It was a gorgeous day, not nearly as hot as I feared, although more heat is predicted for later in the week. I often find myself wishing that Papa and I had been able to install full air before he died. Each summer I struggle through the heat waves, which seem to be coming closer together and happening more frequently. Or is it just a drought year?
It is good to hear that the fire in Goleta, where someone I first met when she was six and I was in my twenties lives and works is being contained. I hope that she and her house are safe tonight and will remain so. It is also good to know that the fire in Monterey County has bypassed, at least for now, the town of Big Sur. I have been to Carmel, including the Mission and to Point Lobos, but I don't remember Big Sur.
My friend who has the Gravenstein apple tree in his back yard brought me two big bags of apples today and a bag of apricots. He was on his way to Mass and it was good to see him, this Marine of the greatest generation who recently celebrated his 85th birthday. He is always kind and cheerful and has a fund of fine stories to share. It was an especial pleasure to see him today for it had been sometime.
The pots with the seeds--that I hope are germinating--are sitting in the front hall where they will be out of the sun's heat. I misted them twice today and then brought them inside.
The neighbors' sunflowers soar to their roof and are dwarfing their garage. This is a delightful thing to look out at from the vantage of my front door.
I have seen several hummingbirds, both the male and female in my backyard. They are my most favorite birds.
I am grateful for the day and hope for tomorrow that it will be good and not as hot as predicted.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Excessive Heat Warning
Again the yellow band is flowing across the bottom of the television screen when I check the weather channel to see if it is time to start opening the house. That time is when the outside temperature is three degrees below the inside temperature and it has held steady for at least forty minutes or so. Right now it is perfectly splendid, a breeze is blowing that is visible in the swaying branches of trees. Increasingly, I give thanks for these trees.
I was hoping so much that we could get a few more weeks away from the longest day of the year before having to endure this again. Once we have lost an hour or so of daylight, my house is not so hot and cools down more quickly at night. Alas, it is not to be.
For the sake of the firefighters too, I was hoping that we would not have another excessive heat spell for a bit. The fire at Big Sur is so huge, so complicated and surging over such rugged terrain that they are not expecting to have it fully contained until the end of July. This means it will not be controlled until next month and it will probably be the fall rains that will finally put it out.
We could use a rain right now over all of the state. A real rain that would fall gently and steadily restoring moisture to parched land and trees. Not dry lightning which makes for more wild fires, but water. On the other hand would it just make the weeds grow to make more fuel in a few weeks? I don't know.
There is talk about a new tax of $12 to be paid for by all property owners. I think it would be more fair to tax those living in the areas that are at risk, but since I breathe the air, I will pay my tax without a protest.
Better management of water resources and forests is needed in this state. Fifty years of underbrush and dead trees should not be left to stack up to burn in a drought year. I am, of course, a city girl; born in a city, living in an urban megolopolis and having lived for six years in one of the country's biggest and grandest cities, I don't view wilderness in quite the same way, I suppose, as those who live near it.
Still, if I were living in the wilderness or close to it, I would want to be able to clear defensible space around my dwelling and outbuildings. As a taxpayer and a voter, I think it is time to call the National Park Service to accountability. It is time to temper environmentalism with stewardship and change some of our policies. The health cost of these fires as the air continues to be choked with ash and smoke hasn't been calculated. I can feel in my lungs and energy level that it is taking a toll on me and I am sure that I am not alone.
I am grateful that I do not live inland or in one of the areas of fires and that the longest day of the year has past. I will be grateful when next weekend comes around--I wish I could just hibernate and sleep until then.
I was hoping so much that we could get a few more weeks away from the longest day of the year before having to endure this again. Once we have lost an hour or so of daylight, my house is not so hot and cools down more quickly at night. Alas, it is not to be.
For the sake of the firefighters too, I was hoping that we would not have another excessive heat spell for a bit. The fire at Big Sur is so huge, so complicated and surging over such rugged terrain that they are not expecting to have it fully contained until the end of July. This means it will not be controlled until next month and it will probably be the fall rains that will finally put it out.
We could use a rain right now over all of the state. A real rain that would fall gently and steadily restoring moisture to parched land and trees. Not dry lightning which makes for more wild fires, but water. On the other hand would it just make the weeds grow to make more fuel in a few weeks? I don't know.
There is talk about a new tax of $12 to be paid for by all property owners. I think it would be more fair to tax those living in the areas that are at risk, but since I breathe the air, I will pay my tax without a protest.
Better management of water resources and forests is needed in this state. Fifty years of underbrush and dead trees should not be left to stack up to burn in a drought year. I am, of course, a city girl; born in a city, living in an urban megolopolis and having lived for six years in one of the country's biggest and grandest cities, I don't view wilderness in quite the same way, I suppose, as those who live near it.
Still, if I were living in the wilderness or close to it, I would want to be able to clear defensible space around my dwelling and outbuildings. As a taxpayer and a voter, I think it is time to call the National Park Service to accountability. It is time to temper environmentalism with stewardship and change some of our policies. The health cost of these fires as the air continues to be choked with ash and smoke hasn't been calculated. I can feel in my lungs and energy level that it is taking a toll on me and I am sure that I am not alone.
I am grateful that I do not live inland or in one of the areas of fires and that the longest day of the year has past. I will be grateful when next weekend comes around--I wish I could just hibernate and sleep until then.
Friday, July 4, 2008
July 4, 2008
Independence Day. The day for flags, buntings, fireworks and too much ice cream and other summer treats. As a day for celebration and food it rivals Thanksgiving and there is no other day like it in the calendar.
When Papa was alive we followed the custom of reading the Declaration of Independence aloud. It begins, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."
These are words worthy of consideration on any Independence Day, especially one that falls in an election year. By our votes in the fall, we will ratify an old government or elect a new one; a more peaceable process than a War of Revolution. The duty becomes more serious and more somber when I think of it like that. To avoid the process of Revolution, the destabilization that would bring, we have a quieter process and through it we provide ourselves with stability. Now if we could figure out a way to provide ourselves with a stable economy.
After a long list of grievances against the king, the Declaration ends with these words, "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."
This group of aristocratic landowners pledged everything and I have always been stirred by these words, especially the concept "our Sacred Honor". I think our service men and women resonate those words in the service that they give our country and us. May all of them come home safely to their families and friends.
I grew up in the 1950's, a time that was patriotic to the hilt and right after I learned my Hail Mary's and Our Father's, I learned these words and the parallel words of the Constitution. Patriotism was a secondary religion, questioned only when our involvement in Vietnam caused such disillusion and skepticism that I, as so many of my generation, have been distrusting of government ever since. Now, I think, that it is a certain amount of the duty of citizens to have skepticism and to study the issues at hand. We should follow the shining example of the framers of our government in taking the process seriously. They did--all the way to pledging lives, fortunes and honor. Something to ponder as we go toward the election in November.
For more on the declaration here is a web site,http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/
I am grateful for the heritage of this declaration, our democracy and freedom, as well as the election.
When Papa was alive we followed the custom of reading the Declaration of Independence aloud. It begins, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."
These are words worthy of consideration on any Independence Day, especially one that falls in an election year. By our votes in the fall, we will ratify an old government or elect a new one; a more peaceable process than a War of Revolution. The duty becomes more serious and more somber when I think of it like that. To avoid the process of Revolution, the destabilization that would bring, we have a quieter process and through it we provide ourselves with stability. Now if we could figure out a way to provide ourselves with a stable economy.
After a long list of grievances against the king, the Declaration ends with these words, "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."
This group of aristocratic landowners pledged everything and I have always been stirred by these words, especially the concept "our Sacred Honor". I think our service men and women resonate those words in the service that they give our country and us. May all of them come home safely to their families and friends.
I grew up in the 1950's, a time that was patriotic to the hilt and right after I learned my Hail Mary's and Our Father's, I learned these words and the parallel words of the Constitution. Patriotism was a secondary religion, questioned only when our involvement in Vietnam caused such disillusion and skepticism that I, as so many of my generation, have been distrusting of government ever since. Now, I think, that it is a certain amount of the duty of citizens to have skepticism and to study the issues at hand. We should follow the shining example of the framers of our government in taking the process seriously. They did--all the way to pledging lives, fortunes and honor. Something to ponder as we go toward the election in November.
For more on the declaration here is a web site,
I am grateful for the heritage of this declaration, our democracy and freedom, as well as the election.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Dreaming Vegetable Dreams
Yesterday I transplanted five basil plants by myself thanks to having an IKEA shelf on the porch now to use as a potting bench. The five plants greeted me when I looked out this morning and they look so pretty and cheerful.
Seeds for four kinds of tomatoes and some sage will go in the pots just vacated. These pots are deep enough to give any seedlings a good start and that will allow time for friends to prepare the bigger pots for the tomatoes. These are getting off to a late start, but we can still pick tomatoes into early November here. The leftover seeds should still be viable to plant in the Spring.
My package from Bountiful Gardens came Tuesday and it is so good to be connected again to Ecology Action, an organization that does such good work around the world to promote sustainable agriculture. We do not need to rely entirely on big corporations, making big corporate profits and taking away independence from small communities and individuals. In addition, intensive, natural farming respects the earth and is a form of shepherding and stewardship. Stewardship is foundational to the so-called "green revolution" (and we need to take care of the ways in which that will be commercialized as well.)
I have been eating the first beans from my garden; the first ever beans that have been grown on my land. They are delicious. Pretty too, as there are both green and yellow beans. I am blessed not only by the beans but by the friends who have planted, watered and now are picking them for me. In a very real sense my garden is a friendship garden.
Bountiful Gardens catalog is a temptation. More vegetables than I could possibly ever eat! Herbs and flowers--oh no, not again! This time, I hope that I will remember that each plant gets bigger than I think that it will and needs enough space. (On the other hand my rosemary that I joke is trying to take over the county began as a cutting and is now more than twenty years old.)
Gardening is a life-time avocation. It connects us to the earth--it felt good to have dirt on my hands and to smell the good smell of healthy potting soil yesterday--and to the past and the future. It grounds us in time while at the same time reminding us that we will not always be here. It invites us to be good stewards and to enjoy the bounty, not only of the earth itself, but of our work as well.
I wish that everyone could have a garden even if it is just one potted tomato and one pot of basil. I am grateful for mine.
Seeds for four kinds of tomatoes and some sage will go in the pots just vacated. These pots are deep enough to give any seedlings a good start and that will allow time for friends to prepare the bigger pots for the tomatoes. These are getting off to a late start, but we can still pick tomatoes into early November here. The leftover seeds should still be viable to plant in the Spring.
My package from Bountiful Gardens came Tuesday and it is so good to be connected again to Ecology Action, an organization that does such good work around the world to promote sustainable agriculture. We do not need to rely entirely on big corporations, making big corporate profits and taking away independence from small communities and individuals. In addition, intensive, natural farming respects the earth and is a form of shepherding and stewardship. Stewardship is foundational to the so-called "green revolution" (and we need to take care of the ways in which that will be commercialized as well.)
I have been eating the first beans from my garden; the first ever beans that have been grown on my land. They are delicious. Pretty too, as there are both green and yellow beans. I am blessed not only by the beans but by the friends who have planted, watered and now are picking them for me. In a very real sense my garden is a friendship garden.
Bountiful Gardens catalog is a temptation. More vegetables than I could possibly ever eat! Herbs and flowers--oh no, not again! This time, I hope that I will remember that each plant gets bigger than I think that it will and needs enough space. (On the other hand my rosemary that I joke is trying to take over the county began as a cutting and is now more than twenty years old.)
Gardening is a life-time avocation. It connects us to the earth--it felt good to have dirt on my hands and to smell the good smell of healthy potting soil yesterday--and to the past and the future. It grounds us in time while at the same time reminding us that we will not always be here. It invites us to be good stewards and to enjoy the bounty, not only of the earth itself, but of our work as well.
