My Favorite Overpass

I don’t know who the creative geniuses were who thought to paint the overpasses spanning Route 146 in wonderful colors. Nor do I know which state bureaucrats had the good sense to authorize it. But my hat is off to all of them.

This one is located in Worcester at the intersection of Cambridge, Quinsigamond and 290.
It is, for obvious reasons, my favorite.

Autumn In Shadow

It was a warm, sunny Autumn day. I was hanging laundry on the front porch, while also trying not to step on a cat’s tail. In glancing down to avoid said tail, the shadows caught my attention. I thought of Roo who, in his photography, has a wonderful eye for shadows. I stopped and reached for my camera. This is the result.



Speaking of Roo,
Happy Anniversary to Andrew and Peter!

Preemie Power!

Whenever Isabella Rose raises her fist in the air like this I call it “Preemie Power”!

Isabella was born at just 26 weeks on August 5th, weighing one pound six ounces. We said from the beginning that she struck us as ”sweet and strong”. That continues to be our impression. She began feeding from a bottle on September 26th. Then she also began nursing on September 28th! She now weighs three pounds, five ounces (1.5 Kgs) - give or take a few grams. Wow! Carrie and Al continue to be wonderful parents. And Carrie has been recovering steadily from the Severe Preeclampsia and its attendant complications. Hurray!

Put Your Money Where Your _____...

Mouth Is
Heart Is
Values Are

The right, the far right, the conservatives, the Republicans, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the tea-party-ers, Karl Rove and all the astro-turfers are pouring vast sums of money into political campaigns. After the Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United it has been virtually no holds barred on how much money can flow in from businesses and anonymous donors. The amounts of money are staggering. The right doesn’t want to take us back to something they miss; something they feel we have lost under the present Democratic administration. They want to take this nation in an entirely new and dangerous direction.

So we, the little guys, the average American citizens, have to pony up. We have to put our money where are mouths are. If we want to scream every time the right wingers spew lies, then we have to open up our wallets and support the good guys. If we hate the vision of America the tea-party-ers paint, then we have to put pen to check and support the good guys. If we know that we need more time to haul ourselves out of the recession and keep building on what has been accomplished in the last twenty months, then we have to navigate over to candidates we believe in, click on the donate button and support the good guys.


psssst... Do $omething!

Wicked Cool

There’s a wicked cool Photoshop video tutorial from NAPP Executive Director Larry Becker over on Corey Barker’s Planet Photoshop. It’s called “Abstract Backgrounds”. It is very easy to follow and left me slackjawed with all the nifty permutations and possibilities - think filters, digi-scrap papers and more. Check it out here!

My experiment:
From stones to stripes

Mark Your Calendars

Some of the people running for public office this year are just plain nuts.
Many of them have big money behind them.
We should not assume that because they are nuts, that they couldn’t possibly get elected.
We have to go to the polls and vote.
Vote as if your life depended on it, because it does.
This is a shake-the-snowglobe/Alice-down-the-rabbit-hole moment in our nation’s history.
We cannot be complacent.
We cannot be apathetic.
We have to go to the polls and vote.
Heck, you can even vote by absentee ballot.
But you have to freakin’ vote.

Living in Massachusetts? Need to register to vote? (You have until October 13th.) Need to vote by absentee ballot? The Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website has all the information you’ll need.

Mark Your Calendars.
Election Day Is
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
VOTE!

Rhino At The Mall

As I Tweeted on Twitter earlier today:

The bad news: I have a cold so we can't go anywhere NEAR the NICU! ;o(
Heck, I won't even breathe in a SouthEasterly direction!

The good news: Isabella now weighs 3 pounds (1.36 kg)!!! Hurray! ;o)

I blame my cold on the Massachusetts court system. I had jury duty in Worcester’s “Mall of Justice” on Main Street and with 100 plus citizens all in one pool room there must have been a bug or two tagging along. That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.

I have to say that all three judges I either spoke with or listened to impressed the heck out of me. I had not been looking forward to my “one day, one trial” tour of duty. I understand and appreciate civic responsibility, but the timing for this call up was not the best. I really was hoping not to be empaneled and I wasn’t. But as each inspiring judge spoke, I had the powerful urge to hold up my juror badge and say “Pick me!”

So five stars to the judges; four and a half stars to the impressive facility; and five stars to Court Officer Rose who kept us all informed and advocated to get “her jurors” where we needed to be. Oh, and minus five stars to this damn rhinovirus. You’d think that all that scanning and screening at the front door would keep such nasties at bay!

Fewer Or Less & A Word Among The Missing

Here’s a simple, general way to decide when to use the words “less” and “fewer”. If you can count whatever it is you are talking about, use fewer. If you can’t count it, use less. I am no grammarian, but it’s a rule which seems to be frequently broken.

The following sentence is correct:
I should spend less time knitting and buy fewer skeins of yarn.
I could reconstruct it this way:
I should spend fewer hours each day knitting and buy less yarn.
But the following sentence is not correct:
I should spend fewer time knitting and buy less skeins of yarn.

Grammar Girl has a detailed column on the topic. Grammar Monkeys have a brief audio explanation involving zombies.

As long as we’re on the topic of word usage, what the heck ever happened to the word “pled”. As in “She pled not guilty to the charges.” All I seem to hear on the news these days is “She pleaded not guilty.” I understand that pled is an alternative to pleaded. I also learned, after a bit of Googling, that its usage is disputed. But to my ear pled sounds right. And I don’t think it is due to my age, my having been born and raised in Rhode Island or my Scottish heritage.

Thoughts?

Shine On

Chuck and I were finishing our walk early this evening when we caught sight of the Harvest Moon. (Well it was really the Harvest Moon plus a day.) We’re not sure which one of us took this photograph. We had the camera with us, but no tripod. So we tried various settings and leaning on each other to try and steady the shot. We took a lot of pics but this was the only one which began to capture the beauty of the moon, rising up through a stand of trees, in central Massachusetts.


P.S. How old am I? I Googled “Harvest Moon lyrics” and instead of the early 1900s song “Shine On Harvest Moon” by Bayes and Norworth, up popped Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” from 1992. I have never heard of the latter, but have sung the former my whole life. Apparently I am ancient!

Mike Lowell

Mike “I only know how to hit doubles and home runs” Lowell is still going to retire at the end of this season. The Red Sox will be honoring him before the October 2nd home game. Lowell is one of my favorite players and I hate to see him go. This article by Ian Browne is a great read. It sums up Mike Lowell and his terrific career.

Update: Thankfully, it looks as if Mike was not seriously injured when he was hit in the right temple by the ball, during tonight’s game against the Evil Empire. A game which we won!

The Tech That Binds

Knock wood, all continues to go well for our grandniece Isabella! After several weeks of taking lots of photographs, I had a slap the palm of my hand to my forehead kind of moment. I suddenly realized that our Canon PowerShot S2 IS digital camera has a video feature. Isabella had been moved to a new room in the NICU and I thought that her family living far away would like to be able to see her new room and, much more importantly, see Isabella in motion. So, I shot less than three minutes of footage, loaded it onto my computer, edited it in iMovie, uploaded it to our private iWeb site and sent the link off to family and friends. Unfortunately, not everyone could access iWeb or view the video.

