The Journey. . .

Many of you may have wondered, last year, why the "Occasionally Annual Salmon Beach Bulletin" ended with my return home from Arizona, at the end of April, so I guess that it's time to let you in on something that I've been playing fairly close to the vest.  I really had no intention of writing this, but I've been chastised pretty severely by a couple of friends who I recently told.  The only people I told ahead of time were my students, because I had to quit teaching for about 3 months, and the neighbors, upon whom fell the responsibility of taking care of my "grrrrrrls" for me.  I'll make it as concise as I can for you, so buckle up!

A year ago today (8/30/'15), I awoke at the University of Washington Medical Center, after spending 9 hours on an operating table, and another 11 hours in an "induced coma".  During the first week of May, I lay down to take a nap before heading off to work, and when I went in to shave, there was a lump, about 1 1/2" long, by 3/4" wide, and about 1/4" tall, just under my ear, by the angle of my jawbone.  My reaction was, "How odd. . .", but I didn't think too much about it; I mean, c'mon, nothing serious happens in an hour, right?  I did, however, try to make an appointment with my doctor at Multicare, but was informed by his receptionist, that since I hadn't seen him in about 4 years, the insurance company insisted classing me as a new patient, and that the soonest they could schedule me was September 9th, so I made an appointment, and. . . off to work.

 A month later, I was supposed to go to a wedding, and on the day of the wedding, again, I went to shave, only to discover that "My Rider" (yeah, I had named it! :)  ) had grown, and I dropped my friend an email, saying that rather than attending the wedding, I was going to spend the afternoon at the "doc in a box".  The doc took a look at me, excused herself, and returned a few minutes later to tell me that I had an appointment the following Monday with an ear, eyes and nose specialist in Gig Harbor.

The "ENT" guy put a scope up my nose, and said that he wanted to aspirate the lump the next day, which we did, and the results were "inconclusive", so he did a biopsy that Friday, and it too came back the next week,  inconclusive.  On the day that they did the biopsy, they also did either a PET scan or a CAT scan (don't ask the difference, because I don't know!)  When I went to get the results, he told me that while he was scoping me, that he had found a small lesion under my tongue that he was more concerned with than "My Rider", and that I had some decisions to make.  He said there were 3 options available to me:
   
      1.  I could do nothing, but he said that he could almost guarantee that that would lead to some                          
           serious consequences that I would regret.
       2.  I could have the lump removed under a local anesthetic and take my chances with the lesion;    
            again, not an option that he would  recommend.  And, since he had not done that operation for
            over 10 years, he was going to send me to a guy here in Tacoma.  Or. . .
        3.  I could elect to undergo an operation that would take care of both.

I came home and called a friend of mine who's a surgeon, to bounce the whole situation off of him, and he told me to hang on, that he'd call me back.  A half hour later, he called me back and said that I was to call the UW Med Center, to make an appointment with the leading research surgeon in their oncology department, which I did, and in July I met with the team of doctors and nurses who would be taking over the reins of my Life, for the remainder of the year.

I was diagnosed with a "squamish cell carcinoma" (yeah, the "Big C") underneath my tongue, which had spread to a lymph node on the right side, which was "contained", and another, on the left hand side , which was "not contained",  and on the 29th of August, I went under the knife at 10 a.m., and woke up on the 30th at about 11 a.m.  I guess that was the 2nd time I woke, but I don't remember the first time, when they removed the breathing tube. . . Thank God!

Four days later, they kicked me out of the hospital, and gave me 6 weeks to recuperate and decide on the course of treatments that we'd pursue.  They told me that if I had to have cancer, I was lucky, because the "cure" rate of this strain is about 80%, with a combination of chemo and radiation.  I debated until the day before treatment was to start, whether to go for the chemo, because one of the possible side effects of the chemo is deafness, and another is loss of feeling in the hands, and being both a guitar player and photographer, they were talking about 90% of my Life!

Coming to this decision was tough, because up to now, I felt as good as I had ever felt in my life and was in better shape, and I knew that somewhere in the near future, that would more than likely change drastically.  I finally decided to toss the dice and live with the consequences, since either treatment without the other is less effective.

Over the next 7 weeks, I had radiation treatments every morning, 5 days a week, and 3 different chemo treatments.  For the first chemo treatment, and the first 3 weeks of radiation, I felt fine, and the recuperation each day was made easier by the friendship and sanctuary in Seattle, provided to me by my long time friend, Michelline, in her home and beautiful yard:

After that, I felt compelled to move back to The Beach, and the second chemo treatment kicked my legs out from under me, and although I never felt "sick", my energy level dropped to the point where I had to stop several times to rest, climbing the 200 stairs each day, between The Beach and the parking lot.

I think that the worst part of this whole trip was that my taste buds went "MIA" about the 4th week of treatments, and anything I put in my mouth felt like cardboard, and had absolutely no taste!  The doctors had wanted to insert a "feeding tube" directly into my stomach, and I had vetoed that, because, with a dog and 3 cats, I saw that as simply another possible source of infection.  The doctors told me that I wouldn't be able to eat, and I told them that I would force myself, but I had no idea what was coming, and the only thing that saved me from suffering the installation of the tube, was my nutritionist telling me that a liquid diet of Boost VHC (YUK; it's the consistency of thick oil or paint!) would sustain me, and what a blessing that was.  I had dropped from 150 lbs. to 138 lbs. in 5 days, because of a case of "thrush", due to the antibiotics that they gave me for the operation.  From the middle of November until the second week in January, Boost and 10-15 glasses of water were all that I "ate", and I considered myself lucky, because just before I started in on the liquid diet, it took me an hour to get through just a small apple!

For an idea of what it's like to not be able to taste anything, dissolve a couple of tablespoons of salt in a glass of water and take a sip; it tasted like plain water to me; I couldn't taste the salt for a couple of months after the cessation of the treatments!  When I could, it was a beautiful bright spot in my existence, because I knew that the loss of taste wasn't going to be permanent.  Now, 10 months later, most of the taste buds are functioning, although not 100%, because anything with tomato sauce doesn't taste right, and neither do sweets, which eliminates 2 of my major food groups: pizza and ice cream.  That's OK, because the reason for watching my weight has flipped 180•; I used to have to watch my caloric intake because I have a tendency toward putting on weight, and now I have to watch it to make sure that I'm not losing weight.  Eating is not as enjoyable as it used to be, but, week by week, it seems to be improving, and I'm definitely looking forward to the holiday season, this year!

As of now, I've been declared a "Cancer Free Zone" twice, with 2 more follow ups still left this year.  I do realize that I'm on a "5 Year Clock" before I can consider myself cured, but with my energy back to it's usual "over the top" level, and no fluctuating mood swings that I suffered for a couple of months, I don't think much about it, except to appreciate every single day more than I used to.

A couple of years ago, I posted that you all should stop, every once and awhile, and count your blessings, and take the time to appreciate all that you've been granted in this Life, because things can change in an instant.  That was right after my 6 year old cat, Kassie, died unexpectedly, and I had no reason to believe that the lesson would be reinforced, a couple of years later!  This is the second time that I've had a close up look at my own mortality, and I can tell you that the whole world takes on a little different complexion when it happens; colors are a little more vibrant, and it seems as though everything is in just a bit sharper focus.

I apologize to those of you who might feel. . . "shorted"(?), because I didn't share this before, but, as you know, I'm one of those kind of private individuals, and I didn't want to worry my friends with something that I was pretty darned sure was going to have a positive ending (no pun intended!).  I also didn't want to spend a lot of time talking about it, and even with the relatively few people that knew, it got to be a boring subject, very quickly, so. . .

'Nuff said; onward & upward!


                

The 4th Web Based . . .

"Occasionally" Annual Salmon Beach Bulletin

finds me sitting here and thinking how lucky we are to inhabit this beautiful world, and how, hopefully, this most wonderful time of year will find us all celebrating another year filled with family, friends and the joy of Life and love.  

At the end of last year, I stepped up to a wonderful new camera, a Sony A77, which I quickly learned was as much a computer as a camera!  Not only that, I quickly discovered that my new camera hobby made the cost of my my music "habit" pale in comparison!  Lord, there's nothing you can get for a serious camera that is cheap!  I spent a lot of time the first 3 months of the year, studying photography (on my own, no classes this year), and in April, I took the Subaru, and my camera and hit the road south.

My old friend, Jon O'Hare, who I had not seen for about 35 years, provided a great excuse for me, by getting married in Paso Robles, Ca.  The time of year could not have been better, and Jon and I spent about 5 hours hiking and roaming around the area, which was still green (!), before his wedding on Saturday.  He told me that we would have been looking at brown, had it been 2 weeks later.

(If you "click" on any of the pictures below, they will "blow up" so you can see them better!)

The next morning, early, I hit the road again, south to L.A., where I made a hard left and headed over to Apache Junction, Az., to hang out with my my friend of the last 47 years, Bobby, and after a couple of days, we headed north to Zion National Park and the Grand Canyons.  I had never been in country like this before, and was just blown away by the variety of scenery, and the sheer beauty of Zion:

A walk down a canyon brought me to:

Bobby had abandoned me at this point for a return trip to our room for a nap, since I had dragged him out of bed at 4 a.m. for a sunrise shot:

And the morning was cold, and a wind of about 20 mph was blowing; I thought it was worth it, but I still wonder if he did!  

A 45 minute hike up a steep trail, and turning 180 degrees brought me this scene:

Just to the right, bottom center, you'll see 2 RVs, which gives you some idea of the scale of what you're looking at, and look just to the left of that, and you'll see that the center of the shot is framed by a "keyhole"; one set of cliffs behind another.

We were so enthralled with the area that we wound up staying 2 nights, instead of the planned 1, and we'll have to return, because there is just so much to see!  The last night brought us this scene, right behind our room:

The next morning we were off and running toward the Grand Canyon, and since we got there fairly late in the afternoon, we were scrambling from viewpoint to viewpoint, as the day was drawing to a close.  Although it is indeed, "grand", staying in the park that night was impossible; "No room at the Inn!" (Tip o' the hat to the present season!  :) )

Actually, at any of the motels, so we pushed into a little town about 20 miles outside the park, snagged a room there, and decided that we'd head off to the fabled town of Sedona, the next morning.  The drive was beautiful, the companionship wonderful, and I was wondering if the town could possibly live up to it's "hype". . .

This was the view off our room's balcony, and here's another of the road into town:

Well, you all know how much I love my li'l slice of Heaven, here on Salmon Beach, but I have to confess that I was smitten with the town and it's surrounding area!  If, for any reason, I ever lost my place, Sedona would be a serious consideration for a place to move!

We hit the road back to Apache Junction, and 2 nights before I left, we made a sojourn into the desert to get a shot of the first of 4 "Blood Moons" that occurred this year.   1:25 a.m., and you know that I'm  a night person, but it still was late!

The next day it was pretty "tired out", so it was early to bed that night, and I hit the road for home at 5 a.m. the next morning.  A hard 2 days of driving, brought me home, where all the animals put on a "circus" for me, for a couple of hours, just to make sure I felt welcome.  And the next morning, there was a "Welcome home!" parade for me, about 30' off my front deck:

It was amazing, because most of the time when we see them, they are way across the Sound; man, talk about exciting!

The rest of the year has been a real let down, after all this excitement, and nothing I really wanted to share with you, until about a week ago, when I happened to glance out my window one day, and got this shot from the other side:

After leaving The Beach for 2 trips within 6 months (Nova Scotia last October, and this one in April), I find that I'm anxious to be on the move again, so I'm planning another visit to Arizona, and then, later in the spring, a trip back to Pennsylvania, on to Halifax, and then on to Newfoundland, which I missed when I was living in Halifax from '67 to '69; "Ah, there's always time for. . .", but sometimes there just isn't!  And, I'm dreaming of maybe a trip to Iceland, in the fall; guess we'll see what the future holds!

For right now, let me bring the year to a close by wishing you all the absolute best of Christmas's, and the happiest and safest of New Year's, and telling you how very much your friendship and love means to this ol' dude!  

The 3rd Web Based. . .

"Occasionally" Annual Salmon Beach Bulletin 

finds me in kind of a strange mental space.  Although I usually love this time of year, with the bright lights and all of the festivities, and all the folks running around desperately trying to figure out what special gift they can find for their loved ones, I'm inexplicably finding myself feeling kind of "blah" about the whole thing.  Very weird, because this has been a wonderful year, with only a couple of exceptions.  I've decided that next year I'll go back to actually sending out cards again, because from what I'm hearing, this practice is going the way of the dodo, and, being the contrarian that I am. . .  Actually, I'm hoping that that will renew the feeling of involvement and excitement that is lacking this year; if it doesn't, I'll know that I'm starting to turn into The Grinch!  :)

I wound up taking a couple of photography courses at Tacoma Community College last spring, had a great time, and learned a lot.  They were the "intermediate 1 & 2" classes, and I signed on for the "advanced" class at the start of the summer, but it was canceled due to lack of interest.  That was kind of a bummer, because as most of you know, I need something to motivate me, and I found that I wasn't getting out with the camera as much without the class "pushing" me.

