Umbrella Weather

The gray and rain has finally settled in. It's kind of comforting to look out the droplet splattered windows and see the grass and garden just drinking it all in. The dust of summer all rinsed away, it feels moist, fresh and plump again. What I do miss is the daylight. It's dark in the morning until my day is well under way. And then it pretty much stays dark and cloudy through the afternoon, until it gets dark again in the early evening. Dark, dark, dark. Flipping the light switches in every room no matter what time it is. Sort of cave-like around here.

The Vasa Park show opened last night with quite a flurry of activity. Char is there painting eggs. Francesca is there with her lovely hand-decorated glass ornaments. A bevy of food giftie things. Wreaths and arrangements. Little mounds of pumpkins and witchie poos. Rebecca has her incredible hand-stitched baby blankies and wash cloths, plus new tooth fairy pouches. Hopefully the parking lot will stay packed for the next few days, and all the hard work of these gals will be carted off to a new home.

I'm working ahead all week on stockpiling what I think I'll need for the next few weeks. All the little pieces too, like price tags, shipping supplies, labels. Getting all my orders in for packaging supplies so they'll arrive in time for the mad rush. And putting the finishing touches on the mailing so it can be trotted over to the printer in the next few days. So many details to hold onto at once in my little old swimming head. Ooof. I think I've got it all under control and have written list after list so I don't forget anything. But I'm sure there will be something to panic about later.

Diane Sawyer is in North Korea all week. The only American journalist allowed in the country. She's been doing little reports on Good Morning America every morning, split into about 2-3 segments between 7-8am. It's fascinating. She's done interviews with military and government representatives, but mostly she's talking to the everyday people -- kids in schools, visiting homes and showing us what they have in their fridge and bedrooms, chatting with people on their way to work and university about how they feel, stopping in the beauty parlor and showing them Elle Magazine. It's so alien, so foreign - the brain washing and isolation of an entire nation would be unbelievable if I hadn't actually seen it myself through her eyes.

Random brain emptying after only half a cup of coffee. That's that. Shrug. A little peek inside my stew -- dark vs light, whether lavender oil causes young men to grow breasts (NY Times article 10/16), craft shows becoming dinosaurs, brainwashing, bling, reinvention, nuclear disaster, Jeffrey winning Project Runway (total ugh), competition healthy or no, taxes are due again, can man survive on cheese chocolate and wine alone . . .