Howdy ya'all. Oh, and alo-o-o-o-oha! I heard word this weekend that a giant double cottonwood tree in the front yard of my Colorado cabin was blown down by the wind. That is a big tree so it must have been some strong wind. It toppled over roots up, with one segment going across a portion of the driveway and one toward the road. The good news is that it didn't hit the electrical wire that runs very nearby, nor did it hit the barn or the house or anyone's car or anyone's head. Whew! My renter-buddy Mark is already on top of the situation, having begun the arduous task of cutting it up. He'll have plenty of firewood this winter.
The fourth of July festivities were pretty low-key at our house. We dosed the dogs with herbal doggie mellow-out pills, then did our best to keep them calm as the neighbor's grandkids fired off bottle rockets and other noisemakers. We also roasted a leg of lamb in our new smoker/bbq/grill. It's a very cool little contraption, and it was very inexpensive. Shoots, everything rusts out here eventually anyway. So we figured why not buy a $70 grill and replace it in a year rather than buying a $400 grill and replacing it in a year. We're enjoying the taste of real charcoal compared with gas, too.
Today, we planted five coffee trees. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we'll get the remaining five into the ground.
Check out the pink rose that popped open yesterday. I shot this picture about 10 minutes ago. It's pretty amazing that we live in a place where we can grow roses and citrus trees and bananas and coffee. 
But no cottonwoods. My allergies are actually very thankful for that.
Speaking of allergies, I must say that modern medicine is a wonderful thing. I broke down about a month ago and went to an allergy specialist. I haven't been to one since I was a kid. They tested me for a host of local allergies, tested my lung capacity (not too impressive) and prescribed several of the latest and greatest asthma and nasal medications. I gotta tell ya, they are working great. She's got me double dosing on pretty much everything, saying that I've been so inflamed and congested and clogged for so long it will take awhile for my overactive immune system to calm down. Eventually, we will back off a little on the dosages until we see exactly how much I need to remain healthy. She said that the ultimate test will be for me to catch a cold, then recover from it in the same amount of time as normal people. Whenever I get a cold, it transforms into a nasty case of bronchitis and lasts for upward of six weeks. That's been the case since I was a kid. I have never had a three-day cold. On a couple of occasions, the little cold blossomed into full-blown pneumonia. So catching a cold that lasts for a few days then goes away will be sweet indeed. I am also quite enamored with my newfound ability to breath freely. Ron tells me I am no longer waking him up at night with assorted snorts and gurgles and coughing. In fact, I'm actually doing a fair amount of sleeping through the night, something I haven't enjoyed in years. I guess I haven't really known what it's like to breath freely because I've had no real basis for comparison until now. It's really pretty amazing what I was able to do before with limited airway capacity.
I've sent a couple of story ideas, in the form of queries, to a couple of magazines and plan to send more once my clipping samples arrive with the boxes from Colorado. Some mags want a few samples of published writing to accompany a query, so I'll have to send some along. I've never written a query letter before. Guess I'll learn.
I've got a tennis date set up for this Friday afternoon and plan to join the local chapter of the American Association of University Women and their book club, so things are looking up on the social horizon. I've also added my name to the mailing list of the Big Island Tea Association and will meet a few people at their next meeting. When my bike gets here, maybe I'll consider joining the local mountain biking club, too.
It's pouring rain right now, but tomorrow's another day. Until next time, aloha and yee-haw!
The fourth of July festivities were pretty low-key at our house. We dosed the dogs with herbal doggie mellow-out pills, then did our best to keep them calm as the neighbor's grandkids fired off bottle rockets and other noisemakers. We also roasted a leg of lamb in our new smoker/bbq/grill. It's a very cool little contraption, and it was very inexpensive. Shoots, everything rusts out here eventually anyway. So we figured why not buy a $70 grill and replace it in a year rather than buying a $400 grill and replacing it in a year. We're enjoying the taste of real charcoal compared with gas, too.
Today, we planted five coffee trees. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we'll get the remaining five into the ground.
Check out the pink rose that popped open yesterday. I shot this picture about 10 minutes ago. It's pretty amazing that we live in a place where we can grow roses and citrus trees and bananas and coffee. 
But no cottonwoods. My allergies are actually very thankful for that.Speaking of allergies, I must say that modern medicine is a wonderful thing. I broke down about a month ago and went to an allergy specialist. I haven't been to one since I was a kid. They tested me for a host of local allergies, tested my lung capacity (not too impressive) and prescribed several of the latest and greatest asthma and nasal medications. I gotta tell ya, they are working great. She's got me double dosing on pretty much everything, saying that I've been so inflamed and congested and clogged for so long it will take awhile for my overactive immune system to calm down. Eventually, we will back off a little on the dosages until we see exactly how much I need to remain healthy. She said that the ultimate test will be for me to catch a cold, then recover from it in the same amount of time as normal people. Whenever I get a cold, it transforms into a nasty case of bronchitis and lasts for upward of six weeks. That's been the case since I was a kid. I have never had a three-day cold. On a couple of occasions, the little cold blossomed into full-blown pneumonia. So catching a cold that lasts for a few days then goes away will be sweet indeed. I am also quite enamored with my newfound ability to breath freely. Ron tells me I am no longer waking him up at night with assorted snorts and gurgles and coughing. In fact, I'm actually doing a fair amount of sleeping through the night, something I haven't enjoyed in years. I guess I haven't really known what it's like to breath freely because I've had no real basis for comparison until now. It's really pretty amazing what I was able to do before with limited airway capacity.
I've sent a couple of story ideas, in the form of queries, to a couple of magazines and plan to send more once my clipping samples arrive with the boxes from Colorado. Some mags want a few samples of published writing to accompany a query, so I'll have to send some along. I've never written a query letter before. Guess I'll learn.
I've got a tennis date set up for this Friday afternoon and plan to join the local chapter of the American Association of University Women and their book club, so things are looking up on the social horizon. I've also added my name to the mailing list of the Big Island Tea Association and will meet a few people at their next meeting. When my bike gets here, maybe I'll consider joining the local mountain biking club, too.
It's pouring rain right now, but tomorrow's another day. Until next time, aloha and yee-haw!
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