Thursday, September 30, 2010

Not to go all political . . .

This is great.  Enjoy.

Green Eggs and Sam
I do not like this Uncle Sam, I do not like this health care scam;
I do not like these dirty crooks, or how they lie and cook the books;
I do not like when congress steals, I do not like these secret deals;
I do not like this speaker Nan, I do not like this 'Yes, we can';
I do not like this spending spree, I'm smart, I know that's nothing's free;
I do not like your smug replies when I complain about your lies;
I do not like this kind of hope, I do not like it - nope, nope, NOPE!

I do not like this socialist plan, I do not like it Uncle Sam!

Pretty clever.  Kudos to some blogger somewhere.  

Okay, now on to other things.  Reconnected with an old friend, well, she's not old, but - well - you know what I mean.  She found me through searching for my daughter through a you tube video she made for college through another old friend, who also isn't old.  My point - wow.  What happened to privacy?!!!  While it was super nice and fun to chat with her again and catch up - I do find it somewhat, um, freaky that we can google anyone and in less than 6 degrees of separation via the web, we can find them.  And I was scared of Facebook  . . . 

Another sunny day!!!  Yeah fall!  The one great season here.  The leaves are turning, the air is crisp, the squash are ripe and - the fleets of mosquitoes are out in full force.  Yesterday my children were out playing football, with two piles of leaves on either side for the end zones so they could fly in the air and land on them - you know - just like the NFL - and they come inside itching like mad with welts all over their bodies!  Now, I'm thinking to myself - come inside!!!  It can NOT be that fun!  So, now I have to ban them from yard play from about 4pm onward.  (Can you say - West Nile?) That or, cover them head to toe in combat fatigues.  It's so bad, that we can't have a light on INSIDE the house near the door, or they invade by the trillions when you enter.  Trust me, I do know what I'm talking about.  Oh, well, it's not Eden here - so we have to take the good with the bad.  And the next bad is box-elder bugs and attic flies.  Oh joy.

What's also a joy and yet really eerie is the howling of the pack of coyotes we hear every night.  There must be about 20 of them.  It's beautiful and scary at the same time.  Gary actually saw one of them on the way to work the other morning, so they are close. And big.  Like Doberman pincher big or something.  It seems we hear them every year around this time.  Their cries are so sad and mournful sounding.  You have to wonder why they do that.  

Oh well, have a great weekend and don't forget to light your citronella candles!

jill and all   

Saturday, September 25, 2010

When a heart bleeds . . .

Must be a melancholy sort of day.  Although, the sun is shinning, it's the Sabbath and all should be right with the world.  But when a loved one hurts, we hurt.  Someone once asked me why people are so mean.  I can't answer that.  (Especially when I have been one of those people.)   I do know first hand the hurt 'mere' words can cause. But, as the Sarah Palin adage goes, don't mess with my cubs or the momma grizzly in me will rear its ugly head.  Or something like that.  But at any rate, it's true.  When our babes cry, we mommies get a wee bit riled.  And while a part of me moans in sadness, the other part of me wants to go rip someone's - well - wants to get angry. Since that is so not turning the other cheek, not to mention it might land me in jail or worse, I cry.  And pray.  And hope that my loved ones are strong enough to make it through and that God will give them strength.  But, man it's hard.  It's like, go ahead, take me down, but do not mess with my kin.

So, aside from that, we are rejoicing in yet another sunny day!  The road was still a bit muddy when I ran yesterday, but it's drying up.  That's good, cause getting stuck or sliding in the ditch is not my idea of a good time.

Ever seen one of those weighted bar bells?  They are great.  I really like dumb bells, but this is different.  It's not too heavy that you can't do multiply reps with it and not too light that you feel like you're lifting a toothpick.   There's this guy named Storm, who has a work out with a stick, or pole like thing, almost like an Asian fighting weapon thing that you could use this bar bell for.  I love it.  And it's easy to take in the RV.  Less room than a box full of dumb bells.  Check it out.

So - be happy.  It's 90 degrees in Chico, CA.  But- it's 41 degrees here.  Not fair at all.  Guess where I hope to be come December 26 or maybe sooner . . .

Later.

jill and all

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Ready to sell . . .

