Month: December 2021

Skating in SL

Last night I was a bit cranky, a bit down. My mind kept circling in the same grooves, all of which were annoying. I remembered that “back in the day” when I was in this kind of mood, I’d head into SL for friends, live music, some relaxation.

I logged in and decided to head to my favorite go-to location – Fogbound Blues club. There was a time in this blog when I’d remember to capture all the links, the map locations. These days when I log in I can barely remember how to move myself, much less my camera, and even less remember how to find and save information. Trying to change out of my jeans & sweater to my adorable skating outfit was almost painful. 🙂

I’m extremely adept at physical activity in SL. 🙂

I made it to Fogbound and had a very difficult time moving about, or even getting my camera to do what I wanted. I finally saw an open chair and SAT there, listening to DJ Panther for a bit. As I sat there I IM’d my friend Honey who was inworld. She invited me to come skating. Ahhh, memories. We used to skate all the time back in the day, back at ShengriLa. (That is not a typo.) I said that sounded like a great idea and she sent me the TP (which is NOT toilet paper, for all you relative new-comers to this blog – it is Teleportation address).

I was just about to accept it when I realized one of my 2 absolute favorite musicians – Noma Falta – was playing live at the moment. (The other absolute fav is Komuso Takagawa, without whose music I could never survive the yearly traumatic procedure on my tongue.) I bopped over to hear Noma. I did a tad better once I got there, remembering how to find her, move closer, not bump into anyone. I stayed for one great blues song but then TP’d to ice skate.

What fun. For those of you who have never become immersed in a virtual reality, you have to believe me when I tell you that for me being in SL, living through my avatar, feels extremely real. My brain can accept what my eyes and ears send it and translate that as “real”. Honey and I skated and chatted and caught up on life. It was simply fantastic. Just what I needed. Well, maybe what I need is a new gaming computer. This Lenovo does NOT render the graphics anywhere near as wonderfully as my Alienware did in its day. My husband and son have fancy-dancy gaming computers. Maybe if *I* had one too, I’d spend more time in SL. Heaven knows reality has not been such a joy the last few years.

Yes, you are seeing a flying sleigh. 🙂 And look how HIGH I can lift my leg!!!!

Winterized

Succulents under the grow lights

I spend a lot of time showing you my garden and yard. Then comes the winter and it all gets shut down and put away. (Okay, I notice in these pictures I’ve not finished putting things away from the front porch.) It requires a lot of effort on my part to dump pots, and protect vines and move things about so that I can call in the professional yard service to do the “fall cleanup”. They always do more than I expect/want, in that they pull out all of my fencing. It annoys me but I’m also grateful that they do, because it WILL be easier to plant in the spring. After, that is, I go through the effort of putting back the metal fences that *I* consider to be permanent. The yard DOES look better without fences around barren lots.

Herbs and plants piled up on the porch – no pots sitting on anything still alive 🙂

Last winter was so warm that easily half of my planters came back to life when I moved them out to the front walk. I thought about buying a very small greenhouse to encourage that to happen again this winter. It turns out that there is more to a greenhouse than simply glass walls and roof. Until I figure out what I’d want to do for a heat source I’m going to pile up the planters on the front porch as I’ve always done. I’ve also decided against digging up my canna lilies this year. It was an interesting experiment last year, and it did work, but it also had some minor inconveniences. I find that this year I’m not as gung-ho to dig them up and prepare them to live in my basement coal bin. They’ll winter over in the ground or they (most likely) won’t.

I don’t know why the succulents seem to flower more once I bring them inside. You’d think that being outside with true sunlight all day would be more nourishing than 10 hours under a grow light. They’ve only been inside for a few weeks, and already several of them are putting up flowers. The palm trees always start out as if they will do okay, and then by spring they are in terrible condition and I end up buying new ones anyway. 🙂 This year I’m using 2 grow lights on them, and the lamps are positioned closer than in prior years. They may still fail because BC has decided that they are perfect for chewing. Now a greenhouse (with heat) would be the perfect place to store the palms!

The grow lamps cast a pink light in the photos, but not so much to the naked eye

Sunrise Walk

Some mornings when I do my walk I need to forcibly stop thinking and LOOK and LISTEN and EXPERIENCE the world about me. Practice some mindfulness while I practice physical healthy living. (Yes, I’m way too Type A personality to just sit and be mindful – but I can do it while I’m walking. *grin*)

This morning was the extreme opposite experience. Today I needed to remind myself that I could NOT stay in one spot and take photos of the sun rising. It was so majestic. Sunrise demands that you pay attention. Sunrise demands respect. Awe. Joy.

