Spring time

Northern Spring 2023

No, we have not disappeared.  Many of you know we are back at our northern home.  As is getting to be more normal, we have spent the better part of a month visiting several medical people, mostly regarding Rebecca's various conditions.  She is still cancer free but the risks of fixing her other problems outweigh the benefits.  In between those visits we have managed to get the household up and running.  And we have reconnected with several friends in Zanesville and Columbus.

And each year when we return The Muse is keenly interested in the flora.  She wants to see what is in bloom and get her hands dirty putting more plants in the ground.  Unfortunately she tires rather quickly these days and the planting goes rather slowly.  But she finishes it eventually if she has not overbought plants and bulbs.  And the yard demands some other tending to bring it to a more-or-less civilized look.  On to her short commentary.

It is high spring.  The ephemeral wildflowers are fading or gone.  I still can immerse my senses in the last of the lilacs.  The flowering trees enchant me now.  I have a maroon colored calycanthus - a sweet spice I think they are called - which is quite interesting.  I have a white one also but I prefer the red.  My rather spindly mock orange which is has a light entrancing scent and is sometimes included in wedding bouquets.  I have a red buckeye that I bought at Dawes Arboretum which grows larger and lovelier every year. Great flowers but very little scent.  Dan's large-leaf magnolia is not blooming yet; sometimes it doesn't, so we will have to wait and see.  The white dogwood are past their prime but still making a valiant comeback from the fungus which decimated them a few years ago.  And throughout the woodland there are little streams of the subtle perfume of the black locust.  A thorny tree, yet when it is in bloom I can forgive its stickers.  I understand that in olden days they planted locusts in fence rows to keep the cows in.  

We just passed the cut off date when serious gardeners believe it is safe to plant things around here.  Of course I am not very serious but I am planting nonetheless.  I have ordered some moonflowers like my Grandmother used to have planted on arbors around the patio.  We used to watch them open in the evenings.  Do you remember?  I am a little disconcerted to find that the flowers which I remember from my childhood are now heirlooms.  Humph!  You are supposed to scarify the seeds before you plant them.  I tried it twice with no results so this time I am ordering plants.  I hope to have them creeping up around the posts of  our front porch. Dan is against this plan. (We'll see if they attract bugs or other critters. -dt)  I also have the tall orange oriental poppies, some yellow woodland poppies, a green dragon - this is the same family as Jack-in-the-pulpits - some Siberian Iris and other flowers I don't really know but they were on sale at Ollie's. I planted the poppies today. I wonder if you can make narcotics from them?  (Wrong kind. -dt) Just a thought. I bought ten large bags of garden dirt. Dan was appalled but I hope it is enough; our soil is mostly clay and stones.  (Mrs.T bought ten bags of an expensive brand, not a generic type. -dt)

I bought a new mini chainsaw, marketed for women and elderly persons.  (Rebecca qualifies as both. dt) My small chainsaw was becoming too heavy for me. (And she did not fix it the last time the chain fell off. -dt) This works pretty well but it does not quite fit my hand.  I can recommend it for people whose spouses took away their chainsaws for their own protection; you know who you are! (It wasn't me!! -dt) The machine cuts very fast.  It is supposed to cut limbs up to 6 inches.  It has a dead man switch so hopefully you cannot injure yourself too badly.  I have used it very carefully and have not injured myself and the chain has not fallen off.  I hate it when that happens.  I cut down a dead peach tree and a bunch of small encroaching volunteers.  Everywhere I look I see branches that need trimming.  The thing is I can only work 15 or 20 minutes and then it takes another 15 or 20 minutes to drag the limbs and push them over the hill. (And then a nap. -dt) Still it does look nice in the places I have chopped away.  I am kind of like a beaver.

   

Dan has taken to baking potato chips.  He got this slicing machine (A mandoline -dt), but at any rate they are quite tasty.  Now if I could only get him to stop dumping the ashes from his grill on my flowers everything would be copacetic. (I did not make the chips on the grill. -dt)

I love funny words and the spell check is so convenient, especially to the spelling challenged. (Sometimes her mangled spelling is beyond the program's ability. -dt)  I don't understand how his brain works but Dan can spell just about any word.  And if he is not sure he writes it down and then he looks at it and knows.  This makes him a great help with my crossword puzzles at least until he gets tired of me and tells me to look it up.  How can I look it up if I can not spell it?  I am doing crossword puzzles as therapy for my stroke brain.  I think maybe I am getting better.  Of course I am not in the same league with Ruth who has been doing them for years just for fun. (And let's not talk about playing Scrabble with Mrs.T. -dt)

Speaking of which, Ruth, Rita, and I are planning a little sortie to a barrier island in Virginia to see the resident wild ponies and the lighthouses.  Ruth is a great fan of lighthouses.  Some people seem to like them.  I can't see the attraction myself but I like oceans.  So there will be something for everyone.  Rita and I can pick up little pink shells on the beach.  I am not climbing up a million steps to the top of the lighthouse like I did when I was younger.  When we get tired we can loll about by the beach.   Nothing is better than lolling. (Virginia should be warned. The three R's may be lolling by the time you see this. -dt)

Very few pictures in this issue.  We are particularly pleased our budding artist next door, Emory, received a prize for best kindergartener in a recent show of student art.  https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAFsiy

Please send positive energy to our friend PD; he is facing significant health challenges.

Heat wave coming to Philo.  Hope you all are staying cool.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Sent from Outlook

Happenings

MUSINGS

Don't be surprised if you should find this newsletter a bit disjointed.  Mrs. T worked on this over several sessions and things are not totally connected.  And the timeframe is also a bit out of whack; these events are actually over a couple of months.  That is mostly due to our usual visitors - Nick and Rita.  No fault is assigned; they just diverted the Muse's attention while writing.  We greatly enjoyed their visits as always.  Also, Rebecca has been living at the dentist lately for crown work.

Dan has been watching an international chess tournament in the Netherlands.  (In January; It is the first big tournament each year. -dt) He says he understands the commentary;  usually it is too fast for me. (But she really likes Peter Leko. -dt)  Every so often he takes a day off to watch professional football. (We are obviously well past that. -dt) Sometimes Dan and I listen to OSU basketball on the radio.  I am severely reprimanded ('admonished' is a better word -dt) if I fall asleep. (A common occurrence -dt)  At any rate this is an enjoyable time of watching many things for Dan, the Monday morning quarterback. 

Nick and I have been going to the beach to check on the ocean.  This makes us both happy for no particular reason.   We sit at Karen's drinking - watching the waves and talking of desultory things.  Sometimes  I think we both could be beach bums without a lot of effort. (Mrs.T is already rather close. -dt)

The people along the sand

All turn and look one way.

They turn their back on the land.

They look at the sea all day.

As long as it takes to pass

A ship keeps raising its hull;

The wetter ground like glass

Reflects a standing gull.

The land may vary more;

But wherever the truth may be---

The water comes ashore,

And the people look at the sea.

They cannot look out far.

They cannot look in deep.

But when was that ever a bar

To any watch they keep?

"Neither Out Far Nor In Deep"  Robert Frost

I am also enjoying a book of happy poems Nick brought me.  Sometimes Nick and I puzzle together.

We have all been working on a complicated puzzle about a beach.  Judy and Gord are making some progress but it is slow.  We miss Barry (and Helen -dt) who could not come this year.  Not only for puzzling , he was especially good at borders, but also for his quiet good humor.  There are several holes in our company this year and we miss you all.  Gord chose some different puzzles for us to do next.   They are called rompecabezas in Spanish which translates literally as hit your head.  We hope his choices are not quite so tough on our skulls.   (They will have completed many more puzzles by the time you receive this. -dt)  Lucy, the dog, has taken to laying under the palapa near whoever is working on the puzzle. She seems to like the company.  Lucy is getting old like the rest of us.  (Yes, her hair is gray, and she does not see or hear so well. -dt)

I have been reading a collection of short stories by  Louis L'Amour.  I find a reality in his work somewhat reminiscent of Jack London.  There seems to be more believability in adventure stories written by true adventurers.  

In Ohio we have a little Roomba robot that sweeps the floor.  Dan has been talking about getting one for our condo in Mexico.  The thing fascinates me.  In fact I thought getting one for Mexico was a fine idea until I found out how much they cost. Made me wonder how much we paid for the one in Ohio.  When I inquired Dan said he got a really good deal on it!  (We have an inexpensive basic model in Philo. -dt)  That kind of answer makes me really nervous!  Dan likes to have anything technological.  Every so often the Roomba disappears.  I always look under the bed.  It is never there but that is where I look.  Then I look under the furniture and behind the trash cans.  I was telling my friend about this problem.  

"You will never guess where I found the thing!"  I told her.  

"In your closet," she promptly replied!

It turns out she has one and it always gets lost in her closet also.  I wonder if it is the shoes on the floor that confuse it.  

Anyway in Mexico we have a maid who comes in once a week and sweeps and mops the floors, cleans the bathrooms, and changes the sheets.  This is nice except we have spent the time before she comes picking up everything and putting it away.  We wouldn't want the maid to think we are messy.   Dan who has neatness tendencies sweeps up little pieces of dirt and sand and stuff off the floor on non-maid days. (White tiles show everything. -dt)  Sometimes he sweeps the floor on days the maid is coming, we don't want the maid to think we have dirty floors. (She gets the tough stuff. -dt)

One day Dan was sweeping away in our bedroom. "OH!" he said.  He was trying to sweep something up and it scampered under the dirty clothes basket.  Carefully lifting the basket we discovered that Dan was trying to sweep up a teeny, tiny gecko.  The next day Dan was cleaning in the bathroom and he found the gecko - or possibly its brother - under the bath mat.  "Leave it alone, maybe it eats mosquitoes,"  I advised. (Hoped -dt)  Be that as it may I don't think we need a robot sweeper harassing the tiny wildlife.  

One night walking home I looked up and saw clouds making a rainbow around the moon, or actually half a moon.  I suppose I could be scientific and speak about the prismatic effects of water droplets in the clouds but NO that is wrong! It was magic!  Sometimes I see magic everywhere.  I speak to animals and plants and they reply. (Mrs. Doolittle? -dt)  I feel a great sadness for those who can not or will not hear and see.  I might have fit more easily into the world of Wordsworth:

The world is too much with us; late and soon

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers -

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!  

(From "The World Is Too Much With Us " -dt) 

My poor horse Johnny has been sadly abused.  His lip on the right right side has been badly torn;  I can only assume by someone jerking on the reins.  I am sure it was not George, his owner, who really loves Johnny.  Maybe it happened before George got him.  At any rate George has put some medicine on Johnny and I have been riding him with only a halter.  This is not a problem because Johnny is really well trained and I can guide him with my legs and feet and by making smoochey noises.  But I do have to pay attention.  Mostly I let him go at his own speed.  Anyway he is healing well.  I cannot imagine why anyone would do this to such a nice horse.

Johnny has become quite fond of me especially because I give him a red apple after each ride.  Johnny does not want green apples.  As soon as I dismount Johnny has his nose out looking for his apple. 

I ride about 1 ½ hours every Thursday. (George has been very conscientious about coming regularly on time. -dt) When Rita was here she rode with me one time but she was pretty tired.  We mostly ride through the Mexican side of town and around the countryside and sometimes on the beach.   George doesn't worry about me not handling Johnny but he does know I might well get lost especially in the Mexican side of town which is something of a warren.   George is worried because I don't always know where I am. (Geography is not Mrs.T's strong point. -dt)  But I told him I could always tell Johnny to take me home and he would.  I can always tell when we are getting near their home because Johnny speeds up looking forward to a nice cool drink.  I really like my rides but I am very tired at the end and I do tend to walk like a cowgirl for the rest of the day. (Maria, a neighbor, also rode once. -dt)

A funny thing has happened.  I have been getting emails (Text messages -dt) from the Democrats asking me to run for office.  They have never specified what exactly I should run for - dogcatcher perhaps?  I would never have known about this except that Dan admitted he had been deleting the emails. (MrsT does not quite understand the difference between emails and texts. - dt)  I guess he was afraid that I would take these inquiries seriously.   Alas, no.  For one thing I can not abide committees and meetings and for another my memory is notoriously unreliable.  Still I took the question as a compliment.  I honestly believe it was  a reflection of two relevant facts.  First, Democrats are rare to nonexistent in Muskingum County.  The second fact is that from time to time I contribute to various Democratic political campaigns  (They want more. -dt); they almost always lose.  I might add that I once wrote a letter of encouragement to President Obama and I got a very nice reply. (Form letter 42. -dt)  Of course some people mock my political efforts but they also delete my emails which is probably illegal or at least it should be.  (Her name is in them but sent to me.  Undoubtedly she gave them my number.  -dt)

Lest you wonder, Rebecca is still scuba diving once a week.  She and Alex visit marine friends every Saturday.  They have seen some more whales, butterfly rays, eels, founder, and sorts of other critters.  They have caught a few fish as well.

