Drum Roll Please!

As promised in the previous post, here are some more of the pictures Ian and I took of the brilliantly-coloured autumn foliage and some interesting wild plants yesterday.

This first one is a two-foot wide mullein "rosette", the first year's growth of the biennial plant which produces a tall spike of small yellow flowers the second year. Mullein is also called "flannel flower", because the leaves are covered with a soft, dense down. Nice bush TP, but better used as a tea to releive chest congestion. The flowers can be slowly steeped in olive oil (using a double boiler) for a couple of hours, producing an oil which relieves earache and is good for sore joints.

There are also pictures of a bright red "burning bush" which was taken at the Oliver Visitor's Centre, and one of a red pyracanthra bush with huge numbers of berries. A pyracantha bush always reminds me of my Dad. We had them in the garden when I was a girl. The berries would ferment on the bush and the birds would eat them and get roaring drunk. Some would fight like bar room toughs on the lawn, others would stagger around chirping happily. All were totally unable to get off the ground and were easy prey for the neighbour's cat.

My Dad would go out and pick the drunken birds up and bring them into our screen porch. He'd put the fighters into lidless shoeboxes. The happy drunks got put onto an old bed which was covered with a heavy cloth. Once they'd sobered up enough to be able to fly he'd catch them and put them back outside. He was a gruff, undemonstrative man with a heart like melting butter.

Lastly one of wild-growing aloe-type plant, which had white spots and soft spines. Can't find it in my book - it must be a native cactus.

A Visitor and an Outing

Ian arrived from Calgary late Saturday night. He took a spectacular picture of Castle Mountain, in Banff national Park, as he wended his way west. He has a "new" car which unfortunately developed a problem on the way over. It may mean he has to leave the car here to be repaired, go back to Calgary on the bus and come back on the bus to pick it up. We're hoping he can get it fixed quickly. If it only takes a couple of days he will just wait and drive it home.

But today was sunny and warm enough to be comfy with a light jacket. We lazed around until one o'clock, then went to town for lunch. After lunch we drove up to the Oliver Visitor's Centre, which is an old railway station.

The flowers and shrubs are spectacular. The fall colours are past their height, but still lovely. We both took photos of the flowers and foliage. I'll do a separate post with more autumn colour pictures.

After walking along the river we decided a drive was in order, so we got on the road and headed toward Penticton. We turned off at the Okanagan Falls road and drove up a very twisty road for about a half-hour looking for the falls. (We found, as we came back, that they were only about 100 metres from the highway. We drove right past them without seeing them on the way in. I'd call them "rapids", rather than falls, but....)

We saw some beautiful country on the way in. There were gorgeous vineyards on the bench-land, and large stands of ponderosa pine. These are the most beautiful trees you can imagine, with long needles, cinnamon-coloured trunks and huge pine cones. We started talking about the predictions that the *&^)( pine beetle is going to wipe out all the pines in BC in the next few years.

What a catastrophe this would be! Many of the pines on these slopes are hundreds of years old. What will the landscape be like without them? No nesting spots for birds or chipmunks, no trees breathing out oxygen, no trees to stabilize these loose hillsides, no trees to keep the watershed clear and clean. But just to think that our generation will be the one to watch them all die, and that it will be hundreds of years before our descendants can stand in awe at an enormous pine again. It's enough to make you weep.

We stopped along the road and picked some mullein leaves - they make a wonderful medicinal tea to clear up chest congestion. We found some interesting cactus, sort of like an aloe plant.

On the way back we stopped and bought ice cream at a place called Tickleberries. Yummy ice cream! See our double chins? Sadly they aren't from eating ice cream like this every day. As we sat in the truck slurping our way through these gigantic cones we looked up to see a doe and a yearling fawn walk across the hill in front of us. By the time we got ice cream cones handed off and cameras ready the two were too far away to get a good picture, but it was fun to see them.

It was a lovely day all around. Now if Ian can just get his car fixed without losing the engine....

On an Autumn Afternoon

Like two incredulous kids, we keep looking at each other and asking, "How lucky can you get?"

We have the world's happiest cat, as evidenced by his smile. We are struck by the beauty of our surroundings again and again, and we are surrounded by congenial people. Even better, and the real reason we made this move to begin with, Tony has been feeling very well recently. He's been able to go to town with me to shop, and we've been able to go out for lunch or dinner as well. This was almost impossible for him to do in Calgary. He simply never had the strength.

The men in the park get together for coffee at 8:30 two mornings a week. I could count on one hand the times Tony has been up at 8:30 am in the past year. But yesterday he was out the door shortly before 9:00 and came back an hour later full of stories and the energy of the companionship of other men. I can't remember how long it's been since he's had the ability (or opportunity) just to sit and visit with a half dozen other guys.

Thy wide grey skies

Today, as I walked and gaped at the beauty around me I recalled a poem that perfectly described the day, a poem I had to commit to memory in high school.

O world, I cannot hold thee close enough!

Thy winds, thy wide grey skies!

