By Elizabeth Prata
Summer break is almost over! One more day!
I had a relaxing break from school. I love my work and I love my school and I love the people I work with and work for. But it is tiring. So when Memorial Day rolls around I feel like terrific knowing I can relax with a long stretch of summer ahead. Eight glorious weeks.
When the last week of July rolls around, I'm usually ready to go back. Oh sure, who wouldn't like to stay at home all day, sleep when you want, do what you want, for weeks on end? I sure do. But lengthy time off isn't good for my mind of my soul, and I acknowledge it is good to get back to work and serve some children with books and love.
The first week I was off I went to a place called Foot Palace. It is so much more than just feet. It is a massage place, but you don't strip (yay!) and you don't lay on a narrow table face down (more yay!). They have big reclining chairs, and you wear loose clothing. They place your feet in a bucket of warm water to soak, and begin to work on your shoulders, arms, and hands. Bliss. Then they take the water away and dry your feet then wrap one of them snug. They massage the other foot, ankle, and shin up to the knee. Then time for the other one. They also work on your neck and head. It is really the best massage I ever had. I've been twice. The second time was this summer and it was just as good as the first time, last Christmas. I hope to go again at next Christmas time.
McCormick Balto: 1960s,
The next week I gook a jaunt up to a small town with a famous antiques mall. I wrote about that day trip, here. The town is lovely, and at the Antiques store I found a great teapot.
I made some collages. I played with some 'sun'- solargraphics'. It was a kit I found at the vintage store in the $5 fill-a-bag room. It didn't take up much room so I stuffed it in the bag and now that summer is here and the sun is so strong, I tried it out. You lay stuff on solar sensitive paper, let the sun burn the image onto the paper, 'develop it' on tap water, and voila, a solar print. Mine was unopened and contained all the elements necessary for making a print. Some of the paper handled the sun better than others, I mean, the kit was made in the 1980s, so it's 30 years old! The sun graphic didn't come out as dark blue as on the kit cover, but no problem. The kit ended up costing only about 25 cents and the sunshine was free. Anyway, it was a thing.
I put together a shelving unit. That was a big deal. It took me 3 days. One day to start and get frustrated. One day to cool off and ignore it laying all over my living room, and one day to finish it if it killed me. But now I have a more attractive piece of furniture than I had there before, a better display for my teapots and china, and it has a smaller footprint than the previous one, which I put outside to hold my plant pots on the patio.
What else did I do? I read books. I can't remember the ones I read in June, that's too much distance away for my puny brain to handle. I should log them in y planner so I remember. I read These Is My Words: Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, which was fantastic. Also The Art Thief which was also fantastic. I read 2 textbooks for school, one on literacy and one on classroom management. I started J. Warner Wallace's Forensic Faith last night and I like it so far, and I picked up House-keeping by Marilynne Robinson at the library today. I read a lot of online articles and papers.
I went through several episodes of a learning course from Ligonier called Union with Christ taught by Sinclair Ferguson. I did word searches and 'Spot the Difference' puzzles. I tried to do a regular puzzle to stretch myself into another activity, but I did not enjoy that and gave the puzzle to a friend who does like puzzles.
I napped. I like naps.
I did not take any trips or go afar, other than the jaunt to the antiques mall, half-hour away. I visited my favorite vintage store and got some books and trinkets, and a piece of art. I ate garden veggies shared with me by a friend, and ate farm fresh eggs shared with me by another friend.
I am not a fan of the southern heat, so I stay inside mostly. As much as I can. OK, all the time.
I don't have a TV so the screen is my laptop. Sure, I watch TV shows. Not so much movies anymore. I find that dedicating myself to the movie for 2 hours is a commitment that is getting beyond me. Sorry to break up with you, movies. It's not you. It's me.
Though I did watch Clint Eastwood in "The Mule" and enjoyed it. But I ended up fast forwarding toward the end.
I do that a lot, watch a little bit, sigh, and then just cut to the chase and read the Wikipedia plot about it to find out what happened. I did the same with Secondhand Lions and Made in Italy.
I enjoy Korean dramas. I watched Legal High, for a bit, but it got too silly and I didn't like the characters. I am in the middle of Divorce Attorney Shin and that one is more substantial and absorbing.
But short videos and 22 min TV shows are more my attention speed just now-
#DRUMBEATS : https://www.youtube.com/@gtoger
This is a channel dedicated to "videos posted documenting life in a tiny parking lot next door to the Bomb Factory. "Crazy tow jobs, bad drivers, radical technique, exciting drama — it's a little parking lot with a BIG story to tell," the hilarious trailer says." This article describes the channel well. It's hilarious. The guy running it has a genius for sound effects, droll wit, and great editing. It's set in Dallas and shows customers parking in a no-parking lot and getting towed away. It's better than it sounds.
Dallas YouTube channel finds voyeuristic thrills in Deep Ellum parking lot
WAVY BOATS
The difficulty of getting in or out of Florida's Haulover Inlet is famously hard. The currents and win run counter to each other and the waves are massive And as with anyone who did any boating, sometimes motorboat skippers are not the most cautious when it comes to sea conditions.
The channels' About description: "Haulover Inlet Boat Action! As Miami natives, we get the opportunity to view and experience some gnarly boat action. Join me as I capture boats ripping through sunny Miami beaches and inlets!"
Haulover Inet is difficult to navigate and dangerous. As a former mariner who traveled the Intracoastal Waterway from Maine to Miami and across to Naples and the 10,000 Islands, Florida shoaling is no joke. This article warns:
Stay vigilant as you pass through the inlet. When you navigate the Haulover Inlet on an incoming tide you'll want to steer right as you head for the ICW. Many boats have been forced on to the rocks by their stern being pushed at a fast rate. You need to make sure you have enough power to stay off these dangerous rocks. The tide can suck you in and combined with the current make you confused about your speed. This can cause you to lose control and hit the rocks, run aground, or even sink your vessel! From this Sport Fishing Mag article: "A powerful outgoing tide streaming through a narrow channel and a strong onshore wind tend to pile up steep seas," Cordes explains. "Combine these two factors with shoaling, and you have big, breaking waves at the inlet, resulting in very dangerous conditions."
One series the channel owner does is 'Boats vs. Haulover'. He has a pet peeve of people putting children in the bow with no life preservers. That is an automatic fail for the boat and a point goes to Haulover. I've seen video of kids popped out by the slamming waves. The other automatic point for Haulover is when he boater "stuffs the bow" that is, he hasn't gotten up on plane and the bow gets stuffed into a wave, loading hundreds of gallons of water into the bow.
The boat had gone bow first into successive waves. Inside the wave next to the man, is a child. The boat sank, all were rescued. The boat was towed to a nearby beach/island and later salvaged.
A companion channel I enjoy is "Miami Boat Docks" when tired, bleary, sun-drenched or drunk boaters try to safely dock their boats at a crowded ramp and effectively get it on their trailer to haul out of the water.
Thrift with me videos. I enjoy Dr. Lori Verderame, Laura Caldwell, The Crazy Lamp Lady, Heather Turner 'Thrifted Home' (on Instagram).
That's about all I did. It was a relaxing summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment