Month: June 2020

More thoughts in the time of COVID-19 …

Weather has warmed up … more like late Spring and early Summer.

I had seen notes that due to the pandemic, sunrise at Stonehenge would be broadcast LIVE this year.  No crowds.  That would suit me fine.  I’d really like to experience the solstice at Stonehenge, like I’d like to experience a lot of places, but without all the people.  I know that is selfish, but with a crowd what can you actually experience other than the crowd?

So with hope, I checked out the offered site, which was supposed to be free, only to find it was not actually free.  The upfront request said it would be free as long as you provided them with functioning credit card information including the protective three number code on the back of the card.  No way …

I finally found a site with acceptable pictures which was actually free on YouTube and sat down to wait.  Sunrise at Stonehenge was a bit after 2000 (8 pm) here.  It was interesting, but overall it was a bit of a bust.  People in fluorescent vests could be seen moving around and lights of cars on the A whatever road were other signs of attendance.  But there was fog in the low area to the east and rather heavy cloud cover.  Oh well …

This morning, on the old Mid-Summer Day, the sun came in my window at 0606.  Soon I’ll notice the beginning of its trip south. 

~~~

Prepping lunches for local kids is already falling into a routine … masks, gloves, temperature check.  We aren’t preparing as many this year, due to restrictions on group size, so we are finishing earlier … taking only about 90 minutes rather than the up to 4 hours we did last year when we were making over 200 each day.

And this year a professional chef is planning the menus.  Yesterday it was soft tacos, fruit yogurt, oranges, and milk.

~~~

The radio club interaction with the bicycle event I’ve told  you about is fini.  What they requested would be violations of our federal licenses, so I told the event director “Thanks for thinking of us, but no thanks.”  All those members who took time to respond to my notice of action were in agreement.  It sounded like it would have been interesting, but not at the risk of losing my license.

Next up (unless cancelled due to health restrictions)? …  the TinMan triathlon the first sunday in September.  Turning out to be a not so busy summer.

~~~

I recently came across a phrase which would seem to explain some of the trouble I’ve been having with my computer lately.  The phrase is “frequency illusion” which is defined as seeing something when we expect to see it.  I can make a typo, re-read it several times, and still see what I thought I wrote and not the actual error.  At least now I have a name for it.

~~~

Big thing with the landowners’ association right now is the increasing trespass and parking on the private road which borders the reservoir.  It is getting worse.  Weekends are particularly bad.  I’ve been doing some of the legal research and Wow … how can anyone spend years studying the legal profession.  Gobbledy gook … sleep inducing … obscure.  Sort of like studying the Talmud.

Roads around here have been a problem from the git-go.  The developers of this subdivision made a whole slew of errors and we are trying to put them right.  The roads have been an issue ever since we moved here, but it seems to have reached the boiling point.  One contributing factor is the new Fire Chief.  He pointed out that illegal parking makes it difficult, if not impossible, for large fire fighting equipment to access areas of the Ranch.  Maybe this time we will get something done.

~~~

The world is in turmoil all around us. 

I know it will never be the same. 

The old “normal” no longer exists. 

And in the turmoil there are lessons … A Jewish folk story goes like this: 

A child regularly returns from school in tears because her peers insult and tease her daily. Her parents suggest channeling that pain by hammering one nail into her wall for every cutting remark. For a while, this helps, but one day the child is again in tears because her wall is now full and there is no more space to hammer the therapeutic nails. Her parents suggest a new course of action that will refocus the girl’s attention: any time someone says something nice, she should remove a nail. This also works for a time, but again, one day the child comes home upset — the nails are gone but her wall is full of holes.

What is the lesson? 

Many wounds, including the gaping wounds of racism, leave a mark that cannot be erased. 

So …  ‘til next week …

More thoughts in the time of COVID-19

Things have gotten wet again.  The rain began friday afternoon with large, widely spaced drops (the kind you can walk between) and continued intermittently until last sunday. Some clouds since then but sun as well. 

 ~~~

The red fence roses are blooming.  They aren’t the large blossoms some roses have, but they sure are nice.  I’ll be drying petals for use later.

