a little red hen

Women's Health Still Hostage to Healthcare Reform, but...

They checked their Blackberries last night, my daughter and spouse.  They'd gone out for a walk as we stayed with the kids.

"Nothing yet," was the 10 p.m. (PST) verdict.  No, our foot-dragging, drama-loving Congress would make us stay up late to find out would they/wouldn't they.

Earlier, when the House Republicans used women's bodies to stall the healthcare bill, I was angry--once again.  More frequent Elderbloggers Darlene and Ronni posted timely rants.  Amanda Maracotte* at RH Reality Check posted a stronger response  in line with my own feelings on the relationship of Stupak amendment to men's wish to control women and their bodies as result of their "deepset fear of women's agency."

My family tried to calm me with reminders that reform was so crucial, that the abortion restrictions would never last, that we needed to support this shaky bill.  Made an effort to let go of disappointment but had less heart in sending more emails, small donations to the "good guys" in Congress.

While we waited, surprising new guidelines were issued by the U.S. Prevenive Services Task Force on mammogram testing.  As an old lady who has had two "false positives," one at 52, the other at 64 which led to a biopsy, I take this very personally.  Who of us does not? 

[Aside:  Is  Politics Daily, not a feminist blog, the only one to picture the mammo machine?  Did any of the mainstream media stories show that dreadful invention, now marginally improved since my first one in the 1970s?  I have a couple of paper  "gowns" saved from these visits--blue, pink.  These combined with the eerie sounds of the X-ray machine have always seemed ready-made for a dance performance or a scene in a play I'd write.]

This morning I had a little relief with the post at Our Bodies Ourselves, New Mammogram Guidelines Are Causing Confusion, But Here's Why They Make Sense. It is a long, thoughtful post that acknowledges the complexity of  technology that gives us information but has the potential for harm.  The comments with reactions from women, researchers, doctors are worth reading too.

 Occurred to me that we need a younger women's consciousness to focus on useful health education in middle and high schools.  All the controversy around "sex ed" may have left us with nothing!  Bring back those plaster human bodies we cringed at in my freshman college gym class, the ones that come apart to reveal our insides. Young people need to learn more about how it all works--and more about ways to evaluate health info that comes toward us.

*Maracotte has another post, "Less boob squishing seems like a value add to me" on her own Pandagon blog.

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. 

"The Way We Get By," a movie for all of us--seniors & others

Tonight on the PBS program Point of View, I'll be watching again a beautifully conceived movie we saw last July before we left New York.  With a low-key title, "The Way We Get By", is one you will want to see no matter your attitude toward U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Is it anti-war?  Not exactly.  Pro-war?  No.

It is about women and men like us:  older citizens, looking for a way to make a difference, some hoping to relieve their loneliness as spouses and friends are gone.  There had been little publicity on the film when we saw a notice about it last July.  And I was not quite sure what to expect reading it was a documentary about a group of seniors in Bangor, Maine, who meet soldiers both leaving for and returning from war.

It's this airport where most soldiers leave the U.S. and the Maine Troop Greeters have welcomed home or said goodbye to one million of them!  I spoke with Gita Pullapilly, the film's producer, and asked if Grandmothers Against the War had been contacted for support.  She'd tried but had not heard back.  

But my effort to contact my friend in the group,  Joan Wile, did not get a response either.  Too bad because the story is not a pro-war or anti-war one.  The three "Greeters" focused on make that clear:  they wanted to do something for these soldiers to let them know we are aware of them, care about them.  My argument with "Grandmothers" always was that we of all people needed to find ways to do more than demonstrate; we could give time to families directly affected by the wars.

We even had a chance to meet the director (son of one of the Greeters) who has just married the producer (it's all on the PBS website.  We got an update and chance to talk with another featured Greeter  who had successfully recovered from heart surgery.  It was all very personal--and political--in the best sort of way.

If you do not have a chance to see it tonight, "The Way We Get By" is traveling around the country and may show near you.  Their dedication moved me so much as a pacifist who has looked for a personal way to express gratitude to women and men in the military even as I oppose the idea of war.

There's also a DVD out now that could be passed around among friends who are eager to see often-unseen older folks as caring actors in the public space.

We Broke the Code at PSU!

Yes, we found our way to the pot at the end of the rainbow:  free classes at Portland State University.

In the rain!  It took two cellphone calls with Susan, the very patient administrator for the Senior Adult Learning Center.  "Explain again where you are because nothing looks like the 'hi-rise' you mentioned; I'm from New York."  While Ron parked the car a few blocks away, it was my job to find it first--the building with a number on the website but unmarked in real life.

"Maybe it's under 'Aging,' or ,  'Senior' on the directory," I told Ron on another cell call as we worked to reach the same place.  "You have to walk up three flights, then find your way to another stairway to get to the fourth floor."  Suddenly an elevator door opens behind me and there he is--arriving from an entrance on the opposite side of the building.

In our search for lifelong learning opportunities in PDX,* everyone mentioned this good deal at PSU--undergraduate classes at no charge.  Old-fashioned, educated American that we are, first effort we looked for  a catalog of courses.  No.  It's all on their website.  Even in this SALC office there was no hard copy; we have to go to the library for that--and now that we've been sanctioned as participants, we hope to gain entrance to it.

Since much of the semester has gone by, we decided to do a flip through the available classes roster that Susan offered, take our chances on selecting a class by title only.  Ron found Medieval History, mine is Women and Politics.  A half-sheet of yellow paper certifies us.  On the back are instructions for auditing-- wave the paper toward the instructor be "...considerate of students taking the class for credit by not dominating class discussions." Useful advice for old people, always garrulous as we are.

I just realized there are only a few sheets of yellow in our colorful collection brought from NYC.  Enough to make copies in case we lose one--or it falls apart from folding and waving, or gets wet.  Now have back-up in a plastic sleeve.  Going to school offers many challenges in the 21st century.

Over my three years of blogging, I've been curious that other Elderbloggers have not written about their experiences with what is known as "lifelong learning."  It's something that has interested me since before I retired when I designed a program titled, "Creativity in the Third Age."  Described the idea on my Cityworm website.   So, Lifelong Learning lengthens the list of categories here as Ron and I explore what's offered to seniors in Portland.   And what about your experiences?

On Saturdays from March to December the center of the PSU campus hosts the Portland Farmers' Market, both are walking distance from Terwilliger Plaza, our new home.  Surprising unknown, locally grown vegetables appear to challenge the adventurous.

This week we noticed  Ficoide Glacial, slightly tangy French green.  Always free samples to try and consider for next time.

*Department of Clarification:  In this post I'm referring to  programs designed specifically to meet circumstances and schedules of those over 55.  Sometimes they're free like PSU, or have fees like the IRP at the New School in New York City and ones supported by the Osher Foundation.