Here We Go Again - Up in the Air

Two hot air balloons flew over our house this morning around 9 a.m.

The cows stampeded to the other end of the farm.

The balloonists were flying too low. They are supposed to be a certain height over the area and these fliers were not.

It is the "whoosh" of the propane gas burners that scares the cows. This noise like a dragon sets them off and they will run from one end of the farm and through the fence in order to get away from it.

My husband ran outside and began calling the cows to try to calm them. "Whooo cow... Whooo" he cried.

They were not reassured. They ran off like they had Satan on their heels. I took pictures of the low-flying hot air balloons which I will deliver to the Commonwealth's Attorney's office on Monday.

We also yelled at the balloonists. The balloon operators hit their burners and quickly went higher (where they should have been to begin with) and then the wind currents took them in another direction.

I know they heard us because I went up in a hot air balloon once. You can hear everything on the ground, even conversation at normal volume. Sound apparently travels up.

My husband jumped in the truck and went after the cows. They were on the other side of the farm, huddled in the corner at the fence. He had to fire up the tractor and take them a large round bale of hay to coax them out.

After my husband calmed the cows, we called the sheriff.

If the cows go through the fence or if one breaks a leg while running away from these balloons, we are the ones incurring the loss. Not these hot air balloonists. As it was it cost us time, gasoline and a bale of hay that we can ill afford in these times of drought.

Cows are not cheap. We have many thousands of dollars invested in these animals. I understand horses also go nuts at the sound of a hot balloon. I was told last year that one horse badly injured himself trying to jump out of its stall when a balloon went over.

One of the reasons this is so vexing is that if these people would go just 10 more minutes down the road, they could fly over thousands of acres of public National Forest land and not disturb anyone. With all of that National Forest you'd think they could find some place down that way to take off and land that did not inconvenience others. Not all of the National Forest is wooded; there are open fields.

This is the problem with the world today. Everyone is "hooray for me" and "screw you." I don't think for a moment that these balloonists care that they cost my husband an hour of his morning or that he is very upset.

We have had problems with a balloonist in the past. So this is not new, nor is this the first time we've filed a report. We know the drill and that is how I know to take my photos to the Commonwealth's Attorney.

If I were a hot air balloonist and I knew I had people yelling at me, when I landed and was able to locate a computer with the county's GIS on it, I would figure out who those landowners were and I would contact them and apologize. Even if I had to make several calls to get the right farmer.

However we have never had any contact with any of these balloonists and of course we don't have any way to know who they are. I think one of them operates a ballooning business here but I have never seen the multi-colored balloon before.

I wish people would think about their actions. Hot air balloons are lovely but like everything they have their place.

And that is not over a farm full of scared and frightened cattle.

Happy Halloween!

My great aunt and uncle’s home in West Virginia supposedly was haunted.

When I was a child, we would visit and I remember my mother talking about the strange things that happened in the old house.

She did not like to stay there.

My mind is misty as I try to recall these spooky stories. Legends tainted with the eye of an imaginative youngster can often take a turn otherwise unexpected. I lay no claim to the truth herein.

The trip to Canvas, West Virginia was a long trek through the mountains, over winding roads that threatened us all with carsickness. It was always a relief to emerge from the vehicle into the sweet West Virginia air.

The house sat back in a hollow, shaded by huge old trees. The yard was a children’s paradise, with rocks covered with moss and beech and sassafras trees from which we would strip the bark. It tasted sweet and was a treat to us urchins.

Inside, Aunt Helen was always baking. The place smelled like a heaven of bread and fried chicken. The food spilled off the table in great abundance the entire time we were there.

Uncle Carmen and my father spent their day together picking guitars, singing bluegrass until the late hour forced my mother to ask them to be quiet so we could all get some sleep.

I have a teasingly faint memory of the sounds of a banjo playing late at night. Maybe it was my uncle or my father – but both men play guitar and mandolin. As a young musician myself, I knew a banjo when a heard it.

I rose and went to investigate. I hit a creak in the stair and the music stopped. Something rattled, like the sheathing of paper. I slipped on down the steps, shivering in a sudden chill. When I cut on the lights, there was no one.

The next morning I asked Uncle Carmen at breakfast why he played his banjo in the dark. Aunt Helen’s spoon froze on the way to her mouth.

“I don’t play the banjo,” Carmen said. Out of all my visits to his house, those words are the ones I most remember.

They told me I had dreamed the sounds.

On another visit, a clock in the living room where I slept on the couch that had never worked started chiming for no reason at all, waking me up.
It struck thirteen.

Suddenly the pipes in the bathroom sang, rattled and moaned with a fierce desire that made my hair stand on end.

And the rocking chair at the far end of the room began to creak as it rocked.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

Then the water in the bathroom just off the living room turned on. The faucet handles apparently moved all by themselves, sending a splash of cold water down the washbasin.

This was a lot worse than a banjo singing out in the night.

If you think I sprang out of that room and hightailed it into the guest room where my parents stayed, you would be right.


**This originally appeared on October 29, 2008 in The Fincastle Herald under my column, Country Crossroads.

Thursday Thirteen

For today's Thursday Thirteen, I present a list of things I like to drink:

1. Irish breakfast tea (decaf)

2. Root beer

3. Coca Cola (decaf)

4. Water

5. English Breakfast tea (decaf)

6. Lemonade

7. Hot chocolate

8. Apple cider

9. Icees/Snow cones

10. Ginger tea

11. Ginger Ale

12. Gator Aid

13. Cranberry Juice


Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; you can learn more about it here. My other Thursday Thirteens are here.

Politically Pooped Out

Are you as tired of this election as I am?

I have stopped watching TV because I don't want to see the ads. I can't stand the smears, the attacks, the fear-mongering, the horrible warnings that doom is nigh.

Blech.

I have stopped commenting on some of the blogs I normally read because they've turned too political. I don't care about the cost of clothing or lobster dinners or who said what when where and how because none of that, not one little tiny iota of it, matters. Smoke and mirrors.

You will notice I have not mentioned a party. That's because I hold them both to blame. I dislike negative campaigns and campaign messages. Although I will say I see the negativity coming more out of the McCain camp. Obama has had a few positive commercials; they are always a relief.

I want to know what the person who wants my vote will do. I don't particularly care what he thinks his opponent will do. I can figure that out for myself, thank you very much. So positive messages always get my attention while the negative ones simply turn me off.

The negativity has corroded this campaign to the point where I am looking at alternative candidates.

I am Miss American Moderate, and frankly neither one of these candidates meets my criteria for president. They both have their faults and they are pretty big faults in my mind. One comes a little closer than the other to being somewhat what I think I want in a president, and I lean in that direction. But the margin is so thin that a good third party candidate could send me sliding along without too much trouble.

Of course there isn't such a candidate, not in this media-led world. Not when the media wouldn't let a good third party candidate through, wouldn't give them the time of day, wouldn't move to make it a fair playing ground for someone not of their choosing.

I want a discussion about things that really matter, not emotional hot-button issues that in the long run have nothing to do with anything.

Some of the topics that need to be discussed are education, health care, jobs and job security, and care for the elderly. Those are issues that matter a great deal to me. There is not enough talk about any of them.

I don't care what religion someone is. I don't care what color they are. I don't care about his suit or her shoes or who said what when talking "off the cuff." I don't care if they are pro or anti or if they want to cut or raise my taxes. None of that matters to me. Those are all scare issues, big bad boogies used to make people think with their emotions and not use the logical part of their brain.