I apologize for the power wires and telephone poles, but that’s my world – old township before those things were buried beneath us. Yet the sky transported me why beyond earth’s surface today. What a wonderful walk.

Advent Cocktails

I have never in my life had an Advent Calendar. To be quite honest, I know nothing about such calendars except that people get them before Christmas and count down the days to the holiday. I gather that these days they can run the spectrum from simple home-made items to ridiculously over-priced indulgences dispensing extravagant gifts. Not my holiday, not my time table. BUT… Never say never, right?

My friend Ann and I were spending time together and we were discussing everything under the sun, including dining out and cocktails. She mentioned that her favorite restaurant was selling an Advent Cocktail calendar. (Or should that have been a Cocktail Advent calendar? What is the correct word order here????) I thought it sounded like a fun thing to do.

We had dinner together this weekend (we let our husbands come along as well) and the dinner was delicious. Recommending Tapestre restaurant for anyone in central NJ. The dinner was great, the company even better, and the cocktails I imbibed were delicious. Ann checked to see if she could maybe get her Advent Cocktails while we were there, but the answer was negative. *I* asked if I could still order one and the answer was POSITIVE!!! Reader, I ordered one. 🙂

Not only did Ann steer me right about the restaurant, and the calendar, she also picked up MY box when she got her!! Look at how PRETTY it is!!!!

Some of these cocktails look a bit dubious, and some look like they will be fantastic. I told my husband he has to do this cocktail count-down with me. Each little bottle should make 2 cocktails on-the-rocks. We should be starting tonight. I’m not sure I’m in a cocktail mood yet today. I wonder if we could make our own calendar for these drinks. 🙂 Maybe space them out and count down to New Years. Or count down to the last of the cocktails! I don’t know what the final day will be, but we are going to have fun getting there!

Colors of the Day

Ten weeks ago I began commuting to work. *grin* Not really, but that’s how the idea arose. We were having “Ladies Lunch in the Sukkah” (not yet blogged) and we were talking about the various changes in every day life since the pandemic. We were discussing the pros and cons of working from home. While I love the convenience, I do miss the office companionship. Kate said she missed her commute, because that was her only exercise. Amy said she’d read somewhere that missing the commute was a common theme and she’d read an article that suggested walking around the block 5 times before sitting down to work. I don’t know why but that resonated with me 100%.

Kate and I agreed we’d try “commuting” together. Well. *grin* It didn’t work out. The very condensed version is we made it ONCE, in the AFTERNOON (the commute home), along with her elderly dog. If you have ever taken a walk with a very small elderly dog you understand that there is no way we reached what I would consider a commuter’s pace. We also only made it around our block once. I’d say that counted as 2 blocks however because our block IS the size of 2 since a street stops before it bisects the block.

I knew I’d never make it around the block 5 times – how boring would that be???? Silly as it sounds, I didn’t even want to walk AROUND it once. No, I don’t know why. Maybe that’s leftover from all my own dog-walking days. I decided that “5 times around the block” meant 20 sides – 5 x 4 sides to a block. I set out in the morning and walked 20 sides. Yay me!!! I did it again the next day, and the day after. I got faster, I got more fit, I got inspired.

I am now walking 32 sides (that’s 8 blocks if you are counting 🙂 ). That includes The Hill – I walk UP the hill. I used to walk clockwise one day and then counter-clockwise the next. But now that I do The Hill, I always go clockwise so I can go UP The Hill. There is another slight rise walking in the last quarter of the route going clockwise so I always feel very virtuous at that point.

I mapped the route and it is 2.54 miles. On a good day – meaning one when I feel I can go at an exercise pace – I can do it in just under 45 minutes, or just better than 3 mph. Yes – these little numerical breakdowns are EXACTLY how I get through the walk each day. I use the time to try to take my mind away from my life & work, to try to practice ‘mindfulness’ – being in the moment. Hence the photos (this batch is the last of the fall leaves, I’m sure). I’ve also managed to NOT walk on days when I knew my body was not going to respond positively. Yesterday’s walk was a very short walk, no hills, no rises, because my back was hurting. I doubt I even did 2 miles. BUT – I DID get out and walk and I did it without pushing myself to the point of pain. *smile* I’d call that a successful walk.