Musings …

The big news around here is the buildup of snowpack in the local area (i.e. southern Cascade mountains in south central areas of Oregon and Siskiyou County).  The report last monday morning was 114”at the Mt Shasta Ski Park.  Mt Ashland also had similar snow depths.  Both had to close for a day or so in order to groom the slopes to avoid dangerous conditions.  

Everyone is hoping it means a better snow cover which will help with the drought conditions.

Here in McCloud, during the latest storm series, we had a total of about 2’.  Even with some melting and 2” of new snow to which was added some light rain, it was just enough to make a mess of slush over ice.  Monday morning outdoor temp was 23º and this morning it was 28º.

We’ve been having morning fog sometimes lasting most of the day.

 Last monday morning the floor heater, which is set at 62º, came on before 0500.  After the heater temp setting was upped to 70º, it didn’t turn off until 0857.

A  lot of the area along I-5 between Ashland and Yreka has been experiencing fog most of the last week.  We even had fog here in McCloud.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac says “Fog in January brings a wet spring.”

~~~

I watched a PBS presentation which was part of the “Secrets of the Dead” .  It was about the history of Stonehenge.

It has been nearly 20 years since I went with some friends to visit Stonehenge and had an unusual experience.

As I was walking around the site I suddenly felt that the Henge was much smaller than I had expected.  Then I realized that it wasn’t smaller but that I was too much bigger.

I started to cry and had to leave the area where I sat on a curb in the parking area, crying, until the others began arriving back at the meeting place.

The PBS article was about the wondrous amount of past history which has been discovered in the intervening years and that the history of Stonehenge begins so much earlier than anyone had even imagined.  

The history has been traced back to the Neolithic Age around 3,000 years BCE where the small blue stones, which are part of the Stonehenge tourist site, had been unexplained until Archaeological digs in both the Preseli Hills in Wales and in Wiltshire in the UK learned much about the  circle of the smaller blue stones around the larger more well-known large circle of sarsen stones. I had not noticed the smaller blue stones when I was there, but maybe the strange reaction I had felt was a reaction to their presence.

A phrase used by the title character in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, in which  Hamlet suggests that human knowledge is limited when he says “There are more things in heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” 

Want to know more?

The First Circle of Stonehenge

                       or

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/history-and-stories/building-stonehenge/#:~:text=Bluestone%20is%20the%20term%20used,2%20and%205%20tons%20each.

Watching and reading these sources of previously unknown information may have provided an explanation for the experience I had those many years ago.   

~~~

Sunday the 15th I accidentally watched “Sunday on CBS” and was blown away.  Three stories caught my attention.

1. A 5th grade class of children in a Minnesota School felt it wasn’t right that three of their classmates were not able to join them on the playground at recess.  They talked about it with their teacher and asked why there was no part of the playground where their friends could play.  Their teacher said probably because it would cost too much.  They asked how much and the answer was about $300,000.  The result took many fundraisers but the children raised over their goal with money to spare which they decided to give away to other schools and as a result not only their school now has the requested playground but the excess money has been spread around and there will be other schools revamping their playgrounds.
2.  A social group of five older women who liked football (American not British “football”), especially Tom Brady.  There are now only two of the original five left but a film has been made about them (“80 for Brady”) with a cast which will amaze you and is due to be released February 3rd.
3.  A tale about a husband and wife who ran away from slavery before the Civil War, and how they managed to make it to non-slavery New England without being caught and returned to their master.

Two of these made me cry and one made me laugh out loud.  

You can see them all on the CBS Sunday Morning web site at … 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/this-week-on-sunday-morning-january-15-2023/

~~~ 

Now that I’ve already sent you on a chase around the net, two items I found reminded me of a song which said “Everything old is new again…”   

Night Court is coming back on NBC with a new Judge Stone and Netflix is updating the family sitcom from the 70s Show to the 90s Show.

I’ve watched (at least a part of) the first episodes of each to see how they do.

 I find the remake of the 70s Show is just that, a remake … same characters who don’t seem to have aged any and scripts with the same old gag lines.  I opted out after the first 20 minutes or so and will not watch any more.

I will however continue to enjoy and laugh at the antics in Night Court which is also a remake but with only one holdover character from the original and the new generation of writers seem to have handled the switch to the new generation quite well.

 ~~~

The small birds which had been checking my front porch for a bird seed feeder still haven’t been back since the feeder was filled and hung out and the series of storms started coming through.

I’ll keep watching to see how long they stay away.

~~~

Britain retired the RED telephone boxes in 1985 but don’t fret.  The blue Tardis isn’t going away (other than the regular trips) anytime soon.

I have three favourite Doctors … Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, and Matt Smith.

How about you?

~~~

The BIG box which arrived via UPS last tuesday contained ONE towel rack for the bathroom and a lot of packing bubbles!  

Go figure.

~~~

Went back to the HiLo cafe with the woman who does my pedicures.  My older son, with whom I went last time I as there, gave it a not-as-good-as.  

Then last friday three of the oldtime servers are back.  The salad bar was good.  Only problem was that the one who calls all us elders either Mama or Pops was running her short legs off and flubbed my final order but it turned out okay.  

It was buy-one-and-get-one day, either a piece or a full pie, and the pies were fresh so I ordered two pies (one strawberry and rhubarb and one blueberry) so I’d have one to share and the other for splurging at breakfasts and/or dinners over the next week. When I unpacked I had a Dutch apple and a blueberry. No real problem.  I like both.  

I thought the chicken strips and fries and salad bar were good.  I brought home enough chicken and fries for that night’s dinner with a piece of the apple pie.  

John and Michael took my suggestion about the HiLo when they were next in Weed.  Their experience wasn’t the same.  They still don’t like it and will stick with the Black Bear in Mt Shasta.  

So it seems you can choose which critique to accept.

~~~

I continue to experience Doppelgängers, just not only visuals.  

The first was on television where the murderer was a ringer for Stockard Channing  more like one of the Aunts in “Practical Magic” than like the President’s wife in “West Wing” or  Rizzo in “Grease”. 

The other Doppelgänger was auditory.  It was an actor in a TV show whose accent sounded quite similar to that of a friend who was born and raised in southern Africa. 

Noticing dopplegangers is getting to be fun rather than just a surprise.

~~~

Yesterday there were three fatal shooting sites just in California.  More than twenty people died and a similar number wounded.   

What does the NRA have any answer to this as well as to the continuing shootings all over the US including the killing of a teacher by a 6-year-old ?

Doesn’t it sound hypocritical to base their position on a misinterpretation of the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution as a “right” while ignoring the rest of the Amendment about a “well regulated militia”?

And here are some scary numbers …

In the first 24 days in 2023 there have been 30 incidentents of mass shootings with 70 deaths.

Anyone making odds on the numbers by the end of the year and if there has been any change in ownership laws and if so any change in the NRA’s position?

~~~

The rebuilding of Lincoln eights following the Mill fire last year is not yet started due to the understanding that you can’t replace generations of occupation, any or no insurance due to the age of the houses and the level of owner income, the lack of any government participation so far, and who knows what else. 

I hope someone in the current generations have tech savvy and can start a net appeal for help somehow.  I see that kind of appeal for help on the net all the time.  I think it’s called something about come fund me. It’s just that I’m too old and tech stupid to do it. 

~~~

And to end the week… 

Every time has its place in the list of blessings.

I think it was an East Asian philosopher who said something like “ When  I compare the present moment with some time in the past I am losing the Now.   

Isn’t it said in Ecclesiastes “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.”

And I think it was the Birds who sang “Turn turn turn …”

So ‘til next week …

On the 14th we had an inch of new snow to which was added some light rain, just enough to make a mess of slush.

On the 15th it began snowing again.

Light snow yesterday with fog following. Just enough to leave a thin ice on the Village streets.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac says “Fog in January brings a wet spring.”

~~~

I watched a PBS presentation which was part of the “Secrets of the Dead” .  It was about the history of Stonehenge.

It has been nearly 20 years since I went with some friends to visit Stonehenge and had an unusual experience.

As I was walking around the site I suddenly felt that the Henge was much smaller than I had expected.  Then I realized that it wasn’t smaller but that I was too much bigger.

I started to cry and had to leave the area where I sat on a curb in the parking area, crying, until the others began arriving back to the meeting place.

The PBS article was about the wondrous amount of past history which has been discovered in the intervening years and that the history of Stonehenge begins so much earlier than anyone had even imagined.  The history has been traced back to the Neolithic Age around 3,000 years BCE where the small blue stones, which are part of the Stonehenge tourist site and which had been unexplained until Archaeological digs in both Preseli Hills in Wales and Wiltshire in the UK learned much about the  circle of the smaller blue stones around the larger more well-known circle.

I had not noticed the smaller blue stones when I was there, but maybe the strange feeling I had felt was a reaction to their presence.

A phrase used by the title character in the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, in which  Hamlet suggests that human knowledge is not limited when he says “There are more things in heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” 

Want to know more?

The First Circle of Stonehenge

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/history-and-stories/building-stonehenge/#:~:text=Bluestone%20is%20the%20term%20used,2%20and%205%20tons%20each.

Watching and reading these sources of previously unknown information may have provided an explanation for the experience I had those many years ago.   

~~~

Still haven’t made a walkabout in several days.  

~~~

Sunday the 15th I accidentally watched “Sunday on CBS” and was blown away.  Three stories caught my attention.

1. A 5th grade class of children in a Minnesota School felt it wasn’t right that three of their classmates in wheelchairs were not able to join them on the playground at recess.  They talked about it with their teacher and asked why there was no part of the playground where their friends could play.  Their teacher said probably because it would cost too much.  They asked how much and the answer was about $300,000.00.  The response to that information took many fundraisers but the children raised more than their goal with money to spare and as a result not only their school now has the requested playground but the fundraising has spread and there will be other schools revamping their playgrounds.
2.  A social group of five older women who liked football (American not British “football”), especially Tom Brady.  There are now only two of the original five left but a film titled “80 for Brady” has been made about them with a cast which will amaze you and is due to be released February 3rd.
3.  A tale about a husband and wife who ran away from slavery before the Civil War, and how they managed to make it (the fair complexioned wife posed as a Master with her dark skinned husband as the slave) to non-slavery New England without being caught and returned to their master.

Two of these made me cry and one made me laugh out loud.  

You can see them all on the CBS Sunday Morning web site at … 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/this-week-on-sunday-morning-january-15-2023/

~~~

Now that I’ve already sent you on a chase around the net, two items I found there reminded me of a song which said “Everything old is new again…” 

Night Court is coming back on NBC with a new Judge Stone and Netflix is updating the family sitcom from the 50s Show to the 70s Show.

I’ll watch the first couple of episodes of each to see how they do.

~~~

The small birds which had been checking my front porch for a bird seed feeder still haven’t been back since the feeder was filled and hung out and the series of storms started coming through.

I’ll keep watching to see how long they stay away.

~~~

Britain retired the RED telephone boxes in 1985 but don’t fret.  The blue Tardis isn’t going away anytime soon.

I have three favourite Doctors … Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, and Matt Smith.

How about you?

~~~

The BIG box I received yesterday contained ONE towel rack for the bathroom and a lot of packing bubbles!  