I don't worry about national security, either. We will always have an army and we already have enough stuff to completely destroy the world if we want. What more do we need?

What does matter? What do I want in a president?

Intelligence. I want someone who is smarter than most everyone, including myself. If I think I can beat that person in chess then he or she has no business running for president. I want someone super sharp. MENSA material.

Affability. I want someone who knows how to handle people, from the very rich to the very poor. Someone who has compassion and empathy and the ability to make decisions based on the best information.

Class. I want someone who can meet with the best the world has to offer. Someone who doesn't throw up in the Japanese emperor's lap or faint or hug the German prime minister or squeeze the boob on the queen or feel up Josephine Sixpack. Someone who knows why there are two forks on the table and how to handle his or her soup spoon. Someone who knows the difference between a Monet and the black velvet painting of the dogs playing poker and has an appreciation for both.

Listening ability. I want someone who will listen. Someone who will listen not only to his or her advisers but also to the public. Someone who will hear and understand the issues that you and you and I face every day. Someone who will hear and then act with dignity, intelligence and compassion.

*Independent. I want someone who has the strength to break away from the corporations and the lobbyists. Someone who is beholden to no one and nothing except the U.S. Constitution.

*Respects my Civil Rights. That includes not listening in on my phone calls or reading my emails.


I honestly don't understand this need to have someone in office who is "just like me." I don't think I could run the country so why would I want someone just like me making the effort?

I want only the very best running this country. The best president and the best in Congress. Not the person who best pushes my emotional hot buttons but the person who will best ensure that the playing ground is fair and even and that those who are in need have a little bit of a helping hand because one day that person in need could be you or you or me or your mother or my father.

I want the highest office in the land to be held by a person who thinks things through and comes up with the best solution to the problem, not the most partisan solution to the issue.

I would elect Jesus but he isn't running. I don't think he could get on the ballot in this country anyway.

My disenchantment is such that I may not even vote for president. I might just let that one go unmarked.

This will be my only rant on the elections, so feel free to come back tomorrow for the regular farm and freelancing stuff.

I just had to get that off my chest.


*I added these about 8 hours later, after sleeping on it and realizing I hadn't put them in.

Halloween Facts

BOO!
Some Halloween factoids for your edification and amusement. These came from the U.S. Census Bureau in a press release. I put my own twist on the information.

Halloween observances date back thousands of years to Celtic rituals.

The day is associated with witches, ghosts, devils and hobgoblins. Not to mention presidential politics, pillowcases and pumpkin pails.

In the U.S., the first official citywide Halloween celebration occurred in Anoka, Minn., in 1921. (That's a long time for something that is thousands of years old to have government sanction.)

There are 36 million potential trick-or-treaters in the United States (that's kids age 5 to 13).

They could hit about 110.3 million houses if they visited every home. (That's a lot of bellyaches!)

The pumpkin-producing states produced 1.1 billion pounds of pumpkin in 2007. Illinois produced the most with 542 million pounds. Other top producers are California, New York and Ohio - those states produced at least 100 million pounds of pumpkin.

All of those pumpkins were valued at $117 million.

Here are some scary-sounding place names:

Transylvania County, N.C. (29,984 residents) - the major drink is red in color, of course.

Tombstone, Ariz. (population 1,562) - plus several hundred ghosts.

Pumpkin Center, N.C. (population 2,228) - where they eat a lot of pie.

Pumpkin Bend, Ark. (population 307) - where they toss a lot of pie.

Cape Fear in New Hanover County, N.C. (15,711) - where they people often tremble.

Cape Fear in Chatham County, N.C. (1,170) - where the people often shake and quake.

Skull Creek, Neb. (population 274) - where the headless horseman roams.

In 2006 there were 1,170 chocolate and coca product manufacturers. They employed 39,457 people and shipped out $13. 9 billion in goods (I ate my share.).

California has the most chocolate and cocoa manufacturing plants: 128, followed by Pennsylvania with 116. And here I thought Hershey, PA had the most.

There were 473 non-chocolate making candy facilities in the U.S. in 2006. These factories employed 18,733 people and shipped $7.2 billion worth of goods that year. California again led the nation with 72 establishments. I guess this would be gum and hard candy.

This is why I am fat: Americans ate 24.5 pounds of candy in 2007.

5 Things

Sweetfluttersby had this meme and since I am trying to write every day in my blog but sometimes I am brain dead I thought I would give this a shot.

So here goes! Feel free to do it yourself. Or not.

5 Things Found In My pocketbook

my checkbook
business cards
ink pens
those little cards you have to have to get the discounts at various stores
Chapstick

5 Things I would do today if I could

take a nap
eat chocolate
take a long walk in the woods
spend time with my husband
spend time with a friend

5 Things I love about my life

my husband
my work
my surroundings
my extended familyl
my friends

5 Things I’ve Always Wanted To Do

travel to Ireland and Scotland
write a novel!!!!!
have a child
go back into the past and meet my many-great grandparents
know that I mattered


5 Things I enjoy the most

my husband
reading
writing
silence
music

On Writing, Sort Of

I cannot remember when I decided I wanted to "be a writer" as my life's work.

Maybe when I started reading and discovered the joy of story. Or perhaps it was because my teachers always told me I could write and that it was what I should pursue.

It seems to me like I have always wanted to write.

It has not been easy. My parents were sure that writing was not a real career and encouraged me to look elsewhere.

I remember when I was about 11 I told my mother I would grow up to write for the weekly paper. Only I would do it better, I said. I don't know about the "better" part but that is indeed what I have grown up to do.

I never wanted to write for the daily and aside from a several articles about graduations in the last 1980s and features in the now-defunct Neighbors section, that did not happen.

These days I write the equivalent of at least a book a year, only it's in articles that cover local government.

I wanted to write poetry for a while, and so I did. I published a few pieces but nothing substantial.

I wanted to write fiction and I have published a very few short stories.

Several unfinished novels lie on my shelves or buried in drawers. I have never been able to settle on a genre. I like to read mysteries, sort of, mainstream fiction, and fantasy.

Growing up I thought I would write a children's mystery series a la Nancy Drew. Then I wanted to write Gothic novels like Phyllis Whitney or Victoria Holt.

It would be nice to come up with a savvy character like Stephanie Plum but I don't seem to have that ability.

Surely I could come up with a story about a small town, with a small town hero in a small town world. That is what I know.

I learned in school and by studying other writing all about plot and pacing, characterization, denouement, delighting and destroying. I learned to write about what I know and I had it drilled into my head to SHOW DON'T TELL.

I can do all of that if I can find the time. Or I used to be able to.

Sometimes I think that maybe I have a way with words but no ability to tell a story. This is something I've wondered about for a while now.

Or maybe I simply don't have the time to spend on a long piece, since I am so busy writing short articles in order to pay the bills.

I have read Dorthea Brande's Becoming a Writer, John Gardner's On Becoming a Novelist, Brenda Ueland's If You Want to Write and Zinser's On Writing Well, along with many other books about writing, both as a way of life and as craft.

These books all fired me up and I generally sat down and pounded out ... something... after reading them. Who knows what the something was.

There are many days when I feel like my creativity has taken a back seat to the work of writing. Can one find art in a government meeting, after all? Where is the joy and delight in a turn of phrase when one is writing about supervisors and town council meetings or upcoming elections?

I think so, actually. Sometimes the magic of living, of watching the public's work being performed before my eyes, makes my heart dance with wonder. I don't know that this is conveyed to the reader, but I try sometimes, if I have the time.

