Elizabeth Moon's Blog, page 4
August 31, 2016
Heat and Age
As I've said before (as you know Bob) I grew up in a hot, often humid climate. I was a healthy kid, outdoors a lot, and though I certainly didn't enjoy the sticky hot nights before my mother put in a window AC, I could play hard outdoors in the summer without a problem. Through high school, college, and even moving back to Texas after leaving the military, I was pretty much heat-proof. Hiked, rode horses, lived once again in un-airconditioned houses, gardened, etc. Even after we moved here, the first years we didn't use air conditioning and I went on--often uncomfortable, but not having real problems with the heat.
The first time I had a problem, it was on a long afternoon walk on the land we'd bought the year before--a hot, humid day with little wind. We came out of the creek woods into the fierce sun, and partway along the south fenceline I felt bad enough I had to lie down. But I recovered fast and walked back to the house without a problem. We had begun to use AC by that point, finding that we couldn't sleep on the hot, breathless nights without it. Years later, I had another bout. A few years after that, another. Once per summer, perhaps, but not every summer. I became more careful about hydration, about moving more slowly, resting here and there in the shade before moving on.
I resisted the notion that heat is harder for an older body to handle...not MY body. Not the "grew up in the heat" body. I wasn't having that. Never mind that decades had slipped by, and that we now routinely used AC in the summer. Never mind that due to earlier illnesses through the spring and part of the summer, this year, I was far out of condition anyway and no longer riding my bike 45-60 minutes a day most days. But...denial will catch up with you, and today it did so again. Hot, humid, breathless. I needed (I thought) to walk up toward the highway to plant wildflower seeds in the squishy ground after several days of rain.
And--long story short--I walked myself into a solid case of heat exhaustion--soaking sweat, nausea, faintness, and all. In hindsight, I could have known within a hundred yards that this was a bad day to go out in field clothes (jeans, long-sleeved shirt with the collar up, heavy socks and trail shoes, backpack, camera, binoculars, water (not a bad idea, but adding weight), etc. I went on. Walked down the near meadow to test the water depth and clarity at the secondary drainage (too deep to walk through in those shoes), back up the slope and around the near meadow to the west, then back east along a ditch, around clumps of trees, farther and farther, until blocked by more water running on the land and a trail that had grown up in head-high switchgrass (a favorite hot-day resting place for a rattlesnake. Back to toward the first crossing...but still determined to plant the seeds decided to climb a low rise and get into some woods, go through, and come out the far side to plant them in another field. I wasn't feeling great, but I'd come that far... Blocked once more by a long pool of water deeper than my shoes were high.
At that point, I turned back toward home, but that put the sun in my face (even with the big hat) and I realized how rotten I was feeling. Down the slope...and then came the classic nausea, spots before the eyes, realization that I had a problem and I had made it myself. Luckily...cellphone. Luckly...husband was in the house and his cellphone was on. Before he was able to get the lawn tractor going, and down to where I was, I had to get down on the ground or pass out. He helped me up, after a bit, and onto the tractor, after another rest, and I drove slowly back up (around the end of the near meadow, because straight across it would bog down in the low spots--our experience) stopping in the shade of one tree to cool off a little. Recovery has been complete (after a half hour or more in the kitchen in front of a fan on high) but the lesson was unpleasant. Yes. As you get older your temperature control doesn't hold as well, and if you add deconditioning to that...heat exhaustion will find you.
On the bright side (there are several bright sides) I got a great picture of a saddlebags dragonfly and some Scheele's setaria (a grass) and some switchgrass while I was out there. The big bluestem picture was not as good.
Luckily, many dragonflies will return to a favorite perch if you just stand still long enough.
Scheele's Setaria flowering/seeding
This grass is uncommon to rare--a native grass, but picky in its demands. Does not return every year in the same spot. The inflorescence, as you can see, is particularly attractive. I wish we had more of it, and this is the best picture I've gotten so far. Worth a bit of sweat and misery just for these to pictures...if I'd stopped after the dragonfly shot, I might have made it home without help!
The first time I had a problem, it was on a long afternoon walk on the land we'd bought the year before--a hot, humid day with little wind. We came out of the creek woods into the fierce sun, and partway along the south fenceline I felt bad enough I had to lie down. But I recovered fast and walked back to the house without a problem. We had begun to use AC by that point, finding that we couldn't sleep on the hot, breathless nights without it. Years later, I had another bout. A few years after that, another. Once per summer, perhaps, but not every summer. I became more careful about hydration, about moving more slowly, resting here and there in the shade before moving on.
