On this day…….

On this day I watched a black man become the President.

On this day I witnessed one of my generation take the lead.

On this day I listened with hope as our new President spoke not only to us, but to the world.

On this day I feel blessed to be an American.

Concert at Lincoln Center

What a show yesterday.   If you missed it, I am sure that the concert at the Lincoln Memorial will be re-broad-casted, ad infinitum. I caught it on HBO, which was free yesterday, by the way.

I was left with a feeling that this president is of my generation.  40 Somethings.   How many of us knew the dance of ” Shout”?  I sure got up an boogied in my living room to that.  There was a good spattering of the historical and ceremonial as well as the hip.  I was also thinking of my grandparents and forefathers who would watch these things and sometimes attended some in person.   They would have been so confused with the choice of music and all of the pomp.  AND an eagle.   It was a bit over the top, but with glum over the economy, this was a grand pick me up.

I was also impressed with the theme of coming together as one America.  He makes is possible for those of us on the other side of the isle to get behind him. I was feeling encouraged and excited about his time in office.  I was feeling a bit bad for Laura and George though.  What a bummer to see everyone celebrating that you are leaving town and someone new is coming in, and having a giant bash in your own back yard.

One of the reason’s I didn’t vote for McCain was that this country needs to by unified again under one roof, if we are to move forward in addressing the huge issues ahead of us.  I felt that Obama had a much better shot of doing this then McCain.  The damage of having the country split politically is that we end up pointing fingers at each other in blame, rather then pulling together.   This happens as all levels of Government;  National, State wide and even local.  We become polarized with the actions of blame and simply can not get traction to move forward when the mud is being thrown.

For those friends that read this blog, I am not turning Democrat, I am still a Republican.  Independently minded,  but sill Republican.  For those that read this blog and are from “away”,  Vermont Republicans are much like everyone else’s Democrat.  Vermont voters often identify with being independent, not part of the Independent Party, but independent enough to vote for the best person for the job, not always to vote down party lines.   I am proud to be part of that tradition and chuckle when my local republican party members call me a flaming liberal.

I am interested in what Obama is going to say on inauguration day.  His speeches have been really good so far and yesterday was no exception.

I am hopeful that our soon to be President Obama sees himself as President of the whole country and not of one party.  I think he does.

Change

I am really moved by the upcoming Presidency of Obama.   I wish I could watch the inauguration, especially his speech live, but I will be working and am not sure I will be able.   Do the kids know what a significance this is?  I wonder.  I don’t think I can even wrap my brain around it.

I am struck this morning in the change of things.

Elizabeth had a date Friday night and I asked her the usual.. what is his name, where did you go, and then I asked if he had paid for the movie.  She said no, they had paid their own way.  Then I asked, ” well, who asked who to the movies?”  She said that they both kinda did, so I said, “  I guess you went Dutch then?”  Mum, what does “Dutch” mean?

So I got the Wikipedia short answer and sent her the link and a few motherly pearls of wisdom in an email:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_Dutch

here is what you should know about the term.   Generally, going Dutch means, for a girl, that you are not interested romantically in the boy.  If the boy allows you to go Dutch, then he is cheap and you should dump him.

love you

don’t date cheap boys
they will only cost you in the end.

mum

Things have changed.  Terms like going Dutch are not part of my children’s nomenclature.   I guess in the world of feminism, we lost this tradition of the guy paying for the first date. Sorry to see that go.  What place the guy picked and how he handled taking the check was such an important tool for telling the girl what type of guy he is.  But perhaps it is for the better to let this stuff go. My girls will have to navigate their own worlds, different from the one I live in.

When I voted this past year, I did so based on the person and what he brought to the table.  Who was the best candidate for upcoming job, because whoever is chosen then belongs to all of us.  Not just those on the left and those on the right.  Barack Obama became our elected leader because of who is his, not becuase of the color of his skin. At least that is how I chose to see it.

What a huge transition in our culture.

It was -32 last night

Dang cold.  -32 at our house last night, actually around 5 am. this morning.

Glad to be in by the fire; spinning, knitting and having tea.  Too cold to go play outside, it has warmed up to about 9 degrees, but still too cold for me now.  For what ever reason, this year my raynauds disease is back.  Mostly in a couple of fingers on my right hand and my right toes.

My girls say that I have little troll toes, and I am sure they will give me flack for putting this picture up, but this is what they look like when they get painful.   My hands will do the same thing, the fingers and thumbs will get red, but the rest of the hands will stay normal color.   I don’t get blue or white, I go straight to red.

And it hurts.  A ton.  I was out on a farm the other day and as soon as I feel the pain start, I have to get out of the cold or else I will have real trouble down the road.   The farmer gave me crap about my boots being rubber and I should dress better for the weather.

I have a pair of Bogs and I like them.  Brown half-high boots with pink, purple and green circles on them called Circlescape.  They are rated to be good to -35 below zero, so if my feet are cold then it is my feet, not my boots.  I called the company to double check on the temperature and yes they are 100% covered for life.  Even if I decontaminate my boots in disinfectant at farms, the boots are covered to hold up.  And they don’t stink and they are HALF the price of Muck boots.

I just wish I gotten the taller pair.

A little note on the raynauds, I have had it off and on all of my life.  I can go several years without having any issues, then all of a sudden will have it again.  I first noticed it coming back this summer.  I am not trying to be a cry head or anything,  but it is a drag when going outside can be painful.  Even if you know how to dress for -32 below zero.

- 8 below

Temperature by the cars is -8, but still, no wind.  I guess that is cold.

-20 is darn cold

-30 or better is too darn cold.

but if you add wind to any of theses temperature, then all bets off.  Winter wind can ruin everything.

It is about how you dress.  bub has a beaver hat that he wares when the temps are low.  I used to have a otter one, but the dog thought it was the best chew toy ever, so  I have a couple of shearling hats and a long shearling coat. I wore my grandmothers’ mink for about 15 years untill it really but the dust.  The coat was purchased in 1936 and was given to her by her mother. At the end of the coats life, it was my favoite sledding coat.

I am doing some farm visits today, so I will grab by ski coat and black shearling hat.  But there is noting better or cold weather then closes made from hide.I don’t want to grub up my new coat.

Shearling is lambs hide with the wool still attached.   Leather is tanned hide.  Fur is generally used to mean that the hairs of the animals; mink, chincilla, fox, are all attached to a hide when used in most clothing.

So here are my thoughts.  I like shearlings and furs.  I like that I live in a climate where wearing them makes sense.  I have found no other man made material that keeps me as warm.  There are folks who object to the use of fur, and if so, then I don’t want to see them wearing any leather, of any kind.  Shearling and fur will biodegrage and decompose in time.  They are natural and will return to the earth.  I wonder about synthetic products, how long they will take to break down.

I encourage folks who completely disagree with my opinion to comment, but please, in a nice way.  Nasties will be ignored and not posted.

What do you all think about shearlings and furs as clothing?