Laundry

Last time we all got together, my brother wondered aloud to my mom, "why would anyone hang laundry out to dry anymore? When we bought our dryer it said that it only costs 10 bucks to operate it for a year!"

I must say, he's got a point. Why would I bother for just 10 measly dollars a year? Not even that, because I don't hang my laundry out when it's cold or rainy. But any chance I get to hang it out in the wonderfully warm sunshine I do it. I do it for that smell, that clean air-dried smell that you just can't bottle. I do it to get outside for a prolonged time twice (or more) per week. And I do it for the visual effects. See picture. What's more appealing than the color blocks of clean laundry, flapping in the breeze? And when you have clean sheets and clean pajamas that have both been dried outside, it's just pure bliss.

When I was a kid, I remember my mom getting after me because I hadn't hung the laundry correctly. "You didn't hang the shirts with shirts, pants with pants, underwear with underwear!" I asked, "why do you need to do that?" She thought about it for a minute and said, "I don't know. I suppose because that's how I've always done it."

I think that it's the way she did it because that's what gives her pleasure. Just how I get after Hibi sometimes because she doesn't hang shirts upside down like I do, or she bunches them up so they won't dry as fast. I'm trying to bite my tongue and let her have her own laundry pleasure.

I like putting up each load in a block, and then when you have loads side-by-side, you see this color block. I think that's pretty cool.

Some odd pleasures just can't be monetized.

A Poem (rare as a blue moon)

moon riding
alongside my car
taking a trip through the irrigation canal.
Or rather
the moon's reflection, fractured and rippling.
The moon,
itself a reflection,
is almost full in the night sky.
I am
14 hours south
by car
of my home, yet
close to my hometown.
Darkness, even though
it's only 9 pm
(an hour earlier than darkness falls at home)
has almost surrounded me.
But one bright moon
and one bright moon-reflection
are my companions as I travel
to a place where...what?
I will be home again?
No, only a reflection of me
or perhaps I am the reflection.

Photo compliments of Flickr, taken by Tony and Sherice

I'm still here!

I really am. I've been looking at all of your blogs, but haven't had enough time to do that *and* post, in my one hour of computer time daily at the library. :-( But! Paul just called me to tell me that he found a great little recycled Mac at the Free Geek thrift store. And since he and the kids have been volunteering there? They get a half-off discount. That's a cool $175 bucks for a (hopefully) great little machine.

I wanted to post a picture but I can't upload it at the library...I cut my very long hair! I had been kicking around the idea of donating to Locks of Love but it took a long time to give up my beloved hair. When I can get a picture up I'll have a funny one to share. :-)

Zac is at camp in California. We haven't heard from him, but I hope he's having a great time! It's a rock-climbing, ropes course, hiking, canoeing, camping kind of adventure camp! I think he's probably loving it. I'll leave tomorrow to go back to California to first see my family in the Fresno area, then head over to pick up Zac on Sunday.

Our anniversary was the day after Paul's birthday, but we didn't really do anything for it then because it was Father's Day. So, last night we went out to celebrated belatedly. We went to Nuestra Cocina for a scrumptious Mexican dinner. We had the pumpkin soup, the gorditas rellenos, and the pumpkin enchiladas. Paul had a chile margarita! I'm glad he got it, as I was thinking about it, but tasting his I think it would have been too spicy for me. He enjoyed it, though! My margarita had pomegranate in it. It was good but I think next time I'll stick with the great mojito that I had while waiting for a take-out order there last week.

Next we went to Mississippi Studios to hear Boulder Acoustic Society. They were a lot of fun, though we got there late and missed a lot of it. The band sounded like their next gig will be on Prairie Home Companion.

Then, since it was only 10:30 when that was done (the night was yet young!) we headed over to Pix Patisserie for a little dessert wine. I would have enjoyed my wine without reservation, the Vin Santo, but Paul ordered the Don PX, a 1971 port. It was so yummy that I couldn't take another sip without ruining my own, until after I was finished with mine. He very kindly saved me a bit. He's a sweetie that way.

