Outta sight

February 6, 2021February 6, 2021 ~ Liz A ~ 19 Comments

February 6, 2021 – Black hole aka Groundhog Day

The spiral patch unfortunately relates to recent medical rounds. Nothing catastrophic, mostly annoying. For instance, having to go pick out new eyeglass frames because the ones that were sent off for updated lenses were destroyed in a shipping accident. The good news is, now that I’ve had cataract surgery I can actually drive again. So there’s that.

Covid continues to be another life-complication, of course. We’ve relied on grocery deliveries for over ten months in order to minimize the risk of contracting the virus. At first the deliveries were a bit dicey … having to order up to a week in advance and never being sure of what would actually arrive. But over time things have gotten consistently better, to the point where I now schedule my deliveries to include a hot rotisserie chicken … perfect for dinner.

Until last night, that is. The appointed hour came and went. Figuring things were a bit busier than usual due to Super Bowl shopping, I wasn’t too surprised. So I called and sure enough, our order had slipped between the cracks. Not to worry, I was assured, it was ready to go.

More waiting ensued, and then a text message popped up …

More phone calls, more reassurance that the full order was in another driver’s car and on the way.

On the way to where exactly we will never know. The bananas arrived in due course … the rest of the groceries, including dinner, did not.

Hence the linen black hole, reverse appliquéd into some intergalactic cloth dyed by Deb …

And so went the first week in February …

At least there’s this to celebrate …

once the groceries get here 😉

Three patches, one thread

February 4, 2021February 6, 2021 ~ Liz A ~ 21 Comments

February 3-4, 2021 – In recognition of Black History Month

These bits of cloth feel different from the cloth that is block-printed in India …

I wonder if they are influenced by or maybe even produced in Africa. But I don’t know enough to do more than speculate …

So I hope it’s okay that I used them as the bases for my ruminations on Black History Month.

And if the chants that echo in the streets have changed over the many years of demonstrations, the message remains the same as these words spoken by Dr. Martin Luther King over half a century ago …

We still have such a long way to go.

Thoughts on walking

February 3, 2021 ~ Liz A ~ 14 Comments

I walk a little farther each day, mostly in the neighborhood on sidewalks that are edged by lawns on one side and hell-strips on the other … hell-strips being those narrow bands of soil between the sidewalk and the curb. Although calling it soil might be a stretch, as it often appears to be exhausted to the point of being nothing more than dirt.

Nonetheless, plants will grow in even the most challenging conditions and the first signs of spring become more apparent each day. Some dandelions have been in bloom long enough to have already set seed heads. And yesterday I caught my first glimpse of what I think might be ajuga in bloom …

Likewise heralding spring, the birdsong has grown louder and more insistent with each passing day. Everything from the twitters and chirps of the true songbirds to the maniacal racket of the grackles filling the air with sound.

Cold nights alternate with an ever-stronger sun and though I begin my walks with sweatshirt zipped and hands in pockets, by the end I am warm through and through.

And so, a bit of thrift store cloth that reminded me of the neighborhood grid dotted with patches of green, a radiant-stitched dandelion as seen from afar and a tangle-of-purple flower as viewed up close … all shorthand for an early spring day.