Murdock Muse November-December 2003 - Part 2


QUILT ON ONLINE AUCTION
Nancy Murdock

One of my friends at work talked me into donating a quilted wallhanging for "cfcBay," the online auction site for our Combined Federal Campaign charity drive at the Social Security Administration headquarters, which has over 10,000 employees. It took me a while to decide to agree, and even longer to finish a quilt I had started in a class, but it turned out to be rather exciting.

I didn't even know how to access the site or bid on items, although this was not the first year for this auction. After I got enough information to start, I fumbled around until I had it figured out. Then I sent the instructions to several groups of employees, such as my Wednesday lunchtime poetry discussion group (Eat Your Words), my Thursday lunchtime quilt group (Sew & Tell), the Lunch Bunch (the group I eat with on other days), and the Payment and Recovery Policy Staff (my work component).

There were three batches of about 10 or 12 items each, to be bid on for one of the three weeks of the online auction. My "Pathways to the Stars" quilt was in Week 2. I got addicted to going to the site, even in Week 1, to check on how the bidding was going for all of the items. I even bid on several of them, fortunately early enough in the bidding that others over-bid me, so I didn't have to explain to Bob where I planned to keep my rare finds in our little apartment. I sort of lusted over the large set of china in Week 2, but saner moments kept me from making a serious bid. It was a very nice set of dinnerware with a discreet silver trim, with about 10 to 14 of each item, and it went for only $35!!

The bidding on my quilt, for which I had written 7 pages of documentation (okay, yes, it was a little hard to part with this quilt, knowing I would never see it again), began slowly, creeping up to $10 after several hours the first day. (We had to notify the committee that the bidding mechanism didn't work, so it was late when it really opened for Week 2.) I estimated the value at $150 and didn't want to see all that work go for a small donation to charity, so I decided to jump start it with a bid for $50. It ended Friday with a bid of $100, which makes me feel it was worthwhile to give it to the charity campaign. I would love to know who bought it, and I'm hoping to find out eventually, but no names are released on the website, only the amount of the final bids.

The digital photo from the auction site was done in a hurry from an awkward angle, but you can see the details quite well.

Click here to see a picture of "Pathways to the Stars."



PROJECT MARS
Nancy Murdock

When our friend Jim Slivka sent us word that Mars would soon be at its closest to the Earth in 60,000 years, we didn't want to miss this momentous event. Using the information from the Internet, Bob located it at about 3:30 AM about a week or so before the big day (August 27). After I finally convinced him to wake me up on the next early morning with a clear sky, he got me up at 5:15 AM a couple of days later and showed me this marvel from the balcony.

Since that time, we've been hooked. We go out sometime during the evening to look for it from our front steps. If the sky is overcast, we try again before bedtime. We rarely miss an opportunity to chart its path.

It's really beautiful - bright, golden with red lights, and easy to spot. I confess that I talk to it now. Nothing terribly profound, just something like "Oh, there you are! I missed you last night, with all that cloud cover. You are so gorgeous!" If Bob is with me, I curtail this to "Oh, there you are," in deference to those vows Bob and I made 53 years ago. Then I wax enthusiastic to him about "it."

With all this nightly trekking to see Mars, we are getting quite interested in other denizens of the sky. Bob got me up a few days ago to see Jupiter, the crescent moon, and Regulus in the SE sky. We had a great view, with a picturesque band of clouds at the horizon.

Does anyone know where Saturn is lately? Living in a metropolitan area with all its attendant lighting, we are fortunate to see anything up there. But I recall that I used to watch Saturn when I was a teenager. It intrigued me because it was so easy to spot, with those rings.

We also would like to know why we can't spot either the Big Dipper or its little sibling. The last time we were in a great viewing spot may have been when we camped up near Big Sur in California. But I don't recall ever being unable to find the Big fella. I think I spotted Orion's belt a few days ago, but I was never good at figuring out more than that portion of that constellation, so it oculd easily have been something else.

We probably will soon wane on star gazing, as Mars gets more distant and looks like all the other lights up there. But it has been a nice family interest. It's a little like going on a date to a new place with someone you really like. We hold hands and keep each other from falling over backwards as we gaze upwards to see what other astronomical goodies we can find.



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