To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.
Oscar Wilde
1. The day dawned cloudy and in the upper 40s. The high for today was 52 deg with drizzly rain all day. No sitting on the porch and listening to the birds for me. I was spoiled with 85 deg and sunshine when I was in Texarkana.
2. I was treated to the sight of the running of the deer when Mama deer and two mostly grown fawns sped through the back yard this morning.
3. I went over to the Wellness Center and did a double stint on the NuStep.
4. I had leftover tunafish salad with assorted crudités and Ritz crackers for my lunch. Al warmed up some of the noodles he made and saved before I got home.
5. I’m searching wildly for another something that made me happy today. I guess I’m suffering from the blahs, after having been gone. This too shall pass.
The buffer between hope and despair is gratefulness.
Joe Primo
1. It was in the upper 40s and cloudy with wet streets when I got up this morning. There were scattered clouds all afternoon and the temperature got up to 60 deg.
2. Al went to the Poetry Workshop over in Bristol View. I drove him there because there’s never anywhere to park. I picked him up a little early because (see #3).
3. While Al was busy improving his mind, I was busy improving (hopefully) my body at the Wellness Center. After I picked him up, I was able to have my first appointment with my personal trainer since I got back. I need to have him pushing me. I’m going to give up some of my time to Al, so he can continue the good work they were doing while I was gone.
4. Lunch was chicken, Brussels sprouts, and rice. Very mundane, but healthy and filling.
5. After lunch I sat out on the back porch and listened to the birds. I even heard and saw the spotted Towhee on the fence. He was far from the only bird my app heard – Robins, a Red-Breasted Nuthatch, Stellar’s Jay, Pine Siskin, Song Sparrow, Bewick’s Wren, American Goldfinch, a Cedar Waxwing, Northern Flicker, American Crow, Common Raven, Canada Goose, and a Rock Pigeon in addition to House Sparrows, and White-Throated Sparrows.
Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.
Kahlil Gibran
1. It was 50 deg and raining with fog hanging in the tops of the trees when I got up this morning. The rain continued all day, sometimes hard and sometimes just drizzling. The high this afternoon was only 52 deg.
2. I got hit with some sort of a virus or denial of service bug. Thankfully it only affected my iMac so my iPhone and iPad seem to be fine. I’m waiting for my tame IT specialist (aka #2 son) to get finished with a business call, so we can fix it together (hopefully).
3. I headed over to the Wellness Center and had a good session on the NuStep. I got a fair number of my steps done.
4. Back to Burger King Whoppers for lunch onThursdays. We are sopredictable.
5. While I was traveling, Al got the ant exterminator to come in to help chase the ants who appear this time of year. He came and sprayed again today because we were still seeing them in the living room. Do you think it could be because Al ate most of his meals in front of the TV while I was gone?
We take care of the future best by taking care of the present now.
Jon Kabat-Zinn
1. After a couple of gloriously sunny days, the weather reverted to typical PNW skies – in the upper 40s and cloudy when I woke up. By mid afternoon the temperature had managed to rise to 52 deg, and a light rain began to fall.
2. I went over to the Wellness Center shortly after breakfast. My personal trainer was back after being out the first couple of days this week. He says he’s fully recovered. I hope he’s still fine by Friday when my next appointment is. He wants to try to schedule Al to keep working with him, now that he’s had a couple of sessions.
3. I fixed tunafish salad for lunch today. I reverted to Mama’s recipe instead of putting crushed pineapple and sweet relish in it like Al likes. I did it with minced celery, and onion, hard boiled egg, and Miracle Whip Lite. Al was okay with it made that way, and I have enough leftover for two more servings.
4. One of the local universities asked if some of their students could come and talk with some of the folks who live here. Al signed up and a nice young man who is working on his Bachelor’s degree in psychology came and visited with us for about an hour this afternoon. He is currently in the US Army, and working on getting his degree so he can be an officer. It worked out really well, because he and Al had a lot in common since Al rose to be an officer by getting his degree when he was in the Air Force.
5. The geese were back on the big lawn today. They are supposed to be afraid of the wolf cut-outs. I don’t think they are. The pair of Mallards was also back wandering around the campus.
Hunger is not a problem. It is an obscenity. How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.
Anne Frank
1. 49 deg and clear with blue, blue skies when I woke up this morning. The sun has been out all day, and the temperature is near 70 deg.
2. The housekeeper was here today and we have clean sheets on the beds, clean bathrooms, a clean kitchen, and the floors are all mopped, vacuumed, and swept.
3. I managed to get to the Wellness Center and use the NuStep before lunch.
4. I had leftover gumbo that I froze before I left. It didn’t take long to heat up. I fixed some rice to go with it, and Al added some rice to his General Tso’s Chicken that was leftover from last Friday.
5. Greisser Girls Gab is this afternoon. I’m going to try to get out on the back deck and listen to the birds. I heard a spotted Towhee, and finally spotted him on the back fence.
Walking, I am listening to a deeper way. Suddenly all my ancestors are behind me. Be still, they say. Watch and listen. You are the result of the love of thousands.
Linda Hogan
1. Beautiful blue sky this morning with a temperature of 46 deg. The sunshine continued and the temperature rose to 60 deg by evening.
2. I washed, dried, folded, and hung up the few things in the laundry basket. That makes me back on schedule with chores after being gone for three weeks.
3. I remembered the Wellness Center, and I was able to get 45 minutes of exercise done. Unfortunately my personal trainer had caught a stomach bug from his son, so I didn’t get to keep that appointment. It’s probably a good idea that he wasn’t here. I still need a couple of days of activity to stretch out the muscles, etc.
4. I fixed pork chops with cinnamon applesauce, fresh asparagus, and boiled potatoes for dinner. The asparagus was from Safeway – already prepared with lemon butter – and nicely trimmed. I’m really fond of their veggies that all you have to do is put them in the oven for 15 or 20 minutes. Healthy and tasty.
5. Gazebo Group is this evening. It’ll be great to see all the folks again after being gone.
Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
Barak Obama
1. Mid 40s when I got up but no more rain forecast, at least for today. We’ve had lots of sunshine – blue skies with scattered puffy white clouds all day. The high this afternoon was 57 deg.
2. My first task this morning after breakfast was to get my new Credit Card authorized to use with ApplePay. That wasted all the time I had between breakfast and church, but I got it accomplished.
3. Nice church service at First Presbyterian Church, Texarkana, Arkansas. They were hosting the 9-Towers Festival of Bell Ringers. There were folks there from several distant churches to help celebrate the 35th anniversary of the ring of 8 bells in FPC’s bell tower. They read the names of all the people who had dedicated bells. I got a little misty when they read my grandparents’ names. I remember when they bought and installed the bells.
4. We decided to drive over to Gig Harbor to the Moctezumas there for lunch. The food was just as good as the one on this side of the sound. Al had a couple of enchiladas, and I had Surf and Turf (skirt steak and bacon-wrapped shrimp). Tasty but not TexMex. I think Al was feeling a little left out reading about all the good Mexican food I had on my trip.
5. By Tuesday it’s supposed to warm up enough for me to go sit out on the back porch and listen to some Pacific Northwest birds. I’ve been missing the Fish Crow that chatted with me in Texarkana.
Happiness is not Joy. Joy is subversive. Joy happens in the midst of adversity. Joy is necessary to stay sane.
Sarah Wiles
1. It was beautiful this morning – upper 40s – when I got up with a bright blue, cloudless sky. It’s not as warm here as it was in Arkansas, but I’m getting to see a second spring with rhododendrons and azaleas both approaching peak bloom. And the lilac has budding blooms on it. The high for the day was 70 around lunch time, then it changed drastically, and the temperature dropped like a stone with rain – temperature at 4:30 pm is 55 deg.
2. Alas…I got on the scale this morning for the first time since I started my great Eclipse Adventure. I managed to put on four pounds while I was away. I suppose I couldn’t have anticipated anything else – I ate everything in sight and enjoyed every minute of it, but it’s definitely time to start watching and logging my food again.
3. I went to Trader Joe’s and got my sausages and dark chocolate. While I was there I picked up a couple of little salads for us to have for lunch. Then I stopped on the way home to get the Safeway order that I made yesterday.
4. The afternoon was spent bringing my Quicken up to date so that it matches the bank. Three weeks of not booking anything meant I was ready to tear my hair out, but I persevered, and now I know how much money we have in the bank and how much there is in which account. I was even able to unscramble the VISA card that was compromised, and authorize the new one that was waiting for me when I got home.
5. The project for tomorrow afternoon is to figure out what is being paid automagically with the old credit card, and be sure to change the number for that. Lots of subscriptions and donations, etc.
…real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway, and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.
Harper Lee
1. It was in the mid 30s when I woke up, still in the mountains East of Seattle. It was a pretty day all day. Lots of sunshine and temperatures in the 60s.
2. Back to bright blue PNW skies. We came in through the mountains with snow in the distance and a few wildflowers lower down.
3. The train was really early getting to Seattle. I was able to change my train from Seattle to Tacoma, thank goodness. I would have had to sit in the station for three hours.
4. Al was waiting in front of the station in Tacoma when I got off the train. We went to Mandolin and had lunch. I had sushi, and Al had General Tso’s chicken. They always serve so much that we brought home a couple of takeout boxes. Plenty for us to have a couple of meals.
5. I got everything unpacked and washed and put away. I also sorted through the mail that had accumulated while I was gone.
If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.
THICH NHAT HANH
1. It was in the low 30s when I had breakfast on the train. I had a good night’s sleep. The highest temperature I saw all day was 39 deg with a strong wind in Malta, Montana. Feels like temperature was 27 deg. Glad I’m not out there.
2. I did 10 sit-to-stands, and got 250 steps in my compartment while we sat in Minot. They do a major service here – empty the waste disposal system and refill the toilet flushing water. It’s a smoke break as well as a service stop and a way to get us back in sync with the posted schedule. It was below freezing with scattered snow flakes, but we were warm and dry in the train. I pity the smokers who had to brave the cold for their nicotine fix.
3. I had a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with chips for lunch. We picked up one of the hours I lost on the eastward journey between breakfast and lunch. No scenery to look at across North Dakota, so nothing to take my mind off of lunch. No reason to be hungry, just nothing else to think about. By the time my sandwich came, I was ready to eat my arm.
4. The endless plains continued all afternoon across Montana. We’re so far north we can see Canada from the train in some places. The oilfields of a decade ago seem to have played out. What used to be thriving, boom communities are once again farms with hay being the primary crop. “Big Sky” is an apt description.
5. I’m already planning my dinner (because what else is there to do). Mixed green salad with baby Brie, Atlantic salmon with lobster sauce, brown rice, red quinoa, and edamame medley, and carrots and bell peppers, with chocolate spoon cake for dessert.
BONUS: Happy Birthday to Kate Watters. I miss her so much.
An Aging Liberal Hippy from the Left Coast 