negative space

it's the sky
between the limbs
of barren trees
that I look for in the Oregon autumn.
Bright blue
dark gray
mottled or
a mix of sun and cloud.
always changing
as a backdrop
to those branches
which change, also, more slowly
but do change, season by season
and even day by day.
Each bringing it's own beauty,
each moment a new stunning
masterpiece
Rain, sun, wind
all adding their own
master's touch.

Follow-up to the Abortion Issue

This website just about perfectly sums up my own beliefs on the issue:
ProLife Obama

To only illegalize abortion would simply make for more unsafe abortion practices, and would make abortion more of an upper-class practice. To truly support life involves a much more complex societal shift.

Whole Bunch of Groceries

I got four bags plus a backpack of groceries on my scooter today! That's a bunch!

I also bought a "scooter skirt" yesterday in the attempt to stay warm while on my scooter. It was in the high 40s and wet but not raining when I went grocery shopping. And I was warm with: scooter skirt, water-resistant (not water-proof, a I found on Monday night...) pants, jeans, thermal underwear, shirt, thinsulate/fleece hoody, scarf, heavy jacket, and gloves. Gosh. I hope I'll be warm enough when it dips into the 30s! One thing I hadn't really thought of until I got my scooter was how cold that wind chill factor makes riding.

Proud to be an American!

Yes, I am proud today. And the whole world is proud of us.
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(11-05) 07:56 PST , (AP) --

World reaction to Barack Obama's election as America's first black president:

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"Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place." — Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president.

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"This is the fall of the Berlin Wall times ten. America is rebecoming a New World. ... On this morning, we all want to be American so we can take a bite of this dream unfolding before our eyes." — Rama Yade, France's black junior minister for human rights.

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"If it were possible for me to get to the United States on my bicycle, I would." — Joseph Ochieng, a 36-year-old carpenter who celebrated in Nairobi's Kibera shantytown, one of Africa's largest slums.

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"It's the beginning of a different era in the U.S. The United States is a country to dream about, and for us black Brazilians, it is even easier to do so now." — Emmanuel Miranda, a 53-year-old police officer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

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"No doubt that Obama will be better for the Americans and the whole world, and being elected after the horrible policy of George Bush is enough by itself. Whatever change he can bring to the world after this catastrophic polices would be great." — Hisham Abu Amer, 28, in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

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"Today, reality in America has superseded fantasy. ... Americans have struck a deadly blow to racism all over the world. Americans have regained themselves and have regained the American dream. The picture of the U.S. that was disfigured by the Republicans in the past eight years fell from the wall today. The picture of the America we had in our minds has taken its place." — Prominent Saudi columnist Dawood al-Shirian.

Yes, We Can!

And we did! I knew in my head this was what would happen, but I didn't expect the swelling of pride that came, the surprise, and the overwhelming feelings. Woooohooooo!

The Day to Choose

I used to be a single-issue voter.

Back in my more conservative days. Even when I started getting more liberal. My issue was abortion. I saw it as a tragedy for the baby and a tragedy for the mother for abortion to continue to be legal in the US.

I still think that abortion is a tragedy. It always is a tragedy. There are other tragedies, too.

Like a mother choosing abortion because she doesn't have adequate health care to cover her pregnancy.

Like a mother choosing abortion because she doesn't have an income that will support a baby.

Like a mother choosing abortion because she has pre-existing health conditions and has children already, and no insurer will insure her and she has to think about being there to mother the children who are already born. And feeding those children who are already born.

It comes down to this: how do we treat mothers in this country? Do mothers feel supported? I changed my mind completely on whether abortion should be legal. I now support fully legalized abortion. Because I think there are better ways than laws to address tragedies. Or perhaps I think that different laws can address this tragedy much better than just illegalizing it.

And I think that some of the policies that we hold in this country make for tragedies. Obama is being accused of being a socialist, but I have socialist leanings (I may even be a full-fledged socialist) and I can tell you, he is not a socialist. But he wants to work to make big companies that are currently running the show accountable for their actions. He wants to help out those of us in the middle class. I hope he will also make policies that will help the lowest-income folks, too, but middle class seems to be what his focus is. I don't think his health care proposal goes nearly far enough, and I am hoping against hope that it won't fail miserably because it doesn't address the root issue: private insurance. How did we get to this place, where insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies are running health care? People who are trained medical professionals don't call the shots. Those who are making big money off health care are. And are buying off the medical professionals.

Just watch Sicko for a view of what could be different.

So, abortion. I think things can be different. Will women still choose abortion if we have better services and fully support women? Yes, of course. But it is my belief that more women will not choose abortion when there are true choices for them to make.

This woman chooses Obama for president. And chooses not to be a single-issue voter any more.
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Please vote! Today is the day! Make your voice heard. I turned in my ballot on Friday and Paul is turning his in right now. :-)

Where's Matt?

And if you're discouraged from thinking about elections, or the state of the world, or the economy, I have just the non-partisan antidote for you. Watch this video:



We've all been kind of obsessed with it. The first two times I watched it I cried tears of joy. And then we all watched it together, lots of times! And we still love it. And the last time we watched it, I was trying to get a better look at where the filming took place for the San Francisco shot....and I still am not sure where it took place because we all got sidetracked by recognizing friends in it! After you watch it several times you can look at the San Francisco shot and find the girl with long dark hair in the front on the right, and that's Jesse, and behind her with short light hair is her mom Robyn. Hi Jesse and Robyn! Cool to see you in such a cool video!