Now, having said that, one evening getting towards dusk at the end of June, I was working at the computer, and the phone rang.  It was a neighbor asking me if I was seeing what was going on out front, so I looked out and darned near killed myself running down the stairs to grab my camera.  In my almost 50 years of living down here, I've seen an incredible number of beautiful sunsets, but I have never seen anything like this:

And it was literally changing, second by second, so I'm standing out there on the deck, shooting, for about 3 or 4 minutes before I notice, up in the left hand corner of the viewfinder, a big red "X"!  No memory card. . . D'oh!  So I scrambled back inside, slammed in a card, and got back on the deck, and started shooting again, while roundly proclaiming myself a friggin' idiot! It continued to change, and 20 minutes later:

  

I'm not kidding you, guys, even in my younger, "crazier" days, I have never seen a light show like this one, not even back in the '60's(!), and I don't expect that I'll ever see one again.  The "take away" from this li'l experience was the old Boy Scout's motto:  "Be Prepared!"  I'll never again leave my camera laying around without a memory card in it.  If you're wondering how I got that first shot. . . I didn't!  About a month after, I was talking to a neighbor, and she said that she had gotten a shot, so I bummed a bunch of photos from her.  (Thank you, Lizzie!)

Last year, I told you all that there were 2 new "additions" to the family, in the form of kittens, who have been an absolute delight.  However. . . Once again, "Quigley-luck" has raised it's ugly head; in April, I noticed that Sia, the calico, was favoring a back leg and I figured that she had just pulled a muscle, but took her into the vet anyway, only to learn that she has dysplasia; I didn't know cat's even had that, but, of course, I wound up with one!  I debated surgery for awhile, but after talking with an animal surgeon up in Seattle who specializes in hips, I took his advice and decided against it.  Nine months later, and at the end of fall, I'm finding that she's having less trouble with it if I keep her active and playing with "flying things" (toys), 3 or 4 times a day.

In June, my friend, Barlow, from Pennsylvania, came out and spent a week with me.  We spent one afteroon bumming around Tacoma, checking out the parks and the mansions in old town.  We stopped and did some shopping and then returned to The Beach, and I fixed us a Ceasar Salad, and we watched some Monty Python.  He headed off to bed about 12:30, and I was taking a shower before coming upstairs, where I sleep when I have visitors.   I had just finished drying off and the phone rang.  Ya know, a phone call at 1 a.m. is never gonna be good news, and it was my neighbor asking if both the kittens were in the house.  I told her I thought so, but I had just gotten out of the shower.  She told me I'd better check, so  I walked out onto the deck because I had left the door open, and Sia had fallen off the deck into the water.  She was clinging to a piling and howling her little heart out.  I grabbed my sneaks and went for a quick "midnight swim" to retrieve her.  The poor li'l girl was in the water, up to her shoulders and that water is really cold!  She was shaking like a leaf, so I brought her in and rubbed her as dry as I could with a couple of big fluffy towels, and then spent about 45 minutes with the hair dryer on low, getting her dry and warming her back up.  She didn't dig it, at first, and she still wasn't crazy about it at the end, but she was dry and had quit shaking.  She climbed up onto my lap and was purred for awhile, and then got up on the top of couch and spent some time straightening her fur. Darn, good thing it wasn't Kydai, or I'da been down there with the hair dryer all night, 'cause her fur has a dense soft undercoat, very much thicker than Sia's.

The heated slate floor that I put in last summer proved to be a wonderful investment last winter, and this summer.  In the winter, I set it at 65•, and in the mornings, it was a pleasure to get up to a house that was reasonably warm, even if the fire in the wood stove had died.  And this summer, when I turned it off, it acted as a "passive air conditioner", and kept the downstairs nice and cool during the hottest weather.  All of the cats wound up spending a lot of time laying on it!

In October, I exercised my passport, and returned to Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada) for the first time since '69, for a week, and my old friend, David, and I put about 600 miles on his car, just roaming around within a couple of hours of Halifax.  Because of the changing season, all of the trees were sporting their fall colors, and the countryside was beautiful.

A few miles from here was Lunenburg, one of the most picturesque little towns that I've ever seen:

Looks like a model railroad display, doesn't it?  No crowds and you can see the main street running up the hill, in the center of the picture. There was no traffic, and the weather was sunny and bright, the whole visit.

About 35 miles down the road was one of Nova Scotia's landmarks, the Lighthouse at Peggy's Cove :

Definitely a different type of "beach" than we're used to out here!

Here at Salmon Beach, an extremely high tide will run 12-14', and twice, in  extremely vicious storms, we've had 16' tides, which caused an amazing amount of damage.  The Bay of Fundy has tides that run up to 56-60'; the highest tides in the world!  Every year they "lose" a tourist or 2, stupid enough to ignore the plentiful signs along the coast (see the sign in the lower left hand corner), telling them to stay off the mud flats.  This picture kind of demonstrates how dramatic that is, and David tells me that at high tide, all you see are the trees, surrounded by water.

I was extremely happy that I had taken "Google Earth" for a spin around Halifax, before going back, because what was once a quiet little city with a working waterfront has somehow, in 44 years, turned itself into a smaller version of Seattle's waterfront, complete with condos, shops selling plastic lobsters (made in China!), whale watching tours, and crowds!  They say, "Ya can't go back!", but you can; it just wont be the same.  Still, I had a grand time with my friend, And it does look as though they were expecting me; I found this sign outside of a music store in Dartmouth, a city right across the bay from Halifax:

The trip was so much fun, that this spring, I intend to head down to Arizona, to meet up with another old friend (also into music and photography) of mine who "winters" down there, and see if we can hit 3 or 4 of the national parks: Bryce, The Arches, and The Grand Canyon.  I haven't figured out whether I want to drive or fly; if I drive, I could always catch Yosemite National Park, but after the fires this summer, it might be better to put that off for a couple of years!

You guys know that I love cars, and in September, another old "motorhead" friend of mine got me into the Kirkland Concours d' Elegance as an "events photographer".  I hit several car shows every year, but this was truly something special!  It was the 50th anniversary of the Porsche 911, and there were a lot of them in the parking area south of the event itself, but they paled in comparison to the cars in the Concours itself.  Most of the cars were. . . well, I started to say, "Classics", but I think that most of you would think I was talking "muscle cars"; not so:

A 1963 Mercedes Benz 300, whose seat belts (2) the owner paid $11,000 for, because they only sold something like 11 of the cars with seat belts as original equipment (they were optional, back then), and he found a set of "new, old stock" in the basement of a garage someplace.  He also found a set of original, fitted, beautiful leather and brass studded, hard shell suitcases that were made for this model, to fit the trunk, and paid a measly $45,000 for them!

The standout car for me though, was the 1934 Alfa Romeo Roadster:

 

I heard someone say that the owner paid $22 million for it; I felt like Alice in Wonderland, wandering around this crowd of people, who are noticeably different than the owners of cars at the "Good Guys' Car Show" that I go to each summer.  There were also a lot of contemporary "exotics", but somehow, they were overshadowed by all this old "heavy metal".  By the way, these pictures are just a hint of what the cars actually looked like; the finishes on these machines appeared so "deep" that you could have swum in them.  Now I've kind of got my sites set on attending the Pebble Beach Concours d' Elegance, which is a 5 day affair in California, which, they tell me, makes our show appear fairly drab. . .

The first weekend of November, we had an incredible windstorm, and about 1 p.m., I'm enjoying one of those wonderful Pacific Northwest windstorms that you all know that I'm so fond of, when the phone rings.  The caller ID tells me that "Anonymous" is trying to get hold of me, and I never want to talk to him, so I just ignored it, until I heard one of my neighbors telling me that I might want to get up to the parking lot.  A tree has come down, hitting my beloved Subaru. . .

I got dressed and hauled up the hill, and was "kind of" relieved to see that it "only" took out my windshield. . . Well, that's not exactly true, because you can see that there is a slight divot in the passenger side fender, right above the wheelwell, and bent up the back corner of the hood.  I went to get my keys, so I could call my insurance people and found that I'd left them down the hill, but that was OK, because I needed to get a tarp, some rope and my camera, anyway.  Back down the hill, grab the stuff & my keys, and  back up the hill, and I fired up the camera, and found that it's "dead"; been awhile since I used the little "point & shoot".   After a 15 minute search for the insurance card, I called the insurance people, and they tell me that it'll be a 20 minute wait, because lots of people are calling, and I looked at the cell phone, and it was about to run out of juice, so I told them I'd call back.

Back down the hill for another camera, and back up the hill. . . again!  Oh, yeah; safety glass?  All over the interior of the car!  I tarped the car, and came back down the hill and called the insurance people again, but only had to wait 10 minutes, to find out that, yes, indeed, I'm covered, but. . . $1000 deductible!  On the other hand, the windshield is one of the "flash thaw" windshields, and I expected that it would be close to that, never mind the ding in the fender, and the hood.

And, of course, I didn't have the "rental reimbursement" option, so I was now a "hardcore biker";  Thank God the bike didn't suffer any damage!  Although I have the ability to get out on my bike, there is no desire to do it, because there is no enjoyment for me in riding in the wind and rain; all the tupperware (full fairing) acts like a sail, and makes riding work, and not fun, so I usually don't.  I had to go to work the following Monday, and while the ride there wasn't bad,  I came out of the studio and found that it had started raining, and the streets were slick, and it was dark, and it was at the height of rush hour, so I elected to ride through town, rather than the freeway, which is a madhouse!  Not moving very fast let the rain gather on my helmet's face shield, and since Tacoma is in "economy mode", a lot of street lights are not on, and I was pretty tense by the time I got home.  NO fun!  Two weeks later, and just before a week of weather in the mid-20's, I got the car back, and they did a beautiful job of putting it back in shape.

Here's a couple of seasonal musical treats for you, from one of my favorite vocalists; go full screen for them as the photography is beautiful, and hopefully, you can put the sound through your headphones, as laptop speakers just do not "make it"! :

http://tinyurl.com/q6cnarc

http://tinyurl.com/l4favkf

Well, you guys are probably getting as tired of reading as I am of trying to extract memories of the high points of the year, so I'm going to wish you all a very "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" and a safe and "Happy New Year!"

Pickin' at a scab. . .

I've been feeling like I wanted to get back to writing for awhile now, but I've been so pissed off at what's going on in the world, for almost a year now, that I just didn't want to lay it out there for people to read, but that itch. . . So, I'm going to scratch it, but there is going to be no politics tonight, my friends!

The last 2 nights, I've been "falling in love" with an artist that I'd never heard of, and he has just tickled my heartstrings, and I decided this would be a happy, wonderful way to get back to the blog, and perhaps bring some joy and laughter into some other peoples' lives.  Somehow, I stumbled across a documentary (yeah, I know. . . "Ho hum. . .") called, "Beauty Is Embarrassing; The Wayne White Story", and this guy is simply unbelievable; his life is an art study, and Life is his medium.  He paints, he jokes, he's a puppeteer, and a sculpter; he was part of the design team for the TV show, PeeWee's Playhouse, which I never saw, but will now make a point of checking out!  He plays banjo, and is a whimsical free spirit, who, if you're not offended by the "F" word, will entrance you within 5 minutes of the start of the movie.  If you are offended, then just shy away, because it's a natural part of his vocabulary, and he obviously doesn't use it just for shock value.

The movie, if you are a Netflix subscriber, can be rented or streamed for free on your computer, if you subscribe to their "Watch Instantly" offerings.  It's also available on Youtube, and this is the first time that I've seen anything you have to pay for ($2.99), although I was aware that they were going to start moving toward this business model for some of their videos; what a drag!  I guess all good things come to an end sometime, but it's always sad to see.  They do have some short segments of the show, and some interviews with Wayne, that I haven't watched, but intend to, in the near future.  Just punch his name into their "search" engine.

He also has done some music videos, one of which is the Smashing Pumpkins, "Tonight, tonight":
http://tinyurl.com/6pd9s5q , in which he designed all the sets.  He also won a Billboard award for best Art Direction for Peter Gabriel's "Big Time" video, in 1986.  http://tinyurl.com/d45ykpp  In 2009, he published a 400 page book of some of his art, which I've now added to my "Wish List", and I'm hoping that Santa will stuff it in my sock this Christmas, because I don't think that I'm going to spring for the cost of it, no matter how much I admire the guy!  If you watch this show, I believe that you'll look at Life a bit differently than you did yesterday, and I can guarantee, should you choose to follow his example, that not only will you enjoy your life a little more, but the world will be a better place because of it!

A couple of months ago, I was treated to a David Russel concert at beautiful Benaroya Hall, in Seattle, and he played a song called, "Spatter the Dew" that just knocked me out!  I've probably listened to this video 30 times or more, and it still just blows me away: http://tinyurl.com/b86dhc4

Hard left here!  I can't even begin to guess how many musicians have recorded the song, "Hey Joe", which I think I heard first on an album by The Leaves in '65: http://tinyurl.com/7y38tez which is a pretty fast version of the song.  A lot of people think that this is still the best rendition, ever, but for contrast, and more in the vein of Jimi Hendrix's version check out this cut by a New York singer/guitarist/songwriter, Popa Chubby, who I've been following for almost 20 years now: http://tinyurl.com/pvc7muy  Notice how much the quality of sound has changed over the years?

Since it's getting late, and I want to bring this to a close, I can't think of a better way to end it than to take yet another musical turn: http://tinyurl.com/pseyrdk

Good night!  :)

The 2nd Web Based. . .

