ghosts are good company

Three!

Originally uploaded by capnpuck

i am so proud of myself!

the night of great-grandma’s funeral, we drove from oly to des moines for a celebration at my grandmother’s house. on the way, nat and i got distracted by my father’s house (it’s right on the way, i couldn’t not stop by) and were gifted an abundance of fruit - canned peaches, dried apples, jam jam jam, amazing grapes (how sweet) and a big bag of apples. i spent a day soon after paring them, and when i was done i noticed… that some neighbors had a bunch of apples sitting in buckets with a sign that said, of course, “free apples.”

so i pared some more. and now there is so much applesauce.

i’ve been piecing together my canning knowledge with information from The Internets, and in one minute (yes, i will be taking a break from typing this), there will be a third jar of applesauce successfully canned!

and we’re at three. there are probably ten or so more to go, as there’s a giant bowl still of applesauce, and then the apple butter. for a total of six dollar’s worth of financial investment, and hecka more time - something that i have a fair amout of, for now. i got the jars from great-grandma, and the only thing that we purchased was the lids. whenever i hear them sucking in, actually sealing, i feel like jumping up and down.

actually, when i came to add a post to the blog, it was to say none of those geeky things. it was instead to share with you the fact that

I HAVE FIGURED OUT WHAT I WANT TO BE FOR HALLOWEEN.

if only i had realized before 5am on halloween that I WANT TO BE A GNOME for halloween.

because, i mean, they are round and cozy and perhaps the best ever. all i need is… a hat. which i could knit if i had time. and a belt. which i could knit if i had time. and a beard. which i could fashion if i had time.

we’ll see how it goes. for now, look how much cuter this child looks as a gnome than i ever will (i just looked at that link as if it were a parenthetical, and said to myself “for now, look how much cuter than i ever will” doesn’t make sense as a sentence!!”).

for now i am studying up on my gnome puns just in case i dress up and go out somewhere.

anyway, whatever happens, may this day be full of at least a little magic and peace for you all. gnome what i mean?

other things:

+ you have probably realized by now that i am safe from the fires. a lot of people aren’t, and if there’s a way for you to donate/help out that you feel comfortable with, please try.

- amsterdam application is still pending based on three items which are all out of my control. in fact, these are the same things that it was pending on two weeks ago. and the program is full. apparently if those things show up at the study abroad office soon, i should be able to get on the waitlist. yes, i *have* actually been in touch with people about these things.

+ i should be able to get back on my skates soon. i need to remember to start shuffling around the house on them, so that i don’t panic the second i get on skates at the rink.

it’s a hundred-and-one years since the 1906 earthquake that burnt down much of san francisco, killed around 3,600 people, and left more than half of the city’s then-population homeless.

there’s a 67% chance that an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or higher will hit this city between 1990 and 2020. that’s not a small chance.

i remember the nisqually earthquake in 2001; i was in choir, and nobody knew what to do. that was the scariest part for me - not the shaking or the danger, but that nobody knew how to respond.

so, i’m taking part in a local neighborhood emergency response team (nert) training series. i’ve only had one class, but i’ve learned a lot - partially through their training manual, which is the second link here. nert’s premise is that, because emergency services will probably be tied up for the first few days after a major disaster, people should have the skills that they need to support themselves and their families and neighborhoods.

this is especially important because i live in one of the neighborhoods of san francisco that would probably be ignored like the ninth ward of new orleans.

the point of this post, is that i’m all in favor of emergency preparedness. it’s part of my crazy, a little, but i think that this is a good aspect of it i want everybody i know to work hard to educate themselves - i don’t want my loved ones to die in stupid coincidences or accidents.

i’m trying to figure out a way to anchor our heavy shelves to our walls, but we’re not allowed to make holes in the walls. do any of you have advice around this?

what other emergency preparedness thoughts do you have? what are your disaster experiences, if you want to talk about them?