fossilfreak

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 602

93.0 miles

heating up, 90s

 

276 recordings of 46 type, 35% clear. I am halfway through season 3 of NCIS.

 

On the 10th of August I was weeding the zinnia bed and semi-tripped over my little wire fence. I didn't fall, thank goodness, but had (and still have) a doozy of a bruise.

 

Pharaoh was giving me trouble about coming in at night and I left him out about 40 minutes.

 

I went to Bernadette's and played with Padreic and helped clean out Gareth's room a bit. She told me the coming operation will take out the appendix, which makes sense.

 

My driver's license renewal came. Too late to get an appointment, especially with the medical issues.

 

I went to the pizza party for Sharing God's Bounty. I really pigged out. It's amazing how many people are involved in so many jobs... besides cooks and servers there's publicity and volunteer liasons... I sat next to Peter Mithin and Boyd Keenan. I felt a little silly saying why I was there, but as a founder, and hospitality early on, and as Rich's widow, I was OK. I said I didn't do much now but bring coffee and both Ann and Jim said I was also a generous donor.

 

My jaw hurt on the way home. I don't need a heart attack just now, TYVM.

 

I finished the jigsaw puzzle in 9 days. It has 5 pieces missing, but 31 pieces that didn't belong to this puzzle. I took it up to Niki.

 

August 11 was second Saturday breakfast. I spent some time looking for my Social Security card so I can get a Real ID driver's license. I stopped at Lazy-Boy on the way home and got some glasses. I took them up to Vince and Niki but they didn't want them.

 

August 12, Father had a LONG homily. He's very excited about the Mass and eager to share it. Then I went to Communion at the nursing home. It's been a long time, since before the disastrous Pittsburgh trip.

 

I ordered face masks for the smoke in Oregon.

 

August 13. I finally got my appointment to get the results... very disappointing. Basically Svetlana, who is a very nice lady but NOT the doctor, read me a black and white copy of the color report I got from the doctor. They're going to refer me to a surgeon. I was in tears when I left and went to Bernadette's. She was too wrapped up in her World Con plans to be sympathetic. I tried calling the doctor's office to find out the name of the surgeon, but of course it didn't work. So I don't know any more than I did before.

 

I walked over for a geocache, which I actually found.

 

August 14 I drove back out to the office to get the surgeon's name and phone number so if they call while I'm gone, as they did, in fact, I could call back for an appointment. It turned out there's no phone service at Crater Lake so I couldn't check in at home until Friday, and couldn't call the surgeon's office till Monday, but I got an appointment for Friday! I had to replace the bulb in the back hall.

 

There was a Pilgrim's pizza party, and this time I didn't pig out quite so much. I gave a little speech about Casa Leopoldo in Palas de Rei. I bought wine for the trip to Ashland and packed my Ashland glass, but couldn't find my beaded covers for the glasses!

 

And, finally, Wednesday the 15th, I could start my Oregon trip. I packed two duffel bags, one for Crater Lake and the other for Ashland. My sandwich was too big for a regular sandwich bag! Finally, I left the house at 7:47. I drove and drove (past a field of melons!) till 9:48, the Corning rest area. I needed to get out and stretch even more than I needed a potty break! What a nice rest area, where I've probably never stopped before. Look at all the olive trees! Is there a geocache here? (My pocket query assumed I was taking Highway 99 instead of I-5.)

 

 

At 11:39 I was at Castella, looking (unsuccessfully) for a cache. I had waved gaily at the rest area where I saw the eclipse last year. After the fruitless search I stopped at the RRPark resort to ask how they were doing with the smoke. I'd put on my mask at Redding because it was really bad there. There were "thank you" signs to firefighters on all the overpasses. My favorite was "thank you for kickin' ash."

 

 

 

I ate my sandwich at the resort and decided not to stop in Dunsmuir, maybe on the way back. (no.) I went on to Weed and couldn't find the cache at the totem pole, but fortunately stopped at the gas station for a potty break. I say "fortunately" because the rest area on hwy 97 was closed.

 

I didn't notice there was a cache in Dorris (and in a store, I really could have found it!) till I was just past the turn to it. And no real place to turn around. Oh, well. I did stop and take a good look at the second-highest flagpole in the world, which we had watched being built, back in the days when we would drive to Spokane on 97.

 

 

 

 

I stopped for gas in Klamath Falls, next to the Super 8 where I stayed when I went up alone to get Vince (when Rich bought the van!) Actually, leave them alone for 25 years and they change everything! Then when I took the turn for Crater Lake I started looking for geocaches, but only found one of the ones I had marked. I stopped at the overlook for Annie Falls, and finally got to Crater Lake about 4:30. I registered and got cabin D1.

 

Then I tried to call Vince, and discovered there was no phone service. So I left a note at the camping check-in, but decided, sensibly, not to trust that and sat on a log overlooking the parking lot while I read a book. Sure enough, I saw them, about 5:30, and told Niki just to register to see if they got the message... nope. They were camped about .4 miles away, further when I walked around the long way.

 

I sprang for dinner and had pork chops with mustard, cornbread and butter, and green beans. Yummy. And I bought A.J. his first stretched penny. I spent the rest of the time at Crater Lake looking for an album, but they finally managed to get one (and two more pennies) on the way home.

