Deja Vu

I did not get out today. My excuse is that it was another warm day. But that isn't the truth. I was preoccupied with the upcoming televised hearing. 

As I have been watching the hearings, I keep getting a deja-vu feeling., as if I had heard this, or read it somewhere before. When I was a teenager I was really in to a lot of counter culture literature. I read things like "Steal This Book", "The Whole Earth Catalog", and "The Anarchist's Cookbook" along with many less notable and much less reputable writings. Mostly I thought it was amusing. I really didn't want to build any bombs or steal sodas or cigarettes from vending machines. I just thought it was cool that I could find out how to do it. Back then, counter culture seemed to be more about getting high and discussing things we knew nothing about, than it was about starting civil wars. I wonder what the people who cooked up this whole insurrection plan had been reading back in the 70's. Looks like some people took it much more seriously than I did. 

The end of that story is that I then went off to Bible College and never did build a bomb or steal cigarettes. 

I never tried to overthrow the Constitution either.

Yet even with strong deja vu going on, I am left with jaw dropping amazement with every hearing. Mostly at how much of it was done brazenly out in the open and nobody stopped it. But then, during the years of Trump, we hardly knew which nightly scandal to pay attention too. 

And the Secret Service? Just because of where they serve, these are men of power. They know how it works. The excuse they are giving for not turning over the texts is ludicrous. They aren't even trying to make reasonable people believe them. The attitude seems to be more "Whadda you gonna do aboudit?" Absolutely astounding that this could be happening. And there is no guarantee that it is going to be stopped. 

Back in the day, counter-culture talk among the people I was around centered on ending the war and legalizing pot. No one wanted anything more ambitious than to build a cabin and catch rainbow trout. We were children pretending we knew what we were playing with.

These people, republicans? They want to set up Gilead meets Animal Farm. They really don't want the power so that they can govern. They proved that in the Trump years. They want it so they can enrich themselves. 

I feel so much more about this subject than I can adequately communicate here. Negative things mostly, like anger, disgust, anxiety. How can so many people with no respect for Democracy be in power? How did they take over a whole party? Why are so many people fooled by them?

I've told you more about my misguided youth than I had planned to.  

I'm sorry about this rambling nonsense. I am just blown away by what has happened..

Got Books?

Does your neighborhood have any of these? The first time I saw one was when I visited Mollie in Chicago shortly after I retired. They were everywhere in the Ukrainian Village where she lived until just the other day. I thought they were charming. I hoped that Auburn would have them too, but sadly they didn't when I first came here.

When I arrived, the town was thriving. There was a lot to do here in this town and in the ones around us. But I was disappointed by the litter I found everywhere. There is a myth in the south that the PNW is full of a bunch of barefoot hippie folk wandering around the mountains in search of nuts and berries to sustain themselves. I was hopeful to leave the disrespectful thoughtlessness of people who felt it fine to drop their trash where it landed and walk a way to leave it for someone else to clean up. My dreams of a clean street utopia were short-lived. People here are every bit as slovenly as those in the south. But there were street fairs and farmers markets and the community center arranged day trips to the wine country and the shore. But that changed with Covid, and it has been slow to re-emerge. Probably just as well, if it was available, I'm sure I'd have gotten Covid a few times over 

As Covid restrictions began closing down our town, these started appearing in the neighborhood. The first one I noticed was in front of the Episcopalian/Presbyterian church. They seem to be a good community citizen, but their books were mostly of the Christian Self Help genre. I've read quite a few of those. So I left them for others who may want them more than I do. Soon this one appeared on J Street. What the picture doesn't show is that there is a shelf below it, on the fence where they also leave fruit and vegetables and even snacks sometimes. The books are mostly romance novels and some children's books for a pre-teen. I have taken a tomato and an apple or two, but the books aren't really what I read. 

