On one side of the ledger:
On the other side:
There will always be entries on both sides of the ledger.
61 books read. 2 more than last year which was 2 more than the year before.
Best non-fiction 2021:
Best fiction 2021 – came out in 2020 but I got to it in 2021:
I miss cooking.
Tomorrow is our last full day here! Between flight cancellations & weather, I am putting no hope whatsoever into actually getting home on schedule. But tomorrow will still be a milestone, at least: our last scheduled full day here.
4/11/2015 – 12/31/2021
From the day he was born (not the night, but the day)
He was trouble (not Monopoly, but Trouble)
He was the thorn (not the rose, but the thorn)
In his owners’ side (not the back, but the side)
They tried in vain (not in artery, but in vein)
But it never caused him nothing but pain
They weren’t home the day he died
This is a song lyric only lightly edited; don’t think I’m trying to be poetic on my own. Eddie seemed a little slow even from birth. He was double-inbred. We were soon to discover he had problematic hooves. We tried all sorts of things but could not do anything to remedy the situation or make his walking less painful. The following year his sister Zowie was born with the same condition, so we stopped all inbreeding immediately.
He adopted an unusual gait and a habit of going down on his front knees, which gave him arthritis. He was also prone to wounds that wouldn’t heal and becoming disgustingly dirty even for a goat. His problem hooves had to be cared for twice as often as those of normal goats.
In short you can see we had here a child with a disability. It is so hard to know when to end an animal’s suffering. Last winter Eddie developed some problems getting up on his own, and I started voting to put him down; but it was a winter thing, and he went on to have a good summer. Unfortunately, it didn’t take very many cold winter days this year before he had had enough. And unfortunately, the going-down-and-not-getting up came on suddenly, severely, and while we were away. Keep goats long enough and eventually everything happens, including the worst – having your goat-sitter need to be the officiant over an end of life. I’m afraid we’ve permanently traumatized Penny.
My husband deserves to be very proud for how he cared for Eddie all these years. Every three weeks trimming and sanding those hooves, clipping disgusting hair, coming up with ingenious ways to keep bandages on wounds. Troubles are over for both of them.
My friend Maggie posted her goals for 2022; and banal as they were, they were at the same time uplifting to read, because a year ago everyone’s goal was just to survive.
In that spirit, I give you…
Kick Killer Insomnia to the Curb. It would be unrealistic to say that from now on my goal is to sleep eight hours every night of my life. But the kind of 110% awake killer insomnia that makes me promising to kill myself in the morning… with my new pal Mel A. Tonin, I hope to make that a thing of the past.
Lose Absolutely No Weight as I eat exactly what my body wants. Familiar now with both my biomom & biodad’s phenotypes, my pudge factor is actually exactly where it should be.
Food Is a Sacrament. Whether it be a fantastic home-cooked dinner, a night out, or a simple bowl of oatmeal… Ah, Meaning!
Continue to Grow My Career in Astounding Ways. Techlab was probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; but now I find myself positioned in a key role on a heavily “agile” incarnation of Fedwire which is a whole new world.
Be at 1.5 with Nature. I used to be on Woody Allen’s wavelength: “I am at two with nature.” Finally after decades of rural living, I am inching asymptotically closer to one…
Frolic with Fiber. No particular fiberific goals, as the goal is specifically the general (Joe Oxymoron). Having fun is the only goal.
Read, Read, Read.
I found time to dye an ounce of yarn yesterday, after we did most of the goat herd hooves before lunch. I’ve had this idea lurking of making a fair isle hat using the colors of winter – blues and browns, evergreen & white. This is ProChem Wedgewood I had lying around. Haven’t used ProChem in years.
My m-i-l has all her marbles.
She has excellent physical health, with the exception of a broken bone.
Which has received top-tier medical attention.
And is healing.
Broken bones being one of the things that medical science has a proven track record of being able to understand and fix.
She even has a good amount of money saved.
She has not one but two phones at her disposal, and a new tablet.
And a list of useful phone numbers given to her by a social worker.
Really, is there anything I “have” to do here? Or even should? Besides provide loving support?
My nose & my smile get crookeder every year.
Tytania 