madranchwife

Momhood is the bestest thing ever, in the whole wide world.

It took three degrees, two of which are considered post-graduate, professional degrees and umpteen thousand dollars of student loan debt to come up with the above sentence.

Pretty good, eh?  Says a lot for higher education.

Whatever.  I love being a mom.  I love labeling myself a “mother.”  I never thought that would be true.  In fact, just the opposite.  I was pretty against kids in general.  Pregnant women?  Newborn babies?  Gah!  Give me a flipping break.  What was the big deal?

And then I became one.

And my life changed.

And has never been the same.

And I would never, in a million years, for a million bazillion gazillion dollars change one single second of it.

I might slow it down.

I might try to freeze time.

But I wouldn’t change one single thing.

It has defined me.  And I love it.  I know, I know.  Cheryl Sandberg and her “Lean In” strategy might not appreciate my beliefs or my thoughts on the subject.  And it’s not being very true to the feminist movement that I came in on the tails of, but honestly, this is my life.  And I like it very much, thank you very much.

I am MOTHER, hear me ROARRRRRRRR!!!!  🙂

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms of the world.  May you find all the peace and love and contentment and happiness and awe and wonder and appreciation and gratitude and warm fuzziness that I have found.

Thank goodness the dear husband just bit his tongue and smiled that gorgeous smile and bided his time when, oh so long ago, I stomped my foot and said “I am NEVER having children.  Period.  So if that is what you’re after, then goodbye.”

Someone up there in the Universe had a better plan than little ol’ me and thank the stars no one listened to mine.

Blessings be to you all.

Yes, this is what the view looked like.

Yes, it was April 30, 2014.  APRIL 30.

And thankfully, yes, the sun came out today.  I can see grass again and it’s not frigid cold.  And the white things aren’t falling from the sky.  And the wind is not blowing.  Winter tried to come back the last few days, but I think Spring is not giving up so easily.

The really sad thing?  Two days ago when it started I watched a pair of robins (resident robins who we think have nested here several years now), one sitting on the fence with all puffed out feathers just peering through the snowflakes.  If I could have figured out how to dig them up some worms, I would have.  And I don’t do worms.  Poor things.  Probably thought they were in some sort of time warp or something.  I imagine the conversation went something like this:

*Robin on ground, scowling up at robin on fence, tweets: “Honey.  I told you it was too early to leave.  Why don’t you ever listen to me?”

*Robin on fence, peering into distance, sort of listening to mate, sort of not: “Yes dear.”

*Robin on ground: “Honey.  Did you hear what I said?”

*Robin on fence: “Yes dear.”  (Bobbing his cute little robin head up and down and fluffing out even farther as a cold arctic blast ruffles his carefully arranged red breast feathers.)

*Robin on ground:  “Honey.  I need to lay these eggs.  I need to eat some worms.  How am I going to lay these eggs?  Honey?  Honey???”

And then he flew away.

And I have no idea how the story ended.  Except that maybe he was thinking, or singing, “the sun’ll come out tomorrow, bet you’re bottom dollar there’ll be sun…come what may….tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow, you’re only a day away.”

You never know.

Spring is upon us!  And it’s coming fast and furious.  It’s as if the mounds of snow are disappearing in front of our eyes.  Which is OK.  As that is what is supposed to happen.  But there is something slightly melancholy in the changing of the seasons.  The letting go of the old and the bringing in of the new.  I could wax poetic about it, but suffice it to say that I have always had trouble letting go.  (Not like Elsa who just stamps her foot, builds the biggest, most intricate structure out of ice and croons “Let it go….let it go….I’m one with the wind and snow…let it go, let it go…close the past and slam the door….the cold never bothered me anyway.”)  {Methinks I have watched the DVD and listened to the CD one too many times now.  Though it is just slightly fantastic, so there you go.}

