Ghosts

Howard is at a meeting for clergy this week.  He came home and said something that has been running through my head ever since.

"What is a church?"  Someone, who is probably quite tired of being a minister, said, "Ghosts."

Ghosts.  At first I thought, "what an odd thing to say."  Then I thought about it. 

I can see it as a positive and a negative.  Ghosts are memories, right?  So the ghosts in the church are memories of those who have gone before.  Those we have known personally, those who lived earlier that we have learned about.

Christ and the disciples are "ghosts" or presences, people we try to live up to, those who remind us of the way. 

Those throughout history who have given us direction and shaped history.

There are the wonderful people in our past who have lovingly guided us and helped us on our way.


But,

There are also those in the local church who rely on ghosts to resist change. 
"But we never did it that way before!" 

"Pastor K would roll over in his grave if we did that!" 

"Mrs. X would take her money back if she were still alive!" 

"It was good enough for me growing up, I don't see any need to change now!" 

"My Dad said this is the way it should be and it is going to STAY that way!"

"We can change so long as we stay exactly the way we are!"


I was reading one of the stories in the Grantville series (series starts with 1632 by Eric Flint) the other day.  At least in the 17th century (I don't know about now) the Jesuits were to start every letter or manuscript with the letters AMDG which stood for the Latin phrase "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam",  For the Greater Glory of God. 

Ghosts.  In the church.  Do they help or hinder?  Are those ghosts For the Greater Glory of God?  Perhaps.  Perhaps those that aren't need to be laid to rest.

oh, .....

So, I went to the laundromat today, to give the little boy and his mom their scarves.  They weren't there.  I started a baby blanket square.  Measured it, 30 sts = 8.5 inches.  A half an inch too big.  So I did the math and started again at 28 sts.  After about 4 inches I measured again.  28 sts = 7 inches.  This might be a good day to go back to bed and stay there!

Highway noises

When I was a little girl, we lived far enough from a highway that we didn't hear highway sounds.  Those were also the days before freeways.  Traffic was routed on mainly 2 lane roads across the US.  Those roads went through towns, not around them.

For some reason, I wound up spending the night at someone's house sometime before I was 9 (when we moved away from there.)  I don't even remember if my siblings were along or not.  It was an older woman's house, and she lived on a farm along one of those highways.  That night I had a hard time sleeping.  I don't know why, I just remember waking up and feeling afraid.  Then I heard the trucks on the highway.  I knew I wasn't alone.  There were other people awake and they were all right.  I knew, in my child's way, that they were all right because those trucks just kept moving!

Now we live alongside a freeway.  There is an almost constant sound of vehicles going by.  In fact, those rare moments that there is a pause in traffic usually cause me to lift my head, wondering what is going on!  But sometimes, late at night, it is still a comfort to know that there are others awake.  I'm not the only one!

Fall

The trees are past their peak, the birds are leaving and it is getting colder. 

I went for a walk today, very few birds, most that I did see were in flocks and flying high.  The weeds along the road are still pretty colorful, there are a few areas which still have a bit of green, mostly in a ditch with water.  Some of the weeds were a bright yellow, very pretty.  The corn/maize looked to have dried out a lot, but we had a lot of rain yesterday, so it will need to dry out again before harvest.

My electric teakettle started leaking around the bottom, the seal seems to be having problems.  This is getting ridiculous!  This is the third brand in less than 2 months.  This company has offered to replace it for $10.  I will probably accept their offer, as it is cheaper than buying another new one.  But darn!  I like hot tea, and it is getting colder, otherwise I might decide to forget it.   My question, is this an ongoing issue with electric teakettles or am I just having a run of bad luck?  Someone posted on Ravelry that her Mom really likes a specific kettle, but I don't have $100+ to spend on it!  The first series were in the under $20 range, I doubled the cost on this one (cheapest I could find once I ruled out the 2 brands I'd tried.) 

Oh well, whine over.  I'll let you know what happens with further contact with customer service.  At least it isn't the 8 months someone else waited for a replacement from a different company (and that was a coffee pot.)

Things that make you go hmmmmm

I'm part of a group making baby blankets for newborns.  I've realized there is a problem I hadn't thought about.  When you can finish off a skein of yarn by making 3 squares, they don't all fit on that blanket!  I'll try to show you what I mean. The black sashing is just to let you see the squares better.

 

 

or

 

or

 

 



 





I know that the colors aren't the best, but you can see the problem:  those red squares form ALMOST a pattern.  Not enough to complete a pattern, but almost...  Even if you put them in 3 of the 4 corners or any other way I've tried to fix the problem.

 

Now, 2 squares of the same color are easy:

Four are obvious, they can go on one of the diagonals (or in the corners, but I didn't illustrate that.) 

This one is 6, AND 5, so you can see that while there are a bunch of two colors, neither overwhelms.  Your eyes see PATTERNS! 

 

This one is 6 of one color, the rest are a mix.  Still, your eyes see patterns and are happy.  See what I mean?

 

 

Okay, it was pointed out that it will sometimes work this way (but only if the colors play well together!)

 

 

 

Nice

I knit a sweater in 2006 (my Mermaid.)  I've worn it a lot since.  As is the truth with most things you've had for a while, I see the problems.  The fact that I made the collar as the pattern says, instead of changing it as I did later.  That the wool is pilling.  That I need to sew up one place on a sleeve. 

At the time, Kim and Serena both liked it enough to ask for one.  That Christmas they each got a Mermaid, in reverse colors.  Both cream, light and medium blue.  But not exactly the same. 

The other night I took mine to knitting, because I knew I would need a sweater, it is turning cool here.  So many people commented on it!  They didn't see the problems, they saw the positives. 

My good friend commented that it must have been an older sweater because it was crumpled in the car.  When we knit a new sweater, we tend to treat it more carefully.  Then, as we've had it for a while, we start being less careful.  I had done that with this sweater.  Too bad, because it still deserves care and respect from me.  Not too bad for a sweater knit 6 years ago -- I finished it 6 years ago this month!

Somewhere in storage I have enough yarn to knit this sweater again.  I have now realized that the colors I bought aren't the best on me.  So I haven't worried about getting them out of storage to knit it.  I will knit this again -- it is such a flattering sweater!

Blech! And sweet

The postman came while I was out this morning and Howard was asleep.  He left a box.  One of the neighbors saw it and grabbed it.  The landlady had seen the box as she went to the laundry room, it was gone when she came back (planning to take it to the office until I returned.)  Later on she was on her way back to the laundry room and saw the box.  It had clearly been opened and rifled.  I'm waiting to see if anything is missing (doubtful, I don't think the person was happy it was yarn and material!) 

I still feel icky about it.  This has been a nice place, and the landlords watch out for us.  But still...

At the laundromat this afternoon there was a little boy who was fascinated that I was knitting.  I told him that I was making a sock.  He wasn't sure he believed me.  :D  He asked me to prove it, so I took off a shoe and said I had made this pair.  He looked at my sock, then the other foot with a shoe on it and said "Let me see the OTHER sock!"  Mom, in the background, isn't sure whether to reprove him or to let it go.  I took off the other shoe and pointed out the fact that the spots of bright green were in different places on the two socks.  He then asked me what else I could make. 

I asked him if he'd like to learn how to knit.  He got really sober and said, "Yes, but we can't afford it."  I offered to teach him anyway.  He asked me if he could knit a scarf so he can be warm this winter.  I said yes, I'd teach him.  He then got really serious and told me, "I don't think I can get it done in time, would you please make me one, so I'm not cold this winter?"  So, in the next 2 weeks I plan to make a scarf for a little boy named Nathan.  I'll bring a pair of needles and some yarn, so we can knit together.  (All of this was cleared with Mom.) 

Part of me was trying so hard not to laugh about the sock knitting, because a group of us had a similar argument with another male named Nathan -- my son, when he was in high school.  He backed himself into the corner so thoroughly and yet, in the way of teenagers, couldn't concede the argument.  It sounded just like that discussion.  Both Nathans were sure that socks from a store aren't knit.  I didn't get into the discussion with a 5 year old about how you can see the knit stitches in a store-bought sock.

So, I'm trying to let the positive experience at the laundromat balance the one here.

Plans

I don't remember who said "plans are made to be changed" but it certainly fits my life right now!  I'm not usually one to just "go with the flow" but that seems to be the attitude I am supposed to be learning. 

Two days in a row I've had the day planned out before me.  Both days the plans abruptly were changed.  That's all right.  Deep breath.  I can do this.  grin

There are sparrows in the two tall evergreens across the parking lot.  They have entertained me all summer with their constant chirping, chasing one another from branch to branch and their flights around the building.  They have also been the reason to wash the car from time to time...  They are quieter now, I didn't think they migrated, but I don't see or hear nearly as many.

There are flocks of birds winging around.  They settle on the power lines, waiting until the precise moment to take off south.  It started with just a bird or two, then five, then 11 then more and more. 

The trees are mostly a gorgeous golden.  Not so many reds from maples this year.  Bill and I drove along one highway and it was just beautiful.  He doesn't get the same color changes in more moderate temperature Boise.  I made him pause to just take it in.  It is so easy to just drive by, forgetting to SEE the beauty around us!

My Brother/Oddments

My brother and I have fought most of my life.  At least since I was 12.  I don't remember a time when we didn't.  One of us would say something, the other would flare up and away we'd go.  I know that for me it became painful.  If I knew we were to get together I'd stress over it.

He came to visit this past week.  I was almost sick with dread by the time he got here.  I was also angry for his timing.  Honestly, I was LOOKING for things to be mad at him about, just to be ready for the attacks that I was sure were coming. 

And yet.  For the first time since I was so young, we didn't fight.  We were able to talk like adults, sharing various things in our lives, the good and the bad.  We talked as if we actually could be friends!  We laughed, we remembered, we shared.  I found that he could be gentle!

He left yesterday, and I will confess to some tears after we parted.  His health isn't that great, there isn't any guarantee that we'll see each other again.  But even more, I cried for the fact that we hadn't been able to be friends for these last almost 48 years. 

Today has been an annoying day.  I've been making hats for sailors from a yarn that was donated to be knit up for that cause.  Problem is that EVERY review says that these hats are going to felt as soon as they are washed, unless they are handwashed.  I wonder, should I just include a note to the recipient to wear them until they are filthy then to put them on the floor of the shower the next time they shower (and step on it repeatedly as they shower) and then wring it out and put it aside to dry OR to throw it out when it is filthy.  I suppose I could offer to knit a new hat when that one has lived out its useful life!  I don't like sending hats that are going to be ruined when washed!

I've been working on a sock made from 3 colors.  The third color I started with didn't work.  Frogged 4 rows and started again.  I like it better, but it would have been nice not to have had to reknit that! 

Then the lid of my tea came off and it fell on the external port device for my computer.  grrr  It doesn't work any more.  I haven't tried the speakers that were on the floor.  I suspect because I really don't want to know!  I will be really pissed annoyed if I've messed them up too!  I was going to meet up with someone for the first time, she is sick and I don't need to catch it.  Time to sit back, drink a mug of tea (with the lid FIRMLY attached) and let it all go.