Cow-Boys and Colonels

Reading, reading, reading. The weather and our colds have prompted reading overly much. We used to interrupt our busy days to stop and read a while. It has almost gotten to the point where we interrupt our reading to do a few household chores.

Our reading Black Hills of South Dakota history has been enriched from the standpoint of Lakota women, Josephine Waggoner and Susan Bettelyoun; from that of a distant shirt tail relative, Ed Lemmon, who had a government contract to deliver beeves to a couple of Indian Reservations in the 1800's; and from notes, diaries, letters and stories from the miners, immigrants, and ranchers who lived there in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

Most of it has been written with utter seriousness. Presently, we are reading it from the angle of a French Baron, Edmond de Mandat-Gracey who had been schooled by Jesuit Fathers in Paris. The Baron was writing it to excite readers all over France with his one month day-by-day adventures throughout the Black Hills with his traveling companions, Monsieur de Bouverie; in Rapid City they joined Gifford Parker who acted as their guide for the visit.

Parker took them to a hoped for spa that he intended to create out of a piece of land at Cascade which is South of Hot Springs. He described how excited Parker was at showing him his intended layout, "making us galop (sic) over the plain in every direction, for to please him, we must see everything. The Americans in speculation have a kind of blind, habitual enthusiasm which becomes contagious, and in the long run, one no longer has a very clear conscience with regard to what is actually a fact, or what is merely in the inchoate stage of a project." "Here is the stage station, here is the depot, the bank will be here and the hotel there."

I myself, have seen that very enthusiasm for some cockamamie idea from the men in the family that I have married into.

He explains "a special malady of the American brain, developed particularly in the West, where there are few men who do not manifest these symptoms. It's diagnosed in an irresistible desire to take in the left hand a piece of wood, and to reduce it to morsels the size of a match by a gentle and regular movement of the right hand armed with a pocket knife, a razor or a bowie-knife."

His telling that the proprietors of hotels provide their guests a block of wood to whittle or they whittle up the benches on their porches. This is a wonderful humourous history as seen through the eyes of a French Baron.

Short Toes and a Hefty Gluteus Maximus

Endurance running proponents believe that being able to run for extended lengths of time is an adapted trait, most likely for obtaining food, and was the catalyst that forced Homo erectus to evolve from its apelike ancestors. More to the point, a distance-running legacy happened when 26 markers developed on the human body, including short toes, a hefty gluteus maximus and Achilles tendon, springy tendon-loaded legs, and the little-known nuchal ligament that stabilizes the head when it’s in rapid motion.

I can understand the urge to run. There was a time that I could run a fair distance at a pretty good clip. I could jump the horse pasture fence, sprint to a small grocery store/post office and race for home leaping a couple of fences on the return trip. That was during the idylic couple of years in the middle of the Black Hills in a small community of 45 folks.

So what happened, I wonder, for I still have short toes and a hefty glute. I couldn't run anywhere let alone leap a fence. Maybe someting happened to my nuchal ligament.

Unequal Equinox

The word “equinox” comes from Latin and means “equal nights.” Around March 20, sunrise and sunset are about twelve hours apart everywhere on Earth. Because of that, a lot of people think that day and night are of equal length on March 20. But actually the day is a little longer than the night on this date. There are a few reasons for that. Sunrise occurs when the top of the sun (not the center) is on the horizon. But the sun actually appears to be above the horizon when it is in fact still below it. That’s because Earth’s atmosphere refracts or “bends” light coming from the sun, so we see the sun a couple of minutes before it actually rises over the horizon. If you add the daylight that persists after sunset, you’ll find the day on the equinox is several minutes longer than the night.

That is a mouthful. My mother taught me that Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. And who was I to question that?

I almost went googly-eyed when I 'Googled' both spring equinox and Easter. I like my mother's explanation for the different dates for Easter much better. What brought this on was looking at the icicles on my header and thinking it is time to have a more positive image up there. I am keeping my eye out for the ferns to lift their fiddle heads.

Faith vs. Fear

So what is to be fearful of? I could list a lot of thing that make me personally fearful, but that exercise would only emphasize those very things I find distressing.

I read that of all the Biblical instructions to "Fear not" is the most common. That is reassuring. On reading Amazing Love The writer states that there are 366 "Fear Not" instructions.

It was always faith that enabled me to do the things that needed doing. Over the years there were some seemingly insurmountable obstacles to a few personal endeavors I took on. Was any of it just dumb luck? I don't think so. Maybe it was a combination of prayer and Finnish Sisu.

At any rate I did accomplish a few little things. Learning to read music and play the cello when I was 65 comes to mind. The truth of that matter was to see if a TIA that ripped out some vision from both eyes, also ripped out the rest of my brains. The rest of that silly story is that my vision returned and now nearly 10 years later, I have parked the cello for a weekly dusting.

As the days pass before my eyes and in and out of my hearing aid, I do not fear this unsettling time in our world. My America is as beautiful as it was when I was being formed in 1945. Yes, I heard a lecture in which the premise was made that people form their values, their viewpoints, and their personality when they are ten years old. The perceived events, both personal and national, are held throughout life. How thankful I am for my own and the extended family that molded me as they shared their beautiful world with me.

Dow Falls Below 6800

According to the Wall Street Journal stocks on the DOW are down 52.25% from its high on Oct. 9, 2007. Does it make me want to go upstairs and throw myself from the window there? Not yet, probably never. Our Oracle from Omaha entertained his stockholders this past weekend. That poor guy lost billions on a long shot on oil which is down to around $40 a barrel today.

There are ways to hold on to the loose change in our pockets and the bill$ in the bank. My Grandmother would be proud of us baking bread every week, making chicken soup, and eating beans. Well, to be honest, I sort of wish that my cook, HWMBO, would add a few more recipes to his menu. My Mother would not believe that we are eating oatmeal for dinner. No not instant. Yes, nearly nightly.

This is a personal challenge and as it is self imposed, not unpleasant...yet. Good thing for all those grocery savings, my dental bill this week is close to a thousand. Old teeth can be a pain in the pocket book. We are loving this financial challenge.

I listened to the best interview on C-Span last night. "Info: Our guest is Matthew Continetti who writes for The Weekly Standard. His most recent article "The Age of Irresponsibility" outlines his thoughts on political and moral corruption. He writes, "There are moments when it seems as though every figure who waltzes across the public stage is a cheat, a fraud, a liar, or a failure."

What a remarkable mind 27 year old Matthew Continetti has. I thought maybe his kind were extinct. He did not fall for the University teaching of what he called "Liberal Speak," but he knew he had to use it to get grades. Imagine that, a young man that did not fall for the myth. I could hardly believe my ears. He is reviled, satirized, and denigrated by the liberal left.

The Imposition of Ashes

Lent, the season for somber reflection; will I give up something that will remind me of the Passion of our Lord? Or will I take on something that will also cause me to reflect on the Passion for 40 days. It began yesterday and will continue for 46 days until Saturday, April 11th.

Lenten Activity
Make a resolution to do something during Lent which expresses a different set of values or priorities than that of the culture. It could involve your use of time or money, the way you relate to people, the way you act at work, the way you recreate.
—Living God's Word: Reflections on the Weekly Gospels, Year B

Last night we went to the 7:00 p.m. service at Holy Cross an hour early to go to our pastor's study prior to the imposition of ashes. Later on the Circle group which I belong to will serve one of the Lenten Wednesday night meals.

Challenges

I suppose one always is faced with challenges in life. We falter if they come in twos and threes. As I worked on my biography project of my Great Aunt Elizabeth day before yesterday, I hit a key and every page became enlarged, center justified, and in some script font. Before I could find out the easy and simply way to undo the unwanted edit, I had it so messed up in the attempt, that I saved it as it was, and walked away from the computer. How is that for dealing with a challenge?

Tomorrow I will attempt to repair the damage, nearly finish the text and start inserting photos. One would think that this would get easier with a new little lap top and a new MS Word '07 Vista. It isn't. However, it is still just as much fun and as interesting as can be. Probably a learning experience as well. Something for old brains to enjoy.

I was surprised by a package from a sister-in-law yesterday. She sent a couple of books that I opened and read of few pages of each immediately. They are so inviting. One is "Pioneer Years in the Black Hills" by Richard B. Hughes. This is a wonderful history by a pioneer newspaper reporter. His diary entries of 1876-1877 are in an Addendum. This book is beautiful, it feels at home in my hands, it is as useful as can be with so much information and best of all it is indexed. I can hardly keep my hands off of it. I am so thankful to get them. The other is "God's Promises for Women" and is just what I need for the faith and hope I wish to keep alive.

The Honorable Grands

I have added a link, that of a grandson, one of the twelve Grands that we honor and cherish. He shares lovely hours with us during his Christmas visits to Omaha. I could call them the twelve apostles, the literal meaning is 'one sent.'

They have been originally sent from the loins of He Who Must Be Obeyed. Each one is gifted in a particular manner as were the Apostles of Christ. However, none of us had a choice in this matter. Harking back to the old saw, "You can choose your friends, but not your family." We have been especially blessed by this generation.

Having twelve, six of each, is rewarding in itself. Without the Internet, it would be almost an impossibility to stay connected, but not quite. They are aware of my presence and I of theirs. Being separated by great distances, they are not often present at our table; when they are, we cherish the moment and the memory. And best of all we know them by their blogs and family email.

So, I introduce you to Bryce Andrew Boe, one of my bloggers of consequence.

Temporary Dental Work

This morning my dental appointment took an hour and a half, more than was expected; but then there was much to do. To exacerbate the situation at hand, my dear dentist, his assistant, and myself had a little visit about the mortgage mess we are in here in the US of A. Each of us got a bit worked up until the dentist said, "when your dentist has steam coming out of his ears, maybe it would be a good idea to drill on another day." He was kidding, but we were all a little worked up over the situation.

Before he started working on the task at hand, I told him I felt a little hook behind one of my front teeth which he cleaned out and put in a temporary filling before the real work began. That will get fixed properly in a couple of weeks.

The old molar crown came off in two sections, half of it flew down my throat to be either pulled out with forceps or by some good belting coughs on my part; which kept the jagged metal out of my digestive system. Then the amount of decay was horrifying for them. I never experienced a tooth ache, nor was it showing up on the x-ray to that extent, and of course with my mouth jacked open and I couldn't see anything. Maybe the steam was coming out of my own ears by then.

Prayer can never hurt anything, so with a three hands in my mouth as well as most of the tools in the room, I did a fair amount of having a word with God. After the "knockting" with a hammer to get the crown loose made me wonder if a person could get a concussion this way. Jack hammering comes to mind.

God are you listening? As I was getting the temporary crown, Doc said, "the situation is this: In a few days you could get a very bad toothache, and if you do, call immediately and I will give you a root canal."

I asked him if I should get Dental Insurance. "No it is a waste of money."

A Knockt on the Head

We had a perfect 8 inch snowfall on Valentine's Day. As I didn't get my Christmas wreath put away, I was a little startled by my icy valentine the next morning.

We are reading (and listening to) a most amazing book. "History of the Indian Wars by Samuel Penhallow" tells of the bloody conflict between the English Colonists and the French, Jesuits, and Canadian Indians. The time period is 1702 to 1723. It is written in Old English Script, many of the s's look like f's. Nouns of all sorts are capitalized within sentences; and proper names are italicized and in subscript. I am reading words that have been out of favor for a hundred years or more. I am experiencing a great deal of brain push-ups. All the while folks are getting 'knockt' on the head by the dozens; some are suffering fates worse than death...and then there is that too.

"A fecond was a Child of Mrs. Hannah Parfons, of Wells, whom the Indians for want of Food had determined to Roaft alive, but while the fire was kindling, and the Sacrifice preparing, a Company of French Mohauks came down the River in a Canoo, with three Dogs, which fomewhat revived thefe hungry Monfters, expecting to make a Feaft upone one of them. So foon as they got afhore, the Child was offer'd in Exchange: but defpifing the offer, they tendered a Gun, which they readily accepted, and by that means the Child was preferved."

Valentine Snowfall

He Who Must Be Obeyed came home from a quick trip to Aldi's with a bouquet of red roses. While he was gone, I stepped into the snow in both the back and front yard. Omaha is snowed in. All area schools and daycare centers are closed and were announcing that fact before one flake of snow fell. Obviously the predictors were accurate. Since I took the photos, another three or four inches of snow has fallen.

Roses are lovely as is a cozy day inside while the city quiets itself for a snowfall. I truely do like winter.

Saturdays & Sundays

We were with friends last night. All four of us had gyro's then came here for dessert and more visiting over coffee. Laughs with friends are good for the soul.

My friendship with H is my link to the Jewish community in Omaha. Most here are Ashkenazi, having been sponsored from Russia by a very active group here. In the Hebrew Bible, Ashkenaz first denotes a grandson of Japheth and great-grandson of the patriarch Noah (Gen. 10:1-3; I Chr. 1:4-6). Albert Einstein was Ashkenazi, one of the German Jews. Many Ashkenazi Jews later migrated, largely eastward, forming communities in non German-speaking areas, including Hungary, Poland, Russia, Eastern Europe and elsewhere between the 10th and 19th centuries. With them, they took and diversified Yiddish, a Germanic Jewish language

My friend is a Shepardic Jew. Her family left Egypt, spent time in a refugee camp in Paris and came to America when she was 14. Her life story is wonderful.

These folks were expelled from Spain in the 15th Century. Those Sephardim who were forced to convert to Christianity during the period lasting from the 1391 massacres in Spain to the 1497 forced baptisms in Portugal. As time passed, many made their way to more tolerant lands, where they openly returned to Judaism, ending their double lives. Many Sephardic communities were decimated in the Holocaust, and others were depleted by emigration to Israel and elsewhere.

In the literature we Finns, the Basque, and some Jews are linked by DNA evidence.

In Need of Chocolate

I don't get here as often as I would like to. Why? Who knows? My days are so predictably uneventful, but nonetheless comforting in their sameness. I sometimes wonder if everyone has the same morning routine, lunch preparations, and dinner down and out. In between? Work on Aunt Liz's biography, exercising, walking, reading, a bit of television. We gave up digital cable and are back to the basic 28 channels which are all I need; a little news, a little information, a little entertainment. Simple needs for a simple person.

Today we went for groceries. We frequent our Aldi store not far away. To our surprise one of our son's friends is working there and was very enthused over his new job, great salary, great benefits, great groceries. We think the greatest prices.

This is where our Seattle son gets Austrian chocolate. One year we mailed him 50 pounds of it. Doesn't that seem crazy! To tell the truth, I wish I had gotten some today.

Opposite Attraction?

"Easter had always struck Fogel as a holiday without real punch, though there was, among the more vivid of his childhood memories, a magical peep into a big sugar egg; it had been at his aunt's house, in Connecticut, where the houses seemed cleaner than in New Jersey, the people wealthier, the daffodils a brighter yellow."

Wen I got to the bottom of the first page: "Fogel was sixty-two, and felt retirement drawing closer. In the daily rub he discovered all sorts of fresh reasons for irritation..." He Who Must Be Obeyed asked me "Do you really like this?" There was a sting to the question and I knew there was no right answer. I thought for a while before I said, "Yes." It was apparent that he had no time for such stuff. I find my own fresh reason for irritation. I thought to myself, I will just keep my reading skills to myself. Elder bonding be hanged.

Maybe it is too much winter. I am desperate for something to divert my mind and get it off of my Lumbar Spine. Last year's histories do no do it right now. "If you want me to read to you, you choosed a book." John Updike's Short Easter was not his cup of tea.

Teaching Old Dogs

Photo: Caleb Jones for NPR


The time marches along.

I am sad about John Updike's death. I have found some news articles on him. I am listening to National Public Radio's "Fresh Air" and they are going to replay some interviews of him previously. The nice thing about the Internet, one can listen to them on the computer as well. I found a couple audio links to him this afternoon. He was a funny fellow...and eloquent. I wish I had read more of his work. His last book will come out this spring. I wish Kurt Vonnegut had not died either. But people die and we miss them when they are gone.

I suppose a person should purposely decide to appreciate those we admire before they die. I have a lot of folks that would fit that description.

The new trick I am trying to learn is a switch-over from Word 2000 to Vista. It would be nice to have a text that I could dog ear. As it is I attempt to decipher the on screen helps. I find my vocabulary is sadly lacking. In over an hour I learned one thing. I had inadvertently locked my document and had to find out how to unlock it to work on it. I reminded myself not to become discouraged and to keep my enthusiasm for the task.

A New Day

We are now on our way to peace and prosperity! So say the new faces in our capitol. It would be a good thing if they are correct in their assumptions. As optimistic as I am, usually, I am not holding my breath for a couple of years while the gears of government get new grease.

Actually, it will be a huge relief not to hear the continual vilification of Former President Bush. His genuine kindly behavior to the Obama family was another testament to his core values.

Aren't people always disdained for their core values? I recall a time well over 50 years ago when my high school friends and I were called the "Goody-Goody Girls." It stung then but rather amuses me today. We weren't all that good; but maybe it was ok to give some people our own age that impression. So, I will let my better angels guide my thoughts and words when at all possible.

The Prayer Service yesterday morning at the National Cathedral was my idea of a proper beginning. It was inclusive, with top notch music and a thought provoking sermon by the Rev Dr. Sharon Watkins. The Cherokee fable she used as an illustration could have been a parable with its thought provoking moral lesson.

Not Shoveling Coal

No, we are not shoveling coal. We woke up to a cold house this morning. When I got up the first time about 6:30, I turned up the heat, went back to bed, but the gas never came on. He Who...fiddled around with the thermostat and turned the fan to 'on' instead of 'automatic' so we assumed our trusty ancient furnace had come on and we would be eating breakfast in comfy accustomed warmth. It was not to be.

Here we are, nearly noon, and with more thermostat fiddling and the fan back to 'automatic,' the gas is finally burning and the house is again over 60 degrees. "Maybe we need a repair man," I suggested. "Messing with the thermostat is easier than shoveling coal," was the reply to my suggestion. One can over-do the frugality, methinks.

While Waiting

A fair amount of our time is spent in waiting. Over the past decades I have waited in hospital waiting rooms while the man in my life endured various surgeries. Waiting for the doctor's exhausted news, waiting for a good outcome, waiting with anxious anticipation for his return to health.

I have waited for many pregnancies to come to fruition. Only the first wait was one with real anxiety, the rest were just what they were, a long wait. And then the wait until each one was out of diapers, could tie their shoes, for school to start or end. Children each come with a lifetime of waiting.

Today I await the return of He Who Must Be Obeyed. Either his cell phone does not work or it hasn't occurred to him that I might be waiting with a little bit of anxiety. Traveling this region in winter can hold the surprise of icy or blizzard blinded highways.

I wait for the end of a seemingly unending financial burden. I pray we are relieved from it. Some say be careful what you pray for and I have experienced a prayer answered in a way that the first situation was actually easier to live with than the resolution. Of course there is the old saw, "God helps people who help themselves." So I act with impunity and pray (again) that I have done the wise thing.

During a wait yesterday, a somewhat disheveled woman asked me point blank "Are you having a Happy New Year?" It took me aback. I don't know why I found it so completely startling. Everyone else sat in a silent and properly buttoned down wait. "It is only the 5th," I told her. "Well," she said, "I have won $27!" How lucky.

Ghost Dance

"Today is the anniversary of the massacre at Wounded Knee, which took place in South Dakota in 1891. Twenty-two years earlier, the local tribes had signed a treaty with the United States government that guaranteed them the rights to the land around the Black Hills, which was sacred land.

But in the 1870s, gold was discovered in the Black Hills, and the treaty was broken. People from the Sioux tribe were forced onto a reservation, with a promise of more food and supplies, which never came. Then in 1889, a prophet named Wovoka, from the Paiute tribe in Nevada, had a vision of a ceremony that would renew the earth, return the buffalo, and cause the white men to disappear. This ceremony was called the Ghost Dance. The Ghost Dance scared the white Indian Agents, and they moved in to arrest Chief Sitting Bull, who was killed in the attempt.

The next leader they focused on was Sitting Bull's half-brother, Chief Big Foot. He was leading his people to the Pine Ridge reservation, seeking safety there. But it was winter, 40 degrees below zero, and he contracted pneumonia.

Big Foot was sick, he was flying a white flag, and he was one of the leaders who had actually renounced the Ghost Dance. But the Army didn't make distinctions. They intercepted Big Foot's band and ordered them into the camp on the banks of the Wounded Knee Creek.

The next morning, federal soldiers began confiscating their weapons, and a scuffle broke out between a soldier and an Indian. The federal soldiers opened fire, killing almost 300 men, women, and children, including Big Foot.

One of the survivors was the famous medicine man Black Elk, who told his story to John Neihardt in Black Elk Speaks (1932)." From The Writer's Almanac, December 29, 2008

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

This is the way of life. If you see something that appeals to you, you'd better memorize it because it is quite likely not to be there a moment later.