Apropos of Nothing v.19

We do have plenty of "wet". I call it the Pacific NorthWet.

But shhhhhsh ... don't tell too many people that we have sun all summer. Everyone on the planet would move here for the good coffee, good beer, and summers. And mild winters. And good manners.

>> what a thought! If death could be averted by feeling good strong and healthy...

I'm not sure it would work that way. More like age and ill health being ways of reconciling us to "time to go". Like a book store clerk blinking the lights at closing time or a skating rink turning off the music.

Not to be too morbid, or anything!

Corey

It's good to talk about death. I think our society is so frightened or unnerved by it, they just ignore it until -- oopsie, the guy's dead. It's a natural part of our life cycle and I'm convinced those nearing the end of their time would welcome some honest discussion about what they are going through.

Bonehead I am sure of that, people need to discuss their demise! Years ago I had a dear friend on her way out and when I went to visit, her Mom said just talk about when she will get better. So I did and have always felt I let her down..in fact that is exactly why I went to school to become a nurse. Too important to ignore!

Oh I agree, death is something that is better kept right in view..... interesting conversation cause we are close approaching the festival of the dead in so many cultures...... makes sense it is on our minds. Corey no, not morbid at all.

Pacific NorthWet, I like that. And good manners, you say? Oh, my heart. What a treat that would be! I shall look forward to that part for certain sure.

Thanks, all, for letting me talk about Dad. As a very young kid, I couldn't understand how some people could be terribly afraid of dying - you KNOW it's going to happen.

Someone in some high-risk military outfit denied it was dangerous.
"Nope. Same death rate here as everywhere else. One each."

I had an aunt who actually jittered visibly and panicked if you even talked about anyone sick. She could NOT visit people in the hospital. Another aunt (quietly religious) handled sudden, fast, painful, fatal throat cancer like it was doing the laundry. Not denial, just "Time to go to heaven soon, I'd better get some things done first. What? Stay in the hospital and do painful things to add a few weeks or months? Why? I'm going home to be with my family, and then die."

I think, though, that the first aunt used the power of positive denial when she got cancer with a bad prognosis: THIS can't happen to ME! In her case, she was stubburn enough to made it work and beat the Big C for many years.

I think Coreys and Ennises must have some tough genes and married tough people. Or growing up in the Great Depression toughened them up. The inlaws all thought we were troublemakers and rowdy ... or something ... and said they had formed a defensive organization that made a distinction between the inlaws (them) and the outlaws (us).

Who?? Us?

The people here in WA and OR are so polite that it shook me up for a long time, coming from New Jersey. For a while I almost missed the abrupt and brusque manner that might get things done 2-3 seconds faster. I think the whole NY-NJ area is about "fast" ... and "me first" and "FU" and "let's cut ina fronta da line, Harry!"

I even heard about someone in Washington that tested people's reactions to eye contact followed by a smile. Here, they smile back, and don't assume you're a dangerous lunatic!

In urban parts of NY and NJ, you just don't do that kind of thing! It makes people very nervous, especially eye contact. I think they consider "mugger" and "con man" and "Scientologist" and "stoned hippy - no, Ecstasy" before they would consider the possibility of a person so odd and reckless that he would actually smile at a stranger on the street.

When I first moved to NJ, I still had residual polite driving habits. If someone needed to pull in front of me, I would slow down and let them.

Oh, man, that drove people CRAZY! They would swivel their heads like an owl on speed, trying to find some imminent accident or cop car that would cause me to do something otherwise inexplicable.

Traffic in NJ is actually fairly predictable. Under any given circumstance, you know exactly what other drivers will do. Floor it, and cut in front of you.

Gee, I hope DG doesn't charge by the word next year!

Corey

That is so funny, your observation. I was born here and lived here till I graduated high school. I lived in Silicon Valley for years. Things got busier and busier and I was in management and worked hard, 3 kids, no time, you all know the story. So I moved here but remembered very few of the people, I had done high school in Crescent City. So I would be in the grocery store and people would smile and say hello. At first I would look at them and ask, do I know you? They usually said no and looked at me odd. Then I got so when they did that I would think, what do they want? Why are they doing this? It had me totally creeped out. Then one day it dawned on me. They are being friendly, they have time to be pleasant and say hello to people. Blew me away.
I don't think I could ever move back to a large city just because of this, there are other reasons, but I don't want to live in an area where people do not have the time to say hello, and, like me when I came, if they did, you would wonder why. Its a whole different culture, this one is better.

