Month: December 2019

Blessings of the day to ALL …

I am writing this week’s blog ahead of time but will take time after presents to get it posted.  The entire California family, all seven of us, are going to the movie to see the latest Star Wars film.  Might be the start of a new tradition … a movie with the family after Christmas dinner, even if it isn’t a Star Wars film.

Last week was a mixed lot.  Some days full to overflowing.  And a couple of laid back days at home.  All in all an interesting balance.

It started with the annual radio club holiday party at the clubhouse wednesday evening.  It is a fairly small building so it was loaded with the fourteen of us. 

A couple of members had decorated and it looked quite nice.  The usual array of food was available … Stephen’s bean salad, John’s vegetarian linguini, Michael’s Thai pork with pineapple, Bruce and Bonnie’s butternut soup, Linda’s crudities plate, Ken and Linda’s beef marinara pasta, Art’s tossed greens plus sparkling drinks and Starbuck’s coffee.  It ended, as usual, with Martin’s homemade pie.  He makes the most fantastic crusts.  This year it was blackberry made with homegrown berries.  I had two slices (they were small).

The games went well.  The winners of the first game found 89 words in AMATEUR RADIO FREQUENCY, one of which was nine letters long.  Everyone seemed to have fun with the challenge in spite of the ban on profanity which was worth a few muffled giggles on its own.  And the word search got stuck because one of the required words wasn’t in the square.  I thought I had checked it, but somehow I missed that.  The word was “light” and the closest to that was “laght” which seemed to translate as who-the-heck-knows?  I’ll pay closer attention to preparations next year.

My ego was stroked since the homemade herbal salves were well received, as was the scarf.  I need to start next year’s planning while I am still in the mindset. I already have one game in mind and some thoughts for prizes.

Mark, Kamille, and Paul weren’t there.  Two new members of their church were giving a party so they went there.  Mark had been joking with one of the hosts about the Gorey take on fruitcake and how one might be perennial, i.e. A gifts it to B one year, the next year B gifts it to C, followed the next year by C gifting it to D … and the guesses as to how long it would take to show up under A’s tree. So Mark baked a fruitcake to take to the party and gave it to Kevin.  We’ll see how long it takes to get back to Mark. 

Wouldn’t it be a hoot if someone ate it?

~~~

It had been raining and snowing off and on all week.  One day it had snowed, then rained so it was slush, and just before I was on my way home from packing the Holiday take-homes for the county kids the temperature dropped and even though I’m pretty good at driving in snow or rain, I had the opportunity to practice my skill at hydroplaning on ice as I came around the curve on our hill with a steep up slope on one side and a steep slope down on the other.  All those years of practice kicked in and all was well.  Maybe from now until warmer weather I’ll put it in 4-wheel to come up our hill … regardless.

~~~

Friday was a minimum day for Paul, last day before winter recess.  As a result, our afternoon together was extended.  We had extra time at the library after delivering a gift to a friend before he left for the holidays in Sacramento with his children.

This was our Mexican dinner week so we got beef tamales (I haven’t made my own since George died but we found some from Texas which are acceptable and gluten free) as well as some pollo asada and chili verde for burritos and served them with mixed greens, sour cream, tomatoes, chopped green onions, and guacamole.

I do seem to talk a lot about food.  I guess it is one of the enjoyments still in my life.  Oh well …

~~~

Saturday afternoon I went to a 20^th Anniversary party for a couple of friends.  It had been a second marriage for both when they were in their late forties.  She said that when they married the guess was it would last about two years, and here they are … a full 20 years later.  They spend their time between two homes … one here in Mt Shasta and the other in Haifa.  His children are here.  Her daughter is there.

Those who were invited to the party were those who had been at their wedding, except for three others and me.  I didn’t even know them twenty years ago.  We have become fast friends however, starting with amateur radio.  I didn’t know a lot of those at the party since they were families and old friends of the celebrants, but I met some.  My circle is expanding.

Atara and Paul shared photos of their Israeli places and of their meeting and courtship.  The food served was a mix of western and eastern Mediterrean.  I had thought we might all dance the hora, but it didn’t happen.  Instead, Atara said they had not danced at their wedding and she wanted to dance to a song she remembered from then … “The Tennessee Waltz”.  As a result, I had an earworm for a full two days. 

