The Old Woods

If you're a regular to this blog, I highly suggest you visit my Tumblr more often. I put the majority of my content up there now, and thanks to Jake's idea, I'm going to start blogging more over there. If you're a frequent visitor here for my link list, don't worry, the Daily Dose has been copied over to the Tumblr as well.

This blog is not dead yet. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with it, but in the meantime, visit Midnight in the Old Woods.

I now have commenting active on my Tumblr. Feel free to leave comments!

Because the free service I use for commenting is going down the tubes, I had to switch to Blogger's commenting system. Oh well.

Terry Branstad was the governor of Iowa from the early 80's until the late 90's, serving four terms as governor. We've been through two other governors since then, but now he's back and running again. Why write about him?

He's a republican and when it comes to the issue of gay marriage in our state, he is also an idiot.

In a recent interview, he was asked a question about it and gave this response:

Interviewer: What is it about gay and lesbian marriage that you’re not comfortable with?

“Well, it’s got to do with the whole structure of the American society. And, uh, a lot of people say when other ancient societies have gone this direction, it was the beginning of the end of their society. Because, the building blocks of really having stable culture is really having one man, one woman marriage. So I think that is an important part. (Cedar Rapids Gazette, Todd Dorman interview)

Emphasis is mine.

Are you serious? That's his answer? Who are the "lot of people" he refers to? Which "ancient societies"? And is he really making a direct correlation between the fall of city-states and gay marriage? This was thousands of years ago! Guess what, Terry, there were a lot of other problems then too:

1. Plagues destroyed city-states

2. Rampaging hordes of outside tribes destroyed city-states

3. Bad economics and over-militarization destroyed city-states

Also, these places were run by people who also believed:

1. The earth was the center of the universe

2. Everything was made of four humors

3. Cats guarded the gates of the underworld

4. Bathing in the blood of a bull made one free from sin

Do you really believe this stuff, Terry? This man wants to be governor. Someone help us, please.

Most of Iowa has been hit by ice storms lately. If you've never experienced one of these before, there's really no way to describe it. Basically everything outside is completely covered in ice. Central Iowa received around 3/10 to 1/2 of an inch of ice. That might not sound like a lot, but that much will shut down most major cities. You can't do anything really because if you try walking outside, you will almost surely fall down. It's slicker than being on a skating rink. Plus, all of the trees get covered in ice as well, so the limbs start to hang and crack. It's a wild time.

Despite the dangers of all of this, it's still quite beautiful. In the early morning and the early evening, the light shines just right so it illuminates the ice. Every tree, bush, and sign is encased in a glowing light. As it starts to melt, it takes on a drooping quality. This afternoon the temperature has risen and ice is falling everywhere. In fact a giant piece about the size of a surfboard just fell off of the library's roof. I saw it out the window. I'll have some photos of the ice up soon, but for the time being, check out my fire hydrant video.

Lately mornings have been lovely. I think part of it has to do with the angle of the sunlight at certain points of the morning. It's also been nice because of new breakfast recipes, fresh tea from Gong Fu, and the weekend delight of doing nothing but reading in your pajamas.

The photo here is from the den. That bookcase has some of our Franklin Library Series books, but it's also kind of become a collection of family photos. There's one of me and my dad, one of my grandmother when she was a young woman, one of my dad and his brothers, and of course the famous photo of the Exec 4 from senior year. The light was particularly beautiful that morning while I was reading in the rocking chair next to this book shelf. I picked up the camera and just had to grab the shot. It's not great, but I like the energy the light gives off.

I think certain types of light glow at just the right color and temperature to burn a new memory into your mind or bring one back from long ago. I have often been fascinated in the past by the 'violet hour' of dusk, when the sun has begun its descent and the day has closed its eyes. When I was a child I remember sitting on my grandmother's back porch with my grandfather after school. We would just sit, me drawing, he reading the paper, and listen to the windchime in the yard next door. The light was always gorgeous at that time of day. I often think of that porch. It has a heavy gravity well in my memory, as if other happy memories and thoughts rotate around it. When I see light like this, it reminds me of those associations, those good memories. They say smell does that more than anything, but for me, it's just the right kind of light.