Earthly Abundance
Flowers, Fathers and Sun

6/25/06:
What's the deal with the purse, man? I cannot lie, it was my cousin Diane's idea.

I sent Diane an amusing email story and she responded, asking if it was another of my wonderfully written stories gleaned from real life. Her question gave me an idea...

Click on my picture for the email joke and at the bottom of the page will be an even better picture of myself with my purse.

Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh.- WH Auden

6/25/06:
Jay makes good use of our small lot, making raised beds in which to grow spinach, lettuce, onions, green beans, zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, and blue berries. We also have dwarf or semi-dwarf apple, cherry, pear, plum and fig trees, plus raspberries. Last year I got about six pies off one apple tree, and this year it has even more apples- it enjoys our company!

This year I ventured off into new territory, planting garlic. Here the garlic is planted in late fall, winters over and then is harvested mid-July. I planted two varieties: a softneck Artichoke and a hardneck Purple Stripe. The hardneck varieties send up a curled, pointy "scape" that you cut or break off when it starts straightening up- broken off ones are in the picture to the left. Both the hard and softnecks are then treated much like an onion: when the bottom greens turn brown and the top greens are half brown you harvest them. Mine will be ready to harvest in a week or so. Saturday I cut the scapes off my hardneck plants and discovered a wonderful garlic fragrance was wafting up to me. Jay researched scape cooking and found that they are used for many dishes, so later we had some in our supper stir fry- it was yummy.

I also discovered that Breyer's has ice cream that is both fat and sugar free, and it is yummy- the vanilla is a great place to put our fresh picked raspberries. It takes some work, but the fruits of gardening are certainly a blessing.

Happy were men if they but understood. There is no safety but in doing good.- John Fountain.

6/24/06:
Yes, I know I have mentioned this before, but Jay and I donate to Habitat for Humanity and get a publication they send us. In the current one I was surprised to see that Whirlpool has donated over $33million to the group. I know that the corporate donations are in the form of their own products, but thats a heck of a lot of product... We bought a new stove a couple of years ago- would've looked closer at Whirlpool if I had known. The swan picture is from Eaton Rapids, my hometown, clicking it will take you to the global volunteer home building program.

I am a marvelous housekeeper. Every time I leave a man I keep his house.- Zsa Zsa Gabor

6/23/06:
I guess about a twelfth of fathers have what my dad has- a birthday the same month as Father's Day. I already wrote about presents my dad, Donald Jardot, got from me for his birthday. To provide a well-rounded view of reality, I now present one of the presents I got him for Father's Day: TA-DA!! Another Heatherwood Farms memory-maker, a clipboard also from the '60s. We moved to the then newly-built house my folks currently live in when I was a senior in high school and I think lots of things got tossed during that move. Do you think that back then my dad would have ever thought that I would be giving him many of those things as presents decades later? As they say, history repeats itself, or at least Cindy does.

There are people who think that everything one does with a serious face is sensible. - Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

6/21/06:
Will Clegg sent me an email joke with a link to a site with the wedding announcements to the right and left on it- beware, I have linked each of them to yet another suggestive joke...

If you can't make out what the one on the left links to says, try pulling on the outside of your eyes as you look at it- kind of like the old song from 1980.

"How pleasant is the day when we give up striving to be young -- or slender."- William James

6/18/06:
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

"Grant Wood's American Gothic caused a stir in 1930 when it was exhibited for the first time at The Art Institute of Chicago and awarded a prize of $300. Newspapers across the country carried the story, and the painting of a farm couple posed before a white house brought the artist instant fame. The Iowa native, then in his late 30s, was enchanted by a cottage he had seen in the small southern Iowa town of Eldon. Its Gothic Revival style, indicated by the upper window designed to resemble a medieval pointed arch, inspired the painting's title. He asked his dentist and his sister Nan to pose as a farmer and his unmarried daughter. The highly detailed style and rigid frontal arrangement of the figures were inspired by Northern Renaissance art, which the artist studied during three trips to Europe. After returning to Iowa, he became increasingly appreciative of the traditions of the Midwest, which he also celebrated in works such as this. American Gothic remains one of the most famous paintings in the history of American art. It is a primary example of Regionalism, a movement that aggressively opposed European abstract art, preferring depictions of rural American subjects rendered in a representational style. The painting has become part of American popular culture, and the couple has been the subject of endless parodies. Some believe that Wood used this painting to satirize the narrow-mindedness and repression that has been said to characterize Midwestern culture, an accusation he denied. The painting may also be read as a glorification of the moral virtue of rural America or even as an ambiguous mixture of praise and satire."

