Asia, Bees, Faith and Spirituality, Great Work, Humanities, permaculture

Science Is A Poisonous Net

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Summer                                            Waning Strawberry Moon

The bee goddess piece in this video comes over half-way through, but the rest got my attention as well.  The quote in the title comes from the bee goddess shaman.

In addition, I saw an animated movie last night called The Man Who Planted Trees.  It is a fictional account of a shepherd who begins to plant oak trees.  He goes on to plant beech and birch as well.  He plants 100 trees a day and the story follows the eventual growth of the forest and how it transforms a barren and desolate mountain into a watery, fertile realm.  It’s a beautiful fable, well worth seeing.

In this video the old woman planting rice reminded me of the Man Who Planted Trees.  I think these folks are Hmong or close relations thereto.

Bees

Bee Diary: July 2, 2010

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Summer                                   Waning Strawberry Moon

Just sent an e-mail to the Minnesota Hobby Beekeeper’s Association.  I need help.  We’re in mid-season now and I don’t understand what I’m seeing in the hives, nor do I understand enough about where things should be right now.  The two  make a whole.  That is, I don’t understand what I’m seeing because I don’t know where things should be right now.

I did a reverse on the parent colony, the last one, according to the book.  I do have more weight in the second honey super, but little action in three and four. This colony continues to be defensive, much more so than the package and about on par with the divide.

The divide has filled the third hive box with honey, no brood at all.  I don’t know what that means, though I suspect it might mean I’ve had a swarm and am now queenless.  I did see brood, but workers will lay if a queen is gone.  Trouble is, since they’re not fertile, the only thing they can produce are drones.  There did seem to be a number of drone cells–they have a higher cap to accommodate the drone’s larger body.

The package colony looks pristine, the larvae laying pattern seems ok and there is a general air of healthiness.  Not that there isn’t in the other two, but this one is like a puppy, all fresh and perky.  It has not, however, done much work at all on the third hive box, a bit of drawing out comb, but that’s about it.  Again, I don’t know what that means.

I did get stung a couple of times, but I smoked the stings, scraped them off–rather than pull them out which injects more venom–and applied sting-ease.  The parent and the colony both have a more defensive posture than the package.  It could be, too, that I’m still somewhat clumsy with my frame inspections and crush the occasional bee.  There are many more bees in both of these colonies, so more chance for accidents.

So much to learn.

Family, Health

Kate Today

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Summer                                    Waning Strawberry Moon

Talked to Kate this morning.  She has walked a bit on her hip, not with much weight yet.  She says now that she’s exhausted.  Well, duh.  A lot better than the pain she felt on Wednesday.  She had a couple of tasks for me when we spoke this morning.  That’s the Kate I know and love.

A bee day today and I want to get out there before it gets way hot.

Aging, Family, Humanities

I’ll Be Glad When She’s Home.

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Summer                                     Waning Strawberry Moon

Tomorrow hive inspections, then into see Kate.  The original plan was for her to come home on Saturday.  I hope that  holds up.

Having her away, yet close, seems almost more distance than when she was in San Francisco.

We have a lovely summer night, warm but not hot, a clear sky, the drinking gourd poised in its summer position, the bowl headed north and the pointer stars, as they always do, showing the way to Polaris.

I finished my review of my Latin, mechanically locating the verb, the subject and the object in each of the sententiae antiquae I had translated in the last three chapters.  Greg’s right, this approach makes grabbing ahold of the sentence’s intent much easier.  That’s why he’s the tutor.  I’m going to go ahead and finish chapter 20, which will put me half-way through Wheelock.

Aging, Family, Health

Morning Update on Kate

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Summer                               Waning Strawberry Moon

Back from seeing a much improved Kate.  The pain has receded somewhat and she’s coherent.  Back to her old self with a gimp leg–for right now–and lots of tubes.  As I left, the nurse had begun to set up an IV for 2 units of blood.  She lost a lot, one of the possibilities in this type of surgery.  After she gets that, they’ll probably get her up for her first post-op walk.

She says she already has noticed a positive difference with no pain shooting down to her knee.

I took her one of the yellow Asiatic lilies from our garden.  They look cheery and there are several right outside the patio  door.

