Re:Winter Wonderland - a different sort

[Guest guest]

Has anyone responded to Svetlana, who is concerned about PBC and cirrhosis? I

don't know enough to give her good information.

Joanne, how I envy you your night vision binoculars! Although I wouldn't

need them to see deer; sometimes there are nearly two dozen right outside our

window. This time of year, the does often are accompanied by a buck.

Last night I saw a bobcat for the first time, stalking gophers. People say

they've seen mountain lions within a five minute walk of my house, but I think

they mistook a little bitty bobcat for a big mountain lion. Nevertheless, I

know longer walk at night alone.

You say that you think of narcissi as spring flowers: in a way, our spring

begins as soon as the first rain comes in the fall. Cherry blossoms often are

out at Christmas. We have no rain at all during the summer, so hills turn golden

brown in late spring and stay that way until early winter, when they green up

in the space of a couple of days.

Where i live in the country isn't fancy, not at all. Since I have been

talking about this place, I'll tell you that Sunday's, tomorrow's, New York

Times

Travel Section has an article about my little community, Gualala and The Sea

Ranch, California. Here's the link to it, should anyone be interested. The

article includes the description of a house I've stayed in many times.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/travel/14SeaRanch.html?hp

Harper

**************

Make your life easier with all your friends, email, and

favorite sites in one place. Try it now. (http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp & amp;

icid=aolcom40vanity & amp;ncid=emlcntaolcom00000010)

[Guest guest]

Last night it was nie and bright out. It was so clear I could see

everywhere.Was hoping to catch a deer but none there whenever I

looked out.....Oh well..........I will another time. I have night

binoculars so I can watch wildlife at night.......and I usually see a

lot of deer.......The ocean must be beautiful in the moon light.

Harper.I LOVE the smell of the ocean. My second favorite place to be

aside from home is Cape Cod.on the ocean. We love Cape Cod.and would

be happy if we could afford a second home there down the road. Oh my

gosh ! You have narcissi blooming now! I didn't know they bloomed

anywhere in the fall.for us it is a spring bloomer. My different

sages get very tall too. Usually I grow the lemon sage..and then the

red Texas sage.those are for the Hummingbirds. Harper I was deep

into reading about your walk with nature and about the bobcat. We

have them too..they are so beautiful!

************************************************* I am thinking about

changing the write-up for LiverSupport and say we gather to chat

about our every day.

" Everyday Life with AIH and PBC " Just talking about our aches,

pains, itching, nausea, side pain, and medication can become

boring.and we need more then that in our life. Otherwise the illness

can become us.......and we are more then a liver disease. So.I am

encouraging chat about our daily life. In our Post Tx group we talk

about what we watch on TV.ate for dinner...where we have gone.are

going And, those in college talk about exams etc. And, those

working.about their job sometimes. So.how about it folks? Joanne

[Guest guest]

Harper, thank you for the wonderful picture you painted for us with

words! I too love Northern CA (I was born there) although I now live

in Southern CA. I miss the cooler, less populated north.

I try to satisfy my longings by going to websites such as Diane

Varner's (dianevarner DOT com) and absorbing her beautiful pictures of

Northern CA.

Somehow, now that I have a chronic illness, it's more important to me

than ever before to be able to see as much of the beauty of this world

as possible. Do the rest of you feel this way too?

Harper, you are in a wonderful location; I envy you!

Take care,

JoAnn

>

> I know, we don't usually write a lot about our personal lives or

> where we are, but I'm so in love with this time and place that I

> wanted to speak of it in the wake of other personal accounts. I'm

> envious of your snow days -- I miss that life, too, after 25 years

> in Boston.

>

> Harper

> AIH dx 2000

>

[Guest guest]

Ah, Debbie, I miss hearing from you!

Harper

**************

Make your life easier with all your friends, email, and

favorite sites in one place. Try it now. (http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp & amp;

icid=aolcom40vanity & amp;ncid=emlcntaolcom00000010)

[Guest guest]

Ohhh Harper, how beautifully you write! I too have only the desire to return to

Rome and Assisi once again to see all I missed the last time.

BUT....to be able to develop the gift of finding joy in the " little " beauties

the earth has to offer. Oh my gosh, I marvel at the hummingbirds of which I

have been photographing and I am still amazed at their beauty! The perfectness

of their wings....how they hover at the feeders - it is amazing.

The other day, I was out taking pictures of the hummers, and one started

catching bugs. The ballet was magnificent! Oh my gosh, I have a lot of

photos...unfortunately, most are fuzzy, but they are a reminder of the ballet

they dance to catch a bug....probably one of the most amazing events I have

seen.

If my Dad had not taught me the wonders of nature, I doubt that I would have the

sense of wonder of nature. Before I leave, I will share one more thing Dad

showed me one day. When we were little, we would go with him as he checked the

fields he owned. When he would put his arm out, we knew we had to stop. Then

he would point to where we were to look.

This day, his arm pointed to a scene under a lemon tree. Under that tree were

two snakes....a rattle snake and a king snake. They were fighting...something

you only see on National Geographic. Dad explained that while the rattle snake

venom is deadly to humans, the King snake venom is deadly to the rattle snake.

We continued to watch as Dad continued to explain that the king snake was old

and losing the battle since the rattle snake was younger. (The size of the

snakes told us this).

In the end, Daddy killed the rattle snake and the King snake went on its way.

All I can say, is it was amazing!

Debby

Re: [ ] Re:Winter Wonderland - a different sort

JoAnn, yes, I do. When I was first diagnosed and very ill. I thought I might

die soon, which didn't frighten me, somehow. I had to wait for my husband once

while he was working. I lay in a field, looking up at trees and down at grass

and a little beetle. For the first time I saw how beautiful every bit of this

was, and how I was very much the same as the trees, the grass, the beetle. I

felt happy with having that moment, without concern for what was to come.

I will say that I no longer feel the intense need to see many different

places. Sitting still and watching is very satisfying, although I would love

to be

able to travel again without fatigue.

Let me indulge myself one more time with something from this morning: I

looked out at a big cedar tree behind my house, barely visible in the ocean

fog. I

thought for a moment someone had hung old, tarnished, red Christmas ornaments

on it. Then the air seemed to shift, and they vanished; perhaps a hundred

red-breasted robins flew from the tree. I can't imagine a better Christmas

gift.

Harper

In a message dated 12/14/08 6:20:43 PM, jolingerluscusk@... writes:

> Somehow, now that I have a chronic illness, it's more important to me

> than ever before to be able to see as much of the beauty of this world

> as possible. Do the rest of you feel this way too?

>

**************

Make your life easier with all your friends, email, and

favorite sites in one place. Try it now.

(http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp & amp;

icid=aolcom40vanity & amp;ncid=emlcntaolcom00000010)