Drake Claims He's Married to a New Person

 

A bad selfie on the way to the eye doctor.....
No glasses!

Have you ever missed something?  I'm not talking about things lost in the jungle of your closet or the frustration of rifling through your junk drawer, or in my case peering into any number of lidded pots I use to conceal my 'clutter' I can't let go of.  [I actually have a small jacks ball with a tiny playing card suspended inside it.  Have no clue where it came from, but I'm not throwing it away.]   Nor am I talking about those certain foods you're avoiding.  

No, I'm talking about missing my nearsightedness.  I just had cataract surgery on both my eyes five days apart.  The reason the surgeries were so close together is we sprang for the all the bells and whistles lens'.  These new lens look like vinyl records with each groove being a level of vision.  It's going to take awhile for my brain to learn how to use these, and how to use them together. Currently, less than five days out from my second eye, I can see from about six inches from my face to infinity.  If that's not enough, my vision is supposed to improve over the next 30 days.  [As I'm typing this, my vision is moving between sharp and faintly blurred.]  My brain is in training.  It's learning not only how to use both eyes together but also to switch between the various vision levels.  

Ten feet and beyond has snapped in pretty quickly.  I can see with sharp vision in and around any room.  Out in the real world, I think of my vision as being to infinity and beyond!  I can easily see clearly at a distance, but my brain is sluggish at moving between a driving distance back to the street signs.  

OK, so that's physically what's happening.  So, the question is why would I miss being nearsighted?  I've been nearsighted since I was about seven years old.  At age 8, the teacher called my mother and suggested I couldn't really see the blackboard.  This was very typical in the 1950's especially in families where no one else wore glasses.  I saw the ophthalmologist about every six or eight months for the next seven years. I got more and more nearsighted, and my glasses got thicker and thicker.  At night, I watched the items disappear from my dresser, the doorknobs disappear from the doors, and even the covers at the end of the bed get fuzzy. 

At first, I was scared by what was happening.  Gradually, I relaxed, and began to realize since I couldn't see anything, I wasn't distracted by objects in the room.  I started living inside my head when I was very young.  There's a softness and relaxation level in the nearsighted world which is hard to explain to the 20/20 visionaries.  

When you wake up in the nearsighted world, you can just relax.  If you have to think about the upcoming day, no problem.  You can't see the clothes that need to be picked up; the shoes that need to be put away; or the rest of the clutter in the room.  If you're not pushed to get up to start the day, being nearsighted is REALLY relaxing.  You just lay back, and drift.  Sometimes, I even fall back asleep.  In the morning, that's never a problem for me.  

Another benefit of nearsightedness is you can't see dirt!  This can be very comforting in the shower or the tub especially if those fixtures don't belong to you.  I know, gross.  It's always easier to hit any bathroom while being nearsighted.  However, you never want to clean nearsighted -  you'll miss half the dirt.  

Finally, another benefit of being nearsighted is your close up vision is terrific.  If the rest of the world could be within six inches then all would be copacetic.  Since the cataract surgeries, I've lost that crystal clear close up vision. I've already realized I'll need 'cheaters' to thread needles, rip out stitches, see my face close up in a mirror, or do anything else right under my nose.  I can no longer see my armpits.  Not a great loss, but definitely a change since I now have to shave blind.

Naturally, by this time, you've realized I'm gently pulling your leg.  This really has been a massive adjustment.  I wake up and I'm startled when the room snaps into crystal clear focus.  I get up and reach for my glasses.  If I haven't automatically reached for them, I vaguely wander around my room and bathroom looking for 'something' until I realize it's my glasses my subconscious wants me to find.  At least once or twice a day I try to take off my non-existent glasses.  As compensation for losing my nearsightedness, I was able to buy a pair of sunglasses which don't look like some weird virtual reality headset.  

Prior to these surgeries I was having major anxiety.  The anxiety was swirling around my life, and kept being more and more directed to the cataract surgeries.  I finally figured out the 'trigger'.  I'd heard more than once cataract surgery was 'simple' and would be no problem.  The last time I had a simple surgery which would be no problem, I lost the ability to walk for about two years.  Once I figured this out AND had a consultation with my spiritual advisor, I calmed down enough to have the surgeries without complications.  

Now, I've further figured out that this has not been just a 'simple surgery' for me.  I never, ever expected the results I'm getting.  This has upended my world.  Sounds crazy?  Yep.  Try to imagine the way you interact with the world completely changes.  I really don't remember a time when I didn't wear glasses.  (Caveat:  I tried at 16 and 24 to wear contacts.  Both short lived and failures.)  When you frame the cataract surgeries in this lens, you can see why part of me misses being nearsighted. 

