Mesmerized by a squirrel

Sue Lyon Springfield
New US citizen, new US voter

This morning I sat and stared at a squirrel for the longest time. He perched on the half wall outside my French door and appeared to be staring at me, though I know he couldn’t see me. But he was motionless, and the longer he stayed, the more I was mesmerized. Both of us stared, as though frozen in time and space. And then, with a sudden flip of his tail, he was gone. They are, I admit reluctantly, such cute little creatures. I wish they weren’t so numerous and so destructive.

It was a lovely day today, harbinger of spring just around the corner. In the low eighties with bright, sunny skies, and that pale green of new buds on the trees. The redbuds are beginning to bud, and tonight I saw a dogwood with faint blossoms. Our Chinese pistache is slow to bloom, but Christian scraped a piece of bark, found green, and pronounced it healthy. It’s still early March, and I cling to the almanac wisdom that says March 15 is the first date it’s safe to plant without fear of frost. Jordan and I need to make lists of herbs for my moveable garden and plants for the pots—fountain grass in two, but we may try some other things too. I’d like sweet potato vine in the two urns outside my door, with something in the middle—but what? Choosing plants is half the fun this season.

Tonight Jordan, Christian, and I went to a party—a rare occurrence these days for me. The occasion was a celebration of my Canadian daughter’s US citizenship. (I’ve explained that relationship many times, but here goes again: her mom is in Ottawa, Ontario, so I am her FW mom, because every girl needs a mom close by.) Sue, Canadian by birth, never showed much interest in changing her citizenship, or so I thought. When I’d bemoan the fact that she couldn’t vote, she’d say something like, “It’s hard to give up your country” or “I’m still Canadian at heart.” She has probably lived here close to twenty-five years.

So I was surprised this winter when she announced she was studying to take the citizenship test. Apparently, there are some hundred study questions. And then one day, she took her test, which turned out to be an oral interview where she was asked ten questions. I am quite sure she now knows more about our constitution than I ever will. She passed, of course, although she admitted to more nervousness than expected.

Then it was some time before the swearing-in ceremony which she shared with a hundred or so others. Sue, who is not a sentimental person, was quite moved by the ceremony.

She also instantly became an enthusiastic voter and is excited about getting to vote in local elections this spring. In a heavy political discussion one evening she asked me if I thought there was corruption at polling places, and I said it was always possible. And that I thought in some cases there was voter intimidation. She sort of jumped to the defense of those who work voter registration, reminded me they are all volunteers, and said when she goes to vote she’s going to thank every one of them personally. I think maybe all of us should take the citizenship class and test over again, just to remind us of the importance and privilege of voting. Sue sure gets it right.

The party was lots of fun, with doors wide open to the yard on this spring-like night and a duo playing mostly soft jazz in the back yard. I hadn’t seen the yard in a while—last time I was there it was winter and dark and I couldn’t see outside. But it is lovely with a small pool, a fire pit, a huge dining table, and lots of paving around a center patch of grass. I did what none of us should do at a party, visited with those I usually see frequently, though I hadn’t seen Subie and Phil in a long time—she had knee surgery and couldn’t drive, and I couldn’t drive to them. And Renee has been out of town. I did greet some neighbors and people I knew and met some new folk, including a couple who were devoted Elmer Kelton fans and raved about his classic novel, The Time It Never Rained. My kind of reader, since Elmer, as an author and as a friend, was a favorite of mine. I guess Sue must have told them.

All in all, it was a lovely evening, lovely party, and nice to be out among folk.

Is next week spring break for you and yours?  Plans? I’ll be right here, watching the traffic as people from all over head to our world-class zoo. Most of the year I love living down the street from the zoo, but during spring break, especially on half-price day, we are virtually prisoners in our own house. I’m trying hard to be a good sport and think of all those kid who are going to have the joy of a day at the zoo.

Life is good.

Whine, whine, whine

 

Our redbud tree
with a youpon getting in the way.

This has not been a good day. In fact, it’s been the kind of day when I feel I ought to make a list of everything that went wrong. Little of it had a silver lining.

Sophie has been under the weather—perhaps literally because of last night’s storms. She did not eat at all yesterday, although she did take her two treats. Even turned down a bit of Velveeta—okay I had wrapped a Benadryl in it, and maybe she sensed that. What she did eat was grass—always a bad sign in a dog. If it made her throw up, she fortunately did it outside, because I never saw it. Of course last night’s thunder terrified her, and she wandered about the cottage in the night. She slept most of the morning, perhaps recovering, but did eat this afternoon.

Electronic woes beset me. It took me at least forty-five minutes to make a payment, due no later than tomorrow, on my new dental insurance. Since I have a dental appointment next week, I wanted to make sure it was paid. The site would not take my credit card and I finally had to give my bank information, which I do not like to do. Then I once again attacked the Credit Karma site that my Colin recommends. I couldn’t do it, gave up, and emailed him. Colin ended hosting a Teams meeting so I could watch what he did. After almost an hour, he decided the problem was that a freeze was on my credit records with the three main bureaus. My assignment was to lift the freeze. One bureau had no record of me, my birthdate, my social security number, my address, etc. According to them, I don't exist. A second one immediately flashed a screen that said it couldn’t process my request and to call them. At the third I went through the process of opening a new account, required because I hadn’t used the site in too long. I got all the way to verifying my identity and was stymied. Decided I failed the test. The ball is in Colin's court, though he doesn't know it yet.

I’ve been having hearing aid problems. Thought I had them solved, but today my aids would not let me hear on my phone. Resulted in some funny calls, like me singing, “Colin, can you hear me? Colin, can  you hear me?” Finally in exasperation he texted, “I can hear you, Ma.” I couldn’t hear him at all. I have an appointment with my audiologist Monday, but that’s a long time to go without talking on the phone. I already had a difficult time trying to talk to a doctor’s office today.

To top the day off I had a stomach problem—will spare you the details, but I won’t be eating dairy for a while. So much for the pecorino I will put on baked chicken pesto tonight for the others in my family. I love cheese and live on it, probably the problem.

So I’m looking for silver linings: Sophie is back “at herself,” I got to see Colin and talk with him today (no, I don’t invent computer problems just so I can call him, but it works well), and it’s a beautiful spring day. The trees that two days ago had little tiny bits of green now have that light green fluff of two or three inches that indicates leaves are on their way. I see a bit of green in the zoysia grass, which is always late to green up, and the redbud tree is in glorious bloom. And the sun is shining brightly—surely tomorrow will be a better day!

And here’s a day brightener for all of us. Gabe Fleisher of Wake Up to Politics reports that people became kinder in 2021, according to research from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. The World Happiness Report released earlier this month found that “global rates of helping strangers, volunteering, and giving to charity are nearly twenty-five percent above pre-pandemic levels.” So much for William Barr’s belief that mankind is inherently evil! If you don’t know Fleisher’s daily column, check it out at Wake Up To Politics It’s fair, accurate reporting from a college sophomore with a national news reputation. Good stuff.