Silver and Gray

Headless horseman weather Halloween or not, 30 and freezing fog. The neighbors' houses seem far away. A student returns from classes wears a bright red coat, the first color today on the street. Population here over 30,000. Not many on the street though, makes me think of "The Road."

Renewal

Happy New Year! It's not the time of year that particularly makes me feel renewed. I try to make "resolutions" in the summer and fall when I'm pretty up all the time. Our average temperature here seems to be an endless 25 day and night, some days gray, some starkly white from frozen fog. Our annual fog fest seems to have skipped the fall and applied itself to winter. But...we have no snow unlike many other parts of the country and all in all it is just winter.

I finally logged back on and discovered people had asked after me, and I thank you. My head has been in fog for quite awhile. I've been struggling with some health issues, the same old one, asthma, and some new things which I did not handle all that well. I thought I was depressed, neurotic, developing a bad heart, getting senile, etc. etc. That was depressing. Tired all the time, feeling nuts, and not liking myself very much. I felt like all my wheels were falling off at the same time.

I've had asthma all my life; I have severe allergies to animal dander, especially the ones I love, cats, dogs, and to my everlasting grief, horses. I used to ride when I was a kid and then spend days at home sleeping sitting up, getting adrenalin shots, and being covered with some goop to try to get the welts off my thighs where the horse sweat soaked through my jeans. Then I'd go do it again, until it became literally death defying. Nearly all my friends and family have some or all of those critters in their homes. We pretty much stayed home alone over Christmas.

I don't get runny noses or eyes, my lungs close up. I can't visit or even sit near someone if they've been on a horse. Other things give me asthma too, mold, food additives, wheat, tree nuts, some medications; I feel like a Martian. I was the date from hell, take me out to dinner and an hour later I'd be barfing it up. I learned to take antihistamines before eating out and tried to avoid sulfiting and MSG and the ilk. I found other things to do, inviting people to dinner and doing the cooking myself, took up hiking, white water rafting, do my visiting in the summer when we can sit outside, more fun anyway.

After getting treatment for all sorts of unexpected things this fall, it turns out many of them are caused by my asthma meds, in particular prednisone, that angel and devil of a drug. I have steroid induced diabetes which my doctor figured out after my third course of prednisone this fall. It affected my eyesight, made my toes numb, caused cold sores, gum problems (I am religious in cleaning my teeth, three brushes and two flosses daily, it didn't help), cuts wouldn't heal, and nevermind the rest. She put me on Metformin and I am checking my blood sugar 6 times a day and I am a new woman. I have also really restricted my diet, how long I can keep it up I don't know but I am losing weight which helps me to breathe. I'm no longer tired, my toes are okay, my memory has returned (or as much as it's going to, ha, ha). I couldn't believe after months of trudging through my life that it turned around in the matter of a 10 days or less.

The diabetes may or may not be situational, depends on whether I can stay off steroids, and if my pancreas is "just" under seige or actually damaged. Type ll diabetes runs in a straight line from my great-grandmother to me. I think I can stop overfeeding myself, and find other activities and comforts besides food. Bread and chocolate look like arsenic to me and while that is effective for now it may not last.

Here's to improving our own new year, at least I have insurance and my husband still has his job, unlike some in our family and many others now.

There are vans and then there are Vans

I stopped by my usual gas stop to fill up the tank for our road trip and I saw this van. I have a van with lots of seats for lots of grandkids. This one really appeals to me though, a VW camper van with a fold down bed, seats, cupboards, and so on. Not an RV but in my mind much better than a tent. I can recall years ago waiting impatiently to pass VW vans on the highways on hills, over Snoqualmie Pass in particular. To say they were slow going uphill doesn't begin to describe it. I crossed them off my list. Things have changed, maybe when I really, really retire I'll get one. When I went to peek at it's inner furnishings I started laughing with delight. Can you see it?




This van has curtains all the way around one side and back to the other side, all made of neckties. So imaginative. I wondered where all those departed ties went. I hope whoever owns this took it somewhere cooler this weekend.



We had a high of 99 today and tomorrow it is supposed to over 100 tomorrow and then hubby and I will escape for awhile, bon voyage blog world and friends. See you later.

Our Little Town

My eldest and I were walking into Safeway to do a little grocery shopping this weekend. A woman close to my age was walking behind us and stepped into a hole crashing on her side onto the blacktop. By the time we had turned around two men had reached her and another was on his way. They helped her sit up when she was able, and when she was ready they helped her to her feet and supported her while she checked out her ability to walk. They were offering to take her to ER but she declined and drove away. It made me tear up a little.

