Wednesday Reflections and Rants

First, the rants.

You know . . . 

Never mind.

I don't have the energy.

Suffice to say if you're not vaccinated and refuse to be - you're an idiot.

Refuse to wear a mask?  You're an idiot.

Mad at Simone Biles?  You're an idiot.

Think the assholes in our Capitol on January 6 were tourists?  You're an idiot.

Think the election was stolen?  You're an idiot.

Random stuff about the letter "P"

A few things I love that begin with the letter "P"  - - -

Princess Annabelle Barley

Pizza

Peonies

Pearls

Paris

Things I don't love that begin with the letter "P"  - - - 

Corrupt lying politicians

People who are too dumb and too selfish to wear a mask and get vaccinated

 

Being a woman of the south, I seek out good southern lit but am disappointed far too often.

Following a tired pattern, many of the books I find lean heavily on southern stereotypes rather than the hard truth of today's south.  Sadly, this includes some highly praised southern novels.  

After receiving an advance copy of Wiley Cash's When Ghosts Come Home I stayed up way past my normal bedtime to read straight through till reaching The End.

Wiley Cash hits every note just right. Relative to the large number of books I read, I rarely give a book 5 stars. This one deserves 10. 

Half way through this year, I have two literary heroes.  Wiley Cash and Shawn A. Cosby .

Today . . .

I had to do it sooner or later.

I had been putting it off for far too long.

It was yet another "needs must" situation.

Jeans and shorts and pants and T-shirts have been living in this little dresser.  

Rarely going anywhere lately because so much of what's in there no longer fits.

Past time for a lot of things to be finding new homes.

Time to admit it.

Some things just don't fit, and they ain't never gonna fit again.

I suppose I could blame it on Evil Pandemic Fairies moving in and sewing seams in my clothes . . .  

But, that would be unfair to the fairies.

Something we should all remember . . . 

Needs must

I'm not sure I truly understood what that little phrase, "needs must", really meant until recently and it slammed home hard and fast and true. And I'm being, admittedly, childishly whiny about it.  I don't care.  I'll whine if I want to.

We have, like everyone, experienced "needs must" moments.  Those unexpected emergencies that can't be ignored.  

What do you do?

You do what needs to be done as best you're able, of course, and move on.

While I take ownership of my personal feelings of  pissed off-edness about this, it's a bigger issue.

Health care cost in this country stinks.  

The fact that people lose homes, go bankrupt, or ignore their health problems in The United States of America because of cost is ludicrous and, IMO, criminal.

Health care, in this particular case, includes dental care.

Donald and I are just beginning our latest adventure.  

The most expensive one yet.  

One that will cost more than our past three trips abroad combined.

But we will have pretty new teeth implanted.  

Even with dental insurance, our out of pocket cost will be around $25,000 +.

Needs must.

This is not going to be an easy financial situation for us. But, I know we're able to do it because we've been, among other things, damned lucky.

When I hear people say something like, "well, they should have planned better", "they should have made better choices," etc. I'd like to shake them.  That is not reality.  

Don Barley and I have worked hard all our lives.  We've worked, at times, more than one job.  When I was single, there was a short period of time when I worked three jobs.  And still, we've been lucky.  Luckier than some who have worked harder for longer.

There will be no adventures to Paris or anywhere else for awhile.  

I'll be a little upset about it, but I hope I can keep it in perspective and hope that some day, this country will come around and do the right thing for its hard working citizens in regard to health care.

Needs must.

 

Dear Meanderings and Muses subscribers,

 Google has decided to eliminate its FeedBurner feature (Boo, Google!) which means you will no longer be receiving Meanderings and Muses in your email boxes.  I think this will be happening during July.

I appreciate each and every one of you and I hope you'll still pop in to see whatever it is I might be rambling about, be it Annabelle, Donald, Paris, politics, the beach (going soon!), poetry or pretty pictures. Peonies or pearls.  Concerts, clothes, nail color or motorcycles. Cameras and coffee.  Rants, recipes, what I'm reading, what I'm writing.  The good stuff, the bad stuff.  Adventures and just plain ol' daily living.

Meanderings and Muses has been around since 2008 and we've covered a lot of topics.  Some have been important, some have been pure silliness.  Type a word or a name into that little search box at the top left corner of the blog and chances are fairly good you'll find something here that I, or a guest, had to say about it.  

So.  Just 'cause you won't find me in your in-box for much longer, I'll still be here, and I hope you will be too.

 

There was no finer man than Joe Maron

 

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/newsobserver/name/joseph-maron-obituary?n=joseph-maron&pid=199456650

A Good Man by James Whitcomb Riley

I

A good man never dies--
In worthy deed and prayer
And helpful hands, and honest eyes,
If smiles or tears be there:
Who lives for you and me--
Lives for the world he tries
To help--he lives eternally.
A good man never dies.


II

Who lives to bravely take
His share of toil and stress,
And, for his weaker fellows' sake,
Makes every burden less,--
He may, at last, seem worn--
Lie fallen--hands and eyes
Folded--yet, though we mourn and mourn,
A good man never dies.

I will miss you, Joe Maron.

Don Barley has an adventure. Kaye Barley stays home.

Don Barley wrote: 

"I had decided to take up on the 2021 "Carolina Challenge". The challenge was to visit 16 specific Harley Davidson stores across the Carolina's. I planned a route and saw a four to five day window of good weather. A form was filled out at Crossroads Harley last Sat. afternoon. The is to receive a dealership stamp at each location on the form. Planned the trip Sun. and Mon. Ms. Kaye Alan reluctantly agreed to the adventure. I left out Tues. morn about 7. I already had gotten the first stamp at Wilkesboro when the form was filled. Rode past the first location. The rest of the first day was stopping at High Point, Danville Va., Raleigh, Goldsboro, and Greenville stores. I rode on to Myrtle Beach and made it before dark. It was 600+ miles. Next morn got stamps at the two Myrtle Beach stores. Then it was to Charleston, Summerville, Columbia, Irmo, and Augusta. There was a few hours of light, so off to Anderson. The two hour trip was more like three and half. I rode about 40 min. after dark much to Ms. Kaye's displeasure. Got a room in Anderson and a stamp the next morn. Turned to the Charlotte store and after  I stopped and visited friends and stayed much to long talking. Having cut my time close I headed to the Concord store. I made it with 10 minutes before closing. I received the last stamp and was told someone had completed their form with all stamps two days earlier. This is not a timed challenge. The idea is to visit every place and to get high mileage in age groups for a chance at a drawing. The lottery has better odds. So after getting the last stamp I headed for Boone. I made it home just before dark. I managed to cover 1430 miles in about 60 hours. I'm proud to have made this adventure safely, without injuries, or damages. But most of all, I am proud of my wife for tolerating and trying to understand me. I am so damn lucky to be with someone who cares. "

Spending time with old and dear friends, Joe and Sharon Griffin, was a highlight of this trip.

Sharon and I are best buddies from waaay back in our high school days.

If there was trouble to be found, we found it.

She married the nicest guy she ever dated.  

And what did I do while while Donald was out having himself a big ol time?

Mostly I was happy that he took the time to call me from each stop to let me know he was okay.  I knew when he got his beloved bike there would be adventures of this sort.  No, it doesn't stop me from worrying, but I can't imagine being the kind of wife who would try to stop him from doing what he loves.  I did have an almost constant diet of ice cream, cookies and potato chips while he was gone.  😄 #lovinglifewithdonbarley

I spent a lot of time re-reading old Anne Rivers Siddons novels.  Not my two favorites, Peachtree Road and Downtown.  I have read those books so many times I have lost count.  I love them.  Both take place in Atlanta during the time I was living there; new to the city and to the south.  During a time of enormous change for Atlanta, for the South, the country, and for me.  They tell important stories that I feel are a part of who I am.

But I decided to re-read some of her other novels and enjoyed them immensely.  It had been so long that it was like reading them for the first time and I was happy to realize that the writing still affects and moves me.  

Anne Rivers Siddons is no longer with us, but she left a strong and enduring legacy.

When I wasn't reading I was going through boxes of stuff to price so I can cart them to our booth at Antiques on Howard.

And I played in my little studio.

While cleaning, clearing, and purging I found some wonderful old decorating books, including this one from my mom.

The photos of rooms from the '70s  are wonderful!

The furniture, the art, the decorating - all of it.

I haven't looked at these books in years.

And I've decided to repurpose them into collages.

I do know repurposing books offends some people, but I would rather see them used and enjoyed in some manner rather than sitting on a shelf ignored, unloved, and attracting silverfish.

