Trick or Treating

Today at work a mob of pre-schoolers came in trick or treating.  The greedy, assertive short people didn't settle for what was handed to them.  They grabbed more candy out of the hands of the people handing out the candy.  They were out of control these little costumed tykes.  It brought back a memory of the first time I took Offspring #1 out trick or treating.  I think he was Superman if I remember right.  He had a plastic pumpkin to collect his candy.  I put a couple fun size candy bars into his pumpkin container so he could get an idea of the Halloween experience.  I explained the procedure - we ring the door bell and when they open the door, say, "Trick or Treat."  And then you get candy. He understood most of what I said.  We went to the twin home across the street.  I stood behind him and he pushed the doorbell.  When the door opened he said, "Trick or treat!"  It sounded like "Twick or Tweet."   The woman at the door smiled and lowered her arms so the huge bowl of candy was within his reach.  My sweet little boy reached into his pumpkin, took out the only two candy bars in there, and put them in the woman's giant bowl full of candy. Aaaaaaah!  How sweet and generous and innocent he was.  I kinda felt bad when I set him straight - take the candy; don't give it away.

The Denser The Better

Coming home from work tonight, the visibility was poor.  Fog blurred the outlines of the trees and houses on my road.  Oh, I love dense fog.  The moisture in the air makes me feel warmer than the thermometer indicates.  The stillness of the thick atmosphere makes me feel relaxed and observant.  These dense fog advisories in fall bring me back to my childhood on Transit Avenue when I would walk up and down my dead end road all by myself in the dark thick night.  I couldn't see the trees with their newly bare branches that lined the road until I was right up to them.  Everything would seem so suspenseful in the fog; it's like walking inside a Sherlock Holmes mystery novel.  The lights from my house and my grandparent's house were barely visible but extremely comforting. Dense fog, man, I love it. 

Days Are Getting Shorter

Tonight was the first time this fall that the chickens went to bed before I got home.  Even though it wasn't even 6 o'clock, the hens were huddled up in the egg laying section of the coop.  They didn't even care that I brought them a long quarter slice of cucumber for an evening treat.  I guess I'll have to bring my treats in the morning from now on. Normally they're all over that cucumber with such ferocity that I have to break it in half and throw each section to separate ends of the run to avoid a chicken fight.  Tonight they didn't even bother to get up and look at it.   The chickens don't rely on the clock to know when to get up and when to go to bed and when to expect their cucumber treats.  They don't rely on time schedules or work expectations.  Chickens rely on nature to tell them what to do.  Is that what retirement will be like for me?

Sunday Strolling

What do chickens do on Sunday afternoons?

They go on peck-nics

Why does the chicken coop have two doors?

Because if it had 4 doors it would be a sedan.

Why is it easy for chickens to talk?

Because talk is cheep.

Making Progress

Section 1 out of 10 railings completed.

Note that the bubble is smack dab in the middle!

I CAN Drive

I am so glad I know how to drive and am allowed to drive.  I can't imagine not having this freedom.  And what is the point of not allowing women to drive other than to  pound in the fact that they are treated as second class citizens?  Cause for sure it's not convenient if women can't drive.

Just Kidding; It's Orange

Cute Fruit

111

Today was a big day for me; a BIG day.  I got the medical authorization to go back into the pool.  I've been excited all day.  It's been 111 days since the last time I picked up my swim bag and put it in the car in the morning.  It's been 111 days since I wore a swim suit; so long that I forgot what it looks like.  Turns out it's black with teal and yellow trim.  111 days since I put on my white clipper cloppers (also called thongs or flipper floppers or flip flops). 111 days since I put on my striking silver swim cap and inserted my silicone ear plugs.  111 days since I got a good whiff of chlorine.  It smelled awesome. I got in the pool and bingo, the coordination of movement came back immediately.  Swimming felt sublime.  My right leg felt a little weird - like the skin was two sizes too large but not that bad.  I thought I had lost a lot more fitness than I actually did.  I swam a dozen laps.  I didn't want to overdo it the first time.  My back feels great.  There's nothing like swimming to take the kinks out of my back.  Aah, yes, today was a big day for me.  : )