Jay made a June calendar for my parents, in honor of my dad's birthday and Father's Day. At the top of the calendar is the picture Jay made by inserting my face and my father's face into a picture of Wood's painting. He also included on the calendar the information above, about the original painting. My folks thought it was interesting...

Humility is just as much the opposite of self-abasement as it is of self-exaltation.- Dag Hammarskjold

6/17/06:
I started this web page thing back in the fall of 2001, making it up as I went along, writing about things that interested me, such as my own opinions and my self. So, I write of places I have been, things I have seen, things I have done, what I have read, and a myriad of other things, not the least of which includes home improvement projects. I write for myself and invite all to watch, reflect and, if applicable, enjoy.

This last month I listened to a book on CD in my car, a new translation of Gilgamesh done by Stephen Mitchell. I knew nothing about and had never read this piece of ancient literature but, of course, Jay had. I found it on a shelf in the library, thought it would be interesting, and Jay confirmed that for me- he continues to enlarge my life. Gilgamesh is an ancient epic poem that was discovered on stone tablets in 1853 and translated at the end of that century. To put it in context, the earliest versions of Gilgamesh were written about 1700 BC, a thousand years before the writing of the Iliad and a few hundred years before the Bible's Old Testament was written.

To me the story is about man's search for connection in this life and for immortality. Its conclusions are the same as those we arrive at today- all we have is each other, at least until this worldly experience of self ends, as it surely will. I found the sophistication of these ideas and thoughts, formed and written so long ago, surprising in a surprising way, mostly because they are similar to my own :). The sexual presentations in the ancient poem are also interesting because sex is not portrayed as dirty and woman is not portrayed as dirty either. Apparently, before the current three major religions that are always at war began, sex was something two people participated in together in order to connect. This connection is what made them fully human.

Yet another surprise within the poem is its story of a time when the world was flooded. In this ancient story a man is directed, before the flood begins, to build a boat and to take some animals into it. Later, the man sends some birds out from the boat to see if the flood waters have receded. There are differences between this flood story and the Biblical story of Noah, so maybe the two stories are about different floods and about different men being directed to build boats and save animals. Maybe Gilamesh is simply a metaphorical story, while the Bible's story is literal. When the flood story within the Gilgamesh poem was discovered, Victorians considered it affirming because they believed that Biblical stories were indeed about real experiences of man with God that had been verbally handed down until finally written and recorded in the Bible. Today's faith is different. If you google "flood gilgamesh bible" you will find a wealth of controversy about what the Gilgamesh flood story means in relation to the Biblical flood story. Who cares?

The Gilgamesh poem is very, very old and tells me that even then man intellectually sought to describe, explore and explain the experience of being alive.

To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge.- Copernicus

6/14/06:
I think most people have, over the years, heard at least some of Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion" show on public raido. Last weekend Jay and I went to see the new movie of the same name. I liked it as a enjoyable comedy, but Jay cautions not to go to the movie expecting to see a film version of the show. I really enjoyed seeing Lily Tomlin, and she paired well with Meryl Streep as sisters who talk at the same time, all the time. Anyhow, a fun movie in my book.

On another light note, the President makes fun of blind people...

It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this.- Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)

6/12/06:
For the second weekend in a row I had problems with my web hosting service. I have used the same service since getting my own site, cindysworld.net, the beginning of 2002, and these problems are new. We shall see...

Today is my dad's 77th birthday- HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!

My dad hauled bulk milk from farms to the Heatherwood Farms dairy in Lansing, Michigan until I was a junior in high school. For one birthday present I got him a like-new piece of Heatherwood letterhead from the '60s I found on Ebay. The picture of the letterhead's top and bottom links to an interesting Lansing State Journal article. My dad is very handy and likes to keep busy; his home looks very well-maintained because of this. For another birthday present I got my dad a bound volume of Popular Mechanics, Jan - June 1946. It was in excellent condition and huge- you can see some info on it by clicking on my dad's picture up left.

I worked with a gal my age a while back who was also from Michigan. She told me the message to her from both of her parents was that she wasn't much on her own, that they were sending her to college so that she could catch a good husband. I was surprised, since I never heard anything of the kind from my parents. I went to college for myself and assumed I was my own person.

It is a cheap generosity, which promises the future in compensation for the present.- J. A. Spender

6/10/06:

When we remodeled the bathroom last summer I put a nice stainless hook on the wall next to the sink, to use for the hand towel. With time we decided that, hanging that way, the towel does not dry well between uses. I kept my eye open in antique and other stores for a towel rod or something of interest that I could use for such, but no items caught my fancy. Then a couple of weeks ago I tried putting "vintage towel bar" in the Ebay search function, and came up with some interesting items, including: Vintage Kimble Glass Towel Bar with Original Store Tag - Towel Bar measures 17 1/2 inches long - Wall mounts are solid and this one has the original store flap tag intact with the screws on-board - Amazing find intact was never used - Retailed for 1.99 originally. I bought this old glass towel bar for $9.75 and put it up today- it looks like it belongs there, cool.

