Listening Knitting

I can get a lot of knitting done when I'm listening.  I suspected that was the case but yesterday proved it.  (how come there's two "O"s in choose but only one in prove? the "OO" sound is the same.)  Customers and phone calls came in clumps yesterday so there was lots of in-between time when I could listen to my audiobook (W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton) and knit on a Sudoku square.  I'd barely started Sudoku Snow #3 on Wednesday night, got it almost done at work, and then finished it while listening to a speaker in the evening.  The ADRC (Aging & Disability Resource Center) had a free talk by a nationally known speaker, Paul somebody (who calls himself "the Ripples guy" and no, he didn't talk about potato chips), about taking care of yourself when you're taking care of someone else.  He was pretty good, not overly ooey-gooey, touchy-feely, and humorous while delivering a cliched but good reminder kind of message.  During his 1 1/2 hour talk I got Snow #3 square done and Berry #3 almost halfway.  Hmm, maybe I knit faster when I'm listening?  Anyway, that means I can finish Berry #3 today and then crochet the nine squares into block #3 tonight and tomorrow.  Maybe.  See, I'm going to shower and go off to write as soon as I'm done here, then I need to whizz through the grocery for a few ingredients to make a yummy salad for tomorrow's Knit-away Day, then Durwood needs a chest x-ray this afternoon (just checking up); I have to figure out what I'm taking to knit on tomorrow, and then go to Friday Night Knitting.  It's going to be a full day.  But then I get to run off and play with yarn and knitters all day tomorrow.  Yay!

I slept past sunrise this morning so I didn't get pictures of pretty colors in the clouds but I thought the risen sun in the clouds was picture-worthy, don't you?  There was a cardinal visiting the platform feeder and a chipmunk with bulging cheek pouches perched on top of my patio chair nibbling on a seed.  The sedum is blooming and looks gorgeous against the ferns in the background.  There are freeze warnings out for last night and the next couple nights but so far the ferns are okay.  They're my barometer.  I've already brought in the bay leaf plant so that's safe for another winter.  (if I remember to water it, that is)

October 16--Richard Pasley, Straight Road.  The centerline dashes slid under the car as Joanna drove east.  The road was straight and flat.  After a while she felt like the road was moving and her car was standing still.  No radio station signal reached out into this desolate landscape so the only sound was the sticky sound of tires on hot asphalt.  If the CD player in her old Camry worked she'd have gotten some Goodwill CDs to play.  Instead she spent the miles singing every song she could remember as loud as she could to keep the lonesome road demons at bay.

Don't ask me, I don't know where she's going or why.  Time to shower and then run off to play with words.  Maybe I can shove a few into submission today.  Or at least go back and tweak the place that cropped up last Friday.  Hasta la vista, babies.
--Barbara