Rainy Day Alone

[alyrthia]

Here I am rattling around the house counting spider webs on the ceiling.  I like spiders, and I tend to tolerate a certain number of webs.  After a bit, I swipe the old ones down. The spiders in my house are harmeless and relatively invisible.  Our ceilings are high, so they live in a different stratosphere, unless I am lying on the couch and

Comments

[mechtild]

Alyon, I loved that picture. I've never seen you, so I don't know how good a likeness it is, but as a picture it pleases me greatly. You look, dare I say, like a fascinating, wry-humoured artist, or writer. (My first reaction was, "she's so young!" which gives you an idea how old *I* am.)

I loved this remark:

Our ceilings are high, so they live in a different stratosphere, unless I am lying on the couch and staring up into the corners.Now that's a really good attitude. I wish our house weren't so--tidy-demanding. Do you know what I mean? We've always lived in old fixer-uppers until this house. This one is a lot "nicer" - everything prim and tidy, in design and construction, although it was built just after WWII. Which means its intense need for a paint job inside really stands out. I hate that

[alyrthia]

No, no, no. I'm not that young. The picture lies. I look older in bright light--it's only in low light I can still pass off looking sort of young. But I'm 51, and it's all in the lighting!!! Amazing how many years standing under a lightbulb can reveal, versus being in softer light

[mechtild]

I'm 57, Alyon. I thought you were about 41, not 51! Although I did still feel young at 50. I hadn't started menopause yet. I hope it comes later for you, or doesn't make as much difference. It doesn't, for a lot of people.

"People like being in our house": that is the main indicator of how your are doing. If [normal] people don't want to be in your house, it's time to act. But if they still like being there, there's nothing to be concerned about! I'd come visit you anytime, if I lived near you!

[alyrthia]

Oh, Mech, I'd love you to come and visit!!

And, again. The lighting was kind. I don't normally photograph very well. And not just the age thing--but my face gets all weird and stiff and moves around a lot!!

Yeah, I think our house is sort of hearth-like, and it's gradually getting fixed up. But there are still some fundamental things that make it a bit rustic--such as not having heat in the upper story. But as you know, it's not quite as cold here as in other parts of the country, so it's not so terrible for us.

And my main symptom of shifting hormones (no, not quite "the change" ;) yet) is inability to sleep. Sleep. It's like gold. Can I have it?

[ms_banazira]

You look cute! That's a new haircut, isn't it.

It's just so adorably "you" that you like spiders! :D

[alyrthia]

Yeah, I like the haircut. Daughter and I chopped at each other's hair on her last day of spring break. It needed a little fine-tuning, done by Haley. But short hair? It grows fast!! So just two nights ago I started hacking at it again--I'm not sure where I've taken it, and who can fix it. I stopped before I got too far down that path of no return. but still...

And our spiders are pretty much the harmless kind that don't get all showy and ferocious. So I can pretty much live in peace with them. I like other spiders, but even so, the big brown ones that dash across the floor in the fall (though not in my house)-- Those will make me run. ;)

[golden_berry]

Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama--so much wisdom and coolness together in one room!

The photo of you looks very artsy, and you appear to be in your mid-30s. I like it!

Sorry to hear it isn't quite spring there either. I thought you got spring waaaay earlier than us Midwesterners. Yesterday was the first day since October that the temp. hit 70 degrees! The trees are barely starting to bud and the daffodils are just beginning to bloom. It's been a long bleak stretch in these parts.

[alyrthia]

I know, wisdom and coolness. And I didn't go see them!!

Well, the lighting was kind to me in that photo--I can look absolutely haggard in some settings. Tell me, which is our real look--the candle lit look? Or the way we look under harsh modern lights??!! I'm thinking of switching to candles!! And lucky me for living in a dim climate!!!

Oh we have blooms galore!! But we are way below our normal temperatures. Last week we had one day that hit 79 degrees! This week it is thirty degrees lower, and snow is forecast over parts of the region. Mind you, snow is unusual enough in the middle of winter in these parts--so yeah, it's not our normal spring.

[eandme]

I recognize you. I must have been in your shop. We spent at least two longs afternoons in that area, exploring all the shops. It was just before I knew you worked there. I can't remember meeting you but I do remember your face.

[alyrthia]

Wouldn't that have been funny! To see each other and not know it. But I wonder if you just saw me in my journal before. I posted a pic of me last year. Also, I was with Honey in the photo with Elijah that she posted in the Greybook. Though perhaps we did see each other while I was working, though I think we determined that at least on one of the days you went down there, I wasn't there....

[whiteling]

That's such a lovely photo of you, Alyon! Not only you look beautiful in in, it also exudes an appealing mood. I've seen at least one other photo of you - I recall the one of you and Honey, at the photo op, where you gave the Grey Book to Elijah! That one was very nice, too. :-)

I wish I could be as relaxed as you when it comes to spiders. I love animals and could never do harm to any, but with some species I fail utterly to even like them. I throw spiders of any size out of our house (while apologising to them). Problem is, they keep coming back!

"Dusting on a regular basis, anyone? I forget to do those things." LOL! I'm worse - I deliberately "forget" to do it. ;-)

[alyrthia]

I do like the photo, but I have to confess I don't normally photograph very well. Not only do I find that digital cameras like to pick up on every pore, line and wrinkle, I tend to get this frozen, hunted look when a camera points at me. Even if people photograph me unawares, it's often in mid expression. I don't have a very relaxed face.

As to spiders. Ours are those ones with long skinny legs that never come off the ceiling. Incredibly non-intrusive, and not dangerous. If there is something more boldly spider-like, I remove them to outside. And those large brown kind that dart quickly across the floor? (which for some reason we don't get in our house--but I've had them in others, mostly in the fall). Even though they are harmless and I don't dislike them, they make me jump. I ask those guys to live outside,as well. But in general, I rather like spiders more than most people, I think.

Yes, well. Yay for not dusting. You have just reinforced my bad habit!! If Whiteling doesn't dust, neither will I!!!