TODAY

I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it. -- Groucho Marx


I hope the new year brings you health, happiness, and hope. Enjoy today!

What I've been up to lately...

I've been busy doing not much.

I've been enjoying days of quiet stillness. I've been tearing through my pile of books. I've caught up with some housework. I've slept well and wake feeling refreshed and ready to get up. I've spent hours on the couch with the cat on my lap. I've been extremely lazy and even - gasp - bored.

It's been lovely.

The greatest of these is LOVE

A gift came to me in the mail yesterday. It wasn't tied up in ribbons, or something that I can hold in my hands. It was a card written in the shaky script of a lovely old gentleman who wanted to let me know how he felt blessed by me and my work in this past year. It is probably the most precious gift I think any of us can get or give.

Sometimes people ask me what my faith in Christ means to me, and why I align myself with a religion that has been the instigator of pain as well as joy, and why I put belief in something so ridiculously intangible and frankly, unbelievable. I would have to say, that my experience with this gentleman can perhaps serve as an illustration better than any theological argument. Simply, my faith means acting out love and relationship the way Christ modelled.

It means coming alongside someone who is hurting, and walking with them as they struggle with life's blows. It means loving them in person and through prayer. It means acting in faith that the nature of the relationship and support that is provided will be enough. It means persevering and trusting God even when I am exhausted and emotionally drained and feel like quitting and wonder why in the hell I ever agreed to this in the first place. It means showing up and prepping and planning and schlepping and attending meetings even when all I really want is to be at home with a good book. It means struggle and victory and using my talents and stretching my weak points. It means serving others without expecting anything in return (although to be acknowledged, is icing on the cake). It means living every day as if the most important thing there is, is love.

Most of all, though, these verses help sum up why I am a Christ-follower, and why I rejoice at Christmas:
We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us. But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do: trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. (from The Message, Eugene Peterson's translation).

May you love extravagantly! It is the best gift.

Lux venit

Happy solstice to you, if that's your thing. It's the darkest day of the year, and the beginning of winter. After today, the days will get lighter again as the earth tilts and we move toward summer. This site has some cool information about solstice and its connections to Christmas:

Scholars aren't exactly sure of the date of Jesus Christ's birthday, the first Christmas. "In the early years of the Christian church, the calendar was centered around Easter," George Washington University's Yeide said. "Nobody knows exactly where and when they began to think it suitable to celebrate Christ's birth as well as the Passion cycle"—the Crucifixion and resurrection depicted in the Bible.

Eastern churches traditionally celebrate Christmas on January 6, a date known as Epiphany in the West. The winter date may have originally been chosen on the basis that Christ's conception and Crucifixion would have fallen during the same season—and a spring conception would have resulted in a winter birth. But Christmas soon became co-mingled with traditional observances of the first day of winter. "As the Christmas celebration moved west," Yeide said "the date that had traditionally been used to celebrate the winter solstice became sort of available for conversion to the observance of Christmas. In the Western church the December date became the date for Christmas."

Early church leaders endeavored to attract pagans to Christianity by adding Christian meaning to existing winter solstice festivals. "This gave rise to an interesting play on words," Yeide said. "In several languages, not just in English, people have traditionally compared the rebirth of the sun with the birth of the son of God."

The light comes.

Early resolutions

It's never too early to make a resolution, right? I don't have to wait till New Year's? OK, so, in my continuing quest to "be the change I want to see in the world," and in the spirit of recognizing that I can't change everyone else but I CAN change myself, I have decided to work on my empathy button.

What is your empathy button, you say? So glad you asked. The empathy button is that part of me where I suspend judgment and extend grace. It's that part of me that holds back before I rush to hasty assumptions about people's motives, or what they meant when they said that specific comment that sounded really rude/ignorant/selfish. It's the part of me that doesn't swear at drivers who cut into my lane, and the part that stays calm in the face of a student's frustration, and the part that forgives that snappy clerk at the store. It's also the part of me that sets kind boundaries, that becomes angry at injustice, and the part that speaks up to correct those who need correcting.

Yes, my empathy button needs a little refreshing.

Any early resolutions on your mind?

28 F

No, it's not a band, or a new TV show. It was the temperature outside this morning. Brrrrrrrrr.


(OK, so yes, I am a California wimp, but come on - that is a good 10 degrees colder than it usually ever gets here. Yesterday we had snow. SNOW, people!!!)

Simmering

As the sky simmers up a winter storm (snow in the valley predicted!), I simmered up some goodies today in the kitchen.

Everyone in the pot for some homemade vegetable broth.


Next week this will get transformed into garlic soup.

Experimenting with winter squash, apples, and potatoes.

(The onion didn't make it into this dish.)

Really not sure about this, but I may as well experiment!

Of course, you can never go wrong with roasting a butternut squash.

I think my favorite bread and butter stuffing will go well with the butternut.

Wilting some greens for a yummy cream-cheese dip.

Can't wait to try this!

Gorgeous mandarins


Mandarin orange cake with brown sugar glaze

I feel so blessed with good food, all of it fresh from the farm.

Weekend Cooking

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm really looking forward to doing some cooking this weekend.

Shocked? Me too.

I blame it on my CSA box, which has yet again delivered a bounty of beautiful veggies, ready to be chopped, peeled, roasted, boiled, simmered, and sauteed. I have bok choy that I want to make into soup for next week's lunches. I have older veggies that need to be boiled into vegetable broth, then used as the base for other soup. I have winter squash to roast with apples and onions. I have a bag of luscious greens to simmer up with some ham hocks. I have spinich to saute and mix in with pasta.

And I have random vegetables like watermelon radish and tat soi, and some delectable treats, like mandarin oranges. TH, the regular cook in our house, better watch out.

Realization*

* the kind that hits at 4:00 am, when you're awake after you got up to pee, and before you fall back asleep.

Know what I realized? I'm not really interested in whipping-my-butt-into-shape anymore. I'm happy with my run/walk technique of finishing 5K races. I like going for a brief mile or two, then coming back home. I'm tired of "whipping-my-butt" and pressuring myself to reach some outwardly created goal of running 3.1 miles in one stretch, when I've already reached the most important, inwardly created ones, which are to: participate in fun runs again, feel more balanced, invest in my own health, and be stronger.

Needless to say, this was a fairly obvious, yet elusive realization. Have you been struck lately by anything you want to change?

Soupy goodness

Using up ingredients from the farm box for soups. First, some butternut squash:

Next, some leeks and potatoes:

Ready-made lunches for next week!

Juxtaposition

Aside from being just a super-cool word, juxtapositions are some of my favorite things. The placement and/or connection of two things, usually to contrast them, is always enlightening. So when it comes to Thanksgiving, I usually have juxtapositions on my mind. Mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. Apple pie and pumpkin pie. Gratitude and complaint. Intention and apathy.

I feel very thankful this year, and as has lately seemed to be the case, my thankfulness is tinged with a sense of loss. Not dramatically so, no need to worry about me. But I have lost enough loved ones and borne enough pain over the years that all pain is now shadowed with joy and all joy whispered with pain. I know when I'm grieving that I will feel joy again (indeed, sometimes I find joy in the depths of the sorrow; there is a beauty to the grieving. It's difficult to explain in words, as you can tell by reading this post. The next great American writer, I'm not.). I know when I'm joyful that pain will find me again in the future. I accept this. So it goes.

It seems to me that awareness of this joy/loss juxtaposition is both a good thing and the bad part of being a grown-up. As a child, your sadness and your happiness are pure and unmixed; as you grow older and you come to understand more about the world, you see things differently. Some counseling theories suggest that emotionally healthy people are comfortable with this type of ambiguity, this dark/light juxtaposition.

