I found this view on South Cedar Street (Lansing, Michigan, USA). I walked to the library from my house, and this was near the sidewalk. It looked a bit like an archaeological dig, crossed with a Buddhist rock garden. I like it.

It has been very hot and sunny today. The view there probably looks similar right now. I’d planned to walk to the library this afternoon. That direct sun was just too mean at the time I wished to leave. Plan B!

Working at home is my work plan at this point. Yes, the library has A/C, but getting there would overheat anybody. I can’t justify driving there, it’s just too close.

I hope whatever sort of day you have, it makes you smile. I’m a big fan of summer. I’m nearly giddy that I only had to get my legwarmers out for one day before summer returned. Slowing down is the cost of heat, and my life allows for a slow physical pace if needed. Love it.

I have been busy. Here are some photos I collected along the way.

A tiny butterfly on the flowers in my friend Ulyana’s front yard, REO Town Lansing.

An unusual mottled eggplant with “ears.” This was taken at the East Lansing Food Co-Op. There was another eggplant of the same coloring, which did not have the side bits sticking out. I did not buy either of them, but the visual surprise delighted me.

A fraternal pair of Striped Summer Socklets. These are a store sample at Yarn Garden in Charlotte, Michigan- as of Tuesday.

The yarn is Cascade Heritage, a standard wool-nylon sockyarn. It comes in many solid colors and a good selection of multicolors as well. Good quality, good price.

Several photos of a group of Habibi Dancers, performing this last Wednesday at Sparrow Hospital. I think this is my 5th year participating with my troupe in this event. It’s a Diversity Week celebration. They also have a food contest. We got to dance to the smell of some lovely Indian spices. Yum!

I am third from the right, in turquoise, hot green and a purple head wrap. This is how I look when I am in character as Eudora, the dancer.  Theatre is much fun, and dancing with girlfriends is just as fun as it gets!

You can’t see it here, but this was a cane dance. we balance the canes horizontally on our heads for part of the dance. We also swing them around, toss them back and forth, and otherwise generally have a bit o’fun with shiny sticks.

My dear friend April, being her beautiful and energetic self. Her daughter, Isabel (age six), took all of these photos for me, from the front row.

I’ve been giving Isabel my camera to use since she was about 4 years old. She has learned to take photos, zoom a bit, and take a look at the photos she has taken on the camera’s preview screen. She does a rather nice job.

I love that sometimes Isabel takes photos from her own perspective. A person several feet shorter than I am, sometimes takes photos at her eye level, which is adult hip level. When the photos are of dancers, I enjoy seeing the energy in the clothing. Clearly, these folks were moving quickly!

Love this one. Literally caught mid-hop.

Yes, the baskets are real. No, we don’t use magnets or velcro. Yes, the headwrap makes it easier (my hair is very slippery). Yes, it takes a lot of practice.

We still have hiccups at times. The baskets are wider than my shoulders. It’s easy to run into someone else’s basket. It’s SO much fun, though!!!

Thanks to Sparrow Hospital for inviting us back, yet again. Community events make me really happy. This is one of my favorite events of the year.

My life changed when I went to east Africa for 38 days in 2004-2005. My friend Altu, who grew up in Ethiopia, took me to meet her family. During that time we spent 1 week in Kenya and 1 week in Egypt.

I have written several posts on my African trip and put up many photos here, over a few years. Click if you want to see the series of Africa posts. There are 45 posts in all, some have text which is not about Africa but they show photos. Many, but not all, of the photos are from Ethiopia. Few are from Kenya.

Today a friend posted a note on Twitter, with sad news about Rhinos. I decided to go peek at the photos in my previous posts and see if I had put up animal photos. I had not.

The week before Christmas, 2004, Altu and I went on a morning half-day adventure in the amazing Nairobi National Park. It’s right outside the city limits.

Nairobi is the capital city of Kenya, a true city with crazy street traffic and big buildings. In one photo you can see a herd of hartebeests in front of what looks like a string of condo homes.

But most of the park was wild and without a view of human occupation. We did not see zebras or baboons  but we saw pretty much everything else the Wikipedia article about the park says it holds.

I just put up 23 photos of that half-day adventure on my Flickr account. They are set up so they can be viewed as a slideshow. I have wanted to do this since January of 2005.

Understand that some of the close-up photos are low digital quality. This was 2005, and I used my digital zoom on that now-uncool camera to get some of the photos. It still shows that I really did see these animals.

You can click on them here (or in Flickr) to see more detail, at least on the better images. To get back to this post, click “back” at top left of your screen (or hold Alt and tap your  left-arrow key lightly, in Windows; open-apple key plus left-arrow on a Mac).

I hope some of you enjoy my Kenyan wildlife photo collection/slideshow. If you want more information about the park itself, you can read more on Wikipedia.