Thy mists, that roll and rise!

Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag

And all but cry with colour! That gaunt crag

To crush! To lift the lean of that black bluff!

World, World, I cannot get thee close enough!

Long have I known a glory in it all,

But never knew I this;

Here such a passion is

As stretcheth me apart, -- Lord, I do fear

Thou'st made the world too beautiful this year;

My soul is all but out of me, -- let fall

No burning leaf; prithee, let no bird call.

God's World
Edna St. Vincent Millay

Feeding the Inner Me

Nature and growing things are nourishment to me. Walking outside, looking at the plants, wild and cultivated, watching and hearing the birds, feeling a crisp autumn breeze on your face... no-cal food for the inner me.

Today is a bit cooler than the 70 degree days we've had this week. It was 17 degrees, about 63 degrees F, at noon today, slightly overcast. The Red Chief and I had a long long walk. He is adamant about the route, I just follow along, hold the leash and keep him out of trouble.

In the 10 acre field next to us the pepper harvest continues unabated. I don't know how they will ever get all those peppers picked unless they find a few more pickers. (How do get yer peppers picked without a pack of pickers?) Right now there are a couple of old women, bent nearly double, patiently working their way down the rows. We don't appreciate the work (the pain) that goes into producing the food we so blithely toss in the cart on shopping day. I took a couple of pictures of the pepper plants, with peppers hanging on them like bright jewels.

And, though our days continue warm and dry the occasional tree is beginning to color up, like the Japanese maple two sites down. What a glorious sight this tree is, the colours are so intense and vibrant.

And a visit to the grapevine growing on the fence finds its leaves yellow and russet, with a dozen or so clusters of marble-sized purple grapes still hanging. Tempting, but these blue grapes seem to trigger migraines and since mine has not yet fully resolved I pass the clusters by, mouth watering.

"We are such stuff as dreams are made on..."

Dreams have been a rich vein to mine since early man relied on the dreams of their shamans and holy men. Writers have quarried their depths. Psychologists and psychiatrists take their interest in dreams straight to the bank.

Though not a shaman or a shrink, I've had an interest in dreams for a long time. One thing is clear. The body communicates within the context of the dream. I can personally attest to this.

I've had migraines since I suffered a head injury at age 17. I probably would have developed them anyway, since they are primarily genetic in origin and they run in my Dad's family. The sick headache they used to call them, as in, "I got up this morning with the sick headache." Sick referring to the nausea, and the sensitivity to light and sound which comes with the throbbing one-sided pain.

The type of migraine I have is preceded by a light show, wildly dancing zig-zags of neon light which fill my visual field. This is called an aura. It is not painful, but can be a problem because you can't see very well. But it's a short-lasting phase, 15 minutes from start to finish. After the aura fades there's a lull and then the hammering starts. If I can get to the pain pills when the aura first begins I can usually stop the migraine from developing, but when it begins while I sleep (as it did last night) I am sunk. Once established my migraines can last for a week.

The interesting thing is that my brain still sees the aura, even when I'm sleeping. In my dreams the aura is translated into brilliant flashing lights. In a dream last night they became enormous flashing Christmas lights, and lights on a helicopter (carrying none other than George Dubbya, of whom I am not a fan.) I will spare you the details, as they were most pedantic, something about a book signing.

But that the aura takes place in the brain, and is not just a visual effect, cannot be more clearly demonstrated.

Another type of dream which demonstrates that the body clearly communicates with the brain during sleep is one I call the frustration dream. I have Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis (HypoKPP). HypoKPP is also a genetic disorder, another passed to me through my dad, who also had it. In HypoKPP a fall in the level of potassium in the blood causes temporary attacks or episodes of weakness, sometimes to the point of paralysis. Attacks often develop during sleep.

When I have an episode during sleep I get frustration dreams. The most common theme of these is that there's an emergency of some sort. I must summon help, usually by telephone. But though I try to make a call I can't. I can't find the number, can't read the phone directory, can't work the phone. I've often dreamed that the house was on fire. I rush in and carry the children out, only to have them run back into the house as soon as I put them down.

Everyone becomes paralyzed while they dream, in what is called the REM stage of sleep. During REM, the electrical activity of the brain, seen on an electroencephalogram (EEG), looks about the same as the electrical activity that occurs when a person is awake. Although the brain functions much the same way during REM sleep as it does during waking, REM sleep is characterized by temporary muscle paralysis. So, being paralyzed during a dream is absolutely normal, yet the brain can tell the difference between normal REM paralysis and the paralysis of a HypoKPP episode, and (in my case) translates that inability to move into a dream full of frustration and panic.

Another odd consequence of HypoKPP episodes are hypnogogic and hypnopompic hallucinations. These occur as (normal) people are falling asleep or waking. They are the result of parts of the brain falling asleep, or waking, at different rates. A dream, seen through the filter of an awake brain, while the body is still in the REM stage of sleep paralysis, can be mistaken for reality. These hallucinations are extremely vivid and are interpreted as reality by the brain. They are undoubtedly the basis for many an alien abduction experience, legends of "The Old Hag", etc.