I often don't have the time for flourishes of phrase, however. Deadlines loom. Laundry must be folded. Work work work work.

I wonder will I ever write that piece of fiction? Will I ever finish my fantasy book, my story of magic? Will my mystery ever move beyond Chapter 2?

Thursday Thirteen

1. A two lane highway

2. North and South

3. A house .... cannot stand.

4. Cells

5. Black and White

6. Right brain and left brain

7. Israel and Palestine

8. East and West

9. Blue and Red

10. 50 (x) 2 = 25

11. Good and Bad

12. ... we fall.

13. Republicans and Democrats


Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; you can learn more about it here. My other Thursday Thirteens are here.

Extended Family

Several people have commented on my extended family. I had not considered this unusual but apparently it is.

My mother's side of the family was rather prolific. She had a sister and four brothers. My grandmother had three sisters and two brothers. My grandfather had seven siblings. They all had children and their children have children.

Some of them had children when they were quite young and their daughters followed suit, making them grandparents at the age of 40. Before my grandmother passed away last year there were four generations living at the same time. And if you add in the fact that my great-grandfather's sister passed away earlier this year at 107, there were actually five generations going strong at once.

I think that is pretty remarkable.

Another thing is that the family history goes way back. The family settled here in the late 1700s. That's 200+ years of cousins.

In fact, my husband and I are 5th cousins, which we did not know when we married. His great aunt kept telling us we were kin but we didn't believe her until I did the family history thing about a decade ago.

I am kin to a great many people who have long roots in this valley.

The thing about family and knowing all of these people is that it doesn't happen by accident. Well, accident of birth, perhaps, but it takes a little time and effort to get to know all of these folks.

I have gone out of my way to meet distant cousins. Sometimes we click and stay in contact, sometimes we don't. When we do I am grateful.

My Christmas card list is about 50 families large. If nothing else I stay in touch this way. I don't do the long letter thing but instead I generally hand write a note in each card. It is a short note but it's personal.

I do not know my father's people very well. They do not live here and I don't see them. That is a post for another day.

My great aunt's funeral is this afternoon. I have a ton of work and I really don't have the time to do the family get-together afterwards, but I will.

Relationships are more important than work. Family is more important than anything the money I earn can buy.

I don't know how we have managed to let this slip away from us. We need to bring it back. We need those connections with aunts and cousins. We need family, all of us.

May you find family wherever you are. The world is what you make it.

More Autumn 2008

The photos I posted Sunday were actually taken in Craig County. It's a higher elevation and the trees turned more quickly there.

I took these pictures yesterday during a short walk on the farm. These better represent the colors where I live. I don't think they are quite as lovely as the trees in Craig but perhaps they will be in a few days.

Up In Heaven

I am sad to report that my Great Aunt Susie passed away last night around 10 p.m.

She was living at The Oaks in Salem, where she has stayed for nearly the last two years.




Aunt Susie's real name was Alma Bryant. We called her Susie and she told me not long ago that the reason she had that nickname was because of a double date she and my grandmother went on. The two gentlemen insisted on calling my grandmother Rosie (her name was Melba) and Alma "Susie".

The names stuck and forever after they were known as Rosie and Susie.

Susie was 88 years old. She never had children but instead raised her husband's brood. His wife has passed away and Susie took over as substitute mom.

Those folks were all grown by the time I came along. She babysat me for a while. The first time I took my husband over to see her, she insisted he go in the dining room and look at the window sill.

I had cut my teeth on the wood and left marks where I gnawed on it. She loved to tell me the story of how I climbed up on a chair and stood looking out, chewing on the window, and how she found me. How she enjoyed sharing that story with my fellow.

As I grew from toddler to child, Aunt Susie's house was a wonder. She and my Uncle Carl spent a lot of time at auctions. They collected things like salt and pepper shakers, dolls, and model cars. There was always so much to see when you visited that you didn't know where to start.

All of her things were sold when she moved to the retirement community, including her home. She mourned that terribly. She had spent about 60 years there and the place had become a part of her. I can't imagine how hard it would be to give up all of those memories, particularly when you're not quite ready to do so.

My mother and Aunt Susie had a special bond. After my mother passed away I started visiting Aunt Susie more often. As she grew more frail I visited more frequently.

I always took her apples from Ikenberrys' Orchards. She wouldn't eat apples from anywhere else.

I will miss my visits with my great aunt. She was the last of that generation. She was a wonderful woman and I know that when she went to heaven her husband Carl, my mother and my grandmother were all there to take her in.

I want to thank you, my readers, who have helped me with your words of comfort during this time. I have greatly appreciated the encouragement. Many blessings upon you all.

Books: Dance of the Gods

Dance of the Gods
By Nora Roberts
Copyright 2006
Audio Book 10 hours
Read by Dick Hill

This is part two of the Circle Trilogy by Nora Roberts.

The trilogy covers an apocalyptic moment between worlds as a vampire queen tries to take over this world and the world of Gaell. Six have gathered to stop the evil: Hoyt, Blair, Glenna, Cian, Larkin and Moria.

This is mostly Blair's story, and she is quite a Buffy the Vampire Slayer character.

Dick Hill does another great job of reading, although I wearied at times of the affected Irish accent. However, it went with the story so I mostly didn't mind it.

If you like magic and Buffy the Vampire Slayer you will probably like this trilogy, although Blair isn't featured much in the first one. The first one features Hoyt and Glenna, who are both sorcerers.

3 stars

Autumn 2008

Remembering Aunt Ruth

Note to my readers:

This year has not been kind to my elderly relatives. My Great Aunt Susie lies near death in the nursing home. In the spring my Great Aunt Elsie passed away. Over the summer, I lost my Great Aunt Ruth.

This is a tribute to Aunt Ruth. It was published in the October 15 edition of The Fincastle Herald under my "Country Crossroads" column.

***
Remembering Aunt Ruth

Blueberry pancakes always make me think of my Aunt Ruth.

When I was a wee lass back in the late 1960s, she operated the Blue Jay Restaurant near Dixie Caverns.

On Sunday mornings, we’d pile into Mom’s blue Dodge Charger for the long drive. What a time of anticipation!

Aunt Ruth greeted us with a happy smile and her tinkling laugh. She joked with my parents and patted me on the head before kissing my brother, who sat in a high chair.

That’s because I was five years old and certainly too big for such a seat.

Once we were settled, Aunt Ruth handed out menus and asked us what we wanted to eat.

I always ordered blueberry pancakes.

They were exquisite kid-sized flapjacks, smothered with butter and covered with pure maple syrup. Plump juicy blueberries were cooked into the batter, not piled on top, just the way I like them.

Aunt Ruth was the cook, you see. And she must’ve made those pancakes with some kind of love to make them taste so good.

I don’t know how many Sunday mornings I spent eating Aunt Ruth’s blueberry pancakes. Maybe we went there for several years.

And then one night we went there for dinner.

My parents ordered fish – seems to me like maybe it was fish fry night – and when the time came, Aunt Ruth looked at me. “And what will you have, darlin’?” she said.

“Blueberry pancakes!” I announced.

Aunt Ruth broke out in a whoop. My father was not amused. “You will not have blueberry pancakes,” he said. He turned to my mother. “They’ll make her throw up this late at night.”

I am very sure that is what he said.

I pouted, a talent I believe I have outgrown. “I will not throw up, Daddy. I won’t!” I cried.

I imagine I was very endearing, sitting there with bows in my hair and a pretty little red dress on. I probably had tears in my eyes and everything.

