Tiny Dancer

Posted by Tiny Dancer / Thursday, January 17, 2019 / No comments / Viva

Frohe Weihnachten aus Wien

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Frohe Weihnachten aus Wien

Clarity and Calm

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<span style="text-align: justify;">The clarity of the water of the canals in Copenhagen.  The streamlined boardwalks winding up and around the water’s edges like roller coasters, the welcoming walking paths with winter birds darting among the trees, their deep emeralds flashing in scattered sunlight, the low bridges from which rosy-cheeked handsome families could feed the swans and geese, the bench from which I could drink a cold beer and watch the water birds glide toward overhanging bushes laden with crimson berries.  I mentioned my surprise to the Danish artist next to me on the airplane.  As an American, I did not know it was possible that waterways in a city could be clean.</span><br />
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The ubiquitous tastefulness of the city baffled me as well.  Where were the half-deflated dirty plastic snowmen, the tacky Christmas lights?  It was a designer city.  White twinkling lights only.  Even near the University.  Not a Pikachu or rotund Mrs. Claus in sight.

He was critical.  He was an artist.  Copenhagen was antiseptic; the mishmash of New York City inspired creativity.<br />
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Clean air and water, a clear focus on humanitarianism, a global outlook concerning the earth's welfare inspire me.  I think he meant that Copenhagen was too homogeneous.  Its people all good-looking and heck, the happiest people in the world.  Perhaps he prefers the color of diversity.  Understandable enough.  Maybe he needs to feel more struggle around him.  I was on vacation and definitely did not.</div>
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Viva

Clarity and Calm

The clarity of the water of the canals in Copenhagen. The streamlined boardwalks winding up and around the water’s edges like roll...

Lisbon, Portugal

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Downing a couple cold beers while listening to an African band on a terrace above the city as the sun sinks.</div>
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Roaming Lisbon late at night with its many ghosts.</div>
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Archangels working overtime get me safely home.</div>
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Prince Henry the Navigator guards this portal of Santa Maria de Belem.  For four hundred years an order of monks in the adjacent monastery prayed for the eternal soul of  King Manuel the First and provided the last spiritual sanctuary for  explorers leaving from Lisbon.  Patron saint of sailors Saint Vincent is entombed here and the patron saint of sailors and the city, Anthony was baptized here.  </div>
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Imagine the many full hearts over nearly a thousand years pouring out their worries and petitions. </div>
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Just outside the door of my accommodation.  Only five-star for me.  It's the way you really get to feel a place.  At some points the sidewalk pinches to nonexistence and avoiding getting crushed by a trolley can be a bit tricky.  They are not as friendly as they might appear.</div>
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Note the street lamp holders.  The branches and cones are yuletide decorations slung across the city street that will glow in brilliant colors once the sun descends and darkness covers the town.  The town is spread across seven hills.  Many streets are decorated with unusual, fascinating holiday lights.  And yet high in the hills the steep cobbled brick alleys remain enshrouded in dark mystery, their grand old tile mansions surely occupied, but unlit.</div>
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Lisbon maintains its elegance. <br />
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New and remodeled buildings maintain the tiled exteriors.<br />
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The sidewalks and streets are made of a cobbled brick with interwoven patterns, many hearkening the sea.<br />
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Standing here on sea legs, my shadow reveals that I am after all just another lighthouse.<br />
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Beckoning seafarers home.<br />
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The metro incorporates the tile and hearkens the sea.<br />
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Entering a ship's hold.<br />
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Looking through the porthole.<br />
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Lisbon, Lisbon, take me in.<br />
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Viva

Lisbon, Portugal

Downing a couple cold beers while listening to an African band on a terrace above the city as the sun sinks. Roaming...