A study done by Italian Neurologist Giorgio Buzzi et al. showed that people with periodic paralysis are far more likely to have these brain out-of-sync hallucinations. I've had these since childhood. I remember standing in the window of my childhood home at about age six, bending my knees, spreading my arms and flying out over the back gardens, the creek behind our house and the neighbourhood beyond. My memory says this actually happened. I know it didn't because there was no way I could have stood up on the window sill in that window. It simply was too small. Shame. The ability to fly would be useful.

The brain is amazing in its ability to interpret not only what we experience externally, but also what we experience internally. I am always fascinated, but I remain rooted in reality. If the aliens show up to probe me during a hallucination I'll probably note that their sophisticated instruments have Black and Decker stickers.

One other funny thing is that when I have a migraine it interferes with my ability to frame sentences verbally, but writing actually helps mitigate the pain. Blog post as pain killer. What a concept!

Winter's Coming

It's beginning to be reliably cold at night. We are busy getting ready for winter. We've wrapped the water line with heat cable and insulated it and put the flexible sewer line inside a PVC pipe.

As we were renovating we insulated the back walls of all the cupboards and closets with a material called Reflectix. We brought enough Reflectix with us to make covers for the windows. We plan to put these on just after sundown and take them off in the morning.

We started making these covers a couple of days ago. For the last few days as soon as the sun went down the temperature started to fall very quickly. It would be a very pleasant 75 degrees F inside when the sun went down and fall eight or nine degrees within an hour. This means we have been turning on the smaller of our heaters almost as soon as the sun went down. Still, even at what should be a toasty 72 degrees we felt cold because the warm air inside was hitting the cold glass of the windows, cooling and creating a draft.

So we began putting the Reflectix on the windows yesterday by covering the two sun vents, and making covers for the bathroom window and the window above Tony's bed. Today we made a cover for the window above my bed, and for each of the large side windows in the front. We still need to cover the two largest windows in the trailer, the ones in the front.

Even so, the difference is encouraging. Two hours after sundown, and covering the windows, the temperature has fallen by less than half a degree. The cold draft is all but gone. It's supposed to fall to freezing tonight, so I'm sure the weather proofing is going to be appreciated.

Feline Dreams.... hissssss

It was raining when we got up this morning. The cat was teed off big time. No walkies? How disgraceful! Maybe later. The sun is trying to shine now, in a half-hearted way. Red Chief is curled up asleep in his box, growling at some other cat in his dreams. Last night he must have had a ferocious dream. He growled in his sleep, then made a mighty twitch and conked his poor head on the leg of the bunk. He came awake hissing and spitting like a cobra. Poor puss. Maybe he needs psychotherapy.

I found a way to keep busy this morning, despite not being able to take the cat out. While looking for the coffee filters I discovered that the bottle of soy sauce I had in the pantry had tipped over and soaked everything. I had to empty the shelf, wash and dry the bottom of everything that had been on it, take out the shelf liner and chuck it, and clean the shelf. Once I got going I just kept going and cleaned out and reorganized both pantry cupboards.

Also organized the closet and the shelves we keep clothes on. Things migrate like African swallows. You can't tell me that hoodies, jeans and sweaters aren't migratory. I've evidence to the contrary. It's been two hours and already a pair of Levi's has migrated from a hanger in the closet to the top shelf above Tony's bed. I've heard that there are men who are neat freaks but I think that's an urban legend, like the dead prom queen that hitches rides on stormy nights.

Well, kitty has awakened, the sun is shining and I'd best make hay while the sun shines and get him outside to work off some of his energy.

A later note: Sometime between yesterday afternoon and this afternoon someone kicked that lovely big round mushroom into three or four pieces. This aggravated me, I really would have liked to see it mature. Looking at the pieces the skin is black inside (or has turned black from exposure to the air) but the woody, sponge-like interior is light neon green! What a surprise. Obviously the "baseball" was very immature. I wonder how large it would have gotten, left alone to grow to full majestic adulthood?

Valley of Heaven

There are lots of wild mushrooms here, of various kinds. I know nothing about mushrooms and wouldn't presume to eat any I'd found growing wild, but they are interesting, and some are beautiful. Yesterday morning I took the camera along on the walk with Red Chief and while he read the news I took mushroom pictures. Don't know what any of them are, but thought I'd share their pictures anyway.

The cluster of orange-speckled ones are growing at the base of a tree in the site across from us. There's another mushroom on the other side of this tree. It may be the same type, just further along in its life cycle.

In the orchard across the road there are numerous examples of these round, dry mushrooms. Some are the size of baseball, a couple even larger. These don't appear to have a stem, one had been kicked loose and had no "foot" or stem. There was a larger one (about 6 inches across) of the same colour and texture, but it was flat. Again, I'm not sure if this is the same kind of 'shroom as the round ones farther ahead in its cycle or not. I'm gonna keep my eye on them and see.

The last ones are tiny, the size of the fingernail on my pinkie finger. They grow in clusters at the base of the cherry trees and look like brownish-grey pebbles. They are easily overlooked as they are only about 1/2 inch high.

The day dawned clear and quite cool (6 degrees C or about 40 degrees F) with a brisk "Nordic" wind. I bought a digital thermometer at the hardware store yesterday. It has a remote sensor so we can take the temperature in two spots. We placed the main unit at the foot of my bunk, and the secondary sensor in the kitchen. When we got up at 8:00 am, the temperature was 66.9 F at the foot of my bunk. Perfect for sleeping in our new Mountain Equipment Coop sleeping bags which arrived yesterday.

There's a Farmer's Market down by the river every Saturday morning spring through fall. We went down and while there were very few booths, we got something from almost all of them, organic tomatoes, red and green peppers, basil, cucumbers, a jar of apple butter, and one of Dave and Pat Whalley's fabulous pies. The rhubarb and raspberries came from their garden and the pie was dee-lish!

Once we'd finished shopping we took a walk along the river to see the big red kokanee salmon migrating upstream. I would love to have taken a picture, but the reflections on the water made it impossible. There were many of the big fish working their way toward their birthplace and it was a thrill to see them. They are a spectacular colour!

We took a little drive on the way back, south toward Osoyoos. What a beautiful spot this is. It's like one huge park. One realtor says the postal code, V0H 1T0, is an acronym for "Valley of Heaven in the Okangan".

Once we were back from our rambles I took a very impatient cat for a nice long walk. He had to read the news and check out all his favorite spots. Someone's little grey poodle came up to the fence. The Red Chief noticed and turned around to run back to the fence where the dog was standing. The dog had the bad manners to bark, which made Sal hiss. I've noticed that he is very interested in dogs, and wants to go see every dog he lays eyes on. He isn't afraid of dogs, and wants to play with them. This makes me wonder if there wasn't a dog friend in his past, when he was just a small kitty?

When we returned from the walk Tony joined us to sit in the sun until I decided to come in a make lunch. I made a corn salad using many of the ingredients I'd just bought, put some sliced roast beef out, along with a bowl of grape tomatoes. It was a meal fit for a king, and we invited our next door neighbour, 82-year-old Bernie, to join us. We had a good conversation and a pleasant time. Lovely day!

And then there were two

When it comes down to it, nothing is as important as family. And nothing is quite so painful as losing someone you love. Nothing prepares you for it.

My mother's family and my dad's family were neighbours, and there must have been many youthful and yearning glances across the barbed wire fence. Three couples formed from the children of those two families. My Mom and Dad, my mother's brother Henry and dad's sister Mary Annie, and mom's sister Fannie and dad's brother Arthur. These three couples had between them nine children. That's how we ended up with nine "double" cousins, cousins which carry the same genetic background as brothers and sisters. Of the nine I'm the youngest, and as of day before yesterday only two of us are left, my brother Hall and I. Our cousin Wanda passed away Monday.

What do you say about someone you love that much? She was 18 years older than I am and she is part of my earliest memories. I remember a summer day when I was four or five, 1950 or '51. Wanda and my mom decided to pay a visit to the graves of my Clark grandparents, in decidely rural Oklahoma. Mom and Wanda took turns carrying Wanda's baby Brenda, and I got to tackle the stickers and Johnson grass (which has saw-tooth edges and cuts like a razor) on my own.

We parked and climbed over a farm gate made of iron pipe and hiked in, what seemed a very long way for my short legs. I don't remember seeing the graves, or much of anything else about the trip, but in 1982 while at a family reunion Wanda, Brenda and I decided to revisit that little graveyard.

We checked with the county but they had no knowledge of a cemetery in that area. However we knew the road it was on, or thought we did so we decided to go looking. It was July and hotter than Billy-be-damned. I drug along my nine-year-old son Zak, I guess as a witness to history.

We drove and drove. I saw a gate I thought I recognized as the one we'd climbed over 30 years before, but Wanda thought the cemetery was further on, and that it was on the other side of the road. Oh well. She was driving.

Eventually we parked and started hiking across a very rough field. We hiked, sweated and swore in most unladylike fashion. Need I say that all of us follow the family pattern for females? Short and (ahem) plump. It was hard work.

After about a half hour a farmer came along on a tractor and asked what the devil three generously endowed ladies and a little boy were doing hoofing it across his hayfield. We told him we were looking for the cemetery and he said there was no such thing on his farm. We hiked back out, turned around and went back down the road.

On my insistence we stopped at the iron gate and (why do you never have a camera when you need one?) climbed over it, at the risk of our dignity and lives. I led on like MacDuff, probably a quarter of a mile through a parched forest of post oaks and cactus. The farmer had re-joined us by now, still insisting that there was NO CEMETERY on his land. He asked us to leave. We got a bit cranky. He followed along, protesting too strongly that he knew every ince of his land and that there was NO CEMETERY!!!!

