Kingfisher Cove

Live Critters and Covidiots Should Drop Dead

We have been enduring an onslaught of LIVE critters in our house, hauled in by Nikki the kitten-who-is-now-a-cat. She is relentless in her adeptness in capturing birds and mice, but she apparently isn’t all that “adept” about killing them (yet). Which, of course, is just fine with us. But the angst! Jesus! Birds flying in the house with a cat/bullet on its tail, only for one of us to rescue said critter and set it free. Alive, flying, skittering, what-have-you. But ALIVE. The other day I “saved” a goldfinch that literally flew over my head to the desk behind me, while staving off the tenacious cat. I scooped up the bird into my palms—so soft and so weightless—and carried it outside and set it on the deck rail, where it immediately flew off into a tree.

WHY HAVEN’T DOMESTIC CATS EVOLVED??!! There is no need for them to hunt anymore, since they are fed plentiful and nutritious food at their whim! Grrrrrrr!!!

The problem is that we do very much enjoy having the deck door open, and so… It’s a high price.

[And then tonight I discovered two dead birds in our bathroom. Something is going to have to change. Can’t be dealing with this anymore].

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Woman, flailing her arms all around: “I don’t wear a mask for the same reason I don’t wear underwear!”

Has our air been poisoned? Our water? What kind of idiots are parents raising? I know there have always been loony tunes in our midst, but MY GOD THERE ARE WAY TOO MANY OF THEM THESE DAYS.

And, you’ve heard of “QAnon,” right? Here’s an example of their point of view (borrowed purloined from my friend, Margaret):

Right up there with chem-trails and flat-earthers and birthers. This is mental illness! And yet they rule the interwebs and social media. This used to be the “fringe.” Now it’s simply Thursday.

I am so ashamed of our country.

Here we are with the pandemic raging once again across the nation, right after all the red states opened up far too soon in order to please asshat trump, and many of those states are now in big trouble. They are soaring with new cases and hospitalizations, threatening their healthcare capacity—déjà vu from what we already experienced in March and April. I am beyond furious that the stupidity of these asshats have negated all the progress we have made from our months of shutting down. I haven’t seen my grandson since early March, and if you have DARED to blow off wearing a mask in public, I BLAME YOU. If you have decided to party with your buds in a bar, in a park, at the beach, at church—I BLAME YOU. If you stab your middle fingers at our governor for curtailing your “freedom” and cheer this despicable *president because you don’t give a shit about anybody but yourself, I BLAME YOU.

You are keeping me away from my son, my daughter-in-law, my GRANDSON.

Fuck. You.

And that’s all I have.

Solace (And Solstice!)

It was sad not waking up to the antics of a 2-3/4-year-old boy this morning, like we were expecting to do. I tried (and mostly succeeded, because what’s the alternative?) to look at the positive, such as a nice clean house, which hadn’t been the case for a while. It feels really good.

Some time ago (before the pandemic) we had scheduled to have our windows washed, along with a couple of other neighbors, and after a postponement due to the virus, today was finally the day. I didn’t really know what to expect, and worried that there would be a number of windows he wouldn’t be able to manage because they would be too tall. But I am here to tell you he did a stellar job and I am gobsmacked at how BEAUTIFUL the windows look! He cleaned them all, inside and out! The only exception were the clerestory windows that would require getting on the roof (and literally scaffolding inside), and we did not want him to do that (nor did he). I have been so accustomed to smeared and cloudy windows that it blows my mind to see the crystal clear brilliance! I don’t know what solution he used—we’ve tried vinegar and Dawn and everything under the sun and it all streaked and hazed. But whatever he used was magic. He had short, long, and uber-long poles with some kind of sponge or microfiber, and several sizes of squeegees and he was fast and thorough. AND CHEAP. I couldn’t believe it. We gave him a very nice tip.

It’s amazing how happy clean sparkling windows make me feel!

It is officially summer! The longest day and the shortest night of the year. I probably would have appreciated it more if the weather had been better, but it off and on rained, got a bit breezy, and then when the guy was cleaning the inside windows and John and I were out on the deck, it warmed up, got sunny and felt great! Definitely a bi-polar day. But ultimately more cloudy than sunny. And now the days begin their trek to getting shorter and that always bums me out. 

Just a quickie, but Nate and Sandra sent me some more cute pics of Quinn I must share. Barefoot in the mud, learning how to fish!

Miss that bugger!

Beyond Bummed

Earlier this week, the Navy had notified a few “upstanding” sailors (Nate included) that they could now venture out and about from the confines of Everett and visit small family groups. Squeee! So, the house is clean and sparkling, the refrigerator is bursting with fun foodstuffs, beer is stocked, and just as I parked my butt out on the deck to take a breather, Nate called. The Navy has now reneged. They won’t be able to come down after all. I was soooooooo looking forward to seeing them AND QUINN!!!

Disappointment doesn’t even cover it.

And every goddamned time I see a goddamned person NOT WEARING A GODDAMNED MASK, I want to kick them.

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I don’t really have any more words, so I’ll just post these calming pictures of tuxedo monorail cats and Quinn at daycare.

Quinn is VERY good on these scooters! I’ve seen video of him on the one he has at home, and at 2-1/2 he’s got it down!

Off to lick wounds…

Books and Gripes

The *president claims that any conversation that anybody has with him is classified. He also said, “If we didn’t have Covid testing, we wouldn’t have any cases.”

Are you staring into the abyss, as I am, whenever he opens his stupid pie hole?

An old friend of mine posted a vicious rant on Facebook that “all lives matter,” not just black lives and she attacked anybody who tried to gently point out what “Black Lives Matter” means. She wasn’t having it. I declined to comment to avoid getting caught up in a melee, but I know she’s a Christian, so my message to her would be this (that I saw on Twitter so I can’t take credit):

Anyone who says “All Lives Matter” must now say “Happy Holidays” and not “Merry Christmas” because all holidays matter, Karen.

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(No, her name isn’t Karen. That’s become the catch-all name for the typical middle-aged privileged white woman who calls the cops on someone being black and demands to talk to the manager. Makes me wince a bit, because I do know some very nice Karens).

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Our internet has been out all day long, and while I’m thankful that I can use my iPhone as a hotspot for my PC, it makes for v-e-r-y   s-l-o-w internet speed (plus it’s probably wildly soaking up my data). I can barely see photos, and clicking between my tabs takes forever for a site to engage. I am doubting I’ll be able to upload this post, especially if it has any photos, which I do have a few to include! It appears to be an island-wide outage with no reason given by Centurylink.  Grrrr. It is well past the original time it was supposed to be back up. In fact, I just saw someone report on Nextdoor that it won’t be up until late tonight. Double-Grrrrrrr!

I’ve been reading a lot, and finished our book club book plus a few since. (Which means I’ll need to refresh my memory before we meet next week because they’ll all be jumbled together in my head). I would say that the story was pretty compelling, but the writing wasn’t stellar. I’d probably give it three stars out of five. And speaking of unstellar writing, I’m currently reading Connie Schultz’s brand new novel and I’m disappointed! I really like her, she’s won a Pulitzer, and she’s a journalist/columnist whom I’ve always admired (plus she’s married to Sherrod Brown!) I’m not sure if she’d written a novel before, but hmm. Again, the storyline is compelling so far, but I hate it when writers use excessive dialogue to awkwardly establish character; it’s not authentic. People don’t talk that way! “Susie, tell your brother, Jason, to comb that wild head of red hair of his and come down for breakfast.” Not a direct quote from the book, but an example of many that are similar. (And yes, there is only one brother, so no need to clarify that with your daughter who certainly knows his name and that he has red hair). Am I being petty? Maybe. I’m not very far along, but I have felt annoyed several times already. Dialogue needs to sound real.

And then, I just finished a book called “Recursion” that is a thriller sci-fi about time and consciousness, along a similar theme as the movie “Arrival.” It was mind-bending, that’s for sure, and I’m still processing it. And I believe there were plot-holes just by sense, but I can’t pinpoint what they were! (So maybe there weren’t any?) It was strange but fascinating. Mostly.

Yuk, facing lab work tomorrow, which means getting up and not having coffee. Plus, being poked. Not looking forward to it.

A few Quinn pics!

I will be very happy to see this “June-uary” end. I believe the kids up north have been having much better weather than we have—it’s been inordinately WET. Supposedly warmer temps by the end of the week!

And aaaak! We can’t watch “Outlander” tonight because one can’t stream without internet.

If you aren't familiar with the wonderful Sarah Cooper (a huge viral talent since the pandemic), allow me to introduce you (and prepare to giggle).

 

Out and About

I drove today for the first time since early-ish March. (I have ridden as a passenger a couple of times since then, but I hadn’t driven). Actually? It felt great! I was fortunate in that traffic was pretty light and I didn’t get stuck behind a slower-than-molasses old geezer on the curvy island road, which you can probably ascertain happens frequently. Saw a deer, too! (Also, a dead one on the side of the road. trump jr. would be so thrilled!)

I love flying on the highway, even though you aren’t supposed to. Yep, I flew a bit, with eyes on the lookout for cops, but they were apparently all in their bunker, licking their deserved wounds.

Doctor’s appointment—my first with a new doctor, and I’m happy with her! Very young, but everybody is “very young” these days. I do need to go back in some morning for lab tests (ugh, which means no coffee…) Just a check-up, which didn’t involve a whole lot of “checking up” since guidelines have changed in recent years. Mammogram on the docket, whenever they call to set it up. The only issue was that my blood pressure was a bit high, something I’ve never dealt with before. (Well. Things have been shitty lately).

I appreciated how cautious the medical center was with masks, screening, social distancing. However, I did get the impression that both the doctor and her nurse are truly ready to be done with all of this. Like, they’re following the protocol because “Inslee commands it.” Which leads me to believe they might be trumpsters…) Jesus. Sigh.

I had a couple of prescriptions to pick up, and while I waited, I did some minor grocery shopping. I was pissed off to see how few people wore masks. My guess? Over 85% were maskless. It is so trumpian to be so over-the-top disrespectful. I was honestly disgusted. Since Memorial Day weekend, a whole lot of states are spiking with coronavirus cases. Our rural county doesn’t have a whole lot of cases, but recently they have been increasing much faster than they had been. The next couple of weeks will be “interesting” with the protests, the memorial services for George Floyd, and the opening of so many of the republican states, including church services. I guess we’ll see, but those who will be affected are PEOPLE, in case anybody has forgotten that inconvenient fact. And it could be somebody we know, and love.

What’s new? Not much. It’s an angry, frustrating time, that’s for sure. I am thankful to basically hibernate and bury myself in books, with kitties and a nice husband. I *think* I’m gearing up to trying out some experiments in the glass studio, and I can’t honestly explain why I haven’t felt that way these past months. I’ve just been…blah. Give me a book. Let me escape the crap. I always think on New Years Eve that it’s such a good thing to say goodbye to the shitty year that just ended, and then we enter an even shittier year. Time after time. Especially since 2016.

Gah.

I do have a few more pictures of the cutie pie. This should lower my blood pressure, right? I know it would if I could actually SEE him in person.

Doesn’t that backpack look like some kind of double-trunked elephant-type creature with goggly eyes?

Busy beach boy in boots.

I miss him so much.

Longest Days, Darkest Days

June. Monday was my birthday, and Nate’s is tomorrow. Mine was fine, except for the horror show trump put on at D.C.’s Lafayette Square with hurling tear gas and stinger pellets and flash bangs at peaceful protesters to clear the area so he could do a bizarre and disgusting photo op with a Bible held up like a dirty diaper. (Like he’s ever opened a Bible). I loathe that dictator fanboy.

But I enjoyed our seared scallops for my birthday dinner and two huge bags of premium cat bait birdseed from John.

It still feels like March, since that is when life came to a standstill. But what a long March (heh) it’s been! The trump regime has completely “washed its hands” (yeah, pun) of the pandemic, even though it is most definitely still here and continues to rage in several states, especially those whose republican governors opened up way too early. In a rather humorous anecdote, the conservative state with skyrocketing coronavirus cases where the republican convention was supposed to be held this summer has summarily claimed that they can’t hold it, especially since trump is demanding that there be no masks, no social distancing, or any acknowledgement that the pandemic even exists. I was glad that he was actually told “NO.” (He’s rarely heard that word his entire life). He’s now desperately trying to con another state into holding it, but so far no takers. He’ll probably threaten some republican governor with career-ending photos and someone will cave. My understanding is the democratic convention will take a more pragmatic approach and hold it virtually, which is a sad and frustrating reality, but the right thing to do.

We are now at nearly 108,000 deaths, with over 20,000+ new cases popping up every day. Here in Washington, we are doing much better in MOST counties, but others are still climbing in case rates, or stuck at a plateau. I was commenting on Facebook earlier that my concern is not only the states that opened so early, but now the effect of the mass protests across the country (and the funeral service for George Floyd held today with singing bodies crammed together in a Minneapolis church). A lot of the protesters have been wearing masks, and I’m glad to see that. But unfortunately it’s not a protection against catching the virus. I worry that we’ll be seeing some big spikes in the next few weeks, and if it means exponential growth of those cases like it did in the beginning, will that also mean a new threat with overwhelming hospitals? And more deaths…

You’d think a country that can equip every cop like a soldier could equip every doctor like a doctor.

In happier news, Nate and Sandra bought a condo! It’s pretty good sized (nearly 1700 sq. ft.) and they figure if they get orders out of the area down the road (sob!), it’ll make a good rental investment for them. Here are some pics!

I’m excited for them! Closing will be June 30, so it’ll be a busy month. (Nate is absolutely dreading the move…)

And! Here are a couple of cute pics of Quinn from his daycare (with his besties!)

Quinn is about 98% potty trained, and he’s dressing himself! I sure miss him.