Month: October 2022

Weather … getting cooler with highs in the low 70s rather than the 80s … WIND started during the night friday the 21st and got harder during the 22nd with very light rain and a rainbow over the Mountain. 

The Aspens can’t seem to agree what to do.  A few, very few, have dropped their yellow leaves which look like late flowers now on the ground.  Others are beginning to turn colour in patches. The rest are still in full green leaf.  

The Old Farmer’s Almanac says … There’s an old weather proverb that states, “If autumn leaves are slow to fall, prepare for a cold winter.”

At 0630 sunday morning the temperature  was at freezing.  My nose and ears were complaining.  

The Monitor heater comes on when the house gets down to 60º and came on about 0700 on both sunday and monday.  The front porch was covered with frost. Guess we aren’t too far from a freeze.

~~~

Boy … I really got hung up on NASA last week. 

Guess I’m a bigger space nerd than I thought.  

~~~

I went to the Mt Shasta Amateur Radio Club meeting last wednesday evening.  It’s the first time since George died.

Several members remembered me and there were a couple of new ones and another who will be taking his test to get a license.  One of  the new ones said something about me being the matriarch of the club.

It was sort of like old times.  Me being a simple tech (lowest rate in being a ham … George was the highest) I’ve never known much about the technical side of radio so I did a lot of listening.

A member who lives in Dunsmuir picked me up and brought me home.  The club is having a potluck the weekend before Hallowe’en.  I think I might go.  Some of the wives will be there so I won’t be the only woman there.

I have a pumpkin cookbook so I’ll have to see if there’s something I can cook to take.  Bruce’s wife is already signed up for Pumpkin Pecan Bars.

If I decide to start participating in the weekly net I’ll have to locate my handheld radio so someone can reprogram it.  Its memory has probably gone since George was the one who used to program it for me and it hasn’t been used since he died.

I might be going to meetings regularly.  We’ll see.  I didn’t get home until after 8 and am usually in bed close to being asleep by then.

~~~

Francis was here overnight friday.  

Mark has been in work meetings etc. all week.  Kamille was teaching all week and dropped Francis off here on her way south to join Mark and others on friday for a “council” meeting.

Francis and I work well together.  We stick to any outlined rules and requirements and then just wing it.

Late friday one of his sandals lost a strap. A neighbor had some Gorilla glue but it was old.  Francis and I tried to fix the sandal strap, but the glue application nozzle was clogged so the repair wasn’t pretty and probably won’t last much longer than until someone makes a run to Walmart.  

We tried and did our best.  Guess that’s all anyone can ask of amateurs.

Oh well …

Turns out his feet are nearly as big as mine. So he used my house shoes as substitute.

Dinner friday was taco meat burgers and mixed salad veggies with ice cream for dessert. 

Saturday breakfast dry cereal with blueberries and coffee creamer (I didn’t have any milk … poor planning) and orange juice. Snacks during the day were a bagel with cream cheese, later crackers and some of his Dad’s ham salad, and a couple pieces of Hallowe’en candy (since he won’t be here on the day).

Later …

Kamille got here earlier than neither Francis or I expected, so after they left for home. this house sure felt empty.

 There is now a copy of Scrabble in the extra bedroom, which Francis calls “his” room.  I’ll be ordering some other games or get some next time I’m at Walmart in Yreka, so I will be better prepared … UNO, SKIPBO, Mancala, maybe Clue, and others if I can remember what Francis likes.

~~~

Results of the wind … at least one tree down across hwy 89 and pine needle piles all over including strips along the side of 89 and little piles all over the Village.  I wonder what will be done with them.  Back on the farm we’d use them for mulch but not able to do that here.

The wind also blew the frost prevention cover off the tomato planter. Francis and I got the cover off and the frame dismantled.  I’ll leave the planter box on the porch and store the cover in the shed.

John will move the rose planters over under the carport where they will be protected and get morning sun.

The antenna for Sirius was blown loose but Mark was here monday and reattached it in a different location.  He said the original spot was in an iffy location and he thought the first snow would bring it down.  But now it has been relocated in a more secure site and all is well.

~~~

I just read about how Julia (McWilliams) Child got her start as an OSS operative in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and China during WW II.  She had been an active civilian member of the Aircraft Warning Service, a group of mainly females who spent time watching for enemy shipping near the Long Beach harbor on the southern California coast or listening for enemy aircraft under Air Force flight paths in an effort to prevent enemy attacks.   

My mother and I were also part of the Aircraft Warning Service.  We had to learn the shapes and sounds of enemy aircraft and did stints during night darkout times in a lookout below the paths between the Ryan Air Force training field near Hemet (for recruits which were called 90 day wonders) and the March Army Air Force field near Perris on the western part of the route in Riverside County, when it was still farming country, and another training area near Twentynine Palms across the mountains in the Coachella area.  

I remember scanning the sky with binoculars (wrapped in comforters during the cold weather) and only once reporting on a suspected aircraft.  It turned out to be one of ours which resembled a Zero, but I was thanked by someone at March Field.  

I don’t remember what our communication equipment was, maybe some sort of radio telephone.  But that was years before I married a Navy Radioman and eventually became an Amateur Radio Operator.

Interesting how an article about a tv cooking star can trigger old memories.     

~~

And another item about radio …

There have been what I believe to be non-hams using the scanner frequencies.  There have been what sounds like a very young, maybe too young, child talking to his Dad.  It is a one-sided conversation.  The child doesn’t use a ham call sign (mine is KD6WZC) so, nosy old lady that I am, I haven’t decided what I should do.  You’re supposed to be a licensed Amateur Radio operator to use Government designated Amateur Radio frequencies.

My son (AB2LI) tells me you can now buy radios in stores like Walmart which are able to use some dedicated amateur radio frequencies without licenses or oversight by any governmental agency. 

But I’m not on that committee.

~~~

With the beginning of cold weather, I need some warm slippers, a robe (the one I had before the almost move south was heavy and because I had anticipated warmer temperatures down there, I gave it away), and some night socks.

Guess it’s time to create an ordering connection with Walmart since the Redding store will fill net orders and deliver.

P.S. The Walmart items are due tomorrow.  Strange shipping patterns from Walmart … Items are shipped separately.  That would seem to be costly.

Oh well …

~~~

It snowed a good lot on the Mountain monday night.

So end the week …

Don’t wait for things to get simpler, easier, better.

Life will always be complicated. 

Learn to be happy right now.

Otherwise, you’ll run out of time.‘til next week …

Current weather is easy …  warmer than normal and no rain in sight.

~~~

A few mornings ago I was awakened by a bright light coming in my west facing window.  Just seemed strange.

It turned out to be a Full Hunter’s Moon. 

Waiting for the unwelcome changes to both spring forward and fall back raises havoc with my sleep cycle.

I’d vote to keep standard time which is based on the sun.  If it’s good enough for Arizona, Hawaii, and other states I say it’s good enough for California.

 ~~~

An author named Reed Farel Coleman , a screenwriter who collaborated with Robert B.Parker on both tv shows and movies, has taken over the Jesse Stone book series.  

I would surmise Coleman has some of Parker’s notes for books which were unfinished when Parker died.

So far I’ve read two of the adaptations and enjoyed them.  

I admire that Mr. Coleman does not try to imitate Parker’s style.  Rather he writes in the style of someone who is used to writing for movies or tv and so writes dialogue.  

It takes a bit of getting used to, but once into the cadence, I can design my own sets and action directions using my own imagination.

I wonder if Coleman has any plans to continue writing Jesse books.  Probably not other than to wrap up the series.  Maybe have Jesse retire?

Good fun anyhow.  

~~~

Another movie reference … Hocus Pocus and the three witches … a Blonde, a Brunette, and a Redhead.

Interestingly, a Blonde, a Brunette, and a Redhead are currently running for Governor of Oregon …  A Republican, an Independent, and a Democrat.

I’ll let you know which of the Sanderson witches is the winner.

~~~

I’ve been watching the NASA HDTV channel (352) and learning a lot about space exploration history, astronomy, and space science concerning astronaut biological needs such as oxygen pressure and other space preparations.  

Female astronauts all seem to be letting their hair float free like a cloud.  As an RN who was trained to keep my hair under control because hair is a potential source of contamination, I wore mine in a knot under my cap (in the days before I retired our caps indicated where we trained). 

If you’re a space nerd like me, NASA is a great channel.  I’m currently waiting for the launch of Artemis I.

And feeling envious of all those who will be around to see the explorations waiting to be done in the future.

So far no pictures of toilets etc. aboard the ISS.

Oh well …

~~~

I am no longer driving.  

I believe that when three signs show up, whatever I am contemplating doing or not doing, it is time …

The third sign came in the philosophical close to last week’s episode in a tv series I am following.  It pointed out that to ask for help is not a show of weakness.

So I am in the process of building a help network.

I told my sons I did not intend to follow Dylan Thomas’s advice to not go gentle into the good night, but to rage against the dying of the light.  Instead I plan to go as gently as I can, but with dignity. 

It ain’t gonna be easy but it’s my decision.

~~~

The following is a personal political opinion    …

Why is it that while there is no proof of or claim by Ukraine that it was responsible for the damage to the bridge used by the Russian’s to provide food and supplies to their military in the Crimea, and no proof of or claim by Ukraine that it was responsible for the damage to the pipeline carrying heating fuel from Russia to Europe?

Is it possible or even probable that these acts were actually done by Russia in order to give Putin an excuse to purposely kill civilians by targeting churches, apartments, schools, playgrounds, and other civilian gathering places in his war to destroy a country he wants to control in order to extend his Empire?

What will the UN, the Hague Court which handles war crimes (such as the Nuremberg trials?) and even possibly the EU do about Putin’s verbal nose thumbing and display of his middle finger showing his rejection of the International Geneva agreements?

Based on his fear because he’s losing in Ukraine?

What, if anything, can stop him?

~~~

Remember how I noted that when you once see something, all of a sudden you see it all over the place?

Well, since that previous blog post I keep seeing “In point of fact” … so far in two separate books by two different authors.

Maybe I’ll start using it in conversation.

~~~

I was able to get my COVID booster last tuesday.  Now I am fully vaccinated.

Don’t feel any different however.

~~~

On Hallowe’en I plan to go to every door in the Village with a bucket of candy (all commercialy individually wrapped) for a treat or with some written riddles as tricks.  So far I have five riddles ready. 

And on the subject of Hallowe’en, I was reminded of seeing pictures of folks in costumes for last year’s Hallowe’en dressed as the exciting prize which Father Parker, in the movie A Christmas Story set in a 50s home (if you’ve never seen it you’re in for a treat when you do, especially if you’re more than twenty years or so old .. we elders have probably seen it more than once and enjoyed all the memorable dialogue and LOL moments.  

The father in the story (whose given name was never mentioned that I remember – guess I’ll have to watch again – what a chore heehee), was one who entered all the write-in contests offered on the radio.  

One time he won an important prize.  It arrived in a large wooden crate (no cardboard in those days) and that’s how he knew it was important because it was marked FRAGILE which he gleefully pronounced fra gee’ lee.

When the box was finally opened it was revealed to be a lamp in the shape of a single sexy female leg in a spike heel and fishnet stocking with a swishy black fringe on the shade.

Mother Parker was overwhelmed and immediately slapped his hand away when the older Parker son (Ralphie) started to stroke it.

But Father Parker was so proud of his prize he put it in the front room window.  

I’ll leave the rest of the laughs for you to find.

~~~

Have you ever heard of the10th Mountain Division which fought in WW II?  A National Monument in Colorado has just been declared in their honor.  

They were all top rated skiers who were trained to be soldiers at a camp in the Mt Rainier area where they trained how to live, sleep, climb, ski, and fight on snow under the harshest conditions.  

Fire on the Mountain is a movie about them https://snowbrains.com/10th-mountain-division-history-fire-mountain/

They fought in the Italian Alps and have a lot of commendations and medals due to their wins against the Nazi forces. 

They were America’s only mountain and winter warfare fighting unit and were noted as “Light Infantry”.

A friend of mine was married to one of them, Robert W. Bagshaw, and she used to go to the yearly reunions with him.

~~~

I’ve been watching the NASA feed on television waiting for the ArtemisI flight launch. 

If you are a fellow space nerd, you might be interested in watching as well.  If not to watch the Artemis launch on a live feed, NASA is great for a lot of information as well.

That feed can be found at 

HDTV channel 352

They are not always broadcasting but keep looking back to see if they might be on the air.  That’s what I do.

They  recently had a program about the telescopes that are out there in space and what they are seeing.

They now believe they can see back to the Big Bang.  

What I learned from that program is that Scientists believe there are hundreds thousands of billions of galaxies, maybe even more.  Some are spirals like the Milky Way and some are merging, some are twins, and who knows what other configurations there are.

Sooooooooooo if there are that many galaxies imagine how many stars there are in each and how many of those stars have planets and how many planets have solar systems and how many solar systems might, just might, have life of some kind which might have intelligence as we know it and which we might be able to understand ???

The mind boggles.

Maybe Carl Sagan wasn’t just a dreamer but a prophet and maybe some of those dreams are realities. 

None of us alive now will live long enough to know.  That thought makes me very envious.  How about you?

~~~

To end this week’s musings … 

There are more things [in heaven and earth], Horatio, than are dreamt of …

Hamlet,  Act 1, Scene 5

So, til next week …

Here’s the LOST post … 

The weather is feeling like an actual change of seasons … chilly mornings in the low 40s, followed by midday middle temperatures, evening highs in the low 60s, and rain of varying intensity requiring a flannel sheet with a light blanket and a crocheted throw overnight.

Morning walkabouts are starting about 0830 rather than 0715.

I’m enjoying it.

~~~

 I am in the process of changing my primary care provider from a PA in Weed to a FNP in McCloud.  It has been quite an adventure.

It started when the car decided to do the “I won’t start right now”.  It has done that a few times in the past (three or four that I recall) and when I found someone to help, which for some reason was usually a man, the car started right up.  The last time it happened I called Mark who was already in tWeed and, as in the past, he got in and the car started.

A car with a mysynogist streak?

But Mark showed me the “secret” which was to make sure my foot was firmly on the brake and the “shift” was in park.  At any rate, since then I did as he taught and hadn’t had any further trouble until last wednesday.

Then  it happened again.  I tried all the tricks and, after several attempts, the car still refused to cooperate.  Mark wasn’t available so I called John.   

I had made an appointment to start the care provider transfer and so John took me to the clinic.  Then due to the tremor, which makes my handwriting erratic (even my printing), John helped me fill out the forms.

We  brought the forms home to be filled out and John would deliver them back to the clinic on his way home.  While he was finishing that, I went out to try the car and it started without a hitch.

I tried twice to make sure, and no problem.

Go figure.

The forms got delivered, an appointment for an introduction and initial exam was made, and the car hasn’t been a problem since.

~~~

I have long been involved with EMTs and then Paramedics in ambulances and as first responders in the field.  I had always thought that was the brainstorm of an MD at LAGeneral Hospital.

Then last tuesday I heard an article on NPR’s Morning Edition over JPR, our local NPR outlet, about a Black group in Pennsylvania who had created a group called Freedom House, to act as first responders, who were accepted as part of first response teams quite a time before the LA program.  (for more information see  How working-class Black men in Pittsburgh pioneered emergency medicine … 20 September 2022 NPR Morning Edition … “Freedom House was Pittsburgh’s first professional ambulance service, and likely the first anywhere. The first paramedics were a group of Black men from the city’s historic Hill District.”)

The EMTs, played in the popular tv show “Emergency” was about EMTs as part of an LA Fire Company crew, (Randy Mantooth, Kevin Tighe, Julie London, and Bobby Troup) were all white actors.  No mention of their black role models.

Now, thanks to NPR, I know the rest of the story.

~~~

On my mondays for the elder lunch, I often use Old Stage Road since I don’t like driving the freeway.  Never have.

On those drives I noticed the pine trees seem to be becoming more obviously infested with pine beetles.  Trees with pine beetles die from the top down.  When they are either already dead or dying they are obvious brown among all the non infested green trees.

~~~

Even the BBC can be caught in the disinformation quagmire …

The BBC headline reads “Occupied areas in Ukraine call vote to join Russia” while the article points out that it is actually Russian backed officials calling for the vote, not the people.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba dismisses the votes as a sham and says they will not change anything.  

Beware of distorted headlines.    

(That reminded me that those who write headlines don’t always know proper grammar like the time a headline read something about responding officers killing the dead men.)

Read carefully, even from usually trustworthy sources.

~~~

One last (?) observation in re the Hill fire … While driving through the burnt area in the Heights on my way to the elder lunches … 

That fire is no longer news but the damage lingers.  Oregon fires have surpassed California fires in acreage, but the damage to Lincoln Heights was severe, including two deaths, and the fire damage in Shastina was limited to a few houses and was lighter and more spotty.  

Now over 50% of the residential area in the Heights no longer exists.  The Heights is a predominantly Black area, previously called “The Quarters” which was and remains a predominantly segregated area as a result of the timber milling in this area where blacks were hired (imported) to handle the more dangerous jobs.  

One of those jobs was on a  piece of loading equipment securing large logs to transporting trucks requiring the use of heavy iron chains subject to breaking and snapping which resulted in the free chain ends whipping around and often !!! hitting those handling the loading.  It was called the “Nigger killer”.

As a result of the Mill fire, HWY 97, just outside of Weed, looks like some of the bombing pictures from Ukraine but without bomb craters.  Instead it is flat destruction.

The highway just north of Weed is yellow taped off with no slowing or parking admonitions.

Some of the traffic slowed anyhow … rubbernecking, filming, or taking photos.  

I didn’t even slow.  I will be driving through there once a week for several weeks since the Community Center where we usually have lunch is unreachable.  Access to the 

Community Center goes through the burned area so we are meeting in a church to the north.   

The fire went around the church area because it had been cleared of trees, brush, and duff as CalFire has been advising be done by all property owners in fire prone areas.

 I can rubberneck on one of my trips to lunch.

~~~

Now to end the week …

I was the recipient of a small Random Act of Kindness a few days ago.  

I was checking out at the grocery store and I was short 17 cents.  I was getting ready to use my debit card for the purchase knowing there was sufficient money in my checking account to cover the groceries (I had paid in cash) when the lady behind me in the checkout line said “Don’t do that.  I’ve got seventeen cents.” and she paid for me.  I thanked her and assured her I would pay the act of kindness forward.  We shared a smile then the cashier and the lady behind my benefactor joined us with their smiles.

I was reminded that …

… even the smallest bit of kindness can cause a big ripple in the world.

So, ‘til next week …

Okay … Ready …

     Set …

  Go …

I’ll start with the weather. 

We are going into the second week of cool nights, chilly mornings, with afternoons and evenings above average for this time of year.

Still no rain since the thunder and lightning storms several weeks ago.

As of friday the 7th, it seems there are two strong low pressure centers quite a distance off shore to the west and corresponding high pressure centers on the border between us and Nevada.  None seem ready to move.  

The result is clouds full of water off shore and clear dry skies just east of here keeping us dry.

Walkabout times are dependent on temperature and dawn.  They have become later and wear an extra layer. 

~~~
Now to try to recreate the Pulitizer Prize worth blog you will never get to read. 

Oh well …

~~~

In unpacking another bin, I found a cookbook which my friend and former neighbor Elizabeth put together as a fundraiser for her church’s women’s group.  She gathered recipes from friends as well as church members. 

In it I found recipes from Miriam Lowry, Elaine Komrij, me, and of course Elizabeth and her church ladies. 

What a trip down memory lane.

For several years Elaine and her husband Henri, George and I, and Elizabeth had a dinner group which met together in each house in rotation.

The recipes in the book are mostly fairly good.  Naturally the recipes from the dinner group are all great.

Among mine was my paternal grandmother’s lemon pie which was a staple for family birthdays.  Grandma called it her Down Time Lemon Pie because it tasted best when the lemons were so ripe they began to fall down off the trees.  That pie is on the list of items I need to do while reclaiming my cooking skills.

Elaine and I may be the only ones left alive from that dinner group and I’m not sure about Elaine since she hasn’t replied to my mail in over two years.  That would leave only me.

Finding the cookbook triggered another step forward in my path toward regaining the self-confidence I lost when I spent that fiasco in the hospital over more than a year and a half ago.  I’ve been driving for quite some time.  I upped the walkabout to three quarters of a mile several times a week and ad hope to up that to a full mile in a couple of weeks.

But I wasn’t sure I could cook more than the simple meals I’ve been doing just for myself.  Then I found the cook book and thought “Yes I can cook” and decided to start with my Aunt Virginia’s Blueberry muffins.  

They were a success.  They were even good enough to share with a couple of neighbors who really liked them.

Thank you Aunt Virginia.

I haven’t decided what I will try next.

~~~
There had been a rather large split in the street right off the corner by my house.  It was about two inches wide.  Not wide enough to hinder cars, but enough to cause me to be cautious on my walkabouts when I use George’s walking stick.

Last week the landlord spent two days repairing it.  

One of the neighbors told me she thought it was the result of snow weight combined with seepage of water to under the ground from watering lawns and flowers and water being caught in the cracks which caused the road cracks all over the area.  

Most of them aren’t very wide.  Just the one across the corner where Chelsea Lane meets Kenady Way (don’t blame me – I didn’t name them).  

But whatever the cause, the one at my corner is no longer a concern for me.  

And on the subject of water …  McCloud gets its water from springs on the Mountain filling a big storage tank from which the water is delivered to the town.  No one in the town pays a water bill.

A couple of weeks ago the lines from the springs to the tank were damaged.  My Village and all other parts of town were put on a cutback of irrigation use of water to a limited number of days per week on a rotating schedule.  Our scheduled days were monday, wednesday, and saturday.  That didn’t bother me since I have a very small area needing watering.  

We could flush toilets, take a couple of short showers and limit the use of dishwashers.  That lasted two or three weeks before the usage cutback was lifted.

Then last saturday we were notified the water line from the springs to the tank is finally repaired but now the tank needs to be offline while it is drained for cleaning until the system is again authorized for use.  

So we are again on a rotating use schedule.  We are to be restricted to no irrigation watering until next saturday.

Not too high a price to pay for free water.

~~~
While clearing out some of the leftover paper clutter from before the change in my life, I found a lot of records which had not only my name but a lot of information which would be a goldmine for identity theft.  First thought was to burn it, but with my new living situation there is no place to burn stuff. 

I used to have a paper shredder but gave it away when clearing out stuff planning for my move.  

Fortunately, one of my luncheon friends recently had the same problem and bought a small shredder which she loaned to me a week ago.

I got all that stuff ready and had it ready for the next trash pick-up.

I suppose a compulsive or really determined identity thief could do a puzzle thing and learn all that information, but somehow I really doubt that will happen.

~~~

There is a fresh food vendor named Juan who comes to Yreka on mondays and fridays.  He always has whatever is in season in the far northern part of the central valley.  Last week it was figs, persimmons, valencia oranges, cucumbers (both green and lemon), late zucchini, blueberries, jalapeños, jicama, almonds (plain, salted, and hot spiced), and the regular local honey such as star thistle.

Some times in the past (before covid), near Christmas, he would bring some of his mother’s tamales (but you had to be there when he opened because they went fast).

Also in the past when I was making jam and jelly and my family’s favorite Ruby Hoop’s Tomato soup (a recipe I found in a homesteading magazine many years ago), I could call ahead and he would bring flats of fresh fruits and vegetables for me.

There was/is an older man who often helped with the food stand who would tease me about being picky when I was jamming  and jellying and we’d laugh.  I never did find out his name.  I’ll ask next time he and I are there at the same time.

But he knew and remembered my name and this last visit he was singing and dancing and, as usual, we were laughing and he said “Wilma, when we gonna dance?”  so I promised “ Next time.”

Now I have to get my getalong going by practicing on my walkabouts so I can at least move a bit better.

~~~

I thought the roses on the porch were done. By the way, none had hips for collection so no source for winter vitamin C. 

Then I discovered the Double Delight has set three late season flowers and the Peace has one bud.  It will be interesting if there will be enough warmth left before winter to support blooms.

And the mini rose I got at the Grocery Outlet and transplanted to a porch container is doing well.  The blooms are thumb sized red and white striped.

Another thing to watch.

~~~

By the way, I picked the first three string beans and added them to a cobb salad and also had three of the Krim tomatoes drop.  They are still not all black, but tasty none the less. Quite a crop this year.

Also by the way, for a while as I am transitioning between computers, I have no way to access the pictures in my camera.   Look for pictures of rose buds, tomatoes and green beans in my next blog … I hope.

~~~

I didn’t see any butterflies in the butterfly bush this year.  What I am seeing are small birds of some kind.  Not juncos.  I’d recognize juncos.  I gave away my bird identification book when I was aimed for southern California because the book was about northern California birds.

Now I’ll have to get another book.

~~~

There had been fewer monday lunch attendees post-covid, down from close to a hundred at its peak.  After the lunches started up again, the attendance was WAY down.  

It had been slowly rebuilding, then the McKenny fire and several of our regulars are now homeless due to the McKenny fire and so are not with us for a while as things settle.

For a few weeks we have not been able to use the Community Center because the road access was through the Heights.  We’ve been using the Berean Church out 97 (but I think I’ve already told you that .. sorry).

Last week we were told we might be able to go back to using the Center again and we should listen for phone information.

~~~

There has been only one hummer at the feeder for two weeks and that one not regularly.

I remember that out on the farm, I always took in the feeders at the end of September so the birds would go south to warmth and not come to depend on feeders for winter food and be subject to freezing.

I took my feeder in last sunday.

~~~

On my trip to Walmart I looked for a couple of new pillows, new shoes to replace the wornout Birks I’ve had for maybe 20 years and can’t have resoled since the only shoe repairman in the county has retired.  I found a wannabe copy in Walmart for $5 as opposed to $140 for Berks ( but I most likely won’t live long enough to need any more new ones), winter shirts (the men’s ones with long tails) and discovered Walmart’s men’s department isn’t very large and winter clothes aren’t yet available, and found a copy of the latest “Dr Strange…” (which I hadn’t been able to go see locally) in the sale bin. 

That shopping added at least half a mile to my daily walkabout.

Lunch at the MT Shasta Casa Ramos topped the day off and was delicious.

~~~

I have good neighbors.

I had been able to do a lot of the yard weeding job a square foot at a time.  At that rate I maybe wasn’t going to be done before winter.  Then a neighbor from down the street said he could do it in less than a single morning.  

I was left with a mostly cleared yard with only a few plants he didn’t recognize as weeds.  

He even carted away the ones he pulled along with some of the rotten weed-detering ground cover and the brittle, rotted drip watering lines as well.

I took him a couple of Aunt Virginia’s muffins.

Diane, my nextdoor neighbor, and I may have found a new housecleaner to replace the one we had who just quit coming without any notice.  This new one is a bit more expensive but works faster and provides all her own supplies.

~~~

I am expecting a visit from Mary, George’s niece, for three days after she attends a wedding in San Francisco.

She plans to arrive a couple of days after Hallowe’en and be here for three days.

Boyohboy, visits from two relatives in a bit more than six weeks.

I guess I’m just lucky.

~~~

That’s all I can remember from the lost blog.

~~~

Now from this past week …

I’ve switched to a different medical care provider from the one I’d used since my longtime MD died of ALS.  

I was with a PA in Weed for about four years until he got peeved with me.  And before I could tell him I didn’t like or expect that from a medical professional, he announced he was leaving and going back to being a professional airline pilot.

My new primary care provider is an FNP named Claudia who is based out of the clinic just across 89 from where I live.  About the equivalent of my mile walkabout.

Francis spent last saturday with me while his parents went to Red Bluff for something having to do with Mark’s work for the church.  They didn’t get back to pick him up until 10.

Francis and I had a good time together. He played a computer game while I took a short nap then we had a tamale dinner with salad.  He brought a couple of homemade cookies for our dessert.

During the afternoon he and I reminisced about the times when we were all still living on the farm and I would pick him up from school on friday afternoons.  We would go to the library followed by dinner at the HiLo for chicken strips and fries and he remembered the time they gave us fish and chips (Brit for fries) and how they were unexpected but good. 

We ended the day playing Scrabble and to my surprise we had used all but three of the tiles and I won.

They were pleasant memories for me and a joy that he remembered.

~~~

I started doing some genealogical research on my brickwall and found the record of when his request for his Revolutionary War pension was presented to the US House of Represatives.  It was in the archived minutes  dated 1804.

It included an interesting bit of information.  Seems he was injured in service.  Now I need to track down the where and when of any injuries.

~~~

Reading leads to a string of thoughts.

I just found the Husband and Wife team who write under the AKA of Robin Paige.  They write a series of Victorian era mysteries.    

In the first in the series one character says more than once “in point of fact”.

It made me remember an old movie (Beat the Devil) in which one of the main characters, played by Jennifer Jones, uses the line repeatedly.  I thought it was an invention of the screenwriter only to find in the book (Death at Bishop’s Keep) it was part of lower (servant) class English speech.

And that reminded of what a good movie that was with a cast including Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Gina Lollobrigida (a pre-Sophia Loren hot item), a British actor named Edward Underdown who’s unforgettable nasal delivery of wanna-be-upper-class speech was wonderful, and in addition an Italian street brass band.

If you can ever find it on TCM or some such it is well worth the time to enjoy a bag of laughs.

~~~

Fire is still with us but has moved north.  Oregon is now having more and bigger fires than we had earlier.  

Climate Change???

~~~

And that’s not the only change …

~~~

As of now I will no longer be driving.  I am no longer able to back up safely due to limited head rotation.

The challenge will be finding friends and neighbors who will be able to provide me with transportation.  I’ll start making phone calls this afternoon.

I knew it was coming  but not in the manner suggested by someone who (I think it was Dylan Thomas but don’t depend on it ) to “do not go gentle into that good night, but rage, rage against the fading of the light.”

I will not rage and I will go gently since I am cognizant of physical changes, but not mental acuity, and it will make less pressure on my sons who love me and take care of me.

I had been given a sign or two and an additional reminder was given me last evening in the epilogue to an episode of a TV series I watch …

“Needing is not a weakness.  We are at our strongest when we recognize our needs and embrace them.”

It is a hard change but I will adjust.

~~~

Read enough? In the spirit of Yom Kippur … I apologize for any errors, both grammar and spelling and acknowledge I won’t be getting the Pulitzer Prise. Oh well …  

So … just remember…

The sun when it shines on your face is free.

‘til next week …

A day late for this week’s blog…

The result of a who knows what …

Arthritic tremor plagued fingers, a glitch in the cloud program, a misalignment of the stars, a what-the-heck-was-that …

But somehow the most perfect blog ever composed was lost.

I’ll do my best to do it over. Sorry.

One thing I managed to retrieve was an article in Time magazine about the first, trained EMTs in America.

https://time.com/6215072/first-paramedics-black-men-history/?cmpid=email-hist-inside-history-2022-1005-10052022&om_rid=d1e0c7c6f9cd1bd795585832b18d8c47db18da133669769ef6c111f38fbc682a&~campaign=hist-inside-history-2022-1005

Interesting reading.

As an emergency RN dealing with EMTs on fire trucks and in ambulances, I thought the idea was attributed to an MD working at County General Hospital in Los Angeles. 

Oh  well …

So ‘til the next blog …

We know we must learn from and take responsibility for the painful lessons of the past in order to move into a better future.

And ‘til next week …