He was getting a bit cantankerous when we came to the cemetery. Evidence was strong that he was allowing his cattle to graze, a distinct no-no. He then became contrite and said he "hadn't noticed" the headstones. He promised to repair the fence and keep his cows out. I doubt that he did, but he made a show of respect anyway.

The large stone monument the family had placed at the head of my grandparent's graves was in perfect condition, as was the fence surrounding their plot. The many unprotected stones had not fared as well. We did a full survey, including noting the placement of rocks which marked graves with no identifying information.

The earliest graves were from the 1890s, our granddad's burial was the last, in 1935. The little town which the cemetery served was blown off the map by a tornado in the late 20s or early 30s, and the dead had stopped coming. Except granddad, who made the final journey from Kilgore texas, where he died, to lie beside my grandmother, who died in 1921, and by two of their infant children.

The cemetery has been duly recorded by the county now, and one hopes it will not be completely forgotten, even though the ones who lie there are fading one by one as those who knew and loved them take their own long journeys.

But those two days will live in my memory, filled with laughter and that wonderful sense of complete acceptance and belonging one rarely feels anywhere but within the family.

Go sweetly on your way Wanda Lee Clark. You have been greatly loved and you will be missed.

Oops!

Big cheesy grin. Numerous people have asked why their comments haven't been showing up. When we moved and I switched e-mail addresses I thought that changing it on the main template would change it everywhere. Not so! I just found that you have to change it in two other places to redirect your comments. It's now fixed. Sorry for being so technically challenged. :)

Apples and Pies

Finally, cable internet!! Can I express my happiness with any more enthusiasm? Happy happy joy joy!! I've been busy trying to catch up with my listservs, get in touch with people, and in general do the things I couldn't do before. Boy, now I feel like I'm part of the human race again!

One great thing about having cable back is using Skype. If you haven't downloaded and used it... well, I like keeping my money, and I love talking to family and friends who are scattered all over the world.

I took the camera out on the walk today, and got a couple of shots of the orchard on the street behind us. They are starting to pick these huge red beauties, so this is a sight which won't last much longer. Across the highway, on a hill several blocks away is a lavender farm. The lavender is blooming, and the hill is one big rolling blanket of colour. Gorgeous! But too far away to get a good picture. I might try to drive over there and see about getting a picture (and smelling the lavender!).

While we were out we saw a large group of Canada geese migrating south. Must have been over 100 of them. They were a long way up, but you could hear them honking. Like, no one is in the way. Who are they honking at?

Yesterday I sat and watched what appeared to be a bald eagle riding a thermal over the valley. Sure wish I had a good telescope for bird watching. Sadly we found the broken little body of a white throated sparrow in the dog run today. It looked like maybe it had been hit by a predatory bird but had managed to get away only to die later. We picked it from the path and gave it a proper burial. I hate to see little things suffer.

We saw a sick sparrow picked off by the magpies at the feeder last winter. It was during a spell of intense cold, -30 for several days. One evening this little bird huddled on the feeder at dusk rather than taking shelter. I felt so badly, but there is nothing you can do for them. By mid-morning it had become too weak to hold onto the feeder and had fallen to the ground. One of the big magpies swooped in, grabbed it and broke its neck in an instant.



People say pies are bad, and eat songbirds, but I've never seen them attack (or even harass) a healthy bird. They evidently do raid nests in the spring, but squirrels clean out magpie nests and eat their babies too. (And some of us eat lamb and veal and suckling pigs.) Read the story of the magpie we raised and released into the wild. He was so smart, and such a character. In this picture he was sucking my finger, just like a puppy. It was how he comforted himself when he was upset or scared.

Now how did I get going on that? Never mind.... just think cable internet.... oh boy....

Caught in the Act!

First, some pictures for the far-away, since I can't send attachments with the ding-dong web interface I have to use for mail right now. First: Red Chief the rascal. I finally caught a picture of him trying to break into the dish cupboard. He is absolutely relentless. Now I have to keep the tie-down on all day.

Then a few pictures of the inside of the tin palace, as lived in. But the simplification continues. In the last few days we've packed away about half of the books, pictures and doo-dads we brought out to begin with. We just found that there was too much visual stimulation in this small space. Less is better.

Reorganizing the contents of the cupboards seems to be an ongoing process. The cupboards are 24" deep, so this thing gets put in front of that thing, until you need that thing, when you have to move this thing to get at that thing, and so and so on and dooby dooby do do.... At least when you misplace something there are not too many places to look for it.

But triumph! After almost two weeks of trying to connect with the cable company we finally managed to get arrangements made to have cable internet installed late in the week!! We're looking forward to having real internet service again.

Red Chief and I saw 50 or more quail on our walk last night. They were all in a huge flock, on the ground, in the dog run. Must have been a quail convention. Four or five families, Mom, Dad (out front, everybody runs after him in a line) and eight to 12 kids. They much prefer to walk, and wait until the last possible minute to take to the air.

