Five Wells

Why I Can't Get Enough Work Done

2011-06-02T08:35:00.000-05:00

We were replacing the deck last weekend. Late in the afternoon we took a break to admire our progress, "when glancing aside for a moment I spied..." this baby squirrel. I quickly put myself between him and the cats. B wanted me to pick him up but I thought he'd bite me.

No.

As it turns out he wanted nothing more than to be friends with us. He happily scrambled up B's clothes.

I suppose this means they've lost their mother.

We spent the better part of the next hour trying to get him to go back to his tree (and taking pictures) only to have his sibling join him on the ground.

I really don't think B's going to volunteer as a surrogate - tho' I do think it crossed her mind.

Survivor

2011-05-16T06:43:00.000-05:00

Three years ago, we built this garage and driveway over my favorite garden. We moved a lot of plants, but I knew we'd miss some. The next two years one pathetic leaf emerged in this spot. This year, look!

I'm not sure if the message is forgiveness or "Nya, nya, nya, nya, nya."

Visualizing My Budget

2011-04-18T09:43:00.000-05:00

Well, this helps explain why I struggle with my spending. Last year I made $21,000. But I spent -gulp- $9,000 on taxes. I knew I was paying taxes. But I never put the pieces together to visualize just what a chunk of my income that is.

Income tax (including FICA) is one-third of the total tax. Property tax (not counting the acres of woodland) is the big chunk. I'm clinging to the comforting thought that property taxes, including that huge school tax bill, support my own neighborhood. I love my log house in the woods. But if I had a mortgage, I'd never be able to afford those taxes on this salary.

The Most Beautiful Stove in the World

2010-11-30T10:07:00.000-05:00

All summer this space silently weighed on my mind and tugged at my heart.My beloved thirty year old Waterford cookstove was missing. I joked that it was spending the summer at rehab camp. But it wasn't funny to me. It was a bit like my house was in a coma - lacking any life energy and seriously in danger.

The trouble with cast iron (as my stove repairman repeatedly told me) is that it expands and contracts. Over its 10,000 days of heating my home and cooking my meals, one by one its parts loosened, its screws dropped out, bits of refractory cement turned up in my dustpan. From time to time I replaced worn out parts. I resigned myself to the fact that it became so leaky that it wouldn't hold a fire more than a couple of hours and I was using twice as much wood as I had when it was new.

Six months and $5,000 later, it's back! In one tiny detail it reminds me of the moment after Maggy was born when a sense of relief washed over me making me aware of how anxious I had been over the preceding months.

I expected it in August - or maybe September. But one after another, things went wrong in the repair process. Each new problem required another replacement part from Ireland. Is is possible that they don't have air freight in Ireland? When nights got chilly in October my subliminal anxiety edged its way into my consciousness. In November as I planned the Thanksgiving menu I could barely control my frustration.

Finally the stove's return was scheduled for November 24th - the day before Thanksgiving. The schedule didn't make me feel much better. There was still at least a 50-50 chance something else would go wrong. Tuesday the 23rd, as I drove home from work, I imagined the inevitable phone message waiting for me. Sure enough, the answering machine light was blinking. It was Angela asking if they could bring it Wednesday afternoon instead of morning and trying to reassure me not to worry. They absolutely would bring it Wednesday afternoon.

Wednesday I occupied myself with distracting chores all day. Mid-afternoon when the truck pulled into the driveway I was cautiously optimistic, skeptical, hopeful and doubtful all at the same time. I couldn't make small talk with Bob. After greeting him and pointing out just where the feet of the stove should go (even after six months of cleaning the floor, the marks where it used to stand were still there) I went upstairs to clean some more. Hours later, there it was in all its nearly new glory.

On the plus side, Bob charged me just what he'd estimated in August (twice what he'd estimated in June) tho' he said, and I believe, that he'd put quite a bit more labor into it than he'd estimated. On the down side, because of the paint and cement tempering and burning off, I couldn't cook our Thanksgiving turkey in it. Thank heaven for B's gas oven upstairs. Still, we did all our stovetop cooking on the Waterford and enjoyed it's warmth.

It was truly like watching the house awakening from a coma. And I was thankful.

Everyday Things

2010-11-19T22:31:00.000-05:00

Years ago I read a cool book The Design of Everyday Things. In a modest way, it changed my life. I learned, among other things, that on doors in public places horizontal handles push out and vertical handles pull. It's hard to describe how much that simple concept has simplified my life.

Tonight I visited with a friend I haven't seen in years. She told me her daughter recently started a business in Human Factors consulting. Who knew that everyday things had become a "multidisciplinary field incorporating psychology, engineering, industrial design" called Human Factors. And that this would lead to "World Usability Day."

I want to know more about this.

Latest Project

2010-10-29T09:22:00.000-05:00

I'm torn between surprising Maggy and bragging about the latest DIY project. I'm betting that Maggy will be surprised when she sees this. And by Thanksgiving she will forget about it and still be surprised when she comes home.

I've avoided having guests for months because thanks to my four feline friends, my seventeen year old carpet is really, really embarrassing.

Taking out the old carpet was really the worst part of the project. This new wood product is a snap to install. It really won't allow you to do it wrong.

I like the new effect a lot! Can't wait to have company now.

I Love Summer

2010-08-10T07:51:00.000-05:00

Sungold (very early, very sweet)
Snow White (sweet, juicy, refreshing)
Black Cherry (distinctive, rich flavor)
random green tomato I accidentally knocked off the vine
Sweet Chelsea (the red one in the back, sweet and juicy, big for a cherry.)

The Reality Based Community

2010-08-07T06:51:00.002-05:00

Two delightful rays of reality this week.

Mayor Bloomberg explains why construction of a Mosque near Ground Zero will proceed. We do not allow our government or individuals to interfere with each other's religious practices. Or with the lawful use of private property.

Federal Judge Vaughn Walker handed down a decision overturning California's ban on gay marriage. We don't allow a majority vote to deny human rights to a minority. Government's role in marriage is to record who is married and enforce laws that ensure that marriage partners are treated fairly. Individual religious beliefs may judge whose marriages are sanctified within a particular religion. But that is not the role of government.

New Look

2010-07-25T11:56:00.000-05:00

It's that time in summer when one welcomes a rainy day to catch up indoors. I should be balancing my checkbook. But Blogger has made it easier to change the blog template. So, here's a new look for you and an inspiration for me to write here more often.

Breakfast

2010-07-17T08:53:00.001-05:00

Homegrown eggs and blueberries with Rosemary peasant bread from Wegmans. It just doesn't get any better.

Wardrobe

2010-07-15T09:35:00.002-05:00

I dragged a few bags of stuff out of my "hoarding" room to Salvation Army last week. My reward for this virtuous recycling was a chance to browse in the Salvation Army store. I scored a summer jacket, a pair of camel colored Ralph Lauren jeans and four shirts, including a perfect color and fit linen shirt and a beautiful silk shirt with a twill stripe accent - all for $20!

Here's the favorite peach colored linen ready for work.

And here it is after a day at the office. I know how it feels.

Belated Happy Birthday

2010-07-12T08:37:00.001-05:00

Belated Happy Birthday to Maggy. Part of the reason Maggy lives in New York is that she doesn't want to own a car. Still, even as a rental, this Mustang convertible added a lot to her birthday experience.

Here's one of the gifts she gets to keep: Bill's painting of pigeons - Maggy's favorite New York wildlife.

Independence Day

2010-07-05T19:29:00.005-05:00

Late afternoon overhead view from my deck.

Open Door Policy

2010-06-09T09:27:00.000-05:00

During nice weather I often leave the door open a bit so the cats can come and go rather than trying to keep track of who's in and who's out. I don't have a kitty door because I really don't want 'possums and raccoons coming in. While Belinda was away, I put a note on the door reminding Bill not to let the cats in. I patiently tracked the cats down each morhing and put them out when I left for work, secure in the knowledge that when I came home the house wouldn't smell like the litterbox and I wouldn't trip over a cat herding me toward the kitchen. On weekends I spent blissful hours doing housework without tripping over cats. Housework went faster 'cause there was no litterbox to clean, no new stains on the carpet, no chipmunk parts to clean up and hardly any cat hair on the furniture. I could even sit down for a break without cats trying to settle on my lap.

It's more complicated when Belinda's home. I work late many nights. She believes, as the cats do, that they should eat at the same time every day preferably at the very predictable hour that she gets home. She feeds then and naturally doesn't want to wait for them to finish eating and go out for their after-dinner business. So, she leaves the patio door ajar. I accept this because the roomful of moths when I get home late is better than cleaning the litterbox and the carpet. (I can't wait to get rid of that carpet.)

Last night when I got home just before midnight, I muttered to myself about the open door and the kitchen light on, gave the kitties a snack and fixed some dinner for myself. For a while it was two cats in, one out, four out, two in, one out, etc 'til I stopped paying attention. An hour or so later, when I noticed that they were all asleep within arm's length of my chair, I pushed one off my lap and went downstairs to close the kitchen door. There was a furry face in the door. As I mentally re-counted the cats I left upstairs I realized it's one of the two young racoons who come to vandalize the birdfeeders every night. It's hard to blame him. The cats hadn't finished their midnight snacks and the dishes are just inside the door. I've never been very nice to the vandals, so he still doesn't like me much. When I say, "Shoo" he goes. But, I need a new door policy.

Please don't lecture me about rabies. I understand. I respect this pair of racoons and, for the moment, they respect me, too. Getting in my car and driving to work every morning is no doubt riskier than my occasional, brief interacttion with the racoons from a polite distance. Still, I need a new policy.

Indigo Bunting

2010-05-14T08:53:00.000-05:00

I associate indigo with the color of blue jeans. But when you see this guy in the garden, no need to check the bird book. In this neighborhood, it can't be anything but an Indigo Bunting. Listen to its song and learn more about it at the wonderful Cornell Lab of Ornithology website. Thanks to Belinda for being here to see it and for fooling with my unfamiliar camera to document it.

Snow in May

2010-05-09T10:23:00.001-05:00

What more can I say?