A Visit From The Goon Squad

I picked up this novel, A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan without knowing it was National Book Award Winner or a Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction.  As I read along I was a little bit confused at first. Each chapter seemed like a separate short story.  After a while I began to see that the characters in the story were all somehow connected to two main characters-Benny Salazar (who can forget a name like that?) and Sasha, Benny's assistant for many years.  Benny and Sasha work in the music industry producing recordings and dealing with musicians.  The goons in the title are not the bald, giant women with big noses like I saw in the Popeye cartoons.  Goons are violent bad guys, well, usually they're violent bad guys.  In this story, the goon squad turns out to be time.  Time steals your life, your youth and your innocence away while you are busy keeping an eye out for goons that are violent thugs.  This was a good story.  I was sad to see it end.

The Tenth Circle

Like all books by Jodi Picoult, The Tenth Circle kept me riveted from beginning to end.  Jodi knows how to tell a story.  This tale, like all her tales, is about a current problem in our society - rape.  But what is different is that this story doesn't have a long courtroom scenes like her other books do.  And this book is interrupted by comic book pages.  The father in the story, Daniel Stone, is a comic book writer.  He's writing a story about hell and his comic book story is much like his real life because once his daughter is raped, everything pretty much goes to hell.  In Dante's Inferno, the tenth circle of hell is icy cold and is reserved for those who betray someone they love.  And that is what happens in the book where the action is finished up in Bethel, Alaska and someone betrays a loved one.  I didn't really enjoy the comic book sections.  Jodi says at the end of the book that she hid letters in the comic book drawings and if we find them all, there will be an 88 letter secret message.  Sounds like  a time consuming gimmick to me so "No thanks, Jodi."  I liked the book though.

Light Up The Night

A friend called yesterday and invited me to the Anoka "Light Up The Night" parade.  She's never been to it before.  I've never been to it before either and I live here.  So we met downtown and staked out our spot of the sidewalk in front of Redman's Flooring Store.  It was cold and it got colder.  We could literally watch the temperature plummet from 45 degrees to 35 degrees because the TCF bank sign was right across the street.  We were seated near a group of children.  One of the kids was a dinosaur. The only girl was a mermaid.  One was a super hero.  And the skinniest kid was a skeleton with a costume that zipped up right over his head.  He really looked like a skeleton.  The kids all had buckets for the candy.  When the street lights were turned off we knew the parade was coming.  An old fire truck decked out in Christmas lights started us out.  It's siren sounded like something out of a really old movie.  We saw floats but no marching bands, no politicians, and only one dance team go by.  And there was no candy.  The kids in front of us were chanting, "Can!  Dy!  Can!  Dy!"  But until a woman from the group pulled some out of her purse, they didn't get any candy.  Poor little tykes were bummed out.  And I was bummed out for them.  A parade without candy?!  Unthinkable.  After the parade we headed down to the bonfire.  On our way we visited a wine store.  One of the people in the group is related to the wine store owner.  In this store you can make and bottle your own wine.  One customer was getting married so she and her fiancee make all the wine they will need for their wedding.  After our tour of the shop we went to see the bonfire.  Actually there were 4 bonfires burning in cement urns of 4 feet diameter.  Inside the bonfire were chunks of oak mixed with, of all things, strings of Christmas lights.  The lights made the fire burn in blue, aqua, green and orange which were pretty but Hello!  Toxic!  Black toxic smoke rose from the bonfires and smelled terrible.  We didn't want to stay and endanger our health so we went to grab a coffee.  Both coffee shops on Main Street (along with all the other stores besides bars) had closed so we headed over to Perkins to warm up and talk for a while.  Sometimes the best plans are last minute plans.   

