Last Trip to Riverside for 2013

The sun is shining down on us after a few days of heavy rain. In fact the forecast for the rest of the week has sun for every day. We are camping – making the most of the last few days that the campgrounds are open. We feel pretty lucky :-)

Saturday and Monday were spent with family as Carm’s brother’s wife’s mother passed away last week. The whole family gathered around for the afternoon wake – all 11 of us (and I may have missed counting someone). They are not a quiet bunch… there weren’t too many other people there, mostly just Tammy’s family so perhaps the emptiness was filled just a bit by their presence. Certainly Tammy must have felt supported by her extended family.

Monday was the funeral and church service. I though I might write a bit about that, but realized that my atheist views might offend – and I don’t want to press my views onto others. Suffice it to say that if I were wanting to turn to the church, I would first investigate Buddhism. I am more interested in the spiritual life than by living by a bunch of archaic rules. I’ve read some books about people who have gone that direction and the beliefs seem to be more close to my own. One quote that particularly moved my was “God is in you, God is you”. It is certainly up for interpretation, but I took it to mean that we must find within ourselves our own peace. Which is relevant to me as I live my life with illness.

Either that or I’d just find my solace in Nature. And maybe start worshipping Mother Earth!

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness. ~ Dalai Lama

 

I was reading an article by a couple that had travelled to Myanmar (was Burma). They had taken a luxury cruise through part of the country with stops to visit the attractions of the area. As I read through the article I thought that this would be a wonderful way to view a country like this… and then they talked about eating their scrumptious breakfast and seeing the people on the shore with their oxen and donkeys. It suddenly struck me that there was something terrible about travelling in such luxury through a country filled with desperately poor people. It just seemed so wrong.

On a lighter note: I am loving my “griddler”! I’ve grilled “tons” of zucchini, some squash, lots of red peppers, green beans, mushrooms, and of course all of those ingredients sometimes make their way onto pannini sandwiches – yum! I’ve actually taken the bbq off the camper and will use the grill for the annual steak as well. It is just so easy to use, easy to clean, and does a bang up job on vegetables :-)

We had our “neighbours”, Bert and Susan, over for a glass of wine last night. They also have a Titanium that they love. We first met them years ago, and run into them regularly. It is fun to catch up on each other’s trips and troubles (cause you may have already guessed, an RV is a house that goes through hours of earthquake every time you drive, shaking the s&(# out of everything!)

I think I mentioned that last time we camped there were people talking down on those that aren’t outside all the time… well… it is 12:30pm with a strong shining sun and where are we? Inside! I guess we are inside dwellers. I do have the sun shining on my face though. We’ll sit outside for a while this afternoon – after we have our club sandwich at the Basket Case – and before we go to our dance class!

 

Religion is the opium of the masses.

Karl Marx

It’s not a Jungle Out There Anymore!

Over the last few years our property has looked more and more like it has been taken over by triffids… The trees have grown in and in some cases even reseeded themselves – wherever we looked was a jungle of green.

Well, no more! My friend Christina, (with horticultural credentials), walked the yard with me last week, giving advice about what to cut  and where.  Carm was with us and agreed on the plan. Step one accomplished.

Step two was harder to initiate. We had already done a few days of avoidance but we wanted to get it done (eventually). I didn’t feel like doing anything yesterday (more malaise), but made myself go out with Carm to trim just a branch or two. It wasn’t long before the chainsaw was out and Carm was slashing his way through our jungle. I pulled huge branches and halves of trees off to our giant brush pile. I should have gotten a photo of that – it is now about 7’ tall and at least 20’ x 30’ – good thing we have 30 acres!

All in all we cut down 4 trees, 1/2 of two others, and branches from several more. The bushes that we cut down will regrow next spring, rejuvenated by their hair cuts, but the trees will be no more.

Next spring we intend on pulling out one of the shrubs and replacing it with something with more colour, maybe a red shrub. Does anyone have any  suggestions for a shrub that doesn’t get too big?

Before: trees blocking the house completely.

After: Hummm… from this viewpoint it doesn’t look like all that much changed! Oh wait – there’s the house!

 

 

“… When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. Let God speak within you, and your thoughts will grow silent. You are anxious because your path leads away from mother and home. But every step and every day lead you back again to the mother. Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all.

A longing to wander tears my heart when I hear trees rustling in the wind at evening. If one listens to them silently for a long time, this longing reveals its kernel, its meaning. It is not so much a matter of escaping from one's suffering, though it may seem to be so. It is a longing for home, for a memory of the mother, for new metaphors for life. It leads home. Every path leads homeward, every step is birth, every step is death, every grave is mother.

So the tree rustles in the evening, when we stand uneasy before our own childish thoughts: Trees have long thoughts, long-breathing and restful, just as they have longer lives than ours. They are wiser than we are, as long as we do not listen to them. But when we have learned how to listen to trees, then the brevity and the quickness and the childlike hastiness of our thoughts achieve an incomparable joy. Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.”
― Hermann Hesse, Bäume. Betrachtungen und Gedichte

Autumn Colours

Learning the Waltz at dance class was fun on Tuesday. I had been feeling kind of glum the last few days and didn’t want to go (or do anything for that matter), thankfully the atmosphere of the class had me laughing in no time. First we practiced last weeks dance, the Fox Trot. One lady said that we were looking so smooth and made the dance look romantic. I don’t know about that, but we were having fun!

After that we journeyed to the Bierstube for Vashek’s birthday.

Wednesday I still didn’t feel like doing much so we packed up to go to Ikea and also pick up the cars new snow wheels and tires. The trees along the 417 were resplendent with colour.

We raced through Ikea, not taking the time to look at all their displays - we had two things in mind: look at their sofas (we want a new one for the camper, but it has to be 68” or less); and take a quick look at the comforter covers as the one we have tossed over the camper bed is looking threadbare.

The current one on the camper is a long retired Laura Ashley pattern that I purchased in Syracuse about 20 years ago. It has done duty as a coverlet on our house bed for most of that time, but moved out to the camper when we got the king sized bed a few years ago. I LOVE that pattern – even after all these years I haven’t gotten sick of it, and it still makes me happy to see it.

Alas… we now have drab beige…

Of course while we were at Ikea (conveniently over lunch time), we had to avail ourselves of the $2.99 lunch special: 2 pieces of haddock fish with fries – not a green to be seen…unless you count the electric green coleslaw.

 

 

The tire pickup was uneventful, but it is a shame to spend so much money for so little fun!

It might be the time of year with its receding light, or maybe letdown from our trip, but fall can be a low time of year for me… not to worry though, it is all part of the up and down cycle of being bipolar, or so I keep reminding myself. But… I look at my new mug, and cry ; look at the beautiful leaves, and cry ; stand in the warm sun, and cry… you get the picture. But STOP – don’t feel sorry for me… that’s not the purpose. I wasn’t going to share, but others might be going through the same thing – so for them: don’t give up, just get up and get out there and do your best, fake it if you have to... that is the only way to get into the sun again.

 

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.

Albert Camus