Tulip

2010-05-03T11:13:00.000-05:00

How about this quietly spectacular Tulip?

Woodpecker

2010-05-02T11:01:00.001-05:00

Awkward pose for this stately Pileated Woodpecker. I've never seen one on the suet feeder before. Maybe he's feeding young and that's tempting him to go for the fast food.

Belinda calls him the prehistoric bird for his resemblance to a Pteradactyl. She's thinking of mounting a suet feeder on a tree so he can get at it more easily. I think he should have to work a bit for this fatty snack.

Bees

2010-04-11T07:50:00.001-05:00

Monday when I was sitting on the deck, barefoot and wearing a tank top, I realized I've been clenching my teeth for four months. It felt great to relax and read a good book.

Yesterday when I noticed the apricot tree blooming I was worried that it was too cold and windy for the bees to be out. So, I was happy to notice that bees were busy in the apricot blossoms.

In fact, there were several kinds of bees.

Easter Decorations

2010-04-04T17:41:00.001-05:00

Easter decorations got a bit out of hand. The amaryllis survived from past years. But I didn't pay much attention to dormancy or keeping the in the dark. So, they bloomed in their "normal" spring time. I remember seeing them in gardens in the spring in South Carolina.

Then I couldn't resist these small yellow lilies at Wegman's. $4 each and the bulbs cost nearly that much in the garden catalog. Of course, Bill brought me an Easter Lily. I found some daffodils and brought in some Forsythia to hang the eggs on. See Easter 2007 for closeups of some of the eggs.

The View From My Office Window

2010-02-27T10:04:00.002-05:00

Some of my favorite things: icicles and snowdrifts.

The ice on the left is an icicle that's been growing for weeks. There was an office pool on when it would reach the ground. Can't say for sure it's on the ground yet, but it's joined up with the snowdrift under the window.

It was a challenge getting to work. By 8:15 we'd fed the animals and cleared the long driveway, but the County plow hadn't yet touched the road. Seriously. Not touched. It was 18" of fresh snow marred only by the tracks of one vehicle that had managed to drive by without benefit of the plow. By the time I was dressed for the office, the plow had gone by and, of course, filled in the end of the driveway.

I had interviews scheduled all day with applicants for our job opening. I admire the committment of the person with the 9:00 appointment who politely declined an offer to reschedule for 1:00 saying she'd be fine getting in to Dryden. I warned her I'd be a little late.

New York

2010-02-22T09:35:00.003-05:00

Last Monday in New York. Lots of interesting people and discussions at the Association of Towns of New York State conference. There are more than 900 townships in New York and 1,600 people representing townships came together to talk about strengthening local government and doing good things for our towns.

It was nice to hear from Senator Gillibrand. Embarrassing to hear the AOT President inroducing her consistently pronounce the Senator's name "Guilderbrand."

Tuesday Morning in New York. At the breakfast meeting Senator Schumer spoke about all his efforts to save and create jobs in every imaginable industry - except agriculture and education, Dryden's two largest industries.

Very nice dinners and lunches and chats with Maggy. I'm glad to be back in Dryden. But I miss Maggy.

I Have Confidence in Sunshine

2010-02-12T10:00:00.001-05:00

Why doesn't the word "confidential" have anything to do with the concept of "confidence?"

In my department we have job titles for "Confidential Bookkeeper to the Supervisor" and "Confidential Secretary to the Supervisor." Confidential is all about secrecy. I have to say, in local government, there's really not much room for secrets.

I'm in the process of replacing the Confidential Bookkeeper. I don't know which of us lost confidence in the other first, but it was a rapid downward spiral. I'm glad I can trust my Confidential Secretary (secretary - get it?) not to blab too much about how we're laughing at some of the resumes I've gotten. But bookkeeper? I think I want to trust him/her to be completely open.

I definitely want to have confidence in both my bookkeeper and secretary. My secretary told me yesterday that she remembers that in her interview I asked, "Is it ever okay to tell a lie?" Like many people, she thought maybe it's okay when someone asks, "Do you like my outfit?" With practice, she'll find ways to answer even those questions honestly and constructively.

I want to have confidence in my entire staff to cover my back. And I know that to earn their loyalty, I have to be sure they never have to lie to defend me. Idealistic? Yeah. But still a good goal.

Kitty on the Keyboard?

2010-02-06T10:41:00.009-05:00

I can't think too much about what the cats are doing when I'm at work. They outnumber me four to one. It's like leaving four teenagers home alone. The news at the end of the day is never good. This is what my monitor looked like when I got home. Maybe they were working on their tax returns. But I'm worried about the Windows Diagnostic message.

Further evidence? I may be careless in many areas of my life, but I'm in awe of the friend who takes care of my computer. I don't spill stuff on the keyboard.

White has a reputation for sleeping on my desk. But I haven't seen him do it in a long time. This picture is from 2007.

The current suspect in the keyboard caper is Magda, who's been pretty weird lately. I've spent a fair amount of time trying to create special places for the cats: cushions, boxes, blankets, old t-shirts - all in an effort to keep cat hair off the furniture and my clothes. No luck. Magda insists on grooming on my treadmill and sleeping on my charger station.

Metaphor for Life

2010-02-04T09:27:00.002-05:00

This is what happens. As soon as one bit is out of place, it's only a matter of days- sometimes minutes - before the whole system collapses. This is Magda thinking, "What the hell happened here?"

Sometimes I see the metaphor as continually trying to stuff ten pounds of crap into a five pound bag. It only recently occurred to me that someone keeps adding more crap to the pile when my back is turned. Stop it!

When Bad Things Happen to Good People

2010-01-31T19:38:00.003-05:00

My neighbor lost his house today. He's a gruff guy and he gives me a hard time every chance he gets. But that's not what comes to mind first when I think of him. I remember when he patiently brought my wandering horse home last spring, following the horse slowly and carefully with the red lights on his truck flashing.

Those red lights are meant to help his neighbors in quite a different way. He's one of the wonderful volunteer firefighters in Etna. This picture shows how we fight fires in the country. We have no fire hydrants. Tankers from all nearby fire departments - some ten miles away - line up to supply water. In addition to our own Etna Fire Department, I saw Freeville, Dryden, Lansing and Cayuga Heights trucks and rescue vehicles. I know other departments were standing by covering the stations of the departments at the scene.

I know there's no way to make this right for him and his family. But already planning to help in any way we can.

Winter

2010-01-01T09:00:00.005-05:00

Who doesn't love a snowy day to celebrate the New Year? Two days earlier we were taking pictures of fog rising from the garden. Now this.

The snow was exciting enough to inspire Maggy to make a snow angel.

The real reason we were out there was to clean the barn. Maggy's thinking, "Same stuff, different day." Tho' this is a far cry from her Fifth Avenue office.

She's still the chic-est stableboy I've ever seen. Happy New Year!

New Phone

2009-12-28T11:04:00.003-05:00

I have a new phone. And I have mixed feelings about it. Apparently I'm still able to make a phone call - which is the main point. And I'm able to do about a thousand other things it never occurred to me were even possible, much less desirable. I've been intimidated by the iPhone. When Maggy said, "I'm glad you chose a smart phone," I answered, "It didn't look that smart." It looks like a phone with a keyboard and pictures. But I fear it's still considerably smarter than I.

Remember my year long non-adventure with the iPod? I've had a Verizon phone for about 10 years. Verizon has the "new every two" concept where they let you have a free or discounted new phone every two years. That's definitely more for their benefit than for mine. I imagine the technology on every phone I choose is outdated long before I learn how to use it. I'm about eight months past the date when I was eligible for a new phone and Verizon's reminders have been getting more frequent and - um - encouraging. Now it's like, "Upgrade the damn phone NOW. Please."

Yesterday, when the phone was brand new, I read the "Read First Poster" and the 64 page "Tips, hints and shortcuts" book. Neither can be called an instruction manual by any stretch of the imagination. But on the "Welcome" page, it says: For more details, refer to the Owner's Manual that came on the Getting Started CD with your wireless device. Today I figured out which disk has the manual on it. Okay. I'm all about paperless. the PDF manual has 102 full size pages instead of the sixty-four 4"x 4" pages of the Tips booklet. The first ten pages are disclaimers and safety warnings.

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS FOR DIRECT SUNLIGHT
PREVENTION OF HEARING LOSS
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS FOR RF EXPOSURE [I know what RF is from months of talking to people about cell phone towers]
INTERFERENCE WITH MEDICAL EQUIPMENT FUNCTIONS
NONIONIZING RADIATION [I really don't know what nonionizing radiation is]

The warning get a little less dire - which I can tell 'cause they're not all caps.

Avoid hot areas
Avoid wet areas
Avoid using your device after a dramatic change in temperature
Avoid applying excessive pressure to the device ... remove the device from your pants’ pocket before sitting down [Excuse me? Excessive pressure!?]
Do Not Use the PC Functions of Your Device While Driving or Walking [or chewing gum]

Okay. I'm bored enough with the warnings to stop paying attention to any of them.

I'd go on to page 11 but I'm way beyond what I allotted on my schedule for this task.

And, like the manual, this post has too many words, too few pictures.

Christmas Morning

2009-12-27T09:13:00.015-05:00

Christmas morning at 2:00AM when Maggy and I finished wrapping. We like wrapping paper. In our defense, it's mostly plain white Kraft paper with reuseable fabric ribbons.

Christmas morning about 11:00 AM when we finished unwrapping. We like wrapping paper.

For cats, it's just all about the boxes.

'Twas the night before...

2009-12-24T08:07:00.009-05:00

I don't understand how red-eye works. Murphy has one blue and one gold eye. The red and green is an interesting novelty.

Okay. It's kind of Charlie Brown. It's just the first of many house decorations. It's Maggy's color choice challenge: purple and gray. Not silver, mind you. Gray.

Christmas tree starts out a bit Charlie Brown-ish, too.

I swear, I'll never make fun of Maggy making a mess in the kitchen again. I should remember to stick to making one thing at a time. This is the chocolate pie and the blueberry upside-down cake in progress simultaneously.

