How did I ever find time to go to work?

That's what I've been asking myself lately.  Yesterday was the 9th month anniversary of my retirement.  That's long enough to carry and give birth to a child.  And what have I done with these months? (Was I actually worried about being bored?)  I made a commitment to myself NOT to make (new) commitments for 6-12 months after retiring.  And I've pretty much kept to that.  

A couple of months ago I went through the 4 session training program to become a volunteer with the Restorative Justice Program here, and since then I agreed to mentor a young person referred to RJP by the courts.  That is one new commitment.  

And I made a short-term commitment to become a delegate for Bernie Sanders at the Maine State Democratic Convention - which takes place May 6-7.  It has required me to attend a couple of meetings, but will be over after the convention (and I plan to de-register from the Democratic Party and become an unaffiliated independent again.  A pox on both parties!)

Other than those new commitments, I've been continuing with life - doing a lot of reading, completed an 8-week ukulele class, completed a 6-week Tai Chi class, David and I have been meditating daily (that's been interesting--who knew how hard it could be to, as Sylvia Boorstein says, "don't just do something, sit there"), painting rocks, meeting synagogue Board and treasurer obligations, working on some poems, and most recently, beginning to work outside (turned the soil in the raised bed this week, bought pansies, only to see them covered in snow!). 

So here's some photos of life going on:

Cello's Class - can you pick him out?

Old tree we pass on morning walks - with lichen

Snow on my pansies - this was when snow first fell; we got 1+ inch; melted away quickly

Morning after the snow, these were weird ice crystals on the wooden planks of the pier we walk to each day

Sprit-rigged sail boat

Whale and sailing ship

Dog

Changes

I've been thinking about change.  I guess what started it was coming into March, with the weather warming up and seeing the first crocuses raise their heads, imagining that spring was around the corner ...

followed on the first day of astronomical spring by 5 inches of snow ...

and today it is 47 degrees again.  

Global, the gas station at the Crossroads convenience store almost across the street from us (where our street, Birch, continues and becomes Broadway, and is crossed by Main Street and Cedar Street, hence "Crossroads"), raised the price of gas again for the second time in 10 days, from $1.9599 to $1.9999, after hitting a low (for only a day or two) of $1.7499, and spending about a month at $1.8599.  

I've been driving our "new" car, learning how to use a stick shift again.  The car is so clean, and the fabric on the seats is black.  If we let Ella in there, even once, her beautiful blond fur would be everywhere.  So we bought a "hammock" for Ella from Orvis.  It has four straps, two attach around the front seat headrests and two attach around the back seat headrests, and the "hammock" covers the back of the back seat, the backseat and the backs of the front seat.  We haven't yet taken Ella for a ride in it.  (The snow is still melting and we are well into Maine Mud Season, so we're hoping for a sunny dry day.)

The upstairs hall, stairway and downstairs front hall are painted and we've begun hanging up photos and art again.  Three of Sam's Atlanta Philosophy Film Festival posters went up in the front all today:

My daughter is in Puerto Rico for 10 days or so, working on a farm of a woman she met in Haiti.  She may take a job on a farm in North Carolina when she comes back.

Yesterday we woke up to learn of another terrorist attack, this in Brussels, which immediately unleashed a wave of nativist and racist outrage in the U.S.  I was disappointed in CBS News last night, which was fanning the flames of fear, predicting attacks by ISIS here in the U.S.  Maybe they WANT Trump to be the next president (although it was Cruz who advocated cracking down on Muslim communities in the U.S.) 

Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders won big victories in Idaho and Utah.  Who knew?  Clinton won in Arizona.  Arizona has more delegates. Bernie isn't giving up, notwithstanding Obama's suggestion to a room of big shot $33K donors that he should step aside.

I just finished reading a "new English version" by Ursula K. Le Guin of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching - A Book About the Way and the Power of the Way.  David had purchased it some time ago and had taken it out to read.  I swiped and read it.  (A little woo woo for Laurence Anne, I hear you ask?  Well, how much woo woo is too much woo woo?  Google that and you'll be surprised by what comes up!)  I'm going to quote here:

     46 Wanting less

     When the world's on the Way,
     they use horses to haul manure.
     When the world gets off the Way,
     they breed warhorses on the common.

    The greater evil:  wanting more.
    The worst luck: discontent.
    Greed's the curse of life.

    To know enough's enough
    is enough to know.

Peace, peace, far and near.

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.

You don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows

But it wouldn't hurt.  Is it global warming?  Or is Mother Nature just really pissed off?  The weather has been bi-polar (no pun intended).  For example, here are the temperatures from February 4, February 10,  February 14 (check out the "feels like" temp!) and today, February 20th:

Just slightly confused.  During that time period, we actually experienced winter:

For about a week it was beautiful.  Cold, but only 36 hours of minus degree temperatures.  The rest of the time, just seasonally cold, cold enough so that when you walk, the snow crunched under your feet.  I got to wear my new coat every day for a week - at least during morning walks.

Today I wore 2 fleeces under a raincoat.  In mid-February.  Ick.  For this I moved to mid coast Maine?  I could have moved to Atlanta and been near my grandchildren.

Apart from the confusing weather, things have been generally busy and somewhat confused, at least for me.  Randomly, here's what I've been up to:

• I attended two meetings of the Maine Democratic party, one in Belfast and one in Rockland.  Both covered how to participate in Maine's caucuses.  Yep, like the famous Iowa caucuses (and the Nevada caucuses taking place today!), Maine's delegates that choose the party nominees are selected in caucuses, not in primary elections.  The whole (Democratic) caucus process is incredibly arcane and cumbersome, and very interesting.  In 2008, about 150 people turned out in Rockland for the Democratic caucus.  (I learned that caucuses are held on a municipal basis, so ours is here in Rockland.)  At the Rockland meeting, a representative of the Hilary and of the Bernie campaign spoke.   Both were local legislators, but Bernie's was inspiring. Troy Jackson is a logger from upstate Maine who's been fighting the LePage administration in the legislature over labor issues.  Our dismal governor attacked Troy by name a couple years ago, ridiculing him as not belonging in the government and telling him to go home and cut logs.  Troy is fiercely pro-Bernie.  Troy pointed to the influence of Money - in Augusta, in Washington. He said he's tired of Democrats compromising.  He said you never hear LePage or any other Republican talk about the need to compromise.  For once, he said, he wants to vote for a person whose values and policies he really believes in.  I hear you, Troy, and I stand right there beside you:  Go, Bernie!
• I decided to attend, and am now 3 out of 4 sessions through, training by the Restorative Justice Project to be a mentor or some other volunteer role.  I think I've mentioned that David went through this training the first year we moved here and has served as a mentor 3 or 4 times, in fact, is currently a mentor for a young man.  I'm not yet sure how I want to participate but I support the program and have learned from the training sessions.
• We - mostly David, but me, too - have started working on the house again.  I learned that I actually enjoy steaming wallpaper off of old walls.  So I've taken up that task, and then David comes behind and repairs the plaster - a very intense job because the plaster is old and the wallpaper has been up a long time, several layers, the bottom layer a very long time.  In fact, yesterday I found someone's signature and the date 1927 under the wallpaper in the hall - we're doing the walls by the staircase, the upstairs and downstairs hallways - here's a photo:

Appears to say: L L Rowe APR 1927

• Synagogue-related activities busier than usual lately.  In addition to treasurer tasks and Board meetings, I have attended a couple of joint meetings of the Policy and Ritual committees (I joined the Ritual committee this past year).  We've been addressing the issue of what to do about saying kaddish when we don't have 10 Jews for a minyan.  The new policy is to collect some relevant prayers and readings that can be recited by the mourner and congregation in lieu of kaddish if there is no minyan.  I offered to - and now must actually - work on preparing the readings/prayers for copying in booklet form.
• I started Tai Chi, just a 6-week course, at The Dancing Elephant, which is where I had been going for yoga (okay, okay, I hear you about the name The Dancing Elephant?? But given how klutzy I am when "moving" around the studio, I think it's a good name).   The Tai Chi classes are an hour (versus 90 minute yoga sessions) and less expensive ($10/class versus $15).  I had tried a Tai Chi class a year or so ago through a separate adult-ed program and didn't care for the approach taken by the teacher or for driving in the evening to Camden to the school where the classes were held.  I assumed the sessions at The Dancing Elephant would have a different teacher.  First session was this past week - turns out, it's the same teacher as through the adult ed program; oh well.  The class is small, 6 students, 3 women, 3 men.  Maybe it will be okay.  It's certainly more convenient, closer to home and takes place during the day from noon to 1:00. It did remind me how much I loved Tai Chi so I think I'll stick with it for the 6 sessions at least.
• I've been fairly good about regularly practicing ukulele and have decided to take another formal class at Bay Chamber Music School which starts at the end of the month.
• I've read a bunch of books - right now, reading 3:  Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, Essays After Eighty, by Donald Hall, and In The Company of Crows and Ravens, by John M. Marzhoff and Tony Angell (beautiful drawings!), plus some poetry and a book about Maine presented through a year's worth of daily entries, which I'm reading week-by-week.
• Trying to follow the permutations of Antonin Scalia's death in the media while trying not to enjoy the jokes too much.  ("You should only say good things about people who die.  Okay.  Scalia died.  That's good.")  Wishing I could deeply believe what I wrote on Facebook - that I wish he had retired, not died. I want to believe that; does that count?

.
In the narrower and now muddy world of mid coast Maine, I remind you - if anyone is still reading this blog or happens upon it - that applications are due very soon for Miss Sea Goddess for next year's Maine Lobster Festival.  Unfortunately for me - fortunately for the public - I aged out of applying some 40 years ago!

Let's see how Bernie does in Nevada, and what the hell happens in the Republican primary in South Carolina, the first state to secede from the United States, leading to the (first) Civil War, home of Strom Thurmond, the state where a white racist felt comfortable slaughtering Black people in a house of worship.  Geez, mentioning Bernie, for a second I felt a slight frisson of hope, then thinking about South Carolina and the Republicans, I think I may need to throw up.

Peace, peace, far and near - Bernie for President.

Meandering thoughts on winter and other things...

I've been thinking about winter because ... it's winter.  And although a somewhat bipolar (no pun intended) winter this year - with temperature variations in the last several weeks from 3 degrees to 55 degrees and almost no snow (knock on wood) - it IS winter.  Here is today's weather in mid coast Maine as of about an hour ago:

The big news this morning is the approaching blizzard, which the media - in their wisdom and desperation to attract viewers - is calling "Winter Storm Jonas".

I confess that although I empathize with those threatened by the coming blizzard, my main feeling about this news is one of gratitude that mid coast Maine is not in the storm's path.  The first year we lived here, we had a storm that dumped 32 inches:

David's car post-blizzard!

I figure, we've done blizzard.

It is interesting to me that the storm coverage states that governors are advising people to lay in supplies for 72 hours or even a week, expecting that people may lose power that long.  I am recalling the storm from a few years ago, not Hurricane Sandy, before that, that came on October 31st when the trees still bore leaves.  We were living in Connecticut and lost power for 11 days.  11 days!  Luckily we had a gas stove, so we could heat water, cook food.  We took showers at a gym downtown (where the power lines were underground so they didn't lose power) and at work.  And at home, we were cold!

Speaking of cold, I bought a new winter coat this year.  I wasn't satisfied with my old one from LL Bean.  Most of the time it was warm enough, but on truly bitterly cold days, even with layers, I felt cold in it.  I really looked around for a replacement, and finally settled on a coat from Lands End, the insulated Squall Parka.  Here it is:

Its only shortcoming may be that it is too warm, and possibly too heavy.  I do wonder whether I will be able to actually lift the jacket in order to put it on as I get older and presumably weaker.  The coat is so warm, that I find I can't wear it all that often, even up here, even in winter (at least, this winter).  I wear it on my morning walks with Ella, and if I take her out at night, I usually wear it then.  Otherwise I'm back to my aging LL Bean parka.

What I like about the new coat are the pockets.  There are 5 of them.  An inside one where I put my phone.  4 outside pockets where I store the following:

1) Kleenex - I can't leave the house in the winter without a large supply of tissues; the alternative would be neither polite nor pretty.

2) Dog biscuits - I can't leave the house with Ella EVER without a supply of dog biscuits.  

3) Tennis ball - this is a requirement only for long morning walks when we stop down at the Ohara's Bait yard by the water to toss the ball for 5-10 minutes - yes, even in the bitter cold (although not in the pouring rain; even Ella doesn't insist on that).

4) Poop bags - this is a requirement for every walk with Ella, and it is sound practice to carry 2 poop bags; you never know when it might be a 2 bag day!

So you can see, I need 4 pockets - and the inside pocket for the cell phone is a nice perk (although the jacket is badly designed in this area; the pocket is between the outside fabric of the coat and the inside insulation; that means the phone gets cold; the insulation should be on the outside of the pocket, between its contents and the cold).

In other news... the right wing nut jobs are still illegally occupying the wildlife refuge in Oregon... the Republican candidates are still whipping up division and hatred... Bernie Sanders creeps up in the Iowa polls... I hope to attend a workshop on participating in Maine's Democratic caucuses (actually enrolled as a Democrat - was a non-enrolled Independent) so I can vote for Bernie in the primary)... I miss my grandsons, must visit before too long... 

The sky is clear and so blue.  5 planets are aligning each night, visible just before dawn.  One night this week, I'll get up extra early to see them:

Peace, peace, far and near, soon, in our lifetimes, and forever.

Merry Chanukah

Below are the windjammers at Ulner's Point, wrapped up for the winter and, this year, for the first time since we moved here, decorated for Chanukah:

Later they added a Christmas tree to another of the masts, but I have to say, the tree does not seem so impressive as the Magen David (Star of David).  See how the tiny tree appears to float over to the left?

So, Merry Chanukah everyone.  That was the greeting on my holiday gift from my son and grandsons. Inside was the best gift of all: a DVD containing another 90 minutes of "Wet Pants and the Fisher Baby," a home movie professionally edited by my son Sam, with soundtrack and all.  This is, I think, the third or fourth episode.  This new episode was all about their trip up here to visit us this past summer. 

I sent the boys Christmas "hats". Sam sent this photo.  Are they not handsome?  (You can't really see it, but Cello is wearing reindeer antlers that light up!)

Christmas Day it was 52 degrees here.   David and I went to the Methodist Home at 7:00 am to help make Christmas dinner to package up and send out for the "Meals on Wheels" program.  We worked there with a few other volunteers until 9:30 or so, and then went over to the church where the community Christmas Dinner is held and worked there through the rest of the morning and into the afternoon.  We served about 110-120 guests.  Santa Claus even dropped by:

And now we turn toward the end of the old year and the start of the new.  

Is there a chance for peace on earth?   May it be so, in our lifetime.

Piece work

I don't think this is going to change anything, but I find I have to speak out about guns.  Someone somewhere posted something saying, I badly paraphrase here, that the Second Amendment is just a law that people living 200 years ago constructed.  It's manmade, and can be unmade.  I agree.  It's tens of thousands of lives overdue.  So, here are my own personal recommendations for addressing gun violence.  I posted these on Facebook.  Not a single "friend" commented or "liked" them, likely because no one took the time to read the whole lengthy post.  I apologize in advance for hard-headedness, but I'm going to keep posting these thoughts over and over again.  

1. Repeal the Second Amendment, together with repeal of all “stand your ground” laws. No further “self defense” right using any firearm. No further right to carry concealed weapons. Legal use of guns by other than police, army, security personnel limited to lawful hunting and target practice/competition (such as in Olympics).

2. Ban possession of all assault rifles, all automatic and semi-automatic weapons and all ammunition for any of the same, possession of the same carries minimum fines and jail time, and bans the possessor permanently from ever receiving a license to own a gun.

3. All guns in the possession of anyone in the US must be turned in within one year of the law’s passage to specified local governmental offices.

4. When turned in, the gun owner may make an application to become a licensed gun owner. If the owner does not apply within the year, the gun is forfeited, subject to request for reimbursement (see #5 below)

5. During the first year after passage of the law, if the possessor of gun(s) does not want to apply to become a licensed gun owner and the possessor can demonstrate prior legal ownership of the gun(s), the possessor will be reimbursed the then fair market value of the gun(s), with 50% of the reimbursement paid by the government and 50% paid by the NRA.

6. The application process to obtain a license for gun ownership will include, at a minimum:

a. Background check;

b. Waiting period;

c. Documented completion of a required gun safety course;

d. Documented completion of a required gun operation course;

e. Proof of ownership of a gunlock.

f. Annual license renewal;

g. Proof of insurance;

h. Requirement to carry license and proof of insurance with gun when the gun is in lawful use;

7. Every resale of a licensed gun will require the existing owner to be licensed and the new owner to have received a license prior to taking possession of the gun.

8. Possession (and not just use or use in commission of a crime) of an unlicensed gun is subject to fine and minimum jail time and bans possessor from ever receiving a gun license.

9. Each state shall place a limit on the number of guns that may be owned by a single individual; provided that ownership of more than 5 handguns and/or 5 long guns requires the owner to register and obtain a federal license as a gun collector or gun dealer. Similar legislation re possession of ammunition.

10. When not in use for lawful purposes, all guns must have a lock in place on the weapon. If a gun lawfully licensed to an owner is discovered by police without a lock in place (including inadvertent discovery), the owner’s license must be suspended for a minimum of 90 days. A second occurrence, 180 days suspension. A third occurrence, permanent banning from having any gun license.

11. If a licensed gun is determined to have been used by anyone other than the registered gun owner, subject to #12 below, the owner is subject to significant fine and the gun license is suspended for a minimum of 90 days. A second occurrence, 180 days suspension. A third occurrence, permanent banning from having any gun license

12. If licensed gun is used in a crime or if any injury to a person occurs as a result of such use, whether used by the owner or someone else, in addition to any other charges applicable to the incident, the owner is permanently banned from having any gun license in the future and is subject to minimum jail time.

13. All use of guns by other than police, army, security personnel is prohibited during the first year following passage of the law. Use of any gun during the first year after passage of the law is a crime, whether the gun is used for hunting, target practice, etc., and the user of the gun will be banned permanently from becoming a licensed gun owner.

14. The federal and state governments should require the NRA to fund anti-gun advertisements and education. The NRA should be required to pay 50% of all gun safety courses and gun operation courses for all gun license applications for some minimum period of time such as 10 years.

* * * * *

Not in my lifetime; not in my children's lifetimes, not even in my grandchildren's lifetimes - how many more must die?

Peace.