Dear Allison and the Onyx Savant,
I am sorry for wandering off yesterday. I was starting to hurt pretty badly in the afternoon, so I got in the hot tub. It was a therapeutic but painful experience. Not like “Aaaah! I got in the hot tub!” More like a fullback getting in the whirlpool in the locker room. “UEEuurrgh! I got in the dang hot tob.” I get that either way is a privilege, but they are different moods. Anyway, it started raining hard while I was in there. I had all my stuff outside on the table. Well, I did not realise, from my vantage point, that it was raining sideways or whatever. I got out and all of my stuff was soaked, including my electronics and all my paper. So that was a whole whirlwind in itself, running around and swearing and getting out the hair dryer. As your can see from the success in writing this missive, all was not lost. I don’t know if any of my ministrations had any effect at all or if my stuff has just resigned itself to being waterproof around me, but nothing I have discovered thus far was ruined—in terms of electronics. All of my books and papers are still out there this morning as I left them. I just could not even. And the best thing for wet paper that I have discovered in my many years of being a bookworm who is prone to accidents is to leave it alone to dry. If you start moving it all about, it will tear and smear and return to the pulp from whence it came. (You can actually make “new” paper this way, but I believe you need dog urine or the blood of a virginal goat or something.) I have electronic calendars, of course, but my planner is probably more important and sacred and authoritative than any of those. So, Allison, it’s Sunday, so I’m assuming we don’t have an appointment today. Please let me know if you need a ride to church. >.<
I actually know where I left off yesterday. Ms. B kept pestering me and interrupting before all that, so I never got it out. The announcement I have for “Le Monde du Idlewild.” It has to do with an appointment I have…what could it be? It’s a very, very good appointment with someone I think is the knees and ankles and elbows of the bee.
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THE ONYX SAVANT IS COMING TO MY HOUSE NEXT WEEKEND!!!
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(Pardon me, but Mr. H came out of his bedroom, all full-frontal Peter Griffin. He needed help with the pets. I wasn’t nice to him, I admit. I told him he didn’t need help; he wanted help. And that I wouldn’t help him. But I did anyway. I am too angry right now and need to get myself together. Now back to the tremendously exciting news.)
OOOOOOHHHHH!!! I am soooo excited! Dare I emit a girlishly gleeful squeeee out of earshot of anyone? Not in the middle of any pubs, I swear! In a field or forest somewhere, mebbe?? If a Case Study #69 squeeees alone in the forest, does it make a sound? (That was actually sadder than I’d meant it to be. Oh bother.) I still haven’t written it down or put it in my planner. Lol. It feels like jinxing it. ;-)
I will have to add a countdown timer to my front page. And I have soooo many lists to make. Not only in relation to this. I have a couple (hundred) other irons in the fire. Seriously, though, we are planning a Samhain gathering on Friday for Kevin’s coworkers. So I need to get my fowl in alignment, as my friend Sam used to say. I am also planning yet another Great Move™️ of my workspace. At least the static version of it. I should always have a portable version to take outside or on my various wanderings. I swear I have been all over this house. I am hoping this one sticks for a year or more.
I pulled my tarot card a few moments ago. I had to dispense with my wrinkly, soggy Rackham deck and use this deck I got off Amazon. It’s pretty but has some issues that make it not my fave for daily use. It’s perfect for my altar, though. The cards are quite large and all black with gold for the drawings and writing. I suppose this gives me an excuse to purchase a new one either at the bookstore or at the pop-up market next weekend. Sigh. Put it on the list. Anyway, it’s a fair warning and makes me more determined to be strategical and pragmatic, in execution if not in dreams. The modern world is toxic. Please stop pointing out how my goals do not align with it. Unless you are complimenting me on my success in disregarding its fumes. “Clever lass!” Or something of the sort.
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Tarot du Jour: Seven of Cups
The Seven of Cups represents creativity, choice, wishful thinking, illusion, thoughts, and imagination.
General: Drawing the Seven of Cups in a reading indicates that you must be able to clearly see the shadows and visions in your imagination, not only in your dreams but also in the real world. You should be wary of wishful thinking and mindful of hte decisions your make. In one sense, the Seven of Cups suggests you are a dreamer who is both excited and terrified by what your see in your unconscious mind.
