New Textbooks?

The October 1, 2010, edition of "The Week" magazine has an interesting and disturbing article about new textbooks.  (Now you know how far behind I am in my reading.)  It appears that conservatives (you know who you are) and liberals are disagreeing about what should go into the new textbooks.  It appears that the conservatives have won the battle in Texas.

The new textbooks, scheduled to arrive in classrooms in 2013, want the texts to establish that the U.S. is a "Christian land governed by Cristian principles."  Thomas Jefferson will be dropped from the list of main founders of the country, and will be listed as a minor figure  because he was the main proponent of the separation of church and state.  Sen. Ted Kennedy and labor leader Cesar Chavez would not be mentioned at all in the new books, but Ronald Reagon would be looked on as a national hero and leader of the "conservative resurgence in the 1980s and 1990s."  Slavery would be described as "'the Atlantic triangular trade' -- a relic of British colonialism that America struggled to cast off."

Is it any wonder liberals are outraged?  I realize that the history books especially have always left a lot to be desired -- where are the women and black heroes and innovators ? -- but now these people are messing with the very beginning of the nation.  Is this what we do in the United States?  I grew up believing we were the best country in the world, everyone who lived here had an equal chance at success, we valued truth and honesty above all.  Now our textbooks will tell our children that evolution is only a theory, and that Thomas Jefferson was not a major player in this country's history.  What will be next?  Will the math books soon say that 2+2 doesn't equal 4?  How shockingly bad is this? More to the point -- how can we as Americans put up with this dishonesty?  And it is dishonest, not just bending the facts a little.  I hope you all are as angry as I am.

The Recent Election

This election was especially disappointing since Ohio's Governor Strickland did not get reelected and since Rep. LaTourette did.  Under Strickland, Ohio had become one of the top ten states in terms of the economic recovery, but it seems this doesn't matter.  And LaTourette won by  landslide, as he always does.  I was glad to see Jerry Brown win in California, I think.  He has to be better than Whitman would have been.

I believe that a lot of the backlash to President Obama's policies stem from racial prejudice, only no one can admit this, even to themselves.  People of my generation (older than the baby boomers, younger than the war babies) have to keep fighting to not be prejudiced.  We were raised in an era that treated people differently, depending on the color of their skin.  We have to work every day to overcome this upbringing. Maybe the best we can hope for is that our children are better than we are.

Will health care reform be repealed?  I hope not.  It is a national shame that the population of the United States does not have the best health care in the world, and that our leaders are undermining any reform.  Of course, they are being influenced by the  insurance companies, who have obscene amounts of money with which to persuade the politicians.  I guess it goes to prove that you can fool all (or most) of the people some of the time.

Books

Books.  Books are keeping me from having a real life.  Or maybe books are real life.  Either way, I like to read.  I mean, I really like to read.  I never, repeat, never, go anywhere without a book.  Oh, you may see me in a friend's house without a book in my hand, but you can bet it's out in the car.  Even if we go to get an ice cream cone, I take a book.  It is my security blanket.

Sometime I think my reading so much keeps me from thinking about things -- things such as the state of education in our country, ditto for health insurance, politics, the economy, religion, just about anything that is disturbing.  In other words, reading is my panacea; it keeps me sane.

What started me on this track was one of the funniest books I have ever read -- A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.  I just finished rereading it, and I very seldom read a book twice.  For thirty years, I have been telling anyone who asks what my favorite book is, about this one.  I decided I should read it again to see if I think it is still as good as it was way back when.  It is.  The story takes place in New Orleans sometime in the 1960s, but I couldn't help but notice how relevant some of the themes were for today.

The main character is Ignatius O'Reilly, a 30ish boy/man who still lives with his mother.  His jottings on everything are one day going to let the world see what a brilliant mind lives in his bloated body.  For now, though, he must get a job to help pay some debts, even though he is sure his mother could do something so that he would not have to lower himself to work.

That's as much as I'm going to say here about Ignatius.  He is a brilliant, ignorant, arrogant egotist, who discovers life in New Orleans.  The author, John Kennedy Toole, never wrote another book.  Soon after he finished this one, he committed suicide.

Anniversary

Nine years ago today, the Twin Towers in New York City were attacked by terrorists.  How much hatred and so-called retribution has been generated since then.  How can people hate others so much that they would attack buildings full of humans?  Why can't we, or they, live our lives allowing and respecting each other's beliefs.  Why do we hate them, and they us, for these beliefs?  Or maybe they don't really hate us for our beliefs; but are just using that as an excuse.  Maybe they hate us for what we have.  Is that what we're all afraid of?

Now even this country is lowering itself to the standards (if malevolence can be called a standard) of others, spawning groups that hate those who are somehow different.  We are told to hate the Muslims, the Mexicans; the blacks and the gays.  Americans are the most ethnically diverse people on earth, but we still seem to hate those who are perceived as unlike us.  Most Americans call themselves Christians.  Wouldn't Christ, who welcomed everyone, be proud.

Dad

It's finally time.  After two decades of trying to accept my father's death, I think I can do it.  I believe my sisters and I have idolized our father too much.  We have compared him with Mom, and he always seems to have been the perfect, caring parent.  But if I am honest with myself, I can see that he had faults and was maybe not as perfect as I would like to believe.  I'm sure you noticed that I said maybe.

Dad was very good at aggravating Mom.  He knew just what to say to get her going, and would say it at least once every day.  She would always fall for it, and get mad at him.  Dad would just smile and, if one of us were in the area, give us a wink.  He knew exactly what he was doing and he was enjoying it, while Mom was working up to getting madder at him.

In the past, I've looked at Dad's behavior as somehow my mother's fault.  She was too demanding; she ran his life; they always had to do what she wanted.  He seemed to be just going along.  Now I wonder if that's at all true.  Maybe Mom had to take charge, or her life would have been much emptier.  Maybe if she didn't make plans, no plans were ever made.

Today I wonder at the dynamics between my parents, and the impression they had on me.  Both my sisters and I have grown to adulthood thinking that Mom was the bad guy and Dad was the good.  The truth is probably not nearly so black and white.  As I go through the rest of my life, I will try to remember that both my parents were only human after all.

Sounding Off, Again

As if it weren't enough that we are fighting an unwinnable war in Afghanistan, now we are virtually declaring war on Muslims in this country.  All they are trying to do is to build a mosque in NYC.  It is not on ground zero, as claimed, but on the spot once occupied by a Burlington Factory coat store.  And it is not even a mosque, but a cultural center.  And why is there no indignation that Muslims are praying at the Pentagon, which was also attacked on 9/11?

There should never have been such a discussion as this.  Some kind of memorial to the many world citizens who lost their lives in the World Trade Center attack should have been dedicated years ago.  It is shame on someone that this has not happened.  This is what the outcry should be about.

My church, in the little town where I grew up, has a cultural center.  It is called Luther Center.  No one, as far as I know, even blinked an eye when it was built as a gathering place and education center for the Lutherans.  Probably everyone in the town, and then some, has been inside that cultural center -- to play basketball, shop at a holiday bazaar or bake sale, or any number of other events that take place there.  I bring this up to remind us that cultural centers are not places of evil.

Frank Rich, an Op-Ed columnist for the New York Times, makes a case that the virulent opposition to a mosque on this site in NYC will only hurt our chances of getting the citizens of Afghanistan to see that we are right in our fight against terrorism in their country.  Of course, he's right.

And what about this thing called the United States Constitution?  Doesn't the First Amendment guarantee something called freedom of religion?

Marcia Ball at the Beachland

If you ever get a chance to see Marcia Ball live in concert, go.  She plays the piano with such fun and authority, all while bouncing her knee, singing, and working her back up players.  We were lucky enough to see Ms. Ball and her band at the Beachland Ballroom in the Collinwood area of Cleveland on Thursday, and it was wonderful.  I don't think she stopped playing for longer than 30 seconds, and she performed for two hours.  The musicians behind her are excellent, proving that to be the best you have to surround yourself with the best.  All four members of her group seemed to be having a great time, as did Marcia herself.

This was the second time in as many years that we were in attendance ("attendance" is definitely the right word) to see her perform.  Her music is a blend of blues, rock, and cajon, as near as I can tell.  Listening to her latest album, "Peace. Love and BBQ," it is easy to see why she has been nominated four times for an Emmy, but hard to understand shy she hasn't won.

As you can see, I am putting a link on this site to Marcia Ball's blog, Ball Bearings.  I hope you check it out.

