Writing

When there is such a distance between posts I lose my writing cadence.  It is difficult for me to continue a conversation that I haven't been carrying for a while. I am sorry about that. I am of the world still: my house is messy, flower beds need weeding, chickens need catching, the car or truck needs an oil change. I have been mentally battling with big big life issues and how to get my head around them ( oh, like death, disability, what a life is, how to approach endings) all the while dealing with the day to day. Such as why my car quit - just turned off- on the highway... how to gently squash a vindictive rumor mill at work, or where/how did I get coffee spilled on my socks?!? You know, that stuff that just happens.  It is the time of year for our annual party at the farm for both kids. So days off will be spent sprucing things up. Or at least, organizing. Sigh. 

Anyway, I know all our lives keep rolling along. Mine happens to be merrily, merrily, rolling along. I work a lot, (due at work in 45 minutes!) and plunk through everything else spastically.  I wish I could say I am a methodical planned organized woman... but that would be a lie. I do know how to enjoy this life, though!  Wishing you all balance and grace. 

Amanda and Fred keeping an eye on things on a spring day. 

Fuzzy image of Seattle from the ferry. 

The computer generated light patterns on the Ferris wheel can be mesmerizing when I am going home.  And yes, I am tired and maybe a little easily entertained at that point...

Mississippi

I was at a ginormous farmers market with my partner. I purchased food at a vendor, and for some reason I wrote this story about her, and us.
The gal of river tales spooling around Interstate-5, singing a song for the entertainment of customers, and perhaps to increase her tip jar.  To regale and entice as people ordered Mediterranean fare at a large outdoor community market.  It was women primarily being served-- at this moment, one from California, one from Washington.  Sacramento and Poulsbo, specifically.  River differences were discussed... the Willamette, Columbia, Mississippi.   Tale weavery of flow and slow sleepy hot rivers that bubble mercury pools when digging on the shoreline. Mississippi. Toxic to the hilt, but the community swimming hole nonetheless.  There was a comparison of rivers. Rivers further west don't catch on fire.  A gentle navigating of ferocious reactionary opinion.   Politics. Left, right, up, down.  The performer apologized and meant no insult as to her correction to liberal thought, thoughtfully though, and not to the actual woman who was being corrected. Apologies for words, not for thoughts.
Then, she faced the Washington  woman waiting her turn to pay for food, relatively uninvolved in the whole.  Once more the passive indirect is spoken.  Woman was gregarious and rolled with it as she took money. Recognized importance of unimportance. 

 Money was exchanged for food, talked more of rivers. Banter.  A man walks up, grabs fork from the jar and Washington woman's plate of food on the counter.  Mississippi river gal pauses in front of woman, watching man- "Oh! I couldn't see you together."                                        Ah, dear, but we are.

Who are you?

In the upper left of this blog is a page counter that tells how many times the main page of lucky-days.blogspot is viewed. I know my mom in Michigan and I have not viewed blue shoe farm 2,444 times....or I hope we haven't.
Who are you all? Why are you here? Do you have a blog? Can I answer any questions for you? I am good at making things up.
Pic: Need any chairs? I am garage sale selling these this weekend...

Signs of a Good Blog : 500 words or less

One of the business bloggers had a list of the top 10 things (or top 3 or 5... my mind is a bit fuzzy now) you need to do to create a successful blog. What I recall : use readable fonts and colors, not too contrast-y, don't use black as a background... and keep posts to 500 words or less.

That last one is a corker.

I am so sorry you all are not reading a successful blog right now. Because, besides my sometimes repetitive, grammar challenged funky non-linear thinking I can roll into..... I am long-winded. There are stories out there, and I just gotta type the whole damn thing. Every stinky little nuance. Sorry. Pic: What I will never have alot of from blogging.

These posts

Every time I read one of these blogs after I have posted it I find all sorts of errors. (Case in point: it is not everytime I read one of these blogs, I am reading the posts on this blog.)
So the correct sentence : Every time I read one of these blog posts after I hit the "publish post" button, I find all sorts of errors. CRAP. How about : There are errors in every flippin' one of my blog posts that I only see after I have sent it out into the great wide world of webhood.
Sigh.
And if I read it on a different day of the week, I wonder what was in my breakfast cereal that morning.
Suffice it to say. This is a blog. Not a reporters notebook. It is a slice of life at a moment, but not the whole pie. I am by nature a storyteller. Sometimes they translate to text on here, but mostly my poor friends and family have to endure all the cagey little nuances of my speech patterns. And sometimes I try to translate them to text, and they don't read the way they came out of my brain and went through my fingers tapping on the keyboard.
Or my brain is very cryptic, has a hard time staying focused on one short story and grammatically inept. I like to think it is the 'short story' part of the venture that trips it up. If I could ramble on and on and on and on.... well then, I would have all the time I need to go down all the little side tangents involved in any one story. I won't do that to you, however.

How do you find the blogs you like?

I was searching for blogs of similar situations as mine. To look for comparable stories, life-experience, jobs, challenges. To find a bloggy group of like minded or like situation or like project peoples.
Here is what I have searched: farm, mother, independent, house restoration (when you know nothing), horses, children, Kitsap, farmhouse, feisty.
I have not found that subset grouping yet. Let me know if you have found any interesting ones.
On the "about me" page I list the ones that I have found that are : about house restoration, about moms, about singleness, art, about being feisty, funny. Where is the one about stressed, happy, cranky, perimenopausal, independent, stubborn individuals who rebuild homes, navigate raising children, go to work, talk to people and then write about it?
I guess if they are male they don't have to be perimenopausal....

Why This is an Anonymous Blog (of sorts)

Ran into some photographers. We began chatting. One of them lives on Bainbridge. We instantly rolled into commuter "ferrytalk." I told her I was writing about all the ferries. She asked if I was an author. I snorkled out of my nose. No, just blogging about it. She wanted to read the blog. I said it was not really public. Repeated. Then realized how absorippinglutely ridiculous that sounded. It is on the internet. Of course I am public. Just loosely anonymous.
This began as a venting action to keep my sanity when I moved for healthy reasons away from the father of my children and bought a farm. And left my cheer group behind. Oh, I mean peer group. Dang girls, anyway. So this was my way to share stories, get them out of my system. I am one who will tell a story about tripping over a piece of toilet paper, so not to be able to share those vital parts of my day with friends just about killed me. Like, I have to tell that toilet paper story, gotta get it out of the ol' system. So, hence, blog.
And no, I won't tell her where to find this blog. It is odd to think of someone who has met me, but does not know me, reading this. I am fine with anonymous readers, commenters, lurkers, since that is a different tier of 'knowing.' And actually it is cool to find random people out there that for whatever reason click on this blog and have something in common. It makes the big big world much smaller.
I have to remember I can't really know any of the bloggers I read, truly, no matter how personal I think they get. This is a written record of things we choose to write about. I think there is also a bit of professional cautiousness on my part about telling people about the blog. Since the co-ferry commuter knows "where I work." Yeah, yeah, I am a wuss.

Daily Life

I am realizing this can be the news that all my friends and family always gripe that they never hear from me. I endlessly have to say "have I told you?" since it seems I am always talking and telling stories but invariably the person I am asking does not know.

Just who am I telling all these stories to if no one is saying they have heard them???

Now they can be all in one pat location.

Pic: Bella Bella Totem Pole Detail - Bear.