Today my oldest child is 63. How can that be? However … I am grateful every day. May he be eternally Blessed!
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Still no pictures. I’m saving them and I will conquer this new program … eventually.
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At the meeting of the radio club last week, an effort was made to get the handling of the summer events under a single umbrella so there will be less controversy. I was named “Event Coordinator”. So I will be spending some time organizing and putting together a “script” on how to organize any event.
The final two events for this year are already quite a way along to being organized, so the emphasis will be on next year. I know there is one member who is going to be miffed. But oh well …
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Six thirty-eight this morning before the sun shown in through my new east window. My, how the days go by.
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Our weather has been warm with wind added the last couple of days. But no where near as “warm” in other parts of the country and world.
Kamille has been consistently watering the area around the house to keep the brown at bay and dust down.
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Last Friday, as she went out to walk the dog, Kamille met a bear in the driveway. It seemed a bit early in the day for a bear to be out. And, of course, no one had a camera or phone handy.
Oh well …
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Last Saturday, Mark, Kamille, and Paul went to Lassen. Paul enjoys being a “Junior Park Ranger” and Mark was checking out radio stuff with hams back in this area.
It was one of those bittersweet moments which come with age. I would have liked to go, but I know I wouldn’t have really enjoyed it due to body limitations.
So I stayed home and went to a meeting of neighbors about the water situation. That is a situation ready to explode. California water wars …
Our adjucated rights date back to 1932 and the new Deputy Watermaster is —– (fill-in for yourself … young, aggressive, insecure). Her edicts are causing trouble all over the County. I will be attending the next meeting of the Watermaster District Board next week.
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And more about water …
I am up to my tush trying to access and get help from government about this Board … both state and county.
The office of my state Senator in Sacramento said to contact the Redding office but, so far, I have been unable to find a number for that office.
We were advised to file a complaint concerning a government entity, which seems to be in a no-man’s land without oversight, through the State Attorney General. I spent nearly 20 minutes listening to menu after menu (“if … press … now” – THAT effort at simplifying FAILS miserably) only to be told to file with the County, who had already told us to file with the State.
Sounds about right for bureaucracy, right?
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I am still busy a couple of days a week with the food sharing programs here. Yesterday I packed kids’ lunches again. Today is the Weed sharing and then the bi-monthly session at the church in Mt Shasta.
Makes me feel grateful and needed.
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Kamille and Paul leave next Tuesday for their time back east. It will seem empty without them.
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And to finish this week, a blast from the past …
Was reading some beautiful poetry this afternoon when I found a way to describe this kind of loss that I think anyone could understand.
When someone loses their partner, they miss so many things about the other person. Details. The way they ran their fingers through their hair. A smirk. How they rolled their eyes. Scoot the camera back a ways and what they are probably missing the most is the “we”. That beloved person? They made “we” better than “I”. Much better. It affects every action, every decision, often in supremely positive ways. And when they die, the “we” is gone. And the widow/er has to make do with “I”.
Once you’ve tasted a great “we”? It’s a slog to feel like “I” can ever be just as good. And it can lead to what may look like some really weird decisions. It’s all about coping with “I”, being ok with “I”, and eventually learning how to be happy with “I”. You could bury yourself in another “we”, and sometimes that works out in surprisingly beautiful ways. But most of the time, the struggle is shoring up and learning to love the “I” the same way you loved and celebrated the “we”.
Make sense?
It makes sense to me. As a lot of folks say “S— happens”. And it is equally true that death happens. You can never be prepared. But you can be aware.
So … ‘til next week …