More plumes of smoke, more hot weather. Here's a link for a map that shows where we are with street names. We're Green Ridge Road off highway 34.
So, we wait, we watch, and we continue on.
Great graphic. Huge issues confronting the planet: over population, loss of species, poisoning of land, air, water, fossil fuels increasing green house gases, lack of ethics towards humans, corporate control of government with only value wealth, relationships among peoples and nations, addictions, weapons, etc.
We are so fortunate to have Barack Obama as President. We have at least a chance with him. Not so with Romney and Republican greed, prejudice, stupidity, and militarism.
Just a reminder while I'm thinking of it: my electric will be out from five tomorrow morning til ten. Lord willing and the crick don't rise, lol! But as with everything West Virginia, don't count on that's being all. . . .
Being really distracted today planning for tomorrow, and it's not really that big of a deal. Have decided to go ahead and defrost both the refrig and the freezer which both need it. I have propane for cooking, so I can easily heat pans of water to speed it up some, and they'll both be sparkly fresh and ready to go, assuming the electric comes on when it should. Delayed going to town today in aid of NOT adding cool requiring things to my larder. But prolly be too pooped to go in the afternoon, so Thursday's good, eh?
Will also be putting together and baking a meatloaf while the rest is going on: if I *have* to be a housewife, might as well multi-task, lol! At least I know what's for lunch tomorrow.
Another hot, dry, windy day and more smoke plumes. I'm sorry the map didn't work out for you. You are supposed to be able to manipulate it by using your curser. You can enlarge and move in all directions. I'm not sure what the problem is.
Does anyone remember a short story by Ray Bradbury? He begins with statistics that the hotter the weather, the more the murder rate goes up, and then proceeds to narrate just that situation. Well, today, I'm nothing if not irascible. Our House Representative, Cory Gardner sent two emails: one restricting a woman's right to an abortion after 20 months; the other, siding with the churches that offering birth control, contraceptives, and abortion is a violation of their Constitutional rights.
I told him that that his argument was illogical, his proposition was to enslave women by denying them privacy, the rights to their own bodies and choices, that this was no better than requiring burkas, bound feet, and genital mutilation and that he should be ashamed of himself. I wagged my teacherly finger with outrage.
The churches are not responsible for, nor do they have the right to tell women what to do. However, they are responsible for covering what the law mandates, and what people choose is up to people. The churches' arguments are illogical and an attempt to oppress and control women.
Well, see, irascible.
We've come to depend so much on electricity When we first moved to the mountains, power outages were common, and with our fireplace and gas stove, we managed. Now, a half hour of outage is disconcerting.
Well, friends, have a good night. I'm glad you are here.
There is a war on women, always has been. We, humans, are killers. Everything we eat was once alive. We hunt, we fight, we go to war, we mutilate, we oppress. And this fool is trying to legiitmize denying women their rights to their own bodies under the pious pronouncements of right to life. Yah!
Wikileaks' Julian Assange seeks asylum in Ecuador embassy Mr Assange is facing extradition to Sweden from Britain for questioning over alleged sex crimes
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is seeking political asylum at Ecuador's London embassy, the country's foreign minister has said.
"Ecuador is studying and analysing the request," Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino told reporters in Quito.
Last week the UK's Supreme Court dismissed Mr Assange's bid to reopen an appeal against extradition to Sweden over alleged sex crimes he denies.
The Foreign Office says it will work with Ecuador to resolve the situation.
Mr Assange could still take his case against extradition to the ECHR and has until 28 June to make the move, or extradition proceedings will begin.
Swedish prosecutors want to question him over allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two female former Wikileaks volunteers in mid-2010 but have not filed any charges.
Mr Assange, whose Wikileaks website has published a mass of leaked diplomatic cables that embarrassed several governments and international businesses, claims the sex was consensual.
'Minimum guarantees'In a statement, Ecuador's embassy said he had arrived there on Tuesday afternoon to seek asylum.
"As a signatory to the United Nations Universal Declaration for Human Rights, with an obligation to review all applications for asylum, we have immediately passed his application on to the relevant department in Quito," it said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18514726
So late to learn that what goes around, comes around.
Pat, I could and did enlarge it, but the resolution just stayed the same: i.e., I got bigger color blocks. And since I didn't know which direction I was trying to find Green Ridge Road in, couldn't move the map where it needed to be each time it shrunk the field and enlarged the squares. . . . I tried to stay in the vicinity of Drake, but it was hard to find even that every time the map zoomed. And it takes about five or ten minutes to finish loading after each zoom. . . .
When I had it last night, it looked like some of the roads had names, but they were too small too read, and when I zoomed, the names disappeared. . . .
I fussed with it too, and since I knew the roads, it worked eventually. Highway 34 runs east and west. Drake is south of the fire, south and east. Snowtop is the road that leads to Green Ridge. We are south of the fire, and so far, the fire is expanding west. The Cache la Poudre Rive is one of the few wild and scenic rivers left in the West, and the Poudre Canyon is beautiful and wild. That's where we go camping, and that's where the destruction is. It's very sad.
An hour ago, two mama turkeys and 9 babies walking through our drying meadow. Wildlife is suffering in this drought. Firefighters have reported they also have seen a lot of black bears.
I wonder, Puddle, will humans ever get it right about nature? I wonder what it must have been to be prehistoric, where nature was a persona, an interactive consciousness. We humans look at nature as landscape, resources to be exploited, a thing.
Well, off. I'm folding. Don't work too hard, Puddle. I'm learning and enjoying going more slowly, aware of my steps, of the sky, of the joy of being alive.
Well, easy peasy, lol! Woke at about ten to five, came down, shut down the computer (I leave it on overnights in case I get sleepless, I don't have to start it up in a sleepy state). They didn't actually turn it off til about five fifteen, which I took as a not good sign. Woke before the boy, and we came down at about eight fifteen. Got the freezer and fridge empty, water boiling, and hot pans in. Went to feed the puss, and the lights came back on whilst I was there. Came back in, turned OFF both. and set up computer for the day.
On a *good* day I might have missed it altogether, lol!
Ah. This morning, finally, at least Snowtop has come up. Do you take a right or a left off of Snowtop? (No road names beyond that of Snowtop have come up yet, but I can see the roads.) *THAT* is entirely TOO CLOSE to the fire, contained or not. Whew!! Doubling the prayers for you all: that looks like a pretty settled area, as wild places go. . . .
Take a right fork off Snowtop on the North. Green Ridge ends in a cul de sac. Green Ridge isn't named on the map.
Isn't electricity neat! Have to say, it's a comfort to have lights, phone, computer, radio.
It's cool this morning and overcast. If only, RAIN!
Here's a note from a Storm Mountain resident about the increased smoke last night.
"Hello all -
Last night many of us saw a significant amount of smoke and ash move through the area, and several 911 calls were made as a result. The smoke and ash were confirmed to be a result of back-firing operations at the High Park fire. Shifting wins caused large quantities of smoke to drift our way, although the operations were taking place several miles from the Storm Mountain area. At 12:20 a.m. Big Thompson Canyon VFD had 6 members investigating, and Loveland Fire Rescue sent out a crew as well. Apparently the smoke was present all along the front range. These back firing operations are likely continue until the High Park fire is closer to full containment. I know the smoke and ash around our home on Snowtop was alarming -- it was even worse as we investigated the upper areas near Jug Court and vicinity, so I thought I would share what I knew."
