Life Today In My Corner

It's October 29, 2007, and it seems to me that the world is starting to really change.

Less than a year ago, the issue of global warming was still being debated, but seemingly overnight the news headlines have begun to reflect a world that is even grimmer than the science fiction writers or great thinkers could have ever imagined.

Two years ago it was New Orleans that got wiped out from the after effects of a super-hurricane, and last year a large area in Florida's Everglades burned.
Then last week, major areas of southern California burned down from out of control wildfires, triggered by record setting drought and high temperatures.

Although unverified, the now replaced Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, has apparently been indicted in France on torture charges related to secret U.S. prisons.
Meanwhile, there is a growing concern that Iran will be invaded by the U.S., in spite of Iran's growing nuclear capabilities and our own army's overstretched capabilities.

Along a different line, I read today that there have been no fruit crops at all in Scotland this year because the honeybee has been wiped out in many areas (either due to cell phone towers or a fungus, depending on the source).
Just as predicted by some futurists, there has also been serious talk about diverting precious Great Lakes water resources to the millions of people in the drought stricken areas of the U.S..
One can only wonder what the Great Lakes maps would look like were the freshwater lakes to get drained by thirsty farmers and citizens.

The number of homeless people in the United States on any given night is now around 750 thousand, while last weekend over 100 thousand people demonstrated in major cities across the country against the war and against the administration's policies. For some unknown reason no major news organizations have covered either phenomena so far.

However, there's been plenty of information about oil futures. The price of fuel oil and natural gas is set to jump a staggering 70 cents a gallon on the average over the coming winter, which makes the vision of my sleeping next to the woodstove with the dogs and cats more and more of a possibility this winter.

Anyway, to prepare for the major changes ahead, I have been struggling through a series of books written by an incredibly deep thinker, Gary Zukav, about the role of the personality with the soul and how to become 'multisensory beings'.

I'm fascinated with his beliefs, but puzzled by the level of introspective thought that is required to incorporate such skills into my daily life,. I still have to maintain a job and retain the ability to communicate orally with ordinary people, though I wish I could use psychic communication all the time.
Still, I keep thinking that I might need these types of skills someday soon, especially if the world keeps spinning out of control and there exists the threat of worldwide environmental catastrophes and communication blackouts.
In any case, thanks to his books, I've learned how to become more balanced emotionally, becoming aware of how extreme behavior (including panic) of any sort is costly to my whole energy system.
I think it's ironic that I'm studying how to ascend, yet I still can't rely on my addition or subtraction skills. I regularly make counting mistakes at work, and can't seem to hold numbers in my head long enough to even qualify for E-Harmony's dating site.

Luckily I have someone special in my life these days. In fact, thanks to my current boyfriend, who's Catholic background inspires him to toe the line in more ways than one, I've also largely gone from being a robust sexual being to an ethereal 'spiritual entity'.
I used to take a long shower in the evening to shave my legs and to smell good for my date, but now thanks to the lack of close contact, all I have to do is take a quick shower in the morning for work. I'm saving water and electricity to boot!

Meanwhile, every day dozens of logging trucks ship the remaining forests of the Upper Peninsula to out of state saw mills. No one asks if the forests are being replanted or why so much wood is being 'harvested' and shipped out, though the trucks continue to dot the roads across the three hundred mile wide expanse of the Michigan peninsula week after week.

Then, today a U.S. warship blew up two 'pirate' vessels that were loaded with stolen benzene near the Somalian coast. Apparently they 'didn't know' that the toxic material was on board and sources had no environmental impact studies or casualty figures yet. This story also got buried in the news for some reason.

Anyway, now that it's Fall, every night I run my wood stove, cranking unfiltered woodsmoke into the unprotected atmosphere, and it is still 100% legal.

My dog's hair has been falling out for months, her eyes tearing with allergies. From her sluggishness and heavy weight I have been speculating that she has developed a thyroid condition, though I can only guess where she got it from. (The water? The air? The ground? Her food?) (cartoon from cartoonstock.com)

My youngest son, who is newly 15, is questioning the necessity of going to school when the 'world is going to end' in 5 years anyway, and I almost agree with him.

But, thanks to the growing amount of information on the ever present internet, we don't have to remain ignorant. We can find nearly every song ever written and recorded and have access to most scientific, historical, and cultural information.
Add that to a wealth of medical and herbal info never before seen, and we're almost qualified to diagnose and treat most medical conditions. This is good because almost no one can afford to see a doctor anymore, much less afford to pay for the ensuing prescription medications.

Two of the most popular shows in America on Saturday night TV are 'Survivorman' and 'Man Versus Wild', where a sturdy outdoorsman teaches the audience how to survive all kinds of extreme weather conditions and in unfamiliar environments. I know one of my most important lessons watching that show was how to start a fire with only two sticks.

Meanwhile, the Arctic glaciers are apparently melting at such a rate that there are no correlating statistics to gauge how fast they will go or how much they will shrink.

Most climate scientists agree now that amount of meltwater is sure to raise the ocean levels quite a bit, as well as to dump millions of gallons of freshwater into the stalling thermalline circulation pump that churns through the oceans circling the globe.

But that story doesn't make the nightly newscasts, and for some reason there is no international coalition of countries working together to prepare for the inevitable 'little ice age' that a stalled circulation pump will bring to the northern latitudes of the Earth if the saltwater is diluted enough.

Still, most people my age are no longer talking about what to do when they 'retire' they are instead talking about where they're going to hunker down when 2012 comes and who they want to be with in the end. (image from: EndofTime2012.com)

Welcome Back

I've been working for 5 weeks in Marquette at a drycleaning place, and finally today the Internet has been restored to the company's computer, so I am finally able to write in my blog.

It's been a very challenging month and a week, but I continue to learn a lot, not only about my job, but about what keeps me motivated and how to keep going no matter what the challenge.

Ode to Animals

From the beautifully colored brown sparrow happily grabbing a seed in his beak, featured at the left, to the unmistakably sad and lonely eyes of my newest dog friend, Thompson, at the right, today's blog posting is in honor of the survival of all of the many species of animals in my life.

Some animals, like my friend's contented kitty with the unbreakable stare, to the left, have recovered from their earlier traumas and seemingly have it easy in this life.
The cat had been found several years ago, caught in a hay baler, and apparently barely escaped death. She hides from people most of the time, but I was able to snap this picture of her before she ran away again.

Others, like this feral cat spotted hungrily devouring a rotten tomato at my birdfeeder area, risk being seen to survive.

We've been trying to coax him in with tidbits and the standard "kitty kitty" talk, but so far he has stayed out of sight when we're outside.

Our resident groundhog, Mr. Groundy, at the left, made it through last winter, his hide still scarred from last fall's attack by our dog.

Rebounding from his war wounds, once again he has been seen in the evenings munching on sunflower seedlings and leftover birdseed.

We keep our dog much closer now, and everyone watches our for the wildlife when we're out in the yard.

We especially watch that our bevy of red squirrels doesn't become lunch for our already overfed cats either.

The adorable character to the right we named "Needles the Squirrel", for his pointy little nose. He and his squirrel buddies make short work of the sunflower seeds I put out in the window feeder every day, which keeps me busy refilling it for the other wildlife that come in to feed.

We've only let our cats out once or twice this Spring, and they ran back to the door each time, terrified of the many outdoor sounds and sights. Oh well!

We'd rather protect some of our other animal friends as well, like this fantastic bird to the left, Mr. Cardinal.

Everytime we see him at the birdfeeder area, the binoculars are grabbed and the camera readied. His coloration and features are so striking that I can't get enough of seeing him.

Once I saw a bluejay harassing him, but he has persisted and now appears to possibly have a nest somewhere nearby with Mrs. Cardinal, to the right.

She has been looking unusually plump these days, and may be about to lay a couple of eggs.

I think it's amazing how tenacious all of my animal friends are, and so today I honor their strength and courage.

They're all my heroes!

Spring in the U.P.