I resisted the notion that heat is harder for an older body to handle...not MY body. Not the "grew up in the heat" body. I wasn't having that. Never mind that decades had slipped by, and that we now routinely used AC in the summer. Never mind that due to earlier illnesses through the spring and part of the summer, this year, I was far out of condition anyway and no longer riding my bike 45-60 minutes a day most days. But...denial will catch up with you, and today it did so again. Hot, humid, breathless. I needed (I thought) to walk up toward the highway to plant wildflower seeds in the squishy ground after several days of rain.
And--long story short--I walked myself into a solid case of heat exhaustion--soaking sweat, nausea, faintness, and all. In hindsight, I could have known within a hundred yards that this was a bad day to go out in field clothes (jeans, long-sleeved shirt with the collar up, heavy socks and trail shoes, backpack, camera, binoculars, water (not a bad idea, but adding weight), etc. I went on. Walked down the near meadow to test the water depth and clarity at the secondary drainage (too deep to walk through in those shoes), back up the slope and around the near meadow to the west, then back east along a ditch, around clumps of trees, farther and farther, until blocked by more water running on the land and a trail that had grown up in head-high switchgrass (a favorite hot-day resting place for a rattlesnake. Back to toward the first crossing...but still determined to plant the seeds decided to climb a low rise and get into some woods, go through, and come out the far side to plant them in another field. I wasn't feeling great, but I'd come that far... Blocked once more by a long pool of water deeper than my shoes were high.
At that point, I turned back toward home, but that put the sun in my face (even with the big hat) and I realized how rotten I was feeling. Down the slope...and then came the classic nausea, spots before the eyes, realization that I had a problem and I had made it myself. Luckily...cellphone. Luckly...husband was in the house and his cellphone was on. Before he was able to get the lawn tractor going, and down to where I was, I had to get down on the ground or pass out. He helped me up, after a bit, and onto the tractor, after another rest, and I drove slowly back up (around the end of the near meadow, because straight across it would bog down in the low spots--our experience) stopping in the shade of one tree to cool off a little. Recovery has been complete (after a half hour or more in the kitchen in front of a fan on high) but the lesson was unpleasant. Yes. As you get older your temperature control doesn't hold as well, and if you add deconditioning to that...heat exhaustion will find you.
On the bright side (there are several bright sides) I got a great picture of a saddlebags dragonfly and some Scheele's setaria (a grass) and some switchgrass while I was out there. The big bluestem picture was not as good.
Luckily, many dragonflies will return to a favorite perch if you just stand still long enough.
Scheele's Setaria flowering/seeding
This grass is uncommon to rare--a native grass, but picky in its demands. Does not return every year in the same spot. The inflorescence, as you can see, is particularly attractive. I wish we had more of it, and this is the best picture I've gotten so far. Worth a bit of sweat and misery just for these to pictures...if I'd stopped after the dragonfly shot, I might have made it home without help!
August 29, 2016
Sometimes...
Elsewhere, sometimes, it seems people are flat out determined to misunderstand. Mis-hear, mis-read. There's a school of thought that says it's the speaker/writer's responsibility to be plain enough that the hearer/reader always gets the message intended, but that presumes the speaker/writer knows a) who is going to be the hearer/reader and b) a lot about how the hearer/reader interprets speech/writing.
In a group of friends, who know each other well, misunderstandings are rarer. Not nonexistent, but rarer, and the person who doesn't understand is usually willing to say something like "I didn't understand that--did you mean this? Or that?" and a fruitful discussion may ensue. But online, where the entire world may walk into the conversation (and you have no idea what their background knowledge is, or their personality, or whatever) the stage is set for massive problems. Some hearer/readers think they know what was said/written, and what meaning the speaker/writer intended to convey. In fact, they're sure they know, and they're sure how far that meaning can be extended. ("I don't like strawberry ice-cream" could end up being interpreted as an attack on strawberry growers. No, I'm not kidding. Agricultural interests are very sensitive about any perceived criticism of their crop/livestock and readily extend it from the simple "I don't like strawberry ice-cream" to "You're against strawberries because (list of made-up reasons.)"
It is impossible for a speaker/writer to convey accurate information (beyond 2 + 2 in base 10 = 4) , let alone opinion, to everyone in the same utterance/text, because of the highly variable nature of hearers/readers online...and the certainty of so many that they know what was meant when, in fact, did not have the right Sekrit Decoder Ring for that speech/text, but thought they did. You can be careful. You can work over a comment, comment reply, initial post over and over, considering every person you think *likely* to read it, and yet someone will not only get it wrong, but boldly announce that you meant something quite different from what you did mean, and then other people will jump on that bandwagon (some without even reading the original.)
I try not to be that listener/reader. Sometimes I probably am, because most of us, in some situations, think we know more about someone else's thought processes than we do. But having been slammed all my life by those who did not grasp the point I was trying to make, I do try to avoid assuming I understand when I may not.