AND, I found some delightful old magazines that combined with the decorating books will hopefully become some fun collages.

Here's my first effort.

I had so much fun doing this.

We'll just see where it goes.

In the meantime, Annabelle and I are tickled pink to have Don Barley home.  💕 

Life is Good

Dipping our toes into the pool of re-entry

Dear friends from my hometown of Cambridge, Maryland were vacationing here in The High Country last week.

Debby and Gordon Hill.

We were in high school together and have stayed close.

Their visit presented us with the challenge/opportunity to get out and see a little bit of our world.

It felt a little weird, truth be told.

And not entirely comfortable.  But not entirely uncomfortable.

Downtown Boone was a mixed bag of masks in equal numbers, maybe more people without than with, but not by a huge margin.

I only went into one shop, Antiques on Howard, and was happy to see some empty spots on the shelves in our booth.  Time to re-stock!  Because I have darted in to do this re-stocking thing a couple of times during the past year and a half, I felt pretty comfortable, but not comfortable enough to hang around and shop.  Just peek and leave.

We had brunch at my favorite Downtown Boone restaurant, Melanie's, and ate outside.   And felt perfectly at ease enjoying time with dear friends along with some delicious Eggs Benedict. 

Time with friends and eating out - those are things I've been missing most.

And while happy to have made this first little step, I can say that Donald and I are in agreement that we are not ready for re-entry in a big way.

And we'll continue keeping our masks close at hand.

But oh my goodness it was good to see good friends!

It was not very welcoming of The Town of Boone to give us, and Gordon and Debby, parking tickets, but that's another story for another day other than to say what a way to leave our visitors with a bad taste in their mouth after spending not a small amount of money while shopping here.  

Boo, Boone.

 

Boxes Have Left The Building

Yep.

Boxes, like Elvis, have left the building.

And are STILL leaving.

And nothing makes me happier.

My newest hobby - getting rid of "stuff."

Right now there are boxes in the car waiting to go to the container site, to recycling, to the swap shop, and to our booth at the antique mall.  

Some of the boxes are from the storage building that we are STILL emptying.  (I think boxes in the storage building are actually breeding like bunnies.  For real).

Some of the boxes are from the house.  Doing some springtime deep cleaning this year includes a lot of "Out you go.  Out YOU go.  Oh, yes, you too.  YOU! Why are you still here?" 

There's a little of everything leaving.  Including books.  Lots and lots of books.  (Note of import  😏  While continuing  our huge purge I found an old, well worn, and very well loved copy of Helen Hooven Santmyer's novel ''. . . And Ladies of the Club'' which made her a celebrity at the age of 88. I loved this book, and have now put it aside in a small pile of books to be re-read. Small pile includes the entire Rex Stout Nero Wolfe series. "Small" is relative . . . )

Funny thing is though, looking around you'd never believe we have removed a few dozen boxes of stuff in the past few weeks.

Out of sight, out of mind never seemed so true.

I'd love to stay and chat, but there are boxes waiting to leave the building.

A little virtual primal scream . . .

 

Our stars are out of alignment.

Or we've pissed off some gods.

Or we got entirely too lackadaisical about how smoothly things were actually going for us as we stayed pretty sheltered in our little house in the mountains.

The refrigerator replacement (and all the spoiled food) was not a cheap fix.

And now the washing machine is expressing its unhappiness by flooding the first floor.  Donald has been consulting people, ordering parts, etc etc etc.  The final verdict is not yet in.

And if you're in need of serious dental care, Sweet Jesus it'll cost ya.  I don't know about elsewhere, but here in the NC mountains dental implants run about $4,000 per tooth.  (Another reason I haven't minded wearing a mask).  My implant appointment happens soon, then it will be Donald's turn.

An inexpensive, but very sweet piece of jewelry I ordered from Paris has been stuck in Chicago in Customs since April 19.  Filing a claim with the Post Office gained me a response of "it's stuck in Chicago in Customs."  They make it sound like Customs answers to no one.  If I never get what I ordered, it's Customs' fault, and oh well.  

I was finally so annoying on the phone with the US Postal Service today that the poor, very nice, but very frazzled woman trying to help me transferred to me International Postal Service.  

The guy who answered the phone seemed confused as to how I got there and after listening to my story he agreed I needed help.  

