Happy Holidays, especially you Linda Jean

I added another number to my yearly count this week. Hence, the change in the "about me" portion that referred vaguely to my age. My birthday was full, especially my stomach. I kissed some man fixing to ride off on a horse in Oklahoma and I ate at the Olive Garden in Wichita. I ate spaghetti at marg's house on the actual date and Pho Hoa that evening. Tuesday I ate at an office luncheon at a local radio station which the staff referred to as a "holiday party". I think it was called that so as not to offend me and include my birthday as part of the celebration (though I was not offered a White Elephant which makes me think the party was not really for my birthday). I ate cabbage rolls that evening at the farm along with pink peppermint cake. For birthday week today I went to Super Pollo which had a political message on the wall which loosely translated said something like "protecting the rights of the foreigner is peace" which loosely reworked in my mind means "peace for your birthday holiday season." I thought that was very sweet of the them and the pollo torta was so yummy. I haven't eaten my birthday week supper tonight on account of still being full and feeling sick. My headache spread to my body this afternoon. The big event for Wednesday of birthday week is that it rained tree limbs in my yard (It may inspire a new song-- "I'm dreaming of a barky birthday"). I hope you continue to enjoy the holiday season. Birthday season ends on Friday.

I need new pants for Christmas.

Advent Stirs

I watched The Nativity today. I enjoyed the movie, but I did find the music distracting. Yet, it is amazing the number of songs written for this event. It seems that every year I feel as though I've missed singing one of my favorite carols during the season. We did sing What Child is This? at church today which was nice. The second verse makes me cry starting with "the silent word is pleading". I love how song can express the deep treasure of Christmas. There are so many of them that can bring me to tears, expressing something I do not focus on daily, but without which I would not want to face each day.

O Holy Night -- And in his name all oppression shall cease.
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel -- that mourns in lonely exile until the Son of God appear
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day --God is not dead nor doth he sleep.
We Three Kings --Guide us to thy perfect light
Joy to the World -- No more let sins and sorrows grow... He comes to make his blessing flow far as the curse is found. (I love every word of this one).

P.S. I did take my links from cyberhymnal which plays the song in that computery tone (which probably has some technical name, so you might want to turn down the volume if that annoys you. However, they do a good job listing the complete verses).
I'm certain there are many more that I could cite as example, but you get the idea. What lines have I omitted?

Thumbing my way to Tuesday

I don't understand what this day has against me. We had never met before and yet from the moment that my alarm went off and 7 more times after that in 9 minute intervals, the day had it in for me and especially my thumbs. There was no breakfast food in my fridge or my cupboard. When I arrived at the office at my usual time which to everyone else is 20 minutes late, I had to wait for the coffee to finish brewing before I left for court. I gathered my files and cut my left thumb on a file. No, not the paper inside the file, the actual file. It was deep. It was wide. It required a bandage. Then, the 9 o'clock court hearing decided not to come. At lunch I ordered a chicken fried chicken salad which is what I always get. Sometimes the chicken is warmer than I like at this restaurant, but today, it was piping hot with melted cheese on top. The waitress insisted that the salad always comes this way and in the interest of not being poisoned, I did not send the salad back. It was yucky and I was hungry. This afternoon included a paper cut to my right thumb. This evening I cut my right thumb on the razor edge of the parchment paper which I was using for baking cookies. I read the cookie exchange instructions wrong, or, more accurately, I stopped reading them after the first sentence. So I didn't bring enough plates of cookies for everyone. So good-bye Monday. My thumbs will be better off without you.


Ode to my Thumb
Oh thumb, thou art opposable
you are the appendage envy
of every mammal.
I prick thee, I split thee
Yet thou art still holding
my pen, purse, popsicle,
for me and my needing.
Thumb, you are thumbthing special!

haiku hiatus (haikutus)

I have nothing to post, but since my poets seem to be growing tired of the haiku I will make another offering. I note that one reader suggested that we avoid the epic poem, but the sonnet, the sestina, the ode, free verse, and any other form you are interested in for your self-expression is available. Do you think you are ready to write the next stanza in sestina form?:

I pretend that it is a much deeper snow
So that walking on the mundane sidewalk
Is less a quickly cleared and salted town
And more a prairie pioneer trial
Instead of white gloves and a black coat
I am fighting the wind, headed for the barn

Anyway, it would be really sad if the poem never ends.

Thanksgiving Haiku

Uncooked pecan pie
gooey on the kitchen floor
spilling from the shell.

Tumbleweedy

I got these e-mailed to me at work today... these are pictures from the edge of town, but, alas, I can't tell you who took them.

Tilt-a-tumbling tumbleweed

Last night I think I ran over no less than 50 tumbleweeds on my way to and from the farm. It was hard during the daylight not to be distracted by the ones in the sandhills breaking free of the sagebrush and fence. The night drive was bad in a different way because there were critter-like bodies darting out in front me the whole drive home. Thank God deer don't role or there would have been no way to tell the difference. It would be kind of funny if ferrets climbed into the inside of the tumbleweed for a thrill ride. (Yes, supposedly ferrets aren't found in my county, but I saw a dead one last year near the county line, which isn't exactly evidence that they live in my county, but it does create the inference that there was one living recently). Maybe field mice would have an easier go of it. Tumbleweeds are the tilt-a-whirl at the rodent carnival. It explains how the tumbleweeds hang on to the fence and then seem to rock back and forth until they break free. The mice are on the inside of the tumbleweed and create the rocking motion with their weight which eventually rocks the tumbleweed off of the fence and into the open spaces of the highway where all the parties involved may or may not get hit by my car.

Blogger Extra

Jedediah Smith

As many of you are aware, I am in love with the redwood forest. Which is sort of like real romantic love because I say silly things like "I never thought I could feel this way about a forest" and "I never saw myself loving a forest because all of the other forests have disappointed me." When I visit Jeanette we go to the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park in Northern California. (The name (alas) makes me think of the Simpsons. ) As with all of my journeys to the Redwoods I discuss the visit a Judge here because he is also a fan. During our most recent "Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park" conversation, he disclosed some very interesting information about Jedediah, the forest's namesake. He actually passed away in Grant County and there is an historical marker at the side of the road. It sounds like a good Explorer Extra that I'll have to try.

Jesus' love of Kansas's prairies is inspiring

A legal issue that affects* us all. (not really).

*yes that is an edit.

vacae photos

Away

Travelling tomorrow. I will be absent from Kansas until next week and visiting my dear loved ones in Oregon. I hopefully will get to visit my trees and say hello to them and give kisses to the baby. I'll be certain to whisper your name in forest so that he will remember you. I'll let the little family I'm visiting know that you miss them too.

If I knew you were coming I'd have bought a cake

I figured out that cooking makes me feel like I'm heading toward an inevitable Lucy Ricardo moment. I tried to cook a simple soup recipe this Sunday for myself because I actually felt like cooking a meal. I got home with the ingredients I needed and realized that I didn't read the recipe all the way and that I actually needed 3 zucchini instead of 1. So I tried to compensate by using less of everything which worked out fine.

Then I got out the blender because the recipe required that everything be pureed. As I was pulling the blender down from the cabinet, I remembered my last cooking experience where I became a 30 minute episode heading for a climax in fiasco. I had used my blender to make hummus (remember the tahini quest? The tahini is at the health food store) and it quit working with about half of the chick peas properly mashed and so I had to use a spatula and mash the rest as best as I could. I thought about eating it without the benefit of puree, but it didn't really seem right (not that I would "know" right from wrong with regard to a cooking project, it was just a gut instinct).

I drove to Target and realized that my head was pounding and that I felt nauseated. Yep, I hadn't eaten breakfast and it was almost 2 pm. So I bought a new blender and resisted the urge to stop at Taco Bell on the way home. I pureed. The soup was ok. Rather anti-climactic for the time I invested and wooziness.

At the end of this meal I realized I had a storage problem. Where do I put the soup? I had to puree in about 3 batches and I had no tupperware that size. Everyday Food said it should be stored in an airtight container (don't question the recipe--obey), but I only found one old frozen blueberries plastic tub and for some reason I didn't have any more containers (I suspect that I have given some food away recently in my other tubs).