~~~

Beginning sunday, this week had been full of preparations and secrets.  I got into the habit of giving George a steam train calendar every year.  I have now transferred that to Mark and Tyler and Paul, although Paul’s is exclusively the 4449.  Kamille doesn’t use a paper calendar, so for her there was a scarf in shades of orange, brown, green, blue, beige, purple, and rust.  Sounds gaudy but is rather subdued and really quite attractive.

I also spent time making holiday cards to mail just after Christmas.  This year I decided to do New Year’s cards, which I will probably do every year from now on.  That way everyone is included, not just those who celebrate Christmas.  And I am using another picture of the Mountain, of course.  I do so appreciate Her.

As I have mentioned before, this year I made herbal concoctions to share.  For several years I have used a foot salve which helps during those times when I wake up anxious or have trouble going to sleep.  I rub it on the bottom of my feet and somehow it settles me.  The original recipe called it “Dream-y Foot Salve”.

I had given a jar to Kamille some time past, but had not had feedback until a month or so ago.  She said it works the same for her and asked that I make more saying old remedies do seem to be effective.

That was pleasant and, as I was making the new batch, I decided to make extra and share as holiday gifts.  So far, all the reports have been good.  I don’t know if it is the belief that it works… or the action of a foot massage … or knowing I make it with loving intent … or even what effect the essential oils create (although I have used herbs and essential oils for a lot of home remedies over the years) … but it doesn’t matter.  It works. 

Next up … a new batch of BooBoo cream.  The herbs have been steeping in oil for a couple of  weeks and are ready to be strained.  The new batch will be ready to be jarred next week after thickeners are added to the herb oil.

It seems I’ve told you some (or most) of this before.  Oh well …

And the week ended with Christmas Eve Service.  It was interesting this year since one of the local 12-Step programs regularly meets in the church’s community room on tuesday evenings, so there were two events going on at the same time. 

And it was snowing as we left the church.

~~~

I finished the book about the Kaintuck Book Woman.  It was quite a read.  I learned a lot about the hill people of that area back in the 30s.  Their life was much like my family’s had been during Depression years … lots of beans and reusing everything … just a little less of everything in those mountains.  The new thing to me was information about the “blue” people. Their skin actually appeared blue and as a result they were shunned and segregated, as were the negroes, because of their colour.  In the 50s, a researcher discovered the blueness was the result of a genetic mutation first noted in France, which caused an anomaly in hemoglobin.  I got the impression it has been bred out and there are no more blue people.  Much as Tay-Sachs is no longer the problem it once was.

Now I am back to reading mysteries.  They are my “comfortable” reads.  I enjoy the challenge of trying to out-think the author.  This new one is set in London in 1940.  It is called “Mr. Churchill’s Secretary”. 

~~~

When next I write to you it will be a new year.  It will do us all well to remember a quote from a Rebbe whose thoughts I read … “The universe is one being. Everything and everyone is interconnected through an invisible web. Whether we are aware of it or not, we are all in a silent conversation. Do no harm. Practice compassion. And do not gossip – not even a seemingly innocent remark! The words that come out of our mouths do not vanish but are perpetually stored in infinite space. One person’s pain will hurt us all and one person’s joy will make everyone smile.”               

And from a close friend … Celebrate each other. Be kind to one another for we are not as different or separate as you may have been taught.  

Blessed Solstice … Merry Christmas … Joyous Kwanzaa …

So … ‘til next year …

One of my few remaining cousins died last Saturday.  We grew up fairly close until we were in our early twenties and we both married.  But we became close again as we became “elders”.  When we were little he was called “Bunky” and he always called me Juanita (my middle name by which I was called until I started school).  Now there is only one person left in the world who calls me Juanita.

The last few years he had been caring for his wife of 63 years who has rather severe COPD.  Then a month ago, to the day, he went to see the doctor for a persistent cough and found out he had cancer of the pancreas, liver, and lungs.

The email from his daughter said he died peacefully in his sleep. 

I had called and talked with him after he told me his diagnosis and I had planned to call again last sunday. 

