What are you up to?

[OliveOyl]

Hi Kay…yes, they use prickly pear cactus in cooking. I only had it once in a skeevy saloon place with guns and taxidermy on the walls. I thought it was guacamole (was green and served with nachos) but it had rubbery hard chunks and looked strange. That’s when I realized it was something gross and made from cactus. But…I have to imagine it can taste better if it was made by a much better cook. This was NOT a fine-dining establishment.

Oh PB…I’m so sorry for the medical issues and hope things turn around for you. All of that just…sucks. But I admire your determination and you seem to be in good spirits. True? If it was me, I know I would be whining and bitching and hissing up a storm.

Brian…although ABQ leaves something to be desired, being in NM is great. Now YOU seem to come across animals all the time but I think ours hide during the day…maybe to get away from the heat and predators. That’s why it was so exciting to see one lone little jackrabbit.


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But guess what? I saw my first rattlesnake a few weeks ago! Weirdly, it wasn’t on any nature walk. It was a few blocks away in my cookie-cutter neighborhood, sitting at the edge of a cement driveway. He was copper-colored with black diamond markings but I walked right past him. I was alone, talking to myself (I’m sure), with my head down and thinking about all the (huge!) dead millipedes on the ground. A guy on a bike rode by, but then turned around, pointed behind me and said, “There’s a rattlesnake.” Me: “Is it dead?” He: “No, it’s alive….just chillin.” Now I remembered reading that they can leap/wriggle/dart the length of their body in an instant. I calculated I was about 12 feet away and so with two quick snake movements, he could attack me and I would die. I knew I couldn’t run away (those days are long gone) so I said, “Well, I’ll just let him do his thing and will mosey along.” Like a good little cowgirl.

 

[brianvds]

Brian…although ABQ leaves something to be desired, being in NM is great. Now YOU seem to come across animals all the time but I think ours hide during the day…maybe to get away from the heat and predators. That’s why it was so exciting to see one lone little jackrabbit.

I suppose there may be fewer animals, but the desert itself is rather beautiful.

—————————


But guess what? I saw my first rattlesnake a few weeks ago! Weirdly, it wasn’t on any nature walk. It was a few blocks away in my cookie-cutter neighborhood, sitting at the edge of a cement driveway. He was copper-colored with black diamond markings but I walked right past him. I was alone, talking to myself (I’m sure), with my head down and thinking about all the (huge!) dead millipedes on the ground. A guy on a bike rode by, but then turned around, pointed behind me and said, “There’s a rattlesnake.” Me: “Is it dead?” He: “No, it’s alive….just chillin.” Now I remembered reading that they can leap/wriggle/dart the length of their body in an instant. I calculated I was about 12 feet away and so with two quick snake movements, he could attack me and I would die. I knew I couldn’t run away (those days are long gone) so I said, “Well, I’ll just let him do his thing and will mosey along.” Like a good little cowgirl.

Snakes will generally not go out of their way to attack people. And I would guess that if you got close enough that it began to feel threatened, it would start to rattle and you would hear it. Or so we hope: I'm told in areas where rattlers are persecuted, they have now evolved into forms less likely to rattle.

In the meantime, as often happens, I woke up very early, and checking the online news, saw that there was a partial eclipse of the moon predicted for, er, Tuesday. Fat lot of good that does me on Wednesday morning, I thought. But when I went for my morning walk around 4 am, there was still a bit of shadow on the moon, and indeed, it was still there by 5 am when I returned home, so I took a quick photo:

Bit blurry because of the low light, but it captured the deep orange color - this is the kind of moon one hopes for on Halloween.

 

[Rich53]

I'm currently exploring Paris

The Olympic flame is gone but the orb is still there, not far from the Louvre
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The Arc de Triomphe still carries the Paralympic symbol

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Liberty
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Very neat trees in the Jardin du Luxembourg
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Sacre Cœur - a lot of steps but worth it
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Gee! Not only did they take their statue back (Liberty), they also grabbed the Unisphere from the '65 World's Fair!

 

[Artyczar]

Wow, some stunning pictures here. I'm blown away!

I live where there are all kinds of rattlesnakes. I'm very scared of them. Luckily, I haven't had any issues with them...yet.

 

[Ellen Easton]

We have rattlesnakes here in Oregon but they don't look like what people mostly think a rattlesnake looks like. That could have meant catastrophe for my family about 30 years ago. My grand-daughter had been outside and came in to tell me there was a snake outside in the little pathway between our house and the storage shed. It was a very narrow space even for a three-year-old. She wanted to go to the trampoline in the back yard. I went outside to see. I thought just seeing me would scare it away, but it didn't. Instead, the little tiny snake started striking at me. I tossed a rock at it thinking that would surely scare it away but it just struck at me more. Then I spotted a gallon can of fruit or something sitting on the deck and tossed that down, thinking it might at least scare it away since it wasn't the least bit moved by anything else. No such luck---it just landed on the snake's tail and then it couldn't go away even if it wanted to----which it didn't. My friend who was visiting from Georgia came out and used the garden hoe to chop its head off. Poor baby snake. Only recently did I discover that it was a baby western rattlesnake! I had heard that there were rattlesnakes here in certain areas of Oregon but in all my years here, I'd never seen any that I knew of. (I was born here and I'm 78 years old). The fact that the snake just kept striking and striking instead of rapidly going away, though, was unusual and even though I didn't know what kind of snake it was, it seemed unusual enough that we shouldn't go where it could reach one of us. Western rattlesnakes are just kind of non-descript grey and black with a small fine pattern. I had just always thought rattlesnakes were all brown and black diamond patterned like in the old cowboy movies.

 

[john]

Yikes! Snakes. The evil garden of Eden creature. They got a bad rap. Sure they can tempt and kill but.... they're also pretty cool.

So what I'm up to is that I've decided to say no to my snake. Mine holds a glass of alcohol. Since retiring I started to drink more, and more, and more. Not good. Not like bottle of vodka a day stuff but above the "moderate" level. Every day at least four drinks and sometimes much more. Waiting for the noon whistle before cracking a beer. You know, so I can work in the yard.

The last straw was a couple of recent dumb mistakes that could have ended badly. Then I looked at some vids on Youtube about how bad alcohol is for both physical and mental health. I didn't want to look at them before. Ignorance is bliss.

So, doesn't sound like much but, it's been almost two weeks without a drop. A little anxious but not too bad. Clearer thinking and memory. Happier mornings. Not really having cravings but wondering if can enjoy things as much without it. Like painting and music. Painting and drinking has always gone together for me. In fact I remember when I first realized that I liked painting and I joked about this going to cause me to become an alcoholic, on the old Wet Canvas forum. I called it.

However, while drinking zero alcohol beers I painted today while listening to music and I forgot that it wasn't real beer. You guys know, when in the creative painting mind one forgets everything else. I enjoyed it anyway. I'm happy to find this out.

So anyhow, I thought I would open up to you guys. They say that it's good to tell people that matter to you and you guys do. You all feel like remote family. Maybe the best kind .

I'm not sure if I will stay completely dry. I may allow myself one or two a day for special reasons, like being at a brewery with friends or listening to music/painting. But the days of drinking all day must stop. I'm pretty confident now that I can do that. Thanks for listening. You guys rock.

 

[Hermes2020]

Good for you, John. Alcohol and sugar are hugely damaging to our bodies. I've never enjoyed beer, but when out with friends I like a glass or two of good wine.

 

[PaintBoss]

Excellent John, that is a HUGE step. So glad that art helps and that you’ve discovered that you can get lost in doing art and leave the alcohol. Yes, you can definitely do it. And you’ll probably do things a lot better with a clear head. It’s really great you recognize that. You’ve done something. A necessary step. Every day and moment choose the same thing. Keep it up even if it means painting your heart out night and day!

 

[Ellen Easton]

Good for you, John! I was drinking when I started painting in the 70's but back then I used oils.

I'm sober but I never vowed I'd never drink again. I just had to not drink "right now" or not drink "today" and it was really a chore sometimes at first. But it's been working for me for a long time now. My craving or feeling as if I needed help to mellow out finally left me at some point and I'm so glad of that. Life goes on but for me, it goes on without alcohol. I've been through so many more trying and catastrophic things sober than I ever imagined I could do even with alcohol, but I just don't take that first drink. As long as I could distract myself and put it off, I got through it all. The desire didn't last. You know the old saying: "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and for today and many gone past, my sobriety "ain't broke" so I don't try to fix it. I just don't drink for one more day. It's easier as time goes on.

 

[Grapes]

I read an article recently that zero alcohol beer is the most healthy drink you can imagine! Have you guys heard about that?
I usually cook my own beer, 5 litters at a time, it has zero alcohol as I like it that way and as it was in my childhood Christmases cooked by my mom but now that I cook my own beer and add ingredients I've learnt that there's quite a lot of sugar in it!

 

[john]

I read an article recently that zero alcohol beer is the most healthy drink you can imagine! Have you guys heard about that?
I usually cook my own beer, 5 litters at a time, it has zero alcohol as I like it that way and as it was in my childhood Christmases cooked by my mom but now that I cook my own beer and add ingredients I've learnt that there's quite a lot of sugar in it!

