Saturday

We kept the Roman planetary god of Saturn to name our weekend day. Spanish and French use the Sabbath to name the day in their languages.
Whatever the case may be -- it's the weekend!
Enjoy it.

My changing schedule with the beginning of the shelter season makes blogging on a daily basis a little different. It also makes keeping a daily streak intact on Wordle and a couple of other games that track daily play. I suppose it isn't really a big deal if I miss a day. It's mostly just a personal goal, much like publishing something daily throughout November.

You would think that I have more time for reading, but the irregular nightly activity at the shelter isn't very conducive to reading -- or anything else, for that matter. 

It's cold in the Ozarks.
Have a good weekend anyway!

John

Friday -- Freya's (or Freyja) day

While the English followed the Germanic/Nordic gods, the Latin languages stayed with names that followed the Roman god Venus.
Both Freyja and Venus are female gods of fertility and love.
I don't know about the fertility part, but surely the gods know that humanity could use more love.

It's a little past 3 in the morning as I am writing from a table in the hallway at the shelter. One of our guests just passed by me and asked about the stars in the eastern sky, so I paused my writing long enough to put on my jacket and go outside to check it out.
Jupiter, Mars and Regulus were the night sky objects he was looking at.  I like talking to people about the night sky and the winter sky is pretty cool. There are lots of bright stars, big constellations, and then you watch the planetary dance throughout the season.
The Leonids meteor shower will be in a few days.

Our little solar system is pretty amazing.

John

Thursday -- Thor's day

Thurday is named after the Norse protector and god of thunder -- Thor.
The Roman god of sky and thunder is Jupiter and is reflected in the Spanish -- jueves, and the French -- Jeudi.

On this Thursday, the weather in the Ozarks of SWMO is going to take a turn towards winter as the polar vortex breaks down and moves southward into the upper US for a couple of days. The clear skies and cold temps mean near freezing tonight and a little bit colder tomorrow and tomorrow night.
These will likely be the first of many nights that our crises cold weather shelters are open and volunteers are needed -- both for these early nights and throughout the season (which runs through March of '27).

This will be my seventh season of working or volunteering during the winter months. I have learned a lot about myself and about the need that exists in the Springfield community. My early retirement was a real plus in being able to work many overnight shifts over the past cold weather seasons.
Admittedly, recovery from the overnights is getting more difficult. I initially thought I'd just be doing a few nights of volunteering this year, but I will be working for the early part of the season. Maybe someone that really needs a part time income will takeover for me at some point. 
That would be great for both of us.

If you would like to volunteer, apply to work, or make a donation -- here is the link.

Clear skies
No thunder
Happy Thor's day!

John

Wednesday -- Woden's Day

Woden is the Anglo spelling of the main Norse god, Odin, and the deity for which this day is named.

I find it interesting that we have used Norse gods to replace or mimic the original Babylonian and early Roman days of the week. The seven day week named days after the sun, the moon, and the five visible planets -- Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. Each planet was also associated with a Roman god.

Mars is the god of war as I wrote about yesterday.
Wednesday in Spanish is miercoles which comes from the Roman god Mercury. I don't think there is any kind of connection between Mercury and Odin and I am not sure how the English calendar ended up with Odin as Wednesday. I do know that the Viking Age is considered to have been during the 8th through 11th centuries and influenced changes in language and culture throughout Europe -- including the names for our weekdays.

Skol,

John

Tuesday -- Tiw's day

Tuesday -- whether Germanic, Nordic, or Latin -- is about a god of war.
Tiw (or sometimes Tyr) is from the Germanic (or Nordic) god of war.
Mardi and martes are from French and Spanish and the Roman god of war -- Mars.

And speaking of war --
Last night we went to see the movie Jimmy. It's about Jimmy Stewart and how World War II affected his life and career, and how it shaped the man that he was.
It's a good film.

I am sure that it was shaped by and to fit Hollywood, but it was moving and represented some of the horrors of war well. On the drive home, I mentioned that the two things that really hit me about the film were 1) how difficult it must be to send your child off to war and 2) how hard it must be to return and try to live a normal life after having survived the experience of war.
It makes me angry to see the casual approach to war that politicians and this administration seem to have about the current wars in the Middle East and in Ukraine. 

A 2010 study by the Veteran's Administration estimated that 22 veterans took their own lives -- everyday in the US. Awareness of this tragedy and help for veterans has adjusted the number downward to the current estimate of 17 to 20.
Seventeen to twenty veteran suicides EVERY DAY and we have a fucking embicile running the Department of Defense acting like a damn cheerleader promoting war like it's a glorious thing, and a Republican led Congress and Administration that has stripped away the much needed benefits for our vets.
Damn, that pisses me off.

Our no more wars president lied.
He's not going to get us out of his illegal money maker in Iran and he's going to continue to support Putin in Ukraine. And he's going to continue to spend our taxpayer dollars and send our kids into war zones.
He is a fucking traitor.

I remember a scene from a M*A*S*H episode. They are in the OR and someone comments that war is hell. Hawkeye says, "War is war and hell is hell and of the two of them, war is worse." Fr Mulcahy asks why, and Hawkeye explains that people in hell supposedly deserve to be in hell, but war hurts (and kills) people that are innocent of any wrong doing.

Maybe we need to find another name for Tuesday or martes. Maybe we need to find something that doesn't honor a god of war. We have become so desensitized to war that most of us say Tuesday casually, never realizing that it pays homage to a god of war.

John

It's Monday -- or moon day

Yep, Monday corresponds to Moon day. 
Even in Spanish -- lunes (days of the week are not capitalized in Spanish) is moon day.
If you are interested, the moon currently sits at the New Moon phase, placing it between the sun and earth so we face the dark side and see no moon. It reached New Moon at around 1 AM in Missouri.
Other than that, it is just another Monday.

