Connections

Yippee! New Fence

 

This fence was finished yesterday after 4 days work. 

This is the fence we wanted one month ago when we hired another man who showed us a fence he said he built at a house near us where he was doing some painting.  Two days into the job he had spent all our advanced money and had made so many mistatkes that he couldn't complete the job. (One of them was that he used cheaper indoor untreated pine that will warp when it becomes wet.) So, we started over and got two bids from companies with good reviews on ServiceMagic.com.  Both said the fence was so bad, the only thing to do was to tear it down and start over.  We selected a company.  They started this week and four days later we are thrilled with our new fence.

The bad news is that we now have to take the other guy to Small Claims Court to recover our advance money.  I hate to do that. Obviously the guy needed the money so much he had to lie about his abilities to get us to choose him--but we have things to do with that money too. 

In hindsight I should have trusted my instincts/biases:  In my 18 years as a Real Estate Broker, plumbers, painters, electricians, landscapers etc. always wanted me to refer them to my clients.  One of my personal biases was that if workers,  unknown to me and without personal recommendations from someone I knew, marketed themselves as God's Chosen I opted not to use them.  Although many who did this were quite competent, others were not.  When the guy who started the bad fence talked to my husband and me, he had no card with him.  He said he would bring it and names of 3 references by the next day.  He did.  The name of his business was "Sent From Above" and his references, we found out later, were relatives. A truly competent worker, in my opinion, need not claim God as a reference.

I don't like to be distrustful or paranoid but when something like this happens it does make me pause and demand proof of capability to do the job.  Both my husband and I were beating ourselves up for being so gullible and not doing due diligence in checking him out, but now we've discovered we can check people out on the Internet and get other people's opinions of their work more easily.  That's one mistake we won't make again.

Fence Crunch!

                       A sudden event equals new priorities!

One of our neighbors called at 3:00 a.m this morning to tell us his son had missed the turn into the alley and caused damage to our fence.  He didn't want to put it on his insurance so he offered to pay for a new fence.  Since it was a 28-year old fence and we'd been wanting to replace it anyway, we said if he'd pay half, that would be fine.

As of now we are getting estimates to replace it and checking out timing and where our dog will go during the fence-down time.

Just what we needed: another project.  We've been happily sleeping in our de-bugged bedroom for a total of 4 nights--glad to be rid of that problem--and now we have another life-happening incident. Geez!

Penguins and Mini Med School

TV buttons, not Halloween, are his priority

My son, DIL and grandson came over to show us his costume and to give out goodies while we went to our Mini Med School Class at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.  The lecture on Sleep--as all the lectures have been--was excellent.  It is a 9-week lecture course taught my faculty of the Colorado University Health Sciences Center. Next Wednesday will be a last lecture.  I'm really going to miss it.  It is just another way that the Museum gets science information to the community at large.

At a time when our current governmental leadership is dumbing down the country where science, knowledge and critical thinking are involved, I am thrilled to be a member and volunteer of such a great Museum organization.

Volunteering!

The entrance to a part of DMNS where I have signed up to volunteer

For a variety of reasons I decided to join my husband as a volunteer at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. First, I love the place because it expresses my world view.  I see the world through "science-colored glasses," though I have studied science only sporadically over the years. Second, for the past few years I have found myself increasing my time spent in solitary pursuits.  Although I love art, blogging, reading and email discussion lists, they generally do not involve face-to-face interaction with people in real-time activities and discussions.  I need solitude, but I also need people.

In the hall of life I will be helping both students and adults interact with exhibitions on the Visible Human, DNA and genetics, fitness, nutrition and other aspects of Health Science and Biology. The photo below is of the Food Choice area in the Hall of Life. One can choose a seat at the table and a recorded message on an audio-phone tells you the nutrition and caloric content of the meal you have chosen.  There are also sections for creating one's own meals with "fake food" and a nutrition facilitator will help analyze the meals for healthy choices.  I'm looking forward to my first training session Aug 21.

Over the years I have volunteered as officer, committee person, or foot-soldier for professional, political and personal causes I felt were important.  Fifteen years ago, I was President of an international  exchange organization in Denver that brought 12-16 mid-career professionals at a time from other countries to do a 4 to 6 month agency placement and home-stay in Denver.

On one occasion during my presidency I was involved in exit-interviews with our first group of participants from countries belonging to the former Eastern Block allied with the Soviet Union.  One of the questions they were asked was: "What American trait did you find most surprising?"  The answer was unanimous:  "Volunteering!"  After the interview, I had a discussion with a gentleman we were hosting from Albania who asked how much I was paid to be president of the organization?  When I told him that I received no payment, he responded, "You must not be any good."  I told him that perhaps that was true but no matter the quality of my leadership, I would receive no pay as the Presidency, while an elected position, was a volunteer one..

Since then whenever we have foreign visitors in our home, I always ask about volunteering in their country.  The answers are surprising.  It is tempting to think that only affluent countries would have volunteers and the less affluent would have none, but my own little surveys indicate that this is not necessarily true.  The causes for which people volunteer vary.  In some countries, people are more likely to volunteer their time for politics.  In others people volunteer to coach youngsters in various athletic endeavors or as tutors in various academic pursuits. 

Now that I have a sitemeter on my blog, I know that people from a variety of countries read here.  I would love to know if volunteering is common in your country/area and which types of volunteering are most common.

Teaching moments

An earthworm my husband turned up in our flower bed,

We now have two local grandchildren.  We have three more in another state but miss the daily wonders of "teaching moments" with them.  About twice a week we have some quality time with our almost two-year-old granddaughter.  Almost everything is new for her and it is wonderful to watch as her little mind tries to file each experience away for further consideration.

Some of her favorite books at Grandma's house are the classic Richard Scarry picture/vocabulary books that we read to our own children.  In Busy Town Scarry puts a cartoon worm named "Lowly" somewhere on every page.  It is a favorite game to find Lowly wherever he is hiding.  Last weekend Clio stayed overnight at our house so her parents could have a rare night alone.  Early Sunday morning Bob was turning over the soil in the flower bed and Clio was helping.  The worm above came to the surface.  When we told her it was a worm, she immediately giggled and said "Lowly Worm."

That same morning I said to Bob, "Now what should we do with Clio?"  Clio answered, "Go park," and so we did.  The photo below is her first experience with what she called, "Jumping water."

I had no grandparents as I grew up. Two were dead before I was born and two disappeared with the divorce.  Young parents work so hard these days.  It is almost impossible to meet the financial demands of supporting a family without two incomes.  I am honored and privileged to be able to witness and fascilitate these teaching moments that are so important to children and yet the parents are often too over-extended when the kids are young to do as much with them as they'd like. 

Deferred Maintenance!

It's been a while since I posted.  Something always seemed to happen just when I might have had blogging time.  I've been in a mini-whirlwind of mostly non-creative, energy-sucking "stuff."  Some of the stuff:

Just 10 days after having our 22-year-old water heater spring a leak and need replacement on a really cold and snowy day, we had to replace our 20-something year old furnace.  Of course, it turned out that we could save more than $800 if we added air-conditioning at the same time.  (A friend commented that it's about time we brought our house into the 21st Century.)  We have been wanting AC so we swallowed hard and wrote the check from our "contingency" fund to have it done.  The furnace and the AC housing are completely installed but the final installation of the AC component outdoors cannot be installed until the weather is warmer as they can't charge the freon in current temperatures.  The installers suggested that now is an opportune time to get our ducts cleaned so that the new 92% efficiency furnace can function optimally. We  have an appointment next Saturday to have a duct-cleaning company bring its super-powerful truck-mounted suction machine to extract the undesirable particles from our 65-year-old ducts.

Stuff, round 2:   Since all the junk we've been storing in the furnace room for 20 years is now piled in the family room until this project is complete, my husband decided that the timing is perfect for repairing some efflorescence on the exterior walls of the furnace room and repainting it to look like a "real" room.  We have opened the "Pandora's box" of projects that are prerequisites to other projects.

Stuff, round 3:  The house is not the only item having deferred maintenance.  We have also deferred dental cleaning and yearly physicals for both of us.  Now is catch-up time.  The good news is that we are ahead of schedule on our taxes.

While all this is going on we are trying to spend time with our Argentine house guest who is delightful and wants to see as much of Denver and Colorado as he can while he is here.  He encourages both of us to speak Spanish whenever we are driving somewhere or just hanging around the house.   He really doesn't need to practice English as he has been speaking it since he was a small child.

I am not taking a watercolor class this coming session but have signed up for a drawing class at the DMNS (Denver Museum of Nature and Science) called "Drawing Skulls."  The class is limited to 20 and we get draw animal skulls from the zoology collection:  bear, moose, elk, mountain lion etc.  It is also a chance to return to basics on drawing, values and gray scale.  I need a break from watercolor.  I love it but is sometimes SO frustrating.

We having a standing  3-hour play-date on Mondays with granddaughter Clio.  We pick her up at her day school on the days her Mom must attend City Council until 9:30 at night and enjoy her until her dad gets off work. We are also happily anticipating our two new grandchildren, due May 26 and May 27.

I hope to post more regularly but then baseball season begins April 2 and that's another impediment to regular blogging--though it does provide a lot of interesting stories and photos.

A little bit of the dog!

Gung  Hay Fat Choy!  Welcome 4704, the year of the dog!

Because we have a granddaughter who began her life in China, my son and daughter-in-law are trying to learn more of traditional Chinese celebrations and customs.  Last weekend we went to their New Year's party complete with paper dragons and lanterns,Chinese food, drink and snacks. It is fascinating to learn about customs and culture of other countries.  Officially the celebration of 4704 began January 29 and continues through February 12, terminating with lantern festivals and parades. More information here. Some of the snack foods served at the party are shown in this photo.

Birthdays

A colorful ending to a wonderful day!

Yesterday  I celebrated my 65th birthday.  I don't feel "old."  I certainly don't act "old."  Some days I am downright immature.  Yet, I have two cards in my wallet that tell the truth of my chronological age:  my Driver's license and my Medicare card.   

When I arrived at my spanish class, the ping-pong table that we sit around for class was set up with cheese-filled chocolate muffins, mint-flavored yerba mate, colorful plates and napkins.  As classmates arrived, a pineapple cake, flowers and gifts arrived with them.  What a delightful surprise!  My dear friend Linda gave me a wonderful card which read,

"We don't stop playing because we grow old,  we grow old because we stop playing."

The photograph on the card front showed a woman "of a certain age" wearing a bathiing suit, standing inside a large black swimming/rafting tube while sporting pink-rimmed sunglasses and a broad smile.  I hope I can continue to play and enjoy every moment of whatever ages I am fortunate enough to experience.

As I am the family photographer, I rarely have photos of myself.  My spanish-class, art-class, writing, traveling, wine-drinking friend, Paula, took photos of the spanish class party and posted them on her blog.  Take time to review other parts of her blog.  It's a winner!

I arived home from my class to find a huge bouquet of flowers from my husband and a written invitation for a dinner date in the evening.  We went to a favorite Italian restaurant for a romantic dinner.  It doesn't get much better than that. 

During the afternoon, thanks to Skype, I received birthday calls from Bejing China, Sydney Australia and Rio de Janeiro Brazil as well as a birthday song from my almost five-year-old grandson.

It was a wonderful day!!!!

Dead Zoo

An ostentation of dead animals romanticizes hunting and taxidermy

Last week we went to the new shopping area being built about two miles from our neighborhood. Three of the stores had just recently opened.  We actually shopped in one of them and since we were there walked down to have a look at the other two.  The one in the photo is a sporting goods store.  Along with clothes, camping paraphernalia, fishing and hunting gear there are at least 500 taxidermist-prepared animals stationed around the store--some full-bodied specimens and some trophy-mounted heads. 

Maybe I'm being over-critical here but the sheer commercialism of nature completely overwhelmed me.  I did enjoy the waterfall pool with trout, catfish and other fish species swimming around.  I love nature.  I grew up on a farm and remember the taste of cottontail rabbit that my step dad shot for dinner.  I am not opposed to hunting overpopulated animals with a license.  However, I do remember something about Arctic wolves and U.S. grizzly bears (at least in the lower 48)  being endangered.  Maybe they were grizzlies with improper documentation?  Maybe the latest downgrade of environmental protection laws gave sporting goods corporations license to hunt and display them as long as they could be written off as a cost of doing business.

I am sure that all of this is technically legal, but that doesn't quiet my inner rumblings that somehow the values are skewed.

Runaway!

Last Monday as we were driving to pick up our granddaughter, my husband asked me, "Would you like to go somewhere for the weekend?"  Without even asking where, I replied, "Sure!"  One of the percs of being away from home so much during his career as a pilot is that we can now fly free or very reasonably.  So tomorrow morning we are going to Charleston, SC for the weekend.  Next Monday I will definitely have photos--probably a couple hundred!   

All-year barbecue

Bob grilling chicken for lunch yesterday.

We definitely use our grill more than our oven.  One year, when our oven failed on Christmas day, we finished up the turkey on the grill.  We use the grill year round.  We've adapted our mind-set to include parkas and leather jackets among our grilling clothing.  Yesterday morning we woke to find a soft powdery snow frosting trees, power lines and fences.  It was still there at noon so Bob grilled outside while I cooked the rest inside.  When the snow comes softly in the night without wind-blown drifts and slippery roads, I am totally happy to celebrate winter.  So yesterday we did, even having that rare thing for us:  wine at mid-day. 

Below is a photo I took yesterday morning of the snow in our front yard.

Family reunion.

We are leaving tomorrow to drive 6 hours to a small lake in New Mexico where my cousin has a lake house.  It will be a family reunion of sorts because I will see cousins I haven't seen in over 25 years and my sons and their wives will meet them all for the first time.  It should be great fun for the holidays.  Happy Thanksgiving.  I'll be back to blogging by Sunday or Monday.

Optical Illusions

One of 60 optical illusions on a favorite site

One of my favorite blogs is called Neat New Stuff.  Not too long ago I discovered this site for moving Optical Illusions.  I have always loved things that make us think that something is something that on closer scrutiny, it clearly is not.  (Maybe I should have worked for the Bush Administration.)

On a day when the mundane or the crisis of the day doesn't hold your interest, try these two sites.

Assistacat!

Inka, our cat, supervises repairs  to the toilet tank pump.

I love older houses.  They are full of charm, character and distinctive features like hand-wrought iron stair railings, embossed tile window sills and marble-framed fireplaces.  In our case, the house is 64 years old.  It is fun to live in a sort of history.  When I was a Real Estate Broker for 18 years I told people that to live in an older house you must be able to celebrate differences, live with imperfection and embrace the unexpected.

When we ordered blinds and curtains for our  windows we discovered that every window in the house was a different size.  Oh, they were only 1/4 to 1/2 inch in length or width variation but it meant "no standard orders from the catalog."  When we tiled the floor in our back entry we discovered that each of the five doors we removed had to be marked because none would fit in another's place.

When the pump gismo, in the water tank of a really old toilet, breaks it isn't just about a trip to Home Depot for a generic replacement, it's a trip to the local hardware store where they stock kits that can be "cut to fit."  Then after a couple of hours of cutting and fitting, the toilet is working once again.

When selling homes I was instructed to keep my eyes out for "deferred maintenance."  In older homes, there is always deferred maintenance.  It is a revolving door of repair to keep up with it.  I once said to my husband, "Did you know that three of the windows in the house won't open?"  He replied, "There are 10 that will, use one of them."

In spite of the little annoyances, I would not trade my house.  I will live here until I can no longer manage the stairs in a 2-story-plus-basement house.  And I am so glad that our little cat has grown into such a helper.

Body and Soul

Scene from City Park where hundreds enjoyed music, food and a sunset

The above scene is typical of Sunday nights in Denver City Park during the summer as various local artists participate in the City Park Jazz program.  Last night it was a jazz group called Dotsero. This was the soul-cleansing finish to a day of relaxation and pampering.  Situated by the lake, facing the mountains and sunset with scent of barbecue and picnics, it was a perfect finish to a perfect day.

The body part began just after noon when my friend Paula picked me up and we drove to meet her sister and a friend for an afternoon at the Denver Massage Therapy School.  On weekends the students must complete a certain amount of hours of massage, practicing what they have been studying.  Paula's sister had coupons for the massages. Each of us had our choice of the different massages offered.  All of us chose the full-body Swedish massage.  After the massage we gathered in the large cafeteria/break room at one of the tables to compare our individual experiences. As we were chatting, a staff person came and asked if we'd like a second massage free as there were six students and no patrons at the moment.  We took only a nano-second to agree and we were off on round two of massages.  Two of the four chose Shiatzu as their second massage.  I just enjoyed a repeat of the first but with a different masseuse.  As I walked out a staff person asked if I'd like another one (Where was everyone?) and I politely declined, already feeling liked melting jello.

On the way out we each took advantage of their special promotion:  5 coupons for free massages for $50, with no expiration date.  I look forward to this treat again soon.

After the massages and before the concert we indulged in homemade tacos and wine at Paula's house. While our two husbands were out camping and preparing to hike the Spanish Peaks in Southern Colorado, Paula and I were treating our senses--all five of them.

A little beauty---

Flowers to contemplate for five days.

I'm off to see my grandsons in Wisconsin so no new photos or writing until I return on April 12.  I finally got my categories working and they now go back to the beginning of this blog.  Check out Favorites and Stories until next week.

Contrail sky

Two planes left straight lines of condensation on a filmy sky today.

And of course, as soon as I dropped off my camera and went grocery shopping, more airplanes left more contrails until the sky was criss-crossed with lines--the photo that got away.

Kokopelli Corner

Also known as: My Neruda Nook

This Kokopelli was given to me many years ago by my husband.  Over the years I have collected different percussion instruments and they seemed to fit nicely on and around the kokopelli.  Pablo Neruda, the Chilean poet, was a collector--of everything.  He had a large collection of musical instruments that he did not know how to play.  He said he collected them not for their use but for their form.  I too collect these instruments more for their form than their function--though my grandson loves the sounds he can produce with them.  I really enjoy walking by and thinking of their places of origin--Africa, Peru, Mexico, Hawaii--and of the New Mexico Navajo man who made the Indian drum and signed it for me.

This photo was taken a while ago.  Today I walked by and noticed that the Neruda Nook had been redesigned--by our eight-month-old kitten.  It seems Inka prefers it as a cat playground.  Nothing has been damaged, but the nicely arranged rawhide on the branch is more or less braided and a few instruments have been reorganized to comply with kitty feng shui.

Lunch with history

A KC-97 trucked from Texas to Colorado was reassembled as a restaurant.

At a silent auction my son had won a gift certificate for four to Solo's, a restaurant built around and in this airplane.  The main floor restaurant  features dining below  the left wing with historic photos on every conceivable wall space.  Those who wish can dine inside the fuselage and take side trips to sit in the cockpit of this propeller-driven aerial refueling tanker which was retired around 1965 and replaced by the jet-powered KC-135 which is still in operation today--until the McCain vs Defense Department controversy over the KC-767 is resolved

As my husband spent his air force career flying the KC-135 and had some familiarity with the KC-97, my son wanted him to see this restaurant.  Yesterday the four of us drove to Colorado Springs for lunch in a plane.  The cockpit had seats not only  for the two pilots and the boom operator but a "desk" for a navigator who plotted the course using celestial and radar navigation. (Fact checking courtesy of husband)

It was an interesting trip back in aviation history--and the food was great!

My son and daughter-in-law in the fuselage of Solo's.

Just because...

...I like ice!

Tuesdays and Wednesdays are busy days for me.  Tuesday I have Spanish Class and usually have waited until the morning to do my homework.  Wednesday is our cleaning day.  When we both retired, we no longer needed to pay someone to come in once a week and clean the house.  I fought it and tried to justify it but we are both healthy and it saves us a good chunk of money so we've divided up the chores and both work at it for about 5 hours.  We have the house sparkling once a week and the rest of the week we only try to keep things ordered.

Tomorrow morning I have my last watercolor class and we have critiques.  This afternoon I put the finishing touches on the two I want critiqued.  Now I am tired and want to read.  I couldn't think of anything catchy that correlates with the photo above--I just like it.  I hope you do too.

Romantic Papaya

Happy Valentine's Day!

Coincidence? Absolutely!  And--opportunity taken!  Yesterday when I cut into this Maradol Papaya I immediately ran for my camera to capture the "heart" of the fruit.  Those of you who read this blog know that I don't believe in signs, omens, messages from the universe, serendipity etc. But now--perhaps I will have to rethink my position on a papaya god, a messenger of romance. :)

Better than burning?

Where do old tires go to die?

On our trip to New Mexico last November we saw this "tire fence" as we walked down to the Rio Grand River.  There are few things I hate more than the smell of burning tires, yet what is a feasible alternative?  The above photo shows one short-term solution that accomplishes little more than organizing the junk tires into a less offensive arrangement.

Recently I read--in some magazine that I can't remember--that science is on the verge of creating a permanent non-pneumatic tire for automobile and truck usage.  (In a Google search I found this article about military and mining uses for non-pneumatic tires.) In the short term we would be deluged with cast-off pneumatics and no good place to put them.  In the long run it could perhaps be a solution for one of our most serious problems of non-biodegradability. Meanwhile what do we do with our current dead pneumatics?  Storage, burial or cremation?

Rockin' around the house.

A young cowboy checks out the half-size horses.

Who wouldn't have wanted one of these realistic carved wooden rocking horses in their bedroom ?  It's true that they cost about the same as an unpapered live horse but then there's no feeding--or shoveling.

Vicarious!

Tropical flowers in the Denver Botanic Gardens Atrium

When the mind is willing but the body is aching, sniffling, sneezing and not about to go anywhere, I go back to my photos of warm, colorful, enchanting places and think myself out of here. 

Years ago, in my spelling bee days,  I had to spell the word vicarious.  According to the rules I was given the definition.  I didn't think much about it then but now I must admit that vicarious experiences account for a fair amount of my stress management and mental equilibrium.  If not for the places I mentally travel through reading, writing, art and even this blog, perhaps I would be less calm in the face of life's storms.  Perhaps vicarious mind trips are just a socially acceptable type of denial--or avoidance--but  I prefer to think of them as a "time out" while I re-gather my wits, health and abilities to cope with the routine chaos of life.

So, enjoy your day while I sip tea, eat chicken soup and enjoy the tropical flowers.

Felinity!

Today was a busy day running errands, buying new suggested watercolors for my art class and spending quality time with hubby.  I had saved some time to find a photo from my hundreds that might prompt some blog-worthy thought or other, but I spent so much time laughing at a site that I found on Bloglines' Neat New Stuff that I'll just let Hallmarks of Felinity be my contribution for today.

Sleepless, helpless, in Denver!

Copper, our aging Springer Spaniel.

For the past two weeks we've had very little sleep at nights.  No, it's not post middle-age insomnia.  It's a strange change in our almost  13-year old Springer Spaniel.  We know that larger dogs do not live as long as smaller ones: our previous Springer lived 14 years and 2 months.  We've also noticed that Copper does not see, hear or smell as well as he once did but we were unprepared for his seemingly sudden departure from his normal behavior.  He has begun to bark intermittently throughout the night, wanting to go outside as often as 6 to 10 times before dawn.  He is also now going into places he has never been allowed to go and almost never has gone--such as our basement.

I spoke with our  Mobile Vet who is coming Wednesday to check out our new cat so he will also try to determine if Copper is in pain or if he might be showing signs of dementia.   I am becoming familiar with the symptoms of dementia as my 87-year-mother has recently been diagnosed with it, and now that I think about it Copper has much in common with her.  Both are almost obsessed with adhering to routine even if the situation doesn't match the timing.   Both occasionally succumb to moments of confusion about where they find themselves and why.

It is so heartbreaking to see vitality and mental acuity waning whether in cherished human or animal family members. 

Surprise!

Visitors to the bathroom at Hilltop Cafe find they are not alone!

Recently a friend and I took a mutual friend for a birthday lunch at a wonderful restaurant located in an historic old home in Golden, Colorado.  Since I had my camera to capture the birthday girl, I also snapped Hilltop Cafe's bathroom girl in her birthday suit--and a few net bubbles. 

Thinking of that terrific lunch brings to mind the two delightful desserts the three of us shared in honor of Linda H's birthday.  Mmmmm! 

Toward the light!

Christmas evening after our guests had gone.

As much as I love the warmth and glow of the fireplace in the evening when its crisp and cold outside, I am glad to have the shortest day of the year behind me. I look forward to longer days and more sunshine.  In Denver we are fortunate to have about 320 days of sunshine a year. It is true that some of those days have snow on the ground--or have a low temperature--but there is sufficient light that many solar research projects are located in our area.

