Has anyone else found their sleep to be somewhat erratic lately? I’m betting that’s the case. This morning I woke up at 4 am and never went back to sleep. And for some reason, I keep thinking it’s Saturday.
As I was sipping my much needed coffee this morning, I saw a gnat flying by my mug and the next thing I knew, there he was floating on the surface. I rescued him with my finger tip and placed him on a piece of paper, but I thought he was a goner. Then I dumped my coffee and brewed a fresh cup. To my amazement, the gnat survived and walked off the paper and is presumably somewhere around here. I’ve also rescued two flies in the last two days, which is an ongoing thing around here. They don’t live long and I don’t like to see them spend that time trapped in the house vainly trying to get outside where they belong. So this year, I turned over a new leaf and stopped ignoring them. Now, I rescue them and deposit them back outside.
Speaking of all creatures great and small:
We visited our friends at the boarding farm yesterday. Very, very affectionate boy.
This little girl is so sweet. She eats out of my hand.
As soon as I walked in the direction of this corral, these three guys trotted on over.
He cracked me up. Reminds me of Mr. Ed. He is also a sweetie pie.
These guys are all rescues. Isn’t that wonderful? The were impatiently waiting to be led into their stalls, which means dinner time.
The two horses in the first two photos belong to a local woman who boards them at the farm.
We gave them treats and chatted with the owners who love telling us about each horse; the personalities, the hierarchy, the rescue stories.
We are trying to contact the rescue group who took in our two elderly horse friends. They’re doing well, we know that much, and their previous owner has traveled up to see them. If they allow us to, we’d like to make an appointment to visit them.
I just finished a wonderful mystery by a new author, Emily Littlejohn. It’s called Inherit the Bones. I’ll review it next week on the other blog. It’s the first in a series, which is exciting.
We’re watching episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show on Netflix. It makes us happy, and we can use a big dash of happy right now. I forgot what a brilliant physical comedian Van Dyke was/is. There have been a few episodes where we have laughed so hard we had tears rolling down our faces. Brilliant work. Ann Morgan Guilbert, who played next-door neighbor Millie, died recently. I had the good fortune of working with her on a show when I was living in California. She was a talented, lovely, and very funny woman.
Some thoughts on Susan Branch and her post yesterday. I’m a person who tends to respond emotionally to a situation. My heart is on my sleeve, more often than not. That’s good and it’s also bad, depending on the situation because there are times I regret responding immediately. I wish I could be a little more, not detached, but analytical? Is that the word? What Susan wrote was so well thought out, so logical and so heartfelt that it really made me think. She comes at it from another angle and it makes so much sense! I’m going to read the whole thing again today.
Happy Thursday.
The horses are beautiful! Even more so because of their stories. Dick Van Dyke show is classic …
It is, and watching it so many years later reminds me of just how brilliant it was.
Oh Claudia, the picture of the horse that’s smiling like Mr. Ed was such a joy to see this morning. All of the horses are so beautiful and knowing that they are rescues with the chance for a new life that they so deserve warms my soul. Thank you.
Thank you also for the link to Susan’s post yesterday. It was so well written and she said exactly how so many of us feel. I’m still struggling each day to try and sort through my own feelings while still trying to be open to that of others. I don’t have to tell you how very difficult that seems to be.
I can only compare the grief and stress that I’ve felt for the last week to that of losing someone very close to me which I have many times in my life. I never expected to feel so deeply as I do with the results of this election and with the state of our country. It’s just heartbreaking. So I press on each day taking part in my own self preservation in ways that I know help me. I’m trying my best to ignore twitter and the news right now. I just don’t see how I could process anymore of the negativity. I won’t always ignore it because I always stay informed but for now it is what I need.
As always thank you for your posts through this time we are facing. They help so much. To be able to see and read the words of others such as your readers and yourself that feel the same as I do brings hope.
Have a most lovely day!
I understand. It’s a state of mourning. I am also trying to stay away from the news. Yesterday, I failed, and I had to pull myself away because I was getting angry again. Angry is good, but I really yearn for a little peace right now. I think we’re all in need of that. But I won’t stop protesting and fighting for what is right – I just need a little time to process everything.
