October 01, 2022

Gleanings of the Week Ending October 1, 2022

October 01, 2022/ Gwen Morrison

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

What is the right age to get a smartphone? – No set answer or surprises in this article. I was a little disappointed but maybe the answer will always start out with “it depends….”

Air pollution might spur irregular heart rhythms in healthy teens – Air quality is important for everyone…not new news, but this study has supporting data for a segment of the population we generally think are very healthy.

A rapid shift to clean energy would save the world $12 trillion – I wish I was more confident that the people of the world have the will to save the planet (and ourselves).

Seven healthy lifestyles may reduce dementia risk for people with diabetes – Getting all 7 might be hard….but the 5 or 6 out the 7 should be something everyone can do.

Cool and Overlooked Critters of the Sagebrush Sea – Someone commented that they had driven across Kansas once and it was such a long slog that they didn’t want to do it again. This article reminded me that learning to look at unfamiliar places is a challenge…one we should consciously accept!

Daily multivitamin may improve cognition and possibly protect against decline – Easy to do!

Why you need a 'wellbeing wardrobe' – Most of my clothes are over a decade old and some were bought from a thrift store. I wear them until they are worn out and then I turn them into other things, compost them (if they a compostable fiber) or donate them (hoping that they can be sold or recycled). My sister commented that she was saving jeans to make a quilt. There are some items that seem to last longer than they did in the 70s (I remember inexpensive underwear and panty hose that were rarely worn more than a few times). Since I don’t buy many new clothes, I wondered about the demographics of who is buying so much clothing…and then trashing it so quickly.

Older adults with regular activity routines are happier and do better on cognitive tests – Picked up a vocabulary word from this article: zeitgebers – time cues which help set the body’s internal clock and can also assist in creating a stable routine. Some examples of zeitgebers are sunlight, exercise and eating…pets that require certain kinds of attention at about the same time each day.

Why plastic doesn't dry in the dishwasher – A little physics. I’ve noticed that we are using less plastic these days…more ceramic, glass, and metal. The last change was the containers we use for leftovers; I’ve gradually been replacing plastic with glass containers. My popcorn bowl (that I use in the microwave) is still plastic…but that’s about it.

Meet the Bat Falcon, the ABA Area’s Newest Bird – About the bat falcon, the ABA checklist and its importance to birders chasing a Big Year.

April 29, 2020

Filling a Day of Social Distance – 4/28/2020 – Little Celebrations

April 29, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

**Making echinoderm prompted Zentangle**® tiles. *Jurassic echinoderms France* is full of plates and worth browsing; it’s available on Internet Archive here. Four sample images are below. I’ve only made one Zentangle so far but I’m sure the patterns will pop up in the tiles I make over the next few days.

Starting the What is Contemporary Art? Coursera course. It is my 3rd class from MoMA. For some reason – I am interested in classes that are different from my typical science or history classes I’ve taken in non-pandemic years.

Watching a Glenn Randall Photography webinar on light for landscape photographers. It was something my husband found out about and set up for us. We watched on the television in the den. Now I have some vocabulary for some of the type of light I enjoy early or late in the day! I realized that some of the wonderful light on the sandhill cranes in the early mornings at Bosque del Apache is ‘glow light’ from the sun 20 minutes away from coming up behind us.

Making sweet potato custard. Probably my favorite food creation during our ‘stay at home as much as possible’ time has been sweet potato custard. This is the second time I’ve made it. I cook the sweet potato in the oven when we are baking something else…then peel it and save it in the refrigerator until I’m ready to make the custard. The sweet potato goes into the Ninja food processor with 4 eggs, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon cloves and 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar (this time I was trying to use up some powdered sugar so I used the higher amount). After processing and scrapping down the sides, I add in enough almond milk to make the consistency about right….processing again to get it thoroughly blended. After pouring it into the backing dish, I cover the top with chopped pecans. It cooks for 15 minutes at 425 degrees and 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

It never lasts long since both my husband and I like it a lot.

Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts here.

And now for the monthly post about 10 little celebrations. Again – the overwhelming celebration (the same as in March) is that in April 2020

Everyone in my family (in Maryland, Missouri, and Texas) is well…and taking all the recommended precautions to stay that way.

Now for 9 other celebrations….all from home (or easy walking distance):

Talking to family far away. It’s such a boost to talk with family – know that they are doing fine – that we all have pleasant homes and a few people with us. It’s good to let whatever anxiety has accumulated to melt away and celebrate family.

Grocery delivery. At first the idea of grocery delivery made me anxious. Now I find that the arrival of another delivery to our front porch is a cause for celebration. We have good food at low health risk.

Fashion as Design Coursera course. The whole course was interesting. I learned a lot more – and maybe differently – that I anticipated. I celebrated the whole course.

My history in wardrobe terms. The Fashion as Design prompted a whole project - thinking about my wardrobe from the 1960s to today. It was a fun project and I celebrated the memory of my favorite clothes.

Life in the Universe Pandemic Series. I’m a fan of Charles Cockell’s mini-lectures on astrobiology and I enjoyed his book (Bruntsfield Brook) as well. I watch/listen to the videos in clumps…glad I became aware of them shortly after he started.

Hiking into the forest. The whole hike was one big celebration. I am already looking at the forecast and planning another hike.

And then there are three birds I am highlighting as April celebrations: rose-breasted grosbeak, piliated woodpecker, and goldfinch. I celebrate the view from my office window each and every day. It is becoming a wall of green now that the trees are leafing out.

The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

April 26, 2020

Filling a Day of Social Distance – 4/25/2020

April 26, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

Spotting a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. The bird was a on the gutter of our covered deck initially – then on the feeder. This is a first sighting for this species at our feeder. I managed to tell my husband in time for him to see it too. It was the most exciting event of the morning! The bird flew off to the maple tree then returned several more times during the morning. It was assertive enough to drive away the cowbirds!

Catching up on Charles Cockell’s Life in the Universe Pandemic Series:

Reflecting on my own wardrobe over the decades. After finishing the Fashion as Design Coursera course, I am doing some thinking about my wardrobe history. What was memorable about each decade (after I was old enough for clear memories).

1960s

I started school in 1960 so a lot of my growing up was done during the decade. I can remember learning to iron my clothes early on but being thrilled later with synthetics that did not need to be ironed. Underwear and socks were ordered from Sears as needed, but we shopped in local stores for clothes and shoes. I rarely had more clothes that I needed to last between the weekly laundry days although we did have seasonal clothes that we kept in heavy cardboard barrels during the off season. As I got older, my mother involved us in deciding the clothes we wanted with the budget she allocated for each of us. I learned to sew to stretch the dollars as I got older.

The schools I went to were not air conditioned until I was in high school so the beginning and ending of the school year (in Texas) was extremely hot. Maybe it was a positive thing that girls were expected to wear dresses to school!

I remember dresses getting shorter and shorter as the decade progressed. In 6th grade I had a drop waist dress that I liked a lot. High school colors were important.

The worst fashion of the decade from my perspective was corrective oxfords. I had flat feet. The oxfords were white leather with metal arch supports to hold the foot as it grew. They didn’t help at all since my foot already was the size it is now by the time I started wearing them. They were heavy and awkward; I seemed to always be catching the low, clunky heal on my ankle (frequently enough that scars formed).

1970s

My dresses and skirts reached their maximum shortness in the early 1970s. It seems that I transitioned to wearing slacks and jeans more during the decade.

I was making all my clothes except underwear and jeans…even making some dress and flannel shirts for my husband. I made my own wedding dress out of white brocade upholstery fabric (for a January wedding).

My clothes had to go from office to school because after I graduated from high school, I was working full then going to college classes in the evenings. I still didn’t have many clothes; they were all general purpose. There is a picture of me in a vest, puffed sleeve blouse, pants rolled up over my socks – carrying a camera bag on a geology field trip – not the most practical outfit (or shoes) for hiking!

Later in the decade I started dressing up a little more for work because I was moving up in the organization. I remember liking dirndl skirts and squarish jackets – scarves/jewel necklines or blouses with wide ties at the neck. I’d learned to tie square knots and good bows in the early years of the decade.

I did buy my first pair of hiking boot – heavy, leather that was so stiff that the tops made blisters on my ankles when I wore them to hike down to the plateau level of the Grand Canyon.

1980s

I started out the decade sewing everything then sewing blouses (I even made one with a several with crocheted sections around the neck). I took some classes to refine my tailoring skills. But by mid-decade, I was ordering by suits from Spiegel. By the end of the decade I stopped sewing completely; it wasn’t as economical as it had been previously and – with motherhood and working full time – there was no time.

I wore 2- or 3-piece suits to work from about 1984 to the later part of the 1990s. I was moving up in my career and the suits were part of the corporate culture for men and women. I liked skirts that had an actual pleat in the back rather than a slit and a small inner pocket in the jacket (I never used any external pockets). I wore blouses with lace or crochet or a bow at the neck….or a scarf. The suits were all solid colors – black, navy, gray, red jacket/dark skirt. One of my favorites was tan silk; I always got compliments on it. I wore it with a black blouse or with a scarf that was maroon and the exact tan of the suit.

My work shoes were generally black or navy pumps (often a sling strap because my heel was so narrow that the others didn’t fit well) with a 2-inch heel.

1990s

My husband, daughter and I wore look alike t-shirts/sweatshirts from places we visited on vacations for casual wear with jeans, shorts, or sweatpants.

2000s

Several tapestry jackets were also added to my wardrobe. I remembered having some bell bottom tapestry pants in the 1970s that I enjoyed until they wore out. I donated a couple of the jackets when I retired from my career but have kept one that I wear occasionally.

Some of my clothes came from thrift stores – particularly some of the black slacks and colorful blouses to pair with otherwise dark jackets. It was thrilling to find things appropriate for ‘business casual’ for so little.

One of my favorite jackets was a gift from my Mother….I usually wear it buttoned….over one of my many pairs of black slacks

2010s

By the 2010s, almost all my work shoes were clog type heels. The only pair I have left had soft leather uppers and are slightly lower heels that the ones from early in the decade. I liked square toes. Eventually my knees started hurting if I walked a lot in the shoes and I was glad to go to much flatter shoes by the time I retired.

For the last years of my career I wore a wig to work; it was my way to have ‘great hair’ every day that earlier generations of professional women – like my mother – got by having a weekly appointment with a hairdresser. The wig was less time consuming.

I also built up more casual clothes for outdoors. My daughter enjoyed being outdoors and most of the family vacation were to National Parks (or similar places). And then my volunteer gigs needed those same type of clothes.

Longer skirts are my favorite warm weather clothes. Most of them I find at thrift store and some of them are probably decades old!

Now

These days I like leggings (jean or cotton knit) with tunics. The tunics need to have something unique: asymmetric hem, embroidery, or color.

Overall - there are a lot of synthetic fabrics in my closet that will last a long time. I’ve gotten rid of the things I don’t wear via donation…and plan to keep what I have for the foreseeable future!

Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts here.