Then Yesterday I took my old route home from the park. I had given up walking that way for a while due to street construction. But it is a shaded walk and the weather was warm. To my extreme pleasure, there is a new street library box on 7th street. And the owner has excellent taste in reading material. I had to exercise self control to only take one book. This is the one I chose. It is great, full of all the wisdom that I somehow failed to learn through osmosis and being raised by southern women. I will go by tomorrow to drop off one of mine that I have already read. It makes me feel so much better about the community culture here. I feel like I'm not the only one who wants to build one.

It's More Than Just Summer

I have no reason to complain about the summer heat. I am in one of the few parts of the country where we aren't receiving triple digit temperatures. But it is warm enough here that I have been taking it easy and working on keeping myself and the pets cool during the hot part of the day. Today the cats laid on my bed in front of the fan while I puttered around. I played with my water colors and deleted more than a thousand pictures off my cloud drive. 

Don't worry, the pictures weren't any good. Not really the one's I painted nor the ones I deleted. Taking pictures on a moving train, through a dirty window is challenging. I pretty much took a dozen picture to get one that is decent. And the only decent ones are of such beautiful country, I decided to keep them. I do have a few that I am somewhat amazed  that I took. The sunflower is pretty sad, but there is something I like about it. 

 

What I Was Trying to Show You

It is a beautiful day out. It started cool and overcast, but just after noon the sun came out and it warmed up nicely. I had gone for a walk in the morning and enjoyed the coolness. But when the afternoon happened, I knew I needed to go test the camera on my new phone. I don't know who I'm fooling, I have a new camera that people can call and text me on. I am thrilled with it. I can get a picture of the mountain that looks close to what I actually see. 

 

Well, It's Not Like I Don't Have A Calendar

Yes, well...I really do have a calendar. Many, actually. One on each of the seven electronic screened devices in the room which I am sitting. I could easily find out what day it actually is if I'd bother to look at any of them. My last post is the second post since the first of the year where I have misrepresented the day, only because I erroneously thought it was a different day. Maybe I should try one of those jellyfish brain vitamin supplements. Only I can't remember what it is called. Happy Friday 😉

Friday, Already?

I had been on a small roll a few weeks ago. Elephant's Child's Sunday Selections meme had energized my blogging, at least to give me a subject once a week. And I was working on my post a few weeks ago when Karen asked me if I wanted to go to Wilkeson to get some pizza.

 Wilkeson is a somewhat renovated, small mining and logging town not all that far from where we live. Unfortunately, you can see everything there really is to see in maybe twenty minutes. It isn't that big of a town. But it is home to the best pizza you will find anywhere, and I say that having eaten a Due in Chicago. 

The Carlson Block, the restaurant is open during limited hours first due to Covid and then claiming they can't find anyone to work. Ordinarily I would suspect they weren't paying their staff well, but this is Washington state and minimum wage is fifteen dollars an hour here. I suppose if you kill off a million members of your workforce in a year in a half, you should expect staffing shortages. Regardless of what I think of it, they are only open for a few hours in the evenings on weekends. And we have driven all the way up there only to find a note on  the door explaining they were closed to attend a cousin's wedding and would be closed for a couple of weeks. This weekend though, we were able to get the treat we had gone for. We ate our pizza, went and explored the bridge, then went back to Wilkeson to a different restaurant and had soft serve ice cream. When we got home I decided that I was no longer in the mood and that I could pick up Sunday Selections in the next week. 

Little did I know that the following Sunday, Father's day, my mother-in-law decided that it was as good a day as any to pass over a bridge all of her own. She stepped out into eternity. It was far from unexpected. She was diagnosed with dementia maybe fifteen years ago. It's been years since she even recognized anyone. But as always in these cases, even one's that are expected, it could have come at a better time. Everyone had just travelled for the wedding and were now having to expense it again in a time when travelling smoothly is an issue. Plane travel isn't the given that it used to be. And the worst was that my father-in-law was in the hospital himself because he'd fallen and broken his leg; He wasn't able to be with her in her final hours. I will be surprised if everyone isn't summoned for another family event before Christmas. Sadly, they had just finished their life's works and translated the entire bible from Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic texts into the Aztec languages. The dedication ceremony had been delayed due to Covid and unrest in Oaxaca, Mexico where they are spoken.. They finished the work, but she didn't get to go to the party. 

