Author: Karen

Sometimes, I think ahead about 50 years and realize, “I’m going to be one of those grandmas that kids are going to want to interview for their history projects.”

Consider: I will remember a time without cell phones and the internet. I’ll remember 9/11 and the mess we made of the Iraq War. (God, I hope I can finally use the past tense on that in another 50 years.) I’ll remember the Dark Times (the Bush years–now with more spying and torture!) and the historic Hilary and Obama campaigns.

And it looks like I’m going to remember the Great Financial Crash of Wall Street in ’08. Nothing like some reports of global market panic with your coffee! This is bad, people. Maybe not the time to ask for a raise at work.

1. I think I need to remind myself not to panic about the market crash this week. Or about anything else. (I tend to panic.)

2. Although if society does dissolve into anarchy, we can welcome our new feathered overlords: I read this week that crows “seem to be able to use causal reasoning to solve a problem“–something that even chimps aren’t able to do.

3. And speaking of human traits in animals, Toby is doing his best to take over my side of the bed:

The newspaper tells me that today marks the signing of a charter in 1787 that established the Federal government. The article also gave some harrowing statistics about Americans:

• 28 percent know more than one of the five fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment: the freedoms of religion and speech; of the press; to assemble peaceably; and to petition for redress of grievances.
• 1 in 1,000 can name all five.
• 20 percent think the First Amendment guarantees the right to own a pet.
• Yet 52 percent of Americans can name at least two main characters in “The Simpsons” television show, and 22 percent can name all five (Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie).

There’s a quiz you can take, too. I took it and, well, my next trip to the library should include some history to brush up on.

But at least I was never stupid enough to think Bush was doing a good job!

As I mentioned, there was a demolition derby at the State Fair this weekend. The symphony also opened its season with Beethoven’s 9th. I didn’t attend either of these events, though. Why?

Because Mr. Isbell had a birthday party…
and I had a big bowl of punch!

Happy birthday, hon!

1. Did you hear that Lance Armstrong is coming out of retirement to try for a record eighth win at the Tour de France next summer? He’s riding for free–he wants to raise cancer awareness–and he’s letting a documentary film crew follow his training, to put to rest any doping rumors. Go Lance!

2. In other news, but of the infuriating and scary kind, did you see the Sarah Palin ABC interview? Choice quotes on the ABC site.

3. My book this week is Annie Proulx’s Wyoming Stories, short stories that remind you that ranch life is not at all like My Friend Flicka, but instead “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

4. Those middle items are depressing. Here’s Toby being sleepy to cheer us up:

Look what was in the paper this morning–an article about pack goats! It includes this sentence:
“All goats, Zimmerman says, love fire and hate water. Around campfires, they get as close as they can to the flames, and will often stand right in front of people–so they can be near two of their favorite things.”

And here’s the accompanying picture–I saw this guy at the fair last Friday, but my camera had died:

Continuing the agrarian dream here on the blog this week, check out this picture:
You can buy this as a print here, and it was taken on Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm, “the world’s first fiber CSA.” As their site says, they were profiled in the Wall Street Journal this spring, and I remember reading about it and scoffing that “it’s not a real farm.” I don’t know why I did that–although if you look at the pictures of those sheep and goats, they are preternaturally clean–but now that I’ve read about it more, it seems like a good way to go into fleece farming.

Hmm….