Aunt Ruth laughed again. She was always laughing. “It’s no problem, I’m glad to fix them for her,” she said over my father’s protests.

When dinner came out, there they were. A stack of piping hot blueberry pancakes, made especially for me.

I was in heaven. I even remembered to say thank you to Aunt Ruth before I dove into my special treat.

Aunt Ruth surely had other customers and many other things to cook on those times we visited, but I remember her checking on us frequently. She always asked my mother about my grandfather, who was Aunt Ruth’s brother, and she followed up on other family members. The place might have been overflowing with people to feed but she always found time to spend with us.

My great aunt, Ruth Harris Morris, passed away on August 24, eight years to the day that my mother died. I now have double reason to mourn at that particular time of year.

Aunt Ruth lived a long and bountiful life. She had hardships and tears but she seemed to find more laughter and joy in the world than anyone else I know.

She had a family, my cousins, whom I am sorry to say I barely know, who she loved and pampered and cared for up until the end.

I saw her last in July at the family reunion, an annual affair she had insisted on for the last 15 years. She looked frail and she told me she thought it wouldn’t be long before she went on to be with Uncle Ted and my mother.

“When you eat blueberry pancakes, you be sure to think of me,” she told me before I left, because she remembered what I liked to eat, too.

I will never forget you, Aunt Ruth, or the wonderful kindnesses you paid to a small child who loved your fluffy blueberry pancakes.

Thursday Thirteen

1. What is the allure of Facebook? I started setting up a page but I don't get the point of it. The thing won't let me see anyone else's page even if I'm signed in, I guess because I'm not their "friend". But I'd like to look first to see if I want to be their "friend". What is the point here?

2. Why does David Letterman wear white socks and slippers with a $1,000 suit?

3. Why is it that when I am not dressed up and I just run into the grocery store for a single item, I see 10 people I know, all of whom want to stop and chat?

4. How many licks DOES it take to get to the Tootsie Roll Center of a Tootsie Pop? I remember licking one and counting when I was a child but I don't recall the number.

5. How lucky is it for the four-leaf clover if you find it and pick it?

6. Same goes for the rabbit... how lucky is that rabbit if you've cut off its foot?

7. If Trix are for kids, are Frosted Flakes for grown ups?

8. If banks are receiving billions to shore them up, will that money eventually be loaned out to citizens? Is this another part of the trickle down economic theory?

9. If you are a vendor and you see a rat in your establishment and you don't set a trap or put your food up out of the way, or at least report it to somebody, how is that the building owner's fault? Don't you as a businessperson have a little responsibility for ensuring the safety of what you feed the public?

10. If you are a multi-million dollar retirement community and you can't pay your bills, how is handing everything over to another company going to fix anything or reassure the residents that they aren't going to end up in the street?

11. If you wear blue all the time, does that make it your favorite color by default?

12. Why are little Styrofoam pieces called peanuts? And why does my vitamin company ship me a tiny little bottle in a too-large box full of the things?

13. Why do some people always feel the need to question everything?



Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; you can learn more about it here. My other Thursday Thirteens are here.

A Phone Company Puzzler

Let's say you're a nTelos customer and you're calling long distance within the same area code.

The call doesn't go through.

You try again numerous times. Occasionally you get through but just as frequently you do not. Sometimes the phone doesn't ring but someone eventually picks up.

Hello? Hello?

You respond but they can't hear you so they hang up, of course.

Now, who do you report this to?

In the old days you would have dialed 0 for operator and reported the problem. You told the operator what problem you were having. She said thank you very much and told you she would take are of it.

So now you call your phone company.

Your phone company (nTelos) says sorry, it's not on our end. You need to call the phone company that services that area.

Like you know what company that is.

Fortunately the helpful nTelos phone company people figure this out- it's TDS Telecom - and give you a number to call.

You call and attempt to make a report. After speaking to several people, the final helpful TDS phone company person says, essentially, so what do you want me to do about it?

Fix it?

He suggests putting in a "trouble ticket" but you don't know if that will cost the people you're trying to call anything, so you don't respond.

So what do you want me to do, he says.

You don't know. You are just calling to report that there is a problem. You aren't a telephone company repair person. You aren't even their customer.

A long time ago it didn't matter which company had the phone service (perhaps this was because it was all one big company) and you didn't have to turn into Sherlock Holmes to try to track down a phone number to report a problem.

Now you wonder, what exactly is the O for operator for? What does it do these days?

When you dial 0 in this day and age, what happens?

$516,000 and climbing

So what is $516,000? That's the debt per household that we're currently carrying thanks to the Bush administration's efforts to bankrupt the country.

Individually, then, for a household of four, that's over $129,000. That number, by the way, takes in most everything. Some estimates say the debt per capita (individually - what you and I would fork over) is $32,000 but that doesn't include full numbers. I also suspect these are both low numbers because I daresay the numbers the public actually hears are the right ones. I don't believe anything the government tells me these days, and that includes its debt figures.

Anyway, whatever the number, do you have thousands just laying around to hand over to pay for poorly planned wars, Wall Street bailouts, and tax breaks to the oil and gas companies?

I didn't think so. If I managed my household like this administration has managed finances, then we'd be declaring bankruptcy. Is that what is happening, do you think?

I don't know. I'm no economics major. I just know I have XX coming in and if I don't have it in the bank I don't spend it. I don't need the latest doohickey or thing-a-ma-bob. So I think the government doesn't really need the big boy toys it buys up either, all those bombs and bombers and tanks and all that other stuff that makes up the Pentagon budget. That's because we don't really need to be out making wars. We just need enough for defense and I think we have plenty for that.

We have 305.4 million people in this country. My calculator won't even go as high as this debt. Neither, apparently, would the national debt clock in New York, which was taken down so they could add another number to the trillions in debt that with which this administration has saddled you and me and our children.

If the people who own this debt (whoever that may be) suddenly said, pay up, I wonder what would happen? Would they come knocking on our doors asking for the pocket change? Would they say, no, I don't care if your mortgage is paid for, we own your house now? We own your roads and everything else. Go on now, there's the soup line.

Is this coup by paper?

Bill Clinton, for all his faults, didn't leave us looking for soup lines. I did well under Clinton. Maybe it was just timing and he had nothing to do with it, but give me the 1990s and Blue Dress Gate over what's happened since 2000 any day.

Here's an interesting note:

"For every dollar a Democratic president has raised the national debt in the past 63 years Republican presidents have raised the debt by $2.84."

Almost triple the debt.

How about this:

"Debt has been on a steady incline ever since the Reagan presidency. The only exception to the steep increase over the last 30 years was during the Clinton presidency, when he brought spending under control and the debt growth down to almost zero."

Or this:

"At no time since 1945 when Republicans have been in total charge of both elected branches of government have they ever reduced spending."

I do not understand how people can vote against their own economic well being. Maybe someone can explain that to me. Are those single issues that emotionally compelling?

I do not believe for one moment that this great country cannot get a hold of its budget. I think with thoughtfulness and prudent use of time, money and resources we can get out of this hole. But will it happen in my lifetime?

I am not so sure.

FDR, where are you?

Blue Blue Blue

I'm sad tonight.

I just received word that my great aunt is failing fast. Poor Aunt Susie.

She is the last of that generation. When she passes, the aged will be - I suppose they are - my mother's brothers and sister and her cousins.

And then it will be me.

Death is hard and we don't do it well in this country. We don't honor it or accept it as a part of life. We fight it and flail against it. It seems to me we act like it's a dirty bad thing that means someone has done something wrong.

