...at least according to the calendar...
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| Batting cages |
This is what we woke up to: at least in our area, 4" of snow. Over the top of about 1-2" of ice.
Hello, Mother Nature -- exactly WHAT did we do to annoy you??
OK, the concept of "spring" is relative in the Midwest USA area. We can have perfectly lovely weather - and that can include snow. And we can have crap. Which can also include snow.
I personally love snow. What I don't love is the thaw part, because then it gets ugly, sloppy and depressing. Before everything starts greening up again, it's perfectly dreadful. But there it is. You have to pay for the pretty winter and pretty spring with an ugly middle part there.
I had a dentist appointment - to pick up a bite splint. I'm not a grinder. I'm a clencher. I tend to clench my jaw, which is particularly bad when you do it in your sleep. I've gotten nasty headaches, and as a fun side effect, I've fractured two molars.
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| Frosty trees |
Yep, just as much fun as it sounds...
So anyway, most of these shots were taken on my drive back from the dentist. Pretty forlorn looking batting cages, aren't they?
Most of the main roads were somewhat plowed, but there was one main road that was, honestly, a sheet of ice. And by the way: a POX on people who haven't got the brains of a goose. People -- as long as you're scraping or brushing off your windshields, please, PLEASE brush off your front and back lights. I can't read your mind and I don't know your signal is on when your lights are covered. And the road is icy. I can't always stop. You're just lucky I'm cautious.
So the drive there and back took longer than it took to pick up the device. I also set up the appointment for Crown #2 - because of the clenching. Lucky me.
Anyway, I took several of these just because I know the "ick" is coming and I thought I'd like to remember the fact that it's actually gorgeous.
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| Frosted birch |
See, here's the thing. The trees are iced over. The snow is on the trees. There's a light breeze, and all of a sudden, when you stop and listen, you hear it.
A nature-inspired wind chime. A tinkling sound that, if you're in the right frame of mind, worms into your brain and makes you realize just how beautiful and awesome Nature really is. This shot is my neighbor's birch tree. In the spring, summer and fall, this tree hosts just about every songbird in the neighborhood. Ask Kid #2, who parks under it...
The first robins of spring pop up in that tree. Cardinals, their bright red bodies popping through the pale green leaves and against the white bark - you hear their cheerful songs in the summer.
And of course the chattering squirrels race up and down and around that tree. Annoying the snot out of our dogs, but having a blast.
So much beauty, and it's ours for free. If we only look at it and see it for what it is. Inconvenient? Sure. There are lots of stupid drivers who haven't quite gotten the clue that this has been a relatively brutal winter. They think the sun's out so we can just zip along. Or that their 4WD vehicle is capable of stopping fast. No, it's not. To be truthful, 4WD is to PULL you out of situations. Not STOP you from having them.
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| Local street |
Some of the neighborhoods haven't exactly been plowed out. This isn't my neighborhood, but it's close. And as you can see, they haven't really broken any speed records for getting the streets clean.
I saw lots of people shoveling and trying to use snow-blowers. The only bad thing was that this is truly "heart attack" snow. It's wet and heavy. Hubby said that of all the snow he's shoveled this winter (and I don't even know how I'd calculate that), this is by far the heaviest, "and it feels like I moved 3 tons of it!"
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| Crocus |
That's saying something, since he rarely comments on the snow. Even so, this isn't the kind that moves easily with a machine. It's down-and-dirty get-the-shovel snow. The local PD is having an enforcement field day, though. We have a "no parking after 2" of snow" ordinance. We've had it for years. And still, people are kind of dumbfounded when the cops come knocking. They see if you're home as a courtesy and you have about 4 minutes to move your car. If you don't, you get a ticket. Our streets are similar to those in the above shot: they're narrow. Plows can't come through easily. And the rationale is, hey - if the plow comes down the middle and your vehicle gets covered, or your mirrors get whacked off? That would be YOUR problem for not moving your car out of the way.
Oh, the crocus? That's not my picture. I used to have crocus and snowdrops. But the bunnies liked the salad and I got frustrated. This is just a freebie - I thought you'd like to see some hint of spring.
Knitting...
So you'll notice that (thanks, Hubby!) I have a new ticker system along the right side of the blog. It's a little more "ticker" and easier to read than the snapshot of the Excel graph. But I should probably trim down the list, huh?
