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Robin Hobb's Infrequent and Off Topic Blog

February 28 Buy Nothing

February 28, 2025
Ladybug on a bathroom faucet.

Yes.  I have ladybugs in my house.  For better or worse, my home is pretty permeable to them.  It's not as bad as the old house, which I shared with a number of friendly residents: possums and raccoons in the attic, all matter of insects inside.

 

Every fall, the ladybugs invade, looking for a place to hibernate for the winter.  And I am alwasy astonished that such tiny pieces of life can enter my home, hide behind a picutre on the wall or up im the corner of the ceiling, and be still for months.  Then, when spring touches the house and the sunlight comes in the windows, there they are!  And I open the windows and take out the (ineffective) screen and spend a pleasant quarter hour watching them open their little red and black shells, put out their lacy black wings and take flight.  What a miracle.

 

As for my title to this blog, like a lot of US Citizens, I am having a 'Buy Nothing' day.  It's a quiet protest to some things my federal government is doing.  Will it be noticed?  Unlikely.  

 

But on this day, I will instead donate.  Used items, clean and folded and sorted, will go to a second hand store instead of into a landfill.

 

Then I'm going down to the Yelm School district offices.  For the second time, our school district levy failed.  The levy would have added $2.50 cents to my property taxes per $1000 of value.  Not a lot, but my local schools depend on it.  So today, I will go into the offices and write a check for that amount and donate it to the school.  I can ear mark it for lunches or the arts or sports, etc.  It's a tough choice.  They are all important.

 

I don't understand how people can think that art and music are 'extras' in a kid's education.   Or food!   

 

I'm 72.  One of the worst things I can imagine is being 82, and the kids that are 8 right now are 18 and voting, but they don't read well or understand statistics.  Or worse, they don't vote at all because they were never taught about how democracy works.  Undereducated people are a shame to my country and my city. 

 

So I'm going to put my money on the table.  I don't have any kids or grandkids in the Yelm school system anymore.  But everyone one of those kids can impact my life for the next (X) number of years that I am alive here.  I want them to have the best education they can get.

 

So that's my rant for the day.  And yes, I'm letting the ladybugs overwinter in my house!

 

Robin

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Evolution of a Writers' Refuge

February 2, 2025
The main table at the Writers Refuge.

Yesterday, Feb 1, six writers gathered at the 35617 S R 507 S in McKenna WA.  We were a diverse group, with backgroiunds in film, theater, gaming, mainstream and fantasy writing.  But it was a very congenial group, and I was pleased at how quickly lap tops were opened and the writing commensed.

 

As mentioned before, the idea is to provide a space where writers of any ilk can find a couple of distraction free hours to work.  Today I was down there by myself from 1-4, and I was very pleased at how much work I got done on my edits of a first draft.  Coffee, tea and cookies were available, but I could not suddenly decide to run the vacuum or do a load of laundry, or any of hte other tasks I give myself when I get stuck on a project.  I made a great deal of forward progress.

 

If you live in the vicinity of McKenna (Or don't mind a long drive!) and would like to know when the room is open, please send me an email at Robinhobb@robinhobb.com and I will add you to the mailing address.  At this time, it looks as if Friday, Saturday and Sunday are the best times for people to gather.  But there will also be hours when I am just there working alone, and if anyone wants to come and silently work at the same table, that would be fine.  

 

The space there continues to evolve and I hope it will become more pleasant as time goes by.

 

My other projects this week are to learn more about beekeeping.  I have a hive box now, and extra boxes to add on top as the hive prospers. (I hope!)  My next step is to order bees.  I can just order a box of bees to put in the hive, and give them food and so on until they establish themselves.  Or I can order a nuc.  That is where I buy several frames that have some honey and brood in them already, and some bees and a queen that has already made a mating flight.  Tomorrow there is another meeting of the Pierce County Beekeeping Association and I hope to attend and learn enough to make a valid decision.

 

If feels odd to be ordering flower seeds and thinking of bees when she just had our first snowfall.  It wasn't deep, and it melted off the roads almost immediately.  But I do think we are going to have a prolonged winter this year.  The weather man says that the nights are going to continue to drop down below freezing.  I'm goimg throug a lot of birdeseed and chicken feed keeping my birdfeeders and chicken troughs full.  

 

Currently, my evenings entertainment is writing to my congressional senators and representatives, and any other politician that I think is doing a good job.  I like to send real letters, but I encourage anyone who wants to share thoughts with any government official to send a letter or an email.  It's very satisfying to think that my lone voice might be heard, and in some way encourage people who are working long hours for their constituency.  

 

And I've nothing else to share.  So it's time to shut the laptop and plan tomorrow.  I hope you all had good days today!

 

 

 

 

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