Leaving Trails

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail"

R W Emerson

The Tease Begins

My recent sense of foreboding that the lake was icing over for winter has vaporized - the lake is back to fluidity. I think the ducks got prior warning - they've actively been having a (splashing) blast.

This is the reverse tease of spring - perhaps threat is the word I'm looking for! Spring teases, fall threatens ...

Nature transitions

'Twixt teasing and threatening

As the seasons change

My Consumerism Soap Box

Black Friday ruins Thanksgiving, in my opinion. We're appreciative and thankful for one day, which I love, but then the next we're hemorrhaging money, desiring more, and buying excessively!

Can we try to resist the temptation to consume and fall for the calculated deals? Black Friday offers are not there to 'reward' or delight us with something new that we need; it's a corporate drive to make more money, based on a carefully cultivated mindset that we've bought into, that our lives will be better with MORE. We are gullible, and advertising deliberately takes aim at our desires. It's DESIGNED to appeal to us, and we ENABLE it when we succumb.

Ahrrmmm ... I'm putting my megaphone back down now.

Enough

Snow on Ice

The thinnest film of ice on the lake gave the light snow sprinkles a place to gather before the sun came out. What a beautiful sight from a cozy warm home. If I'd woken any later, I wouldn't have known there'd been any precipitation at all.

Icy Fabric

These beautiful ice crystals formed on a piece of fabric I left out overnight by mistake - quite a lovely pattern.

Ice Geometry

Nature's icy art:

Complex geometric shapes,

Fractures, and prisms.

Closing In

It's always fascinating to see the water currents slow down and eventually come to a stop, as if someone's turned off the engine, and everything's gone quiet. The dark smooth strip is open water, between 2 sections of thin ice cover. 

A day after this was taken, our cove in the foreground had a coating of ice too, and there was only one small dark patch of open water out there. The mallards that have been puttering and splashing about regularly still come and go, but more especially so around mid-day when the sun has devoured some of the icy skin on the surface.

Here's the 3-day progression:

Ice Sheets

Oi! We had the first fragile ice coating on our lake this week ... it heralds much colder weather to come, about which I'm rather reticent. I decided to venture out one last time in my kayak since there was no wind and the sun was out - what a lovely day for November!

I found a swollen bladderwort floating and looking quite happy, with healthy bladders on it. No flower or rafts. The water was exquisitely clear.

The ice sheets were really thin and easily broken when kayaked through, but it made one heck of a loud noise! It felt as if everyone on the lake would hear me, and I started feeling very self-conscious. Also, if I didn't angle my paddle edge correctly and break the ice, I wasn't able to propel myself forwards - the paddle would just slide across the top.

It was fun seeing bubbles and gurgles appear in the delicate coating as the ice fractured around my bow - I couldn't curb my enthusiasm enough to keep my hands out of the water, and was also concerned that the ice might spread and block my route home if I ventured as far as I really wanted to, so I came home sooner than hoped, with very cold hands.

Dusk Falls

 

Dusk comes to my cove:

A vivid watercolor

On which my eyes feast.

Snow Lines

Our first snowfall was barely noticeable - looks like the markings on a sports field :-) - but I'm glad it was just a dusting. It's a prelude of what is to come ... hopefully our last shoveling season.

Pine Needle Ice

Ice formation mimicking pine needles 

Taking Risks

I lapped up this sentence by Jenny Becker (The Cost of Peace) in her Business Insider essay:

"I exchanged the expense of Seattle for the unpredictability of France and discovered that peace costs exactly as much as you're willing to risk." 

-Jenny Becker

Taking risks isn't the same as facing uncertainty ...

Colorful Combo

Look at how much color this fungus and lichen (itself a composite) combination brings to the onset of winter drear - spectacular color! They don't have roots, stems or leaves, so imbibe food and water through the atmosphere. Pretty ingenious!

The far right hand green one is likely Parmelia sulcata (or net-marked parmelia).

Jarring Sounds

I know I won't miss

Hearing shots fired at wildlife -

It's been distressing.

Main Street, Limerick, Tagging station

Amazing Race

Max Verstappen drove like an absolute blazing star in the Brazilian Grand Prix last weekend. He's brilliant with both his driving skills and strategy plays. 

He started at the very back of the pack, in the pits, was forced to do an extra pit stop when he got a puncture, and then came in THIRD overall at the end of the race, scoring 15 points. It was an amazing and incredible feat, similar to what he did last year at this track, in the rain, starting 17th on the grid and then winning the race!

