In Retrograde

 

It really does explain quite a bit.  If you are not familiar with it, retrograde is the apparent motion of a planet in a direction opposite to that of other bodies in its system.  In other words, it appears that a planet is moving backwards from our view here on earth.

Although retrograde is actually only an optical illusion, many believe the effects when it occurs are not unlike the behavioral changes caused by the changes in the gravitational pull during full moons.  

For example, some claim that, during periods of retrograde, it is easier to become unfocused and irritable, more likely to misunderstand or have conflicts, and even to cause anxiety and depression.  It has also been known to cause glitches in technology and communication.

Useless point of trivia: Between now and the end of September, 7 different planets will be in retrograde at the same time.  😳  In my book, that's like having 7 full moons in a month...but not nearly as enchanting.

Anyways, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

{Rudbeckia}

Since my last post, I have settled back into my hermitage.

Summer has slipped through my fingers like the white sand on a beach.

I heard on the weather today that today will be 2 minutes and 56 seconds shorter than yesterday, and tomorrow will be 2 minutes and 57 seconds shorter than today.  So, in two days, we will have essentially lost 6 minutes of daylight.

Rather than blather on about more useless info, I will share photos of what is left of summer here in Nod. 

{Morning Glories}

{Four of my five varieties of Hibiscus are blooming...still waiting on the reds as they are always the last.}

And while Summer revels in her last hurrah, Autumn is quietly slipping in.

The bittersweet berries are turning:

Critters are stockpiling and fattening up:

...and the trees are turning and losing their leaves.

 When has the onset of my favorite season become so bittersweet?

Must be the retrograde, eh?

It's That Strange Time of Year....

It's that strange time of year...

 

...when tantalizing wisps of warmer air whisper to the frozen ground that it's time to go and eerie fog settles like tears....

...when sudden snow squalls can't silence the song of the spring birds as they feast on berries of bittersweet....

It's that strange time of year when, each and EVERY morning, some of us still think we have been gypped out of an hour of sleep thanks to "daylight saving time"....

 ...and we be none too happy about it....

And it's that strange time of year when the calendar, without fanfare or ceremony, flips on another year of my life....

I always feel "untethered" in this "twixt" time.  Like Mother Nature who does not quite know if it should be winter or spring, I do not quite know what it is I want to do.

Hooking? Maybe.

Stitching?? Maybe.

More likely just cursing daylight saving time AGAIN because I am not tired at the time the clock says I really need to go to bed. (So, yes, I really feel cheated out of two hours of sleep every day....the clock says it's an hour later than it should be when I get up and it says it's an hour later than it should be when I go to bed. My head is a scary place most days.)

In other words, I have gotten little to nothing of anything done.

I put aside my large(r) Noel Sampler I had been off and on stitching on (more off than on) and worked on a teeny little piece called "Winter Woods" by Chessie & Me.  The stitching is almost done except for another large snowflake and then nun stitching on the sides.

My hook I have picked up not at all.

It is windy and cold, with spurts of flurries coming from the lifelessly gray sky.  I'm off to see if I can revive Hepzibah (my sourdough starter) so I can make sourdough cinnamon cranberry bread.

I hope there is a corner of each of your worlds where you can find some peace and hope in  these troubling times.

 *******

Recently read:

If you haven't figured it out yet, one of my favorite genres of books is historical fiction: Two of my particularly favorite time periods are, of course, 17th century Salem and World War II.  The downfall is that many of the plots tend to follow a very predictable path and one story becomes unremarkably similar to others.

In some regard, this can be said of this book, but it was relatively fresh to the market and I couldn't resist.

 It is the story Jewish mother and daughter who flee from the war raging in Poland and go into hiding in a neighboring barn.  Above that, it is the story of the bond between a mother and a daughter and of the precious gifts of imagination and music.

While I, at one point, took violin lessons (another surprising piece of trivia I bet you didn't know), the music detail in this book was a bit much for my taste.  (Kinda like The Book of Two Ways mentioned a few posts back may have been to much "Egyptology" for some....)  Despite that, I enjoyed it. (But hey, if you haven't figured it out by now, I really enjoy most all books.)  It is not one that will earn a rank among my favorites, but that's a very selective list.    

  

*******

Hats Off to Uncle Sam...Yeah, I'm Late Like That....

I apologize for being so very long gone.  I do have a very good reason.  Trust me.  And not because I am a lawyer.  Life has just veered off course again...but this one I somewhat saw coming. I just did not want to acknowledge it in the ways I needed to.

Anywhat.

I am, as you have, by now, figured out, "back."  I had submitted my issue about my "disappeared" reading list to Blogger/Google Help...and, after several days weeks, they actually responded and informed me they had resolved the problem.  A rare, but so much appreciated, "Woo Hoo" moment. The "Whoops" problem, however, still persists.  My request to make the error message less irritable apparently, too, was ignored.

I have done little and accomplished even less recently that would hold your attention most likely.  I did finish up a Blackbird Design design I had been wanting to do for some time.  Now, well, like many other things these days, I am not sure why.  

{"Hats Off to Uncle Sam" by Blackbird Designs}

I also finished up (stitching anyways) "Oceanarium," a design by The Primitive Hare.

Kind of cheesy sayings I know, but I stitched it as a companion piece to "The Mermaid of Salem Bay," also by The Primitive Hare.  

I'm over my mermaid "thing" now.  Really. Truly.

The Buttercup (Ranunculus) has spent its beauty...

And the Bittersweet is coming into its colors:

Short-lived, however, as a hard freeze is expected by the end of the week.

I will leave you with a photo of my beloved moon.  I missed the "full" harvest moon as it was raining buckets here, but this was last night, so close enough....

Even when you can't see her, she is magical.

When the Hibiscus Finally Dance...

 When the Hibiscus finally dance

having patiently waited their turn,

When the Foxglove nod sleepily in the warmth of the afternoon sun,

And the Hydrangea blushes. 

When the Bittersweet begins to show its colors,

And the melodic night song of the frogs is replaced with the churring of crickets,

When you can smell the corn tasseling

And the geese revel in end-of-season swims....

Summer begins to quietly pack her bags.