a little red hen

Old Woman Does Steroids

I will never play professional baseball again...or bike race in France.  Today I took the plunge:  a steroid shot in my right arm, the dominant side.  The hope is that the pain in shoulder/arm will subside.  It has been a very long time since picking up a small grandchild was either possible or painless.  Knitting has been less frequent.

Steroids suddenly are moi.  Last Saturday I visited "Immediate Care" (a walk-in facility connected with Providence Hospital) because my primary physician is Monday - Friday except for emergencies.  Seems to be style here; classier than emergency rooms of NYC hospitals. Desperate after two weeks of dramatic coughing plus nose running (hoping it would disappear), and missing a baroque chamber concert.

Seen by a Nurse Practitioner, I left with prescriptions for a five-day regimen of steroid tablets and an antibiotic.  Though less coughing when I laugh (have to rush to bathroom), reduced nose action, generally improved.

 Sunday I went to OHSU (Oregon Health System University) just up the hill from us.  Much attractive art in halls.  MRI scheduled for shoulder, very efficient, back to D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathy) in a local orthopedic practice.  Yes, there's a tear in my rotator cuff.  A quick steroid shot in the arm as defense (my word) against the dreaded arthroscopic surgery. 

This Saturday, I began 8-sessions of  physical therapy for "scapular stabilization."  An aside, to note  why "Feminism" is a category for this post.  Checking out my history, the young therapist asked, "Is it alright for me to call you 'Naomi?'"  Pleased, I agreed and answered, "First time a health care provider has asked in a long time."  And shook his hand.  When I posted here about "10 Questions to Ask Your Ob-Gyn," the 1977 Baltimore NOW effortI neglected to mention that one of the very non-radical requests we were making was not to be called by our first names unless the doctor was ready to do the same.

Has this changed in your life?  Rhetorical question:  Might physicians have moved more quickly toward single-payer if we'd demanded more interactions of equality in the past 40 years--for male patients too and with the help of men too.

Roxie's Hippo and Healthcare Reform

What did you do yesterday while Congress dragged it out?  Stretching a metaphor, I  have been malingering like them by not finishing this knit toy for Roxie, our NYC granddaughter. 

By late December (which issue was the Senate on then?), all the separate pieces of the hippo had been completed.  Another  Susan B.  Anderson pattern in her itty-bitty toys book (something new after making two of her chickens).   Worked well with yarn from my over-large stash.  Tricky to knit the body as it narrowed down with few stitches left on the needles.  (This was November '09...had we lost CHOICE in the House?)

For the second time I used a rubber ball to weight the body.  Hippo is very solid as a result.  This is a substitute for poly pellets when making a toy for young children.

Carried it to North Carolina at Christmas when we last saw Roxie, sure I'd finish it then.  No...  not enough light, too cold--the very sort of lame excuses our congressional reps have been using to waste the taxes we pay them with this endless slog. 

Sunday, March 21, 2010, was so possibly auspicious, that I made my move.   In the morning and early afternoon I watched the proceedings (inside and outside, some more inspirational than others) on television and did embroidery on the hippo's face.  Not great but okay.  Ear attachment went better.

Dinner was at Rachel's, our daughter, where Judy, the other grandma, is visiting from Idaho.  Rachel kept us up with progress in D.C. on her Blackberry (no television here).

Back home to finish the hippo and hope that Congress  and I would both end before midnight.  That actually happened thanks to the determination of many, especially women, thank you.  Several are pictured here.

Nancy Pelosi deserves much more admiration that we have given her lately.  We also are reminded that the  sensible Democrats are the true picture of this country--every geographic direction, all colors and shapes, even a couple of southerners!

Checking email before bed, there was a request to support two women running races against blue dog Dems.  Five dollars each:  I could do that...you can do that!

What I Miss about Manhattan: The Voting Booth

Let's start with how disappointed we are that the state of Oregon uses mail-in ballots.  That little oval to fill in (blue or black pen suggested) led me to  obsess about getting it right.  Annoying.

Ron and I loved going to our polling place, meeting neighbors, seeing how the poll workers did their jobs (very efficiently).  We've heard that mailed ballots increase participation.  Really?  My impression is this approach encourages proliferation of damned initiatives like 66 & 67, started by people who want to override decisions by the state legislature.  Oregon and the state of Washington are the two that have mail-in ballots.

And the cost?  I've been trying to track this one down without success.  Must be enough paper consumed to pay all the teachers in my grandson's elementary school (where they could use a few more teachers and classrooms, thank you).  And  the photo does not include the hefty Voters' Pamphlet, all 91 pages of it! Trying to resist are the founders of the  No Vote by Mail effort.  Good luck to them! 

