Garden peeks

 With all the neighbors driving cars to and from home on Walker St, not many of them will see the garden features of this home.

So I clicked away with my phone camera to capture more details of their buffer between the house and the street.

The side yard drops off and has some lawn which looks out on a big privacy hedge of more of these bushes that have grown very tall. I wonder if these smaller ones will eventually be as big, and nobody can even see into their lawn. The pool is over to the right side behind the house...already invisible to the road.

Today's quote:

A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization. -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (18 Sep 1709-1784) 

At the end of the road

Walker St.

And I've not been up to the very end of the road but a couple of times. It means stopping and resting several times to catch my breath. I'm not walking it this evening because at 7 pm it's still 78 degrees out. I'm happy to post blogs for the future (since I wrote this back last Friday.)

 Looking up at the end of the road...two driveways invite people up to houses which I could not see. And on the far left is a driveway of a house very close to the road. You can see the black post of a mailbox on the far right, for a house which has an electric gate across their drive (not shown). If you look closely in the middle of the photo, you can see a tilted mailbox that stands next to a drive up through all the greenery (not the one with two tracks that has light towards the end.

And looking down the hill from the end of the road, you can't see much except that fire hydrant. I'm glad the town of Black Mountain is protecting these homes.

I must add this photo and my feelings about Ruth Bader Ginsburg dying yesterday. We all know the people who are ruining our government will try to replace her and take away many of the rights which she fought to keep for women. So I and all the women I know have a duty to do whatever we can, in our small ways, to stand for justice as RBG showed us...that her strength didn't rely upon physical size, that her words were well chosen and thoughtful, and that this heroine of American Justice will have dedicated her life for a cause which will continue.

Today's Quote:

We often think that vulnerability is a kind of weakness, but there’s a kind of vulnerability that is actually strength and presence.

RAM DASS

Young at heart

 Borrowing an oldie but goodie (do they even use that term now?) from another blogger (HERE) who posted this old favorite of mine the other day...

Frank and Swinging on a Star
Thanks, Sabine.

I remember learning the words, and maybe singing in some performance while in school. It is silly and yet presented somehow as an adult song. Yet I think it's targeted for young people.

I'm trying to lighten up my life these days. I have friends who can tell all kinds of jokes. But me? I seldom remember both the joke and the punch line. Actually, I remember lots of punch lines. Maybe they are worth something somewhere...

OK, Here's the Potato Bag exercise...
An exercise for people who are out of shape: Begin with a five-pound potato bag in each hand. Extend your arms straight out from your sides, hold them there for a full minute, and then relax. After a few weeks, move up to ten-pound potato bags. Then try 50-pound potato bags, and eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-pound potato bag in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. Once you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each bag. 

I consider that a shaggy dog type story. There was this shaggy dog....and that's all I remember, except there might have been an elephant and a penguin in the joke. And it did go on and on and on. Haven't a clue how it finally ended.

Knock knock?
I remember the one with the orange. Do you?
That's all I remember. I mean, I know the whole joke.

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Orange.
Orange who?
Knock knock.
Who's there?
Orange.
Orange who?
Knock knock.
Who's the he-- there?
Banana
Banana who?
Orange you glad I didn't say orange again?

Oh I just realized I remembered the whole joke wrong. It's supposed to be banana first. Duh.

Today's quote:

Let us keep courage and try to be patient and gentle.

VINCENT VAN GOGH

Plastic recycling and women cooking...

Today I want to veer towards the future, and change the subject from cooking to plastics. Fear not, I have a link to a previous post about how women have cooked...

This article says a lot to us in 2020.  /how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled

NPR and PBS Frontline spent months digging into internal industry documents and interviewing top former officials. We found that the industry sold the public on an idea it knew wouldn't work — that the majority of plastic could be, and would be, recycled — all while making billions of dollars selling the world new plastic.

The industry's awareness that recycling wouldn't keep plastic out of landfills and the environment dates to the program's earliest days, we found. "There is serious doubt that [recycling plastic] can ever be made viable on an economic basis," one industry insider wrote in a 1974 speech.

Yet the industry spent millions telling people to recycle, because, as one former top industry insider told NPR, selling recycling sold plastic, even if it wasn't true.

 The rest of this article has interviews with more people, including 

Chevron Phillips Chemical's $6 billion (new plant in Texas)...their investment in new plastic..."We see a very bright future for our products," says Jim Becker, the vice president of sustainability for Chevron Phillips, inside a pristine new warehouse next to the plant...(a new petrolium/plastic plant.)

And here's my organic greens package, which says it's a recycled plastic container, which can be recycled again. I'll sure try to recycle it again. But according to the article above, it's not likely to happen.

Just thought since I'm thinking about how to use less plastic, I'd share it with my SS friends.

----------------------------

But more in line with Sepia Saturday's prompt...

Have I ever cooked over an open fire? Yes, with a grate in a camping area...so the pans had something to sit upon. And I usually was using wood rather than charcoal.

The way I cooked when camping (1969-1998)

These Australian women are cooking over an open fire...as Sepia Saturday shared this week.

in 1915, while wearing their hats!

And allowing a photographer to capture their efforts.

I feel sorry for the one in a white skirt. She is probably sitting on a camp stool (hidden by her skirts) If not, then she is a master of a squat - the exercise I can't hold for even 1 second!

So I went trolling (that's somewhat educated searching) through my old photo collection and found these other women (yes, it was always women!) cooking on wood stoves, or earlier at fireplaces.

Sepia Saturday has me beat...no billy cooking. I had to look up what a billy was...since I'd only heard of it in a song...Waltzing Matilda.

The term billy or billycan is particularly associated with Australian usage, but is also used in New Zealand, Britain and Ireland.

It is widely accepted that the term "billycan" is derived from the large cans used for transporting bouilli or bully beef on Australia-bound ships or during exploration of the outback, which after use were modified for boiling water over a fire; however there is a suggestion that the word may be associated with the Aboriginal billa(meaning water; cf. Billabong). SOURCE: Wikipedia

I have formerly posted a Sepia Saturday post about women cooking in fireplaces (for how many years?) and then cooking on wood-burning stoves, HERE.

Today's quote:
Input from experts is valuable but our own sense of the truth is ultimately the most important.
Daily Om

Fish dreams

This was posted on Facebook, and I loved the humor of someone putting cats' faces on fish bodies.

Here were some more normal looking fish in the big aquarium at the cardiac center's waiting room.  They were somewhat curious about me, but not the phone very much.

And this is where I wish I were, and the fish are probably dreaming the same thing.

Today's quote;

Wait for evening.
Then you'll be alone.

Wait for the playground to empty.
Then call out those companions from childhood:

The one who closed his eyes
and pretended to be invisible.
The one to whom you told every secret.
The one who made a world of any hiding place.

And don't forget the one who listened in silence
while you wondered out loud:

Is the universe an empty mirror? A flowering tree?
Is the universe the sleep of a woman?

Wait for the sky's last blue
(the color of your homesickness).

Then you'll know the answer.

Wait for the air's first gold (that color of Amen).
Then you'll spy the wind's barefoot steps.

Then you'll recall that story beginning
with a child who strays in the woods.

The search for him goes on in the growing
shadow of the clock.

And the face behind the clock's face
is not his father's face.

And the hands behind the clock's hands
are not his mother's hands.

All of Time began when you first answered
to the names your mother and father gave you.

Soon, those names will travel with the leaves.
Then, you can trade places with the wind.

Then you'll remember your life
as a book of candles,
each page read by the light of its own burning.

Li-Young Lee
(from Behind My Eyes)

Thanks to the blogger who shared this.

Intersection of Old US70 and Walker St

These are the four newer homes on Walker St. I'm pretty sure they all have a dog, since the owner of the furthest new one was out walking his, and as I walked by, two more were at the windows talking to me. There are few pedestrians out these days, just a few of us seniors from the apartments nearby.

Down at the corner of Old US 70 and Walker St. is a lovely 2 story house behind this fence. They keep up their corner very nicely.

End of summer plants are still somewhat green on the corner.


Look across to the corner where the Blue Ridge Apartments sign is located...



Just standing by the road taking photos was a bit dangerous, as these roads don't have any pedestrian (or bicycle) lanes. I feel sorry for folks who want to bike around...mountain roads are especially dangerous. The caution light down the road is the intersection of N. Blue Ridge Rd...where there is no shoulder even upon which to walk.

Today's Quote:

The most unrealistic person in the world is the cynic, not the dreamer. Hope only makes sense when it doesn’t make sense to be hopeful.

PAUL HAWKEN

Webs

 The other morning I walked before all the dew had dried...trying to avoid the heat of the day which was forecast. I found all these spider webs on several bushes...and remembered other photographers taking pictures of them, so I tried also.