We are south of Green Ridge. We have the same name for our road. Green Ridge like Storm Mountain is part of the mountain range here. We can see it from our deck.
Just heard from another member of the community. They are working on the Crystal Mountain area with backfires. The air is dense with smoke though.
As I look around, how diminished in importance things are. They begin to look like what the sages have always said, encumbrances. Yet, they have made my life comfortable and interesting.
I don't know, Puddle, what will happen. I think people are doing their best.
Forgot to answer your question. There are 12 five acre lots on Green Ridge with 10 having structures on them. The left fork off Snowtop is Spruce Mountain which goes back into National Forest.
One of the most wonderful things about this area is that there are miles and miles of dirt roads through the forest. You could walk to Wyoming. And, the community is supportive, friendly, has the character of people who love nature and are relatively independent. Also, as I get older, I learn of the richness of experiences people have had.
Well lost three posts. Blogger behaving exceptionally crappy this morning, wonder why?
Pat -- are you the second right off of Green Ridge? Tan roof, two levels, deck across the front of the house, facing the road? I'm thinking this is you 'cause there's evidence of a whole lot of tiny trees between the house and the road. And thinking of all the planting you guys have been doing. . . .
Thinking about the mess our wikiboy's gotten himself into. Having made a point of publishing diplomatic cable/emails with the *express* intent of embarrassing all the diplomats of the world, he's now thrown himself on the tender mercies of one set of diplomats. . . . Which is necessary, aside from paranoia, because of other decisions he's made about his life -- that it's fine to leave the seed of your spawn planted where you wish, regardless of the wishes of the recipient. . . .
One of the prime characteristics of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/Effect is the absolute inability to predict that actions have *consequences*. . . . Also true to a large degree of Asperger's Syndrome. Doesn't at any rate seem to me like any kind of poster boy for honor, or truth, or anything admirable in the least. Just an ego grown outsize willing to overrun and use others for it's own "glory."
In other news, most of the board of DFANYC resigned last night, and is reforming as DFA New York City. Don't know what the conflicts are/were, but. . . . Feel sad.
And, Pat, I agree: I feel more and more *burdened* by the stuff I have -- and here it's SO hard to get rid of. If I still lived in civilization, where the nice Purple Heart peeps pick up from one's front porch, it would be a whole lot easier to lighten the load. Just now am looking for a local home for a pressure canner and a couple dozen quart jars, maybe even three dozen. If not, will get carted to Harrisonburg and the charity store there. Little inch-like increments. Better than nothing, eh?
Puddle, we're 2nd on the left, porch facing the road, two solar panels on brown metal roof, 2 stories, also a basement level, large meadow in front of house, deck in back. I know the house you describe. What I love is that every mountain home is unique, and people display those "things" that describe their lives.
Because of the drought, I haven't planted any more trees. The ground is stone hard.
Yes, things. I understand so well. I have books I've loved but will not read again. We can donate them to our yellow shelf in our post office or to any of the local libraries for book sales. But, it's hard, hard, hard to give up the friendship, the solace, the enlightenment of books.
I think of this time as a wrapping up, a letting go, a joy in just being.
A cool, gray day here. Tonight we go to a small bistro to celebrate our 46 years of marriage. What endurance we must have I say laughing to my dearest friend!: )
love the graphic, the stories, your thoughts, I feel so fortunate to know you all.
stay safe Pat! don't know when I'll get bumped off, my connection has beed horrible, so want to share this good news:
Dear Jo,
Good news! Moments ago the House Appropriations Committee dropped plans to block the Federal Communications Commission from requiring that broadcasters post their political ad spending records online.
After hearing from nearly 65,000 people like you, the House leadership decided that it’s a political liability to oppose transparency.
You have yourself to thank for this win. Once again we have shown that we can face down corporate lobbyists in Washington by speaking out in large numbers.
That said, the threat to this hard-won reform is not over. The National Association of Broadcasters has rallied its army of lawyers to challenge the FCC decision in court. (We’ll send you more information about this in a future email.)
For now, please accept the gratitude of the Free Press Action Fund. Voters deserve to know who is trying to influence their choice on Election Day, and the FCC's online political file rule will shine a brighter light on that process.
you know, one of the most offensive things about Judy was her BS about you and hubby. I am so glad that this blog is free of her meanness and bile. in all of my life and all of the people I have known she brought out the worst in me, the most anger and intolerance of her attempts to divide people and look for only the darkness in this world. Howard's blog did
and she still taunts, daring me to remove her posts from this blog. doh! I pity her soul.
oops - keyboard is still screwing with me I see, erased the bit about Howard's blog not deserving her crap, it felt like she was defacating in our 'house'. okay, done with that. ;)
It's good to see you here. I hope you are doing well, pain free, able to do what you wish.
Thank you for being here, for the blog, and I appreciate your congratulations.
I read something recently, can't remember quite where, but "When we're young we think we know the world but not ourselves. When we are old we know ourselves but not the world." I think it came form an individual essay in Harpers, and I've thought of it repeatedly.
As far as Seashell goes, I'm sorry for her anger, her venom, her need to strike out and hurt people. I've asked myself if I'm partly responsible, and I think I am up to a point. A friendship ended when I saw how willing she was to hurt people, me, others, and I am sorry that I wasn't able to be more positive, more able to forgive and trust. But, I'm not. She's an unhappy and vengeful person, and we can't know why or the background to it. Yes, I'm glad she's not here, and if the Howard blog had to end just to end vindictiveness and hatred, I'm glad it ended.
I've come to think that there's so much we can't know about others, but also, to protect ourselves from hurt.
I've got a book called, The Poems of Jesus Christ, by a poet/scholar named Barnstone. He says that Christ spoke in poetry, and when the translations in Greek and Latin were made, the poetry was changed to prose.
In one poem, Christ says, if someone has hurt you, tell him. If he doesn't listen, bring a member of your family, and both of you tell him. If he still doesn't listen, bring your clan and tell him.
And if he doesn't listen then, treat him like a gentile (stranger) or a tax collector.
That makes me smile. It says, distance, and I guess with humanity, there has always been hurt and the inability to stop it or repair it.
Lot to be said for sticking it out for forty six years. Partly, making pretty wise choices upfront. . . . Congratulations. Give your best friend a hug and a kiss from me -- I feel in so many ways that I know him, through you. Odd that, eh?
Being beautifully moderate and quiet here today. Both Beau and Stevie seem to be feeling it, too: unusually calm, the both of 'em. We're just a tad over 80 degrees, with a small wind just ruffling the edges of the leaves. Beautiful Midsummer's Eve, it is.
One of my parents favorite albums was Grieg's Song of Norway. From that album one of my most favorite pieces was/is "I'll be with you on Midsummer's Eve" (I'll never leave). Remember summers just laying on the prickly sofa listening, listening, listening. . . .