Anyway, as I was writing before I got carried away imagining I could sing and ice sculpt like fictional Disney characters named Elsa, I don’t recall ever NOT mourning the passing of the old.  Be it seasons, summer camp, the school year (I know, I know, I’m such a geek).  I just live my experiences so intensely.  And I want to soak them up and wring out of them every last drop of, well, whatever they’re providing.  Be it smells, sights, feelings, tastes.  You name it.  So, where I’m heading with all of this, is that it will be a while now before I again lay awake and listen to the wind howling in the trees and get up to peek out the window and see the snow swirling and piling up.  It will be a few months before I tiptoe quietly down the hall in the middle of the night to look out onto a winter wonderland, to see the flakes whirling in the night, stacking up inch by inch on the railings of the fence out front.  Or then to wake up to the sun shining gloriously in a crystal blue sky, crisp with below zero temperatures while the evergreen branches are laden with mounds of the white stuff.  Prisine, unmarked, gorgeous.  It will be a few months before my new ski partner and I head off to the ski hill to get in a few runs, me trying to catch up with her as she barrels down the hill.  You should see her now!!  No more timid snowplows.  Now she’s attacking the hill and starting to schuss with the best of them.  What a great ski year we’ve had!  No more trips to Rabbit Ears to explore new cross country ski trails, just her and I and the tracks of the woodland creatures.  We’ve seen some gorgeous territory this winter.  And had some grand times.

But then the summer will come in all of it’s glory.  The days will warm drastically.  The grass will get long and green (what is not destroyed by the pests that inhabit my world…who shall remain nameless for now…who have been taunting me for three years now…but I will not let them destroy my peace of mind for the moment…).  Where was I?  Oh yes, the grass.  The aspen trees will bud, then leaf out.  The columbines and the wild roses will bloom furiously on the hillside and the hummingbirds.  Oh the hummingbirds!!!  That right there caused a little swelling of joy in my heart.  Just the thought of the return of all my little friends made my heart sing a bit.  And for a moment, I forgot I was sad about the passing of the winter.  See?  Life is like that, isn’t it?  Always something silly, happy, funny, bright and new to replace the old.  To take the place of the sad and fill it instead with colors and warmth and happy thoughts.  Enough happy thoughts to send you floating to the ceiling where you can have tea with Mary Poppins and Burt.

The time between winter and summer here is difficult.  We get stuck in a period of time most call “mud season.”  The days are still cool, sometimes cold.  The ground is slightly dangerous and threatens to suck you in if you’re not careful.  The grass is exposed, but still very much asleep.  This time moves quite quickly and then summer arrives.  But, that’s ok.  It is all as it should be.  My task is to learn to accept life on life’s terms, to learn to let go and let it all unfold as it does.  To learn to be ok with the passing of the seasons.

To look at my darling daughter and be ok with the growth and the maturing and the changing from the baby to the toddler to the little girl to the older little girl.  To not want to scream and shout and rale furiously at the Universe to “SLOW IT DOWN!!!!!!!”  It is moving simply too fast.  Every time I blink, another month has gone by.  Or two or three.  It takes my breath away.  Since she was born, I have wanted to stop time.  To be able to hold it still so I could absorb into every fiber of my being the sights and sounds of her.  But with each passing day, it just gets better and better, so that eventually, I simply would not know where to freeze it.  I don’t want to miss what is happening today.  I don’t want to give up what happened yesterday.  But I don’t want to miss what might be coming along.  Such a conundrum isn’t it?  And so ironic, for someone like me.  Someone who, so long ago, couldn’t be bothered with the thought of children.

Praise the Universe I’m not in control.  I would have missed the very best part of life.

Wow, that got deep didn’t it?  I simply wanted to share the view from the porch this morning.  As well as pics from our very last skiing day, taken with my new I phone no less!!!  Yes, I got one.  Holy Toledo but it’s fun.  Seriously.  I am now totally addicted to this phone.  Guess what was the very first app I put on it??  Three guesses.  And the first two don’t count.

