Month: September 2019

Planning for the last of this year’s radio events is under control.  All the aide stations are covered.  The possible change in routes has been averted (at least for this year … politics … bah).  Lasagna and ale at the end of the trails.  Only blip is not enough t-shirts were in the original order so we communicators will have to wait.

Full report next week.

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Our weather has turned VERY autumny.  Cool nights and warm, but not hot, days.  Nice.  Colours are beginning to dominate the  landscape.  Chicken routine is out a bit after 0700 and in a bit after 1900.  Averaging eleven eggs a day with the white eggs getting larger. 

There is a fresh bale of straw waiting to be spread.  And the times there is extra light in the coop is ready to extend the days.

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I had wanted to see the Downton Abbey movie (I still do), but it isn’t showing at our little theatre and I wasn’t able to find anyone with whom to share lunch and a movie in either Redding or Ashland.  Oh well …

Smile-bringer is that we now have tickets for four of the HD opera showings this coming season.  First one will be in three weeks …. Turtandot.  Previews look like an extravaganza.

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Fridays with Paul are back on the schedule.   Last week we shopped, got straw, and took home texmex from a food truck.  This week we may go to the fish hatchery before they close for the winter but no decision about dinner has yet been made.  And the Friday after next we do a trip to the Mt Shasta museum and take home pizza.

Of course, we always go to the library as well.

These are good days.

~~~

The situation with the Deputy Watermaster has subsided.  Their actions seem so illogical as to challenge clear thinking.

I will be attending the Board meeting this evening … again.  I’m just taking notes now.  Who knows when insight into the operation of that “company” (as a neighbor called them) will be valuable.

~~~

I missed the Tailgate food sharing last week.  My belly was too sore to spend two or three hours standing.  But I am scheduled for the sharing at St. Barnabas this afternoon.

Two weeks after the surgery and the all-the-time soreness is gone.  Still have an occasional twinge with certain movements, so I try to avoid those movements (Remember the story about the woman who went to the doctor complaining that every time she prodded her abdomen with her index finger, it hurt? The doctor couldn’t find anything wrong with her abdomen and asked her to to show him again. So she did and he told her he now knew what to do and proceeded to splint her broken finger). 

Big step is that I am no longer using any pain meds.

~~~

This week has been busy (so far) with two “new” activities.  Friends from food volunteering invited me to the senior lunch program on mondays at the new Community Center in Weed.  A different local restaurant does the meal each week.  This week was the Lunchbox Caterers from Dunsmuir (which I thought was interesting since we were in Weed).  We had a mac and cheese dish with riced cauliflower in the sauce, a huge salad, and a peach-berry crisp with whipped cream … free if you are over 70.

It turns out to be good food and relaxed conversation.  Next week the food will be from Ellie’s in Weed … cheese and ham roll ups,  mixed fruit salad, and who know what for dessert.  There is even a chance I won’t have to drive further than the pavement and a senior ride bus will pick me up.  Interesting the things you learn just by saying “okay”.

The other new activity was a writing class at the local community college.  A neighbor signed me up.

Tomorrow is the only day I get to stay home this week.  Poor me …

~~~

I failed to mention earlier that the local tribe’s “Run4Salmon” will  be culminating at the res at McCloud Lake this weekend.  I will be busy all day Saturday with the trail runs, but the tribe has gotten some members licensed as hams and will be using other hams in the area as monitors.  That’s what I’ll be doing friday evening (they don’t run after dark) and again on Sunday.

~~~

The other thing I forgot to mention was the Celtic style Michaelmas service at Marks’ church last saturday.  There weren’t too many participants, but a religious service including nature is new to them and this one was rather traditional including processioning outdoors to pay notice to and gratefulness for all of nature’s gifts followed by a potluck meal featuring blackberries which are associated with St. Michael and Autumn.

~~~

And here’s an interesting thought to end this week. 

The meaning of life is to find your gift.  The purpose of life is to give it away.              … Pablo Picasso

Makes me wonder what Picasso meant by “give it away”?

So … ‘til next week …

We got through “summer” without the fires of last year.  Then September happened.  Report was “Dangerous lightning strikes have firefighters in Northern California working at more than a dozen sites in Siskiyou County.”

One morning Mark was called out at 0200 for a lightning fire (the Butte Fire) on East Butte Valley Rd, in East MacDoel which is quite a way from us at the top of Butte Valley on the way to Klamath Falls.

While he was gone, another lightning fire was spotted on Mussolini Point which is less than six miles north of us.

He didn’t get back home until around 1800 … dirty and tired.  He had been manning the Hammond Ranch Fire Company water tender, the big truck that supplies water to the pumper trucks.  The Mussolini fire wasn’t a danger since the wind was blowing it away from us and it was fairly easy to get under control.

We’ve had rain lately and there is new snow on the Mountain, but no more lightning. At the moment, the sun is shining and there are a few puffy, white clouds.  

~~~

I’ve heard from a few of you asking where I’ve been.  Well …

The surgery went well … I suppose.  It was a bit rougher than I had anticipated.  I don’t know where my expectations came from, but I had a very sore belly.  Were you aware you use belly muscles to merely turn over in bed?

I’m sure I’ve had spells of aches similar or maybe worse that I just don’t remember.  Soon this past week will fade and be “oh yea … that week”.

One difference is that my belly button is twice as deep (at least twice) as it had been.

~~~

This is the second time California has formed a Board of ordinary people, rather than politicians, to do redistricting following a census.  I applied and made the first cut.  I had to write four essays for the second round.  It was like being back in school.  Mark, who has written grants, helped me with the wording.

It is a bit different from writing fiction. 

One of the questions was: Please describe why you wish to serve on the Commission and why you think it’s important

I wrote:

Californians trust the promise of equality and fairness inherent in several well know documents.  Ten years ago, California made a step toward insuring that trust was honored.  The state is now forming a Board to do it again.  Doing the best job possible to insure that every citizen of California who has a right to vote, and does so, can trust that vote will be given equal value with all other votes cast is a project worth the time, money, and effort it will require.

Applying for a position on this Board follows much thought, conversations with my children, and introspection.  As a result I think it would be an extremely interesting project in which to get involved.  Having a good time, meeting people, traveling, and doing all of that while working toward a noble goal of value to California and her people … who could ask for more?

Now I have to round up three letters of recommendation.

Some of the statistics are interesting …

Initial Applications Submitted: 20724 and Supplemental (i.e. second round) Applications Submitted: 498

Third round will take it down to 120.

Anyone want to make book on my chances of being chosen for the Board?

~~~

It is getting chilly.  I am still sleeping with one comforter, but with the east window nearly closed. 

The red maple has begun dropping her leaves.  Dogwoods are showing some red.  Oaks are beginning their show with yellow, orange, and brown.  The iris are looking sick but I won’t clip them.  The roots are storing energy for the winter.

I am still gathering and drying herbs … lemon balm and oregano. My store of salves and oils isn’t as big as in the past.  I neglected that aspect of my life this past year, but I am beginning to decide where I will commandeer for growing space next year and what I will make sure is available.

Oregano has become important.  It is invasive, but since we now need it fresh and dried and as a spray for the chickens, I am not so ready to pull it out.

And I realized last night there was little or no feverfew available this summer.

Oh well …

~~~

There was a sudden drop in egg production last week while I was nursing my sore belly.  Mark kindly said the hens missed me.  A more likely reason was changes in weather … atmospheric pressure, humidity, temperature, and winds.  Paul and I will be picking up fresh straw this coming friday and the hen house and nests will be getting winter preparation. Kamille is again working the lunch program at school, so the flow of leftover garbage will continue.  We have little household garbage, but what she brings home is a gift for the hens.

~~~

Yesterday’s big event was a meeting with a representative of the Neptune Society.  Taking care of George’s final needs went well, but I wanted to spare the kids some of the worry.  I am now taken care of leaving little or no problem for them.

I looked at other plans for what is euphemistically called “pre-need” and decided on the Neptune Society.  I’m covered no matter where in the world I choose for my departure.

~~~

I’ll end this back-to-the-grind with a note adapted from Rabbi Ariel B. Tzadok.

Life always has its ups and downs.
There are always good times and bad.
Why complain?
This, after all, is life!

         
So … ‘til next week …

There have been a multitude of earthquakes in our area since the first of the month.  One report said as many as 25.  They aren’t very big (<3.5) and we haven’t felt them this side of the Mountain.  They’re feeling them over in McCloud.  Predictions say that is the side of the Mountain where the rupture will occur … when it occurs.

Stay tuned …

~~~

Things are not rosy at the moment.  My computer is recovering, slowly, but yesterday my pick-up truck died.  Thankful am I that I was nearly home when it coughed its last.  I was about half a mile from home, on a hill, and was able to back down to a wide spot near a neighbor’s drive.

Mark was at home and came on down.  He and the neighbor got me home.

The truck is now in its spot, standing with the hood open.  I haven’t yet asked Mark what is wrong or if it can be repaired or how much new(er) transportation will cost. 

With all the family leading busy lives, I need my own wheels.

~~~

Weather is changing … slowly.  Mornings are cooler and there is wind or a breeze more often.

Last Sunday was the TinMan triathlon out near Lake Siskiyou.  I did Net Control at the clubhouse.  But the chaos fairy hit there as well as here at home.

The basic equipment at the clubhouse went on the fritz.  Seems everyone could hear me loud and clear, but I didn’t hear any of them.  George was always my tech person.  I don’t know radio technology at all.  So I wasn’t sure if I wasn’t hearing or if I wasn’t being heard.

One of the tech experts came to the clubhouse, diagnosed the problem as failure of either the receiver or the speaker, and set up an auxiliary unit for me to use.

The rest of the event went smoothly.

Next (and last for this year) will be the 28^th … the Headwaters Trail Runs.  I am ramrodding that event and have been working on reentering all the information from last year which I lost when the old computer died.

Are we having fun yet?

~~~

Yesterday (before the Mitzu died) I was in town and had lunch with friends at a local Thai restaurant (there are two in this small town). The owner of the place where we went is the mother of the student with whom Kamille works.  I mentioned that Kamille said the food there was good and that she was my daughter.  The lady looked perplexed and then said she thought Kamille had taken a trip back east to visit her mother.  After an explanation of Kamille’s and my relationship (which was interesting since the lady’s English and her understanding of designations in American cultural relationships are both a bit eccentric), smiles were shared. 

The food was indeed good.  I had fried crab wonton and pad kee won.

~~~

The white pullets are laying … an average of 4 or 5 a day from the 10 of them.  That means we get between 12 and 14 eggs a day. 

The white eggs are still a bit small (I’m told they will eventually be larger than the browns), so they are the family eggs for now. And the hen whose neck bones were showing, as a result of the rooster’s attentions, is healing better than I would have guessed.  The muscles which were a bit exposed were not as damaged as I had feared.  Her feathers are coming back.  She gets around well and holds her own in the garbage scramble every morning.

Coop door openings and closings are getting closer together.  I let them out into the yard between 0700 and 0715, and put them away between 1945 and 2000.  Those times will be shortening as equinox approaches and will really close in after that.

~~~

The dogwood trees are starting their turn to red.  Spotty, but evident.

The other deciduous trees are still green.  The oaks are not showing any signs of autumnal change yet but as I said … they are loaded with acorns.

~~~

Guess that’s all for now.

They asked “Why do you always take the hard road?”

I replied “Why do you assume I see more than one road?”

So … ‘til next week …