But anyway. As I consider this Thanksgiving, I find myself reminiscing past Thanksgivings. I am thankful for all the times I've shared with loved ones, and I remember the Thanksgivings spent alone or in potluck with the nurses at TH's work. I miss the old Thanksgivings I remember at my grandparents' house, or at my aunt's house. I will miss the family that is not at my table. But I am so thankful we get to host the family this year.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While thinking about Thanksgiving today, I also realized that this holiday season, I want to live with greater intention ("be the change you wish to see in the world" - as Gandhi once said). I want to say what I think, I want to be present with my feelings, I want to speak up for myself and be more aware of when I need to speak up for others, I want to keep juxtaposing ideas and people and events. I don't want to add to the losses of my life by wishing I had lived differently. I want to fully inhabit this being of my self. There's always more growing to do.


So that's my juxtaposition jumble of Thanksgiving thoughts. I wish you all a lovely holiday and many more blessings than you can count.

Memo

TO: Anonymous Idiots leaving inappropriate comments and weird links
FROM: a page from her book

People. STOP. Leaving. Inappropriate comments. On my blog.

I am screening all comments and so you may as well not even try.

All the best,
a page from her book

In another life...

Every now and then, I like to play the "in another life" game. In this game, I think about all the careers I would like to have "in another life."

• In another life, I would love to work for the FBI or another law enforcement agency as a behavioral profiler. When I was about 13 years old, my family and I took an extended vacation on the east coast. Officially it was the historical tour; unofficially it was the hysterical tour. Lots of great family stories in that time period...I'll have to blog that one later. But I digress. One of the things we did was visit the FBI and take a tour. I was fascinated by the forensics lab, the idea of behavioral analysis, and the combination of this stuff with law enforcement. Right then and there I decided I wanted to work for the FBI someday. I'm not really sure when that decision fell away, but every now and then I still wish I was a badass profiler and catcher-of-bad-guys.
• In another life, I would like to be a dancer/performer on Broadway. I don't really know that this needs a lot of explanation for those in my family, but in case I have any lurkers, I'll explain this a little. Since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, I've loved music, movement, and Broadway show tunes. I loved to perform in my ballet recitals, school plays, etc. I still love dance movies, shows, and live theater. I decided in college that I didn't want to spend my life fighting for parts, waiting tables in the meantime, and dealing with the lack of security and constant rejection that seems to come with being a performer. Ah well, I can still be a star in my own mind.
• In another life, I would like to be a translator/interpreter. I love language and learning new languages comes fairly easily to me (although I'm not fluent in anything besides English). I think it would be amazing to know another language inside and out, and assist others in communicating. And, who am I kidding, I would love to eavesdrop in another language. It's still one of my life goals to learn another language.
• In another life, I would like to work in publishing.
• In another life, I would like to work in a small bookstore/cafe.

What would you do, in another life?

I think Leonard Pitts is awesome (again)

Another great editorial from Mr. Pitts. I appreciate how he discusses the gray areas of opinions; how he can feel both anti-death-penalty, and relieved at its use. This quote wraps it up for me:

It is our nature to seek certitude and resolution, but life is messy and untidy, doesn't always fit neatly into the boxes we build for it. There are days when being staunch offers no clarity, days when certitudes feel like platitudes, and you can no more grab resolution than you can grab smoke.

From our trenches of fixed opinion, we thunder at one another so readily that it is disconcerting when you are forced to wander the gray places between, to acknowledge complexities our certainties don't always allow us to see. It can give you pause.

Soul care

I'm reading a powerfully profound book by Rachel Naomi Remen called My Grandfather's Blessings: Stories of Strength, Refuge, and Belonging. Remen is an MD who primarily counsels people with cancer. Her stories are short, usually two-three pages, but they pack a wallop. Reading them, I feel more grounded and more uplifted - at the same time.

Here are some quotes.

"The soul is not an idea or belief; it is an experience. It may awaken in us through dreams, music, art, or work or parenthood or sometimes for no reason at all. It overtakes us at times in the midst of daily life."

"Many times when we help we do not really serve. ... Seeing yourself as a fixer may cause you to see brokenness everywhere, to sit in judgment on life itself. When we fix others, we may not see their hidden wholeness or trust the integrity of the life in them. Fixers trust their own expertise. When we serve, we see the unborn wholeness in others; we collaborate with it and strengthen it. Others may then be able to see their wholeness for themselves for the first time."

"The process of turning pain into wisdom often looks like a sorting process. First we experience everything. Then one by one we let things go, the anger, the blame, the sense of injustice, and finally even the pain itself, until all we have left is a deeper sense of the value of life and a greater capacity to live it."

Can you tell me how to get...

...how to get to Sesame Street?

One of the best reasons to own a TV (see previous post of Oct. 21 for two other very excellent reasons), Sesame Street is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. I remember watching this show and I still am a sucker for puppets, muppets, and all things furry and talkative.

After all, I can relate to being grouchy (like Oscar), feeling like I don't fit in (like Big Bird), wanting nothing but cookies (do I really need to specify this one!), or to having good friends (like Bert and Ernie).

I hope the magic continues!

Recovered. (Mostly.)

Feeling much better now, after a full 10 days of a nasty, nasty cold virus. Yuck.

So, did I miss anything?

TV Crushes

TH and I are huge NCIS fans, and I seem to have developed a crush on McGee, the geeky/nerdy computer specialist played by Sean Murray.

Cutie-patootie

I also am not opposed to watching Simon Baker, who plays "psychic" Patrick Jane on The Mentalist.

Be still my heart

Who's your TV star crush?

Book Review

The Grift, by Debra Ginsberg

Marina Marks, a psychic by trade, suddenly becomes truly aware of her gift, but not after becoming entwined in the lives of several needy people. I enjoyed this book, with its combination of cynically hopeful and fragile characters, its safely spooky elements of dreams and visions, and its conflicted heroine. A mystery, a romance, and a view into the minds of people, it's also a really great read that I couldn't put down. Recommended!

Purple striped potatoes are not a myth.

The uniqueness of YOU

The latest O: the Oprah Magazine has been on my nightstand, and I've been enjoying this month's theme - Who are you meant to be? A brief section highlighting this month's contributors posed the following statements for their response.

• I look most like myself....
• I act most like myself...
• I feel most like myself...
• I feel least like myself...

So how would you answer these prompts? Here are my replies.
I look most like myself.... having fun to the point of laughing uncontrollably; or, concentrating on something until I understand it.
I act most like myself... when I listen to others, listen to myself, and access the love in my heart.
I feel most like myself... in motion.
I feel least like myself... when I get lost in busy-ness and forget human-ness, my own and others'.

Whip-my-butt-into-shape update

It's back to the open road...that's right, the weather has cooled off, and I can run outside again. This makes me happy, but is taking an adjustment. Since my last update in August, I joined a gym and got used to using a treadmill for my lunchtime runs. Treadmill running is very different from road running. Treadmills are so boring - oh, the monotony! - but much easier on the joints. The road is much more interesting, and difficult, due to the wind and having to be more alert to my surroundings. However, it feels good to be pounding pavement again.

A Woman's Place is in the House....and the Senate

I'm appalled at the GOP and their latest idiotic statement: that Pelosi needs to be "put in her place" for expressing her views about McChrystal calling for an escalation of troops in Afghanistan. (See this article if you want a little more reporting.)

Pelosi stated, “I’m in my place, I’m speaker of the House... And I’m in my place because the House of Representatives voted me there. That language is something I haven’t even heard in decades.”


Damn straight. A woman's place is in the House. A woman's place is using her leadership role to speak out about concerns. A woman's place is up to her to define. Suck on that, GOP.

Citizenship

I attended a lecture today by former Florida Governor and US Senator Bob Graham about civics and how people can and should participate in politics. He emphasized learning how government works, applying critical thinking skills, finding what motivates you, and getting to know your elected officials. He got me thinking about how much I contribute (or not) in the political arena.

I think he had some important things to say about getting involved. As you know, I'm all about the power of community, and he talked about that. He debunked the idea that people get to be successful solely on their own power or their own abilities. It's true, individual effort makes a difference, but so do the factors we don't control: being born into a certain country, a certain family, a certain skin color, a certain gender. Individuals can decide how to impact their world, but there also needs to be some sense of what is best for the group, not just what is best for ME. Communities need to come together, to decide together what is important, what is an investment, and influence their legislators.

He also talked about the power of forming a relationship over time, in communicating with your lawmaker. Protests are all well and good, but it is also the ongoing conversation about issues that has an impact. It is tenacity and contact and communication. It is an ongoing awakening to what is happening in our daily lives, in our communities, and then talking about what can improve and how we can get there.

What have you done for your community lately?

Scenes from the ridiculous, #5,674

Really, chickie? You really need to sit on the floor of the locker room, in front of the mirror, blocking a major pathway, while you're talking on your cell phone?

I'm just sayin'.

I find it an amusing study of human nature, mine and other peoples,' when I'm in the middle of solving a problem (and perfectly happy to be doing just that), and then someone else comes along who thinks they can magically solve it!, but in reality, they exacerbate the problem, because I have to start from scratch explaining the problem, and they propose the same solutions that I have already tried to no success, and then I have to waste more time explaining that those solutions didn't work, and then they take over....and that's when I walk away.

(Dusts off hands.)

Things that inexplicably make me happy

Thinking of my friend Emily today.

Who else loves funky school supplies? I know Em and I aren't the only ones.

Drip...drip...drip...

If I may engage in a small pity-party. (It's my blog, and I'll cry if I want to.)

This week has been like water torture. Aside from one major student problem (which in itself has been taxing), I have been dealing with one small issue after another. Phone calls to that student, emails to that worker, more requests for services, running out of workers and having to hire some more, finding out I didn't forward a tutoring request to the right person, showing up at a club meeting to find I had the wrong week...it just goes on and on. Each of these are small hurdles to my work, and problem-solving is a big part of my job. Ordinarily, I don't mind. But taken all together, it is wearing.

I'm holding on for the weekend, and hoping things will get better.

Latest in Good News

In my neverending quest for good news, here's an interesting article about how a hospital in Merced has formed a policy for working with the Hmong people, to allow shamans (healers) to be part of the treatment process.

Music Made for Me

So I was listening to Pandora today, and created a music station based on a band I enjoy called Nickel Creek (not to be confused with Nickelback). And one of the groups that played was the "Wailin' Jennys."

Seriously? I gotta get their cd.

Always on the lookout for interesting info

Browsing through Psychology Today (October 2009 issue), I read this snippet about who people refuse to vote for, as part of a larger gathering of information about politics and atheism.

According to a 2007 Gallup poll, percentages of people who won't vote for specific groups:
(read the data to yourself like so: 53% of respondents said they would refuse to vote for atheists)

53% - Atheists
43% - Gays
42% - People over 72
24% - Mormons
12% - Hispanics
11% - Women
7% - Jews
5% - Blacks
4% - Catholics


Wish I had seen the questions/script for this survey. Are we talking voting for President, or voting for congresspersons? Mayors? School boards? Also wish I knew more about the sample of this survey. What was the sample size? Average age? State of residence? Political affiliations? Surveys can be deceptive. (Always question what you read!)

But still. Interesting look at our prejudices, eh? What does this say about how people make assumptions about others? Where do your biases fit in these categories? My prejudices - I would be less likely to vote for an old (70+) male from the South, for example - because I would assume he is 1) a "good old boy", 2) an ultra-right-leaning Republican, 3) anti-feminist, and 4) racist, to name a few.

I wonder what some other categories would be. What about, percentage of people who wouldn't vote for someone who is not a parent? Or someone who was an addict? Or someone who was once on welfare? Or someone with a disability?

Brain research - open your mind

Catching up with my alma mater, UC Davis, led me to an article about their Center for Mind and Brain, a research institute for the study of all things brain-y. The article I read discusses the Shamatha Project - how meditation affects attention, emotion and mood. Results are being submitted for publication, but suggest that "repeated practice in focusing the mind and opening the heart appears to stabilize attention, promote health and well-being, and lead to more compassionate responses." (College Currents, the UC Davis College of Letters and Science Magazine, Fall 2009, available here in interactive or PDF format).

So now, my questions for you:

• What do you do to focus your mind? Meditation is one powerful way, but I find exercise also focuses me, or prayer, or cooking, or creating music.
• How do you open your heart?
• In what ways would practicing more compassion change your daily life?
• And how can I prescribe meditation sessions to Congress?

Monterey

Our 12th anniversary was spent on the coast, wandering, eating, and resting. We love Monterey!

Brain Fry

The sizzle you hear isn't just the late summer heat in Sacto (still 90 degrees last night at 8:45 pm, and 75 this morning at 7:30 am). It's my brain. Classes started for the new semester, and I've been racing around like the proverbial headless chicken. I'm getting so fried that I'm dreaming of leaving it all and becoming a hermit somewhere. When this happens, I know I'm reaching my limits and it's time for a getaway. Luckily, TH has one planned for us soon. So if you don't hear from me in the next week, I've either 1) fulfilled my hermit fantasy, or 2) escaped the valley heat for coastal climes, or 3) been run over by a truck due to perpetual distractedness.

Let's hope for 1) or 2).

Word(s) of the Week

Some coworkers and I were discussing words we loved. Words like:

• PUNGENT (adj) - Affecting the organs of taste or smell with a sharp acrid sensation. Alternately, pointed or sharp.
• THWART (v) - to prevent the occurrence, realization, or attainment of.
• CURMUDGEON (n) - an ill-tempered person full of resentment and stubborn notions.

The curmudgeon wanted to buy a pungent cheese for lunch, but the grocery store's low inventory thwarted him.

Don't you love words?

(crickets)

When TH is away....

...I get to do all the cooking. Yesterday I made pita pizzas with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sliced roma tomatoes, fresh basil, and a spinkling of mozzarella cheese. Tonight I sauteed onions, garlic, and gorgeous mushrooms from the Farmer's Market in olive oil and butter, then poured it over whole wheat spaghetti.

All for me.

Random acts of kindness

A friend of mine, hearing that I've been feeling stressed out, sent me a chamomile teabag through interoffice mail. It made me laugh.

Truly, the smallest act of kindness can make the biggest difference.

In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.
-- Mother Teresa

Just around the river bend...

I've been feeling a little stessed out lately, the kind of stressed out that makes me feel creepy-crawly and trapped in my own house. Usually the only cure for that kind of stress is a jaunt into the great outdoors. But, as you know, around here, the great outdoors can be a little hot during the summer. The solution? Kayaking.

45 minutes of propelling myself along the glittery river, watching flocks of geese fly over, laughing at one awkward yet effective duck landing, seeing fish jump, and saying hi to other friendly kayakers and river folk? Fantastically rejuvenating afternoon.

The best things in life

For my last summer Friday day off, I took myself downtown to the California Museum. This hidden gem tells the stories of great Californians, in its California Hall of Fame. It also presents a display of California's remarkable women, which moved me deeply. To see so many women, such a broad array of talent - from artist to athlete to activist - finally recognized, and to realize that each one of those recognized was supported, mentored, and backed up by many others, was so powerful. But I digress.



The main exhibit I went to see was titled, With Malice Towards None. It is the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition, from the Library of Congress. This display is one of only 5 in the entire nation.

Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it. -- Mr. Lincoln.

All this, for $8.50.

