Month: January 2019

30 January …

 

Paul’s birthday was yesterday.  He is now seven-years-old.  We had a full house with pizza for dinner followed by brownies. 

 

I measured him first thing in the morning and he seems to have grown about two inches since last year.  (The numbers are dates, not inches.)

 

The party with his school mates will be next Saturday at the radio clubhouse.

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Last Wednesday I had lunch with a friend from my Emergency Department days.  It was interesting to note that our children are now the ages we were when we first met. His wife and I are also friends and I hope to see more of them in the coming times.

 

Lunch was at Jefferson’s Road House in Yreka.  I’d never been there before.  Not fancy, but nice (maybe because it isn’t fancy).

 

Then I had to get back down to Mt Shasta for the food sharing at the church.  I made it only ten minutes late. The person in charge of the food sharing changed last time and there is a new routine.  It used to be that we gave each person a bag and let them fill it themselves from a line of tables with the food stacked up.  Now we fill bags and line them up on a table.  This time the sharing (which is mainly dried or canned this time of year) was oatmeal, mushroom pasta sauce, two kinds of beans, peaches, pears, carrots, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, frozen salmon, frozen Alaskan pollock, chicken soup, frozen strawberries, rice, dry milk, pasta, dried mashed potatoes, velveeta-style cheese, peanut butter, cheerio cereal, grape juice, canned tuna, and boxed milk.

Quite fishy this time.

Great Northern, our supplier, uses government funding but they had already received the 6-months check (January through June) so we’re good for now … not affected by the government shut-down.

As usual, the volunteers get to take what is left after the last sharer is served.  I brought home an entire salmon fillet … head to tail … plus some canned fruit and some of the other odds and ends. 

I also brought home sore muscles.  Age I suppose.  It took an Aleve to get me going thursday morning.

Next sharing date is in March.

~~~

Weather has been iffy.  Cold, but not too cold.  Wet with rain AND melting snow.  Frost on the ground in the shade at lower altitudes.  And thin, very thin, ice on the reservoir.

However, there is a lovely coat of snow on the Mountain.  It captivated me so that last Friday, on my way to Dunsmuir, I was so busy looking at Her I missed the onramp to I-5 and had to go into Mt Shasta to turn around and try again.

~~~

For you football fans … a gift from an inspirational blog I read …

Annual Superbowl Joke

A man attending the Superbowl sat next to an empty seat. Incredulously, he asks the woman sitting on the other side of the seat, “How is it possible that you and I are sitting next to the only empty seat in the stadium when they’re being scalped at five thousand bucks a shot?” The woman replies, “The seat belonged to my late husband.” “Oh,” said the man, “but, I would have thought a relative or a friend would have jumped at the opportunity to use the seat.” The woman responded, “I would have thought so, too … but they all insisted on going to the funeral.”

~~~

The narcissus bulbs I have growing at my desk are doing their thing … beautifully.  And outdoors there is a lot to see.

The wet weather has brought out some very green moss …and the fact that a lot of dead leaves have not yet dropped and disintegrated (oak and bracken mainly) is providing a brown backdrop for the coming Spring. 

I wonder if there will be room on the branches of the oaks for the buds.

~~~

The neighbor in charge of maintaining our main road out was busy last week laying gravel.  This is the time of year to do it so it can be pressed down into the road bed.  It is nice. The jaw breaking, suspension wrecking potholes are mostly gone. Let’s see how long it stays that way what with the speedsters who live out here now. 

Aaawwwwwwwww …optimism.

~~~

Here’s a Japanese word for this week.

Mono-no … it means the quietly elated, bittersweet feeling of having been witness to the dazzling circus of life knowing none of it can last forever.

Taiko lessons begin again next week.    So … ‘til then …

23 January …

 

Well … Mikayla got off… finally.

It would seem United has not been flying here in the Northwest.  They schedule.  They just don’t fly.  Three tries and each was cancelled, once out of Medford and twice out of Redding, ostensibly due to weather (skies were clear all the way from here to Sacramento) or air control at other airports, which with the shutdown was a bit more plausible.  But Delta and Southwest and other lines were flying.

Then yesterday in the news something about passengers being captive inside a United plane for hours because a door was frozen shut?  Is something going on with United?   

I used to fly United all the time.  But … if you own United stock, better check.

Mark was able to get Mikayla booked out of Sacramento on other carriers.  She finally got back to New York safely and only one day late.