I am spending a little time each day this week, weeding out old things that I don’t need anymore. I have boxes that I have moved from house to house and now is the time to purge.

I’ve been through about 6-7 boxes so far. Only less than one box stays, and that may thin even further at a later date.

At the same time, we are having a bit of a heat wave. Today is hotter than yesterday, and it appears that my living room is 86F/30C right now (5pm). Outside is maybe 94F or so.

Somehow the distraction of this big project, coupled with heat, made me ignore lunch until almost 5. Mind you, I get up later than others do, but lunch is usually about 2pm or so. Whoops!

It is too hot to cook, I’d say, so I made a salad. We had a can of black beans in the refrigerator just for salads. I drained/rinsed them, added a tomato and basil from our own garden, and then added olive oil and some spinach. It was light and cool, and just right.

I ate it on our fun porch… green table, purple floor. And the salad was pretty, too!

Late last week I was running a bunch of errands. I found myself waiting at a busy Lansing stoplight, next to an amazing vehicle, driven by an amazing-looking man.

The vehicle was a motor-tricycle which was decorated to the extreme. The man driving was wearing a helmet (as is required by law in Michigan). However, this helmet was a work of art on its own merits. It had large horns coming out of each side and what appeared to be hair on the top, above the horns. Somewhat viking-esque, perhaps?

This guy is TOTALLY into it. Remember, one can not buy passion. It comes, and we listen and act… or we let it pass us by. I have high regard for those who grab on and go!

This guy is into his own style.  It’s not my style, nor the style of anyone else I’ve seen in town. I was impressed.

Yesterday I was at the Okemos Public Library (Hope Borbas Branch – Mid Michigan). As I exited the building, I admired the garden.

A movement caught my eye. It was a butterfly on a Purple Coneflower (Echinacea) flower. I can’t tell you how happy I was to have my camera close at hand!

Oh, the joys of summer! We had a bunch of rain and now everything is growing like crazy. I picked this tomato, the first healthy ripe one of the season, a day or two ago.

I want to make guacamole. It’s just the right size for that.

I am so happy that I got fruit this year! One more looks like I can pick it tomorrow, too!

I have learned to grow tomatoes in large containers. They sit on the landing of our back steps, which is on a southwest corner of the house. I see them every time I enter the house, so I don’t forget to water.

I use “container soil” instead of standard potting soil. This has small granules of a gel which absorbs an amazing amount of water when it can, and then releases it slowly later. The plant can go longer between waterings without going totally dry. This works great on weeks/weekends when we go away and the weather is hot.

Last year was an awful year for me and tomatoes. I started a bit late, and even my “Early Girl” tomato plant did not make a single ripe fruit on the vine. I got one red one off a vine all year, and I had five pots going.

I did harvest a few (five, to be exact – see above) green ones in October, and put them on the windowsill to ripen. The smallest one never did turn red, the others I used for cooking when they looked OK.

Fortunately, knitting friend Rita B. is an amazing gardener. She grew a lot of types of tomatoes, including some heirloom ones in gorgeous colors.

She was generous in sharing, so I had fresh, off-the-vine tomatoes even though mine were useless. Here is a photo of a fully-ripe green heirloom variety she shared with me:

Here is a photo of a pot of some amazing chili I made up with a bumper crop she gave me one night. (Sometimes Thursday Knitting night is harvest-sharing night, and I was delighted.)

This year? I bought one huge pot with a large plant in it, right away. It had flowers and tiny fruit on it when I took it home. That is how I got the tomato pictured first today.

I also have four smaller plants which are growing but not large yet. One of the smallest ones has several small tomato fruits growing and a few flowers.

We will see what we will see. Meanwhile, guacamole for lunch on Wednesday?

Brian’s youngest sister lives in Washington DC. She was in Baltimore one day and saw this remarkable, lovely sight:

“Hug Me.” I love this deeply. I’ve seen several photos of trees with sweaters, and this in in my top two favorites. Incredible.

It is just perfect in Michigan right now. Some days we get rain, some days clouds, some days hot sun. No matter which of those, the ground is green and it seems everything that could bloom is doing so.

Our house was landscaped, for the most part, in the 1920s. We have lots of old fashioned flowers. The climbing roses are nasty, mean, grabby, and garment-eating for 11 months of the year. In June, I forgive them for all of their irritations. We have them on two sides of the house and one side of the garage.

In addition, we have peonies just finishing up, daylilies everywhere, and a hydrangea/snowball bush blooming. On Thursday I finally planted the last flower in a container. Last year we had some very sad tomatoes, no flowers in front and a few geraniums (in the pots they came in) on the back. This year, Geraniums and petunias with yellow-green sweet potato vines in back. Impatiens in 3 colors in front. I feel rich.

