First day of High School, and a few birthday pics

My youngest granddaughter is about to go to her first day of school as a high school freshman. Her bigger sister is a senior in the same high school. And her biggest sis is a sophomore in college this year!

My 79th and friend, Teresa, masked!

Or unmasked! Lunch by the creek at Ole's Guacamoles.

More lunches will follow!!

Today's quote:

Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.

ROBIN WALL KIMMERER, author of "Braiding sweetgrass"

The Gulf of Mexico

Not me...just a granddaughter and her friends, with her mom and another mom!

My daughter-in-law, Michelle (not in these pics) and swim friends of my granddaughter (in white suit just above) went to Destin, FL, on the panhandle, for a last hurrah vacation in August. They left to come home just before Fred the tropical storm hit pretty close to where they were. Then they drove home through Atlanta, while Fred dumped a lot of wind and rain throughout Georgia and North Carolina...and they were back in Ohio by the time the rains got bad (if they did...I'm guessing on a lot of the timing here.)

Last year the same family from OH went to the outer banks of NC just in time for another hurricane to hit there. They have been pretty lucky to not have any real damage where they have been. I'm so happy and amazed. I read forecasts before going places...and am pretty hesitant when rain storms are known to be somewhere. But tropical storms and hurricanes...no way I'd be anywhere near them! I am glad I didn't know about the family being there either time until after the storms had passed by.

And since compiling this blog post, another Gulf storm, Ida, is due to hit Louisiana, about the same time Katrina made landfall on this date 16 years ago. I remember flying from Tampa to Denver early that morning, and how our plane went around the storm and we could see it out the windows (being higher than it was) as we skirted the Gulf coast.  The Gulf of Mexico is a petri dish for creating storms in the summer/fall months.

Today's quote:

Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.

ALBERT CAMUS

O'Keeffe's paintings of Poppies and accidents happen

OK, by the time you see these on your computer/pad/phone screen, they have been photographed by my phone, from a printed post card which was photographed from the original in Santa Fe, NM. But they are closer to the original than lots of prints you/and I see. I do own the glare off the shiny surface.

And Wed. I had an event here (accidental) at the senior apartments... I had just come in from checking the plants on my porch, and decided at least one needed watering, so I filled half gallon jug and went back out on the porch. My next door neighbor (who seldom goes outside her apartment) was lying by her walker on the sidewalk, in her quiet voice calling "help, help." 

So I put down the water and walked over to her, where most of her was sprawled across the Hosta plant, and her feet and legs were entangled in the walker (the kind with wheels and brakes) but her head was on the cement. I untangled the walker, while she said, "Help me up." I said, "Just wait a minute, your daughter will be right back." There fortunately was no blood!

Daughter had gone to get the car, and said a minute later "I left her sitting there on the walker while I went to get the car. She must have fiddled with the brakes."

Daughter was very upset, and tried to dial "911" and someone else at the same time. Another resident had seen this happening and alerted the landlady who then also came over. Several of them dialed 911 and I kind of kept holding my neighbor's hand and talking calmly, while daughter slowly got herself calmed down too. I think it was probably 10 minutes before we heard the sirens that the EMS were coming. I went back to my porch to water my plant. The last thing I said to my neighbor was "There's a rule, you have to wait for a medical person to check you out before you can get up." 

She answered "I know, I was a nurse."

She's now 83, and has 3 daughters. The one who was picking her up today was not the usual one that visits their mom. I think they come and fix food for her and clean up her apartment at least once a day. They said their mom had tried living with them, but had previously liked it here, so moved back in (a couple of years ago.)

So the excitement was over for all of my efforts, while more people poured out of their apartments to see the EMS come treat my neighbor. Her daughter had brought out some pillows to make her more comfortable, and was able to give the EMT's her history (some back surgery). I'm glad we were able to help her.

And I watered the marigolds.

Today's quote:

Awareness of gratitude will allow you to savor and, above all, appreciate your life with renewed grace.

Transportation through history

 Getting there is half the fun...

and a journey should be enjoyed as well as the destination...

and "are we there yet?"

Right!

A wagon train going through the mountains! These sepia photos come from FaceBook posts...

A repost of the narrow gauge rail that used to run from Black Mountain NC to nearly the top of Mt. Mitchell.

Ladder three of the Boston fire department, 1919

1920s gas station. I never saw pumps like that (just goes to show I'm not THAT old) But the signs above the pumps were still around when I learned to drive in the 50s

These buildings still stand on State St. in Black Mountain NC...sadly not in this shape!

Sharing this week with Sepia Saturday! The following photos are not from FaceBook sources!