~~~

The rain and snow continued through the week.  Today is mixed clouds with a brisk north wind.

Things are very wet although the snow pack isn’t nearly as deep as we’d like (only a bit over 50% of normal).  The underground runoff is heavy and the well water has a light tint. 

The dirt/gravel roads are the worse I’ve ever seen them.  Of course, they get a lot more use now than when George and I first started driving them, and folks go a lot faster now than they did then.  But the spots where volcanic boulders were uprooted to create the roads are more and more in evidence.

~~~

One day last week, I was on my way into Mt Shasta when I saw the largest lenticular cloud I can recall seeing … and I didn’t have my camera with me.  But someone did have their camera ready and this picture was in the paper.

As you can see, it was huge.  Larger than the Mountain.  I giddily thought “Larger than Rhode Island ?”

It was spectacular.

~~~

Well … I am no longer the Presiding Officer of the radio club.  That means I am no longer required to look intelligent when someone is talking radio technology.  George was the one who knew all that.  I was just the one who knew how to chair a meeting.  I will still work events if I am asked, and continue to maintain radio contact with family and friends (146.820 and 445.585).

But now I have another free evening for reading.  I am into another series.  This time about Medieval England … the turn of the 16^th Century.  Elizabeth the 1st was on the throne.  Men wore doublets and hose.  Women wore corsets and coifs.  They all wore ruffs.  Privies were meeting places.  Fun.

In addition, I am still reading Poirot and Penny.

And the handwork project is finishing off a granny square afghan.

~~~

Today is the first of the food sharing at the church this year.  I’m due there at 1330.   I will be cutting time close because I am going to Yreka for lunch with a friend I haven’t seen in too long a time.

Social butterfly …

~~~

And in ending (from a dear cousin) …

Always end the day with a positive thought. No matter how hard today was, tomorrow is full of possibilities.

So … ‘til next week …

16 January …

 

We’ve had rain. 

We are having more rain and some snow.

The Ranch roads are in disrepair.  Every year the bogs and potholes come back in the same places.  At least I have the advantage of having driven these roads for more than forty years. We do need the snow pack and I do so love the snow vistas.

Oh well …

~~~

Mikayla was to have left this morning to catch a flight back to Rochester, New York.  Her initial flight out of Medford was cancelled (we don’t know why) although her other flights were still scheduled out of San Francisco and DC.  As of this time (1030) she is set to leave tomorrow before dawn with connecting flights arranged.  Oh well …

I didn’t see as much of her this visit as in the past (there are now five of us seeking her attention instead of just two).  I am reluctant to see her go.  Children and grandchildren grow up and age way too fast. 

Maybe it will be less than another fifteen months before she is able to return.

~~~

I was finally able to get the second shingles shot.  However it was not a good experience.  The shot and aftermath was as expected.  It was the service (or more accurately the lack of service) at the pharmacy that left me insulted and angry.

I had been called last wednesday to tell me my vaccine was in (shingles vaccine has been in short supply here) and I could come get it any time.  So thursday I left a bit before 1000 to go to Yreka.  It is an hour drive (the way I drive) but I was there before 1100 (I had a good tail wind).

The clerk noted me in and said my paperwork was with the pharmacist and I sat down for the wait.

I had not anticipated the wait I had.  The clerk kept checking for me, but I waited and waited.

The pharmacist finally came out a bit before 1200! And when I mentioned the long wait and being the only one waiting, she said she was busy preparing prescriptions for someone who might be coming for them and that being the only one in the waiting area meant nothing since there might be others waiting who were spending the time shopping (it was a pharmacy in a grocery store) and might come for their shot anytime.

Giving me the shot and filling out the necessary forms took less than three minutes.

I was angry.  Had I ever ignored a person physically present for hypothetical “might” persons I would likely have been fired. 

But I did get the shot and the only side effect was a slightly sore arm muscle.

