Musings

I was on Craig's list philosophy forum, and there was a question about how to redesign society. Here's my thoughts, based on years of research as a probation officer and student of human behavior. The best functioning societies, although not always the most financially successful, share some common elements. First of all the revere their elderly, and treat them with utmost respect. They also value family, and teaching their children the values of their culture. Honor and integrety are paramount, followed typically by a willingness to work for what they have, not just expect someone else to take care of their basic needs. Our country started out with these elements, but somewhere along the way we have lost most of them.

How do we 'redesign society'? How do we return to a country that has fewer people in prison and on welfare, and more productive, honest members of the community? I believe it has to start at our own level, within our own lives and hearts. How each of us lives, and the influence we spread to our families, our communities and our country. Are we willing to live with more integrity, honesty, morality? Are we willing to care for our own, whether they are aged or infant, and even sacrifice some of our own desires and dreams in order to do so?

We have become a selfish and greedy society, fascinated by the rich and famous, and many people are willing to neglect the most important people in their lives in order to live closer to those materialistic role models.

So we each have a choice, every day. I challenge each of us to live stronger, more moral lives, with great integrity. Let's put our family first, without sacrificing our own sense of self worth. That's tricky, I struggle with it still, but well worth the effort. Let us set an example, teach integrity at every opportunity. One of my favorite books was 'Developing Capable Young People', about teaching children to be responsible, capable adults. I found I used it with my clients- most of them were teenagers mentally, just in adult bodies I can only hope that some of them learned to live more responsibly, with better coping skills and more willingness to take responsibility for their own actions. And that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it...

I've been very busy trying to take it easy, in the morning I have to check my pond, feed the goldfish, look over the garden, wander around until Mom makes me go sit down again. I have butt rash from sitting so much! It's been so hot outside, yesterday was 109 on the porch, that it's easier to stay inside during the afternoon. I read Nisha's blog, takes me back. Even though my youngest kid is 24, I remember being pregnant. Some of the most amazing months for any woman, and the man that loves her. I was so jealous of my older sister, she thrived in pregnancy- no morning sickness, very little discomfort. I was sick for months, then waddled like a duck and felt like a whale the rest. But feeling a baby kick, seeing the ultrasound, knowing I was carrying a life, safely protected inside my womb- there is no way to describe that joy.

While I'm staying quiet, I've had time to organize My Documents on my computer, boy do I have a lot of junk! Recipes, knitting patterns, lots of letters I've written, and on and on. I'm telling you, I'm desperate! If I have to spend time organizing virtual information, I really have too much down time. However, the wounds on my chest haven't even healed yet, so I still have weeks to go before I can get more active than knitting, reading and of course, organizing my sad computer. I guess walking or yoga are out for now.....

Sick Summer

Did I mention I had heart surgery? No, actually, I had surgery again. I didn't have much time to plan, really.... I couldn't clean the house, just had time to get the porch plants watered, the fish fed with a weekender block, pack a little bag, fall apart at the seams. Luckily my sister was here, and when I got a call from the cardiologist that there was more fluid on my heart, and he wanted a surgeon to operate that week, I had someone here to pick up the pieces. He called Tuesday, and that afternoon the surgeon's office called, said to be at his office on Thursday and he'd do surgery on Friday!

David took me to Scottsdale Thursday, we did all the pre-op stuff that day, and went into the hospital Friday. Unfortunately, I got bumped from the 7:30 am slot to later, because some poor lady had to have bypass surgery, then they couldn't find decent veins in her legs to use. I wheeled into surgery at 4:00, which is scary, because statistics show more mistakes occur during afternoon surgery. Oh well, everything went well, although my chest looks like it's been used for target practice. I have 3 poke holes on the right, then 3 on the left that are bunched up all together. Then of course I have the vertical scars down the sternum from the July surgery. Mine still don't even come close to the size of Jared's, though, so I shouldn't complain. OK, I will just a little! Saturday and Sunday were awful, then things started getting better. David, Debbie Mom, and my friend Julie set up a watch schedule, and there was someone with me 24 hours a day through Tues. It made things so much more bearable, that's for sure. I was released on Thursday, and we stayed with David's sister Trish that night. I got the luxury ride home on Friday, my Mom brought her motor home and I got to sleep most of the way. It's nearly a 3 hour drive at times, so that made it much more bearable.

