Random thoughts of the day

This morning I went by the courthouse to file a motion and found the hallway full of people waiting for their criminal arraignments. Here's the weird thing. Most of them were kind of old. Lots of long gray ponytails on old men--isn't crime a young man's game? True fact: If you are old enough to have gray hair down to your buttocks, you are old enough to behave yourself.

Later, a stop for tea with my parents. I smiled at the beehives all wrapped up in tar paper to insulate them against the winter cold and imagined the bees cuddled up around the queen telling stories as they nibble on honey comb.

Next stop, the county jail to see a young mother heartbroken and addicted and missing her children. My favorite guard, knowing I would be safe, let us meet in the library rather than the sterile rather icky meeting room with its one-way glass and intercom. I looked at the book collection while waiting for the young woman to be brought in--the books looked worn out and the selection leaned heavily toward thrillers and romances. John Grisham and Danielle Steele and lots of authors that I've never heard of. There was a Bible and a textbook on biology. I think my book donations from now on will be to the jail.

As I was leaving and walking down the stairway to the outside, I wondered why is the stairway railing painted orange like the suits that the prisoners wear? I understand the reasoning for the outfits to be orange--they are easy to spot in case of an escape--but the railings on the stairs aren't going to escape--they are just plain ugly--surely orange paint isn't cheaper than a nice rose color. Who makes these decisions?

Then a trip to another town to watch a 2 year old visit with his mom for the first time in 8 months. He reached for a toy lion and put it on top of a doll house and I wanted to tell him a fun fact that I learned last night while reading Cry of the Kalahari by Mark and Delia Owens. Under the right atmospheric conditions--when the desert is at its highest relative humidity between 4:30 a.m. and just after dawn--a lion's roar can be heard for 8 miles. The book says that "To roar, a lion draws air deep into its chest, tightens its abdomen with great force to compress the air, and then releases it through its vocal cords, the sound erupting from the throat with such energy that it carries great distances." I didn't tell the 2 year old all that, I just let him play with his mom. But, maybe, there was a roar, there was definitely a tightening in my chest.

Shuffle Songs

It's a Sunday of nesting activities--cleaning the house and working on a baby blanket to send to a new mother in Estonia who translated for us and made us feel welcome when we visited in August.

I love days like this with no demands.

To set the mood, I set my ipod to shuffle songs and turned it up loud enough to function as my personal soundtrack. The random shuffle had gone through Pachabel's Cannon in D, Muleskinner Blues, Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy and Alan Jackson's version of The Old Rugged Cross--in the time it took me to do a load of laundry. As Welcome to the 60's from Hairspray began, it occurred to me that I really like every song on my ipod but there is probably not another list exactly like it. Our ipod lists are like snowflakes or fingerprints--unique--just like us!

Many years ago, I stayed up late talking to the man who owned a bed & breakfast that I was staying in in Wales. As we traded thoughts into the wee hours, he said something so profound that I think of it every day. It's all part of the tapestry of life.

Yes, indeed.

Good manners

As I write this, the Today Show is showing examples of people who seem to be so angry that they refuse to engage in civil discourse and instead use the first amendment as an excuse for rudeness rather than an instrument for sharing viewpoints.

People can disagree politely, that's what we do in court--our positions are different but we follow the established rules, provide evidence subjected to rigorous cross-examination and a judge makes a decision based on all of the information provided. My feeling in court is that if everyone in that room does his or her job well, the right outcome will occur. I believe that about political discourse as well. Outright lies, scare tactics and rudeness has no place from either side of the debate. We all will be the losers. I think the lessons we learned from our mothers and our grandmothers on politeness, manners and kindness are essential.

So, in the interest of good manners I have some things to learn over the next few days--polite phrases in Swedish, Estonian and Latvian:

Latvian

Hello	Labdien
Hi	Chau
Thank you	Paldies
Please	Ludzu
I'm sorry	Atvainojiet
My name is ...	Mani sauc ...
I'm from ...	Es esmu no ...

Estonian

jah - yes
ei - no

palun - please; you're welcome
aitäh - thanks
tänan - thank you
tänan väga - thank you very much

tere - hi, hello
tervist - hello

Swedish

Hello: Hej.

Goodbye: Adjö/Hej då.

Yes: Ja.

No: Nej.

Please: Snälla/Vänligen.

Thank you: Tack.

That's fine: Det är bra.

You are welcome: Varsågod

Excuse me (sorry): Ursäkta mig/Förlåt

Lessons to learn

Have you ever had the opportunity to be kind to someone and maybe you took the opportunity or maybe you didn't--then later--sometimes not much later something terrible happens to that person and you wonder whether or not you took all the opportunity available to be kind when you could.

Many years ago, one of my children went on a scout campout--the first one the troop had gone on--a few of the parents went but the scouts paired up and slept in tents away from their parents. My child came home on Sunday afternoon disgusted with his tent mate because he had left their tent during the night and gone to sleep with his mother. As we sat on the kitchen floor amidst all of his campfire scented camping gear and talked about it, I pointed out that perhaps it was the first night away from home and nighttime wood sounds could be scary. My child was having none of that, though. He was sure that he would probably be looking for another friend the next day at school.

The next day after school, he came in, dropped his backpack and sat again on the floor, his back against the cupboards and cried and cried and cried. When he could finally talk, he told me that the tentmate friend had left school early and after he left the teacher talked to all of the children in the class and told them that the little boy's father had been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer the Friday before. He had only a few months to live. Of course, that was why the little boy had gone to sleep in the tent with his mother. What sad news to get at 9 years old on your first cub scout camping trip.

Over the next few months, my son was a good friend. I was proud of him for being the friend that the little boy needed but I think he has always remembered his mistaken impression from the camping trip and I think that mistake has been one of the things that has made him the fine man that he is. A good lesson to learn--and how sad to have to learn it.

A few weeks ago, I had an opportunity to be kind to a lady. I think that I was but I don't think that I was as patient and kind and good as I wish that I had been. I had a terrible toothache and a dentist appointment scheduled for later and probably rushed our time together. Today, her life has changed forever--splashed across the pages of the paper--nothing that anyone could have expected or anticipated and if I get another chance to be kind to her I will be patient and kind and good but how I desperately wish that I had maximized the last opportunity before her world fell apart.

Is there summer out there somewhere?

Oh, it just won't stop raining.

It truly does not feel like the last week of June around here and while temperatures in the 60's suit me just fine, I need to see the sun!!!

And so do my bees.

The bees are doing well, building comb and filling it with honey and when they are able to fly out of their hives they have a smorgasbord of nectar awaiting them but they need a stretch of sunny days.

Other than the bees, I have two other summer projects and both require dry weather.

Project #1
In 2005, I began hiking the mountains above 4000 feet in New England with the hope of finishing the 67 mountains by my 50th birthday in 2009. Well, this is it and so far 23 days into June, I have not added a single one to my total. Last year was not a big year for climbing accomplishment either as we had rainy weekend after rainy weekend. I consider myself a fair weather hiker and a viewbagger more than a peakbagger--translation: I don't like to hike in bad weather.

In Maine, I still have 6 of the 14 to climb including two in Baxter State Park. One of the Baxter mountains is called North Brother--I got within 2/10 of a mile of the summit of North Brother last summer but turned back in the rain and slippery conditions--gotta try again.

In New Hampshire, I still have 7 of the 48 to climb. Two of those mountains can be combined into one hike, so with six hiking days I should be able to finish up those.

In Vermont, I still have three of the five which I can do in two hiking days and hope to accomplish my goal at the summit of Mt. Mansfield on my birthday in September IF it ever stops raining and I can get out on the trails.

Project #2
The beaver lodge and dam that I watched last fall, seems to be abandoned. If we get a dry stretch and the water level goes down in the pond, I want to try accessing the lodge with a flashlight and camera in a ziplock bag--that adventure will definitely be bloggable! So far my mother, my daughter and my husband are adamantly against this idea. Molly at least agreed to stand on the bank with a cell phone ready to all 911 to report her mother attacked by rabid beavers but so far my husband and my mother have not signed on even for that duty. My father, thinks it's a great idea although his idea is to take the top off while I insist on accessing it through their underwater tunnel even if I have to enlarge it a bit. I don't want to make it too hard for them to come back and make it their home again.

Some sunny days, please?

Blasts from the past

Charlie's son Jacob recently graduated from Northeastern University and one of his professors was former Massachusetts Governor and former presidential candidate Dukakis. I don't know where Jacob got this Dukakis bobblehead but somehow it made its way to our kitchen counter.

It reminded me of a funny story that daughter Sara told me. When she was in college in DC, one of her friends applied for a White House internship and hit a snag on the security clearance. When the young man asked for clarifiation on the problem, he was told that the security investigation revealed that he had caused a disturbance at the White House in 1989. Well, the aspiring intern would have been 2 years old in 1989.

Further investigation and a phone call to his parents provided clarity on how a toddler could wreak such havoc in the White House that he would be banned from a internship during his college years.

Apparently, during the election of 1988, this young man's parents had been Dukakis supporters and had taken their little son to rallies and other events where he repeatedly heard people chant "Dukakis for President"

After the 1988 election that sent Governor Dukakis back to academia and the first President Bush to the White House, the family of the young man was on a vacation in Washington DC and on a White House tour. When the precocious tot heard the word President being bandied about during the tour, his memory circuits kicked in and he immediately began the chant "Dukakis for President, Dukakis for Presdient, Dukakis for President". The embarrassed familiy was asked to leave and the incident became part of their family folklore only to re-surface when the young man tried to intern in the White House of another President Bush. The Secret Service cleared it all up and he did complete his internship and had a pretty good story to tell over lunch.

Do you have any presidential memorabilia sitting around to make you laugh and remember?

I am an IDIOT

Have you ever made a really big mistake in judging someone and then felt really, really stupid? Oh, that would be me right about now. Fortunately, the person is so good and decent that she probably never even noticed that I had made the mistake in the first place.

There's this mom in town--totally an "A List" mom. There is no doubt about that. Her kids have graduated now, but they are the same age as my two daughters. Anyway, when all the kids were in school this lady was always the one to do everything. Every school event, she was there and behind the scenes making it a success. She was probably the team mom for every sport for about eight years and thanks to her the booster club raised tons of money. I think she's absolutely the #1 mom in the world and I have always thought that and that is not where my error lay.

I also thought that she didn't think much of me. Sure, when I saw her at school she was really nice and friendly to me. She always asked about my children and offered some fun and positive comment but if I saw her outside of a school event it was hit or miss. Sometimes she would smile and chat and be friendly and other times, I was met with averted eyes, no acknowledgment and a hole in my self-esteem bucket.

So, I assumed that I probably wasn't up to snuff. For TEN YEARS, since our children were in middle school track together, I have thought that this lady was either really moody or just didn't like me. I'm sure that I was kind of shy around her for just that reason and Lord only knows what sort of impression that made.

OK, so fast forward to today--I stopped into Subway for a sandwich and there she was eating with her son. Except there were two of her and I didn't know which one was the lady I knew. Fortunately, she smiled and waved and asked about my children and offered some fun and positive comment. I responded, smiled at her and at her twin sister and left Subway with my tail between my legs and a lesson learned.

Lots of thoughts

It has been so long since I logged into Blogger that it had almost forgotten me. Thanks to all of you who wrote concerned with my absence. It has been hard to kick the flu this year and most of my limited energy has gone toward work and family.

We still have much snow on the ground here but these lengthening days are full of sunshine. The maple sap is running and the sugar houses are boiling away. The common redpolls are still visiting my feeder but I've been encouraging them to start heading north. I saw a dove picking dead grass yesterday, so she may be nesting in our barn again. There is a broken window pane on the third floor and a box nailed high up on the wall and in other years I have heard the soft cooing of little doves in there.

Brother and family visited from Chile last week and we snowshoed down to the beaver dam, no sign of activity on the snow around the dam but we could see some denuded sticks floating in the water and took that as a hopeful sign that our little friends saw the winter through.

A few weekends ago, we were to have friends spend the weekend. We had been anticipating the visit for months and planning it for weeks. All four of us were truly looking forward to it until the Coughs hit. The worst part of having the flu is the final stage which involves lots and lots and lots of coughing and so Charlie and I decided that in the interest of not infecting our friends and conserving our strength we should re-schedule for the following weekend. Unfortunately, it was not to be. On the Saturday of our originally-scheduled weekend, when we should have been snowshoeing through the woods and enjoying each other's company, our friends suffered an accident that has left scars on their hearts, minds, memories and body. We have spoken several times on the phone since then and I think about them every day.

Tonight, it is off to bee class--we're learning about honey harvesting--I've waited 8 sessions to learn this most important piece! The bees will be here in a few weeks.

Thanks for listening, sorry to be so long--I'll be back to posting regularly soon.
Love,
Beth

Marital harmony

If there is one area of expertise endowed on my family of origin, it is as connoisseurs of breakfast cereal. I was raised to believe that a bowl of cereal before bed was an element on the first level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, as essential as air, food and shelter.

Somewhere along the line I stopped partaking of my bedtime bowl of carbohydrates but my idea of a perfect nighttime meal is still Honey Nut Cheerios with a banana and soy milk and any time I'm on my own for supper, that's my choice.

As much as I love the sweet crunchiness of Honey Nut Cheerios, I really, really hate the commercial where a wife stands around eating them and lowering her cholesterol while her husband works himself half to death doing household chores. I can't claim to be an expert on marriage but I'm pretty sure that while her cholesterol is going down, his blood pressure is going up and that can't be a good thing.

Banff Film Festival World Tour

Last night Charlie and I went to Portland to see some of the films from the 2008 Banff Film Festival. The Banff Film Festival is held every October at the Banff Cultural Center and screens films on mountain culture from all over the world. Someday when I have disposable income and time to spare, I would love to attend--but until then--a February evening in the South Portland High School auditorium is the next best thing.

The Vinyl Cafe

Recently I discovered a radio show called the Vinyl Cafe. It plays on our local NPR station on Sunday afternoons and this morning while searching the web and wanting to re-listen to yesterday's story, Wally, I found that the broadcasts are available as a free podcast on Itunes.

If you haven't already found this gem from Canada, check it out!

Pretty Birds and what to do with a Sunny Saturday

Three goldfinch joined the chickadees at my feeders yesterday. They are so pretty--it's amazing how much color the birds add to the bleak winter landscape. They are kind of like flying flowers.

I am in a quandry about what to do with this day. The thermometer is predicted to hit the freezing mark, something we haven't seen in months and something that I am pretty excited about. So, what to do with it.

I have narrowed my day to two choices.

Either a hike to beautiful frozen Angel Falls or a hike out to check on the beavers. On one hand, the hike to Angel Falls is long but the trail will be broken out by snowmobilers for most of the way and the frozen falls are always stunning to see, on the other hand I haven't checked on the beavers since before Christmas. That trail won't be broken out at all and while much shorter than the one to Angel Falls will probably require a lot of work.

Hmmmm, I'm thinking Angel Falls--the beavers can wait one more week and next weekend my parents, who live on the beaver's property (and pay the taxes for the beavers) will be back from their trip to Texas and can supply me with tea and cookies after the arduous trail breaking.
Decision made.

OK, Angels Falls it is. Check back later for pictures and a trip report.

It's all running together

As I was going out the door a few days ago, I realized that my canner was still on the porch where I had left it to cool last Fall after canning some tomatoes. Hmm, --this is January--you last canned in September--why is this still on the porch? I have a lot of dialogues with myself. Well, didn't the skiis stay in the corner of the living room all summer?

Living in Northern New England, I often wonder why we even bother to change our closets over from our winter things to our summer--it would almost make sense to have our few shorts, t-shirts and sundresses in a suitcase in the corner of the bedroom and just pull it out for July and August.

This week is supposed to get frigidly cold with sub-zero wind chills and low temperatures. I guess I should put my canner away, it will be a long time before the ground thaws, things are planted and harvested and put in jars to be processed in boiling water.

Dear 2009, Please be kind to us all

Good Morning, 2009, It's nice to meet you.

I'm the first one up this morning and, you will discover, that we share the early hours of every morning alone together sipping coffee, reading blogs, listening to the news and sometimes talking on line to Sara who is in the middle of her day.

I am really looking forward to getting to know you, 2009, and hope that together we can accomplish quite a bit. This is a big year for me, half a century of living. So, why don't we talk about what we want this year to look like.

In January, I'd like to drive to State College and help Ann and Ethan move into their new house, Let's set a goal to snowshoe or x-c ski at least two times a week and it would be wonderful to spend a weekend with some new friends.

February will have more daylight than January, so let's raise my snowshoe and ski expectation to three times a week and then add in a drive to Boston to hear Greg Mortenson speak at the Appalachian Mountain Club Annual Meeting.

By March, Charlie will be through with coaching for the season so we can enjoy some weekend skiing together. Maybe we could go to Quebec for a weekend ski trip--that would be exotic and exciting but not too far away or expensive.

Oh, April--Molly's birthday and cherry blossoms in D.C. If airline bargain tickets are to be had, a long weekend visiting her and spring time might help me get through my least favorite month in Maine. During Charlie's April vacation, nothing short of a complete economic meltdown will keep us from seeing the Yankees in their new stadium.

May will be the month that Jacob graduates from Northeastern University. That will be a very proud time. Beyond that, it's hard to imagine what else I would want to do in May besides prepare the garden for it's Memorial Day planting and lace up my hiking boots to climb some mountains.

In June, I will watch Archie graduate from high school. Nothing can top that but I will definitely be using my feet to propel me to new heights as, each weekend, I climb and climb and climb hoping to accomplish my goal of finishing the 67 4000 footers in New England before my 50th birthday in September.

I really can't plan beyond that--the summer seems so far away as I shiver in the early-morning chill of January 1. But, 2009, please be kind to us all.