In a group of friends, who know each other well, misunderstandings are rarer. Not nonexistent, but rarer, and the person who doesn't understand is usually willing to say something like "I didn't understand that--did you mean this? Or that?" and a fruitful discussion may ensue. But online, where the entire world may walk into the conversation (and you have no idea what their background knowledge is, or their personality, or whatever) the stage is set for massive problems. Some hearer/readers think they know what was said/written, and what meaning the speaker/writer intended to convey. In fact, they're sure they know, and they're sure how far that meaning can be extended. ("I don't like strawberry ice-cream" could end up being interpreted as an attack on strawberry growers. No, I'm not kidding. Agricultural interests are very sensitive about any perceived criticism of their crop/livestock and readily extend it from the simple "I don't like strawberry ice-cream" to "You're against strawberries because (list of made-up reasons.)"
It is impossible for a speaker/writer to convey accurate information (beyond 2 + 2 in base 10 = 4) , let alone opinion, to everyone in the same utterance/text, because of the highly variable nature of hearers/readers online...and the certainty of so many that they know what was meant when, in fact, did not have the right Sekrit Decoder Ring for that speech/text, but thought they did. You can be careful. You can work over a comment, comment reply, initial post over and over, considering every person you think *likely* to read it, and yet someone will not only get it wrong, but boldly announce that you meant something quite different from what you did mean, and then other people will jump on that bandwagon (some without even reading the original.)
I try not to be that listener/reader. Sometimes I probably am, because most of us, in some situations, think we know more about someone else's thought processes than we do. But having been slammed all my life by those who did not grasp the point I was trying to make, I do try to avoid assuming I understand when I may not.
August 26, 2016
And a Frog
There were two frogs. I thought I got pictures of both. Evidently not.
Rio Grande Leopard Frog todayThese frogs reproduce in the back yard water garden. They are sometimes joined by Cricket Frogs and/or Bullfrogs. The Bullfrogs migrate down to the creek when there's water in the creek, and presumably some of the Leopard Frogs do too (because otherwise where did they come from?) but the Leopard Frogs are here all the time. We see their tadpoles in the water, all stages from small to starting to grow legs to just a bit of tail left.
This image by K. Shull in late June.
Notice how blunt the tadpole's face looks compared to the "pointy nose" effect on the adult. You can see the narrow "point" from above, even on the tadpole, but it's not as long or as pointed yet.
The water garden combines water and habitat for wildlife with an "aqueduct" over the lateral line of our septic system. We designed it with a variety of water depths (from an inch to almost 4 feet, vegetation, and over 2000 gallons of capacity, circulated by an electric pump. Water is now supplied from tanks that store rainwater capture. We have seem many species of birds bathing in the shallow sections (including a red-winged hawk), and game-cams have captured raccoons, opossums, rabbits, gray fox, and white-tailed deer using the water source. Frogs and toads both reproduce here, as well as many kinds of insect (several species of dragonfly and damselfly, aquatic insects like whirligig beetles, water striders, and giant water bugs. Occasionally it's visited by a turtle, and we have documented two species of water snakes (the smaller, the Red Lined Ribbon Snake, is the one that keeps showing up.)
Rio Grande Leopard Frog todayThese frogs reproduce in the back yard water garden. They are sometimes joined by Cricket Frogs and/or Bullfrogs. The Bullfrogs migrate down to the creek when there's water in the creek, and presumably some of the Leopard Frogs do too (because otherwise where did they come from?) but the Leopard Frogs are here all the time. We see their tadpoles in the water, all stages from small to starting to grow legs to just a bit of tail left.
This image by K. Shull in late June.Notice how blunt the tadpole's face looks compared to the "pointy nose" effect on the adult. You can see the narrow "point" from above, even on the tadpole, but it's not as long or as pointed yet.
The water garden combines water and habitat for wildlife with an "aqueduct" over the lateral line of our septic system. We designed it with a variety of water depths (from an inch to almost 4 feet, vegetation, and over 2000 gallons of capacity, circulated by an electric pump. Water is now supplied from tanks that store rainwater capture. We have seem many species of birds bathing in the shallow sections (including a red-winged hawk), and game-cams have captured raccoons, opossums, rabbits, gray fox, and white-tailed deer using the water source. Frogs and toads both reproduce here, as well as many kinds of insect (several species of dragonfly and damselfly, aquatic insects like whirligig beetles, water striders, and giant water bugs. Occasionally it's visited by a turtle, and we have documented two species of water snakes (the smaller, the Red Lined Ribbon Snake, is the one that keeps showing up.)
