Hugging Aspens

2009-05-05T00:19:00.000-07:00

black birds,
flung across the roiling gray winter sky
like jacks from my hand

The Rest of the Herd of Cats Challenge

2008-11-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

Tonight I finished An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore. I hadn't seen the movie, so I was looking forward to the book. It was OK. Not great, but OK. Maybe you had to see the movie. Since I'm really into environmental, in an amateur sort of way, I knew most of the information already. Some of the photographs brought it home very graphically though -- that was nice.

The most important thing, for me, in the book was his comparison of our society's response to global warming with the trajectory of our response to the harmfulness of smoking. They look the same: denial leading the way for a good long time. We lost a lot of people to lung cancer and other illnesses, thanks to that denial (which was deliberately planted and fostered by the tobacco industry.) Let's hope we can break out of that denial and start working to save ourselves and the planet before the tipping point has been reached.

100 Years of Solitude

2008-07-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

I'm embarrassed to admit this in public, but I just couldn't get into this book, at all. I struggled through 60 pages and was still not enjoying it, or appreciating it, so I put it away. So many people just love this book -- what is it I don't see? Whatever it is, I think it's the chaos that bothers me. "Everybody" loved A Confederacy of Dunces too, but the point of that book also escaped me, as did the humor. I'm much more of a Calvin and Hobbes person, or P.G. Wodehouse.

In other news, I've been locked up in the house all week because the smoke levels from the American River Complex and the Butte Complex have had the air quality in the Unhealthy For Every Living Thing category. It's been a long gruesome week. I've got cabin fever and am antsy because I haven't been able to walk or do water aerobics. The cat's antsy because she doesn't like to stay inside 24/7. The delta breezes came in this morning: the wind chimes are mummering to themselves on the patio, the sky is almost blue, and the sun is white-hot yellow and it hurts to look at it. (It's been a sullen red in the late afternoons, and a bruised orange ball with a dirty corona in the mornings -- you could look at it as long as you wanted with impunity.)

So I'm off to run long overdue, much needed errands, including the final errand for Maya's Granny. With much sadness in my heart and an empty spot where she was in my life for the past 50 years. Life does go on, but still it's hard to let go of that vision of our mutual future.

2008-07-09T12:24:00.000-07:00

Better Late Than Never Redux, or, I've Always Been A Reader

2008-07-05T16:25:00.000-07:00

Just over at Thinking About ... and ran into the Herding Cats Challenge. Of course I couldn't leave that alone ...

Here's how the challenge goes:

1. List 10 books you have read and love.

2. Pick 3 books you haven’t read before from the ‘favorite books lists’ of other challenge participants. There's a wonderful master list, which makes me nervous because I haven't read a lot of the books on it, and some of my favorites aren't there. Geez, do I march to a different drummer, or what?

3. Read those 3 books, and review them on your blog. The time frame is May - November, 2008.

4. Of course, link to the main challenge blog.

Here, then, are 10 books I have read and LOVED.

