A Spider's Alien Abduction Story

 This is a true story written from the first person (spider) perspective. 

I was building a tiny web on the underside of a kale leaf. I had been working on it for a short while when suddenly there was the sound of a snip. That leaf and I were gathered up with other leaves and carried away. I was unsure where I was headed, but suddenly I was no longer outside. I did not know there was such a thing as outside and inside, but there is. I was very nervous. Then the leaves were brought someplace where water was being poured on us. It was not like rain. I had never felt anything like it. Hot and pouring. The kale and I were carried someplace and a large object started slicing away at us. I was terrified. I knew I had to get out of there. I made my way off the leaf and began running for safety. The large alien creature that snipped my leaf saw me and came after me. I ran faster. I hid under another leaf. The alien was looking for me. It found me and tried to slip a different piece of kale under me. I got away. Then it came after me with a postcard. What is a postcard? I have no idea. The creature slipped it under me and started running. I wanted to get off that card but I couldn't. I knew I was doomed. Then, suddenly I was back outside in the sunlight and air. The creature put the card next to a kale leaf and with motion moved me on to it. I went on that leaf and quickly ran and hid on the underside. I am not sure how I survived, but I did. I lived through an alien abduction.

Merry Christmas

To all of our friends who celebrate Christmas, Roger and I send you our merriest good wishes for a wonderful day. 

When I photographed this tree in our yard in the Sierra foothills in 2010 it was the first winter we were in our new home there. I remember when I saw this low morning sun looking like a star that I understood the inspiration for the star on Christmas trees. 

Take care and stay healthy and safe, friends.

Happy Winter Solstice

I photographed this tree with the crepuscular rays back in December 2012 when we were still living in the Sierra foothills. Then, a few years later I added the words to the pic to celebrate winter solstice. It seemed like a good idea to repost this photo to remind us of the awesome beauty of our planet. Today the earth begins to tilt to bring us more light, slowly at first but then even more quickly the days will grow longer. We await the return of the light in every way... in our skies and in our hearts. 

Happy Winter Solstice, friends.

A Bit Of Color...

 ... in an otherwise gray rainy time. We've had quite a bit of rain lately and are expecting lots more this week. Not many opportunities to get out and walk and take a good look around. So, mostly I head out whenever there is a bit of color in the sky to remind myself of the beauty.

 We're also not venturing out much because of the pandemic and Roger's ongoing balance issues. We used to be able to take much longer walks when we could get out there. These days it's just the neighborhood loop. Roger has had CTscans, MRI, and all kinds of blood tests these past few months. The results are just an aging body doing what aging bodies sometimes do. 

There have been days when the colors I run out to see are not made of clouds and sunlight. Sometimes it is the sun lightening the contrails of a jet flying overhead at sunset. 

 

Even a jet has its beauty in these times...

 

...but I do prefer the clouds in the setting sun.

We hope you are all well and staying safe and healthy.

When Blogging and Music Come Together

I've been reading John Young's blog Living Dharma since it first began. How did we find each other? I have no idea, but we did and have been virtual friends for many, many years. We have emailed each other so often over the years and most especially in 2018 when my mom died six months before his. We shared our stories, our grief, our moment as human beings together and yet far apart. He has an interesting history from being a Buddhist Monk, to teacher, to writer, to political strategist... a truly multi-dimensional person. But somehow I never knew he was also a musician. So, imagine my surprise when I checked his blog post on December 6th and found this video.

I left a comment that began, "Okay, John, you just blew our minds..." And seriously he really had. We had no idea that John, with all of his other incredible talents, could play his 43 year old guitar and sing like this. So, I asked if I could post his music for Friday Music, and he said yes! And then he posted another song. It's amazing what we don't know about each other. Oh we should all have hidden secrets like this one. Thank you, John, my long-distance friend, thank you.

A Story and a Poem

My twin brother and I email each other a lot. He sends me haikus. I send him photos. The other day I sent him this photo of a Townsend Warbler eating bugs off of our kale. I took the pic through the window, so it's not great, but I thought he'd enjoy it.

