Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Let's get rolling

Everybody got up earlier than usual this morning, so we got breakfast and walk in before 11:30. Got over to the climbing gym with a friend whose significant other has been in Beijing, China for the past 10 days with the USA youth climbing team for a world competition. He told her it was so polluted that L.A.'s air seemed fresh by comparison. Very crowded streets, people pushing and shoving despite there being nowhere to go. Sounds like a "travel experience" I'd be glad to miss.
I finished The Chaneysville Incident last night. I'm perplexed by the murkiness of the ending, and more than little annoyed at the male protagonist's constant whinging insistence that his woman can never understand him completely since he's black and she's white. It's enough that he's male, for pete's sake, for her to have trouble understanding him! Overall I liked the novel, but wonder if the book group will have a quorem to discuss it, or be able to look away from the 24 hour horror reporting on New Orleans. I do hope someone extremely vocal keeps it in the public eye that Bush and Co. cut FEMA's funding, gutted it even, which helped to set up this situation in New Orleans and Mississippi. WATCH what Bush et al DO, don't listen to their oily words. Watch as Shrub pretends to lay guitar, acting like the morally vacant idiot that he is. See him fly over the disaster area, not having the balls to go on the ground and really experience it. Hear him ooze about how it must be doubly terrible down there, which he was viewing in safety and comfort from his cushy military jet. Yet somehow he will get credit for "doing something," although I truly doubt if he gives a flying fuck about all the people of color whose lives were most affected by Katrina. His administration didn't do anything to alleviate the poverty in N.O. or anywhere else in the country. He believes in "hard work," as if he ever did a lick of it.
Yick. Gonna give myself nightmares.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Winter already?!

Such gloom this morning, and chill in the air. Summer cannot be over. Feeling low in energy, probably due to a fractured sleep last night. We ran into our friend and neighbor while she was home on her lunch break and we were out for my mother's first walk of the day. We discussed where to put the St. John's Wort clippings - they are too tough to compost easily, so we're lining up garbage cans - and she half-queried about my knowledge of her cancer diagnosis. I told her I had heard, but hadn't wanted to bug her about it, and hugged her firmly. She remarked that she needs lots of prayers and good wishes - she knows I'm a non-believer - and she knows I support her. I have to quash my continuing outrage at the unfairness of her being stricken, when theere are so many people who I think deserve liver cancer. (Why feign humane attitiudes? I WOULD wish her illness on a few choice individuals. I do not see the advantage of forgiving men like Bush or Cheney; they are monsters, every bit as bad as Hitler or Stalin, they're just getting away with it under the guise of Progress.)
Beloved spouse and beloved son went out for a beer. I'm going up to finish my book.

Monday, August 29, 2005

Fall already?

The cats acknowledged the traditional DMZ last night, getting up on the bed with us and snuggling their soggy little bodies in and around our warm dry ones.
Off for a delayed hairdo day for my mom, and a session at the QFC, where she sits and watches people while I shop. A short walk following, and then she commented that she was feeling "overwhelmed." Too much input?!
Whacked at my friend's St. John's Wort some more...I'm getting there, I'm getting there.
Nice run in cool and windy air, with banks of huge dark clouds on the horizon in every direction and clear blue sky above. On the way back up the hill to home, I observed two crows battling over an order of freshly pressed dead rat by the side of the running path.
Uneventful evening. More reading.

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Back to the gym...

After several days away from the indoor climbing gym and an exhilarating trip up to Squamish, B.C., which was enough to make the thought of the gym unappealing, we went back inside. Time constraints as usual canceled our trip somewhere outside to practice climbing on gear. Oh, well, we still had fun, and got tired enought to feel we'd gotten a workout.
Got back in time for Mother's lunch, then took her out for an afternoon walk. She seemed a bit more winded than usual, and unsure she could get all the way back home. One of those days we may have gone a bit too far for her energy level, but she didn't have a fainting spell, so it worked out fine.
Late in the afternoon quite a downpour whomped up. It was startling, welcome, but unfortunately a taste of what's to come this winter, only that will be colder.
Our son appeared, returned from Squamish earlier than they'd wanted, owing to the rain up there. Sounds as if the photo shoot on the Freeway route went well, and many excellent shots were taken.
Back to The Chaneysville Incident. I like it, just not sure how much we'll be able to glean from it in discussion.

Saturday, August 27, 2005

Satisfying Saturday

Beloved spouse made it back in the wee hours without incident, luggage and all. So very glad.
Yet another pearl on a string of days. I went across the street to continue whacking away at my friend's ivy and St. John's Wort and found out from their tenant that her biopsy was cancer.
Her husband came out later and said the doctors are looking into surgery, and possibly a transplant. Hoops must be jumped in the mean time.
Grilled giant fresh scallops and silver salmon steaks for dinner, which came out perfectly.

Friday, August 26, 2005

Fairly Fantastic Friday

Slept like a champ last night, and got up feeling energized. Had breakfast with son and mother, then she and I trotted out for our usual 8 block constitutional. She was pretty peppy herself, and very cheerful. She couldn't stop telling me how wonderful her grandson had been yesterday while getting her meals and walks.
Nice run down to my gym, but suddnely my legs started teling me they were still remembering yesterday's steep hike up the back trail towards the Squamish Chief, and made me slow down. Had a chat with our son while he was waiting for his ride up to Squamish for a photo shoot.
Pleasant dinner with my mother, IM exchange with the beloved spouse who is due to return in the early hours of Saturday.
Off to read more of The Chaneysville Incident. Not sure I'm going to be finished by the 1st.

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Back from Squamish

We had a wonderful couple of days. Got up there late Tuesday afternoon, and claimed a campsite at the Bulletheads Campground near the base of the Chief, the huge granite monolith we'd be climbing upon the next day. We went to the local climbing equipment shop to pick up a couple of items we needed, then off to the Howe Sound Brewpub for a burger and a beer. We sat outside on the terrace and looked over at the Apron, the area we'd be starting on in the morning.
A restless night for me, per usual, first night on the ground in a tent, but I was up early - 6:15, astounding! We went to the local Starbuck's to meet up with our guide, had a jolt of coffee and a muffin and zipped off to the Apron. We were first for Diedre, the 7-pitch route we were starting on, and it was a blast. Easy slab and corner climbing, then lunch stop on Broadway, a big ledge going across part of the Chief. Our wonderful guide gave us cookies he'd made from his great-grandmother's recipe. Very tasty. We got our packs back on and scrambled across the ledge for a bit until we got down to the Grand climbers' trail. An explanatory note here: Climbers' "trails" are frequently nothing more than a goat track or worse, so get the image of a sweetly groomed woodsy footpath out of your head.
We wound up at the base of some classic many-pitched routes, but we went up an easy two -pitch bolted slab route called Merci Me, which got us up for a closer look at the Grand Wall route off to our right as we hung at the belay. We rappelled and went over to another two-pitch classic called The Exasperator. A party was just finishing with it, so our intrepid guide led it and turned it into a 45 meter toprope for us neophytes. It was a good taste of how challenging those impossibly skinny-looking cracks are, but we did it. I came off just after the crux, and my friend popped off lower and at the same higher point as well, but for a couple of 40-50ish year old babes, we did very well, finishing in good form.
I was so exhilarated after this day of sampling various routes that I felt like doing more even at 4:00 PM, or the next day. Our guide described a route called The Ultimate Everything that links a bunch of moderate stuff to the tune of 24-27 pitches up the Grand. He said he'd taken his dad up it last year, who must be around my age, and he'd loved it. What a fabulous day that would be - all day climbing 5.9, getting to the top of the Chief then hiking back down. Knowing my knees, the descent of the hike would be the hardest part. I'd go next week...
We had a mostly uneventful drive home, except for having to swerve to avoid hitting what looked like a student's metal desk lying in the HOV lane. A terrific two day adventure midweek, getting to do everything we'd wanted and more.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

And we're off!

My climbing buddy just called, and we're heading up to Squamish in about half an hour. I have so much stuff out in the front hall that I must be prepared.
Lousy night's sleep. Woke up around 2:30 and lay there for a couple of hours...guess I'm wound up.
The helper from the in-home care place arrived around 9:30, so I've been able to get to know her a bit. She seems very nice and my mother likes her. She told me she's leaving in three weeks to study in Granada, Spain. Her boyfriend plays centerfield and third base for Bellevue C.C., and is serious about getting into The Show.
Well, I'll be back in a couple of days with tales to tell.
Hasta la vista.

Monday, August 22, 2005

Meandering Monday

Gotta bunch of stuff to do, always haunting me here at home, of course, but also to get my gear ready for my friend and me to go up on our climbing adventure tomorrow morning. After a pleasant morning walk with my mom, I went over to the Ballard neighborhood to a sporting goods store called Second Ascent. it's full of new and used items from all kinds of activities. A buff young woman who said she was a climber extolled the features of a Platypus water pack for my adventure on Wednesday. She's evidently been up the routes I'm hoping to get on with our guide, so I trusted her. Also got a long-sleeved top for me and a gorgeous deep blue short sleeved one for beloved spouse. It will bring out the green in his eyes...
Off to check on the gear again.

Sunday, August 21, 2005

The adventure's approaching

At least I do hope so. The weather page listed showers up in Vancouver, but they could move on.
Nice morning and afternoon. Day's so gorgeous I'm lost in a dream.
Some time after dinner our son came back from Squamish, broke and beat up from various climbing activities. He said it's still great up there. He had a pretty bad cut/gash on his left thumb, and whenhe descrbied tweezing out dirt and debris from its inner flesh, my knees felt sick.
Ah, beloved offspring...

Saturday, August 20, 2005

Scintillating Saturday

Hah. Not enough sleep, and poor at that. Got my mom out for her walk, including taking a peek at the chickens. No sign of our friend, so perhaps they're having a quiet lazy morning. One moderately sized blue green egg in the laying box.
Around mid-afternoon, I decided to put on a little backpack and hike over to the Co Op for some dinner items and sundries. Beloved spouse had just driven off to take a kayak paddle, and as I was stepping out the front door, my chicken-owning friend called to tell me that on a whim they had rented a car and driven to Spokane very early this morning. I assumed it was to visit her sister, since people don't usually choose Spokane, Washington as a place to go on a whim. She didn't remember if she had put her birds back in their coop, so I assured her that they were fine. She told me to take the egg, too.
I walked along the northwest edge of Green Lake to get to the Co Op. Not so many runners, as it was a lovely hot afternoon, maybe a bit too hot for hard running, but many family groups ambling along.
Found Shady Maple Farms' Pure Maple Sugar Chunks at the Co Op, but not their Maple Butter, which is undoubtedly the mortal form of ambrosia. Unfortunately I will have to go to Whole Foods for that.
We had a pleasant dinner and evening. Off to bed earleir, since beloved spouse heads to Milwaukee in the morning.

Friday, August 19, 2005

Fabulously Friday

Yummy day. Amazing climate, at least for now. Got out for Mother's walk, saw the chickens, talked to their mistress, up and about after her liver biopsy, then down to the midpoint corner four blocks away. As we stood there, straightening our backs and checking on Green Lake's hue, a friend I hadn't seen for ages drove by on his way to Zoka's, the local coffee house. We chatted for a few minutes, then Mother and I headed back to the corral.
Light lunch, now back at my friend's ivy and St. John's Wort infestation. Hacked, pulled and clipped for the better part of two hours, and to look at it, you'd hardly think I'd done anything. but I filled her giant yard waste container, and my hands are very sore. Shit! I can't wear them out before we go up to Squamish climbing!
My beloved spouse and I took a nice evening walk down to Fremont and wound up at El Camino, a restaurant which serves up Mexican and Central American fare. Also very swell margaritas and other beverages. They put out a teeny bowl of spiced mixed nuts with one's beverages, a civilized touch equaled nowhere else in Seattle that I've found. We had one of the most delicious ceviches I've ever seen, full of shrimp, scallops, salmon and spiciness. We also ordered smoked duck tostadas and seared weathervane scallops in a spicy pumpkin seed sauce. Whew. We walked more afterwards, over to Gasworks Park and back up the hill to our house.
It's an incredible coolly breezy night, and a full moon is soon to rise.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Thoroughly Thursday

All the fog is gone, and it's only 11:00. Once again Hairdo Day has arrived, and off we went. We had a nice 8 block walk upon our return, and then I got my mother her lunch. Got myself out for a run and workout. Later in the afternoon I started pulling out ivy and trimming the St. John's Wort in my friend and across the street neighbor's front yard. She had her liver biopsy this morning, and hasn't returned yet.
Some sort of decision settled in my mind as I was working on her yard. I was thinking about the egregious nature of this country's leadership and the waste of young American lives in Iraq. This is my decision: If the parents of these young soldiers are so gullible and/or stupid enough to beleive Bush/Cheney, then let them send their children to die. This will "thin the herd," cutting down potential Republican voters. To hell with them. I feel no sympathy for these fools. And let them keep breeding more useless meat to send abroad for no reason other than to enrich and aggrandize Bush and his cronies. But let them some time wonder, perhaps, why the Republican fat cats aren't sending their own precious brats.
But for those who were caught by this mess, I am deeply sorry.
My friend just called. The biopsy procedure went well. Results pending.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Wetly Wednesday redux

It rained last night. First we've had in about three weeks. It feels lovely this morning. Went to the gym earlier than usual to accommodate my friend, who was cooking up a vegan storm for her boyfriend's 29th birthday. She had baked a tofu-ish cheesecake tart, and was going to cover it with kiwi fruit and raspberries coated with a red currant glaze. This woman makes vegan food absolutely delectable. She has all kinds of tricks with which she replaces eggs and butter, a difficult thing to do.
Beloved spouse and I went out for a late evening walk, down to Gasworks. We happened upon one of the 30 candle light vigils held around Seattle in support of Cindy Sheehan, the grieving protesting mother of a 24 year old son killed in Iraq. There was a nearly full moon rising over Lake Union, and scores of people with candles on top of the kite hill; there were a few boats near the shoreline with candles, too. This poor woman moves me. I also have a 24 year old son, and I wouldn't be as restrained in my protest against the fuckwitted president if it had been my son who died. This woman is sincere. Her life is falling apart. I believe grief could do that to a person.
We got back to our 'hood in time to raise a glass of wine and share some laughs with our dear friend who is having troubles with her liver. As in possibly cancer. She is going in for her biopsy tomorrow, and I'll be doing some yard work for her in lieu of prayer.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Misty morning

...and afternoon and evening. Had a 9 block walk this morning, with the goal of finding some birthday cards for my sister, who turns 50 this weekend. Nice run and workout; we're all peppier when it cools down.
Just faxed a release form, registration and "model release" to a little guiding company up in Squamish, B.C. My longest time climbing buddy and I, who climbed the Grand Teton a couple of years ago, all 13, 744 feet up, down, and a 14 mile roundtrip hike up and then down from it, are going on a relatively mild adventure next week. We are having a guide take us up a multi-pitch route on the Squamish Chief, a huge granite monolith that rears itself out of the landscape on the right side of the road to Whistler, the ski resort. (The model release says if anybody gets photos of me whilst I am climbing, the little guiding company may use them for promotional purposes. Yeah, well, maybe if they're marketing to AARP!) My friend and I decided we needed a bit of adventure, and we've only been out cragging once together this summer. So, off we go next Tuesday, heading for a day of practice, a walk-in camping site with outhouses and a water source at the base of the Chief. And an al day climb up something on the Chief. We took my friend's daughter up there a couple of weeks before the 9/11 attack four years ago, and had a wonderful time. It ws a gathering of an all women's climbing group, which was mostly terrific, except for the swacked woman from D.C. who came over with her partially consumed bottle of Jack Daniels trying to pick me up and get me into her tent - I decided I was flattered to be thought attractive, although I'm a hetero from way back.
Off to read more of The Chaneysville Incident.

Monday, August 15, 2005

Week's start

We got out this morning a bit after 11:00, and even my mother started getting sweaty. Her thermostat doesn't usually work very well, so that in 80+ degree weather, a breeze that feels pleasantly cool to me will feel chilly to her. Not today. Her usual 8 block journey struck her as too long, the midpoint too far away, so we did some straightening exercises and went home. I'm sensing a gradual slowing down lately, at least physically. Her sense of humor is intact, however.
After noon, I went over to strip and set routes at the climbing gym. Satisfactory results, with another 10a going up.
Off to read The Chaneysville Incident, with which I am already engaged. Written in teh late 1970's, and contains very funny dialogue.

Sunday, August 14, 2005

Sunny Sunday

Finished The Razor's Edge last night. It has a few meaty ideas to pick over, but I'm wondering how much discussion we're going to get out of it. Years ago I read Maugham's Of Human Bondage, and I vaguely recall that one being more substantial than this novel, but I wasn't so taken with his writing to want to go back and re-read it. Razor's Edge has one character that appealed to me, Larry Darrell, the young man whom everyone else is disgusted with since he throws off the usual pursuits of money and worldly goods and commercial endeavor in order to pursue his quest for wisdom and the nature of faith.
Absolutely fabulous day, sunny, hot, breezy; two shorter walks for my mother, running and working out with the beloved spouse. BBQ-ed some surf and turf - salmon and a steak - had some bubbly, and a lovely walk just before sunset. Everyone had windows and doors open to catch the evening air which was balmy, a rarity in this climate. Perfect.

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Saturday's child

Guess that'd be me, although I think I was born very early of a Friday morning, shortly after midnight, and I don't recall the dumb little poem which meted out attributes based on one's day of birth. It's just that it's Saturday, the weather is astounding, I got in a nice workout at the indoor climbing gym - ironic, perhaps, but we didn't have time to go anywhere outside
cragging - and got my mom out for a good walk. We went after her lunch, later than we usually do, and by the time we got over to see our friend's chickens, the birds were literally lying low in their coop, flat out in the dirt. They were making low noises that almost sounded like moans. I think they were hot and trying to nap.
Off to read more of The Razor's Edge.

Friday, August 12, 2005

Flippant Friday

Okay, after forging ahead several dozen more pages in The Razor's Edge, I'm liking it. I suppose I should grudgingly admit that I'm glad I persevered, but I won't, just to be contrary. Maugham's voice strikes me as annoyingly prissy and fussy. Kind of like an old time Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Googled him - one of his observations about himself was that he was "one quarter normal, and three quarters queer." Billed as a bisexual, but it sounded to me as if he sort of tried to be closeted - married a woman he had impregnated becasue, as he said, it simply wouldn't DO to leave her child without a father, but it didn't work out. Good grief, you hardly need "Gay-dar" to notice how lovingly he describes attractive men, how he trashes fat ones, and how he generally trashes women in his descriptions of their bodies, clothes and behavior. BEE-yitch!

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Thickly Thursday

Thick with clouds. In the sky, in my head, for some reason. Got over to the hair joint for Mother's hairdo day. When we went into the QFC for some items afterwards, one of the young women checkers said, "Oh, I see you brought the Empress!" Mother was looking cheerily regal, sitting up straight with her new hair do.
Got back, got in a bit of a walk with her. Started a batch of bread dough, went off to run and workout. Decided that after almost a year and a half I needed new running shoes, so picked up some more Asics. They're very light and comfortable, felt good on the jog home.
The bread loaves turned out very nicely. I took one right out of the oven over to my friend across the street for their dinner.
Lined up a climbing guide for a nice multi-pitch climb up in Squamish, B.C. in a couple of weeks. Sure hope to be able to do this...

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Woo hoo, Wednesday!

I began reading our next book group's pick, Maughham's The Razor's Edge. Although I'm not too far along, maybe 15 pages, I am not encouraged. This might be a "wallbanger," a book so odious that I shall fling it across the room and against a wall.
Nice day of getting my mom out for a walk, doing a few chores, like trying to thin out my overstuffed closet. Too much stuff in there I don't use, but when I try to ditch the items, I keep thinking I might be able to use them later, like, on, when I'm old...
Off for a little workout at the climbing gym. Back home for a short walk with my mother. We ran into a tall older-looking woman who somehow got into her life story. she's part of a musical group called sunforest, and back when Stanley Kubrick made "A Clockwork Orange," he heard their music and used one of her songs in the film. She was a bit scattered, but cheerful, said she was in her 60's, although she did look older, owing to her gray hair and kind of wizened skinniness. Very tall - at least 6 feet, I bet. We always get life stories, wherever we go.
Went off for a couple of hours of volunteer work, painting at the site of a tutoring center up in Greenwood. Had beer and a tasty chile rejeno afterwards.

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Shhh... tell no one...

After more deliriously gorgeous conditions yesterday, we have another lovely marine push cooling things down this morning. Mother and I had a wonderful 8 block walk just as the morning cloud cover started to burn off, raising the temperature from low 60's to low 70's. Out rolled the blue skies.
Around 1:00, I went out for a run up in the hills and a workout at our Nautilus gym. Absolutely perfect conditions; can't even regret not being out on a hike somewhere, although it's best not to dwell on that. Grabbed a little snack before volunteering for errand duty, walking down to the U-District bank branch to deliver some papers, as well as try again to find a couple of our bookgroup selections. Had to get a new copy of Maugham's Razor's edge, but found a used one of Bradley's Chaneysville Incident.
Even just walking back up hill to our neighborhood QFC was delightful. 80 degrees, cooling breezes...what more could one ask for? oh, I guess it'd have been nice to be up in Squamish, B.C., getting ready for a climb, but if one is stuck in the city...
I have coined a term for the non-leaders of the USA: The Dukes of Moral Hazard. More on that later.

Monday, August 08, 2005

Slather on the arnica, baby

Ohhhhh... I'm on the beaten up and sore side this morning. All sides of my knees are battered and scraped, the little mound of flesh - muscle? - below my index fingers and next to my thumbs is bruised, and every time I move a new way, something somewhere complains. Dang, that was fun yesterday! And my hands had just started to heal from the blistering they took chasing after my beloved spouse in a sea kayak, owing to my less than ideal paddling technique. The joys of sports in one's 50's....well, as Shakespeare put it, better to do this "than to let my heart cool with mortifying groans..." Bit of paraphrasing there.

Sunday, August 07, 2005

Stupendous Sunday!

What the...? I hope to get this right, it sort of weirdly published itself, or tried to. Went out for a climb today with our son. After an awfully stiff "warm up" pitch, replete with hard slab moves and so-called handcracks, we went over to the only moderate pitch on the lower Index Town Walls, called The Great Northern Slab. Only he decided that the best way to get to this so-called 5.6 crack that I would lead was up a slippery corner, then a 5.10 splitter crack. He bouldered the corner - i.e., no belay, just took the rope up with him - then bopped up the crack. Well, after he told me I just needed to stem to get up that corner, I tried, tried, failed, failed - was getting pretty frustrated at being unable to "just stem." Somehow or other I did get up the fucking thing, then faced this intimidating-looking crack. Once again, many attempts to get into the danged crack, then eventually decided I just needed to endure the pain on my hands and feet and get up there. Once I reached the ledge where our son was, he coached me on what I needed to do to lead the next 40 or so feet of nice-looking crack, what sizes of cams to use, how to use my feet and hands and body core to stay balanced, and assured me that if I couldn't finish it, I could lower. Well, kids, I stepped up to the plate and led the little pitch, placing four cams and running it out to the anchors, about 20 feet or so, without any protection. Not bad for a...mature woman. I actually feel a bit more confident.

Saturday, August 06, 2005

Wish I coulda slept like Sancho Panza...

...but I sure as hell didn't. I woke up at 2:45 this morning, and lay there for two hours with all kinds of old songs running through my head. Perhaps I'd been dreaming of a karaoke bar?
I finished Don Quixote last night, and it was quite a ride of a read. I am glad to have finished it.
Wonder what ole V.S. Naipaul thinks of it, he of the very curmudgeonly-sounding piece in the NYT Book Review this week, in which he claims that fiction is pretty much useless these days. Oh, except for his personal faves, by Dickens and Tolstoy. He does have some interesting points about the usefulness of nonfiction, but I do hope someone intelligent steps up to address Naipaul's sweeping judgements.

Friday, August 05, 2005

Fuzzy Friday

Gonna be a barnburner here today, folks; maybe literally. Hot. My brain feels frizzed.
And it is lusciously warm. Got my routesetting chores done, picked up a friend for a bit of a climb at the gym.
And here's an observation from Sancho Panza upon the condition of sleep:
"I only understand that while I'm sleeping I have no fear, or hope, or glory; blessed be whoever invented sleep, the mantle that covers all human thought, the food that satisfies hunger, the water that quenches thirst, the fire that warms the cold, the cold that cools down ardor, and, finally, the general coin with which all things are bought, the scale and balance that make the shepherd equal to the king, and the simple man equal to the wise."
Odd, he doesn't address the sometime torment of dreams.

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Thoroughly throbbingly Thursday

Just liked the alliteration....Some time later in the day: My husband just told me our dear friend and neighbor has liver cancer. I am explosively angry at the injustice here. This is a woman who is an ASSET to the world, unlike anybody in the White House, for example, upon whom I'd thrust her bad liver as punishment for their murder, thievery and lying. She improves the world; they are bent on destroying it via their greedy power-mongering. Had I any black arts available to me, I'd have the spell done already.
So I'm definitely throbbing, with a heavy heart.

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

It's just another day...in paradise

Only I ain't being ironic like old Phil Collins was. Zowie. Got my mother out a bit earlier, owing to the heat, then went out to the climbing gym early this afternoon. My friend and I were both feeling unambitious, but at least we got up several routes. Got home, my mother did another 5 blocks, and Bob's your uncle! It's in the low 80's, dry, with a coolish breeze. (Sounds like a wine review - "dry, with a cool light finish.")
I am so very close to the end of Don Quixote. Such a huge grab bag of a work. So many pratfalls and plenty of potty humor: as examples for each, Sancho frequently gets pummeled and/or tossed about by groups of people hired for that purpose, and it's for the amusement of someone else; bad boys stuck twigs of "furze", which I think is a form of broom, in teh assholes of Don Q.'s and Sanco's steeds, which irritated the animals and made them switch their tails, which made it worse..."Hee Haw" type humor. And this for the few people educated enough to read? Sounds like stuff our country's leader would enjoy, a good mean bullying trick. My estimation of human nature's lack of change is confirmed. But then there will be witty intelligent passages which merit re-reading and pondering. I wish fervently that more people had this sensibility, as opposed to the former.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Paradise temporarily regained

It's so wonderful outside I must get my mother out on her pegs! So out for 5 blocks this morning; then I got to go running and working out; and we went out for 4 more blocks late in the afternoon, to mail a letter to the family who bought her house back in Ohio. I think, despite her neurological vagueries, the whole thing about her house and what happened to it after she left has been a couple of years settling into her consciousness. it pretty much lay fallow for about a year, until all of us siblings decided it was best to put it on the market. It finally sold late last fall, and we got in touch with the family who bought it. They turned out to be very sweet and thoughtful, and Mother is now in communication with them.
Lovely evening of listening to KEXP-FM's Wo Pop night. They featured a live performance by a Northern Italian group called Fiamma Fumana. Their sound was very Celtic, with bagpipes, which they said were indigenous to the Emilia Romagno area they were from. Very nice.

Monday, August 01, 2005

Misty Monday

The "marine push" arrived during the night, as it almost always does after a string of gorgeous hot days. Somehow it made me feel unenergetic when I went for a workout at the climbing gym. Or perhaps that was a residual weariness from yesterday's kayaking activity. Well, it didn't affect my mother, who got in two 8 block long walks today. Amazing - she goes until she almost has to drag herself up the last few steps to the house.
And once again into the breach with Don Q.