Yep!  The Starbucks app!  The coolest thing ever.  Ever.  I can pay using my phone!  How cool is that?  I couldn’t stop gushing over how cool it was when I used it last weekend when I went to work.  The barista, bless his heart, told me he still had an old flip phone, because he just couldn’t stand the way people were so attached to their phones.  I gave him my biggest, bestest smile and said, “yeah, I know what you mean…but this is so cool!!  I just paid for my coffee with my phone.  You’ve got to try this, man!”  Seriously.  I said that, smiling the whole time.  (Yes, I know I am such a geek.)  I didn’t care I sounded like a total idiot.  And I didn’t care that I didn’t convince him of the greatness of it all.  Because I was happy.  So that’s all that matters.  (Oh, and the best part of the whole I phone thing?  It only cost me $100 because AT & T was having a supreme deal.)

I just realized I used the word “cool” about fifty times in the last paragraph.  I guess you get my drift.  Though the darling diva I live with would haul out her newest BFF and look up the word ‘cool’ and then proceed to give me all the synonyms I could use instead.  Seriously.  One of the language lessons this week was on how to use the thesaurus.  I brought out a kid’s thesaurus I had picked up and she latched on to it and would not let it go.  In fact, when it got to the book report writing time, she had to make sure she had her trusty thesaurus sitting right next to her.  Then she started making up sentences using spectacular words she had just discovered, even though they had nothing to do with the book she was writing about!!!  Yes, I know.  She comes from a geeky mother, what can you expect?

There were other sundries, but it’s late.  And I’m tired.  And the brain is faltering.  The sundries probably had something to do with the 7.5 million people who signed up for health insurance under the ACA.  Or that it’s really just health insurance reform and not health care reform which has been something that has been irking me for months and months and months.  Because really, health care, and the affordability or availability of it in this country, is not going to change one iota.  Health care wasn’t reformed.  Just the health insurance industry and not very much of it at that.  Though our policy has gone down, so there you go!!!  Mmm-hmmm.

Stephen Colbert is taking over for David Letterman.  Now that’s going to be hysterical.  He’s hysterical anyway (Stephen Colbert).  His platform just got bigger.  Way cool.  I read that Rush Limbaugh is having his own hysterics about it and crying “left wing conspiracy” or some other s**t like that.  I cannot understand why that man still has a voice.

I may get vilified for saying this, and it wasn’t my child so I might feel very differently if it had been, but the student who took two kitchen knives to school and stabbed 20 people seems to me to be crying out for help.  I am not, in any way, shape or form condoning his actions, of course not.  And, as I said at the outset, this was not my child injured or put in harm’s way, so my feelings are very different at this moment, but what does it say about us as a society that this child (he is only 16 years old) is going to be tried as an adult and whose life from here on out is irrevocably changed.  As are all those affected.  I am not discounting any of that.  I just think we have got to be mindful of the reasons that people snap.  And children.  He’s a child.  I can’t get past that.  And then I shudder to think what would have happened had he had access to a gun.  See???  Gun control laws may actually be a good thing.

And don’t even get me started on all the rest of the crazy out there…the hatin’ on President Obama, yada, yada, yada.  Or Senator McCain and Secretary of State Kerry going at it.  Oy vey.  Enough to give you a headache.

So, the pictures.

And finally, and this is SO cool, but the following was taken with the esteemed I phone while out skiing on Rabbit Ears last weekend.  In a snowstorm no less.  Gracelyn is a tiny bit perturbed (1. cause I’m always taking pictures of us and 2. cause there was a teensy, ittty, bitty  bit of a problem with the trail…well, truth be told, the problem was in that we, well, I, wasn’t sure exactly which trail we were on and how much farther it was back to the car and whatnot).  Luckily it all ended well.

Depressing:

Just heard yesterday that the long-range forecast for the melting of the Arctic sea ice has been updated to a short-range forecast.  The estimates are now that the ice field will be gone in approximately six (6) years instead of the previously thought 60 years.  This makes the oil dudes VERY happy, as well as those countries eager for an open Northwest passage year round.  This makes the polar bears and seals, not to mention all that depend on them, very UNhappy.  Life is going to look so different for our children’s children.

