Tree

Trees, it turns out, have a totally different way of communicating: they use scent.

~ Peter Wohlleben

- - - - -

People always joke about geometry in high school and how they never use it after they graduate. Well, let me tell you that the other day I used it to determine the perimeter of a flower bed that I might put in around a tree.

I used geome-tree.

Travel

Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.

~ Ernest Hemingway

- - - - -

We didn't go to Canada last year because of the pandemic. If we go this year Leslie thinks we should take Lily. This is not a photo of Lily. This is a photo of Bill's dog Zeke. I think Lily would like Zeke. I think she would like Canada. I don't know if she (or I) would like the drive to get there. 

(pause)

Because I know she's not going to drive her fair share at all. Not even close.

Camera

The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.

~ Dorothea Lange

- - - - -

Sometimes I scroll through my blog photos and I think about all of the amazing things I have seen. And then some voice inside of me says, "Have you really SEEN things, Michelle? Or did you simply photograph them?" And I tell that voice, "You're an idiot. Of course I saw them. I had to see them to take the photo. So shut up." And also that voice isn't actually inside of me. It's usually my brother Kirk who is a doofus and ruins everything. 

Marriage

Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads, which sew people together through the years.

~ Simone Signoret

- - - - - 

I do not like that imagery.

But anyway, happy anniversary Abbie & Andy. I hope your day is sew nice.

 

Good

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.

~ Lao Tzu

- - - - -

My mentor, Dr. Frank Robinson, wouldn't let me submit evaluations of my staff that said they "Did a good job" or "Their work was really good" on a given project. He said, "You need to be more specific. Don't just use the word "good."

That's why all my staff got horrible evaluations. Frank told me I couldn't tell them they did a good job. Sorry staff. 

Church

Don't clap too hard - it's a very old building.

~ John Osborne

- - - - -

Sometimes I think I might like to renovate an old church and live in there. But then I think I don't want to get all those sins from other people on me, so maybe I don't want to live in an old church. I'm okay wearing my own sins since I made them myself. Other people's sins might kind of gross me out, though. 

I have a hard enough time with putting my hands in other people's jacket pockets and feeling crumbs. I don't need to put my hands in their lived experiences and feel their sins.

Incidentally, putting my hands in their jacket pockets is how I got all this money so I can renovate an old church and live there.
 

Fog

To find yourself, think for yourself.

~ Socrates

- - - - -

To find yourself when lost in the fog, think about yourself lost in the fog. Then think the opposite of that.

You're welcome.

Building

Architects may come, and architects may go

And never change your point of view

~ Paul Simon

- - - - -

I really love architecture. I think in another life I would like to be an architect. But I want to be a really good one who also makes a hit album and then wins an Academy Award for best original screenplay.

My dreams for this life aren't so grand. I just want to enjoy sunrises and sunsets and beauty in the world and to win an Academy Award for best original screenplay.

Gardening

All gardeners know better than other gardeners.

~ Chinese Proverb

- - - - -

While I generally agree that this is true, it is not at all true for me. I am confident that no matter how much I learn and how much I grow and how many gardens I have, I will never know more about gardening that my neighbor Betty. She can grow everything. I feel like sometimes she accidentally grows things like tomatoes and watermelon. She always shares and she is more than willing to answer my questions. 

And there are other people who are better gardeners than I am besides Betty, too. I have some imposter phenomenon when it comes to my gardening ability. And those seeds were planted a long, long time ago.

Care

You have to take care of the heart as well as taking care of the conversation.

~ Jordan Childs

- - - - -

Lately I have been more successful at practicing the "It it won't matter in five years, don't give it more than five minutes of your time today" idea. I get very stressed about things sometimes. I worry I am letting people down or that they think I'm a doofus because I messed something up.

I'm sure there will be stressful times in the future when I will fall into old patterns, but as the saying goes, "Better to fall into old patterns than into a drainage ditch of broken glass." 

Air

If you try to look up quotations about the air, don't enter "air quotes" or you just get a lot of photos of those finger quotes people use when they are being sarcastic or ironic or annoying.

~ Michelle L. Boettcher

- - - - -

Today the evening air was cool. The humidity had been broken by an unexpected thunderstorm that - while brief - was effective. After dinner and conversation, I sat in the living room and appreciated how the air felt. 

I decided to go sit on the sun porch with the slider open and enjoy the air a bit more. As I opened the slider, I saw the wasp I had killed earlier that day on it's back by the track of the door. It had disappeared when I sprayed it with Raid. I was pretty confident it was dead, but relieved that I found it's carcass.

While I felt that the air was lighter before, it felt even more so now that my nemesis - well, one of them - had been destroyed. If that makes me a superhero or a supervillain I am not sure. 

(pause)

Probably a superhero. Have you met me? Also, I am not sure supervillains ever really appreciate how the air feels unless it's filled with green laughing gas or something. And I don't like that much at all.

Relaxing

I've decided to be happy because it is good for my health.

~ Voltaire

- - - - -

I think what helps children relax and what helps grown ups relax is pretty much the same thing: when grown ups back off and quit getting on our nerves.

Shack

The sign says: Woo. Stay Away Fools.

~ The B-52s

- - - - -

Actually the sign said, "Armed Patrols. Trespassers Arrested. Beware of Dog," but Leslie ignored them and hiked through there anyway!

Tomato

When I was in kindergarten, I had one line in a little play. I said, "I am Patrick Potato and this is my cousin Mrs. Tomato," and I heard laughter. I wanted to be an actress from that moment on.

~ Doris Roberts

- - - -

You know the name "Bloody Mary" is pretty gross for a drink. It's not like we have a "Scabby Pete" salad or a "Sloppy Joe" sandwich. 

Awesssome

We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the game.

~ Randy Pausch

- - - - -

Is being awesome something you achieve or just are? 

HINT: I know the answer, I'm just testing you.

Sing

I'd like to teach the world to sing

In perfect harmony...

~ Greenaway, Cook, Davis, & Backer

- - - - -

I do not want to teach the world to sing. For one thing I imagine that would take a LOT of time and I'm pretty busy. Also, I'm not qualified to teach that.

Travel

Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.

~ Anita Desai

- - - - -

I think when I retire I would like to get a vehicle like this and drive all over the country. Probably not this exact one, though. That little dog was pretty happy and I'm not really interested in stealing cars. I'd like my drive all over the country to be a bit more "leisure" and a bit less "on the lam."

Plus, I'd be pretty noticeable in this vehicle.

(pause)

Not that I've given it a lot of thought or anything.

 

Ideas

An idea that is not dangerous is not worthy of being called an idea at all.

~ Oscar Wilde

- - - - -

 I like this dog. Sometimes we just hang out together and rest. I don't think either one of us falls asleep sometimes, but it's nice. It's relaxing.

When I'm relaxed sometimes I have ideas. Like the other day when we were relaxing and I was watching the ceiling fan go around and around. I thought, "I have a great idea for a new kid's toy." My idea was to have there be a kid's tattoo kit. It would involve a mannequin and some markers. Maybe stencils. It wouldn't be a full body, just the head and shoulders maybe. Like those kid beauty salon things. Kids could give the customer a shoulder tattoo or something.

Of course this could lead to an increase in face tattoos down the line if we don't give them legs or feet or whatever to tattoo.

I didn't mean to imply that all the ideas I have are good. 

I think this is a good idea, though.

Nephew

One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my little nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old, burned out warehouse. "Oh no, " I said. "Disneyland burned down." He cried and cried, but I think that deep down he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive to the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late.

~ Jack Handey

- - - - -

This pandemic is stupid.  I haven't gotten to see my nephew Zak in person for over a year. I hope I get to see him soon. I have a surprise for him. I won't tell you what it is, but it involves a drive and Zak being tricked. The rest will remain a mystery. 

For now.

Trespassing

Jesus taught us to pray, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us," not forgive us and smite those bastards who hurt us.

~ Nadia Bolz-Weber 

- - - - -

I'm glad that's not what Jesus taught us because while I try to be a good person and make good choices, I don't doubt for a second that I'd have been smote by now. Or maybe others would have just been smitten by me. Probably the latter.

Dead

In one aspect, yes, I believe in ghosts, but we create them. We haunt ourselves.

~ Laurie Halse Anderson

- - - - -

I'm not scared of ghosts. I'm scared ghosts will kill me.

Think

Sometimes you gotta just chill. You gotta chill your thinking process.

~ Ghostface Killah

- - - - -

Easier said than done, Ghostface. Easier said than done.

Wanting

By desiring little, a poor man makes himself rich.

~ Democritus

- - - - -

Similarly, by desiring much, a rich man makes himself poor.

Finally, by desiring medium, a medium man makes himself a medium and since he can tell the future he can then make himself rich.

Fears

He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.

~ Aristotle

- - - - -

I have not overcome my fears.

And if you say that you wouldn't be terrified if this suddenly appeared above you, you have not overcome your alethophobia.

Abandoned

Wherever you are is the entry point.

~ Kabir

- - - - -

When I see abandoned houses, I think about the dreams that went into building them. So many hopes and dreams. Maybe if instead of hopes and dreams they had used more nails some of those houses wouldn't be in such rough shape.

Morning

Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.

~ Meister Eckhart

- - - - -

And be willing to be a quitter every single night.

                                           ~ Michelle Boettcher

Sunday

                     Happy Easter.                                           

 

House

Love is like a brick. You can build a house or you can sink a dead body.

~ Lady Gaga

- - - - -

Okay, so here is something I just learned... "spinning house" according to Merriam Webster: a former house of correction for prostitutes especially in England in which inmates were often made to work at spinning.

How does this change the meaning of The Wizard of Oz since Dorothy's house was spinning in a tornado, you ask? 

Why are you asking that? 

Learning

Life is like the river, sometimes it sweeps you gently along and sometimes the rapids come out of nowhere.

~ Emma Smith

- - - - -

I am a fan of mistakes and failure. These are steps to doing something better. They are essential to learning and growth. I make mistakes every day. If I learn from even 10% of them, that's pretty huge.

Sometimes I know right away that I've made a mistake. Sometimes it takes longer. Sometimes I know right away something I can learn from the mistake. Sometimes it takes longer.

One time I made a mistake in sending a private message to someone when I meant to send a private message to myself. I send messages to myself a lot when I see things I want to read or think more deeply about. Or things I think are funny or interesting that I might want to use for something later on.

However, when I made this mistake, I realized it was a mistake and had to apologize for it. And I tried to explain that I meant to send it to myself, but I'm not sure if the person believed me or not. 

Anyway, this is what I mistakenly sent to a Michelle who was not me: