Despite the trouble, snow + Christmas cannot be beat.

The other night Dawn and I got a surprise call from an old friend. We haven’t seen him in several years since he moved to California while we were still in Seattle. He’s finishing up his doctorate at Harvard and his domestic partner has a law degree. They’ve been happily together as long as I can recall. I remember fondly how warm their home was to guests and the great dinner parties they threw. You can tell a lot about people by their friends, and they were always surrounded by a diverse crowd of people I wanted to know better.

It only requires mentioning that they are gay in the context of this post.

I cannot help but think about this old friend while watching the latest news about Rick Warren’s role at the inauguration, a moment that is supposed to signal the beginning of a new era of dramatic improvement and change from the past.

I’ve heard the opinions from some friends who think the Rick Warren controversy is blown out of proportion. That it doesn’t really mean anything to have him speak at the inauguration. I cannot disagree more. I’m saddened and angered that Obama has made such a clumsy choice.

Here is a man (Rick Warren) who compares a diverse community of people to beastiality, phedophilia and incest; infers they need to be cured; and says they are not welcome in his house. Sounds like a pastor Hitler might have chosen for his “inauguration” but not Obama.

What is the signal Obama sends with this appointment? I’ve heard the argument that’s he’s trying to be inclusive, but that seems to be at odds with enlisting someone who is, and has no bones about, being exclusive to an entire community. The irony is we now have an African American President, the first, who is starting his Presidency by having a speaker who represents the bigotry of a new era.

I’m extremely disappointed.

I’m serious.  I don’t need to be swim suit warm just pleasant.  I’d also like to be somewhere that is interesting.  Water, mountains, trees, a fun city, anything really.  I am surprised that this is not common knowledge.   I think that every place with sub degree weather should have this information readily available.

Help me make it so for Fairfield Iowa. Thank-you and happy holidays.

I’m really not bored or at a loss for things to do, but after reading this I’m sure some will think otherwise.

OK so after the ice storm last week I was playing outside with my daughter, crunching through the 2 inch layer of hard crusty ice and snow that was on top of the snow that fell earlier in the week. I noticed that with everything coated in this Wintery shell, that squirrels and birds alike could not get to buried nuts or any remaining berries and seeds on the plants.

So I posted a couple ears of dried corn on the porch and scattered several cups of bird seed and nuts on the back yard under the tree. It sat there on the icy crust and I thought, “I wonder if birds and squirrels will notice.”

The next day I sat down to breakfast with my daughter and we looked out the back sliding door in amazement as several dozen bright blue and red jays, all types of small birds and squirrels were busy feasting on the corn and seed several feet away from our breakfast table. My daughter was busy identifying the birds while I was feeling proud for bringing joy to a small portion of the animal kingdom.

About an hour later my daughter was in the basement playing with the cats. She announced with loud exclamation that one of the cats had just brought in a bird to eat. Uh oh. Had I just un-knowningly created the perfect trap for birds and squirrels? That would be yes.

I considered the matter for most of the day and have concluded that while I did manage to kill at least one bird, I have saved many more from starvation. Because of course there isn’t a single other human within miles also feeding the birds.

Today I spent breakfast and lunch again marveling at the number of small animals feasting in my backyard. At one point during lunch there were six squirrels (never-mind the countless birds) all huddled and eating within a ten square foot area. One of the squirrels is extremely fat. I’ve never seen seen a fat squirrel before. I assume this on is the squirrel that actually lives in our backyard and has had a head start on all the other critters.

Yes people, this is how I pass time in Iowa.

Here’s the two squirrels that don’t run away when I try to take a video:

I’m trying to digest the news that Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack is going to be the agriculture secretary. Looking around Iowa, I don’t see a system that is anything but big ag (this is a state that still promotes CAFOs and large scale non-sustainable farming of GMOs).

At the same time I’m also trying to understand the terms of the new auto bailout, and determine specifically if there are any restrictionss on using the money for the development of vehicles that get over 30mpg (or something aggressive like that). If anyone has a link to the details please share it.

It shouldn’t be a hard sell to the public to chart a course towards a more sustainable and healthy food production system, neither should it be hard to sell strict terms on a bailout of an auto industry that dug it’s own grave (and ours) by heavily marketing SUVs for over a decade. So why (apparently) isn’t it happening?

I wanted a big transition when I stopped chemo and I tried to make it so but I kept getting sick and run down.  I didn’t have the strength to change overnight.   So once again change takes its sweet time.

Last week, I was out in public without a hat on.  It feels good to have hair!  I’ve had no MRIs or CAT SCANS yet but all my check ups have been good.  I will continue taking an antibody, herceptin, until summer.  We are all assuming I am cancer free.  There is no reason to assume otherwise.

I have recognized a number of things that have changed.  I am now balancing going on with life with monitoring my health and care.  I am not trying to be perfect anymore.  I know fear is always worse than the actual something you are fearing.  I know I have little control over life.  And I feel more deeply.  It’s similar to when you have a baby and can’t watch scary movies anymore.

Best news is, I start work this week as a therapist for a local community mental health agency!  I have a job!!

Me (to my daughter): let’s write a letter to Santa and tell him what you would like him to put under our tree.

My Daughter: no, my Christmas present from Santa is a secret between me and Santa.

This is the 7th year of the Small Works Show.  It’s at the Emerald Studio upstairs from the At Home store.  It has an impressive showing of 120 artists from all over the globe.  Of course Fairfield has a very strong presences but there is a lot of diversity in the show.  I loved.   It’s here through January.

I just watched a great conversation on one of me least favorite news shows “Morning Joe”. About 5 minutes in the guests on Morning Joe really capture the way I feel right now and the dream I have of an new revolution driven by the economic imbalance that exists in this country.

I’m seeing more and more of these big fake testicles hanging from the back of pickup trucks and SUVs. Last night I saw a Dodge Durango with a big pair that had more than the usual amount of detail (lots of veins and testicle like texture).

I’m not sure how to react anymore. Is it disturbing? Consider the man who drives an Jeep Cherokee around with a pair of balls hanging from the back. Does he think his old Jeep Cherokee is some sort of macho on wheels? Is he letting everyone know he’s so tough that even his car has balls? I honestly don’t get it - at all.

Sometimes I can ignore the scary psychological issues and just laugh to myself - “omg what will the redneck culture produce next?”

The other night when I saw the pair hanging from the Dodge Durango I found some great context for this new trend. Imagine a Dodge Mini-Van with a pair of big plastic labia attached to the rear door.