Cue the abrasive sound of a phonograph needle being scraped off an LP!

I’ll spare you the excruciating details of how I tried to troubleshoot the problem and how many e-mails I sent out. Eventually, I had to take another route and I finally found a winner. Turns out YouTube offers a Private video option. You upload your video to YouTube, tick the box marked private and then send out invitations to whomever you authorize to view the video. You’re limited to a maximum of 25 people and they have to register with YouTube. But for the family members whose non-Apple PCs and internet browsers weren’t compatible with iWeb, it has been a great solution. We’ve uploaded four videos to both locations and have it down to a pretty smooth system.

There was only one family member left out of the unlimited access loop: Nana, Isabella’s great grandmother. She has watched a couple of the videos on our laptop, but unlike everyone else, she doesn’t have nor does she want a computer. So this afternoon I used iDVD and burned all four videos to a disc. If her reaction to Carrie and Al’s wedding DVD is any indication, I should probably bring her a box of tissues along with the DVD!

Notting Hill

Apropos of nothing, the movie “Notting Hill” really holds up. It may have been made in 1999; it may be classified as a “chick flick” but it is still a pleasure to watch. I laughed. I cried. I clapped. Can’t ask for much more than that in film.

Visiting Family

The period of time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is known as the Days of Awe. During this time, it is customary to make visits to the cemeteries where your loved ones are buried. Today we picked up Chuck’s 87 year old aunt and drove to the collection of Jewish cemeteries in Woburn. We stopped at the first gate to pick up some pebbles from an open tray and went to our family member’s graves. On each headstone, we each placed one of the pebbles. They are left as a sign of respect and as a visible acknowledgement of the visit. Tante managed to leave her walker behind and, leaning on Chuck, walk to her parents and brother’s gravesite. But as the visiting continued, she stayed on the main paved path and we served as her ambassadors, leaving pebbles for her on the headstones of other relatives. As we walked, Tante would stop, read an inscription on a marker, remember and then tell us so and so was friends with Grandma or so and so worked with your father.

I do not like death or grief or loss. But I do love visiting a cemetery. I also love a good funeral home and a truly fine funeral. Apparently my pleasure today was evident because Chuck told me later that Tante said to him: “Lee’s certainly enjoying herself!” I think she likes that we are comfortable with the tradition of visiting; of reminiscing; of connecting the branches on the family tree. I think she also appreciated that as we walked around the cemeteries today, we began to take note of what Tante would like her headstone to look like. (Her plot is right next to her parents and brother.) Turns out, she likes a very finely grained, pale, pink granite!

Katydid

Well, we call them Katydids, but the scientists say they are part of the Tettigoniidae family.
Yup. Katydids it is!

Oops! I should have put a link in for the Katydid. They look like grasshoppers, but are actually more closely related to crickets.

VOTE!

Tomorrow is Primary Day here in Massachusetts.

The polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

If you need information about your polling place, go the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website.

Apathy is the enemy.

We cannot afford to sit this one out.

Live your values.
Love your country.
VOTE!

Unique Memorial

We’ve driven by this unusual headstone many, many times and I’ve always wondered about it. But I never went to see what individual or family it represents. Today we went into St. John’s Cemetery off of Cambridge Street in Worcester and learned that it is the Palermo Family.

May all the members of the Palermo, DeMango, Cipro and Pedrone families know peace. And may P.F.C. Vincent G. Palermo’s ultimate sacrifice always be remembered and honored.



You can follow along with The Wormtown Fleet by clicking here and following the “Linky blog hop” links.

That’s Eft Not Elf

An Eastern Newt Salamander (Notophthalmus Viridescens) in its Red Eft stage, as seen in our dooryard this morning. Chuck provided assistance by holding back the greenery and adding a sense of scale. Thanks Chuck!

Paper Deal!

By far, our favorite paper to print photos and digi-scrap layouts out on is Staples Photo Supreme Double Sided Matte Paper. When we stopped in the Staples in Millbury on our way home from visiting Isabella and Carrie today, we found they were running a ridiculously good deal on it. List price is $14.99 for 50 sheets. But you can get a rebate card or check (check please!) for $14.74. That makes your final cost just 25¢. Limit two per household, but it’s a great chance to try out this consistently well reviewed paper (4.5 stars out of 5 on 711 reviews).

Would I prefer they still sold boxes of 100 sheets? Yes please.
But I’ll happily take advantage of this in-store deal - good only through Saturday, September 11th.

The Book Cover

As promised, a photo of my version of the Reversible Journal Cover.
It was well received. ;o)

Book Cover

I needed to make a book cover out of fabric. I had been thinking about winging it - my usual strategy! And heaven knows that once upon a time I wrapped all my textbooks with brown paper bag covers. (I also used the glossy store bought ones with ivy league college and university logos emblazoned on them. However inspiring they may have been, the brown paper bag ones lasted longer!)

Anyhoo, I Googled to see if I could find a good design. I found several. But if I was not going to wing it, I needed a really good tutorial. By good I mean clear and easy to follow directions, coupled with very good images to follow. I found a nifty one which, by the description, should have been way too complicated: “A Reversible Journal Cover”. It wasn’t! Lara Cameron in Melbourne, Australia posted the directions, complete with illustrations. I’m a visual learner so that was important. You have to look very closely at those illustrations but she really does spell everything out and make it quite simple: basically four rectangles of fabric and six seams.

Full disclosure: I neglected to double a measurement as advised in Step 3. That was my own darn fault for reading too quickly. But it actually worked out just fine. On my next one I will double that measurement as advised to give the “pockets” where the book cover slips in, better coverage.

Following Breadcrumbs - Again!

You know Masterpiece Theater on PBS?
O.K.
You know the Swedish series “Wallander” starring Kenneth Branagh?
O.K.
You know the haunting song they play every time they advertise “Wallander”?

“Tram wires
Across northern skies
Cut my blue heart in two
My knuckles bleed
Down the tattered street
On a door that shouldn't be
In front of me...”

O.K.
It took some Googling but it turns out that it’s called “Nostalgia”. It’s sung by an Australian gal by the name of Emily Barker.
The reason it was a bit of a hunt was because they changed the lyrics from the original song to fit the “Wallander” series.
I found the info thanks to this German blog.

Umm... So, now you know why I’m a little backed up with my laundry!

Two Years!

Happy second wedding anniversary
to Al and Carrie!
May happiness be
your constant companion ~
and may Isabella grow stronger every day!

Nineteen Years!

“Happy Anniversary to us,
Happy Anniversary to us,
Happy Anniversary dear Chuck & Lee
Happy Anniversary to us -
and many more!
Wheeeeeee!!!”

Chuck and I have known each other for 25 years and as of today we have been married for nineteen! The best thing that ever happened to me was meeting Chuck! The smartest decision I ever made was saying yes to this wonderful man!

Where Am I Standing?

We ran several errands late this afternoon and had dinner in Worcester.
Where was I standing when I snapped this photo?
(You can click on the image to get a better look.)


: : Update: Well that didn’t take long! Mike quickly identified that I was standing outside Wild Willy’s. Karl came by shortly thereafter and concurred.

