shake, shake, shake

For the second time in a week I just felt an earthquake. Those of you who have lived in earthquake zones will think I'm crazy, but WOW it is freaky to feel that. I was at my desk and my chair started shaking. I could feel it coming up through the floor. The wind is blowing pretty hard today, but it has never blown hard enough to make the floor shake. USGS says it was a 4.2, and was centered about 120 miles north of us.

Having grown up in the rocky Ozark Mountains, I never experienced these. Tornadoes were our dangerous force of nature, but these earthquakes just blow my mind!

$300

I was working in Quicken tonight entering some receipts and decided after entering in a frightening receipt for puchasing gas for my car today (and I didn't even begin to fill up) to see how our gas expenses compared to this time last year.

For the first four months of 2008 (and April isn't over!) we've spent a whopping $1739 on fuel for our two vehicles.
For the first four months of 2007 we spent $1426.

For comparison sake I went back to 2002, the first full year we lived in our current house, which would make the distance we drive to town and work roughly the same. Taking into account I personally didn't make as many trips back and forth to take kids to school, etc. it is still a SHOCKING difference. In the first four months of that year we spent less than $300 on gas. I subtotalled our fuel expenses for the last 7 years by year, and you can see it creeping up year by year, until the last couple of years, when it began to shoot up really quickly.

Does the current administration understand that their cozy relationships with the oil companies, and their failure to be advocates of middle and poor Americans is making it almost impossible for the average lower-income (and many middle income) workers to even GET to work?

My contempt for them cannot be measured.

Ring the Bell

At T1 and T2's school, the ultimate honor for having made an achievement is to get to ring a large bell in the courtyard of the school. Today, T1 got to ring it. The accompanying "certificate" said:

"T1" (not her real name of course) has shown winning behavior by cleaning the playground. She picked up over 100 pieces of trash without being asked to so so. She gave her whole recess to this job.
Signed both by her teacher, and by the principal.

T1 shared this honor with one of her classmates, who also worked throughout recess to pick up trash.

I told her I was most proud that she took the time to get the playground clean of the things other people just throw on the ground.

Now this is the same child who can leave a trail of debris behind her at OUR house, but at least she's making her effort for the environment at school this week.

urban gardens

I'm sure my fine organic-guru-niece will have a comment about this topic. I heard on NPR this morning that because of high food prices many families are opting to grow their own produce this year. It is a new trend in the suburbs...the backyard veggie garden! It is also a reaction to more people wanting to eat organic-grown produce, and to try to buy foods grown in their local area.

Here's the negative twist to the story. Turns out that lots of HOA's are balking against backyard gardens. Seems they present a "threat" to the quality of the neighborhoods, and "bring property values down." I kid you not. A small patch of tomatoes, lettuce and beans makes people feel less affluent, apparently.

I don't live in a subdivision with an HOA. There are times where I think such an organization would come in handy in our particular subdivision, but overall I'm glad we don't have one. I wonder how many people living in such neighborhoods have actually ever SEEN a small vegetable garden. I can't think of anything I would personally rather see in our neighbor's backyard than a well-tended garden, with the colors of cabbages, stalks of corn, tomatoes (both red and green) and perhaps some sunflowers stuck in there for fun. How is that worse than looking at someone's hot tub, or bbq grill?

My standard for such a garden is my grandfather's. He had a perfect flat spot in his backyard to grow rows and rows of the best tomatoes I've ever eaten; watermelon, corn, and I don't remember what else. What a joy it was as a child to sit in a lawn chair near the garden and crack open a freshly picked watermelon and attempt to spit the seeds across his lawn. The sweetness of those melons cannot be described.

Here's another thought. Backyard gardens create conversation. How nice it would be to share gardening tips with your neighbors...exchange fresh beans for radishes, or just visit while you water or tend your garden.

People are hellbent on holing up in their McMansions, watching their big-screen tvs and don't know what they are missing. Eat your drab, overpriced lettuce from Honduras; and your cardboard-like tomatoes from Florida...you are really missing something.

women in comfortable shoes and colorful clothing

Yes, folks, it's quilter's week here in the western part of the Commonwealth. The show doesn't even officially begin until tomorrow night, but already there are hordes (herds? flocks? gaggles?) of brightly dressed women wearing sturdy, comfortable, but not stylish shoes walking around downtown, mouths agape at the possibilities of fat quarters* they can purchase!

