I rose at 7ish as I had to get Air Volvo to TV Highway Automotive. The gasoline filling has flaps to make an air-tight seal, which, after 70,000 miles, were not working, causing multiple codes and an Engine Check light. I made liberal coffee and toasted a NYC bagel (thanks, Joyce) for a quick breakfast. I read the news (mostly political) and downloaded transactions to Quicken, which failed as Quicken’s mothership was having some issues (I could do this with success later in the day). I wrote the blog and stopped, incomplete, at 8:30, cleaned up, dressed, and took my laptop, phone, and other items (wallet, eye drops, eye protection, emergency inhaler, wool hat, and key fob) and boarded Air Volvo. We traveled for only one block to the auto repair place.
The entrance was blocked by a large oil truck (I assume it picks up old oil and chemicals), meaning I had to park on the street and walk over. I was expected, and they took my keys. I grabbed the stool, used it as the desk for my laptop, and got back to writing while waiting in their tiny lobby. After a while, I saw Air Volvo leave with a technician for a test drive. It returned and was moved to a work bay. I continued to write and soon finished the blog. The place phone rang non-stop with folks looking for status or to bring cars in for repairs. Many were recorded, and thus, I heard the message. The staff, always in Spanish, discussed some repairs, and I could understand enough that they were shocked by the costs the customers were racking up.
My car was finished in just over two hours (the parts had come in last week) and cost $350 (primarily standard charges and $150 for parts). I was happy to get out of there with a 2015 Volvo for less than a thousand. At the dealership, that amount would be just the shop charges! I also learned I had a year warranty at a Napa repair place, including this one, if the Engine Light and codes returned.
I returned to the Volvo Cave without the Engine Check light returning. Excellent! The mail, which included my orchids and a Kickstarter set of books, was delivered, and soon, I was unboxing my new plants. These are plugs or small plants, and the box contained pots, a special orchid mix for potting from the grower, and lots of instructions. I used the stovetop as my potting bench (and made a small easy to clean-up mess) and soon had the orchids in fine pots, all designed to hold water inside and to have the roots and potty material out of the water. The new orchids are from various tribes (orchids are complex, and they have tribes inside of the usual species definition we are more used to). I have grown some before, and some new ones I am not familiar with at all–exciting.
I usually avoid vandas (I now have two) as I have only met a few people who have gotten them to flower. Vandas do not grow in mediums but on them—sort of like an air plant, but make this up for beautiful, long-lasting flowers. I will make a go of it. I have set the vandas on potting mix with just a few roots down to stop them from falling out of the pots. These are too young and may flower in one to three years (!). They need daily water and bright light.
I also received a ready-to-flower miniature orchid that is a few inches tall and fully grown. I have never had a Tolumnia orchid before, and with few choices, I have set it on a pot. This is an even more air plant than the Vandas and can be grown on a cork. It should flower soon if I can make it happy. This is the ultimate apartment orchid.
I now have a cattleya, an ugly plant that produces the most beautiful but short-lived flowers I have seen. This one looks young, and I think the one-year wait for flowering may be too generous. I potted this in one of the larger pots. This is the most house-plant-like care of the orchids: water, feed, and wait. But the one you hide in the back until it flowers.
Oncidium is new to me; it did not have a tag to describe its colors. I potted it, and I think it is an older plant, but it will likely flower soon if I can make it happy. The house may be too cold. Lastly, dendrobium is a familiar tribe to me and another hideous plant. It has long-lasting moth-like orchids on a long spike, making up for the awful-looking plant. This one also lets its leaves go in the winter, so it is often considered dead when resting.
While the lights can be automated, misting is more complex. However, I have learned that orchids can be ignored for a short period (weeks) and recover without loss, unlike other less aware plants. Also, stress sometimes makes the orchids flower. I will not need to stay home to ensure the orchids’ survival.
The Europe-based Black Letter Press Kickstarter for their modern-style translation of Ars Goetia arrived, a book that catalogs the imagined rules of Hell and their summoning symbols from various sources. This is from a series of books, all of the so-called Black Arts of the 1500-1800s, and revised to modern English usage. The symbols and images are reproduced in great clarity for those would-be summoners. I collect these as props for various role-playing games. The latest one, they have another Kickstarter, is too expensive for me (I am retired, after all), but FOMO could force me to get one (I have six different books from BLP already). Resist!
I celebrated my new plants with a BLT. I discovered that my bread went moldy (as there is just me, I will have to freeze bread now and toast it when I want it), but Misha and family gave me their left-over buns, and those worked fine. I purchased a favorite movie, A Haunting in Venice, for my Apple and watched some of it while making and eating my two bun BLTs.
Next, I need trays to catch water drips and allow some humidity to flow up from stones in the tray covered with water (the rocks, while nice-looking, provide more surfaces for evaporation). I head to Cornell Gardens off Barnes Road at the start of the West Hills. The traffic and construction were messy, but I was not in a hurry.
Air Volvo found a spot in the back, and I started to walk through Cornell Garden, a wonderful nursery and plant complex with a giant monkey puzzle tree in front of the old farmhouse, now an office, and a coffee and light food service. In the 1800s and later, the captains of the sailing ships discovered that a few exotic plants would survive the voyage back and survive in the Portland weather. Our palms, bananas, and monkey puzzle trees are some of those surprised from far lands.
I met Pam and Sharron from church unplanned, and we chatted for a while before they moved on. They had lunch at the farmhouse. I also saw Victor from the shoe company, and we were happy to see each other. Victor was there to acquire a fruit tree. I put a picture of Pam, Sharron, and myself on FaceBook and sent a photo of Victor and me to Brad and Michael G at the shoe company.
I walked the whole garden a few times to get my steps (short of 5,000 on Monday), but it was hills and uneven ground, all excellent practice for me. I found a pomegranate tree (many) for sale, and I have always wanted one. There was also a peppercorn tree that was interesting to me. I called Dondrea, and we debated whether she needed a pomegranate tree for her next birthday–I think yes. I guess my old garden, now a pile of dirt in my backyard, would look better as a couple of trees. I am sure I can find friends who can dig holes for me. Hmmm.
Traffic was crazy, and I parked in Beaverton Old Town, where much of the parking was blocked as the city was re-sealing the roads with black, oily stuff. Yes, we still cannot convince municipalities to find better solutions for street paving. The newly darkened road was radiating heat from absorbing the bright sunlight. F**k! And it stunk of petroleum that will run into our rainwater this fall. Double f**k. But I am sure it was the cheaper alternative and will last for years–greener alternatives were likely much more expensive and last less long (and my friends on the political Right would, and I think fairly, point out the ecological costs of new technologies instead of the already cheaper sunk costs of a well-known petroleum solution). Also, as folks on the conservative side would point out, much rainwater here in the Pacific Northwest is passed through natural and industrial processes to remove petroleum, which floats and can be thus easily removed. But still, the black and subsequent heating should be fixed somehow…so I will still make my greener demands–there’s got to be something better.
The store that sells plant stuff is not open on Mondays (more f**k), and this always confuses me. How can a business afford to lose some business on a workday? Yes, Monday and Tuesday are poor sales days, but once in the holiday season, the sales are good every day. Slow days are for cleaning and organizing and minimal staffing. It is hard for me to understand this, but I know that the owners have likely thought this out, and I hope they made the correct decision (otherwise, there will likely be a new store there soon).
Air Volvo, smearing fresh, oily stuff from the newly sealed roads all over, returned me home. No Check Engine light appeared as I traveled over Beaverton, the West Hills, and Aloha. Excellent! I watched more episodes of “Midnight Mass” and began to like it less. There was a reveal that almost got me to eye-rolling. With no spoilers, I will likely watch some more, but I am less happy now. The mystery was more interesting, but maybe the reveal is not what it appears. Hoping for better, more to come.
I did not find the focus to work on the SMS Derfflinger 1916 model today. However, I read more about The Orchid Thief, which covered the story of orchid hunters in the 1800s-1900s and was fascinating. It looked like good material for a Call of Cthulhu adventure or Dungeons and Dragons. The author said there are few sources for the lives of the hunters, and sadly, they destroyed many of the sources for the orchids. I learned that many orchids are known as “lost orchids,” as the source of the orchid is unknown or destroyed, and the greenhouse example is lost to war, events, fire, or disinterest. Some lost orchids have been rediscovered in the wild or found in collections, but most are just names, descriptions, and maybe a drawing or painting to wonder about. Many new hunters search for them.
I was happy with just a few orchids, trying to resist the madness, and soon nodded off. I showered and soon was in bed reading more orchid stories. Then leg cramps visited, and those are more painful than most things I have experienced. Ugh. They faded as I tried to relax. I finally slept, waking up once for proof of hydration.
Thanks for reading.
Update: I completely spaced that I headed to Wildwood Taphouse and met JR there, and we chatted for a while. I also wrote a little on one of my Dungeons and Dragons adventures. It is always fascinating when I space part of a day. You can’t seem to draw the links in your mind when you try to replay a day, especially after sleeping. It is hard to cover everything, and most of the connections I found were related to things this morning (like turning on the light for the orchids) and seeing the book I mentioned. Without the clues, it is often hard to assemble the previous day.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 