weather...wet, windy and political

Last night our area of the nation was invaded by thunder, lightening, rain, tornadoes, and in my parent's case, straight line winds.

I love thunderstorms. When I was a kid I remember sitting in front of our picture window in the living room watching the lightening and counting how many seconds until the thunder arrived. Looking back I think it was something that my mother suggested so I wouldn't be afraid of storms.

Last night Scott and I sat in his dark, electricity deficient house looking a videos like this and this and this on my laptop (we borrowed a bit of internet access from the neighbors across the street that seemed to have the electricity required to power a router). Ghandi, the dog, was at our feet, concerned only about the fact that this was only his second day in the new house, not giving a hoot about the weather (Emmie would've been under the bed, of course).

My mom, dad, and sister were also in the dark....with a very large tree branch on their house.


As I woke up this morning, I heard Bill Clinton talking. I wasn't having a dream. I had left the TV on when I fell asleep last night, and Bill was on Good Morning America. The interview is here. I almost cried. Not because he said anything all that profound, or worth tears. I almost cried because I had forgotten what it was like to have a Leader that spoke intelligently. Bill Clinton, complete with southern drawl, used words other than uhhh.....ummmm....and hard work. Not only did he pronounce the words correctly, he also used them in their proper context, without whining or acting defensive. His tone of voice was that of a confident, intelligent, caring, man. He didn't talk down to anyone.....and he certainly didn't sound like he was power hungry. How sad that I had forgotten what it was like to have a Commander in Chief to be proud of (well, except for that little sex thing -- but at least he knew how to lead, well, and SPEAK).

There was another story on GMA this morning that I found quite disturbing. This story was about a woman suffering from cancer. Her insurance company refusing to pay for treatment. Video here. Story here. Mary Casey was diagnosed with a very rare sinus cancer, "so rare there are no drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat it." The article goes on...

"Despite surgery and months of radiation, the aggressive cancer spread to Casey's lungs. But doctors said her cancer was slow growing, and that there was hope in a popular cancer drug called Tarceva. But when Casey went to fill her Tarceva prescription at the pharmacy, her insurer, Coventry Health Care of Kansas, denied her coverage for the drug, saying it considered Tarceva experimental in her case, even though Tarceva is FDA approved for other lung and pancreatic cancers."

The thing is, a different insurance company did cover it for another woman...with the same cancer....and of course her cancer has stabilized. You might think that I found this story disturbing because of the insurance company's refusal to save this woman's life. And well, yes, that is part of it. I became infuriated, however, when Mary Casey said she would just pay for it...and was told it would cost over $4000 per month. No wonder the insurance company refused.

Don't even get me started on pharmaceutical companies.

I called my mom. She had power by six AM, and was ready to clean up the mess.

Most of their little town was effected by straight line winds. When we drove into town this morning to help out, many of the roads were blocked off by tree limbs and even whole trees that littered the streets. Like many small towns after a storm, there were people driving and walking all around checking out the damage, and helping clean up where ever they could. The city trucks were out picking up the debris and the electric company was fixing the downed lines and poles all around town. There was a constant buzz of chain saws in the air.

My sister drove to the store to get some lunch. When she came back she was concerned because my first grade teacher, Mrs. Tooms, had a large tree down and there was no one helping her. We were lucky to have my brother's in-laws help us with the tree......with no chain saw of our own (an no business using one) we couldn't really help Mrs. Tooms.

We continued to work on picking up the many sticks and leaves littering the yard. Everyone was outside...all the neighbors were working....stopping only for a short recap of where they were when the big storm hit.

It was great to see everyone out and helping each other. With a president like ours, pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies being like they are, sometimes I forget that people can be really, really good.

As we left town, we drove by Mrs. Toom's house. There were a half dozen people in her yard....working....while she and a few wee ones watched from the porch. I called my sister to tell her.

Sometimes I am very glad to live in Iowa.

lucy kaplansky

Last week we had a snow storm. My grass needs mowed...and we had a snow storm. It was 80 degrees a week or two prior to this, and yet....we had a snow storm. I wish I had taken a picture when the storm was complete...but here's what it looked like when I woke up Wednesday morning....

I like the (long) green grass with snow on it - very Iowa.

It snowed a few more inches as the day went on Wednesday. I missed The Mill on Wednesday night as a result. I probably could've gone, but with my car a bit under the weather, I thought it best that I let it rest up for the drive to Marengo the next day.

This is what's left of the snow this morning....



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Last night my mom and I went to Lucy Kaplansky at CSPS. She was wonderful, of course. My mom was a virgin Lucy Kaplansky concert goer -- I've seen her three times now. It's just her and her guitar, exactly the way I like it. She plays a Martin.

One of the things that I like about seeing Lucy in concert is watching her facial expressions and body language. When she is singing she often looks up...and for some reason it looks like she is making up the song right there on the spot...like she is talking to you. She doesn't wear much make-up, but always red lipstick -- and she is beautiful.

Mom turned to me when Lucy played this song, big grin on her face, and said, "You have to learn that one." So she bought me the CD. Last night I got home and listened to it and was sorely disappointed. It's OK, in fact, some of it is great. But something happens when record producers get a hold of music. The link that I provided above will give you the "souped up" version of the song. I enjoy it much more in it's pure form. The thing is, I've usually had good luck with "Red House Records".....but maybe even they have gone a bit too commercial. They turned Mom's song into some sort of cookie cutter country music thing. I hate that. The thing is, the lyrics, melody, harmonies are all good...but the package version on the CD, not so hot, IMHO. But I will learn it for Mom and never listen to that song on the CD again. :-) The lyrics of the song are a bit too 'needy-stalker' for me......but, I'll learn it for mom.

"I'm just a bit maniacal about you And derailed when I'm without you." ***snip*** "If you could love me just a little it'd be okay 'cause I couldn't leave you anyway" ***snip*** "If you turn away, I'll just turn you back around"

Can you say needy-stalker??? I mean seriously....why would you settle for "if you could love me just a little, it'd be okay"???? Maybe that's why I'm 36 and never been married???? :-) I won't settle for less than being loved, and loving, completely. But I dig these lyrics....

"It doesn't matter what you say I just like the way you sound." ***snip*** "Don't blame me It's just your burning gravity That brings me to my knees In front of you"

Both of those phrases would be great in a different song ....mixed with the rest of the song...it tends to add to the needy-stalkeresqueness of it. (I think I may copyright that word, needy-stalkeresqueness)

Anyway....so here's another song I'm going to learn....Broken Things.....the CD version is much better than Don't Mind Me.....much more pure. I think you'll enjoy it. (who am I talking to anyway? no one really reads this) LOL. I think it's supposed to be about God, but for me it's about the "somebody" out there that I end up with. This one was actually written by Julie Miller, not Lucy. But I like it.

iowa weather

I snapped this picture in my classroom last week. This little man in my class just couldn't decide if he wanted shorts or jeans....so it seemed only appropriate to do something between. What a peculiar, yet somehow cool invention. After last week, the "snow glories" are blooming, the magnolia tree in our courtyard at school is trying it's best to wake up, but yet this week it's going to get into the 20s at night. Isn't Iowa great?