HOSPITAL AGGRAVATION.

I believe I'm reasonably patient. I know about waiting in line. A necessity of life.

I took my lab form to the hospital lab, busy, busy, busy, to accommodate my housemate who needed an endoscopy. I figured I'd get my blood test while she was under the anesthesia. Then have lunch at the cafeteria before heading to  Lowe's to buy some paint.

Her procedure was over before I got out of the lunch room. My registration was one big snafu. (Someday I'll tell you what snafu means.)

But we can rise above such irritations by consulting the sages.

Here then, a French Proverb: "Write your injuries in sand, kindnesses in marble." 
Now that is something worth embracing.

"Humor is an affirmation of dignity, a declaration of man's superiority to all that befalls him."   Romain Gary
Hmmm! I wonder if women are exempt from that advice? Naw! Just kidding. It reminds me when reading the bible with my high school boyfriend, he would add, after all those manly quotes, "That means generic man, man or woman."  I might be a bit cynical, here. Bible, men only need apply?

Well, I ran across this Doctor's Office scenario by Ron Dentinger from Dodgeville, Wisconsin:

"My friend called his doctor's office for an appointment and was told, "'I'm sorry sir, we cannot fit you in for at least six weeks."
"I could be dead by then!"
"No problem, if your wife let's us know, we'll cancel the appointment."

Aha!  That made me laugh. I guess I didn't fail the sages after all.  Thanks to  Ron.

THERE IS ALWAYS A LITTLE BOY IN THE OLD MAN GONE FISHING.

The title quote is from J. Calder Joseph.

I like Science Magazine and I recently read an article about children suffering from slower muscle development and coordination. It apparently has teachers and pediatricians worried enough that studies were conducted on 407,000 children from age five to ten. They blame over-cautious parenting, "Don't get dirty."  "Hold my hand when we take a walk." "Get off the sidewalk, it will ruin your dress."

Parents fearing predators, or accidents, or getting lost, is keeping kids inside, and not encouraging enough social play. The studies proved that play is educating and provides better development of the brain and muscles. When we came home from school, when we finished our chores, we had the whole neighborhood to ramble and get up a game.

I remember when my youngest daughter allowed her kids to bike around the block and a worried parent reported to her that she had seen her son on the other side of the block; what she considered risky behavior.

Stuart Brown, Psychiatrist says: "A lack of play should be treated like malnutrition: It's a risk to your body and mind."

This is a recent quote from 2017 and I don't know where Stuart practices. But I do recall my boys playing on the side-walk or the grass,  snapping those little rolly bugs around like marbles; or trying to catch lizards.  And my daughter coming home from the school playground (where she walked by herself,) with scraped knees and a torn dress.

Diane Furstenberg said: "My best creation is my children."

I love that quote because it is my view of motherhood as well.

"Men want to improve only the world, but mothers want to improve their whole family;  a much harder task." Harriet Freezer.

But the quotes I remember with humor, are those I grew up with. "Children Should Be Seen And Not Heard."  That uttered when my folks were playing a rousing game of Smear. We could watch as long as we didn't kitbitz.

"Little Pitchers Have Big Ears"  When the neighbor lady was visiting and the subject of pregnancy or other delicate matters would come up. Then it was, "Outside with you," or "Go play".  I don't know the origin of those homilies  but it brings me in mind of the clever Americana  art work of Norman Rockwell with the tousled headed boy, sporting a black eye and a huge grin, waiting outside of the principle's office.  Or the little girl hanging out the window of the car sticking out her tongue to the wind.

I think children had more fun growing up before computers and organized and automated everything.

PASSWORD PRISON

I’m ranting today. Not about politics. I have not been blogging regularly and suddenly, I’m asked to sign in with my password that I haven’t used in years and I can’t remember.  But, to get a new password for my blogspot blog, I must have them send it to me on my g-mail address, which password I also can’t seem to find on my 8 pages of passwords. Crossed out and changed,  I have no idea which one is current.

Google bought blogger and everything has to be Google. Google is trying to take over the world and I try to avoid all things Google.

My frustration is the rant. I hate a zillion passwords. We are told not to use the same one for everything. But a new password for everything is not working. Every time you have a snag you change your password.  In a hurry. And Google bought blogger. Grrr! In the interest of my sanity I have to laugh at my self-made password prison. Maybe I can find a quote that addresses passwords?  Hmm. Unlikely.

But there are a lot of them about fools.

“The world is full of fools and; and he who would not wish to see one, should break his mirror.”   Boileau

“There is a foolish corner even in the brain of a sage.”  Aristotle

As for prison:  “We are all prisoners, but some of us are in cells…” Kahlil Gibran

HAVING BABIES AT THIS AGE?

You may remember that Ken and Laurie’s dachshunds were killed by a coyote last year. Well, they have new babies. Rider and Scout. A beautiful pair just 8 weeks old. Babies, just barely potty trained. Laurie swore they would not commit to another pet that lives for twenty years and then breaks your heart when they die. They are your fur children.

