Valentines Day ... Dedicated to love... A good time to remember ...

Not too many years ago Americans of Japanese descent were rounded up, deprived of homes, separated from families and put in prison camps. Fear deprives people of their individuality. Once a person is no longer an individual they can be treated like a thing, part of a dangerous thing. Our media seems intent on encouraging this mass fear. Nearly every culture at one time or another has suffered at the hands of fear. Ignorance feeds fear ... Be informed ... Love.

Posting Predicaments

June?  I haven't posted since June?  So, my muse had flown ... probably driven away by the dusty dry desert winds and an equally dry and dusty inspiration.  Am I inspired now?  Well, anything above zero is hopeful and so I am hopeful.  Since June, what?  A cruise to Alaska's glaciers, a full and then empty apartment still claiming attention and money, back and forth's to San Diego (I have too many there to not visit), then a broken elbow, surgery and a cruise to Jamaica, Cayman and Cozumel.

But the burning question ... retire or keep working.  Theoretically I will have time to do the things that I don't have time to do, like write, genealogy, travel, photography, spend time with my grand kids, garden, research, upgrade our home and volunteer.  In reality, I  don't know if I'll do any of that.  For the last month, admittedly laid up with a badly broken arm, surgery, splint, etc., I haven't done much.  But even before that, I only work 3 days a week, and I do little else in the list above.   I lie in bed for an hour pursuing facebook posts, news articles and more, grist for the creative mill.  Sometimes something clicks and I am driven to write ... I love it!  I seem only driven by writing and when I have a deadline appointment and realize that if I don't clean up the house, and myself, someone will report me to elder abuse, ha!  Abusing myself?  Hmm, that works.

I've promised I won't work past November, my next annual holiday bonus ... but, as my great grandson is fond of saying, 'but not yet.'

What happens after....

Thoughtful Thursday?  Frantic Friday?  but no, today is Tuesday, that might be, in this case, Tasty Tuesday.  It might just be that my debit card will be tabescent following dinner at the Samurai Steakhouse but our bodies will be sated.

Days of merit are becoming arduous as I get older.  I used to look forward to them, chatting with friends and family, sharing stories, life events that were new to me both theirs and mine.  The days seems interminable, unnumberable, but now each minute has become a mutinous pirate, here to steal my quickly dematerializing time.  It seems that the more I hoard my rapidly disintegrating days, life intrudes and demands that I donate them in increasing numbers. 

Don't get me wrong, I love these events, they just race through my declining years and, like Ms PacMan, I race through my maze of days, knowing that there are only just so many mazes until the end.  Do I osund glum, perhaps.  I am seeing the end of a tunnel and, unfortunately for me, it is not an oncoming train that I can avoid by leaping aside or outrunning.  If I make the mistake of running faster, then,  horrors, January becomes June with the months in between evaporating like the myths that they are. 

I have been able, trickster that I am, confuse those around me with eyes fixed on their own lives, into believing that I am eternal, but my desire to create that facade begins to fade, well about 8 o'clock at night when I tuck in with my gatorade and iPad. 

But Tasty Tuesday it is, and while my stomach can wamble for the pleasure that awaits, my spirit willingly anticipates the feast of sight and sound that time perhaps, in its mercy, will pause before Black Friday.

Back Again

In trying to decide whether to kill off my 'nearly dead' blogs I am taking another look here.  After looking, I have decided to resurrect this blog, if only for the purpose of introspection (thank you Miss X).

It's Thursday and my friend Neva, poetess and proserie (sic) extraordinaire, has posted her 'Thoughtful Thursday".  I am inspired to do the same.

Hot, it's hot.  Of course it's Las Vegas and that means desert and that means hot.  Unlike dessert, which can be hot and yummy, but I digress.  It's hot outside and, unfortunately, without a/c at work, it's hot inside as well.  I'm thinking, In this steamy environment I contemplate my life.

I have spent a great deal of my life worrying about others, which has done nothing of merit for them or for me.  It has never improved anything of significance either before, during or after any and all stressful events.  so on this Thoughtful Thursday I have decided to try and stop.  I will continue to love them, not without thought though.  I cannot lie, I cannot do it.  I can get close but that's about it. I don't mean to put conditions on my love for anyone they just pop into my mind and out of my mouth before I can stop them.  I tell them I love them and I will always love them, and that's true.  But how?

