IGNORANCE, but NOT BLISS

THEY SAY IGNORANCE IS BLISS – and so it might be, but it is also lethal. Buddha said we suffer because of ignorance, and I sure can’t dispute that. He also said to question everything, even every word that he said. But we are taught at such an early age to believe the “authorities,” whoever they are, that we seldom question, especially if that authority has some kind of D—after his or her name. MD, DVM, even PhD makes us think that person has ALL the answers. Having accumulated a few of those letters myself, let me clue you in – the smarter the person truly is, the more they realize they don’t know… they MAY have a lot of the answers, but not ALL the answers. And Buddha said, “Question, question... question everything, question everyone. Question yourself.”

No, this is not a religious post, nor am I getting into lies told to us by politicians or would be politicians or anyone else… and some may think this is a frivolous post… but if you are even half way intelligent, you will know that if you learn one thing, you can bet it is related to 10 more things, if you but think about it. So, this post is about pet food. Well, that and believing in things. I considered calling this post Ignorance is Lethal, and indeed, it often is. We as a nation are poisoning ourselves with unhealthy diets and we poison our pets, as well. But then, it is all related.

OK, where did all this start? It started with a cat with a problem. First, Hadji started wetting the bed. My bed! We still do not know why. He showed no signs of bladder disease… all the vet could figure out was that it must be an emotional problem. No, we have not introduced a new animal into the house… not even new furniture. It happened before our schedules got all screwed up. All seemed status quo. All we can think of is he was still grieving for Snuffy, his little SPCA friend and bunk mate for the last 11 years. So, Hadj was put on diazepam. I was not happy about doping the cat, but the tinkle problems stopped. The vet also put him on a diet of c/d… a Hill’s Science Diet for cats with bladder problems – even though none of the tests said there was any bladder problem. But, well, even after a second opinion which stated – “It can’t hurt him” – we started on a full diet of c/d.

At the beginning of all this, Hadji weighed in at 15.5 lbs.; he is a BIG cat, long, tall… and used to feel like a ton of bricks when I picked him up. Then one day I noticed he was like a feather. He stopped playing, running thru the house with Rascal, jumping up and down off the window shelves. He even became less vocal. Originally I picked Hadji out from the other kittens at the SPCA because he yowled when I walked in the cat room. “Hey!” he yelled, “Pick me!” and so I did. That was almost 13 years ago.

What do you feed your pet(s)? We fed the boys whatever they seemed to like, a can of wet food, often with gravy on it, and a cup of dry crunchies to graze on all day or night, whenever they wanted a nibble. If you have read any earlier posts, you will see that I try to do the best by my animals, heating pads for the outside cats, heated water bowls, even a heater for the birdbath since the last 2 winters have been brutal for this area. In other words, anything that would give them comfort. Or so I thought.

Have you ever considered that what you are feeding your pets might not be in their best interest? “What?” you say? If it is not good for them, surely they would not be selling it. Really? Remember a few years back all the pets that died from Iams dry dog food, and some other brand, I forget what it was now. Seems the dry ingredients were prepared in China and shipped in huge barrels to Canada where water was added, probably a few other chemicals, a little fish or chicken flavor, then the food was dried and crunched into kibble size, packaged and sold. There was no mention made that the ingredients were originally prepared in China until dogs started dying. I think it was the next year the Chinese, in order to increase their profit margin, added some other chemical crap to baby formula. Thousands of Chinese infants died. Remember the lead paint problems in toys? They don’t care… it is all about the money.

In the name of greed, billions of tons of pet food, baby products, and who knows what else gets produced in China (and a few other countries) so the American owners of the companies can make billions of extra dollars in profits, (not pay any taxes), share holders are happy, and the public no wiser.

Where am I going with this?

Last Monday, Hadji was diagnosed with diabetes, the current new epidemic in cats and dogs. Why would this be considered an epidemic? What is happening that has made so many animals diabetic? First, let’s look at what they would be eating in the wild. Protein. Sure, they would have a few carbs from the stomachs and intestines of the mice, rabbits, voles, birds they would be having for lunch, but mostly, it would be protein, some natural fats… but the carb count would be zero. Now, do your homework, look up the carb count of the food you are feeding your pets. It is easy, just google it and read. Dry food is usually between 40 and 60% carbs and sugars. In other words, it is basically poison. Not quick poison, but the slow nasty kind that slowly destroys the animal’s organs’ ability to function.