Next I walked over to a Sacramento institution, the Fox and Goose pub. This one-of-a-kind restaurant serves amazing pub fare, but also yummy breakfasts, and is the site of a vibrant live music scene. Today's meal: poached eggs, a crumpet (with lots of butter, of course), and a grilled tomato. Delish. All this, for $10.00.

Continuing my travels, I passed the fortune cookie factory, and stepped in for a bag of rejects. Yummies, for $1.25.

My last stop? Beers Books. My fave used/new bookstore, this place has a resident store cat and 10% off book purchases during the lunch hour, M-F. I found several great books in the sidewalk sale bins, and, browsing, also found my next book club read: Pascali's Island by Barry Unsworth. Score!! 5 books, for $8.32.

A great day, supporting local economy, enjoying all the things I love, for less than $30.00. Gotta love it.

I'm just sayin'.

I'm not sure what scares me most about the former AK gov: how she keeps clinging to misinformation, or the fact that so many people are still supporting her.

In other news...

Trying to stay on top of the CSA produce means homemade spaghetti sauce:





And squash and onions with thyme and rosemary...

Delicious!

Health Care Crisis

I am deeply disturbed by what I'm hearing about people's behavior at the health care forums happening around the country. Fights? Shouting down officials? Police escorts? WTF, fellow citizens??

According to the New York Times, "Lawmakers of both parties agree on the need to rein in private insurance companies by banning underwriting practices that have prevented millions of Americans from obtaining affordable insurance. Insurers would, for example, have to accept all applicants and could not charge higher premiums because of a person’s medical history or current illness. All insurers would have to offer a minimum package of benefits, to be defined by the federal government, and nearly all Americans would be required to have insurance."

According to some Americans (who shall remain nameless, but include a former Alaska governor), the reform would mean mandatory euthanasia, the end of Medicare, and depriving people of health care.


Let's just all slow down, take a deep breath, and find the common ground. What do you think about all this? Here are some of my thoughts.

• Our knowledge about health and medicine is quite good, even superior. We know that prevention is less expensive than treatment. We also sometimes know when treatment or intervention is more costly than its results. Why is this information not available to everyone?
• A person has the right to be healthy (whether or not they squander that right, is an issue for another post).
• The government already has its hands in health care for its citizens (Medicare is one example). Therefore, their involvement is a non-issue. Let's talk about the quality of their involvement.
• The rising costs of health care, to individuals and to businesses, is burdensome to many.
• The provision of medical care as a perquisite to employment makes health care a class issue rather than a quality of life issue.
• HMOs are not equipped to continue providing services in the same way (ie., opening emergency rooms to all, including the uninsured; 15 minute appointments for the insured). Health care workers in the current system are overworked. Overworked workers lead to un-well workers. Who will take care of us when our doctors are sick?
• There are other countries in the world whose governments sponsor health care for their people, and these countries are not full of evil commies (or maybe they are, that could be an issue for another post).
• [This space open for other ideas which have not developed but are percolating as I consider different viewpoints.]

This is not an issue that can be solved immediately, but if we can make some changes, we can get on the road to better health. Give it a chance. And stop yelling at each other; you're raising my blood pressure.

Milestone

Three cheers for our newest Supreme Court justice!

If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow. -- Rachel Carson

Whip-my-butt-into-shape update

I had hoped to swim this summer, instead of run - the campus where I work has a lap pool, and that seemed an ideal way to 1) workout in the afternoon without really caring how hot it gets, 2) workout at no cost (I am anti pay-to-exercise at the moment, just a personal thing, nothing wrong with it if that's what works for you), and 3) switch up the exercise regimen so I don't get bored. However, problems with the water system have shut down the pool for the summer. So it was time for Plan B: operation run at 5:45 am.

I've come to the realization (again) that I do not exercise well in the mornings. I first reached this conclusion in college, when regular morning workouts ended in painful mornings. I'm not really sure why I thought it would be different (better) now, 16 years later. I only knew that there is no way in heck I would be running at noon in 90+ degree heat. But now, experience has taught me that there is no way in heck that I can keep running first thing in the morning.