Paul and I have been married for 18 years. I am so blessed to have found such a wonderful companion, on the first try! We married young and have always had the hope of growing old together, hopefully making it to 50 years or more. We're well on our way! I love you, Paul!

Paul's Birthday, Computer Woes, and Rock Concert

First and foremost: Happy 39th birthday to my beloved husband Paul! I was in New Seasons this morning and the cashier asked how my weekend was going. I said great! It's my husband's birthday! She asked how old he is, and I said 39. She said she celebrates her 39th every year, which prompted me to tell her that this is his *first* 39th. :-)

So, computer woes: we've had the proverbial computer crash. It was turning itself off for about a year, unexpectedly, but usually a good vacuuming out did the trick. This time nothing worked, and then it refused to boot up. We all were thinking that our poor computer had passed from our midst. But the nice guys at the computer repair shop are pretty sure it can be fixed. Hurray for computer repair guys! Right now we're all at the library, checking our email.

Tonight the Indigo Girls are playing in Portland! And if you don't know already, Indigo Girls is our very favorite band in the whole wide world. So we were very unhappy when we found out the tickets were sold out! Fortunately, a friend from church is the general manager at KINK, the alternative rock station in town, and it was, in his words, "No problem!" We even get to meet them before the show. Can't wait!

I'll leave it at that--I've only got 12 minutes of my hour of computer time left. It's gonna be a long two weeks...

me

No one ever takes pictures of me, since I'm always the one behind the camera. Whenever I'm looking for a good one to post, I can't find one. So, I just took that camera and held it away and said cheese! I took a bunch but this one is the one I like the best.

What a difference a couple of weeks makes!

The first two blossoms on the zucchini plant! The one on the right opened yesterday and the other opened today. Exciting!I really didn't expect little tomatoes on my tomato plants so early, but three of them do have fruit on them already! Here's the Stupice:and the Gold Nugget! I guess I didn't get a pic of the Oregon Spring plant that's got quite a large tomato. Next time!After the basil first came up, it just sat there for the longest time. But it's finally springing up, and I think if we ever get any warm weather again, it'll be ready for pesto in a couple of weeks. Look at all that kale! If anyone wants some, let me know--I can't eat all that by myself!
Didn't it turn out beautifully? And it'll still grow into more than this!
It's been interesting watching the different rates of growth of different plants. I planted beans right next to those peas, but the peas are going crazy and the beans are just getting started. And I planted lots of radishes, all at basically the same time, and I've been getting radishes for ages. They just keep coming! I planted them where I wanted to plant tomatoes, thinking the radishes would be gone by the time I needed to plant the radishes there. Well, I'm needing them out of there because the tomatoes need that room! I did go through and mercilessly pull the ones that were choking the tomatoes the worst yesterday. I'll probably need to be even more merciless.

And the carrot tops are huge....but the carrots themselves are tiny! I suppose I could pull them and call them "baby carrots." :-)

I continue to be amazed at the rates of growth in Oregon in the springtime! Everything just explodes with new life. Amazing.

We have kids to keep us humble

Some of you know that Paul has been translating some of St. Basil's homilies into English, and has a book deal. His work is all done, and we're just waiting for Greg Yova of Project Mexico to finish up a preface to the book before Paul sends it to the publisher. We were chatting about this and that this morning at breakfast, and we were talking about Paul's birthday, which is coming up next week. I said something about him turning 40 next year, and he was asking out loud what he has to show for being 40. I said, he's got a book that will be out by then! That's a pretty cool thing. Then he turned to talking about what he's thinking about the book: does he want to do some kind of a "meet the author" kind of release party?

At that, Zachary piped up: Dad, St. Basil is dead! You're not the author, just the translator.

I laughed until I had to wipe tears from my eyes.