Buffalo Gal

Friday was a great day!  We took a nice ride and visited the "Bluebird Bed and Breakfast" at Farside of Fifty’s and Far Guy’s place near Osage MN.  They live in a wonderful environment….wooded acres filled with oak trees that are just beginning to leaf out  in late May….I got to see some of my beloved "pale green mist"  again in watching the oaks along the route northeast of Detroit Lakes.

I got to meet Chance in person at last!   He greeted us at the gate and is just as handsome as his pictures on Far Side’s blog would indicate.  His black hair is shiny and glossy but he had been in his swimming pool so his "underside" was a bit wet…. but that’s just fine—-a good looking Border Collie has to cool himself off on a warm spring day when he has been playing with his best friend Miney and running after balls tossed by the people he "owns".

We spent  a most pleasant time sitting on the outdoor veranda watching Mom and Pop Bluebird come and go to the bluebird house that is now home to the little bluebird babies. The parents are busy all day long carrying in the food the babies need and demand.  Far Side observed on a past blog that if human parents were as diligent and constant as bluebirds we would have far less trouble in our world of humans…and I agree totally.  Birds and other animal parents devote themselves totally to the care of their "children" til they are grown up and ready to leave the nest.  The difference between bluebirds and humans is that bluebirds do not have to spend 20 or more years raising their babies!  Their total devotion is still a shining example for parenting.  And we humans need to be as diligent and constant for the 20 or more years it takes us to complete the raising of our offspring.  Those who do remain constant have wonderful results—-excellent children and grandchildren because the good parenting gets on passed from generation to generation.

I got to see Far Side’s former nursery/greenhouse layout and also her flowerbeds where my lupine seeds were harvested last year.  She also showed me a lovely moccasin flower (a yellow one) that had been grown in  a lab before she got it.  It is blooming beautifully in a special little corner of a garden bed and it truly looks like  tiny moccasins ready to be fitted on some tiny woodland elf’s feet.  I am pleased by such small pleasures as viewing a wild flower like that….Far Side also showed me some blooming trilliums at the edge of the woods and that thrilled my soul also.  I think those of us who love gardens are thrilled by any small blooming plant —-especially one that is a wild plant. The marvels of Creation are brought home to us again and again when we walk slowly and observantly through a garden spot or a wild garden that takes us by surprise.  I couldn’t help but remember my days at Camp Trowbridge as a campfire girl when we went into the woods to identify trillium, meadow rue, and true and false "Solomon’s Seal" and other wild flowers in the woods near Vergas MN.     It all came back to me when I was looking at Farside’s plants and wooded land where so many wildflowers must abound in their seasons.

Far Guy is an accomplished wood worker!   He has built unique and beatiful furniture for their home and had two chairs in progress in his wood shop.  He uses pine logs for his beginnings and the finished products are truly amazing.  Wood-working must be a great way to spend one’s days…creating something from pieces of raw wood or even a pine log. It is an art form.     His woodworking skill and art is evident throughout their lovely home and that home is a HOME….it is just perfect for them and their many interests which are evident everywhere. It was the most comfortable home I have been in, (other than my own), for a very long time. We really share the same values when it comes to living in one’s home and enjoying one’s interests.  And I GOT TO SEE THE BEAUTIFUL SPINNING WHEEL.   I just know it will only be matter of time before Far Side shows us pictures of some of her homespun yarn…..she is most creative lady and she will probably have yet another interest in due time.

The Far Sides are lovely people!   It is no wonder blog readers enjoy their blogs so much…and the great photos they include.

P.S.  The four of us pretty well "did in" a rhubarb pie I brought along and we still had room for some of Farside’s delicious pumpkin bread. Even Chance and Miney got a few bites out on the veranda in the spring sunshine where the Bluebirds get their Breakfast( lunch and dinner)… and Bed…. free for the asking!

No…this is not another advertisment for AFLAC….I have been "to the well" this morning in one of the flower beds (tulips) and have done battle with the eternal problem of quack grass invading places where I do not want it.  The best time to deal with quack grass, according to my late Mother,  is after the soil is thoroughly wet after a good rain…so now is the time, according to my Mom’s garden wisdom…we had an abundance of rain this past weekend.  It kept coming and coming in gentle showers and now the soil is wet deep down to the insidious quack grass roots.

I have a curiosity about everything so I looked up information on "quack grass" and found that it is native to Europe, Asia, and northwest Africa. So, I ask myself, how did it get to my place and everywhere else in the entire countryside where ever I have lived or visited? Probably in some Emigrant’s pots of transplants or in soil clinging to seeds brought along by the same emigrants.  I understand that is how we got Russian Thistle around here…in bags of seed wheat brought by Emigrants.  The fact is, that Quack Grass IS here and here to stay as long as there are gardens and fields.  It is a good feed crop for livestock and you can actually buy Quackgrass seed for planting pastures and other areas you truly want it to grow.  It probably makes good hay also.

But back to my domain where I do not cherish nor want to cultivate what to me is a most noxious and bothersome form of weed.  Quack Grass spreads underground by long rhizomes and it will crop up as green weedy grass in the midst of a cultivated plot courtesy of its long deep roots.   It has done "its thing" in the tulip garden over several years and it is a summer battle each season to do what I can to control it without truly controlling it…the only way it can be stopped  would be to drench it with a special weed killer but that would also kill every other plant including the tulips.  Not an option.  So I dig with my garden fork where I can, lift up the irritating white rhizomes, and try to eliminate as much as possible for one season.  It always comes back again, sometimes in the same season as you have worked so hard to get it out of garden beds… and for sure, the next spring when its roots have had a chance to grow deep underground and send up shoots of the green grass that no gardener likes to see.

Every time I work on digging quack grass out, my mind goes to deeper subjects.  Quack grass is a lot like the continual nagging things in our lives…..problems we cannot escape no matter how much we try to do so.  I can understand why some turn to alcohol or dangerous drugs in an effort to forget or ignore the "quack grass" in their lives.  But such things never really eliminate the deep rhizomes of emotional, mental, physical or other invasive nastiness that comes upon every one of us during our time on earth….none of us escape the Quack Grass that creeps into our existences.  It comes to us in many forms….illnesses of loved ones and worst of all of children (I have felt deep sympathy for a friend whose daughter succumbed to cancer recently after so many efforts to stop that insidious disease).  It can come as really bad financial setbacks…..loss of a job…… a Mom or A dad taking flight from one’s family in an effort to be "young and free" again….loss of beloved family members…..rebellion of children who take the path to the nearest "Far Country" which has been long been related in the Gospel account of the Prodigal Son.    Any of life’s sorrows, setbacks, and losses are  comparable to the insidious spreading of Quack Grass in a garden plot.    We try our best to keep these things away, or at least, at bay…but there are times for all of us that we cannot completely dig out those troublesome rhizomes of  and trials and difficult times that come to us unsought and unwanted.

So like the garden quack grass invasions every spring and summer, we can only keep "at it"..trying to alleviate and solve the problems or… to accept them and do the best we can in the face of things we never wanted to happen.   I cannot stop digging the Quack Grass roots out of my garden plots and I cannot stop digging (dealing with) the nasty parts of life as they hit me, either often, or only occasionally.   It is the fate of all of us. 

An Ancient once said that "Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward"….and all of us know the truth of this timeless observation.

Our Memorial Day weekend was marred by the triumphant announcement out of North Korea that "the Dear Leader’s" nation had successfully tested a nuclear bomb the size of the the one that destroyed Hiroshima at the end of World War 2.  This comes on the heels of other tests of airborne weapons that could carry nuclear warheads; those tests were successful also and puts the world under the cloud that NK can now reach many countries with nuclear attack if they feel like doing so.  If only the Scotch-swigging, pornographic-watching "Dear Leader" would kick the bucket and allow some hopefully more sensible leadership onto the North Korean stage but that is like counting one’s chickens before they hatch.

Wesley Pruden, known to those who read his columns, as an acid-tongued writer had little good to say about the world scene that has erupted with the explosive news of North Korea’s powerful nuclear bomb over the weekend.  Pruden also included Mr. Amadinejad of Iran (I always feel like I am clearing out a "goober" when I say his name) as one of two little brats on the world’s block.   In the recent past days, Mr. "A" of Iran has said he is not at all interested in speaking to President Obama about Iran’s nuclear weapons program and more or less told Obama to shove off and take his teleprompter with him..  Amadinejad has offered to debate President Obama at the United Nations but Iran’s nuclear weapons would be off limit in that debate. 

Meanwhile the world’s nations—especially those who are members of the United Nations have all checked in with reactions to North Korea’s nuclear bomb test.  China’s representatives have declared they are "resolutely opposed" to the nuclear North Korea’s testing. Japan has checked in with a statement that such tests "cannot be tolerated".  Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the UK has said the test was both  "erroneous" and "misguided". The United Nation’s  Secretary General is also wringing his helpless hands and has said he is "gravely concerned".    

I’m sure, with all that powerful rhetoric, North Korea’s leaders are just shaking in their boots right now.  Why, if things go on as they have, the United Nations might even pass a "Resolution of Concern" and that could lead to the threat of a 2-3 year debate depending on which of the world’s third- rate countries want to cut off debate.  What a doomsday weapon the UN holds in its quaking hands!!!

Meanwhile, Jerry Remmers, another writer who wrote over the weekend about  North Korea’s nuclear threat to the world,  remarks that hawkish neocons here and elsewhere would probably favor a preemptive air attack on North Korea’s nuclear facilities but that would only give NK an excuse to launch a ground attack on South Korea and that would mean that 25,000 United States soldiers stationed on the 25th parallel between NK and SK would be in the front line of the North Korean attack.  Couple that with a scheduled June 4 trial for 2 American journalists in North Korea who are charged with Illegal Entry and Hostile Acts makes the possiblility of NK from doing what it darn well pleases with its nuclear weapons a stark reality.     The United Nations and other squishy Western nation leaders find themselves in an "over the barrel" position, placed there by the wily North Koreans.

Between Achmadinejad and the NK "Dear Leader" the two brats on the world’s block are pretty well thumbing their noses at the rest of the world, including our new President who thought that being nice, apologizing, kow-towing and generally offering to "talk" to the hostile world leaders like those of Iran and North Korea, would  solve the terrible situation t former President Bush put us in.   Now it appears that the former "axis of evil" is not at all impressed with the offers of either the UN or the US.   It is an ugly prospect for our future and the future of many nations of the world now definitely under the threat of having NK give nuclear weapons to terrorists and others hostile to the West…. and particularly to the United States.

It is a definitely uncomfortable feeling to ponder the possibility of North Korea holding all the high cards in this poker hand.

We did something different today on this Memorial Day.  We drove to Fergus Falls and spent the afternoon at the Veteran’s Home in that city.  Our main reason for going was to hear a good friend of my husband’s…and a former colleague who worked with him for several years at a Department of Labor office in the area.  The two of them share a lot of special memories of working together and becoming friends.  Our friend spent a good many years in the U.S. Army where he served as a Green Beret at the last of his service time.  He was the guest speaker at today’s ceremonies at the Veteran’s Home in Fergus Falls. He evoked some chuckles when he said he had entered the army at age 16 in his home state of Massachusetts after "being in a courtroom situation where he had to make a choice"…..and he chose the U.S. Army over a probable stay in an old fashioned "reform school".  His choice served him well for many years as he became a responsible and loyal soldier of the army of the United States til he was nearly blown apart on a hill in Korea during that war.  He spend 18 months in Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington D.C. and went on to become a part of the special forces of the Green Berets.

The whole ceremony was a tribute to the men who live in that home as aged veterans of previous wars.  When they read the roll of honor at the end, it was a list of men and women who have died this past year and there were many…..the WW 2 vets are passing away at a high rate and so are their widows.  We took a walk outside after the indoor ceremony and looked at the special "wall" constructed at the Veteran’s Home.  It has the  names of the men and women who have died while living out their lives in the excellent care of the Fergus facility for veterans.

A highlight of the ceremony was the reading of "In Flanders Fields" by a world war 2 veteran who made his way to the podium haltingly, leaning on his cane.  But his voice was strong and clear as he recited the famous poem written by John McCrae at the end of world war 1 when so many American dead were buried in fields in Flanders and also in France.

"In Flanders Fields the poppies blow between the crosses row on row that mark our place;  And in the sky the larks still bravely singing fly, scarce heard amid the guns below.           We are the dead.  Short days ago we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow.  Loved and were loved and now we lie in Flanders Fields.                                                                         Take up our quarrel with the foe; To you from failing hands we throw the torch; be yours to hold it high.  If ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep though poppies grow in Flanders Fields."     This poem might sound "hokey" to some of the younger generation but it was composed at a time of great national feeling and patriotism.  It has been recited at thousands and thousands of Memorial Day ceremonies for so many years.  I memorized it as a senior in high school and took my turn standing on the Memorial Day platform in my hometown reciting it for those gathered at a Memorial Day well over 50 years ago.

It was touching and I choked up as the elderly veteran read the poem in his strong voice. As family members came forward with a carnation for each one who had died the past year, one very old man, wept as he placed his flower in the basket; no doubt his son was one of those who died this past year…or perhaps his wife.  It was hard to watch the old man weep for his lost loved one.  Everyone there today had memories of a loved veteran or other family member.  All of us were lost in our own memories has we heard the words of tribute, sang the Star Spangled Banner, recited the Pledge to the flag; walked to the wall of honor or watched as the old men who had been young men in earlier wars, fired the rifle volley just outside the room where the rest of us sat.  These old men, some of them having trouble walking, carried themselves as proudly and as straightly as they were able, as they marched outside with their rifles to fire the volley in honor of the fallen veterans of many wars.

The speaker, our friend, surmised part way through his remarks that if the politicians who send young men to war had to go into war themselves, there would probably be much less of the agony of fighting and dying………..but he also soberly acknowleged the evil in the world which forces peaceful nations to take up arms if they are attacked or threatened by those dark forces that are ever abroad in the world.

Today we hear of a rogue nation, North Korea, defying the entire world and its laws about nuclear weapons.  Tomorrow we may hear more bad news including a possible Taliban takeover in Pakistan whose nuclear weapons would fall into the hands of terrorists.  There is no end to the evil that stalks the globe and peaceful countries either acquiesce or take up arms to preserve liberty and freedom.  We do not know what the future years bring our way but today…just for a few minutes….we honored those who have already served and paid the high price for the peace we all crave.

I copied the etched words on the Wall at the Fergus Falls Veterans’ home today.  It is called the Patriot’s Prayer:    "May you go gently into the night; may you find rest from burdens and strife;   may the warm fires of your patriotic heart bring you joy and help you to start on the road to that Country most real."

I thank every Veteran in this great nation for the service they have given to the rest of us. The old cliche "Freedom is not free" is well worn but it is also so true.

In the past two days….Saturday and Sunday….we have seen something of what could be called "coming full circle".  Four high school graduates’ receptions attended…..4 young adults that we have known and loved since they were young children, or in 3 cases…since they were newborn  babies.  It is something I would not have missed for anything in the whole world.

Two of these young men have mothers who were my teaching colleagues for many years…their two sons were born during our tenure as teachers together.  I waited along with the two moms for their babies to be born ….one mom was the best High School English teacher I have ever known and her baby was due around the time of William Shakespeare’s birthday;  she would name him William if it happened that the babe was born on the Bard’s birthday.  But the little boy came a few weeks early so he got named for a famous English poet instead (Dylan) but took William as his second name!   The second boy was born in December and we had waited anxiously for word of his birth also.  He was the third son (Lorne) in his family and he was welcomed eagerly by his parents and two older brothers.  This weekend the two "baby boys"of yesteryear graduated from high school and have finished their successful journeys through grades K-12.  I got to know them as students in the school’s elementary library and not surprisingly, both loved to read.  It was such a pleasure for me to have a part in helping them find the books they were interested in and their two families encouraged them from the homefront to become readers, also.  Now they are ready to go on to colleges next fall; both have a pretty good idea about what careers they want to pursue.  I have no doubt at all that they will succeed as well in this next phase of their lives as they did in the first round of their education.

The other two graduates are children of church fellowship friends;  two great young people who will also do well as young adults because they have such good families supporting and encouraging them.  Noah was about 8 years old when we first knew him and his parents and brother and sisters.  He has grown tall in the intervening years and has grown mentally and spiritually as well.  His heart is in the right place and his head is on very straight as far as his morals and ethics are concerned.   Janna has been a quiet girl but she is full of wisdom for one so young. She was born just a few months before our second grandchild so we have had a special feeling for this young lady.   She has taken on adult responsibilities these past two years and has done a fine job as our church secretary.  She has also cared for and counseled youngsters at camps and in church school.  She will make a fine career for herself because she, too, is equipped for her life after K-12 years.  All four of these young adults are ready for the world outside their homes and their first schools, and the "school of life" will not be too difficult an adjustment for any of them…they are ready for it.

The past two days of sun and warm weather have smiled down on many high school graduates as their families and friends honor them with receptions and parties and picnics.   The guests have over-indulged in the good food served at homes of graduates….I can speak for myself and My Best Friend….. both of us are determined to get back on track tomorrow and eat more sensibly than we did today.  It will be a long time before I forget the home made hot crepes made at one of the homes ….served with fillings of ice cream, sliced bananas, strawberries, blueberries , apples, whipped cream and hazlenut flavored chocolate!!!! Mmmmmmm!!!!!

