Before it's too late (Part 2)

I guess as we all get older, we tend to come into contact with death a lot more. Naturally. In the last year, I have had more friends and family friends pass on than I can remember. As for family friends, it's almost expected. They are all my parents' friends and they are all in the 70s and 80s age group. As for my friends, they were not young, but with the life expectancy these days at high 70s, they were considered young.

About three years ago, my aunt (my Dad's brother's wife) was diagnosed with ovarian cancer (I think I am correct, but forgive me if I am not). She went through the ordeal of chemotherapy and radiology and her cancer was supposed to be in remission after a year of treatment. About 6 months ago, she had difficulty keeping her food down and when she went for a check up, it was discovered that there were cancer growths on her intestines and stomach. Last week, the doctor told my uncle that my aunt had about 1-2 months left.

Also about 3 years ago, my uncle (my Mom's sister's husband) was diagnosed with throat cancer. He has been blind for almost 40 years and when he was told that the best solution was to remove his voice box, naturally, he was very upset. He now would not only be blind, but mute as well. However, he went through the procedure and his cancer was also supposed to be in remission. He was a trooper. I remember several visits with him. We communicated with him writing his thoughts. Writing, that he had learnt (and remembered) from more than 40 years ago. He was already blind when I was born, so, in the last 40 some years, he has been using braille. However, from his writing, you would never believe he had not written in 40 years!!! 2 weeks ago, a tumor was discovered in his lungs. The results of whether this tumor is malignant or benign are due later this week. However, whatever the results, the progress he has made in the last 6 months took a few steps backwards.

I say this again. I am not afraid of death. But, with all this occurring around me, I can't help but think about it. I believe I am not afraid to die, if it is sudden enough. However, if it is long drawn out, like JB, my aunt, my uncle... then, I am not sure.
What I am really unsure about is, if I can deal with the outcome the way they have all been dealing with it. JB was my first real life example of how I should deal with bad news I was going to die. I saw him with my very own eyes, how he went through his days knowing he won't be here for very much longer but at the same time, not wanting pity from anyone. How he tried to lead the "normal" life, even when it was not so normal anymore. My parents and my uncle text me several times a week to update me on my aunt. Every text comes with this message... "her spirits are good".... I don't know how one's spirits can be good when they know they are about to die. And that's where I am not sure if I am really not afraid of death.

Back to the Great NorthWest!

When we decided we were returning to the US, we had a decision to make. Where?
We both lived in the SF Bay Area for quite a number of years, me for almost 10 and Jessica for about 8, before we moved to Singapore. That would have been the natural place to return to. However, the SF Bay Area has a very high cost of living. We needed to go to a place where Jessica could start her own pet service business and we didn't really want to be outside of the West Coast. So, the choices narrowed down to SF Bay Area, Portland or Seattle.
We landed up choosing Seattle. We researched, and were also told by friends that Seattle is even more pet friendly than the Bay Area and we still had the metropolitan area we needed to try to successfully launch Jessica's business... and it was less expensive than the Bay Area.

So, here we are, in Seattle... in the Great Pacific NorthWest!!
For me, it's back to the Great NorthWest, having lived in Eugene for 7-8 years.

Yes, it probably rains more here than in SF. But SF doesn't get very much sun either, being foggy most of the time. The rain is... tolerable.

But, the thing that reminds me most that I am back in the Pacific NorthWest is the people and their attitudes. It was in Eugene that I learnt how to recycle... more than 20 years ago. I learnt to separate my trash. Back then, we needed to separate the different kinds of plastics, separate them from paper, separate them from metal, etc, etc, etc. Eugene was very big on that. I had never experienced that prior to arriving in Eugene. Coming from Singapore, everything went into one huge garbage bin. And so my recycling habits began forming. When I moved to the Bay Area, nothing really dropped off. SF Bay Area being relatively earth friendly had also adopted many recycling habits I was already used to. They may have started later, but by the time I moved there, they were... already there.

When we moved to Singapore in 2008, I realized, as far as being earth friendly and "going green" was concerned, we were taking a few steps back. Recycling was preached but, in my opinion, hardly practiced. When I started a recycle bin in our home for plastics and paper, my mother-in-law thought I was crazy. We have a shared recycle bin with our neighbors, all 80 households... and it is NEVER full. But, that's a different story completely.

So, here we are, back in the Great NorthWest, that taught me how to recycle. The first week we after we moved in, these are the 3 bins I saw on the side of our home.

(from left to right, Yard Waste, Recycle and Trash)

The largest bin, the one that says "Yard Waste" also says "food" on the top. The recycle bin is self explanatory... and so is the trash bin. The sizes did puzzle me though. Why was the "Yard Waste" bin the largest? Was there really that much gardening to take care off?
So, I asked around and found out there was a flyer to help with the separation of your trash.

So, this is the NEW recycling. The "yard waste" bin is the largest bin because it is the Food and Compostables bin. That means, everything that is organic, goes in there. Food, bones, paper towels PLUS the yard waste go in there. Many of these items have previously gone into the disposal or into the trash. If we no longer put them in the trash, then, a larger trash bin is not necessary and a larger "yard waste" bin is... ahhhh, it now all starts to make sense. Honestly, we do not have that much "food and compostables"... maybe in the summer and fall when there is more yard waste, but right now, we don't even fill the 60 gallon bin halfway.

Welcome back to the Great Pacific NorthWest, where a new lesson in recycling or "going green" has just been learnt!!