Category Archives: Work’n

Inspiration coming in on all fronts

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It is early Monday morning and I’ve been up early, thinking, as usual, and reading parts of an excellent book by Nicholas Kristoff and his wife, Cheryl WuDunn called A PATH APPEARS. This book is about programs emerging all over the world to help address the dual crises of extreme poverty and hunger, what works and what doesn’t and how we all can help. I’m feeling some inspiration coming on… don’t know how that will present itself to me, but I’m trusting that A PATH WILL APPEAR.

Today is my last day in Lubbock for this trip and I fly back to Oregon tomorrow, so I’ve got 3 rolfing session to do today before I begin packing. My thanks to Melody Ogletree and Cheryl of PforymWELL for hosting me to do rolfing here in Lubbock. They do wonderful work with their company, focusing on personal, as well as corporate, wellness programs, and I don’t think I’ve run across two people who do as much research into supplements as these two women do. I trust what they have to say about it all. So, if that’s something you are interested in, too, or, if you are interested in scheduling rolfing sessions with me when I return next to Lubbock, give them a call @ (806) 784-0506.

I won’t be back to either Lubbock or to Tulsa for awhile. The time has finally come to replace my other knee with something smooth and bionic, which will be done by my favorite bone guy, Dr. Ira Weintraub (Dr. Dub) in Portland on 11/20. (“We have the technology. We can make her stronger, faster, cuter, more able to handle small-talk at parties…”)

I am only mildly apprehensive about this since I know what to expect and I love my doc, who, in addition to being a great surgeon, is also a wonderful man. Still, it’s a big surgery, what with bones being sliced up, chopped off, and spikey things being whammed down into the marrow. (I’ve watched YouTube videos just to see what is actually done and, also, to scare the bejabbers out of myself, like the fascination of a bird to a snake. I know, I’m a dumbass sometimes.)

Anyway, my next rolfing trip to Tulsa will be in the new year, 1/15-1/20/16. Call Stephen Saunders to schedule rolfing sessions there @ (918) 605-6508.

I’ll be back in Lubbock 1/22-1/25/16. Contact PforymWELL @ (806) 784-0506.

I will spend the holidays rehabbing my leg and, chances are, not cooking as much as I usually do during those days. I hope all of you have a delightful Thanksgiving with family and friends and that your Merry Christmas is truly that. We all deserve the love we have to share with each other, let’s try to remember that one. So long for now and remember this, too: You are all deep in my heart, from Texas (and Oregon.) JS

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I power-washed the back fence today (2)

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I power-washed the other half of the back fence today. Dear God, somebody shoot me now. I don’t think I can raise my arms ever again.

To accomplish this task, Stef and I had to move about half a cord of firewood plus about 8,000 boards of various lengths Stef Neyhart somehow can’t bear to part with, some we have had so long they are now petrified, which means they are now heavy as rocks. Every few years, we actually have a need for a board and she races to that pile and, after several hours of figuring, pulling, un-piling and then re-piling, she comes up with the perfect board to use for some project, waving it in the air and cheering like she’s headed home from the hunt. To her, this proves that a big pile of rotting boards is a good thing to have and to keep forever. And, so, we do.

Power-washing is one of the most satisfying and filthy things I think I ever do. Years of grime and dirt fly off those boards or off that concrete and plaster me with so much ook I’m fairly certain I’ll never again be clean. I love the look of things, though, once I’ve knocked all the dirt and moss off of them, and I feel pretty much the same way about myself when I get out of the shower and realize I DID get clean, after all. It feels like a miracle.

We were both just about to run out of steam, so we threw together a quick, but delightful dinner – grilled chicken breasts which had been marinating in olive oil, fresh rosemary from our garden and some sliced garlic. Grilled asparagus and a salad completed our meal which made it all so lovely to see but, really, it’s so darned healthy, I hope it doesn’t make us sick. Guess we’ll have to have some ice cream later just to make sure.