Small town graduations are such fun!   You visit with people you have known a long time but may not have seen recently.  I got to see former students that have grown up since I last knew them as elementary students.  It was a joyous reunion among students and teachers.  I saw parents of students….former teaching colleagues….those friendships do not ever end even though some of us are retired, while others continue on in schools with their students.  We have much in common. Seeing each other along with the Graduates today was wonderful.

I have such a satisfied feeling this evening having gone to several graduation receptions this weekend.  My digestive system feels like it is over-burdened but the rest of me—-the emotional and spirtual part of my being… feels just perfect….thanks to good friends and good families who joined together in a spirit of joyfulness at seeing their children launched on a new phase of their young lives. 

The doors to the future are wide open and everything looks hopeful.   It is a shared feeling  that uplifts all those who wish those young adults well in their lives ….lives that are opening up like lovely spring flowers open up in the May sunshine.

I got an amusing list today and it made me chuckle.  Perhaps it will do the same for you.

Did you know it is sinful for women to make coffee?      (it is because one book of the Bible says "He-brews"

Why didn’t they play cards on the Ark?     (because Noah was standing on the deck)

What excuse did Adam give to his children as to why they no longer lived in the Garden of Eden?     ("your mother ate us out of house and home")

Which person in the Bible had no parents?     (Joshua the son of Nun)

Who was the greatest comedian in the Bible?    (Samson.  He brought the house down)

What kind of person was Boaz before he married Ruth?    (he was Ruth-less)

What kind of motor vehicles are found in the Bible?   (1. a Plymouth:  Jehovah drove Adam and Even out of the Garden of Eden in a Fury.       2. A British model:    David’s Triumph was heard throughout the land.    3.  Honda:  because the Apostles were all in one Accord.

Who was the greatest female financier in the Old Testament?    (Pharoah’s daughter because she went to the bank of the Nile and drew out a Little Prophet)

Who was the greatest male financier in the Old Testament?    (Noah because he he floated his stock while everyone else was in liquidation)

Which part of Palestine is the wealthiest?    (The Jordan because its banks are always overflowing)

I got a recommendation for a book from a classmate of mine with whom I keep in touch.  The book is worth recommending to any interested readers of this blog.

Title:  MISTAKEN IDENTITY: TWO FAMILIES, ONE SURVIVOR, UNWAVERING HOPE                     Author(s):  Don and Susie Van Ryn, Newell, Colleen, and Whitney Cerak                                Non-fiction, Dewey Dec. Classif.  617.481        (I got it from the Lake Agassiz Library System)

It is a gripping true story about several families of college students who were all enrolled at a small college in Indiana, Taylor College.  On the morning of May 31, 2006 several families of Taylor students received the horrifying news that a college van carrying students back to Taylor had been involved in a highway crash when a semi rig had crossed the median of the highway and hit the van head on.  Five students were dead at the scene and one was injured critically, transported to a large hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana where she clung to life.  She had been identified as Laura Van Ryn and her parents, Don and Susie as well as her sister Lisa and brothers Kenny and Mark rushed to Fort Wayne from their home in Michigan and began the vigil that would last for more than four weeks when the daughter was ready to be transferred to a care center closer to their home.  The other familes sadly made the funeral arrangments for their children killed in the crash and that included the Cerak family, Newell and Colleen and their surviving daughter Carly, who held a funeral for Whitney, one of the students identified as dead at the scene.

As the weeks roll on, a horrifying thing begans to unfold as the Van Ryn family realizes that the girl they have been caring for is not their daughter Laura, but is, in fact, Whitney Cerak. The amazing details of the story are what makes this such a gripping book.  Both the Van Ryn and the Cerak families meet each other in the worst of circumstances and both families meet the worst possible circumstances with amazing reactions.

One might question: how could two familes NOT know their own daughters?  One of them dead and one of them barely alive on life support in a hospital ICU unit?  That is another amazing facet of this book and I would not want to reveal how it all unfolds for those who would like to read it for themselves.

I do not recommend books lightly but this is one I do not hesitate to urge others to read.

Yesterday, in the midst of planting in the spring sunshine, a quotation popped into my head but I only had part of it…."all’s right with the world".   I felt that way at that moment.  I was working in my new container garden planting carrots, kale and broccoli….the warm sunshine was on my back…I could hear wrens and robins singing gaily in the surrounding grove of trees…..it was a most pleasant feeling and I thought of that one line.