Interesting:

Scientists will be releasing a report next week I think, at some conference (no link, sorry, you’ll have to trust me), regarding the mass extinction in the end-Permian era (c. 252 million years ago).  The report details the existence of methane-spewing bacteria that triggered the extinction of almost all species.  (**Just found a link…at Al-Jazeera America no less.  That’s a kick.  Enjoy.  http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/4/1/methane-spewing-microbescausedworstextinctioninearthshistory.html)

Sad, depressing and interesting all at the same time:

The devastation from the mudslide in Washington looks unimaginable in the pictures.  Can you just try to think what it is like standing there looking at it?  I certainly cannot.  Sad that those people, their homes, their lives were there one second and gone the next.

Related?

The UN just released a report stating that Zero Carbon is the only way.  I need to hop over there and read it, but the headline caught my eye.  We need to start thinking seriously about what is happening all around us.

Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire remains frozen solid.  This is not good as today, April 1, marks the start of the salmon fishing season.

Catastrophic mudslides.  Frozen lakes that should be thawed.  Unprecedented drought.  Earthquakes from fracking.  YES, I just said that.  Fracking =earthquakes.  The USGS just reported that the recent rash of earthquakes in Oklahoma (some 70 in a 3 day period a little while back) were related to fracking.  They said it first, not me.  (Not that I haven’t been thinking it all along.  Not rocket science to make that leap, in my humble opinion.)  Arctic sea ice melting that should not be melting.  Do you see the pattern here?

Trick question.  There is no pattern.  It’s random chaos.  But if you settle down long enough to not be all “this is just the way it is, we have nothing to do with it, global warming is a hoax-y thing-y,” then you might get a little concerned that things are not the way they should be.  The Arctic ice should be frozen solid.  The lake in New Hampshire should be thawed.  We all might want to pay attention here.

Could be that those little bacteria about 252 million  years ago might be trying to tell us a thing or two.

To-do list:

1.  Tell my little family how much I love them.  Now.  No delay.

2.  Grab each and every moment as if it will be the last.  The only reality is NOW.

3.  Plan a trip to the Arctic Circle in the next six years.  (Not sure how to go about starting on this, but I’m going to come up with something.)  I rode around in the iceberg-filled Arctic Ocean one summer, sneaking along on a Native Inuit seal hunt for research purposes.  It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.  I went up to the farthest edge of the United States at Point Barrow, wanting to catch a glimpse of the polar bear that had been sighted that morning.  No, I did not go alone.  Yes, there was someone along with a gun.  No, we did not see the bear.  We found his tracks, heading out to sea.  Awe-inspiring.  Daunting.  Wild.  The way it should be.

I might try to get those pictures scanned in, so you can get a taste of what I saw that summer.  We’ll see.  School is calling.  Math, science (those microscope slides have fascinated the darling diva I live with), grammar (she LOVES diagramming sentences…no kidding).  We have to get in a good day today as tomorrow…………………..SKIING!!!!  YEA!

Vaya con dios mi amigos.

So much for spring, eh?

It started snowing at dinnertime and by bedtime this was the view from the front porch.  The combination of the flash and the “yard light” made for the greenness I think.  I’m not entirely sure as photographer extraordinaire is not one of the hats I wear.  I wear many, but not that one.

Gracelyn thought the green was really cool, so there you go.

But before I get to the crazy, I’ve got to address one of the scariest things I’ve heard in, well, a very long time.

Nate Silver, the statistician of the century/millennium/universe, has given the Republicans a “slight” edge in taking the Senate in the midterm elections.  Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  What a way to greet the day.  And the problem here is that Nate Silver knows his numbers.  He called the 2012 election, despite the “internal Republican polls” that  had it going the other way.  His numbers don’t lie.  Jiminy Christmas, not only scary, downright depressing.  Mitch McConnell as the Senate Majority Leader????  If he survives against the Democrat challenger (Ms. Allison Lundgren Grimes-wouldn’t that be a hoot?).  But still.  The thought is nauseating.  And we’re upset that this Congress gets nothing done now.  Good grief.

OK, I suppose I should move on as now I’m thoroughly depressed.

Seems a lovely, moralistic, Christian school in Virginia doesn’t want an 8 year old girl returning to class because…GASP…she has short hair.  And the school “people” (meaning, administrators, teachers, what not I’m assuming) can’t figure out if she’s a girl or a boy.  Really.  I’m not kidding.  They sent this long, smarmy, ridiculous, holier-than-thou letter to the grandparents of this young girl (her guardians I guess) stating that the bible (the bible no less) says women should have long hair.