>> So I would be in the grocery store and people would smile and say hello. At first I would look at them and ask, do I know you? They usually said no and looked at me odd. Then I got so when they did that I would think, what do they want? Why are they doing this? It had me totally creeped out.

Yes! Exactly! That made me smile. "What do they WANT?!?" It takes a while to get used to it.

Babylon 5 (an SF TV show) showed a mother dragging her little girl away from a guy who smiled at her.
"Dont talk to HIM! You don't know where he's BEEN!"

NJ even has a word for it:
"Youtalkingtome?" (pronuced accusingly and with aggressive hostility)

Corey

People can be so silly. I was on I-5 this morning at rush hour (not a usual thing for me), chugging along through the Lynnwood mess. The car in front of me was playing 'merge cop', speeding up to cut off people trying to merge from on-ramps and at times driving half in his/her lane and half in the merge lane. What the person apparently did not notice was that I was leaving a full car length in front of me and probably 5-6 vehicles smoothly merged in behind him/her, negating all his/her ridiculous posturing. And most of the cars that did merge in, smoothly moved to the next lane over and eventually passed the merge cop. What a nut.

Ooooh I hate people that do that. What on earth is the point? It just creates unsafe conditions for everyone. Grrrr.

Once I had to find a ride home from a conferecne in Boston, to New Haven Connecticut. I commeitted to the ride before I saw his read bumper sticker "I slow down for tailgaters".

He stuck himself permanently in the far-left lane (passing lane) and drove the legal _minumum_ for hours, in states where it is illegal to pass on the right. Unsurprisingly, we were tail-gated, buzzed, cursed, honked at and eventually passed by everyone on the right. We're lucky we weren't shot at. No one threw anything at us - northern New England is civilized.

I would grind my teeth in shame, and cringe, while he beamed and called THEM jerks. he kept saying "they aren't supposed to tailgate" and I would say "you aren't supposed to crusise in the PASSING lane" and "you know, this is very unsafe". But he had to have his fun and feel superior.

Most of us have some petty tyrant in us. And some "jerk". My theory is that those with the least real power in thier life, and the least real strength of personality become the pushiest ones on the road - where they don't have to look anyone in the face, or hear the scathing and accurate descriptions of their behavior and sanity. The brittle strength of the weak.

My brother in law is Canadian, and after being exposed to NJ highway traffic manners, came up with an idea for an invention he called the "human fecus gun".

I would settle for an externally mounted loudspeaker. "Drivers beware! Idiot sighted in light blue Chevy. May be deranged or stupid. Warning! warning! Idiot alert, Level Red!"

(Can you tell I lived in NJ and NY too long?)

I caught the disease, especially considering the speed limit to be only a suggestion, or a "lower speed limit". I travelled to Ohio for work, and found EVERYONE drivng right at 1 MPH under the speed limit. "OHO!" I said to myslef. "These clever folks must know where the radar speed traps are hidden!". But they drove that way ALL the time! Obeying the law. Staying in their own lanes. Driving sanely and safely. How can they do that?

It really freaked me out until we came to a construction site where lanes narrowed and jogged unpredictably. Finally I could feel at home, relax and dodge "normally" as people around me did random unpredictable unsafe things at the last moment. They weren't so strange after all!

Corey

P.S. Thank goodness for threads without topics!

hehe. Exactly why I started this series of threads- we tend to stray off topic in this forum, so I figured a thread with no set topic would do well. ;)

Apropos of nothing- I have slowly been turning my mailman into a seed gardening junkie. Over the last year and a half he's gone from "curious about gardening" to "hey, do you have any extra seeds from that yellow one?" LOL! I just gave him a packet of my Rudbeckia 'Gloriosa Daisy' seeds today. Spreading the addiction! Muahahaha! ;D

In other news; my shoulder hurts. Waah. :p

Shoulder: Sigh. Sympathy. But think of it this way: It's getting better, and you're doing everything you can to get it better, faster. You are being Most Holy.

Except for corrupting the mailman. So naughty! I saw a series of threads on Kyla's stomping grounds about "I confess". Very convenient.

I confess I vicariously enjoy your wickdness in getting him curious, then giving him free samples, thus drawing him in until he's hooked on gardening. I have some big, easy seeds that would be just right for young children start on ...

Does this make us a Seed Cartel?

Corey

I always call myself a seed pusher. It sounds so gritty and street-tough. *snerk*

A dealer! A dealer! I've lived in WA for 5 years now and never saw a Dealer!

Do you wear lots of gold chains and drive big white Caddy?

Corey

No, silly- that's for pimps. Seed pushers drive pickup trucks and wear tool belts with trowels and pruners. ;)

Don't you have to drive a truck to be a gardener? I do.
Oooops posted at the same time.

This message was edited Sep 30, 2010 4:23 PM

I understand: big gold pruners and tool belts with diamond chips. And leather gloves with sequins.
Surrounded by seedy-looking guys in low-cut shirts, costume jewelry, tight pants and shovels. Gotcha.

I've been lusting for a pickup truck since I started hauling pavers, mulch and sand home in my little Ford Escort's little trunk. Now I NEED one for free biosolids compost. NEED! I'm jonesing here for MORE NITROGEN!

Corey

Now you've got it, Corey! hehehe.

A pickup truck is a must. I don't know how I could survive without mine.

Uh oh. I must not be a gardener then, have never managed to acquire a pickup truck, sigh. I confess, I am tickled the "confession" idea makes sense to someone else....... Corey, I have a Ford Escort too! and nope, it is not very pickup worthy, is it? I used to have an old Plymouth (I think it was) hatchback that did da.....rn well (almost forgot the Dave's rule, sorry, haven't hung out in these parts for a while) as a faux pickup. But I lost it, it was old and died a good death.

politeness and manners, I do believe i am going to like it up there..... I've been back and forth between cities and small towns enough to know that some places you smile and say howdy to strangers and other places you do not do that. Been a while since I have lived in a city, though.....

I did have a huge problem with speeding when I moved here. Commuting on the freeways down there, there basically was no speed limit, you had to speed to keep up with traffic and people got very angry on the way to work if you were just a little above the speed limit. I usually went about 80 mph on the way to work.

My first ticket here I was on a two lane highway outside of Bandon going to Coos Bay. There was very little traffic, it was sunny and clear, no wind. I was just driving away and looked up and there were flashing lights. I pull over, thinking my goodness, I must have a brake light out or something. He comes up and says do you know how fast you were going? I came close to say, who cares?. No I said. He said you were going 72 and this is a 55 zone. I had to bit my tongue and I almost said, so what? I still didn't see the problem or the point. He gave me a ticket and I was in absolute shock. It cost over $220 and I paid higher insurance for 3 years as it was more than 15 miles over the speed limit. I learned they will give you a ticket for speeding, when there is no reason you SHOULDN'T be speeding.

I got one more ticket, thought this one was a fluke and still speeding everywhere, but it was only 10 above, now I am careful. It was a shocker. An expensive lesson. Oregon likes to give tickets.

I love living here because if you are friendly, you can be very social. But people do respect those that are loners and will leave you alone. I basically have neighbors that say hello and thats it, but some close friends that visit and no one is insulted. Kind of a live and let live attitude.

I don't have a truck, I have a van. I wanted a truck, I got a van, that the way it happens sometimes. But the van is good and its a long one so I can pack and carry more than I can afford.

My Ford Escort is a sturdy little putt-putt and I love her even if I don't take good care of her. She's my second Escort. The first stood up to years of neglect and was always loyal. Sadly, Ford discontinued them (I heard).

My DSO tried to convince to takje better care of my body by saying I wouldn't abuse my car that way. (Umm, I do, but I feel worse about ignoring the car. She never complains, only the mechanic complains.)

I found the same thing: in NJ "keeping up with traffic" is 20-30 MPH over the limit.

Amazingly one trouper apologized to me several times for giving me a speeding ticket on a NJ commuter route! He said they had been getting complaints and had been told to give out some tickets. There was some dersion in his tone at the idea of a driver complaining about going too fast ... as if they must have been from out-of-state or a farm somewhere.)