Book of conversations between Andrew Young and his godson

I have just finished reading the book Walk in my Shoes: Conversations Between a Civil Right Legend and His Godson on the Journey Ahead by Andrew Young and Kabir Sehgal.  It was very easy to read, but deceptively hard to understand.  One piece of advice that Mr. Young repeatedly gives to his godson is to be a contrarian.  Also, that you can always learn something from anyone, even if you disagree with him.  I am going to try to keep these two thoughts in mind.

Facebook

To all my Facebook friends, I apologize.  It is absolutely necessary that I close my Facebook account.  You see, I spend too much time just reading all the posts everyone puts up; even spending time only once a week, it takes at least two or three hours to catch up with everyone.  This is time that I have decided could be better spent elsewhere.

This is in no way a criticism of those who use and love Facebook.  It is simply a comment, and a sad one at that, on my inability to stay focused on one task -- my writing.  When I sit at the computer, I find myself doing everything else except what I should be doing.  I surf, I email, I look at my Facebook page, and I shop.  But I need to write, so I am trying to cut out these other distractions.  Believe me, it is a hard thing to do.

I don't want to lose touch with everyone, or anyone, again; but I think you all have my email address, or can get it or my phone number easily.  Please stay in touch.

Cleveland Sports Fan

It is difficult to be a sports fan in Cleveland.  If you want the home team to win, you will be disappointed more often than not.  If you like the Yankees or the Steelers or another out of town team, you will be harassed by everyone you know, and then some.

First, a word about the Cavaliers and LeBron James:  I hated to see LeBron leave Cleveland, and I think he did it in a repugnant and presumptuous way.  But I cannot blame him entirely.  If the Cavs owners and coaches, who had the luxury of having arguably the best player in basketball today on their team, could not put together a championship team, then shame on them.  That is not LeBron's fault.  And I for one cannot blame him for wanting to go where he has a chance of winning it all.

The Browns:  I will reserve any comment I have on them until the season gets underway.  Right now I am in the optimistic mood that usually precedes a losing season; but I can always hope.

Again this year, the Indians have broken my heart.  I have been an Indians fan as long as I can remember, even getting straight As in grade school so I could win tickets to games.  When the Indians were still playing at Municipal Stadium and were not very good, Den  and I would frequently decide at the last minute to go to a game.  Once we got to the stadium, we had adequate parking and our choice of almost any seat in the place.  We knew they probably were going to lose, but what the heck.  They were our Indians.

Now, it seems to me, the head honchos of the Indians have made a conscious decision to dismantle the team, put them in last place in their division (and maybe in all of baseball), and see what happens.  Is this a real life "Major League"?  Little by little, they have traded away the best pitchers in baseball -- two Cy Young Award winners in two years -- Sabathia and Lee -- and now Jake Westbrook.  When I heard about this last trade, my heart sank and I didn't think I wanted to listen to or see an Indians game ever again.  Not that Westbrook was going to win the Cy Young this year, but he was a good pitcher, the best on the team this year, unless you count Mitch Talbot.  And he was a team leader.  I have come to believe my reaction was to the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, me being the camel.

 For two days, I couldn't listen the the games, and I didn't care much who won.  But in the end, I am an Indians fan and always will be.  I know I will listen to the game tonight, and root for my team.  And even if they lose, there's always next year.

How Vacations have Changed

We just returned from a short, six-day vacation.   Years ago, well, not really that long ago, the success of a vacation was measured by how many books I was able to read.  How times have changed.  This last trip saw not even one book finished, and we were gone from Thursday to Tuesday.  Why the difference?  Was the book I was reading so boring that I just couldn't get through it?

Not at all. It was a very good book, interesting and not hard to read.  What has changed is me.  For one thing, my eyes are not what they should be, or used to be.  I cannot stare at a page of words for hours on end anymore; I need a break every 30 or 40 minutes.  Also, I have decided that Den needs me to talk to him to keep him alert as he drives; though, if you ask him, he will say it is not at all necessary.

Maybe the most important difference is that I have finally developed the ability to just let my mind go.   I can enjoy the scenery passing by the car's windows; or I can close my eyes, just for a few seconds.  When I do those things, it is amazing what happens in my head.  Sometimes, my thoughts go nowhere, or I may not even think coherently.  Other times, the wonderful world outside the car makes questions and observations just appear; things that I can share with Den.  But the biggest change of all is that I don't have to always be doing something, even if that something is reading.

Reunion

One of my high school classmates is coming into town in June to visit.  He has said that he would like to get together with as many classmates as can be rounded up in one place and at one time, so we are having a luncheon for him.  I know that I will end up going, although I will be uncomfortable.  It will be the same thing as high school -- everyone else will be so self assured and confident of doing the right things, of acting the right way, of saying the right words.  Then there will be me.  I never knew exactly what to say or how to act when we were in school a hundred years ago, and I know I will revert to that person all these years later.  Or maybe I still am that person.  I am afraid that I will sit by myself and not say much at all, and everyone will realize that I am as dull as ever.

 I also know it is important to keep in touch with people from your youth, but I'm not sure why. Maybe because they know you best -- scary thought.  Or maybe it's because they don't know you at all, and you want to prove that you have actually been successful in life, even if no one thought it would be possible.  Wouldn't that be the puzzle:  how could I, who is so dull and boring, have been fairly successful in my career?  How could I have had a career at all?

But I am going, and that is that.  I will get to see two or three people that I haven't seen for years; I hope I recognize them.  And, against all odds, I could even end up having a nice time.

Spring into Summer

Although technically this is still spring, it feels more like summer.  The last few days have been truly hot, in the mid-80s -- and Lake Erie has been warm enough to wade in, if not to swim.  The cottage is almost ready to use, but there is still some work to be done outside down on the beach.  The flowers have been planted, most of the lawn furniture has been cleaned and taken outside, the grass has been mowed several times, and the patio cleared of all of winter's debris.  However, the cottage windows need washing and the curtains put back up, the floors need to be washed, the porch needs cleaning, the steps need to be scrubbed with clorox,and the picnic table needs sanding and a coat of paint.  Every spring there seems like a lot to do, but every year it somehow gets done.  It helps that as we get older, so do the grandchildren and they help with the chores.

I'm not sure why we still need to do this every year, as we don't really stay at the cottage.  Our house is right on the lake, on the bluff above the cottage.  But every year we need this spring ritual.  When we walk down the steps to the beach, we seem to go from the hurly burly of every day living to another world.  Time stands still; there are no freeways, no malls, no traffic jams, no crowded stores; just us, the trees and the lake.  Of course, each year there are more and bigger boats going by, and more jet skis pretending they are mosquitos; but there are also ducks and geese that swim by daily, kingfishers that dive in front of us, blue heron seemingly floating by on air, myriad seagulls, and every once in a while a bald eagle or two.

This is truly a place to forget your troubles; they will most certainly work themselves out while you sit on the beach with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and just dream.

Voting in an "Off" Election

Den and I voted today.  We went to our polling place right at 3:00 PM, which was a mistake.  Our polling place is in an elementary school, which evidently lets out right after three o'clock in the afternoon.  At first we thought we would have to stand in line to vote, and I was surprised that so many people had turned out for a primary election.  Then I realized that all these people were here to pick their kids up from school.  This realization was both a relief and a disappointment.  A relief that we wouldn't have to stand in line; a disappointment that a lot of these people didn't care enough to vote.

While we were signing in, a poll worker from across the room asked one of "our" poll workers how many people had voted on that side of the room.  According to the answer, we were numbers 49 and 50.  This after 8½ hours of being open!  Granted, there were no high profile races being contested, but there were enough campaign phone calls and newspaper coverage that most people should have been aware that today was the day to vote.  And there were a few important issues to vote on, though why we need a constitutional amendment to move a gambling casino from one location in Columbus to another is a mystery to me.

Anyway, what I am trying to say, is how disappointed I am that more people don't take the time to vote, even in the primary elections.  I once had a political science professor who adamantly believed that a person could influence how this country was governed more by paying attention to the local issues and voting in local elections than sticking strictly to the "big" elections.  Today, we were choosing the Democrats and Republicans who would line up to fight for our votes in November.  If you didn't vote, how can you criticize who actually goes to Columbus and Washington?  Even if you chose to be a independent, there were still some taxing issues on the ballot that deserved your consideration.

