HOME BAKING – #WRITEPHOTO – Marilyn Armstrong

11/30/201812/02/2018 / Marilyn Armstrong / 24 Comments

Delicious in the Snow – #writephoto

It was the third blizzard in only two weeks. The children had gone back to the oven where at least it was warm. They were tired of snowmen. The snowmen were tired of being snow people. At least two of them were banging on the front door, knocking relentlessly with their frozen, mittened hands.

She couldn’t let them in. They would melt. No matter how hard she tried to explain it to them, they didn’t get it. They just wanted to warm up. It could be very difficult to argue with snow people.

Actually, everything was trying to get into the house, by door, window, chimney or duct. The squirrels were lined up on the deck. Eating birdseed, but they clearly wanted something more solid. Also, maybe a nice cozy bed near the fireplace.

The bears hadn’t been hibernating like usual. Maybe there had been too many warm weeks mixed with the bitter cold ones. They’d been up and around. Hitting the trash bins with a vengeance. She was pretty sure they wouldn’t mind being her personal bear rugs as long as they got some of her baked goodies.

Worst of all, everything that walked, flew or crept was eating her house. That was the biggest problem with having a house made of gingerbread. No matter how solidly you sealed it up, anything with a mouth could gnaw its way in.

She sighed. Back to the kitchen. She needed to bake a new piece of roof and a replacement front step.

A woman’s work was never done.

FANDANGO’S PROVOCATIVE QUESTIONS: MORALITY? – Marilyn Armstrong

11/30/201811/30/2018 / Marilyn Armstrong / 19 Comments

Fandango’s Provocative Question #3

Interesting question, especially interesting because of the connections made by the questioner. There are some leaps made in the questions that suggest from whence cometh the questions.

I do not need a source for a belief in objective morality. Any form of belief is faith. That is the nature of belief versus a provable fact.

And why would I need to choose whose morality is correct? Is there a standard? If you believe morality is subjective, does that inherently mean that you are subject to someone else’s rules or dogma?

Since when?

The nature of a belief is faith. If you don’t believe in God, your belief cannot be proven as true or false. Your lack of faith is as faith-driven as any religious devotion. Unless you have provable evidence and facts, all belief is faith. Bummer.

I believe fundamental morality, knowing right from wrong, is part of our DNA. Failure to know right from wrong is a signal that something has gone wrong with your mental wiring.

Good and evil are not research areas. Moreover, I don’t believe in anyone’s “concept” of morality. I don’t subscribe to rules or dogma.

I have never followed rules and I hate coloring books. Too many lines. That’s probably why I’m poor. It’s also why Garry is poor. We didn’t follow the rules.

Oops.

See my frequently republished story: The Meaning of Everything.

WHO COVERED WHO? – Rich Paschall

11/30/201811/30/2018 / Rich Paschall / 22 Comments

Both Sides, Rich Paschall

Rows and floes of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I’ve looked at clouds that way

Judy Collins is still performing “Both Sides, Now.”

I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all

Judy Collins was the first to release the Joni Mitchell composition”Both Sides, Now” in 1967. The following year it was released as a single, climbed the charts and won a Grammy Award for Best Folk Performance. It is a staple of Collins performances to this day.

In 1969 Joni Mitchell included the song on her album Clouds. It has since been recorded by a long list of big name artists. In 2000, Mitchell released a new recording with an orchestral arrangement. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine named “Both Sides, Now” one of the top 500 Greatest Songs of all time.

The 1960’s era Collins record was a bit faster paced and more of a “pop tune” than the folksy performance shown above with the Boston Pops. It has been reported that Mitchell disliked the popular Collins hit single.

But now old friends they’re acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I’ve changed
Well something’s lost, but something’s gained
In living every day.

CONTINUING THE CHRISTMAS CACTUS TALE – Marilyn Armstrong

11/30/201811/29/2018 / Marilyn Armstrong / 20 Comments

More Christmas Cactus – FOTD – 11/30/2018

We didn’t really have sunshine today, though they promised it. But at least it wasn’t dark and gloomy all day. So I took some more pictures of the cactus developing.

I remembered today that sometimes, instead of a standard but, the end of the cactus turns red and then becomes a flower. So there is more than one kind of bud on a Christmas Cactus. If someone has a good biology background, I’d like to hear about this — how one plant has two ways of creating a flower.