Toby Is Not a Vegetarian, Neither Am I

I thought that last time

when I posted "Now What?"

that I'd have an answer by this time.

But, I still don't.

Instead, I tried for a couple of days

to become a vegetarian.

I told Toby about it.

He wretched and gagged--

sort of a cat Bleccchhh!

Then, he laid down again.

Hairball, he said, but I doubt it.

He went on

 

You know I’m a carnivore 

But I don’t have anything against

vegetarians 

I ate one this morning 

Bit its head off neatly 

Completely 

His tail flipped a lazy wave.

It was my turn to say Bleccchhh!

Then he asked

How'd your vegetarianism work out?

Well, I replied, not so hot.

I have to combine a legume

and a grain

to make a whole protein.

I don't like legumes very much--

maybe green beans

or if I'm really cold

pea soup is okay

Can't stand peanut butter

more than once a week

I like all the veggie

and fruit and nuts

and grains and seeds and such

Oh, I'm forgetting, I like refried beans!

I haven't had a good helping

of refried beans yet

in this Pennsylvania Dutch Country. 

We're not in Tucson anymore, old buddy!

You can say that again, he replied.

All there was to catch

in that Tucson condo

were cockroaches!

Still, I said, you didn't have

to live outside!

He was silent for awhile

Then he said

it was soooooo boring

and I didn't know how good 

field mice tasted

Did you forget about those

first Pennsylvania winters?

I asked.

No! he said

But I liked my own

back porch blanket igloo

with the heater

Let's be honest

it was a lot to get used to

He rolled over on his back

then said

I have perks here

What do you mean by "perks"

I asked, feeling guilty

and a little sad that

he has had to live outdoors

ever since.

He licked a paw

and rubbed his face

then said, I run my own 

show out here

rule the rodents

sleep in the barn

and sometimes for fun

I rule the dogs too

Toby rolled back onto his stomach

eyed the chickens 

scratching and pecking their

findings a few yards away.

Say, what about eggs?

Do you eat eggs? he asked

One of the roosters

looking back at Toby

stretched up tall

and flapped his wings

Toby's tail flipped up and down

in a wide arc

I replied yes, I eat eggs,

fish, too. And in a whisper

I said I like a piece of

chicken now and then

I sighed and said

to be honest

I gave up on 

the legume-grain thing--

A couple of days and it was over

Toby's attention shifted

He stood and stretched his

whole orange long length

Protein is running around out there

were his parting words as

he sauntered over

to the pasture fence and

leaped to a fence post top

He paused to survey

the field ahead

jumped down

and disappeared

into the tall grass

*

As it happens Tucson is on my mind as I take note of friends Paula and Carl's news this week that they just went solar. They provided Carl's wonderful photo of their new solar array...

...including a real rainbow! and the Catalina Mountains, too.
What's not to love!

Paula provided info for how it works and their setup, which I quote...

• ...the backup battery [that will arrive this fall will go] in the storage room off our garage, where we had some of the rest of the solar-related equipment installed.
• Some of this other solar-related equipment includes an inverter, which converts the electric field from direct current (DC) (which is what the solar panels produce) to alternating current (AC) (which is what our household appliances and the electric grid use).
• The battery is a Tesla Powerwall and is 4' high x 2.5' wide x 6" deep and weighs about 250 lbs.
• We won't be entirely independent from the electric utility with only 1 battery; we'd need 2 batteries to also cover the "power hogs" of the A/C, stove & dryer. But even with 1 battery, if the power goes out, we'll have electricity to run everything else (including fans, fridges, lights etc.) for a few days at least.
• We have 18 solar panels mounted on our roof; each panel is about 5.5’ tall x 3.5’ wide and weighs 41 lbs. They're mounted in 3 groups of six panels each (you can see these 3 groups in the photo).
• We should save at least $1500/year on electricity (but obviously every house's savings is different) and we were able to take advantage of both federal and state income tax credits.
• Our investment should break even in about 8 years.