How do I love thee?
let me count the ways
I love you if you come home late
but I'll yell at you
I love you if you lie to me
but I'll want to lie back
I love you if you betray me
but I will never feel quite the same

How do I love thee?
I love you on sunny days
it's easier
I love you on sour dingy days
it's harder when I'm a grump
I love you when you smell like sweet straw
and want you close to me
I love you when your breath is not
I'll stay farther away

How do I love thee?
I love you when you're young and handsome
and climb into your arms and your bed
I love you when you're old and grey
as we share the same comfortable space
I love you long when we're young
and shorter when we're old

How do Ilove thee?
I love you as the flawed human being that I am
hesitantly
incessently
transparently
angrily
doubtfully
fully
partially
trembling
shaking
praying
pretending

you know
real.

Abused

in Las Vegas is like being abused anywhere else ... just wrong. Being a teenager while being abused is even worse ... not getting into a 'measuring' game by the way, just making an observation. It's bad enough having to deal with hormones, gender issues, emotional rollercoasters and all that, but adding trust issues is just awful. And the abused have trust issues; no doubt about it at all. My heart goes out to you ... and to you who love those who have been abused too! You are the brave ... my heart goes out to all of you!

"Fame is the first disgrace ...."

"Because God knows who you are." How is this relative to Las Vegas? Maybe because so many famous people are found in Las Vegas. I was given this quote, from "The Local Stigmatic" by a friend. I don't think he was using it in context when I read it on, of all things, a Christmas card. Sometimes I don't follow his thought processes at all, although he has his moments ... so do I. But I like this quote. I don't know if fame is a disgrace .... I think it's human to desire fame, although not everyone will admit that the want fame ... some have it beaten out of them early on. They think they want to be invisible ... they just think they have to be safe and being invisible is one way. So is fame a disgrace if no one else knows who you are? Are we being famous for God or famous in spite of God, because we want to have a face. I don't know but I'm intrigued and if you've gotten this far, so are you.

First Frost

Of course we live in Las Vegas ... the desert, duh. It's hot in the summer ... boiling in September ... planted lettuce in October .... beautiful, cool nights, warm days, October. November, still warm, won't the damn weather ever cool off. Yes, for 72 hours, every year, somewhere between November 1st and Thanksgiving and then .... yes .... yes .... yes .....
the frost killed all of my lettuce (sigh)

How not to make cupcakes

Do not
let children between the ages of 8 and 10 help you
Do not
try to explain why you add water before the eggs
Do not
explain why the oven must be set at 375
Do not
explain anything
Do not
use any methods to accelerate the process
Do not
overfill the cupcake holders
Note: you cannot under fill cupcake holders
Do not
forget to reset the oven thermostat from 425
Do not
forget to scoop out the excess cupcake mix
Do not
forget to reset the oven from 200
Do not
let the children back in the kitchen
Do not
ever
under any circumstances
use
silicone cupcake molds
for
cupcakes

the end

Cell Phone Driving

in Las Vegas? Well, it's kind of legal, unless you endanger someone, drive recklessly or cause an accident because you're focusing on the latest gossip coming across the air stream instead of that driver trying to exit the freeway, or enter, or whatever. It won't be legal for long, though, if our 2011 legislature has its way. Should it?

When the public puts their personal needs ahead of the safety of others then the lawmakers must place legislation ahead of personal preference.

Fall Falls

Here it is, it's fall. The evenings are almost chilly. The days dip below 90, and then 80. The leaves look like they want to fall, but aren't quite ready yet ... soon. It's snowing in New York. Las Vegas is glorious in the fall, if you don't mind the wind. That's the wind you will thank when it blows away the smog, searching out the nooks and crannies of the City and dusting the streets and washes.

But look quickly, because as soon as you realize it's fall, it's gone.

Mulch Ado About Nothing

Mulching sounded so easy ... it really did. You throw a bunch of leaves and vegetable matter in a pile, let it heat up (how can it not .... it's the desert duh), and turn it and then tada you have beautiful mulch. Well, maybe not.

So the leaves were easy, until my neighbor's tree died, but I got a few. The the vegetable matter, well easy too, at first. potato peels, egg shells, nothing cooked, just green stuff and the pile grew taller ... and then the ants came. Ants, unlike worms, are not welcome in a mulch pile. Oh, I forgot, location - location - location. Never next to the house. So Robert innocent of my intentions, stopped by and ended up moving the mulch pile.