Essentially, it is said that a cat with diabetes has only a year to a year and a half to live. A few live a little longer and occasionally there is a miracle. But not very often – ‘dismal prognosis’ comes to mind.

Now I am not finding fault with the vet and the food he put Hadji on even though I firmly believe it is what set off the diabetic reaction. He was just doing what the text books say to do and feeding Hadj what the supposed scientific food company said to feed him. After all, the entire company, Hill Science Diet, was founded for this purpose. But, god bless the internet! Now I know there is a lot of crap on there, and anyone can post any lie they want. And I suppose people can claim to be vets and post information, too, though I can’t imagine why. But I have spent this week doing research, lots of research.

One site you might want to check is http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felinediabetes . Based on the information you find there, you will know how to do some research on your own. After doing a lot more research, I kept returning to this site, finally printing it out to add to my growing notebook on feline diabetes. She (Lisa A. Pierson, DVM) also has numerous links that are just as detailed as the main section. Even if your cat is healthy, it is a good site to bookmark in the event… well, you know what I mean.

Another source of excellent info for all kinds of cat diseases is Elizabeth Hodgkins (DVM) book, YOUR CAT, Simple New Secrets to a Longer, Stronger Life. It has become my new Bible on cat care. Totally readable, yet with enough technical information, it is a good reference for those with some animal care training as well as those of us who have “learned” thru years of pet ownership or even the new owner. The index is in real small print (my only complaint) but it is 7 pages long. An interesting confession – Hodgkins once worked for Hill’s.

The long and the short of it all is, animals should not be eating foods with gravy, corn syrup, grains, rice, potato starch fillers, or any of a number of other things they pack into the can to make up the weight of the product without all the protein, and to make the animal LOVE it, crave it, like the MSG used in fast food places to make you come back for more poor diet choices. Learn to read labels. Chicken by-products, for example, means things that are not edible – beaks, feet, feathers ground up and pulverized and gravy-ed into cat or dog food. Most labels are too small to read (for an old lady like me) so I look them up on the internet. For some unknown reason, the ‘adult’ version of most pet foods is the least healthy of all with higher grain and starch content than any animal would ever eat in the wild.

The best foods list an actual protein source first, water is often next. If you see corn anything, put it back on the shelf. A quick rule of thumb is to look for the words flaked as being safer, with gravy being most poisonous. Sure, you can say I am full of beans because you have fed your cat XYZ prime filets and gravy for the last 7 years and he is doing just fine. All I can say to you is, the clock is ticking.

Avoid any dry food. In a nut shell – that is my new rule of thumb. The dry food is held together with starches or else it would be almost a powder. The carb level is enough to shut down a cat’s ability to handle the food over a period of time. Most all animals fed nothing but a diet of dry food get diabetes at a much younger age than those fed a mix.

Hopefully you will do your own research. I learned from a friend that did her homework and taught me. Then I checked out everything she said hoping for even more information. Statistics in hand, I went food shopping. Sure, Fancy Feast is more expensive, but if it is healthier for the animal, then it is what I have to do. But, be careful, they make stuff with gravy, too. READ LABELS. EVO seems to be about the best there is. But the nearest place I can find it is 65 miles north of here in Salisbury, MD.

I also have a philosophy that will not please some of you. I think people who own pets should be able to afford to feed them healthy food, not just the biggest bag that is the most for your money. Can you truly say you love your animals and then feed them poison? Feeding them food that is not good for them is like raising your children on nothing but jelly beans. You wouldn’t do that, would you?

Research… change. The life you save may be our own precious pup or kitty.

I KNEW SOMEONE JUST LIKE THIS

If you've ever  worked for a boss who reacts before getting the facts and thinking things through, you will love this!    

Acme Steel,  feeling it was time for a shake-up, hired a new CEO.  The new boss was  determined to rid the company of all slackers. 

On a tour of the  facilities, the CEO noticed a guy leaning against a wall. The room was  full of workers and he wanted to let them know that he meant business.  

He asked the guy, "How much money do you make a week?"A little  surprised, the young man looked at him and said, "I make $400 a week.  Why?”

The CEO said,  "Wait right here." 

He walked back to his office, came back in two minutes,  and handed the  guy $1,600 in cash and said, "Here's four weeks' pay. Now GET OUT and  don't come  back." 

Feeling pretty  good about himself, the CEO looked around the room and asked,

"Does anyone  want to tell me what that goof-ball did here?" 

From across the  room a voice said, "He's the pizza delivery guy."

The JOY OF A SUNNY DAY!

It managed to get up to the low 50s today. The sun was bright and the winds were minimal. What a joy to be able to be outdoors for a couple hours and not be frozen half to death. We did start out cold, 28 degrees and a heavy frost. You can see the frost on the azaleas in the background, and if you look even further, you can see snow in the field on the other side of the trees across the street, in the picture of the hawk looking for breakfast this morning.

The cardinals, finches, and sparrows hid out in the thicker bushes until he left, as he has learned to dive bomb the camellia next to the feeders out front. He usually starts swooping the ground to get a sparrow or a junco. But, after about a half an hour, the little guys get brave and come back. With 13 feeders in one area, the Bird Restaurant is quite a popular spot. See the bright copper tray behind the feeders? It is a hanging birdbath. The first year I had one, I tried it as a feeder, but I soon discovered the moisture seems to do something with the seed – there is NO drainage – and the copper tray soon “rusted” into a mess of heavily corroded metal. I have no doubt it was probably pretty toxic and even the birds stopped eating out of it. I guess they figured it out, too.

Also, birds need to drink. Imagine that! So, every morning when it is real cold, I go out and flip the tray over and refill it with fresh water. I am barely back in the house before the little guys are in the water getting a drink. On slow days, they sit and peck at the ice. Nothing like making a body feel shamed, right? So, out I go with fresh water.

The littlest birds seem to prefer the tray to the bigger ground level feeder out back.  Maybe because Spook likes to drink out of it, too? However, the larger birds, like Robins, prefer the ground level feeder.

The best shot I never got (the one that got away?) was of a pair of cardinals drinking out of the Buddha birdbath. Papa sat on the rim and watched while mama cardinal had a nice long drink. By the time I got the camera, well… you know – they were gone.

The snow is still on the ground in places. I love to see the pansies peeking thru the snow. The Color Purple…

The boys spent a little time out in the sun, but napped back in their box. I opened the flap door to the cat’s box, but dropped it again as the sun went down. In spite of the warmth of the day, the boys still chose to spend much of it stretched out on their heating pad… I think they really love the bigger one where they don’t have to curl up on top of each other, tho they still do at night. They have slept that way for years.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

24 LITTLE HOURS

But no sun,

And the flowers,

Are covered in snow,

Yes, I said snow…

Yesterday was an ordinary clear winter day, cold, temps in the 30s, but the sun was out to give the illusion of warmth. As the day wore on, the cloud cover moved in with the promise of snow. The heater light was left on all day in the greenhouse, the cats stayed snuggled in their box on the heating pad with short trips out to go potty or eat. The birds were busy stocking up on food as they so often do just before a storm.

Sometime after I went to bed the snow started and the ground was covered by 2 AM when I made my nightly trip down the hall. The snow was sticking to the leaves and branches… it was a winter wonderland all over again.

For some reason I woke up early this morning… it was one of those days when all I did was think about what I had to do, so I decided to get up and get started. It was a good thing, because WBOC TV called just as I pulled on my jeans, so outside I went with the phone and ruler to officially measure our 2 inches of snow.

After that I came in and grabbed the camera, a can of cat food, and a dish of crunchies, and headed outside again. The camellias had started to open, again, and, as you can see, have some frost bite on their petals. But I love the color contrast with the red and white and the dark green made darker by the presence of the snow.

The van was covered, but the road was clear – well, as clear as black ice can be called clear. It was pretty slippery, but the traffic has not slowed down.

The snow has started again. We probably won’t get that much more (famous last words, eh?) All I can do is be grateful we don’t have as much as some other places that got socked again, and grateful that spring really will be here before too long. But, I must also remember, it always snows on the daffodils, and they are barely thru the ground.

GROUNDHOG’S DAY 2011 and 2 VISITORS

THIS IS THE DAY when so many of you got so much snow and ice… my Cousin Sandy measured 51 inches of snow and ice on the ground in her back yard. Friends wrote to me of taking an axe out to chop thru the ice on top of the snow to get to something they could shovel. Their stories were amazing as were the temperatures… one cousin had –8 degrees F, while another was at 34 degrees above  in Alaska where it should have been below zero.

