Blogging on the Powwow

The answer is no. Did you have experiences as a child that made you miserable at the time, but served you well in adulthood? I did. I went to Girl Scout camp for four years as a child, from ages 9-12. My sister also went to this same camp. As the older sister she went before I could attend and came home full of stories, camp songs, and plans for me to attend when I was older. She would greet us at the bottom of "killer hill"--tanned, happy, and healthy with huge bicep muscles from swinging her ax, building unit kitchens, and canoeing all over the camp's pond. She would sing camp songs throughout the school year and pine away for summer when she could return to residential camp. I couldn't wait  to go to summer camp, just like my sister. I went to camp, but unlike my sister, I was miserable. I cried every day. It was a little too rustic for me at the time--both in living style and in the expectations of the campers. No flush toilets, sleeping in platform tents, no ...

I've been tossing around the idea of a blog post about Hawaii for a few days. Trouble is, I'm not entirely sure of what I want to say. It was Hawaii. It was amazingly beautiful and amazingly expensive. I was knocked off my feet a few times while we were in Hawaii. I also had a few things confirmed about my traveling preferences. New experiences: 1. We have been to the State of Hawaii before -- specifically to the islands of Oahu and Maui. On this trip we also went to Oahu for my conference presentation and then The Island of Hawaii, dubbed as "The Big Island." This was new. 2. I have seen lava fields before in Arizona, Idaho, and even on our previous trip to Hawaii. I had not, however, seen such vast and endless lava fields before, and certainly not lava fields that literally stretch out to the ocean. I had also never seen such recent lava fields before. We walked through lava flows from the 1970s. It was amazing. Neil in the lava fields at Hawaii ...

Our recent trip to Hawaii for a conference, followed by vacation got in the way of me making my usual posts about the garden. That might be a good thing. I think that my readers and I might be tiring of these posts. Nevertheless, I'll continue with the series for the season and see how I feel next summer. Come to think of it, this is the last summer for my dahlia-obsession; in the spring 2014, I'll be planting two new perennial beds. Certainly, that will be worth documenting! Anyway, I digress, which I am wont to do. Back to our current gardens. The most recent transformations in the yard include sunflowers, the hibiscus plant and the rose of Sharon bushes -- all in full bloom. Also, Neil had a box of rocks - yes, you read that correctly - a box of rocks which has been sitting on our side porch for the better part of the season. It was filled with beautiful and special rocks. I removed them from the decaying box and placed them throughout the yard. Some look great; others loo...

I occasionally have to do my long runs on the treadmill. It can be pretty awful to undertake this task...9, 10, 11+ miles on a treadmill. I once did a 19 mile run on a treadmill. In truth, it's pretty good training for psychologically enduring whatever may come my way during a marathon. It is usually weather or an upset stomach which puts me on the treadmill for a long period of time. To make this task bearable, I try to find something on TV to watch that has a strong narrative line that keeps me reeled into the story, as opposed to watching the miles pass 0.10 mile at a time. My new gym provides a TV with each piece of cardio equipment, so with more channels than I have at home, I can usually find some kind of "junk TV" to watch. I like detective shows: old, new, reruns...it doesn't matter. I just like detective shows. I think that the intensity or thrill of a show helps me with my runs, too. My adrenalin is already pumping, so it's pretty easy to get sucked ...

Apparently someone named William Clark, or someone who uses the name William Clark and whose email address is: wclark200@yahoo.com . Last week Neil mentioned to me that he had received an unusual request from "William Clark," for oboe lessons for his 13 year old daughter, Mary. He stated that they were out of the country, but would soon be coming to the United States. Mr. Clark failed to answer any of Neil's usual questions for new students, such as how long Mary had been playing, inquires about her instrument, and whether they would be taking lessons at USM or Dartmouth - the locations of his two teaching studios. Neil usually asks if the child has, in addition to playing oboe, any other tendencies toward self-injurious behavior. Silent on all of these matters.  Then Mr. Clark wanted to pay for several weeks of lessons upfront. Neil had never encountered this before, but why would a free-lance musician say no to a parent wanting to pay for lessons in advance? Then N...

I see that my last post about our gardens was June 22. I suspected that this might happen. In addition to my own schedule and writing woes, I have a friend who says " Facebook Killed My Blog ." It is pretty easy for me to just throw my garden pictures up on Facebook for many, many more people to see, as compared to those who will read my blog. Then again, not everyone uses or enjoys Facebook. Anyway, I digress. Our gardens have been wonderful! I cannot complain. I have found perennials on half-off sales and plunked those in the ground, I have found perennials at full-price, which I just had  to have, I have found perennials which I didn't especially like, but which had good color, and things which have sprung to life which have been more wonderful than I ever remember from a previous summer. I think that's the way it is with memories though, which is quite the blessing, come to think of it! So, on with the pictures and my attempts to identify the plants in our garde...