Spring may have sprung in the Upper Peninsula, but cooler temperatures originating from a stratospheric cold area up in Canada are making for a chilly week.

However, it is forecast to be warmer this weekend, which I am really looking forward to.

I'm looking forward to sitting in the back field, soaking up the warm sunlight, as I study the ever-changing skies. I'm looking forward to shedding a layer of clothes and opening a window to let some fresh air in again.

But in the meantime, I can don a coat and grab my trusty camera and go outside and photograph the emerging buds on the trees, and the beautiful crocuses blooming in my yard.

Heck, it's too nice to stay in when it's Spring in the U.P.!

Progress Is Not The Word

An enormous burning pile of brush in a newly 'developed' area for our new hospital shocked me last evening into a very disturbing reality; the Upper Peninsula many resources are being reduced or in some cases completely destroyed.

It seems that everywhere I turn nowadays there are developments underway, including the controversial Kennecott mine proposal for a nickel mine slated to be smack dab in the middle one of the last uncontaminated watersheds in Marquette County.

The acres and acres of forestland now reduced to sandy hills and concrete is increasing every day in our area.

And I have to ask; what about the millions of living creatures that just lost their home to the hospital development where I saw burning brush last evening, including thousands of birds and animals that will now most likely starve or be pushed back into a more and more crowded habitat?

Do their lives mean nothing anymore? Are wildlife and forests now expendable just so that companies and housing developments can 'spread out' and 'grow'?

The irony is that there has been important scientific research in the global warming community that advocates reforesting large tracts of land to absorb damaging carbon and to naturally 'clean' the air.

But will the proposed mandates come in time to save the many endangered forests and species, including the last of the Upper Peninsula forestlands? Only time will tell.

In the meantime I am deeply saddened for the forest behind Jubilee that no longer exists and for all of the other Upper Peninsula natural resources that are currently being destroyed in the name of progress.

There must be some other way to build new hospitals and housing developments without eliminating the remaining forests! Maybe we could reuse land that has already been developed, or could build closer together.

Something has to happen, or we will one day wake up to a world without any remaining natural wildlife or forestland at all.

Grandchild Catchers Do Their Stuff

Silly plastic eggs hang mysteriously on my backyard apple tree in this strange photo.

'Grandchild catchers', I said when I hung them up with kite string three weeks ago, and today my wish came true when my delightful grandchildren from Illinois (and my beautiful daughter!) arrived from for an early Easter visit with us.

They got in around dinner time, and though it's now night and I am totally exhausted, I have really enjoyed being with everyone again and I look forward to seeing them again tomorrow.

I don't know what it is about grandchildren; I don't even really 'know' them, but I feel that I have always known them. They are fascinating people and I love immersing myself in learning about what their individual personalities are and what each of them likes.

I want to absorb everything about them so that when they are gone I can reflect and think about them.

By the way, they loved the eggs on the tree! :-)
(yawn)

One Foot In Front Of....

A memorable sunset picture from the west end of the Upper Peninsula concludes my busy weekday.

This morning I took the city bus to Marquette for a school related appointment and, along the way, I took several pictures. I previewed them on the computer a while ago and I really like them, so I am hoping to put a few on this blog by tomorrow.

Anyway, times have been kinda tough for us lately. We are starting to run low on everything, as higher utility bills and rising inflation has destroyed our small monthly reserve.

The kids are being good about it though; digging into canned goods and making their own custom made snacks. I'm surviving on shelled peanuts and sandwiches, though every night I pull together a semblance of dinner for everyone.

I just wish I could get rid of the (now) three day headache I've been tolerating. It's par for the course that we're out of all anti-inflammatory and allergy medicines, and it will be nearly 2 weeks before I will be able to afford more. Oh well.

I think it's allergies from the melting snow and I'm sure that the mud and emerging grass is probably contributing too.

Anyway, last night I used a heating pad on my neck, and that worked out pretty good. Maybe I'll just turn in early again tonight and use it again.

It's times like this that I do dream of having a boyfriend who give massages.