Now that I've been very condescending about them, let me point out that these women (and men) do something I have no talent for...taking bits of fabric and sewing them together, sometimes with handstitching so tiny you need to be right next to it to see it, into a piece of art. It is amazing how someone can take a handful of mismatched (but color-coordinated) fabrics, and by snipping them into various shapes, then carefully patching those shapes together, often in quite intricate and complicated designs, they make something that their children, and grandchildren will cherish for generations. And those are just the traditional quilts. The quilters who make the "fabric art" pieces are just artists using a medium that most people think of as a means to keep warm. The "art" quilts use subtle variations in fabric color to create illusions of shadow, light and depth.

It's not too late! Pack your bags, come see the quilts!

*if you don't know what a fat quarter is, ask a quilter.

True Patriotism

From a church bulletin for Sunday, July 6, 1941, Armored Forces Replacement Training Center, Ft. Knox, Kentucky, morning worship.

[on the back of the bulletin*, in a box titled "true patriotism"]

Independence Day, or Fourth of July as it is more commonly called, recalls the principles of human liberty and reminds us that we must cherish and preserve our country's traditions of bravery, justice and equality, of which very true American is proud.
But what is meant by true patriotism? It means unfailing loyalty to our God and to our country. The greatest duty we owe our United States is to be worthy citizens.
Loyalty to our nation implies loyalty to God, because he who serves God faithfully, serves his country loyally. The true patriot thinks of the honor of his country and is always willing to do his duty to his native or adopted land. We are not patriotic when we are selfish, unkind and unwilling to do our duty to God and country.
America expects each one of its citizens to do his or her duty. It is more than merely standing and cheering when a band plays the "Star Spangled Banner" or the waving of the American flag. It is, in fact, obeying the laws of the land, being true, truthfully honest, kind, loving, pure, unselfish and trying to make our country in the eyes of both God and ourselves a better and more beautiful place in which to live.
Let us thank God today for giving to us this splendid opportunity of being truly patriotic. Let us pledge our wholehearted allegiance to God, to our country and to our flag. Let us keep our star-spangled banner waving in the air ... spotless - stainless - sinless - true.



[*found in a letter written by my father to my mother]

Is the Tooth Fairy male or female?

This is the question that has been running 'round our house this weekend. T2 lost his first tooth today...just "popped" out. Of course he had been wigging it for two weeks now...back and forth, and side to side. I planned ahead, and had purchased for him a pillow with a tiny pocket to put the tooth into, and so he is all set now for the Tooth Fairy.

Two points to this blog. One, why are all tooth pillows or boxes geared toward infants, with ducks, chicks, baby bunnies or whatever? And they are overwhelmingly "girlie" in style. Kids don't lose teeth when they are infants, they lose them when they are in kindergarten and first grade! I did manage to find a pillow with a monkey on it, and that suited T2 just fine, but someone needs to get in the business of making age-appropriate tooth fairy pillows.

Second...IS the tooth fairy male or female? T1 and T2 have been debating this all day. Are there two tooth fairies....one for each gender? Can our cat "get" the tooth fairy if we leave her loose in the house? What if you lose a tooth on Christmas Eve and the tooth fairy and Santa run into each other in your house? Then what?

All questions I have been asked today.

For the record...T2 will be getting a crisp $5 for his first tooth. I told him that I think there is only one tooth fairy, and he/she is equally inclined toward rewarding both boys and girls. And I said that Santa already is friends with the TF, and therefore, the whole Christmas Eve issue isn't a problem.

Oh, and the cat is confined to the garage tonight.

4000

That's all I can say...4000.

throwing that first stone and friendships

This is my review of the speech given by Barrack Obama yesterday. If you haven't heard, or read the speech, please take a moment to do so by going to http://my.barackobama.com/hisownwords.

I continue to hear in my local (decidedly right-wing) media, and from people I've been around in the last few days that this is the thing that will destroy Obama's campaign. I disagree...I think this was his finest moment so far, in a campaign filled with fine moments.

Two points. First of all, he explained his relationship with his pastor...a relationship most of us consider to be a very important part of our lives. The person who leads us in prayer each Sunday, and either inspires us, or reassures us, or fills us with hope, during both good and bad times, is often someone we consider family. In my own childhood the minister who baptised me and walked me through many difficult times in my life is still....YEARS later....as much a part of my extended family as my cousins, aunts and uncles. The minister at my church now says something from the pulpit each Sunday that challenges me to try to become a better person, and hopefully a better Christian. And he also says things that I'm sure some members of our congregation take issue with, but I consider him a friend, and depend on his wisdom to give me a better, more spiritual viewpoint than I sometimes have. I would defend his right to challenge our social problems in any way, if he felt like it was a calling to improve our lives as followers of Christ.

But, as Obama said, (I'm paraphrasing here) you can't dissassociate yourself from someone you consider family any more than you can your actual beloved family members...no matter what.

I had an uncle on my mother's side of the family who was a Reagan-lovin' Conservative with a capital "C", and he would get terribly exasperated with me whenever the subject of politics came up because I wasn't as in love with Ronnie and his crew as he was....BUT he always told me that I was his "favorite Democrat." And he was a lovely man, father and uncle.

I've heard members of our family (mostly on The Reenactor's side) say things about current events, and other cultures and races that are pretty offensive, but there are times where you just have to overlook the statement and love the person. And I think this is clearly what Obama has done. He said in strong terms that he did NOT agree with Rev. Wright's statements, yet his long-time relationship with him had shown him a side of the Reverened the rest of us have not seen on Faux News and YouTube. Why isn't anyone showing all the GOOD things the Reverend and his church have done rather than focusing on one sermon...clearly inspired by events in African American lives that we white folks can't begin to understand.

So my title of "throwing the first stone and friendships" is just that--we've ALL said stuff we wish we hadn't said. We've all heard our friends or family say things we wish they hadn't said. We've all been misunderstood by people with their own agenda or axe to grind. We shouldn't throw rocks at Rev. Wright for his comments unless we can say with certainty that we've never in our lives said anything controversial as well. But most of us aren't being filmed while we make these statements, and most of us aren't good friends with a presidential candidate. But that doesn't mean that the words we use aren't just as important...even if we are speaking just to one other person.

And we should be inspired by a presidential candidate who doesn't disown anyone who is important in his life just because that person is controversial. Friendships ARE important, and the mark of a good friend is one who is with you during good times, as well as bad.

We have all become so used to being labeled "unpatriotic" and virtually condemned if any of us dare say anything negative about the United States and its policies. The ribbon-car-magnet, "I Stand With The President" bumper-sticker crowd takes ANY statement like the Reverend's and turns it into a flag-waving event, rather than look at the REASONS he made the statement to begin with. Remember the Dixie Chicks harrassment five years ago? Well, Obama's speech was given on the five-year anniversary of the start of "shock and awe." There are those of us who have been deeply troubled by this war since that very first day, and yet we were shunned if we openly criticised it --especially at the beginning. Natalie Maines and her family received death threats...all in the name of patriotism. Now who is truly the more patriotic person...the one who makes a negative statement about the government, or the one who threatens to KILL the person who made that statement?

Yes, what Rev. Wright said was offensive to me....I don't believe that God should "damn" America...Shrub and his administration seem to be doing that work without God's help. I believe that God has blessed this country with so many good things that we DO need to question an administration that is more concerned with corporations than with individuals; we DO need to challenge our right to drop bombs on any country we want based on the flimsiest of evidence that they "might" hurt us. And we DO need to be angry that the future health and viability of our children and grandchildren is being destroyed by a president and vice president who are so in bed with the oil industry that they will publicly ridicule the idea of global warming rather than be concerned about how they can quickly change our country's environmental policies to try and stop this from happening. But, I would never question Rev. Wright to make that statement...even from his pulpit. Many other ministers from the more evangelical, traditionally white churches, have made equally offensive and "damning" statements during their sermons about the rights of homosexuals, the victims of hurricanes "deserving" their fate, and racially insulting statements about people of other nations and faiths.

If any of you have been watching "John Adams" on HBO you will appreciate all the more the content of Obama's speech this week. The Founders wrestled with so many of these very issues, and two hundred years later we are still wrestling with them. The very foundations of this country were built on our right and ability to question our government. It is what gives us liberty. It is what gives us freedom of speech.

And one final note...I heard this on the radio yesterday so I can't take credit for it...but does this put to rest once and for all the Faux News obsession that Obama is secretly a Muslim?

c'mon, you've done this to your cat too

Since the political posts I've done lately haven't generated much chatter, I'll fall back to "cat wearing a cowboy hat."

The grim smile

Is there a rulebook somewhere that says that when a well-known man (usually a politician) is caught doing the naughty with someone other than his wife (male, or female!) it is required that his wife stand beside him when he announces publicly that he's been a "bad, naughty boy"*?

I for one am sad that the poor wife is paraded in front of the cameras and forced to slap on that clearly artificial smile (or appropriately stern, and hurt grimace) just so we are all assured that she will "stand by her man." If ever there is a time the man should have to face those cameras alone--without the visible support of the very woman he most hurt--this is it.