More Socks Finished
I now have two pairs of striped shorty socks with the same frame (rolled top, short leg, heel, toe) but very different stripe patterns. The tale of these two pairs was partly told in the last entry, but it goes like this. The original idea, because I had quite a bit of blue, red, and yellow leftover yarn, was to make socks in the colors I associated with the Ringling Brothers/Barnum & Bailey Circus videos our son loved when he was younger. However, though I started them close together, and got the heels turned the same day, Sock 1 got far ahead of Sock 2. I decided that some green would look better in the middle of the other colors (it's not the green you see--it's a rich, emerald green, but it always photographs lighter and "duller" than it is.) I was sick for a lot of the work on Sock 1. And then, by accident, I misplaced Sock 1 when Sock 2 had just started its first red stripe. I couldn't remember the relative proportion of the colors. After a month of unsuccessful hunting and grumping, I gave up and started a third sock to go with sock 2. These became the "Rainbow" socks, and I finished them (except for weaving in the yarn tails for each stripe) right before heading to WorldCon.
Single sock shows blue "frame"
Right after I completed the Rainbow socks, I found the original first sock of the Circus pair. It didn't go with the others at all. So I had to knit Sock 4 to go with it. That led to this pair:
The right sock is the original Sock 1, which extended to the yellow stripe below the toe. It was a little looser, and my right foot was more swollen, so I chose it for the right sock. The left sock was started after finding Sock 1, and completed on the WorldCon trip, mostly on the trains or while waiting in the St. Louis station for the Texas Eagle to arrive (long wait.) The "frame" of both socks is identical, except that the Rainbow socks have a one-row turquoise toe-stripe, and the Circus socks have a one-row yellow stripe.
The rolled top is four rows of stockinette, followed by six rows of 2x2 ribbing in a contrasting color (here, Mountain Colors yarn's "Bitterroot Rainbow"). The blue, red, and green are all Ella rae Classic, and the yellow (a "golden" yellow) is Cascade 220. The heel's reinforcement/cushion pattern is Eye of Partridge, continued under the heel to the length of the heel callus. Toes are purse-stringed at 8 stitches left, after shaping individually to each foot. Image taken before finishing of the yarn ends or washing, outside, with variable light (clouds slowly moving across midday sun.)
Single sock shows blue "frame"Right after I completed the Rainbow socks, I found the original first sock of the Circus pair. It didn't go with the others at all. So I had to knit Sock 4 to go with it. That led to this pair:
The right sock is the original Sock 1, which extended to the yellow stripe below the toe. It was a little looser, and my right foot was more swollen, so I chose it for the right sock. The left sock was started after finding Sock 1, and completed on the WorldCon trip, mostly on the trains or while waiting in the St. Louis station for the Texas Eagle to arrive (long wait.) The "frame" of both socks is identical, except that the Rainbow socks have a one-row turquoise toe-stripe, and the Circus socks have a one-row yellow stripe.
The rolled top is four rows of stockinette, followed by six rows of 2x2 ribbing in a contrasting color (here, Mountain Colors yarn's "Bitterroot Rainbow"). The blue, red, and green are all Ella rae Classic, and the yellow (a "golden" yellow) is Cascade 220. The heel's reinforcement/cushion pattern is Eye of Partridge, continued under the heel to the length of the heel callus. Toes are purse-stringed at 8 stitches left, after shaping individually to each foot. Image taken before finishing of the yarn ends or washing, outside, with variable light (clouds slowly moving across midday sun.)
August 15, 2016
Finally! (Socks finished.)
So finally the socks I first named Circus Socks (intending them to be the colors used in Ringling Bros. circus ads) and now named Rainbow Socks, were finished today, except for wearing in the stripe ends, which can happen on the train.
They're intentionally non-matching. Awhile back I may have mentioned (did on Twitter) that I had one of these two (the left one, above) but had lost the original second sock, and finally had to start over, knitting the right sock from scratch. Well, today I found the missing other sock.
Here it is, laid out crosswise next to the pair. Looks quite different:
Now I need to knit a sock to not-exactly-match the sock that went walkabout so long, so it has a partner. That top sock is ready for its toe, so it will sit there quietly while I do another top, heel flap, and foot part. The toes, I'm afraid, will have to be a nonmatching blue (close, but not the same)--the blue that Ella rae Classic used to make before the blue that's used here. I think (but am not sure) that I have just enough of the new blue to make the top and heel match, and can then use the old blue on both toes. I may well run out of green, though. (keeping in mind that most of these stripes are made with leftover yarn. When I get back from WorldCon, I can photograph the Rainbow socks outdoors in good light.
They're intentionally non-matching. Awhile back I may have mentioned (did on Twitter) that I had one of these two (the left one, above) but had lost the original second sock, and finally had to start over, knitting the right sock from scratch. Well, today I found the missing other sock.
Here it is, laid out crosswise next to the pair. Looks quite different:
Now I need to knit a sock to not-exactly-match the sock that went walkabout so long, so it has a partner. That top sock is ready for its toe, so it will sit there quietly while I do another top, heel flap, and foot part. The toes, I'm afraid, will have to be a nonmatching blue (close, but not the same)--the blue that Ella rae Classic used to make before the blue that's used here. I think (but am not sure) that I have just enough of the new blue to make the top and heel match, and can then use the old blue on both toes. I may well run out of green, though. (keeping in mind that most of these stripes are made with leftover yarn. When I get back from WorldCon, I can photograph the Rainbow socks outdoors in good light.
August 6, 2016
WorldCon 2016 in Kansas City
Yup, I'm going. Riding the train to St. Louis, then switching to the other train to Kansas City. I have my final schedule; it's below the cut:
Science Fiction as Epic
Thursday 13:00 - 14:00, 3501F (Kansas City Convention Center)
Often science fiction that is epic in nature is dismissed as "space opera," but science fiction can be epic without resorting to the world destroying of Edmond Hamilton or the dogfighting X-Wings of Star Wars. What constitutes epic science fiction and what does it do that more personal stories can't?
John Kessel (M) , Frederick Turner, Elizabeth Moon, Walter Jon Williams, Cynthia War
Autographing: Tina Connolly, Brendan DuBois, Laura Lederman, PJ Manney, Elizabeth Moon, Mary Thompson
Friday 12:00 - 13:00, Autographing Space (Kansas City Convention Center)
Tina Connolly, Brendan DuBois, Laura Lederman, PJ Manney, Elizabeth Moon, Mary Thompson
Space and Human Speciation
Friday 16:00 - 17:00, 3501B (Kansas City Convention Center)
Human speciation in an interstellar culture. Isolated by travel times in decades or centuries, interstellar settlements might satisfy some of the criteria for speciation, even with low birthrates. Genetic drift or intentional modifications might leave some parts of humanity unable to breed with others, at least by normal methods. How long would that take? Can we imagine what our great to the nth grandchildren might look like?
Elizabeth Moon, Ms Rachel Neumeier (M), G. David Nordley, Frederick Turner, Mr. Preston Grassmann
SIGMA: Planning the Future Today
Saturday 10:00 - 11:00, 2503B (Kansas City Convention Center)
The SIGMA Forum is a collection of science fiction writers who offer futurism consulting to the United States government and appropriate NGOs.
Dr. Charles Gannon, Bud Sparhawk, Greg Bear, Elizabeth Moon (M)
Medical Myths and Errors in SF
Saturday 16:00 - 17:00, 2502A (Kansas City Convention Center)
You've done what now? Er, pretty sure that would kill you. And so goes the medical community when they read or watch yet another amusingly bad medical error. Come along and find out more.
Perrianne Lurie (M), Dr. Brad Aiken, H.G. Stratmann, Elizabeth Moon, Virginia Campen
Reading: Elizabeth Moon
Saturday 18:00 - 19:00, 2203 (Readings) (Kansas City Convention Center)
Elizabeth Moon
Kaffeeklatsch: Eleanor Arnason, David Brin, Elizabeth Moon
Sunday 10:00 - 11:00, 2211 (KKs) (Kansas City Convention Center)
Eleanor Arnason, Elizabeth Moon, David Brin
Terraforming Terra: Geoengineering for Climate Change Survival
Sunday 12:00 - 13:00, 3501B (Kansas City Convention Center)
What can we do in terms of really big engineering projects to change or adapt to what looks like a pretty hot, wet, and stormy future?
Gregory Benford , Ian McDonald, Patricia MacEwen, John DeLaughter PhD, Elizabeth Moon, Mrs. Laurel Anne Hill (M)
August 4, 2016
Cold Welcome Has a Cover!
Ky Vatta is faced with challenges unlike those she's handled so well before, and this is not the homecoming she anticipated. Experienced as she is in space warfare, skilled at coping with its hazards, the universe has other challenges for her, and she's stretched to the limit in meeting them. A little older...but is she wiser?
Readers of the Vatta's War series will recognize some, but not all, of the characters--but almost none of the locations. Readers new to the Vatta Universe should have no problem jumping right in with this entry to "What comes after you save dozens of systems from the bad guys?"
Release date is March, 2017, and it's listed on Amazon.com.
August 3, 2016
Wildlife Rescue (mirrored from Universes blog)
I was walking back to the house today when I heard a sort of scuffling noise that seemed to be coming from the carport. It didn’t sound like an ordinary cat-noise, but I thought one of the idiot younglings might have gotten up in the engine compartment and then stuck there. Or even (not a happy thought) in the interior of the car. No cat, adult or middler, was in the car, under the car, or responded when I thumped the roof. But something scuffled somewhere. I followed the noise and began to hear watery noises. Water? It hasn’t rained for weeks (and weeks.) Little splashes and scuffles….and then I realized something alive was in the washout pipe of the rainwater collection system.
