[Heidi]

2 hours ago, RES said:

I'll be out of town till next weekend (we're ridding the motorcycles down to the keys) but it's a date when I get back!!

Looking forward to it.

Enjoy the trip! ❤️ 

[Heidi]

Friends, it's been a busy few days.

The weekend visit with Vivian was delightful. We played Catan and watched movies and workshopped a story she's writing and started assembling an IKEA piece, then left it halfway.

Emily dropped by yesterday to pick up a package that had been delivered here instead of at her new address, and it was a lovely hit-and-run visit that was connected and genuine and wonderful.  More of this.

Nic and I went to view the eclipse on Monday afternoon, then I slept for many hours -- I think I just needed to wallow in restfulness.  He came over yesterday to celebrate my birthday, which was delightful. We talked and ate and watched Saltburn,  a movie both of us had on our respective "Recommended, But Why?" lists, and that we both found disappointing. It's just not a successful movie on any front. 

 

I feel like I'm scrambling to spin many plates, and for now it's working, but I really need off this ride soon.

I turned in the work needed for class, and the grades are back in--I still have a 96%, which is fortifying. I have three more video posts, one set of reading reflections, and two more papers over the next couple weeks. I like this class well enough, and also I will be very glad to have this done and dusted.

I am meeting Philospher James this afternoon at lunch to discuss Chapter 4, which I finally finished reading only just now.

I need to run to the bank to sign some paperwork, which I'll be doing in just a minute so that I can have that done before the lunch meeting with James. 

Then later this afternoon, I'll be runnin gto the tax office to sign documents and get the filing finalized, and on time and everything. Hooray.

I have a feeling that this Spring is going to be a lot of continued activity, and I will need to prioritize restfulness in order to make sure it doesn't get lost, but it feels nice to be back out in the world again.

 

I might finish an IKEA project this evening after I get done with work and all the errands.

May you have peae this day, Friends.

❤️ 

[Darciana]

I've been absent but felt I needed to at least stop by and wish you a belated Happy Birthday ❤️ 

[Sovalis]

13 minutes ago, Darciana said:

I've been absent but felt I needed to at least stop by and wish you a belated Happy Birthday ❤️ 

Yes!! Happy Belated Birthday, Friend!! 💜💜💜

[Mistr]

Happy Birthday!  🎂

 

You have been exceedingly busy for a long time. I'm not surprised that you need to step back and take time to reflect on what you have learned and just rest. Getting back out in the world and connecting with people is wonderful, but that also takes time and energy. I hope you find a new balance that lets you enjoy the things you are doing while supporting your health.

[Heidi]

3 hours ago, Darciana said:

I've been absent but felt I needed to at least stop by and wish you a belated Happy Birthday ❤️ 

 

2 hours ago, Sovalis said:

Yes!! Happy Belated Birthday, Friend!! 💜💜💜

 

2 hours ago, Mistr said:

Happy Birthday!  🎂

 

You have been exceedingly busy for a long time. I'm not surprised that you need to step back and take time to reflect on what you have learned and just rest. Getting back out in the world and connecting with people is wonderful, but that also takes time and energy. I hope you find a new balance that lets you enjoy the things you are doing while supporting your health.

Thank you for all the birthday wishes!  

It's been lovely.

 

The bank went swimmingly well, work is chugging along as it does, and the meeting with Philosophy James went very well. He said that the work I'm doing is great, and I'm looking forward to where we are headed. This is all good.

I'm considering rescheduling this afternoon's tax appointment. I'm just that wiped out and needing a nap, or an early evening.

I made a white bean chicken chili that simmered on the stove during the morning meetings, and enjoyed a bowl during Philosphy Lunch, and now I feel cozy and well fed and am barely able to stay awake for the remaining few hours of the work day. I think all other activities will have to wait until tomorrow.

[Heidi]

I definitely took last night to myself, and it was overdue.

I woke up feeling refreshed and well and ready to face the day, and that was a lovely change since before getting ill.

 

Tonight I have a craft seminar (Poetry as Survival: Reading Langston Hughes' Suicide Note with Jericho Brown) and I think the only other thing I'm going to take on is the half-built IKEA project.

 

Tomorrow evening is a classical music concert, and then Saturday morning I leave for Durham for the weekend.

 

Down time and reflection are vital, sacred activities.

❤️ 

[Darciana]

These activities sound quite delightful and relaxing. I hope you are able to get the appropriate down time, reflection, and rest needed for safe travels/outing this weekend.

[Heidi]

The craft talk was so so good. It was exactly what my soul needed.

Based on this essay by Jericho:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet-books/2016/02/to-be-asked-for-a-kiss

 

Vivian sent me a song she wrote, and my tax preparer sent the final forms for approval. 

My heart is full and my life-tasks are done for the day.

 

Think I’ll watch some crap tv and call it a day.

❤️ 

[Heidi]

Was brushing my teeth, listening to the rain pour down and the wind howl, and suddenly found myself writing and writing and writing. (Thank you, Jericho!)

 

and this popped up:

 

“Wild nights are my glory.” Mrs. Whatsit

[Sepherina]

Be careful!

[Sovalis]

Hope you're both safe and inspired! 

[TimovieMan]

Happy belated birthday!

 

[Heidi]

10 hours ago, Sepherina said:

Be careful!

Whew! We lived to tell the tale.  

10 hours ago, Sovalis said:

Hope you're both safe and inspired! 

Thank you! I was both in equal, abundant measure.

❤️ 

2 hours ago, TimovieMan said:

Happy belated birthday!

 

Thank you! ❤️ 

 

I had a hard time getting to sleep, what with the wind and all the inspiration swirling around, and then, suddenly, I was out like a light. This is the Way.

I'm settled and calm and content this morning. Yesterday's storms left everything a bit debris-laden under the calm cool sky, perring down like an unpreturbed cat who can't imagine how the vase got broken. This is a delightful end to the week. 

 

I need to write a paper today. It's not due until Sunday, but I'd like to send it this afternoon so that I'm not feeling it tug at my sleeve while I'm visiting over the weekend. I have most of it written and only need to incorporate feedback from the last paper. This is the Way. 

 

Some upcoming appointments have been scheduled at long last, and this is good.

 

Speaking of appointments and meetings, I'm getting together with Ben on Tusday evening to go over pinball scoring software and spreadsheets. We're meeting at the library, which is always nice. I scheduled a meeting room so we can have the space to take our time and talk through everything as I get my feet under me with the league scoring. The Summer league will launch soon, and the first get together is June 10.

[Darciana]

I am glad you're safe and inspired. I wish you a quick conclusion to paper-writing so you may enjoy your visiting without it nagging at you.

May the league be a delight rather than a burden and the discussion be immensely helpful

[Heidi]

I invited Nic to go with me to the concert tonight, and we're looking forward to it.

I haven't done much this afternoon, and I'm kind of okay with that (I mean, being at work is enough, right?).

 

My house is clean.

The homework will get done when it gets done.

❤️ 

[DarK_RaideR]

Pretty sure I extended birthday wishes on some other platform (probably IG) but happy belated birthday! Hope you had a good time at the concert.

[Heidi]

I went to Durham! It was so restorative and amazing, as always, to be in that town and to be with Kathi and Tim. They are just brilliant, and being in their company was like being able to breathe fully. It’s astonishing to us all that I am not a librarian or professor at Duke, something we would all like to see me fix very soon.  

 

Coming back to Roanoke felt like letting the air out of my sails, as it often does. But I love the apartment, and I slept well. This morning, work was work, and I was calm through it all, which is nice. Apparently there are major changes afoot that aren’t being talked about, which seems to happen at least twice a year, and I’m just at the point where I can’t be bothered to get into a snit about it. I logged out and went to the dentist. I love my dentist, and she did such a great job smoothening over the cracks. Here’s to lots more smiles.  

[Sovalis]

I am so glad that you have had a revitalizing trip. ❤️ 

[Heidi]

Before I left for Durham, Nic was interested in how my “walking on purpose” challenge goal worked, because he’s also looking to get back into walking but isn’t quite sure any of his old in-roads (mentally, emotionally, and scheduling wise) work for where he is now. I explained a bit about the belongingness piece, and the going-without-arriving approach, and how I had been letting those two factors be the ‘containers’ of my walking habit, not the gym location or clock time or how far I wanted to go or really any of the factors that I used to measure. He thought about that and a few days later proposed that we start walking to an independent coffee shop in the mornings, a place that is a 20 minute easy walk from our respective homes, and also helps him hold his desire to trade getting coffee at the Starbucks drive-through with getting coffee at a neighborhood space and sitting and enjoying it before going to work. 

 

I loved everything about this suggestion, as you might suspect, and said yes. We took our first walk yesterday, and it was brilliant, especially because the bridge I walk over is now covered in amazing graffiti — the bridge is coming down for replacement (it’s too far gone for repair), and there was a neighborhood party over the weekend to say goodbye to the bridge. The graffiti is lovely and much of it talks of how much we love the bridge (“you’ve been such a good bridge”) and how much we love Roanoke (“2013-NOW, because I ❤️ it here!!”) and there’s a lot of socialism, too, all of which warms my heart in equal measure. Sadly, the bridge coming down will mean that the walk has to be completely rethought, but Nic says he’s working on that, and I am willing to enjoy the last few days of the walk while he noodles the post-bridge plan.

 

We ended up walking the greenway after getting coffee yesterday, and talking, and then walking back to his house and he drove me to my apartment building. It was a really brilliant time, and I was glad I had the extra time to take. All told, I walked over seven miles yesterday, and I thought I would be sore today, but I wasn’t, and by 10 this morning I was craving the walk again, which was just right. I walked to the coffee house, we drank our brews, and then I walked back to resume work, and all of this is just as it should be. 

 

Vivian had early dismissal today, so I spent my lunch hour meeting her at the library near the school, then riding the bus back to downtown, where we ended up having tacos for lunch at a local taqueria near the bus stop. It was really good, and she read me the next installment of her story, which is coming along well. I made a note (just an asterisk in the margin) of a couple places where I think she could expand the back-story (or side-story, or internal-monologue thing), and overall I just enjoyed her sharing her creativity with me, enjoyed sharing a meal, enjoyed walking around and being together. We have a lovely relationship. 

 

Today I’ve walked 4 miles so far, and I don’t feel particularly sore or tired, and all of this is Right and Good. This is the Way. 

 

@Sovalis pointed out that there is only a week and change left in this challenge, and that brought my Eclipse Reflection Mindset goal to mind. My explicit goals for this challenge are making the space I inhabit as wonderful and settled as possible; making the body I inhabit as whole as it can be; and nurturing the alliances that hold me well. I’m glad I had the Mindset first and foremost, because holy moly there has been a lot of unexpected energy and happenings, most all of it very good indeed. The IKEA building definitely got put on pause, and I might not pick that up again until reflection week (April 29-May 5). The existing pieces and parts of the Apartment are definitely settling in nicely. The walking is going well, and the alliances are nurturing me as much as I am nurturing them. This is good. This is the Way.

 

Ben and I met at the library yesterday to go over pinball scoring and the Holy Spreadsheet, and that was good. I am looking forward to launching the Summer Season of the Women’s Pinball League in June. I’m possibly (re)launching SOPHIA Roanoke in May, but definitely in June. Also along the way, the novel that I planned out and storyboarded in 2020 has started tugging at my sleeve once again, and it’s time to start writing this in a deliberate fashion. I’m hoping to have it completed-enough by Labour Day. All of this is very ambitious indeed, especially with classes. I’m not taking any new classes on, but I do still have to finish out this term over the next ten days. I managed to miss a whole assignment, and now my grade is down to 92% — still an A, but my wiggle room is gone. No matter; all will be well. 

 

I hope you have a beautiful, going-without-arriving moment today.

❤️ 

 

[Sovalis]

So many wonderful things going on in this update. It made my heart happy to read. Are you going to take any pictures to commemorate the bridge?

 

Sending so much love. 🥰

[Ranger Hal]

30 minutes ago, Heidi said:

We took our first walk yesterday, and it was brilliant, especially because the bridge I walk over is now covered in amazing graffiti — the bridge is coming down for replacement (it’s too far gone for repair), and there was a neighborhood party over the weekend to say goodbye to the bridge. The graffiti is lovely and much of it talks of how much we love the bridge (“you’ve been such a good bridge”) and how much we love Roanoke (“2013-NOW, because I ❤️ it here!!”) and there’s a lot of socialism, too, all of which warms my heart in equal measure.

Normally, I'm not a fan of graffiti, but I love this!

[Heidi]

10 hours ago, Sovalis said:

So many wonderful things going on in this update. It made my heart happy to read. Are you going to take any pictures to commemorate the bridge?

