In the Middle of the Mud

Lately, I've felt like I'm in the middle of the mud storm... as politicians in the United States fight back and forth about the possibility of a "government option" to somehow fix health care. The right has been continually saying that they don't want "Canadian-style" health care, and if the government interferes, it will lead to the terribly Canadian system be replicated here. They've even found a Canadian who agrees with them, and have been putting her on TV and in commercials. It seems, however, that there seem to be some inconsistencies in her story. But more concerning to me is the terribly offensive quotation I just read from Congressman Paul Broun, M.D., Republican of Georgia:

". . . and that's exactly what's going on in Canada and Great Brittan today. They don't have the appreciation of life, as we do in our society, apparently. And . . . a lot of people are gonna die this program of 'government option' is being touted as this panacea, the savior of allowing people to have quality health care at an affordable price -- is gonna kill people."

There are so many problems with this. I am not a politician or a physician, and I certainly don't have the intellectual equipment or time to refute the whole thing. However, it does merit a mention that the proposed reforms to the U.S. system bear only the most vague of resemblances to the U.K. or Canadian systems, which further, bear only the most vague of resemblances to each other.

But what really bothers me about this statement by Dr. Broun is that he seems to be seriously suggesting that Canadians and Britons do not value human life in the same way that people in the U.S. do. What does that even mean? Mothers and fathers in the U.K. love their children, children love their parents, people love their friends. Murder is punishable by life imprisonment, not rewarded. In Canada, old ladies get helped across the street, and in nearly a year here, I have yet to hear anyone shout, "hooray for no-seat-belt Friday!"

I am not, by the way, saying that the Canadian or British systems are perfect. They aren't. All three systems are imperfect and financially costly. Since the purpose of this blog isn't to beat politics into the ground, I'm not going to try to fix things, or say "yay Canadian Health care system," although I have had largely positive experiences. As a U.S. citizen in Canada, I can confidently say that neither side has a monopoly on screwing things up.

I think I will just end with a favourite hymn of mine, "This Is My Song" with words by Lloyd Stone:

This is my song, O God of all the nations,

a song of peace for lands afar and mine.

This is my home, the country where my heart is;

here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine;

but other hearts in other lands are beating

with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,

And sunlight beams on clover leaf and pine.

But other lands have sunlight too and clover,

And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.

This is my song O God of all the nations,

A song of peace for their land and for mine.

(Generally sung to the tune of Jean Sibilus's Finlandia.)

Jess Runs to Canada

So I have, like my pal Sally, registered for the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon. You start in Detroit, run across the bridge and back under the Detroit river in the tunnel, then finish. (I'm glossing over the agony that is actually 13.1 miles of running. I'm doing this on purpose.)

Training officially started for me this week. There may be a charity tie-in, watch this space.

The only problem thus far is that training (and ramping up to official training) has left me eating like a Hobbit. Seriously, second breakfast has become a way of life. I'll only be mad if I wind up either gaining weight or with hairy feet.

Happy Patriotic Week/ Joyeux Semaine Patriotique

(Despite the bilingual nature of the title, don't for a moment expect me to actually post in French. My grasp of the French language is weak at best.)

Wednesday is Canada Day. On my recent trip to London, I happened to see to following product display in the grocery store:

All things outrageously Canadian... mostly featuring the omnipresent maple leaf.

Seriously... everything you could possibly need to throw a Canada BBQ, right there. Also some things you wouldn't think of, but holy cow, they've got them.

I mean, throw pillows. Really? Pot holders and flags and windsocks I get, but throw pillows? Really?



Also, the aprons were fantastic:
I mean the one with the maple leaf is fairly predictable, but the one on the left is fantastic. I recently read the suggestion that irony is a defining Canadian value, and there it is. Right there. I mean, if you meet a Canadian and they know you aren't Canadian, if you mention the word "eh" to them, they will carry on about how people from the States think they say it all the time, and that they really don't, that it is a sort of hick thing to say, and so on. And I'm not saying that the SuperStore isn't trying to sell to anyone who will pay for it, but come on. Celebrating your patriotism with a joke? I love these people. They love Canada, but they are also willing to laugh at themselves and the people (you know, Americans) who laugh at them. (Incidentally, they say it somewhat frequently. I actually rather appreciate it as a useful lingusitic device, however-- I know a lot of up-talkers and their use of "eh" helps me understand the difference between a declarative statement and a question. Not always, but sometimes.)

Of course, since I am spending this week in Nashville, I get the 4th of July, too. In the interests of cross-cultural fairness, I thought I would share the holiday display at a local grocery store:



















And I went to a nice store, in a good part of town... and other than the red, white and blue plates and napkins, the sum total of US flag-themed merchandise was a few citronella
candles (sort of down there in the picture on the top, and the flag on the chair at the top there). The dominant feature of the display, though was the giant wall of beer. This sort of cracks me up.

One question though:

Since both are bank holidays, one in the country where I am, and one in the country where I work, should I just take two full days of doing almost nothing and blowing stuff up? If not, which should I celebrate?

I think to play it safe, I'm going to take it easy until Sunday.

Short Attention Span Monday

So it has been a while, and I'm going to fly through some of what I've been up to since last I blogged.

Ironically, for a blog about moving to Canada, I haven't been there in over a month, and I'm mostly okay with that. I'm ready to feel more settled, but I sort of wonder if that has something to do with a lack of equanimity on my part rather than my somewhat scattered residences. I'm travelling again, and it is great to visit with family, but I just got settled in Nashville, and now I'm back in Michigan. I'm heading back to London for a few days at the end of the week, and then back to Nashville. I'm getting dizzy.

So, I've been knitting a lot. I'm nearly finished with the socks that I was working on when I did my knitting report last and started a sweater that was my gift from my Dear Husband (DH):

















(Sock yarn named here) The sweater (bottom) is out of Knit Picks Kettle Dyed Essential Sock in the colourway "wine". It is a really pretty yarn, that I'm enjoying knitting on, a nice texture and springiness, and is knitting into a nice fabric. The sweater is Abotanicity from Knitty, and it will be super fun just as soon as I get past the ribbed upper section onto the lace skirt. The yarn was a gift for our 7th wedding anniversary, since wool is one of the traditional gifts, and DH (who is a very smart man) knew I would get more joy out of knitting a sweater than out of having a sweater.

We traveled to Michigan for my step-mother's re-retirement party. Now I'm hanging out here at their house, heading to London at the end of the week. On Saturday before the party, I ran a race, set a personal record (PR) for the 10 kilometer distance. I don't have great pictures of it (DH stayed in bed), but I did take one that might show something about how I apporach life/racing.

In the car, all the stuff I thought I needed to manage to run the thing:

Aside from my purse (necessary for the act of driving to the race, as it contains my wallet and ID stuff), there is my iPod (a 2nd generation nano), my hand-held water bottle, Body Glide, my RoadID, and the notebook I had written down where I was going. Also there, in the pocket of the water bottle, were some Sport Beans, for energy, since it takes me over an hour to run 10km, and I need some carbs if I'm going to make it.

And of course, my bright yellow race number.



Beyond this excitment, I've been doing very little. I've been meaning to do work-realted reading, but I just have low motivation.

On to knit some more. I'm so cool.

A Week In the Life

So, last Wednesday, Sally and I left for the beach. We had a lovely time, it was windy, which made actually being on the sandy part of the beach a bit interesting and exfoliating, but in the water or on the deck was just fine. Sally hooped in the sand and I sat on the deck and read and knitted. It turns out you can knit this much sock in 4 days:


I cast on for this sock in the car on the way to the beach, and stopped knitting on it while we were there because I misplaced its mate, and need to make sure that the ankles are the same length before starting the heel flap.

Then it rained and we went shopping, and finally we left the beach just in time, since the waves had made their way under the cabin.


After heading back to Nashvegas, I hung out at home with the Beloved Husband and on Monday, a holiday here in the States and our 7th wedding anniversary, I ran a 5k that benefited the Nashville City Cemetery Association. Since my goal was to finish, I accomplished exactly what I set out to do.

Look, me at the start:


Kickin' it in what I like to call "tortoise style:"



Watchin' out for zombies:

And the finish:

Later, the Beloved Husband and I went out for a fun fish dinner, followed by ice cream.

Tuesday night included knitting, which was great, and I cast on a new sock.

Then I came home and the BH and I hung out with Mr. Calvin, who was doing his dangedest to be cute.

Now it is my birthday, and I'm another year older. Not sure about wiser, but older. I'll be inspecting for crow's feet later. There are movers, painters, and the bug spraying guy at our old house right now, getting it ready for potential renters.

I promised a knitting report...

... but I realized that I've barely been knitting.

Oh, I finished a 2 row striped scarf. Mostly. The ends still need running in. Does that count? It took me 4 months to get it to this point. (Noro Kureyon, ball bands lost, colour ways uncertain)


I've been working on a sock out of Happy Choices yarn from Plymouth:



I wasn't sure about this knitting from a flat "scarf" onto a sock, but I have to admit, it's kind of convenient to carry around. But I'm not sure about the way the colours are working out. I can't decide, and the second sock will clearly be a fraternal twin of the first. I also can't decide how I feel about that. I mean, I'm not so put together that I need to have completely identical socks, but then again, I am so not put together at times that if my hand knit socks aren't fairly clearly matching, people might assume I'm even flakier than I actually am. As in flaky to the point of incompetence. And while I ride that line on occasion, I very rarely fall off into incompetence. I can get on board with looking like a distracted hippy. I'm not crazy about looking completely 'round the bend.

I'm working on an entrelac scarf for my Beloved Husband, but it isn't in Nashville with me at the moment, so no picture. Even though I love this yarn, its been boring me a bit, so its having a nap in the knitting basket at the moment.

I tried to start a lace stole, and it turned into a disaster. My brain is not recovered enough from my life to read charts yet. Lesson learned. Pretty alpaca-silk goes back in the stash for a bit.


I have a really lovely merino that I'm thinking about making a water bottle cozy out of. I'm tired of ruining my papers with a sweaty aluminum bottle. I'm also tired of seeing ugly carriers out of "recycled" sweaters. While I'm all for recycling, I'm not sure repurposing an ugly sweater for a practical use is worth it. (Yarn is Crystal Palace Yarns Merino Stripes 90% merino/10% acrylic, colour ways 24 and 69) If I make it work, I'll post pictures here and a pattern to Ravelry.

Freakin' awesome!

That's all. Love it.