Three days to mourn and then get back to work. What is up with that?

All we do is grow old, or be in a car wreck or a war or do something perfectly normal and there you are, choking on a pickle. And death finds you and takes you, whether you are ready to go or not.

Tomorrow is my parents' wedding anniversary. It is also the anniversary of my first date with my husband. The former ended tragically, with my mother passing away of pancreatic cancer at the age of 56. She was only days away from divorcing my father when she moved on to the other side. Their last 10 years of marriage were bitter and fraught with angst. I have always thought the stress of it added to her early grave.

Aunt Susie is my mother's aunt, my grandmother's sister. When I visit with her I always think of my mother, who I guess will be waiting to greet Aunt Susie when her times comes.

I suppose it is natural then for me to be thinking of my mother tonight, too.

But I don't want to think morose thoughts, not when I still need to write a column for the paper, and it needs to be something... well, not morose.

So here is my happy thought:

I am so thankful for my husband, who 26 years ago was a single fellow and completely unaware that he was about to meet me and so have his life turned upside down and backwards.

He is such a wonderful man. It brightens my mood just to think of him. He is warm and sweet, caring and kind. And strong and sturdy and everything any princess could ever want in a shining white knight.

I am so grateful.

Sunrise

Younge in Roanoke

Remember I told you Gary Younge from the Guardian in the UK is here?

Read this important story on the lengthening bread lines.

Thursday Thirteen

1. Autumn is the time of year for change!

2. Most noticeably are the leaves. Brilliant oranges and bright yellows. I wonder if the reds this year will be muted or spectacular?

3. The grass starts dying out, too. Thank goodness we don't have to mow the yard so much!

4. The deer are starting to rut. The bucks are moving from spending time with each other to seeking out the does. The does are busy ignoring them for the moment, as it is still too early in the date...

5. The drop in temperature is also quite noticeable. Nothing like those chilly nights.

6. Those chilly nights mean fires in the fireplace. A glass of wine and time with my baby!

7. The advent of Autumn also means football. Rah! Rah! Go Big Red!

8. It also means the return of school. Classes have been in session since August, of course, but for some reason this time of year I miss being in a classroom. The camaraderie, the smell of pencils and paper, the joy of learning - Fall brings all of that to me in a rush.

9. Autumn also means the return of winter gourds. I like to buy acorn squash and other kinds of squash and see how best to prepare them. Sometimes I cook them up like a sweet potato and put some brown sugar and butter on them. Yum.

10. Autumn also means locally grown apples. Ikenberry Orchards has an apple called Ginger Gold that I think is wonderful. It's like a cross between a Golden Delicious and a Granny Smith. It's a very sweet apple. I bet it would make a really good caramel apple, although it might be too sweet.

11. And then there are pumpkins. My goodness what would we do without the jack-o-lantern to brighten door stoops and to give us pie?

12. This is also the time of ghosties and goblins and flights of fancy and imagination. As the dying leaves blow across the road, aren't you sure you saw horses pulling a stage coach as you shuffled along that dark and foggy road where someone was murdered?

13. And then of course there is HALLOWEEN! Boo!



Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; you can learn more about it here. My other Thursday Thirteens are here.

When You Are Allergic

My allergies rule my life.

I am allergic or sensitive to a great many things. I do not react always in an expected manner.

I don't just sneeze and get watery eyes. I wheeze and sometimes end up sick for an entire month.

When I was last tested for allergies, which was two years ago, I tested positive for everything in my environment. Dust. Mold. Mildew. Animal dander. Trees of all kinds (oak, pine, etc.). Every grass except for some kind of Asian stuff.

You know, all the things around us.

Animals bother me a lot. Dogs are bad, cats are even worse. While they may make my eyes water and make me sneeze, the ultimate result can be much worse than that. They also make me wheeze, and then I start getting hoarse. My lymph nodes in my neck swell.

If I'm very unlucky I will get laryngitis for a month and not feel well that entire time. This used to happen to me about three times a year until I figured out I need to stay away from places that have animals.

Milk also makes me wheeze if I have too much of it. I can tolerate it in small doses, like in an occasional piece of cheese, but too much and there it goes. Wheeze. Wheeze.

This time of year it's goldenrod and ragweed that sends me into spasms. We have a lot of goldenrod near the house and if I walk through a stand of it when it blooms, well, there's another round of wheezing and the potential for laryngitis.



Because of my allergies, I had to stop researching a book I was working on back in 1994. I needed to spend a great deal of time in the archives at the university in Charlottesville. Unfortunately every time I went to do my work, my asthma kicked in so badly that I had to leave.

I eventually gave up and abandoned the project.

Old homes often bother me (they may be clean but there is often mold which no one seems to smell but me). I love to do these stories, so I try to do them in the summer, when I can spend more time outside than in (and I must hope they haven't just mowed the yard). This does hamper my work sometimes.

Perfumes are a killer. When I go into a major department store, I literally hold my breath and hurry through the perfume area so I don't have to reach for my inhaler. All of my friends know not to cover themselves in smelly-goods if they're going to ride in my car or spend time in my home. Otherwise they get to watch me cough and wheeze.

And cigarettes? I do my best to avoid smoking restaurants and areas where smokers stand. I have a few friends who smoke but none who do it around me, thankfully.

When I am out and visit someplace where there are smokers or perfumes or animals, I rush home and take a shower, regardless of time of day. That helps, I think, because it opens up my sinuses immediately and gets the cigarette smoke or the animal dander off my body.

My allergies apparently started at birth. My mother did not breast feed and I turned out to be allergic to my formula. And then of course I was allergic to cow's milk.

I ended up being raised on goat's milk. My mother used to tell me I smelled like little nanny goat for the first year of my life.

Baahh. Baahh.

Organizing

Since I write and publish a lot of articles for newspapers(38 last month, 16 already this month and it's only the 7th!), I collect a lot of paper.

I have been doing this off and on since 1985, so as you can imagine this adds up to more than a bit of paper. It is A LOT of paper.

For a long time I collected the papers and plopped them in boxes, the entire edition. Recently I went through about 10 years worth and cut out only the articles I wrote and tossed the rest of the pages.

This cut three storage boxes down to one. But the articles are just tossed into a large plastic storage box and aren't in any order. And of course having cut them out, they are oddly shaped and won't fit into a notebook or anything.

I have plans for some of the items. My columns, for instance, I hope to type back up and eventually create a book to give to family. Once that's done I can throw away the originals, I suppose, although I would like to keep them someway.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to manage such a volume of papers?

Psalm 73

Yesterday morning I went to visit the great aunt. She lives 45 minutes a way, so this tends to be an all-morning jaunt for me. I visit several times a month.

Poor Aunt Susie now resides in an assisted living facility. She is quite unwell and my aunt and uncle, who are caring for her and her affairs, have called in hospice.

She does not always remember who has been to see her or who is in front of her. Some of the relatives she no longer knows if they drop in for a visit, particularly those who do not visit often.

Me, she always knows, though sometimes she'll say, "Oh, it's Anita, ... isn't it?" when I drop by. (Actually she calls me by a childhood nickname which will never be revealed on this blog.)

When I entered her room yesterday she was all wrapped up in a blanket and sweater. It was sweltering in her room, but she stays cold. I can last about a half hour before the heat starts making me wheeze.

Since she cannot hear well and does not always remember, it is difficult to converse. Much of the time is passed in silence. During those times I often wonder what she is thinking or remembering. The days of her youth? Is she missing someone? Is she in pain?

