I'm fascinated by figureheads from sailing ships. This one is named Britannia. Whether she orignally graced a merchant vessel or a man o' war, I don't know. Sailors used to believe that whistling aboard ship would cause a gale to blow. Hence, whistle just enough to cause a breeze.
Old sea legends state that women aboard ship are bad luck and that their presence causes a storm. But there is another superstition which claims that a bare-breasted woman could calm angry seas and quiet winds. That may be the reason for so many mermaids and other half-dressed female figure heads. Or perhaps they were simply more fun to carve and display in times when a glimpse of skin and a shapely naked woman were hard to come by and likely to result in incarceration or excommunication.
I would love to create a figurehead but woodcarving is not my forte.
The weather, today, was foggy and humid when I took the dog out at 0600. Dogs, both up and down stream were barking at something that alarmed them. Since we had a bear wander through earlier in the month and help itself to trash, I was somewhat cautious. The light I was using, a 1 Watt LED only has a range of about 30 meters. Loki seemed unconcerned about anything but sniffing for rabbits, so I took her out to the road, got the newspaper and strolled back to the house with our dog not at all concerned about the others.
According to the radar, there is rain within 5 kilometers and a 70% chance of rain here. It missed us last night.
Speaking of being missed:
I've been trying to ask a couple of questions at town hall meetings sponsored by our local congressman. At the large one in Johnson City, the line of questioners was broken just before me - time constraints. AARP sponsored a telephone town hall meeting and called me to participate. I had great questions already written out, certain to both raise valid concerns and irritate the congressman. Time ran out again after I sat listening to people repeat the same GOP death panel rumors over and over for 40 minutes.
Last night was to be another telephone town hall event. I was prepared, had dinner made so Gloria could eat on time while I waited on the phone for a turn to speak. The phone rang at 1820 and I walked in to put on the headset and pick up the call. The answering machine, programmed to allow four rings, picked up after three. I heard the recording say, "Sorry we missed you." I have no idea what was discussed. During the first two meetings, Congressman Roe delivered pure GOP party line - "No public option, no abortion, no, no, no, no, no!"
The GOP and its higher ups are masters at spreading lies and misinformation to the most vulnerable segment of the population. During the AARP phone meeting, I heard three different older women ask how long they would be allowed to live if they got sick after 65, ask if they would receive medication after 65, ask if they would be euthanized after 65. These women genuinely were afraid of the fictitious death panels. Roe told them not to worry about them but I don't believe he was that convincing. And to be truthful, I wouldn't be surprised if he had wanted to leave some doubt.
Roe is a retired OB/Gyn. He keeps telling people how he performed surgeries on elderly patients which improved their quality of life. No doubt this is true. But his purpose in relating this is to bring up the scary word, "rationing." He implies that any national or public option will result in draconian rationing. Of course, he overlooks the fact that we ration health care by affordability every day in this nation. The Canadian and British models do have flaws and they do wind up with some procedures rationed by availability. You can only shove so many people into an MRI during a day. The result is that non-emergent patients may wait longer for tests &/or procedures. But that delay, however long it may be, is far less dangerous and far more acceptable than the failure to receive treatment because it is too expensive as happens here.
The collection jars one sees on quick shop counters all over, begging for money to pay medical bills or to pay the upfront costs of surgery should convince any reasoning person that our health care delivery, determined and enforced by insurance companies, is serverely rationed by affordability. If you don't have the cash in hand, don't get sick.
Years ago, I was sent to Florida for an instrument training session. This was in the mid 1980s and Florida hospitals were being acquired by hospital chains as fast as they could ink the contracts. Included in the prepratory documents that I was sent was the warning that only one health insurance was now acceptable in the region where I would be for training. I was advised that all hospitals wanted either that one insurance card or cash up front for any care at all, including emergency services.
Chain hospitals still behave in that manner. They deliberatly drop ER services so they don't wind up having to care for indigents or under-insured walk ins. They don't staff an ER so no trauma patients, keeps their costs way down. Of course, for patients in serious need of emergency treatment, it often means that they may wind up spending so much time in transit to the nearest ER that handles indigent and trauma patients that it no longer matters to the patient.
Last night's dinner was chili-mac, made with ground bison and Dream Fields linguini. Their pasta doesn't spike Gloria's glucose so when we want pasta that's what we use now.
Tonight, left over pulled pork served up as tacos and refried black beans. I'll use corn tortillas and serve Gloria's hers on a very thin, multi-grain sandwich roll that Arnold makes. They come in several varities and will just handle a cheese burger.
Dave Brubeck Quartet at Carnegie Hall is cued up and ready to play.
I think I'll go out and whistle up a dog. If I get a gale as well, that could be interesting too!
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