What the Doctor Ordered

These days, I get up in the morning, make a big cup of black tea, and start reading Google News on my phone to find out what fresh hell Trump has stirred up.

Then I switch to the Washington Post, The New York Times, and sometimes The Guardian.  By breakfast, I am wired and outraged.    

I know I should stop.  But as my friend Debbie says, "I keep thinking I will take a day off, but then I don't because I'm scared to not know."

Me, too.  I'm scared not to know.   Take your eye off Trump for half a day and God knows what he'll do next.

Well! This morning I had an appointment with one of my doctors, a woman in her sixties who lives in Berkeley, so you can imagine the conversation.   She's incensed by Trump and just about ordered me (is it in my chart?) to join  Indivisible , an organization founded by Congressional ex-staffers who suggest ways to make your voice heard most effectively.  Apparently, you're assigned a pro-democracy, anti-Trump task  to do every single day. 

Among other things, the doctor wrote to Dianne Feinstein and told DiFi that she'd never vote for her again if  she didn't oppose the Cabinet nominees.  And what happened?  DiFi started opposing the nominees!  The doctor's very bucked up.

Then she wrote to Uber and told them she was quitting because their top executive met with Trump.  Haven't heard back on that one.

And the demise of the Affordable Care Act?  She waved that off.  Patients are being overcharged and insurance companies and hospitals are making millions.  She assured me that doctors were not.  We need single payer health insurance, and that's it.  She was very firm about that.

I came straight home and wrote to Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris. 

It's a start.

 Does he know this is for real?

* * * * *

I'm in one of those phases where I feel like I've physically aged several years overnight.  I squint at myself in the mirror and wonder what the hell's happened.  Crepey skin, more chin hairs, and a shocking web of wrinkles under my eyes.

 My ineffectual arsenal

More cream, more plucking, more exfoliating more, more, and more, and not much difference.    Maybe I should start an organization called "Invisible," because that's what women in their sixties are,  unless they yell loudly,  which is not a bad idea (see above).

My mental state has also taken a hit, and not just by Trump.  Last week I learned that a friend has a serious illness, another friend has died, and someone else has had a skirmish with a cancer caught at an early stage.  You reach an age where death no longer surprises, but it's still shocking.  

The other night, Jerry and I watched an eccentric movie called "Still Life," about a nerdy, fortyish Englishman who's in charge of tracking down relatives of people who are found dead.  He's not very successful, and sometimes he's the only person at the funeral, for which he writes a eulogy that a minister reads.  In the end, you realize that the message is kindness, and we are in so much need of it.  It's classified as "drama/comedy," but I'd call it black humor (Amazon Prime).

* * * * *

We're taking on another bathroom remodel, due to leaks, mold, inconvenience, and, yes, a "dated" look.

For this, we're going to have to move out of our bedroom and into my studio,  which means I'll have to find another place to quilt.  Afterward, I'll have a sleek new bathroom in a former closet (converted by the last owners).

 Where will it all go?  Haven't dealt with that yet.

* * * * *

This rose bush will not give out!  I keep thinking I've cut the last bloom, and it produces another.  A rose in the winter of our discontent, etc.

And the Quilt Winner Is...

 

 At the Berkeley Food Pantry yesterday

 ...Anne Rowe, who bid $175 and then upped it to $200 in effect bidding against herself because she had in mind that that would be her limit.  Very Anne.

She's also a Pantry volunteer herself and coordinates Pantry food donations at her church, First Congregational Church of Berkeley.  She and I met in a water exercise class years ago, and we still do pool exercise every Tuesday and Thursday at the Richmond Plunge (on Tuesdays I drive us and our friend Val in my ancient Camry, and on Thursdays we ride in style in Val's Mercedes).

Gorgeous Weekend, Quilt Inspirations, Last Chance to Bid

Quilt update:  Highest bid is $175.  The auction ends at noon tomorrow, Tuesday, December 6. 

 * * *

Does anyone else feel beleaguered, cranky, and defiant during the month of December?  I do,  and I always have.   I want January 2 to happen right NOW.

