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Counting Down to 70: Day 5, Tolerating

Ugh! On this fifth day towards becoming 70, I woke up with another glaring owie. This time, it was my right knee shouting, “You overdid it, Palsy!”  A month ago, I joined a weekly yoga class that focuses oldsters on stretching, loosening up our joints, and building up our balance.  Probably all that bending I did at class on Tuesday would’ve been okay if I hadn’t done a bunch of bending yesterday clearing out the geraniums. Ouchy growl! Until this morning, I forgot that my poor swollen right knee, called Song, is still the bad knee. She  has done quite well keeping up with Sing, the left joint that was totally replaced last year, which was my gift for turning 69. Poor Song. Hopefully, I can find another compatible, trustworthy surgeon to fix her in 2024. Sing’s surgeon retired. He was amazing, even straightening my leg when he said he couldn’t.  The poor Husband. He kept running over to see why I was suddenly groaning, moaning, cursing, or growling so very loudly. Song did not like

18 Days to 70: Natural Delights

Crunch. Crunch. A couple of sparrows have found the basket of sunflower seeds I forgot to put away.  Crunch, crunch, crunch. You’re welcome.

Here We Are in March!

March, march, march to my own drum. A congo drum, please. It's a gorgeous California no-rain-in-sight early Spring (late Winter, if you prefer) day. I would be playing outdoors in the dirt right now if I hadn't wrenched my good knee on Friday. Maybe wrenched isn't the correct word, but the pain certainly matches the word.   I stepped sideways on uneven ground in the front yard to show the Husband something when my left knee buckled. A chicken leg being snapped at its joint flashed through my head.  I am very glad to report that my sense of decorum and appropriate behavior are still intact: I did not scream out in pain nor utter a curse word for the whole street to hear. Indoors, another story. Before that all happened, I was playing in the yard, deadheading, raking, trimming, planting, and doing all kinds of fun things. At one point, a robin flew into the ornamental pear tree and we had a pleasant time hanging out. The robin even let the Husband join us. We wondered whethe

Barely Green

In good years, meaning non-drought ones, our hills are richly green. Hopefully, rain will come again before the month is up.

Looking Back at Fall 2020

This mosaic is a set of photos I took around the house in November. The photos with the orange persimmon leaves were done around sunset. For mosaics by other bloggers, check out Monday Mosaic.  

13 Wonderstruck Moments

These are forever stuck in my brain. Fortunate me for having seen them. :-) The first sight of Venice, all full of light, wonder, and history, as I walked out of the train station. Snorkeling among the fish off Maui. The sunrise splattering unto good friend Jennifer and me. The sunsets at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. The red rose in bloom on our balcony as the First Husband was dying. The sparkle-sparkle pink notebook I received in an office Christmas gift exchange. Puuhonua O Honaunau National Historic Park on the Big Island of Hawaii where in ancient times warriors made their way to the Honaunau Bay shores to seek refuge from battles they lost. Thunderstorms in the Southwest. Oh my! The Grand Canyon. Driving through a granite walled mountain pass. Anytime. Driving over the Mississippi River. Newborn babies. Tiny fingers, tiny feet, unconditional love. It's Thursday 13 . Come check out other bloggers' 13  with me.  Update: I'm also linking up with I Like Thursday , hoste

Sweet Rain

  Plop, plop, plop, plop, plop . . . . "It's raining." I said to the Husband. "It is? It is! The streets are wet." A few minutes later, no more plop sound. That was a couple of hours ago. It's still raining. Simply more gently. I don't even think it's raining until I happen to glance out a window. Last week we had our first winter storm. Have I said that before? By the second morning, the little red wagon was overflowing with water. Amazing! I heard a weather guy say that we made up to 40-something percent of the normal annual average just in that first storm. A few more storms like that and we may not have a drought year. Hoping for the best.

Howwwwwwlllll!

The full moon was up in the sky when the sun rose this morning. Click. Delightful! This was the second month in a row the moon stayed up to watch the sunrise. And, by good fortune, I saw it both times.  In some cultures, the January full moon is called the Wolf Moon because the wolves would howl in hunger during this season. We have no wolves here, but we did hear some amazing howling winds during our recent first winter storm.

Joyful Rain

 See the white streaks in the photo? They aren't scratches.  That's rain! Our first rain of the winter, and if the weather guys are correct, we'll be enjoying rain off and on for the next week. Whoooo-hooooo! 

Mousseron

While traipsing through the backyard early one morning last week I came across first-time visitors. Mushrooms! Mama would've harvested them. She would've thrown a quarter into the stewing mushroom pot, and if the quarter didn't turn black, then she would've eaten them. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a scientific basis behind the coin changing color to signify mushrooms are poisonous. When I was a kid, I ate the mushrooms my parents gathered on the oaks and sycamores along a certain creek in the hills right after good winter rain. They were tasty but kind of slimy, what the Husband might say in jest, "Awful mouthfeel." Daddy taught me which mushrooms to look for and where to find them, but I could never trust my judgment so I mostly held empty buckets and carried full ones back to the car. I love those times. 

The Color of Rust

 I like the look of rust. . . and fallen leaves. . .and winter in our backyard.

Perihelion

Early this morning, which was 5:51 a.m. in California, we were as close as we'll ever get this year to the star of our solar system, the Sun. Those in the know call this point on Earth's orbit perihelion. Now, you, my friends, and I are in the know. I learned about it at Earthsky . (Gotta love the Internet, and access to it.) I slept through the perihelion but nearly an hour later an earthquake woke me up. The bed and house seemed to be floating on choppy water for a few seconds.  I'm not sure if it's my imagination or if I actually heard a faint rumble. Reports said it was a 4.3 on the Richter scale. There were several smaller aftershocks, but I didn't feel them. We're within spitting distance (well, we can quite easily) of two major faults in the area: the San Andreas and the Calaveras Fault. It's only the jolting or rolling ones that I feel.  It's great to be alive, tripping through the Universe on the Earth.

A Red Leaf

A red leaf. I forgot everything else I saw yesterday morning. The first sunflower in bloom. The wispy pink and white morning glories. The white African daisy with its dark purple center. The red leaf. Fall in summer. "Hey!" said the sunlight. Red leaf in bright light. Red leaf in some light. Red life in shade. "Hey!" said the sunlight. When I previewed the photos on the computer I saw it then. Had I looked away? Had I blinked? A shiny black bug on the red leaf. Where did it come from? A black-and-white map? An overview of a terrain of some sort? For reconnaissance? A red leaf. It's Mosaic Monday , so I thought I'd try something different today.  Good cheer, Everyone!

Summer Joy

Beep, beep. It's summer. Be safe, Friends. Keep your humor. Over to All Seasons I go. Come along, should you please. Beep, beep.

Pop!

I was sitting in front of the computer about to start today's post when I heard it.   Pop! Huh? I looked over to the left where the sound came. What do ya know? A California poppy pod makes a sound when it opens. Pop! And, the seeds go all over the place. Yesterday, I harvested a pocketful of poppy pods and left them all on a small oval plate on top of the radio.  The poppy pod that popped was not on the plate.  Did the pod jump off the plate as it opened? So it seems. That's my story for today. Much more interesting than I was about to write. Pop! I wonder if that's how poppies got their name. All Seasons is where I'm heading now. The meme is hosted by Jesh at The Jesh Studio . Come join me if you like.

Imagining I'm There

"I want to be there," said the Husband. Me, too. The other day I was missing the sight of granite, miles and miles of exposed surface of batholith mountains. In particular, the Sierra Nevada mountain range. More specifically, Desolation Wilderness in the El Dorado National Forest, west of Lake Tahoe. Every year, for nine years, the Late Great First Husband and I backpacked the Sierras. At least one trip was to our favorite spot, Pyramid Lake in Desolation Wilderness, above Horsetail Falls, off of Highway 50. These photos are from my first backpacking trip up Horsetail Falls. The original prints were overexposed. Thankfully, I kept the pictures and was able to "clean" them up a bit in Photoshop. Talk about following the First Husband with complete trust while carrying 25 pounds, more or less, of food, gear, and reading material on my back. I don't know what it's like today, but back then, once you got to the base of the falls, the way

This & That

1. The Husband and I successfully fulfilled our monthly date for vacuuming, dusting, and mopping the house. Three months in a row. Definitely a whoop-de-doo! for us. The carpet feels so good beneath our bare feet. 2. Here's another thing I'm proud about doing today. I successfully pulled a curly dock weed, more than 60 inches tall, from the middle of a young butterfly bush. Poor guy. The two plants' roots were stuck together, but not entwined, so I was able to pry them apart. Hopefully the young butterfly bush was not too traumatized. 3. I need to go out and check the seeds I planted last week. They may need a drink of water. 4. But, first I need to go cook our main meal for us. I do miss not cooking. 5. Here I am again. The seeds got their sips of water. I saw two sunflower sprouts. Yippieeee. 6. After marinating locally produced grass-fed beef stew in a concoction of spices, vinegar, oil, and whatever else for a few hours, I sliced the meat thinly a

Another 13 Thursday

1. Frost! I thought we were done with it. 2. Mama called the icy stuff snow. "There was lots of snow on Marie's roof," she'd say as I stumbled into the kitchen to fix breakfast. She'd be almost done with her big bowl of different cereals mixed together. 3. Now it's me or the Husband that opens the kitchen curtains on chilly mornings to see the icy roof next door. "Lots of snow." 4. Flutter, flutter, flutter. A whole lot of tiny birds flew out of the tree on our front yard. I watched them all fly as one up into the sky, circle about, then take off to the northeast. 5. Then I noticed the light of the rising sun. Wowza! 6. And, then I wondered why everything was drippy wet. I looked up at the roof next door. Frost! 7. For once I was wise and went back into the house to fetch a shawl. And, my camera. Of course. You never know when the fish may be out.   8. This afternoon I asked the Husband, "What kind of guy are you?"

Being

"Knock on wood, said Dr. Eye, who then knocked on the side of a medical supply cabinet. I turned to my left. Nothing but eye examination machines. All metal. I looked back at the cabinet. "About the closest to wood," Dr. Eye said, somehow knowing what I was thinking. "Maybe this," I said, leaning over to tap a small box, probably made of balsa, on the cabinet. "It probably does have the most wood in this room," Dr. Eye said, tapping the box. Someone asked me if I felt confident about Dr. Eye taking out my lens and inserting an artificial one with my current prescription. Totally. Four more days.  :-)   Linking with All Seasons at The Jesh Studio.

Unbelievable, but Very True

"Come upstairs with me," said the Husband when he came back from a trip to the gas station. "You've got to see something." "Is it snow?" I asked. I was in the kitchen prepping garlic for lumpia filling. "You'll see." Snow! This is the first of the season. No wonder it was cold this morning. Well worth it. I'm heading over to ABC Wednesday . Come join me, if you like. :-) Happy Thanksgiving, Dear Friends!