Tree<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Friend<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growth<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eternity*<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then I inked it onto a scroll. Frederica\u2019s husband Herman helped me apply the chop, which means Joy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The two-hour workshop flew by. Afterwards, I donated a box of books to the library. I\u2019m hoping to bring a lot more to make room on my shelves. One box at a time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I went to the Blue Hill YMCA for the first time. My new venture for this year is joining the Y to do strength training with the equipment and guidance available there. I\u2019m anxious about it – something new – not sure how it will go. But the quick visit I made felt good. I expect I\u2019ll go to the Ellsworth Y, closer to home, but my membership covers both locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then I went to the co-op for groceries. Just a few things on my list \u2026 but I bought more than I expected. I enjoy shopping there even though Sam thinks it\u2019s overly branded and slick, approaching a supermarket. I can see what he means, but it\u2019s one of very few places to buy food in bulk, re-using our own bags and jars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was talking and joking amongst several people in the checkout line. One man in the line next to me was asked if so-and-so was his wife and said \u201cYes, I identify as her husband.\u201d This usage of \u201cidentify\u201d struck another person as very funny. I thought it was funny too. My cashier didn\u2019t hear the joke and I tried to explain it but I guess you had to be there. After checking out, I went to sit in the cafe for a few minutes. No food service, they were having a staff event or something. But I drank some hot water I made in the microwave and ate the rest of the delicious cookie I bought earlier. Some one came over and expertly played several pieces on the piano, one of which was from A Charlie Brown Christmas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then it was time to drive home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon in so many ways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is my way of life, mostly. The American way. An American way, I mean. In a very blue town. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And what changes will tomorrow inaugurate? <\/p>\n\n\n\n And what changes are already in progress?<\/p>\n\n\n\n If I\u2019m around a year from now, four years from now, I hope to reread and remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *The poem was inspired by my friend, who is in mourning for the loss of several big trees from her townhouse complex. Her new neighbors had them cut down and have plans to cut down more. She says they\u2019re worried the trees will fall on their house. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I made a trip to Blue Hill on Saturday afternoon. It\u2019s just 40 minutes away but it has a very different feeling than my town. How to describe it – more elitist, more liberal,...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[528],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-impermanence"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/img_9686-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14474"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14478,"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14474\/revisions\/14478"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/img_9683-1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n