Lesson 800: Make the Impossible Possible

Good evening, Readers.

I've reached the 800th blog post tonight.

It may not seem like much of a milestone 

for real news reporting,

or writers with weekly paid gigs.

But for Eloise,

the middle class mom from suburbia,

reports in every Friday night since 2010 

and then some,

800 just doesn't seem possible.

800 straight blog posts 

is about as much as an impossibility

as smoke from still raging wildfires in Canada

reaching the vineyard across the street,

leaving us with unhealthy air quality this week.

Alas,

it IS possible.

Daughter Ellen came home from the Taylor Swift 

Eras Tour concert empowered.

After the initial emotional dip she felt after the concert was over,

she soon lived up to the Swiftie that she is:

Ellen signed up for a half marathon......in July.

Impossible?
No way--says Tay!

Turn that into a song!

Shoes move

to 

this 

sick 

beat!

Eloise loves to accompany people

while they train for challenging things!

Out to the peninsula we went--

We dropped Ellen off at the first parking lot

and went exploring until she found us 

at the Perry Monument.

I love to catch the city view from this angle.

I caught these geese

in a seemingly impossible feat.

In a Make Way for Ducklings moment

they backed up traffic for a bit until they crossed safely.

My students and I gave our Weather Balloon project

another shot.

The project seemed impossible!

With weather delays all winter long,

and a launch that was postponed 

as it was scheduled just three days after the 

spy balloon incident,

it never seemed like this would come to fruition.

With teamwork

we were successful!

The students launched their balloon

at 10:00 am on Thursday

after approval from Erie Air Traffic Control.

We would again like to thank Airgas

with some assistance with the precious helium.

A crowd gathered to watch

at the school and on a live stream.

Up,

up,

and away she flew

The payload was filled with cameras,

tracking devices,

and data collection equipment,

all set up

and determined by the students themselves.

We chased her south of Corry.

I drove the Retrieval Team van.

It's a high point of my career

driving a van full of teenagers

telling me how to drive,

and where to go.

They quietly listened for the beeps of the tracking device.

and kept their eyes to the skiesl

We successfully found the payload,

fully intact,

with all equipment working.

Excellent job!

It doesn't seem possible that plain old beach rocks

could be transformed into something so pretty.

Do you recognize Natalie's hearts?

Basketball?

Say what?

How is this possible?

Winter sport bodies are made in the summer!

Summer bodies crave ice cream.

We stopped at Arby's because the kids wanted to try

the peach milkshakes.

I had to chuckle when I saw this sign

while waiting in the drive thru line.

Then I looked a the sweatshirt I was wearing.

I had an animal stack, too.

Not quite the same meaning, however.

I have exactly 10 minutes left in June,

and I was able to cross off all of my June Jobs!

June is for cleaning the kitchen, living room, and garage.

I attack the bedrooms in July.

And I save the basement for hot, sticky August.

June was also saved for painting the garage floor.

We think looks fantastic!

Abe does not.

Make the impossible possible this weekend.

Eloise

Lesson 799: Stadium

Hello, Readers.

Almost a week has passed 

since our Taylor Swift Eras tour concert

in Pittsburgh (night 2).

We still aren't over it.

In fact,

I hung our tour jackets in our entryway,

so we can see them every time we walk into 

the Lamp Post.

Well--our three jackets

and my donkey bag from the Farm Animal Sanctuary,

to be exact.

                                                                                      

They are reminders of the most spectacular events

of the summer--

and we haven't even it the Fourth of July yet!

73,117 Swifties

and thousands more outside the stadium

and in boats on the river,

greeted Taylor with a home-state welcome.

Taylor Swift is originally from Reading, PA.

Acrisure Stadium,

home of the Pittsburgh Steelers,

usually glows gold.

When the Swifties took it over,

it glowed pink--

and actually sparkled.

Swifties came dressed to the nines

in sparkles,

sequins,

and fringe.

The stadium 

and its enormity,

is what still sits with me one week later--

73,000 people just like me 

and my gals.

The girl in the black hat is Kaley,

Ellen's college roommate.

The tall gal is Maddie,

a high school bestie

and Swiftie kindred spirit.

No girl was shy on sparkle.

The largest demographic 

of my bracelet-wearing concert goers

were the 20-something females.

There were lots of moms,

and we were thrilled to watch 

the next-gen fans--

little gals 10 years old and under.

Everyone sang 

every word,

to every

single

song.

44 of them

performed right in a row.

Everything about the Eras Tour was impressive.

The fans were outstanding--

patient, 

compliant,

and 100% absorbed in the performance.

Taylor had herself a captive audience.

Ellen got the black hoodie

and Natalie got this t-shirt.

Here she is at the Erie Zoo,

wearing it days after the concert.

She wears it.

We wash it.

She finds it and puts it on again.

We've been working through the post-tour hangover.

Swifties do not drink to excess--

it would dull our sparkle.

The flatness we experienced 

is the I can't believe it's over feeling.

We scroll social media

and share photos and videos

from the night.

Eloise has become very interested

in Taylor Swift's songwriting.

She is a masterful lyricist.

Taylor reminds me of Dolly Parton

when she speaks of her songwriting.

Here's what Taylor has to say:

Taylor Swift on songwriting CLICK HERE

And here's Dolly--

I highly recommend the book, too,

especially in audio book format

as Dolly narrates it.

CLICK HERE

The positive energy in Pittsburgh that night

is something that 

I'll never

ever 

forget.

When I looked up the word stadium,

as I often do before I write a blog,

I had forgotten about the second definition--

one from the sciences:

(biology) stadium: a life stage of an organism. (pathology) stage; phase.

The Lamp Posters are in the phase

of high school sports.

Sam is playing Junior Legion baseball this summer,

and his friends showed up to watch Sam's

team pull off a win against a very good Millcreek team.

We are also in the stage of 

saving the bees and butterflies.

I even have my parents expanding 

their butterfly garden.

The Lamp Posters are in the full summer phase,

with the cabin as the top place to visit.

If I had any type of musical ability

I'd be a songteller

like Dolly and Taylor.

But music APPRECIATION

is the only thing the Good Lord gave me,

so my songs are in the form 

of short,

centered paragraphs,

interspersed with snapshots.

Have a great weekend!

Eloise