SLEEPLESS IN GREEN BAY

Went to bed early with nausea and a terrible headache. Amazng all the things you think of lying awake all night. First, I say my prayers and end up with the Lord's Prayer which I share with Bill whenever I visit his grave. Then I usually think of an incident or something about Bill. Tonight I focused on his hands. I loved his hands and that was the last thing I clung to. Where is he and why does it have to be such a secret!

Then I thought of Jim and how happy he was tonight. This morning he even got a haircut. He had his first bona fide good interview with a very good company and was in such high spirits hoping for the job. I prayed that he would get it, but then I took back my prayer, cognizant of all he people dying in Libya, Egypt and the whole Arab Rim and the four people killed by pirates in Somalia and I figured it was not important enough to bother God with.

My last post came to mind and I figured not too many people liked my views of the people rallying for collective bargaining rights. It was not a political view. I am not a Republican nor a Democrat--I have voted for both through the years trying to pick the one who best represented my views. This right extends to people who belong to both parties and to all people. If the governor wins (and he just happens to be a Republican) how long do you think it will be before unions in the private sector will lose their rights? This is like the first Amendment. It is worth fighting for. The public employees have agreed to pay the additional monies and if this is just a budget bill then how come collective bargaining is even a part of it. According to the gov the purpose is to save the state from economic collapse. He has the money. Why not compromise as the governors in other states have done?

In my misery, I watched parts of American Idol. I have watched it very few times. I used to like the sarcasm of the guy from England . Tonight they were supposed to sing like the Beatles. My goodness, what an assignment! Tough! Anyhow I was just wondering if the judges really felt so terrible after they cut someone, crying and feeling so bad, or is that just theatrics? I didn't think any of them came anywhere close to being like the Beatles and that was brought home very clearly when the last cuts came and in the background they played the lovely "Hey Jude" by the Beatles.

Well, the dawn is coming up and I do feel better. I hope you all had a better night.

BEWARE! RANT! WISCONSIN LOOKS LIKE EGYPT!

Wisconsin, where in 1959 was the first state to introduce collective bargaining for public employees, and was the birthplace of the national union representing all non-federal public employees, has again become the battleground for labor versus capital. And I could spell that Capitol for that is where over 70,000 firemen, policemen, teachers, paramedics, and all other supporters of labor and our long fought battle for collective bargaining are rallying to protest our new Republican governor's budget bill that smacks of at best union busting and at worst arrogant dictatorship.

Rallies are also being held all over the state and schools are closing and one parent is objecting for her favorite baby sitters are not there for her today. That public employees need to pay for some of their pensions and health care, I have no argument. But to take away the right of teachers, firemen, and other public workers the right to collective bargaining is downright wrong. I am a former teacher and we fought hard for smaller size classes, for a preparation time during the school day so that we could help students that needed extra help or make-up tests, for sick days and comp time, for lunch time away from supervising students-- not only money matters--through collective bargaining. That battle was fought long ago and won as one of our basic freedoms in this country. How can the governor take it away in one fell swoop of ill use of power! Then he says if they will not accept this, he will cut 10,000 public service jobs--policemen, firemen, teachers, paramedics, ambulances etc.

The rush to push it through in five days gave no time for adequate debate or discussion. Telephone calls and e-mails have flooded the state house. That the Democrats had to leave the state to delay the vote was a last resort. Don't the Republicans hear their constituents outside their doors and windows? On the one hand, the governor tells the Democrats to come back and they will discuss the bill. The bill was to be voted on yesterday! The next interview he says he will not retract any phase of the bill. He speaks with a forked tongue. Or, as some have ventured to say, this is pay back time to all the big corporations who put him in office--to bust the unions.

He is targeting the middle class and that is the strength of America. They have already been hit in many directions already so we will have essentially only the very rich and the very poor.

The state is in debt and out of money. We know that. But does this one group have to take the brunt of the economic downturn? Have them pay for some of their pensions, and for some of their health insurance, but leave the right to collective bargaining alone.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Jim has been making these Swedish Tea Rings since Christmas. It is a specialty of his. He brought some to various Christmas events at his Church and now everyone wants one!

And now for that yearly task of gathering all my files together to get the data for my income tax ready. It is sort of interesting to go through each months files of receipts and checks --a sort of review of the past year. My bank does not send the checks back anymore---it just makes a copy of them and I must say I have found out I have to improve my writing because sometimes I cannot tell to whom it was written. Usually the ones written to various charities with strange names. Course I guess it really doesn't matter as it would go under contributions==a jumble of letters. If they ever audit me --let them figure it out!

It is still cold here in Wisconsin--below zero at night. I woke up the other night and my face felt frozen. Warm everywhere else though. Have you ever thought how we cover our bodies like when we go outside and in bed and our poor faces are bare and right out there? And women from time immemorial have lavished lotions and creams on their faces to keep them soft and smooth and here they are subject to the toughest test. Course some have gobs of make-up on--maybe that protects them some! My one grandson always takes the pillow and puts it over his head. Maybe he has something there though I have often wondered what he does for oxygen.

Speaking of my grandson, it is soon about time to think of another visit to Texas. About March I think. Though they have had a cold winter there too for them.

I have been reading some blogs lately and seeing some wonderful pictures and paintings. My, we do have some talented people out there. I have one friend from Scotland who paints miniatures and she always has a penny faintly somewhere to illustrate how tiny the painting is. I wrote her that it is easy to see as she enlarges them for her blog, but what do the originals look like? And she does wonderful work. So why miniatures? If I could paint that well I would paint big so everyone c ould see how great it was. I guess I am just uninformed because they have miniature painting societies and everything so there are a lot of them and it is a valid medium.Her blog?"WatercolourArtist Diary" Just poke on it and you will get her blog.

Back to my files and the income tax preparation. Wish some of these big corporations with their millions owed in back taxes would pay up. And the loop holes the others use to avoid paying. It always irks me when I read about them. Oh well, and so it goes.

TRAINS NOT PLANES

Hey, trains and streetcars are coming back. If you lived in a family like mine where your father-in-law and his father were engineers on the railroad and my husband wanted to be, and loved trains and passed that on to all his sons, you would be elated. My husband even proposed to me beside a railroad track and on our engagement night he went to pick up his dad and his crew as they were deadheading back to town!

The way the airlines are treating us these days, causes one to think back on the comfort and the amenities of a good old train ride. It also reminds me of the first time I took a train ride. It was during WW2 and I was at school in Chicago during the Christmas Holidays as I had no money to go home. I, along with other students from California and Massachusetts, was working at the Chicago Post offices as part time Christmas rush help. When I arrived home from work one day on the EL (elevated train in Chicago) and the streetcar, I had a message to see the President of our college. He asked me if I wanted to go home for Christmas. He told me the person who had given me my scholarship had given him money to give to me to go home. I was thrilled.

I also was a little nervous about taking a train for the first time, so I went down to Union Station the day before I was to leave and took a sort of 'dry run'. In 1943, Union Station looked almost like an army and navy base for it was fraught with soldiers and sailors. They were mostly a serious lot, anxious to get home on a long awaited leave before being shipped overseas they knew not where. Once you were sent over, you didn't come back except in a body bag or injured. Not until the war was over. I bought my ticket and found the proper gate and watched the very train I was to take leave at 6 P.M. sharp. My brother Paul always thought this dry run was so funny and frequently told the story and laughed.

The next day the train was loaded with military personnel. It was so crowded I did not think I would be able to get on, but some of them hoisted my suitcase up the steps and me also and there I sat for part of the journey---on my suitcase. As we continued on our trip, some of the congestion was relieved and eventually I ended up in the aisle on my suitcase. Later a soldier got me a seat. It was on an old car as they had scared up all the old cars for use during the war. The seats were stiff and straight and were actually benches that faced each other.

As the night progressed, I ended up sleeping on the bench with some soldier's heavy overcoat over me. He was so nervous and paced the aisle smoking one cigarette after another. The train plowed through snow and we were diverted to a side track also and we did not reach Ironwood, Michigan (in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan) until 12 noon the next day. Reunions with family were a sight to see. There were no social divisions here as everyone, rich and poor alike, had someone in the service. We had two stars in our window for my two brothers . We were glad that they were blue and not gold.

As for streetcars, how much fun we had jumping on the Kedzie Avenue streetcar in Chicago near our college hanging on to the rear platform bar and sometimes extending way out into the street! I just read where they are going to put some l950's streetcars into use in Milwaukee. And they are in great shape--albeit l950's shape. They use them in some cities in Europe and the strange thing is that though bus companies are competing sometimes on the same route, when the people have a choice, they pick the streetcar to ride.

It is a freer more open kind of transportation. Easy on and easy off with more room to move. In Portland and New Orleans here in the U.S. they have put the streetcars back and the people love it. And according to this report, more cities are looking into it. Man, how I loved to hear the clang of the bell in the Spring from our dorm from Kedzie Avenue. It is the same when I hear a train whistle in the night.

Trains and streetcars--some of my most favorite things in this world.

My World Today

Today is a snowy day and the first thing that my Golden Retriever did was go out and make another of his angels in the snow. I did get a picture of it this time and I hope you can see it O.K.

He makes one just about each time we let him out .

I do love a day like today when you feel so warm and cozy in the house and have enough goodies stored to keep you happy and a good book to read. I am reading Anna Quindlen's Every Last One for one of my LIR (Learning in Retirement) classes which begin up at the University this week. My watercolor class starts on Wednesday. It is the only one which is held in the morning , she offers wryly, as those who know I only am ready to get going in the afternoon. It is hard to get up when one has just turned out the light at 1:30 or 2:00 the night before.

I am also taking a class called The Circadian Novel (books whose stories are contained within a single day). James Joyce's Ulysses is probably the best known example and we all know how we feel about that one. But we are to start with Saturday by Ian McEwan. Haven't obtained that one yet and with this snowstorm will probably not get it today. I do remember reading A Day in the Life of Ivan Ivanovich for Russian history. All I remember is how hungry he was and how he chewed up the fishbones in the soup and ate them too.

