The Reading Corner

"I learned something right now.  I don't usually learn something but I learned something right now."

Thus spake a 2nd grader, a young man who was working on distinguishing between the long and short vowel sounds.  We read the often used words as I tried to find examples of that-which-passes-for-rules in spelling the English language.  Two consonants after a vowel make a short sound (except when they don't) was simple enough, and so was an e at the end of the word makes a long sound.

It got tricky when we got to cage and case and mice and nice.  That c is quite a problem (as was quite, but we'll get to that later.)  If it's cage and case why isn't it mike and nike?  The e at the end of the word was the clue, and his face when he realized that the e at the end makes the c an s lit up the classroom.

That's when he decided he'd learned something.  He went on to zip through the ce words, and enjoyed the story to which they were attached.  He showed great understanding when he substituted his for the.... he was hurrying because he wanted to find out what happened, and calling it his bag instead of the bag just showed comprehension.

Of course, I made him go back and correct the error, but he did so knowing that his mistake was a smart one.

It took 30 minutes.  It nourished me for hours.  I've committed to returning every Wednesday throughout the school year.  I'm going to rely on those little faces to bring me back to all that is right and good with the world.

It's not much, but it's a start, as I try to find my way through to whatever lurks on the other side.  It's hard to be terrified when you're totally happy.

Gabby's Story

She continues to inspire me, each and every day. She's so much better now, stronger and tougher in her own words, which you can see in this video clip.  I tried to embed it, but the platform won't allow it.

She's comfortable in her own skin, and that's the part that moves me the most.  She's not tentative.  She's smiling and she's joking - with her husband and with her dog.  Her words are more fluent and her expressions more reflective of her inner self.

Aphasia, as Gabby says in this story, sucks.  The words are there; she just can't find them.  I cannot imagine the hours she's spent on her search.  My struggles to acquire a fluid gait pale in comparison to my Congresswoman's struggle to speak.

And yet, she smiles.  She leans into Mark and he squeezes her shoulder and they agree that looking backward is useless.  There is only tomorrow.  I've heard Gabby say it.  I've heard her mother say it.  In the clip, I heard Mark say it.

We haven't forgotten what happened, but we're not stuck there.  We are moving forward, dragging our reluctant and recalcitrant and frustrating bodies along for the ride.  We are more than our disabilities.  We are strong.  We are courageous.  We are bold

Gabrielle Giffords Continues to Inspire.  It's a bumper sticker and it's a promise to myself.

If she can be all those things, then so can I.

Spam in The Burrow

This was the only comment on yesterday's post:

***شرکت نوين گيت*** 

با سالها سابقه در طراحي ،اجرا و خدمات سيستمهاي درب اتوماتيک و راهبند 

فروش،نصب و راه اندازي و خدمات انواع درب اتوماتيک (درب سکشنال - کرکره اتوماتيک - کرکره پنجره - درب ريلي اتوماتيک - جک پارکينگي - کرکره شفاف - رول گيتر - انواع راهبند و درب اتوماتيک شيشه اي... ) 

خدمات 24 ساعته و شبانه روزي حتي در تعطيلات رسمي 

مشاوره رايگان در تمامي مراحل

I read it on my phone, while waiting for class to start in the morning.  My Android doesn't have an easily accessible translation service, so I spent the day wondering.  What had the beautiful Persian writer been trying to communicate?  Was she as thrilled with my hike as I had been?  Was she taken with my photos?  Was she offering her perspective on the world?  And how had she found The Burrow?

Inquiring bloggers wanted to know, but life kept me away from home all day long.  With dinner re-heating in the oven, I sat at the desk and re-read the post.  No, there was nothing pertinent to a Persian writer, at least as far as I could see.  With mouse in hand, I copied and pasted the passage into Google Translate, and was rewarded with this:

*** The new company Gate ***

With years of experience in the design, implementation and service of automatic door systems and Barrier Sales, installation and service of automatic doors (sectional doors - Automatic shutters - Shutters - Doors rail automatic - Jack parking - transparent shutters - Roll POTGIETER - all kinds of barriers and doors made of glass ...)

Services 24 hours a day, even on holidays

Free advice at all stages

I can't imagine buying security doors from Iran, and yet that is what this new company GATE is hawking.  Still, there was much that was confusing.

According to a cursory Google search, Roll Potgieter score (t)he highest network security index for hard drawn wire structure made of iron and plated doors High elongation and impact resistance.....  and then the snippet ended and the link took me to another page of Farsi, with pictures of the rolling window and door covers.  

Jack parking was another conundrum, but Google was no help there, either.  There are Jack Parking Lots and people murdered in Jack in the Box parking lots but Jack Parking remains a mystery.

I'm wondering if they'd come on Thanksgiving if my garage door got stuck; they say they offer Services 24 hours a day, even on holidays.  I'm wondering what spam-bot found The Burrow and decided that security doors in Farsi was an appropriate comment.  I wonder if The New Company Gate paid someone to post that ad... and if they can get their money back.

However, should you be reading this in Iran right now, why not give GATE a call?  Tell them Ashleigh from The Burrow sent you.

Finding the Moments

I wrote the first draft of this last year, just after Parisians were blown to bits in a nightclub.

I took the same hike again this morning.  It was the first moment of peace I've had all week.

The world is going to hell in a hand basket, and I'm feeling quite powerless, I wrote a year ago this week.  I was feeling the same emptiness this week, unable to put my angst into meaningful action right now.  I was on a merry-go-round, repeating my fears over and over and over in my head.

It was not a good place to be.  My body told me so - I was lurching instead of walking, hunched over and back in my self-protective crouch.  I needed a fix, and Bag It! provided all the fixin's.  I could do a good deed, give back in a tangible way, and soothe my soul at the same time.

And so, with Mary, my Yogi, leading the way,  I joined a Meditative Hike this morning.

I strode up these steps with attitude.

I did not use the handrail.

I put each foot down, carefully, slowly, heel - ball- toe, meditatively moving my self onward and upward.

This year the sun was shining.

This year, I didn't need hiking poles.

This year, I could concentrate on making each step the best that it could be.  There was a lesson there, and I paid attention.

The stones were broad and well secured.

Some tiers took two steps; some were manageable with one long stride.

I was conscious of my entire self moving along, 

rather than concentrating on the individual pieces. 

Those pieces were moving in synchrony, without my help.

(This last section was last year's epiphany - my body will move as one, if I allow it to relax and do the work.  This year, I'm stronger and faster and more secure, and less surprised at the congruence.)

The waterfall was our reward.

 We sat on the stone benches and listened to one another, and to the water, and to the little girl's squeals of glee as she ran up to and then away from the pond at the bottom. It was a moment in time, with the sun shining on our faces and brightening our souls.  

Bag It! is all about living the life.  The choices may not be exactly what you want, or what you imagined.  They may be terrifying.  But with information and organization and support you can live the life you've got, one amazing moment at a time.

Until the world manages to right itself once more, there are always hugs.... from friends and from the trees around us.

It wasn't much.

But it was something.

Our little corner of the world held peace and promise this morning.

Thank You, Veterans

Say THANK YOU to someone who served... or who is wearing the uniform right now.  It's the least you can do.

And, perhaps, observe a moment of silence at 11am

when the shooting stopped forever.........

the first time.

America is still America - in no small part thanks to them.

The Day After

A friend threw up.

I spent the day wondering ... about freedom of choice, about the status of friends, about bullying, and about Pantsuit Nation

Young people were taking ownership of not doing enough, and then promising to share the love as they carried on.

Mostly, I felt lost.

And then the oddest thing happened; I held Robert Redford and Donald Trump in my brain at the same time.  The Donald didn't look any more comfortable than Redford's candidate after his unlikely win.

(start at 2:04)

,

Checks and Balances.  The rule of law.  A free press.  An independent judiciary.  I pin my hopes on America.

Can This Really Be Happening?

I'm typing this on Monday night.  No matter what happens tomorrow, this post starts the same way:
Can this really be happening?

It's what Little Cuter and I kept repeating last Wednesday in the bottom of the 9th.
*****
I'm typing this on Tuesday at midnight.

Can this really be happening?

John Podesta sent the campaign workers home.  Big Cuter and TBG and I have been on the phone for hours.  JannyLou and I have been trying not to puke. I've stayed away from Facebook; there's only so much angst I can handle.

Can this really be happening?

Is this my country?  Am I that out of touch?  Is most of America opposed to everything I hold dear?

Can this really be happening?

It was much more fun to say that when the Cubbies were winning.

Anxiety

Have you voted?

Did you feel good about it?

TBG and I cast early ballots before we left on our vacation. That was the last time I felt sanguine about anything.