Since I first voted for Adlai Stevenson in 1956, it's been exciting to get in line--New York City, Albuquerque, Oberlin, Baltimore--to pull the lever and feel the surge of participatory democracy.  Not a feeling I get in my living room.  But another change, after much resistance, is coming to the Big Apple, a holdout from the rest of New York state.  Now, folks there will vote electronically, wait in vain for the old familiar  "thump" of the lever, the sound that lets you know your vote has been recorded. 

Continuing  "yarn in the public interest," I knit my smallest YES patch and attempted to write the letters in single crochet.  Whatever it takes.  Judged readable by the very upbeat couple at the Happy Swallow, a coffee shop on Belmont Avenue that's brought kolaches to Portland from Austin, Texas.  This is result of immigration (story here).  Many surprises in our new digs, caffeine-land PDX.  Creative people always thinking how to differentiate themselves from the gazillion other cafes.

Kolaches, clever little cafes--work better for us than mail-in ballots and/or electronic voting.

PDX Bands @$5 Fund-raiser: NO-people running scared?

Our daughter Rachel truly has been knocking herself out this month.  She's sprained an ankle, has the flu, but says it will be worth it when (not "if") YES wins the day.  In this photo she's phone banking from home with ice on her foot.  The hat is one I made in those halcyon days of big deal knitting--it matched a zip-front pullover.  For figure skating when she was 13, few years ago.  Another YES patch--blue yarn, scratchy wool/hemp from China that's found its best use.

Her young staff at her business, FULL LIFE, wanted to pitch in some way.  Why not use their Coffee House space on a Saturday night for a low-cost event that would attract and raise consciousness of twenty and thirty-somethings.

Music, of course, is the way in Portland, Oregon.  On yesterday's post here, the card created by clients at Full Life features "YES, PLEASE!" an evening of music in support of Measures 66 & 67.  Speaking to Portlanders of all ages, last week's editorial in Williamette Week, came out for YES.  Under the title,"Class Warfare,"  all the issues plus charts were carefully laid out.  What rock are "undecideds" living under?

Back to the bands.  "Quiet Countries," here's the cover of their latest CD.  And "bazillionaire"--from Jesse, seen here playing guitar, works at Full Life, runs all kinds of activities for clients--a radio show for one.  (Yes, I lifted this photo from Jason Quigley's blog; he is a real PDX photographer.  I think the idea for tonight's event started with Jesse.  Two more bands, "St. Frankie Lee" and--you have to wonder how their high school English teachers would react to some of these titles--"Swim Swam Swum."

The latest development in the struggle over the lifeblood of schools and social services in Oregon, which is what this is all about, happened where Ron and I live.  Every Saturday morning there's a Men's Breakfast with a speaker.  Oh, I hear you, Hattie as you demand, what's with that?  From my perspective, it's a good thing:  older guys are so (how do I say this nicely?) less-able  than women around socializing outside of work and sports.  When we came to look over Terwilliger Plaza last winter, we were surprised how many of them lived here.  (That would make an intriguing research project.)

Anyway, a few weeks ago, the Breakfast speaker was a Vote Yes proponent, a CEO named John Calhoun, who returned a couple of weeks later for an afternoon debate with Bob Wiggins, a venture capitalist from the other side.  Meanwhile, in this very active retirement community, a Vote No proponent was invited as the solo speaker for this morning's Saturday breakfast.  In the interest of niceness, I will not give his name because he did not show up!  As they say, what's with that?

Both sides have been pouring many dollars into this struggle but I'm sure the Noes feel confident with the number of big corporations behind them--Nike (Phil Knight is the real-life bazillionaire), Columbia Sportswear (real loss to us because we've had to boycott their clothes which havve been favorites), Whole Foods (well, John Macky their CEO is opposed to universal health care, so that's no surprise;).  Great sadness when THE paper in town, The Oregonian, came out for the No side.  Many cancelled subscriptions--including Rachel Bloom's.

Could it be that the heavy-hitters are over-confident?  Let me end with this link to the Flashmob singing and dancing to the tune of "Hey, Mackey" at the Oakland, Whole Foods.  Yes to 66 & 67 and to more music by more bands in PDX!  If you go tonight, the "Portland Mercury" wants you to write a review HERE.

 

Roxie at the beach in winter

This was the second winter that we thought we'd go some place warmer than where we lived.  Last year it was traveling from NYC  to Portland for December and January.  We were treated to 19 inches of snow.  But had a good time and found Terwilliger Plaza, the retirement community where we've relocated.

This December, Leanne, our daughter-in-law in New York, had an idea for us to meet up in her home state, North Carolina.  Her uncle gave us the keys to a beautiful house he owns at Wrightsville Beach.  Surely that would be milder than our new home in Portland.  Not exactly. It was wonderfully sunny the week we were there but  very cold and windy.

Roxie, our granddaughter was unfazed by the climate while I'm wrapped up in just about every piece of clothing in my suitcase.

We enjoyed connecting with Leanne's extended family who put together a great birthday party for Roxie's third.  had some great oysters, celebrated Roxie's birthday #3--including a castle-cake baked by Leanne's sister.

Our presents for her were a sweater set from wool spun by Ron.  He knitted the hat; the two of us made the cardigan.

Doing this was a test of our marriage since our knitting styles are very different. Ron surprised me by announcing when we were finished that we ought to do it again!  That's a possibility--maybe a sweater for Elianna in Portland, our youngest grandchild.

We ate some great seafood, a broiled flounder was my favorite, along with the view from Oceana, a  restaurant nearby at the end of Wrightsville Beach.  (Roxie with her Princess cellphone appears to be deciding on her entree.)  Our son Nick and Ron got lost in fresh oysters a couple of times.

Seeing Roxie again was a treat; she has grown since we saw her last summer before we left New York for Portland.  Distance grandparenting will always be a challenge.

Knitting for Vote YES in Oregon

More about this very important tax measure coming soon...

And now I have knit chickens...

A few weeks ago, I went back to Close Knit, a favorite yarn shop here.  Last winter I bought Noro yarn and pattern there to make this vest;  finished when we returned to New York.  One of my more successful yarn projects.  It  helped that there was an already-knit version I could try on  to check out the fit. 

Knitting chickens, representations of them not the actual bird, has moved  along my plan to knit kids' toys.   First,  a yellow Polka-Dot Chicken from Susan B. Anderson's "Itty-Bitty Nursery."  I was going to give this to Zoe but decided to keep it.

I rationalized that her baby sister might tear it  and get into this bag of  beads used to weight the bottom.  Zoe shares my fondness for chickens,  chases  uncaged ones resident in the nearby schoolyard. Hope  they  make it through the winter.

Because she's partial to dots, I added them to another  Susan B. Anderson pattern for a striped chicken.  And produced this larger hen for her to take home.  On visits with us, she plays with the smaller one. Clara is the name she gave to  both.  Sounds  old-fashioned from a modern little girl.

 
Sent off this sweater for Roxie's Purple Bear that I made in August, just before we left NYC. I've started another animal for her,  a Hippo from Susan B. Anderson's new book, itty-bitty toys.  Did Susan and I meet at Knitty City?  I have a signed copy of the other Itty-Bitty. She is a very inventive designer who blogs here.

Feeling quite righteous because I'm only using yarn from my stash for these projects.   Found more funky chick patterns at Ravelry--that comes after the Hippo and another vest for myself, this time with Ron's yarn.

Recalling my hen obsession while she was in Paris, Maxine Levinson at Knitty City sent me a photo she snapped of a poulet store.  I lost it and effort to retrieve it via Google led to a blog called Paris Breakfasts.  Discovered many sides of  chicken enthusiasm among the French.  Something little red hens everywhere are trying to tell us?

Starting to use her as my avatar.  Please note the beaded necklace.

Posting less than I'd like because we continue to have a busy time in Portland, O, with taking classes, finding intriguing lectures.  This week the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard came through to promote his book, "Good without God: what a billion nonreligious people do believe."    Saw Philip Glass' new opera,"Orphee" and liked the music.   A group  sat in the lobby doing live blogging.

More  boxes await attention.   Though I feel frustrated about my ability to influence national politics, there are local issues to work on.  Oregon, like California, has votes often on initiatives outside regular elections.

The outcome of Initiatives 66 and 67  will have profound effect on funding for schools and social services.  "YES" is the word for the  January 28 election. 

October already...having too much fun

Thinking it's important to make an appearance, I offer a harvest moon, a little bear knit for our youngest  granddaughter (completed a couple of weeks ago from Italian merino, Oat Couture pattern).

We have been busy since landing in the City of Roses--still unpacking/arranging/discarding stuff--visiting often with family, looking into lifelong learning offerings and getting integrated into life in an urban retirement community.

More time than I expected in decisions about where I'm going with my bead accumulation.   Last week many of them went to a silent auction for a new after-school, middle school program.  Being "with them" again after many years at a distance, their colors, shapes, memories of collecting drew me close.

Great weather too, the kind that makes me want to stay outdoors before the promised Fall rainy season.

Slow Knitting in the City of Roses

Yes, yes, I am way behind on details of our many good experiences, educational and environmental, in the place from which we are now voting--Portland, Oregon.  [NYC friends ask, "How you doing with the rain?"  What rain; it's been gloriously sunny.] 

Most immediate issue (after more and more

emails to our new congresspeople about single payer/public option health care legislation) is yarn.  How to store it and where it fits in my life.  Will I make something from this 50/50 wool and hemp?  Bought at some fiber fair a few years back, no memory of my plan.  Sunday we return to OFFF (Oregon Flock & Fiber Fest) in Canby. 

