No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on September 25, 2020

Today is friend of the family Mark Hamill’s birthday. He turns 69 today. 

If you haven’t seen the Uber Eats ad with Mark and Patrick Stewart, give yourself a little geek treat and watch them. I found myself giggling and I never giggle.

Caroline is adjusting to school and how she needs to navigate her senior year. The mix of attending school and remote learning is a bit of an adjustment but she is soldering through. Tomorrow she takes the SAT so think good thoughts for her.

Today is errand day along with cat boxes and laundry. I am going to focus on home and hearth today. 

Tomorrow is sewing lessons. We are working on Halloween costumes.

The cats were playing with the zumzums that have become their toys. I came into the kitchen and they were scattered all over the floor. I will gather them up and toss them into the cat basket for the cats to find. I did notice that each cat has their favorites. Inky likes Kermit and Miss Piggy as she will gather those and sleep with them. 

I keep seeing all these ads for Pumpkin spice things. And what keeps going through my head is the phrase from Dune, “The Spice Must Flow”.  And can we stop belittling those who enjoy pumpkin spice things? Let them enjoy their time of the year.

I am frustrated right now about a number of things that I have no control over. I am doing what I can with what I can control. It is just the chaos outside our door is spinning out of control. I get sick to my stomach every time I watch the news.

I have been taking a bit of an Internet break and plan on continuing it for a bit. I check in once a day then nope out until the next day. I need to focus on the here and now.

It is Suicide prevention month. I am a shining example of that it does get better. I do understand when those voices whisper that the world would be better off without you. Where it seems that the world is against you. Where you can’t see an out or a ray of sunshine. I didn’t succeed and I am glad.

Right now, the mental health of the world is poor. We are mourning what we have lost and that is perfectly healthy. We have loss right now. Grief is a funny thing. It does not just happen at the loss of a loved one. We can grieve for lots of things. Missed opportunities. Our health. Losing a friend. Our body not able to do something it could do. Social isolation. Our lived as they were before March.

It is OK to grieve and feel the loss. It does not make you a weakling. 

Processing what has happened this year has been incredibly difficult. 

I am here and I am listening.

I am grateful for coffee makers that work.

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Posted By Kathleen David on September 24, 2020

This would have been Jim Henson’s 84^th birthday.

I was talking to some puppetry buddies and it was pointed out that there has been over a generation born after his passing, but his influence still exists.

This year marked 30 years since he passed which is hard to believe.

I started with the Muppets on Sesame Street. Then there was the Muppet Show which really changed my world in so many ways. The films he created showed me what was possible. There was no CGI in these but human beings creating the illusions of motion and life. 

His ability of worldbuilding has truly been under rated. From the world of the Dark Crystal to the Labyrinth to Fraggle Rock to the Muppet Stage, he gave us whole worlds to enjoy and wonder at.

Yesterday was the 42^nd anniversary of the opening of the Center For Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, GA. Jim was there with Kermit and his family. There was also an exhibit of the Muppets which I still have my sweatshirt from. 

It was an amazing day. I braved the crush of the crowd to get a couple of photos with my black and white camera. At one point when I was trying to get out of the crowd, Jim backed into me. He quickly turned around and I found myself face to face with Kermit who asked if I was OK. I managed to choke out a yes. 

Over the years I have met and become friends with puppeteers who were part of Jim Henson’s cadres of the creative. They all speak of Jim with such love and respect. He worked hard and expect others to keep up with him. 

And his legacy lives on. 

His company is still producing amazing work. Disney is using the Muppets in new and interesting ways while still harking back to what works.

There are also all the people who build and perform with puppets that say their biggest influence was Jim Henson. I don’t think I would be building the things I can build if it were not for the Muppets.

So, let us celebrate the man and his legacy.

The toast is to the Puppeteer and Creative Powerhouse Jim Henson.

I am grateful for everything Jim worked on.

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Posted By Kathleen David on September 23, 2020

Or Happy 64^th Birthday to Peter David

Guess what song has been rattling around in our heads.

Dear Peter,

Well it has been…..a year. I have been trying to put a descriptor on the past year and find that I cannot.

We have survived the past year and even thrived in some areas.

I love you more as every day passes.

I love listening to you write. The swift click of the keyboard with the occasional pause as you collect your thoughts and start off again writing the story you are engaged in has become a comfort to me. I know that sound and I know you are working at the job you love.

I love the fact that we do finish each other’s sentences at times or say the same thing at the same time. It shows how in sync we are. It has not gotten old the entire time we have been together.

We are a team and have each other’s backs. Sometimes it does feel like us against the world, but we know we have each other through all of this.

You know me well and I hope I know you as well. We know what each other likes and dislikes. You know my opinion about Mayo and I know yours on Tomatoes. We know our likes and dislikes with various forms of entertainment. Most of it we enjoy together but there are somethings we do apart. I think that is one of the many reasons our relationship is so sound.

We are better together than apart. 

I am very grateful to have you in my life.

Happy Birthday my dear.

