Dichroic Reflections

1. When I can’t figure out if something “sparks joy”, it can be more helpful to ask myself if I enjoy wearing it – or even, in some cases, if I enjoy owning it (e.g. my 15-million-meter t-shirt from Concept 2.) And then there’s my Intel volunteer shirt, where I don’t like wearing the shirt at all, but I like the things I get to do while wearing it, like singing in a choir performance.
2. My dresser drawers are quite long; shirts folded and stored vertically work much better in shorter rows from front to back thanlonger rows from side to side – easier to fill one whole row and leave another open for all the shirts I’m putting in the wash.
3. Speaking of which, wow it’s hard to get antiperspirant out of clothing (which is why I have so many otherwise clean shirts that need to be washed again). It’s hard to get off skin too; maybe I should just give up and switch to deodorant. They really need to invent a formula that doesn’t dissolve in sweat but dissolves instantly in soapy water.
4. Kondo’s method of thanking things for their service is surprisingly helpful when trying to get rid of, say, the alpaca cape I bought in Ecuador but never wore, or stuff that reminds me of living abroad when I bought it but that I don’t wear anymore due to change in style, size or lifestyle. I’m even giving up the purple skirt I knitted that’s a bit tight – though not the first cadre I ever knitted. I can’t give that away because I’d want to scavenge the buttons. Seems wrong to donate it without those and I’m too lazy to sew on less nice buttons. On the other hand, I don’t want to frog it and save the yarn, because if I liked how that yarn knitted up I would wear the sweater more 8n the first place!
5. This may be sacrilege, but I threw out a sweater made of Wollemeise. It had a hole, so possibly moths. Also, that yarn has beautiful colors, but it feels like string both while knitting and while wearing. I like the lines of the sweater but the neck never draped right and I didn’t like the fabric – I’m not a fan of reverse stockinette.
6. I do love sweaters, though. According to Kondo you are not supposed to have to rotate clothing seasonally, but I still have too many sweaters to keep both winter and summer ones accessible. What can I say, they do spark joy! But now I have one vacuum bag instead of 4.
7. My closet still doesn’t look minimal at all – but I’m giving away 8 bags of stuff! (One is still waiting for stuff I’m laundering.)
8. I will never ever ever do this with my books.

It is boggling my mind to realize I was blogging and uploading poems online nearly 20 years ago now. I’ve just figured out how to log into my old old Moveable Type blog (unfortunately it was long ago hacked and I can’t figure out how to get rid of the ad page that shows up on its main page, but the individual entries show up OK).

It’s also mind-boggling how much the world has changed in those almost-20 years. I linked to a poem from 2002 on a Ravelry post today and promptly had someone point out (kindly and gently) that while she loved aspects of said poem, my line “Like her female chromosomes, so surgery can remove the essence” could be hurtful to those whose female-gender identity has nothing to do with chromosomes. I have changed the line to refer to eye color instead, and to masks instead of surgery.

(And I know I said the world has changed, but I’m pretty sure it hasn’t – I do think there are more trans people than there once were only because it’s easier to recognize who you are when there’s already a vocabulary and concepts there, but clearly some people have alwyas been trans, and it’s more climate and perceptions that have changed rather than facts.)

On the plus side, now I’ve reacquainted myself with how to log in and edit my oldest entries, and reacquainted myself with another favorite from all those years ago.

House update: Things were going very fast, then not much happened last week – the contractors move their crews around to balance different projects’ needs. But the first floor is framed in, and the project manager told Ted they expect to have the second floor done this week.

Good thing I have a blog. And a husband. I am very happy to listen to other people talk about their houses, or kids or whatever, but it would sure be nice if sometimes I got to talk about my life!

Relatives, coworkers…. honestly I think in my teen years when I didn’t want to tell my mom anything I was doing, I trained her out of listening. So at least she’s got that excuse (though I left my teens over 30 years ago!) but other people I talk to (or try to!) are just as bad. Conversation is supposed to include give and take!

At least there are two of us involved in this house remodel, so we always have each other to discuss fine details with.

Do you know the story about the man who wandered around a cathedral being built, asking each person what they were doing? The stone masons told him about cutting rocks to fit togehter so perfectly that they formed arches and flying buttresses; the scultors told about modeling allegories and saints; glassworkers spoke of telling stories in beautiful images that would teach churchgoers the stories they didn’t know how to read, and the woodworkers spoke of walls and screens, roofs and spires. Lastly he put the same question to an old woman sweeping away the dust and shavings of the day. “What am I doing?” she replied, leaning on her broom. “I’m building a cathedral to the glory of God”

That’s the faith it needs to build a cathedral that takes hundreds of years, but I don’t think it even matters whether you believe in God, only whether you are a good, decent and sane person. (You see, I am completely biasing my argument by ignoring those whose God is in their own cruel image, no better than a demon to punish those of whom they disapprove.) If you believe, then a God formed the universe whose workings and laws resulted in humanity, and it’s fitting to express our gratitude by creating whatever beauty we can muster in Their honor. If you don’t believe, then humans striving for goodness created the image of a God to reflect the best that they could find or imagine within themselves, and a cathedral is the physical expression of that striving.

(Again, I am simply omitting the Puritans and those who want a God only to be someone stronger and meaner than themselves who can punish their enemies. I don’t believe that kind of thinking can build a cathedral.)

There was and is beauty and truth in Notre Dame, even if the truth you find depends on which side you examine it from. It’s pure horror to see the spire fall, even if the bell towers were saved. I trust it will be rebuilt once again.

This weekend we:

• erged 12 km (each)
• Did not race, though we were at the lake on regatta weekend
• Walked over to the park and checked out the regatta vendors
• Did row for the first time in months (Ted only)
• Put in a full workday (Paula only)
• Watched contractors remove forms from our concrete foundation
• Met with the cabinet designers
• Were told by our general contractor that we should buy our appliances now (so cabinet people know what to design around)
• Bought all the appliances (36” 6-burner range, wall oven, fridge, microwave, wine fridge, downdraft fan, garbage disposal, plus a few miscellaneous trim pieces and water/gas lines, not to mention a free(!) dishwasher that we don’t need and will sell
• Cleared out furniture and contents that will be in the way when they refinish the floors (might be a couple months away, but they seem to be moving surprisingly fast)

Made the obligatory Jerry’s trip (local chain similar to Loew’s or Home Deport, but better)

Decided what we want to do about sinks and faucets

We decided on the exact green shade for the house exterior last week, and still need to decide on roof, countertops and lighting.

This early in, it’s all about demolishing and excavating – building up might be some time away.

Here’s how much brush we’ve cleared:

Grill building (we bought this last week, before we knew our kitchen was going away- good thing it has a side burner!)

Sweater finishing and blocking – it’s still damp in these photos:

These show the temporary “kitchen” we’ve set up downstairs as well as where the upstairs one used to be, and the removed section of deck.

Last night we signed the contract and scanned and sent it to the general contractor (GC). However, we gave the key to the contractor once we had a verbal agreement with him, since it’s hard to know how often we’ll be able to get down here – we were here at the lake last week, as I wrote, and came back this weekend to finish clearing downed branches and clear up a few more. We got to the house tonight – I’ll be working from home tomorrow.

Then we walked inside ….. and found they had put down a paper mat from the front door all the way up the stairs, left a couple ladders down in the garage, knocked down the back deck where the kitchen will expand into that space, and packed up most of our kitchen …. into unlabeled boxes.

There was no part of the contract that said they’d do any packing for us – and I certainly don’t want to pay for it! We did tell them we needed advance notice for what needed to be packed by the, but wouldn’t you think they give us a rough schedule first? And maybe add a few notes to say what’s in which box?

This isn’t really a bad thing: it’s not like they’re invading the house we actually live in. And I’d rather have a contractor eager to get started than one that didn’t show up. Plus, given our previous difficulties in finding a contractor, we are going to be Very Positive in talking to them about this. But still … wtf??

Very nearly ready to go! I got a call yesterday that the permit is complete, and and email that the contractor updated the contract per our comments and it’s ready for us to sign. We either need top print, sign, scan and email back, or else sign it in person when we’re there this weekend. Apparently it’s a week until the excavator can get there, then it’s time to break ground!