1. The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien. I first read this while I was in high school -- and it was one of the books that my friend Joycelyn and I shared a love for. I loved it so much I had to steal them from the public library, because they weren't available to buy here yet. I've read it countless times, always finding some new detail, some new meaning in it. I pestered my ex-husband until he bought me the leather-bound copies. I loved the movies, but it's the books that have my heart.
2. The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson. I just read this book, mainly because my little f2f book club read it, & I found it in a thrift store. I hadn't planned to read it, but when it came to hand I changed my mind. And it's an incredible book! The basic story (it's non-fiction) is the background on the 1893 World Fair in Chicago, polyphanyed with the story of a psychopathic serial killer who lived in Chicago while the Fair was being built. I didn't care so much about that second theme, but it did make for a very interesting interweaving. What was fascinating was the wealth of details and background about the Fair, the personalities involved, the obstacles, the triumphs, the defeats, and how many things in our everyday lives today that originated at the Fair. Read it -- you'll be mesmerized!
3. To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. This is the first book I read by Connie Willis, and it endeared her to me forever! The title is the tag line from Three Men in a Boat by Jerome Jerome, which I also adore. Both are hysterically funny, at least to me. Desert island books.
4. Passages by Connie Willis. This book had a powerful effect on me -- so much so that I still remember the plot, several years later (these days I don't remember so good as I used to, & often don't remember the plots of books I've read a short while after I've read them). A seemingly ordinary sci fi story, set a bit in the futue, and then -- the pivotal happening, and it turns into a page turner. I won't give away the plot, except to say that it's about life after death.
5. Winter Solstice by Rosamund Pilcher. A romance that gave me the warm fuzzies, set in the north of Scotland in winter. I like it because it's a story about ordinary people, people who think they've failed at life, finding love in spite of the failures. And also because it's set in Scotland, of course.
6. The Immense Journey: An Imaginative Naturalist Explores the Mysteries of Man and Nature by Loren Eiseley. Loren Eiseley was an anthropologist, science writer, ecologist and poet who published books of essays and general science. He's best known for the poetic essay style, called the "concealed essay", which he used to explain complex scientific ideas, such as human evolution, and about humanity's relationship with the natural world. These helped inspire the environmental movement. I first came across this book while I was studying archaeology, and it (and all his other books) spoke to me in ways that science or poetry alone could never have done. His essays are mystical, enchanting, delicate filagrees of words and ideas that drew me in and continue to haunt my mind.
7. Bowser the Hound by Thornton Waldo Burgess. "Bowser the Hound, outsmarted so often by Old Man Coyote, is taken advantage of once again when the coyote leads him on a long chase that ends far from the canine's home. But with the the help of Blacky the Crow and other friends, Bowser gets even."
Thornton Waldo Burgess loved the beauty of nature and its living creatures so much that he wrote about them for 50 years. By the time he retired, he had written more than 170 books and 15,000 stories for daily columns in newspapers. Many of his outdoor observations in nature were used as plots for his stories. In his first book, "Old Mother West Wind", published in 1910, the reader meets many of the characters found in later books and stories. These characters include Peter Rabbit, Jimmy Skunk, Sammy Jay, Bobby Raccoon, Joe Otter, Grandfather Frog, Billy Mink, Jerry Muskrat, Spotty the Turtle and of course, Old Mother West Wind and her Merry Little Breezes.
I think I read them all as a kid, and loved them. I named my dog Bowser. And the books fostered a love of the natural world that has been one of the ruling passions of my life. They seem a bit outdated in today's electronic world of DSes and Leapfrogs and tv, etc. I've tried reading them to my grandson but he's not particularly interested, even though he's a budding naturalist and intends to be a zoologist when he grows up. But they hold a special place in my heart, and always will. I think I'll will my collection to him ...
8. The Mitford Series by Jan Karon. I'm not Christian (nor any other religious affiliation) by choice, and find organized religion distasteful and often hyprocritical. Still this gentle love story about a 60 year old Episcopalean priest and a "mature" writer of children's books creates a world I am always sorry to leave. Set in the mythical town of Mitford (which is based on Blowing Rock, North Carolina), the books transport me to a kinder, gentler world -- one that I wished we all really lived in. I've adopted Father Tim's prayer "Let me be a blessing to someone today" as a credo to live my own life by. And would that all denominations and sects were as true to the bedrock reason for religion!
9. New Worlds to Conquer by Richard Halliburton. Halliburton's exploits made him a living legend and provided five best-sellers to his eagerAmerican audience. He died in a blaze of glory and mystery that has never been solved. In 1939 he was attempting to sail a Chinese junk, the Sea Dragon, from Hong Kong to San Francisco, when the leaky wreck disappeared without a trace.
When I was growing up in the early 1950's, my mother had all his books, and loved them. I read them also, avidly, at about 9 years old, and they gave me a case of incurable wanderlust, that I submit to even to this day.
One of the places Halliburton wrote about was Petra, the ancient Nabatean capital in southern Jordan, to which he, like everyone else, referred as the ''rose-red city half as old as time.'' (A stirring phrase, that, worthy of Ruskin or Wordsworth, but in fact the work of a feeble, long-forgotten 19th-century English poet named John William Burgon, who had never been there.) "The rose-red city, half as old as time ..." Who wouldn't be capitivated by that phrase? It rings in my memory still, even though I never got the chance to go there, and probably never will now.
In New Worlds to Conquer, Halliburton wrote about "The Place Where The Sun Is Tied": "One hundred of the [Incan] vestal virgins managed to escape [the conquering Spaniards], flee together over the crest of the Andes above Cuzco and disappear down one of the great tropical cañons that descend the eastern slope of the mountains and lead on to Brazil. For four hundred years the fate of these reguess remained an unsolved mystery. Then, in 1911, by archaeological accident, they were found -- found in a secret city at a place in the mountain fastnesses where the Sun is tied." It was Macchu Pichu, of course, and even though we now know his fantasy about its last inhabitants was false, still it created a sense of wonder I never recovered from. Or from his visit to Chichen Itza, and his dive into the ceremonial cenote, all alone at dawn.
Is it any wonder I grew up to be an archaeologist?
10. Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey. There are no words, no way for me to begin to convey what a powerful effect this book had on me. I read it just after returning from a month spent in the Four Corners region, working on archaeological digs and going to as many Anasazi ruins as I could. Desert Solitude captures the awful beauty and silence of that land so perfectly, it breaks your heart. I love all his work, but this is the first one I read, and it remains my favorite.

That's ALL? I can't talk about any of the other books I love? Maybe I can sneak in anonymously as someone else and get another 10 on the list ...

These are the three books I'm going to read for this challenge:

1. An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore. I chose this book because I just found it at a thrift store in Laguna Beach. So, it's already in my TBR pile and if I read it, the TBR pile will go down by one. Plus, since I'm such an environmentalist, I'm a bit embarrassed about not having seen the movie, so reading the book will make me feel better.
2. Lilith by George MacDonald. The title caught my eye, because it was the name my friend chose for herself -- a name she adopted in adulthood, somewhere along the way. Since I just lost her, reading this book will be a way to honor her memory. I just grabbed it off of BookMooch, which is a lovely, evil place.
3. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Also taking up space in my TBR bookcase, and has been for a long time. Way past time to get it read and move it along.

Better Late Than Never

2008-03-21T18:41:00.000-07:00

Spring officially sprang yesterday (actually during the night on Wednesday). What an anticlimax. Spring has been sprung here in Northern California since February 8th. That was the date the smell of the wind changed to balmy, the plants leapt into bud and bloom, and the birds started singing. Ross and I went on a walk at the Nature Center the previous Sunday, and it was quiet as winter. Except for a couple of scrub jay squawks and some crows cawing, the air was silent.

We did a Volkswalk on Sunday, and the air was bursting with birds falling into lust. I didn't realize how silent winter actually was until the birds brought spring in with all their throbbing glory.

By now all the exotic (non-native) fruit trees have bloomed and leafed out in their tender spring leaves. The redbud is fading away, the electric pink starting to look tatty. California poppies are in their apogee and the lupines are coming on quickly. Wild mustard and radish have been throbbing away for weeks, and vetch is beginng to show its dusky purple blooms.

Before those of you who live in colder climates begin to pine with jealousy, all this is a definite problem:

The Early Bird Gets Confused
Spring springs early and biologists worry

You probably went to bed Wednesday night in one season and woke up in another, as spring officially began at 1:48 a.m. EDT yesterday. But in fact trees are blossoming and birds are singing earlier than ever, say biologists -- and that's not ideal. Among the consequences of a climate-change-caused early spring: a longer allergy season, longer wildfire season, and disoriented flora and fauna.

I can personally attest to the allergy part -- I've been knocked right off my pins by this year's bout. Allergy-induced asthma is so deceptive! During the winter I can hike and do all sorts of things -- I exercise, I start to lose a bit of weight. Then spring hits, like a rock, and suddenly I can't walk from the car into the house without panting for breath, when the week before I was doing 8K hikes. Most disspiriting!

The worst of the allergies seem to be over, so next week I'm going to try to get back out there with the Volkswalkers. If I can get enough of a head start over the weekend on my taxes, that is!

High Summer

2007-07-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

It's now a month since the day job ended, and I find myself busier than ever. I thought I'd be lolling about on the patio during lazy summer afternoons, and posting here on a regular basis. Instead I'm still cleaning the patio after all these months of neglect -- no lolling about for me!

It's the height of summer here, and it's been a mild one so far. One episode of triple digits but more days of mid to high 80s, which are just lovely. And a good thing too, since all the freon has leaked out of the A/C in the van, leaving me at the mercy of what breezes may blow.

The chicory is blooming and the buckeyes are turning brown and wilted. Grasses are dry and tinderish. If you've seen the news at all lately, you'll know that California is beset by fires: small wild fires up to now, and fortunately quickly put out. Except for the Angora Fire, of course, which ate its way through acres and 250 houses up at Lake Tahoe. We had little rainfall this last winter and the snowpack in the Sierras was very low (55% of average in the north to 40% in the south), so 2007 is shaping up to be the year defined by fire.

Summer Is Upon Us

2007-05-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

The grasses are turning brown and dusty. There's still a few lupines and California poppies but they're tired and unhappy. Vetch and chicory are into their glory, as are the buckeye trees -- awash with glorious stalks of creamy flowers.

The heat is creeping up slowly. 80s this week, 90s next week. Can summer be far behind?

2007-04-19T20:20:00.000-07:00

Hah! Haven't lost my touch!

Your Vocabulary Score: A+

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary!
You must be quite an erudite person.
How's Your Vocabulary?

2007-03-11T22:46:00.000-07:00

Tonight I have a minute or two to spare, for the first time in a long time. I miss blogging, and have so much catching up to do. Looking at my last entry, it seemed appropriate to post tonight, when we've lurched into daylight savings time 3 weeks early. It's still officially winter -- spring won't start by the calendar until the 21st. It was lovely to sit out on the patio tonight until almost 7:00, enjoying the balmy sweet spring air. Charlie loved it too -- she was content indoors most of the winter, but demanded to spend the day outside today. Balmy indeed: temps in the high 70s here, and they broke heat records up in Redding, and down in Los Angeles -- scary the fires raging out of control there tonight!! Fires that we see at the end of summer, not in March. I worry what the summer will bring California, if they're at this stage before spring is officially here. And no, of course there's no such thing as global warming ...

Via Maya's Granny

*
*Look at the list of books below.
*Bold the ones you’ve read.
*Italicize the ones you want to read.
*leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.
*If you are reading this, tag you're it.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True(Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth(Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

55 out of the 100. Not nearly as widely read as I could be (should be?). I'm still a voracious reader -- currently I'm on 2 on line reading lists, & belong to although last year I didn't meet my goal.

By Way of Explanation

2006-10-28T10:05:00.000-07:00

I haven't been here much lately, since I started back at a full time job. It's been a disaster. Or perhaps better characterized as a very expensive lesson.

I have SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). This isn't a news flash for me, I've known I had it for the past 20 years or so. I thought I only had a mild case of it. I'm finding out differently.

Last winter, when I wasn't working, I wasn't bothered with it at all. I have full spectrum light bulbs in most of the lights in my house, and thought that did the trick. You know how if something isn't bothering you at the moment, you don't even think about it?

I started the new job August 21. It's one of those cube farm places and of course my cube isn't even close to a window. At first I was just depressed during the week, and came back alive on the weekends. That's slowly gone away until now I'm down all the time.

I've discovered that it's not the amount of sunlight, it's how often I'm exposed to sunlight. I figured that one out because I had a Scottish Games to vend at over the weekend of October 14/15. I had to take the Friday off because I have to get where I'm going and get the booth set up, to be ready when the gates open Saturday morning. It was a great games -- I cleared almost $1,000.

I saw my therapist on the Monday after. "How are you?" she asked. "Fine!" I enthused, because I was. It had been a great weekend -- I love vending! I love meeting the people, seeing the other vendors, hearing the bagpipes (yes I know, but I'm nuts about bagpipes). It was a 6 hour trip each way, so I got some driving time in too -- perfect!, since I love driving. "Fine!" I said, and then I said "but I'll probably be down by the end of the week", and I was.

I thought it was just myself, being the rebel, not wanting to have to be an adult and work for a living. But then I realized that it's because I'm not getting enough light. I've done all the obvious things: the boss put full spectrum lights in the ceiling above my desk, and I've brought in a lamp with a full spectrum bulb for my desk. I've started walking at lunch time (also good for the diabetes). I'm taking St. John's Wort, which helps a bit but not enough.

But I'm still sunk in the pits of gloom: here it is the weekend and I don't much care (sure sign of depression!). I went to bed at 9:30 last night (and I'm a terrible night owl!), read for about 15 minutes and went to sleep. Not only that, but I think my grandson is going to come over this afternoon and I don't much care about that either. (And if you've been my reader for any time at all, you'll know right away there's something wrong! When I'm not depressed, I'd move heaven and earth for those grandkids of mine!) I've done naught with my eBay business, which is a real problem as I've got stock enough to sell full-time for 3 months or more. I have dreams of adding to the vending business by starting my own line of shortbread, but I've done nothing to implement that, and the dream itself is becoming fuzzy and fading into obscurity.

My life has narrowed down to going to work, coming home, watching a video. I don't read much (& I'm a voracious reader. I have a goal of reading 100 books a year, & at this rate I won't even hit 50). I'm "too tired" to socialize much any more. I've cut back tremendously on the e-mail I get and don't have the ambition to answer what I do get. I don't shop & prepare lunches & dinners, so I'm back to buying whatever I can grab -- not a healthy situation either.

And I'm remembering that when I worked full time before, the depression was there all the time, winter or summer. Not that pinning my hopes on summer sunlight is a solution, with tonight being the night to turn the clocks back.

So I've concluded that it's how often I get out in the sunlight, not the total amount of sunlight I get. When I'm not working, I'm in a natural light environment 24/7 anyway, plus being able to get up and walk outside whenever I want to. My body knows how to take care of itself -- I do that several times an hour ... when I'm not chained to a desk in a cube farm.

I can't keep on like this. Neither can I quit the job right now. If nothing else, I need to keep it until I can finish the Redecision Therapy (which is going to help the dysthymia, the other depression I struggle with. And isn't it fun to have your very own ICD code!). I also need to have a good prudent reserve socked away. I think I'd better start some better living through chemistry, don't you?

Happy Anniversary!

2006-10-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was a milestone in our little family.

10 years ago last Friday, my son and his beloved stood up in front of a select crowd, on the lawn of a lovely Victorian B&B in old town Napa, in 107° heat, and took each other for better or for worse. Please don't ask me for my opinion on which it's turned out to be.

And, on that very same day, but not because of the goings-on on that day, I stopped smoking.

And haven't started again.

What Level Are We On?

2006-09-12T22:51:00.000-07:00

There's a pall over the city. The air is grey, and the mountains just short miles away are invisible, cloaked in gray swirling smoke. When the sun goes down at night, the sky turns into a clash of surly reds and oranges amid angry gray streamers. Sunrises seem distant, muffled in the remainder of yesterday's smoke. Last night, driving back down from Auburn, I thought it looked like an illustration of Dante's Inferno.

Golf course lights peer out of the gloom, recapitulating Mordor. The world seems eerie, changed, dangerous and unknown.

From: Air Alert
Date: 09/12/06 15:17:38
Subject: Special Health Statement - Elevated PM Levels

The Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District is issuing this special health statement due to smoke impacting residents of Sacramento County. Although the Ralston Fire is in Placer County, its smoke is now covering the Sacramento Valley due to northerly winds.

If you see or smell smoke, consider restricting your outside activities. Until the weather conditions change and the smoke conditions improve, individuals should consider taking the following actions:

- Healthy people should delay strenuous exercise, particularly when they can see or smell smoke

- Children and the elderly should consider avoiding outdoor activities, particularly prolonged outdoor exertion

- People with heart or upper respiratory illnesses should remain indoors

- Asthmatics should follow their asthma management plan

- Contact your doctor if you have symptoms such as chest pain, chest tightness, shortness of breath, or severe fatigue

- Keep airways moist by drinking lots of water

Large area chokes on smoke from Sierra fire
Health officials urge residents downhill of blaze to stay inside.
By Chris Bowman - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 12:46 am PDT Tuesday, September 12, 2006

The deeply carved forks of the American River have been delivering more than snowmelt lately down the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. Every morning this past week, the American's three prongs also have ushered thick blankets of smoke from a hard-to-contain wildfire in the Tahoe National Forest to communities downhill, from Foresthill to Folsom. Smoke, like water, rolls quite efficiently downhill through those steep river canyons.

"We have this incredible junction of all these rivers, and they're all acting as funnels for the smoke," said Carol Kennedy, a watershed specialist with the Tahoe National Forest. "They point straight at Auburn. And from there it's just a straight shot down into the valley."

To communities at the end of the smoke chute, it seems as though the blaze is in their neck of the woods. In fact, it's burning 35 miles away and more than 1,000 feet uphill. On Monday -- day seven of the Ralston fire -- the smoke, combined with unhealthy levels of smog, prompted the Folsom Cordova Unified School District to keep students indoors.

The spread of smoke is an interplay of wind, weather, fire and topography, with river canyons playing a strong role. In the evening, as the cold air sinks, it pulls the smoke with it into the river channels and downhill. Come early morning, and as the land warms up, the smoke rises and inundates communities downhill.

"Looking upstream, you could see the white smoke moving down the canyon." The smoke dissipates later as an inversion layer formed by a high pressure system lifts. The cycle repeats itself after sunset. "It comes and goes, and when it comes it's pretty bad."

I Knew It Was Going To Be Bad

2006-09-07T21:51:00.000-07:00

But I truly had forgotten just how difficult it is for me to do the 40 hour/week on the rest of the world's time frame. Specifically, I'd forgotten that my natural sleep patterns just don't dovetail with the Western World's timetable. If I go to be at a reasonable hour, either I can't get to sleep until 1:00 or so, or else I do fall asleep only to wake up about 3:30, & then toss and turn for the rest of the night. Waking up tired & sleep deprived. The other scenario is to stay up until my natural bedtime, somewhere between midnight and 1:00. Then I fall asleep easily & quickly, and sleep the night through. Only it doesn't seem to be enough sleep, as it's hard to wake up and I feel tired and sleep deprived during the day.

And the rescheduling! Meetings now only possible after work or at the weekend. Meetings every night this week but tonight. Two last night. Pedicures now have to be scheduled months in advance, hair cuts too, since I can only get them done on a Saturday. And since this is the busy season with the haggis biz, Saturdays are at a premium.

The great wonderful thing is that Monterey Bay Aquarium has another great white shark! They had one last year, caught about this same time of year. They kept her until sometime in the spring, when she started noshing on her tank mates. Of course my son & d-i-l had dithered around, and didn't take Ross to see her. Ross cried when his dad told him the great white was gone. Ross adores sharks, especially great whites. So obnoxious grandma is going to make sure he gets to see this one. And of course his dance card is pretty full, with soccer games and play dates and birthday parties. Mine is full too, with the haggis vending, etc. I think we may get to go next weekend, or definitely the weekend after.

The job isn't hard or taxing, at least not yet. The longer I'm there, the more my work load will grow but noone there seems to be going down for the third time, which is the normal situation in that profession. It's just hurtful for me to be cooped up inside, especially when we're poised for a glorious fall, my favorite season these days. And of course being tired all the time doesn't help. Neither does being depressed, which is my normal state of affairs when I'm forced into wage slavery.

Maya's Granny's Meme

2006-08-30T21:44:00.000-07:00

1. Things that scare me:
George W. Bush
Religious fanatics
People who don't seem to understand that we're slowly poisoning our environment

2. People who make me laugh:
Robert M. Sapolsky
James Thurber
Angela Thirkell
Maya's Granny
Don Sherwood
Mark Twain

3. Things I hate the most:
George W. Bush
War
Being diabetic

4. Things I don't understand:
People who don't seem to understand that we're slowly poisoning our environment
Why my kids don't seem to appreciate what I do for my grandkids
Biogotry
Why everyone seems to have to be the biggest & the first these days, in spite of the evidence that darting in & out of traffic gets you to the same red light just 2 cars sooner

5. Things I'm doing right now:
Waiting for the work day to be over so I can race home and spend all tonight & tomorrow getting ready for the Pleasanton Scottish games.
Blogging
Wondering what I'll have for dinner

6. Things I want to do before I die:
Travel: to Scotland, to England, to Canada, to Alaska, do a genealogical research trip
Read more books!
Finish my genealogy
Watch Ross & Sydney graduate from college, get married, start their families
Live in the mountains. Oh please, could I live in the mountains!

7. Things I can do:
I'm the world's best driver. (or at least in the top 100)
Computer stuff -- not programming, but most everything else.
Write well
Be a friend
Be a grandmother

8. Things I can't do:
Sing well
Draw at all
Anything even remotely connected with mathematics

10. Things I think you should listen to:
Good music
Your conscience
Bird song
Waterfalls
The surf
Whatever makes you laugh really hard
the wind in aspen leaves
Hawaiian music
bagpipes
Salamander Crossing
Guy Clark

11. Things you should never listen to:
Discouraging words
Hate filled talk
People who don't know you're there

12. Things I'd like to learn:
How to do web sites
How to do time easily
How to get rid of the vestiges of my mother's emotional abuse

13. Favorite foods:
green tea ice cream
blackberries
pomegranates
Charbroiled lemon grass chicken
Vietnamese spring rolls w/peanut sauce
Hamburgers w/Stilton cheese
apricots
Mongolian barbecue
Pomegranates
Persimmons

14. Beverages I drink regularly:
green tea frappacino, no whip, no melon
Coffee
desert brewed iced tea
water
Hot tea

15. Shows I watched as a kid:
I Love Lucy
Howdy Doody Time
Hopalong Cassidy (listened to)
The Lone Ranger
Maverick
Adventures in Paradise (I'm STILL in love with that man!)

16. People I'm tagging (to do this meme):
Julie
In my Own Backyard
Endment

The Marsh

2006-08-20T10:14:00.000-07:00

There's a little wetlands running down through the subdivision Ross & Sydney live in. Ross & I used to walk down there when he was little. I loved taking him there, teaching him about the outdoors. I think this is where he developed his love of fishing. He saw his first garter snake along the way that year. This year Sydney was big enough to come too -- and we had a grand time. A perfect way to while away a summer's afternoon.

It's an incredibly rich place -- filled with trees, plants rich place -- filled with trees, plants and animals. The water is a rich soup, brimming with tadpoles, frogs & small fish. I saw a beaver swimming there the other day -- his brown blob of a head making a perfect wake behind him. And of course this tree, a couple of years ago, was a dead giveaway.

Imagine beavers in the middle of suburbia!

Dragonflies patrol in lazy loops. Birds perch on the tules, ducks swim on the water. If you're there at dusk, you can listen to the birds twittering themselves to sleep. There was a Great Gray Heron there a couple of weeks ago, standing silent and majestic, waiting for a fish to stop paying attention. They are such elegant birds! And wary too -- this one moved further back down the marsh as we stopped to watch him/her. This is the best picture I could get.

I've seen boys with fishing poles down there. I've seen people walking on the dirt road that runs down one side of it. Certainly Ross & I have spent a lot of happy time there.

But, technically it's a preserve. See:

Moral dilemma here. I want Ross & Sydney to really enjoy nature, to feel at home in it. And it's an uphill battle these days -- kids are restricted and constricted, and the days of playing in the creek all day long with your friends are [sadly] long gone. (cf. Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv) So I get them outside whenever I can. But, a preserve is a reserve is a preserve. I duly explained that we can't go down there any more, the animals have their homes there and need to live without humans encroaching on them. We can watch from the bridge, but not go in any more. We were all sad, and miss walking the paths, seeing new things with the turn of the seasons.

The winter before last was predicted to be a wet one. And so the good city fathers took it upon themselves to protect the houses built right to the edge of the banks -- about 50' higher than the marsh itself. And one fine autumn day, the marsh was no more. Bulldozed to extinction. Tulles and cattails -- gone. Frogs and fish and beavers and birds -- gone. What do you tell a 4 year old when this happens?

I expressed my outrage to Ross, and we spent time talking about what a bad thing it was, to bulldoze the animals' homes. The marsh recovered itself, and was back to normal by the time summer rolled around. The sleepy twitter of birds bedding down for the night once again announced the hour of dusk. Lusty frogs crowded the night air with desperate song. And when last winter came, the marsh got bulldozed again. Not as badly, but badly enough. It's recovered itself again, as you can see from the picture of the Great Gray Heron.

We're sliding out of summer now, towards the rainy season. Do you suppose this has become a habit with these folks? And I wonder what would happen if I invoked California Penal Code Section 602 ... I wonder if it's any more legal for them to tear the marsh up every year than it is for Ross and Sydney and I to slip past the gate and go watch the ducks, and the fishes and the tadpoles. Maybe this year I'll find out.

American Fire

2006-08-15T09:14:00.000-07:00

My friend Anthony is an up and coming singer-songwriter. I think he's one of the best, although I admit I might be just a bit non-objective about my opinion.

In case you didn't know this, there are protest songs posted on Neil Young's "Living With War" website, and the total has now passed 300. Talk about your sign of the times...

I just got an e-mail from Anthony: "Now, I'm not normally a guy who likes to push my music very hard...but I'd like to see "American Fire" get as much exposure as possible. This is a song from the point of view of the US soldier. It asks us to:

Choose your battles carefully
Your conscience is my guide
Don't trade my honor for your pride

Often I hear people talk about soldiers (particularly reservists) and say, "They knew what they were getting into when they signed up..." This is true. However, these soldiers also signed up under the assumption that their leaders would only send them to battle when absolutely necessary. An important point to remember.

In order to get the song more attention, I'd like to ask a favor of you. When you get a chance go to: Living With War Today

When you're there, click on my song "American Fire"...it's currently #21 on the list. Go back and visit as many times as you can, and pass it along to friends if you like. If the song moves up to the Top Ten, it will get a lot more attention."

Not only do I think you'll enjoy Anthony's music (and there are other songs of his available when you click on American Fire), but I also think it's important to support "revolutionary" music -- any way we can get the message out that we don't support the war in Iraq is important!

Only Time Will Tell

2006-08-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

Sweden 2020
The world runs on oil. It starts wars, topples governments and makes and breaks entire economies. But one country is determined to insulate itself from an oil-addicted world. Sweden has announced a national plan to wean itself off the black stuff by 2020. In 'Costing the Earth' Tom Heap asks if the Swedes can really pull it off .

In Sweden they believe that the commitment will pump investment into renewable energy. Saab and Volvo are already reaping big profits from their best-selling bio-fuel cars whilst universities and research centres throw time and money into the search for new energy sources. Stable, cheap, reliable power should give Sweden 's export industries a commercial advantage, no longer reliant on foreign governments or world oil markets.

Tom visits the city of Vaxjo which made the same oil-free commitment ten years ago. Today the university is running one of the most advanced bio-fuel plants in the world, making use of the forests that still carpet the country. New houses are being designed which will require no heating whatsoever, even in the height of the Swedish winter whilst the existing homeowners are cutting their bills by relying on the hot water pipes that reach virtually every house in the city.

Britain may lack Sweden's forests but we can certainly learn from the positive attitude they've shown to a problem that isn't going to go away.

You can listen to the entire programme at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/ and then selecting Cost the Earth from the A-Z Directory on the left-hand side of the page.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It brings me up short to hear of a country actively trying to move away from fossil fuels, pollution, entrenched greed toward maintaining a decent standard of living by environmentally responsible means.

It's so simple, when you read about it. What isn't simple, of course, is the mindset behind it. Apparently Sweden has taken the threat of global warming as real, and has decided to take action to counteract the perceived threat. (I'm a convert to the global warming theory, and to the idea of peak oil. But I also realize that many things that have seemed to be scientifically incontrovertible at the time (i.e., eugenics) have later been thoroughly refuted.)

Whether or not global warming turns out to be reality, the kicker in this conversation is that Sweden seemingly has analyzed the situation and then decided on a course of action. America, on the other hand ... well, we're still arguing over whether or not there really is such a things as global warming, & if there is, whether it's the internal combustion engine that's fueling the fire, etc. As Jared Diamond points out, the ultimate purpose of companies is to provide a profit to their shareholders. From that point of view, oil companies are merely doing their job. He also has a very cogent section on why we're not doing anything about the threat (and if you haven't read Collapse, I highly recommend it.)

It's a bit humbling to be shown the path by a small country of progressive socialists. Will we be able to learn from that example?

To Any Lengths?

2006-08-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

From a column in the Aug. 10th Rocky Mountain News by Pete Yost: to what lengths will this administration go before enough people catch on and make Congress or the Supreme Court put the brakes on such "goings on." Herewith quoted in full:

WAR CRIMES PROTECTION SOUGHT

WASHINGTON -- "The Bush administration drafted amendments to the War Crimes Act that would retroactively protect policymakers from possible criminal charges for authorizing any humiliating and degrading treatment of detainees, according to lawyers who have seen the proposal."

"The move by the administration is the latest effort to deal with treatment of those taken into custody in the war on terror."

"At issue are interrogations carried out by the CIA, and the degree to which harsh tactics such as water-boarding were authorized by administration officials. A separate law, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, applies to the military."

"The Washington Post first reported on the War crimes Act amendments Wednesday."

"One section of the draft would outlaw torture and inhuman or cruel treatment, but it does not contain prohibitions from Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions against "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment."

"A copy of the section of the draft was obtained by The Associated Press."

"Another section would apply the legislation retroactively, according to two lawyers who have seen the contents of the section and who spoke on condition of anonymity because their sources did not authorize them to release the information."

"One of the two attorneys said that the draft is in the revision stage but that the administration seems intent on pushing forward the draft's major points in Congress after Labor Day."

"I think what this bill can do is in effect IMMUNIZE PAST CRIMES." "That's why it is so dangerous," said a third attorney, Eugene Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice."

"Fidell said the initiative is "not just protection of political appointees, but also CIA personnel who led interrogations."

"Extreme interrogation practices have been a flash point for criticism of the administration."

"Larry Cox, Amnesty International USA's executive director, said that "President Bush is looking to limit the War crimes Act through legislation," now that the Supreme Court has embraced Article 3 of the Geneva Convention. In June, the court ruled that Bush's plan to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in military tribunals violates Article 3."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The hubris of these people never ceases to amaze me! How did it come to this, that America thinks it's invincible, all powerful, not required to consult anyone's pleasure but its own? History and Shelley remind us that the mighty have always fallen. If we were as smart as we think we are, wouldn't we be trying to find another path, one that's less aggressive, less arrogant?

Let's All Shop at Sears

2006-08-09T13:32:00.000-07:00

I assume you have all seen the reports about how Sears is treating its reservist employees who are called up? By law, they are required to hold their jobs open and available, but nothing more. Usually, people take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a result of being called up. Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus programs, for all called up reservist employees for up to two years. I submit that Sears is an exemplary corporate citizen and should be recognized for its contribution.

I suggest we all shop at Sears, and be sure to find a manager to tell them why we are there so the company gets the positive reinforcement it well deserves.

Pass it on.

(Someone decided to check it out before forwarding it. She sent the following email to the Sears Customer Service Department):

I received this email and I would like to know if it is true. If it is, the Internet may have just become one very good source of advertisement for your store. I know I would go out of my way to buy products from Sears instead of another store for a like item even if it was cheaper at the other store.

Here is Sear's answer to her email:

Dear Customer:

Thank you for contacting Sears.

The information is factual. We appreciate your positive feedback. Sears regards service to our country as one of greatest sacrifices our young men and women can make. We are happy to do our part to lessen the burden they bear at this time.

Bill Thorn
Sears Customer Care
_webcenter@sears.com_ (mailto:webcenter@sears.com)
1-800-349-4358

Please pass this on to all your friends, Sears needs to be recognized for this outstanding contribution and we need to show them as Americans, we do appreciate what they are doing for our military!

And from www.snopes.com:

Claim:Sears pays the difference in salaries and maintains benefits for their called-up military reservist employees.

Status:True.

Origins: Although many employers look favorably on military service and even encourage it, there are some who find it burdensome to have an employee who spends time away from the job. Military reservists and National Guard members pose a particular challenge to employers because they're subject to recall to active duty at any time — call-ups to active service during times of war may not occur often, but active duty recalls can occur even during peacetime, and nearly every reservist has to take occasional leave from his regular job for monthly drills and annual training.

In order to provide a measure of employment security to reservists subject to active duty recall and minimize the disadvantages that occur when reservists need to be absent from their civilian employment to serve in the uniformed services, the United States enacted the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)in 1994. Codified in Chapter 43, Part III, Title 38 of the United States Code,this act mandates that "any person whose absence from a position of employment is necessitated by reason of service in the uniformed services shall be entitled to reemployment rights and benefits."

Of course, reservists give up more than just their jobs when they're called up for active duty. Although the law may require that their former positions be waiting for them when they return, many reservists still have to deal with the financial hardships of the difference in pay between their civilian jobs and their military positions; as well, other job benefits they may lose out on while on active duty (such as medical insurance coverage or participation in employer bonus plans) are not guaranteed to them. Some employers voluntarily go the extra mile for their reservist employees, making up the difference between their regular pay and their military pay while they're on active duty and ensuring that all employer-sponsored benefits associated with their jobs remain in force. (In most cases, continuing employees' medical benefits does not mean that the employer picks up all the costs of those benefits, but that the employees may opt to maintain the same level of group insurance coverage under the provisions of COBRA.) Sears is indeed one of the employers who take additional steps to show support for employees involved in serving their country (either in the Reservers or the National Guard) by guaranteeing the continuance of their civilian pay (for up to 60 months) and allowing continued participation in life insurance, medical and dental programs. Many other companies,large and small, do the same for their workers, but as one of the nation's oldest and largest employers, Sears (acquired in 2005 by Kmart) gets the publicity for setting a prominent example.

Additional information:

Military Support Background
(Sears Holding Corporation)

Last updated: 8 June 2006

The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/sears.asp

Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2006
by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson
This material may not be reproduced without permission.

Sources:

Kay, Julie. "Lawyer Fired While Serving in Coast Guard.": Miami Daily Business Review. 11 November 2002.

Another One Bites The Dust?

2006-08-08T15:09:00.000-07:00

I think you have to be older to notice. The passing of things, the changes that come and go in our lives. Maybe you have to be older to notice that the changes are coming faster and faster, but it isn't just perception -- changes are coming faster and faster.

Poor Red's is being sold.

After feeding three generations with slabs of pork ribs, the place -- so named because it supposedly made its founder, Harry J. "Red" Sadler, poor and his wife, Opal, rich -- is on the market. It's an institution, a landmark. Everyone who lives within a 100 mile radius knows about Poor Red's, and has been there.

It's a hole in the wall, up in the foothills. There's absolutely no place to park.

You walk through the door, and it's all bar. A bi-level bar, with more than one bartender. Just an aisle along the right side, and the rest is bar stools and smoke. Lots of smoke (at least the last time I was there that's how it was. That's probably changed since California has all those laws about no smoking in public places.) You have to siddle your way down the aisle, because the crowd at the bar overflows the stools and bulges out in the aisle in clumps and herds.

When you get to the back, there's a door. With a menu on the wall. There's ribs or chicken. Baked potato. Salad. I think that's it. I don't think you even get a choice of salad dressing. Since the place is 75% bar, the dining area only holds 38 at a time. And they generally feed 300 per night on the weekends.

They come for the Gold Cadillacs, which slide down your throat like a soda from an old-fashioned soda fountain. Drink more than one and you could find yourself in non-driveable condition. Which might be important, since Red's is a long way from anywhere else. Bring a designated driver. Your change will clink on the bar: the bartenders currently favor Susan B. Anthony dollars. Before that it was Eisenhower dollars, and silver dollars before that. Easier to handle quickly, and in a place like Red's, quickly is a necessity.

It's one of those places that you might not get to very often. It's all the way up there, a good 45 minutes drive. Easier to find something down here, not so far to drive. But you always knew it was there, waiting for you, exactly like it was the last time you were there. After all, the only thing that's changed much in the 50 years it's been there is sour cream for the baked potatos. That got added sometime during the 1990s, when the current owner noticed that customers were bringing their own.

So there's a lot of trepidation among the fans down here. Will the new owner change it? Or will it become just a memory, a story of how it used to be, remembered only by the old timers? Or will the Cadillacs keep rolling, the ribs keep sizzling and the dollars keep clinking on the bar?

Photos courtesy Randall Benton; facts courtesy M.S. Enkoji, Sacramento Bee.

Weather Report

2006-07-21T00:29:00.000-07:00

At the risk of being mistaken for the Wicked Witch of the West, I'm melting.

It's 12:30 in the morning, and the outside temperature has just now cooled down to 80°, after a high of 103°. Tomorrow is variously predicted to be 99° or 106°, Saturday 107°, Sunday 106°, and so on into next week.

We've been blessed with a cooler than normal summer, right up until this heat wave hit at the beginning of the week. The weather gods seem determined to make up for lost time, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight.

Occasionally, a slight breeze will ruffle the leaves of the trees, and my heart leaps with joy! The delta breezes are in! But no. Only an errant wisp of wind, just to torment us.

Welcome to summer in Sacramento. Is it any wonder I long to live in the mountains, where a heat wave looks like the high 80s?

Huh?

2006-07-21T00:05:00.000-07:00

Small article in today's Living section, which almost escaped my notice:

"Getting snubbed is the worst. And now that we're so completely wired that we'll never be free again, we've invented whole new ways to snub and be snubbed -- digital-style: getting bumped off the MySpace top eight, being last on the e-mail cc list, etc."

being last on the e-mail cc list? That's a snub? Does anybody really pay attention? Apparently they do. Once again, I find myself outside mainstream culture. And not looking in wistfully either. Who in the world cares what place they are on the cc list (which is generally alphabetical anyway. At least mine is.)?

People never cease to amaze me.

Minimalist

2006-07-19T16:58:00.000-07:00

What on earth am I doing, starting another blog/journal? Following my old friend Maya's Granny around, I suppose. This is going to be a minimalist adventure, given that I never have enough time to get the mandatory things done, never mind the luxuries like posting on blogs. And a "real" job seems to be lurking just over the horizon, further eliminating discretionary time.

I did promise that I'd give out the recipe for Cantaloupe Soup, which is the most wonderful thing in the world if it's hot as the Sahara outside, which it generally is here in Sacramento.

Cantaloupe Soup

4 cups cantaloupe, chopped up
1 cup yogurt
1 tsp grated ginger root, or to taste (you can also use the minced ginger that comes in jars)

Blend it all in a blender; chill till thick like pudding.

I have no idea of the calories or any of the other statistics that have been invented to destroy our pleasure in good-tasting food.