Love,

Your Wife

Kath

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Posted By Kathleen David on September 20, 2020

Or we are thinking of turning on the heat.

It is crisp this morning. I actually needed the blanket to feel comfortable while sleeping.

This will go on for about two more days before we go back to summer weather and I plan to enjoy it.

Today the cats have all picked a cushion on the large cough to call their own except Phoebe who is in her favorite box having spend a chunk of the morning asleep on my chest.

Caroline is going into the city to meet up with friends again. They are planning on playing in Central Park for the day. She has her hand sanitizer and masks ready to go. She needs these sorts of excursions to create a feeling of a safe normal.

Peter and I are thinking about practicing bowling and a couple of errands we need to run.

I filled out my paperwork for the job at Micheals. All things being equal, I start a week from Monday. I am looking forward to it.

Yesterday was my sewing lesson. I am teaching a friend’s child how to sew so that they can start putting together some projects that they want to do. We are working on their Halloween costume. It is going to be awesome when done. I am thinking about putting the word out locally to see if I can make this a side business. I like doing it one on one because then I can tailor it to the student’s needs and ideas.

I need to get my puppet on and get product out that I can sell because I can make money there as well. I know I am crafty and can make things people want or desire. Just have to get it in front of the right audience.

I have ways of bringing in income. I just have to figure out how to make it work.

Today I have to write an essay for a Spanish comic book magazine about Peter and me. I think I have it figured out. I am going to write it then let Peter read it over.

Other than that, I have some ideas of what I want to do but I am going to let the day flow as it needs.

It is what I need to do for me.

I am grateful for comfortable clothing.

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Posted By Kathleen David on September 19, 2020

When my parents bought the house, the backyard was a bit of a mess with ivy all over the property. 

Dad would take the lawnmower and cut a path to the back and back so we could do back there. In the spring various plants would bloom and it was quite lovely, but it was also an exercise in Chaos. 

For over 40 years, they worked on restoring and enhancing what they found under the ivy and weeds.

Their hard work paid off and in 2015 they were part of the Druid Hills Homes and Gardens tour, which is a great honor. 

(For the VI: This is a photo of a wooden structure that is a series of squares stacked in a four tiers shape with each tier getting smaller with a platform on the top.)

Yesterday I talk about the structure that we played on as children. My parents sent me a photo of it. This is a masterpiece of geometry and physics as the entire piece is held together by tension. This became all kinds of things for us. From a fort to a ship to whatever our imagination wanted. It was also a great place to sit and talk to friends or read.

Let’s start from the back of the house going into the gardens.

(For the VI: There is a rose garden in the foreground and various colored blooming azaleas in the background with lots of trees.)

The rose garden was a labor of love and, in bloom, it was magnificent. They built the trellis and baby the roses along until it became a thing to behold. Among the roses were some from my mother’s childhood home that we referred to as the farm roses.

Native Azaleas

(For the VI: This is a picture of a couple of azaleas. One on the left is red/orange and the ones on the right are pink/white.)

The azaleas are all over the property. They have some rare types of native azaleas that they cultivated. The azaleas ringed the picnic circle so we tend to call it either the picnic circle or the azaleas circle.

(For the VI: This is a grassy circle surrounded by various plants. At the front of the picture is a rocky dry creek bed with the stone path going into the picnic circle.)

The picnic circle was a grassy spot that we would spend time in playing and just being. It was surrounded by the azaleas bushes and was rather private. We even ate out there on very rare occasions. The bugs in the south are relentless.

(For the VI: in the front of the picture are blooming azaleas. Behind that is the house as described above)

This is taken from the picnic circle looking back at the house. You can see how the West Wing is attached to the house along with the back porch. To the left is the study.

After leaving the picnic circle you start back on the path to the back. The raised bed was added and has what my parents call the white garden which are all plants that bloom are white over the year. There are white azaleas on the right. With more blooming plants in the background. Each plant and flower is carefully planned so something is pretty much in bloom the entire year. 

My parents have worked hard at keeping these plants alive by hauling water from the rinse water from the washer and the rain barrels during times of drought. It was a lot of work to keep this garden alive.

This is the turn in the path going back to the house. The back of the property is interesting. It is a bird sanctuary, there is a civil war bunker from the battle of Atlanta, and an old trash tip that had antique medicine bottle and the like. I believe it is also a wetland. The powerlines are back here as well allowing for the street to look like it did back in the early 1900s. 

This is after the turn looking back to the back of the property going back to the house. There are pink azaleas in bloom along with other plants. 

This is a labor of love and a lot of hard work on my parents’ part. They created a beautiful and peaceful space that they shared with the public.

(For the VI: This is my mother and father sitting on the bench in the picnic circle with pin azaleas behind them. They are both holding glasses of red wine. My mother is on the left wearing a pink turtleneck, a blue knit vest and a tan windbreaker. My father is wearing a blue button up short and blue jeans. They both wear glasses)

The proud gardeners of 1146 Lullwater Rd.

I am grateful that I got to experience these gardens through the years.

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