Lessons Repeated

This morning, my government students will be full of the news from the weekend's events in Arizona.  Representative Gabrielle Giffords was already known to them; the race was on a list of competitive Congressional races that we all followed last November.

The shootings, the deaths, and all that such violence entails will likely consume our attention.  As I always do, I will caution my students to follow reliable news sources and to avoid getting caught up in the panic of a 24 hours news media.  I will point out our need to peacefully and respectfully disagree with one another. 

I'm troubled by the vitriol in American political dialogue.  I remind myself that this feature of our political life is neither new, nor rare.  That's not necessarily comforting.  And today's name-calling is made worse by the existence of a 24 hour media world.  In a world in which we never stop talking, we are at risk for finally saying something regrettable, stupid, or downright dangerous.  We could choose to dial back the volume, of course.  But we haven't.

And in the meantime, lost in all our discussions of the nature of the political dialogue is the reality of the ease with which we can all obtain guns.  After the Virginia Tech shooting, I was convinced that we would finally have a national dialogue about the dangers of easy access to guns.  But that didn't happen.  It's already looking to me like we'll skip that hard discussion this time around. 

And I guess that's what I find so unsettling.  There is no doubt that the nation will talk through every angle of the mess in Arizona.  But will we learn anything?

Update: My friend M pointed me in the direction of today's Gail Collins' editorial in the New York Times.   Collins is writing about the ease with which we can obtain guns in the U.S. and she's suggesting that's not such a great idea. To which I say that friend speaks my mind.  Let's hope that Congress is listening.

Past and Present

I have a soft spot for all the Miss Read books, but there is a special place in my heart for Thrush Green.  I first read it in 2006, in the midst of some very great unhappiness in my life.  Within a few pages I was settled into the pleasant world of the town of Thrush Green, a world of England in the mid-20th century, a place seemingly far away from my very modern, unhappy life in New Jersey.

And yet not so different that I couldn't sympathize with Ruth whose heart had been so recently broken.  The story takes place on May 1st, the day that the Curdle fair comes to town.  And when she awakens on that morning, for Ruth "…the feeling was not so sharply cruel on this particular day."

When I first read those words, I longed for the day when sharp cruelty wouldn't greet me come the morning.  Miss Read wrote that for Ruth, "It was as though a veil had been dropped between the dreadful picture and her mind's eye.  She could see it all, down to the smallest detail, but the picture was dimmed, the impact was gentler, and her own feeling less agonized."

I've long-since reached that point; that place of a dimmed picture.  But I'm still unsure of what comes next.  I know that I can't read ahead to the end of my story.  But I long for the happy ending that Ruth found.  In the meantime, I remember what Mrs. Curdle says at the end of the book: "I've never been to Thrush Green yet without feelin' the better for it."

And so I go to Thrush Green. And feel the better for it.

Real Life Conversations with JT: Leave Me Alone edition

The backstory: One afternoon this week JT and I heard a Fresh Air interview with Mark Wahlberg, talking about his new movie "The Fighter."  In the interview, Fresh Air host Terry Gross asked Wahlberg about his mother.  I though the question was interesting and so I asked it of JT.

Me:  When you're a big famous grown up what will you tell people about me?

JT:  I'll tell them that you annoyed me a lot when I was a kid.

Okay, then. Let's hope the kid doesn't become famous.

Smart Mouthed

There are very few occasions in life when being a smart-ass proves to be an advantage.  So it was with great happiness that I learned of JT's winter break homework assignment: develop some parody cards. Finally, an assignment where our family's talents could be brought to bear.   JT's parody cards are pictured below:

He made cards for Caught Wheels (Guaranteed to get your wheels stuck in road hazards);  Snuffles (Bet you can't blow just once); Mike 'n Yike's (Yikes! You will get something scary in every box); Fool Aid (One glass = 100% of your stupid for a day) and my personal favorite……Flopps baseball cards.  That "darn" like to kill me.

Priceless, these little gems of my boy's imagination. And evidence that being a smart-ass can occasionally pay off.

Show Me the Snacks

After a few months of hiatus, Vending Spree was updated last month. As always, it's well worth your time to pop on over and have a read.  Consider it my belated holiday gift to you.

I love Vending Spree.  If you don't, you should keep that information to yourself as it will cause me to value you less.

I am not kidding.

Real Life Conversations with JT: Talking Smack edition

The backstory: Over winter break, we played a lot of cards.  We're a competitive family, so that can sometimes be tricky.  But still we play. And play. And play.

Me:  Do you want to play cards while we eat supper?

JT:  Sure.

Me:  What game do you want to play?

JT:  It doesn't matter to me.  You go ahead and pick the game I'm going to beat you at.

And, indeed, he did beat me at that game.  Twice.

Tree Removal Unit

JT hoped that I would consent to keep our Christmas tree forever; Tiger and Lucy concurred.  Besides the obvious (my mom is coming to visit in February and if she arrived to a tree still up in the living room, the shock might slow her down when it comes to catching up our laundry), the main objection I had to this arrangement was that the cats have become rather emboldened with regard to said greenery.

Lucy really loves Christmas trees and she spent a lot of time underneath the full boughs of this year's tree, pretending to be the commander of the forest.  Tiger had taken to batting the lower branches, and showing them who was boss.  Both cats had given an effort to climbing up the tree and sitting in the lower branches. 

As the tree grew drier and the cats grew braver, it was easy to see that a disaster was in the offing.  One of them would climb in the tree and lay in wait to attack the other and then the whole tree, the ornaments, and the lights, would come crashing down.  Most likely in the middle of the night.  To great caterwauling.

So on Sunday evening the tree received its eviction notice.  Just pulling it out from its corner was a rather tenuous affair, as the tree wobbled  dangerously.  But JT and I righted it, removed the ornaments and lights, and then hauled the now defrocked tree to the back deck.  On Monday, I threw it on the mountain of snow in the front yard to await a trip to the town mulch pile.

Yesterday morning, as I came downstairs, the cats were sitting in front of the back window, looking with longing at the tree, now on its side on the back deck.  I have to say that I too will miss it.  It was the most beautiful tree that we've had, the center of a very happy Christmas, and a magical reminder of the the power of believing.

Blessings

Last year, as the the new decade got started, I spent some time thinking about how I could view the start of a new decade as a fresh start for myself.  I'm getting a little long in the tooth for fresh starts, but I need to believe that age needn't control our hopes and dreams for the future.  And so I vowed to make a greater effort to expect more from life and to spend more time concentrating on the incredible blessings of my world.  Mostly, I've made a success of that effort.  Some very good things happened last year.  So I've decided to make a list of the biggest blessings of my 2010.

1.  Trip to Alaska with my family…..especially seeing Glacier Bay and managing the zip line adventure without humiliating myself.

2.  New bathroom!  A consequence of a bad thing (the leak in the bathroom) was that the problem was solved and I got a new bathroom out of the solution.  Stressful, but very happy in the end.

3.  New living room furniture!

4.  Gym membership….soon enough, I plan to write about this, but let me just say for now that the ability to work on gym-quality equipment has made me for a great change to my workout life.  Which is most happy.

5.  My sister's visit for my birthday.  KO's whirlwind trip was quite the celebration.  Even if I am as old as rocks.

6.  Taking on some long-term house projects, making a success of them, and feeling really, really proud of myself.

7.  Cooking always makes me happy; in the past year I learned to make ganache and whip cream.  Being the sort of person who often has the ingredients for both on hand is lovely.

8.  My Life List and the permission it gives me to think about my future.

Not bad for one year.  I'm making plans for 2011 and in my world, that constitutes progress of a most significant nature.  It means that I'm less afraid of the future, which may very well be the biggest blessing on this list.

Unauthorized

Not an approved use of one's 10 year old.  But really quite handy.  I just hope it doesn't invalidate his warranty.

January 1, 2011

For the last few years, I have marked the first of each month with a photo and posting about something that grows in my garden.  I wrote about my big tree in 2008, in 2009 it was the hosta patch by the garage, and last year, I wrote about my apple and pear trees.  This year, I will write about the clematis vine that I am training to grow on a trellis in my backyard.

What these trees and plants have in common is that they are all things I've always wanted to plant or be responsible for.  My backyard is one of the most enjoyable parts of my home.  Each month of the year, it brings me pleasure.  Often, it also brings a very welcome surprise.  The garden is a comfort and a joy when life sometimes seems difficult.  It is one of the greatest blessings in my life.

I've written before that gardening is pleasing to me because it reminds me of the virtue of patience and the healing that time can bring.  A day in the garden is always a good day.  And on the first of the month for 2011 I will invite you to join me in the garden, where we can watch the clematis vine as it grows and climbs up the trellis.

Winter is a time of rest for most plants and the clematis, which was planted last spring as part of my life list projects, is clearly at rest.  But things will change as the year unfolds.  I'm looking forward to that.