Month: July 2020

Relaxing indoors | #WeekendCoffeeShare 2020/07/31

by Lizl/Liz Bennefeld

Welcome! It’s nearly noon on Friday, the last day of the month. Allergy season has sneaked up on me, and so life has slowed to a measured pace. There are snacks for a coffee visit, however, and something more substantial if this were to be mealtime. Cheese, gluten-free flax bread, tinned kippers (my lunch choice, today–protein meal, since I had a plate of salad greens for breakfast), and some mixed nuts. As always, hot & black tea, toddy coffee, or filtered water.

If we were settling in for a visit, today, I would lament, it seems that the allergens are arriving earlier and staying longer, each year. The grass pollen is still hanging around, and although the ragweed has not shown up, yet, the chenopods are in full production. I checked the list for our county, and there are quite a few that I could be reacting to.

I would tell you that I have been through this for many years, now. And it always sneaks in when I am not looking for it. I must not exercise in the gazebo, now, unless rain has washed the pollen out of the air, and so I will clear the area around the elliptical machine so it will be more accessible.

There is a good aspect to this, however, in that clearing the space for the elliptical machine also makes the piano easier to get to. A couple of days ago, I started out with a quarter hour of arpeggios. My hope is that sneaking the piano playing back in, and increasing time spent at it, will help to rebuild the muscles in my arms and lessen the numbness in hand and shoulder. (The free weights are too tempting, and I tend to overdo them, which sets me back rather than helping. Have to build up to them, again.)

More coffee? Tea? I’m going to hot up my cup a bit.

Leaf and Shadow

Since early morning is not a good time to go out with my camera, what with the increased pollen, there was more variety in my photo subjects, today. Still some dewdrops, but Al mowed the yard and the dew mostly dried up. The Scampers and I woke up a couple times, early this morning, but we rolled over and slept for a few more hours.

leaves in the snow
Leaf and Twigs
Nibbled or Pecked
Chilled Fruit

I did not turn on a computer until later in the morning. There are times when although I do not do Morning Pages a la photography (or writing), I do just sit and think for a while about things without tying it to an activity. (I am much less clumsy during the day…once my body’s awake.) Or, I write a blog post, or more specifically a Weekend Coffee Share post.

 

I have gotten out of the habit of writing daily Coffee Break posts, but I’d like to get back into it. There’s more room to spread out than using Facebook for that purpose. And Dreamwidth, I have not used for a while but should, because it is a quieter enclave for browsing and for nattering to myself. And I find posting photographs to be more difficult at DW, which keeps me from sidetracking to the “decorative” blogging to avoid thinking through and recording thoughts.

A lot of introspection and fussing, today, and not much substance. I guess I will go off and do that elsewhere after seeing to the menagerie.

Thank you for stopping by!

Hugs & best wishes!
Lizl

Weekend Coffee Share is hosted by Allison at her Eclectic Alli blog, which you will find Here along with links to other Weekend Coffee Share participants.

 

Hot Air — #WeekendCoffeeShare

by Lizl/Liz Bennefeld

Weekend Coffee Share is a time for us to take a break out of our lives and enjoy some time catching up with friends (old and new)! Grab a cup of coffee and share with us! What’s been going on in your life? What are your weekend plans? Is there a topic you’ve just been ruminating on that you want to talk about?

Weekend Coffee Share is hosted by Allison, and on her blog, Eclectic Alli, you will find her post and the Inlinkz link party link for the weekend.

Coffee or Tea?

Welcome to my mess! The week was far too short, as were the days. And the nights were not long enough for both sleep and completing what I wanted.

If we were getting together for coffee, this weekend…we would be having iced tea. Or iced coffee. Or cold water. There is an Excessive Heat Warning that I am taking seriously, considering my seasonal allergies, sensitivities, and intolerance of hot, muggy weather in general. No inviting weather in the forecast until next Monday. The basement, which we no longer use as living space, but dehumidify, using those rooms for storage, may offer a cool retreat. (I should check the rainfall forecast, also.)

I would tell you that most days, I got in at least 12 miles on the exercise bike, reading Princeps and Imager’s Batallion, both by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. I am not quite ready to leave this enjoyable rereading of the twelve books in The Imager Portfolio. His most recent release (out this month) looks like a total shift in themes and not related, as far as I can tell, to any of the previous series. I may put off buying it for a month or two, when it will be a better fit with my reading stream.

