Neringa's Corner

The Great Freeform Crocheted Afghan Project

2011-08-07T18:03:00.000-07:00

I am crocheting an afghan for my church's (First Unitarian Universalist Church of Lubbock) upcoming charity auction. The afghan is being done in freeform crochet.

(For those of you who can't remember the freeform crocheted afghan I made for my mother-in-law for Christmas, check it out here.)

Anyhow, even though this afghan still has a long way to go, I want to show you the progress of its growth.

Day 1
(started June 26th)

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Days 9 & 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Days 17 & 18

Days 19 & 20
(August 7th)

Stay tuned for more progress.

Disaster Preparedness

2011-07-11T17:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I completed a weekend long training for the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). I had been a CERT member when I was still in Massachusetts, and was excited to find out that there is a CERT program in Lubbock.

Yesterday we had to do a disaster simulation drill. It was one thing to learn about dealing with disasters in our modules; it was another thing all together doing the drill.

I was one of 2 people chosen to be a team leader, and believe me, neither one of us knew what we were doing - at least the first time around. The second time may have been a bit easier, however, we will need to get more disaster drills under our belt to feel more comfortable before we actually get deployed.

By the way, Channel 11 News was there to cover the disaster drill, and here is the story and news video.

And yes, I am in the video - all 2 or 3 seconds of me. And you have to know where to look to find me because my back is towards the camera as I am going into the building to do a search and rescue.

Just look for the 2 braids sticking out of the back of the helmet a little more than halfway into the video.

(Also look for the little red dog collar attached to the right of my green CERT backpack. The collar is there to distinguish my pack from all the other identical green backpacks. LOL)

I am really excited to be a member of CERT. And I am looking forward to the next training classes coming up in September. I will also be training to be a CERT instructor. And who knows, when I'm a CERT instructor, I'll get this really cool and classy Homeland Security shirt. LOL

Fun At the Antique Mall of Lubbock

2011-06-25T18:48:00.000-07:00

While on our way to get groceries at Sam's Club, Ariana and I decided to check out the Antique Mall of Lubbock.

It was a HUGE place - larger than a football field.

So many goodies to look at . . .

. . . and have fun with.

The silliness began when we came upon these vintage hats.

Here's Ariana as a Harley-Davidson bride.

And here she's pimped out in a fur coat and a wide-brimmed green hat.

The full pimped-out effect.

Waiting for the tea party to start.

A Geisha girl in a blue kimono.

Getting ready to do some calf roping. After all, we're in Texas!

Hope it's not hunting season.

Drinking some deadly brew.

A cool devilish mask.

On the lookout for enemy troops.

"I love you."

"Peace."

Attention!

Ships ahoy!

Hey! Where's the rest of the mariachi band?

Getting branded.

The best find of the day - a big-ass custom-made ring that's the size of a small egg. (Hope I can get it sized to fit.)

A Dangerous Place to Shop In Dallas

2011-06-25T18:36:00.000-07:00

Ariana and I visited the NorthPark Center - a really cool, but dangerous place to shop - while we were in Dallas.

The mall was filled with sculptures and huge plant displays scattered throughout it.

I particularly loved the succulent displays.

Though the bromeliad displays were also nice.

A jewelry store had this beautiful bracelet that I really liked. It was gold and had precious stones in rainbow colors.

And it could have been mine for the hefty price of $8000.

After seeing how much that bracelet cost, those darling $2700 retro-style Nina Ricci sunglasses seemed like a bargain!

The Dallas World Aquarium

2011-06-25T16:39:00.000-07:00

After our yummy lunch at Cibus, we decided to visit the Dallas World Aquarium. The steep admission cost was a bit off-putting, but I am glad that we did not let that deter us. The DWA was definitely worth the price, and was the highlight of our Dallas Easter weekend.

The DWA looks deceptively small from the outside.

Even the outside has something to look at.

Ariana posing on the away to buy tickets to get in.

On the way to the ticket booth.

Can't remember what this curious creature is.

Once inside, there are birds everywhere. Some of them fly right past your face.

There's even penguins.

This feather wreath looks like a firework explosion.

This tall waterfall was the centerpiece of the rain forest part of the DWA.

An anteater.

There's a baby anteater there, too, if you look carefully.

Ariana at the top level of the rain forest exhibit.

Toucans.

People can even feed the birds blueberry snacks.

This sleeping sloth was out in the open, not even behind bars, screens, or Plexiglas.

There was a sign right by the sloth's tree, warning people: Please don't touch the sloth.

It really does look like you're in a rain forest.

Is it a crocodile or and alligator?

One of several ponds throughout the DWA.

Flamingos!

Another big-ass alligator.

A fern imprint in the concrete walkway. There were lots of such imprints in the walkways.

A sea otter.

This sea otter was called the Black Widow because she outlived 3 of her mates.

So she's all alone.

But she's not lonely. She has many visitors to entertain every day.

A double yellow Amazon parrot. We used to have a parrot that looked just like this bird. His name was Jerry, and he was quite the talker.

Not all the wildlife at the DWA are intentional, as these ants on a lollipop attest.

Mother and baby primates.

I love this lizard . . .

. . . but I couldn't decide which pic I liked better. LOL

A tortoise.

More mother and baby primate pix.

(In case you're wondering why these pix are in black and white, it's because the primates were too far away for the flash on my camera to reach.)

A colorful toucan.

And a likewise colorful tree frog. This is the type of frog that's used to make poison-tipped arrows in the Amazon.

A very spiny tree trunk.

Lizard on a branch.

Closeup of the same lizard.

Another double yellow Amazon parrot. This one looks like it's taking a snooze.

Looking up at the rain forest exhibit.

Another monkey.

Here's an anaconda under the water. But where's the head?

Here's the head.

A caiman.

Closeup of the caiman.

An electric eel.

Ditto.

Ditto again.

A pond filled w/arowanas.

An arowana is considered to be a good-luck Feng Shui fish. But you would have to have a really HUGE fish tank. These fish get to be rather big.

Looks like some sort of conure.

A skate.

More skates.

Here's that waterfall again.

A red ibis.

Fancy beaded pelican at the gift shop.

More fancy beaded critters.

Cute beaded lizard.

Big-ass giant catfish.

Ditto.

One of many coral reef displays.

Jelly fish.

What was really cool was that these jelly fish would phosphoresce. It's too bad the camera could not capture that.

Sea horse.

Another one.

There were lots of different species of seahorses.

A beautiful sea dragon.

Clown fish among the anemones.

More sea dragons.

These fish look like pieces of floating seaweed or kelp.

Pretty stripes.

I love the patterns on this fish - very tribal looking.

King crab. Yummy!

A boa.

Garden eels. They were so cool. Their tails are in the sand and they sway like blades of grass.

Cute lizard.

Hammerhead shark swimming over the shark tunnel.

Saw fish.

Manta ray.

A rattlesnake.

Alligators.

Silver dollars. We used to have these fish when we had an aquarium back in Massachusetts. Ourswere big, but not as big as the ones here.

There was even a jaguar at the DWA!

Closeup of the jaguar pattern.

A Mayan-type statue outside the jaguar exhibit.

Flamingos!

Tons of them!

Flamingos get their bright pink color from the algae they eat.

Looking down at the shark tank and shark tunnel.

The DWA was an incredibly cool place to tool around through.

It just kept going on forever.

Just when you thought you came to the end of your visit, there was still another large section to explore.

We spent 2 hours there, and it was nowhere near long enough to get the full appreciation of this very amazing place.

A really cool building outside the front of the Dallas World Aquarium.

An Easter Lunch In Dallas

2011-05-14T19:36:00.001-07:00

It was Easter morning in Dallas, and the original intention was to go to a Unitarian-Universalist church there and catch an Easter service.

But circumstances conspired against us.

I did not have much sleep in that I was awoken by loud voices and door banging in the middle of the night. And just when I was thinking of calling the cops to register a noise complaint, Ariana said, "Mom, that was the cops making all that noise."

Apparently there must have been some action going down at the Mesquite Inn, for there were 8 cops there, banging on the second floor doors and shining their spot lights upstairs.

Ariana did not have an easy night either. Deion accidentally gave her a "flat tire," causing a painful blister to break on her foot. The pain kept her up all night. Finally at 5:00 AM, she woke me up and asked if we could go somewhere where she could get ointment, pain killers, and band-aids.

We did an early morning, pre-dawn trek to Wally World, and got the necessary items to give Ariana some relief.

Then, while we were up, we decided to go to IHOP for some brekkie and mother-daughter bonding time.

After that, we were wide-eyed and bushy tailed. We got back to the motel, I took a shower to get ready for church. And as I stepped out of the shower, Ariana had the experience that I have lately been having after a very busy day at work. In other words, she hit a wall of sheer exhaustion.

I could relate. And while I did want to go to church, I had no objection in going back to bed.

We slept until late morning. After getting dressed, we went to pick up Deion and go to the NorthPark Mall. (Ariana was just dying to get a pair of designer sunglasses that she saw at Ilori the day before.)

Well bugger! The stores were all closed. Well, duh! It was Easter.

However, the restaurants were all open. And we were hungry.

We finally settled on Cibus, mainly because they served carpaccio, a delicacy of an appetizer that Ariana adores and has not had in about 9 years.

I ordered the grilled shrimp and grilled Italian veggies on a bed of arugula. Yum!

Here's the carpaccio beef that Ariana has been waiting to enjoy after 9 years.

(I didn't include a pic of Deion's lunch. Frankly, most people know what a pepperoni pizza looks like. LOL)

Ariana and Deion. (Oooh! Lookie there! You can see Deion's pepperoni pizza in the corner!)

Ariana and Deion getting funny with each other.

Ariana and me sitting in one of the big patio chairs at Cibus.

With bellies nicely satisfied and Easter dinner at Deion's house still hours away, we had some time to kill.

Next stop: the Dallas World Aquarium!

The Dallas Arboretum

2011-05-14T17:37:00.001-07:00

Whereas the Traders Village was overwhelming, The Dallas Arboretum was uplifting. The day may have been hazy and overcast in places, but that did not diminish the beauty of the place.

This stone slab fountain marked the entrance to the Dallas Arboretum.

Just like in Lubbock, grackles have made a home for themselves in Dallas.

Beautiful plants, both potted and planted, defined the grace of this place.

There were dedicated gardens all throughout the Arboretum.

One garden featured lots of foxglove.

Lots of foxglove . . .

. . . everywhere.

There was a garden dedicated to Beatrix Potter.

The many flowering huts looked like they could have come out of a fairy tale, or more appropriately, a Peter Rabbit tale.

Each one was different . . .

. . . in both its size . . .

. . . and the flowers that were used.

Some huts even featured fanciful creatures, like this mossy bear,

or this family of bunnies.

Carpets of flowers delighted the eyes,

while a Celtic harpist delighted the ears.

Shortly past the Celtic harp, we came upon this HUGE - Texas size - mossy statue of Peter Rabbit.

This tree-arched walkway looked like it came out of a story book.

A random planter of poppies by a bench.

Another patch of foxglove.

In another part of the Arboretum was this rustic rose trellis.

Trellis detail.

More trellis detail.

Couldn't resist taking a pic of this fellow.

Iron work detail.

At around this point, I realized that the air smelled so fresh and sweet. This was the first time I smelled something like that since moving to Texas, especially since Lubbock is very dry and dusty.

Overlooking a formal garden.

Very formal shrubs.

It was amazing to see how vast and varied the Arboretum was.

A decorative some wall.

A formal garden walkway.

Still in the formal garden.

A close-up of the fountain and sculpture in the formal garden.

Another view of the formal garden.

Leaving the formal garden, we approach a water garden.

Monet's favorites.

Waterlily close up.

This part of the garden looks almost autumnal with the red leaves on the trees.

Any self-respecting garden must include some koi.

The fish do add color and movement to the water garden.

A random stonework structure.

Close-up detail of the random stonework structure.

And more detail.

Another random stonework structure. This one looks like the bottom of a chimney.

Ground cover peeking through the stone walkway.

A picture frame archway by a formal pool.

Close-up of a statue overlooking the formal pool.

These trumpeters overlook the Poetry Garden.

The Poetry Garden reminded me of the courtyard inside the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum in Boston. Both are classical romantic spots.

Detail of the young wood nymph statue.

This wood nymph has the whole garden to herself.

Notice the knot work pattern in the hedges.

I was intrigued by this smooth, barkless tree.

This is part of the Xeriscape Garden. I think xeriscaping is a great idea. Beautiful gardens can be created by using drought-resistant plants, like agaves and yuccas.

Past the Xeriscape Garden was this lush waterway.

That same waterway, looking from the other side of the walk bridge.

Another view of the lush waterway.

Here's a smooth wisteria vine.

A Southern Magnolia beginning to bloom.

An open Southern Magnolia blossom.

And a magnolia blossom already past its prime and going to seed.

This fellow hung out at the outdoor cafe that we were sitting at.

Looking for handouts?

At this point, after spending a good part of the afternoon at the Arboretum, we were tired. The rest of the day was for chillaxing with friends.

Dallas!

2011-05-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

Finally, a new blog!

A few weeks ago, on Easter weekend, Ariana and I got away from it all and took a trip to Dallas.

We shared the driving on this 5 - 6 hour drive. And there's one thing about driving through Texas - it's all back roads.

We arrived at night, visited with Ariana's friend Deion and his family, and then settled in for the night at the Mesquite Inn in Mesquite.

The next morning, Ariana, Deion, and I went to the the Traders Village, this really HUGE flea market.

And on our way there, we got our first daylight view of downtown Dallas.

There's the Dallas skyline in the background.

Now that's what I call a skyline!

You won't see buildings that tall in Lubbock, and certainly not so many of them.
.
It's been 2 years since I've been in a city with skyscrapers.

Anyhow, Traders Village wound up being very overwhelming in its size. We didn't stay there too long, just long enough for me to get a pair of basketball shorts and a tee shirt to sleep in because I forgot to pack my PJs.

Our next stop was going to be the Dallas Arboretum.

An Abandoned Motel - Pix and a Story

2010-08-04T15:44:00.000-07:00

This past Monday, Ariana and I went on a photo safari to an abandoned motel on the east side of town.

Ever since I had noticed the motel, which was across the street from the park where I take Kane, I had been curious about going back to it to explore and take pix.

Anyhow, Monday was the day I finally got around to doing that.

Approaching the motel was a bit difficult. Because it had been in such disrepair, there was no driveway that I could pull into. With the ground being broken up and strew with rubble, I was concerned that I would puncture a tire.

This archway was an easily noticeable feature from the road.

One day, I notice a young couple at the motel. The girl, in her white summer dress, was posing in the archway while her boyfriend or husband took pictures.

Because the sun was close to setting, the mosquitoes started coming out in full force. I was barely at the front of the motel when they started attacking me full force.

That broken door leads to the courtyard behind the front of the building.

It looks like a courtyard now,

but I am sure that it was a big room.

This small section of linoleum is proof that the courtyard was once an interior space.

However, with decades of decay, Mother Nature started taking over.

As with any abandoned building, expect to find graffiti.

Graffiti and decay often lends itself to creating a rich pallet of textures and colors.

This is one of my favorite pix from the series of abandoned motel photos.

Some of the walls in the courtyard had inspirational graffiti.

And it was kind of nice to see graffiti that had a positive message for a change.

Where a ceiling had been, there is now a canopy of leaves.

A doorway leads to the rear of the building,

where I found this odd room sticking out. Was it a bathroom at some point?

There was more to the abandoned motel than what was visible from the road. This stone retaining wall was along side a path, which was once a driveway,

that led uphill to another building out back.

Not being visible from the road, this building was most heavily hit by graffiti artists.

The walls were tagged both inside and out.

With some graffiti, one had to wonder what the messages meant,

while on other walls, the messages were clear. But before, you get the idea that these words are conveying an uplifting thought, think again. (These words are lyrics from a Lil Wayne song. And if you click on the link, you'll see what I mean.)

Some graffiti was creepy, adding to the already creepy vibes of the place.

And some hinted at secrets that no one would ever know.

While not all the walls fell victim to the spray can, they all fell victim to decay.

The ceilings, too, showed great decay.

And in some areas you could see the blue sky through the gaping holes.

There were textures to behold on the ground.

Some areas still had the smallest hints of what the floors could have looked like.

It was not difficult to find artful arrangements of rubble on the ground. And with the sun being close to setting, the lighting was glorious.

After we explored the back building, we discovered yet another building,

with green boarded up windows, a bit more further out.

Walking through these 2 hidden buildings, one could not help but think what a perfect backdrop they would have made for a scary horror movie.

(This is the same view as above, but using a flash.)

One can only guess as to the purpose of this curious hole in the wall.

As with the other buildings, there were plenty of open window spaces

and open areas in the ceiling.

But my favorite part of this building was this beautiful, majorly distressed green door.

I just loved the colors, textures, and lighting.

We would have stayed longer, but we were already losing the light, and the mosquitoes were getting even more fierce.

As we walked down the path to the car, I thought a caught a whiff of a Black and Mild cigar. And with my previous thought being about the horror movie setting of this place, it did not take all that great a leap in imagination to wonder if there were some miscreants in our midst, who were lying in wait, trying to decide whether to quietly let us pass or take us out and chop us into tiny little pieces.

Obviously, they stayed hidden and allowed us to pass.

We're not done yet.

It's story time now.

The day after our photo safari, Ariana showed to her coworkers the pix that she took on her camera. And one of those coworkers told her the story of the abandoned motel.

Whether the story - or parts of it - are true or not, it's hard to say. I was not able to find any information online.

But the story goes:

This motel was known as the Stumblers' Inn. That may not have been its official name, but rather a name that the locals called it. The reason for that name was that there was a bar near the motel. And after the bar would close up for the night, the drunks from the bar would stumble their way to the motel.

Supposedly the city never tore down the motel was because it was considered to be a historical landmark.

And there is a gruesome story associated with the Stumblers' Inn as well.

The story goes:

Sometime in the 50s, a man killed his 5-year-old-daughter in one of the motel rooms.

He would not allow her out of the room, not even when she needed to go to the bathroom. As such, the little girl peed on the floor. When that happened, the father flew into an insane rage and killed the little girl by force-feeding her Tabasco and smashing her against the wall.

Truth or urban legend?

Who's to say.

But one thing I will say is that in the "666" room, Ariana found an old broken doll. And that was the room that gave her the creepiest vibes.

More Than Just Wiping Bums

2010-07-24T00:37:00.000-07:00

It took my dear friend Ruth in Australia to point out to me that there was more going on in my feelings towards my job that just complaining about having to toilet patients and clean up after them when they wet their beds.

(Would you believe that I even learned how to change a bed with a patient still in it?)

My friend pointed out that in my emails I have also poignantly written about my patients, the miracles that I witnessed, and the amazing amount of information that I learned about traumatic brain injuries. She said, "It's obvious that you care about your patients and feel more passion about your job than you realize. I think you should give that some thought."

And I did.

Upon meditating on her words, I realized that she was right. And I realized that I wanted to learn more and become more involved.

So, a few days ago I put in a request to be transferred to the morning shift so that I could have more interaction with the patients, learn more about what goes on, and participate in their treatments and therapies.

(I also had my personal and selfish reasons. I wanted to work on a shift where I could once again have a life - and my weekends off.)

Traumatic brain injuries are a personal issue for me. My husband has experienced multiple head injuries, and there have been recent studies about the cumulative effects of multiple TBIs.

Also, I was raised by a father who suffered a major TBI in the 40s (when there was no such thing as TBI science and research) and who had discharged himself from the hospital before completing his treatment and recovery.

And just a few years ago, I discovered that my mother, too, had a TBI from the same accident that my father was involved in, and that her personality changed as a result of that accident.

Do you know what a mind-blowing concept it was to discover that my sister and I were both raised by brain-damaged parents?

So working at this job is like coming around full circle.

Maybe this job is where I am meant to be - at least for the time being. And as long as I'm at this job, I am going to use it to learn as much as I could so that I, too, could participate in helping miracles unfold, whether it's at work or right under my own roof.

After all, it is no accident that my workplace is often referred to as an "environment of pioneering miracles."

Support - and Effort - Is Everything

2010-07-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

I work in a rehab/assisted living facility for patients with post-acute traumatic brain injuries.

Our patients are all examples of how the course of one's life can change, dramatically, in a split second.

Many of them do have full, or as close to full as possible, recoveries. But there are also many whose lives will be permanently changed. They will have to learn to adapt to and live with the new limitations that have been imposed on their bodies and minds.

Each brain injury is as unique as each patient.

Some patients work really hard and make great progress. Some start out making progress, but then give up as the therapies get more challenging.

The road to recovery is very difficult and painful.

There are some patients who do seem to make much effort in the first place. There are some where effort does not seem possible, either through physical or mental means.

And we have also had patients who have surprised us - patients that we thought would not get better but who have managed to make great strides.

One of those patients was the Appalachian hillbilly college history professor who was a passenger in a car that was involved in a serious wreck.

She was a level 3 (requiring 24-hour within arm's reach supervision) for the longest time. The hillbilly prof was confused, not lucid a good part of the time, and not aware of her safety.

She also had mental health issues, which were controlled with medication. After her brain injury, however, they percolated to the top, often making her delusional or downright paranoid.

When the hillbilly prof first came in, we could not even allow her to stand up and walk to the bathroom at night because that would involve having to put on her back brace, which she was supposed to have off at night. We had to give her the bed pan instead.

She had at least 16 surgeries within a month of her accident, some of them being skin grafts.

The hillbilly prof now is walking on her own, and has been for quite some time. She occasionally gets confused and disoriented, but she's nowhere near as bad as she used to be.

Being originally from Appalachia and proud of her hillbilly roots, music is a big thing in the hillbilly prof's life. In addition to being a history professor, she is also a musician, as is her husband (who is also a music professor). A major step in her progress involved her love for music, when she went from sustaining a note for 5 seconds to sustaining one for 25 seconds. She and her husband were ecstatic.

The hillbilly prof may be getting discharged soon. She may not be able to return to her job as college professor because her brain is still a bit scrambled from the accident. But who knows? Maybe that miracle will happen further down the road.

Like the cowboy, the Appalachian hillbilly prof has come a long way. And like the cowboy, she has had incredible family support. Her husband has been down to the center nearly every day to visit with her and take her out to dinner or bring her back home so that she could enjoy the company of their one million cats.

(Please do read about the cowboy, especially the beginning of the blog that tells you what his story was. Watching the cowboy's progress on the road to recovery is like watching a miracle unfold! His story has got to be one of the most inspiring stories to cross my work's threshold.)

It seems as though the patients with the biggest family support are the ones who make the biggest progress. And that makes me believe that family involvement is a very important component to a patient's recovery.

We had one patient who had very little family support. Part of it could have been that her family lived far away. But even then, they could have called more often. We did have video phones for patients whose families were more than 100 miles away.

She had not seen her kids in 15 - 18 months. In fact, she could not even talk to them on the phone. For some reason, the rest of her family would not permit this patient contact with her kids, which further increased her sorrow.

The patient was wheelchair bound and needed assistance in dressing, bathing, and going to the bathroom.

One of her goals was to be able to put her arms around her kids and hug them.

For awhile, she was showing improvement - increasing the time she was on the treadmill or increasing the distance she was able to walk down the hall without her wheelchair.

What held her back was her fear. She had fallen a couple of times and was afraid that she was going to fall again. She allowed that fear to control her. So eventually, she stopped making the effort that she was making before. The progress that she made stopped and then took several backwards steps.

The patient was discharged and sent to live in a nursing home that was closer to her family.

One cannot help but wonder how far this patient would have gone if she had more family support - if her family was there, urging her on, and urging her not to give up.

Sometimes It Pays to Suck At Something

2010-07-16T22:59:00.000-07:00

My work had a summer party for its staff and their families today. The party was held at a local bowling hall not too far from where I live.

After sharing a well-intentioned, but less-than-satisfying meal, we were divided into teams of 8 and sent out into the bowling lanes to play.

Now I haven't bowled in decades, and the last time I did, it was with duck pins, not the big-ass pins using the big-ass balls.

And the last time I played, my score was more fitting for golf than it was for bowling. Obama would have easily whooped my butt in bowling.

Well, it was no different tonight.

Out of all the players, I had the lowest score. No big surprise there. I predicted that would happen. But that wasn't all that bad.

You see, there were prizes awarded tonight for the best player and for the worst player. Both of us won $50 gift cards to the Main Event, an entertainment venue that features bowling, billiards, laser tag, arcade games, and other fun stuff to do.

I am especially looking forward to playing laser tag, having played it several years ago at Ariana's friend's b-day party. And the laser tag set up at the Main Event looks a helluva nicer and more cool than the one I played at in Massachusetts.

Laser tag is more my style. Sure it gets the adrenaline going and works up a sweat, but at least it doesn't involve heavy balls. The knuckles on my right hand, especially my middle finger, are still quite sore from hefting those heavy big-ass bowling balls.

More Doggie Fun

2010-07-08T21:43:00.000-07:00

Today, Kane and I visited my friend Marilyn and her dog Lucy Locket.

This was the first time that the 2 dogs met, but you'd never know it from the fun they had chasing each other.

And after all that hard running, it was time to cool off in the pool.

Exploring New Trails

2010-06-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, after our usual romp at Mackenzie Park, I decided to take a drive out to the Dunbar Historical Lake Park. That area was suggested by a young man at Mackenzie Park. He said that there were all sorts of trails behind the lake.

Since Kane and I had already spent about 30 - 45 minutes at Mackenzie Park, our trip to the canyon lake at Dunbar Historical Lake was to be just a very brief reconnaissance mission.

And after determining that the trails at Dunbar Lake were indeed worth exploring, Kane and I came back the following day for some more thorough exploration.

There are several trails - mainly for motor bikes and mountain bikes - crisscrossing through the back of of the park. There was no way that we could cover the entire terrain in 2 hours.

One the side of one trail was some farm land. I couldn't tell what the crop was. I was too far away to determine that.

All through the park there were various flowers. I had no idea what these were, but they did look pretty.

Some small yellow flowers like the kind I would see back east.

Leguminous pods from the mesquite tree. Back east mesquite wood would be sold for barbecue flavoring. Here mesquite grows all over the place. It's sort of considered to be a nuisance tree.

This flower looks almost like the purple asters that grow in Massachusetts in late September. If it's the same type of flower, it's not surprising that it's blooming now. The weather here is warmer. I even saw Rose of Sharon in bloom last week. In Massachusetts it doesn't bloom until the end of July or beginning of August.

A view from one side of the trail.

And a view from the other side of the trail. It's amazing that this kind of wilderness is found right in the city!

Another mesquite with pods.

And just a little down the path is a mesquite that is still in bloom.

Close-up of a thistle blossom.

A thistle plant. Hey! At least I recognized that plant.

A plant with tiny purple blossom that look as though they could be in the nightshade family.

More mesquite. It's everywhere.

So are vines like this. They were everywhere.

And they cover a lot of ground.

A dead tree always adds a picturesque element.

Rather sculptural, isn't it?

I discovered this cactus in fruit. It looks like someone took a barrel cactus and buried it in the ground up to its top.

