Guantanamo--and a pleasant day.

That definitely is mixing two disaparate subjects, but who ever would think that I would be so engrossed in a book on Guantanamo. I never would have picked up Justice at Guantanamo except that the author, Kristine Huskey, is Megan's good friend. They went to law school together, Kristine shared in some of our family gatherings (one notable Thanksgiving that still makes us all laugh over outrageous behavior although I'm not saying on whose part), and she lived in Megan and Brandon's guest house while teaching for two years at the University of Texas Law School (okay, Kristine, I didn't mind sleeping on an air mattress at seventy years of age as long as I could eat your salmon!). She's an impressive, wonderfully warm young woman and, I might add, a great cook. She was approached by a major publisher to write the story of her life, so with a co-author she did. As a young woman, she followed a UNICEF boyfriend to Angola, came back to wait tables, bartend, and model in New York. When she decided to make something of her life, she did it with a vengeance, graduating with honors from Columbia and then from UT Law School. Her increasing interest in international human rights led to a career with a prestigious Washington, D.C. law firm, where she traveled to GITMO many, many times representing the families of Kuwait men who were being held without charges. After eight years, she turned to teaching--a fellowship at American University, smaller stints at other law schools, and finally founding her own human rights center at UT.
What Kirstine reveals about Guantanamo makes real the things we've all heard vaguely--the physical mistreatment--aside from torture, prisoners were at first kept in out door cages with extreme high and low temperatures, a slop bucket, and bright lights 24 hours a day. More importantly, they were denied not only internationally agreed up human rights, but the rights guaranteed in the American constitution. The Kuwaiti men were not allowed to contact their families, never saw a religious counselor of their faith, and at first were not allowed the Koran, which was as badly abused as the prisoners. Basically, they were treated like animals, not individual humans. It's an appalling indictment of America, it's leaership--yes, the Bush administration--and the courts, which always seemed to side with the government. The victories for prisoners were hard won, few, and often overturned.
Kristine's voice rivets you to the book, as she interweaves her personal life--backpacking all over the world, including a rigorous trip in Peruvian mountians, marriage and divorce, a new love that didn't seem to be working out, and then a most happy marriage, her victories as a triathlete (I have one in my family so I now how hard that is!). Throughout she comments on how often she is the only woman in the room, on the case, etc., and how this needs to change. And she ends the book on a note of hope that America will recover its moral strength and position int he world.
Kristine is an amazing woman and she tells her story well. Even if you think reading about Guantanamo would be hard, this is worth it. And probaby should be on everyone's reading list.
As to my nice day, my balance was much better, I got a lot done in the office and am beginning to think about clearing our my personal belongings and cleaning out my desk and files--I already sent a batch of "memoir" files to the Southwest Writers Collection at Texas State University-San Marcos which has my papers--no one can understand how important I feel that a literary archive wants my papers. Wow! Me? I had lunch with a good friend, and a productive but low-key afternoon at home, with a good nap and delicious leftovers from last night for dinner.
Then Sue next door emailed me that her son, Hunter, liked what I said about him in my blog last night--after all, he ate squash and meatloaf with chicken livers in it (Jordan emailed this morning to ask, "Why would you put chicken livers in a meatloaf?"). Then Sue said she gave me a "shout out" (that's a term I don't know--Canadian or just a new trendy one?) on her blog tonight. I read it and was overwhelmed with her praise. At the risk of self-promotion, which I seem to do a lot of these days re the cookbook, check out "Replete Life." If you enter that on google, her blog is the first choice to come up.

Home again, home again

Much as I hate to leave my children and grandchildren, I am always grateful to be home again. I allow myself extra indulgences--an extra long nap, an extra glass of wine, a thrown-together supper, often of sandwiches picked up at the Czech Stop in West, though I'm going to stop that because they use that awful soft white bread I can't stand. And it takes me a long time to catch up on mail, newspapers, various odds and ends, etc. So it's been a lazy day in which I've moved from one world to another, back into my own world. I made an extra effort to love my animals, since Moksha, the pet sitter, e-mailed me frequently about how much they missed me--Wywy seemed to respond, but Scoob was much more interested in the bones I gave him. Moksha took him for his summer haircut, and he looks adorable--so skinny, but so pretty. He had really gotten shaggy over the winter. Of course, then it turned cold, and I worried about him, but he seems fine and tonight is happily in the study with me.

Melinda and I had a uneventful drive home, made good time, stopped only once, and chattered all the way, though not about business. I am still on my five-day mandatory leave and incommunicado with the office. I find it leads to some funny situations and occasional e-mails that if I don't either answer or forward will make people think I'm downright rude. I'm having lunch with an old TCU buddy tomorrow, now retired, but she asked,
"Are you sure it's legitimate for you to talk to me?" I plan to enjoy these three lazy days as much as I can. I've set Wednesday aside to go shopping for herbs--surely we are not going to have any more cold spells. Who ever heard of a frost in late March--okay, lots of people, but it's still unexpected.

Last night Megan's good friend Kristine, she of the garage apt., fixed us an elegant dinner. Kristine's family lives in Alaska, so they send her flash frozen salmon. I'm sure she won't mind if I share her cooking technique. She halves tomatoes (prefers Roma but used grape last night because the Roma were not good), tosses them with salt and pepper, puts fresh sprigs of oregano and basil on them, a generous amount of olive oil, and bakes them long and slow at 275. If Roma, she does them, 3-4 hours. Then she seasons the salmon with all kinds of things--salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, whatever comes handy in that line of seasoning and covers it with olive oil. Sawyer helped her season it and turn it in the olive oil last night and had the best time (a picture may be posted later if Megan sends it to me!). For serving, she tops the salmon with the tomatoes--absolutely delicious. She accompanied that with asparagus and roasted potatoes--sweet and white with onions. A wonderful dinner. The Austin family will not only miss "Aunt Stine" for her wonderful presence but also for her cooking when she returns to D.C. in May. Watch for her book, Justice at Guantanamo: One Woman's Odyssey and her Crusade for Human Rights, by Kristine Huskey, due out in June, I believe. . A lawyer specializing in international human rights, she has been to Guantanamo sixteen times. Wow! I am impressed. I also have a soft spot in my heart for Kristine--she's been family since she and Megan were in law school together.
Well, on to my three free days. Tomorrow, grocery stores and lunch with Jan, of whom I see too little these days. Tuesday, a trip to Granbury with Jeannie and then on to Tolar to drink wine with John and Cindy; and Wednesday, a trip to the nursery and planting herbs. In between, of course, I plan to write the great American novel and sleep a lot.I've thought about that business about the great American novel. I read the posts on Sisters in Crime and realize that most of them are seriously dedicated. Writing takes all their time and energy with little left over for other things. They focus, and they're persistent, and I admire it a lot. Many of them are my age or close to it. And yet I don't share their desperation for publication--of course I want it to happen, and I'll work toward it, but I have so much else going on in my life! I went to Austin loaded with notes on the novel in progress, sure that I would put in a lot of work. I didn't even look at it once. And maybe that's okay. Maybe I can enjoy life day to day and write when I can.