Augustus!

Way back when, what exactly did it take to have a month named after you?  I really haven't a clue but, I do know that August was named after Augustus Ceasar.  August is one of those months we can love and hate.  It is a wonderful month, it's still summer but, looming as the numbers increase and the hours of sunlight decrease, is September.  The start of another season, Fall is starting to infiltrate the days with little hints of its' imminent arrival.  I want to relish the last days of August... A little fact finding....  Did you know the full moon in August is called the Blueberry Moon(according to the Chippewa).  The flower is Poppy and the birthstone is Peridot(for married happiness.)  Some other notable happenings in Augusts' history:

8/1  Francis Scott Key was born, 1779

8/3  Columbus sailed from Spain, 1492

8/13  Annie Oakley was born, 1860

8/22 The Red Cross was founded, 1864

A few more facts:

August is a great month to observe meteors. 

Early apples need to be handle with care they are softer than the keeping varieties.  

Now is the time for harvesting early potatoes, onions and squash!   Corn is still pentiful!  

Enough of  interesting tidbits...get the real low down on the history of August and very interesting facts by clicking here! 

Here is New Hampshire it is a lovely day!  I hope you enjoy your today and the last days of this fine month.  

 "There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart."  Celia Thaxter

 

Throwing Pots, Take 2!

Friday night.  Back to writing with the hopes of not loosing any content before I finish and send this to cyberspace! 

I have spent many, many years teaching and educating kids and adults with variety of creative classes and workshop.  I have helped them learn and expand their minds.  My goal as a creative business person is to help people find creative solutions and better understand, that by engaging in the creative process(there are infinite ways of doing this) they are enriching their lives on all other levels as well.  Duh, in the process of taking care of business I wasn't taking care of myself and somewhere along the way, my own creative flow was slowing turning into a trickle!   Flash forward to this past Tuesday.  During a round about conversation, Roberta suggested I join her pottery class which was starting a new session this week.  Now,  you need to know that a round about conversation it is discussion that becomes scattered going from one subject to another.  The topics are randomly connected.  Its' the name I give to those conversations with friends that cover ten topics in ten minutes.  They have a impulsive quality to them.   In order to have those conversations you must be a random abstract thinker.  That I am.  Before I had a chance to rationalize why I should/could not take a class, I called David Pellerin at his Studio in Springfield.  Sure enough he had room, problem was I couldn't make the Thursday class this week.  Not to worry, i could pop in Wednesday night then join up with the Thursday group the following week!   No turning back now.  On the drive to Wellhouse Farm Pottery, it dawned on me just how pathetic and fortuitous this situation was.  I had not been heeding my own advice(BAD!)  I knew this would help restore my creative flow(REALLY GOOD!)  I was already grateful and I had not even crossed the town line into Springfield.  Beaming, excited and with out a doubt awed by the studio and everything David is doing and offering.  His teaching style, similar to mine.  It had been thirty years since taking a pottery class so, I considered myself a ceramics virgin.  Three hours, one collapsed pot and three actual pots later,  I was in the car heading home, smiling...and knowing this was a good decision(For oodles of reasons!).  Thanks Roberta! Thanks David!  See you both next week.  Those of you reading this,  look for updates on my new adventure!

Throwing pots!

OK - this just stinks!  I just spent about 30 minutes crafting a really exciting post!  Remember, the angst I spoke about in my last post?  Technology can be a pain in the butt sometimes!  I was just about finished, hit a button and viola...the whole thing disappeared!!  AARRGHH!  The new version doesn't allow me to revert!!

Oh well!  No need to throw the laptop across the room...but, I do have to go to an appointment.  Later today I will rewrite this great post so, check back :)  It's a good one!

Lesson- deep breathing is helpful in stressful situations!

Transistor Radios!

A simple thought while driving in Jeannie’s new car yesterday has turned into today's blog.  Thirty, twenty, fifteen or even ten years ago, if someone had told me: we could verbally communicate with a car, my response may have been, never!  While just the thought of speaking out loud, into the cabin and making requests would have seemed implausible years ago, the current reality is as clear as the voice, from the dashboard!  How about a navigation system that not only gives you directions but continually calculates the exact arrival time to your destination.  Fascinating!   Technology has come a very long way from the “super neat” transistor radio complete with a single earpiece(not ear buds!) that you could tune into one or two am stations and listen to the ball game!  For me this was my techno reality in the late 60’s.   By the 80’s, I used to take pride in the fact that I could wire any stereo system.  Woofers, sub woofers, really large speakers(bigger equated with better sound), receivers and turntables - I had mastered them all!  Nowadays, I can just manage the dish box and two remotes that get me to the Weather channel!  I am by no means a techno phobe but, somewhere along the line I have become a techno slacker. The transitions happen so quickly from one high tech gadget to the next.   I think I am officially joining the ranks of an older generation that is reluctant to embrace a changing world?  Remember the pleasures of riding in a car,  when the only entertainment was the ever-changing view from the window.  Our imaginations were turned on, not our dvd players, computers, cell phones and handheld gadgets.  I am awed by the little machines and cyberspace. Do I really need the gadgets?  Are they taking time away from what is important and nurturing?  Do they make my life easier and bring me joy cause me angst?  I love the simplicity and pace of a life without them.  As I sit on the porch this morning sipping the best coffee ever and writing; the summer rain is falling, a flock of geese just flew over and a humming bird stopped and visited for a fleeting moment.   Yet, here I am typing away on my computer putting my thoughts down and publishing my words on the web for literally anyone in the world to see.  How amazing is that!  

An open mind that makes room for change
so it will prosper with knowledge and acceptance.   
A closed mind that is reluctant to change
will become corroded and decay.
.
I will most likely never own a KIndle like Mark and it will be a long time before my car will respond to my voice, but I have an open mind and I have learned to never say never!


This site is a layperson’s view of future technology and society -to check out!  Future For All

This is one of my favorite catalogs and web sites.  Lehman’s the worlds largest purveyors of historical technology!

It's 72 Degrees According to the Crickets!

An interesting insect  more closely related to a katydid than a
grasshopper.   Last night, outside, under my bedroom window a feisty little male was calling for a mate!  Great!  Tossing and turning at 1:30am, the sound of this eager little cricket chirping did little to ease me back to sleep.   If anything the courtship was driving me nuts.  The females don't make the same noise.  So, what she did to lure the horny guy away from my window, I don't know but, I was grateful!   I remember someone once said, that it is good luck to have a cricket in your house.  I think not!  I was willing to risk bad luck for a lifetime the summer after we moved into our new house.  We had them inside frequently for about  two weeks.  There is nothing  fun about one outside the window  in the wee small hours of the morning.  Waking to them inside, could be considered a  living nightmare!  Their noise becomes unbearable and the  mystery of their hiding places  could drive a person insane!!  In my crazed insistence to search for and flush the culprits out the vacumn became my weapon of choice!  Free and clear and no bad luck...so, little crickets have your fun and thanks for keeping it outside!

Despite their nuisance they actually are interesting insects and we can learn from them.  Here is a great resource for anyone interested in learning more as well as  a valuable teachers  guide.  One thing to try is telling the temperature by counting the number of chirps a cricket chirps in 15 seconds.  Add 40 to that  number and you will have a number that is pretty darn close to the actual temperature (Fahrenhiet) outside.  There are a couple of  different  calculations but, this one is pretty accurate!   Here is the  link!  Have fun!