Ken has been really involved with these two, since Laurie has been working and he is the major trainer and he loves it. He feels they have really bonded to him.

This is Rider. He has a favorite stuffed toy just like all babies do it seems. He is guarding it from me and wouldn’t let me get near him or his toy.

Brother Clark and Sister-in-law Theresa came with dinner complete and joined us. The guys barbequed steaks and we had some good zinfandel wine. The foursome is headed for the Mellencamp Concert at Kautz. Even I know Mellencamp, “I live in a small town…”
Theresa is a great cook and so is Laurie. I am lucky because I don’t really enjoy cooking for just myself much anymore.

They were off to the concert by 5:30. And I baby-sat the babies. Ken and Laurie are on vacation and took the dogs camping. They socialized them with neighboring campers and bigger dogs. A perfect way. They also have a young neighbor near home who comes once a day to  play with them and take them outside. No diapers to change, but they need a walk.

Pink for Scout and Blue for Rider. They were straining at their leashes to go with Mom, Dad and the crew. Did they socialize with Gram? It was tough. Scout was good and took a long two hour nap. Rider howled and cried and I had to take him outside and walk around and around the house with him. He had to see for himself that the car was gone. He’d smell where it was parked. He was miserable for about three hours. Then, all tuckered out, I grabbed him and held him on the couch and he slept peacefully in my arms. We are sort of friends now. He still isn’t sure I wasn’t responsible for his missing parents. But, he is cautiously letting me pet him if Dad is nearby. Raising babies six years before retirement?  I’m glad it is them and not me. Like all grandchildren. You get to enjoy them when they visit and then send them home. Since I’m into quotes, the most common is “A dog is man’s best friend.”  From whence it came I do not know. This one is funny.
Groucho Marz said:  “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog you can’t read.”

Well, that’s all folks!

TROUBLES LIGHT.

We all complain of troubles at some point. Now that I'm getting older, some highly paid Board of Trustees has decided to cut my pension in half. I can  moil and muddle. But, it is said: "If all people brought their miseries to the same table, most would be glad to bring their own home again."

And it is true. Many people would be glad to trade places with me. It's called, Count Your Blessings. I have food, shelter, security and the love of family and friends.

Henry Ford said: "Don't find fault, find a remedy."

John Peter Flynn said:" The first step in solving a problem is to tell someone about it."

I don't know who Flynn is, but I'm sure he never heard of the internet. So, I guess I've told a lot of someones. And for that, I have to chuckle because its a good day when you don't see your name in the obituaries.

Hah!

WISDOM AND LISTENING.

At my age I tend to think I have a bit of collective wisdom. But what I like about quotes is they get right to the point with few words and often with humor

So, here goes:
Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk.    Doug Larson from United Features syndicate.

And:

Children have never been good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.   James Baldwin.

DOWNSIZING MY BLOG

I have literally hundreds of cousins and we communicate by email more than postal mail. But writing by the human hand and postal mail are becoming a lost art. I'm sorting through boxes of cards and old mail and was reminded that my aunts, my mom and some friends wrote to me and often included a neat quote at the bottom of their letters.
Since I'm not traveling, and most of my activities from home are mundane, I've decided to blog quotes. The first one is from President Roosevelt.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else. -Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President (1858-1919)

However, I've decided I can't change the world. I have to focus on what is most important to me which is my home and family, genealogy and my art. To that end, you won't find political rants on my blog. Simple quotes will be the mainstay and only important events in my life will be blogged. Surgeons have to serge, speakers have to speak, and writers have to write.

Ciao

Mary

 

FROG JUMP FAIR AND MONSTER GRASS.

The County Fair is symbolic as a place to have fun. My youngest daughter had a horse, a couple of hogs, and multiple dairy goats at this fair. She worked the fair in high school cleaning horribly gross restrooms for FFA and decided she’d never come back after graduating high school.

But she did. Her two boys loved the unique experience of jumping a frog. The frog is placed on the lily pad. You can slap your hands, scratch the mat behind it or holler at it but you can’t touch it.

The monitors measure the distance of the three jumps and a collector (probably a kid from FFA) gathers up the frog and sends it back to the frog hotel. Ahhh! So it goes, for 4 days until the finals on Sunday. A $1,000 prize is offered for the longest jump.

I went with a friend who has bad asthma and can’t walk very much in the spring. We stayed atop the hillside and sat on the grass and listened to music and peeked into the buildings that had booths for aroma therapy, jewelry made from bullets, leather shoes and buckles.  We didn’t see anything we couldn’t live without.

My goal was to find some purple earrings and eat junk food. The garlic fries with Parmesan cheese and parsley were excellent. I tasted Karen’s and  ate a huge polish sausage with lots of onions and bell pepper, mustard and ketchup. Yum!