Of all the members of our family, Aunt Susie was the most dedicated church-goer. Members of her congregation drop in to see her often, for which I am grateful.

Yesterday she asked me to read to her from the Bible. The book was old and musty, making my eyes water. I thumbed through it. "Do you have a favorite passage?" I asked.

She said no. "Just open it and read," she advised.

I opened the book to Psalm 73. As I read, I could not help but think of the world today and the perils and issues we face. So I have put the psalm below to see if anyone else sees similarities. Are we indeed a species doomed to continually repeat the same mistakes over and over and over again?


Psalm 73
BOOK III : Psalms 73-89
A psalm of Asaph.
1Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.

3 For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 They have no struggles;
their bodies are healthy and strong.

5 They are free from the burdens common to man;
they are not plagued by human ills.

6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
they clothe themselves with violence.

7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity;
the evil conceits of their minds know no limits.

8 They scoff, and speak with malice;
in their arrogance they threaten oppression.

9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
and their tongues take possession of the earth.

10 Therefore their people turn to them
and drink up waters in abundance.

11 They say, "How can God know?
Does the Most High have knowledge?"

12 This is what the wicked are like—
always carefree, they increase in wealth.

13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure;
in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.

14 All day long I have been plagued;
I have been punished every morning.

15 If I had said, "I will speak thus,"
I would have betrayed your children.

16 When I tried to understand all this,
it was oppressive to me

17 till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.

18 Surely you place them on slippery ground;
you cast them down to ruin.

19 How suddenly are they destroyed,
completely swept away by terrors!

20 As a dream when one awakes,
so when you arise, O Lord,
you will despise them as fantasies.

21 When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,

22 I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you.

23 Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.

24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

27 Those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

28 But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds.

INTP

Under the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator, I am what is known as an INTP.

That's an introverted intuitive thinking perceiving person. It's not the most popular type of personality, with I think about 3 to 5 percent of the population testing as an INTP.

This means that I am of the absented-minded professor variety of people. I'm shy. I like facts. I think things can be made better somehow, if we just think about it hard enough.

I like to work alone.

I prefer details, which is why I am good government writer. I don't miss the small stuff though sometimes I think the entire forest might evade me.

I worry a great deal about being wrong and I worry the same amount about failing. That makes it difficult to move forward sometimes. It's a little like being mired in a mud pit with pythons all around. You know you need to jump but good golly what will you be jumping into?

Some famous INTPs are Socrates, Rene Descartes, Blaise Pascal, Sir Isaac Newton,James Madison, John Quincy Adams, John Tyler, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, William Harvey (pioneer in human physiology),C. G. Jung, (Freudian defector, author of Psychological Types, etc.), William James, Albert Einstein, Tom Foley (Speaker of the House--U.S. House of Representatives), Henri Mancini, Bob Newhart, Jeff Bingaman, U.S. Senator (D.--NM), Rick Moranis (Honey, I Shrunk The Kids), Midori Ito (ice skater, Olympic silver medalist), Tiger Woods.

I'm not sure how they figured out some of those, seeing as how a few of those people have been dead a very long time.

Here is information on INTPs:

http://www.personalitypage.com/INTP.html
http://typelogic.com/intp.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INTP
http://www.intp.org/intprofile.html

And here is a personality quiz if you want to find out what you are:

http://www.personalitytype.com/prequiz.aspx

This one is longer and probably a better indicator, although it puts me on the cusp of an INTJ (j=judging) instead of an INTP:

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

Ghost Moon & Kiss Me While I Sleep

Ghost Moon
by Karen Robards
Read by Dean Robertson
Audio
Abridged

This was a long book abridged so I can only imagine how long it was without that.

Olivia and her daughter return to Louisiana for a visit, the first in 11 years after the prodigal daughter left in a huff to hurry into a failed marriage.

Her arrival sets off a tizzy as her grandfather sees her, calls her by her dead mother's name, and collapses. Things go downhill from there.

Olivia tries to remember important details about her mother's death but fails. She also finds herself attracted to Seth, her step-cousin, who is engaged to be married.

Meanwhile, the author takes us into the past as a psycho kills little girls. Turns out he's still around and eventually he will come after Olivia's daughter.

This is a very moody romance mystery book. I had long figured out who the psycho was but even so it was good to have it verified at the end.

Kiss Me While I Sleep
Linda Howard
Read by Joyce Bean & Dick Hill
Audiobook
Abridged

Dick Hill is one of my favorite audiobook readers and I picked this one up simply because he was reading on it.

Lily is a rogue CIA contract agent who is killing for vengeance after the death of two of her friends and their adopted daughter. The daughter was a young girl she rescued and loved until she realized the child needed two parents.

Lily's vengeance extends to killing a mafia-type fellow, and then his family comes after her. She decides she still has complete the job by finding out what caused her friends to be killed in the first place.

The CIA, meanwhile, sends out Swain to take care of Lily. He rescues her during a shoot-out but never reveals that he is CIA. As things turn deadly, he decides to help her and worry about fixing the problem she created later.

They also fall in love with one another.

This is an interesting story of double-crosses and intrigue, some of which is probably very far-fetched. The readers made this a great and enjoyable experience and I applaud Hill and Bean for their efforts on this.

Thursday Thirteen

If I had $700 billion dollars to spend on the U.S. economy and I were in charge, here is what I would do with it:

1. Create a work program focusing on infrastructure. This would rebuild failing roads and bridges, shore up and extend water and sewer lines, etc.. This would put some people back to work and help the US stay strong.

2. Add rail lines where necessary under the same program to take vehicles off the road. Same result, some jobs created. Also would help with transportation needs, energy, and pollution reduction once completed.

3. Create a rebate program for homeowners and businesses who added alternative energy items to their buildings. For example, if a homeowner added solar panels to the roof, they could apply for a rebate or reimbursement. It would pertain to things like window replacement, adding insulation, etc. This would also put idle contractors back to work, creating jobs.

4. Put some money into alternative energy to support the above initiative. This would create a new job sector because of demand for solar panels, windmills, etc. This would reduce the dependence on oil and again, create jobs. And clean air.

5. Regulate the banks and a few other pertinent industries. Sorry dudes, but you have proven you're just greedy and unscrupulous - that is to say, human - and you can't be trusted to police yourself.

6. Do whatever is needed to shore up the electric grid, including cleaning up the plants, extending and repairing lines, etc. The utilities would have to become publicly owned and would operate as non-profit. They should do that anyway, you know?

7. Implement a health care system that would include not only coverage but construction. Building more hospitals and then staffing them would be a priority.

8. Rework the welfare system. For one thing, create a network of childcare facilities that operated on a sliding fee scale. This would give jobs to some of the mothers who can't work because they have children to work in these daycares, and the availability of daycare would allow some of the single moms the opportunity to find work.

9. Rework the way we care for our old people. Create a similar kind of care network as number 8 for the elderly so we can take better care of our vulnerable old folks. As part of this as well as number 8 and number 7, there would be lots of assistance for folks who want to go into personal care, nursing or medicine so the hospitals when built would be adequately staffed.

10. Lower the fees to higher educational facilities or offer more grants, whichever would work best. People need to learn stuff.

11. Restaff government programs like the National Park system, which since privatized has become only a shadow of itself. It can't keep up with the Blue Ridge Parkway, which badly needs some trimming, or anything else. This would also put some people back to work.

12. Take the tax exempt status away from churches, then offer financial assistance to the charitable programs that help those in need.

13. Stand back and see how this all worked and then adjust as needed.

I'm sorry that this doesn't sound like our present system. This would be my version of the New Deal, I suppose, which got us out of trouble the last time. It worked before.

Don't we need change? What we've been doing has worked so well, hasn't it? All this angst and agony and constant fear and tribulations. All of these people out of work and who are cold and hungry. Don't you think it's time to try something new? If we have to hand over this kind of money, why shouldn't everyone benefit, and not just a few?


Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; you can learn more about it here. My other Thursday Thirteens are here.

Project Censored

I ran across this article today:
Project Censored
The top 10 stories the US news media missed in the past year.

Some scary stuff in here. I will post a few bits and pieces but I strongly urge everyone to take a look at the entire article.

These are the top unreported stories in the past year. Things that we should know but don't, in other words. The stories generally have to do with war, presidential grab of power, and loss of civil liberties.

The stories are:

1. HOW MANY IRAQIS HAVE DIED?
...even more astounding is that so few journalists have mentioned the issue or cited the top estimate: 1.2 million. ...

2. NAFTA ON STEROIDS

.. the Security and Prosperity Partnership... was formed in secret, without public input...It's a coalition of private companies that are, according to the SPP Web site, "adding high-level business input [that] will assist governments in enhancing North America's competitive position and engage the private sector as partners in finding solutions."

The NACC includes the Chevron Corporation, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Merck & Co. Inc., New York Life Insurance Co., Procter & Gamble Co., and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ...

3. INFRAGARD GUARDS ITSELF

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security have effectively deputized 23,000 members of the business community, asking them to tip off the feds in exchange for preferential treatment in the event of a crisis....

4. ILEA: TRAINING GROUND FOR ILLEGAL WARS?

5. SEIZING PROTEST

Protesting war could get you into big trouble, according to a critical read of two executive orders recently signed by President Bush....

6. RADICALS = TERRORISTS

On Oct. 23, 2007, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed — by a vote of 404-6 — the "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act," designed to root out the causes of radicalization in Americans.... This redefines civil disobedience as terrorism...

7. SLAVERY'S RUNNER-UP

Every year, about 121,000 people legally enter the United States to work with H-2 visas, a program legislators are touting as part of future immigration reform. But Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) called this guest worker program "the closest thing I've ever seen to slavery."...

8. BUSH CHANGES THE RULES

...
According to the three memos:

"There is no constitutional requirement for a President to issue a new executive order whenever he wishes to depart from the terms of a previous executive order. Rather than violate an executive order, the President has instead modified or waived it";

"The President, exercising his constitutional authority under Article II, can determine whether an action is a lawful exercise of the President's authority under Article II," and

"The Department of Justice is bound by the President's legal determinations."...


9. SOLDIERS SPEAK OUT

... in March, when more than 300 veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan convened for four days of public testimony on the war, they were largely ignored by the media....

10. APA HELPS CIA TORTURE

Psychologists have been assisting the CIA and US military with interrogation and torture of Guantánamo detainees — which the American Psychological Association has said is fine,...


***
Like I said, read the entire thing for yourself.

The Pumpkin Patch

The Guardian in Roanoke

A reporter from The Guardian, a major British paper, is visiting Roanoke to see what the real people of America think about the election.

Check it out:

The Guardian in Roanoke

The Big Game Show

Saturday we woke in Harrisonburg to rain. Many of our plans or potential plans had involved outdoor things, such as perhaps going to Natural Chimneys.

We ditched those plans since the weather was not cooperating. Instead we took a long drive around the countryside.



The Shenandoah Valley has large farms on it. Some of the fields were black with cattle. Other farms specialize in poultry, especially chickens and turkey. Others are dairies.

We were actually looking for a specific event, a Harvest Festival that was supposed to be at a Mennonite and Brethren Heritage facility. However we never found it.

Later we went shopping to see what Harrisonburg had to offer, and then we went back to the motel room.

I watched The Bee Movie, which I found to my consternation had quite a message to share, i.e., the rich need to stay rich and the poor need to stay poor because its better to leave things alone.

Nothing like being beaten over the head with capitalistic ideals in a cartoon movie. Whatever happened to a story for the story's sake?

The next day we rose early and then headed for what was truly the entire reason for this weekend:


The Virginia Big Game Show, Western Region. This is a collection of deer heads, a competition for the hunters.

My husband had no entry this year but he likes to see the racks. I think this puts him in the mood for the upcoming hunting season or something.

I don't really see the point in it but I suppose I do many things that he doesn't understand, either.

We spent time wandering around there and then went to a gun show in Fishersville. It was not the best gun show we've ever been to so we soon headed home.

And boy was I glad to get back in my own little bed in my own little house on my own little hill! Going away is always fun and interesting, but truly there is No Place Like Home.

Field of Lost Shoes

Friday we left home and headed north. Aside from a four-day weekend in Asheville, we've had no other vacation and this was a trip to help clear our heads.

We had reservations in Harrisonburg, VA even thought that's only a two-hour drive away from home.

Our original plans were to go to Luray and tour the Luray caverns. However, my issues with my heel spur were such that we didn't think caving was a good idea, even if it was a commercial cave. I was afraid I would find it difficult.

Unfortunately for us but fortunately for the soil, it rained, which played a role in our trip.

Friday we traveled up Interstate 81 in downpours. We arrived in Harrisonburg a little after lunch. It was too early to check into the hotel so we decided to go to New Market.

Our destination was the New Market Battlefield Historic State Park. This is an historic civil war battlesite and there are quite a number of these in northern Virginia.



The Hall of Valor museum offered up an hour-long movie about the Battle of New Market with a focus on the cadets from Virginia Military Institute who fought there. VMI is a small piece down the road from New Market, though it would be several days of walking or marching.



As I watched the film I began to recognize names. Earlier this year I had written a book review of The Liberty Hall Volunteers, a reprint of a 1964 book about VMI's efforts in the Civil War.



The book had confirmed for me the horrors of war as it offered a view of the travesty based on letters from soldiers who once were VMI students.

In a chapter titled “Dirty, Ragged and Barefoot” the author uses the letters of Ted Barclay, one of the Liberty Hall soldiers, to great effect. Barclay is hungry, practically naked for want of clothes, and starving for the comforts of home. Barclay is an expressive writer and his situation dire:

“I have had on my clothes for nearly a month, my pants are nearly worn out… I feel lonesome sometimes with the few of us who are left …The rest I suppose are captured. I wish that when you send the clothes that you would send me a small Bible if you can get one. My Testament got wet and is torn all to pieces.”

Later letters complain because he has not received new clothes from his family. “If it is in the range of human exertion I wish you would send me the clothing, you cannot imagine my condition. I have no seat in my pants, the legs are worn out, have had but one pair of socks which are worn out completely, my shirt is literally rotted off me, but I was so fortunate as to get a white shirt and a pair of drawers, which both are now so lousy that I can scarcely bear them.”

The movie emphasized some of this but the New Market battle was rather early in the war so the poverty of battle had not yet crept in.

Instead, there was blood shed as the Confederates swirled around the Bushong farm outside of New Market in order to confront the Union Soldiers.

The date was May 15, 1864 and it was raining. One of the newly-plowed fields became a mire of muck for the Confederate soldiers.

Many lost of their shoes in the mud and went on to fight their battles barefoot. The field became known as the "Field of Lost Shoes" and it is visible today.

The Confederates won this battle.

Because it was pouring, we did not tour the fields or the farmhouse, but even so we spent an interesting couple of hours learning about this small part of our state's history.

