and where is my personal handy-man??

i've been away for a while, i guess. my weekends have been eaten up, and that's when i get most of my time on the Internets. the wall is planted and pretty much finished, and i'm pleased with how it turned out. a couple of my neighbors have complemented me on it, so i suppose i won't be tossed out of the neighborhood. have i mentioned that no one has lanscaped their front hills? maybe i'll start the ball rolling.

been doing lots of house stuff - the roof will get done next week, and i'm hoping pup will be ok during it. i have no daycare possibilities, and i have to be at work for big meetings, so i'm pumping her up with pred and hopng for the best. she'll be fine. i'll leave her some grocery bags to tear apart (she loves that!) and some chewies to take out her frustration at strangers banging on the roof. it's only a couple of days, and i keep telling myself, she'll be fine. i hope. yes. she'll be fine. just fine

i'll soon be repairing patches between the sidewalk and house where the water runs into the basement. yes, runs. like a pretty little waterfall. with new gutters, and my patches, it should stop the leaks. and there's the last bit of gardening, and a few more transplants, and getting ready for winter. the temp got up to 67 today, after being in the nineties yesterday - horrible storms last night. but no damage on my block, so we were lucky. i need to trim my tree, weed the front flower beds, trim the edges along the fence, and organize my toolbench. hoo.

and now Rita is on her way to texas. i'm sending good thoughts and hopes for safety for everyone there.

soulful pace

today was a gardening day - more soothing to my soul than any church or meditation or session with a shrink. i transplanted all the daylilies and iris i had to my front slope (someday, i will get pics on this thing, promise) and it's looking pretty nice, if i do say so myself. pup was racing around protecting me from bikers and people in the alley and other nefarious beasts. heavy labor is a great thing, in small doses, and i'm thrilled my back has decided to behave.

i got pup from my friend who has a farm. he used the pyrs for working - protecting the llamas and geese and scottish highland cattle and one pony. her dad was Thor, her mom Freya, and big beautiful animals they were. my sweet girl grew up in a barn with the pony until she was six months. human is definitely her second language, so i managed to find some books with dog language for me to learn and understand.anyway, now when she comes out to me mid-meal and *bhherrk*'s her approval of the kibble, i laugh, which only encourages her, and say, "were you raised in a barn??" it's our little joke.

farmer friend has "farmer pace", which is deliberate, un-hurried and infuriating to anyone trying to walk anywhere with him off the farm. he says that the work will still be there when he gets to it, whether he hurries or not. and he has to work all day, so pacing himself is vital.

i now have the farmer pace. lifting rocks, digging hills, loading sod bits into the trunk of my car to take to the compost site - all heavy, sweaty exhausting work, with no due date. so i take my time, walking deliberately, breathing, focusing on what the heck is next. it feels more meditative, too, more soulful and thoughtful. i think it has saved me from injury, so i'm going to keep it.

but not at work. too much to do there.

all i can do

this week has been a blur. between watching the reports and doing what i can to help, i can't think. i yell at the radio reports - we are represented by such a selfish, asinine, arrogant jerk that i can hardly see straight. what a huge sacrifice for him to make, cutting his vacation short to come back to work and see what he could do 4 days after the disaster. AAAAGH!!!!! i would love to write what i'd like to do to his scrawny little lying throat, but i don't want the secret service on my doorstep. how dare he not be at his desk the MINUTE he knew the storm was going to hit?? and now he's speaking as though it's some project that didn't quite turn out the way he'd like. "I'm disappointed in the results, but we're making progress". and before that, practically denying that we need any help from other countries. JUST SHUT UP!! get out of the way and let the pople who can actually do something do it! i am even more pissed at the idiots who elected his worthless, imbecilic ass. i hope they are ashamed of themselves.

i wish i had the lottery won so i could send more to the humane society, the aspca, the red cross, everyone who can help those poor people and creatures get out, get food and water, get meds and help and sleep and shelter. my company is sending $8 million so far - i'm amazed. they match all donations by us and have sent even more beyond that. big companies have their advantages.

i keep putting myself in that situation - losing everything, only having time to grab pup, and where would i go? how would i survive? hell yes i'd break into a shop for water and food if i or my people or pup were starving. hell yes. my heart breaks for those who survived the storm only to die waiting for help. young, old, sick, injured. how can this happen? how will the survivors ever heal? thank the gods for their neighbors taking them in. i'm looking in to what i can do to help with the people coming all the way up here to minnesota, if my company will sponsor volunteer training to help, anything. this will last for years - the emotional scars, the health problems, the tragedy of the city of new orleans, and how they'll rebuild it. years and years.

and another day passes...