Had to laugh: I almost removed the post begging to be removed, and then thought: she'll think Jo did it, so let it be. Reminds me of the street kids getting down to it: Wanna fight, hunh, hunh, hunh? Putcher dukes up.
Your words make me smile. Your prose is so often poetry. The sun coming out here, and now to have coffee on the veranda (really just a porch) with husband. Yes, a hug and a kiss from you to him.
I'm not surprised you feel you know him. He's kind, Puddle, and that was for me the best quality of all. I was at a point of loneliness and hopelessness in my life and called him. He said, I'll be down this weekend. I knew then, that I would marry him if he asked.
I wasn't wise, more lucky, and more needing a friend who would be loyal to me and to whom I would be loyal. I had seen too much to be a romantic, feared the prison that marriage could become, but a dear friend I could count on, who loved me, what a blessing.
And, I see you out on the sofa listening, and it's a beautiful picture.
Ah, now everyone who normally shows up is here--good.
Glad Puddle's electricity problems weren't too bad. Remember those living in rural Michigan--mid winter snowstorms. Best to keep food, medicine and fuel stocks up--it was sometimes days before the roads were plowed and lines fixed!
Happy Anniversary, Pat. What a wise decision to marry your best friend. Congratulations to you both.
I still smile at the graphic at the top of this thread--wonderful! Some of it is the truth in the numbers--the rest is the witty depictions of the characters. Thanks, Puddle
Off to take a nap--tongue and mouth recovering--rest of my body seems to finally realize somebody has been tinkering around!
Bloomberg poll: Obama up big, Bain debate up for grabs
By ALEXANDER BURNS | 6/20/12 6:33 AM EDT
Bloomberg News has a poll this morning showing the rosiest picture of the general election the Obama team has seen in weeks: Obama leads Romney in the survey, 53 percent to 40 percent. Fifty-five percent of voters in the poll say Romney is the candidate most out of touch with the American people, versus 36 percent who say that of the president.
Even if you're inclined to view those numbers with significant skepticism, there are other numbers, lower down in the poll, that underscore the continued haziness of the debate over Romney's business career. It's not at all clear from this data who's winning the fight, or really even what winning would look like at this point:
Asked to name the most important qualification on Romney’s resume, a plurality of 41 percent cite his experience as governor of Massachusetts, while 34 percent say it’s his business experience at the Boston-based firm Bain Capital LLC. …
Likely voters are split over whether Romney’s business experience made him better-prepared to create jobs as president, with 49 percent saying it doesn’t and 45 percent saying it does.
They are also divided on whether it’s a good idea to elect a corporate chief executive officer as president, with 44 saying it is while 40 percent say it’s not.
So according to the voters in this poll, it's a good idea to elect a CEO as president, but that kind of experience doesn't help create jobs. Not exactly the readout of an electorate that's firmly set in its view of Romney and his qualification.
The Goobey got me up before six. So let him out, and went back to bed. Up for good now. Gonna be one HOT day. So delayed any idear of getting to town til tomorrow, which should be cooler (yay).
Had to laugh: Had a roll up magnetic sheet on an upper shelf in the storage room behind the bathroom. For some reason, last night, lifted to get to something behind it and got showered with birdseed. The tiny industrious mice had been busy making it their grain silo -- filling it from a birdseed bag in the work room outside the kitchen door. So the route looks something like this, floor to table, grab some seeds, run down table leg, across the room, under bathroom door, up the shelves to the top, to top of 8" cylinder, deposit, down, back, repeat. Distance each way more than thirty feet. Reminds me of finding a whole milk weed pod in my oak chest with the mouse nest -- all the milkweed around here is across the river, and hundreds of feet up the road. The nest was created during the year I was away at my mother's. How not to love something with so much energy? Truth is, I don't. Not really. But I sure have a hard time deliberately killing them. Though, when the damage gets TOO big, I'll at last set traps and bring the population down.
"In contrast, the white-footed mouse is a dweller of forests, brushlands and wooded river bottoms. It is a good climber and uses its long tail to balance it when running along twigs in search of food. Its nest may be in a fallen log or under a stump but, more often, it is in a woodpecker hole, a bird house, or an abandoned bird nest over which it builds a roof. They seldom come into our houses but often invade empty summer cottages where they make themselves snug homes in chair cushions, mattresses and stored clothing. " Yup.
The naturalists are somewhat behind the times: saw a study a couple of years ago saying that in Illinois (and I spect elsewhere) *most* mice in the house are now White Footed Woods Mice. . . . They seem to be adapting to our presence marvelously well.
Good Morning, folks--just checking in--and find as I thought Puddle is the dear glue that holds us together.
Grandson and Bride are in Estes Park Co.--report that the wildfires are a "couple of mountains away." Both are Michigan Flatlanders--late 20's, responsible jobs--and do hope the are paying attention--at least to the weather!!!
Pat, reading the Lorimar update, and think of you, and all the people now homeless. Hurts the heart, it does. Normally, as you know, in rural areas, when a family gets burned out, the community wraps around them, helping out. With so *many* burned, the community itself is under siege. . . Remembering the floods in Santa Rosa. No one swept away, but most sustaining considerable damage.
Or maybe it's easier to just have a total loss? The pain of sorting through water logged and muddy things, trying to save what can't be saved is beyond wearing: there were times in those months I would have been grateful for just *gone*. . . .
Ironically, one of the landmarks I remember most was when the Red Cross declared us "healed" and departed. We all heaved a sigh of relief, and *began* the healing process. . . . .
I hope so, too, Shirlee! What a place to pick for a honeymoon, lol! My kiddle and bride headed off for a honeymoon cruise right in the heart of Hurricane Andrew. . . . And made it out of Miami just in time.
Ah, well they are young and in love--and by that carry good luck with them?
Thinking of Pat--I do believe that if I had a choice I would choose a hurricane over a fire. They have a beginning and a definite end and NOAA is pretty good now at projections. But, if you come back and find everything wet, soggy and filled with sea water and all it carries--it is a tremendous job and major shock. My parents lived on the Texas coast when Hurricane Carla hit in 1961--and the whole thing caused a trauma to my mother and she never really recovered. Dad was more realistic and resilient--and fuming at insurance companies.
Off to the guy with the knife for a follow up check on my mouth! Shouldn't be so flippant I guess :)
Shirlee, I think flippancy is *useful* lol! The only demeanor I've ever been able to use with funeral folk is hilarity. They never quite know what to do with it, schooled in smarmy sorrowfulness as they are. . . .
They perform a necessary and needed function in our culture, but their willingness to prey on grief instead of simply respecting it makes them some of me least favorite people, in general.
