Hoarding: No Room For Anything Anymore

     I was up in my office writing up a cheque to pay for our willow tree trimming, when my wife called out to me and ask me to come down to the kitchen.  I went down to see what the trouble was and discovered that she couldn’t pull out one of the counter drawers to get some tin foil, because the drawer was stuck in the cabinet.  I unhooked and removed the drawer of spices above it, then unhooked the drawer of plastic bags where the roll of tin foil s was supposed to be.  

    Then I looked in the empty space where the drawers had sat and discovered it was totally full of plastic bags that we had saved had slipped out of the back of the drawer.  (That is them in between the two drawers in the photo.)   

    The episode just confirmed what I have been thinking for a while:  We have to start throwing stuff away, because we have more stuff coming into the house, than is going out, and we are running out of space. 

     I did pick up that big wad of stuff between the drawers, and threw it all away..  However we still have cabinets all around the house where we have a hard time opening or closing drawers because they are overflowing with foodstuffs, towels, bedding, clothes, etc.  I can’t think of a single drawer that is not full to the top with things.  We just have too much stuff and we’ve got to make ourselves throw most of it away.

View my paintings: davidmarchant2.ca

I Sometimes Wish Kona Was A Small Dog

     As I age, I can tell that I am losing a lot of the strength that I used to have.  That especially becomes evident now that Kona’s bad hips are getting worse, and she is having a very difficult time getting around.  I now have to carry her a lot.  Most of the time it is just carrying her from room to room, but of course, several times a day I need to carry her outside.  

    It is sad to see her hobble around, once I put her down, but usually, she is quick to do her business outside and then she sits down and looks over at me, giving me the signal to come, pick her up, and pack her back inside.

    It is always surprising how her instincts take over if she catches a scent or sees a movement outside.  She immediately barks and takes off “running”, forgetting all about her disabilities.  However, she soon stops when pain begins to kick in, and she sits down and looks back at me, to come, pick her up, and carry her back to the house.

    It would be a lot easier on me if Kona was one of those small dogs.

take a look at my paintings:  davidmarchant2.ca

Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

 

        The story is set on the coast of North Carolina, around the small town of Barkley Cove.  It follows the life of Kya Clark, from her early traumatic childhood, too after her death.  Her family was poor and isolated, living in an isolated marsh area close to town.  Her father was an abusive alcoholic, who beat her mother and her brothers and sisters to the point where one by one, they left home, abandoning primary school-aged Kya with her father.  She quickly learned to avoid him, and spent her time in the surrounding marsh.  Eventually her father too disappeared and never returned.  

    Still a child and considered white-trash by the Barkley Cove community, Kya soon learned to survive on her own.  She dug mussels which she sold at the fuel pier store run by kindly “Jumper” and his wife, a black couple who ran the store.  She used the small income she made for the meager food supplies and gas for her father’s motor boat, which he had left behind.  Kya grew up terribly lonely, and she was once tempted to go to the local school, but only lasted one day, after the verbal harassment and teasing she received from the other students.

    The marsh surrounding her house became Kya’s home and the community soon began referring to her as the “Marsh girl”.  Living in the marsh gave Kya an intimate view of the wildlife and fauna that also lived there.  Kya’s mother, who had painted, had left some art supplies behind, and Kya used them and bought more, to draw and paint the many life forms she found in the marsh.  She became a real “Nature girl”.  

    Early on when she first started using her father’s motorboat, Kya got lost in the swamp, and Tate, a boy slightly older, who had been friends with her brother, guided her back to her house.  Tate recognized how desperate, Kya’s situation was and did what he could to help her.  Tate, also loved the living things in the marsh and the two young people soon became friends.  When he learned that Kya couldn’t read, Tate spent time teaching her, and provided books, many about Nature and science, to her.  Kya thrived on the learning and soon almost was as learned at Tate in the natural sciences. 

    As you might expect as adolescents, the two formed an intimate relationship.  Which was broken when Tate had to go to university, promising to come back in the summer.  That never happened, leaving Kya once again very alone, and feeling people just couldn’t be relied upon.   Her severe loneliness led to another relationship with Chase, a popular and well-off town boy, who took a shine to her.  He kept his relationship secret from the community, not wanting to tarnish his reputation by being with the Marsh Girl.

    When Chase’s body was found beneath an old fire tower, the first presumed death by accident, soon turned to a possible murder, with Kya being arrested for the murder.

            I will go no further, and if you want to find out what happens, you will have to either read the novel, or watch the movie that follows the book very closely.

You can view my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Today Is BC's Family Day Holiday

     It had long been recognized that there was a need for an official holiday in BC, to help everyone get through the long stretch winter between New Years and Easter.  In 2013, the provincial government came up with the “Family Day” holiday for BC to recognize the importance of family to everyone.  

    Family Day works out fine for everyone who has a family in BC, but members of our family are spread across North America and Europe, and so we don’t have any family get-togethers on Family Day.  Then also, because my wife and I are retired, the Family Day “holiday”, doesn’t feel much like a holiday, because we are always at home, instead of “at work”.   The only difference we see is most of the stores are closed.

    Anyway, we do appreciate and love our family members, and after thinking about what image I could use for this blog, I decided on my painting:  “Reunion”.   It is a habit in BC for everyone to take off their shoes when they come into a house.  In the summer of 2010, most of my family came up to BC for a visit, and as is the custom, they all took off their shoes and left them inside, by the front door.  That became the subject of the painting, which I gave to my mother when it was finished.

    Happy Family Day, everyone.

You can view my other paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Shingles: But I've Had The Two Shots

     About a week ago, I started getting a strange irritation on the left side of my back.   After a few days of it getting worse, I began to think,  “This feels a lot like shingles.”  something that I had experienced many years ago, but then I remembered, “It can’t be shingles, because I had gotten the two shingles shots to prevent shingles.”

    Well guess what, those expensive shots are not 100% effective at preventing shingles, and they can lose their potency after about five years.  That was certainly something I didn’t know.  The vaccine can be very effective in most people, and should lessen the severity of the infection for those that get shingles again.

    Shingles is a painful rash on the skin that later erupts into blisters.  Strangely, it only occurs on one side of your body, either on the left side or the right side.  If you had chicken pox when you were a kid, even though that malady eventually went away, some of the virus that caused it stays in your body, and can much later erupt and cause shingles.

    The red rash can be very painful.   Mine isn’t too bad, but the rash is located along my waist, right where my belt is, so the chafing of the belt and my jeans, does cause discomfort when I move.  There is no cure if you get shingles, you just have to wait it out for a month or so.  I guess you can get some cremes to lessen the pain of the rash.  Fortunately, shingles is not contagious.  

    As kids, we used to joke about how people of my grandparent’s age used to only talk about their ailments.  Now as someone in my dotage, I am doing the same thing.

You can take a look at my paintings:  davidmarchant2.ca

The Cacophony of Chainsaws Has Ended

     For the last few days it has been very noisy around our house, as the three-man crew of arborists have been working to reduce the size of the old willow trees that had the potential of damaging our house if they blew over.  Not only was there the whine coming from the several chainsaws, but there was a big chipper that loudly chewed up all of the branches and limbs that had been removed.  The engine on the big truck that held the boom also was running the whole time.

    I found it very interesting to see how the arborists went about removing the big branches, some of which were above our house and an out-building.  You probably can’t see them in the photo above, but there are a couple of ropes strung on the limb Chris, the guy in the boom is cutting, and they have been slung over a big branch above it.  The guys below are holding the ropes, so that when the branch is cut, they can lower it down slowly so it won’t fall on our old chicken house.

    I have always been impressed by The Source, the company that is doing the work, at how thoroughly  they clean up after themselves, chipping all the branches, raking up the tiny twigs that have fallen during the work, and leaving our yard cleaner than it was when they started.  The ground that was soft from our warm, wet weather, did end up with some muddy area from the tracks of the machine that carried the heavy pieces of wood to a pile, but the muddy tracks were unavoidable, and will heal.

    The trunks of the sawed-off willows, look pretty miserable, and with a little imagination, they make our house look like it is surrounded by big cactus plants.  Hopefully, in a few years the willow trees will be back creating shade for us in the summer.

    The workers did buck up all the big chunks of willow, that I can now split and use for firewood.  I should have enough firewood now to keep the house warm for several years.  I also have a big pile of wood chips that I can use on the path that goes around the pond.

You can see my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Square Dancing on Thursday Night

     While I know that square dancing is considered “square” by most people.  Anyone who has actually done it, knows just how much fun and enjoyable it is.  I do more laughing on Thursday nights than any other part of the week.   I am sure that there are square dancing groups that 100% serious and hardcore, and I don’t think I would enjoy them very much.  Our McBride group is just there for the enjoyment with other community members, while at the same time, getting both some physical and mental exercise, and laughing at the mistakes we make.

   I am usually kept busy dancing, but last night I sat out a dance to take some photos.  Square dancing requires a group of eight people (four couples) for each square.  Our group normally has enough people for two squares, but I guess last night was a busy one for the community, because we only had enough dancers for one square.

    Square dancing is made up of many “calls” telling the dancers in the square what to do as the music plays.  It requires a lot of mental concentration to hear the calls as everyone is moving, then quickly remembering what the call requires you to do, and then doing it.  The calls come fast, one after the other, and if one or more people screw up, it effects everyone, and causes a “train wreck” with everyone in the wrong place, confused, and not knowing how to proceed.  It is those train wrecks that cause all of the laughing.

    As far as physical exercise, square dancing is an enjoyable way to get it.  I normally don’t get much exercise during the winter, unless it snows or we have trouble with our water system.  My average number of steps per day is 4,200, but the number of steps I get on Thursdays is about 7,200.  That increase is due to our two hours of square dancing.

    As you might expect, females are always more keen about dancing than males, so in order to make up a square of 4 couples, some of our females have to take the male roles.   They wear pants, so they can be identified as the men.  The women being women, wear skirts to avoid confusion in the chaos of dancing.

    Here are some more photos of the gyrating during a dance last night:

    

You can see my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca