Straightening the Tree and No Power: Part 2

I am happy to report that the power came on yesterday about 2:30 p.m. Thanks for the many kind words of concern about our situation. Things are calming down up our way. Since I am away from home I was thrilled that JEJ got the wireless and the TVs working and stored food came out of the coolers without a hitch. I'll bet those clothes that were on rinse cycle when the power went out are extra clean now. JEJ decided Thursday evening that he could straighten the flowering plum back up that was leaning against the house. When you are without power you always need to project to help pass the time. The question as you look through the series of photos might be how many pets does it take to supervise the tree project? Of course I was the photographer!!Kit wanted to make sure the towline was secure.He rode on the top to help navigate the truck.

Foreman Finny and assistant Kit gave the thumbs up on the tree straightening project!With a brace now helping the tree to stay upright JEJ thinks it is straighter than it was originally.Shelby was pleased with a job well-done, but was glad her crew boss job was done so she could jump out and get back to being a dog. Lily stayed out the way, but gave her approval after the job was done from her post on the old dog kennel.McDuff guarded the hose just in case we needed to some extra water for the tree. What a team effort by all!

Wind, No Power, and Fires North of Us

When Wind Storm 2008 hit our place in the afternoon Thursday it blew our flowering plum tree toward the house. We were able later to pull it back up. ( pictures to follow soon) The wind broke lots of branches and trees around our area. This pictures shows a new view we have from our deck. Fortunately the tree that blew down didn't damage anything when it feel. About the hour later the power went out. A tree knocked down the live wire up the county road from our house. When we called last they were predicting power by Sunday p.m. I had to leave this morning to come to Idaho so JEJ is home manning the house and property. Without power we are soon without water since our community system works with pumps from wells.

Along with the huge wind storm came fire. Fires broke out in many locations on both sides of Lake Roosevelt in Stevens and Ferry Counties. This is the smoke as you head north on Highway 395 past Kettle Falls toward Canada. The fire jumped the road and was burning on both sides in the brush. I believe two houses were burned. This is looking north on the bridge across Lake Roosevelt that divides Stevens and Ferry Counties. We feel blessed that we are safe. Reading at night by candlelight isn't so bad and a gas BBQ can heat up water for a great cup of coffee. Hopefully all the ice with keep our food cold and we will soon be able to water our parched plants.

Anticipating An Evening Walk in the Garden

"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides." ~W.E. Johns, The Passing Showmore beautiful yellow lilies


another unexpected shirley poppy the first snapdragon to bloom
a gorgeous shade of pink

my favorite color of petunia

I love how dill with the evening light can be a beacon of beauty among the vegetables.

Another Meme... All About Books

Dad reading to Raymond Pert and I.

I found this meme on Ravenous Reader's Bookstack site here. I love hearing about how people develop their love for reading and what books and authors they enjoy. If you choose to do this meme, let me know so I can come and read yours also.

Do you remember how you developed a love of reading? As far back as I can remember books were a part of my life. I remember being read to at an early age by my mother and father and watching my brother learn to read and wanted to be like him. The Early Reader series which included Dr. Suess books and The Fly Went By ( the first book I read by myself) plus others were mailed to us each month as a gift from my grandmother. I remember reading titles such as One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish ,Blue Fish and The Cat and The Hat over and over again.

What are some books you loved as a child? The Happy Hollister series, Nancy Drew mysteries, Signature Biographies ( especially Helen Keller and Clara Barton), the Katie John series, The Velvet Room, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle series, and The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew.

What is your favorite genre? I like contemporary novels, mysteries, memoir, cookbook memoirs, and poetry

Do you have a favorite novel? I don't know if I can name a favorite, but I can list books that have stayed with me long after I read them. Not all on the list are novels.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls :her amazing memoir of survival blew my socks off
In the Wilderness by Kim Barnes: memoir about growing up in the area of North Idaho close to where my mother was raised
Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom: a book filled with lessons about life
Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd: a well-written beautiful story about mothers and home.
The Color of Water by James McBride: a moving memoir about an incredible man and the influence of his mother.
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer: I felt like I was climbing Mt. Everett while reading this.
Open House by Elizabeth Berg: actually any novel by Berg keeps me reading and reading until done.

Where do you usually read? In bed before I sleep or in a chair in a quiet room.

When do you usually read? Always before I go to bed and whenever else I can find time.

Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time? Yes. I always have a novel going, but then a book of poetry and something nonfiction.

Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction? Not really.

Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library? I always try to get them at the library first, especially novels. If I know it is a book I will continue to use as a resource I buy it used if I can. I have a friend that has the same tastes as me so we trade books back and forth. I also ask for books as gifts, especially my cookbook collection.

Do you keep most of the books you buy? I keep about half of them to read again or use for reference. The other half I pass on or donate to the Habitat Thrift Store.

If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? I don't have children of my own, but with my students as read alouds or group novels it has been all books by Roald Dahl, joke books, variety of poetry books, The Giver, Number the Stars, Devil's Arithmetic, The Outsiders, Hatchet, Mississippi Bridge and White Grizzly Bear's Legacy: Learning to Be Indian just to name a few.

What are you reading now? I am reading Blood Oranges by Drusilla Campbell and The Writing Diet by Julia Cameron.

Do you keep a To Be Read list? Yes, I do. I have two Reader's Journals that I am always filling with lists when I read about a book or get a recommendation from someone.

What’s next? The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas (sent home with me from my friend Bev as a "must read") and The Whole World Over by Julia Glass.

What books would you like to reread? On Writing by Steven King, The Bible, Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindberg, and The Fountainhead by Ann Rynd

Who are your favorite authors? Anna Quindlan, Jodi Picoult, Julia Cameron, Mary Oliver, Lois Lowry, Anne Lamott, Caroline Knapp, Elizabeth Berg, Sherman Alexie, and William Stafford to name a few.

I hope others of you try this meme so I can learn about even more books and authors to add to my reading journal.

The 8 Meme

I found this meme on i beati's blog and thought I would give it a try. The above is created with Wordle.

The 8 Meme

Eight Books I Have Read Recently
1-Home to Holly Springs- Jan Karon
2-Her Last Death- Susanna Sonnenberg
3-Friday Night Knitting Club- Kate Jacobs
4-A Poetry Handbook-Mary Oliver
5-Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
6.-Lost and Found by Jacqeline Sheenan
7- Old Friends from Far Away by Natalie Goldberg
8- Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein

Eight Movies I Have Seen Eight Times
1. American President
2.Sound of Music
3. When Harry Met Sally
4.It' A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
5. Big
6.Muppet's Christmas Carol
7.The Way We Were
8.On Golden Pond

8- Eight Things I Have a Passion For
1-Flowers
2-Cooking and recipe collecting
3-Writing/Reading
4-Family
5-Poetry
6-Camping
7-Teaching
8-Photography

Eight things I say a lot
1. Really!
2. Ummmmm! That's Interesting
3. Amen
4. Have you made a good choice?
5. You're kidding!
6. Do I snore?
7 . I'm going to bed.
8. Do you want a treat?

Eight Things I Would Like to Do Before I Die
1- Learn to knit
2- Play the piano well
3- Go to Yellowstone National Park
4- Take my mom back for a trip to the Oregon coast
5- Bring all my friends from different places together for a retreat
6- Take a road trip through the back roads of the Pacific Northwest
7- Visit the Thousand Islands in New York
8- Take a workshop from a photographer to learn more about the craft

"Idaho Is my central, sustaining, mythic landscape."

a miner working in the dark of the Bunker Hill mine in Kellogg, Idaho

I was saddened today to learn that Idaho poet and essayist William Studebaker had died in a accident while kayaking the Salmon River. Studebaker depicted the people and places of Idaho so well in his writing. This is what he said about Idaho in the book Eight Idaho Poets, edited by Ron McFarland.
"My poetics assumes Idaho. When I write, Idaho imagery often meshes with thematic considerations. Idaho is my central, sustaining, mythic landscape. " The following poem is one I always return to read. It helps me understand the underground miner a bit better by the imagery and contrasts of dark and light that are used so well by Studebaker.

Mining At Night
I pass through a portal on a train
loaded with men and dynamite.
Air-doors close behind us.
The trammer steers the train
with a throttle, speeding to stops
where men get off
where small fists of light
pull them down drifts
they blasted into themselves.

Where I work, the walls are round.
My arms go out and never return.
Only the head sends back messages:
water, rock, air, and colors I can't see.
Like a person who lives alone
I mine shadows for illumination.

(I have stood for years in the same spot
and heard the same sound
as if life were repetition:

the stroke of my heart
the feeling of my skin sliding
over the whites of my eyes
the smell of my own breath.

as if memory could beat darkness into light
I pack the sun in my head
and do my work as it were day.)

When the train pulls shift
I board for the dry
take off my leathery wings
and walk through the streets
to where sleep waits like a bat
hanging from the rafters of a vacant dream.

William Studebaker
Eight Idaho Poets, 1979

To learn more about William Studebaker's accident go here and to read another poem River Religion go here.