I’m happy to report that Wild Willy’s still makes an excellent burger and a mean cup of steak chili!


You can follow along with The Wormtown Fleet by clicking here and following the “Linky blog hop” links.

Most Best

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while now. The working title in my mind was “How To Be An Excellent Hospital Visitor”. The problem is that it really was a story of how our niece Kate was “An Excellent Hospital Visitor”. Before I was hospitalized back in early July, my doctor had prepared me for what could be a stay of just three to five days, but, if the worst of the possible complications developed, it could be up to two weeks. Kate immediately got back to us and invited Uncle Chuck to stay with her and her husband Phil. They live less than half an hour away from the hospital and knew that Chuck was going to stay in a hotel close to the hospital. They also offered meals or just a place to rest and relax whenever he needed it. Once it became clear that the surgery was a success and I would likely be in only a few days, Kate immediately scheduled a visit. Her first instinct was to smuggle her dog Murphy in with her! We suggested that since we had seen him the Sunday before, just two legged visitors would be more appropriate!

That’s how Kate came to visit her Auntie and Uncle the day after my surgery. She appeared in the room with an armload of tropical flowers half as tall as she is, a card signed by her entire branch of the family, some lovely linen spray in case my room smelled a bit too hospital-y for my taste and her cheerful and drop dead funny personality! Talk about a breath of fresh air! She also brought a flash drive with her. She and Phil had traveled to Ireland earlier in the year and she had uploaded a slew of gorgeous photographs from their trip. Chuck had his laptop which he quickly set up on my wheely bed tray. He and Kate pulled up chairs next to my bed and we enjoyed an Irish travelogue!

Now you see why I planned to call this post “How To Be An Excellent Hospital Visitor”. But I really could have titled it: “How To Be An Excellent Niece”!

Thumbs Up

We’re late to the party, but we finally bought a flash drive. Actually, until now, we couldn’t think of a good reason to justify the purchase. If we need to move files around we just do it wirelessly on our home network. Then we found ourselves bringing our computer down with us on our visits with Al, Carrie and Isabella. We would swap photos and files back and forth with their laptop. But if we just loaded the items we wanted to transfer to their computer onto a flash drive we could leave the laptop at home. And we could still off-load their photos onto the flash drive to ferry back with us.

Decision made, we bought an 8GB SanDisk Cruzer. It’s light as a feather, ridiculously small and easy to use. We just plug it into one of the USB ports on our Macs and it appears in Finder. We drag and drop JPEGS and files and we’re on our way.

If you click on the link you’ll see the color we chose. Yes, it’s pink. In person, it’s really a sort of plummy metallic magenta. And yes, Chuck is a very good sport! Actually, the day I had my surgery I carried a hot pink, madras plaid, patchwork tote from L.L. Bean as my purse. (Here it is in navy.) All my medical paperwork fit in it easily. But when I realized Chuck would have custody of it until I got out of recovery I asked if he wanted me to choose a different bag. He replied that he was sufficiently secure in his masculinity that he would gladly carry my hot pink tote bag. So you see, the plummy metallic magenta flash drive was truly not a problem!

Three Weeks!

Miss Isabella Rose turned three weeks old yesterday!!! She was serenaded by her Mom, her Great Grandma Nana, her Uncle Chuck and Auntie Lee. When Isabella (then "Bambalina") was born she weighed just one pound, six ounces (624 grams) and was 12 inches (30 centimeters) long. As of yesterday, she is now 14 inches (35 centimeters) long and weighs one pound, fifteen ounces (879 grams)!

Isabella has coped amazingly well with her sudden departure from her mother’s womb, into the room filled with the equipment and round the clock medical staff necessary to attempt to replicate that perfect space. We have been amazed by the technology which monitors and supports our grandniece. And we have been humbled by the expertise and compassion of the nurses, doctors and support staff of the NICU.

Our niece Carrie, Isabella’s mom, has been recovering steadily from the Severe Preeclampsia and all the attendant medical challenges. She and her husband Al have been marvelous to one another and loving, attentive parents to their daughter. Being able to watch them has been a lesson in grace.

The Wormtown Fleet #1

Jeff of Wormtown Taxi chronicled it all on his blog; from the razing of the old buildings to the clearing of the land through the plethora of rumors and, finally, the results. Even though we have driven by the new WalMart off of Route 146 a million times (hyperbolically and emotionally speaking) we had never stopped. Last night we did. I snapped this photo of one of the miniature wind turbines which top each parking lot light stanchion, pinwheel style. We then went inside the crowded temple of all things cheap, consumable and disposable.

The wind turbine was the highlight of the trip.


You can follow along with The Wormtown Fleet by clicking here and following the “Linky blog hop” links.

The Wormtown Fleet

Jeff of Wormtown Taxi has been battling with and blogging about his cancer diagnosis and treatment. His daily routine has been dramatically altered which means he is no longer out and about on the streets of Worcester, Massachusetts. Jeff has been an inveterate snapper of photos. As he drove his taxi throughout the city and beyond, Jeff took photos and video of whatever caught his fancy, struck his funny bone or, most likely, triggered the sharp-eyed cynic in him.

Nicole of Nicole, Worcester (AKA NIcoleCommaWoo) reached out to Jeff’s fellow Worcester Area bloggers to see if we could all band together to train our cameras on Worcester. Yes, it’s true, we all recognize it is a sisyphean task for us to collectively try to match Jeff’s productivity. But we can give him a tip o‘ the hat as we humbly post a few of our own pics.

Here’s Nicole’s more thorough explanation of what “The Wormtown Fleet” is all about - and how you can join us in the project.

Jam Jar

Nope. It’s not something you spread on toast in the morning. It’s a wine from South Africa. It’s a Sweet Shiraz. It was fruity and fun and almost too drinkable! We had a simple meal of salad and pizza. The screw top Jam Jar 2009 was just right with both. Oh, and so was the price. We bought ours at Wine Nation in Millbury.

F-Stop

I know that there is sunshine and all manner of flora and fauna outside this summer. I know that United States and international politics have not evaporated. I know that the environment and the economy are both still struggling. And it’s not that I don’t care. It’s just that our world has shrunk. The lens we focus to view life through has sharpened and narrowed.

Here’s what we see through that lens:

: : Today marks six weeks post surgery for me - just two more to go.
: : Carrie is doing quite well. She and her husband Al are still working together beautifully as they care for each other and their new daughter.
: : Isabella is one tough little chick. She is sweet and mellow and feisty all rolled up together. She has completely captivated us all. In her thirteen days there has been only one substantial scare - one in thirteen days! Amazing, really, for a child born so soon; so small. (Yes I am knocking on wood.)
: : My sister Gail (Grandma or perhaps GG) heads back to Georgia tomorrow - not the direction she wishes to head right now.
: : My tooth broke and required a trip to our good dentist and (cha-ching) another crown.
: : iPhoto ‘09 and Photoshop CS5 and I are on very good and close terms. I take huge numbers of photos of Isabella and the family and spend hours (which feel like minutes) poring over them; trying to find the best ones.
: : The Boston Red Sox are 69 and 52 on the season - that’s 69 wins, 52 losses, which is incredibly good considering the dugout and bull pen look more like hospital wards.

