The Burrow

The librarian left bright red papers in our mailboxes.  What was your favorite book as a child?   I loved my illustrated copy of Washington Irving's tales, even though most of them scared me silly.  The Headless Horseman's cape flying behind him as his horse raced through the darkness was only tolerable because I was surrounded by my stuffed animals.  Why I thought it was a good idea to read myself to sleep that way remains a mystery to this day. I loved Nancy Drew, and the little blue bound biographies at school, and A. A. Milne's poems and Pooh.  If pressed, I can recite Disobedience , another terrifying tale. Again, a lost mother is not the best notion to take to bed. But this one, The Pink Motel , a 1960 Weekly Reader Book Club selection, was the hands down winner.   Miss P. DeGree, who owned poodles.  Miss Ferry, the artist.  Marvello, the magician.  I read and reread that mystery, taking the characters and the plot with me into adu...

Every few years, I am asked to teach the 5th graders plant science.  I have a lesson plan, handouts, and two different experiments in my tool kit.  The scholars are respectful and attentive, for the most part.  After all, Grandma's out of the garden and in front of the classroom; that's enough to grab their attention. And, I must admit, I have a lot of laughs built into the presentations.  Some are silly jokes, and some border on the uncomfortable for these tweens.  After all, sex is a big part of plant life (the birds and the bees play an important role) and thinking about sex is a big part of fifth grade life, too.  Today, though, something changed.  The teacher coordinating my appearances started out by asking if I'd help them with the test.    The test?  What test?  She promised to send me more information about it.   But all of a sudden my foray into the classroom has real life consequences.  I thought I was extr...

A surprising headline, right?  But after a month of utter frustration with the medical system TBG and I were the recipients of really good medical care.   We love the practice.  The lobby is cheerful and has fabulous poster art on the walls.  Checking in is painless and simple.  They rarely run late, yet everyone always has as much time as we need.  These days, that alone makes them a unicorn. Blood pressure and temperature and all the what's wrong with you today questions were handled with sympathy and concern, efficiently and thoughtfully.  Her He'll be in in a minute  turned out to be inaccurate; the door had barely closed before TBG's Family Nurse Practitioner walked in. Old enough to inspire confidence, he reinforced our belief that doctors are not really the people we need in our lives.  We need FNP's and NP's and PA's, all of whom have far surpassed most of the physicians in their offices in terms of time spent and connections mad...

I renewed my faith in humanity by visiting with the scholars at Prince today.  The woes they shared were within my ability to heal, with fresh cut aloe or a hug.  It felt great.   I needed a dose of pure intentions.  Everything I considered writing about made me sad.  I didn't and I don't want to dwell on the Pretti's anguish; it's too close to my own.  Outside in January, participating in democracy, not expecting to die. So. Instead of going down that rabbit hole, I decided to show you the big fat cactus in my front yard.   It's a true survivor.  After about 100 years, before being decapitated  when the palo verde collapsed . it had just begun to sprout the buds that would have grown into statement arms.   Instead, all that energy went into the stump it left behind.  There was obviously a lot of energy. The main trunk is now 5' tall.  There are a few more baby arms on the other side.   People stop and ...

  ICE says violent mob helped criminal escape and left ICE agent permanently maimed That's the headline on Fox News  website Sunday at 5:17pm.  I went there out of curiosity.  The videos are clear - Alex Pretti was shot to death while lying on his face on the ground.  The assailant stood over him and pumped bullets into his back.   According to Homeland Security officials, Pretti approached Border Patrol agents while armed with a 9 mm pistol and "violently resisted" when agents attempted to disarm him. That's their description of the event. As for the permanently maimed agent?  Someone bit off a piece of his finger.  DHS thoughtfully put checkered blurry things over this photo they released of the poor fellow. Digging further, clicking a link or two, I came upon some fairly sympathetic content. The family said they did not know about the shooting until they were contacted by a reporter and couldn't get any information from Border Patrol or lo...

There were no books by authors I recognized on the open shelves in the library's lobby.  There's a New Mysteries bookcase and a Large Print bookcase and New Fiction and Non-Fiction and Children's bookcases and nothing there caught my eye.   I took a chance on the only mystery which didn't have another in the Detective So-and-So series  on the cover.  I don't like picking up the backstory in the middle.  When I've chosen a book in the middle of a series I wonder about the minor characters who are referenced as having done something notable two books before.   It turns out that  The Busy Body  is the first of three novels by Kemper Donovan.   I liked it.  Didn't love it but found myself thinking about it after I turned the last page.  Went to return it to the library and there on the New Mysteries shelf was  Loose Lips , book 2 in the (so far) 3 book series. These aren't my usual fare.  The author is an Agatha...