Here, on the Eastern Shore, we had been warned of “significant rainfall,” and got about half an inch. But most wonderful of all, the temps soared to 67 degrees. 67 DEGREES!!!!! OMG! After a hectic morning of DR visits and errands,  I headed out to the yard to quickly plant the 2 flats of pansies I got at Bobbie’s on Sunday – a Better Late Than Never Christmas Gift!   I worked as fast as I could getting the pansies in around the birdbath close to where the bright red coleus and strobilanthes were last summer, and in the Circle, around the little critters’ graves. The ground was soft and wet, still lots of leaves on the ground and the kind of debris one has after a rough winter.

I love pansies, and part of the fun of living on the Eastern Shore is having pansies all winter and into the spring. These pansies had been sitting at Bobbie’s for a while waiting for all of us to find a time when we could get together. Each time we planned lunch, it snowed. The first time I told Bobbie I couldn’t come up because it was going to snow, she laughed at me thinking I was making a joke. I wasn’t. That was the beginning of our bitter cold, snowy winter. So, the pansies sat and waited.

Our morning started with a visit with the Onley Possum Weather prognosticator… Opie Possum (or O P –Onley Possum, Only Possum! Official Predictor of GOOD weather)… We do not have Groundhogs here on the shore. They would drown if they tried to burrow in our soil, too close to sea level. We also do not have chipmunks or porcupines or bears. We also don’t have rocks or stones, in spite of the pictures of them in my garden, unless they are brought in from other places. Most of my stones are from PA, a few from Maine… I digress, again. Anyway, Opie showed up for a bedtime snack to see if there was anything left from breakfast, since possum time is the reverse of people time. As I saw him saunter across the yard toward the cat food left-overs, I made note of there being NO SHADOW! Spring is right around the corner! YEA! Of course, that corner just might be 6 weeks away, who knows. But Opie was getting a snack as I hurried for my camera. So you will just have to trust me on the NO shadow part. 

Anyway, Possum in bed, Pansies in the ground, I hurried inside to get cleaned up for yet another Dr’s appointment when I heard a flurry of activity out the front window. My new resident hawk was back looking for HIS snack, but so far, for all the times I have seen him out here, I have yet to find any feathers around. I have never seen him make off with any little critters. Now, he might have caught some of the mice that have built their little tunnels in the ground under the feeders… I don’t know.

Handsome fellow, isn’t he? Just posing for his mug shot. Um, turn the other way, please.

Thank you.

I told him to head on down to Rat Trap Creek where there are a couple of muskrats, so I hear, that pretend to be weather prognosticators, but, frankly, I think they are phonies, just like the Pungoteague Possum they talk about on the radio. WE all know that was roadkill JD found and pretended was a live possum whispering in his ear that Spring was on its way. What’s with these people? The official weather Possums have always lived right here and we always give them a special treat on Possum Day. But we also protect them from the press and being taken advantage of by reporters like Puxatawney Phil. That is animal abuse! Poor thing.

From time to time, friends bring me their baby possums to be groomed as weather prognosticators.

Some work out, others, well, others just won’t have anything to do with it.

And that’s the end of this tail. 

IT’S NEVER TOO LATE FOR CHRISTMAS

I HAVE FRIENDS who are famous for celebrating holidays, birthdays, etc., just a tad on the late side. Sometimes I think we carry things a bit too far. However, the important thing is if the heart is there – and not when the presents get there.

Case in point… I got to visit a good friend over the week-end. I used to go there every week-end even tho it is an hour’s drive away. Actually, I used to volunteer at her Wildlife Center back in the days when I had a lot more energy and a lot less responsibility – not to mention ga$ was a whole lot cheaper! And then, my little possum lived out her days there after she outgrew all my cages here so I went up almost every week-end to take food, kitty litter, crickets… anything she needed. After PITA died, the trips were few and far between. Then came Lyme’s disease and everything became difficult to do, including driving for a couple hours.

Anyway, even tho we agreed to skip giving presents, you know how it is when you see something that is just too perfect and you just have to get it for somebody? Well, that seems to happen to me a lot. So, I had a collection of animal related ornaments for Bobbie’s animal Christmas tree, a possum puzzle I found 2 or 3 years ago, and a turtleneck with all kinds of birds on it. SO, we finally got together and had a package opening!

After visiting for a while, I asked if I could visit Blossom who, you might have guessed is a possum, so we trudged out to the Wildlife center and woke her up. It was cold, and Blossom made quick work of her snack… just poking her head out fast to grab a bite and back into her warm nest. Now let me just say something about her “nest.” Possums normally move every week or so in the wild. Often more frequently than that. Like cats, they LOVE cardboard boxes and will give up perfectly beautiful, crafted just for them, wooden nest boxes if you accidently happen to leave a piece of cardboard around. Go figure. There are at least 5 or 6 boxes in her cage, maybe some I did not see, and she moves from one to the other on her little possum whim… If you have never seen a possum on moving day, it is well worth the wait… they actually wrap their tails around their blanket (old shirt, towel, clump of straw) and drag it to the new nest site. I had a piece of rug here at my place that kept moving around, and an old T-shirt. Late one night I saw it being dragged across the car port and pulled up under the cover on the chair that was brought in for the winter. There is a box under that cover just for certain visitors. The little possum was moving from under the wheelbarrow in the shed back up to the carport.

Back here, a second Christmas was in store for Punkin and Spook. I thought their little heated box was too crowded. See them both in there? A full house! I had hoped one cat would sleep in the old location, the other on the greenhouse. No, they had to sleep together. After all, they have been curling up together for nearly 7 years.. Sooo, I found a bigger plastic box, cut a new door, built a new floor, filled in around the edges, and bought them a bigger heated bed. They do often stretch out, but they still sleep curled up together. This box is big enough to put a third cat in it – not that they would allow it. And not that I need another cat, NO THANK YOU!

HEIDI, the CROSS-EYED POSSUM

Heidi, bless her heart, is a famous little possum… a traveler from the United States to a zoo in Germany. I guess she is cute in her own little way. But then, I am obviously fond of possums. Got a few of them here on the blog… anyway, I hope this works. I am not a techy type person, and my computer is a dinosaur… I won’t even tell you how old it is… or that I still have dial up service. sigh. It is all part of learning to develop patience, you see. Actually, I am so old, I still consider computers a miracle. (I remember cranking the phone and knowing the operator’s name… our phone number was 23!)

A friend sent this a couple weeks ago… I just had to share it.

Probably by now you have seen Heidi on TV or on YouTube.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/01/11/vo.germany.cross.eyed.opossum.rtl?hpt=C2

Bless her little heart! Is she cute or what?

RED

A neighbor did a blog on the color Red the other day… at the moment I was reading it, I was taking a break before peeling apples for an apple pie. Red, apples are red, well, some of them are. I was using Macintosh apples which are not really supposed to be red-red, but I suppose you know they spray paint them to make them look more appealing to the consumers. The apples were set out on the counter next to one of my favorite kitchen gadgets – my apple peeler, which is also red. I have worn out 3 apple peelers. I always bought them from LLBean, but this last one I had to buy from the Vermont Country store. I am so not into recipes or blogs with recipes, but my apple pie has a fan club. One crust (usually) to cut down on those carbs and gluten, sweetened with honey, thickened with arrowroot, and flavored with cinnamon. Very low-cal, very healthy and yet tasty. I HATE real sweet pies.

After the pie was in the oven, I glanced out the window at the bleak landscape looking for a hint of red. Fortunately, the sun was out that day so my little camellia was bravely trying to open. Give it a bit of sun and it will bloom even with the temps in the 30s.

There are a lot of red berries around here. I have numerous “girl” holly trees.   Then there are the berries on the Nandina and the pyracantha. Even the azalea bushes have a bit of red in their leaves.

Then, of course, there are the cardinals. I am lucky to have at least 4 families living here, but just try to get all 4 males in one picture! I really love it when their color contrasts not just with the green, but also with the snow.

Looking around in the back yard, I noticed the red in my new Prayer flags. The old ones had just about disintegrated. I love the bright colors on them. While I was out there, Spook came to get a drink out of the nasty birdbath. Even though I clean it almost everyday so it is not too bad, he still loves to drink out of it. There is an old Iroquois story about an old man’s dog saying he got his vitamins by drinking from what appeared to be a muddy puddle. Maybe that is what keeps Spook going! The red metal thing in this picture holds the clematis in the summer time. Check out that little pink tongue! 

Anyway, I thought it was fun to see what was red out there this time of year. I guess I am lucky to have as much color as I do.

JUST SAYIN’

I have no idea who gets credit for saying this… I got it in several emails, most from Buddhist friends. Someone said it was on CNN – I don’t know, I don’t have cable (or a dish)… But I felt the need to pass it on.

“This week we saw a white Catholic male Republican judge murdered on his way to greet a Democratic Jewish woman member of Congress, who was his friend. Her life was saved initially by a 20- year old Mexican-American gay college student, and eventually by a Korean-American combat surgeon, and this was all eulogized by our African-American President.”

In separateness lies the world's great misery, in compassion lies the world's true strength.
—Buddha

May we learn to have compassion for one another.

A neighbor, who proclaims the fact that he has been saved, hates Obama – we all know why – and will tell you all the people listed above will go to hell because they are either Jewish, Catholic, gay, not white and probably a Muslim, and he is sure the Korean is some sort of heathen. He hates them all. But he believes he is a Christian and is going to heaven. Is that really what Jesus taught?

Just askin’…

THE SPEECH

In case you missed what will most likely be a speech for the history books, here it is. (I hope this link works, I’ve never tried this before)

It is heartbreaking to hear all the hatred spewing from the mouths of otherwise good people when it comes to politics. Of course, some people are PAID to spew hatred and poison the minds of America, and they do it so well, the innocent believe them. Those of you who know me know I believe our goal in life is to learn to live together in Peace and as much harmony as we can manage, not incite others to hatred. Love your neighbor as you love yourself, right? I think those who cannot at least try to love their neighbor are those who, in reality, really do not love themselves.

Anyway, the speech made at the Memorial service for those poor souls who died in the Supermarket lot, was outstanding… not just for those dead and wounded, but for our entire nation which has been deeply wounded by the open hatred and imagery and lies spewed forth for power and monetary gain. Here is the speech.

http://pol.moveon.org/azobamaspeech.html?id=25807-17244577-Kh7GxKx&t=3

I JUST HAVE TO DO IT

I have always tried to keep  religion and politics out of my blog… If you are a friend or neighbor, you know how I feel, but the purpose of this blog has never been to push a political or religious agenda. I still am not PUSHING an agenda, unless it is an agenda that will somehow heal this nation… That said, I was sent a copy of this sermon. I feel I must pass it along.

TREMBLING BEFORE THE THRONE OF GOD

A Meditation on the Attempted Assassination of Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the Necessity of Speaking Truth in Violent Times

9 January 2011

A Sermon, James Ishmael Ford, First Unitarian Church

Providence, Rhode Island

The Sunday after Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968, my husband’s family attended their Presbyterian church.  They went with heavy hearts, expecting the pastor to help make sense of the tragedy.  The minister rose to preach.  The congregation held its breath.  But he said nothing of the events in Memphis.  He preached as if nothing had happened. My husband’s family left church that day disappointed; eventually, they left that church altogether.

This Sunday, many Americans will go to church.  A sizeable number of those people may be hoping to hear something that helps them make sense of the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the others who had gathered at her sidewalk townhall in Tucson.  Some pastors may note the event in prayer and some may say something during announcements or add a sentence to their sermons.  But others might say nothing, sticking instead to prepared texts and liturgies.  Many will eschew speaking of politics.  That would be a mistake.

If we don’t speak for the soul, our silence will surely aid evil.

Saturday morning at ten o’clock Arizona time in a Safeway supermarket parking lot in Tucson, an apparently deranged young man, Jared Lee Loughner came up to Representative Gabrielle Giffords and put a bullet through her head. He then continued shooting into the crowd. Federal Judge John Roll, an appointee of President George H.W. Bush was killed on the spot, as was Gabe Zimmerman, the Representative’s local director of community outreach.  Christina Taylor Green, a nine-year old girl died a few hours later during surgery desperately attempting to save her life. Including Congresswoman Giffords, the judge, the child and four others who have died it seems at least nineteen people were shot. A number of the survivors are in critical condition. Details are still confused.

However, already blame is being assigned. One conservative writer wanted to make sure people knew Loughner listed the Communist Manifestoamong his favorite books. Ignoring, of course, that the same list included Mein Kampf. People on the left point to the poisoned political atmosphere, much of it associated with the right wing Tea Party movement. So, far, the slender evidence currently available points to someone mentally unbalanced, following his own inner demons. The best that can be discerned at this moment is some sort of vague grudge against government.

On the other hand our political atmosphere is indeed poisoned. Sarah Palin’s distasteful website targeting vulnerable democratic congressional seats by putting up cross hair target graphics, as well as her rhetorical flourish on a tweet calling upon her supporter’s to “not retreat, instead reload” is an egregious example. The worst example, however, from the recent election is probably Nevada’s Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle’s calling for “second amendment remedies” to political issues. Even Representative Gifford’s opponent in the last election held a fundraiser at a shooting range, where he fired an M16 while calling upon supporters to help remove her from office. This political atmosphere is oxygen for the crazed and violent.

However, while the rhetoric of violence has mostly been associated with the American right, it should not be missed how politicians right and left have stood with the representative and her family at this horrific time, as best I can tell without hesitation. Republican House Speaker John Boehner acknowledged his horror at the shooting, saying “An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve.” Democratic Minority leader Nancy Pelosi called the shooting a “terrible act” and a “national tragedy.” I heard a Republican congressman whose office was near Giffords,’ being interviewed, and while speaking of her and her staff, breaking into sobs.

Representative Giffords was, forgive me, is a Blue Dog, a moderate, in some areas liberal, in others conservative. She took a much stronger stand on immigration than I feel necessary, although she did oppose that abomination SB 1070. In another crunch I am deeply grateful for her vote for health care reform. The night of that vote the glass doors of her Tucson office were shattered by a vandal or vandals, a small fact not to be forgotten. Our political atmosphere is poisoned.

She was, is, also well liked in the House, and while it is to be assumed politicians of right and left from the Governor of Arizona to the President of the United States would speak of her as a personal friend, it well may be true. Gabby, as she is known to friends and constituents is a genuinely likeable person, hard working, and difficult to categorize. Not the obvious target even in these terrible times.

But these are terrible times.

So, what it means is far from clear. What to bring here to this Meeting House isn’t at all obvious. I know a vague disgust mixed with anxiety for the Representative, for our republic, for all of us. Perhaps you share this, or your own mix, possibly including anger, maybe fear.

National Journal editor Matthew Cooper notices this is the first American woman politician to be shot. “It’s a reminder that female politicians,” Cooper observes, “Are no more protected than female cops or firefighters, soldiers or corrections officers. And yet the first time we hear about a mother killed in the line of duty or a female POW, it curdles the stomach, not because of paternalism but because it marks a new barrier of decency that’s been broken.” He adds, how now, “We live in a country that’s more like Indira Gandhi’s India or Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan than we had thought.”

We are in times of great upheaval. So much has happened, so many social and economic changes over these past decades. When I was young my mother explained how there would never be a woman national news anchor because their voices couldn’t command authority. So sad that she thought such things. So, amazing that such a thought is alien to most of us today. And now a female politician has been shot.

A few colleagues exchanged notes on Facebook about this, and what we should say from our pulpits. One said, whatever people do, don’t go for “let’s all be nicer to each other.” Don’t call for a silencing of debate. And I agree. While I believe in common decency in how we relate to each other, in the power of civil discourse, and how dialing back some of this rhetoric is important, I agree with my friend the issues are too important to allow the crazies to shut us up.

My faith is grounded in a belief in the preciousness of the individual in all our passing glory and in how we take our being, each and every one of us out of some great and mysterious unity that we are all part of, a glorious radically interdependent web. No web no individual. No individual, no web.  We are one. And the expression of that knowing is love.

This means when I leave this Meeting House I am informed in profound ways about what is important. And inside this Meeting House and outside I must speak from that place of intimate experience. It is the possible healing of this world, of this country, of our individual hearts. This is the way of love, not a simpering, maudlin love, but a dynamic and challenging love. A love that calls us to know we are all in this together. I need to proclaim, to speak. I will speak for individuals. I will speak for families. I will speak for this lovely country. I will speak for our precious planet.

And I will not be shut up.

Economically, it means not allowing our trending to capitalist excess to own the day. If we had a socialist movement, I would be critical of it. But we don’t. Never have. Instead our shadow in this country is economic greed, and there is a constant pull to unfetter business, to disallow regulation, and to let business do the business of business no matter the social cost. I have no brief against business and economic activity. It is a human thing. It can be glorious. And, it has deep shadows, including the inclination for the rich to simply continue getting richer while the poor get poorer. The growing gap between the fabulously rich and the rest of us, and the increasing uncertainties needs to be noticed, needs to be challenged. And challenged from a pulpit informed by a deep knowing of our intimate connections, all of us. The average American is being taken for a ride, hearing the false witness of conservative and libertarian economists and other apologists for the rich, pretending we all might get there, too. For the sake of the many, for those who have never benefited from the business of business, as well as those who have succeed in this enterprise but remain of good heart for all, who show us how it can be done, I will not be silenced.

Speaking for the poor who have broken one law to cross our borders, to become a part of the dream of possibility, who provide the hardest labor upon which this country’s comforts are built, but who live in shadow and fear and become the scapegoat for those who would rather we not look into the dark hearts of those who are making most of the money, I will not be silenced.

Speaking for a fair and equitable access to healthcare for every one of us, I will not be silenced. Speaking for access to a good education for all, I will not be silenced.

Speaking for those who are given second class tickets to the feast of life because of their color, and who continue to struggle, having to be twice as good to get to the first rung of our society’s economic ladder, I will not be silenced.

Speaking for women who have finally, in this country, at least, and some others, achieved most of the rights we assume are human rights, but whose positions are still fragile, who need men to stand with them, I will not be silenced.

Speaking for lesbians and gays and bisexuals and the transgendered, people who have been for too long the easy scapegoat for imagined ills, whose love has been denied for vastly too long, and who now stand at the edge of genuine freedom and an authentic place within our culture, I will not be silenced.

Speaking for our precious planet, beautiful and fragile, ravaged by our human hands, and in need of healing, I will not be silenced.

Speaking for this wondrous country of possibility, acknowledging its long shadows, and its astonishing potentials, a republic of dreams, a home for the birds of paradise, celebrating it for its good and chastising it for its crimes, I will not be silenced.

And, neither should you.

Our faith calls us to look deep within our own hearts, to see who and what we are, and to sense who and what we might be, to take nothing for granted, to challenge all authority, very much including that which is proclaimed from this pulpit, but even more that which resides within each of your, of our hearts.

We must embrace the open way if we should ever hope to heal ourselves, our country, our world.  And we should not let those with guns with threats of guns silence us.

The price for that silence would be too great.

The need for us to stand up and speak is too important.

This is the way of love. This is the call of our faith.

Amen.

TODAY’S WEATHER REPORT

THE SECOND GREAT STORM of 2011 (drum roll please) did not happen here. Even my friends up in Dover, Delaware got by with just 2 or 3 inches of white stuff, BUT, they have a good layer of ice underneath all that snow. Here, in VA, it was a rain event, for the most part. However, we do have below freezing temps. As I type this, the temp has dropped to 30 degrees. It hovered just a bit above or below the freezing mark all night long, currently doing its daybreak dip of a degree or two. Haven’t you ever noticed how the temp drops as the sun comes up? As I write this, a sand truck just went by spraying sand over the black ice.

I got up early this morning, earlier than usual… I am trying to learn to sleep in, stay in bed until 6:30 or 7… as I was going to be on TV again this morning. I am the Southernmost Weather Watcher for WBOC, so whenever there is a storm, snow, ice or hurricane, I am the first one to be put on the air. This morning’s report was really quite boring vs the last time when we got 16 inches of snow and then 5+ foot drifts. This morning, only black ice to report, no pretty frozen trees or bushes, it just looks wet out there.

Several years ago I gave them a very exciting LIVE report… I don’t remember which hurricane it was, but I took the call outside on the carport. We had just spoken a sentence or two when the storm snapped my big maple tree – you could hear the craaaaaaaaaaaack on the air – Anna yelled for me to get back in the house – but it was fascinating to watch. The tree missed me (and the carport) by getting caught in between 2 other trees.  Fortunately I did not say anything bad (Oh CRAP!!!) comes to mind at a moment like that… I would hate to be bleeped on TV! LOL!

I have learned to be grateful for NO excitement like that! Calm and boring is much easier to live with.

Anyway, I am grateful we just have little inch long icicles hanging on the redbud, and also grateful for the nice layer of sand on the road. We cannot use chemicals, remember, too close to sea level, “Save the Bay” and all that.

So, now that I know we will not be frozen in, I guess I have no excuse for not calling the doctor and finding out what is happening with my heart. The chest pains are getting on my nerves and I really hate it when the old ticker skips a beat every now and then.

Hopefully the storm didn’t do too much damage in your neck of the woods… Stay inside, stay warm, be safe.