Snapshots from a plane

Just got back from Seattle where we went to visit daughter, son in law, and grandbaby Cate. My brain will arrive on a later flight; it was not able to get a seat with me and is apparently not in the house this morning, as evidenced by my sleeping until 8-something and eating a cookie for breakfast and now somehow it's almost 11:00 and I have done NOTHING. Well, I did take a shower.
I love the chance encounters when traveling, the bits and slices of people's lives that float by you. Here's a collection from this trip:
The Tuskegee Airman: An old black man boarded in Newark, through the First Class pathway, fumbling a bit with his cane and tickets and gear. He was wearing a jacket and hat with Airman logos and looked very tired. It wasn't until I passed him on the way off the plane (he sat in First but waited to get off) that I put it together-- this was one of the real Tuskegee Airmen, and he had probably been to Washington for the inauguration and was on his way home. I wish I had taken the opportunity to greet him and shake his hand.
The diva: Picking up luggage in Seattle, I watched a woman in her 50's directing an entourage to collect her voluminous luggage. She was dramatically and expensively dressed and had probably had way too much plastic surgery. Two enormous Gucci bags and three huge black suitcases later she and her 'boys' were finally ready to leave. The serfs had my sympathy.
The paratrooper: Gliding down the elevator in Houston, a young fellow with his arm in a sling was telling his girl a hair-raising story on his cell-- the shoulder he dislocated when jumping from a plane (second jump of the day), spinning out of control through the air with his shoulder in pain, unable to reach the ripcord-- eventually got the chute open and landed safely, but they washed him out of the program. He made it all sound very matter of fact and referred to the whole thing as "sort of unpleasant". I hope they let him stay in the Army.
The geezers: Taking the bus to the Park'n'Fly, two couples in the back were relating stories about their (the husbands) prostate cancer. Treatment, what hospital, etc. It was apparent they did not know each other and seemed they had just met. So-- how exactly did this topic come up in the course of a short bus ride?
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We had a great visit, Cate as always is amazing and intensely cute (when she is not being almost two and practicing for tantrums.) The North Carolina sunshine is glorious this morning, in spite of light frost, and I have a bushel of errands to run and lots of knitting to do, and two freshly bathed and brushed dogs to collect.

Update

Here's the thing-- if you blog, like, once a month, which seems to be my style, it's hard to remember all the things you want to say. And since it seems like too much of a project you put it off a little longer. Yup, Procrastinators 'R' Us. So, the capsule approach:

New Year-- wow, can't believe it's 09. Remember when we worried about what we were going to call this new decade, the 00's, or the oughts, or whatever? Hey, it's about over and it wasn't a problem. Since I didn't decorate much for Christmas it was the work of only an afternoon to de-Christmas, definitely an advert for doing the season lightly and avoiding the tree. Maybe next year, or if the kids ever come out for the season. Meanwhile I have even changed the mailbox cover to the spring one, in defiance of reality.

Weather-- sucky. It's been freakin' cold out there, and I'm tired of it. We even had (gasp) about 2 inches of snow, enough for the new guv to declare a state of emergency. Yeah, I can hear the northerners howling with laughter, but down here they don't buy salt and sand and keep herds of snorting snow plows on hand, and nobody knows how to drive in it. The cold has brought the birds out in droves, and I am filling three feeders every day to keep up. We've had titmice, chickadees, cardinals, white-crowned sparrows, carolina wrens, gold-, house-, and purple finches, red bellied woodpecker, bluebirds, mourning doves, crows, juncos, and pesky varmint squirrels. It's a testament to the health of the surrounding woods that we have not had starlings, english sparrows, pigeons, etc-- the birds of urban blight. Unfortunately several neighborhood cats have set up camp in the area of the feeders, but they seem to be trying to catch squirrels instead of birds, so I wish them no ill.

Inauguration-- stirring. I'm so excited to have a prez to be proud of. Phil tells me there are already changes at work, in only one day (he works for an agency of USDA as I did for many decades.) The transition teams were very efficient. Most previous political appointees are out and line & staffers promoted into those positions, and good folks nearly all. Lots of energy going around. Hope we can keep up the good feelings and get things done.

Grandbaby-- going out to see l'il Cate tomorrow for a few days. It's been too long, since September. Hope she remembers her Nana & PoppaPhil. [PoppaPhil made her a sock monkey with his very own hands to take out.]

Oh, and knitting! Made a buttoned scarf, and cast on my first real actual top-down raglan sweater, which seems so much easier than it would have a year ago. I also [this is embarrassing] made a pair of perfectly competent cabled mitts for Andrea, and did not discover until I went to try them on that I had made TWO LEFT mitts. Urg. I'll just wear one upside down when I walk the dogs and make her another pair, I'm not going to unpick them. I have a lace mohair smoke ring about half done-- to use up a lovely orphan skein I found when tidying my stash; and plans to make a ladder scarf when I'm done (see wool pic). Also signed up for a toe-up sock class to kick my sock making into gear, since I seriously need several pairs. So much to knit, so little serious knitting time available. If only some good fairy would come in and clean, do laundry, cook, and run a few errands while I put my feet up and watch movies and knit. Oh, and could the said fairy also exercise for me? And walk the dogs? Am I asking too much?

Happy New Year

A very happy and contented new year to all and sundry!

A lovely day

We had a quiet Christmas and it was wonderful. Phil & I didn't get very heavy into presents this year-- he had a Blu-Ray player and some comfy slippers, and I had the promise of my very own ball winder & swift [back ordered] and carte blanche to buy some clothes in the post holiday sales. What more could a woman ask for? After a bit we went for a ride up to Milton NC where Thomas Day, the free black cabinet maker so well known for furniture and decorative woodwork in the early 1800s, had his workshop. Great to get out in the country for a bit and just chat. Of course I knitted-- I have very nearly gotten to where I can garter stitch without looking at my hands, just need to glance down now and then. Then we topped the day by going out to a new restaurant for supper-- no cooking for me, thank you very much-- and so it was. just the sort of holiday I like.

Family coming this weekend, so we will have some visitors (always good to have an incentive for cleaning) and Phil is home for yet another week. Sort of a foretaste of what retirement would be like, I think, and very pleasant.

And of course a pic of Cate-- in her first serious snowfall.

Where have I been?

It's hard to blog convincingly when you only write, like, once a month. Of course since my readership is minimal I don't have to worry that I'm actually disappointing anybody! So what have I been doing----
Taxes. Got to get ready to instruct the first week in January, and it is turning into waaaay more work than I had anticipated, and I am sort of behind. The problem is that doing taxes is interesting when you are helping real people but in the abstract, it's really boring. So I sloggeth on.
Knitting. Finished all my west coast items and shipped them off; made a pretty nice hat for Phil, with a touch of stranded work; making myself a neckwarmer and headband from the Rowan Cocoon, and a Joseph's Coat vest [my invention] from the Noro Kureyon I got at the sale. It will for sure be bright and cheery. I got "No-pattern Knitting" out of the library, and basically I'm making shapes and fitting them together. We shall see.
Doing stuff with Phil. We went to a neighbor's open house, small & a touch awkward since I don't know the folks from the other cul-de-sac very well, but it was enjoyable. Yesterday we spent the day over at Old Salem, the historic area in Winston-Salem that was settled by Moravians (of the Christmas cookies) in the 1700's. There was a lot more to see & enjoy than we had realized and it was well worth the admission. Phil's off for 2 weeks so we'll perhaps make another day trip. Tonight we go over to Mary's for the traditional McLoud Christmas Eve pizza-making, and tomorrow we're going out for Christmas dinner, and then over the weekend Phil's brother and his family are coming for a couple of nights, so it's pretty busy. Need to make some more cookies and get a ham.

Some Progress

Gettin' er done--
Finished Andrea's dark green Ultra Alpaca scarf, with a cable up either side and double leaf lace in the center. Soaked it in Eucalan, and it is nice and soft and blocked well. Almost done with the other scarf, of fuzzy stuff. Now I feel like I should make a hat and mits to go with the scarf. Cate's little red dress is about half, I had it nearly done and ripped the whole thing out and re-knit, I was not happy with it. I think it's some better now. Still working on an afghan for us in free moments, and I started a dark green vest for moi that I think will be really nice if I ever get it done; the IRIS design from Knitty. It has a 54-row lace design on the bottom that you have to sort of follow on faith that it will turn out OK, which is fun.
Post election cramps--
Yes, I was happy how it turned out, even here in NC. Now I'm still glued to the news hoping that even a fraction of the promises can be realized; that he does not collapse under the burden of ever-increasing crises; and that the Secret Service can keep him alive. The comments and rants in blogs, even mainstream stuff like MSNBC and CNN, are often vicious and hate-filled. 48% of the country seems not only unhappy, but enraged. It's scary.
Yarn therapy--
Behold, my local Olde Yarne Shoppe doth have an annual sale. I did partake in great measure, yea unto the detriment of ye banke balance.
I got there about a half hour into the three day sale, and there were at least twenty ladies scouting the bags, kits, and piles of yarn. The Noro shelves were already showing signs of serious feeding frenzy, and there were a few testy conflicts over who grabbed what first. I went in to get ONE skein of Ultra Alpaca and maybe one of Baby Cashmerino. I came out with those, plus seven balls of Kureyon in luscious, heart-stopping colors, and a bag of silk merino blend in a glorious kettle-dyed claret shade, enough for a whole sweater. I resisted, by the skin of my teeth, at least three other bags. Whew.

Election Day

Finally! I've been immersed in this campaign, complete with bumper stickers, yard signs, and some hours spent calling and otherwise assisting the candidate of my choice. I actually voted almost two weeks ago, when Early Voting started, in case I got run over by a bus and didn't get the chance to do it. Not that it would be easy to get run over by a bus or any other form of public transit in Greensboro, since this is a car city. Phil decided to wait for today, since he likes the excitement of voting on The Day. I'll be up into the wee hours tonight, mainlining CNN and the internet until I know whether my guy won or lost. It's a tradition-- the very first election I can remember following was for Eisenhower's second term. I even had an "I Like Ike" button. No idea what it was all about, but I remember lying on the bed in my brother's room listening to the radio report the vote, and getting to stay up late.
Jack is way better, his hip does not bother him at all; the vet was pleased. I'm glad he did not need to be bound into his leg-sling for very long; he had a really hard time dealing with life's necessities because he kept falling over. We would try to assist him in peeing or pooping, which only ruined his concentration--- 'Thank you for petting me, but NOT NOW.' He finally managed by leaning up against the chain link fence around the dog forest. He is on anti-inflammatory drugs and joint supplements and doing fine.
My granddaughter was terminally cute dressed as a stalk of broccoli for Halloween-- as you can see here.
I'm about 2/3 done with Andrea's green cable-and lace-scarf. It has rather a few errors, which hopefully won't show since it's dark green, and as a scarf will be sort of bunched up anyway. Cate's dress is half-way, and I'm just hoping it will fit. Still need to cast on a hat for Phil. In January, I'm going to concentrate on knitting for ME. Selfish female that I am.
Tax season is starting too, which means I need to get in some serious study time so I can get certified, since I'm instructing this year as well as preparing returns (through the wonderful AARP TaxAide program.)