First Time

The weather outside this afternoon was so nice I decided to start my motorcycle.  Last year I had a gunked up carburetor so I was a little nervous this year.  I put my lunch bag away and, wearing my gym clothes, swung my right leg over the seat of the bike.  This is the first time I've swung that leg over the top of the bike using my artificial hip.  I swung it up and it went over smoothly and easily and painlessly!  Wow, that was nice.  I made sure the transmission was in neutral and the shut off button was in the right position.  I put the key in.  I pressed the starter button.  Nothing.  Oh, I forgot to turn the key to the on position.  Silly me.  I turned the key to the on position and while I was down there I pulled the choke all the way out.  I've been through a lot in the last six months.  A person forgets these things.  I pushed the starter button and my beautiful bike turned over on the second try.  Vroom Vroom!!!  To be honest my bike sounds more like "Rrrrr Rrrrr" and not "Vroom Vroom."   Now that I had it started, I might as well take it out, right?  Well, I wasn't dressed for the occasion.  Yoga pants aren't motorcycle attire for me.  I ran in the house and put on my motorcycle jacket, my helmet, and my reflective safety vest but kept the yoga pants and tennis shoes.  I was just going around the block.  I got on my bike and pushed the choke back in.  The engine kept running which was very good.  I walked it out of the garage and put it into first gear as I rolled down the driveway.  I turned right and took another right at the corner.  Did I turn at the first block and put it safely back in the garage?  No, I did not.  Wearing yoga pants I drove it around every possible block in my neighborhood without going on the highway. I happily noticed that the sand and salt have been swept off my street.  I practiced signalling turns, leaning into corners, braking, and changing gears.  I've been out of practice.  Right away I noticed the comfort I felt in my right hip.  Maybe comfort isn't the right word.  Lack of pain might be more accurate.  I had no idea, until today, how much pain I was in riding that bike.  I guess the pain crept up on me gradually so I didn't notice it as much.  But once it is absent the difference is very noticeable.  Of course I just came home from the gym and after the gym is when I always feel the best.  After the gym I walk better, I stand taller, and I feel years younger.  I had a very fun first ride of the year and I look forward to putting many, many miles on the bike this season. I feel fabulous!  

The Emperor of All Maladies

Ken Burns has done it again.  This time his documentary, "The Emperor of Maladies" is about cancer.  I was watching it last night and for a while they focused on leukemia.  A doctor worked at a hospital in the 1950's and the 1960's.  He talked about seeing children come in with leukemia, kids who were 6, 8, or 10 years old who would all die within a month.  My heart lurched when I heard this because my sister was 7 when she was diagnosed with leukemia.  One of the boys who suffered with leukemia that he treated was a twin.  The brother of the twin spoke about his brother with leukemia.  He told about his brother being ill.  Then the doctor treated his brother with a new medication and his brother got better.  His white cell count went down and he was able to come home and be a normal kid for a couple of months.  After two months his brother got sick again. The remission was over. The ambulance was called to his house and the attendants came to take his brother back to the hospital.  He said "Like opening a page in a book, I remember this moment."  He said he saw the ambulance attendants carry his brother on a stretcher down the hallway past his bedroom and that was the last time he saw him.  His brother didn't wave at him or even look at him. My heart lurched again.  His words "like a page in a book" struck my heart because that is exactly how I feel about the last time I saw my sister.  I just never put it into words like he did.  I remember standing in the parking lot of Children's Hospital in Saint Paul.  At that time it was built into a bluff and the driveway to the parking lot was very steep.  I stood looking into a first floor window where my sister sat on her bed with her legs between the iron bars of the headboard.  She waved at me.  I saw her waving at me.  I didn't wave back though. I remember wondering why she was in there and I was out here.  My Grandmother took my forearm and moved it up and down so my hand flopped in a wave.  I remember it like a page in a book.  The show went on to document more medical treatments for leukemia including stem cell transplants.  If only that treatment was available in the 1950's I would have an older sister around to love and to complain about.  I wouldn't be the oldest kid in my family.  I would like to think the four year old me, without tears or complaint, could have donated bone marrow and saved her life.  My cells would have taken over for her and started producing healthy blood that would circulate through her little body.  I wish I could have been a hero for her.  Things didn't happen that way for me or for her.  Luckily, thanks to dedicated researchers and medical scientists, there are kids who can be bone marrow donors and help their siblings conquer the emperor of maladies.

The World Without Us

I read The World Without Us by Alan Weisman and was very affected by it.  It's not fiction but it's not non-fiction either.  Maybe it's non-fiction science or speculative fiction?  I don't know but the story is about what would happen to our planet if for some reason (like the Rapture?) all the human beings suddenly disappeared.  This thought is crazy but the author writes it in a way that makes it very easy to read.  And it's informative too.  Several times Weisman would write something seemingly secondary that would blow my mind and I'd be like, "Wait, what?"  And he wrote about places on the earth that I have been to like the Great Barrier Reef, the chunnel (the rail line between London and France that goes under the sea), and Lake Navaisha in Kenya.  One thing he wrote about, just in passing, was the Maasai tribe of Kenya and their red plaid shukas (cloth shawls) were from visitors from Scotland. What?  The Maasai tribe is one of the most wild culture on this planet.  They live a nomadic lifestyle and they're wearing Scottish material?  Well, now that I think about it the shukas do look totally tartan.  But I was told they wore red to be seen across the African wilderness.  That fact blew my mind. He wrote about the Puszcza forest between Poland and Belarus and now I want to see that because it sound amazing.  The author talks about humans have impacted the world with mining, creating more than 400 nuclear power plants, bringing in invasive species, making plastic, damming rivers, building bridges, replacing forests and grasslands with row crops, and crowding out the upper level predators with cattle, hogs, sheep, goats and pigs.  Once we're gone, how long will it take before the changes we have made go away?  When will the birds make a comeback?  When will the forests return?  In Manhattan, without humans to keep things running, the subways will fill with water within days and that will cause the streets to cave in and the buildings will tumble.  The older buildings, like those made centuries ago out of stone, will last longer than the modern ones.  The chunnel might last quite a long time although who knows if any animals will try to cross the 36 miles of complete darkness?  The French side of the chunnel is only 20 yards above sea level so water may come in that side.  The English side is 200 yards above sea level so that will last longer.  The author said if you want to get rid of a barn just cut a one foot hole in the roof and the building will collapse in ten years.  All the nuclear power plants, without humans (or Homer Simpson) to maintain them, will eventually blow up and spew heavy metals into the air.  Hard to say what will happen there but they do know there are fish near military atolls in the Pacific Ocean with a herringbone pattern on one side of their body and a "pop art" pattern on the other side.  Most art will disappear but bronze statues will last the longest.  There is a nuclear waste collection in the salt domes of south east New Mexico.  Spent fuel rods, more dangerous now that they've been used because of the nuclear reaction in them that cannot be stopped, are protected as much as possible.  Instructions about them and why the salt domes should not be opened are placed on bronze plaques around the area in case all humans are gone and cannot warn visitors of the dangers.  The Panama Canal will quickly fill in because of the silt carried by rivers into the canal.  One of the last human artifacts to remain will be, of all places, Mount Rushmore.  This was a grim book.  Parts of it made me quite sad.  We humans have set up an system that cannot be sustained.  Our population cannot keep growing at this pace.  Why, oh why, did I choose plastic wood for my deck?  I feel terrible for using pesticides but golly, when I have a wasp nest right by a door what can I do?  Why do I buy so much plastic?  I think I live a fairly "green" life but this book has me dismayed.  If you're going to read it, make sure you're in a good place first.  I think it would be dangerous to read if you are already depressed.

Black Walnut and White Oak

Before

.  

I had a knock on my door on Friday evening.  A young man asked if I wanted any tree trimming done.  I had seen him walking down the road on my way home.  I noticed he had missing teeth.  My mind ran through the options of meth use or poor dental care.  I voted for poor dental care because his skin looked clear. I said, "Yes."  Actually I've been trying to get my black walnut tree trimmed since last summer.  Two branches were growing toward the house.  One of them touched the roof and the other one would be touching the house within the next growing season.  This walnut tree can drop between 500 and 700 walnuts per year and many of them were dropping on the roof and rolling down.  The noise was just like someone knocking on the front door and I spent a lot of time answering the door for the stupid walnut tree.  I called 4 tree trimming companies and the city manager.  The city manager did not give me any names but suggested I get a certified tree arborist. One of the companies said they did not work in Ramsey.  The other three said they would be out to give me an estimate but never showed up.  I don't have faith in companies who say they will come but don't bother to show.  So I was discouraged and that is why I told this man I would like my trees trimmed.  He gave me a card and said the arborist would stop by later this evening.  An hour later another guy knocked on the door.  He said he was a certified tree arborist.  We looked at the walnut tree.  He said he could trim that tree.  He said walnuts falling on the roof can create dimples that fill with water and cause damage.  He said my white oak seriously needed trimming.  Leaning over the house like it was and with dead limbs above the driveway it was out of balance and dangerous. Did I want the brush and wood picked up?  I said I could take care of that part.  The penny pincher in me got ahead of the "recovering from hip replacement" me.  He said he could trim the walnut tree for $200. He'd be happy to trim the oak tree for another $200.  He would be back on Saturday night or Sunday morning to do the work. He said his company was trimming other trees in my neighborhood.  We could hear his chain saws working. I said I definitely wanted the walnut trimmed and would think about the oak.  I asked if it wasn't too late in the year to trim the oak.  I thought oaks had to be trimmed in early March to prevent oak wilt.  He said it wasn't too late. He said these 3 trees (2 oaks and the walnut) were joined together underground because their roots were interwoven.  If one oak got oak wilt, the other oak, even if it wasn't the same species, might get it too.  Having dead branches falling at random could invite oak wilt into the system.  He had a jerky speaking pattern with long pauses while he searched his mind for words.  He said the oak should be trimmed before the (long gap here, so long in fact I proposed a word for him - catkin?) catkins appear.  In my mind I wonder what kind of arborist forgets the work catkin?  He left with a plan to return to trim the walnut for sure and possibly the oak.  In the meantime I researched the cost of trimming trees.  $200 was a fair price.  I researched his company.  I found them listed in the Stillwater phone book but nothing else.  Was I making the right choice in hiring this guy?  I wasn't sure.  On Saturday at 6:45 p.m. I got another knock on the door.  My arborist was back.  I asked, "You are going to work now?"  He said he was.  The sun was low in the sky but he said he could get it done.  He said if I paid in cash he would give me a discount and do both trees for $350.  "Yes, go ahead and do both trees," I said and got in my car to go to the bank.  When I returned with the cash the walnut tree was done and a man was climbing the oak tree.  I watched as he climbed the tree and strapped himself to the branches.  Another guy connected a chain saw to a rope.  The tree climber pulled the chain saw up and he cut branches off as he headed up the tree.  Part of the tree is curved over like a palm tree.  I thought that part would be easier for him to climb.  He cut off branches to even out the weight of the tree.  Maybe it will stop tipping toward the south pole now. He cut the dead branches off.  Branches came crashing down.  At one point I watched him cut off a branch while totally dangling from his harness.  Both his feet were hanging free.  Later he let the running chain saw go.  It dangled from a rope on his waist while still running!  I guess the chain wasn't moving but the motor was definitely running.  This was exciting to see.  He finished the oak.  Another guy cut the larger branches into smaller pieces for me and put the brush on a pile.  He used his leatherman tool to cut the rope that Offspring #1 put around the branch of the walnut tree 18 years ago.  A little bit of family history in that one branch.  The talented tree trimmer descended the tree as the sun set on Saturday night.  More branches were picked up by the light from a pick up truck.  I paid my $350 and the guys drove away.  My trees are trimmed and I have a bunch of branches and wood to pick up.  I look forward to many large bonfires this summer.  I think I made the right choice in hiring these guys.  At least branches won't be rubbing and damaging the house my house anymore. 

After

Amur Maple Observations

I found an amur maple sap stalagtite today.  The sap must have run yesterday and froze overnight.

Then I found a  hole where two branches grew together.

And then I found an amur maple sap stalagmite underneath the stalactite.

A Good Idea If I Have Mice Problems Again In The Fall

Apricot

We're working on a new database at work.  Excel just isn't cutting it anymore.  A little over a year ago my employers decided to go with the Access program.  I personally put at least 40 hours into working with the Access program before it died in a hideous HIPPA violation death.  I had a hard time letting Access go.  I felt like I was bringing a puppy back to the pet store after spending a week training it to behave.  But it wasn't my choice so I let it go.  Now we're working with Apricot.  Four of us are inputting tons of confidential information into this cloud based program.  Besides inputting the data we are linking bits of data to other bits of data.  The work is hard at first but goes faster as we get used to it.  In an effort to maintain uniformity I started a round of emails between the four of us asking questions.  Our process involves linking a variety of staff.  Since my job is different in that I work with everyone I sent an email stating I was not linking myself to everyone.  We could all save time this way.  One of the four data inputters had been adding me as a link.  But then as a group we decided it wasn't necessary.  So this person said he would not link me anymore.  Next came an email that made me think of a movie and kinda made my heart swell a little.  He wrote "I wish I knew how to delete you."

Keee-awww!

This morning I opened the garage door to see a white coating of fresh snow covering the grass and the driveway and the trees.  Mentally I had a few choice words to say about this unexpected situation.  And then I saw and heard my old friend, the red-shouldered hawk circling above my yard.  I listened to the hawk and thought we had a similar reaction to this nasty snow on the ground.  I thought he sounded angry.  Maybe I was reading too much into it.  Listen for yourself.

New!