I know I've made the right decision when Sister goes out of her way to agree with me.  These occasions are few and far between.  I treasure them.  This time, it helps that we are on the same side in America's ongoing battle to regain its democratic footing.   I'm still coming to terms with my decision to pull back from attending marches and rallies and demonstrations.  A private company will be running an ICE detention center not too many miles from my house.  I stopped following the plans to present a peaceful presence outside..  I had to. Thinking about it made my heart race.   I'm working on an op-ed for the local paper, and that helps.  But the need to actually do something in the world is part and parcel of who I am.  Being thwarted, even if I'm doing it to myself, does not sit well with me.   Then, Penzeys came to the rescue.  With every purchase of the eponymous spice came a sheet of these stickers. Ten li...

I was just biding time until the kindergarten's whistle blew.  I was admiring the worm the boys dug up in the yes, you can dig there  raised bed when I felt a presence at my side.  That's not unusual; my arms are often found embracing someone in the garden, often for no reason at all. But this was different. She was a 4th grader.  She was the only big kid and she was not happy.  I sat back on the bench, and so did she.  She agreed with my assessment of her face - she was sad.  Four classmates decided to say bad things about her mother. I didn't ask what they said.  Instead, I asked her what she hoped would happen.  Her English wasn't adequate for all of her feelings; she's an Afghani refugee still picking up the pieces, one by one.  I gleaned most of my information from short questions using small words. Did she want them to leave her alone or to be her friends?  Did she want an apology or just to be respected?   We agreed...

At the beginning of the season I had TBG explain the whole betting thing once again.  Math challenged as I am, it took me but a split second to understand that if I put $100 on Indiana University to win the National Championship, at the odds of 100-1 I'd have $10,000. He did not agree with me that doing so would be wise. I'm sitting here this morning, mourning my financial loss. My team, Little Cuter's team, Sir and FlapJilly and Giblet's team, pulled out a win despite the best efforts of the University of Miami to thwart them.  There was a blocked kick run in for a touchdown.  There was an interception that saved a game-tying win.  The quarterback ran for a touchdown, extending his body over the line in a leap of faith and pain.   aol.com He got hit from all sides, but stood up grinning. I'm glad that everyone is happy.  I know that I am too.  I know that I'd be a lot happier if I had that $10K in my pocket right now.   Oh, ye of little...

There's no school. The trash pickup is delayed one day, and so is the US mail. I was driving home after lifting with Amster (in her fully equipped home gym, the result of living with her 20something health and fitness freak eldest son), wondering how one celebrated this holiday. Used to be that Washington's Birthday, February 22 for the young, signaled the annual winter White Sales, when bed linens and towels and comforters were with our financial reach.  Memorial Day and Veterans' Day and 4th of July have parades.   But this National Holiday, I remembered, can be a day of service, as President Obama suggested.   I had fond thoughts of the Obama's at food kitchens and classrooms and I smiled when I realized that my go-to-good-deed place was closed, too. Haven't heard much from the administration about this particular three day weekend.  I suppose there will be golf and deception and deflection and, perhaps, an assault on another foreign land.   I kinda...

Pilates was killer hard, testing my balance and my damaged right quads.  My classmates are thirty years younger than I am, and those three decades of flexibility were on full display this morning.  Modifications for my injury made little difference.  Sometimes, age is the determining factor. I drove down to Prince only to find all three kindergarten classrooms engaged in story time... and I wasn't reading the story.   I looked at the playground, I looked at the front door, and I realized that I just didn't have it.   There was nothing I could summon to make me walk across to the garden and bring a smiling attitude along with me.  So, I said goodbye to Miss Mercy at the front desk and took myself home. It's dinner time now and I still don't have much to offer.  I'm going to take the night off and avoid thinking about the Insurrection Act.  I'm sure I'll be able to muster my thoughts by Monday's post.  

 .... and I'm not enjoying the ride.  FFOTUS wants to own Greenland because it's way better than leasing or renting it.  There's a difference between diplomacy and real estate.  Would someone please tell him that he's in The White House and not Trump Tower.   The DOJ has opened a criminal investigation into the chairman of the Federal Reserve over cost overruns on the renovation of their Washington, DC headquarters.  No one is amused , but Chairman Powell is now on the hook for legal bills in order to defend himself.  Before he was FFOTUS filing a lawsuit was his go-to tactic when he was displeased.  But now he is, unfortunately, in charge of our government, so our tax dollars are being used to screw around with one of the pillars of our republic - the separation of the Federal Reserve from the political process.  Would someone please explain Alexander Hamilton's rationale for this to him.  Our military deposed another co...

Really, I do.   TBG has been an avid cyclist for decades.  He had his custom measured titanium Hincapie frame in Marin, riding around Tiburon and Belvedere with colleagues who also happened to be on the US Postal Service's professional biking team, or neighbors who took him on unexpected 60 mile jaunts to Point Reyes and back, but mostly he rode by himself, feeling fast Then an unreplaced sewer grate on a newly paved and very narrow and twisty road snagged his front tire, throwing him ass over tea kettle past the handlebars, cracking his helmet and his bending his bike in the process.   37 stitches in the face and a warning from his superiors to go home and not come back anytime soon -  his Frankenstein look was scaring the new recruits - made it clear to him that his days of outdoor cycling were over.    He had a gory tale to tell when asked why he was in spin class instead of out on the road.  He didn't have to worry about the weather....

We found gigantic radishes in the garden on Thursday.   T They popped out of the soil all at once, all of a sudden, solving the problem of  how will we know if they're ready? They were very tasty and there were so many of them and Grandma Suzi said they could eat as many as they wanted and that led to some hilarity. They were too fast for a great picture. Friday morning, I won three games at mahjongg, a rare and wonderful occurrence to start the day. Taos Bubbe and I had a lovely lunch at Teaspoon , catching up on our lives since November.  I've seen Little Cuter more often than my college roommate who lives across town.  Sometimes life really does get in the way. The waiter said Welcome back! when I joined Taos Bubbe at the table.  I'd been there twice before, with Amster and various parts of her entourage.  Amster always pays, and she tips very  well, so it wouldn't surprise me if he remembered her, but all the rest of us?   After a fe...

I sat with the keyboard all day.  My fingers tried to make sense out of Minneapolis and Portland and ICE agents making up the rules as they went along. I finished three different posts, intending to make my initial stab at publishing on Substack .  I lurk there every day.  I began to comment last month; I am tickled when the algorithm tells me that someone liked what I wrote.  I thought that the confluence of the murders of Renee Good and Christina-Taylor Green would be an easy segue into the forum.   People who didn't know my story could hear it from me, first hand, if they clicked through from my comment to my post.  I thought that the similarities and the differences might make a difference for someone.  I thought I had something worthy to share. I liked the first one I finished.  It had my voice and CTG's voice and the voices of all of us who are still reeling from January 8th. I left it on the computer and ran some errands and left a sto...

Sometimes it's just too hard to write. I miss my little friend.

My son and I operate on our own frequency sometimes.   As I was thinking about calling him, but worrying about disturbing his work day, Big Cuter called my cell.  Had I been watching the news? He was troubled, deeply troubled, by the morning's events in Minnesota.  His worry wasn't about me or for me but for what might have been me and for what our country is. I told him that I'd been rethinking  my plans to protest when the ICE Detention Facility opens nearby.... and that's just what they want me to do.... but I have to weigh the risks.... but.... aieeeeee. I wasn't doing anything remotely radical 15 years ago, although was definitely antifa.  Fascists don't meet their constituents outside a grocery store, ready to answer questions from all comers.  I know this is true because my own Congressman, a proud FFOTUS loyalist, has never met with his constituents without charging a fee.   We were standing in the shade on a sunny Saturday morning an...

I need some self-care.  It's just too much for me right now, what with Greenland and pardons and vaccines and all.  So, if you're in the mood for fluff, revisit our trip to see the Cuters and the Mini Cuters.  There was dining out. Focused on savoring every last morsel. There was dining in and cleaning up. There was New Year's breakfast with a touch of silliness. There were contemplative moments, and there were giggles. There were moments of connection. Jr and IV There were books to be read. and explanations to be given. No, sweetie, you don't need to watch Elsa on Daddy's phone. Birthdays were celebrated and manicures were given. Basketball was played  and parks were enjoyed,  the rain just an extra added attraction.   The Ferrari store with Grandpa was on Giblet's bucket list, and Indiana's decisive victory was icing on the cake.  I-U Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoosiers! I could go on and on, and in fact that's just what I've been doing all evening as I worked...

Did you listen to Cory Booker calling on Congress to step up and do something about the authoritarian regime they are supporting?  It's worth taking the time to listen to his words.  He says what I've been silently screaming. Senator Chris Coons said it very plainly this afternoon - these kinds of action are what leads us into forever wars. Remember the "no wars" president FFOTUS promised us.  I know. I know. His promises are like vapor vanishing into the ether, but that was one I thought he might keep.  Silly me. Flooding Congressional phones with protests probably won't sway any elected officials' positions.  Those who are beholden to him are chained to the situation, those who oppose him are powerless. Yet the Constitution sits there, with its insistence that wars are declared by the people's body, not the person inhabiting the White House.  All those who were voted into power by their constituents last year or two years or four years or six years ago d...

The man campaigned on releasing the files on day one.  His Justice Department is a month behind the Congressionally mandated release date.  More and more files appear as night turns to day.  Who are the hundreds of lawyers rushing to redact?  Do we need a video with J. Michael Luttig and Joyce Vance and Jack Smith reminding them that they are obligated to uphold the law and not the whims of a man? Have you seen  Wag the Dog ?  I, for one, am not distracted.  The thought of anyone, let alone a child, being forced to touch that man turns my stomach.  Whatever he is hiding in those files must be really really awful and indisputable and it needs to be disclosed.   The same person is the Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor.  Which role suggested that the citizenry of the United States is safer now that we are running Venezuela?    Pardoning former  Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez  after a ju...