If we were visiting together, this weekend, I would tell you that  I wrote a few tanka, as well as my Ronovan Writes Poetry weekly challenge. Also, during my weekday Write-In hour, I began and made progress on a sketch/rough draft for a longer poem for which I have hopes. I’ll keep going and see what happens. Normally, I do not put time into longer pieces.

* * *

And now, after much doing and sleeping and such, this is Sunday evening. I am hoping to finish this post before turning in for the night. The Artist’s Way workshop session on Saturday was filled with interesting discussions that sidetracked me for the rest of the day, and also via Zoom, Sunday’s meeting for worship.

If we were having coffee together, this evening, I would also tell you that one of my long-term friends made an appointment for a phone visit, which took place after Saturday lunch. We had a great time catching up on what’s happening and what we’ve been doing and thinking about since the last time we visited (which was the end of March). We have again determined to not let so much time pass before the next phone call. She and I have been friends since the 70s.  My brother Scott was in college, then. So many years ago!

I have ended this day with exercising and napping. Time, now, to find a last meal before going to sleep. Thank you for stopping in. I hope to visit your Weekend Coffee Share post on Monday, as I am able.

Hugs & much love,
Lizl

30 October 2016 #3857
30 October 2016 #3860

Winds and Raindrops | #WeekendCoffeeShare on 17 July 2020

by Lizl/Liz Bennefeld

Weekend Coffee Share is a time for us to take a break out of our lives and enjoy some time catching up with friends (old and new)! Grab a cup of coffee and share with us! What’s been going on in your life? What are your weekend plans? Is there a topic you’ve just been ruminating on that you want to talk about?

Weekend Coffee Share is hosted by Eclectic Alli, and on her blog you will find her post and the Inlinkz link party link for this weekend.

 

 

buff cocker, sleeping Welcome to my weekend coffee share! I am sharing my chair, today, with Thaddeus, the younger Scamper. He is sleeping.

The tea is hot, the coffee pot is on, and there is fresh mozzarella cheese and gluten-free corn crackers to go with the cheese. This week has gone by so very fast that I have lost track of most of what has happened.

If you and I were visiting together, I would share the two poems that I wrote earlier in the week. One, “Venus and Mars“, was to a two-word prompt (Finger and Planet); that one turned out to be a lot of fun. The second, “a raindrop life“, came into my mind as I was reviewing the photographs I’d taken the morning after an overnight rainstorm. It’s fun when poems pop into mind. I almost always write micropoetry.

Speaking of weather, the past few days have seemed too warm. Al mowed the yard on Wednesday, which was good timing, since Thursday was even hotter. Tonight we are promised +75mph winds (unless they go somewhere else), as well as severe thunderstorms (possibly) and/or a tornado. No mention of hail, that I saw, but I suspect that hail has a probability assigned also. All too often, it seems, the forecast is heavy on “It might…but it might not”.

Al has found a spare computer monitor that works; I can now shut down my desktop computer safely rather than just pulling the plug as the storms move in. He’s put the two monitors that no longer work into the back of the car, so that I have room on the computer table for the little one that used to be on my reloading bench, when that was in the basement.

Given the more favorable weather during the week, I have spent much of my time outside, either taking photographs or reading in the gazebo while pedaling the exercise bike. That is still going well. Except for today, because the heat index got too high. And so, the elliptical machine in the front room.

I would confess, even face to face, that my poor laptop (13″ HP convertible) refused to work unless I would clear up enough disk space that it could do its stuff. I spent a lot of time, yesterday and the day before, rehoming all photo files downloaded from my cameras, except for the current month. I have promised myself that I will also go through the warehoused files to delete whatever I am certain I will not be using.

I have been reviewing the chapter for Week 3 Artist’s Way leading up to Saturday’s session (workshop via Zoom). That is “Recovering a Sense of Power”. My scope  is not a broad one. Mostly internal and/or close at hand. I am not inclined toward anger, shame, or gratuitous guilt, as a general rule. I do recall that as a child and long into adulthood, I have been self-determining (i.e., stubborn as a mule). I have come to look upon that as a virtue. Chapter 4 is “Recovering a Sense of Integrity”.  I feel like making up new Tasks for Chapter 4.

All in all, it has been a very good week, here, with chores caught up on, tasks done (but for yesterday’s bowls and cups in the sink for washing), exercise and daily conversations, the Scampers’ digestive tracts no longer malfunctioning, and a recognition that feeding anxiety is not a productive pastime. Better a short exercise session and a brief nap!

I mentioned daily photographs as being my AW “Morning Pages” for the time being, I believe. I would share a few of my recent favorites.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I look forward to dropping by your blog for a visit. Best wishes for your week!

Hugs,
Lizl

 

P.S. As I was going through poetry archives on my Quiet Spaces web journal (sort of Artist Date activity for the Artist’s Way), I came across a poem that I wrote two years  and two days after my mother died. Extended Conversations. It was during the NaNoWriMo month, when online friends and I were writing a poem a day during November. A resonance between the Artist’s Way workshop and the poem.

#WeekendCoffeeShare 12 July 2020 | Rediscoveries

by Lizl/Liz Bennefeld

Weekend Coffee Share is a time for us to take a break out of our lives and enjoy some time catching up with friends (old and new)! Grab a cup of coffee and share with us! What’s been going on in your life? What are your weekend plans? Is there a topic you’ve just been ruminating on that you want to talk about?

Weekend Coffee Share is hosted by Eclectic Alli, and on her blog you will find the Inlinkz link party link for this weekend.

 

 

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share post. If we were having coffee together, this afternoon, you could have “virtually” any beverage you’d like. I have moved from coffee to hot, black tea and mixed nuts, and I look forward to some blueberries in yogurt for supper…. The Scampers and I took a nap and have just awakened, again, in time for their second meal of the day. Now, they’re sleeping it off, and I am trying to get back into writing this post.

If we were having a visit, this afternoon (evening?), I would tell you that I have spent a lot of the week reading in the gazebo, while pedaling the exercise bike. If it hadn’t been for the hot, muggy days of yesterday and today, I would have had better mileage. But I still am happy with it. Feeling more comfortable in my own skin and fairly relaxed.

Yesterday, I attended the third session of the Artist’s Way workshop, led by Sean Shannon. Again, I enjoyed the discussion of the materials and the anecdotes from participants. One of the traits that I identified in myself as the discussion progressed is stubbornness (reasoned determination?). For better or (occasionally) worse, I forged my own paths as I saw them. And I found that I do not persist when I have made a bad decision or done something really stupid or discovered that I do not like doing something that I’d thought I would enjoy.

As an example, some people who enjoyed my oral storytelling suggested that I write books. Thanks to April Kihlstrom’s Book in a Week sessions and later on, NaNoWriMo, I wrote two books. I discovered that telling myself the stories and finding out where they led and ended was the end of my enjoyment. I have no interest at all in edit, rewrite, elegance of style, or polishing a manuscript.

I can spend cheerful decades pounding on a 14-line poem until it finally falls into place, and I can spin off micropoems and rework them until they do what I want them to. But writing a book for publication, or even just for completion, would be distracting and then abandoned. I am grateful that I discovered this before I wasted too much time on it. I love reading good books; I now have several thousand ebooks on my nook and in backup drives. I don’t want to write them. I want to write poetry and the occasional essay or article, and I want to take photographs of the world around me.

If we were visiting together, I would also tell you that while I am an attentive listener, while I am listening, if some phrase or anecdote or idea snags me, I may start talking and not stop until I have talked my train of thought to its bitter end. That is, I am perhaps not the world’s greatest “conversationalist.” If I actually spent a lot of time with people, I would have even fewer friends than I do.

Related to that, I realized during meeting for worship, today, that it is not knowing things that pleases me, but the finding out—the discovering, ferreting out and understanding things—that delights me. And “religion” not being a creed, to me, but a relationship. Sort of like my joy of playing the piano or harmonica or recorder, but not caring particularly to listen to music. I enjoy the physicality of it. (Ditto, sports and athletics.) The exception would be visual arts, which I enjoy equally with my own photography.

Books, this week: Finished the last of the Marion Zimmer Bradley trilogy I was rereading and started rereading The One-Eyed Man, by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. I am getting into Linda Seger’s Jesus Rode a Donkey. And  also a first-time read,I have been enjoying in particular Ice Melts in the Wind: The Seasonal Poems of Kokinshu, translated from the Japanese by Larry Hammer. Not the first book of his translations of Japanese poetry that I have read and enjoyed.

If you and I were conversing over a cup of tea, this evening, I would show you photographs that I took during and after a rainstorm, a few days ago. I love taking pictures of rain and raindrops. They fascinate me.

Rest Stop
Ice Fog

And also, wildflowers in the rain:

Nobody’s listening
All alone

Thank you for stopping by for coffee, tea, and conversation, this weekend. I look forward to visiting your blog and catching up on what is happening in your life.

My best wishes for your and yours as you enter this new week!

Hugs & much love,
Lizl

P.S. I have misplaced my reading glasses, again. Please excuse the tyops!