Far from a Wildwoods Retreat

The Nightingale Diaries

2012-01-15T13:47:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all in the Cyber Village!

It has been awhile. I have not a single excuse - have just been doing life. Autumn came and went. The Holidays were joyous and full of family and friends. Winter on the Sound has been pretty calm so far. This week end we had a dusting of snow in my neighborhood but some surrounding areas received an inch or two. Probably provides a chuckle to neighbors in Alaska, the Rockies and back East…they are busy with an onslaught of snow, not just a dusting. The Long Dark is still upon the land but I notice that the sunset is a tiny bit later than last month and that is always a simple pleasure.

I’ve made a New Year’s resolution. Have been giving some thought to retiring in a year or two. Who knows for sure…could be working for years to come but on the happy off chance that I do not have to have to continue to work, I thought I would introduce you to some of the many lovely people I’ve know / work with the Nursing profession. I wrote out a list of about 15 questions. Each volunteer hears and responds to the same list. The answers are both similar and different. I hope you will enjoy meeting these men and women. My "A" goal is to give a face and voice to the health care professionals in Long Term.The "B" goal is to write one interview a week for 50 weeks. Here is the first installment of the “Nightingale Diaries”:

Meet Jenn:

Jenn is a young woman who is a single mom devoted to her family and her patients. She LOVES the color purple, has a bubbly personality and a radiant smile. She has been a nurse for about two years and obtained her education at Mt. Hood Community College in Oregon. She started out as a certified nursing assistant (C.N.A.). Jenn shared that while working in that role she realized that several nurses around her were ‘burned out’ (some might say that is too tired to care – will write about burn out in health care another time). It inspired her to try harder. She discovered she could be a really good C.N.A. so why not a good nurse! She became particularly good at caring for elders with dementing illnesses. She enjoyed volunteering for the Activities Department. She was intrigued by the moments of “lucidity” that certain reminiscent groups stimulated in her Residents. She told me that she reads text books in her spare time to make sure she stays abreast of her professional duties. Jenn said she “loves caring for residents with memory issues”. It motivates her to be “a voice” for people who are not able to speak up for themselves.

When I asked what was the most difficult part of her work she answered: “I pack a lot of it home. I wasn’t expecting it to be so consuming.” She is particularly unhappy when she finds that “care has not been good”. Does death bother her? “I think it is a relief for my old Residents”. She likes to imagine that “all the pain and suffering is over, that wherever they are that their life is a big smorgsboard of their favorite foods and no one ever has to give them mashed pills in applesauce ever again”. To which I would add “AMEN”.

Asked if she socializes with nurses she said ‘yes’, in fact, her best friend in an RN in Washington D.C. “We talk and text. We understand. Others don’t know how I put up with so much loss.”

What does she like best? “Being able to make that ‘flip’” she answered with a smile, “When I can help someone feel happy when they were feeling afraid or angry.” What does she like least? “Staffing” she answers firmly. That response from a nurse almost always means not having enough people to do the job. Hospital nurses might have anywhere from 4 to 10 patients. Long term care nurses have around 30 or more patients. She went on to say “care givers are often paid less and are sometimes poorly motivated.” She stated that one bad care giver can undo what a good team put together.

Her worst moment as a nurse: she told me that one of her patients got lost in an enclosed court yard. No harm came to the resident but finding the resident lost, afraid, and weeping by a bush made our Jenn feel sad and helpless. She said “I wasn’t sure what to do fast enough but God gave me a knack for soothing people “ so that was the strength she called on and in the end all was well.

Her most embarrassing moment: “I totally dropped the ball on a scheduled appointment (for a Resident). I’m not easily embarrassed. I know what I know.” But she knows when she has made a mistake she is humble and does her best to learn from it. When asked if she was politically active she said “No. I think nurses should be but I am not yet.” She does not belong to any nursing organizations yet either. That is also on her personal-professional “To Do List”. She is not active in any church right now. She tried a local Baptist church but felt there was not enough for the teenage child. She says she is “spiritually ground” and has a “strong sense of what is right and what is wrong” so that is joined what she calls a “strong moral compass”. In her young life she was a foster child. Life was better if she learned to choose “right”. Her experiences there “brought God” into her life. How does she relax after work? “My Mom lives with me and my son. We play air hockey or we watch TV.”

Does she think she is a ‘professional’? She said that she received the employee of the year award. That acknowledgement boosted her self-esteem. She came to her work as a single parent just out of a bad relationship. She trained as an RN but after graduation took some time to work with her child who has ADHD. Then she took the LPN boards. In the not too distant future she will study for the RN boards. She says she does not separate herself from the direct care givers (assistants). “I try to treat everyone with respect. When I come to work I take off my girly hat and put on my professional hat.”

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That brings me to the end of the first of fifty installments. Each nurse’s story is on-going so there is no easy way to transition out of the interview, or at least I've not found it yet. Thanks for sharing this glimpse of “Nurse Jenn” with me

Loss in the Family ~ the Man born on the July 4th

2011-09-25T14:18:00.000-07:00

"I alone am left on earth!

To whom nor relative not blood remains,

No! not a kindred drop that runs in human veins."

~ Campbell

Her brother passed away last week. He was 81 and she turned 84 today. He called his older sister (my Mom) just before he died to tell her he loved her. It took her by surprise. She answered "Brother, I'm suppose to call you. I always say I love you first. We've had this conversation every day for almost 7 decades. He laughed and said 'yes I know, but this once I wanted to tell you first'. She was so deeply touched she could only mumble 'thanks' and 'good bye'. He then rolled his wheel chair into his room, asked for assistance to get into bed and there, not five minutes later~ he took is last breath. His heart stopped and he passed on into the night

She and I sit on the patio in her desert home and review that simply conversation many times a day. Sometimes she can not quite grasp her loss and when she does, her heart shatters again. Her memory recalls him as a boy. She and he were the middle children in a family of four kids ~ they have been as 'thick as thieves' since childhood. She taught him to speak and walk...no doubt it is why she went on to be a talented instructor of English grammar. She recalls, that although they could have fierce arguments, it always ended in "I love you". She is and he was the most formidable and stubborn human beings I've ever met. Now there is one. She seems quite lost without her sibling. Her memory is failing her and locks her in her grief anew...many times a day. She asks me to tell her one more time what has happened. Each time I brace for that shutter of sorrow that engulfs her. Slowly, oh so slowly she begins to comprehend that he is no more.

Oh, God! it is a fearful thing

To see the human soul take wing

In any shape, in any mood!"

~Byron

Good bye Uncle. You are mourned here. You have joined your Parents, your older Sister, your nephew...my Brother, and your friend, my Dad. We few who remain shed tears and some soft laughter remembering yesterdays. But most important of all, your sister whispers "I love you" quietly into the night.

Rekindling a Friendship

2011-09-12T04:35:00.000-07:00

"Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity."
~ Buddha

Spent the weekend with a friend in Oregon. She and her husband have a lovely retirement home just south of Portland. We had some serious catching up to do. My friend is a well-educated and talented nurse. She is also a talented crafts person. Both she and her husband have a good eye for art. Their home has a casual, creative charm. She and I had not seen one another since that dang knee surgery last summer. She lost her job in a political move that happens in health care and almost every where else these days. We had to figure out if we could reach across the gulf that ensues the termination of employment. As it turns out (to my great relief), we were able to start off where we left off.

"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth."

~ Robert Southey

I wonder at the silent attributes of friendship. In this case, we two women understand the determination it takes to face the challenges of caring for frail elders: we know the difficulties of dealing with families riddle with guilt, the suffering of their frail aged, the demands of health care corporations and quirks of regulatory folks. Still we laughed. In the heat of late summer (it was nearly 100 F) we found a shared humor and embraced it.

There is a comfort in knowing that time leaves the gate ajar. The value of personal kinship outweighed corporate decision-making.

the 11th

2011-09-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

Remembering

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRMz8fKkG2g&feature=player

The Brenda Photo Contest: the Dog Days of Summer

2011-09-09T21:35:00.000-07:00

"The Dog Constellation Canis Major is a Companion to Orion

The Dog Days of Summer have been around since ancient times. The Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans and other great civilizations have all observed the rising and setting of the Dog Star Sirius in its constellation Canis Major, and its brightness in the sky, to predict the weather and other events."

Okay so this is past mid-August (someone out there in the wider world declared that it ends mid-August). It is hot here in Western Washington. We've had ,what, maybe three weeks of warmth but the great mumble has begun...we miss the rain. I can hardly believe my ears! 'Miss the rain?'...have you all lost your collective minds??? In just a few short weeks we will un-bury the fleece, dig out the Vitamin D, check the bulbs in the light boxes and begin the LONG DARK RAINY SEASON! I say celebrate these warm days. I admit it does not hold a candle (a winter word if ever there was one) to the intense heat breaking records almost every where else ~ but it feels hot here on Puget Sound!

Here is my nod to Canis Major and the Dog days!

The heat is as unkind to the weeds as it in to the lawns:

But there is still fun in the air!

Ah summer fairs: hot, sticky, delicious and memorable. I saw and listened to Gene Autry for the first time when I was a young girl at a fair and rodeo in Utah! Here's a Youtube link for those of you who have no idea of whom I am write! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6dx8AfTmQk

and finally.....

Food booths prepared for hot, hungry crowds!

Kettle Corn please!

Waning Days of Summer

2011-09-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

"Thou who didst waken from his summer dreams..."

~Percy P Shelley

Drove up to the White River National Forest over the Labor Day week end. Rainier looms over the landscape. This magnificent volcano is still covered with snow. We who live ibetween the shadow of this mountain and on the edge of Puget Sound have had little summer this year. This week will be hot (in the 80s and 90s) during the day but it cools down nicely at night. We awaken to summer flowers and 40F temperatures. It gives summer a dreamy quality. The lower mountains still have patches of snow. The bit of snow in the photo above was found at 3500 feet of elevation. Mt. Rainier at it's full elevation (the Columbia Crest) is 14,000+ feet. There are several glaciers on the mountain ~ leaving the mountain snow covered year round.

The road side was littered with colorful wildflowers. It gives lie to the terrible summer the rest of the country has had. We are lulled. Surely nothing bad will ever happen here. Another siren's song! Still there is comfort in golden yellow and delicate purple.

I love the sight of the mountain in the distance, perhaps more so on this visit to the Park because the Mountain seems even more impressive on a warm clear day. It sits large and protective and for a few moments all feels safe. Never mind that on the roads in the valley below the mountain there are volcano evacuation signs...in case Rainer blows his top. :) The fantasy of safety is to lovely to simply hand over willy-nilly to Reality.

"The summer dawn's reflected hue

In purple changed Loch Katrine blue,

Mildly and soft the western breeze

Just kiss'd the lake, Just stirr'd the trees..."

Scott

2011-08-23T20:04:00.000-07:00

The Summer That Was(n't)!

There must be something in the universe that has taken a personal dislike of me. I spend so much of the year yearning for summer and then when that precious time of light and warmth rolls around to my neighborhood something is amiss. Three and two summers ago I was moving ergo packing, finding a place to live, blah, blah. Then there was the tale of the knee surgery last summer. The summer of 2011 roles into the parking lot and before mid-June one of my facilities goes to ... well, heck in a hand basket. The much longed for months of midnight sun evaporated. The summer turned into a series of endless 14 to 16 hour work days, 7 days a week. The problems are beginning to abate just as summer is bringing sunrise at 6:30 AM instead of 4:15 AM and then sets at 8:10 PM instead of 10 PM. Oh crap. My sister asked me to cruise the Sound with her for a week and I can't. I'm on call and the new DNS doesn't start until mid-Sept. The golden vacation apple is just beyond my reach.

So naturally, I am thinking I should winter in South American. That has a certain ring to it. Of course I have to learn at least Spanish. But heck, I would apply myself in order to avoid dark days in winter on the Sound. Oh and I would need to work...

DETAILS!

"Optimism and self-pity are the positive and negative poles of modern cowardice." ~ Cyril Connolly

Not sure what that means to me yet but I'll figure it out after I map quest a trip to...Brazil (?)

a P.S. from Santa Cruz

2011-06-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

Remembering back to the recent trip to Santa Cruz...I forgot to mention the sea lions that perch on the decks below the pier.

They seem to enjoy company and sun as much as the rest of us!

These sea creatures seem at peace here. Their cousins in the Puget Sound have alienated fishing boasts by eating the same salmon that humans wants. In the Northwest sea lions are being shot by angry frustrated fishermen. The Salmon War has only one armed side. You would not know that in Santa Cruz.

Week -End Drives

2011-06-19T04:33:00.000-07:00

The above photo is a view of Mt. Shasta from I-5. Am planning a slower drive through parts of Northern Calif. and much of Oregon this summer.