Happily, most of what is listed above is now good and positive. Some of it has been stressful and challenging. But beyond normal daily routines, we have allowed little else in. I need to correct that last statement. We have not only allowed but welcomed your encouragement and good wishes for Isabella and her parents. Thank you!

One Day At A Time

This has been an unusual few months. As my sister-in-law put it, we got “up close and personal with the health care system” this summer. (Yes, she is the mistress of the understatement!) I’m at the five and a half week mark in my post-surgery recuperation - less than three weeks to go. Our niece Carrie’s condition improved enough so that she has been discharged from the hospital. And our beautiful grandniece Isabella continues to make progress.

In her first week Isabella gained a little weight and added an inch to her length. When we spend time with her, despite her petite size, we have absolute confidence she will grow and thrive and have a long healthy, happy life. It is only when the phone rings with updates or we look up a symptom or procedure on the internet, that we feel a little flush of fear wash over us.

The risks are never far from our minds. Yet we try to stay focused on the all that is good; all that is working. We remain grateful and try to remember to be here now.

Knock Wood Before Reading

In the short six days that Isabella Rose has been with us she has done remarkably well. In fact, her doctors have said that she is doing better than many other babies born at 26 weeks. Every afternoon at 4:02 pm her Mom and Dad sing Happy Birthday to her. We are now in day seven. Tomorrow afternoon will be her one week birthday. We are amazed and grateful and hopeful.

Carrie, Isabella’s Mom, has been riding a bit of a medical roller coaster. She has been making steady progress, looks wonderful and is in good spirits, but she is still in the hospital. However, when you calculate what her body went through with the Severe Preeclampsia and the caesarian section we are left amazed and grateful and far more than hopeful.

Al, Carrie’s husband and Isabella’s Dad has been wonderful. We’ve loved Al since long before he and Carrie married. We always knew he was a good guy. But this medical crisis has only served to bring out the best in him. Watching the easy, gentle and loving way he and Carrie have between them is another cause for gratitude and yes, joy.

Thank you for your good wishes and support. It means so much to all of us.

Day Three Begins

Today was another positive day for Carrie and Bambalina. Carrie felt much stronger and better than yesterday. Bambalina had a good day too and met her Great Grandmother “Nana”. She also held her Daddy’s finger!

The other big news is that the name Bambalina will now be retired and become part of our beautiful grandniece’s birth story. As of today, her name is officially Isabella Rose! Miss Isabella is only 52 hours old. Yet she has nestled right into our hearts and filled us with wonder.

Updates

: : Carrie and Bambalina continue to hold their own and make progress despite the unexpected dangers of the last few days. We are so grateful for the excellent care and attention they are both receiving.

: : The CEO of the hospital I stayed at a month ago replied to my letter which was a happy surprise. Best of all, my letter was being forwarded to nine additional department heads whose areas of responsibility I had commented on.

Early Arrival

Miss “Bambalina” arrived very, very early. Late this afternoon, our niece Carrie delivered her daughter who weighed in at just one pound, six ounces. Carrie is doing well after the wrenching fight with Severe Preeclampsia and amazingly Bambalina is doing well too! Al and Carrie have yet to settle on a name so we get to call the newest member of the family Bambalina for just a little while longer.

Chuck and I were lucky enough to see Carrie briefly and spend a great amount of time with Al and Bambalina in the NICU. We know that after only 26 weeks traveling with her mother, she will be taking it ounce by ounce and day by day. But she and Carrie are receiving the best possible, compassionate, highly skilled care. And I have to tell you that the more time we spent with Bambalina, the more she struck us as relaxed and sweet as well as strong and tough.

I Took Names

Jeff of Wormtown Taxi has been dealing with cancer along with other health challenges. Reading his descriptions of his current hospitalization sent chills through me. He uses words like “torture”, “sadists”, “maximum annoyance” and characterizes the purpose as [for patients to be] “driven down into complete submission”.

It sounds absolutely dreadful and I sincerely hope that Jeff is back home with Kathy very, very soon.

But it did remind me that I wanted to mention another important part of my drastically different recent hospitalization: I took names.

Starting with my CT Scan weeks before my surgery, I began making note of the names of the kind, friendly, well intentioned people who worked with me. Three shifts a day, the names of my nurses and aides were written for me on the dry-erase white board in my hospital room. With Chuck as my nearly constant companion, he jotted their names down for me, along with the volunteers and anyone who contributed to my care. A few weeks after I got home I drafted a letter. I worked on it over several days. Eventually a three page missive - heck, if it were put to music it would be more accurately described as a paean - went into the mail.

I wanted to be certain that the hospital CEO, the director of nursing and others knew exactly what they had done right. From the spectacular nurses to the spotless facilities to the room service style food to the pre-op nurse who managed to get my IV started deftly and painlessly (usually an enormous challenge) - I wanted to give them details. At first blush three pages may sound excessive. But it needed to be done. Obviously the hospital already has a patient centered culture, but it can’t hurt to hear from someone who noticed and appreciated all the details - big and small - which made my hospital stay such a superb experience.

What Worked

I was lucky. I knew I would be hospitalized and having surgery several weeks ahead of time. As a result, I was able to prepare and figure out what I needed. Besides finding a brilliant, compassionate surgeon, here’s what worked for me:

: : I purchased and read quite a bit of Peggy Huddleston’s book “Prepare for Surgery, Healer Faster”. I did not follow all of her advice, but I found it very useful. I did listen to her companion relaxation CD - a lot - (which I loaded onto our iPod) and found that to be tremendously helpful throughout the entire process. I listened to it when I felt my anxiety begin to rise in the weeks leading up to the surgery and in the hospital at night when I couldn’t sleep. (Both are available on Amazon here and here.)

: : I created a folder in iPhoto called “Favorite/Special People & Places”. I dragged in photos of family, friends, Bar Harbor, Acadia, favorite digi-scrap layouts and so on. I loaded that folder onto our iPod. Many, many times I flipped through those photos, each of which made me smile. Connecting visually with the people, places, memories and moments I love made me feel good and calmed me down. It also helped me think ahead to what I would like to do after my recovery.

: : I reached out to the people in my life who I could count on. Chuck was naturally and rightfully at the top of that list! I knew I needed kind, well intentioned and funny people pulling for me, each in their own unique way. I sent out the call and the responses bowled both of us over.

: : As soon as I went into surgery, Chuck began sending group e-mail updates to those close friends and family members who were part of my “team”. That kept them informed and their responses were tangible support to Chuck while he waited. When I was out of the recovery room, Chuck continued the updates and the responses cheered us both immensely.

: : I remembered to be me. I made sure to engage positively and with good humor with every person I came in contact with. I wanted to be sure that I would not be just another number. I wanted to connect with the people responsible for my care. Coping with life’s challenges through laughter is one of my favorite strategies. Kidding around with my surgical nurse on the way to the operating room; joking with my nurses over profoundly embarrassing personal moments - that guaranteed I was not a number! I was Lee.

