Slipping into late autumn

We’re on the verge of Halloween, and the temperatures (and leaves) are dropping. The deadlines, on the other hand, are piling up. I have something due for class tomorrow night, something else (6-8 pages of it) due next Monday night, and something else (10-12 pages of it?) due later in the semester. My goodness, I should be writing something else right now.

I could be writing something else on my recently acquired 1951 Underwood, but since I had to smuggle it into the house yesterday morning (sorry, Eldest, I bought another one) I haven’t had the chance to test it yet and see if it even works. The kind soul who sold it to me on behalf of a former neighbor said it probably needs new “tape.” Oh my soul.

---

This week I made some more progress on the Impossible Read. One reason that I haven’t been reading is that I haven’t had much spare time. Another reason was that I sensed where I was in the King Arthur story and I wasn’t quite ready to revisit the conclusion. After a while, though, I took a deep breath and picked up the book again. I was delighted to discover that I still enjoyed reading the story once I was actually reading it again and not fretting about it.

The perspective in The Mists of Avalon is so different from that of The Once and Future King that I actually get a lot more backstory and setup for everything that’s going on. So it really turns into a deeper and more complete story, even if I’m sometimes frustrated with the way the author does her thing. (I’ll address that in the wrap-up.)

After reading one long chapter and one very short chapter I’ll finish the third section, “The King Stag.” The fourth section is just over 200 pages long. After that, I’ll be ready to watch a few related movies — starting with The Sword in the Stone and ending with Monty Python and the Holy Grail. There will be at least two more King Arthur books for me to read before I finish this module, so bear with me.

---

Knitwise, I probably should be knitting something to steady my nerves and focus my attention. But I have so much reading, researching, and writing to do right now. It’s hard to do that and to knit at the same time. Maybe I can find some project to work on during the four remaining Formula One races of the season: Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi.

Those localities don’t readily lend themselves to knitwear, so I won’t waste time trying to identify some sort of themed project. Instead I should look ahead to whatever knitted objects I might actually need to make it through the next Wisconsin weather. Even at this stage an extra blanket sounds like a good idea, though I can hear my late friend Bonnie warning me, “Never knit blankets!”

P.S. Go Dodgers!

Falling into place

The seasons are changing here in Wisconsin, and everything seems to be happening all at once. Midterms, deadlines, big meetings, homecoming games, harvest, hunting seasons, and fall holidays are converging. These last few warm (or warm enough) days with clear skies have brought out every classic car in three counties just to drive around for the last time before spring turns warm (it certainly doesn’t start that way). In the last week I have seen three Maseratis. In Jefferson County.

Some of the trees on campus are absolutely shameless with their color displays. They’ll probably get even more brazen before they lose their leaves entirely. At that point we’ll all have to bundle up to move across campus — except for the two random undergrads who will somehow make it through the entire winter season wearing shorts. I don’t know how they do it.

This week I got caught up on a few things and met some deadlines with HOURS to spare. HOURS, I tell you! That might just be the way of the world if I keep taking classes for the rest of my life: always another deadline coming up. But if I can pour on the work for the course — two more papers and an in-class presentation, unless I’m missing something — I can shift my focus to the scholarly writing projects I need to start.

---

I have taken a deep breath and resumed making progress on the Impossible Read, even though I’m not looking forward to seeing what happens to everyone in King Arthur’s court in excruciating detail. Finish this book, watch some movies, read two more Arthurian books, and then I’ll be able to move to the next set of books. The Mahabharata seems to be up next but I don’t actually have my own copy. If it’s not next in the historical sequence, the next book will be the Epic of Gilgamesh. (If you can help me figure this out, please leave a comment!)

I have also acquired another electronic typewriter from my friend CJ, though I haven’t taken any photos of it yet. It’s a Smith-Corona Memory Correct model manufactured sometime in the 1990s, making it my youngest typewriter.

Most of the typewriter records that are being kept and consulted have to do with manual and electric typewriters rather than anything electronic, which is not perceived as having any sort of character or individuality. On the other hand, they might be fine machines for someone who was raised on computers and isn’t yet ready to step so far back in time. If they can find an unused supply of Smith-Corona “H” carbon cartridges and correction ribbons somewhere, good luck to them.

---

Knitwise, at least I’m thinking about knitting. It’s not that I lack for yarn, needles, or patterns at the moment. It’s more a matter of lacking time and attention span. But soon and very soon, it will get cold enough for me to actually cast on for something to help keep me warm.

Light it up

After a long, stressful week I’m happy to say that I checked one amazing event off my bucket list. was pretty exhausted on Thursday night and I was counting the minutes until I could go to bed at a time that was early for me, but late enough not to affect the Schedule of the House. I had just tucked myself in when Eldest, who was taking the dog for their scheduled late-night walk, texted me, “There is a faint aurora to the northwest.”

I’ve always wanted to see the Northern Lights, and the first time I had a really good chance of seeing them was a few days after I gave birth to my second child. Keeping in mind that I had a three-year-old and a very new newborn, you may understand that when my then-husband told me to come outside and see the Northern Lights, I was beyond exhausted. I did not, in fact, get out of bed to go see the lights — a non-action that was subsequently brought to my attention many times over the years.

In the last 21 years since then I have gone outside several times, either very late at night or very early in the morning, to try to see the lights — to no avail.

This time, I answered the call and was richly rewarded — even though it didn’t look that way at first. To the naked eye, there was just a pale smudge of a pastel pink in one part of the sky, a hint of a pastel green in another. But I had taken my iPhone with me because I had recently read that the colors of the aurora borealis were easier to see through a cell phone’s camera. (Tl;dr: correct!) After some fumbling around on the iPhone, a time-lapse mode popped up that started cranking out wonderful pictures.

9:09 PM Central time.

Even the early results were pretty darned spectacular. These photos seem to be a composite shot from the dual lenses on my camera; my old iPhone, which now belongs to Eldest, couldn’t seem to work the same trick.

9:12 PM Central time.

The lights got more and more intense.

9:14 PM Central time.

In fact, the lights got so intense that they were still quite visible when I turned to the south and took this picture of the moon.

Also 9:14 PM Central time.

So there they are. Now I’ve seen them. And now I know how to look for them the next time (if there is a next time).

---

This week I did a lot of reading for my class, and I also applied for a book proposal development program for the research project I’ve been working on. I will hear from that publisher whether or not my application is accepted, sometime in December. In the meantime, now I need to keep doing research and start working on smaller projects that I can prepare for academic journals.

The biggest project of the weekend was what I should probably call the renovation of my bedroom. I wanted to clear out the piles of clutter so I could thoroughly clean the carpet and try to remove the last traces of skunk-smell that I seem to be the only one who can detect. In the process, I managed to set up some areas so well that I decided to leave the rest of the clutter out of the room entirely. So now the dining room is cluttered. One room at a time, folks, one room at a time.

---

Knitwise, I haven’t knitted a single stitch but I did come across a box containing four huge skeins of bulky grey yarn. It’s Bernat Bounce Back in indigo, and I have no idea where it came from. Seems like a future blanket to me, unless someone has a better idea. The ball band recommends a US 10-1/2 needle, so I would probably go with a US11 or US13. That will be a good winter project.

Hang in there, folks, and keep looking up.

Just one more thing

This week has piled on like no other week. Everything seemed almost manageable until the dog had a skunk encounter on Thursday night; now, we’re just barely hanging on. But another week is almost here and we have to do at least what we already know what we have to do. There will also be the Things To Do That We Can Anticipate, the Things We Won’t See Coming, the Things We Forgot We Had To Do, the Things We Need To Do For Other People, and probably several other categories. And if none of them have to do with skunks, we might be able to handle it.

Got a minute?

I also have quite a lot of reading to do: the reading assignments for class, the extra books I’m reading to investigate a particular line of student development theories, the reading I’ll need to do to research a development theory for which I need to develop a class presentation, the daf yomi (a page a day of Talmud), my daily poetry reading, the works of Eric Temple Bell, and the gathering-dust volumes of the Impossible Read.

Some of these tasks have been complicated by the rather inevitable degradation of my glasses frames and the need for a new eye exam (bright and early tomorrow morning, thank goodness) and a new pair of glasses. Maybe a repaired old pair as well. (Maybe not.) But when I made the appointment, the optometrist’s office said that my last appointment was sometime in 2019. So that’s when I got my “new” glasses, which I broke last week. The older glasses — which I have been wearing so I can drive, but don’t work when I want to text something using my phone — are of course older than that. I’d call the previous optician but it was Shopko, which has been gone for several years.

Another thing that Eldest and I are starting to take care of is the process of getting connected with a new primary care physician. Ours (yes, we had the same one) left the practice at the end of July, which was right when we were out of state for a week’s vacation. We didn’t take care of the matter right away when we returned, and now it’s a pressing issue. But do we opt for a shared doctor again? And the same clinic? Something definitely needs to be done, but we’re not sure exactly what.

This is all to say nothing of the dog, who detected and attacked a varmint while on his Thursday evening walkabout after dark. The varmint turned out to be a skunk, and its mild deployment of chemical weaponry has left an impact on our home that we continue to feel smell, albeit mildly. We are spraying every fabric in reach, as well as the dog. We are washing everything over and over. We are airing out the house and the car and the garage. Is it enough? When does it end? Well, the walks after dark have ended — at least in areas that aren’t already illuminated.

There have been some things that almost happened but thankfully did not come to pass. On Friday morning I was driving down Main Street, getting a vibe that the large car in the next lane was going to swerve into me. Eventually, it did move over on me. I found my horn in time and I can guarantee you that the drive will be checking their side mirrors for the rest of their life before they even consider making a lane change. I can’t imagine the degree of difficulty I would have right now if I didn’t have a working car. So NOPE, crashes aren’t happening, not on my watch.

However. When I look back to last year at this time and think of the desperate family crisis I was marshalling every resource to manage, following which my house had no running water to speak of, after which my car died, I can take a look at the current situation and count piles of blessings. My family members are healthy and happy, with some life improvements on a nearer horizon than any of us expected. I have running water at my house, and I can wash my own laundry as many times as I need to. My new car runs well, has a great horn, and is big enough to hold the typewriter desk that I bought off Craigslist today for $20. I own thousands of books, and I have friends who buy more books for me.

Who could want even one more thing?

---

Most of the things that happened this week are really Other People’s Stories and it wouldn’t be ethical for me to share them here. But I can talk about this new-to-me typewriter desk that I picked up. Yes, I did get one more thing.

The desk I bought in June features an adjustable platform which can be raised or lowered depending upon the depth/height of the typewriter.

The desk I picked up this weekend has an entire center section that flips to either reveal or conceal the typewriter, and it’s drilled so that the typewriter can be bolted to its base.

Photo courtesy of previous owner. Thanks, Deb!

This new piece will receive some cleaning and repair, as well as stripping and refinishing. I don’t plan to keep it in its hybrid natural/green/white state, but there is something to be said for a dramatic color contrast in the center area when the typewriter becomes exposed. What color combinations seem good to you? Or should the whole piece be painted or stained the same color?

I don’t know when I’ll be able to start working on this project, since I don’t have a heated interior workshop and the garage is on the verge of becoming absolutely inhospitable for the winter. But I do want to know what you think sooner rather than later.

---

Knitwise, I’m still thinking about knitting instead of knitting. Boo!