May Allah help us all.

I think the grandparents mentioned something to the effect that the young girl in question will not be returning to that school.  Praise the lord!!!!!

(Please make sure your snark-o-meter is turned on.  This post is a lot of ‘tongue-in-cheek.’  That was Ms. Fox News’s way of explaining her comment about Jesus and Santa Claus being white.  And the asininity of it has not left my mind.)

I’m trying to decide if I should order a shirt from Ukraine that says “Don’t give it to a Russian.”  (In Ukrainian no less.  With a picture of…oh never mind, you’d have to see it to understand.  But basically, it goes along with the theme that withholding sex might be the best way to get through to those seeming to think they’ve latched onto a good idea of joining up with Mother Russia.)

I really have no dog in this fight.  I’m not sure who Ukraine should belong to.  I think Vladimir Putin has made some legitimate statements (specifically regarding the United States’ hypocritical beliefs about ‘invading’ countries to protect assets).  I think the history of Russia/the Soviet Union/the rest of the surrounding countries is so lengthy and involved that it is ridiculous for us to sit over here and assume we know what they should all be doing.

That being said, I’m always all for the women.  Always.  This house is steeped in Girl Power.  (Which, if a girl wants short hair, then I’m sure Allah/God/Yahweh/Buddha/the Great Mystery/etc, etc, etc really doesn’t give a rat’s patootie.  You know what I mean?)

Sheesh.

Word of the day:  PAREIDOLIA

Odd word.  I know.  “A psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being percevied as significant.  Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon, or hearing hidden messages on records when played in reverse.”

I read it in an article referencing the missing airplane.  And regarding the sighting of objects in the Indian Ocean.  I have no earthly idea if what was seen is actually anything to do with the missing plane, but I just thought the word was pretty cool.

And finally, a very interesting little tidbit.  It seems that by the year 2130, if current trends continue, the percentage of Americans who identify themselves as Christian will equal little more than 1 percent.  (Today, about 1 percent of the population is Muslim.)  Wow.  Bet that makes the Religious Right a bit frightened, eh?  Hee, hee hee.   Hard to be all self-righteous and such when you’re pretty much close to being in the  minority.  The article at Salon goes on to discuss the beginning of the Religious Right’s movement (with dear old St. Ronnie at the helm) and then the rise of Fundamentalism and how that has driven away hordes and hordes of young voters from the Conservative movement.  Great reading.  I highly recommend it.  http://www.salon.com/2014/03/25/calling_the_christian_right_soon_you_will_be_outnumbered_partner/

And on that note, the delicious triple shot 1/2 caffe dark chocolate mocha with whip is sadly gone, so my brain cells have slowed to a crawl.

Have a lovely day.

Wow.  I poked my head up long enough to peruse current events and had to take a long pull of the morning triple shot 1/2 caffe dark chocolate mocha with whip.

Dang but there isn’t a lot of scary s**t going on out there.  Ok, should have said “stuff.”  I really must get my truck driving language under control.   But I digress.

Maybe we should just go skiing again.  The sky is blue.  The sun is warm.  The snow is supreme.  There were no Nebraskans yesterday.  SORRY to any of my Nebraska friends and family.  But holy guacamole Batman.  Last week we set off for the ski area,  blissfully unaware (thank the Universe) of what was happening there.  The first sign of impending disaster was the plethora of license plates on vehicles reading “NEBRASKA.”  I was a mite bit worried for a second or two, thinking perhaps I’d taken a wrong turn or something.  We have found a shortcut to get us to the ski area sooner, though, truth be told, the shortcut ends up taking about the same amount of time because it is an unpaved, albeit county, road that gets a little, well, titchy at times.  Necessitating lower speeds.  Which every time we take it I constantly ask myself why I didn’t just go around and avoid the bumps and bruises to poor Bessie.  (Bessie is the ruby red, super fast, awesome Subaru by the way.)

