UPDATE:

Mt St Helens right now 

As of right now, The Mountain is still rumbling. The scientists are saying that there is a 70% chance of an eruption with in the next few days. The earthquakes are shallow, and 3-4 a minute, and they are increasing in magnitude. Up to a 3.0-3.3 .

We are all safe and way out of the area to be concerned about. When she blew last time, the big ash plume went East and covered the Eastern half of the state. That was horrible to endure, but the years following that, the wheat crops were records! The ash helped fertilize the soil. (who knew) The biggest destruction was the virgin forests that were around the foot of the mountain, and they are all gone now, blown flat by the blast. They are coming back, slowly.

THe mud flows covered Spirit Lake to a depth of over 100 feet. and the water splashed into the Toutle River then into the cowlitz river and then into the Columbia river, causing flooding, and killed 58 people.

We are about 250 miles NORTH of Mt. St. Helens, and the prevaling winds blow to the East or the South, and wont reach us. The predictions are for just a slow magma rise, into the throat of the mountain. If there is an explosive eruption, it would only throw rocks 3-5 miles from the crater.

Now realize , people, that this is a new science, in the predicting stages. They really are not sure what will happen, they are hedging their bets, and saying that the mountain could just roll over and go back to sleep, just like the rest of the volcanoes around the area.

Mt Garibaldi North of Vancouver, Canada. Mt Baker, Washington; Glacier Peak, Wa; Mt. Rainier, Wa; Mt St Helens, Wa; Mt Adams, Wa; Mt Hood Oregon; the Sisters, Oregon;
and then down to Crater lake, and Mt Lassen in Oregon and Calif. Oh I forgot Mt Shasta and Shastina. Whew. I know I forgot one or two, but I got the major ones.

THe whole area is volcanic, and on the ring of fire surrounding the Pacific Ocean, I Lived in the Aleution Islands for 2 years, and they are all Volcanic, and very active. Earthquakes every day. The houses there are built on rollers so they wont fall apart during an earthquake. REALLY!!

As scary as this all sounds, It isn't. The volcanoes are all sleeping, and when they wake up they give plenty of notice. Phyllis, VegasBaby and I are all safe, we are on islands, We may shake, but we are safe. Now Blogeois is right down where the ash and flooding could go. I am going to assume they are not in harms way though they can aim their fountain cam towards the mountain should she blow.

I will keep you posted.

On another note.......GO ICHIRO!!!! 3 more games, two more hits to break the record

The Mountain Rumbles...

As of this evenings News reports, They have raised the level of warning to a 2 within 10 miles of the volcano. It was 5 miles, but they are worried, that someone will get hurt. The scientists still can not say just what exactly is happening, but the earthquakes are 3-4 a minute now, and expanding farther out and deeper down. They suspect that the Dome will be building slightly, or that there will be a gas eruption either tonight or tomorrow. Hmmmmm. They are all excited about it, and assure us all that there is not going to be ANYTHING like the 1980 eruption, that the mountain is just clearing her throat. I hope I don't get hit with any volcano phlegm!! I will keep you posted, and TINE has a really good link to the volcano. There have been so many earthquakes, that they have suspended posting them all. In other words, they can't keep up with them all.
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I got this from Cindra...


You are the Hierophant card. The Hierophant,
called The Pope in some decks, is the preserver
of cultural traditions. After entering The
Emperor's society, The Hierophant teaches us
its wisdom. The Hierophant learns and teaches
our cultural traditions. The discoveries our
ancestors have made influence the present.
Without forces such as The Hierophant who are
able to interpret and communicate traditional
lore, each generation would have to begin to
learn anew. As a force that is concentrated on
our past and our culture, The Hierophant can
sometimes be stubborn and set in his ways. This
is a negative trait he shares with his zodiac
sign, Taurus. But like Taurus he is productive.
His traditional lore can provide a source of
inspiration for the creatively inclined, and
his knowledge provides an excellent foundation
for those who come into their own in the
business world. Image from: Morgan E.
Cauthers-Knox.
http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/loth/m/o/morganc/morganc.html


Which Tarot Card Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Never heard of him! Ah well Halloween is coming....

Sleeping Lady...Awake?

Well the geologists are now predicting that Mt St Helens COULD erupt at any time. The earthquakes have gotten stronger and more frequent every day. There are around 1 a minute right now, and seem to be in the 2.5-2.9 range. The scientists are up in the dome right now, and setting out more equipment. They have closed the trails and the roads around the mountain, and are warning tourists to stay away, BUT as soon as you say that, the tourists, idiots that they are, flock to the place to push the envelope as far as they can.

In 1980 when she blew her top, she killed 58 people. All either in the red zone, or close enough to it that they should have known better. The films that were recovered were mind numbing. We had one reporter with a camera, that got away, but He actually thought he was going to die. He kept filming as he was walking, and talking, and said good by to his loved ones, and the ash came down and blacked everything out. He made it out BARELY, and was one very humble young man. There was a family that was camping on the ridge across the valley, in the safe zone, They are the ones who took the famous photos of the side of the mountain sliding away. Cars had the pint sandblasted off of them, and the news showed the mudflows as it hit the rivers, and flooded all the way over I-5. There is the famous shot of an entire house crashing into the bridge over I-5, and turning the house into spinters. It is awesome.

It is predicted that the eruption when it comes will be no where near the force that it was the first time, that this may be steam venting, or dome building. Volcanoes fascinate me. I should have been a scientist. I love the natural flow of nature. I enjoy weather, and the way the world is changed I enjoy the sea and the way that the world is changed by it, and I love geology and the way the world and the stars are changed by it.

Why couldn't I have been born smart instead of so good looking? ah well. When the Mountain blows I will try to go get some pictures of it for you, IF the clouds allow me to.

A Tuesday funny!

My Friend Kenny sent this to me via email, and I thought this was very fitting. I can see now why in other languages have words isolated by Gender. I alwsays wondered about that. This explains it.

You may not know that many non-living things have a gender, for example...

1) Ziploc Bags -- They are Male, because they hold everything in, but
you can see right through them.

2) Copiers -- They are Female, because once turned off, it takes a
while to warm them up again. It's an effective reproductive device if the
right
buttons are pushed, but can wreak havoc if the wrong buttons are pushed.

3) Tire -- Male, because it goes bald and it's often over-inflated.

4) Sponges -- Female, because they're soft, squeezable and retain water.

5) Hot Air Balloon -- Male, because, to get it to go anywhere, you have to
light a fire under it, and of course, there's the hot air part.

6) Web Page -- Female, because it's always getting hit on.

7) Subway -- Male, because it uses the same old lines to pick people up.

8) Hourglass -- Female, because over time, the weight shifts to the
bottom.

9) Hammer -- Male, because it hasn't changed much over the last 5,000
years, but it's handy to have around.

10) Remote Control -- Female...... Ha! You thought it'd be male.
But consider this --it gives a man pleasure, he'd be lost without it,
and while he doesn't always know the right buttons to push, he keeps
trying.

foggy kites 

Yesterday Whidbey Island sponsored a Kite Festival at Fort Casey State Park. It is an old WWI army base, that has been turned over to the state. Makes a great place to fly kites, as there are lots of fields and no wires!

I drove down to see it on the way to the Playhouse, and it was FOGGED IN!! There really are a lot of kites there in the picture, You just can't see them. The one you can see is real close to the road. Normally this is a great way to spend a weekend. Sitting on a blanket, with a picnic basket, and watching the kite competition. They are Competition kites, meaning they choreograph a routine set to music. THey fly dual, single, or more. And each person has a dance they have to get their kite to do. The first time I saw this, it was set to Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin, and it was MAGNIFICENT!

We try to go every year, as it is just right over there--->>>>>about 2 miles. It is just so relaxing. They have all kinds of kites there from all over the Pacific Northwest. There are several groups from Canada, some from California, Nevada, and Idaho. THere are kites for sale, and lessons for beginners. One of these years I will save up and buy a kite, and learn to fly it. They are really spendy. Gone are the newspaper and string kites we used to fly, these are made of rip-stop Nylon, and are made to fly easily with no wind.

The FOg did not stop people from flying them, But it did stop people from SEEING them. We have been socked in for almsot a week. and today it is bright sunshine.

I got a nice lesson on FRONT PAGE< so I will be trying to get my blog set up. I have not been able to get ahold of the server dudes yet, as the planes have been flying all day, and I cant talk on the phone while they fly. But I WILL!!!!!

Technical Problems...

Ok this just royally SUCKS!!!!! As some of you may remember, I have had problems with my service provider. THey went TANGO UNIFORM ( that's tits-up for you civilians...means DIED) My pictures on my blog all have little red x's on them. I finally found out that I was sold, to ISOMEDIA when they cut off my service, because they said I did not have an account. Well I just paid for a year in advance, so Yeah, I do have an account.

THey found it, got me back on line, and my email wouldn't work. Called em back got the email account working, so I could receive. BUT I COULDN'T SEND!!! Called 'em back, finally got that fixed. Now my FTP program still is not recognizing my domain.

i just spent 45 minutes on the phone with tech support, and he had me change all of my settings, tested it on his end and it works just fine. I thanked him profusely called him a really nice guy and hung up. Tried to connect and FTP cant find anything!!! ARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH

Of course they are closed Tomorrow, but on Monday I will be there beating on their desk to get it all working again. I am so pissed. Mainly at myself, because I should know how to do all of this, but I don't. once I am shown I will be fine. but until then, it is frustration city! I have NO Patience!!! AT ALL!!!

AND I am planning to try to redo my blog, so I may just royally screw everything up. I told Leslie to tell you all that if I am gone, I will be back. I just have to figure all this crap out.

I want a template that I can change without stressing. I plan on posting daily pictures of Bea Bunny, Loki, and Sadie, along with Lola's and all kinds of weird birds I may see. I also want to fix it so that it does not stop with out showing all the postings. I should not have to hit refresh to see the bottom of the blog!!! GRRRRRRR

Now that I have worked up my blood pressure...I need to go grab a nap, because we close tonight, and we have to strike the set after the performance. Which means no getting to bed until after 3 or 4 in the morning. UGH!!

Enjoy your weekend everybody. hopefully I will back and better before long.

Shake, Shake Shake....

MAG DATE LOCAL-TIME LAT LON DEPTH LOCATION
y/m/d h:m:s deg deg km

map 1.8 2004/09/24 15:42:14 46.200N 122.189W 1.0 0 km ( 0 mi) NE of Mount St. Helens
map 2.2 2004/09/24 15:11:46 46.201N 122.187W 0.3 0 km ( 0 mi) ENE of Mount St. Helens
map 1.8 2004/09/24 13:16:29 46.200N 122.189W 0.0 0 km ( 0 mi) NE of Mount St. Helens
map 1.8 2004/09/24 11:09:38 46.130N 122.251W 10.0 9 km ( 5 mi) SSW of Mount St. Helens
map 2.0 2004/09/24 07:16:27 46.200N 122.187W 0.2 0 km ( 0 mi) ENE of Mount St. Helens
map 2.0 2004/09/24 07:04:25 46.201N 122.189W 1.1 0 km ( 0 mi) NE of Mount St. Helens
map 2.2 2004/09/24 04:37:30 46.200N 122.187W 0.4 0 km ( 0 mi) ENE of Mount St. Helens
map 1.8 2004/09/24 03:26:14 46.200N 122.188W 0.0 0 km ( 0 mi) NE of Mount St. Helens
map 1.9 2004/09/24 03:24:58 46.201N 122.186W 0.5 1 km ( 0 mi) NE of Mount St. Helens
map 2.3 2004/09/24 03:01:45 46.249N 122.411W 2.0 18 km (11 mi) WNW of Mount St. Helens
map 2.0 2004/09/24 02:43:14 46.200N 122.187W 0.0 0 km ( 0 mi) ENE of Mount St. Helens
map 1.8 2004/09/24 02:33:11 46.239N 122.343W 16.1 12 km ( 8 mi) WNW of Mount St. Helens
map 2.2 2004/09/24 02:16:28 46.198N 122.191W 0.0 0 km ( 0 mi) SE of Mount St. Helens
map 2.0 2004/09/24 02:14:17 46.201N 122.189W 1.1 0 km ( 0 mi) NNE of Mount St. Helens
map 1.8 2004/09/24 02:03:42 46.201N 122.189W 0.3 0 km ( 0 mi) NE of Mount St. Helens
map 2.2 2004/09/24 00:56:22 47.756N 123.189W 43.6 41 km (25 mi) W of Poulsbo, WA
map 2.8 2004/09/24 00:10:04 48.128N 123.044W 10.1 30 km (18 mi) E of Port Angeles, WA
map 1.9 2004/09/23 23:13:42 46.200N 122.188W 0.5 0 km ( 0 mi) NE of Mount St. Helens
map 1.8 2004/09/23 21:12:24 46.241N 122.417W 0.9 18 km (11 mi) WNW of Mount St. Helens
map 2.4 2004/09/23 20:08:03 46.199N 122.189W 0.3 0 km ( 0 mi) ENE of Mount St. Helens
map 2.4 2004/09/23 13:06:38 47.699N 120.088W 0.5 11 km ( 7 mi) ENE of Entiat, WA
map 2.2 2004/09/23 12:56:04 47.693N 120.085W 1.4 11 km ( 7 mi) ENE of Entiat, WA
map 2.7 2004/09/23 12:20:06 46.202N 122.192W 0.1 0 km ( 0 mi) N of Mount St. Helens
map 2.2 2004/09/23 12:19:24 46.200N 122.189W 0.2 0 km ( 0 mi) NE of Mount St. Helens
map 2.1 2004/09/22 15:30:56 42.062N 120.238W 10.3 124 km (77 mi) ENE of Medicine Lakes Volc area
map 1.7 2004/09/21 23:11:22 45.725N 122.517W 14.9 23 km (14 mi) NNE of Portland, OR
map 2.2 2004/09/20 14:20:44 45.113N 122.507W 0.0 22 km (14 mi) SE of Canby, OR
map 2.4 2004/09/20 02:51:00 45.719N 122.498W 15.4 23 km (14 mi) NNE of Portland, OR
map 1.7 2004/09/19 18:52:21 46.112N 122.479W 7.9 24 km (15 mi) WSW of Mount St. Helens
map 1.9 2004/09/18 12:13:12 48.732N 122.124W 14.4 12 km ( 8 mi) SSE of Deming, WA
map 2.4 2004/09/17 22:05:54 42.069N 120.243W 7.8 124 km (77 mi) ENE of Medicine Lakes Volc area
map 1.8 2004/09/17 00:42:12 47.313N 122.380W 26.0 9 km ( 6 mi) NNE of Tacoma, WA
map 2.4 2004/09/16 22:40:37 47.683N 120.210W 3.8 3 km ( 2 mi) NNE of Entiat, WA
map 2.3 2004/09/16 19:30:03 46.936N 120.878W 5.9 27 km (16 mi) WSW of Ellensburg, WA
map 2.2 2004/09/16 10:45:55 42.076N 120.251W 1.2 124 km (77 mi) ENE of Medicine Lakes Volc area
map 1.5 2004/09/16 10:02:22 46.202N 122.188W 1.7 0 km ( 0 mi) NE of Mount St. Helens
map 1.5 2004/09/16 09:46:48 42.079N 120.236W 4.9 125 km (78 mi) ENE of Medicine Lakes Volc area
map 1.9 2004/09/15 22:22:13 46.202N 122.187W 1.9 1 km ( 0 mi) NE of Mount St. Helens
map 1.7 2004/09/15 12:50:18 42.238N 121.909W 9.0 11 km ( 7 mi) W of Klamath Falls, OR
map 1.1 2004/09/14 18:07:41 46.203N 122.195W 0.0 1 km ( 0 mi) NNW of Mount St. Helens
map 1.7 2004/09/14 17:54:09 42.059N 120.289W 1.8 120 km (75 mi) ENE of Medicine Lakes Volc area
map 1.3 2004/09/13 17:24:45 48.311N 118.521W 1.1 53 km (33 mi) WSW of Colville, WA
map 1.3 2004/09/13 11:47:44 46.484N 122.306W 21.5 9 km ( 5 mi) SSW of Morton, WA
map 1.7 2004/09/13 07:12:55 46.476N 122.306W 20.3 9 km ( 6 mi) SSW of Morton, WA
map 1.5 2004/09/13 01:31:16 47.517N 121.910W 13.8 6 km ( 4 mi) SSW of Fall City, WA
map 2.1 2004/09/12 12:42:57 45.645N 122.768W 20.2 17 km (10 mi) NW of Portland, OR
map 1.2 2004/09/12 08:25:16 47.659N 120.157W 6.5 5 km ( 3 mi) E of Entiat, WA
map 1.8 2004/09/12 03:10:15 47.876N 119.242W 0.7 19 km (12 mi) WSW of Grand Coulee, WA



Ya'll in the Midwest live with your Tornadoes, In the South you live with Hurricanes, In Canada you Live with COLD weather, and here in the Gorgeous Pacific Northwest, we live with Volcanoes.

On my drive into town there is a spot where if the sky is clear, I can see two volcanoes. They are at this time Dormant, but any day they could and Have become active again.

Mt. St Helens was a beautiful cone shaped mountain, covered with snow all year. It was a very peaceful, quiet Mountain, and harbored wildlife, and recluses alike. On May 18, 1980, Mt St Helens woke us up with a BANG BANG BANG and blew the top 1/3rd off of her peak! She got our attention! It is another way Mama Nature has of telling us that we are just an insignificant blip on her rador screen.

And our radar screen is showing right now, that She is waking up again. Whether she blows this time, or just lets off steam, we wont know for awhile, but we all live knowing that at anytime our beautiful mountains can turn deadly.

The people in Seattle are right in the path of what will be total devastation should Mt Rainier decide to blow her top! They built right on top of former Lava and mud flows. The pyroclastic mud flows, will take out a Million plus people who have thumbed their noses at powers that they can not fathom!

Mt Baker, which is right over there <<----- is another one that can and has become active. It steams every year, and during the cold clear days of winterm, it sends out a plume steam that sends chills right up my spine. We on the island are out of harms way from pyroclastic flows, but we could get buried in ash, and the flood from the Skagit River would splash up the East Side of the Island. Been done before, will be done again, it is just a matter of time.

According to the chart on top there, Is time running out again? Or is Mama just saying "I am in CHARGE and DONT you forget it!"

September Sunsets

m 


This time of the year brings forth some of the most spectacular sunsets anywhere in the world. The light from the setting sun changes at this time of the year, and is getting lower in the atmosphere, and shining through the few clouds and turning the sky either orange or purple or mauve. Sometimes it is all of the above.

Today I woke up and it felt like it was early morning, because the sky was so dark, and foggy. It dripped rain all day long. I had to go into the playhouse tonite and on the way back, it was just starting to get dark. The fog was filling in the low spots in the meadows, and slithering across the road, just below headlite height. What I noticed though was the fact that in the 2 hours I was there, the sky cleared to the west, and there was nary a cloud in the sky. THe sun was right there, shining into my eyes. It had not quite gotten to the water yet. The sky was Golden.

The sun quickly sank with a hissssss into the Sound, and then the fog really showed up. As I drove around the edge of the water in San de Fuca, I saw the moon hovering over Coupeville. It is almost a half moon, and the light from it was painting a silver path right across Penn COve, so I had the Sunset on my Right, and the Moon rise on my left. The water was so calm, it mirrored the lights from both heavenly bodies, and it looked almost magical.

I got home and sat on the deck while I grilled the small steaks that Donna had marinating, and just stared up at the stars. The air was so cold that I could see my breath, and the lid of the grill was steaming. I sat there wondering just when the Aurora was going to start showing up, and then I remembered last year. I spose I had better get some sand to keep by the door huh?

what color is YOUR goddess

© What's your Inner Goddess Color?? © Jen

berries 

Berries galore!

I can hardly wait to see what Mother Nature has in store for us this winter. As a child, I was told that you can tell the hardness of the winter by looking at the stripes on the wooley bear caterpillar. And for years, I would look at them and know exactly how the weather was gonna be. It would be WET with lots of wind. This year, And in fact for several years now, I have not seen a wooley bear caterpillar. I have seen enough of the tent type to last several lifetimes, but no Wooley Bear!

Somewhere I read that you could foretell the harshness of the winter by the amount of berries on the bushes in the fall. OH MAN!!!! the soapberry bushes are practically white with berries, the Wild roses are covered with huge bright red rose hips, and even the blackberries that are usually gone by now are still covered, even though the rain has battered them for several weeks.

Yesterday on my way into town, I caught a glimpse of a fence line that was just covered with all of these berries. Included in them were the bright purple Oregon Grape. I was amazed at the proliferation of these bushes, and told myself on the way back I would stop and get a picture of them for posting. I forgot where they were! So I wandered the back roads looking for berries and found several but none as diverse as the fence line I saw. LOTS and LOTS of berries, but none with all different kinds together.

Heading up the hill from the beach to the house, I noticed bright red berries on trees! Well the elderberries that are bright red are gone, so what were these? I stopped the car on the road and took pictures, they are a hawthorn or a mountain ash, but I am not sure which. Pretty.



Judging by the number of berries out this year, we had better make sure that we have plenty of supplies on hand. The birds are eating them and getting really fat! The Geese have already started their Southern migration, and the animals are growing really thick coats.

Phyllis and I have put on several inches of insulation also, so If I were you, I would pay attention to the subtleties of Mother Nature...the heavy output of berries, the fattness of the birds, and the heavy coats on the animals, not to mention the Norwegian waistlines that I monitor, and prepare for a very cold, very long winter...I tell ya, my waistline has not lied yet!

September and no fish

September and no fish.... 

When I was younger, we lived about 1/10 of a mile from this very spot. Around the middle of September, the Indians and the commercial fishermen were allowed to fish for salmon for about a week. This was before the very controversial BOLDT decision which I will not go into here right now. Fishing boats were deck to deck out on this vast area of water. (If you look really hard you can see the very end of Vancouver Island in Canada, and the San Juan Islands in Washington.) there were so many that you wondered how they could avoid hitting each other.

September weather is usually very clear and cool. At night I would walk down to the beach and just sit on a log and listen to the radios in each boat squak back at each other. I would go home and listen out my window at the fishermen all night long. It was very unique to sit there and know that the fish they were catching were coming back from their 5 year run out to sea, and that they were coming back into the fresh water streams to spawn and start the cycle all over again.

Back then we knew that the oceans were so vast, and the fish so plentiful that they would never be depleated.

A mere 40 years later, at that very spot, and the same time of the year, I sat in the car and looked out where there were once deck to deck fishing boats. There were two boats in the water, chugging on through the strait and into Canada. But no Fishing boats. You see, we did not pay attention, and we overfished the salmon, and even worse, we clear cut the trees that forested the mountains where the cold, clear gravely streams trickled from. The Salmon knew by natures own way, that they were supposed to spawn in those streams. They need the cold clear gravel to lay their eggs and then die.

Now because of the extensive logging, the hills have eroded into the cold clear streams and turned them into muddy silty sandy creeks, that the salmon can not survive in. As you fly over the Olympic Penninsula and Vancouver Island on your way to Alaska, you can look down and see far out into the strait of Juan de Fuca, the muddy fan of silt coming from the mouth of the rivers.

THe fishing boats are gone now, the nights are silent. The fishermen no longer there to talk through the night to their friends who were also catching fish. THe whistles on the boats are silent, the trawlers are silent, the Men are all gone, The fish are all GOne, and the Trees are all gone. All that is left is clear cut forest land where there are no more trees, and no more jobs for the loggers. The streams and rivers are all silted up and dirty.

THe land will come back, it will take a good 50-75 years, providing that the people who come after us take care of what is left of our natural resources. THe trees will grow back, and when they do, the rains will once again drop their moisture onto the evergreens and slowly drip down into the moss and the undergrowth. THe streams will come back slowly, once the land is covered again, and the rains dont run madly down dirty bare slopes. The fish will come back, because there is a few men and women who are hand raising the smolt and releasing them into the wild. It will take a few decades, but with concerned and informed citizens watching over it all, it will survive.

Once the Fish are back, then the boats and the men who ran them may come back, but never in the way that they once did. We should be smarter then, and know that it depends on us all. We are all part of a giant circle of life, and we are all important. Who knew that cutting down a tree would make a fishing boat disappear? Let us not forget.

Flannel Nite shirt

Last night as I was sitting here typing the last post, I was thinking of how fast the weather changed. In August, I was complaining about how hot it was, and how I could not wait until I was cold again. I got Cold! I sleep with the bedroom window open, all year. I also have the window in the office wide open. I got COLD!

I closed the office window, and sat here chilled and enjoyed it. My feet were two cubes of ice. That I can’t stand. I am an Insulin dependant Diabetic, and one of the things I have to watch is my feet. I go through sever burning in my feet, and then ice cold. I like right in between thank you very much! I decided that since I was alone, I was gonna take a hot shower and go to bed early.

I got Sadie corralled, and she went Nite-nite so I just crawled into bed. I was COLD! So I put on my flannel nightshirt and my big fuzzy socks got out the wool Pendleton blanket, folded it in half and put it across the bottom of the bed. I crawled in and flipped onto my tummy and started reading. I am in the middle of Sandra Brown’s newest book, WHITE HOT and I usually read a few chapters before I get comfortable enough to fall asleep. Last night it was 3 pages! I turned off the light and snuggled down, and smelled the cold air coming through the window. AHHHH It smelled just like fall, crisp and full of the smell of the fog coming in off the sea. The trees were whispering with the breeze, as the leaves have not fallen yet. It was a big feeling of comfort. I had 4 cats on my bed, all vying for the part of the wool blanket that I did not have. And my feet were warm. Not hot, warm.

I so enjoy hunkering down in the bed, and breathing cold air. It is revitalizing for me. SO the bedroom window stayed open. I woke up at 700 to let Sadie out, and the thermometer on the porch said it was 40 degrees. I know that it was closer to freezing than that last Night. I want one of those thermometers that tell you what the coldest was, and the hottest was. I have been saying that it is colder than usual, and I was right. I fully expect a snowfall before Thanksgiving. Now I have not specified which Country’s Thanksgiving, as I Know you guys North of me celebrate it in October right? So maybe before then; Maybe not until before November 26.

I have the office window open again today, but I am considering closing it. I am chilly. It is only 330 in the afternoon, but I am chilly. I have on slipper socks, and a sweater. I do not want to have to fire up the wood stove until Nov 1. It’s just an arbitrary date, but I aim for that every year. I also aim for not using it after April 1. Blankets, flannel, socks, sweaters, windows, all are options before using up our natural resources. Hope I can make it….


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I can't believe this! I tried to connect to blogger and the internet to post this, and I could not connect, said I had no account. OH YES I DO!!! PAID IN FULL FOR 1 YR!!!!! nope no record of it, You see, galaxynet was sold to ISOMEDIA 2 weeks ago. WHAT! I still have Galaxynet as my home page, and there is nothing there that says that. After ranting at the poor guy on the other end of the line, (oh yes I can be a BIG OLD WITCH!!) he agreed to give me a temp account until he researches it. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

That is when I started to have problems posting Pictures with my FTP!!! The guy on the other end said that would be the problem, and he said he knew nothing about the personal webspace provided. Why are business's so STUPID! Why cant they warn people about a transition. I feel so duped! Especially if they cant find my account. I will be down there beating on their door, and they really dont want that! AAAARRRRRGHHHHHHHHHH

Storm Warnings...

All of my life I have held Nature in Awe. I grew up knowing that at any time the Earth could heave, and we would be in the midst of a disaster. Dad always had the car fully prepared with the emergency kits, to the degree that sometimes it was an embarrassment. The garage always had Parachute bags full of K-rations, and first aid kits. All with USN stamped on them. When we lived in San Diego, it was the fear of Earthquakes. When we lived in Hawaii it was the fear of Hurricanes, (or Typhoons) and Tidal Waves. In Washington it was the fear of Weather. The roads could get too icy to travel, the lights could go out, the wind could put a tree on the house, oh, and lets not forget those pesky Volcanoes! All of these put a true respect of nature in us.

Dad made sure we were always prepared, and safe, and he also always instilled in us a sense of excitement and anticipation of the natural event. If it were a storm coming, we would get out the red Coleman Lanterns, bring in the firewood, curl up in our sleeping bags and wait for it to hit. If it was a Tidal Wave, and there was plenty of warning, we would head up to the top of a high hill, (usually a dead volcano in Hawaii) and watch for the wave. Then we would drive around the island afterward to see the damage. That was always awe-inspiring. If it was an Earthquake, well we were on our own, because Dad was usually at sea and Mom was under the bed. Seriously! She was terrified of them.

Both Phyllis and I are storm junkies. We LOVE them. We are prepared as Dad taught us to be, and we are safe as we can be, and we sit and anticipate the storms wrath. We both have Police scanners, that have battery back ups and we can listen to the emergency calls and know what is going on, and where.

I have always wondered at the people that never thought about either being prepared for a storm or emergency, or never thought that one would actually hit them even though they were right in Harm’s way. It is to me, like thumbing your nose in the face of God. Dare you to hit me back! WHACK! And then they are stunned because they were hit and destroyed.

Ivan Whacked a good one on the hotels and condos that were built on top of sand that once held other buildings that had been destroyed by Natures Wrath. I heard one newscaster ask a representative from some state senate, just why these people continue to build there when they know it will eventually get destroyed, and he responded by saying that as long as these developers can continue to get money selling the condos, they will continue to build them. Follow the Money.

I truly feel sorry for the poor people that lost everything, but I can’t feel sorry for them if they rebuild right back in harms way. I also do not understand why the Government of their respective States allows them to rebuild there. Do they sign a waver that they know they cannot get disaster relief or that they will not hold the government responsible?

I just read about a couple in Florida that had fled to a relative’s place away from the storm, and on returning to their home breathed a sign of relief upon finding the front of their house intact. Even the plywood sign they had nailed to the window was still hanging there. It said “Hit Me With YOUR best Shot IVAN”

Then they walked around to the back and saw that Ivan had indeed hit them. The entire South side of the house was gone, As if someone took a chainsaw and cut it right in half, from roof to foundation it was GONE!

"There's no saving this," said Michelle, 40, as she peered in at kitchen cupboards still stocked with Jif peanut butter and a can of Green Giant peas. A boat -- she has no idea whose -- is parked almost right beside the pantry, a blender sitting inside.

"It's ugly, isn't it?" 46-year-old Randy added. "You see things like hurricanes and tornadoes on TV, but it doesn't really make any sense until it's yours. You don't understand until you actually stand inside your house, and it's gone."

No you don’t really understand, but you should have known. I have been reading and learning about weather and earthquakes and volcanoes all of my life. I have no degree in them, just a wondrous respect for them. I know better than to thumb my nose at them. I know that just makes the weather Gods angrier. And one never pisses off Pele, the Goddess of the Volcanoes as she gets even really quick.

Earthquakes are something you just have to live with. They give no warning at all, as of yet, and they can be horrifying while they are happening. There is no where to go, and no way to prevent them. I like them least of all.

stellars jay 

More brain droppings.

I had to go in to the Playhouse today for a class on Grant writing. 2 hours worth, and basically all I learned was buy this book. Nothing on where to go on the internet to find all of this grant money. She did give us some pointers on how to win the grants by making sure your Proposal was done properly.

I need to know where on this vast network of 0's and 1's I can find philanthropists who would be willing to hand me over some money for our Community Theater. I guess I will spend a day and surf google.

After the class I relieved Janis and worked for another 3 hours. I can not believe the number of people who expect you to make their decisions for them. Which seats are the best (there are no bad seats) which night do you think I should come? (I have no clue) Should I bring the kids? (NO, NEVER) ok print out those tickets for Friday.....(print, print, print) here you go. OH I think I should go on Thursday night... OK(rip up those tickets print up the new ones) oh maybe I should stick with Friday...(ARRGGGHHH) This actually happened. I finally had to tell the sweet little old lady that I cant make her decision for her, but that Thursday would give her Friday night off for Dinner. She went for it. (WHEW) I spent 30 minutes with this dear soul, and she spent 24.00! BUT she knew my sister. And she Knew My sisters Neighbor. Small town.

I came home and the kitten was waiting for me. No answer next door. I sat on the porch this evening and fed him and petted him and talked to him while he ate. Poor little baby. He is only about 3 months old. And quite the talker. He did not want to come in tonight though, I guess he remembered the cats from last night.

Our cougar Kittens are going to the Memphis, Tenn Zoo or wildlife preserve, so they have all been rescued. WHEW!!! It was touch and go there for awhile. I can't understand people that want to destroy baby animals. I know they grow up and eat people, but.....

I have so much to talk about, but since Phyllis reads this blog and it is her Christmas present I want to talk about, I can't. After Christmas I will. We all have agreed that our Christmas gifts have to be home made. And it has been a challenge trying to come up with things that are useful and can be made at home. My brother carves, so we get Knot Heads (he takes a knot out of a piece of wood and turns it into a mans head and face. ) Sherry made us wood carriers out of Upholstery samples, Phyllis made smoked salmon, and salad dressing, and I made jelly one year, bread one year and candy another year. This year I am making............Oh I cant tell. (TEE HEE) now that I have her attention...(LOLOLOLOL)

We are wrapping up the next to last weekend of the Cemetery Club and It is selling out fast. The actors are having a few problems amongst themselves, but I think They will make it ok. I have one actress who is on medication for Bi-polar conditions and she can make you cry in a minute, but when she is off her meds, oh my God, It is like a totally different person.

I am rambling on and not saying much of anything, so I am going to go blogwalk a little. Then go to bed. Tomorrow I will try to post something really profound. Ha....Fooled you!

Friday night Date...

Bob came over and said he was going to take me to see The Manchurian Candidate at the Clyde Theater in Langley tonight. WOW!! LANGLEY!!! And did I want to eat first? WOW!! Dinner AND a movie??? Woot!!! So he picked me up at 500 and we went down Island to Freeland and stopped at China City for Chinese food. I had Mongolian beef and Sweet and sour Pork, just right and Yummy. We wandered on down the Island to Langley which is an old scenic touristy town. The yuppies found it about 15 years ago and have re done the town all artsy fartsy. And It has attracted sexes of the same persuation. It is not at all unusual to see same sex couples walking down the street hand in hand. (?)

The Clyde Theater was old the last time I was in it which was about 42 years ago. It is still old, Only the old wooden seats have been replaced. Langley is a town that not much happens in, so Friday night the theater is filled. Every seat. And it definitely has certain seats for certain groups of people. It was like a big huge family reunion in there, the teenagers all sat down front and cracked comments during the movie, and the rest of the people were walking around seeing who all was there and filling them in on the happenings of the past week. It was fun.

The Movie was GREAT! If you have not seen it you need to. Meryl Streep played Mommie Dearest, and Denzel Washington was as good as he ever was. I just love him.
good Complex Script and good action with several twists.

When we got home, the little black kitten from next door was waiting at the steps and as soon as he saw us he was yelling to get in. He came in and did not like what he saw..TOO MANY BIG CATS!! SO back out he went and screamed some more when Bob Left. He is sooo skinny, so I took a big hand full of IAMS cat food out there and he was growling and purring and chewing and swallowing all at the same time. I will go over there tomorrow and ask if they are going to take care of him, If not, I guess I have another cat. :( I can not stand to see an animal starve! I just cant believe they did that. Actually I think the Woman is gone. She is Active Duty Navy and I have not seen her for a week or so, so She may be on Det or Deployed. But her Husband is home with the Baby, and he Damn sure can feed the kitten too. People can be such asses at time. I am so afraid the owls or the coyotes will eat him.

I am going to be taking a class for writing grants tomorrow. The Playhouse is sponsoring it, and Janis wants me to learn to write grants so we can get more money. I would like to learn too. SO Off I go to learn.

Jay Leno just said that the women's health magazine states that the average cup size went up 1 full size in 4 years. I can believe that! Mine did, and so did my waist size, and my hip size and my butt......

Wettest September....

Yesterday I had posted a picture of rain pouring off the roof, the gutters too full to take it all. (Unfortunately you saw the result, NOTHING. I am having trouble getting FTP to recognize the fact that I did too transfer that file to the server. Donna tried for an hour last night, but nothing still. I may have to go back to the same old boring plain vanilla blog.) We have had two of the driest summers on record. Yes, we bitched and moaned about it, but to a person, we enjoyed the good weather. We became almost Californicated, in that we just assumed the sun would shine and it would be hot. And Dry! And it was. The forests were so dry, that the Forest Service ceased all logging and off roading, because it could start a fire, and it would be a disaster. As it was, several fires were started by dry lightning, and they burned for several weeks.

Our reservoirs were way down, and the snow pack that we usually have in the mountains to sustain our water usage, was non existent. We were starting to ration water. No lawns, no carwashing, no filling swimming pools. Just for household use. September and October were just around the bend. And they are usually our two driest months. Everyone was getting nervous.

Then September rolled in and just as everyone was packing up for the last camping weekend of the year, the Jet Stream dropped south, and was marching storm after storm across the ocean from Japan, and dumping it on British Columbia and Puget Sound. It was wonderful. Fresh warm rain, and wind cleaned up our air, and refreshed our lawns. What was brown is now vivid green. The reservoirs that once were sucking dry air into the intakes at the dams, were filling up, and wonder of wonders, some of the streams were flooding.

the news caster said this afternoon that we have had so much rain in the past two weeks, that our deficit is now only 1/4 of an inch below normal. Heck we got that this evening.

Usually when it rains around here, it is a light cold, misty rain, enough to make you miserable, and not enough to keep your windshield clean. Just messy wet. But this year, it has rained, and rained, and rained! Almost Monsoonal. Monday the winds started in, and the trees that were hanging on to the earth with their stubby toenail-roots gave up to the force of gravity and mud, and came crashing down. Cable was out, and the electricity blinked and was out in a few pockets. It clears up, the sun comes out and then it clouds over and rains again. We have an expression for that up here in the Wet Northwest...Sun breaks. That is a phenomenon that means, rain, and mist and wind with an occasional peek through of the sun.

If the weather keeps into this same pattern, we are gonna be really wet this year. If the Jet Stream would march across the ocean, and head north THEN head down along the coast, then we will get a winter of snow, but it wont. I expect snow before Thanksgiving, and then maybe again around the first of the year, a good hard freeze in November and in February, and then mild the rest of the time.

I need to get the yard put to bed, and the woodpile covered, and the garage cleaned out and ready for the winter. Clean the chimney and the ashes out of the wood stove, bring in a weeks worth of wood to dry out for our first fire in November., and wash the outside of the windows....Prune the roses back, trim the pussy willow, fertilize the rhodie that survived Sadie's puppyhood, and then I will be ready for hibernation.

the deck needs painting STILL and the gutters need painting STILL, but those may have to wait until spring now. I may have a chance to do it in October when Indian Summer hits. I just hope we have one...

driest summer....

Testing....testing....did the picture show up?

Out my office window...

Well some of you may be opening this post before it is written. I hit enter after I typed the title, and it PUBLISHED!!! this is getting so weird...

When I lived on the Kitsap Penninsula stationed at the Naval Sub Base Bangor, I was just starting to get interested in birds.

I lived in a developement in the midst of tall fir trees, and very little sun. Right out the Living room window was a flower bed, in the middle of the front yard, and in that flower bed were two of those tall firs. I would sit on the couch drink my coffee and look out the window. One day I spotted a little tiny bird walking upside down on the tree, Yank Yank Yank it called, and I was hooked. I bought a book and it was a nuthatch. THey like suet, and seeds. I bought suet and put it in the piece of chicken wire that was nailed to the tree. ( I discovered this by accident) The little nuthatch went crazy, picking the seeds out of the suet and stuffing them up under the rough edges of the bark. Hiding it for future bouts of famine or hunger.

I wondered if there were any other of these birds, that for many people are invisible, because they dont take time to look for them. I then started to LISTEN and sure enough there was a raucous CHAT! CHAT! CHAT! and down from the canopy floated a beautiful blue black bird. It was crested, and the blue on his back melted into the black on his head, subtle shading as it went. It too liked the suet. There were a lot of these birds around once I started really looking at them. They are a Stellar's Jay and are very plentiful.



The Kitsap penninsula is RIGHT THERE>>>>across the water...see? So when I bought this house I expected there to be a lot of jays. There aren't! I do not know why, as there are some on the south end of the Island, and up at the state Park at Deception Pass. so why not here?

I have been putting peanuts out in the shell for years, and the squirrels and the rats have eaten them all.

I went to wild birds unlimited on the SOuth end and they had a yard full of jays. I asked what they were feeding them and a bought a bag of the jay mix, shelled walnuts, raisins, peanuts, sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, Looked good enough to add flour and make a fruit cake out of. I put it on the deck, so I could keep an eye on it, and it MOLDED!!!

I dumped it over the fence for the critters and tried again. This morning, I heard a raucous CHAT! CHAT! CHAT! and sure enough there was a Jay! but not eating the expensive feed that I bought, but the peanuts that I leave out for the squirrels.
I dont care! I am enticing them to my yard and I love them!

Right now, Loki and Ethel are placing nose prints on the clean office window trying to get to the pine siskins and the goldfinch that are hanging upside down on the nyger feeder that hangs just on the other side of the window glass. THe DOves are on the platform feeder eating the millet out of the mix, and leaving the stripped sunflower seeds for the chickadees.

The other feeders are full of sparrpws and chickadees, and juncoes. The deluge that came yesterday afternoon has washed away all of the pollution and the air is clean again. The birds are taking advantage of the fair weather, and eating me out of house and home...I must be a good mommie!

Plum Jam....and other things

I ordered some new cord jeans from Lane Bryant a few weeks ago, because I have almost worn out the ones I bought when I retired! I anxiously awaited them because I LOVE new clothes. They got here yesterday. I ripped open the blue plastic bag that they ship things in now days, and in it were more plastic bags. I ripped those open too. I ordered the carpenter style jeans along with the 5 pocket. THey are AWFUL!!!! the material is thin, the legs are HUGE, and the worse thing of all....THEY DONT FIT!!!! I checked, and they are the same size as the ones I was wearing, but they lack about 4 inches from buttoning. I tried on the 5 pocket cords, and the material was fine, the legs were fine but they dont fit either!!! I am just so bummed!!!! I knew I had gained weight since going on Insulin (one of the catch-22'S of being a diabetic) but the others fit, and I had to take the waist in 2 inches on them...took a 1" dart at the waist in the back. They still fit fine. and are the same size. So now I have to pkg them all back up neatly and send them back for a bigger size. I held them up to the ones I was wearing and the waist is the same. So why do they not fit?

Because MOM, dear daughter says, the waist on the old ones stretches, these don't! Well SHIT! says I! I know if I order them to fit the waist, the legs and butt are gonna be waaaay too big. One of the problems of being shaped like an apple on toothpicks. BIG tummy, no ass, no legs.

So I am sitting here this morning drowning my problems in an english muffin with homemade yellow plum jam !! Tastes good too!

The Neighbors have a little black kitten they keep outside. It yells and yells to get inside, all night long!! Poor little baby!! well just now, Sadie is yapping her head off, and I go out to see why, and she has the little black kitten cornered under a rhododendron bush, and it is screaming, and in the HALLOWEEN KITTIE position, and Sadie wants it BAAAAD!!! I pick it up and put it back on the 6 ft wooden fence that it climbed over, and it is purring and purring and yelling at me the whole time I am petting it. I think it thinks the bird feeder is an h'orderve tray for kitty cats. NOT!!

I am trying to learn FRONT PAGE for the Playhouse, so I can change it's webpage . I am having a time. I need to be shown!!! I have the book, and the tutorial, but what I do not have is PATIENCE.

Beautiful Fall day out this day. Sun shining, everything still wet from the deluge we got yesterday, THe sky clean from the big wind we had and the air is fresh and cool! I just love days like this. I even had to get up and find some socks to sleep in as my feet were freezing. YAY!!!! sooon it will be time to head over the mountains for some fall color! gotta wait until the first freeze though. I may head up into the Kootenay's and wander around. THe show will have closed and I wont have anything to worry about rushing home for. May just take my lappie and go!

The coyotes were yapping big time about 400 this morning. Even got the wolves howling and yipping. ( we have three hybrid wolves on the next block, and they are soooo neat to hear late at night, and they are well cared for, and in an enclosure that they can not escape from.) Any way the coyotes are teaching their pups to hunt right now, and they are after anything that moves. THe deer are out thick right now, and I think they are running them. I have no rabbits this year at all, sont know if it is because of the coyotes, or the fact that the petunias did not fare as well as last year. I suspect Coyotes. I have not seen any Lola's either, None of them!! I think that is a SAdie problem. SO next spring I need to fence Sadie off from the garden and the bird feeders.

I have a big yard, so I can fence off 1/3 of it and she will still have access to the deck, and the yard, and the grass.

EGADS It is noon already, and I still have not gotten dressed!! better publish and get my fat arse in gear huh...

A taste of Summer...

I am sitting at the computer one day last week, and Donna comes home with a sack in her hand.

"what's in the bag, sweetie?'

"Maters!"

"oh"

"Heirloom Maters"

"Ah!"

"homegrown heirloom maters."

and into the kitchen she goes.

I am really fussy about tomatoes, they have to be firm, not too juicy, and free of stem and blossom ends.

And I don't like them cold. They hurt my teeth.

A few minutes later in she comes.

"here, try this"

(It is the end of the tomato, with the blossom end still on. YUCK!!!)

So as not to hurt her feelings, I take a bite of the firm shoulder of the tomato. AND WAS IN HEAVEN!!!!!!

IT was Firm, It was just juicy enough, but the best part was it was the sweetest tomato I have ever tasted, and it just FILLED your mouth with flavor!

I jumped back up from the desk, and headed into the kitchen where she was just devouring the very last of the best tomato I have ever had!

"reminds me of the tomatoes Dad grew when we lived in Virginia Beach." she says.

Not quite as good as this was. She had others, but she ate the only Brandywine tomato. :( So she gets on the internet and orders several pkgs of heirloom tomatoes for next year.

Yep, I assume we are gonna grow some, even if We have to coddle them along. They were the best thing I have had in years!

Summer doesn't get much better than a fresh warm juicy tomato right off the vine, that tastes sweet and fills your tastebuds with a wonderful flavor of the season.

pass the salt please...

Sunday Funnies....

You're gonna have to settle for this for the time being. CHEMYSTERY has been hogging the 'puter all weekend. Actually she has decided to apply for Grad school, and go to the University of Montana, to get her Masters and then on to UC Berkely for her PhD. SO she has been doing that kinda stuff...so I let her.

Busy day today...Final Concert in the park, Brother Mike's BD BBQ at Phyllis' and then on to the pears when I get home.

This will have to do until I get back...


There was a very gracious lady who was mailing an old family Bible to her brother in another part of the country.
"Is there anything breakable in here?" asked the postal clerk.
"Only the Ten Commandments," answered the lady.

"Somebody has well said there are only two kinds of people in the world.
There are those who wake up in the morning and say, "Good morning,Lord,"
and there are those who wake up in the morning and say, "Good Lord, it's morning."


A minister parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city because he was short of time and couldn't find a space with a meter. Then he put a note under the windshield wiper that read: "I have circled the block 10 times. If I don't park here, I'll miss my appointment. Forgive us our trespasses."
When he returned, he found a citation from a police officer along with this note "I've circled this block for 10 years. If I don't give you a ticket, I'll lose my job. Lead us not into temptation."


There is the story of a pastor who got up one Sunday and announced to his congregation: "I have good news and bad news. The good news is, we have enough money to pay for our new building program. The bad news is, it's still out there in your pockets."


While driving in Pennsylvania, a family caught up to an Amish carriage.
The owner of the carriage obviously had a sense of humor, because attached to the back of the carriage was a hand printed sign...
"Energy efficient vehicle: Runs on oats and grass.
Caution: Do not step in exhaust."

A Sunday School teacher began her lesson with a question, "Boys and girls, what do we know about God?
A hand shot up in the air. "He is an artist!" said the kindergarten boy.
"Really? How do you! know?" the teacher asked.
"You know - Our Father, who does art in Heaven... "


A minister waited in line to have his car filled with gas just before a long holiday weekend. The attendant worked quickly, but there were many cars ahead of him in front of the service station. Finally, the attendant motioned him toward a vacant pump.
"Reverend," said the young man, "sorry about the delay. It seems as if everyone waits until the last minute to get ready for a long trip."
The minister chuckled, "I know what you mean. It's the same in my business."

We all want the front of the bus, the back of the church, and the center of attention.


A father was approached by his small son who told him proudly, "I know what the Bible means!"
His father smiled and replied, "What do you mean, you 'know' what the Bible means?"
The son replied, "I do know!"
"Okay, said his father. "So, son, what does the Bible mean?"
"That's easy, Daddy. It stands for 'Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.'"

Sunday after church, a Mom asked her very young daughter what the lesson was about.
The daughter answered, "Don't be scared, you'll get your quilt."
Needless to say, the Mom was perplexed.
Later in the day, the pastor stopped by for tea and the Mom asked him what that morning's Sunday school lesson was about.
He said "Be not afraid, thy comforter is coming."



The minister was preoccupied with thoughts of how he was going to, ask the congregation to come up with more money than they were expecting for repairs to the church building.
Therefore, he was annoyed to find that the regular organist was sick and a substitute had been brought in at the last minute. The substitute wanted to know what to play. "Here's a copy of the service," he said impatiently. "But you'll have to think of something to play after I make the announcement about the finances."
During the service, the minister paused and said, "Brothers and Sisters, we are in great difficulty; the roof repairs cost twice as much as we expected, and we need $4,000 more. Any of you who can pledge $100 or more, please stand up."

At that moment, the substitute organist played "The Star Spangled Banner."
And that is how the substitute became the regular organist!

_______

Give me a sense of humor, Lord,
Give me the grace to see a joke,
To get some humor out of life,
And pass it on to other folk.

First Storm of many...

Wind. Rain. Emergency Scanner. Lights blinking. Computer being a butt. Sadie refusing to go outside. Yep, It’s Fall! As if I did not know it. The Farmer’s roadside stands are changing from berries to the more sturdy vegetables. Corn, squash, potatoes, tomatoes, pears, and peaches. Soon it will be apple time.

I noticed this evening on my way home from the Playhouse, that the Sherman Farm was harvesting their corn stalks already. This is silage corn, not Ear corn, although it has ears. They chew up the entire stalk and put it into the silo to ferment for the cows. It seems very early for this. They usually wait until just about the first of October, so that the Stalks can be gathered for decorations in town.

The beaches around the Seaplane Base are shoulder to shoulder with the active duty fishermen. The salmon are on their way back into the streams to spawn and they stop by the seaplane ramps to visit before they head to their imprinted home stream. The Fish and Game people raised the fry in pens in the seaplane waters after they were spawned and imprinted where their eggs hatched. This makes the fish head to the base, and then on to their natal streams. It is kinda tricky to do that, but in an area that has an economy based on seafood, it makes sense. This assures that both the sports man and the commercial fishermen and the native Indians all get their fair share.

It is only 60 degrees out there, but it is chilly after the super hot summer we had, and already my neighbor has a fire in the fireplace. The pungent smell of the fir as it is being burned, just shouts AUTUMN! I love it. The pears and apples on Lea’s trees are falling off the trees and on to my yard, so tomorrow it has to be fruit time. There are too many to waste, and I have an empty apple sauce cupboard. I think I will try Pear sauce. We like it chunky, so this will be a good time to get them before the deer and the Yellow jackets do.

Leslie would hate to be here right now. The wind is really blowing out there, and the wind chimes are just a tinkling!! I have 2 out front, and 4 out back. I want one of those 6 foot long tuned ones that sound like church bells when they play. They are so cool! I can go to sleep in a heartbeat listening to them tinkle all night long.

The scanner just toned out District 5 fire to a fallen tree over the road and on the power lines, and I am sure this is going to be the first of many that will fall this year. Since the power is blinking, I need to turn this off and shut it down all the way, in case there is a power surge. Yep, it certainly is Autumn!

Friday brain farts!

Ok I outdid myself on the last post. Started out one way and it just went to where it went to. That is how I write...Just DO! My good friend Rusty and I had lunch on Wednesday and she reads my blog but seldom comments. She said I should write all the time because what I write is WONDERFUL! eh...

I never know when my creative juices are going to flow out my fingers. I love it when it does, but I need to have no distractions, and my BIGGEST distraction is myself. I have a short attention span. So I am usually off on another junket before I'm through with the one I'm on. Thus the houseful of unfinished projects.

I own a 60' by 180' lot with a 1400 SF house on it, and the number of unfinished projects that fit on that small space is unreal!

I STILL have not finished the trim, the inside painting, the floor, 3 afghans, 4 Cross-stitch projects, 2 sweaters, numerous photo albums, and that is just right off the top of my head. I am, as I have said before, the president of the procrastinators club. I don't want to be, but I am...

I think this is one of the reasons I have been feeling so out of sorts. Nothing is completed. I do not feel comfortable in my house. I need a comfy chair and a warm feeling room, and a place to nest where I can see the back yard or the front yard, and just BE!! People that believe in Feng Shui May be on to something. I would love to have a Feng shui Master come and set my house to home mode. I think I am way out of synch.

anyone know anything about this? OH SHIT! The cat just got out the door!! gotta run!

Listen Closely....

Did you HEAR that? Listen closely…hear it? It is just a whisper, listen again…. there! It whispered again. That is the quiet change of the season, from a hot dry summer into a cooler than normal fall and rain! It doesn’t quite happen fast, it just hits you one day when you are out just as the sun goes down.

A cool nip in the air, the smell of dampness, a breeze that says “I came from the North Pacific” and the smell of wood smoke in the air. The hum of chainsaws far into the woods, echoing out into civilization; all foretell the coming of autumn.

As I was coming out of Rite Aid last evening I noticed that at 7:45, the sky was getting darker, the Sun was just going down, and there was a different slant to the light. It seemed to be coming sideways through the atmosphere, and the sun was peeking out from under the few clouds that were coming in from the West. There was a Mauve, purple, lavender color to the evening, and people were wearing their sweatshirts and jackets. There was a busy bustle of people running into Safeway and Rite Aid picking up those last minute school supplies and lunch items. School starts tomorrow.

It is kind of sad to see the school bus stops in front of the farm houses going into disrepair. These bus stop shelters were usually built by the Father for his young children. They would head out down the lane to the bus stop in the dark, and huddle in the little shelter where they would leave their flashlight when the bus came to pick them up. The once fresh coats of paint, have all faded and chipped off , and the Blackberries have covered the building with their vines. The act of Nature taking over the rotting wood and disseminating it into the particles that help feed the plants. The children have all graduated and gone on their own way, and the bus stops are no longer needed. You can tell which farms are still owned by the original families as the stops are falling apart. Occasionally you will see that one has been renewed, and there is a tiny little boy or girl standing in front of the bus stop with their shiny new lunch boxes, or backpacks, and their new shoes and clothes on. These are the Grandchildren of the farmer who originally built the shelter, and his Son has taken over the farm, and has repainted the shelter for them.

I have often wished that the wood in these old shelters could tell us what they have seen and heard in them. The initials of a first crush carved into the side wall, the tears of a lost love fallen on the old floor, the excitement of the first day of school each year, and the loneliness the shelter felt when those same children have graduated and no longer use the bus stop. I drive by one of these shelters every day, and I know the families that used to use it. The roof has fallen in on it, and the blackberries have covered it. It is very hard to see now, and soon the last voices of those children that have been implanted into the cells of the decaying wood, will be released into the air with a whisper…right there…did you hear it? SIGH!

Pull Over STUPID!!!

Well Let's try this again...I was typing away and all of a sudden it decided to PUBLISH!!! JEEZ guys get your shit together and REMEMBER WHERE YOU PUT IT!!! :(

Last night as I was heading to the playhouse, I saw an emergency vehicle from Station 51 heading SOuth, with lights flashing. Since we are very rural here, You just know that if you see one red light, you are gonna see another if not more. So I am driving along heading North and sure enough, the comes around a corner a WSP with his lights and siren going heading South. I pull over, as we are supposed to do, and the car just in front of the WSP DID NOT!!! WSP yelled pull over, whooped his siren, and the old fart in the big cady just kept on keeping on. Oblivious to the WSP right on his ass. As soon as he could the WSP passed the old fart, and was gone, and the old dude in the Caddy did not even hit his brakes. I think if I was the Stater I would have had his license plate run, and then MAIL him a ticket. Shortly after that another one came around the corner, And I thought, better slow down dude, ther is an OLD FART in a CADDY slowly taking up your road.

Coming BACK from the Playhouse at midnite, I am heading SOuth on the Hiway, and I notice something way up the road, so I slow way down, and stopped right in the middle of the road, and a big Buck with 6 points mosied across the road. He was very glad I stopped, and when I honked my horn, he jumped off the road and over the pasture fence, and started eating the greener grass. SHouldnt oughta do that Mister, There be HUNTERS out there!! I will admit I thought briefly about hitting him and throwing him in the back of the car, and freezing him, but very briefly, as he woulda made a BIG DENT in my car and ME! Besides, He was awfully pretty!!! So I let him live to go reproduce and spread his genes around.

Whew!

Sorry, But it has been a really busy weekend. I did post a few nights ago, a really nice Fallish one complete with pictures. BUT since I was writing off the top of my head I just composed right into Blogger. Now I should know better than that, because Blogger the ASSHAT that it can be, has lost my posts before. But I thought Nothing can happen this time. So I hit Publish and it did it's little twirlly thing and said you published succesfully. I went back to my blog to see it, and it was not there. I went back to blogger and it was not there either, so I hit publish, I hit Back, I hit refresh, NOTHING worked. I have had posts publish several hours later, so I waited, and STILL nothing. I Do not re-write something I have already written, I can't, so you got (to quote our SPECIAL K) BEANS! I have been so busy so I did not have time to repost. I have about 20 pints of corn relish processed, I have two boxes of pears picked and ready to can, and I have some of the lavendar planted. I also spent time at the playhouse doing photos for the wall. and This morning I spent the whole time printing and making photo boards.

I am TIRED! Tomorrow is Members night, and our first really live audience, and then Wednesday I am off!! WHOO_HOO!!

I think I am going to do what Leslie suggested, go somewhere with my laptop and just write! Then I can come home and figure out how to get it on to my blog. OH WAIT!!! I can hook it up to the phone line and get to blogger that way!! Ya know, Sometimes I just amaze myself with how smart I am. (duh!)

Anyway, go sit on a bluff and just do some freethinking...just write down what ever pops into my head. That oughta be interesting. I've done that before, just sat and wrote without stopping for 1 hour. SCARY!!!

Off to bed...see on the bright side!

Sunday Funnies

Four brothers left home for college, and they became successful doctors and lawyers and prospered. Some years later, they chatted after having dinner together. They discussed the gifts that they were able to give to their elderly mother who lived far away in another city.

The first said, "I had a big house built for Mama." The second said, "I had a hundred thousand dollar theatre built in the house." The third said, "I had my Mercedes dealer deliver her an SL600." The fourth said, "Listen to this. You know how Mama loved reading the Bible and you know she can't read it anymore because she can't see very well. I met this priest who told me about a parrot that can recite the entire Bible. It took twenty priests 12 years to teach him. I had to pledge to contribute $100,000 a year for twenty years to the church, but it was worth it. Mama just has to name the chapter and verse and the parrot will recite it." The other brothers were impressed.

After the holidays Mom sent out her Thank You notes. She wrote: "Milton, the house you built is so huge. I live in only one room, but I have to clean the whole house. Thanks anyway." "Marvin, I am too old to travel. I stay home, I have my groceries delivered, so I never use the Mercedes. The thought was good. Thanks." "Michael, you give me an expensive theater with Dolby sound, it could hold 50 people, but all my friends are dead, I've lost my hearing and I'm nearly blind. I'll never use it. Thank you for the gesture just the same." "Dearest Melvin, you were the only son to have the good sense to give a little thought to your gift. The chicken was delicious. Thank you."

FOR CJ,

SHOCK!!!!!!! and AWWWWWW!

Last week a cougar was seen killing several baby cows in a farmers field in the "zone" that the animal called HUMAN has stolen fron the Wild animals. This cougar also has been stealing and killing chickens and a dog. Fish and Wildlife officials were called, and they killed the cougar who turned out to be a lactating Female. No kittens were found.

Two days ago, a woman who's yard is very wooded and brushy, found 3 cougar kittens about 4 weeks old in her yard in a nest that the Mother had made. She called The proper authorities who took the kittens away.




The News picked up on it and followed the story, and reported on all networks that the Fish and Wildlife officials had determined that the kittens could not be rehabilitated and would have to be euthanized!!

My mouth flew open and I was ready to go splash paint on the door of the State Officials that were stoooopid enough to decide such a thing. These kittens wer all over the news and people from every where were offering to take them but they would not rehab them.

Today was to have been the day the dirty deed was done, and right at the last minute a private wildlife sancuary in Arlington, Wa has offered to take and rehabilitate the kittens. THey are being hand fed and are DARLING! I would have taken one for awhile, but.....

THe people that are taking them said that they have great success rehabilitating and returning all sorts of wildlife to the wild. They have not ever rehabed cougars though. So they are going to be given the chance, and if they can not be returned to the wild, they will be found homes in zoos through out the country, and used for gene pool.

WHEW!!! That is so much better to me than just randomly destroying an animal just because they were mother-less and could not be returned to the wild. After all it was Man that encroached on their habitat and Man should be ashamed of his self!

When the rural areas go farther and farther into wild country, these encounters will be more common place. Laws need to be established to protect the wildlife, Man can fend for him self.

Gentle Art of Hunkering...

When I was Young, I asked my Dad why he squatted down, and he informed me that it was not squatting, it was called hunkering. He then just continued to go on about his business. He Hunkered for as long as he could, until age and arthritis caught up with him.

I read an article awhile back about The fine and gentle art of hunkering. It was set in the western US Nevada or Colorado I think. But it basically was about two men who hunkered. A little boy asked why they did that, and the story explained...

...That hunkering was a way of communicating at the same level. If you were the new man in town, and needed to know from the old codger how to do something, it was impolite and very rude to just go up and ask the old codger how to fix a plow. The proper way of manners was to say howdy, ask as to the health of his family, in short chit chat...When the new man was ready to ask, he didnt just come out and say "Tell me how to fix a plow" You had to ease into it gently, so as not to insult the old codger, you sloooooowly hunkered down and picked up a rock or two and bounced it casually down the road. By this time Old Codger KNEW there was a very important question coming, so to be polite, he too hunkered.


W.W. Brett Hunkering at Sunset Cliffs, Ca. 1941

Once the hunkering had begun, the new man had to hem and haw around a bit to get to the point. then He would say off handed, how he had broke his plow, and then look up and say "hey, dont you have one of those same plows? I was wondering if you could tell me how to fix it." Thus the old codger was given his proper place in the learning cycle, and the new man would get his information.

Hunkering around a campfire is something that we still do today, although it is much easier to hunker in a camp chair.

The dictionary also has another meaning in the description of the word. To Hunker down is to get ready for a long period of inactivity or safety. As in hunker down for the winter, or hunker down from the hurricane, or hunker down in your nice cozy bed.

I hunker down every so often, and when I do I remember my Dad hunkering. always with one foot bent and his butt resting on his heel, and the other foot flat on the ground, with his elbow resting on his knee. I smile.