Here are a few pictures of recent happenings:

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAus3k

Hope you all are enjoying whatever whacky weather you are having.  Here it is a normal nice, warm winter.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Sent from Outlook

Winter life

On a Horse Again

Mrs. T has a history of falling out of bed, even pre-strokes.  Sometimes I have heard rather significant thunks.  Perhaps it has been due to very vigorous dreams.  In any case, that explains the first part of this newsletter.

One item Rebecca has very much avoided in this edition is her trips to the dentist.  She said it was too painful a topic.  Rebecca has bad teeth, probably due to a lack of fluoride when growing up. She has a great aversion to the dental profession.  She will only see our dentist, Dr. Adrian, here in Mexico.  Dr. Adrian is a great guy whom she trusts and she visits his practice.  This year she has had problems with fillings coming loose, necessitating several visits.  And she needed a 'crown extension' which was rather difficult.  Unfortunately, dental visits have consumed quite a lot of Mrs.T's time.

That aside, we are back into the normal rhythm of life.  We feel quite fortunate in having avoided the weather miseries in the US.  Philo was quite frigid for a while and now it is wet.  Perhaps the pond will be refilled by the time we return. What will the rest of winter bring?  Of course we don't know but Mrs. T saw a lot of wooly caterpillars before we left.

Somewhat sadly, Bucerias is no longer a small town where tourists from Puerto Vallarta could come for a day trip to see 'typical' Mexican life.  Now we are a busy exurb of PV with lots and lots of construction.  It seems like the entire world is moving here.  The number of condominiums being built is extraordinary.  We would be wealthy if we had invested in concrete.  It has made for significant noise and dust.  

Here is a vignette of some activities:

I was riding in a horse race when my horse stumbled.  I quickly slipped out of my stirrups because I didn't want to be squished by a 2000 pound horse.  I mashed my toes painfully as I fell.  Then I woke up. 

"Did you fall out of bed?"  Dan inquired sleepily.  

"No!"  I answered.  I was still in bed.

"Are you alright?" Dan asked. 

"No!" I was not alright; my toes hurt horribly where I had kicked the wall.

"Is there anything I can do?"  he asked.

This question had me stumped, there is not much you can do for toes, alas.  "No," I replied at last.

"All right," Dan replied and fell back asleep.

Dan knows that if I fall out of bed it is his duty to help me up but in this case there was nothing for him to do.  He has explained to me ad infinitum that if I would sleep like a grown up and not flop around so much I would be much better off.  He is probably right, sigh!  But in a couple of weeks my toes changed from bright purple to pink and I am back to as close to normal as I ever am. (Indeed! -dt)

My efforts at finding a horse to ride in Mexico have had mixed results.  I tried to get in touch with Pablo, the owner of Speedy Gonzales. (Rebecca rode Speedy last season. -dt) But, although I talked to his brother's wife, in spite of promises, neither Pablo nor Speedy ever showed up.  Taking pity on my disappointment, Edgar, our condo handyman, found a new vaquero, Antonio.  Antonio came with a very nice horse, Big Mama.  Big Mama was white speckled and quite large. (Although not as big as Jewel whom she rides up north. -dt) Big Mama liked to trot and more or less insisted on it.  Aside from this we got along pretty well.  Antonio liked to talk in English.  He told me about the pirates who used to live in Bucerias and buried their gold here.  He told me about the Indians who buried their dead with artifacts beside a certain type of tree.  Things were going along fairly well, although I could have done with a little less trotting and a little less talking.  But be that as it may after two weeks Antonio, and Big Mama disappeared and did not show up nor answer the phone.

What to do?  I pondered this for several days.  One day as I was walking back home from the dentist, I spied in the distance a man leading a string of horses.  

"Oh horseman, vaquero, senor," I called.  The man looked around, and not noticing me walked on.

"Oh caballero man!" I called loudly.  The man, his name was George, Jorge in Spanish, looked around and saw me waving violently. He paused and I rushed up.

"Would you like to take me horse riding on Thursday at ten o'clock?" I panted, being a little out of breath.

"Of course," George answered, "anytime you want."  (Perhaps the $1000mp offer also made an impression. -dt) So George and Johnny, the horse I ride, have been going for an hour every Thursday. George rides Simon.  Johnny is very well trained and neck reins. He is a little picky and likes only red apples.  All is well.

In Bucerias they have started having bilingual Masses so we are back going to church.  We go in a taxi because it is a little far for me to walk now.  Still we both enjoy going.  I don't read in mass these days. (She did pre-strokes. -dt)  They have put baby Jesus in the nasciemento since he has been born now.  You are not allowed to put him in the manger until Christmas.  The wisemen are not supposed to appear until Epiphany in January when they arrive.  

We have all been very busy watching them building the condos across the street.  Some of us actually went so far as to offer advice which was not well received. (Yes, there has been some sidewalk superintending. -dt) Edgar and I had a plan to rent out pool chairs in front of our door and then he suggested we could sell drinks.  When I returned home yesterday (Probably from shopping -dt) I was disconcerted to see a Mexican was ensconced by our door selling drinks!