Our beautiful granddaughter, Ruthie, will be arriving on Sunday, so we are excited about that. She’s amazingly talented in so many areas it’s hard to keep up with them all – singing, gymnastics and dance are the big ones, I think. Nana (Stef) is going to teach her to kayak – what fun.

Well, that’s all the news fit to print from this end of the country. I would wave to you, if I could lift my arms. Since I can’t, I’ll blow all of you a kiss. JS

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The recycling center at the dump

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Stef, Heather, Sam & Trish did a kayaking river run down the Umpqua yesterday.

Toby and I went to the recycling center at the dump. It’s quite a nice facility and very clean. Still, the smells are enough to make him swoon, so he loves going there with me just to hang his head out the window and sniiiiiiiifffffffff to beat the band.

For me, getting the recycling done always feels good. A few years ago, we ripped out a built-in bar in the family room and transformed that into our own recycling center, complete with 3 tall plastic containers marked “PAPER,” “PLASTIC,” and “TIN CANS & GLASS,” making it so much easier to just grab the containers, throw them in the car and head to the dump. The containers fill up much faster than I would have ever imagined, though, especially since I feel so guilty over the tiniest scrap of paper I don’t recycle. Finally, when things are spilling out and onto the floor, or they are getting so heavy I know they’ll be hard to lift, I load Toby up and we go get the job done. If I don’t, I obsess and fret and that’s never a good thing for me to do. JS

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They are NOT on my head

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Stef’s son, Sam, arrived late yesterday with his girlfriend, Trish, whom we’d not met before. Clearly, we wanted to impress her with our tidiness and flair. So, we have cleaned and scrubbed like maniacs for the past week, sprucing up the whole place with new lamps, comforters, pillows, etc.Since parts of our house often look like a grenade just went off in a laundry basket (no names named here) you can understand that this has been an INTENSE process. Indeed, right up until Stef left to go pick them up at the airport in Eugene, we were up on ladders hanging baskets with gorgeous flowers tumbling out of them.

While ago, as I was sitting in here perusing Facebook, Stef stuck her head in the door and asked, “Did you really mean to leave your underpants there on the bed?”

I looked up, perplexed. “Oh!” I said, “I actually DIDN’T mean to do that.”

She cocked her head, like a puppy. “So, then, you just got distracted?” she asked.

“No, not really,” I replied. “I was in the process of putting them on when suddenly – and, for no apparent reason – I wandered off.”

She snorted and headed down the hallway.

“At least, they’re not on my head!” I shouted after her.

And, they are NOT on my head, although I’m not entirely sure why I’m wearing this cap right now. Oh well. JS

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Power washing is a messy job

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Power washing is a messy, MESSY job. Just thought I’d let you know that.

A wet fall, winter and spring in the Pacific NW means lots of mold and moss and ook on the concrete and in the cracks around the pool and, even though I’ve split it up into 3 sections to get it all done; even though the power washer is mighty and true; even though I bought a special whirly-gig thingie last year at Home Depot which speeds the whole process up immensely, still, it is a slow and tedious and MESSY job.

Plus, I have sprayed our side of the fence, knocking off several years of grime, which means that I now look like I’ve been personally targeted by Monsanto to receive my very own chemtrail and it’s been deposited, so generously, in my hair, on my glasses, in my eyes and onto my t-shirt. NASCAR drivers got nothin’ on me today except a cool uniform. I am a mess.

On the good side, it’s a beautiful day here in Oregon. JS

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Stormy in Tulsa

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Rainy, stormy night here in Tulsa. Bad storms and tornadoes are around somewhere, although not here, not right now.

I did 6 rolfing sessions today, ate some delicious soup and salad for dinner, ran a couple of errands and beat it back to Kay & Stephen’s before the big rains hit. Now, I am pooped.

Stay safe and warm, everyone. Hard to believe it’s almost the end of May and I’m sitting here in a fleece jacket in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Don’t think climate change is upon us, Sen. Inhofe? You might want to re-think that one. JS

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