Author: Becky

they wanted to have a night out

Five people were killed and 17 were injured by gunshot, one1 was injured but not by gunshot, and one2 was a “victim with no visible injuries,” as a perpetrator opened fire with multiple firearms including an AK-style rifle, in a shooting inside Club Q, a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Patrons at the club were able to subdue the perpetrator until law enforcement arrived.

Those killed were:

Derek Rump, bartender, age 38
Daniel Aston, club supervisor, age 28
Ashley Paugh, age 35
Kelly Loving, age 40
Raymond Green Vance, patron, age 22

1This number have been increased to five injured without being shot.
2 This number has been increased from one to twelve victims with no visible injuries.

Throwback Thursday

Follow-up on yesterday’s post. Here’s the new haircut (so much better bangs!), and I pulled out one of my beautiful scarves, this one knitted by Lisa in Iowa, to do today’s selfie.

I wanted to compare it to my first scarf selfie from 2007, with my actual hair color before I went blonde in 2016 and then fully gray and white in 2021–every last bit of hair color or bleach gone. I haven’t regretted it for even a moment.

Surrendering to the scarf


Today I took a selfie to post for a couple of reasons. The first: If all goes as planned, tomorrow my hair will FINALLY again be a few inches shorter and the mess I’ve made of my bangs over the last eight months will be corrected.

The second: I’m finally giving in to the idea of using a scarf on days like this. I have beautiful knitted/crocheted scarves that were gifts of friends, and they’re great when winter hits for its short season in Houston. Those scarves are too thick and heavy for the brisk days of fall. I like this shirt–it’s an old one that’s the ideal weight for this weather and has the three-quarter-length sleeves that I prefer. The V-neck offers me little relief from cold air, however, so today I added a scarf. It worked just as I hoped. Is wearing a scarf an old lady thing? That’s fine. I am an old lady.

Somehow, all of this brought me full circle to a post that’s been percolating in my brain provoked by a quote I recently read about kindness. Some of it is based on a thought I had yesterday in reaction to a news story: It’s like six years of an abusive relationship has suddenly spun itself into an infinite loop. It was the “six years” that startled me. It’s the number of years–1980 to 1986–that I was in two successive (albeit VERY different kinds of) abusive relationships.


The writer part of me wishes for a way to weave this all together. The private part of me is not inclined to do so.

Is the scarf protecting my throat or warming my voice? Maybe both? Bags to unpack for days… Like the ones under my tired eyes.

ETA: This post has been edited because I erred in what I remembered about a quote I read, and that led to a discussion in comments based on erroneous information, so that comment thread is now unpublished, as well.

they wanted to go to school

A gunman opened fire with a handgun on the main campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, killing three people and wounding two others before escaping. He was later apprehended.

Those killed were Devin Chandler, age 20, Lavel Davis Jr., age 20, and D’Sean Perry, age 22. Another victim, Michael Hollins, was shot but is expected to recover. A fifth victim, Marlee Morgan, was later discharged from the hospital.

A restful Saturday

I did wake up today at 6 AM but stayed in bed until 7 AM because I was COLD (temp was in the 40s). Once I forced myself to get up, I showered and dressed warmly, ate a good breakfast, and started working on the manuscript. Oddly, there was a lone morning glory flower blooming in the backyard this morning; no idea where that came from, and it made me think of The Compound, where they were so beautiful on the fence.


Today is also the birthday of this most fabulous human. I figured I’d use his uniform photo since yesterday was Veterans Day. A lot of years have passed since I shot this photo, but he’ll always be the first kid who made me Aunt Becky. I love you, Daniel, and happy birthday!

I’d mentioned I would have more photos to share from Thursday. Lynne had to be in Houston for a meeting. Though she’s staying with another friend, she wanted to visit Thursday night. I spent the afternoon writing outside because–except for mosquitos–it was a gorgeous day. My laptop isn’t open in this photo, but it’s on the table. You might notice the different kinds of anti-mosquito skin spray in front of it. And Anime on the bottom left. =)

We had a fan hooked up to provide a gentle breeze, and in the late afternoon, we set up a table to get queso started in the crock pot. Later, there was another crock pot with chili, because Tom grilled burgers and hotdogs, in case anyone wanted chili on their hot dogs.

Lynne arrived and set up her laptop to talk and work next to me while I wrote. Then the sun set, and the grill was put into use.

Lynne’s birthday is in late November, always near Thanksgiving, and since who knows what everyone’s schedules will be, Tom, Debby, and I decided to surprise her with an early birthday celebration, including cake and presents. (Tim is away taking care of a client’s critters and couldn’t make it, though he wanted to.)

It was so great to see her! Though I hadn’t put in all the outside work because she was in town, it was nice that Houndstooth Hall was looking good for her visit.