Another building with apartment doors on a central indoor hall, on three levels.

 These dew drops were actually under the web, sort of suspended waiting to have enough air or sun dry them up.

 No dew drops were visible on the many other webs. Such is the nature of nature.

Today's quote:

There must be always remaining in every life, some place for the singing of angels, some place for that which in itself is breathlessly beautiful.

HOWARD THURMAN

Out and about again...

 Remember a week or so ago (time is so mixed up these days!!) I showed you the back of a house with several nice balconies...well, I finally drove around to the front...which looks very different, don't you think?

 Here's the back...yes, I swear it's the same house!~

 And here's the remainder of the sunflowers...at least the zinnias are still blooming.

 Then I noticed the roofs of new homes...and drove where I could see them...but not where there was access to them.  They look really big compared to many of the existing homes in this area.

 This road didn't really connect to the one that their approach is on. I'm glad because this little road has a 90 degree turn in it already, as well as a steep hill next to the sunflowers fence....it doesn't need any more traffic than the 3 houses already on it.

Today is the anniversary of my granddaughter, Cayenne's birth. Happy Birthday to a gifted young woman!

Today's quote:

We feel like separate water droplets but we are also ocean.

JANE HIRSHFIELD

Playing with trains

Ah, trains...some memories I've already shared about my family's connections with trains. Today let's remember playing with them.

Our train that ran under the Christmas tree in 1953 looked somewhat like this.

A Lionel train, which ran around in a circle over and over again, under the Christmas tree of course. It was fun for maybe the first 10 minutes to "drive the train." But then it would usually hop off the tracks and had to be returned to a special part of track (coupling?) which my father added, where the wheels would be easily corrected onto the tracks.

Fast forward to when my sons were very young, probably about 5 and 8. We turned the garage into a train table, which had a mountain in the middle where a child could easily stand, and the train was an HO gauge, rather than the bigger O gauge of the Lionel train set. We didn't have these buildings as are shown on the above layout. And it was only played with for a few months until the next interesting toys came along.

My great grandfather, Charles Herman Miller (who I never knew) was a conductor for the railroad that ran through San Antonio, TX. Here's a post about him (and the family) from a few years ago. (And here's another post about his coming from Germany to Texas.)  Since some of his daughters were born in other towns, it's likely he worked in those areas for some of the time. I find it interesting that his eldest daughter (my grandmother) wouldn't ever ride trains, but chose to fly instead in the 40s and 50s.

On the other hand, my mother, sister and I would go to San Antonio from St. Louis MO in the summertime...on a nice clean train with an observation car. I liked sitting up there all night, while my sis and mom took uncomfortable naps in their seats down below. I may have slept some of the time also. I think it was a 16 hour ride. And I don't remember anything about the trip coming home. That's the way this young person would be excited about arrivals, and disinterested in returning home.

Sepia Saturday this week has a big engine...one of those old steam locomotives.

Did my great grandfather perform his duties as a conductor on one of these in early Texas? I'm guessing yes. 

 

American Pie and New World imagining

Last week Ronnie Bennett shared on her Saturday "Interesting Stuff" post, this video about the meaning of "American Pie." I have heard it many years, and sang along to it...but the meaning was just that it was a tribute to the Buddy Holly plane crash...not as deep as this video shows.

Sorry, I can't get the link to show you the YouTube video but it is there above. Enjoy Don McLean and a trip back to the 60s.

And here's another YouTube show, JewelSong gave us a wonderful service last Sunday...Laboring to Birth a New World - Jewelsong, a UU service held virtually for Black Mountain NC.

Yes, lots of people are thinking about how we want the world to look after the COVID-19 virus is under control, when people can walk around the streets, meet friends and hug them, and have a cup of coffee without anyone in a mask.  Haven't you been thinking about it too?

I jumped as far ahead as 2023, and imagined a Utopia. There will be world peace. Nobody wants to waste our precious resources on war, weapons, or killing each other's children. And education will be so much better, with children asking questions that they want to learn about....and many more teachers for the ratio. 

Food will be plentiful, and distributed more locally than it is now, where shipments go all over the world. Jobs will be available for those who wish to do whatever they are interested in, and training will be offered, as well as adequate compensation.

You got it, nobody goes hungry, nobody is unemployed, nobody is uneducated. The arts (in all their forms) are supported by communities, and music and dance and fine art and craft are highly respected.

