladybugs. They always pop up at the most unlikely times. They bring me back to myself. A reassurance. A reminder.

Recently, someone new in my life called me ladybug as a nickname. And it stuck. Sometimes when she says it, it makes me smile, sometimes tear up, sometimes just makes me hold my breath an extra beat. She could never have known that ladybugs are so special for me. Just a sign that she has some role to play, a scene to share. A hand reaching out of the day-to-day doldrums to remind me of the bigger picture.

What it all means.

3Splitz Farm

Rain, #1

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We knew it was coming. Early morning scrambling outdoors, when I wanted to be scrambling eggs.  Had to get things done before the clouds opened up. Hammer and nails. Pounding through the Sunday morning quiet.  Always with one eye toward the horizon. 

The new day turned darker. The sky began to spit, then stopped. Hammer hammer hammer away.

Finally it turned from darker to that menacing deep gray and in we went. To watch the rain come down through the window. A comforting sound even with the smacks of thunder.  A lamp on in the corner of the room.  Cozy with the sound of drops and pattering waves on the metal roof. Watching the puddles grow on the porch and in the dirt.  Flowers and horses soaking in the refreshment while the humans take cover. 

I grabbed my computer, cuddled under the covers, all snuggled in for nature’s show through my grand window. Then Nashie the plump pup jumped up into my lap, daughter and boyfriend not far behind.  All just sitting there, chatting, giggling, nothing better to do than waiting for the rain to pass.  Part of the plan? Not really, but nothing to be frustrated about. Nature doing her thing.

A game of solitaire starts in the next room.  Drip drop, rumble on and on.  All we can do is wait. And watch. And wait.