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| Week One: |
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Thank you for waiting patiently for
pictures from the end of July. Jim and I took nearly 300 pictures
and videos from Jim's Birthday Party / Pooltag Event.
Check out my last July update and then check out all the
pictures from Pooltag. |
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You may be wondering
how we could ever top this party. Well, by now you should know
that Jim and I have already been planning the next crazy
escapade. Jim announced after dinner that in 6 months, we will
be hosting "Snowtag". The object will be to use 2-liter bottles
to build a sled. Jim's already got an idea of how to design a
sled that looks like a round island with a palm tree and I'm
thinking about using Rosita with a single antler attached to her
head, like Max the dog from the Grinch Christmas story.
I'll have more details about Snowtag later this year as we get
closer to snowy weather. |
| I was up early on the
first day of this month, working on the Pooltag pictures, when I heard
several trucks pull up around my house. Looking out through my
bedroom window, I took some pictures as a city crew began to tear up
my street to repave it. |
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| Because a very bad heat
wave is sweeping through our area, Jim and I put an air conditioner
into my living room window last night. The doggies and I are doing a
lot better now and with the AC on high, I hardly hear the
construction crew out front as they tear up the asphalt. |
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Week Two: |
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By the end of last week,
the road crew finally came back. Each of the recent "heat wave" days
that we've been going through, DO and I have been going to the pool.
(At least we DID have the excuse of working on our Pooltag floats
last week.
We'll have to dream up a new reason for explaining all the pool
visits.
)
Each day I've wondered if we'd return to drive the first trip down
the new pavement. Today as we pulled on my street, there they were
(the crew) right in the middle of it! Well, actually, they had
finished the left side of the road and were just about to start on
my side of the street. |
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As I let the dogs out back, and pulled
my camera from my swim bag (I carry my camera around a lot. You
never know when you'll want a picture of something.
 ),
a line of trucks pulled up onto 14th St. as DO drove away around the
corner. |
The road crew has a
contraption that connect to the back of a dump truck. As the crew
drives forward, asphalts pour out of the truck bed and into the
hopper of the asphalt spreader. One guy drives the truck while
another driver drives the spreader following the armature on the
curb side. Another driver steers a small extension (on the curb
side) that fills in asphalt all the way up to the curb and sidewalk
. Another two guys monitor the whole situation; while two more men
sweep the edges smooth. Finally, one last driver runs a compactor
(the kind with the big wheel that smashes everything flat) up and
down the road smoothing and flattening the asphalt into a more
evenly paved and beautiful street.
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| Luckily, Pooltag was held during the
heat wave of the last week; while this week things are, luckily,
just a tad bit cooler. Oh, it's nothing to worry about.
A passing cold front, boasting a few severe thunderheads, just
dropped the temps from the low nineties to the mid eighties - which
is still just fine for some pool time.
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I should make an apology
here for talking about the pool so much, but here's how I look at
it. First, I live in Ohio and it's damned cold in the winters. I'm
sure going to enjoy the warm weather. (I miss NC sometimes. Flying
kites for my birthdays down there
,
and half of the ones up here as blizzards.
 )
Secondly, pool time is good physical exercise and therapy for DO and
I. (Not to mention that I don't have a running car, but DO does.
)
And lastly, simply because I enjoy it. I've been so very sick
through the years, that I really try to enjoy the things I like. I
may hurt and I might even feel a little puke-y, but I try to enjoy
life as much as I can. It sure makes living a little nicer if you
try to enjoy life. Then when the bad stuff comes along, it doesn't
feel quite so bad. |
| As we have done for numerous years, Jim
and I picked up DO and met up with Linda and her kids, about halfway
from downtown and my house, to watch the HOF fireworks. Canton
doesn't have fireworks for the Fourth of July; but they sure do put
on a spectacle while the national media is focused on our town for
the weekend. |
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Check a sampling of the light show,
click this picture for a movie |
| Summer still has a good
grip on us in Ohio. Although they've predicted some lower temps and
some storms, it's stayed hot with no rain. Thankfully though the
nights are finally dipping back down into the sixties, so it's been
easier to sleep at night. With the days still so warm, we've still
been taking doggies along with us to Jim's house on his days off
(Mondays and Thursdays). Many times, it's just Gabby along for the
trip; while other times, it's both "white and red" (Gabby and Joxer)
spaniels; or sometimes the "red and white" (Aries and Zeus)
spaniels. |
Gabby and Joxer
on one of their trips |
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| Ever since Joxer got a
good taste of the pool (and some of the beach balls
)
earlier this summer, he's turned into quite a "pool dog". He loves
the pool so much that it's almost become a problem. Just like we
have to watch the front screen door for Tsunami (Jim's cat) to
escape through, we have to watch the patio screen door for Joxer to
get out and head up to the pool. If he can nose the door open and
the steps to the pool are down, he will dash right up and start
poking all around the pool deck looking for balls to play with.
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MouseOver
for a happy doggie smile!
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| You should click this picture to see a
movie of Joxer getting into the pool to retrieve his football. He's
quite cute as he tentatively puts out a paw, trying to get some
purchase on the surface of the water for a leap into the pool. Once
in the pool, he heads straight for his toy. After just a few times,
he had learned how to use the ladder to get back out of the pool. |
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Joxer is pretty funny in
the pool as he swims around. Sometimes it will take several bites at
the ball before he can catch it. Each missed bite pushes the ball a
little further away in the water and he has to swim a bit to catch
up again. But nothing gets in the way of him getting to his ball!
You should see the look in his eyes as the big floats sail around
him. He's a little fearful; but still determined to reach his goal
of getting his ball. (I used to think my old Hershey had a hang up
about playing with balls.
 With Joxer, he's just hung up on a toy,
and any toy will do! He just loves to play!) Joxie has even learned
a great way to get to the ladder if the floats are in the way. He
just swims (with his ball, of course) to the nearest wall of the
pool and then swims along the edge, until he comes to the ladder.
Maybe he's not quite the goof that I've always thought he was. I do
know that my doggie sure loves the pool. If you don't believe me,
then re-watch that video and notice that wiggling butt at the last.
That's a sure sign of a happy cocker spaniel! |
| I should bring you up to
date on my latest literary ventures over the last few weeks. Since I'm
still offline (and without any cable TV - I can only get channel 8
tuned it. It's fuzzy but at least I can hear the weather reports and
the news a few times during the day
), I've been reading quite a bit
again. Going through my files, I found a PDF file, that I had
download before losing the cable connection, of several "Dune" books by Frank
Herbert. Starting with the third book in the series, in the last
week, I read through "Children of Dune", "God Emperor of Dune",
"Heretics of Dune" and "Chapterhouse Dune". Along with those four
"Dune" books, I also have read two other books; both books titled
with women's names. (Just an odd coincidence) The book, "Eleanor
Rigby" is by an author, Douglas Coupland, who
wrote "J-pod" that I read
last month. The other book with a female moniker was titled "Terri".
Written by Michael Shavio, this was a book about the sad, usual, and
disturbing events surrounding him and his ill wife. I don't know how much you
may have paid attention to the Shavio case; but I was always
intrigued with what was going on, in and out of the courts, with this
issue. Not only have I known quite a few people in the health care
profession that dealt with terminally ill people; but this issue
thrust it's way into my house when I decided to bring Randy home
under Hospice care before he passed away. Since I've had to face my
own mortality twice in the hospital, I hope I've prepared enough
with my own living will filed with the hospital that does my blood
work.
Reading through Mr. Shavio's account, I really felt quite a bit
of compassion for him in the situation he went through. Similar to
when Cliff went into the hospital several years ago, Terri Shavio
had been hooked up to quite a few machines initially to keep her
body functioning while the doctors determined the problem and what
to do. Luckily, Cliff was able to be weaned off the equipment as he
got better, although it took several months for him to get that
well. In the Shavio case however, it took a while for her doctors,
and several years for her husband, to all reach the agreement that
she would not ever recover. Another similar, but different, example
is of Carolynn when her husband had a brain aneurism several years
ago. Within a short amount of time, they could tell that Ray would
never recover, and Carolynn made the correct decision to let Ray's
body pass away too. By the time Michael Shavio came to grips with
his wife's condition, insurance money and greed came into the
picture, and his decision to let his wife's body go became a
national issue. Understating why the government of Florida and of
the United States got involved into this situation is to understand
just how corrupt our government has become.
I found it quite interesting, and sadly ironic, that as this case
went through years and years of court proceedings, Michael Shavio
became an EMT and then an RN, and many times dealt with patients and
families as the decision to "pull the plug" was made numerous times;
while that option was still closed to him and his wife as religious
fanatics inflamed the situation. Although this was only one side of
that family's argument, reading how Mrs. Schindler had allowed her
own mother to disconnected from equipment and allowed to pass away,
how few documented times Mr. Schindler had ever visited his
daughter, and how the court documents show the Schindlers changing
their sworn testimonies as it suited their cause, I just can't
sympathize with the parents. When the father testified that he would
even go so far as to have Terri's limbs amputated (if medically
needed) just to keep her alive in that horrible condition, I knew
who really loved Terri and who was just after the financial gain.
It's never a good time to think about your own thoughts in this
matter; but it is very necessary these days. Medical science
improves every day, and every day more drugs and more machines are
available to keep us alive longer. Heaven knows how much I hate my
meds; but I'll subvert nature readily and let those daily doses keep
me alive as long as possible.
 Sometimes though, science can keep
parts of you "clinically" alive too long, defying nature too much. Even with
all my education, and all of my Baptist upbringing, I, like everyone
else, don't have the answer to what lies after death; but I'm not so
scared or worried about it, that I want to be "held" here when it's
past my time to go. Life has a very special quality to it, and when
you no longer have that quality, you no longer have life. Ok,
enough of that. Go out and decide what your wishes are and get a
Living Will. |
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My cosmos out back have really grown up nicely again this year.
While the ones lining Jim's driveway are a little scraggly, mine are
quite full, bushy, and covered in flowers. I'll give credit where
credit is due though. The flowers are Jim's house are much larger
and prettier than the ones in my backyard. |
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The morning glories have already reached up to the bird house, and
have been putting out a ton of blooms each morning for a few weeks;
but the mint is starting to go to seed and die out as Summer comes
to an end. |
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The bamboo by the back door has really
grown up tall and I
couldn't be happier. I planted it in that spot hoping to grow a bit of
a "wind break" by the back door. You might also notice in this picture that my bushes
are quite "shaggy". That's what happens when you go to the pool
everyday and neglect chores around the house.
 Never fear! With
my hedge clippers, I have gotten the shrubs looking nice and neat
once again. (In case you're already thinking ahead to Christmas, I'd
be happy with new electric hedge clippers.
This one is a little short and getting a little old and rattle-y.) |
| A few weeks ago, the blooms on the
tiger lilies finally withered and fell off. There's nothing left
right now except the stalks, which will soon be dead and just dried
up husks. |
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I know this picture is a little "busy";
but that's my new rose bush in the center. Although it didn't put
out any blooms this year, it has grown up from a four inch twig in
the ground to several branches reaching over three feet tall. Those
flowers you can see are some "wild" cosmos that migrated from the
backyard, along with the Asiatic day lilies that are just past the
rose bush running the ground behind the shrubs. |
| Every year in August, some of the
original gladiolas that I planted over a decade ago, burst forth in
bright yellow and deep red. The small purple irises in that bed are
finally dying out for the year; but the stand of pampas grass will
continue to grow for some time yet. |
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About this time last year, I was
cutting down the dead stalks of the hollyhocks. This year, they are
still blooming at the top, while newer buds and blooms are
developing near the base of the plants. |
Although I dearly love my
fountain in the front yard, this time of year is when I think that
area of my yard looks it's worse. While in incredible hues of green,
all the plants have lost their colorful flowers.
Depending on how soon Fall moves into the area, I'll soon be pulling
out the dead stalks and leaves of the irises and trimming back
whatever that plant is in front of the fountain (that had such
pretty pale purple flowers). I don't think the fountain area looks
to bad after it's Fall cleanup or through much of winter, since the
slate flagstones surrounding the fountain are more visible then.
For a while after that, I have some fun stepping on the giant ice
cube in my yard. Then it's all just buried under a blanket of white
snow and is nothing more than a dip in the yard.
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Because my blood work was so good for
the last year, I've had quite a break from the doctor lately. Rather
than hanging on monthly results, the doctor is letting me go for
three whole months until my next appointment in late September. I've
been very good about taking my meds, with only a few days worth of
breaks from the regime during the summer. (I sure didn't want to
puke at Cedar Point or in the middle of Pooltag!
)
Luckily, this summer had been much, much better than last year, and
I have only been "sick"
rarely. So far too, I haven't been bothered with any sinus
conditions (not counting chlorine from the pool up my nose
),
and NOT even one mysterious rash or fever at all!
During the whole Summer, I've only noticed one real problem with my
health though it's not an easily identifiable problem. Some of the
side effects of my meds are neuropathy, along with joint and muscle
problems. I'm thinking that those problems might have started to
effect me a little bit. I'm going to mention this to the doctor, but
there's not much that can be done about that problem unless it's so
bad that I need pain meds. (Ple-lease! I have quite enough pills to
take now without any more.
I'm even leery of Tylenol and antacids anymore.
) |
I've had good health all-in-all
lately, but not much wealth. I haven't had any computer clients in
quite a while (short of some telephone calls, telling people that
it's probably just been the heat making their computers act a little
flaky). I can't say that situation is all that bad though since my
poor broken down car (with plates that died on my birthday in
March) is still sitting out in the back driveway. As I mentioned
earlier, there's still not any money for an internet or television
service either. There hasn't even been any money to pay Jim back for
carrying my cell phone bill for many months now. With the cut in my
SS check still in effect (another 2 and a half years of that), it's
been a huge struggle just to keep the house payment up to date. I'm
crossing my fingers that no water, power, or gas bill shows up for
another few weeks.
I did make sure to squirrel away about 10 bucks for a bag of
dog food later this month though.
Don't get me wrong. I don't mention anything of this to make you
feel sorry for me (although all donations are greatly appreciated
and will put to only good use!
).
In actuality, I state all that with an amount of pride. With all the
health problems, money problems, car troubles, and good and bad
roommates that I've had through the years, and with as little
government assistance as possible (without that I could never ever
pay for the $2,800 worth of medications each month that I
need), little ol' me (alone without Randy) has kept this house
going. I watch the crack-heads come and go in my neighborhood, and
see of my own acquaintances move around running from their bills and
debts. I feel entitled to puff up my chest just a little and say,
"See? If I can struggle through the problems I have and still
basically make it on my own, so can you." |
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Week Three: |
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| I've stayed on a reading binge lately
because the weather has taken a small dip in temps and I haven't
gone to the pool in a few days. Continuing through the "Dune"
series of books, I just finished reading through a prequel trilogy (House
Atriedes, House Harkonen, and House
Corrin). After those three books, I continued in the
timeline and re-read the original book, Dune. Sitting
on my bookcase is another "Dune" prequel trilogy (Butlerian
Jihad, Machine War, and Battle for
Corrin) that I plan on reading through before the end of the
month. My total is 10 books read so far with month, and I'm hoping
to add those last three to my total in the next two weeks.
|
| Last month Jim and I had
considered a short day trip like we took last June; but we were
forced to change those plans. Last Summer, we took an afternoon and
went canoeing. We had planned doing this kind of trip again
last month before Pooltag; but several storms went through on the
day we had planned to go, severely flooding that area of the river.
The flooding was so bad that one lady actually died canoeing down
the river with her husband. Needless to say, we canceled the canoe
trip for several weeks, until we were sure the river was back to a
normal flow. |
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Mohican River Adventures has
several types of water crafts and several types of trips that you
can take. We decided to once again take the 2-3 hr. trip (the lower
portion of the route, highlighted in red on the map); but instead of
a canoe, this time we chose to use kayaks which were pretty cool.
The kayaks have a molded seat and feet slots so that you see on top
on the craft, rather than inside. |
| Unfortunately, I couldn't
touch up these pictures of Jim any better.
As with many of our other vacations and trip, I kept my camera
safely inside a sealed baggie. As I tried to get the camera out for
these pictures, I drifted into the shade of some trees, while Jim
drifted out into the beautiful sunshine that we had the whole day of
our trip. Even though these aren't the best pictures, we really had
a great time and I hope that you can see the smile on his face.
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Looking past the front of my kayak
out onto the Mohican River |
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mIkIE,
row, row, rowing his boat
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The weather was excellent
for our river journey. Last year, just after finishing this same
trip, we were lucky and missed being caught in a big thunderstorm.