Next, turn it ... oh sure ... it's taller than I am and well, maybe wider ... anyway turning didn't happen. Then use amonia sulfate so it'll heat up. Well it should have been hot, it got up to 118 last summer ... but apparently it didn't. In the fall I trimmed branches and my clever grandchildren patiently drug them to the mulch pile, where I didn't see and they didn't mulch.

Now it's spring ... and the garbage man hates me, even tho I bribe him with bottles of water and soda. My friend sets out cans of .... well, I won't do that, I prefer longnecks anyway. I make my now grouchy grandkids drag the branches to the street and, oh my there's Robert. I'm sure he'll eventually stop coming by to visit his son, but until he does he, and his truck, take the whole mess to the dump ... yeah! The pile is smaller and as I throw a pick axe into it wow, it's dark and rich and yes, it's finally, a year later, mulch.

Or you could spend some bucks and buy a fancy mulcher that turns by itself and deposits mulch in eight weeks, but look what you'd miss!

Gardening in Las Vegas!

Well chemo is settling in but in between being really tired I'm starting to add to my garden.

I started back in February with two raised beds for veggies (one 4 x 8 and one 2 x 8) and one small raised bed (4 x 4) for herbs, both from last year. I built them, actually Robert built them, 12" deep and I (yes me) dug up the ground underneath before I put them down so there would be plenty of room for roots to spread. Pretty cool, just like a box with no top and no bottom with a short post in each corner. Just pine, simple. I filled the beds in with planting mix and buried a soaker hose in both beds before I put the plants in, leaving one end out to attach the hose. My backyard is about 60' wide and 45' deep and gets morning sun and afternoon shade and the beds are vertical to the house. But there are two sides to the house too, and they were not exempt from my planting mania. But first, the back yard.

The raised beds share the back yard with other genres; a fast growing California Pepper tree (30'), a Pomegranate tree (15') a thornless Honey Locust tree (20'), two Thompson seedless grapevines (4 years old with lots of grapes on either end of a disapidated swingless a-frame), two Japanese Honeysuckle bushes and some Trumpet Vines along the side block wall.

In the two veggie beds I put five different kinds of tomatoes, and a green pepper and planted seeds for broccoli and snow peas. I added some bean seeds that came up about a month later but the broccoli is so tall that I can't find them now :{

Last year I put an old bathtub next to the back of the house and bordered it with wood . I put rocks in the bottom ... lots of rocks in my yard, and then filled it with planting mix. I put snow peas and spinach in and now the snow peas are gigornamous and the spinach gets lots of shade and has lots of leaves and is sweet. They key to sweet versus bitter veggies is .... tada .... water!

Next to the back door, by the Rosemary bush and Lilac bush I, okay Robert, built a 4 x 4 bed for herbs. Last year I put in creeping thyme, parsley, cilantro, garlic chives, lemon balm, strawberry, sage and marjoram, oregano, oh and salvia. The oregano, parsley and chives are huge, shading the other herbs. I can't find the cilantro, thyme or the lemon balm. Oh, and overshadowing all of it is, are you ready? An artichoke ... who knew it would get so big? Not me, obviously. When I first started experimenting with gardening I planted catnip (of the mint family) in the backyard. Now it's everywhere, which I love, but it wants to invade my herb box ... oh no! Back foul beast :)

So, right now we're picking snow peas, broccoli, spinach and herbs. Those tricky snow peas keep hiding so I have to enlist the help from my grandkids, who unfortunately keep eating them when they find them ... wretches :). The green beans are coming up nicely as are the cucumbers and tomatoes. I found about 15 green tomatoes of various sizes and shapes. I like to try lots of different plants to see what works, so I have small yellow and red tomatoes, oval red and yellow and big reds.

Yesterday I put in two rows of corn on the right side of the house (along with the berry bushes and one tomato plant), I need to put some fish emulsion down; they like that a lot! That's also the side with my small mulch pile that I started last year. wonder of wonders it's turned to mulch! More later on mulching, but I thought it would be so clever to plant some cantelope seeds in the mulch pile and now I can't turn it because they all came up! But it's all good, I love cantelope and I'll start another mulch pile on the other side.

I also put in somewatermelon and cantelope seeds and oh, okra on the left side of the house. It's the side with a new eucalyptus tree (that leans a lot). My arborist hates me because I now end up overwatering the tree because I'm watering my veggies. He's going to unstake it soon and then I'll have a horizontal eucalyptus *silver dollar* tree unshading my veggies :)

I used to hate okra, it grows like weeds here, but thanks to Trina's daughter, I know how to cook it and I like it much better! I have my pumpkin seeds ready to go, but since we picked pumpkins last year in August I better wait until the end of June to get them started. We ended up with a huge pumpkin patch in July and dead vines in October ... it's so hard to find the Great Pumpkin when you can't hide :( But not this year ... just wait!

I'll post pictures as soon as I can download them ... it's like an oasis and I love it. I'm from Vermont so it's a bit of Vermont in the desert. Unfortunately my honey is allergic to everything that pollinates (everything I grow). He looooves me, but he stays inside a lot.

Mulching next ...

Gardening in the Desert

Did you know you can garden in Las Vegas? Well, you can! Over the last few years, since I got rid of the rocks and gravel in my yard, I've planted corn, eggplant, tomatoes, carrots, green beans, watermelon, cantelope, green peppers, hot peppers, herbs, flowers and trees. I've got carrots growing under the rosebushes, tomatoes next to the honeysuckle, green peppers under the plum tree, eggplant next to the pineapple mango (I think it's mango) bush/tree, cilantro next to the creeping thyme and mint and I still have room to plant more.

I now have my old bathtub, we renovated our upstairs bathroom, in my yard and I'm looking for ideas on how to incorporate it into my landscaping plans. Oh, here's a good website fors that kind of thing:

http://www.simplythrifty.com/6-uses-for-an-old-bathtub/

And while surfing for ideas about using my bathtub as a garden, I found this wonderful blog with pictures taken by the author of the blog in New York City ... it is:

http://blogjem.com

So I wanted to add this blog to my blog, but it was so complicated I just started another blog:

http://sretirwriters.wordpress.com

and I still couldn't comment on blogjem.com, but

I found out how to convert my old tub to a garden tub in my backyard, how to convert my old tub to a pond (I don't think so) and how to covert one of my wheelbarrows to a flower garden (we'll see) so now I have to go do my homework.

Do you think I'm easily distracted? Well, um, later.....

Spring Sprang Sprung

It's spring in Las Vegas. Oh no, wait a minute. It was spring yesterday, and today it's winter and then tomorrow will be, OMG, summer again!

The weather here is unique, no doubt about it, but, just like everywhere else, it's changing. When I first moved here I was amazed, not only by the heat and the terminally cloudless skies, but by the fact that it would get up to 120 during the day and drop 30 degrees to about 90 at night. Now the disparity is much less, up to 120 during the day and down to 105 at night. And worse than that, some of our seasons seem to be disappearing, namely fall and spring.

Yes, that's right, disappearing. I set up my garden every spring, housekeeping stuff. I rake out the leaves from my neighbor's trees, and my bushes. I pull weeds and rerake the rocks in my front yard, trim trees, that kind of thing; and I try to do it before it gets, say 100 degrees at noon. The difference between gardening here and say northern California is that there you have weeks to get it all done before it gets hot. Here, it seems like I have about, um, a few; maybe two days. Yes, that's right, days. On Monday it's 58 degrees and really windy. No gardening today. On Tuesday it's windless, sunny, and 90 degrees. Spring is now over and summer has begun.

Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating, a bit. But unfortunately not too much. I watch the weather channel and I'm glad that we don't have hurricanes, tornados, mud, blizzards or (many) floods but I do rather miss the in between seasons. You know, warmer than winter but cooler than summer. Where did they go? I wish I knew; I'd go and bring them back.

So, if you're visiting Las Vegas and want to come in the Spring or Fall; beware! It's hit or miss, and lately more 'miss' than 'hit.'

Multigenerational Multicultural

Sitting in my kitchen this morning it struck me how much our family is like Las Vegas, multicultural. My American Indian grandson is eating his cereal, my Japanese husband is sleeping on the couch, my Eurasian daughter is upstairs waking her two daughters whose father is half-Jewish. My son's two Irish/British/Japanese daughters are off from school today for President's Day. My daughter is mistaken for Hispanic as is one of her daughter's. My half-Hispanic niece is working today, my half-German nephew is on his days off, my mom is German, English and Scottish and my dad was French, English, Indian and Irish. Oh, our dog, is an Akita from Japan, our fish are Siamese fighting fish and our frog is from, well, his mother.