One of the most horrifying moments of my life, was watching my mother's next door neighbor and Bishop of her Ward, playing her after my brother's suicide. He was six foot six, and too tall for a standard casket. The extra long one was going to cost $500 extra. She was a widow and still had six little ones left at home to raise, and that was more than a month's income. I asked if there wasn't something *else* he could do? Thinking perhaps bending him at the knees -- the coffin was only half open for the viewing. . . . Brother Red looked up an said: Well, we *could* break his legs. My mother flinched and looked like she was going to froop. And paid the extra $500. Never liked them much before, but lost even that tolerance. Scum.
rant, off
That said -- the dood I dealt with in Dallas after Edwin's death was a true prince. We found him on the net, promising cheap/no frills cremation. And never once, or in any way did he try to make me feel I needed to buy more or dishonor Edwin's memory. Funny thing was, he *presented* just terribly: a green and yellow windowpane plaid suit, with a hand painted horse heads tie. Bless him. When he discovered we'd been living together in NYC, he married us under Texas common law (otherwise, he was going to need to get a signed affidavit from ALL and EVERY surviving relative in order to proceed with the cremation). So I became a wife and a widow in an hour, in a Texas funeral parlor. How NOT to laugh? I have a pretty good idear that Edwin was laughing, too!
Never made it to our promised 93°. At the upper eighties, around two, took the puppy up for a nap. The 20% chance of showers occurred and it's dropped to below seventy. Just opened the door to let him out and that was a doozy of a little storm -- blew half way across the porch from the west end (a matter of eight feet in). River's not up much -- only inches, but is running fast and jade. Blessings.
Hot and windy day again. The fire 55% contained, but nothing's guaranteed. Talked to older son.
He's so kind as is his wife. They said come anytime, night or day, and they'll get us a key. I told him, we were in pretty good shape, that because of no outlet, we'd probably be notified if there was any danger at all coming our way.
Last night at the bistro: a special Italian menu and wine dinner. Sitting at a table with three other couples, the conversation was great. One couple had lived in Italy and Germany for 11 years and had come to live permanently in Loveland. The woman had taught for the DOD 3 years in Italy, 8 in Germany. The man had been the cook, was also a sculptor.
Another couple from Arizona, with IBM; another with the health dept. here. The conversation ranged from Europe, to work, to cultures, to the fire.
It was congeneal and interesting. I thought how much our generation had experienced in opportunities, jobs, experiences, and travel. We were all middle class folks who had had the infrastructure and support to aspire to more than just a job in the place we grew up. Also, there was a partnership, an equality, in work between the men and women, unlike my mother's generation.
I wondered if Generation X has any idea of the support that communities, universities, and government provided, and would it be there for them and their children?
So, despite the fire, life is good. I'm grateful
Thank you for your stories, Puddle. The funeral director talking to you mother was a cad, a creep. How did he manage to have anyone want his services. And your story of Edwin and becoming a wife and a widow at the same time is very special - a poem, a story, a painting, some music? It's poignant with sorrow and the oddity that is the human experience.
Well, will check in again. Have to water. The bunnies ate our echinacea plant and our cosmos. but, they're hungry, and it's okay
Shirlee, my thoughts your way for your medical appointment. I hope all goes well.
Pat, glad you guys had a lovely anniversary celebration!
Come to think of it, she made arrangements with another funeral director for her own, pre-paid services. . . . Although Wayne may have retired by then. She wasn't offended -- just horrified. *I* was offended. . . .
Our "little" rain storm this afternoon turns out to have delivered an inch in under an hour. I'm surprised, we often don't get that in a full twenty four hours of rain. I did get one flattened tomato plant at the house, but haven't inspected the other gardens. Not much there to get hurt, actually.
Ah, I love coming here--what a range of experiences this group has. Fascinating and wonderful. Puddle your Texas wife and widow story is True Texas!
I have long had a prepaid cremation policy and have threatened my young'uns with haunting from whatever afterlife I am in if they agree to any kind of a "memorial" service. Take the money and have a family party. My sibs and I did this for both parents--it gave us time to be together in one of our homes and remember, tell stories, eat, etc. Also did it for my honey--who had said "keep the preachers away from me." His family agreed and we had a great outdoor party. It seems for me to be a good transition into our own private grieving.
Pat, thanks for the good doc wishes--healing proceeding as expected, return in a month--and ask the dentist about filing down that back molar. What! I still have really good teeth. But it is sharp and may be causing some irritation. Well, we'll see.
I am so happy you were able to have a wonderful anniversary dinner.
Puddle's words about a community under siege reminded me of what has happened along the Texas Gulf Coast over the years--from Galveston on down to the small towns. It took our little town of Palacios a good 30 years to recover economically and emotionally from Carla. That is a long time for a town and area dependent upon shrimping, fishing and some tourism.
Good Night All--and a big thank you to Jo. You have given us a wonderful gift.
Last fall, when my kiddle (and me, too!) were afraid I might buy it at any time, he asked what I wanted by way of after death services, if any. I suggested an invite to friends and family to a local bar. Somewhere. I'd rather peeps I loved just got together and remembered/talked/laughed/ate/drank. . . . A wake without a service. But I've been to a couple of nice Memorial Celebrations that I loved. My housemother from my camp counseling days -- was in a church, but not at all religious. And Edwin's, which was in a theatre. Both were brief statements from family and close friends, and an invite to the "audience" to talk.
After Edwin's we decamped to his favorite bar, and celebrated again with the staff there who couldn't come. I had a basket of his CDs (I'd already given SO many away, and kept so many that had meaning for the two of us) to both the theatre and the bar. Left the rest at the bar for staff not on that night. Next day, took some of his ashes, and dusted them around Edwin Booth's feet in Gramercy Park, (he had a real reverence for Booth) then had lunch at the Arts Club. Left several vials of his ashes for his best friend to dust corners inside the Players Club. Brought the rest home with me, and they're in the small memorial "garden" next to the big vegetable garden in the meadow. I don't know what he wished: he'd never talk about it, so I was left to do what I felt was best. I don't think he'd be unhappy about it. His parents had an extra space in Illinois where they're buried together, but my view of it was, they were truly lousy parents and I had no desire to leave his ashes in their vicinity. If I'd had the foggiest idear where his grandmother was, might have tried, since she was truly a positive in his young life, but I didn't know.
Woo -- lotsa remembering going on here this morning!
48 comments:
Oh, this is such a great graphic, Puddle--Thanks.
Hope all is well with
everyone--as much as can be!
And I love the new format--much easier to follow! Thanks--hope the chicken wire keeps your garden safe from critters. Good neighbors are a treasure.
Cool!!! is there a link I can put on Facebook? or can you put it on Facebook so I can share?
LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT.
Oh, and Howie is the firstiest
Good Morning,
More plumes of smoke, more hot weather. Here's a link for a map that shows where we are with street names. We're Green Ridge Road off highway 34.
So, we wait, we watch, and we continue on.
Great graphic. Huge issues confronting the planet: over population, loss of species, poisoning of land, air, water, fossil fuels increasing green house gases, lack of ethics towards humans, corporate control of government with only value wealth, relationships among peoples and nations, addictions, weapons, etc.
We are so fortunate to have Barack Obama as President. We have at least a chance with him. Not so with Romney and Republican greed, prejudice, stupidity, and militarism.
Just my take.
Will keep you informed.
Wildfire Viewer
co.dtswildfire.com/home/Flex
Barb, it's up on facebook, just for you, lol! Twas easy, since that's where I stole it from.
Pat, nice to see you here. Thanks for checking in!
Good neighbors are *indeed* treasures!
My internets are unbelievably slow this evening. Have rebooted twice with the hope of getting a faster connection, no dice.
Also not getting Pat's map to load with more street names than just the different names for highway 34. Rats.
big kisses to you puddle. I'll try to repost tonight. been bizzy bizzy today and going to a fundraiser tonight where burt is doing the sound system
I couldn't load Pat's map either, Puddle--and I have a fairly new computer and a good connection.
But, so happy to hear from her. The smoke must be dangerous for any with lung problems.
Good to see Barb is keeping busy:)
Just a reminder while I'm thinking of it: my electric will be out from five tomorrow morning til ten. Lord willing and the crick don't rise, lol! But as with everything West Virginia, don't count on that's being all. . . .
Being really distracted today planning for tomorrow, and it's not really that big of a deal. Have decided to go ahead and defrost both the refrig and the freezer which both need it. I have propane for cooking, so I can easily heat pans of water to speed it up some, and they'll both be sparkly fresh and ready to go, assuming the electric comes on when it should. Delayed going to town today in aid of NOT adding cool requiring things to my larder. But prolly be too pooped to go in the afternoon, so Thursday's good, eh?
Will also be putting together and baking a meatloaf while the rest is going on: if I *have* to be a housewife, might as well multi-task, lol! At least I know what's for lunch tomorrow.
Hi Y'all,
Another hot, dry, windy day and more smoke plumes. I'm sorry the map didn't work out for you. You are supposed to be able to manipulate it by using your curser. You can enlarge and move in all directions. I'm not sure what the problem is.
Does anyone remember a short story by Ray Bradbury? He begins with statistics that the hotter the weather, the more the murder rate goes up, and then proceeds to narrate just that situation. Well, today, I'm nothing if not irascible. Our House Representative, Cory Gardner sent two emails: one restricting a woman's right to an abortion after 20 months; the other, siding with the churches that offering birth control, contraceptives, and abortion is a violation of their Constitutional rights.
I told him that that his argument was illogical, his proposition was to enslave women by denying them privacy, the rights to their own bodies and choices, that this was no better than requiring burkas, bound feet, and genital mutilation and that he should be ashamed of himself. I wagged my teacherly finger with outrage.
The churches are not responsible for, nor do they have the right to tell women what to do. However, they are responsible for covering what the law mandates, and what people choose is up to people. The churches' arguments are illogical and an attempt to oppress and control women.
Well, see, irascible.
We've come to depend so much on electricity When we first moved to the mountains, power outages were common, and with our fireplace and gas stove, we managed. Now, a half hour of outage is disconcerting.
Well, friends, have a good night. I'm glad you are here.
There is a war on women, always has been. We, humans, are killers. Everything we eat was once alive. We hunt, we fight, we go to war, we mutilate, we oppress. And this fool is trying to legiitmize denying women their rights to their own bodies under the pious pronouncements of right to life. Yah!
Poor Creep ~~
Wikileaks' Julian Assange seeks asylum in Ecuador embassy
Mr Assange is facing extradition to Sweden from Britain for questioning over alleged sex crimes
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is seeking political asylum at Ecuador's London embassy, the country's foreign minister has said.
"Ecuador is studying and analysing the request," Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino told reporters in Quito.
Last week the UK's Supreme Court dismissed Mr Assange's bid to reopen an appeal against extradition to Sweden over alleged sex crimes he denies.
The Foreign Office says it will work with Ecuador to resolve the situation.
Mr Assange could still take his case against extradition to the ECHR and has until 28 June to make the move, or extradition proceedings will begin.
Swedish prosecutors want to question him over allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two female former Wikileaks volunteers in mid-2010 but have not filed any charges.
Mr Assange, whose Wikileaks website has published a mass of leaked diplomatic cables that embarrassed several governments and international businesses, claims the sex was consensual.
'Minimum guarantees'In a statement, Ecuador's embassy said he had arrived there on Tuesday afternoon to seek asylum.
"As a signatory to the United Nations Universal Declaration for Human Rights, with an obligation to review all applications for asylum, we have immediately passed his application on to the relevant department in Quito," it said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18514726
So late to learn that what goes around, comes around.
Pat, I could and did enlarge it, but the resolution just stayed the same: i.e., I got bigger color blocks. And since I didn't know which direction I was trying to find Green Ridge Road in, couldn't move the map where it needed to be each time it shrunk the field and enlarged the squares. . . . I tried to stay in the vicinity of Drake, but it was hard to find even that every time the map zoomed. And it takes about five or ten minutes to finish loading after each zoom. . . .
When I had it last night, it looked like some of the roads had names, but they were too small too read, and when I zoomed, the names disappeared. . . .
Tried again, and this time got two of the side roads: Devil's Gulch Road to the north, and Waltonia Road to the south. Are you near either of those?
Hi Puddle,
I fussed with it too, and since I knew the roads, it worked eventually. Highway 34 runs east and west. Drake is south of the fire, south and east. Snowtop is the road that leads to Green Ridge.
We are south of the fire, and so far, the fire is expanding west. The Cache la Poudre Rive is one of the few wild and scenic rivers left in the West, and the Poudre Canyon is beautiful and wild. That's where we go camping, and that's where the destruction is. It's very sad.
An hour ago, two mama turkeys and 9 babies walking through our drying meadow. Wildlife is suffering in this drought. Firefighters have reported they also have seen a lot of black bears.
I wonder, Puddle, will humans ever get it right about nature? I wonder what it must have been to be prehistoric, where nature was a persona, an interactive consciousness. We humans look at nature as landscape, resources to be exploited, a thing.
Well, off. I'm folding. Don't work too hard, Puddle. I'm learning and enjoying going more slowly, aware of my steps, of the sky, of the joy of being alive.
Night Dear Hearts.
Well, easy peasy, lol! Woke at about ten to five, came down, shut down the computer (I leave it on overnights in case I get sleepless, I don't have to start it up in a sleepy state). They didn't actually turn it off til about five fifteen, which I took as a not good sign. Woke before the boy, and we came down at about eight fifteen. Got the freezer and fridge empty, water boiling, and hot pans in. Went to feed the puss, and the lights came back on whilst I was there. Came back in, turned OFF both. and set up computer for the day.
On a *good* day I might have missed it altogether, lol!
Ah. This morning, finally, at least Snowtop has come up. Do you take a right or a left off of Snowtop? (No road names beyond that of Snowtop have come up yet, but I can see the roads.) *THAT* is entirely TOO CLOSE to the fire, contained or not. Whew!! Doubling the prayers for you all: that looks like a pretty settled area, as wild places go. . . .
Take a right fork off Snowtop on the North. Green Ridge ends in a cul de sac. Green Ridge isn't named on the map.
Isn't electricity neat! Have to say, it's a comfort to have lights, phone, computer, radio.
It's cool this morning and overcast. If only, RAIN!
Here's a note from a Storm Mountain resident about the increased smoke last night.
