There comes A Time

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

There comes a time in the life of every writer when, not matter how little inclined, in the name of human decency and health, some efforts must be made at cleaning.

With my faithful friend, squirrel, and what appears to be a… nutria or maybe a chinchilla (the cats are obviously off camera) I am engaged in that at the moment. (Indy is probably disassembling the vacuum as I type this, judging by… sounds.)

Do not be alarmed by massive cloud of dust rising from not-Colorado. It’s just me dusting the bookshelves. If you look closely, you’ll see cat hair is mixed with the dust.

And now let me go rescue the vacuum. Back with memes tomorrow.

120 thoughts on “There comes A Time”

    3. What is wrong with math?

      Someone posted on Teton 399’s FB page (399 is 29 year old mother grizzly who is very good at raising cubs) with a list of her cubs through 2020 quads. A family tree of her offspring and their offspring (through 2020), and how cubs have done overtime. I had to do the math. While 399’s cub to older adult survival rate is only 50%, she has lost 22% (COY or yearling) because of natural causes (causes unknown but suspect boar predation). The other 26% to vehicles (1) or the WGW (Wyoming Game Wardens). Latter is extremely controversial. That she has lost only one cub to vehicle is dang near miraculous. Because her success rate on raising the other 77% to release in the cubs 3rd year is because she raises them in full view of the public, in the front country near roads. This includes the 2020 quads, released 2022. Another miracle, she showed up with a cub last spring. Note, most mother grizzlies success rates are < 50%. Her daughter 610 (also Tetons), and one removed to Yellowstone, are looking to duplicate her success rate. But they are young yet.

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  2. Happy Good Friday, Sarah. We’ll be doing some cleaning this weekend as well at Casa Cow. I’m just enjoying a day off while the wife and daughter are out having a girl day (sushi ewww). As you said recently, enjoy the good things. Like sunny lazy spring days where you can clean.

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    1. “I’m just enjoying a day off while the wife and daughter are out having a girl day (sushi ewww).”

      Should have planned a fishing trip since they’re bait shopping… 8-)

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        1. I like sushi but the prices for it in Flyover Falls put it way beyond my price point. There used to be a couple-three of places that did it (The asian buffet was OK for sushi, but went toes up in 2020.) and the one other place I tried was really good, and really expensive. The other place (dunno if it’s still there; downtown ain’t where I go for lunch) was very upscale.

          Hard to get good saltwater fish here. We buy frozen salmon at the restaurant supply. That works for fish.

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  3. The Reader thinks you should have an N95 mask for that level of cleaning. Take care!

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    1. There actually isn’t that much dust. That was comedic effect. I clean every week for a reason.
      I do have a respirator, in one of the boxes, somewhere. Part of the effort today is opening some of the boxes and getting them out of the living area!

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          1. Just convince Indy that there is a water fountain or other contraption in the boxes that needs to be examined and taken apart; that will get the boxes opened quick :)

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  6. There is something about Good Friday that spurs spring cleaning of the immediate environs as well as the soul. Bonne chance!

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  8. I see “There comes a Time” and think about what’s coming up on John Ringo’s substack.

    He’s got a super-hero series going on and one thing every super-being hear when they gain their powers is “The Storm Is Coming”.

    Now John is writing “The Storm Is Here”! :twisted:

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      1. Well, I can’t help put think of some of the kook-ball lefties gaining super-powers.

        While there may be sane people gaining super-powers, a sizeable number of people gaining super-powers could be very “interesting” for the world. :twisted:

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          1. True, but they’d think of themselves as Superheroes and sadly I suspect that plenty of idiots would think of them as Heroes.

            Remember “Captain Planet and the Planeteers”?

            In a sane world, they’d be considered “environmental terrorists”.

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  9. I’ve found myself looking at it, dreading the task needed, finally starting, and relishing the feeling of accomplishment, when it’s done. It’s a moment of glory; one skirmish against procrastination won, and the knowledge the war will go on forever.

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  10. I thought the moose bit my sister because she was trying to sign her name on it with an electric toothbrush. But now I see it just wanted to steal her outfit.

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      1. The persons responsible for mentioning møøse bites have been sacked. Although definitely get those møøse bites looked at they’re worse than a komodo dragon bit for infection…

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        1. The persons responsible for sacking the persons responsible for mentioning moose bites have been sacked. But if you do get a moose bite, make sure that your shots are up to date.

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            1. LOLZ U TH1NK TH1S 1S 4N 1MPR0VEMENT??!?!??

              Okay, no, that’s about enough of that. I can’t do a whole comment in that style.

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            2. Unfortunately, it proved that the sacks used were not large enough for the entire staff, which caused it to burst. 

              We are now looking for a supplier of sturdier sacks.

              The aardvark suggests that everyone have bonbons instead.

              Fluffy is preparing BBQ for Sunday.