: : I walked. Before surgery back in 1987, my sister Gail advised me to get up and walk as soon as I was able. It was good advice then and now has become the gold standard for post-op recovery advice. This time I would emerge from my room, wrapped in my robe, one hand on my IV pole, the other on my incision and slowly but surely travel up and down the hallway. I did so at any hour of the day or night, always encouraged by the nurses and Chuck.

I was lucky.
I remain filled with gratitude for extremely good health care, fine health insurance, excellent nurses, generous friends and family and my understanding husband.

Salmon & Potatoes

After my two week post-op appointment (see "Returning..." below), Chuck took me to a Trader Joe’s. My energy was still very thin, but we needed to stock up on some easy meal options. I had seen the TJ’s pre-cooked salmon in the refrigerated section for ages, but had never tried it. This time I did and what follows turned out to be delicious - and blessedly uncomplicated.

Lee’s Salmon & Potatoes

Trader Joe’s pre-cooked salmon - comes refrigerated, having already been steamed with just salt and lemon (Substitute leftover poached salmon)
Yukon Gold potatoes, 3/4” dice
Onions, coarsely chopped

Olive oil
Butter
White Wine
Salt
Pepper
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Dill

Light Sour Cream
Cain’s Mayonnaise
Lemon Juice
Trader Joe’s Mustard Aioli Sauce (Substitute a little mustard & some garlic to taste)

Lemon wedges

Toss the cubed potatoes in olive oil, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and dill. Make sure they are well coated. Spread on a parchment paper covered baking tray and (convection) bake at about 400F until tender inside and crispy and golden brown outside.

Meanwhile, saute the onions in olive oil, butter, water and white wine.Season to taste with salt, pepper, garlic powder and dill. Remove from heat when they are golden and soft - and most liquid has evaporated.

In a small bowl mix two parts light sour cream to one part mayonnaise, a splash of lemon juice, a heaping teaspoon of Trader Joe’s Mustard Aioli sauce, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and dill.

On a plate, place a layer of the hot roasted potatoes.
Spoon some warm sauteed onions over the potatoes.
Place the cold salmon chunks on top.
Add a squeeze of lemon.
Drizzle the sauce over all and enjoy!

Serve with a tossed salad or other veggie.


Note:
We had leftovers. So I created this variation for brunch:

I placed some cherry tomatoes, sliced in half, cut side down in two gratin dishes. I spooned the leftover onions over the tomatoes and popped the dishes in a hot (400F) convection oven. When they were sizzling, I added the leftover potatoes on top.

Meanwhile, I poached two eggs.

When the potatoes were heated through, I removed the gratin dishes from the oven. I placed the leftover cold salmon chunks on top of the potato layer and slid a poached egg on top. I drizzled the last of the cold sauce over all.

Both versions were very satisfying. The first was cool enough for a summer evening. While the second, in the gratin dishes, held the heat and would be good any season of the year.

Returning...

I put Pink Granite on hiatus back on July 6th. The next day I had surgery. I’m happy to report that everything went better than my surgeon had anticipated. The care I received from my surgeon, as well as the nursing staff at the hospital was wonderful. And Chuck has been taking excellent care of me ever since. This coming Wednesday will mark the halfway point in my healing and recovery time. I’ve been back on Twitter for a while now - 140 characters was far less intimidating than a full blog post! But it feels very good to be back here.

Hiatus

Thank you for stopping by.
Pink Granite will be on hiatus for a bit, due to a medical situation.
I look forward to being back in the swing of things very soon.
;o)
- Lee

Peaceful

The heat wave has brought out the best in the garden, even if things are blooming a little early. The hostas have all thrown their flower spikes. Those trumpet shaped lavender flowers have already attracted hummingbirds. However, this photographer has yet to be in the right place at the right time, with camera in hand, to photograph said hummingbirds!

Happy Fourth of July!

Today’s Independence Day party at Carrie and Al’s was very much like last year’s celebration had been: excellent! Though I believe today was quite a bit warmer - 94F / 34C! The food was great; the people cheerful; the babies and kids (too numerous to count) were all adorable. And we got to meet Murphy! He has ridiculously soft fur and is even cuter in person.

Unfortunately the heat got the better of us and we decided to leave before the fireworks shows began all along Narragansett Bay. But, based on last year, we bet they looked something like this:

That's a waxing gibbous moon right in the heart of the fireworks and the water’s edge below (7/4/2009)

Thanks Al and Carrie!
We’ll be there for July 4, 2011
- and so will Bambalina! ;o)

What’s In A Name?

It looks like Morning Glory, but according to a knowledgeable gardening friend, it’s actually Bindweed. I don’t know. They’re both part of the genus Convolvulus. But one is prized and the other is a weed. It’s not bothering anything. It’s just hanging out in the wilder brush behind the Day Lilies; looking pretty and doing its pretty plant thing. I like it. So say hello to the lovely Convolvulus - a rose by any other name...

Bella Luna

As we were leaving the house early this evening, I was startled when this Luna Moth (Actias luna) fluttered past me and landed on the driveway in our dooryard. Chuck quickly handed the camera to me and I snapped a few photos. When we returned home several hours later, the Luna was up on the barn door, resting in the spill of light from the old fixture.

A Place To Start

Ever since the BP oil disaster began in the Gulf of Mexico, I have felt overwhelmed by it. The can-do, girly-girl solution side of me wanted to rig up something involving a giant funnel, a long hose, some duct tape and wrestle the gushing catastrophe into submission. As days turned into weeks I began to despair. I still have no idea when the engineers and scientists will either control and capture the gushing oil or somehow stop it from flowing into the Gulf and damaging or destroying everything in its ever enlarging sprawl.

In the meantime - and I fear for a long, long time to come - people and animals and the Earth need help. Charity Navigator has assembled a list of where we can “Make A Donation To Help Threatened Wildlife, Impacted Ecosystems And Damaged Economies”.
It’s a place to start.

To Remember & Honor

This New York Times article reports on the efforts of the Negro Leagues Grave Marker Project. Over the last six years, the group has provided nineteen headstones for Negro League players with unmarked graves.

________________________________________________

When my father died in 1988, he was buried in the same plot with his parents and two brothers, one of whom had died in infancy. Seeing the headstone was painful for me because it was inscribed simply with our family surname and my grandfather’s full name. It frustrated and even angered me that there were no other names and no dates at all, to acknowledge and remember who was buried there.

From a genealogical perspective, the lack of information on the stone was also hard to accept. Many times Chuck and I have gone to a cemetery and been able to add more information to the family tree and even detail to family stories. But it was through my genealogical research, my imagination and my poetry that I was finally able to make peace with my Dad’s headstone and his father’s decision, made nearly a century before.


In Rhode Island, 1910

He was a young man
younger than I am now
Married to a woman
who was not warm and funny
which in courtship
somehow suited him
and suited her
He knew her past
and she his
But back then
self help
was an odd grammatical construction
for what one did to live a life
not what one was told to do
to live it well

So when their first child
a son –
the special pride and blessing
of any man
to have his first born be a son –
when that child died
a babe in arms
a piece of him died too
A piece of her as well
But as the man
he had the job
of going to the bank
and riding to the churchyard
and picking out a plot
and then a stone

He was not a man of means
though he had hope
He chose a smooth flat marker
the color of lead
the weight of his heart
one to lie firmly in the ground
It was all he could afford
but it was sensible as well

And what to put upon the stone?
He stood there
looking at the slab of granite
polished high
with flowers swirling in the corners
in the center
the Sacred Heart strangled with thorns
thorns he felt in his heart
Saw the stone was bigger
than his son had been
thought about how the plot
was fit for four
and of his grieving bride at home
wondered if the next child -
for surely there would be another –
would survive
and said, no dates
just “SMITH - John L. Smith Family” *
and wondering too
how swiftly would the plot be filled
he headed home
to a house thick with mourners
and muffled tears


- LMR/Pink Granite

*Name edited

Air

The air changed this evening.
Cool and dry came in steadily on a light breeze.
It was not a moment too soon.
I could feel myself reviving.
Until that feeling of relief washed over me, I hadn’t been fully conscious of how draining the heat and humidity had been.
It’s good to break out of this August-like weather, even if it is only for a few days.
Those few days will be enough.
The next heatwave will bring fireworks in the air.
That’s not a euphemism for a thunderstorm.
On Sunday there will be fireworks over the ocean, shared with family and friends.
That will be more than enough.

Shape Shifter

I was disappointed that Photoshop CS5 came with only a handful of shapes. I don’t use them often, but sometimes they are exactly what I need. I knew my old copy of Photoshop Elements had a ton of shapes. Chuck asked if I could copy them. Hmm... I tried copying them clipboard style, but no luck. Then I decided to wander around in Finder. I went into my Applications folder, found Photoshop Elements > Presets > Custom Shapes. Back in CS5, I clicked the Custom Shape Tool > Shape. Then from that flyout menu I chose Load Shapes and selected the Custom Shapes Folder > All Elements Shapes from Elements. Easy Peasy. Thanks to Chuck asking the right question, I am a happy camper once again.

A few weeks ago I posted a layout I had made in Elements of Kate and Phil’s puppy Murphy. I whipped it up it while I was between Photoshop CS3 & CS5. So once I was up and running on CS5 I tweaked it. As I said to Kate, it’s easy at first glance to think there’s no change. But aesthetically I was more satisfied with the redo. It includes the use of a little pawprint shape. I also made an enhanced background paper. I used a photo of some grass and reeds collapsed in late autumn, with the Blending Mode “Overlay” above the solid yellow layer (playing with the opacity) to create the effect.

Here are the original and revised versions:



Photographs courtesy of KRL. Layout by LMR/Pink Granite. Fonts: Hypatia Sans Pro and Jayne Print. Software: Apple iPhoto ’09, Adobe Photoshop Elements for Mac & Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Mac.

Drowsy...

We’re just home from seeing “The Drowsy Chaperone” at the Ogunquit Playhouse up in Maine. Carson Kressley was terrific. As was a member of our extended family! But we are, well, drowsy.

Night all...

I Said No, No, No

O.K. So it’s not that I need rehab; probably not even an intervention. But I have been digi-scrapping up a storm. I was doing some cleaning and organizing on my computer, which included going through iPhoto and trashing the blurrys and the duplicates. When I took a look through my Layout Folder, I found lots of events had never made it from photos into layouts. Well, clearly that was far more fun important than paying bills or folding laundry. So off I went. And it didn’t help one bit that Kate sent another photo of Murphy either!



Photograph courtesy of KRL. Layout by LMR/Pink Granite. Fonts: Hans Hand. Software: Apple iPhoto ’09 & Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Mac.

Two Degrees of Separation

Prince Albert of Monaco, at age 52, has, at long last, become engaged to a beautiful woman from South Africa: Charlene Wittstock, age 32, a former Olympian.

My Dad wanted me to drop my then boyfriend and marry Prince Albert of Monaco. He told me so back in the late 1970s - right in front of said boyfriend! It was irrelevant that I had never actually met Prince Albert. The fact that a very good friend of mine was not only attending the same college as the Prince, but living in the same building, was all Dad needed to know. He was immediately ready to marry off his youngest daughter into a style to which she could easily become accustomed!

Despite my Dad’s enthusiasm and determination, I never did meet Prince Albert. But because of my hopelessly romantic heart, when I heard the news of his engagement, I felt happy for him and wished them both well. I found my soulmate. Hopefully, the Prince has finally found his.

Neither Mutiny Nor Michael

Over on Advanced Style, they have a pictorial post on stylish folks, of certain age, with canes. In recent years we’ve had some experience with canes and walking sticks. Two of our elderly relatives have needed canes. Neither of them was interested in anything too “loud” or too “flashy”. Believe me, we tried! But the goal for each of them was to be as normal as possible, to not stand out; to not shine a bright, hot light on age related needs. As someone who is inherently shy and has magically worn a cloak of invisibility for years, I absolutely get it. But as someone who also has a penchant for snazzy, eye-catching, often vintage purses; who always has a folding fan with her and is never, ever afraid to use it and who loves wearing bright striped socks - well I really don’t get it.

When Chuck and I recently chose hiking sticks we looked at function, strength, lightness, feel in the hand and yes, appearance. We chose a couple of sassafras ones. They were frankly inexpensive. But we wanted to try them out when we walk on dirt country roads, the carriage trails in Acadia, the rocks at Schoodic - pretty much anywhere that isn’t paved or a high school track. We wanted to learn to use them efficiently and effectively. We wanted to become comfortable with using something for pleasure and additional ease. But we also wanted to be prepared to extend our options and maintain our agility and mobility as the years roll by.

Yes, we’re young - well, we think we are! But our ERs remind us that, if we’re lucky, the road is long and hardly ever gun barrel straight. So we’ll start with a couple of sassafras beauties. However, should circumstances change, we’ve already got our eyes on something like these dazzlers. Fair warning to the generation behind us: Uncle Chuck and Auntie Lee will not be going gently (or dowdily) into that good night!

Health

: : Chuck is definitely feeling better today. Kind man that he is, he is giving me and my chicken soup most of the credit! My money’s on tincture of time and the chicken soup, but it is very nice to feel appreciated!

: : We also got some optimistic news. The cancer treatment for a loved one will be far less invasive and onerous than we had feared. The Radiology Oncologist will be using CyberKnife treatment. Once again medicine collides with science fiction.

: : You may remember my disappointment and dissatisfaction with my primary care physician. Well, we took the bull by the horns today and Chuck tried to get me transferred over to his doctor. No such luck, but his doc, who knew my beloved retired doc and knows my current PCP, did make a recommendation for me. It looks like the paperwork transition will go smoothly. Fingers crossed my new PCP and I will be a good fit, ‘cuz heaven knows I would like this settled.

Fathers Day

There are so many different sorts of fathers. Probably as many as there are men. Chuck and I both got really good Dads. Some folks get dealt a very different hand: here’s one and another.

So today, here’s to all the good dads, stepfathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers. And here’s to all the godfathers, big brothers, uncles and fine men who serve as father figures. Happy Father’s Day to you all - and thank you!