He replied with two haikus he had recently written about sparrows.

Sparrows never read

Darwin, but still fight for food

world of survival

On our strange planet

even the sweet birds don't live

together in peace

 

That started a conversation about competition. I asked him why there has to be competition even in times of abundance.  He blamed it on our current president and we had a good laugh about that. His language was more colorful than that, referring to him as the abominable shithead, but we went on contemplating why we are the way we are. Why can't we be kinder? Why is "survival of the fittest" the undercurrent to all life? 

 

Then I remembered a poem I had saved  after finding it a few years ago. It's called Small Kindnesses by Danusha Lameris. I sent it to Michael.

 

I’ve been thinking about the way, when you walk 

down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs 

to let you by. Or how strangers still say “bless you” 

when someone sneezes, a leftover 

from the Bubonic plague. “Don’t die,” we are saying. 

And sometimes, when you spill lemons 

from your grocery bag, someone else will help you 

pick them up. Mostly, we don’t want to harm each other.

We want to be handed our cup of coffee hot, 

and to say thank you to the person handing it. To smile 

at them and for them to smile back. For the waitress 

to call us honey when she sets down the bowl of clam chowder, 

and for the driver in the red pick-up truck to let us pass.

We have so little of each other, now. So far 

from tribe and fire. Only these brief moments of exchange. 

What if they are the true dwelling of the holy, these 

fleeting temples we make together when we say, “Here,

have my seat,” “Go ahead—you first,” “I like your hat.”

My brother was so surprised that I had sent him this poem. He wrote that he and his wife Kim know the author. She is the Poet Laureate of Santa Cruz. She and Kim enjoy some gatherings together. So, Michael wrote the author to tell her that I had sent him this poem. Her reply was so lovely. (Of course it was. She is the author of this poem!)  She wrote that she always loves when this poem brings some solace. And then she wrote, "Love to you and Kim... and to Robin..."

Can you imagine what that meant to me? This poem that I've been loving for years, the author wrote my name and sent me love. In this time of pandemic it made my heart soar in a way that it hasn't for quite a while. 

So that's my story and Danusha Lameris's poem.

"... Go ahead--you first, "I like your hat."

End of November Photos

 I have been forgetting to post some of what we've been seeing here in our beautiful skies. Here are some sun and moon rises, cloud formations and my active imagination in the month of November.

My imagination sees a whale spray

My imagination sees a Griffin

A Story and A Song

I had an interesting optical experience the other day, and it had nothing to do with sunlight or clouds or ice crystals. It had to to with my eyes or rather my brain. Twice in the past six weeks I have experienced an ocular migraine. I had no idea something like this existed, but once you experience it you will never forget. Suddenly in my peripheral vision of my right eye I saw lightning shaped flashes of rainbow colored light. It persisted if I closed my eyes, covered one eye or the other. It persisted. It was not painful in any way, but it was unnerving in every way. The first time it happened, I called my optometrist office and explained what I was seeing. They scheduled an appointment right away. The doc checked my eyes, my vision, and took a good look and photographed my retina. It all looked fine. I was worried because my twin brother had been experiencing something called retinal tugging which causes flashes of light (like a camera flash). The doc said he didn't see any issues with my retina. Well, okay. I didn't think about it until it happened again on Tuesday. Since I knew it wasn't related to my vision, I decided I should google around and find out what might be going on. I googled rainbow flashes of light in peripheral vision.  All of the information I found called it an Ocular Migraine. It typically lasts for five minutes, but can last up to an hour. Luckily my rainbow light show only lasted five minutes, but those five minutes are truly unforgettable. An ocular migraine is a type of migraine that can occur without a headache. It can occur in people who typically do not experience migraines (me), but have family history of migraine sufferers (my father and sister). I was hoping to find an image that captures the experience. This came close, although it is a bit softer in color than my zigzag rainbow flashes.

I'm hoping that it never happens again. It is bizarre and weird in every way. You just never know what your brain is up to. 

Now the music. I often say that music is our common language on earth. We can listen to songs in other languages, or played with instruments we have never heard of. Some music will inspire us to get up and dance, others will pull our hearts and make us weep. For some reason when I stumbled upon the performance of these two Hasidic brothers performing on the streets of Jerusalem, it reminded me that music is our common language.

Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn...

... as seen from California on November 18th just around sunset. We love when we can see the planets like this. I wave hello to Venus most mornings before sunrise lately. It helps to remind us that we are on a beautiful planet whirling through the Milky Way Galaxy. 

We are grateful that Biden is finally able to start the formal transition process. We are almost starting to feel safe here, starting to believe that Trump will really leave the White House. This nightmare might really be ending. We are so waiting for that moment.

Life is very quiet. The pandemic is still raging here in the USA. Thanksgiving is coming and the airports are already seeing a heavy uptick in passengers. On Sunday more people took flights than have since March. So, things are going to get very messy in a few weeks. We're staying home and staying safe. We hope you are all doing well and finding ways to keep your spirits up.

Maybe we'll have something interesting to post here soon. Wouldn't that be cool? One can always hope and dream.

Friday Music: Will You Go, Lassie Go

A friend sent me this song the other day. I found it so beautiful. I don't remember ever hearing it before. When I googled around to learn more about it, I found that it's been around for a very long time. I was surprised  to see that even Joan Baez sang it in 1965. The history of the song goes back even further than that.  This is the link my friend sent of Ger O'Donnell and Maria Ryan performing it in 2019. 

Hawk In A Tree

 

We had a bit of a break in the rain, so we went for a walk. If this hawk had not called out before we saw it, we would not have looked up. But it did, and there it was, at the top of an old pine tree. I clicked one photo before it flew off rather miffed by our intrusion on its hunt for lunch. Sorry hawk, we'll be more conscious of your plans next time.

These Times We're Living In

Okay, is it crazier than you'd ever thought it would get? And does the threat of even crazier simply make you want to hide for the next couple of years? Even here in our little town far from the populated throngs of California's biggest cities, the virus cases are spiking up. And the really big bummer about that is that many of the cases are simply community based, meaning transmitted not by someone known. Ugh. We're being careful and conscious whenever we have to venture out to the market. We're now wearing two masks because some of the masks simply aren't quite good enough to protect on their own. We are not going to socially gather for the holidays, and if you know us that's not too big of a change. Things are going to get worse, how much depends on each one of us. 

 I'm still running outside to catch the ephemeral beauty of our skies. This sundog only lasted a few minutes, and then it was gone. A brief glimpse of something other than a frightening headline. A moment that has nothing to do with the madman in the White House who won't concede. To have to deal with both the coronavirus and the political insanity here is a challenging task. Something that we contend with daily. So yes, run outside and look for something that lifts our hearts and reminds us of easier times. 

We hope you are all doing well and staying healthy and safe. The ride is bumpier than we thought it would be, and it ain't over yet. Thank you for being good kind thoughtful virtual friends. We don't even need a  mask to stay connected with you all. We're so grateful for that.

Friday Music: Mandolin Wind

I checked the weather forecast and saw that we're in for quite a bit of rain. Not as much as my brother in Virginia, though, where they got over four inches on Wednesday. The thought of rain made me start singing this song that begins, "When the rains came I thought you'd leave, because I knew how much you loved the sun..." I'm sure you all know this song, but we found it so lovely to listen to again. Been nearly 50 years since we first heard it. I hope it takes your mind off of the pandemic that is raging again, and the crazy man in the White House who has never stopped raging. Music... ah it's why we listen.

The Day Before

On the day before it was announced that Joe Biden had won the election I set my attention on the sky, so I could try and stop thinking about it. I wanted to stop checking in on every news site I could find. I wanted to stop shouting, "C'mon how long does it take to count ballots?" Luckily there were two things that caught my attention.