 

340 recordings of 30 types, 62 old SVU. 24% clear.

 

This year, as the kids were in Oregon, I went to the Retreat House for the Triduum Retreat. I'd never even heard of the Triduum until I was in college at the Newman Center. We were of the "go on Sunday and holy days" type, and my grandmother would go to Confession every time she was going to go to Communion. We went to Good Friday services. Lent ended about noon on Saturday so we could pig out on candy! For Rich, he was the altar boy with the priest who went from house to house blessing the bread and salt and eggs and who knows what on Saturdays, and got tips and food from the people. This was one of the reasons he loved Easter. But Father Taylor is the one who introduced me, and possibly him, to the whole cycle of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil.

 

During our marriage, we usually went to these. I didn't always do them all, and sometimes he missed Good Friday. (At least he did in 2011, and I went and was upset with one woman who decided during what was supposed to be silent prayer to go to the ambo and read scripture.) St. Philomene's Easter Vigil was special, at least until our music director left. (And Vince and Bernadette both agree that we miss this one. Vince went at his church, and Bernadette was singing at the one in Junction City. The Retreat House one was beautiful, but not the same.)

 

So. Thursday afternoon I took the dog to the kennel, then came back to the Air Museum and renewed our membership. Their passes now are virtual, but since I don't have a smart phone I'll get physical cards. (Which came and I printed them out, but the woman who had my old card in her hand really confused it: "Jan and Bernadette Durbin Yarnot." I imagine they'll do.)

 

Then, because I had a little time before check in, I tried a geocache. Without luck, of course. All the caches in this area seem to be missing, since no one has found one since 2016, with the exception of the one I tried. Oh, well.

 

I stopped by the kitchen before I went to check in, to give them a dozen of Monica's oranges. They appreciated it and put them out at dinner, and people enjoyed them.

I checked in, and settled into my room, which was on the ground floor this time. It was 90 minutes to dinner, and also it was 88 degrees, so I changed out of the long-sleeved shirt I was wearing. I still had on the Camino t-shirt, and John asked me about it. He was sitting with Susan and I assumed at first they were married, but then he would sit one place and she another, so I was confused. This finally got resolved Easter morning brunch, when I learned they both are on an interfaith team and go to a lot of conferences where they see each other. She may be interested in him, and I decided over the course of the retreat that he isn't so much interested in people as he is in his prayer life. Still, he asked me about the Camino a couple of times. He had gone to the Santiago cathedral when he was in Spain, but not actually walked the Camino.

 

I went and walked the labyrinth, which I always love. I also visited the library and picked a book that was a bit different, "Until Tuesday." More on this later.

 

 

 

Dinner was pasta and gravy, some meat, salad, and steamed veggies. I took a roll but skipped dessert (which looked WONDERFUL! They all did. I tried to limit my carbs, with dubious success, but at least no desserts (and one tiny chocolate egg which I simply could not resist!)) Father Giltus gave me a big hug when he saw me. I sat with Elaine, and then she and I sat together at every meal and many of the conferences. John sat next to me and we talked some more.

 

I tried to limit my talking to myself. If I like the silence I must stop breaking it!!

 

We had an introduction to the whole retreat, and then the liturgy which started in the conference room with footwashing. I was one of four or so people who didn't do it. It was beautiful though, someone would have their feet washed (one of four stations) and then wash the feet of the next person. Then we went to the church for the rest of the liturgy, the Last Supper. Afterwards they stripped the altar and we left in silence.

 

 

 

I had signed up to come for adoration at 4:30, so I kept waking up every half hour or so after 1:30 to be sure I didn't miss it. I padded down to the conference room for coffee and had brought Belvita to dunk in it as I do here at home, so I was ready. There was one lady who appeared to have camped out in there... she was on the floor praying but later she lay down and slept (and snored!) a bit. There was another woman there when I arrived at 4:15 and the 5:00 woman was a few minutes late, but I made the full hour.

 

Breakfast (in silence) was at 8. This one was in silence, but that fell apart at the other meals, which were also supposed to be in silence. Father Tom kept trying to emphasize silence but it didn't work. I myself stayed fairly quiet, though. Breakfast was yogurt, fruit, scrambled eggs, hash browns, and Raisin Bran. (And, of course, O.J. and coffee!)

 

At 9 we had a Tenebrae service for morning prayer. Father Joe explained about it. It's a monastic prayer. There are 5 candles set up in front of the Crucifix, and at the end of each reading, one is extinguished, until only one candle is left. It is hidden, and there's a cacophony, symbolizing chaos without the light of Christ. Then the light returns and is placed on the altar. I really liked this service.

 

 

10 o'clock was the Stations of the Cross, outside. There were numerous distractions for me: the people who brought their little dog, the 4 year old having a tantrum (but I'd like to bring Gareth next year), a turkey with a limp, some class from somewhere playing noisily before they came to do the stations, people not moving to give others room. Still, it was a good experience.

 

 

Father Tom's conference was on Mark 6:1-6. One thing he said, quoting Jesus, was "My ability to be excellent depends on your willingness to be excellent with me."

 

Then lunch! Like all the retreats I've been on here, the food was excellent. Pasta with marinara sauce, a roll with butter but l didn't take the mashed potato (sigh) 3 bean salad and a VERY juicy apple. Lunch was supposed to be silent, too, but that was beginning to crumble.