Lisbon - life is but a dream

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Lisbon, the tilting candle in the window, orange flame flickering.  Not far from her cozy port, unfurled masts flutter as the tempest grows, becoming wicked.  Screaming.   A cold driving rain compels the traveler climbing her steep cobbled alley on aching knees to duck low into a tavern door.  The light inside glows soft amber: a warm, buttery chardonnay.<br />
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By the fireside, a sailor’s lover sings her loss ever louder but she cannot drown the seductive sighs of the siren smirking in the room’s blackest shadow.  The stranger hears it all and cannot look into the lover’s eyes.<br />
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He orders his meal and stares into the fire.  A wind knocks at the window.  He will not look over.  Death hovers at the heavy door.  With an involuntary shudder, he feels the images he saw only yesterday engraved on cathedral door, sucking the souls now entombed within.  They desolate ones have come alive and are scratching now, clawing to be let in.<br />
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The waitress sets down his plate.  He nods quietly in gratitude.<br />
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A gift from the sea. </div>
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The sea giveth and the sea taketh away.<br />
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Could he have chosen another life?  Perhaps settled in a stone villa overlooking hills of grapevines?  Or applied a lifetime to proudly crafting beautiful tiles for the tall buildings here?  Taken a wife and multiplied?<br />
<br />
The wind is howling now.  Through a crack around the leaky door frame, a stream of wind sails in, nipping his neck, whispering in his ear.  This wind has come up the Tagus from the sea.  He can feel her.  It carries her persistence.  She, who beckoned him one black night not long ago.  No one was awake to hear her call rise from the depths.  Only him.<br />
<br />
Her gurgle turns into laughter again.  She tosses her seaweed hair.  He can feel her swaying movements.  She calls him even now.  He has felt her breasts.<br />
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Henry, she croons.  You are the sea.  I am the sea.  Let us ride together.</div>
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Viva

Lisbon - life is but a dream

Lisbon, the tilting candle in the window, orange flame flickering. Not far from her cozy port, unfurled masts flutter as the tempest grow...

Posted by Tiny Dancer / Sunday, November 4, 2018 / No comments / Viva

All Hallows Eve, All Souls Day, All Saints Day

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                                                                           Boo.<br />
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And on top of all this, the leaves are finally changing.  The woods are glowing.  </div>
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  It's so pretty it's scaring me.</div>
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Viva

All Hallows Eve, All Souls Day, All Saints Day

...

Posted by Tiny Dancer / Friday, October 12, 2018 / No comments / Viva

Environmental articles

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<br />
Sunset - last night - October 11th.  Happy birthday T.L* .<br />
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<br />
I'm in a political mood this morning for a recluse.  I woke between 2 am and 3 am with a burning idea for an op-ed piece for publication, so off it went to the NY Times around 6 am.  While I didn't find the IUCN compendium of wetlands book yesterday that should have been on the library shelf for this week's assignment, I did find a book on industrial ecology, which described the Life Cycle Assessment tracking the carbon footprint of goods each step along the way from inception or extraction to disposal.  That kindled an explosion of helpless feelings about the recently released UN climate change report and the continued egregious actions of our administration. Thus the op-ed was born.<br />
<br />
I am gaining a solid base of understanding of where we are environmentally from the articles I am assigned by Greentumble.  It occurred to me that I have been writing articles for Greentumble weekly for about two years now - is that one hundred articles? and since I routinely trash the past from my laptop, that I should probably try to figure out which ones were my contributions (I am a member of the editorial staff) and list them somewhere.  I'm pretty sure I did this once on this blog in the past, but I have no idea where, so this time I'll use a searchable title.<br />
<br />
Here is what I have come up with.  Obviously, it's far fewer than one hundred, but I didn't get much sleep last night and my memory isn't all that long-term, so it will have to do for now.  I'll try to update it a bit more regularly, maybe even create a separate tab. Although sometimes it's overwhelming and depresses me, I am glad for learning about the adverse health effects of plastic bags in the ocean and how they don't break down and aren't recycled and that other countries are far ahead of us in admitting to and taking on the problem.<br />
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/major-threats-to-biodiversity/">https://greentumble.com/major-threats-to-biodiversity/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/why-is-it-important-to-conserve-biodiversity/">https://greentumble.com/why-is-it-important-to-conserve-biodiversity/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/why-is-biodiversity-important-to-ecosystems/">https://greentumble.com/why-is-biodiversity-important-to-ecosystems/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/the-greatest-contributors-to-climate-change/">https://greentumble.com/the-greatest-contributors-to-climate-change/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/the-main-causes-of-land-pollution/">https://greentumble.com/the-main-causes-of-land-pollution/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/?s=air+pollution+and+it+effects">https://greentumble.com/?s=air+pollution+and+it+effects</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/?s=diseases+caused+by+water+pollution">https://greentumble.com/?s=diseases+caused+by+water+pollution</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/10-reasons-why-species-become-endangered/">https://greentumble.com/10-reasons-why-species-become-endangered/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/serious-effects-of-plastic-pollution-on-human-health/">https://greentumble.com/serious-effects-of-plastic-pollution-on-human-health/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/?s=what+is+biodegradable+plastic">https://greentumble.com/?s=what+is+biodegradable+plastic</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/?s=can+plastic+bags+be+recycled">https://greentumble.com/?s=can+plastic+bags+be+recycled</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/how-does-climate-change-affect-biodiversity/">https://greentumble.com/how-does-climate-change-affect-biodiversity/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/roof-mount-vs-ground-mount-solar-systems/">https://greentumble.com/roof-mount-vs-ground-mount-solar-systems/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/pros-and-cons-of-gmos/">https://greentumble.com/pros-and-cons-of-gmos/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/incentives-and-rebates-available-for-solar-power/">https://greentumble.com/incentives-and-rebates-available-for-solar-power/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/renewable-energy-options-for-the-eco-friendly-house/">https://greentumble.com/renewable-energy-options-for-the-eco-friendly-house/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/best-ways-to-store-solar-energy/">https://greentumble.com/best-ways-to-store-solar-energy/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/solar-panel-mounting-options/">https://greentumble.com/solar-panel-mounting-options/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/diseases-caused-by-water-pollution/">https://greentumble.com/diseases-caused-by-water-pollution/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/what-is-thermal-pollution/">https://greentumble.com/what-is-thermal-pollution/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/long-term-effects-of-overfishing/">https://greentumble.com/long-term-effects-of-overfishing/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/how-did-sea-turtles-become-endangered/">https://greentumble.com/how-did-sea-turtles-become-endangered/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/the-devastating-consequences-of-wildlife-poaching/">https://greentumble.com/the-devastating-consequences-of-wildlife-poaching/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/deadly-ghost-fishing/">https://greentumble.com/deadly-ghost-fishing/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/what-causes-animals-to-become-extinct/">https://greentumble.com/what-causes-animals-to-become-extinct/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://greentumble.com/valuable-aboriginal-water-knowledge/">https://greentumble.com/valuable-aboriginal-water-knowledge/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<br />
Luckily, this week I stumbled upon a Billy Collins' poem, <i>Cosmology, </i>its first stanzas eliciting my mischievous grin:<br />
<br />
"I never put any stock in that image of the earth<br />
resting on the backs of four elephants<br />
who are standing on a giant sea turtle,<br />
who is in turn supported by an infinite regression<br />
of turtles disappearing into a bottomless forever.<br />
I mean who in their right mind would?<br />
<br />
But now that we are on the subject,<br />
my substitute picture would have the earth<br />
with its entire population of people and things<br />
resting on the head of Keith Richards,<br />
who is holding a Marlboro in one hand<br />
and a bottle of Jack Daniel's in the other.<br />
<br />
As long as Keith keeps talking about<br />
the influence of the blues on the Rolling Stones,<br />
the earth will continue to spin merrily<br />
and revolve in a timely manner around the sun.<br />
<br /></div>

Viva

Environmental articles

Sunset - last night - October 11th. Happy birthday T.L* . I'm in a political mood this morning for a recluse. I woke between ...

Posted by Tiny Dancer / Monday, July 30, 2018 / No comments / Viva

Seasons come and go

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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The seasons come and go and I reinvent myself, finding innovative ways to stay here deep in the forest where there are few jobs and slow, sporadic internet connections.  In the cold winter I build fires in the cabin now.  I had a metal liner and flu put in the twenty-four foot high rock chimney as I had to remove the trusty wood stove that melted.  Don't ask.  It's not as efficient, but it's pretty to have it open, though truly, looking through the window of the stove was surprisingly rewarding when it comes to the pleasure of gazing into a fire.  As comforting as the ritual is, presuming there is time for it before nightfall, it seemed as though the winter would never ever ever end.  It was brutally cold at times as well. </span><br />
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Hannah and I made a safari to the beach while it was still chilly, but at least there was sunshine.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So when Spring finally came, with the first buds, I felt as though I was budding right along with it.  It was a long rainy Spring, with brief heat spells that caused flowering before the bees were out and successive bites of cold that stole the blossoms that might have been pollinated by hook or crook.  Still, it was lovely and again I fell under the spell of the cherry blossoms the apple blossoms, the pear blossoms, the blueberry blossoms and even a few peach and almond blossoms, wandering around with shovel and trowel, planting everything imaginable.  </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Blueberry blossoms</span><br />
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Apple blossoms<br />
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Easter<br />
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Made the annual trip down to the Spirit of the Suwanee and camped and danced with good friends at Wanee festival.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Not sure.  Maybe I was feeling like Godzilla?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hanging out with Luke at Three Notched (celebrating Mother's Day, how lucky am I?) next to the Art Park in Charlottesville when a storm blew in before the show:  Rising Appalachia.  A lot of friends showed up and it was an excellent time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Charlottesville is a sweet town.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The kids came out and helped with a fence to keep the rabbits and groundhogs out at least.  As I write this, I am cringing from this morning's discovery that someone ate the beautiful squash I had placed on a wood block (aka china platter for some lucky sucker) to keep it form the ground insects and microorganisms.  Although the plants are lush and spreading, I may have to relinquish my hopes of squash again this year and just trot on in to the Farmers' Market and latch up enough organic acorn and butternut squashes for the winter.  They generally keep well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">                                                                                                                                                       </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So on the subject of
reinvention.  It is so different than the working climate I grew up in, a
steel town where employees were expected to remain at the mill until
retirement.  And then they came back at
the noon whistle with their lunch boxes and ate with their working buddies. 
Except for a few niches, it is necessary now to have diverse skill sets.  Fine
by me; I was never one to stay put anyway.<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For most of the Spring, I also had three jobs.  I took a seasonal part-time job at a garden center just because I wanted to.  For starters, I've always wanted to work at Lowe's.  I like the idea of tapping into the specialized knowledge bases of the respective departments.  There are so many things I know little or nothing about that I would like to know about, if not master.  How did they decide what to put in the hardware aisle?  What exactly are the rules for mixing paint?  I took a certain pride in being referred to as The Plant Lady not long after assuming my position in the garden center.  My co-workers routinely referred customers with wonderful questions to me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And manning the phone for indoor seasonal while its staff was at lunch always promised the unexpected as I spent little time in there, only watering the indoor flowers and leading customers to hoses or grass seed.  But the critical hour my colleague relaxed frequently brought my knowledge of lawn mowers, grills and chain saws to the test.  Because I know little of any of these products, I approached it as a treasure hunt for knowledge and that was often all it took.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I found a lot of cool lawn tools and other do-hickies in there that I did not know existed, like a little knob you can out on your John Deere mower wheel to make turning easier.  That might be the next fifteen bucks I spend.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The call to expand horizons could depended on the route selected to get back to home base outside in the lawn and garden center.  Electrical was right outside the bathroom door and a danger to all employees as we had a ten foot rule, meaning we HAD to ask a nearby customer if we could help them.  More than once I found myself gazing into the eyes of someone speaking Greek to me as he held two
gizmos and repeatedly thrust them together. Was he thinking that if he did this enough times I would  reach into a bin
and pull out the part that would solve his problem?  I found this amusing.  I would good-naturedly explore the problem to
its conclusion, which in Electrical usually meant finding the person who manned
that department, though occasionally it was a problem I had solved once in my
personal life.  Plumbing was a good deal
of fun.  A couple women were sent into
the garden center by their husbands who told them the part they needed to
repair their broken pond pump system was right inside the door by the cash
registers.  In fact, the basic offering
by the registers did not have parts for motors or a standard fits-all irrigation
piping as they were led to believe, and so we journeyed together to the
plumbing section and discussed the possibility of different sizes and just using
clamps, which was my back-up solution for all plumbing connections.  I have no idea how many of my suggestions
were in fact useful, but generally we parted ways satisfied.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As for the garden center
itself, well the flowers were awfully pretty but it was bloody hot and humid as
summer wore on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Loading bag after bag of
lumpy, heavy gravel and leaking rain-drenched mulch and then opening the door
to the gates of hell, which was the impression one had when opening the heavy
doors of the straw trailer, getting slammed in the face with a roil of heat
that you had to then crawl into and pull down bales of straw so tightly tied
that the twine would cut through your hand if you could manage to slither a
finger under it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>And the itchy straw
would stick to your muddy legs and arms while some large bloke would be waiting
below for you to load it into his pickup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>I’m not complaining.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I took the
job, but the fact is that I am a tiny old lady.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>Where were the big guys they hired to load you might ask, as I
frequently did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Well, they have
disappeared into the cool shadows in the back of the store, removed from the
customers and the plants.<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Front of the garden center</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I only signed up for a
seasonal job, which I scheduled to end the day before a tendon surgery…and
while I was mildly tempted to stay in another department like fashion bath, the
truth is that it is almost impossible not to sustain a physical injury there
and I just don’t want to risk it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I may
go back next Spring when the flowers come in again though.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have another part-time
job as a job coach for disabled adults which I like a good deal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>It is impossible to describe what it involves
because I never know from one day to the next, even when it’s the same person
in the same situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I have refrained
from accepting any of the responsible tasks like finding the right job, though
I have got involved as early as accompanying a client to an interview.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I pretty much pinch-hit for other vocational
counselors when they are overbooked and this was one of those situations when I
drove out of my territory and into a neighborhood where I knocked on the door
of the scariest house, unsure if it was even the right one because the dusty
weathered mail spilling out of the overstuffed box on the porch did not include
any names I recognized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Well, when I was
at last able to coax the heavily perfumed young man into my car – he was
wearing name brand sportswear more expensive than the net worth of his home – I
had a hard time getting him to do much more than grunt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>In prepping him for questions he might get
asked during his interview, I asked hopefully, “So what will you say when you
are asked why you want this job?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>“I don’t,”
he said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I did not slam on the brakes
and turn around, but inquired a little further to determine whether I had heard
him correctly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Again I was faced with a dilemma.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The choice is his.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>But maybe fear was just getting the better of
him?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>So I told him since his counselor
told me he wanted the job, if he changed his mind he could tell her so after they
offered it to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>That seemed like a
fair compromise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>So when we were waiting
for the swinging doors in front of us to open and issue forth the interviewer,
I asked him again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>“So what are you
going to say when he asks you why you want this job?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>He again replied, “I don’t want the job.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I re-explained to him that he <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">might </i></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">want the job after it
was offered and he kind of sort of agreed that he would answer that he wanted
it because it was close to his home and he always wanted to work there.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">  </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So when the guy with the fuzzy reindeer
antlers affixed to his baseball cap took us into the dismal windowless concrete
room and asked why he wanted the job and then looked shocked when my client
said that he did not want the job, I was ready and talked loud and fast. Indicating
that my client was simply nervous and he lived nearby so he would have no
problem getting there regularly and on time and that he always wanted to work
there.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">  </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The interviewer was relieved with
this explanation and hired him.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Something else I forgot
to mention is that we almost did not even make it to the interview because I
lost my client.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Literally lost him,
though he is a big guy and appeared even bigger in his oversized shiny sports
shorts and shirt and the name brand socks, all f this get-up highlighting his
hairy legs the size of tree trunks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>Still, I lost him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Having driven
two hours after two cups of coffee, I had to pee like a banshee and thrust my
notebook with all of the work access passwords I did not know into his hands
and asked him to wait right there while I sprinted to the bathroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>When I came out three minutes later, he had
vanished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I scanned he parking lot
wondering if he could have escaped that quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I called his regular counselor who thankfully
did not answer as I felt rather remiss losing him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Then I paged him, though I wasn’t even
certain of his first name, something odd that started with a T or maybe a
P.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>At any rate, the page worked and he
reappeared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I think he had been admiring
himself in front of the mirror near the dressing rooms as he knew where it was
on our way out and stood in front of it for quite a while smiling at himself
until I was at last able to get his attention and take him back home. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He quit the job before he
started because he could in fact not work the hours he applied to work.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That is just one example
of one day, but I have to say I never regret the experiences because there is
always something that makes me wonder and smile, if not giggle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The downside generally always involves the
caretakers who, in my experience have no regard for the fact that the job
involves an income for me and if I do not know in advance my client is not
going to show up, this limits my opportunities to find an alternative income to
fill the gap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I find this inconsideration
quite frustrating when they either know well in advance when the client is not
going to be at work or whimsically decide it’s not convenient for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>In the past month, the mother of a client
failed to provide advance notice three times, for interludes of one day, two
weeks and another week, respectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Add
that lost income up for a month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Perhaps
she thinks I work for a government program rather than a private company and
get paid anyway; more likely she doesn’t think of me at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Each time it was my client who delivered the
news that he was going to the doctor’s or to camp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>And how was I to know if it was true?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>He also told me that he has ducks in his sock
that squish like mustard and that he had a poor night’s sleep because Curious
George the monkey was chewing on his toenails all night. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Still, oddly each time
my schedule has opened up something cool has filled in its place, so it’s not
even fair to complain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The third job I have I
absolutely love too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I am part of the
editorial team of greentumble.com, an environmental blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I am assigned specific articles weekly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I have learned so much about the world around
me researching these topics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Things I
should have known and had no idea about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>Like the fact that we use a trillion plastic bags annually and hardly any
are recycled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>That our oceans have
hundreds of thousands of square miles of toxic garbage floating in five large
patches and the toxins are magnified as they pass up the food chain from
plankton to our dinner plates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I knew a
good deal about air pollution from working for the environmental engineering
firm in Los Angeles years ago, but I did not know the number and severity of
health problems it is presently causing, especially in developing countries and
how the thinning of the ozone layer is endangering so many species, having already
caused the extinction of many.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I did not
know how easy it might be for me to get off the grid entirely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I will find links to some of the articles I
have written recently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I write
cautiously and conservatively about things that absolutely blow my mind.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On a brighter note, I grow organically and life is beautiful.</span></span></div>
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Seasons come and go

The seasons come and go and I reinvent myself, finding innovative ways to stay here deep in the forest where there are few jobs and...

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Clarity and Calm

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Lisbon - life is but a dream

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All Hallows Eve, All Souls Day, All Saints Day

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