Will the PDX Knitters respond to the idea of Slow Knitting as a new category in fiberland?  Last year, they were  quite good-natured about modeling the Couverle Condom Amulet (a newsboy kind of cap.)  "So how is it different?" a knitter I met yesterday at the OSHER program (more on that later) asked me.

Needlecrafts have become explosively popular among younger knitters, I answered, so different from the days when one was simply "a knitter."  One example is the "Sock Summit" held at the Convention Center here August 5-7.  Someone needs to tell me whether the number who attended from around the world was 7,000 or 17,000; these women, and a few men, are intense and constantly producing.  That's fine but just one pair of booties is a big project for me.  Feels vintage to say to an enthusiastic foot-coverer, "I knit my last socks in the 1950s."

We all know that I definitely am vintage and have the incipient arthritis to prove it!  So Ron and I have had one of those talks about our visit to OFFF.  He will check out  fiber for potential additions to his spinning stash.  My own plan: locate other Slow Knitters.  But no new yarn purchases--would love to hear  ideas for  small things to make for family and friends-- with what's already on hand--like the 8-inch stuffed animal almost finished for youngest granddaughter. 

Speaking of Knitting Small...in  public ways to save the world as we know it--Oberlin College, my alma mater, has published a lovely piece about The Oberlin Condom Amulet in their current issue. Thanks to Google, the Alumni magazine editor called, then made the immodest proposal to the powers-that-be.

Rachel Walden of Women's Health News, an alum from a later decade, has mentioned it but there has not been a stampede yet from startled women over 50 gasping "...I never heard of that..."

By the way,  check out Rachel's post at Our Bodies Our Blog about a recent study  connecting  HRT and lung cancer...may raise more questions than it answers.

Elderblogging 2.0 Begins in PDX Retirement Community

Ten days into our altered lifestyle in the northwest.  Besides the physical part of getting settled, accepting that we really did not reduce our possessions enough, there's much to experience--in addition to our family.  Last week we went to  orientation for SSI, Senior Studies Initiative,  sponsored by the local community college.  We'd enjoyed a couple of their "Current Events" meetings last winter on our "deciding" visit.   There are six sites around town, only one close by. 

It took place in Lake Oswego, very leafy with big houses; I wondered how people get there without a car.  Intrigued that one of the groups has a presentation scheduled on Emma Goldman.  Looking forward to that.  Today, after a trip to an ENT doctor (nose-bleeding is my dramatic response to the move), I mentioned to Ron that our time so far has felt very suburban.  Must get out of the car soon, take mass transit buses and light rail which are very available from our place.

Saturday we stopped by the Belmont Street Fair, an annual explosion of  hippie-dom plus eviro and neighborhood consciousness.  Not the only one, of course; the city is filled this time of year with celebration, fruit festivals.  Young people come to several parts of Portland for the lifestyle of music and tatoos, live alongside young families who sort of like that atmosphere.  This is the world we know from visiting our daughter in a nearby neighborhood. 

Yesterday I went to the Terwilliger Users Group (TUG to insiders) and was amazed by how many people were there.  Must have been forty, men and women.  A woman gave a talk about Facebook which I was pleased to hear.  Each of our children, different as they are from one another, is now on it.  When I had dinner in New York before we left with Lisa Daehlin, the soprano/knitter, she told me I ought to consider it for the Condom Amulet project.  It's thanks to her that there's a group for it on Ravelry but Facebook does have some perks not available there. 

The staff tech person (how cool is that?) for Terwilliger Plaza had mentioned there were a couple of other folks with blogs living here, so I asked if the internal website might list them.  It's going to happen.  This is very different from New York City where I never met another blogger near my advanced age.

Tonight another Plaza activity, "Victory for Woman Suffrage in Oregon," a talk with great slides by Dr. Kimberly Jensen of Western Oregon University.  I have been too east-coast-centric about women's studies; was surprised by many western states voted to give women the vote ahead of the opposite coast.  Portland was a leader in moving the Oregon legistlature to do in 1912--on the sixth try and pioneered less ladylike approaches with mass advertising and public displays.  In  her recent book, Minerva, Mobilizing Women in the First World War,  Jensen has written about Dr. Esther Lovejoy, a Portland physician and local leader in women's rights, who was an Army doctor. 

For the coming 2012 centennial of woman suffrage in Oregon, here's a link to an active committee gathering ideas and material--particularly interested in finding photos and letters from the period. 

Zoe, our granddaughter, on a brief visit to our apartment, announced in her four-year-old way (birthday party last Saturday), "What a mess!"  One day we hope to present a better model to our descendants. If we can only figure out where to hang all the pictures, stow the books.