17 April …

 

I thought the rain had stopped for now.  It had even gotten a wee bit warmer. Then the weekend came.

New snow …

Just a couple of hundred feet lower than us in altitude, the daffodils are blooming.  Here they are still in the bud stage.  But the Manzanita is in bloom (hard to see the berries they are so small).

 

 

And remember me telling you the oaks were not losing their leaves last fall?  Well, they still have them …

 

I am wondering where the buds will appear and what that will do to the dry leaves still on the trees.

 

 

As I told you, the reservoir is fuller than I can remember seeing it. It is so full the area next to Old Stage Road is nearly cresting onto the road and the area where the Canada geese usually nest is under water.  The geese have either moved on or moved to higher ground where there are swampy areas.  I’ve seen only five geese (one unmated?) so far this Spring.

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Last week was busy what with Mark gone.  I was OUT and about five days in a row! My usual is two and not in a row. I was home over the weekend … but there was the Seder Monday (more about that later) and I had to go to Yreka yesterday for jury call.  It must be a big case because they have called a second group of prospective jurors today and will be selecting the jury tomorrow from the two groups.

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Our access road (Dale Creek Road) is in pretty bad shape …

and there seems to be a problem with getting it repaired (maintained?).In the past, water has been taken from the reservoir and/or Durney Creek to use with road work.  Now there is a controversy with the local WaterMaster over permits etc.  Sound familiar?

I spent last thursday morning on the phone trying to get it ironed out, but it still isn’t clear.  The WaterMaster said the water belongs to the state.  The state says the WaterMaster is in control even though WaterMaster is a County appointed position.  

Talk with our district Supervisor who serves as a Director on the local Water Board proved to be useless.  Next step?  Contact will be with the Water Board Executive Director as soon as the blog is posted.   

I’ll keep at it because the road needs repair !!!

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Easter is almost here.  Late this year.  Mark’s church held a Seder last Monday evening.  They have done this every year as a means of learning about other faiths, especially the elder “Abrahamic” religion.

This family contributed baked/roasted eggs for the meal.  I’d never heard of that method of preparation before (although I’ve been to other seders).  It involves putting eggs in the shell into a cold oven, setting the temperature to 200º and leaving them for an hour and a half, then upping the temperature to 300º for half an hour.  They come out speckled. 

 

 

Appaloosa eggs …

 

My friend Atara, who currently lives in Israel, used to lead.  Kamille is versant in Hebrew which was part of her Seminary training.  Others learned from Atara.  So it went well and was instructive.

The OLD joke is … They tried to kill us.  We survived.  Let’s eat.

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As for books … Not twenty pages into “The Ghost Walker” here this was …

Then as I got into the story it turned out to be about producers and distributors of fentanyl.  The book was written in the middle 90s.

So much for a light read …

And coincidence ? … the last three books I’ve read all dealt with the explosion of brain usage in homo sapiens sapiens which is said to have led to the extinction of Neanderthals, Densovians and Hobbits (the other homo races present at the time) around 40,000 years ago.  None of the titles had hints of this connection and none of the stories paralleled each other … but since  “Coincidence is a messenger sent by truth,” I wonder why this coincidence has appeared in my life and what I am supposed to do with it.

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Recently saw a list of US war involvement predicated on birth year.  It said this country has been at war someplace in the world nearly 50% of my lifetime.  The younger you are, the higher the percentage.

Shortly after that, I saw in one of the books I was reading …

“It is always the same war. Only the names of the dead change.”

Food for thought.

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And a reminder to myself …

If I had not sat in darkness, I would not have seen the light.  ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­I’ve seen a better day, but I’ve also seen worse. I don’t have everything that I want, but I do have all I need. I woke up with some aches and pains, but I woke up. My life may not be perfect, but I am blessed.

So … ‘til next week …