There are lots of different machines, large shovels, medium backhoes, cement trucks with loading hoses, who knows what all.  All of the construction is noisy and dusty, but it does provide free entertainment.  Sometimes they work until 11PM and as I understand it they do not get paid a higher overtime rate.  The worker who explained it to me said they were supposed to be grateful to have a job.  This seems unfair to me. (However, by Mexican standards they are well paid. -dt)

I have been doing fairly well at my scuba.  I believe the therapy swimming I did last summer has helped me.  I really enjoy my scuba tremendously.  I see lots of amazing sea creatures.  Some of them are old friends and some I do not know.  When I return home I look them up and try to find them in my identification books.  Last week we saw a very large blue triggerfish.  Last week I was able to get back on the boat without anyone pushing or pulling me!  This week we saw a little pink and brown nudibranch. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudibranch -dt)  And I saw two really amazing anemones, not to mention loads of fish and a very fat sea cucumber.  (Post strokes Mrs.T's diving has been curtailed in time and depth. -dt) 

Before we started diving we saw four whales and a huge pod of dolphins.  We also drove through a large mass of krill.  These were little baby shrimp. We saw a baby whale learning to jump. He would jump with varying degrees of success and then his mother would wave her fluke and he would  try again.  Sometimes the baby would do a very respectable jump and sometimes a little belly flop.  He reminded me of a baby learning to walk.  

We had a delightful Christmas.  Santa brought a new spur to Rebecca to wear and The Editor received a new assistant.  The previous assistant has been promoted to associate editor.

Here are some pictures and a couple of videos.  Unfortunately videos do not transfer well, so I am not sure how well they will play on your equipment.   https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAmfAT  The  video of the baby whale learning to jump with the mother, either encouraging or admonishing, is quite amusing.  Many thanks to Alejandra for taking the videos.

Best wishes and high hopes for all of you to have a Próspero Año Nuevo!

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Sent from Outlook

Warmer Weather

Home Again at the Condo - 2022

Yes, we are back at the winter home, but not without some drama.  When we are about to head south we seem to have something arise, often a health issue with Rebecca, and this year was no exception.  The week before we were due to leave Mrs.T had a health situation that sent her to the hospital ER in Zanesville.  They did some tests, including a colonoscopy, all of which discovered: nothing.  Unfortunately, putting Rebecca under is always a problem; she has significant difficulty recovering from anesthesia.  Despite advising the doctors several times about this, it happened.  Her oxygen levels sunk too low for her to be released in time for our flight which we had to reschedule.  As we predicted her oxygen was back to normal after about two days at home.  And the condition for which she went in had not improved.  It disappeared on its own after we were at the condo for a couple of days.  This unfortunate episode needlessly cost us time and  money, and further undermined our faith in the US healthcare system.  Nice, well-meaning people, great technology, and a system that is - to be kind - in need of improvement. (The assistant editor cleaned up some language. -dt)

But we are back to warm sunshine in our most pleasant surroundings.  After about ten days we are completely at ease.  The larder is full and we are back to a routine.  Mrs.T is back with scuba and horses as she relates below.  And we already squeezed in a little event.

We are safely installed in Mexico.  Our pool is almost the right temperature.  I cautiously climbed in and found it a little cool.  "EEK" I squealed.   A little yellow bird sitting in the Norfolk Island Pine repeated "EEK".  I don't even get any respect from the local wildlife.  Brenda  says he was expressing sympathy but I am not too sure. 

I am still a little weak from the hospital but I can walk to Mary Paz and bring home a few abarrotes  - groceries.  I totter from one bench to the next; fortunately there is a bench on every block so I can pause to take a break.  (Good exercise. -dt)

Judy and I are working on a puzzle which is a picture of bugs.  It is quite intricate but kind of pretty. Rita got it for us. (First puzzle of the season in the pictures. -dt)

At night Dan says, "PUT ON YOUR NOSE!"  So I attach my CPAP and oxygen and crawl into bed.  Resistance is futile!  (It is for her own good. -dt)

Dan and I went to a local street party to celebrate the Day of the Dead.  My favorite part is the ALTOS - tall ones. These are puppets that are, on average, 10 feet tall.  There are altars with dead people's favorite things and lots of marigolds.  Evidently the dead people like bright colors and it helps them to find the way back.  Brenda and Phil, her son, walked down to the local cemetery but found it was not well maintained. Sigh!  I handed out halloween candy and had many enthusiastic kids in Day of the Dead costumes.

I had my first Spanish class and it went fairly well.  I am not too nervous around Jorge, the instructor,  but I do forget a lot of words.  (Actually Mrs.T is doing about as well in Spanish as English. -dt)

I have gone a couple of times to sit at Karen's and relax and watch the ocean while sipping a cold drink.  I love it.  One day I bought a little straw piggy from an Indian (Indigenous person -dt).  Brenda agreed that I really needed it.  Dan is so generous he did not complain but he did look a wee bit skeptical. Especially since I already have a straw piggy I bought last year.  "To market to market to to buy a fat pig. Home again home again. Jiggity, jig", I always say. (We really do not need more straw pigs. -dt)

I got my boots shined up and found my riding helmet and gloves and the step stool for mounting.  I am scheduled to ride on Thursday.  I am not sure if the horse will be Speedy Gonzales.  Dan said he was going to be sure to notify Edgar, our handy person, who thinks my mounting is the funniest thing.  In fact the whole neighborhood thinks it is quite entertaining. (Everyone waves when she goes by. -dt)  I will cling to the tatters of my dignity and ignore the scoffers.  Alas, Pablo was ill so no riding this week, but the lady promised he would be here next week.

I went SCUBA diving with Alex and his family and had a great time.  I saw lots of flora and fauna.  Rays, morays, fish of many sizes, shapes and colors.  I saw corals, sponges, shells, and other unfamiliar things which I could not identify.   We saw huge manta rays sailing above the ocean.  Alex's children caught about a dozen Spanish Marlin, two of which were cleaned and made into ceviche by Manuel while we were diving.  Eva, Alex's wife, made tortas of barbecued pork, and brought tamales, chips.  I brought cookies.  The whole family worked at dressing me in my scuba gear and retrieving my gear and helping me clamber tiredly aboard after diving.  I am sort of a family project with a picnic afterward.  And don't forget Alexandra who braided my hair while I slept.  I brought OSU tee shirts for everyone.  They think fondly of the Buckeyes because I bring them all Buckeye cookies every year.  It was good to be back.  (We are passing out real Buckeyes this year; we hope no one tries to eat them. -dt)

We had our official condo association meeting.  Dan has been president the last two years; next year it will be Glen.  I will not do it.  It requires too much patience and organization which are not my strong points. (Really not as demanding as in the US. -dt)

Here are a few pictures, including braids.  The interesting gizmo was a 'spy' in the hospital room to make sure Mrs.T did not get out of bed on her own.  https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAfpFn

Hope all of you up north are enjoying your early winter weather.  We are quite pleased with it here.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Sent from Outlook

Summer of repairs

MR. BROWN and Other Things

This has become a summer of repairs at the Philo residence.  As you have read in past issues of these newsletters, the storage shed was split in half by a falling tree.  And last year Mrs.T's chandelier fell down, shattering many of its elements and leaving glass all over her room.  And most recently the pond has been losing water copiously.  Time to call in the experts.