"Hello all -
Last night many of us saw a significant amount of smoke and ash move through the area, and several 911 calls were made as a result. The smoke and ash were confirmed to be a result of back-firing operations at the High Park fire. Shifting wins caused large quantities of smoke to drift our way, although the operations were taking place several miles from the Storm Mountain area. At 12:20 a.m. Big Thompson Canyon VFD had 6 members investigating, and Loveland Fire Rescue sent out a crew as well. Apparently the smoke was present all along the front range. These back firing operations are likely continue until the High Park fire is closer to full containment. I know the smoke and ash around our home on Snowtop was alarming -- it was even worse as we investigated the upper areas near Jug Court and vicinity, so I thought I would share what I knew."
Will check in later.
Okay. Green Ridge *finally* came up. Yikes!!
Pat, are you south or north of Green Ridge? How many places are on Green Ridge? I'm *beginning* to see what look like driveways off of the road.
Hi Puddle,
We are south of Green Ridge. We have the same name for our road. Green Ridge like Storm Mountain is part of the mountain range here. We can see it from our deck.
Just heard from another member of the community. They are working on the Crystal Mountain area with backfires. The air is dense with smoke though.
As I look around, how diminished in importance things are. They begin to look like what the sages have always said, encumbrances. Yet, they have made my life comfortable and interesting.
I don't know, Puddle, what will happen. I think people are doing their best.
Forgot to answer your question. There are 12 five acre lots on Green Ridge with 10 having structures on them. The left fork off Snowtop is Spruce Mountain which goes back into National Forest.
One of the most wonderful things about this area is that there are miles and miles of dirt roads through the forest. You could walk to Wyoming. And, the community is supportive, friendly, has the character of people who love nature and are relatively independent. Also, as I get older, I learn of the richness of experiences people have had.
Well lost three posts. Blogger behaving exceptionally crappy this morning, wonder why?
Pat -- are you the second right off of Green Ridge? Tan roof, two levels, deck across the front of the house, facing the road? I'm thinking this is you 'cause there's evidence of a whole lot of tiny trees between the house and the road. And thinking of all the planting you guys have been doing. . . .
Thinking about the mess our wikiboy's gotten himself into. Having made a point of publishing diplomatic cable/emails with the *express* intent of embarrassing all the diplomats of the world, he's now thrown himself on the tender mercies of one set of diplomats. . . . Which is necessary, aside from paranoia, because of other decisions he's made about his life -- that it's fine to leave the seed of your spawn planted where you wish, regardless of the wishes of the recipient. . . .
One of the prime characteristics of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/Effect is the absolute inability to predict that actions have *consequences*. . . . Also true to a large degree of Asperger's Syndrome. Doesn't at any rate seem to me like any kind of poster boy for honor, or truth, or anything admirable in the least. Just an ego grown outsize willing to overrun and use others for it's own "glory."
In other news, most of the board of DFANYC resigned last night, and is reforming as DFA New York City. Don't know what the conflicts are/were, but. . . . Feel sad.
And, Pat, I agree: I feel more and more *burdened* by the stuff I have -- and here it's SO hard to get rid of. If I still lived in civilization, where the nice Purple Heart peeps pick up from one's front porch, it would be a whole lot easier to lighten the load. Just now am looking for a local home for a pressure canner and a couple dozen quart jars, maybe even three dozen. If not, will get carted to Harrisonburg and the charity store there. Little inch-like increments. Better than nothing, eh?
Hi again,
Puddle, we're 2nd on the left, porch facing the road, two solar panels on brown metal roof, 2 stories, also a basement level, large meadow in front of house, deck in back. I know the house you describe. What I love is that every mountain home is unique, and people display those "things" that describe their lives.
Because of the drought, I haven't planted any more trees. The ground is stone hard.
Yes, things. I understand so well. I have books I've loved but will not read again. We can donate them to our yellow shelf in our post office or to any of the local libraries for book sales. But, it's hard, hard, hard to give up the friendship, the solace, the enlightenment of books.
I think of this time as a wrapping up, a letting go, a joy in just being.
A cool, gray day here. Tonight we go to a small bistro to celebrate our 46 years of marriage. What endurance we must have I say laughing to my dearest friend!: )
hi Ladies!
love the graphic, the stories, your thoughts, I feel so fortunate to know you all.
stay safe Pat! don't know when I'll get bumped off, my connection has beed horrible, so want to share this good news:
Dear Jo,
Good news! Moments ago the House Appropriations Committee dropped plans to block the Federal Communications Commission from requiring that broadcasters post their political ad spending records online.
After hearing from nearly 65,000 people like you, the House leadership decided that it’s a political liability to oppose transparency.
You have yourself to thank for this win. Once again we have shown that we can face down corporate lobbyists in Washington by speaking out in large numbers.
That said, the threat to this hard-won reform is not over. The National Association of Broadcasters has rallied its army of lawyers to challenge the FCC decision in court. (We’ll send you more information about this in a future email.)
For now, please accept the gratitude of the Free Press Action Fund. Voters deserve to know who is trying to influence their choice on Election Day, and the FCC's online political file rule will shine a brighter light on that process.
and happy 46th, Pat!
you know, one of the most offensive things about Judy was her BS about you and hubby. I am so glad that this blog is free of her meanness and bile. in all of my life and all of the people I have known she brought out the worst in me, the most anger and intolerance of her attempts to divide people and look for only the darkness in this world. Howard's blog did
and she still taunts, daring me to remove her posts from this blog. doh! I pity her soul.
oops - keyboard is still screwing with me I see, erased the bit about Howard's blog not deserving her crap, it felt like she was defacating in our 'house'. okay, done with that. ;)
Hi Jo,
It's good to see you here. I hope you are doing well, pain free, able to do what you wish.
Thank you for being here, for the blog, and I appreciate your congratulations.
I read something recently, can't remember quite where, but "When we're young we think we know the world but not ourselves. When we are old we know ourselves but not the world." I think it came form an individual essay in Harpers, and I've thought of it repeatedly.
As far as Seashell goes, I'm sorry for her anger, her venom, her need to strike out and hurt people. I've asked myself if I'm partly responsible, and I think I am up to a point. A friendship ended when I saw how willing she was to hurt people, me, others, and I am sorry that I wasn't able to be more positive, more able to forgive and trust. But, I'm not. She's an unhappy and vengeful person, and we can't know why or the background to it. Yes, I'm glad she's not here, and if the Howard blog had to end just to end vindictiveness and hatred, I'm glad it ended.
I've come to think that there's so much we can't know about others, but also, to protect ourselves from hurt.
I've got a book called, The Poems of Jesus Christ, by a poet/scholar named Barnstone. He says that Christ spoke in poetry, and when the translations in Greek and Latin were made, the poetry was changed to prose.
In one poem, Christ says, if someone has hurt you, tell him. If he doesn't listen, bring a member of your family, and both of you tell him. If he still doesn't listen, bring your clan and tell him.
And if he doesn't listen then, treat him like a gentile (stranger) or a tax collector.
That makes me smile. It says, distance, and I guess with humanity, there has always been hurt and the inability to stop it or repair it.
Well, off for a while.