Anyhoo.  Back to the story which wasn’t really supposed to be the story anyway.  Nebraska license plates.  EVERYWHERE.   Well, there was that Texas plate.  (We’ll let that one go because I love my Texas relatives oh so very much and fondly remember many a skiing vacation with them back in the day.  I miss you guys!!  And sure wish we could do that again!!!)  So.  Nebraska plates.  We had to park in the back row of the lot.  And that in itself is a humongous deal because we usually park in about the fourth row.  It is a very small ski area and it is NEVER crowded.  Perfect for us as the darling diva learns how to tear down the hill.  NOT-so-perfect this day.  Not only were there Nebraska cars in the parking lot, there were people from Nebraska ALL over the hill.  Holy buckets Batman.  That has to go down in the history books as one of the absolute, most dangerous days I have ever skied.  And I have skied a lot of days.  (Seriously.  Only thanks to the two “sabbaticals” I took from college and learned how to be a bona-fide ski bum.  Best days ever.)  But, as usual, I digress.  Scary times on the mountain that day.  Scary times.  I played defensive back, or maybe it was more like the offensive line (just call me the Refrigerator…that dates me doesn’t it?  I realize there are people alive today who have no idea who the Refrigerator is or that the 1985 Chicago Bears were AWESOME!!).  Wow, I am flighty today.

Suffice it to say, that was not a good day as I tried mightily to keep the errant skiers from knocking down my little diva like a bowling pin, while screaming at us from behind as they flew down the hill completely and totally out of control “WATCH OUTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Hm-mmmm.  That’s how it works.  Right.

Luckily, yesterday when we ventured out, expecting the worst I’ll say, we were pleasantly surprised to see not a one license plate with words that start with “N.”  The lot was only about a half full.  The sky was impossibly blue.  The sun was warm.  The snow was divine.  And no one screamed at us from up above to “watch out.”  It was sublime.

And then I settled down this morning to catch up on current events.

Sheesh.  Talk about your buzzkill.

Where should I start?

1.  Wyoming has become the first state to reject the National Science Standards of Education because, wait for it……they teach children about…you are not going to believe this…climate change.  Climate change.  Some representative got all hot and bothered because the science standards would dare, DARE, to teach children that we, the human race, have a part in climate change and all that is happening.  And then the governor, our esteemed governor, signed off on it.  Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  Let’s raise a bunch of children ignorant about what has scientifically been proven because it might shed a negative light on the industry of the state.  Not to mention the fact that Governor Mead is up for re-election this year.  Gah!  Did I just write that?  Surely I’m mistaken in drawing any correlation between condemning scientific fact and the gas-and-coal industry and Mead’s re-election prospects.  Shame on me.  Shame.

2.  This woman is downright scary.  I tell you what.  Seems Susanne Atanus was selected by Illinois Republicans in the primary to run for the state’s 9th District.  Holy Toledo Batman.  Ms. Atanus calls herself a “God-first conservative Republican,” and believes many of the plights of the last several decades, including droughts, tornadoes and diseases like autism and dementia are God’s punishment for gay marriage and legalized abortions.  “God controls the weather,” Atanus said definitively in January.  “God is angry.  We are provoking him with abortions.  We are provoking him with same-sex marriage, gay rights, civil unions.”  (Found this at http://field-negro.blogspot.com/2014/03/things-dont-always-go-better-with-koch.html#.UyxGTc7LIz0, but I’m sure it’s elsewhere as well.)

Lord that is a lot of crazy right there.  Not only does she sound a wee bit wacked in the head (or about 2 millennia too late as Gracelyn and I have been studying ancient civilizations and even my darling 7 year old knows that it’s no longer intelligent to attribute natural phenomenon to deities.  She turns to me and says, “that’s just science mommy.”  Yep I say.  It sure is honey.  Hurricanes happen because of weather patterns in the atmosphere and not because a god is mad somewhere about something.)  The really scary thing???  They voted for her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Seriously.  She won the primary.  What does that say???

3.  I saw this briefly and had to stop reading cause my stomach was turning, but it seems that a Wyoming state congressman wrote a book about AIDS and how it was a punishment for homosexuality back in the 1980’s or something like that.  Well, it’s been trotted out again and he’s gloating about it.  Nice.  Really nice.

4.  Crimea, Ukraine, Putin.  Dude, what to say here?  Maybe the most bothersome is the incessant, asinine, infantile chatter here in the states about wishing our esteemed president was more like Putin.  Really?  Last time I checked, this country was a democracy.  Not a dictatorship.  And the elected leader is a leader, not a bully.  For god’s sakes, shut up already about wishing our president rode a horse without his shirt on.  Give me a flippin’ break.  If he was all dictator-y and such, you all would be bitching up a storm about him taking a heavy-handed approach and not letting the democracy preside.  Kind of like he did with the vote on Syria.  He didn’t executively decide to march into Syria and be all bully like.  Instead he put it to Congress to vote.  And Congress said no.  So that was that.  And then you berated him for being weak.  Good god almighty.  You can’t have it both ways.   And what in the name of all that is holy would be accomplished by sending troops into Ukraine or escalating a war with Russia.  Seriously John McCain?  Berating the President now by saying he should have sent our precious troops into Ukraine a long time ago?  At what cost???????????  We are not the world’s police.  We have precious few resources when it comes to men and women willing to put their lives in harms way.  Let’s keep them safe here.  Good grief.  And on that note, I did hear snippets of something Vladimir Putin said to his leaders about the hypocrisy of the United States of America saying he (Putin) couldn’t send troops into a country to protect his people and assets there when the USA did the exact same thing in Iraq (thank you very much George W. Bush and Dick Cheney) and Afghanistan.  Not to mention the many others that I simply am losing the patience to write about for now.  I really hate to say this, for fear of being labeled a…GASP…(s-o-c-I-a-l-I-s-t)…but perhaps Putin has a point.  I’m just saying.

I could go on, but have lost the impetus to keep writing.  The coffee cup is empty.  The diva is awake.  School needs to start (where we will learn about SCIENCE and climate change and that the earth was born 4 billion years ago and people did NOT walk with dinosaurs, though how cool would that have been, and Noah’s ark is a story, just a story.  There may have been a lot of rain.  There may have been a flood.  But “God” did not get mad and decide to destroy the world by flooding it.  And, if you really stop to think about it, just how big would that boat have had to have been to fit two of every living species on it?  Seriously.  That would have been one gigantic, I mean GIGANTIC, boat.  Jesus Mary and Joseph I forgot to write about that.  We’ll save that for another day.)

So, on that note, we’re off to learn science.  The microscope slides came this week, so we’re looking at rabbit veins and arteries and dog intestines, to name a few.  Way too cool that not only do I have a ski buddy and a fellow Star Wars fanatic now, but a science geek to boot!  My life is complete.

Well, albeit with another perfect triple 1/2 caffe dark chocolate mocha with whip coming up.  Then we’ll talk.

(Pictures from the ill-fated day last week…it really was a beautiful day–see the pretty blue sky, and we made it out alive too!)

This just in:  there has been another sighting of the Abominable Snowman (you may well remember him as Yukon Cornelius’s new pet, Herbie and Rudolph’s nemesis, etc, etc, etc……..or better yet, you may remember previous posts in which the Abominable has shown up in various and sundry spots around this place).  Whatever.  The Abominable is alive and well and has now been spotted over on the west side of Rabbit Ears Pass.  Cross country skiing no less.  Go figure.  Who knew the Abominable could ski?  I mean really.

In other news, oddly coincidentally, the diva I live with (no, not me, the other one) and I had a lovely day under the big blue sky, enjoying the crisp mountain air and the deep, deep snow on the cross country ski trails on Rabbit Ears Pass.  Evidence of bobcats, coyotes, rabbits and squirrels, but, sadly, no live sightings of them.  Just the Abominable.  All followed by an afternoon in the spectacular Bud Werner Memorial Library in Steamboat.  Followed by a delicious pizza dinner at our favorite Italian place.  Followed, of course, by spectacular Starbucks coffee for the momster.  (That’s m-0-m-ster, not m-o-N-ster, thank you very much).