I hope that many others will join them to counter our global warming emergency with whatever sustainable method possible. Thank you many times over, Paula and Carl! 

*

And speaking of our vast, global concerns, despite the overheated, 117 degree Las Vegas venue, Sonja, Jeff, Elijah, Kingston, Valerie, Tim, Duane and Simone all met there for another of Elijah's basketball tournaments. The team made it all the way through to the finals but didn't capture the title. Kudos to Elijah! that was a good show however it came out.

Here's a smattering of pictures texted from their trip...

Time out for lunch...

Big brother reading the bedtime story.

Sonja.

Sonja, Jeff & Kingston.

While all that basketball practice was going on between games, there was plenty else to do...

Kingston and Simone.

And then, the trip back home...

*

Aidan gathered ingredients to bake a pound cake--and make rockets for my birthday...

Rocket supplies.

Assembly.

Launch pad.

From Aidan...

By the next day on my birthday, he had assembled 17 rockets. After a beautiful birthday supper that included delicious bounty from Wendy's garden...

The beautiful pound cake.
The bowl and contents on the left and the eggs were for me from Wendy.

...the evening cooled nicely for rocket launching. We all took turns setting them off. Here's a couple of them. It was a mistake to think my slo-mo ones would upload so the video with the highest, longest rocket arc will have to be imagined...

Thank you, Aidan! It was fun to be in on the construction, even getting to light up a couple of them, then seeing them actually working so well!

The evening included a quick Facetime from Keoni and a video he made with none other than the Takács Quartet with whom he's been rehearsing...

Thank you, Takács Quartet!.

Thank you, Keoni!

On top of that wonderful special moment came dessert...

What an evening! What a birthday!!! I can taste, smell, see and hear it all over again. Made me not mind it happened in my ninth decade.

Still more was to come. The following Saturday, Pat and Marge got takeout from Giacomos, the new, beautiful deli in Quakertown with wonderfully good everything Italian. We had a lovely back porch birthday and visit at Marge's. 

Thank you, everyone. I've had a great time. I'm glad we can be together a bit no matter how it takes place; electronically, face-to-face, postal, smoke signals...every bit means a lot. I love it that you are there.

Well, it's late again, so I'd better wrap this up. I hope you are well, vaccinated, and safe from harm.

From a visit to the Philadelphia Art Museum.

Now What?

A good, good late afternoon and evening a week ago to celebrate Independence Day. The perfectly timed late-day weather break meant a very enjoyable late afternoon barbeque meal on the back porch at the farm followed by Aidan's fireworks show amid beautiful skies and wafts of cool breeze.

The beginning of Wendy's fresh from the garden zucchini casserole. We reminisced about the old, glass dish she inherited from me that once was new in my own early kitchen.

Aidan's test case first rocket firing.

One of the bigger firings he set off...

It was especially satisfying that the weather that evening was so comfortable and welcome.

Keoni is in CA for the summer and we did miss him, yet happy he is able to pursue an important direction in his life.

Out in Tucson, Paula has continued her daily desert color renderings. She shared June with us including a peak at her process during the month...

With Palo Verde tree seedpod.

It's a treat to see Paula's Southwestern colors on my screen and how well and inquisitively she looks at so many aspects of that beautiful region. She writes in an email that she counted the peak-time pincushion cactus blooms one recent day in their yard. There were 576. Then, the next day she found the count had increased dramatically to 1206!!! Yes, it was hot! 100+ degrees. Such is love for the desert southwest. I get it.

It's pretty quiet now. Aidan is taking care of the farm while Wendy and John visit friends in upstate NY. He has mowed the perimeter of the farm where we walk and will cut back some branches now over-growing the pathways. We're in a short break from the heat, soon ending.

It's still a little strange coming out of the deep pandemic isolations. All is okay yet reëstablishing direction and commitment remain somewhat unsettling. Sort of an individual (and collective, I think), "Now what?!"

Pandemic Era Independence Day

A settling in.

A getting used to.

A more full life.

Relaxing a bit.

Going out and about a bit more.

We got the vaccines.

We're the lucky ones.

Yet we're not post-pandemic.

Not by a longshot.

We could be.

But we're not.

Too many haven't bared their arm.

They endanger my great-grandson.

He can't have the vaccine yet.

He is six.

He is beautiful.

He is everyone's child.

*

Birdsong is coming through the dense fog this morning. Rain has washed to the ground the birdseed I scatter along my windowsill outside. I feel grateful to have made it this far. So many are safer now, yet we have a profoundly cruel twist that so many have died, so many cope with loss, so many remain virus-injured, while so many won't help to end this pandemic. I don't understand.

*

Keoni is in California. I had a nice walk with him one day before he left for the summer of music pursuits there. Our walk began with a visit on Wendy's inviting back porch while he ate some late lunch...

Now the summer insects are having their day. On another day, a walk with Aidan ended with our proactive search of each other for deer ticks. Sure enough, one had gotten on his lower leg. He squashed it with a rock. Our trail around the farm is regularly coursed by deer. We'll continue to be careful and avoid brushing tall grasses and branches. For that reason, we haven't investigated the pond which is surrounded by a field of tall grass. I'm reminded that neighbor Joe cut it last year with his tractor mower but this year that won't happen because Covid took him.

Four of us, Wendy, John, Aidan, and I, will gather at the farm for barbeque to mark this Independence Day. The not-far-away summer camp out of sight further down the ridge will likely have their firework display again. We'll miss Keoni, though he's only been home for last year's 4th and his July birthday for that one time in about 10 years. Aidan's summer will be with us. He'll leave in late August for Cincinnati. Soon, we'll pick raspberries again.

*

As you turn into the property at Dock, there is to the right a lovely community garden. No doubt Pat will sign up for a space there next year. (My artificial knees don't permit kneeling or squatting to get at the weeds.) Almost our entire community is vaxxed, save a very few masked, medically exempted. Restrictions now allow us to be amongst each other without masks, and family visits are taking place. I enjoy the freeing option of people at my table now or going to other parts of Dock.

Dock Community Garden.

Lots to celebrate--fathers, graduations, and a friend who became a neighbor. All going on at once.

Aidan closed out his high school years last January by finishing all his coursework early. He chose not to do graduation at the end of the "normal" school year, but he deserves congratulations anyway in my book. So CONGRATULATIONS!!! Aidan. Well done, grandson!

Keoni attended his "distanced" outdoor graduation...

The President speaks in my living room.

First, there were five Honorary PhDs given. One was to...

Alan Alda.

I captured the moment Keoni's name happened...

Keoni and a host of happy graduates. 

CONGRATULATIONS!!! to you, Keoni. Well done, grandson.

*

As many, many people know there is a lot of grunt work to moving and the last several days involved much grunting as Pat began her move into our Dock Manor building. She is upstairs on the opposite end with a lovely view including trees. Yea! Her family is helping and I have helped along the edges, too. Big stuff comes today with an actual moving company bringing the big items. 

Out west, Kingston sent (many) photos and videos from the back seat of the family car as they traveled from Salt Lake City to Albuquerque to visit Grandma Valerie and Grandpa Tim. 

You get the idea...

On the home front, on an enjoyable walk, Aidan grabbed a locust from a fence rail and carried it with us to the barn lot. He wanted to give it to Miss Florence the Friendly Chicken...

Wendy sent a placid scene a little earlier in the week...

From Wendy. Toby and young Bert have found a way. 

From Aidan. Toby is handling the heatwave well.

The raspberries are almost ready to eat.

As Promised: Catching Up

First, today, our hearty congratulations to Aidan who won the Senior Tri-County Competition with his recording of...

Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 107: Mut 1, Allegretto

Aidan Bolding, cello. Seth Trumbore, accompanist.

(at 14 min 19 sec -- 21 min 50 sec)

And...

As promised: Keoni sent the remaining two recordings from JYARD Quintet's May 22nd concert...

*

Memorial Day brought an email from Majorie Spiers, resident of Halesworth in the UK, who keeps in touch commemorating the airmen who flew out of the airfield there by Halesworth during WWII. My friend Boyd Morse, now deceased, flew 32 missions in all. On D-Day, he and his crew flew two missions instead of one. Here, quoted in part from Majorie's email and some pictures she sent...

May 31, 2021. "...our own WWII airmen who flew from Halesworth were remembered here today.  The flags were raised over the Memorial Site on Halesworth airfield, to half-mast at 8am and to full at 12noon.  Red and yellow roses have been placed on each of the memorials to the 489th BG, the 56th FG and the 5th ERS.  

We placed our wreath on the 489th Memorial yesterday to remember the first combat mission of the 489th BG on 30 May 1944 and also to remember the two airmen who died on that first mission - S/Sgt Aldo Pellini and Lt Joseph Garber.

The attached photos of the Memorial Site show Halesworth Airfield today.  We remember them all with heartfelt gratitude.  

We send our best wishes to you all on Memorial Day and hope you have a wonderful time with your families and friends. 

Friends of the 489th Bomb Group

Halesworth - UK "

489th Bomb Group crew members gathered in Halesworth, the UK on May 30, 1944, the 50th Anniversary of their combat missions beginning. My friend Boyd Morse in back, farthest left.
From Marjorie Shiers.

Thank you, Marjorie, and friends of the 489th, for so faithfully keeping the spirit alive. It remains an inspiration and confirmation that all that the people and this connection stood for is alive and well, and reminds me of the responsibility to nurture and grow it.

*

From Tucson, the artist group of which Paula is a part are again gathering for art, inspiration, and food at Tohono Chul Park. Here is her rendering for this milestone...

A few minutes ago, Paula sent her May colors that I'll share with you, also...

My faves are Ladybug and Gambel's Quail chicks. I can picture the tiny chicks all in a row running across a dirt road right behind their mama.

Keoni collaborated with Jasmine Carey, a photographer, who asked him to improvise a soundtrack for her footage of a baby whale for a photography expo. Here's the result...

I'm the astonished grandmother this morning finding out and watching this melding of audio and visual smack-dab in front of me on a phone app that both grandsons now use all the time. Keoni put the finishing touches on this piece sitting with me on the couch while I sewed missing buttons on his shirts. He hosted some Perky Joe's pastries for us and I added fruit and eggs. What's not to like. Soon, he'll be heading to California for his summer music plans.

Another fine visit, about a week ago--both Keoni and Aidan came over for lunch and a movie...

The apartment was all ready!

...and, here they came. Aidan made a big batch of popcorn they brought along.
What a great break from pandemic life!

We laughed and visited, then watched "The Intouchables" and laughed some more.

And, here's some more good news--my friend Pat will be moving into Dock Manor, too, on June 19th! We lunched, celebrated, and danced...

And, the two of us went to the Philadelphia Horticultural Society's big annual Flower Show...

It was 10 a.m., and already 93F at the entrance! The show's transition to a park after 150 years indoors was not a good one--surely, not helped by a heatwave. I found absolutely nothing I was looking for and Pat agreed that the whole thing was bust. So we left after about an hour. Then, celebrated some more with a late takeout lunch back at the apartment.

Out west, Elijah and his dad Duane are at Grandma Valerie and Grandpa Tim's in Albuquerque where Elijah will be doing a couple of basketball camps. Go Elijah! Have a good time, too!

Valerie sent a picture of Nigel who runs the household but it turns out misses Izzy who was at the groomers...

Nigel: "He's not in here! What'd you do with him?"

Today, the heatwave broke and it is now 82F mid-afternoon this Thursday. I'll try for a walk at the farm later. 

*

And now for the Farm Report: On a walk, before the scorchers hit, I found a tree had fallen across my path...

These are ash trees, dead now for well over a year in a die-off from the borer invasion. Sad and now destructive as they've dried and fall in winds and storms.

John sent these photos of them a couple days later...

Further news from the farm...

Sebastian, Frezz, and Bert greet me at the gate.

So, do Xylo and his mom.

Often, Wendy will be at one of her diverse labors.

The garden is already yielding a lot. I have enjoyed Wendy's lettuce largess, and got to taste the strawberries, yum.
Thanks, Wendy.

Keoni and Aidan standing where the tree fell a couple of days later!

Wendy sent this of Toby and his dog buddies hanging out.

*

Personal Catch Up Desk: Snippets that missed publishing over the last year.

May 6, 2021---Who's in charge?

So much, so much, so much. I am swearing. A lot. Subjects in my head leap-frog over each other, seconds pass, another, then another. Seconds, not minutes go by. Repeat. 

Who's in charge? 

Raise your hand if you've been hacked. Hmmm...lots of you, I'll bet. Add that to the general mix of our times. Hack thwarted, thanks to swift credit card company action--many, many thanks. It could have been so much worse. Collateral lists require days of attention to complete the necessary steps.  

Days later: I think I hit all the bases. Less swearing. Must be a good sign.

It also helps with NO news after quick skims of the e-newspapers early in the day. 

None whatsoever after breakfast--thoughts become cleaner, calmer.

---

May 4, 2021

Four crowns and one more to go. How did this happen!? 

Answer: Seven years of trying out dentistries, I did not find the one. Also, what was missed were cracks and failed fillings; either the dentists didn't look at the obvious on X-rays or maybe just dumb dentistry. This news from my latest dentist whom I found just pre-pandemic, saw late summer, and who outlined items that would be addressed. But my other medical issues intervened until this spring when I resumed dental appointments and got to see my own digital X-ray images. Even I could see what was needed! So I'm pretty mad at my prior PA dentists.

What's the point of telling you all this? The new dentist is the best I have ever had or even heard of! Not only does SHE run a very professional, technological, competent, careful, compassionate, informative office with seven or eight FEMALE employees with one male periodontist, but they also did my first four crowns two at a time, 3-D printed them, baked, and installed them right then and there! 

Plus, my retirement dental insurance switched in January to a much more comprehensive dental plan that covers a LOT more of the expenses. Whew!

---

January 1, 2021. 

Begin again. Welcome, 2021.

Wait for it...Self haircut (turned out okay...if George Clooney cuts his own hair, so can I)

I wonder if I’ll be warped when this is over. 

---

12-16-20 - The geese just did a morning flyover. It is welcome this day of my daughters' and family's mourning. The geese reminded me again of the important parts of living on this planet. 

---

Saturday Morning, August 29th, 2020--

The Weather Desk: What's left of Hurricane Laura is here now as she journeys back to the sea. The destructive devastation wreaked with her Gulf Coast clash is no longer sustained. The Atlantic awaits. Images of the path she plowed remain in my heart. And, those from our fiery West Coast.

We are engulfed in extremes.

*

The raspberries bloomed and it won't be long to picking time.

I'll close for now with wishes and anticipation of new and better times. No, I don't want it to be like the past. I hope for refreshment and heightening of our senses of our world and all the interesting folk, creatures, and elements that live with us on, under, or in the sky; for acceptance of ourselves as we are with a new awareness of each other. Really, are we still so scared of others that we have to act crazy? We all know someone who died of the pandemic, the many, many deeply mourning those lost, those still sick, those severely injured. We're all vulnerable. It's so simple. Find someone to dance with you, sing a song, smell the fresh breezes. Find a way. Get vaxxed.

Live. 

Together.