Health

Wind, Water, Wound + 2

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Summer                                   Waning Strawberry Moon

Kate’s into her second post-op day, just.  I talked to her on the phone and she has dry mouth and wants lozenges.  She says her fever went up overnight, but has now gone down.  Wind, water, walking, wound, wonder-drugs is a sequence for diagnosing the likely source of an infection post-op.  Wind related fevers usually occur in the first to second day post-op and result from breathing tubes, being on a ventilator and other anesthesiology related sources.  3-5 days post-op come catheter related infections-water and especially in orthopedic patients, walking at 4-6 days.  Walking as soon as possible usually prevents the walking related fevers by eliminating the deep vein thrombosis that is their cause.

The wound itself becomes a concern after 5-7 days.  Again, as with walking, preventive measures, like pre-surgery anti-biotics, care for the surgery site before the operation and, now, an occlusive bandage over the site all help prevent this.

Finally, wonder drugs themselves can cause a fever in the week post-op.

All this means is that Kate’s progressing through the post-op maze of possible problems.  She’s not worried about it and neither am I.

Gotta go.  She needs lozenges.

Family, Health

First Day Post Op

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Summer                             Waning Strawberry Moon

I went into see Kate this evening.  The first day post surgery can be brutal and it is this time.  A lot of pain.  She’s a stoic and the pain went well beyond her threshold .  It was hard to see, but I talked to the nurse and they adjusted her pain meds.   I’m going to call around 10:45, near the end of Clare’s shift, Kate’s nurse.  I want to know if things have gotten any better.

On stupid things people do:  I saw a motorcyclist riding his bike, his mobile phone pinned to his ear by his left shoulder.

Wanted to know what was going on in the head of the older red haired woman I passed.  She was behind the wheel of a bright yellow late model Volkswagen bug with plates that read:  Manilow.

Drove behind a new Cadillac with the license plate:  NINES.  Won it in a poker game?

Family, Health

Good Medical Care

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Summer                           Waning Strawberry Moon

Ah.  Some sleep.

As we age, Minnesota becomes a better and better place to live.  In spite of the rigors of the winter months, the high quality medical care creates a sense of safety and security that I’m not sure I could find in other states.   With Kate I’ve been through many hospitalizations and procedures, each one handled with professionalism, leaving me more and more confident as do the results.  I’ve only had the one instance of hospital based care, the achilles repair, and it was out patient, but that one time was as the others with Kate.

Given my perspective on this life, that is, barring some information I don’t have, this is it, having good medical care is important.  We have it here.

Family, Health

Kate’s Out of Surgery

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Summer                               Waning Strawberry Moon

Kate’s out of surgery and in recovery.  Dr. Heller said the procedure went well, “Perfect.  Just what we like!”  He’s an upbeat guy with a bald head, lots of confidence.  Better than a melancholy doc filled with self doubt.  I wouldn’t make much of a surgeon.

Fairview hospitals seem interchangeable with Abbott-Northwestern friendly, well-laid out, competent staff, procedures that make sense.  Comforting.

A new University Children’s Hospital is under construction and it has a poster in the elevator:  Bold, Inspiring.  There are images of Minnesota and the Twin Cities in the tunnels leading from the Gold Parking Ramp into the main campus with East and West buildings.  Surgery is on the third floor of the East Building.

Here’s a new wrinkle.  Just when I thought parking validation was dead, the surgery lounge validates my parking.  That’s not the new wrinkle.  The new  wrinkle is that I paid for validated parking.  $6.  Unvalidated it would have been $15.  So, validation now gets me the rate I would have paid back when validation made parking free.  Hmmm.

Anyhow, I’m gonna catch a nap since 5:00 am comes earlier in the ‘burbs.

Family

Quiet Here Again

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Summer                                     Waning Strawberry Moon

Kate’s surgery is in the morning and can’t come fast enough for her.  Her hip makes walking painful, painful enough that she uses a cane and on occasion, a walker.  What was it like when this type of pain had to be endured?  Otherwise healthy and mentally acute people must have suffered terribly.  Kate certainly has and there is at least an option for her.

Life will veer from busy to slow over the next month, with taking care of Kate my priority.  The bees continue to need care too, as do the dogs and the garden.  Museum life slows down in the summer and that’s good for me right now.  The Sierra Club legislative work has modulated, not finished because there’s always next session and the upcoming elections.

Well, early start tomorrow.