Dear friends and colleagues,
Today I was finally able, with Hannah Lewbel's help, to get my poetry books published for sale on Kindle. My poems are now available online! This is a red-letter day! I wish my mother were alive to see it! Blessings and may the books be used and be liked. I also made it so you can lend them for up to 14 days, so teachers can encourage students to read the copy of a poem if they would like to use one. This is a happy day for me! :)
Friday, January 29, 2016
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Starting up again
So today I worked out a plan to do part-time office Gynecology with my colleagues Dr. Watson and Dr. Halpern. They are family doctors and not associated with either Dignity or Sutter. This will allow me to stay independent, and try to regain being of service in my town. It was wonderful being able to dedicate some time to rebuilding my grandmother's house, and now it is more detail work. I got the mirror for the bathroom resurfaced, last time I was there, and I got the books from my mother and dad's library, which was in the portable storage unit, mostly sorted; we took 10 boxes of the less-good books to the town library, and I was able to put the best books into my house's bookshelves. This filled up most of the bookshelves Ian had built for the past two months, so we will need more. Little by little I am taking my own copies of the classics, and my poetry collection, down to Camarillo.
My friend Peter Reck has come up to collect the painting that was in the dining room at the old house, Adolfo Camarillo's house, which is now a town museum/park. The painting is of three priests who look like they are about to be martyred, and are holding the instruments for their doom. They are in black robes. Peter thinks this painting is probably Mexican, in the Spanish style, and from the 17th or 18th century. It has been stored badly, and has mold. But it may be valuable to someone looking at art from this period, and Peter has been sleuthing out curators and restorers who may take on the job of doing this saving work. I am very glad, because I hate to let things be lost. I hope at some point to be able to get my dad's portrait of Aunt Carmen worked on-- it was badly scratched by another painting in front of it, with the wire rubbing on the canvas.
Next time I go down, I am still hoping to get the pipes worked on. This has taken an inordinate amount of time, and maybe I need to get a different company to do it. But I am trying to get water both from the pump to the house, and the yard. This is how it was before. But we need new pipes.
I was happy that the guy who takes care of the white horses since Melly got too old, Jay Moreno, is also a tree cutter, and he did a beautiful job topping the jacarandas and also the oak in the front yard which was in danger of toppling over onto the house. I am hoping to start some more planting of the garden, and working on the fencing soon. It is a big task, and everything needs to be done, but we have certainly made headway, and the house itself is wonderful, livable and secure. with good walls and roof. I love having the gallery space, and dad's paintings. Many of my paintings from the office now have a new place to shine, and the tapestry is by the piano.
It has been wonderful having my friend Marly introduce me to her son Ian, who has become my cabinet guy. He also did the great favor of taking a beautiful big Mexican blue-and-white jar down from Monterey to the house--- when we were checking out the paintings at the Monterey art museum, we went to a lovely furniture store, and there was this gorgeous large ginger jar from Guanajuato. It is standing in the piano room, and looks good.
This fall is the Vienna reunion in Vienna, and the trip down the Danube, and I am glad to be going. Andy says he is willing to go with me and walk a week in the alps first. I have wanted to do this a long time, and last year I saw that there are walking trips one can sign up for in the Tirol. This is very exciting! Kathy and I were shopping in San Francisco, and I found a second-hand store with a perfect Tyrollean hat that fits me, so I am ready to roll! I am still considering whether to take my dirndl.
We have had a good soaking rain here these two weeks. We have desperately needed it, as California is in a drought for over 4 years. I hope we get more rain, and a lot of snow-pack, so we can fill the aquifers.
The political world is in a whirl leading to the early primaries in New Hampshire and Iowa. I am praying Bernie Sanders wins the Democratic nomination. I feel he is a breath of fresh air and great hope-- as he takes on the corporations and the banks. It is good to finally have someone who cares like the Kennedys, MLK, and FDR. I pray every day for his safety, and for the moderate Republicans, who cannot stand Trump, to vote for Bernie.
Well, it has been a few months since my last posting. I do hope to get more photos of Nana's house, to show. I am also glad that Jan Grahmann, our exchange student son from 1994, and his wife Mandy are coming in early February. It will be so good to see him!
My friend Peter Reck has come up to collect the painting that was in the dining room at the old house, Adolfo Camarillo's house, which is now a town museum/park. The painting is of three priests who look like they are about to be martyred, and are holding the instruments for their doom. They are in black robes. Peter thinks this painting is probably Mexican, in the Spanish style, and from the 17th or 18th century. It has been stored badly, and has mold. But it may be valuable to someone looking at art from this period, and Peter has been sleuthing out curators and restorers who may take on the job of doing this saving work. I am very glad, because I hate to let things be lost. I hope at some point to be able to get my dad's portrait of Aunt Carmen worked on-- it was badly scratched by another painting in front of it, with the wire rubbing on the canvas.
Next time I go down, I am still hoping to get the pipes worked on. This has taken an inordinate amount of time, and maybe I need to get a different company to do it. But I am trying to get water both from the pump to the house, and the yard. This is how it was before. But we need new pipes.
I was happy that the guy who takes care of the white horses since Melly got too old, Jay Moreno, is also a tree cutter, and he did a beautiful job topping the jacarandas and also the oak in the front yard which was in danger of toppling over onto the house. I am hoping to start some more planting of the garden, and working on the fencing soon. It is a big task, and everything needs to be done, but we have certainly made headway, and the house itself is wonderful, livable and secure. with good walls and roof. I love having the gallery space, and dad's paintings. Many of my paintings from the office now have a new place to shine, and the tapestry is by the piano.
It has been wonderful having my friend Marly introduce me to her son Ian, who has become my cabinet guy. He also did the great favor of taking a beautiful big Mexican blue-and-white jar down from Monterey to the house--- when we were checking out the paintings at the Monterey art museum, we went to a lovely furniture store, and there was this gorgeous large ginger jar from Guanajuato. It is standing in the piano room, and looks good.
This fall is the Vienna reunion in Vienna, and the trip down the Danube, and I am glad to be going. Andy says he is willing to go with me and walk a week in the alps first. I have wanted to do this a long time, and last year I saw that there are walking trips one can sign up for in the Tirol. This is very exciting! Kathy and I were shopping in San Francisco, and I found a second-hand store with a perfect Tyrollean hat that fits me, so I am ready to roll! I am still considering whether to take my dirndl.
We have had a good soaking rain here these two weeks. We have desperately needed it, as California is in a drought for over 4 years. I hope we get more rain, and a lot of snow-pack, so we can fill the aquifers.
The political world is in a whirl leading to the early primaries in New Hampshire and Iowa. I am praying Bernie Sanders wins the Democratic nomination. I feel he is a breath of fresh air and great hope-- as he takes on the corporations and the banks. It is good to finally have someone who cares like the Kennedys, MLK, and FDR. I pray every day for his safety, and for the moderate Republicans, who cannot stand Trump, to vote for Bernie.
Well, it has been a few months since my last posting. I do hope to get more photos of Nana's house, to show. I am also glad that Jan Grahmann, our exchange student son from 1994, and his wife Mandy are coming in early February. It will be so good to see him!
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