Apr 22, 2013 Ranting Rose



Yellow hillside by Elsie's




Turkey in the tree















Friday, 4/19.  JB got on the road about 8:15 am for Seattle.  A good time to call Sandy.  So I did, and we talked for an hour. We both agree that "political correctness" is one of the worst phrases to ever enter the American language. It speaks to how thin skinned many people are. It has morphed into "if you don’t believe in the same things I do, then you are wrong." Sandy and I have been friends for more than 40 years. We have quite different tastes and opinions, but we often discuss those differences and accept them as part of who we are. America was built on the freedom to be diverse. A place to speak your views and be accepted regardless of them.  And, yes, I know there has always been friction between factions and races, but it just seems like there is less acceptance now than there used to be in the last half of the 20th century. These days people are vilified in print and on the air if they disagree with a popular trend. A very sad commentary on where our society is headed. Political correctness was an innocuous beginning of telling others how they should talk; what they should believe; how they should live their lives. Socialism. Gun control.  Get out of my face!  If you don't like what someone is saying - and it's not hurting anyone (I mean suggesting physical harm) - just ignore them.  I don't feel like I really got my meaning across in this paragraph, but I'm not sure just how to do it.

And that is one reason why we live Up Here, so we don't have to face it on a daily basis.  After Sandy and I solved the world's problems, I did some housework, some sudoku, and read my book, Wages of Sin, by Stephen Coonts.  After lunch I worked outside for a couple of hours trimming and cutting up the branch pile.  Took several armloads to the woodshed.  Gathered three bags of pine needles for fire starter.  I have yet to find a better one.

It was kind of a dreary, cloudy day.  The dogs and I went on our walks.  Lots of leftovers in the freezer so for dinner I thawed some chili; put lots of sour cream and cheese on it; and toasted a piece of JB's "rye" bread.  Very little work, lots of yummm.

Saturday, 4/20.  Started out 32 and partly cloudy, with only wind in the forecast.  Guess the storm never got past the mountains.

Got an early start and defrosted both the fridge and freezer before lunch.  The sun played peek-a-boo among the clouds floating over for most of the day.  I finished trimming and cutting up the branches.  Put several large pieces in the wood cradle and took a few loads to the wood shed in the firewood bag.  Can't use the wheelbarrow as it needs a new tire.  Then I puttered around the yard picking up small branches and trying to fix the "creek".  It had been stepped on while the snow was melting (by larger boots than mine), so many of the small stones needed to be put flat again.

Greek yogurt may be a good source of protein and other nutrients, but for me it's a source of flatulence.  From now on I'll only be using Activia in my smoothies.  Glad I got that figured out. . .

By the time we went on our afternoon walk, the sky was mostly blue but the wind had kicked up.  The weather is supposed to be cool for a few days, then warmer than average by the end of the week.

After dinner Dinga was putting up quite a fuss on the north side of the house.  I looked out and there was a turkey up in one of the trees down the west ridge.  It was way up in the tree but that just made it eye-level with Dinga sitting on the ridge.  So close, yet so far away.

Sunday, 4/21.  It was 28 and clear when the dogs got me up at 5:30 am and still the same when I got back up at 7:00 am, but clouds moved in quickly after that.  I find it interesting that in the Summer and Fall I can easily imagine the winter snow, but in the Winter I cannot picture the Spring green.  The lushness of it always amazes me anew each year.

I drove down to Larry and Elsie's before lunch to get some chicken poop (dry) for our garden.  Larry was tilling their garden, much to the delight of the chickens.  Didn't even need 4-wheel drive to get up and down our road, except at the hair-pin turn just below our driveway.  I saw a couple of turkeys and our resident blue grouse on the drive.  The hillside across the road from Larry and Elsie's is almost solid yellow with balsam root!  I spread the manure on the garden as soon as I got home.  Will get out the shovel and do the same with the compost pile tomorrow.

I brought down a couple loads of branch wood in our garden wagon from the burn pile on the south ridge.  Then cut them up with my clippers and stacked it all in the wood shed.  There were several hail showers while I was working.  We were accompanied by another one on our afternoon walk, and barely made it inside before it really started coming down and turned the ground white.  It turned to snow shortly thereafter, but soon stopped and quickly melted.  I guess a little bit of that storm finally did make it over the mountains after all.  Our high for the day barely made it up to 40.

Nene suggested that since I got a new shampoo for my hair, that I might need a new detergent for my pants.  Actually what is need is less chocolate and a smaller Easter basket.  Yeah, like that's going to happen. . .

Between novels I have started reading the non-fiction In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson.  It is about the U.S. Ambassador to Germany who was appointed in 1940 just as Hitler was taking over Germany.  I love the way the people of that era (1900- 1940's) kept such detailed journals.  Both my Mother and her Mother did too, but my Mother's pretty much ended when she married my Dad.

I really enjoy sitting out on our deck or porch during the day for respits while working.  I can sit there for a little while, but not for hours.  I think relaxing is an art that usually has to be learned, something my Mother never did.  Even when watching TV (which wasn't very often), she would usually say, "I really shouldn't be sitting here.  I have so much to do."  I have a hard time sitting still, too.  Even while watching a movie, I'll be getting up and down doing things.  Maybe I should take up knitting, crocheting or embroidery again.  Just something to do with my hands while I'm sitting there.

Monday, 4/22.  It is a beautiful, crisp morning - clear and 23.  JB should be home by mid afternoon as he has some errands to run when he gets into town.  Am looking forward to getting my Nook!  Oh, and of course, seeing him.

Thought for the day:  The Second Amendment is in place in case the politicians ignore the others.