During this trip, we had blue sky with just a few wispy
strands of white clouds very high in the sky, a nice light breeze,
the temperature in the upper 80's and nice cool slowly flowing
water, plus the companionship of each other.
Although Jim and I do quite a lot of activities together, for me the
best part is always just being with the man I love.
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As we traveled the water, we passed
several small streams feeding into the main river. Glancing down
one, we noticed some wildlife and decided to head down the stream a
short ways to get a better look. |
| As we headed up the narrow
stream, the wildlife moved away; but if you MouseOver the second
picture below, you'll be able to see the flock of ducks, along with
a blue heron on the sandy shoreline. |
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MouseOver CloseUp |
| The shorter, 7-mile, trek downstream
passes under two bridges, which eventually we will cross in a bus
back to the River Trip office and Jim's car in the parking lot. |
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| On the way to and from our
river trip, we passed through 4 Ohio counties, filled with fields
and fields of corn. I sure wish this area would move ahead with
making Ethanol for us to use in our cars. A report from the state
Capital in Columbus came out recently that stated that this state
grows enough corn to not only fuel all of our vehicles but also
could produce enough for Indiana and Pennsylvania also. |
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| By the time we returned to
our own county and Jim's house, we still had plenty of heat and
sunshine, so we spent the rest of the day in the pool. For dinner,
Jim grilled out some yummy steaks. Afterwards we headed back to my
house, were we watched a VHS tape of the Sci-Fi Channel's mini-series
of "Dune". I really enjoyed watching that since I had just finished
up the "Dune" book before our river excursion. |
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The day after our river adventure was
warm but not sunny, so I spent a good portion of my day working
around the yard cleaning up around all the plants, as they are
beginning to die out here at the end of Summer. I cut down some of
the tall hollyhocks stalks that weren't putting out any more
flowers; but left all the stalks that still had some buds on them. |
| After clearing out dead leaves from my
irises, I started down the side of my to remove dead stalks from the
tiger lilies. I only got as far as the rose bush before I saw a
large spider web between the shrubs and the house. Rather than
destroy the web to finish my cleaning, I left it as it was and took
some pictures. MouseOver this picture to see the big
spider that I left alone to help rid my yard of some of the insects. |
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There have still been a few more Summer
birthdays to celebrate lately. Kayle turned into a teenager just
last week!!
Not only is she starting to act more grownup; but she's looking it
too. The boys are going to be knocking down the doors to get to her
soon.
For probably the last pool party of the season, Becca celebrated her
10th b-day (just a year old than Gabby
)
this past weekend. |
| Although it wasn't the
best day for a pool party, everyone showed up just late enough to
catch the warmest, sunniest part of the day for swimming in the
pool. We grilled out hot dogs, and had Sloppy Joes for dinnner. |
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It was a "Strawberry Shortcake" theme
this year, since we've all be "Care Bear-ed" to death on her past
birthdays.
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Becca got a Curious George doll, along
with a musical teddy bear - and $25 in cash!
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| Becca's wish came true!
Her cousin, Jonathan, did act goofy in the picture behind her, while
she blow out the candles.
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The kids use the filter outflow and
filled these giant balloons with water. When I went to check it out,
I thought I was looking at a scene from the movie "Cocoon".
Lucky for the kids, these water balloons stayed in the water. Each
one must have weighed a ton. There's no way anyone could have picked
them up and thrown them. I bet Joxer would have freaked out if he
could have seen these "underwater balls".
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| Speaking of Joxer and the pool, the
day after the party was one of Jim's Mondays off from work and we
planned on taking Joxer and Aries up to Jim's house for the day. We
had a project to tackle at Jim's house before the pool though. The
day before Becca's party, the water line in Jim's basement had
sprung a leak, so we needed to do a plumbing repair. I had thought
that the repair would only take a little while to handle; but
instead, it turned into a 4 hour project!
It took us quite a while to cut out the broken pipe and replace it
with another piece and a coupling. Afterwards, we had NO water
pressure at all! Then suddenly, the coupling blew apart and water
began spraying all over the basement.
The pipes at Jim's are quite old now, and really filled with
sediment. All the sediment that had broken loose, when we replaced
the one section of pipe, became a blockage in the next section of
pipe and totally stopped the flow of water. It took another trip to
the hardware store, the purchase of another section of pipe and
about a half an hour to finally complete the project and restore
water to Jim's house. Of course, it ran quite brown and rusty for a
while; but I think we got the problem solved. At least, for now.
Eventually, now that we are experienced plumbers
,
I guess we'll have to replace all the pipes in the basement to get
full water pressure back to Jim's house. |
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Week Four: |
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As Summer winds down, my cosmos are
still blooming up a storm. Every time I open my back door, I
immediately see this patch of white, maroon, and pink. |
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| With all the bugs out this year, the
spider that lives just around the corner of my house, by the rose
bush, is growing larger and larger. MouseOver this picture to see
how big it has grown. |
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Even though Jim and I are able to cram
a lot of activities into a month, we still don't always get to do
everything that we want to do. We had hoped to get over to Trent's
house this past weekend (for a yearly party that he holds); but alas
,
Jim was stuck at work all day. He did deliver two vehicles and sold
another one, so the day wasn't a total let-down. I spent the whole
day sneezing with my end-of-Summer
allergies acting up. |
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| I just heard some numbers on a talk
show on the radio that were interesting, in a bad way. (Not only is
my internet connection gone with cable, but the TV is pretty much
gone too. I can just barely get in the local Fox channel [as a
static-filled picture], so I only watch TV to LISTEN to the evening
news. The rest of the day, I listen to my CD collection and a local
talk radio station out of Akron.) The numbers say that the average
American family's income is down $2,000 this year, which is even
worse than the drop in the near-recession of 2001. Added to that sad
information is that now Cleveland, Ohio is THE poorest city in
America. Within the last 15 years, the local economy (Canton is only
50 miles from Cleveland) has gone from having over fifty Fortune 500
companies to less than five! It's been pretty sad to watch how badly
this area has gone down since I moved here about twenty years ago.
Of course, this area has voted very Republican for years and that
sure hasn't helped us at all. We now have nearly the highest state
taxes in the nation and our Republican state government lost
millions of tax-dollars in several fraudulent schemes during the
past through years; but all those opportunities and jobs that
President Bush promised as he campaigned through the state during
the last election have never materialized. Now don't get me wrong,
I'm not blaming the Republicans for all of this local economic
problem; but they helped it spiral out of control during their
tenure in office. The biggest factor to the economic problem here is
that all the America manufacturing jobs are now done, not in Ohio
and Pennsylvania, but in China and Taiwan. That's a NAFTA problem created by my favorite president, Bill Clinton, and
his Democrats. And through all the years, no matter who is in office
determining policy, the gas companies are making money
hand-over-fist. I can hardly wait to see how much they are going to
be charging me this Winter to heat this tiny bungalow house that I
call home. There aren't any easy fixes to the problem around here,
and I'm sure they won't be coming any time soon.
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So that's lead me to thinking about
another problem - my house. Maybe you, my friends and readers, have
some thoughts for me on this issue. When Randy and I first got this
home, we basically signed-on-the-dotted-line of the land contract
just to get a roof over our heads. We had been burglarized less than
a month before and were desperate to move anywhere. We already knew
that Randy was sick and that we were both HIV positive. We just
wanted a reasonably safe place to live for a reasonable price until
we died. We never dreamed that we would ever pay off the land
contract.
Here I am now with only about eight years left to pay on the land
contract before I own this house and property; but I'm having a
little problem with that. I now also have a great man in my life and
would like to consider living in the SAME house with him. I have
some reasons for considering leaving this house and moving into
Jim's; but I also have some reasons to continue paying for this
place. I wonder if you have any thoughts on the matter. Here are
some of my thoughts on the subject.
Reasons to Leave:
None of the surrounding homes have been sold in the last
12 yrs., so I may be "stuck" with a home and unable to sell it.
Every time I walk from my house to DO's (about five blocks), I see
more and more vacant homes, and homes up for sale. Things just don't
look very good for the neighborhood that I'm in. Then, even though
none of us really likes to think about it, there is always the very
real possibility that I might not even live another 8 yrs. to pay
off my land contract. When we originally moved here,
Randy and I never dreamed that we'd even be living here for five
years much less the twelve years that I've been here. At $320 a
month for my house payment, I could consider that just a good amount
to have paid to have "rented" this house over the years. Moving
would not affect my check from Social Security (it'll stay at $450
for more than another two years before going back up to $600),
although it will probably reduce my food stamp amount some. Finally,
instead of paying my house payment, that money could go to Jim,
who's house is in desperate need of a new roof and new water pipes.
