Out of Dough

I bought 19 books at the Friends of the Library North Webster Public Library book sale on Thursday. This is one of my favorite book sale places as they usually have lots of books, and more importantly, they have lots of Christian fiction. However, I am now about out of the donated funds. With no budgeted money, the donation was all I had to count on. It will be interesting to see how God supplies books for the library now.

 

The Grace Village swap shop is in November. The lady in charge always lets me have first dibs on donated books before the sale starts; maybe we will get some good additions there.

 

It is possible that the Winona Literary Club will make a thank you donation to Grace Village for use of its facilities; it may not designate that money toward the library, though it has in the past.

 

If I had more money, I would look on www.betterworldbooks.com  My husband went to their warehouse in Mishawaka, Indiana because he saw 2 books he has been searching for listed on the website. He wanted to see the books first though, because he wanted one of them to be the edition that matches his other books in the series. He bought 2 books for $3.98 each. Even that price is kind of steep for GV library. We try to stick to $1-$2 per book. The great thing about Better World Books is that it ships for free. Take a peek and see if you can find some bargains.

Autumn Arrives

It has felt and looked like autumn for at least a week now, but now it is officially here. It was 39 degrees when I got up this morning. However, it will warm up slightly for the rest of this week, gorgeous weather in the 70s with no rain and bright blue skies.

More leaves are turning colors now, especially the maples and burning bushes. 

Thursday I will go to the Friends of the Library book sale in North Webster. I usually find a few dozen suitable books for the Grace Village library. I’ve almost used up my funds though, so unless we receive donations, this might be my final sale for the year.

 I did some fall decorating two weeks ago before I got busy with choir and literary club. Besides my sunroom decorations, I added these to the dining/living area.

 

We bought some apple cider 2 weeks ago at the grocery store, but maybe we will go to Kercher's in Goshen soon to buy some apples and more cider. They say apples have been abundant this year. That would be a nice little outing.

Hope your autumn is nice as well.

Revisiting Alzheimer’s

I just finished the Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit. Unintentionally, I have entered a description of Alzheimer’s again. The book is a memoir, but Solnit’s mother has the disease. She discusses her mother’s situation from a daughter’s perspective as it fits into other major events such as breast cancer, a sojourn in Iceland, a friend’s death, and another friend’s giving birth. The book was mentioned on So Many Books blog, but I don’t recall her talking about the Alzheimer’s so much.

I was struck by similarities with The Geography of Memory by Jeanne Walker, another daughter whose mother had Alzheimer’s. They both question the value of a life devoid of personal history; ask what constitutes “the self”; and observe that as the disease progresses, the mind is unable to integrate past, present, and future into a coherent whole. There is only the present moment.

Living only in the present may seem like a tragedy, but Solnit points out it has its brighter side. Her mother thinks each slice of cake the best ever, each flower the most beautiful ever. There is no memory of previous cakes or flowers thus no basis for comparison. Once her mother gets settled into her dementia residence and routines, her former combativeness and frustration leaves and each day, each moment brings “new” pleasures.

Solnit’s goal becomes identifying what gives her mother pleasure and comfort and providing it. The pleasures change over time. For awhile, having a tube of lipstick became important to her mother, though her mother seldom wore it. She tried to involve her mother in picking a shade of lipstick, but soon realized the ability to focus and to interpret differences was gone. The lipstick symbolized something to her mother, but the selection process was not part of its importance. Of course, the lipstick usually disappeared fairly rapidly after purchase, but her mother was content to receive a replacement and not demand locating the lost lipstick. Eventually, this need to own lipstick disappeared as well.

Her mother also lost the ability to distinguish solid level ground from raised or uneven ground. She walked hesitantly, not knowing how to adapt her movements to changes under her feet. She didn’t lose her physical balance, but her interpretive balance to tell the difference and change her steps. Because of this, she became fearful of steps/stairs and curbs. She felt so overwhelmed, she would sit or lie down on the floor or the grass. She wasn’t falling down, just choosing to not have to make a discernment she no longer had an ability to make.

Another bright spot, was the development of a real relationship based on having need and meeting need. Solnit and her mother were never close. It was as though Solnit reminded her mother of the regrets her mother had about her own life. Feelings of jealousy arose if Solnit did well or enjoyed life. Her mother would give treats or favors to her sons with Solnit present, purposely leaving her out. Solnit coped with the perceived unfair treatment by becoming emotionally distant. When she was 17 and an opportunity came, she chose to be physically distant as well. She left home with no financial support from her parents which meant living in a fleabag hotel and going hungry often.

But with Alzheimer’s, Solnit’s mother had no memories of her regrets and bitterness, and no memories of how she treated her daughter. This lady (Solnit) with the somewhat familiar voice did nice things and brought pleasure so she liked her. Solnit tended her mother out of gratitude for how her mother cared for her when she was an infant and toddler, not out of love, but in a strange way they reconciled.

Solnit’s writings have the theme of life as story, narrative. She realizes her mother has lost her stories, that she has no compass. The book explores place, narrative, and the role they play in interpreting and giving meaning to life. She includes stories of others, even fairy tale characters and authors to make her point.

 

 

Miscellany

I have been struggling this past week with a respiratory virus combined with my pollen allergies and asthma. My husband and I tried so hard to keep him well, even sleeping in separate bedrooms, but alas today a scratchy throat showed up for him. This illness has some body aches and headache besides the scratchy throat, runny nose, and tight chest and cough. I have used my rescue inhaler several times to control wheezing. Today I finally feel a bit better and on the mend.

 

The timing has been fairly good. I have nothing scheduled all week. I had hoped to work in the library and maybe visit a nearby antique store, but that will have to wait. Somebody left about 15 donated books on the desk and I did a brief sort last Wednesday, but my achiness was growing so I left after doing that. I need to add them to Library Thing data base. I bought 20 books at Half Price Books Labor Day sale and those too need some processing.

 

Have you been reading about the Community Health Systems data breach? We unfortunately are part of that. Almost everybody in town is affected. We have one hospital and many of the physicians groups belong to that. All belong to Community Health Systems. When the media first broke the news, I immediately put freezes on our credit reports with all 3 bureaus. September 2nd I received my official notification and signed up for the free id security monitoring. My husband’s letter came Saturday. I asked for a free credit report from one of the bureaus today and see nothing suspicious. It did show the freeze I placed August 20th. Hoping that even though my personal information and Social Security number have been floating out in criminal cyberspace thanks to Chinese hackers, they didn’t take the opportunity to use it yet. It could still be used for medical fraud I suppose.

 

My Nook Color which I have owned for 2 1/2 years went berserk again. It had started to zoom in and out so you couldn’t read anything. I had tried several things including resetting it to factory settings. It didn’t zoom for a few weeks, but now is again, plus the touch screen freezes and you have to put it into sleep mode to change to a different activity. I bought an ipad last week. Now I have to learn how to use it. I have added a few apps, but I know there is more to do. Given the security breach, you may think I would swear off of electronic devices, but in some ways they do better my life. I especially want to be able to access email and Facebook and several blogs when I am in Gulf Shores, Alabama for a few weeks this winter. We only have prepaid cell phones that we use infrequently, no smart phones, so a tablet is helpful to us.

 

Time to go look at the Super Moon. We have a wonderful clear night with no clouds unlike the previous times. I need a reminder of God’s beauty. Are you able to look?

Balboa Park and Old Town San Diego

Though I had visited San Diego Zoo as a child several times, I never explored Balboa Park of which it is a part. One of the main sites I wanted to see on our California trip was this multi-use center of San Diego. Since we were arriving on a Sunday, we decided to get there early enough to hear the Spreckels Organ concert. My sister and her husband had never been there at a time when that performance was taking place either.

The organ had not yet been rolled out to the stage

We packed a lunch to eat when we arrived, and we left plenty of time to travel as we didn’t know how quickly the seats would fill up. As it turned out, there were lots of seats and a rather poor turnout. On the drive from Whittier, as we got closer to San Diego, we experienced a down pouring of rain. Amazing! California after all is in a drought. However, by the time we got to Balboa Park, though there was cloud cover, there was no rain. Too bad the clouds went away that afternoon as the sun beat down pretty fiercely.

 

We ate lunch; our relatives staked out seats right up front and let us meander. My husband went to an automotive museum while I headed in the opposite direction toward the Botanical Building.

 

The buildings and landscaping are the legacy of the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition and the 1935-36 California Pacific International Exposition. The Botanical Building, a wood lath structure, was constructed in 1915. It is off of El Prado, the boulevard created for the exposition.

There is a nice lily pond in front of the Botanical Building.

Inside were orchids and other interesting plants.

Before arriving at the Botanical Building, I had stopped at the Hospitality House to pick up a brochure.

 

Armed with that information, I strolled El Prado, admiring the architecture.

Carillon which was from a later date

Museum of Man

The tiles and shapes reminded me of Moorish art.

 

I thought I heard the organ playing. The concert wasn’t scheduled until 2 p.m. and this was a little after 1 p.m. I hurried to the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. Now the organ was in view. The Pavilion was built in 1915. The organ has been updated through the years with a new console and additional pipes. It has 4,518 pipes. The organist was a man practicing for a Monday night concert.

There is an official civic organist, Dr. Carol Williams; she plays the pieces on Sunday. It got pretty hot once the clouds left. The Spreckels Organ Society was renting out shade umbrellas for $2, starting about 1:30. They had lots of business. I sat and watched several Quincenera and wedding parties coming for photo shoots among the portico pillars.

 

I finally decided to cross the street to explore the “houses” belonging to the House of Pacific Relations that were left from the 1935-36 event. There was an art sale taking place on the lawns as well.

Apparently there was going to be some kind of folk dancing on a grassy area between the small buildings. That was in the shade, but you had to sit on the grass or bring your own chair. The “houses” had a few cultural items inside, but mostly literature about different countries.

When I got back to the Pavilion, it was about 15 minutes until the concert started.

The concert was about an hour. There were 10 pieces; one of the suites was written by Dr. Williams. The concert ended in a rousing rendition of the National Anthem. Those big pipes can really growl. Though the umbrella helped some, I finally draped my tote bag over my feet as they were not sheltered and felt like they were starting to get a sunburn. You were allowed to walk thru the pipe housing and get close to the console after the performance as well as ask questions about the instrument. I was glad we had attended.

On our last day in San Diego, we drove to Old Town where San Diego began. The old adobe buildings mostly have stores with tourist goods and restaurants. We ate at my sister’s favorite Mexican restaurant, then strolled thru a few shops.

 

 

 

We didn’t stay long, though, because we needed to head for Whittier so my husband and I could gather up our things and start packing for our flight to Chicago the next morning. It had been a long time since I had been in Southern California in summer. I am so glad that we made the trip.

Hotel del Coronado and USS Midway Museum, and a Surprise (San Diego)

 

Though I grew up in Southern California and had visited San Diego a few times, I had never been to the Hotel del Coronado, the famous Victorian hotel whose history included stays by royalty, presidents, and Hollywood stars. This vacation, we drove across the bridge to North Island and headed for the town of Coronado.

 

The Del  opened in 1888. You can read about its development and construction by clicking the link. It was one of many grand hotels built to attract people to Southern California during the land boom. Today, most of those are gone; the Del currently is the second largest wooden construction in the United States. When it opened, it was the largest resort hotel in the world.

Hotel del Coronado when it first opened.

 

It still attracts a wealthy clientele. The hotel has been updated in the past decades and the resort now has “cottages” and towers of rooms besides the original building. Its restaurants and shops are open to the public. We rode from the beach level to the lobby one level above in an old-fashioned elevator with a gate that closed across the opening and operated by a uniformed attendant.

We almost parked in their lot, but discovered it would be prohibitively expensive, something like $20-$30 for the first two hours, then $10 each additional hour. We were able to find metered street parking a few blocks away. Unless you choose to dine there, 2 hours is plenty of time to see the public areas.

Dining terrace facing the beach

 

Private beach; Point Loma in the distance

Arrival area for guests

 

Dragon tree that appeared in Some Like It Hot with Marilyn Monroe

Newer towers in the background

 

I don’t know how the rooms are furnished; the lobby was dark and uninteresting

 

 

Something the guys in our group were especially interested in seeing was the USS Midway Museum which is docked adjacent to the downtown area of San Diego. We ate lunch first at Anthony’s, a seafood restaurant, not far from the carrier. My adventurous spouse had squid sandwich. We had waited until the noonday rush was over, and we were rewarded with a bayside table.

 

The USS Midway was commissioned in 1945, the largest ship in the world at that time. It was too big to fit thru the Panama Canal. It saw extensive service in the Viet Nam War and was the flagship of the Persian Gulf War air operations in 1991. It was decommissioned in 1992 and kept in San Diego. It was overhauled to become a museum and opened in 2004.

Hanger deck

Anchor chain

 

Part of below-hanger-deck display

 

The audio tour had you go down to the engine room. That wasn’t too bad, but climbing all of those steps back up to the hanger deck was a lot of work, especially as there was little ventilation and it was a hot day. It felt good to get a soft drink and sit a bit before tackling the flight deck.

 

There was an elevator to the flight deck and I took it. Truthfully, after having toured other aircraft carriers in other places, this wasn’t on my have-to-see list. I walked around, but didn’t read much about the aircraft. I spent more time looking at the surrounding scenery. In 2015 there will be a theater with a movie about the battle of Midway. Learn more about the ship on its museum page.

 

 

 

The sailor statue is just like one we have in a special exhibit in Warsaw, Indiana, except at least 10 times bigger. That’s the bridge to Coronado.

We were all pretty tired after walking throughout the USS Midway. We drove around little Italy looking for a restaurant, but parking is scarce. We finally ended up about 1/2 way back to our hotel, stopping at the Corvette Diner. This is probably a great place for kids, but maybe a little too-high-energy for 4 very pooped retired people. Yet, the music was from our eras. Too loud to converse. When the waitress arrived at our table, the first thing she did was throw a handful of drinking straws up into the air over our table. There was a DJ in one of the other rooms, and she announced the upcoming song. The waitresses in our room stopped taking orders and proceeded to sing and dance to a rock n’ roll song. A birthday group of elementary and pre-teen kids in the corner danced along. They also took the red straws and connected them into wands and hair crowns and whatever they could come up with.

 

The food was pretty good, and the music would have been fun if half the decibels. The manager commented as he breezed through our room that we were the quietest group in the place. As we headed toward the parking lot, we discovered a sprinkler system across the road had come on, and somebody in a jovial mood had redirected one of the sprinkler heads across the sidewalk. Fortunately, a teen in a group that was leaving right ahead of us, went over and stood on the head and redirected the water.

Certainly, a memorable dining experience.