Month: November 2020

More thoughts in the time of COVID-19 … CA lockdown day 249 … over 260K US deaths, 2 of them here in Siskiyou County …

Ground covered in hoarfrost and frost rimmed leaves is the scene every morning now.  Walking to the chicken house is like walking on a layer of snap, crackle, and pop or on corn flakes.  We had a brief snow and the Mountain is beautifully white, but for now it is just cold.

Only a month until Winter Solstice, longer days, and the deep winter months.  Fortunately, the woodshed is full.

~~~

A few days ago I was listening to Sirius’ Symphony Hall and heard both cadence and phrasing in Stravinsky’s “The Soldier’s Tale” which reminded me quite strongly of  Let’s all go barmy.  Let’s join the army from Brecht’s “Three Penny Opera”. That brought to mind the relationships between Bernstein and Gershwin, “Nature Boy” and a Dvorak concerto (in D, I think); Richard Rogers and most anyone, as well as a lot of others.  They all reminded me that as there are said to be only 64 (or some other low number) stories which are rewritten and retold, with variations based on the era and the customs and the intentions of the writers. There are probably a limited number of musical phrases and rhythms which are also varied in combination according to the same rules.  I feel it is a bit sad, but as I enjoy the same stories rewritten, I am learning to enjoy the musical repeats as well.  

I must admit that I am not sure where atonal dysrhythmic “music” fits that thesis however.

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One day last week, on my way into town I saw two forked horn bucks and a four-pointer.  Gave me a heart-stopping moment of pleasure.  We don’t see deer in the yard as much as we used to since the dogs came to live here.  They have yet to accept the local fauna as part of the landscape as Darby did. She barked very seldom, and then only at any bear who got too close to the house.

I sort of miss the spring return of the does with their fawns.  

Oh well …

~~~

We lost another chicken.

Something had dug down at the corner of the fence around the chicken run and two of the whites got out.  They have always been the adventurous ones.

Siku is part husky and huskies catch birds for food.

Mark and Paul saw the chase and, while they were unable to stop the pursuit, they were able to get the other bird back in the run and the opening closed.

~~~

Paul and I had an interesting conversation the other day.  He was finishing his breakfast and I asked him what he had planned for the day.  He looked up and said “I don’t plan my days.” After a short pause, he added “Others plan them for me.”

I thought that was an interesting insight for an eight-year-old.

Then, after more thought, he added “I wait for an empty spot and then I decide what I want to do.”

He has a vast imagination.  Maybe he’ll wind up being a writer.  When the two of us are left alone, he can spend hours explaining things to me such as how a lego construction works, what it means, what the construction entailed, the problems and how they were solved (or failed to be solved), what his intention had been in the beginning, how it had changed, what he had planned for the next step, etc. etc. etc.

Those conversations remind me of phone calls with his brother when he was younger.  We’d reach the time when the conversation seemed to be in a lull and just as we would begin the goodbye process, Tyler would say “Oh, just one more thing, Nuna.” and off the conversation would go again.

~~~

You all know that I volunteer with the local food sharing programs, right?  Well … last monday I was paid!  I received a 20+ pound turkey.  The tag said $25+.  Nice pay …

~~~

It has been three years since George left and I’ve had a few off days …

It would have been easier had I died when he did.  Not better necessarily … just easier.

… from “Disappearing Earth” by Julia Phillips

So … ‘til next week … don’t eat too much …

More thoughts in the time of COVID-19 …

Day 143 since the California lockdown with 245 thousand US dead …

A day late and a dollar short … as one of my parents or grandparents would say (I can’t recall which one right now).

Yesterday was just one of those days.  I left the house at 0700, almost finished the list of to-do stuff, and got home in time for dinner at 1700 (5:00).  I failed to go into Mt Shasta for the last thing on the list, but Kamille will do it for me today.

So, here I am … a day late.  My busy day seems to be falling on Wednesday regularly.  Maybe I should change the blog day.

Oh well …

~~~

Let’s see … yesterday began with the need to be in Yreka at the courthouse around 0800 and so no time for the blog.  My apologies …

First stop in Yreka was the office of the Siskiyou County Supreme Court to get a copy of a trial decision from a case heard back in 1990.  It was a case between neighbors (two of whom are now dead and one living on Maui) over water flow and the uses thereof.  It might be important to the current controversies over water in this area.

Second stop was the office of the County Recorder to research the deed and easement rights of a parcel of land pertinent to a controversy over the use of one of the Hammond Ranch East subdivision’s roads.  The Planner, in charge of this subject in the Recorder’s office, and I were in “conference” for about two hours.  We looked at (and he explained to me the meanings of) a clutch of documents and maps dated as far back as 1968.

The first result of that interaction was the discovery of a glaring error in re one Ranch road which needs to be corrected.  It is listed in the County maps as a US Forest Service road when it is actually a private road belonging to those holding access easements.  I will need to bring that to the attention of the landowners’ association and figure out what hoops we need to jump through to get it corrected so that tourists and holiday guide books stop sending people through our area as a way to access to public lands.

The other big discovery was that a parcel of land between our subdivision and an adjacent subdivision is actually part of neither.  It seems so strange to be dealing with “subdivisions” in this remote, rural area, but back to the learning session. That parcel is, after several changes in parcel boundaries, multiple owners, and grievous confusion, a source of trouble caused either by stupidity or as a result of possibly intentional misrepresentation by the original land developer.

So I now have a handful of documents to bring to the next decision-making meeting over this problem … and some new knowledge about how our County government does things.

When that interaction was finished, I was hungry.  I hadn’t taken time for breakfast before leaving home.  Bacon burgers, fries, and a drink at 1130.

Next was the drive back south to the local food share where I picked up a week’s supply of food for the neighbor who dropped the tree on his leg.  Home to Yreka is nearly an hour each direction.

The food pick-up, which always involves at least forty-five minutes to an hour in line,  was followed by my weekly trip to the library.  By then it was already an hour or two into the afternoon.

Then to the local feed store for chicken food.  We were completely out so I had to get layer pellets and scratch and spend a friendly amount of time talking with Barry, who runs the feed store from his house. He has personal medical issues (he knows I am a nurse) and an elderly, arthritic dog with whom he is deeply involved.  It is a local business so it requires a bit more time than the in-and-out of a bigger commercial interaction.

On the way home I had to stop by the home of one of the new HLA Board members to deliver her informational packet and then by Rodney’s place to drop off his food. The stop at Rodney’s also required chatting time.  He lives alone, is a rather queer-duck with few friends or contacts, knows one of his town contacts has been diagnosed with COVID and so is insistent about maintaining distance which, in addition to the deep laceration and broken bone, made getting the food into his house a bit complicated. By the time that was done and I got home it was 1600 (4 o’clock), I hadn’t had time to go to the toilet all day (like doing a full 10hour shift in the Emergency Department … coffee before the shift began, toilet after it ended), and was very glad I was not the one required to fix dinner.

After dinner the chicken feed had to be taken to the chicken house, the evening chicken routine handled, the day’s emails checked, and the dinner dishes washed.  

By 1930 I was able to get into bed and read my current adventure book for an hour before nodding off. It took me to Palestine pre-Israel.

And that is why this week’s blog is a day late.  However, I am still a dollar short.

~~~

The other big event last week was my first appointment with a dentist in way too long a time.  Dental appointments leave me an anxiety wreck dating back to experiences as a kid.

My lower left molar had lost the cap a few months ago.  Following consultation and x-rays, I was told there is a partial fracture across the space between the working surface of the tooth and the roots (molars have two), the beginning of infection at the base of both roots, and the only way forward is extraction.  That is scheduled for the 30th at 0900.  Fortunately the new dentist believed me when I told him I would need novacaine bigly and nitrous if I am to survive.  We shall see. I have never had a tooth pulled with the exception of a couple of wisdom teeth and that was done under anesthesia because they had to break the teeth to get them out.

I’ll let you know how I survive … or not.

~~~

Weather last weekend and all the way into yesterday was a switch to cold, wind, and rain.  Over three days we had between 3 and 4 inches of rain.  Had it been snow we’d  be knee deep.

At least it put a dent in the fire danger.  They haven’t yet declared the season over, but essentially that is the state of things.

~~~

Oh … and I forget to tell you we lost one of the white laying hens.  She had been acting off for a couple of weeks … not roosting with the others, showing signs of being low on the pecking order such as loss of head and tail feathers, seemingly not interested in food, the last to start the day and the first to end it … just generally not so good.  Monday evening she was on her side out in the yard being pecked on by the others.  Attempts to move her were unsuccessful and she was dead by morning.  When something like that happens, it makes me sad … but nature knows what she is doing.  Or so I have to believe.

That leaves sixteen layers and that is still enough to feed this family.  I had a rasher of bacon, an over-easy egg, and a blueberry roll for breakfast this morning.

~~~

That’s enough for this week.  It is now nearly noon. 

This week’s thought …

Do not be dismayed by the hypocrisy of others, nor by your own inconsistencies. Our lives are all journeys through hills and valleys.

 So … ‘til next week …

More thoughts in the time of COVID-19 …

 As a wise Yogi once said … It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.

Fire season … COVID … elections … autumn …

Last friday we had a touch of rain mixed with corn snow in the morning.   Then saturday I woke up to snow covering the ground and tree branches.  Not a lot.  Less than 0.5 inch.  But the first snow is always a treat.  Out my window looked a bit like a holiday card.  And, of course, it was gone by sundown.

But sunday morning, as I went out to the chickens, there was over an inch of fresh, pure white on the ground and the red carpet under the maple tree was hidden under a white base with colour spots provided in shades of gold by the cherry tree.  I opened the coop door and the hens rushed out, as they usually do.  That was followed by a traffic jam as the last of the bunch trying to get out met the first out trying to get back in.  A Keystone Kop moment.

I think it is safe to say the danger of a massive, destructive fire is over for this season.  Thank you for all the protective affirmations.

~~~

Mark  and Paul have been busy bringing in firewood.  Paul finishes on-line school about 2:30, so after a play break and a snack, off they go to the drying yard.  As of now, the wood shed is only about a tier short.  And the solarium is working so we gather heat every sunny day.

It is a good thing the decision was made to keep Paul in home schooling. Last monday one of the teachers at the middle school was diagnosed positive.  That means all those who chose to go back to in-person schooling, and their relatives, are now on watch.

This was a rather secure part of the state until last week when there was a burst of positives at the local community college and at the boys and girls club.  We now have three cases in the hospital and have had our first death. Everyone is edgy.  

~~~

There is a new one on my prayer candle.  A neighbor severed an artery just below his knee when a tree he was dropping fell a bit off.  In addition to the bad laceration, the accident also broke a bone in his lower leg.  Fortunately he was alert enough to put on a tourniquet immediately and the people for whom he was working got there quickly.  Mark, as the fire company responder, was there within fifteen minutes.  It was a miracle.  Bleed out from an artery takes only minutes.

Our neighbor depends on the local food sharing programs and, of course, won’t be driving for a while.  We are making arrangements to collect his weekly share and deliver it while he is laid up.

~~~

More on the water issue …

Many years ago (at least 30) a new landowners diverted the water flow across her land which was fed by the creek on which George had our hydropower set up.  That diversion took the flow off of one downstream neighbor and put it across another’s land.  Those who lost the flow sued, but the court decided (against riparian descriptions … but that’s a different story) in favor of the new landowner.  I had forgotten that situation until just a couple of weeks ago.  Then it dawned on me and I realized it could have a rather significant impact on the current situation which took water away from us and five downstream neighbors.

So I went up to the courthouse, to the office of the Siskiyou Superior Court, to request a copy of the court decision in that case which likely would require the return of the water flow to the way it had been for more than forty years.

As seems to be usual in this County, there was nothing ready for me.  I had called last week and been told it would be ready friday. 

I got a bit angry, but stayed contained as I told them I had made a special trip north just to get those copies.  I think the lady in charge of my request got the message.  At least I hope she did.  So the new plan is for her to call me and tell me it’s ready (I won’t hold my breath), or for me to call again the end of this week.

~~~

Last evening was the first meeting of the new Landowners’ Association Board.  For the first time ever, it is an all female Board.  Challenges and chances.

Things did not go well.  As the leftover Officer from the previous Board, I had decided on the agenda and planned an organizational meeting with a minimum of “business” since five out of eight Board members were new.

I was selected as President (not a surprise).  

In the past, the Board meetings had gotten “loose” in that there was little structure.  I had tried to correct that, as I was able, since taking notes for minutes under those circumstances was at best difficult (I was the Secretary).  

I jumped into correcting that situation a little (or maybe a lot) too fast and wound up being insulted by two leftover members (who were acting under the old anything-goes mode) and being rude myself in a misguided effort to lead the meeting.  Now I am making apologies and researching Robert’s Rules of Order and Association By-Laws to pin down responsibilities and requirements.

I still plan on bringing order to meetings, but will take it a bit easier.

First off … explanations of Officers’ responsibilities and possible changes to the By-Laws.  I had prepared a packet of basic information for all Board members and asked that they read through it and be ready to discuss, comment, and offer suggestions at the December meeting.  We shall see.  I may be on the outside looking in.

Oh well …

~~~

None of us are immune to life’s challenges.  Do not be dismayed by the behavior of others, nor by your own inconsistencies. Our lives are all journeys through hills and valleys.  How we move through them is what defines us.  There are no mistakes, only lessons.

So, here I am … learning.

‘til next week …

More thoughts in the time of COVID-19 …

 The catalpa is bare.  Only dry pods left there.

The birches are golden and are great indicators of whether the breeze is at ground level or up high since even a slight air movement sets them dancing.

The scarlet carpet under the maple is nearly complete.  I am gathering and pressing leaves for memory.

~~~

My Hallowe’en was quiet.  It’s been that way ever since we moved out here.  The boys used to make the rounds in town where there were streets full of houses.  And there was a costume parade down Mt Shasta Boulevard of little school (elementary) kids, parents, and teachers every year.  Not this year.  No parade.  No neighborhood walkthroughs.  Instead locals closed off main streets in several towns and folks reserved spaces to park vehicles with their trunks open and full of treats.  Sort of a substitute parade and trick-or-treat combined.

Before we moved here, we lived in a development in San Fernando Valley and George did up Hallowe’en in style.  I remember the year we draped spider webs all over the doorbell area where we also had an intercom.  Then George stood to the side, in dark rags, holding up a scarecrow figure made of bent wires (hard to describe but he was an artist).  A dad came down the street accompanied by a wee pink bunny.  The bunny got up courage enough to reach under the web and ring the doorbell.  I answered from inside the house in my best witchy voice “Ooooh.  What a cuddly  bunny.  Welcome.” and, as the bunny said “Trick or treat”, George moaned and shook the scarecrow. Since it was just twisted wire draped in old clothes, it swayed and shivered.  The poor little bunny screamed, wet its pants, and went running down the walk toward the street where dad had been waiting, holding a martini glass.  At the scream, Dad dropped his glass and went running down the street with the bunny racing behind.

We hadn’t recognized them as part of our immediate neighborhood so we were never able to apologize, but it became a Hallowe’en we never forgot.  I’ll bet the dad hasn’t either.

~~~

The hens are still in molt.  One day last week we got only two eggs.  I threaten them, telling them they are no longer earning their keep.  I hope they are listening. 

~~~

 I’ve had a busy few days via books.  Did a lot of traveling … East bank of the Nile between Memphis and Thebes, late 15th century BCE … London, early 1920s … Bethel, the year of the Witching … Chaco, late 1990s …

One place I went could almost be here and now …

“I live in a land where malignity rules, where fear and shame dwell.  I see botched and corrupted lives, failed hopes, broken dreams, murders and mutilations.  Injustices committed with authority.  I see people with no souls doing the worse possible things to people with no power.  For what?  For nothing more than riches and power.  There is no honour and no dignity in such things.”  (Nick Drake)

And then I remembered being a teenager, writing a senior class assigned essay which I titled “Lidice, never again”, believing nothing like that could ever happen here.

I now await the result of yesterday’s voting.

~~~

 When I get up to dress each morning, I go into my closet where I have a chair on which I sit while putting on stockings etc.  It is under a small window facing east.  I’m used to looking out that window and seeing the morning star between some pines.  Since the time change, I no longer see it.  It is now behind the southern tree by the time I am getting dressed.  I dislike time changing.  If I had my way, we’d pick one or the other and stick with it all year like Hawai’i and Arizona do.

That led me to the general topic of seeing stars and I realized that the sky here has changed quite a bit over the time I’ve lived here.  When we first moved out here, the sky was dark (except at full Moon time) and we could see lots of stars and planets.  Gradually, that has changed.

The sky is now light blue-grey even on dark Moon nights, I no longer see a sky full of stars.  I still see the bright planets and some of the brighter stars, but the glory spread is gone … lost to light pollution, even this far out in the woods.  The small towns of Mt Shasta and Weed have increased their night lighting tenfold.  Even way out here, new folks are keeping outdoor lights on all night.  Afraid of bears and others, both animal and human, I guess.

During past summers, the grandchildren and I used to spend a night or two out in the meadow in the back of the pick-up just looking at the sky, especially during meteor falls.  We’d snuggle under quilts with the guard dog at our feet.  That is no longer an option.  

I can still see Ursa and Orion and Cassiopia, but tracking other constellations is getting difficult.  

Oh well …

~~~

With the world as it is, I remind myself …

Nothing is too difficult to overcome. You’ve survived so many hardships and moments that pushed you to your limits. Instead of giving up, you survived and came out stronger. You can do that again. Keep believing. Keep going.

So … ‘til next week …