Frustrated, I went to Walgreens (it's closer than Target-- about 7 blocks from my house) and looked for new containers. I was unhappy with their selection and remembered a pitcher I had purchased this summer with a twist top (one of those summery looking things that makes you want to make sun tea). I thought, "that would be great!" So I went back home empty handed and searched for my summer pitcher, but could not locate the silly thing. (If anyone remembers what happened to it let me know. The last thing I remember it holding was sangria).

What was left sits airtightish in my fridge in the blender pitcher it was pureed in. Anyway, if you would like a helping of zucchini curry soup or whatever it is stop by. I cannot possibly eat that much soup on my own.

99 red balloons-- ok one pink balloon

I walked downtown this morning to marketfest, a newish festival intended to bring people downtown though the activities sort of offset whatever benefit the downtown merchants hoped to receive. The wind is at about 30 mph today and steady so the outdoor activities were difficult and sometimes littering was out of your hands. I walked back home after meeting up with family and eating bierocks (they weren't nearly as good as the one's I had a whimmydiddle in Scott City last weekend, but oh well. I think I may have eaten bierocks 3 weekends in a row because the weekend before that was Oktoberfest. 1st goes to Scott City's NW KS cook 2nd to the Knights of Columbus and 3rd to the GC Mennonites). I took a pink balloon and walked back home. I had been wondering about the joy the helium-filled balloons seemed to give to the kids. By the time I got home I had remembered a little bit about what is so fun about them. It's like a little companion that stays with you as long as you hold on tight and that wants to run away to play at the same time. Pinky danced in the wind the whole walk home and gave me cheery tug after the mean dog barked at me. Hope everyone is enjoying fall, I am.

It's not in aisle 12

I hear that some people like grocery shopping. I'm usually in a state of paranoia, convinced that I am being mocked by the people watching through the bubble ceiling cameras because I've walked down the same aisle at least 10 times. Some of the passes I pick up new items some I don't, but there continues to be an item that I am convinced is located in this aisle that isn't, but I can't really think of where else it could be. Tahini/sesame seed paste. Where is it?

A group of lawyers get sick at a party...

After a bout with some sort of food poisoning, I've survived today and now am only slightly queasy. Many attorneys in town were sick after the county bar's barbeque this weekend. I can't help but think that there is some sort of joke in there, but I'm too close to the situation to come up with one being both a lawyer and a victim of food poisoning.
So I spent the day at home and read a little bit from the novel I am Charlotte Simmons (I am not recommending the book to anyone since it is pretty offensive, but it is a fascinating topic and has so much to say about our culture). After that I felt inclined to pick up Kierkegaard after taking a long rest from his writings. His distinctions are really interesting, but I'm never quite certain that I agree with his assessment as to the impacts of his hair-splitting observations. (Jesus was God-man or Jesus was a man and was God and the contradiction is what makes his life a sign. It all goes back to living your life as a contemporary with Christ...). That said it's pretty fun to have to think on that level and engage my mind in that way.
In an unrelated matter, I found a link for Jim. It plays the tune for many, many hymns and may come in handy if we ever decide to have an evening of hymn singing again.

Saturday morning adulthood is being shoved down my throat

Saturday morning. Where are the cartoons? NBC is playing golf. Local ABC has taken over with a morning news program and the educational cartoons of pbs and the religious programming of tbn are a little too mind-numbingly boring, and although I am slightly amused by Sonic the Hedgehog, most of the fox cartoons are a little yicky. They moved Kim Possible and I have no idea what time she's on anymore. What am I supposed to do while I eat my lucky charms? This has been a problem for me for awhile now. The quality of the cartoons has been in a steady descent for years now. Remember Recess? What happened to Fillmore? Cable is the answer, but how can anyone justify cable just to watch cartoons. Anyway, any Loony Toons collection would be greatly appreciated at Christmas time. I'd also like the Batman cartoons from the 90s and the X-Men cartoons from the 90s too. I'm not sure if Fillmore is available, but that would be cool to have.

I also went to see Clay Jenkinson this week. He is a Thomas Jefferson impersenator. There were only four of us legal types that I saw at the event and the Judge said "I guess we're the only ones interested in the Constitution." If you ever have the opportunity, he is worth seeing.

Wind-swept

The wind finally blew in today. Today was a grab-your-clothes-as-you-walk day (that might be a little too feminine for everyone to understand, but believe me it was necessary in a skirt). It's like everything good was floating in the air and finally decided to hurry itself along. I always thought the sunshine was my favorite and it still might be, but the wind really makes me feel like I'm home. I wish they could get together one of these afternoons before my chances at a hot wind are over for the year. I'm not really sure why the wind becomes a comfort. It stings with dust and sand sometimes, but there are not very many things nicer than walking straight into it and feeling your clothes billowing in back of you. The way you can't really hear anything except the whistling in your ears is like silence only musical. Fighting with the wind is a struggle, but it let's you win most of the time. Don't ever forget that it lets you win. The wind was just with me today when I walked outside, it felt a lot like not being alone.

Laryngitis

Sorry I haven't written lately. I've lost my voice. I finished At the Back of the North Wind, but I won't tell you about except that it's a good read and made me feel joyful despite the subject. You should read it, though it's interesting to think of it as a children's story since the subject matter is so, well, heavy. That's all for tonight, I'll try to write more when I've found my voice again.

Just an empty cookie

This weekend I received an empty fortune cookie. That's right, all that there was to enjoy was the sweet cookie. I've been wondering what that could mean. It seems rather ominous to have no innocuous cookie message saying something vague about anything. Of course, I don't actually believe in the fortunes, but not getting one really bothered me. After pondering the obvious scary possibilities, it dawned on me that perhaps my future was too dull to even warrant comment. Writing "tomorrow will be much like today" seemed rather ridiculous so they skipped inserting this cookie with a fortune altogether. Another option occurred to me. My future path is so tenuous and unsteady at this moment that any hint in any direction would thwart its full fruition and the cookie chose not to get involved. I liked this one best, though truly I suppose someone just forgot.

So how does one become a fortune cookie writer, because I think I would be really good at it? I would never write universal advice, I would write actual fortunes.

• "Look up before you step outside tomorrow morning, though there will be nothing you can do"
• "Green will figure prominently in a chance encounter should you so choose."
• "Wear socks on Friday, you will thank me later."
• "Tomorrow will be much the same as today."
• "When you hear people laughing today and fear they are laughing at you, they are."

It's pretty fun. Why don't you try a few?

Tomato plant conversation and why you shouldn't be jealous that people comment on my blog

Last night I was talking to tomato while picking two new red ones. He is the first garden plant I've tried in a pot and was put there because I couldn't figure out where to put a garden in my yard, but also couldn't conceive of summer without some fresh tomatoes. As my neighbor quipped "enjoying our Colorado weather?", I was asking the tomato plant if he had enjoyed the rain. He seemed to say that it was nice, but he really missed the sun. "Me too," I said. The weather guy said that we should see the sunshine today, tomato and I can't take another cloudy day. We've had 4 or 5 in a row, which may not seem like a lot unless you are from a sunny place and then it seems like the world is ending only it feels that way in your soul and you aren't sure why until you look up to say hi to your favorite and he isn't there.

My other conversation last night was with an automated man at United Airlines. To my plea " I want to speak to a human being" he would answer , "you would like to depart from Midland, Texas".

I talked to my sister on the phone for a little while and I went to Bible Study where I succeeded at not talking. Sometimes it's for the best. The ladies did get into a "Left Behind" discussion about the books. Sigh...

My teddy Bear and I read a little out of "At the Back of the North Wind" which we had stopped reading for a little while due to anniversary fatigue, but it was beautiful last night and my teddy bear thought that the voice inside the drunk which was the voice of the great love who had created him and which sounded like misery to him and on Mt Sinai like thunder and to St. John like blessedness was lovely and sad, to the point that I had tears. Teddy bears don't cry.