Please Vote

I just want to remind all of my women friends to get out and vote for this fall's elections. Early voting starts soon. I was reminded the other day that 90 years ago, women in our country could not vote. It took a lot of hard work--including being harassed as well as beaten and tortured, getting thrown in jail, carrying signs, going on hunger strikes, and being relentless before women in the U.S. were given the right to vote.

And think about all the women in many other countries on this planet who still have no rights at all, much less the right to vote.

Those facts alone should motivate each of us to take the time from our busy schedules in the next few weeks to get out and vote for the candidates we support. If you don't know who you support, contact your local League of Women Voters chapter to find out who is running for which office and what they stand for (www.lmv.org).

Being Kind to Animals

Yesterday when I was driving into the entrance to my sister and brother-in-law's property, I saw a snake ahead on the drive. This is a crushed rock driveway out in the country. It was a beautiful, small snake, and I was glad I had noticed it before I smashed over him accidentally.

Red-stripped ribbon snake

You can see from this photo I got off the web that it is a small snake and non-poisonous. I stopped and allowed him to move on across the driveway and into the woods.

I know there are many people out there who at the sight of a snake--any snake--would have just gone on and ran over it to kill it. But why? Why would someone purposely take the life of a critter who is not a threat to  and has its place in the eco system?

Also named Western ribbon snake

Living out in the country, I see dead animals along the roadsides all the time--baby fawns and older deer, rabbits, squirrels, all kinds of birds including beautiful cardinals and the lovely singing mockingbirds who are really bad about getting in the road, foxes including babies, racoons, possums, you name it--if it lives in the woods and makes the mistake of getting in the road, they get run down.

There are times when you absolutely cannot help but hit an animal if it runs out in front of you. You don't want to have a wreck or cause someone to rear end you, swerve to the other side of the road, or whatever and hurt yourself, but if it can be avoided, people should try to stop and not harm an animal.

It broke my heart this past spring to see more than one dead baby fox on the roadside. I know there are people who like to hit animals in the road on purpose for the sport of it. But what kind of sport is that?

Practicing kindness to the other species on this planet--as long as they are not threatening you directly -- shows a human compassion that would serve us all well. All life on this planet is interconnected and we share the planet--and its resources.

My Mom--Lucy

Lucy

Today my mother, née Freddie Lucille King, would have turned 95. She was born at a time before the roles of women started to change, although they were evolving. Lucy met my Dad while attending secretarial college in San Antonio. Even in the 1930s she was preparing for a career, but the only types of work available to women at that time were mostly teaching, nursing, and secretarial jobs.

Having been brought up in a traditional family, getting married and raising a family were her main focus. She and Dad fell in love, married, and started a family. Nurturing her children was tantamount to Lucy. For many years she was a member of a Christian organization named The Child Nurture Club. She was a very nurturing mother, and I realized after I was grown how important that is to a child's self-confidence and self-image.

Lucy and baby Ann

Lucy worked outside the home, but that was mostly after her children were in school. I'm not saying women can't have a career and be nurturing. It's more about the quality of the relationships a mother can have with her children.

I learned many valuable things from my Mom--organizational skills, the ability to keep a home clean and neat, cooking, love and appreciation of the natural world, kindness, assertiveness, recognition of a spiritual presence in our lives. She had a big influence on how I viewed nature and learned to love being out in nature. There was nothing she loved more than taking me and maybe another mother and her child from church out to City Park, which is on Lake Austin. We would go really early and she would build a campfire and cook bacon, eggs, toast, and coffee over the campfire. Nothing in the world tasted better. The child and I would run around in the park, and swim in the lake if it was summer, while the two mothers would spend time talking about things that young mothers share with each other.

Material things were not that important to Lucy. She appreciated having a nice, clean and tidy home. She appreciated having food on the table and clothing to wear. But she did not seek money for its own sake or for buying items associated with status. In fact, I think she would have been embarrassed if anyone would have thought differently. She was a devoted Christian and had a very strong faith.

Lucy was pretty and liked to make sure her appearance was pleasing, but she was not obsessed with trying to make herself beautiful. Her aim was more toward inner beauty. She was intelligent, a good conversationalist, and could ask questions of a person that would rival that of a lawyer. Once my cousin Carolyn visited with her boyfriend, and later said she learned more about him from all the questions my Mom asked him than she had ever known.

I could tell many stories about Lucy, but suffice it to say she had a great life, was an exemplary mother, and was a good role model to her children--both her daughters and her son. She encouraged us, disciplined us, gave us structure, and loved us unconditionally. You really can't get better than that. I miss her a lot. I appreciate all that she did for me and the person I became through being her daughter.

My Brother Baldur

Yes, my brother's name was Baldur, who was named after our Dad. Baldur was also the name of a god in Norse mythology associated with light, beauty, love and happiness.

Today is Baldur's 68th birthday, but he passed from this earth 2 years ago, a couple of weeks after his 66th birthday. Losing him was a huge shock for his family. He appeared to be quite healthy, ate right, was physically active, was very engaged with his own business (he was a mechanical engineer and very innovative), and attentive to his wife, daughters, and grandchildren.

When his wife called to tell me he had died, I really couldn't comprehend what she was saying. I knew that her father was quite ill and thought for sure she meant to say that her father had died, not that my brother had died.

She lost her husband, which is tragic. But his daughters lost their father, his grandchildren their GrandDaddy, his sisters their brother, and his nephews and nieces their uncle. His friends lost a good friend.

Baldur was not a huge talker. He had an analytical mind and you could just see those gears turning in his head even though he said very little. He was a huge Texas Longhorn fan and loved watching the UT football games. He was always very inventive and mechanically minded.

When we were kids growing up, he had a paper route in our neighborhood. At that time, the paper boys would roll up each newspaper from their stacks and tie string around them. This was before the proliferation of plastic bags that now litter our world. He invented and built a little machine out in our garage that would roll up each newspaper and tie the string around it. I think he operated it with a bicycle wheel or something.

He loved cars and engines, and in high school he bought a '56 Chevy and put in a super hopped up V6 Pontiac engine -- at least that is what I remember him putting in there. He had it painted a gold color with red flames along the side. It was the ultimate 1950's cool car. Later he got an old Model A Ford or something near it, I think it was a 1929 model. He put a new engine in that of course. He later regretted ever letting go of it.

Our Dad, the first Baldur, had a really smooth Mercury Marquis, long and green. After our Dad died at the age of 68 of heart disease, Baldur kept the Mercury for many, many years. I wish we still had it.

We all miss Baldur a lot, and I especially think of him on his birthday and when UT plays an especially exciting and winning football game. I hope his grandchildren will keep him in their memories all their lives and know what a special GrandDad he was.

My Friend James

I learned today that an old friend of mine, James Ammon Lewis, passed away earlier this month. I first met James in the 70s when we all congregated in Buda, Texas near Austin at the Blues House. This was an older, simple farm type house owned by our friend Alan where many gathered in the early 1970s to listen to blues, play music, party, and enjoy life. It was absolutely the "good ole days."

James was an intellectual who was more well read than almost anyone I knew. He read philosophy, the classics, literature, and what some would call a Liberal Arts roster of published works. For a time he lived near The University of Texas campus and later moved to Buda to a small cabin above a creek, a house he rented from his friend Bob.

It was from James that I furthered my education in Eastern philosophy, the more esoteric poets, and literature. James's library was extensive, and he loved to give books to those close to him. I still have dog-eared copies of books James gave to me. His library extended from books on Buddhism by D.T. Suzuki, Alan Watts, Lu K'uan Yu, and others to poetry by Rimbaud and Baudelaire. He, along with his close friend Paul, shared the works of these poets and authors with many of their friends. James always wrote a well thought-out and carefully crafted personal tribute in the flyleaf of any book he gave to a friend.

One I just pulled off my shelf was Myths & Texts by Gary Snyder. The flyleaf signed by James reads, "To Annie Lou, -- your beauty flows around you like a flame." It had been signed by Gary Snyder.

James was one of those extremely intelligent, sensitive, and brilliant people who had a difficult time dealing with the system of the workaday world, being known to the "man," and navigating the health care system and social services that could have helped him so much. Even though he wrote poetry and a novel or two, he never had the wherewithal to pursue publication. He could have attained a PhD, but was not inclined to put up with the academic treadmill and demands of pursuing that pinnacle of academic pursuits. He was brilliant of mind, but struggled with daily life.

For a time he did an amazing job developing course notes for a tutoring service by attending a wide variety of upper-level classes and taking excellent notes, which were marketed and sold to thousands of UT students. He made a living this way for quite a few years. Course notes authored by James Lewis were always in high demand. He was known by many as "the Professor."

As far as I can remember, he never owned a car after the early 1970s nor did he drive. He rode a bicycle for some time and walked where he needed to go. When he lived in the Buda cabin he would get to his job taking notes at UT classes by riding with friends from Buda who worked at UT. It was while James was living in Buda where I spent the most time with him and got to know him. I was living farther out past Buda near Driftwood and would occasionally stop by on my way home from work on a Friday evening.

I remember in particular one evening, sitting in the small kitchen overlooking the creek, drinking beer, partaking in  mota, and listening to all of Bob Dylan's records as all of us --James, Alan, Albee.... sang along. James the poet knew every lyric to every one of Dylan's songs.

After a number of years, James was no longer able to sustain living away from the city with no transportation and moved back to Austin. For a time he was homeless, then later resided at the home of an old friend, Michael, who offered his hospitality to James. When that became no longer feasible, he moved out and was again homeless, living in makeshift shelters near the UT campus.

For an income he collected aluminum cans and sold them. He depended on the kindnesses of friends such as Albee, who visited him regularly every Friday after he got off work at UT, buying him groceries and spending time with him listening to music, having philosophical discussions, and enjoying his company.

His last home was near the UT campus in a small room off a garage belonging to a charitable person who wanted to help him out by providing him with shelter. It was here that James passed on at the age of 64.

Some might see a man like James as a person who has wasted his brilliance and did not live to his full potential. While this may be true on some levels, it must be understood that James did not really fit into the world as many of us know it. He did not want to "play the game." He was unable to navigate the daily struggles of life such as holding down a job, taking care of his health, paying rent. It's a sad thing to see a man so brilliant and full of potential who ends up more or less homeless and in poor health because of his inability to do otherwise. However, he was very sociable -- not a recluse -- and even in his poor circumstances went out into the world everyday where people in the campus community knew him and were friendly to him, again calling him "the professor."

James had his place in this world. Those who knew him were treated with little gems of wisdom on a continual basis, a satirical sense of humor, biting comments on society and government, and interpretations of philosophical thought, especially Zen Buddhism. While James was not able to live successfully in a modern, fast-paced, consumer-driven world, he left his mark in many, sometimes subtle ways. Those who knew and loved him will never disparage his contribution to their lives.

Being out of Work

For the past 17 years I have been a technical writer, and it has been a rewarding career. Back in 2008 when the economy was going bust, I was laid off from my job at a well-known high-tech company. I was told they would be using writing teams in India to do more of the work many of us had been doing. The company cut about half of their writers and editors over the course of a year or so.

After 9 years of faithful employment, I felt pretty devastated. Plus the job market was under serious stress and at 59, I was not exactly a hot property. I spent the next year and a half applying for about 200 jobs or more, and had about 40 interviews. For several of these, I was the back-up candidate, which was encouraging but also "close but no cigar" as they say.

I applied for and was willing to work in an administrative job--I was not being picky. Then after about a year  I even started applying for cashier and retail jobs at J.C. Penney's, Academy Sports and Outdoor, Target,  Walgreens, and my local grocery store. None of them even called me back after I spent hours filling out their online job applications.