It happens all the time here. Last summer I was driving by when I saw an older man sitting on the grass just tumble over. I parked and several others did too. There was some concern that he may have been drunk but it deterred no one from getting help. We checked to see if he was breathing, he was, and someone had already called the Medics who pulled up within five minutes and began treating him. Everyone was gentle and concerned. Last winter my son had a flat in the snow, people helped him change it, and get him out of the snow and saw him on his way. The stocking of the distressed food banks here is a highly visible community effort even as we watch shops, restaurants, and businesses here close. And, unlike my former urban home, people here on both sides of the road pull over and wait when the police or the fire department sirens sound.

Things are so tough in our nation these days that these acts of kindness really squeeze my heart and that's what makes me a little weepy when I see and hear these things that people do for each other.

Twilight in the Garden of Good and Weevils

I posted one of my niece's Twilight photos of our garden and here are some more. It amazed me how different the garden looks at night. Here are the un-sleeping daisies. Thank you Sophie.



A reprise of the wraith-like white rose with just a tinge of pink left in the center.

What is this? The garage roof with a UFO on it, hovering over our overgrown tarragon, and spiky raspberry bushes. Are they friendly Mr. Spock?

Here's the cedar arch which will support the two Black Prince grape vines that are finally growing and leafing out on either side of it. You can't live in Walla Walla and not plant grapes. This is also the gateway to the serene space that our backyard has become.

The magic house bell, to warn of invaders such as big winds, squirrels, and small children bouncing on the deck. It's currently covered with the spider webs that are endemic here. Our house at times looks like a giant spider has wrapped us up. We encourage our archnids since they gobble up mosquitoes and other undesirable garden bugs.

A nightowl raspberry, not quite ripe enough to gobble. These are the most delicious raspberries I have ever grown. We've shared the sprouts which grow like crazy in the spring and take hold just about everywhere.

A yellow Asiatic lily. These are from some bulbs I rescued about three years ago. A couple of lillies appeared at first, the next year several, and this year they are abundant in yellow and orange.

Had lots of yellow daylillies and I ordered these rose daylillies, along with red ones, orange, and some purported to be blue actually kind of lavender. The red and blue didn't make it but these rose colored ones seem to be happy and making new ones.

At last the orange Asiatic lily also a rescued bulb from seasonal leftovers. Doing quite well.

Post Parted Depression

I'm not really depressed, just missing some people. All the company and visitors we have had over the last two weeks have gone home or on other adventures. The last week our little house has been stuffed with kid accouterments while the washer whirled away in the background. We used paper plates, people slept on the floors, the sofa, the hidabed, and sometimes in the car as we traveled to and fro.



We sat out on the deck evenings with the lights off to discourage flying, biting critters, and laughed and talked. Now the house is stupefying silent but there are reminders, the boy forgot his cap, the deck has spots of yellow where Goldfish crackers fell and got stuck. My computer settings have some rearrangements. And photos. My niece went arount the house one twilight and took lovely, dusky photos like the white rose at night below.

I miss you all, it's like empty nest again. Travel safely you all, and come back soon.

Plant Rescue

I am such a scrounger. It saves money and it is kind of game for me. One of the things I like scrounging best is left over plants. The local K-mart, ShopKo, BiMart etc. are closing down their garden shops this time of year and their poor little underwatered leftovers go on sale, like from 5+ buckaroonies to 99 cents. Sometimes the manager has given them to me for free. I take them home and nurture them. I clip off the dried up stuff, put root hormone on their little roots, and water them. Most of them have survived over the years. The first year they may not bloom or grow much but the second year, wowie.

This year I got lavenders. The four little Provence above are in good shape, from a lavender farm, but I got two un-named larger lavenders (one is at the right) for a couple of bucks. You can see the yellow stuff, I look for some new growth, these even have some blossoms, and smell heavenly. The pot top center is one of six maple trees which came up on their own from the tons of seeds our maple looses on the neighborhood each spring. We are growing these for our son's farm. He intends to plant them near the stream that borders the south of his place. Silver maples need lots of water. It will be good for the maples and good for the stream, providing shade for the fish.

When I was a young scrounger, I saved money and bought the biggest shrubs, trees, or whatever I could afford. Then I acquired some patience about the same time a generous garden store manager gave me a dozen daylillies for free. Now I have daylillies enough for many people. This fall I will be digging them up and redistributing them. I am hoping to put some along the road by the kids' farm. Do you remember when gas stations gave away free packets of wildflower seeds to toss out the window for self planting? On I-5 in Washington we had daisies, cosmos, and others blooming in the center strip for years. I think I will do that again; I hope you will too.