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  11. Happy Good Friday to you, and I understand the clouds of dust that are involved in a major house cleaning. We’re still sorting and reorganizing the house and the garage and hopefully Dad can park his car in the garage this year…

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    1. Maybe he just needs a bigger garage. Said fortification is not primarily used to house vehicular conveyances, despite popular myth. A proper garage is part workshop, part mad scientist laboratory, part man cave, with a side of oil stains.

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        1. Inlaws’s house when they moved into town, had two double vehicle garages. One, attached to the house, for their two vehicles to park in. The detached garage for his shop.

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          1. We don’t like leaving vehicles out in the snow/ice/falling pine cones, so we got a garage built shortly after we moved here. Had to add more shelters for utility/travel/fire trailers and implements, though some of those implements are doomed to stay outside.

            OTOH, the purpose-built garage holds the vehicles plus the utility tractor, with just enough room for supplies and a couple of tractor implements.

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            1. Inlaws house on the Little Dechutes river had the double garage attached to the house where they parked their small (towable) car. Then a large RV garage where the parked the pickups, boat, and motorhome. Their lower Rogue river trip, he drove the motorhome, while MIL drove the newer truck towing the sled boat. Otherwise just traveled with the motorhome and towed the small car. Same principle. Didn’t want snow, and pine cones, pitch, and needles, all over the equipment.

              Their section back off Ponderosa State Park road to the west hadn’t seen any wildfire while they were there. I know there has been wildfires around the park. So far that section and the section east where one of hubby’s golf buddies has a VRBO/AirBnB house, still haven’t. When it does get hit, won’t be pretty. Defensible space means pretty much clearing out all the Lodgepole Pine. Residents haven’t done that in 50 years. Doubt they’ll cave, ever.

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          2. Nowhere really to put it, and we have what could be called a “two car garage” if you’re REALLY careful about parking your cars. Before Mom passed, we parked her car in the garage, now it’s Dad’s garage.
            And Dad is…well, I think he’s dealing with the fact that he’s in his ’70s, he’s having a lot of the people he worked with starting to die off, and he’s making the “I’m making sure you and your sister are in good shape for when I’m gone” noises.
            I’m…optimistic. He takes good care of himself, as much as he can. It’s still frustrating.

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            1. Heck my husband is 72. His brother is 77. My uncles are 78, 76, and 73. I’m 67. Your dad is still young.

              My mom is doing the “this is where everything is” noises too. I am on her accounts, except the IRA. (To keep an eye on everything. Not that I check, unless sisters make noises.) Then too, mom is 89.

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              1. Dad is still Dad, still energetic.
                We go out to the gym every day.
                We do a lot of stuff together and while he’s not doing a lot of the heavy labor these days, he can easily afford to pay for people to do it for him.
                But…for fifty years he had someone by his side, and now she isn’t there anymore. The world has to be changing in ways that worry him. He’s clearly stated that he doesn’t understand why anyone would vote for Trump. A lot of his friends are starting to pass on.
                And that worries him.

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                1. Mom had dad for 53 years, plus their HS dating years. Dad has been gone now for 15 years. She had a good example in grandma, her MIL. Grandpa died at 62, and she was 48, with 4 youngsters still at home (15, 14, 10, and 8). Oldest two married. She lived to just short of 80. Saw the birth of all but the last of the two grandchildren, and saw arrival of 9 great-grandchildren. Mom keeps busy with all her Eastern Star and the other Masonic and Shriner charity groups she is involved in. She is finally learning to slow down and say “no” when others won’t step up.

                  Mom got told by dad (his death, with all his health problems was not a surprise) that she could not just give up. She hasn’t.

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  12. You realize, of course, that if you could get Indy to assemble and repair household appliances rather than dismantle them, the homestead would run much smoother and even have a new potential source of income.

    This, of course, would involve training a cat.

    Silly me. I withdraw the suggestion.

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    1. Ah, but tuna can get cats to do lots of things, now where were those plans for the nuclear acceleraters?

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    2. Contrary to popular belief one can train a cat. I have two who will do simple tricks for kitty treats or dry crunchies. That said it is like an order of magnitude harder to train them than a hard to train (say Chow Chow) dog breed. It is kind of like they have a mix of severe ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder. You’re probably better off with a couple million monkeys and a couple millennia of time for any task much beyond simple one step tricks :-) .

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        1. Slight correction. If people do not train their Border Collie, the Border Collie will train the people. Border Collie’s have to have a job.