I applied at hospitals, universities, and city and state government offices. I applied for over 30 jobs at Texas State University where I'd earned a Masters degree with a 4.0 GPA and was a lifetime alumni member. I had some interviews, but no one would hire me.

Fortunately the U.S. government was helping out the unemployed. I got extensions on my unemployment insurance (UI), and my COBRA was partially covered by the government. If it hadn't been, I would have had to drop my health insurance because it was close to $600 a month, about half of what I was taking in with UI.

Luckily I got some part-time freelance writing work in the health care field that helped me make ends meet, and when I didn't work enough hours, I got UI. It seems like everything in my house decided to break during this time. I had to replace my septic tank pump, my dryer, my kitchen stove, my tires, and even my heating and air conditioning system. I figured it was better to fix it in case I had to sell my house to have money to live on.

I knew what was going on with thousands of other people around the country, and that I was really not too bad off. So many other people were living in travel trailers with their children, or in their cars or tents. At least I had a house I could sell; the market in Texas was still OK.

Finally after a year and a half and a lot of persistence and perseverance, I got a job as an editor at UT Austin. I was thrilled to be back at work even though it meant a long commute. Eventually I returned to technical writing when a company I'd interviewed for a year earlier, and had come in 2nd for the job opening, had a new opening for which I applied and was offered the job.

All I can say to those out there still struggling to find work is to keep an open mind. Don't give up hope. Do everything you have to do to make ends meet and be conservative. If you have to downsize your lifestyle and so on, you just do it. I got really good at living on less. It was hard, but we managed.

If you need to, go online and learn new skills and new tools. There are a lot of resources out there for retraining and self training--so take advantage of that. Local colleges have programs and sometimes financing for people to learn new job skills. Look into those. Get out there and meet people, talk to everyone you know, call everyone you've ever worked with or you know who has a job and find out if they know of any openings.

Do not despair--you will get through it somehow and come out on the other end.

Why Weight Watchers Works for Me

I've been overweight and even obese since about my 40s and before that I struggled to maintain a lower weight. When I was a teenager and in my early 20s, like so many of us, I was skinny, really. Like many women I know, I've tried this and that, have lost weight and gained it back, and even tried Weight Watchers a few times before.

My sister who was always the chubby one of 3 sisters, joined WW when she was in her 40s, achieved her goal weight, and has been a lifetime member ever since (she's now in her early 70s). I know of many other success stories with people following this plan, which has greatly improved over the years.

The thing about this program that makes it do-able is that WW has access to a large range of experts--dietitians, nutritionists, probably endocrinologists, psychologists, and other healthcare professionals--who do the research and devise a sound nutritional plan that really works.

It's up to the individual to follow the program and make it work for him or her.

I think it is working for me this time because I am super motivated: it's now or never for me. My lipid profile shows my bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides to be too high, good cholesterol (HDL) to be too low, and my HBA1C (3-month profile of blood sugars) to be very close to indicating diabetes. My joints hurt, especially knees, from carrying around an extra 35 pounds, and it is just imperative that I get the excess weight off my body. They say even a 10% reduction can help.

And after 5 weeks on the program I've achieved a weight loss of 5%. I already feel better, lighter, and have more energy.

I love the program this time around because it makes me pay attention to what I'm taking in each day--food and drink--by counting and tracking the points values and writing down the points I'm expending each day. And I know how many points I should be consuming in order to achieve a weight loss.  It's not a fad diet where you eat only meat and vegetables or just grapefruit or just rice--it's a sound nutritional program where you focus on filling foods like fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy or other calcium-rich foods.

It's easy to figure out the points values of what you like to eat and you learn quickly that a 4-point cookie or a 3-point bag of potato chips might taste great, but for that same number of points you can have a lot more food if you eat fruits, vegetables, and so on.

I'm ready to eat this way for life, and that's what the WW program is all about--learning how to eat for life so that you can have a life.