Although that's not anywhere in the picture for me- a girl can dream....!!

National Censorship

Although a major anti-war rally was slated to occur in Washington D.C. yesterday, I have not been able to find out much of anything on television or the internet, until I came to Michael Moore's site, which even had a picture (featured above).

On CNN.com there was absolutely nothing on the subject, and on my favorite editorial site- Commondreams.org, the e-mail link (for submitting material) isn't working, effectively keeping potential articles about the rally from being published. Consequently there was nothing at all about the rally on the site.

Coming from Marquette county, where traditionally the iron ore mining company has controlled the local media, I am familiar with news 'blackouts'. We used to say, "If you want to find out what is going on around here, all you can do is listen to what people are saying". Because it's true that time after time it has been frustrating and irritating to see an event happen right in front of me and find nothing on the subject in our local media. The locals often know more than the press!

But to take a national event, such as the St. Patrick's Day March and to deny national coverage of it is even worse. It smacks of KGB type censorship, and really points out just how corrupt and despicable American media has become.

Pet The Dog

Today is as good a day as any to take some time to tend to my animal friends. It's overcast and is slated to rain, and two of my teens are home due a teacher's inservice at their schools, so I am looking at some downtime no matter how I look at it.

The daily customers at my birdfeeder have slacked off lately; perhaps due to the warmer conditions, so I don't have to focus on them today.

But indoors we have 2 (very!) fat cats and 2 quirky dogs, which have been ignored a bit lately. Perhaps I'll change that today- brush out their fur and give them plenty of eye-ball-to-eye-ball attention.

Choking Chimney Smoke

No, this isn't some horrible science fiction movie in which a normal little town gets barraged with suffocating poison smoke- this is my small town
last Monday morning during the recent cold snap.

Because the town has several bluffs around it (which has helped during windstorms), there is nowhere for chimney smoke to escape to.

Consequently, on very cold mornings, vapor can be seen pouring out of every conceivable chimney downtown, coming from not only business smokestacks, but also from the surrounding residential housing, and then settling into a haze over everything.

Even our historic city hall has a stout chimney spewing out hot smoke.

Seeing this, I can't help but wonder- isn't there a law somewhere about such thermal pollution, or shouldn't there be?

Especially in light of global climate change- I really think it's time that we all put some type of scrubbers on our furnace chimneys and tapped off our dryer vents too, along the way.

I can only imagine what types of respiratory problems the people living within range of the highest concentrations of chimney smoke must be having.

Besides, is this any way to live?

Morning After the Storm

A two day deluge in our region of over 21 inches of tiny snowflakes has been challenging for even the heartiest of our northern citizens.

Even though the majority of the snow has passed, the unplowed roads have been making for very testy driving conditions, with only 4-wheel drive vehicles and snowmobiles confidently braving the roads.

Meanwhile, my trusty van is buried up to the door panels as well, stuck indefinetely in the snow clogged driveway. She's down with transmission problems anyway, and probably won't be up and running for several weeks. (I will be borrowing another vehicle in the meantime!)

While I stood outside taking these pictures, I heard the distant sounds of many snowmobiles zooming through the fresh snow and then I enjoyed listening to a chorus of hungry birds waiting to eat their breakfast at the just refilled birdfeeder.

However, there was no hum of traffic coming from the 4 lane highway half a mile away, or even the sound of the familiar beeps of front end loaders backing up in commercial parking lots.

Where the majority of plows are is anyone's guess, though I would venture to say that most of the snowplow drivers are probably resting up, waiting for the snow to completely stop before beginning the enormous cleanup.

The extreme weather reminded me of the times when I was a kid when we often got swamped with several feet of snow and thought nothing of bundling up in layers of clothes and trudging through snowbanks to visit our friends.

But now that we have global warming, our area has begun to have a very different climate. Throughout this winter we have had unusually warm temperatures (47 degrees last Thursday!) and we are way below the average of yearly snowfall.

In fact, the snow from this snowstorm is likely to end up melting into a slushy mess within weeks, the majority running off or evaporating into the air instead of sinking into the thirsty earth below.

But in the meantime, isn't it fun!

Raging Blizzard

from Accuweather.com:

"While the snow, which will also blow and drift, will impact the entire Upper Midwest, areas from northwestern Iowa to western Upper Michigan will be under the threat of a raging blizzard with 12 to 18 inches of snow and dangerously low visibility in severe blowing and drifting snow."

link

Battin' Down The Hatches

A well publicized snowstorm heads our way, fronted with gusts of wind that pull the few remaining birds at my birdfeeder in unexpected directions.

Indoors, we head for solitary pursuits and await the arrival of the March Lion. I build a fire in the woodstove and put a pan of chicken in the oven to roast, calm with preparation and years of weather experience.

Of course no one wants there to be school tomorrow, though the animals will all need to be fed and attended to no matter what the weather throws at us.

Progress

It seems that I have been doing my homework in several ways this week and I suspect some may be the early results of taking folic acid supplements.

I had read on NewScientist.com about how such supplements can help 'rejuvenate' older people's brains (see article) and since I'm notoriously bad at remembering things, I decided to start adding folic acid supplements to my daily vitamin regime. It's been about 2 weeks now, and I do seem to be a bit more alert and better at remembering. So far so good!

One of the ongoing homework assignments I have also had is to continue to upgrade the house's cleanliness, and so yesterday I buckled down and tackled the living room area, where a much abused rug had been putting out quite a stink. Out the front door went the offending rug.

Indoors, with my least favorite clothes and rubber glove and boots on, I headed with scrub brush and a bucket of bleach water to clean the room sized carpeting underneath. Two hours and a lot of hard work and sweat later, I emerged from the room hopeful that my efforts would do the trick and that the space would be stink free.

Although I ended up going to bed early, exhausted from the workout, this morning I walked into the rejuvenated room and it not only looks great but it actually smells good! TaDa!!

So the day has definetely started out on a positive note.

Then this morning's sunrise revealed glittering snowflakes in the air, a fresh snowfall collecting on thin branches and an overall silvery appearance on everything. It was beautiful!

Later I managed to squeeze off a couple of pictures of the downtown area, and I've cleaned them up and edited two of them.


Enjoy!

HAPPY SATURDAY!

I am sitting in the living room at the 'new' computer that my son put together from spare parts, enjoying the warmth of being on the main floor where the radiators blast out heat. What a difference!

I don't plan on using this computer full time, as my computer in the basement is chock full of bookmarks, PDF and image files, and the like, but I am enjoying the novelty.

My West End friend is due in from Ewen anytime now, and I am really looking forward to finally having a friend around to talk to and do things with. It's been 2 weeks since we've had the opportunity to spend the 'weekend' together, so I'm overdue.

My youngest daughter is cooking pancakes and bacon for breakfast and the smell is delicious.

I'm feeling so much better since I took matters into my own hands and brought my granddaughter's playpen and food over to her other grandmother (who sees her daily, apparently). Although it hurt a lot to step back and let go, it didn't hurt half as much as it had when I'd been sitting around week after week wishing that my son (her father) would change his mind about visitation.

I feel like I've taken my life back again. My life has so often been lacking things and people, but it is still my life.

Wednesday Blues

This memorable picture of my youngest granddaughter and me taken just last Wednesday highlights the special love that I feel for my 9 month old granddaughter today.

Last week I had started a plan to have the baby over on Wednesdays, but I didn't even make it a week before my son (her father) pulled the rug out from under me by refusing to allow me to see her again.

I know I could fight him and take him to court (grandparents rights) and I could even push to get him to change his mind on the issue, but I'm fresh out of fightin' power right now.

I don't want to put my granddaughter or me through a scene either, so I'm backing off.

But I sure miss seeing her.

HAPPY HAPPY

Today is America famous 'Groundhog Day', and I am celebrating it in a big way.

Tonight we are planning a special groundhog day celebration, beginning with ground (beef) for dinner and finishing with groundhog races (conducted indoors, the prizes being groundhog cookies and milk. We know what we're doing up here in our beloved groundhog country.