I'd been feeling burdened by all that needs doing around the house, inside and out, and on Friday I resolved to by God get a bunch of things done over the weekend,  including bossing Jerry around about some yard jobs. 


But then Saturday morning arrived clear and sunny, and I said to hell with it.  Off we went to West Marin.  Despite the weather, there weren't many people on the road to the coast, and the drive was easy coming and going.  Yay! 

I had two bags of clothes to drop off at the  West Marin Thrift Shop in Pt. Reyes Station,  and while I was doing that, Jerry discovered larvae of the Gulf Fritillary butterfly on a passion vine that grows on a fence just outside the shop.  I found him rummaging around in the back of the car looking for a plastic bag for his captives and their foodplant, delighted in a way only a true eccentric can be.

Me:  That's such a common species [even I know that].   Do you need any more of them ? 

Jerry:  Yes!  What was it doing there in December?  [Providing distraction for people escaping the holidays?]

It morphs into a bright orange butterfly with handsome silvery spots on the underside of its wings.

Then we hiked at Abbott's Lagoon under clear skies and brilliant sun, followed by a stop in town for Magnum ice cream bars in Pt. Reyes Station. On the way home,  I found myself thinking about some kerchiefs I bought in Inverness several years ago and how I could cut them up and use them in a quilt.

Inverness, one of my very favorite places

On Sunday, I still felt rebellious, so we played hooky again and drove out to Mt. Diablo and hiked in Mitchell Canyon.  Hardly anyone on the trail and, again, perfect weather!  Hurray for weekend outings in December!And I found another inspiration for a quilt, this time in the colors of fallen leaves of a native California grape:

All the subtle colors in each leaf

Now it's Monday, and I have a zillion things to do that didn't get done.   Oh, well.

Hope you had time to revel in the weather and maybe play a little hooky.   

Stay Calm and Expect the Best

Fragment of  anti-Trump therapy quilt 

Tomorrow's The Day, and everyone I know is stressed and disbelieving and even tearful about the outcome of the election.

What if Trump wins? 

Jerry and I talked about it.  Canada's out for him (too cold) and Mexico is out for me (ongoing fear of Montezuma's Revenge).  Real political stalwarts here.

I started a quilt last night as therapy, and I'm trying not to listen to NPR while I work.  This morning I fished out a short article I clipped from the newspaper years ago, and this, plus deep breathing, has calmed me a bit.  Thank you, Mayo Clinic.


1.  Turn it off:  Stop listening, watching, or reading.  "Stop the ever-present stream of information flowing into our lives."  Is this possible for any length of time?

2.  Turn it around:  Do something positive to make the world better such as volunteering. (I'm going to the Berkeley Food Pantry this afternoon; I don't know if this makes the world better, but it certainly re-focuses my attention.)

3.  Go outside:  Experience nature.

4.  Exercise:  It helps relieve stress.

5. Be positive:  Remember that good news does happen.

I tell myself, "Expect the best," the take-away line from an anti-anxiety program I listened to on audiotape decades ago.  It's kept many planes in the air for me.  


I'm thinking that if Hillary wins the election I'll give away the quilt to someone else who supported her (do the colors work for you?).  If  she loses, I'm going to wrap myself in it and suck my thumb.

Medical Bills--Is There A Planet They Go To That We Don't Know About?

We've gotten a blizzard of paper about the colonoscopy/endoscopy I had last month, and it's a complete mystery to me how it's worked out.  I can see why Bernie Sanders's hair looks the way it does.  Medical billing in this country is extra-terrestrial.

Here's how it shakes down:

Bills from doctors, anesthesiologist, lab, surgical center:  $9961.  Let's call it $10,000.

Blue Shield paid (we don't have Medicare): $2,992.  Let's call it $3,000.

We paid: $742.

That leaves  more than $6,000 unaccounted for, billed to Blue Shield, which brushed it off!  The providers aren't fighting this, so why did they bill so much in the first place?

No matter who wins the election--a Democrat, God willing--I hope we can sign up for Medicare.  The University of California let us opt out in 1975 when Social Security looked dicey.  Big mistake (?).

* * * * *

A couple of quilt books I'm enjoying:

Being a general boy-cotter of quilt classes, I'm learning new techniques and getting some new ideas.

* * * * *

Have a good week-end, if you read this before it happens...

A Quilt Show Jaunt

Thanks, everybody,  for the sympathy and commiseration following my post about shingles.  My friend Marion commented that shingles pain was like being shot in the back, and that's the best description I've heard.    I'm feeling better, and some days I'm able to get out and about--briefly.  Then back to ice packs...  

* * * * *

I made a quick trip to the Stitch Modern quilt show sponsored by East Bay Modern Quilters at the Piedmont Art Center.

The show is small, but includes a range of quilts--modern, traditional, complex, simple, and heartfelt.  I managed to get photos of most of them, but hastily, because the place was about to close.

Sampler Quilt I, Kristen Takakuwa

Shattered Heartburst, Lacy Asbill

Handcrafted Round Robin, Rita Nguyen, Anna Carloni, Terri Carpenter, Birgit Hottenrott, and Kristen Takakuwa

Stacked Coins - I Ching, Michele Wyman

Alas, I didn't get the name of the quilt or quilter, and I can't make it out in the photo.  Nice quilting.

Black Lives Matter, Elizabeth Jerde

Refractions, Chancy Fessler

Double Wedding Ring Quilt, Tara Faughnan (hand quilted!)

Playing with Color, Patricia Smith

Challenge #1,  Inta Faulk

HiFi, Kathy Grady.  A whole cloth quilt made with hand-dyed fabric

Luna Mountains, Claire Sherman

Bits and Pieces, Stacy Sharman

Beehive,  Dan Rouse

Window: Embers, Darci Read

(detail)

 Convergence, Carol Van Zandt.  Quilted by Terri Carpenter

 Pink X,  Stacy Sharman. A quilt made from "pieced triangles of wool taken from women's career clothing of the 1980s and 90s: a jacket with tremendous shoulder pads, a tailored pink wool dress, a cashmere sweater, to name a few of the items."

And guess who else was there?

Kate Johnson, who taught the pool exercise class I joined in 2002, a wonderful teacher who inspired many couch potatoes to get with an exercise program.   She left in 2010 (or later?  neither of us could remember) to study for a certificate in nutrition.  She's working with people in pools again, though, and quilting!  Thank you, Kate, for introducing me to the only exercise program I've been able to stick with.

* * * * *

Stitch Modern,  Piedmont Arts Center, 801 Magnolia Ave, Piedmont, through May 8.  The hours are 12 pm-3 pm, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Quilt Show

The East Bay Heritage Quilters puts on a big show, "Voices in Cloth," every two years,  and  I went to the 2016 show a week ago.  Much to see--vintage quilts, new quilts by members, booths of vendors selling all kinds of stuff.  It was rainy outside the Craneway Pavilion in Pt. Richmond, but inside there was a lot of action.


The guild asks that no quilt photos be published without permission of the quilters, so my relatively few pictures are of quilts made by women in my mini-group, the No Problem Quilters, who were happy to give permission.  I thought their quilts were among the best at the show, no bias, of course.

Crosswalk Variation 1, Claudia Alldredge.  Quilted by Angie Woolman.

Japanese Lattice, Ann Rhode.  Quilted by Angie Woolman.

Angie did a remarkable job of machine-quilting.  Look at the back:

Disappearing Four Patch, Mabry Benson

Disappearing Four Patch, Claudia Alldredge.  Quilted by Angie Woolman.  Same pattern, different "setting."

And side by side:

Scrapple, Rebecca Rohrkaste

Salvaged, Ann Rhode.  Hand-quilted by Ann (!)

Dutch Wax,  Mabry Benson

One of the quilts I put in the show:

Zigzag Roman Square, Liz Randal.  Quilted by Angie Woolman.

And a shot that shows the colors more accurately.

Staccato, Liz Randal.  Quilted by Angie Woolman

And, finally, Angie Woolman with her own wonderful quilt.

Bed on Fire,  Angie Woolman

Off to iron the fabric I bought: