Taking the backroads at 35 mph
Rose died peacefully early Thursday morning. She was diagnosed with cancer two years ago. Rose’s family and friends gathered to honor her yesterday. I left that gathering feeling the love that surrounded that special woman.
My post from, A Dismal Day, expresses how I felt the day I found out that Rose had cancer.
It’s so cool that I own a piece of art made by Barb Bend that was selected for a magazine cover.
I had to take a moment to record the cacophony of lunchtime at last weekend’s family gathering. We had 16 people stay over. Five kids under 10. It doesn’t get better than this.
This picture taken on my morning walk sums up how I’m feeling today. Dreariness abounds with a road that leads to you don’t know where.
Our good friend Rose has a tumor on her liver. She is having it biopsied today. Her daughter had planned a surprise birthday party for her tonight.
Rose is in the middle of a home addition project. The foundation along the stairs to her basement was caving in and she had to tear down an old addition as part of the repair. With much concern over finances, Rose decided to put a new addition over the repaired foundation that will house a bedroom and laundry. Rose had done her laundry in her unheated basement for years. In the winter, the washer would sometimes freeze. She has been sleeping upstairs in her half story loft. The new addition will make life easier.
I can’t stop thinking about Rose. I think about how our phone calls always start with a long silly HELLOHHohh and we share a laugh before getting on with the topic at hand. I value that easy laugh.
Yesterday she answered the phone with a hollowness in her voice. She had found out only the day before. Rose said that her good friend Nancy was with her. Daughter, Malainey, was coming that evening and she had a ride to her biopsy today. There was nothing I could do for her now but she would be needing us in the future. She was told about the surprise birthday party and wants to go ahead with it. She said she wants to stay positive through this.
Rose is dear to many people. We will all provide her with a great support network. I assured her that Merv and I would be there for her. And then I said “I love you Rose”. It just came out. It felt so good to have said it. I pretty much say “I love you” only to Merv which might be why on hanging up I appended my goodbye with the word “sweetheart”. That was also reflexive and it felt weird but I guess it shows how dear Rose is to me.
Milainey let us know that while Rose came through her biopsy fine, she is too tired to have the party tonight. Soon though.
The bean field changed to fall colors while I was away this week.
Last night as I walked from the studio to the house, the clouds and the moon were doing awesome things. The air was perfectly still and the crickets were the only sounds to be heard.
Our ancient white pine. These iPhone cameras come in handy. I had to tweak the image in Photoshop to even see that there was a tree there in the darkness. I like the grainyness that resulted from the under exposure.
Yesterday was beautiful. I walked up to Gary and Kelly’s place. Their campsite is just inside the far treeline.
I checked on an old Yellow Birch on the west side of the soybean field in front of our house. The tree has a huge burl that makes it look like it has a spare tire. The tree is old and loosing branches and has a hollow trunk but it is hanging in there. I thought about whether to take the tree down to harvest the burl before it disintegrates but I would have a hard time watching the grand thing get sawed.
On my way home from the birch tree, I walked through the soybean field. The plants are covered with fuzz. I was in shorts and was pleasantly surprised that they were soft rather than scratchy. An Asian Beetle was doing what it was introduced to this country to do – eat aphids.
High Summer on 3 1/2 Street.
Gosh its been a beautiful summer. But don’t be deceived. The corn has tasseled but the stalks are midgets. The neighbor who farms our land said that the late wet spring and cool temps makes this his the second worst year of farming ever.
Yet another thunderstorm rolling in.
Later that day
Melting at the base of the trees on the back hillside
The house has a thaw ring of about one-and-a-half ft. with moss and other signs of green growth. Much of the green was coated in ice from the dripping from the eaves but green is green.
Highs in the 50s today and rain tomorrow. Stay tuned for mud season.
Merv’s banana tree
Merv throws the peel from his morning banana out the side door and into this tree. Every once in a while the peel hangs up on a branch – a clear indicator of a good day ahead. Niece Liz Flaig’s family has a banana tree too.
