A chair is a chair...until

 Big News for me:

For years my friends and family have heard me say I want a recliner. They're probably sick of hearing about it. So last week I picked out one. It did take two stores, and dragging along a friend so I could have courage to spend so much money and just to even go shopping. I hate shopping, because, well I do hate spending a lot of money.  

But the second store had just the right one, a name brand but less that the name brand store where we'd first seen it. Or maybe it came in white in the first store...(excuse me, but I know better than that!) And asking for different upholstery would have cost about $200 more! Anyway I bought this one for almost half the price, though I did have to pay for shipping. Not that much considering where I live.

And this last Wednesday morning it was delivered. 

Ah, now to get comfy to watch my favorite shows that are streaming. I'm so glad the writer's have made new contracts and are back to work. It might just improve the shows that are offered...wait wait, the season usually starts in Sept. Oh well. I'm in the first season of a couple years worth of the new version of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan. Much of the violence is now against Taliban and ISIS. Strange to see same names pop up in relationships, while so much time is dedicated to trying to explain the Muslim extremists' actions. 

And for the joy of living...as well as sitting!

Louis Armstrong, 7 years old

Some wild flowers

 Posted backwards of course...close up of the seed-heads of something, and lovely blue asters.

The banks of Tomahawk creek are covered with wildflowers this year. Much nicer than cut grass!

The first glimpse of these 3 ducks, going upstream into the creek...which you've already seen! And until there's a rain, the lake and creek have this lovely green water. Perhaps more for ducks and fish to eat, but not sure how long it's healthy!

Today's quote:

The gift of going through a phase, is that it will pass and you will come out the other side.

Sharing with Floral Friday Fotos this week!

Just found miscellaneous things to share...

 Last Monday I had my annual ultrasound vein test for my feet and legs...something related to my heart. Last year it was pretty darn good...because I think, my arm blood pressure is staying pretty low, and they do a percentage comparing leg to arms to find my "efficiency level." It was about 0. 96 last year. This year it went over 1.2 on each leg. The PA who saw me was very happy.

So even though my walks are slow, with resting, I've increased the muscles in my legs to help those veins work better. I made it all the way around the lake by the next-to-last try last week. Well, the last try was later in the day and hot sun, so I quit and just turned around after making it to take a few pics of wildflowers, and one for some tourists of themselves.

I'll post them tomorrow!

These strange Mexican dolls grace the windowsill at Ole' Guacamoles Restaurant in Black Mountain. But oh, there are so many other decorations there!

No wonder artists have trouble retiring...the work just continues inside us...though in my case I don't produce physical art, but have switched to photos and blogs.

Today's quote:

Jon Stewart said "If you don't stick to your values when they're being tested, they're not values — they're hobbies.

Sharing with Thankful Thursday

Neighborhood looks

 One day I actually made it puff puff puffing up the hill of our parking lot, and found the apartments in the building at the top of the hill had pretty decorations. Stopping to take a pic also helped me catch my breath!

Now there's a lady with a green thumb! I love seeing everything growing up and up all over her entryway.

A promise of fall color from those mums. I was surprised to see a hummingbird feeder at ground level. I thought we could only hang them on balconies, where hopefully hungry bears couldn't reach them. Mmm.

And her next door neighbor also has a hummer feeder...along with some seasonal colors.

I feel very fortunate to be able to walk anywhere, compared to some neighbors who are wheelchair bound. At the vascular center I noticed a man with only one leg in a wheel chair. It made me feel so grateful to still have two. Simple things.

Han Chingli, Inner Mongolian Child.

Today's quote:

We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.

DAKOTA PROVERB

Return to Lake Tomahawk

 

A seldom used path to former picnic sites. The fireplaces remain, but the picnic tables have been removed. 

Nice batch of Queen Anne's Lace

The gazebo is a nice place to rest after strenuous walks. Well, my first day out was a bit slow and not very far. Second day though...better!

Today's quote:

"I have complete faith in the continued absurdity of whatever's going on" Jon Stewart

The first walk

 My first try to walk at the lake, I made it to this bench, then sat while my friend went all the way around the lake. I met her at the gazebo and then we went for muffin, coffee cake and coffee. Not exactly a good balance of exercise to caloric intake for me.

This maple is trying hard to show a bit of fall color.

My friends Jeff and Diane live in the yellow (mustard) colored house across the street from the tennis courts. You can't really see it, but on the far right is Denton the Dragon, just his sweet head shows next to the street sign. Jeff wrote a children's book, about Denton and his friends. It's really sweet.

Today's quote:

 Mark Twain said: "Truth is mighty and will prevail. There is nothing the matter with this, except that it ain't so."

Those service stations of yore...