Oh Happy Day or A Change Will Do You Good

Today I am celebrating the end of a problem.  The hole on my leg has finally closed.  I feel whole again.  Beginning July 5, it has been a long and interesting journey.  As you can see, the entire look of my dining room table has changed. No more sterile saline and gauze, debridement kits and paper tape. I put all that away.  I don't need it anymore.  I bought myself some flowers to celebrate.  I think I'll give my leg a few days to toughen up before I go swimming.  Not everyone who goes swimming has good hygiene so I want to be extra careful.  Now I can start planning the trip I want to take.  Let's see, where to go, where to go?  A cruise through the Panama Canal?  A journey to the Florida Keys?  A long weekend in Chicago?  You can get round trip tickets to Arizona now for only $200. Dreaming about a trip is half the fun.   

The Growing Season Is Officially Over

After work today I picked the last 7 tomatoes off the bushes and brought them in the house.  Two had a hint of color but the other five were totally green.  I brought them in because I think it might freeze tonight or tomorrow night.  This means the growing season is officially over.  (Heavy sigh). Only 11 more weeks until the gardening catalogs start arriving in the mail.

On A Quiche Kick

I was served quiche at a French themed bridal shower this summer and my diet has been quichier ever since.  Quiche is delicious, easy to make and healthy too.  Here's how I've been making it.  Ingredients:  one pie crust, two cups fresh spinach, one cup sliced fresh mushrooms, one bunch spring onions sliced, 2 ounces feta cheese crumbled, 1 cup swiss cheese grated (or maybe a little more than that), 4 eggs, 1 cup milk, 1 tsp nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.  Place the crust in a pie plate.  In a large bowl mix the spinach, onions, mushroom, feta cheese, and half the swiss cheese.  Place this mixture in the pie plate.  Mix the eggs, milk and spices.  Carefully pour over the mixture in the pie plate.  Top with remaining swiss cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.  Allow to cool for 15 minutes.  Makes six servings.

241 Miles : (

241 miles; that is all I put on my motorcycle this year.  I had a slow start because of a late spring.  And I was unable to ride since I bruised my shin.  Even today, as I put the bike away from the season, I couldn't even drive it to the gas station for a full tank. The skin is too fragile and I still have some discomfort as I flex my foot. I emptied my gas can into my car and refilled it with fresh gas at the gas station.  The gas tank on the motorcycle must have been nearly empty because I poured a full 3 gallons into the tank after I added some Stabil (fuel stabilizer).  And to mix it all together, I started the bike up and ran it for five minutes.  Did I start the machine and get off to let it run?  No, no I didn't.  I sat on it for the entire five minutes.  Oh, it was tempting.  I so wanted to go for a little ride.  Just around the block, I thought, how could it hurt? But I thought better of it and just imagined being on the road as I sat on the bike in my garage.  Next year!  Next year I will put more than 241 miles.  Next summer, with two healthy shins, I plan having twice as much fun as I did this year. 

Out For A Stroll

Today I was doing some yard work so I decided to let the chickens out for a stroll.  This is their first time out of the coop and run since July 4th when they lost one of their sisters.  I'm sure it felt good to run and jump and stretch and take dust baths again.  The four Buff Orpingtons stayed together in a panicky group.  One of them would panic and the other three panicked along with her.  I panicked too.  The way they sounded you'd think a fox was after them.  After an hour or so of panicky behavior, they settled down.  As I emptied my compost piles the chickens enjoyed scratching and eating the worms at the bottom of the pile.  The Orpingtons stayed close to me all day while Meredith went on her own.  As the sun was setting I had the four girls back in the enclosure and there was no sign of Meredith.  I found her in the driveway scratching and pecking all by her lonesome.  She looks rather pitiful, poor Meredith, with her unfeathered back end.  The feathers on the top of her head looked new and shorter.  Her neck feathers are long and beautiful orange and brown with black tips.  They move separately when she turns her head and they remind me of a lion's mane.  I was patient with her as she moved along exploring.  For a half hour we walked slowly along toward the coop.  In the end I had to scoop her up and put her away.  Meredith has lost weight.  She is not nearly as hefty as she once was and her breastbone felt sharp under my hand.  The stroll was successful.  No foxes appeared today.

