Just another family photo

Holley the dog in the back is mother to all who need mothering or protecting is watching over the other residents of my little Garden of Weeden. Hawthorne the cat, and the girls, Precious, Carmen and Budda, are enjoying my stay-cation with me.

We're having a heat wave!!

It has been a real struggle around here for about two weeks. my area of Oregon doesn't usually experience this kind of heat. The same can be said for the two feet of snow we got last December. It is some kind of weird karma... or just climate change... or just co-ink-i-dink.

The cucumbers, beans, raspberries and sunflowers love the heat though. me, not so much. i am definitely of the delicate flower variety. Yes, i am a wean.

The chickens are holding up well. i give them cantaloupe every afternoon and i have not been shutting them in at night. They seem quite happy to get up when they please and are content to wait for their breakfast until i get around to it. They get cottage cheese, shredded carrots, cucumbers and sprouts every morning. Yes, i know, they're spoiled. So? If you were sweet, entertaining and gave me eggs everyday i would spoil you as well.

Shifting gears, chickies and roos. i am on to healthcare reform. i am a single-payor advocate and i am only willing to settle for a strong public option if necessary. Despite the clean, simple, no hassle advantages to single-payor, despite the cost efficiency and true equality of single-payor, many Americans think that being over-charged, denied services and held hostage by insurance companies is the way to go. Oy...

OK, let's think this through, mi amigos. Do you think for-profit fire departments should be the way to go? Do you think for-profit police departments are the way to go? How about for-profit court systems? Do you think it moral to let someone's house burn down, perhaps with people in it, because they can't pay for fire services? And how sensible is it to let someone who is ill go uncared for? Really? If a person has swine flu, or TB (two very contagious diseases) does it make sense to deny them care? Of course not; you don't want those diseases to spread.

And how about cost. We all know that the larger the pool, the more costs can be spread out (Social Security) and that the large pool can negotiate lower prices by buying in bulk (Sam's Club anyone?). Yet we choose to pay more and deny care to some.

Some say we are a Christian nation; i don't believe this but for the sake of argument i'll go with that for a minute. WWJD, people. How Christian is it to deny healthcare to anyone? How Christian is it to worship the almighty dollar by the way. Isn't there something about worshiping false idols like money and flags in Christian tenets? Get a grip people!

While i'm on the subject of Christianity i'd like to know what Jesus/God thinks of people who think they don't have to take care of the earth that he is said to have given us to live on. What does he think of the way Christians treat fellow humans (non-Christians) that he is said to have made? i'm stopping now because i could go on and on about Christian hypocrisy and blood-letting; not that any other religions are better...

HEALTHCARE FOR ALL, mi amigos. It's the right thing to do.

Praise Goddess.

This is my Garden of Weeden (i know, it cheesy) last February

Late April: The Big Dig

Today, mi amigos, my chickies and roos, today

i finally bought batteries for my camera. These batteries are as expensive as film used to be. Jeez! So, the pictures are proof i don't just sit on my arse. No plush lawn here, there are weeds galore but there is also at least one tiny frog, maybe two. i take this as a victory. Any time i can provide habitat for frogs i pat myself on the back. Frogs need our tender loving care. Their kind are fighting hard to live in our ever degrading environment.

For the first six or seven years of the ninties i worked at a grocery store that was next to a large vacant lot. Every Spring the frogs would chirp and crock for about two weeks, maybe longer. i loved hearing them each spring. The vacant lot is now a learning center and the frogs have moved on. Granson L found one a couple weeks ago and was very excited and i found one yesterday. Then i saw another one. Now, it could be i saw the same one but they seems to be different colors. One was sandy brown and the other one was mossy green. i am going to error on the side of caution and say i have ONE frog for sure, but i have a sneaking feeling there are two. And, if you have read The Alchemist, then you know the Alchemist gave the Shepherd a truism which is: Of a thing that happens once, it probably will not happen again. But if a things should happen a second time, it is bound to happen a third.

i bet i see more frogs, chickies and roos. i'll keep you updated.

Son JR may be over later today. We are planning a dinner of pulled pork, green beans (from the garden) and corn on the cob. But there may be a hitch in the plans. He forgot he was suppose to help my parents move some stuff and evidently there have been 'delays'. i'm sure my Dad is frustrated; he planned to get this done early today. In fact, son MP left early this morning (9:30 is really early for MP, so i am assuming he wanted to make a short job of it as well). So the grandsons are helping their Grandpa get an annoying little chore out of the way and it has turned into an all day job. This is what i like to think of as 'bonding opportunities' for my sons.

It is almost 4pm so i am thinking i may be eating pulled pork by myself.

i want to make a shout-out to my brother RG. i hope he is reading my blog and i hope there will be comments on occasion. We live on opposite coasts and find it hard to find time to talk. By the time i am home from work, he is thinking about going to bed. Three hours are a lot of time to work around. He sent me a birthday card and i was so surprised, and thought it was so nice but by the time i get home, settle in, take care of the critters and such, i forget about making phone calls. When i do remember it is midnight on the east coast... oy.

We just need to decide to use the inner-tubes and the email to communicate. Which, of course, means i need to do my part.

That was a hint, chickies and roos. i have said enough for today and must compose an email to my brother.

Love and light!

A Ghost Filled Starlit Wedding of Two Brothers

The crescent moon watches the goings on ready to add to the rituals in any manner helpful. She has seen this many times. It has it's place in the cycles. In her wake the people ride the seasons of learning, working, playing and resting. This wedding, one of so many others like it, did have it's curiosity. Moon looked again at the smaller of the two brides.

