Gardening

I'm gardening this weekend. Clearing out the ever present weeds, preparing the beds, pulling stuff out and putting stuff in.

What I really want to plant is a Tree Peony! I LOVE the Peony. I had really wanted some for my wedding, but it was the wrong time of year. So, I think I will plant one or two, thus getting to enjoy them when I want.

Native plants are my focus for the yard, but I just can't resist. And, apparently, Oregon is the PRIME climate for such beauties.

I'll keep you posted.

My J-to-S Quotient

I'm not sure how I have gathered so much junk. Ok, some of it is not junk...just stuff. Stuff is different than junk. And belongings are different than stuff. Belongings have emotions attached. "Stuff" are objects that are a necessity, but have no emotions attached.

Not believing this are you?

I have come to understand my Junk - to - Stress Quotient. The more junk I have, the more stress I have. Apparently this is the case with Rex too.

Yesterday was the first day of "purge, clean, de-stress". That's a working title. It could turn into "hey, my whole house is going on Craigs List - come and get it".

It's not that I live with stacks of things around me. We aren't "hoarders". But for some reason there is too much stuff in my small house. So, in order to get things in order - and thus reduce our stress levels - "purge, clean, de-stress" has commenced. I think I'm liking it. And, coming from someone who gets easily overwhelmed and thus can not figure out where to start - that fact that I did start is already a step in the right direction.

I'll keep you posted as to our progress.

I'm So Damn Frustrated!

Health care should be a right for all. No one should be allow to suffer slowly because they can not dole out the money needed to pay for treatment. I think our law makers and their federal health insurance have no idea what its like to NOT have health care. Let us revisit the Hippocratic Oath...perhaps our government leaders and decision makers should read it again.

The Hippocratic Oath: Modern Version

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:


I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.


I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.


I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.


I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.


I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.


I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.


I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.


I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.


If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.

Written in 1964 by Louis Lasagna, Academic Dean of the School of Medicine at Tufts University, and used in many universities.

Hope! Hope? Hope.

Imagine: You can't stand it in your own mind. What happens in your head is out of your control. You get to the point where you just want it to end. Or, you are at the point where you don't want to die, but you really REALLY want it to end. So, what do you do? The anxiety, the depression, the paranoia, and for some - the voices. The stigma they feel for having these feelings and sensations.

Now imagine: The person who is experiencing this is your loved one, friend, sibling, spouse, family member who deals everyday with feeling out of control to some degree.

For any of you living with loved ones who suffer with mental illness, you know what I am talking about. It's a roller coaster ride. Severe climbs up the track with the inevitable fall down the other side...and the occasional lull or straight away that gives you/them just enough time to catch your breath and get your bearings before the next thrill.

I find it difficult to deal with. The extremes of seeing them at their worst and best is tiring, maddening, saddening and at times makes me angry. When I get angry and want to give up, I remember one thing: THEY are the one experiencing all of this. THEY are the one who can't seem to find a day of peace...of REAL peace. Can you IMAGINE? My answer is always: no, I can't. I can't imagine being on the roller coaster my ENTIRE life. And I think I would be as worn out as they are. I would want it to be OVER as much as they are wanting it to be over.

I find it maddening that some of the situation is in their control. Therapy and medication are available - but how do you convince a person suffering like this to go get help? When all they want is someone to say "shabam!" and have it all be better. How do you convince someone experiencing despair that "you have control - you can make some choices that will help you", because they can? And they aren't.

We see people everyday who are on the street, talking to themselves, and are obviously having a rough go. Who we don't see are the mothers and fathers, sister and brothers, teachers, receptionists, grocery clerks, policemen, etc who are also suffering but are able to hide it better.

Please support your local agencies who offer services to the mentally ill and to their loved ones. Donate to agencies - they need money to offer resources. Donate your time - they need people to help with classes, office work, or just making calls to get others to donate. Educate yourself about the resources available in your community so that you can at least pass it along to a friend in need.

It takes a special kind of person to work with the mentally ill. No matter the degree of the mental illness. Be kind to anyone you know who does this type of work. It's a gift from God, Allah, or the universe - however you want to think of it.

If you are living this life - the life of the spouse, friend, sibling, family member: Take care of yourself. Do what you can, but realize your limits. Talk to someone. Find a support group. Learn about the disease. Don't make it your life. Love, truly love, the one who is suffering - when you are at the point where you don't want to love them anymore or think that you can't possibly love them anymore.

I'm a Mid 70's Kind of Gal...

And, I don't mean the decade. I'm hot. It's hot. I got told to stuff it on FaceBook from my friends in Arizona because I was complaining about the heat. So, I have turned to MY domain - my blog - to complain.
I'm hot. It's hot. Freakishly baking hot. I need a cool breeze.

Haiku II

Alas, I am home.

Goodbye my beach, just for now.

NoPo, here we go!

Am I Blue.... Am I Blue....yet?

It's official. I am addicted to blueberries. I love them. Yes - I would marry them if I could.

Blueberry season has arrived...well at least in Selah, Washington. That's where my blueberries have been coming from...the blueberries I have been eating all week that is (yes, I do realize its only Wednesday). Specifically, I am referring to the two 2lb containers I have eaten this week. I just packed another 2lb container in my beach stuff. NO - I'm not ashamed. I'm like a camel - I need to fill my hump.

There is nothing more lovely than a box full of those little, round, chalky blue, spheres of perfection. Sweet, small, bursting with blueberry flavor.....

Do I need an intervention? Maybe. Someone assured me I would be sick if I ate all those blueberries. Well...let me tell you that the aforementioned sickness has not occured and will not! You don't know the amount of blueberries I can eat. My tolerance is high...HIGH!

I am starting to get flashes of Violet from Willy Wonka. "Violet, your turning violet, Violet!" I may turn blue.