Go figure.

~~~

And to end the week…

Don’t wait for things to get simpler, easier, better. Life will always be complicated.

So ‘til next wednesday …

Better late than never …

The weather this past couple of weeks has been nothing but rain sometimes light and occasionally a bit heavier, wind occasionally gentle but the trees are dressed in so much snow they can’t dance then the wind gets so strong there is damage all over the south County and many medical calls for chest pains and falls and unresponsive people,

~~~

My morning friday started with looking at “For better or for worse”as is my usual routine.

It reminded me of one time when George and I were “stepping out”.  On our way to take me home following one of our roller skating dates (late 1940s) we stopped on a rather broad “pull out” part way up the mountain and when we realized we better get me home, the windows were fogged and there were Boy Scouts camped in tents near us, probably on a nature outing.

(Thank you Lynn Johnson)

~~~

Did you know that Mickey Mouse debuted in newspapers on 13 January 1930? So we were “born” the same year.

How come he hasn’t “aged” and I have?

~~~

I am a reader of the magazine Archaeology, probably because Mr Edgar introduced me to Margaret Mead (not in person but through her research) and that’s one of the reasons I am interested in family history.

But the magazine and I were at loggerheads since the turn of the year.  I kept getting written letters saying my subscription was expiring and needed to be paid or it would be closed.

I had paid for the next two years by check in December.  I returned the latest threat of no more copies with a printed copy of the check.

And when another threat arrived within days, I called their “Service” number, spoke with a well-spoken man in Manila who found out they (the letter folks) were working from another subscription identification number under my new address here in McCloud and after more computer crunching got it all straightened out and extended my real number by two issues.  Neither of us had any idea who or why it had been changed.

But All’s well that ends well, right?

~~~

 The last time Kristen, who cleans up the house of the chores I am no longer able to handle, had seen all the genealogy notebooks in my office and finally asked me what they were.  That rang my family history bell and I started telling her what they were and that I was getting back to doing more research which had sort of dropped by the wayside during the move to my current place.  She is now interested in learning how to get started because of an interest in a relative about whom she knows nothing other than a name. 

During the next two weeks I put together a beginners book with information she needs and gave it to her the next time she was here with a promise to answer questions.  She was excited by the prospect.  Then weather interfered and she has been sick.

But that interaction had gotten me back to my own research which led me back to an early family which had yielded some interesting names in an online discussion before the moving morass which I can longer find.  So I am starting over with the hope I will either the find the previous conversation or further leads to the solution of which Hatevil Hall goes where when and with whom (there are IV of them) beginning in the 1660s in “British Colonial America”.

It is a bit of chaos so far and includes a Shadrack and several Enochs in the male line.

Wish me luck …

Roots Magic, which is the family tree organizer I use, is having a learning event in conjunction with Family Search (the LDS research center and library available online) and offering the event sessions free on line to those who have a research number which means all the lectures and classes are being offered to download and use whenever I have time or as the itch moves me.   

I’ve decided to allot one day a week to genealogical learning and research, so guess what classes and lectures I’ll be seeing as many times as I want.  Maybe I can share them with Kristen and we can learn together.

~~~

Recently when Mark et al were here I had been offered a free movie on my DirectTV.

It was decided to make it a family movie and the one chosen was one I probably would not have picked (can’t recall the name) but which caught my attention and so I sat spinning while watching.

Sharing movies with one or the other of my sons has been a pleasure whether the movie has been good or sometimes not so.  Still those times are always time well spent. 

A couple of media events I have enjoyed lately have been a repeat of a radio recording of a Victor Borge bit from a concert (complete with great piano, fractured opinions, and sound effects), a movie I thoroughly enjoyed (Bagdad Cafe), and another neither of us thought met its potential (Avatar).

There are a couple of movies I have on discs which I plan to watch again … Contact and Interstellar.  And one I plan to look for on the Net … Elysium (SciFi).

Next on the list to be shared is Glass Onion (Satire, comedy).

Does anyone have an suggestions?

~~~

And to end out the week…

If you woke up this morning, it is not too late.

So ‘til next wednesday …

Talk about Holiday lost time …

In addition to losing time somehow in a misunderstanding with My Drive,  as I told you, while trying to post the weekly blog, the one for last week did a runner.  Mark helped me retrieve it from the cloud when he was here and I posted it then which is part of the reason this post is late.

Welcome to January …

~~~

2 January started with a VERY red sky, so Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning … 

The first result of the triple storms started wednesday night with rather heavy rain and strong wind which was over by morning with snow remaining above 4,000’.

~~~

The streets in the Village are clear and no ice but leftover snow is slow in melting. 

No one is complaining since it bodes well for a better snow pack and filling reservoirs.  The Mt Ashland ski park had to close temporarily.  They had so much snow it took time to groom the runs yesterday morning and there was a 15 car pile-up on the road from the Mt Shasta Ski Park yesterday evening.

~~~

Had a fall last saturday.

I used some arnica cream on it just after I called John and Mark to report the fall.  This morning there is swelling below my left eye but the lovely blue-black of yesterday is no longer there.  Even not much soreness unless I press on the area.  I tried to take a selfie so here is the beauty portrait.

I have a very small scratch on my face at the hairline on my upper left forehead on which I used my herbal healing cream and managed to get some of my hair caught in the adhesive of the bandaid.   

The worse residual of the fall is a sore left shoulder which was bad at the midnight wake time.  It is still sore but is no longer painful with the exception of some positions so as a doctor told a ditz who came to the office complaining of shoulder pain.  The doctor asked when it hurt and where.  The ditz replied “Right here.” and poked her shoulder with her index finger which had a long fingernail and the doctor’s advice was “Well, stop doing that”

Everything is moving so I’m sure nothing is broken. When I had a bone scan a couple of years ago it didn’t show any sign of bone thinning.  

