it seems endless doesn't it? I feel like I'm fraying around the edges. This heat isn't helping. This humidity is frying my brain out. Often close to 100%. Last night it was 80%.
However it should settle down by the weekend.
I heard from a client yesterday, overjoyed my edited piece for him had been accepted by a literary magazine. I love when others are so ecstatic when their creative energies receive acknowledgement. He credits me with bringing his pieces to life.
I am still working on this new novel. Distracted by other stuff at the moment - tax work mainly.
One good thing about the pandemic is there's so little to spend money on. Seriously. I'm not much of a shopper to begin with, so there's that. I was debating a 2021 planner (joke - I'd die without a planner).
I got these on line. I feel very rich in reading material, as the library also had a little pile for me on the safe distancing shelf. I will update my reading list shortly, I've read some spectacular books in the last while.
Grandgirl gifted me with HBO the other day so I watched Clemency last night.
To me, slaughtering murderers is barbaric, appealing to the basest of our instincts. Cheaper than life long incarceration of course. And just how many have been falsely convicted?
And predictions of huge mental illness fallout post pandemic. So many are not "dealing" well with it at all. No inner lives so to speak. They are most at risk.
Currently reading The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donohue . A tour de force of a book, taking place in Dublin during the confluence of WW1, the Easter Rising, and the Spanish flu pandemic which was wiping out the planet, much like today's Covid. I'm halfway through and it's gripping.
How are you all coping out there in the bigger world?
I watch YouTube music videos. David likes to watch sports on TV.
ReplyDeleteWhatever works. I do play music too, some good playlists I put together. I'm awaiting a shipment of yarn for a new blanket for another niece.
DeleteXO
WWW
I read light easy-going books. Or something I want to learn. I need a get-a-way from all the seriousness of the world.
ReplyDeleteSpend time on friendly blogs. Cooking, and going out for a drive, to get out of the house. Air conditioning is a must here. Also, with gigi, I watch / listen to music videos.
Take me away Calgon.
I love escaping into books. Especially ones that grip me. I do spend about an hour a day on other blogs. Cooking I've let go of because I can't tolerate standing too long. I do wish I had air conditioning. These weather conditions here are climate change. There was never humidity like this before.
DeleteXO
WWW
Like you ... a lot of reading, a little writing, and no spending.
ReplyDeleteWe should be OK if the banking systems don't crash, the predictions are awful, I'm trying not to pay attention.
DeleteXO
WWW
I love post that are titled Thoughts! And one that include book recommendations are a plus. For some reason I don't listen to music anymore...I enjoy the quiet. Not much spending except on good organic food. Excited about Kamala Harris as our new vice president soon! xoxo
ReplyDeleteYes, some changes and I hope not same old due to the Dems voting for that huge war chest again. I was so shocked to read recently that US has only been I think it was 16 years free of war since its inception. I had no idea.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
I LOVED Wesley the Owl - and must reread it.
ReplyDeleteI am sort of coping at the moment, but feeling a bit of 'survivor guilt'. Mostly because I am well aware of how lucky I am, and feel a bit guilty that with my relatively light burden I struggle (if that makes sense).
I continue to volunteer on the crisis line. Heartbreaking and often confronting. That, my participation in a peer support program for others with the dread disease, and support for a centre working with the homeless keeps me grounded.
And sunsets (and sunrises) are much needed heart balm.
The world carries on regardless, doesn't it EC? It doesn't matter the burden, it often just feels weighty to ourselves even though others seem to have more on their plates like poverty and mentally instability. We can only carry our own and sometimes (like today) mine feels enormously heavy.
DeleteXO
WWW
Mental health must be a huge problem we don't know about. How I feel for old people locked in their small nursing home rooms nearly 24/7...and then still they become infected.
ReplyDeleteA horrible situation Andrew, their last few months on earth spent in isolation and struggling for breath. Covid has really thrown the floodlights on our defective management of this planet.
DeleteXO
WWW
I loved Wesley the Owl, but it would make me sad to reread.
ReplyDeleteI have told my daughter, and others, more old people die every day of loneliness than any other cause. I think the statistic might still hold up. She has yet to respond. Yes, I believe post Covid-19 mental illness will be epic!
Loneliness is brutal. I also believe it puts many in high risk. I've seen the neediness in my building and it crosses my mind they are looking for a way out. Husbands long dead, lives rendered meaningless with no man to take care of. And no inner resources to fall back on
DeleteXO
WWW
I’m coping well having learned as a child the value of entertaining myself to survive loneliness. I’m accumulating a variety of books to read that far exceed the time i will make to devote to them — resisting getting more. Am focusing a bit on some health needs. Am continuing to observe staying at home but will be back to pickups and the like soon. Minimal contact with others as that’s how life has evolved with so many inconsiderately dying. Enjoyed Facetime with a couple of my few family members but i didn’t couldn't get video, only audio. Must get my tech guru son across the continent from me to troubleshoot this glitch.
