life in the old lane

Now, can anyone explain why I can not keep leftover pizza in my refrigerator more than 6 hours? Why do I have to eat any and all pizza that is within reach as soon as possible if not sooner?

Anyhow, I had wonderful hot pizza and excellent cold beer for lunch and equally wonderful leftover cold pizza and hot coffee for dinner.

Life in the Asylum:

Oh and it is still raining.

I guess I should happy that I have as many pictures of Carlton as I do. Even if, like this one, the photo is totally undistinguished.

There was a column in the Washington Post earlier this month – I don’t know if you can get past the Post’s paywall – I was my husband’s caregiver as he was dying of cancer. It was the best seven months of my life. And, I have to agree with that. The last couple of years of our lives together were the best. Especially the last 6 months – after he got his diagnosis of the deadly Merkel Cell Carcinoma on top of everything else.

We always liked each other. Most of the time we loved each other. We were never unhappy. But, it wasn’t until the last two years that we needed each other. We both put too much stock in being “self supporting through our own contributions”. Or “I got along just fine before you showed up”.

Illness, even when the illness was ignored and/or denied changed all that. Carlton no longer kept me around for rainy afternoons and cold nights. I no longer kept him around to ward off boredom. We needed each other. He needed me for life support and medical care and to navigate treatment options. I needed him to gently guide me towards my new life. We needed each other to ward off fear.

Life was very dear then. Everyday a gift.

Nothing new today. It rained. All day.

Went to work – in the rain. Worked. Come home from work – in the rain. Made lunch. (A great lunch – some of those really fresh eggs and a home grown tomato) Napped. Tidied up the Old Bat Cave, tomorrow being maid-day. Went down to dinner. Exciting, huh? That is what you have to look forward to, boys and girls. And the job is a good thing. Hey, I spend most of my time just listening to The Dead with the Bose Earmuffs. And running the scanner. I could get a job doing piecework in an Asian scanning sweatshop any day!

I got my bill from the CPA for the taxes today. The bill worked out to $50 an ounce for my hefty tax returns. I guess that is deductible off next year’s taxes. This is an upmarket problem. Not complaining.

Two years ago today, I had just scored a pair of “cheap” first class tickets to Kona. Carlton was looking forward to the trip. Well, Carlton, if I actually take you back to Kona this winter, I think you will go in a nice “Flat Rate Box”. That is how Cal made his last trip. With dominoes to keep him company. You might have to settle for my wetsuit.

Wait – who knew? How to Package and Ship Cremated Remains Publication 139 October 2014 Guess I should at least read this. I am not taking this very seriously. The dear man is very dead. That black plastic box is just something to be dealt with. It isn’t Carlton.

There is more: TSA gets in the act too. TSA partners with funeral homes to safely transport cremated remains.

I could just keep Carlton on the book case. And, when I get converted to a black plastic box – Betsy can just blast both of us off into space.

But, Carlton wanted to go back to Kona. Not to the Moon.

For years, Carlton wanted to be buried in the ground. With a tombstone that said “He was good while he lasted”. This was when his parents were still alive so I made him address a letter to them saying that that was what he wanted. Because anyone one who knew his Momma would know that she would not have been amused. Not. Even. A. Little.

 

The rain started. It might be over by Saturday. Or not. I’ll just deploy the umbrella and slog off to work as usual. Expect that I’ll be complaining by this time tomorrow.

 

The first picture on the page is from the this spring’s trip home. And, once again, Shamu the Phone recorded where it was when I snapped the image out of the window. I wonder if the real camera knows where it is? Nope, it doesn’t seem to record GPS data. And, a quick check indicates that it doesn’t do GPS. I can live with that.

Four weeks from today – I’ll be training my way to Chicago. Time to get a hotel room in Seattle.

Oh, the second picture – this is what is left of the eggs that I got yesterday. Wonderfully non-uniform. They are all different colors and sizes. Just wonderful.

No new images tonight. Didn’t get back up to the Old Bat Cave until 3PM and I just didn’t get out to sneak up on insects.

But, I did cook my own dinner. No pictures, but it was wonderful. I had been gifted with lettuce, tomatoes, and eggs – fresh from the chicken. I had an avocado and some nice fall brussel sprouts, that were just waiting to be eaten.  All of that made a really good dinner. All fresh, all tasty, and all real. Eating Clean – that is what the foodies would call it.

I just remembered that the picture was taken by Shamu the Phone. And, Shamu knows where Shamu is. Turns out the picture is from Berkeley Springs/Martinsburg area.

“They” say it is going to rain – big time – starting sometime tomorrow about coming home time. And, it will last until Saturday. We need the rain. But, maybe not that much.

Mother Earth, that is. I have spent the last year trying to “fit in” here at the Asylum. Never mind that I have never fitted in anywhere. One of my New Year’s resolutions (unkept I might add) was to take part in at least one Asylum event/activity every week. I tried. But it just didn’t work. I wasn’t fitting in. And, I wasn’t a happy camper.

Cue up a little Robert Service:
There’s a race of men that don’t fit in, A race that can’t sit still; So they break the hearts of kith and kin, And they roam the world at will. They range the field and rove the flood, And they climb the mountain’s crest; Their’s is the curse of the gypsy blood,And they don’t know how to rest.

Well, on Saturday – whilst toiling in the Asylum cutting garden, I dug up the rock. It seemed like a nice rock. So, I put it in my pocket. Later that day, I looked at it carefully. Mostly sandstone with a little limestone. The limestone doesn’t fit in. But, it is still a part of the rock. It makes the rock a little more interesting. So, maybe I don’t have to fit in to be a part of the Asylum community. Mother Earth’s lesson.

The most important debates since Lincoln/Douglas are tonight. I will watch – as much as I can stand with a few of my new friends. I am taking “Debate Bingo Sheets” and a bag of dark chocolate to share and a flask of Kona’s finest to drink myself. (I have to TV – but some of my friends have very fine theater systems.)

May you live in interesting times.

Now that I am well into my 2nd year in the Old Bat Cave – and since it was a lovely jeans and flannel shirt morning – I headed out on a walk in the woods – or what passes for woods in my current location,with my old Leica lens.

And, I worked on my landscape photography – not my thing. And, my wildlife photography – which I am famously bad at.

I saw a stick in the water… though it might just be a snake – and when I got home and looked at the pictures – indeed it was a snake.

And, I got this way too cute chipmunk.

Yes, I am embarrassed to live in a country where Donald Trump could be a serious candidate for president. I haven’t a clue how that happened. I apologize to people of goodwill every where.

No matter who wins – I am terrified for the Republic. And, I am not a fearful person. I feel no need for firearms, I go wherever I please at all hours, I don’t take good care of myself. And, the fear I feel is not for myself – it is for the country. For civilization itself.

And then I remember that I belong to a society that is dedicated to perpetuate the memory and spirit of old Hawaiʻi and of historic facts, and to preserve the nomenclature and correct pronunciation of the Hawaiian language. We try to do this by wearing stupid white dresses, doing hula, having bake sales and talk story about old Hawai’i.

And, I feel like maybe I have lived too long.

But, just for today – it was a good day.

Yes, I made it through one whole entire year at the Goodwin House Asylum for the Elderly. On good days, I like rather like it here. On bad days, I can tolerate it. It is a good place, filled with lots of good people and a few that one just avoids.

And the Old Bat Cave has been just great. It is everything I need and most of the things that I want.

Not that much has changed. The little sofa that was on order when I moved in, arrived. And I traded my old chair in on the big leather lounger.

I am still thinking about lighting and window treatments.

OK – It’s Done – September 25, 2015.

I celebrated my graduation from my first year by breaking out the last bag of 100% Kona Coffee.

How did it get to be Friday already? The week just zipped on by. My only plan for the weekend is to labor in the Asylum cutting garden tomorrow. And, that is all the plans that I need to have.

It was lovely when I headed out to work this morning – an hour late. Thank you Apple. I installed iOS 10 on my iPad last night. My iPad is also my alarm clock. Well, I discovered a new “feature” – BEDTIME. I turned the alarm business over to BEDTIME. Well, BEDTIME didn’t wake me up. Fortunately, I didn’t really have to be at work on time. But, if I had been catching a plane – I would have missed it.

I returned the alarm clock function to the ALARM function. And I will just ignore the BEDTIME feature.

I also checked out the “improved” Apple Maps. Well, for me – a walker/public transit person – Google Maps still wins hands down.

I did like the “new improved” notifications. Most of the improvements don’t really apply to the iPad. But, my take is – it is a fine stable but unspectacular upgrade.

 

I think this is a rather fine bee. It looks like something out of a cheap 1950’s sci-fi film. But wait – all 50’s sci-fi films were cheap.

Speaking of films – I am thinking about what to watch on the train across country. 3 nights. Need 3 films. Thinking about: Strangers on a Train, North By Northwest, and Night Train to Munich. Plus The Princess Bride and The Day the Earth Stood Still in case of a total meltdown. In the 21st Century one’s digital packing is as important as suitcase packing!

I am a little jealous of Carlton. Seems to me that he got out of town just in time. Two years ago – there were signs on the wall that civilization was unraveling. Today, the signs are being chiseled on the walls.

I am on the edge of going over the edge…

Not real sure why I don’t sell all my other lenses (except the plastic fish eye lens) and just use that killer lens.

Well: It is relatively heavy. And: Photographers buy gear.

Even an afternoon of “nothing” to photograph is good with my favorite glass.

Healthwise – I seem to be almost over what ever it was that was troubling me Saturday through Monday. I did start taking Claritin on Monday night – and by Tuesday AM, I was feeling better. Allergy?

When I say I need a vacation – I am reminded of President Lincoln’s famous quote about General McClellan’s horses.

I have just read your dispatch about sore-tongued and fatigued horses. Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietam that fatigues anything?

During this evil election season – I wonder what it was like during the election of 1860. I should know what the election of 1860 was like – Carlton and I worked at Harpers Ferry Park for 3 or 4 summers/falls and one of the things that we talked about was the election of 1860. The election didn’t solve anything. That much I remember.