Everyone will be recycling, and there will be a great reduction in use of things that can't be repurposed or recycled. Baically people will get off the consumerism train, no longer wishing for more, more expensive, more in style, more whatever is advertised.

Politics will still offer opposite views, but there will be term limits in all offices, as well as limited campaign expenditures, and a limit to how long campaigns run before elections. The electoral college will be defunct, and "one person one vote" will finally give equal representation in legislatures.

Healthcare will no longer be managed by insurance companies...and everyone will have access to the care they need.

You may have noticed that my first wish was the most important, one that I've sincerely put on my Christmas Cards for years...peace on earth. Why not?

Art in the neighborhood

 After some of the underbrush was trimmed back last week, I can see how tall some of these trees are as I climb the hill of Walker Rd. (yes I thought it was a street, but it's just a Rd.)

 In front of the A-Frame house are a couple of sculptural elements. (view going up hill)

View coming down hill. Both this home and the cottage further down the hill have lots of trees shrouding them.

On the right (going uphill) are a lot of garden features, but I heard a fountain...so I  peeked over the hedge to see...

Yes, over by the porch, right above the head of this little angel in this picture...a stream of water flows from a bowl. You probably have to be there and hear it to find it. The yard has many little attractive garden features. More photo opportunities, I think!

I love reading a blog by Ronni Bennett, who has several terminal conditions, and is sharing her own thoughts and feelings with her readers. She approaches death by talking about her own sense of it, and sharing other's writings. The comments on her blog are often full of supportive and caring people's thoughts as well...and there are usually a lot of them.  Yesterday she shared a video of a children's book about death...and I got a lot out of it, so am giving the link here.  Cry Heart, But Never Break by Danish children's author, Glenn Ringtved, illustrated by Danish artist, Charlotte Pardi.

Today's quote:

We are tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. And whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Breakfast and health news

My favorite breakfast...those lumps are pears, granola, mixed in with yogurt (non-fat plain.) There's a cup of coffee over on the side somewhere, with Almond Milk to give a bit of different flavor.  The poppy bowl is one of the many that I made last year...and decided that I'd keep to enjoy in my own home. I'm no longer making any pottery, nor decorating with glazes. If I don't have organic pears ready to eat, I have blueberries.

The following is what an email said which I sent to another blogger...somehow we were talking about health, and I just have been telling anyone who will listen!

I just had some amazing news...saw the cardiologist after having a new ultrasound of my heart. It has improved in the last 4 months - I'm at "low-normal" now. He doesn't think it will get much better. But he also showed me a picture of my heart with the artery 100% blocked, and then after the stent was put in. Major difference...no blood flow and then little veins going off into the heart.

And the description was that my heart had been functioning at only half it's normal capacity...which never caused me any pain. I finally got tired of not sleeping because my shoulders and neck hurt so much...and went to ER. When I said my chest also felt tight, they checked my heart right away. They said the EKG was indicating a heart problem, but the blood work didn't show it. It took a couple more tests of the blood work before they concluded I'd had a heart attack, and they told me!

The cardiologist showed me a picture of the artery which feeds the heart muscle, and it looked like a dead-end, just stopped completely. Then after the stent was put in there were little veins going off of it across the heart. These pictures were taken at the time of the procedure, so my blocked artery started giving blood to my heart and they could take a picture of it.  I did have over a month following the procedure before I could walk any distance without being out of breath easily...but still...

And last year, with a half-working heart, I drove by myself to Florida twice, then to Ohio, and then with a friend to New Mexico and Colorado, from my home in North Carolina.  Isn't that amazing? I think so! Of course the blockage of that artery might not have been total until May...but it was beginning to cause problems that I attributed to my chronic lung condition, where I cough more when I'm tired.

I'm not going to just be satisfied with a "low-normal" rating. For once in my life (according to Russ, my son) I'm wanting to be totally normal.

And I'm feeling very grateful today.

Walker St. walk

 The stop sign where our driveway hits Walker St.

 Across Swannanoa Valley to the ridge where Big Windy captures some clouds.

But I turn up the hill and walk up into a small community of homes on Walker St.

On the left I pass this little cottage in the woods.

And another cabin, which actually has an A-frame behind all the trees.
I'll be sharing more photos along my way, as I like this walk up and down hills.

Today's quote:

There is nothing love cannot face; there is no limit to its faith, its hope, and its endurance.

ST. PAUL