Unburdened at last!

I have a secret: when I was still a young girl, I had a crush on William F. Buckley, Jr.

Back then there were plenty of comedians mimicking him, and after finally seeing the real thing live, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he was nothing like those parodies. He was simply intelligent and erudite in his speech. That was before I even knew what erudite meant: he epitomized the word.

Later, whenever he appeared on television or in the news, he still fascinated me, although life and its many other cares took me away to other interests. Buckley, of course, remained the same all his life.

Unlike many other celebrities, Buckley never became an exaggeration of his younger self, never a caricature. The comedians lost interest, but I didn't. Whenever he appeared on screen or in print, I paid attention. He never disappointed, not once.

He passed on Wednesday, February 27, 2008, quietly and with great dignity, while working. He died with his boots on, as they say.

Elegance, grace, and erudition, a good portion of each, anyway, has left the mainstream media, the Internet, and the world.

A good portion of my consciousness is in deep mourning.

William F. Buckley was 82.

Welcome, readers of SISU

You may not know that Sissy is my Everloving Blogmother.

For your doggie enjoyment, go here for Ellie, the HuggaMutt CuddleBum.

And here in her special girlie sweater.

RiverDogging, and almost all my visits to the Chemung River, are dedicated to her.

Thanks, Sissy.

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Little Pond

Hurts my Heart

Husband RJ's not feeling great after out little brush with the flu two weeks ago. Luckily, we both had shots, so it was merely a brush, with us feeling fluish and tired. Must be I'm used to fatigue, but he is not; it's left him tired and depressed.

We have not had HuggaMutt around, because she makes too many demands on him.

Well, I miss her. To counteract that, I've gone on excursions alone. It makes me feel better, and keeps me healthy. But I still miss her.

Tuesday I went back to the Newtown Creek for some sunny winter pictures, that I will post to RiverHag. There is one more set of photos I want to include before then, also from a trip without little CuddleBum. All will be available by the weekend.

The area was visibly frosty and pretty, and chock full of canes and reeds. Newtown Creek is a deserted area, so the weeds remain at least waist high.

Not so deserted! While plowing my way through the thickets, I ran into this. You'll need to click on the image to see what I mean.

Someone's deserted fishing camp. Or so I thought.

It was tight as a drum. Eventually I found the entrance and opened a compartment.

There was a newspaper from last week, some clothes and other stuff. It was a homeless person's camp.

I reclosed the flap, made a hasty exit, and hoped the occasional snowsquall would cover my tracks. Didn't want to distress the owner.

That person is now in my prayers. Not much else I can do for someone who wants to live so far away from other people.

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Little Pond

Never let it be said that I am not romantic.

Husband RJ and I exchange cards. For that matter, we send cards to our children, too.

But for real romance, you need to look in on Josey and Vincent. They're making up after a nasty fight and a short separation.

That's my contribution this year. Happy Valentine's Day.

pb

Little Pond

Lentan reflection on Pope Benedict XVI

I dug way back to 2005 to get my reaction to the elevation of Cardinal Ratzinger to the papacy.

That reaction was not good.

But it is 2008, and my feelings are now quite different. Benedict the Pope has indeed become a very different public persona than was the Cardinal.

Isn't it interesting, now that we have a personable, benevolent, scholarly Pope, people feel they must dig into his past to smear him?

If we look into the past of any great saint, there was once a great sinner. But inside the sinner was the seed of the saint. Ratzinger the Hatchetman has evolved, and surely was evolving all along, into the wonderful world leader we see today.

Just keep that in mind while you are reading the muck that's been raked by silly people who don't seem to understand that our Pope has been in the public eye for decades. Much of that stuff has been known every step along the way, especially by the College of Cardinals, who likely knew all that and perhaps more.

They still elected him to rule the Worldwide Church. Maybe Rough and Ready is what we need right now.

Obviously, that is what the Holy Spirit thought, back in 2005.

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Little Pond

Dog tricks.

This is adorable!

It especially helps if you've seen Grease a millions times.

Ellie would not stoop to such stuff...

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Little Pond

Happiness is...

grown daughters.

VeggiGirl lives on the other side of the block, and stops by often.

Today she brings homemade minestrone soup. Fits in perfect with my new soon-to-be slimmer me.

I got very tired of the ever-growing gut. Never had one before in my life (adorable, chubby baby-hood not included!) and it doesn't like me. My new duties get very sedentary after 6pm, and I don't like finding myself in my own lap!

Also, thermal underwear makes my clothing very, very tight. While the heat seems repaired at the paper, we are still finding the cold settling on us, beginning about 8pm each night. Our best guess is that the leaky roof is still not repaired, although the draining has been diverted from our workspace.

Counting calories works for me. I won't even tell you how many I have been consuming, except to estimate that it must be at least 2,000 per day. Now down to 1800 again, at least until the gut goes.

***sigh***

Why do I get an unpleasant feeling that the gut will stay with me to the grave?

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Little Pond

Astounding.

Ted Kennedy has publicly backed Obama. Not too long ago he was solid friends with the Clintons. Apparently the on-air sniping had gotten too ugly for his tastes.

Neither Obama nor Clinton appeals to me. One is under-experienced and the other strikes me as an opportunistic chameleon.

However, this is an historic campaign for us. We finally have our first truly viable African-American presidential hopeful and a candidate who could very conceivably be our first woman president.

Things should continue to boil right through November 4th, and I intend to enjoy the spectacle all year.

For once, Husband RJ and I are not (yet!) fighting over politics.

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Little Pond

A clarification, if you will.

Perhaps you are following Josephine, the Dragon Lady. If you are, you can find the last chapter of Calming the Angry Planet here.

But the planet isn't calmed at all, you may lament. Or maybe snort in derision, like Josey.

No, it's not. Unfortunately, it takes longer and longer to load with each chapter. So From Heat of Battle is the last chapter of Part I. And the second part will surely be the last.

All because my computer (even the one at work) takes too long to load. Seems we all are getting old.

Calming the Angry Planet. One book, now two parts. The limitations of the Internet.

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Little Pond

We are not snowed in.

However, the cold is curtailing almost all activity. Naturally, we still visit our beloved Chemung River. We are totally addicted.

Ellie has her polar fleece skirt, a fringed polar fleece jacket and lovely scarf in muted tones of pink and red. All quite tastefully done, I assure you.

She also owns a set of MuttLuks, but refuses to wear them. We have a drill: she stops and lifts the frozen paw, and I come right over and rub the booboo with bare hands. A little low-tech, but it works for us. We avoid the city sidewalks in the winter, because of the nasty ice-melts everyone uses.

Winter sun still means fun for us.

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Little Pond

2008 prediction--no big surprises. Please...

(Ellie poses with her "baby" kitten-doll.

It is very well chewed, but never really destroyed.)

I can predict the next six months at the paper.

Advertising sales fall. New customers will continue while the pre-season specials carry them. A few will become permanent.

Gannett will look hard at core positions, and pare down the excess.

Happens every year. Always has--always will.

We may see short-term layoffs by February, maybe again in July. It has always been thus. I was a victim the summer I was diagnosed with MS. My supervisor thought it would be a great vacation!

Well, I got a harridan who sent me on interview after interview, in a forty mile radius, leaning heavily on a cane. Furthermore, it was a partial layoff: three days on, two off. I was exhausted after a few weeks, in an exacerbation by six. That Christmas I was back full time just before I collapsed. The neuro confined me to bed for two weeks after a Solumedrol drip, because I couldn’t make my left side work anymore.

For now our department is necessary, though not for ever. This year it is likely we are secure.

On top of it all, my 401K will benefit from whatever Gannett decides to do.

Always has--always will.

It's Freaking Cold Out!

Cozy warm inside, though.

You probably recognize the HuggaMutt, but the other bed buddy is DeeDee, our storm orphan.

One of our smaller cats.

Finally, Best Wishes for a Healthy, Happy New Year to you all.

Love,

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Little Pond

Last Day 2007

The old apple tree from the bathroom window. Not an especially problematic snow, although Husband RJ has already been out once to clear the walks. More tonight and tomorrow morning.

I will work the paper. Haven't partied the New Year in ages.

Wolf Packs out tonight. For the non-upstater, that's common usage for the presence of the Sheriff's Department Traffic Random Traffic Stops. Around here that means very safe streets after midnight.

I'll probably be stopped, myself, on the way home from work. The sheriff's deputies don't know me from Adam. City police leave me alone, after a few stops in the early years.

Party safely and if you drink, stay over.

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Little Pond

Pre-Christmas

The vacation will be over soon and the rush is on. Tonight I hope to watch my much adored son in law play in his band. Don't Look in the Basement.

They will be selling sweatshirts and cds, which brings on the next issue. Husband RJ, VeggiGirl and I are the (1) Secret Santa for my also-adored brother in law, Patricio. He was also in a band, OHM of Boston, Massachusetts. I'm ashamed to admit I don't know whom he is with now, but they had a bit of success in their group, so I know he will love a few mementos from our local up and comer.

Otherwise, we recently cleared about 6.6" (16.51 cm) from our walks, in two separate shovellings. We also cleared up to our neighbor's door, since she is somewhat shut in during the winter. I mention this because on the second pass, it was clear that another neighbor also cleared her walk, coming from the other direction. Later, when her husband came home, he cleared our walk all the way around with his blower. Even later, I saw yet another friend coming from the back way, blowing the snow on the Guinnip side all the way to the corner!

God, I love Elmira, New York!

Update: and I love my Chemung River, even in winter.

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Little Pond

In the Middle

...of my week off, and I going to do the things I usually do. Clean, check my bills, and visit with Golfer Girl in Corning.

The whole area is dark; it is raining and we are waiting for the MidWestern storm to catch up with us. The HuggaMutt refuses to get out of bed. I'll bet I could even use the whistle and she wouldn't budge.

And, oh joy, we are expecting a Nor'easter this coming weekend! Husband RJ is beside himself with worry and anticipation. Fortunately his mother has been discharged from the hospital and is resting at home. No more trips for my father in law, over the river and back.

No way to do it but to hunker down and go through it.

Hope the weather is treating you all better.

I'm afraid my Baby Blogsister Pearlie must be caught in the messy ice storm. Our thought and prayers are with all of you out there.

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Little Pond