 

        "Occasionally" Annual Salmon Beach Bulletin

Let me start this off the same way that I did a year ago, by wishing you all a "Merry Christmas" and a "Happy New Year", and tell you that despite the supposed recovery in the economy, my student "load" of 6 is exactly the same as it was a year ago, so once again, I'm "scrooging", but this means that although you don't get a card or letter in the mail, it allows me to freely share photos with you, which I could not otherwise do!

This year was a mix of good and bad for me; if you haven't been following the blog, which came to a screeching halt at the end of April with only sporadic entries after that, I lost my favorite cat, Kassie, to an undiagnosed illness, at that time.  About a month later, I started looking for a companion for Bella, searching all of the animal shelters from Seattle to Poulsbo, without finding a cat or kitten that I made a "connection" with.  Sometime late in June, while cruising web sites for ragdoll cats, I found a breeder down in Walla Walla, Wa., that had a female that looked a lot like Kassie, that was due to deliver in July, so I combined a motorcycle ride down to Richland for the annual "Cool Desert Nights" car show and high school reunion, with a side trip over to Walla Walla to see her.  Although she was ready to drop her kittens, and was very uncomfortable, she still came over and sat on my lap for about an hour; what a sweetheart!  

Two weeks later, the owner sent me pics of 5 or 6 kittens, and I looked at 3 before I saw this one, and felt my heart leap. . . It was "Love at first sight" and I immediately fired off an email to claim her!

 3 days before I took off for that trip down to the car show, my 35 year old refrigerator morphed into a freezer, overnight, and I decided that it was time to replace it.  The problem is that it was 32" wide, and the alcove that it resided in, between the kitchen and the bathroom was 32 1/4" wide, and to get it out of there, I had to remove the baseboards and door trim, and even the darned wall switch.  Once the fridge was out, I discovered that the little plastic tube that delivers condensation into the drying tray was about 4" too short, and had been dripping onto the floor underneath the fridge, causing part of the floor to rot out, so I had to rip out some fir floor, let it dry out, and then patch it, to bring it up to the level of the rest of the floor.

Having done that much, I decided that I might as well go ahead and redo the linoleum floor in the kitchen, which had gotten torn up (a bit), back when the tree came smashing through the back wall, in 1996,  and repaint or rewallpaper the kitchen, the fridge alcove and do the same to the bathroom and "water closet".  Also on the agenda for the summer "work party", was replacing a 14' section of bulkhead, and I gave myself until the 27th of September, which was when I was scheduled to take delivery of the kitten, to get all this wrapped up.  One of my friends suggested doing a slate floor, since I liked his so much, and once I decided to go for that, he convinced me to install sub-floor heating, alluding to the fact that at my age, I could not count on being able to continue heating with wood, for the next thirty years (something about the physics of rolling logs off the beach, towing them home and cutting them up. . . ridiculous, eh?), so I thought,"Why not?"  Well, over the 4th of July weekend, while I was installing the hardybacker subfloor for that, I found that I had gotten in over my head, because my back wall has a curve to it, and remember, my house is not square to begin with, it's a trapezoid, so I hired one of the guys that helped me raise the house last year, that had done several other slate floors for people here on The Beach.  I can't tell you how impressive it is to watch a guy that knows what he's doing.  But, for a month and a half, my front room looked like this:

And my bedroom was full of a washer and dryer, and bathroom cabinet, so, to get from the kitchen into my bed, there was a narrow pathway threading through all this stuff!  While I was waiting for Chris to get back from Alaska and do the floor, I started working on the walls, and spent 5 full days stripping the wallpaper in the 32 1/4" X 8' fridge alcove; talk about frustrating! At that point, I decided the big bathroom would wait for next summer, and when I moved in to strip the water closet, which is 4' X 10', I screwed up the walls so badly that I had to have a sheet rock guy come in and put a skim coat on it, and I decided, "No more wallpaper!" I painted the walls in the water closet and the fridge alcove, which was very easy, but man, has the price of paint ever gone up since the last time that I bought it!

At this point, which was about half way into August, and I realized that maybe my summer project was just a little too ambitious, and I decided to postpone the bulkhead rebuild until next summer!  Well, the weekend of August 24th I headed back down to Richland for my 50 year high school reunion (seems impossible that it's been that long!), and to check in on how the kitten was growing. Boy, was that a mistake, because while I was sitting in the breeder's house with my kitten on my lap, another little rascal came flying out of the back room, and did a "Nascar" around her front room and jumped up on my lap, and. . .

So, "Sia" is the upper cat and the original choice, and "Kydai" who came with the name, "Squirt", because of a story I'm not going into here, got a name change, at the request of my vet, who told me that I could just not stick such an elegant looking little cat with such an plain name.  Luckily, Bella, my Siamese, seems to love Sia, but just tolerates Kydai, because she is full of the devil, sometimes.  Sia, on the other hand, is a purrfect little lady, although I think that she's going to wind up being a pretty big cat, while Kydai is going to be much smaller.

Back to the house:  since the height of the floor, combining the sub-floor and the self leveling compound and the thickness of the slate changed by over an inch, I also had to remove all the doors, 3 of which were pocket doors, and trim about 1 1/4" off the bottom.  Of course, with the pocket doors, that meant tearing out all the door trim, so I wound up having to repaint all the woodwork, because the new paint didn't match the older, faded paint of the crown moulding.  And, once I put the stove back in the kitchen, I discovered that I couldn't open the cabinet doors, behind it.  It just seemed like the more I did, the more I had to do, that I hadn't forseen. . .

3 days after getting back from the reunion, I threw my back out, contorting to get some baseboards down behind the toilet, and since then, up until about a month ago, I started each morning with 2 "Breakfast of Champions" (Aleve!) with my coffee and oatmeal, in order to be able to keep working on the house.   My exercise regime had gone by the boards anyway, due to the fact that I was working on the house from about 8 a.m. until 9:30 p.m, 7 days a week, so, after the end of the year, I'm going to have to ease back into that, because I need it to keep myself in shape.

For maybe the first time ever, my revised project was finished, and the house was all back together on the schedule I had set, September 27th, but unforeseen circumstances delayed the delivery of the new members of the family until October 1st, so with the extra 3 days, I went to work on the crown moldings throughout the house.  Due to the fact that the molding is fairly inflexible, and that my ceilings weren't exactly flat, at various points, in all of the rooms, the ceiling would not meet the moldings, and that had been niggling at me for years, so with help of Red Devil's One Time Spackle, I managed to fill those little gaps and make it look great.  And I used the spackle to fill in around the gap between the trim for the circular staircase, and the first floor ceiling; finally, after. . . ummmm. . . 39 years (blush!), it finally looks finished!  Quoting another friend of mind, "Ya don't want to rush into anything."

