When twenty four degrees feels warm, I know I have acclimatized to winter, at least as acclimatized as I am going to get. I am still cold. I wear a lap blanket in my office at work. Yeah, I'm an old lady who wears a lap blanket just like the folks I used to serve when I worked in nursing homes when I was a teenager. So far I have resisted wearing my lap blanket in the lunchroom or at meetings at work. I got a new "down substitute" lap blanket for my birthday that I wear at home all the time. I have it on my lap right now. I move my home lap blanket from room to room and chair to chair. Next week, starting on Friday, I will be reversing the process. I'll be spending eight days in sunny San Diego where the sun will warm my bones and rehydrate my skin. I will THROW DOWN the lap blanket and take up the sunscreen, set aside the sorrels and strap on some chaco sandals, exchange the turtleneck for a camp shirt.
Now that the worst of winter is about over, it is time for me to look forward to summer and doing the things I do in summer. I'd like to get back on that motorcycle. I'd like to put the swing back on my deck and relax there. I'd like to sink my hands into the soil and stir it around. Last week at Menards I couldn't help but buy some seeds - Blue Lake bush beans, mammoth sunflowers (which I will cover with a net until they get too big for the deer to devour), nantes carrots, jack-o-lantern pumpkins, and Big Max pumpkins. Today I transplanted my coleus survivors. Last fall, just before the first freeze, I cut many slips off my coleus plants and stuck them in water. After they rooted, I stuck them in soil that I put into some of those 6-pack annual containers I saved from the spring. I've had them under a grow light and today I transplanted them into bigger pots. Less than half of my slips survived but that is okay because I don't have room for any more than I have now.
People returned most of my phone calls today. I helped a friend learn a new computer skill and she was very grateful. Traffic was good this morning and this afternoon. My mail from AIG wasn't a huge financial disappointment this time - only a Vanguard annual report. I got some good advice on how to accessorize a black dress I bought to wear to a sister's wedding. And, last but not least, I found a tofurky in a grocery store in my very own town of Ramsey. Amazing. No more driving to Trader Joe's only to find they are all out of Tofurky. No more driving to Arden Hills for Tofurky. I have some in my very own town. Yum!
Two Thumbs up for the movie, "Marley and Me." I saw it last Saturday with a friend. People will tell you the movie is sad. Don't believe them. How can any story about the full life of a dog that loves his family and the family who loves him back be sad? Seeing this movie has inspired me to blog about my beloved Ruby and Blunder. Expect Ruby and Me or Blunder and Me posts in the future with titles such as "Ruby the Burglar," "Blunder is Chaos," "Ruby the Terrorist," "Ruby the House Painter," and "Blunder the Fearful."
Yesterday I didn't get a chance to listen to the inaugural address. Instead I read it. Once sentence in this paragraph grabbed my attention:
I hope that most of the differing beliefs between our political parties is limited to the science of climate. And I hope that science will be restored to its rightful place.
On Saturday I met my friend from St. Cloud in Monticello. We gathered there to see the trumpeter swans. I like to go every year and watch them because they are amazing birds. When we got out of the car, our ears were assaulted. Trumpeter swans trumpet and golly gee, they are LOUD! Since the coldest days of the year are also the mating season for the swans, they're engaging in all kinds of head bobbing and posturing. The males raise their bodies up in the water and flap their wings making me wonder if the female swans look at them and are as impressed (or not) as we female humans are when men act all macho. A woman who lives next to the park takes it upon herself to feed the swans. She has a grain bin parked in her driveway. PVC pipes carry the grain down to the river bank. She fills up storage bins with grain for the swans to eat. She knows the bins are too tall for the mallards and Canadian geese who hang out with the swans. The wind was cold so we decided to get in the car and park along the riverbank where there were no trees so we could watch them without shivering. I brought my binoculars along. My friend noticed an odd shape across the river and asked me what it was. At first I thought it was a white barn but the sides weren't even. As I looked, I realized it was a wall of ice. Earlier that day I had read about a man in Big Lake Township. He heated him home with geothermal heating. He rigged up a water sprayer on a pole and using rebar for support, formed a giant wall of ice in his yard - just for the fun of it. I told her about the story and we decided we'd try to get a closer look at it. Since we were about 2 miles south of the bridge, we decided to cross the river and follow the river bank for two miles. Eventually, we found the house. Yep, it was a big wall of ice, 35 feet tall. You can look up the whole story in the Saturday Star Tribune but the man also has his own website-roger.mm95.com. As we drove away, we had to wonder, does this area of the Mississippi draw unusual people for some reason? You've got the trumpeter swan woman on one side of the river and the ice wall man on the other. Is it sheer coincidence? And what do their neighbors think of their endeavors? 
