Tiny Dancer: 2018

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

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

Environmental articles

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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 />
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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>
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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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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">                 </span><img height="640" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=724d628ff4&view=fimg&th=164ebe78c98df8d9&attid=0.1.1&disp=emb&attbid=ANGjdJ9v7JYPqFRhWXCsbv6lDG8Bpub_ACD5vEEnS8iGR9cK6LeWVFmSVPsC8jyaJwtM4JA-5WrlP9vp2Mk4HQGvLE3ERB450KgIDXNtWUEd2Gm96ncM-dV-HPzn-4E&sz=s0-l75-ft&ats=1532989062056&rm=164ebe78c98df8d9&zw&atsh=1" width="480" /><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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                       <img height="640" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=724d628ff4&view=fimg&th=164ebe9ff34f2e17&attid=0.1.1&disp=emb&attbid=ANGjdJ-JA0fKkZ2FT16_Lm1P7Kmdp6abAohy2CAjWC_TzqSaVQZrFGlsIuczhnq_sERo1dOMW9Es82G9ARh6-35CSU2oI_K_ef6VPElAn35ENjl0q78e0uzrMkeYDw4&sz=s0-l75-ft&ats=1532989062044&rm=164ebe9ff34f2e17&zw&atsh=1" width="480" /><br />
<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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<img height="640" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=724d628ff4&view=fimg&th=164ebebb3200d079&attid=0.1.1&disp=emb&attbid=ANGjdJ-0FxQbWXEvDYAj8xUV2IieGh3JRYnD3S6qOvEPbn8zNsfxNrK64PD_KI-yXsO_0-lztkUe9wo7F8554SOAUA1swj6Ib2ITcdB4t4OM6oKKTYRXGCskLa7yRLU&sz=s0-l75-ft&ats=1532989950799&rm=164ebebb3200d079&zw&atsh=1" width="480" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Blueberry blossoms</span><br />
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<img height="640" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=724d628ff4&view=fimg&th=164ebf320e4d0543&attid=0.1.1&disp=emb&attbid=ANGjdJ_QUV13oJJiW69dHItGfuhO6rlFjgZKS4Vm52j0ujLHf0yTIee2GPF3tOT0BufsnFhU4T81WjAyS6YDBXpxgNQ4pxBihsqp45VziV9neGjk7rSSkbCBmuPqTtU&sz=s0-l75-ft&ats=1532989950770&rm=164ebf320e4d0543&zw&atsh=1" width="480" /><br />
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Apple blossoms<br />
<img height="640" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=724d628ff4&view=fimg&th=164ebeaf35162282&attid=0.1.1&disp=emb&attbid=ANGjdJ-dzsgNpf6WN61cIHfP3Er1V1sfmIJBqXxbBUZsNdwcrPPYFL16SO_PMxthgv1P5ZvP8qh0lCtyoZq0qThEGsqtjBpPtEdtDmhqK_qU60YDYL1R2HFDrX-RldI&sz=s0-l75-ft&ats=1532989950803&rm=164ebeaf35162282&zw&atsh=1" width="480" /><br />
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Easter<br />
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<img height="480" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=724d628ff4&view=fimg&th=164ebed6ee111238&attid=0.1.1&disp=emb&attbid=ANGjdJ9mD2aPNV5eGSaQeVwnL5vlZb68jJGLUoxUY5pvOxMRGaCZRXKLZ3Td0NXkMgaS3lDUiovwOBAwcwY1guK9IFsaFOEDHNYvtFDLdwOK_5ZlGLawdbYm76er154&sz=s0-l75-ft&ats=1532989950791&rm=164ebed6ee111238&zw&atsh=1" width="640" /><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 />
<img height="640" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=724d628ff4&view=fimg&th=164ebf0cf239a36c&attid=0.1.1&disp=emb&attbid=ANGjdJ_pJO9rw36CSFjo6SHv-zru-gfFd0dIBZvhAXR4WliXBrODE705nXYfyltUWqgsTOMuC8zvJbhOk-5BVX8aFsCOs1OUOlftS1Az91YW-dXXxwl7eTq4uJrZJnk&sz=s0-l75-ft&ats=1532989950783&rm=164ebf0cf239a36c&zw&atsh=1" width="480" /><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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<img height="640" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=724d628ff4&view=fimg&th=164ebf48b3c65f15&attid=0.1.1&disp=emb&attbid=ANGjdJ-awHa9JoIuOoaT9_e-DN7taOOr6HN6sMv8q_v5KxJchYmELJhapBZfcdli7GK2-8XMNI53H47NUfsW2ljyGq2vLBkOnZ_A0KlNBRKvecEUuyeUbQ_gOlDDZO8&sz=s0-l75-ft&ats=1532989950765&rm=164ebf48b3c65f15&zw&atsh=1" width="480" /><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 />
<img height="640" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=724d628ff4&view=fimg&th=164ebfbec40b4fe6&attid=0.1.1&disp=emb&attbid=ANGjdJ9QKuKAPQsSpT4VcOVO2XgaoVh8MkmX3fu_MZuiCx41Rjnd3wxhpuZdmGLoyEGqGcrCeYq8yu6ff8x0nIQgPxhEHwSkHi9LW2eePGU0iCMhmBe_CNs9bLydRTU&sz=s0-l75-ft&ats=1532989060126&rm=164ebfbec40b4fe6&zw&atsh=1" width="480" /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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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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<img height="640" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=724d628ff4&view=fimg&th=164ebf22ee41385c&attid=0.1.1&disp=emb&attbid=ANGjdJ9tSUwfPAiRiwbLOhZe0XtNPFH3IjIGfr6lgW0wLJ4qcZEpaqKNrXevOIhIvIx_u6kktXPXQDd907SXcvEuNHlN1_7B4PdrS8bkyIA6IEORp085kBlyXDP-vgI&sz=s0-l75-ft&ats=1532989950775&rm=164ebf22ee41385c&zw&atsh=1" width="480" /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Inside the garden center.</span></span></div>
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<img height="599" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=724d628ff4&view=fimg&th=164ebf18f5083b20&attid=0.1.1&disp=emb&attbid=ANGjdJ_C5XMZ8yqkGhb2sYr8WSZsI-9z4Ax4olsp4adogtralpkLl8SIP5Ga3aDBhDRglQ1-b0t4sQYlY9n8LitcFYVxOeFO7Rot0rKoc35LKoKUsKxFospHT93sRsA&sz=s0-l75-ft&ats=1532989950779&rm=164ebf18f5083b20&zw&atsh=1" style="font-size: 12pt;" width="640" /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </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>
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<br /></div>
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<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>
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<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>
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<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>
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<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...

Posted by Tiny Dancer / Saturday, March 17, 2018 / No comments / Viva

Maple Syrup and Snakes

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I
should have taken pictures of the tin buckets tapped onto the maples along the
road through the woods, but the road was narrow and winding and wet and the
only place to stop would have been somebody’s driveway with a Keep Out sign
where I risked having my head blown off with a shotgun, so I didn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></div>
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I
should have taken a picture of the guy in the green bill hat with the square
gray beard standing behind the glass cases of large snakes when he unzipped his
coat to reveal a fat black king snake coiled between his belly and his jacket,
but I had been wary of him before he startled me with that move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>He had meanly shining eyes and a disturbed
war vet aura that made me hesitate to ask him any favors, so I didn’t.</div>
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A
woman balanced boxes of maple doughnuts between her sagging chins and bulging
breasts as she unlocked her large SUV. and I decided against any maple
doughnuts.</div>
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As I
was sliding in my rain boots down the muddy driveway to the old Ruritan club
building, I asked two obese women breathing heavily as they trudged toward me
how the pancake and sausage breakfast was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>One rolled her brown cow eyes and burped as the other answered, “Filling.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></div>
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As I
approached the door a remarkably overweight couple came out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The man muttered to his wife, “It really wasn’t that
good.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>They did not strike me as
discriminating eaters, so I turned around.</div>
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It
was supposed to warm up today, but it didn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>I had hoped to work in the garden, but it was too cold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>So I made pumpernickel bread with molasses and orange zest and a blazing
fire and read Nabokov and Lorca.</div>
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Surely
this winter will end?</div>
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Maple Syrup and Snakes

I should have taken pictures of the tin buckets tapped onto the maples along the road through the woods, but the road was narrow and wi...

Posted by Tiny Dancer / Saturday, February 3, 2018 / No comments / Viva

Winter Sunsets

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Home.<br />
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Bundled up on the front porch swing watching daylight fold into night.<br />
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 Along Skyline Drive after a hike with Luke to see three frozen waterfalls in the Shenandoah National Park.<br />
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Winter Sunsets

Home. Bundled up on the front porch swing watching daylight fold into night. Along Skyline Drive after a hike with Luke to see...

creepy encounters on a cold rainy night

Viva

creepy encounters on a cold rainy night

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

All Hallows Eve, All Souls Day, All Saints Day

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

Environmental articles

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

Seasons come and go

Posted by Tiny Dancer / Saturday, March 17, 2018 / No comments / Viva

Maple Syrup and Snakes

Posted by Tiny Dancer / Saturday, February 3, 2018 / No comments / Viva

Winter Sunsets

creepy encounters on a cold rainy night

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