Fresh Air

Our peculiar weather continues, it's been 28° to 30° day and night without much variation.  This morning again there was a light, very light, snow on the ground when we got up.  We being my Grandgirl Isabel who spent Friday night with me.  There's is also an inversion with all the air pollution warnings over Eastern Washington for asthmatics and others such as myself to stay inside.  But the falling of "frozen fog" and the light snows have taken the particulate matter and removed vile vapors here in Walla Walla the air has remained quite clean and fresh.  My vow not to complain about the weather has been rewarded.  My prayers go out for family in North Dakota them as well as those in the east whose weather is dangerous these days.

Snow at my old house.

The floors in the condo bedrooms will be finished Monday.  That means I "get" to start painting them and then put in the new baseboards.  The move is becoming more real to me as each day passes.  I am living among stacks of boxes since it made no sense to unpack and repack in a couple of months.  I suspect I will be living amongst boxes for quite awhile even after I move.  I also have come to realize how happy I am my son talked me into a smart phone.  I seem to be in transit between apartment, condo, and my kid's houses and I can be reached by phone and email with my handy little android.  At first the new to me technology seemed intimidating.  I kept telling myself I was retired programmer and non-retired gadget junkie, how hard could it be?  But I needed instruction, the upside is that my learning curve seems to be fine.

I just finished reading "The Ghost Bride" by Yangsze Choo.  It's a fantasy story set in old Colonial Malaya and a sharp contrast to "Franklin and Winston" that I just finished.  Li Lan's father has received a marriage offer from a rich and powerful family for her to become the bride of their recently deceased son and heir, a gesture designed to sooth a restless ghost who is haunting his mother and soon begins to haunt Li Lan.  I loved it.  I like this kind of stuff and  Li Lan the protagonist is not a shrinking violet.  It's a historical novel, ghost story, and murder mystery.  Ms. Choo's writing is beautifully alluring and filled my head with vivid pictures of old Malaya.  Lovely read under a warm blankie while the weather has its way with us.

Winterize

Baby, it's cold outside.  The local weather guy says this is freezing fog, not snow.  It is mostly gone now even though it still around 30 in most places here.  The manager of this apartment complex was out at 6am blowing away the white stuff and sprinkling de-icer.  I thank her.  And I am still grateful I don't live where it is really cold, flooding, or on fire.  This is pretty benign as winter weather goes.  It's the kind of weather many erstwhile steelhead fishermen are out in, including my youngest son.  Hope he does well, he makes the most delicious fishy dishes.

The new wood bedroom floors for my condo are scheduled to go in Thursday and Friday.  I am pretty excited about that.  They are the first step towards finishing up and moving in.  Many little tasks to complete after and a lot of painting but I enjoy that.  I'm going to paint and stencil on some of the walls after I get the first fresh coat of paint down.  The small bedroom will have a grayed blue accent wall and some kind of birds painted on it.  I'm thinking something that looks like shadows from the window.  It's a small room so it needs not to be too heavy or dark.

This one is by Cutting Edge Stencils so if you can't design your own stencils you can purchase some.

I'm not sure what kind of birds I like to see up there.  I have a great admiration for raptors but not sure how a guest would feel with hawks or osprey circling their bed.   Too Hitchcockian?  Makes me smile.  I'm enjoying the creative side of this.  I can hardly wait to get the wallpaper off the bathroom walls.  I also have many cards, masks, and posters of grizzly bears I've collected over the years. I plan on displaying them out where everyone can see them.   Ah, the great joy of feeling creative again.

"A Favorable Wind" by Paul Bond

"Kites rise highest against the wind - not with it."  Winston Churchill

"The older you get the stronger the wind gets - and it's always in your face." Pablo Picasso

"If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable." Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Who is Lucius Annaeus Seneca I ask?  I had to look him up.  Known as Seneca the Younger, he was a statesman and philosopher c. 4 BC – AD 65.   I liked the quote.  Unfortunately for Lucius he was caught up in a plot to assassinate Nero and forced to commit suicide.

We are in the middle of a rainy wind storm.  It's still better here than anywhere else in the country I think.  After days of below 20°, its now over 60, rainy, and windy.  It's making me happier about leaving my house where I had to listen to tree branches bouncing off the roof during each big wind and spend a couple of days on yard cleanup and replacing roof shingles.  The lovely trees that shaded the house in the summer were a menace during winds and freezing rain.

I lost sight of my port last week as I drifted through flu recovery.  By yesterday my internal lights came back on and I made an appointment with the flooring people to come do an estimate to remove the bedrooms carpets in my new abode and replace it with wood or wood-like flooring.  It will help keep my dust mite induced asthma at bay and be easier to keep clean.  I'm back on track.  I won't move in until the floors are done.  They are giving me estimates for some gorgeous acacia wood flooring and for a sturdier (and cheaper) engineered wood and composite product.  The acacia actually has texture to it, lovely enough to hang on the wall but my sister helped me remember that I lose my footing often enough these days that it is probably an invitation to trip and fall and not at all practical.  There were many other attractive alternatives.

I got a Home Depot gift card for Christmas and will go trade it in for paint.  The smallest bedroom is a vibrant shade of pink.  It's kind of smothering, like being digested if you could see the color while inside something's gut.  I'm going for off white with a light grayed blue accent wall.

2014 Take What You Need

 

Here we go again.  I remind myself that it just a number, 2014, but I'm always hopeful that its the number of the next really good year.  And, the Chinese calendar, the New Year falls on the 31st of January, and begins the year of the horse.  I am a horse and In 2014, it will be the year of the Horse.  While not a believer I enjoy the prognostications. "Known as Wu, those born during the year of the Horse tend to be clever, possess good communication skills, are cheerful and stubborn. In 2014, they are expected to have a good year and are advised to be quiet and patient."  It also suggests good health this year, I'll take that.  Well, I am the cheerful and stubborn part and I'd welcome a good year.

 

I got the flu a few days before the new year, it was a doozy.  Our little town is currently hosting the swine flu.  I was given Tamiflu and antibiotics and told to be careful.  I was but I spent New Year's Eve in the ER anyway.  The flu receded but my asthmatic airways slammed shut and filled up with goop.  I am still coughing and hacking, and am very tired but I choose to see this crud as a goodbye gift from 2013, and the healing the shape of things to come for 2014.

 

Prayers.  Praying for recovery for my brother-in-law who just had surgery for a bone infection in his sternum not healing after open heart surgery over two years ago.  He was dangerously ill and any prayers for him would be welcome.  Prayers for a new job for my eldest son.  For reconciliation between family members, mine or yours.  Prayers for safe returns for our military folks and recovery and support for those injured in so many ways.  Prayers for peace and an end to greed.