The FBI is leaking information to Rudy Giuliani.  The Director of the FBI is so afraid of Congress that he risked violating the Hatch Act, thus adding fuel to the email fire.  Donald Trump supporters freaked out over a gun that wasn't there, not recognizing the absurdity of promoting open carry laws and then panicking when they see weaponry. Republican leaders are voting for a man whose name they refuse to say in public.

It's crazy time in America, denizens.

There's no way I can be confident of the outcome.  The 538 podcast, the Keeping It 1600 podcast, Rachel Maddow,  Big Cuter..... they all told me not to worry.... until they started telling me to be afraid, to be very afraid.

I fear for our country.  I fear for my granddaughter and all the other little girls who may grow up without Roe v Wade.  I fear for a Supreme Court either held hostage by an obstructionist Senate majority or filled with incompetents.  I look in horror at a future where a Republican House majority threatens to impeach a newly elected President the moment she takes the oath of office.

I want to be filled with joy.  I want to be excited about the future.  I want to have faith in the goodness of my fellow citizens.  I want to believe that misogyny and mendacity and other character flaws are not rewarded. I'm having a hard time getting there.

And so, I find myself singing the song I sang to The Cuters when they were small:

You can't always get what you want

You can't always get what you want

You can't always get what you want

But, if you try, sometimes, you get what you need.

I just can't believe that I need President Trump.

Hannah Lindhal Museum

Little Cuter left us a list of things to do.

This tiny museum was nearby, and FlapJilly agreed that it would be lots of fun to visit.

It consists of relics of Michiana's past, donated by residents and collectors.

 (Michiana is the area on the border of Michigan and Indiana, not, as I always thought, a separate town.)

Miss Lexie gave us a introduction to the collection, reminding us that we could touch anything we wanted as long as we put it back where we found it.  We held a mastodon bone and a rabbit skin and petrified wood, but the little miss refused to smile or pose with them.

This chair was Goldilocks sized, and she was quite comfortable.

Unfortunately, the sign she is holding said "Please do not sit on the chairs."

There was a 19th century school room and a Japanese Tea House in honor of Mishawka's sister city and there was this beautiful organ, with embroidered foot pedals.

 

Antique sewing machines and cooking utensils and a general store with old cans and boxes weren't that interesting to FlapJilly, but we all liked these moccasins which, if you read the attribution card, are quite timely.

That's all.

We were finished in 45 minutes, which gave us plenty of time to have a Second Breakfast at Bob Evans, another worthy Indiana institution.

Thus ends our visit.

Tomorrow I'll reenter the fray, putting all my anxiety for the future of our country on display.

But, for right now, I'm gong back to snuggling with the cutest little girl I know.

photo courtesy of JPetersenPhotography

70 and Sunny

If this is Fall in Indiana, I'm never leaving.

FlapJilly and I took a walk through the piled up leaves on her New House Street.  The smell turned me back into a little kid, flinging myself into the gigantic pile Daddooooo created under the pin oak tree.  He collected them in the basket of the sweeper, dumping load after load in an ever growing pile, crowds of neighborhood kids waiting patiently until he swept them all up.

SIR is going to have to do some serious raking, if the leaves on these trees in his backyard ever decide to leave their branches.

This must be a very warm corner; all the other trees in the area are deep red and yellow.  Only FlapJilly's trees are still mostly green.

We didn't need jackets as we wandered through the  Potowatomie Zoo this morning.  I didn't worry about FlapJilly freezing in her I-dripped-lemonade-all-down-myself outfit.  She was dry by the time we got to the playground,

after we fed the goats.

I warned you that there wouldn't be much verbiage this week.  I'll be back to business next week, dealing with elections and American Democracy.  For now, I'm living the good life.  Reality does not need to intervene.

CUBBIES!!!!!!

So Much Fun

photo courtesy of JPetersenPhotography

There is so much love.

So much. 

Linton Enchanted Gardens

This is most wonderful garden center I've ever visited

There was a choo-choo train, with a very punny narration of the grounds.  

There was panning for gold.

There were funny little houses.

There were ostriches 

(who knew their eyes were blue?)

and there were fish.

There were goats

and pheasants

and there were lots of ugly pumpkins.

which reminded me of pumpkin patch visits in Petaluma.

There were topiaries

some of which reminded us of home.

and alien spaceships and skeletons.

There were lots and lots of plants, too, but we were having too much fun to shop.

Little Cuter and I will, no doubt go back to shop.

But, for today, this was quite enough.