 

Sending so much love. 🥰

Thank you, Beautiful Friend.   There is so much going on that I feel I can barely keep up, and it's all wonderful.

I hope to take pictures of the bridge today or tomorrow. I already have a few long-view shots, but I want some close-ups of the ones that really made it all special, like "Man is good. Capitalism corrupts him." 

What a beautiful moment to have on my morning walk.

 

10 hours ago, Ranger Hal said:

Normally, I'm not a fan of graffiti, but I love this!

I know! I love everything about this -- the bridge party, celebrating a municipal street feature, the unexpected socialism, the sheer joy of one's city. This speaks to everything that makes living in this town lovely, and I'd like to see more of it, anywhere and everywhere.

 

Good morning, Friends!

I slept so well last night and for so long that it feels as though today is a bit unreal. 

After Nic left, I ran a bath, and it was too hot, so I pulled on my nightgown and sat down to read for a few minutes while it cooled and was promptly out like a light until 7:30 this morning, which is fully 90 minutes later than I usually wake up. 

I'm not fussed.

I let the water out of the tub and walked down and made tea. 

It's a cool spring morning, and I am really enjoying my space -- the Library is exactly what I needed as I logged in, and the tea center in the kitchen functions as though it had been made that way. I'm able to find clothes to wear and contain my to-be-washed laundry in seamless ways as I go about the morning and evening routines. I like all of this. 

 

I added my distance to the Walking Spreadsheet and noticed that I've walked more already this month than the total for January or February, and am on pace with March. This is good; this is the Way.

 

The bridge replacement will take two years (and that's the City estimate, so it could of course take longer), so I'm hoping Nic and I find a good replacement plan, becuase walking in the morning as an incidental part of meeting for morning conversation and coffee is becoming a meaningful part of my Sesame-Street Belongingness. I've been thinking about what that means, and how quickly it happened, and how it fills me so completely and in a specific way. I think that there's something important here, and I think it has to do with placemaking and neighborhoods. I'm considering talking with my Philosophy of the City researchers to see if they have some articles on this, since I'm starting to the of neighborhoods as their own distinct "third place," which is both obvious and woowoo at the same time. There's definitely a set of Public Philosophy talks loitering in all this, probably to include interviews with various civic leaders about what this city means to them, and what being a civic leader means to them.

 

There's a band booster meeting tonight, which I'm looking forward to. So much is going on with the spring concerts and parade schedules that I'm having trouble keeping track of which events are when and what time I need to be where. It will be nice to hang with the other band parents and touch base with the schedule of it all. 

 

May you have Peace this day, Friends.

❤️ 

[Heidi]

Some pictures of the street art on the bridge

https://www.heidichronicles.net/2024/04/what-good-bridge-youve-been.html

[Heidi]

No walk yet today, since I had so much to do during WorkadayFriday, and this was planned, but also I'm missing the idea of walking across my bridge on one of its last remaining days, so I might go out and walk down to the coffee house in a bit if the rain holds off.

 

I have to meet with the Tax Prep guy this afternoon to gather some additional information for my tax return this year. Everything seems like such a convoluted project, and scary to boot! But no matter, it will get done and then be in the rear view. 

 

Speaking of finalizing things, I completed my last Reading Annotations for the term, and this feels good, and then I posted a video discussion about the readings. There's one video discussion left, and one paper left, and BOOM, then we're done.

 

I scheduled the Parrot Meeting Room (in which there are, sadly, no parrots) for mid-May to officially relaunch SOPHIA Roanoke. Our topic will be "Our Duty to the Truth," and will be the first in the Philosophy & Star Trek offerings. It's built around the lecture that Picard gives Wesley.

 

 

I'm working on a flier for the event, and also have scheduled a workshop of the One Sheet with James. I'll be spending some time retooling what I have to make it more in line with what I want. 

 

I'm planning on using the iconic "engage" photo of Picard, with a big, bold Star Trek & Philosophy: Our Duty to the Truth banner at the top (suggestions are welcome and actively solicited!!) I'd like the flier to be about a helf sheet, 5.5x8 or so, large enough to be seen, but small enough to go up on a wall. If anyone wants to workshop the flier with me, give a shout. Once I get it finished, I'll send it to Kinko's to get a few dozen printed and start distributing them around town.

 

BOOM.