weekend recap, november 4

1. new projects, or the start of them at least | 2. low tide | 3. November | 4. Ice Man | 5. November in Tidewater | 6. Happy Man | 7. this week's food shot | 8. celebration dinner | 9. Neel learns about "the instagram" | 10. patterns | 11. civil disobedience? ;) | 12. cozy Sunday evening 

Parents will know that mid-day events are practically weekend killers. Most of Cal's baseball games have been at noon, so we have to be to the ball park by 11:15, which means leave the house by 10:45, which means start getting ready by 10:15, which means there's not time for much else in the morning. We don't usually get home until 4 (after our traditional stop for fried chicken - Cal loves tradition and he LOVES fried chicken)  and by then it's practically evening. The day is gone.

We had another event at one on Sunday, so I'm left feeling yet again like this was a weekend where I needed another day. Everything was fun though. We have a friend who's running for what's called a Constitutional Office in our city, and he and our local sheriff had a Get Out the Vote rally. My friend Evans has been locked in a bitter and unnecessary battle, and his opponent has been using the most unscrupulous tactics. Making it look like she has the endorsements of political leaders that she doesn't. Accusing Evans of things that simply aren't true (what else is new, right?). Her most recent ploy is the best though. Our city's democratic committee (full disclosure: I'm a member) created a voter guide for the election this year listing the candidates for all the races from governor right down to Evans office. His opponent created a flier that looks exactly the same (It even says "Our Democratic Candidates.") and replaced Evans picture with HERS! How crazytown is that? It's been all over the news and has actually generated some good publicity for Evans, but still. Shady. Evans texted me last week and asked me to write a letter to the editor of our paper. I had about a half an hour window to get it done, so I never dreamed it would get published. Glad to do my part. Now to go and vote (and work the polls) on Tuesday.

Also, I hesitate to say this out loud, but I actually like the time change. We switched our clocks back here in the US, and I prefer it this way at this time of year. The sun was coming up when I got Cal out of bed and it won't be dark when he heads out to carpool. This is good.  

Oh, and I also wanted to say that Miss Violet is feeling much better! I think it was all of you holding her in the light! Her appetite never fled, especially after we made her miss a meal, and she's back to full spirits!  

five things, november (really?) 1

1. I think  I'm just as glad that Halloween is over. We have some yucky stuff going on in our normally charming neighborhood that makes being here, and Halloween in particular, more concerning that celebratory. I have great hopes that things will die down, and we'll get back to our normal routines of edging our lawns and sharing a glass of wine on the front porch. But until then? Ugh.

2. I think  poor Miss Violet hasn't been feeling the greatest over the last day or so. Because she's been sick for so long (going on 10 months now), it's hard to know when she's off a bit, if it's simply a bad day or a sign of something deeper. No matter what, if you have a thought or two to spare, could you send them her way? When she's feeling better, she'll do a cheer for you.

3. I think  this post and this post both provided some provocative reading this week. And I agree with both Petra and Felicia wholeheartedly in their collective take on the Kinfolk craze. I won't say I wasn't drawn in at the start. Who wouldn't love that gorgeous photography? But now? Color me unimpressed. My life is messy and diverse and filled with splashes and splatters. Kinfolk has none of that.

4. I think  I also loved reading Christine's ghost story this week. I left one of my own ghost stories in her comments, and I have another about my other grandmother as well. Right after she died we traveled to Pennsylvania for her funeral. This was a very difficult time for my family. Not just her death, but my relationship with my parents, which had always been so close, was terribly strained for lots of almost unbelievable reasons. But we all came together to manage the funeral. She was the last of my grandparents to die. During the week of her funeral, Neel, Cal and I stayed at a hotel, but we were in and out of the only house I really ever remember her living in. In that house was a pair of chairs by the front door that you pass a gazillion times a day. It's where you drape your coat before you hang it up or where you lay your packages. You see these chairs all the time. Sit in them to toe off your shoes or to put your heels on before heading to church.

We walked back into her house after the funeral and sitting on the chair, which had sat empty for days, where I had sat just hours before to help Cal get his coat on, was her pocketbook (that's what she called it). Nothing valuable. Just some tissues and some mints, maybe a few other things. It hadn't been there before and suddenly there it was.

I don't look too deeply to try to explain these things. And I don't try to hard to understand what it means or what the message is. All I know is that there was a tangible sign of my grandmother, right where I needed to see one.

5. I think I can't ever begin to thank you enough for all the kind thoughts you've shared with me this week about the news of my photography exhibit. So many of you have reached out in this space or by twitter, Facebook, email message or phone. I really am so, so moved by it all. The whole experience, your support, all of it. It means the world.