 

Afterwards I got an Elf help book for Joanna and then went to "Movement and Meditation" where we raised our arms... it didn't do much for me. Then I didn't want to do the art, so I went to take a nap.

 

At 3 the Good Friday liturgy started in the conference room. It seems there were three Isaiahs spread out over a couple of centuries! Father Tom talked about the "suffering servant" and likened it to the Parkland kids. It's not "why me?" but "who does my suffering help?" In the church we read the Passion narrative, then venerated the Cross, then had Communion. I do not normally have wine, but intended to today (all weekend, actually) but they ran out.

 

I walked around the grounds, .8 miles. This tired me out.

 

Dinner was fish and chips, salad and cole slaw.

 

The evening prayer was for the World. In the part praying for peace I tried to say peace in ourselves, but the word "unworthy" didn't come to me and I mumbled something about feeling incompetent. Oh, well, God knew what I meant.

 

I went to bed about 8:15 but was awake at 1:45 for awhile. Because there was a skunk outside I had to close the window.

 

I was really into the book I was reading, "Until Tuesday" by Luis Carlos Montalvan. He was seriously wounded in Iraq and this is about his recovery, and PTSD, and Tuesday, the service dog who helped him. I commented in my diary about him meeting Col. McMaster. About his disappointment with Obama because he never demanded accountability. "Baby wipes, one of humankind's most under-rated inventions." I finished the book at 4 AM and then was able to go back to sleep. I got up at 5:30 and went to the other building to the library to pick up the sequel.

 

Breakfast was french toast (OK, enough already, I had a piece! But I skipped the potatoes!) sausage, fruit yogurt, raisin bran and O.J. It, too, was supposed to be in silence. The Mindful Movement was walking. I tried, I tried, but I just don't get it. We had another Tenebrae service.

 

I talked to a man sitting outside about the Camino.

 

Father Tom is from Pittsburgh. Also, there's a Passionist monastery in Pittsburgh and I've since looked it up, not really all that far from where Rich grew up. This conference was good except we broke into groups and were supposed to discuss one thing but ended up talking about Jehovah's witnesses, and conversion, etc. This way I was able to avoid sharing, and made my escape for lunch. I really don't do well with group discussions.

 

The Holy Spirit is not a dove, but an EAGLE!!

 

Lunch was salad, bratwurst, sauerkraut, beans and I had a few chips. Dessert looked lovely, too.

 

 

 

My plan was to sit outside and read, but that didn't work out too well. Elaine spotted my Camino shirt and wanted to know all about it, so we talked about that for about 20 minutes. (Poor Father Tom. He kept asking for silence, with very little success.) She apparently hadn't noticed Thursday night, nor heard me talking to John about it. Finally we were through and I went to a bench overlooking the grounds, got settled in, and sometimes looked up to see John walking the labyrinth. Then I had a nosebleed!

 

Back in the room, and since it was a bit chillier than yesterday I put the longsleeve shirt again. I was reading, and suddenly saw John walk past my room holding a water glass. What in heck? (My window was overlooking grass, not sidewalk!) So I asked him later and apparently he had a long conversation at the labyrinth with a ladybug. He didn't see it when he'd finished the walk, but it seems to have hitch-hiked back to the building with him, so he was replacing it "fly away home".

 

Then the fire alarm went off. I went out with my book but without my purse, and mostly without my camera. It did turn out to be a false alarm, but I couldn't get a picture of the fire truck!

 

There was a short conference about the Sign of the Cross.

 

Montalvan's second book (Tuesday's Promise) was more about life with Tuesday, and he decided to have his leg amputated so he could have a great prosthesis and maybe start running again. This was a lot of the book, as well as getting back with his family and going to spend all the holidays together. Also, what to do as Tuesday aged... he was 10 and would soon start slowing down, so they planned to have a successor dog, Promise, who would be trained for two years then join the family and slowly take over chores from Tuesday. The book ended on a very hopeful, upbeat, note. And then the co-author's epilog told of Montalvan's suicide, December 2, 2016. Apparently he was having trouble with the leg, had had orthopedic surgery in Australia and Tuesday wasn't there, and was in Houston for further treatment. Without Tuesday. WHY didn't someone come along to take care of the dog while Luis Carlos was laid up? I'm certain that if the dog had been there he'd have noticed the human's mood and helped. This is so sad. And now I know why these books are in the library. (They were donated by a friend of Montalvan's, but that isn't what I mean.)

 

 

 

Supper was stuffed pork chops. Mighty hard to cut, but tasty.

 

The Easter Vigil Mass started outside, with a fire kindled with flint and steel... Rich always figured that a lighter was flint and steel, but this was a real stone and knife. Eventually the sparks caught. Then I held the book while Father incised the candle and said all the prayers, and then we all went into the chapel. Then he brought the candle in (but I missed the "Lumen Christi!" "Deo Gracias!")

We all had candles, they took the book away from me, and then we took the lights to behind the altar where they were put into sand trays. This is not the usual time this happens, but it worked better with the way the chapel is configured. There were three readings in the dark, then the lights came up for the Gospel! Father Tom read the Gospel of Mark and then talked about it. "When I say 'Jesus Christ is Risen' you say 'Jesus Christ is Risen Indeed!'" And it was pretty much the ending of every sentence.

 

Then it was time for me to hold the book again while water was poured into the basin and Father blessed it, then put the candle into it, then had us renew our baptismal vows. This time everyone sprinkled water on everyone else. They took the book away from me and went on with the Mass. It was beautiful, and I have a second career now, as a book stand.

 

 

We had a social with antipasto, and John wanted to talk to me more about the Camino, but Joyce came up to talk about meditation and he was distracted. I made my excuses and said I'd see him in the morning, and went to bed.

 

Easter morning, up before dawn, out on the grounds greeting the sun with meditative movement. Also admiring the almost-full moon setting.

 

   

 

 

A Continental breakfast in the conference room, then Easter Mass. I wore a skirt. I had the reading from Acts. Father Tom explained each reading before the reader came, and then I wondered if he'd actually forgotten to read the Gospel, as he was down the room folding a sheet with Olivia and then saying "Jesus Christ is Risen!" But when this was done, he headed back to the ambo reciting the Gospel. Then he had a real stemwinder of a sermon. What I took away from it was that Jesus, without the winding sheets, was naked. And it's up to us to clothe Him. Am I ready to be his wardrobe?

 

Again I held the book for the Baptismal vows, and gave it back to Father after he went around sprinkling everyone.

 

John saved me a seat at brunch (yummy yummy) because I asked him to (I had to go to the bathroom first) and Susan sat across the table, so the talk was all about prayer. The night before he said he is going to be a grandfather in November so we did talk about that a little.

 

And so I left, picked up the dog, and attempted to get back to the real world.

 

 

308 recordings of 21 types. 66 old SVU. 31% clear.

 

Sunday morning (the 18th) I went to church. There was an amazing time when all these young people, at least 100, filed in. I gathered it was a Confirmation class by the flame badges they were wearing, and later, after meeting the 14(!) leaders who came from as far away as Scotland and many different states, I deduced it was a retreat, and probably most of the diocese.

 

Then I came home, quickly wrote a journal entry, cleaned up the kitchen and living room, grabbed a quick bite, and was out of the house by 11:15. I tried stopping near the raptor center to see if I could get the cache I missed the other day, but it was down a steep slope and I had no backup if I hurt myself, so I reluctantly let it go. There were a couple of slowdowns on the road to San Jose, including one complete stop, but I got to Monica's house about 2:20, yay me.

 

 

Mark wasn't there! He was off riding his bike. Monica helped me carry the train stuff into the house, and the grill set from Lazy Boy. Then she gave me two bags of citrus. Now I'm trying to sprout some kumquat seeds. We were on our way out the door to walk down to the MLK library when Mark arrived, so we told him he wasn't allowed to look till I got back.

 

It was a pleasant walk and I got to see the inside of the library (which is a joint city and university library, which is a fantastic idea!) with Charlotte. When we got back to the house, I went and got Mark, telling him I want to play with the trains.

 

He was delighted. The decorations are great, (he thinks he can use Windsor Castle as an amusement park) and the trains wonderful. He said one locomotive was worth over $300! I'm so glad I didn't have to try to sell them! (And I just found another box with more layout stuff, though not as full as the last one.) Two of the transformers were corroded, and he gave me back the good one that was in good shape, because the Z gauge train was in the box. So I still have the tiny tiny one.

 

I overheard Genevieve breaking my heart. She was making a poster or something that said "If you're pro-life you're pro-welfare..." Sigh. But no point in confronting the 17-year-old, who knows everything of course. I hope the society continues to change, because I'm sure her grandchildren will be horrified that people nowadays thought abortion was acceptable, the way we are disgusted by slavery.

 

Monica and Charlotte went off to see a play, and Mark had a dinner with friends, so I said goodbye to Genevieve and drove off to Helena's. Of course I once again turned at the wrong exit (the Lawrence expressway). Maybe next time I'll get it right.

 

Helena, on medication for her bad back, couldn't have the wine, but *I* surely enjoyed it!

 

She fixed a pleasant dinner and we were relaxing, both in our jammies at 9 when all of a sudden the CO monitor went off with an ear-piercing shriek! It turned off for a short time when I took it outside, but started up again in the house and there was no shutting it off... Helena went through the neighborhood till she found someone to remove the batteries. We opened windows and turned off the heater, but it was obviously a defective monitor. (It never stopped, even outside.) Nonetheless, we were jumpy.

 

Helena has a way of repeating herself that is easy for me to catch. When I got home I found myself talking to myself (which I do) "That was good. It was quite tasty." "I really liked that tasty meal." "It was really good."

 

Monday morning I went out geocaching. To my delight, I found the first three, so of course I got cocky and didn't find two, but ended up with 5 finds, including two Little Free Libraries and I did remember to bring books to leave at each. (And picked up a book for Padreic at the first one.) The second one was built from an old fence. Their hint was something about the attic so I wasted a lot of time looking there before I found the cache in a fake book. Really clever!

