Icy Mist

It's always good news when there are no lives lost and that was the case for the crew of the Icy Mist who were lifted safely into the helicopter of our very gutsy U.S. Coast Guard in 120 mile per hour gusts Wednesday from Akutan Island in the Aleutian chain.
A lot of tax payer money is wasted on military, but I think the cost to fund the coast guard is money well spent.
Speaking of Alaska, check out Fish Taxi's blog today as she has a cool video she took of the lake activities in front of her house.

Practice Makes Perfect

Practice makes perfect, we hope!! At rehearsal last night I took my camera along and while we flutes were "resting", I tried to film a little of what goes on when we all get together. We sit with our backs to the trumpets, french horns and trombones...plus the percussions, so there are times we can't hear ourselves play, due in part also to the cotton in our ears.
Our concert is March 14th, it's free and we'd love to see you there.

Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday. We are dust :o)

When I was young I used to be thankful for my bangs cause they hid the ash cross on my forehead. Now I'm thankful for my bangs cause it means I still have a healthy head of hair.

Lent is here and we have 46 days , 40 days not counting Sundays, until Easter and a special time of the year to do a little penance and even better, do a little more good.

Today I will part my bangs a bit and wear my ashes proudly and humbly.

Deer Crossing

My yard seems to be the home of a dear deer family. When I came home in the dark last night, there they were, doing what a mother deer and her two young do in the dark. I tried to sneak as close as I could to get a picture, but they would have no part of it and kept moving.

I used to have a nice strawberry patch, but last year got none, so this year I am going to have to borrow some of the kids old nets and make myself a handy dandy deer fence, that way we will be able to enjoy the wildlife that roams through our downtown yard and still get some good eats.

Some Reflections In The times Of Hysteria

Wild Ride

There's no way I can imagine the wild ride passengers experienced on board the Klickitat that stormy day on October 18th, 2007, but check out more great shots of our Washington state ferries from
Ross Fotheringham's long lense.

Mom and Dad

The other day while going through mom's old slides I noticed a tiny white box, the size that a nice ring box would fit into and upon opening it found it packed tightly with slides of the four women you see in the picture. On the distant right is mom, with dad the closest on the right, the woman closest on the left is mom's sister, the two other women were sisters in law and lived right across the street from each other, and they all lived in Purdy. I hadn't realized until I found the box of pictures that they got together for their anniversaries, either dinner at home or out, but celebrate they did and always took a group picture. I'm not sure if the men enjoyed each other's company as much as the women did, but they "went along". My dad had been to sea for many years along with managing the loading and unloading of ships in Seattle and Valdez, the two brothers in law worked at the Navy Yard in Bremerton, and my uncle worked for Peninsula Light Co. A lot of different interests, but a lot of good men who humored their wives for many such occasion.
Along with group pictures, there were couples shots and it was impossible not to see the love they shared for each other.
How lucky was I to be able to look back 50 years in time and get to know them all a tiny bit better.

Oh and todays read.

Early Morning Vancouver

As mentioned before, I am a cruise ship nut. This picture was captured by the Vancouver cruise terminal cam last summer, early in the morning as the cruise ships maneuvered into their slips.

My mailbox has been inundated with travel brochures which are ever so tempting, but for the fact that who the heck knows what will become of our economy and will we need to save every penny just for necessities.

My generation has been very blessed, our fathers were able to bring home the bacon while mom had the luxury of staying home with the kids, and as adults, we easily found jobs, and were also able to be at home when our children were young. I look at my children and the cost of living and wonder what the future will be.

Peggy Noonan had some interesting thoughts on the world we live in today.

Oh, and ya gotta love the Anchoress.

Glass Bowl

I'm having junk store withdrawals. Okay, I know it's not good for the economy to shop only at Goodwill and Value Village, but we all know how exciting it is to find a treasure among trash.

On the way home from my Thursday morning band rehearsal , I pass within a block of a Value Village and it always sends snares out and most always catches me :o) Last week I spotted this sweet little bowl sitting way down on the bottom shelf among a bunch of old ashtrays.....remember those.....everyone had them in their homes.....one on every end and coffee table. The bowl was covered with years of sticky, yellow cooking grease and grime, and had not been used in years. It had no doubt found it's way there because of a death, an old family home being emptied for sale and none of the kids wanting or needing another old bowl as they had plenty already. As for value, it has none, but to that one person who spotted it that day, it had great potential and after a hot steamy bath in the dishwasher, it is sparkling once again and ever so ready to serve it's new mistress .

Prednisone

Gawwwd how I hate taking prednisone, but as usually happens when I get a bad cold, I have a heck of a time breathing which inevitably requires a visit the Dr. to get my life saving med. If taken for a short time it is a miracle drug, but for people who have to take it long term, it's nasty stuff.

