This morning when I was ready to leave for work I went to get my keys from the little dish I keep them in — my car key wasn’t there. It’s often in my coat pocket – not this time. Then I remembered that I wore my other coat earlier when I took Billie outside (and started the car to be sure it would). No, not there either. Did I put them somewhere else? But I couldn’t find them anywhere. I have only one key, without it I can’t drive. The only thing I could do is try to follow the footprints Billie and I left in the snow an hour earlier. It had been snowing lightly for hours, both a blessing and a curse – blessing because we left footprints, curse because they were beginning to fill in. Out into the park I went, trying to figure out which were our prints and which were made by someone else. Then I saw a little indentation in the snow, similar in size to a Billie print but with no other dog prints nearby. I dug into the snow — and found my car key! Thank God!!!
This has been an amazing berry year. I don’t know where all the birds are, but they are not stripping the bushes and trees.
On the neighbouring property there are three weeping mulberry bushes that are loaded with berries. Thursday evening my favourite man helped me collect two berry boxes of black mulberries. So sweet!
I made mulberry “jam” – not real jam because I added less than 1 cup of sugar, the berries didn’t need more sweetness than that. I was surprised to find that the fruit did not become mush. I think next time I will use a hand blender to mash the cooked berries before putting them in jars. This time it is basically putting mulberries on your toast, but that is delicious too!
On Friday afternoon, before leaving work I went outside and collected as many Saskatoon berries as I could reach. This tree is at First Mennonite Church, but most of the berries are out of reach.…which is really a shame, because the tree is loaded!I got about 1.5 cups of berries,so I used half in a dozen muffins (my favourite recipe from “More with Less Cookbook“) and put the other three-quarter cup into the freezer for another time.
On Saturday afternoon, after walking by the blackberry bushes again,I decided to leave Billie inside and take the berry boxes outside. Another box of blackberries.I really wanted to be able to share some of this bounty with my mother, but she has trouble eating these kinds of fruit because the little seeds get under her dentures and cause discomfort. Looking on the internet I found a recipe for Blackberry Coulis (syrup) for which you strain out the seeds. It took a little more effort, but it is definitely worth the results!And one of the wonderful things about all these berries — they were free.
For many years now, probably since Mom and Dad moved into this building in 1997, there has been talk about putting up a sound barrier between our street and the expressway. Traffic noise was so loud I would have to close my windows to talk on the phone, I couldn’t stay out on my balcony very long as it was just too uncomfortable for the ears and I never left my bedroom window open all night. Once we were told the wall would happen built in 2012. Nothing. Ah, this is the magic year. We finally have a wall!
It started on May 19th:
On the morning of May 26th I was so excited to see the sound barrier slabs going in:
I went up onto my balcony and recorded a few seconds of the sound. On Friday afternoon (May 29), when with just half a wall in front of our building, no further work had been done on the wall for 2 days I recorded again.
To my great surprise, yesterday (June 5) I came home from work to find much of the wall finished. Once again I recorded a few seconds of sound. You can hear for yourself what difference the wall makes.
Last night I slept with the window open about 3 inches! I expect to spend more time on my balcony this year.
“…Don’t it always seem to go
You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone…”
Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi
So often, we who are able-bodied totally ignore the blessing that strong healthy bodies are. This was brought forcefully home to me again this week as I struggle with my unique allergy.
Gingerich family, 1965
Starting back in the summer I was ten, in fact just after this family picture was taken, I first experienced the rash and painful blisters on my hands. A visit to the doctor brought a diagnosis of poison ivy. And perhaps it was. But every year after that it would happen again. How could I always get into poison ivy when none of my ever siblings did?
Finally, the summer Simon was one year old, before heading out on vacation, I visited a doctor again. Our family doctor was away so I saw another young doctor. He decided it was athlete’s foot and scrapped my hands, nearly sending me through the roof, and irritating my hands further. By the next day the blisters left no spaces between my fingers. I couldn’t dress myself, feed myself, do anything that required the use of my hands. And what can you do without using your hands? The next evening I sat at a picnic table at our campsite and awkwardly holding a sterilized razer blade opened the bubbles to relieve the pressure.
As we were now near Windsor, Ontario, on our way to Peoria, Illinois, we stopped at an emergency clinic. Thankfully the doctor there was a little wiser than the previous one. He told me immediately that it was dyshidrotic eczema, gave me pills that dried up the blisters within two days, and encouraged me to see an allergist when I got home. Thankfully, because of this man, we all were able to enjoy the rest of our trip.
I did see an allergist. There I was told a number of grasses and weeds that I am allergic to, and told that they could not test for all so there are likely more. I was also told that because it appears on my palms and soles it is likely not contact dermatitis, but coming from the inside out, the pollens that I inhale. Since that time I am usually well able to keep the symptom under control with antihistamines and hydrocortisone creme.
Until this year. I’m experiencing the worst outbreak I’ve had since discovering what plagues me. The antihistamines are not working well. I got a new prescription for a stronger creme. My hands hurt long before any blisters form; it feels like the very bones are aching. And once the blisters start to form my hands feel like pins and needles jabbing. Very unpleasant! And though worse than I’ve had for many years, the condition isn’t nearly as bad as it can be.
So once again I am reminded of how essential my hands are, how many things I need them for, how wonderful and how fragile is this body of mine.
I have only one key, without it I can’t drive. The only thing I could do is try to follow the footprints Billie and I left in the snow an hour earlier. 
It had been snowing lightly for hours, both a blessing and a curse – blessing because we left footprints, curse because they were beginning to fill in. Out into the park I went, trying to figure out which were our prints and which were made by someone else. Then I saw a little indentation in the snow, similar in size to a Billie print but with no other dog prints nearby. I dug into the snow — and found my car key! Thank God!!!
