Thursday night I went to bed early. I had odd dreams all night..pink tentacled aliens with tabby cat faces took over my place of employment and put us all on trial for crimes against the universe. Note to self: No more cheese before bed.
I hate not being able to sleep well at night. Especially on weeknights, when I know the alarm clock will be going off as soon as I finally manage to sleep for a solid hour. Just as I was finally starting to drift off, I was rudely awakened by the entire bed shaking. In my fuzzy-minded state, I thought it was my fiance, having convulsions and causing the bed to shake. Then I realized that it wasn't just the bed..it was the entire house that was shaking. Glasses clinked in the cabinets. Books started to shimmy towards the edges of the shelves. I could hear the goat bleating outside in panic.
I slapped my hand down on my fiance's arm and he leapt out of bed, trying to drag me out with him. The room was swaying, shaking, floor creaking, bed inching across the floor.
Then, it was suddenly over. Everything went silent. We stared at each other, wide eyed, trying to figure out what in the hell had just happened. It was 5:47 in the morning. We're close enough to a military base for our windows to sometimes rattle when they're firing weapons or flying jets overhead, but this went far beyond that. It slowly dawned on me that it must have been an earthquake. Not exactly something we're used to, here.
The morning news confirmed that it had indeed been a minor quake. No damage was done to our house, but a building downtown lost some of its facade, a road was damaged, and some statues and a fountain got knocked over. No one was hurt. No major damage done.
I think I'd rather dream about aliens, though.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Rock On
Friday afternoon the weather happened to be on the verge of beautiful. The sun was shining but the wind was so strong that it felt like it could carry me away.
Since we'd had so much rain that week I decided to go rock hunting. Every time I think I've picked our yard clean, it will rain and expose more geodes, crinoids, and other fossils. This time I decided to dig around the pond, which is a place I have always avoided in the past. The pond is very large and deep, and the ground around it is soft and crumbly. When you can't swim, you tend to avoid any bodies of water larger than a bath. But I learned how to swim (or at least flail around and keep myself afloat) last summer, so the pond isn't much of a danger to me anymore.
The pond is set deeply into uneven ground, so it has banks that actually stretch up to 10 feet overhead around one side. That was the side I decided to poke around in. I climbed down the slope, clinging to exposed roots and slabs of stone until I was down by the water. The red bank rose overhead, streaked with veins of heavy gray clay. Already I could see fist-sized geodes stuck in the dirt.
I spent a good 20 minutes prying stones out and dropping them in a pile by my feet. By that point the wind had whipped my hair out of the ponytail I'd had it in, and my hands were far too muddy to do anything about it. My rain boots probably weighed ten pounds each from all the mud and clay that clung to them. But I had quite a haul..geodes and a slab of white stone that contained several shell fossils. I was getting ready to move on when I spotted a massive geode buried halfway up the bank. It was nearly the size of a watermelon. I couldn't pass that up.
Dirty, windblown, and weighed down with rocks and mud, I made my way to the fence and started dumping geodes over. A bucket would have been nice, but we have two horses and you can't enter that field with a bucket unless it contains feed. They will grab the bucket away from you if you dare go in there with an empty one.
A few days later, I went ahead and cracked open the big geode. This is what it contained:
It's very similar to the last large one I found, which my fiance had cut open for me with a diamond bladed saw.
This is the stone with fossilized shells in it. It's about the size of a small paving stone:
And the handful of Crinoids I also picked up:
All in all, a good day for rocks. I haven't cracked open the other geodes I found, yet. Some of them found other homes..I've been mailing off boxes of them to friends in other states. I think the postman must hate me by now.
Since we'd had so much rain that week I decided to go rock hunting. Every time I think I've picked our yard clean, it will rain and expose more geodes, crinoids, and other fossils. This time I decided to dig around the pond, which is a place I have always avoided in the past. The pond is very large and deep, and the ground around it is soft and crumbly. When you can't swim, you tend to avoid any bodies of water larger than a bath. But I learned how to swim (or at least flail around and keep myself afloat) last summer, so the pond isn't much of a danger to me anymore.
The pond is set deeply into uneven ground, so it has banks that actually stretch up to 10 feet overhead around one side. That was the side I decided to poke around in. I climbed down the slope, clinging to exposed roots and slabs of stone until I was down by the water. The red bank rose overhead, streaked with veins of heavy gray clay. Already I could see fist-sized geodes stuck in the dirt.
I spent a good 20 minutes prying stones out and dropping them in a pile by my feet. By that point the wind had whipped my hair out of the ponytail I'd had it in, and my hands were far too muddy to do anything about it. My rain boots probably weighed ten pounds each from all the mud and clay that clung to them. But I had quite a haul..geodes and a slab of white stone that contained several shell fossils. I was getting ready to move on when I spotted a massive geode buried halfway up the bank. It was nearly the size of a watermelon. I couldn't pass that up.
Dirty, windblown, and weighed down with rocks and mud, I made my way to the fence and started dumping geodes over. A bucket would have been nice, but we have two horses and you can't enter that field with a bucket unless it contains feed. They will grab the bucket away from you if you dare go in there with an empty one.
A few days later, I went ahead and cracked open the big geode. This is what it contained:
It's very similar to the last large one I found, which my fiance had cut open for me with a diamond bladed saw.
This is the stone with fossilized shells in it. It's about the size of a small paving stone:
And the handful of Crinoids I also picked up:
All in all, a good day for rocks. I haven't cracked open the other geodes I found, yet. Some of them found other homes..I've been mailing off boxes of them to friends in other states. I think the postman must hate me by now.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Another Bullet Dodged
When I was 13 years old, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. I remember the day she told me what it was, and what they would have to do to make her better. It was a summer day, hot and bright, and she was sitting in a lawn chair while I sat in the grass. I remember the light glaring off of my father's white t-shirt, blinding as he turned and walked away.
13 years later, the doctor found spots on the upper lobe of her right lung. So we all waited, fearful, as she underwent tests and scans and more appointments, and I spent my nights feeling restless and trapped, my mind going in circles. What if, what if..what if this is the last year? The last mother's day? Christmas? What will we do, with her gone? I reverted back to that 13 year old girl, sitting in the long grass, stomach twisting as my thoughts chased each other round and round. Mom put up her strong front, saying that whatever happened, she would deal with it as she had dealt with years of illness, and cancer, and other health problems that by now would have sent most people to their beds.
My fiance was my support system. When my sister called to make sure I was OK, I shuffled her off the phone quickly so she wouldn't hear my voice break, and then I sat down and cried. The doctor thought it was probably cancer, but was confident that he could remove it. But still, what if...
This past Monday, my sister took our mother to her final appointment, the one where they'd finally give her the results. I sat at work and tried to think of other things, of anything else, anything at all. I answered phones and replied to e-mails and moved like a robot through the day, watching the clock constantly, wondering if they'd told her yet.
At 2:45, my mother called me, voice joyful, my sister laughing in the back ground. No cancer. The spots had disappeared. The doctor talked of infections in her lungs that had probably caused the spots, and then had gone away when she had been on antibiotics for an infection in her finger. She still has other problems with her lungs caused by her autoimmune illness, but nothing so bad as cancer.
We can all breathe, now. Another bullet dodged. My mind can finally rest and my stomach can unclench. Mom can stop making arrangements in her head, planning what would happen at the end. Finally, this year is looking up.
13 years later, the doctor found spots on the upper lobe of her right lung. So we all waited, fearful, as she underwent tests and scans and more appointments, and I spent my nights feeling restless and trapped, my mind going in circles. What if, what if..what if this is the last year? The last mother's day? Christmas? What will we do, with her gone? I reverted back to that 13 year old girl, sitting in the long grass, stomach twisting as my thoughts chased each other round and round. Mom put up her strong front, saying that whatever happened, she would deal with it as she had dealt with years of illness, and cancer, and other health problems that by now would have sent most people to their beds.
My fiance was my support system. When my sister called to make sure I was OK, I shuffled her off the phone quickly so she wouldn't hear my voice break, and then I sat down and cried. The doctor thought it was probably cancer, but was confident that he could remove it. But still, what if...
This past Monday, my sister took our mother to her final appointment, the one where they'd finally give her the results. I sat at work and tried to think of other things, of anything else, anything at all. I answered phones and replied to e-mails and moved like a robot through the day, watching the clock constantly, wondering if they'd told her yet.
At 2:45, my mother called me, voice joyful, my sister laughing in the back ground. No cancer. The spots had disappeared. The doctor talked of infections in her lungs that had probably caused the spots, and then had gone away when she had been on antibiotics for an infection in her finger. She still has other problems with her lungs caused by her autoimmune illness, but nothing so bad as cancer.
We can all breathe, now. Another bullet dodged. My mind can finally rest and my stomach can unclench. Mom can stop making arrangements in her head, planning what would happen at the end. Finally, this year is looking up.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Something Itchy This Way Comes..
I can tell by the pricking of my blotchy red thumbs.
The rash turned to hives. Big, red, splotchy hives. All over. In places that hives have no business being. I spent the entire weekend taking oatmeal baths and coating every square inch of skin with cortisone cream. Today I am finally free and clear. Stupid amoxicillin. Stupid strep throat. Stupid allergic reaction.
My fiance threatened to duct tape oven mitts to my hands. I spent a great deal of time furiously scratching whenever he was out of the room. Unfortunately the redness of my skin betrayed me..it's hard to hide that you've been clawing your skin to bits when there are white lines everywhere that you've scratched.
But now I can finally lay off the benadryl and cortisone, shave my legs, and no longer smell faintly of oatmeal. Interesting fact: When you have a pet goat, and you smell like oatmeal, it's a Bad Idea to go into the pasture. Nothing like being chased around by a small goat who thinks that you must be hiding something edible somewhere on your person.
The rash turned to hives. Big, red, splotchy hives. All over. In places that hives have no business being. I spent the entire weekend taking oatmeal baths and coating every square inch of skin with cortisone cream. Today I am finally free and clear. Stupid amoxicillin. Stupid strep throat. Stupid allergic reaction.
My fiance threatened to duct tape oven mitts to my hands. I spent a great deal of time furiously scratching whenever he was out of the room. Unfortunately the redness of my skin betrayed me..it's hard to hide that you've been clawing your skin to bits when there are white lines everywhere that you've scratched.
But now I can finally lay off the benadryl and cortisone, shave my legs, and no longer smell faintly of oatmeal. Interesting fact: When you have a pet goat, and you smell like oatmeal, it's a Bad Idea to go into the pasture. Nothing like being chased around by a small goat who thinks that you must be hiding something edible somewhere on your person.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Rashes, rashes..
Last week I had strep throat for the first time in my life. Mine was fairly mild, and my doctor prescribed amoxicillin to treat it.
Six days into taking the pills, I broke out into a bright red head-to-toe rash. It started out on my arms and spread out from there, until eventually even my ears were a brilliant shade of red.
Feeling rather alarmed, I called my doctor. Turns out that I am allergic to amoxicillin. Oh what joy. I got to experience strep throat AND an allergic reaction to medication all in the course of a week! The strep throat is gone, but unfortunately I can't say the same for the rash. It has spread to everywhere but my face as of today. My feet are so bad that I can't even wear shoes (insert joke about being in kentucky and not wearing shoes here). I look diseased and I feel miserable. I'm fantasizing about household objects that could be used to rid myself of this rash. Cheese graters. Sand paper. Oh, it all sounds heavenly right about now. I think tonight I'll greet my fiance at the door with a belt sander and some benadryl laced wine. I haven't felt like this since an encounter with a poison ivy patch 15 years ago.
I'm hoping that it will clear up by Monday. I cannot miss another day of work. I can wear long sleeves and slacks to cover up my arms and legs, but I'm not sure what I'll do if my hands and feet are still bad. My office isn't casual enough for the gloves-and-bare-feet look.
Six days into taking the pills, I broke out into a bright red head-to-toe rash. It started out on my arms and spread out from there, until eventually even my ears were a brilliant shade of red.
Feeling rather alarmed, I called my doctor. Turns out that I am allergic to amoxicillin. Oh what joy. I got to experience strep throat AND an allergic reaction to medication all in the course of a week! The strep throat is gone, but unfortunately I can't say the same for the rash. It has spread to everywhere but my face as of today. My feet are so bad that I can't even wear shoes (insert joke about being in kentucky and not wearing shoes here). I look diseased and I feel miserable. I'm fantasizing about household objects that could be used to rid myself of this rash. Cheese graters. Sand paper. Oh, it all sounds heavenly right about now. I think tonight I'll greet my fiance at the door with a belt sander and some benadryl laced wine. I haven't felt like this since an encounter with a poison ivy patch 15 years ago.
I'm hoping that it will clear up by Monday. I cannot miss another day of work. I can wear long sleeves and slacks to cover up my arms and legs, but I'm not sure what I'll do if my hands and feet are still bad. My office isn't casual enough for the gloves-and-bare-feet look.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Sticks and Stones.
The weather this weekend was truly nice for the first time this year. I took advantage of the warmth and sunlight and went rock hunting.
I have always been a rock hound. When we lived in Florida, I spent my allowance on crystals from the little mall kiosks that sold jewelry and gemstones. When we moved here to Kentucky, I was delighted to discover that it was a literal treasure trove of fossils and other interesting rocks. I pried fist-sized stones that looked like brains from the creek and hoarded them like priceless jewels. When my father took a hammer and cracked one of them open, I was dismayed until he showed me that inside those bumpy, bubbly stones were hollow caves lined with crystals.
An addict was born. I'd go down to the creek on weekends and bring home bucketloads of them, then spend the afternoon happily whacking them with hammers until they broke open. My mother was frustrated by the mess I made..shards of rock, bits of crystal, hammer marks on the concrete..but I was hooked. I had boxes of them under my bed because I'd run out of shelf room for them all.
Now I live in an area where I can get them from my own back yard, and it shows. The porch railing is covered with cracked open geodes. There are piles of them in the yard. Yesterday I gathered enough to fill two five gallon buckets. Though not all of them are for me this time. I am sending some out to other people who would like the chance to crack open their own.
The crown jewel was a truly massive geode that had to be opened with a concrete saw. There was a four inch thick ring of solid quartz encasing a cave with mineral deposits. The minerals formed a bumpy, bubbly layer that looks like bubbles in oatmeal. I hardly ever find ones like that.
This is a small portion of my haul:
My other task for the weekend was to photograph the hair sticks I'd spent the previous weekend making:
I love hair sticks. Too bad my hair is too short for them at the moment. But I still enjoy making them, and I'm especially fond of this batch. I like the colors.
All in all it was a good weekend. When I get home tonight I have an appointment with a hammer, chisel, and a bucket full of stones.
I have always been a rock hound. When we lived in Florida, I spent my allowance on crystals from the little mall kiosks that sold jewelry and gemstones. When we moved here to Kentucky, I was delighted to discover that it was a literal treasure trove of fossils and other interesting rocks. I pried fist-sized stones that looked like brains from the creek and hoarded them like priceless jewels. When my father took a hammer and cracked one of them open, I was dismayed until he showed me that inside those bumpy, bubbly stones were hollow caves lined with crystals.
An addict was born. I'd go down to the creek on weekends and bring home bucketloads of them, then spend the afternoon happily whacking them with hammers until they broke open. My mother was frustrated by the mess I made..shards of rock, bits of crystal, hammer marks on the concrete..but I was hooked. I had boxes of them under my bed because I'd run out of shelf room for them all.
Now I live in an area where I can get them from my own back yard, and it shows. The porch railing is covered with cracked open geodes. There are piles of them in the yard. Yesterday I gathered enough to fill two five gallon buckets. Though not all of them are for me this time. I am sending some out to other people who would like the chance to crack open their own.
The crown jewel was a truly massive geode that had to be opened with a concrete saw. There was a four inch thick ring of solid quartz encasing a cave with mineral deposits. The minerals formed a bumpy, bubbly layer that looks like bubbles in oatmeal. I hardly ever find ones like that.
This is a small portion of my haul:
My other task for the weekend was to photograph the hair sticks I'd spent the previous weekend making:
I love hair sticks. Too bad my hair is too short for them at the moment. But I still enjoy making them, and I'm especially fond of this batch. I like the colors.
All in all it was a good weekend. When I get home tonight I have an appointment with a hammer, chisel, and a bucket full of stones.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Sparrow Deathmatch.
Yesterday afternoon I decided to brave the cold and take advantage of the lovely sunlight that was filling the yard. It was just right for taking jewelry photographs, and with the upcoming bad weather there's no telling when I'll get another sunny day.
Outside in the junipers, four sparrows were engaged in battle. It's that time of year, when Spring is like an itch between your shoulderblades..you can feel it lurking there, driving you a little bit crazy, but still completely unreachable. All of the critters here have sensed it. The trees and bushes are full of fighting, singing, dancing birds. Robins are on the front lawn. When digging in the yard over the weekend I found pale earthworms in the dirt.
Oh, and the mud. The other sign that spring is coming is when the ground thaws and turns into a shoe-sucking mixture of wet clay, dirt, and puddles of standing water. There's nothing quite like the mud here. I've been slogging through the yard in galoshes.
But I did get my photographs, even though I had to beat a hasty retreat when the sparrows started fighting in the eaves above my head. The piece I was photographing is yet unfinished, just waiting for four beads to arrive from Thailand. It will be several weeks before it's done. Ah well. I can wait. But I shall leave you with a preview:
Outside in the junipers, four sparrows were engaged in battle. It's that time of year, when Spring is like an itch between your shoulderblades..you can feel it lurking there, driving you a little bit crazy, but still completely unreachable. All of the critters here have sensed it. The trees and bushes are full of fighting, singing, dancing birds. Robins are on the front lawn. When digging in the yard over the weekend I found pale earthworms in the dirt.
Oh, and the mud. The other sign that spring is coming is when the ground thaws and turns into a shoe-sucking mixture of wet clay, dirt, and puddles of standing water. There's nothing quite like the mud here. I've been slogging through the yard in galoshes.
But I did get my photographs, even though I had to beat a hasty retreat when the sparrows started fighting in the eaves above my head. The piece I was photographing is yet unfinished, just waiting for four beads to arrive from Thailand. It will be several weeks before it's done. Ah well. I can wait. But I shall leave you with a preview:
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