More Questions than Answers

This has been a Bucket List week. Saturday I arose at 5 am to pick grapes. It was a small block, so it didn't take long to finish. I was added to a crew that has been picking for a few weeks. In the Northern California wine regions the norm is to pick the grapes when it is cool to aid in the winemaking. Midnight and 1:00 am start times are common, or just after sundown. Either floodlights or head lamps are used to illuminate the grapevines. The crew I worked with started later because the one acre of grapes wouldn't take long.

I've been wanting to help in the harvest for years, but work and life has intruded. This year things worked out, though my time of work was short. We were done in about an hour and a half. The crew was happy as they were coming off of a 13 hour pick a few days earlier. A short Saturday for them meant some rest and family time. I was able to spend time with my family for the rest of the weekend also.

What struck me as I picked is the immense amount of physical labor that is needed to produce this product, wine. Just like most of our food, it is a billion dollar industry that must have people doing manual labor to be able to make the products we eat and drink. No labor, no food.

And we still can't find a way to make the immigration and guest worker system work?

Another Check Bites the Dust

Another new adventure begins today when I become a substitute Agriculture teacher. Is it an extension of our suburban farming and my former life as a teacher? Could be, but it is another check on the bucket list.

We are Polished in Ways We Cannot Predict

Yesterday was my last official day at the Cave and it was a good day overall. The weekends spent there were a wonderful experience and rejuvenated me in ways I hoped for. But we don't always get what we want or expect, so this opportunity additionally paid big dividends in unanticipated fashion.

I was blessed in my last job with a five minute commute by bicycle. We had planned where we lived that way and over that career the short commute allowed me lunch at home and little expense getting to work. The cave job required a two hour driving commute, much like many people have every day. The scenery was grand, but one still had to drive up the hill and then down at the end of the weekend. I thought this might get tedious, but the opposite happened as I listened to music and thought and planned for what is to come next. It became a time to reflect. Next time I would like to get some books on tape to try that experience.

This commute also meant I was away from home for two days. That put a burden on Maureen to do my chores as well as hers. She is constantly working on one project or another, canning, gardening or something; so I thought often about this and hoped I hadn't added too many tasks. This is also with a tinge of guilt that maybe she'll see that I don't do much around the house.

I also learned many things from the other naturalists. I tend to believe I have a reasonable bit of knowledge about different subjects. These young women and men taught me I still have things to grasp about the world around us. I thank them for helping me along the way to greater knowledge.

A big blessing was being allowed to work with one of our sons and to see the young man he has grown into. And to see though we may not agree on every topic, he researches and thinks through his beliefs and can support them. What a joy.

I feel like the Thoreau quote I used on cave tours: "The finest workers in stone are not copper and steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time." My co-workers polished me this summer.

Equality?

From a post on Intellectual Takeout. 

A Weekend to Remember

Bizarre weekend, or maybe it is a forecast of coming attractions.  I left the valley we live in under smoky skies. The fire in the hills near us has filled the valley with smoke and the late summer inversion has kept it here. No view of the mountains from here when usually there is some vision of peaks. As I climbed in elevation the smoke remained and the smell of burnt wood was added. This is the largest fire currently burning in California at over 110,000 acres, so the smoke and smell aren't unexpected for us within 30 miles as the crow flies.

What made it strange is that the smoke is usually blown off a bit with afternoon breezes and this didn't happen this weekend. And a new dimension was added when I realized the smoke obscured the stars Saturday night. I tagged along with some co-workers to a Dark Sky Festival nearby. A Dark Sky Festival is a event to bring awareness to the lack of dark skies in many areas. This means people can't see stars, planets nor satellites. The festival was put on by the same non-profit I work for and I was looking forward to viewing what the telescopes set up would show. It had a tinge of Druid-like nature worship, but not too heavily. Maybe that was just the synth style music. A couple of astronauts spoke at different times and different displays were set up. But Saturday night we saw no stars because of the smoke.

Sunday dawned with more smoke and a knock on the cabin door. The son I work with up in the hills had spent half the night in sleep depriving pain. Both he and I were scheduled to work Sunday and doctor care is two hours away. We solved the work issue and waited to see what might happen. Stabbing pain in lower right abdomen? The a-word came to mind. About 2 pm we decided to drive down the hill, pick up Mom and go to seek help. We have experienced the long waits in the Emergency Room and wanted to avoid that. We went to urgent care only to be told this one doesn't do lab work or other diagnostic work. Twenty minutes wasted, but lesson learned. On to ER.

Seven hours later, one bad for us fast food dinner (including the burger we bought the street person hanging outside the restaurant), blood tests, urine sample, and ultrasound we find out nothing. Son is still in pain, but doctors, other than ruling out gall/kidney stones, don't know why. That sounds like a complaint, and it is but only a mild one. I understand medicine is a process sometimes. As a side note it was interesting to be texting son in the Caribbean about his brother's condition. Second son's girlfriend is currently attending med school there and son is in the process of interviewing to attend also. Helps to know an almost doctor. Until the phone battery died. Lesson to carry phone charger learned. Again.  We get back home just before midnight and are waiting for something to happen, or not.