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| Baby jacket WIP |
I have created a schedule. (cue laughter) -- No, I mean it. I've drawn up a list of the days of the week and a project for each day. I'm hoping that (a) it'll keep me faithful to some WIPs; and (b) get stuff off the needles with more regularity.
And here it is: MON-Pink sock; TUE-February Lady Sweater; WED-Teal sock; THURS-Kid 2 afghan; FRI-Baby sweater; SAT-Crafter's Choice!; and SUN-Counted XS project (for the curious non-crafter, XS refers to "cross stitch").
This way, I can perhaps gain some control. (cue more laughter) I really, REALLY want to get some of this stuff done, and in particular, my mom's Angel and the socks. Yes, I still have tons of WIPs. And no, not everything on the ticker made it to the list. There are, after all, only SEVEN days in a week. I figure the Crafter's Choice day is for either plowing forward on some of what's listed, or picking up something here and there. I can always take knitting to work when I work Saturdays. The counted XS is a little harder now because I prefer magnification, but I could do some of the smaller projects (the XS) without too much trouble if I had to. It's certainly easier to pick up and put down than a knitting or crochet project where you may be counting a repeat or trying to do lace in public... I even put that schedule on my smart phone to remind myself. (cue final bout of laughter)
I figure I have till this Monday to start with that schedule. So for now, I'm whacking away at the Blue Stash Baby Jacket. Dang, I wish I knew what this yarn was called!!
And Then There's This...
I just watched something gut-wrenching. As a person who's had 2 miscarriages myself, I can feel for this woman to a certain extent. But I have NOT been where she's at. Thank God. Or Whomever.
MEN should not legislate stuff that should be between a WOMAN and her DOCTOR. This woman has gone through almost unfathomable psychological stress, not to mention whatever her body has been through. Danielle and her family have been devastated. And I don't mean that in the hyperbolic over-use of the term.
I mean truly DEVASTATED. Watch this video of her story. Have tissues handy. (Tech note: I tried to upload it but I couldn't figure out how to do it)
See, here's what fries my cheese. Some fundie lawmaker(s) decided on an arbitrary "due date" for abortions. Which are, by the way, STILL LEGAL in the USA. So far. (ahem)
The State of Nebraska decreed that 20 weeks was the cutoff. This woman's water broke at 22 weeks. The consequences to the fetus were catastrophic. As in: The Baby Will Not Live.
Her doctor told her that he couldn't terminate the pregnancy (even by inducing early labor) because of that 20-week thing, and that she had to "go home and wait" for the baby to be born. The only reason he could terminate would be if she got deathly ill.
Let me tell you, if you're not going to watch the video, what happens when your water breaks prematurely and your body doesn't replace it (which can happen, but in this case it didn't). The uterus is one gigantic muscle. It's built to squeeze. The water acts like a cushion for the fetus. At 22 weeks, a fetus isn't a baby - because it's not viable. Lung development hasn't fully completed. The baby uses the liquid in the uterus as a fluid in which to move the arms and legs. And the fluid keeps the baby safe.
Danielle's baby would not be able to breathe outside her body. The baby would have "contracture" of arms and legs, because it would have been unable to move them in the uterus. The baby would have skull deformities because the muscle of the uterus would squeeze the head. The brain would also be injured.
Are you getting the picture?? Danielle did have the baby, because some cruel male legislators made up this arbitrary date and she was not free to consult with her doctor about the best course for her. The government did that for her, because of course she's a woman who couldn't POSSIBLY make this kind of decision on her own.
So she and her husband had to endure a heartbreaking labor. She and her husband had to sit and hold their newborn daughter, who died in her mother's arms 15 minutes after birth, because she never would've been able to live without being on a ventilator permanently (that's what happens when you have no lungs)... and "live" in this case is a cruelty. There's no life there. With her muscles in constant states of contraction, she might well have been in excruciating pain. But - she wouldn't likely be able to even cry in pain. Because she'd have been hooked to a machine because the State legislature says she has a "right to life."
Doesn't "right to life" mean that (a) you care for it AFTER IT'S BORN (as in, how about we feed the hungry kids we have here, now, instead of cutting benefits) (as in how about we quit slut-shaming women who choose your version of "right to life" and stop calling them "moochers" and "breeders" - they just did what YOU wanted them to do: had the baby); and (b) you should maybe be able to HAVE a life? Not permanently and irrevocably physically deformed to the point where you can't move and not permanently and forever (however long "forever" is in this case) hooked up to a machine because your lungs are so under-developed that you can't breathe.
What kind of life is that?
Here's what I'd like to see. I'd like to see the genius that wrote that law, and the geniuses who voted for it - in a room with Danielle and her husband, and their young son. And explain to them why that law is so vitally important.
When will these lawmakers realize a few things?
First, statistically, (and I found this at the Guttmacher Institute website as well as a pro-choice website), ONE HALF of all women getting abortions reported that some form of birth control was used in the month in which they conceived. If abortion were used as a primary method of birth control, it's likely that a fertile woman with a reasonably active sex life would be pregnant at least 3 times in one year. THREE times in ONE year. I mean, think about the biology: women are fertile for roughly 30 years. It doesn't make sense to undergo what is essentially an outpatient surgery when there are reasonably reliable methods of birth control available.
Second, the relationship between a woman and her doctor is sacrosanct. Having a law inject itself into a situation like Danielles? That's just foolish. That woman had to go through the physical and mental stress of carrying a non-viable fetus because a man-made law said so.
Third, laws based on someone's religious belief are wrong. The Founders didn't want this to be a theocracy. They were perhaps men of God or some sort of spirituality, but time and again, historical documents have proven that this nation was never intended to be a "Christian" nation. We are founded as a nation where, at least at one time, you could believe as you pleased - or NOT believe as you please. It was freedom OF religion. You pick yours, I pick mine and as rational adults, we respect each other's choices.
If MY religion doesn't approve of something but yours is opposite, that doesn't make YOURS wrong. It doesn't make MINE right, either. Laws should be based on public safety. Pure and simple.
Not "public safety" viewed through the lens of someone else's faith.
Random Picture...
Sure, it was rough to wake up to the mess. But look at how pretty it is with the sun shining on it.
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| Frosted Maple |
The snow isn't melting very fast, though chunks are plopping down off the trees. But while it lasts and while the sun's on it, it all looks like fairyland.
The bird feeders are all tipsy with the weight of the snow. And the hooks are a bit cattywampus with the heaving and freezing and thawing of the ground.
But that'll be changing soon.
In a few short weeks - maybe - this tree will start to bud out. It's a maple tree, and it provides shade for 90% of our front yard. And in the fall, it turns the most brilliant flaming orange you'll ever see. You can spot this tree from almost 2 blocks away. It's the pride of our yard, and right now, it's dressed in some late-winter finery that I'll hold in my mind for quite some time.
While I'm scraping mud out of my truck, off my dogs, and off my jeans...
...of the cardiac kind. (sigh) I did fine at work Monday, and even taught my Monday night Basic Yoga class - not that the sequence was all that basic; my poor students got a good workout! I teach at Just Breathe Yoga near my home. It's a great studio, and I enjoy teaching.
I truly felt grateful for the "breakthrough" to have happened AFTER class, though - when I was safe at home.
This one was a little more mild than the last one. Still racing pulse, relatively high BP and breathlessness, but apparently not to the criteria of taking the Cardizem pill. So another "mostly on the couch" night. I came back to the bedroom about 1 a.m., promptly tripped over Tippi, who grunted and then snorted her disgust, and managed to get in about 5 hours of sleep. (Jeeze, Tippi --- grey dogs ought to sleep near a night-light!!)
Nothing else so far; apparently, I slept like a rock last night (exhaustion will do that to you) and I'm feeling ok. Still a little freaked out about this and apprehensive, should it become more frequent. But you get nowhere by worrying.
Meditation Timer...
I have been setting my timer at work. About every 30 minutes, I get up and either stretch, or go do something. The first segment, I spent putting tissue boxes in the classrooms. Some campuses put coffee out for the students (we have adults who come to class after a full day's work). Me? I put out tissues because it seems that everyone has allergies or a cold or something snotty.
The timer is about to go off in a little over a minute; I spent the last 1/2 hour looking at the blogs *I* follow (where've you been, Franklin???) and figured I'd better get this one cracking on.
We shall see how this all works out. I do appreciate the nudge to move my rear end off the chair, that's for sure!
Weather...
Another cold spell. Joy. (See - the timer went off, so I took 10 minutes to do my lunch dishes...at least I'm sticking to it so far.)
Anyway, it's all the way up to 12* outside, but "feels like" -5* -- this is F not C. And we have a couple of weather warnings: the river flood warning, that really doesn't apply to me because we're not that close to that particular river, and the Wind Chill Advisory that's supposed to be through noon-ish tomorrow. It's supposed to START at midnight, tonight, but going out to the car this a.m.? You could've fooled me!! The temps are set to feel like somewhere between -20 and -30*F. My assistant was right: the warm up was a malicious tease.
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| Sock Heel |
I am, however, still in my Danskos. They feel good after enclosing my feet in ankle-high hiking boots. The search for a "casual but warm" boot continues and since now all I'm seeing is sandals, I think it'll resume in the fall.
All I know is that my skin is lizard-like. I can't find a moisturizer that's not too greasy. I just used some of the Neutrogena Norwegian Formula on my hands and I felt like they actually sucked the lotion in. "Only a dab" -- well, I think I need a few dabs more. At least now the skin on my hands doesn't feel like it's going to crack off.
Knitting...
Working on the Teal Sock, but I did pick up the Pink Sock to see where I was. To my dismay, I have lost the directions!! It's a simple sock, so it's not a total loss. And I have Sock #1 to measure against, but I'm bummed. I should stick to ONE knitting notebook, but that - by my definition, at least - means just having ONE project in the works.
And that ain't happening.
Anyway, the fatigue from lack of sleep due to the a-fib stuff made it such that I just wanted to do the simpler sock. Even the k3, p1 ribbing in Teal was something I deemed much too much for my foggy brain. Of course, I found that Sock #2 had just about 1/4" of ribbing done: k1,p1 -- so I did fiddle with that a little bit. But otherwise, the leg (as you can see by Sock #1) is just round and round knit. Mindless, which is good some days.
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| Project bag |
Here's one of my favorite project bags, from Kelly at Le Mouton Rouge Knittery -- she makes them herself, and sells them for a phenomenally reasonable price. I want the one that says, "I Learned to Knit in Prison."
And some refreshers of the Pink Sock. I just have to remember which heel that is. Any input - helpful!! Or I could just find the %^$# directions!!!
This is the pair on the 1.75 wooden needles. I will admit to one gripe on the wooden needles: the marking wears off. It's almost invisible now. At least on my steel needles, it's etched in. I will have to figure out how to mark these; unless, of course, I can find the packet they came in.
That's probably with the directions...
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| Pink Sock #2 |
Anyway, I'm due a trip out to see Kelly, because of course, while I don't need any yarn, I would like to snag a project bag or two. And ok -- y'all know that I'll walk out with at least a ball of sock yarn.
Sock yarn has no calories. It doesn't even count as "stash" since I usually buy Opel or the like - where one ball = 1 pair. See? Economy.
If I'm buying sock yarn for a shawl, then I'll buy more and THAT is stash.
It is NOT a nit-picky difference, thanks.
Oh, and I did accomplish (sort of) one thing. I went through all of my knitting bags. The reason I did that is because I've lost some keys. I went through all my purses, and so did Hubby. So he wasn't about to touch my yarn bags... I did that. Still no keys. I'm not a happy camper.
Anyway, the yarn bags have all been gone through. The jackets as well. Kid #2 doesn't have it (he had to use it when I was carted off to the hospital once). Maybe it's either with a person who temps for me or in a sweater or blazer pocket. Rats.
But now I have a decent handle on what's in which bag. And I have a whole lot of organizing to do (still). It's a never-ending issue.
Politics (or The Gay)...
I don't ever want to go back to Arizona. I was there, briefly, in the way-back times. Didn't even see the Grand Canyon, which I wish I would have. But it's all in the past, and I'm not pining.
But with this latest debacle? Good Lord - I'd be shot. Apparently, some brainless cretin(s) in that state chose to bring a bill wherein any business can refuse service to someone all in the name of the business' "religious beliefs." So. They can deny service (specifically) to the gays.