Did you by chance catch this anywhere? Actor Tom Hanks, I think on 11/15/16…as written about in The Daily Mail.
TOM HANKS’ STIRRING 10-MINUTE SPEECH DURING MUSEUM OF MODERN ART’S FILM BENEFIT:
We are going to be all right.
America has been in worst places than we are right now.
In my own lifetime, our streets were in chaos, our generations were fighting each other tooth and nail, and every dinner table ended up being as close to a fist fight as our families would allow.
We have been in a place where we looked at our leaders and wondered what the hell were they thinking of?
We’ve had moments with administrations and politicians and leaders and Senators and governors where we asked ourselves, ‘Are they lying to us? Or do they really believe in this?’
That’s all right. We have this magnificent thing that is in place, it’s a magnificent document, and it starts off with these phrases that if you’re smart enough, you memorized in school, or, just read it enough so you learned it by heart, or, you kind of watched those things on ABC where they taught you little songs, and the song goes like, [sings] ‘We the People … in Order to form a more perfect Union. establish Justice and insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare,’ and it goes on and on.
That document is going to protect us, over and over again, whether or not our neighbors preserve and protect and defend it themselves.
We are going to be all right, because we constantly get to tell the whole world who we are. We constantly get to define ourselves as Americans.
We may move at a slow pace, but we do have the greatest country in the world, because we are always moving towards a more perfect Union. That journey never ceases. It never stops. Sometimes, like in a Bruce Springsteen song, one step forward, two steps back. But we still, aggregately, move forward. We, who are a week into wondering what the hell just happened, will continue to move forward. We have to choose to do so. But we will move forward, because if we do not move forward, what is to be said about us?
We will take everything that has been handed to us as Americans and we will turn our nation and we will turn the future and we will turn all the work that we have before us into some grand thing of beauty.
(He got a standing ovation.)
“The actor had publicly endorsed Hillary Clinton.”
“It was just announced that Hanks was one of the key figures selected by President Obama to be awarded the 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom – the highest civilian honor in the United States” (to be awarded on 11/22/16).
Completely agree with Vicki. Highly recommend Tom Hanks’ MOMA speech as well. I think I found it through Twitter. It was wonderful. He’s actually a pretty terrific speaker. I heard him at the dedication of the WWII Memorial in Washington, and at the Vassar College Commencement the year his daughter graduated. He’s very interested in history in particular, and has an interesting world view. Also try to find Aaron Sorkin’s letter to his daughter, which he wrote the morning after Election Night. I saved it & would be glad to forward a copy to anyone who’s interested and can’t find it online. Aaron Sorkin [The West Wing, The American President, A Few Good Men, The Social Network, The Newsroom etc etc] is one of my personal heroes & a writing genius!
I love Aaron Sorkin. The opening monologue by Jeff Daniels in Newsroom is one of my favorite pieces of writing, ever.
Oh, thank you for this, Vicki. I hadn’t heard about it. Beautiful!
The horses are so majestic, aren’t they? I remember a news story about Dick Van Dyke from a few years ago. He made the news because his car caught on fire. When he was being interviewed, he said (something to the effect) he had an used car for sale. He has a great sense of humor. I read Susan Branch’s blog yesterday and one of the commenter’s wrote something that was so true: Pat wrote “We all agree on where we want to go. We just can’t seem to agree how to get there.” And I want to add something positive about this election–Mrs. Clinton is the first woman to be consider for President. She has made it further than any other woman. I know that we had two women running for Vice President in the past. Maybe we as a country aren’t mature enough to have a woman president yet. IMHO
He also did a tap dance in support of Bernie Sanders! And he’s 90, I think.
I like your thoughts about the positive thing in this election, Trina. As someone who isn’t a fan of the Electoral College and never has been, I’ll also add, she won the popular vote. To me, she won the Presidency. Small consolation, but true.
I still don’t know enough about Bernie Sanders. Again, I should earlier-on have been paying better attention. I read this yesterday and I liked it, from The Hill; Sanders was speaking at George Washington U. in Washington DC: (speech excerpts)
“I say to Mr Trump, from the bottom of my heart…Mr. Trump, we are not going backward in terms of bigotry, we are going to go forward in creating a non-discriminatory society.”
