Nature Songs ~~~~
NOVEMBER, 2000
“A man’s greatest strength
develops at the point where
he overcomes his greatest weakness.”
~~ Elmer G. Letterman.
November 1, 2000 - Seasons come and seasons go, but this season will long be remembered for us because of the huge forest fire not all that far away. The ground is so dry to such a depth due to the lack of rain that the fire is extremely difficult to battle. Plans now are for the fire to burn itself out and only try to contain it. It is anticipated that over 3000 acres will have burned by that time. That means that a large part of the Linville Gorge will sport the effects of the fire for years to come. A separate fire has been burning that is not connected to the main fire, but it is in the general area. The biggy one is on the side of the gorge furthermost from us. The smaller one, closer to us, is near Table Rock and threatens some houses and the Outward Bound Camp. We have now broken the record for the longest number of continuous days without rain which was 40. That is not a record to be proud of.
After our exercise and fun at Q4L this morning, Ms. Jay and I headed up town to the Board of Election Office. For the first time, this year we can vote early and miss a lot of the lines and waiting of Election Day voting at the precincts. We had a short line, but in less than twenty minutes, we had signed in, voted and back to the car ready to carry on other activities for the day. That included a trip to Wally World before coming home.
When I got over to visit with Mother later in the evening, my brother, his wife and one of their sons was also visiting. We carried in one of the chairs from the porch to sit in since we couldn’t find another chair indoors. It was nice sitting there and carrying on a conversation while Mother ate her supper. We discussed the upcoming eye surgery for Mother and the fact that she is getting cold feet about going through the process. Yet, she is not about to back out since there is a chance that she might see some once again.
I stopped to pick up my mail as I left the house and so I had a piece of mail that came today to share with the others. The wife of one of my cousins is working on genealogy. She got a copy of the original certificate where a great-great-great- grandfather (on my father’s mother’s side) was promoted to second lieutenant in the Civil War. He served under George Washington and his certificate was signed by John Hancock. There was also a picture of a grandmother and a copy of a marriage license in the envelope. I may have missed a “great” in the counting back.
November 2, 2000 - The fires rage on. The rain eludes us. We are over five inches short on rain for the year, and even more behind over the past few years. Wells are once again going dry. The two charged with murder have been apprehended and gone before the judge for their first appearance. One of them is eighteen; the other twenty. They were in an argument with the one that was shot and killed out in the parking lot. Too bad that people cannot control their tempers to avoid such tragedies.
I called and called Mother today and was beginning to think that she was not wanting to talk with me. She finally called me to say that she has been out of her room and the phone has been disconnected all morning. Her hall was moved out this morning and the rooms were cleaned. She ate lunch in the living room today, but couldn’t remember what she ate, just that she enjoyed talking with the lady in the room across the hall from her room.
I had news about her surgery to share with her. When I came back home this morning there was a message from the eye doctor’s office. Her surgery is scheduled for eleven o’clock next Wednesday. They will do the pre-op stuff that morning to save her an extra trip down to Hickory. I also got a beeper number so I can reach the nurse easier if I need to contact her between now and then. All that news made Mother feel better, except she wants it done tomorrow and not next week.
With all the things going on around here as of lately, I forgot how close Lady lives to the Linville Gorge area. She was talking this evening of all the activity going on out her way and how scary it was for her. Her Mother and brother live even closer and may have to be evacuated if the fire keeps spreading. She was also talking about all the things going on at the hospital the evening of the shooting at Kmart. Not only did they have the shooting victims, but there was a fifteen car pileup on 321 and five people were sent to the emergency room from it. On another main roadway, a pedestrian was struck by a car and brought in to be treated. They were really busy that evening.
November 3, 2000 - When I made a commitment to myself to begin and keep up a journal, there was never a thought of recording things so out of the ordinary or special. During this time there has been several world records and firsts to take place. Now we are living through another first. We commented yesterday about there being a haze along the valley as we drove down into town never realizing what it may turn into. Today, the reality of what it could become made itself most apparent. It was much more noticeably when we came out after our workout this morning. There was a fairly dense smoke over everything. The wind direction had changed and the smoke traveled our way bringing along some of the heat of the forest fires.
By noon the smoke and heat traveled on to Charlotte and pass, making it difficult to see and making it hazardous to be outdoors. The winds carried it more than a hundred miles from the fires. By evening there are some more fires in four other counties. The fires in Burke County along the two sides of Linville Gorge total about 7000 acres with threats of more burn before it is contained. It is still a wildfire out of control. Mention has been made that the fire began when a campfire got out of control. I don’t know how the separate fire near Outward Bound started, but it is now burning away from the camp and doesn’t seem to be a threat. So far it is staying back in the wilderness area which makes it much harder to reach to work at containing the outer limits.
I took Mother to the dining room to play bingo today and she was pleasantly surprised that she could read all the numbers on the cards today. She won three games which boosted her morale and gave her some money to put on buying candy for the staff. I wasn’t able to spend too much time with her since I had to be back home to keep some of the grandchildren. Luckily, the daughter of her former roommate came by to visit with her for a while, so she had company when I left. She also had a pretty red rose bud to enjoy.
BingoKid called me extremely early this morning to ask if he could spend the night with me tonight. He was excited when I told him that NascarKid would be here this evening as well. DynoKid went home with a friend this afternoon to spend the night. I was to keep Giggles for a short time as well, but it was over six hours till they came by to pick her up tonight. After supper they were talking with friends and didn’t realize how late it was getting to be. It is now after midnight. I am writing in my journal and the boys are in the sunken room watching television and playing a Sega game. I must head them toward bed with the hopes they will sleep late in the morning. My other two boys, Charlie and Oreo, zonked out ages ago.
I will be so glad when the elections are over and all these stupid jokes and stuff about so and so with reference to so and so will be quieted for another four years. ‘T’would be a relief if the candidates themselves could get out to campaign without trying to blacken the image of the opponents. I’m sure that people can talk about the things they can accomplish in a positive manner in regard to what someone else may or may not do without the unpolished smacking. Furthermore, I’ve all ready voted at this time, and the closing moment intimidations and degrading calamity are to no avail as far as I’m concerned and there are many others in the identical vessel as myself.
November 4, 2000 - Morning comes peeking in the windows brightly (and smoky), but much too early in drags a sleepy NascarKid to my bed to remind me that I promised to fix him some kool aid today. He is very capably of mixing some up for himself, but there’s something about having your grandmother doing the deed. put him off till about eight or so before creeping to the kitchen to carry through on my promise.
This morning was one of those times that Charlie brought a quick smile to our faces. While I was making the drink for NascarKid it was very important for Charlie to bring to our attention that he, also, needed something to drink. He pawed and dug in his water bowl to let me know that it was empty. The one thing different this day was the fact that once he made the digging noises he didn’t move! There he stood with both front feet in his bowl as if to say, “You promised to keep me in water, too.” He didn’t get out of the water bowl until I reached down to pick it up. Miss Giggles had tried to play in his water bowl last evening and I put it in the sink until she left. There was some water in it, but I failed to add more water to replace what she had spilled out when I set it back on the floor.
Let’s see if I remember what all she managed to do while she was here. She slept about one and a half hours before her cousin woke her up playing with Charlie. All the rest of the time was spent moving from here to there to yon and beyond. Dog food was carried around as she tried to feed both the dogs. (Thank goodness it is dry food and little pieces.) She found she could climb up to the sink and play with the two dishes placed there after she ate. She crawled behind one of the couches and got herself stuck. There was no way of counting how many trips she made to the sunken room and the computer room which are on opposite ends of the house. Yes, the toy box was not forgotten. Oreo managed to always keep just out of her reach no matter how hard she tried to catch him. There was food to eat, juice to drink, boys to follow around and three time outs for climbing on the back of the couch, not to mention all those things I didn’t mention.
This morning I am going to take the boys over to BingoKid’s house to play for a while. Then maybe I can catch up on the morning rest I missed this Saturday morning - my only morning of the week at home. There are no plans to go out much today since we have all the smoke suspended on the air. We may get a few drops of rain today, but the real rain is on the way toward the middle of the week. It is predicted that the forest fire which is up to around 9600 acres will take three weeks or so to burn itself out. The wind change will take the smoke away from us which no one will miss once it is gone.
November 5, 2000 - Ah! Finally a morning which I am able to lay back and take it slow and easy. I normally would find my way down to Hickory for breakfast and church, but my aunt called. She is on Oak Island at her beach house where she plans to stay for a week or two. She mentioned that she wanted to go down and winterize the place and take care of a thing or two, but I thought it may be closer to Thanksgiving when she would go.
The rain came last evening which was the fortieth day without rain. That means we did not tie the record after all, but that’s fine with everyone. We much rather have the rain. It was only about a tenth of an inch, which was enough to cleanse the air of all the smoke. The shift in the winds now is sending the smoke another direction. The rain was just enough to keep the forest fire crews from creating a planned back fire to help control the huge monster that increases in size daily. By wetting the leaves on top, the rest of the back fire would not burn inward as it should, so the rain was not a big help the efforts of those working the lines. It will take three or four days of continuous rain to reduce the fire enough that they can get in and man the hot spots throughout the rugged terrain.
About mid morning I plan to drive through at BoJ’s, pick up country ham biscuits and coffee, and proceed on over to the nursing center to watch the Sunday morning worship service on television with her. She show be in a little better mood today. Tbird stopped by with Giggles yesterday evening and spent a little time with her. Her eyesight was very blurry, but she was able to make out enough to enjoy “seeing” her great-granddaughter. Hopefully she will be able to see her better after her surgery this week. Time will tell.
Activities planned for the afternoon are a bit different. Allie is having some “glamour” pictures made at a local clothing store. I’m going along with her, so it will be an afternoon out for the girls. We probably will do a little shopping while out. Perhaps I should dress up a bit myself to fit the mood of the afternoon.
I best loll around while the lolling is good ... There is more to come this day ...
November 6, 2000 - More smoke fills the skies over Linville Gorge today, but this time the fires are being set by the forest fire workers in an effort to ward off any more spreading of the flames. After all is completed there will be about 11,000 acres cleansed of all the fallen leaves and underbrush. Officially, this has been referred to as nature’s method of control. This coming summer will not have a groomed appearance, but within two years the prediction is that new grasses and wildflowers will fill in where the underbrush had taken over. The older trees have survived the burn than ran through the forest and will bounce back in the spring. It is the smaller trees and saplings that will have to take root and regenerate. Many of the pines had been damaged by beetles and they fell to the fire that raged through. Songbirds, small animals and deer will be attracted to the area. Least ways, we won’t have the smoke with this burn. Winds will carry it off to the North and Northeast instead of South.
Being glamourized is a lot of fun. Allie and I had fun yesterday as she had her hair fixed and makeup applied in preparation for her photographic session. Even more fun was watching as she had five entirely different “getups”. We had the most fun when she donned the leather jacket and Harley hat. Or maybe even the wild animal jacket with the matching wide-brimmed hat. The other three poses were more traditional with boas, scarves and fur and sporting gloves. There were many outfits to chose and the spectrum of the rainbow of colors; not to mention all the accessories that could be mixed and matched. I may decide to try it one day if Allie agrees to go along and share in the fun of it all.
While in the store I found a blouse and shirt to buy. I had been looking for a blouse to wear with the new pants suit I have. This one is a little fancier than I had planned on, but it will be fine. It is all white lace with a separate lining. When we left, I made the buzzer sound at the door. The saleslady had missed a code on the blouse lining when she folded it to put in the bag. The shirt is a drastic change for me. It is a leopard print! I got both items for only twenty dollars. There was a buy one; get the second one fifty percent off and the two I bought were already on sale. I like buying things that way.
