Category: This and That

…cheers for the National Guard:

This and That

There is something surreal about the sight of National Guard troops quartered within the hallowed halls of the United States Capitol Building. Then the next day we are treated to frantic indignant news stories about those troops “relegated” to the dingy and frigid bowels of a parking garage. Biden apologizes to National Guard chief after 5,000 soldiers had to reportedly sleep in a DC parking garage with only one bathroom (msn.com)

Then, we hear that no one seems to know just Who ordered the soldiers that protect our nation from terror threats and assorted idiots in funny clown suits beating police officers with hockey sticks and fire extinguishers…but I digress. Did the Bad Democrats commit this outrage? No, in fact the Dems not only did NOT order the move from the cushy capitol, they actually ordered COTS for the troops so that they did not have to sleep on the cold marble floor of the Capitol Rotunda…never mind the parking garage with its concrete floor. It turns out that the parking garage is insulated and heated anyway.

The United States National Guard units keep a relatively low bar most of the time, out of sight of the public unless there is a need for disaster control. Remember Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when the Louisiana National Guard troops were actively fighting foreign enemies over in Afghanistan (having been nationalized by President George W Bush…and therefore unavailable for disaster control duty in their own state? But fortunately neighboring states (Mississippi, I think,) sent in THEIR National Guard troops when asked, showing the versatility and cooperation between states.

There are restrictions to the “calling in of the Guard” which strictly limit jurisdiction. Right now there are Guard troops manning diverse points of need, deployed in various states in food banks, prisons, immunization centers…I won’t even attempt to address the wide duties of the National Guard. in this brief blog post.

One of my Favorite Posts: The Venerable Bede (re-posted from 2015)

History, Poetry, This and That

[I am posting this poem which I wrote in 2015 as one of a series of I will call: Favorite Posts.]

The Venerable Bede

The Venerable Bede had a lot to read
in order to write the order and the
history of the medieval world.
He considered the matter of churches and cathedrals
and determined to add something new
in order to broaden the catalogues.

The Venerable Bede went out to the towns and the
countryside chatting with merchants and lords
searching for secular facts and bits of lore…
and made it known he was looking for more.
He went with his scribes, and trusty mules to carry the scrolls,
and collected History–words of men and their exploits.

The Venerable Bede explored the world
beyond the monastery walls.
He asked about roads and river boats
and the manners of insects and stars.
He sat with the old folks and shared a pint,
inquiring about all things, and morays, and techniques
and facts that were new…to him.
He wrote about travel and voyages, of builders and sailors,
of farmers…and of men who plyed the trades.

The Venerable Bede always took heed
of secular motive and deed.
He recognized the worth in History,
no matter how mundane.
But through it all, the main thing he learned…perhaps…
was the Source of it All remained with God
and he told his admirers who praised his work,
or detractors who disapproved:
God is the Author–only the scribe was the Venerable Bede.

 ©Sometimes, 2015

Last night I wrote a story (in a dream)

This and That

Last night I wrote a dream— or dreamed I wrote a story. When I got to a pit stop and stumbled to the loo it occurred to me that I was in the middle of a dream. The dream had a title (as so many writers’ dreams begin,) completely mundane: Last night I wrote a story. I kept repeating those words. as I crawled back in my bed to continue dreaming.

In the dream story it was well organized: and I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget. Sure, there’s a notebook and pencil there (somewhere) but finding it would require wakefulness, and being awake would ruin the dream stream. I wanted to use words like reverie, and gossamer, and thought about my new Thesaurus to find new words that would preserve my frame of mind. I knew that if I succumbed to sleep…enticing as it was…the dream would fade, or disappear altogether.

A train. That’s what the dream was about: writing a story about a train–and my thoughts were consumed with writing the outline of the story about the dream on paper, or sending it from my brain to my keyboard.

Hand loom – On the verge of extinction?

This and That

Many thanks to photographer Mayur Ghurka for allowing REBLOG of these great photos of Indian weavers at work at the looms. The article originally appeared on the Edge of Humanity Magazine site.    Hand loom – On the verge of extinction? – Mayur Ghurka (wordpress.com)

Mayur Ghurka

Hand loom weaving machine

The Indian hand loom had been present in the history for as long as we could remember. One could find its evidence of presence since the Indus Valley Civilization. Traditionally, the entire cloth-making process was self reliant. From the procurement of raw materials to the production of finished cloth, everything was done on a local level. But the advent of globalization and use of modern technology has to a significant extent disrupted the art of weaving.

Hand loom refers to wooden frames of different types which are used by skilled artisans to weave fabrics using wool, silk, cotton, etc. Right from spinning of yarn to weaving them into usable materials is done by these artisans. Products including cotton clothes, hand loom sarees, bed sheets, pillow covers, doormats, knitting threads, etc., are manufactured out of the hands of weavers. These local artisans usually live in close proximity…

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Dottie and Alice compete

Cats & Animals, Just For Fun, My Place, This and That

I decided to do this little thing, as good practice for putting images into my WordPress blog. Still rather intimidated, but I’m beginning to experiment with the New Editor and Blocks. If you click on the first photo a slideshow will appear. My captions on the individual photo aren’t included in the slideshow. Anybody know why?

(All photos and content on my blog, unless otherwise noted, are my own work. ©Sometimes, 2020.)

  • Dottie, can you please move? Alice is being cute, you’re in the picture.
  • No, I’m asleep.
  • Ok, I’ll aim higher.
  • She’s not all that cute.
  • I’m just as cute as she is.
  • Look at the position of her legs.
  • You want cute? Check this out!
  • Alice is acrobatic.
  • I ‘m going back to sleep.
  • Alice has three legs.
  • Toby says be quiet, I’m trying to sleep.
Sibling rivalry.

snow and cats…in a slideshow.

Cats & Animals, My Place, Nature, This and That

Here’s what happened overnight: December 1, 2020. This is the scene from my office window, directly across the street is the Huge Yellow Tree that I featured here a few days ago. Alice, my little cat that also appears in these pages now and then, has never seen snow before…she was quite impressed, although she seemed to be worried when she saw her friends outside of the door.

The wet snowfall was quite heavy, and weighted down tree branches. I’m happy to say that now, a day later, much of the snow has fallen off and most branches have snapped back into position…except for the occasional branch that has broken and will take some tree-trimming to repair.

The trio of yellow/white cats are related to each other in a couple of generations, but none of them are related to Alice. The tent -like structure is my most recent annual version of a cat shelter. These cats are not my house cats, and they just live outside at will most of the year, but I like to provide this ramshackle shelter for them. The main structure is under the cats, a table lined outside with bales of straw, and clear plastic to provide windows and light. The shelter walls are adjustable depending on the weather, if it is too warm they are uncomfortable, but I want them to have a warm place to sleep and hang out in the winter. The temperatures here in Ohio vary greatly within a very short time, and it could get unseasonably warm, or down below zero.

I still have not quite figured out the new innovations built into the Word Press Editor, otherwise I would have captioned each photo. I haven’t done a slide show before. All of the photos on this post, and on my site SOMETIMES, are taken by me, unless otherwise stated. More photos of the snow (and the cats) to follow.