The ER waiting room deserves its own description. If you have been to one, you already know and have seen the effects of the modern healthcare system. In our time we see: a young woman crying loudly with what appears to be a knee injury, her parents trying to help; a father with three young children waiting for his wife, a drunk, loud, cursing man giving very little care or concern to the woman he has walked in with; the extended family, one being cared for in the ER and at least 12 more having a family gathering in the ER; the young man vomiting, or appearing to vomit with a loud soundtrack, while his three friends come and go out of the waiting room to both check on him and make fun of him as he is sprawled across two chairs; the couple with their son quietly sitting and waiting for some help; and the multiple people in various stages of undress, barefoot and tattooed holding some kind of bloody cloth over a wound. I expect this, but to see it again is a reminder of potential things to come.

The cumulative effect of the weekend with the wildfire/natural disaster smoke and the health related visit to the ER, is one of the future. The natural disaster is something that will have to rode like a wave at the beach. You prepare and plan and hope it works out in your favor. The medical situation reminds me to stay in shape and take care of myself and try to minimize issues of poor health. I forgot to mention that many more than half of the people seeking help in the ER were very overweight. Also the open sores and twitches of drug use. I can void those habits.

Having to deal with people in tough times is going to be a long journey.

The Next "Worst Hard Times"

Home with a day off, this is nice. Nothing eventful at the cave this weekend. Big Labor Day crowds, all amped up with the feeling summer is over and they have to get their vacation wrapped up in this three days. I always thought three day weekends were best spent at home to avoid crowds. I realize not everyone is wired that way, nor have the possibility to take a break when they want. I just want to have fewer crowds on my respites. No one was out of line and the crowds were manageable; they just had a different vibe to them.

To contrast with the strange vibe, there was no animal issues this weekend. I didn't see any wildlife other than mosquitos and flies. I thought I might get to see my first cave dwellers, a troglobite, but I couldn't find them. A form of millipede showed up earlier in the week in a group, but must have vacated before I got to see them.

This being the last big weekend of the year, the staff is being reduced; some are returning to college. I have two more weekends and my tenure is finished and it has been a good time. I've met some great people, learned some geology, learned more about how to teach and worked with one of our sons. Thank you to those that made this possible.

I did have an epiphany walking down the trail to the cave. I admit feelings of guilt because I've been able to walk away from our house each week for a few days and not have to look at the hole in the backyard waiting for the sewer line to be fixed. Or worry about the roof leaks and the rain barrels and getting them finished before El Nino shows up. Or any of the other normal repairs needed. That also doesn't include the four legged, two legged and winged animal feeding that I normally do that gets added to Maureen's To Do list when I leave. My time is drawing to a close at the cave. I substitute teach during the week. Our life still hasn't totally become settled in our "retirement" post surgery era.

I then stumbled upon the thoughts about what is happening in our country and the world. The time that we were young marrieds and starting a career, beginning a family and the circumstances we dealt with are different now. The old paradigms don't always seem to work.

Or do they. I started thinking how blessed I was to have a partner, Maureen, that still likes the "old" ways as I do. I got to thinking that my skills around the yard are a complement to her skills. The garden we grow, she can preserve for eating at a later time. The desire to raise animals for food by both of us will provide for us. The choice to stay in a smaller house instead of upsizing sure looks good now with our children starting their lives. We don't have a large house to clean and repair, and we have more yard to plant.

The biggest comfort I gained was when I started thinking about how we will deal with the coming times. Many are predicting another Great Depression, or worse. There sure seems like it could happen. My comfort in these thoughts comes from a belief in a merciful God and a partner to go through the tough times with. I was calmed when I've been blessed with someone that has skills in cooking, canning and storing. She does research to become better at these things and more. I'm trying to catch up and gain more skills to help her. These thoughts gave me confidence as I walked.

Not confidence that we would have it all Twinkies and Cheetos in the coming times and skate through unharmed. But a feeling of assurance that the two of us working together will weather this storm on the horizon. It won't necessarily be always fun and pleasant, but we will make it somehow.

What's Goin' On?

That last two weeks I have been a substitute teacher in a middle school resource class. Small class sizes, but there is a reason for that. I have heard more strange behavior than my last year at the high school. Most of it from just two young men. I have at least another week and in a bizarre fashion I am looking forward to the week.

Three weeks ago it was moving a rattlesnake. Last Saturday was moving a bear cub. Sunday we arrived at work to find a tranquilized momma bear in the parking lot. What will we find this week?

The bear techs said they have moved 30 bears in the park this year. More than normal. The bears are averaging 20-30 pounds lighter than normal also. The drought is effecting everything. Two friends reported they have had bears in their yards below 2000 feet in elevation.

I gave my first two tours last weekend. Remembered how much I like teaching. It was also fun to have the audience listen and at least appear to want to learn.

I'm sure fun is ahead and the wind will hopefully blow the smoke elsewhere.