Last year I planted 3 types of tomatoes. One was called “Early Girl.” She never made a single fruit. In fact, the first tomato I got last year was in late October if I remember right. Several I picked green and ripened on the windowsill. If it were not for my knitting friend Rita B. who is an amazing gardener, I would not have had any home-grown tomatoes at all. Hers more than made up for my lack, though.

This year, we had a gift certificate to VanAtta’s Greenhouse in Haslett, and I was able to buy nicer things than usual. My geraniums already look wild and alive. And I splurged on a “Patio Tomato” which was about a yard/meter tall, already blooming, and had a few tiny fruits already growing. Here she is this week:

Can I jump up and down in glee? I’m pretty happy with this. No wonder I keep singing “June is Busting out All Over.” It’s true!

My impending pattern now has a name: “Summer Striped Socklet.” I have knit numerous single socklets in the last week. Here are the socklets which have been completed thus far:

The advertisement on Ravelry is scheduled to start on June 16. I am working on the text layout for the pattern at this point, and need to do a little more photography.

Oh… sockyarns used are, from left to right:

• Cascade Heritage- Wool/Nylon
• Crystal Palace Panda Soy- Bamboo/Soy/Nylon
• Yarn Hollow Squish- Merino/Bamboo/Nylon
• Cascade Heritage- Wool/Nylon
• Regia (Blue/green is Regia Flusi Das Socken Monster, Fuschia is Uni)- Wool/Nylon
• SR Kertzer On Your Toes- Bamboo (Bamboo/Nylon)

Back to the layout program… June 16 is approximately 24 hours from now.

I took hundreds of photos on Saturday. My class canceled. I had many places I could choose from to do. However, my voice was tired after a night singing/socializing till the wee hours at Mac’s Bar. I decided to take myself on a solo adventure and rest the voice a bit.

It was Be a Tourist in Your Own Town day. I love this event, and it keeps getting better. This year Paramount Coffee opened their plant for tours, so I did that.

I also went to the new City Market building for the first time. (I loved it, in spite of my pre-visit reservations.)

I am still working on my pattern deadlines. The first is handled, but the second has a significantly impending due date with no wiggle space at all.

I’ve been knitting, taking photos and writing instructions. I’m alternating between PhotoShop, KnitVisualizer, Excel, Word and InDesign. I sure am using the capabilities of this lovely laptop to the max.

I continue to be grateful for my 6+ years as a software trainer. The things I learned during that time are still helping me every day. I can not imagine how frustrating this work might be to someone without as much experience as a professional geek as I have had.

Um… this is to say I have processed two uncharacteristic photos of the weekend at this point. I took photos of plants, one when I first got downtown and one when I was nearly done. I’m posting the last one taken as the first to look at. It is too pretty to wait upon.

That first photo is a garden near the corner of Michigan Avenue and Grand Avenue. It’s on the grounds of the Radisson Hotel, the only downtown hotel at this point.

I have NEVER seen Calla Lilies in this colorway before. I’ve seen white many times, and once saw some pale lemon yellow ones, solid colored. These look like they have been painted by hand. (I can envision them on a canvas by my friend, Barbara Hranilovich.) Gorgeous!

The second photo was taken somewhere between the Convention Center and the City Market, on/near the Riverwalk. This determined thistle plant rooted and grew sideways on its own. It’s a determined little plant, for sure. I’m guessing there is a poem in there somewhere. I’m content to let the poem be visual, though.

I’ll have more photos of my footie knitting soon, plus photos of Mac’s Bar and more Tourist day photos. For now, I’m giving you a feast for your eyes, two very different ways.

Cynthia and I had a long lunch today, Friday, near the fish ladder in Old Town. It is a work day for both of us, but we like to meet once a week for lunch to make the day nicer, and we missed our typical Tuesday this week.

Since I’m working on a sock design, I can’t write much… but let us just say I’ve never really had a picnic lunch done properly. This time I did. I believe the photos tell the story well.

I created home-made everything (mostly made last night): black bean dip, guacamole, black olives, and rhubarb crisp, with brewed iced tea. Oh… there were also sesame/brown rice crackers, which were purchased. The paper plates (and plastic tray in which the crackers came) were disposable, and everything else was/is reusable.

It was perfect. Sunny, 86F/30C, sitting in the shade near the water. We had just slightly too much food, a luxury. And of course, very good company and conversation.

These last 2 photos were behind me as I took the river view photo. I love the tree at bottom left. It’s actually a metal sculpture, and is a favorite of mine.

The building shown is next to the big parking lot in Old Town. I love porches above the 1st floor. I bet that corner balcony is a lovely spot in which to sit, at this time of year!

My life is in the process of changing. Right now I’m in the evaluation phase, which means lots of pondering, thinking, looking for options.