We have slowly emptied the shed, moving its contents to the garage. The folks at J&M Construction, who built the old shed, came and took it away.  The new shed should come in a few weeks and then we will need to move things back.  During our efforts to clean the shed we encountered Mr. Brown who Rebecca describes below.  He is quite a thin fellow about four feet long, probably subsisting on bugs and worms, and was not happy about us invading his home.

Before we left for the condo last fall, we asked Aaron of St. Louisville Glass, an old friend of ours, if he would attempt to repair the chandelier.  He agreed and the results are splendid.  Version two of the chandelier is hardly any different from the original.  Many thanks!

We called in Art of Living Waters Pond Supplies, who has been servicing our pond for several years, to see what could be done about the rapid decline in the water level.  He discovered a hole and considerable slippage of the liner.  He built an impressive dam to hold up the liner and increase the depth.  Now we wait for sufficient rain to refill the pond.

Here is Mrs.T's description of events:

Dan and I were emptying out the old shed. "Don't you hiss at me!" I heard him say.  "Don't you stick out your tongue either!"  Who was he talking to?  I was afraid I knew but I had to ask.  "Who are you talking to?"  "My little friend, come and see", Dan replied. Very cautiously, because I knew what to expect I crept up and peered over his shoulder.  Dan was talking to a very skinny brown snake.  I quickly looked at the snake's head.  Not a copperhead and not a rattlesnake either, not a cottonmouth therefore not venomous.  "I think he might be a Brown snake," I told Dan.   "I can see that!" Dan replied obtusely.  "No, brown is the name of a kind of snake," I replied.  The little snake stuck out his tongue at me.  His tongue was black and forked at the end.  I believe snakes smell with their tongues. (They do. -dt)  Dan took out his phone to take a picture.  I began to back away. "Well he has to move so I can get to that box," Dan said.  'Yes', I said, and began backing further away.  Dan gently nudged the snake with a piece of cardboard and like magic the snake got longer and longer and longer; he turned and stuck his head under the box and it disappeared and slowly the rest of him followed until he disappeared altogether.  Cautiously we went back to work.

 

Dan and I worked together with good grace empting the shed mostly into the garage.  We took some of the contents to recycling; a few we threw away.  Every few days Mr. Brown, the snake, would turn up becoming more and more irritated that we were steadily dismantling his home.  I let Dan make the decisions about what to keep, although I am generally more ruthless except for my old paintings. (She has been giving those away to any good home. -dt)  I looked at some Google pictures and could not decide what kind of snake Mr. Brown was.  Sometimes Dan would open a box to check the contents and there was Mr. Brown.  Dan gave him a little nudge and Mr. Brown would unroll himself and slither grumpily away.  I tried to stay out of it.  Snakes make my hair stand on end; they just do! (As with many people, Mrs.T is frightened of snakes and spiders. -dt)  One day it happened, the thing I had been fearing,  Mr. Brown escaped our surveillance and came with us back to our garage.   Oh No!  This was the last thing I needed.  I grabbed a broom and tried to sweep him into the woods.  Mr. Brown did not want to go.  He wanted to go back to the boxes.  He finally crept under Dan's car and retreated.  After that we haven't seen Mr. Brown, which is fine by me.  If anyone would like free paintings or miscellaneous stuff please let me know. (Miscellaneous stuff?  We have lots of electronics. And paintings.  -dt)

We have been working on other projects this summer. One big one is that the pond needs to be fixed.  The pond leaks almost half way empty before it stops losing water.   Art, the pond guy, found two holes on one side which need to be patched.  The other end of the pond sank down and it needed a kind of a wall to prop it up.  Evidently it was overwhelmed by too many water lilies!  Dan and I measured it and it is about fifteen feet wide where it needs a wall; the pond is about forty feet long.  All of the goldfish are now crowded together in the deep end. (Art estimated that there were plenty. -dt)  We have not seen any of the turtles, who can vote with their feet.  This week Art and his assistant will start work on the pond repairs.  If anyone in the area would like free water lilies let me know.

Another project was rebuilding my chandelier.  About twenty years ago I built a beautiful little chandelier with the help of Sam Drumgoole. (Anyone know the whereabouts of Sam? -dt)    It hung about 3 1/2 feet with lots of transparent purple and blue pieces around a light casting colored shadows on the wall above my desk.  I loved it.  Eventually the chain broke and many of the pieces did not survive the fall.  Alas! Alas!!  Dan talked to Aaron about a commission to repair it.  I talked to Aaron explaining how it was put together.  Aaron thought he would make a new chandelier out of the surviving pieces and some new pieces of similar shape and color.  All last winter while we were in Mexico Aaron labored.  I was nervous but Dan consoled me.  Before the installation Aaron talked to me about how the chandelier had been made.  After much thought I remembered the knots that tied on the pieces and things like that.  So, although I didn't do much, I was kind of an advisor.  

Finally Aaron brought the old pieces and the new pieces he had made.  The colors matched perfectly.  Aaron and his new assistant Dominic assembled the new chandelier.  I gave them a little advice about how high the pieces should go and things like that.  Piece by piece it came together.  Slowly it grew and then suddenly I could see it.  My new chandelier.  It is not my old chandelier but it is itself. A blue and purple cloud of light that hovers gently above my desk sending down sweet thoughts.  I am replete.  

Here are a few pictures:  https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjA2EzH

By the time you read this except for the arrival of the new shed the above repairs will have been completed.  We have had a few light showers but not enough to refill the pond.  And another project is underway.  The various sea prints that Rebecca made at our workshop are being prepared for the condo; they will go in the 'fish' room.  Look for photos in a future newsletter.  

And Rebecca will have had another endoscopy to check on her cancer situation.  We expect that the biopsy will show that she still is cancer free.  We hope that she can have fewer of these exams.