Interesting. I do think that zero beer is healthier than say soda. The carbs are more complex than sugar in soda. Lower glycemic index. Plus they are only 50 calories. I've been drinking some from Athletic Brewing that taste pretty good. I didn't know one could make their own zero beer.

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And thanks to all of you for the comments and support. I've updated my software and now I'm John 2.0.

 

[Artyczar]

Ellen: YIKES! What a story!

John: Thank you for opening up. That is brave of you and very cool! Thank you for thinking of us as a kind of family, and at least good friends with whom you can feel comfortable. I've quit a lot of things throughout my life, including alcohol. I do drink a tiny, tiny bit on a rare occasion, but so very rarely because I'm on a lot of medication that makes me a super cheap date. I can hardly tolerate it. It makes me drunk almost immediately and/or gives me a headache. Beer was never my thing. I used to drink vodka, then in later years went to red wine until I became allergic to the enzymes in it. Makes my face and ears turn bright red. Makes me more depressed, too.

In any case, I would never say the other things were worse than alcohol just because some of them were illegal. Despite booze being legal, it's as deadly as the hardest stuff out there. I've seen it kill many people in one way or another, especially those who can't deal with it at all. Not everyone is like that, though. Of course.

Painting/making art is a great therapy and a great distraction. Glad you are finding it satisfying without being buzzed on something else. Your art is so fantastic. I hope this extends your life.

 

[PaintBoss]

Well done Ellen too. You have the toughness of your pioneering ancestors in you. You’re always an inspiration to me hearing about your life. And you’ve kept your sense of humour! Not always an easy thing to do
I also want to second what Arty said in her last post. This can become like a Web family in many ways especially after years -we get to know people a little better. I do think it was brave to tell us. Pleased that you felt you could share it with us John and Ellen.

 

[Grapes]

I'm glad to be part of our Web family!
John, Ellen, Arty thank you for telling us your stories!

 

[Hermes2020]

I'm glad to be part of our Web family!
John, Ellen, Arty thank you for telling us your stories!

I second that!

 

[Artyczar]

Well done Ellen too. You have the toughness of your pioneering ancestors in you. You’re always an inspiration to me hearing about your life. And you’ve kept your sense of humour! Not always an easy thing to do
I also want to second what Arty said in her last post. This can become like a Web family in many ways especially after years -we get to know people a little better. I do think it was brave to tell us. Pleased that you felt you could share it with us John and Ellen.

Thanks, Christine. Just one little thing. My pronouns. I'm not a "her."

 

[PaintBoss]

Thanks for the reminder Arty, and sorry. I tend to remember you in my mind like many I came to know initially years ago in WC.

 

[Ellen Easton]

If I didn't have my sense of humor, I'm sure I'd have succumbed many years ago. My first 40 years were pretty rugged but the second 40 are pretty good so far. I'm one of those people who will get the giggles at the worst times---like in church when I was younger or you name it----if something struck my funny bone, I just couldn't NOT laugh.

John, when I got sober there were "fake" beers but they did have a slight alcohol content. It wasn't worth it to me to try them. Since I'm an alcoholic, even a tiny bit of alcohol will keep the craving alive and I sure didn't want that. You may not be an alcoholic though, so you know what you can deal with. I can only speak for myself.

I used to smoke 2 1/2 packs of cigarettes a day and tried many times to quit with no lasting effect until I got the bright idea that I probably would always go back to it because I was inhaling the smoke of other smokers and that meant I was keeping my addiction to those alive by inhaling their smoke. When I stayed away from other people's smoke, I quit smoking for good, sure enough. Finding 5 pounds of homemade fudge in the freezer was a big help, though, I have to admit. I quit drinking in 1985 and quit smoking in 1989. So far, so good. I'm still going on without either one.

Now, getting married was a different story. I had to quit going to Nevada because it left a ring on my finger three times! I quit doing that in 1986. My second time marrying in Nevada only lasted as long as the blackout did, but the third marriage was a charm and I did it in sobriety. He passed away 24 years ago but I've never remarried.

 

[PaintBoss]

Ellen, you’ve done well to overcome 2 very strong addictions, especially tied so close to being social. Those are very hard to do because there’s a lot of triggers! yeah I think it does come down to one choice at a time. I know my husband says certain triggers really can bother him at times, so it’s just easier to avoid when it comes to smoking or drinking.

 

[PaintBoss]

Arty,
I stumbled on this going through this thread. I love it! You are such a creative person. I love how you look at the world. It’s very unique.