Cape Karen
I always wondered if I should have taken courses in foreign languages in college. At that time, I really couldn't imagine myself traveling the world, or needing to learn other dialects. Well, I still haven't traveled the world, and the only time I've entered a foreign country was during my trip to Cancun, Mexico in 1986. While there, I learned enough Spanish to say: a little bit, no, hello, good morning, good afternoon, and goodbye.
Now, I'm surrounded by foreigner's who speak in other tongues, or who can't speaka-da-eng-a-lish very well, and it's driving me insane!
I went to have my nails done last week, and the girls were all laughing, and talking back and forth amongst themselves, in Vietnamese. It sounded like this: "dang sinh song thouc moi tai nghia, ha, ha, ha." I sat there wondering if they were laughing at me ? Did I have a booger hanging out of my nose, or something?
After leaving the Vietnamese Nail Salon, I stopped at the Quik-Mart to pick up a loaf of bread. The fellow who was at the cash register called me "Lady." It sounded like this: "That all you want, Lady? Lady want milk, too? No milk, Lady? Lady want to buy ticket? Big-money ticket? Okay, okay. . Lady."
Yes. . . you guessed it. . . he was from India.
I live in a neighborhood that has, in the last three years, somehow become a haven for many, many Mexicans. Every day, and well into the night, they stop to pick up their mail at the neighborhood mailboxes. They always have their radio's or CD player's blaring full-blast with funky Spanish music, and those annoying, consistant boom-box drumbeats; the kind that literally vibrate the rafters and rattle your bones.
"La Cucaracha, La cucaracha". . . .all day long.
Now, don't get me wrong - I believe in "the land of the free" and liberty, and all that other good stuff - but this is just plain nuts!
I want to meet someone who knows how to speaka-da-eng-a-lish, and who doesn't call me "Lady." I want to understand what the people around me are saying. I just want to belong.
I don't like being a foreigner in my own country!
Living in the Great Smoky Mountains, you learn all about Dolly Parton, whether you want to or not. She was born right here in Sevier County, and her bronze statue sits outside the Town Hall in Sevierville. Her theme park, Dollywood, reigns supreme in Pigeon Forge, and her many relatives have businesses all over the place.
Every year, in April, there is a Dolly Parton parade down the main drag called The Parkway, to officially open Dollywood for the season. I have yet to go and see her in person because I don't like the crowds, having to fight the traffic and trying to find a place to park. Maybe this year I'll make the effort, and I'll bring my digital camera along. I really do admire her, and I'd like to see that surgically-shaped body up close.
I have, inadvertantly, learned a great deal about Dolly in the nine years I've lived and worked here, and it's all been positive. There isn't one blemish on this woman's character; her fame is not just about glitz and glamor, her medically-manufactured big boobs, or her well-earned tons of money and multiple Grammy Awards. Not at all!
This is a woman who has risen from absolute obscurity and extreme poverty. A woman who was raised in a sibling-crowded family shack, without any running water, deep in the Tennessee mountains. And, today, she is one of the most well-known and well-loved personalities of our times. She is obviously intelligent and talented, has a wonderful sense of humor, and she has done many good things for this, once nonexistent, 'vacationland' community ~ an area that now receives over 15 million visitors a year.
How many of us could have achieved what she has achieved, especially given those humble beginnings?
The first-ever cloned sheep was named for her because it was cloned from a mammory cell, and she even has her own beautiful "Dolly" rose. Now, that's fame for sure!
Perhaps, Dolly Parton might be considered a rather strange role model for women, if it were only based upon her choice of dress and her enhanced body image; but, as far as her many talents, her intelligence, her business savvy and her good character ~ we women could do a whole lot worse!
Can you believe it? Another big hurricane is here; this time bearing down on Cancun, Mexico. I loved my visit to Cancun in 1986 ~ long before the area was heavily over-populated with new construction. I probably wouldn't recognize it today. Tomorrow, it's possible that no one will recognize it.