Had no one noticed her translucence or her not quite erectness? Moon tried to catch a few more of Sun's rays to reflect on the little bride's face. She wanted to get a better look but she was also confident her reflected light would compliment the bride's inner glow. The wake and the indirect light; that is what Moon could add to the rituals.

Moon was sure now. The bride was well on her way to becoming a ghost. Fascinating, she thought.

Hey chickies and roos! Love you and missed you. i've been so busy (or lazy, as you see it) and have not written much lately. i have been reading. i am reading three books at the moment and i am anxious to start another... Oy.

The World According to Bertie, Alexander McCall Smith

Assassination Vacation, Sarah Vowell

Portland Noir, Various Authors

and since it is my birthday today, i took a chance on a hardcover called The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, by Katherine Howe. It promises to be historical fiction that involves witches. A kind of Da Vince Code (i hope it is not a bad copy cat). But, first things first. i will finish what i have started.

Oy, and i need to get up and water the garden. Since it is almost dark the chickens will need tucking in, as well. The opening above is a little story i have dreamed up based on a painting i found at a second hand store. i will keep working on it so check back.

Love and light to all

Cynthia

If you or i had to pull the trigger to kill the death row convict, how long would we support the death penalty?

Who decides who gets healthcare? i know there are some sickos out there who would love the job for the power rush, but most fair thinking people would not want the job of deciding who gets healthcare and who does not. Do you want to be the one who tells a person they cannot see a doctor?

DC elites, who have fabulous healthcare by the way, think that they can devise a plan to portion it out to the rest of us. All those groups protecting what they feel are their entitlements; the American Medical Association, free-market capitalists, insurance cabals and money-hungry politicians, all so full of themselves that they refuse to see the destruction they are raining down on we... the PEOPLE.

Healthcare is a right! Again, i ask, who would you turn away? i have heard a lot of talk lately pointing to smokers, fat people, drug addicts, even sports enthusiasts as costing the tax payers more for healthcare. Yes, even those who live well and for a long time will cost us more as they spend years in old folks homes. This is an old trick, people! Turn someone into a devil and you can deny them anything. Now you have justification. NO, you cannot see a doctor, you unhealthy, sick person!

i know i need to communicate my opinions to my Senators, Congressman and the White House but i really need to create a script. i am too angry to be effective. i want to convey my displeasure without them writing me off as a whack job.

i'm the daughter of a mailman. i know government can work and work well. For 44 cents a mailman will come to your house, take your letter anywhere in the country and deliver it to the address on the envelope. 44 cents, people. The post office has been ridiculed for years but it really is an amazing operation.

Yes, chickies and roos, i am working out some demons today. (so what else is new, you say) Some things in life are not for profit. Who would you turn away?

i am such a bitch sometimes.  i know my boss is difficult and flaky, so why can't i just accept the difficulties that she causes?  Why do i feel the need to point out the absurdities?  i have never been good at playing games.  i am not a good liar and can't pretend a pink elephant is anything other than a pink elephant.  

So here i sit stressed out and feeling bad because i cannot just go along... just shut up and go along.  

Well i just walked away for a few minutes to hang with my grandson.  Since i don't want to bitch anymore, i'm going to end on a high note.

Love you chickies and roos.

i have never been as afraid of foreign terrorist as i have been of homegrown ones; namely those who profess to be protecting unborn babies.  There are plenty of people i am afraid of, like our government between 2000 and Jan. 20th 2009, like the police in Portland and like aggressive drivers but the people i fear the most are the self-righteous religious fanatics... of all strips.

i believe the reason congress will not give us single-payor healthcare is because they don't want to have a fight with those who want to keep women down.  That is the only way to put it. Barefoot and pregnant, is the old fashion phrase but it is the reality.  The men i know get very defensive when i speak up for women's rights.  There are a lot of reasons for that and i won't go into them but that keeps me from talking about women's rights in 'polite' company.  So many people, not just men, think the fight for our rights is over.  They are so wrong.  Roe v Wade is law but in practice women are denied their right to sovereignty over their own body by constricting access.  Equal pay for equal work is the law but we are not allowed to know the wages of fellow employee so we cannot confirm compliance to the law (another good reason to pass the card check law).

It occurred to me today that by law we protect the privacy of healthcare records (i work in medical billing and know the lengths we must go to protect medical records) but in the case of women's reproductive health all bets are off.  If a woman wants an abortion (for whatever reason) or wants birth control (either the pill or the morning after variety) she is subjected to a marathon of hurdles from healthcare professionals and pharmacists.  When it comes to a women's reproductive medical issues her privacy is lost.  She must seek cooperative professionals thus exposing her medical issue.  Where is equal protection?

i am mourning the assassination of Dr. Tiller and am having trouble processing it all.  i get so angry at people's deliberate ignorance.  Dr. Tiller performed late term abortions.  These types of abortions are agonizing decisions for the women involved but if you believe the lies of the righteous pro-lifers these women are callous baby killers who decide weeks before delivery that they no longer want the baby.  Holier-than-thous!  

There is a vigil here in Portland on Sunday at 6pm.  Go to Oregon Naral for more information.  i think i am going to go and maybe i will start volunteering at a women's health clinic.  Perhaps it's time to put my body where my mouth is.

Signing off in sorrow, chickies and roos,

Cynthia