We collect rainwater from the roofs (house, barn, carport…and out on the land, from the roofs of the three purpose-built rain barns) and use it in wildlife waterers, also purpose-built. And (the barn tanks) to water the horse. The black monster is a 2500 gallon storage tank–water comes down the roof to the gutter, down the gutter to that pipe slanting away to the left, and thence into the tank through a protected opening (heavy mesh, then thinner mesh to keep out mosquitoes, with rocks on top to hold the mesh down.) The pipe that slants steeply to the right is the washout pipe. The first water off the roof is very dirty (dust, ashes, bird poop, leaves, twigs, feathers…) and at least some of the mess goes into the washout pipe, which can be emptied later.
But something ran along the gutter and then into the pipe. So the pipe was lowered, slowly and carefully, so the water would run out of the washout pipe, and when most of it was out, out came a beslimed and soaking wet squirrel-sized animal, its fur plastered to it, and very, very glad to get out of a hot pipe with dirty water in it. We were prepared to help…but no. Ears flat, it fled across the drive into the bushes.
To the writer mind–in addition to the interesting details of getting a (probable) squirrel out of a pipe without getting bitten (there’s a story behind that thought)–this presents new possibilities for characters in difficulty. How would you get out of a much larger version of a smooth PVC-or-something-similar pipe? What if it was this big? What big? (As in calculus books, I leave this as an exercise for the reader…and just barely refrain from saying the solution is intuitively obvious.) A cascade of questions–of research ideas–went racing through my head…but they’re not pertinent to the book presently being written. At least not yet. It’s not half done yet.
I’m really glad I heard that critter scrabbling away in the pipe. I wish I’d been smart enough to grab the camera and take pictures as the water was pouring out. Then again–would’ve been unfair to the squirrel (or whatever) to show it as it looked.
July 27, 2016
Back to Knitting, Briefly
The physical Wall I hit back in April affected everything I was trying to do, including knitting. Last year I was often able to knit while sick, but by March I was making many more mistakes when trying to knit while sick--or even in the brief respites between things. So the attempt to start a new pair of short socks toward the end of April quickly met defeat--for then. Toward the end of May, I was finally able to get a heel turned on one of them, and it looked like this:
My notes indicate that I had turned the heels on both of them by then (in normal circumstances I've had finished this pair by mid-May and probably a second. I wasn't well.) However, when I picked up knitting again later, I could find only one of the started socks, and the one I had in hand had a problem on one side of the heel flap. Then I had a lovely Houseguest for awhile at the latter end of June and first days of July, so by the time I gave up looking and decided to start another sock with the same yarn, it was well into July. The original plan for the year would have produced two pairs of short socks in May, two pairs in June, and two pairs in July. Didn't happen.
However, I started again, and yesterday (July 26) the pair ended up looking like this:
The sock on the left was started first, never lost. The sock on the right, started recently, took lead.
The apparently "black" stripe is actually a true purple; the purple stripe is magenta-ish.
Today, thanks to various things, yesterday's leader stayed in the same place, while the lagging sock zoomed ahead. Thanks to some errors of concentration, the intentionally 5 row stripes were sometimes six (or seven) row stripes, so the lagger not only zoomed ahead, but got out of phase with yesterday's leader. This doesn't bother me at all, as the majority of my striped socks are not perfect matches.
Left sock--stayed same length overnight; Right sock grew.
Once I realized I had miscounted a stripe (and was not going to rip out the whole row) I started changing the design a little, and let the purple stripe (really too narrow in #1) go to a full six rows in #2. I am making fewer (but not no) mistakes knitting now--not back up to previous accuracy or speed (same with typing) but good enough to go on with. It's a delight to be able to knit again, even with mistakes. And my feet will be happy with more socks in happy colors. When they're done I'll get them out in daylight and hope for truer color. These pictures were taken indoors in a combination of kitchen light and flash.
My notes indicate that I had turned the heels on both of them by then (in normal circumstances I've had finished this pair by mid-May and probably a second. I wasn't well.) However, when I picked up knitting again later, I could find only one of the started socks, and the one I had in hand had a problem on one side of the heel flap. Then I had a lovely Houseguest for awhile at the latter end of June and first days of July, so by the time I gave up looking and decided to start another sock with the same yarn, it was well into July. The original plan for the year would have produced two pairs of short socks in May, two pairs in June, and two pairs in July. Didn't happen.
However, I started again, and yesterday (July 26) the pair ended up looking like this:
The sock on the left was started first, never lost. The sock on the right, started recently, took lead.
The apparently "black" stripe is actually a true purple; the purple stripe is magenta-ish.
Today, thanks to various things, yesterday's leader stayed in the same place, while the lagging sock zoomed ahead. Thanks to some errors of concentration, the intentionally 5 row stripes were sometimes six (or seven) row stripes, so the lagger not only zoomed ahead, but got out of phase with yesterday's leader. This doesn't bother me at all, as the majority of my striped socks are not perfect matches.
Left sock--stayed same length overnight; Right sock grew.
Once I realized I had miscounted a stripe (and was not going to rip out the whole row) I started changing the design a little, and let the purple stripe (really too narrow in #1) go to a full six rows in #2. I am making fewer (but not no) mistakes knitting now--not back up to previous accuracy or speed (same with typing) but good enough to go on with. It's a delight to be able to knit again, even with mistakes. And my feet will be happy with more socks in happy colors. When they're done I'll get them out in daylight and hope for truer color. These pictures were taken indoors in a combination of kitchen light and flash.
July 20, 2016
No, That's Not Christian
So Pence said today on television--I saw it, unfortunately (I was looking for local weather and got this instead) that he was a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order.
Wrong. Pence is a Republican, yes, but he's neither a Christian, nor a conservative: he's a Republican extremist. I have posted before about the curious theology that calls itself Christian but doesn't do what Jesus said to do, and instead does things Jesus said not to do. And the political philosophy that calls itself "conservative" but doesn't actually "conserve" (or even try to conserve) anything but the privilege of rich white guys, is not, in fact conservative. It's wasteful, destructive, the very opposite of what "conservative" means.
It's not uncommon in this world for human wolves to pull on a sheepskin and try to pretend they're the sheep's best (and even only) friend, but it never fails to amaze me how well this works for people like Trump and Pence--and in fact for the whole mess of people up there in Ohio cheering on the destruction and waste that is the Republican trainwreck in action.
This will require another trek through the Gospels, to make it clear why I insist Pence is not a Christian (whatever he says, and whatever church he's a member of says.) Jesus knew that among his followers were those who weren't really his followers, but pretending. Judas is only one example. So it's no surprise we have them today. And we have the same means available to pick them out, because Jesus made it very clear, in both the Beatitudes and Matthew 25, on what grounds his followers might consider themselves actual followers, and not "hearers of the word only."
Real Christians do what Jesus commanded them to do. What was that? Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, give drink to the thirsty, take in strangers and care for them, visit the sick and imprisoned. Love one another, including their enemies. Be alert for opportunities to help. Forgive injuries. The more Christians have, the more than are supposed to do these things...and on these actions, they will be judged at the end. "Anything you did for one of these, however humble, you did for me."
Real Christians don't do what Jesus told them not to do. What was that? Fail to recognize others' needs, and by ignoring them or actively harming them, refuse to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, provide water to the thirsty, take in needy strangers and care for them, visit the sick and imprisoned. And beyond that, Jesus said not to make a show of their religion, praying publicly in order to be seen as religious. Not to seek worldly power, prestige, and wealth, spread hatred, harbor anger against others. Jesus said not to judge others harshly, "for with what measure you judge, so will you be judged."
Jesus never said "If someone is sick and cannot afford medical treatment, just let him die." Jesus never said, "Love the neighbor who looks just like you and goes to the same church--the others are all evil and you can kill them at will." Jesus never said "If you're ignorant, do your best to hide the facts from others so nobody can learn." Jesus never said, "If poor children are hungry, maybe that will make their parents work harder--let those children suffer." Jesus never said, "Hate all these people, drive them out, beat up on them, kill them, and you will be saved." Jesus never said, "Make life harder for everyone but yourself, for you, as Christians, deserve an easy life of absolute safety and comfort." No. Jesus promised his followers that they would be condemned, scorned, while they were doing what he told them--while they were helping others, while they were loving others.
So let's look at Mike Pence. What does he stand for? In the past, he has promoted and carried out policies that made life worse for most people in his state, from cutting funding for services that actually helped people (health care, schools, libraries, parks, police and fire services) in order to cut taxes on the rich. He is opposed to women's health care, including their right to reproductive choice, even at the cost of women's lives. He opposes immigration (no "taking in the stranger" for him!), opposes "handouts" to the hungry, the homeless. He is opposed to any of the "common good" principles of government and thus favors privatization of public property, so someone already rich can make more profit off it. He has stirred up anger and resentment against the poor, persons of color, feminists, non-Christians (his kind), and LGBT persons. He has sought (and obtained) money and power and prestige. And he certainly claims to be religious, bragging about it, naming it first of his identities: "I'm a Christian," he said. He says he is a Christian...on what grounds? Well, he belongs to a church. A church that apparently teaches fear and hatred, rather than the love that casts out all fear, because he claims that his fear and hatred of those classes of others that he does fear and hate arise from his religious faith.