I have to say that sometimes, I really did enjoy the morning run. At that hour, the air is sweet and fresh, there's no one on the streets to witness my dripping, staggering self, and it gave me a good feeling to start the day so virtuously. However, a lot of days I couldn't complete the workout. I struggled with feeling sick partway through (for various reasons), sometimes actually getting sick partway through (dry heaves are not fun, and I've had more than my share this summer). Getting up at 5:30 to run at 5:45 meant going to bed at 8:30 or 9:00 at night.

I feel strongly that exercise should be something to look forward to, to anticipate and to enjoy. Running in the mornings is something I dread. Working out at the hotel gym in Louisville last month reminded me how much better I perform later in the day. I'm strong! I kick butt! I don't feel sick, ever! And it's a great way to beat that afternoon slump that hits me every day at 3:00. Running at lunchtime is ideal because it breaks up the workday, and running after work is a great way to burn off the day, and give me a good appetite for dinner. But neither of these preferences is possible. So I have to figure out a plan for August and September, until it cools enough for me to return to lunchtime runs.

Whatever that plan turns out to be, I do know that I have benefitted so much from my running and workouts that there's no way I'm giving it all up just because I'm a weenie in the morning.

Limited edition

I don't know about you, but I love things that are "limited edition." No, not useless tchotchkes, but things like...strawberries. Or cherries. Or corn on the cob. There's something about the fact that you can only get these briefly, for a limted time, that makes the enjoyment of them even sweeter.

My current limited edition favorite? Dreyer's slow-churned ice cream, Mud Pie flavor. For those of you who may live under a rock and don't know the glorious beauty of Mud Pie, it is coffee ice cream, chocolate fudge, and chocolate cookie crust. When you get a slice of the pie in a restaurant, often it is topped with whipped cream, cherry, and nuts. Ahhh. Perfection. And this ice cream is sooooo gooooood.

What's your favorite limited edition treat?

I'm just sayin'.

There are days when all I want to do is lie on the couch and read. This is one of them.

Some of my favorite people

Four generations of my husband's family gathered at our house yesterday. It was precious.

I've lost my husband's heart to a 16-month-old.

I don't mind a bit.

Cliff, his daughter, her daughter, and Cliff's father.

Goofballs, all.

Louisville: A Stranger is Just a Friend You Haven't Met Yet

Unless you're trying to merge onto the freeway, or change lanes. Then, f$@# you.

Downtown Louisville

Just back from a work trip to Louisville, KY. While there, I attended a professional conference, but I also had the chance to see some sights. Louisvillians are a really friendly bunch. They were all eager to see that I had enough to eat, that I knew what to see while in town, that I was going to "come back and see us, now." Truly, I was a friend they hadn't met yet.

Eggs and grits for breakfast. Add a biscuit and coffee and I'm in heaven.

This is a Kentucky Hot Brown. Toast, turkey, tomato, bacon, Mornay sauce, and mushrooms. AKA heart attack on a plate.

I spent some time wandering in the beautiful Cherokee and Seneca parks. I dabbled my feet in the creek and listened to the bugs and birds. I enjoyed all the green. I imagined this must be what it looked like in Daniel Boone's time.

Cherokee Park. Beautiful. GREEN.

One night I went to a true neighborhood dive - no a/c, just big fans going; beverages were listed on the greasy menus as "coke products." I ordered the fried chicken and I swear they went out back to kill it, it took so long to get to me. And, they served me up half that bird. It was pretty amazing. "Baby, when you want chicken, we give you CHICKEN," cracked the sassy waitress before going outside for a smoke.

I found a fantastic little cafe with the most amazing fresh baked bread, sweet iced tea, and soup.

Not to mention the peanut butter and ganache "sin bar."

I enjoyed a personalized tour of amazing architecture in Old Louisville. I also survived the summer storms.

I didn't get to drink any bourbon, but according to all my new Kentucky friends, I'll be coming back for another visit.