New Friends

You know how on the top of blog pages there is a link that says Next Blog? Well, one day last winter, while on the phone for a meeting that was not holding my attention I was idly clicking the Next Blog button on my computer.

Some of the blogs were in languages that I couldn't understand, but I did take time to look at the pictures and others were in languages that I could understand yet was afraid to look at the pictures. In all the clicking and perusing that day, one blog caught my interest with the header picture and totally captivated me with the writing. I could not wait for my telephone conference to be finished so that I could spend some quality time avoiding work and reading through the posts on Crumbs from the Corner. Since that day, I am always happy to see what The Elementary has posted and it is always a treat.

Charlie and I traveled to southern New England this weekend to visit his oldest son and on the way home we met The Elementary and Spouse at a Cracker Barrel. The hour and a half that we were able to spend visiting was not even close to long enough. Have you ever felt like you have known someone forever and actually you had never met?

Fox on the Run

Other discriminating minds may disagree, but to me the sexiest Disney character is definitely Robin Hood the Fox. I know women who think the distinction belongs to the Beast or Aladin or even Tramp, but my heart has belonged to Robin Hood the Fox since 1973.

Foxes make me smile.

So imagine my distress when I read an article about a woman jogger in Arizona who was attacked by a fox while out for a run. The fox initially latched on to her foot and started working its way up to her knee. She pulled it off her leg and then it chomped into her arm. She tried choking the fox to get it to let go. Unsuccessful at freeing herself from the fox and realizing that it needed to be tested for rabies she ran one mile back to her car with the fox attached to her arm. Once she got to her car, she pried the fox's jaws open, threw the fox in the trunk and drove herself to the medical center. It tested positive for rabies.

I don't think I'm going to smile so much when I see one darting through the woods ahead of me now.

Economic Stimulus?

I'm really trying hard not to spend money right now--but I'm not really very good at not spending money.

So.............today I was in the big town of Augusta and went into Eastern Mountain Sports to buy Archie some climbing chalk and this guy greets me at the door and said "Did you know about our sale?" "No, but please do tell me about it."

Twenty percent off everything, forty percent off other items and forty percent off of the forty percent off on yet other items using some confusing mathematical formula that comes into play on items with a yellow tag.

I started out with good intentions and found Charlie two pairs of pants. Then I saw the wall with shoes on it. I am constantly searching for foot comfort and always find solid, sturdy, long-lived, fairly unattractive shoes at EMS. Today was no exception. Two pairs later I'm having a little bit of buyer's regret but mostly enjoying the feeling of a new pair of Keen shoes on my feet.

Blessings of Liberty

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare and Secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.
Preamble, Constitution of the United States.

Charlie and I walked down to the American Legion Hall and voted this afternoon. It was a beautiful autumn day in Maine--no mittens, hats or neck warmers--a fine day in New England.

We saw our friends and neighbors coming and going from the old building that hosts rolicking Bingo parties on Friday and Saturday nights but today harbors the bedrock of our democracy.

I was able to vote for three people who I consider friends as well as a U.S. Senator whose brother shared an after-ski-race chicken stew with us a couple of years ago. As we walked home sipping a celebratory cup of Green Mountain coffee to keep us up for the returns, a Bald Eagle soared overhead looking for fish in the river and reminding us of our liberty.

When I was a child, I do not think that I could imagine that my grown up world would contain a presidential ballot with gender and racial diversity nor could I imagine that Bald Eagles would fly again over the rivers of the United States.

November 4, 2008

Happy Halloween

Frightening as it is, on Halloween I am going to head in the same direction as the national media, the candidates and a million campaign aides as I set my sights on Pennsylvania.

I hope to do a quick swoop and snatch of my son without being polled, prodded, interviewed or bribed by NBC, ABC, Fox or Comedy Central. The broken blood vessel in my eye still makes me rather unsightly so I do not think that any of the media would make me the new Joe the Plumber.

Humbling experience of the day: I was in a meeting with a man involved in one of my cases who has more than his share of gang tatoos from a stint in a Texas prison. He looked at me when I greeted him and said, "Wow, you are really scary looking." Hmmm, thanks.

But now cheered by one of SJ's quiz discoveries: What my favorite candy says about me. Candy Corn! and the yellow is the best part.

What Your Love of Candy Corn Says About You

You are a very strange character. Much stranger than people realize at first. Like candy corn, the more people think about you - the weirder you seem. While you are quite quirky, that's what is lovable about you. You are bright, bold, and simply happy. What could be better?

What Does Your Favorite Candy Say About You?