It’s tricky to find just the right timing for the best night of the year. It cannot be too warm, but it also must not be too cold, or the night loses its uniqueness. I picked yesterday, and the night turned out perfectly.
My preparation began with changing the bed linens, as well as turning the mattress. I took the sheets from the dryer while they were still warm and remade the bed, adding the totally fluffy and cozy blanket for the first time this year. On top, the quilted bedspread made its appearance, along with the heavy crocheted afghan, the one with the deep burgundy roses, that I made a dozen years ago. All of the extra bed pillows got not just a fluffing, but a shaking outside, as well as new cases.
During the day, a light sprinkling rain fell, so soft and gentle that I hardly felt it as I walked the dogs. For a solid two hours, a radiant double rainbow arched across my end of the valley, spectacular in its brilliance and endurance. It connected the snow falling on one mountain with the rest of the range traveling eastward. Where the ends touched the ground, it truly appeared golden.
In the past, I began my evening with a long soak in a hot bathtub, but this past year, removing myself from a bathtub is analogous to raising the Titanic from the ocean depths, so I took a hot shower instead. After a good dry-off, I reached for the flannel jammies, soft from all the washings last winter. As I pulled them on, I knew that this was just the beginning of wearing the winter pj's.
I stayed up until 10:00 pm, then locked up the house, gave the dogs a hug, and headed toward nirvana. Removing the bed pillows and pulling down the quilted spread, I became anxious to see if the first feel of the winter bedding would be as glorious as I remembered. My feet reacted to the initial coolness of the sheets, but as I stretched myself full length under the covers and pulled them up to my chin, my body sighed in relief. Snuggling, I felt myself relaxing for the first time in months as the blankets cocooned me and began warming me to sleep.
The best night of the year is the night it’s actually cold enough to enjoy a warm, snuggly bed, complete with the weight of bedding that feels not just comforting, but allows me to relax completely, fall sleep, and sleep in heavenly peace.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Depends
Elderly maiden Aunt Mathilde accepted our invitation to Thanksgiving dinner and agreed, for one of the few times in her life, to fly. We found her a non-stop flight from northern to southern California. We told her about the travel regulations, including small containers in plastic bags and extra fees to bring even the smallest suitcase with her. Auntie M assured us that she would be "just fine," as long as she remembered her family secret.
Auntie M took a taxi to the airport, presented her ticket, sent her small overnight suitcase on its way through the baggage maze, and joined the queue of other passengers for the pre-boarding screening process. We had explained to Auntie M that she would have to remove her coat and her shoes, place them into a bin, and keep her ticket in her hand as she walked through the security gate, so she understood that process and accepted that it is what's necessary to keep passengers safe, once in the sky.
Auntie M is not the kind of woman who would allow a stranger either to see what's beneath her closed coat or to touch her body without her expressed permission, and then only in what she calls her "public areas": a shoulder to cry on, an escort's elbow, or a lover's embrace. She also had her "family secret," the bulky, extra-absorbent adult diapers that allowed her the dignity to handle her incontinance in private. No one needed to know that she had embarrassing Sudden Leak Syndrome, which could occur more frequently when she traveled.
The TSA screener directed Auntie M to the left and told her to stand in front of a flat panel as he explained that she would have a full body x-ray. Auntie M, aghast at the idea of showing her entire body to a stranger, and, perhaps, revealing her family secret, tried to explain her predicament by responding, "Depends."
"Depends on what?" he responded. "Do you have something to hide?"
"No," she responded, "it's Depends."
"Are you refusing to be x-rayed?" he asked, motioning for another attendant to join him at the flat screen.
"No, I'm not," she replied, "but it's Depends."
The second TSA worker came closer, listened to the conversation, then directed Auntie M to follow her to a screened area for a full-body pat-down. When the woman touched Auntie M in a personal way, Auntie M became very upset and, turning her eyes toward her private area, pleaded with the woman. "Depends," she said, "Depends!"
The screener ignored Auntie M and became more aggressive in the search for ... contraband? explosives? drugs? Auntie M didn't know why she was being physically assaulted, just that she was. Suddenly, the woman's hands stilled as they felt the bulky undergarment that is Auntie's family secret.
"Supervisor!" the TSA employee, shouted, "we need assistance in the screening area."
_______________
Okay, so this is fiction, but it could be happening throughout the USA during the heightened travel season. Families with passels of kids excited and anxious about flying, may not be able to hold it together when it comes to full-body scans and full-body pat-downs, no matter how tactfully either may be performed. It will be congested airports, noisy crowds, and long, stressful lines of people who have to decide whether to allow a stranger to see their naked body image or touch them in private places. In those lines will be the elderly, the disabled, the mentally unstable, and stressed-out, overwrought travelers for whom this may be the final straw in an already difficult day.
In trying to prevent an explosive situation in the air, the airport personnel may be creating an even more explosive situation in the terminals across America.
Is the TSA going to detain every person who objects to the violation of their personal space, or is it going to be a selective process? Granny gets groped, while a young woman covered head-to-toe in her native garb is passed through, rather than risk violating her religious beliefs? Is the TSA going to require individuals wearing a robe and/or head covering to remove it -- or pass them through, rather than risk offending someone who may object to removing a voluminous head covering by racially profiling them? Is any person wearing a bulky adult diaper going to be publicly humiliated because one potential suicide bomber used that option to try to explode a plane in the air? Auntie M is equally offended at the assault on her personal freedom and dignity, but she will be detained, while a person who claims religious privilege or racial profiling will be passed through.
We don't think things through and work in a proactive way to prevent terrorists from commiting their crimes, but we sure have the knee-jerk reactionary tactics down pat!
Pun intended.
Auntie M took a taxi to the airport, presented her ticket, sent her small overnight suitcase on its way through the baggage maze, and joined the queue of other passengers for the pre-boarding screening process. We had explained to Auntie M that she would have to remove her coat and her shoes, place them into a bin, and keep her ticket in her hand as she walked through the security gate, so she understood that process and accepted that it is what's necessary to keep passengers safe, once in the sky.
Auntie M is not the kind of woman who would allow a stranger either to see what's beneath her closed coat or to touch her body without her expressed permission, and then only in what she calls her "public areas": a shoulder to cry on, an escort's elbow, or a lover's embrace. She also had her "family secret," the bulky, extra-absorbent adult diapers that allowed her the dignity to handle her incontinance in private. No one needed to know that she had embarrassing Sudden Leak Syndrome, which could occur more frequently when she traveled.
The TSA screener directed Auntie M to the left and told her to stand in front of a flat panel as he explained that she would have a full body x-ray. Auntie M, aghast at the idea of showing her entire body to a stranger, and, perhaps, revealing her family secret, tried to explain her predicament by responding, "Depends."
"Depends on what?" he responded. "Do you have something to hide?"
"No," she responded, "it's Depends."
"Are you refusing to be x-rayed?" he asked, motioning for another attendant to join him at the flat screen.
"No, I'm not," she replied, "but it's Depends."
The second TSA worker came closer, listened to the conversation, then directed Auntie M to follow her to a screened area for a full-body pat-down. When the woman touched Auntie M in a personal way, Auntie M became very upset and, turning her eyes toward her private area, pleaded with the woman. "Depends," she said, "Depends!"
The screener ignored Auntie M and became more aggressive in the search for ... contraband? explosives? drugs? Auntie M didn't know why she was being physically assaulted, just that she was. Suddenly, the woman's hands stilled as they felt the bulky undergarment that is Auntie's family secret.
"Supervisor!" the TSA employee, shouted, "we need assistance in the screening area."
_______________
Okay, so this is fiction, but it could be happening throughout the USA during the heightened travel season. Families with passels of kids excited and anxious about flying, may not be able to hold it together when it comes to full-body scans and full-body pat-downs, no matter how tactfully either may be performed. It will be congested airports, noisy crowds, and long, stressful lines of people who have to decide whether to allow a stranger to see their naked body image or touch them in private places. In those lines will be the elderly, the disabled, the mentally unstable, and stressed-out, overwrought travelers for whom this may be the final straw in an already difficult day.
In trying to prevent an explosive situation in the air, the airport personnel may be creating an even more explosive situation in the terminals across America.
Is the TSA going to detain every person who objects to the violation of their personal space, or is it going to be a selective process? Granny gets groped, while a young woman covered head-to-toe in her native garb is passed through, rather than risk violating her religious beliefs? Is the TSA going to require individuals wearing a robe and/or head covering to remove it -- or pass them through, rather than risk offending someone who may object to removing a voluminous head covering by racially profiling them? Is any person wearing a bulky adult diaper going to be publicly humiliated because one potential suicide bomber used that option to try to explode a plane in the air? Auntie M is equally offended at the assault on her personal freedom and dignity, but she will be detained, while a person who claims religious privilege or racial profiling will be passed through.
We don't think things through and work in a proactive way to prevent terrorists from commiting their crimes, but we sure have the knee-jerk reactionary tactics down pat!
Pun intended.
Monday, November 15, 2010
DWTS x 5
UPDATE: Bristol is in the finals -- and totally unrecognized by the other contestants, as well as the judges, the hosts, and the crowd. There was dead silence because the favorite went home tonight and the only non-dancer left standing stays for the finals. It irritates me that such disrespect has been shown to Bristol, perhaps for political reasons, but I hope that is not the case. It was stunning to hear accusations that The Tea Party/Republicans kept her on the show long past when she should have gone home, and disgusting to hear the boos attributed to her mother and father, who came to the show to cheer their daughter in her performances.
Perhaps many others felt as I did, watching the show last night, that this young woman put more of herself into this contest than some of the other contestants. Her gracious attitude, her fierce determination, her acceptance of herself as the underdog are qualities to be admired, not to be criticised. Bristol is NOT on the show because of her mother; perhaps, she is on the show in spite of her mother!!
And, she's going to the finals. Good for you, Bristol!
_______________
I've watched this season of Dancing With the Stars, but I have not voted until tonight. After watching Bristol and Mark, I decided to give them all 5 of my votes because they embody what the program is about: a person who is NOT a dancer becoming one, one week at a time.
Bristol has not been talented or graceful or even a good dancer, but she has worked hard to learn the dances, perform the dances, accept the judge's criticisms, and keep coming back each week. Others in the semi-finals came into the competition at a much higher level than the former 17-year-old "high school slut" who became pregnant and then had to be pregnant on national TV. She gave birth to her son, has raised her son, gave her son's father a second chance, which he blew wide open, and then stood on her own two feet to continue with whatever comes next.
What came next was an invitation to be part of this season's DWTS, a tough gig for anyone, but especially tough for a young girl with limited exposure to the hardened public figures who know how to handle the papps, as well as the glare of the 24/7 media spotlight. Through it all, she's been gracious, hardworking, and ... herself.
Congrats, Bristol, for keeping true to yourself. I'm proud of you for using what happened to you as a reason to continue to be who you are in the process of becoming who you will be.
Perhaps many others felt as I did, watching the show last night, that this young woman put more of herself into this contest than some of the other contestants. Her gracious attitude, her fierce determination, her acceptance of herself as the underdog are qualities to be admired, not to be criticised. Bristol is NOT on the show because of her mother; perhaps, she is on the show in spite of her mother!!
And, she's going to the finals. Good for you, Bristol!
_______________
I've watched this season of Dancing With the Stars, but I have not voted until tonight. After watching Bristol and Mark, I decided to give them all 5 of my votes because they embody what the program is about: a person who is NOT a dancer becoming one, one week at a time.
Bristol has not been talented or graceful or even a good dancer, but she has worked hard to learn the dances, perform the dances, accept the judge's criticisms, and keep coming back each week. Others in the semi-finals came into the competition at a much higher level than the former 17-year-old "high school slut" who became pregnant and then had to be pregnant on national TV. She gave birth to her son, has raised her son, gave her son's father a second chance, which he blew wide open, and then stood on her own two feet to continue with whatever comes next.
What came next was an invitation to be part of this season's DWTS, a tough gig for anyone, but especially tough for a young girl with limited exposure to the hardened public figures who know how to handle the papps, as well as the glare of the 24/7 media spotlight. Through it all, she's been gracious, hardworking, and ... herself.
Congrats, Bristol, for keeping true to yourself. I'm proud of you for using what happened to you as a reason to continue to be who you are in the process of becoming who you will be.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Just Being Honest
This has been a bad week. As a result, I'm not sleeping well, over-eating, dealing with heart palpitations, and cranky as hell.
On the positive side, I'm staying home, all by my lonesome, so no one has to deal with me! The dogs don't care how I feel: they just want to go for their walk, which we do almost every day. Daisy has been cuddling up on my lap, while Mia has been snoring on the livingroom floor. Periodically, I give them treats, so we're just one big semi-happy family.
It's okay with me if tomorrow's a better day!
On the positive side, I'm staying home, all by my lonesome, so no one has to deal with me! The dogs don't care how I feel: they just want to go for their walk, which we do almost every day. Daisy has been cuddling up on my lap, while Mia has been snoring on the livingroom floor. Periodically, I give them treats, so we're just one big semi-happy family.
It's okay with me if tomorrow's a better day!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The Blame Game
Mr. "Dubya" Bush is quoted as saying he "probably could have done things better," but I disagree with that phrasing, as well as that perspective. We may do things differently, but we have no way of knowing whether the outcome will be better/ worse/ the same until after the fact. Hence, perhaps President Bush could have done things differently, but the results could have been far worse as a result.
Monday night quarterbacks always believe they could have won the Sunday afternoon football game, but they need to suit up and be on the field Sunday in order to have the opportunity to be in the game. Could they have done a better job than the team on the field? Maybe/maybe not: they could have played the game differently, but that would have allowed the other team to respond differently, and we would have had a different ball game -- but not necessarily different outcomes.
I also don't know why another Texan, of Dallas Cowboy owner's fame, fired his coach. The coach wasn't on the field throwing passes, blocking linemen, driving for a first down, kicking field goals, so why fire him? There are a dozen different coaches on a team, each coach empowered to do the best job s/he can do with the athletes on the roster. There are no guarantees that the team will perform to the expectations of the coaches, the media, or the owner! Yeah, yeah, yeah: it's the old the pitcher wins the baseball game, but I don't agree with that, either!! The team does the job, or it doesn't do the job, on the field, but the coach is confined to the sidelines. Throwing lots of money at a team doesn't buy a winning season: it simply assures that the owner is going to think that how much s/he pays the athletes assures success on the field.
In education, when students fail a class or don't pass the mandated exit exam, it's perceived to be the teacher's fault. I dare anyone who spends one full year in a room filled with 40 non-motivated high school sophomores 5 times a week for a 55-minute period of time to believe that it is the teacher's fault. It's never just one person who makes or breaks a deal, especially if the other side of the deal has absolutely no buy-in to the process or the outcome. The schools provide the information, but the student has to be an active part of the learning process. Sending texts, listening to I-Pods, updating one's Facebook page, tuning out what's around them because it's "boring" are all student strategies to opt out of whatever is going on around them that the do not want to do, so they will not do. Poor kids: no one is teaching them!
Presidents, athletes, teachers, parents do the best job they can do with the information provided to them at a time when they have to make tough decisions that can go either way. Sometimes, they score a touchdown and sometimes they fumble, while other times, the opposing team takes a goal-line stance and holds the line. It's a process, not an event, so we need to accept that sometimes, we'd all love to go back for a do-over, but that's not reality. Put life into the context of living it and move on.
Monday night quarterbacks always believe they could have won the Sunday afternoon football game, but they need to suit up and be on the field Sunday in order to have the opportunity to be in the game. Could they have done a better job than the team on the field? Maybe/maybe not: they could have played the game differently, but that would have allowed the other team to respond differently, and we would have had a different ball game -- but not necessarily different outcomes.
I also don't know why another Texan, of Dallas Cowboy owner's fame, fired his coach. The coach wasn't on the field throwing passes, blocking linemen, driving for a first down, kicking field goals, so why fire him? There are a dozen different coaches on a team, each coach empowered to do the best job s/he can do with the athletes on the roster. There are no guarantees that the team will perform to the expectations of the coaches, the media, or the owner! Yeah, yeah, yeah: it's the old the pitcher wins the baseball game, but I don't agree with that, either!! The team does the job, or it doesn't do the job, on the field, but the coach is confined to the sidelines. Throwing lots of money at a team doesn't buy a winning season: it simply assures that the owner is going to think that how much s/he pays the athletes assures success on the field.
In education, when students fail a class or don't pass the mandated exit exam, it's perceived to be the teacher's fault. I dare anyone who spends one full year in a room filled with 40 non-motivated high school sophomores 5 times a week for a 55-minute period of time to believe that it is the teacher's fault. It's never just one person who makes or breaks a deal, especially if the other side of the deal has absolutely no buy-in to the process or the outcome. The schools provide the information, but the student has to be an active part of the learning process. Sending texts, listening to I-Pods, updating one's Facebook page, tuning out what's around them because it's "boring" are all student strategies to opt out of whatever is going on around them that the do not want to do, so they will not do. Poor kids: no one is teaching them!
Presidents, athletes, teachers, parents do the best job they can do with the information provided to them at a time when they have to make tough decisions that can go either way. Sometimes, they score a touchdown and sometimes they fumble, while other times, the opposing team takes a goal-line stance and holds the line. It's a process, not an event, so we need to accept that sometimes, we'd all love to go back for a do-over, but that's not reality. Put life into the context of living it and move on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)