 

 

Helena had been intent on taking the CO monitor to Home Depot but when I got back and said "let's go" she didn't want to. We had lunch and then went off to Notre Dame High School. Monica and Mark had each given us directions, and they differed slightly, so once I had the vague idea, I was able to get to the school, and I saw the parking lot was open. Helena, trying to interpret the instructions, was telling me to turn right, but I decided to circumnavigate the school first, and sure enough, we got a parking place in the school lot!

 

There was a little program, and then Charlotte took us on a tour of the school. The tour finishes at a big display of place settings... each Freshman girl made a plate and display about a famous woman. Of course there were a lot of women like Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, not so many of the Condaleesa Rice persuasion. They did have Katherine Johnson, (Hidden Figures), and Malala, women I really respect. They also had Bella Abzug and Margaret Sanger. I dont know why one has to be in favor of killing babies to be a feminist, and this at a Catholic school. If I lived here I would be biting my tongue so very much.

 

 

They also had some really nice food and I, like an idiot, threw out a very nice plastic cup that they had veggies and dip in (so I went back for another which I kept.)

 

They finished with the school song and I was reminded of the time I saw Charlotte in her 1st grade performance of "I'm going to eat some worms" when she really got into it and shuddered. I said then she'd be an excellent actress and so she has been (apart from the first time when she was just checking with everyone else about what she should do.)

 

 

Afterwards I drove us to Monica's (which Helena, for some reason, calls Mark's) where she fixed a very nice dinner. I told her I'd filled my eye-rolling quotient for the day, but I got a few more in before we were done.

 

Part of the eye-rolling was because I'd said "sure" I'd come to her grief support group and then she was all a-dither about dinner, we'd be late, they couldn't have it early enough, etc. etc. I finally said I wanted to go to dinner(!) and to the grief group if we managed but que sera sera. She'd managed to get Mark involved in the panic, but in the end we had a good dinner, plenty of chat time, and make it to the meeting in time. Though Helena's deafness did cause some trouble because on the way back I asked, to be sure, if the grief group was at the church, and she heard something about the Greek church and said she'd never been there and I'm thinking that can't be right. We finally got it sorted out. It's good we went because we were the only two people there apart from the group leaders. I wore my WPAC name badge and we ended up talking about that. They thought we had some good ideas. I pretty well dominated the hour, but we did give Helena some time to talk.

 

Tuesday early I left, and came home. It wasn't too bad once I got out of SJ.

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 595

31.3 miles

rain rain rain

 

328 recordings of 28 types. 68 old CPD, 1 old SVU. 25% clear.

 

 

Sunday March 4 I went on a WPAC trip for the first time in a couple of years. I had planned to sit in the bus with Thea, and she thought we were doing it too, but Sharon was convinced Thea would be with Donna and she put me with Ray. Uh-oh... while Ray and I have been communicating (ever since I showed him my air museum membership card) lately, there was some tension earlier. As it happened, we got along fine. At the beginning he said "I don't know why I'm stammering" and I said "Apparently I intimidate you. I certainly don't MEAN to" and after that he stopped stammering.

 

We talked books and travel, seeing President Kennedy and other famous people (I had Milton Caniff, and he knew who that was! I completely forgot Eva Gabor) and it was quite entertaining. When the coach arrived in Antioch we stopped at the Lone Tree golf club for their brunch buffet, and all I can say is.. wow. There was so very much food! I didn't wait for the roast beef, but went through a different line, so filled my plate with so very much good food. Thea and Donna had waited for us to sit next to them, and Ron and Gen were also at the table. I had wanted to tell Ron that I walked across Spain, because he always liked to walk. I also wanted to tell him I'd gone to Africa. And I wanted to tell Gen that my Wednesdays were fun, since she had asked the last time I saw them. I still miss him, though I don't think I showed it. I did find his dithering exasperating while he was trying to find the dining room. At one point I pointed at Ron and Ray and said they were the only two WPAC members I'd been geocaching with.

 

I ate a lot, but tried to be carb conscious. I was the only person at the table who only had one dessert! There was a lot of merriment going on when Donna couldn't get her dishes picked up and put them on another table... then the people who had that table reserved came in.

 

I'd noticed a geocache but it would have been too far a walk, so I didn't go for it.

 

Then the driver wanted to show us some of Belmont, but eventually decided there was too much traffic. So off to the Antioch theater where the Zmed brothers did their Everly Brothers Experience show. Not only did they sing the songs, but told us biographical information. It was really great! Toward the end I found myself in tears, not so much crying for Rich (who was later than most of these songs) but apparently for my lost youth. Which was a huge surprise, since this is the first time I've not been content with my current age.

 

And so home, a quieter ride during which I pretty well finished my book.

 

Monday the water people were back, to my surprise. I spent much of the day watching, wondering what they were doing. Finally, as they unloaded the fire hydrant at my neighbor's house, it all became clear. Oh, THAT's what the mysterious "FH" meant!

 

This is when I discovered the VCR control panel and rescued "Lady and the Tramp." I'm not going to try to get it set up with this television, though, but going to wait until I get the white elephant set up. It dawns on me I will need a remote, as well as speakers. I'd thought I could do it by hand but with a VCR and DVD player I will almost certainly need a remote to get to the different INPUTs.

 

The olde movie I watched was "Ball of Fire."

 

I guess I fed Pharaoh twice He doesn't let me know, but then he upchucked. Sigh.

 

I'd dozed off, and Helena called at 9 something, to let me know it would be OK to stay with her in a couple of weeks.

 

Tuesday my Fishdom game finally had something I could play, Herman the crab, so I did that. (I'm saving the main games, which get added 15 at a time on Thursdays, till they open the new aquarium, so I can win their goodies to furnish it.

 

Once again, I skipped the ladies' breakfast. I like the people, but not the restaurant so much.

 

Movies were "Test Pilot" and "Talk of the Town."

 

I took a box of books to the library and stopped at the office. They still didn't have my name badge, so I tried ordering it again. I made my reservation for a gambling trip to Cache Creek casino. They had sent Rich an invitation, before he died, and I thought I could use it but called first, what a hassle, but I have a membership now. But I've only gone there one time, in 2012, so would enjoy going back. Without having to drive it!

 

I then stayed for the board meeting.

 

On the way home I stopped for cuticle cream, because my fingernails are miserable. I couldn't find the sort ot tube I was looking for, so I got Aquaphor which says it's for cuticles, too.

 

And it was a nice call from Vince. I'm actually letting him talk occasionally.

 

The Gummint is suing California over sanctuary cities. Great, I get to pay both sides (as well as the 18 times Becerra has sued Trump. One of which he's lost.) The state is going to pot, and this is how they spend my tax money.

 

Wednesday, my dreams seemed to mix up Eric's page job with Last Man Standing. Odd.

 

Wee Wednesday was about the Faith Ringgold exhibit. We started with the "word quilt" book, then upstairs, in front of the quilt, we had the story the quilt tells.Padreic was interested and talked about the first book but we got interrupted with an unneeded potty stop, and he didn't know about grandma's quilt. When I went back to the Crocker on my own to really look at the exhibits, I bought both those books and took them to him and he was fascinated and loved them.

 

The kids got out early this week, so I was home in time to call the church bookkeeper and get my donations sorted out. I figure the tax people would have taken my word for it, so we'd only need proof if I got audited. However, the bookkeeper mailed the correction right away.

 

I've got a new game, Alice in the Mirrors of Albion. It's a very involved hidden objects game and I was getting frustrated that it wouldn't let me buy hints and kept freezing on me. I deleted and reinstalled it twice with minimal success, but then I reset the iPad and all was well.

 

Thursday, the kids were still getting out early, so we went over to Davis to the Raptor Center. It doesn't take much time to go through, but I think Joanna was quite interested. I walked over to look for a cache but there was a woman sitting in a car there. Then when we drove past she was gone and I said that, but Bernadette didn't stop. Oh, well, I'll look for it when I'm going down to San Jose.

 

Kim wants to meet with Trump! His Gridiron joke, about "how do you meet with a madman? That's not my problem, it's Kim's!" is coming true!

 

 

348 recordings of 32 types. 1 old SVU, 71 old CPD, 33 LMS. 23% clear.

 

 

Friday was OW day!

I woke with a terrible back pain and took an Ibuprofen, which worked, but I forgot to take another to Renaissance. The morning was a documentary, For the Love of Spock. The newsletter had said it was in a room at the library at 10 but it turned out to be in a room in Tahoe Hall (which used to be the business building) at 9:30 so I barely made it. I sat next to Gerry, my former Shakespeare teacher. He won't be going to Ashland this year... their casting of a woman as Hotspur last year was a bridge too far for him. As is the making Oklahoma! all about gay couples is for me, but I can just not go to it.  The Oregon Shakespeare people keep trying to push boundaries, and sometimes it's just ridiculous. As was the feud with the bookstore, which nearly pushed me out.

 

I love this documentary couple, and they're moving to Boise! NOOOOO! They didn't have closed captioning on this one and the sound was low, and Gerry couldn't hear it and left early. Too bad. It was really good.

 

Then I went for my tea and tuna banh mi and took it to Time Travel, as usual. Chip had "invented a time machine", an animation, over the break.  It was a pipe at the top, and two openings on a "box" underneath. It worked in that a ball dropped from the top into the left opening, then came up out of the right opening and disappeared at the top. Turn the machine on, and the ball came out before it dropped in. Then if you warp the box, the ball comes out and hits itself coming down, so it doesn't go into the box (the grandfather paradox.) But if you warp the box just right, into a shallow U shape, the ball emerging from the right side hits the ball dropping and caroms it into the left side. This is the ontological paradox (where does the ball come from?) Then he showed a short from the Netherlands, A Single Life, which was sad... and so to the feature film, the Terminator, which I saw with GoE back when it came out, and didn't like it, too noisy and violent.  I was prepared to give it a second chance, but my back pain came back with a vengeance, and I reached the point I just had to leave. 

 

I called Bernadette to cancel having Joanna, which was a disappointment. I'd made sure I had the ingredients for her science kit, I had brought out 5 VCR films so she could have her choice (I was hoping for Lady and the Tramp, in fact) and I had a macaroni and cheese dinner ready to go, since I didn't want t a repeat of the fried chicken disaster of last time. I'd also hidden the Boxcar Children books. Rats. But I thought I was lucky just to get home.

 

Saturday I went to Lyon's for the WPAC breakfast. It was disappointing this month. Apparently they were short a cook, and the meals came out 3 at a time. My bacon was limp and the eggs cold.  And then the waiter took FOREVER to get our checks to us. 