I have the hardest job now, which is to take it easy and allow my body to heal. I had a blessing that told me I'm to be patient, there's that word again... Anyhow, I have a couple knitting projects I can do, and of course my 'quiet time' will give me more time to blog. Watching the weeds grow in my garden will make being quiet much more difficult though.

The great time about August is watching the hummingbirds fight. Now there are fewer flowers for them, and the feeders are much more popular. I have one right in front of the family room window, so I can knit or surf the internet, read etc. while watching the birds. I have a huge elderberry bush nearby, so they race from it to the feeder, engage in arial combat, chatter and scream at each other, then zoom back. I bet if I looked there would be some hummingbird nests up in the elderberry, but I leave them alone. I don't like people peeping in my bedroom!

Summer Storms

Wow, what a great monsoon we've had! After the terrible drought we've had for the past 7 years, it's a bit of a shock to have cloudy days for weeks, and rain nearly every day. I know most of the US has hot, muggy summers, but we're just used to dry heat, up to 115 during the worst days. We've had clouds every day, and rain almost every day, since July 12. We desert rats hardly know what to do! I don't have a mud room, there's rarely a need. The dogs are tracking mud in, so I put rugs and mud mats in front of the doors to save the floors a bit. Since I'm not allowed to sweep or mop, something has to help me out!

The clouds have been building all day, and now it's raining hard. The thunder and lightening is very close, crackling and loud. Our poor dogs are cowering, either on our laps or under our chairs, they hate the thunder. The best thing about cloudy days in Arizona are the sunsets... as the sun drops below the Mountains, the clouds cast out the most amazing colors of orange, pink, gray and hues in between, all radiating across the sky. The sunset in the west will be orange and dark pinks, but when we look toward the east, the clouds will be radiating the most amazing color of pink- 40 miles worth across the sky it seems. Where the clouds are too dark to let the colors glow, there will be sunstreaks through the lighter spots, looking for all the world like a spolight blazing onto the ground below.

With the rain comes the weeds. It's too wet most days to mow, although David was able to push through the worst of the backyard weeds before it rained again yesterday. Now it looks more like lawn in the back instead of weeds. Thank goodness for the rain, with it raining daily, I didn't worry about my pots and vegetable garden as much. I've been in bed or in my recliner more than any place else, and I can't do anything that causes exertion. Yeah, that's the bad news, the echocardiogram done on Thurday showed more fluid around my heart, and also my lungs. At least that explains why I've been so tired and easily winded, but it sure wasn't what I was expecting to hear. Now there will be more tests, lab work, blah blah blah. I love the fact that I have a good excuse to have a messy house and yard, though. Can't blame it on laziness any more, get to use the old ticker as a reason!

Deathly Hallows

Yeah!! Last Friday I finally felt good enough to start reading the new Harry Potter book, the Deathly Hallows. I started it earlier, but too many pain meds kept me from being able to get into it. Well, that and recuperating, I'm sure. Anyhow, I started it Friday after Shawna left, and of course read most of the night... OK, actually until 2:30 am. I finished it Saturday about 1 pm. The problem with reading is that I'm a junky- if it's good enough to read, then I do so until it's finished. I cook dinner, eat, etc., but I can't really sleep until a good book is read. If it's an 700-800 page book, that's a bit of lack of sleep for me! It's a great book, and I am OK with being a geek. Now I just have to get well enough to see the latest Harry Potter movie. I'm so bummed I didn't get to see it when it came out, but they don't have movie night in the hospital :).

We are getting the most wonderful rain!!! It started raining here about the 12th of July, and has been raining almost daily since. What a blessing, we have been in a drought for the past 7 years, at least. It's supposed to rain for at least the next 10 days, I sure hope and pray it does.