Yay, I found a family photo which has a) a vehicle of transportation (back wheel and fender of a Studebaker) and b) a ship in the background! We moved to St. Louis in 1949, but I think we may have gone to San Jacinto TX for one more Sunday lunch with my grandparents before we left from Houston. At San Jacinto is docked a ship which may be the Texas, or something like that. OK, I'll go look it up.

That's the Battleship Texas. I still remembered! No actually I visited once again in the 70s with my own children. The restaurant there had great southern cooking!  But I bet it's gone. The San Jacinto monument is a monolith of course, and that memorializes the victory of Texans over the Mexican army, gaining their independence. There's a star on the top, of course, being the Lone Star State. There's now a museum there, which is only right.

Photo from Wikipedia

I used to think Texans who left that state were a bit loony about Texas history, food, events, music etc. And I thought people from other states would also have that same pride about their home states. And now I no longer do...the Texans may do things in a big way, and for many years they had the biggest US state (until Alaska came along)...but their state pride does indeed seem bigger than those other states.

Today's quote:

Gratitude begins in our hearts and then dovetails into behavior. It almost always makes you willing to be of service, which is where the joy resides.

ANNE LAMOTT

Pulmonary doctor visit and Congressional members with COVID

A few weeks ago I arrived early, and took this photo of their new (to me) sign.

A nice old building just down the street from the hospital (and like most medical practices, is now married to the for-profit corporation which bought our Mission Hospital system two years ago.

Waiting for the doctor, I took a couple of shots of the examination room. I'd already had an Xray taken of my lungs. 

Pretty nice doctor's office art. I didn't have to get on the exam table at all, but just talked with the doc, and he listened to my lungs. All good for this visit! Yay!

Xray had minimal something that he's going to be watching. He's been doing so for the last few visits.

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And an addition from Tues. news...about the members of congress who have had COVID...or not.

COVID AND CONGRESS
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews
Correspondent

Here in the COVID part of the 21st century, the battle between humankind and nature is self-evident.

But the sheer number of our leaders who have been infected is easily missed in the pandemic haze. Which is why we‘ve been keeping track.  

In the past week, we have seen a boom in COVID positive cases announced by members of Congress. Five members disclosed they have tested positive, making it the biggest surge in lawmaker cases since the January 6 riot and one of the biggest surges on Capitol Hill since COVID arrived.

Here is a look at the 83 members of Congress who have announced that they had COVID at some point.  

Publicly-known Positive Covid Cases - 116th and 117th Congress
(Tweet me if I’ve missed anything here. @LisaDNews. Appreciate any folos! )

