Big Wind and No Power

A significant full moon and Venus occulting the sun were too much for Boise.

My friend asked me to go to a Buddhist meditation and darma talk last Sunday morning because she wanted to go and had never been to one. It was downtown and funny, it was really crowded. I got home, all calm and meditated, to the beginning of an incredible racket that lasted past 11 pm that night. Alternating dogs barking and kids screaming bloody murder. At 11 pm the Harley rider and the karaoke singer were still trying to entertain a two year old, who was still screaming and crying. She's tired! Put her to bed! I tried to let the noise pass through me, like a good Buddhist, but I thought about moving again instead.

Monday was hot, over 90 degrees, and that evening big winds came through town. With the wind, there was this weird grey sky, but it did not rain.



Within minutes of the start of the big winds, the power transformer in the alley blew with a big bang and my power went out. It stayed out for 30 hours, until the middle of the night Tuesday night, and made me feel unprepared.

When severe weather is coming, do not start a load of laundry. The washer was full of water when the power went out and it stayed that way for a day and a half, no way to drain it. I don't know how long it takes for it to smell, but a guy at work says 3 days. I have no cooler for the things in the fridge that will go bad, so Tuesday afternoon I went and bought one. Tuesday morning I set up the coffee maker and set it to brew before I realized I still have no power. Me with no coffee in the morning is not pretty, so I also bought a portable stove,



In the meantime, I went out for coffee Tuesday morning and got to work with wet hair really early.

It stays light late here, but I still needed the the hurricane oil lamp to read Monday and Tuesday night. I also did my meditation, since what else is there to do without power? It was a good test. No light, no laundry, no cooking, no land phone, no computer. One nice benefit is that it really quieted down, the Harley rider had no power, either.

Tuesday night it got really cold. From 90 degrees on Monday plummeting down to 40 on Tuesday. I have a gas water heater and gas heat, so I could take a hot shower, but the thermostat for the heater is electric. Gas heat, but I can't turn it on! I had to get my thermals back out and put an extra blanket on the bed. It was the heat coming on at 1:30 in the morning that woke me up to let me know I had power again.

Not much I can do about no heat, but if I move again I am looking for a place with a wood stove. I don't like the looks of a wood stove, they are not as pretty as a fireplace, but I appreciate their usefulness a whole lot more today.

52,000 homes in Idaho and Oregon were without power Monday night and 5400 were still without power Tuesday afternoon. Interesting that my neighborhood in Boise was not a priority for Idaho Power. Idaho Power's website and phone recording also provided no information, not like I could access them in a real emergency anyway, but I think they spent too much money on those smart meters and not enough on repairmen.

My boss says where she is in the country they lose power all the time, so I guess country girls need to know how to do without electricity.

Thursday night I went to the IWS annual show reception. I sat through the awards ceremony where all the old folks and sentimental favorites won awards, which did not include me. There were 50 paintings selected for the show and 25 are selected for some kind of award, which allows them into the traveling show. I was so irritated that I left the awards ceremony as soon as it was done, skipped the show juror's presentation of his work, and went to take another look at the show. There were a group of women around my painting with one talking about how much she liked it and how much she would like to have it. I told her it was my painting and thanked her, her reaction really cheered me up after that awards ceremony.

This is the painting that was in the show,



It looked completely different than anything else in the show, just like my horses painting at the Capitol show did. I do not think of myself as very creative, or as a great painter, but I do think there is an emotional quality that comes through that I do not plan, but that some people can see. Just having one person that can see it means more to me than any award.

The sun is out today and I should have a chance to clean up the mess the big winds made of the yard.

Promoted

If last spring here was especially long and cold, this one is early and hot. I keep thinking my garden should be farther along, but this is only because it feels like last year's July. Everyone is predicting a really hot summer.

Those are the sweet peas in back, which just started flowering, green and yellow peppers are to the right of the peas. Cucumber is just taking of in the ammo planter with the peas, along with one corn stalk. Those are heirloom carrots in front of the vegetable planter, mixed with some still small lettuce. At the end of the carrots is broccoli, in front and behind the carrots is cauliflower. I planted a bush bean and a pea seed in the middle, and these I marked. There is something else growing right in the middle in a row, and I can't remember what it is, different carrots or weeds? I'm still waiting to see.

Thursday morning I went to work late so I could drop off my painting for the IWS show at BSU. This meant I had the morning to enjoy the Catalpa starting to bloom and posing from Mr. Squirrel,

These shots are with a long lens inside the house and Mr. Squirrel still never took his eyes off of me.

These are one of Sarah's lilacs, which smell great, and I am always amazed at how pretty they are now compared to how bare they are in winter,

After a really difficult two weeks, I finally found out I got that promotion yesterday. There were three openings and they hired six people, one transfer and two internal promotions. I have a feeling the six will be reduced to the three at some point, which makes me feel not so special. I doesn't matter, soon I get to do something more interesting and get paid enough more to get by a little easier.

The difficult week was not just about trying to work while wondering if I would be promoted and worrying what would happen if I did not, I keep getting cornered into telling people something they do not want to hear, being perceived as something I am not, and being taken for granted. It feels like the energy of dramatic change, but to what? As pleased as I am with the promotion, I know it has nothing to do with my life's purpose, which seems to be more about helping others heal. Most people are terrified of healing, it is easier to stay in the fear that is familiar, and this week I have been really missing a teacher or guide and feeling very alone.

The bright spot is that I met a woman who told me about Journey of Souls by Michael Newton. It had a tremendous positive influence on her, so I bought it and started reading. It is case studies on subject's reports about the spirit world while under hypnotism. A few years ago I would have dismissed the book as New Age silliness, but today it rings with truth to me. I'm finding it fascinating.

I am off for a long overdue haircut with a new hairdresser. I'm not sure what happened with the old one, but for me it is part of the being taken for granted theme I mentioned.

Blueberries on their Way

Last weekend was sunny and both cats spent their afternoons sleeping in the grass. Spit is back to her hide and go seek game and her favorite hiding spot is sitting on the edge of the bathtub between the shower curtain and the shower curtain liner. I never know what I am supposed to do with this game, but the other day she started in the bathtub behind the curtain liner, so I scratched her butt that was sticking out under the liner and she jumped over the edge of the tub onto the floor behind the curtain. I scratched her butt again and she jumped back behind the liner. Back and forth, back and forth. It is such a funny game and Spit seemed completely happy. Sometimes I wish I was a cat.

The raspberry is full of flowers,

The blueberries were full of flowers a month ago. The flowers dried up and left a base at the stem that is bluish and I have been inspecting them to see if berries will follow the flowers. Here they are,

My interview for that promotion was last Wednesday. I think it went well and I am not sure it could have gone better. It was a bright spot in a difficult week and I am glad to have a three day weekend to recover.

My friend turned 50 last Friday and we went to dinner Friday night. (I suppose that was another bright spot.) We met at her house and I got to see her super cute house in the North End. I like the North End, but it feels too crowded for me, although it was quiet at her house. Along edge of the roof of the front of her house she has hanging Tibetan prayer flags blessed by the Dalai Lama from when she lived in Guam. She has an impressive vegetable garden in her backyard. The vegetable garden was raised and in two long triangles with a walk way in between, besides being already full of vegetables, the design of it looked good. She has a big tree in her backyard that used to house racoons. A nutty old lady down the street convinced a bi-polar younger guy living a few doors down in the opposite direction to shoot the racoons in my friend's yard and they now appear to be gone.

That is Idaho, or at least Boise, an eclectic mix of good taste, worldliness, and spirituality, with Hillbilly craziness and practicality.

Sweet, Black Canyon Dam, and Emmett

If you are a novice vegetable gardener, plant in rows. I planted my seedlings and some more seeds in the random way that someone suggested. Some of the seeds are coming up, I think, is that a vegetable or a weed? I will have to wait until they get bigger to tell. For two weeks we had all four seasons, spring, winter, spring, fall, now we are back to really having spring and all the plants are taking off. (The bit of fall was a day with that crisp fall cool air.)

Last mother's day was hot and hazy, so not a great picture taking day. And those darn horses, none of them came to the fence to look at me, but I did not see them doing anything but graze. This is just outside of Horseshoe Bend off the 52,

Then I took a side trip north to Sweet,

Back off of the 52 on the way to Emmett is the Black Canyon Dam,

The water in the dams is so high that they are letting some out, even though it is causing the rivers to rise above flood levels. The Boise River is so high that most of the underpasses on my greenbelt walk are closed.

This is Emmett,

Two farms for sale in Emmett,

The second farm was for sale, overgrown, and obviously deserted, so I walked around and pretended what I would do if it was mine. It is 26 acres, which doesn't look like much, especially when it is surrounded by bigger farms.
This is the backyard view and what looks like a well,

Roeann's is closed on Sunday, so I will have to go back for a burger,

Nice of that kid to ride by at exact right moment, gives that picture a small town feel.

On the way out of Emmett is a memorial to the people that died on September 11, 2001. On one side is a historical marker about the town of Pearl, just outside of Emmett, and on the other is a marker about the farmers in Emmett driving out the Pickett Corral gang,

"In 1862, Tim Goodale opened an Oregon Trail cutoff which descended into the valley below.
Later that year a gold rush to Boise Basin came up Payette valley, and the next summer farmers along the river started raising crops to supply the mines. For a year or more they were troubled by a notorious band of horse thieves based at Pickett's Corral located at the head of the Valley before you. Late in 1864 the farmers organized the Payette Vigilance Committee and drove out the Pickett Corral gang."

That marker is about gold, but did you know almost 45 per cent of all silver mined in the United States comes from Idaho? Maybe I should look for a mining claim instead of a farm.

Happy Mother's Day

It is now after 9 pm and still light outside. On a sunny day, I can now come home from work, paint for an hour, go for a walk for an hour, eat something, water the yard, play with the cats, and I still have an hour of daylight left. Pretty soon I will have the days when I cannot get 8 hours of sleep because the sun is barely down at 10 pm and well up by 6 am. I just love it.

I was not thrilled with these studies, but I was thrilled to get into painting every day again,

Tomorrow is my AA birthday, it will be eight years. I always get reflective between birthdays and this year was no different. Then Sunday is Mother's Day, which is always difficult for me. For Mother's Day I am going to Emmett to look for horses to paint and farms to wish for. I could live on a farm in Emmett and the drive to work in Boise would only be 30 minutes or less. Happy Mother's Day.

Brunette Denial

Boise's average last day of frost is May 5. Right on schedule, last night we had a big frost. I covered the planter with burlap, but it looks like I lost a pepper. Everything else is recovered.

As promised, even though I feel silly doing it, I did a new picture of my 50 year old self,

As my big splurge with some of that money that came in March, I got highlights. She did a really nice job. My hair is back to the light brown that I still like to think I have.

Plant Labels

You know those plant labels you can buy or make to label your seeds? Here are some old fashioned ones,

I always thought these were silly. Until now. I planted 9 different herbs and 5 sprouted. Which 5? I can recognize sage and basil, even though they are still very small, but what are the other 3? Which 4 did not come up? I have no idea. The rehab peas came up and I planted more seeds with them, cucumber, cauliflower, broccoli, and peppers. The peas grew fast, but only one of the four new seeds sprouted. Which one? Might be the broccoli, but what if it's not? Then I plant one of the others and end up with a ton of what? Someone at work suggested that without labels, my seeds were free, free to be what they want. No burdening that little carrot seed with a preconceived idea of what it should grow up to be.

It has been cooler all week and tonight it might get down to freezing, but I planted all my seedlings and more seeds anyway. I went to the Farmer's Market this morning and bought seedlings for some things I don't think came up from seed, cucumber and peppers. The herbs are now in separate pots and set in the herb/ammo box. I already planted some peas in the other ammo box and today I added the cucumber. Peas and cucumbers are friends. I planted the carrot seedlings and the one lettuce seedling that came up and more lettuce seeds in the new planter. I added the two new peppers, one that starts green and turns yellow, and one that starts green and turns orange. Then I added the three rehabed peas, the seedling that I think might be broccoli, and some cauliflower seeds,

That is the cat screen over the planter. I looked for chicken wire, but the bamboo fencing seemed more versatile. It opens and closes like an accordion and I can use it as fencing or a trellis when it's done being a cat deterrent. I also have some burlap, I could cover the planter with burlap if I thought it would really freeze tonight. I'm not that worried if it does freeze, I have plenty of seeds.

In the foreground are the strawberries that I kept over winter in the ammo box and transplanted a month ago. They already are twice as big as they were last year and are full of flowers. Everyone complains here about last year's strawberries, everyone grew small fruit that they left for the birds, but this year looks to be much better.

Sarah said she had trouble with aphids and her broccoli and that I may have the same issue with cauliflower or Brussels sprouts. Oh well, my vegetable garden is just a big experiment right now anyway. So far I am not impressed by carrots. The seedlings are these whispy, frail things and a bit of work for not that much.

Sarah and Joe had there Kentucky Derby party this afternoon and I went over to eat and watch the race. Idaho had a horse in the race called Rousing Sermon from Tree Top Ranches. Tree Top Ranches is in Parma, west of Boise near the Oregon border. My boss lives in Parma. It takes her an hour to get to work, that is if there are no horses running around on the freeway. That is a long commute for Idaho.

A woman at work has a 15 year old granddaughter that went missing Tuesday afternoon. By Thursday morning the granddaughter's picture was all over the news as missing. By Thursday afternoon they found her, or someone turned her in, and the police escorted her from the friend's house where she was staying back to her parent's house. Amazing how quickly big worry turns into big trouble. Turns out ever woman that I talked to Thursday afternoon ran away from home at 15, like some kind of right of passage. I never ran away from home. I feel like I missed something.

My painting for the IWS show in a few weeks is already framed. I went looking for it to take it to the framer and there it was hanging on the wall in its frame. I would say I am getting dippy in my old age, but I think I was always dippy.

I was going to take some pictures of my 50 year old self with my new blonder hair, but the sun keeps going in and out of behind the clouds. I will add them tomorrow if the sun stays out.

Started two more studies. Nothing else to do right now but paint.