Monthly Archives: May 2012

Now, this is a centerpiece!

The happy neighbors + one.

The great calf competition.

This holiday weekend plays out so differently depending on who you are and what are your circumstances. Certainly, some feel compelled to visit the graves of loved ones, maybe devote quiet time or prayer remembering those who have died. Some focus on auto racing or other sports, either as participants or spectators. Some use it as a great excuse to stay drunk for longer than the normal weekend. Most, I suspect, weather permitting use the long weekend to get outdoors, relax, maybe catch up on projects and enjoy themselves.

We’re clearly with the majority here…which is not to say that we didn’t give any thought to those who have died…or even to the subject of death. (I listened to Episode #93 of This American Life which was broadcast on Valentine’s Day 1998 which begins with a love letter from an extremely angry husband to his sleeping wife and ends with the most personal and graphic poems written by a husband to and about his wife who has just died. I highly recommend you listen to this broadcast if you have a spare hour. Some of you know of my intention to listen to all 450-some hours of this program. I am 94 hours into my goal and am only up to 1998).

So, the weekend began with high wind warnings. I got chicken and pulled down the shade sails, cancelled the gardeners until this morning and thought about hunkering down, but the projects kept presenting themselves: I installed one of the new oak handrails, cut the other one to make a safer descent and did some more planting.

Charlie and Karen Goodell, the campers, invited Sylvia and Jeremy and Pat, one of Karen’s friends, over for brats and burgs yesterday. It was very low-key and most enjoyable to just enjoy the great weather, drink a little wine, eat great food and visit in a MOST normal, neighborly way. Oh, there was the great “my calves are more developed that yours are” contest which later led to a “TT” discussion (remind me to tell you about that AMAZING story sometime). The Goodells were great hosts, and we were somewhat sad to leave only to come home and reconcile the checkbook which ended up with a protracted call to American Express and different plans for future online bill payment.

The 50-60 mph winds revisited last night after I’d put the sails up again, but no damage was noted when we got up this morning.

Our neighbors are engaging in the ancient art of backyard camping. Karen and Charlie are going on a river trip and decided to hone their camping skills by pitching the tent and roasting supper on a campfire in the backyard. Love it!

Greg sent me the following article from Fortune on some of the world’s most exclusive yachts. The first one, Octopus, which is around $400 million is one of the several yachts owned by Paul Allen, former partner in Microsoft.   http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2012/fortune/1205/gallery.million-dollar-megayachts.fortune/  Cathy and I saw it in Dart Mouth, (that is, on the mouth of the River Dart in England many years ago. It even has its own web page http://www.octopusyacht.net/

The winds did come through today…maybe not hurricane force, but VERY high winds. The wind brought so much dust from New Mexico that the moon is distinctly orange tonight! (Breaking News: it’s not dust, rather it’s smoke from the forest fires in the Gila National Forest just north of Gene Daniel’s place. 110,000 acres!)

Sidewalk chalk art

The swamp cooler is operational, the top of the door to the family room has been shaved so the the first time in 21 years it will fully close and latch!

The shade sails only lasted a tad over a week. The forecast is for sustained 35 mph winds with gusts to 50 tonight and tomorrow sustained of 40+ with gusts to 75!!! The sails are rugged, but not THAT rugged. Actually, it’s not that tough to pull them down. I lashed the new cherry tree to the old one and the deck furniture to the grill. Bring it on.

Last night we saw Hairspray at the Fine Arts Center. They did an incredible job with a play I have been dreading all season. I’m eating my words and using my hairspray…wait a minute…you need hair for that???

Cathy delivers the $1000 scholarship to Thomas Price.

Whatever possessed the dusty miller moth to commit suicide in my coffee this morning I’ll probably never know. However, I wasn’t awake enough or visually aware enough, so took a big gulp and then had to spew him/her out all over the front page of the Gazette Telegraph! Eeeeeeewwwwww! They may be harmless, but at 6:30 a.m. they can start the day off on a very ragged edge.

I have been paying  bills online through the bank for years, but have lately started going to  auto pay. Things like the telephone and utilities and several others just eat up too much time each month authorizing the check and checking that it’s been sent, etc. Now it’s just electrons talking to electrons. Makes a lot of sense.

I logged in the lab results for Cath which told us what we already know – she is very healthy and her numbers continue to improve. We have both been interested in this TED lecture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs7jqqdv5eg, and when I mentioned it to the gals in the Wellness Center at the hospital, they all chimed in, “Oh, you mean the Paleo Diet!” The upshot of it is we are ALL chowing down on lots more greens. BTW, my right eye MAY be starting to crawl up the come back trail. Fingers crossed.

I fixed Cathy’s watch this morning and power-washed deck and furniture in preparation for another coat of penetrating sealer and delivery of the new furniture. The sails look spectacular again, but Cath is still lobbying for another umbrella. Makes me want to jump off the deck on my head!

We went to the annual ONEN neighborhood meeting tonight. Cath was in charge of the scholarship committee and handed two $1000 checks to two VERY deserving young people.

Sylvia's stylish accessories.

Monday, Mark and I installed the stair spindles which put me back in touch with precision measurement and critical use of a chop saw. It was quite a bit of fun and looks very nice (if I do say so myself). ‘Twas hot, and with the 3rd finish coat, the house was pretty aromatic all day.

Lumber Liquidators are poop heads because they made multiple promises to call us after repeated delays in the shipment of our flooring. Now we will have to let Mark go on to other jobs and get in line for his services when the wood finally arrives and start all over.

The plaque for Gladys and Paul’s bench arrived again after being plated the wrong color (silver instead of gold). It really does look nice, however. The bench is in Dubois and is being installed.

I did the drip system for Cathy’s flower boxes and pots today – an expensive, but lower maintenance solution, we hope.

Meredith’s Report: the three tallest trees have fallen. Things are really up in the air for her company.

Thayer Tutt gets decorated!

Kevin and Lauren Brown

After all the sadness of the multiple funerals, it’s about time to get into the season.

Yesterday was Colorado College’s graduation and in typical fashion they decorated the bronze statue in front of Tutt Library.

Today we drove to Lafayette, CO for the wedding of the son of our former next door neighbors. Kevin and Lauren live in Columbia, MO but decided to marry near Boulder where she manages two shoe stores for her dad remotely. Sylvia Agnew came along with us, and as the photos show, a jolly time was had by all.

Cathy and I did a little dancing, too.

This young Swainson’s Hawk was caught in the downpour today just as we were having our lunch. Big bird…about 18″ long!

I told Cath he must have been a Hollywood Hawk, because he landed on the telephone pole down on the walking path and waited until I went to the basement, got my big camera, found the telephoto lens, circled around the house and took  a dozen or so photos of him from all directions while he posed and tried to dry out his feathers.

Before lunch, we went to Bob Seeley’s funeral mass at St. Mary’s, came home and met with Craig the sprinkler guy for another hour. We seem to have a plan in place now and are also getting a couple of bonus spring showers.

This afternoon Cath had therapy, but Malcolm took me to the Retina doctors for my monthly Lucentis injection. I was out in record time, but although my reading of the eye chart showed some improvement, I still can’t read or make out faces with my right eye. The doc is hopeful that we will see results on the third injection next month. I sure hope he is right.

The Boulder, Colorado based Kailin Yong Peace Project Trio, led by Singaporean violin virtuoso Kailin Yong opened for the ukulele virtuoso from Hawaii.   View Kailin Yong’s web site.

We heard about Jake Shimabukuro (she-ma-boo-koo-row) and his ukulele on NPR sometime last year. When we were in Hawaii in January we hoped to see him perform, but of course he was on tour on the mainland. When we heard he was coming to Colorado Springs, we jumped on it. A good thing, too, because it was a sold-out show!

My camera was not too happy with the crummy lighting, but if you want to witness some of his great performances, go to http://jakeshimabukuro.com/video#sfiaaff_30_jake_documentary_trailer

Lots of projects on Wood Ave. – that is, between the funerals. Gutters cleaned, bad sprinkler heads swapped, removed the skylight covers and put up the awning over the kitchen window, the new tree in the back along with all of the annual plantings front and back, new stairs to the basement well on their way and yesterday I put up the sails for the season.

Cathy has kept the therapists busy and in addition cooked up a big pot of soup to share with the people who have lost loved ones and others, like Linda Kennison, who are just coming off of rough medical times for both Linda and her husband. We are both pretty tired at the end of the day, but still manage to watch a good movie like the foreign film Girl on the Bridge, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144201/ a couple times a week.

There are also lots of good things being forwarded on the email loop. Most of you are on my mail distro, either first or second-hand.

What’s not to like about this Spring? Well, maybe all the funerals.

Archeological treasures.

Mark Dykstra, the stair dude.

Somehow, neither Cathy nor Mark could see the artistry in these newly-revealed stair treads.

What do stairs and dying have in common? I don’t know. Maybe they are both about landings.

The stair dude, Mark Dykstra, arrived early this morning to begin the demo – pulling the carpet and removing the treads which were put down when the house was built in 1929. There were some treasures below (workmen of every age drop their refuse in places that will “never be seen”, and then it becomes historically significant as an archeological find in 2012). Today’s gems were: 1. a workman’s glove (note: the middle finger has three holes worn through the leather, all others are fine. I always wear out the index finger first…hmmmmm); 2. a can of Prince Albert’s tobacco. On the back, the advertising proclaims that it was founded in 1907. The company was 22 years old and yet contemporary in 1929, and now 83 years later it’s an antique!; and 3. a tin can of about 20 ounces in volume with a hand-soldered lead seam. What could it have contained?

We left Mark doing the stairs and our much tattooed gardener, Sara, pruning the lilacs and went to a rousing send-off funeral for Rosie Wunder. On the way Cathy reminded me of TWO other funerals this week (John Konsleman and Bob Seeley). We just learned of Bob’s death this morning from a stroke that took him out on Saturday. His wife Rita (stout British stock) still did the readings at the 8:30 a.m. Mass at St. Marys on Sunday.

Cathy had to deliver a report at the Woman’s Literary Club this afternoon. She was surprised when the club honored her with a commendation (maybe the first since 1892) for her work organizing and archiving the papers and all the club records. I wasn’t surprised…

Patty Weed dropped by while I was outside swapping sprinkler heads. She has fixed her sights on a little house in the neighborhood which will need maybe $200K in repair in order to make it livable to her requirements. I joined a dozen others in persuading her to keep looking. However, those of you who know Patty…..

She is one-of-a-kind and we love her.