He used to tease me about my habit of noting problems with “Oh well …”     So, for you Bunky … a heartfelt and teary   Oh well …

~~~

Last Friday, Paul and I were recipients of a random act of kindness.  We went to the grocery store to get one of the pre-roasted whole chickens they have as the Fantastic Friday special about once a month.  We do dinner for the family when that happens.

So last Friday, there we were … all set to get roast chicken, tater tots, and a green salad on the table only to find that the 24 chickens, which had come off the roaster just minutes before we got to the store, were all gone.  The next batch wouldn’t be ready for another 45 minutes.  I told the clerk I didn’t have any chores to fill 45 minutes and we started to turn away to pay for other items we had in our cart when a man standing at the deli counter turned with a chicken in his hand and put it in our cart.  I started to say (ungraciously) ‘Thank you but you don’t have to do that” when he shook his head and said something about it being alright and that I should just do something nice when I have the chance.  So, with a choked throat, I said thank you and paid for all our stuff, including the chicken.

Now I’m in debt to Karma.

But not Paul.  On our way home I started the lesson about “paying it forward” when he said “I know, Nuna”.  He told me that at school that day his teacher, Mrs. Watkins, had set up a Santa’s Store in the classroom so her students could buy presents for their families (nothing more than 50 cents).  Paul had about $6 he had saved during the year and was selecting things for his parents and brother when he noticed that one classmate was staying at his desk.  Paul went to him and asked why.  The friend told him he didn’t have any money so Paul gave him $1.50 which was what he hadn’t already spent.

I nearly had to pull over because my eyes suddenly got blurry.

~~~

I woke up saturday morning to an interesting scene.  So interesting that I noted it on Facebook.  I don’t recall every seeing a morning in which there was snow on some trees and other trees, right alongside, were bare … or some branches on a tree were white with snow and other branches were clear.  I wonder how Mother Nature did that.

~~~

Tonight is the radio club holiday party.  I’m in charge of the games for the door prizes.  Sorry if I’ve told you this before … indulge me.

This year my games are …

How many words can you find in the phrase “Amateur Radio Frequency”.  Paul and I found 288 in a bit more than 30 minutes.  I figure to have them play in teams of two and will give them about 20 minutes.  The prizes will be a mug saying JOY, four packs of hot cocoa mix, and a jar of my homemade Sweet Dreams foot cream for each.

And …

A Word Search square for holiday words such as Noel, candle, bell, Hannukah, Santa, holly, dreidle, etc. That will be individual and the prize will be a handspun, handknit scarf in shades of blue, wine, and green (which I found in the cedar chest when I was sorting out my fiber stash … I can’t remember why I never used it or gave it away), and a jar of my homemade Cold Face cream with healing, soothing herbs.

Can you tell I’m bragging because I am pleased with myself?

~~~

Hanukkah begins at sundown next sunday and will run through Christmas … again.  I remember so clearly the last time I noticed this happening.  It was the year our youngest son had turned thirteen and my chosen sister and her family came here for the holidays.  As you know, she is Jewish.  She gave us a glass dove with a leaf sprig in its beak to hang on our tree.  It has been on the holiday tree ever since, including this year.

The Winter Solstice (Yule) is the day before.  Time for the light to begin to come earlier and stay later.  Instead of waiting to go to open the chicken door after 0830, I’ll be going out shortly after I get up. And closing will be closer to bedtime rather than before dinner as it is now. 

And we all know that Christmas is next wednesday. 

Crowded holidays.  Gifts and memories and the return of the Son/Sun.

May we all be Blessed, whatever our holiday.

Remember … 

When you have not sat in darkness, you will not recognize the light.­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

So … ‘til next week …

Last thursday started the week off with a driveway full of mush as the snow melted and with a pick-up that wouldn’t start.  Aaaahhhhhhhhh, the funs of winter.

Over the weekend, weather turned a bit warmer (into the 40s) and the precip to rain, so by sunday evening the snow was almost all gone.  The hens stayed indoors when the snow got a bit deep, but are out daily now.

Egg production is usually a bit off in this kind of weather, but not this year.  The whites have begun to lay and we are getting between ten and thirteen eggs a day … except last monday and tuesday when we got fifteen.

Enough for breakfast breads now.

The “bad” thing about the weather for several days was ground level FOG!  Monday’s sun was shining to the south, but here the temps stayed in the high 30s and low 40s and most of the time we couldn’t see as far as the barn.  It was equally bad in Weed.  The edge of the fog blanket was just a couple of miles north of downtown Mt Shasta.