I wish that everyone could have a garden even if it is just one potted tomato and one pot of basil. I am grateful for mine.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Yard Sale Pictures
Here are two pictures of our very lovely and professional set up. It pleased me to be a part of this.
I sat on my porch with a table for my cards and little peace banners and actually sold some of them. I also gave out quite a few of the bookmarks that I use as a business card for this project. It was a beautiful weekend and a lot of fun.
I sat on my porch with a table for my cards and little peace banners and actually sold some of them. I also gave out quite a few of the bookmarks that I use as a business card for this project. It was a beautiful weekend and a lot of fun.
Monday Once More
The yard sale is behind us and that is a milestone for this summer. It was fun and I have pictures to post of how my patio was transformed into a temporary shop. Sunday saw a slower day and that was good for I was too tired, wishing that we had called it quits on Saturday, except that Sunday also allowed me to reconnect with several neighbors. Now all I need to do is follow through.
Today I am back to solitude and reclusivity (probably not a word, but I don't mind making it up), a little sunburned and major tired. Old joints and muscles don't spring back the way they did twenty years ago.
To my surprise there are still clusters of poppies blooming in the back yard. Smaller than the resplendent show of the previous weeks, they are nevertheless pretty and a splash of color in an otherwise rather drab space.
Now I must refocus to a Mary Kay promotion that I need to do, the inevitable tweaking of Squidoo lenses, the cafepress shop and my kitchen (looks like a wreak).
It is a quiet day and I am glad for it. Predominate mood is one of gratitude.
Today I am back to solitude and reclusivity (probably not a word, but I don't mind making it up), a little sunburned and major tired. Old joints and muscles don't spring back the way they did twenty years ago.
To my surprise there are still clusters of poppies blooming in the back yard. Smaller than the resplendent show of the previous weeks, they are nevertheless pretty and a splash of color in an otherwise rather drab space.
Now I must refocus to a Mary Kay promotion that I need to do, the inevitable tweaking of Squidoo lenses, the cafepress shop and my kitchen (looks like a wreak).
It is a quiet day and I am glad for it. Predominate mood is one of gratitude.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Yard Sale in Progress
Day one of the yard sale is behind me and I sit here a very pooped participant, but very grateful indeed. My friend who has been doing this for eight years is a real pro. The set-up looks so attractive and professional, more like an outdoor shop than a yard sale.
My friend and her husband even have a tent, the open market kind, that is set up in part of the patio. This is so neat and so fun. I want one. (Wish list time.)
Several people bought my cards and that pleased me too. They are pretty and I wish I could get out to shops to place them. One young woman mentioned a shop in downtown Mountain View that I will contact.
I had great conversations with two neighbors, whom I had not seen in a long time and overall the experience was fun, although tiring.
Tomorrow we will open up again and see if more goodies move through. I would love to sell one Peace banner and some more cards. At least I gave away a lot of the book marks that serve as my business cards.
It has been years since I have seen this many people in one day and my brain is as tired as my body! Sometimes I am surprised at the extent to which I really have become a recluse and am not sure this is good. On the other hand, it is my reality and so I live it. Monday the return to the solitary life will probably feel very good!
Yard sales are part of the suburban landscape, as much a part of summertime ritual as swimming and sunscreen, or fourth of July picnics. I don't think that I have ever participated in one before so I feel now as though I have experienced a sort of initiation into a rite that I was missing out on.
I am grateful even though I am now behind schedule on everything that I am trying to write--there will be time for that.
My friend and her husband even have a tent, the open market kind, that is set up in part of the patio. This is so neat and so fun. I want one. (Wish list time.)
Several people bought my cards and that pleased me too. They are pretty and I wish I could get out to shops to place them. One young woman mentioned a shop in downtown Mountain View that I will contact.
I had great conversations with two neighbors, whom I had not seen in a long time and overall the experience was fun, although tiring.
Tomorrow we will open up again and see if more goodies move through. I would love to sell one Peace banner and some more cards. At least I gave away a lot of the book marks that serve as my business cards.
It has been years since I have seen this many people in one day and my brain is as tired as my body! Sometimes I am surprised at the extent to which I really have become a recluse and am not sure this is good. On the other hand, it is my reality and so I live it. Monday the return to the solitary life will probably feel very good!
Yard sales are part of the suburban landscape, as much a part of summertime ritual as swimming and sunscreen, or fourth of July picnics. I don't think that I have ever participated in one before so I feel now as though I have experienced a sort of initiation into a rite that I was missing out on.
I am grateful even though I am now behind schedule on everything that I am trying to write--there will be time for that.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Gardens and Wish Lists
Yesterday I carefully planned and then executed an order to Bountiful Gardens. Twenty yards of shade cloth for various windows to stave off the heat during the next inevitable heat wave. Then lots of seeds. Four kinds of tomatoes--I am hoping that I will get fruit around the time that my sister visits and herbs and flowers. Now I just wait for the package to arrive and then find friends who can hang the shade cloth and plant the seeds.
In the meantime, from yesterday to today, I remembered the things I'd forgotten to order. So back to the website to construct a wish list. Oh for an acre or two somewhere--preferably not in a flood zone or in tornado alley. (I know I wouldn't choose anywhere too hot and humid.)
At heart I would have liked to be a farmer, a market gardener or at least have had a bigger yard, not for grass and bushes, but for food and flowers. Twenty years ago, I dreamnt these dreams and I am still here.
Another wish list of sorts is the wish list I am making for Vocational Rehabilitation. I need to network my skills and have a van of my own for reliable transport that I can use to do that as well as get out more socially and to medical appointments. Thanks to a friend who is also one of my Mary Kay customers I have found out about a great networking organization right here on the Peninsula that linked to something I had been looking for and not finding--the microenterprise loans through the SBA. It's about time, so that is a new wish list.
Then there is the much greater wish list--for peace, prosperity and justice. For inclusion of those who are disabled and the recognition that the workplace can and should come to us for telecommuting just as it comes to those who are able-bodied. I'd like to see this as part of the national political agenda, but I don't know how to make it so. Certainly, no one is talking about it--maybe the candidates don't realize that disabled people do vote. (I've had a permanent absentee ballot for so long that I don't remember how long!)
Still, I am grateful and my gratitude includes the weather and my wish list includes the weather--may it remain cool and may the firefighters win their battle to stop California from burning.
In the meantime, from yesterday to today, I remembered the things I'd forgotten to order. So back to the website to construct a wish list. Oh for an acre or two somewhere--preferably not in a flood zone or in tornado alley. (I know I wouldn't choose anywhere too hot and humid.)
At heart I would have liked to be a farmer, a market gardener or at least have had a bigger yard, not for grass and bushes, but for food and flowers. Twenty years ago, I dreamnt these dreams and I am still here.
Another wish list of sorts is the wish list I am making for Vocational Rehabilitation. I need to network my skills and have a van of my own for reliable transport that I can use to do that as well as get out more socially and to medical appointments. Thanks to a friend who is also one of my Mary Kay customers I have found out about a great networking organization right here on the Peninsula that linked to something I had been looking for and not finding--the microenterprise loans through the SBA. It's about time, so that is a new wish list.
Then there is the much greater wish list--for peace, prosperity and justice. For inclusion of those who are disabled and the recognition that the workplace can and should come to us for telecommuting just as it comes to those who are able-bodied. I'd like to see this as part of the national political agenda, but I don't know how to make it so. Certainly, no one is talking about it--maybe the candidates don't realize that disabled people do vote. (I've had a permanent absentee ballot for so long that I don't remember how long!)
Still, I am grateful and my gratitude includes the weather and my wish list includes the weather--may it remain cool and may the firefighters win their battle to stop California from burning.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
More to Do
The to do list grows and grows. First there are the daily things, brush teeth, cook, wash dishes, sell Mary Kay, join networking groups on the Internet (that one soaks up time disproportionately to its returns, oh yes),work on writing projects and find things to sell in yard sale.
The yard sale that was two months off and a great idea looms this weekend. I am not ready. Everything has to be dusted, priced and finally arranged for sale. It would have been simpler to send it to the goodwill. However, I am doing this with friends, so I can't back out.
Self-promotion is an endless part of the to-do list. Make new business cards, make a brochure, make a press release (and actually mail it this time, which probably also means buy stamps). Before doing any of these uninstall one old printer that isn't working and install(setup) new printer. How many glitches before it prints page one?
Networking. Sounds like it should be fun and rewarding, right? Actually, it is overwhelming and time-consuming. At least it isn't cold-calling (which I thoroughly detested when it was still legal to do it.)
Pay the bills. That one never leaves the to-do list since they flow into the house in a kind of random stream--make sure I don't miss any. There must be a way to simplify this.
De-clutter the house. I've been at that one so long, I should have succeeded by now! I think I'll still be at this when I die! (If I'm lucky.)
Water the plants, pinch the basil (don't forget to cook the vegetables and use the basil), transplant some of them, buy the shade cloth from Bountiful Gardens along with seeds. (I could spend a very large sum here, if I hadn't already spent money elsewhere that I am still paying interest on.)
Revise my Cafepress site and update Squidoo lenses. Make new designs on Friendship and Flowers and garden themes for the cafepress. Figure out how the affiliate program actually does work. (This one has been there for quite a long time and should be given top priority.)
Figure out a better way to prioritize. Make appointments with myself to get some of these tasks done. (May sound silly, but has worked in the past.)
Have a second cup of coffee and think in peace about some of the above, giving thanks for the cool air and the fog. It smells less smoky today, so that is a great benefit.
Buy a lottery ticket so I can win and retire in peace. Overall, I am grateful, albeit tired
The yard sale that was two months off and a great idea looms this weekend. I am not ready. Everything has to be dusted, priced and finally arranged for sale. It would have been simpler to send it to the goodwill. However, I am doing this with friends, so I can't back out.
Self-promotion is an endless part of the to-do list. Make new business cards, make a brochure, make a press release (and actually mail it this time, which probably also means buy stamps). Before doing any of these uninstall one old printer that isn't working and install(setup) new printer. How many glitches before it prints page one?
Networking. Sounds like it should be fun and rewarding, right? Actually, it is overwhelming and time-consuming. At least it isn't cold-calling (which I thoroughly detested when it was still legal to do it.)
Pay the bills. That one never leaves the to-do list since they flow into the house in a kind of random stream--make sure I don't miss any. There must be a way to simplify this.
De-clutter the house. I've been at that one so long, I should have succeeded by now! I think I'll still be at this when I die! (If I'm lucky.)
Water the plants, pinch the basil (don't forget to cook the vegetables and use the basil), transplant some of them, buy the shade cloth from Bountiful Gardens along with seeds. (I could spend a very large sum here, if I hadn't already spent money elsewhere that I am still paying interest on.)
Revise my Cafepress site and update Squidoo lenses. Make new designs on Friendship and Flowers and garden themes for the cafepress. Figure out how the affiliate program actually does work. (This one has been there for quite a long time and should be given top priority.)
Figure out a better way to prioritize. Make appointments with myself to get some of these tasks done. (May sound silly, but has worked in the past.)
Have a second cup of coffee and think in peace about some of the above, giving thanks for the cool air and the fog. It smells less smoky today, so that is a great benefit.
Buy a lottery ticket so I can win and retire in peace. Overall, I am grateful, albeit tired
Monday, June 23, 2008
Catching Up and Giving Thanks
Today is cool, as it should be for this time of the year. It is so beautiful and so blessed after the nasty, brutal heat of last week. Saturday the thermostat in my main hallway said 88 degrees. Horrid. Once in my life it got hotter. I fear these summer heat waves even more than I fear my winter heating bills. (And I tremble when I open those.)
The basil loved the heat and grew inches. The roses also thrive, thanks to the kindness of a friend who watered them everyday. The garden is a blessing. It is fun to start cuttings from existing plants and watch them take hold and grow.