Like much of the country, it has been warmer than usual in Philo.  Rain has come in spurts.  Flowers bloomed nicely and perhaps a second wave is coming.

Stay cool.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Sent from Outlook

Summer fun

IT HAS BEEN A BUSY SPRING AND SUMMER

As mentioned in the last newsletter, visits with medical professionals, including another endoscopy for Rebecca, just about ate up all of April.  Thankfully Mrs. T is still cancer free and most of our collective parts are functioning about as would be expected for folks of our age. But a busy April was just the beginning of a projected busy summer.  Some things had been rescheduled to this summer due to COVID.  We have just passed the Fourth of July festivities and Mrs.T brings you up-to-date on what we have been doing the last couple of months:

In May we had a three week sojourn in the west.  The first week was the Glass Art Society Conference.  It had been canceled for two years because of COVID.  We decided to attend  because  of the cancellations and also because of the nearness of family.  We found the GAS conference somewhat diminished but still fun. We saw some old friends, especially Yilmaz and Nimet, and enjoyed some very fine demos.  One was when they made a humongous shark.  Actually the body was already made; what they did was add all of the fins and tail. (About a two hour job. -dt) Another demo was when they made a Saturn kind of thing.  The thing is, when you have some of the best glassblowers in the world, like Dante Marioni and Preston Singletary as your assistants, how hard can it be to do fantastic work.  

We enjoyed visiting the Museum of Glass in Tacoma and one of the local studios. Area 253, (Much like old Glass Axis at the Belmont building. -dt).  We rode on the downtown trolley.  We visited the vendors and saw the student show.  We bought a very nice marble at the silent auction.  There was a lot more to see and do but we are kind of old and were tired.  We remembered those who were no longer there.  There were magnificent others past and the new ones coming on, the gift and curse of age.  And so we left and went to visit relatives. 

After the glass conference we went to Seattle to visit Dan's brother John and his wife Suzy.  Suzy has the loveliest garden; she lavishes it with love and every kind of special care.  In the moist climate it flourishes.  I am in awe.(Actually it is more like three connected gardens. -dt) After a brief stop we went to visit their River House across the mountains in the Metlow Valley in Twisp, Washington. (Five/six hours from Seattle. -dt) Twisp is named for an Indian word for the sound that bees make, evidently it has always been a buzzy place (He! He!).  Their home is on the edge of a mountain river which runs down from the Cascades carrying the melting snow to the valley below.  Suzy and John bought their river house so they could live near their grandchildren.  Twisp is a creative little place (About the size of Philo. -dt) with lots of artists and historians and librarians.  In the summers people come there to hike and in the winter people come to ski.  

The first day we were there I saw a merganser duck family paddling down the swift river in a line, with the ducklings following their mother.  I was enchanted.  On the far side of the river - the river isn't very wide - a family of otters live and with binoculars you can watch them cavorting.  In the evenings the deer walk quietly down to rest in the shadow of the breezeway of the house.  One evening I looked out and saw a great dark shape.  A bear, I thought!  But no, it was a huge black dog of a neighbor. The dog  liked to walk along the river in the evening.  The neighbor came to fetch him eventually.  During the days we visited the little craft stores, ate at the bakery, and were introduced to the grandchildren's chickens.   

The chickens were quite friendly, rushing up to take bugs and worms from the children's hands.  In fact one of the chickens was trained to walk on a leash.  Although they have a very fancy chicken coop I guess the chickens tended to lay eggs wherever the fancy struck them.  About half of the chickens were retirees.  Everyone was horrified when I inquired if they were destined for the pot.  Everyone, but especially the children, lives an idyllic life in Twisp where the father is a building painter and the mother is a nurse and the grandparents live just down the street.  (Check out Suzy's wonderful almost daily blog, sue-feathersandflowers.blogspot.com/, for more about Twisp, gardens,  and other things. -dt) After a few days' visit we returned through the mountain pass to Seattle where we caught a plane to Idaho to visit my sister Rita.

We sat in the airport for several hours.  That was not the plan, but we did.  (Getting through SEATAC is not fun, similar to DFW. -dt) Finally we got in the air and headed East.  It was a little bumpy but at this point I did not care.  In a short while we were in Boise.  The next day there was a big barbeque at Sarah's house. (Nice work Chris! -dt)  Sarah is Rita's younger daughter.  She has a husband, Chris, and two young daughters (Sage and Nora -dt) and of course Sammy.  Sammy is, well there is no getting around the fact, a corn snake.  Sarah explained that Sammy was the perfect pet.  You only have to feed her once a month.  She only poops once a month.  You can leave her alone in a cage with a bowl of water for 2 or 3 weeks.  While I saw Sarah's point I did not rush right out to buy my own snake.  The children enjoyed walking around with Sammy coiled around their necks.  I explained that I admired Sammy better from afar.  Chris had planted lots of fruit trees and when they all produce they make pies, applesauce, and cider. (Some of it of the hard variety. -dt)

The next day we went out to the ranch now owned by Kate, Rita's elder daughter, and her husband Jeremy. (A real cowboy -dt) (They have two sons, Drew and Dre -dt) They had three colts which were curious and cute and still a bit fuzzy.  They would come up to be petted and scratched.  Then they would jump away in sheer exuberance of just being alive.  The mares are a mixture of pride and patience, gently calming and comforting the excited little ones.  After visiting the horses, we ate a delicious homemade pie (Great job Drew! -dt) and conversed while their little dog talked to me. (The cats also seemed contented. -dt)

Rita took us to a mystery challenge about trying to find the bell in grandma's curio cabinet.  And we went to see "Much Ado About Nothing"  at Shakespeare in the Park.  It was quite amusing and very well done.  It was nice to share Rita's life for a little bit but time to get home to Ohio.  

Back in Ohio at the beginning of June, I mowed the yard and Dan washed our vacation clothes when we had the first thunderstorm.  We were listening to the rain which pounded our roof like horses hoofs - I always wanted to say that - when Kaboom! Our house shook.  We walked through the house, checked the garage, peered out all of the windows but we couldn't see a thing.  Obviously a very large tree had fallen.  The next morning we saw it.  A huge tree had fallen and split our storage shed completely in two.  A disaster for everyone except for the squirrels who were running excitedly back and forth through the large hole in the roof.

Well Dan was quite busy on the phone, calling the insurance, getting guys to cut down the tree and put a tarp over the roof.  Finding out costs and how to get rid of the old shed.  We had discussions about what to do with the junk in the shed.  I was for chucking it all out except for a bunch of my old paintings.  This conundrum is not yet settled. (We will be sorting through things as much of it is moved to the garage temporarily. -dt) Fortunately we got the tree cut and pitched over the hill and a tarp over the roof  before the next disaster came on Wednesday in mid-June after the storm.  It was an area-wide heat wave which overloaded the power grid causing it to go down.  

Dan called it in and got a recording that said in effect,  "We know your power is out and so is 800 other people's.  We do not know when it will be back on."  (Note the editor is the one who handles the phone calls. -dt) We had already had breakfast and lunch so we lay around reading books and napping.  It was very hot.  Every couple of hours we called the electric company.  At first it stayed around 800 but then it went up to 1200.  We went out to supper at an air conditioned fast food place.  The number of people affected kept rising which was not encouraging.  We lazed about until it got dark.  Fortunately Dan had bought these little electric lanterns which we placed strategically before we lay down.  

The next couple of days were more of the same.  We kept hoping the power would come back on but it did not.  We worried about the food in the refrigerator and freezer which we did not open.  We flushed with water from the hot tub.(No electricity means no water pump from the cistern. -dt)  Finally on the third night we checked into a hotel for a nice shower and a cool night's sleep.  (By then the hot tub was a tepid tub. -dt) We returned home the next day. Saturday, so I could mow the grass and we could pack for our trip to Pennsylvania.  I was mowing away when Dan came out and was waving frantically.  After almost three days the power had finally come back on.  The refrigerator was beeping angrily.

We were already packed to leave the next morning.  We decided to leave the fridge to its own devices. We left and went to our art workshop.  We had a wonderful time at Touchstone Center for Crafts.(Our fifth visit there. -dt) We both took a class in large scale print making. (Dyeing, screen and block printing. -dt) Dan's prints were probably more artistic than mine. Actually my prints were a little bit of group projects; I had a lot  of help from the teacher and other students.  And they came out okay.  I made seascapes.  I made a boo boo using dye instead of ink.  But I covered it up and pretended it was an artistic statement.  Thanks April!(A classmate -dt)  Our intern Terra helped me cut out my blocks because my hands were not strong enough and my classmate Linda lent me her silver ink.  But I was happy with my work.  Dan's were more his own.  The class was exhausting for both of us.  (We enjoyed everyone: Linda, Jane, April, Hanna, Gretchen, and Terra -dt)  But we are glad to be back in Philo with the fridge which had fixed itself in our absence. (Just about everything in the fridge seemed okay. -dt)

Well, that brings you just about up-to-date as promised.  Another meeting/workshop we were scheduled to attend - the Nature Printing Society annual conference in Maine - was sadly canceled due to concerns about COVID.  Rebecca is in rehab trying to work out problems related to her strokes; she is thrilled to be relearning how to swim.  Other medical visits are in the offing as well as routine maintenance around the house.  Next events are the Y-Bridge arts festival and Muskingum County fair.  Looks like more fun for us.

Here are a few pictures of the latest adventures; the Phoebes have returned:  https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzWTPo

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzWTPo

Feel free to share our newsletter.  We hope you enjoy it.  Let us know if you wish to be dropped from our distribution list. Or let us know of anyone who wishes to be added.

Best wishes for a wonderful summer.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Sent from Outlook

Transiting

GETTING HOME IS THE FUN - NOT

Well, we have been back in Philo for about two weeks.  This newsletter has taken a while to get prepared because we have been consumed by appointments with the medical profession - ten appointments in less than those two weeks, including another endoscopy for Mrs.T.  And that is just round one.  Follow ups are coming with cardiology, pulmonology, orthopedics, etc.  To our Canadian friends:  Don't complain.

Time for an editorial.  As Rebecca partially describes below, airports are just short of torture in the US.  We have traveled a bit, but still not as much as many folks we know.  But we can say with high confidence that other countries do a better job at the airports.  Even the relatively small airport at Puerto Vallarta has better systems in place to move passengers through the terminals.  Maybe it works because it is small.  But we think it is more a matter of organization and attitude. We often go through DFW because it is about halfway between Columbus and PV.  Going south generally has not been a problem.  But returning ?*&^%#@

Immigration has about thirty stations but generally only about ten are in actual use.  The line of entrants snakes out and down the hall towards the concourse at times.  We are sure the agency has difficulty finding people.  But we find it reprehensible that when the shift is over some of the officers just leave no matter how many hundreds are in line.  Probably some overtime rules.  WE DON'T CARE.  Something should be revised to expeditiously process entrants.  It is not a surprise that some folks miss their connecting flights.  We wish Secretary Buttigieg could come through incognito and see how bad it is.  

On to Mrs.T's commentary:

I wandered lonely as a cloud  - and I was pretty chilly too - gazing at my daffodils.  It is good to be back in Ohio.  I saw an enormous bunny tearing around the corner of our house.  I waited to see a bobcat or a coyote or at least a dog chasing after it, but nothing occurred. (A coyote has since come by. -dt)  I don't know what that was all about.  I saw some silly squirrels digging around in the dirt trying to recall where they  buried some nuts last fall. "I know I put them here somewhere, Mildred!"   Dan and I watched some big black birds. I thought they might be baby buzzards just learning to fly - they weren't very good at it - but they flapped clumsily away.  (Buzzards - turkey vultures - are great soarers but do not flap well. -dt) And at night I see more stars and a huge moon peeking over the top of the hills.  A pink moon they call it, I forget why.  When it is warm we hear the spring peepers.  But tonight it is cold and they are snuggled up in their long johns.  We watched a pair of wood ducks sizing up our little pond.  Alas it did not meet their needs. (Possibly because the net is still over the pond.  -dt) They have such beautiful colors.  The last I heard they are rare but not endangered.  Those naughty deer have eaten the first five feet of some of their favorite evergreens. They were some of my favorites too, alas!  The remainders look like popsicles, just the trunk and then a pathetic lump of branches at the top.

The Lenten roses are blooming like crazy as well they should, it being Lent.  Many of the spring ephemerals, the violets, the trilliums, the blood root, the cut leaf toothwort, the lungwort, and so on are blooming everywhere I look.  I have a yellow flower I haven't identified yet.  (Since identified as a yellow dogtooth violet  -dt)  Dan's big leaf magnolia which bloomed last year for the first time left us with two seed pods which I intend to plant in pots.  (She put out a dozen pots. -dt)  Quite a few violets are blooming in my labyrinth but I have not yet gotten around to cleaning it up.  And I have a lot of lilies in my lily bed.  The flowering quinces are flowering enthusiastically..  We again have phoebies in the nest on our front porch and I do not have the heart to evict them although they make a dreadful mess.  It is spring in Ohio.

Getting home was quite an ordeal.  Of course we had the nose stick thingy to get on the plane.  The seats seem to get closer together every time we fly.  (Perhaps we are getting wider. -dt)  I don"t think the seats reclined at all, you just sort of climbed over each other.  The real problems started when you tried to change planes.  Dan and I get wheelchairs.  There is no possible way we could get through the international terminal at Dallas / Fort Worth.  They never have enough 'pushers'. (Our name for the folks that push the wheelchairs. -dt) We shared a pusher with four other wheelchairs.  Unfortunately we were the last in the group of six.  So the guy would push forward two chairs then push another two chairs and then us.  Then he would go back and push the front two again.  This worked fairly well until we got to immigration. The holdup at immigration was such that by the time we were processed the first four chairs were very far behind.  The pusher hustled them forward.  "I'll be back for you", he shouted over his shoulder and was never seen again. We waited and waited.  I had to use the bathroom in the worst way.  No one came and then we waited some more.  I finally begged and pleaded and the immigration lady let me use their bathroom. (We hope she did not get in trouble. -dt)  They said someone was coming for us.  No one came. We waited and waited, FINALLY someone came.  (Fortunately the travel agent leaves a lot of time between flights. -dt)

At the baggage claim one of our suitcases was off to one side because it waited for us too long. We got all of our stuff checked back in and settled down at our gate to wait.  I was very thirsty and went to get a drink.  I  knew that Dan would complain bitterly about the cost - and he would be right - but I did not care.   At a little food stand I found a bottle of lemonade.  Just what I needed.  I opened my purse to pull out lots of money.  "We do not take cash!"  the man said,  "only credit cards."  Oh Dear!  Dan had reorganized my purse and put all the credit cards where he thought they should go.  I could not find anything. (Mrs.T put them where she thought she could find them. -dt) I sighed and prepared to return the lemonade to the shelf.  The man gave me a sweet little smile and said, "This one is on me."  He handed me back the bottle.  "Would you like a cookie to go with it?"  Well I was tempted.  "How about a brownie?" he suggested.  He was gone only a minute and I was tottering away clutching my lemonade and brownie after having thanked him a lot.  "How much did all this cost us?" Dan asked.  "Not a thing", I replied, "A nice man gave it to me."  After we sat down and shared the nice man's generosity, and Dan admonished me for not knowing where he had stashed my cards, we relaxed a bit at our FIRST gate.

A while later Dan got a text message saying they had changed our gate.  We looked around.  There were no wheelchair pushers.  There were no gate agents.  There was no little golf cart.  Dan said he was sure we could do it; it was only two gates away.  Yes, it was only two numbers but that didn't count a whole lot of restaurants and stores.  I took the portable oxygen in one hand, the backpack on the other shoulder, hung my purse around my neck and wandered grumpily away.  I made Dan take the pills and stuff which was the heaviest bag.  Huffing and puffing we finally arrived.  I should mention here Dan says there is something wrong with my lungs.  Well, can you blame me?   I might also mention that Dan urges me to learn to use text but you will notice that no one sent me any bad news.  Score one for the Luddites!  We waited for an hour or more at our SECOND gate.  Then Dan got another text message telling us they had changed our plane to another gate.  The  THIRD gate was not near enough for us to walk to.  Dan set off to find us help.  Dan can be quite assertive.  I was sure he  would find somebody.

I waited a long time.  I drank the last of the lemonade.  I wondered if Dan had gotten arrested for shouting at someone.  I did not see anybody to ask.  I  waited some more.  Finally Dan arrived triumphantly on a little cart. We got our belongings on board and set off. We had not gotten very far when two ladies rushed up.  "Are you going to Gate 33?  We were looking for you.  We are going to help you", they announced.  Well better late than never I thought.  

The ladies jumped on the front of the cart.  "You drive, we will clear the way", they shouted to the startled driver. "Make way for the cart! Move to the right!' they screamed." People in front of us scuttled to one side and we were off. The little cart careened forward.  "Make way for the cart, cart coming through!" the ladies screamed. "MOVE TO YOUR RIGHT!" I didn't think they could actually scream louder. A lady in front of us jumped out of our way.  "Cart coming through!" they hollered. We sped through an open space and the ladies got their breath.   "Cart coming through!" the ladies bellowed as we snaked around, between two groups of people.  I was beginning to get into the mood of the thing, and so was the driver.  I looked at Dan, his usually serene face looked rather fierce.  His black eyes were glowing.   "Move to your right."  I was beginning to resent all of those people holding us up.   "Cart coming through"  I had not had this much fun since taking the kids on the water slide at Disney World.  "Make way" the ladies shouted one last time as we slid to a halt in front of gate 33. 

 "There you see the plane for Tulsa isn't even boarding yet" one lady shouted.  "But we aren't going to Tulsa," I said.  We all looked at the board.  There was a flight to Tulsa boarding in a few minutes and then our flight to Columbus. "Well we gotta find them", one lady said to the other and they rushed off.  Dan graciously told the gate agent how much we had appreciated the ride to our new gate.  Well we aim to please she replied a trifle sarcastically.

Well, such was our adventure to finally get to the flight for  Columbus eventually.  There was a two-hour weather delay for some very fierce storms.  And the flight was so bumpy we did not even receive the meager rations they pass out these days.

Given all the appointments mentioned above, it is a credit to Rebecca managed to put together this newsletter.  Events in Philo are more or less normal, awaiting the second round of follow ups with the medicoes.   A busy summer is ahead with an art conference / workshop on each coast and another one closer to home for good measure.  By Labor Day we should have some nice work to share.

Only a single photo:  httphttps://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzNtXws://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzNtXw

Hope you are staying dry.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Sent from Outlook