My fav Summertime buddy has been Mr. Groundhog, who I have pined for ever since he disappeared late last summer. I am hoping the dog didn't do away with him, or that his relatives live nearby so I can enjoy seeing these lovely creatures once again from my window.

Heck, seeing anything resembling summer outside my window at this point would be a miracle!

Celebrating The Last Day

A toasty animated fire warms my 'innards' as the last day of January begins.

There is something to be said about the relief that goes with it being the one day of the month when I am absolutely free to do what I want.

It is too late to pay any more bills this month, and the next month's bills haven't begun yet, thus the immediate lack of societal pressure. I can breathe!

And now that the furnace works enough to warm up the main floor area and I have a facecord of dry hardwood to heat the basement, I feel like I am living the best of both worlds.

The permafrost feeling I used to have in my extremities is finally beginning to abate, though I find I am still particularily sensitive to the cold. It will take some time to 'thaw' completely, I think!

I have been working on the basement over the last few days, and I've been getting into the various undone projects around the area; finally putting plastic on a drafty window and sweeping the bark littered floor. I have a long way to go before I can claim real progress, but I am enjoying working on it.

Unfortunately, my three teenagers at home all seem to be going off the deep end lately. One after the other has had an emotional outburst, and it's been very challenging to know what to do to help. Mostly I just listen. It's time consuming and draining, but I am at a loss for what else to do.

I saw a 'Shalom in the Home' segment on one of the talk shows in which a very righteous sounding jewish man goes into American family's homes and determines what is wrong and how to fix it. On the show that I saw him on, he talked about how American families are failing, and how us parents are 'checked out' concerning our kids.

I would like to know how my 24/7ness with my own kids translates into emotional deprivation. I do acknowledge that I have set boundaries when I'm working on the computer or taking a rest (or I would never have any peace!) but every day I talk with all of the teens and spend time with each of them, whether I'm working in the basement or upstairs.

As you can see, I wasn't taken with Mr. Perfect Family on the talk show!

Anyway, I'm in a great mood today. I have been lonely for a friend to talk to, but it has afforded me the time to work on my psychic skills when I'm alone and to be more in touch with my higher power.

My health has been so-so. I get a very sore neck and shoulder when I sit at the computer, and I've been stumbling a lot. I have gotten used to semi-staggering when I am in a hurry, though then I trip on everything. I have a thyroid checkup appointment with my Quack doctor on the 2nd of February, and I've decided to keep my mouth shut about my health. I give up on trying to get help for my health issues from the medical community!

Well it's time to stretch and get the kink out of my neck, so I'll sign off.

It's almost February!

OH HAPPY DAY

A dancing happy face guy rewards me tonight for the long (long!) stretch of hard times that I have been enduring, now that my furnace was fixed today (!!) and the house has actually warmed up to the point where it's comfortable to walk around in.

I realize it's been cold one way or another in here since last summer. No joke- not even the blazing woodstove and the cranking furnace could really heat the house all the way through, because the furnace had only been partially working for months (I learned this from the furnace repairman today).

Whew. We've been toughing it out in a big way!

This is the first time also since I moved my computer downstairs that I haven't ended up being too cold to work on it after only a couple of hours. It became almost common to go upstairs and run my hands under tepid water to warm them up after such a run.

Most of the time I couldn't get warm enough even doing that, so when I could I crawled under the covers and tried to get warm enough to keep going.

So, tonight, having a warm house like this has caused me to be beside myself with joy. I'm crying tears of relief, gratitude, and faith.

Of course the kids all seem relieved too- excited and playful with eachother for once, instead of their usual testy interactions. That's nice, too, though it may simply be due to it finally being the weekend.

Sometimes survival is the goal in this life I lead, but tonight I am absolutely basking in luxurious warmth, and incidentally, I'm thawing quite nicely too!
(Below is a gif (t) for everyone's enjoyment)




(and oh, by the way, Lord, THANK YOU!)