________________________________
*Sen. Larry Craig criticising Bill Clinton in 1999. "I will tell you that the Senate certainly can bring about a censure reslution and it's a slap on the wrist. It's a, 'Bad boy, Bill Clinton. You're a naughty boy.' The American people already know that Bill Clinton is a bad boy, a naughty boy."

quote of the day

"Sen. Clinton is fighting hard. She's tenacious. I respect her for that. She is working hard to win the nomination. But I want everybody to be absolutely clear. I'm not running for vice president. I'm running for president of the United States of America.

"With all due respect. I won twice as many states as Sen. Clinton. I've won more of the popular vote than Sen. Clinton. I have more delegates than Sen. Clinton. So, I don't know how somebody who's in second place is offering vice presidency to the person who's in first place."

—Sen. Barack Obama

the spin

I've actually had a couple of faithful readers (but not commentors....you can participate too!) say they were expecting me to have a post about recent primary results. My response has been that I've been too busy to post about the March 4 primary, but that doesn't mean I haven't been ruminating about it. My middle sister told me this afternoon after we waxed political on the phone that maybe I needed to stop listening to the news so much...take a break as it were. She's probably right. I find I can get really overwhelmed with all the diagnosing of each nuance of each candidate's every utterance. Does it mean she's being mean? Does it mean he's weak on defending himself? Does that flicker of an eye mean she is getting angry? What does the use of the word "reject" mean?

Good Lord.

The need for the talking heads to keep talking to fill air time has effectively brought our election process to a months-long festival of picking at every single fiber of a candidate's life with tweezers until there is no possible way a voter can make a decision based on the real issues.

I'm very disillusioned with the DNC, and with the leadership which seems hellbent on screwing up the best chance we have at a national election in a generation. I mean, has anyone really listened to anything Shrub has been saying lately? He is getting more, and more bizarre with each passing day. It is only the fact that we are distracted by all these primaries that we aren't paying attention to him anymore. Shrub and his cronies have screwed things up so badly that only the DNC could miss this opportunity to sweep not only the presidential campaign, but the house and senate as well.

The good news about the March 4 primaries is that the results pretty much make it certain that my primary vote in May might actually count toward something....a reality that I didn't think would happen earlier this year.

So I think I WILL take a break. I will find something else to think about for a while.

Maybe I'll go to Wally World and find inspiration for another round of columns blasting THEM!

how time flies

The Reenactor was at his alma mater the other day to help with a class, and while there went by to buy "green" from the guys who sell stuff on campus this time of year. If you don't know what green is, let me reassure you it is a thing you wear, not a thing you smoke. Nor is it something that has anything to do with an environmental issue. It has to do with Ireland and the patron saint of engineering. Anywhooo...he was telling me tonight that as he was "shopping" at the table full of green products he overheard the freshmen who were working the table discussing how they didn't realize what a big party this particular university has each year in March to celebrate the patron saint of engineering until they got on campus, and were so surprised by all the hoopla. The Reenactor jumped into the conversation and waxed historical about the first time he visited the campus and the "trees were full of snakes," "the grass looked like a bomb had gone off on it," and there were drunk people everywhere....celebrating, of course.

It then occurred to him that the reason these young men didn't know the "true" celebration that happened years ago is that the first time he was on campus for this event, they weren't even born yet. The event has toned down considerably in recent years, and isn't quite as colorful as it once was.

In other words, we have green sweatshirts in our closet older than these boys.

Yikes.

Everything's better...somewhere else

I'll start this post by apologizing to one of my friends who reads this blog and comments occasionally. She grew up in Texas, and although she thankfully escaped a few years ago and moved to The Commonwealth, and is now in warmer climes in Florida, the fact remains that she did grow up in Texas. So, forgive me for what I'm about to say.

I just read in the news that the state of Texas is the eighth largest contributor of carbon dioxide in the world. They are right behind Canada in how many metric tons (630 million to be exact in 2005--the year of this study) of CO2 they spew into the atmosphere. That's right. The entire country of Canada has nearly the same CO2 emissions as the state of Texas.

In the article I read about this there are multiple causes for this, namely the refineries and the beef industry. Here's an interesting tidbit from the article, the "production of just 1 kilogram of beef results in more CO2 emissions than going for a three-hour drive while leaving all the lights on at home."

In spite of this news, most people in Texas, deny that "man-made" global warming is real, and refuse to embrace any ideas to change their energy usage.

I've never been fond of Texas, even though all of my siblings have lived there at some point in their lives. None of them live there now, thankfully, and I can blast away. With the exception of my friend who is now in Florida the folks I've met from Texas are so arrogant about their state, and it's "virtues," that I can't tolerate their company. Texas gave us Shrub. Texas gave us Tom Delay. And now it turns out that Texas is destroying our planet.

Y'all should be real proud of yourselves.

eclipse

For those of you who had cloud cover tonight and didn't get to see it, the lunar eclipse was really beautiful. T1 had received a telescope from Santa, and that made it especially fun, in spite of the sub-zero temps on our deck.

This was taken with our Pentax SLR digital. Not bad for just using a long lens. I *think* the white dot in the lower left corner is Saturn. It appeared to the naked eye as a bright star in that area. If I'm wrong I'm sure one of you NASA wonks out there will let me know.

George and Abe

In honor of the two President's who gave us the day off today, and nary a word is mentioned about them on the major news networks websites this morning...I thought I would look up some quotes.

As I read through a list of G. Washington's quotes he sounds like a bit of a neo-con, but without the Rovian meanness. Now I'm inspired to go read more about him. I haven't read much about him since high school, and Lord knows that was tainted with myths and fables...cherry trees, anyone?

Here's a sampling:

Geo: Mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own government.

Geo: Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.

Geo: I know [patriotism] exists, and I know it has done much in the present contest. But a great and lasting war can never be supported on this principle alone. It must be aided by a prospect of interest, or some reward.

Geo: "Guard against the postures of pretended patriotism."

Abe of course was a great, and often funny, speaker. If you need to see evidence of just how great his ability to communicate in just a few words the anguish of the Civil War, go read a copy of the Gettysburg Address. Here are some quotes from him...

Abe: "Common looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them."

Abe: "I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.

Abe: "A woman is the only thing I am afraid of that I know will not hurt me."

Abe: "Allow the president to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such a purpose - and you allow him to make war at pleasure."

Abe: "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

The Reenactor just came in and said this is his favorite Abe quote:

"In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong."

My advice....buy Krispie Kreme stock

At dinner tonight the topic of "what would you do if you were President?" came up. T2's platform is based entirely on donuts. He said he would start an "international donut day" and would make sure that everyone has a donut on every major holiday...donuts on Valentine's Day, donuts on St. Patrick's Day, etc. The Reenactor asked him how he would pay for all these donuts, and without hesitation T2 said he would make them all himself.

How would the world be different if once a month everyone got a donut? To the skeptic, a starving person in Africa or India would eat it and not care that it was a sugary confection...it is food, dammit, and they are starving. Conversely, there are people in this country struggling to maintain and/or reduce their weight, and a donut would be an unwelcome temptation to their struggle. But to this particular six-year-old kid donuts are a round slice of heaven on Earth.

In general...if you can think of the joy you get from eating a really excellent donut...whether Krispy Kreme is your poison, or a local donut shop ("Red's" is our own) then you can understand why T2 made International Donut Day his priority. If we all had that happy commaradarie that comes from sharing a dozen with friends, wouldn't we all feel better? Wouldn't the world be friendlier if a coffee and donut break were enforced?

I guess my point is that donuts make a great peace offering. If you are angry at someone, take them a dozen. If you are wanting to get to know someone better, donuts make a great "welcome" presentation.

For the record, I like the chocolate iced.

Failure is Not An Option

So if you're a NASA groupie like we are you'll understand the title. The Reenactor bought model rockets for himself and the kids for Christmas because...well....he IS a geek. A ChemE Geek, not an Aerospace Geek, but a Geek nevertheless.

They carefully assembled the rockets (one for each of them) but it has been too windy, too cold, too icy or to damn wet to launch. We had to go to his parent's place in the Bootheel for the big flat stretch of land necessary for launching these things. Today turned out to be a good day to do it.

T2's rocket was fired first...it arc'd a good half-mile into a tree line, but was successfully retrieved. T1's rocket...mid-sized of the group didn't go as far, but still made an impressive showing. The Reenactor's rocket was a three-stage bright-orange ensemble (remember, geek). After firing we quickly lost sight of it. It headed east toward the Mississippi, which is about 15 miles away, and we pretty much assumed it was heading back to Kentucky. The Reenactor headed out on his dad's ATV to search the huge field just east of his parent's place—owned by a friend of theirs—and after multiple passes back and forth, he found it. The rocket was intact but the two stages were toast, and were found in other locations.

This photo is of the second firing of his rocket, with much less fire power assigned than the first attempt. It went straight up, and came almost straight back down into his Dad's horse pasture, which pretty much alarmed and pissed off his dad's quarter horse.

I'm just impressed I actually got this photo!

owl

T1 was eating an apple the other day and moved some of the seeds around and decided it looked like an owl. Can you tell that cabin fever is setting in that I not only took a photo of it, but I'm posting it on my blog as well????????