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            1. “half siamese half maine coon engineer cats owned by Sarah” certainly would…. 😸🐈🧑‍🔬

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            2. Indeed that is why I started training my little demon substitutes. They were bored as juvenile kitties and were being destructive. A little play and a little hard work fixed that (mostly). It also made me realize how frickin’ smart cats are. I had always been a cat partisan but had bought the party line that dogs (especially the “brainy” breeds like Aussies and the other shepherds) were clearly brighter. This belief went away when I trained my current Void Cat. I train using a word AND a hand motion. I taught him “around” where he goes around clockwise paired with making a little clockwise circle. He got VERY good at this, and I figured I ought to unwind him after 2-3 arounds one day so I said Around and moved the hand counter clockwise. He just looked at me. I tried again and this time he looked at me cockeyed. I tried it a third time and he looked at me and made an odd chuffing noise (which I interpret as agitation or frustration in a cat). So I stayed with the hand motion but used a new word (widdershins) and over time he accepted this pairing. I’m not sure whether this is confusion (hand signal not as expected) or handedness or just general cat stubborness. It is FAR more engagement than I expected from a cat. His sibling only does the clockwise version and refuses to try the other way (he is FAR harder to train).

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  13. I’m doing a spiritual housecleaning. For the first time I am attempting the Divine Mercy Chaplet. But I end all my prayers with “and please rid us of these horrible communists”.

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  14. I’m watching March roar out like a loin as the wind shakes the trees. Allergies or not I’ll be working on weeding the flowerbeds.

    Easter and Eastern Easter are over a month apart this year, which makes cooking more manageable. Next year they fall on the same day, April 20th. (Insert joke about “high” holiday)

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    1. Roar like a loin? The newlywed bride next door was such. They moved, finally. I sleep better, now.

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      1. I don’t know what was used today (denomination doesn’t do incense 99.99% of the time) but the first few minutes smelled like burning hardwood, then shifted to something dark and spicy. I got very concerned until the scent modified.

        It wasn’t one of the scents I associate with Catholic, Orthodox, or High Church Episcopalian. (But it also wasn’t “New Age Shop discount special,” for which I gave silent thanks.)

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  15. Tomorrow is cleaning day, maybe. If I don’t take advantage of everyone else being busy and attack it, now that noon chapel is finished. [Fights uncharitable thoughts about music editors who put page turns in the worst place possible for everyone]

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    1. I’m just so very grateful that the date for DST has been moved from the first Sunday in April. If you’ve never sung a midnight vigil mass, there’s a good chance you’ve never opened your car door at 2 am and started it at 3 am (choir call time 9 30 am!)

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      1. Not sung, no. Attended Greek Orthodox vigil, yes. Also had time change really futz up sunrise service after flying the night before. (Landed at 0100, was assisting with worship the next day if not called out again. I wasn’t. what I was was fuzzy on the edges, more so than usual.)

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        2. Christmas 1989…sang at midnight mass, then had to get up at 4 am to catch a flight to spend the holiday with my folks. Not sure I could keep up with my old crazy schedule.

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      2. As a church youth group member, if we didn’t visit relatives, we would catch the drive thru triple feature on Saturday night before Easter and cleanup the lot of all the extra trash, dirty diapers, etc…, then help with the Sunrise service, then get cleaned up for Easter mass or two, then Easter potluck, then collapse.

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            1. ”It’s been Dead Indian Road since right after the first settlers came down the valley. They found a guy there. Better than ‘Runny Corpse Trail’, or ‘Coyotes Got At The Body Lane’”

              ”Yeah, but it’s not PC at all.”

              ”Oh, just stick ‘Memorial’ on it and let’s go to lunch.”

              ”Right, then. Sushi?”

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              1. Yes, I suspect the conversation went along those lines, modulo the sushi. More of a steak eating crowd, or fancy hamburgers.

                I think this happened at the same time a rural tribal activist* made a fuss about some places/roads with “Squaw” in the name. All but the store got renamed. Seems the store owner (and the person he sold it to) didn’t much care for/respect the activist and the cause.

                OTOH the Memorial bit was on the other side of the county, but the leadership of the local tribes (three combined, two of which did not get along. See 1872-3 Modoc war.) seemed to have discovered lawfare and how well it worked for them.

                ((*)) Said activist’s family has been in the news a few times since we’ve lived here. Small city, so the shootout made page 1, and another one did a FAFO with a woman who wasn’t interested in his advances and responded ballistically. He doesn’t walk any more. Had to get one of the more mobile ones to the ER for [redacted due to HIPAA]. That was not a fun trip.

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            2. You approach the Birmingham AL airport along Terminal Road. Which almost make sense until you look to the right and behold 100+ acres of cemetery. Those with fears of flying should be comforted….. ;-)

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              1. I;m thinking that putting cemeteries next to the airports (with a suitable buffer for airport expansion) is really good land use.

                It means that the neighbors are never going to complain about the noise, nobody’s lives or livelihoods are going to be destroyed if one of the airliners misses the runway, and you’ll never have to have special “airport zone” house building codes.

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  17. First thought – get Indy a computer with cat paw sized keys so that he can become a software engineer and stop taking your appliances apart.

    Second thought – no, he’d almost certainly hack the internet and there’d be nothing but cat memes on it.

    Third thought – maybe, if you could gently guide him to taking apart the three-letter people’s systems.

    I’m conflicted, here…

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    3. Cats would probably use a language without strong typing like Purrthon and not worry about performance or errors.

      “Worked on me-ows computer”

      “Tests? Documentation? I’ve got not time for that, have to groom the back-leg”

      “Hairball? That’s a feature!”

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  19. I’m packing for our upcoming escape — er, move — to Red State freedom. My husband groaned. “Forty five boxes of books?” I gave him a smirk. “Look in the garage.”

    Look, they’re tiny boxes. Books are heavy. You have to pack them in small boxes. And you have to dust them. I thought I kept them well dusted, but when you take them out one by one, well. *Sneezes*

    Oh, how I love handling each and every one, and settling them into the darkness of a box for a few weeks, darlings, just a few weeks. Sneezing is a small price to pay.

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    2. When we moved, I think I hit 70, though a few were magazines. Had to cull, because I don’t have room in accessible places (the shop mezzanine is reachable only via ladder, and that’s become a problem). So, books are scattered, and a bunch of fiction got donated.

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    4. When we moved here in 2021, between the three of us we had well over 150 boxes of books, CDs, and DVDs. I bought the 13x13x13 boxes from ULine for the hardbounds. Average box weight was 35-40 pounds, with a few heavier. We used the 1.5 cubic ft U-haul boxes for the paperbacks, and the box weights were similar. This meant I could actually pick them up.  ;-)

      The big advantage of buying rather than scrounging was with the uniform size it was much easier to load them in the truck(s). I actually calculated exactly how the boxes would be loaded into the ReloCubes we used, for the maximum density. I quickly realized we couldn’t put them all in one cube because it greatly exceeded the weight limits.  

      We still had a whole lot of old paperbacks and hardbounds in similar size boxes that had been stored in the garage after the prior move 15 years before. (No they haven’t been unpacked here either.) And I had at least 15 boxes, many were reference books and other non-fiction, with a packing date of 2004, my prior prior move. Those I did manage to unpack and display on shelves in our library – aka the living room.

      For anyone about to move lots of books or other dense items, one tip is to use gallon or quart ziploc bags, blown up and sealed tightly, as air-pack fillers in those inevitable spaces. It keeps the tops/sides of the boxes from collapsing when more boxes are piled on them. When you finally unpack you can save and reuse the ziplocks.

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  20. Sarah,

    I’m reallllly sorry you’re not a greenie any more. I would have liked to have met you in real life.

    Keep on taking care of those you care for. And store food and goodies you might need. If you’re wrong you pitch it. If you’re right then good on you. I did that in 2021. Now we’re eating it at 2/3 of what it costs now. And since the winter is about gone we’re doing garden things.

    But as you know you can’t plant before Mothers day.

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      1. Part of the Costco run was to get new trays for the Jiffy pots. $SPOUSE starts everything in Jiffys, and we transplant to beds and greenhouse around June 1. The hard freeze usually waits until June 5th. 6 mil polyethylene in 20′ width for the win. Not UV proof, but a few days per year and it’s still good. (Crosses fingers.)

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    3. ehhh… depends on your climate. Peas will be going in soon, possibly today, and lettuce, and the apple trees are being delivered tomorrow so that’s happening as well. Potatoes soon too.

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  21. Sarah,

    I’m reallllly sorry you’re not a greenie any more. I would have liked to have met you in real life.

    Keep on taking care of those you care for. And store food and goodies you might need. If you’re wrong you pitch it. If you’re right then good on you. I did that in 2021. Now we’re eating it at 2/3 of what it costs now. And since the winter is about gone we’re doing garden things.

    But as you know you can’t plant before Mothers day.

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      1. ”Is that a chinchilla or a nutria?”

        ”I don’t know, but he looks mean.”

        ”Mean?”

        ”I heard ‘e’s got a mean streak a mile wide.”

        ”He’s just a bunny!”

        ”Look at the bones!”

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  23. When working I was teaching several topics with a specific collogue and somehow we got named “Moose and Squirrel” – I was moose, she was squirrel. 

    Anyway… to prep for the next episode:

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  24. It’s 11:59 on Radio Free America; this is Uncle Sam, with music, and the truth until dawn. Right now I’ve got a few words for some of our brothers and sisters in the occupied zone. The chair is against the wall. The chair is against the wall. John has a long mustache. John has a long mustache. It’s twelve o’clock, American, another day closer to victory. And for all of you out there, on, or behind the line, this is your song.”

    [Battle Hymn of the Republic]

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  25. Our son decoded to look under his section of the sofa (it’s a sectional with recliners on each end) and discovered a shovels worth of emptied pecan shells. And food wrappers. It looks like we have squirrel, no moose.

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