A Bear Story

One lazy summer day when I was about 13 and my brother, Bill, was 12, we heard a lot of barking dogs over the next hill. We realized our two dogs were missing, and Bill and I decided to go check it out. We walked quite a distance down one hill and up another, and then further up the hill where the trees had been cut down to make more farmland for our neighbor. There was a large pile of brush and by the time Bill and I reached it, we could see all the neighborhood dogs surrounding something much larger. It took us a minute or so to realize what we were seeing. It was a young bear, probably a yearling, and though the dogs were biting at it's legs, it kept trying to move along. Bill and I were behind that pile of brush, but not for long. Bears were unknown in our area in the fifties, and our father had told us what not to do should we ever run into a bear. Well, I didn't give his instructions a second thought. I ran, FAST, the whole way home. Poor Bill was running somewhere behind me, calling, "Wait for me! Wait for me!" Brother or not, I wasn't waiting for anyone because I was terrified. I don't think my feet hit the ground very much, because I think I was bounding, rather than running. I could have made the Olympic sprinters team that day. We breathlessly told our parents about the bear, and my father later asked around and found there were two bears, probably a mother and her yearling cub, around the farms that week. One neighbor's beehives were toppled over and destroyed as the bears ate the honey. Daddy said he would have to keep an eye on our beehives, but the bears must have moved on because we neither saw them nor heard anything more about bears in the area. Bill and I started asking questions again about what to do if a bear came along. Daddy said not to climb a tree because bears can climb trees. He said not to run away because bears can easily outrun people. He really never told us what to do, and until recent years, I have often pondered what you are supposed to do if you encounter a bear. Now they say to play dead. Personally, I think that would take nerves of steel. I can't run like I did when I was young, and I couldn't shimmy up a tree even when I was young, so I think I will buy some pepper spray and carry it with me all the time, hoping that should I run into a bear, my aim would be good enough and that the spray would effectively deter it.

Hillary Loses

I am sad tonight because my presidential candidate of choice has been declared the loser by the media. As appalling as it is, misogynism is alive and well in this country. The veiled comments by the male politicians and media stars may not have been consciously noted by most people, but for those of us who were a part of the women's rights, bra-burning generation, they were all too apparent. I find it very interesting that first of all, a black male would choose THIS time to run for president when his primary opponent was the first woman to run for president; and second, that so many men in power would back the male rather than the female. I would guess that Obama knew that his chances of winning the Democratic nomination would be easier if he was running against a woman than against a man.

Tonight, the pundits are saying that Obama doesn't want Hillary for Vice-President, but will stall awhile til the issue kind of dies down. Of course he doesn't want Hillary -- she is too strong a presence for the secondary role in the government.

Personally, I think all those who voted for Hillary -- more than those who voted for Obama -- should write-in her name on the ballot rather than vote for Obama or McCain. What would happen in that case? Would the winning number of votes win, or would the Supreme Court once again override the choice of the people? I am beginning to think the whole election scene is a joke.

Depending upon McCain's choice for VP, he may be the first Republican nominee for President who gets my vote. I don't agree with many of his stances on issues, but I believe Obama is WAY too liberal. He wants to totally disarm America. Why?????

Never Could Say No

The committee chairman handling procurement of artists to paint "palettes" for display in the town has shamed me into painting yet another palette. This year's palette is in the shape of the town's historical landmark, The Casino Theatre, rather than the shape of an actual palette (the format used in 2007). Personally, I think it looks like a birdhouse for very large, but skinny, avians. Much as I would like to paint something avant garde on the palette, as a responsible member of the community who is painting this FOR the community, I must adhere to more conventional standards. Mine is going to be late, because I just received the palette, a 1/2" thick piece of plywood which measures about 5 1/2' x 4'. So it will be a lot of painting in a hurry. Since it is raining off and all today, it seems a good time to get a large part of the painting finished. I will post a picture of it when it is ready.

Speaking of art, I have found some interesting art blogs you may enjoy. This is art of a different genre, namely computer art. And it is art into which you can interact. Have fun!
http://artpad.art.com/artpad/painter/ and http://www.jacksonpollock.org/

Puppy Raffles and Water Bottle Battles

There were certain advantages in going to a small, rural school in the fifties. We could play practical jokes on our classmates without being labeled a bully or being sent to the principal's office. Boys actually carried pen knives in their pockets and weren't suspended from school for possessing a dangerous weapon. To fear getting shot in school meant it was time for polio shots, not actually being shot by a fellow classmate wielding a pistol. There was a sense of discipline in students and great respect for our teachers. In light of all that, I wonder how my brother, Bill, and I were permitted to bring the mixed-breed puppies of our family dog, Baby, to the school science fair each spring. We sold raffle tickets and each winner was awarded a puppy. The money went to the school, and I don't recall ever taking a puppy back home. There weren't any parents who complained or refused to allow their kids to take a puppy home. Amazing, when you really think about it.

I had a penchant for water bottles which, when squeezed, performed like a super squirt gun. Every spring, I would bring one to school and squirt other students in the halls between classes. Pretty soon, other kids would also bring them and we would have water battles in the halls and sometimes on the school buses. No one ever got into trouble - I guess because our teachers were wise enough to realize this was good, clean (no pun intended) fun and the interest in the water bottles would end after a week or so. How things have changed!

Little Kids

When one finally reaches the state of grandparent-hood, there is time to just sit back and watch children interacting with one another. I think the most apparent difference between children and adults, aside from size differences, is that children don't worry about what you may think of them, what they look like or sound like, or whether or not they are politically correct. They just ARE. They truly live in the moment, something we should all be doing. When do we lose what we apparently are born with - this lack of self-consciousness and inhibition? Society teaches each of us how to be and in the process, we become what we think we are supposed to be - someone other people tell us to be. Obviously, society needs children to learn how to live within its boundaries, but it is sad that individualism is often lost in the process.

On Saturday, I was watching a group of five children playing together. The eldest, a seven year-old girl, was in the role of leader. The other children, all pre-schoolers, followed her in a line, much like a mother duck and her ducklings. Everything the eldest child did, the others mimicked. It was quite touching to see these little ones learning, in a very basic manner, how to BE in our society, while playing a game.

Stop Smoking

Smoking is an addiction I have struggled with since I started during my freshman year at college, way back when. I half-heartedly tried to quit many times, to no avail. In the early 80's, when I was an EMT, I convinced all the other EMTs and firefighters to quit along with me, starting on New Year's Day. Everyone joined in, and I was elated! I love competition, so this was a great challenge for me. At the time, there was a kind of cigarette substitute on the market which looked like a tobacco cigarette, but surely didn't smell like one. I decided to use this product as a crutch. It worked! These 'cigarettes' made real cigarettes smell like manure, literally. They really helped me, and as I recall, I used them for about a month. I also, unfortunately, used hard candies as a crutch. During that first month of non-smoking, I broke a molar requiring a visit to the dentist, and I gained twenty-five pounds.

The competition went on for five months. One by one, the other quitters stopped being quitters. As each one resumed smoking, I felt sad and a little angry. I stuck with it, however, and felt very, very proud of myself. I could dance and walk a distance without getting winded, and generally felt pretty good. It finally was down to two people, Jeff and me. Then came the day when I found out that Jeff was bumming cigarettes and smoking them at work. I was devastated. It wasn't until one day when my now ex-husband and I were having an argument, that I started smoking again. He had promised to quit drinking if I quit smoking. He didn't quit, and that is what we were arguing about. He said he wasn't the one who told me to quit smoking. I got the car keys, went to the store, and bought a pack of cigarettes. I came home and very dramatically lit up a cigarette in front of him. He said, "Do you feel better now?" Needless to say, he is my ex for more than one reason.

I continued to smoke until December 24 of last year. That is when I had a second and more severe incident of not being able to breathe very well. I was at my daughter's home for Christmas, and I had to waken her to call the ambulance. It was so very frightening to not be able to inhale more than what felt like about an inch. My breathing was so rapid and I couldn't say more than one word in between breaths. And, of course, the more the rapid inhalations continued, the more anxious I became. I don't know what the ambulance crew did other than getting me onto oxygen, because I don't remember any more than being put into the ambulance. I must have been sedated or I passed out. I vaguely recall a little about being in the emergency room where I stayed all of Christmas Day. The day after Christmas, I was transferred to another hospital where coronary artery bypass surgery was done. I haven't smoked since!

The downside of this is that instead of smoking, I am once again eating hard candy and just about anything else I can get my hands on. I have cracked a tooth. I have gained weight. I am diabetic and eating candy. At least when I smoked, I didn't have any desire to eat candy and my weight stayed about the same always. So now what? One vice seems as bad as the next.

The Way Men Talk

Have you ever noticed that when two or more men gather to talk, they stand in a row, side-by-side, looking out in the same direction? I have always wondered about this behavior and how it differs from the way women talk with each other. Women normally stand face to face or in a circle and chat. Anyone have any ideas?