We saw one family go back through the chain link fence behind us a few days ago. (See picture of Himself above for a view of the fence under discussion). It divides the RV park from the property of the former owners. Their garden is spectacular, with wonderful flowers, trees and huge bunches of pampas grass. Anyway the Papa quail decided to move from our side of the fence to the other side. He slipped through one of the holes and his family followed, except for one little guy who was not paying attention and got left behind. When junior saw everyone else on the other side of the fence he panicked, running up and down the fence line squawking and bobbing, unable to find the perfect hole in the fence to slip through. Then all of a sudden he stopped running and simply flew to the top of the fence and over. It just shows how much more attuned to living on the ground they are. They really remind me of small chickens.

And that's it for the day!

Smarter Than Your Average Cat

After two days of weakness and general yuckiness I felt better yesterday and was able to attend to tasks which have been piling up.

We figured out how to hang the small (18" x 24") electric panel heater. We'd initially thought we install it on the cabinet to the immediate left of the door, but it was clear that this is not a good spot, as the heater would be subjected to too many traffic hazards. There is not one other unoccupied 18" x 24" spot of wall in the entire trailer. It has to be hung six inches above the floor, away from windows and doors. The mounting brackets keep it one inch from the wall.

This took some thought. There's no reason the heater can't be moved, it's just a 1/4" thick sheet of cement board with heating coils embedded in it. It looks like a piece of white wallboard except that there's a cord coming from it and it has four holes for the mounting brackets.

So I bought a metal towel rack that hangs over the top of a door. By running picture wire through the top two holes we can hook the towel rack over the lip of the lower large drawer about halfway down the length of the trailer and hang the heater on it, just like a picture. When it's not in use we can pick it up and slide it into the pantry. Pretty nifty.

We installed the larger of the two heaters, the 24" x 24" one, on the back wall between the two beds. It's great except that it pumps out a lot of heat, too much for these nights when the temperature doesn't drop lower than five or six degrees. We have to keep turning it on and off, which is a bit of a pain. The smaller one doesn't put out as much heat, and since it's not so close to us, once it cools off enough to need heat (5:00 - 6:00 am) we can just turn it on and leave it on. It draws 1.8 amps of power and costs about a cent and a half an hour to run.

Next item on the agenda. The dern cat has been driving us mad. He is absolutely the worst tease on earth. Once he figured out he could get a rise from us by trying to get into the dish cupboard over the kitchen counter he has been a huge pain. He's fine during the day, but as soon as the lights go out he's at those doors. I've been putting two bungee cords over the door handles, but worried constantly that he'd work one of them loose and a hook might hit him in the head, eye, etc.

We temporarily dissuaded him by putting him in his cat carrier when he would jump up on the counter and start scratching at the doors, but by the third night he was very blase about that. He'd be quiet as a mouse and the minute you let him out and crawled back into bed he would be back at the cupboard doors.

I was desperate for a decent night's sleep. Night before last I wet paper towels and laid them on the counter, because he hates getting his feet wet, but he just concentrated on the area over the sink, where he could stand on the dry edge. ( damn!)

Yesterday I happened to think of the tie-down straps we bought to secure the fridge in place for the trip. They have a hook on each end, but tighten with a buckle (like a seat belt) and are not elastic. So I hooked a hook into the handles of the outside cupboard doors, ran the tie-down across the middle doors and pulled it all tight.

He looked at it with great interest and jumped up to investigate. I didn't say a thing, or scold him. He shoved his nose right up under the buckle, trying to loosen it or get it to move. No luck. He was puzzled when I ignored his pulling on the doors and strap, he kept looking at me and making little question noises. ("What? You aren't gonna yell at me? Not gonna jump up and grab me? Whassup with that?!! You tryin' to ruin my fun?")

After a minute or two he gave up and jumped down on his own. He had to dash around and jump on things generally, but that's fine. I don't mind that, it's just that one set of cupboards I was worried about.

The funny thing is that at bedtime he curled up on my feet and slept the entire night, except for wanting food when I got up at 3:00 and 5:00. I have learned something. Today he decided to see if he could get a rise out of me by jumping on the shelf above Tony's bunk where we have our prayer bowl and altar. There's not much room and he had to squinch himself to do it, but he was eyeing me and expecting a scolding. I just looked the other way. Oh, actually I tried to take his picture up there, but he got down before the shutter caught him. He hasn't tried again.

I always suspected I was smarter than yer average cat, and now I know I am! (Or at least I think I am. Pride goeth before a fall. He may open the straps tonight and break every dish in the house.)

10,000 Steps, in a Cat Carrier

Another cool, rainy day. It's warm inside, with the heater on, but this is the first day we've kept it on once the morning chill had been chased away by the day. Today the sun must be elsewhere chasing chill, because at 2:00 pm we're still only 11 degrees.

It was sunny and beautiful yesterday. We had a busy day. We went to town and did the weekly shopping. Tony took the cat out for walkies three times, and I took him out once. It wore us out but didn't seem to dampen the cat's ardor for naughtiness. As soon as the lights went out he was pulling at the cupboard doors. We did what we did the night before. We stuck him in his carrier.