Quiet farm land always whispers 'peace' to me. Am wondering if that is first cut hay peeking out of the barn door?

Playing ~ the Photo Contest!

2011-06-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

Last week-end I escaped the long rainy season that Washington State called "Winter through Spring" to visit my youngest son who was graduating from a Master's Program at UCSC. What a delightful visit. Coastal Californians really know how to PLAY! Their weather cooperates with their playful intentions.

Even bikes can relax after playing on the pier in Santa Cruz!

Sailors out playing on their boats!

Many people out playing volley ball in the sand!

My personal favorite... Kayaks waiting for me! :)

Dancing with Time and Feminism...Again

2011-06-06T21:56:00.000-07:00

"Nothing's ever done.... No matter what you do, or what you pretend, the past is there. You can't ignore it"

~JOHN SAUL, When the Wind Blows

"Men - their rights and nothing more; Women - their rights and nothing less."

~Susan B Anthony

"You do not have to be anti-man to be pro woman."

~ Jane Galvin Lewis

It was not my intention to ease-drop but the truth is, that is exactly what I did. Then I interrupted a conversation ... it was an invasion of privacy. It was Friday and it had been a long, stressful day. Two managers (one a man who is a nurse supervisor and a woman who is a social worker) were sitting in the conference room that connects to the office I had borrowed to finish the day's paper work. As I scanned a new batch of applications for the 3-11 nursing position that had just opened, I heard the deep male voice say, "my old boss (Director of Nursing) only hires men into management positions because she thinks women with power are too catty." The woman murmured her agreement. I groaned...'not this old conversion again!' There was no choice...I had to join the conversation.

"Sexism is a social disease"

~ Author Unknown (ergo, probably a woman)

I was the uninvited guest in this later afternoon salon. I immediately asked if he thought his old boss was discriminating against womenx? I pointed out that the person who made the decision to hire only men was a woman. Did that seem inconsistent or odd in anyway? What did she mean by catty? Did he agree with that definition? Did he ever think about why women might engage in mean spirited talk. Did men ever engage in mean-spirited talk? Did he think all women were catty? I wanted to know how he planned to supervise the women nurses whom he managed. What were his plans to assure that people with talent would rise through the ranks ~ regardless of gender. Before long we had discussed everything from the different ways in which men and women compete, to who becomes a nurse in the first place. I find him to be an intelligent man who is steeped in stereotypes. When he is working the nursing unit he is kind and compassionate to of all his residents. The jury is still out on how he manages his staff...mostly women. He probably wishes he'd said nothing for now he is engaged in an ongoing conversation with his boss's boss. Oh well, there are worse things to be sure.

"The test for whether or not you can hold a job should not be the arrangement of your chromosomes."

~ Bella Abzug

Bella!

The more things change, the more (some) things stay the same. I wonder what Florence Nightingale would have made of this conversation? Would she have wondered that there were men who were professional nurses and not doctors? Would she have been taken back by a woman who supervised those men who were nurses?

Florence Nightingale

"All tradition is merely the past."

~JIDDU KRISHNAMURTI, Krishnamurti to Himsel

Love vs. Compassion... etc. And Rentals

2011-05-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn, or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude. “
~Denis Waitley

This past week I learned that my landlord has reconsidered and is extending the lease on the house I’ve been renting…one more year ~ a reprieve! I feel happy but I doubt that in the moment that I got the news I was living life with “love, grace, and gratitude”. Although, be assured, that I am grateful that he and his wife have changed their minds. The pressure to move has been lifted and the need to pack up is gone. It frees my mind to ponder questions such as: what exactly is “living every minute with love, grace and gratitude”? Every minute - is that even possible? Sounds like a rather lofty goal - something one would put in a mission statement for a not-for- profit business.

“You are also caught with the fact that man is a creature who walks in two worlds and traces upon the wall of his cave the wonders and the nightmare experience of his spiritual pilgrimage”

~ Morris West

My blog forms the ‘walls of my cave’. It allows me a place to post the good, the lovely and thrilling as well as the bad, the ugly, painful and unpleasant that I see when working as a nurse and observe as just another human being on this road called life. My good hearted landlord would be happy about this Internet device as my having a blog undoubtedly prevents me writing out these stories on the walls of his rental or at least writing on sheets of paper and tacking them to the wall while I pondered what to do with the words.

Alright then, turning my attention back to that first quote - I am reminded of yet another quote (in fact one that I may have posted here before):

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion”

~ Dalai Lama

I find that practicing compassion can be difficult, sometimes nearly impossible – no, make that sometimes it is impossible to be compassionate all the time, at least for me. Compassion makes more sense to me than aiming for happiness based on a life lived in “grace, love and gratitude”. Each is something to strive for but in combination, I wonder that it can be done. All creatures suffer and suffering for people creates human drama. "Drama" is a buzz word these days. Not all drama is manipulative. The old woman losing her cognition and repetitively asking if it is ‘time to eat’ is not trying to “bug” anyone. She suffering from a disease that is killing her brain and she is suffering a complete loss of the sense of time. The man down the hall who calls a young nurse a ‘stupid cow’ because he is in intractable pain from his colon cancer is suffering. So was the new nurse who was trying to help and was insulted. I wonder what Denis Waitley meant by “love” “grace” and “gratitude”. Mr. Waitley is a motivational speaker. He has motivated me to understand where his prospective is rooted. I wonder if he is a born-again Christian for instance…words like “grace” are suspect for me. Does that make me a cynic? In my opinion, however, Mr. Waitley did get the bit right about what happiness was not!

"The mind wants to live forever, or to learn a very good reason why not. The mind wants the world to return its love, or its awareness... The mind's sidekick, however, will settle for two eggs over easy. The dear, stupid body is easily satisfied as a spaniel. And, incredibly, the simple spaniel can lure the brawling mind to its dish. It is everlastingly funny that the proud, metaphysically ambitious mind will hush if you give it an egg."

~Annie Dillard

Okay, I'm done for now, but oh, by the way…I’ll have mine scrambled please!

Springing Forward with the Unwilling

2011-05-13T22:19:00.000-07:00

Last week she put finger tips to keyboard to write a note to the land lord...had he considered renewing the lease. A week ticked by and finally the response appeared. They have decided to put the house on the market to sell it. Two homes have proved to much to carry right now.

She sat in the living room and stared at the book cases filled with books and wondered how many should be given away with this move: some, none, all? Packing up closets and dishes to difficult to even consider for the time being. For now the answer is not known. There are worse things than packing and unpacking. Even finding a rental that will take two dogs and has a fenced yard, while daunting, is not impossible.

Still, she would rather not move. This space felt like home. She had not even fully unpacked for fear of finally feeling settled and trusting that feeling again. Settled ~ hmmm, when did that last happen. 2001. Exhaling. Note to self: 1) be careful with trust, 2) avoid bookstores.

Measuring Time in Spring

2011-05-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

Spring evening - at 8:30 PM - 2011

It is light until almost 9 PM. Before long we will have light until nearly 11 PM. The sky is light again just before 5 AM. My favorite time of the year. Makes the winter rain and darkness seem very far away! :-) Okay, the rain is still here but not for much longer. Brilliant flowers are every where and trees are completely leafed...these are the content recipients of the deluge.

"We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies." ~Shirley Abbott

So much has been going on that it has been difficult to sort through much less note on a blog. Violin practice continues a pace but am thinking of changing to the Irish whistle or perhaps the banjo (for all things country). Arthritis is such a nagging drag ~ my neck complains about leaning to the left (so does my family but that is another story). However the stiffness keeps my massage therapist gainfully employed. Speaking of violin I should add here that I began learning this wonderful instrument because I so enjoy Celtic fiddle music. To make a long story short, I've been on a journey of discovery about my family's genealogy. It seems I have deep Celtic roots. Ferguson's from Dundee, Scotland, Gavin's from Ireland and the Reynolds' from St. David, Wales. Are those the strands of genetic code that whisper a love of the jig and reel? I found relatives in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts back to the founding of the country...perhaps that is why I felt instantly at home in those places. Found one soul who fought the British long ago and died doing so. These generations of cousins were not nobleman but hard working folk who helped build a nation: mainly farmers but also miners, laborers and builders of homes and towns. I've found myself reading some of their stories from letters and family histories as relatives moved across this nation. I've felt very proud of their courage and strength. I also found Mormon and Catholic roots and two male cousins many times removed who were polygamists. A female Scottish cousin married a Mormon minister after she converted in Scotland and followed him to the States. Her first husband was a sailor who died at sea. There are two cousins from almost 100 years ago who were nurses and midwives. One of those brave women served her community in Utah when that state was a territory and her people live in dugouts. She also cared for some of the Ute tribe and her husband's cattle and farm were never scarred during the war between the Settlers and the Ute...even after her husband died from wounds he received in those battles her home remained intact and cattle left alone. She like so many women buried most of the children they birthed. There are long lists of cousins who did not live beyond their first year. One grandfather remains a mystery. He was an orphan. He died in a mining accident in Utah. He was possibly Navajo or Mexican or Portuguese. I know only that his father was from New Mexico. His mother from Arizona but to date those great grandparents remain nameless. If my half-brother were to decide to have his DNA tested we might be able to find out which human migration that side of the family is followed - for now that greatgrandparent's story is encased in silence.

The genealogy search was rekindled because I have been traveling back and forth between the Northwest and the Southern Utah desert to check on my aged Mother. Her energy, memory, and heart are failing her. Sometimes she can not remember why I've come to see her. Sometimes she is angry that I'm helping her pay her bills. Sometimes she is mellow and full of old stories. She will not leave her home - she is frail but the whole of her being wants to be fiercely independent to her last breath. Managing fiances and health care from 1000 miles away is daunting. Have even driven down once. I have to admit I love to drive and eventually will get back to editing the photos taken on the journey. So my own mother is failing. My children are developing their families and careers. The youngest son completes graduate school in June and the eldest is teaching English as a second language at a university in Texas. We are living life as it unfolds. For now life continues to be relatively calm...not without its sorrows but that is to be expected. The ebb and flow of each day feels connected and 'normal'. There is a pleasure in knowing I am moving through my 60s with family secrets unlocked. I now hold information about my connection to the generations who went before me. There is a promise in it all. It all seems appropriate to the season.

"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." ~Elwyn Brooks White

Learning Curve...

2011-03-01T05:11:00.000-08:00

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Life has changed. It is calm. There are some speed bumps now and then, but for this small moment, my little life is calm. I am captivated by the struggle of learning to play the violin ~ of learning to make music. It absorbs me in the way that yoga absorbs and releases tension. In fact without the music, yoga would not be used. It all calms the mind. I wonder that 60+ year old fingers can still develop muscle memory and find their way to C# and so on. That the 60+ is capable of knowing when a note is flat. I had no idea that I was capable of hearing the difference between between notes. Slowly bits of a phrase begin to sound like a part of a whole. The 60+ year old eye practices engaging with the brain to remember notes on flash cards. I, who have found every excuse in the book to avoid yoga as a middle class fad and yet another form of proselytizing, find that some stretches are helping an old learner build strength in a bowing arm and assist in clearing a over-busy brain to settle and focus. I would never have imagined that I would look forward to practicing an instrument. Sometimes I record my practices. The first recordings were painful to the ear. In fact my Lab would RUN to the back room the moment violin noise began to fill the living room. He hid there until practice ended. Now this music is less scratchy. The dog plays with is toys in the same room during the practice. While these notes are indeed still scratchy, there is an improvement. That is that is an amazing relief. :-) Progress! And the progress is a simple joy! Although the goal is to learn Celtic and Country fiddling, I hear more in all violin music now and I wonder at the beauty and mystery of different instruments. When visiting the music store to browse through sheet music, I sometimes listen to the hallway outside the practice studios. I listen to children and adults struggle with the learning of the language of music. This business of being human and our ancient connection to music is fills me with awe. What led us to that first note?

There are struggles behind the calm. My work environment is pressured. The struggles of the economy with its threaten as well as actual health care cut and the shortage of experienced nurses interested in working in long term care collide to make for a tense and unsettled stew. In this arena one can only try to do one's best. But for now, at least, when I come home, a rented violin awaits me. It is a magic carpet and transports me to someplace peaceful. Governments, health care execs and staff can be put aside for a moment while an old gal learns.

Fiddlin' Around...

2011-01-23T08:35:00.000-08:00

" Oh this learning, what a thing it is!"

~ William Shakespeare

Life has picked up speed these last few months. Good thing, because it makes it easier to ignore the long dark of winter. No sun rise here until almost 8 AM. The evenings have improved though as it is not dark until nearly 5:15 PM. A renewed interest in learning something new has been spurred by a desire to look just past the darkness that is this very long winter. This January finds me studying the Celtic fiddle. What a challenge it is but exciting when something other nerve killing scratching issues forth from my student violin. My Grandfather's family was from Edinburgh, Scotland. So part of this feels a nod to part of my genetic code and family history. Decided to take the course offered for adult learners at a local college's evening division. There are 11 of us who meet one night a week with a wonderful and talented instructor who happens to know how to work well with adult learners. The age of the group span from 50 to 70. I sit comfortably in the middle range. We learn by ear rather than reading music. One challenge at a time seems to be about right.

"That knowledge is great riches, which is not plundered by kinsman, nor carried off by thieves nor decreased by giving"

~ Bhavabhuti

Attended a day long Photoshop Elements class this week-end. Ah, just what the doctor ordered ~ finally I can make use of this program. It has reignited my passion for photography. The instructor was wonderful. He managed to be so funny for the entire 8 hours of class time and still meet all the course objectives. No one was left in the cyber-dust as he seemed to know exactly who was lagging and gave each person some individual tutoring as it was needed. Of course it helps to have 10 in the class. I can hear a collective sigh of the cyber village teachers who have been trying to make just that point for years.

"To improve the golden moment of opportunity, and catch the good that is within out reach, is the great art of life."

~ Johnson

This past Autumn some friends asked if I would join them for an afternoon at the Opera. The day has arrived! How very exciting as I have not been to listen to live Opera since leaving Boston back in what...2000. Today we will drive to Seattle for a matinee performance of the Barber of Seville. What a joy this is. Wrapping oneself in a celebration of site and sound is a delight.

Back to a work-a-day life in the morning. But for now I can continue to celebrate the week-end and pretend as though I had the luxury of being retired. :-)

Sunday Rain

2011-01-09T09:03:00.000-08:00

"Life is the fire that burns and the sun that gives light. Life is the wing and the rain and the thunder is the sky. Life is matter and is the earth, what is and what is not and what beyond is in eternity"

~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca

There is a dim gray light just beyond the window, peeping around the wooden blinds. I can not hear the rain abut I know she is there. It is nearly 8:40 A.M. and for the past 40 minutes the sun has been hinting that she sits just on the other side of the clouds. Another sunrise that almost isn't. This is not a complaint. The rain here in the Northwest serves as a reminder of some other primordial time. A time when forests were abundant every where.

"You pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too. That's part of it."

~ Denzel Washington

Daily there is winter rain. She is our constant companion. The lawn remains green ~ 1000 miles north of the California's Central Valley, the gardener continues to show up for work on Thursdays to mow the lawns. Frost, Rain's significant Other, shows up now and then as well but seems to toy only with the flowers. The icy pansies that flourished on the Island in Puget Sound were transferred to this more in land home. Although I thought they were destroyed beyond help ... severely frost bitten, somehow they regenerated. Little purple and white pansy lion faces greeted me when I let the dogs out this morning. The roses perished - lost. Pots did not meet their needs nor offer sufficient protection from Frost's icy fingers. But then that is the stuff that is composted and will serve other roses in some future Spring.

"Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat down upon your head with silver drops. Let the rain sing a lullaby"

~ Langston Hughes

This slow motion, rainy day is underway. Wet me, wet camera, wet dogs. So be it. The price of life here in the Northwest.

Good heavens "I'm late!"

2010-11-28T11:28:00.000-08:00

"No wonder you're late. Why this watch is exactly two days slow."

~ Alice in Wonderland

It has been so long since I've posted that I'd completely forgotten my password. Grim and silly ~ but true.

"An author doesn't necessarily understand the meaning of his own story better than anyone else." ~Alice in Wonderland

Occasionally I get into a 'why write?' spiral. Thinking I should understand my "own story" better than I do. To whom am I comparing myself...I know not. Perhaps some familial gremlin that comes to roost periodically in my head and murmurs wicked things about not being the writer in our family nor the photographer BLAH BLAH. And who cares about that? Not a soul I know, including myself. I can tell a tale, my own, whether well written or not. OR whether I understand all of it or not. So here I am again. Am heading out to take some photos.

To those dear people who checked in while I was gathering my wits and getting stronger...thank you so much for simply being there! I'm am in the process of catching up on blogs.

"You mean you can't take less. It is very easy to take 'more' than nothing."

~Alice in Wonderland

The knee is much better and life has gradually picked up pace. Have been having a twice a month DVD night at the house. The current theme is: men who dance. Watched that tender film entitled "Billy Elliot" and then "White Nights" which was so so even though Baryshnikov is a pleasure to observe. Not sure what the next theme is as now it is an other's turn to chose. Still looking for a book group.

"If you survive long enough, you're revered-rather like an old building."

~ Katherine Hepburn

Have whittle down the isolation that was mine (my life does need to be more than just work and expanding something from nothing takes time) by having friends (new and old) over to dinner. YES it's true WR is cooking again. A new knee and and back in the kitchen. There is life for those over 60! :-)

Alright ~ time to go outside...night fall comes early these days....precious little time for natural light!

Stretching out in Autumn

2010-10-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

“*My sorrow, when she's here with me, thinks these dark days of autumn rain are beautiful as days can be; she loves the bare, the withered tree; she walks the sodden pasture lane.*”
*Robert Frost*

The time has come to write again. It is daunting. Some mental muscle stretches with resistance. The resistance triggers old tapes that play a tiresome haunt: who is suppose to write in the family and who should not do so. A defense begins to mount ~ this is a blog after all not a vetted scientific publication or some such thing. Then it occurs in some dim recess of my mind that most of my life 'projects' begin in Autumn. The Fall has a unique killing beauty that draws one's attention. "Resistance is futile."

"Autumn is a second Spring where every leaf is just a flower"

~ Albert Camus

Okay, I'm holding on to that thought...the 'second Spring'. Summer is a blur. One that was filled with pain, surgery and recovery. Time to move on with life. Time to observe that some trees are bare here and other tenaciously hold their leafs. Certainly all the trees in my yard, those frisky wooden devils, (six in count) are holding on to their leafs. The household has a gardening service but they "don't do leafs". I can see myself, the electric leaf blower and trusty rake in the crisp and RAINY weather that is November...raking leafs on a weekend that was meant for an adventure. Makes me wish my dogs had apposable thumbs so they could be conscripted into yard service. Surely a smart Lab could learn to rake? When my internal whine gets too loud, as it is now, I remember to ask 'would you rather rake leafs or be frantically stacking wood against the on-coming New England winter'. Dang, I have to vote for raking leafs in the Northwest. The pity party is forced to close.

"But I remember more dearly Autumn afternoons in bottoms that lay intensely silent under old great trees." ~ C.S. Lewis

Lying 'under old great trees' would have happened in my much younger years. Some where between Utah and New England. The past is the past and I prefer to not wander there often. Today the past whispers in my ear...asking for a visit. I remember Provo canyon, the whisper of wind in the pines, nature's patch work quilt on the mountain side and I remember that cold weather meant a kid could wander without having to listen for rattlesnakes. But then the deer hunters would be in the woods...a danger of a different kind. Ah Autumn you are a frisky visitor.

"Autumn, the year's last loveliest smile."

~ Wm. Cullen Bryant

Time to shake off the reverie, lace up and go to the gym and then head out to finally get some new photos. There is much chatter here about it being an "El Nina" year. What does it mean to a transplanted neo-New Englander? Are they meaning six feet of snow and 40 below temps? The Subaru sits in the garage willing and able to drive over six inches of unplowed snow. Still have an emergency kit for the car. I'll see what needs to be stocked for the house. But six cords of wood ... not on the agenda! This Autumn, El Nina or not, can be viewed with deep appreciation. Time is on the march ~ up and out of the house.

Technical Difficulties! Photo Challenge

2010-09-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

I actually have photos for the Brenda Photo Challenge but have run into transfer problems. Am resorting to older photos that have been previously posted until I can resolve the camera - computer connection problem:

1) autumn on Fox Island

2) Farm Stand in Gig Harbor

3) Water feature at the Spring garden show in Seattle.

Hope all are well and thriving out there in Cyberville.

As a catch up. I am 6.5 weeks post op and working five days a week again. Still working on getting full range of motion in the knee. Just joined the Y to take advantage of their pools and exercise equipment. July, August and September are sort of a blur. Just really feeling like me again. Have nearly unpacked. Am watching the evening sunlight fade and long for the late sun filled evenings of summer. Autumn has her own rewards....a festival of color, warm days and crisp nights.

Now that I am walker/crutch/cane free I hope to be out peering at nature again. Will spend some time visiting all your blogs ~ then out into the world...I've missed it! :-)

Labor Day ~ an update.

2010-09-06T05:51:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone out there is enjoying a day off.

Am gradually coming back to life. 26 days since surgery. Returned to work on a part-time basis this past week. Four hours a day for three days a week. To be honest it was exhausting. The effects of anesthesia and surgery have gradually subsided. Physical therapy two days a week and that is an agony and so pain medication before those visits. Am a few degrees from being able to completely straighten my leg but getting flex back is another matter. Man is that painful! Last week was at 93 degrees. Want to get to 120 but this is slow process. If I can reach 120 then gardening and kayaking become real possibilities again. Am using a cane instead of walker now and think that will go away in a week or so. Progress. Would like to order an out of body experience for exercise and rehab but don't think that is working. Am searching for a Y or health club with a pool. Hopefully swimming in warm water with help loosen tight tendons. It is amazing that knee joints can be replaced isn't it.

Am watching the news in the mornings. Wondering what the mid-term elections will bring. The economy is still struggling. Lay offs continue in the Northwest. I see more houses go on the market in my new neighborhood. With each for sale sign I wonder if someone is moving to a better job, someone retired or perhaps someone is desperate to get out from under a mortgage.

No photography yet ~ two more weeks. In the mean time...hoping each cyber friend is happy and healthy!

Home again, Home again

2010-08-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

hospital + home

Whew A LOT has happened in just weeks. Moved the household a week and a half ago. LOVE the new (to me) abode. My sister was my right hand. Truth be told, I simply could not have done this without her help. Sisterhood is a wonderful thing and a special blessing! Then one week after the move, I checked into the hospital for a total knee replacement. What a journey. Went to St. Joseph's in Tacoma where the "Joint Camp" staff of therapists, nurses, physicians and nursing assistants were simply outstanding. Three and half days later I was able to go home with my son up from So Cal and a walker in tow. Am gradually learning to trust my new bionic knee. Have to exercise three to four times a day. Also have to stay ahead of pain. It is a amazing journey that has been made so much more attainable thanks to a whole team of intelligent, compassionate caregivers! My son will stay at home with me for a week. As I regain mobility and find that the pain of bone on bone begins to fade ~ I feel joyful, thankful and blessed. Okay, I am sort of heating our heat wave but that too will pass!

Hope summer is treating all my cyber-writing friends well. When I am on less pain meds will write more.

Mobilty or whatever...

2010-07-22T04:37:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I sat through and participated in a long but productive meeting. A six month plan was mapped out for the corporation and although tired we were all pleased with the possibilities the hovered on the horizon. Then I stood up at the conference table. It was the last able bodied step I was able to take. That cranky right knee had gone as far as it was going to go. It locked tightly in place. Future and plans suddenly seemed elusive at best. An emergency room visit later followed by a trip to the primary doc and then the orthopedic specialist,,,total knee replacement in mid-August. Several professionals used words like "bone on bone" and "X weeks of recovery". Groan... I forgot to mention that I am moving on the first...to the other side of the Sound but oddly enough will be much closer to work therefore some of the "green" goals are being met (AND the new home has gas heat, a real attached garage and a huge fenced yard for the pups)...the jury is still out on the corporate agenda but what the heck...I can write policy and procedure from home.

I will not be participating in the photo challenge as I can not bear weight on the right leg. As I am unbelievably ungainly on crutches adding a camera to the mix might prove dangerous to me and possibly any other living creature near me. Trying to pack for the move is enough of a challenge but as there is no choice...it is slowly getting done...one box at a time.

In the mean time, I will write about this little life and continue to follow the blogs of my cyber- neighbors. Here to all of us...wishing everyone a happy remainder of the summer.

Brenda's Photo Challenge: Freedom

2010-07-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

Freedom of Speech!!!!!

WORDS ~ WRITTEN ~ SPOKEN ~ SIGNED ~ TRANSMITTED VIA THE INTERNET! ~ PHOTOGRAPHED

"The test of democracy is freedom of criticism."

~David Ben-Gurion

"We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people."

~John F. Kennedy

"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."

~Noam Chomsky

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

~Voltaire

IN THE POST 9/11 WORLD IT BECOMES A CHALLENGE TO DEFEND FREEDOM OF SPEECH. REMEMBER ON THIS JULY 4TH THAT OUR FOUNDING FATHERS GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THAT FREEDOM!