I’ll also be drying yarrow.  I got an email from a neighbor, whose meadow is a prime place for yarrow, telling me the time to gather has arrived.  I need yarrow for itch tincture, for healing salve, for air purification smudges, and for blood clotting poultices. So as soon as things dry out a bit …

~~~

Tyler has a new pet … a rainbow boa named Calypso.  She will be a challenge since she is bigger than the snakes he has had in the past and needs a warmer atmosphere than is ours, but he is determined.  She is a “rescue” from down in the Sacramento area.  Her previous owner had to move due to work and couldn’t find a rental which would allow her to keep her pet.  

Information is that Calypso will bite if scared but her teeth, although sharp, are small and she has no venom.  So a bite will probably be similar to a rose thorn prick.

I may have trouble remembering her name.  Every time I think of it I have to sort out Calypso and Calliope.

~~~

My volunteer time packing summer lunches for children began yesterday.  For the next month or two, tuesday and thursday mornings will mean being out of the house by 0630.  Maybe now, with definite plans for a couple of days a week, the disorientation of days all seeming the same will begin to fade.  A couple of times I’ve said things indicating I really didn’t know what day it was.  At first that upset me a bit, but then I read an article saying it is a symptom of being housebound.  That got me thinking about those folks who are in extended care facilities, working at monotonous jobs like on cruise ships, and in prisons.  Is time disorientation a symptom for them?  I can see how it could be a major factor in hating mornings … sort of a feeling of  here we go again.

This morning I spent a few minutes just watching and hearing the birds wake to a new day.  That was nice.

~~~

The OLD 1,000 gallon propane tank that George and I lived with for all those years sprang a leak.  The repairs were done (it took some time since the parts needed weren’t off-the-shelf any longer due to the tank’s age).  The next step was 600 gallons of propane in the tank and we now have ready cooking and hot water.  From now on (at least for the foreseeable future) we will be making monthly payments and refilling the tank once a year.

Saturday I was able to dry the egg shells to add calcium to the chicken feed (one hen has been laying soft-shelled eggs – if only I could get her to lay soft-boiled eggs).

~~~

The amateur radio club has been asked to do communications for an unusual bicycle event.  It is called a Grinduro, is a two-day event held in various countries, and is similar to the Tour de France.   It could be interesting since it draws participants from all over the world, but what they are asking is more in tune with what professional communication companies do than with what we, as amateur radio operators, are allowed to do.  As a result, speaking as the event coordinator for the radio club, I have written to say thanks for thinking of us but no thanks.

~~~

Our library is once again making books available (I told you about the drive-up window) so I’m back to a couple of the series I had been reading.  Just finished “Cruel as the Grave”, a mystery set in the time of Eleanor of Aquitaine and the conflict over who was to be King of England … Richard LionHeart or John.  Penman is a whiz at mixing history and storytelling.  

~~~

And speaking of authors …

Philip K. Dick once said in an interview …

“… my early conclusions as to what is “human”?  It’s not what you look like, or what planet you were born on.  It’s how kind you are. The quality of kindness, to me, distinguishes us … and will forever, whatever shape we take, wherever we go, whatever we become.  For me, HUMAN is my credo.  May it be yours.” (1976)

So …  when you can be anything, be kind.

‘Til next week …

More thoughts in the time of COVID-19

We had nice, gentle rain which cleared off all the yellow pollen.  But three days without rain and it is all over everything again.  Still, the worst of the evergreen fertile time seems to be past and the catalpa is leafing out but without blooming.  The butterfly-hummer plants I set out all seem to be doing well. The area under Mikayla’s cherry tree is scattered with new trees which is very unusual for that tree.  It has never happened before that I can remember.  There are oddles of evergreen starts everywhere you look.  

The trees are really dedicated this year.  Are they trying to tell us something?   Maybe just that nothing lasts forever?  Or that the times, they are a-changin’?

Last sunday we had snow … some flakes, but mostly what we call “corn” snow, small ball snow.  There has been snow this late in the season in the past.  One year (I can’t recall the date) there was snow on the 4th of July.  And another year there was a freezing rain storm, with strong winds, in August.  

Next?  An Australian Christmas ?!

By the way, did you know that pairing of a question mark with an exclamation mark is called an interrobang?

~~~

Self-knowledge which has been creeping up on me slowly came clear last friday.  I can no longer do a five, or at the very most six, hour work stretch.  I was out running errands from 0930 until about 1400 without a break and after unloading the groceries etc. at home I was more than ready for a nap.  

I am still basically healthy and able to do most of the things I have always done … but not for the same stretches of time or at the same pace.

Oh well …

~~~

Saturday was a day of revelation … things worthy of thought.

First came from a book … surprised?  I finished reading “Hag Seed” by Margaret Atwood.  Yup.  THE Margaret Atwood of “The Handmaid’s Tale”.  But this time she was reimagining Shakespeare.  Reimagining “The Tempest” to be exact.  The thing that caught my attention was the imagining, by the director in the book, of Prospero’s cloak.  It was to be composed of stuffed, furry toys from which the stuffing had been removed so what was left were fake animal pelts complete with google eyes, fangs, and claws.

To those of you who know little or nothing of opera, especially modern opera, that will mean nothing.  And since I have yet to learn how to add photos to this blog, I can’t show you the costume which immediately came to mind.  It was Akhnaten’s regal outfit from the Met’s production of the Philip Glass opera.  If you can find it on the net, look at the hem area and the top of the sleeves … and then we can talk.

Also on saturday I was able to watch another opera … a 2008 production of “Thaïs”  with Renee Fleming.  In that opera a celibate monk sets out to save a sinful Priestess of the Goddess of Love.  That plot line triggered thoughts of love … particularly romantic love … and what it means to be in love, to make love, and to love. 

How would you explain the differences?

P.S. In “Thaïs” the monk ends up sexually desiring the Priestess who has entered a convent to die.  Sort of like a Shakspeare finale … Hamlet comes to mind.

~~~

Was at a “lockdown” meeting of the Landowners’ Association last evening.  We were all in masks (which we had to pull down when we talked since we were outdoors and six feet plus apart). 

Main topic of discussion is one which has been under discussion (and causing problems) since I’ve lived here.  The original subdividers used a local agricultural reservoir as a selling point but didn’t include access to it for recreation as part of the purchase deeds.  Purchasers have just assumed they have that right to access ever since in spite of the fact that the area is private property.   In addition the area has been used by locals from all over the south county as a picnic spot and for fishing, swimming, and boating as well.  It’s a real pain in the tush.  Always has been, but it is getting worse.

Last evening the group who owns the land under the reservoir (the Siskiyou Land Trust) came to the Hammond Landowners’ Association asking help in controlling parking on their land for use by those “trespassing”.   A lot was said (which I have to pound into meeting minutes later today) including the allowed usage of the land by whom and responsibilities of the Land Trust for oversight and posting.  Final decision?  As soon as the Land Trust is clear on their position, the Landowners’ Association will consider our involvement.  

This is complicated by the fact that the original subdividers also failed to make a landowners’ association mandatory so the current association has limited powers.  As the number of residents grows, and the urban mindset takes hold wanting the amenities of city life, the call for more services is rising.  

So … does the current association step in and help solve the immediate problem, or is energy spent on forming a Community Services District?

I will be working on a position statement for myself which I hope to have ready to present to the others on the Landowners’ Association Board in a week or so.

Too bad there isn’t anything to fill my lonely days. 

~~~

Day  89 … 114 thousand dead in the US.  Masks and distancing being questioned, but still very important.

Two thoughts to close …

The saddest words in the English language are “If only …”

And …

There are paths we wish we never traveled; decisions we wish we never took; actions we wrestle to tear out of our memory, rip out of our hearts with agony and remorse.

But life has meaning; life is good – not a moment of it can exist without a spark of truth throbbing somewhere within… including that moment you so regret.

So … ‘til next week …

More thoughts in the time of COVID-19

The sun now blazes in my east facing window before 0600.  There are fewer than twenty days to Summer.  

Can anyone explain to me why the autumn equinox is the beginning of autumn, and the winter solstice is the beginning of winter, and the spring equinox is the beginning of spring, but the summer solstice is mid-summer?

~~~

Saturday I watched the Dragon launch with Mark.  It was a grabber.  I was back in the 60s watching the first space flight launches.  The tight throat.  The rapid heartbeat.  The urge to cry.  They were all there … again.

I still don’t know why NASA chose to stop space flights.  Money?  To me that’s a lame excuse.

Then sunday the Dragon capsule docked with the space station.  More memory reactions.  I wonder how long and how many launches it will take for this to become ho-hum again? 

Thank you, Mr. Musk, for spending your billions on this. The future calls.

~~~

Also on saturday we had thunder and rain.  I didn’t see any lightning, but the main part of the storm was southwest of us, on the other side of the Eddy Mountains.  

The rain was welcome.  It was gentle enough that it was mostly absorbed and the plants are doing well.  The Michael iris, the rugosa rose, and the true geranium are all putting on quite a show.  And the potatoes are displaying eagerness.

~~~

I am embarrassed to admit that I was pretty stupid about a computer situation last monday.  I’ve told you about “losing” 30 years worth of genealogy research when my old computer died.  Did I also tell you I was told about a local who is able to retrieve data off dead hard drives?  Well, his name is Jim and he lives not too far away in Edgewood.  I took my dead hard drive to him a week or so ago.  I went to collect it and the recovered data last monday.  He had asked me to bring a thumb drive with a lot of memory so I had one with 120GB in hand when I arrived.  He took it into his office, leaving me alone with his wife in their living room.

I have no idea what I was thinking, but whatever it was I was WRONG.  I was prepared to wait 30 minutes or so.  WRONG!

His wife and I chatted inanely until she offered to show me her yard and garden.  When we went back to the living room, Jim told me the download was about 20% done.  It had been an hour.

Are you laughing at me yet?

I had planned on going to the library, with my hard drive and thumb drive in hand (the local library had once been a bank and they had redone the drive through window to be the means of getting books).  So, I told Jim and wife I was going to the library and would be back in an hour or so.

My library appointment (yes, we now are required to make appointments to pick up our books) was at noon, so I pulled into the parking lot at the library and took a nap.  At noon I got my books (more about them later) and went back to Jim’s.  It was now three hours since I had first been there and the download was just around 50% done.  I said I’d go sit in the car and read. 

It took me about five minutes to realize what I was doing … being really dumb.  So I went back to the house and made arrangements to go back after my stuff today … which I will do after I get this blog posted.

I am still feeling embarrassed and very foolish.  At least I hadn’t taken a bedroll, toiletries, and a change of clothes with me.

I am so grateful to them.  They are two of the most kind and courteous people I have met lately.  I’m not sure I am brave enough to tell them this and try to make amends.  But I will be looking for ways to pay the kindness forward.

~~~

 Now an addition to last week’s long story …   

 I told you about sharing a grandmother story with the author of the PERN books.  Well, she did it again a bit later when she had an older woman admonish a younger one … “Beggars can’t be choosers” which was a favorite of my Nana’s.

And later when the maxim was “Trouble finds work for idle hands.”  My Grandma Tyler would have said “Idle hands are the devil’s playground.”

I’m sure Ms. McCaffrey and I could have enjoyed a tea together.  After all, we had grandmothers in common.

~~~

The affair in Minneapolis, which has caused events all over the world, came to Mt Shasta yesterday evening.  There was a gathering downtown at 6 o’clock.  I had thought to go, in spite of concern over masks and social distancing.  I had spoken to a neighbor about going and she too was concerned about masks etc. (we are both retired RNs).  Then, when it was time to leave, there was no vehicle available to me.  

I have believed that sometimes we are pushed in a direction we hadn’t anticipated, and so when there was no transportation, my head said “You are not supposed to be there.”

It turned out to be a big gathering for our small town.  Very few of those present were wearing masks and distancing was essentially non-existent.  It was peaceful, and meaningful to some I know who were there.  But I wasn’t supposed to be there. 

Maybe next time.

~~~

Weather has been warmer and dry for several days so there is more clean-up to be done in the courtyard.

I will bring home my USB with my data later this morning, so the rest of today will be exciting. 

I have three books waiting to be read (I’ve already read one of those I picked up monday).

Life remains good … and I’m still here.

~~~

Day  82 of lockdown … and some ending notes …

Some people thrive on their own company. It gives the freedom of not having to worry about other people in terms of their needs or judgements … Being alone need not mean being lonely … and   Bad times never last.

So … ‘til next week …