The carrier is a big plastic box, with ventilation slots on the top and sides, and coated wire doors on each end. He begins by scratching at the latch. When he can't jiggle the latch free he rolls over on his back, puts his feet against the ceiling of the carrier and runs in place, essentially turning the carrier into an upside-down treadmill. He runs till he's tired, rests a while then runs a while longer.

We wait until he's expended a fair amount of energy, then, during a quiet period we take him out of the carrier. He has a snack and then curls up to go to sleep. Well, it's one way to exercise him. He doesn't even seem to mind! He still goes right into the carrier when we open the door and last night he didn't even waste time trying to get out, he just made sure the door was closed and set off to get his 10,000 steps in.

Cats are weird.

Vague Indefinite Riches

I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite - only a sense of existence. ... How I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it, for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment. Henry David Thoreau; On Man and Nature

I am going to go out and take some pictures. I hadn't done it until now because of the smoke. But now the smoke has cleared and it's time to show you what our surroundings look like. The park is sparsely populated at the moment, maybe half a dozen units. The guy at the end of our row lives here permanently and has done so for seven or eight years. The people across from us look pretty settled as well. A couple of units are closed up during the week and are used only at the weekend. One brave couple is in a large tent and a pickup with a canopy. It was only five or six degrees last night. I wouldn't have wanted to be in a tent.

At sundown yesterday, while I had Salvador the monkey cat out for his evening "walk" we discovered a huge grape vine growing on the fence nearby. The grapes are huge and absolutely ripe and sweet as kisses. Haven't tasted grapes like that since the last time I picked my own. I brought a stem back for Tony to enjoy.

Now, about Salvador's "walks". There must be a better word for what we do. He drags me, and then I drag him. He runs as if his tail's on fire, then flops down and refuses to move. He dashes up a tree and then can't figure out how to get down. I have to coach him on how to retrace his steps - every time. He rolls onto his back and thrashes back and forth in the grass like a dog. He investigates the many loonie-sized holes in the grass and makes his "smells good" face. Are these mouse holes? Too big... no dirt around them so they can't be moles.... I'll have to ask.

This morning, despite a chilly start, was just gorgeous. Crystal air, brilliant sun, cool breeze. I took the rascal out for his morning stroll and had to yard him back after half an hour, with him threatening to bite me all the way.

Naughty cat! At about 4:00 am the sound of clinking china woke me up. He'd managed to somehow stand on the kitchen counter and open the top cupboard, where I keep the (breakable) dishes. I caught him rocketing out of the cupboard, fluffy-tailed and triumphant. I smacked him and did the grasping-the-neck-skin dominance signal that cats recognize from kittenhood, when mama cat used it to teach them what was, and wasn't, acceptable behaviour. But he's a strong personality and he's determined to get back in those cupboards. Why? - other than the challenge of course. There's nothing there of any interest to a cat!

What an adventure! But it looks like we'll have to find a way to cat-proof the cupboards or I'll never get any sleep.

Down Time

Time to take a breath. The last few days have been very busy. We've worked pretty much non-stop and have tired ourselves out. Today we are laying around doing lots of nothing.

It's cool today, so far (at noon) only 13 degrees, and it's raining off and on. We're comfy inside. We've switched the panel heater on a time or two to chase away the chill.

I heard our neighborhood covey of quail calling to each other last evening. Is it only in the southern US that we imagine they say, "bob white bob white"? We saw them this morning, 12 of them this time, pecking their way across the grass under the fruit trees in the space behind the trailer. The young quail are as big as their mother, but she stills leads the line, and she stood up, alert and watchful, while the young birds fed. I got a picture of a couple of them, but it's hard to say if they are quail or rocks. Only a quailologist would know for certain.

We saw a squirrel yesterday and we definitely get whiffs of skunk in the evening. Cathy says a skunk lives under one of the older cabins. So we are surrounded by small wildlife, little creatures who have learned to coexist with man. This suits me fine. I'd just as soon live in the woods, but since that's not practical I'll enjoy having the four-leggers visit me.

Later in the day I'll make the trek to the clubhouse to check my mail, and then I'll have a nice shower and soak in the hot tub... doin' lots of nothing is a good way to spend the day. :)

Time to Reconsider

I was sitting here Saturday night, minding my own business (which as anyone who knows me well is a rare occurence) when I heard a huge BANG!!. My first thought was that one of the dozens of water bombers, helicopters or fire-related light planes had crashed very close by. Then I thought maybe the propane tank on someone's RV had blown up. Then I thought I'd best get out and see what was actually going on, in case someone needed help.

No flames or smoke was apparent, so that was a good thing, but there was a flashlight or two bobbing down in the motel parking lot and lots of yelling. These motel rooms are part of the Bel Air complex and are only about 100 feet from our site.