Someone sent me some information on Fibromyalgia that is entirely different from any other I’ve heard. It is based on the assumption that Fibro is caused by parasites in the body. The main thought goes on the theory that it could be one picked up from pets. That’s fine and dandy if everyone had pets, or were around them, but there are those that are not in contact with animals. How would they be explained for having the ailment? I am open to read and find out all that I can about things. I agree that there are things in nature that improve a person’s body and health. There are herbs that heal and protect, but to know what and how to use them is quite another story. There are many instances that one could overdose or misuse herbs if they do not fully understand all the facts.
Some of the materials he emailed me are things that would be wise for all people to be aware of. They are geared toward good common sense and proper care of both body and mind. If we all were to do the things we ought to do, society would not have the medical problems to the extent it presently has. In a nut shell, do away with fast-food-streamlining-highly-seasoned foods and get back to the basics with exercise daily, and proper rest.
This afternoon there was a trip back to BoJ’s to pick up two ham biscuits. The manager was working the drive-through window yesterday. When I got to the nursing center I was more surprised than Mother. Instead of ham, there were two sausage biscuits! He gave me someone else’s order. When I called BoJ’s, he interrupted and told me what I needed as he apologized for his error ... Apparently, the other person had already contacted him. Just as well, since Brother BJ brought Mother a roast beef sandwich for supper yesterday.
November 7, 2000 - It’s 3:30 a.m. in the morning. Election Day, finally has arrived. That means that all the mudslinging and name-calling as of lately that has been done by supposedly professionally-minded, mature individuals will be greatly reduced. The final accounting will come out at the election sites across the country. It also means that I have here in my midst three grandsons that are out of school because of the elections. They chose there own way of celebrating the special day by staying up for most of the night. Now they are asleep and I am awake.
There is no way that I will attempt to rouse them up in a few hours and drag them sleepy and grumpy to Quest this morning. I will save myself the trouble of turning into a referee by allowing them to sleep as long as they will this morning. I would like to accuse them of being immature and selfish for not respecting my ruling of going to bed earlier. In reality they are supposed to be immature and unaware of why I desire to go to Q4L. At their age they only want to take advantage of the moment and savor the ability to do something special with each other. Looking back in later years it will be remembered as a time of joy and camaraderie for each of them.
I probably will be missing tomorrow’s workout. I am torn between going to Quest or being with Mother. I can make it to the Surgery Center by the time she arrives there if I exercise, but she is upset and bothered about the upcoming surgery as she should be. Thoughts of her having to sit in her wheelchair coming back after the surgery concerns me. I wonder if she will be able to sit up without having her head supported for that long a time. It seems like a cruel way for her to be taken care of. It will not be an easy surgery to endure and at her age it seems to me that it would be better if she could lie down instead of having to sit. Medicare does not cover the cost of an ambulance for trips to and from nursing homes as it once did. The homes are responsible, or the family, for medically necessary trips unless certain criterion is evident. In this instance, an ambulance costs quite a bit since it is out of county, or I would request one. Maybe my brother will come through and take care of it.
Sleep eludes me tonight. There will be little chance of rest throughout today. I will have to take the boys with me to visit with mother later today. I have to remove the nail polish from her fingernails before tomorrow. She will want me to lay out what she shall wear in the morning. I really feel that a gown and housecoat would fit the occasion better than anything else.
Three deer have been processed and placed in the refrigerator-freezer in the shed as of earlier tonight. Allen returned from a hunting trip to the coast with them. Hopefully, our fate will be better this year than last and the freezers will not be tampered with. He lost most of his venison from last year because of mishaps. We’ll have to be more careful and keep an eye of things.
Continued page two
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©2000 by Stormy Jeanne