Sanders argued that Trump should be held accountable for his promises to support the struggling working families in America, “Mr. Trump said a whole lot of things and sometimes I think they would just come off the top of his head. We have a list of everything that you said (Mr. Trump). We are going to hold you to account.”
” All across this country there are millions and millions of decent, good people who are frightened about the world they are living in. The question that will be resolved pretty quickly is whether or not everything that (Trump) was saying to the working families of this country was hypocrisy, was dishonesty or whether he was sincere–and we will find out soon enough.”
An aside: The photos shown yesterday of Hillary speaking at the Children’s Defense Fund gala in Washington DC were so worrying. Tag lines were ‘the face of defeat’. She looked absolutely exhausted; completely worn. It made me feel even more sad.
I was originally for Bernie. I voted for him in our Primary. But I had no problem supporting Hillary.
I saw those photos as well. She looks emotionally and physically exhausted. And devastated. I am going to write her a letter. And I’m going to write one to President Obama as well.
I love that idea. I think someone mentioned that on Susan’s blog replies.
They will get those letters, Claudia, and it will be meaningful to them. I was at the doctor’s office again on Tuesday (a diff doctor from Monday; I have a lot of appointments unfortunately, although I’m fortunate to have the care) and I was singing the praises of another provider and my doctor said, “It’s so refreshing to hear something good; all I get are the complaints, never the compliments.”
Speaking of Susan one more time, I took the liberty to lift this (from reader Kathy) because it expressed how I feel about Susan and her brave post: “Do some (of you) actually believe that Susan really exists to make life pleasant for you? She is a real person, with real feelings, just like all of us. If she was really your girlfriend, as so many claim she is, you would allow her to speak those feelings, and not be angry and turn your backs just because she has expressed them.”
Yes, your doctor is right. We have to remember to give compliments when they are deserved – not just complaints!
I love, love what that lady said. I couldn’t have said it better! Perfect. And true.
Just a note that might help people feel better: Just like some of you, I thought Hillary looked utterly exhausted last night, but today I read that she deliberately did not wear makeup for her appearance at the Children’s Defense Fund event. Apparently she wanted to make a statement, and I applaud her for it.
For anyone interested:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2016/11/17/god_bless_hillary_clinton_for_not_wearing_makeup_during_her_children_s_defense.html
Oh, good to know, Janet! Bless her.
Good Morning! Oh the horses are just beautiful. When I was thirteen I use to work at a horse stable. Cleaning out stalls and I got free riding lessons. It was wonderful. I just love farms, lots of hard work but at the same time it is so gratifying, peaceful and good for the soul. Have a wonderful day!!
Hugs
It is very good for the soul, Nancy! Don and I are both finding that visiting the horse gives us some peace. xo
You are bringing back such wonderful memories for me with these horses…they make me smile in spite of what is going on in the news…
And we all need a smile now, Nancy!
Horses seem to be able to see into our hearts. I so wish I could be around them more.
Dick Van Dyke always makes me smile. I grew up on The Dick Van Dyke show. I loved Diagnosis, Murder with his son also on the show. Mary Poppins? Brilliant and I still watch it!
Thank you for pointing us towards the Susan Branch post. I hadn’t read her blog in several weeks.
Hugs for you and Don
She hasn’t been posting much because she’s still in England, but I think she’s on her way home as of Saturday.
Lovely horses! Between the news and a shoulder injury I haven’t been sleeping well either. Having a compromised immune system, I went for my annual flu shot two weeks ago. Unfortunately the pharmacist injected it too high and the result is bursitis in my left shoulder. I have broken my left collar twice (riding!) and the pain is in that range. I can’t miss work, so it’s anti-inflammatory tabs for the next while. I thank my lucky stars that there was no nerve damage but, as my daughter says, if something doesn’t seem right, then it probably isn’t. I am too quick to defer to people’s expertise – I should have questioned it at the time.
I am not familiar with Susan Branch , but on your recommendation I read her post last night. I was especially impressed with her replies to the comments. I think she just gained a new reader!
I’m so sorry you have to deal with more pain, Barbara! I hope you feel better soon.
