Telling The Weather By Pinecone

No really. On a walk to the bank a month or so ago I picked up a pine cone and put in on the kitchen table.  Then when I was cleaning off the table I tossed it out the patio door thinking a squirrel would wander by and carry it off.  None did so the cone lay there under the patio table.  It took me a while to notice but when it's hot the pine cone is open, when it cools down the pine cone closes.  I haven't studied it closely enough to have a temperature range but I do know that when it's spread out I should wear shorts and a tank top and when it's closed I wear denim capris and a t-shirt with maybe a chambray shirt with the sleeves rolled up over it.  Now it lives on the little step outside the patio doors where I can see it in the morning so I know how to dress.  Very cool.

My trip to The Clearing yesterday wasn't quite the idyll I imagined it would be, mostly because it took me an extra hour to get there (yoga class ran long, I stopped for a bagel and then a bathroom break where I ran into friends and had to visit a bit) and I never really relaxed into the place before I felt like it was time to leave.  I should have stayed after KS left for supper.  I could have, she even said I should, but some little voice nagged me that I had to get home.  I didn't really, Durwood was just fine with me gone.  I need to be less of a worrywart.  (I'm turning into Mom, somebody needs to smack me upside the head.)  I'm going to give it another try in a couple weeks.  I'll get better the more times I go.  (see?  a plan develops...)

Speaking of yoga, I've got a lot more tight muscles and stiff joints than I thought I did.  Yesterday Mardi worked our shoulders; last night I had trouble finding a comfy sleep position.  She also sat us up on our heels, stretching our knees; my knees are aching as I type this.  It'll get better.  I'm excited to be focusing this month on going to as many classes as I can this month.  I'm trying for one a day except for Sundays for the rest of the month.  We'll see how I do and how less creaky and achy I am when October 1 rolls around.

September 8--Grece or Italy, Bronze Handle Attachment in the Form of a Mask.  Junie didn't like going into the garden shed all by herself.  Nailed up over the door was a metal mask of a man's face with a wild squiggly beard, curly hair, and angry eyes.  His mouth was open as if ready to shout at any little girl who dared to go in the door.  When it rained Junie's brother Matt and her cousin Ella danced in the stream out water that came out of his mouth or they'd catch the stream in a bucket and throw it on her.  She would cray and tell Mam to make them stop putting that mean water on her but Mama shushed her saying there was no such thing as mean water.  Junie sat one afternoon in the shade of the tree by the shed keeping an eye on him and she was sure that she saw him wink at her.

Huh.  And that's all I have to say about that.  I was just thinking I might have the blue egg for breakfast.  Bye, blue egg.  Yum.  Loll around a bit today, I plan to give it a try.
--Barbara