This is my new knitting project.  I'm making it for a very important and new person in my life.  The fact of the matter is, I am going to be a grandmother.  My genes will be passed on to a new person.  Scary, right?  I hope this new person does not get the genes for arthritis, sensitive skin, allergies, and cankles but does get my genes for strength, determination, optimism, and gratitude.  I am pretty excited.  I think about babies all the time.  Do I know if it will be a granddaughter or a grandson?  Well, I know it will be one of those two because the parents want to find out the old fashioned way when the baby is born.  I plan to help out a little bit when the baby is born and I am super excited about that.  Every week I get information about my grandchild comparing the size of the fetus to some kind of fruit or vegetable.  This grandchild of mine started out the size of a kumquat.  My grandchild has grown through the stages of a heirloom tomato, an apple, a scallion, a banana, a spaghetti squash,a coconut, and this week a pineapple.  I go to the grocery story and stare at the produce until tears come into my eyes.  Other Cub shoppers must think I'm crazy.  It feels strange to eat some produce anymore; almost cannibalistic.  I hope to do well in my new role as a grandmother.  I expect to put forth extra effort to remain close to this grandchild because of the long distance between us.  I grew up next door to one grandmother and only 3 hours away from the other grandmother.  I felt very close to both of them. I could sit and listen to them tell me stories for hours and not get bored.  I learned a lot from them.  They both taught me how to cook, to be frugal  and how to appreciate nature.  One of my grandmothers had a huge fear of wolves but I heard her stories without becoming fearful of wolves myself.  I started an email account for my grandchild and have begun to send him or her emails.  Someday, when they are older, I will give them the account and the password so they can read stories about themselves from my perspective.  I hoped for years to be a grandmother.  My wish is coming true.  I am so incredibly lucky.  I can't imagine having me for a grandmother.  I still feel like I'm 8 years old some days. Did my Grandmothers feel this way?  Where has the time gone?  One of my all time favorite sounds is that of a newborn crying.  I'm sure to get my fill of that in the coming months.  I can't wait!

Before shrinking in hot water.

After a couple years of not knitting, my fingers are knitting again.  First I had to complete a felted purple bag for Offspring #2.  That project had to come first because I bought the yarn for it a couple years ago.  I knitted the bag first and it was big, really big.  If I put the straps on my shoulders the bag hung down to my knees.  I tossed it in a pillow protector and into the washing machine.  The pillow protector prevents purple yarn from getting all over my washing machine.  In hot water I washed the bag five times.  I guess my ancient water heater isn't heating the water as hot as it used to because after five washing, the bag still hadn't shrunk to the point where I was satisfied.  I heat my biggest pasta pot of water to the point of boiling on the stove and added that to the washer.  I had to do that twice before the bag felted to a reasonable size.  I think it turned out pretty good. After washing I laid it flat to dry with some air bags that came with an Amazon shipment inside to keep a purse like shape. It feels good to have completed a project.  Now I am on to my next knitting project.  This project is in a finer thread of yarn and in a celery green color for a new person coming into my life.  More about that later.  

Good People

My college roommates and I went to see Good People, a play at the Lyric Arts Theater.  I didn't read up on it before I went.  The first scene a woman named Margy gets fired from her job as a cashier at the dollar store because of her chronic tardiness.  But the scene is funny so I think this is a comedy.  Thus went the whole show.  On the surface I think it's a comedy but the content is not funny at all.  I guess that makes this a dark comedy; emphasis on dark.   The play is set in South Boston in the 1960's.  Margy and her friends grew up in a poor neighborhood called "Southie."  Margy is a single mother and she has an adult daughter with developmental disabilities to care for.  Margy is a good person but just can't seem to get ahead.  Is the fact that she never left the Southie neighborhood a result of her choices?  Margy doesn't think so but her ex flame, a reproductive endocrinologist, does think so.  Is he a good person?  Is Margy a good person?  Life is complicated and good can be defined in many ways.  I wish I had gone to a matinee so that my friends and I could meet afterward to digest this play.

A Good Example

Today I went to a funeral of a woman that I have known for 26 years.  I didn't know her well but we saw each other a couple times a year on a regular basis.  Now, after attending her funeral, I wished we had spent more time together chatting because her life was so interesting.  She grew up in North Dakota.  She attended a mission school and served in the armed forces.  After marriage she took care of her family.  Her husband died young.  Her young daughter accidentally fell and suffered a brain injury.  She devoted most of her life to taking care of her daughter and she did it well, with great humor, with creativity, and with enthusiasm.  She was an amazing woman and I am honored that I got the chance to know her.

Under The Wide and Starry Sky

Nancy Horan wrote Under The Wide And Starry Sky.  She also wrote Loving Frank which was about the woman who loved Frank Lloyd Wright.  This book, however, is about the woman who loved Robert Louis Stevenson.  Stevenson is the Scottish author who wrote The Odd Tale of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde as well as Treasure Island.  Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne falls in love with the young and silly Robert Louis Stevenson.  Despite his impulsive and often short sighted behavior she gets a divorce and spends her life taking care of him.  Because of his lung illnesses, he only feels healthy when he is at sea.  Despite her sea sickness she sails with him until they settle in Samoa.  She helps nurse him back to health when he foolishly spends 3 days and nights scribbling a new story.  Their marriage is sometimes rocky.  I got into this story.  I was so into it, in fact, that when Stevenson is teaching his grandson how to roll his r's like a true Scot, I also tried to roll my r's.  I listened to this story on my way to and from work.  The splatter of spit on the inside of my windshield is testament to my efforts.  I can flutter my tongue just fine but I can't make the r sound at the same time.  I enjoy Nancy Horan's books and they have taught me that loving an artist is not an easy role to take on. 

Ecosystems

Last night I went to a Master Naturalist meeting at Springbrook Nature Center.  Our speaker talked about ecosystems.  He asked, "What do you see when you look out the window?"  We see some trees.  "I see a war to the death out there!" says out speaker.  Plants are competing for the best space, the most sunlight, the better chance to grow and crowd the other species out to wither.  Okay, I think to myself, I hadn't thought of it that way before but from now on I will look at the black walnut tree at my front door more suspiciously. After all it is dropping a substance that poisons most other plants.  Only astilbe and lily of the valley can live under it's branches and maybe they would be more vigorous if it weren't for that murderous walnut tree.  I just love speakers with enthusiasm and this guy had it in spades.  We talked about relationships in ecosystems such as mutualism, parasitic, predatory , competition, and commensalism.  He talked about food chains and food webs.  He said the only reason the subcontinent of India can sustain so many people is that most of them are vegetarians.  Beef is high up on the food chain and takes more energy than other foods. But there is no reason to feel smug if your protein comes from soy because acres of rainforest in Brazil are being cleared for growing soybeans.  The food chain, he said, is all about energy.  My mind wandered to the hour I spent in the gym earlier today trying to burn off the energy that I took in today.  How messed up is that?  He ended our talk with a discussion of how the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park affected that ecosystem.  When the wolves were reintroduced in 1994, water quality went up rather quickly.  Ecologists were puzzled to see the beaver population increase because wolves eat beaver.  The whole story is incredibly complicated.  The elk, when they weren't worried about being eaten by wolves, hung out near the streams where the tastiest grass grows.  The elk also ate the alder, the willow and the cottonwoods.  This caused the water to flow faster making it impossible for frog eggs and fish eggs to hatch.  Without the frogs and the fish and the river bank saplings, some bird species and beaver left.   When an elk did what an elk has to do that impacted the water quality.  Without the beaver to fell trees the water flowed even faster making for more sediment in the water and again it was harder for the fish to survive.  Now we have fewer species of birds, fish and plants.  The entire ecosystem was out of balance without the top layer of predator.  I am  not describing it as well as he did but I came out of there with a better understanding of what went on at Yellowstone and why it is so important that we keep top predators around.  He went on to talk about Minnesota.  We pride ourselves on our nature and our lakes and our trees.  But none of us living now know what it was like before the loggers took all of the white pine. Two hundred years ago tall, majestic white pines dominated the landscape north of Mille Lacs.  They're all gone.  We've never seen them.  Ecology is a science that is in it's infancy.  In 1902 we knew more about the molecular structure of the atom than we did about ecology.  Those loggers did not know the devastation they were creating.  These guys were trying to make a living and feed their families.  They had no idea they changed the landscape of the state forever.  I love these kinds of meetings where I go home with new ideas swirling around in that cranium of mine, looking at things in a new way. 

No Time To Wave Goodbye

Jacquelyn Mitchard wrote No Time To Wave Goodbye.  Usually I really like this author and although this book was interesting, I didn't really get into it as much as I have her other writings.  This story is about child abductions.  The story starts out with many characters.  There were so many characters introduced so quickly that I couldn't keep them all straight so I probably missed some character development.  The Cappadora family members didn't seem real to me and I couldn't really relate to them.  This could be my fault because I listened to this book on CD while at the gym so it is possible that my attention wandered.  But a really good book would have kept my interest better than this one did.

Maple Bust

I got home late this afternoon.  As I took my mail out of the mailbox I noticed the branches of my maple tree looked different.  The tree flowered today.  Reddish knobs appeared all along the branches.  Thus ends the sap season.  Once the tree flowers, the sap is no good.   The flow slows and the liquid does not have a good sweet taste.  I pulled the taps out, rinsed out the tubing, and recycled the milk jugs. I didn't get enough sap this year to make it worth boiling.  Ah, well, so it goes.  Would I trade this past week of 60 degree weather for a pint of maple syrup?  I would rather have the warmer weather.  I like the health benefits of using syrup instead of sugar and I like the idea of living off my land, but I LOVE warm weather.  I can buy some syrup.

Mom

I went to a baby shower on Saturday.  Our hostess asked us to go around the room and give the expectant mother some advice on how or how not to raise children.  The first person to speak suggested the mother not let temper tantrums get the child what he or she wanted.  I was next.  I wasn't prepared at all to give advice so I told what I thought was a funny story about Offspring #2's one and only temper tantrum at a local grocery store.  Her tantrum was so out of character for her that I thought it was funny and gave her advice on how to have a truly, meaningful temper tantrum.  Tantrums are not as much fun when your Mom is telling you how to have it.  Other people gave advice.  One suggestion was to do what pleased you (as  a Mom) and to disregard all other advice.  One person suggested to use threats only if you are willing to follow through on them.  One person suggested she encourage her child to read.  In thinking it over, most of the advice to this expectant Mom was about boundaries.  I think boundaries are the most difficult part of motherhood.  At first there are no boundaries; the child is literally inside you.  When you drink caffeine the baby feels it.  After birth the baby is so dependent on the Mom that the Mom can only sleep when the baby is sleeping. Their food comes from the mother's breasts and if Mom eats broccoli the baby gets gas.  As toddlers the boundaries shift more as the mother allows their children to make mistakes and learn from them.  Boundaries change big time the first time the child climbs the steps of the school bus.  But who is responsible for a kindergartener's homework?  The parents are.  Gradually homework responsibility changes to the kid before they get to college.  Boundaries for a mother are hard because they're so fluid. Being a mother is like playing a board game without the instructions or the rules.  We learn from our mistakes.  People's expectations of mothers are also fluid.  A mother might be judged if a first grader comes to school in dirty or tattered clothing but not as much as a high school senior who comes to school in dirty or tattered clothing.  In my opinion, a good mother is not one who never makes a mistake.  A good mother is one who continues to learn from her mistakes.  Motherhood is not a science.  We aim at a goal but do not arrive there in a straight trajectory; we continually make adjustments to our course.  Being a Mom is difficult but rewarding.  

Unexpected Treasure

On my way to a baby shower I stopped to pick up Offspring #2. She was attending a 

Saturday seminar. I could have waited in the car but was intrigued by the architecture of this beautiful building on the east side of Saint Paul.  So I went inside.

I wondered, given the location on Ivy, if this was part of the old Gillette Children's Hospital.  After seeing this military man pointing a pistol in the doorway, I thought it looked like a building designed for children.

A receptionist asked if she could help me.  I said I was meeting my daughter.  I asked her if this was a Gillette Hospital building. She explained that it is the only building left from the hospital grounds and was used as the education building for patients. Now Gillette Hospital is attached to Regions Hospital and has clinics in other parts of the city.

She told me to feel free to look around.  I was lucky enough not to ever be hospitalized here but I knew kids who were. i tried to imagine this hallway full of kids in the 1960's, the 1970's, or the 1930's. I knew kids who had Harrington rods put in to correct their scoliosis.  I knew kids who had other orthopedic surgeries. Were there kids who who had tuberculosis or polio?  I am not sure. I am sure some the kids had casts, braces, crutches, walkers and wheelchairs.  If only these walls could speak.

How many kids did this guy on the wall see over the years since the building was constructed in 1926?  I hope he saw many good outcomes from the medical treatment that was provided there.

I am glad I got the chance to come into this building and look around.

A Slow Amaryllis

I started watering this bulb during the last week of December.  I watched the stalk grow inches a day.  The top swelled more each day.  This was 20 days ago.

18 days ago.

16 days ago.  I keep expecting the flower to pop open every day.

13 days ago

7 days ago

5 days ago

today!  A triple bloom at last.

For the Birds

For the past four years I have subscribed to the Minnesota Ornithological Union (MOU) listserv.  Every day I get emails that explain where notable bird sightings have been observed.  Most people put the county in the topic line so I can delete messages from far away counties without bothering to read them.  You too can sign up for these notices at this website: http://moumn.org/listservice.html  I have found some amazing birds by reading this listserv.  I found my first snowy owl and my first white faced ibis and my first wood stork by going to the places described in these messages.  So I have fun reading them.  Today I noticed more excitement in the notices.  People are writing emails about the spring migration of birds back into Minnesota from the south.  Normally a gadwall, a horned lark, a scaup, or a common golden eye is not worth mentioning.  Birds you see all summer long are not a big deal unless they are a FOY (first of the year).  I, myself, saw a FOY Northern harrier hawk in Coon Rapids on my way to a meeting in Anoka at 2 o'clock.  Otherwise we normally read about unusual birds like wood storks, snowy owls, gallinules  or this gyrfalcon that has been hanging around the shipping docks in Superior, Wisconsin which isn't even in Minnesota.  I like reading this listserv because I like to hear about birds returning but I also enjoy the excitement in the messages when I read between the lines.  Bird watchers are excitable and passionate and I like those qualities.