I am thinking about "living shade", plants that will grow to six or eight feet and cool various parts of my house. Last summer I wrote about sunflowers. This summer my neighbors directly across the street have planted a bed of them. These are the tallest plants I have ever seen! As tall as the roof of their garage now, the plants also have the biggest leaves I've ever seen and they are beginning to flower. So pretty, the huge disks of yellow and brown follow the sun. I love them.
There are other plants that will grow so tall. Flax, wheat, some pole beans, morning glories. I have been spending time on the website of Bountiful Gardens and making lists. Is it too late already to plant this? Pearson Tomatoes will mature in 80-90 days. I would have tomatoes in time for my sister's visit in the fall. What can I grow in the side yard to shade the bedroom?
In the meantime, I will resort to primitive things that work. White blackout cloth has replaced a makeshift cardboard in one large window. More to come, for the cloth is here. This fabric doesn't feel like fabric; it doesn't have a nice "hand" and it doesn't drape. It does the job of blocking light though and since it is put up right behind the air vent, I noticed an immediate improvement in air flow from the summer air fan. (Almost as good as air conditioning and much less expensive.)
Whiteboard can be used almost like shutters in houses in the nineteenth century were used and it blocks light and heat. (Cuts drafts in the winter, too.) A huge piece sits in my front hall waiting to be cut into two pieces and used to block more light and heat.
I don't have space to plant a tree and I don't think I have time either. Twenty years ago, we could have planted trees and now there would be shade. I can't maintain trees though. That is one thing a disabled person just can't do!
Overall, I am simply grateful to be here, grateful to have a sweater draped over my shoulders and ever so grateful for the blissful cool air coming in on me. Last time I checked the weather channel page, about 8:30 am, it was 69 degrees outside. Praise God!
The basil loved the heat and grew inches. The roses also thrive, thanks to the kindness of a friend who watered them everyday. The garden is a blessing. It is fun to start cuttings from existing plants and watch them take hold and grow.
I am thinking about "living shade", plants that will grow to six or eight feet and cool various parts of my house. Last summer I wrote about sunflowers. This summer my neighbors directly across the street have planted a bed of them. These are the tallest plants I have ever seen! As tall as the roof of their garage now, the plants also have the biggest leaves I've ever seen and they are beginning to flower. So pretty, the huge disks of yellow and brown follow the sun. I love them.
There are other plants that will grow so tall. Flax, wheat, some pole beans, morning glories. I have been spending time on the website of Bountiful Gardens and making lists. Is it too late already to plant this? Pearson Tomatoes will mature in 80-90 days. I would have tomatoes in time for my sister's visit in the fall. What can I grow in the side yard to shade the bedroom?
In the meantime, I will resort to primitive things that work. White blackout cloth has replaced a makeshift cardboard in one large window. More to come, for the cloth is here. This fabric doesn't feel like fabric; it doesn't have a nice "hand" and it doesn't drape. It does the job of blocking light though and since it is put up right behind the air vent, I noticed an immediate improvement in air flow from the summer air fan. (Almost as good as air conditioning and much less expensive.)
Whiteboard can be used almost like shutters in houses in the nineteenth century were used and it blocks light and heat. (Cuts drafts in the winter, too.) A huge piece sits in my front hall waiting to be cut into two pieces and used to block more light and heat.
I don't have space to plant a tree and I don't think I have time either. Twenty years ago, we could have planted trees and now there would be shade. I can't maintain trees though. That is one thing a disabled person just can't do!
Overall, I am simply grateful to be here, grateful to have a sweater draped over my shoulders and ever so grateful for the blissful cool air coming in on me. Last time I checked the weather channel page, about 8:30 am, it was 69 degrees outside. Praise God!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Growing Tomatoes
Two tomato plants languish in my side yard planter box. I know that the soil has not been amended and it was not watered before they were planted. The planter box grew a spectacular crop of weeds during the spring, but I assume they depleted rather than added to the soil.
Tomatoes need a lot of water and these probably haven't been getting enough. They also thrive on sun, and the area is partially in shade. I know that there are roses that will grow in part shade, but what about tomatoes? Probably not.
This morning I entertained myself by looking for information about tomato roots. They can grow to be three feet deep. That was new information. The pots they are supposed to be transplanted into are less than that, but better than the hard ground they are now in for they will be filled with very good potting soil mix.
So the next question is will they survive transplanting? There is a phenomenon known as "transplant shock" during which the newly planted either take hold and thrive or give up and die. I am thinking of seeing if they can be transplanted in stages. First they should go into some pots that are big enough, full of good soil and set where they will get morning sun and afternoon shade until they look like they are making it and then moved to the back to get used to more sun. Then and only then can they be transplanted into the really big pots.
The other day I realized that if I really wanted big pots, the family collection of vintage metal garbage cans would be great. I think I could grow a Meyer lemon in one. Very funky form of recycling, I'd like to give it a try.
Will report on the progress of the tomatoes. I have eaten the first three crooked neck squash as baby squash. Very yummy. But should be allowed to grow more. Am told that the beans are flowering and are ready to be staked. This is good.
Life is good except that it is hot and I prefer cool. The plum tree continues to stand. Gratitude is a major part of my life tonight.
Tomatoes need a lot of water and these probably haven't been getting enough. They also thrive on sun, and the area is partially in shade. I know that there are roses that will grow in part shade, but what about tomatoes? Probably not.
This morning I entertained myself by looking for information about tomato roots. They can grow to be three feet deep. That was new information. The pots they are supposed to be transplanted into are less than that, but better than the hard ground they are now in for they will be filled with very good potting soil mix.
So the next question is will they survive transplanting? There is a phenomenon known as "transplant shock" during which the newly planted either take hold and thrive or give up and die. I am thinking of seeing if they can be transplanted in stages. First they should go into some pots that are big enough, full of good soil and set where they will get morning sun and afternoon shade until they look like they are making it and then moved to the back to get used to more sun. Then and only then can they be transplanted into the really big pots.
The other day I realized that if I really wanted big pots, the family collection of vintage metal garbage cans would be great. I think I could grow a Meyer lemon in one. Very funky form of recycling, I'd like to give it a try.
Will report on the progress of the tomatoes. I have eaten the first three crooked neck squash as baby squash. Very yummy. But should be allowed to grow more. Am told that the beans are flowering and are ready to be staked. This is good.
Life is good except that it is hot and I prefer cool. The plum tree continues to stand. Gratitude is a major part of my life tonight.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Sunshine and Letting Go
Yesterday was Father's Day and a friend who remembered my father called late in the day to let me know that she was thinking of him and remembering him. I appreciated that very much. For the last nine years Father's Day has been so hard because shortly before he died I had ordered his presents and was itching for them to come so that I could surprise him with them. They came a few days after his funeral and I cried and put them away. One was a cd of music from movie soundtracks that include a piece he had especially liked, the music from that PBS series from the 1980's, Reilly Ace of Spies. I can not hear that on the radio still without tearing up and thinking that he never received my present. I can't remember what the other one was though, probably a book. So time is helping this.
As I write two friends are working in the side yard. My neighbor's plum tree lost a branch last Monday just as the heat wave got under way. After it is cleaned out and the branches with too many plums trimmed back, I don't think there will be much left. It was glorious this spring with an abundance of white flowers. I don't think that I was able to have anyone take any pictures, but every time I looked out at it I tried to memorize it just in case. I think its flowering this year, a month late may have indeed been its swan song.
For decades I have loved that tree, the white blossoms speak joy to me. Most years it bloomed in February at exactly the same time. In 1983 it bloomed while Mama was dying in the intensive care unit. I have thought of it ever since as her resurrection tree and felt on some level that when it goes, so will I.
The latter has really been mostly because the tree provided deep, luxurious shade to my bedroom window in summer's worst heat. It served so faithfully and well without any additional water than what it received from the rain. If it is truly unsaveable, as I expect it is, I will miss it terribly and grieve for it. It is and was a friend to me.
It is a Satsuma plum tree, the plums deep purple from stone to skin. Sweet and juicy the plum was a treat just off the tree and even more so after refrigerating it. Once in its heyday--and mine--I made splendid plum chutney from the fruit with garlic and hot chiles added. It was good enough that I could have entered it in the County fair, for it always won praise from friends whom I gifted it with at Christmas time.
Thinking about the plum tree makes me think of those times gone by. Mama made jam from some of the plums that was still on the shelves after she died. It was delicious on her home-made whole wheat bread. Bread baking and the sweet smell of jam bubbling on the stove, two food memories that are also smell memories.
The fruit along with fruit from an apricot tree would ripen on the hottest days, always on the hottest days, of course. Ripe fruit has to be attended to on its terms, immediately, or else it becomes compost or garbage very quickly. So it would be time to haul out the dutch oven and the wooden spoon, the hand grinder and the canning jars and rings (lids would already have been on the grocery list some weeks before so as to get them before the store ran out)and the work would begin.
The first time my sister and I tried canning was the year in the seventies that the grocery stores ran out of half-pint canning jars. This was actually a national shortage and I am sure in some parts of the country it was a real crisis. We bought three quarter pints and pints and even some quart jars. Every recipe that we chose made more than it said it would. We made zucchini pickles, canned apple slices and best of all, pear raisin mincemeat.
The pear raisin mincemeat and the chutneys were the best along with apricot jam when we had apricots from someone's tree. One year a friend gave me a large bag of Gravenstein apples. My recollection is that that one bag became four half pint jars of apple butter. Maybe it was six. It was essence of apple and it was sublime.
It has probably been almost twenty years since I have done any canning. I have had to let go of that too.
I will pray for the plum tree tonight when I go to bed. We will see. My friend is confidant that she can rig a shade structure of some sort so that I will survive. The side yard is only six feet deep, not deep enough for much. I wish it were ten or twelve. Twenty or twenty-five would be even better; then I could have a real garden in it. I am grateful today for the memories and the friends who helping with such hard work. Grateful too that it is cool.
As I write two friends are working in the side yard. My neighbor's plum tree lost a branch last Monday just as the heat wave got under way. After it is cleaned out and the branches with too many plums trimmed back, I don't think there will be much left. It was glorious this spring with an abundance of white flowers. I don't think that I was able to have anyone take any pictures, but every time I looked out at it I tried to memorize it just in case. I think its flowering this year, a month late may have indeed been its swan song.
For decades I have loved that tree, the white blossoms speak joy to me. Most years it bloomed in February at exactly the same time. In 1983 it bloomed while Mama was dying in the intensive care unit. I have thought of it ever since as her resurrection tree and felt on some level that when it goes, so will I.
The latter has really been mostly because the tree provided deep, luxurious shade to my bedroom window in summer's worst heat. It served so faithfully and well without any additional water than what it received from the rain. If it is truly unsaveable, as I expect it is, I will miss it terribly and grieve for it. It is and was a friend to me.
It is a Satsuma plum tree, the plums deep purple from stone to skin. Sweet and juicy the plum was a treat just off the tree and even more so after refrigerating it. Once in its heyday--and mine--I made splendid plum chutney from the fruit with garlic and hot chiles added. It was good enough that I could have entered it in the County fair, for it always won praise from friends whom I gifted it with at Christmas time.
Thinking about the plum tree makes me think of those times gone by. Mama made jam from some of the plums that was still on the shelves after she died. It was delicious on her home-made whole wheat bread. Bread baking and the sweet smell of jam bubbling on the stove, two food memories that are also smell memories.
The fruit along with fruit from an apricot tree would ripen on the hottest days, always on the hottest days, of course. Ripe fruit has to be attended to on its terms, immediately, or else it becomes compost or garbage very quickly. So it would be time to haul out the dutch oven and the wooden spoon, the hand grinder and the canning jars and rings (lids would already have been on the grocery list some weeks before so as to get them before the store ran out)and the work would begin.