And, something we couldn’t quite figure out–if anyone out there has an inkling of what the mysterious mossy type stuff is, please do let us know.

And, a quote for the day:

“Whatever you are, be a good one.”

(from the most esteemed President Abraham Lincoln)

“All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves.  All is really one.”  Black Elk

“This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you.”  Mahabharata, 5:1517

“What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman.  This is the entire law; all the rest is commentary.”  Talmud, Shabbat 3id

“Like humans, animals know whether affection is genuine or not.  True affection leads to tolerance, forgiveness and happiness.”  The Dalai Lama  Woodstock, NY, September 21, 2006

“Not one of you is a believer until you wish for others that which you wish for yourself.”  Number 13 of Imam “Al-Narawi’s Forty Hadiths.”

“In everything, do unto others as you would have them to do to you.”  Jesus, Matthew 7:12

Do you seen any differences in the above sentences?  Gracelyn didn’t.  To her, they were all the same.  They all meant the exact same thing:  treat others kindly, as you would want to be treated.  She got it.  Not one religion has a corner on the market of the “Golden Rule.”  Instead, it is a universal truth, stated in different languages and different words, but with the underlying belief that we must only learn to love.

We just finished reading the most delightful, profound, astounding, enlightening book.  It’s entitled Ned and the World’s Religions as seen through the eyes of children and both Gracelyn and I would highly recommend it.  To everyone, young and old alike.

Religion has become such a dividing factor in our world today.  Well, actually, truth be told, it has always been a dividing factor.  For a very, very long time.  For centuries and centuries, horrible, truly horrid, evil things have been done in the name of religion.  Are still being done today.  Religion is used for political gain, for power, for justification of the most heinous of acts.  And to what purpose?  To control?  To pass judgement on another?

But, again, I digress.

The bottom line is this:

“Mitakuye oyasin.”   L/Dakota Sioux for ‘we are all related.’

We are all the same.

“The dog ate my homework mom.  He really, really did.”

I just don’t get this little guy.  He is definitely at the angst-ridden, gangly-awkward teenage “years” but sometimes even that isn’t adequate to explain his behavior.  Last week, he munched on the Spelling and Reading Comprehension books as they sat in the travel bag.  Granted, they were at a perfect level to take a swipe at.  But seriously.  I just don’t get the fascination.  Unless…unless…he is desperately trying to improve his SAT scores.  Now that makes me happy, and I’ll give him a pass.

I realize I have been remiss and have not introduced this gorgeous young thing.  I, quite honestly, haven’t wanted to jinx him, or us.  We all here still carry the specter, or should I say spirit of our missing Max.  Maybe to me it’s the specter of our missing buddy, as I will forever feel responsible for losing my daughter’s puppy.  The one she asked for every day faithfully for a year.  That one.  So I wanted to just slide this new addition in.  To subtly weave him into the fabric of our tapestry, not calling attention to him in any way.  Just letting him in and not alerting the Universe to his arrival.  As if, in this way, I might gild him with a cloak of invincibility, protect him forever from the disasters of life.   As if, by sheer will, I could then hold at bay any and all forces that might threaten to rend him from our tapestry.

Meet Angus.

He was born on August 15, 2013 to the mother of our missing Max.  His father is an English Springer Spaniel sire named Max who lives in Pierre, SD and who hailed originally from the United Kingdom.  The coincidence of the name did not go unnoticed.

In Irish mythology, Angus (spelled Oengus in Old Irish, or Aengus in Middle and Modern Irish) is probably a god of love, youth and poetic inspiration.  There were many Aenguses who figured prominently in both historical and legendary Ireland and Scotland.  High Kings in the 15th, 5th and 4th centuries BCE no less.  An Irish saint from the 8th century.

There is a legend that Aengus was able to repair broken bodies and return life to them.

I do know this.  Our sweet Angus has begun to repair our broken hearts.  He is a little love with a gigantic heart.  And, as I’m finding out, a penchant for reading and spelling!  Now if I could just find a way to direct him away from chewing the books and perhaps peruse the pictures instead.

A girl can dream, can’t she?