Citizen Lily and my eyes

Me with my IPA and Lily with her Pilsner

My dear friend Lily is now an American citizen, after having taken the exam for citizenship and paid the expensive fee. She said the test was much easier than she was expecting, passed it with flying colors, and will now get a passport and Enhanced Driver's License in order to travel between the US and her home country of Guatemala. I don't know if she is any more excited about it than I am. She is such a wonderful asset to anyplace she goes. And I am so lucky to have her as a friend. She is now as American as apple pie!

But it means that I can breathe a sign of relief when those ICE agents come a-calling here in Bellingham. Although she has been a model of propriety, it seems (from what I have heard and read), the government is trying to snag as many people as they can to drive up the immigration numbers. But for now, she is doing just fine and is busy working in her long-term job. I took her out to celebrate, with an early dinner and a celebratory beer. She has been a cherished friend for more than a decade. 

On another completely different subject, I am going to try a new treatment for the geographic atrophy in my eyes. My sister who lives in Florida told me about the treatment, called MacuMira, that is only available in Canada. The treatment consists of having a microcurrent of electricity delivered into my closed eyelids for 32 minutes, four times over a period of ten days. It purports to improve the vision of everybody who goes through it, but it is not a cure, only a way to get back some of my visual acuity. It isn't cheap, and only available to get in Canada. Fortunately, I live only about thirty minutes from the Canadian border, and I was able to find a provider in White Rock. The only problem I will have is finding a way to get there. Right now I am researching ways to accomplish this. 

I have stopped the eye jab injections I received for the past year, since they are also very expensive and invasive. After having gone through close to a dozen injections, I've grown increasingly hesitant to have them any more. They also don't cure the eye disease, but slow down the progression. So there is no way to tell if they have done any good. I do have to get some information from the retina specialist, and I will do that as soon as I get an appointment with the clinic in Canada. I don't ever want to have another needle stuck in my eye, and this new treatment sounds quite painless. To have an eye zap rather than a needle stick sounds like a progression of sorts, don't you think?

In any event, I'll document the treatment of my own journey to keep my eyes from deteriorating any further. The one thing I have learned already is that the central vision in my left eye has not gotten worse, it's still 20/20, so I can continue to drive and read (using low vision settings), so it could be that I can keep what I already have and might even improve what I can currently see. After researching it thoroughly, I am more than willing to try it.

There is no doubt that getting older and losing one's capacities is daunting, but what else can I do but keep on going, hoping I will find some ways to maintain for as long as possible what I have? Failing that, finding ways to cope with what is going on keep me feeling positive, even through hard times. It's not an easy time in the history of the world, and the trends of my country's politics is sometimes hard to take. But I am still enjoying, and finding happiness in everyday tasks. My life is puttering along and good things abound, when I look for them. You know that the wonderful virtual friends (that means you) I have found and maintain through our blogs is essential to my wellbeing.

With that, I will call the post "done" and think about the rest of my day ahead. John will be here in about an hour, and before he gets here, I've got my exercises and meditation to accomplish. So, without further ado, I'll wish all of us the very best week ahead. Until we meet again next week, I will sign off and look forward to enjoying your comments. Be well, dear friends.

Crocosmia, crows, and cancer

Crocosmia Lucifer at the harbor

I love crocosmia and am always thrilled to see it emerge in midsummer, looking as beautiful as I remembered it from previous years. The one species with which I am most familiar is the one entitled "Lucifer," for obvious reasons. It's redder than red and very prolific. Hummingbirds love it, and it consistently blooms from midsummer until late in the fall. We are so fortunate to have many varieties of flowers to enjoy here, but for some reason I tend to forget this plant until it returns in all its glory.

I have to admit that my memory is beginning to fail now and then. I did look at this pretty plant and tried to recall its name, but it just wouldn't come, until I finally looked it up and suddenly I remembered it as though it was right there all along. Memory is very curious, isn't it? 

Which reminds me of another one of those memories that I don't remember forgetting, until I once again recall it. I was noticing some crows around here in the past few weeks demonstrating a behavior that I had forgotten about, until I saw it again: crows that look exactly like their parents, same size and shape, but who are obviously babies, because they follow around their mothers and cry for food, when they can most likely already forage for themselves. Mama looks and acts distressed by the young one, until she finally gives up and feeds the "baby." I have learned to distinguish the young ones by their amusing antics as they also learn to fly. They flap their wings as if they aren't convinced this is gonna work, until they finally take off and wander around the sky, before any need for graceful flying is needed. Sometimes they get perilously close to traffic, but since I don't see any corpses lying around, I guess mostly they learn soon enough to avoid catastrophe. They are endlessly satisfying to observe.

Well, that covers crocosmia and crows, and now the part I really am sad about is the cancer part of my headline title. As some of you might remember, my dear partner has a form of lymphoma, one that affects his blood. He started taking a disastrously expensive cancer drug a few months ago, but his doctor was able to find some provider who would pay for the drugs while he takes it, two pills a day for as long as the drug helps. He has been very fortunate to have only a few minor complications, and as long as we don't have to cough up the cost, he will continue to take it. So far, the blood work shows it is making a positive difference, so we are happy about that.

Just in the past few weeks, I have found that two of my favorite virtual family members are newly diagnosed with cancer, and at least one of them is getting the same treatment as my guy: someone else pays for the sky-high treatment and he takes the drug. I hope he does as well wit it as my guy . The other person has just learned that she has cancer and will undergo a radical hysterectomy next week, with nobody knowing how many other organs might be involved. She will let us know, those of us who love her and hope for the best, as soon as she herself knows.

My family doesn't seem to succumb as much from cancer as other families do, but who knows? Something comes for us all eventually, and now that I am firmly ensconced in my eighties, I sometimes wonder what is in my future to deal with. I'll know sooner or later, right? Heart disease seems to be much more common with my relatives, having already taken both parents, one sister, and my son.

As we age, we find our own ways to adapt to change. And of course, that is the one thing we can depend on: change is part of life, and as much as I'd like to stay in the stable and comfortable life I have now, that is not how it works. 

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. —Alan Watts

I will continue to learn to move with change and find the upside of whatever I am facing. Right now, as I sit here in the dark with my dear partner next to me, lightly breathing, I am more than grateful for this moment and everything that I have. Tomorrow will be different, but today is just about perfect. The weather is mild and sunny, my friend John will come to take me to breakfast in an hour, and I will happily look forward to the days and weeks ahead. I love my virtual family, too, and will spend some time contemplating their situations. I am grateful for everyone who writes a blog and gives me a peek into their lives. Until we meet again next week, hopefully, I wish you all good things. Be well, dear friends. 

Summer potpourri

s

Sky, clouds, water, boulevard

Yesterday, Steve and I walked on a beautiful Saturday from downtown Bellingham to Fairhaven and back along Boulevard Park. There were so many people out and about that I was hoping that summer this year will be just like this for many weekends to come. We saw myriad dogs (which of course Steve loves to pet with permission from their owners) and the most crowded Farmers' Market I've seen in awhile. The weather was, as you can see from the picture, incredibly beautiful. The high for the day was 70°F, with a light breeze. It was the first time since my February fall that I've gone all the way to Fairhaven without any need to stop or slow down. After a bit more than five miles, I took an ibuprofen because I could feel my right leg beginning to complain, but within a few minutes, no more pain of any sort. I'm happy to learn than I can now accomplish enough exercise to continue to get better, but I'm not going to push it; what's the point?

It's been a wonderful week, which included a new (to me) walk on the Padilla Bay estuary near Anacortes on Tuesday, a flat, interesting trail on a dike, with mudflats on one side, and farmland on the other. Lots of birds and other wildlife kept it lively. This was an easy hike with the Senior Trailblazers. Then on Wednesday I took my usual yoga class, with a substitute teacher but still lovely, and Thursday I did my usual volunteer work at the Senior Center. I've grown quite fond of the other volunteers, mostly women.

My fellow volunteers

This picture includes the Volunteer Coordinator Melody (at the table, fourth from  the left, sitting in front of me), but the others are all volunteers who receive a free lunch at the end of the shift. Here, we are all set up and ready to open the doors at 11:30am. Until they stop serving lunch at 12:30, we are busy serving coffee, tea, and then taking trays to the kitchen and finally putting the tables and chairs back into storage. The Senior Center serves lunch five days a week for $6 or whatever one can afford. I am usually very tired by the end and grateful that another shift is done. But I wouldn't trade it for anything; I get more thanks and compliments during this period than I do for the entire rest of the week. Not exactly fun, but definitely worthwhile. We served around 125 seniors on Thursday.

Summer has never been my favorite time of the year, but that might be changing as we continue to enjoy mild temperatures. I keep reading about the rest of the country, especially the Midwest, getting slammed with extraordinarily hot and humid weather. Although I have windows open throughout our apartment, it hasn't been really warm yet, and a cool breeze helps as well. That will change, however, during July and August, I fear. But then we will return to our normal mild and delightful weather. I don't see any reason to go anywhere else during the summer months. I do, however, sometimes tire of the endless days of rain and cloudy overcast skies during the winter months. My waterproof shoes and raincoats help immeasurably.

Abundant flowers and lush greenery

Of course, all this wonderful weather gives us plenty of beautiful vegetation and many happy gardeners. I saw this pink flower that I couldn't identify. Maybe one of my readers knows what it is. In any event, I am really pleased to know that others are also enjoying the days and weeks of perfection. It helps not to keep up with the political news, also. I read the headlines and my fellow bloggers posts, and that's about it for current events.

And in a few minutes, I'll get up out of bed and close my laptop and look forward to whatever is in store for me today. John, of course, will be coming to get me so we can make our way to Fairhaven to our favorite breakfast spot. For the first time this season, I'll be wearing shorts, since it's been forecast to be our first 75°F day. I will probably go out for a nice three-mile walk later in the day, if it doesn't feel too hot for me. I hope you will have a wonderful day and week ahead, dear friends. Life is too short to concentrate on the bad stuff, so I'm just not going to. Until we meet again next week, dear friends, I wish you all good things.

Summer 2025 and a new war

Old and new roses

Last night, America began a new war with Iran. We don't know what the fallout will be, but it won't be good, that's for sure. The whole world is now awaiting the next steps. I am saddened and a little afraid, but in time we will know the effects and aftermath. I will stick with my own little life today. But I am filled with sorrow and trepidation. Stay tuned.

This week, I walked around the Cornwall Rose Garden noticing all the pretty roses in there at the beginning of the summer season. Even the spent rose is pretty to my eyes. Watching them come to life after having been gone since last fall has been delightful. This year, I didn't make it onto the trails around town to see any of this year's trillium, but they were there, and I've seen many posted by friends; now they are gone for yet another year. I'll just have to make do with these pretty roses as they show themselves during the coming months.

You wouldn't know it's summer here today. We had one of the driest late-spring seasons here in the Pacific Northwest in a long while, with so little rainfall that things were beginning to look rather parched, unless they got watered by hand. But for the last few days, we have gotten some much-needed rain and cool weather. While the Midwest is expected to have above-normal heat, we are not even making it to the low sixties, with 55-60 F being the high temperatures. I much prefer the coolness, so I am not complaining at all, feeling a little sorry for those of you expected to endure a real heat wave during the coming week. I suspect we will eventually have hot weather, but I'm in no hurry.

This past week I made my first real honest-to-goodness hike with the Senior Trailblazers. Although I've gone on some not-too-long and not-too-high hikes over the past weeks, this was the first one that really felt like I have gotten back to my previous ability to hike. I will never again attempt the hard hikes, since my new normal is nowhere near what I could once do. But it doesn't really matter to me, since I was afraid that I would never again attain this level of hiking ability, but I have, and I must remember to take it easy and not overdo. Now maybe I can work on getting ready of those extra pounds that seemed to take advantage of my inaction to magically make my pants fit tighter. It's not a huge amount of weight, but it's not the way I want my clothes to feel when I'm wearing them.

Enticing trail on the Interurban

I am so grateful to live in this part of the country, where the skies are mostly clear and cool, and the trails entice me to visit them. I don't know what future days will bring, but I will be here making the best of things. My life is rather circumspect these days, but I have so many really good friends, and my family seems to be doing quite well, even those living in the hottest parts of the country. Of course, we don't know how hot it will get, but if you look at maps of the expected heat wave, they show the Pacific Northwest holding firm with late spring temperatures, for now.

While nothing stays the same, a static universe isn't where we live. I can get onto one of my favorite sites, Astronomy Picture of the Day, and gaze at objects in our vast universe and marvel at this place we inhabit. I feel very fortunate to live during a period when astronomers are studying our galactic neighborhood and those places far, far away from us. When I feel stressed, I can visit a magnificent distant galaxy millions of light-years away and maybe harboring life, and it helps me to gain perspective. 

How about you? How do you cope with stressful situations? It's always interesting for me to learn how others cope. This morning, in a short while, John will pick me up in his truck and we'll head to Fairhaven for our usual Sunday morning breakfast. I don't think anything will be different, but I don't know that for sure. I cannot be the only one feeling this trepidation about current events. Later today, when it's warmer outside than it is right now, I'll go for a walk and that always makes me feel better and more grounded. 

I hope you, my dear friends, will find some way to enjoy the coming week, and that life will surround you with delightful treats, such as family, pets, and good food. Whatever is coming, we will get through it, together. Be well.

Cool weather and more

Poppies on their way out

Yesterday, while walking with my friend Steve in one of our favorite places, the Harbor, I saw these poppies looking rather, um, spent. I wasn't sure when I saw the big round balls whether they were getting ready to bloom, or had already done so. A passerby answered my question, and said that these are almost all past their bloom, and that they would be great to harvest and take out the seeds. She said that when they are completely ready, they would rattle. These were just plants growing wild by the side of the road, and although very pretty, I guess they are just unplanted weeds. (Shhh! I don't think they are really weeds, but I remember learning that any plants, no matter how beautiful, that are volunteers, are considered to be weeds by some.) We live in such an abundance of trees, flowers, and plants that don't actually seem to need anybody to deem them beautiful in order to flourish and beautify their surroundings. 

When we started our walk, it was downright cold, with a brisk wind and the temperature not even reaching the low fifties (10C). I was dressed for it but I was certainly surprised by the frigid conditions, considering that we are just a few days away from the summer solstice. It happens on the 20th at 7:42pm here, and then the days will slowly begin to shorten and the nights lengthen. I remember hearing, when I first moved here in 2008, that summer usually doesn't start until after Independence Day (July 4th). I think that may be accurate for this year. I sure hope we have a cool-ish mild summer, rather than the incredible heat waves that some places will experience. I much prefer the coolness and often retreat indoors to the cooler weather. The older I get, the more I seem to suffer from excess heat. 

Today is Daddy's Day, for all the dads around the country. Is it global, this celebration, or is it something that people made up to sell stuff? I'm not sure, but I have been thinking about my own dad, who left us long ago (back in 1979) of a heart attack. The bane of our genetic family history: my sister also died prematurely from it, as well as my son Chris, and it's one of the reasons I started jogging in my thirties, to keep my heart healthy. I also don't eat red meat and haven't for decades now. My cholesterol is kept in check by a statin, and I don't have high blood pressure any more. At one time I did and the other day it was high at the dentist's office. I put some new batteries into my home BP cuff and have been keeping track of it since. It's normal once again, most of the time right around 125/70. Not bad for an octogenarian.

Yesterday was the rally that some called "No Kings" Day, to coincide with the events in Washington, DC, to celebrate the 250th birthday of the Army. It also was Trump's birthday, and although it rained at times, there were countless troops and tanks at the Washington Mall. At the same time, thousands of protest rallies were being held across the country, with somewhere around six million people marching. Here in our little town of Bellingham, we had a huge turnout, and by the early afternoon the clouds dissipated and the sun warmed the air.

Bellingham's No Kings rally

I snagged this picture off of a Facebook post. I didn't actually march myself, as I stayed home after our walk, feeling a little bit of pain in my left knee. I figured there would be plenty of participants, and I was right. It didn't start until late in the afternoon, and by that time I was ensconced in my favorite chair and ready to unwind from a very full day.

John will come to get me in an hour, and we'll head off to Fairhaven to enjoy our usual Sunday breakfast. Being a creature of habit, I sure did miss John last week, when he went out with some other friends, leaving me to have breakfast a little later than usual with my sweetheart at home. I do hope that John and I will once again visit our favorite restaurant today. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead, and that you will also find some family, or critters, or whoever to enjoy it with. Life is stressful for many of us these days, but things are looking up. Until we meet again next week, dear friends, I wish you all good things. Be well.

Hold on, hang on, looking forward

Steve at Squalicum Harbor yesterday

Do you like the looks of those stratus clouds behind Steve's head? I sure do. And I saw them first thing yesterday morning when I went out to do my morning exercise on the front porch. They attracted my attention then, and after I got to the coffee shop and had my usual double-short Americano and visited with Steve for awhile, we set out for a really nice five-mile walk around Squalicum Harbor. It's been awhile since I felt ready for the entire walk, but I did fine, with no pain in the right hip/leg, and simply perfect weather, cool to start and then getting on the warm side. Well, for me anyway: it got all the way up to the mid-70s before it was all over, and I never felt too hot, especially while the cool breeze wafted up from the bay.

It was our second-year anniversary of starting these Saturday walks, and I've continued to enjoy them very much. Time seems to fly by these days, as I find the days, weeks, and months whizz right on by and I don't seem to be able to catch up; another one is gone before I even have a chance to say hello!

Today I need to figure out what I'm going to write about before running out of time. It's already later than I usually start out my post, since I once again overslept. I remember waking up several times during the night listening to SG snore, but then I fell back asleep and left him alone. Ever since he started taking chemo treatments for his cancer, I have worried that he's not sleeping enough, so I am reluctant to wake him if he's fast asleep enough to actually snore. I love him and can't do much else to help, so not waking him is my secret, don't tell.

Yesterday evening we watched the Broadway show Good Night and Good Luck on our TV, which aired for free all over the world. George Clooney starred in this show about Edward R. Murrow and Joe McCarthy. Adapted from a 2005 movie that was written and directed by Clooney, in this version he played Murrow. I am old enough to remember when these events happened in real time, but of course I wasn't interested back then in anything political. I was a young teenager then, after all.

CNN aired the production live from the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City. The telecast marked the first time in history a Broadway show was broadcast live on national television. More than 20 cameras were positioned throughout the theater to bring the play to audiences at home, CNN correspondent Anderson Cooper said during pre-show coverage (the Independent).

It was on March 9, 1954 that the network first aired the show, See It Now, that looked at McCarthy's and Murrow's live television coverage. But I sure do remember all the controversy over those people who were blackballed by McCarthy for being communist sympathizers. I remember years ago seeing a production of Dalton Trumbo's struggles and eventual recognition for his works. In the end, Trumbo was eventually acknowledged as being an exceptional writer and director. Wikipedia has a very interesting post about him. You can read all about him here.

While watching the show, I was struck by the amazing parallels between what happened back then and what is happening right now in my country. So many people are being blackballed by the Trump administration for believing in DEI, which has become almost as unacceptable in our society as being a communist sympathizer was in those days. Maybe it's a phenomenon that just keeps coming up because of the way our society works: something becomes popular and then is brought down by its opposite. 

This morning my friend John will not be coming to take me to breakfast in Fairhaven, as someone has asked him to attend a gathering of old friends. I will miss him, since I am definitely a creature of habit, but I'll see him later in the week at the coffee shop. We are all growing older, and I cherish each and every day that I am still able to enjoy my routines. One of them that is happening right now is writing this post early on Sunday morning. Sometimes I am at a bit of an impasse, not being able to think about what might emerge from my mind, and as you might be able to tell, this is one of them.

Flowers along the harbor

I hope you can see how pretty the flowers are along Squalicum Harbor right now. I am not sure, since my eyesight has lost much of its ability to see bright colors. The pink and white did catch my eye, so I hope you can enjoy the colors, too. I live in such a beautiful part of the country, and for that I am very grateful. It's been a perfect place for us, and for many years to come, I hope we will be able to continue to enjoy the seasons as they come and go. There is much to appreciate in my older days, so I'll do that, ignore the rest, and keep on keepin' on.

I hope the week ahead will bring you joy and happiness, too. Until we meet again next week, dear friends, look for the bright side of life and be sure to remember to tell your loved ones how much you love them. I'll do the same. Be well.

