Fits and Starts Odds and Ends in Everyday Ramblings

This is part of the path I take when I walk the neighborhood in the morning. Those are a couple of magnificent trees to the right and from the top of the path if one looks out carefully behind the trees across the road there is a spectacular view of Mt. Hood.

Well there is on days where one can see the mountain. This morning at sunrise there was a smoky haze covering the bottom half of the mountain but the silhouette was still beautiful.

I often try to imagine what it looked like 100, 125 years ago now when I walk. There would have been different trees (mostly), maybe some tall enough to cover the view but the Children’s Home was down there, just there across the road so there would have been the converted mansion orphanage and the sound (and smell) of horses with the Fox Stables and Blacksmiths just a few blocks up. There are townhouses being constructed there now.

The wind has shifted and the fires are a bit better but the devastation is intense. This is the first day in many where the air quality is passable. Now they are saying rain on and off for a number of days at the end of the week and what a blessing that will be for all concerned. Some of our firefighters haven’t had a day off in three weeks.

I taught what has to have been the most enjoyable class I have ever taught last night. All the students were relatively compatible in terms of energy and ability and I didn’t have any artificial limbs in the room. Everybody was also in a pretty good mood and there was some silliness, some discovery that involved a bit of tipping over and lots of laughter. I was relaxed and that makes a huge difference.

It was fun, nurturing for me and restorative for the students who worked hard (mostly) and useful. What a great thing they all did by taking the time to come to class!

Even Toad had a good time.

My washing machine has been on the fritz since Thursday. I managed to fool around with it enough to get it to work for a few loads so I have had clean clothes but I needed to wash my towels. I like to switch out my kitchen towels pretty much everyday because I think it is healthier. Today the repair fellow came and it of course worked perfectly for him…

He did figure out it is the contact with the timer and is ordering a new one. In the meantime he showed me a thing I can do to sort of force it to connect and I was able to get a few more loads done.

Not that I ever take having a washer and dryer available on the premises for granted but today I am really not taking them for granted. After looking at some of the widely circulating photos of refugees trying to get somewhere safe with basically nothing I am not taking any of this for granted. We are so lucky here!

My workload is picking up as we move towards fall. In a way that is good as it makes the days go faster. In a way it makes things a little more intense because I solve problems all day and as the volume increases the pressure to solve the gnarly ones faster gets greater and I find myself standing in the kitchen with food mysteriously on its way to my mouth…

A coping mechanism. So far I have been able to maintain my weight by being active.

I am going to need to get creative in that arena in the fall as the weather turns.

The Jays and the squirrels fascinate Carlo so a few days ago I bought a big bag of peanuts. With that and the feeder mix I have concocted I am getting lots and lots of finches, all kinds of finches and he sprawls across the futon that I use as a couch in the living room just under the windows and is enthralled for big chunks of time.

Diego can’t see well enough to watch and so he gets a little bored and restless. He is also putting on some weight so I need to devise more ways to keep him active while keeping me sane.

Caregivers class tonight. It makes a huge difference knowing this commitment will end in two months. Oh yeah.

Last updated August 25, 2015