Sunday, April 6, 2025

Sunday, April 6, 2025 

 

   Wow! The rim of the mountain and the horizon line over the ocean were crystal clear.  The vog was gone- for now.  A few days ago, the mountain and the ocean were invisible, shrouded in vog.  Even the clouds were obscured. The lava had shot over a thousand feet into the air, delivering enough vog to keep us under the weather for a few days. This is what it was like all the time when I first got here. That eruption started on January 3, 1983, and ended on September 5, 2010. I was disappointed in the poor visibility of the clouds when I arrived, but I didn't know better.   Most eruptions last from a day to six months. The one that was going on when we arrived last twenty-six years and nine months. People with respiratory problems suffered.  

    Today was a do-almost-nothing day. I went to the 9 a.m. mass but didn't eat half a glazed donut as usual during the social hour after mass. I had overindulged in Kirkland's chocolate-covered almonds before I left the house. Judy gave me a quick hello/goodbye after mass. She was shepherding the elect. She led the training classes for those coming into the church this Easter. I left almost immediately. 

    I drove over to the old industrial area where the Unity church is.  No, I wasn't attending a second church service. On the first Sunday of every month, they host a sound bath.   I arrived there early for the event scheduled for noon.  There's one shaded parking spot in the area.   I parked there, turned off the car,  opened the windows, pushed back the seat, and napped.

I've become a regular attendee for those events and the crystal healing on the second Sunday.  The folks there are friendlier to me than the people at the Catholic Church.  I'm not sure if it's the nature of the Catholics or if it has something to do with me. The event was soothing, as usual.

    I had fourth-grade MH at four-thirty.  She was in a place in the house I'd never seen before. The whole room looked blue, including the ceiling. I asked MH about the color of the room. Indeed, the room was blue, including the ceiling. She was set up with a coloring book and markers. She usually does some drawing while we work. I don't object as long as it's a source of comfort and she pays attention. Today, she wasn't paying as much attention as I'd like. I told her to put her coloring aside. I worked on reading comprehension using IXL selections. We worked on distinguishing between metaphors and similes. The examples were two contrasting sentences. It took repeated tries. I told her repeatedly that the difference was in the wording. If the words like or as are present, they are a simile. If not, it's a metaphor.  It wasn't just her coloring that caused the problem. She has issues seeing patterns. Her father reports she is doing well at school. I think they keep me on, hoping I can solve the problem of her faulty thinking skills. 

   I started listening to Fifth Business by Robertson Davies, a recommendation from fifth-grade GV's grandmother after I told her my criteria for enjoying a book had to do with the language. The language is wonderful, and the themes are deep and delicious. I usually listen to mysteries. This is an absorbing break. I spent most of the day listening to it. I did no gardening work today.