We just got back from a 3 day mini vacation to Minneapolis.  India had to fly out of there for a college gathering in Ohio, so we tagged along and hung out.  It was pretty laid back.  But I'm all traveled out.  We hit the ground running when we got back, cleaning, organizing and fixing up the house to get it ready to sell.  And we are ready.  Anyone want to buy a 3 bedroom - 1 1/2 bath home on 6 acres with 4 acres of pasture, a horse shelter and tack room, a lovely yard and nice porch and patio?  Only 20 minutes from town.  The most terrific neighbors on the planet and we'll even throw in a snowmobile, a couple of riding lawn mowers and a few good cats to sweeten the deal.  It's private, peaceful and a super fantastic place to raise children.

If it's so great, why are you selling - you ask?  Well, we want to live out west.  Way out west - like Washington or Oregon or dare I say it - California?  Yes!  We've visited many times and our hearts are pulled in that direction.  We've all lived here in South Dakota for almost our entire lives and we're ready for a change.  Call it a mid-life crisis if you want - we just are ready for a new adventure.   So - it's west or bust!  That is - if we can sell this place . . .

So Gary put in this new sump pump thingy and after every time it's done extracting out the water, some valve thingy pounds and pounds and POUNDS like someone is hammering with a sledge.  We don't even have a TV to block out the sound - so - until he fixes it - we feel like we're living in a construction zone.  All we need are a couple of yellow hard hats.

Fresh figs.  If you haven't tried some - you must.  They are sooo good.  There are in season right now!  Hurry - go!  GO!

The boys are planning to help Gary shingle the rental house this weekend.  Well, this weekend, and the next weekend and probably the next - depending on how long it will take them.  I'm going to immerse myself in a few dozen good books and try not to think about my boys on top of a two story very slanted roof wielding a nail gun.  Just let me know when it's done . . .

Another cloudy rainy chilly day!  Yippee!
My mood falls with every drop.  And when the clouds lift, so does my funk.  I am a product of my environment.  Whoa - is this mimic-a-poet day?!  (sounds a wee bit new agey if you ask me!)  AAAHHHH!!!!!   Anyway - How about this -  sunshine and lollipops everyone!  And for those who like the drizzle - get out your umbrella and dance!    :)

jill and all

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Home again, home again, jiggity jig. . .

All true RV-ers know, the best place to stay the night is in a Walmart parking lot.  It's amazing how many actually do this.  And Walmart is not stupid.  They add a few more yards of asphalt and they get a million more customers.  Brilliant.  It's good for a quick stop, and the price is certainly right.  The only bad thing is no electricity, no sewer and no water - but - as long as you have some juice left in your battery and some water in the tank, you can actually survive.  It's all right, for a night or two - maybe - but don't push it with me.  It's as close to primitive camping as I intend to get - thank you very much!

So - 3 weeks and over 4,000 miles later - we are back.  After filling up with California peaches, nectarines, figs, seeded watermelon, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, and such - we were on our way.  Whew.  What a trip.  I must say, that Nevada on the way back to Salt Lake City wasn't as bad.  Maybe on the way out there it so bad because it was the shock of seeing - um - nothing - for miles and miles and hours on end -  that got to us.  This time, we already knew what we were in for.  Wyoming, on the other hand,  is full of nothing too - but in a  much cooler way.  At least the terrain is a geological wonder.  It's really beautiful in a stark, hard kind of way.  A different kind of nature.  And when you get to Gillette, you can pull in this really great radio station called 'The Point'.  97.9.  It's terrific.  We found it on our way out and the dj's are fantastic.  Funny and real and the music is great.  Especially this Wally guy.  Check it out online.

Well, we are back safe and sound and thankful to God for it.  It was a nice trip, but I am not ready to be back.  I started sneezing the moment we hid the border.  That's not fun.  And Gary already misses the hot weather in California and all the fresh fruit.  Good grief - it's a virtual garden of Eden out there.  What can't they grow?  Bananas maybe.  But everything else I'm sure.  Chico is the kiwi capital of the world.  And they weren't quite in season, so we missed out on that. Bummer.  Gary's ready to go back - just for that reason.

Our favorites:    I really loved just being out there and being in Salt Lake City just hanging out. I loved the air and the scenery and the people.  Strange.  Very strange, but so nice.  I also loved running and biking and eating. :)  (Loved the eating)  The boys liked the zip line and the alpine slide the best and swimming in the RV pool.   And the eating.  India liked the zip line and taking awesome pictures with her camera.  And eating.   We all liked the eating.  It's a bit tough to get really fresh fruit in the Dakotas, and vegan fare is just a bit sparse.   But - we're back to reality.  Our reality.  Back in the great state of South Dakota.  There is so much good here - that is very true.  And well - there's some not so good too.  The cold is coming, my friends, and I for one, am none to thrilled about it.  And soon we'll be living off oranges, apples and bananas - for 9 months.    And shoveling and driving in the snow and ice and wind.   But - let's not put the cart before the horse here.  Right now we have to concentrate on schedules . . .

We got here and hit the ground running.  Noah has basketball scrimmage, Ezra and Judah begin swimming (Ezra at 5 AM - aaahhhh!), Ezra also starts Mathcounts, India starts teaching dance (15 classes a week!), and school has begun in earnest.  Not to mention that we (meaning - Gary and the boys) are going to shingle a house in a couple weeks and we  (meaning - Gary and the boys) are cleaning out our basement after the spring floods.    That's pretty sparse to what's coming when basketball games start and swim meets began.  Nice to just ease into it - eh?

So, the random scripture reading for the day was from Matthew.  It had to do with faith, or the lack thereof, in the townspeople when Yahshua taught in the synagogue.  They didn't experience the healing and the miracles because they refused to believe he could do them.  Nice.  So, then, a few minutes after reading this, Gary gets this voice mail message from some unknown number.  The only thing the woman said was - 'faith' and the call ended.  Wild, eh?  So, the take away point is - believe and have faith - that God can and will do great and wonderful things.  Cause He can and He will.   Hallelujah!!!!

Now I'm off to eat some organic seeded watermelon.  MMMMM  :)

Keep the faith . . .

jill and all

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

A bit overwhelmed . . .

Well, this was not at all what I expected northern California to be like.  It's remote and open and very, very rocky.  It is not Malibu Beach.   Chico, the region's hippest town due to the college, is a vibrant and progressive city, filled with your hippies, hippie want-to-bes and left over hippies from the 60's.  But it also has a nice sort of business feel - clean and peaceful.   It seems to be the hub for the many smaller towns surrounding it, and rightfully so.

Paradise, on the other hand, could not be more different.  It sits up about 1300 feet above Chico on this plateau and all the houses and streets are built on rolling hills and cliffs.  It's like living in a dense - very dense - extremely dense Sherwood Forest.  I kept expecting to see Robin Hood around every tree.  Driving on Skyway Drive from Paradise back to Chico is treacherous.  The drop off to the canyon below is a mile down and scary.  The view is spectacular for those who are not height-challenged, but that does not include the driver in this family.   "Look at the road.  Look straight ahead."  I kept repeating that while we drove on this really narrow road on the top of this ridge that seemed like it was on the top of the world. Aaah!  Give me the flat land any day!   The thing I kept thinking about it how do these people drive these roads in the winter?  And then I remembered, there really IS no winter here.  At least, not like we experience it in South Dakota.  It never snows here, just rains.  Oh, I guess they might get a dusting of the white stuff in Paradise, but it's not ever cold enough to stay put.  And although it was sort of a nice place, it doesn't own up to its name.  Sorry, we'll all have to wait for heaven to really find that.  :)

The other thing that is strange are the fields of rice!  Like grassy lakes, they are everywhere.   Never seen that before.  Wild.

They don't have goat heads here (nasty hard prickly thorn-like things found in Washington) but they do have star thistle, and those are just as bad.  Plants with nice little yellow flowers that look so harmless, until you get near them and as soon as you do - you know.  Covered with long spiky thorns, they are just plain mean.  And we also found the little seeds that started the whole Velcro phenomena.  We found them after a short walk through a field and came out covered in them.  Shoe laces, socks, shorts and skirts - covered.  And when you brush them off - the prickles stick into your skin.  Can you say OUCH!?! And there are these wild daisy flowers that are covered in sap.  Deceitful little buggers.  And the pine cones!  We found some as big as a football!  Strange.  So strange. 

What struck us is how different it is here than Nevada.  As soon as you cross over the border, it's like landing on another planet.  If I were Nevada, I'd be a little ticked off.  It's like they picked the border of Utah and California just exactly so - so that those two states got the good land and what was ever left in between was left for Nevada.  Sorry to dis the state so, but it's just not my cup of tea.  Seems not to be many others cup either, due to the extreme lack of inhabitants.  But that's another story.

