Author: Peg

Sort of a lot of origami today.  Mostly, I had to clean up the origami dojo. I strung another 30 butterflies.  I am stringing 30 now.  And my origami buddy and I made another 30 this afternoon. So by the end of the day – I will be at 390 ready to hang. That leaves 100 more. Will not make any more until after the class next Tuesday afternoon. 

Been seeing pictures of refugees fleeing every imaginable disaster, natural and political. Carrying what they need to survive on their backs or piled on their heads. Ok, I have a great backpack. But, if I were fleeing for my life – what would I put in it? What would I need to survive? A couple of microfiber panties, my big chef’s knife, jar of peanut butter, all the chocolate in the house, water bottle. Whatever drugs, legal or not, I have. A sweatshirt and rain jacket. Oh, a bottle of No Doz.  Or is that a drug?  Hope I never have to run for my life. Maybe best to just overdose on those drugs in the comfort of the Old Bat Cave. 

What would you take? Most likely you would start with a car. Nobody escapes the Zombie Apocalypse on the 25B bus.  So, I’ll be hoofing it, outa Dodge.

Got a 911 email late this afternoon. They needed a warm body for wine tasting in less than an hour. Well, I am your woman for that. I liked the $70-a-bottle stuff bestest. 

Lost a fitness instructor at The Asylum. So, no more old lady barre classes. Don’t know if I’ll go back to barre on the outside.  I really need a class tailored for the elderly. This is a first-world problem. At 78 I should be glad just to be alive, functional, and drinking wine. Not mopping about the lack of old lady barre classes. 

Am I lazy or just really really tired? And, if I am tired, what am I tired from? Or maybe I am just old and in denial.  

Accomplished very little today. Very little work. Some very light exercise. Even lighter reading.

And FINALLY… Followed my own good advice to me and just booked the best flights I could find from National Airport to Kona Airport on Halloween. Nothing fun. No side adventures. No train across America. No visit to the Grand Canyon or High Line. Just fly. Occam’s Razor applied to travel in 2022.  Or as Carlton would have said: Keep it Simple, Stupid. 

Had a fine lunch of tomato and cottage cheese. Think I need to remember the words of Warren Zevon that guided Carlton’s last months. Enjoy Every Sandwich.

I really don’t have to wait for a fatal diagnosis to know that time is running out. Time to start making every day a good day. 

Not even close to an acceptable job. But, it was the first butterfly that I have seen in weeks. And that is about the high light of my day so far. 

I lost my slippahs AKA flip-flops. In my one-room apartment. So, how does this happen? Guess what? They were right where I left them by the door. I think in honor of my upcoming 7th anniversary at The Asylum I should undertake a serious culling. It really hasn’t gotten too bad, but there is this “tiny” amount of just-in-case or just forgotten stuff piling up here and there. Maybe pitch 70 things for 7 years? 700 things?

Still haven’t figured out how to get to Kona. Just haven’t accepted the new airline reality. It’s like we keep hearing about “supply chain issues” or “gas prices”. It’s the way things are mid2022 – just accept it and move on.

On my early morning brisk walk, I see a man sleeping on a newly installed bench. It is a part of a public art installation. Better the money would have been spent on housing the unhoused.

Took a very old macro lens out to photograph carpenter bees this afternoon. 

Did a very little work and a lot of walking today. Also reading and resting. 

Newest Covid numbers for The Asylum are still running at about 5% of the residents currently testing positive. 

Management did the monthly meeting thing this afternoon. They tried to kill us with Powerpoint. Powerpoint has been around since 1987.  The 5 by 5 rule has been around almost as long. 

• • • • No more than 5 lines/points per slide
      • No more than 5 words per line

And if your audience is old people. No font smaller than 24 points. 

I don’t get paid enough to suffer Death by Powerpoint. So, I bailed and grabbed a camera. Like yesterday, I put it in manual mode. 

Big activity today was a nice walk to the grocery. It’s making my exercise routine support my lifestyle. Don’t have a car. So, I have to maintain my ability to walk – at least as far as the bus stop. My walk was 2.7 miles. Round trip plus ambling around the grocery. And, on the home lap, I had 11 pounds of groceries to carry. That sort of simulates travel and schlepping a backpack around. 

