Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Questions and Answers
1. You have been awarded the time off from work and an all-expenses paid week anywhere in the United States. The catch is that it must be somewhere you have not been before. Where do you choose to visit?
A. If it must be somewhere I have not been before, I would have to choose the northern states, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut. I think it would be fun to visit them now, as the leaves are turning. Wouldn't it be great to be driving along country roads, the top down on some convertible, your hair wrapped in a scarf, sunglasses on, looking at the trees?
2. Name three of your guilty pleasures. A. Chocolate. Reading. Video games.
3. The best kind of Girl Scout Cookie is: A. I don't eat Girl Scout cookies because I don't know any Girl Scouts. But my favorite cookie is a Keebler Fudge Stripe (original).
4. What do you value most in other people? A. Honesty, tolerance, and patience.
5. Be honest. Do you sneak some raw cookie dough when you’re baking cookies? A. Of course. It's the best part of making cookies.
6. Have you ever looked back at your life and realized that something you thought was a bad thing was actually a blessing in disguise?! A. Yes. I left a job in 1985 and thought it was a bad thing, but if I hadn't left I wouldn't have gone on to Hollins College and obtained my bachelors degree.
7. What is the most beautiful place you’ve ever visited? A. I live in the most beautiful place I know. But I also enjoy the beach on the South Carolina coast.
8. Are you more of a thinker or a feeler? A. I'm a thinker. I'm an INTP on the Myers Briggs, which means I'm an introverted, intuitive, thinking, perception person. Sort of the absent-minded professor type. You can find your personality type for free here.
9. Name three things you are thankful for right now. A. That my husband has decided to paint the bathroom. That it is raining and washing the pollen out of the air. That I am seeing the doctor this morning to deal with a health-care matter.
10. Have you ever participated in a three-legged race? A. No. At least, not that I remember. I can't be sure of what I did when I was very young.
11. When you are at an event that plays the National Anthem, do you place your hand over your heart? A. Usually, yes.
12. What kind of work do you do? A. I am a student of words, a writer of wrongs, and chief cook and bottle washer.
13. During the course of your lifetime, which job or career has been your favorite or most fulfilling? A. Writing for the local newspaper.
14. Do you think it’s necessary in your life to have a day-to-day “career” that is meaningful and service-oriented or do you function better in “just a job” with a steady paycheck? A. A career is important to me.
15. Was there ever a time in your life when you wanted to stay home with your children instead of working, even if it meant less money in the household? A. I never had children, but money has never been that important. I imagine if I had had children, I would have stayed home with them.
16. Tell us your worst boss story. A. I once worked for an attorney in the nearby city who was cheating on his wife by sleeping with his other secretary. When he found out that I knew about it, he fired me. It is the only time I have ever been fired.
17. Have your ever been the boss? A. I have been self-employed for many years, so have been my own taskmaster for a long time.
18. What is your dream occupation? A. Probably to be a best-selling novelist making $100,000 a year. Or a college English professor. Or the editor of a newspaper. Something along those lines.
I took this meme from Sunday Stealing, which collects memes. Obviously it is not Sunday, but Tuesday. Not that it matters.
A. If it must be somewhere I have not been before, I would have to choose the northern states, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut. I think it would be fun to visit them now, as the leaves are turning. Wouldn't it be great to be driving along country roads, the top down on some convertible, your hair wrapped in a scarf, sunglasses on, looking at the trees?
2. Name three of your guilty pleasures. A. Chocolate. Reading. Video games.
3. The best kind of Girl Scout Cookie is: A. I don't eat Girl Scout cookies because I don't know any Girl Scouts. But my favorite cookie is a Keebler Fudge Stripe (original).
4. What do you value most in other people? A. Honesty, tolerance, and patience.
5. Be honest. Do you sneak some raw cookie dough when you’re baking cookies? A. Of course. It's the best part of making cookies.
6. Have you ever looked back at your life and realized that something you thought was a bad thing was actually a blessing in disguise?! A. Yes. I left a job in 1985 and thought it was a bad thing, but if I hadn't left I wouldn't have gone on to Hollins College and obtained my bachelors degree.
7. What is the most beautiful place you’ve ever visited? A. I live in the most beautiful place I know. But I also enjoy the beach on the South Carolina coast.
8. Are you more of a thinker or a feeler? A. I'm a thinker. I'm an INTP on the Myers Briggs, which means I'm an introverted, intuitive, thinking, perception person. Sort of the absent-minded professor type. You can find your personality type for free here.
9. Name three things you are thankful for right now. A. That my husband has decided to paint the bathroom. That it is raining and washing the pollen out of the air. That I am seeing the doctor this morning to deal with a health-care matter.
10. Have you ever participated in a three-legged race? A. No. At least, not that I remember. I can't be sure of what I did when I was very young.
11. When you are at an event that plays the National Anthem, do you place your hand over your heart? A. Usually, yes.
12. What kind of work do you do? A. I am a student of words, a writer of wrongs, and chief cook and bottle washer.
13. During the course of your lifetime, which job or career has been your favorite or most fulfilling? A. Writing for the local newspaper.
14. Do you think it’s necessary in your life to have a day-to-day “career” that is meaningful and service-oriented or do you function better in “just a job” with a steady paycheck? A. A career is important to me.
15. Was there ever a time in your life when you wanted to stay home with your children instead of working, even if it meant less money in the household? A. I never had children, but money has never been that important. I imagine if I had had children, I would have stayed home with them.
16. Tell us your worst boss story. A. I once worked for an attorney in the nearby city who was cheating on his wife by sleeping with his other secretary. When he found out that I knew about it, he fired me. It is the only time I have ever been fired.
17. Have your ever been the boss? A. I have been self-employed for many years, so have been my own taskmaster for a long time.
18. What is your dream occupation? A. Probably to be a best-selling novelist making $100,000 a year. Or a college English professor. Or the editor of a newspaper. Something along those lines.
I took this meme from Sunday Stealing, which collects memes. Obviously it is not Sunday, but Tuesday. Not that it matters.
Monday, September 17, 2012
To Herb or Not To Herb
I started seeing an acupuncturist in December 2005. One of the things that Chinese Medicine practitioners use are herbs.
My first acupuncturist prescribed herbs for my lungs and other aspects of my Qi (energy flow) that were in dire need of substantial assistance.
The herbs looked like this:
To use them, I put the herbs in hot water and let it steep for 10 minutes or longer. The herbs helped my allergies and asthma and were very beneficial. Yes it looks like dirt, and pretty much tasted like it, too. But I faithfully drank cupfuls of it.
My first acupuncturist left the area, and I am now on my third acupuncturist. After my recent treatment with needles, she said she would like to add herbs to help my lungs. I haven't had herbs in over a year, so I agreed.
I was expecting something similar to the above.
However, when I picked up my concoction, what I received were two brown bags. One held this:
And the other this:
I am not sure what all of this is. Pieces of trees, for sure. Bark. Vine, maybe grape vine. I have no idea what the white squares are. Chalk or rock?
To use these herbs, I have to cook them in water for a long time (30 minutes or so, depending on the bag), strain them, and then divide the liquid up for drinking.
So far I have looked at these items, sniffed them, and felt them. I confess I am not keen on making a tea out of them and drinking it. I think I prefer the bag of dirt as opposed to the bags of sticks.
I am pretty daring and don't mind trying new things, but for some reason this seems a bit much for me. I will have to think about this for at least another day.
My first acupuncturist prescribed herbs for my lungs and other aspects of my Qi (energy flow) that were in dire need of substantial assistance.
The herbs looked like this:
To use them, I put the herbs in hot water and let it steep for 10 minutes or longer. The herbs helped my allergies and asthma and were very beneficial. Yes it looks like dirt, and pretty much tasted like it, too. But I faithfully drank cupfuls of it.
My first acupuncturist left the area, and I am now on my third acupuncturist. After my recent treatment with needles, she said she would like to add herbs to help my lungs. I haven't had herbs in over a year, so I agreed.
I was expecting something similar to the above.
However, when I picked up my concoction, what I received were two brown bags. One held this:
And the other this:
I am not sure what all of this is. Pieces of trees, for sure. Bark. Vine, maybe grape vine. I have no idea what the white squares are. Chalk or rock?
To use these herbs, I have to cook them in water for a long time (30 minutes or so, depending on the bag), strain them, and then divide the liquid up for drinking.
So far I have looked at these items, sniffed them, and felt them. I confess I am not keen on making a tea out of them and drinking it. I think I prefer the bag of dirt as opposed to the bags of sticks.
I am pretty daring and don't mind trying new things, but for some reason this seems a bit much for me. I will have to think about this for at least another day.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Good Day, Sunshine
I was born in the early 1960s. I don't recall much about that era - go go boots, Neil Armstrong landing on the moon, and psychedelic colors come to mind when I think on it.
That makes me a 1970s era girl, I suppose, since that is when I came of age. The time of the "me" generation, though by age I am stuck at the tail-end of the baby boomers. I remember only vaguely things like the shootings at Kent State, the kidnapping of Patty Hearst, and Watergate. I would have only been 10 years old in 1973, after all. Certainly unworldly, growing up as I did on a farm in a rural Appalachian area of Virginia.
I also remember gas lines, and gas costing only $0.25 a gallon. I remember S&H Greenstamps, the Maytag repair man, "Whirlpool makes a super dishwasher, Whirlpool" (pretty sure that was the commercial), and the Brady Bunch. We could only receive one station - ABC - on our television so I only know those shows.
My mother drove a blue Dodge Charger for a while, and I remember one night my parents went to see the movie Deliverance at the drive-in theater. My brother was put to bed in the back window and I was told to go to sleep on the back seat. Being a rather precocious child, I did not. I remember listening to the movie and being very upset by it. I would have been nine years old at the time. It is not a movie for children.
I grew up knowing right from wrong. I learned this at home, at school, and through books. If I did something wrong, I received a whipping and quickly learned not to do it again. Some whippings were deserved, others not so much. Even the teachers whipped students back then, though only once did I receive the end of the paddle my second-grade teacher used at the time. I remember one poor kid named Jerry found the end of that piece of wood nearly every day.
This was the time schools were being integrated. This did not bother me, though it bothered my parents. One of the worst beatings I ever received came after a PTA meeting when I was in the third grade. My father had asked me not long before the meeting if there were any black teachers at the school. I had said no. My third grade teacher was black, but I loved her and I honestly did not notice that her skin was different from mine. After the PTA meeting I received a beating for lying, though to me it wasn't a lie.
Even at that age, I knew racism was a wrong. I don't know how I knew it, but I did. I knew that it was a problem for many people, and that it was divisive. I swore not to be a part of it, something I've kept to to this day.
I have a strong sense of social justice. Every day I see things being stripped from people. I see the decline of the middle class as the perpetuation of a great evil, and the men who are pursuing this downward decline are, to my mind, very evil men. They are American Wraiths, Nazguls who are power-hungry, greedy, and hell-bent on destroying the social contract put in place by Franklin Roosevelt. They seek a new gilded age in the 21st century, a time when money means everything and they enslave the rank and file through financial dependency and illiteracy.
They've very nearly succeeded. I think back on the 1960s and 1970s now as a time of climax, the time when US society reached it pinnacle and then began this long, downward slog to where we are today.
I miss the psychedelic. I miss the color.
I miss the better times.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Failure of Morality (Caution: A Rant)
Yesterday I ran into a woman who was an old friend. Talk turned to politics, and she said:
"I would rather let children just die than give their parents my tax money."
Once I put my lower jaw back where it belonged, I turned on my heel and walked away. I called over my shoulder, "I guess you can't say you're pro-life anymore."
I happen to know this person is also pro-birth. She certainly can't be "pro-life," not if that is her attitude. How in the world can there be any morality in forcing a woman to have a child only to watch the child die because you don't want your tax dollars to support it?
At least if you're going to force women to have babies, have the decency to cough up the money to support the poor unfortunate (and unwanted) kid.
If this is your morality, as far as I'm concerned, you are a fascist waging class warfare on people you are condemning for ... whatever reason. Maybe you think you work harder or something. I don't know. It's not something I can get my mind around because I don't think like that.
Actually this is not thinking. I don't know what it is, but it certainly is not any kind of rationalization that I or any other person of morals can condone. If you do condone it, I suggest you go take a good long look at yourself. Put the fascist label over the mirror while you're there so you'll know what one looks like when you see your reflection.
Where is the humanity - the Christianity - the morality - in that kind of brain?
What have we come to?
Is this how it is, your dollar bills are more important than a human life? It is more important that you keep it all in your pocket than ensure that your neighbor does not die? Is that what you think, really? Hooray for me and f*ck you? Is that how you want to live your life?
Have we all become fools over money? Is not that really the god we're worshipping here? Are we not all bowing down before the golden calf?
If that is what we have become, a nation of money-grubbing, backstabbing, self-centered and selfish footlickers who can't come up with a decent thought that isn't hypocritical, injudicious and ludicrous, then we are doomed.
God help me, this is not the kind of world I want to live in. It's not what I grew up in and it's not what I was expecting. This rancid turn of attitude is going to be the end of us all.
"I would rather let children just die than give their parents my tax money."
Once I put my lower jaw back where it belonged, I turned on my heel and walked away. I called over my shoulder, "I guess you can't say you're pro-life anymore."
I happen to know this person is also pro-birth. She certainly can't be "pro-life," not if that is her attitude. How in the world can there be any morality in forcing a woman to have a child only to watch the child die because you don't want your tax dollars to support it?
At least if you're going to force women to have babies, have the decency to cough up the money to support the poor unfortunate (and unwanted) kid.
If this is your morality, as far as I'm concerned, you are a fascist waging class warfare on people you are condemning for ... whatever reason. Maybe you think you work harder or something. I don't know. It's not something I can get my mind around because I don't think like that.
Actually this is not thinking. I don't know what it is, but it certainly is not any kind of rationalization that I or any other person of morals can condone. If you do condone it, I suggest you go take a good long look at yourself. Put the fascist label over the mirror while you're there so you'll know what one looks like when you see your reflection.
Where is the humanity - the Christianity - the morality - in that kind of brain?
What have we come to?
Is this how it is, your dollar bills are more important than a human life? It is more important that you keep it all in your pocket than ensure that your neighbor does not die? Is that what you think, really? Hooray for me and f*ck you? Is that how you want to live your life?
Have we all become fools over money? Is not that really the god we're worshipping here? Are we not all bowing down before the golden calf?
If that is what we have become, a nation of money-grubbing, backstabbing, self-centered and selfish footlickers who can't come up with a decent thought that isn't hypocritical, injudicious and ludicrous, then we are doomed.
God help me, this is not the kind of world I want to live in. It's not what I grew up in and it's not what I was expecting. This rancid turn of attitude is going to be the end of us all.
Haying Time
A few days ago, Farmer James cut hay for the third time this year.
He takes the machine round and around. And around and around.
A close up. He spends most of his time looking backwards, watching the hay mower.
Around and around.
This is what the field looks like when its cut.
