Last night, Momo and I were having a catch in front of the house when my neighbor, K., came over. K. is somewhat of an asshole, to be honest, and we don't really like him. Even though he has two cute puppies.

K. asked me if I had heard anything about our new neighbor, H., being a sex offender. H., his wife, and son moved in just over a month ago. The house they are renting should be condemned, and the current owners are having trouble selling it, as I have mentioned before. They leave their dog chained in the back, as I have also mentioned. On Saturday, the dog was loose, and spent much of the time sitting on my front porch. When I tried to determine whether or not it was a friendly sitting on the porch or an I-want-to-bite-you sitting on the front porch the dog would run away, tail down. Anyway. We don't like the new neighbors and their loud talking outside and dog barking.

But not liking the new neighbors is very different from discussing whether or not one of the new neighbors is a sex offender. So I asked K. where he had heard that. He told me that S., who lives across from new neighbor H. had told him. S. is crazy. We call her the zombie mom, because she is so often completely out of it. S. has a little girl, Little S., who really likes me and comes over to talk and pet the dog. Little S. has a friend who is the daughter of another friend of ours.

A few weeks ago Little S.'s friend came over for a hug and to say hi. Little S. stood at the end of her driveway, yelling to her friend that she was going to be introuble. When I asked the friend what was going on she told me that the nwe neighbors "beat up little kids." Yeah. Pretty sure she got that from S..

So today I looked to see if H. is on the sex offender registry and he is not. Of course that just means that he is not a level 3 offender - someone who is likely to re-offend.

I am torn about wanting to do more investigation, and wanting to just let it go. I wish I could know that he is just an annoying, loud talking, dog abusing bastard and be done it. Do I really want to know if I am living next door to something worse?

I never thought I would say this, but I hope that guy from jersey buys the house next door.
  ¶ 1:44 PM

  I am now officially licensed to shoot but not at animals, I would need a hunting license for that. My concerns about how I would feel about killing an animal were put to rest after the shooting portion of our class. There's is no chance in hell that I would actually succeed in HITTING any target, especially not a moving one. Out of a class of twenty-six, I was the only person who didn't get a single shot on the PAPER of the target, let alone inside the rings. Even though our instructor let me try ten more rounds after everyone had finished.

Yesterday, I got to see my beautiful cousin Hannah, who built quite the local fan club at my wedding, perform with the Vermont Youth Orchestra, of which she is an alumna. She played cello though the whole program, which featured work by Vermont composers, including two works by Phish frontman Trey Anastasio. There was an encore. Hannah put her cello down and walked to the front of the stage, sat down next to Trey, and sang backup vocals for him on "A Flock of Words." She was phenomenal. Her gorgeous voice just was the perfect match for his not-so-great voice. The standing ovation was much deserved. One the ferry back from Burlington one of the current members from the Orchestra sat next to me with his double bass. i told him how great they sounded and why I was there. When I said that Hannah is my cousin the look of awe on his face was priceless. "She was amazing!"

In other news, I've heard from Bill! I finally got a letter today. He was dispatched by the owner of the lodge where he is working to the Ilnik river...his 10 day trip became a 3 week excursion. His hunting and fishing up a storms, and socking away tips like a mad man. He's catching 15-20lb salmon. And he wants Momo to get off the bed. How did he know?
  ¶ 10:25 AM

  This morning on my way to work I was listening to a story on NPR about the dependable heartbreak of ebing a Red Sox fan. The guest was telling a story anbout Peter Farrelly tellling his young nephew, a newly minted Red Sox fan to "protect your heart." My familial heritage of fandom makes this very familiar - I've spent my life hoping and believing and losing hope and losing belief.

This year, it's not the Sox who are making me feel this way. (I am trying to ignore them - but this IS the year). It's the election.

I want to have hope, but when I start to pay attention, I get nervous. I truly believe that the Sox only win when I am watching. Is the same true of John Kerry?

I try and heed the warnings and ignore the polls. Turn a deaf ear to the naysayer. But all I can imagine is Kerry pulling the politcal version of a Billy Buckner.  ¶ 1:11 PM

  Last night I had my biggest moment of sissy-babydom since the bat incident.

