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all blue

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: chores.

I am not blue about chores. Not at all. I like chores. Being an independent stubborn woman, I don’t do them in the order or way that society currently seems to think we should do them. I do them in the order I think is important.

I was divorced in 2007, with a 14 year old and a 9 year old. My Ex promptly left town. He stayed in very close touch with the kids, calling about 5 out of 7 days, but did not see them for a year. I was working full time and had over night call.

My goal was that the kids would both know how to do lots of basic chores by the time they left home. Vacuum. Sweep. Clean the bathroom. Do laundry. Replace lightbulbs. Cook. Grocery shop. Plan a meal. Change a tire. Check the oil in each of our cars. We have a 1986 Honda Civic 5 speed, so include drive a clutch. Avoid debt and some basic money handling. Discuss insurance: car insurance, health insurance, others. I started turning over the responsibility for their own health care, dental, vision as well. I want them to know the family medical history and we discussed addictive substances and politics and justice. When my son was in college they asked for cell phones for Christmas. I asked them to research phones and a family plan and said, yes, I would do that. They did a great job bringing me the information. I wanted them to disagree with me as well. If they wanted to do something, they could argue their case and might convince me. I did not hire someone to do our household chores because running a household is work, honorable work, undervalued, and underappreciated. And expensive if you hire people to do all of it.

Both of my kids are much neater than me. Less packrat. At least, they are now… I think it’s a late expressing gene….

I took the photograph two days ago, on a walk in the evening. All blue.

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pink shard

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: shard.

I photographed our local mosaic sculptures and I can’t find the pictures. I just went through 3 years of photographs and it’s making me too sad. Yesterday a patient said, “How are you?” I replied, “Mostly happy with occasional grumpiness.” Sorrow too. So here is a mostly blue photograph with a little pink. Maybe the happiness is the pink in which case I said it backwards.

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door to the past

For Norm2.0’s Thursday doors.

These are taken on a 2004 school trip to a pioneer farm and native american village site with a school trip. I don’t think I got a photograph of any of the cabin doors, but it was certainly an interesting trip. The parents chaparoned the kids, staying in the cabin over night. We all slept in sleeping bags on the floor. I did sleep, since I am lucky enough to be able to ignore noise. The kids got to dip candles, explore the cabin, explore the village, and were assigned the farm chores in the morning. My son was delighted by a young pig. I think the parents enjoyed it as well and were glad not to wash clothes using washtubs and a wringer.

students hanging dipped candles to dry
Dipping candles
student in vest, cowboy hat and bandana
dressing as a settler
students at pioneer cabin learning about curling iron that you heat in a fire
curling iron and other tools
two students in sun bonnets using washtubs outside a cabin, while two others watch
old style laundry
three students patting a sleeping pig
morning chores
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mermaid

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: quest.

mermaid

when I was born, they took my skin

i had no skin
i was frightened
i wept

a witch came
she studied me
i turned my head from the spoon

“Good,” she said, “You may refuse it if you want.”

She gave me the gift of anger

it was the only defense I had

but over the years
I studied and thought
and I found my tears
and I found my fears

i made my skin of tears
this took me many years
one tear for each scale

at last it is done
my skin
is complete

i smile at the sky
as i don it

i slip into the water
and i am gone

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Mundane Monday #193: group

For Mundane Monday #193, my theme is group. What photograph of a group pleases you, came out the way you wanted, makes you happy? Which composition?

My group is a tree full of robins. They flock across the street at this time of year and fly over to a tree with berries to eat. They clear the tree over a few weeks, from the top down. I like the silhouette effect, yet with some color.

Message or link you entry and I will list them next week.

_______________________________

From last week, my theme was motion.

klallendorfer: motion!

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Connections between Pain, Opioid use, Suicide and Opioid Use Disorder.

Excellent blog by Janaburson: https://janaburson.wordpress.com/2019/01/14/complex-connections-pain-opioid-use-suicide-and-opioid-use-disorder/

The picture is the tree with berries that the robins are eating, outside my clinic window. They clear it from the top down. Deer come too and stand on their back legs to reach up for berries.