It was another aMAXing race

So, while it may not be a win, it was a victory in many ways to have overcome so many obstacles, so I decided to celebrate with fresh waffles, raspberries and cream.

Cherished Memory

My eldest brother reminded me of this memory from our childhood: our father, and other overweight parishioners, took part in a talent contest or parish show of some kind, as a troupe of ballet dancers ...

Their large bellies were exposed and had faces painted on them, turning their nipples into eyes and their bellybuttons into noses. They had their arms up over the heads, contained within a large top hat. It was hilarious (and brave, and uncomfortable), and unforgettable watching their bellies jiggle as they pranced about. (Interestingly, 2 of my brothers don't recall the painted tummies, nor the big top hat for their arms, so there's that interesting perceptive difference.)

I'm embarrassed that my drawing skills are so amateurish, but I hope I conveyed the idea at least.

On the Market Again

First of all, my better half thinks I should have been more accurate in my earlier description of landing on hard concrete floor, so here goes - the floor I landed on when I fell off the ladder was not BARE concrete as I dramatically insinuated (poetic license), it was a 6mm (0.23") laminate flooring over concrete!

We made a financial deal with our Chelmsford tenants to wrangle them out of our house and into a rental, rather than have them linger indefinitely - we would refund their entire damage deposit provided they left the house completely empty as our only stipulation. We agreed we would not inspect or nitpick about things not working or being damaged etc, as would normally happen after vacating. They took it with open arms, so we spent the week after they'd left scrubbing the house. We cleaned showers (had it EVER been cleaned since we left??), floors, windows (grubby doesn't come close), walls, garages, and yard, painted 4.5 rooms, as well as cabinets, handrails, range hood, countertops, etc etc. We picnicked in our yard when we took lunch breaks, and we slept over at Linus and Rachael's, making it much easier on us. 

The house has now been staged with pseudo-decor that looks artificial and sterile, but trendy, so we're letting the experts guide us here. It certainly doesn't look homey, just contrived and staged, but I guess that's the market they're appealing to?

We worked like dogs all week, and are feeling proud of our efforts, so why can't someone just buy it?

Weirdly, the photographer arrived a day earlier than scheduled (and before we arrived for our day of work), and began photographing the house in the shambles it was in, prior to our cleanup and staging being complete. There were paint rollers and brushes in a basin in the kitchen sink, an unfinished countertop, tarps, ladders and paint cans across the floor, no shower curtain, bedroom closets standing open, etc, etc. Surely, surely the photographer must have realized that things weren't ready - surely they could have called their office, or our realtor to check what was going on? But no, they took photos anyway, and then removed 'clutter' digitally or staged rooms digitally. We were fuming, and got them to come back and redo it in its finished state - it's not a cheap service!

I went ahead and painted the handrails black as advised - this way grubby hand marks don't show. It stands out so much better.

We've reduced the price and I'm impatiently wondering why there are no bids, even no offers below our asking price - just ... crickets. Hurry and snap up this gem, please!

(Neighbor update: she sent me a text saying she wanted to check if someone had moved into our house since her partner saw "a woman with a blonde ponytail bringing chairs in or out. So I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't someone in the house who shouldn't be." That person was our stager and she was publicly parked on the road, in front of the house, obviously carrying furniture INTO the house for all to see - she was clearly NOT burglarizing. Plus, we have a lock box on the front door, our car was parked in the driveway, and the dumpster on the driveway was gone. This false concern for our property was likely pure nosiness; she just wanted to find out the status of our property.)

Here's how our house is presenting now: Zillow

We're All Nestle

I loved this sentiment that Trevor Noah claims his brother made at around age 10 ... out of the mouths of babes! Such wisdom:

"People are like chocolates, with different kinds such as white, dark, and milk chocolate, but they're all Nestle".

We just have different percentages of cocoa

An American in Europe

I recently read a very interesting article about American-born and -raised Evan Edinger's eye-opening realizations after living abroad, so thought I'd share the piece here (Evan Edinger's Realizations).

I can definitely relate to many of the beliefs that he has also identified in the U.S. as accepted, unquestioned reality. He claims, "the more I began to notice all of the assumptions that I'd grown up believing in America, the things I was brought up to believe were undeniably true and just the way the world worked—it turns out they weren't true at all." I've précised his ideas here, but he gives a LOT more detail.

First on his list, and on mine, is the lack of ubiquitous access to guns in other countries, followed closely by the observation that "most [government] systems in Western Europe are far more effective than what I grew up believing was the 'best in the world.'"

Food quality is next on my list - the food supply in the U.S. is polluted with unnecessary additives, while Europe has very "different regulations regarding food quality, leading to a lot less additives and chemicals" in products. This might make them more expensive, but quality takes precedence.

America is lacking in universal healthcare (which means we don't have that incredibly "freeing social safety net" at our disposal), and a public transport network, nor does it provide access to places on foot (what Edinger calls walkability).

The other observations he makes are that consumer protections in Europe give "more rights to the everyday person over giant corporations, and to shared benefit over private"; that individual worker rights are prioritized "over than those with money or power" (28 days minimum paid holiday, one year paid maternity leave, two weeks paid paternity leave, sick leave, even the right against unlawful termination); and that money is not the sole metric of success since "the culture in Europe is work to live and not live to work."

He concludes with "Americans are taught to romanticize the U.S., and leaving it helps you see the reality, what's good about your country and where it has room for improvement." Edinger then claims that it's Mexican food and good ice cream he misses, not freedoms, rights, or better quality of life, as is usually surmised.

Food for thought ...

Isfryn

We've managed to secure a charming house in Wales that is just right for us - it's called Isfryn (pronounced IZ-frin), and means 'below the hill'.

At the top of the hill is St Myllin's Well, a sacred site where a 6th-7th century priest is said to have baptized people by total immersion and became "known as 'Sant Mewn Llyn' or the 'Saint in the Lake' because of his being constantly in the water" Wikipedia. Our house is on the Wikipedia page for the well, just 'below the hill.'

We'd had this house on our favorites/watch list, and then got notification of it being reduced by £35K. The owner was being foreclosed upon and needed to sell by Nov 7. Our agent cleared his calendar for Nov 6, and drove 4 hours each way to view it and take photos for us in real-time, so we could ask questions immediately. This was the last viewing, as the next day was the deadline for bids, so it had to be a rush decision or we'd lose it. Phew! It's scary buying a house from afar without having visited it under a tight deadline, but there's a first time for everything, right? If you don't take risks, you won't get anywhere.

“You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over the hurdles and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you. If you don’t have that kind of feeling for what it is you are doing, you’ll stop at the first giant hurdle.”- George Lucas

I'll be going from managing a 1,000 acre lake to looking after a little garden pond, and Dale will be getting a double garage instead of an open carport, and together we'll appreciate the fantastic sunroom and kitchen. No stairs, no basement. We hope to install solar panels, a heat pump and EV charger at some point, and I will HAVE to start removing wallpaper - I've never liked it, and it's my least favorite thing about this house. It can wait though, and it will take time. We have 3 bedrooms, so can have guests ...

We will be 1 hour 20 minutes from my youngest brother, 1 hour 40 to Birmingham airport, and 26 minutes to a hospital. We can walk to a pub 3 minutes away that serves Guinness on tap or to a local SPAR grocery store! There are castles, steam railways, bridges, aqueducts, wells, museums and of course, hikes of note to explore from here. Let the adventures begin ... I'm SO excited 😁

Isfryn

 

Three Lights

 Morning light

Afternoon light

Night light

De Beauvoir's Insight

"Representation of the world, like the world itself, is the work of men; they describe it from their own point of view, which they confuse with absolute truth."

Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1949

Image from istockphoto

Soy Based Knowledge

It's amazing what one can learn from reading books! Memoirs and fiction contain information that is true, but is merely communicated contextually and in passing, not primarily, as in non-fiction. Whilst reading "Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight" (Alexandra Fuller - and may I plug what a GREAT book this is), a memoir about growing up in Zimbabwe, reference was made to a breakfast staple having soy in it, to which I found out many years later, I'm allergic. I had eaten that cereal most days as a child.

Back then, growing up in South Africa in the 60's and 70's, no thought was given to reading labels and ingredients, and having an allergy was for wimps! But it was our basic and everyday breakfast growing up - a bowl of ProNutro cereal, promoted as a high protein breakfast, containing corn, soy, sugar and other minerals.

Until now, I'd thought my allergy was something I'd developed later in life, from moving to a continent where soy is a staple in everything, and to which I was unaccustomed, or that pregnancies had upset my immune system. I had no idea that I'd been exposed to soy in South Africa. It was not a food or ingredient we ever deliberately added or served in a dish. I do know that I grew up with a lot of digestive discomfort, which I thought was normal, and how intestines and bowels worked. I had been hospitalized for observation, and tested (barium enema anyone? So, so awful ... ) and prodded for all sorts of diseases, but not an allergy, in my late twenties, to no avail. I had tried avoiding gluten for years, and then went lactose free, with no significant improvement. A specialist in Maine finally recommended allergy testing at fifty-something years old, which has made my life so much more comfortable. Having got used to the work-arounds, I actually like making my own food and avoiding production-line, processed food.