By tuesday the fog edge had moved south past Mt Shasta and it was below freezing at dawn.

This morning is windy and overcast.

Oh well …

~~~

Remember I told you about David Brooks’ new book last week? 

Do you believe in coincidences?

Well … try this on for size (an idiom from my youth).

I was first on the reserve list for Alexander McCall Smith’s new book in the “No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” series titled “The Colors of All the Cattle”.  I started reading it friday and guess what the entire first chapter was about?  Same message. Not in the words of the erudite professional columnist Mr. Brooks, but in the words of intelligent women of traditional size, repeated in paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 on page 21.

Then on Sunday, the Rabbi’s weekly homily arrived in my email and guess what it addressed?  This time in a parable based on a conversation with a young man.

Coincidence? I think not.  I almost believe the Universe is trying to tell me something.

Oh well … my next event with Great Northern will be packing Holiday boxes on the 17^th.

~~~

Thinking about holidays … I’m planning the games for the radio club’s holiday party.  I’m going to have two games this year … one of those “How many other words can you find in this word or words?” and a word search using holiday words.  Let’s see how good the hams are at words.

The first will be played in teams of two and the search will be individually, so I’ll need three gift bags.  That means a trip to Dollar General and time to make something(s).

I’ve even had ideas for next year so can begin planning early.  Maybe start a holiday cactus plant for a gift bag next year.

~~~

My last-of-our-generation cousins (one on each side of my family – one two years younger than me and the other four years younger) both live in the Los Angeles area … one in Canyon Country and one in Palos Verdes … and both were close to fires this past summer.  The Santa Clarita fire came right up to the Canyon Country back fence (paternal cousin Dottie), and the Palos Verdes fire was only three or four blocks away (maternal cousin Doug) according to the map I saw. 

We were spared again.  Mark is working and planning on changes to help protect us such as clearing trees close to the house and along the road right-of-way.  I will miss the trees by the house.  I watched them grow (by comparison with previous views, not actually day to day) and got used to the views.  Trading views for safety, however, is a no-brainer.  And if one or two trees on a neighbor’s property and one on our property go, I’ll be able to actually see the Mountain from my bedroom window again.

~~~

I received two early holiday gifts this past week.  The first was a very unusual book from another cousin (I seem to have been blessed with a sufficiency of those).  It is undated, but the language used seems to indicate mid to late 19^th century.  The cover is light tan suede with what appears to be a hand done decoration.  It is a book length poem titled “Lucile” dedicated to his father, based on a work by George Sand, and written by Owen Meredith (Robert, Lord Lytton).  Wow !

I will begin reading it after the holiday rush cools.

The other was this month’s fiber surprise box based on StarWars.  The sample fibers had the following names … Swamp Baby, Golden Droid, and Chewbacca Fleece.  An extra surprise was a Mudhorn Egg pompom.  Also included were patterns for mittens and caps.  Looks to be a fun spinning and knitting month.  Paul has a birthday the end of January so … mittens or a cap?

~~~

As part of the holiday season, remember …

Smiles and kindness are contagious.

So … ‘til next week …

The Bombogenesis or Bomb Cyclone … interesting phenomenon. 

We seem to be in a semi-protected spot.  Winter storms from the west get shunted or slowed by the Eddy mountains to our west-southwest.  Storms from the north come down the valley to our east with slight wind, if any.  They are gentler and mainly bypass us (except for temperatures) going south. Those from the south slip mainly up the draw to the northeast of us unless there is wind in which case we get drifts and cold.  I don’t recall many storms from the east since the Mountain is in the way.

The backside of this system (tuesday and wednesday followed on friday, saturday, and sunday) came from the south and gave us cold and some wind (35 mph), a fair amount of snow (about 2’ overall), and some drifting (some as deep as 4’).  The main push, however, was to our east and south.  Mt Shasta and Dunsmuir caught it and I-5 was closed several times during the storm from just above Redding all the way into Oregon.

The closures near us made our fire company unavailable since the side roads (Old Stage Road/Hwy 99) were clogged with traffic off the freeway trying to go around the blocks.  Old Stage Road was a parking lot from the railroad crossing about five miles to the south of us all the way to Stewart Springs Road about six miles north of us.  Firemen couldn’t get to the station and those at the station couldn’t get the engines on the road.

But as usual, the scenery was a wonderland.   This scenery always makes me think of my cousin Marvin who, in the middle of an Arizona autumn when I was about eight, taught me to sing “Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?  In the lane snow is glistening. A beautiful sight, I’m happy tonight …”

~~~

On Thanksgiving we went out for dinner.  It was an adventure which started with chains which were noisy.  But we made it to the HiLo where we met with a couple of friends who otherwise would have been alone, so there were six of us.

This year the HiLo served Thanksgiving via a buffet.  There was ham and turkey with all the extras, ending with pumpkin pie topped with whipped cream.  I went round twice (only one pie slice however) and gained four pounds.

Plans for Christmas dinner haven’t jelled yet.  But decorating started last Friday.  The tree is up and there are swags and poinsettias and snowmen and Santas and elfs all over the place.  Very festive … with appropriate music in the background.

~~~

About a month ago a young friend talked me into watching the MGM/HULU version of “The Handmaid’s Tale” on DVD.  I just finished season two.  It expands on the original tale (written by Margaret Atwood years ago) and tells the stories (or pieces of the stories) of several handmaids in addition to June/Offred.  Maybe they should move the apostrophe and add an “s” to make it “The Handmaids’ Tales”.  There are tales of the “Wives” and the “Aunts” and the “Marthas” as well, but “The Women’s Tales” as a title wouldn’t have the same impact.

It is prophetic in some ways … hopeful in others … and thoroughly unsettling. 

My next telly binge will probably be something lighter.  Maybe “Miss Fisher”.

PBS has been doing Broadway on their Great Performances series.  “42^nd Street” and “The King and I” are available, but I haven’t watched yet.  Been too busy with the Handmaid.  Lots of precision taps in “42^nd Street” and I remember the movie of “The King and I” from my post-partum period after the first birth.  I got low and George noticed it, so he called my aunt to take me out to a movie while he looked after the baby.  That was a good call.

I’ll catch up as soon as time permits.

~~~

As a lead in to the holidays, I have at least four projects going … so that whenever someone comes in on me, I can move to a different project.  It feels nice to be involved in so much.  And things are going well.  That is, I haven’t yet confused any of the projects and had to rip out anything. 

Left to do in the next few days are another batch of grape jelly (the juice is in the fridge) and a batch of BooBoo Cream.

~~~

I have had time to read however. There is always time to read, right?

Current book is “The Second Mountain” by David Brooks.  He is a columnist for the New York Times and a commentator on the PBS News, in case you don’t recognize the name.  Fridays on PBS used to be a must-watch for George and me since that was the day Brooks and Shields reviewed the news of the week.  Shields’ inclination is to the left, and Brooks used to be pretty conservative.  Then a couple of years ago his commentary started to change … as if conservatism had move too far past him to the right … as in fascism.  So when his book was released, I was interested is reading what he has to say. 

It is a read worth the time and thought.  His concept of the “Second Mountain” is basically that egoism (the First Mountain – self success) is often necessary but only as a lead-in to the Second Mountain, i.e. self-realization via community.

And that thought led me to an incident here in the family which illustrates the dichotomy.

Mark bought a phone (the brand name is Sonim) from an AT&T dealer.  Shortly after the AT&T warranty ran out, the phone failed.  The maker had also offered a warranty, so he sent the phone to them for repair.  The repair took about a month and when the phone came back it was minus the battery and the battery cover.

Mark went back to the warranty and discovered that following the basic instructions in re where to send the damaged phone etc., in smaller print was a warning to not return “accessories”.  He had seen that and took it to mean adaptors, chargers, and that kind of accessory and so packaged the phone and sent it off.   WRONG!

Below that warning, in much smaller, almost microscopic, print was a note saying don’t return batteries or battery covers.  His mistake for not getting out a magnifying glass to read the fine print. Now he has to buy a new battery and battery cover from the company who made the phone and tricked him into the new purchase.  Good for the company’s bottom line.  Not so good for community.

So, if your phone is a Sonim … be aware the company has programmed sale, use, and repair to be of benefit only to their profit line.  You and your needs are secondary at best.

End of rant …

~~~

To end the week, something to remember … 

Bravery is standing up after you’ve been knocked to your knees.

So … ‘til next week …