Please do not feel the need to console me. I am completely at peace with her death, as I am sure I will be when my father-in-law joins her. Her life was more than full. She lived it well. And now she is Home.

During any one of those weeks, I could have taken a minute (more like a couple of hours when it all is said and done) to put out a blog, but I have been frustrated in the attempt since the wedding. Mollie had sent everyone a Lyft voucher to help with transportation. I downloaded the app and that was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back for my phone. Three thousand plus photo's didn't help much either. It was a cheap Samsung that wasn't meant to last the six years that it did. And I never really liked the phone all that much to begin with. During the wedding it started doing annoying things like refusing to read QR codes to pull up menu's and not allowing use of the Google Pay app. And it was a good thing that I had a back-up for my train ticket or I would have had to walk home...From Chicago. The phone has been begging to be replaced and finally got to a place where I couldn't even get photos off it easily anymore. I replaced it with a new iPhone SE 2020, and I couldn't be happier that I did. Even with the learning curve and setting up all my apps again, it is so much better. And I love the crispness of the new camera. 

That isn't a promise that I will be more consistent with writing, but the ease of getting my pictures to upload will make the idea a whole lot more palatable.

In other news, Mollie and Chris got Covid, but are better. Tim and Jenn have signed their divorce papers and are awaiting the final court order. Matt built out a van and has joined the nomadic movement. And Jack decided that he's giving scouting a break. He's no longer interested in going for Eagle Scout. All of this is stuff for other blog posts. It really is a lot to unwrap here. And it is time for bed. 

Lazy Day

 

I spent a lazy day today. That is not to imply that I really have busy days anymore. I'm really kind of glad for that. Yesterday was the first Farmer's Market of the year. I ate lunch from a food truck, and it didn't really agree with me. As a result, I have been completely unable to eat any of the delicious cheeses, breads and hummus that I purchased while there and have felt wiped out all day. But I am getting better. 

The Farmer's Market was better than it was last year. The cheese guy was chatty and said that a lot of vendors weren't there due to the rain forecast. I was quite surprised to find that a lot of the vendors that are regulars actually don't live locally. Quite a few of them travel in from the eastern side of the state. I find that disappointing. One of the things I liked about the PNW is the community spirit that I found in most towns when I first moved here. That kind of took a nosedive because of Covid. A lot of our downtown mysteriously burned down. Other businesses closed their doors and didn't re-open. The community center stopped having events like hikes and tours and sadly have abandoned it for now. The Markets seem to be one of the few things that survived, and now I find the goods aren't even from this community. Oh well, maybe if I go to the eastern side of the Cascades I will find the vendors from Auburn.

A Very Special Sunday Selections

Hello again. I hope you have had a wonderful week. I posted my very first Sunday Selections last week on Saturday I was so mortified I went back on radio silence, too ashamed to show my face around here. Every excuse I can imagine is remarkably lame. At some point during the day I did know it was Saturday. The truth is that while I was reading Elephant's Child's post, I got very excited. She offered me a weekly conduit for the never ending orphaned photos that make their way onto my phone. She's enjoying the cooling temperatures in Australia. While being on the other side of the Earth from me, she is also on the other side of the International Date Line. That isn't an attempted excuse. I knew where she lives and the time differences before I posted. But I was fooled and there is no one to blame but myself. To be very honest though, I am a bit amazed and proud that I have a friend who lives on the other side of the Earth. 

But I Promised You Special...