Love: With the appearance of the Seven of Cups in a love tarot reading, your must make several decisions. If you are single, your may have to choose between two lovers, or between love and family, or between love and career. The Seven of Cups tarot love meaning can also indicate that while all the options appear appealing right now, they may be illusions.
Career: The seven of cups represents a person who is faced with a number of options. If this card appears in relation to your career, you may be presented with a variety of opportunities to advance at work. This variety of options is generally a good thing, but it is important to be mindful of how much time you spend daydreaming about something rather than taking action to make it a reality.
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Oh, please don’t tell the Onyx Savant I got this excited, Allison. He gets skittish. He puts me in mind, attitude-wise, of a yearling stallion we had at the farm. His name was Prince. He was the progeny of my grandfather’s horse, Holly. My grandfather had brought me to see him the morning he was born, all wobbles and spindles and big eyes. He had asked me what I would name the foal, and I told him “Prince,” and so he was. Anyway, as he grew older, he got more rambunctious and mischievous. He was the only male in the pasture at the time, I think. My brother had a pinto pony that was male, Rainbow, but I think he would have been gone by this time. Sold, I mean, because Brother got too big for him. Horses need to be ridden and exercised. But, by this time Prince would have felt like the big man on campus, and he would worry his mother silly by chewing on her tail until it was just a nubbin, poor dear. He would chase my Lady around as well, which was miserable for her because she was very gentle and wanted no beef with anyone and just to chew on her little patch of grass. He was the one who bit me in the face when I was passing out sugar cubes. I was—quite fairly!—passing them out, one by one, to each of the horses, over the fence. Well, Prince did not like that I made him wait his turn, so he nipped me on my cheek. I tried to play it off, but my parents (alarmists!) saw the big, red tooth marks on my face and got mad. At me, to clarify, not at the horse. I was not supposed to be at the pasture without an adult, and I knew the rules. He didn’t break the skin, though, or anything. I was 9 or 10, I think? It was when Pop was informed of the incident that I learned what “gelding” was. Prince was sent off to the appropriate professionals shortly after that.
So, please don’t tell him, as you can see how it moot be. 👀
P.S. Also, I mean nothing unfriendly in comparing homo sapiens to other animals, as I don’t see much of a difference, except humans make less sense, generally. And ethnic background doesn’t seem to matter. Lot of white dudes look like bulldogs and act worse. If you are interested in or entertained by this sort of thing, your should look at the following subreddit. It’s frequently hilarious.
https://www.reddit.com/r/DivorcedBirds/s/4BiIty9fqZ
https://youtu.be/bYTv9qhy94Y?si=l8DVfILAXSKO3aw8
Whew…can your imagine how I was in my “why” phase?? I was in it, and I am now too. 😝 I think that’s all of the early morning thoughts I have right now. Mr. H brought me an egg and cheese biscuit and a cup of coffee from Canal Coffee. He also offered to give me a backrub later and bought me flowers yesterday. And made dinner. Yes, I know what is happening. It’s the Love Blitz. It’s nice, but it doesn’t mean anything without substance. If someone will throw you under the bus, what good are flowers? They’re not even rooted.
At a certain point in the morning, my swing music starts sounding desultory. That’s when I switch to people talking. Usually some excitable woman whom I find admirable and/or adorable and/or inspiring. Or who just happens to be talking about something I want to know about.
Anyway…let’s find someone who can be kind and illuminating as we make all our many plans. And, also yes, Allison, take some action. I am like herding a cat, I’ll tell ya.
https://youtu.be/ydoRAbpWfCU?si=Ya2br7XSCnaxSDhi
Ah, yes, Ruth Goodman is perfect. <3
If I don’t say it later, please know that you are the apples of my eyes, and I wish you’d get out of my way because I can’t see anything with apples in my eyes. 🍎🍏 Truly. Sincerely. Deep and wide, like a fountain flowing, deep and wide.
Ciao, mis amis—
Case Study #69
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| Payee | Payment Due Date | Payment Schedule | Payment Amount | Cost/mo | Cost/yr |
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| Friends of the Pod | 10/25/2025 | annually | $99.90 | $8.33 | $99.90 |
Eastern grey squirrel: I posted this little fellow to iNaturalist and added him to the Natural North Carolina project, which gets used by the NC Museum of Natural Sciences.