I Was Wrong

I got a card in the mail today that made me realize I was wrong.  I was wrong about the wound clinic.  When I was first told to go there, I didn't want to go.  I pictured a waiting room with bloody bandages and Civil War type patients.  My crazy imagination led to unnecessary worry. As it turns out the wound clinic was a wonderful experience.  My wound clinic therapist even sent me a card wishing me a speedy healing.  She was kind and gentle.  She taught me how to pack my wound and keep it clean.  She taught me how to look for infection and when to alert the doctors.  She gave me a 15 minute detailed lesson on how to wrap my leg with an ace wrap which relieved my leg pain by half.  It is true she picked at my wound and pulled off scabs but she did it gently and without much discomfort.  She was a great listener.  She taught me what supplies to buy and why one brand was better than another.  She showed me how to protect my skin integrity.  She taught me how the skin heals itself and how a healthy wound bed differs from one that is not so healthy.  She told me what to expect.  Most of all she was sympathetic. She gave me confidence.  I visited her three times and walked away feeling better all three times.  So if anyone ever asks my opinion of a wound clinic, I'll tell them I had a good experience there.

Fall

Fall, as a season, is aptly named.  Things fall in the fall.  I keep thinking someone is at the front door but it's only the black walnuts falling on the roof of the garage.  It's really time to trim that tree back so it doesn't extend over the house.  One of my maple trees is at peak color of golden orange.  The other maple tree is getting to peak color fast with a major change from yesterday to today. The leaves nearest the trunk are a juicy green while the color changes to a luscious yellow in the middle of the branches and to a golden yellow at the tips of the branches.  The three colors combine to one juicy looking tree.  The tree looks so handsome that I can hardly imagine tapping it in the spring. The hackberry trees are already bare.  Their leaves crisped into an ugly brown and fell off first.  Some of the leaves on the red oak are painted scarlet but most are still green.  The crab apple  tree leaves are half green and half yellow which make the red and orange fruits stand out like lights on a Christmas tree.  The sumac is scarlet.  In the past few days about half the leaves have fallen off my trees.  Even the morning sky is colorful.  The sunrise the past two days have been a breath taking combination of pink, peach, blue, and indigo that almost make me glad the days are getting shorter.

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears

Dinaw Mengestu wrote The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears.  As a man born and raised in Ethiopia he writes a story about a man born and raised in Ethiopia struggling to adjust to life near Logan Circle in Washington, D.C.  Sepha Stephanos, a convenience store owner has lived in America for 17 years but in some ways has never left Ethiopia.  He has two close friends, both from Africa, who meet after work in the store to drink and quiz each other about African dictators.  When he is befriended by a white woman and her daughter who move in next door, Sepha has hope for a future that is not as lonely.  This story is a fascinating glimpse of Africa, of America, and about Washington, D.C.

Pumpkin Bars

I brought pumpkin bars to book club this week and they were a big hit.  So here is Grandma's Pumpkin Bar recipe:

Ingredients:  4 eggs, 1 C. salad oil (I used butter), 2 C sugar (I used one cup of white and one cup of brown), 2 C pumpkin, 2 C. flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt, 2 tsp cinnamon (I used 4 tsp), 1/2 tsp ginger (I used 1 tsp), 1/2 tsp. cloves (I used 1 tsp of cardamom because I was out of cloves), 1/2 tsp nutmeg (I used a heaping teaspoon), 1/2 C. chopped nuts.  Mix all ingredients but the nuts.  Beat well.  Add nuts.  Pour into a greased and floured 10x15 inch pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.  Frosting:  Cream 6 ounces of cream cheese, 3/4 stick of butter, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 TB milk and 4 cups of confectioners sugar.  Mix well.  Spread on bars. 

Permission Granted!

Like a kid going from parent to parent to get the answer they want to hear, I have gone from doctor to doctor to get permission to take a shower.  Since my last shower on Sept. 6, I've missed taking showers quite a bit.  Washing my hair in the sink and taking baths with my leg up on a board is just not the same as a shower. Today a doc agreed I could take a shower.  ETS (estimated time till shower) is 6.0 hours.  I can hardly wait.  With the good news comes the bad.  He said I'll have to use ace wraps  on my right shin for the next 3 to 6 months.  At least I'll be cleaner!