So...that's why I say Mike Pence is not a Christian. He is actively, openly, insistently operating against the commands that Jesus gave to his followers. He does not follow Jesus. He follows something else. And it's about time that these wolves in sheeps' clothing had their fleeces yanked off and were outed as not really Christian at all. These false prophets, as Jesus warned, who would pretend to be speaking in God's name while actually speaking to increase their own prestige, their own power base, their own direct material profit. It is men like Pence who convince others that Christianity is all about hate and fear--about having power, dominating others, rather than serving them.
Wrong. Pence is a Republican, yes, but he's neither a Christian, nor a conservative: he's a Republican extremist. I have posted before about the curious theology that calls itself Christian but doesn't do what Jesus said to do, and instead does things Jesus said not to do. And the political philosophy that calls itself "conservative" but doesn't actually "conserve" (or even try to conserve) anything but the privilege of rich white guys, is not, in fact conservative. It's wasteful, destructive, the very opposite of what "conservative" means.
It's not uncommon in this world for human wolves to pull on a sheepskin and try to pretend they're the sheep's best (and even only) friend, but it never fails to amaze me how well this works for people like Trump and Pence--and in fact for the whole mess of people up there in Ohio cheering on the destruction and waste that is the Republican trainwreck in action.
This will require another trek through the Gospels, to make it clear why I insist Pence is not a Christian (whatever he says, and whatever church he's a member of says.) Jesus knew that among his followers were those who weren't really his followers, but pretending. Judas is only one example. So it's no surprise we have them today. And we have the same means available to pick them out, because Jesus made it very clear, in both the Beatitudes and Matthew 25, on what grounds his followers might consider themselves actual followers, and not "hearers of the word only."
Real Christians do what Jesus commanded them to do. What was that? Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, give drink to the thirsty, take in strangers and care for them, visit the sick and imprisoned. Love one another, including their enemies. Be alert for opportunities to help. Forgive injuries. The more Christians have, the more than are supposed to do these things...and on these actions, they will be judged at the end. "Anything you did for one of these, however humble, you did for me."
Real Christians don't do what Jesus told them not to do. What was that? Fail to recognize others' needs, and by ignoring them or actively harming them, refuse to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, provide water to the thirsty, take in needy strangers and care for them, visit the sick and imprisoned. And beyond that, Jesus said not to make a show of their religion, praying publicly in order to be seen as religious. Not to seek worldly power, prestige, and wealth, spread hatred, harbor anger against others. Jesus said not to judge others harshly, "for with what measure you judge, so will you be judged."
Jesus never said "If someone is sick and cannot afford medical treatment, just let him die." Jesus never said, "Love the neighbor who looks just like you and goes to the same church--the others are all evil and you can kill them at will." Jesus never said "If you're ignorant, do your best to hide the facts from others so nobody can learn." Jesus never said, "If poor children are hungry, maybe that will make their parents work harder--let those children suffer." Jesus never said, "Hate all these people, drive them out, beat up on them, kill them, and you will be saved." Jesus never said, "Make life harder for everyone but yourself, for you, as Christians, deserve an easy life of absolute safety and comfort." No. Jesus promised his followers that they would be condemned, scorned, while they were doing what he told them--while they were helping others, while they were loving others.
So let's look at Mike Pence. What does he stand for? In the past, he has promoted and carried out policies that made life worse for most people in his state, from cutting funding for services that actually helped people (health care, schools, libraries, parks, police and fire services) in order to cut taxes on the rich. He is opposed to women's health care, including their right to reproductive choice, even at the cost of women's lives. He opposes immigration (no "taking in the stranger" for him!), opposes "handouts" to the hungry, the homeless. He is opposed to any of the "common good" principles of government and thus favors privatization of public property, so someone already rich can make more profit off it. He has stirred up anger and resentment against the poor, persons of color, feminists, non-Christians (his kind), and LGBT persons. He has sought (and obtained) money and power and prestige. And he certainly claims to be religious, bragging about it, naming it first of his identities: "I'm a Christian," he said. He says he is a Christian...on what grounds? Well, he belongs to a church. A church that apparently teaches fear and hatred, rather than the love that casts out all fear, because he claims that his fear and hatred of those classes of others that he does fear and hate arise from his religious faith.
So...that's why I say Mike Pence is not a Christian. He is actively, openly, insistently operating against the commands that Jesus gave to his followers. He does not follow Jesus. He follows something else. And it's about time that these wolves in sheeps' clothing had their fleeces yanked off and were outed as not really Christian at all. These false prophets, as Jesus warned, who would pretend to be speaking in God's name while actually speaking to increase their own prestige, their own power base, their own direct material profit. It is men like Pence who convince others that Christianity is all about hate and fear--about having power, dominating others, rather than serving them.
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