A Month In Review: Making Glad, Staying Home, Doing Whatever

April 30, 2020August 3, 2020 / Ally Bean / 153 Comments

Let’s start with the facts.

April is my second least favorite month of the year*. This is the last day of April 2020, the longest April on record. Ever.

We do not need to go in depth into why this particular April has been endless, ridiculous, depressing, frightening, annoying, overwhelming, underwhelming, disruptive, insane, inane, et cetera, et cetera.

To my credit, I do believe, early on I set my intentions for this month and have accomplished those three intentions to the best of my ability.

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FIRST, I made a point to not complain about our personal small inconveniences during this dreadful month and I give myself an A- on this point.

Article to read: “I’m Depressed, But Feel I Have No Right To Be”: Class Guilt During The Pandemic

SECOND, I made a point to have no opinions about how other people handled their time at home this month. I give myself a B on this point, having mostly not said a word about some of your more dubious behaviors, oh my friends and family + neighbors and numbskulls.

Article to read: The Psychological Reason Why Some People Aren’t Following COVID-19 Quarantine Orders

LASTLY, I made a point to be gentle and forgiving with myself, allowing my moods to swing, my thoughts to roam, and my sense of purpose to be redefined within the context of the times. On this I give myself an A+ because, not to put too fine of a point on it, I’m still here, sane, and relatively happy.

Poem to read: Lockdown Manifesto

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And with that I will turn the page in my calendar, putting April behind me and gazing into the glorious month of May, my second most favorite month of the year**. I’ve nothing scheduled to do in the month of May, but certainly it’ll be better than miserable old April, right?

One can only hope.

* August is my least favorite month of the year.
** October is my most favorite month of the year.

[May 2, 2020: I’ve reworked the look of this post to do an experiment with images, fonts, and the way in which Twitter tweets a link to it. The content remains the same.]

In The Countryside: A Leisurely Walk Along A Trail, A Quiet Study In Contrasts

March 10, 2020March 11, 2020 / Ally Bean / 117 Comments

The sun came out over the weekend so we went for a walk along a biking + walking trail that runs through the area. [Read a previous post about it HERE.]

Usually when we walk this trail going out into the countryside the trees are leafy green so we cannot see what is beside the trail, but this being late winter the leaves on the trees didn’t obscure the views.

This is what we saw. Much of it was new to me, even though it’s been there all along, just hidden from view.

I’m sure there’s a lesson in this post but I’ll leave it to you, kids, to discern it. I’m still trying to figure out what time it is. Spring forward, my Aunt Fanny.

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The trail out into the countryside seen with hardly a soul on it.

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An old house with a bowed roof that appears to be someone’s home.

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A McMansion in the process of being built next door to the previous house.

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Three trailers parked across the way from the McMansion.

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A gazebo in a township park close to the trailers seen above.

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A rustic creek with new apartment complex overlooking it.

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Bicycle sculptures with benches, a place to rest along the trail.

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Thinking About Opinions While In The Presence Of Sharp Pointy Things

March 16, 2017January 28, 2021 / Ally Bean / 63 Comments

{ Photo by Samuel Scrimshaw via Unsplash }

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Just because something happens, and I am aware of it, doesn’t mean that I have anything to say about it. Or that I will change my behavior because of it.

I got thinking about this idea the other day when I went to the doctor’s office. After a brief wait in the waiting room a nurse called me back to the examining rooms. As we walked along she asked me what I’d done over the weekend.

Basic chit-chat as I got settled into the room, ‘ya know?

Or so I thought.

I told her that we’d gone to a college hockey game. I was starting to elaborate when she interrupted me with a tirade against the university whose team we’d seen play.

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Her, shocked: DIDN’T YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE DRUGS ON THAT CAMPUS?

Me, mild-mannered: Uh, no… well, yes… it’s a college campus…

Her, outraged: DIDN’T YOU SEE ON THE NEWS THAT THERE WERE RAPES ON THAT CAMPUS?

Me, contrite: Uh, yes I did… not good…

Her, empowered: DIDN’T YOU KNOW THAT MY SON WOULD NOT GO THERE BECAUSE IT WAS A PARTY SCHOOL AND HE DIDN’T FEEL LIKE HE’D BE SAFE THERE?

Me, polite: Uh, no… didn’t know your son considered it, but if he didn’t feel like he’d be safe there then I’m glad he didn’t go there…

Her, demanding: WHY WOULD YOU GO TO A GAME THERE?

Me, quietly: Because it was for work… and it was free… and we had a fun time…

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Now clearly I hit a nerve with this woman. And as you, my gentle readers, can tell, I answered her questions as accurately as I could, considering that she had at her disposal sharp pointy and pokey things that she could use, while upset, to inadvertently hurt me.

I’m not a fool.

But this conversation, such as it was, did give me pause. It got me thinking about how I now live in a society where everyone seems to have strong opinions about many things, and you never know what topics are going to set somebody off.

[See conversation above.]

I also realized that, ironically, I have to admit that I have no opinion about all the people with all the opinions. Say what you will, think what you want. Live and let live, you know?

Just don’t hurt me in the process. That’s all I ask.

F Is For Froot Loops, For Sure

April 7, 2016May 6, 2021 / Ally Bean / 35 Comments

Just Another Froot Loop to add To the bowl

… is one of my favorite sayings. I first remember hearing it in the late 1990s, but other than that I don’t know its origin.

And I don’t care.

This is because when forced to listen to both sides of a longstanding neighborhood feud, I can say of it all, with detached amusement: I guess she’s just another froot loop to add to the bowl.

Which is true. And not rude. And gets me out of further conversation about an argument that has no definite solution, and I do not now, nor ever will, care about.

The argument being: is it better to home school or public school your children? Like I have an opinion…?! I don’t even have kids.

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