Family, gardening, pets, The Future, Uncategorized

Hoping

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Every morning our grey cat sits expectantly  by the front door, waiting.  She waits for the magic moment when the light appears on the living room wall and ceiling above our media cabinet.   She knows it is somehow associated with my cell phone.  This morning she saw me walk into the living room with my phone, and immediately jumped on top of the media cabinet, waiting for the light. The kitten stays on the floor, as her legs are too short to make the leap to the top.  The light sometimes appears low enough for her to pounce, and she waits for it, too.

When I sit in the love seat  by the bay window, the sun reflects off my cell phone screen and I can flash a light all over the walls and ceiling. The kitten tries to grab it. It always slips between her paws. The grey cat just sits and watches it with fascination and excitement.  It seems to be strangely satisfying for her, as though her day is off to a good start when the light appears.  As the days shortened this fall, the light sometimes didn’t even show up, since the sun wasn’t in the right position until after I left for work.  The grey cat never gave up hope.  She waited each morning.

Today we planned our garden and chose the seed varieties for next summer. I hope the rains come and we don’t have a drought.   I don’t think we are too different from our cats, waiting with hope for the promise of light in this dark season and these even darker times.

The new year has just started. What are you hoping for?

 

 

 

 

 

 

33 thoughts on “Hoping”

  1. What a lovely intro, Renee. I can’t remember a nicer one.

    I regard the new year with considerable hope but also so much fear that I don’t want to describe it here. Everything I value in life is under serious attack. I certainly have hopes for this new year, but I have to admit I also have great fear. Do I think progress might be possible this year? Well, probably. Right now I’d happily settle for an outcome that would have everything most valuable to me preserved against great loss.

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  2. I’m a regular listener to Krista Tippett’s “On Being” program on MPR. It’s part of my regular mental health maintenance regimen. Here’s a segment of the program that I find particularly comforting at the moment. If you have the option, listen to listen to John O’Donohue’s reading of this lovely poem; it’ll make you feel better, I promise.
    https://onbeing.org/blog/john-odonohue-beannacht/

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  3. I have the usual list of better habits and aspirations, but the one I want to post here is that I become more musical in 2018.

    Music used to be a routine part of my life and it has sadly lapsed in recent years.

    I am fortunate in belonging to a church that amongst other things values music of many forms, so I have a good support system at hand.

    We shall see.

    Like Steve, I am deeply concerned about some current trends. I’m going to try and balance a daily practice of active resistance with carving out an active period of tuning out the “noise”.

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    1. Oh, and Bill? I am determined to reassemble my magical T20 Sunbeam toaster this month. The drop mechanism needed adjusting and I ended up dismantling it (so long ago I don’t remember the details). I have the service manual and all the parts in a box. It just needs a chunk of dedicated, focussed time to get it back together properly.

      Probably right after the cats have been fed, otherwise I get too much “help”.

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        1. Thanks, Steve!
          I am finding that while I use YouTube a lot for diy (and sometimes to decide nope, I need a professional, which is also super valuable), I am the sort who often needs a line diagram and step-by-step instructions. Having both should get this easily tackled this month!

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        2. I don’t want to talk too much about YouTube. But my awareness of it has increased dramatically in recent months, and now it has importance for me I would not have believed earlier. I’ve learned that a great deal of information is available on YouTube. I personally find the format useful for my particular learning style.

          Example: my rheumatologist recently taught me how to inject drugs into myself. Fine. But as I watched her I knew this information would be available also on YouTube, so that when I got home I could run videos over and over until I was comfortable with each step. That’s just a small thing, but it involves learning to use new technologies in ways that make life easier and less threatening.

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      2. Where did you get a service manual, mig? I’ve always just muddled through restoring old Sunbeam toasters. I still have one or two around but I haven’t puttered with them for years. Back when I actively collected them there wouldn’t have been youtube videos available and I’m surprised to learn that they exist now.

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        1. I downloaded one from a website (need to be not typing on the phone to post the link here, so could do that in a couple days) and it lives on the laptop in the time with the rest of my diy info.

          Between that and finding parts/supplies, the internet has been a real treasure trove for me. Very satisfying to my “fix-it” instincts.

