Month: January 2014

January has come and gone.  In the middle of the month Matt had surgery to address the continuing issues with his foot so we have been a little absorbed in that process.  But here are some highlights:

Geeze, it’s cold out there. We complain that we never get winter here any more but this year, we are getting way more than we want.  Snow and the polar vortex have made January interesting and miserable.  It convinced me that I would never live in a place where it got very cold and stayed cold for months.  No to International Falls, no to Alaska, no to the Arctic.  I suppose if there was snow all the time and groomed cross-country ski trails, it might help (I’m talking about you Vermont) but even so, when it is below zero, I don’t think even cross-country skiing would get me outside.  There is a point at which it is just miserable.

We have had a series of snow storms and that has been consistent for weeks.  On January 3, we got five inches and I went out into the yard with my skis for a go around.  By January 7th, the temperature had dropped to single digits and the back door window actually frosted over.

On January 15, Matt had surgery to cut a nerve to his great toe, doctor speak for big toe.  His saga is incredible.  Three years ago, Matt jammed his toe into the sand while boogie boarding at the beach.  He has been in pain to the point of being unable to walk normally for almost three years now and no one can figure out why.  Five doctors later, we came to the conclusion that the last best option was to just stop the pain completely and cut the nerve to the area.  It helped a lot but not completely.  There may be more surgery ahead.

With Matt on the DL, I get to shovel snow.  I don’t mind since it is good exercise but I have been doing a lot of it and this time it was cold in the extreme, single digits again, with a wind chill of freaking cold!  So Matt kindly paid some guys to shovel the driveway after the last storm which dumped another five inches.  I fed the birds instead.

There have been animal tracks all over the yard.  Rabbits, of course, and squirrels but most interestingly, something canine.  We think it was a coyote.  I went out and took a look. It came over the fence, went straight for the rabbit hole, dug into it and there was nothing left but a few pieces of fur on the ground.  Then it walked away and hopped over the fence.  It came back again a few days later and checked under the shed, which is where I think the rabbits hide, but I saw no sign of dead rabbits this time.  I took pictures of the tracks but by then the snow had blown enough that they were not clear.  Matt has seen a coyote and that is the only animal that would jump a six-foot fence and kill a rabbit.  We don’t think a fox could make the leap.  Perhaps it could be these were not fox tracks and they sure were not dog tracks.  We plan on getting a motion sensor camera to see what goes on out there at night.

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I have always loved “Gone with the Wind.”  I am not sure why.  I have seen it dozens of times.  I keep it on hand in case I need to watch some mindless drama.   Mostly, I love watching Vivian Leigh.  She was radiant in that movie.  She progresses from the young love struck and willful girl with flashing green eyes to a sad and lonely mother who has lost her child. Her eyes are dead in the last scenes.

In between she secretly drinks, pouts, survives, and acts horribly to everyone she loves.  It is easy to see her as selfish.  But I have always thought of her as a survivor.  She did what she had to do.   Some of her actions were spiteful.  But more often than not, she did what she thought was necessary to save her land and her family’s heritage, even if in the end it meant marrying that awful Rhett.

That is what makes it so hard to hate her.  She is not completely evil.  There is some moral underpinning to her actions.  She even takes care of Ashley and Melanie in her own strong way.  She can pick cotton if she has to.  She can marry a fool and run a business too, and at the same time give Ashley something to do.   When I watch the story, I am like Rhett.  Why on earth does she fawn over that weakling Ashley Wilkes?  She is so much better than he is.  But then, that may be why she fawns.  She wants him to accept her and give her some legitimacy.  If he loves her, she is not the selfish, self-centered woman everyone says she is.  She is worthy.  But in retrospect the only person who gives her legitimacy is Melanie because she sees something there.  She understands that Scarlett has to do what she does.

Oh, I could go on.  What got me started on this was that I opened my Bradford Exchange plates commemorating Scarlett’s costumes.   I bought them almost 20 years ago.  I did not buy the whole set because after two plates I decided it was lame.  I just checked on Ebay, and they are actually worth something.  I put them on the wall  in my closet.  Then I got on-line and bought a few more to add to my set.

Be more like the Pope, more tolerant and less judgmental.

Be more like a dog, happy for every moment, every day the best day.