Wow, you live in a beautiful area! I saw this article on Facebook and thought it had many fine points to make.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/17/opinion/a-12-step-program-for-responding-to-president-elect-trump.html?smid=fb-share
I enjoyed Susan Branch’s post, altho, I was struck by how many did not have the American Dream life that she mentions. I probably feel that way because I watched the PBS special on “Black American After MLK”. Made my heart sad that there has been so much hate for so long in this country. I am trying hard to focus on love instead. Thanks for your thoughtful contributions!
I saw that article but haven’t read it yet. Thanks for the link, Ellen.
Love is always the better choice! Thank you.
Yes! Loving ‘Mr. Ed’! So happy that you and Don are able to connect with these fine horses. I read Susan Branch’s post yesterday…loved the comments after, and her responses. All food for thought. I have to keep busy….that’s what has kept my mind away from all that is going on. I’m not allowing it to take hold any longer. I’m calling it diversion therapy. And it has allowed me to sleep…at least for now! ;)
Me too. Diversion therapy is good. But last night…it didn’t work!
I have also been having bad sleep. I must be dreaming when I wake up with a jolt because something has fallen on my head. At least once a night.
The photos of the horses are wonderful. I love the lighting in some of them. I was a horse crazy girl when I was young. As so many of us were.I rode horses often; until the day I threw me. I still admire them.
I am shocked at how hard I am taking this election. No other has affected me this much. For me I think part of this small depression I am dealing with is the violence that has come out of it.
The protest you went to last weekend was featured on the front page of the Minneapolis paper. I tried to find you in the photo. It was in front of the orange tower.
Oh, there were so many thousands of people in that march, Trudy, I think it would be impossible to see me!
Yes, I am depressed and saddened about our future and all of the violence and hatred that seems to be erupting. We have to realize that we are all one. I pray that we can find a way to come together.
Well, you know, Susan exchanged a comment with a reader in that excellent post of hers about having the 4:30am “wake ups”. The lack of sleep with me has resulted in getting run down and I have a cold; getting totally tired of the darn cough.
Dearest Claudia, you rescue a FLY? You have a kind soul. I hate them. I swat them. Now, I feel guilty!
I think your posts are very well-penned, Claudia! I wouldn’t change a thing.
We’ve turned cooler here in SoCalif, just like what used to be ‘the usual’ for November (we’ll cool ‘way down and then heat right back up again, but it’s the first ‘real’ cool-down); 57 degrees at 9am; bright sun. I can’t believe it, but I actually turned on the furnace; we haven’t used it in probably 7 months or so. Welcome relief from too many months of heat (yesterday was the first day ‘in forever’ that I haven’t turned on the central air conditioning). It’s all very strange; we still have the purple jacarandas blooming and they usually stop that by late August at the very most. And the too-few trees we have in my town (I have my fave locations) which actually turn color in a very-late autumn are pure green, not a gold/red/orange among them yet. And that’s SO strange. It totally makes you wonder about climate change but, oh, you know, like our drought, the two are just figments of our imagination, right? (Dripping sarcasm.)
Oh, how I love your horse photos and, again, the gorgeous light you seem to hit just right. What a lovely part of your day, your walk and the lovely beasts. Speaking of Susan, she has that equally-but-different enviable path she walks every day, weather-permitting, through the little woods and to the beach which I think is at the rear of her stately home on Martha’s Vineyard. I so wish I had nice places to walk but I just don’t. I had my cancer checkup on Monday and we’re always ‘spent’ afterward because there’s so much stress leading up to it (I don’t want the bad news…but, this time, all good news). It’s in a seaside city, that clinic…so we always go to the beach to end the day and it was quite ethereal with a fog rolling in; the foothills looking watercolor-ish/pastel. No tourists. People with faces upturned to the setting sun. Others turning the last few pages of a good book. Somebody doing something akin to tai chi, in his own world. Two teens kissing in silhouette. A couple walking a scampering dog. High tide warnings to stay off the rocks and jetties (that incredible cheesy, clear, huge moon we saw rising!) A sea of blue tarps; moored sailboats in the marina. My healing place. If I lived in that town, I’d walk at the beach every single day if I could.
Yes, what did he say? A hoax generated by the Chinese.
So happy you had good news at your checkup, Vicki! Wonderful!
I miss walking on the beach. It’s so healing. The smell of the salt water, everything about it seems to help me let go of tension. I feel my shoulders drop. xoxo
Beautiful pictures!! Bless the people who take such good care of animals.
My sleep has been ruined as well. I wake up just about every 2 hours and then it takes about an hour to fall back to sleep. Louise Penny is on my night table, and we meet a few times each night.
I had a nightmare last night that my husband brought the paper in and the headline was Scott Walker (the most awful governor of any state) was appointed Sec. of Education. I told him my “dream” and he said he was actually being considered for Sec of Labor. Well, as you know, he plundered and raped both education and the labor unions in our state. Pray he doesn’t get either (or anything else), so he can’t do the same to the rest of the country.
It is nearly 70* here today!! My friend in Denver said it was 80* there yesterday and they are in for snow tonight from this snowstorm moving across the north. So not ready for that. We only have a chance of a few snow showers on Saturday. That is more than enough!! Have a grand Thursday!!
That’s a terrible nightmare, and the fact that he could get any post is frightening. Especially labor or education.
It’s in the fifties here, but it’s going to get cooler in a couple of days. My porch plants will probably be no more! Have a great day, Chris.
I share your love of the old Dick Van Dyke show. The episode that makes me laugh until I cry is the one where Laura opens Rob’s mail. When a package addressed to Rob arrives, she can’t resist opening it. It contains an inflatable boat, which is impossible to hide. The part that really cracks me up is when Millie and Jerry pop in at the end. Ann Morgan Guilbert was very good inher part.
We watched that episode last week, Linda! It was very funny!
Visiting those horses would make me smile also. It’s been a nice day here except for the smoke. Cooler temps coming soon and I’m ready. Still reading lots!! Hugs!
How are the fires, Linda. Are they still burning?
The fires are still burning and no sign of rain to help put them out. Sad!
I’m so, so sorry!
I love that the horses trotted over to meet you and Don….to me, that indicates they are not afraid of humans and are well-treated. Hurray for the selflessness of animal rescuers and sanctuaries. I hug my three rescue cats every day and thank the wonderful rescue organization that saved them just for me! It was so cold this morning, my heater turned on, and I have it set really really low, since I’m such a cheapskate about paying for heat (go put on another jacket!). I awoke to the unfamiliar familiar sound of heated air being blown into the room. So I quickly went to the thermostat and reset it even lower!
What I remember about living in CA is that at certain times of the year, the temperatures dropped and I felt really, really cold. But it was a temperature that wouldn’t have phased me in the least back east or in the Midwest where I grew up!
That’s interesting. We SoCal-ers are thin-skinned whereas, when you’re in a season for a reasonable length of time (a 4-season Midwest), I guess you become acclimatized. Who I feel for, too, are the animals…wildlife; even domestic pets. The weather is so up and down…but, in recent years, mostly too warm. The animals shed their hair/fur when it warms up, then they don’t have it when they need it once those temps suddenly fall (as you noted, Claudia). My dog felt the cold last night; she doesn’t have her winter coat. Plants and trees bloom at the wrong time of year; then, if we get a single frost, there they go…wilted, dead…when we might not get another frost/freeze for the entire rest of the year. We’ve pretty much lost all rhythm to the seasons and weather cycles in SoCalif (and they were subtle to begin with). But I did expect a day or two of colder weather this month, which does seem more on track. My dad and I used to track the weather; I’m trying to find, in all my/their boxes of STUFF, his old charts so I can compare what the weather was in our town, say 20 years ago, to today. Today, I should say, when I was freezing all day inside my house. Turned the furnace on. Had to go out in the car; wore a sweater for the first time in MONTHS. Got in the car, had to take off the sweater and turn on the A/C. As the sun fades and the wind dies, now at 4:30pm, we’re in the 60s and dropping. It’s when I start noticing a lot of people out in public, at stores or banks or wherever, coughing and sneezing. Mom used to say the weather was giving us ‘the bends’. Can’t count on it following previous norms anymore. What I pray for is RAIN.