As I arrived I saw that a small (12 ' x 12' maybe) building adjacent to the row of motel rooms had the corner knocked out, and a sagging roof. Further on, down an embankment, was a late model Ford, its rear end resting in a sling of the chain link fence which surrounds the resort.

A couple of the men were helping an elderly, somewhat confused, lady from the car and up the embankment. She was insisting that she could get in the car and drive it away, which was obviously not possible. She didn't seem to understand what had exactly happened, but didn't appear injured.

James and Cathy Hodge (a super young British couple) own and run Bel Air and by now Cathy had called an ambulance. We managed to get the lady to sit down and I tried to distract her with a little conversation. When the ambulance arrived they checked her over, and I assume she was fine. I left shortly after they arrived.

Today (Monday) the car was pulled out of its self-made nest by a tow truck with a winch. There was a big chunk of concrete and a pipe from the fence wedged underneath that took both James and Cathy's dad Dave to move, once the car and it had been separated. I'm betting that Ford won't be going anywhere under its own steam soon, if ever.

How did this dear little soul get herself in such a mess? Well, she had dropped her friend off and was turning around. I suspect she thought she put the car into drive, when she actually slipped it back into reverse. When she hit the accelerator she zoomed backwards at a good clip, hit the corner of the building and kept right on going - backwards.

Talk about a time to reverse your decision. This was one.

Unpackin' an' feudin'

Lemme see. Yesterday we hauled out a couple of the boxes from the truck and I started trying to find places to put things. Things like family pictures, artwork, office supplies, and general crap. I hung a couple of pictures and put some family photos where the cat is not likely to knock them over when he does a midnight dash-around.

We found a place to put the office supplies and Tony's file boxes. It wasn't an entirely bloodless process but we were both tired and cranky. There was one file box which was 1/2" too big for any of the spots I wanted to put it. He wanted to just stick it on a shelf, where it hangs over the edge. We almost had to get out the dueling pistols before we finally found a home for it. The only place it would go was right where he did (and I didn't) want it. Well, I guess you shouldn't end a 42 year marriage over the placement of a file box. (I've learned I'm not as good at compromising as I am at getting my own way. Hmmmm, maybe I should work on that, but then I like getting my own way! That's no surprise to anyone who knows me.)

We've been trying to figure out if we're missing anything we left behind yet. We couldn't think of a thing. In fact there were things we'd brought that neither of us think will be useful. We were so tired we were blind those last few days.

Today the unpacking process continued. We hauled boxes out of the truck, which is a very difficult endeavor for two short people. Poor ole Tony has to crawl up into the bed of the truck and yard the boxes out by brute force. Of course everything we needed to unpack was at the very front and the things we don't need now were between us and them.

But he hauled 'em out and I sorted and put away, hung pictures, found batteries for the clock and smoke alarm, found the carbon monoxide monitor and the calendar. So, we may not know much but we now know what day and time it is. Maybe. There were two big boxes of books and music, my research materials for a couple of books I'm working on, plus a box of odds 'n sods. I ended up packing up a large box of stuff culled from the other boxes and that was put back in the truck. (Will this never end?)

The place is looking like home now though, with family photos, a few favorite paintings and gee-gaws, and surprisingly there's still room to tuck more stuff away.

After dinner I left the dishes to rot and headed for the hot tub/pool. I did a round robin of hot tub/pool/hot tub and came out pink as a spanked baby's butt and relaxed as a wet string. I could get to like that hot tub.

This is a hard life. I would wish it on my best friend. ;)

Nighty-night

A Garden Hose?

The RV repairman came yesterday afternoon. He pulled back the metal covering from the underbelly of the trailer, hauled out the soaked insulation (bah humbug!) and soon discovered the source of our leak.

At some point in the past few years the copper pipe which carries water to the kitchen sink must have developed a leak. So the previous owner, in a fit of "use what's at hand", replaced it with a section of garden hose.

Now, you must understand. The water system in this trailer pressurizes itself, and the pipes have to be able to withstand a healthy dose of water pressure. So this garden hose must have struggled manfully to do the job for a season or two but finally gave it and exploded. Wunnerful.

The RV guy will return today to replace the hose with copper pipe, replace the ruined insulation and reattach the metal underbelly to the trailer. I hate to think of the bill, but at least it wasn't a holding tank or the water tank. Replacing either of those would have been a catastrophic expense. Especially the water tank, which is stainless steel.

On the plus side, I love our tiny 30" x 40" bathroom. You almost have to back in if you plan to sit on the avocado green "throne", and the sink is teeny. What I love about it is that the entire bathroom floor is molded into one piece and forms a shower pan. So when I go to clean I scrub then simply pour water over, around, and behind, the toilet. I can wash the entire thing down and everything goes out the drain. I've joked for years about wanting a house I could simply hose down inside, well, at least I can do that to the bathroom here!

And, just to make you green. I'm writing this sitting outside on the lawn, under an apple tree which is loaded with apples. The temperature is perfect, the breeze is heavenly, the birds are singing and a few come to have a shower in the sprinkler from time to time. Ahhhh..... this is the life.