A Sea of Story in Everyday Ramblings

Last Sunday we went to see “our” troll. There are six of them now here the Pacific Northwest. There is one too on Bainbridge Island, where my niece lives. There is one on Vashon Island and there is a great shot of component parts of that troll on a ferry on the way over. The team and volunteers have been building most of them on site and they are all created with recycled materials. The website about “our” trolls is here.

This one in Portland is a wonder. It was a beautiful day and there were lots of people who had the same idea as we did. Our troll is in the city proper out at our Nordic Center. Many of them are in wild places. I am particularly encouraged by the collaboration between the artist and one of our native tribes.

Now the weather is turning, and we will have rain for a week starting this evening. I took the sweet peas down on Thursday. They were a big success, and I learned a lot, and the feedback from other gardeners on them was quite positive. All my flowers actually. I was shocked to find out that the parks department had taken out our passion fruit vine last weekend though. A plot neighbor told me they do that, make random decisions about things in the common areas.

Apparently, passion fruit vines have a lifespan and this one was at the end of it’s “useful” one. I wish it a successful transition into nutritious compost for future gardens. Speaking of compost, we have a new city rule that restaurants have to compost their food waste now. It makes a lot of sense to me.

I am way behind in noting here and I apologize. This week I had League things and a haircut and a hearing check and upgrade on my hearing aids along with teaching, weights, and gardening. Carlo got a clean bill of health from the vet.

Also, the fall books are coming out. I read the new Anne Cleeves and late late last night I finished reading the new Charlaine Harris. Both series I enjoy. I also listened to a new to me police procedural in audiobook format by Joy Ellis while getting cardio. That was dark and predictable in some ways, but I got hooked at some point and binged to the finish.

With all the astonishing capabilities of our new technologies I still sometimes can’t get over the absolute magic that reading is. How our brains are wired for story and how a book will be there and then one picks it up and starts to read and the story takes us to places we hadn’t stumbled upon before and grips us, or if the format is familiar, characters and plots that takes us for a ride.

Two weeks ago, my book group talked about Nursery Rhymes and that got us into sharing favorite children’s stories. It turns out one of “my” old guys, (a painter) has a brother who creates this hugely popular series called “Hank the Cowdog”. I am looking forward to reading them. I was able to get the first one in e-book format from my library.

Sharing our common stories from childhood made me think that my whole life is structured by and floats on a sea of stories. So many stories. Walt said I should write a poem about that.

Speaking of poems, a complete stranger to me, but a friend of Walt’s asked to use one of my poems in her gardening newsletter this week. How cool is that? She is a spiritual teacher of a sort, a yogi in a traditional spiritual sense. None of these people practice the postures but have incorporated the spiritual practices into their somewhat less than mainstream lives.

Walt is going to read to us from Black Elk Speaks tomorrow and we will discuss. I missed the guys this week because of the audiology appointment.

On Tuesday I am leading a meeting/discussion group in a hybrid format at the small League office in the core downtown area in a restored but old fashioned (think detective noir, clouded glass and hardwood doors) building. The hybrid part involves, Zoom, a projector, a microphone and snacks for the in person people.

What could go wrong? Our intrepid admin is off this week on a walking tour through England. I sincerely hope that as a group we can figure everything out. I used to do this sort of thing for work. I was anxious about it going well then, as I am now. But everybody is excited I am taking the lead on this to open the door to more participation in the future.

Today I rest. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

Last updated September 23, 2023