My inside anklebones have been disappearing off and on for about a year now, as my feet swell and subside with cycles of too much activity and then rest. But now my old feet appear to have reached a point of no return. They do not unswell. Both of my inside anklebones are lost under little pads of permanent swelling on the inside of each foot just above the heel and up to my anklebones. Oooh, I dearly hope I do not get cankles*. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... * "(plural cankles) (slang, pejorative) An obese or otherwise swollen ankle that blends into the calf without clear demarcation." Source: www.yourdictionary.com/cankle Caption: My Feet Pray That I Do Not Get Cankle

All this week I was elbow-deep in a muddle of chores, so I paused to create something pretty in my drab world today. Here 'tis. Caption: Something Pretty In A Drab World by Annmarie Throckmorton 2019

I thought this photograph of my long passed cat Little Bit Of Love was long gone, but I found it in my late father's papers. My mother insisted in taking this photo of me when she saw me pick up my cat who had been hunting in their field. I remember being annoyed at having to pause in what I was doing to pose for a photograph, but now I see what she saw. And I see that she loved me very much to capture such a lovely photograph. Little Bit Of Love was born into my hand and she loved me and only me for her entire life. She lived eighteen or nineteen years. She had zero interest in other people, and she lived to hunt. She was an superb hunter. One day I awoke to the flailings of a dying

I was a teenager just out of high school, and I thought that dressing like a boy was protection when I explored the world. Caption: Annmarie Throckmorton, circa 1979

I thought this photograph was lost, then I found a photocopy of it in my late parents' photograph albums. For six hours yesterday I sorted through their papers and mine, including lawsuit documents where I failed to prevent my siblings stealing a ⅛ to ¼ million dollar inheritance from me. I worked at it while the plumbers were working on my house so that I would not cry. Finding this joyous, silly picture of me was a nice little reward; and I reduced five storage bins to two small stacks of work to be done. Caption: Annmarie Throckmorton in her twenties playing like a squirrel in northern Minnesota woods. photograph by either my estranged sister Carla Throckmorton Hertz or brother-in-law

I am of the age when one thinks of downsizing–into a little urn. Please note that this post is tagged as humor. Caption: Aging Selfie At Seventy by Annmarie Throckmorton 2019

Long ago, in one of the very few times in my life when my bank account was short (strange how customer accounts are so rarely in excess) my complaint at the teller's counter was referred to the bank president of that old bank downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The odd way in which the counter ladies and their supervisor told me that I would have to speak to the bank president, stiffly with raised eyebrows and darting eyes, put me on edge. But since they insisted that no one else could deal with the problem of my shorted account, I went up alone in the old, narrow elevator to the quiet administrative floor on the top level. The offices on the top level were all closed and dark except for one

As my Avatar AdroitWaterBear I posted three messages to Sargon of Akkad's channel, and to the man pretending to be "The World's Strongest Woman | Zuby Interview, 08-07-19. Sargon of Akkad blocked the two stronger messages, but left the third one because women in fits fits his narrative: Caption: Rush Limbaugh Takes Down Civilization With His Nazification Of Feminists By 2019-two screen captures. x Caption: Yet Another Man Pretending To Be A Woman And Doing A Bad Job Of It In 2019-screen capture of Zuby. Caption: Sargon of Akkad Seems Like A Big Fan Of Rush Limbaugh While Interviewing A Man Pretending To Be A Woman.

As my avatar AdroitWaterBear I posted the following reply online to the Jesse Lee Peterson channel, after JLP disparaged another man by saying, "He's a weak girl." JLP. Correction: Andrew Yang is not "a weak girl", he's a weak man. Most little girls are strong and smart, they have to be to grow up in this difficult, scary world. Don't insult girls' epic journey to adulthood and motherhood by comparing a failed beta male to them. Your attention in this matter is appreciated. :-) Caption: Disparaging Little Girls Is As Low As It Gets. screen capture from Jesse Lee Peterson channel 08-14-19 Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9UxiPToFVA

Watching two men of renown rage at each other on the news, threatening violence and calling each other women, I am almost bored. That behavior does not have anything to do with women. Men push other men like rams in a field, it is what they do. If no one gets hurt, it is sometimes amusing to women to see men try to stick a label of "Woman" on another man, because it cannot be done. And "Woman" is not an insult to a woman. Woman does not mean effeminate, weak, or cowardly, no matter how men wrangle the definition. I think men intent on belittling intend the old-fashioned word, sissy, an insult which neither man nor woman should tolerate. Caption: Annmarie Throckmorton self-portrait at

The tide has turned; and today I join a swell of other voices when I say: I came to love humanity, that is my purpose in life, but my first love is Truth. Truth might hurt feelings or give offense to someone who is stupid or evil or limited in some other significant way, but only if we are grounded in reality will we have the social traction necessary to move forward into a brighter, shining civilization, in which all of humanity is valued and cherished and prevented from harming one another. Caption: Truth Medallion by Annmarie Throckmorton 2019

If I died in a global cataclysm, what would survive of me over the millenniums? I have a little metal dental work which might be scattered about in the dust of the ages. The Earth would receive back from me such durable metal coins as happened to be in my purse; and also some jewelry of noble metals and gems; and also rare metals from my digital devices*; and also the copper, porcelain, and glass fixtures in my house. My three souvenir rocks would roll away. Maybe lead from my pencils would survive me? My words? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... * "Precious metals - where they are found inside Computers" Gold - Printed Circuit Boards, Computer Chips (CPU), connectors / fingers S

In 2009 I hired a workman whom someone at a church I attended had referred to me. I hoped that the workman would work out because I had several days worth of household repairs to be done on my sixty-year old house, and I had already hired and fired some amazingly incompetent workmen in the year and a half that I had owned it. The repairs that I needed done were basic repairs that are easy for a handyman but were frankly impossible for an elderly woman as too heavy, too high up, or requiring too much strength, such as: replace the mailbox, tighten the front door bell screws into the brick, tighten the support bolts on the lawnmower, rehang a loose window shutter, and so forth. When his eld

I enjoy creating illustrations for inthetide.com. Especially when I begin working on an abstraction, I am very curious to see how it will turn out. I like my work very much and, of course, I hope others like it as well. Yesterday I was thinking deep and heavy thoughts about boundaries; physical boundaries like the property line dispute I have been sucked into, interpersonal boundaries like the kind I maintain against dangerous people to keep myself safe and happy, and societal boundaries like the little social cubicles within which most of us live out our lives, unable to have any impact whatsoever on the powers that be, many of whom appear to be vile in the most awful senses. Yet most of

The plumber's receptionist seemed nice enough when she made an appointment to fix my air conditioner. The condensate overflow fitting had rusted off, the drain had clogged with goop, and water was dripping down the back of the unit. I asked if they offered a senior discount and she said no, but then she told me that she had a $40.00 coupon that she would give me. That told me that my repair was probably going to be pricey, but I thanked her anyway. When the plumber pulled up on my driveway he parked within a few feet of my front door, and he opened my screen door to come in before I even got to the door or spoke to him. This made me feel crowded and disrespected. When I got to my front d

I woke up late on a gentle, rainy Sunday, and dozed in bed listening to nature's music of raindrops. Then I picked up my tablet from the nightstand to check my emails, catch the news, and maybe watch a movie or Youtube.com. Big mistake. I got another gut-stirring email from the Young Neighbor Couple who recently purchased property adjoining on the north side of my property. They are a young husband and wife whom I would like to refer to as Young, Stupid, and Selfish, but will settle for just Young Neighbor Couple. Their latest email riled me up as follows: Notes: I was already out of sorts with Young Neighbor Couple because they have the habit of emailing me instead of talking face-to-

I just replaced a drug-addled, manipulative workman whom my young, stupid, selfish neighbors referred to me. Still feeling shaken by the experience, I poured the fear into this image. Do I feel better now? Caption: Evading Danger by Annmarie Throckmorton 2019

As my avatar AdroitWaterBear I recently posted this response to Mr. Nichols' claim that Blacks have many more requirements than Whites to make their hairstyle suitable for work. Jesse Lee Peterson - YouTube channel "Jesse Tells Jason Nichols Why He Is Gonna Put Blacks Back on the Plantation" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_xzSV94rNU Regarding white people's hair, it is not true that there are fewer work requirements. When we look at men working where the money is, in corporate America, unless he owns the company, all the men have haircuts that keep their hair above their collars and ears. Designs cut into their short hair are not allowed. White women are allowed to wear their hair longe

When I was a toddler I was taught to roll from a tripod (my two legs and head) into somersault but that was the extent of my tumbling instruction. I taught myself to cartwheel and did that well into adulthood whenever there was enough social space to whirl myself around in that way. I liked tumbling. Then fifty years later I was in a martial arts class of men, women, and children with an instructor, who was the master and owner of that Taekwondo dojo, who decided to test the natural abilities of some of his students. He pulled out a large, red, soft plastic barrel, about waist-high, onto a matted area of the dojo. Then he chose the children whom he wanted to test, from some very small ch

In 2003 I contracted to Midland Radio* to work within the engineering group to write NOAA weather radio owner's manuals. These owner manuals were distributed to the consumer boxed in with the radios. The work was quite interesting and my colleagues were congenial. My duties and responsibilities were as follows: ● Was well-informed on "best practices" for writing user manuals. ● Trained in, and used industry-specific radio equipment. ● Conducted research, and learned the details of operation required to write weather radio operation manuals. ● Used small portable computer onsite, with built-in touch mouse; and extensive desktop publishing skills. ● Maintained professional attitude, and comple