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        2. If you find you would like help with the project, there is a Ramsey County Fix-It Clinic the last Saturday in January. There are always toaster lovers available to help.

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        3. Thanks​ Linda. I know pretty much what to do, just need to sit and do it.

          I did try the fix-it clinic at Highland Library for a clock radio once, but the guy had to give up.

          I think I may have inherited the “mechanic” gene from my maternity grandfather (who I never knew). One of my brothers did too.

          The fact that most things today are made to be unfixable makes me cross.

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  6. I hope for more time and energy to devote to photography: shooting, processing, and learning more about my craft. I also hope to make some money selling products but that’s not as straightforward as just spending more time on it and I’m attempting to think up strategies for doing that.

    I’ve got corresponding fears regarding those hopes, too, namely that I won’t have much time and energy to devote to it and that it will be such a sinkhole for what little money I have that I’ll end up being a greeter at Wal-mart because that’s all I’m good for.

    I also hope that Al Franken’s replacement is as strong a fighter for good and decent things (and against bad and cruel things) as Mr. Franken has been while a Senator.

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    1. ljb, I have some thoughts about how you might apply your photography but that would be so OT, I’m disinclined to parade them here, unless of course that’s the way you want it. You may not want my suggestions at all, and that’s OK too but if you’re open to it, let me know.

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  8. OT: Back to heroes, another of mine are any grandparents (or other relatives) who take on the job of living with toddlers. (I believe I’m talking to you, littlejailbird.) Having just spent most of the past five days with one, I am just going to sit here and see how long it takes me to recover. (That said, I’m also sad to see her go.)

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        1. And they lived here while they were toddlers. They are very active, high energy, curious kids. And they can spur each other on to crazy deeds to a high degree. Just the other day, they were reminiscing: “Remember when we got out the peanut butter jar and spread it ALL OVER? That was FUNNY.” Yeah, right, kids, so very very funny. And just a typical day with toddler twins.

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  9. Just received this closing in a Christmas email from a far-flung friend:
    “Hope 2018 brings you much joy and peace.” I’ll second that, and also hope for our continued health, some work to do, and contact with friends – here on the Trail, for one.

    In the wider world I hardly know what to hope for. If I hope we get rid of He Who Must Not Be Named, we get his runner up. When I see multiple countries where radical conservative factions are gaining ground, I just hope the world comes to its senses in time to survive.

    I hope we don’t have World War III.

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  11. Here’s what I wrote down (subject to mistakes):
    Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas by Tom Robbins
    Who Will Run the Frog Hospital by Lorrie Moore

    Feb. 11 @ Caroline’s

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  12. I almost hesitate to hope for anything in particular, lest I jinx something. I hope for normal rainfall in the coming year, and for the prevailing political winds to be leftward-leaning. Is that too much to hope for?

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  13. I hope more and more people will realize that politicians, for the most part, are NOT leaders. They are followers who only act when pressured to do so by the loudest voices (not necessarily the most cogent arguments). As this happens, I hope more and more people will take control of their own lives, positively impact their communities, and gradually reduce the federal government first, then state, then local governments in size and importance until they have been minimized to their proper place–a necessary evil by which a society can function smoothly. For far too long, we’ve put a small handful of people “in charge” of the world only to see these mulyaks and nitwits exploit the 99% for personal gain, aggrandizement, and ego gratification. All we seem to get from them anymore is war, pollution, poverty, persecution, racism, bigotry, abuse, divisiveness, hate-mongering, and all sorts of other evils that I don’t want to bother enumerating this early in the day. 😉

    And yes, peace and joy and personal contentment and fulfillment would be my hopes for myself and my loved ones.

    Chris in O-town

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  14. “Here’s what I’ve decided: the very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof. What I want is so simple I almost can’t say it: elementary kindness. Enough to eat, enough to go around. The possibility that kids might one day grow up to be neither the destroyers nor the destroyed. That’s about it. Right now I’m living in that hope, running down its hallways and touching the walls on both sides. I can’t tell you how good it feels.”

    ~ Barbara Kingsolver, “Living in Hope”

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