Day 48-SIP-The Three Roses of Padauk

Posted on 04/05/2020 by Grumpa Joe

Who is leading? If my recollection serves me correctly President Trump announced the COVID-19 Task Force Guidelines on March 16, 2020. Within forty-eight hours the Mayor of Frankfort issued the same guidelines under his name. Four days later on 20 March 2020 our State Governor issued his version of the same.

I began writing my Covid-19 diary on the 16 of March, the same day the president announced the guidelines. What I see here is a chain of command from the National level down to the local community, but the State lagged in making decisions. Could this lag also be the reason why Illinois has the most debt of all the States? Could it be that is the reason citizens are leaving the state as fast as they can? It is the reason that I have considered leaving many times, only to be sucked back by personal responsibilities?

Anyway, it is a beautiful sunny day in Illinois today, but a might on the chilly side at 46 degrees and it’s windy making it feel even cooler. The sun is making the plant life explode and life is returning from the deep winter sleep. Tulips bloom in abundance, the daffodils are already gone as are the magnolias. The grass is Irish green and the trees and shrubs are about half way open toward full leaf. As soon as I post this non-sense I’ll join many others on a walk along our bicycle path fully masked.

This morning I cleaned my shop as I do after completing a project successfully. My routine is to hang the new work in the place of honor with lighting for a few weeks or until I get tired of it and replace it with something different. In the meantime, I will begin a new piece with fewer elements which should be quicker to complete. This latest was supposed to be that project, but it evolved into one with one hundred pieces and short equaled forty days. My goal is to get ‘short’ down to seven days max. There is a lot of room for improvement ahead.

The Three Roses of Padauk

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Tree Topper

Posted on 01/12/2010 by Grumpa Joe

My tree of life turned out better this year than it ever was in the past. It’s been seven years since it adorned our home, and it took several years to build the ornaments, collect the birds,  butterflies, and flowers. I even found some stuff that I bought eight years ago, but never used before.. The tree is new too. I used a green tree once, and decided that the flowers and birds need a bright background to shown them off. Otherwise, they blend into the background like they do in nature. I chose white.

The first Navaho rug that caught my eye was in Sedona, Arizona. It was a five by seven Tree of Life pattern with a fifteen thousand dollar price tag. Looking back on it, that was a very good price. Much smaller rugs of that pattern go for the same price today. That is hindsight and Monday morning quarter backing. I couldn’t afford it then, and I still can’t afford it now. The alternative was to make my own.  Frankly, I like  mine better. I can change its appearance every year, yet hold the same theme and philosophical concept.

Barbara and I loved this design, and worked together to assemble the various components. We shopped everywhere we went. Often bringing home a new bird from vacation trips. The tree has great sentimental value, but unleashes melancholy from deep within that requires conversations with God to brighten up the darkness of my grief.

Filed under: Birds, family, Garden, grief, Memories, Tree of Life, Warm and Fuzzy | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »