Plans are up in the air

and we are waiting for them to fall together. We are still working out details for what we are going to be doing for the next month. We have a lot on the schedule, as some of you may have noticed from a prior post. While we are excited about moving forward with our planned move to northeastern Washington, it is not going to be a simple process. Certainly there will be disruptions of plans, and we are working on sorting out how to prioritize the items already on the calendar with the ones we just added.

Our realtor set a tentative close of escrow for August 6th, and we have scheduled movers to be packing and loading here on August 7th and 8th. That gives us just over a month to figure out exactly where we are landing when we arrive. It does help the movers if we can give them an address where we want our things unloaded.

We are planning on heading north Sunday morning to do some serious shopping for a place to buy or rent. Wednesday being a holiday will give us a day to breathe and think over what we have found. We hope to head south Friday with a clearer idea of where we will be living a month from now. I will do my best to update everyone here as we know more. I will be taking my laptop with me, and there are lots of hotspots where we are going.

Wherever I go, I will always be a California Girl. That is more about where I come from than where I go.

Fire on the mountain

I have been caught up in poetry of late, and I forget to share with you by prose as well. Most of my internet time the last few days has been following the Angora Fire which has devastated forests and homes just south of South Lake Tahoe, and threatens that resort and gambling community even as I type. It is a couple of hours driving time from here, so we are not personally threatened by the flames, but it hits near home nonetheless.

A fire burned near here Saturday, the Angora fire started Sunday. If it had been the other way around, the fire here would still be burning too, because we would have been a lower priority for the planes and helicopters which dropped water and fire retardant and put out the flames. I look at the pictures and I can see my house and forest in them. One of the chimneys looked just like ours. It could be here, but it is not. My heart goes out to the families who have lost their homes or are evacuated and do not know. I am forever grateful to the firefighters who sacrifice so much to protect us all. There but for the grace of God we go.

The other occupation of the week has been negotiations over an offer we received on our house which has been on the market for over a year. We received an offer which we countered with a few terms. Today we received the acceptance from our agent. The next month was going to be a busy one. Now it is going to be more so. We are still working on scheduling a visit to our selected destination to secure a place to move in to. We should be making the big move in early August.

Sunday evening thoughts

set aside a task
save it for another day
procrastination

antidisestab-
lishmentarianism
is too long for this

back to school sales now?
graduation was today
where is vacation?

a man holds a sign
we stop for twenty minutes
then we go again

short boy, tall trombone
can’t reach seventh position
practicing with Dad

go jump in a lake
take a swim in the river
the pool is no more

I have too much to
say in this little verse. I
need more syllables

hot water pouring
wakes me every morning
time for a new day

Too much excitement for one day

I thought the exciting part of the day today was sending my daughter to camp for a week. I took her to a friend’s house so her friend’s mother could drop them off. Shortly after we arrived, her Awana leader called from camp with a request that they bring 60 chairs from church with them, as camp seems to have a chair shortage. After locating someone with the church key and carrying the chairs down the stairs to the waiting truck (and several other changes of plans) the girls were off. I called to confirm that they were on their way, and later this evening received a call from the driver saying that all had arrived safely.

My son and I went to the park for a carnival put on by our church at the end of Vacation Bible School. A good time was had by all. We made a stop at Wal-Mart on the way home to make a few purchases.

On our way out, we discovered the most exciting part of the day was yet to come. I was chatting with a friend on the way out the door, when I noticed a wisp of cloud that was not as white as it should be. She suggested it was just blowing dust, as it was a very windy day. We took a few more steps out the door and saw a huge plume of smoke with visible flames crawling beneath it. I stopped at Safeway, sensing that if the fire was not threatening my house, then my arrival without groceries might be a bigger issue than encroaching flames.

Having allowed the local citizens sufficient time to show their true colors while I was in the store, I drove home. I was not intending to get in anybody’s way, I just took the road I always take. Maybe I had my camera phone pointing out the window as I drove, but I did not pull over to gawk like the rest of them. I did stop at an authorized park and ride lot, which was empty even though it had a good view. I also stopped at another parking lot on the way home which did not have a good view even though it had a dead deer and three vultures. (What kind of crass photographer do you think I am? I did not take a picture of them.) Upon arriving home, I listened to the radio while I put away my groceries, and for a while afterwards as well. The final count was 80 acres burned. A few outbuildings were lost, but no houses. There were helicopters, planes and lots of trucks and heavy equipment involved. It never came closer than 8 miles from my house, so we were not terribly worried. As always we were glad to hear that the fire was under control and they were releasing "resources."

One of these things is not like the others . . .

Yesterday, I was thinking about that old ditty from Sesame Street where they show the viewer a set of objects and sing a song about one of them not belonging with the others. Discrimination at an early age.I was sitting in the shade outside my car waiting for my son to walk down the hill from camp. It was hot, and even if I had air conditioning (which I do not) I would not feel the need to waste petroleum keeping myself cool like everyone else parked there, which is one difference (so I had moved myself to the shade of a tree.) Another is the teenage driver who you cannot see behind the glare, but the biggest visual difference seems to be that I left my SUV home. I guess all the other parents think something bigger than I drive is needed to transport kiddies up the dirt road and back down again and wherever else they go. I overheard a conversation in the parking lot about how someone just put $100 in a tank that was partly full and it still was not up to the top. Of course I can remember the days when I received change from a $10 bill when I filled the car I still drive, so I feel that the $20 to 30 that I spend today is a lot, but I guess I am getting off easy. I do not have the car payments they do either. After 15 years, it still runs, and I have had the pink slip in the safe deposit box for a long time.

Future hydrolic engineer

I took my boy up to camp this morning. After he made his name tag, put away his lunch and wrote down his memory verse for the day, he showed me his favorite spot at camp. I was not at all surprised that it involved rocks and water, nor that changing the course of the water was a large part of the activity required. Appearantly they created a dam of sorts a couple of days ago, and when he wandered downstream this morning, he found another spot that needed blocking as well.

As far as the final shot goes; it was a clear day, but I only had my phone, so the mountains in the distance are not as well resolved as they might be, but there they are, somewhere in Nevada. And yes, I do drive up and down this in my little old Corolla.

Out in the dark again

This time, I threatened the moon with a fence post if it did not hold still, so it did. Someday soon, I hope to have one of those newfangled cameras (as opposed to my three year old dinosaur) which can adapt for various ASA settings. (Monday June 19) If there is some light, a cell phone might pick it up (Tuesday June 20).

Of course if you shoot in the dark with a cell phone, it all turns green, no matter how black you think the night may be. What happens when I fall asleep in the dog's spot after a long day.
Sunday for Father's Day, we went to a concert where my husband was playing. At intermission, each child found a friend to chat with. I think they spoke to their dad too.
He sat up there by the back wall with his trombone. It is amazing that they can fit a whole symphony in such a small space.
It has been a busy week, but it is now more than half over, so I have some time to breathe and write or type or poke keys or whatever it is that I do. Maybe next week my thoughts will be more organized, or at least I will have time to get things in some semblance of order before I randomly click on that orange publish button and run off to the next big thing.

Thoughts on a short walk

put that book away
get out of bed and get dressed
it is time to go

sinuously still
seeking respite from the cold
cars could drive around

silly sprinkler runs
every time I walk by it
I am not a deer

little children write
without worrying at all
about what it means

beneath the drivel
you may find a treasure verse
so keep on reading

My morning ramble

Every morning after I get up, I take my Shadow for a walk. She has her needs and I have mine. Sometimes we just stroll around the property, and sometimes we go farther. Since school has been out, we have been taking our long walks earlier than usual. On school days, we walk one child toward the bus just before 7:00 and the other one all the way to the bus just before 8:00 and then walk anywhere between one and a half and five miles. Of course during school it is not too warm to walk after 8:00 in the morning. Shadow enjoys the scents and I enjoy the exercise. Now that school is out, that routine is gone, and everyone seems to think sleeping until 9:00 is just fine. I still wake up between 5:00 and 6:00 and Shadow still has her needs, so we have been walking much earlier than usual. It is much cooler earlier in the morning. We have had mornings in the sixties, but today dipped into the forties. I like the chill because I heat up so much when I walk.

As I walk I think. Sometimes I compose haiku, especially since I have been perusing my brothers’ creations. Most of mine are too quickly formed to be deep. I plan my day and think about what is going on that I want to share when I get home. Recently, my daughter pointed out that there is a notes section in my phone. Ah, the benefits of keeping a child around who is ahead of me on technology. I have been using it to help my leaky brain retain some of the poems I have been cogitating on. Of course, my dog thinks I am funny walking along and looking at that little black thing in my hand instead of her, but what does she know. She does love to lie on the couch when I am working on the computer. I have my end and she has hers. I let her have the end that is not by the electrical outlet, because I am so kind. The other afternoon, I was working on my computer on my bed, and she tucked into her corner where she sleeps at night.

Summer vacation is upon us, but I am still waiting for the relaxing, doing nothing and taking trips to the lake part of it to arrive. This week is a concert week. Living with a symphony musician, our lives are controlled to a point by the rehearsal and concert schedule. Someone scheduled concerts the week after school ended to start our summer at home. He even has one this afternoon. Happy Father’s Day to you too. We will take him out to dinner afterward to celebrate. I get tired even thinking about next week. We are doing Vacation Bible School at our church in the evenings. I am preparing and presenting the crafts for the kids. As if that is not enough, Bible Camp is in the morning. My son will be participating in both. My daughter will be sleeping in, and participating in the evening. The taxi driver will be busy. I am hoping to avoid working at camp other than doing registration Monday and Tuesday for a short time each morning. I plan on napping every afternoon. My son knows that he is to take his shower and a nap when he gets home from camp each day if he wants to go out in the evening. The following week is more relaxing, as the only planned activity is dropping my daughter off at camp for the week. I guess that is when I can do nothing and visit the lake, and she will just have to miss it.

When she comes home, we have another concert week, with the Fourth of July in it. At the end of that week, my daughter and I drive over the mountain to help my siblings start cleaning out Mom’s house. She has a few thoughts on what to do other than cleaning. I hope they do not occupy the whole week. We come home from that to Fair Week. The whole county seems to shut down and go to the fair. I guess that is part of the rural life. We are not showing animals (does anyone really need to see my dog?), but we are working on several fundraisers for our church. As soon as that ends, our next door neighbor heads off on vacation and I take care of her cats and dogs. The cats hate me by the end of the week, because they are not allowed out when Mama is gone. Personally, I would let them out and feed them outside, but she is afraid something might eat them if they do not come in at night, and they refuse to come in for me. The dogs love me, because I bring them food. Dogs are too easy to please. I even bring my Shadow over to play with them some days and they love that too.

The day after my neighbor returns, my daughter heads off to Spirit West Coast. When she returns, we have ten days left before high school starts. We made reservations at a motel by Lake Tahoe, but now my daughter says that Cross Country Camp is at the end of that week, in the opposite direction.

I guess I can relax when they go back to school. If you do not hear from me much, at least you know what I am up to.

my family

music in her ears
playing falling parachute
lost in her own world

snuggle warm in bed
surrounded by animals
time to get up son

Why stop right here now?
a new driver asks her mom
road work in the night

a dog on a couch
what is she thinking as she
sighs and looks at me?

come here little dog
the horse does not want to play
let’s go this way now

play pretty for me
your horn can sing so sweetly
I can sing along

honking his horn
symphony trombonist plays
morning, noon and night

I’m out with the dog
imagining doggerel
managing business

A bee in the house
looking for a way outside
scared girls running out

Father Serra sings
the children join the chorus
then they take a bow

girl in a blue car
silly Papa watch the road
be safe when you ride

care for fam’ly now
send them all your love today
later never comes

On the road again

So tell me what is worse, gabbing while driving or using the same instrument to take pictures through the bugs on the windshield? At least my daughter was not in the car, so I was not setting a bad example. Of course, if she was in the car, then she would have been driving and I could have really worked on my photography.

Caltrans has been busy fixing roads again. Here are some pix I grabbed with my phone while driving big old blue home today. I took my girl to a friend’s house, and she drove in, so I got to drive the big thing home.

I saw this guy in town. How many cones does he need? Has he been collecting them from the side of the road, or is he getting ready to plant more?

Then there is the little issue of camera repair. It is looking at the road better than it once did, but it is still doing some of the advertising for the local used car dealer. You be the judge.

Just when I thought it was safe to drive again, they want to work on 26 more miles of my road. A couple of days ago on the way to the big city, we stopped twice on the way down and once on the way back. When we are the second car to stop, we get the whole 20 minute wait. It is all part of learning to drive, I told my daughter as we sat and waited. Does it count as part of her 50 hours, 10 at night which are required for her license? She was behind the wheel, and it was at night.

They seem to think these shoulders are too narrow. I see a couple of other issues here which bug me more. My little car bounces all over in those three inch deep ruts in the pavement.

Oops, he missed a cone. People who drive Mercedes think of their hood ornament as a guiding star. I am not certain what to make of the one that keeps popping up in my pictures. Maybe it is my princess crown.

If you want to fix narrow shoulders, how about adding them to a road like this one that has none?

Or maybe pave a nice wide one on one side of the street for half a mile and none on the other.

I should not complain too much, at least those roads are paved, unlike this one. At least it has no ruts. We have four seasons around here, Snow, Raking, Fire and Road Construction. Road Construction actually comes before fire, because those orange signs bloom even before all the snow melts and the rains stop.

Flying boy

Several times a year, the local pilots association invites young children to experience flying. They take as many kids as show up for a short flight around the area. My boy is fascinated with flying, so we take them up on it when we can. This morning found us at the local airport. It is so small that UPS and FedEx truck shipments here because the runway is too short for their planes. There is no regularly scheduled passenger service, but there is a fine air ambulance company with a couple of helicopters and fixed wing craft to take care of the sick and injured.

While we were waiting our turn, CDF, now known as Calfire on paper landed a helicopter for refueling. At least they have fuel at our little field.

After much waiting, it was my son’s turn and he got to fly in a well decorated plane. He even sat in the copilot’s seat, though he could not see over the instrument panel. A friend of his was flying at the same time in another plane, and they had a chat via radio. Off they go . . .

It was not an unusually clear day, but the mountains all around were plain to see as the plane turned onto the runway. This time the camera saw the radio towers.

We have liftoff.The flight is over.

Whatever the weather

Around here, the only thing you can count on the weather for is that it will change. It is June according to the calendar. I actually took this picture a couple of days ago on the penultimate day of school. I had been out to walk the dog the night before, and noted that unusually cold rain was falling. Rain in June is not unusual, but rain that makes me shiver in my shorts is. If you listen to too many locals, snow is common for several occasions, Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day among them. I think we can add High School Graduation to the list. Compare this shot to the one a few days ago when there was a fire on the same mountain. Of course we all talk about the weather, but none of us had done anything about it.On my walk that morning, I took a few pictures to show the city dwellers among my readers what clear air looks like. What looks like low hills are actually about 5000 to 6000 feet above sea level. My camera did not pick up the radio towers which are about 20 miles from where I took the picture. Just across the field, you can see the road to town climbing the Bass Hill about a mile away.The mountains in the distance are about 50 miles off, and across the state line. I could actually see farther than my camera can record. As I sit here and type, the sun is out, but it is generating far more light than heat. Now that school is out, I expect warmer weather. I may not get what I expect.

All the good places

Monday I was too busy to write. The day started with yearbook sales at my son's school. For the past few years, I have been working as a co-editor of the book, which includes responsibility for advertising and sales as well. We presell as many as we can, then offer them to procrastinators when we have them available in late May and early June. Once sales were done and the students were off to class, it was time for a perennial favorite, the class play.This year, he is in fourth grade, so he is absorbing our state history. I am a bit confused by the progression of curriculum in the grade level classes, but what do I know? In third grade we learned about local county history, which was incomplete without mentioning that pioneers traipsed across the country to get here. In fourth grade we learn about state history, which is incomplete without understanding that there were no means of travel or communication from the popluated east to the uninhabited west that belonged to the natives and the Spanish. We needed to learn that there were people back east who thought GOLD was a good thing to come here to pick up off the streets. In fifth grade, we finally address that issue which has been lurking behind the stories for the past two years, the history of our country. Back to state history, the performance was a musical review called California Missions and More. It starts with JB who is making a movie about California Missions and wanders through various characters who took part in the missions era of California, including pioneers, miners, native Americans and various folk from Spain. My boy played Father Serra.

After the musical review was complete, I removed him from school and took him to the orthodontist. This time was for serious stuff. They were applying two appliances to his mouth to widen his arch. He has lots of big teeth and two small jaws. Between various procedures, he had to wait for parts to be manufactured, or the doctor to be ready to look in his mouth, so he found a friend.The orthodontist wants kids to have fun. They understand that the stuff they put in little mouths hurts a lot, so they do their best to make the office a place the kids want to visit. My son was looking forward to playing the video games when his treatment started. Of course, he played them when his sister had visits with the orthodontist. I made him obey the sign on the machine that said he had to brush his teeth first even when he did not have an appointment. I do not remember our orthodontist having anything this fun in the office when I had braces. This guy is a new addition even for this office.After the mouth work was complete, it was dinner time. We had to find something soft enough for a tender mouth. We split an order at the Chinese fast food place, then walked down the parking lot for something even softer. I had not even thought about the "Hot" light. That tells you how far this place is from home, and how rarely we visit. When we walked in and gazed into the display to make a decision, we were presented with free samples. At that point, I remembered the John Denver song about watching the buns rise. Like I said above, we go to all the good places.
When you admire the merchandise for long enough, they offer seconds, especially when you are the only ones admiring the dough wandering up and down before it jumps into the fryer then does a flip, climbs a hill and takes a bath in sugar. Certainly anything you watch all the way through the cooking process must be healthy. At least it is soft enough for the little mouth with all the hardware to deal with. I did not need my second helping, so my son suffered greatly and took care of it for me.

National Trails Day

We took a little bike ride to celebrate National Trails Day.

A couple of guys and an ox. A rare image of the California Girl taking a break before the big ride.
Lance Armstrong and my boy both ride yellow bikes.
My loyal steed resting for lunch.
Do any of you wonder which side of the family this comes from?
We rode through varied terrain.It is nice of them to make all these cuts to keep the grade near level.I am not certain who left those rocks there.Do not eat too much lunch before crossing this bridge. This is not what I would call a beginner hill.Fire took out the rail bridge a few years ago, so we took the old highway bridge.This is not a beginner hill either. We climbed it after we crossed under the highway. My boy and I walked up. My husband used his low gears because he could. I did not even try to ride after I stopped for the picture.The highlight of the trip: Tunnels!Yes, two of them, and they are both open this year.I am glad I was not here when this rock fell. Despite the rocks we did have to dodge, lots of rocks I remember from past years were gone this time.

The lower part of the trail has at least a half dozen river crossings like this one. In all, we rode about 26 miles, advertised as a 500 foot climb in the first few miles then gentle downgrade for the remainder of the trip. However you slice it, it is a long ride. Even though it is an old railroad grade, and sometimes used as a road by hunters and firewood cutters, it was rougher this year than I remember in the past. Maybe I am just getting older.