We are five generations here in Las Vegas, all, like most Americans, from somewhere else, from California, Vermont, Massachusetts, Florida, Texas, Colorado, Indiana, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Scotland, France, Canada, England, Israel, and, well you get it, I'm sure. Neither can you tell by looking at us how 'small town' or multicultural are lives are. Our 'small town lives' reside in the middle of a big city. My grandson asks me, "how many toes does a frog have," as I'm reading an article about increasing crime in 'Sin City' the 'City that never sleeps.'

We live the midst of hotels and casinos, night life, and neon excitement, and we feel their presence in our quiet lives, daily. We live in a city of transients; we've lived here since the mid 60's. We go to Chinatown to buy 'nori' and then stop by the Supermercado for 'pico de gallo.' We go to th Haufbrau House for dinner and Soporo's for lunch. We buy corned beef to make for St. Paddy's Day, and hot cross buns for Easter. Appearances can be deceiving.

Oh, and by the way, a frog has four toes on the front legs and five on the back legs.

Shootings

Shootings at schools. I don't get it. I don't want to get it. Two shootings today, at schools. Palo Verde High School and Whitney Elementary School ... two transported ... one fatality, a 9th grader. A patron gives me a lopsided grin at the announcement ... "Yeah, Palo Verde" is his only response. Where's the horror? Where's the tightened jaw? Where's the pain? A lopsided grin.

"Palo Verde? Oh, that's over on the other side of town" a random wave towards the north. "Up there." So, that's okay? I bite my tongue, may I never become accustomed to violence, so that a casual response sufices. Ninth grade, fourteen or fifteen years old, an unlived life, leaving grief and loss in its wake. Ninth grade, math, science, p.e., movies, boyfriends, girlfriends, going to the mall, giggling with friends, screaming at scary movies, complaining about cleaning up, staying up late, 'whatever', practicing foul language, showing off and then hiding. Ninth grade. Never tenth grade, never prom night, never holding hands, never never when ninth grade ends with ninth grade.

Windy?

Wow, what a windy night, and we've got another one coming tonight.
Maryland Parkway was dark, parts of Trop and Flamingo were too, and probably other parts of town as well. Driving home after 6 I could feel the wind pushing against my car as I kept reminded myself that the car is heavy the wind won't push it over. On the freeway some slowed down (me) others ran their bumper (the car behind me) because he couldn't get around anyone so decided I was the most likely to move (sigh). I couldn't even see his headlights he was so close.

But I made it home (obviously) early enough to get in a game of raquetball at the rec center before crawling home, into a hot shower and collapsing into bed. No homework then, and the dentist today (groan). But ... it's not cold here ... much ... and it's not windy here ... yet ... and the dentist's ad says that he's gentle ... we'll see and I'll let you know.

Las Vegas Scene

Check out LasVegasVegas.Com. A little glitzy at the top of the page, but good information, well written, lots of pictures, for those who are literally impaired and overcompensate visually. Who's taking over for Celine Dion, how many 'who's, that is, and more.

And for local news, forget Channel 3, 13, 10 and 8. Logon to http://www.topix.com/city/las-vegas-nv. Just trying to find local news that's not old on the channels is exhausting, time consuming and just too frustrating. Bring it into the 21st century or stand back and let others do the job for you.

I'll post more sites, or please, jump in and make some suggestions.

Ebay Blues

So the consumer wins again, sort of. Well, Ebay has learned, as companies before, that there is power in numbers, especially if the numbers threaten a boycott. Imagine what Ebay stock would look like if there were, say, five members trading? Hmmm. Well, Ebay, read the numbers and figure it out. If you keep consumers happy they will trade, if not. Even big companies can lose their client base (all of their sellers and buyers) if they piss them off badly enough.

Oh, BTW, the fuss about sellers leaving bad rap's on buyers; remember, that works both ways.

Yahoo Dentistry

Wow, it is so expensive to go to the dentist ... that border towns in Mexico are offering dental care, inexpensive dental care, for customers. They even pick them up at the airport and drive them back to the airport after their appointment.

I thought about it. I need a root canal and my dentist thinks that I need to go to an endodontist .. fancy name for expensive - expensive dentist that does dental surgery. Ouch in both pocket and mouth. The good news ... my insurance pays 80% for root canals. The bad news, there is a $1,200 cap for each year ... wow ... that's one root canal and one crown and I'm out of pocket about $900.00

Maybe Taco Bell is not the only good reason to make a 'run for the border.' Hmmm.