I’m doing what I can to stay away from worry. I am fond of saying “Worry is not action.” That is harder to live than it is to say to someone else, as you might imagine!

Tuesday I had a canceled night class. I had the opportunity to make choices a bit with my time. Now, my porch is my favorite place in Lansing on warm days. It was warm enough to go out there.

The winter had done a bit of a messy job on that porch, though. The floor was full of leaves, the ledges around the porch were decorated, so to speak, by the birds who hung out there for shelter. The three chairs and one table which stayed out on the porch, were dusty. The painted chairs had peeled a bit since fall.

I decided I wanted to work on the porch, but that it needed to encourage me rather than drag me down. Out came the broom and dustpan. Out came wet, soapy cloth and a dry cloth to follow it. It did not take all that long to make the porch welcoming again.

I put away the cleaning tools. I hung up my beloved hammock (purchased on a trip to Mexico almost 15 years ago). I got out a quilted pillow made for me by Brian’s sister, Jane. The wireless computer and cup of tea followed me, along with a box full of paperwork.

The sun filtered through the thin, green, spring leaves across the street. I got some work done and enjoyed my luck at being able to work in that place for several hours.

If I must ponder my future while doing some work, this is the best possible place to do it.

Hi, everyone. For someone whose goal is 28 posts a month, I am not hitting my goal right now! This is my post number 2,915 since November 2002, but it is my first one in a week.

Gratitude

My car is now in the shop for 2 weeks and I’m to call them Tuesday for an update. I’m thinking it will be 3 weeks without a car, at least.

However, this has allowed my friends to love me with service. It happens that my furthest commute is to Haslett once a week (ten miles one way, requiring 3 buses). This two weeks happened to be between terms, so I did not have to worry about that. I have been able to ride the bus a lot (and our system is quite reliable).

I did one round-trip to downtown Lansing (not quite 5 miles, total) on my cool old 5 speed Schwinn Suburban. Last year, I did not ride the bike once. It was pleasant to get her back out on the road.

Things are intense but fine here. I am well again, thanks to the miracle of modern medicine. It is spring, and absolutely lovely to look at outdoors.

Friend Rae loaned me her car to go to the doctor last week when I was quite ill with a sinus infection. Friend Altu loaned me her car this week to go back for a checkup. You can not know what a gift it is to have a car for an hour or two, during a week which is otherwise car-less. The first week, I got a few groceries. The second, I went to the bank. Those trips were much easier with a vehicle!

Friends Melinda, Kelley, April, Altu and Kim have offered rides at different times. Mind you, most of the time, the bus works great… but some trips are a lot more hassle than others. Going to Rae’s shop and back is a breeze. Most of my life is lived on the East Side between Rae’s shop, Frandor and Altu’s restaurant. So most of my life is easy to handle by bus.

But you know, in the scheme of things, this is just fine. I do not have a long term illness. I have the prospect of  a vehicle again in a week or two. It is spring here, so waiting for the bus is pleasant. I have knitting in my purse, and can do that while I wait.

Project(s) Update

Since you last heard from me, so much has happened. The Lansing Comfort Bear project is going nuts. There is a nice article on the Lansing State Journal website about our event at Schuler Books. (It was in the Thursday paper with a photo of me teaching, but the online article is missing that photo. I’m fine with that.)

The article does not mention that Berroco Yarns and Rae’s Yarn Boutique donated yarn, Rae’s donated needles, and I donated patterns and teaching expertise for that event. Rae, Anna and Barbara from Rae’s offered teaching assistance, also donated. (Anna took the two photos here, while I was teaching.)

Whitney at Schuler Books did a great job of publicity and hospitality, as well. The project started not long ago thanks to Kristi Garcia, and it’s growing like weeds! It took a team to get this moving, and we are thrilled.

I have created a simplified version of the pattern to be distributed for free as a PDF download. That version can be accessed by clicking this Fast-Finish Bear Free Version link.

For those not inclined to download and print, or those who do not use the Internet, there will also be a photo-enhanced version with instructions for even non-knitters to get started. That one will be printed in color on good paper and in a page protector, for sale at the shops. The price will be my standard $6, but $1 from the sale of each pattern I will donate to EVE (End Violent Encounters). EVE is an organization which has helped two women I know, both with children, get out of a bad living situation and into new, healthy lives.

I am on the brink of an adorable child’s cap pattern (had hoped to release it yesterday but literally fell asleep with computer on my lap). I helped a friend with her taxes, and the Habibi Dancers‘ annual show and workshops are this weekend. (Photos below taken at rehearsal Wednesday.) I am over busy but all is well.

Signing Off, for Now

And with all that distracting me, I didn’t say hello to all of you. I’ll be back with more when I can. Meanwhile, focus on gratitude and let go of those things over which you have no control.

Hugs from Lansing, Michigan.