At that same time I had a scan of my carotid arteries and the technician said he wished his were as clear as mine.  

So it would appear the only damage was to my dignity and to Jenny’s feeling of guilt because the fall occurred when I was turning to go toward the back door and put my hand in my pocket to get Jewel’s doggie treat and switched from a right turn to a left turn.  I should have known better and remembered the traffic sign in Kansas which said “To turn left, advance 1 block and turn right three times.” 

Lesson ???  Don’t try to multi-task when one of the tasks involves using my cane until I can get back to regular walkabouts and get my leg strength and balance back.

Was a little shaken and so, after notifying both John and Mark, I indulged myself in chips and chocolates and got in bed early.

I had planned to watch Die Fledermaus as Dad and I did on New Year’s Eve for so many years.  I’ll do it next friday evening but without the chips and chocolate … well, maybe just some bedtime cocoa.

        ~~~

On the 2nd I watched the Rose Parade from Pasadena.  It was a joy to watch.

One or two floats covered completely with live flowers, leaves, seeds, etc. and created with volunteers exclusively.  The float(s) were followed by a marching band, all from the United States and Territories, and an occasional horse group or organizations of some kind.  I had a cousin who belonged for many years to a group called Los Cabelleros who every year (except Covid years) would ride from the Los Angeles area following the Missions trail north with stops at each Mission.

And I remember the year before a massive number of television cameras and one sided floats (decorated for maximum tv coverage) when friends and I staked out places on the sidewalk with blankets and quilts the evening before the Parade near an all night coffee shop so we would have good “seats” on the curb. 

And so many other memories without expensive bleacher seating and nary a Broadway lip syncing star in sight.  One exception was one state’s entry of a float with a state local singer, a band, and dancers (only on the television side). 

Evaluation of Rose Parade vs Macy’s Parade …  Rose Parade wins hands down even with the one-sidedness of the floats.

Then I watched my recording of the London Parade.  Well to tell the truth I watched only the first 20 minutes of the three hour+ recording. Two voices who never stopped talking and only a couple of cameras which showed the same section of the parade from the two different angles so we saw the same part of the parade several times.  The parade was composed of only American marching bands (the English sports don’t have marching bands …  cricket, soccer (which they call football), rugby, tennis, fox hunting, golf, badminton, polo, and some others the name(s) of which I can’t recall none of which have marching bands.  They do have bagpipe marching groups but the London Parade didn’t carry sound other than the talking heads so I turned the recording off and deleted it. 

Of all the parades, London’s was by far the worse,  at least for those watching it on the telly.

That left only the Vienna Philharmonic New Year Concert and the Opera on the to-be-watched list.

The Vienna Philharmonic was good musically as usual, but the talking head and the ballet company seemed to be better this year.  

I remember when there were no women in the orchestra.  This year I counted at least a dozen mostly in the string sections including one on bass viol.  I have a cousin (female) who plays the bassoon so I look and listen for that instrument and saw a doppelgänger in that section.  He was close to a twin of our NBC tv station’s weather reporter Matt Jorden.

And there are now a dozen girls in the previously boys only choir.

Feminism comes to a previously male bailiwick — the Vienna classical music scene.

~~~

Remaining problem from the fall is still the left shoulder which had been minimally controlled by aspirin but is much better controlled and healing with the Advil which was brought to me last sunday.

~~~

Went for a teeth cleaning last wednesday.  

Fewer teeth than ever but as long as I can chop and chew I’ll have them cleaned every six months and put off false plates as long as possible.   

~~~

George and I had a habit of watching special movies at special times.  One of those times was Christmas for which the movie was “Tales of Hoffmann”, an English film which George and I first saw a year before we were married.  It featured ballet stars and operatic vocal stars done  with minimal breaks in filming.  As  a result there were flubs which weren’t edited out as is done now by doing many takes until the scene was to the director’s satisfaction or else cut and pasted by film editors until it looked right.  

As a consequence in the Olympia tale one dancer slipped but carried on as if he were on stage and never missed a movement.  Another was as a dancer had to make a quick turn to his left and a piece of his head costume flew off and was left lying on the floor.

The second tale is of the courtesan Giulietta.  There were two arias which you would recognize (the gondola lullaby and the baritone aria of the candle gems).  One eye catcher was the descent down some stairs by the ballerina which captured George but no dancing flubs.  However, two entire scenes disappeared between the original film George and I first saw which are not in the subsequent DVD copy we were able to obtain years later.  Two really important scenes which were necessary to the plot line are the ones missing.

The last tale is Antonia.  George and I found no flubs there.  Even when I watched for the umpteenth time this last Christmas no flubs.

But one plot line I still miss was in the epilogue in which Nicklaus, Hoffmann’s companion in all the adventures, is revealed to be his muse. 

I can only believe these missing scenes were lost during the storage of the film in the years it was not in storage and not in circulation.  

I wish these scenes would magically show up somewhere.

The other holiday tradition movie is the performance of “Die Fledermaus” by Johann Strauss done in Covent Garden in 1984 and sung by Kiri De Kanawa as Rosalinda.  

The original language was German, but this performance was sung in English, German, French, and a bit of patter.  Full time fun includes an off stage tenor who makes his entrance through a window, a maid who tricks her way into a high class ball, a drunken jailer (who may well be my favorite ), a husband who philanders his way with a pocket watch which chimes, and some great entertainers at the ball (which included Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a DC performance many years later).

Now you know how I spend some time in my year’s end holidays and where to come if you want to join in the viewings.

~~~

In closing …

You don’t have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.

         —  Martin Luther King

So, ‘til next week …

 The major storm system, which the National Weather Service is calling a “once in a generation type event,” is touching nearly every state in the US. 