All Will Be Well

Chuck has been reading, resting, watching a little television, drinking plenty of fluids and generally trying to get better. He is improving, but the fever is still not gone. Once he gets past the acetaminophen window, the symptom returns. Thankfully his temperature has not gotten as high as it was yesterday. I’ve been keeping him company and digi-scrapping on the laptop.

One of the songs that has been going through my mind is “All Will Be Well”. It’s by a group out of Nashville called The Gabe Dixon Band. Soon I found myself taking a sunrise photo of Frenchman Bay up in Maine and including part of the chorus from “All Will Be Well”, because, well, it really will.



Photograph & Layout by LMR/Pink Granite. Lyrics quoted from The Gabe Dixon Band. Font: Hans Hand. Software: Apple iPhoto ’09 & Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Mac.

Where’s The Off Switch?

You know those ball machines that serve tennis balls or pitch baseballs to you at a steady clip? You remember the “Lucy and Ethel work in the chocolate factory” episode when the conveyor belt speeds up and overwhelms them? Life came at us a little like that this week. Some of it was very troubling: a relative with a serious health diagnosis. Some of it was curious: Chuck with a fever and no other specific symptoms. Some of it was frustrating: the domino effect on our family when Chuck’s fever meant we had to cancel a visit to Rhode Island. Some of it was just plain stupidly-small: our e-mail service changed formats and left us feeling like all the easy, useful features had been stripped in the name of “new & improved”.

You get the idea. The sense that every time the phone rang a new challenge was being delivered - major, minor and every size in between. I know that many things will resolve themselves on their own or yield to some attention, effort and maybe a little homemade chicken soup. Worrying won’t really help - but it does occupy one’s time and energy. Tincture of time is frequently effective - but requires patience. Perhaps a good night’s sleep will leave us better prepared for whatever life sends our way tomorrow. Hey, including being able to truly enjoy some good news - - - O.K. Universe?

Need some inspiration? Click here.

Flatbread

If you’re ever in Portland, Maine give Flatbread Company a whirl for lunch or dinner. They’re on Commercial Street, right on the water and convenient to a parking garage and the ferry terminal. When we went on our rocking chair adventure to Freeport last month, we stopped there for dinner on our way home. Yum! They have a simple menu: salads, flatbread pizzas and a couple of desserts. Oh but they do it all quite well. Their philosophy is focused on “local organic produce, free range and clean meats. All of our major ingredients are made in house and cooked in a wood fired cauldron or in a hand built wood burning earthen oven.” We were seated near that oven and enjoyed a fascinating, well choreographed floor show as the food traveled from the open kitchen, into the huge oven and off to the diners.

We started with their mesclun salad - mine with goat cheese, Chuck’s with blue. The house vinaigrette was surprisingly mild, but the cheese added some zip, making it all work and play well together. Our flatbread included the homemade pepperoni which was meaty, classically flavored and had a nice spicy kick to it. The crust was thin, well cooked, but with just the right amount of chewiness and yeasty goodness about. We both agreed the pizza had “good bones”.

Our waiter wrapped up our leftover pizza in foil in the shape of a swan, but also told us about the desserts. We had already seen a few of the brownies being warmed in the pizza oven prior to service, so sharing the brownie sundae was an easy sell. It was scrumptious - warm, fudgey on the inside and a teensy bit crunchy on the edges. Topped with vanilla ice cream and resting on a puddle of chocolate sauce - yeah - you wouldn’t have liked it! Nope, not one bit.

For folks here in Massachusetts they have restaurants in Amesbury, Bedford and a new one to open soon in Somerville. Plus there are two locations in New Hampshire, one in Connecticut and one in Hawaii. That last one is a bit of a schlep, but I hear Maui is awfully pretty!

Service & Sweet

This may be slightly premature, but it seems entirely possible that LaCie rocks!

One of the three ways to connect my 2008 LaCie Rugged external hard drive (EHD) to my laptop went kaput. At first I thought it was the cable. But a quick side trip yesterday to an Apple store, determined that it was the “outlet” or something internal to the EHD. Ted said “It’s still in warranty. Call LaCie. They’ll treat you right.” I called. They did - treat me right that is. I’m wrapping it up and shipping it off to them tomorrow. They will either repair it or send me a new one. Sweet!

Now, because many of you just glazed over as soon as you got to “external hard drive” I bring you another photo of another four legged member of our family, Cassie:

Lust In My Heart

I held and touched an iPad today.

Oh my, my, my! It is an extremely good thing that neither Chuck nor I are early adopters of technology!

And if I need help keeping my lust under control, I will read this - again!

Follow Up

On Friday, I posted about Michael Pakaluk’s Op-Ed piece in The Pilot. Today, Dianne Williamson, of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, provides additional history and information on the man and his message.

Three Big Things

Our niece Kate is celebrating her birthday tomorrow.
Our niece Emily graduated from college today.
Our friend Philip will become an Eagle Scout tomorrow.

Congratulations all around!!!

Hatred, Hypocrisy & The Company You Keep

My niece Kate sent me a link to a piece in the “The Pilot”, Boston’s Roman Catholic newspaper. The op-ed by Michael Pakaluk was disturbing to Kate and to me. His topic? “Children in the custody of same-sex couples in parochial schools”. Why the odd turn of phrase “in the custody of”? Mr. Pakaluk states that “one cannot say, “children of” same sex couples”. Right off the bat it is clear where he stands. Using a twisted homophobic logic he makes his case that children of same sex couples should not be enrolled in parochial schools, especially at the elementary level. He believes it is too strong an endorsement of the gay “lifestyle” and will inevitably lead to “scandal”. Beyond his self righteous, anti-gay positions he is also a clear opponent of the reforms of Vatican II. Apparently bringing the Roman Catholic Church out of the Dark Ages - literally and figuratively - was beyond the pale for Mr. Pakaluk.

In her e-mail, Kate drew my attention to Mr. Pakaluk’s credentials, including a stint as a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University. But what got me curious was his current employment with the “Institute for the Psychological Sciences” Turns out The Institute is is part of the "Legion of Christ". Ring a bell? Yes, that’s the same Legion of Christ founded by "Father" Marcial Maciel. Yes, that’s the same one who molested children and seminarians and was involved in both homosexual and heterosexual relationships while he was a priest. This past May, the Vatican released a communique condemning Maciel. Pope Benedict XVI also ordered an investigation into the Legionaries and its lay affiliate Regnum Christi.

That is “scandal” in both the religious and secular sense of the word indeed Mr. Pakaluk.

Next News

I mentioned yesterday that we were looking forward to good news this afternoon. Well, the phone call came from Carrie letting us know that she’s expecting a baby girl! As I said to Carrie, we would have been just as happy to hear it was a baby boy. Mostly we just want Carrie, the baby and Al to all be healthy and happy. But it is awfully cool to know the gender ahead of time. Carrie’s also excited to be able to get the pronoun right - no more “he/she/it/the baby”.

Wisely, Carrie and Al are not throwing the baby’s name out for discussion. It’s too easy to hear a name and say to the expectant parents: “Oh, I knew a Engelbert and he was horrid!” But I attach a name to everyone and everything. So I was trying to think of what to call the baby between now and when she is born. Because both Al and Carrie are of Italian descent, I wanted to choose a girl’s name which was affectionate and sweet, but still be certain there was no way they would consider the name. I found “Bambalina”! It’s a variation or even further diminutive of Bambina which, of course, means little girl in Italian.

So now she has a transitional name from her Auntie Lee and her Uncle Chuck. Which is probably a pretty good introduction to a couple of odd ducks who love her to pieces already!

Ups & Downs

I spent an obscene amount of time on the telephone today; much of it on hold; much of it with technical support. As I said afterwards: “That’s four and a half hours I’ll never get back!” I am crispy, burnt toast, fried.

On the up side:
- A resolution of the tech problem is on the horizon.
- Murphy’s Mom is happy to have her pup making us smile.
- Morgan’s birthday celebration is going swimmingly.
- My Mom’s handyman is wrapping up the latest round of projects.
- The weather has been cooler, sunnier and breezier.
- It was so cool, I made mashed sweet and Yukon Gold potatoes to go with the Haddock and salad tonight.
- The cats did not get into a fur-flying fight today.
- I’ve been working with some photos which are making me smile.
- We are looking forward to good news tomorrow afternoon.

Hope your day was ALL good - and that tomorrow holds more of the same!

Murphy!

Our niece Kate and her husband Phil have welcomed the cutest Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier into their lives. His name is Murphy and he is our “grand-nephew”! We haven’t met him in person yet, but Kate sent us these photographs. She also generously gave me the green light to post them here. I can’t wait to pet him!!!

Photographs courtesy of KRL. Layout by LMR/Pink Granite. Fonts: Hypatia Sans Pro and Jayne Print. Software: Apple iPhoto ’09 & Adobe Photoshop Elements for Mac.

Change In Strategy

I was working in Photoshop CS3 today and chose a new way to work on transforming a photograph. Normally I open a photo and it automatically becomes my Background Layer. Then I Duplicate the background layer and work on that new second layer. As I go along, I may duplicate that original layer multiple times and change the Blending Mode for various layers. Whatever I am doing I keep track of it all in a Rich Text Format Document (“RTF As Breadcrumbs”).

Today, I wanted to try a variety of Filters. Usually just one filter stands out quite quickly as being the best. But today I found four which intrigued me. After toggling back and forth in the Filter area - a very slow process - I decided to settle on one. Then I went back to my original background layer, duplicated it and went back into the Filter menu, choosing a different filter. In all, I had my original photo plus four additional copies, each copy with its own filter applied (and named accordingly in the Layer Menu). I kept all the blending modes as normal. Then it became a simple process of turning the Layer Visibility on or off for each layer in turn, so that I could make a quick “better or worse” decision about which version I liked best. Normally I would have made separate files for each filter version. This was far more efficient, although it did create a very large file. But I just worked with it housed on my LaCie EHD which kept the file size from becoming an issue.

I do something similar to this when I create a greeting card from a photograph. I may repurpose it from a birthday card to an anniversary or a sympathy and so on. If I am including text on the cover, I create multiple Text Layers and change their visibility to allow the correct one to be visible for printing.

After all that and all that, I still need to make my final decision on today’s project. But it will be tomorrow at the very latest, because someone near and dear to us has a birthday coming up quite soon!

What Was Apple Thinking?

Read Renee Ghert-Zand’s “A Troubling Forecast”.

Weather

Heat +
Rain +
Humidity +
Dew Point pushing up into the oppressive range

Other than that, it was a perfectly fine day.
Really.
It was just the swampy weather that totally sucked!

My Neighbor

Back in 2007 I was Blog Logged by Worcester Magazine. It was a really big deal for me. In that same issue, a fellow named Jeff, from a blog called Wormtown Taxi was also Blog Logged. So I stopped by Jeff’s blog, introduced myself as his “neighbor” from Blog Log and was hooked. The dude is funny, interesting, feisty, honest and one of the most prolific bloggers around. I generally post once a day. Jeff posts once an hour. Well, I exaggerate slightly. But he posts a lot. Jeff (most deservedly) won the 2010 Best Local Blog Award from Worcester Magazine.

Today, Jeff told us he has been diagnosed with stage IV melanoma. He and his wife Kathy have been dealt a ferociously hard blow. Jeff will begin chemotherapy in a few days.

I’d like to echo what the gal behind Sprout Flowers in Worcester said when Jeff wrote about the diagnostic process he was going through:
“Mortality Sucks”

Thanks for holding a good thought for Jeff and Kathy.

Sizzle?

Our car is in the shop for an overnight visit. As a result we’re driving a loaner. The loaner is a 2010 Subaru Outback. Yes, the dealership is openly trying to tempt us. But there are a few problems. One: we love our current 2002 Subaru Outback. Two: our current Outback is a station wagon and the 2010 incarnation is most decidedly an SUV. The 2010 is actually on the steroidal side of the ledger. I’m about 5’9” and when I went to exit the vehicle, my feet did not touch the ground! Three: Subaru is still not offering a hybrid or all electric vehicle. They have concept cars aplenty, but nothing scheduled to hit the U.S. streets until 2012. I appreciate they want to get it right, but tick-tock. Four: The 2010 model is still nimble, peppy and comfortable, but none of the new design features or bells and whistles on the loaner totally knocked our socks off. (Well, the electric lumbar adjustment was pretty nifty!) Admittedly, it is a little (a little) like when Paul Newman was asked why he was faithful to Joanne Woodward he said: “Why fool around with hamburger when you have steak at home?”

So, with any luck at all, we’ll be returning the “hamburger” tomorrow and driving off in a healthy 2002 Outback “steak”!

This Is Only A Test

I find it frustrating that gasoline stations can charge $75.00 to your debit card, just so they can be sure you have enough money to cover the cost of a tank of gas. The $75.00 disappears within a day or so and it does not remain on the permanent record. But what if I had $30.00 in my checking account and I wanted to put $15.00 worth of gas in the tank. Wouldn’t the $75.00 “test” withdrawal mean I go without gas?

On multiple occasions, we’ve had our bank freeze our checking account because in too short a span of time we have pumped gas twice. The actual gasoline charges show up from two different stations, perhaps one in Rhode Island, another in Massachusetts. But two $75.00 charges also appear. Those look as if we had bought gas in another part of the country, simultaneous with the other purchases. The bank’s computers read all of this data and raise a red flag - which we absolutely appreciate. But without those two “test” charges we wouldn’t be on the phone with the bank trying to sort out legitimate from fraudulent.

I know when the gasoline prices hit the $4.00 a gallon mark back in 2008 or so, there were many “gas and dash” thefts from gas stations. But there ought to be a better way to handle these transactions now.

Country Chorus

It seems like such a brief time ago, we were delighted to hear the first of the Spring Peepers (Pseudacris crucifer). That high pitched harbinger of vernal awakening is always so welcome after long, still winters, with only howling winds as accompaniment.

Now we are being treated to the rolling rumble of the Bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana). At first the individual sounds are sporadic, seeming almost hesitant; soon it becomes a great cacophonous crescendo; then it tapers off into a brief silence; only to begin the cycle again.

Folks who talk about the peace and quiet of the country, must have never really listened!