230722 being, geography, not doing

 July 22, 2023

Wonderful skies. Sometimes the clouds come into our meadow. 

Mid-July, but this seems to be a strange summer! It has been as hot and humid, here in the Green Mountains, as July in Toronto, for a day or two, then raining and raining on the rest. In the news there are extreme heat and massive floods all over the world. It feels apocalyptic! There is war and political strife everywhere, as well! How long can we go on in crisis mode like this! Certainly, we have collectively decided that the covid pandemic is over! No-one is masking, many public places have ceased to provide hand-sanitizing, and covid has been largely dropped from the headlines. There is some news about long covid, but it seems that some countries are ignoring the problem, while no-one but doctors and scientists have begun to act on it. Governments should be putting aside funds for the future. It may hit us hard when the full impact strikes health care and employment. 

Has it always been like this, with war, political unrest, epidemics, and weather, bringing upheaval to people's lives? Is it just that this is our time to be dealing with these things? Has there ever been such a surge of refugees across the globe, fleeing war and famine? We are certainly the first generation that is seeing the anthropocene era, with the human impact striking the very health of the planet! 

I have been taking time off, meaning that I am allowing myself to not always be "doing" something. It took a friend's advice on the subject to stop. GM said, "Relax, enjoy your time in the country, look at the flowers and birds: you don't have to be doing anything!" So although it feels a little strange to take a holiday, I am succeeding. I am not even walking as usual. This is my health app for last week.

 In Toronto this winter I was sometimes getting in more than twenty thousand steps.

Rocky does not mind missing our walk when it's raining. If there is thunder he would rather be in the house than hiding under my desk on the porch!

I have been watching TV shows, or lain in my room doing sudokus. I have kept up with food prep. and the dishes, though sometimes it has been canned baked beans and toast! Yet my craving of healthy foods has kept me preparing salads with dark greens, and bean curries, for our supper, most days. But that is not a have-to, so much as a want to. It is my hope, that as pressure is relaxed, I will begin to want to do something. Chiefly, mosaics and music. Yes, I would like to do both, but manage to put it off each day, while I worry about housekeeping, or fretting about getting things in order for the future. 

The imperative to "do" relates partly to wanting everything in order before I can relax and do those things that I most want to do. But as with any life plan, there is no perfect time, when everything is stable and okay. You have to live now. Where you are now is where you have to do what you want to do. There will be no better or easier time. And so, I am taking a rest, and yes, waiting, but purposefully! LOL! 

Our visiting deer: there are fallen baby apples under the witch.

There has been plenty to see while I take time. I have actually gone for a few walks, though heat or rain has been an excuse to stay near home. We have had deer on the meadow a few days running. We have often wondered why we don't see more, but Blackie has been patrolling the hill for many years, so that may keep them away. We do have a resident groundhog, who happily stays on in his den by the old barn. The old barn is actually just stone walls below us on the hill. He hasn't left in spite of the dogs and our presence. We see the hummingbirds every day, and vultures, ravens crows, lots of blue jays, phoebes, gold finches, song sparrows, yellow-throated sparrows, though I haven't actually "seen" these last, nor the vireos, only heard them. Their songs are unmistakable, so I have identified them that way. We occasionally hear an owl, but to be honest I am often in bed before nine these days, so have missed that. I am up early and still not completely recovered from my vaccine reaction two years ago, so by eight or nine at night am ready to call it a day. 

I am not asleep by then, though. I do sudokus for another hour or so, and then it is time for my favorite thing just now. (No, not that!) I have been learning the names of the countries of the world in alphabetical order. I got those down, and began on the capital cities. I began the countries in March, so it has taken me three months to get here. Along the way, I am learning where the countries are and some of their history. The list of countries was not difficult, but the capitals are more challenging as many are words, and letter combinations that are foreign to me. Finding them on a map is helpful and I am curious, too to learn the whereabouts of the countries. I remember many capitals from a visual memory of the map. Many city names have a meaning or history as well, which helps with memory. Other times I use mnemonic devices to associate a capital with a country. I can now recite them all. I am usually asleep before I am halfway through! Occasionally I run through the states of the US and their capitals, just to keep them in mind. That was my first sleep mantra, which I started to keep from brooding over past mistakes or future worries, which used to keep me awake. I sometimes think I should be learning poems or songs, but I must confess that, though I was never much for geography, I am finding it interesting and rewarding. 

Some capitals remind one of colonial usurp, others are interesting because of their native origin. Dodoma, in Tanzania, is literally "it has sunk" which is purported to originate with a story about an elephant who came to drink at a creek there and sank in the mud. Dushanbe is the capital of Tajikistan; it is the word for Monday, in Tajik, because there was a Monday market in the little village that grew into Dushanbe.  There is a real place called Cameroon; it is a country in west Africa, and a real place called Timbuktu; it is a city in Mali, also in west Africa. Some countries are on one list and not another as some are disputed, colonies or breakaways, of other countries. Scotland and Wales are on some lists, though my master list, from Worldometer, does not list them, only the umbrella name of United Kingdom. I have added to that list, Taiwan and Kosovo, the first because I was there once, the second because I liked the name of its capital, Pristina. (I haven't learned yet why Kosovo's status is disputed.)

There were many countries that I didn't know existed and many more whose place on the map I didn't know. (Don't know the source for this map.)

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You may remember my turmeric sprout that I brought from Toronto. It is very happy here and doing well!

My being-lazy self has taken a few days to get this post-ready, but I am anxious to get a new post out with this summer's mushroom explosion, brought on by all the rain. 

Mumma Yaga