Magical is the word, Mary. Once we looked at this property...in the
drippy rain on Easter weekend in 1987, and sat in the small cabin that
overlooked the meadow below, we knew that we were finally, "Home!" We
built our home in 1994 and moved in on New Year Day, 1995. Since our
work covered five counties, we knew we would be driving lots. We now
serve only two counties, and our work is really only part-part time.
It's interesting, though. You would think that transportation would
be a serious issue. The closest public transit comes is 8.5 miles
down highway 101. And yet, there are always neighbors heading this
way and that, and all are willing to pick up a passenger. Of course
Cathy drives, but when she is ill, and I have a meeting in town, the
neighbors are nearly always happy to lend a hand...or a car. Of
course we either pay them or do some sort of a trade. We take turns
watching out for one another, feeding horses or cows, watching homes
and pets, helping build fences or fill pot holes in the road. Stuff
like that.
While we don't see one another often, still, we're much more
neighborly than we ever were with our closely packed neighbors in
Seattle.
Carl Jarvis
On 10/24/18, Mary Otten <maryotten@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Carl,
Your surroundings sound absolutely beautiful. You have a lot of courage
living out there I think. I have a sighted husband who drives. Being totally
blind of course, I do not. And I have never allowed myself to even consider
the notion that I would live somewhere where, if push came to shove, I
couldn’t get around if necessary without benefit of cited help. That always
means living in some kind of city of course. Cities have their advantages,
Services at all including medical. But there is something about the peace
and quiet of the country side dad is almost magical.
Mary
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 24, 2018, at 12:17 PM, Carl Jarvis <carjar82@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Evan,
On the Western side of Washington State, crickets are rather rare.
When I lived in Spokane, the drier, hotter climate brought them out in
droves. Every summer Grandpa and his neighbors burned off the fields
and my sisters and I would run about gathering up cooked Grasshoppers
and bringing them to the fish pond.
But out here in the Deep, Dark Olympic National Forest, it is so quiet
that you can hear a leaf fall. We have ten acres sitting back about a
quarter of a mile from the county gravel road, and half way up a
rather steep hill. We look out over the horse pasture to the Beaver
Pond beyond. Often there are Blue Haroun, Geese, Ducks and even four
beautiful White Swans. In the Spring and early Summer the "Songs" of
a gazillion frogs drown out any falling leaves. We feed most anything
that comes around, including Raccoons, Squirrels, Chipmunks and a wide
variety of birds. My favorites are the Humming birds and the Morning
Doves. But we have Eagles, Hawks, large Ravens, and all varieties of
song birds.
We live Off-Grid, gathering energy through Solar Panels and a backup
propane generator that charges 12 large batteries. Our well is 160
feet down, and we pump the water up to a 500 gallon tank, with gravity
flow back to the house. We've "tamed" about three acres and built a
four stall horse barn, giving our two horses plenty of grass during
the summer, and a shelter from the weather in the rainy season...which
begins as early as late August, and can run right into July. This
year has been an exception, with many warm, dry days. But of course
the dry weather brings concerns regarding the potential of forest
fires. We are surrounded by huge Cedars, Douglas Fir, Western Hemlock
and Blue Spruce, along with Alder and Maple.
We keep talking about building our "retirement home" on a lot we own
closer into Port Townsend, but at the rate we are planning, I wonder
if I'll ever see it.
The good news about growing old is that I am growing old. The bad
news is, I'm growing old!
Carl Jarvis
On 10/24/18, Evan Reese <mentat1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Living in the deep, dark, forest Carl? I hate you!
Just kidding. Actually, I envy you. But my life partner can't see well
enough to drive, so living in a forest isn't really a feasible option
for
us.
In all seriousness, I'm happy for you. I can imagine that is quite a
place,
especially in high summer with the crickets in full song. That must be
something to hear.
Evan
-----Original Message-----
From: Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2018 11:50 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: New member
Hello and welcome, Mary.
If you have a natural curiosity and a sense of adventure, you've come
to the right list. We do try hard to stay on target and not fall into
name calling, as happens on the ACB chat list at times. But a good
sense of humor and a moderately thick skin, and you'll soon be right
at home.
As for me, besides being Carl Jarvis, I am a self proclaimed
Progressive, an Agnostic, and 83 years old. My wife and I provide
services to older blind and low vision folks on the Great Olympic
Peninsula, through our organization named, Peninsula Rehabilitation
Services. We've been at it almost 24 years and have worked with well
over 3,000 clients. I'm totally blind...for the past 55 years. Cathy
and I work as a team since living here in the deep, dark forest does
not allow a blind man the ability to travel to many of our clients
alone.
And just for the record, eating, sleeping, working, vacationing and
breathing the same air day after day finds us still deeply in love
with one another.
Carl Jarvis
(PS. Cathy's horse is down this morning. She's called the vet and is
trying to get him up and moving. I was going to buy a new keyboard
today, but it's looking as if I'll have to make do with these sticky
keys for a while longer.)
On 10/23/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello Mary,
This list is suddenly becoming busy. We've acquired two new members and
will, I believe, be acquiring another one. It's an ill wind that blows
no
good, they say. I do believe we can thank Mr. Trump for the
rejuvenation
of
this list. At any rate, I'll forward one of the Real News Network
digests
to
the list. It's a website which has excellent little news videos that
you
can
listen to and also, there's a text of each one, I believe. I'll forward
one
of the digests. You go to the heading of the story in which you're
interested, which is also a link, and then, you move down until you
find
a
play button and press enter. If you find the website, you can sign up
for
your own digests. The website is in Baltimore. Its founder, Paul Jay,
comes
from Canada, and it does national, international, and local Baltimore
news.
Some of my favorite people are on there: max Blumenthal, Ben Norton,
Dean
Baker, etc.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Mary Otten
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2018 8:44 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] New member
Hi folks,
I just joined this list, of whose existence I had no idea until a
friend
forwarded me a book recommendation from one of the BARD lists, where
this
list was mentioned. I recognize Miriam's name from the bookshare list
of
many years ago. We liked lots of the same books on political/historical
topics. Anyway, I joined out of curiosity to see what the list was
like.
I've seen a couple posts, one of which mentioned the real news network,
with
which I am not familiar. what is it?
Mary