Weekend Getaway

We took off to the upper Shenandoah Valley on Friday, taking a few days to get away from work.

Had it not rained most of the time we might have seen some very interesting sights, but as it was we spent much of our time dodging mudpuddles.

Since we were there to "rest" it didn't really matter.

Hopefully after I've gone through a couple hundred emails and downloaded my photos, etc., I'll have something interesting to post!

Greed is Greed

“Rules are rules and greed is greed. What a sad world we live in!”

That’s not my quote. I read it in one of what must be thousands of citizens’ letters to the State Corporation Commission. The writer was opposed to three rate hikes that Appalachian Power Company presently has pending before the SCC.

Only one of the requests presently remains open for public comment.

This particular request asks for a 23.9 percent increase in rates. That means if your light bill is $100 a month now it will go to $123.90 if the rate increase is approved.

I was on the SCC website for an unrelated matter when the sheer numbers of APCO opposition letters caught my eye.

I glanced through several hundred of them. Of those, I saw only one letter in favor of the rate increase, and that was from a physician who worried that he would be in the middle of an important procedure only to have the power go out. I can see where that might be a concern.

Many of the letters are form letters, stating only “I oppose this rate increase.” There are also several petitions, each with hundreds of signatures.

A lot of the opposition comes from far southwestern Virginia. Folks down there appear to have organized against higher electric rates. At least one Board of Supervisors for one of Virginia’s poorer counties has put in a request for no rate increase, too.

Heartfelt letters, some written by hands so shaky the writing is barely legible, caught my eye as I flipped through the documents online.

I’ll let some of these folks speak for themselves:

“If Appalachian Power gets an increase many of us will either stop taking our medication or freeze this winter.”

“I live on a fixed income of $530.60 as do a lot of widows and widowers.”

“I am 81 years old and my wife is 76. We both have been very ill here lately. My wife has really had a tough time of it. With several cancer operations. We are both retired and social security only pays us small checks. We cannot pay any more money for electric power.”

“I am married with 2 children and my husband is disabled... currently we live on 652.00 a month. I can barely afford my normal light bill of $70 a month, let alone have to pay for an increase. My light bill this past month was $102 and I had to forgo my car payment just to be able to cover my light bill... barely surviving now.”

“We are a one income family with two children. With the economic problems everyone is facing we simply cannot afford to pay more for basics such as electricity.”

“My wife and I are both disabled and we are living on a low fixed income. We would like to ask (no beg) you not to approve the increased rate that Appalachian power co. is asking for. Because of the high prices for gas, food and medicine, etc. it is hard for people like us to make ends meet.”

“Me and my husband are 72 and 73 years of age. He has terminal asbestos related cancer. Our income has not let us fill our oil tank for three years. We do not get any assistance. We relied on electric oil filled radiators to get us through the last two winters. We cannot afford the large increases. He will have to have more heat this winter if he survives. I do not know what will happen if you pass this increase on to people like us.”

I wouldn’t want to be an SCC examiner, responsible for reading all of these letters and making a determination that somebody isn’t going to like.

Hard economic times don’t just hit folks who have lost their homes due to nefarious banking methods or who have lost money in the stock market. When the bad hits, it hits everyone, and the folks who have the least often end up on the worst end of hard situations.

They’re also the ones we don’t hear much about, which is why I wanted to share some of these comments with you. The current economic climate is having a terrible effect on the poor, which in this country includes an awful lot of elderly people. I wanted to get that out in the open.

If you are interested in commenting on Appalachian’s proposed 23.9 percent increase, pro or con, any easy way is to visit http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case/PublicComments.aspx and look for case number PUE-2008-00046. The SCC provides a form for easy commentary on cases where it solicits public opinion.

Be aware that the form asks for your name, address and telephone number. This information will be made available to the power company and will also be available on the same part of the SCC website where I found the above comments.

You can also submit written comments to Joel H. Peck, Clerk, State Corporation Commission, Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, VA 23218-2118. Be sure to reference the case number PUE-2008-00046 in your comments.


This column originally appeared in the September 24, 2008 edition of The Fincastle Herald.

Thursday Thirteen

1. spending time with husband

2. blue.

3. reading a book

4. writing an article

5. playing computer games

6. looking out the window

7. taking photographs

8. making up a blog entry

9. eating chocolate

10. spending time with my friends

11. studying history

12. daydreaming

13. relaxing

Do you know me well enough to know what these things are? (This is pretty easy!)

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; you can learn more about it here. My other Thursday Thirteens are here.

Some Calm

I need me some calm, ma'am
to take away the pain and the pounding
and the thumpa thumping in my head.

I need me some calm, mister
to ease the whine and the winding
and the twisting turning of my soul.

I need me some calm, daughter
to send me on back and then falling
and onward tumbling into my past.

I need me some calm, son
to give me a desire and a yearning
and the time and the trembling

to move on.

Autumn 2008

So here it is again, the time of year for colorful mountains, changing weather, pumpkins, pie, breezes and chills.

Time for the smokey smell of fireplaces, football, sweaters, hot chocolate and popcorn.

What will it bring this year, I wonder?

Snows at Thanksgiving?

More hurricanes and turmoil? Maybe a little rain to ease the drought?

What will the wind blow in, I wonder? Or what will it take away?

The seasons turn, babies are born, people die... cycle through, cycle on. It doesn't stop, this ol' world, this earth, this love.

Poof

And just like that, another weekend is gone.

So what did I do that was so engrossing that I couldn't blog?

Nothing. I didn't blog because my head these days is so full of stuff that sometimes when I go to write my fingers stop working. Too many words.

What I did do was stay home on Saturday, and I spent my time cleaning the house. My house is not a dirty place but it does get cluttered, particularly with catalogues and books and similiar things. So I sorted and tossed and dusted and in general things look much better and I was gratified.

Saturday night, with poor choices for TV, we played the Wii. We played the DECA sports game and in particular enjoyed the snowboarding and the motorcross racing.

Then we pulled out the Wii Play disc, where we laughed a lot as we raced one another on the backs of cows.

As we were putting things away, something slid from the pile where I'd put all the Wii things until I could find a storage box.

It was a disc. Odd. A disc I'd not seen before, still unopened in its package.

It was the Wii Sports disc that I thought was supposed to come with the Wii (the one with bowling and golf and tennis) but hadn't found. Apparently we'd overlooked it and the angels decided we should find it.

Sunday we went to Roanoke. First we went to the nursing home and visited my great aunt. She was feeling better than the last time we saw her and I was grateful for that.

Then we went to Walmart in Salem and then to Macadoo's for a sandwich.

After we ate, we went to Home Depot, Sportsman's Warehouse, Sam's Club and Gander Mountain. Then we visited my sister-in-law and her husband and my nephews.

Then we went by the grocery store.

Whew.

I was worn out by the time we made it home. After dinner we played with the Wii Sports disc a while. Then my husband read some things he is reading for work and I read a book and then we fell into bed.

I, of course, had vivid dreams all night long last night.

I dreamed that I had taken allergy medication as prescribed and then for some reason I drank an entire glass of whiskey - straight. Then I worried that if I fell asleep I would die from the chemical reaction, so I was going around telling everyone not to let me go to sleep.

Is it any wonder I woke up a little tired this morning?

Quote

"We will have achieved equality the day mediocre women take their place beside mediocre men. Check that one off the to-do list." - Ellen Goodman, September 19, 2008, The Roanoke Times

Study: Mushroom

Except for the first one, which is merely cropped, these photos were modified with MS Picture It!