 

At home I went through a box of old papers. I found a letter from Nelda in 1964 when she was working at Glacier National Park and flirting with guys, and it was flooding. I was at the Indian Reservation and we went to see her after Mom picked me up. There was also a letter from my sister saying she wouldn't come be my matron of honor.  It wasn't, as I remembered, because it would be hard to travel with my 5-month-old niece, but because she was so much in love with her husband she couldn't picture leaving him for a week... (didn't we invite him? Oh, well.) It's interesting how time changes things!  Nelda's now a nun, and Chris divorced for upwards of 30 years.

 

Because moving is the best thing for my back, I had an ambitious plan to walk to a nearby park, but only got to the corner when I realized I wasn't up to it. So I did a shorter, 2 mile walk, and passed the museum where I admired the crowds for Free Museum Day.  Rich and I volunteered for that a few years.

 

 

Sunday at Mass I saw a friend was there with his girlfriend. I'm glad for him. His wife left him in 2012 and decided to write me a letter explaining why, and the upshot was it was no way his fault, she just needed to find herself. I found (find) it hard not to resent this: there were times with Rich I felt this way but I stuck it out, and I lost him and had no choice.  She moved away and is now in Redding with her boyfriend (second husband? I don't know).  I'm glad to see he's finally found someone, himself. (And, she (the ex-wife) was in a car accident Sunday afternoon but is fortunately only shaken up.)

 

Laurie has moved in with her daughter! No longer in the neighborhood. THAT was fast. I missed the garage sale... maybe it was last week while I was at the retreat.

 

LazyBoy had another VIP sale, so I went over and looked at everything and got 6 nice drinking glasses, this time not in a LazyBoy box. I really liked a Blue Agate table. There was also a bird made of sticks, and since the last few days I've been picking up twigs because the magpies are building a nest in my palm tree, this seemed appropriate.

 

In the afternoon I drove up to Citrus Heights to see A Shot in the Dark. I managed to get a front row seat (I really have to get these tickets ahead of time) and they did an adequate job. It was quite a talky performance, with quite a few laughs. The two principal actors were really good. 

 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 547
154.7 miles
mild

372 recordings of 50 types, 71 old SVU. 17% clear.

Saturday the 9th was a busy busy day. After I did my morning watering I walked down to Leslie's house to help her set up her garage sale. I worked there until it was time for the sale, and got a decent wheeled ice chest and a great National Geographic atlas for my trouble.  (Well, I paid for them, but it was nice stuff. I needed a new ice chest... I had taken one from the neighbor's discards and they told me the handle was broken, but in actuality this lasted about 3 years before completely falling apart when we went to Micke Grove Park last April.)

I had planned to go to the WPAC second Saturday breakfast but decided there simply wasn't time. I headed back to the garage sale about 9:15 to chat and wait, and my friend Eileen came about 9:30 to take me and Alisa to Oroville for Jeo's memorial. I was wearing an orange Hawai'ian shirt that Rich bought about 10 years ago. (That was a great surprise. He always wore very conservative shirts, till we were in Hawai'i and he got a shirt for the luau (at my insistence.) This was on sale at the Lathrop gas station for $10 and he bought it.) It is far too big, and I couldn't wear my waist pouch on the outside and didn't want to wear it underneath since it made me look 10 months pregnant.  So I pocketed my camera and ID and money and keys, and made do without the kitchen sink I normally carry. (And I remembered when we picked up Alisa who is attached to her phone that I didn't take mine.)

It was a nice ride and I got some answers about why Jeo and his wife were no longer together. I thought she had washed her hands of him when he got sick, which I don't really approve of, but it was the other way around. Jeo told her to get out of his life (I have to believe it was the disease talking, as Jeo was usually a very sweet guy).  So at the memorial it was easy to hug her and tell her how sorry I was. At the memorial (which was at Jeo's sister's house) I learned some other friends are now divorced. Sigh.  There were about 35 geocachers there (all in Hawai'ian shirts, plus the family. The three children, and Cinde and her parents, Jeo's sisters and brother, and his mother. (Woe. Eileen says she's somewhat out of it, what a blessing.) Plenty of food  (although the cookies I brought were unpacked at the end.) I picked up a geocoin to remember him by. It's a California one, not recognized by Groundspeak, but that's OK.) I wrote a memory of Jeo in the book. (Rich and I had just started geocaching, and found a big travel bug hotel in Elk Grove, and we were engrossed in checking the contents when this voice boomed out "WHAT ARE YOU DOING??" and scared us to death.) Jeo's son spoke. It was nice to see so many old friends.

I got home about 5.

Eric Bolling's son died.  The hits just keep coming.

Sunday was also a busy day. At church, Gerrie returned my books and gave me some candy (how the heck am I supposed to get my A1C down this way?).  I hadn't planned to go back to the house before the late afternoon, but had to get the candy bar out of the car.  Thence down to help with Communion... there's s guy from church there recouperating from a fall, in his 90s and sharp as a tack, knew my name and Brenda's.  He has an easy name to remember, Charles Schulz!

