Small Business Saturday

Happy Saturday things:

• Despite staying in bed for hours after waking this morning, I couldn't get back to sleep.  I've decided that my sleep is enough of a problem that I am going to look for and apply for a different job.  I'm ready to have a daytime job again and, oddly, I'm a little excited for this possibility. 
• Today was Small Business Saturday.  Keziah's store was busy, but not as busy as she expected.  It is really good to see fabric selling so well at the sale price.  I helped put out a bunch of scrapbooking and other supplies today.  At the end of the day she decided to “pay” herself and brought home some lovely natural fiber fabrics.

Keziah sorting in the backroom.

Filling the shelves!

• Some friends were also at the store today and it was good to get to visit with them.
• When we got home from the store, Gideon brought my attention to the night sky.  There weren't a lot of stars visible, but the moon was shining and lighting up the thin clouds.  It was very pretty.

☮

Currently listening to: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, by Susan Cain. 

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Home

Happy things from today:

• We saw from the highway the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. Keziah noted that it was a rather large building. I thought that it was funny for nanoscale to be in a large building.
• It was a long ride home today in a car without a working air conditioner. We kept going with music, conversation, and the scenery. One thing that Keziah commented on was how wonderful it is that states seem to be encouraging wild flower growth along the highways. She wondered aloud who thought of it. I suggested that Lady Bird Johnson may have been an inspiration. It was my understanding that she is why the Texas Bluebonnet is planted along the highways in Texas. Now that I am home I've done a little online research. It seems that Texas had the wildflowers growing along the highways in the 1930's. Anyway, the Highway Beautification Act of 1965 (under Lyndon B. Johnson) was a start for the rest of the country. It doesn't completely explain the recent blooming of flowers along the highways compared to when Keziah or I were growing up. It is still delightful to see.
• It used to surprise me that I would see leaves starting to turn on my ride home from Pennsic, now I look for them.  Autumn is coming.
• We traveled a ways on some back roads because of some traffic. The areas were pretty and there was more shade than the highway. There were also some parachutes that we saw coming down.
• We arrived home just after six this afternoon. It is so nice to be home. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. The cats seem to have forgiven us. Nanni took a little bit to forgive me, but she seems fine now. Winston seldom comes to me, and didn't today. He was all over Keziah though.

Flowers

Blue sky ahead.

Orange foliage.

Big cloud

Parachute

Nanni

☮️

Currently reading: She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb.

Thank you for being part of my happy things.  Stay safe.

Goodbye Pennsic, Day Fifteen

 Some happy things from the final day of Pennsic and day to travel:

• The rain came down hard last night with crashes of thunder and lightning.  We were in a different tent and mist came through the canvas on occasion.  We were still mostly dry and safe in the little tent we borrowed for the last night.
• The weather in the morning was beautiful.  The sun was bright and dried things out nicely so that things could be packed.  Another storm was due to come around two in the afternoon and everyone was packed and out before then. 
• We only drove a little over 300 miles today and stopped for a nice dinner and hotel.  Keziah and I will both feel better in the morning after sleeping in a bed and a building.  We have about another 300 miles to go and a stop to make tomorrow before getting home.
• I saw two deer and seven (!) woodchucks along our route.  
• When off the highway for a short time we came across Our Lady of Victoria National Shrine and Basilica.  It is an ornate building on the outside.  Pictures on the website show some of the inside.  I almost wish we had stopped to see if there were any tours available.
• There were spectacular cloud formations from all the scattered storms in the area.  We missed them all while driving today.
• In two weeks of camping I only pulled my laptop out once in the beginning to check on my bank account.  Opening it up to use at the hotel, it took me no less than a minute to find the power button!  😄

Clouds

Empty camping area

Selfie when we crossed into NY.

Windmill

The Basilica

More of the Basilica

Clouds

☮️

Currently reading: She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay Safe.

GNEW Day 2

Some happy things from my first full day at the event:

• There are wonderful friends that have put together a food plan for this weekend. I have been getting plenty of good healthy food. I'm so happy and grateful for them.
• This morning I spent relaxing in camp. I got to visit with friends and take a nap.
• In the afternoon there was a fighting event called The Deed. It is based on fourteenth century tournaments. It was fun to watch and I got to give my token to a fighter that I was impressed by. I chose the fighter that stopped fighting because the heat became too much and they put their health first. That has to be a difficult choice when you join something that you really want to do only to find that your body doesn't. Do you push yourself or not. Putting safety first was an honorable decision.
• Between the tournaments, while the fighters rested, there was entertainment. A man with bagpipes (or a similar instrument), a man with a poem to recite, and a trio of singers entertained the crowd. All were enjoyable. Concerning the bagpipes… I do enjoy listening to them but have to ask myself, what happened to give someone the idea to turn a stomach or animal pelt into a musical instrument
• While the trio of singers performed the area above them filled with dragonflies. It was beautiful.
• Twice I managed to step out of my comfort zone and offer to help strangers that seemed to be having minor struggles.

Pictures from the day:

Goat eye.

Random goats.

Performer

Performers

Me, Zippy, Keziah

End of Tournament 

Clouds

☮

Currently listening to: Under the Whispering Door, by T. J. Klune.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay Safe.

Clouds

Yesterday my work day had a few happy things, today my happy work thing is that my work week is over. It wasn’t a bad day, just no wonderful highlights. Here are some other happy things from today:

• Keziah and I were on our own this afternoon as the boys were visiting friends. We went to Wendy’s for our lunchtime meal. I’ve been wanting their baked potatoes with cheese lately and I love the strawberry lemonade there.
• On the drive, Keziah mentioned how happy she was to see the pretty cloud shapes in the sky again. I took a picture of some later on. I see a rabbit and maybe the front of a horse. Discovering what form a cloud can take is one of the tiny things that can bring joy over and over again.

☮

Currently listening to: Warrior of the Light, by Paulo Coelho

Currently reading: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe