Home Alone

I am staying in place as the world wide pandemic marches on.  I am also home alone.  To add insult to injury I injured my hip in January and had to stay home to let it heal.  I was just ready to go out and about when the pandemic struck.  I am one of the age groups at risk so home I am.  I am lucky in that I have two sons here and they are doing the shopping for me.  When they come over we meet in the garage with the door open and stay 6 feet apart keeping our social distance.  I am trying very hard not to look at how long this will last.  I quit watching the news channels early because they were so doom and gloom and I go really upset.  Now I have quit watching the local channels and the network national news for the same reason.  It is hard to stay positive.  Even harder to make sure I have something to occupy my time and my mind.  As one of my meditations says "The mind never stops so we have to find something for it to focus on to help stay calm".  More tomorrow.

Chipmunk Hunt

I mentioned my cat going out to hunt this time of year and that  she sometimes catches something.  Chipmunks are her very favorite.  She has  pet door to go in and out so when she catches one she brings it in the house.

The chipmunk is limp and looks dead until she drops it.  Then it is very much alive and can move very fast.  She brought one in last night.  Off we both went trying to catch it.  Finally we chased it in the sun room.  I closed the door leaving TC (my cat) in the house and the chipmunk and I in the sun room.  I opened the door to outside and using a hiking stick kept the chipmunk moving and out of hiding.  It took quite a while to get him to run out the door.

All the time this was going on TC was sitting at the door watching me play with the toy she brought in and gave me.  I really wonder what she was think as she watched.

Signs of Fall

There are some easy to see signs of Fall.  The leaves change.   The weather turns cool.  There are some other signs that tell me that Fall is just around the corner.

I start to feel like I need to eat all day long.  I am a grazer but it just gets worse as fall arrives.  I don't need any extra weight so why do I want to try to store up for winter?

I am not the only one eating for the winter.  I have a feral cat that I feed.  He shows up several times a week but right now he is at the door twice a day.

My domestic cat also has some behavior changer.  She is not much of a hunter but right now she is out the cat door and on the prowl for prey.  Sometimes she even catches something.

I guess we share some traits with other that live here on our planet.

Layoffs

I have a very nice neighbor who loves to visit but last week-end she was not her usual upbeat self.  She works for a company that employees 18,000 people here in the area where I live and they had just laid off 450.  Her job was safe but she had friends whose jobs were cut.  I could tell she was really upset and it got me thinking.

While 450 out of 18,000 is a very small number there is a ripple effect.  The people who lose their jobs are angry and upset.  So are the people around them.  That number is much larger than 450.  Watching my neighbor I wondered what the work place would be like for the next few weeks.  Do companies realize how layoffs also impact the workers who stay.  I don't think it was a very happy place to work last week.

Time and Antique Clocks

I have been thinking about time recently.  Not because I am getting older (Notice the Mature in the heading).  No!  It is because I have been trying to set a antique German Wall Clock.  Once set it does keep pretty good time but getting it to keep good time takes a lot of work.

What kind of work?  You have to adjust the pendulum so it does not run fast or slow.  Instead, since I want it to run just right it takes a lot of time and adjustment.

The problem?  How do you know it is keeping the correct time?  I know because I have the correct time on my DVR, my cell phone, my tablet and on my atomic clock.  I use one when I have to set the clock.  If I let the clock run down as I did this week it usually runs fast or slow when I restart it.

That is what lead my thoughts to time and how people kept the correct time when this clock was made.  Remember I said antique German Wall Clock.  This clock was made in the mid-1800's.  There were no DVRs, cell phones, tablets (at least not electronic) or atomic clocks.  So when the clock was set how did they know if it was keeping the correct time or running fast or running slow.  I suspect they did not care as much as we do today.  Close to the correct time was good enough.

I know people say Americans are OCD about time.  Being on time.  Knowing the time.  Keeping a schedule.  I don't think you could have done this using this clock.  After giving this much thought (like each time I adjust the pendulum) I have decided that time and correct time is a very modern concept; at least for those of us in developed countries.

Maybe I should use my  antiques clock for decoration rather than for keeping correct time.  No!  I am a modern American so I will keep working until it keeps the correct time.

Just a footnote.  The clock has been serviced and repaired several times in the last few years.  It belonged to my Mother and when she died no one else in the family wanted it.  I also have a new Grandfather clock and it holds the correct time much better than the Antique Wall Clock.  I keep them both running because I love to hear the chimes. I really love it when they chime together but that does not happen very often.