The on-line form for filing an International claim that the US Postal people kept insisting I needed to fill out can ONLY be filled out by the sender, not the recipient, and that wasn't happening.  Nice International Guy filled it out for me, even while we were having a wee bit of difficulty understanding one another.  It took us about 40 minutes of conversation to get the task done.  I now have a U. S. Postal Service Claim Case Number AND an International Postal Service Claim Case Number.  

And I've learned a lot about Customs.  First off - if you order something from another country, say your prayers, click your heels and cross your fingers that it does not have to go through Chicago Customs.  You can read hundreds of horror stories on-line.    

Fact is - I had ordered something from this same shop in Paris before this particular fiasco and it was here in less than two weeks.  It did not go through Chicago.

Customs can hold your mail/package for up to 45 days.  Why?  Good question.  They've been holding my piece for almost that many days.  Almost.

The International Postal guy said they would actually attempt to talk with someone in Customs for me.

What?!

Really?!

I love this man!!

He says if I don't receive my package, or hear something regarding my new International Claim within 15 days from today to call them back, but he did not have a direct number that would connect me to him.  Waaahhh.

If I don't hear back and have to call them again, I will.  But oh my LordAMercy, I do not want to.  

WHY can't people just do what they're supposed to do . . .  <sigh>

And the thing that has finally broken my heart is my much loved Kindle Fire is as dead as fried chicken.

I use my Kindle Fire more than I use my laptop, and I have come to prefer reading on it over reading print books.  (Don't judge me - to each her own, right?).

So.  New Kindle Fire on its way.

That my story, my whine(s) for the day.  

Virtual primal screaming isn't nearly as stress releasing as the real thing (which yes, I have already done), but writing out feelings is a pretty good release.  Writing AND screaming?  Wow.  Feels pretty darn good.  I recommend the combination.

And a glass of wine.

Finally! A haircut!

 

Staying home due to pandemic dangers and restrictions meant missing and cancelling appointments we took for granted pre-COVID.

Like hair appointments.

Today I went to see my amazing friend, Ellie Miller at Shear Shakti https://www.shearshakti.com and had her work her magic.

Lordy, but it's nice to be back to being me again.

I will kinda miss pulling my hair up on top of my head in a messy bun, but oh well . . .   All that long hair hanging around my face is just not me. 

Woman at Work

Thirty-five years ago

In a small chapel in Atlanta, in front of family and friends, I placed this ring on this hand 35 years ago today.  Don Barley and I have shared many a cup of coffee since that day.  Happy Anniversary, darlin'.

 

Seeking Sanctuary/Making Art

Sometimes life is just plain ol' sucky.

There seems to be a domino effect to the suckiness.

There's a whole long list of sucky stuff that's happened over the past couple of months, but it's just not worth whining about.  That's not to say I haven't done a LOT of loud whining aka as bitching and moaning about these things, but you know - it hasn't helped, so I'll keep those things out of Meanderings and Muses.

Except that it shouldn't have taken 2 months for Donald to get new glasses with his new prescription.

Except that he shouldn't have had to wait so long for his dentist to get back with him about a damaged tooth that he had to take a second round of antibiotics.  And except for how crazy expensive dental care is.  Especially for the two of us looking at implants - Yeeow.

Except that the folks at a locally owned business we've done business with (a LOT of business)  since we moved here in 1996 lied to him over the phone and caused some unnecessary work on Donald's part.  And then acted like jackasses about the fact that they lied.

Except for this refrigerator that's only about 7 years old that needs to be replaced.  This after Don has replaced several parts on his own over the past couple of days.  Thank goodness we ate those big ol' ribeyes that were in the freezer . . . 

Except for those stressful, unnecessary, and expensive things happening bang bang bang that I won't mention. <wink wink>

Thank goodness for the things we have in our lives that become a bit of a sanctuary for us.

Like a good book by a favorite author. 

A furry pal.

And a room I can call my own where I can go to play with my art supplies.

It ain't fancy, although it does have a chandelier . . . 

And it has a caretaker for when I'm not there.  Miss Matilda.

Miss Matilda is happy to have some company from time to time when Annabelle and I go out there seeking sanctuary.  Always a pleasure to see her.

And Annabelle is curious as a cat out there because it's a hideway for things that haven't quite made it to the antique mall yet.  

Neither of us knows what we might find out there.

Or if it might be turned into something we can call "art."