Early morning...

2010-07-01T05:27:00.000-07:00

Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.

~May Sarton

The yard just beyond this small office contains the very smallest of gardens. A very short runway of mismatched annuals and a few containers of roses and even two pots with tomato plants. These little specimens do their very level best to blossom and be the simple, lovely bits of life that each one is and each one fulfills its destiny with precious little support from the resident gardener. Still, each stalwart plant manages to occasionally capture my attention and silently reminds me to 'stop!'. Simply stop. That pause to tend to the silent partners in life is in and of itself ... life sustaining. To steal a moment to pull a few weeds and nip back blossoms that have passed is soothing. A reminder ... "Breathe".

A Pause That Refreshes!

2010-06-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

The blissful news of the day....my youngest son and his adorable girl-friend are officially engaged! Wedding next year after Grad School graduation!!!! Who knew my heart could be this happy! :-D

Oh No ~ Not That!

2010-06-19T13:14:00.000-07:00

“Do not wait for Leaders; do it alone, person to person”

~ Mother Teresa

OH NO not personal responsibility! I hate this part of life. Surely there is an easier way deal with the oil leak that has spewed 100 million + gallons of crude into the Gulf.

“I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your next door neighbor?”

~ Mother Teresa

Does that leak mean that now might be the time to learn the most we can about how we each use oil in our lives? We in the States are at least listening to the nightly news if not watching or reading it. We know that our industries (those that are left, that is) are oil dependent. We know that many of us must use oil to heat home during the winter season. Most us drive cars that require oil and oil by-products. Some of us believe that if we have a lot of money we can use whatever we can pay for and the rest of us, reeling from the recession, know that we can spend what we can scrape together for what we want. Somewhere along the line that became confused/ fused with what we 'need'. Not a constitutional right, eh.

“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.”

~ Mother Teresa

How much do we love our primary home...Mother Earth? Drive less, use public transportation, give up that convenient plastic shopping bags, decided to recycle and reuse rather that buy, buy, buy... What discomfort are we willing to go through for the sake of loving the place we are living? Rally together so that industry left can have the black gold to help a crippled economy and save/ create jobs. Find those illusive "alternative energies" and actually use them. Listen. There is a subtle sound in the back ground...tick, tick, tick.... There is no "love it or leave it" choice in the here and now.

Brenda's Photo Challenge: Bedtime

2010-06-19T09:26:00.000-07:00

This was a challenge ~ on two levels: the reality of my life and finding a subject! I live by myself, there are no grandchildren and the adult children are out and about in the world and I work on average six days a week. So decided to go with the critters who inhabit my household. They are all in bed before I even realize it is time to call it a day. Sometimes that leaves a challenge of a different kind...where in the world am I suppose to sleep! :-)

Tye has a kennel. But after a busy 12 hour day at doggie day care this lab/border collie mix always attempts to sack-out on on the Mom's bed first. Perhaps he hopes I won't notice the large furry lump taking up most of the bed...

Aging coon hounds do three things, eat, sleep and sniff stuff. Reb gets his own chair and everyone including me stays out of it!

Pip the Love Bird goes to bed at 8 PM and is up with all of Mother Nature's avian friends at 4 AM ~ who needs an alarm clock?

Then there are the visitors: Sukie and Juneau. Their Mom was the main course for a coyote and her pups when these little ones were about two weeks old. These little feral friends are being "socialized". But like all their feline kin, socialized or not, BEDTIME comes and they wake up! At least for the time being I don't startle at strange sounds in the house....Suk and Juju are just having HS (hour of sleep) fun!!!

Not the Price of Oil ~ What Price Oil!

2010-06-15T05:39:00.000-07:00

“ We will look upon the earth and her sister planets as being with us, not for us. One does not rape a sister.” ~ Mary Daly

I am going to spare you the rant I can feel brewing inside my head...at least for now. At the moment it is a conglomeration of facts but the birthing process for that rant is near term. The “abstract” is this: I am not agitated about what I am paying for gas at the pump. I am feeling a fury about the plunder of the earth for that gas at the pump...for the oil that fosters industry and greed...for the lack of effective government response. I feel a fury toward BP (no matter how many people they employ) and the insipid Obama administration response. My heart both aches and rages for the damage to the environment and the lives of the people who depend on the environment for a living.

The late Prof. Daly wrote “one does not rape a sister” but, in fact, just that has happened ~ continues to happen and we will be reeling from the consequences for generations. The oil leak in the Gulf produces numbers that are too large for most of us to comprehend. It hands us another “genocide” dilemma....numbers too large to understand when held up to what so many think of as every day life. Sometimes that number is six million Jews, sometimes one million Armenians or Rwandans and sometimes thousands of species that may not recover or disappear altogether from the land that encircles the Gulf.

To those who want to kiss this disaster boo-boo and make it go away...keep puckering up, this is going to take everything you've got and more.

Pondering the Price of Oil

2010-06-12T07:04:00.000-07:00

“There's so much pollution in the air now that if it weren't for our lungs there'd be no place to put it all.”
~Robert Orben

I love to drive. My Father taught me how to drive when I was 12 years old. I have a clear memory of his smiling face as I s-l-o-w-l-y drove down a country road. I can remember the searing heat of July in Price, Utah. There were no jarring stops or wild accelerations. Just his soothing voice telling me not to worry about 'gauges just feel the car and watch the road'. It was such a long time ago ~ 50 years has elbowed its way between me and that sultry day. Time has claimed the moment and death my Dad. So much has changed. We had no idea that we were contributing to pollution.

“Nature provides a free lunch, but only if we control our appetites.”
~William Ruckelshaus,
Business Week, 18 June 1990

Driving these days is a guilty pleasure. As I watch the Gulf turned into a cesspool of muddy oil I too find myself pondering thoughts of carbon reduction. A new car is out of the question. The current car is still owned by the Bank. I live quite a distance from my office but ironically I am rarely there as I am always on the road, traveling to one or the other of the Care Centers. The one nearest to my home is 20 miles to the south, with one another 18 or so miles south of that and the furtherest is 56 miles to the north. Obviously this is not a carbon reducing trek. My buildings are not very electronically up-to-date. I can't review medical records from the comfort of my little home office. We can't Skype meetings. Anyway, all those activities require electricity so it is likely a carbon wash so to speak.

“It wasn't the Exxon Valdez captain's driving that caused the Alaskan oil spill. It was yours.”
~Greenpeace advertisement,
25 February 1990

I plan to move off this Island. Closer to the main office and the Care Centers to the south. The thought of packing is repulsive but not as repulsive as thoughts of sea creatures drowning in oil. While on my cruise (yet another carbon expensive trek) I listened to a naturalist discuss the oil spill in Alaska. He said he was still haunted by by the sound of hundreds of confused and frightened sea otters when they began to freeze to death as the crude robbed them of their ability to withstand the icy water temperatures. He and his fellow volunteers listened to them scream as they died. They did not know that otters sounded like humans when they screamed. Who knows what screams, loudly or quietly, are echoing in the Gulf? Soon more and more humans will join in the screaming as animals, plants and shore line are increasingly destroyed. This man-made leak stains all that we use to know. I, like so many others, send donations to various groups struggling to save what has been damaged. I work at reorganizing my life. I make lists of all that is petroleum based and weigh alternatives. Time for me to move back into an urban area ~ and I can't begin to express to you how sad that makes me feel...living the escaptist fantasy has been glorious! How I love the peace, space and safety of this Island. But, to be honest, I love not contributing to pollution even more. Living in a city seems an odd way to accomplish this but ... ~ it makes dependence on a car less of an issue.

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
~Native American Proverb

It's time to change. We've already left a monsterous finacial debt for our grandchildren and their children. Shall we also leave them a “scorched earth”? Time to drive "s-l-o-w-l-y down the road" in a new and healthier way.

A Peaceful, Rainy Sunday

2010-06-06T09:46:00.000-07:00

It is quiet this morning. I noticed yesterday that two of my neighbors managed to sell their houses and this week the new people moved into each empty home. Perhaps those two tiny real estate sales are part of the larger signs that the economy is making a come back. From this small office the worries and unhappiness in the world seem far away. Once in a while ~ it is relaxing to forget, albeit for a moment.

It is raining here. It should not be as this is usually the beginning of our short lived dry spell. But then neither is this Ketchikan, Alaska. That town and its stalwart inhabitants endure 200" inches of rain a year. So 32 to 40 inches of 'here'...literally a drop in the bucket!

A river runs through it....

As with so much of the Northwest...coffee shops are an essential.

Tourist make the rounds in horse drawn trolleys...

There are boats and there are ships!

Island across the bay from Ketchikan. Notice the lush green dense forest...brought to you by 200 inches of rain!

Time to fetch the Sunday paper, sort the laundry and think about rainy days, a glorious vacation and well, not much else! Have a good one!

Brenda's Photo Challenge: old and worn

2010-06-05T09:52:00.000-07:00

A time worn country mail box...

My old coon hound (13+ years)

Rickety country bridge

Glacier in Traci Arms

2010-06-04T06:06:00.000-07:00

The ice is so compressed and dense that it reflects only one color ~ blue.

Icebergs seen from a safe distance!

More about "My Spring Vacation"

2010-06-03T04:51:00.000-07:00

It is once again the beginning of a day and my thoughts are of the end of it. We are in survey and that is a quiet but grueling experience. I begin this day remembering the end of the day in the Alaskan Inland Passage. The sun was just setting when most of us in the lower 48 are either turning on the nightly news or are already fast asleep. This photo was taken while on deck at 10:39 P.M.

Visiting Land North of Home

2010-06-01T06:02:00.000-07:00

The seven days somehow rushed by in slow motion. The first day on board was spent trying not to be lost: winding around stair cases; navigating forward, mid ship and aft elevators; locating various dining rooms and then somehow making it back to the stateroom. I and dozens of other passengers bundled up and hunkered down on deck 14 in order to watch our ship glide through Puget Sound and transport us to Juneau, Alaska. The trip was relaxing and somehow magical. I was able to sample the immense beauty that is the Alaskan coast, observe whales, sea otters, dozens of bald eagles, dolphins and seals. The towns were quaint and small compared to the land surrounding them. The forests are green and stretch for as far as the eye can see. The air is crisp and pristine. We traveled to glaciers and sailed past enormous ice bergs. The glaciers are receding at the rate of 70 feet a year. The best example of that is demonstrated in Juneau at the site of the Mendenhal glacier because one can take a easy hike to it and face its enormous size and the turquoise of the dense ice, even touch it and know you have touched time itself. Saw a number of “locals” with hybrid huskie/wolf dogs. I learned more about mushing, native people, and severe winters. I took a tour through a rain forest (Juneau amazingly enough has a temperate climate and receives more rain than snow. Ketchikan which is south of Juneau receives 200 inches of rain a year...makes Puget Sound seem a desert)! The environment was amazing and images still float in my head. As for cruising. I would do that again in a heart beat. How nice to visit so many different locations and never have to change hotel rooms. I enjoyed talking to crew and fellow passengers alike. Both groups were diverse and many spoke little to no English and some how it was all good. Will be thinking about this for awhile. The only troubled spot of the trip was the return to find that one of two SD cards was corrupt and therefore 400 photos disappeared. Ah well, that seems to be my destiny these days so I will rely on memory to conjure up thoughts of part of the trip. Whatever the magic of the journey, I have returned relaxed and ready to jump back into life.

It is difficult to even know where to begin in describing this journey. I will sort through memory and photos this week and continue to post for several days....

Brenda's Photo Challenge: flowers

2010-05-21T20:40:00.000-07:00

Flowers! My favorite subject...right along with everything else in nature. :-)

Am on my way to vacation but wanted to join the "Challenge" before I leave. I will check in with all of you as soon as I get back! Have a great week!

Sweet FRIDAY

2010-05-21T04:28:00.000-07:00

The end of the work week is here. Not a moment to soon! It has been one busy week ~ a Murphy's law kind of week. Still everyone did a good job of moving forward. The anticipation of actually taking a vacation has helped as well. My traveling companion made the journey without mishap, The house is in order. Trip preparations complete. Life is good.

The Pursuit of Perfection?

2010-05-19T06:04:00.000-07:00

My friend has a small but wonderful garden. It has been the object of interest and devotion of she and her retired husband. The photo above is the beginning of what will become, some time later this summer, a tasty pear. The tree is stretched out along the side of the house. Last year, my friend 'severely' cut the tree back. Actually her husband, a gentle and kind man, said she "hacked it down". To both their surprise this Spring the tree was covered in blossoms and now those dozens of blossom are small fruits that will mature to produce a bounty of delicious treats in just a few months time. Perhaps if one is to be caught up in the pursuit of perfection is not the garden the place to put one's energy? Working there is the place where we mere mortals can reach for the Divine and do little harm.