The Club

I've never been part of the club.  Always a social outcast, I have not drank coffee.  Coffee drinkers get free refills at restaurants and all I get is more ice water.  People who don't drink coffee are not part of the in crowd; the social pariahs of beverages.  Join others for coffee at  Dunn Bros. and I order a bottle of water. Lately I've read about the health benefits of coffee. I tried to like it before.  Offspring #2 would coax me to sip her coffee concoctions.  Bleech! I never like the taste.  But coffee drinkers live longer and enjoy cardiac and digestive benefits from their drink of choice.  And coffee seems healthier because it is made from beans and hot water as opposed to the cancer causing ingredients of soda. So I thought that I could teach myself to enjoy coffee.  I learned how to knit. I learned how to ride a motorcycle.  I learned enough Swahili to make it through Kenya and enough Spanish to make it through Ecuador so why couldn't I learn how to like coffee? I am old yet trainable. I started out last week by buying a bag of Werther's sugar free coffee/caramel candy.  Yeah, the candy had a bitter taste but I ate one a day anyway.  Yeah, the candy left a bitter aftertaste but I toughed it out.  This morning I was extra tired. Last night I could not get comfortable in my normally comfortable bed.  I tossed and turned all night.  Like a hot dog on rollers at the gas station I moved from my back, right side, front, and left side while all the time maintaining the knee pillow I must wear because of my hip surgery. Round and round and round the knee pillow and I went. I was extra tired this morning.  I thought this would be the perfect day to try coffee.  I put 2 ounces of Folgers in my cup and mixed it with 2 ounces of whole milk that I brought from home.  I drank it down.  Was it good?  No.  Better than Nyquil, pepto bismol or milk of magnesia though.  I drank it like medicine.  Whoa baby!  Caffeine rush!  My cheeks burned hot.  The muscles in my shoulders hummed like plucked violin strings.  My fingers had extra energy and felt jumpy.  I was zipping on a caffeine high for two solid hours.  What would have happened if I drank a six ounce cup of this high powered beverage?  Chocolate has caffeine. Diet Pepsi has caffeine.  It's not like I was a caffeine virgin but coffee must be stronger.  Maybe drinking caffeine in a hot beverage is like mainlining it.  I didn't like the taste of coffee but I did like the rush.  No wonder people drink it every morning.  Coffee helped me forget my sleepless night and made me feel strong - like I could bust out of my clothes!  I might try it again tomorrow.

Faithful Place

My book club read Faithful Place by Tana French.  Most people in the group like a good mystery.  But not me.  This book was a mystery and from the plot I got a strong feeling that Tana did not grow up in a healthy family.  The family of Frank Mackey is dysfunctional with a capital D also in italics.  Because wow, this book comes with an overdose of bitterness.  Frank grew up in a dysfunctional, alcoholic family who lived in the neighborhood called Faithful Place in Dublin in the 1970's.  The situation at home was so bad that he left at the age of 19 and did not look back.  He became a detective and worked in Dublin but stayed separate from his family physically and emotionally.  He gets drawn back into Faithful Place when his girlfriend's suitcase is found.  He and his girl planned to leave for England together back when he was 19 but she didn't show up and was never seen again.  Since he is a detective he wants to know what happened.  Was he dumped back then or did she disappear?  We had a lively discussion at book club.  Does a son have a duty to be there for his family even though they are a toxic bunch?  Was Frank justified in his decision to abandon his family and not look back?  Is it better for a family member to keep the toxic secrets or uncover serious crimes that have gone unpunished?  I didn't really like the book.  The bitterness was too much for me.  I don't usually mind reading about people with problems but this one was over the top.  Most people in my group loved it though.

Words Are Important

I have a friend and her last name is Payne.  Her father is a dentist.  I never told her this but I would not choose a dentist with the last name of Payne.  I also wouldn't get my car fixed at a place named Lemon's Auto Repair.  I wouldn't buy groceries at a store named Fungus Foods.  I wouldn't get a pedicure at a salon called Ripped Nails. And I just can not fathom why this chain stays in business. I don't care about the stove.  I would not go there.

 

Spring Is Close - I Can Just Tell

Today I could tell spring was in the air.  I could just tell.  I saw my very first snow flea.  I read about them but never saw one before.  Snow was melting and water gathered in my driveway.  I dug a little ditch so the water could drain off the driveway.  I have to do this every spring or I end up with mud up to my hubcaps if I don't.  I love the sound of water dropping down the gutter down spout.  When I took the trash out to the street, I decided to walk around the block wearing tennis shoes, khaki pants and a green polo.  This is exactly how I looked because, golly, I really like being outside without insulating myself against the cold so much that I can hardly bend my limbs.  I really like being outside without my shoulders hunched up to keep the north wind off my neck. Gives me the opportunity to look up at the bare trees against a blue sky and to see the red bellied woodpeckers singing love songs to each other.  I really like being outside and feeling the warmth of the sun on my back.  I really like being outside and inhaling deeply without feeling each individual hair in my nose freeze at attention.  Today was a beautiful day. I even saw my first motor cycle out on the road.  Please excuse the dancing man. I found a new website with free gif's you can copy to illustrate every emotion.  I seem to be hooked.

Maple Sap Season

Maple Sap Season
Spring is coming, winter goes
Melting February snows.

Warm March days, cold starry skies
Make the maple sap to rise.

Daytime thaw and nighttime freeze
Draw the sap up in the trees.

Morning sun will make it drop;
Evening cold will make it stop.

Dump the silver buckets gleaming.
Boil the sap and watch it steaming.

