12/31/09:
I am back at work and heading toward what is normal for me...
I end this year's pages with flowers from our yard this summer, which you can click to see the larger version, and yet another poem that I hope you enjoy. Have a great last day of 2009, see you next year.
THE GUESS
He was learning so much from
his last illness, it was almost unbearable.
The wisdom of his body had been surfeit, the sinews
at the roots.
And he guessed all men were
saviors—his hands extended to
the world his gratitude. And they seemed
empty, the fullness
invisible.
— Jane Mayhall, from her book Sleeping Late On Judgment Day
12/28/09:
Yikes... I am still home sick, still not feeling well but better than I have been. I am going to try to go to work tomorrow. It could be much worse, yet, still, I don't feel good. The picture to the left is of Walter Reed Hospital in 1918, borrowed off the New York Times back in October. It could be worse.
I have gotten to read a lot the last several days, finished a Doris Lessing book from the library and a book I had picked up a couple of years ago about living in a totalitarian state, and now have started a third about Myanmar, which used to be Burma. That's a lot of words to read and think about.
We are winding down the year, that kind of quiet time between Christmas and the New Year. More later... :)
For those of us who believe in physics, this separation between past, present and future is only an illusion.— Einstein, letter to a friend
12/26/09:
My throat has been sore, my nose and ears stuffy, and snot has been ensuing from my body— I have had a cold all week and am told by Jay that if I treat it, it will last 2 weeks, if I don't treat it, it will last 14 days. I have attempted to treat my cold with various concoctions that do not seem to be working all that well, so I think mine will be lasting 14 days.
I was scattered when preparing to leave for Michigan, fully intending to remove the small jackknife and nail clipper in my purse prior to leaving the house. To my credit I did remember those items in my purse, as the man at the scanner asked to go through my backpack that had my purse inside. The security personnel determined the thing seen in the scan was the bag of ground coffee in the backpack, sending me on my way to the plane with my knife and clippers still in my pack. So, yes, I do agree the current security systems at airports are flawed. Unlike last time, when I went to Michigan and back before remembering I had the items in my purse, this time I did remember while being approved by airport security and so removed the items to my baggage for the return trip— why tempt the fates? Going through airport security is a hassle, particularly since it does not seem to be very well done or particularly effective. I have written in the past about excessive attention paid to scrutinizing that dangerous character my mother seemed to represent to airport security a couple of years ago and of sitting in the airport observing an abandoned package being passed by repeatedly by security personnel. True, we can never be truly "safe" in this world, especially when your country is hell-bent on pissing off much of the rest of the people on the planet. I'm just glad I was not on that Detroit NW flight the other day, although my jackknife might have come in handy...
Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.— Edward Everett
12/24/09:
Yuck. I have been home since Tuesday (that is not the yuck part) with a sore throat, congestion and extremely raspy voice. I like being home, but prefer to have more energy when I do so. Luckily we have no big plans for the holiday, so my need to run errands has been minimal. I am hoping to gather enough health and energy this weekend to make some zucchini bread for gifts, although that remains to be seen.
I went to the dermatologist Monday so that he could scrape the rest of the non-dissolving dissolving stitches out of the side of my foot. Actually I only had one left to get out, I had been able to get one out myself last Wednesday after returning home from my Michigan visit. The dermatologist also examined my skin/moles again and found another abnormal mole to be biopsied, on the right side of my back, just above my waist. I declined to have it done that day and am scheduled for the fun mid-January. The sheer number of moles I have and having them located all over places me at increased risk of skin cancer, having dysplastic moles increases that risk even more. They'll be checking my skin regularly from now on. It seems to be true, the older we get, the more we focus our conversation on our health...
A neighbor somewhere out there in the dark seems to be setting off some fireworks, celebrating the birth of something— maybe of confusion. More later amigo.
Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side.— Abraham Lincoln
12/20/09:
Luckily, when I was home in Michigan last week, I was able to give Christmas cards directly to my mom's side of the family because they had a fun get together with a great turn-out. Today I finally put together the rest of the cards for mailing tomorrow, the end of the year is looming fast. We had lots of sweets at work the 2 days I worked last week, and I am expecting more this week— it is that time of year. One of our neighbors works for a large department store and gave us a garment bag and another bag, neighbor kids came caroling with candy canes last weekend and today another neighbor brought over 3 jars of a yummy zucchini relish she knows we like. They are all very generous and will get a loaf of zucchini bread from us, but not this weekend, too much...
We went to the library yesterday and picked up some magazines, including a New Yorker from November in which I found a poem I liked, see if you do too:
SAD VERSO OF THE SUNNY___________
Veldt? Sounds good to me.
Like melt. Back when you could eat Velveeta
and call it cheese. My grandfather's macaroni and cheese
featured a whole brick of Velveeta. I liked peeling away
its beautiful silver wrapper, Velveeta Velveeta all over in blue.
The expanses of time in which there was this grandfather
appeared endless when I was in them. Who
could see to the ends of the plains and so see her end
beyond them? Who could think to look? You
(like Ohio and its vowels) went on forever,
just ate your macaroni and cheese, relishing
the brown bubbles on top, then did the next thing,
were the next moment surrounded and held in it
by all the things you didn't know would end.
Nothing ceded. No portend.
Only geranium and melamine
and thank you,
everywhere preceded by some please.
— Liz Waldner, The New Yorker, Nov. 23, 2009
12/19/09:
I made it home in the wee hours of the morning Wednesday. Jay, kindly as always, came to pick me up at the airport, himself getting only a few hours of sleep before getting up for work. It was nice seeing everyone back in Michigan, but it is always feels good to get home— I missed Jay. The cold had disappeared from Mount Vernon by the time I returned, although it was snowing in Michigan when I left. I will post some pictures later.
Christmas is barreling full speed ahead toward us; I am looking forward to two three day weekends in a row. I was back at work Thursday, pooped by the end of even a 2 day work week! I am not much of a jet-setter or much into the Christmas spirit this year. In an effort to address that I have posted a Christmas graphic to the left to brighten things up. Enjoy, more later...
being "good" in order to achieve the future rewards of Heaven is a pietistic striving characterized more by pride than by virtue. The kingdom is come. It is here now, at each given moment for each of us. It need only be accepted to be achieved.— Sheldon Kopp
12/8/09:
I ran across this cartoon just the other day, even more interesting to me since this is one of Jay's regular quips— and one of my favorites.
It has been unusually cold here this week. Yesterday's high was 31 degrees while the "normal" high is 46. Right now, at 8PM, it is 18 degrees and heading lower. Yikes all right!
All of this remarkable weather is a great, fortuitous coincidence as I am preparing for a quick trip to Michigan, where it is even colder with more than a chance of snow... This is the first time I have gone back home for the Christmas holidays, always before afraid of getting snowed in, apparently for good reason. It will be a nice get-together, celebrating and sharing some holiday cheer with family and friends. More much later, tomorrow night is for packing and Thursday in the wee hours of the morning we will be heading to the airport. See you late next week, stay warm!
If the English language was good enough for Jesus Christ, it's good enough for everybody!— Ma Ferguson, first female governor of Texas, when asked about bilingual education
12/4/09:
Both the image to the left and the one at the top left of the page are of artifacts from the Lower Danube Valley and the Balkan foothills that date to 5000 years BC. They are part of an exhibit called "The Lost World of Old Europe" at New York University's Institute. These two items in particular stuck me as pretty contemporary-looking, yet they are among the lost and found of archaeology, artifacts from an advanced, ancient group of people called the Cucuteni.
I sometimes wonder how our current "civilization" will look to or be interpreted by peoples thousands of years from now— indeed, what of "now" will be found. The interpretations in the New York Times article seemed overstated to me:
The household pottery decorated in diverse, complex styles suggested the practice of elaborate at-home dining rituals. Huge serving bowls on stands were typical of the culture's "socializing of food presentation," Dr. Chi said.
What will future archeologists make of dinnerware found in excavations of recently abandoned Linens and Things stores? We sometimes use language to distance ourselves from earlier human civilizations, thinking we are too advanced to be like them, but maybe they liked to gather together to eat using the good dishes too.
Yet it is puzzling that the elite seemed not to indulge in private lives of excess. "The people who donned gold costumes for public events while they were alive," Dr. Anthony wrote, "went home to fairly ordinary houses."
I was not aware that the presence of castles and palaces is required to indicate advanced civilization, yet there are lots of things about elitism I do not get.
One of the best known is the fired clay figure of a seated man, his shoulders bent and hands to his face in apparent contemplation. Called the "Thinker," the piece and a comparable female figurine were found in a cemetery of the Hamangia culture, in Romania. Were they thinking, or mourning?
Many of the figurines represent women in stylized abstraction, with truncated or elongated bodies and heaping breasts and expansive hips. The explicit sexuality of these figurines invites interpretations relating to earthly and human fertility.
Suffice it to say, I think both the "Thinker" set and the stylize female sculpture could be found today in a contemporary art gallery. I think they are about being human.
Humanity changes and doesn't change over time. Some think a huge shift in mankind's consciousness occurred in recent times, the last few hundred years, yet incredible ancient thinkers who had little "human progress" to build upon left us many intellectual treasures. How many treasures did not make it through time to be with us today?
It is an interesting article and an interesting exhibit that brings back to light finds forgotten– click on either artifact picture to see a slide show of other objects from the exhibit, and enjoy.
I am late in starting this month's page, but really, the 4th isn't that bad...
Wednesday morning I grabbed a photo of the white alyssum flowers alongside where I pull out of the garage. It has been below freezing at night this week, frost about in the morning spelling the end of the flowers soon. I thought maybe the fluffy white blossoms will last to greet winter snows to come.
I will be getting ready to head to Michigan for a short visit with family from the 10th to the 15th, getting together with my mom's side of the family for a Christmas celebration. Some extra busy-ness to add to the season. Happy Holidays to all...
The truth is always something that is told, not something that is known. If there were no speaking or writing, there would be no truth about anything. There would only be what is.— Susan Sontag
Jardot's World: December Edition, 2009
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