Two summers ago,  I raised my house 18", and yesterday morning (12/17), I was once again happy that I went to the effort and expense that that "little project" entailed:

The bottom edge of the house used to be at the bottom of the the long beam, running front to back.  This pic was taken at peak high tide, and the wind started to really blow, about 45 minutes after this.  Had I not raised the house, my first floor would have been a wading pool.

So, now as the end of 2012 draws nigh, the house looks great, and I have 4 beautiful "grrrls" to make my heart smile (too bad 1 of them isn't a "2-legger, but I count my blessings!).  I've enrolled in a photography class that starts February 6th and goes every Wednesday evening for 2 hours, for 5 weeks, and I'm looking forward to that.  Also, one of my students runs a Tai Chi class every Saturday morning at 10 a.m. and I think that I'm going to take advantage of that, since it's just up over the hill from Salmon Beach, and takes place at such a "civilized" hour of the morning!

I hope that the "hollydays" will find you all healthy and happy and surrounded by your loved ones, and that the upcoming New Year will bring joy and prosperity to you all!

Late addition; I just got this from a friend, and it's a beautiful way to end this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrcPJ75zZso 

Love,

Your Li'l Salmon Beach Buddy

 

I'm baaaaaack!

It's been 5 months since my last post, and I'm going to try and get back to posting weekly with some new musical treats for you, my "usual" political comments, and whatever else I find interesting or think that you might enjoy.

I pretty much abandoned the blog to immerse myself in remodeling the back half of the 1st floor of my house, but despite the fact that Democrats and Republicans spent $2 billion in an effort to affect our government, nothing has changed; the same party controls the House, the other party controls the Senate and presidency, and both of them seem bent on wreaking havoc on the economics of our households and the nation, in order to prove how powerful their party is.  I keep asking myself, "Is this really the best our country has to offer?", and the answer I keep coming up with is, "Are you kidding me?"  Yesterday, Senator Jim DeMint (Republican from South Carolina) announced that he is resigning his seat in the Senate because he can be more "effective" as the head of the conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation; I don't suppose that the difference of more than 3/4 of a million dollars a year in pay could have anything to do with that, do you?  Maybe he's right, as he now has a straight line to other senators' pockets, in which to dump lobbying money. . .  Then again, maybe that's just my cynical side coming out; I'm sure that he thought long and hard about how much more he could help our country from that position.

But, if you're as sick of politics, junk mail and robocalls as I am, let's move on to a 12 year old English girl that I heard on the radio, a couple of months ago, that just blew me away.  Her voice is beautiful, but what astounded me was that she wrote the song herself; talk about an "old soul". . . http://tinyurl.com/8ol8r76

This "kind of" tickled my funny bone, but it's a very weird story.  If you've been following my blog, you know that I lost my favorite cat, last spring, so when this story came out in June, I was shocked that anybody would do this to a loved "member of his family" after his passing, and I know that I would never have even thought of doing this, but it is a very original way to "honor" his pet:  http://tinyurl.com/7sy3ar2

The next post will probably be my "Christmas Letter", and seeing as how that special time of year is fast approaching, I'd better get this up, and get to work on that!  It will be different than most of my posts, in that it's going to have no politics, and probably a bunch of pics, so, until then. . .

I got this email, today. . .

and since I'm up to my eyeballs in revamping the house, I'm just going to post this, and hope that you'll copy it, and send it on to your friends:

     
        
  
         " This  should be on the front page of every  newspaper.
                       

Charley Reese's Final  column!
  A  very interesting column.. COMPLETELY  NEUTRAL
Be sure to Read the Poem at the  end.

Charley Reese's final column for the  Orlando Sentinel...
He has been a journalist  for 49 years.
He is retiring and this is HIS  LAST COLUMN.

Be sure to read the Tax List  at the end.

This is about as clear and  easy to understand as it can be. The article  below is completely neutral, 
neither anti-republican  or democrat. Charlie Reese, a retired reporter  for the Orlando Sentinel, 
has  hit the nail directly on the head, defining  clearly who it is that in the final analysis 
must  assume responsibility for the judgments made  that impact each one of us every day. 
It's  a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth  remembering!

545 vs. 300,000,000  People
-By Charlie  Reese

Politicians are the only people  in the world who create problems and then  campaign against them.

Have you ever  wondered, if both the Democrats and the  Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have  deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all  the politicians are against inflation and high  taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high  taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal  budget. The President does.

You and I  don't have the Constitutional authority to vote  on appropriations. The House of Representatives  does.

You and I don't write the tax code,  Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal  policy, Congress does.

You and I don't  control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve  Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435  congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme  Court justices equates to 545 human beings out  of the 300 million are directly, legally,  morally, and individually responsible for the  domestic problems that plague this  country.

I excluded the members of the  Federal Reserve Board because that problem was  created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress  delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a  sound currency to a federally chartered, but  private, central bank.

I excluded all the  special interests and lobbyists for a sound  reason. They have no legal authority. They have  no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman,  or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I  don't care if they offer a politician $1 million  dollars in cash. The politician has the power to  accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist  promises, it is the legislator's responsibility  to determine how he votes.

Those 545  human beings spend much of their energy  convincing you that what they did is not their  fault. They cooperate in this common con  regardless of party.

What separates a  politician from a normal human being is an  excessive amount of gall. No normal human being  would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up  and criticized the President for creating  deficits. The President can only propose a  budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept  it.

The Constitution, which is the  supreme law of the land, gives sole  responsibility to the House of Representatives  for originating and approving appropriations and  taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? John  Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party.  He and fellow House members, not the President,  can approve any budget they want. If the  President vetoes it, they can pass it over his  veto if they agree to.

It seems  inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million  cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted --  by present facts -- of incompetence and  irresponsibility. I can't think of a single  domestic problem that is not traceable directly  to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the  plain truth that 545 people exercise the power  of the federal government, then it must follow  that what exists is what they want to  exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's  because they want it unfair.

If the  budget is in the red, it's because they want it  in the red.

If the Army & Marines are  in Iraq and Afghanistan it's because they want  them in Iraq and Afghanistan ...

If they  do not receive social security but are on an  elite retirement plan not available to the  people, it's because they want it that  way.

There are no insoluble government  problems.

Do not let these 545 people  shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire  and whose jobs they can abolish; 
to  lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can  reject; to regulators, 
to  whom they give the power to regulate and from  whom they can take this power. 
Above  all, do not let them con you into the belief  that there exists disembodied mystical forces  like
"the  economy," "inflation," or "politics" that  prevent them from
doing  what they take an oath to do.

Those 545  people, and they alone, are  responsible.

They, and they alone, have  the power.

They, and they alone, should  be held accountable by the people who are their  bosses.