Papa Noel

Photo taken in Alto Las Condes Mall in Santiago Chile.

Papa Noel is the Spanish version of Father Christmas.  When searching for more information I found a link for an African musician born on Christmas Day in 1940 who took as his stage name Papa Noel.  For an interesting story of his life history, go here.

Movie! Movie! Movie!

This past weekend we saw two movies:  Sideways and Kinsey.  Both were evocative and well acted.  In Sideways one character was despicable and toxic; the other was pitiable but redeemable.  One dealt with his world by thrill-seeking, conquests and avoidance.  The other was driven by guilt, denial and borderline alcoholism under the guise of "wine connoisseur."   I always love a road trip, even a vicarious one, and the wine-country scenery is spectacular.  I need to see it again to remember some of the interactive moments between characters and to try to understand why these two fundamentally different people became long-time friends.

Kinsey  was my favorite of the two.  Usually in a movie, somewhere in the back of my mind,  the actor's name and face surfaces--but not this time.  Liam Neeson is Kinsey.  I dropped right into the story and suspended any judgment and logic.  I simply allowed the story to play out.  I thought it was extremely well done.

I was a middle-school student in the mid 50's when the controversy, surrounding the publication of Kinsey's research on women's sexuality, erupted.   The fundamental church my family attended at the time held special revival tent meetings to warn all its members against that evil book. 

My husband volunteers at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science with Jerry, an 80-year-old man who was interviewed twice by Alfred Kinsey: once when he was a freshman at Indiana University where Kinsey was conducting his research interviews and a second time three years later when he returned from WWII.  He saw the movie and loved it.

I'd almost forgotten the furor over the two books years ago but I can imagine that, even today, there will be ranting and raving against the movie.  I loved it and would highly recommend it as an interesting, well-acted story of one man's life and career.

Another movie which we saw earlier last week was The Motorcycle Diaries.  I don't know if I liked the movie more for its story or for the fact that the characters' route through Argentina, Chile and Peru re-enforced my recent immersion into the beautiful scenery of Chile. There is much to contemplate in the movie however and some similarity to the characters of Sideways. One character, Che, wants the trip to be a time of contemplation and self-discovery while his companion primarily wants to add sexual conquests to his personal list.  I learned a lot about Ernesto "Che" Guevara in his younger years, as this story is taken directly from his diary/letters to his Mom. I'd also recommend this movie.

Project Completed!

The Cutty Sark

After 18 months of spare-time work my husband has finally completed this wood model of The Cutty Sark, a British Tea Clipper ship. The actual ship is now dry-docked in Greenwich England, as a maritime museum, and is open to the public for viewing.  B says he will visit this museum sometime this coming year. 

I admire anyone who can do this kind of detailed craft.  I do not possess the patience to connect the minuscule links of chain and hammer nails smaller than a pin then file off the heads of each one.  The stairs, the life boats, all the rope ladders:  every detail is authentic. 

Now the challenge is to find the size of board for the base upon which to mount the Plexiglas's display case.  B is now testing different types of glue to bond the Plexiglas's pieces to each other and then will build the case.  I can hardly wait.  I have already chosen a place for it.

Light, Shadows and Needing People

Walkway in Denver Botanic Gardens

Every once in a while a reality check drops into my life. I've been keeping an unbelievable pace lately. Just a week after enjoying two weeks of delightful houseguests and touring Colorado's wonderful areas of interest, we left for Wisconsin to meet our new grandson and spend some quality time with his three-year old big brother. While there we drove to Door County one of Wisconsin's special places. We walked in airports, walked in parks, walked along Sturgeon Bay, climbed towers, scouted out a light house and finally walked the streets of Fish Creek before having lunch in a pictoresque restaurant there.

We returned home and I decided it was time to return to walking 30 minutes minimum four times a week in preparation for our trip to Chile in just over two weeks. Last Friday morning I walked out 15 minutes in the neighborhood and turned around. On the way back I began to feel pain in a muscle just behind my knee. I slowed my walking but the pain persisted until finally I could no longer put weight on my leg. I persuaded a neighbor to drive me home. My husband took me to the doctor and three hours later I was sent home with crutches, a prescription for megadoses of Naproxen and a cortisone shot directly into the knee. The entire weekend was spent with my knee elevated and iced.

Once again I was faced with , as my family always called it, "an obsession with self-sufficiency." It has always been difficult for me to ask for help. And so it was last week when I had to ask for everything to be carried to my side. Luckily I was only the captive of bed and crutches for three days before I could gingerly support weight on my leg again. I have, however, now begun to write in my journal and think more about why I resist vulnerability and an admission that I need people. A dear friend used to say to me, "If you don't say ouch, we can't bring the bandaids." Intellectually I know it's true but emotionally it is still difficult for me to need people.

Just because...

Gazebo roof with birdnest

My computer sits on a desk against one wall of a room that we call our library/office/computer room. It has also evolved into the room where my sons and their wives gather when they drop by. Last week I decided I didn't like the screen saver on my computer nor did I like any of the easily available choices. Not being in the mood to look further, I clicked the option to use photos from my computer-stored albums. A few days later I came home from running errands to find my son and husband sitting and watching my screen-saver photo show. They made a few not-so subtle remarks about the number of photos depicting dead trees, log structures, barn wood or gnarled roots. The photo above was one of them.

I can't explain why I'm drawn to wood. It's not just that I like tree shapes as I also like to photograph abandoned wooden buildings, barns, bridges, windmills and mining scaffolds. I have many photos of old rodeo arenas and pole corrals with loading chutes as well as a sizeable collection of photos featuring dead cactus wood. I love the warm colors of wood and the way light and shadow reveal its texture.

I know I have entirely too many photos of wooden subjects. I can't imagine what I'll ever do with them. Why do I keep them? Well, just because!

International Paella!

Tia Maite's expression regarding the weight of the Paella for 14 people.

Yesterday was our last day to have our Barcelona guests in our house. Their plane left at 8:40 p.m. As a wonderful parting gift they prepared paella for lunch for 14 people. M, their daughter and neice, lived in our house for more than a year. M married a Colombian who was born in the USA and they now live in Denver. M's sister is in Denver now studying English. My son recently married G, a Brazillian woman who was introduced to us by M. Yesterday we had for lunch: two Colombians, two Brazilians, five from Barcelona, three from our family and two friends who had hosted M's sister in their home.

