Ray Bradbury - "At play in the fields of the Lord"

I ran across this interesting article on the life and philosophy of Ray Bradbury. He's an original.

Ray's best friend growing up was Ed Barrerra, who was once my landlord.  Ed was an orphan, taken in by the family of his future wife in Los Angeles. Ray and Ed sometimes skipped school and went to the lots in Hollywood and hung around on movie sets, or sneaked into the theater. Ed's wife, Clara, thought that Ray was "crazy" when they were young - when he had some of the wild ideas which were later developed in his science fiction books. He didn't have as much schooling as you might expect for a famous writer.

Both he and Ed were drafted during World War II and went to Europe. Ray stopped driving after the war. When he came to visit Ed at our little duplex in the barrio, it was with a chauffeur, in a big cream-colored limousine. He often wore white shorts and knee socks.

He was a faithful friend to Ed as Ed's health deteriorated from rheumatoid arthritis and Parkinson's disease. I saw him a few times, and he always seemed to have some new and different project in the works. I'm happy to hear that he's still around and still has a zest for life.

Speaking of "zest", we have some zesty and delicious summer fruits on now. Descriptions here.

Take a Break, Think about Home

From Sippican Cottage:

I was reading Essays In Idleness by Kenko. He was dead in 1350. . . .


. . . the personal essay is tie that binds us.


I hate the term: blog. It's ugly, and it's come to mean something even uglier than the sound of it. It's become the minor leagues of hate. I write personal essays here. Zuihitsu. It might not be noble, but a person has little to offer to others but knowledge of which they are sure. "I am an expert in the affairs of all men" is the banner of the professional politician and their toads. Not hardly.


Why am I wandering in the few moments between exhaustion and sleep in the dusty stacks of an alien culture dead and buried for seven hundred years? To find a kindred spirit. . .


I have never been in a hotel room as comfortable and pleasant as my own bedroom, and I have been in Presidential Suites before. Money can't fix the problem, and the availability of money without the governor of a framework of rules to expend it almost always makes things worse.


Our post-modern zeitgeist evangelizes that rules of any sort that govern personal behaviors or the appearance of our surroundings or entertainment are stultifying and worthy only of mindless opposition. The unthinking rejection of all tradition leads to a counterintuitive outcome: a set of rules, much more stringent than what they replaced, will replace the old ones, and they will consist of the worst possible alternative to what was there before.


. . . How else can I explain a Japanese man writing about my house, and the house you should be living in, in the fourteenth century?

From our own unfashionable but comfortable home and garden:

Interesting Tomatoes, both old and new varieties
Assorted garden gifts and a dog
BIG tomatoes
Ripe Green Tomatoes

And recipes for garden vegetables:
Skillet Lasagna with Zucchini
Grandma's Chili Sauce

Some thoughts on happy children and expectations

Independence Day, Observed

Well, they're not fireworks, but they go well with an Independence Day celebration. We've got some fruit, too. We had to keep the dogs calm with the fireworks in the neighborhood last night, and will again tonight. Otherwise, it's been a fairly quiet holiday so far. The Fourth fell on Sunday this year, so today is Independence Day, Observed.  We did hear some fine thoughts about our country yesterday.

The forecast is for 99 degrees today - kind of hot for complex activities. But that doesn't keep us from being thankful for our favorable circumstances.

Here are some links concerning the Declaration of Independence and Independence Day. For your enjoyment and contemplation. They include some ideas about making your holiday more meaningul.  There's some fine writing at the links, both historical and current, plus some videos.  I was especially interested in what Wretchard, an Australian, said about the Declaration.  Sometimes it's easy to take our country and our freedom for granted.  We need to fight this impulse.

Breakthroughs

Today, we had a couple of breakthroughs.  David started working.  We weren't expecting them to put him to work right after his physical.   He's not making nearly as much as he did at the State, but this is still a very welcome development.  The ethical climate seems far superior.

James also learned today that he has a new job.

The weather broke into the hundreds yesterday.  Today, the high temperature was 107 degrees (41.7 C).  Four degrees below the record for today.  We managed to pick almost all the Blenheim apricots before the weather really heated up.  This variety is ruined by high heat, and we haven't had usable fruit from this tree most years.   We also got cucumbers  and more tomatoes last week.   There are a few luxuries from the garden which are hard to replicate with purchased produce.  

Much of my day was spend making sure the dogs would be O.K. in the hot weather.  David had to go to his Mom and Dad's after work to repair their air conditioning.  He will need another part to make a thorough repair, but at least it started working.

There were some political milestones, too.  Some ironies among them.

Abundance, June 2010

Gilly has influenced me to start adding photos to my blog.  She posts so many photos which remind us to look for beauty in the world.   Ditto Sissy Willis, who likes introverts and cats, among other people, animals and things.

My first photo here features some abundance from our garden.  Part of the early harvest this year.  It always seems a little bit miraculous to me that we can grow things like this in the garden:

Details about the early harvest can be found here. Follow the links if you like.

I cooked most of the squashes shown above, plus a few more, on Sunday for Munch and Mingle after church. People loved it. I made two variations on this recipe: one with bacon, topped with Colby/Jack cheese, and one with an Ancho chile, ground red pepper and Pepper Jack cheese.

Our little grand-nephew didn't eat any of the squash, though he was less picky about the desserts. The abundance of food in our country makes pickiness possible. I took him to Target on Saturday to keep him occupied while his Dad was at a wedding. He spent more than two hours testing all the demonstration toys with a button, lever or electronic gadget. He wanted them all. Had to settle for a yo-yo. Abundance can be frustrating when you're five and can't have it all. But he is learning to appreciate some more important things in life.

In a discussion with Uncle David about who should get to watch his choice of TV show, he said, "Uncle David, today is not about you. Today is about me." He later modified this statement based on the reaction he got. And he made sure I saved some ice cream for his Dad when I got some for him.

Stephen R. Covey says that small children share more easily when they have a sense that they really possess their toys.  It's like they cannot give what they do not have. I haven't quite figured out how this would apply to control of a TV remote, however.

MORE ABUNDANCE AND GENEROSITY

Medical Miracles: Our friend Hala, in Hawaii, told us that our friend Alice, in Texas, had normal tests 100 days after her bone marrow transplant for a rare blood disease. What a miraculous procedure.

A baby hears for the first time with a cochlear implant. A young woman hears for the first time in many years. Astounding. A lot of people engaged in a great deal of work to make those moments possible.

Other Miracles:  The power of a simple smile at the right time.

Some cautionary thoughts on preserving conditions which allow for continued abundance in a society: End the War on Wisdom. Having a good heart is a wonderful thing. Having a good heart informed by timeless wisdom is a much better, and more difficult, achievement.

Memorial Day, 2010

Things are quiet here today. It's a good day for contemplation.

Temperatures are forecast to be in the 90s for the first time after several weeks of below-normal temperatures. It's a pretty day. The garden is mostly in, and we had our first squash from the garden a couple of days ago. It's been cool enough that we're still getting a few peas from the latest variety, a super-sweet one (like super-sweet corn). And the little "summer turnips" were still good on Saturday. We'll see how 90 degree weather changes the flavor.

James and Uncle David took James' little son to see the Avenue of Flags at our little local cemetery, during his second outing of the day. Something he will remember for a long time. There was a ceremony there this morning as well. A good thing.

I started looking for thoughts about Memorial Day yesterday, in preparation for today. I found several, along with images and music. You might find something personally meaningful among the links here. Hope your day is a memorable one.

Happy Easter

Not a bad Easter Day here.  Nothing earth-shaking, which is usually a good thng.   Conference was on TV - some things to ponder, and some lovely music, too.  Hopeful music - before, during and after the conference sessions.  Including a choir performance in a big arena in a spectacular setting, which I had not seen before.

I fixed dinner for a bunch of men:  David, our nephew James, Ken, Elder Black and Elder Sanders.  The potato salad seems to have been the most popular item.  Kind of early in the year for potato salad.  It was the only thing I made today which required more than minimal effort.

James has moved in with us for a while, and has just gotten a job with a very irregular schedule.  But it's work.  We've also been in a mess around the house, moving things around for James, and for David's wall re-finishing projects.  David and James installed a new double door in the media room Friday.  The old one was poorly made.  It did not stand up to the weather.  And Troy the Giant Dog scratching when he wanted attention didn't improve the door's appearance, either.

It rained a little today, and more is forecast for tomorrow.  We can use it.   The air is fresh.  All the animals are O.K.  I got to talk on speaker phone with Keira, Wally, Lorilee and Sherm.  They're a little surprised about our tomato  project this year.   Lorilee talked about how people in Russia often leave the city for  country houses - tiny to large dachas -  in summer.  This may help account for the numerous open-pollinated tomato varieties from the former USSR.  Additionally, I imagine that with the food distribution problems in the old USSR, a lot of people informally shared tomato seeds with each other.  And the USSR did have some formal plant-breeding programs as well. 

Yesterday, our new neighbors brought over tamales, grilled meat and birthday cake (in three separate trips) from the big birthday bash held for their niece, a toddler.  The party featured big strings of ballons, rows of tables and chairs on the recently-poured patio slab and a bounce house for the kids.  The party got started early in the day and was pretty sizable by evening.  There were follow-up activities today for people who stayed overnight.  It's so interesting, this Mexican affection for huge parties for tiny people.  I went over for a few minutes.  It was windy, but the men barbecuing and the kids in the bounce house didn't seem to mind.  Nice people.

David and James are both becoming attached to the man of the house, also named David.  My David has helped them roof the house,  and he either helped with or lent them tools for other construction projects.  The neighbor David has sprayed weeds on the street side of our property and has introduced us to some new drip irrigation equipment.  He calls me "Mrs. Carolyn".  Or "Mrs. Caro".  Now that he knows me better.  "Caro" is my name to several friends in town.   They just all seem to decide eventually to call me that,   

It's nice to have neighbors again.  Neighbors who act like neighbors.  We have a lot to be thankful for today, especially with the message of Easter added in.