Tigereye

2009-12-10T12:41:00.004-05:00

Jake reluctantly models the Tigereye necklace I made for B's mom. Seconds later, I was chasing him to retrieve the necklace.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-30T12:13:00.002-05:00

What can I say? We were thankful.

While the turkey cooked, Maggy and I went to the garden for fresh parsley, carrots, onions and Brussels Sprouts.

Travis was there, along with Andy, Joe and Greg. It was great.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T11:20:00.009-05:00

Once again I was invited to judge the Halloween costume contest.

There were clowns and angels.

Pirates and a unique lobster.

Little Sungiva and her tall, beaming daddy, Simon, taking a break from campaigning. Doesn't it look like his head is brushing the ceiling?

One lovely little Dorothy.

I worry a little about the anxious faces waiting for their numbers to be called for a prize. But everyone gets a ribbon and moves on to refreshments and fire truck rides.

Welcome [Unwelcome?] Neighbors

2009-10-25T10:54:00.000-05:00

I appreciate skunks for their relentless search for grubs in the lawn. But I'm a bit uncomfortable with seeking one under my deck. There's really no way to warn the curious cats not to investigate.

[Editor's note: A few people have asked me what happened to the blog. Fact is, I don't know. But when I downloaded my Christmas pictures today, I found 120 pictures from as far back as mid-October. So, I'm going to start catching up today.]

Sisyphus v.2

2009-10-13T07:28:00.007-05:00

Maggy: "Really? This is how advisor Today chooses to portray corporate women?"

I doubt she'd like the photo on their website any better.

I fear this is just the rock tumbling back down the mountain. I can't see how Maggy can show anyone in her company how inappropriate this is.

Columbus Day?

2009-10-12T08:31:00.003-05:00

Holidays seem to fall into two categories: ones we care about and ones for which we get a paid day off from work. I'm surprised how little overlap there is. The ones we care about have special customs for celebration - sometimes far removed from the original reason for the holiday.

New Year's Day is a paid day off. I'm unaware of any common celebration ritual tho' I imagine many people sleep late to recover from New Year's Eve celebrations. Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas are paid days off with important meals to celebrate. Where do Columbus Day and Washington's birthday fit in this pattern? No traditional meal. No parade (except in NY). No presents.

I don't know how much of my mental image of Columbus sailing for the New World is myth. Still I think setting off in a sailboat on a trip expected to take months is pretty admirable. So, Columbus is somewhere on my list of people about whom we should know enough to have a certain amount of respect. But couldn't we have the day after Thanksgiving off instead? Or Halloween? Or even Spring Equinox?

Overheard On Twitter

2009-10-11T06:58:00.000-05:00

From DM at the Farmers' Market:

'swiss chard is beautiful' ... 'twitter is stupid'

How Many Dial-up Hours Does It Take to Download iTunes?

2009-09-02T06:00:00.002-05:00

A year or so ago I wrote about wishing I could download Sound and Spirit programs. I got a little MP3 player and managed to put a few songs on it. But the Sound and Spirit programs are in a format that I never did figure out how to download - even with helpful advice from readers.

So, I got an iPod Nano for Christmas. Remember Christmas? Eight months ago? The friend who gave it to me populated it with a few Sound and Spirit shows and some audiobooks which I've enjoyed. But I wanted... more.

iPod comes with this pathetic little 16 iPod Nano size page, line-drawing pamphlet which passes for instructions. It starts right out, "Download iTunes." Last week I guiltily spend $20 on OReilly's Missing Manual. Simon writes for OReilly. So, I'm thinking it will help. But I feel guilty 'cause I know children figure this out without the $20 help. Maybe if I just applied myself...

The Missing Manual made the iPod sound like so much fun and Saturday was rainy so I confronted the problem head on and visited the iPod website. I followed the Missing Manual suggestion and unchecked the boxes that offered me updates. In the interest of time, I skipped the fine print about hardware and software requirements where, I now know, the eighth bullet point is:

A broadband Internet connection to use the iTunes Store

Optimist that I am, I just clicked "Download Now." The little download screen popped up telling me that the download time was unknown but it was working at a whopping 2kps. Fifteen or twenty minutes later, I lost the dialup connection. Oh, well. I started over. An hour later, as it reached 7MB I realized I might be in trouble and started browsing around the iTunes site to figure out more about what I was getting into. Sure enough. It said the download is 72MB. Hmm...

At about 16MB I was disconnected again. Well, I've download things before that, when interrupted, start up where they left off. So I tried again. No such luck. It started over at 0 and chugged along at about 2kps. I didn't want to do anything else online that might slow the download. So I went pessimistically to bed.

Imagine my surprise when I woke up to find it still running. Not that I was surprised by how long it was taking, just surprised that I hadn't lost the connection. Better yet, it said it was at 68MB! I watched for an hour as it reached 72MB, then 73. Even 73.8 before, alas, it was disconnected. Sigh. There are many pleasures of country living. Apparently iPod isn't going to be one of them.

Sisyphus

2009-08-16T06:09:00.007-05:00

Another tiny victory in Maggy's ongoing struggle to push the Wall Street world toward the reality based community:

So my boss sent me to Duane Reade to get some things for a care package we're sending to Liz's brother's unit in Iraq. Protein bars, eyedrops, etc. etc. - I got way too much of a kick out of picking out the bars (no chocolate bc it melts, so a little challenge.) I decided to add some Luna bars to the mix because they have the best flavors without chocolate. Apparently they've changed the marketing so now they're "Nutrition for Women". Maybe you see where this is going?

Yep, someone said "Wait, these are for WOMEN! We can't send these."

To their credit, after my "Oh, really?" and a blank stare, they were like "Oh. Right."

Not to mention, if I were a man in the middle of the desert with MREs as the main food source, I probably would not turn down a delicious toasted nut and cranberry protein bar because it said it was for women.

I love it that she keeps trying.

Free Range Chicks

2009-08-14T05:48:00.003-05:00

The gawky, adolescent chicks are coming out into the gardens with their mom these days. She still has that incredible cluck that says, "Come here this instant. Your life depends on it." And they still obey. I've always envied that cluck.

This week they started spending the night on the roost with the big chickens instead of in the old nest on the floor. It was confusing for them the first night as they tried to figure out how to get as close to the mom as they were accustomed to on the floor. After a couple of nights practice, now they're content being near her, but not actually touching.

The vegetable garden is thriving thanks to endless days of rain and Bill's diligent weeding. This 4'x24' raised bed contains chard, lettuce, cucumbers, beans, dill and carrots. Only the tomatoes have not thrived in the rainy weather.

I'm pretty proud of the onions. I started them from seed indoors and transplanted the seedlings when the soil was dry enough to cultivate. They do much better this way than sowing seed directly into the bed. And I don't have to think about thinning. I think the resulting bulbs store better than onions grown from sets.

And the flower beds near the vegetables are a riot of color. These beds have had virtually no care at all this year. They're hopelessly overgrown and weedy. But the visual impact is terrific.

Mary Ann's 60

2009-07-28T08:28:00.005-05:00

Following closely on the heels of Leslie, Henry and Mahlon, last week I completed my sixtieth year. Life is good.

I remember my life in phases related to where I lived and what I was learning. Preschool years in the central Adirondacks, school years in far northern NY on Lake Champlain, college in Albany, grad school here at Cornell, arguably the crown jewel of the Finger Lakes.

Okay, so 36 of those 60 years have been spent here in Ithaca. But the learning really spiked after grad school. I started learning about plants, birds and evolution from Bill. I married and spent a year in Germany. I built a house and started raising kids. Along the way I raised chickens, geese, turkeys, rabbits, sheep and a horse. I learned to spin and weave and to handle a camera with confidence. I took an accounting class and returned to an office environment where I re-learned the ins and outs of copiers, multiline phones and office politics.

A few things from pre-Ithaca days have affected my live in big ways. All my formal training in music and religion were from those years near Lake Champlain. And my foundation in computer use is from a post college year in Albany.

Life goes on. Now as an elected local official I've learned more about my town in four years than in the first thirty-two years I lived here. When I built the house, I learned about wells and septic systems. Now I'm well versed in municipal water and wastewater treatment. I've learned about road maintenance, dog control, cell towers, stormwater runoff mitigation, riparian buffer zones and volunteer emergency services (not necessarily in that order.)

I say again, life is good.

Broody Hen

2009-07-07T07:57:00.002-05:00

This hen has been sitting exactly like this for 21 days. I suppose she gets out to eat and drink when I'm not looking. But when I'm there, she's like a statue - a statue with sound effects when I poke under her warm, damp bare breast to assess the eggs she's sitting on. She takes a quick peck at my hand and emits a long raspy complaint at the disturbance.

The first chick hatched Friday. More on Saturday. Sunday she was still waiting for the rest.

I usually try to keep my hands off on the theory that she knows better than I do. But by 4:00 Sunday I couldn't stand it anymore. It seemed like that Friday hatchling must need a drink of water. So I eased the five little guys and a few unhatched eggs into a box. The hen grumpily followed as I set the box on its side on the floor. She deposited the biggest, smelliest chicken poop I've ever seen, suggesting she'd been stuck in the next for quite a while.

The chicks merrily tumbled out into the straw as she chirped instructions to them. She demonstrated drinking from the waterer and showed them where to peck for food. She had no interest at all in the remaining eggs. She periodically called the babies back under her wings and purred to them 'til they ventured out again.

Monday morning the chicks were exploring the entire floor of the hen house. I had placed a board across the outside door so that the hens can get out but not the chicks. I want to be sure she doesn't take them outside somewhere that I won't be able to find them when it's time to close the door in the evening. They'll be safer in the hen house for now.

Too Many Words

2009-06-01T06:22:00.007-05:00

I'm getting pretty tired of white men whining about racism. The real problem is that Sotomayor, like so many of us, uses too many words per sentence. You know me. I'm a grammar nut and when you're a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

Check it out. It's 32 words. MS Word grades it as readable just above a 12th grade level. Still, I can see how a listener may try to cut out a few words in the effort to get his head around the concept. The most important word cut in most of the quotes I've seen and heard is "wise."

The quote is near the end of her 4,000 word speech to a law school audience describing the effect of personal experience on judgement. If it had been addressed to the popular media, no doubt she would have phrased it differently. Try this:

A wise Latina woman might reach a better conclusion than a white man without her experience.

Fifteen words readable on a seventh grade level. Still I fear people would drop the pesky prepositional phrase at the end. One of my best friends has the annoying habit of jumping to conclusions in the middle of my sentences. I often warn him: "The point's going to come at the end of the sentence. Wait for it!"

My advice to speakers: Use only the words you want listeners to hear.

My advice to listeners: Trust that the speaker needed all the words. If you don't remember them all, don't try to draw your own conclusions.

Good Grief!

2009-05-31T11:04:00.003-05:00

If it's not one thing, it's another. Magda brought this bunny in. He's got a small puncture behind his neck, but he seems okay. I think there's more blood on my hand from taking him away from the cat than there is on the bunny.

I don't know why Magda insists on bringing me her catches. I'm upstairs minding my own business. But if she brings them to me, she should know by now that I'll take them away. Except, maybe, for mice. They're fair game.

Atonement

2009-05-30T09:53:00.000-05:00

For all the things I may have neglected or screwed up this week, I saved this hummingbird's life today.

I can't take much credit. I was in the right place at the right time and I was paying attention. I'd seen the hummingbirds courting where I was gardening this afternoon. I was in the kitchen fixing dinner when I barely heard the thump that always gets the cats' attention.

It's easy enough to distract the cats for a second and I was able to pick up the limp little bird. She closed her eyes in my hand and I wasn't very hopeful, but she still seemed able to move. As I held her and tried to decide what to do, she flicked her tongue out. I feel incredibly blessed that now I have this mental image of a hummingbird's tongue.

I had hummingbird food in the fridge. When I held it near her beak, she took a few laps at it. I watched the male at the feeder and hoped for the best. In a few minutes she got her balance in my hand but she was pretty ruffled. Aha! I guessed she must be cold and held her closer. Her eyes opened and her feathers started to smooth down.

By then I was really starting to wish for a picture. I was able to pick up the camera and I'm grateful for this slightly out of focus photo. Just after the shutter clicked she took wing in that abrupt way only hummingbirds can manage and landed above the roof in the walnut tree.

I'll be watching their nest this summer and feeling a special kinship with their offspring.

Yet Another New Year's Day

2009-05-01T08:32:00.003-05:00

May Day, six months from Halloween, marks the end of winter and the beginning of the growing season. It's a great day for a celebration: a bonfire to celebrate the strengthening sun (and to clean up the yard); treehugging and decorating a tree with streamers as a Maypole; a bouquet, perhaps violets, to celebrate returning flowers;

Unintended Consequences

2009-04-30T07:58:00.005-05:00

One of the unintended consequences of my job in town government is increased exposure to the moon. Late meetings keep me out after dark about three nights a week. On my drive home I continue to be frustrated by my inability to understand my actual and metaphorical place in the universe.

The past few nights there's been a lovely waxing crescent moon in the western sky. I know this "toenail" will grow fatter each evening 'til it's a half-moon overhead. And fatter still 'til it's full and rising in the east just after sunset. I know where I am on earth and I know what the moon's going to look like in the sky over time. It's nice and orderly, like this chart.

In my imagination the sky is curved overhead. The sun is somewhere beneath my flat earth casting the earth's shadow on the moon. I can set this image in motion and see the crescent moon setting at midnight. With some effort I can even imagine the moon "under" the earth in the morning and I guess if I search in the eastern sky at midday I should be able to find the moon.

I try to visualize this from somewhere in space - on the plane of the earth's orbit around the sun for simplicity's sake. I block out the stars and other planets and see a flat western hemisphere. There I am at 42 degrees latitude with my feet pointed toward the center of the earth. The moon is setting to the left of the flat earth. The sun is behind my dark, flat western hemisphere and I'm moving toward the right. East? Counter clockwise?

Then I start to lose my grip on these inter-related concepts in four dimensions and I remember Flatland. Not only can I not visualize time as a fourth dimension. I'm absorbed in a two dimensional world in which I can't imagine the third dimension.

Distractions

2009-03-28T08:05:00.009-05:00

Bless Maggy for regularly sending me fun things to think about. Not that I don't already have enough to think about - but I'm pretty burned out on cell tower technology and alkaline hydrolysis. So this week's ideas from Maggy (which I saved for today) are Taking Up a Hobby and the love/hate topic of Personal Organizing.

I was a bit put off by Slatella's introduction of the hobby as a distraction from tough economic times. (Keep in mind this article is in the Fashion section of the Times.)

"I’ve been spending my time, like everyone else I know, obsessing over bigger problems — how will I pay for two kids in college and still be able to buy white wine ($9 a day)."

As I read on, I realized I'm not like the obsessed writer. I'm the friend who drags her into the hobby:

"She’s my competent friend, the one who has all kinds of practical skills. She knows how to make pies and how to cut fabric on the bias. She even knows what a “bias” is. What does she have to worry about? If a giant meteor hit the earth and debris from the impact blocked the sun, she’d survive just fine in some homespun coat she made out of super-warm wool. And the coat would be cute, too."

Maggy knows I've recently started making jewelry. I haven't worn jewelry for years. It turns out my new-found interest is more about the look and feel of beads and wire.

But a decade or two ago I did wear beads on a regular basis and people gave me many lovely necklaces. Now every single one of those looks to me like a source of beads to remake into new jewelry.

Beads aren't just ornamentation for the body. They're equally decorative on the wall. Ideas are beginning to form in the back of my mind for spectacular beaded embroidery artwork.

Which brings us to Personal Organizing. The only empty desktop space you see in this photo is the spot where my camera was before I picked it up to take the picture. Maggy and I share an ADD type organizing challenge. We both need to be able to see our stuff. And we share a sense that "She who dies with the most organizing books wins."

Rimer's organizer thinks the key to organizing is the label maker. I have a label maker. I'm not exactly sure where it is, but I'm pretty sure it's still in the package. B gave it to me a year or two ago for my birthday or Christmas or some such. Apparently owning a tool isn't really the answer. There always seems to be actual work involved.

The real thread these two articles have in common is the need for distraction.

Ms. Whited came to the label maker a few years ago, when she had a major health scare, and one of her first worries was about her husband and three small children: “How is Pete going to know where everything is?”

She began labeling everything she thought her husband might need to find in her absence: children's medicine, cat treats, paint thinner, bread... Bread? Doesn't bread come with its own label? The fact is, the labels may have helped her husband, but they really helped her endure the time while she waited for her medical test results. Happily the results were negative. By the time she got the news, the label maker was her new best friend. I think I'll go find mine now.

Irish Heritage

2009-03-18T05:54:00.004-05:00

I think President Obama is right. On St Patrick's day everyone searches for a trace of Irish heritage to celebrate. Mine's pretty direct. My grandmother, Agnes Bannon, was Irish. But that's as far as I can trace it. As I recall from my mother's stories, my grandmother was an orphan.

My mother was born in 1923 and her sister was 13 years older. There was an older sister who died of tuberculosis in her teens. So, perhaps it was 1906 when my grandmother married Edwin Crowther. In my mother's stories, he was a house painter. He died when my mother was very young, so she never knew him.

My grandmother worked as a seamstress in a laundry. Young though my mother was during prohibition, she remembered my grandmother and friends enjoying beer in the back room of a neighborhood ... um ... establishment.

I liked my grandmother. She laughed a lot. I don't remember her ever being angry. And once, when she was staying with us while my parents were travelling, she let me go to school with my hair down.

Turkeys Are The New Deer

2009-03-15T10:35:00.005-05:00

This is sort of what I meant about turkeys looking better when they appear shyly at the edge of the woods.

The Toms, of course, not so shy, but still good looking.

Spring!

2009-03-14T09:50:00.000-05:00

I have several pictures of Winter Aconites covered with snow. But I still feel they're a sign of spring. This year, even more so because most of the flowers have bees in them.

Poor bees, can't leave the huddle in the hive 'til the temperature is over 50 degrees. They're out in force on the first warm day of the season. Have I mentioned that it's a bad idea to hang out your laundry on that first warm day? The bees have been steadily consuming their stored honey all winter, but they don't poop in the hive. So those first poops in the spring are BIG. Tempting as it may be to hang your sheets outdoors for that fresh air smell, you'll probably have to wash them again before you can use them.

This is one of my favorite bouquets every year. It's practically full size in this picture - about 4" tall including the tiny brandy snifter vase.

On My Nightstand

2009-03-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

Hyperion, Dan Simmons

I Was Told There'd Be Cake, Sloane Crosley

People of The Book, Geraldine Brooks

Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood

Last month I read and loved Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood.

Last year I thought about quitting my bookclub 'cause we'd chosen a few books I didn't care for. I couldn't put my finger on why I didn't like them 'til I found this in an old interview with Ernest Hemmingway:

"All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you."

In March It Is Mud...

2009-03-09T08:31:00.007-05:00

"Housewife's Lament" is the first song I learned to play on the guitar. Well, it's C, F and G7. So, learning to play it wasn't a big deal. But, much to my kids' dismay, I like to sing it.

In March it is mud, it is slush in December.
The midsummer breezes are loaded with dust.
In fall the leaves litter, in muddy September,
The wallpaper rots and the candlesticks rust.

Oh, life is a toil and love is a trouble.
Beauty will fade and riches will flee.
Pleasures they dwindle and prices they double,
And nothing is as I would wish it to be.

This was the view last week:

Mourning Doves huddled up in the cold and snow.

And yesterday this was the muddy view: 24 Turkeys on the lawn.

You know, I like wildlife. But I have to say, deer and turkeys in particular are cuter when they peek shyly out from the edge of the woods than when they take over the entire lawn like this.

Punctuation Police

2009-02-10T09:45:00.000-05:00

People at work know that the only two times I've nearly lost my temper, the issue was bad writing.

Just so you know I'm not the only crazy person (and that you can find a blog about anything) may I present The Blog of Unnecessary Quotation Marks.

Stinkbug

2009-02-03T08:24:00.003-05:00

This morning, as I shuffled across the kitchen to feed the cats, so they'd get out of the way while I poured my coffee, I unconsciously stepped over a stinkbug. I heard myself saying, "Oh, great. A stinkbug. It must be getting warmer."

Some people get swallows. Or robins. Or crocuses. My harbinger of spring is a stinkbug.

My photo of a stinkbug is on my other computer. So rather than drag myself downstairs again to boot up the other computer or take another picture, I lazily googled stinkbug. Wow. Other people have much prettier stinkbugs than I have. Of course, mine is not the "true" stinkbug. Mine is technically a leaf-footed bug - which happens to have the same delightful ability as stinkbugs, to release a strong scent when disturbed. I don't happen to think it stinks, but most people do.

It turns out that other people have prettier leaf-footed bugs than I do, too. By now the coffee's kicking in, so I went back to take a picture. Okay. Close up he's kind of good-looking. Not colorful, but not bad.

My point, and I do have one, is that if I didn't have this habit of blogging in the morning while I listen to Washington Journal, I wouldn't have paid much attention to the stinkbug. I certainly wouldn't have seen the pictures of other species of stinkbugs or read enough about them to learn that there are only two families of bugs that release this scent when disturbed: Coreidae, like mine and maybe next time I look it up I'll remember the name of the other family.

Will I ever need to know this? Probably not. But I was planning to write about economics and this was more fun.

Like Sands Through the Hourglass

2009-02-02T09:08:00.004-05:00

I don't mean to make this all-deer-all-the-time. But it's a real soap opera out there.

Remember earlier this month our herd of two became four. And they co-existed peacefully for a couple of weeks.

But recently the mama deer has decided there's not enough spilled birdfeed for four. She's been aggressively chasing off the two that are apparently not related to her.

Happy Groundhog Day

2009-02-01T08:39:00.000-05:00

Yet another new beginning.

If I turn my back on the shadows, can I get an early spring, too? It's worth a try.

Thanks, again, to Jack Lambert.

Squandering Time

2009-01-27T09:02:00.004-05:00

This is what I've been doing mornings while I listen to Washington Journal. This is what's been keeping me away from blogging. It's All-Star Puzzles, a puzzle, like a jigsaw puzzle but with square or rectangular pieces. And the pictures are nice. I rationalize that I'm exercising my mind, tho' I know I should be doing Pilates.

I missed the opportunity to commemorate Benjamin Franklin's birthday on January 17. My favorite Franklin quote:

"If you love life, then do not squander time. For that is the stuff life is made of."

Not for the Faint of Heart

2009-01-23T10:56:00.000-05:00

The day started badly when B realized the scratching at her door wasn't the usual nuisance - Jake signaling for Murphy to come out and play. But Jake had neatly peed in her shoe and was futilely scratching around the shoe to cover it up. (Did I mention that B and Jake don't like each other?)

She came downstairs in her stocking feet to start Saturday morning chores. Stepping into her boots, she found them filled with black walnuts. She dumped them out and tried again only to find there were still nuts crammed into the toe. Red squirrels are compelled not only to gather every walnut they can find, but to move them around periodically to thwart any other squirrel who might have discovered their various hiding places. (In fact, later in the day when I put my boots on, I found the squirrel had retrieved the nuts B had dumped out and stored them in my boot.)

Soldiering on, B filled the birdfeeders and scattered some feed on the ground for the turkeys and crows. Then off to take fresh water to the chickens and add some straw to cover the chicken coop floor. Chickens are alarmists about the tiniest sudden movement. So, naturally, scattering the straw completely panicked them. The youngest rooster fled out to the yard, landing in a deep snow bank. He was half immersed in the snow but with his feet not reaching the ground - effectively immobilized. I wish I had a picture of that.

Heading back to the house, B found the deer happily licking up the feed she'd left on the ground for the crows and turkeys. What's the use? B likes crows and turkeys, but not chickens or deer and especially not Jake.

The Herd

2009-01-14T08:22:00.005-05:00

I've adjusted to the deer wandering through the yard nibbling the shrubs.

I know that after avoiding them on the long drive home at night I still have to look out for them as I pull into the driveway.

I've even accepted that our bird feeder herd has doubled from two to four.

But somehow this image of them loafing in the garden just seems like the last straw.

Fresh Starts

2009-01-01T07:36:00.000-05:00

In this imperfect world I find myself irresistibly drawn to blank slates, tabulae rasae, fresh starts. I need as many New Year's Days as I can possibly find.

In ancient Pagan traditions, November 1 is New Year's Day. It makes as much sense to me as January 1 (basically no sense at all) so I'll take it. There's the first day of spring; the first day of school; and frankly, every Monday morning.

Happy New Year.
Thanks to friend and artist Jack Lambert for this reminder of HOPE in 09.

Ho, Ho, Meow

2008-12-26T09:32:00.001-05:00

I'm pretty sure this will be my holiday card next year.

What is it with cats lying on things? Jake's on a piece of wrapping paper; Murphy's on a bit of black tissue paper and that's Tang in the back on a box.

Still Magda's got the best spot - on Bill's lap as he tries to eat his Christmas morning waffle.

Just In Time

2008-12-24T20:53:00.001-05:00

As always, I wish I'd taken daily pictures of the amaryllis as it grew. It grows an inch a day - no kidding - for the first month. My reading chair is right next to the indoor garden and it astonishes me every evening.

The second month the enormous buds start to fatten tantalizingly slowly. Every night I think surely it will bloom by weekend. And yet another week goes by. This one opened on Christmas Eve and I couldn't have been more pleased.

Thanks to Photoshop, there's more fun to be had. Zooming in as far as possible makes individual pixels visible. I imagine this is how Martha Stewart comes up with her fantastic color combinations.

Penguin Pond

2008-12-22T19:32:00.000-05:00

I yielded to the temptation of one made-in-China, pink-flamingo type decoration for Christmas this year. Maggy has been drawn to penguins since she could walk. I admit, if she'd been attracted to something less cute, I might not have encouraged it as much as I have.

These little guys are about eight inches tall and that's a string of regular christmas tree lights around them giving the illusion of a skating pond. We definitely got our $10 worth of pleasure from them but I feel guilty about the inappropriate use of plastic.

Delivering the Mail

2008-12-20T10:48:00.003-05:00

Bill brings the mail in everyday but yesterday it was more of a challenge than usual. First he had to search for the mailbox.

He found it several yards down the road in the snowbank. The steel is stronger than it looks. He couldn't bend it enough with his hands to get it open. So he brought it to me like this. Notice especially the package inside.

I should mention that the mailbox was mounted on a well designed pipe that's installed about five feet back from the shoulder of the road and extends horizontally far enough for the mailman to reach it. In fact, it's designed to swing aside if it gets hit. And it's survived this way for decades.

For some long forgotten reason, this part of Neimi Road is a county road. In the past, through a shared services agreement, the town has been responsible for plowing it. Maybe that's why the county has neglected to resurface the road for such a long time. This year , for reasons too complex to describe, the county is plowing it and so far I'm not that happy about it. Sigh.

Leslie's ...!

2008-12-13T10:23:00.000-05:00

Let's just say she's celebrating another one of those birthdays ending in "0."

We're always grateful to her for leading the way into the next decade.

Clothespins

2008-12-06T09:50:00.000-05:00

I don't know why B finds this laugh-out-loud funny. But she does. This cleaning cloth has been on the clothesline for weeks. (Yes, I use cleaning cloths and yes, I wash them and hang them to dry.

Walking by it on my way back from other outdoors errands I thought I might as well bring it in. It occurred to me that we're not using the clothesline much in this weather, so I might as well bring in the clothespins.

B says, "Why didn't you just drop the pins into the cloth?" In my own defense, I had other stuff in my left hand and it didn't occur to me to make a pouch out of the cloth.

Cats

2008-11-30T22:10:00.001-05:00

Maggy's getting ready to go back to New York. I don't know if the cats are saying, "Don't go." Or, "Take me with you."

Jake's more nonchalant, but I think he's sad, too. Or maybe that's just me.

They're Back

2008-11-27T10:39:00.003-05:00

There were a dozen turkeys at the feeder for Thanksgiving. It's not a turkey feeder, but the blue jays and squirrels manage to scatter enough seeds on the ground to attract the big birds.

I admit, we had turkey for dinner - a beautiful, big, fresh, organic turkey from Wegmans. And squash and burssels sprouts and cranberries and potatoes... And two kinds of pie.

Of course, Maggy's here, too - doing her favorite things: resting and reading. She says this picture looks just like me but without the coffee cup and cigarette.

It has been, once again, a Thanksgiving that couldn't be beat.

"They Believe In Different Things"

2008-11-26T07:06:00.005-05:00

I've only written about Barack Obama once (okay, twice) since I introduced him to this blog and my other blog in 2006. So, it's possible you don't know what a big deal this election has been to me. I still think this speech in Iowa in 2006 is Obama's best.

[T]here’s always been this other idea of America. This idea that says we have a stake in each other. That I am my brother’s keeper. That I am my sister’s keeper. That I’ve got an obligation. Not just for my self, not just for my family, but also for you. That every child is my child and every senior citizen deserves protection.

A commenter at Dryden Democrats said, "Barak Hussien [sic] Obama's motto could be: 'From each according to his abilities. To each according to his needs.' I understand that this was meant as a warning. But I have to say, it's not the worst idea in the world.

I was talking to a Republican colleague about it recently. Pretend for a moment that we don't know who originated the idea. Just think: in my family (neighborhood, company, community, country) everyone does the best they can and everyone has what they need. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? The idea obviously had some appeal for my Republican friend. I watched his face as he silently puzzled out, "So, why doesn't that work?" He realized quickly that some people don't do the best they can. Some people just head for the break room when the shop still needs cleaning up. And I'll tell you the other part. We don't make sure that people who are doing the best they can get what they need. Maybe it's impossible. But it's not a bad idea. Wouldn't it be good if people could believe that hard work would keep them safe?

Last year in my office there was a "Secret Santa." You know the drill. You draw the name of a co-worker and anonymously give them a gift. No one in my office is particularly well off. But no one's actually hurting either. This year, we called the local school district and got the name of a family that needs help. Well, we didn't actually get the name. We got a description of the four children and what they're wishing for. You can't read the description with out getting a little chill. The teenager wants a scientific calculator and the six year old wants a pink dress. You can't help thinking how easy it would be to provide the things these kids need. Or, of the unused things on your shelves that would really enrich their lives.

If you live in this district and want the contact info for the person who can hook you up with someone who needs help for the holiday, call me. Or just call your school district. They know who needs help.

Prepaid Bank Cards

2008-11-25T13:29:00.000-05:00

I heard an ad on TV for a prepaid Visa card. "Low fees. No interest. Helps control overspending." Well, that sounds like a good idea in this credit crazy culture.

Shop online or by phone
Pay bills
Easy way to track your spending and stay within budget

Oh, Wait. There may be a catch. Oh, yeah.

Activation fee.
Reload fee.
Monthly maintenance fee.
Withdrawl fee.
ATM fee.

Oh, look: purchase transactions - free. Live customer service - free.

Okay, Now I'm Worried

2008-11-24T09:01:00.009-05:00

Despite my feeble, intermittent efforts to train the cats, I've never really succeeded in convincing them that they don't own the tables and countertops. Magda, especially, delights in the game my kids use to play: go from one side of the house to the other without touching the floor.

This may take her from my desk, to the dining table, to the wide windowsill obstacle course that requires her to wend her way between the houseplants and the window - often tipping one or more of the plants onto the floor.

If I'm not around to disqualify her, she's nearly home free with a stroll across the counter with the glass surface electric range, an easy hop to the kitchen table, a longer leap to the kitchen counter and perhaps onto the top of the refrigerator for the coup de gras, up through a ventilation space into the second floor bedroom (the door of which is closed to keep cats out. Sigh.)

Returning for a moment to that counter with the electric range... I'm resigned to wiping off the kitty footprints in the morning and picking up the pile of papers they've pushed onto the floor. But last night they apparently turned on the stove. I'm serious. See those knobs on the right side of the range?

I came down this morning to notice the little glowing light that warns, "Hot Surface." I know I don't use the electric range this time of year, so I couldn't have left it on. I thought maybe the sensor that turns that light on was broken. So, in my pre-coffee fog I didn't look at the burner knobs, I just put my hand on the burners, one by one. Sure enough, one of the back burners was HOT. And sure enough, its knob was turned to "medium." Even when I use the range in the summer, I only use the back burners if the front ones are already occupied, maybe for a dinner party.

Then I noticed that one of the little wicker bread baskets that normally hangs above the stove was on the floor. Now I'm imagining that basket having landed on the hot, or at least medium, burner. And I'm thinking of the pile of papers that the cats push onto the floor most mornings. It could almost as easily go the other way onto the stove. So, I'm thinking, "What are the chances?"

Googling "fire caused by cat" brings me lots of stories about cats dying in fires and a few of cats saving people from fires. But the ones about cats causing fires should more properly be headlined "Carelessness causes fire," tho' that isn't really so newsworthy. I'll skip the one from the NYT in 1884 caused by the cat knocking over a coal oil lamp. And I'm ruling out unattended candles and faulty electric strips. Uh oh, this one looks bad: Fire Officials Blame Cat for Fire:

The gray and white cat apparently jumped on an electric range in the basement of a two-story home at about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday and turned on the push-button control, said Darrell Christy, the fire department's chief of operations. Plastic containers on top of the range smoldered.

"We eliminated everything except for the cat," Christy said. A smoke detector alerted at least three people in the home, who were not hurt, Christy said.

Push button control?! Who thought that was going to be a good idea? At least I've got knobs. Plastic containers on top of the range? I don't know.

I'm going to check my smoke detector, right now!

Bird Feeder

2008-11-23T11:31:00.000-05:00

Hawks give new meaning to the term "bird feeder." Yesterday the sound of two birds hitting the window made me look up to see if anyone got hurt. No. Everyone seemed okay. But a hawk was perched on the log beneath the bird feeder. I'm not sure what "disappointed" would look like on that fierce hawk face. But as least she didn't have a bird in hand. Could she seriously be waiting to see if a bird would come back?

I watched for a minute, debating whether to savor the moment or risk scaring her off to get the camera. I backed off cautiously and snuck to an upstairs window with the camera. No dice. She flew off leaving me with only this picture.

But it's a good camera. And I've got Photoshop. One square inch in the middle near the top looks like this.

Weblog

2008-11-23T10:10:00.003-05:00

I was a computer programmer in the very early 1970s. Remember the mainframe Univac? Fortran and Cobol? Keypunch cards? I think the computer room in this photo is actually the one I used back then.

My first home computer in the 1980s, set up on a card table, gave me easy access to a little wordprocessing and a lot of Pac Man. In the 1990s I plunged into the internet with AOL and a dial-up connection (where I'm pretty much stuck.) My teenage daughter and a friend quickly figured out IRC chatrooms. But I stumbled around thinking, "There must be something interesting here somewhere."

Voila! Along came web logs. Very early web logs were literally simple lists of new web sites as they came on line. As the number of sites exploded, lists of favorites were born and the terms "web log" was shortened to weblog and blog. I still think the best feature of blogs is the links. (And one of these days, I really must update my sidebar.)

So, here's today's link. Last week Intercollegiate Studies Institute released the results of this year's America Civic Literacy Program quiz. Last year the quiz was given to 14,000 college students and the average score was about 53%. Pretty dismal. This year, for comparison, the quiz was given to 2,500 adults of various backgrounds. The average score was 49%. Even more troublesome, the average score of the 164 people who reported having held an elected government office at some time, was 44%.

As I took the quiz, I wasn't sure whether or not I'd share my result. But I'm happy to say I scored 91% (and apparently I need to know more about Puritans.) I will say that some of the questions are deliberately tricky. But how can it be that 83 of those people who said they'd held an elected office can't identify the three branches of government even in a multiple choice quiz?

My experience as an elected official and the 2008 campaign for president have shaped my thinking about qualifications for elected office. There was the Sarah Palin interview in which she said she'd consider becoming McCain's running mate if someone would tell her what the Vice President actually does. There is no job description for President of the United States and the only qualifications are age and birthplace and the ability to survive a two year campaign. No job description for Vice President. Or Congressman and on down the list. So, if we're making our choices based on, "Well, this person seems to know what (s)he's talking about..." no wonder we're sometimes disappointed.

Blogging Habit

2008-11-21T09:45:00.007-05:00

I'm not sure quite when or why I started to let go of the blogging habit, but I want it back. I started writing for the fun of it in 2004 and absolutely no one else read the blog. Near the end of 2005 I began getting comments from strangers who apparently stumbled upon the blog by accident. In 2006 other bloggers and some local friends chimed in and readership peaked last year when I campaigned for a local elected office. That turned out to be a mixed blessing.

I'm starting over. Bear with me while I get back into the habit of thinking like a blogger. That is, actually having something to say. Since the last time I wrote we started siding the new part of the house. We've finished the log part and will continue on the second floor with cedar shingles. I use the pronoun "we" very loosely. I actually had very little to do with the siding.

I judged the local Halloween costume contest.

There are lots of prizes. But this might be my choice for cutest.

And most elegant.

I baffled someone by saying Halloween's my favorite holiday - except for the candy and costumes. I don't like sweets and I don't like to dress up. But Halloween is New Year's Eve in the Pagan calendar and I grasp at every opportunity for a fresh start - New Year's Day, first day of spring, first day of school, Mondays, daybreak, whatever...

I campaigned for Barack Obama and for Congressman Arcuri (far right) as well as our local candidates Don Barber, Jason Leifer and Joe Valentinelli.

And voted, perhaps for the last time on our beloved lever machines.

The cats are reminding me that the weather's turning colder and they're no longer willing to spend all day outside. Thanksgiving is around the corner. Before I know it Christmas will be past and I can celebrate another New Year.

Ally's 50!

2008-09-26T23:00:00.000-05:00

And we've been friends for 14 of those years.

Happy Birthday, Ally. Many happy returns.

2008-09-23T08:17:00.002-05:00

This morning Simon provided a link to this NYT article. Paul Krugman provides this background to the ongoing financial crisis:

First, a capsule analysis of the crisis.
1. It all starts with the bursting of the housing bubble. This has led to sharply increased rates of
default and foreclosure, which has led to large losses on mortgage-backed securities.
2. The losses in MBS, in turn, have left the financial system undercapitalized — doubly so, because levels of leverage that were previously considered acceptable are no longer OK.
3. The financial system, in its efforts to deleverage, is contracting credit, placing everyone who depends on credit under strain.
4. There’s also, to some extent, a vicious circle of deleveraging: as financial firms try to contract their balance sheets, they drive down the prices of assets, further reducing capital and forcing more deleveraging.

Starting with point #2 (I'll be returning to #1) let's unpack the language here. "The losses in mortgage-backed securities have left the financial system undercapitalized." Undercapitalized means short of cash. "...levels of leverage that were ... acceptable are no longer OK." leverage means borrowing or debt. Translation: we have too much debt and not enough cash. That's us - collectively, all of us. Sadly, we're all in this together.

Returning to point #1... Far be it from me to disagree with Paul Krugman, but it didn't start with the housing bubble. It started when we began to believe that it's acceptable to have more debt than cash. Even after the painful lessons of the 1930s, it was only ten short years before we began rewarding ourselves for the years of deprivation during World War II by turning to banks for mortgages for new homes. The Levittown housing boom was off and running. It was another ten short years before we began thinking, "Well, maybe if a home mortgage is okay, a car loan would be okay. After all, the car has value, too."

And then came credit cards. Yep. Just thirty short years after the worst credit crisis in history, came credit cards. At first they were loosely backed by bank accounts. I know this 'cause I had one of those first credit cards. I was seventeen years old when the bank where I had a checking and savings account sent me, unsolicited, a shiny new BankAmeriCard. Its credit limit was less than I had in my savings account. So, that was pretty safe. But, of course, as I used the credit card and paid the full balance every month, the bank increased the credit limit. By then I was a grad student. In those days, if you were smart and you worked hard enough, you could actually get through college and grad school without student loans.

It's been all downhill since then. And make no mistake about it, we're all in it together.

Earth Centered Holidays

2008-09-22T07:29:00.004-05:00

The trouble with Earth-centered holidays is that you can't make them happen on Monday. And even if you could, for some reason they still wouldn't get the recongition that Columbus Day and Memorial Day do. They happen, in their own time, whether anyone's paying attention or not and I'm happy that this one is on a Monday and I don't have to go to the office.

Today is Autumnal Equinox. At 15:44 GMT (or 11:44 EDT) the earth is at a point in its journey around the sun where it is not tilted toward or away from the sun. Everywhere on the earth today will have roughly twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours of darkness. In that one respect, we're all equal today. I think that's worth celebrating.

Leaving my office near sunset last week, I noticed the sun coming straight in the west facing atrium window, all the way down the east-west hallway to the east facing back door. The United States is such a young country that many streets and roads laid out due east and west or north and south. Consequently, many buildings facing the road are mini-temples to the rising and setting sun.

Autumn Equinox means the busy summer season is drawing to a close and we're headed toward the shorter days of the season of rest and reflection. If you've been growing things, you'll now be celebrating the harvest, as I was yesterday.

I get a sort of mini spring cleaning drive this time of year. The housecleaning I haven't had time for all summer is glaring. There's plenty of outdoor clean-up to finish. Oh, my. It's time to get at it.

Highlights

2008-09-21T06:11:00.007-05:00

As we got into the big building project this spring, I knew I wouldn't have time for gardening. Luckily, a month earlier Bill and I had already discussed how many tomatoes and what kind to plant. So, as I supervised the carpenters, Bill went ahead and planted the tomatoes. While the bunnies gobbled up the chard, broccoli and beans, the tomatoes thrived.

Belinda may be right that a lot of things I plant die. But the ones that don't, make the whole effort worthwhile.

I've tried unsuccessfully several times in several places to grow this Japanese Anemone. This is its third year in this spot. So, I'm beginning to think I've won and I'm really happy with it.

This birdbath is another great success.

There's something very warm and fuzzy about seeing the birds enjoying the running water. While they don't often bathe in it, they do regularly drink from it.

(P.S. The seed stalk in front of the birdbath is another gardening success. Like the Anemone above, I had tried to grow Cardinal Flower in several places. I finally hit on this spot where the water spashing out of the birdbath keeps the soil moist. Here the Cardinal Flower is thriving and self-sowing. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of it. Oh, well. Maybe next year.)

2008-09-07T08:00:00.008-05:00

Cats continue to be a big part of my life. I've had Tang and Magda years longer than the others. When they were the only two cats in the house, they could barely stand to be in the same room with each other. Now, with Murphy and Jake on the scene, Tang and Magda are almost best friends. Still this is the first time I've ever seen them touching.

Magda, the smallest of the four, still dominates - perhaps by seniority alone. Or perhaps by being cautious. She sometimes plinks across the piano to get from one side of the room to the other while maintaining the best possible vantage point. Last week Jake tried it. He didn't like the noise at all. But he finally just settled down, ignoring the weird sustained chord.

Murphy, also variously known as Winston, Rocky, White, Casper and, recently, Sneaker, continues to be King of the Cars.

Charlie's Garage

2008-08-04T07:02:00.007-05:00

Have I mentioned how much I love, love, LOVE my new garage? Driving up the driveway, I touch a button on my visor and the garage opens it's welcoming door, turns on the light and I drive basically right into the house! I step out on the clean dry cement floor and walk a few steps through the new garden room to the hallway into the kitchen. If I leave my briefcase in the car, it's only a few steps away when I need it. When I come out in the morning the car is a lovely 68 degrees 'cause there's no sun beating down on it.

However...

The garage has become an equine sick bay.

Friday night I realized Charlie had a serious infection in his left rear foot. Belinda called a colleague who advised that Charlie would probably need antibiotics and Epsom Salts soaking.

By Saturday morning when I called the vet, it was clearly a terrible abscess. The vet, who could definitely use a lesson in bedside manner, kept repeating "This is really bad" before and after every other sentence.

By the time we got past the part about how we're not going to send Charlie to Cornell for an $8,000 treatment that may not help at all, Belinda's friend arrived to help us. With his quiet, serious reassurance, we agreed to an injection of antibiotic and a sedative (for Charlie) while the vet cleaned up the wound.

That done, the vet recommended a radiograph - like a digital x-ray - to assess to what extent the infection was affecting the fragile foot joints. Isn't it amazing the equipment is small enough to carry around to farm fields - or in this case at least to the lawn. So, the radiograph shows that there's little or no damage to the joint at this point. And we're back to the antibiotic and Epsom Salts treatment we were expecting.

The problem is that the area around Charlie's barn is really, really muddy. Belinda, who, since the garage was finished, has been dreading the possibility of the cats doing something smelly in it, promptly suggests keeping Charlie in the garage. It's really the only way we're going to be able to keep the foot clean. And it's a whole lot more convenient for us, too.

So here he is in the nicest stall he's had since we kept him at a stable where Maggy trained and showed him. Belinda's doing a great job of keeping it clean. But it does, of course, smell of straw and hay and - well - horse.

The cats have been very curious about all this. Here's Murphy watching from atop the firewood - tho' he wasn't at all prepared to meet Charlie close up.

I'm happy to say that the swelling in his foot is down, he's putting weight on it and walking well. We're cautiously optimistic and Charlie seems to be having the time of his life.

Native Neighbors

2008-08-01T06:28:00.007-05:00

I've talked about how much I enjoy the isolation of my house. From here I can't see the road or any neighbor's house. Well, at least not any human neighbor's house. But I spend a lot of time on the deck and the critters that wander by are amazing.

Here's a caterpillar who raises his head to present this caricature of a monster.

You can see, in profile, that what looks like eyes and mouth and are just spots and stripes.

I could spend some time online trying to identifying him. But I think he's looking for a place to pupate. So, I gave him a maple twig in a canning jar.

And sure enough. By the next day he had attached himself to the inside of the jar and shed his skin. I bet he'll emerge as a butterfly before I have a chance to research online and find who he is.

Among our other wild neighbors are lots and lots of birds. It seems early for the "confusing fall warblers." But I admit all warblers are confusing to me - as are most insect eating birds. If they don't sit on the seed feeder long enough for me to study them, I have trouble remembering them.

Anyway, it's a great hazard to our warbler neighbors and tourists that we have windows - and cats. I don't know what happens when we're not here watching, but last weekend, like last year around this time, we were there to protect a warbler who flew into a closed window.

Some Mornings You Need a Laugh

2008-07-21T08:07:00.004-05:00

I like to read Overheard in New York occasionally. It reminds me of stories Maggy tells - especially on those late night cab rides home. It's always good for a laugh. But some stories are just sad.

ed 7/31/08 A friend, whose mother reads the blog, pointed out that the laugh I linked to above was - well - pretty vulgar. So here's another. And another. Maggy's been in New York long enough to be a bit snarky about tourists - including me and my inability to swipe my Metrocard. Though, I must say at least I know what a Metrocard looks like. It says METROCARD in huge letters across the front. Come to think of it... Maggy was only in NY about a week when she started being snarky about tourists.

And the comment from Anonymous is right. Overheard in Ithaca is funny too - and less vulgar. I should send in my favorite: Overheard in the toy aisle of Wegman's. Wistful five-year-old girl, "Mommy, why don't you like Barbie?" Exasperated mom, "Because no one really looks like that." I wonder if she feels that way about Cabbage Patch dolls, too.

EPA and Global Warming

2008-07-14T09:06:00.004-05:00

On West Wing staffers referred to Friday press releases as "taking out the trash." Stories released on Friday don't get as much attention over the weekend as weekday stories. That seems to be the fate of Friday's story about the EPA's report on the public welfare threat of global warming. I heard about it on The News Hour. But PBS didn't post it on the website. This LA Times article is very similar to the PBS story. This NY Times article has a different perspective.

As I understand it, last year the Supreme Court ruled that greenhouse gases are air pollutants subject to federal regulation under the Clean Air Act. If the EPA finds they are a threat to the public, the court said, the agency is required to produce regulations to reduce the risk. Apparently, the EPA report found that indeed, greenhouse gases are a public threat but that the Clean Air Act is inadequate to address the issues. Incidentally, the report released Friday called "Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" triggers a 120 day period allowing for public comment.

All this relates to a comment Councilperson Makar made last week just prior to the Town Board meeting: "Why can't we get anything done?" (He might have said it louder than that.) His frustration surrounds a number of good ideas that have grown into proposals and stalled there. Several of these hinge on putting to use a substantial fund the town has accumulated from repayments of former HUD loans.

David did a great deal of research for these proposals last year. And Jason Leifer has joined in the effort to put together proposals for:

teaming with Tompkins County Area Development to make at least one substantial economic development loan,
teaming with AFCU in a program to make matching grants to small businesses
small grants to low and moderate income households to make home improvements related to energy conservation.

Given all the development work David did last year, you'd think seven months in 2008 would have been enough to get the programs off the drawing board. But, no. One of the obstacles is that we don't have a staff member committed to economic development or housing. So, all the work has fallen to board members who have other full time occupations because their town salaries are about $500 a month. Furthermore, the Town Board meets only once a month. In addition to these three programs, last week's agenda included at least ten other major issues and several less critical ones. We try, and often fail, to keep the meeting under four hours from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM. That doesn't leave much room for discussion and action.

(Crossposted at Dryden Democrats)

Bluebirds

2008-07-02T07:45:00.006-05:00

My elected position doesn't pay much (about $16,000) but thanks to the efforts of the previous decade's elected officials and taxpayers, I have a really nice office. Don't get me wrong. There's nothing particularly luxurious about it. It's an 8 x 10 room with a desk, a bookshelf and a computer. But the window has this terrific view.

This picture was taken in January when I moved into the office.

In March, after I saw bluebirds swooping over the field, we contacted the local Bluebird Association and they came to put up bluebird nest boxes.

Bluebirds moved into one of the boxes, hatched eggs and are now busily feeding them.

I'd never seen a bluebird before March (tho' Bill insists he once pointed one out to me.) Now I have my very own picture.

Yesterday's Project

2008-06-30T08:16:00.007-05:00

Our task yesterday was to finish cleaning up the back yard including the firewood I never finished stacking last year. For nine months I told B, "Don't worry. I'll take care of it." But, of course, I never did. As it turned out, if I had finished stacking it in the shed, I would have had to move it back out when we tore down the shed. I admit that for those nine months I had no idea that we'd be tearing down the shed. But I'm always delighted when procrastination pays off.

The lawn slopes down under the clothesline hiding the pile of scrap lumber behind the firewood. For twenty years or more I stored firewood there while it dried and behind it I tossed all sorts of wood scraps that I didn't know what else to do with.

The inexorable process of filling empty space begins...

I'm no longer tiptoeing barefoot across the pristine concrete floor. I walk right in, even with muddy feet.

I have a deep seated dread of seeing my beautiful new garage become the dark hole of dead storage that so many garages are. This garage was designed to hold: the car, firewood and tools. Period. Check back next year to see how I'm doing.

Belinda started at 8:30 and I joined the project around 10:00. By 4:00 we felt we had really earned our cocktail.

I think Belinda's envisioning a lovely, wide expanse of grass to mow. But I'm definitely seeing an opportunity for more ferns and woodland plants...

Unexpected Entertainment

2008-06-25T06:09:00.003-05:00

Remember my new "sun tunnel?" Turns out it has a bonus entertainment value. It's a wild light show in a thunderstorm. If I had a real internet connection, I'd add a video. But use your imagination. Don't forget, it's not just a hole in the ceiling. It has a lens on top. It was GREAT!

By the way, last week I noticed that a house near my office was having a sun tunnel just like mine installed.

2008-06-21T05:53:00.002-05:00

There's not much to say about painting the stairs except that if you're doing it on your day off, it goes well with a beer. And it looks a lot better when it's done.

I should emphasize that these open stairs had to be painted top and bottom, inside and out. I was only on the third tread when I started getting paint on my hands. By the fifth, I also had paint on my feet. Eventually, working on the bottoms and insides the paint started getting in my hair. Someone should remind me next time that happens, to clean up before the paint dries.

In my own defense, I was really focused on trying to avoid falling down the stairs and taking the paint bucket with me. And at that, I succeeded.

Maggy's Birthday v.26

2008-06-16T09:39:00.009-05:00

Maggy and Andy were here for the birthday - well, almost. Maggy arrived on the 12th and Andy on the 13th despite the actual birthday being on the 11th. In the immortal words of one of my fellow town board members, upon hearing that Maggy's birthday was on the same night as the board meeting, "Who has a birthday on a Wednesday?"

While she was here, Maggy and Charlie discovered that they both still enjoy riding. That may not be so surprising for Maggy, but Charlie's the same age as she is. For a horse, that's quite a bit older than for a person. So, I'm pleased to see that he's aging so well.

[It's not totally that her stirrups are too long. She's posting and leaning into a turn. Notice that after years of high heels in New York, she still keeps her heels down just fine. Here they are at a walk.]

Construction Phase One Complete

2008-06-16T08:55:00.005-05:00

The new living room looks great! Here it is a week ago, painted and empty.

And a few days ago, furnished.

The kitchen, last week, painted and relatively empty.

A few days ago, well, furnished isn't quite the right word. It still needed a bit of work. It's better now. But I don't have a newer picture. I'll wait 'til B gets the cupboards done.

There's still plenty of work to do, but the results won't be so dramatic.

Here's a dramatic hazard of cleaning up after carpenters. This is the end of the hose that connects to our Kirby vacuum cleaner. Look closely at the nail piercing the plastic. Would Kirby use this as an ad for how forceful the vacuum is?

2008-06-09T07:28:00.006-05:00

Pouring the concrete. Brud chose this company because the concrete is mixed on site and metered as it pours.

I've never seen the top of a concrete truck as I saw it from the upstairs window.

The guys looked pretty relaxed as the first concrete dripped from the chute.

The pace picked up as they plunged into the relay between two wheelbarrows.

It was great teamwork as two guys alternately dumped their wheelbarrows and two other guys pushed the concrete into place.

They spend about half of their time bent over like this leveling the concrete. My back hurts just thinking about it.

The pace slacked off as they finished up.

Greg stayed pretty late waiting for the concrete to set up enough for this final polishing.

2008-06-08T06:31:00.000-05:00

I'm stuck with this advertising on my house for a while longer. It irks me that apparently Du Pont appears not to have a good grip on the concepts of "miracles" and "science."

mir·a·cle: An event that appears inexplicable by the laws of nature and so is
held to be supernatural in origin or an act of God.
sci·ence: The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena.

Odd Jobs

2008-06-03T09:22:00.005-05:00

Sometimes with so many construction guys around, it's better just to get away and work on one of the many other necessary projects on the imaginary list.

Our garden wagon took its last gasp last week. It's about twenty-five years old and we've never babied it. It's carried manure, firewood, compost, maple sap, people, mulch, rocks. There's rarely room for it in the garage after all its hard work. So, its varnish is long gone.

I'd probably just keep patching it up, but B, who never does anything halfway, got some roughcut hemlock at the nearby sawmill and totally reconstructed the wagon.

There are never pictures of me on the blog 'cause I'm the one taking the pictures. But since B was in charge of these before and after pictures, Murphy and I jumped into the spotlight.

On the topic of B's pictures, this is the one she thinks should be my new headshot. What do you think?

Poetry

2008-06-01T08:52:00.005-05:00

Andrew Sullivan reprinted a poem from The Atlantic that took my breath away.

FOSSILS

by J. T. Barbarese

When he was young he used to spend the whole summer
in the abandoned slag heaps around the old mines
outside the city of Scranton. It would take him hours
to pick through the shale stacks, the sweat writing lines
in the dust on his face, and the old ball peen hammer
slung from his belt pinching his belly button.
Some days there was nothing to read but the signatures
of ice and erosion and tools. Then he'd find one,
a slate unnaturally filigreed with the fright masks
of a trilobite, ferns, the inferior commissures
of ancient clams. He would wrap them in moist newspaper
and carry them carefully home. Once his teacher asked
him to talk to the class about fossils.
Satan plants them to trick us,
he said. When I get home I smash them to pieces.

J. T. Barbarese teaches English at Rutgers University. He is the author of New Science (1989) and of a translation of Euripides's Children of Heracles (1999).

The Blue and White Garden

2008-05-31T08:50:00.006-05:00

I'm pleased with this white Primula seiboldii in my "Blue and White" garden. Bill and I moved them from his woodland garden last year.

Behind it is a royal blue Centaurea, not quite in bloom. I hope the Primulas last 'til the Centaurea comes out.

In other news from the Blue and White Garden... This Brunnera - also from Bill's woodland.

And Phlox divaricata. Bill gave me this years ago. I don't think it's from his garden. It's a native plant but I think he grew it especially for this spot.

Chicken Door?

2008-05-27T06:45:00.003-05:00

Sadly, the new Kitty Door works equally well for chickens. I glanced up from dinner to find Henrietta making her way into the kitchen. Notice Murphy relaxing on the deck just outside the door and you can just make out Jake asleep in the chair. Apparently they don't mind that Henrietta's in the kitchen eating cat food.

But I'm not too happy about it. I'll have to remember to keep the screen door closed.

New View

2008-05-26T08:16:00.004-05:00

Now that we have the wonderful new "kitty door" in the kitchen, we reinstalled the old one on the east end of the new room between the garage and the house (where it works perfectly for the first time in twenty-five years.)

The view to the east includes this small garden. (Top, before weeding; bottom, after.) I started this garden years ago primarily to eliminate the need to mow among the trees. I put in a few hostas for structure and transplanted some native ferns. Most of the rest of the plants are native. So the maintenance is mostly deciding which weeds to favor over others.

I always eliminate dandelions. I like them and I have plenty in the lawns. But they're too aggressive in the gardens.

And I always preserve B's favorite, wild geraniums. They're beautiful and a bit too delicate to make a statement without encouragement.

I was reflecting on my choices as I weeded. Take out Creeping Charlie (too aggressive - and face it, no matter how much I pull out, it will always be there); keep most of the Lysimachia (attractive ground covering foliage with great yellow flowers in season.) Keep some of the Celandine and a few patches of violets. It turns out that most of my efforts are to steer the plants I like to places where they look good.

Building Progress

2008-05-24T09:02:00.007-05:00

I took this picture of the upstairs kitchen plumbing in case the building inspector didn't show up before the builders started to insulate and sheetrock in preparation for installing a temporary sink. He did come in time to see it, of course. He's been great about helping me with many stages of the project.

Anyway, here's the picture later in the day with the temporary sink in place.

And the view of the creek and the bridge from the kitchen window.

This is the living room last week before windows.

And now, though the window is partly hidden by the sheet rock leaning against it. There's a great view north to the garden (and primary deer grazing area.)

Picture the woodstove on the left and the computer desk on the right. On the very edge to the right is the door to the bedroom.

New Kitty Door

2008-05-24T08:22:00.007-05:00

Okay. It's more expensive than the average kitty door - by a factor of 100. And it requires human assistance. But the cats love this door. They can see me in the kitchen and they can assess which other cats are about to ambush them on the way in or out.

In all honesty, they liked the old sliding door just as much. But I love this one. I can open it with one hand and without throwing my entire weight behind it. You know the routine: let the cats out, let the cats in etc all day long. Three cats out, one in, two out, one in and so forth.

Not to mention how much easier it's going to be to go out to the deck with a drink and a snack in my hands.

And So it Grows...

2008-05-22T07:03:00.003-05:00

We're making great progress.

This inside second floor view shows the connection to the log house. On the right, where you see the ladder, is actually where the stairs come up and the apartment door will be there soon. The bathroom will be on the left. In the middle will be a closet and, eventually, a door to the second floor of the log house.

More pictures later. There's an army of workers out there now and I'm going to work for some relative peace and quiet.