I had a bit of sad news last night. The poet Taha Muhammed Ali died Oct. 1. I first heard him at the 2002 Dodge Poetry Festival. This is a video of him reading at the 2006 festival.



When I saw him, he was excited to be in America reading his poetry at the Dodge Festival. Rather hard not to like him and his enthusiasm for life and poetry. He was 80 this year.

Going to try running this morning, hopefully my toe will allow it. I am getting rather tired of its constant whining. 

The weather dudes are calling for t-showers over the next few days. I hope we get a lot of rain as we really really need it.

ok, I am officially weird, or maybe just tired. I am sitting in my big ole easy chair waiting for the Nobelprize.org site to go live so I can hear the announcement for this years winner of the literature prize. At the moment, all one sees is a crowd milling about without any purpose. Schmoozing, I suppose.

Quiet week so far. Busy for a few days, but nothing major happening. Well, I keep waking up at 4:30. I am beginning to wonder if someone nearby leaves for work at that time and makes enough noise to wake me. I was blaming the cats, but they were not responsible this morning.

I haven't had time/energy to do any digging this week, though we did pick up some ornamental cabbage to plunk down in the central flower garden. Still to hot to think about planting pansies, heck, it will likely get to 90 today. There is no point putting pansies out until the temp falls below 80.

Still not fully unpacked either. I don't think I even looked at a box this week. I need to spend some time organizing my bookshelves, reordering the living room, putting away cooking spices, etc., etc.

Well, I am thrilled. The prize was awarded to Tomas Tranströmer,  a poet whom I have read and who is really quite extraordinary. Sides, I am always thrilled when the prize goes to a poet! And, as a Swedish poet, he includes bleak, cold, winter images. Images Canadians can relate to very well. 

I am tired of living surrounded by boxes full of stuff. I suppose i could attempt to empty them, but I find I can easily ignore them to do something else.

Such as beginning to double-dig a small garden patch for Carol's okra next year. Or even a wee bit of lettuce this fall. Have to get busy and plant stuff soon though, as the season gets short. I am working in a pre-worked plot, so the first 6 inches are easy to move. The next 6 are a lot harder. I have a spading fork that I push into the rock like clay with a lot of rocking. Fortunately, I am still quite heavy and can use my weight to help me achieve my goal. I was sitting in the house last night after another short session (1/2 hour or so a couple times since arriving here) and enjoying the way my hands felt. Bit sore from the shovel and spading fork.

Went for a walk in the park yesterday morning. Even the native trees out in the woods are looking sad and droopy from lack of water. We really do need some water.


Today I have to get ready for next week: iron some clothes (blech), cook some soups (yum), dig more dirt, maybe trim some bush in the front and back yard.

The rosemary plant that I moved from the old place to the new appears to be living. It is a gorgeously huge plant and looks great. Rosemary makes a great path side shrug as brushing it while walking past releases a great odor. It is also getting close to pansie purchasing time. Still a little warm for them, but not for long.

My toe is still too sore for running. I tried again yesterday and could not do it. One uses ones toes to push off while running, and the little toe seems quite important given the amount of whining it does right now. I am thinking I will try pedaling round a bit and see if that is easier on the toe.

We were visited by the local welcome wagon kittie last night. Our cats were less than enthused, however. Daph attacked the patio doors, and wee Charlie made some weird noises of mingled anger, threat, and fear. Mags missed all the fun as she was hiding under the bed-a thunder and lightning storm had been passing earlier.

The storm was all threat, unfortunately. We did not get a drop of water out of all the excitement it offered. Kinda like a politician, all bluster and blow but no substance.

I had a busy week. Three days of three classes per day. It takes me roughly an hour to set up for each class, and two morning classes were barely an hour apart. This worked out to roughly 4 hours on my feet with nary a break. I have worked other jobs that were much harder physically, but this week still left me exhausted when I came home.

Friday I met with the woman who runs the local friends of the library bookstore. I have volunteered to run the store two shifts a month starting Nov. It should be fun.

Yesterday, I was given an opportunity to teach the classes I was setting up for. The person who asked me to cover these classes did so in order to free up some of her limited time. I was doing a quick review which lasted 10 minutes, so the risk on her part was limited. I had a hoot, and remembered how fun the act of teaching is. The best part of this is that I do not have to do any grading!! All high, no withdrawal! I also received a note after I made it home from my supervisor saying that the woman who I was helping (and who was observing/helping) was bragging about what a great job I did. It made my day. I am still smiling when I think about it.

I am reminded of the scene from The Princess Bride during the kidnapping where the kidnappers are fleeing the Dread Pirate Roberts:

Vizzini: HE DIDN'T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE.
Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Great movie!

The weather is cooling down. Highs are a balmy 90 or so most days. Feels chilly in the morning, and as soon as my toe allows I am going to start running again.


The toe  is doing much better and no longer looks like a weird blueberry. I can walk without limping too much, though it does hurt a bit after a long day on my feet.

The move is done, though there is still some unpacking and ordering of stuffs to do. Don't look at the book shelves either. I threw books up on the shelves to get them out of the way and some are facing backwards with the spines to the wall and totally unordered. Here is where an electronic ordering system would be great. Push a button and everything goes into the correct spot!

The kitchen is a little more organized than it was, though there is still a fair amount left to do. I hope to make some real progress this weekend.

Today, Carol and I should be walking down to the farmer's market for the first  time. I am guessing it is about a mile away, though that may be a little under. Still, it will be fun. Later, I need to slip down to the library and check out a book on Excel. I may teach an Excel class next year, but I am not certain about that. I may also be doing some volunteer work for the friends of the library. They have a book store at one of the libraries, and I may work a Saturday now and again.

I also need to make some meals for next week. A few soups or something. I will be really busy with classes, it is the one week with the most classes. So many in fact that I will have to be careful to not exceed the 19 hours I am allowed.

The move is nearly done. A few more things to sort out at the old place and lots of sorting at the new, but most of the hard labor is complete. I finished putting up shelves this evening, and now I have to figure out how to organize them.

Already, the back yard is looking better with just a few or our plants stuffed out there.

My little toe is slowly getting better. It is all black and blue, as is its mate, but it no longer hurts much except when I try to walk.

I am going to shut down for the night and relax a little before going to bed. It has been a long exhausting weekend. I do not enjoy moving.