He said they usually don't like to give out tickets at rush hour because "that holds up traffic" (said in the tone that Wasingtonians reserve for "pollutes the ground water" or "causes child abuse").

We wound up sympathizing with each other but I had to pay the ticket.

>> I love living here because if you are friendly, you can be very social. But people do respect those that are loners and will leave you alone.

I go both ways (err, sometimes sociable but usually prefer privacy).

I had neighbors in a semi-rural part of NJ ("The Town That Time Forgot") that introduced themselves while we were looking at the house, told us they hoped "we weren't too loud or had kids", then became invisible. Just before we moved out, I had a need to talk to one of them for some reason, and they both turned out to be total characters, hilarious, sardonic and good company. They had the marvelous courtesy of being able to tell as they walked by whether you wanted them to chat or not!

She said of him: "Oh, don't mind him. He just hates kids. Shoots 'em." Then, as if I might have thought that went too far even for NJ, she added "... but he doesn't eat them!"

NJ humor. You laugh, or call the cops, or both.

Corey

I have two recipes in the DG contest over on Facebook- (pumpkin cranberry bread and candy cane cookies) anybody that wants to vote for me, please feel free... LOL http://www.facebook.com/pages/Daves-Garden/60793307544?v=wall

Pony, those candy cane cookies brought me right back to my childhood -- mom used to make those every year. I've tried to duplicate them without success, will try your recipe this year.

I did pt my baked bean hot dish in too..........Good luck Pony. Hope you win.

I noticed that after I posted- I'll vote for you! :)

Yikes. I just went to the FB page and voting is quite a little involved project. Definitely not something for the middle of a sunny day. I'll wait until dark to plow through everything.

Yeah- I think the way they did it is full of fail. In the first place, a LOT of people aren't going to want to sign up for Facebook just to vote, and then the recipes are all jumbled on the looooooong wall list, and hard to make sure you see them all, then when you click to read them it opens a window back here at DG. Why not just set up voting here like the photos?

Neither of mine has a single vote yet. LOL!

I voted for Sharon's beans and an overnight coffeecake that sounded really good to me.

I was sad that the DG "Country Fair" photo contest has no category for flowers.

I wanted to submit my Zinnia / Tree Frog chimera photo, but I see that if you submit a photo one year, you can't use it again next year, so i'll wait for a flower-photo contest. Or a frog-photo contest.

Corey

I'm thinking you want to look at the recipes on the recipe thread and then go to facebook to vote, if that is feasible for you.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1130111/

Don't lose it, Corey, the photo contest should be coming up soon and we will want to see it there.

Yeah, Corey- the regular photo contest should be soon, and that photo is totally perfect for it.

Great! I don't have to blush about it, since all I did was stand there with my jaw dropping, and go "click".

I was trying to decide whether to caption it "chimera" or "allucinari"

Zinnia allucinari "Tree Frog"

(NOT photoshopped)

Corey

Way cool Corey! I wonder how a tree frog goes from a warm Zinnia to a hard cold tree branch with a lump under the butt?

I have been so behind reading this thread, and just found out that Laurie's class was cancelled - bummer!

And I had to laugh at the descriptions of drivers in the PNW. When I moved here from San Francisco I was so impatient with drivers not going fast enough, and not being more aggressive when making left hand turns. I have calmed down and enjoy the slower pace. And are people more friendly here? Absolutely!

I would enter a recipe if the prize was lots of $$$ or a farmhouse in Italy.

thank you portland.

rick - what a marvellous photo! That is a definate winner!

Pony, just know that I would vote for you if I didn't have to sign up for FB.

Who was it that was making Salted Caramel Ice Cream?

So Pony how do you vote? I found the page and have loaded it as a favorite and found your yummies.
It took a while to figure out how to get the 'like' up on the page.

This message was edited Oct 2, 2010 8:34 PM

You vote by clicking "Like" underneath each recipe. :)

I voted for Sharon's and Pony's delicious concoctions - their recipes really are the best! The candy cane cookies bring back childhood memories.

Thanks Judi! Those candy cane cookies are a favorite from my childhood too- my Mom and I used to make them together every year. :)