Lot to be said for sticking it out for forty six years. Partly, making pretty wise choices upfront. . . . Congratulations. Give your best friend a hug and a kiss from me -- I feel in so many ways that I know him, through you. Odd that, eh?
Being beautifully moderate and quiet here today. Both Beau and Stevie seem to be feeling it, too: unusually calm, the both of 'em. We're just a tad over 80 degrees, with a small wind just ruffling the edges of the leaves. Beautiful Midsummer's Eve, it is.
One of my parents favorite albums was Grieg's Song of Norway. From that album one of my most favorite pieces was/is "I'll be with you on Midsummer's Eve" (I'll never leave). Remember summers just laying on the prickly sofa listening, listening, listening. . . .
Ah, Jo! So good to see you here!!
Had to laugh: I almost removed the post begging to be removed, and then thought: she'll think Jo did it, so let it be. Reminds me of the street kids getting down to it: Wanna fight, hunh, hunh, hunh? Putcher dukes up.
Ack!
Hi Puddle,
Your words make me smile. Your prose is so often poetry. The sun coming out here, and now to have coffee on the veranda (really just a porch) with husband. Yes, a hug and a kiss from you to him.
I'm not surprised you feel you know him. He's kind, Puddle, and that was for me the best quality of all. I was at a point of loneliness and hopelessness in my life and called him. He said, I'll be down this weekend. I knew then, that I would marry him if he asked.
I wasn't wise, more lucky, and more needing a friend who would be loyal to me and to whom I would be loyal. I had seen too much to be a romantic, feared the prison that marriage could become, but a dear friend I could count on, who loved me, what a blessing.
And, I see you out on the sofa listening, and it's a beautiful picture.
Ah, now everyone who normally shows up is here--good.
Glad Puddle's electricity problems weren't too bad. Remember those living in rural Michigan--mid winter snowstorms. Best to keep food, medicine and fuel stocks up--it was sometimes days before the roads were plowed and lines fixed!
Happy Anniversary, Pat. What a wise decision to marry your best friend.
Congratulations to you both.
I still smile at the graphic at the top of this thread--wonderful! Some of it is the truth in the numbers--the rest is the witty
depictions of the characters. Thanks, Puddle
Off to take a nap--tongue and mouth recovering--rest of my body seems to finally realize somebody has been tinkering around!
Woot!
Bloomberg poll: Obama up big, Bain debate up for grabs
By ALEXANDER BURNS |
6/20/12 6:33 AM EDT
Bloomberg News has a poll this morning showing the rosiest picture of the general election the Obama team has seen in weeks: Obama leads Romney in the survey, 53 percent to 40 percent. Fifty-five percent of voters in the poll say Romney is the candidate most out of touch with the American people, versus 36 percent who say that of the president.
Even if you're inclined to view those numbers with significant skepticism, there are other numbers, lower down in the poll, that underscore the continued haziness of the debate over Romney's business career. It's not at all clear from this data who's winning the fight, or really even what winning would look like at this point:
Asked to name the most important qualification on Romney’s resume, a plurality of 41 percent cite his experience as governor of Massachusetts, while 34 percent say it’s his business experience at the Boston-based firm Bain Capital LLC. …
Likely voters are split over whether Romney’s business experience made him better-prepared to create jobs as president, with 49 percent saying it doesn’t and 45 percent saying it does.
They are also divided on whether it’s a good idea to elect a corporate chief executive officer as president, with 44 saying it is while 40 percent say it’s not.
So according to the voters in this poll, it's a good idea to elect a CEO as president, but that kind of experience doesn't help create jobs. Not exactly the readout of an electorate that's firmly set in its view of Romney and his qualification.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/06/bloomberg-poll-obama-up-big-bain-debate-up-for-grabs-126719.html
Hey! The boy went up to bed without me! Joining him: under the wing. . . .
The Goobey got me up before six. So let him out, and went back to bed. Up for good now. Gonna be one HOT day. So delayed any idear of getting to town til tomorrow, which should be cooler (yay).
Had to laugh: Had a roll up magnetic sheet on an upper shelf in the storage room behind the bathroom. For some reason, last night, lifted to get to something behind it and got showered with birdseed. The tiny industrious mice had been busy making it their grain silo -- filling it from a birdseed bag in the work room outside the kitchen door. So the route looks something like this, floor to table, grab some seeds, run down table leg, across the room, under bathroom door, up the shelves to the top, to top of 8" cylinder, deposit, down, back, repeat. Distance each way more than thirty feet. Reminds me of finding a whole milk weed pod in my oak chest with the mouse nest -- all the milkweed around here is across the river, and hundreds of feet up the road. The nest was created during the year I was away at my mother's. How not to love something with so much energy? Truth is, I don't. Not really. But I sure have a hard time deliberately killing them. Though, when the damage gets TOO big, I'll at last set traps and bring the population down.
"In contrast, the white-footed mouse is a dweller of forests, brushlands and wooded river bottoms. It is a good climber and uses its long tail to balance it when running along twigs in search of food. Its nest may be in a fallen log or under a stump but, more often, it is in a woodpecker hole, a bird house, or an abandoned bird nest over which it builds a roof. They seldom come into our houses but often invade empty summer cottages where they make themselves snug homes in chair cushions, mattresses and stored clothing. " Yup.
They are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO damned CUTE. . . .
The pod, BTW, was empty: the silk had been used to line a bird's nest I'd been keeping (yeah, I *know*, lol!).
The naturalists are somewhat behind the times: saw a study a couple of years ago saying that in Illinois (and I spect elsewhere) *most* mice in the house are now White Footed Woods Mice. . . . They seem to be adapting to our presence marvelously well.
Good Morning, folks--just checking in--and find as I thought Puddle is the dear glue that holds us together.
Grandson and Bride are in Estes Park Co.--report that the wildfires are a "couple of mountains away." Both are Michigan Flatlanders--late 20's, responsible jobs--and do hope the are paying attention--at least to the weather!!!
Pat, reading the Lorimar update, and think of you, and all the people now homeless. Hurts the heart, it does. Normally, as you know, in rural areas, when a family gets burned out, the community wraps around them, helping out. With so *many* burned, the community itself is under siege. . . Remembering the floods in Santa Rosa. No one swept away, but most sustaining considerable damage.
Or maybe it's easier to just have a total loss? The pain of sorting through water logged and muddy things, trying to save what can't be saved is beyond wearing: there were times in those months I would have been grateful for just *gone*. . . .
Ironically, one of the landmarks I remember most was when the Red Cross declared us "healed" and departed. We all heaved a sigh of relief, and *began* the healing process. . . . .
I hope so, too, Shirlee! What a place to pick for a honeymoon, lol! My kiddle and bride headed off for a honeymoon cruise right in the heart of Hurricane Andrew. . . . And made it out of Miami just in time.
Ah, well they are young and in love--and by that carry good luck with them?
Thinking of Pat--I do believe that if I had a choice I would choose a hurricane over a fire. They have a beginning and a definite end and NOAA is pretty good now at projections.
But, if you come back and find everything wet, soggy and filled with sea water and all it carries--it is a tremendous job and major shock.
My parents lived on the Texas coast when Hurricane Carla hit in 1961--and the whole thing caused a trauma to my mother and she never really recovered. Dad was more realistic and resilient--and fuming at insurance companies.
Off to the guy with the knife for a follow up check on my mouth! Shouldn't be so flippant I guess :)
Love to be here--
Shirlee, I think flippancy is *useful* lol! The only demeanor I've ever been able to use with funeral folk is hilarity. They never quite know what to do with it, schooled in smarmy sorrowfulness as they are. . . .
They perform a necessary and needed function in our culture, but their willingness to prey on grief instead of simply respecting it makes them some of me least favorite people, in general.
One of the most horrifying moments of my life, was watching my mother's next door neighbor and Bishop of her Ward, playing her after my brother's suicide. He was six foot six, and too tall for a standard casket. The extra long one was going to cost $500 extra. She was a widow and still had six little ones left at home to raise, and that was more than a month's income. I asked if there wasn't something *else* he could do? Thinking perhaps bending him at the knees -- the coffin was only half open for the viewing. . . . Brother Red looked up an said: Well, we *could* break his legs. My mother flinched and looked like she was going to froop. And paid the extra $500. Never liked them much before, but lost even that tolerance. Scum.
rant, off
That said -- the dood I dealt with in Dallas after Edwin's death was a true prince. We found him on the net, promising cheap/no frills cremation. And never once, or in any way did he try to make me feel I needed to buy more or dishonor Edwin's memory. Funny thing was, he *presented* just terribly: a green and yellow windowpane plaid suit, with a hand painted horse heads tie. Bless him. When he discovered we'd been living together in NYC, he married us under Texas common law (otherwise, he was going to need to get a signed affidavit from ALL and EVERY surviving relative in order to proceed with the cremation). So I became a wife and a widow in an hour, in a Texas funeral parlor. How NOT to laugh? I have a pretty good idear that Edwin was laughing, too!
Never made it to our promised 93°. At the upper eighties, around two, took the puppy up for a nap. The 20% chance of showers occurred and it's dropped to below seventy. Just opened the door to let him out and that was a doozy of a little storm -- blew half way across the porch from the west end (a matter of eight feet in). River's not up much -- only inches, but is running fast and jade. Blessings.
Hi Puddle, Shirlee, Barb,Jo,
Hot and windy day again. The fire 55% contained, but nothing's guaranteed. Talked to older son.
He's so kind as is his wife. They said come anytime, night or day, and they'll get us a key. I told him, we were in pretty good shape, that because of no outlet, we'd probably be notified if there was any danger at all coming our way.
Last night at the bistro: a special Italian menu and wine dinner. Sitting at a table with three other couples, the conversation was great. One couple had lived in Italy and Germany for 11 years and had come to live permanently in Loveland. The woman had taught for the DOD 3 years in Italy, 8 in Germany. The man had been the cook, was also a sculptor.
Another couple from Arizona, with IBM; another with the health dept. here. The conversation ranged from Europe, to work, to cultures, to the fire.
It was congeneal and interesting. I thought how much our generation had experienced in opportunities, jobs, experiences, and travel. We were all middle class folks who had had the infrastructure and support to aspire to more than just a job in the place we grew up. Also, there was a partnership, an equality, in work between the men and women, unlike my mother's generation.
I wondered if Generation X has any idea of the support that communities, universities, and government provided, and would it be there for them and their children?
So, despite the fire, life is good. I'm grateful
Thank you for your stories, Puddle. The funeral director talking to you mother was a cad, a creep. How did he manage to have anyone want his services. And your story of Edwin and becoming a wife and a widow at the same time is very special - a poem, a story, a painting, some music? It's poignant with sorrow and the oddity that is the human experience.
Well, will check in again. Have to water. The bunnies ate our echinacea plant and our cosmos. but, they're hungry, and it's okay
Shirlee, my thoughts your way for your medical appointment. I hope all goes well.
Pat, glad you guys had a lovely anniversary celebration!
Come to think of it, she made arrangements with another funeral director for her own, pre-paid services. . . . Although Wayne may have retired by then. She wasn't offended -- just horrified. *I* was offended. . . .
Our "little" rain storm this afternoon turns out to have delivered an inch in under an hour. I'm surprised, we often don't get that in a full twenty four hours of rain. I did get one flattened tomato plant at the house, but haven't inspected the other gardens. Not much there to get hurt, actually.
Ah, I love coming here--what a range of experiences this group has. Fascinating and wonderful. Puddle your Texas wife and widow story is True Texas!
I have long had a prepaid cremation policy and have threatened my young'uns with haunting from whatever afterlife I am in if they agree to any kind of a "memorial" service.
Take the money and have a family party.
My sibs and I did this for both parents--it gave us time to be together in one of our homes and remember, tell stories, eat, etc. Also did it for my honey--who had said "keep the preachers away from me." His family agreed and we had a great outdoor party. It seems for
me to be a good transition into our own private grieving.
Pat, thanks for the good doc wishes--healing proceeding as expected, return in a month--and ask the dentist about filing down that back molar. What! I still have really
good teeth. But it is sharp and may be causing some irritation. Well, we'll see.
I am so happy you were able to have a wonderful anniversary dinner.
Puddle's words about a community under siege reminded me of what has happened along the Texas Gulf Coast over the years--from Galveston on down to the small towns. It took our little town of Palacios a good 30 years to recover economically and emotionally from Carla. That is a long time for a town and area dependent upon shrimping, fishing and some tourism.
Good Night All--and a big thank you to Jo. You have given us a wonderful gift.
Last fall, when my kiddle (and me, too!) were afraid I might buy it at any time, he asked what I wanted by way of after death services, if any. I suggested an invite to friends and family to a local bar. Somewhere. I'd rather peeps I loved just got together and remembered/talked/laughed/ate/drank. . . . A wake without a service. But I've been to a couple of nice Memorial Celebrations that I loved. My housemother from my camp counseling days -- was in a church, but not at all religious. And Edwin's, which was in a theatre. Both were brief statements from family and close friends, and an invite to the "audience" to talk.
After Edwin's we decamped to his favorite bar, and celebrated again with the staff there who couldn't come. I had a basket of his CDs (I'd already given SO many away, and kept so many that had meaning for the two of us) to both the theatre and the bar. Left the rest at the bar for staff not on that night. Next day, took some of his ashes, and dusted them around Edwin Booth's feet in Gramercy Park, (he had a real reverence for Booth) then had lunch at the Arts Club. Left several vials of his ashes for his best friend to dust corners inside the Players Club. Brought the rest home with me, and they're in the small memorial "garden" next to the big vegetable garden in the meadow. I don't know what he wished: he'd never talk about it, so I was left to do what I felt was best. I don't think he'd be unhappy about it. His parents had an extra space in Illinois where they're buried together, but my view of it was, they were truly lousy parents and I had no desire to leave his ashes in their vicinity. If I'd had the foggiest idear where his grandmother was, might have tried, since she was truly a positive in his young life, but I didn't know.
Woo -- lotsa remembering going on here this morning!
New thread!!
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