Joy in Simple Things in Everyday Ramblings

This is kind of cheating. I took this 13 years ago, but I did crop it now. It is a window display of a florist shop in Seattle, but I thought it matched my mood here as we move towards Easter weekend, and we keep having these unexpected intense hail squalls that makes getting outside and taking pictures not as inviting as usual.

Other than the thousands of damaged and downed trees all over the area we are recovering from our unexpected late snow. Mrs. Sherlock had a big plum in her backyard split, fall partially over her fence with her neighbor and went out and got herself a chainsaw. She says her arms are tired. Good thing we have been doing the weightlifting. The quote from the arborist was $2,000.00.

Speaking of spending money, I met my new dentist today. He is a professor of dentistry and lovely. He spent time reviewing my file and they took a full set of x-rays. It has been 7 years. I need to have another extraction and then bone graft and implant. And some work done on another tooth that has been problematic for a while.

Compared to what I have already had done this is not a big, huge deal, but it does need to be gotten through. And paid for. At least the x-rays are over.

It looks like it will be dry on Easter. I think I will go for a long walk.

I was on a Zoom call yesterday with a few other folks from church and we talked about what the church is doing about the problems the unhoused are facing. There was a drug overdose death and then an encampment sweep last week on the block the church is on. They are going to have a little service on the street for the person who died.

There are lots of widely varying degrees of ways to get involved in this work. We have this very well-funded vocal group here basically wanting to build temporary shelters that are a lot like camps to be honest and sweep everyone off the street. They are trying to get a measure on the ballot in November to reallocate money for getting folks into long term housing and supporting them to stay there to these “shelter” beds. And trash pickup.

I wouldn’t want to stay in most of the shelters that are currently available. Why would other folks?

This morning there was a statistic in the Washington Post that our rents are up 39% in the last year, the second highest in the country after Austin. Our home prices are absurd here.

In the revelations of aging department, every night now I put on a satin sleep cap. It took me a few days to figure out how to get all my hair in it and keep it on while I sleep. I have also ordered some silk scrunchies for when I feel it must be in a ponytail and a silk pillowcase. Dark Forest green. I hope to get the ends trimmed soon. The hair loss is not accelerating but also not stopping. I am super aware of it now, though.

Sadness, where there was none before.

The blooming ornamental cherry with the clusters of light pink blossoms and golden leaves that are just greening, survived the snow and a couple of days ago I was standing in the kitchen looking out the window when a class of children, 1st graders, came by and circled under the tree looking up with wonder as the teacher explained something to them.

There is a small necklace of tiny shells that someone hung on a bump on the trunk and an earnest child wanted the teacher to see it, like she saw it, an anomaly in the pattern recognition a light in her head.

Much better than the dirty briefs someone moving from place to place had left on the ground there a few days before…

It is a crazy mixed bag of a world, that is for sure. Me, I am rooting for the end of the wild random hail squalls just about now.

However you mark the Easter Holidays all the best your way in fulness and joy in simple things.

Last updated April 18, 2022