I am amazed at the international network that surrounds our family. I can't remember when our hosting of international adults changed from just an interesting way to meet people from other countries to a vital international support system around the world. Somewhere along the line it did. Now we truly have "family of the heart" in many parts of the globe. Next "family" visit: Chile in November.

It seems strange today not to speak Spanish--and to have the house so quiet--but the memories of their visit are dancing in my head as I return the paella pan to its place in the storage room.

This afternoon I will attend a baseball game, part of the Rockies' last home-stand of the 2004 season.

Smile worthy!

Smiling Tree full of painted birdhouses

This happy tree made me smile today. I enjoy the thought that one of my neighbors introduced a bit of whimsy into both our lives. She came out of her house this morning as I was photographing the tree. She said she had been painting bird houses as a hobby for years and they were just collecting in her basement. Last Sunday her grown kids came over and hung them in the tree. They also were responsible for the facial expression on the tree.

We first discovered the tree yesterday just before sunset while walking through the neighborhood with our guests from Catalonia. Just when I have been hiding all week from news of the Republican National Convention and feeling mostly embarrassed by our country's image abroad, it was uplifting to see our country through their eyes and to see that the impression was a positive one.

Connecting, Disconnecting, Reconnecting!

Connecting
My world is shifting. My tranquil retirement, into which I usually allow no negative or toxic people, has been invaded and compromised. A feeling of uneasiness follows me like a bad odor. It’s election time and all my protestations that I’ve done my share of activism and will leave it to others to save the world while I in my retirement step aside to savor it, have fallen on unsympathetic ears. Desperate times demand desperate behavior, so I’ve enlisted in the war to protect our country. I’ve signed up to be a Block Captain for the Democratic Party. I will walk a neighborhood with printout in hand, encouraging people who are listed as Democrats and who have not showed up for the past several elections to vote. I will help their over-eighteen children register for the first time and provide vote-by-mail applications for those who fear voting machines. I will help arrange transportation to polls, if needed. I remember living in fear during the 50’s and haven’t enjoyed the return of it these past 4 years. I’m so convinced that we need new leadership in order to live in peace and cooperation with the global community that, while I’m reluctant to leave my comfortable retirement mode, I will add my voice and energy to do what I can to bring about a change.

Disconnecting
After ten years as a Key Person and interviewer for U.S. Servas, I will be resigning from that responsibility. Reorganization at the national level is switching the Servas organzation to a regional approach that will require that Key people attend monthly meetings and volunteer for 4-6 hours per week keeping records, contacting members and serving on committees. I still enjoy hosting travelers and interviewing but have no desire belong to a Servas “club.” I will continue to interview while my name is still in the currently circulating literature, but will not continue after January 1, 2005.

Reconnecting
We’ve officially been empty nesters for 12 years, yet our nest has seldom been empty. Beginning Tuesday until September 17, we’ll have all our bedrooms filled for the first time in recent years. We’ll have two dear friends from La Seu D’Urgell Spain and the husband’s sister added to our Brazilian and Japanese long-term guests. I am frantically trying to reconnect with my conversational Spanish as two of the three speak no English. These are the parents of a young woman who stayed with us for a year and who hosted my friend and I in their home in La Seu. It will be great to see them again.

What we notice...

Toddler playing in wet sand at Sloan's Lake

It seems my awareness of something only becomes heightened after personal experience with it. After the birth of my identical twins, I could spot a set of twins nearly everywhere we went. After a friend's grand-daughters were born with PKU, I began to spot articles about this genetic condition that I wouldn't have noticed previously. Now that my oldest son and his wife are adopting a baby girl from China, I am noticing all the Asian children everywhere. This darling little girl in the photo above was having a great time spashing her feet in the water and patting her hands on the sand. I am eager to meet and hold our new grand-daughter. The paper-work is currently being translated into Mandarin and when completed will be sent directly to the Chinese government. After the required search for parents and other bureaucratic checklist tasks are completed, they will be given three weeks notice to travel to China to meet and return home with their daughter. I can hardly wait. She will be our third grandchild but the first to live in our city.

Ordinary

This year's parkway flowers

I've had a difficult time lately deciding what to write about in this blog. Although I appreciate the ordinary surprises that each day provides, I can't seem to bring them to life with humor and spectacular writing like El does today on Prose and Cons or find grace and purpose in the details like Fran on Sacred Ordinary. Both are excellent writers and present such a wonderful glimpse into their respective lives.

Today I walked into my front yard for the first time in a long while. We live on a parkway, which in Denver means that there is a half-block green area between alternate one-way streets. Our garage and driveway are at the rear of the house off an alley. All our neighbors have doorbells on both the front and rear doors. Only the mail carriers, solicitors and school kids selling fundraising items come to our front door. Friends and neighbors all come to the back.

My husband is the gardener of the family. He plants, weeds and waters the flowers. I photograph and paint them. While he is gone this week to his paleontology camp, I am in charge of watering. Today I spent some time in our front yard and noticed, for the first time this summer, the flowers that the Denver Parks Department planted on the parkway across from our house. Each year they choose different varieties of flowers but they are always spectacular.

So today I celebrate the extraordinary flowers that brightened my ordinary day of grocery shopping, laundry and mopping the kitchen floor twice because a damp-footed dog left dirty paw prints on the clean white tile.

Lilies and Larry Walker

One in a Million

Yesterday was errand day. My husband is going to summer camp for a week so we were at the Sporting Goods store for supplies. Actually it isn't summer camp, it is a 7 day, 6 night paleontology dig which is the final requirement for his Paleontology Certification from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. B has been taking two to three classes per year for five years and with the completion of this course will be allowed to join the major paleontology projects of the museum.

The errands took less time than we had anticipated so since B had not seen the Chapungu exhibit--and I relished the opportunity to see it again--we went to the botanic gardens. We arrived just in time for an explanatory tour and saw even more of the sculptures--some in secluded trails or shaded sitting areas. This time I took no photos of flowers--except for the one above. Out of the millions of flowers in the gardens, this crimson lily captured my attention. What an exquisite bloom!

Goodbye to a Rockies legend.
Those of you who read regularly know I am an avid Colorado Rockies fan. We've had season tickets since 1993. When Larry Walker joined the Rockies in 1995 he not only energized the Rockies but the entire state of Colorado with his innate talent and aggressive style of play. A former hockey player from Canada, he plays right field with a hockey mentality, throwing his body to the ground to make spectacular catch after spectacular catch--often rising to make a pin-point throw from deep right field to home plate for an out. His body has rebelled the last few years but when he is healthy there is no better all-round player.

Yesterday it was announced that Larry Walker has been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, a team with a chance at post season play. I wish him well but I will miss hearing Ozzy Osborne's Crazy Train play as he steps up to the plate as one of the Rockies' original Blake Street Bombers and I will miss his subtle sense of humor in the interviews.

Time-Telling photos

For a fun and interesting way to get the time---and see some interesting photos from around the world--click on this link to the Human Clock.

Enjoy while I spend time on life's little drudgeries.

Countdown!

We're counting down to Saturday, June 26. The grandson and his parents moved into one guest room today. Two more couples arrive on Friday. The hubbub begins. It is a lawn wedding and a partially-open scalloped tent had been ordered but with the amount of rain we've had lately, my son decided that we should change the tent to the full-sided one--for an additional expense of course. Other than that everything seems to be on target. The refrigerator is full. The back deck has been hosed off and the oil candles filled with oil so we can sit outside and watch the grandson play while we visit with relatives we haven't seen since the last funeral or wedding.

I'm surprisingly unstressed. I've established that our house is to be bed and breakfast. We will eat out or order in for lunch and dinner Thursday through Sunday. Everyone is fine with that and I can spend time enjoying our guests instead of checking off menu ingredients. Our houseguests have diverse food preferences. We have two un-adventurous eaters--meat, potatoes and jello, two who will try anything, two vegetarians and one three-year old with a fancy for hot dogs, macaroni and cheese. The last guests leave July 2 and we leave for Brazil on July 4.

All the grandson wants to see are the gorilla, the crocodile and the elephant at the zoo, the butterfly pavillion and a baseball game. At three, it's so easy to please them.

This blog will be sandwiched between wedding doings and packing for our July 4th trip so posting will be sporadic and not terribly creative--unless the wedding provides a good story or two.

John Kerry has been in Denver the last two days and was well received. I like his command of the language, his intelligence and his understanding of how government is supposed to operate. His 35 years of experience with public policy definitely provides a contrast to Bush's trial-and--error arrogance. I do so hope Kerry can pull off a win and send Bush back to vacation at his Crawford Texas ranch, not just for the 42% of the time he spent there last year but for 100% of his time.

Old Roses!

When we bought our home 31 years ago this bush had gone unpruned for a very long time. We vowed that the next year we'd cut it back but it was so stunning in its wild display that we allowed it to continue its tangled journey across our brick wall. Now, more tree than bush, it has become a symbol to remind us that most things are not more beautiful when contained and restricted. We've grown to love it and though it hangs over the backyard sidewalk a bit, we just defer and give it the right-of-way.

Listing forward...

I know I'm tredding too near the edge of being overwhelmed when I find myself making lists of lists. As of today I have four lists, each containing four or more items to complete:

List I--Prepare for Lake Tahoe Race Trip, leaving June 4, returning June 18.
1. Get new carburetor for the motorhome generator. (In process-parts ordered.)
2. Clean motorhome, freshen holding tank, make bed with clean bedding.
3. Replace items removed during winterizing (containers of any liquid that could freeze and explode).
4. Inventory pantry and add needed items to the Tahoe trip grocery list. Buy the non-perishables.
5. Make reservations for:

a. Capitol Reef National Park in Utah
b. Cave Lake State Park in Nevada
c. Tahoe campground in South Lake Tahoe California
d. Truckee River State Park Nevada
e. Ruby Mountain National Forest Campground in Thompson Canyon, Nevada
f. Colorado State Forest State Park in Poudre Canyon.

6. Download Earthlink Accelerator onto laptop.
7. Select clothes, books, CD's and audio books to take along.
8. Choose journals, sketchbooks and art supplies to take.
9. Don't forget to send birthday cards and instructions on where to find hidden birthday gifts for my three sons, my Dad and one daughter-in-law who all have birthdays June 14 or 18.

List II--Wedding Preparation list for son's wedding June 26
1. Purchase Mom-of-Groom dress and shoes before we leave for Tahoe.
2. Convert my art room temporarily back into a guest room:

a. Organize, cull and hide a gazillion art supplies.
b. Replace the 25-year-old foam pad with a bona fide mattress and box-spring set.
c. Make room in the closet for guests clothes by moving winter clothes to basement cedar closet and hanging the boxed summer clothes in my bedroom closet.

3. Prepare menus and grocery list for 8-10 dinner guests each evening for about a week.
4. Plan fun things to do with grandson for five days after the wedding.

List III--Post-wedding reception in Brazil--leaving July 4 returning July 25.
1. Apply for travel Visa to Brazil, get it notarized and include a money order for the $110 "reciprocity" fee--exactly the amount of fees now required by the U.S. government for Brazilian citizens to enter our country.
2. Decide on itenerary and dates, then purchase TAM coupons for intra-Brazil flights.
3. Put our names on the Delta stand-by list from Denver to Sao Paulo.
4. Get annual physical and updates on prescriptions before leaving.

List IV--Miscellaneous
1. Get heart-worm shot for dog
2. Make a list for the house-sitters itemizing instructions regarding mail, watering days, vet's name etc
3. Begin stress management exercises today.
4. Enjoy the process--these are all fun events!

Feathered Finery. Freewriting & GDO

Peacock in courtship ritual pose
I've seen many peafowl but this peacock has the largest span of plumes that I've seen. I am sure the top feathers were eight feet from the ground. When the peacocks at the zoo begin to lose their plumes, the keepers pick them up and give some to the docents and staff. They don't want children to pick them up and give other children the idea that they can pluck feathers right off the birds. One of the keepers made a beautiful framed arrangement of peacock plumes that she donated to be raffled at a zoo-volunteer meeting. I won it and four years later the colors are still vibrant. Peacocks are such beautiful birds though not among the smartest. The keepers often joked that peafowl got their name because their brains are the size of a pea.

As the days become warmer and summer officially draws nearer, I'm finding it difficult to sit in front of the computer. I've also taken on a couple of extra weekly activities. As I will be going to Chile in November I decided to join a Spanish group to dust off my Spanish skills and remind myself of rarely-practiced verb conjugations. Two women friends of mine in this group meet afterwards with other writers to do freewriting. I use to write with them but lately have fallen out of the habit. They have invited me to join them again. We went to the Botanic Gardens and wrote for almost three hours. Freewriting consists of writing on a selected prompt for 15 to 20 minutes, writing quickly--just keeping the pen moving and capturing first thoughts without making judgements as to quality or whether others might approve. This technique has been championed by Natalie Goldberg the author of Writing Down The Bones.

Today I attended my third ATC trading meeting with two friends I first met online six years ago in an email subscription group for journal keepers called Scribe Tribe. We traded for a little more than an hour, had a Japanese lunch at Mori's Tokyo Cuisine, walked through the Ball Park Flea Market--a block from Coors Field--and ended up in Guiry's Art Supplies to buy a few art necessities. All in all, a great GDO--"Girls' Day Out!"

Tomorrow my sons are taking me to Tucanos, a Brazilian rotissere restaurant, for Mother's Day. I plan to taste each of the varieties of spit-roasted meats and the delicious tropical salads and make that my last meal of the day.

It's always something!

Found while walking in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.

In the year and a half that I have had my digital camera I have learned to "never leave home without it." On those occasions when I have been without my camera, I have invariably discovered something unusual, interesting or just strange that would have made a wonderful photo. Now, I always carry my camera--just in case. I am finding that just as every person has a story, so too does every place. Each time I visit my parents I find a new photo opportunity--such as the trailer above--in their small town of 7,000 inhabitants.

My parents have lived in Truth or Consequences --abbreviated by the locals as T. or C.--since 1962 but used to visit it in the early 50's, for a couple of weeks each winter, when it was still known by its original name: Hot Springs, New Mexico. In searching for an article explaining the name change I happened upon a site that tells stories not only about New Mexico but stories of other states as well. Check them out at this link.

Ahhhhhh! I needed that!

I really needed a quiet weekend with like-minded friends and enjoyable activities. I had just that. Friday was a snowy day and I cocooned in my art room collecting collage materials and trying out some new gizmos guaranteed to inspire and release my well-hidden talent.

Saturday I met at Common Grounds Coffee Shop with eight other women, most of whom are middle-school art teachers, for a show and tell art day. Some of the women primarily keep handwritten journals with added visuals, some keep sketchbook and travel journals, one brought a journal created from Word documents with digital photos pulled in--which she prints daily and keeps in a binder. some are more into craft than art, but all are fascinating and enjoyable companions with a shared enthusiasm for art and writing.
After showing and telling, one women gave us all a blank playing-card and we each made an original art card to put in a bowl so each person could draw one to take home.

Yesterday evening my husband and I were invited for a Raclette dinner with our friends Paula and Dave and Xell, a mutual friend from Spain. Almost two years ago Xell and her sister gave both families a Raclette Grill and we have had such fun with them. It is one of those cook-eat-and-talk meals that can last for hours. A typical meal includes several kinds of meats-- usually beef, chicken and fish--as well as potatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, asparagus or other vegetables in season. In small trays placed on the lower level of the grill various types of cheese are melted to pour over the vegetables. All of us had been keeping a stressful schedule lately so it was nice to just relax.

Tonight I am going to a baseball game to see my Rockies play the reigning World Series Champions, the Florida Marlins.

My batteries have been recharged and I am content--for another week or so.

Understudy!

Copper takes charge while I "get a life."

There is for me a constant conflict between writing about my opinions, interactions and activities and actually having a life which involves developing opinions, interacting with others and taking part in activities that are worth writing about. Today I'm off to recharge the batteries and have dinner with friends.

Flight!

Rainy days send me into solitary persuit. I spent the past two rainy days thinking about and collecting images for a collage which will eventually be reduced as an Artist's Trading Card. One of the possible topics is Flight and one of the possible images is the Da Vinci Flying Machine built by my husband. I am very new to the art of Collage and mine always more resemble an indiscriminate hodgepodge than art. For artful collage cards see Fran's blog, Sacred Ordinary. I now have selected several images but haven't begun the actual collage. It's such a sunny outdoor-inviting day that I will probably push the entire project forward to the next inclement one.

Another indoor time-filler was searching for live web cams in Colorado. I found several--and in the process stumbled onto Tommy's List of web cams around the world. I am amazed at how many public web cams there are. There's a good chance your city/country has one or more web cams. Note: It's much more interesting to view them--and they refresh more often--during daylight hours.

Saving Daylight?

Today MSN Encarta features an interesting article on why many states and countries switch to daylight-saving or summer time. I know some people have strong feelings against the whole procedure, but I've never really objected to it. Then again, I was never clear about the reasoning behind it either.

In any event, DST begins here tomorrow. If tomorrow is like today, there won't be much daylight to save: We're solidly overcast enjoying a much-needed slow soaking rain. More good news is that the rain is having some effect on the stubborn forest fire which has been burning several days at Picnic Rock near Fort Collins.

Off I go to continue my rain dance!

Proof!

Squirrel-proof trash container purchased by the Denver Zoo!

When the zoo staff confronted the company which sold the "Squirrel-proof" containers, the response was, "Well, we were talking about the spring-tension on the lid opening. The squirrels cannot exert enough pressure to open the lid." I suppose that nobody realized that squirrels have teeth sharp enough to crack very hard nuts.

Being a card-carrying member of the Center for Inquiry and a 10-year subscriber of The Skeptical Inquirer, I am naturally skeptical when something is billed as (fill-in-the-blank) proof: spill-proof, burglar-proof, stain-proof, weather-proof, child-proof, escape-proof etc. I also have doubts about "guaranteed permanent" or "absolutely non-staining." Proof to me follows a chain of logical steps toward a conclusion, eliminating false premises, as in the scientific method.

I mostly live in the gray areas. In my opinion, few--if any--things fall into an either-or category. Almost nothing is, under every circumstance, absolutely right or wrong. If I must make a decision, I prefer multiple options. If I must choose between two unpleasant options, I'd like multiple reasons pro and con. When someone professes to have the "only" possible solution to a problem, I omit them from--or cross them off--my list of trusted advisors. (I believe this explains why I'll be voting the way I will in the November election!)