  

Sharing this week with Sepia Saturday

Circa 1930s view of SE corner of State Street and Broadway (and called Montreat Rd as it goes north) Black Mountain NC. The gas station on the left is now the location of the Town Square. The building on the far right still remains, and is Town Hardware. I took a photo recently at this corner...so will include it just for the fun of "then and now."

But first, here's more about that gas station!

"In 1927, the gas station at the corner of Montreat Rd. and State Street, the site of Black Mountain's town square, pumped more gasoline than any other station in North Carolina. The New Theatre, just to the east on state Street was renamed the Pix, and was managed by Lee Hiltz's stepson Laddie Terrell.  It closed in the 1960s. (Source: Swannanoa Valley, by history museum.)

Almost "now" from 2014...there's Town Hardware still on the right, the tree growing in Town Square where that gas station once was on the left. Maybe some of the original buildings going down Broadway have been incorporated into the furniture store with blue awnings, Tyson's Furniture.

Open Culture Newsletter just dropped this in my email in box last Thursday, and so I have a connection for my Sepian friends!

The only gas station designed by Frank Lloyd Wright!

Here's probably more information than you want...

And since I'm active in trying to cease the production and use of all fossil fuels, this is really an interesting topic for me.

Let's consider energy itself...as we experience it.

There are many pathways in this life and it doesn't matter which one you take, for they all have a common destination, and that is the grave.  But some paths give you energy and some take it away.
- Cervantes

Happy Mabon, the equinox of fall (in the northern hemisphere)

 

The wheel of the year in pagan/old agricultural calendars shows an equinox as the arm to left of center, where a moon/sun are indicated...before the next cross quarter celebration of Halloween/Samhain.

An old post (2016) gives this greeting...

This year the equinox happens on Saturday, September 23, 2023, at 02:50 A.M. EDT!

It isn't something to get up in the wee hours for...no fanfare of astronomical delights. But rather, fall equinox is a time of balance, turning from all the bustle of summer to the earlier nightfall, this is a time of becoming quieter.

Woman walking on a Forest Trail, by Vasily Polenov, 1883

May your fall equinox, Mabon, be a time to celebrate the changing seasons, of our lives constantly changing...perhaps following a spiral path rather than a straight path in our own chosen direction.

The only fall color

When I got out of the car I spotted the only bit of fall color, that little yellow tree.

Though all the other leaves on the maple were green, I spied this underneath it.

NOW: Back home, the lavender has done very well this summer, for its first year!

BEFORE: Soon after repotting, June 30.

ALSO BEFORE: Aug. 24

...and here are all those basil leaves that I won't be picking...as I'm letting it go to seed. I wonder if the seeds might be viable for spring planting. I have much more interest in the spring than I do now, for plants at least.

Today's quote:

The man who dies rich dies disgraced. -Andrew Carnegie, industrialist  (1835-1919)

Do you think that's true?

Sharing with Skywatch Friday

A wee bit early

 Early rising for me yesterday...before the sun rose. I suddenly thought as I came out of complete lack of thought, "Bird does fly"...and then next I realized "Mouth is dry." So with that rhyme motivating me, I turned off the C-Pap and did the next things one does.

Then I had a busy day, walking at the lake, meeting friends for lunch, taking my friend who lives up on a mountain with her own broken wing to the doctor and back home. She dislocated her shoulder a week ago, and this may have been her first outing after the ER and the Orthopedic visit. 

I came home and took a nap. 

It's not even October yet...and our management of Blue Ridge Apartments is putting Thanksgiving signs out. Hey, what about Halloween y'all?

Today's quote:

If I can do no more, let my name stand among those who are willing to bear ridicule and reproach for the truth's sake, and so earn some right to rejoice when the victory is won. -Louisa May Alcott, writer and reformist (1832-1888)

The View out my Window

 

Yes, through the screen. From raising the blinds in the bathroom window, I can see my porch plants...the basil at bottom going to flower, the geranium in left side without any blooms. But oh that coleus is so wonderful to glimpse (usually through the blinds!)

It's a cool Monday, 57 when I woke, and only 68 now at almost noon. Sweater weather is here. And shawls. I took some things out to the car for the Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministries which has a food pantry, as well as clothes for those in need. I should have a bundle of clothes for them soon too. I picked up the mail, and noticed I was short of breath. There went my idea of trying to walk up or down the hill in the parking lot.

Inside again to nebulize with saline solution, and then shake shake shake with the Thera-vest which only goes around my back...to loosen up anything else. I'm right now finishing my brunch, so don't feel like shaking it up.

Hope you have a great week...though I notice this won't get posted till it's half over! But I'm still in the here and now...going, going, go....ing.

Today's quote:

Poetry is a sort of homecoming. -Paul Celan, poet and translator (1920-1970)

For all my geek friends (and mathematicians, and astronomers, and historians...and ...and)

 This is pretty darn amazing. I'd post it on my other blog (When I was 69) but I've got lots over there about climate change etc, and have little happening here in Black Mountain. Here's the 

Antikythera Mechanism by legos

Second showing - what I've been watching

Apologies to those who read this yesterday. Meant to be posted Mon. today.

 Fall weather of cooler days and nights, though few colors in our trees. If any happen it won't be until mid October.

I watched a controversial movie, with Harrison Ford, last night. I just chanced upon it, listed with my  LG TV's streaming of various movies featuring stars. Don't know how other sources can get it though. 

"Crossing Over"

Wikipedia has this to say:

"2009 American crime drama film written and directed by Wayne Kramer. It follows illegal immigrants of different nationalities struggling to achieve legal status in Los Angeles: dealing with the border, document fraud and extortion, the asylum and green card process, work-site enforcement, naturalization, the office of counter-terrorism, and the clash of cultures."

I was interested in the western US culture of early 2000's...since I've only known the southeastern US first hand. Many relatives and friends are much closer to the southern border of our country which offers some kinds of freedom that other countries don't have. I say some kinds of freedom purposefully...for the film shows how an Arab teenager is not allowed in our society to discuss the viewpoint of those who bombed the US on 9/11. 

"Although the film was shot in 2007, it was not released until 2009, and even then only in a limited theatrical run. The film's original running length was 140 minutes, but the film's producer (who had final cut privilege) was convinced to edit the film down to 113 minutes when Harvey Weinstein threatened to release the film straight to DVD and bypass a theatrical release altogether. In many countries outside of the US, the film went straight to DVD anyway."

So Wikipedia indicates why I'd never heard of this film, and my initial conclusion was that it was "controversial."

"The film originally featured a scene in which an Iranian woman is murdered by her brother in an honor killing. Following complaints that the plotline was unrealistic and offensive, the killing was presented as an intended beating which got out of hand, removing the dialogue referring to "honor" and "family honor".^[3]

"Additionally, Sean Penn filmed scenes as an immigration cop. However, his scenes were cut due to the controversy over the honor killing plot, though producer Harvey Weinstein later claimed that Penn's agent requested his scenes be cut out of the film.^[4][5] "

The footnotes refer to:

1.  "'Honour killing' screenplay changed after Iranian complaints". guardian.co.uk. August 3, 2007. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
2. ^ Wells, Jeffrey (November 28, 2008). "The Agony of the Kramer". Hollywood Elsewhere. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
3. ^ Grierson, Tim (February 16, 2009). "Crossing Over | Review". Screen International. Retrieved April 3, 2013.

 Since the original script must have been written much earlier than the actual production in 2007, it's is somewhat odd to find out the author had also produced another much earlier, in 1995.

"The film is based on Kramer's similarly titled 1995 short film. He produced the film alongside Frank Marshall."

The 9/11 events must have stimulated him to add all the parts regarding the Arab teenager and her family. 

It was definitely a disturbing movie to watch. I wonder what it would have been like without those 27 minutes that were cut. And the action didn't have that many violent action scenes...mainly when ICE was raiding sweatshops where illegals were working. There's some partial nudity, which is needed as part of various interactions in bedroom scenes. And some fighting and shooting and even Korean gang violence. But I had many commercial interruptions while watching it this way, streaming on my LG TV...so I wasn't exactly caught up in the drama.

So that's the long version of my recommendation of a film which received poor reviews originally. It's still out there, and shows the less than glorious work of our Border Patrol, the many faces of the legal system of gaining citizenship, and the incredible emotions of hope and despair for those trying to gain lives in the US.  The various lives followed in the film represent many aspects of immigration, but mainly highlight how hard it is to become a US citizen. Harrison Ford's own character seems a bit shallow, and we know very little about his personal life...it's inferred that he has none.

But the various immigrant hopefuls do have well constructed characters.

Art in a journal

 I now am the proud owner of the four first volumes that have been printed of Emergence Magazine.

Volume One Emergence Magazine

I actually purchased Vol. 3 first, since it was published as we came out of the COVID pandemic and were realizing the extent of the Climate Crisis. It had a "Living in the Apocalypse tone" to it.

Here's a bit of inspiration I enjoyed reading...

Joy Harjo: 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2019-2022 and is winner of Yale's 2023 Bollingen Prize for American Poetry

There are many interviews, but mainly essays. And photos and paintings. All things art. Arranged on different grades of archival papers. Sewn visibly into folios.  Dr. Martin Shaw is a myth story teller in England, who I've come to love!

Anything Robin Wall Kimmerer has written makes me stop and turn 180 degrees in my life!

Cover for Vol. 4, Shifting Landscapes

Binding of Vol. 4

Cover of Vol. 3, Living with the Unknown

Inupiaq subsistence hunters scout an enormous crack at the edge of the thinning sea ice. Photo by Kiliii Yuyan

No more quotes today!