Rural and small-town living – Page 18

Summertime and the gear bag is heavy

Published August 1, 2016 10:49 am by Claire

Went to a summer festival this weekend with my friend G. There were were, among the strolling, carefree crowd, lugging these big saddlebags of gear.

G. and I are very different people. She’s a short, beautiful, church-going, civic-minded, family-oriented workaholic professional. I’m a tall, plain*, skeptical, Outlaw layabout who gave up family as a bad job 20-some years ago. She’s a staunch Republican conservative who worries about deteriorating morality and sports a “Hillary for Jail” bumper sticker on her vehicle. I’m an anarchist libertine** who’s v*ting for Sweet Meteor O’ Death.

But we are alike in that both of us, everywhere we go, haul these hefty bags of gear. In a pinch, if we needed to, between the two of us we could ~~feed the multitudes~~ keep ourselves fed and watered for a day, perform minor first aid, cut off a seatbelt, find magnetic north, call for help with a spare device, see in the dark, and have a good chance of preventing a bad situation from turning worse. Thanks to my new compact binoculars, I could even spot a rose-breasted grosbeak if some grosbeak-related emergency arose.

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Weekend links

Published July 30, 2016 2:35 am by Claire

“How the white working class lost its patriotism.” (By J.D. Vance, whose hillbilly roots are not too different from my own family’s)

Oh wow. Did you know about this? Anybody seen it? Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk have a new series that plays on their roles in the late, much-lamented, still grand-and-gloriously freedomista Firefly.

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The Ziggurat Urn

Published July 27, 2016 11:19 am by Claire

My neighbor Andy built a number of pet coffins. He did this first for a neighbor’s 19-year-old dog. Then he started more to sell on eBay. Then one fine day he had a stroke and was gone like that. His widow, J., let me choose among the smaller boxes for Robbie’s ashes. “Smaller” is a matter of perception. One box was a clear standout despite being only partially finished. That box I brought home. But small it’s not. I filled the nail holes and cracks yesterday and now am contemplating its decoration. Andy would have stained and sealed it. I…

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A Friday ramble

Published July 15, 2016 1:39 pm by Claire

Well, I don’t know which is more depressing: presidential candidates who’ve never succumbed to any vices or those who have but lie about it. Rigidly straightlaced people rarely make empathetic “leaders.” —– It’s definitely depressing that America’s blood-dancing hoplophobes will still fail to notice a) that it does happen in other countries and b) that an evil guy with an agenda can kill more people with a truck than with a firearm. —– And why do so many people consider it somehow “better” if the Nazgul preserve an appearance of impartiality, even when they clearly have agendas? This is like…

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A little good news

Published June 13, 2016 9:43 am by Claire

Because the MSM (and of course most of the gunblogosphere) is currently “all murder, all the time,” I thought a bit of good news was in order (courtesy of MJR). Seems recently the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife “requested” access to a creekside property to survey for some frog you’ve never heard of. The homeowners said yes. That is, they said yes … BUT. I think their response will cheer you. —– (And if you need a laugh booster shot later in the day, come back to the blog after noon. Got another funny queued up for you.)

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Weekend miscellany

Published May 21, 2016 12:28 pm by Claire

Just past the halfway mark of my six months without home Internet. Not too painful so far, right?

Its original purpose of lowering monthly payments to clear last year’s home-improvement debts kind of went kablooey when Dave quit paying for the blog. At that point, I emptied savings to clear nearly all that debt, figuring any unnecessary monthly payments would not be a good idea right now.

Kept a small emergency fund, of course. Always keep a small emergency fund unless you’re living in your car and eating out of Dumpsters.

My latest foundling

Meet my latest forest foundling …

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Kid etiquette (and a good neighborhood)

Published May 14, 2016 10:57 am by Claire

I love my neighborhood. In many ways, it’s like what we think neighborhoods were in the olden days (but probably really weren’t). I had an “olden days” moment yesterday. Not in the idyllic sense, but in the sense that anybody in the neighborhood can give a troublesome kid what-for and parents will back that up. I was sitting in the sun room, enjoying the respite after a day of painting and ripping down old siding when — whap! — something thumped the wall next to me. I knew immediately what it was and who did it. Sure enough, I went…

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Tuesday links

Published May 3, 2016 12:26 pm by Claire

Pretty amazing way for a 16-year-old to live. (H/T JB) OTOH, some people may just have too much time on their hands. And hatchets and beer in them. (H/T ML) Speaking of too much time and hands … did you know there’s a (not joking) world of rock-paper-scissors competition? (Tip o’ hat to jed) Looking for some good hard science fiction? (H/T MJR) Get businesses freaked out enough about “discriminating against the disabled” and they’ll fall for anything. 12 lessons to learn and hang onto forever. (Especially for business, but plenty have applications in the rest of the world, too.)…

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Burning, not blogging

Published May 3, 2016 12:06 pm by Claire

Meant to get to the library for blogging earlier. But it was a good morning for burning. Just enough rain last night to keep the ground damp but not enough to soak the wood. And hooboy, have I got wood. Last week a minion came and spent a whole day breaking down and stacking all that deconstruction rubble and since then, I’ve been getting rid of it the good, old-fashioned, no-dump-fee way. Today was my fifth construction-rubble fire. These aren’t exactly bonfires, but couldn’t pass as humble little campfires, either. BUT. In addition to getting rid of the unsightly rubble…

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Two months

Published April 20, 2016 2:50 am by Claire

Today it’s been exactly two months since I had home Internet. Four months to go and I confess that when Comcast comes back on August 20, I plan to binge my little heart out streaming Amazon shows, forum browsing, and even indulging in a whole bunch of disgusting news reading. I’ll surf until my brain turns soggy. When November comes, I’ll follow 16 live blogs of every dismal, depressing election result and love every second of it. That said, I generally haven’t missed connectedness that much and am looking forward to a summer of getting lots of small things done…

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Category: Rural and small-town living