Loved ones gone too soon

Me and Emily on Graduation Day

It's been more than two decades since Emily died attempting a risky landing at Mile-Hi Skydiving Center in Colorado. She was such a gifted person in every way, and after I moved away and came to Washington State, we still had frequent phone calls and never really lost touch with one another. However, once I was gone, she began hanging out with people who I think pushed her too quickly to downsize her canopy and take risks I would never have thought she would. But one day in December 2010, I received a call from a mutual friend that Emily was in the hospital and not expected to survive. She had a very very bad landing after performing a "hook turn" and had extensive head and neck trauma and two broken femurs. She did not survive.

I was devastated, and although it was almost Christmas, I flew to Colorado and stayed with a dear friend who was also close to Emily. I wrote about the experience here, and reading about it once again brought back the memories of how it was to be there under those circumstances. And now, more than two decades of being in Bellingham, I realize that we all have memories that will never leave us. 

Last night I dreamed almost the whole night about skydiving friends, and Emily was there, among others, and it was such a delightful reunion, feeling just as real as sitting here writing this post. I often dream in color, and last night I was inundated with lots of purple and magenta (which I associate with Emily, for some reason). I made my last actual skydive more than a decade ago, but it was such a significant part of my life that it will always come back to visit me again and again. I can recall the sound of her voice, and it seems possible that she might just call me again some days. I would know her voice instantly. I remember once when she called me to ask about what it was like to get older. She was in her late thirties when she died, but she wondered how she would cope with the loss of beauty and her amazing abilities. She never got old enough to find out, and it reminds me that none of us know what the future holds, but here I am well into my eighties and I also wonder the same thing, as I begin to lose faculties I have always taken for granted, like sight. The others feel almost insignificant in relation to that crucial ability.

I can still feel the loss of many of my dearest friends and family, but they are never really gone, as long as my mental synapses continue to fire. It is what life teaches us if we live long enough. We are all in this together.

We call that person who has lost his father, an orphan; and a widower that man who has lost his wife. But that man who has known the immense unhappiness of losing a friend, by what name do we call him? Here every language is silent and holds its peace in impotence. —Joseph Roux

I am no stranger to the loss of family and friends. You just deal with it, everybody has to find a way through grief, the opposite side of joy and happiness. They go together, always have and always will. When I think of the 8 billion people alive today, on this June morning, each of us will one day die, and in the interim we will say goodbye to one another in myriad ways. It's part of being alive.

Estimates suggest that approximately 108 to 110 billion humans have died since the dawn of humanity. This number doesn't include the roughly 8 billion people alive today. The total number of humans who have ever lived is estimated to be around 117 billion. 

When I went to Google to find out this information, I learned it was something compiled by AI, with no references supplied. It also told me that this estimate represents 94% of all humanity. The first humans had to learn how to live and how to die, without anybody giving them any clues about how to endure the pain of loss, and how to die gracefully. There have been a few guideposts, landmark people in history, who still inspire us today: such as Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and of course religious icons such as Jesus and Buddha. I have read many books by inspirational people, and many of the lessons I have learned over the years have become part of my own life's journey. I think this is true of many of us, as we navigate our individual ways, and each one of us seems unique in our approach to deal with the vicissitudes of life.

 Although I have lost much during my lifetime, I have also experienced and gained much as well. When I think of the decades of life I've already lived through, I could concentrate on any particular aspect and find both joy and sorrow in abundance, and that gives me so much pleasure to contemplate. I am blessed to have lived through a period of immense change, giving me a perspective on today that many younger people do not have. And I have gained a family comprised of digital connections that is new and exciting, don't you think? You are reading my thoughts that are created and written down just this moment. I have read the news of the day, from all over the world, almost instantaneously. It's a colossal world, filled with amazing creations that I am privy to. I am astounded when I think of it, and now I can press the "publish" button and be connected with thousands, perhaps millions of souls, just like that!

My sweet partner still sleeps next to me, quietly breathing in and out, and I realize it's time to get ready for the rest of my day. Holidays are behind us, so I can join John at our favorite Sunday morning breakfast spot. I am looking forward to the rest of this unique, perfect, joyous day. Until we meet again, dear friends, I wish you all good things. Be well.