Prednisone is particularly effective as an immunosuppressant, and affects virtually all of the immune system. It can, therefore, be used in autoimmune diseases, inflammatory diseases (such as severe asthma, severe allergies, Angioedema episodes, severe poison ivy dermatitis, systemic lupus erythematosus, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, Bell's Palsy, Crohn's disease, pemphigus and sarcoidosis), uveitis, various kidney diseases including nephrotic syndrome, mononucleosis [Epstein Barr virus], and to prevent and treat rejection in organ transplantation. This medicine may also reduce the sex drive. Prednisone has also been used in the treatment of migraine headaches and cluster headaches and for severe Aphthous ulcer ("Cankersore") outbreaks.
Prednisone is used as an antitumor drug. Prednisone is very important in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, multiple myeloma, and other tumors in combination with other anticancer drugs.
Furthermore, the pharmaceutical industry uses prednisone tablets for the calibration of dissolution testing equipment according to the United States Pharmacopeia (USP).
Intravenous application may be employed for cerebral inflammation, as in the periodic attacks caused by multiple sclerosis.
Prednisone is also used for the treatment of the Jarisch-Herxheimer Reaction which is common during the treatment of syphilis, and to delay the onset of symptoms of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The mechanism for the delay of symptoms is unknown.

Side effects....
Short-term side-effects, as with all glucocorticoids, include high blood glucose levels, especially in patients that already have diabetes mellitus or are on other medications that increase blood glucose (such as tacrolimus), and mineralocorticoid effects such as fluid retention (it is worth noting, however, that the mineralocorticoid effects of prednisone are very minor; this is why it is not used in the management of adrenal insufficiency unless a more potent mineralocorticoid is administered concomitantly). Additional short-term side-effects include insomnia, euphoria, and, rarely, mania. Long-term side-effects include Cushing's syndrome, truncal weight gain, osteoporosis, glaucoma, type II diabetes mellitus, and depression upon withdrawal.

Roses

Our plans for Valentines day didn't turn out quite like we had planned. Instead, I came down with a doozy of a rhinovirus, or as it is more commonly called, a really crappy cold. I have used 2 entire rolls of TP and finally resorted to a wet kitchen towel. My nose is raw as are my lips. I can't taste food so eating is no fun and since I have asthma on top of things, I sound like I am near deaths door.

The one bright spot of the day was that my friend stopped by with a dozen roses to help brighten my pathetic day. Thanks Len :o)

Sparkling stemware

A couple of weeks ago I jokingly told a good friend of mine who was heading off on a trip down the Oregon coast with her hubby to celebrate their anniversary, and who loves exploring junk shops, to bring me back a surprise. Well, these two lovely wine glasses are what she found, and she paid all of .75 cents apiece for them.

I am not surprised at her choice because the last time we took a road trip, we spent a long time poking through the cobwebs and dust in a dandy junk shop, searching for the perfect vessel for my afternoon toddy.

I have them all washed and ready for a Valentine's toast with my friend and of course we will send wishes of health and happiness to the giver of the gift :o) Salud !!

Old Friends

What a nice day we all had..lunch with friends who have known each other for half a century and more.

To top it off, it snowed all the while we visited, turning the great outdoors into a winter wonderland. Hopefully everyone made it home safe and sound.

Let's do it again :o)
A must read.

Purdy Bypass

There's been lots of discussion about which way the Purdy bypass should go. My thinking is that there should be a new interchange built on highway 16 at the north end of Burley Lagoon, connecting with Spruce, Sidney and eventually 302, with the Purdy bridge being closed except for foot and emergency vehicles and the spit turned into a park. One of the possibilities is an interchange at 144th with a bridge across the lagoon and on up the hill connecting with 302. One of our orchestra members lives on the lagoon not far from the possible bridge site and is sick about the thought of the noise and view obstruction. I know her pain because the state, in all it's wisdom, built Purdy Drive in the early 50's, on the land where our house sat so we were forced to move it farther away from the water. My folks lost an incredible piece of property along the bay and the noise and exhaust we had to deal with is probably the reason for mom's and my asthma problems. My grandmother pleaded with the state to build the road farther away and eventually they realized their blunder and blew more taxpayers money building highway 16 where it is now and should have been in the first place.

Mt Rainier

What a beautiful day it was yesterday. In fact it was warm enough to sit outside and eat lunch. I took a thermometer out with me and it registered 73 degrees in the sun, though only 51 in the shade. Doctors can give us all the antidepressants they have from their little black bag, but there is no medicine like a day filled with sunshine.

Best Friends

You have to check this video out of man's best friend's best friend.