The Girl with the Golden Patella

My little black velvet painting of a girlie had patella surgery a couple weeks ago on her back passenger leg. Holy crap it was expensive! Apparently her back driver side leg also has a luxating patella, but not as bad. The orthopedic surgeon at MSU Veterinary Hospital said that she may eventually need surgery on that knee as well, if it becomes clinical. Not since nursing school has "clinical" seemed like such an ominous word.

It was all worth it though for my favorite daughter. She was gone two nights and we missed her terribly. Evan kept muttering, "I miss Junie" and Luka bawled when he found out she was gone overnight. The cat just did not console. Lulu is pretty cute but she can be an asshole. She doesn't really give me the respect that I deserve as the alpha mama. One redeeming quality she does have is that she's entertaining to watch as she waddles after critters in the backyard. The wildlife is safe, though, because she's a poor excuse for a predator.

I just have decorative livestock.

Here Juniper is, cowering because the camera clearly is an instrument of terror. I made her pose next to the bloodroot in my garden, one of my first flowers to bloom in the spring. I hope it symbolizes a new spring in my girlie's step. Interestingly, about three feet northeast of her as the crow flies, my hellebores is blooming. I planted it several ago and this is the first year it's bloomed.

Her ears come back after I ask her if she wants a chewie.

Last night Brooke and I took the kids to Detroit Roller Derby. The Detroit team, the Motor City Disassembly had a bout with Killamazoo. It was great and the kids loved it! They were much more crash 'em up than when they play the other Detroit teams. I love how the trashy cheerleaders make it child-friendly by bringing the kids in to dance and play with hula hoops during intermission. They also passed out Miller Lite necklaces and action figures to the kids. Luka got a Lavagirl but he didn't want it and so he picked out a matchbox car instead. I decided to put Lavagirl in my garden, here she is riding a cricket. She fits in well with the rubber snakes that I got from The Rocket and coiled around rocks and branches in my yard. I'm liking the action figure fairy in my garden.

Thank goodness the flowers are finally blooming. May they bring you a spring in your step as well.

Your Mind for a Hairdryer

Happy Earth Day. Here are some John Trudell nuggets of wisdom for you, as a present. The first is a snippet from the documentary Trudell, the second a video of Look at Us from his recording Tribal Voice. I listened to this song over and over again on the drive to and from Lansing when my dog had surgery. Most of the lyrics are below. But not all, so you have to listen. Please?

This man freaks me out, in a good way.




We see your technological society devour you before your very eyes we hear your anguished cries exalting greed through progress while you seek material advances the sound of flowers dying carry messages through the wind trying to tell you about balance and your safety. But your minds are chained to your machines and the strings dangling from your puppeteers hands turning you, twisting you into forms and confusions beyond your control. Your mind for a job your mind for a t.v. your mind for a hair dryer your mind for consumption with your atom bombs your material bombs your drug bombs your racial bombs your class bombs your sexist bombs your ageist bombs. Devastating your natural shelters making you homeless on earth chasing you into illusions fooling you, making you pretend you can run away from the ravishing of your spirit. While the sound of flowers dying carry messages through the wind trying to tell you about balance and your safety.

Trying to isolate us in a dimension called loneliness leading us into the trap believe in their power but not in ourselves piling us with guilt always taking the blame greed chasing out the balance trying to isolate us in a dimension called loneliness economic deities seizing power through illusions created armies are justified class systems are democracy god listens to warmongers prayers tyranny is here divide and conquer v trying to isolate us in a dimension called loneliness greed a parent insecurity the happiness companion genocide conceived in sophistication tech no logic material civilization a rationalization replacing a way to live trying to isolate us in a dimension called loneliness.

Look at us, we are of Earth and Water. Look at them, it is the same. Look at us, we are suffering all these years. Look at them, they are connected. Look at us, we are in pain. Look at them, surprised at our anger. Look at us, we are struggling to survive. Look at them, expecting sorrow be benign. Look at us, we were the ones called pagan. Look at them, on their arrival. Look at us, we are called subversive Look at them, descending from name callers Look at us, we wept sadly in the long dark Look at them, hiding in technologic light. Look at us, we buried the generations. Look at them, inventing the body count. Look at us, we are older than America. Look at them, chasing a fountain of youth. Look at us, we are embracing Earth. Look at them, clutching today. Look at us, we are living in the generations. Look at them, existing in jobs and debts. Look at us, we have escaped many times. Look at them, they cannot remember. Look at us, we are healing. Look at them, their medicine is patented. Look at us, we are trying. Look at them, what are they doing. Look at us, we are children of Earth. Look at them, who are they?

Wink

This guy winked at me. This is actually kind of cute, but I don't even own a hoodie so I don't think it would work out:

"I would love to find a "woman-bud". Hunt out of a camper upnorth or tipin a few golfin or reelin in a bass. She has to love morning lovemaking. She would hafta mabey throw a cap on an grab a hoody an go. She cannot be non-effectionate. An hopefully have little wrinkles by the sides of her eyes or edges of beautiful lips. Love being in the presence of two girls at times. My daughters 11 an 14."

Shaping Up

I think I’m stinking with bitterness over this sweater I knitted. And reknitted. It’s the Jane crossover sweater, from Perl Grey, knit with Ottawa yarn from Fleece Artist. I love love love the yarn. I encountered numerous problems with the pattern, though, and now I may just have to transform it back into a ball. I thought this would be a good sweater to experiment with, since it’s not that fitted. But I guess that turned out to be the problem. I am liking the bangs, though.

I started to knit the larger size, thought for sure I would run out of yarn so I took the whole thing out and knit the smaller size and figured I’d just block the hell out of it to make it fit. Then I made the front panels too long and took those back and redid them. Now that it’s all attached, it doesn’t quite fit right. It has these big gaps at the armpits and it’s much too boobslingy. I feel like a boob marsupial when I wear it.

I successfully knit another hippie hat. This is the Ana Bandana pattern also from Perl Grey. Knit in Woolie Silk from Fleece Artist.

The hat helps me be one with nature. Here I am cuddling a chipmunk I found in my yard:

I finished the bandana hat in perfect time for buying 2008 Dunegrass Festival tickets. The place where we arrived last year and Evan scanned the horizon and said, “This place is overrun with 98% hippies.” He apparently was okay with it though, because he’s been asking to go back. I also made reservations for a cabin at Mammoth Caves for the end of June. Toss a camping trip or two in there, a whole lot of swimming at Rutherford Pool and Murray Lake and the summer is shaping up. Luka’s soon getting started with soccer, but Evan is resistant to organized sports. So I’m steering him towards some slacker sports. I signed him up for a summer geocaching camp. And I’m going to learn disc golf so I can take my ducklings out and play. Hey! There’s another bandana hat wearing opportunity.

I got a little preview of summer yesterday when I found myself repeatedly saying “BECAUSE I SAID SO!!” I have a plan, though, to deal with these children who constantly ask why why why to every little thing. They’re not really looking for reasons, either, they’re trying to antagonize me. So here’s my plan. One day soon, when I tell them to turn off the tv, for example, and they say WHY I’m going to sit them down and look up articles about the detrimental effects of excessive television viewing. We’ll read it all together and then I’ll require them to write little book reports about it that they can refer to the next time they want to know WHY. And I will find other topics for them to research for any other questions that they have for me. And then they will know why.