Happy New Year, Y'all

Here I sit, on new year's eve, with my old cat Pixie, watching a rerun of Countdown with Keith Olbermann. You may remember, if you've been paying attention, that I wrote the first entry in this blog back in April with my old cat Pixie. We stick together, us old gals with no social life. My nutty husband is in Miami for the Orange Bowl. We sent our Hokies down there to play some ball. Our baby is at the river home of one of his buddies. Thus, the nest is once again empty.

I had lunch today with my big brother who can be a lot of fun when he is not acting like an ideological neanderthal. We were talking about the torrent of weird and wacky events of 2008 and how it just won't quit. The governor of Illinois comes along just when you think it's safe to come out of your cave. And all these Bush people are now stepping forward to confirm what we've thought all along about our hapless President. Life in the USA is like that carnival game Whack-a-mole. And we're the moles.

Did you read about the flood in Tennessee when the retaining wall around a coal ash sludge pit collapsed? Almost as fascinating as the mud volcano in Indonesia. Gee, could we have just a tiny bit more regulation from the folks in charge of mining? Could we put some folks in charge of mining?

Happily, here comes 2009 and a chance for us to straighten up and fly right. We can do better than this. Yes we can. Let's git-r-dun, y'all.

Berry Christmas

On Sunday the 21st, the winter solstice, I took photos of winter berries. I thought you'd like to see them as you celebrate the holidays.

Cheers to all.

Sinking in a Sea of Mud

I read a fascinating article in Friday's New York Times about a giant mud sea forming in Indonesia. It seems that exploratory drilling for natural gas set off a chain of geologic events resulting in the rapidly expanding sea of mud. Villages and towns have been inundated, with 60,000 people fleeing their homes. Scientists see no end to the growing volcano of mud. Because of a tremendous rise in respiratory illness in nearby residents, scientists fear that the toxic stew may be carcinogenic and lead to a health crisis in 5 to 10 years. The company responsible, Lapindo Brantas, blames an earthquake for the catastrophe, while a panel of 74 petroleum geologists have found that inadequate safeguards during drilling is the cause of the eruption. Payments to those who have lost their homes and jobs have been slow, and there are doubts that full restitution will ever be made due to the global economic downturn. Lapindo Brantas is indirectly owned by one of the richest families in Indonesia.

Since the first eruption in 2006, there have been more than 90 others, with mud bursting from the ground at unexpected times and places, including inside of people's homes.

I know you are thinking, why is she writing about this? Well, I have always been fascinated by geologic events like sinkholes, and this is one giant sinkhole with the added thrill of forceful explosions of mud. Did I mention that the ground is sinking by as much as 40 feet per year? Is this a sci-fi movie writing itself or what??

Maybe it's just me, but I can see parallels with our current economic sinkhole. Every day brings new distress signals with what feels like no end in sight. Rich people, and greedy people who wanted to be rich, kept drilling into the money supply with no safeguards, while the people who were supposed to be regulating were planning the purchase of their second or third homes or luxury vacations. Now we have what feels like a mudflow threatening to overtake our factories, our offices, our big box (and little box) retail outlets, our malls (maybe not such a bad idea), and our way of life generally. I realize this sounds hysterical, but I think the imagery is appropriate.

I'd love to include the photo of the eruption site but can't figure out how to copy it, so just follow the link above to see the article and photo. I guarantee you'll be fascinated too.

All Hail the First Born Son

hey fans, today is the day in 1979 that I gave birth to our first born son, Jacob Scott Woody. I'll spare you the gruesome details of that birth (actually not gruesome at all) and just say that being parents is the greatest joy of our life. Looking at the zillion photos of that first born child reminds me of what a great ride it has been living with him for 29 years, and with his totally awesome brothers. And their super dad. Yes, we are indeed award winningly fabulous people.

I have made a slide show of Jake's first year, realizing of course that the others will want their own slide show and I better start scrounging around for pictures now because after the first-born, you really cut way back on the picture-taking. Correction, one of the photos is of Jake and his new baby brother Pete. Life is sweet when you get your first baby brother.

Please enjoy the show, over on the right, click on a photo to enlarge to a full screen. Thank God for scanners ... and children.

Happy birthday, Jake.

love, mom

Roomba Driver

Hey everybody, the Crazy Cat Lady wants you to see this video becuz the cat looks just like one of her best cats, Rosebud (RIP). Notice the tail dragging ... I think this cat may be drugged. Enjoy!!