So That's That

Apart from the possibility that it is more evidence of global warming, I cannot say I missed the winter we didn't have, especially the snow that didn't fall, or fell and soon melted away.  But Ella did.  Ella loves snow!  On the other hand, spring is ahead and with it there will be birds to bark at, sticks and balls to chase through damp grass, dogs butts to sniff at the new Thomaston Dog Park, which we haven't visited yet, but will soon.  Here's a recent Ella shot (always the lady, but boy, those nails need a trim!):

In other news, we did indeed attend the Democratic Caucus.  It was interesting and gave me a more realistic understanding of what the Iowa caucuses must be like.  What a weird way to enact democracy!  So many people showed up, the line to register to vote snaked out of the building (our local middle school).  They opened the doors to start the process of checking in (if already registered) or registering at 1:00 and had to delay starting the caucus until 3:00 to address the numbers.  I heard that in 2008 our town had 165 attending the Democratic Caucus.  This year there were over 400 people there!  First there were speeches.  I didn't really have a sense of how lopsided the voters were until after the pro-Clinton speech.  People began asking pointed questions, and the questioners got more applause than the person speaking.  When we "caucused" - which meant Bernie supporters moving to one side of the room and Clinton's to the other, it was clear that we outnumbered the Clinton voters more than 2 to 1, almost 3 to 1.  (I found out later that the majority of absentee ballots were for Clinton, so we ended up about 2 to 1.  My guess is that the rich people who "winter" - who knew I'd ever use that as a verb? - in Florida, etc., sent in their ballots for Billary.

SOME of the Bernie Voters

I signed up to be a Bernie delegate to the Maine State Democratic Convention in Portland, Maine in early May.  I may live to regret that; I am not at all sure I care for electoral politics any more now than I did when I was a flaming radical student protester, but I want to cast my vote for Bernie at least once more.

So that's that.

I started a new ukulele class again - pretty good.  We're learning some pretty basic music theory as applied to the instrument in combination with and through playing a wide variety of songs.  So far, so good.  I see the ukulele as a long-term project, one that I find I enjoy more as time goes on.  For me, it is about the music itself, including the theory, and learning to play the instrument really well.  That's my goal.  For most of the people in my class and that I meet who play ukulele casually, it's about playing together and singing songs.  Not my thing really, except to the extent I keep learning to play, learning about music itself.

So that's that.

We bought a "new" car.  It's a 2007 silver Honda Accord, which came with 50,000 miles on it.  We bought it from a local used car dealer that was recommended by our mechanic.  Before we bought it, the mechanic checked it out.  He liked it so much, I got the feeling if we hadn't bought it, he would have considered doing so himself.  The dealer told us he could have sold it 2 or 3 times over, if it were an automatic transmission, but it's a standard.  Back to stick shift!   Better gas mileage!  Anyway, it feels like a grownup's car (okay, it's a geezer car).  Thank goodness for the geezers who owned it previously and drove it about 5,000 miles a year.  We likely will do the same, and maybe it'll last another 10+ years.   Meantime, David sold his 27 year old Volvo to a guy who had stopped by a few weeks ago to ask about it.  He gave David $100 for it, which we looked at as taking it off our hands and giving us money to go out to dinner - which we're doing tonight!  Hurrah for Cafe Miranda!

So that's that.

Yesterday David and I drove the "new" car to Augusta, state capitol, about 45 miles away, to spend the morning with Chuck Kruger, state representative for nearby Thomaston, and a classmate of mine from high school, and Pinny Beebe-Center, state representative for Rockland.  We went to the Democratic caucus, attended a session of the House of Representatives, had lunch with Chuck and Pinny and then made a quick stop at the state house museum.  The Democratic caucus was interesting; a young Black state representative, who is also an organic farmer, gave a presentation on a proposed state constitutional amendment that would enact a "right to food" for people living in Maine.  The point would be, as I understood it, to give Mainers legal grounds to object when certain big corporations and our Republican governor team up to impose food regulations that harm small farmers, consumers, etc. (like recent regulations re slaughtering meat that make it basically impossible for small poultry farmers to slaughter their own chickens and turkeys and offer them directly to customers).

The weirdest part of the day was the legislative session, which was a crazy house quilt of formal greetings ("The House recognizes so and so and so and so sitting in the gallery, guests of such and such Representative from the town of wherever. Would so and so and so and so please stand and be recognized" - yep, David and I were recognized, along with a high school civics class, a 4th grade choir, the girls' high school basketball state champions, etc. etc.)  Interspersed with all these greetings were pro forma approvals of slews of bills, which the body unanimously agreed to do away with reading out loud (except the bill title).  

It was an experience.   It made me aware of how much BS goes on in government - any and ALL government - and at the same time, how vital it is to have people willing to serve in government, willing to sit through the BS and address the real critical issues that affect people's lives.  Both Chuck and Pinny are such people, and I, for one, am grateful for both of them.

So that's that.

Today a flock of cedar waxwings came to our yard to feast on the dried remains of whatever type of cherries are on the tree in our backyard.  This was at least their third visit in the past week.  The cedar waxwings' visit lifted me, made me aware of the days growing longer, warmer, of the wider world so full of winging, swimming, running, creeping and crawling creatures, breathing plants, stones laying silent in the sun, soil so rich in nutrients and full of microscopic life, warming in the spring air, patiently waiting for seeds.  I need these things to keep living in a world where Donald Trump predicts riots if he is not elected President, where our choice for that office is likely to be between two people that almost no one - except presumably their families - likes.

Here's to cedar waxwings, feast and fly away my friends.  Peace be upon you.