Eyesight to the [Nearly] Blind

Dad can see without glasses again!

What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.

—Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

Friday morning, the kids left for the annual Band Trip. This year’s trip was to San Antonio. Suna and I had the evening to ourselves, so we ate BBQ.

We went to see my dad Saturday morning. She has blogged several of the pictures on Flickr. The one I’ve posted here shows Dad without glasses for the first time in 40 years. He’s 85 and had eye surgery on both eyes now. So he no longer needs them. Isn’t that cool?

Grateful Monday

So, that brings me to this week’s Grateful Monday.

I am so grateful to still have my father around to guide and inspire me after all of these years. How many people my age have that luxury? Especially since I arrived so late in my parents’ lives.

Losing Mom was about the hardest thing that ever happened, even though it took so long everybody was relieved when she finally passed—maybe because it took so took so long, five years. When Dad goes, I hope he goes quietly in his sleep after a long day walking around his farm, resting secure in his beliefs.

In the meantime, I am so grateful to have him around, even if I don’t do a really good job of keeping in touch. Even if we really don’t get along all that well. And even if we disagree on so many topics that are important to us both. I get sad every time he mentions that he won’t be around that much longer. I sadly agree with him. “Not more than another twenty, twenty-five years,” I say.

Friday’s Feast

Appetizer: What does the color dark green make you think of?

Arbor vitae.

Soup: How many cousins do you have?

I have no idea. My father’s brother had no children. My mother had one sister, but I only met her once. I don’t know if she had any children or not. If you take the older definition of any blood relative, the number could be infinite.

Salad: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how honest are you?

8.5. I don’t think anyone who is truly honest would ever answer 10. We all have some dishonesty in us. Even Mother Theresa hid her crisis of faith. Ghandi was able to keep his vow of poverty because he relied on rich friends.

Main Course: Name something that is truly free.

…Still thinking. Everything I come up with results from the labor of something. Just because we don’t pay for it doesn’t mean that it’s free.

Dessert: Using the letters in the word SPRING, write a sentence.

Sarah Price ran inside, nearly gutting herself on the knife her brother was using to peel an apple.

Comedy in the Capital

We had a little trouble finding Cap City Comedy Club last night, mainly because we thought it was on 183 at Lamar, but you couldn’t get to it if you took the Lamar exit. But we got there well before the show started and got to visit a little.

It turns out that going to a comedy club is a good activity for a work night. The show was over by 22:00. We were in bed very close to our usual time. I will say I liked the local acts (except for a two) that opened much better than the headliner. One of the locals was a black guy who had me in tears. “Why are the old folks the only ones dating?’ he asked after we were the only ones who admitted to being on a date. I wish I had gotten his name. I would like to see his act again as he grows.

But to be fair, But to be fair, Eddie Gossling said he had a terrible cold and had just flown in. Flying with a cold is miserable, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Friends and Gratitude

Just because I think it’s pretty.

I forgot to mention that I had lunch last Friday with two friends from work: The Crawfish and The Cosmopolitan. I worked with them both at ALE, but on two separate teams. Now they work together, and I am elsewhere. We went to the Juarez Bakery, and I bought some churros for the Aestre ritual we never got around to this weekend. (I think building the new bed and planting the new plants should suffice.)

Today, there was an invitation in my in box from Cosmo. Her hubby won 20 tickets to the Tuesday night performance at a local comedy club, and she was sharing the wealth. Suna and I decided to go.

Grateful Monday

Today I am grateful for friends who share. It is something I should try to do more of.

The Good, the Bad, and the Pretty

New raised bed with retaining wall

We are all just flowers in God’s garden

That is why He spreads the shit around

—David Byrne

This weekend was spent doing what Robert Heinlein called “pick and shovel work to prolong life.” OK. It wasn’t so much to prolong life as to make the yard look better.

Yesterday I built a nice retaining wall and flower bed. It was the first time I had ever built this kind of wall. The hard part is getting the first row of stones level. After that it takes care of itself. It will be nice. We can sit on the wall to weed the bed, and I can reach the center of the bed from all of the edges.

The picture is the finished product, but Suna posted a couple of pictures of the work in progress, if you’re interested. Beccano even helped turn the dirt and mix in the garden soil.

Today, we bought a little more soil and the plants for the bed. I turned in the additional soil. The local soil has very little organic material—something I hope to rectify over the next few years. Then the plants went in.

Catelina Midnight Blue

Beccano’s choice

Suna wanted red petunias to carry forward the red theme. I bought a tomato (Mr. Stripey) and some sweet basil). I planted the petunias a couple of inches in from the center of each top stone. Then I made another row a few inches in from that. I planted 10-15-Y onions in between each onion. (Can you guess which song I couldn’t get out of my head? Right—except these were onions in a petunia patch.) The tomato and the basil (turns out there were two in the same pot) are in the center.

Then I went to work finishing the new gate I started yesterday when Suna and Beccano went to the home store to buy the rest of the rocks I needed to build the retaining wall. It turned out beautifully…except that I laid the skeleton down the wrong direction. So I built the prettiest gate I have ever made up-side-down and backwards. So since I was running out of daylight, I repaired the old dog-chewed gate enough to last the season.

The good news is that I used 5/8” staples. When I picked up the new gate, one of the boards popped off. So I shouldn’t have too much trouble taking it apart and rebuilding it. Sigh. It’s like erasing a whole sock of knitting, but with a lot more physical labor.

Superhero Bodyguard

What’s not to love about a cute little girl with big, shiny blades. Just because she’s a little…um…crazy… Photo source: SerenityMovie.com

River: Don’t be afraid. That’s what it says. Don’t be afraid… But you are afraid. You’re afraid we’re going to run out of air. That we’ll die gasping. But we won’t. That’s not going to happen… We’ll freeze to death first.

—Joss Weadon [probably]
Out of Gas.

So which sci-fi toughy would you want to be your bodyguard? This poll gives you an opportunity to vote.

The only problem is, they list the wrong Summer Glau character. You can vote for Cameron, the terminator from The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I would prefer River Tam from Firefly and Serenity. After all, River defeated a whole army of Reavers in what I think is the most beautiful fight scene ever filmed. And Summer is from San Antonio.

So, post a comment to let me know who you voted for and if you would rather someone else had been on the list. I put my vote in a comment, too.

The Feast

A pretty Lilly in the front bed

I bought this Asiatic Lilly when I stopped into the home center several days ago. I bought it because it was such a pretty shade of red, and I thought it would go nicely in the front beds.

When I was putting it in the ground yesterday, I noticed that its name is “Orange Pixie.” The tag didn’t list the Latin name. We’ll just have to see if it turns more orange as it matures. Right now, it looks pretty damned red to me.

Suna posted another view to her Flickr account.

Friday’s Feast

Appetizer: Given the choice, would you prefer to live in the country or in the city?

No question about it—I would much prefer to live in the country. Ideally, I wouldn’t be able to see my nearest neighbors—just acres and acres of ranchland or trees.

Soup: Who is the cutest kid you know?

That is an unfair question, but I would have to say Beccano because he smiles rather than scowls.

Salad: Fill in the blank: I couldn’t believe it when I heard ___________.

…the latest Linda Ronstadt album— Adieu False Heart, the one she did with Ann Savoy. I am used to hearing Ronstadt sing in Spanish; French is something else entirely. And they sing so well together!

Main Course: If you could star in a commercial for one of your favorite products, which one would you want to advertise?

The Fender Jazz Bass. I bought mine new in 1972. It has such a wide range of possible sounds and an easy action!

Dessert: What type(s) of vitamins and/or supplements do you take on a regular basis?

Stresstabs and Osteo Biflex. I sometimes take Centrum Silver as a substitute or supplement to the Stresstabs. The Osteo Biflex keeps my fingers from aching.

A Master Moves On

Authur C. Clarke (1917–2008)

Photo scource: Wordpress

Today saw the passing of science fiction great Authur C. Clarke—one of my writing heroes and the last of the early masters to leave us. Heinlein, Asimov, and Bradbury have all gone before into that unknown country.

Clarke’s book Childhood’s End helped me break free from traditional religious thought at a time when I could no longer deal with its repressiveness. His later book, Rendezvous with Rama helped me come to terms with the fact that I still believe in something, which I guess is why I feel at home with Unitarianism.

I won’t take up any more of your time mourning the master. But fellow LibraryThingian Tim Jones has written a better eulogy than I could.

Back in the Office Again

Well, today I was back in the office. It was good to be there again, but it’s funny: when I’m working from home, I want to be at the office. When I’m in the office, all I want to do is go home and work. As Gilda Radner used to say, “It’s always something.”

I had lunch today with my former boss who now works for the Beatles’ former record company. She is doing everything she can to help me get on there. I must say that I’m actually looking forward to something new.

Grateful Monday

So that brings me to today’s Grateful Monday. Today, I am very grateful to have good friends, old and new. I don’t always do a good job of keeping in touch, but I never forget.

Somehow, We’re Stompin’ Around

The “extra” geraniums Suna bought.

If I should go astray and say, “I lost my way,”

Nobody would know me

But if I don’t believe I can and still say, “Hear my plan,”

Somebody would follow just because it’s free

—Larry Byrom and John Kay

This weekend was mostly yard work—nothing very exciting. Saturday I dug a trench around where I want to put the new flowerbed that will replace the sage I killed last weekend. Suna bought some cilantro and thyme, that I planted today. She also bought one more hanging geranium because it was so pretty.

Aaron, our newly-ordained intern, delivered the sermon today. It was all about keeping up with change and not being so dogmatic that we can’t adapt to the times. We are a church that accepts all individuals as they are but challenges them to continue to grow and adapt to the new people who join. He thinks Unitarianism is exciting because we change, not because we’ve got it right.

Like the song says, “We’re all hippos rollin’ down river. Sometimes, we can’t touch the ground.” Nobody has a monopoly on Truth—not even me.