Hence to Elk Grove. I thought I would drop in on the 9/11 event and see some of the people who weren't in Oroville the day before, but I couldn't find the group. Oh, well. I stopped at Jack-in-the-box for lunch, then got to Bernarob's house. When it was his truck left in the driveway, I thought maybe they'd changed their plans, but no, he was still taking the big kids to see their Mom in the play. My job was to babysit Padreic.

He was busy busy.  There was plenty for him to do in the living room, but at one point he climbed over the gate into Mommy and Daddy's room (forbidden, and I'd locked both kids' bedrooms.) I got him out and then told him to pick up the little bells he'd been carrying. "No." He said "No" a couple of times, and finally I gave him a pop on the backside. Then held him while he cried it out, and we started playing finger games.

Rob and the kids enjoyed the play. He said it was better than the other Gilbert&Sullivan's Bernadette has been in.

Monday the 11th of September I had the flags out all over the yard. It was the day for  the cleaners. They sat in the driveway in their car and had lunch, and here I was all ready to let them in and disappear into the bedroom. I could have finished my TV show!

While I was in the bedroom, I straightened up some more for the window people, and called my classmate Rich who was in town for the weekend. Too hot to leave the house again, though.

I had cloudy urine. But it's been coming and going, mostly clear, so I don't know what's going on.

My neighbor Carol brought over ice cream bars to keep in my freezer for the party the next day.

Tuesday I went to breakfast with the ladies. We only had 4 this time.

I found and rescued a tiny alligator lizard in the house. I thought at first maybe Pharoah had hurt it, but it moved from the zinnia bed where I put it, so it's probably OK. So beautiful!

Carol had a farewell party for Leslie. I will be sad to have her (and Zeus) go. We met the new homeowners, James and Yolanda. They're into wine and across the street Sloan and Christy (who were new to me) brew beer! Hey, I live on a party street! I also met Luann, and then chatted with the neighbors I know, as well.

I got home just before Vince's call. Eric will be going to the Bahamas next year. Gabe and A.J. are doing well in soccer.  And I forgot to tell him about Jeo's memorial and about the alligator lizard... so I started a list for the next time!

Wednesday I went down to Elk Grove as usual, and Bernadette wasn't there. I thought maybe she had decided to take Padreic in to the doctor, since he's been crying over a hurt leg since Monday. Sure enough, it's broken!  He had a splint on it and it will be cast on Friday. He was apparently really good with the doctor, and the X-rays.  It was a trampoline accident. I said, when Joan gave them that, it was dangerous for such small children. Monica argued that it was good exercise and I said it would lead to broken bones. She said "at least they won't be overweight."  So of course, when I posted about the broken leg, I said "told you so, Monica!"

The big kids were in trouble about this. They just stood on the trampoline watching while Padreic cried. No one went in to tell Mommy.  Also, while B. was trying to clean up, Gareth just went to his room and Joanna wouldn't go fetch something "there's a branch in the way."  She got popped on the bottom for her pains, too.  Daddy had a long lecture for them. 

I fetched them and we talked about the broken leg on the way home. Nobody knows what exactly happened. I read them more of Pinocchio. I decided I need to bring over a marionette so they really know what it is.

Thursday, I got my new windows!!!!!! I just love it! The annoying thing is I will have to make sure all the smoke alarms have batteries (I really only keep the hall one and my bedroom charged up, the others are old and beep even with new batteries, too much trouble) before I call the county inspector to come out. It took the guys 4 hours to get all the windows in, and I spied one defective screen so called about it at the end of the day.

I went to the WPAC Appleby's dinner. I ordered the chicken tacos which were filling enough, and to my surprise, between the half price Happy Hour and the 10% discount, I only owed a little over 4 dollars! 

Friday was Renaissance. The morning documentary was "And Still I Fly" about Maya Angelou. When it was dealing with her early life, there was a cameo with Hillary Clinton, who said it was like her mother's early life. All I could think about was "was that before or after she named you for Sir Edmund Hillary?" The bitter old woman (mighod, this book tour!) always has to make it all about herself! The documentary, however, was really good. There was this time she lectured Tupac Shakur about his language.  I'd read all the autobiographies and really enjoyed this documentary.

The time travel movie was Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. I enjoyed it more this time than when I saw it first. Silly but fun. I was tempted to go to the forum but really wanted to come home.

Before I left I saw Leslie walking Zeus for the last time here, so dashed out for a hug from her and a total slobber from him.

The windows will go on November's bill! Hooray, it's nice to spread the misery out!

They warned me there might still be pieces of glass, but I forgot, and sure enough, barefoot in my bedroom. Ow.

Saturday I was pretty well crippled up with a terrible backache, but because I'd promised, I saw Bernadette's play, Patience. It's cute and funny. I'd never heard of it before though there's one song in it I've heard somewhere (an ad, maybe?)

Sunday I stayed in to heal up. My back still hurt but not as badly as it did the day before. I've been leaving the windows open night and day, except when the gardeners were here.   I trimmed the roses in the rose garden Rich made for me. Most of them are dead, thanks to the drought.

I made a salad of dragonfruit, pineapple, (I wanted pomegranates, but they aren't quite ready yet. There are so many I think I can have some despite the squirrels), romaine, one small bell pepper chopped up with a blueberry balsalmic vinaigrette. Yum.

I actually READ "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" for the first time. Disney did a great job following the descriptions! Irving's prose is great!