Simone Jester

Today we went to Mattoon.

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Today is partly cloudy and hot.

I fed the birds.  Lots of sparrows and house finches today.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/10/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I've seen a male cardinal.

I picked several groundcherries.

EDIT 9/10/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 9/10/25 -- I watered the new picnic table, telephone pole garden, and some of the savanna seedlings.

Cicadas and crickets are singing.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.
 

Library Loot on chroniclesofreading 
Library Loot is a weekly event that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.
See the tag feed.

Today is mostly sunny and warm.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, plus one tiny brownish-olive bird I couldn't identify.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I bagged up 21 Ginger Gold apple seeds with damp sand to cold-stratify in the refrigerator.

I watered the telephone pole garden and some of the savanna seedlings.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I did some work around the yard.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I did more work around the yard.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I watered the irises.

EDIT 9/9/25 -- I watered the old picnic table plants and the new picnic table plants.

I picked some groundcherries.  :D

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.
 

This month's theme was "Communication Styles." I wrote from 1:30 PM to 3:45 AM, so about 11 hours 45 minutes, allowing for lunch and supper breaks. I wrote 5 poems on Tuesday and actually finished everything. \o/

Participation was about the same, with 6 comments on LiveJournal and another 30 on Dreamwidth. A total of 9 people sent prompts.


Read Some Poetry!
The following poems from the September 2, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl have been posted:

"Bring Unique Qualities"
"For Those Who Work at It"
"The Only Thing That You Absolutely Have to Know"
"A Reader, an Interpreter, and a Creator"
"Simple and to the Point"


Buy some poetry!
The September fishbowl sold out! Wow, that hasn't happened in a while. You are all awesome.

If you've been wanting to sponsor an older poem, or commission something new, now is a good time -- I have time to post things. Ask me if you need a list of available poems in your favorite series, characters, topics, etc.


This month's donors include: janetmiles and fuzzyred. All sponsored poems from this fishbowl have been posted. There are 0 tallies toward a bonus fishbowl.


The Poetry Fishbowl has a landing page.

This poem came out of the September 2, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from mama_kestrel and librarygeek. It also fills the "patch" square in my 9-1-25 card for the Piracy Bingo Fest. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the Rutledge thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

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These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Mantra
Today's Cooking
Poem
Green Energy
Birdfeeding
Crafts
Birdfeeding
Artificial Intelligence
Philosophical Questions: Economy
Climate Change
Neighborly Request
Today's Adventures
Friday Five
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 9-5-25: Internet
Food
Affordable Housing
Birdfeeding
Bad Advice
Hobbies: Sewing
Wildlife
Education
Hard Things

Let's Boycott Mississippi has 54 comments. Affordable Housing has 41 comments. Robotics has 68 comments. Food has 37 comments. "Philosophical Questions: Looks" has 53 comments.


summerofthe69 has concluded. See Closing Ceremonies for a list of all works. The Amnesty post is also up.


"An Inkling of Things to Come" belongs to Polychrome: Shiv and needs $200 to be complete. Shiv attends the first session of his Worldbuilding class.


The weather is still mild to warm and quite dry. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a gray catbird, a male rose-breasted grosbeak, and a gray squirrel. Currently blooming: dandelions, pansies, violas, marigolds, petunias, red salvia, verbena, lantana, sweet alyssum, zinnias, snapdragons, blue lobelia, perennial pinks, oxalis, moss rose, yarrow, firecracker plant, tomatoes, tomatillos, yellow squash, zucchini, morning glory, purple echinacea, chicory, Queen Anne's lace, sunflowers, cup plant, firewheel, cypress vine, sunchokes, sedum. Tomatoes, ball carrots, cucumbers, and groundcherries are ripe.

We were watching Miraculous Ladybug tonight, and one of the characters said something that sounded very useful to me: "My anger is mine, but I am not my anger."  It seems like an effective way to acknowledge any overwhelming emotion without letting it run away with you.

I finished one of my unfinished poems from a while back. \o/

"When Everyone Around You Has Theirs Bowed"
Story Date: Sunday, April 6, 2014
Summary: Therapy for men's genital injury tends to focus on loss, but Marvis Willing knows the proud history of eunuchs.
304 lines, Buy It Now = $152

Today is sunny and mild, a beautiful fall day.  :D

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/7/25 -- I took some pictures around the yard.

I picked 6 groundcherries.

EDIT 9/7/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/7/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 9/7/25 -- I hauled out the hose to water the new picnic table and the septic garden.

EDIT 9/7/25 -- I watered the patio plants, old picnic table, and house yard plants.

EDIT 9/7/25 -- We reeled up the hose.

I watered the telephone pole garden and the savanna seedlings.

Crickets are singing.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night. 

Today is mostly cloudy and mild.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 9/6/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/6/25 -- I watered the patio plants and the old picnic table plants.

EDIT 9/6/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/6/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 9/6/25 -- I watered the irises, the telephone pole garden, and a few of the savanna plants.

EDIT 9/6/25 -- I watered the new picnic table garden and the septic garden.

I am done for the night.

Today we went to the Broomcorn Festival in Arcola. This is a big harvest festival, well worth catching, and it runs the whole weekend if you want to check it out. The weather was beautiful, cloudy and mild, couldn't ask for better weather.

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Today is cloudy and mild.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/5/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/5/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/5/25 -- I watered the old picnic table, new picnic table, telephone pole garden, and a few of the savanna seedlings.

I picked 2 yellow pear tomatoes.

Cicadas and crickets are singing.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.

How Parking Day Brought This Louisiana City Back to Life

To break the impasse, the city of Lafayette partnered with a local nonprofit to host a Park(ing) Day event. Together, they installed 16 temporary parklets throughout the downtown, several of which simulated outdoor dining areas. “People enjoyed the experience, and it allowed downtown business owners and stakeholders to experience the change in a temporary way,” explained Carlee Alm-LaBar, then Lafayette’s planning director and now Strong Towns’ chief of staff. “They started to see the vision of how Lafayette could use its public space differently and how it might bring more energy to the downtown neighborhood.”

That experience mattered. Less than a year later, the city passed an ordinance allowing for parklets and outdoor dining to be built in former parking spots.


Other things you can playtest with this method:

* food truck parks

* busk stops

* pop-up shops (e.g. selling local art, fresh produce, seasonal decor)

* skateable / climbable sculptures

* new types of public seating

Today is partly sunny and mild.  It dribbled a bit last night, just enough to rinse some of the dust off the leaves, not enough to do any real good.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/4/25 -- We got the cover fully back over the septic tank. \o/

I saw a gray squirrel.  This one looked adult or nearly so.  Last fall we had a young one arrive, but it was only here for a month or two before disappearing, presumably eaten.  I hope this one sticks around.  We have grays occasionally, and they make a nice contrast to the established fox squirrels, but they've never managed a breeding population.

EDIT 9/4/25 -- I gathered a large amount of Shithouse Marigold seeds.  :D

I've seen a gray catbird and a male rose-breasted grosbeak.  It looks like the fall migration is starting.

EDIT 9/4/25 -- I gathered a large amount of small yellow and orange marigold seeds.  

EDIT 9/4/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/4/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

*goflopnow*