The first time my sister and I tried canning was the year in the seventies that the grocery stores ran out of half-pint canning jars. This was actually a national shortage and I am sure in some parts of the country it was a real crisis. We bought three quarter pints and pints and even some quart jars. Every recipe that we chose made more than it said it would. We made zucchini pickles, canned apple slices and best of all, pear raisin mincemeat.
The pear raisin mincemeat and the chutneys were the best along with apricot jam when we had apricots from someone's tree. One year a friend gave me a large bag of Gravenstein apples. My recollection is that that one bag became four half pint jars of apple butter. Maybe it was six. It was essence of apple and it was sublime.
It has probably been almost twenty years since I have done any canning. I have had to let go of that too.
I will pray for the plum tree tonight when I go to bed. We will see. My friend is confidant that she can rig a shade structure of some sort so that I will survive. The side yard is only six feet deep, not deep enough for much. I wish it were ten or twelve. Twenty or twenty-five would be even better; then I could have a real garden in it. I am grateful today for the memories and the friends who helping with such hard work. Grateful too that it is cool.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Surviving Heat
Today is much cooler than Thursday and so much cooler than the predictions made it sound like it would be that I know that I am blessed. The air was still smoky last night from all the fires burning in various parts of California and that is scary. My heart goes out to those whose lives are disrupted and especially those who have lost their homes.
Now that it is cooler I need to assess what else I can do to keep the heat at bay when it returns, as it will. The windows are all covered with drapes or blinds but they are not quite sufficient for the job. White black-out cloth has been tacked on one window and it works quite well. More to come.
A piece of white foam core board originally purchased as a backing board for taking pictures, served well during the winter as a draft-stopper and is now serving as an insulator against the heat. More to come.
Fans run constantly in the house during heat waves. (I have no air-conditioning.) They are old though, so I need to buy at least one new one to have a back-up. That is on the list.
I did not need to use the ice in the freezer this time,so there is plenty of ice. Two years ago when we had a record breaking, historic heat wave that seemed to go on forever I found that the old ice cap, filled with ice helped quite a bit when I placed it on my head.
For a number of years I have worn a small towel wrung out in cool water around my neck in really hot weather. A personal and cheap cooling system that is messy but does work.
To use my computers, air-conditioning would definitely be necessary. This week I learned of something that I had never heard of before--through the wall air conditioners. That or a portable installed through the wall in the office might make it possible to continue to use a computer on a hot day.
Years ago friends had a thing on the roof that sucked the hot air out of the house allowing the cooler night air to displace more hot air and the house was significantly cooler. I want one. So I need to contact them and ask what the thing was called then get estimates from contractors to see if it is in budget. (Not much is at the moment.)
Full air would be the least hassle but the most costly solution to all these problems. For one person in the whole house? Maybe in a few years.
I have tried to be contented with the make shift measures that are inexpensive, not only because of income and budget concerns, but also because these are things that require less energy and less dependence on "the grid" and therefore on the outside world and large corporations.
At heart, I guess I am at least in part, a survivalist, skeptical of solutions to everyday needs that make me more dependent on an increasingly fragile multi-national big company economy.
Oh and a little salt on a hot day would not be a bad idea to counteract all the water.
Now that it is cooler I need to assess what else I can do to keep the heat at bay when it returns, as it will. The windows are all covered with drapes or blinds but they are not quite sufficient for the job. White black-out cloth has been tacked on one window and it works quite well. More to come.
A piece of white foam core board originally purchased as a backing board for taking pictures, served well during the winter as a draft-stopper and is now serving as an insulator against the heat. More to come.
Fans run constantly in the house during heat waves. (I have no air-conditioning.) They are old though, so I need to buy at least one new one to have a back-up. That is on the list.
I did not need to use the ice in the freezer this time,so there is plenty of ice. Two years ago when we had a record breaking, historic heat wave that seemed to go on forever I found that the old ice cap, filled with ice helped quite a bit when I placed it on my head.
For a number of years I have worn a small towel wrung out in cool water around my neck in really hot weather. A personal and cheap cooling system that is messy but does work.
To use my computers, air-conditioning would definitely be necessary. This week I learned of something that I had never heard of before--through the wall air conditioners. That or a portable installed through the wall in the office might make it possible to continue to use a computer on a hot day.
Years ago friends had a thing on the roof that sucked the hot air out of the house allowing the cooler night air to displace more hot air and the house was significantly cooler. I want one. So I need to contact them and ask what the thing was called then get estimates from contractors to see if it is in budget. (Not much is at the moment.)
Full air would be the least hassle but the most costly solution to all these problems. For one person in the whole house? Maybe in a few years.
I have tried to be contented with the make shift measures that are inexpensive, not only because of income and budget concerns, but also because these are things that require less energy and less dependence on "the grid" and therefore on the outside world and large corporations.
At heart, I guess I am at least in part, a survivalist, skeptical of solutions to everyday needs that make me more dependent on an increasingly fragile multi-national big company economy.
Oh and a little salt on a hot day would not be a bad idea to counteract all the water.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Presents and Gratitude
Yesterday a friend dropped off two of the biggest pots I ever seen! They sit in my back patio just outside the screen door, green, new and pristine waiting for dirt and plants. My friend also dropped off four bags of great potting soil. She, who had already brought me plants for the side planter box and planted them, is unhappy with the way the tomato there is not growing. In the new pots the tomato and one of the zucchinis will prosper because they will have more sun. Yum,yum!
Last evening my young friend, M, she who so valiantly painted for me last summer, repotted one of the rose bushes in the front yard. The night before she and her sister had transplanted the first one, the most fragile of the four. It was great fun to watch them work together. The roses look happier already.
Then last evening M lengthened the string on my kitchen window shade. This is such a simple solution to giving me a better airflow that I am amazed (stupefied actually) that I didn't think of it years ago. The kitchen was several degrees cooler this morning. I had had an opening that was about a foot square with the previous short string. Now the shade goes up all the way and I can still pull it down.