There seems to be no ‘normal’ anymore. No matter where you live, the weather has changed in a way that doesn’t bode well for u.
I commented on your November 9 post. I was respectful. I said I enjoyed your blog. I didn’t threaten to quit reading it. I said that I wasn’t a Trump supporter but a reader who was disappointed in your angry tone. I felt you were dismissive of me in your response and that there wasn’t likely to be a single thing about me that was more important than the fact that I probably didn’t agree with you politically. I think you’re a nice person but I didn’t get the feeling that you’d ever care to know whether I was too. Of course, this was the point Susan was trying to make.
I don’t see any comment from you on November 9th. Are you sure that’s the right date?
I’m sorry if that was your perception. If I disagreed with you, and it sounds like I did, perhaps that seemed ‘dismissive’ to you. I’m not perfect, and I answer a lot of comments every day and I’ve certainly been up front about my feelings as to the election. That you think that means I don’t care to know more about anyone that doesn’t agree with me is certainly not the case and if it seems that way, I apologize.
This is my journal, you see, and most of the time it’s fairly happy. At times, it won’t be. I’ll be angry – very rarely, in the course of 365 posts a year – but it will happen. And I will probably disagree with some comments, but disagreeing is not dismissing, Maisie. Dismissing, to me, would be ignoring the comment completely.
I won’t apologize for my anger during the election cycle. It’s real and, based on everything my readers know about me, it can hardly be surprising. I felt and still feel that this election was like no other and that speaking out was needed, actually, essential. History shows us that not speaking out has enabled demagogues and fascists to take power. And in this case, he still took power! Ah, well.
At the same time, I’ve received several comments that are meant to hurt me and they most certainly do. I wish I was impervious and had thicker skin, but I don’t. I have feelings, too.
It’s all perception, I guess, and this election has certainly pointed out the great divide that exists in our populace. I hope and pray that divide can be bridged.
(Oh, I found it. It was in October. I replied to you, explaining why I felt the way I did and why I wrote about it in the post you were referring to. It was a post that I knew would upset some people. I’m paraphrasing here but I think you said that you were embarrassed for me, that you supported my right to write about it but nevertheless were embarrassed, and I assured you that you didn’t need to be embarrassed and that I didn’t need defending. I also think that was the post I referred to in a later post in which I said I might have been a bit short in some replies, edited those replies, and apologized.)
Thanks for pointing out Susan Branch’s blog, I really enjoyed reading that. I will be re-reading as well.
Have a good night!
Thanks for reminding me that I need to grab some time today to re-read the post, Mary Ann.
I loved the photos of the horses. It reminded me of when I used to go riding as a child. I contracted polio as a baby and when I was about 8 started riding with a ‘riding for the disabled’ organisation. It was the highlight of my week and I remember writing an essay about it when I was a teenager saying that it was the one time when I felt the same as other people because the horses legs became my legs and we could do anything together. The horse I rode was called Golden Boy and he was so kind and gentle. We loved each other.
What a lovely memory, Valerie! My sister is going to enroll my nephew (who has cerebral palsy) in riding therapy.
I follow Meredith’s blog and really hope that your nephew gets as much joy from horse riding as I did. Also I was speaking to my friend today who lives in California ( I live in the UK) and she and her family are still trying to come to terms with the outcome of the election.
I originally found your blog through Susan Branch’s, so it was fitting that you would mention her the other day. I had become accustomed to her being overseas and not posting much. Her words were healing.
Claudia, I’d love to wrap my arms around you and give you a big hug. There is nothing new in this world, just the mask ripped off the uglier elements of it. Pet the horses, take pictures, wear a safety pin, do your theater work, continue your miniature hobby. You bring light to many lives.
I think you’re right, Melina. Wise words. The mask has simply been ripped off.
Bless you, I will take your advice!
I enjoyed the post from Susan Branch too and it is one I want to go back and read again…she gave me a lot to ponder. Your horse photos are wonderful-especially Mr. Ed! Since my mom passed away, I have been in touch with one of her cousins who rescues horses and cares for them on her small farm; she says it is the best retirement job for her & her husband. Hope you have a great weekend!
Don would love nothing better than to have more property and a barn and rescue horses. It is definitely a dream of his, Debbie.