Arugula

My kind neighbor brought me a pound of fresh picked organic arugula on Sunday.  She belongs to a food coop and she takes what she is given.  The arugula was so fresh it still had rain drops on it.  I ate some fresh.  The peppery taste was very strong.  I don't think I've had straight arugula before.  It was delicious. I ate some raw.  I ate some on a veggie burger.  I'm not sure what to do with the rest of it but I'm grateful for such a healthy unusual treat.

The Hunger Angel

I read The Hunger Angel by Herta Muller.  I judged the book by it's cover. I saw the gold circle indicating a Nobel prize winner for literature and I wanted to read it.  So I read this book which is the English translation of a Romanian novel.  It was written by Herta Muller.  And although the book is about life in a prison camp in Russia, Herta herself has never been a political prisoner.  But her mother was sent to a prison camp and so was her good friend, a poet.  From reading her book a reader can tell she knew what it was like to be in a prison camp.  She describes the hard work shoveling coal, making cement blocks, and moving tons of sand.  She describes the hunger as an angel.  The hunger angel is around all the time making itself known.  The hunger angel can take life away but also make a person stronger.  And it isn't until the hunger angel i s gone that you realize how much it has taken from you.  If you are really and truly hungry, you don't care about your looks or your clothes or your hygiene or the lice that live in your hair, your clothes, and in your pubic hair.  The subject matter was difficult but I enjoyed this book very much.

Movie Review-Frogs

I was given the movie "Frogs" to watch.  Uncertain about it because I really don't enjoy horror films and wanting to avoid watching it close to frog survey season, I talked a friend and Offspring #2 into watching it with me. In the first couple minutes Offspring #2 says I hope this isn't a long public service announcement about pollution.  She called it early and exactly right.  I don't want to give the ending away but frogs don't really hurt people physically.  Frogs just drive people nuts with their croaking and peeking in the windows.  It's the other reptiles that are dangerous.  This movie has a couple things going for it though.  It's a classic poorly done horror film for one thing.  And it has a young Sam Elliott in it.  He's so young I don't recognize him until he talks.  As usual Sam is wearing jeans and sometimes he takes his shirt off to protect a pretty, young Joan Van Ark from those dangerous reptiles. So if you like Sam Elliott, poorly done horror films, or a walk down memory lane seeing the fashions of the 1960's, you might like watching "Frogs."

Only You

Turning a Corner

Today I swallowed the last pill of my eighth prescription for antibiotics.  I think I'm turning a corner; the corner to better health.  I first noticed a change on Sunday.  I felt better. I had less pain in my shin.  The hole in my leg was (gasp) shrinking side to side!!!!  Today my wound is 75% smaller than last Saturday.  And it's moved from a round hole to a triangular one.  And although I still have to pack it with wet gauze, hardly any gauze fits in there anymore.  Am I ready to transition from ill to healthy?  Medical patient to adventurer?  Couch potato to active person?  Am I ready to get ready for work without wrapping my leg in the flesh-toned, fashion forward Ace bandage?  Yes, yes I am.  Ready and raring to go; go back to taking a shower, back to swimming in the pool, back to exercising energetically.  I can see the corner now and I am every so ready for it.  Fingers are crossed.  Let's hope this corner doesn't move away from me again.

Ai Yi Yi

That is Just Wrong

I was okay with the decision of MNSure to use Paul and Babe as mascots for the new medical insurance program.  I even thought it was funny to see Paul water skiing across a lake and into a big pine.  But today I saw a newspaper add that was just wrong.  There stood Paul, in his jeans and red plaid shirt, standing next to Babe.  And he wore a hospital gown over his clothes and had an IV in his arms.  Between him and his beloved Babe was an IV pole.  Paul Bunyan as a patient?  In a gown that opens in the back?  You gotta be kidding me.  This is Paul Bunyan; an American folk hero.  Paul Bunyan was a lumberjack.  He ate pancakes so large that the cook had to tie pounds of butter to their feet and skate across the giant frying pan.  Paul Bunyan dug the Grand Canyon when he dragged his ax behind him when he walked.  He is a hero.  Paul Bunyan does not, I repeat - DOES NOT, wear hospital gowns and need IV's.