The pictures that are shared on Sunday Selections are supposed to be the pictures you have languishing on your camera...I have oh, so many of those. These pictures that I want to share aren't them. They haven't been in my possession for so very long... And to be totally honest, I didn't take most of them...maybe any of them. My job that day was to remain present, but visibly obscure while providing comfort and support to my child...And, I have already broken the news of the marriage, so that isn't even a big surprise. 

But here are the pictures...

 

Mollie got married

They kissed before we all escaped back up the aisle to the party ...

Where extroverted children out did their introverted parents...

They had the first dance...

They cut the pie... Mollie isn't a fan of cake.

There was even a peck at the end of the night. Wink Wink....

My baby girl is married. My son's are healing...that is another blog.

Sunday Selections

 

This is a meme that Elephant's Child has been posting about, I think since I started following here many years ago. She is on #583. According to her, the purpose of the meme is to use up photo's that are languishing on your camera roll that would otherwise not have a home. Having ridden on seven different trains since Christmas, I have quite a lot of those who will thank Elephant's Child for the opportunity of liberation. So without further ado... 

I do not think that I used this picture on anything else. It is the ceiling of the King Street Station in Seattle. The buildings built for the railroads in the early 1900's were spectacular structures that obviously meant to impress passengers. Those that are built in the Amtrak period are much more humble. Some aren't really even stations, they just drop off or pick up in front of whatever building seems to be available on the track. Sometimes the building isn't much more than a bus shelter by the tracks. It kind of tells you the way the railroad has gone over the last century and a fifth. The issues that I am having with them right now is all about that loss of customer service and has nothing to do with the buildings. But the buildings do reflect the companies culture.

This was one of the first train trip pictures that I took. Considering that I was taking pictures from a fast moving train through a dirty window, you would expect a blurred picture that can't be made out. That isn't really the story with this one. What happened was that we were moving head on into a blizzard, and only a few days before Christmas, to boot. There is actually a river and some mountains that can't be made out in the distance. It was hard to see it in the snow and it didn't show up at all on the picture. The snow was blowing sideways. My compliments to the conductor for keeping the train on the tracks.

This winery is in eastern Washington state, near a town named Wenatchee. I hear that it is a tourist town and worth going to see. Instead of the grand tour of the country that I had hoped to enjoy on Amtrak this summer, I might just take the train there and enjoy a few days tasting wine instead. Or maybe Karen and Ken would like to go with me, and we could easily drive there in a few hours. We haven't been travelling much this year due to Cheese being so weak. We didn't want to have to ask someone else to care for him while he was down. Now that we only have healthy cats, we can have someone come by twice a day to feed them, and they will be fine. I think that I'd like to see the vines in their lush summer greens. 
 

Elephant's Child's selection this Sunday featured clouds, so I thought that this would be a good place to end my selections today. I hope I haven't bored you too much with my little slideshow of my travels. 

Have a wonderful week...

It's Five O'clock on a Saturday

 

I'd ask about the regular crowd, but it's 5:00 am, not pm and I do hope that you were all still deep in your dreams. I however, had woken up covered in sweat, ravenously hungry and wondering if I could make it the 20 feet to the bathroom before wetting myself. There was an anxious buzzing inside my head that was different than what I am used too. And my movements were slow and clumsy. It felt as if I was walking on shifting sand.

After relieving myself, eating a peanut butter and banana sandwich and changing my tee shirt I realized that all the things that had woken me from a dead sleep after 3 hours are the symptoms of a low blood sugar. I checked and even after having eaten I was only at 66. I waited another 15 minutes and checked again to find that I was at 61. Glucometers are not really known for their remarkable accuracy. It is hard to know if my blood sugar was actually falling or if the decline was just a quirk of the test strip. I ate a couple of sugar tabs and waited another 15 minutes to check again. That is how my morning has gone. After nearly 4 hours my blood sugar is finally in the acceptable range of 85. I am exhausted, but I rarely nap. once I wake up, I'm up. So, I'm thinking this rainy Saturday is a wash, and it has only just started.