Yellow flowers.

Tiny white flowers.

More thistles.

Tiny white daisy-like flowers. I saw these in Massachusetts, too, but I don't remember what they are.

One of the many yuccas. They have already finished blooming and now have large seed pods where the flowers used to be.

Here's a close-up of the yucca seed pods. This stalk was so weighed down by the heavy seed pods that it bent sideways.

Prickly pear cacti among the high plains scrub.

When I first saw this the day before, I was rather put off by the blatant human intrusion on this beautiful wilderness. But I suppose that any abandoned building structure is fair game for graffiti artists.

Graffiti detail.

More graffiti detail.

And still more some detail.

Kane is probably pretending that he tagged that wall. LOL

A view of the opposite tagged wall.

Graffiti on the outside wall.

Here's the front of the structure.

Some yellow flowers near the graffiti structure.

Close-up of a delicate purple fringy flower.

Here's the same flower from a side view.

One of the trails that Kane and I explored.

As usual, Kane found a muddy patch and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Mysterious white flower buds that have yet to open. I wonder what the flowers will look like.

Another mess of mesquite.

Some of the beautiful wilderness I encountered on our hike.

This trail almost looks like a path leading to an ocean beach in Massachusetts. But we're quite a way from any ocean in the high plains of west Texas.

What sort of critter made these tracks?

It looks like it could be the fore foot track of a raccoon. I heard that the raccoons at Dunbar Lake get very large - almost as big as dogs.

Some unusual whip-like greenery growing by the side of the trail.

Kane is hoping to find some bunnies to chase.

The birds in the trees and brush took flight when Kane approached.

I couldn't believe how blazing white this trail was. Maybe some day we'll see where this white trail leads.

Even though we may feel as though we're in the wilderness, there are signs of civilization nearby. (Can you see the wind turbines in the back?)

Some ground cover with teeny tiny white flowers.

I'm not sure what this is. Maybe a water processing plant, perhaps?

More purple thistles.

A lone tiny yellow flower.

I don't know what this plant was either. Perhaps something in the nightshade family?

A tall sunflower.

A sunflower close-up.

Sunflowers were growing everywhere, which was nice, because sunflowers are one of my favorite flowers. It's hard not to feel cheerful when you look at the bright sunny face of a sunflower.

Here's more of those mysterious vines that I saw growing everywhere.

And look what I found growing at the end of one of those vine! Is it a melon or a squash? I will have to return to find out.

Guess I was right about being close to a water processing plant.

Sunflowers even invaded the water company property. I took this pic through a gate in a tall chain link fence.

More sunflowers in front of the mysterious white conduits.

And just what in the hell are these conduits for? For processed water?

This was the only area - by the water company property - I found these orange flowers.

These flowers had gone by, but I liked the look of the seed balls. They reminded me of planetary spheres.

More sunflowers.

And more mesquite.

I told you they were everywhere.

By now, Kane and I finished our trail exploration and were heading back to the car.

But before going into the car, I wanted to go across the road to check the lake.

Look at the cattails here! That's not something you would expect in a semi-arid area like Lubbock.

And would you expect this lake in Lubbock, too? This is certain not playa lake. Dunbar Lake is part of the canyon lake system that runs through Lubbock. (See the clouds reflected in the lake?)

There's good fishing at this lake. In fact, it is a very popular fishing area here in Lubbock. People catch perch, catfish, carp, and bass.

Walking along the top of the lake dam. (I think it's a dam.)

The top of the damn slopes down to the road level. Ducks enjoy swimming here. These ducks were starting to climb up the slope of the dam. But when they saw Kane, back into the water they went. They didn't know that he just wanted to say "Hi."

Here's a waterfall that flows from the top of the dam.

Here's a side view of the waterfall looking from the road.

And here's the waterfall head on.

The water then flows under the road and comes out on the other side of the road like this.

I heard that this water then flows out through the wooded area, goes under the railroad tracks, and collects in a catch basin where the carp like to hang out.

Hmmm. Sounds like another fun place to explore the next time we visit.

Sir and Ma'am

2010-06-23T20:39:00.000-07:00

Roma says that I have not yet picked up the Texas accent.

Maybe not. But I have picked up the Texas way of speaking, the most notable of which is addressing others as Sir and Ma'am. And having come from New England, it took some getting used to.

Addressing people as Sir and Ma'am is a "southern thing." Children are taught from a very early age to address others in this manner. And the lessons are further reinforced in school. The south is very big on politeness and manners.

Does that mean that the north is less polite because Sir and Ma'am are not considered proper forms of address there?

Maybe.

Northerners are different. They are more reserved, and that can often be construed as their being more aloof.

But that could also be due to the fact that the north, especially New England is incredibly densely populated - so much so that people have greater "personal space" issues.

And because of these "personal space" issues, direct eye contact can sometimes be interpreted as a sign of aggression and hostility.

"Who you looking at?!"

So in order to avoid undue problems and possible confrontations, people have taken to being reserved.

But that still does not explain why New Englanders don't address each other as Sir or Ma'am.

New England women especially resent being called Ma'am.

My friend Barbara works at a hospital in Providence. There was a resident there who came from Texas. Barbara and her co-workers promptly reprimanded him for calling them Ma'am because they said it made them feel old.

But that's not the case here in Texas, where I heard middle-aged sales clerks call young female customers Ma'am.

In Texas, and very likely throughout the south, Sir and Ma'am have no age distinctions. They are just polite forms of address.

And I kind of like that. It adds a nice gentility to the people and place.

Happy Birzday

2010-06-09T23:13:00.001-07:00

Today was Roma's birthday, or "birzday" as we like to say it.

Family tradition has us calling up the birthday person and singing "Happy Birthday" over the phone in the most off-key way possible. We call it the "Birthday Howl."

Well, there weren't enough of us to do the Birthday Howl - not if it was to be done right.

However, I had another thing in mind for Roma.

While I was at the coffee shop, waiting for my order to be filled, I went up to a table that had about 5 - 6 young women sitting at it.

"Excuse me ladies, but I have a bit of an odd request."

I explained that it was my sister's birthday and that she's living in Rhode Island. And I asked if they would be willing to sing "Happy Birthday" to her over the phone.

"Oh! I like birthdays!" one of the girls exclaimed.

They asked what my sister's name was, and then said what a really neat name it was.

I punched in Roma's number, and she answered on the first or second ring.

And we began singing.

Roma was touched, and even more so that I got a group of strangers to serenade her on her birthday.

But this is Texas, where people are friendly. I don't think I would have had the courage to ask a group of strangers to sing "Happy Birthday" to my sister anywhere else.

Happy Birzday, Sis!

Uncertainty

2010-06-03T16:22:00.000-07:00

I may not blog tonight - or the next several nights.

I am returning to work tonight, and it's uncertain if there are any minutes left on Ariana's netbook. If there aren't, I will need to wait until the next billing cycle, when the minutes are replenished.

So, the next time I will be able to blog will be Tuesday night, my next night off.

Musings On My Last Night of Freedon

2010-06-02T22:11:00.000-07:00

In slightly less than 22 hours, I will be back to work. Yuck.

I'm not looking forward to that - not looking forward to working 41.25 hours a week and only having 2 nights to myself.

I don't even know if I'll be able to continue blogging, seeing that there are limited minutes on my daughter's netbook - minutes that get used up very fast when I spend nearly half of my work night on the internet blogging, Facebooking, and posting on my groups.

It's a hard reality that we have to work for a living. Bills don't get paid by themselves. And it's a harder reality to swallow that my paycheck is nowhere near sufficient to support my family.

I've been spoiled by all those years that I have not had to work. And unlike a lot of people, I have always found things to keep me busy.

My new neighbor goes out every day to photograph. I used to, too, when I first moved to Lubbock. But ever since I started working, opportunities to go out with my camera have been far and few in between.

When I had my 6 nights off, I thought that it would have been great to go up to Palo Duro Canyon or Cadillac Ranch for a day of photographing.

But instead, my "vacation" was spent cleaning and organizing, something that needed to get done and something that could have been done if I didn't have my nights consumed with work and my days consumed with sleep.

My friend Marilyn recently lost her job when her grant money ran out. But Marilyn can pick up extra cash by offering massage therapy at her home studio. She's a damn great massage therapist, and I am sure that she would have no problem finding clients.

But unlike Marilyn, I don't have a service that would allow me to work from home, despite the many talents that I have.

Sure, my talents have the potential for eventually earning me some money, but the key word here is "eventually." "Eventually" doesn't cut it when there are immediate financial responsibilities to be met.

And frankly with my holding down a full time job, I don't have the time to devote to make that eventuality a reality.

So all I can do is slog away at the daily grind, keep my eyes and ears open for any glint of opportunity, pray for and dream of a brighter future.

And dream I do.

What would I do if I were blessed with good fortune?

I have thought about this often enough to know that I would maintain my life pretty much the same way, but that I would "upgrade" it.

Instead of living in a sardine can troll hole, I would have a a real house. Not a MacMansion in some hoity-toity neighborhod like the Vintage Village, but a home that's just large enough to afford us ample storage space and enough space for privacy.

There would be lots of windows to let in lots of light, because I love the light. In fact I thrive on light. And with all that light, I would surround myself with lots of beautiful plants - surround myself with life.

There would be a large fenced-in yard for the dogs, too.

I'm not interested in boats, fancy cars, or membership to a country club. But a couple of horses on a ranch may be nice.

And my spare car would be a 4-door pick-up truck, not a Beemer or a Benz.

I would be generous in my prosperity, using my financial blessings to help out my family, support my favorite charities (especially the Southwest Pennsylvania Retriever Rescue Organization, who was so kind to take in my two old dogs), and pay back my mother-in-law for all the help she has given us.

I would travel. I would see the places that I wanted to see in both this country and the world. I would visit Lithuania, my ancestral land.

I would pursue my creative interests and my thirst for learning new things.

I would pay for my family and old friends back east to come and visit me. And I would treat my new friends and co-workers to a party to show my appreciation for them.

And then, after the party's been picked up and everybody's gone home, I would go back to living my simple and unassuming (but enriched) life in my simple and unassuming home.

Why is it that people feel that when they come into a lot of money they have to live it up and accumulate all sorts of trappings?

Trappings are just that - something that traps and holds you.

Simplicity is much better. So is peace, serenity, and happiness.

I am not naive to assume that my life would change were I to come into a massive fortune. But the change that I would like to see happen would be one where only the hardship would disappear and where I would use my wealth wisely to enrich my life and the lives of others.

Money does not buy happiness, but it does make things easier.

But for now, I will follow the advice of poet Langston Hughes:

Hold onto dreams
For if dreams die
Life is like a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Wild and Wonderful West Texas Weather

2010-06-01T22:08:00.000-07:00

The day started out like most days here - sunny and hot.

It was 96 degrees when I took Kane out to the athletic complex at around 3:00 PM. And this time there were no puddles to be found, not even by the dog who has a talent for finding the only mud puddle in Lubbock.

So after 20 minutes of walking around, we hightailed it to Petsmart, where we practiced our loose leash walking and the "stay" command in air conditioned comfort.

It was still hot and sunny when we finished, some 45 minutes later. However, when the discovery that we were out of dog food prompted me to return to Petsmart at around 6:30, clouds were already filling the sky.

When I left Petsmart with my purchase, there were flashes of lightning in the west and north.

An hour later, Ariana and I went to the Market Street supermarket to do some grocery shopping. By then rain was added to the weather repertoire.

It was a light rain, however, one that did not require the windshield wipers to be operating at a continuous rate. The drops were big and fat. It was slightly windy. Lightning continued to flash.

As we shopped we could hear the thunder booming overhead.

When we came out, the rain had abated somewhat.

And in the west, we noticed that the clouds had parted, to reveal a beautiful yellow sunset. (This photo does not do it justice.)

After taking the sunset pic, I turned to the opposite direction.

And lo and behold!

There was this stunning double rainbow. It was so stunning that the store workers and other shoppers also noticed it. Ariana and I were not the only ones taking pictures and videos of it on our cellphone cameras.

As we surveyed the double rainbow, we noticed the lightning flashing in the background. The storm had moved, and the lightning was now on the opposite end of the horizon.

But there was more.

The rainbow arched all the way across the sky. And what a beautiful long arc it was!

The lightning continued flashing, sometimes dramatically - more dramatically than what I had been able to capture on video.

There was one spectacular flash that I missed, but that Ariana saw. She said that it looked like an anaconda. Not only was it thick and fat, but she was also able to see blue scales in the flash (now that she was wearing her new glasses).

It's been 4 hours since Nature treated us to this amazing display. The storm had long since passed.

Perhaps tomorrow Kane will be able to find his favorite puddles replenished.

My Cleaning Vacation

2010-05-31T23:37:00.000-07:00

No profundities today either.

After running an errand and having an impromptu lunch at the India Palace buffet, I was in no mood to take Kane out for his exercise.

Not only was it hot (which usually is no big deal for me) it was Memorial Day, which meant that all of Lubbock was going to be out. I had no desire to deal with all those little kids at the park and trying to keep Kane from jumping up on them.

So I stayed in my troll hole apartment and cleaned.

I finally decided to tackle the kitchen and all the stuff piled up on the 4 teeny tiny counters in the kitchen - detritus that had been sitting there ever since the movers brought our stuff in September.

After all my effort, those 4 tiny Formica squares are pristine.

There was finally room to prepare food and set dishes down on. Hell! There was even enough room for my food processor - that is, after I put the crock pot in the closet. (And that necessitated my cleaning out the closet as well.)

The stove got a cleaning, too. Those puddles of grease under the elements may have explained why the smoke alarm was going off, even after I cleaned out the oven the day before.

I did 2 loads of dishes. And put them away.

The paid bills got organized. They were put into an accordion folder.

The kitchen table was cleaned off. And I replaced the dirty fabric table cloth with an easy-to-clean plastic one.

The kitchen and dining areas are now nice and clean. And if anybody undoes all of my hard work, I will wring their necks.

Somewhat Busy Day

2010-05-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry, no profound thoughts to share tonight. I'm hovering on the cusp of wakefulness and sleep. As such whatever deep thoughts I may have are not able to percolate up to the surface. So I will just describe an abridged version my day instead.

The day started off with devotions in the morning after not having enough sleep. (Hey, even on my nights off, it's still tough to revert to a "normal" schedule.)

After devotions, I dragged Neil with me to the grocery store to pick up some stuff that we ran out of. Neil sat in the car while I shopped.

After shopping, I paid the rent and water bill at the leasing office.

Then I went home. And while Neil was putting away his 2 cases of Ramen noodles, I was cleaning up the pudding poops that Emi left. (She's been stealing the kitten food, and it must be too rich for her stomach.)

I sprayed oven cleaner in the oven, and then set off in search of over-the-door shoe organizers.

I was hoping that I could find some in the mall - in either J.C. Penney or Sears - which is very close to home.

No such luck. (But I did score a nice pair of black leggings at Beall's and got my hair trimmed at Regis Salon.)

So that meant that I had to drive out to Wally World, AKA Walmart.

Found what I was looking for. Bought 2.

When I came home with my spoils, I finished cleaning the oven. What a mess. And it did not help that Kane kept sticking his nose in the oven while I tried to clean. But I finally got it done, and I had to throw away the sponge afterwards.

Once the oven was clean, I took Kane to the park. We test drove his new 35 to 40-foot leash that I made. It worked great. Kane didn't pull. And little kids didn't get knocked down.

We stayed about 30 - 45 minutes at the park.

Kane chased Frisbees, thus disrupting the disc golf games. But the folks were good-natured about Kane running away with their discs, especially when they were their friends' discs.

Unlike yesterday, I saw no snakes today. Too bad.

It started sprinkling just before we left. And with the temperature being 94, that little sprinkle was a nice relief. In fact, it knocked the temp down to 91.

After taking Kane out for his exercise, the next part of our ritual is usually to stop at the coffee shop, where I get either a passion fruit-orange-guava smoothie or a Ghiradelli mocha iced latte, and Kane gets his usual cup of ice.

But when I saw that the gate to the coffee shop's patio was closed, I went home instead.

When I got home, I lost on a scratch ticket that I bought. The state of Texas became another $5 richer. And I guess I won't be driving out to Austin to collect my $10,000 a month (minus taxes) for 20 years.

Not yet.

I started organizing my shoes, putting them in the shoe organizer. I was going to give one of the organizers to Ariana, but when I discovered that I had more shoes than what one shoe organizer could hold, I decided to use the second one.

The second one also held some of Neil's shoes, his neck ties, and his socks. Now Neil has no excuse for not finding his socks.

I put all the CDs that were stacked in multiple piles on the bedroom floor into 2 racks that I picked up at Savers. And I packed some stuff into boxes. More floor space got liberated. Yay!

Now I need to go out an buy more packaging tape so that I can put together more boxes to catch all the stuff I need to bring to the storage unit.

Ariana came home from work and started cooking.

I stopped my cleaning when the phone rang. It was Barbara.

Later, I ate a small edame and tabbouleh salad, along with some mac and cheese that Ariana cooked. I did not eat the chicken that she made because I was already full. However, Neil ate the chicken, and pronounced it good.

While at the table, I heard Achmed the Dead Terrorist yelling, "Silence! I kill you!" in my pocket. It was a phone call from Jeremiah. He got a great kick out of the fact that I used Achmed the Dead Terrorist as my ring tone for him, especially when he would always be quoting Achmed's favorite line.

After I talked to Jeremiah, I gave the phone to Neil so that he could talk to him, too.

And while Neil was talking, I hopped on the computer. And that's where I've been ever since.

And now I have to decide if I want to yet go to bed or if I should read a bit.

Meet Solo

2010-05-30T01:17:00.000-07:00

Solo was 8 - 9 weeks old when this picture was taken last Thursday.

He was named such because he was the only male in the litter.

Already he's as solid and heavy as a concrete slab. But he has the sweetest personality ever, which we hope will stay with the love and affection that is being lavished on him.

Solo was a present to Ariana from Joe, and already he stays by her side, following her around from place to place.

Unfortunately Solo has to stay with his breeder because of apartment pet regulations. But we do enjoy having him pay us frequent visits.

Prickly Pear Cactus

2010-05-30T01:09:00.000-07:00

I finally found some prickly pear cactus that was in bloom.

This is an edible cactus. It's leaves are used in Mexican cooking.

And in the late summer, these pretty yellow blossoms will give way to tasty purplish fruit.

Prickly pear cacti are all over the place.

And when the fruit is ripe, you can pick them off the ground in the parks and streets of Lubbock just like you can pick up apples off the ground in any New England apple orchard.

Just be careful of the prickly spines. After all, it's called "prickly pear" for a reason.

Yucca Kingdom

2010-05-30T00:50:00.001-07:00

Lubbock is an arid land, and in that arid land one will find yuccas.

This is the same type of yucca that I used to see in Massachusetts.

However, in Massachusetts I never saw fields of yuccas.

And I never saw yuccas with white skinny spikes of dark pink and white flowers.

And I most certainly never saw a yucca as tall as tree. In fact when I first saw this yucca, I thought it was some sort of variety of palm tree - that is until I saw the flower spikes on top.

Finally Nailed

2010-05-30T00:05:00.000-07:00

All the online instructions for safely removing acrylic nails stated that after soaking the nails in acetone-based nail polish remover for 20 minutes, the nails will come off, albeit rather messily.

Yeah right.

Last night I got the stuff ready and sat down in front of the computer to watch CSI: Miami. According to the directions, my fake nails should have been off before the end of the show.

So why was it that after watching CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, and 2 episodes of House MD my acrylic nails stubbornly remained?

I soaked my nails over 7 times the recommended soaking time, and still no light at the end of the tunnel.

Perhaps it was that the acetone content in the nail polish remover wasn't strong enough.

So today I went to Home Depot and got a can of straight acetone. With the straight acetone, removal should be a snap. Right?

Wrong!

It still took awhile to remove those damn nails. Granted, it didn't take as long as last night's operation, but it still took time.

I soaked and scraped through 2 episodes of NCIS - Los Angeles and a quarter of the way through 24.

Finally the nails came off.

Well, not exactly all the way off, but at least to the point I could tolerate.

After 5 hours those long blunt tips finally gave way to short nails that were finally sharp enough to satisfy an itch or peel off a section of tape.

Yay!

Ariana told me to tell her how my nail removal operation worked out because she was anxious to remove her fake nails too.

Sure.

Gladly.

But I don't think she'll have the patience.

Fingers Busy Elsewhere

2010-05-28T21:35:00.000-07:00

No deep and profound thoughts tonight.

I'm going to be zoning out on my favorite cop shows while soaking my fingertips in acetone to remove my annoyingly in-the-way acrylic nails.

I Can Hardly Wait

2010-05-28T00:52:00.000-07:00

After tonight, I am going to have 6 nights off in a row. It's be like a mini vacation.

People have asked me how I will spend my time off.

I thought that it would have been interesting to go up north to Palo Duro Canyon or Cadillac Ranch to shoot some photographs. It's only a 2-hour drive from Lubbock, and easily doable as a day trip.

But looking around my tiny apartment, that still has not been organized since the movers brought our stuff in September, I figured that those days off would be better spent making our living quarters more habitable.

Some how, spending my vacation cleaning doesn't sound like a whole bunch of fun.

But catching up on my sleep does.

Where Has the Groove Gone?

2010-05-28T00:41:00.000-07:00

Oh no!

After 3 days of updating my blog, I have run out of topics. There are no profound thoughts churning and marinating in my mind. Hell, there are even no pictures of the dog.

Even my day wasn't all that exciting, having gotten up very late, so much so as to completely throw off my schedule and make me rather grouchy.

I am at a loss for words. Well, not exactly that in the literal sense. It's just that I don't feel the motivation to dig up new topics. And right now I don't have the stamina to expound on a couple of tentative topics until I have had more time to mull over them.

I'm hoping my groove comes back.

It felt good to write again.

Coming to Terms

2010-05-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

Compromise is an inescapable part of life. It would be naive to assume that everything would go just the way we would want.

Let's face it, one is going to have to deal with things that one would rather not, and that's where coming to terms comes into play.

For instance, take my job. It's not an ideal job, but it was the only one I could get. And there were a lot of adjustments I had to make in my own life, and with what I would put up with doing, in order to get a steady income and, more importantly, health insurance.

The biggest adjustment I had to make was working nights. Not only did the schedule wreak havoc on my sleep patterns, it also caused me to gain weight because of the way it screwed up my metabolism. (Weight gain is very common in people working nights.) Even eating one meal a day and taking the puppy out for exercise very day did not keep those extra pounds at bay.

The other adjustment I had to make was dealing with vulnerable people in a very intimate manner, such as assisting them to go to the toilet and cleaning them up when they were incontinent of both bladder and bowel. It wasn't not easy getting up close and personal with their private parts.

As such, my first month on the job was a difficult adjustment to make.

I was miserable.

I hated my job, hated and resented the fact that I had to turn my life upside-down and get into the piss and shit-filled trenches just so that my husband could have health insurance (because I sure as hell didn't need it; I was as healthy as a horse).

My bad moods, which I took out on my family, increased. And I had anxiety attacks every night just before leaving for work. And if it weren't for my friend Ann, who kindly offered a free Emotional Freedom Technique phone session, I probably would have become a basket case.

I had my phone session a couple of hours before leaving for work, and frankly I did not really feel anything profound during that session. But, while driving to work that night, I did notice that for the first time I did not have an anxiety attack.

Thus began my gradual journey in coming to terms with a job I couldn't stand.

And the funny thing about coming to terms is that after awhile what seemed absolutely odious didn't seem all that bad.

Sure, I still hate dealing with patients' personal excretions and doing cleaning (another task that was part of my job description), but I also realized that this job was not all that bad. In fact, it was rather easy.

I've gotten used to my nocturnal schedule. And my coworkers became my co-conspirators and friends who shared the common bound of a nocturnal world that the rest of the population was oblivious to.

In other words, I came to terms with my job.

I witnessed the same process with Ariana.

She took on a temping job at a call center, something she had absolutely no interest and desire in doing. She hated her job, too.

The first indication that Ariana was coming to terms with her job was when she said that even though she didn't like her job, she realized that her communications skills were improving. And that was a good thing.

Now that she has gotten more capable and confident in her job, and made friends at work, that horrible job was no longer all that horrible.

Whereas before she had no desire to work at a call center, she is now planning on applying for permanent full time work at another call center that is more progressive than the one she is currently temping at.

And in the meantime, she is regaling me with tales of tragically comical idiot customers, her personal accomplishments as well as her blundering boners, and the cast of characters at work.

Funny how once you accept a situation you can move on.

As successful as I have been in coming to terms with some aspects of my life, I still have challenges in coming to terms in other areas of my life.

The most prominent area is that of our frighteningly tenuous financial situation.

I am resisting to accept that our current situation is going to continue for an indeterminately long time, even though there has been nothing to indicate that there would be a light at the end of the tunnel.

And my resistance is supported and reinforced by my fear that such a bleak future will eventually become a firm and inescapable reality.

But at the same time I wonder if my not being able to move through this most undesired state is keeping me from achieving a more desired state. But I am still not ready to come to terms with coming to terms about my current struggles and their projections into the future.

The future is too scary to contemplate from this present perspective.

Another thing that I have not yet come to terms with is my feeling that I where I live is actually home.

That the east coast is no longer home to me has been relatively easy to accept. In fact, I was eager to leave that life behind, for, aside from family and friends, that area no longer had anything to offer.

However, even though I love Texas and would not want to live anywhere else (except for southern Arizona), I still have not yet gotten to the point where I can consider myself to be at home.

Ariana feels the same way, and she has been here 3 months longer than I have.

She and I discussed this matter, and we both felt that perhaps the reason why Texas didn't yet feel like home was because to us a home always meant living in a house with a backyard where we could have privacy and take refuge both indoors and out.

After living in a nearly 3000 square-foot house on one acre of land for the past 25 years, having 4 adults crammed into a 4-room 880 square-foot sardine can apartment with a patio too small to accommodate a couple of deck chairs hardly meets my definition of "home."

But with our current situation, being able to have a house that we could call home does not appear to be in the cards for us.

And it's that fact that I have had difficulty in coming to terms with. I have tried all sorts of mental gymnastics to enable me to accept that home is that tiny sardine can apartment, but it still has not clicked.

But on the other hand, I do like living here. I've come to terms with Lubbock being a rather unattractive city, and despite that fact, I have started growing fond of it.

I have grown fond of living in west Texas, in the middle of nowhere. In fact I prefer the desolation of the high plains to the claustrophobia of a congested area, no matter what that area may have to offer.

Each day brings new pleasures and new encounters with a people whose openness and friendliness never ceases to amaze me.

And that openness and friendliness is the Texas way.

From day one, perfect strangers have gone out of their way to help us. People I don't even know have easily conversed with me as though we have have known each other all our lives.

I have never found this degree of bigheartedness back east. For all its political and religious conservatism, Texas is a mighty accepting and welcoming state.

So, while I have not yet come to terms with a tiny cramped apartment being home, I have come to terms with my wanting to make Texas my home.

The people here are special.