The upstairs hallway light is still out, as I have not yet bought a ballast for it. Since I had guests for the last week, I put a table lamp on a chair in the hall and hoped for the best. Last night iwas alone again. Aroung ten o'clock I noticed the light was on upstairs, and I hate to waste power so I grabbed a flashlight and ran up to shut it off. I know it would be dark, so i turned on the bathroom light (at the top of the stairs) before I ventured down the hall (about ten steps) to shut off the light. The bathroom light still shed plenty of light into the hall, but I had to shut that off before I went down the stairs. So i did. And I don't know what I thought or imagined, but I scared the CRAP ouyt of myself. I ran down the stairs SO FAST. Then I sprinted to the front door and let old Momo in and then I sprinted to the coach. My heart was beating a million miles an hour and that is when I realized that I am a big wuss who is scared of the dark.
  ¶ 11:00 AM

  Why am I not surprised that someone who supports W. would think it's okay to deface personal property? If only I could identify the perpetrator of vandalism against my Kerry Edwards pin - which, by the way, was displayed next to the pin Bill picked up at some Republican thing somewhere made of a dollar bill folded like a flower and a plastic elephant in the middle. We have plenty of left leaning types as guests, and none of them has ever messed with THAT. (Why it's on the bulletin board still is simple...I think it's funny and indicative of the GOP, and I don't want to throw it away, but I don't want it cluttering up a junk drawer either)
  ¶ 10:34 AM

  Last night I went out for dinner and beers with Kathy and Mike, who were staying at the Bunkhouse for the weekend. We were having a nice conversation about their kids, and suddenly we were all crying. Their son was in the Marines for four years, and after he was done he joined the National Guard. I think we all know where he is now, of course. Before he was deployed in January, he had a wife and a month old baby. A week or so after he arrived in Iraq his wife found out she was pregnant again. The timing was someone fortuitous, as he was scheduled to have two weeks of leave for mid-September anyway, and his wife's due date was within that two week period. But at the beginning of August his wife called his mom, Kathy, to say, "I'm in labor, but don't worry!" By six o'clock that night she was holding her second daughter.

Kathy's job was to get in touch with her son, Mike Jr., but she can't just call him up in the desert. She called a group of his fellow soldier's wives, trying to locate a number to use. The third woman she called picked up right away. She was talking with her husband using a webcam. Her husband was in the building next to where Mike Jr. was sleeping. (It was 3 in the morning.) He sent someone to go get Mike, and when that other soldier went to find him, Mike was wie awake, standing in front of the building where he bunks. He couldn't sleep that night. In five minutes, Kathy was telling her son, though a phone, help up to the computer, that he was a daddy again.

Because his daughter was a preemie and was not expected to come home from the hospital right away, he asked for his two weeks to take then. He got four.

Mike, Kathy and I are all crying. And I kept thinking of my friend Joy and her hisband, Jason, who is stationed there too. Mike and Kathy helped me come up with the idea of the Bunkhouse sending packages to Mike Jr. and Jason. People come and stay and leave tons of unopened snacks and candy and barely read magazines and books. We're setting up two boxes in the kitchen, where people can put that kind of stuff for care packages.
  ¶ 1:37 PM

  I got really panicky about the election in my Management Team meeting in the morning. We are so focused on November, that it is hard to think beyond that. The truth of the matter is this, and I say this as a private citizen (as far as the IRS and John Ashcroft is concerned) - if Bush wins re-election, it is very likely that he would turn the Global Gag Rule inward. We could be faced with a future where even SAYING that abortion is an option loses Planned Parenthoods and other family planning clinics the federal money needed to offer basic services, like annual exams, pap smears, pills, condoms, STI and HIV/AIDS testing. It IS scary. And it is looming. It's bad enough that taking federal sex ed money means that schools can't even bring in outside educators to talk about methods of pregnancy and disease prevention outside of abstinence. Up until today, I was feeling optimistic...but we are just over a month out and I am feeling scared.
  ¶ 2:21 PM

  I am really excited to be planning an activity for the Planned Parenthood Action Fund's National Day of Action. Our local chapter of our statewide c4 group (that's a tax code that means we are engaging in political activity and your gift to us is NOT tax deductible) is planning a postcard party. We will send handwritten notes to voters in Washington State, urging them to vote pro-choice in November.

The reaction from voters in swing states who got these cards last month was phenomenal. A wake up call, to say..."hey! Who I vote for matters to someone other than me! Maybe my vote does count..."

PP Action Funds across the country are doing these sort of actions, and if you live close to a swing state, you maybe able to join them on a bus to that state, to knock on doors and urge voting. Go for it! And if you live in the greater Plattsburgh area, or are, like visiting on business (hehe), come join us Saturday morning!
  ¶ 3:39 PM

  The turkeys were out in force this morning, crossing the road in a great waddling bunch. I'm always amazed at how reptilean their necks are. I have never eaten wild turkey, but I imagine I would like it. I also saw a nice big buck on my way to Plattsburgh today. And all of this has me thinking about hunting.

Bill hunts. He's a duck hunter which, it seems to me, puts him in a class of people obsessed like no other. Sitting up to his waist in mud, breaking ice with his kayak, braving wet and wind and cold. I've been out with him, and can't say I've enjoyed it. I've also been on a hunt for deer with my dad, which is more walking and less slogging. Deer hunting also seems to allow for more reading.

So as a gift to Bill (and for my dad, too) I am signed up for a hunter's safety course in two weeks. I'm looking forward to it, because I have a fascination with hunting, but fear of guns makes me want to have no part of it. I also want to see if I can figure out what it is about hunting that makes perfectly rational people become obsessed.

But there is this...I hate the taste of duck. Even as a vegetarian, I was okay with hunting for food. Which is too say, if you are going to eat meat, isn't it better that it live a natural life, rather than exist knee deep in manure in a stockyard? Maybe that's all rationalization. It probably is, actually. But to kill and not eat - that is reprehensible. So I can't imagine duck hunting. I really can't. Plus, my book might get wet. I do love venison though, but I can't imagine shooting something bigger than me that wasn't, like, attacking.

So I am taking this class, but I think I can tell you already what will happen. I will pass the test. I will get my license. I will go out early one morning on a duck hunt with Bill. I will a.) not be able to shoot b.) shoot and miss or c.) shoot, kill, and cry. I will never try again.
  ¶ 1:53 PM

  Local politics can be so much more fun than national races. I spent all of yesterday with a group of colleagues deciding who our statewide c4 (that's tax code for something...) will endorse. I know very little about New York politics, other than who some of the major players are, but I am fascinated. I used to be interested in politics - back when I interned in Washington, I watched so much CSpan that I could almost name all the Senators in alphabetical order. I had forgotten how fun it is to feel like you have a say or input or at the very least a modicum of access. And locally you can get that...you can meet candidates and representatives - if you just ask. I have never been so excited to vote in local races, now that I know who the players are.
  ¶ 10:27 AM

  Librarians rule! And I'm not just saying that because I know several of my readers ARE librarians. My mom, the law librarian, emailed me with the decision in third case challenging the federal abortion ban BEFORE the powers that be at this nationally known family planning and reproductive rights organization announced it. And then she sent a me a link to the judgement.


  ¶ 9:55 AM

  I'm ready for fall. I've got the corduroy pants, the corduroy jacket, the sweaters, the sheepskin boots (so what if they are passe - I live in a place where sub zero temps are not completely unheard of...not LA!) and the flannel sheets on the bed. Since we didn't get a summer here, I'm ready for fall to begin and the teasing of warmth to end.

I would also like to be able to cook at home, but since the people who sell us propane have not answered my plea yet, I'm thinking that won't happen tonight.
  ¶ 1:20 PM

  Dear Bubba,

I hope you ticker feels better. I fell in love with you all over again at the DNC, you know. But all that love you were feeling must have overwhelmed your ol' heart.

Your pal,

M. (No, not that M!)   ¶ 1:26 PM

  I've embarked on the adventure of charting my menstrual cycle. This is not for the faint of heart. Nor is it to be discussed where anyone could read it...because the quality of my cervical fluid is my own business, damnit! But I will share this: my waking temp is higher, which is probably a result of having been on the pill for so long. So, I went seeking information on what is average and what is abnormal at the Taking Charge of Your Fertility website forums.

Never have a seen such a preponderance of emoticons, anagrams, and flashing banners. That shit is sickening. An egg in a nest means ovulation??? A smilie in a which hat with a carrot nose is your period??? TTC HPTs OPKs TTA!!!! LYLAS!!! One woman...below every entry, displays a flashing picture of herself and her husband. Above the picture are their names and ages (she's 21) and flashing 'Happily Married' with hearts. The an avatar of a bride and groom. Below that a flowery time line that counts down to their anniversary. Below that..in a pyramid...Flashing banners that read:


  ¶ 1:47 PM

  Last night I had a visit from a State Trooper. It was only a matter of time, I guess, before my neighbor called the police. And I am so glad he did, because it meant I didn't have to.

The new neighbors, you know, the ones who moved into the house that should condemned?, well they have three dogs. Three dogs to neglect. On Saturday they were left alone from 7 am until 10pm - two inside and one out. the one outside looks fierce, with a bellowing bark and the creepiest eyes I have ever seen. The other two are a yipper and howler.

The trooper told us there's nothing we can do, unless the dogs are abused or denied food water and shelter. Is a six foot metal chain for a tether abusive?

It makes me sick to even think about it.
  ¶ 4:38 PM