Did y'all know that The Gays are a Threat to My Marriage? Well. According to many "Christian Conservatives" -- apparently, I'm threatened by The Gays. They are out to destroy my marriage. And my family.
So, I as a business owner in AZ (which will happen when the 10th Circle of Dante's Inferno melts) can say, "I refuse to serve you, The Gay. Because you're an affront to my religious beliefs."
Which wouldn't happen for 3 reasons: (1) I'm Episcopalian. My church is Ok with The Gays. and (2) even when I was Catholic, I wasn't stupid. The Gay isn't catchy; and finally (3) I'm not an idiot either - if I'm in business, I want to MAKE MONEY. If you want to spend your money in my business, I would be a total moron to deny you that privilege -- and deny ME the profit.
This bill is the very definition of "slippery slope."
The story - which you can find just about anywhere, is encapsulated here in a post by Dean Obeidallah, a columnist for The Daily Beast.
So where does this leave us? Well, it leaves us wondering when they'll discriminate because my kid is "brown" in the summer, whereas I'm a pale Polish ghost. Taking it to the extreme, perhaps someone might think my kid is hassling me - which they both do, but Kid #1 looks the least like me, so he'd more likely be the target here - and want to lash out at the Kid because he's giving some white-haired white lady a rough time. Notwithstanding that he's MY kid and I know EXACTLY which buttons he'd push! In gun-crazed AZ, my kid could get shot by someone who thinks he's a threat. And Kid #1 is the most mild-mannered kid you'd ever see. He's just a little physically intimidating if he feels *I* am being threatened. In a very quiet, "You don't want to go there" kind of way.
Anyway, that aside, I'm just wondering, because these are the same kinds of people who scream that "Sharia Law is not OUR law." No, it's not.
But neither is the Bible our law. We are not now, and have NEVER been, a nation founded upon Christian principles. No matter how much you say we ARE, you only have to look at The Founding Fathers - Thomas Jefferson said it.
Way back in 1802, while he was President, Jefferson first articulated the "separation of church and state" and said that religion was "...a matter which lies solely between Man and his God..." -- that's about as clear as you can be.
What's to stop those business folks in AZ from refusing to serve Muslims, because being Muslim offends "their religious belief"? What's to stop them from refusing to serve mixed-race couples because THAT offends their "religious belief"?
And how do you reconcile Jesus' teachings of brotherhood with the particular viewpoint of Christianity as a "whites-only" religion? Which is just about what they're saying. Oh, sorry: STRAIGHT WHITES ONLY.
Back in the days of the Gold Rush in California, our country, much to our own humiliation, passed Chinese Exclusion Laws - see the link here for specifics, but I'll summarize: "No Chinese Allowed."
Seriously: they couldn't marry Americans; couldn't own property; were strictly curtailed as to who came over - we preferred teachers and merchants.
This AZ law is the equivalent to that Exclusion Law. Only it's more broadly painted and it's entirely stupid. Why, in this economy, would you refuse to serve someone? Take the money, honey. If you feel that it's burning your hand, donate it to your church. They probably won't ask where it came from.
The only good that can come of this is if Gov. Brewer does something sensible: vetoes it. And she could - because there are already some laws on the books about being able to restrict service. And they're kind of knot-headed too.
Random Picture...
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| Silver teapot |
Of a teapot. This was on the England table at our recent fundraiser and I thought it was beautiful. The decorations on the table consisted mainly of tea pots, tea cups and tea bags. A little "derivative" if you will, but it was lovely anyway.
I'm sure someone in England is agog at the tea bags -- do they use loose tea? I've purchased PG Tips tea in bags (and let me tell you - it makes Lipton taste like sock-water). Hmmmmmm. Maybe I've watched a little too much Sherlock or Downton Abbey, though I do love my own loose tea.
I'm a big tea drinker anyway. While I have the Keurig in my office and I do buy flavored coffee, I can't drink it. I haven't been able to since I've had GERD - the acid apparently kicks up in my stomach.
But anyway, I prefer tea. I drink 2 cups of "caff" in the morning, and then I'm switching over to decaf or herbal. It's hydration and I can drink it "black" with nothing in it.
And it's especially good in a cold snap when you're in an office where your one wall is a window and there's a good stiff East wind... Brrrrrrr!
As always, comments appreciated.
