She sat still, I thought, and yet she traveled. And when one stitches, the mind travels, not the way men do, with ax and oxen through the wilderness, but surely our traveling counted too, as motion. And I thought of the patience of the stitches. Writing a book, I thought, which men often do, but […]
A CENTURIES-Old Skill – is quilting still a thing? Read More »
Every other civilized nation in the world has been compelled to care for its forests, and so must we if waste and destruction are not to go on to the bitter end. ~ John Muir Mr. Muir was actively involved in environmental causes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. All told, he spent
The hair of the dog; a prescription for our forests Read More »
Peasants have believed in dowsing, and scientists used to believe that dowsing was only a belief of peasants. Now there are so many scientists who believe in dowsing that the suspicion comes to me that it may only be a myth after all. ~Charles Fort Dowsing tools have ranged from forked sticks to bent wires
Useful Search Tool? You decide. Read More »
A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not. ~ Ernest Hemingway For as long as I can remember, I have loved cats. Their fur is soft as silk and they smell like stuffed animals. That is, they never carry the unpleasant odor
Can you tell what felines really feel? Read More »
I’m sorry, Gemma. But we can’t live in the light all of the time. You have to take whatever light you can hold into the dark with you. ~ Libba Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty In the summer of 2022, I participated in a field trip to learn about fireflies, aka lightning bugs. My fellow students
How do you see it? Read More »
Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it. ~ L.M. Montgomery, The Story Girl As long as we can reach into our brains and pull out a memory, we are always holding onto that person, place, or thing. Recall, though, from my post in February that every time you take out a
Remember the post on memory? Here’s more! Read More »
If you cannot clothe yourself in the skin of a lion, put on that of a fox! Don Diego de la Vega aka Zorro If you are a Zorro fan, you may recognize the quote. While Don Diego’s advice may be interpreted in a number of ways, I’m going with this: if you can’t be
Crazy like a fox, but are they really? Read More »
Spiders are busy spinning webs in the grass, in the bushes, wherever there is prey to be caught… made of silken strands only a few millionths of an inch thick but stronger than steel. Structures that are pure beauty when jeweled with morning dewdrops. ~Hal Borland, Seasons, 1973 Before I began spending so much time with
The greatest spinners of all time Read More »
Never ask a woman who is eating ice cream straight from the carton how she’s doing.~ Nitya Prakash The topic of ice cream has come up a number of times in the past week. Of course, two of my grands were in town, and that might account for conversational bents. Before you start thinking this
Sweet and creamy – have it your way Read More »
To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art. ~ François de la Rochefoucauld Sometimes I understand why hermits built shanties deep in the woods and disassociated themselves completely from information that might be disturbing. A few weeks ago I either heard or read that the order of food consumption can make a
What food group is up first? Savory or sweet? Read More »
Cotton candy is the most amazing form of caramelization ever invented by man. ~ Jose Andres I don’t remember the first time I tasted the sweet, delicate flavor that defines cotton candy. I don’t even know what made me start thinking about it last week, but I’m glad I did. Learning new things about old
Cotton candy – how sweet it is! Read More »
Yawning feels good, it aerates the mind. ~ Alain Bremond-Torrent So it does. For some reason we find it hard to resist the urge to yawn once it begins in the back of our palates. The involuntary process forces our mouths open wider than if we were trying to wedge a Burger King Quad Stacker
Why do we yawn? A look at causes & cures Read More »
Doo never actually made moonshine, but he hauled about an ocean of it. ~Loretta Lynn The South has long been given more credit than is due for an industry that achieved great notoriety in the 1920s. That would be manufacturing a beverage for pleasure and profit—making moonshine. This type of distilling operation actually began in
A Taste of the Moonshine Story Read More »
English is not logical, it’s expressive. ~ A.D. Aliwat, In Limbo Speakers fortunate enough to live in their native country are often unaware of the idiosyncrasies of their own language. Of course you use the rules correctly, because they are deeply ingrained by hearing English from birth. By the time you become rebellious, it doesn’t occur
English: What you don’t know you know Read More »
Logic, Like whiskey, loses its beneficial effect when taken in too large quantities. ~ Lord Dunsany A Dram of Whiskey history As I’m sure you’ve heard, necessity is the mother of invention, and 1,000 years ago Scotland and Ireland needed a little help on the brewing side. In case you’ve never been to either of
Whiskey history (in brief) & a shot of specifics Read More »
I’m always sketchy of people who don’t like grits. ~ Jaycee Ford Well, not always sketchy, but I did think that quote was funny. Also, in the interest of fairness, I did include a quote with an alternate opinion; you’ll find it below. Way down below the “fold.” Seriously, though, the love of, or aversion to,
Too gritty to be good? Read More »
I don’t know where my ideas come from. I will admit, however, that one key ingredient is caffeine. I get a couple cups of coffee into me and weird things just start to happen. ~ Gary Larson Sadly, coffee doesn’t transform me into the creative genius that is Gary Larson, but I do find comfort
Good to the last drop, but how did we get the first one? Read More »
The game of Chess is not merely an idle amusement. Several very valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life, are to be acquired or strengthened by it, so as to become habits, ready on all occasions. ~Benjamin Franklin I won’t lie. Up until a few months ago I hardly thought
Chess: pastime or innovative learning tool? Read More »
In a few seconds, we judge another person and think we know them. When the person we’ve lived with the longest, we still don’t know very well—ourselves. ~ Charles F. Glassman, Brain Drain The Breakthrough That Will Change Your Life How many roles do you fill? Child, sibling, cousin, employee, or spouse. We could go down
Who do you think you are, anyway? Read More »
I know all those words, but that sentence makes no sense to me. ~ Matt Groening If you have had the opportunity to travel from sea to shining sea and from the Canadian border down to the Gulf of Mexico, you may have encountered a comprehension issue. In this country. With English speakers. Obviously this isn’t
Making sense–discrepancies in american speech Read More »
At one time a badge of shame, hallmark of the lazy lady and the careless wife, today the can opener is fast becoming a magic wand, especially in the hands of those brave, young women, nine million of them (give or take a few thousand here and there), who are engaged in frying as well
Can openers – cutting edge kitchen appliances Read More »
If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree. ~ Michael Crichton This is a brief bio of a man who established a life and a family in a previously uninhabited area. His story is but one of thousands of the
A walk in an old cemetery Read More »
For what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing: it also depends on what sort of person you are.~ C.S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew illumination in the darkness Years ago I had the extraordinary privilege of attending an art history class taught by Susan Slade. I don’t know whether the experience
Ignorance is easy to erase when you see it Read More »
If ignorance is bliss, there should be more happy people. ~Victor Cousin Before I get too far, let me be clear that this is not a Hints from Heloise blog. I loved those tips when they were in vogue, but I don’t know enough shortcuts to create even one. What I will do is explore
Why does simple have to be obscure? Read More »