Tuesday evening things*

 *Another meeting filled week. I got a few rounds done on the lace socks ("Dragon Breath socks") after my meeting. But they're coming along slowly. 

* I got to the point in Black Out where (spoiler warning) the three time travelers in 1940 Britain found each other again. And it's funny how much relief I felt at that; it's easy for me to forget they're fictional people, I guess.

I still don't know if they'll get back home and one of the women (Polly, maybe it was?) is worried that something terrible happened in 2060 Oxford and there's no one left to BRING them back. I presume that will be resolved in the second volume ("All Clear") but it definitely engenders a trapped feeling.

At least they're not alone now. At least they have someone they knew from before. 

Connie Willis' writing has made me cry more than once; I think the themes she addresses are things important to me (the feeling of being included in a group, knowing what's going on and not having to figure it out on the fly) or things I worry about (being stranded somewhere all alone and not knowing how to get help if i need it). 

* Nervously watching the progress of the hurricane, thinking of all the people under its threat - the original owners of the closest thing I have to a local yarn shop retired to Zephyrhills (I hope they got out and are somewhere else) and a friend from church has several relatives who apparently chose not to evacuate (they live inland and towards the south end, but it looks like the hurricane's path is changing slightly). Really hoping it weakens a bit but I doubt it will. 

* I don't know if I mentioned ordering a skein of hand dyed sockyarn from Purl's Yarn Emporium in Asheville, NC. I had seen somewhere (maybe on Bluesky) that they were safe, and their warehouse could still send out orders, and the person who posted it noted that people buying from them NOW would help them survive - normally they do SAFF, a fall fiber festival, but that's not happening this year.

So I thought, well, one skein of yarn won't do much for them, but at least it's symbolic. (A lot of things were sold out so I wondered if a lot of people were ordering). And I signed up to get their e-mails - if it's nice yarn (it's due here on Friday) I could order from them again once things settle down.

Well, today they sent out a happy e-mail: they are reopening, despite having dodgy internet and no actual running water (they have a way of keeping the bathroom sort of going) and they will have snacks and bottled water, supplies permitting, and wifi as long as theirs stay on, and they want to serve as a bit of a community hub.

And also: "People bought over $5000 worth of gift cards, and donated many of them for use by locals who need a little pick-me-up." which makes me happy to read. And also: "...we sold so much yarn in two days that we covered October, including typical SAFF sales."

So they'll keep going for at least a while yet. And with so many yarn shops closing, I have a self-interest in some I can mail order from keeping going (And they have a lot of unique stuff - many of their yarns are dyed in-house or in the region, and they have interesting bags - I originally was going to order one of those but the ones I wanted were all sold out). 

But yeah, it's probably gonna be decades before Asheville comes back the same way it was. And I see stuff like this, and feel sad, because.....I'm 55. If too much of the "good stuff" I didn't get to experience before gets damaged to the point it might be 40 or 50 years before it's back......well, I won't get to experience it. And that does scare me a little, that we'll lose so many things for various reasons that there won't be anything left for me to do or enjoy. And yes, I know that's a selfish sentiment given how many people don't have a home left, or lost loved ones, or have a massive clean up ahead of them. But I'm not just talking about severe weather; I'm also talking about things like "contractions" in the craft industry where there's just less yarn and fewer books out there, or forces in our culture right now (The whole blasted "monetize your hobbies" thing of a few years ago - which makes you hate your hobbies, then, and also it's tremendously difficult to make any real money at that sort of thing, especially with cheap import versions of everything). And I don't know. I won't say it's the conservatism of age because I find myself becoming less-so in certain ways as I get older, but I do worry that we've reached a point where Money and Power and Fame (even TikTok fame) are our gods now, and things like relaxation and enjoyment and relationships are getting pushed aside. And THOSE are the things that will save us, at least spiritually and mentally. 

I don't know. I do also know a lot of people struggle and can't make ends meet and I am more squeezed than I once was as far as money is concerned (I still did find the money to give to Week of Compassion and also a carefully-vetted ecumenical group in the Asheville region helping with recovery, and I suppose I'll dig down again to donate for the post-Milton recovery). 

I don't know. I think of an older (now deceased) man at church, who commented "what is going to become of us?" in 2016 when....well, all the politics was happening. And I wonder that a lot myself. 

* I cut my knitting (and Bluey-rerun watching) time short this evening to do the PT stretches. I admit I slightly resent, when I have so little 'free' time, having to take 20-30 minutes of it to do stretches, which are frankly boring. But I need to keep up with it; it's been easier to walk without pain  when I do them at least a few times a week,, and I do want to avoid surgery on that knee at all costs. It seems like strengthening those muscles is a way to ensure that. 

I also HAVE to start going to bed earlier; I find I'm not getting enough sleep.