Here are a couple of Miriam's paintings. The cabin is pretty self explanatory.
There is a forgotten story about the singers. It was done for some specific event. I don't remember what, but look at those faces!

I'll post a picture of one of Miriam's paintings later today, maybe more than one!

Miriam at our house

I was nervous about Miriam coming to our Idaho house.

That sounds dumb. This was her home for as long as it has been mine. But with AD and her lack of cognitive skills, I was not sure it would work out well. As is often the case, she is better to the daughters than to me. To me she began about as soon as she walked in the door.

"What have you don't to MY house?" "Why don't we live here, I like MY house." etc. There are just a few questions, but they are asked again and again. In bed last night, she would not stop. She kept repeating the same lament.

In a lot of ways she is right and she really does have a good reason for being sad about it all. All of us are, to some degree, What I see as the beginning of a new adventure, she, in her foggy AD mind, sees as calamity. I remind her that her mother died 17 years younger than we are now, that her father was an invalid by the time he was our age and that he came to live with us when he was in his late 60's. I reminded her that neither my mother, father or step father lived as old as we are now. We are older than we sometimes think.

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Last evening the 4 of us who are here were looking around(daughters 1 and 3 drove in yesterday - today daughter 4 arrives by plane, and daughter 2 will arrive by car). We spent some time looking through a pile of Miriam's watercolor paintings. They were exquisite.

We decided that there is enough there, of superb quality to mount a true retrospective show. There is a gallery at the small University in our new town and we know the people in charge of the gallery. We are going to see if we can have an art show.

This collection of her paintings reminds us of what a wonderfully skilled artist she was. This week I was interviewed for an article in our church newsletter. When i was asked if I had any regrets, I said that I so wished I could have gotten her into a good art school when she was 20 or 21, rather than at 46 or 47.

Today we will photograph all of the paintings, so we have a digital record to share. Then we will carefully pack them into cases waiting for that art show.

I have very fond memories in and around this house. Our kids were near teens or teens when we moved here. My mom wanted me to build this house so I could have a place for my girls. Later it was grandkids.
Happily, Miriam and I have spent countless hours reading to our kids and grand kids. We don't regret a moment of that time.
This is a particularly poignant photograph. Miriam, long before AD, reading to Emily, who is now 17.
I will miss the house, but the memories are mine to keep.

Wednesday

Today daughters begin to arrive.

Arline (#1) will arrive from Washington State with Miriam, and later Dea (#3) will arrive from California. I spent yesterday going through stuff in Miriam's office. Left her a box of things that she can pour over and through for a long time. There are letters from her mother, uncles and aunts, her sisters and so on. Many of those people are not with us any longer.

This morning I am going to set a bathroom vanity cabinet for a friend. That is what friends do! They have been friends for a LONG time and have helped here more than once. That should not take too long.

Then it is back to loading boxes, making trash and wondering what to do next.

The new owner of the house, a good friend, says to leave what we don't want to take and he will consider it a treasure hunt! We won't leave it a mess, but we will leave him a good bit of "treasure."

By tomorrow night all 4 of our daughters will be here for a few last days. They grew up in this house. It is the only house I ever owned. We have wonderful memories, all of us. It is a time to put things together and to remember and maybe even shed a tear now and then.

Then it will be over and we will move on to the next part of our crooked lives!

I went for a little walk the other day.
The dam that created the reservoir where we were camped was at the end of a 5 mile hike. So i did it. By the time I got back it was getting pretty hot, which worried some of my friends. I had water, I was OK.
I wanted to see if I could still walk/hike that far and I can!

back

I am in Idaho in our house. The camp trip was good and my batteries are charged.

Last night Jim, the new owner, stopped by. He and I are on the same page about so many things. He will be good to the place and it to him.

Today I am packing Miriam's office/studio. It is the space where she worked for half a dozen years before AD. It will go better if I can get it cleared out before Miriam arrives tomorrow.


Now if I could just sleep well. Some one said that good sleep is the sign of a clear conscience. By that rubric I am in deep trouble.

The powers have decided to run a piece about us in the church news letter. Our finger prints are all over the church: Stained glass; sign out front; cabinets; book cases, wood work etc. etc. I resisted the article, but finally agreed. My friends know we are leaving. Other wise I wanted little comment.

Before this week Miriam and all of our daughters will be here. Partially they are here to divide some of the art and craft items that we cannot take with us. They are also here to pay respect to the house where they grew up. They will meet Jim and Veronica and I know they will be at ease about the house.

My guess is that cracker box house have less attachment. It is these weird, wild nutty places that seem to tug the most. The house was pure 70s when built, but since then I have picked up motifs and ideas for the inside from the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 20th century.

Jim says he will continue with my dream.

It was designed to be a bit screwy.
Maximum privacy and energy efficiency within a very limited budget, it was all I had hoped for.
The outside was understated on purpose, but the inside was comfortable and warm.
Now we go to clear and to make peace.
Indeed we are in a different part of our lives now.

A break

I am taking a break for a few days.

Today I join some friends for a weekend of camping. I am leaving Miriam with Daughter 1.

Next week all of the daughters will meet at our house in Idaho, along with Miriam, to clear out, to clean out, to remember, and maybe even shed a tear.

Since my daughters were teens this house and the acre it sits on has been our home. Even when we were away to Texas it was still our home.

But right now I can't think too deep. I just need a break and a time to think.

See you in a week or so.

Thanks Steve

I have owned Apple products for a long time.

My first notebook computer was an old 520 Power Book. It wasn't even in color. Since that time I've had desktop Macs, and notebook Macs, a few iPods, and an iPhone. I like them all.

But today is the day we all knew would come eventually. The guy behind it all, the cofounder of the company and the guru of gurus, pulled the plug on his work at Apple. It reminds us that good health is a blessing that has no monetary equivalent. Jobs was a man of incredible wealth, and could afford any treatment he wished for, yet we are reminded that even those who can are still mortals, like the rest of us.

Of course, I never met the man, but I have lived a better life for his pursuit of perfection. His search was to make high tech so easy that we regular folk could make it work for us.

He succeeded. Thanks Steve.

I intend to build an art studio and a wood shop in that space. The structure is solid, it does not leak, and it will work out well, after a LOT of work!

Wilnert part 1

I don’t know how many Wilnerts there are in Norway, but this is the only one I ever knew.

He owned this place, where my daughter and her family (which includes us) live now. The state took the place for payment for nursing home care for both Wilnert and his wife. It came up for sale then.

Daughter asked me to look at it. I had my friend David with me. The gable was straight, the eves did not sag, both signs of a solid skeleton of a house. Inside was beyond disaster. Wilnert’s false teeth were on the kitchen table. Junk was stacked everywhere. The toilet had not been cleaned in decades.

The basement was dark and not deep and the floor was dirt. The inspector for the loan company rejected the foundation. So the house was jacked up a tad, a deeper basement was dug, a concrete floor poured, and finally foundation walls.

Meanwhile the house was held up with a lot of small posts. It looked like it was held by toothpicks. But in time it was all in place and the house had a solid foundation. The upstairs had walls removed, and doors moved. Finally I came in with wide wood trim (sort of Craftsman style) and ceramic tile. We set the kitchen cabinets and put the tops on.

That was 10 years ago, give or take a bit. The house was built with a large space that was designated as the place for us to live. Miriam had just been diagnosed with AD, and we had no idea how fast or how soon we would need different living arrangements.

In time the space became a storage room/craft/sewing room. The house is on a couple acres of ground and there are several out buildings, but nothing you would store much in, unless everything was carefully encapsulated.

So, today I began clearing out one of the buildings. It has wood leaning against the walls. Some short pieces and some 12 and 14 feet long.

More on the subject next time.

welcome visit

I received an email this week from an old friend.
This is a friend I have never met (I have lots of friends in that category), but one I greatly admire.
She had an AD family member and I met her there.
She is returning to blog, and I welcome her.
Look on my updated list of blogs I follow and she is the first.
She is worth reading.
Welcome back Ann.

Clint Eastwood sang to the trees in this area once.
At least the movie was set in this area.
It was the last of the big budget musicals, and one of the few times Eastwood sang in or near public!

camping

Today the David that owns the bus we live in called.

He was not too far away, on his way back to Idaho from visiting friends. He would be to our place in about two hours.

I made sure the place was cleaned (vacuumed the carpet mostly -- using the built in Vacuum that came with the bus). He and hi wife Lynda (Y Linda we call her to keep her separated from al the other Linda's in our life). THey stayed a bit, fixed and ate their lunch and went on.

David had a mild heart attack a few years ago and he is on a very struct diet. There is no way I could easily do what he needs to do to keep up with the diet.

We are going camping this weekend, David and some other friends. I am leaving Miriam with Daughter 1. I'll go on to Idaho after the camp trip, Miriam and all the daughters will arrive the following week. They all grew up in this house and they want a few days together, so they can put some closure to that part of their life.

It is a mean trick to leave Miriam here, and she could camp with me OK, but I want some others there with her when we are in Idaho. I have no idea how she will react to all that is going on. Since she can't remember facts, she doesn't do much better with emotions.

Lloyd and David and Ray will be there this weekend. I will so enjoy their company and friendship.

It will be good.