Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my...

Boulder Creek Bears

Shasta Meadows Tiger

Changing Seasons

I am approaching another change in the seasons of my life. Earlier this month I applied, interviewed and was accepted for a transfer within my school district. March 1st will be my last day as a Boulder Creek Bear and March 4th will be my first day as a Shasta Meadow Tiger.

   Since August I have spent about 5 hours at Boulder Creek Elementary and then spent the last three hours of each day at Shasta Meadows for the ACE, after school program. A position at Shasta Meadow came open and I was excited to be accepted for the transfer. My job description is the same and my hourly wage will not change. The difference is the demographic of the student body. My new job is a school in a small neighborhood with only 2 classrooms per grade level, K-5. Boulder Creek has a student population of over 1,000 students with K-8.

House Sitting 

In 2019 I have the first 40 weeks booked with over 20 weeks of house sitting. One client has no pets and I will get to stay in her house through July when it may be 100 degrees plus for the month. Last month I was at my friend's house that I will be spending a total of 11 weeks during 2019. In January I needed to keep on top of wood heat, in March/April I am sure I will need no heat and then August/September may be sweltering.

   Last week we experienced a snow storm that wiped out power and closed school for three days. Our city is at 500 feet elevation and most people don't own a snow shovel. It has been about five years since there was any measurable snow. This storm dropped the snow so fast that many power lines and trees went down the first night and some folks are still without power. Thankfully we have this Winter Break from school for the maintenance people to get the classrooms ready for students again.

    One of the nice things about my house sitting is being able to stretch out on school breaks. (All of my school breaks have been booked and 1/2 of summer break too.) I love my little nest, but I realized when I was stuck up there for three days in the snow it was a little claustrophobic. This week I have two dogs; one dog likes to cuddle and one is a big dog who takes me for walks. I get to drive the Grandma around to activities and have a change in my schedule.

My snow girl while we had three snow days

3 am before another five inches fell

Granddaughters

The kitties opened their mouths with Em

Valentine's bubbles when she made a blowing motion

I am excited and thankful I get to spend time cuddling and giggling with these two in March.

March

My friend said that I will, "March forth on March fourth." Funny, Funny. It is said that, "March comes in like a Lion and goes out like a a Lamb." So, my hope is that as I join the Tiger Team it wont be a very ferocious lion and I will be able to settle into a routine quickly. 

My Reality is a Choice

My past of "Have to..."

    I would like to take you back to the beginning of me~Deena Marie. The year is 1959. I was born at the end of the decade where women always had matching shoes, hats and purses. Being the youngest of three girls and my dad's last change for a namesake, I suppose I felt that I was a disappointment in more ways than one. My sisters were five and six years older and that made me like an only child too.

     When I was six we moved to far Northern California from Central Oregon. It was 1966 and a rough time to move two pre-teen girls from where they had lived and loved their entire lives. I fell through the cracks again. No one really notice that I couldn't read, I was a well behaved child, I didn't make friends very easy, but I was kind and creative. I lived in my own imagination. 

    Meanwhile, my sisters were into High School soon and I had my last teacher who took a notice of me in 2nd grade. (She still keeps in touch) A friend of my mom's ask if she could tutor me in reading between 4th and 5th grade. I rode my bike to her house and she taught me to read that summer. My imaginary world expanded greatly. While I was daydreaming and drawing pictures my sisters went through the revolution of the late 1960's. 

    By 1972 I was truly an only child. My mom taught at the Junior College. In time I attended the Jr. College and got married, because I didn't have a clue there was anything else to do with myself at the fresh age of 19. We moved into my husband's grandparent garage, in Los Angeles County.

   September 2nd, 1978 was the day I had to start taking care of myself. Within two weeks I had a full time job. My husband was more of a daydreamer than me.(Some might say he was a schemer rather than dreamer.) As I worked full time we moved into housing in Orange County with some other Gun Smithing graduates from Lassen College. I call that: my period of running a boarding house for wayward gunsmiths.

    Our landlord was selling the house, my husband said that I would be moving back to Northern California. I thought that meant he would follow, soon. My family got involved and I found myself going to college again and he was given a job as a night watchman at a local lumber mill. Soon he was off again and I moved back to my home town and had an insurance job. 1983 and I was living in a little bungalow with only wood heat at an elevation of 4,000. It was the best winter of my life. I was able to walk in the snow to work and anywhere I wanted. I stoked the fireplace and felt independence for the first time in my life.

    My husband showed up in May of 1984 to inform me he had signed us to manage a motel. Me as manager and he as the maintenance man. He had had very little to do with me for so long, but he was my husband. I quit my job in July and began a life as a prisoner, stuck in the office/apartment of a motel with occasional hourly breaks. I had no idea that this was all against the law and my husband was the one who did most of the arrangements with the owners. By May 1985 when my "best-friend" had a baby that looked just like my husband's baby pictures....we had a big problem. Her husband came and told me that the baby was not his...and we all got divorced.

Four kids in Five Years

    On October 17, 1987 a new chapter started in my life. Again the wood stove, but by 1991 it included keeping little hands from touching it. Again this was the only source of heat. For the next 28 years although we weren't at 4,000 feet elevation, but closer to 500 feet elevation; winters were cold and very damp. I also didn't have a clothes dryer, they dried near the fire on Amish Close Dryers. 

    After raising our four children to be respectful, contributors to their society...with their mother's hard work ethic...we divorced. 

New Chapter

    In August of 2015 my son and I moved into a 2nd floor walk up that had a fireplace. I chose not to use the fireplace. There is gas heat and it only cost about $20 a month in the winter. Wood was $150 a cord that would not last 4 weeks at the old place. No thank you. I will not have wood heat in a walk up. 

    Then an amazing opportunity opened in the past two years for me to house sit for friends while they travel. I don't have pets currently and my son has moved into his own place. I can pack up for three weeks or a month if needed and leave THE NEST. 

    I do this, because I want to: help my friends, get pet therapy, enjoy a bit of space, and nature. I can build a fire in the wood stove and dry my clothes, because I want to...not because there is no other choice.

I get to enjoy the nature and fresh duck eggs.

There are the sweetest cats and dogs.

Reba

The most Talented Mel

This also allows me to visit my girls.

Splash Dancing Emelia 

The many faces of Ellie Anne

Giggle and Kiss Toes

My Want to:

These are the "Want tos" of my life. As my children would tell me decades ago, "Mommie, I don't want to..." and I would say, "You better find a Want To Right now and do it!" That work ethic is what helped them to be the amazing people they are now. Four kinder, helping people I don't know in one family. In retrospect, I sacrificed a lot to stay with them and keep us together all those years. In reality, I did not see any other choice. I was blessed, I am blessed and I will continue to be blesses.

Fall Retreat and Reflection

This is the place I sat last Summer before school started as the most horrific fire of my life wiped out a little over 1,000 homes and 3 fatalities. We had smokey day/ indoor recess for the first month of school. The Carr fire wasn't the end, as the Delta and then Hertz fires merged to the north it seemed as if our community had been surrounded by fires. The news today called it "Fire Scar" as they discuss the effect we will have when the rains begin this week.

The Carr/Delta/Hertz fires were awful and many people lost homes as well as wildlife and all the other effects. We have been left with our faces in shadow, many people I have served at Pier 1 are still in a state of shock and anger for the loss of their possessions. Many others are overjoyed with the simplest thing I could do to help replace a loved piece of china or home decor.

As our Holiday season began their were high wind warnings the first week of November and within a day the entire town of Paradise to the south was gone. Current statistic: Camp Fire
* 151,000 acres burned
* 12,637 residence known burned
* 79 known dead (3 firefighters)
*Missing over 1,000 reported missing persons

The smoke has blown south to the Sacramento area where my daughter is in her final month of pregnancy and then back up her to me. I had my first day off for a couple of weeks and slept almost 24 hours straight. I'm not fighting fires, I am just staying alive in the storm.

Meanwhile, life goes on. The elderly gentleman that I visited with last summer at this house passed away a couple of weeks ago. Ouch.
My nieces' father pasted away last month. Ouch.
I had misunderstanding with a co-worker. Ouch.
I have been working 7 days a week except when I got sick last weekend. I will work seven days a week from Nov.26 until Dec. 21st.

This is my personal reality. It is The Holiday Season from Oct 31st to Jan. 1st, 2019. I don't feel like celebrating. Three years ago I went to a monastery outside of Vina, CA for three days over Thanksgiving break. Father Anthony and the other monks were wonderful in their service and allowance of personal retreat.
This week I am on a similar adventure. I plan to spend the next three days in quiet and rest. I have my needs met and two lovely animal companions in the house and a garage cat as well.
Many people think it is important to show love and giving this time of year. I feel the need to do it all year around. I live to give when I see need.

Kona is mostly outside and Phoebe spends
her time at my feet

Splurged and got a manicure today

Using money I saved from Summer House Sitting I bought a new chair today.

Chas by Pier 1

It was fun to give my Pappasan away today to a coworker. Chas is a much easier way to read and enjoy the hummingbird.

Please hug your loved ones and tell them how much you love them. That is what Thanksgiving is all about. In all things give Thanks.

Bless the Beasts and the Children

Colors of Autumn

    This is my favorite time of year. After the season of Flood and then the season of Fire comes the season of Color. I'm on my 4th week of a 5 week house sitting gig. My friends have been exploring So. America while I have been enjoying the change of the seasons.

     I must admit that at times the past two weeks it was merely trying to survive. I had bronchitis kick in after the last fire. My allergies have been taxed by the smoking forests for over two months. Something in the smoke that I have had to breathe  put my lungs in distress. I am happy to report the air is clear and my breathing is almost normal.

    The other adventure I had was insect bites. Again it seemed that I had so many that I became extremely allergic and resulted in welts that got so large they bruised. I still have bruising that is healing, but no itching for about four days.

    Today we honor Christopher Columbus who we learned in school: "Sailed the ocean blue in 1492."

My school district chose to give the students and support staff a day off, while the teachers were stuck in meetings all day. I have been very thankful to have two days off in a row this weekend. (Aug 12th was the last time my schedule allowed me two days off in a row.)

   This morning as I checked on my temporary abode it was fun to take pictures of some of the wonderful colors of this season. The high temp. is about 75 to 80 degrees and our nightly cools are in the mid 50's. In my part of the country we may not have a freeze until after New Years. 

My Favorites of the the Season

Rusty Mums 

Pink Azalea 

Bountiful Petunias
 flank both sides of the front step

A hidden red geranium

Glories and huge Pomegranates 

Tiny ornamental pomegranate by the pond

Happy to see a flower on the citrus

Ducks enjoying the pond

I have enjoyed the little figs
 from this potted fig

The best sight this week
Mt Shasta and snow

Bless the Beasts and the Children

Dog's natural water dish

My tiny dancer in her dress I made for her birthday

   As I strolled around the yard my Pandora started playing Karen Carpenters 1971 hit song, "Bless the Beasts and the Children". Glendon Swarthout wrote a book by that title that was made into a movie in 1971. My Middle School English teacher read the book to us and it was very disturbing to me. I never hear the song without seeing the final scenes from the book in my mind. The Youtube below has a gentler depiction of what the song can represent and I am glad through the years the disturbing emotions of that reading have faded.

   A few weeks ago a group of colleagues were discussing a child who has issues with his emotions. He cries and feel strongly when things don't go his way in a game. He is considered a "cry baby" by his peers and often does not play at recess with other children.

   I have been observing this child on my own and I see a child who also feels other emotions very strongly. He is polite to an extreme, he feels compassion for his fellow students and he is very good at the comprehension of what is happening in a story. A colleague had said, "Well, I don't know how that kind of kid would have survived in the 1960's."

   I am here to say, "We did." Children and adults were able to say things like, "If you don't stop crying, I will give you something to cry about." We got picked on, in fights, sent to the principle for our unreasonable responses and labeled, "Cry Baby" and worse. Parents might put us in our rooms until we were ready to stop crying and get on with life.

   Today I do know as educators we have so many rules. Confidentiality has been so strict, I even have to sign that I will not give answers to tests even if I am not administering the test. Our conduct with students has so many rules I am almost afraid to give a side-ways hug. Everything has to be talked about so much, we feel we may be talked to death. While there is little time to discuss procedures that replace what use to come naturally.

   I raised four children to adulthood. By God's grace they are all active contributors to their own community and working on bettering the world.  These are children raised by "an abused child" of the 1960's who did survive. I believe my answer was in my faith and hope for a better day. My outlets of music and art have helped to express the pain, by creating song and beauty. I don't know a person who hasn't gone through some hard stuff. What makes the difference is what we do with ourselves after and even during the hard times. 

   "When I was young I use to listen to the radio, waiting for my favorite songs. When they played I sang along, it made me smile." Those song lyrics are exactly what I did in the 1960's and 70's. On KSUE in Susanville, I listened to all the pop songs. I memorized each word and I sing them still.

    From 1980 to 2015 I was in a time of depression and oppression that didn't allow a lot of new material to enter my repertoire. There were church songs and Christian radio songs that I have memorized during that time, but my foundation of pop music from the 1960's and 70's are what comes to mind every day. 

   Today as I heard the familiar words from Karen Carpenter, I felt the lightness as I view the beauty of our fall flowers and foliage.  Beauty from Ashes. Morning to Song.

Bless the Beasts and the Children (1971)

In this amazing Month of October:

May all your cats be flealess,

May all your leaves be free of dog poop,

May all your eyes be smiling, and

May the sun be at your back.

Nothing to Write Home About...

Before I start I must put in a plug for the book I am currently reading for review:

The Year of Living Happy will be available on October 2nd.

My current Crazy World

I don't know where it started, but there was a time in my early years (1970 something), when if a person was asked, "How are you doing?" and the reply would be, "Nothing to write home about."

*According to Webster Dictionary: It is an idiom and was quoted in a book from 1970 Birds of the Trees.

Enough of the Rabbit Trail. I have been off the grid sorta speak..."Oh my another idiom".

School started on August 15th for the children after two days of in-service for me and my coworkers.

We had the biggest fire begin July 23rd and was contained on August 30th. The Carr Fire burned almost 230,000 acres and over 1,000 homes were destroyed. On the heels of this disaster on August 9th  the Hirz Fire began. At over 46,000 acres it has mostly burned forested land, but the worst news of all was the day the  Delta Fire joined up to the Hirtz Fire and they became one.
The Carr fire was contained on August 30th with the final report given on Sept.4th. Sadly that was the day all deaths, property damage and number were filed, but so many lives had been touched it will be years before we heal from this disaster.
The Hirz Fire ended on Sept 12th, but it has the adjoined twin, the Delta Fire, which is only 70% contained and it is estimated that it will continue to burn until next Saturday, Lord Willing.

The largest affect of this fire season to our community was the smoke. Every single human, animal, plant and even the soil have been affected by the smoke and ash. Today was the first day since July that I have been able to see Mount Lassen from Pier 1. I could see the foot hills from my current house setting location.

Blue Sky in the North

We have had indoor recess nearly every day since school started. It is hard enough to keep track of my recess duty and five reading groups without the challenge of... is the air quality going to keep us in again...likely so...

However, the past two morning have been amazingly clear. I sat outside and watched the ducks, while the dogs sat at my feet.

Duck Duck and Lucky Duck give me eggs

Giant Gold Fish in the pond

Happy Dogs

There is also a cat at my current local. The 30 pound monstrosity knocks on the front door rather than walking around the house where he has a personal entrance.

Cat that will knock on the door

The dogs and cat love to be with me at night inside for TV time. However, as I don't have TV at home and there aren't that many movies on my list this may not happen as often as the critters would prefer.

...then sit his 30 pound self on my chest

I am enjoying the late summer tomatoes and strawberries. I may get a few pears and there are some squash as well on the vines.

Fresh Strawberries in September

Last weekend was the Shasta County Renaissance Faire and I went to see my son as the great fighter for the Realm in the Savage Lands.

A bit rough after a day of Baulking at Blokes 

Son and Mum

Meanwhile: in a land far away

This Fashionista...

Moved and has been trying out new furniture.

Liking this big girl chair Dad

I am looking to clear skies and cleaner air as we march into the season of Autumn. My favorite Season has gotten better in the wake of our Summer devastation.I told one of my customers that it seems we will all be appreciating the normal fall air and weather as we would the health after an illness. You don't know how precious something is until you have to do without it...especially clean, fresh air.

Shalom ~ Godspeed

Changes In the Wind

This was the quote on my calendar for the month of September

September 1st and my calendar says, "Day Off". I was really ready for a day off.

August 13th was the day I started back to my school job. After two days of "In-service" the kiddos came back to school on August 15th. We have had a shortage of staff for the  after-school care in my district, so I decided to start working after school again at a different school in my community.

According to a real estate web page called Trulia there are 82 schools in my area. My district has nine schools and I think I have the best of both worlds. My day job is at the largest school where I teach reading to the kiddos in K-5 who need a little extra encouragement. I also get to be a crossing guard in the morning and supervise one recess and the lunch crowd on our patio. After school I take a short drive to one of the smaller campuses and supervise 20 ~ 2nd and 3rd graders to do homework and some fun after school activities.

Last weekend I was fighting my first "kid cold" of the year. I hope it will be the last.  

September 2018 is looking like an adventure with change. I have been house setting a lot since July and I now have a house setting job that will be 5 weeks at one location. The adventure part is living with Chickens, Ducks, Dogs and Cats all in one location. I've cared for all of these animals at one time or another, but this will be a fun and relaxing adventure for me. There is a relaxing little pond with 100's of gold fish that is for the ducks to swim and frolic.

I still continue to work a little at Pier 1.The glitter of Fall is upon us in every corner of the store. Last weekend we brought out a few of last year's Christmas pillows and it was fun to see them get picked up at amazing discounts. (I have a say I was excited that one of them followed me home too.) 

Last Year's Pillow

The Carr Fire is 100% Contained, but the smoke and smoldering is still a part of our day in Redding. As the map shows, the devastation from this fire will be with us for a long time. The Hirz Fire just came up this week and it is another 38,000 acres burning strong above the Carr Fire.

New Fire in upper right

This is my phone map . After 20 minutes of internet searching I could not find a map like this to use. It seems odd that the general public can only find this on a fire website. Google Earth does not show this view online.  The area in Red has been destroyed by the fire.

On July 8th my son took a hike to Whiskeytown Falls:

On August 24th a young woman named Bethany posted this Picture:

Sadly this is our new reality.

229,600 acres of damage. Over 1,000 residences destroyed and 200 more damaged. Many animals lost and there is no accounting for all the wildlife lost and their homes destroyed. Our area is known for the wonderful boating, fishing, skiing and other outdoor recreation. Now we are know internationally as the people with the awful fire damage. I'm not going to get into a political statement here about my opinion of "forest conservation", but this makes me so sad.

Back to the Beginning 

"If we had no change, we would have no butterflies." I am that butterfly in the wind. I have been through many changes and even more lately. A year ago my BLOG spoke of the hurting in my heart from our loss of Taylor. This year my heart is lighter, but there will always be losses to walk through or help another walk through. That is our human journey. Some people have January as a time for beginnings, others it is Spring time and others Summer. For me the new beginning is September 1st.

I am anticipating new understanding of myself as I walk through the crunching leaves of Autumn. I look forward to our amazing rainy season.  I love the cooler evenings to sit outside and leaving my window open as I sleep.

Namaste~ Deena