I haven’t filed a customer survey response yet …

~~~

I have found someone to do my feet for me.  Maybe I’ve said before, but I am no longer able to fold into a position where I can reach my feet to trim my nails.  There at the last I was doing George’s toenails for him.  Now I need someone to do mine.

I found a lady in Mt Shasta who grew up not far from me here on Hammond Ranch.  She is kind and careful and I enjoy talking with her while getting my feet cared for.  No more tearing sheets or poking holes in socks with overlong nails.

Nice.

Another perq of age.

~~~

I’ve been reading Smithsonian magazine (I subscribed about a year ago) and find I am picking an argument with one of their writers.  They do an article every so often about some site of interest encouraging people to go see it for themselves.  I have also been reading articles about places which have become disillusioned with tourists and wish their location had never been revealed.

I find I am in sync with the places rather than the travel writers and tourists.

I used to dream about traveling and seeing Europe and Asia and so many other places.  But now I doubt I would go even were I to have the physical ability and the money.  Why travel just to be surrounded with crowds of people taking selfies?

And reading about the vandalism is upsetting.  I remember when the worst vandalism was scratched words about “xxx was here”.  Now people are pushing over natural wonders, uprooting age-old plants, spray-painting ancient edifices, etc.

Maybe I’m glad I do my traveling at home with books and photos.

~~~

In closing …

It’s not what you look at that matters … It’s what you see.

So … ‘til next week when I hope to show you pictures of what I see …

9 January … 

 

Well … this year’s meltdown occurred New Year’s Eve.  I spent New Year’s Day in bed reading.

~~~

 

To begin …

I forgot to share a picture of last year’s holiday tree.

 

~~~

But now on to weather …

It has been cold … not getting much above freezing.  However, frost on the leaf carpet can be quite pretty at times.   

The snow finally started about 1000 Saturday morning. Soft, slow, and gentle.

By 1430 we had about three inches and it was looking like a winter wonderland (every time I think of that song I think of my cousin Marvin … good memories … he’s the one who taught the song to me more than eighty year ago) and it was still snowing.  Mark plowed.

By bedtime there was over a foot on the ground.

Sunday we got more snow and it was a wonderland in excess. 

I have shared pictures of the “courtyard” before.  Well, here it is under this latest snow.

Sunday night was an interesting night when the snow slipping off the roofs spooked the guard dog (he’s never been through a snow winter) and he barked nearly all night, most of the time just under my bedroom window.

 

During the snow we  had WIND.

This picture (of the catalpa trunk) is looking southwest.  Guess the direction of the wind.

 

Monday it started to rain late in the day (after winds all day) and by tuesday morning the trees had all dropped their decorations and the paths and roadways were ankle deep in slush.

One outstanding change wrought by the heavy snow was the now pronounced difference in the birch trees out front.

 

One bent.  The other broke.

~~~

Last Wednesday Paul and I went out to dinner at the GREAT local family restaurant … the HiLo in Weed.  There, on our “granny date”, we had an adventure in food. 

We ordered “chicken strips” and when our meals arrived we had “fish and chips”.

Fortunately, it is nearly impossible to get bad food there. 

The poor waitress was sooooo embarrassed.  We decided to eat the fish and chips (they were really good … fresh cod, solid flesh, and done to a turn) and we plan to go back in a few weeks for chicken strips.  The waitress guaranteed that were she working when we got back, we would DEFINITELY get chicken strips.

It made for a good story to tell Mark and Kamille when we got home (and to put in the blog).

~~~

Thursday was Kamille’s birthday.  She chose turkey in gravy over waffles with sautéed broccoli for her meal. Then friday she and Mark spent the day alone together until it was time to go to the airport for Mikayla.

They deserve an occasional day on their own.

~~~

Interaction with Mikayla has been sporadic.  She is taking graduate level courses online and can’t just ignore them.  Yesterday was the online interaction-with-the-instructor class and to be sure there would be no interference in contact she went down to the firehouse to use that internet connection.

The fudge she made before she left for class is gooey but so palate pleasing.

It’s great having her here. 

In the future maybe …

~~~

Four more deaths/losses recently … and the information that a cousin had a massive MI in mid-December came as another knock on the side of the head reminding me that … 

 

Old age is not a battle … it is a continuing series of losses.

 

But, believe it or not, I’m still here…

So … ‘til next week …