ReplyDeleteI find it amazing now that remotely we can be helped with technical problems. You are coping well Joared, and I believe I am with my innate incapacity to feel any kind of boredom. Even when trapped in small talk I zone out completely and enter a kind of alternative universe. It must be a gift.
DeleteXO
WWW
I love your sunset :)
ReplyDeleteI'm coping quite well, lots to read and watch, things to plan for the garden. My mind is at peace after phone text conversations with my kids, who I don't get to see much now. All is well with them, so all is well with me.
Yes, I use that as a mantra at times, River. All is well. All is well.
ReplyDeletePlanning stuff is hugely beneficial. I am planning a new knitting project and some new chapters of novel and it keeps me looking ahead. And yes, family is well too.
XO
WWW
I am fine on my own, luckily. But I know it is a problem for many people and I feel for them. I have never seen so many homeless people around town. The city is allowing them to set up camps in parks and not bothering them. So many have mental health issues.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the book rec, I am off to find it at the library.
I can't imagine the reduced circumstances of so many plunged into instant poverty Jackie. I mean homelessness. We can't get a grip on the word or how to solve it though in my heydays I was part of a group to at least get them into housing (of their design) and some basic work. Exhausting, debilitating work. Much like the gypsies of Ireland clinging to outdoor living, safe from ??
ReplyDeleteI just finished Emma's book, Daughter and Niece and Grandgirl are on the waiting list but I could mail to you when they're done if you wish.
XO
WWW
I’m in harvest season with my garden and it is a bounty year for tomatoes, so trying to keep up with the food processing. Also swimming a lot, helps with the heat and humidity. My ability to focus is wiped out so can’t read much, novels are beyond me. Writing is going that way too. I am grateful for our local Reservoir: dog park/beach/swimming hole. I am wearing out my old bathing suit so had to go shopping for a new one. At least I knew exactly what I wanted so it was a short spree in a largely empty store with a lot of helpful staff hanging around.
ReplyDeleteYou must feel good with all those tomatoes to take care of. I find it is one thing or the other, a writing/reading time or other pursuits like designing and knitting. I'd love swimming, it's been a while and our pools are closed and the ocean too cold.
ReplyDeleteWe do what we can and it sometimes is such a challenge.
XO
WWW
I am coping very well thank you. I was even adventurous enough to go for a drive yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I intend doing more in the coming days.
ReplyDeleteWonderful news Ramana, once I get my car sorted I want to do the same, take my knitting, grab a picnic and my old chair and sit by the ocean all day.
DeleteXO
WWW
I WAS coping well, finishing my first novel in a couple of decades, working out, eating well, and arranging Zoom meetings with our extended family. Then my husband hurt his back so badly that he often cannot stand without my help. He's often in unrelenting pain. Four years ago, before my first brain surgery, he walked by my side everywhere, his hand cupped under my elbow in case I started to fall despite my cane. Now that I no longer need that cane, I'm the more stable one, and I want to be there for him the same way. I'm trying, but at the same time my infusions for an auto-immune illness stopped working. Days are reduced to making sure we're both fed, the house cleaned, and we both make it to absolutely necessary doctor's appointments. He cannot sit, and I cannot safely leave him alone any more than is necessary, so I cannot even take a drive. We put the back seat down on the car and he rides to his appointments lying flat. It's not as dire as it sounds, but it's requiring a whole lot of mental work now to keep myself from floundering.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like such a huge burden on you Linda, is there any way you can get some help? The mental exertion to keep us stable is enormous. I found it a huge effort on Friday, I had to cancel a much needed appointment as I couldn't make it through the door, my legs were so weak and my sight was poor. So I can totally relate to feeling so utterly powerless at times. We need to share as bottling it all up is so damaging.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
I decided after typing that comment, that I was going to have to make time for little outside visits with friends or family, as hard as that is with our high temperatures consistently over 100 F and with being reluctant to leave my husband alone for even a few extra minutes. Today, on my way to another town for my infusion, my daughter and her family were headed the opposite direction to bring my oldest granddaughter back to her college. (Yes, this is Texas, so they're doing in-person classes.) She called to let me know when we were about to pass each other in opposite directions so we could wave. We were both on tight schedules, and I still had two more hours to drive. I asked if we could stop in a parking lot for "just three minutes." We stretched it into five, that was an important five minutes. I got to see one of my grandchildren, her boyfriend, and my daughter and son-in-law, all of us standing in a service station parking lot in the hot sun with masks before we all hopped back into our vehicles and headed in opposite directions.
DeleteSo far, I can say that my dogged insomnia is decreasing. naps ate good and I'm doing my best to stay focused. Thanks for for dropping by.
ReplyDelete