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Marita Ingalsbe's avatar

A new mantra! This is so profound and memorable for someone like me who has the worst time making decisions. "The Universe awaits your next breath. Exhale and pick, it will be right." Thank you for your beautiful writing this week Fran.

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Sue Cauhape's avatar

I've developed a habit of writing little notes responding to your weekly essay. So many little drips and drabs of life that are fascinating. Here's my list this week:

~~ When you wing it, you're listening to your soul. That little voice is so much more trustworthy than some guru.

~~ I agree, the coffee's color is warmer. We associate it with comfort. You're right. The Pantone does look like pink mud. Maybe a potter would like it.

~~I used the word "livid" to describe the trim color on a brothel in my book, thinking it was a kind of lime green. Like a carnival. Whorehouse green. To me, livid is a passionate word, angry.

~~ We bought a bottle of mead from a farmer's market and proceeded to drink it all. Sweet jesus mary and joseph, what a hangover. Absolutely deadly. It must've kept those Vikings from doing too much raiding. Maybe.

Thank you for another fun read, Fran.

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Fran Gardner's avatar

Yeah, livid is a squishy word. As for mead. I’d stick with Irish Mist, which is a liqueur made from mead. Although now that I’m off sugar, I don’t drink any of it.

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Sue Cauhape's avatar

I used to be able to drink a picon with my Basque dinner, but having reached a certain age (75), for some reason my body no longer likes either the picons or and huge marathon dinners. I'm glad our favorite restaurant has opted for smaller portions. They're no longer feeding shepherds.

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Fran Gardner's avatar

That reminds me that my mom gave a recipe for Old Shepherd’s chili. This was from the days where her family was homeless on the Colorado frontier. He’d bury it in the ground over embers in the morning and dig it up for dinner. He’d let the hungry kids have a taste.

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Sue Cauhape's avatar

YUM! The original crockpot.

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Diane Mattox's avatar

Where to start? So many good things to comment on: decisions. Yes. The more choices, the less likely I am to even make a decision. I'll just decide it's not worth my time and I can do without.

Pantone's color of the year: ick. There wasn't a single thing that looked good in or with that color. It's not a living color, no vibrance, nothing to draw you in. Ick.

Another great read!! Thank you so much for your meanderings, insights, and wisdom.

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Fran Gardner's avatar

I’m glad I’m not the only one who finds mocha mousse to be a dismal choice. Thank you for your feedback!

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Sylvia  Bosma's avatar

Such a lovely piece to read this morning. I spent time noticing things on my morning walk. Thank you for that reminder.

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Fran Gardner's avatar

I hope you have a chance to check out what I’ve written for 100Days. https://the100dayproject.substack.com/p/day-64-noticing?publication_id=5499&post_id=161826222&isFreemail=false&r=gbrzu&triedRedirect=true

It’s all about noticing, paying attention.

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Richard La France's avatar

Fran, I so enjoy reading your posts. What you write is exactly what an author is expected to do: noticing all your surroundings in any instant and describing them, briefly or in detail.

My being so pulled in by the ruins of America has prevented me from writing the the book I've tried to write since High School in the 1960s.

Just last week I finally decided that almost all that I was reading about was complaints without solutions. So I went into lines of solutions that would absolutely patch the holes in our existence. I get more Likes than I used to but only a couple of comments if any. Still, the distraction still prevents my serious writing.

This latest post of yours has awakened me to my own preoccupation with BS. I've always been reminded by someone saying, "You can't change the world." I set out to prove differently. Good or bad, one's nature is prone to imitate the speech and/or behavior of one who is bold enough to go public.

Thank you, Fran, for calming me down simply by sharing what you are seeing or witnessing. Now I hope I can live long enough to go ahead and write my book

Richard La France

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Fran Gardner's avatar

Good luck!

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Bruce Trachtenberg's avatar

I have to laugh. I worked in the PR dept for Reader’s Digest from 1982-1992. Over time one of my jobs was contacting by overnight mail winners of the annual (back then) $5 million prize. I put the letter in a packet with other information so the person would know it was legit. I gave them my phone number to call and discuss plans for me to escort them to Pleasantville, N.Y.—the company’s headquarters—on our jet so they could receive their prize. I did that for three winners and it was great fun each time.

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Fran Gardner's avatar

Well, wow!

I have Peter Mason’s number. I called him to check if it was real and he said he was at work. Where? I asked. Reader’s Digest, of course. He kept contacting me till I blocked him. I wonder if I really did win that $950,000.

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Bruce Trachtenberg's avatar

I think by now if it were legit, he (or they) would have followed up by mail. Hate to burst your bubble.

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Rob Melton's avatar

Love the shot of the SE Foster building. It just drew me in and I was mesmerized by its imperfect perfection, the saturated colors, the angles, and perfect exposure.

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Fran Gardner's avatar

You can credit the fine camera on my iPhone for the exposure. Often when I check out photos I find they are better than I expected. This is one of those.

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Rob Melton's avatar

I agree! iPhone camera for the win. Even better if you know a few old-school techniques like underexposing a half-stop, and metering on grass (18% grey card equivalent).

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Emergentcy With Musclemonk's avatar

Thank you for so elegantly tacking down at least one little corner of the fabric of this world.

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Fran Gardner's avatar

Thank you for putting that so elegantly!

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