If you tend to watch the sky -- the northern Taurids meteor shower peaks in a couple of nights. In the early morning hours of the 12th (Wed night/Thurs morning) look towards the constellation Taurus as the radiant point for this smaller, but pretty decent shower. The Taurids tend to travel into the upper atmosphere more slowly than most showers (I don't know why) so the meteors tend to be brighter and easier to spot.
Because today is the New Moon, the slight crescent moon will set early, making it an ideal night for meteor watching.
Unfortunately, skies over the Ozarks are currently forecast to be overcast.
Sacrebleu!

Today, however, looks to be sunny and warm for November. I am going to try to spend some time outside where I can enjoy the sun's fading warmth. 
Mid-November
Upper 60s (20c)
Life is good

John

Sleep observations

There is nothing quite like a good night's sleep!
I managed 6+ hours of sleep last night with one wake-up about halfway through it.
I feel great this morning.

My watch tracks sleep and breaks it down to REM sleep, light sleep, and deep sleep. It also shows periods of restlessness. One weird thing I noticed when we were in Colorado doing the dog-sitting gig was that I never went into deep sleep after Chris came to bed.
I typically go to bed around midnight; Chris comes to bed around 3 or 4 in the morning. That hits around a natural wake-up time (between cycles). After that -- there were no more deep sleep periods.

It makes me wonder if that was a way of being more alert to listen for the dogs when nobody was awake or just a part of sleeping in a strange place. I will say that I appear to have more deep sleep earlier in the night than I do closer to morning, but that's a normal part of sleeping -- more deep sleep early; more REM sleep later.
It just seemed odd that I had no deep sleep later when we were there. 

It's probably weird that the function of my watch that I am most interested in tracking is sleep. 
While sleep is a vital part of the overall health picture, most people would look at the activity part of a smart watch or fitness watch more than the sleep data. 
I should probably do that, too. 

I'm awake and there are things to do! I guess now would be a good time to think about being active. The sun is shining on this fall Sunday so I am going to enjoy it!

John

Cool temps

It's one of those days when it is too cool to sit outside for coffee, but not cold enough to have a fire in the fireplace. The indoor temperature is at 65f (18c) so the furnace will be kicking on soon. 
Damn, I hate that. 
It is currently a few degrees above freezing and should make it to 50f (10c) today. It looks like winter is on the way. 
Sacrebleu!

I'll rescue the last of the flowers from the front porch today and wheel in the cold fragile potted elephant ear plant before it freezes. It won't quite get as low as freezing tonight, but those days aren't too far off. It looks like we will have a few days of warmer weather and not so cool nights. Maybe I should consider a night sleeping on the deck before it gets uncomfortably cold for that. 

     * * * * *

While considering what to write about this morning I am again reminded of how simply we live. An outside observer would likely conclude that I have an incredibly boring life -- and perhaps that is true even if I am not at all bored by it. 

Maybe life doesn't need to be busy and exciting.
Maybe it doesn't need to be productive or in constant motion.
Maybe it doesn't have to be constantly stimulated by new experiences.
Maybe just enjoying the moments and occasionally sharing what you've learned along the way is enough.

And maybe none of it means anything at all in the grand scope of things.

A few weeks ago, after the kids had been gone for just a couple of days, the youngest dog (a three year old wolf hybrid) sat alone in the front room and let out a sad howl as if she was missing part of her pack. She did it again the next day and then apparently decided that we were her new pack.
Yesterday she sat on the ramp leading out to the back fenced area and sad howled again, apparently missing us after a couple of days.

Maybe being missed by a young dog is enough.

John

What's changed?

When Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in 2020 he declared, "We're back!" -- meaning that the old USA was back on the global scene.
The European Union responded, "But for how long?"
That turned out to be pretty prophetic as it only lasted for four years before the Trump administration returned with a more aggressive and more insane agenda.

Call me a skeptic, but I still have little faith in people that are so easily manipulated and so full of hate. I am pleased that the midterms turned out as well as they appear to have, but I am holding off on the celebration until we see some actual changes. When people are held accountable for their hateful behavior or for their acceptance of politicians that bring hateful policies I will feel better about celebrating.
Until then -- this is just another Friday and nothing has changed.

I would love to believe that we have had enough and truly want to work toward a better world for all of us, but I mostly think that people suck and only want what is best for themselves and to hell with everyone else.
For what it's worth -- I am looking forward to the structure of the new Congress and hopeful for the days ahead of us. However, I think that being defeated in an election is a pretty light consequence for the harmful and hateful bullshit that these legislators have allowed while enriching themselves through unabashed corruption.
What a country!

I wish I had the excitement that many have, but I remain skeptical.
It's a good thing I have a good life as it is -- because I don't expect much to change.

John

Easy Day for Gratitude

It was one month ago today that we left home for our dog sitting (aka: wolf-watching) duties in the mountains of Colorado. We arrived back home last night, unpacked, showered and got to sleep in our own bed.
Gratitude comes easily today.

Even waking up to no coffee in the house wasn't a big deal. 
I am at the Ozark Mudhouse with a cup of single origin Guatemalan coffee and a rather tall blueberry muffin, so like I said -- gratitude comes easily.
I'll take home a bag of single origin Ethiopian beans so I can be properly caffeinated for the coming days. It's been quite some time since I have used my moka pot stove top espresso maker, but after having daily Americanos from the kids' fancy coffee maker I may break it out and try a little something different at home. 
Then again, the daily pour-over is good and easy, so -- maybe not.

Good coffee, no matter how it is brewed, is worthy of gratitude.
So is being home.
When it comes right down to it -- gratitude is easy every day.
A good night's sleep, good morning coffee -- bring on the day!

What are your simple gratitude triggers?

John