a change is as good as a feast

in which our plucky heroine rings some more changes...

Here is some delightful percussion:
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Pre-pandemic my life was mostly solitary, but sprinkled with daily small social contact and connection, rather like one might sprinkle pepper on breakfast eggs, enough to add savor, but not so much as to overwhelm them... Now my life is more like hot cereal without any butter, or sweet, or savory toppings, it is still enough to sustain body and spirit, but the small sparks that brightened the inherent flavor are gone. No way around this but through. And there were, at various times of the year intensely social gatherings, eagerly awaited visits, and other human festivity that now feels both impossible currently and forever fatally risky to return to.

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The gum surgery I had almost six weeks ago (just prior to going into seclusion) has left me with a partially exposed tooth root. This is now excruciatingly sensitive to anything cold or hot, and I didn't know that  would be a likely result of saving the tooth. As I still need to continue to drink liquids, my choice is either lukewarm water, or re-learn how to use my tongue and mouth to drink with. I have a great appreciation now for the efforts made by infants, and people with brain injury, 'cos this is not an easy thing to do, but our plucky heroine is nothing if not persistent.

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beauty in the time of isolation:

A few days ago, I was walking early, just after dawn, enough that the street along the edge of the bluff was not chock-a-block full of joggers, walkers, and bikers. I adore what is called "the marine layer" which as far as I can tell consists of cool mist that is created inland every morning under certain conditions, and softens the early part of the day in the springtime. Before the mist burns off, the view is almost picturesque (in bright sunlight it looks out over railyards and industrial infill along the Willamette).

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This song... I never tire of it, or of what it says.
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~ 100 day challenge - day 8~

Got a request this week to carve a portrait block for printing a custom mask to wear when dog walking. Should be pretty interesting! Or at least a change from my usual medieval aesthetic.

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April SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	dried mushrooms	window rainbow	dead Bernina
2	frozen mushrooms	some pruning	five pounds
3	6 more masks	motion light	yard waste bin
4	12 masks	lawn mowed	-
5	10 more masks	some more pruning	-
6	21 more masks	green onions planted	-
7	tiny drawings	peas protected	-
8	green CYRK lion	printer interface	x
9	35 masks cut out	x	x
10	red CYRK lion	x	x
11	drawing Ruby	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitudes - a house that has all sorts of craft supplies and equipment, that allow all kinds of theoretical options to become reality