The question of the week at work was "What was your best day ever?" I am lucky in that I've had many best days and it's hard to select just one. The day I heard a marriage proposal was a good day, so was the wedding day, the days I found out I was pregnant, and the days my kids were born. But if I had to select one day that was the best ever, I would choose a day during my 18th year when I felt so happy I could almost walk on air. I felt a happiness so complete, so innocent and so unburdened by wisdom and knowledge that no other day compares. I speak of the day I got my driving license. Not everyone cherishes that rite of passage day like I did but I had special circumstances. To get my license, I was required to have purchased a car with which to take the test. I was eager to get my license the day I turned 16 but I had to buy a car first. And not just any junker, I had to buy a good car, a respectable car, and in cash. I saved and I saved, eventually coming up with the $1,500 it took to buy a decent car in those days. When you earn $1.25 per hour, it takes some time to save. By the time I was 18 I had the cash saved and I searched the classified ads every night. I found the car I wanted. A car owner on Larpenteur Avenue had a 1965 red Mustang for sale in my price range. I dragged a reluctant parent over there to make the purchase and he said, "This car has too much power for you." There was no questioning in those days. Even though it was my money and my future car, no Mustang was purchased. I can remember turning my head and watching my red mustang disappear from view as he drove away. Instead he found a 1968 Rambler American for sale at Countryside Volkswagon. He deemed this to be a good car for me. What the heck, I'd do almost anything to get behind the wheel. The car was purchased but I couldn't drive it home, I didn't have a license. The car was parked in the yard and there it sat. And sat. I'd take the bus to high school and come home and there was my car sitting in the yard. I'd pass it again as I left the house to walk the mile and a half to work. I'd pass my car again when I walked home from work. After what seemed like years but probably was only a week, I got the chance to take my driving test. I drove my car to the license center in Arden Hills where I promptly failed the test, earning only 59 points when I needed 70 or more. I was so very disappointed. I was back to walking past my car again to and from school; to and from work. I'd look out my bedroom window and stare at my car, aching with the desire to take it out on the road. Two long weeks went by before I got another chance to take the driving test. This time I got 98 points. I was happy but it wasn't until I dropped him off and was in my car alone that the superb happiness hit me. I had done it. I had taken every roadblock and turned it into a stepping stone. I was free! I was behind the wheel. I could go anywhere. I could do anything.
Spoken at lunch today:
"You know, there is no such thing as Corinthin leather. He was just making that up."
Me: "Hey, don't come between Ricardo and me."
I know this line was often parodied, but when Ricardo Montalban said, "Rich Corinthian leather," my heart would always beat a little faster. I have always been a fan of his ever since I saw the movie, "The Longest Hundred Miles." The scene with Ricardo under the bridge is forever etched on my brain. I liked him on the Love Boat, on Fantasy Island, on Star Trek, and on Spy Kids. The Chrysler Cordoba commercials were the best. The way he pronounced those consonants was SO appealing. Rich Corinthian leather! I need to take a cold shower. 
I was supposed to go to my book club tonight. I really like going and this was a great book to discuss, but I chose not to go. My morning commute was not a good experience and influenced me to stay home. Today was a white knuckled and cold experience. My 4 cylinder car does not really produce much heat unless you get up past 45 mph and I never did get that fast today. Highway 47 was an ice rink of a road this morning and the traffic was so slow I shifted between first and second gear all the way to Highway 10. Highway 10 was faster but slippery as well. Added attractions on my Highway 10 commute were the unusual display of headlights. One set of headlights in Anoka were stacked. When my eyes first came upon the stacked headlights, it took me some time to process. As I got closer I could see the sedan was lying on it's side. That explains the stacked headlights. Another set in Coon Rapids were angled up at a strange tilt. That was from a truck upside down with most of the weight on the roof of the cab and the tailgate. The last set of strange headlights were illuminating into the snow bank. This last car had all four tires on the ground but the hood was buried in the snow in a ditch. I complain about my commute but really, I stayed on the road so I was way ahead of some other people. Much as I like my book club, I wanted to stay home where it is warm and safe. I would have liked to hear what others had to say about this book because I liked the story of Delores Price. She has a tough life, this Delores, and she makes some decisions that are short sighted, but she has a good heart and a good sense of humor. Her friends offer the support and love her family was unable to provide. The author, Wally Lamb, seems to know women and how they think. I thought the book was excellent.
On Sunday I watched a movie of a very different sort. The movie is named Koyaanisqatsi. As I began to watch it I wondered how to pronounce the word. The music began and soon I could tell I was listening to chanting. Eventually it dawned on me that they were chanting Koyaanisqatsi. That was a big help in knowing how to pronounce it. At the end of the movie, the chanting started again with the same word - Koyaanisqatsi. Now, all day, I've had that chant running through my mind. There was other music in the movie but it was all instrumental. In fact, no words were sung or spoken throughout the movie except Koyaanisqatsi. The movie shows scenes from various places and often uses time lapse photography. You have a film of a beautiful rock formation and you watch the same rock formation as morning dawns, through the day, and into the night. Sound boring? It wasn't. The appearance changes so drastically and so quickly with the time-lapse photography that you can hardly look away. There were many nature scenes. After that there were many unnatural scenes. I saw pictures of mining equipment, power plants, manufacturing plants (like Oscar Meyer wieners and Hostess Twinkies), building being demolished with dynamite, other explosions, cars moving on freeways, people walking on sidewalks or going through Grand Central station, people lining up to go through revolving doors, and people walking on the street with a bus and a plane going by. All these scenes pass by you, some in fast motion and others in slow motion, and there is no connection except the ones you make in your mind. I watched, enthralled, and feeling more and more insignificant as the movie progressed. I know that I am one of those tail lights on the freeway five nights a week. At the end of the movie, these words are on the screen:What a strange movie. I liked it. Maybe if I spent less time being responsible and more time identifying purple finches in the back yard, my life would be more in balance.
This week I've picked up 5 pop cans out of the trash and put them in the recycling bin for cans THAT IS SITTING RIGHT NEXT TO THE TRASH. Recycling one can saves enough energy to run a television set for 3 hours. Soda cans are recycled and returned to the store in as little as 60 days. Technically you could buy and use the same can 6 times a year - but ONLY IF YOU BOTHER TO RECYCLE IT! Aluminum never wears out and can be recycled forever. Go here for more information: http://www.cancentral.com/recycle/facts.doc. Please excuse my all capital letter words. These improperly discarded cans rattle me.
If you're looking for something quick and easy to read, this is the book for you. I laughed aloud in the first paragraph when the author described those who "wore the dirndl skirts and dangley earrings of a socially conscious woman of a certain age." I was wearing a skirt and dangley earrings when I read that line. My skirt was cotton. I actually don't know what dirndl means. The story is a tale of two sisters and I always enjoy fiction about family relationships. Rise And Shine is the name of a fictional television morning news program and one of the sisters is the star of the show. The other sister seems to be forever in her shadow, never quite measuring up. Whether one sister measures up to the other one all depends on the angle you choose to take. I identified more with the younger sister; the one with the dangley earrings.
I am getting my calendar ready for the new year. I have moved all my meetings over. I put my business card holder in the new calendar. And every year for the past 3 years or so, I write think on the inside cover as an acronym for these words; thoughtful, helpful, intelligent, necessary, and kind. I use think in two ways. If I am not sure if I should say something, I use it as a decision tool. If my comment has all five qualities, it's worth saying. The other way I use it is after I've put my foot in my mouth. Then 
think is another decision tool as to why I should have kept my mouth shut. So far I've found that my comments are usually thoughtful and intelligent but not always helpful, necessary or kind.
My Gurney Catalog came today. I find it such a thrill to open the pages and look at all the lovely plants. I covet the free gifts. I drool over the Farmers 1 cent sale. Wow - perennial carnations! They come in a rainbow of colors! Two for $2.49 plus 2 for only 1 cent equalling 4 or $2.50!! Bright greenhouse beauties with spicy fragrance-the description is practically pornographic. Gurneys always has some incredible offering. This year it is a dwarf fruit cocktail tree. Listen to this description: Amazing one-tree orchard. Pick 6 delicious varieties from this unusual tree. Plant our Fruit Cocktail Tree when you don't have room for an orchard. Pick nectarines, peaches, plums and apricots all from the same tree. Harvest bushels of fruit. Have plenty for jams, jellies, canning, eating fresh and freezing. Self-pollinating and grows about 10 feet tall in full sun. Reach fruit from this little one tree orchard standing right on the ground. And that first bushel of fruit will pay for the tree. Blossoms in spring-fruit in fall. In spring your tree will be loaded with an abundance of blossoms. A spectacular sight for the whole neighborhood to enjoy. Too bad it doesn't grow in zone 4 otherwise I would have to consider buying one. I must show restraint. I need to remember gardening from last year which was basically a food shelf for the momma deer and her twins. This year I will adjust. I'm going with root crops. The deer won't eat root crops. Gophers might. Oh, they have a seed potato eye bargain collection! Maybe I want blue potatoes. Oh, elephant garlic. Oh, they have carrots in orange, red-orange, yellow and purple. Oh, they sell bird netting. Would that work for deer too? If I put bird netting over my sunflowers, tomatoes and peppers, would the deer leave it alone? OK, must finish blogging and start my order. If I order $20 worth I get a free gift!! 
I read today that two condor fledged from their nest in December bringing the world's population of California condors to 169. Arizona has 67 condors, California has 83 and 19 reside in Mexico. This is significant because we now have more condors flying free than we have in captivity. The biggest challenge to condor survival is the lead shot used in bullets. The condors eat the dead animals that were not retrieved and die from lead poisoning. So thanks to all the hunters who use copper in their bullets instead of lead because unless we can reduce the lead poisoning, the condors may become extinct. When Offspring #2 and I toured the Grand Canyon several years ago, we saw two of these immense birds sitting on a tree branch.Emily Critchley is the author of One Puzzling Afternoon , a mystery historical fiction novel set in a small town in the British Isles. Edie...
