Point Loma

Pacific Ocean at Point Loma, California

Our son went to the zoo with his grama and he was excited to go.  We had the afternoon to ourselves so we took a ride to Sunset Cliffs in Point Loma.  Temperature was about 71 degrees with a soft breeze making a short hike delightful.  There were a few people on the beach too.  I always enjoy the smell of the salt air.  Tons of yellow daisies growing everywhere. It was a perfect spring day.

This is where we walked from. We walked down that big crevice and looked at the water.

Next time we want to take the stairs down. I put it on our list of things to do.  The kids would love it.

The marina in winter

View of the marina at dusk, about 5:45pm, yesterday.

We joined 4-H yesterday.  Our son signed up for equine and swine projects.  My husband said, "Swine!"  How dare they call our piggies swine.  Haha!  

I will be the 4-H photographer.  Leah's president and she works so hard, and I offered to help her and she asked if I'd take pictures.  Actually, I commented to my husband I would be interested in helping Leah and he told Leah I want to help and Leah told him she'd like me to take pictures.  Leah has such a heart for kids.  I will put together a web page for them.  Blogger will be perfect for their needs. I suggested it, then I got selected to do it.

I will be careful about suggestions from now on.

Yesterday morning

I'm putting up my practice shots till I get the one. Am kicking myself for being too cold to get my camera out on the day when the view was magical a week ago. I'm getting up early to get these morning shots. On this one I wish I'd done bracketing so I could brighten up the island. It's too dark. Uh, I don't know how to do bracketing yet.

I admit, I had a real nice Christmas. We had Turkey a la King over rice and fruit jello with whipped cream for the holiday meal. We had friends over and they brought the dinner. Good deal there. If you can find company who are good cooks who will bring food to your house and leave you leftovers too, go for it! I made the dessert. I forgot to buy whipped cream and the store was out so we drove to our guests house and got some from their trailer. It was real cream so I had to whip it with sugar and vanilla and I had to whip it a long time to get it fluffy. My arm got tired. I think I will never eat Dream Whip again. The real thing is much tastier.

I printed out a few Christmas songs like The Little Drummer Boy and everyone enjoyed a sing-a-long without music.

Tomorrow we're going to Las Cruces. I get to buy yarn! I want to make another scarf. My sister liked hers a lot. She emailed me and what she wrote made my night. Says she's going to wear it with the tag attached. Heh. I think I could get into giving handknit gifts.

My husband asked me what I wanted to get for our eldest son for a wedding gift. I've known from the beginning but I've been waiting for him to ask. And he said okay. I was surprised. He never tells me no, but I thought this might be the time he says no. I was prepared for a no, you never know when it can come, so I am happy with his answer.

Sunrise

Jack passed on last night. We'll miss him. From what Reta said when I visited her this morning, it was without pain. It was faster than anyone would have thought. When the medics said his pulse was gone she cried, "But he needs one."

I asked Reta if she sensed yesterday before it happened that it was going to happen last night, and she said no. He did not have time to be afraid and of that I'm glad. Jack didn't want to die in a hospital and that's why they're here. He had DNR 'Do Not Resuscitate' orders. I wanna go the same way - home, by the lake, with the desert, away from the hospital. They're Seventh Day Adventists.

It happened right after the Christmas potluck. Only ten minutes later we drove to Patches' house and saw the ambulance in front of Reta and Jack's motorhome. A park ranger was there. A few other cars too. I didn't stop because I didn't want to be in the way and I despise looky-loos. We prayed. When my husband was lying in the street after a car accident there were looky-loos crushing in a circle to see some blood and I wanted to thrash them all.

Reta looks real pretty today and she's all put together. I saw her this morning at 7:00am standing outside in her long red robe, staring into the air. We waved to her. As I write this now, I realize she must have been outside to see the sunrise; the first sunrise without her Jack. She got three hours rest last night and I think she expects a busy day. Reta's not a crier or a whiner. I want to be like her. She tells me I better learn to drive the truck and pull the trailer. She can drive their huge motorhome with a tow vehicle behind. She was out of Kleenex so my husband went to the store and bought her two boxes.

Always look behind you

The morning lake 

It's 6:30am. I was supposed to be photographing the hot air balloons, but I looked behind me and this is what was there just waiting for me to take its picture. Sometimes you get the best photographs by looking behind you.

Today and Friday I went for a jog. It felt so good, after I was done of course. My husband rode his bike out to meet me because it got dark before I got home. Dusk was beautiful, so warm and the sky so pretty. Magenta outlined the clouds. My husband made the best fajitas, fideo, and refried beans for dinner. The smell of dinner cooking is one of my favorite things in life. It makes home so homey and family so, special.

Small plane in this one

Where have all the windmills gone

In the Heartland 

Remember the song Where Have All the Flowers Gone? It reminds me of the Kingston Trio. My mom had one of their records.

When I was a kid and my dad took us to Nebraska to visit our grama we used to count windmills to liven up the horribly boring drive. My dad grew up on a farm and he could spot those windmills from miles away. He always beat my sister and me, and won the windmill counting game. Johnny Carson was a Nebraska boy you know.

But there are hardly any windmills anymore, and what few we saw were broken or not working. They're silent sentries, gettin' no love out there on the big, wide, lonesome prairie.

I guess they've been replaced by more efficient electic water pumps. Some towns are fussing over the emergence of the huge turbine windmills. Those are a whole different animal compared to the windmills of long ago.

There's a large scale wind farm near Palm Springs. It does have a beauty of its own, but I also miss the open desert. I remember how the land looked before the windmills were there.

Photo taken 8/22/06.

Pictures askew

Crooked pictures 

I'm into askew and crooked pictures lately. Sky is washed out.

Taken at Waskesiu Lake at Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan. Pronounced "wahs' kuh sue."  The name gets terribly thrashed by everybody who doesn't know how to pronounce it - including us.  Haha!

TransCanadian highway1 

Waskesiu Lake at Prince Albert National Park 

Clouds in afternoon 

Canola fields 

Saskatchewan farmland 

Here we are in Canada

In the province of Saskatchewan

A grueling day. And this is the first time we've had our own internet connection since, yipes, June 28th. We've been going stir crazy. We feel so disconnected when we can't email or read the papers or listen to radio online.

We are by a lovely lake and we may be here awhile. Today our torque converter blew up - very loudly. We were driving north and suddenly the truck made a huge pop sound. It sounded like a blow-out but way, way louder. And the sound came from the front, not in the back where the trailer is.

Pulled over and husband couldn't find anything wrong. Strange for such a loud noise. No flat tires, no gauges showing trouble on the dashboard. We got back in, started up, and drove gingerly down the side of the road and lo and behold, truck wasn't shifting. He's taking it in to a Ford dealer tomorrow. Called two and they're booked solid and couldn't even do a diagnosis so he has to drive to a third one and hope they will look at the truck. The truck goes one speed, slow, so it'll be an hour drive tomorrow.

This repair promises to be expensive. If it's not the torque converter but the transmission instead, then it'll be worse. We just had a hefty, unexpected expense last week, $1200.00, for new front leveling jacks (and motor) to replace the busted one on the trailer. We can't take too many more hits like this. As it is, we've had to slow down and stay at places longer than we did last year because fuel prices are so high. One day of driving is $100.00 now.

But the good new is, we can fix it. The good news is, truckie got us to a campground that by the grace of God we passed right before our blow-up so we turned around, got one of the last sites available (electrical hook-up is all that was left), and we weren't stuck in the middle of the prairie grasslands needing a tow. The good news with the jacks is, when one busted the trailer didn't tip enough to fall over. It just tipped and wavered once. That'll put hair on your chest! Structural damage incurred to the trailer would end our travels instantly.

Mechanical trouble are one of the things I hate most in life. But I'm glad I'm married. My husband can fix any problem that ever comes up. Men are problem solvers. I know I don't need to be scared or worry too much. I'm not afraid when I'm with him.

Other topics: I had imagined us traveling forever into the wild blue yonder and this morning even before the truck trouble my husband said we'll need to settle and buy a house next year. Boo hoo. I'm sad about it! I can't picture myself in a house. I don't want a house.