Green Bay is riding high these days after the Packers beat the Falcons last Saturday night. It will be quite a tradition to see the Chicago Bears and the Packers in the NFC championship game---long time rivals and they hate each other. Every coach that comes here hears first of all that he must beat the Bears. I hope Aaron, our fantastic quarterback, doesn't get hurt. Chicago plays

tough.

Though it is a long time away yet, I have decided to go back to Green Lake in Minnesota this year. It is way too expensive and impractical, but I have decided how long do I have to be practical and why should I be? I am happy with my decision. None of my family will be there but the lake still is and I hope to get a hitch on my car and take my Bayliner with me. It is about 400 miles from here and all of my family are laughing to think I would try such a stunt, but we'll get there somehow come hell or high water.

I hope you all are safe from all the terrible weather some parts of the world is experiencing. You in Australia and you who live out East and you in California and other spots that have problems. Do you really think it is Global Warming or just the 20 or 30 year cycle that some claim it to be?

COLD,COLD WINTER DIVERSIONS IN JANUARY

I have discovered that I have chess on my computer. Not good. I get so frustrated and I always lose and I haven't the slightest idea of how to set my men up to get his men and when I think I have got them, they have an ace up their sleeve and plop me and get my queen or my knight or any of my biggies right off the bat. And when they get me so I cannot move without giving one of my biggies away, I get right upset.

I learned the game from my young grandsons years ago. Once in a while then I could even beat them. But, hey, even the world champion can't beat the computer, can he? I don't remember whether he was going to have a match or if he did.

So it is a good diversion for when the weather outside is 10 degrees or so. We have had such a cold winter and it is a hassle to go out. You can get the car warmed up, but then if you want to go shopping or something, you have to get out of the car, right?

I get to the library and the grocery store and the docs and that is about all I attempt. We have had a dusting of snow the last few days but snow is not a problem.

I have been reading some of the blogs lately and note that the people in warmer climes are anticipating Spring already. Gee, I had not even thought about it yet. Here in Wisconsin, Spring is so far off and hard to contemplate.

Of course, we have the Green Bay Packer play-off game to anticipate and that is what keeps this town going. Can you imagine that when it was as cold as 10 degrees the stadium here was sold out. People in this town live for the Packers and so for now, winter is O.K. with them.

And then we have the ice fishermen. For sure, the Bay is covered with ice and all the inland lakes so they are also happy. Not too many have shacks as well furnished and supplied as shown in the movie Grumpy Old Men. Many are just open to the elements. We also have seen a four-wheeler pulling a kid on skis. It is fascinating to watch. I used to walk out to where they were fishing but not lately.

And of course, we have regular cross country skiers but not so much downhill. Oh there is a little hill nearby they use but mostly people go to the Upper Peninsula in Michigan to all the hills there. We, who have lived in Colorado think they are little hills too. But they have fun on these too.

I'm beginning to sound like Sarah Palin and her Alaska series. I did enjoy seeing Alaska but as a critic wrote, the whole thing was a photo op for Sarah and things tourists might do if they visited Alaska, not the way most Alaskans live. And Sarah really didn't do much without guides, her father and others to help her and even do them.

Hope you all are faring well during this winter season. January is followed by February and then there is March--sometimes Spring shows its head in March.

The Cool Side of the Pillow

The other night as I was passing through the family room I heard Frank Gifford say " like the cool side of the pillow." I am not sure it was he (it was a football game) nor under what circumstances he said it, but it has been on my mind ever since. My first thought was that it was such a great example of the universality of the human condition that most authors strive for.

Since then I have been thinking of all other kinds of things that reflect the same recognizable tie to mankind everywhere. Little things that make our lives better--things that we take for granted. Like the ray of sunshine that I get dressed under (when it is sunny) every morning. Its warmth comes down so far--all the way from the heavens and is so welcome and so warm. (I's retired so I can get up after the sun comes up)

Some of the other things I thought of are sort of the same thing but not as good an example as Frank's remark. Maybe you can think of some other ones that are better.

Marveling at the beauty of a full moon as it shines on the lake or on the new fallen snow.

Loving the aroma of bread baking in the oven.

Holding our breath at the heavenly show put on by the Plieads August 12th. (I saw these as I went for a walk the night Julie was born and I thought it meant that she would become famous some day. She might--you never know!!!!)

Feeling content with the first gulp of coffee in the morning.

Enjoying the warmth that comes from a fire place after being outside on a cold day.

Loving a dog who loves you back without reservations.

Surprised and pleased by the first soft breeze of Spring.

Lulled by the sound of the waves hitting the shore of our favorite lake. This love of water is surely universal and evidenced by the high prices of lake property and the scarcity of same

Scenes from my favorite lake in Minnesota.





I'm sure you will think of many of your own universal truths. Share them with us!!!! Best of all this is all free to everyone and a host of happy thoughts.