The first crooked neck squash is growing on the plant in the side yard. It may be ready for picking tonight. This will be the first food from my own garden and I intend to treat it reverently; cherish it and eat it! I can hardly wait.
The weather gave us a respite from heat yesterday and the house cooled beautifully overnight to 69 degrees. I can really see the benefit of trees, for where I still have them there is lovely cool shade. Where they have been removed, or ruthlessly trimmed back, the house, as well as the ground near it, bakes in the heat. The temperature actually rises as the sun abates and the house hangs on to the heat. Since it is supposed to be fiercely hot tomorrow and Friday.
Slowly I am switching to a summer schedule and trying to resign myself to the too long days, the too bright house and the intermittent heat waves that are inevitable. Summer is upon us even though, officially, it doesn't start until next week. It will go by swiftly as did spring.
Last evening my young friend, M, she who so valiantly painted for me last summer, repotted one of the rose bushes in the front yard. The night before she and her sister had transplanted the first one, the most fragile of the four. It was great fun to watch them work together. The roses look happier already.
Then last evening M lengthened the string on my kitchen window shade. This is such a simple solution to giving me a better airflow that I am amazed (stupefied actually) that I didn't think of it years ago. The kitchen was several degrees cooler this morning. I had had an opening that was about a foot square with the previous short string. Now the shade goes up all the way and I can still pull it down.
The first crooked neck squash is growing on the plant in the side yard. It may be ready for picking tonight. This will be the first food from my own garden and I intend to treat it reverently; cherish it and eat it! I can hardly wait.
The weather gave us a respite from heat yesterday and the house cooled beautifully overnight to 69 degrees. I can really see the benefit of trees, for where I still have them there is lovely cool shade. Where they have been removed, or ruthlessly trimmed back, the house, as well as the ground near it, bakes in the heat. The temperature actually rises as the sun abates and the house hangs on to the heat. Since it is supposed to be fiercely hot tomorrow and Friday.
Slowly I am switching to a summer schedule and trying to resign myself to the too long days, the too bright house and the intermittent heat waves that are inevitable. Summer is upon us even though, officially, it doesn't start until next week. It will go by swiftly as did spring.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
In Remembrance
Nine years ago today my father died. He was 79 years old and a few months. He had just been to his doctor and he assured me that the doctor said he was continuing stable in his COPD and Emphysema. He was looking forward to celebrating the millenium and his 80th birthday that would have occurred shortly after, in February of 2000. He didn't make those milestones.
I remember coming home from the hospital after we had the respirator removed and he was truly gone to see my hollyhocks, which he had planted for me, gloriously in bloom. They were so effulgent that they seemed to billow over the "easy-riser" steps leading up to the house. A Monarch Butterfly was alight on the top most spire and it took my breath away with its rare beauty.
I have never liked butterflies as religious symbols or as resurrection symbols and for a while (particularly in the seventies) they seemed to be everywhere mostly in a way that was gaggingly, cloyingly sentimental. Death, like joy, is austere, but somehow the butterfly, maybe because it was a Monarch and they are not frequent visitors to our yard, took me by surprise and gave me joy and comfort at the same time when all else failed.
Papa planted those hollyhocks for me during my rampant gardening phase. The flowers are purple, glorious flowering and the plants are, fortunately, self-sowing. I hope they will continue as long as I remain in the house for they are a tribute to the kind and steadfast man who planted and tended them as a gift even though he did not particularly care about flowers or enjoy gardening all that much.
He has been in my thoughts a good deal this past week and this weekend especially for he loved me unconditionally. He did not see my disability, as unfortunately, others sometimes have done. He accepted me as I am and shared his life with me. He was an exceptionally bright, perhaps even brilliant man and our conversations ran deep.
I remember that when I was studying history in college he wanted to know what I was learning and told me that he was glad to have me share with him the things that he had not had time to study when he was in college. (He simply triple-majored in physics, chemistry and math and then took an electrical engineering degree.)
We miss him today, my sister and I. Heaven is home and we trust and believe he is there along with our mother. It is a long way away still for those who remain behind and I wish they could come visit.
Requiem aeternum, Papa mine. Frederick James Manor, February 16, 1920-June 8, 1999. I am so grateful for the privilege of being your daughter.
I remember coming home from the hospital after we had the respirator removed and he was truly gone to see my hollyhocks, which he had planted for me, gloriously in bloom. They were so effulgent that they seemed to billow over the "easy-riser" steps leading up to the house. A Monarch Butterfly was alight on the top most spire and it took my breath away with its rare beauty.
I have never liked butterflies as religious symbols or as resurrection symbols and for a while (particularly in the seventies) they seemed to be everywhere mostly in a way that was gaggingly, cloyingly sentimental. Death, like joy, is austere, but somehow the butterfly, maybe because it was a Monarch and they are not frequent visitors to our yard, took me by surprise and gave me joy and comfort at the same time when all else failed.
Papa planted those hollyhocks for me during my rampant gardening phase. The flowers are purple, glorious flowering and the plants are, fortunately, self-sowing. I hope they will continue as long as I remain in the house for they are a tribute to the kind and steadfast man who planted and tended them as a gift even though he did not particularly care about flowers or enjoy gardening all that much.
He has been in my thoughts a good deal this past week and this weekend especially for he loved me unconditionally. He did not see my disability, as unfortunately, others sometimes have done. He accepted me as I am and shared his life with me. He was an exceptionally bright, perhaps even brilliant man and our conversations ran deep.
I remember that when I was studying history in college he wanted to know what I was learning and told me that he was glad to have me share with him the things that he had not had time to study when he was in college. (He simply triple-majored in physics, chemistry and math and then took an electrical engineering degree.)
We miss him today, my sister and I. Heaven is home and we trust and believe he is there along with our mother. It is a long way away still for those who remain behind and I wish they could come visit.
Requiem aeternum, Papa mine. Frederick James Manor, February 16, 1920-June 8, 1999. I am so grateful for the privilege of being your daughter.
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