Tally

If you know me at all, you know that I am a dog person.  My parents raised and showed dogs as far back as I can remember.  I have already written about Terry, our Airedale and the first dog I can remember, who taught me how to read.  Then there was Jack, our Dalmation, and a lot of Miniature Schnauzers.  The first Miniature Schnauzer puppy we purchased, when I was five, attached herself to me and thus became mine.  I'm sure it was because, the first night we had her at home, I somehow made her cry.  Everyone else in the family yelled at me, and I felt like the world had ended.   I ran up to my room and didn't come down until the next day.  From that time on, that dog rarely left my side.  I even showed her to her CD title!

This blog was not supposed to be about me as a kid, but about Tally, a Pekingese who now lives with Den and me.  Tally was a rescue Pekingese, and we adopted her because Tater (the other Pekingese) was such a cute and funny little guy.  Tally had a bad eye when we got her, and had to make several trips to the vet's office for treatment and watching.  A week ago Tally's good eye went bad.  It just seemed like it imploded.  Emergency trip to the vet's.  This time, they said we had to take her to a dog ophthalmologist if we wanted to save her eye.

Here we are a week later.  She has had surgery on her eye and is now trying to see through part of a pig's intestine.  The ophthalmologist said she put everything in the eye back together -- the cornea, iris, and whatever else is there -- and sewed a patch made from pig intestine over the top to hold it all in place until it heals.  It looks horrible!  But she can actually see a little, so it's worth it.

Now comes the hard part for us.  We have to keep Tally calm and quiet for the next two or three weeks so she doesn't tear loose any of the stitches.  She can't play with Tater or her toys; no walks through the neighborhood, no glimpses of the neighbor dogs.  She can only go out into the back yard on a leash for short periods.  She has to wear an e-collar, and has so many medicines that I had to make a chart on a spreadsheet to know when to give her what.

I think that we were meant to be Tally's family.  She was a throwaway dog that had five different homes before she was a year old.  Her right eye had ruptured and had become infected before anyone could or would take care of it.  Now we have her, and we have her for life.  She is such a sweet little dog, and she deserves to have a forever home.  With a little luck, she will be able to see a bit and enjoy life.

Perfection or Failure

One of the numerous problems I have, and have always had, is that I expect everything I do to be perfect.  If it isn't, then, by definition, I have failed.  I know I am not perfect, not even close, but I cannot get it out of my head that the things I try to do have to be absolutely right.

The latest example of this is knitting.  I am attempting to learn how to knit and crochet, and right now I am working on a knitted vest.  It goes without saying that I have made a lot of errors while knitting the back of the vest, but my sister has helped me to make it come out right.  Now I am working on the front.  The left front actually came out well, but the right front -- not so much.  I know I can do it, but I know there will be mistakes and that I will have to live with them.

This may seem trivial to someone else, but it is just an extension of how I have always felt.  I have always been competitive, but it has been just recently that I have realized it.  How could I have not seen this before?  Looking back, I now realize that this competitiveness drove me to make a lot of the choices I made as far back as high school, and maybe even before that.

On the other hand, being competitive, and having to be correct, may have helped in making me as successful as I was in my career.  This late in life, however, I don't care about being the best at something, and I'm trying not to get too upset if what I do isn't perfect, I just want to enjoy life.  Maybe I'll even finish the quilt my grandmother started 70 years ago.

HealthCare III

There has been a lot of discussion and disagreement with the health care bill; which, by the way, I hope is just a first step in the process of nationalizing it.  A lot of people disagree with me and think I am either crazy or stupid.  I have to admit that most of the people who have spoken to me about this and feel this way are family.  Others are probably too polite to criticize so harshly.

We all know that the cost of health care for Americans is inching, no galloping, higher.  And along with the rising cost of health care goes the cost of insurance to help pay for health care.  Many lower and middle income people are being squeezed out from being able to afford medical care of any type.  I believe we, as a country, cannot afford to let any segment of our population fall through the health care cracks.  We need to take care of our own.

We cannot leave this care in the hands of big business and the insurance companies; they don't exactly have a history of helping the underdog, or compassion for anything but the bottom line.

The United States has made tremendous changes over the last 234 years.  Our founding fathers intentionally made the Constitution a bit vague.  They knew the country would grow; but they had no idea how much, or what changes in technology would evolve.  When this country declared its independence, the population was small.    Families helped each other out; everyone knew his neighbor and offered what help they could when times were hard.  The citizens took care of friends and neighbors.  Today, very few of us even know who are neighbors are.  It is a dog-eat-dog world and every man and woman must care for him or herself.

Yet we still live in the United States, the most blessed nation in the world (at least most of its citizens think so).  We must take care of our own.  If we individually don't know our neighbors and don't help to take care of them, we have no choice but to appoint the government as caretaker.

I am not ignorant of the fact that our government seems to make a muddle of a lot of programs it is responsible for, but I think it is up to us, the people of the US, to elect the right people and make our voices known that we think the government should and will be held accountable.  We deserve the best government possible, but we also have to be the best overseers we can be.  This does not mean listening to talk show hosts who try to tear the government down without offering suggestions for making it better.  This is not condoning violent protest.  We need to know what our representative is doing, and he or she needs to know we are watching.

Could the nationalization of health care be the beginning of the citizens actually overseeing what the government does so that it will do it right?  After all, we have a government of the people and for the people.

Health Care II

Health care should be the same for everyone, rich or poor, connected or not.   We finally have a health care bill, and politicians are getting threats, and worse, for voting yea or nay.  What kind of country is this, that people are so full of hate they have to hurt someone for trying to do something right?  I do agree that this bill is not as good as it should be, but at least we can now see how change does or doesn't affect our lives.  I hope this is the first reform of many.  But the reaction of some is very scary; and very stupid and hateful on their part.

It seems to me that health care should be taken out of the realm of for profit insurance companies.  After all, these companies are in business to make a profit, to support themselves and their employees.  If the are unable to do so, they will simply close their doors; and then there will be less competition for each citizen's dollar.  Granted, I do not like insurance companies and think they make obscene amounts of profit, but I think their public images would immediately improve if they got out of the health care business.

Because health care is a people intensive occupation, and huge amounts of money are needed for research and development, and because there are endless tests, procedures, and more tests now available, I believe it should be taken out of the private sector and administered by the government.  At this point, I am not sure how the drug companies would fit in here; my inclination right now is that they should continue as they are, but with more impartiality in the testing they do.  I realize the government has a not-so-stellar reputation when it comes to running programs, but it can't do any worse than the insurance companies have done.  And when I say that everyone should have the same health care, I mean everyone, from the President of the United States, our congress people on down to the poorest of citizens.  I don't know if this would work in practice, but I am sure it can't be any worse, or any more expensive, than what we have now.

Mothers and Daughters

For most of my life, I thought that my relationship with my mother was unique, an aberration from the norm, and have felt very guilty because of it.  I was sure it was my fault.  Everyone I knew seemed to have such a perfect mother-daughter relationship.  Their mothers were often their best friends.  Mine never was.

Then I read the book Mean Mothers by Peg Streep.  I now realize that I am not the only person who had a less than perfect relationship with her mother.  I also realize that I did not have as awful a relationship as I had once thought.  It is true that she never told me she loved me, and that I never had enough nerve to ask if she did, but I now believe that was just how she was.  The family she grew up in was not very demonstrative, and I don't think it was unique, especially during the first half of the the 20th century.  It was just that everyone  was very private.  I never even knew that my mother had a half brother until just a few years ago.  I probably wouldn't have known then if Mom hadn't let it slip out.  I can't even remember what we were talking about, probably because my thoughts stopped when she mentioned her half brother.  I still don't know what his name was, or where he lived, or if I have any unknown cousins; and I will probably never know.

I had always envied some of my friends because they were really close with their moms, and could tell them everything.  My conversations with my mother were usually limited to how well I did in school, or where I might be going that night.  When I turned down a scholarship to get married, I never knew if she was disappointed in me or glad that I would be out of the house.

Now I realize that she kept things inside that bothered her or even that might have made her happy.  I now know where I get the tendency to keep my thoughts to myself, and why it is so hard for me to open up to friends, even if I know those friends want only what's best for me.  It has been a long struggle, but I think that I am finally coming to terms with who she was and our less than perfect  relationship.  And, yes, I finally realize that she was not one of the mean mothers in the book of the same name.

Favorite Month -- February

After a lot of thought, I have decided that February is at least my second favorite month and possibly the first.  July has always been tops as my favorite time of year because it has lots of warm weather and sunshine.  Beach weather.  Now that I am old, beach weather is not so important.  In fact, it gets harder and harder to sunbathe; it feels much too warm, especially when a hot flash hits.

So February has at least moved into a tie for first place as my favorite month.  The days are getting longer, the sun is out a lot, and there is usually still snow on the ground.  This means that I can go cross country skiing a few times during February.  I was not able to ski two years ago when I broke my wrist, and last year didn't work out well.  But this year, February has been so gorgeous that I've had to go to the south side of the Girdled Road metroparks to ski.  There is usually a track set, even though people and dogs walk through it.  There are not very many people in the woods on these cold, snowy days and it is absolutely beautiful with the sun shining.

It's true that the older I get, the less fast I am able to go (and less steady, too), but that doesn't seem to matter.  I do believe the hills get bigger and steeper the older I get; but I still love the feeling, however slow, of effortlessly (almost) gliding through the woods.  Thank you, Ginny.

Evolution

Ever notice how young people rarely talk on the phone anymore?  They almost always text, or at least the ones I am around, do.  Cell phones seem to be less for talking to one another than for sending text messages, taking and sending photos, surfing the web, and playing games.  Do young people ever write letters, or even send emails?  Not the ones I know.  They tweet, or comment on their friends' Facebook pages, or text using their cells.

Is this a giant leap forward in the evolution of humankind?  Are humans adapting to keep up with technology?  Is the attention span of a young person shortened so he or she doesn't get left behind as technology moves ahead by leaps and bounds?  Which came first -- technology or the evolving brain?

Also, people don't seem to be as social as they once were.  If we have jobs, we are usually on call 24/7.  Not many have an actual 9 to 5 job anymore.  Technology never lets us turn off.  Even if we are on a beach in the Caribbean, we can still be involved in decisions at the job.  This naturally gives us less time get to know one another; so here, too, decisions must be made quickly.

Today's young people have to be able to keep up with what can be lightening fast changes, not only in the world of work, but also socially.  I think they are missing out on some of the best parts of being human -- the slow development of a relationship; the time it takes to really get to know another person.

Arrogant Americans

What gives Americans the right to feel so superior to people in other parts of the world?  Why are we better than anyone else?  Because we had the good sense to be born in the USA?  Not a reason.

I am reading a book called Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner.  It was recommended by a friend, and is pretty scary. It exposes how inept the CIA has been since the day it was founded, and highlights how ignorant we have been of conditions and traditions in other countries.  A few men have been allowed to virtually ignore all the rules of civilization because only they knew what was best for this country, and by extrapolation, the world.  In reality, they have done so much harm, ranging from sending agents to certain death, to assassinations of heads of state, to overthrowing governments and installing puppet regimes, no matter how brutal the consequences.  All of this has been done without the knowledge of the people who are elected to run this country.  Elected officials, right on up to and including Presidents, have been kept in the dark about what the CIA actually does.

Granted, the USA is probably not the only country doing all these horrible things, but I had always believed that we, as a country, held to the highest moral standards; that we were truly the country that the rest of the world should look up to, to provide the ultimate example of morality.  This book makes me realize just how naive I am.  The people who are making these high level decisions, or at least those who have in the past, are so arrogant and ignorant, heartless and immoral, that it makes me afraid.  I am only halfway through this book, up to the point of JFK's assassination, and maybe what follows will not be as horrifying as what went on from the end of WWII into the early 1960s; but I really don't expect it to get much better.

One of the main conclusions I am taking away from this book is that we, as Americans, think we are so superior to others that we have the right to actually tell everyone how to live and to use other countries to further our so-called best interests; and that the other countries must agree with us.  What gives us this right?  Isn't it time we start to recognize that we are no more important than anyone else?  And how much longer will the rest of the world put up with our arrogance?

Stupid Computer

Don't talk to me.  Don't ask me anything.  Don't even say hi to me.  I cannot tell you what is wrong with me, except that I feel absolutely, totally stupid.  I cannot get my computer to do what I want it to do.  My husband and son are telling me how to do it, but they might as well be speaking Chinese, for all I can understand them.  I don't want to know how the computer works, I just want it to do what I need it to do!  Guess it is time to put the doggone thing to sleep and come back tomorrow.  Maybe I'll be in a better mood then.  Me, moody?  Never.  I just feel dumb, and that makes me frustrated and mad.  I think I'll go read a book.