Now, those are some cute sunglasses!!!

 

Anxiety Ridden

I am currently anxiety ridden.  This is not a normal state for me.  I'm usually the glass half full, silver lining, lemons to lemonade woman.  I've been thinking about anxiety which I've been able to partially detach myself from thanks to my talk with my spiritual advisor.  (No, it's not some old, dead Native American - the SA in 'Darma & Greg'.)  Anywho,  one of her nuggets was to help me realize I'm not alone.

The nutshell for my anxiety is my upcoming cataract surgeries.  (9/27 & 10/1)  Everyone keeps telling me what a 'simple' surgery this is, and it's a piece of cake.  Well......  The last 'simple' surgery I had resulted in my losing the ability to walk for about two years.  Not fun, not fun at all.  And, it was just a 'simple' bunion surgery.  

My rational mind is saying, 'OK, all will be fine.'  The more important question is why am I dwelling on the worst case scenario and generating all this anxiety?  Here's what my SA had to say:  The anxiety probably has less to do with the cataract surgeries and more to do with all the upheavals and changes we've experienced since October 1, 2023.  

List Time:  1) Clean out AZ house; 2) Divide 'stuff' into sell, store, stage; 3) Cruise over Thanksgiving; 4) Movers pick up the 'store' stuff; 5) Xmas in NYC; 6) List staged house; 7) First people to see it buy it!!!!! 8) Pack & move within 30 days; 9) Plan cross country trip; 10) Buy new house; 11) Remodel new house; 12) Get sick/diagnosed with adult onset asthma; 13) Move into new house during remodel to save $$; 14) Movers arrive with only 2/3rds of our stuff! 15) Unpack; 16) Movers finally arrive with other 1/3rd of our stuff; 17) Unpack.   18) Find Ophthalmologist; 19) Find Primary Care Dr. 20) Mammogram; 21) Blood Work (bad news - Dr. wants me on Statins.) 22) Find gym. 23) Make summer clothes for Fiona.  24) Look for bridge games 25)  Make new friends.

Oh, and that's the condensed list.  I realize my SA is RIGHT.  She also said that I work all the time.  Hmmmm.   I do recognize that I'm constantly busy doing SOMETHING.  i read every day - I usually finish two to four books every week.  Thanks to a good friend, I now have magazines to read.  I also sew every week making stuff - including granddaughter clothes; doll clothes; clothes for me, and a tunic/apron thing for a friend who broke her dominate arm.  I also meal plan every week, have groceries delivered, shop for what the @#$$%&^ store didn't deliver, and cook at least five meals a week.  (I'm trying to keep Drake alive.)  We also play bridge twice a week.  Plus we exercise at Planet Fitness five to six days a week (REALLY!)  We are coming out of a baseball season, so I've listened or watched baseball almost every day of the last 156 days.  I write at least 12 people every week, and I'm writing a friend undergoing chemo every day.  Plus, there's this blog which sometimes seems like an albatross around my neck,  but I just can't seem to give it up.  Notice, there's no home maintenance, cleaning or laundry or car stuff in this paragraph - Drake does all that.  

Back to this anxiety thing.  Looking at these lists, I get why some people would see me as overcommitted.  However, I really think I'm more anxious about settling back into the 'community' life.  During all our vagabonding time and our nannying time, each day was different.  I loved the vagabonding because there was so much 'new' everyday.  Just flip back through these blogs if you don't believe me.  I loved the nannying because I got to live close to my daughter for the first time in 15 years, and I was able to make a big contribution to her life and build a unique relationship with the first grandchild.  

I am concerned (a nice word for anxiety) about being in a fixed community.  I must say, though, this one has been extremely welcoming.  We live in a cul-de-sac, and all the neighbors have been incredibly nice - even helping us with yardwork!  They are all getting the picture that I 'live outloud' and Drake doesn't.  I'm trying to tamp down my profane mouth, but we all know that only works about 85% of the time.  So far, so good.

One thing I've learned is that by acknowledging your fears, sadness, and anxieties by TELLING ON YOURSELF,  and in my case, calling my SA for advice and writing about it helps ease things.  All that stuff seems to deflate when you share it.  

Finally, it always pays big dividends to count blessings:  Great husband; fabulous daughter/son-in-law & pseudo son; happy, healthy grandkids; wonderful extended family.  Celebrating another birthday.  Still getting out of bed every day & mostly able to do lots of stuff (see above list).  Oh, and a great Spiritual Advisor.  Thanks, M.  I'm kicking this anxiety shit to the curb.  

Election Day is Coming

 Voter suppression is when you proactively try to keep people who don't agree with your political or social views from voting.  Voter suppression was used for 100 years after the Civil War to keep former African slaves from voting, and it was so successful, the black population in the south were kept in virtual slavery for 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation. The suppression took the form of both violent and non-violent strategies.  The violent strategies:  Beatings and lynchings.  The non-violent methods included a poll tax an individual had to pay in order to vote.  This disenfranchised both poor blacks AND poor whites who could not afford the tax.  Another favorite non-violent strategy would to require the person trying to vote take a 'test' to prove his/her literacy and knowledge of history.  No one passed if their skin was the wrong color.  

Fast forward to the 21st century.  Voter suppression is back!  State legislatures around the country are making it more and more difficult to vote.  First, voting by mail is much more restricted.  If you are planning on requesting a ballot by mail, request early and make sure you know what the 'rules' are in order to get and return a ballot.  Second, call the Voter Registration office in your county and double check that you are registered to vote.  In Texas, for instance, the Governor is crowing he's removed 1 million people from the voter registration roles.  Who was removed?  First, some dead people, but second, PEOPLE WHOSE VOTER REGISTRATION ADDRESS DOESN'T MATCH THEIR DRIVER'S LICENSE ADDRESS.  All those people are no longer registered to vote.  Whether you live in Texas or not, you could be one of these people if your state has been winnowing down the voter registration records.  

Here's something that happened to Drake and me.  We went to get a Virginia Driver's License, and we signed an additional document attesting that we were eligible to vote and wanted to register.  The procedure is the Virginia Dept of Transportation (where you go to get a Driver's License among other things) forwards your info to the County Voter Registration Office, and we assumed we were registered to vote and could use our Driver's License to vote.  We trotted up to vote in the Primary Election in our local high school - our polling place with our new drivers' licenses.  Well, lo and behold, we discovered we needed an actual Voter Card to prove our voter registration.  Fortunately, the guy supervising the poll workers let us vote provisionally, and got our info sent immediately to the Voter Registration Office.  It took TWO MONTHS to get the voter cards.  

Another form of suppression taking place over the country is you may need special forms of identification along with your Voter Card in order to vote.  It could be a passport, or the federal identification card (the driver's license that allows you to fly on an airplane).  Know not only where you vote, but also what documentation you need to have with you in order to vote. 

The time honored way to suppress the vote is by gerrymandering the voting districts.  Gerrymandering is drawing voting districts in a tortured way to favor one political party.  This practice goes all the way back to Eldridge Gerry, the Governor of Massachusetts in the early 1800's.  He drew a new twisting district with boundaries which looked like a salamander and the new district boundaries favored his political party.  Gerry + salamander is the origin of the word gerrymandering.  Republican and Democratic state legislatures have brought back this practice in our heated political climate.  This is a disservice to ALL the voters,  Redrawing districts has become a new hobby of state legislatures.  

Finally, after the votes are counted, a county clerk or other appointed official 'certifies the votes'.  Certification means the votes have been counted and are ready to be added to the tally of all the votes.  Certification is usually required within a certain time limit, so the votes can be counted expediently.  Certification has been a requirement not a matter of discretion.  New rules, especially in Georgia, is making certification a matter of discretion by the certification official.  Basically, if you live in a place where certification is at the whim of some politically motivated bureaucrat, your vote may not be counted in a timely manner, or not at all if the votes are held up to favor one political view.

The days of assuming you can vote are at an end.  Don't get caught being unable to vote.  Call the voter registration office, or go on-line and learn what the rules are which allow you to vote.  Voting is a right.  Voting is also a duty.  It's the biggest duty you have as a citizen.  If you choose not to vote, then I'm not interested in your opinions because you forfeited the right to express them.  THERE IS NO EXCUSE NOT TO VOTE.  This year voting for President of the United States seems very important, and it is, but in reality the people you vote for on the City Council, for County Commissioner, for the School Board, and the other 'low level' people in public service are actually more crucial to your quality of life.

ELECTION DAY IS NOVEMBER 5TH - LET'S GET OUT THE VOTE.

Did You Know You Don't Get to Vote for President of the USA?

 I've been arguing with a friend about that scintillating subject of the Electoral College.  Here's your history lesson for the day.  The Electoral College is part of the Constitution,  The original purpose was to make sure that 'qualified voters' were the ones selecting the President and Vice President.   Remember in 1787 very few people could actually vote.  As a rule of thumb you had to be white, male and own a certain amount of property to vote.  

Even white males didn't have universal suffrage until 1848.  Former male slaves were given the vote after 1865, with those votes effectively taken away in the South after the end of Reconstruction in 1877 with the passage poll tax laws, physical intimidation, and other tricks to keep blacks from voting.  Women weren't given the right to vote until 1920 after a long and arduous campaign lasting decades.  

Whoever wins the popular vote for President in a state selects the Electors for that state.  However, qualifications for Electors is set by each state.  There is one elector for each member of the House of Representatives and one for each Senator.  (Additionally, the District of Columbia has three Electors.)  Most states have 'winner takes all Electors' except for Nebraska and Maine who can split their Electors but usually don't.  Currently, there are 538 electors.  It takes the vote of 270 Electors to win the Presidency/Vice Presidency.  The Congress chaired by the Vice President certifies the election on January 6th.  

Those are the facts.  Here is the reality:   States from the very beginning could decide who gets to vote - that's in the Constitution.  In the late 1700's and early 1800's some states removed the property ownership requirement; some let black men with property vote; one let widowed women vote.  A few states even had universal male suffrage way in advance of 1848.  The two party system was less entrenched than it is now.  Electors were a way of establishing the two party system.  

Practically speaking, the infrastructure of the United States for 100 years was woefully lacking especially prior to the advent of railroads.  There were very few passable roads.  The majority of travel was by water using rivers.  (It's no accident that settlements occur at crossings of rivers.)  It took a long time for information about the election of the President/Vice President to be disseminated and to know who won.

Therefore, a small group of people (the Electors) from each state are dispatched to Washington D.C. and the Electors report their votes (not the popular vote) to Congress, and the outcome of the election is certified on January 6th.  The insurrection and take over of the Capital on January 6, 2021, was all about trying to disrupt the certification of the election

So, it's voting in November, travel to Washington, Electors counted, election outcome certified January 6th, and the winner of the election was then sent via the Electors back to each state so everyone would know who actually got elected.  It's no wonder that the inauguration of the new President wasn't until March.  As the country continued to push Westward, it could take months for everyone in the country to know the outcome of the Presidential election.   (The inauguration of the new President wasn't moved to January 20th until 1937 when the miracle of radio made the dissemination of the vote a matter of a few days.) 

My argument is it's time to dump the Electoral College.  It's now possible to win the popular vote by millions of votes and still lose the election based on the Electors still deciding who will be President.  (Hillary Clinton got 2.9 million more votes than Donald Trump, and she lost the election.)  How is that possible?  In simple terms, large blocks of Democratic and Republican voters and their Electors cancel one another out and suddenly the election is being decided by a handful of states.   The media has designated these states as the 'battleground states' and how they vote is how the election is decided based on their Electors.  It doesn't matter if you win or lose the popular vote.  The Electoral College is distorting one person/one vote.  We can know the outcome of the election almost instantly.  In the 21st century we don't have to wait for  the Electors to tell us.  

Here's the rub:  It takes a ratification of 2/3rds of the States to approve an Amendment to the Constitution.  It took decades for everyone to be able to walk up to a polling place and vote in the United States.  The outmoded Electoral College is taking away your vote!  It's time to amend the Constitution and have the President elected by the popular vote of the people.  Seems like a no-brainer to me.  

  

Have You Heard of the Comstock Act?

We just celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Equal Credit Act.  For one-half of the population it represented financial freedom.  When I graduated from college, I got a job.  It was actually a pretty good job that paid 3/4th of what my newly graduated husband was making.  

It was very difficult to achieve income parity in 1972 because professional careers were mostly closed to women - the admissions gurus wouldn't let us into medical school, law school, engineering school, etc., etc., etc.  The argument for limiting access to women to the kinds of education which had high ticket salaries was two fold:  (1) they are taking the place of men who need to earn a living for their families and (2) they'll just get pregnant and leave the workforce - why invest?

And, to round off the equation, women (prior to the Equal Credit Act) could not get a bank loan without the cosignature of a husband or father or other male relative.  The same went for buying a car, trying to buy a house, or getting a credit card only in the woman's name.  The Equal Credit Act changed all of that misogynistic financial stranglehold.  The first thing I did at age 24 was get an American Express Card in MY OWN NAME.   It's difficult for young women to understand while our country claims to have 'liberty and justice for ALL', when it comes to females, obtaining liberty and justice has been and continues to be a fight.  