I am not really surprised about another hurricane arriving this season, but I am surprised at how unpredictable these storms are becoming. To jump from an 80 mph tropical storm to a category 5 hurricane, in a matter of hours, is unprecented in our recorded history of such storms.
As one who grew up on the East Coast, I remember hurricanes being fun! Of course, I was a child for most of them, and it simply meant days off from school, seeing some sailboats up on the lawn at the Yacht Club the next day or swimming in bath-water-warm waves at the beach. My friend, Louise, and I were swimming at Estey Avenue beach at the start of one hurricane, and it was glorious! We were around 9 or 10 years old - so, that was centuries ago - but I still remember how warm the water was, and what fun it was to jump into the big, salty waves as they crashed up on the beach. (If our parents had known, they would have croaked!)
Hilton Hotel, Cancun, Mexico
These days, it's not fun to watch the power and destruction of hurricanes. We have jam-packed our shorelines with million-dollar homes and multi-million-dollar hotels. We are seeing the evacuation of record numbers of people ~ jamming the highways ~ trying to get out of harms way. Older homes along the shorelines really haven't got a chance; and as far as those who are living in boats, well, all I can say is . . . batten-down the hatches, and try to find a safe cove somewhere that you can flee into when a hurricane is heading your way.
Reports indicate that this year's storms have come at the tail-end of a dormant cycle of hurricane activity. The active cycle is not predicted to begin until next year, and then will continue for the next couple of decades. What can that possibly mean? If these storms are merely remnants of a dormant cycle, I can't even imagine how destructive a new, 'active' cycle will be along the coastlines of the US.
There are pockets of vulnerable areas that seem to take the biggest punch each hurricane season. All the coastlines along the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida coasts, the North Carolina coast and the upper Northeastern coastline. If I lived in any of those areas, I would be doing something major to protect myself from future storms; long before the next hurricane season begins. (A concrete bunker, perhaps?)
No one wants to think it could happen to them. No one wants to think they could be living in the next Mississippi or New Orleans. Cripes. . . the New Orlean's folks are already rebuilding in their under-sea-level soup bowl, as if everything was going to return to normal. I guess human nature just won't admit defeat. They will, in the words of our great leader, "stay the course," and take whatever comes.
But, at what expense? Is it really worth the risks to continue living in New Orleans, or along any coastline? How many more big hurricanes will it take before people realize how truly vulnerable they are in those locations, especially given what we are seeing these days?
And, the biggest question of all - if we really are experiencing the effects of fossil fuel induced global warming - what will next year bring?
What would our country be like if Geena Davis really was our President? I think it would be a big improvement! She has, after all, the IQ of a genius; she knows how to deliver an effective speech, she is a great actress and she is a wife and mom. With those credentials alone, she'd be a lot better than a stuttering, stammering, shifty-eyed, spoiled little rich kid with a silver spoon stuck to the roof of his mouth. (Can you tell I do not like Mr. Bush?)
If she were President, I'll bet there would have been a whole lot of discussions, and many international summit meetings, before any US troops were sent off into the ~ forever turbulent ~ Mideast. I'll bet she could have found a better way; if, for no other reason, than just because she's a highly intelligent, intuitive woman.
Instead of boldface lying to the entire country, about 'weapons of mass destruction,' and then using that lie as an excuse to send thousands of our young men and women into harms way, I'll bet she'd have told us the truth; that there never were any weapons of mass destruction ready to be launched from Iraq; and she would have dealt with the evil Saddam ~ he would have just been quietly "eliminated." And, for sure, she would have found a way to locate our true enemy, Osama, by now, too.
Yes, I think this fictional depiction of a woman in power is a good first step to opening our minds and hearts to a gentler, kinder and wiser use of power. But, what a battle a woman would face in that position! The Donald Sutherland-type characters are lurking everywhere. (He is so perfect for that part. The eyes say it all!)
I hope in my lifetime I will get to see this piece of fiction become a reality. I'd love to see a strong and intelligent woman take that oath of office. We are so far behind the rest of the world in that regard.