Provided the voters have the  gumption to manage their own  employees...

We should vote all of them  out of office and clean up their  mess!

Charlie  Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando  Sentinel Newspaper.

What you do with  this article now that you have read it... is up  to you.
This might be funny if it weren't  so true.
Be sure to read all the way  to the end:

Tax his land,
Tax  his bed,
Tax the table,
At which he's  fed.

Tax his tractor,
Tax his  mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the  rule.

Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He  works for
peanuts anyway!

Tax his  cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax  his coat.

Tax his ties,
Tax his  shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his  dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his  drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to  think.

Tax his cigars,
Tax his  beers,
If he cries
Tax his  tears.

Tax his car,
Tax his  gas,
Find other ways
To tax his  ass.

Tax all he has
Then let him  know
That you won't be done
Till he has no  dough.

When he screams and  hollers;
Then tax him some more,
Tax him  till
He's good and sore.

Then tax his  coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod  in
Which he's laid...

Put these  words
Upon his tomb,
'Taxes drove me
to  my doom...'

When he's gone,
Do not  relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance  tax.

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building  Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette  Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License  Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income  Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax  (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License  Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax  (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross  Receipts Tax
Hunting License  Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS  Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of  tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage  License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property  Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate  Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security  Tax
Road Usage Tax
Recreational Vehicle  Tax
Sales Tax
School Tax
State Income  Tax
State Unemployment Tax  (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise  Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee  Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local  Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage  Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and  Nonrecurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and  Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge  Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License  Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales  Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well  Permit Tax
Workers Compensation  Tax


STILL THINK THIS IS  FUNNY?
Not one of  these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our  nation was the most prosperous in the  world.
We had absolutely no national debt,  had the largest middle class in the world, and  Mom stayed home to raise the  kids.

What in the heck  happened? Can you spell  'politicians?'

I hope this  goes around THE USA at least 545 times!!! YOU  can help it get there!!!

GO AHEAD. . . BE  AN AMERICAN"


L8r!

It's been awhile. . .

since I last posted, and I thought that I'd be able to get back to the posting every couple of weeks, but I've been swamped with work.  I thought I had 4 "little" projects lined up for the summer, but that changed when my refrigerator died about 3 weeks ago.  I tore out the door trim, the baseboards, and the wall switch, so I could get it out of the little alcove in which it resided, and moved it out onto the back porch.  I bought a new one, 2" smaller in width, so I never have to repeat this process, but delivery date is scheduled for September 1st, so I can get everything done first.  Since I had had to do all that work, I proceeded to rip up the rest of the trim in the kitchen and both bathrooms, in order to lay down a new slate floor, and at the urging of several friends, I decided to include under-floor heat, which added a whole new set of complexities to the project.

I have almost completed laying down the hardybacker underlayment for the slate, but, because the guys who assembled the old refrigerator cut the tube that delivers  the condensation to the little "pan" under the fridge about 6" too short, the water dripped on the floor, and I have a rotten spot, about 14" long, and 6" wide. Luckily, whoever laid the floor put tar paper under it, there's no rot in the subfloor.  I've dug out the rottten stuff, and have a heat lamp baking the dampness out of the rest of the wood.  In a week or so, I'll touch base with a friend, and find out what kind of plastic hardner/filler to pour in there, to bring it back up to level, and then I can lay the last piece of hardybacker.



Now, since some of you may not realize the logistics of getting materials down to the house, check out this picture of the stairs that things have to come down to get to my house:

This picture was taken back in '96, just after my house was hit by a landslide, but these are the 200 stairs that have to be negotiated to get to The Beach!

A friend and I had intended to lay the slate floor ourselves, but because: 1. my house is a trapezoid instead of a rectangle;  2. the fact that after the heating coils go down over the hardybacker, a self-leveling mix has to be poured over those, and the slate laid within 48 hours, and  3. my tolerance for frustration is somewhat limited at this time, I have decided to contract out the remainder of this project, and the arrangements with the craftsmen have already been made.

Geez, all that leaves me to do is repaint or wallpaper the kitchen and bath, repaint and replace the baseboards and door trim, rebuild part of my bulkhead and rebuild the remainder of the deck, which I started a few years ago.  Don't want to rush into anything, don't'cha know?

At this point, I have pretty well stuck my head in the sand, and am ignoring all the political crap that is being thrown at us, so it's up to you guys to keep an eye on the political "crooks and clowns" while I get this stuff done!

Back to work for this "kid"!  More later. . .

We have OFFICIALLY. . .

entered the "Silly Season", a 5 month stretch in which we will be treated, non-stop, to exaggerations, distortions, promises, and now, due to the "Super Pacs", flat out lies, about the candidates and their positions and actions.  Keep in mind, as the election season progresses, that the Supreme Court, in all their munificent wisdom, have declared lies to be "freedom of speech"!  And, watch how much spending is done this year, in order to influence your decision on whom you will bestow your vote.  And then, go ahead and reflect on how little your vote actually counts, due to the fact that the electoral college, and not us, is who elects the president!  It is hard not to be cynical, in this day and age. . .

Before I go any further with this rant, let's go to something that's actually fun, entertaining and wont have you frothing at the mouth.  The other night, I watched a movie called, "Matha Marcy May Marlene", which won a Sundance Award.  The movie was not what I'd call "uplifting", but it was pretty good.  However, what made it worthwhile to me, was the discovery of a couple of songs by someone that I'd never heard of, singer/songwriter Jackson C. Frank.  The first is performed by John Hawkes, and is called, "Marcy's Song":  http://tinyurl.com/8yeu5cs

The second is called, "Marlene":  http://tinyurl.com/7dfbut5  and is performed by Jackson himself.  It has minimal but very effective guitar work, and there is no real video.  I found both of these songs entrancing, and both songs, along with a lot of his other compositions are available on both Amazon and iTunes.  Unfortunately, Jackson's story is a truly sad one, and he died, destitute, back in 1999, of pneumonia and cardiac arrest.

On the "search for a new cat" front, I am still looking, and it occurred to me, a couple of weeks ago, that in the past, I have always felt an immediate connection to the various animals that I've adopted, so I have just settled back, and observed my inner reactions to the cats that I'm looking at, and so far. . . No connections.  Such is Life!  There has been an odd phenomenon around the house, in the time that Kassie's been gone, and I'm having kind of a tough time dismissing it; we're getting some odd noises, like things being knocked off of tables, or "skitching" sounds like an animal trying to launch itself on linoleum. . . Before you write me off, here, the sounds are also being heard by both the dog and the cat, and yet when I go to find out what it is, there's nothing there!  I'm not saying this is or isn't anything; I just know that it's not my imagination.


