Top 10 Tuesday

1. This photo of 2017's Great American Eclipse

Swoon, right? Upon (safely) looking at a total solar eclipse, or even pictures of it, you often forget that the darkness eclipsing our miraculous, life-giving sun is the moon itself. What is an actual celestial body superseding the all-too-well-known day-dwelling sun simply appears to be just a form of darkness--easily mistaken as some kind of shadow. Not an actual body. Not just an actual orb of rocky, crater-pocked terrain. In the case of a total solar eclipse, the shadow is on you, the darkness that envelopes you. This photo, captured by the HDR (high-dynamic range) astrophotographer Nicolas Lefaudeux captures that essence of an actual form, an actual rock (our lovely Luna), eclipsing the sun. For those of you who do not know, taking photographs like this takes a whole lot more than being at the right place at the right time with the right, expensive camera equipment. As you already know, the total solar eclipse last year lasted only so long, depending on where you were geographically located. This specific photo (which captures not only the eclipse, but the corona [rays of prominent light], the blue star Regulus to the left, and Mars, the red dot on the right) is actually 120 pictures over a period of only 100 seconds. Special software is used to stack these dozens of photos to create one miraculous image. That, in a nut shell, is how you also see gorgeous photos of the milky way, galaxies, etc. What a work of art.

2. "Life Crisis" by River Whyless--I haven't listened to any other songs this band has composed because this has been on replay for about a week now. I absolutely love it.

3. "Where is My Mind" performed on the piano by Maxence Cyrin--I've been listening to a lot of contemporary piano lately (such as Yann Tiersen). I couldn't help but think it was an instrumental of Coldplay's "Fix You", but it isn't. Here is the video so you can enjoy it, too.

4. My "art studio"--So lately, I have been listening to the above-mentioned songs and getting lost in making art in my little "studio" I set up in my basement. It's a success, I must say, because once I'm listening to the right music and in "the zone", the black mold, dim light, washing-machine, and dryer don't exist to me at all. Nothing a little bit of good music, inspiration, art supplies, and vodka can't cure. I'm no artist or anything; I purely get joy out of creating things for people and for my own pleasure, no matter how awful it turns out. I haven't really created anything in years, so here is a little something that I did over the weekend with watercolor markers. It's what you get when you mix a love for topography maps, birds, and vodka.

5. I voted today--Brian and I walked in the cool November drizzle to the voting polls this morning. On Tuesdays, I work both jobs so we both looked forward to coming home in the late evening to watch the results together. A lot of people want to ignore this part of the process, which is totally understandable, but we're very drawn to the numbers, statistics, etc. Brian keeps up with the Tweets on Twitter. I tune in and out while reading a book (and writing this blog). I have nothing political to say--when I even begin to try, it turns into talking about character, being good, doing good, and all things egalitarian. As an average, flawed, ignorant person, I only know my common sense.

6. "Futile Devices" by Sufjan Stevens--Came across this song during my brief hiatus from the above songs mentioned. What can I say--music is wonderful. Many people recognize this song from the popular film "Call Me By Your Name" (which is based off this novel) and it has been considered an anthem for the LGBTQ community (listen to the lyrics). BUT! The reason I love this song--besides the gorgeous singing and instrumentals--is that the song could easily be interpreted as a pet's point-of-view toward its owner. A pet, frustrated that it cannot express its compassion for its human due to the communication barrier. Haha! Check it out.

7. Fall Foliage Walk--Brian, Silas, and I went for a hike on Saturday during central Pennsylvania's peak foliage. We went to Plummer's Hollow Road in Tyrone and hiked to the top of the mountain that the Bonta family calls their home. It was a gorgeous day and the sun did come out at the right moments to illuminate the leaves. Silas was joyous as usual.

8. The Last Drive--I'm very sad to say that my 2009 Hyundai Accent (my adventure wagon) has kicked the bucket. However, my last successful drive in the little orange steed took Brian, Silas, and I on the hike above. We took the scenic route to Tyrone from Altoona, the windows down for Silas to stick out his head. We remarked on how the perfect autumnal light illuminated the ridge parallel to Interstate 99. It was a nice, safe, final trip to do something we all loved. Together. The next day, on Sunday, I hopped in the car with Silas to go for a run in the game lands but white smoke blew out my tail pipe and my car stuttered its way through town. Once I got to Frankstown Road and started going up the steep grade, my car didn't was reluctant to accelerate, so I drove back down the mountain and went home. Monday morning, I tried again to go to work. When I accelerated, the car went backwards. I don't want to say that the car was done. Things can always be fixed and I'm sorry to say that I was finished with the fixing. I drove that commuter car everywhere for nearly 10 years. I love it dearly.

I'd like to thank a few of my friends who have helped me the past couple of years when my little puddle-jumper was having issues. Mandi for picking me up at the dealership and letting me use your car to go to work at Yuri's. Carol for dropping me off, picking me up, and offering to drive. Maddie for driving on all of our farther-away adventures. Brian for everything. I'm probably missing others, but thanks.

9. My new car--The good news is that I got the car I've been wanting since I was a child.

I got a 2019 Subaru Forester. I will be taking it everywhere. I will be camping in it everywhere. There are going to be so many good times, so many good mountains, so many good miles, smiles, laughs, and adventures--solo and with those who want to join me. I am very excited and very fortunate.

10. Free Weekend--This past weekend, Brian and I didn't have to be anywhere or do anything. We're not used to this. We're always on-the-go. It was nice to wake up early together, spend time together, and spend time apart. It was nice to not wonder how the apartment was doing because I wasn't in it. It was nice to get a lot of done and be productive in the apartment and have time to actually relax at the end of the evening. It was nice to make him dinner. It was nice for him to make me breakfast. It was nice to hibernate in my basement studio while he watched football in the living room. We went to the gym, went for a hike, and did all the boring things that need to be done (cleaning, shopping, etc.). The simple things are nice, too.

I'm grateful.