Folks  better get used to it …

By the way, did I forget to note last week that the earthquake off the far northern Pacific Coast was a 6.4 ?

~~~

Another thing I forgot to share last week is what a gift it is to just flush the toilet without digging out snow into a waste basket (non-woven) and thawing it to use in order to flush.

That thaw-and-flush reminded me of the time (have I already told you this?) when an earthquake left our stretch of Celtic Street in Northridge without water and neighbors came with buckets to get water from our swimming pool to use for flushing.

So flush and be grateful.
~~~

While George’s cousin, Mary, was here she had a chance to talk with Francis.  Mary is a dedicated genealogical tracker of James Bohomile Dibelka (who the family calls JB) and therefore of Frances Josephine Kaspar who was his wife, making her the mother of both Mary’s father Robert and George’s father James and the current Francis’ great grandmother.

Neither Mary nor I have found another Frances or Francis in the Dibelka family.

Interesting coincidence.

~~~

I’m currently reading the 7th Lady Hardcastle book with only two more to go unless TEKinsey decides to give Lady Hardcastle and her lady’s maid (and co-spy) Flo another couple of mysteries to solve.

To which I will join Flo in saying Kaloo Klay as she chortles in her joy while I am being grateful to Cousin Don in Tampa for introducing me to the two of them.

~~~

Referring back to coincidences …  It came to my attention that there was a time not too long ago that TV was dominated by female centered shows … to name just a few … I love Lucy, Laverne and Shirley, the Golden Girls, Cagney and Lacey, the Mary Tyler Moore Show, Zena Warrior Princess, Sex and the City, Rhoda, Cybill Shepherd in Moonlighting (which may have been the inception of macho men first as sidekicks then as leads in movies (think Bruce Willis) as well as tv shows (think Marvel heroes) and no fair reining in all those macho dudes starring as cattle drive bosses and all those other good guys and baddies in cowboy movies (and yes, pun intended).

How many more female centered shows can you think of from that era ?

~~~

Tired of hearing about the big storm, the once in a lifetime storm bomb.

Well, here are some tidbits …

There have been some places in the track of this storm stretching from Wasington state to  Texas and the deep South and up the east coast into New England, and as far as some of the Canadian Maritime Provinces, which have been colder than temperatures on Mars.  

Cold and wind have made some places where frostbite requires only 5 or 10 minutes of bare skin exposure to be deadly.  Several places in the storm track are registering temperatures in the minus numbers (-18º , -35º, -20º. -48º in places as far apart as Chicago, Cheyenne, St Louis, and some places in Colorado).  There have been deaths on icy roads and some as the result of homeless folks refusing to go into warming shelters.  There are videos available showing people tossing boiling water into the air causing amazing sprays of frozen ice and snow.

Nothing as dramatic as that around here since the deepest snow I’ve recorded here in the Village has been 4-5’(not counting the Service District berms) and 28º here at my house.  However, there have been a lot of Ambulance calls all across Southern Siskiyou County mostly for falls and heart attacks and broken arms and elevated blood pressure problems etc. often as a result of snow shovelling.

End of snow/storm reports.

~~~

An entire group of holidays overlap this year starting with Hanukkah, then Christmas, then Kwanza, and ending with the New Year.

One year Helene, Barry, and the kids were with us on the Farm for the blended holidays.  I seem to remember the kids all sleeping in the upper level of the barn on the hay.  If that’s not right, Mark will tell me.

George told me that when he went to school in Chicago he would celebrate ALL the holidays for which the school allowed excused days including both Roman and Eastern Orthodox Catholic holidays as well all Jewish ones.  Had Muslim ones been known then I’m sure he would have included them.

~~~

Last thursday would have been my Nana’s 142nd birthday anniversary.  She died less than a month before her 107th birthday anniversary.  To meet her record, I can’t die until early April 2037.  Anyone placing bets?

The other day I was thinking of all the music I have enjoyed in my life which Nana probably never heard let alone learned to like and enjoy even though the composers were alive during the early years of her life … Brahms, Tchaikovsky (especially the Nutcracker),Liszt, Ravel, Satie, Gershwin …

Too bad.  We might have had some interesting conversations.

~~~

Something to think about this next week … 

Like the Rorschach Inkblot Test, everyone who looks at life and nature sees something different because they are looking through different eyes and experiences.

   … I heard this as part of a TED presentation, but I    don’t recall which

So, ‘til next week …

Water was back on at a little after1600 yesterday.  I spent the day starting to re-adjust to the change in water routine.  Thankful this didn’t happen when we were also doing the Spring Forward thing.  Adjusting to semi-major changes one at a time is enough.

~~~

Jettus came to the back door to let me know about the water and he came to the back door, came in calling out “It’s Jettus” (as I told him to do when he was bringing me drinking and cooking water) and shut off the kitchen water faucet for me which I had left running to let me know the water was back. 

I had been jostled awake around 0300 by my phone telling me there was an earthquake and I should take cover.  

I felt the movement. 

Then I had been edgy all morning, probably feeling aftershocks subliminally as a result of growing up on a farm where a section of the San Andreas fault ran through the lower pig and cow areas and minor shakes were not uncommon.

I was napping when Jettus got here about the water after getting to sleep at ~1300 following being awake for such a long time after the earthquake notice.  Consequently I was a bit groggy and he was in a hurry. 

National news this evening showed a lot of damage in Yreka and made a big thing of the two deaths down river in Happy Camp neither of which were caused directly by the quake but due to their existing medical problems needing attention and help was unable to reach them due to road damage caused by the quake, so I guess it’s true their deaths were quake caused. 

~~~

I don’t have a menorah but do have a candle in the office window along with a sign wishing all a Happy Hanukkah.

~~~

Weather has been staying not much above freezing for over a week now.  Snow on the porch is between 3 and 4 feet deep but with an ice coating. Am trying to get up courage enough to test it and go out to hang a bird feeder.  The early birds are getting anxious and flying over to see if the feeder has been hung out yet.

Maybe the solution is to take off the screen on the window through which I could reach the hanger and hang myself out that window.  

~~~
I recently saw a hand decorated Christmas tree competition being held in the Medford Armory.  It was won by a tree about six feet tall with a nice number of mixed coloured led lights, some decorations looking to be family favourites from the past mixed with store bought ones, and a small village with an HO scale model train running around it.

It made me a bit teary since it looked so much like the ones George and I had for so many years.

The winner also made me sort of sad about all the Commercial trees epitomized by the extremely tall tree between the skating rink and the NBC studio windows in New York City which makes me wonder every year why such a big deal is made over finding the just perfect tree and then covering it in so many lights you can’t see the tree.

~~~

 Trump’s Marvel cards, at least the ones I’ve not been able to avoid seeing, are textbook examples of Narcissist behaviour, i.e unable to function unless he is the absolute center of everything and believes everything he wants is owed to him.  Poor man can’t seem to help himself or stop making a fool of himself regardless. 

Reminded me of Putin’s need to be the alpha male and having no idea what to do when he is forced to admit he has in the past and, much like Trump, is currently making a fool of himself.

~~~

Hanukkah began last sunday and will end next monday the 26th…

Although I don’t have a Hanukkah menorah, I do have a single candle in a jar in the window and it will have to do.  

Chag Urim Sameach !!! 

~~~
And a thought for the coming 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.

So ‘til next week …

 This has been a difficult week to describe. 

We have had a snow and ice week.  First, just when it got a little way past the owner/landlord’s house and vehicle access, the Village equipment broke down.  That left me and Jennie, both of whom are movement challenged, with a problem of no way to get from our doors to the street.  

Remembering how George and I would start preparing for heavy snow the end of October/early September knowing a snow crisis might not occur but wanting to be ready if it did with the needed equipment and food stock for at least three months prepared.  I remember the year we were snowed in from just after Christmas until the end of March with the only way out and back in was a trip in a small trailer in back of the tractor on top of the 8 to 10 foot snow.  We had left a street vehicle parked out near the paved road.  George would drop us off so the boys could get to meet the school bus.  Then George and I would go back home where I would sleep on the days I had worked the night/graveyard shift and George would go out on the clearing equipment to work at moving the drifts in the road from our driveway down the hill as far as possible until it was time to pick up the boys to bring them home up and get ready to do the whole routine again to get me out if it was a work night for me.  George would go back to work until dark when he would come in for dinner and all of us  who could sleep until time to do it again.  

So this snow wasn’t near that difficult but I was so much younger then.

To add to the difficulty, the Service District came into the Village and straight ploughed the streets creating berms   pile of crusty snow 3 to 4 foot high which then iced over making it difficult to clear by hand,had been tracked by the local pick-up trucks driving in a pattern to make a wide enough track for trucks and some of the other vehicles to get in and out, but that was before the service district went through.

Mark was here monday and started to dig a narrow path from the street to my carport  and broke his snow shovel in the process.

I know … kvetch kvetch kvetch.

~~~
But on to something else, although I must admit a lot of my thoughts are centred around the above.

Tuesday was clear and bright and cold but not as cold as it had been.  High yesterday was 38 at 1421.
~~~
Today is the 10th Anniversary of the Sandy Hook massacre. I remember that at that time there was a movement for everyone who chooses to participate should choose one of the children killed that day and remember them every day on the anniversary.  I chose two little girls thinking that even not enough people were doing that memorial, maybe by doing two I would cover for someone who chose to not be involved and another child would be remembered.

I chose two little girls, one named Ana 

and  one named Gracie 

Their  pictures are in one of my collections and so are remembered randomly year after year.

~~~

Interesting also yesterday was an announcement by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory that the fusion question leading to the real possibility of a powerful, non polluting source of power has been solved.  As I understand it the byproducts are helium, an inert nontoxic gas, and energy.  

Scientists are really excited and they are rarely if not never excited enough to release this kind of news without a lot of testing and retesting.

Following this will be exciting to watch for any further developments. 
~~~
Remember my post about the skiing “infantry” 10th Mountain Division in the Italian mountain campaigns during WWII?  Well, the History channel picked up the ball and is producing a program about those specially trained troops and their involvement in that part of the war.  I failed to copy the link but pictures of them and an article is on the NPR All Things Considered “Special Stories Battles on the Slopes “dated 21 September 2007 and on the History Channel as well.  

It is a little known interesting story much like that of the Navajo Code Talkers.
~~~

I am awaiting the release of The Glass Onion on Netflix a day or two before Christmas.

I am not interested in the publicity mess of the crybabies on Netflix and am sad at the spoiled younger marriage partner who is making $$$$$ bad mouthing the older women in his line after naming his daughter after both of them. 

It may be mean spirited but I keep wondering who hired the photographer to always be there ready to capture the cuddly times and the tears?  

Remember, a well trained actress can cry on cue. 

I do remember someone saying something to the point that an actress is to bed but not to marry since she will always be her main and probably sole concern in anything she does.

I know I’m judging.  

Oh well …  

~~~

Another show to watch for was the meteor show tuesday night near midnight before the nearly full moon comes up.

I remember spending meteor nights in the bed of the pickup truck out in the meadow at the farm with the grandchildren and my Aussie. 

I enjoyed those nights but it was too cold here last night to go out. 

~~~
And a thought for the coming week ..

Only people who aren’t happy with themselves are mean to others.

So ‘til next week …

4” of new snow when I got up last thursday.

Steve out ploughing Village streets and my driveway by 0945.  

Glaring sun off and on.

Ominous sky saturday morning … very light snow only about 1” overnight with more expecting heavier snow beginning later.

Another 4” on top of the partially melting snow sunday and still snowing.  Satellite tv (DirectTv) out due to the overnight storm.  Phone still working.

Monday unknown amount of overnight snow.  Lightly falling snow when I awoke.  Snowing heavily by 0900.  

I need to get a standup yardstick similar to the one George used out at the farm and put it where I can see it from in the house.

Still monday morning and snowing heavily.  Power support generator came on at about 1030 but was on for less than three or four minutes.

Snow stopped about 1400.

Tuesday morning bright.  No measurable new overnight snow.  Trash pickup scheduled for monday afternoons arrived about 0945 tuesday morning and got stuck where only Village pickup trucks had been able to open a path.  Village snow removal equipment still out of commission. 

Thursday morning … no change in Village snow status.  Still too cold for morning walkabouts. 

~~~

Pearl Harbor anniversary … December 7th along with Full Cold/Oak Moon.

George and I would always watch ToraToraTora on the 7th.  Watching was always knee jerk bitter and full of memories. 

Both sides made so many mistakes based on assumptions.  The death totals might have been even higher had the tiger not been awakened as an evaluation of the impending war attributed to Admiral Yamamoto. 

~~~

My covid med finished saturday.  No more bad mouth.  No more runny nose either, only the normal morning sinus cleaning.  I retested sunday noon and my post-med test was negative.

Mark is on Paxlovid also and finished his 5 days on sunday.

John has had Covid more than once probably due to his compromised immune system.  He may have what is being called Long Covid.

~~~

Another family genealogist and I have been trying to track proof of the mid-years of a shared ancestor named Cuthbert Sims.  So far without success.  

We have his Revolutionary War pay records and hospital time in Pennsylvania near the end of the war and probable discharge site and tax records in New Jersey during the very late 1770s and enumerated in the 1830 census which has only his name and not those of the others in the census list and several more tax list years in the early 1780s and then he disappears until he applies for a pension in 1818/1835.  Empty years .. no marriage records nor any recorded birth records of children.  Somerset County New Jersey records and church records for the church cited in the pension request (which was granted) have disappeared.  

Next trace is when a woman named Catherine married an ancestor of one of my Garrison ancestors (Daniel S. Garrison) naming Cuthbert Sims as her father.  

As noted previously, there is no record of her birth, but a younger brother of Daniel Garrison gave one of his sons Sims as a middle name possibly in honor to the sister-in-law?

Keep researching.

Oh well …

~~~

And a giggle for for the upcoming week … https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2022/12/06/conductor-goes-nuts-moos-cprog-orig-bdk.cnn?utm_term=167041345023052b9f5714468&utm_source=cnn_Five+Things+for+Wednesday%2C+December+7%2C+2022&utm_medium=email&bt_ee=SpQCbpTGxAfnkqohOBiwfALZEVpTO0X0ouCQmo%2F%2FKEN5YoWKevTnm3mcnwHgGnqH&bt_ts=1670413450233

Or check out CNN’s Breakfast Browse online for 7 December.

So ‘til next week …

Interesting Thanksgiving …

John was here on Wednesday.  He spent some time trying to prune the  Butterfly Bush outside the Office window.  It, like all the other plants I inherited with the house, evidently had not had any attention since the previous owner died, or maybe not even before that.

So John plans to do a pruning for shape next Spring.

And he moved the roses off the porch and along the east side of the house where they will get sun and be protected from frost to their roots.  

We then had chat time part of which was the new movie Glass Onion which we are both interested in seeing so we agreed to go see at a matinee in the local theatre as soon as it is available.  Maybe with popcorn and a drink included.

Wednesday followed with thursday morning spent in contact with scattered family and friends.  Then I did a solo walkabout which ended at dinner with Jenny and her mother.  It was a pleasant couple of hours … good food and conversation.

Mark, Kamille, and Francis spent the day helping the local Resource Center serve Thanksgiving dinner to those who were burned out by the Mill fire.  Then the volunteers were able to feast on the leftovers. 

Friday they spent the day here and I had a good day being skunked by Francis four to two playing dominos while Kamille had to work on homework for the classes she is taking on line and preparing the class plans for the class she is teaching at the middle school so there was not too much time to visit with her.  

Mark and I had time to talk after he replaced the connections to the lamp I am using as my bedside light for reading which was a rather scary fire hazard having been repaired by Nana who knows how long ago with tape and mismatched prongs on the wall plug.  

Who knows how many years it had been since she last fixed it but it is now safe.

~~

Monday morning I went out for the walkabout but was able to do only one full round due to wind.  I gave up after just one round. There were gusts of up to 50 miles per hour, enough that when I was walking into the wind I had to put my walking cane in front of me in order to keep my balance.  The aspen are nearly all bare which makes it mostly clear for the view of the Mountain. 

The weather reports were for not more than 38º all day which made for interesting wind chill readings.  

~~~ 

Recently there was another derailment at Cantara Loop on the railroad line between Mt Shasta and Dunsmuir.  The last time that happened the train was carrying a hazard load of thousands of gallons of herbicide into the Sacramento River.

More than 19,000 gallons of a soil sterilizer and weed killer called Vapam was leaked into the river on the evening of July 14, 1991 killing fish and vegetation and sickening hundreds of people in the Dunsmuir and Sweetbriar area.  

More than a million fish and tens of thousands of amphibians and crayfish were killed by the spill. Millions of aquatic invertebrates including insects and mollusks were lost according to the final report penned by the Cantara Trustee Council which was formed to address restoration, land acquisition and protection, research and public education. 

In addition, hundreds of thousands of willows, alders, and cottonwoods eventually died.   

Fortunately this time the load was less lethal.

~~~

John was here last wednesday and gave me a gift … he moved the roses into a protected place under the carport where they will be protected from frost and he moved hand gardening stuff I had not yet been able to move from the porch to the shed.  

He also finished pruning the butterfly bush where I had been unable to reach and will be back in Spring to do shape pruning in preparation for new growth.

We then had time for a chat which had been out of reach for a few weeks.

He had previously introduced me to Knives Out, a fun murder mystery movie with a typical disfunctional family.

The followup movie Glass Onion was released to theatres on Thanksgiving.  John and I will go see it at a theatre matinee as soon as we can and be home before it gets too dark now that standard time is now in place.  

~~~

 The following is a personal opinion …

There was a report on the news that so far there have been more than 600 mass shootings this year which makes the total more than two a day although there was recently a day with three lethal incidents.

That statistic indicates 49 deaths per day.

Gun owners seem to always cite the 2nd amendment as the “right” to own and/or carry guns of any kind.  

Interesting that they cite but fail to prove any …well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

I wonder how many of those people using the 2nd amendment are members of the National Guard or any other “well regulated militia”.

~~~

Too busy for editing. Sorry.

To end this week here’s a thought for the upcoming Solstice …

When we walk to the edge of all the light we have

And take that step into the darkness of the unknown,

We must believe that one of two things will happen –

There will be something for us to stand on

Or we will be taught how to fly.

  — Patrick Overton

What is your thought concerning which will be the result of the choice we are facing. 

So ‘til next week … 

Weather has been cold and dry.  Walkabouts have been challenging due to the cold mornings.  My breathing is compromised due to having to keep my nose protected.  It objects to any temperature of 55º or less and mornings have been between 23º and 27º.  

Predictions are for slightly higher temperatures through Thanksgiving and days after.                                                               

~~~

During a waiting time I stumbled on to a streaming of the 1972 movie Grease.  Olivia Newton-John sure could sing and Travolta sure could dance.

But what really caught my attention was seeing Eve Arden (Our Miss Brooks) and Sid Caesar (Your Show of Shows) as part of the faculty at Ridgemont High (correct me if I don’t remember the school’s name), and Stockhard Channing as the school’s go-to girl (Practical Magic and the West Wing).

It was an hour and a half or so well spent partially due to memories of the 50s. 

~~~

Another movie reference.  This time locally produced and filmed by Mark Oliver “From the Quarters to Lincoln Heights”.  I’ve told you about Lincoln Heights but that time was in reference to the damage done to the Heights by the Mill fire. 

This movie reference is to the film done by Mark Oliver with help from James Langford and residents with memories of the Quarters and the Heights.  The date for this showing is out of date, but it would be worth seeing if you are interested in Black History in California or any genealogy.

You can probably get information by contacting the Mt Shasta Museum.

~~~ 

Anyone think Putin has seen this take on the Russian dictator?

Belvedere Presents Daniel Craig, Directed by Taika Waititi: Director’s Cut

~~~

One day while niece Mary was here we did the tourist thing in the south County.  It was an interesting time which ended at Penny’s Diner at the north end of Dunsmuir.  It is a short order old fashioned diner which serves great food, especially their Reubens with batter fried onions. with The short order cook is a blast to watch and servers are gracious and friendly.  Mary and I both enjoyed ourselves.

But I had previously advised two burger places, Sten’s and the Burger Barn.  Seems they have both changed since my last visits there.  I therefore withdraw those suggestions and instead highly recommend Penny’s.  

Penny’s is not easily visible from I5 but is easily accessible southbound at offramp 732 … going south turn left and going north leave Dunsmuir going north on Siskiyou Avenue until it goes right at an intersection with the freeway on the left and a road straight to the left up the hill toward the Motel and there’s Penny’s.  Confused?  If you got off at 732 and see a sign directing you to Dunsmuir downtown, you’re going in the wrong direction. You need to turn around, go under the freeway, and turn left up the hill. 

Penny’s is a reimagined old railroad dining car.  

Wish I could draw you a map. Maybe Penny’s web page could provide better directions, but any confusion, once resolved, will be well rewarded.

There used to be a Thai restaurant and a Mexican restaurant, both good, but both closed due to Covid.  Too bad.

~~~

John was here last wednesday to take me to the FNP for my mandated annual physical.  It was a thorough hands on evaluation much like RNs used to do when first meeting a patient, i.e. hands on with a minimum of fancy machines.  

The evaluation was that I am as physically fit as most 80-year-olds which is pretty good for a 90+ year old.

I gave her a list of things I thought she should know about my physical conditions to understand and watch for such as the splenic flexure syndrome and my stress induced scotomas, the painless version of migraines.  She hadn’t faced those two before but said she’d look them up.  

So this old nurse was able to introduce her to some things she might find useful.

She wants to repeat blood work since indulging in shared Hallowe’en candy my glucose was on the high side of normal.

But John had to drop me off at home and leave.  His partner had a detached retina and they were on their way to the ophthalmologist in Medford who took care of George’s macular degeneration with eye injections.  

My guess that lasers would be used to reattach Michael’s retina was correct.

By friday all was well.

~~~

Yesterday I saw a bluebird.  No robins yet.  Guess we have a wait for Spring.  

The number of Crows and Ravens seem to be increasing however.  I will check and see what they prefer (peanuts in the shell?), set some out with protection from the squirrels and add some bling when they begin to come and see if they will trust me and begin to leave trades.

~~~

To end this week,  …

Whenever we compare the present moment with some more perfect moment of our imagination (the “Kodachrome” photo, the Disney ideal) then we lose the Now which we have and which is all we will ever have.

Sara Crane ( a friend)So ‘til next week …