This is what the hay looks like after it's been wrapped up and baled.
Around and around.
Nearly done.
Friday, September 14, 2012
The First Song
The first song I ever sang in public was called You Light Up My Life.
Remember that one? It was sung by Debbie Boone. People either loved it or hated it.
It hit number one in the fall of 1977. I was 14 years old and in the ninth grade. Apparently I was at the age to love the song.
I recorded You Light Up My Life off of Casey Kasem's American Top 40, using a cassette tape, of course. And then I played it back a hundred times until I learned all of the words.
Then I played it another hundred times so I could learn the guitar chords. I remember the song had an Am and D in it.
My father in the 1970s had a Top 40 band called Music Inc. The band one Friday night played a dance at Breckinridge Elementary School in Fincastle, a benefit for either the high school band or the PTA, I can't remember which. I think it was a Halloween dance, actually. I seem to remember ghosts, but maybe that was just my fear.
I had been told to bring my guitar, which I did. It was an Epiphone Les Paul imitation, black in body, that I had received as a Christmas present when I was 12. I still have it.
As I tend to do when the weather changes, I had developed laryngitis from the pollen. I recall protesting that I couldn't sing.
No matter. I was going to sing anyway.
I was so scared I could scarcely breathe. The band would be backing me up, but we only rehearsed the song one time. And that was a disaster because my guitar hadn't been tuned in standard tuning. Retuning my guitar down to standard meant I would be singing in a different key than I normally sang in.
Oh the terror! How my knees knocked and my fingers twitched. The time passed so slowly I was sure I was in a time warp and had been transferred to another universe.
Eventually, my father called my name. I made my way to the stage. I plastered a smile on my face as he introduced me. I took my guitar from its stand. I strummed the guitar and forced my scratchy voice to belt out the words.
I know there were screeches and bad notes. I was not then, nor am I now, really a vocalist. I can carry a tune decently enough but I have never been what one might call a great singer. That first time on stage was no exception.
"So many nights, I sit by window..."
Egads. I can't imagine what everyone thought. It probably wasn't as bad as I imagined - I didn't stumble too much or have to restart the song - but it couldn't have been great. I was trembling when I finished. I left the stage to polite applause.
One of my classmates immediately began to make fun of me, I remember. And her voice singing You Light Up My Life would follow me down the halls of the high school for the next several weeks.
But I had done it. Despite my fears, I had mounted the stage, picked up the guitar, and made my way through the song, for better or worse.
Remember that one? It was sung by Debbie Boone. People either loved it or hated it.
It hit number one in the fall of 1977. I was 14 years old and in the ninth grade. Apparently I was at the age to love the song.
I recorded You Light Up My Life off of Casey Kasem's American Top 40, using a cassette tape, of course. And then I played it back a hundred times until I learned all of the words.
Then I played it another hundred times so I could learn the guitar chords. I remember the song had an Am and D in it.
My father in the 1970s had a Top 40 band called Music Inc. The band one Friday night played a dance at Breckinridge Elementary School in Fincastle, a benefit for either the high school band or the PTA, I can't remember which. I think it was a Halloween dance, actually. I seem to remember ghosts, but maybe that was just my fear.
I had been told to bring my guitar, which I did. It was an Epiphone Les Paul imitation, black in body, that I had received as a Christmas present when I was 12. I still have it.
As I tend to do when the weather changes, I had developed laryngitis from the pollen. I recall protesting that I couldn't sing.
No matter. I was going to sing anyway.
I was so scared I could scarcely breathe. The band would be backing me up, but we only rehearsed the song one time. And that was a disaster because my guitar hadn't been tuned in standard tuning. Retuning my guitar down to standard meant I would be singing in a different key than I normally sang in.
Oh the terror! How my knees knocked and my fingers twitched. The time passed so slowly I was sure I was in a time warp and had been transferred to another universe.
Eventually, my father called my name. I made my way to the stage. I plastered a smile on my face as he introduced me. I took my guitar from its stand. I strummed the guitar and forced my scratchy voice to belt out the words.
I know there were screeches and bad notes. I was not then, nor am I now, really a vocalist. I can carry a tune decently enough but I have never been what one might call a great singer. That first time on stage was no exception.
"So many nights, I sit by window..."
Egads. I can't imagine what everyone thought. It probably wasn't as bad as I imagined - I didn't stumble too much or have to restart the song - but it couldn't have been great. I was trembling when I finished. I left the stage to polite applause.
One of my classmates immediately began to make fun of me, I remember. And her voice singing You Light Up My Life would follow me down the halls of the high school for the next several weeks.
But I had done it. Despite my fears, I had mounted the stage, picked up the guitar, and made my way through the song, for better or worse.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Thursday Thirteen
1. My friend that I wrote about a few weeks ago, the one who was a sculpturer, passed away on Tuesday. Her name was Joyce. She created great beauty, something of which the world has too little. I will miss her.
2. I have a little stuffed bear wearing a t-shirt that says "Hollins University" on it sitting on my shelf at my desk. That is where I went to college, both as an undergrad and graduate.
3. I am completely out of ideas for a Thursday Thirteen today. Can you tell?
4. Autumn snuck in the other evening like a thief in the night, stealing the heat of summer out of the air. This is my favorite time of year, this fall, this time of decline. I love the slant of light, the shiver in the morning, the frost on the dying flowers.
5. I gave up on the Weight Watchers website. I did well on it last year for six months, but in December the company changed the website. I found it less helpful, less supportive, and less encouraging. A week ago I found sparkpeople.com, which is free (!) and it seems to have lots of ways to encourage you to do the things you need to reach your goals. It counts calories, not points, so it will take me a little while to convert to that, but it should be fine.
6. The clutter on my desk has reached monumental proportions. This is what happens when you hate to file. I need a time out and clean-up session (which I think will happen this afternoon).
7. I have a "license to laugh" card posted above my computer screen. I received it during a Laughing Yoga session. Laughing yoga is an interesting and unique way to exercise and feel good. It employs "self-triggered" humor and is done with games, chants, clapping, rhythms, and breathing. It has been almost 18 months since I had this session and it still makes me smile when I think about it.
8. Also on Tuesday, we lost a baby calf. It was born on Friday but it could not stand. We attempted to save it by bottle feeding it in hopes that it was just weak, but the vet said it had a birth defect and would not live. Cows need to be able to stand up in order to properly digest their food, and despite our best efforts the poor thing died. I felt very bad for the momma cow, who stayed right with her baby even though he could not reach her milk. She would lick his head, walk away a few steps, and then call to him to follow her. It was sad to see. Death is the part of farming that I do not especially care for.
9. When I am trying to stop eating chocolate, I chew a lot of gum.
10. If I have to listen to another political message, I think I will scream. Do they really think this is helpful? Talk about negativity overload.
11. I bought a pedometer to measure my steps. I am not sure it is accurate. But if it is, then I walk about 4,500 steps around the house every day without even trying, back and forth between my office, the kitchen, the bathroom, and the laundry room.
12. Magazines that I read include Redbook, Women's World, All You, Writer's Digest, Poets and Writers, and O.
13. Yesterday after I ate breakfast, I took my dishes to the sink and spied five very large tom turkeys in the backyard. On my back deck, to be exact. I was so stunned and it happened so quickly that I wasn't able to get my camera. But they were quite a sight.
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 259th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
2. I have a little stuffed bear wearing a t-shirt that says "Hollins University" on it sitting on my shelf at my desk. That is where I went to college, both as an undergrad and graduate.
3. I am completely out of ideas for a Thursday Thirteen today. Can you tell?
4. Autumn snuck in the other evening like a thief in the night, stealing the heat of summer out of the air. This is my favorite time of year, this fall, this time of decline. I love the slant of light, the shiver in the morning, the frost on the dying flowers.
5. I gave up on the Weight Watchers website. I did well on it last year for six months, but in December the company changed the website. I found it less helpful, less supportive, and less encouraging. A week ago I found sparkpeople.com, which is free (!) and it seems to have lots of ways to encourage you to do the things you need to reach your goals. It counts calories, not points, so it will take me a little while to convert to that, but it should be fine.
6. The clutter on my desk has reached monumental proportions. This is what happens when you hate to file. I need a time out and clean-up session (which I think will happen this afternoon).
7. I have a "license to laugh" card posted above my computer screen. I received it during a Laughing Yoga session. Laughing yoga is an interesting and unique way to exercise and feel good. It employs "self-triggered" humor and is done with games, chants, clapping, rhythms, and breathing. It has been almost 18 months since I had this session and it still makes me smile when I think about it.
8. Also on Tuesday, we lost a baby calf. It was born on Friday but it could not stand. We attempted to save it by bottle feeding it in hopes that it was just weak, but the vet said it had a birth defect and would not live. Cows need to be able to stand up in order to properly digest their food, and despite our best efforts the poor thing died. I felt very bad for the momma cow, who stayed right with her baby even though he could not reach her milk. She would lick his head, walk away a few steps, and then call to him to follow her. It was sad to see. Death is the part of farming that I do not especially care for.
9. When I am trying to stop eating chocolate, I chew a lot of gum.
10. If I have to listen to another political message, I think I will scream. Do they really think this is helpful? Talk about negativity overload.
11. I bought a pedometer to measure my steps. I am not sure it is accurate. But if it is, then I walk about 4,500 steps around the house every day without even trying, back and forth between my office, the kitchen, the bathroom, and the laundry room.
12. Magazines that I read include Redbook, Women's World, All You, Writer's Digest, Poets and Writers, and O.
13. Yesterday after I ate breakfast, I took my dishes to the sink and spied five very large tom turkeys in the backyard. On my back deck, to be exact. I was so stunned and it happened so quickly that I wasn't able to get my camera. But they were quite a sight.
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 259th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Remembering the 343
Eleven years ago today, over 1,000 men and women, all of them dressed in 50 to 75 pounds of firefighting gear, faced the worst event of their careers.
The Twin Towers in New York City had been attacked and were burning.
At 8:50 a.m., the New York City Fire Department had established its incident command center at the World Trade Centers. The first plane hit at 8:45 a.m.; the response was immediate. The fire department was on the scene within five minutes.
These brave firefighters hustled inside while everyone else was doing their best to get outside.
They were saving lives, these folks. They were doing what they were trained to do.
What they loved to do.
What they would die doing.
At 9:59 a.m., the first of the tallest towers of the World Trade Center collapsed. The firefighters who were valiantly trying to reach people believed to be trapped on upper floors, were unable to get out. As those of us who sat watching the events unfold on TV know, the collapse occurred without warning. The buildings were down before anyone could react.
And 343 firefighters died, along with over 2,000 other people.
As the wife of a firefighter, I know that every day could be the day that things go wrong on the fire scene. This could be the day that a building explodes, a roof caves in, a car crashes into firefighters standing on the side of the road putting out a burning vehicle (something that happened in Roanoke in 1985, killing several firefighters).
These people do a job that most people wouldn't dream of doing. They risk their lives every single time they go to work. When you are running away in fear, they are putting on their hats and heading off to face down whatever it is you are afraid of. Tornadoes, hurricanes, fire, flood, derecho winds, downed power lines or a terrorist attack do not halt these dedicated people. They go forward when the rest of us would hang back.
On this 11th anniversary of the attack on New York City, please remember the sacrifices of these brave men and women, the firefighters who go where no one dares to go.
You might want to say thank you to them, too. You never know when the life they save might be yours.
The Twin Towers in New York City had been attacked and were burning.
At 8:50 a.m., the New York City Fire Department had established its incident command center at the World Trade Centers. The first plane hit at 8:45 a.m.; the response was immediate. The fire department was on the scene within five minutes.
These brave firefighters hustled inside while everyone else was doing their best to get outside.
They were saving lives, these folks. They were doing what they were trained to do.
What they loved to do.
What they would die doing.
At 9:59 a.m., the first of the tallest towers of the World Trade Center collapsed. The firefighters who were valiantly trying to reach people believed to be trapped on upper floors, were unable to get out. As those of us who sat watching the events unfold on TV know, the collapse occurred without warning. The buildings were down before anyone could react.
And 343 firefighters died, along with over 2,000 other people.
As the wife of a firefighter, I know that every day could be the day that things go wrong on the fire scene. This could be the day that a building explodes, a roof caves in, a car crashes into firefighters standing on the side of the road putting out a burning vehicle (something that happened in Roanoke in 1985, killing several firefighters).
These people do a job that most people wouldn't dream of doing. They risk their lives every single time they go to work. When you are running away in fear, they are putting on their hats and heading off to face down whatever it is you are afraid of. Tornadoes, hurricanes, fire, flood, derecho winds, downed power lines or a terrorist attack do not halt these dedicated people. They go forward when the rest of us would hang back.
On this 11th anniversary of the attack on New York City, please remember the sacrifices of these brave men and women, the firefighters who go where no one dares to go.
You might want to say thank you to them, too. You never know when the life they save might be yours.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Books: Smokin' Seventeen & Explosive Eighteen
Smokin' Seventeen
By Janet Evanovich
Copyright 2010
Explosive Eighteen
by Janet Evanovich
Copyright 2011
Both read by Lorelei King
Each approximately 6 hours
These are the most recent Stephanie Plum "mystery" books by Janet Evanovich.
I must say, calling this series a "mystery" does not seem appropriate for these books (and possibly the last several books).
Instead I would call these romances with a bit of mystery in them.
In Smokin' Seventeen, Stephanie must find out who is dumping dead bodies in the lot of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds, where she works. Stephanie is somehow linked to the killer.
She is still trying to decide if she wants to constantly screw Ranger or shack up with Morelli, a trend that continues in Explosive Eighteen as well.
Her mother, meanwhile, has fixed her up with a guy named Dave because Mom has decided Morelli is never going to propose marriage.
Lulu offers up laughs, and the book is a quick read (or listen, in my case). It does not disappoint but I do think Evanovich has jumped the genre.
In any event, Explosive Eighteen continues where the previous book left off. Stephanie has been on a holiday to Hawaii, but something happened that involved her two lovers. She has a mysterious no-tan band on her ring finger.
Meanwhile, she finds a mysterious photo in her messenger bag, and suddenly she's a target for a bunch of tragic hit-men wannabes and other assorted villains. The FBI is involved, too.
Again, a fun read but the formula is growing a little tiresome.
By Janet Evanovich
Copyright 2010
Explosive Eighteen
by Janet Evanovich
Copyright 2011
Both read by Lorelei King
Each approximately 6 hours
These are the most recent Stephanie Plum "mystery" books by Janet Evanovich.
I must say, calling this series a "mystery" does not seem appropriate for these books (and possibly the last several books).
Instead I would call these romances with a bit of mystery in them.
In Smokin' Seventeen, Stephanie must find out who is dumping dead bodies in the lot of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds, where she works. Stephanie is somehow linked to the killer.
She is still trying to decide if she wants to constantly screw Ranger or shack up with Morelli, a trend that continues in Explosive Eighteen as well.
Her mother, meanwhile, has fixed her up with a guy named Dave because Mom has decided Morelli is never going to propose marriage.
Lulu offers up laughs, and the book is a quick read (or listen, in my case). It does not disappoint but I do think Evanovich has jumped the genre.
In any event, Explosive Eighteen continues where the previous book left off. Stephanie has been on a holiday to Hawaii, but something happened that involved her two lovers. She has a mysterious no-tan band on her ring finger.
Meanwhile, she finds a mysterious photo in her messenger bag, and suddenly she's a target for a bunch of tragic hit-men wannabes and other assorted villains. The FBI is involved, too.
Again, a fun read but the formula is growing a little tiresome.
Sunday, September 09, 2012
The Awe of God
We had an awesome sunset last night as a cold front moved through.
To my west the sky was brilliant orange as the sun danced off the backs of clouds.
To the east, a streak of a rainbow offered up God's promise, offering comfort as the weather turned.
I think 2012 is the year of rainbows.
Friday, September 07, 2012
Thursday, September 06, 2012
Thursday Thirteen
Today I offer up 13 pieces of advice for a life well-lived:
1. Live your dream.
2. Show compassion for others.
3. Enjoy the little things.
4. Laugh loudly and often.
5. Remember to breathe.
6. Fall in love.
7. Eat your fruits and veggies.
8. Believe in miracles.
9. Trust, but verify.
10. Brush your teeth and floss.
11. Learn one new thing every day.
12. Cherish this moment. It will never come again.
13. Create your own definition of success.
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 258th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
1. Live your dream.
2. Show compassion for others.
3. Enjoy the little things.
4. Laugh loudly and often.
5. Remember to breathe.
6. Fall in love.
7. Eat your fruits and veggies.
8. Believe in miracles.
9. Trust, but verify.
10. Brush your teeth and floss.
11. Learn one new thing every day.
12. Cherish this moment. It will never come again.
13. Create your own definition of success.
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 258th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Wednesday, September 05, 2012
Wordless Wednesday
Linking up with Wordless Wednesday for the 10th time.
First time I've ever managed to catch a hummingbird on film.
Tuesday, September 04, 2012
Nothing Perfect Here
"Better a diamond with a flaw
than a pebble without." - Confucius
 |
| Nothing perfect here. |
Last week I posted a photo of a flower from my garden. My brother left me this comment:
"All those flower's you have around there
and you couldn't find one that wasn't missing a petal? LMAO!!"
Ah, my brother, I do not seek out perfection in nature, though I am a self-admitted perfectionist. I expect it from myself but not from others, and I most assuredly do not look to find it outside.
I find it is not the perfect flowers that hold my attention. I notice first the ones eaten by bugs, attacked with vigor by something they cannot defend against. Beaten by beetles, these beleaguered buds are buffeted bravely in the breeze.
Next I notice the rose buds covered with aphids, or worse yet, powdery mold or some other fungi that is hell-bent on feasting on the flowers.
Those untouched, the ones doing their daily growing, stretching toward the sun, lifting their faces and making no name for themselves, I see and admire. But they do not receive much attention from me. They need none.
And even those are not perfect. The perfect flower eludes me. I do not grow perfection in my garden. I grown heads of beauty crowned crookedly with thorns. Indeed, it has never occurred to me to try to grow a perfect flower. I don't take them out for exhibit, after all, or showcase them in floral arrangements.
I simply enjoy them, imperfection and all.
Monday, September 03, 2012
American Goldfinch
I had not seen these birds in my yard before. Some flowers I planted this spring seems to have attracted them. I think the one in the middle is a female.
Saturday, September 01, 2012
Friday, August 31, 2012
The Blue Moon Rises Pink
The Moon was but a Chin of Gold
A Night or two ago --
And now she turns Her perfect Face
Upon the World below --
Her Forehead is of Amplest Blonde --
Her Cheek -- a Beryl hewn --
Her Eye unto the Summer Dew
The likest I have known --
Her Lips of Amber never part --
But what must be the smile
Upon Her Friend she could confer
Were such Her Silver Will --
And what a privilege to be
But the remotest Star --
For Certainty She take Her Way
Beside Your Palace Door --
Her Bonnet is the Firmament --
The Universe -- Her Shoe --
The Stars -- the Trinkets at Her Belt --
Her Dimities -- of Blue --
(The Moon Was But a Chin of Gold, by Emily Dickinson)
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Thursday Thirteen
Out of ideas today, so I'm going to take 13 quotes from books on the top shelf, using the 13th line on the 13th page as a sort of anchor:
1. "Jefferson had no way of knowing that immediately after he wrote those orders, one of the Barbary States would commence hostilities." - The Savage Wars of Peace, by Max Boot
2. "Most of the black people in Hope lived near the cemetery, across the road from where my grandfather's store had been." - My Life, by Bill Clinton
3. "Beat writers like Ginsberg shaped their public utterances out of the private experiences which their first readers found shameful and appalling: they presented, often as visionary experiences, confidences of a kind which were once uttered only to priest or doctor." - From "Introduction" in The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, Second Edition, Richard Ellmann & Robert O'Clair, eds.
4. "Hiawatha aimed his arrow at a little rabbit." From "Hiawatha" in Walt Disney's Storyland (55 Favorite Stories).
5. "The men left in a rush: they flung on coats, they slid kisses at everybody's cheeks, they slammed house doors, they slammed car doors; they ground their cars' starters till the motors caught with a jump." - An American Childhood, by Annie Dillard (page 15 because page 13 was a blank chapter page).
6. "We bend over them, Walt, taking their breath
soft on our faces, wiping their domed brows,
stroking black the coal-black Union hair." - From "Nurse Whitman," in Satan Says, by Sharon Olds
7. "The flame of a candle burned upon the poop without the lease perceptible motion, and a long hair, held between the finger and thumb, hung without the possibility of detecting a vibration." - From "Ms. Found in a Bottle," in Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
8. "People would listen to what you had to say and treat your views with respect, and if they disagreed with your point of view, they would explain why by providing intelligent reasons." - The Thinker's Way: 8 Steps to a Richer Life, by John Chaffee, Ph.D.
9. "Suddenly they discover their families - previously people to be ignored in the face of the seventies - pre-television, pre-automobile, pre-flight individuals who endured and survived the incredible task of total self-sufficiency, and came out of it with a perspective on ourselves as a country that we are not likely to see again." - From "Introduction," The Foxfire Book, by Eliot Wigginton and his students (eds.)
10. "After sorting through enormous piles of transcription pages, I selected interview material that best illustrates the important lessons, sacrifices, and conflicts about being a woman with a passion to create in this culture and at this time in history." - The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women, by Gail McMeekin
11. "The amount of sugar in your blood is one teaspoonful." - Folk Medicine: A New England almanac of natural health care, by D. C. Jarvis, M.D.
12. "If you recall wondering about things as a child, if you daydream occasionally, if you find yourself creating a story out of something that happened to you for the entertainment of your listener, you can develop - through the exercises in this book - the ability to generate written words more easily, to express your ideas more authentically, to develop your own "voice" - that manner of expression unique to you." - Writing the Natural Way, by Gabriele Lusser Rico
13. "The claw tore open his mind, as it might have torn open a rabbit." The Dragon's Son, by Margaret Weis
I really need to clean out my book shelves. I can't believe I have these books in the same room, let alone on the same shelf.
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 257th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
1. "Jefferson had no way of knowing that immediately after he wrote those orders, one of the Barbary States would commence hostilities." - The Savage Wars of Peace, by Max Boot
2. "Most of the black people in Hope lived near the cemetery, across the road from where my grandfather's store had been." - My Life, by Bill Clinton
3. "Beat writers like Ginsberg shaped their public utterances out of the private experiences which their first readers found shameful and appalling: they presented, often as visionary experiences, confidences of a kind which were once uttered only to priest or doctor." - From "Introduction" in The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, Second Edition, Richard Ellmann & Robert O'Clair, eds.
4. "Hiawatha aimed his arrow at a little rabbit." From "Hiawatha" in Walt Disney's Storyland (55 Favorite Stories).
5. "The men left in a rush: they flung on coats, they slid kisses at everybody's cheeks, they slammed house doors, they slammed car doors; they ground their cars' starters till the motors caught with a jump." - An American Childhood, by Annie Dillard (page 15 because page 13 was a blank chapter page).
6. "We bend over them, Walt, taking their breath
soft on our faces, wiping their domed brows,
stroking black the coal-black Union hair." - From "Nurse Whitman," in Satan Says, by Sharon Olds
7. "The flame of a candle burned upon the poop without the lease perceptible motion, and a long hair, held between the finger and thumb, hung without the possibility of detecting a vibration." - From "Ms. Found in a Bottle," in Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
8. "People would listen to what you had to say and treat your views with respect, and if they disagreed with your point of view, they would explain why by providing intelligent reasons." - The Thinker's Way: 8 Steps to a Richer Life, by John Chaffee, Ph.D.
9. "Suddenly they discover their families - previously people to be ignored in the face of the seventies - pre-television, pre-automobile, pre-flight individuals who endured and survived the incredible task of total self-sufficiency, and came out of it with a perspective on ourselves as a country that we are not likely to see again." - From "Introduction," The Foxfire Book, by Eliot Wigginton and his students (eds.)
10. "After sorting through enormous piles of transcription pages, I selected interview material that best illustrates the important lessons, sacrifices, and conflicts about being a woman with a passion to create in this culture and at this time in history." - The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women, by Gail McMeekin
11. "The amount of sugar in your blood is one teaspoonful." - Folk Medicine: A New England almanac of natural health care, by D. C. Jarvis, M.D.
12. "If you recall wondering about things as a child, if you daydream occasionally, if you find yourself creating a story out of something that happened to you for the entertainment of your listener, you can develop - through the exercises in this book - the ability to generate written words more easily, to express your ideas more authentically, to develop your own "voice" - that manner of expression unique to you." - Writing the Natural Way, by Gabriele Lusser Rico
13. "The claw tore open his mind, as it might have torn open a rabbit." The Dragon's Son, by Margaret Weis
I really need to clean out my book shelves. I can't believe I have these books in the same room, let alone on the same shelf.
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 257th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
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