Now What Happens?

* I liked this move on his first day: Obama authorizes a bunch of new regulations providing, as he put it, light to the dark corners of Washington. Transparency is a good thing.

* And - just to be safe - Chief Justice John Roberts re-adminsters the Presidential oath of office again. Since he messed up yesterday, and since the Constitution specifies the language, he and Mr. Obama did it again today. This is apparently not the first time this has happened: Chester Arthur (????) and Calvin Coolidge both re-oathed.

* I'm hearing/reading lots of comments to the effect of "what was with that hat???" Yes, the chapeau worn by the Queen of Soul was somewhat bizarre to us white women who think of hats as more utilitarian than statement. Aretha was wearing a "church hat," the kind of flamboyant hat chronicled in the book and exhibit, "Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats." This video from some local TV station in Virginia explains it best.

Warning: turn your sound down. The video starts up suddenly with a commercial that will blast you out of your seat.

Inauguration Day Arrives...

...and my overwhelming emotion is one of relief.

Relief that the clueless bozo at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is movin' on out.

Relief that we won't be subject any longer to the arrogance and hubris demonstrated by the Bush administration.

Relief that maybe - just maybe - I can hold my head up when I go beyond the borders of my country.

Not that I'm expecting miracles. But it is a moment to be proud and hopeful.

So pride and hope are in there, too, along with relief and great satisfaction that the Bush II era is over.

Relative warmth

Left church and didn't bother putting my coat on. Checked the thermometer when I got home: 43 degrees. A veritable heat wave!

What would bring out the winter coats and gloves in September feels like spring after the cold spell we've just had. It's all relative...

Driving home, I listened to "A Prairie Home Companion" and heard Garrison Keillor express a thought I've often had about winter: "Mother Nature is telling you that you don't belong here."

Instead of acting like the nomads we are and moving our tents south for the winter, he said, we've built these permanent structures (infrastructure if you will) that Mother Nature does her best to destroy. (Anyone who's lived without electricity for days in the cold, dark depths of winter knows what I'm talking about.)

Granted, Keillor is talking about a fictional town in frozen-for-months Minnesota. It's not as bad here - we get the (relatively) balmy breaks now and then, like the one we're experiencing today.

But if I ruled the world, nobody would have to venture out when Mother Nature turned on us. (Unless, of course, you were essential - firefighters, medics, snowplow operators, etc.) The rest of us would stay inside our permanent tents and watch the weather channel.

Bird Buffet

Picked a good day to work from home. I knew I'd be suffering from round 2 of a root canal (think punch in the mouth) and this morning turned out to be one in which to avoid driving. Especially on I-35, thanks to a 10-car pile-up that shut the interstate down completely.

Driving on slickness scares the bejeesus out of me (think white knuckles and sick to the stomach). Thank God and the Internet for telecommuting.

The snowfall brought out the birds - finches, juncoes, titmice, and a flock of cardinals, bright spots of red, the only color in the landscape. The feeders were busy - easier than foraging in this weather. It was an all-day show...




We've set up a buffet for the birds: thistle for the finches and chickadees; suet for the woodpeckers; sunflower seeds for the cardinals. And today the cardinals were out in force.

Though territorial during mating season, they tend to flock together in winter. They especially love sunflower seeds and peanuts, and prefer a "hopper" style feeder, as shown above. It's apparently easier on their little feet.

The experts say cardinals are monogamous during breeding season, but, from my observation, they seem to be paired up year-round. Mating behavior involves the male feeding the female.

My kind of guy: faithful, and he feeds you.

Winter

It's 14 degrees and the thermometer is dropping fast. Winds are gusty and from the northwest. The weather service is predicting wind chills of -15 overnight.

Good to be safe and warm inside my house; good to have heat and electricity; good to have a pot of chili simmering on the stove.

And good to have a job to help pay for it all.

I'm counting my blessings tonight.

On the Dole

Unemployment numbers came out the other day, evidence that it's just as grim out there as they're saying it is: 524,000 jobs lost in December for a total loss in 2008 of 2.6 million jobs - the highest since 1945.

Every day brings a new story about layoffs - or pending layoffs. I know good, talented people who are suddenly finding themselves without gainful employment in a job market that absolutely sucks. They're putting a brave face on it, but I know exactly how they're feeling.

I was let go several years ago, and spent the next 13 months on the dole. It was the worst 13 months of my life. (If I'd known there'd be a happy ending once those months had passed, I could have treated it like a really extended vacation and relaxed and enjoyed the time off. But it didn't work out that way.)

It was hell. Not only was I out of work, but there was absolutely nothing available in KC in my then-chosen profession. It was move to another market or do something else. But do what???

So, for too long, I did nothing (or just enough to keep the unemployment checks coming). I've always liked to read, but during that period I was addicted, reading constantly, panicking as I closed one book if another wasn't near at hand. (I read Jane Eyre one day and Wuthering Heights the next, for example, and managed to give myself a bad case of eyestrain. But I still kept reading. Better to be in 19th century England than 20th century Kansas City.)

My self-esteem was non-existent. My savings slowly evaporated. But then, something shifted and I came out of hiding. I began investigating some new possibilities and cobbling together a variety of part-time things - freelance writing, teaching a couple classes at UMKC, and some other stuff. Got a little money coming in when - at the 13 month mark - a job offer materialized in left field and started me down a new path.

So if you find yourself in a similar position, here's the best advice I can offer:

Remember, you are not your job. We're such a work-obsessed society, defining ourselves and others by what job we do and what position we hold...

Get over it. You've lost a job. You haven't lost your identity, your good and bad qualities, your history. Yes, you've had a sucker punch to the gut, your world is entirely different, and you haven't a clue what to do next. But you haven't been diminished.

Shrug your shoulders and do what you need to do - which includes wailing and gnashing of teeth if you feel like it. Loss of a job is like a death, and expect to go through all the usual stages, from denial to anger to eventual acceptance. Do all that the advisers advise: network, reach out, go to support groups, whatever.

Now's not the time to hole up like I did.