Have you ever been to a restaurant where after you order, and pay and began to eat, they come around and ask you if you want more and more and more - of anything?  Well, we went to this little teeny Mediterranean place and the owner  suggested the sampler platter.  So we get that and he kept bringing more pitas over, more sauce, more falafels, more dolmas, and rice - which we didn't even come with the meal, he just brought it over for us to try.  It was like the old Greek aunt wanting to keep us eating all night long, by shoving plates of food in front of us saying "Eat!  Eat!" till we burst.  I think I almost did.  Boy was that good food.  The Samosas were excellent.  Well, everything was.  I will pay for this in the morning . . .

To bed.  7 am will come early. We plan to be on our way back east tomorrow, God willing.
Can't believe it's the middle of September.  This little vacation has flown by.  They usually do I guess.  Back home and back to the grind stone.  And the cold.  And the snow.  And the nine months of cloudy days.  (aahhh!)  I guess I'll just have to dream of sunny California!  :)


jill and all

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

California here we come . . .

Ah!  At the last minute we decided to head over to the Golden State.  And golden it is.  It is soo dry here that all the land is completely layered with yellow grasses.  It's a different kind of beautiful.  But the drive over - um - not so much.  If you ever thought Wyoming was desolate - try Nevada.  Oh.  My.  Gosh.  Up one mountain range and down another, then repeat that about 11 times all across the state.  All the while fighting 30 mile an hour winds and nothing - absolutely nothing around - anywhere.  Not a tree, not a bush, not a living creature except big black crows the size of a great dane.  I do not relish going back through there - but through there we must go to get back.  First Nevada, then a bit of a reprieve through Utah, then through nowhere land of Wyoming.  Oh brother.   I'm ready for that hover craft my son Ezra plans on building!

There was one cool thing about Nevada.  The Bonneville salt flat was interesting, I'll admit.  A literal sea of rock hard salt, with holes dug in that were filled with water - just like an ice fishing hole.  One guy was try to sail across the salt on a sailing craft with wheels.  Crazy.

We did go to Antelope Island in Utah before we left.  Gary had to go float in the Great Salt Lake or his vacation would not be complete!  The rest of us hiked a bit and found some cool boulders to climb on and take pictures.  We didn't see any antelope, but we did see one buffalo!

We explored the city of Chico, CA - very nice town.  There is a huge park - 6 square miles - or 3500 acres - right in the middle of town!  It's long and narrow and filled with trees.  It's like a dense forest with biking and hiking trails and a swimming hole and nature.  In the middle of town!  Amazing.  We hope to explore that more before we leave.

Strange to see palm trees and almond trees and kiwi, figs and avocados growing right before your very eyes.  They grow just about everything here in the Sacramento Valley.  We hope to get to a farmer's market today to check out the local produce.  MMM.

One funny thing - as I was walking into the local health food store - I walked under this mist of cool water that just floated down upon me.  It was piped all along the entrance to the store, and just felt so great in the hot temps.  So refreshing.  What a novel idea - eh?

Well, more news later.  We're off to Paradise - beautiful Paradise, CA.  Sounds great, doesn't it??!  Now who wouldn't want to live in a place called that?!  :)

jill and all
 

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Biking, swimming and football?

Okay, so you get the swimming and the biking, no doubt - but what is the deal about football you ask??  Well, for months and months the boys have wanted to do Fantasy Football, and for the two of you out there that haven't heard of that (I hadn't either) - it's where you pick the players you like out of all the NFL players to make your own special team and you rack up points based on each player's accomplishments during each game.  Sounded like fun, so India created our own league - The Skunks - (don't ask).  To make a really, really long story short, we finally got our teams all set up.  (After much sweat, frustration, and anxious moments - that mock draft is a killer!)   So, now we are all set for the season.  The only trouble is - we don't have a TV to even watch the games!!!  So why??  Who knows.  Try figuring that one out for yourselves ! . . .  :)

Yesterday Gary and Judah played Bountiful Ridge Golf Course.  Beautiful.  Breathtaking.  And heart-stopping.  Literally.  I got a real work-out just walking up and down and up and down the hills.  It's not like golfing on the plains of South Dakota - let me tell you!  But it was absolutely gorgeous up there.  And you could see out over the Great Salt Lake - and the city with the hills in the background.   And there were deer all over the course.  Just walking around with their little babies eating and looking at you without a care in the world.  They were almost tame - you could get so close.  Cool.

It's hot today and going to be in the 90's this weekend.  Great for swimming.  Not so great for cooking in a little tin crate of an RV.  The AC can't keep up with the stove.  Oh well.  I am very, very, very thankful we have AC.  Cause I am a certified wimp in the heat.  (in the cold too - for that matter)

Labor Day weekend coming up.  Farmer's Market too!  Yeah!  More seeded watermelon!   More fresh tomatoes!  More wacky home-made food!   And more music/dancing - culture!   Yeah!    I'm a bit excited, can you tell?

I don't know if I'll ever be ready to go back home!  Well, I don't want to be here when their 8 feet of snow comes.  Great for skiing, but I'd like to be done with the winters, thank you very much.  As it is - we will be headed back to the frozen tundra of the upper midwest anyway.  But - October is probably the best month there.  So - I'm actually looking forward to that.

Later.  Mounds of laundry await.  Ta-ta!!

jill and all

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Strange happenings . . .

This town is so strange.  There are streets with angled parking, like normal, only here-it's not normal.  People BACK into the spots instead of just driving into them with the front of the car at the curb.  No - that would be normal.  It's so strange to see these streets with the cars parked backwards.  It's an easy out, for sure, but different.  Very different.

The bike racks here are shaped like bikes, not the simple silver slotted things we have on the corners at home.  Oh no.  They have to have everything a work of art around here.  Which is really cool, actually - just - well - different.

The other thing that is different here are the people.  I have never seen more people be so friendly and nice and accommodating as I have here.  There are no grouchy clerks (well - except for this old guy at our RV park - but hey - his wife is nice!)  or sales people.  Even if they hated their job, you wouldn't know it.  Everyone has a smile and is willing to help.  Even regular people on the street.   We're not used to that - especially at our library.  Whew.  They are grouchy.  Maybe it's the cold weather that makes everyone so sour back home.  It has to be something.  They should come down here for a visit and take lessons . . .
  We wanted to ride the trolley just for fun - called TRAX here, so we ask around for help - from a few people on the street to the lady at the library and everyone gives their advice.  All different - of course.    We finally decided just to get on, ride a ways through the city and get off.  So then we just stand there, trying to figure out when the next trolley will be by in order for us to go back the other direction, and 2 different groups of people come and ask us for directions and advice!  We knew less than nothing, yet here they were asking us!  We had to laugh.  People are not shy here. Very open and friendly.  Another reason to love it here.  

We're into the swing of school this week.  Yeah!  I like structure!  On Monday, India took her last test for college.  She now has 110 credits - 10 shy of getting her 4 year degree.  She has 3 classes left.  Incredible.

Our RV park sits right next to a really nice bike path that goes on for miles and miles.  You see some real serious bikers flying past.  I am not a biker, I'd rather run, but running is not real good for Gary's back.  He and the boys want to ride the whole trek, which is about 18 miles one way.  It's a great path.  I need to get a bike I can ride so I'm not left behind in the dust.  :)

We went to a vegan restaurant where you needed at least 20 tattoos and 13 body piercings in order to eat there.  Food was great though.  Why is it that the best food places house the strangest looking people?  Nice, but strange.  Well, strange to our mid-west, white bread ways that is.  We went to another vegan restaurant that had an all you can eat pizza and salad bar - only they brought you the food, fresh out of the oven, 1 slice at a time.  So you were getting mystery pizza and had to taste it to figure out what was on it.  It was the coolest thing.  There was mexican pizza, eggplant and tomatoe pizza, taco pizza, raw veggie salad pizza, and there was one that had corn and green beans and tofu sausage with this cashew cheese sauce on it.   MMM!  Good grief was that fun!  We sat there for 2 hours just eating one piece at a time, slowly, savoring each small slice.  What a great idea.  We all walked out of there stuffed to the gills and had to walk back to our pickup several blocks away.  It was good for us, but a little hard to waddle down the sidewalk!

Today it's going to be 80 and sunny!  Yeah!  Gary might actually be able to take some time off today and go golfing.  I might actually get in a swim, and we all hope to just walk, or ride bike, or just hang out.  That's what vacations are all about - right?  Well, that and eating.  A lot.  :)

Later -

jill and all