I have to wait and see how it all works out. I know Jehovah works things out for the best. He has good things in store for us. But this is how I feel today.

Phone booth in river

Wanna make a call? 

Next to the Coeur d' Alene bike trail. Too funny. I wonder if it really works!

Used cooling filter to blue up the water more.

Iceland poppies and a mole on my lip

They're wild 

Found these across the street. It was windy so it wasn't the best day to get a picture.

I went to the dermatologist. You know, those 'barnacles of life' were catching up with me. Had to do something about it! Actually I made an appointment because I have this little mole on my upper lip, right on the lip line on the far left. I've had it most of my life. I have a love/hate relationship with it.

People are generally against moles. Well, my dad for instance. He's a good example of someone who is against all bodily imperfections, and he's definitely against moles. He told me once that it looks like third stage of cancer and he laughed heartily. Maybe I felt bad, maybe I didn't. But then there are people like my husband who has always liked it. Our son too, he said, "Mamma, don't get it taken off because it's you and I don't want you to take it off." In a nutshell, this is what you call unconditional love. It's a good buffer. It pops out all the kinks and dents of life, big and small, and makes you like new again. You're lucky if you have one person who gives you unconditional love. If you have only one, you're set because one is all you need. I count myself extra lucky though. I have two! If you take stock of your life and you see you have more than one, or more than two, well then, you are extra, extra lucky. Let's say richly blessed.

Anyway, I had the doc look at my mole because in New Mexico it had gotten kind of red and irritated one week and I never knew why. It was on my mind and I was a little concerned. Better safe than sorry they say.

Well the doc said, no problem, it's perfectly fine and no need to worry about cancer on this one. And then since I was already sitting in the doctor's office, I had some of those awful brown spots taken off of my arms. He used liquid nitrogen and froze them off! Actually right now they look worse because it blisters, then the skin sloughs off, then you're all healed in 7 to 14 days. It cost me $75.00 for the first spot and $10.00 for each additional. Insurance doesn't cover it you know. It's cosmetic. I also had this darn bump on my cheek. It was small, but I always noticed it and it seemed big to me every time I looked in the mirror. My husband said he never saw it. My sister said she didn't see it. What do they know.

It was a clogged hair follicle, ugh, properly called a sebaceous cyst, double ugh, and the doctor took it out. He had to cut it out. It was 7 or 8 mm. Small? That's not small in my book! I go back to get two stitches out in a few days. I'm glad I got it done. They don't cause a problem. They don't hurt and they can go away by themselves sometimes, but I had it for a year. I am glad it's gone because it didn't belong on my face, and that's that.

Take that on the chin, Life! Pow!

You will like this place. Come see. 

The dock

Chatcolet Lake in northern Idaho 

I come here after dinner and sit, and walk up and down, to see what I will see...

Salmon River  

Good-bye New Mexico

A hike down Luchini Trail 1.6 miles 

On our last day at Elephant Butte Lake State Park we finally walked this trail. Only took me three months to get to it! It was nice too. The clouds in distance looked like they might storm, but they never did.

This Luchini trail is named after Frank Luchini who lived in Truth or Consequences, called T or C by the locals, who helped build the dam. The dam was finished in 1916. We watched it rise between October and February which was kind of cool. The dam was built for irrigation but the lake, the largest in the state, is used for recreation. People apparently get irate some years when the water is low and complain to the rangers but the rangers remind them that the lake was never built for recreation in the first place. There was a shooting here in August. Yes. A ranger killed a man. There had been drinking (not the ranger of course), and the man wouldn't pay his fee, all of $14.00. It's a sad and horrible incident. The ranger has a family, a wife and very young children. I don't know why the ranger shot to kill, but I'm guessing since I wasn't there, that he surely must have felt endangered. Sad. It's going to trial.

Well, we're in Texas now and I suppose we plan to return to New Mexico next winter. We liked it there. The only thing is, it's pretty senior. I didn't find a church with young children. I only checked out two churches but I didn't really see one that I liked a lot. But we made wonderful friends at the campground. Some of them plan to return next year and we all have tentative plans to meet up there.

All the following pics are from the hike on the Luchini nature trail.