“Guy Nearing told us it's a good idea when hunting mushrooms to have a pleasant goal, a waterfall for instance, and, having reached it, to return another way. When, however, we're obliged to go and come back by the same path, returning we notice mushrooms we hadn't noticed going out.” ― John Cage
Phix's Curiosity: what sparks my interest
Watch this space to see what's sparked my interest this week. A random grab bag of delights!
Mushrooms. MUSHROOMS. It's that time of year. I want to go out on all the walks and look for all the mushrooms. I found a shaggy mane/inky cap & am making ink out of it - I have nearly an ounce from the one huge cap I found.
I also found a mushroom (pictured here!) that was way bigger than the size of my hand. It was ridiculously big - the biggest one I've ever seen (though obviously I know bigger ones exist). And I thought that the Amanita Muscaria that one year that was the size of my whole hand was big... But this mushroom was Really Big. Not really what I was expecting to see as we were casually strolling out in the neighborhood, but there it was, casually sitting there, out in the open as if there were nothing unusual about it at all!
Medusa's Garden
When you need every one and everything around you to just stop.
I had this conversation with a friend today - I had thought a while back to do a shop around 'self care' supplies - like nice soaps and bubble bath/bath bombs and nice lotions and yada. And... I read something, I believe it was Melanie Dewberry but might have been someone else? Self care requires community. If there is insufficient community for the person who requires the time and space for self care, there is no capability on the part of the individual to get the time and space to do the self care. When things just keep trucking along, someone's got to take care of things. Sometimes self care means you need to go to the doctor and sometimes you need help getting there. Self care means being able to rely on community to help you get those care needs met.
It increasingly makes me incandescently angry to see the implications that you should be able to do "self care" with a glass of wine in a nice bath. That's not going to fix burnout. That's not going to fix a whole bunch of other stuff, and to suggest that's what self care is, especially in today's world, is just wildly inappropriate.
I have opinions about this.
Ariadne's Yarn: playing with threads
What I'm up to with fiber and possibly how mythology and stories all tie together.
Knitting knitting knitting the baby camel/silk scarf still. Spinning some lovely merino, though I may ply this set and then do the merino-silk blend that's orange and black and white for the season... :D Usually I try to finish one before starting the next but... SEASONAL!
Mythic Librarian: the art of arranging a life
Thoughts on ontology and ways to organize a life.
Here I thought I was going to have a leisurely (lol) six months of 32 hour work weeks... Aaand not so fast. It looks like someone has jumped in to fill those last eight hours (and is asking for more, which no can do, bruh - you had your chance and my dance card has other dances). I'm glad for the money & sad to see the open time go. But - it's good to take time to have lunch with friends (and go do things with them besides lunch too!), but it's harder with a 40 hour work week... I would say I'm increasingly for the 32 hour work week but... I've been saying that since the early 90s and really meaning it sooooooo... it's not really increasing, just consistent.
Find time for the people you want to hang out with and hang out with them. :)