The Sunday Morning Muse, January 20, 2012

A sliver of orange just prior to sunrise far out in the horizon... and the big dark heavy cloud cover over the valley. A lot of wind last night. The front awning is still with us.  So is the snowman flag. No snow! great.


Purple colors now as the sun peers over the edge of my world.  Orange turning to yellow... the whole sun visible now in the time it took to write this sentence.  I hope people take the time to watch the sunrise now and then. It sure is a nice way to start the day.

The cat is drinking left over milk from cereal. She missed it.

Mom might come home today from the hospital.  Hospitals are so scary right now with the flu, respiratory viruses and various bugs. I'll be glad to see her out of there, but at the same time it is going to take a big
effort to keep her here. She wants OUT and expects to have her butt on her recliner watching the 4 o'clock game this afternoon.

Got a new phone. Just a house phone. Cordless. With digital answering machine. It took over an hour to
set it up and I'm still not done figuring it all out yet. Had to go "on line" to the real manual..... they don't give
anything but a quickstart guide now with the box.

All that work and I still get static.

Ain't Nobody Got Time for That

Funniest thing I saw all week.  The parody song that follows the news report is hilarious.

The Sunday Morning Muse, January 13, 2013

Two 13's today....day and year.  Probably shouldn't leave the house. 

Mom is in rehab, now. It took some jumping through hoops and such, but her hospital stay has stretched into another week, with hopefully no nursing home afterwards.  This means I have no supervision!  No more Gunsmoke and the Golden Girls on TV...and onto loud rock music and  maybe even picking up the guitar again.  

A Nice Thought for Today

Every day..
think as you wake up..
today I am fortunate
to be alive.
I have
a precious human life..
I am not
going to waste it.
I am going to use
all my energies
to develop myself..
to expand my heart
out to others;
to achieve enlightenment
for the benefit
of all beings.
I am going to have
kind thoughts
towards others.
I am not going to get angry
or think badly about others.
I am going to benefit others
as much as I can.

~ His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Pat Benatar is 60 today

The 1980's rock stars of my college days are getting old. I did some sad math the other day. I was remembering how "old" alumni visitors to campus looked when I was in school. My God, I would think, that one graduated in the 50's! I wasn't even born yet. I would try to imagine what their college days were like....bobbie soxers or whatever. Poodle skirts? Cars with big fins?

Totally another planet. Totally, I probably thought. In valley girl speak, which was popular in the 80s.

Take a chill pill for a minute. I'm so sure.

Well I'm feeling gnarly just thinking about this. I wonder how I look to these 2013 students?  As dorky and
totally from another planet as the 50's alums visiting back in the Pat Benatar 80's. Her poster was on my sophomore wall. And we all did the "Safety Dance" and Everybody Wang Chunged Tonight.

And we drove 4 speed Tercels.

And listened to cassettes.

Gag me with a spoon.

Here We Go Again....

A sad update to report today. My wish that no one in my family be in the hospital at Christmas was short lived. Mom broke a bone in her leg. I'm devastated, as she will need to be in a nursing home for several weeks, and that is if things go well.

Doctor said there are drastic cuts in medicare coverage and one of the results is that there is no money for her rehab. Two years ago we had quite good coverage for rehabilitation when mom was stricken with Transverse Myelitis. The rehab resulted in me bringing her home here for two years. That SAVED money in the system. I just don't get it. Our society needs to do more to help seniors stay in their homes. In the long run it is best for them, and less costly on medicare/medicaid as costs for nursing homes are over 70 thousand dollars a year!

 I know millions of people are struggling with these issues. A lot of caregivers are out there trying to hold down their jobs and take care of loved ones. It's been the biggest but most rewarding challenge of my life. These efforts should get more support, not less.

Symphony in Blue

The Sunday Morning Muse, January 6, 2012

The electric fireplace I bought myself for Christmas arrived safely. It gives my bedroom a sort of ambience that was missing before. Even when you don't run the heater, the unit has a simple flame and ember simulator that just makes you feel warm anyway. Put a mat in front of it and there you go. Instant peace. A nice space to stretch out on the floor and do yoga. But you have to move the cat first.

 I love wood. I got new windows this past week, and managed to salvage some original oak trim from inside the closets to match up what was taken out to put in the windows in. Someday I'll have the floors refinished. For now they are okay.... with a few throw rugs.

 I'm not much of a decorator. Over Christmas I went to visit the man who has my old apartment, and suffice to say his updates to it make me want to move back. Gone is my gold leaf patterned furniture and 90's entertainment stand. Now it's a manly place with overstuffed brown furniture...huge TV on the wall...and a fireplace. One thing  I really miss is still there...the built-in floor to ceiling book shelf with the glass door. I miss that a lot. It was DEEP, too. I could stash so many books and things in there. And then there was the HUGE walk in cupboard under the stairs. I dug stuff out of there when I moved that hadn't been out of a box in 15 years. Including my whole Oil Lamp Collection. I got rid of a lot of that...not that I wanted to. I saved the best stuff. Just nowhere to go with it. Perhaps I'll build some shelves in the garage someday.

 Personal taste comes and goes. Much has to do with the space you have to expand into... or not. Paring down is a hard thing. I'm still at it. But I'm doing it slowly. I'm not going anywhere. For now the color blue...like those eyes you get hung up about...and a lot of wood. That's my inspiration.

Duo Artemiev