Cool it now and stir it quick,
It’s maple syrup, brown and thick.

Boil it more, the syrup’s thicker
Cool it, stir it, beat it quicker.

It’s maple sugar, sweet and good,
Best of all the Indians’ food.

–Marie Curtis

So Glad It's Friday

Ch ch ch ch Chia!

I try to eat healthy.  I sample all the "super" foods.  I eat almonds and blueberries, spinach and kale.  I like them too.  I could all all four of those foods every week.  A few months ago I read about chia seeds being a "super" food so I bought some.  Because if eating chia seeds will buy me a couple more weeks of life, I ought to give them a try.  Those chia seeds sat in the pantry for months.    Chia seeds don't look very appetizing.  Actually they look like something you would sweep up with a broom and put in the trash.  It's good to keep an open mind about these things. This past week I decided to open the bag. Because chia seeds are small they are packed with more fiber and protein than most other seeds - more shell than guts I guess.  In the morning I pour a couple tablespoons on top of strawberries, sprinkle some flax on top of them, add yogurt, a scoop of cottage cheese, a little bit of milk and mix it up with my stick blender.  The chia seeds swell in the liquid which gives them a gel like outside and a little crunch on the inside.  Some of the chia seeds tend to get stuck in my teeth and they make a delicious after breakfast snack when I dig them out with my tongue.  I think these are the same seeds sold with Chia Pets but now we buy them to eat instead of growing on a Scooby-Doo head  They're good.  Now I am a chia fan.  I'd eat them even if they won't give me a couple extra weeks of life.  But if chia seeds DO give me an extra couple of weeks, I hope those extra weeks are spent near the ocean.

The Winter Horses

One of my nieces has a  birthday coming up.  She is young and she loves animals so I googled "books for young reader animal lover."  This book, The Winter Horses by Philip Kerr came up so I ordered it.  The book was delivered very quickly so I read it.  (Shhh, don't tell her).  This is a great book for any young reader, not only the animal lovers. With a strong young female character it's a great book for a girl.  Kalinka is the name of the teen charcter.  Kalinka is a heroine.  She survives war in the Ukraine in 1941.  She not only survives but is an ecological heroine because she saves a breeding pair of rare horses that the Germans want eliminated.  I guess the German eugenics applied to more than just humans.  If  a species wasn't considered to be the "best" the German SS would help evolution along by eliminating all of the other species.  This story is historical fiction and there really were Przewalski horses in the Ukraine during the war that were almost eliminated because they were determined to be "biologically unfit."  How can any species created by our maker be determined to be biologically unfit? I wish I had this book to read when I was a teen.  I hope my niece likes it.

The Kept Man

Jami Attenberg wrote The Kept Man and in this novel the kept man is not a boy toy.  He is an artist who had a brain aneurysm while standing on a ladder and, because of that, has been in a coma for years.  His wife tells the story.  She sells some of his art to pay for the cost of the nursing home where he lives.  As he is unable to complete any more artwork, the value of his compositions have risen.  She is true and loyal to her husband and actually neglects herself to take care of him.  One day, in reviewing some of his work, she finds out that he wasn't as true to her as she has been to him.  This intriguing story gives me a good glimpse of what it is like to live in New York City and mingle with the arty crowd.  A good book takes me away and this book did that very well.

A Reliable Wife

I didn't know what I was getting into when I chose the book, A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick.  This is another book that would be better read in the summer and not at the end of a long winter.  The story is set in northern Wisconsin and takes place during a long winter.  Snow falls extra heavy here because of the lake effect and the weather is miserable.  Ralph Truitt is the main character and he is rich but not in the things that money can not buy.  The writer talks about the long miserable winter and how some people can not stand it and do crazy things such as murder, acts pf insanity, self-destruction,  and suicide.  The plot is ghastly and the wife turns out to be unreliable but it was a good read.. 

Gradual

It's back to the gym for me this month of March and wow, I can tell I've been taking it easy for the past 9 weeks.  I am building up my routine gradually but as soon as I get on a piece  of equipment my heart rate shoots up much faster than it used to.  I find I can get to the 85% of my maximum heart rate with much less effort than it took in December.  I really had to work hard to get over 145 bpm before but now it is easy.  I've read that cardio exercise is like making love to your heart and lungs.  My heart and lungs can feel the difference and boy, it feels good.  Tonight I swam six round trip laps and although it took me longer to swim than it used to, I felt good and actually could have swam more but I didn't want to overdo it.  Now my back and arms are back in alignment.  I feel 10 years younger.  Exercise: the fountain of youth.

Squirrel Cop

A friend told me to listen to this story on Act 2 of this episode of "This American Life."  It's a hilarious story about a squirrel cop.  Here is the link, listen to it for yourself:  http://m.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/115/first-day

It's so funny it reminds me of my own squirrel episode and the reason I freak out when a squirrel gets in the house.