"The Legend Lives On, From the Chippewa On Down ..."

 

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald

If you are of a certain age, you have likely heard the song by Gordon Lightfoot called "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," commemorating something that happened 50 years ago today.  The Edmund Fitzgerald was pretty much considered the ultimate ship for purpose, and much like its unlikely predecessor, the Titanic, was considered pretty unsinkable. Which we have learned time and time again, does not seem to be an actual quality.

Anyway, this time of year, it always comes into focus because of the unfortunate anniversary, and of course this year being the 50th anniversary, there are all kinds of stories about it and the people who worked on it.

I have my own story about the Edmund Fitzgerald, though it happened six years before the ship's demise. 

One of my father's fondest dreams was to someday go on a cruise. Of course, it never happened, because we barely had enough money for necessary things. He worked in the trucking industry, dealing with all kinds of transportation issues and people. In the later part of September 1969, one of the people he dealt with on a regular basis asked if he and my mother would like to go on one of the big ships that transported ore and other materials around the Great Lakes. Apparently this was something that they did on a yearly basis, with maybe up to 10 non-crew people traveling on the ships. 

My mother had no interest in doing this at all. But my father was so excited, and he really saw it as a chance to finally go on a huge ship through famous waters. So off they set for a 10 day trip, on the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.

Towards the end of the trip, my father got really sick. Two days after they returned, he went into the hospital. The cancer that had started in his stomach five years before, returned, settling in his liver. He never got to come back home, and he died on the Monday of Thanksgiving week in 1969.*

My mother said that except for the last couple of days, he absolutely loved being on that ship, and everything about it. She said that she was glad that they went, because he kept saying how wonderful it was.

Six years later, the actual wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald occurred. A massive tragedy affecting the lives of so many families who would never be the same. And then Gordon Lightfoot came out with his song, which told the tale in the most evocative and heartbreaking way.

Every year when the anniversary rolls around, it reminds me of my own personal anniversary that is approaching. I have always felt the shipwreck more as a personal thing than I should, given that no one on the ship on that fateful day had any direct connection with me. But I guess the fact that I knew of the ship beforehand, and it was associated with my father's last happy earthly adventure, made it all more personal.

"Does anyone know where the love of God goes 

When the waves turn the minutes to hours?" 

-- lyric from "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"

*This year happens to be a repeat of that week, with November 24th being on a Monday. On the occasions that it happens that way, I am somehow always surprised - as if that should have only happened once.

And Then Monday Morning Arrived ...

In the last post of Bridget Tries to be a Responsible Pet Owner, we had the story of Alfie, who enjoys a trip to the vet every time he goes. Today's post is called Milo the Koodle and the Visit to the Vet.

Well, it almost didn't happen, because I could not find said cat. I tried several ruses, and then decided as a last gasp to give all the cats some wet food and see if he showed up. Which he did, so I grabbed him mid-meal (which made me feel terrible, but desperate times and all that), forced him into the carrier, and we headed over the vet's office. 

Fortunately, we were one of the first appointments of the day, so we didn't have to wait. The vet tech took apart the carrier, pulled him out, and they wrapped him up like a Koodle burrito. They managed to do a thorough check up, take blood, and give him two shots. Fortunately for them, he was so scared and so wrapped up, it happened without incident. And then we came home. Total time from when we left the house: 40 minutes.

And then, once out of the carrier, he gave Alfie and Esme a good whack, and disappeared again. The rest of us went on with our days.

I was reading, and about 3:45 p.m. he reappeared and jumped up onto the armest. 

I went to pet him and he growled. So I left him alone, and by about 8 p.m. he was letting me pet him again. And since I woke up this morning, it's clear he didn't kill me overnight - phew!

And so now we are safe for another year, unless something terrible happens, which hopefully will not. Everyone made it one more time.

The End. 

*****

Today is our 47th wedding anniversary. We are planning to go out to dinner tonight, but since The Tim is working today and tomorrow, we have no crazy plans. Our weekend plans to go look at chairs for our TV room didn't happen, because I had a serious reaction (as usual) to my Covid vaccine, and was completely out of commission. But the chairs are going to be our anniversary gifts, and we are both anxious to get new ones, so it will happen sooner rather than later.

And that, my friends, is the excitement around here. I have an FO post for you, but want to be sure to wait and be certain the item is received before I write about it, so it will happen soon. First though, I need to mail the package. I find that helps with the person receiving things ... 🙄

This Morning vs. Monday Morning

Alfie and I just got home from his annual check up at the vet. Needless to say, a very thorough bath was necessary. But other than that, Alfie was and is quite pleased. He doesn't mind being in the carrier at all, and sees the entire thing as a chance to be social, and then visit with people who are completely interested in being with him. They talk to him and make a fuss, they give him treats, they let him sniff around the exam room - I mean, what's not to like? Yes, he got a shot, but no biggie. 

And that's this morning. Then there will be Monday morning, when Milo the Koodle will be making his annual visit. Let's just say it ... won't be pretty. For anyone and everyone involved. I need to spend my weekend preparing for the trauma that will be felt not just by Milo, but by me. Because not only will I be seen as the enemy who will be trying to get him into the carrier and then taking him to the vets, but when we get home SOMEONE MUST PAY. 

Send prayers. 😉

You may ask, well, what about Esme? Well, what about her? At some point, I'm hoping that she will let me get to the point where I can pick her up, but right now it isn't happening, so we're just lucky that for all intents and purposes, she seems healthy.

"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?" 

*****

Anyway, this too shall pass, and hopefully with minor injuries to me. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the rest of today, and likely do some knitting in between the other house chore things I want to accomplish. Can you believe that at this moment in time, I have only one project going? I can't remember the last time that was the case. I'm enjoying it, and making a lot of progress, but I also think this weekend I will cast on at least another pair of socks.

Meanwhile the other afternoon, I knitted a pine cone for my fall garland:

This was the fiddliest little item so far, but it didn't take that long so it wasn't like something I was trying to work on all day long. 

Next up will be the pumpkin, and then I'll start over again. I think I would like to have at least two of each thing on the garland, so I'll see what it looks like once I have that amount - maybe I'll need a few more! But in any case, I'll have fun making these little things, even once the garland is done. Because they are the perfect little spurt of paying attention but not for too long.

The Tim especially wants me to make a green pine cone to see if it looks like a tiny Christmas tree. I'll let you know.

I'm so glad that so many of you commented that you also like to put up decorations for yourself to enjoy for holidays. It's nice for once to not be an outlier on something! 

In other news, I *think* fall is finally here to stay in Philadelphia, and I couldn't be happier. Cool sunny days, and chilly nights are so wonderful. Though it is supposed to rain later next week, which is actually good since there is a serious drought happening. And unless I have to be out in it all day, I actually enjoy rainy days. 

Next week is our anniversary and also Halloween. And then November will be starting, which I'm sorry, just seems crazy. Originally, we planned to take a trip next week somewhere to celebrate our anniversary, but neither of us did much about it, so we'll probably go out to dinner someplace that's nicer than usual for us, and that will be nice. We have agreed that for gifts, we are going to buy ourselves some new chairs for our TV room. The current ones are at least ten years old (probably much older), and frankly I'm surprised they are still in one piece. So one of these weekends - maybe even this one - we'll look for replacements. I always think it's fun to get new furniture or a rug or something in a room - it makes the whole place seem different!

And that, my friends, is the excitement around here. I hope all of you enjoy your weekend, and have a chance to do something you really like or want to do. See you next week!

Decorations Make Me Happy

Shortly after fall started, I put out some of my fall decorations. because nothing makes me happier than having a reason to put out decorations in our house and/or outside. I don't have a ton of fall decorations, but there are enough to fill a box about the size of a large shoebox.

Then last Friday, I decided it was time to add in the decorations I have for Halloween, which are in a larger box, mostly because there are a few that are ceramic, and are wrapped in lots of paper. Needless to say, the cats find the wrapped things much more interesting, because they feel once they are unwrapped, it makes for a great place to sit.

I realize the photo at the top of this post is small, but I am including it because I am overly proud of how well I managed to make the top of the living room bookshelf look *just* the way I'd hoped and I wanted to share it. I was so proud of myself when I got this set up, I immediately took a picture. 😂

Is it the most amazing display of items ever? No of course not, but every time I am in the living room, or even when I walk through it, I notice it and it makes me so happy. Which is the point of decorating for any holiday or event, if you ask me. And in the world we currently are forced to live in, I firmly believe that even small amounts of pleasure give us outsized joy. I'm a big fan of take what you can to make your life better, as long as you are not hurting anyone else. 

I know that soon, we'll be seeing people putting out their Christmastime decorations - it used to be only the stores put out things early but I've noticed people starting earlier every year bringing out their holiday stuff, even before Thanksgiving in the U.S. (We don't because I have Thanksgiving decorations, which will surprise approximately none of you.) 

Does that bother me? Frankly, I don't care. I'm more bothered by people who take everything down the evening of December 25 or the very next day and never mention the holiday again until the next year, but that's up to them and since I don't live with those people, who cares?

People need happy things more than ever these days. And for lots of people, that means having their houses decorated for Christmas, even when it's weeks away. It's looking forward to someone's birthday, or a weekend away to a place that allows them to be in a different mindset.

So I have my fall and Halloween decorations giving me my little escape these days. Then I can take a walk outside, see the changing leaves, and maybe even see others' who have decorated. I like having a reason to smile and forget at least for a moment that there are other things upsetting me and stressing me at levels that are unprecedented. 

So I am asking you to do two things: 1) decorate things if you want to, whether or not anyone else thinks you should or it's the "right" time to do so, and 2) if you come across someone who has done so even if it's not something you care about, let them have the little bit of joy without pointing out that it's too early/too much/too whatever. 

Frankly, if *that* is the thing bothering you the most these days, you might just be the absolute luckiest person on the planet. So you know, enjoy that!

Monday FO: Keith's Requested Socks

Hello from a rainy and cool Philadelphia! This is one of those days when staying inside doesn't seem like such a bad idea. I thought I'd show you my latest FO, since I know that according to the tracking info on the package, that they have been delivered to the recipient.

Project: Keith's Requested Socks

Pattern: Plain Vanilla Sock pattern that I have used forever

Yarn: KnitPicks Hawthorne Fingering, colorway Vancouver Multi

Needles: US size 1/2.25 mm

Notes: Over the summer, The Tim informed me that for now, he had all of the handknit socks he wanted. So since I a) have lots of sock yarn, and b) like to knit socks for myself AND for other people, I put out a call to the nieces and nephews for anyone interested. I got a good response, and decided I would knit socks in the order requested.

Keith was up first. He said he would like socks that were a basic color with bright accents. So I pulled out this skein of sock yarn I had bought a while back during one of the KnitPicks sales. Then I looked through my bits and bobs, and found some leftover old Fortissima sock yarn to use for the contrasting cuffs, heels, and toes. I figured since it looked like the yarn had bright pops of color, low-contrast would be nice otherwise.

I'm glad I did that, because the yarn was actually brighter all the way around than it looked in the skein or wound up. 

As you can see, the bright turquoise made a sort of striped effect on the foot of the sock. But it pooled in a kind of weird way on both socks - here's a photo of the same two socks, turned onto their other sides and photographed:

I don't mind it, because they are socks and would be on my feet, but I don't know if that will bother Keith or not. At first, I thought, oh well, just wear each sock with the non-pooled side facing inward on each sock, but that's not how they will work. One thing I can say is that in real life, they are not nearly as bright as they are in these photos, so I'm hoping he'll like them, even if they are not quite what he had requested. I think they would be fine unless you are in a conservative office environment, and I don't think that's the case where he is (he works for an international liquor distributor whose company logo colors are *really* bright, though not these colors). In any case, I told him that they were now his to wear or do with as he wished.

I do have to say that the Hawthorne Fingering yarn was kind of unpleasant to knit - not terrible, but not very soft. Since these were a gift, I soaked and blocked them, and they did soften up some after that. But I don't think I'll go out of my way to look for this yarn again. 

*****

The next request was from another niece's husband, Greg, for a pair of heavier-weight socks in the colors of the Baltimore Orioles. I'm well underway with those, even though baseball season is over for the Orioles already (and also for the Phillies ... sigh). But when I send them, I plan to tell him they'll be fresh and ready for next season! 

One thing that amused me was that, for the most part, the requests I received were from the guys. I think they are just more likely to wear socks most of the time. Most of my nieces seldom wear socks, unless it is extremely cold. 

Of course, what do I care? I was just pleased that anyone at all was interested in receiving a pair!