The carnival looked like fun, but you have to walk back up that hill and it wouldn’t due for Karen. The hay filled barns and rodeo dust were off-limits, too.  I didn’t mind. There will be another fair next year. I was glad to get away and spend the day in the sunshine and wear my trashy biker clothes and earrings. I looked for a one-day-only tattoo and couldn’t find where I hid them. And, I actually didn’t have any leathers, but I pretended.  I didn’t find any purple earrings to buy. I’ve got my eye on a funnel cake for next year. It takes two to eat one, but we watched a young girl polish one off. (Shouda took a pic.)

I came home to “grass power.”  These beautiful grasses are California native bunch grasses. They don’t need water summer or winter, but this winter they got plenty of water and showed how powerful they can be.

You can barely see my chicken coop. They have overpowered my yard and have managed to spread everywhere on my three acres. I absolutely love them. I bought 5 different bunch grasses for their special attributes but only two actually liked my property. Normally, I wait until they dry and go to seed, then have them mowed or use the weed eater. But not this year.

My lower gate is blocked and I can’t open but about 8 inches,  just to squeeze through. This is a driveway. So, today, the mulching machine is coming to chew them up. Even when they are young plants, the roots are so strong you can’t pull them up. And that is what I wanted. I’m Certified Wildlife Habitat and I don’t ever spray or poison things. And when I walk my property, I feel the loamy, soft, rich soil. I walk through a wonderland of lady bugs and ear wigs and other beneficial insects.  I have bees buzzing about, huge lizards, a couple of toads and birds nesting. All is good and healthy and it makes me feel wonderful to have saved a patch of native grasses that once kept California a green state. The native grasses were long ago overcome by Spanish grasses that migrated with cattle coming from Mexico.  A few patches were rescued from cemeteries and other hilly areas where cattle didn’t graze.

The grasses have strong roots; they hold the soil; they are fire resistant. They make good forage for grass-eating animals. What’s not to like?
The mulcher will do in two days what would take me a month with a machete to do. The birds and the bees and the bats are making babies and feel welcome and safe here. I love it.

NEW BOYFRIEND

It is no secret that Jim and I had a wonderful nearly 8 years of travel together. We have shared memories that I will always treasure. And though we’ve gone our separate ways, we remain good friends. He stops at my place on his way north in the summer and on his way south for winter weather. Typical full-timer. I usually get a picture of him in the motor home driving away. I decided I wanted a picture of him with his new haircut and new bod-he has lost 40 pounds, probably  more by now.
Lifestyles change and on my trip to Oregon, I picked up a new boyfriend and here is his picture:



He is handsomer than Jim. He has a lisp. His name is Humphrey. He doesn’t talk much, you have to turn on the television to hear him. He is very low maintenance. But hey, I thought it was a fun Idea to have a Humphrey Bogart to say hello to everyday.

A friend sent me an email with Boyfriend 101. I couldn’t find it this morning to add to the laughs, so this is a short hello-good-bye, because I’m feeling silly.

MISTY MORNINGS AND A WILD MUSTANG.

A wild mustang occupies the other side of the fence from my front yard in Oregon, where my son built me a house.

I was lucky to find Susan Scott to work with me, painting and cleaning out my storage building. She also hand-picked designated  weeds for me, since I don't spray anything poisonous on my property. She was helping me get a picture of this wild horse, who won't hold still for a picture.

She dropped the carrot, but I caught the tattoo on the horse's neck from the BLM round-up and sale. She is temporarily pastured here to munch down the weeds and she is doing a good job. Why I didn't take time to shoot the work we did? My brain doesn't always function on all four cylinders.

Saturday morning turned out to be cool and I started for home late, after 8 a.m. and dawdled, enjoying the beautiful mists that drape the mountain sides surrounding Evans Valley.

My neighbors get mists like these since they live on the river side of the road.

Beauty that burns off within a couple of hours.

About the time I snapped this photo, the weather report warned of snow over the pass and I had to quit dawdling and press the metal.

Then I had to stop again for this photo. I've never seen Mt. Shasta surrounded by a ring of clouds.

Glimpses of Shasta poke through periodically as you drive. The best view is from Weed Airport, on the opposite side of the freeway.

The mist lifted as I got within range. Even from the wrong side of the freeway, with the light shining on my camera's viewing screen, I took the picture out the window-blind. She is a stunning piece of nature and I have better pictures of her than this. I have to return in a couple, maybe three weeks, to finish the storage building. I need the sheet rock taped and textured and painted before the electric fixtures are installed. I finished the inside because it was hot in the afternoons and freezing in the mornings. It stored things, but no one could work inside of it. When finished, my building will have a place to rinse brushes and plug-in and use power tools.

The Evans Valley is turning into a very popular place for permanent residences and I keep meeting new neighbors every trip I take. Like Susan.
 I also brought home with me a new boyfriend. More, tomorrow.