Thursday, November 24, 2022

A Thankful, Grateful & Blessed Weekly Link Round-Up

 

Most of 2022 has not been kind to us residents of Casa Kittling, but that doesn't matter. The year seems to be ending on a high note, and I couldn't be more grateful.
 
Denis and I trundled over to Target for our Covid booster shots on Wednesday. It was a gorgeous day for an outing, and I noticed more than one motorist smiling as they saw Denis in his motorized wheelchair and me on my scooter as we went down the street. Every once in a while I had to succumb to temptation and put Esmeralda in high gear to run a few rings around Denis. He called me a rude name, but I just laughed. It had been so long since I'd been inside Target that I almost didn't recognize the place. We managed not to buy anything and then came straight home. 

The outside of Casa Kittling looks a bit strange now. Tuesday, two people came and took away the Jeep. Growing up in the American car culture as I have, it's a painful decision to get rid of your one remaining vehicle, but it was time. The Jeep was instrumental in so many adventures, in so many memories, but although it was equipped with a lift for my scooter, it could not accommodate Denis's wheelchair, too. We jumped through the city government's hoops and can now use Valley Metro's Dial-a-Ride and ParaTransit services, and those will be able to get us to almost everywhere we want to go. (They won't be able to get us to our beloved Wildlife World Zoo, but we'll figure something out.) Our needs changed, and our transportation had to change, too. Besides, the money we save on car insurance, gasoline, and upkeep will come in handy!


Did we sell the Jeep? No. Denis has what I call Goldilocks Syndrome. When something goes wrong, he starts accumulating helpful devices until he finds the right one. With all the misery involving his back, this house had lots of mobility devices that were no longer being used because Goldy had finally found the right ones for him. Yes, we could've sold the manual wheelchair, the three-wheeled walkers, and the Rollator as well as the Jeep, but it didn't feel right to me. My mind kept returning to the clinic where I had so many therapy sessions. Many of the people I met there could not afford the equipment they needed and that their insurance wouldn't pay for. That's just not right, so I let Google do the walking and then asked Denis his opinion of what I was thinking of doing.

The two people who came Tuesday not only took the Jeep but they also took with them the excess mobility equipment. They were representatives from the Arizona Chapter of Paralyzed American Veterans. What's more, the woman practically turned cartwheels when she saw my craft room. She asked me what I liked to make, and when I told her afghans, she could've turned another cartwheel. I know many of you probably think I'm nuts to make so many afghans, but I'm thrilled to say that I now will be knitting them for paralyzed veterans. 

Denis is a veteran of the Royal Navy, and I have many generations of military men in my own family tree (father, grandfather, great-great-great grandfather, uncles, cousins...), so I can't tell you how happy it makes me to be able to help this organization.

No matter how many speed bumps life puts on the road I travel, I still feel so incredibly blessed. 

Enjoy the links!
 
 

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄
 
►Book Banning & Censorship◄
 
►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄
 
►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄
  • How far can ducks migrate in a day? About 2,000 miles. (Why did my arms cramp after reading that?)
  • What an elephant's brain reveals about its trunk. 
  • This made me laugh: An owl stole a child's hobby horse and flew around the neighborhood with it. The bird looked just like a witch on a broom. 
  • Speaking of those birds, a new owl species has been found, and it has a haunting screech. 
  • Polar bears are gathering in Canada, and you can watch them live. 
  • Migratory birds in North America are shrinking as their wings get bigger. Climate change is to blame. 
  • Magic the miniature therapy horse is the newest member of the Ocala Police Department. More (including a video) from Laughing Squid.
  • A blue whale's daily intake of microplastics weighs as much as a small person.
 
►The Wanderer◄
 
►Fascinating Folk◄
  • On Paul Newman's taste for literary adaptations.
  • The Canary Girls and the World War I poisons that turned them yellow. 
  • The real warriors behind The Woman King film. 
  • Dr. Patricia Bath, the trailblazing doctor who revolutionized cataract treatment and saved the sight of millions.
  • Dolly Parton has received the $100 million Courage and Civility Award from Jeff Bezos. She just tries to put her money where her heart is. (I love this woman.) 
  • D.M. Rowell's path to writing a Native American mystery. 
 
►The Best of 2022 Lists Are Arriving◄
 
►I ♥ Lists◄
 
That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.
 
Stay safe. Stay healthy. And don't forget to curl up with a good book!

15 comments:

  1. I haven't gotten to the links yet, but I am so glad you and Denis felt well enough to give away your Jeep and some mobility devices to needy veteerans. And it's so generous that you will knit afghans for some of them. That is the real spirit of these holidays,, giving and generosity of spirit. Makes me even gladder that I read this blog regularly.
    I hope that you both can find a way to get to the Wildlife Zoo and to some of your other favorite places. The main question is can you get to PP? Or will you visit via Zoom? Best wishes for both of you in this new phase of your lives, and I wish you both better health for the coming year.

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    1. Thanks, Kathy. Valley Metro will be able to take us to The Poisoned Pen and other favorite places like the Desert Botanical Garden and Musical Instrument Museum. It's just the Wildlife World Zoo that's outside its service area. But Denis and I have decided that we'll splurge once or twice a year and pay the big bucks to go there. We might even go on my birthday/our anniversary in January.

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  2. Now I come back after reading several links. Of course, my blood is boiling from the banned book links. Outrageous, but worse is the deliberate denial of the Holocaust. Some of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists were wearing pro-Holocaust slogans. There is so much evidence of this horror it's hard to believe anyone can disprove it. But so many other links are interesting, but the book bans are ridiculous. If one doesn't want to read a book, don't read it. Don't deny other people that right. I love the "best of" book lists. I couldn't get into some, but even so, there are so many books to read I'm overwhelmed. Thanks.

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  3. How great, Cathy, that you and Denis are at the point where you can go run errands! And I'd've loved to see you run those rings around him. Who says you can't have some fun with a mobility scooter? I've noticed over time that I've done similar things - let go of things I no longer needed. If you can give them to someone who needs them, what a great way of reaching out. I'm glad you found a new home for the Jeep and those mobility aids. Now, I must go visit that Roman villa (but I'm sure you guessed that one!)

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  4. I'm so glad that you and Denis are able to get out and about! It feels so good to be able to give things you can no longer to use directly to people who can use them. So glad you found the Paralyzed American Veterans organization. I can't resist "Best of" book lists, so that's where I'm heading.

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    1. I can't resist those lists either-- even though I've seldom read any of the books on them! LOL

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  5. I love that you were able to donate so much to the Paralyzed Veterans, and that you'll be crocheting your beautiful afghans for them now, too. That's so cool! :D

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  6. I have siblings who are veterans, following in footsteps from past generations, so I'm delighted that your afghans will warm many of them in your area!

    As usual, there are many links that I will follow, but I'm starting with the newfound owl. I'll wait to tackle the book banning stories that are new to me until I'm ready to be worked up by them and can then get moving to work of the anger and frustration.

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    1. Yeah, that book banning section is tough on my blood pressure. There are too many people throwing monkey wrenches into the works just because they can. Oftentimes they either don't have children to begin with or they don't even live in the school district. Grrr...okay. Stop typing. I feel my blood pressure rising!

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  7. I can sympathize with those who hung the Mondrian painting. I had a print of his many years ago and I was never really certain how it should be hung. I'm not sure it even mattered. His paintings are all about color and line and one can get an interesting perspective from any angle.

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    1. It's my own personal opinion that it doesn't really matter which way paintings like that are hanged. If you bought it and you've got it the way that gives you the most pleasure, then you've done it right.

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