Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Bloodchild

Here's my pour-over morning coffee. Please join the T Stands for Tuesday blogger gathering where we share a post with a drink in it and visit with one another. All are welcome.


Bloodchild is a science fiction short story by Octavia Butler. You can read it online here. It begins,
My last night of childhood began with a visit home. T’Gatoi’s sister had given us two sterile eggs. T’Gatoi gave one to my mother, brother, and sisters. She insisted that I eat the other one alone. It didn’t matter. There was still enough to leave everyone feeling good. Almost everyone. My mother wouldn’t take any. She sat, watching everyone drifting and dreaming without her. Most of the time she watched me.

I lay against T’Gatoi’s long, velvet underside, sipping from my egg now and then, wondering why my mother denied herself such a harmless pleasure. Less of her hair would be gray if she indulged now and then. The eggs prolonged life, prolonged vigor. My father, who had never refused one in his life, had lived more than twice as long as he should have. And toward the end of his life, when he should have been slowing down, he had married my mother and fathered four children.

But my mother seemed content to age before she had to.
*******

The rains came back Sunday night and are still adding to our unusually high rain amounts. The patio suffered from the recent sudden freeze (not the snow, because it didn't get cold enough to hurt anything, but the actual hard freeze before that). My poor hydrangea!

The honeysuckle is showing signs of blooming:


The mint is coming back nicely:


I'm hoping the Dogwood tree (left below) survived in its pot. It wasn't happy being moved. The rosemary has over-wintered well this year.


I'll be happy when it's dry enough and warm enough to have morning coffee out on the patio, but for now I'm enjoying my view looking out at it.

21 comments:

  1. Fabulous post! I'm loving the pale blue mug and it looks like spring is on its way looking at your patio 😀. I did some gardening last week, we have lots of leaves appearing too! Over the weekend storms started here and we still have very high winds today, we had torrential train on Sunday and hailstones yesterday as well, hopefully it should be calmer tomorrow 😁. Happy T Tuesday! Hugs, Jo x

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  2. Interesting short-story. I haven't heard of the author. Your garden looks so green and a nice view to enjoy your morning coffee. Still too early and cold for any shoots or buds to appear here. Happy T Day

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  3. Beautiful photos.

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  4. Oh you have green. Spring. I can't image spring in February but oh I do wish for it. We have more snow and then bitter cold coming later this week. Big frown on my face, but your patio is starting to look lovely! Enjoy-when it is not raining that is. Hope the hydrangea makes it. Hugs-Erika

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  5. Good morning, I love pour over coffee-I think the brew comes out much smoother.
    I was wondering if you got any ice or snow. Most things should winter over pretty well. dogwoods can be touchy though when moved. I am anxious for warmer days too so I can sit out on our deck for my drink. Happy T hugs Kathy

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    1. We got a taste of snow, and we got so excited! I added a video and some photos to this post:
      https://divers-and-sundry.blogspot.com/2020/02/a-lack-of-order-in-floating-object-room.html
      It was gone early the next day.

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    2. I enjoyed the video-thanks

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  6. Soon, soon, we will hopefully be able to drink our morning coffee outside again, nice thought. Your plants are doing better than mine! The story sounds rather strange....Happy T Day, Valerie

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  7. ...my wife has a one cup coffee maker like this that she uses when we travel.

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  8. Ohhh, the mint, you caught me with that!
    Oh, I do hope for spring!!! Soon! I might have a coffee on you on the balcony (pardon if it´ll be a tea instead!, but on you!).

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  9. I like your coffee pour and had I not seen your post before, I would not have remembered I could do something similar when my electricity was out for so long last year. I just put my basket with coffee over my big mug and poured hot water in. I really like this idea.

    Gosh, I can't believe your rosemary overwinters outside. You sure live in a different zone than I, because mine would freeze. Mint, on the other hand, comes back year after year. I hope the hard freeze didn't do too much damage to your plants and they survive and thrive.

    Thanks for sharing your coffee, your sci-fi story, and your plants on your patio for T this Tuesday, dear friend.

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  10. You use my favorite method to make coffee (smile). I am also anxious for spring. We've had lots of wind the last couple days with branches down everywhere but no serious damage that I know of.

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  11. Don’t you just love seeing buds appearing, makes you feel that spring is on its way. I miss spring bulbs living in Spain as they don’t grow where we live, it goes from warm to hot quite quickly.
    Happy T day
    Jan x

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  12. Your plants are looking good, its nice to see the new growth after the winter season.
    It also sounds a good short story to read as well.
    Happy T day wishes.
    Yvonne xx

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  13. I've just finished reading the story. Very thought provoking. It seems to be about humans living with large insects and being their servants or pets, living on a reservation. Men become egg carriers, one per family. A bit of Stockholm syndrome thrown into the mix... Very interesting.
    Happy T-Day,
    Hugs,
    Lisca

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  14. That short story is very intriguing. I've added it to my ever growing list of stories to read.

    I hope your plants survive the sudden freeze. I have a dogwood tree that has suffered with deformed flower blossoms in years where we had freezing rain during the Winter. :-(

    Happy T-Day!

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  15. I'm with you about longing for warmer sunnier days to enjoy that first beverage of the morning on the patio.

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  16. Another author I han't heard of. Interesting short story. I hope the sudden freeze didn't do too much damage. It's nice to see the new growth as winter comes to a close.

    Happy T-day! Eileen xx

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  17. Love that line in the part of the story you shared-"less of her hair would be grey if she indulged now and then" :) How nice to see some blooms beginning. Nothing here yet... happy belated T Day!

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  18. An interesting short story. Hope the plants survive !
    Big hugs,
    Susi

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  19. You'll be able to get out on your patio a lot sooner than I will--hehe! We've got a current wind chill of -44. Blizzard but with not a ton of snow. Nice to be inside and cuddly warm. :)

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