Monday, November 06, 2006, 20:20
Election Frenzy
I'll be glad when the election is over tomorrow. Then maybe people will stop calling my house about getting out to vote. Most of the phone calls are recordings, so I can't tell them that they are "preaching to the choir" and are wasting a phone call.
Every time the phone rings, too, I'm afraid it will wake up the kitten. And the bad thing about that is, since the calls are often recordings, I can't even tell someone "you woke up the baby; you can just come over here and take care of her!"
Seriously, though, over the weekend I received six phone calls about voting on various candidates and various issues in the election tomorrow.
For the previous several weeks, we were getting at least one phone call per day about the election, but sometimes as many as three or four. And once again, most of them recordings.
And that's not to mention all the pieces of mail that have arrived in our mailbox over the past month about various candidates and various issues. Usually at least one piece of mail per day but sometimes four or five or six pieces.
The United States Postal Service must be thrilled by all of the extra business. Not to mention the printing companies that print up the flyers.
I'm hoping that all of the ads on television, the telephone calls and the flyers in the mail will encourage people to get out and vote. Actually, it won't be the phone calls, the flyers or the television ads that encourage people to vote because most of the advertising is negative and negative advertising suppresses voter turnout -- it will be the issues at hand that will encourage people to get out and vote.
I'm hoping that the increased interest in issues will make people pay more attention to what's going on.
Such as --
Wages have been stagnant for a while, and the majority of people across middle America have been experiencing a decrease in their standard of living.
Something like 47 million Americans don't have health insurance.
We have reached the point of "peak oil" which means we have reached the peak of what we can extract from oil fields all over the world and it's downhill from here, and we had better start looking seriously at some alternative and renewable sources of fuel. Estimates are that in just a few years, instead of $60 or $70 a barrel, crude oil will be $350 a barrel.
Global warming is a threat to all life on earth.
We are spending billions every month on a war that seems to be accomplishing very little except to get more people killed (both our side and theirs and maybe way more on theirs than we've been told to believe).
Will getting out to vote change any of these issues or help to resolve them?
Maybe. Maybe not.
But once you have voted, don't let your interest in the issues die away. Stay interested. Stay informed. Discuss the issues with someone else so that person stays interested and stays informed.
Our lives could very well depend upon it.
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Itty Bitty Black Kitty -- The kitten's eyes were about half open this morning. Kitten is becoming more aware of what's going on around her, too. I woke up this morning to kitten screaming. I went outside with Pixie right away, and baby was yelling loud enough that I could hear her outside.
Baby ate about 10 cc this morning. Got her potties taken care of. And then spent a long while settling down again. I have been tiptoeing around the house today. I stealthily made two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch because I figured that was quieter than heating something up in the microwave. My stealthy tiptoeing and pouncing on the phone when it rings and then whispering into the receiver reminds me of when Randy worked nights and was trying to sleep during the day.
Well, one thing about it. At least I've had lots of practice. Randy worked nights for two years. With any luck at all, the stealthy tiptoeing for the kitten will only last for a couple of weeks until she's big enough to be out and about more.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Monday, November 06, 2006, 03:31
Trick or Treat!
Remember how I said we hadn't had any trick-or-treaters on Halloween for about 10 years?
Well, this year, we ended up with two trick-or-treaters.
Actually, neither one of them *said* "trick or treat" -- but, you know, it's the thought that counts.
The first trick-or-treater came a little after 5 p.m. I had just headed out to feed the horses when a vehicle pulled in the driveway.
It was my great-nephew, Eli, and his mom and dad. They had dressed him up for Halloween and brought him over for me to see. Then they were going to visit another couple with a baby so they could get pictures of the two of them together in their Halloween costumes. Eli's mom said they didn't have any time to waste because Eli falls asleep at 6:30 p.m. and stays sound asleep until 7 the next morning.
Eli went as a puppy dog for Halloween this year.
And what a cute puppy! Eli is now six months old.
The other trick-or-treater came later, maybe about 7 p.m.