Oh yes, the morning started out with a beautiful display of crepuscular rays. I loved how that wide ray split the cloud. I stood out in the near freezing temperatures clicking photos and feeling glad. 

Later in the day a few clouds came and there was a brief shower while the sun was still shining. Of course I ran for the camera to look for the rainbow.

And there it was! I love when I get to see a rainbow end like that. 

So, that's what took my mind off of the election. For the rest of the day we checked in obsessively and went to bed uncertain of the outcome.

The phone rang early Saturday morning. My sister was calling with the news that sent our hearts soaring as high as the sky. We celebrated with laughter and tears of joy. We celebrated with a sense of relief. 

Vice-President elect Kamala Harris spoke Saturday night, and we cheered for her historical moment. President-elect Joe Biden spoke, and we were grateful to hear the words from a person who knows compassion and how a government actually works. 

It's not going to be easy, and already the chaos is building. But we have hope for the future. Something we have not had in a long four years.

Friday Music: A Beautiful Noise

I was hoping to post something, a song that would be celebratory of the outcome of the Presidential election, but as I write this the race has not been called. We wait. We wonder. My siblings and I email and call each other. I tend to look away from the headlines. What else can I do but wait and listen to music like this. Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile singing A Beautiful Noise.

Solving The Rainbow Road Mystery

 In last week's Countdown post I posted a photo of a rainbow on the newly paved street in our town. There were questions about what made such a thing. I really had no idea, so I emailed my most favorite Atmospheric Optics person on our beautiful earth, Les Cowley. I sent him the photo and asked him what he thought would generate  rainbow on pavement. Not only did he have the answer, he already had a post on his website about it. His explanation there says, "Glass spheres make 'rainbows' in the same way as spherical raindrops. Light internally reflected once produces a primary bow. Its radius is only ~21° compared to the 42° of a water rainbow because glass refracts light more strongly than water."

So, when we were out walking Roger noticed this in the gutter and bent down to scoop some of it up. I thought, "Ugh, that looks creepy. Why is he touching that? Ugh." Then he showed me what he saw in this pile of stuff.

Tiny, tiny spheres of glass. Lots of it too. Here is a closeup of them.

Isn't that wild? We were so happy that Roger found them. The mystery was solved. There was one more thing I wanted to do. I read that rainbows actually can be full rainbows, not just the beautiful arcs we see. The full rainbow is harder to see because usually the lower part is below the horizon. So when we went to the sunny spot where the rainbows are I took another photos so we could see the bottom of that full bow. 

I hope you click on the pics and get a look at this rainbow road. Isn't it fun to solve a mystery! Yes!

Friday Music: No Love Today

Roger and I started listening to Chris Smither many years ago. We hadn't in a while, but my day on Thursday made me think of this song, I got no love today. I started the day by finally deciding that I would upgrade my Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware program to their premium one. I'd been using it for a while and thought it was time to buy it. So I did, and that started a multi-hour nightmare of miscommunication; programs not linked or log-in-able; a third party accounting firm that sent information with malware attached; and Apple Computer advising me after all of it that the program would no longer be compatible with the next operating system update. I'm sure you must have heard me SCREAMING all day. We're still trying to figure out how to handle the mess, and I will probably just restore my computer from a backup I did six days ago. There are things about computers that really annoy me. The ONLY upside to all of this is that I didn't think about politics all day. Whew. It's good to find a bright spot. Thank you for reading this. 

What Is That?

 Walking up the steps to our front door after our walk I noticed this hanging just below the one of the steps. Mmm? What is that? I know it's a praying mantis, but what's going on there? What is that white creature that seems to be eating the mantis? That just seemed wrong in every way. I bent down and touched the mantis. It did not move at all. I thought, oh wow it's probably dead. 

I went in the house and did a few chores. Then I remembered to go back out to see if the mantis was still being consumed. When I went out the mantis was completely gone and the white thing was still there. Interesting critter. Then I noticed the mantis was trying to climb up the front wall of our house. It was still alive. So I googled around and found that this praying mantis was  actually laying eggs under the little bit of stair when I photographed it. So now I have a new project documenting what becomes of these praying mantis eggs.

The little metal mesh thing is one of our many preventative measures in stopping the yellow jackets from nesting under our entry way steps. They are truly an aggressive nuisance and nasty as well. Oh wow that just reminded me of someone, but I won't mention who.

Countdown

The skies have been blue. Blue in every direction and not a single cloud anywhere to be seen. So, no atmospheric optics. Nothing to draw me out into the sunlight to catch a glimpse of something ephemeral and heart-lifting. We're still mostly staying at home, only venturing out for our weekly shop and daily walk around the neighborhood. Yeah, it's starting to really drive us a little bit crazy, that and the looming election next week have us awake in the night contemplating the possibilities of our future. We have already voted. Submitted our ballots in a real county-approved drop box. I actually checked with the county a few days later just to make sure it was received. It was. Roger's too. Whew.

One of the main streets in our little town was torn up and repaved a few weeks ago. Not sure what kind of pavement mix they used but it glitters and reflects in the sunlight. So without any natural ice crystals in our atmosphere, I have managed to find and be amused and briefly distracted  by the halos on our street. I have no idea how this happens, but I  am glad it does. (Click on the pic and take a look!)

Countdown to election day: A little more than 168 hours; 10,080 minutes; 604,800 seconds. And then, the real count begins. We're hoping for an indisputable landslide. We wait... it's a countdown to the count.

Hope you are all well and getting through these times.

Friday Music: Romeo and Juliet

 From Shakespeare to Mark Knopfler the story of Romeo and Juliet 423 years later.

Nasturtiums From Light To Dark

 I never really noticed the colors of the nasturtium flowers in our front yard, well except to notice that they're not all orange the way they are in our back yard. So when I was photographing flowers last week to celebrate our clean air, blue skies, and sunshine, I photographed a nasturtium. It made me want to photograph the colors that we have here. So here they are from light to dark.

Taking a good look at the details of their beauty is a wonderful way to forget about the world for a while.

Woolly Bear Caterpillar

 

Curled up in Roger's hand

Lately, whenever we are out walking we've been seeing these caterpillars out and about. Mostly we find them on the road trying to get from one side to another. We always feel so bad for them because we've seen so many of them that have not made it across the road. We find their little squished bodies more than we find the ones slow-walking across.  So, of course, we help the ones we can. We always hope we're putting them someplace that will be safe for them and the perfect environment for their future cocoon stage. 

My twin brother called me other day to tell me about the 24 monarch caterpillars he and Kim found in their yard. It reminded me that I've never looked up what kind of caterpillar this is and what kind butterfly it will become. So, I googled it. Oh wow, what a surprise that was. I learned it's a Woolly Bear caterpillar, and it doesn't become a butterfly at all but a beautiful Isabella Tiger Moth. 

Isabella Tiger Moth image from Wikipedia

 I can't wait to see one of these beauties in the future. Perhaps it will be one we rescued from pavement trekking.

Friday Music: Kathleen's Song

When Roger and I first met on New Years Eve 1988-89 this was the music he was listening to. On our first date he played it for me, and our two broken hearts started to meld and mend.  The other evening he surprised me and played it. It had been a while since I heard it and my heart lifted. I knew I had to share it here. Here's one of our love songs by Ray Lynch.

The Air Finally Cleared

 For more than a month we had smoky skies and unhealthy air. We had to keep the windows closed all the time and not go for our usual walks. We did get out there a few times in the early morning, but nothing like our daily routines at all. It was not easy. Really, it was spooky to add unhealthy air to our psyches already overwhelmed with Covid and the Mad Man. But then a wonderful thing happened. It rained. It really rained. We had .75 inches of rain (1.905 cm) on Saturday. Sunday morning was clear and beautiful. We actually had a sunrise. 

The weather inspired me to go out and photograph the flowers still blooming in our front yard, as we get ready for fall to really arrive.

