Category: worries

When the Soviet Union dissolved and member nations got their independence, a number of them in central Asia ended in “stan.” They were grouped together and called the mumble-stans. Just so you know, “stan” means land. So that it would be possible to have an Icestan or an Engstan. (England actually means “land of angels.”) Anyway, there has been political unrest this week in Kyrgyzstan. Truth be told, I had no idea where this place was, who lived there or why it mattered. I did a little investigation and now you and I can be experts on Kyrgyzstan. A great place to find out about this and other countries is www.cia.gov. That’s where this information about Kyrgyzstan can be found. Who would have thought that the CIA had a website?

Kyrgyzstan is a Central Asian country of incredible natural beauty and proud nomadic traditions. Kyrgyzstan was annexed by Russia in 1864; it achieved independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. It is slightly smaller than South Dakota (and they have the letters “a,” “s” and “t” in common) and is bordered by China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It’s got weather all over the map; from polar in the mountains of Tien Shan to subtropical in the southwest. A little known fact is that Kyrgyzstan has the world’s largest natural growth walnut forest. Another little know fact is that the capital is Bishkek. The literacy among the adult population is 97% which, surprisingly (or maybe not), is the same as it is in the U.S. The people die a little earlier, about 10 years earlier, than folks in the U.S. This may be due to the fact that in this agricultural society 50% of the population falls below the poverty line. Their government is surprisingly like our own; executive, bicameral legislature and a supreme court.

Here are these people, whom we know almost nothing about living their lives in some remote place with a governmental structure similar to ours. But now you can impress your friends and neighbors with your newfound knowledge. You just have to figure out how to pronounce Kyrgyzstan.

TODAY’S MUSING

(Note: Last week I was taken to task by one of my ardent readers for wasting my time worrying. I realize that not all of my entries are worries and will try to reflect that in my subject headings.)

I heard on the radio that about fifty percent of Americans were serving ham for Easter dinner. Why ham? So I asked myself, WWJE? Well, Jesus sure wasn’t going to be eating ham since pork products are against Jewish dietary law. John and I, as is our wont, had a lengthy discussion about this. I took the position that ham was a break with the old convenant that followed kosher laws. So that the eating of ham is a symbolic gesture. John countered that it was more likely that a pig had been slaughtered in the autumn and cured over the winter making it a good choice for a spring dinner. From there we discussed the use of lamb as a spring festival dinner entree. At Passover, lamb is traditionally eaten. In fact, a lamb shank is put on the seder plate as a reminder of the blood of the lamb which was smeared on the doorposts of the Hebrews so the Angel of Death would pass over their houses when dealing out the final plague. Maybe lamb is too Old Testament for Easter.

I don’t know why people eat whatever but at our house we always had turkey for Easter. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter it was our festive food of choice.

And you thought I wasted my time worrying.

TODAY’S OBSERVATION (totally non-controversial)

We were in the Mojave Desert yesterday. Since we’ve been there a lot, we know what it normally looks like. Pretty much brown and dry with some sage, manzanita, Joshua trees, and cacti. But there has been one heck of a lot of rain in the southwest and the desert is blooming. In fact, I heard that the amount of blooming is a once in a lifetime event. The seeds have lain on the desert floor dormant waiting for the rain. Sometimes for years and years. But this year the Mojave is covered with intensely gold flowers and light yellow ones along the verge. The Joshua trees have large white blooms. The cacti are about ready to break out into their vibrant reds, pinks and yellows. In the Virgin River Gorge, every crack in the rock has abundant grasses. It’s really amazing. Also amazing is the amount of giant bugs that manage to get squished on your windshield and front grill. You have to stop every hundred miles and clean them off or you can’t see the road.

TODAY’S WORRY

Tonight John and I were discussing a movement that promotes “eating locally.” In other words, buying produce that was grown near where you live. The advocates of this think that the amount of fuel that it takes to bring fruits and vegetables from around the world to our markets is a waste.

With that in mind, I thought back to my childhood and what I ate (or probably didn’t eat since I was a finicky eater.) Mushrooms came in cans. For a special occasion my mother might buy B & B whole buttered mushrooms. Green beans, also canned. Root vegetables, though, were a staple. My dad used to have a big garden in our backyard in New Jersey; you know, the Garden State. The vegetables from our garden supplemented the ones from the grocery store and the farm market. Wow, those Jersey tomatoes. My dad would come home at lunch and tend to those plants like they were his children. They are still the best tomatoes I have ever eaten.

So should one buy locally and go with the seasons? For the best taste, yes, I think so. For economic reasons? I don’t know. I like supporting my local farmers. Using all that fuel to ship asparagus here so I can eat it in January does seem wasteful. But John brought up that the free market (theoretically) should fix that problem. If it costs a lot to ship it to the U.S, the price of the produce will be out of range for American shoppers, the demand will go down, and then foreign producers will either have to cut their margins or stop shipping to the U.S. So this problem should regulate itself.

TODAY’S HAPPINESS

Can it be possible that 25 years have passed since Sarah was born? I cannot imagine having a better daughter than she is. She is smart and witty, strong and sensitive. She is intolerant of intolerance. She is my friend. And I could go on and on, because I am, after all, her mother. Love and happy birthday, sweetie.

TODAY’S WORRY

There’s been a firestorm of media and political attention on Terri Schiavo, the woman who has been in a vegetative state for the last 15 years. Her husband feels that it was Schiavo’s desire not to be kept alive by extra-ordinary means. Her parents feel differently and are fighting to keep her alive. This prompted us to sit down with our children and let them know our wishes. I think it is important to have these discussions even if they are uncomfortable. We have also indicated what should be done in the living will portion of our will. It is crucial that your wishes be written down and that the people who would have to make the decisions about your life know where that piece of paper is. I would not want my children or husband to have to make an uninformed decision and live with the burden of it.

TODAY’S WORRY

There’s been a lot of talk lately about “fixing” Social Security. President Bush would like to see some of the money we contribute put into personal accounts that we would administer. Putting the merit or non-merit of this aside, I don’t see what it has to do with fixing the problem – there are going to be too many old people and not enough workers contributing to support them. So here are my top 10 ways to fix Social Security.

10. Reduce the benefits to everyone
9. Have a means test; if you are a wealthy retiree then you get less or nothing
8. Create better paying jobs for young people. If they make more, they’ll contribute more.
7. Raise the percentage paid into the system.
6. Tax all the earned income; no ceiling.
5. Raise the retirement age.
4. Have more babies. (this would work well considering the administration’s views on family planning, but it’s kind of a long term solution)
3. Legalize all illegal aliens and get them contributing.
2. Invite lots of new, working-age immigrants to the U.S.

And the number one way to fix the Social Security problem –

1. In any current or future war in which the U.S. might engage, keep all the young people home so they could work, and send all the retirees to fight. This way you get a dual effect – more workers, fewer old people.

American Treasures of the Library of Congress

TODAY’S WORRY

Today John and I went out to play tennis. I managed to step on my shoelace while running and came crashing down onto the court. I survived with a few bruises. I am wondering how many times I can take this 56 year old body and fling it around without doing major damage. How old are you when you become a broken hip candidate?

TODAY’S WORRY

Last night I had this dream that my father and mother were in. I enjoy this kind of dream because they’ve been dead 10 and 20 years, respectively, and it kind of gives you a chance to interact with them again. But in the dream my mother, as well as my older sister, were really sick with high fevers and we were living in this creepy house in Alabama (I’ve never even been to Alabama) where the more I ran the water in the bathtub so I could cool them off, the more the water would seep from under the bathtub and flood the house. Usually, you can look back over the past day and figure out where some of the themes come from. But I have no ideas about this one. No wonder I have trouble sleeping.

TODAY’S WORRY

I feel somewhat disturbed by the route that we as a country are taking when confronting the energy crisis. I was just listening to a piece on NPR about the high speed railroads in France. After the energy crisis in the 1970’s, France started a program to bring high speed rail into Paris. This would cut down on gas consumption as well as allow people to remain in their countryside homes. Today, the system is universally acclaimed.

The high cost of energy is a function of supply and demand. This is skewed by the fact that there is a cartel controlling the supply. However, the U.S. always seems to concentrate on the supply side whether it is the war on drugs or the energy crisis. I think we should start looking at ourselves on the demand side as well.