Got plane ticket home from Kona on Xmas Eve today. Still have to decide how to get there. The earth is round. Maybe I’ll fly east not west.

Pigtails, graphic t-shirt, old denim skirt. What can I say? 

Due to a serious lack of bugs to photograph – I put the Pen -F in total manual mode and decided to shoot old-school fashion.  And to make it harder, I did not photoshop. 

Gotta get a ticket to Kona. Having a rental, not a hotel where I could just arrive makes a difference. Terry, the landlord, has been paid for Oct 31 to Dec 25. And, there are no more cheap hotels in Kona. Well, there is the Manango Hotel.  I have stayed there before. But you have to have a car to get there. And Hawai’i airports seem to be as screwed up as mainland ones. 

Time to apply Occam’s Razor and not overcomplicate getting to Kona. The idea of just getting on a plane and going to Kona seems really boring.  But, these are not normal times. Boring might be good. 

Did I mention that 5% of the inmates here have Covid? 

 

A short night of sleep followed by a surprisingly busy day finds me looking longingly at my bed. Well, when you live alone, bedtime is anytime you say it is.

We did camatkarasana AKA wild thing in yoga today. I should have “aged out” of that one, but no. It wasn’t pretty anymore. But, I didn’t hurt myself either. 

Thought I might make a little video to go with my butterfly directions. I can put a QR-Code on the directions that will link to the video. Is that geeky enough?

I had steak (rare), baked sweet potato, spinach, beer, and a double shot of espresso for dinner tonight. 

Another Monday and another trip around The Asylum with the macro lens.  Not many bugs out this afternoon. Or I didn’t stay still long enough.

I have a little sinus/allergy issue. Feels like someone stuck an icepick in my left eye. I have problems with fall pollen and leaf mold. It doesn’t usually start until September. But, things seem to be going bad earlier this year. And yes, I did a Covid test. Not Covid. 

Found the greatest thing in my vast collection of audiobooks. Way back in 2014, when Carlton was just diagnosed with a fatal cancer, I seem to have done a little retail therapy at Audible, and I bought the NPR Radio version of Star Wars. I never listened to it. Completely forgot about it. I recently found it when searching for something to listen to. Well, it was 13 episodes of old-time radio magic. Seems that George Lucas sold the radio rights to Star Wars to his alma mater, USC, for one dollar. Read about it, if interested.  It isn’t available on Audible anymore.  I will hunt around the dusty corners of the internet and see if I can find the other two radio “movies”, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

And on the butterfly front.

I am close enough to my target to slack off. I want to leave some for others to make. It’s not all about me. 

Sweet sunrise with a little fog visible along the river. And some cool low clouds. 

A rather strange day. I know 3 people who are in hospital.

One of the residents brought her dog by our table at breakfast for a final good bye. 

Nobody or dog is promised tomorrow. Enjoy every sandwich. 

(The people are all expected to make it out of hospital.)

Let’s see if I caught anything interesting with my macro lens this afternoon. This Eastern Carpenter Bee was my best. My eyes aren’t sharp enough and my hands aren’t steady enough to do better. 

Which brings up old age. It is compromises.  Accept the things I can not change. Thank you, Carlton. 

In addition to shooting bees, I folded butterflies. I have 180 all strung and 30 more waiting to be strung. Will try to be at 270 complete by this time tomorrow. 

In 2016, when I was I much younger person, I managed a head on shot of the carpenter bee. This one shows it’s wonderful “buck teeth”. 

Grateful that we still have bees at all. I have seen very few butterflies around The Asylum this year. Don’t recall many last year either. 

Another August “bonus” day. Not too hot. Not too humid. No rain.  

Big item nagging me all week: How to hang my 489 butterflies. I tried fishing line, heavy silk thread, dental floss, ribbon.  Everything was either too tedious or too tacky looking. And then I tried yarn.

Yarn works. I think I will put 30 on each string. And, each string is about 6 feet. Which means I will need about 16 strings of 30 and I’ll have to sneak the overage –  at this instant 7 – in somewhere. (We have 487 residents today.) 

Gotta figure out how to get to Kona. Air travel isn’t just a matter of throwing money at the problem these days. Have to factor in all manner of things that used to be non-issues.  It’s not so much fun as it was in the Before Time.

Speaking of Before Time. We have 16 residents with Covid at this instant.