Nasturtium

Alstromeria

Dahlia

Yellow Rose

Cosmos

 And then the sunrise on Tuesday was another beauty. If you look carefully you can see the tiny crescent moon. Earlier Venus sparkled like a gem. 

Ah clear air. We so love it. The temps are going to rise and winds pick up again. The news is saying more bad air will be coming. For now we are grateful for this respite.

Friday Music: Glory

A friend posted this on Facebook and the moment I listened I fell in love with it. The harmonies are beautiful and the sentiment so uplifting. It is a spiritual song, which is quite unlike anything I am drawn to. It is the perfect song to listen to in these times. 

 

Told me rivers of gold would come
Had me chasing to see
I was kissing my only one
Left my pain with the breeze
I rise up in the morning sun
Take a flight with the wind
I know better of days will come
So I try to believe
Look there's more to be hoping
And there's doors to be opened and I
When it's all said and over
They'll be oceans to wonder for miles
Passed the clouds and the coldness
They'll be flowers and roses so
Keep your head up you’re coping
And it feels like Glory lord
Glory lord
And it feels like
It's in your heart now let them now this
It's in your heart now
And it feels like
It's in your heart now let them now this
It's in your heart now
And it feels like
It's in your heart now let them now this
It's in your heart now
And it feels like glory lord
Told me rivers of gold would come
Had me chasing to see
I was kissing my only one
Left my pain with the breeze
I rise up in the morning sun
Take a flight with the wind
I know better of days will come
So I try to believe
Look there's more to be hoping
And there's doors to be opened and I
When it's all said and over
They'll be oceans to wonder for miles
Passed the clouds and the coldness
They'll be flowers and roses so
Keep your head up you’re coping
And it feels like Glory lord
Glory lord
And it feels like
It's in your heart now let them now this
It's in your heart now
And it feels like
It's in your heart now let them now this
It's in your heart now
And it feels like
It's in your heart now let them now this
It's in your heart now
And it feels like glory lord
Look there's more to be hoping
And there's doors to be opened and I
When it's all said and over
They'll be oceans to wonder for miles
Passed the clouds and the coldness
They'll be flowers and roses so
Keep your head up you’re coping
And it feels like
It's in your heart now let them now this
It's in your heart now
And it feels like
It's in your heart now let them now this
It's in your heart now
And it feels like
It's in your heart now let them now this
It's in your heart now
And it feels like glory lord

Oh What A Tangled Web...

 ... it's hard not to think about all the craziness going on in the good ol' USofA when walking past all these spider webs. Spider season happens in a very big way here on the north coast of California. There are webs everywhere. I am not going to write the name of the person who inspired this post, but I've been wondering for days if any word out of anyone's mouth affiliated with that person is a word of truth. Is it all deceit? Perhaps spider season happens in the White House. 

 We wait and see what comes next and hope the webs come tumbling down in November. That's the way the season of the spider finally ends.

Friday Music-- Northern Sky

While looking for something else on Youtube I found this. I had never heard it before and fell in love with it. It's mellow and beautiful in every way.  Northern Sky by Nick Drake.

 

I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons
knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand
Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree
But now you're here
Brighten my northern sky.
I've been a long time
that I'm waiting
Been a long that I'm blown
I've been a long time that I've wandered
Through the people I have known
Oh, if you would and you could
Straighten my new mind's eye.
Would you love me for my money
Would you love me for my head
Would you love me through the winter
Would you love me 'til I'm dead
Oh, if you would and you could
Come blow your horn on high.
I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons
knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand
Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree
But now you're here
Brighten my northern sky.

End Of September Photos

It's been a while since I posted end of the month photos. It has been an interesting month with fires and light, and not much opportunity for getting out and taking a good long look around. This is what things looked like in September.

Reflective Birds at the Marsh

Iridescent Clouds

Hints of a Cloud Shadow

 

Corona Skies

 

The biggest spider web in our yard

Smoky skies of 9/29 morning

A screenshot of air quality here on 9/28-- Ugh