It was good people at work that helped me come to terms with a job I couldn't stand. And perhaps it'll be the bighearted people of Texas that will help me come to terms that this place is indeed home, even if it happens to be a cramped sardine can apartment.

Age Is Just a Number - Or Is It?

2010-05-25T21:30:00.000-07:00

A little over a week ago, I met my 52nd birthday. It wasn't a particularly eventful day, but that was OK.

It's not that I dread becoming another year older. It's just that when you've seen as many birthdays as I have, they sort of lose their impact after awhile.

I don't feel old, and family and friends say that I don't look my age, despite my greying hair and beginning-to-sag jowls. So why is it then, that I still experience shock when I register that the "old lady" in a photo is me?

At 52 I am still not ready to cash in my chips, nor act my age. Why should I?

Where is it written that once a woman hits "a certain age" she has to cut her hair, dress in tiny floral-print polyesters, and join the bowling league at the senior center?

Hell! My hair will stay long. Jeans, tee shirts, and sandals will remain my preferred wardrobe. I will hang out at my favorite coffee shop where I am no less hip than most of the patrons who are less than half my age.

And I will continue to drive through the streets of Lubbock with windows and sunroof wide open, and the B-52s blasting on my car stereo.

Despite my inner youth, good health, and still sharp mind, I have just one regret about getting older, and that is that others - meaning potential employers - don't see me the same way I see myself.

Age discrimination exists. Sure it's illegal, but companies find their way around that sticky part of the law. The most common excuse that the mature job-seeker encounters is: "We have found someone who is a closer match to what we were looking for."

Why can't potential employers see that even though I may be over 50, I still have the ability to do the job? The years have given me a wide range of experiences and skills that would be valuable in any job. I am a hard worker with a great attendance record. My learning agility enables me to learn anything that I put my mind to.

Let's face it, I have more on the ball than a kid fresh out of college. And I would be an asset to any company lucky enough to have me.

So then, why is it that employers cannot see that? Why can't they look past a certain number? And why do I see younger and less experienced individuals get the job that I was trying for?

My friend Vyda said that her husband Vic used to get calls from headhunters left and right, but that when he reached "a certain age" - which in his case was while he was in his mid-50s - the calls stopped coming. And in order to continue providing a living for their family, Vic and Vyda went into business for themselves.

That pretty much explains also what's been happening to Neil.

Neil NEVER had any difficulty finding work after being laid off. Even in the worst economic times, when laid-off CEOs would find themselves flipping burgers at McDonald's, Neil would not only find a job in a very short time, he would also have several companies competing to hire him. Headhunters would be calling him from all over the country, eager to snatch a highly experienced engineer like him.

So when Neil got laid off last September, I didn't think anything of it. I figured that it would be the same as the other times when he got laid off - that he would post his resume on Monster and that headhunters would start calling him within 24 hours.

I've seen this happen before, so why shouldn't it happen again?

Except this time it didn't happen.

There were hardly any calls. And the one or two headhunters who did call were ineffective in securing employment for Neil.

At first I chalked it up to the nose-diving economy. Perhaps Texas's unemployment situation was starting to catch up with the rest of the nation.

And f0r the longest time, I blamed Neil's inability to generate interest from headhunters and companies on the economy.

It was only a few days ago, when I read Vyda's message, that I realized that perhaps it wasn't just the economy that was responsible for our silent phone. Neil hit that magic number that marked him as an untouchable in the employment caste system.

Damn.

Because my resume has been a patch-work quilt, I hit that magic number much earlier. Nobody wants to give a baby-boomer a chance at starting out in a new career.

And with Neil's unemployment and the health issues that he's facing, I don't know what we're going to do. The many medical debts that we have do not leave us enough money to pay our bills, let alone start a business.

And how can I support our family on my pay, which is 4 to 5 times less than what Neil had been making?

Our future is uncertain, and it's hard not to occasionally feel fearful and hopeless over what the future may bring.

And it's in that state hopelessness and fear that the rest of my life is going to be a massive continuation of our current financial struggle where I regret getting older. I have another good 30 - 40, maybe even 50, years ahead of me. But where is that going to lead if I cannot secure us a sustainable income?

Because of my age and the rampant age discrimination that goes on this youth-centric employment market, I have already lost the potential to craft a career that would enable me to pick up the reins and be able to support my family the way Neil had been doing all these many years.

I don't know what else I can do except to continue keeping my eyes, ears, and mind open, and be like the tiger patiently waiting to pounce on its prey.

And in the meantime, I will continue to refuse to "act my age."

On Navigation, Learning, and Coming Into Focus

2010-05-24T22:30:00.001-07:00

When I first moved to Texas, the roads were a blur and the area had no meaning. It wasn't like my former home in Massachusetts, where I knew the area like the back of my hand.

During those first couple of months I had to heavily rely on the GSP to get to where I needed to go. But the more I drove around Lubbock, the greater feel I was getting for the lay of the land.

It gradually dawned on me that my increasing familiarity with the area was like a picture that was slowly coming into focus piece by tiny piece.

Yes, that was how it felt. Lubbock was this huge picture that was blurred and out of focus. During my first weeks there, only one tiny corner was in sharp focus, and that was the apartment complex where I lived.

But gradually the edges of that in-focus area started moving outward like a light beam widening to illumine a larger area.

First this started with using the GSP to guide me to the various doctors I had to take my husband to and to the stores I shopped at.

Bit by bit more of the image was getting into sharper focus. And as more was getting into focus, I was able to start intuiting the rest of the picture.

It was as though the lay of the land could be compared to Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper." When I first moved to Lubbock, the only thing that was in sharp focus was square-inch section of a loaf of bread on the table.

At that point, I did not know that I was looking at a loaf of bread. But as I became more familiar with the area, more of the picture got into focus, and I realized that I was looking at a loaf of bread.

After awhile, when I was learning the back roads of the area, I was able to better intuit what I was looking at. In addition to seeing the loaf of bread, I could now see plates and hands on the table. At that point, while I was still not able to see the whole picture, I was getting pretty certain of what I was looking at.

And I found the idea of navigation as being a picture that gradually came into focus a rather exciting concept.

It only seemed natural that this same concept could also be applied to learning.

When we set out to learn something new, whether a language, a skill, or a new subject matter, it's like facing another out-of-focus picture.

We are somehow attracted to this out-of-focus picture. Maybe we like the colors, the sense of light and shadow, or the symmetry. But at that point we still have no idea what we are looking at. All we have is an inkling.

But as we start deepening our knowledge, more details come into sharper focus. Details and textures start popping out. When we gain mastery over our subject, the picture is complete. But our comprehension of the picture is still on a superficial level.

The learning does not stop just because we can see the whole image. There's further exploration to do and still more new discoveries to be made.

Sunlight glinting on a picture from a different angle may reveal colors and textures that we may have not noticed before.

The artist may have incorporated symbols in his/her painting that may reveal hidden messages when studied more closely.

Ancient frescoes may glow brighter with more vibrant colors after the accumulated soot from centuries of illumination by candle light had been carefully removed.

Specialized instruments may reveal a totally different image under the layers of paint that are visible to us.

The variations and permutations are endless; the potential for new discoveries are limitless. And the process of deepening our knowledge, as well as our appreciation can take a life time.

This is what may be for a person who is a visual learner/processor such as myself. But what sort of process takes place for a person who is an auditory learner? That I find a bit more challenging to comprehend.

Unlike a picture, which can be absorbed in its entirety in a glance, sound has the added dimension of time and duration. Sound is linear. One has to patiently wait for all the information to be delivered, and then one has to remember all that information.

Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" takes me through several auditory landscapes, and each landscape is experienced in the present. I need to sit and listen for several minutes before I have traveled through the entire auditory "painting." Very often while in the midst experiencing one particular landscape I have totally forgotten the landscape that preceded it. And if I have never heard a particular piece before, I cannot intuit what landscape will follow next.

Thus, as a visual processor, the concept of auditory learning appears too unwieldy and inefficient in its linearity. But I suppose that an auditory processor would be similarly challenged when contemplating the visual learning process.

Visual and auditory learning processes are just 2 of the most familiar ways of learning. But surely they aren't the only ways. After all, we are sensory creatures who have been gifted with multiple senses - more than just the 5 we're commonly familiar with - with which to experience the world around us.

Can you imagine the depth of knowledge and appreciation we would gain if we used all of our senses when learning and processing information?

Will the next stage of evolution of our species produce humans who are holographic learners/processors? And what will it feel like to use our brains in such a manner?

Ariana's and Joe's New Bed

2010-05-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

Ariana and Joe got a new bed this weekend. Not only was it larger than their old bed, it was also much lower.

So for the first time in his life, Kane to experience the pleasure of jumping up and romping on the bed.

Flora and Fauna

2010-05-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

Finally, the time that I had been waiting for arrived - the blooming of the cacti blossoms.

While the athletic complex does not offer many examples of floral diversity, there was still some color to be seen on the other side of the perimeter fence (which I climbed over, thus trespassing on state land).

Here you see the purple cactus blossoms amidst a field of yellow flowers, which I had not yet identified.

These beautiful blossoms belong to (I think) a barrel cactus. While the prickly pear cacti sported beautiful yellow blossoms elsewhere in the city, they were still in the budding stage at the athletic complex.