When writing this entry today, I googled and found a place that makes reproductions of things like my towel bar. For a pittance, $50, I could get a new one... Nah.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."- George Santayana

6/9/06:
We are heading into the weekend again- yippee! Last Saturday we dragged ourselves out of the house early (or early for us) to attend a pancake breakfast at Skagit County Fire District #2's station, on Beavermarsh Road. In the world we locals live in, however, the station at the corner of Beavermarsh and McLean Roads is known as the McLean Road Fire Station. Jay and I went to a spaghetti feed there quite a while back and have meant to go to more than one of their Saturday morning pancake breakfast fundraisers, but have either piddled too long, forgotten in the frenzy of activities, spaced out or been too lazy.

Jay has had a soft spot in his heart for the 911 responders at the fire station since the beginning of January 2003, when they answered his call and sped him to the hospital with a case of pneumonia. We had been dating two months when Jay got a bad cold and seemed quite sick, but then said he was starting to feel better. When he did not respond to emails and phone messages the next day and again the day after that, I became worried. Not knowing what to do, since I was working and living in Everett still, I decided to check Mount Vernon area hospitals. I knew they would not tell me anything if I just asked if he was there, so when I called the first one, Skagit Valley Hospital, I simply asked for Jay Eckert's room. The lady there said, "Just a minute, I'll connnect you to ICU" and rang me through! That was a bit of a surprise, to say the least. I asked the nurse to tell him when he woke up that I would be there that evening.

Even though it is hard to hide from a social worker, I insisted Jay put my name and number in his wallet... to save me some effort, and worry.

The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.- Oscar Wilde

6/6/06:

"In America, through pressure of conformity, there is freedom of choice, but nothing to choose from."- Peter Ustinov

I feel the President is ignoring the opinions of many in the U.S. and alienating
the rest of the world.- Natalie Maines, March 12, 2003

Not Ready to Make Nice
I’m not ready to make nice
I’m not ready to back down
I’m still mad as hell and I don’t have time to go round and round and round
It’s too late to make it right
I probably wouldn’t if I could
'Cause I’m mad as hell
Can’t bring myself to do what it is you think I should...
It’s a sad sad story when a mother will teach her
daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger
And how in the world can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
that they’d write me a letter
sayin’ that I better shut up and sing
or my life will be over

"It is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else."- Theodore Roosevelt

6/5/06:
I wrote the entry after this one on the 3rd, but didn't get it up until today because my hosting service was down... better late than never, as they say.

I did go to the doctor today, and am now giving pravastatin sodium (Pravachol) a whirl. For more fun than that, click on the panties to the right and then click on the video you find there.

"Life is a rollercoaster. Try to eat a light lunch."- David A. Schmaltz

6/3/06:
I looked back over my last few months of pages and could not locate any entries talking about me having to go on medication for high cholesterol- I can't believe it! I certainly mentioned it to others in person, bitching and moaning about the injustice of it all. Maybe I am just missing the place where I mentioned this all-important, self-focused trauma.

At any rate, I succumbed to my family's fate in early March, and started taking Lipitor. Despite knowing that this medication can cause muscle problems, it took me several weeks to realize that the increased pain in my shoulders was caused by it. Because I already had been having problems with my right shoulder, I kept thinking the increased pain in it and then the new pain in my left shoulder was from that... by the time I realized what was happening I couldn't open or close a car door without having significant pain in my shoulders. I went off the Lipitor and my shoulder pain went away, except for my pre-existing gimpy right shoulder problem.

I was off the Lipitor cholesterol medication for a week, then started on Crestor just before Memorial Day weekend. Unfortunately it made me feel quite spacey and my muscles just below my neck became sore and tense. I stopped taking it, returned to "normal" and am seeing my doctor on Monday. Sigh. I will keep trying different statin drugs until I find one with tolerable side effects, since I will likely have to take it forever.

A couple of months ago I mentioned we had noticed that many over the counter medications are made in India and other countries- an interesing observation given the government's warnings about the dangers of prescription drugs from Canada. Wouldn't it be nice if the government stuck to telling us the truth? What if the government simply said it wants to protect the profits of big drug companies? I wonder why they have this need to lie- as if there is something about their motivation to hide... Subterfuge is more than irritating to people who, unlike them, think morality includes truthfulness. By the way, you know the Crestor prescription medication I was taking? It was made in Puerto Rico.

When we got into office, the thing that surprised me the most was that things were as bad as we'd been saying they were..- John F. Kennedy

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