Day 2 Day radishes

February 28

I know someone who is six today.    And he is losing his second upper front tooth.  Could be a really big day.  Corn dogs and tater tots are for dinner.   

I am not doing too much of a post today because I am trying to conquer the skills of typelisting the prayer list.   I am reduced to actually reading instructions.   

Lately I have been mildly obsessed with aprons.  Generally I wear jeans and a T-shirt.  Every front of every T-shirt I own is stained.  So I am trying aprons.  I like the ones that are long, as they look French to me.   And I like retro ones.  I would like Japanese, if I could find them.   This fad of mine, I suspect, comes from wearing pinafores as a child.   Every day my Mother had at the ready a freshly ironed pinafore for me.  She did that until she had four children and ironing went by the board; plus jeans for kids came into style.  Last weekend I heard that aprons ARE, in fact, a craze.  Women are busily sewing aprons before the craze runs it course.   The Angrychicken.typepad.com   is a wonderful craft site and on the lower right hand side is the apron link.  If you quilt, the Jane Boulton site is good. 

February 27

Wednesday the 28th is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.   I will be partying hardy right through Tuesday night.  Then I will get the ashes on Wednesday and, in a time of self reflection, I move toward Easter.  In the Episcopal church, doing something positive during this period is just as good, if not better, than self deprivation.  I am going to give up wine though, just in case. 

I am a huge believer in corporate prayer.  This year for Lent I am going to invite readers to send, via e-mail, the name of someone who needs to receive prayers and support.  I will list them on the blog. It is best to give a first name and a brief description (or a long description). For example: Mark who was in a motorcycle accident with broken legs.  Jane, with six kids, who is recently a single parent, and needs support.   Paula who had been diagnosed with blah, blah, blah.  Someone looking for a job.  Currently there are probably six readers of this blog and occasional drop ins.  Still we are a mighty power.  The person need not be of any faith.  And if you are not presently strong in your faith, please hold the well being of these people in your hearts. 

[email protected]

February 25

I am staying for a couple of nights with two of my daughters' families.  They live very close to each other, so I have gone to book club, done some child care, and a little housework.  Anyhow, both families, my husband and I are eating together at night.  Thursday night was what my girls called "a girl television trifecta": Olympic Skating, American Idol, and the final of Dancing with the Stars.  I never watch these shows, unless it is skating before I go to bed.  However my girls are excited because they love woman's skating and are greatly amused by the other two shows. I get amused just to see them amused.   One girl captured the remote and switched back and forth between the shows.  The first rule was to not watch any commercials.  Switch, switch, switch. Control was sweet for the women.  One son-in-law actually requested commercials.  One husband said, "If you turn to Dancing with the Stars, I am leaving, I mean it, I'm leaving."  And he did.  Because it was not my husband's house, he kept his mouth shut and just poured another glass of wine. 

The party breaks up at nine and we leave to go home with the other daughter.  But everyone continues watching t.v.  American Idol is a bust for me.  But Dancing with the Stars is fun.   Mainly it is fun because Jerry Rice is a Star.  The girls and I have loved Jerry Rice since he began to play with the Forty-Niners.  He was good at football and also had a winning smile.  Last night was his final dance and there was a review of his previous dances.  He is awful.  He did not have the rhythm.  But as always he smiled, and he was absolutely hilarious.   Meanwhile my husband likes the woman dancer.   Then a friend of my daughter calls for a counseling session.   My daughter can discuss marriage therapy AND the show at the same time.  I go to bed. 

Shortly my husband comes to bed and he says to me, "I do not understand how they can watch such crap.  And they don't even really watch it since they talk on the phone at the same time."  They call it multi-tasking. For someone who watches television poker and wrestling, I find it a stretch that he has any room to talk. 

February 24

Last night I attended my book club which consists of my two daughters, four other young women, and another mother of one woman.  We were discussing the book The Curious incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon published in 2001.  It is the story of a 15 year old autistic young man who finds a neighborhood black dog dead stuck with a pitch fork.   The young man proceeds to solve the mystery.  I highly recommend the book. 

When we come to the meeting, we have a glass of wine and chit chat.   The younger women discuss families, school, and kids.  We asked a new member how old her children were.  She said the boy was seven, and the girls were six.  "Oh you have twins?",we asked.  "No", she replied, she had triplets.  Identical triplets. We might just as well canceled the book discussion. I have never known triplets or knew anyone who had them. Essentially, she had quadruplets.  We grilled her.  How did she feed them?  Did she have help?  No to that one. How did she choose who to feed and who to diaper?  Just thinking about feeding them with only two hands was out of our frame of reference.  For a long time she slept only one hour at a time.  She still has not caught up with her sleep.   But this young mother had not come to talk about triplets.  She had come to talk about the book.  And, very impressive, she had her lipstick on.

February 23

By now everyone has heard of Port Gate.   My current position is that I do not want foreigners controlling our ports even if the Coast Guard and the customs department are doing a good job. That having been said, diplomatically there is a lot to do to untangle ourselves from this humongous mess. The implications of throwing out foreign companies from our borders presents problems for us abroad as in strategic military sites, and our own businesses.  I remember during the Clinton  years, China was buying dock space in Long Beach, California.  But  alas no one seemed to care.  If we throw out the Saudis, do we throw out the Chinese? Do the Chinese send us home?

On to my more local level.   I think I live 70 miles from the Canadian border Peace Arch.  Canadians have not wanted to arm their border guards because it did not present a friendly front, and they are a peaceful nation.  I appreciate their being a peaceful nation.  Generally when crossing this border, you present your passport to both the guards of the country where you exit and where you enter.  But where the problem is, when faced with a threat, the Canadian guards and customs workers all just leave the border and go home (or where ever), and come back when the threat is over.   You probably can not imagine the traffic jam.  I went to Vancouver via train last year, and when we got to the train station, the agents came through with big black dogs.  It was not exactly friendly either.  But I can certainly understand their wanting to control importation of drugs, money, and weapons.   I am glad the Canadians are rethinking arming the guards and doing their fair share at the crossing.   

February 21

While political correctness never agreed with me, lately it is a increasing irritation.   Last year at school one first-grade grandchild, while standing in line, ready to return to the classroom called the girl in front a French Kisser.   I guess the girl cried a lot.   The teacher reprimanded my grandchild ( appropriate) and then sent the 6 year old to the Principal. Again reprimanded, parent called, and a note was to be written to both teacher and girl. My grandchild had no idea what the term French Kisser meant, and I frankly think was set up by someone else in line.  The girl probably thought that she was a kisser from France.  At least we hope so.   No matter how you look at it, the term was derogatory.  But can we stop, or should we stop everything derogatory?   

I have been impressed at my young grandson's, Karate class.   The instructors thread colored scarfs on the belts of the five year olds.  Then the idea is for the kids to run around to try to snatch others scarves.  If some one takes your scarf, you have to go to the wall and do 10 jumping jacks.  Then the instructor again attach scarves on the belt and the child goes out and runs around and tries to get someone else's scarf.  Today I heard that some schools are starting to rule out 'tag' because some kids might act like bullies.   Dear God, spare me.   

February 21

Sunday Michael and I went to La Conner for brunch. The town is, as the crow flies, less than 20 miles, but it takes 50 minutes to drive.  It is a mini Carmel, without the wealth, here in the northwest.  La Conner is famous for it s tulip festival in April.   While we like the town, we very much like the drive.  I never dreamed that farm land would interest us.  But every it month changes, and in summer the changes are week to week.  Currently the land is mostly fallow. But while it is dormant, Snow Geese come from Canada to winter here.  I think they feed on the roots of the of summer corn.  These geese arrive in October by the thousands.   We saw them after they had just arrived, and they were at that time all collected in one place.   A eagle would spook them and they would rise in a dark cloud.   Today a majority of the flock was shoulder to shoulder feeding right by the road in an area of about  8 acres.  Soon they will leave, and then the big tractors start will at night, with their bright head lights, be turning the soil preparing for spring planting.   

February 19

President's Day is this Monday.  As I have previously written, it is a nothing holiday for me.  When I was young, Lincoln's birthday and Washington's birthday were both holidays.  And they meant something to us.  Every year we heard the "never tell a lie " story.  Our class rooms were filled with pictures of Washington.   Washington crossing the Deleware. Pictures of him standing in official portraits. George on a horse.    And we always had a picture of Martha too.   I do not think there was a picture of Mary Todd Lincoln. It was a pleasure later in life to go and recognize the origional portraits at the National Portrait Gallery. 

There were the statements  (but not in the class room) of  "George Washington slept here".  This could mean one of two things.    Because he was fond of Martha, I choose to think that he covered a lot of territory and patriots offered him their bed where ever he went.  We all knew about Washington's wooden false teeth. Painful.

I am quite irritated, angered really, that Steven Spielberg is thinking of making a movie of Lincoln being gay.  But Lincoln probably did have Marfan's Syndrome which may, in fact, be the more important story.  More Marfans later/

In any case, go out and buy a cherry pie for Wednesday, or buy frozen cherries.  If a pie is too much effort to make, heat the frozen cherries with some sugar and a tablespoon of corn starch, and a touch of water.  Stir until the mixture thickens.  Top with cool whip.   Cool whip? Yes this idea is for the working mother who is then going to tell her children that George Washington was a real American hero: a great general and a great and first President, and incidentally he wore wooden false teeth.   

Febrary 17

Since I was 35 I have wanted an eye-lift.  My Dad had droopy eyes and mine are like his.  At that time I was told that I had to wait until I was 55 years old for the procedure.  We certainly had no money for cosmetic surgery.   Fifty five came and went.  This week I have had an eye infection which I thought was from wearing the new eye makeup I bought.  Then a daughter said it could be pink eye.   I remember my Dad screaming around the house when a child came home from school with pink eye.  He associated pink eye with the poor,unkempt, and vagrant. So .  . . I went to the doctor.  Through my tear ducts, my current cold had gone to my eye.  The doctor gave me fancy eye drops. I asked the doctor if he thought my other lid was infected, as it was drooping.  I really could not remember if it had always drooped that low.  Out of the blue the doctor said, "Maybe you should have an eye-lift, it could be affecting your driving".  Maybe he said that because I hit his car in the lot.   Just kidding.  The very thought of an eye lift is exciting.  In this case we hope that my eye lids keep drooping for a while, until I get diagnosed. This could be Park Place and passing GO.

February 16

This picture is apropos of nothing. 

Responding to my last entry February 15, my daughter brought up the subject that Valentine was in fact a Christian saint, which one we don't know.  Shrouded in mystery, there are three Catholic Valentine saints, and no one is sure who was who.  The legend I like best: in 270 Claudius II gave the married men with wives and children a pass when it came to military service and sent the single men off to duty because as as Claudius said ,single men made better soldiers. Valentine  protested,and he therefore was beheaded.   Now that we know Valentine was Catholic, Valentine's day is certainly doomed.  But how all this applies to romance, I am not sure. 

Also interesting to me; Valentines were created by Esther Howland in 1840.  Cards were sent out in masses then, and continue to this day.  So the commercialism of Valentine's day may have a long history.  In 1840 no one had heard of commercialism.