So, back to politics!  It's obvious that "the pres" doesn't seem to be able to get a grip on our economic recovery; the Republicans have made no secret of the fact that they were going to fight him all the way, on every possible thing they could, to make sure he would fail, even at the cost of our future.  Unfortunately, the Democrats have pretty well taken the same approach when there was a Republican in "the big chair".  "Obstructionism" has become the name of the game, and it is costing our nation dearly.  From every poll that I've seen, this is not what the general public is asking for, and I find it baffling that we continue to elect these buffoons!  Romney's answer to correcting the economy is to cut the crap out of all the social programs, and escalate military speneding:  http://tinyurl.com/87nc7wl I still do not understand why the American public does not insist that the candidates focus on job creation, as that is going to be the only way out of this mess that we're in.

On the student loans issure, the interest rate is due to double, from 3.4% to 6.8%, on July 1st, if nothing is done by the House and Senate.  The Republicans want to take $6 billion from preventative health care, to cover the cost, while the Democrats want to take the money from some small business owners, in the form of a withholding tax.  Both of these methods are unacceptable, and I don't understand why no one has proposed paying for it by stopping the IRS from refunding $4.2 billion, a year, to undocumented aliens, some of whom are claiming as many as 20 deductions for kids who live in Mexico!  http://tinyurl.com/73ydfy6

Conspiracy time!  I first started hearing about the Bilderberg Organization, about 20-25 years ago, through Art Bell's "Coast to Coast AM" radio program.  It all sounded pretty hokey to me, and if it was true, I figured that it was along the same lines as the Trilateral Commision, and the Council On Foreign Relations, to which many big businessmen, actors, musicians and politicians (almost all of our presidents, since 1921), have belonged.  But a few years ago, they held a meeting in Vancouver, British Columia (IF I remember correctly!), and the security arrangements brought them unwelcome attention from the world.  There appears to be very little debate about whether or not these elites are engineering a world economy, and you can bet it has as much to do (if not more) with the consolidation of wealth as with the betterment of mankind!  If you don't believe it, here's a link that will start you on a trip to knowledge, and perhaps, paranoia!  :)  http://tinyurl.com/7o27lop

So, I'll leave you with all those things to contemplate until next time; sleep tight!  :) :) :) :) :) :)

Oh, wait!  One more little tidbit to make you feel better about those who want the opportunity to lead our nation: 13 of the candidates that are running for the Senate have either criminal records or bankruptcies in their past!
http://tinyurl.com/6men62d 

Inspires confidence in our leadership, doesn't it?

A follow up. . .

I had thought to wait for 3 or 4 months to let the feeling of loss fade, from losing Kassie, but the other cat, a "round head" Siamese named Bella, that had been "joined to the hip" with her since before I got her, seems to just be lost without her.  Last week, I stopped by the local Humane Society and Petco, to see what they had to offer, but didn't see any cats or kittens that were intriguing, and then I remembered the web site through which I had found Kassie and Bella: http://www.petfinders.com  After prowling through 10 pages of ads, I found a 2 year old cat, who had been living on the street, and, literally, sleeping beside the freeway, for a year before someone stopped and picked her up and took her to a shelter.

On Saturday, I made an 80 mile trip to see her and spend a little time with her, but as I sat with her, giving her pats and scratching her chin and talking with the ladies who had been fostering her, I was enveloped, once again, by kind of an "empty" feeling, and sadness, so, after 45 minutes, I left.   On the way home, I examined my feelings, which told me that I was leaving behind a special little cat, but I felt that I had made the right decision, and didn't have to worry about her being "put down", since they are a no-kill shelter.  Someone is going to wind up with a very nice little cat, who is going to provide years of love.   But I also came to the conclusion that I didn't really want to wait for another 3 months to go by; watching Bella prowl through the house every morning, looking for Kassie, and the fact that I find myself straining for a glimpse of her, has pretty well convinced me that we need to find another housemate.  So, back to Petfinders, and I found another cat in Seattle, a 4 year old Calico/Ragdoll mix, who is very appealing, and this shelter is obviously intent on finding her a good home!

I contacted them, and on Sunday I received a 3 page application from them, which had to be filled in and filed for approval before I can even see her.  I found this to be reassuring, but it took me almost 1/2 hour to fill out the form.  On Wednesday, they called to tell me that they had approved the application, and that I should come on up and meet "Willow", and Kate, the lady from the shelter.

Thursday morning, I drove up to Seattle and picked up my friend, Michelline, who was responsible for helping me find my last 3 cats, and we drove over to the shelter.   It breaks my heart to see an animal that is so shy, and so scared.  She seemed very sweet, but after spending almost 1/2 hour, watching her crouched back in a corner of the office, and not even being able to tempt her out of  it with chicken treats, Mick & I left the office, and Kate, who was her “foster-mom”, snagged her and put her on her lap, and Mick and I went back in.  She’d let me scratch her under her chin and between her ears, and she was purring, but I was pretty sure that she wasn’t the cat for me, and Mick got the same feeling, but I did set up an appointment for Kate to come down and check out the house for approval, just in case I changed my mind.  Mick and I talked about it, and I took her home, and then stopped by Petco to look at another cat that I had seen on petfinders, but when I talked to the people, they told me that she was not real friendly toward other cats, so I didn’t even bother with trying to get acquainted with her.

Kate and another “care giver” showed up at 7, and I “passed the audition”, but by Friday morning, I had gone over a lot of stuff in my head, and remembered that, with each of my past cats, I had felt an immediate “connection” with them, and that there had been no doubts about whether or not they were the “right” cat.  So, I wound up calling Kate and talking to her, and telling her how I felt, but also how impressed I was with their organization’s care for placing animals, and asked her to keep my application on file, so that if I find another animal on their web site, I wont have to go through all the hassle, again.  She assured me that that wouldn’t be a problem. . . The search continues!

OK, for the musical "treat of the week", I'm providing 2 links to the same song called, "Buster Voodoo" by a couple of Mexican "kids" that I became aware of, about 4 or 5 years ago, who bill themselves as, "Rodrigo y Gabriela", and they are amazing!  The first link has better sound, but is just some pics of them; the second is a live performance of theirs on the Craig Kilborn show, back in 2009:
http://tinyurl.com/bm6vd4v
http://tinyurl.com/d6b93cx

Summer is now underway, and I spent a few hours this last week, working around the deck and wood shed, assessing what upkeep I need to tackle this summer, and found that I cannot avoid having to rebuild part of the bulkhead behind the wood shed. . . groan(!). . . and that I need to tear down and replace a couple of beams, and part of the deck.  That wasn't a surprise; that's just part of living on the water and I've been putting it off for a couple of years.  But this is going to be labor intensive, so I've pretty well decided that I'm going to cut back on posting here, to every couple of weeks, until the summer work is done.

So, until next time. . .