Currently legislatures around the country are filled with angry men, mostly white, but really MAGA American men who are pissed off that they have to compete in the economic arena not only with other men who are not white, but also with women.  Currently, young women are winning the economic race.  They are getting more education, and thus, are more prepared for the new economy.  Young men seem to be dropping out and signing off.  Slightly older women are successfully managing challenging careers and having children.  Women in my age group are cheering them on feeling these gains for women are the result of all the barriers we broke down.

Well, if you can't compete with women straight up, what do you do?  You begin to legally restrict women's rights.  You comb the books looking for laws which will accomplish the result of pushing women off the playing field by any measure which can be gotten away with.  For example, in Arizona you resurrect an 1864 law banning virtually all abortions.  The law was finally repealed this year by ONE VOTE.  

Get ready for the Comstock Act:  This is a federal law passed in 1873.  It originally banned sending obscene material through the US Postal Service.   Disseminating information about conception or abortion was considered an obscenity.    Enter into the picture Margaret Sanger.  

As a nurse and public health advocate, she discovered some women, especially poor women, were having babies every year.  By age 40, their bodies were worn out and many were dying prematurely.  Sanger took on the Comstock Act by opening a birth control clinic in 1916.  She was promptly jailed.  Over her lifetime, she made it a crusade for women to obtain birth control information.  She was also the founder of Planned Parenthood.  Many challenges wound through the court system until 1936 when birth control was removed from the Comstock Act.  However, the Comstock Act is still the law on the books - especially as it pertains to abortion.

Why is this important?  The Republican party would like to enforce the Comstock Act (federal law) to halt the use of 'the morning after pill' which is being sent through the mail to countless women who do not have the resources to travel hundreds of miles for an abortion.  There are untold numbers of women who are bearing unwanted children because of the restricted access to abortion.  There are women who are being refused medical care by doctors afraid of losing their licenses or going to jail.  The most restrictive abortion laws make no exceptions for abortion for any reason.  Raped and pregnant?  Too bad.  Baby discovered to be severely defective?  Too bad.  Can't afford another child?  Too bad.  There are many stories of women forced to labor and deliver a child with no brain, organs outside the body, or an abused or raped girl holding her teddy bear as she labors and delivers.  Horror stories.  Infant mortality has zoomed up into double digits in the states with draconian abortion laws.  Without access to the abortion pill, we'll be back to the back alley abortions of my day in unsterile environments.  Or, even worse, the do it yourself abortion with a metal coat hanger.

 While the Comstock Act has not been enforced for decades, and Roe V. Wade seemed to make it obsolete, the true facts are that Republicans know they can't win on this issue at the ballot box, so the new strategy is to comb the books for ancient laws, which are surely unconstitutional, but oh so handy to continue to erode the hard won legal and financial rights of women as these dinosaur laws are challenged in court.  These types of laws will surely wind up before a Supreme Court which has shown a predilection for legislating morality - especially as it applies to women.  The Comstock Act is a federal law, and it's still on the books.  

This essay is not meant to be a debate about the right or wrong of abortion.  It's about control of womens' bodies and forcing them to bear unwanted children.  It's a gauntlet which has been thrown down.  We've achieved our hard won rights by fighting for every one of them.  We've only had the right to vote for 104 years, and it wasn't handed to us.  It took decades to achieve.   My grandmothers grew up unable to vote.  If you can't vote, you have no voice in what happens to you. 

This is an election year.  Women must ban together AGAIN  to protect not only ourselves, but also our daughters.  It's time to get out the vote.  In the land of personal freedom, no one should have the right to control me based on my gender.     

Bookends on Fifty-Four Years

Fifty four years ago I was newly married, and I couldn't stop admiring my shiny gold wedding band.  I wasn't a diamond girl even then.  We were living in one room which was one-half of a garage with a 4x4 foot bathroom.  The bathroom was a concrete pad with a drain in the middle of the floor.  There was a diagonal shower curtain - shower on one side, toilet on the other.  There was one sink, and it WASN'T in the bathroom.  It was either the kitchen sink if I was cooking, or the bathroom sink if Drake was shaving, or we were brushing our teeth. 

There was a lumpy double bed, and the curtains blew winter and summer.  We didn't own a fan; the windows were drafty.  There was, however, a full time traffic cop:  Crazy Betty, the alcoholic owner of this palace, was obsessed with two things:  Her cat, Peaches, and monitoring who parked where.  I think her obsession with parked cars was really about being nosy.  She loved to come into our apartment (yes, she had the audacity to call 1/2 of a garage an apartment) when we weren't there.  

That's how we met our dear friend Rick - he seemed so old, being all of 23 to our 19.  He had just gotten out of the Army, and for the first three weeks of the month he had money courtesy of the G.I. Bill.  I knocked on his door to tell him the landlady was coming into his apartment when he was gone.  She used the pretext of putting salt down the toilet.  54 years later, and I still can't figure that one out.  Crazy Betty's abode was proof that students will live in anything.  At least our half of the garage didn't have mushrooms growing under the bed.  I don't think they were edible.

We were so terribly in love that year.  In love as you can only be when 'real life' hasn't interfered yet.  We spent every hour together except when we were in class, and we even took some classes together.  Our one room apartment was not in the least soundproofed - can you imagine how much you can hear when there's sheetrock nailed to studs?  Insulation?  Don't make me laugh.  I will always be grateful that Rick pretended to be deaf, and he was silent as well while we explored our newfound sexuality.

Fast forward 54 years.  We just bought, what will in all probability, be our last house.  From Arizona, it was hard to gage how long it would take to buy a house.  Then, when we bought one, we didn't know how long it would really take to remodel the one we bought.  In order to get out of $165 a night hotel bill, we moved into our new house while it was (is) still being remodeled.  Currently, we are living in one room with a bathroom attached.  There are some significant differences between now and 54 years ago.

Instead of a lumpy double bed, we have a new king sized adjustable bed.  The windows aren't drafty, and the bathroom is considerably more luxurious.  We are sans kitchen, so we are making do with only eating breakfast here, and ordering in dinner.  I was smart enough to move the 22 year old fridge to the garage.  

What has happened in this updated version of our Crazy Betty apartment is I've remembered how happy I was then and am now.  Spending all this time with Drake as we've traversed the country on our last gigantic road trip, as well as living in one room has rekindled those early feelings of being so intensely in love with a difference.  Now, the feelings are so much deeper and more complex after having spent a lifetime together. 

As we moved through our life, we always told one another that we could be happy again in one room.  I'm here to testify; it's true. 

 

2700 Miles: Arizona to Virginia

 Do you know what is interesting about driving across the country?  It's how the land changes.  We began in the Basin and Range area in Arizona.  These pictures make you  understand when I say, "I've had it with the desert.  I'm so tired of brown."  Technically, this isn't the Mojave Desert; but it's a good imitation.

Arizona heading toward New Mexico

 A true desert wouldn't have this much 'greenery'.  The red rocks mean iron.

This is petrified sand - literally sand turned to stone.

I tried for more than ten years to find the beauty in this landscape.  At one point it dawned on me that Sun City, founded in 1965, was filled with mature cacti, so I did a study.  I rode my bicycle all over the place and took pictures of different cactus, and identified each one.  One of the things I did learn to appreciate was how difficult this climate, with so little rainfall, was for plants, much less trees.  The desert will grow almost anything given enough water.  Post 1965, as Phoenix/Tucson exploded with people, they brought both plants and trees from other parts of the country increasing the humidity and making places like Sun City unique in its desert landscape.  Having lived in the heat with all the modern conveniences, I really admire the Apache for their ability to stay alive and thrive in the desert.

Agave

Organ Pipe

Barrel Cactus 

Prickly Pear

Teddy Bear Cholla

Pincushion

Senilis

Saguaro

Cacti and other native plants are actually protected under Arizona law.  You must have permission of the land owner AND a permit from the Dept. of Agriculture to remove a cactus.  There are fines up to $150K and/or five years in prison for a first offense.  If you buy a cactus from a nursery for your yard, it is suggested you file the tag/receipt in your files.  Large Saguaros are particularly protected since they are quite delicate and have very shallow roots.  With large saguaros, their Sun City owners would have them staked down, so they couldn't fall over in a strong wind or be stolen.  A ten foot saguaro is about 40 years old, and it's worth $110 a foot, including the arms.  

As usual, I got off theme.  Slowly, the landscape changed as we drove farther east.  It was very gradual, so there was no 'line' between the Basin and Ranges and the Trans Pecos.  El Paso is the entry to the Trans Pecos.  The high plains of the Texas Panhandle give way to the Great Plains.  In layperson's language, we call all of this "West Texas".  It's a land of high skies and flat land.  The first time I saw it, 1969, I was amazed town lights would appear at night 50 or more miles before you arrived at the town site.  This was the territory of the Comanche (250,000 square miles), and what the Spanish explorers called the Llano Estacado (Staked Plain).  [The Spaniards quickly realized they could become hopelessly lost since the geography didn't include handy unchangeable landmarks.  Thus, they drove a large stake in the ground, then moved on until when they could just see the last driven stake in the distance; they drove another stake.  This is how they explored these plains.]

Electric lines - poles imported - are often the only 
manmade items you see as you traverse West Texas.

Trees indicate a ranch house.  They've been
carefully planted and watered to
provide wind breaks.  Wind here
blows constantly.

Windmills provide water for cattle

High sky and highway - this is Interstate 10

Once you leave the plains by dropping off the Edwards Plateau, you arrive in the heart of Texas, the Texas Hill Country.  What's happening here reminds me of the old song which laments if you call someplace paradise pretty soon it isn't.  

The Texas Hill Country is being bought up and covered with 
housing developments

These friends have owned a 100 acre ranch in the Texas Hill Country outside of New Braunfels for a long time.  Initially, they couldn't see or hear any neighbors.  Now, the sprawling New Braunfels is just over the hill.  Frank, at age 89, is less about cattle these days and more about chickens.  He has fostered a wild turkey flock on his land.  This flock is so important the Texas Game commissioners want to know when he leaves the property, so the flock can be relocated.  Before Frank took them under his protective wing, they had been hunted almost to extinction.

Helen never meets an animal that she doesn't instantly love.  She has rescued countless dogs which have been dumped at the gates of the ranch.  She also has had horses; goats; rabbits; cats, and unfortunately rattlesnakes.  She was bitten by a tiny one while feeding animals - she stepped on it.  Turns out her Choctaw Indian heritage kept the venom from rising throughout her system.  Rattlesnake venom antidote costs $20 - 30 THOUSAND dollars per dose.  Since it's processed from rattlesnake venom, the only source is Australia.  There was a reason for the Sweetwater rattlesnake roundup.  It took her six months to totally recover from the bite.

Helen is also a talented self-

taught interior decorator.  She took the falling down original ranch house and completely

redid it.  Her pink peacock bedroom is my favorite.

Whether it's eggs or beef, local

friends and restaurant owners

from as far away as San

Antonio arrive to buy.

On a personal note, they also

have the coolest rocks since

there are underground caverns all over the hill country.

A new calf was born when we were
visiting the Ranch

Helen and I also visited the roots of the early white settlement of the New Braunfels area.  There is the most wonderful museum of 19th century cabinetry which I made a point to see (again).  I'd seen it 50 years ago when it was just a jumble of furniture.  Today, it's part of a Heritage Center for the area, and it's a real museum housed in an original settler's house and managed by a professional museum director.  There are great pictures of the couple in the house.

  When we arrived to visit, the sign said 'closed' although the website said they were open.  We went up to the office, and managed to score the Director of the Museum as our tour leader.  He took the two of us all around the furniture, and it was so great.  Here's a sample of the furniture circa 1860.

Upon leaving the Hill Country we drove up to Granbury which is in the Palo Pinto - rolling hills and small trees - perfect for Comanche ambushes.  We stayed with friends who live on the shore of Lake Granbury.  

Selfie taken by old people; not too bad.

 

Granbury, county seat of Hood County, Texas

Onto North Texas which used to be the center of agriculture, but now is one of the three concrete capitals of Texas.  The geographic features have been obliterated by the population of Dallas and Fort Worth.  

Rusk in East Texas is very much still part of the languid South with its Piney Woods and high humidity.  We love visiting another friend who lives here.  We went to see an amateur theatrical production which was impressive considering Rusk has about 5,000 people.  We met two interesting people:  John and Penny Hawkins.  The local newspaper, The Cherokeean Herald was on the verge of closing when they decided to step up, buy it and run it.  This is the oldest weekly newspaper in Texas - founded in 1850.  It comes out mid-week, and it also has an on-line edition.  

Penny & John Hawkins at the performance of
Anne of Green Gables

Our friend who taught with me at Accelerated High School, home of the 'bad kids', moved to Rusk and has immersed herself into the life of the town.  She is a prime financial supporter of this theatrical troop as well as the public library.  

Mississippi River

The East Texas Piney Woods continue to define the land through the northern part of Mississippi and Alabama.  The biggest geographical landmark in this part of the country is the Mississippi River.  It is massive and runs almost the north/south length of the country.

Mississippi River Bridge

Burrowing deep into the South, we finally ran into Spring.  Just the very beginning....

We started seeing the occasional red bud tree sprinkled in the forest at the side of the road.

The state tree of Mississippi is the magnolia, and as soon as we crossed the border between Louisiana and Mississippi, boom a forest of magnolias.  Some were of an epic size.

Magnolias

Spring suddenly found us.  The forests on the side of the interstate were studded with blooming pear trees.  When they were clumped together, they were breathtaking even speeding by at 75 mph.

My photos aren't up to par since I'm taking these as we speed by.

When we came into Georgia, I found something hilarious on the side of the road.  This speaks for itself.  No explanation.  Just reminding us that Georgia is 'the peach state'.

It has been interesting that the geography hasn't changed awhit since we entered the South.  We angled up through North Carolina.  I felt a bit nostalgic since we came very close to choosing Asheville as our landing spot.  The availability to NYC was the final decider plus the tight housing market.

Virginia advertises itself as the LOVE state.  Initially baffled about that, but they set up a dandy photo for me.  I think they just needed a word with V in the middle.  If they'd ask me I would have said MARVEL.  It turns out that the original slogan was VIRGINIA IS FOR HISTORY LOVERS.  It didn't take too long before somebody said, "That's too many letters; let's just whittle it down to LOVE.  It costs less in 3 dimensional signs.  

Of course at that point in the trip, all we wanted to see was Richmond.  We've come about 2700 miles, and visited five sets of people for varying number of days, then hoteled it into Richmond.

I almost got this one...close - remember driving past & around a curve - 50mph.

That's the tallest building in downtown Richmond

Now, we've seen pear trees all over since Alabama, but we didn't see cherry trees until we arrived in Richmond.  I've jumped out of the car to take pictures of cherry trees; there is even one two houses over in our new cul de sac.  

Another cherry tree on a public walkway.

This is a close up of the cherry blossom.

This was my first Cherry tree.  I was taken aback at the possibility of having a cherry tree in the yard.

 

Pear trees all over - this one at Home Depot

We decided to go to the Lewis Ginther Botanical Garden in Richmond.  All the early Spring flowering bulbs and trees were out in profusion.  I even learned something new.

Drake in front of the Conservatory - home of the orchids

This is the interior of the Conservatory which includes cacti!

A tulip tree?

Not a tulip tree - a deciduous magnolia

Interior of the botanical garden Conservatory which
includes cacti!

 
Spring has definitely sprung in Virginia.  You can even see wild wisteria dangling from the trees beside Interstate 95.

In addition to tulips, daffodils, and redbuds, there are newly budded spring green leaves on the non-flowering trees.  There are also new flower arrivals:  Dogwoods, azaleas, and irises.

Dogwood blossoms - from the above tree across the street 
from our airbnb in Richmond.

Azaleas in Richmond neighborhood

We've finally arrived in Fredericksburg where we bought a house within three days of our arrival in the area.  We closed on the house on a Friday and started the remodel on Monday.  In the old days, we would have been painting and doing other parts of the remodel ourselves.  These days we just supervise the workers.  However, I floored the construction crew when, on the first day, I picked up a scraper and proceeded to scrape off wallpaper for the entire day.  I will own up to be extremely tired at the end of that day.  It paid off because the 'crew' listens when I talk about what I want.

Spring has even sprung in my 'yard' - it's a flowerbed.  Drake is thrilled someone else is cutting the grass, edging, cleaning up leaves, and cleaning out the gutters in the new house.  I'm hoping to take advantage of the seasonal swimming pool and get back to swimming leisurely laps.  

.

Here's what we discovered a few days ago in our yard:

I'm sure everyone recognizes this two-toned iris.

If you are interested in the flower pictures, click on the link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zvWs3pspYHu2CnsA9

If you are interested in the Museum of Texas Handmade Furniture, click on the link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/hkaH9sBZArN3sVet7

If you are interested in pictures of cacti, click on the link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/7ye2d7zg5nTwjvB78

We are really excited about living in Virginia.  There's such a welcome and distinct contrast between Phoenix and Virginia. The green, green trees everywhere in Virginia are truly wonderful after twelve years in the desert.  It was interesting to traverse the United States - mostly on Interstate 10.  It was pretty easy to see the impact of the geography and climate on the residents of the various ecosystems.  

 We've landed in a house in Fredericksburg, Virginia for what we hope is the next 10+ years.  It's 50 miles from Washington D.C.  Our plan is to enjoy the Smithsonian and Kennedy Center.  Plus, we can take a plane, a train or a bus to get to Brooklyn to enjoy our children and grandchildren.  It's also a relief to be in the same time zone as they are.  Our new house is set up to entertain - part of the remodel.   We are also eager for company.  We have a bigger house with two guest bedrooms.  There's a zillion new things to do and see here, and I haven't done them all.....yet.
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