In the 1940's, science fiction writer, Arthur C. Clarke, wrote about communication satellites circling the earth. In 1945 he published the technical paper "Extra-terrestrial Relays" laying down the principles of satellite communication with satellites in geostationary orbits - a speculation realized some 25 years later.
In 1954 Clarke wrote to Dr. Harry Wexler, then chief of the Scientific Services Division, U.S. Weather Bureau, about satellite applications for weather forecasting. Of these communications, a new branch of meteorology was born, and Dr. Wexler became the driving force in using rockets and satellites for meteorological research and operations.
They laughed at Clarke when he first published his ideas. Yet, today, we're doing what he proposed; right down to the exact amount of miles above the earth that the satellites needed to be placed in order for them to function correctly.
Arthur C. Clarke; a true visionary.
So, hey ~ why not envision a female US President in the White House? Anything is possible; I just hope it doesn't take another 50 years to see it happen!
As I read my e-mail and watch "Clean Sweep" on TLC, on my little overhead TV, I know I ought to be doing what they are doing on that show today.
I should be spending some time getting rid of clutter and re-organizing my den. I ought to be emptying-out all those closets full of clothes we never wear. I could be clearing off 'stuff' from tabletops, and throwing away all those piles of "Country Living" magazine, that I've saved for years. And then, there's always the chock-a-block-full storage shed to tackle. . .someday.
Today, I ought to be going through, and cleaning out, all our drawers; especially the kitchen 'catch-all' drawer, where rubber bands and safety pins, coupons, batteries, pencils and pens, 'somehow' end up living. But ~ nooooooo ~ I'm still sitting here, drinking coffee, and writing in my blog about it ~ instead of getting off my arse' and doing it.
I'm putting it off for another day. I am procrastinating. . . again.
Why do I procrastinate when I know it's bothering me? Why don't I just start peeling back the layers of my disorganization? I know it would make me feel better, and it would give me that great feeling of accomplishment; so why do I keep putting it off?
Am I lazy? No. I'm really not a lazy person. I rarely sit and do nothing. I'm always 'doing' something. . . just not cleaning out drawers and closets. My time gets spent, but where does it go, and what am I doing with it? I'm retired from working outside the house, so why don't I use all this "free" time de-cluttering and re-organizing?
During the days, I do laundry, I vacumn, I dust, I wash windows, I food shop on occasion- (Frank does most of it, because he enjoys it more than I do.) I cook, I go to the Post Office at least twice a week, I take care of Smudge kitty, and faithfully clean her box; and, when the weather's nice, I go out and work in the yard. I also have a web site rug-hooking business where I design and hook wool rugs (which creates a lot of the clutter in my den.)
Well, gosh, golly, gee; it looks to me like I don't have any time to clean-out drawers and closets! There's no time to clean the den and clear-off my desktop. I'm just way too busy doing all those other things. Nope. . . I'm not procrastinating at all - it's just that there aren't enough hours in the day!
And, if you believe that one. . . .
If I were part of a terrorist cell, living in the US, I would love watching the nationally broadcast nightly news. Their programs give out lots of information, and some pretty good instructions, for how someone could do harm to the US. They might even give some people new ideas they haven't thought of yet.
Last night, on ABC, we learned all about the vulnerability of the US nuclear reactor sites, and we were given information about the little-known storage of nuclear materials on college campuses throughout the country. We were even shown how to enter one such storage facility, without being detected or stopped. We could simply walk in, with our uninspected backpacks on, and roam around at will.
Later, on another channel, we were taught all about the aging New York City water system. We learned that one of their 100 year-old pipelines is probably corroding badly, and that a third pipeline is now under construction to replace it. It won't be completed until the year 2020.
Thanks to that channel, we could if we wanted to, have easy access to the maps they showed of the entire New York City water pipeline system. We now know exactly where their vitally important pipelines are located; those vulnerable pipes that bring much-needed water to millions of people. If those pipes are ever compromised, and now it looks possible, there will be another disaster - one which the New York City Mayor said would be, ". . . of biblical proportions."
With all this talk about "National Security" and "Homeland blah-blah- blah," what's with all these news and other televison stations featuring the vulnerable 'hot spots' in the US all the time?
Entertainment and education is fine; but in this day and age, do we really need to broadcast these bits of info to whoever is listening and watching out there?
Are they doing this on purpose, to lure terrorist's into some kind of a trap? Or, are they just being blind, deaf, dumb and STUPID ?
(I think I already know the answer to that question.)
Trying to stay away from political topics in this blog is really difficult lately. So many things are happening in our country right now, that need correcting, that to talk about anything meaningful somehow always finds its way back to the dreaded topic: politics.
But, I'll try.
Today, I'll start out by writing about the new line-up of shows on television this fall, and see where I end up.
What the hey?? Are we about to be invaded from outer space or what? It seems that 90% of new shows have something to do with science fiction and aliens. "Lost" - another year of mystery begins; "Surface," "Invasion," and "Night Stalker," just to name some of them.
I've never been a "Trekkie," and I've never read a science fiction novel in my life - but, both of my sons devour them. Bob has even co-authored one called, "Mitanyl." (I know I probably spelled that wrong, but without my own copy ~a-hem~ how can I possibly remember how to spell that strange title?)
Even though Bob and Scott were raised thousands of miles apart, by different sets of parents, when we finally met 12 years ago, I found they had some interesting similarities. They were both incredibly bright. They had both taught themselves to use computers, with amazing skill - even using the same Atari (?) model to begin their life-long interest. They had both read the entire "Lord of the Ring" series (and follow them in film, to this day,) and they both have a subtle, tongue-in-cheek, sense of humor.
Therefore, this season's televison shows should be of interest, I would think, to both of them. However, while they are both still involved with computers, they are not really "into" television. Scott doesn't even own one - he watches whatever he needs or wants to watch on his computer; and Bob doesn't have cable TV, so he also uses the computer to catch various cable shows, now and then.
I will never be a true fan of science fiction, because it usually goes way over my head, and I have absolutely no imagination for such topics as those seen on Star Trek or written about in sci-fi books, written by people like Bob. But, I am fascinated with the idea of real aliens and real undersea monsters; so these shows should keep me entertained nicely this year!
I doubt all these new shows will last more than one season - although I do find "Surface" very compelling. When the Sci-Fi channel runs the first four shows in a row, so people can catch-up if they missed them, you know it has engendered some real interest. It's sort of a scarier version of Spielberg's "Close Encounters" or E.T., except here, E.T. has been replaced with a little alien sea creature who is, so far, being hidden by a boy and his friend. Like ET, this darling little 'being' wants to "go home," too - but he wants to go down under the sea - not up in a spacecraft.
All in all, considering what else is on these days: ("My Name is Earl," Martha Stewart and Donald Trump, "The Nanny," etc. ) it's pretty good, dramatic televison. I just wonder why all these under-the-ocean type of science fiction shows are popping up. . . or should I say, "surfacing," this year?
I guess the writer's must have all attended the same Sci-Fi conference. . . or something?
I got my first kitten when I was around 5 years old. I can't even remember its name now. But, I do remember the morning I thought I should "neaten up" her whiskers. One morning, I sat down on the kitchen floor, and when the kitten climbed up in my lap, I took a pair of scissors and I neatly trimmed away her long, "messy" whiskers.
"There, I thought in my little child's mind, that looks much better!"
The next time I saw her, she was all wrapped-up in a towel and on her way to the vet. Without whiskers, I learned, a cat can get into a whole lot of trouble. (A cat's whiskers are the same width as their body, and enable them to gauge where they can and cannot fit.)
Well, geez, I was only five years old . . . I didn't know. . . .
I wasn't raised Catholic, so I didn't have what some call the "Catholic Guilt Syndrome." But, after that, I did develop the "Cat Guilt Syndrome," because that poor little whiskerless kitty died. Well, I think she died? She never came back to our house anyway. I remember going out into our back yard for months and months afterwards and calling, "here kitty, kitty . . ." for hours on end, to no avail.
So, it's no surprise that when I had a home of my own, years later, I would also have a cat or two. First, there was "Booby" the cat who lived with us in Hyannis in our first rented home. Then, we moved to West Barnstable, and he disappeared during the move. A year later, I looked out the window, and there was Booby in our new front yard. But, he was no longer our pet cat; he had become wild, and I couldn't get him to come close . . . more Cat Guilt.
Then, we built a home in Centerville, and had two children. When our youngest, Heidi, was around 4 years old, she asked her father for a bunny rabbit for Easter. So, that weekend, she and her father went to the pet store to get a bunny and they returned with. . . a kitten. I remember that she was a cute, little round furball of marmalade stripes, when she came bouncing out of Heidi's room and down the hallway that Saturday afternoon. Heidi named her new Easter bunny kitten, Tiffany. Tiffany lived with us for 14 years without a mishap; healing forever my Cat Guilt Syndrome.
Today, Frank and I have a beautiful long-haired calico cat named, Smudge.
She is the first indoor cat I have had, and she is what my vet calls a "dependant" cat. She follows me everywhere, and leaps up to be at my side whenever I sit down. I've even taught her some tricks. She can do "slippey-slidies" off the couch whenever she wants a treat.
She'll lie down next to me on the couch, always at my left side, and if I say, in a quiet, slow voice: "I - feel - a - slip - pey - sli - dey - com - ing. . ." . . . in a few minutes, she'll 'secretly' drop her head forward over the edge of the couch cushion, her back feet will start gently pushing her body forward, real slow; and then, like an eel, she quickly slides to the floor. Once there, she sits right up, and looks me in the eye as if to say, "Okay, already, I did the stupid trick, now, where's my treat?" And, of course, I jump up and go get it for her. . . .
I won't bore you with all the other amazing things our cat can do; like flip-flops, roll-overs, "where's your pretty tummy?" and so forth.
Suffice it to say that we love our long-whiskered Smudge kitty. . . and she has trained us well.
Did you finally succeed in quitting smoking? Or, are you a non-smoker who depises cigarette smoke, and who does not allow it in your home? Do you always make it a point to sit in the non-smoking section of your favorite restaurants? Have you taught your children and your grandchildren about the dangers of smoking? Well, that's great, and I'm really proud of you!
But, wait a minute, did you know that you're still breathing dirty, toxic polluted air on a regular basis? And, if you live in an oceanfront tourist area, or out in the suburbs far away from the city, you're still not exempt.
The air at the National Seashore on Cape Cod, each July and August, becomes more polluted than the air inside the city of Boston ~ because all those summer visitors arrive in their automobiles. If you have a chance to go out on a boat in the summer, look over at the Midcape Highway, (Route 6) and you'll see a mustard-colored, horizontal cloud hanging over its entire length. That's just some of the air pollution. Most of it is invisible.
According to the American Lung Association's State of the Air 2005 report, released on April 28th this year, more than 152 million of us are living in areas with unhealthy levels of ozone and particle pollution. There are illnesses and deaths every year, directly attributed to simply breathing the air, all throughout the USA. Air pollution affects everyone. Every day, the average adult breathes over 3,000 gallons of air. Children breathe even more air per pound of body weight, and are thus they are even more susceptible to air pollution. Long-term exposure to air pollution can cause chronic health concerns such as cancer; as well as long-term damage to the body's immune, neurological, reproductive, and respiratory systems.
How are you feeling today?
Yep! We can all be proud ~ America leads the world in air pollution. How tragic is that? And, despite the well-known, critical need for strict enforcement of the Clean Air Act, our president, our vice-president, and their 'well-monied' cronies and lobbyists, are working hard to weaken a landmark public health law; in favor of ~ what else ~ big business, of course!
And, you'll love this one. . . in an attempt to confuse us, they have named their new, EPA approved, piece of legislation (S. 131) the Clear Skies Act. As John Stossel would say, "Give me a break!"
In 2004, an organization called, Environmental Defense, blasted the EPA's announcement that it will not characterize carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas contributing to global warming and dirty air, as a pollutant. "Refusing to call greenhouse gas emissions a pollutant is like refusing to say that smoking causes lung cancer. The Earth is round. Elvis is dead. Climate change is happening. It's time to stop the denial and start focusing on solutions," said Melissa Carey, climate policy specialist with Environmental Defense.
But, we can stop this denial. We can take back the power. We can take a minute and speak out against sneaky legislation like this, whenever and wherever we find it. We can send an e-mail to our state Senators and demand strict enforcement of the Clean Air Act. We can oppose this piece of crap legislation, designed only to allow big business a delay of 10 years; yes - you read that correctly - a whole 'nother decade - before they'll be required to comply with the mandates of the Clean Air Act.
I don't know about you, but even being a relatively non-political person, and an armchair environmentalist, I can't just sit back and let them get away with this one!
Remember, we're all 'cough-cough' in this together . . . .
Yep. I'm very homesick. I want to walk the beach and hear the ocean waves as they wash in and out. To me that sound is like a heartbeat, having grown up listening to it all my life. I miss that sound - and, trust me, the sound of the Pigeon River doesn't even come close.
I've been here in the TN mountains for nine years now, with only two short trips back to Cape Cod. One for a funeral and one for a wedding.
I have planned to return. . . but life keeps getting in the way.
I wanted to attend my 40th High School Reunion in 2001, but three weeks before, on June 1st of that year, I came down with a sudden case of Bell's Palsy. For those of you who don't know what that is - it's when one side of your face gets paralyzed, and you end up looking like something out of a Stephen King novel for a while. Bell's Palsy usually resolves itself within weeks, but in my case it took six months, and it has never completely resolved. (I still can't bring up a smile on the right side of my face. When I try, my right eye shuts, and I look really weird.) Other than that, you wouldn't really know, unless I told you.
There's one good aspect, however, when you're my age and one side of your face is frozen - no wrinkles! One side has none, the other side has them all. So, if I show you my right side, I look pretty damn good - but if I turn my left side to face you, I look like Grandmother Stockley when she was 75. (I guess I should go get a shot of Botox on that side and even things out - but the idea of having a doctor shoot a poisonous toxin into my face just doesn't cut it somehow.)
Over the next two years, we were plowed into, twice, by two careless drivers, and ended up with a badly damaged automobile and all sorts of back problems. Frank and I were both pretty much out of commission, and that put a strain on our budget. So, no traveling anywhere those two years, either. Then we had to spend time playing 'catch up.' Finally, this year, I thought I was all set to go - but, my car died and a tooth abcessed.
Now, what the heck, you might be wondering, does all that have to do with being homesick? Absolutely nothing. Other than it's all kept me from returning home, and sometimes, life just sucks!
As far as being homesick goes - I miss my friends, and the ocean, the most. I miss Cooke's fried clams and lobster sandwiches at The Four Seas ice cream shop, and the yummy lobster rolls at The Lobster Pot restaurant in Provincetown. I miss the salt air and the cool breezes off the ocean in the summers; beach walks and whale watches. I don't miss the traffic or the high cost of living there. I don't miss the wet, cold winters. I do miss fall in New England, although fall here is very similar. We have the fall leaves that turn beautiful colors, just like in Vermont. 
On "clean air days" - too few of them - we have pretty blue skies and daily views of the Great Smoky Mountains. And, our winters are mild. It does snow here, mostly 6,000 feet up in the mountains; we get very little snow down here in the valley. When we do get an inch of snow, everything shuts down. Schools, shops, restaurants - everything. It's too dangerous for these "rednecks" to drive on the narrow, winding mountain roads. (From what we've experienced, they don't even know how to drive on dry, flat roads.)
Yes, it's pretty here. . .but, it just isn't home; and it never will be.
As Dorothy said, in The Wizard of Oz ". . .there's no place like home."
Maybe in 2006, I will find a way to go home again.
I sure hope so.