All is certainly NOT right with the world on any given day; all you have to do is go to the online news outlets, turn on a news network TV channel or read the daily paper and you know without a doubt, that this world, this nation…most everything is in a big mess all the time.  But for that lovely moment in the sunshine with birdsongs surrounding me, all WAS right in my world for that short period of time in the late morning of a beautiful spring day.

All of us need to make a brief escape from the reality of daily living at times.  For me, it is going outside on a day like yesterday or today and hearing the sounds of nature all around me….maybe it is going into my little cabin where there is no electricity or no telephone and just sitting quietly with the windows all opened up….closing my eyes or maybe reading some family history I keep out in the Hytte.  I have letters that were written by a maternal great -great grandfather who wrote to his mother back in  Norway after he and his growing family had emigrated to Clay County Minnesota  in the 1870′s.  His letters are precious; they contain  a brilliant revealing look at the life of a pioneer family just getting a start on a homestead in the New World.   His daughter, Torgun, became my great- grandmother and my mother’s grandmother….my grandmother Ida is Torgun’s daughter.  Several generations of women are linked in those long- ago  letters from Peder , the son who wrote to his mother. I can go backwards in time in my little cabin which is a reminder of how that family lived when they first came to "Amerika"…they probably lived in a cabin the size of mine for awhile—perhaps in a "soddy" for a short time til they got things in hand on a homestead.

At the Western Minnesota Thresherman’s Grounds near Rollag, Mn (named for the village of Rollag in Norway from which the early settlers had emigrated)… there is a pioneer cabin where a growing family lived in one room.  There is a small loft where the children who were not babies slept, and the parents had one bed in the one room where life went on each day around the table or the stove….there was not much room for any play or hi-jinks.  Everyone had jobs to do and work to be finished and very young children partipated in the hard work of homesteading.  Today the descendants of that family probably live in a home where each person has a room all their own, as well as a family play room, a big living room, a dining room, a modern kitchen and multiple convenient bathrooms to use.  Quite a contrast to that small cabin that sits out at Rollag for visitors to look into and eat a cup of rommegrot made on the tiny woodburning stove.

The entire quotation is part of a Robert Browning poem:   "The year’s at the spring;   And day’s at the morn;  Morning’s at seven;  The hillside dew-pearled;  The lark’s on the wing;  the snail’s on the thorn;  God’s in His heaven;  All’s right with the world."

I wish my blog readers that kind of day today and if not today, one of them very soon!  We all need times to reflect and be quiet and just retreat for awhile whether it be in a garden, a special outdoor place, sitting in a boat on a quiet lake;  watching a river flow by;  listening to birds sing or watching birds at a feeder; taking a walk in a shady park or gently driving in a car on a road that is totally unbusy and calm….we all need our "retreats".  Life now is too busy and cacophonous to bear all the time…….we all have the need inside us that Thoreau had when he built his tiny cabin by Walden Pond.

I remember walking into puddles of spring thaw water when I was a kid.  Often I did not know the depth of the water and a few times I got really wet feet when the water topped my black rubber boots and spilled down unto my nice warm feet.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has gotten her feet wet recently also….. in fact she may be in the water up to her neck as she has walked into a puddle that is much deeper than what she thought when she went on the offensive and joined in the demands for a truth commission to investigate the former administration’s use of "enhanced interrogation" methods on Al Quaida terrorists who were captured by American forces after the 9-11-2001 terrorist attacks on New York, Washington DC, and the plane crash in Pennsylvania.  Pelosi led in calling for truth telling and then things went badly awry.  

The word got out and about that she had been informed about these CIA methods of interrogation as early as 2002 when she, along with other Congress persons, were briefed by the CIA on what was going on with the questioning of the captured terrorists.  Other congress members including Porter Goss, remembered clearly the briefing session that Pelosi also attended and testified to the fact that the CIA had clearly told them about the methods used to get information from the terrorists who were involved with planning the attacks of 9-11-2001.  Pelosi, alone, denied that she had been told that what she and others called "torture" was being used to get needed information out of the terrorists.   She began to give different versions of her story and the Press who usually handle Madam Speaker with kid-glove- puffball questions  began to put the screws down  when they asked her what she knew and when she knew it.   After giving at least 4 versions of the briefings with various "nuanced" explanations, Pelosi had a press conference on May 14 to try to put the issue to rest once and for all.   She was as nervous as a cat negotiating a hot tin roof as the members of the press kept asking her questions.  She finally—- in desperation, with shaking hands that were ruffling through papers as she looked for parts of her prepared statements—made the statement that the CIA had lied to her.   Mind you— they lied to HER and her only, in some bizarre twist of the truth…..the other Members who were briefed did not say the CIA had lied to them….but they lied to Nancy!!!  

Now the "you-know-what" really hit the fan.  Leon Panetta, a former Democratic representative from California and a colleague of Pelosi’s, and a recent appointee to be the head of the CIA under the current administration, got involved and made a blunt statement to his CIA staffers about the truth- telling of his organization.  He was, in a non-agressive way, saying plainly that Nancy Pelosi was probably the one who was the Liar; the CIA has copious notes and records of the meeting in question in 2002.  One national news commentator on a major TV newscast opined that the CIA is very adept at leaking things that could be highly detrimental to Ms Pelosi and her "position" regarding the CIA liars she claims.  The opiner speculated that this gaffe on Pelosi’s part could be the beginning of the end for her as the Speaker of the House and it is well known among the Washington Beltway insiders that Steny Hoyer covets the position for himself and will probably not be lending any sympathy or support to Madam Pelosi.  If Pelosi’s colleagues turn on her and the President weighs in against her, she may not have much choice but to resign under fire.  She has already triggered too much trouble with this CIA "lie to me" debacle and in doing so has  held up important legislative work for the sake of saving her own skin.  One writer put it this way:  "Pelosi is sacrificing her own credibility on the altar of moral vanity and rhetorical excess." That is it in a nutshell.

Since this tempest began, Pelosi’s approval ratings have plummeted even lower than they were before.  According to a report on Political Intelligence (Boston.com)  Pelosi’s  approval rating of 51% in January has dropped to a 48% disapproval rating in a reputable May 14 poll, the same day as her disastrous press conference when she literally tried to sidle out of the room sideways like a scuttling crab on a sandy beach…. from the podium where she had been blathering incoherently and shuffling her papers  after reporters turned up the heat with their questions to her about the claim the the CIA lied.  I watched the press conference with Pelosi on live TV and it was one of those situations where you feel terribly embarassed for the one who is speaking due to the incoherence you are hearing.

If there are going to be any "truth commissions" in the future about the Bush administration’s use of "enhanced interrogation"  Nancy Pelosi may find herself sitting in the witness seat herself answering even harder questions than the press peppered her with at last week’s news conferences.

I just came inside from our deck where two pieces of carpet are drying nicely in today’s wind and sunshine….a sign that our water disaster last Friday is almost over and the basement can return to normalcy soon.  I brought the vacuum cleaner out on the deck and did the two pieces of carpeting before we carry them back to the basement floor.

But while I was vacuuming on this glorious, warm , sunshiney, windy May 18 (should be truly a spring day by the calendar) I noticed two ugly signs that may mean we are not done with winter.  Our big snow shovel and our snow broom are still lying side by side on the deck ready to clear off any late snowfalls of sticky wet spring snow.  I know it seems impossible now but what does it mean?…these two snow removal objects that we have not put away? Another bad omen is the fact that the big snowblower has not been taken off the big John Deere tractor yet. (I have branded in my memory the remembrance of a bad snowstorm on May 4 or 5 in 1954.)  But it is past mid-May and we might be angering the snow and wind "gods" by having these pieces of evidence lying around on the deck and over in the pole building, that we do not trust that spring is here just yet.  Will we, alone, on the Buffalo Bluff, get a heavy gray cloud that stops just over our domain, and dump about 3 inches of wet heavy snow on us?     I think I will put the shovel and broom away and urge MBF to get rid of that snowblower also…..not get rid of…..put it away because we know it will be called on again come November…and I hope it won’t be sooner than that.  Our seven month winters are a fact of life and we just accept it.

In the meantime, I was anticipating a pleasant day- trip to Itasca Park today but it has just been called  off, due to cold weather tonight and the information that Douglas Lodge is not yet open.   One of our sons is camping (tenting) in one of the Itasca campgrounds since yesterday and was planning to stay a few more days for solitude and rest and relaxation from his busy schedule as a doctor.  He just called and said Douglas Lodge is not open yet….there go our plans to eat a lovely meal with him there this evening…..and also that he may not brave the very cold dip in temperatures again, tonight  and move on to another spot of solitude where he does not have to sleep in his tent.  So I will change my plans for the day trip and instead go outside and plant some grass seed and mow down the dandelion patches.

We go back and forth about the wisdom of using dandelion killer-substances on our lawn. I do not mind the vivid yellow blooms for a short time, but I know they will turn into ugly patches of white fluffy heads that will send dandelion seeds all over the place and many of them into my garden spots.  I find the evidence all the time….new dandelion plants sprouting between and among perennials in the flower beds.  So I guess I will attack them with the small lawn mower today until I run out of energy….that happens too fast these days.

I also have a spot where grass seed needs to be sown.  I am gradually cutting back on gardening plots and today I will re-seed with grass, one plot I dug up by hand years ago when I was younger and full of stamina for heavy gardening.  If I do this just a little at a time, I will not have to admit to becoming less eager to work as hard as I did just a decade or so ago.  Time takes its toll on muscles that used to cooperate fully with the vigorous lawn and garden work I love so much.  I can understand now, why people who are older than I am, are reluctant and sad when they have to give up things…..living in their own homes, driving their own cars, traveling long distances….there are countless things we lose as we grow older but fortunately these changes come gradually.  I really feel for the people who have instantaneous changes due to sudden illnesses like strokes or heart attacks and other debilitating events that can change one’s life in a minute.  Even a broken bone can create havoc in an instant for both young and old alike.

Maybe I can convince MBF to take me on a shorter day trip we have talked about since his last visit to his good friend Bob’s business in lakes country not too far from us.  Bob has set up a very good repair business in his own shop at his home and his wife cleverly named it The Garage Mahal.  Lots of folks flock to Bob’s place because he is such an excellent and trustworthy mechanic and general "Mr. Fixit" who always solves the problems brought to him.   He must be alot like my Dad, Eddie, who was known as a problem solver and the best  mechanic and fixer in town for many decades.     Bob has a devoted dog…a female Springer Spaniel named Nicky…who has just become the mother of a litter of many little  purebred Springers, who , like "Billy- Boy" of song,  are  "young things and cannot leave their  mother".  The little mother is still nursing her pups a lot and when Bob goes to his shop, his dog wants to go with him as she has been his steady companion and the unofficial greeter of all his customers.  She loves people and is always ready to greet them with affectionate tail wagging and other welcoming signs when they arrive at the Garage Mahal.  My husband witnessed the mother dog’s reaction to Bob heading for his shop.  She and the puppies are all set up in a nice "apartment" in the house garage and when Bob begin his walk to his shop one day, "Mama"  jumped up from her nursing duties and followed Bob with a couple of pups still clinging to their "milking machines".  My husband laughed so hard when he tried to tell me that now I want to go visit Mama and the puppies before they are able to leave their mother and take up residence in their new homes.  Apparently the noise from the puppies when Mama leaves for awhile to go to Bob’s shop is a real cacophony of puppy yips and yelps, demanding that Mama come back to her motherly duties in the "apartment".

Maybe on this bright spring day in May….when it WILL NOT snow on the Buffalo Bluff, we can take a drive to the Garage Mahal so I can see those little pups also.   I love puppies (who doesn’t?) and I will have to tell myself that we already have Princess Kitty and she would not take kindly to a Springer Spaniel puppy invading her territory.   I am going just to look at them and perhaps cuddle some of them and enjoy them for a moment.

Additional Comments:  We DID visit the Springer puppies and they are absolutely darlings, al nine of them.  Some have black markings and some have chocolate ones…all of them are such cuddly little fur balls and they are in the stage of biting each others ears, tail, noses..anything they can get their little razor sharp puppy teeth into so there are many yips and yelps when the little nips hurt another pup.   I also observed Nicky standing like a patient minature cow while her puppies cling to her swollen nipples like fat furry woodticks stuck on her belly.  When she has had enough, she simply jumps out of the cage and leaves the puppies wondering where the food went, and Mama goes exploring at the Garage Mahal for a short vacation from her motherly duties.  It was pure pleasure to see this lovely litter and their sweet little Mama today and what a day to take a ride to lakes country!   We saw a lot of farm activity as agriculturists race to harvest corn from last fall (we saw corn being combined), to dig up fields that have been wet for so long, and to get crops planted later than ever this spring.   I hope it will all work out.  Farmers are the biggest Gamblers of anyone….they are at the mercy of weather and often, prices on the market for their products.