The Burrow

We couldn't turn off the tv.  We stayed up until 1am, watching the talking heads become more and more tired and more and more smiley.   My heart is open and happy.  I'm so proud of Americans.  The picture of the US Senate with all those blue seats over on the red side provokes an audible giggle every time it appears on the screen. My Congressman can go to work for one of his well off supporters while his replacement goes to work for his constituents. All the young faces, the colorful faces, the well spoken voices of the winners signalling a generational shift.  Chuck Schumer looks ancient in comparison.   Will the entrenched powers recognize the change?  Will the Democrats spend all their time investigating or will they enact sensible gun safety legislation?  A girl can hope. It's fun to watch the Alaska results.... 45 votes, 62 votes, 75 votes separating the contenders.   FlapJilly's life has been lived under the blight of the...

Little Cuter's family is surrounded by falling leaves  and trees in all their Fall splendor.  Corn fields, not strip malls, line the roads. A silo anchoring a harvested field, planting rows neatly furrowed, and stands of Lodgepole pines are what I expect to see as I drive around.  But yesterday I saw this and this and bladed smooth acres of previously fertile fields of corn.  It's a data center.  The old folks died and the heirs sold the farm for gazillions of dollars.  It's hard to fault them.   But I wonder what effect the heat and the dust will have on the fields across the street.  It's a two lane road.   And I already know what effect the data center's mere existence has had on the residents.  They're sad.  These things have to go somewhere.  I just wish this one wasn't impinging on the pastoral back roads ...

Sorry.  I have been remiss. I had a serious case of travel anxiety, for no real reason at all.   We've flown Allegiant to South Bend dozens of times.  Little Cuter always picks us up.  We  know where we're sleeping, we have clothes in the closet, toiletries in a tote beside them, and 2% milk for TBG in the 'fridge.   There was nothing to be nervous about, but there it was. I sat down to write and I got nervous. I walked around the outside of the house, smelling the creosote soaked air after a torrential downpour.  Usually, that smell sets my senses tingling.  On Wednesday, all I felt was angst. I did some deep breathing.  I did some pushups.  I made a fruit smoothie with ginger and turmeric.   None of it worked. Thursday wasn't any better.  I packed, repacked, stressed about what I'd not packed..... the whole thing was becoming ridiculous.  I refused to take an Ativan for free floating anxiety circling aroun...

After weeks of inactivity, my first attempt did not go well.  Many deep breaths and a cool face wash helped me finish the class, but instead of going to the garden I drove straight home and slept for 3 hours. It's too expensive to keep heating the pool, so swimming isn't an option.   Recently (and for the foreseeable future),  Amster's travel schedule and mine have kept us apart and away from our weight workouts in her home gym.   Today, I tried again.  The mind was willing but the musculature was a lot weaker than I expected.  There are adjustments and modifications to the high level exercises and I took full advantage of them.   I'm reminded that it takes far less time to lose it than to earn it back as I feel everything starting to wake up.  It's a good start.   Too bad it will soon be interrupted by our Halloween visit to the Big Grandkids. This may just end up being the season of getting back in shape... it's the jour...

If people aren't smart enough to recognize the Dan Sullivan they've elected twice to the United States Senate, perhaps they aren't smart enough to vote.   Senator Daniel Sullivan will be on their ballots as a Republican.  That's probably something that ought to be easy enough to remember; both their Senators have been Republicans since 1981.  Lisa Murkowski was appointed to her Senate seat by her (Republican) father after he won the governorship.  I bet that made some kind of ruckus in 2002.   Can it be that they have forgotten?  Perhaps the fact that Daniel J Sullivan, the spoiler, has unaffiliated . not Democrat or Republican, beside his name on the ballot.  Are they incapable of paying attention to details? Perhaps FFOTUS   the DOJ  what passes for justice in this country has decided that the voting population of Alaska must be protected from itself.  That would be the only logical reason that the Republican candidate would ...

Don't worry,  I'm not talking about bodily functions.   I'm talking about the grunts and groans TBG and I make when we change position.  Usually, it's not difficult to move.  When it is,  that's a real groan, not an Old People Noise. Bending over to load the dishwasher is a very simple task.  All the body parts involved know what to do and when to do it and are willing to participate in the joint effort of shifting my shoulders while holding a plate, bending at the waist, and reaching my arms out and down. Not to brag, but I do Pilates and lift weights.  I don't make Old People Noises then. Squatting in Amster's home gym elicits deep breaths and serious exhales, easily mistaken as groans rather than the explosions of energy they are.  There are often grunts; I don't know why they help, but they do.   The breath is the movement in Pilates; serious exhales are the norm.  They and the grunts are part of my everyday life.  Mov...