It's interesting to me how knowledge and information is disseminated and imbibed, and how slow realizations can be. 

Cat Comfort

Dallas helped me feel better after my fall - so sweet.

In the background behind preparing our family home for sale, we have found and started negotiating on another house in Wales - we have our hearts in our mouths, and find ourselves scatter-brained and struggling to stay on the same page and conversation as each other as we await news. Our agent visited the property and is confident our offer will be accepted. Fingers crossed.

Calamity

This is what it looks like when someone is trying to save themselves from falling off a rickety step ladder onto a basement floor, during a paint job, without spilling the paint can:

We had arrived in Chelmsford for the handover of keys from our tenants, expecting it to be a one night stayover to tidy up a little - can you spell naive??? 

Instead, we spent 4 days painting and cleaning, having arrived without anticipating we'd need to do this, as the tenants had had the house painted about 2 years ago. As typical South Africans, we decided to just make do ("boer maak 'n plan") with whatever we could find in the garage - I'm not sure this stepladder was ever intended as anything other than a prop or décor, but I decided I'd only use it for the highest parts that the stepstool was too low for. The steps were narrow, and swiveled when I ascended, and the whole structure wobbled and swayed about as I carefully climbed. I should have known better ...

Yes, a recipe for possible disaster, but I was sure I was being careful enough! I didn't factor in exhaustion by the end of the day, when my knees were aching and I didn't want to climb down and move the ladder yet again, so I overreached, and became airborne, of course!

The floor I landed on was hard concrete, but I appear to have escaped major injury. I was pretty shaken and confused for a while afterwards, thinking I'd cracked either my hip or my elbow, but nothing's broken or unable to function, and the next day I was back at it!

This is part of the finished job - this once brown, drab wood paneling has been transformed, and the room looks so much brighter, ready for the world to see.

Transformation

I'm delighted to see this guest room finally transformed into something peaceful, where closing my eyes doesn't leave me with flashes of midnight blue and orange burning through my eyelids - okay, so I exaggerate! 

It was one of the last rooms I tackled in L&R's house (1 more remains to be done), but it is definitely one of the more satisfying turn-arounds I've dealt with. I didn't capture enough of the garish orange skirting boards and trim when I took this early picture - but maybe it's just as well.

 It's actually a lovely room!

And, now that we've re-taken possession of our Chelmsford house (the tenants moved their last items out on the weekend), the painting begins there. The scuffs and marks from furniture and who knows what else make the rooms look pitifully uncared for, so a major undertaking has begun before the photographers arrive to take new pics. Two and a half rooms painted, with one and a half to go. What a rush we're in to get the house freshened up for the staging props.

No Rime or Reason

I found this beautifully outlined beech leaf on my lawn in the sun, but none of the others had a white edge like this. It's definitely not frost or rime,

so I suspect it must be some kind of fungal growth. It creates a fantastic edge.

Careless People

I'm reading a fascinating book about working at Facebook, written by a former employee and director of public policy. The book was released in 2025 despite the company's objections. 

Wow, their focus on growth at all and any cost is frightening. The author uses the term 'lethal carelessness' to describe the lack of awareness and inadequacy of ethics or principles guiding such a huge global venture.

It's riveting stuff : Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams

Losing Avalon

We lost out on our bid for Avalon, the 'restorative place,' we desired buying in Wales. It's been a blow, but we're probably better off for not taking on more restorative WORK to get the house to a 'restorative place' when it's meant to be restorative in and of itself! So many property listings in Wales hint at the raininess with photos of shiny, wet patios and misty clouds over the trees - perhaps Avalon the cottage would have been too "misty," since Avalon supposedly exists "in the mists between this world and the next"!

Ah, well, I guess that's the end of my quest to immerse myself in the Arthurian legend, which I've always been enamored with.

It's a new concept for us to get our heads around the fact that homes along a road don't have street numbers, just unique names. The next house we've set our sights on is also in Wales, and has a lovely valley view, with a name of Llwyn Y Garth. So much for moving to an English speaking country! Quite picturesque, but more cultivated, less wild.

This house is move in ready, and has some solar panels and a conservatory, which would make up for losing our solarium in Maine.

I want some of the uncertainty to go away! We're not sleeping well in between putting in bids for houses across the pond, and not having our Massachusetts home sold yet. This week it will be staged and re-photographed, with a price reduction as enticemnent ...

Pseudo Carpet

A leafy carpet

Deceptively inviting,

Too wet to walk on.