Twas the Night Before the Night Before . . .

Which would make it Christmas Eve eve. OK.

@shoreacres, of the eye-worthy sites Lagniappe and The Task at Hand (linked here for your reading and viewing pleasure), has called to my attention that the burrowing owl (!) has been named the American Birding Association’s “Bird of the Year” for 2022. Athene cunicularia, as it is known by the scientific set, is a bird of the wide open spaces and has its digs here in the flatlands, among other places. Formerly classed in the genus Speotyto, DNA evidence has caused it to be reclassified in the genus Athene which gets its name from the Greek goddess Athena because Athene noctua was frequently found about the Acropolis and was associated with the goddess. I have adopted Athene cunicularia — an owl that lives in a burrow in the ground — as my spirit animal, since I’m born on the cusp of Taurus (an earth sign) and Gemini (an air sign) , and live on the flatlands at the edge of the Great Plains, which is prime burrowing owl habitat.

I’m currently sitting at my new computer desk, 63 inches of steel and pressboard magnificence, which is long enough to accommodate my tower as well as my printer. The wherewithall to acquire same was my Xmas present from mom. She asked for and has got, but not yet received, three new tops that are less “sporty” (i.e., not sweatshirts). She’ll get them when I go over to Carillon House to bring her over for Xmas dinner at Pointe Plaza. I have to sew name tags on and write her room number in them so (touch wood!) she’ll get them back from the laundry. The predicted high for Xmas day is 73 F/22.7 C, which is ridiculous, but since I have to wheel mom outside to get her to Pointe Plaza, works out OK.

Yesterday, KC, a long-time knitting friend, came by for lunch and we sat and knitted for a while. It was very calm and sane and lovely. Also much-needed.

Latticia; Short, Sweet and Nubby; Waves in a Wine-Dark Sea, and Smuggler’s Moon shawls,
current works in progress.

KC showed me this pattern, which I promptly bought, and now I’ve been thinking which of the new yarn I just got would do it the most justice. It’s a simple garter stitch semicircular shawl with the three-stitch upper border set off by yarn-overs, and a knitted on edging. It’s very similar to this one that I’ve already done, but it was done in worsted-weight acrylic yarn. I want this new one to be done in “proper” yarn — like Malabrigo sock. However, I need to go on a “finish it” tear and finish some WIPs. I think next week I’m going to block some acrylic shawls I’ve been needing to block for quite a while. I need to free up some drawer space in my stash bin. I also need to WIP it and finish some of my languishing projects.

At the moment, I’m listening to a Mozart playlist on YouTube, as I type, and am quaffing Stash Tea’s “Breakfast in Paris” blend hot with a blop of vanilla almond milk in it. (How civilized!) Knitting to Mozart is just so calming and restful. Soma FM‘s Drone Zone channel for the tricky knitting and Mozart for the meditative bits. The soundtracks of my life.

For those new to this blog, I do bits of creative writing, which I publish here: There’s a new post up, featuring a certain mustachioed person and a certain dog as supporting characters. It’s in a somewhat lighter vein than previous posts.