When Life hands you wormy apples

 . . . what do you do?

 

 What else? Cut out all the nasty parts. Slice it up into managable pieces. And make applesauce!

 

 

And then eat it for desert. Warm. With vanilla ice cream on the side.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things I love about our “throw some shit in the ground and see what happens because we really should have started this garden a month ago” garden:

1. Finding worms

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Eating fresh green beans every other night

3. Standing in the fresh morning light while I water the potatoes

4. Fresh herbs in almost all my cooking this summer

5. The loamy feel of the compost as I mix it into the soil

6. Muddy feet and cool water from the hose

7. Finally knowing what sorghum looks like

8. and that it grows LIKE 13 FEET TALL

9.  Did I mention the fresh herbs? Because the smells in the evening when I cut them are glorious

10. Watching Towhead check out the rolli-pollis with her magnifying glass 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11. Seeing so much green when I look out my kitchen window

12. Realizing that my garden doesn’t have to be perfect or well planned to give us lots of good food

13. But really, THIS has to be my all-time favorite

Bikes and Beer

Last night, after dinner, CT and I took my bike and the bike trailer to the park to play around for a bit on the swings. Mr. A brought the dog and his beer and walked behind us. There was a slight wind gusting through the dusky light. The frosty chill still hasn’t disappeared from the spring air, but three boys had also gravitated to the park to play basketball.
“Hey boys, whatcha doin’?” yells CT. Mr. A rolled his eyes and drank more beer.

Seriously, people! This is not what CPS was designed for!

So I just heard this week that a mom was reported to Child Protective Services (CPS) for making her kids walk to school after they missed the bus. The mom and dad in question had told her kids that if they missed the bus they would have to walk the 1.4 miles to school. When this happened, the mom followed through, but made sure to follow the kids in her car to monitor their progress. When the kids arrived at school one of the teachers called CPS, citing the mom’s actions as child abuse.
WTF????!!!!!!
Child Protective Services was designed as a means to address physical abuse and to remove kids from unhealthy or damaging situations. Not to tattle because one adult does not like how another adult is raising their child. Were these kids at any point in danger? Were they physically hurt by walking that far? NO. This is not worth the time it took CPS to answer the phone call! Seriously people!

Link to the local Spokane story, reported Thursday 12/4:
http://www.krem.com/topstories/stories/krem2-120208-schoolinvestigation.24702db7.html

Am I living in a Bristish comedy?

As kids begin to get a larger vocabulary, you begin to wonder at your own habits and where they hear certain words. Crazy Towhead is entering into a very talkative and very imaginative state of development. As she wanders around the house talking to the dog, the tv, her dolls, or me, sometimes I hear my own inflections and tone of voice. Other times, I stand bewildered or just plain weirded out by what comes out of her mouth.

For instance, explain to me how “bugger” and “wanker” became part of my child’s vocabulary?! Yes, we watch a lot of PBS which has a number of British comedies on later in the afternoon, but we only watch these on occasion. I have met only one Brit in Spokane, and even then only one afternoon in the park. Agreed, I let her watch Love Actually once, which maybe I shouldn’t have. But really, when did “bugger, bugger, bugger” become a mainstream epithet in this country?

Maybe one of these days we’ll take her travelling and she can figure out that she wasn’t a weirdo, she was just on the wrong continent.

Being Whole

I found one of my favorite quotes today, rumaging through past journals.

“Life, death, preservation, loss, failure, success, riches, poverty, worthiness, unworthiness, slander, fame, hunger, thirst, cold, heat – these are the alnernations of the world, the workings of fate. Day and night they change place before us and wisdom cannot spy out their source. Therefore, they should not be enough to destroy your harmony; they should not be allowed to enter the storehouse of your spirit. If you harmonize and delight in them, master them and never be at a loss for joy. If you can do this day and night without break and make it be spring with everything, mingling with all and creating the moment within your own mind – this is what I call being whole in power.”

Breathe, flow, extend your energy, and settle into center - it all comes back to this. Again and again, it all comes back to this.

Species Preservation

Sometimes in dealing with Crazy Towhead I genuinely wonder how we survive as a species given my frequent urges to strangle the girl. Yet every once in awhile she says or does something that answers my question and I remember why I love her so much and why she still yet lives.

Example, I am mopping the kitchen and cleaning up last night’s dishes. CT grabs her broom and yells, “I’m gonna go clean my room!”

Evesdropping on the Towhead

While making dinner, I overhear the following out on the deck:

Mr. A: You my babygirl?

CT: No

Mr. A: Why not?

CT: ‘Cause I’m a big superhero!

 

Sitting on the couch having a conversation with Mr. A I am interupted by a very adamant, attention-hungry kid. This is what followed:

CT: Mommy, Mommy

Me: Yes?

CT: I wanna talk to you

Me: What did you want to talk about?

CT: Well (sigh, pause) we’re having a class today.

Me: Really? What’s this class about?

CT: The sky.

Me: What about the sky?

CT: Well, d’ere’s stuff in the sky.

Me: Oh, like what?

CT: Birds.

Me: Anything else?

CT: (thinks) No, just birds.

Me: What about clouds?

CT: (sighs) OK.

Deer Heads and Chainsaws

I came home today with a new/used chainsaw we bought for chopping firewood, and a garbage bag full of deer heads to stick in our freezer. I prayed the whole way home that a cop didn’t pull me over because I wasn’t sure I could explain the combination without laughing. I have no problem explaining that the heads arefor a class at the dept. of fish and wildlife on Epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) in White-tailed deer, but I just don’t think the chainsaw and the two-y/o in the back seat would inspire a lot of confidence.

I have told Mr. A that for future reference he needs to decide whether our new chest freezer is for bloody animal carcasses or preserving fresh veggies for winter and that he really can’t have both. He says I’m being unreasonable – the freezer has plenty of extra room.

Genocide, Football, and a Pink Elephant

OK, so there’s a subject I’ve been wanting to write about since I started this blog, but I haven’t had a chance to do enough research to where I feel I can address the topic with confidence. Who knew that a soccer game would provide me with the motivation to take a stab at it? I still don’t feel all that confident taking on such a big topic, given how little I know, but this weekend’s game seems too noteworthy not to at least give it a shot.

 A big part of being Armenian (even if you just married into it) is the WWI genocide, the ensuing diaspora, and subsequent chilly/hostile relationship with the Turks. To give you a brief run-down, historians estimate that 1.5 million Armenians were killed during the Armenian genocide, widely acknowledged and studied as the the first modern, systematic genocide. Though this pales next to the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis during WWII, I have heard a number of Armenian friends argue that while the Jewish Holocaust resulted in more deaths, the Armenian Holocuast wiped out a greater percent of the overall population. (I should mention that this is only something I’ve heard. I need to do more research to validate the assertion). Mike’s grandfather was one of the thousands forcibly removed from their homes and forced to march across the Syrian desert. Though he was one of seven kids, only he, his mom, and two of his sisters managed to escape and make their way to America via the French.

You get the idea. This subject hits close to home in our family. So although I’ve wanted to write about the subject for some time (since it directly relates to the title of this blog), I’ve hesitated. I want to write it well. And I want to get it right when I do.

But there’s stuff happening overseas that deserves comment, or at least acknowledgement. This Saturday (Sept. 6) there will be a 2010 World Cup qualifying match between the Armenian and Turkish teams in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital. Armenian President Serj Sarkisyan extended an invite to the Turkish president Abdullah Gul, and lo and behold after more than a decade of sealed borders, and in spite of tense political relations, he accepted! Granted the visit itself was not confirmed until Sept. 3, even though the invite was extended months ago. It may not seem like a huge deal but Abdullah Gul will be the first Turkish head to state to visit Armenia in an official capacity since the Armenian genocide during WWI. (It’s anyone’s guess what “official capacity” means. This leads me to make the assumption that heads of state have visited, but in an unofficial capacity. Does that mean spying? Summer vacation getaways? Again, proof that I’m a tad uninformed.)

I’m going to be curious to see who wins. Turkey is favored in the match but the Armenians have home-turf advantage and a big supporting crowd. We’ll see. Either way a lot of people are going to be pissed after it’s over. No one is taking any chances, that’s for sure. Turkish president Gul will watch the game with Armenian President Serj Sarkisyan from behind bullet-proof glass and then return to Turkey as soon as the game is finished. There’s a wonderful article, written by Andrew Finkel entitled “A Game Neither Side Can Lose,” a fitting title given the circumstances.

Since the Olympics in Beijing, many reporters are emphasizing how countries are putting aside cultural and political differences for the sake of sport. But I can’t help but grimace. China displaced and muzzled thousands of individuals, and spent billions of dollars to impress the rest of the world. “Putting aside differences” by highlighting a few athletes and heads of state who acted like friends for a couple weeks is a lot easier if we don’t talk about the human price paid by the average joe who is now homeless so an international athlete could have a furnished suite.

But in this case, at least the heads of state seem to be setting aside some differences for the sake of the game. Somehow I’m doubting though that this spirit of comraderie extends to the players. As an example, the Armenian team recently changed their team emblem to include an image of Mt Ararat, the consumate symbol of Armenia, a geographical feature currently located within Turkish borders. But in spite of this, many are hoping that Gul’s visit will be a step toward improving relations between the two countries.

The game, to be held Sept. 6, has had mixed reactions with the Armenian people from what I can tell. Because of the diaspora of Armenians around the world (there are actually more Armenians living outside the country than in it) there is quite a bit of information and reactions on the web. I’m relying on a number of blogs here (most with multi-voiced authorship), but from what I can gather older Armenians (60+) think it’s a waste of time: Turks won’t change, any effort at trying to improve relations will only hurt Armenia. Younger Armenians (20-30 somethings) are much more receptive. None of them are willing to forgive past offenses but they want to move into an era of peace.

One of the main roadblocks standing between current relations and peace is that the Turkish government refuses to acknowledge the 1915-1917 killings as genocide. This is a huge political issue, not just in Armenia but also for the diaspora in America, and around the world. Though several other countries (Canada, Russia, Greece) have also deemed this period a genocide, France’s recognition of the Turkish acts as genocide in 1998 caused quite a stir. In the US last year a vote came up in the House of Representatives for a resolution that would have declared the killings an act of genocide. It had huge backing with the millions of Armenians and Armenian descendants living in America. Under pressure from the Bush administration, it was dropped before it ever came to a vote. According to CNN, “The administration was trying to persuade Turkey not to launch cross-border raids into Iraq against Kurdish rebels and Turkey had threatened to curtail U.S. access to military bases used to support U.S. troops in Iraq if the resolution had passed.” (I have enough reasons to hate Bush – as if the environment, civil liberties, and women’s rights weren’t enough – and here’s another one to add to the grit and filth I’ve been chewing on for eight years).

Suffice to say that the pink elephant standing in the corner while Armenian President Sarkisyan and Turkish President Gul are having dinner is going to be a big one. Let’s hope they have enough room to pass the salt.

**As a follow up to this post, Turkey won the game 2-0. But it seems that athletics really can help to begin dialogue. In an article in The Times they report President Sargsyan said that there was a “political will to decide the questions between our countries, so that these problems are not passed on to the next generation.” I’m hopeful that at least future generations can acknowledge and learn from what happened.