Author Archives

Opinionated writer with hopes for a better future for all plus a big helping of skepticism about humanity.

• MORE YELLOW-GREEN ORCHIDS

  By Marilyn Armstrong on 01/22/2023 • ( 3 )

  

  FOTD – January 22 – Yellow-Green Orchids I should have been taking pictures of our little snow, but I was, instead, pulling veins from the middle of supposed cleaned and deveined shrimp. But I did get some pretty pictures of the… Read More ›

• “THAT’S NOT WHO WE ARE”

  By Marilyn Armstrong on 01/21/2023 • ( 22 )

  

  Lest we forget, this is a flashback to January 20, 2021. Every person who gets interviewed on television says the same thing. It’s the current mantra about “the U.S.A.” The hooligans who rioted in our Capitol are not really who… Read More ›

• A NEW CAMERA, A MACRO LENS, AND A YELLOW-GREEN ORCHID

  By Marilyn Armstrong on 01/21/2023 • ( 15 )

  

  FOTD – January 20 – A new camera and a yellow-green Orchid Somewhere in the middle of the madly medical week, the camera I’ve been waiting for showed up. I’m sometimes astonished at Amazon’s packing. They send me a bag… Read More ›

• TO THE EYE DOCTOR

  By Marilyn Armstrong on 01/20/2023 • ( 13 )

  

  Poor Garry. One of his hearing aids is out for repair, so hearing is a bigger than usual problem. For him, hearing is always a problem but with one aid missing, it’s worse. And now, with his eyes going blurry,… Read More ›

• FETISH

  By Marilyn Armstrong on 01/20/2023 • ( 2 )

  

  FOWC with Fandango — Fetish I collect Native American fetishes. These are small carved items — sort of like charms or amulets — but more than that. Some of these carving are remarkably artistic. Tiny, yet perfect. Each fetish represents a… Read More ›

• CIRCLES & CURVES | BLACK & WHITE

  By Marilyn Armstrong on 01/20/2023 • ( 11 )

  

  CBWC:  Circles and Curves Curves — including arches. Circles — including a camera and a pocket watch. The nearly round buds of an opening orchid and the big, round wheels on a bicycle.

• SMALL MIRACLES

  By Marilyn Armstrong on 01/19/2023 • ( 23 )

  

  I got the right nurse! She wrapped my arm in heated blankets and was able to find a working vein on the second try — which is probably a record especially considering how many have been unable to find a… Read More ›

• HANDS AND PAWS

  By Marilyn Armstrong on 01/19/2023 • ( 2 )

  

  CFFC: Hands and Paws Hands, then paws.

• A FEW MORE BIRDS

  By Marilyn Armstrong on 01/18/2023 • ( 8 )

  

  We got a new 40-pound bag of birdseed, so I was able to fill the feeders this morning. They watch me and know when the feeders are full. If I take too long, they get restless and fly past me,… Read More ›

• TOMORROW AND TOMORROW

  By Marilyn Armstrong on 01/18/2023 • ( 26 )

  

  I can’t begin to tell you how very much I want to not “do” tomorrow. It’s my first iron infusion and I have zero faith in the hospital’s ability to find a functional vein. I have defeated a couple of… Read More ›

• THE CROWD BY THE FEEDER

  By Marilyn Armstrong on 01/17/2023 • ( 18 )

  

  After all my gratitude at the lack of snow this winter, of course it snowed this morning. We only got a few inches — maybe three? But not far away, they got half a foot and the week’s not over… Read More ›

• BLOGGING INSIGHTS: FIX OR BREAK?

  By Marilyn Armstrong on 01/17/2023 • ( 23 )

  

  Blogging Insights 3.0 — 1 “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” vs “Break the mold”: which of these do you believe, pertains to your blog? I think both things could be true, but neither currently is. I remember when… Read More ›

• MID JANUARY BIRDS

  By Marilyn Armstrong on 01/16/2023 • ( 2 )

  

  The Carolina Wren is typically the earliest arriving “spring” bird. I almost never saw them, but I would hear their songs — louder than any bird so small should be able to sing — in early March. This year, it… Read More ›

• RHODODENDRONS

  By Marilyn Armstrong on 01/16/2023 • ( 6 )

  

  FOTD – January 16 – Rhododendrons We had a great spring last year for rhododendrons. This year, without a proper winter and with the garden under full attack from invasive strangling vines, I’m not optimistic. Everything else was suffering through last… Read More ›

• 1969

  By Marilyn Armstrong on 01/15/2023 • ( 13 )

  

  I’ve had a few really great years — and few really awful ones — but 1969 stands out as my favorite. The world seemed to spin faster and everything was changing. We had amazing music and the most fun we’d… Read More ›

• SHOWDOWN AT WILD HORSE PASS by GARRY ARMSTRONG

  By Marilyn Armstrong on 01/14/2023 • ( 11 )

  On this date in 2016, Garry and I were visiting Ben in Arizona. This is Garry’s story. A Friday Flashback on Saturday. Deal with it. Story by Garry Armstrong Photographs by Garry & Marilyn Armstrong More than a week in… Read More ›