It was one of the little girls from my Sunday school class.
Unfortunately, she was scared silly (I don't know why), and when her dad brought her out of the truck, she burst into tears and hid her face in daddy's neck. She was dressed as a witch, but we never did get to see her. Not really. I tried talking to her, but she was still frightened.
Her dad got a big kick out of it. "You're supposed to be scaring them! Not the other way around!" he said.
Randy went into the house for the bag of candy I had gotten. The cute little girl in the witch's costume still wouldn't talk to me or look at me, but I put some candy into her cauldron, anyway.
"I can't understand it," her dad said. "When I bring her for Sunday school, she doesn't even want me to stay. 'Bye Daddy, see you later,' she says as she's pushing me out the door!"
I wanted to get her picture, too, but of course, that was out of the question.
Oh, well. After a long dry spell, we finally had two trick-or-treaters!
Earlier in the day, I had talked to two women for a newspaper story. They lived in the city where the newspaper is located. Both of them said they turn off their porch light after they have given out candy to 150 or 200 kids.
I can't even begin to imagine.
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Kitten Update My itty bitty black kitty was in the process of crossing another milestone on Sunday! Sunday morning I noticed that the baby's eyes are starting to open! Only one was open just a tiny bit during her breakfast.
Unfortunately, feeding time Sunday morning was a "rush job" because we had to get ready for church. I knew that the kitten hadn't gotten as much to eat as she usually does, but I didn't have any more time to hold her and play with her and wait for her to eat some more, so I put her back in the box. By the time we got home from church, she was awake and crying. Usually she sleeps and isn't bothered much by of anything that goes on around the house. Not so far, anyway.
So I got her formula ready and my bucket of washcloths ready and got her out.
Both of baby's eyes were open a tiny bit! She ate quite a bit, and then I put her back in her box with the heating pad and the radio playing softly next to the box. Baby slept for the rest of the afternoon until her 4 p.m. feeding time.
Saturday night, the kitten did a "cat thing." She had rolled over on my lap onto her back, and with one finger, I tickled her belly a little bit. The next thing you know, she was "nibbling" my finger. I'd stop tickling. She'd stop nibbling. I'd start tickling. She would start nibbling. Tickle. Nibble. Stop. Tickle. Nibble. Stop.
Most cats instinctively will bite your hand if you tickle their bellies. They will kick up with their hind feet, too, and will get your hand with their back claws. It's a protective instinct. If something is fighting with them, they bite and kick to protect their bellies.
The kitten's belly is much too large and round and her hind feet are much too short and small for her to kick up and reach my hand. But she certainly does know that she's supposed to bite when something tickles her belly! Hah! Baby knows this -- and she was only 11 days old on Saturday.
We still have not decided on a name yet. Randy's not sure if he likes Phoenix. It took us quite a while to name Pixie, too. We thought of all kinds of names. Randy kept asking "what's your name, little girl?" Finally one day, he was lying on the couch with the puppy curled up with him. He asked again, "what's your name, little girl?" And the name "Pixie" popped into his head.
I hope we think of a name soon. Baby's getting big enough for a name, I think.
Here are some pictures of the little rug rat --
The kitten and Sebastian.
The kitten and my 20 pound tom, Duke.
The kitten and Sebastian again.
Sunday afternoon after the kitten's 4 p.m. feeding, I took her into the bedroom to see the big kitties. My kitty cat, Guinevere, has always been the motherly type. She groomed the kitten, licked her head and her chest and her flanks, and spent quite a few minutes grooming her. Baby liked it and thought it was a good thing to have a big kitty groom her. When Guinevere was finished, the kitten turned and came back to me. I warmed up her formula again, she took another half a cc -- and she was ready to take a nap. When the kitten is finished, she's finished. End of story. She hides her head in my hand and is instantly asleep.
That's the way of all babies, isn't it -- eat, sleep and play. But mostly eat and sleep at first. Time enough for play soon enough.
LeAnn R. Ralph