Here's a close-up of the barrel cactus blossoms.

Beautiful flowers weren't the only exciting things I found at the athletic complex. Last week I came across this beaut, a 4 to 5 foot long bull snake.

Despite its mean appearance, Silas the snake was actually quite mellow. He just coiled up and hissed his little snaky head off when Kane got a little bit too close. Otherwise he was a real sweetheart who was very accommodating when I went to take his picture.

I Can Blog Again!

2010-05-24T20:12:00.000-07:00

You have no idea how difficult it has been to get on the computer.

Because I work nights, I sleep during the day. On good days I wake up at 2:00 PM. But if I have to bring Neil to any one of his multiple doctors' appointments, wake-up time can be as late as 5:30.

That doesn't leave me much time to get done the things that require my attention. In addition, the computer is a popular spot in our sardine can apartment. More often than not, Neil is on it.

Before you know it, it's time for me to get ready and leave for work, where we are not allowed to go on the internet. And frankly, blogging from my Droid phone does not cut it.

I am at work now, but this time I am armed with Ariana's netbook.

So here we go!

Graduation Day

2010-04-25T16:37:00.000-07:00

Kane graduated from Beginner Obedience Training class today. Doesn't he look smart in his mortarboard?

Owl Pellet Revealed

2010-04-21T23:25:00.000-07:00

This is the owl pellet that I found at the athletic complex 2 weeks ago.

And this is what I found inside the owl pellet when I dissected it tonight.

Looks like the owl snacked on a bird. And judging from the seed-eater beak (upper center edge) that I found inside the pellet, it may have been a sparrow.

Untouched and Touched

2010-04-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

I didn't bring my Nikon with me today when I took Kane to the athletic complex because I was planning on working on the "Come" command with him.

I thought, why bother bringing my big camera when I already spent 2 hours a few days ago taking pix?

Well, the dramatic cloud formations that were present today taught me that even though I may have thought that I have taken all the pix possible at one particular location, that Mother Nature still had some surprises up her sleeve.

There were these dramatic clouds with rain on the horizon, and all I had with me was my cell phone camera. The cell phone camera isn't too shabby as far as cell phone cameras go, but it simply doesn't compare to my Nikon D-80 SLR.

This is a raw, untouched photo that I took with my cell phone.

This is the same photo after I rotated it slightly and applied a tone curve to make it lighter.

Now you see that in making the image lighter, the foreground has more detail. But in having the foreground gain that detail, detail - plus the drama - was sacrificed in the clouds above.

Now we're going to do a very simple exercise in High Dynamic Range (HDR).

I took the original untouched cell phone camera photo. Then I made a duplicate of that image. So, I had 2 identical image layers sitting one on top of the other.

I applied the tone curve to the top layer in order to lighten up the foreground. Then I erased the clouds from the top layer so that the original dark clouds from the bottom layer would show through.

Can you see the difference?

We have the dramatic clouds from the original combined with the lightened foreground of the duplicate layer.

Now, just for the hell of it, I applied the tone curve to the bottom, original image layer. But instead of making the image lighter, I made it darker. The result? More drama.

Now let's rotate the final image to make the horizon line straight.

Isn't photo-editing great?

Sunday Cookout

2010-04-12T18:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning, our devotions were held at Maxey Park so that we could have a cookout right after prayers.

The weather wasn't the best for a cookout - overcast skies, wind, and dropping temps. In fact, it felt as though the temp dropped at least 5 degrees from the time I got in my car until we arrived at the park.

The temps may have been chilly, but at least the hearts of our friends were warm.

There are some nice and impressive bald cypresses growing in the lake at Maxey Park.

I just love it how the base of their trunks are wide and fat while it tapers to a skinny point on top.

Lena wanted to take a pic with my camera. And here's the pic she took. Not bad? Huh?

This delightful young man is Ethan, the son of our friends Liz and Keino.

Here's Lena. She was shy about having her picture taken. How can someone with a sweet and lovely face like hers be camera shy?

Here's another shot of Ethan.

Ethan was a willing camera subject.

With a beautiful, smiling face like his,

it was hard to stop taking pictures.

And I enjoyed taking every single shot.

Here's Merry, Lena's mother. Thanks to Merry taking change of the grill, there was no shortage of excellent food - especially tasty bratwurst - to fill our bellies.

Here's Keino, Ethan's dad. You can see where Ethan gets his beautiful smile from.

Clockwise, starting from the lower left, we have Neil, Marilyn (who's barely visible), Liz (Ethan's mom and Marilyn's daughter), Ted, Keino, Pejmon (who's off to the side), and Mike.

Mike's warm smile matches his cheery yellow jacket.

Fre (Ted's wife) makes the best coffee ever! Her high-test Ethiopian brew was sure welcome on a chilly day.

Where there's people and food by a lake, you'll also find ducks.

These ducks were not shy at all.

The grackles were close by too. But they had their own party, especially the fellow with the French fry.

Nyah, nyah! It's all mi-ine!

And you ca-an't have it.

Whoa! You don't need to get all huffed up about it.

Let's be friends. OK?

River Dog

2010-04-12T17:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a dog that's happy to be around water.

The Returning of the Green

2010-04-12T16:19:00.000-07:00

Because I take Kane to Mackenzie Park once a week, I'm always curious to see the little changes that have come over the park since the last time I've been there. And with us being 3 weeks into Spring, I keep hoping that this would be the weekend when the cacti are blooming.

The cacti weren't in bloom yet, but these flowers were.

And so were these,

and these.

(Ever notice that the colors most associated with Easter are white, yellow, and purple?

The reason for white is obvious, because it symbolizes the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. But yellow and purple? Well, it makes sense when you see that most of the flowers in bloom this time of year are white, yellow, or purple.)

When I first discovered this park, I was thrilled to see the steel horse sculptures.

And now that I had my good camera with me, I was able to get up close

and personal.

Maybe a bit too personal.

There is one section of trail in the park that I found to be unusual in that it had a lot of broken crockery strewn about on the ground. How did those broken shards end up here when this area is far away from picnic areas, homes, or even trash dumps?

This green plant looks like a sprig of parsley on this broken plate.

Here, a few shards of crockery are juxtaposed with an artful piece of rusty metal.

This is the back field at Mackenzie Park. Hardly anyone ventures out this far.

It's so nice to see the green returning to Lubbock. Even the river is green!

And it's hard to believe that such peaceful verdure lies in the middle of a city in the dry and dusty high plains.

Where's there's water, there's ducks,

and more than one variety.

Grackles may be considered to be a nuisance bird in Lubbock, but here at the park their melodious notes make you feel like you're right in the middle of a rain forest or tropical jungle.

No matter where you walk along the river, the view is beautiful and tranquil.

Here's a short - very short - path that wanders along side the river.

I'm not sure whether this is common hoptree or some form of elm or something different all together. But what I am sure of is that the variety of greens is pleasing to look at.

Here's another view of that same tree.

Dandelion puffs are waiting for a stiff breeze to carry the seeds far and aloft.

Everywhere there is an explosion of green - an explosion of new life.

Green is everywhere.

And this bridge will take you across to the other side where there are more interesting things to explore.

(Would you believe that when it rains, this bridge gets totally submerged in water? In fact the whole park becomes a lake. Even the causeway gets covered over with water.)

The river view is just as nice on the other side.

This stand of trees looks as though it's patiently waiting to be captured and immortalized by a French Impressionist painter.

The greens are brighter in the sun.

One section of the park has piles of wood chips. Sometimes Kane likes to climb on top of those piles and play "King of the Mountain."

Way out back I found this tiny waterfall

which was fed by the river flowing under the overpass.

The river doesn't look deep now, but there have been times when I've seen it a bit deeper. And I suppose that during the heavy rains, the water level is considerably higher.

This is the back field on the other side of the river. There are more shade trees here

as well as more prairie dogs.

When I first heard prairie dogs, I thought they were birds chirping. I kept looking up in the trees to see what kind of bird was making that noise, not realizing that it was coming from the ground.

Here's an oriole nest.

It's amazing how drastically the color washes out when the sun ducks behind the clouds,

only to flood your sight with color

when it reemerges.

There's work being done at the park, and true to form, Kane found a mud puddle.

And here's one of the reasons behind the dug-up earth at the park.

It's always fun to check out large equipment,

especially when it's left unattended

and isn't locked up

behind a fence.

There is beauty

and symmetry

to be found in even in the dirtiest and most mud-spattered of machines.

Toward the front of the park, closer to the road, the space is more open and the river more exposed.

Way on the other side of the park, away from the river, is a more arid terrain that's also teaming with new growth.

Here you will find cacti

of different varieties, shapes, and sizes.

(I can't wait to see them in bloom!)

You'll also find fire ants.

And you'll find Stonehenge.

Not the famous Stonehenge in England, but an extremely dressed-down version made of wood,

which includes this very bumpy log,

which is way too bumpy to sit on.

Heading back to the car, we once more cross the bridge,

and walk along side of the river.

We make our way back slowly, taking time to catch the sites along the river bank, like this broken tree.

We're done for the day, but we'll be back next week to see what new and exciting things turn up.