For many decades I have been a member of various quality assurance committees. Every now and then someone will state that the quality 'bench mark" should be 100% for some care item or other. I inwardly groan. 100%? I am so often pleased if the health care system with all its participant people simply "do no harm". I do not believe 100% accuracy ( a form of "perfection") is maintainable....just ask Toyota.

This week, on two different days, two different staff nurses each gave insulin to a patient who had not eaten two meals prior receiving the drug. Fortunately no harm came to him because his wife was observant and as some of the nurses said "pushy" because she recognized hypoglycemia and demanded to know if her husband had eaten his meals. In this case, I applaud "pushy". I am now working with nurses to help them remember what they should have remembered from nursing school...regular insulin is fast acting with a rapid onset and peaks within one to two hours of administration. Is it searching for perfection to expect a clinician to remember basic facts? I put an insulin information chart in the med administration book along with the signs and symptoms of high and low blood sugar. There is a mandatory test on the subject of insulin in June. When the public will pay for a nursing home nurses to carry a patient assignment of say 6 to 10 people instead of 27 to 30 and every nurse cares passionately about doing his or her job to the best of his or her ability I will adjust the benchmark to something that approaches 'perfect' care...until then I aim for "do no harm".

For the record. The my usual benchmark is 98% and that is a cliff hanger!

Testing....five more days

2010-05-18T05:58:00.000-07:00

"The Socialists believe in two things which are absolutely different and even contradictory: freedom and organization." ~ Elie Halevy

Why, one might wonder, am I writing about Socialists so early in the morning? This little musing has nothing to do with political thought. In fact very little thought of any sort is going in to it. It was the mention of contradiction between freedom and organization that caught my mind's eye. I 've been cleaning and 'organizing' the house. I was almost ready to buy the myth that I created....the one that spins a little lie that I will always keep the house this tidy and organized. What a horse's ...... It will be pleasant to come home to a tidy home and my friend from Boston (traveling with me on vacation) will be momentarily be in shock when she sees the hotel like order in the house. But will I adopt this as a forever commitment to order and organization...probably not so much.

Perhaps disorder is the pressure relief valve for the imposed order of my work? That rationale will work for now. In any case, the house looks someone with a stay at home wife lives here. That "look" won't last, but then nothing ever does.

Lucretia Peabody Hale

2010-05-17T22:26:00.000-07:00

Here's a link about Ms. Hale. She was the daughter of Nathan Hale. She was a writer in a family of 'real smart people'. http://www.nybooks.com/books/authors/lucretia-p-hale/ And yes she was from BOSTON! :-) (for some of us that is a redeeming feature....or not).

Promise is Spring

2010-05-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

"It was one of the first of the spring days - one of the days that seemed to be promise and fulfillment in one"

~ Lucretia Peabody Hale (1820 - 1900)

We knew that day today. The sweet warmth that 'hints of summer'. Thoughts of other spring days fluttered in the corner of memory. Savor this moment. Drink in the color. Remember the lilac scent on the breeze. Notice the sunlight filtered by trees dense with leafs. Hold this fragile joy to your heart. The moment will pass too soon. Spring is a sprinter and already she is running down the track...

The next wave of America's Nurses

2010-05-15T11:47:00.000-07:00

Thought some of you might be interested in this residency program for RNs in California. I would love to see one for geriatric nurses! p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdFmWSAq70Y&feature=channel

saturday quiet

2010-05-15T05:34:00.000-07:00

Have finally figured out how to import photos to Wildwoods! "One small step..." :-)

Have been up since 3:30 A.M. pondering a dilemma at work. I think I've figured out how to calm a tense situation down but now I'm tired of problem-solving. This week-end is devoted to organizing the house and getting packed. My travel companion arrives on Thursday and it would probably be the civilized thing pick-up the accumulated clutter from the combination library / guest room. My home office desk is also a bit (tastefully understated) of a disaster and needs some attention before I leave. Have to figure out what to pack. Luckily I'm traveling with someone who isn't into fancy and that is a relief. My birds are going to a friend's house tomorrow. The dogs to kennel on Friday. Then we just have to get to the pier on Saturday....

Once the business of getting ready to stop working for a while is attended to I will spend more time with photos. Making this transition (to a Mac) is not as formidable as I thought it would be ~ learning the truth once again of "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself".

The sun is coming up. The sky to the northwest is a shimmering pale pink. Another day begins.

Wednesday dawn

2010-05-12T06:07:00.000-07:00

Progress is being made on the Mac front and I have to admit I am beginning to see why folks are so loyal. There is a different vocabulary to remember and those words change some of the basic commands that we use in navigating from task to task on a PC. Once this begins to click into my brain with something that approaches the familiar this is a fairly seamless system. Makes the term "user friendly" mean something. I did retrieve old photos from the net and will be working to organize those in the evening. iPhoto is straight forward so hopefully by the week-end I will be able to post photos again. I think this is a good technology switch.

Safari is a smooth web browser and I love the way it organizes the sites I frequently visit. I imported Chrome as a back up but it may not be necessary.

Pollen is drowning me and every other person I meet here this week. Ocean air will be a welcome relief but that is 10 days away. Am sitting in as interim Director of Nursing Service in one building until we find a new person with sufficient leadership skills to operate the Department of Nursing in extremely busy and complex facility. The building is home to 120 wonderful frail elders and several cats. Unfortunately I am allergic to cats. I had a dear old cat for many years and somehow my body adjusted to him. However, these new critters and pollen are giving my immune system a run for its money (so to speak). It is difficult to be dignified when your eyes are streaming tears and the nose is running like a faucet. Ah well, there are worse things.

I'm writing in a large font because this computer has a smaller screen and I am an old fart and can't read my own writing in "normal" font. Aging you are a wicked little devil! It should make the producers of flat screen TVs happy though as I can see (again.."so to speak") that purchase looming on the near horizon,

Alas, once again it is time to enter the stream of activity called 'real life'. Off to work. Have a great day all!

Learning Curves

2010-05-11T06:25:00.000-07:00

5:30 A.M. and I sit here in a semi-dark room attempting to learn a new computer system. My son tells me the learning curve for switching from PC to Mac is steep but that I that should feel comfortable in about two weeks. Steep... feels like the cyber-equivalent of climbing Mt. Everest! I'm telling myself that this electronic experiment is just the kind of irritation that the brain needs to develop new neural pathways. In spite of myself, I am having fun (in a slightly frustrated kind of way) ~ learning something akin to a new language. Also having some thought of what I might feel in "two weeks" is intriguing in and of itself. Part of the learning involves learning how to retrieve photos and attach ....oh yes (note to self), have to take new photos as the old silent and dark PC has my more recent photos in lock down.

Two more weeks until vacation. The count down beings in earnest. Am weary to my bone marrow and look forward to spending time 'cruising', talking until the wee hours of the morning with my friend and photographing glaciers. Cell phones off....ahhhh what a relief that will be.

The Northwest is 'doing Spring'. It is a bit warmer and the trees are completely leafed out. It is green, fresh and beautiful. From my little home office window the world seems a serene place ~ far from the trials of rotten economies, political turmoil, global hunger, wars and the tragedy of oil spills. It would be so easy to become a hermit. Not productive, ethical, or even moral ~ but definitely EASY. On that note, it is time to suit up and journey into elder care as done in America.

Bill ~ Its Over!

2010-05-08T21:59:00.000-07:00

My PC has crashed for the last time! Bill, we are so done! I've crossed over to the other side. That's right.... Bill, there are no 'sorry' messages that will work. Your fixes just plain silly and never last. Oh by the way this time when you left me in the dark you took 700 of my photos with you. I'ld like those back but not you! MAC World here I come. Viva competition!!!

The Brenda Photo Challenge ~ Light

2010-04-23T22:09:00.000-07:00

I've sorted through my photos and have nothing new to post. So thought I would revisit some glances at light from the past year: sunlight from the beginning of the day to the end of it.

Remembering Mary..

2010-04-23T06:47:00.000-07:00

I held a dandelion in my hand the other day and an image of Mary W. filled my memory. It happened a long time ago. That is as I, a mere human, reckon time. I was a young person and an inexperienced nurse. As I calculate the decades that would have made me about 20 years old. I was working the night shift in a small private hospital that was rumored to have beeen operated by "the mob" (more about that aspect of the tale another time). I worked with one nursing assistant and cared for 30 patients. The nights were slow most of the time. The seriously ill went to the likes of the Mass General or the Peter Bent Brigham. The absence of a critical care or E.R. rush gave me an opportunity to spend time with my patients when needed. I could be someone to talk to or someone to hold their hands as they waited for pain to subside. On one particular winter night, the hand I held was a small frail part of a dying woman named Mary. She had been in the hospital for many weeks. Those were the days when patients could linger and are now long gone. Mary was yet another patient for whom the doctors ordered placebos ~ she received saline 3 out of 4 injections. Two hours prior to sitting with her I had dutifully delivered the saline injection. So many were treated with placebos in those years

It was perhaps 1 A.M. when we sat in the dark together. Mary and I could hear a trolley clatter by on the track outside. A few late night, rowdy college students piled out of the transport and slogged through the snow on their way back to the near by dorms. They chatter away filling the night with youthful laughter. I listened to their voices and wondered at a life that was so free. I felt Mary's hand flutter. She was impossibly thin. The translucent skin with its blue veins covered delicate nearly weightless finger bones. She tapped her finger impatiently...little rain drops on my palm. "The medicine isn't working. I hurt awful". My heart sank. I knew it wouldn't work, couldn't work. She had a soft Irish accent (that sound, an intonation, a lilt, I came to love as a year turned into decades of living in Boston and other parts of New England). "Will you let the Doctor know this medicine isn't helping me Dearie?" I reassured her I would tell the morning nurse (again) and that I had documented the lack of relief. The morning nurse and Mary's doctor thought Mary was malingering. She had endless diarrhea and was so thin that she could have blown away in a stiff wind. Her condition had been written off to 'drug seeking' and living a hard life. Mary was in her 40's, single and lived unmarried with a man. He visited her often and wept at her bed side from missing her. Their relationship met with sharp disapproval from the staff. When did the medical and nursing staff stop seeing her? Stop seeing her plight? I was too young and inexperienced and not yet the 'bossy nurse' who learned over time to speak up and demand someone do their job for their patient. Sadly, Mary was one of the women who helped me learn to do just that. It was too little and too late for her. My heart aches just a bit now as I remember her. That night as we shared a moment, her room filled once again with the acrid odor of loose stool. She winced and began to apologize for the 'mess'. As I worked to clean her up I realized that the feces was pouring out of her vagina. The sick odor was cancer. It is, as I well know now, unmistakable. Mary lasted several more weeks. Our moments of chatting were brief. She told me about her girlhood in Ireland and working in factories north of Boston. She spoke through a haze of morphine. The last week of her life, her man never left her side. I'll never know why they never married. I simply remember that thin delicate hand of hers laying in his huge hard working bear-paw of a hand.

Rest in peace Mary W.

A Personal Conspiracy Theory

2010-04-19T07:15:00.000-07:00

Excess work, Spring and Lethargy have conspired to keep me away from my Blog. The Terrible Threes even managed to hatch a plot to keep me alienated from my camera ~ for many weeks. The score in the game of life: The Threes v WR: 5 weeks to 1 day. But what a glorious day it was. Reclaiming my free time started yesterday and the sun was out (always a good sign - if one is given to looking for signs). The battle has been engaged and I'm feeling 'feisty'.

Puget Sound is exploding with color. I've been lulled into observing the slow dance of Spring and Winter. It has been a seductive tango: a late frost a warm day, warm rain and cold rain...enough to bring out bulbs and leafs. Gardeners are slowly creeping out of hibernation. Migrating birds home from warmer climes.

A vacation is looming on the horizon. A trip to see Alaska and it's glaciers. The anticipation of a mental escape is building. Good to be back.

A perfect day

2010-03-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

Life is such a joy when a few relaxing moments are spent with friends. My friends are such a joy. We represent the Right, the Left and Middle and still find common ground. There is a lesson in that!!! We spent the day in the Proctor District window shopping, haunting thrift shops for a bargain and having a sandwich in a local and I might add delightful restaurant, Rosewood Cafe. Delicious food had by all. The place has a friendly and warm atmosphere ... reminds me of my favorite places in Boston. But Rosewood has its own unique Tacoma feel. Metro Market, as always, had a wonderful display of fresh flowers outside ~ not to mention it's fabulous presentation of food inside!

EXCUSE ME... A Correction!!!

2010-02-28T15:21:00.000-08:00

Daylight Savings is on MARCH 14th!!! Spring begins on the 20th. More LIGHT ~ it's all good!!!!!

14 Days 'til Spring

2010-02-28T06:54:00.000-08:00

We can do it... wait for Spring... but almost all of us would like to see her pretty face now! Let us begin the rituals of preparation: clean out the house, air the rooms, get the dogs groomed, plan a summer trip, think about feeling the warmth of sun on human skin...ah Spring! In the mean time, we wait...

Brenda's Photo Challenge! Anything wooden ~ waiting for Spring!

2010-02-27T07:12:00.000-08:00

Today caught me off guard and I am posting just a bit late. Took these photos on Fox Island (Puget Sound) at the community center there. Almost every object seemed to long for the activities of Spring and Summer! Spring is now just 15 days away...but for some there will have to be a few more snow, sleet or rain storms before the GAMES begin!!! It can not get here fast enough for me!

Waiting for camp fire stories to be told...

Waiting for Grandparents and young mothers doting on the family youngster...

Waiting for someone to find the patio furniture and BBQ!

Waiting for Dad or Handy man to apply a fresh coat of paint

Wishing all a good week end and good health!

Go Away Sally Ann...No One Likes You

2010-02-17T06:56:00.000-08:00

“Why do you stay in prison

When the door is so wide open?

Move outside the tangle of fear thinking

Live in silence

Jalal ad-Din Rumi, Persian Port and Mystic 1207-1273

I named her a couple of years ago. She was back for another unbidden, unwelcome visit. She is a relentless hitch-hiker and has the annoying habit of arriving whenever it is convenient for her .It is always in winter. Fundamentally she is a loner yet she insists on silently hanging around people. She is the uninvited over-night guest that never seems to know that she has over-stayed her visit. I can no longer remember when I first gave her a ride - except I know it was some long ago frozen New England winter. Now she just sits quietly, some would say, dolefully in the same spot, collecting dust and sadness. . Sally Anne has horrible food preferences, all sugary junk food and gobs of not so healthy carbohydrates. We’ve had to come to an agreement on the food thing…whole grains only and NOTHING with white sugar in it. As I alone do the shopping, the rules are not difficult to follow ~ she is no longer allowed in the grocery store. Most days she sits on the couch with a pile of unread books next to her and she always rides in the car no matter how short the errand. I hate commuting with her. Her presence conjures up all the “would’a, could’a, should’a” scenarios that time cannot erase. The saving grace is that I know come Spring , the real Spring ~ not the one I simply yearn for, she will disappear. Sally Ann hates sun light. I’ve often accused her of being a Vampire. She does not smile or bark a hostile word back. She has no sense of humor. I’ve come to believe she moves to South America in April. I know her well enough now to know that she is not bilingual. The Spanish lessons have been collecting dust along with all the other books near her nest of books on the couch..She does not need to know another language. She lets the host do all the talking. She simply sits and does a weird imitation of one of those distorted fun house mirrors.

"People with SAD suffer from a lack of sunlight – they are literally ‘in the dark." ~ Dr. Raymond Crowel, Psy.D.

Certain bright lights create a hostile environment for her ~ even Costco knows this and sells anti-Sally Anne” Verilux” lights The sun really does the trick but good artificial lights helps…almost makes it seems as though she is not there. So does exercise. She hates sweat and shrinks back just a tad to avoid contact the clear stuff. But all in all, nothing works as well as sunlight. Bright warm sun light is the only message she will really notice. ‘Go away Sally Ann’ it silently screams. Come April she will do just that!

Brenda's Photo Challenge! The Color RED!

2010-02-12T23:31:00.000-08:00

Red: the color of life. To be organic is to be messy. No other color expresses that notion as well as RED! It is the color of passion, war, love, birth, hate, and blood. It is vibrant and pulses. It can bring us to tears or romantic sighs. It represents summer and autumn.

Red is the color of life…at it’s beginning and it’s end.

Container Gardening in a different key!

2010-02-12T06:30:00.000-08:00

Enough said....

recycling at it's best!!!

Living musically?

2010-02-11T06:41:00.000-08:00

“In the end we shall have had enough of cynicism and skepticism and humbug and we shall want to live more musically” ~ Vincent vanGogh

“...living musically” ~ Isn’t that a fascinating thought? Perhaps that is the way we should proceed with each moment…chose a musical score and move as though no matter what occurs in day to day life it were all part of an elaborate dance. Rather than being trapped in memory, listen to the composers, find your rhythm, timing and engage dynamically as if it were the magic of a symphony that propelled you through time. Perhaps the nation would turn off Fox News or MSNBC or whatever talking head is espousing their particular version of the truth. Maybe then we could engage more fully in life…in step to music, creative impulse, rather than hate, ideology, or some pressing need to be upset over the ‘news’ of the day. What if we were looking for dance partners rather than converts?

My rationale mind is struggling with the notion. “How would we get anything done if we are all dancing” the little list maker frets. Living musically does not mean living idly (I reassure myself). Perhaps the phrase suggests we would live in concert with ourselves ~ with others. There seems to be a simple honesty implied in the quote…something to ponder.

Hand Blown Glass for the Garden!

2010-02-10T06:06:00.000-08:00

Posted this picture on my photo blog (http://romancingthenorthwest.blogspot.com/) but wanted to share it on this blog as well. Thought the this artist's hand blown glass was/is creative and graceful as well as whimsical. It would make a delightful surprise in a shade garden ~ as this garden group demonstrated. So interesting to be able to create a multi-purpose garden of a different sort ~ part landscape, part canvas.

Of course, after thriving most of this winter in record breaking warm weather, the folks of the Northwest are now dealing with heavy fog and chilly nights. Dang! I was feeling so certain that Spring was just around the corner. Of course, I usually have Spring Fever from January to May so I can not be trusted as a barometer of serious weather related events, especially at this time of the year!

Seattle Garden Show 2010 -2

2010-02-09T06:11:00.000-08:00

Last night I drove home in thick fog. That is always a draining commute when one cannot see beyond a few feet in front the car and the folks driving behind you have a perverse need to tailgate. Reviewing and editing the photos from the week end excursion recycled the peaceful moments of wandering through the gardening examples at the Seattle show. What a pleasant escape!

Seattle Garden Show 2010

2010-02-08T05:20:00.000-08:00

Spring comes to some in the form of the annual Garden show. After a record warm and mild winter, there is now daily talk of the hard frosts that are about to descend on us. But we can face it...we've all been to the Garden Show! The perfect escape into an imaginary May and June and it works for me!!!!

the traditional cold frame in stylish colors~

Simple elegance ~

Brought to you by TODAY OUTSIDE!!!

2010-02-06T17:47:00.000-08:00

"Spring is sooner recognized by plants than by men."

~Chinese Proverb

Almost There ...

2010-02-02T20:37:00.000-08:00

"It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!" ~Mark Twain

Brenda's Photo Challenge! ~ The Best of 2009

2010-01-29T22:55:00.000-08:00

In order to tell the photo tale of 'the best of 2009' I had to bring forward a photo from 2008. This past year has been one interesting journey. A journey filled with sorrow, mysteries and joy. A quick glance over my shoulder reminds me that I left freezing winters and deep snow. I learned that I could not only tolerate the isolation of the deep woods but thrive there no matter how cold the day was and that at 60 I could stack cords of wood, clean chimney's, rake many feet of snow off the roof of the house and other odd jobs that are required when one lives by oneself in the woods of New England.

I spent part of 2009 in the Central Valley of California. It was stunningly hot and dry. I had to work hard to find the beauty in the heat of that arid place but grew to love the sights and sounds of the agricultural center of that State. Spring was a particular delight, though short lived, she turns the normally brown hill sides into a patch work of floral color.

Now I live in Puget Sound and love the sounds and sights of this wonderful place: fog horns, the splatter of heavy winter rain, the scream of eagles hunting for their breakfast.

Life is amazing!

Getting out of my own way.....

2010-01-28T21:05:00.000-08:00

"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."
~Fr. Alfred D'Souza

Choosing to see the mystery or the obstacle~ every now then I have to remind myself not to be so heavy, cynical and overly serious: attempting to keep my eyes wide open in order to avoid becoming my own personal obstacle course. All this attempting to witness the magic of it all and stay in the NOW ~ is a piece of hard work!!

Blogger's Block ~ Listening to the Sirens

2010-01-24T09:24:00.000-08:00

“Sweet coupled airs we sing

No lonely seafarer

Holds clear of entering

Our Green mirror”

~ Homer, Book 12, 173 - 173

I have been here, in this place – a state of being and mind, for almost six months. Is there really nothing to write about this day, or the day before or the day before that? It is doubtful. Spring hints at being on the way. It continues to rain, although not with the persistent ferocity of a few weeks ago. The day stays light until 5 PM. All this is a joy, but not enough to write about today. The peace of this mild winter has become a Siren’s Song for me. I’m stuck. The terror of the blank page has me in its grip - it is easier to moan about not writing than to struggle against the sweet sound of the Siren Inertia. Fortunately I do not depend of writing for a living. But, I do depend on writing as a point of connection and for being a kind of sand painting that helps me sort through the business Life tosses in my path or that of others within my sensory range. So today, lashed to the mast (in this case my key board to serve as mast) with Odysseus I listen and write. Why? Because like Odysseus, I can listen and write...I think I can, that is.

The Doubled Edged Sword

There is so much to ponder that it has become difficult to sort through. First I am homesick for New England, even though I hate shoveling snow, cannot afford the overwhelming cost of home heating fuel, have developed a morbid fear of falling on ice and adore the green rich environment of the Northwest…I miss the intellectual and creative air of the East Coast. I miss friends, familiar roads and even a New England turn of phrase. Then, I am consumed with thoughts about elder health care in today’s heavy handed regulatory environment, even as we as a nation struggle with how to get and pay for health care to more people. Haiti weighs on my mind. What is next there? When does hurricane season begin? How will people be sheltered? How much orthopedic (related to thousand of crush injuries) help will come their way in the months ahead? What happens when 1000s of people need amputations and prosthetic appliances? Who will do the rehab? Will we send aid for that? The orphans, who will care for them? Orphaned elders and infants alike have the potential of becoming a grim source of political wrangling and statistical data gathering and still not receive the aid and comfort they need. It was a problem before the earth quake and it will be worse as the media scrutiny dwindles.

The Heart Break of Haiti

2010-01-14T05:54:00.000-08:00

Over the decades I have been honored to work with many people from Haiti and lucky for me, count many as friends. The tragic earthquake that struck that country is heart breaking. Every nurse and nursing assistant that crossed my path had family still there. These hard working women raised families, held down multiple jobs and attended college courses while they worked to integrate themselves into life in the States. They also sent home money to support loved ones still in the extreme poverty of the island nation. It is difficult to hear their anguish as I check in from person to person to see if they have heard from loved ones yet. I hope all of the folks in the blogosphere will consider a donation to the Red Cross or other trust worthy group as those teams mobilize to get food, water, shelter and medical care to those who so desperately need it there. Check out these links:

http://american.redcross.org/haiti Two other good orgs: http://www.vwaayiti.org/donate.htm http://pih.org/inforesources/news/Haiti_Earthquake.html

The Nurse as Darth Vader

2010-01-11T20:36:00.000-08:00

Every time we speak she has a horror story to share about yet another incompetent nurse who has crossed her path. I dread these encounters. When the conversation heads down this particular path I want to start breathing like the Dark Lord himself …’yes, the nurse as Darth Vader, card carrying member of the Dark Side, ready to do harm at any moment of an 8, 10, 12 or 16 hour shift!’. It is an impossibly immature response and I do not give in to it but I WANT to do so! Not because I believe that there is 'no such thing as an incompetent nurse' but because I know there is a mix in each professional group: exceptional, average, and yes, poor to incompetent ~ nurses, doctors, pharmacists etc... Long Term Care is a particular struggle. Long Term Care manages in part because most of the personal care (which is most of the hard physical work) is done by nursing assistants and nurses are relegated passing meds, doing some treatment and documenting care. Those nurses have patient loads of 20 to 30 patients (double and triple that of their acute care counter parts) and manage the nursing assistants as well as the patients, their families and medical staff. Many, if not most, of the nurses are LPNs. Most would say that staff management is not a large part of the curriculum for LPN’s (nor is it for many RNs for that matter). So, I ask, is anyone out there ready to pay more for the care of elders, more for on-going staff development? Are stock-holders ready to give up investment money for the same thing? My gut tells me the answer is a resounding “NO”. In the mean time, 1000's of nurses will do the best they can given the limitations of time, money and resourses to fulfill their duties.

If she is right about the lack of competency ~ the next time you visit a loved one in a nursing home…watch out for weird breathing coming from the nurse!

The Name of Rain

2010-01-09T07:47:00.000-08:00

Saturday is my official day of rest. I honor it and I listen to it. Listen because this is the Northwest and in winter one can listen to the weather of the day while the sun is napping (which it does for about 16 hours a day). This Saturday morning it is Raining. It is winter in the Northwest, of course it is Raining. It will be dark for another 40 minutes so listening is what I do. It is a mild swooshing sound. The rain on this day is not yet up to splattering. I just read Greg Blanchette’s 2005 article “365 Names of Rain”. There may be more names but Greg is off to the right start: Magical Rain and Mystical Rain weren’t included in his list. Scouring Rain was missing as well. Light Fog Rain that Freezes to Black Ice in Winter needs to be there as does Eerie Rain. We know rain in the Northwest. Much of this land must have been like the Northwest at some time in our Earths long history. It should be experienced by everyone at least once. I’m sure that the constant rain drives people away. The air is wet and the sky often dark. Still, the rain here feels like life to me (Life Rain just added to the list). One has to work for dry dehydrated skin living on the Sound. Motorcyclist and people on bikes, boat people and walkers all have to learn to adapt and they do. Learning to drive in 365+ different kinds of Rain is a challenge but it can be done. Better All the Time Rain than No Rain. I did No Rain in the Central Valley. I know the face of drought. A Plethora of Rain Drops is preferable to No Rain. Hard Driving Rain is also vastly preferable to SNOW. Did 42+ years of SNOW in New England I never have to shovel rain. Okay, I will admit that I would live in New England again if someone else would shovel snow for me as that is not likely, the Northwest is it…for now.

Did you know that they make Rain Coats for cameras? I’m waiting for one to arrive in the mail. When we have Hard Driving Rain all photographing must be done from inside the car. The Camera Rain Coat should change that. I dry off but my Cannon has mechanical parts that need some protection. I’m off to explore more state parks tomorrow. Sunday is supposed to be a day of Showers. Today it is time to read a book that is not work related, catch-up with dog care, reclaim the house once again, and sort mounds of unread newspaper ~ reclaim life day.

Back in the Saddle...so to speak

2010-01-02T20:10:00.000-08:00

The kinks of a injured knee seem to have abated enough to get out and explore the world again. Surgery needs to happen eventually but for now I am thrilled to have camera in hand and a free week end to see more of this part of the world. Have been learning about water fowl of Puget Sound. It has been raining but the temperature is solidly in the 40's. Finally I understand the Northwest passion for coffee. Life goes on, rain or no rain, but it is much easier to be happy about being out in the weather with a hot latte or cappuccino in your hand while exploring this magnificent part of the States! Hopefully tomorrow will present an opportunity to explore more coast line. Spoke to a retired man today who gives some time each week to pick-up trash and glass off the little beaches here and there. It washes in from the cities on the tides. A good soul. He could name numerous water fowl...I'm taking my bird book with me tomorrow and a bag to pick up trash. Nice to be reminded that even small energy efforts can make a difference

End of the Year

2009-12-27T06:38:00.000-08:00

I dutifully headed out to Weight Watchers on Saturday. The roads were empty so it was a delightful jaunt through some of the back roads of Gig Harbor. Finally found the location, stepped out of my car, stepped on the walk way and immediately fell on black ice. Slid about 10 feet down hill with my right leg somehow twisted under me. Okay folks this is an example of batting 0 for 0. This past week I locked myself out of my car almost 60 miles from home (three cheers for cell phones and a lock smith with delightful sense of humor), then I locked my self out of my house on Friday (again yet another lock smith who was kind and pleasant). On Friday night while madly cleaning, in a desperate effort to end the domestic chaos, restore order and cleanliness and have the week end to myself, I forgot to check pockets and put not one but TWO Bluetooth devices through the clothes washer. The universe speaks, does it not!

Anyway, back to Weight Watchers. What a delightful group! I like the new Momentum Plan. Have a LONG way to go but have a couple of interim goals - like being able to comfortably fit into an airplane seat by October (trip to Italy with a friend in a women's travel group). So wrecked knee or not, I was going to that meeting and did.

Came home to ice my knee and take some pain medication. Will see an ortho doc on Monday. Think I have shredded the cartilage rather badly. The landlord at the building didn't sand or salt as it was a week-end...the little devil! So much for movies every night but did manage to get "Avatar". It was a visual WOW. Have many policy and procedures to develop...so will prop up in the recliner and get my work done. And yes, I'm icing the knee.

I'm ready and waiting eagerly for 2010...I've decided an even number will bring luck.

A Time to Celebrate

2009-12-24T05:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the State Surveyors showed up at the little facility I've been commuting too for such a long time! They cleared of all the many citations that has haunted that group for 8 weeks. What a huge relief! A lot of teaching and much learning as happened in two months. Have a new Director and I think she is going to be GREAT! The former Director has a new role on our dementia care unit and I believe she will be a huge success there. Will begin to wean my presence down to three days a week there and eventually to a weekly visit. Now we can work on policy and procedure in the delivery compassionate care! It will be so interesting to see where the team is a year from now!

In the mean time, I set up my treadmill, vowed to never eat another meal in the car, joined WW, plan to sleep MANY hours this week-end AND each night am going to see a movie! OMG, actually having time to play....fabulous!

Merry Christmas to Blogging Friends!

2009-12-12T19:37:00.000-08:00

Sending my best good wishes to all for the holiday season. May you and yours be blessed with happiness and good health!

In need of rest ...and exericse

2009-12-12T08:24:00.000-08:00

Am so busy with work related matters that I have little energy for the rest of my life. Am in need of a few restful nights and far more exercise than I can squeeze into my schedule at this moment in time. Blogging and photography take a back seat as well. Will be back in synch in a few more weeks...and the daily long commute goes away. Until then, I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season!

Watching me watching him

2009-12-06T08:41:00.000-08:00

Perhaps the sunflower seeds were not to his liking or maybe it is the constant chatter from the parrot but this tiny friend is perched outside the window peering in at the early Sunday morning household. The sun does not rise here until about 7:42 am. The daylight is elusive and brief. Hurry up little guy ~ fill up now as sunset is less than 8 hours away.

"Sleep is when all the unsorted stuff comes flying out as from a dustbin up in a high wind"

Pincher Martin

~William Golding

Sleep was also elusive so no 'sorting' done last night. My little chihuahua-pug mix was up all night. She sometimes has a delicate tummy and sometimes even her regular diet sets her off. She climbs up on the bed and paces over me (like a cat) to let me know she needs to be let out of doors. Tiny insistent feet demanding that I rise from slumber and attend to business...happened perhaps five times during the night. Now I would like to call it a day and sleep all day but there is work to be done and therefore retreat is not an option. Must make the long drive to BI and finish an audit. The staff will be dismayed to see me on a week end. Usually my presence means I am observing and teaching. Today is a paper day. Did the clinical documentation happen as it was suppose to have?

Am reading "Stones into Schools"by Greg Mortenson. About educating the youth of Afghanistan. Very interesting.

Okay, it is off to the world. A peaceful Sunday to all.

mushrooms, rest and dreams etc

2009-12-05T10:19:00.000-08:00

The day began with a crisp,cold nip in the air and the weatherman just informed me that the high will be about 37F. The early morning fog is beginning to lift and light clouds have vanished. It is Saturday and my day of rest. The house needs cleaning but it can wait. Soft classical music plays in the background. The dogs are enjoying simply lying around in their self-appointed spots and even the bad boy parrot is chirping quietly at the visiting birds outside his window. Shalom ba byit (a rough transliteration for peace of the household).

"The kiss of the sun for pardon,

The song of the birds for mirth --

One is nearest God's Heart in the garden

Than anywhere else on earth."

~ Dorothy Guerney (1858 - 1932)

A brief walk outside informed me that the yard is full of autumn mushrooms. I will have to look all these up:

I cleared out the part of the yard that the dogs use ~ but the rest were left in place. Their shapes and color are fascinating. I understand completely the belief that fairies live under them...sort wish they did.

The roses in the front of the house continue to bloom. The angelica is in full bloom in spite of the cold and earlier frosts.

Purple ice pansies standing guard at the front door are over-flowing their pot.

" 'We were walking along in the changing-time' Doc said. Any day now the change will come. It's going to turn from hot to cold.' "

The Wild Net and Other Stories

~ Gabrielle Roy

Winter's arrival is just 16 days away. The 'hot ' is long gone and will be long in it's return. My co-workers talk of putting studded tires on the car. The New England in my mind can't fathom it. 'For several inches of snow?' it queries me. 'Isn't that why God invented the Subaru all wheel drive'? So, at least for today, I will relax with the knowledge that somehow I managed many feet of snow for many years with my trusty Subarus.

One last note. I had vivid dreams last night. Didn't want to give into the insistence of the dogs that it was time that be let out and breakfast be served to them...it was sad to leave that dream land world. But back to the dream. I was back in the Acworth, NH house. A thick blanket of snow was on the ground. The river was iced in and silent. It all felt to real and so normal. Every guest room was filled with friends, old and new. There was laughter and conversation through out the house. We sipped on hot coffee and teas and talked about the world. I must be a bit homesick after having the kids here for the holiday. Am feeling not so much blue as wistful. Missing an old home. Moving is out of the question. Far too expensive and I can't take my job with me. The new friends would be left behind. Ah life....

Friday at last...

2009-12-04T05:15:00.000-08:00

I am busy and happy but I am also thrilled that it is Friday once again. My favorite day of the week is here and it arrives on a full moon and amidst the beginning of a holiday season. Tonight after the final drive home it will be time to slow down. I want to visit some of the local merchants in Gig Harbor. The main street is being nicely decorated and looking festive. The merchants have all planned to stay open until 8 pm on Fridays this month. Celebrations are fun whatever the reason. Bright lights in the face of winter darkness is a brief respite for the psyche. Picking out a small special gift for someone you love is a joy. Changing gears after concentrating on problem solving and searching for remedy is an ingredient necessary for survival.

Planning to sleep in just a bit on Saturday is .... bliss! A good week end to all!

the quiet house

2009-12-01T05:27:00.000-08:00

The grown kids have returned to their busy lives. The house is quiet again and slips back into the usual routines. The young adults are back to their usual life as well. Their 'usual' is different... their heads are busy thinking about how to survive the current economic disaster in order to move on to successful careers and family. They think about growth and the future while I fret about retirement. However, while we were all together we kept the world at bay for awhile...basking in the pure joy of each other's laughter, stories and company. I never tire of listening to my young people speculate about and plan for life. How did everyone grow up so quickly?

My son has become quite accomplished in the kitchen and produced a magnificent pumpkin soup (served in the scooped shell). It was steamy warm, thick and absolutely delicious ~ hearty soup with mysterious herbs and spices....perhaps a hint of cajun. It was a delightful surprise. I always think of my family as forever young and as if I were not watching....they all grew up: honest, kind, hard working and creative. My life treasures! That makes the quiet of the house seem 'ok'...the odd reward of a job completed.

a good place to read

2009-11-30T05:24:00.000-08:00

Saturday my visiting family and I traveled up to Bainbridge Island. My California kin were chilled to the bone by our damp cool Northwest weather but they warmed up quickly with a tasty meal at Winslow's and then we nourished our heart and souls by book browsing at the Eagle Harbor Book Co. across the street. What a gem of a book store! The interior is bright and warm with enough room to move around and yet see all that is new to read. There are great selections along with little nooks to sit and read a bit. It is exactly what a book store should be ~ even has one section dedicated to the many authors that live on the Island....and I might add that is quite a number. There are also some whimsical stocking stuffers arranged here and there through out the store. If you find yourself in Seattle, hop on the ferry to Bainbridge and visit this neat little store.

Puddle and Leafs on the roof

2009-11-24T05:56:00.000-08:00

"Man's real possession is his memory. In nothing else is he rich. In nothing else is he poor."

~ Alexander Smith

I was gazing out the window between classes. It is a moment between one group of learners and the next. The staff and I had been chatting about communication in the face of a dementing illness. From the window I could see wet leafs piled on the roof below. It reminded me of the subject that so recently stimulated discussion...memory and and the mind struggling with clots of 'plagues and tangles'...of the frustration of the adult who knows she has something to say and can't find the word. The reflection of the word ~ the memory of what she knows still a shadow in her mind, but she is unable to breech the mass of protein plague to let her care givers know what she needs or wants. I am reminded that to think in abstraction is a gift of health. To discuss 'communication' with a classroom full of people who want to understand is also a grace of health. That I can look out the window and discern that it is a rainy wet day and that there is a puddle on the roof and leafs are piling up is a blessing of health. It is all so simple and so complicated ~ at the same time. It is moment when I feel the brush of the eternal.

Brenda's Photo Challenge: Ageless Bronze...

2009-11-21T19:49:00.000-08:00

The bronze statue was recently installed in Enumclaw, Washington. It is a tribute to the men and beasts of logging. I thought the artist did a magnificent job of capturing a timeless memorial to the logging history of this part of the country!

You can almost feel the strain...

the snorting and panting

the sweat of man and oxen...

to get the days work done....

an old dog learns new tricks!

2009-11-18T05:14:00.000-08:00

Have been teaching a course to care givers about caring for people with diseases that have dementia as a symptom (usually that's Alzheimer's disease but there are some 40 other diseases with that component). Because there are so many who need the training and I wish to 1) not strip the units of staff and 2) not drive over time through the roof - decided to give the 8 hour training in 16 ~ 1/2 hour sessions. It is soooo interesting to see how it is working. It means stretching a course normally done in one long day or perhaps two 4 hour days into snippets. The enthusiasm is higher among the participants. People are actually amazed that time passes so quickly. There is less time for questions but we manage to get a few in and no one stares off into space or falls asleep. :-) I'm betting I will see higher retention rates. If individuals only retain 15 minutes worth of an hour lecture ~ so 25% retention, might these folks retain 50% or more with a half hour lecture? The tricky part for me is to stop at the same spot for each session so people can get to the next part regardless of which day it is given. Had to rewrite my entire course and put it all on index cards: part A on Mondays and Tuesday in 4 half hour sessions and Part B on Wednesday and Thrusdays. So far 42 people have attended class one with no over time and no short staffing on a care unit. Pretty cool. Will complete the entire course sometime in the beginning in Juanuary. It will be so interesting to see the test results! Now my voice just has to hold up!

The Long Drive Continues...

2009-11-17T05:47:00.000-08:00

The daily commute north continues. 112 miles a day. Every day opens a new chapter in the 'what to repair today' book. The fundamental problem with this work group is there is no "team". Too many people for too long scrambling to get a job done but their effort was often incomplete or worse inaccurate.

“Chaos in the world brings uneasiness, but it also allows the opportunity for creativity and growth.”
Tom Barrett

We search for growth in the midst of messy habits...people working without regard to outcome. We ( the administrative get it fixed team) externally impose order, reintroducing policy and procedure and "best practice" concepts. Which employees will survive this ~ it is not known yet. First we need to get the focus back to what is in the best interest of the patient. When they do that ~ everything else will fall into place.

There is little time for my other life at the end of the day. Home to a quick dinner, walk the dogs and fall into bed.

a 'sign' of life!

2009-11-15T18:00:00.000-08:00

Joemma Beach State Park, Longbranch, Washington

the joy of old friends

2009-11-14T09:41:00.000-08:00

I have loved the little Chickadee for many decades. They are the hardiest of tiny souls. All winter, even in the severe minus 30 and 40 below that the forests of New Hampshire can throw at human, beast and bird, these tiny creatures would show up in the yard and turn the bird feeder into a bustling train station. Last night we had a frost. This morning the new feeder finally had old friends visiting. It is a simple joy. Makes the new home in the Northwest feel like the old home in New England!

I am always amazed by the amount of energy they expend in seed gathering. Chickadees do not linger at the feeder. Each bird takes a seed and flys off to a branch to crack it open. Then they make a bee line back to the feeder. I suppose there is a life lesson here.

My parrot and love bird are thrilled with the 'company' and as in New England have spent the morning chattering with the winged visitors just outside the window.

mid-autumn for a young tree

2009-11-13T04:26:00.000-08:00

Washington's autumn seems suspended in time or perhaps suspended between rain drops. The process somehow drawn out in this mild, wet place.

tree moss soaks up rain

2009-11-12T05:14:00.000-08:00

Ah November's endless rain ~ the various moss in trees are thriving:

November is Rain

2009-11-08T07:07:00.000-08:00

"I think rain is as necessary to the mind as to vegetation. My very thoughts become thirsty, and crave the moisture. ~ John burrows

It is November. Rain in November in Western Washington is ubiquitous. This area averages 38 inches of rain a year. The summer months are dry. November is the VERY wet month. The coast of western Washington is home to a rain forest. The Cascade Mountain range forms a kind of barrier, those tall peaks create a rain shadow and keep Eastern Washington arid. The forest that surround us are lush and dense. Trees seem to have shallow roots as many are ripped out of the ground in a strong wind. The roots don't have to work very hard to bring nourishment to the rest of the tree. Grass in western Washington is not drought hardy in the summer. Lawns turn yellow in summer but bounce back in the fall. It is November and the gardener is still coming here every two weeks to trim. the lawn (bless him!). That will cease in about another two weeks but resume in February. When I lived in New Hampshire, my yard would be still be buried under feet of snow in February.

So what does all this rain do to a people? I know many women are vitamin D deficient. Is the rate of breast cancer higher in Washington because of that? I also wonder if Seasonal Affective Disorder is high in this part of the country. Seattle is home to famous coffee makers of the world ~ strong drink to ward off dampness. What else? Almost 7 million people live in Washington state. 60% of these folks live in the Seattle metropolitan area...60% of us are being rained on day and night in November. The mission is: what does rain mean to so many rained on folks; how has it altered their lives or has it altered their lives? What does rain do to the arts? Does it change reading habits? Recreational habits? Work habits?

I want to photograph rain as well as write about it. Explore rain so to speak...let the investigation begin.....

Moss and time

2009-11-07T09:41:00.000-08:00

Moss in a moist environment is an amazing plant. It makes a new home in a variety of places...even human clothing. While exploring why trees would wear a thick coat of moss Google helped me find numerous articles about this tiny botanical wonder. If it is of interest, here is one of the articles:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/crypto/msg0811170823473.html

Organic Condo living

2009-11-06T05:37:00.000-08:00

Naturally Green...

"All art, all education, can be merely a supplement to nature" ~ Aristotle

Unexpected Halloween guest!

2009-10-31T16:28:00.000-07:00

A garden spider, who is not ready to call it "quits" for the season, is perched right next the pumpkin. Perhaps it is it's way of saying "BOO!" to the ghosts and goblins in the neighborhood.

Nature Conspires to Create an Eerie Halloween!

2009-10-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

Halloween creeps slowly towards us. She has a co-conspirator...nature. The winds are picking up speed and rush through the trees and scatters leafs. There is an eerie cloudiness in the sky. In two more nights goblins will once again rule the earth......

A view from the kitchen

2009-10-25T06:16:00.000-07:00

"Work is a means of living, but it is not living." ~ J.G. Holland

So many leafs have fallen that I can see the Sound and University Place (a city adjacent to Tacoma). Now occasionally I see my neighbors as the thicket that surrounds each of our homes thins. After the isolation of my original Wildwood Retreat and the density of the Central Valley, the peace of this place with its now not so hidden neighborhood is soothing. This will not be a final move though as this tranquil nook is too far from basic shopping needs (adds to the expense of living here) and my friends. Still it will be pleasant to be here for a year or two.

Work absorbs most of my waking moments. Have some small projects at home that need to be completed: heavy drapes across the wall of windows for the winter ~ to keep the cold air outside; organize personal files ... that sort of thing. Am taking a history course and have promised myself to also learn Photoshop this winter. But for now much has been been put on hold in order to complete policy and procedures that have been requested. And there is a course on understanding dementia that needs to be given and I must find all my notes and references and prepare the materials. Many hours spent commuting and work after work (so to speak) conspire to eat up the days. My usual habit of getting out on week ends to explore and photograph what I see has been disrupted. That makes me a bit sad but it will all pass eventually.

Today the fence for the dog area must be expanded to provide a bit more running room for my canine friends. I'm hoping the rain will hold off until a later this morning. On that note time to get in some exercise, have breakfast, fix the fence, glance at the Sunday paper and then "work on work"...ready, set, go.....

The Long Drive Home

2009-10-22T05:26:00.000-07:00

I am commuting about 122 miles a day for the time being. It has also given me the opportunity to observe Autumn take a firm grip on the region. We have so many pine trees here in the peninsula that I wonder if the other leafs will be missed. It is the beginning of the long rain. It is a time when we will celebrate the 'partly sunny days'. Last week or perhaps the week before that (days begin to merge when one spends so much time in the car) high winds blew in from the ocean and played in the bays and bounced off the mountains. Not high enough to worry about yet. That comes later in the season. The New Englander in me thought it was a normal drive home. There is no time for an average life when one spends that much time in a car. Time to learn though. I can put books and courses in the cd player and listen to history or practice Spanish. It helps clear my head and be fresh for the nursing staff I encounter each day, We have so many pine trees here in the peninsula that I wonder if the other leafs will be missed. It is the beginning of the long rain. It is a time when we will celebrate the 'partly sunny days'.

Things that go BOOM in the night

2009-10-19T05:40:00.000-07:00

Three A.M. on Sunday morning. A loud cracking boom in the night filled with constant rain. I thought it was thunder but I was so sleepy and forgot that this in the Northwest and not New England. The western part of Washington rarely has thunder. The power went out confirming my erroneous suspicion that it was thunder... somewhere.... 4 AM and time to get up (had to go to work this past Sunday). No power. But houses down the street still had porch lights. A call to the power company. Only my house is reporting. A truck arrives and then there are two. I can hear the men discuss the problem out there in the dark. I wait for enlightenment. It comes after 6 AM. A dead Madrona tree on the far corner of the property has fallen on the house. It smashed the electric pole on the roof and took out the meter and other electrical things that connect to panel inside the house. How amazing to have lived in the forests of New Hampshire all those years and tree filled yard in Boston and never have had a tree pay a personal visit with the roof. The land lord said he would send someone around some time on Monday to check for structural damage...okay, better late than never. The men from Peninsula Electric were gracious and kind. I kept thinking how brave those workers were...dealing with electrical power on a raining pitch dark early hours morning. It is now Monday and still raining. No trees on the roof though. Something to add to the gratitude list!

Far from a Wildwoods Retreat

The Nightingale Diaries

Loss in the Family ~ the Man born on the July 4th

Rekindling a Friendship

the 11th

The Brenda Photo Contest: the Dog Days of Summer

Waning Days of Summer

a P.S. from Santa Cruz

Week -End Drives

Playing ~ the Photo Contest!

Dancing with Time and Feminism...Again

Love vs. Compassion... etc. And Rentals

Springing Forward with the Unwilling

Measuring Time in Spring

Learning Curve...

Fiddlin' Around...

Sunday Rain

Good heavens "I'm late!"

Stretching out in Autumn

Technical Difficulties! Photo Challenge

Labor Day ~ an update.

Home again, Home again

Mobilty or whatever...

Brenda's Photo Challenge: Freedom

Early morning...

A Pause That Refreshes!

Oh No ~ Not That!

Brenda's Photo Challenge: Bedtime

Not the Price of Oil ~ What Price Oil!

Pondering the Price of Oil

A Peaceful, Rainy Sunday

Brenda's Photo Challenge: old and worn

Glacier in Traci Arms

More about "My Spring Vacation"

Visiting Land North of Home

Brenda's Photo Challenge: flowers

Sweet FRIDAY

The Pursuit of Perfection?

Testing....five more days

Lucretia Peabody Hale

Promise is Spring

The next wave of America's Nurses

saturday quiet

Wednesday dawn

Learning Curves

Bill ~ Its Over!

The Brenda Photo Challenge ~ Light

Remembering Mary..

A Personal Conspiracy Theory

A perfect day

EXCUSE ME... A Correction!!!

14 Days 'til Spring

Brenda's Photo Challenge! Anything wooden ~ waiting for Spring!

Go Away Sally Ann...No One Likes You

Brenda's Photo Challenge! The Color RED!

Container Gardening in a different key!

Living musically?

Hand Blown Glass for the Garden!

Seattle Garden Show 2010 -2

Seattle Garden Show 2010

Brought to you by TODAY OUTSIDE!!!

Almost There ...

Brenda's Photo Challenge! ~ The Best of 2009

Getting out of my own way.....

Blogger's Block ~ Listening to the Sirens

The Heart Break of Haiti

http://american.redcross.org/haiti Two other good orgs: http://www.vwaayiti.org/donate.htmhttp://pih.org/inforesources/news/Haiti_Earthquake.html

The Nurse as Darth Vader

The Name of Rain

Back in the Saddle...so to speak

End of the Year

A Time to Celebrate

Merry Christmas to Blogging Friends!

In need of rest ...and exericse

Watching me watching him

mushrooms, rest and dreams etc

Friday at last...

the quiet house

a good place to read

Puddle and Leafs on the roof

http://american.redcross.org/haiti Two other good orgs: http://www.vwaayiti.org/donate.htm http://pih.org/inforesources/news/Haiti_Earthquake.html