HOUSE

1. Ben McAdams, D-Utah (March 18, 2020)
2. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla. (March 18, 2020)
3. Seth Moulton, D-Mass. (March 25, 2020, presumed w/ symptoms)
4. Joe Cunningham, D-S.C. (March 27, 2020)
5. Mike Kelly, R-Pa. (March 27, 2020)
6. Nydia Velaquez, D-N.Y. (Late March, 2020, presumed)
7. Trey Hollingsworth, R-Ind. (Symptoms late March, 2020, announced positive for antibodies in July.)
8. Neal Dunn, R-Fla. (Early April, 2020)
9. Tom Rice, R-S.C. (June, 2020)
10. Morgan Griffith, R-Va. (July, 2020)
11. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas (July 29, 2020)
12. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. (Tested end of July, 2020, positive antibody test)
13. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz. (Aug. 1, 2020)
14. Rodney Davis, R-Ill.  (Aug. 5, 2020)
15. Dan Meuser, R-Pa. (Aug. 22, 2020)
16. Jennifer Gonzales-Colon, R-P.R. (Aug. 24, 2020)  
17. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn. (Sept. 20, 2020)
18. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif. (Oct. 5, 2020)
19. Mike Bost, R-Ill. (Oct. 11, 2020)
20. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich. (Oct. 15, 2020)
21. Drew Ferguson, R-Ga. (Oct. 30, 2020)
22. Michael Waltz, R-Fla. (Nov. 7, 2020)
23. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. (Nov. 7, 2020 tested positive for antibodies. Unsure when he had COVID.) 
24. Don Young, R-Ark. (Nov. 12, 2020)
25. Tim Walberg, R-Mich. (Nov. 15, 2020)
26. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill. (Nov. 16, 2020)
27. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo. (Nov. 17, 2020)
28. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo. (Nov 18, 2020)
29. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash. (Nov 18, 2020)
30. Brian Steil, R-Wis. (Nov 22, 2020)
31. Joe Courtney, D-Conn. (Nov 22, 2020)
32. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C. (Week of Nov. 23, 2020)
33. Rick Allen, R-Ga. (Nov 24, 2020)
34. Susie Lee, D-Nev. (Nov. 25, 2020)
35. Austin Scott, R-Ga. (Nov. 30, 2020)
36. Ken Calvert, R-Calif. (Late Nov. Announced Dec. 15)
37. Ted Budd, R-N.C. (Dec. 1, 2020)
38. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala. (Dec. 4)
39. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. (Antibodies, announced test Dec. 11, 2020)
40. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga. (Dec. 15, 2020)
41. Joe Wilson, R-S.C.  (Dec. 16, 2020)
42. Mike Rogers, R-Ala.  (Dec. 17, 2020)
43. Cedric Richmond, D-La. (Dec. 17, 2020)
44. Rick Larsen, D-Wash. (Dec. 23, 2020)
45. Maria Salazar, R-Fla. (Dec. 23, 2020. Was member-elect then, but was quarantined still when Congress began)
46. Gwen Moore, D-Wis. (Dec. 28, 2020)
47. David Valadao, R-Calif. (Dec. 31, 2020)
48. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. (Antibodies. Test in December 2020. Story first reported March 2021.) 
49. Kay Granger, R-Texas (Jan. 3, 2021, test)
50. Kevin Brady, R-Texas (Jan. 3, 2021, announced)
51. Michelle Steel, R-Calif. (Jan. 6, 2021, announced.)
52. Jake LaTurner, R-Kan. (Jan. 6, 2021,  test) 
53. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla. (Jan. 6, 2021 test) 
54. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn. (Jan. 10, 2021) 
55. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash. (Jan 11, 2021)
56. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J. (Jan. 12, 2021) 
57. Brad Schneider, D-Ill. (Jan. 12, 2021) 
58. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y. (Jan. 13, 2021) 
59. Lou Correa, D-Calif. (Jan. 15, 2021) 
60. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif. (Jan. 19, 2021) 
61. Ron Wright, R-Texas (Jan. 21, 2021) Died. Feb. 7.
62. Lori Trahan, D-Mass. (Jan. 28, 2021) 
63. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass. (Jan. 30, 2021) Note: he had received both doses of vaccine by Jan. 20.  
64. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla. (July 19, 2021) *Fully vaccinated.
65. Steve Scalise, R-La. Antibodies. (Revealed antibodies positive July 20, 2020, unclear when was tested or contagious.) 
66. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. (Aug. 5, 2021) *Fully vaccinated.
67. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas (Aug. 6, 2021) *Fully vaccinated.
68. Barry Moore, R-Ala. (Aug. 20, 2021) Note: vaccination status unknown.
69. Troy Nehls, R-Texas (Aug. 22, 2021) *Fully vaccinated.

SENATE

1. Rand Paul, R-Ky. (March 22, 2020)
2. Tim Kaine, D-Va. (April, 2020, antibodies test)
3. Bob Casey, D-Pa. (May, 2020, antibodies test)
4. Bill Cassidy, R-La. (Aug. 20, 2020)
5. Mike Lee, R-Utah (Oct. 2, 2020) 
6. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. (Oct. 2, 2020) 
7. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. (Oct. 3, 2020) 
8. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa (Nov 17, 2020) Was president pro tem at this point, highest-ranking Congressional official to test positive.
9. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga. (Nov 20, 2020)
10. Rick Scott, R-Fla. (Nov 20, 2020)
11. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. (Aug. 2, 2021) *Fully vaccinated
12. Roger Wicker, R-Miss. (Aug. 19, 2021) *Fully vaccinated
13. Angus King, I-Maine (Aug. 19, 2021)  *Fully vaccinated
14. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo. (Aug. 19, 2021) *Fully vaccinated

Were in vaccine trials

1. Steve Daines, R-Mont. (enrolled in Pfizer trial, positive for antibodies)
2. Rob Portman, R-Ohio (enrolled in Johnson & Johnson trial)

117th Congress-elect

1. Ashley Hinson, RElect-Iowa (Nov. 12, 2020)
2.  Letlow, RElect-La. (Dec. 18, 2020 announced. Died Dec. 29.)
3. 
   

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This only includes the few members, who have reported as of Tues! It's interesting to note some of the more recent cases had had both of the vaccine doses.

Today's quote:

Gratitude celebrates life with a joyful "yes" at every knot of the great network in which everything is connected to everything.

BR. DAVID STEINDL-RAST

Roses and a sobering video

Roses for sale in bouquets in the CVS drug store the other day. I followed a fellow blogger and just took their photo. Free of course. And shareable.

I do wonder where they came from. Will have to look at the labels next time I go in there.

And this just came my way on Wed... interviews by NY Times, in Arkansas, where more than half the staff in the hospital don't want to be vaccinated...

Today's quote:

Tomorrow belongs to those of us who conceive of it as belonging to everyone; who lend the best of ourselves to it, and with joy.

AUDRE LORDE

Gift cards

My Ingles Grocery store, here in Black Mountain (which means it's mine!) had this kiosk displaying many kinds of gift cards.

I was sitting waiting for their new pharmacy to provide me with my booster shot last Mon. and noticed this. It must be worth a few big thousands of dollars, I thought, with the lower cards having prices as much as $50...each. I wondered if this reflects what bitcoins really are. Potential to purchase. Maybe.

I got my 3rd Moderna shot, finished my Starbucks Americano (which wasn't all that good - I think she used regular coffee rather than a shot of espresso)...and went off to do my shopping. Later in the day I noticed the site of the shot was very tender, so I took some ibuprofen. And that made me drowsy, so I took a nap. It doesn't take much to convince me to take a nap. I learned from the best, many cats in my history! The site of my vaccination was sore for the next several days, but not enough to keep me from lying on my side to sleep.

And thus I shared my experience of staring at the many gift cards...and then some!

And I thanked those who sent me birthday gift cards - through the web. I love them!!

Today's quote:

 

Joy is not a luxury, it is not a privilege. It is a resilience-giving, life-giving birthright and we can’t call forth in the world something we don’t believe in and embody…and it is as powerful as anger.

KRISTA TIPPETT

Full moons

It woke me up coming in my window on the night before full.  We've had so many evening rains, I was surprised to see the brightness. So I grabbed the mini-iPhone and used its camera...hand held, but perhaps leaned against the window glass. So these are shot through 2 panes of glass as well. None of the trees show at all.

First with regular lens, catching a neighbor's window below as well.

Maybe the window caused streaks...but at least it's a round moon, maybe 3x magnification

OK, I probably tried the 5x zoom effect...pretty blurry, but then again, spooky is ok too!

Today's Quote:

When we begin to listen with our hearts rather than our heads, our whole world changes and becomes softer.

Marking another anniversary around the sun

 A few days ago my neighbor, Jean, across the way in the next building, turned 97.

So I am in awe of her advanced years, and how she has a life that seems peaceful and maybe a bit boring. She walks just fine, sometimes with a cane. She wears a neck brace, but puts her hair in pin curls at night. She broke her neck a few years before I met her, and prefers to keep neck braced all the time now. I guess those muscles don't work anymore.

Jean also is deaf. She's sweet and always smiles and says hi, but I never can answer in a shout loud enough. My next door neighbor used to go sit with her on her chairs outside her door, and they'd chat about current events. They'd share reading the newspaper daily. Now my next door neighbor has moved to a nursing home after a fall, and Jean doesn't have a regular conversation with anyone in her door area.

Her son often  brings her a new potted plant (he's manager of a nearby manufacturing company) or a balloon for her birthday, or a meal to-go.

Well, this is how I see her. I look every morning to see if she's up yet. Sometimes she beats me, but this morning I raised my kitchen blind before she opened her bedroom and living room blinds. It's always great to see them and think of her sitting in her easy chair reading the paper.

So, you expected my birthday post to be about me?

Nope, it's about Jean. And do I want or expect to live to 97? Not really. That's what's on my mind. I'm pretty grateful to be able to see a woman that's not all that different from me, just plugging along. We have some very different details to our lives...yet here we are going about our days looking out our windows to the same lame dogwood tree. Just like Jean, it's still alive, and going through the changes of the seasons.

My mother made us matching dresses...my second birthday I think...maybe third? I was a war baby, so didn't know many things had been in short supply, like butter, sugar, toys made of metal...what you don't know you don't miss. 

WW II was going on and on. My father worked in an aircraft manufacturing plant as an accountant. He must have had something keeping him from enlisting (besides me) but I never knew what it was. And now I'm a pacifist, even though I always give credit to those who do fight for our freedom.

Today's quote:

We find our quiet minds as we sit still with our breath, as we make small jottings in our books, and as we practice silent waiting. Then one day, “the little ways” open into broad expanses.

MARV AND NANCY HILES

Barbara's birthday, my daughter-in-law

Barbara has a new venture, baking Macarons - sold in St. Petersburg as Moonlit Macarons

My oldest son Marty is Barbara's husband

Barbara did some modeling when she was maybe 18

Have a happy birthday, Barbara!

Today's Quote:

Everything flourishes in the nourishment of our appreciation; plants, people, the Earth, moments. When we live with that appreciation, we flourish.

KRISTI NELSON