Reasons to Stay:
After the house is paid off,
I could sell the house well below the market value just to make sure
it sells. No matter what money I'm able to sell this house for, it
will seem like a profit to me, since my monthly payments have been
no worse than a rent payment. I could include the sentimental
reasons for staying here, as this was the last place that Randy and
I shared; but I've been here a long time now without Randy and it
feels more like MY house than OUR house, so I really don't have a
sentimental reason for staying. I'll miss my flowers and fountain
for sure; but I'm sure Jim won't mind some more "improvements" to
his landscaping. There are only two other things that I can think of
for the "staying here" category. One would be that I and Jim both
already have houses full of furniture. Of course, that's not really
a terrible problem though. I'm sure I could donate some of the
furniture that's in good shape to some of my friends. Lastly though
is the one problem that has prevented Jim and I from considering a
move already - our pets. Jim's a cat person, and I'm not certain how
well it will go "invading" his house (and Nami and Baba's house)
with my pack of dogs.
I'm not expecting anyone to be able to tell me what to do about
this situation; but I'm eager to hear any thoughts you might have
about the subject. Drop me an email if
you have something to share with me. I don't have any deadline that I'm looking at if
I do decide to move; but if moving is the better thing to do, I
should be doing that before the snow begins to fly.
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Changing to lighter matters, I am quite pleased to say that I
finished off all the "Dune" books this month. Although I had read
these books previously, it was nice to be able to read through the
whole series at once, without waiting years between the book
publication dates. So, all told, I read 13 books this month!
I can't really count the one I'm currently reading (a Star Trek
novel, "Ship of the Line"), since I'm only half way
through and won't finish it by the end of month.
I'd like to mention a movie that we rented and watched the other
night - "V for Vendetta". What an excellent movie that was!
Very Orwellian (like the novel "1984"), this movie is
about an imminent probable future. In this future, America has been
devastated by a civil war after being drained from the war in the
Gulf, so Britain has moved to a radical, religious right, nearly
totalitarian society where liberties of the people have been taken
for the "protection" of their society. This movie just reminds me
about why we have to remember the words of Benjamin Franklin, "The
price of freedom is eternal vigilance". Especially in these times of
terrorism, we can't allow the freedoms that we have gained to be
taken away in the name of "protection" - similar to the "illegal"
wire-tapping the current administration has done in the name of
safety. If they have reasons to listen in to your phone calls or
emails, the government should have to prove it to a court, since
that is the only barrier between us and a totalitarian government.
If you haven't read George Orwell's "1984", Aldous Huxley's "Brave
New World", or seen the movie "Logan's Run", you should watch this
movie to have an appreciation of how easily our society could slide
backwards and we could lose freedoms that our ancestors fought and
died to insure that we have today. |
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The birds that were nesting in the
birdhouse left earlier this Summer, and it's a good thing. This
year, the
morning glories have grown the tallest and bushiest than they have
ever been before. Tendrils of the vines are even curling inside
the birdhouse now. |
| My morning glories are over a very
unusual color and it's so hard to get an accurate picture to show you. If
you look closely at this picture, some look purple and some indigo.
In real life, all the blooms are actually the same color!
The real color isn't quite purple and isn't quite blue; but they are
as iridescent as the picture shows. |
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| Enjoy my beautiful flowers
now.
Fall is on the way. The forecast for the next week and a half only
shows temps in the mid-70s and the potential for rain nearly
everyday. I guess we'll be seeing my flowers dying out soon, the
leaves on the trees changing and us closing the pool.
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| Next month, I'll have some
update on my health, since I have blood work and a doctor's
appointment scheduled near the end of the month. There's an air show
up in Cleveland during the Labor Day weekend, that we have talked
about going to, so if we go I'll have some pictures of that to show
you. Also, I'd like to go hiking again. I told Jim to start thinking
about that one. Although I wouldn't mind going back to Nelson Ledges
(maybe taking some of the kids with us), it might be nice to visit
somewhere else in this state. Ohio might be having a lot of economic
woes right now; but it sure is a pretty state with a lot of
interesting places to visit. |
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