Musings

It seems as though I’m starting all over again with Musings, because I missed the July issue and then there was no August issue, so it has been a long time since I sat down at the computer to write a column.

One of the best parts of this summer is that it has been very cool, and I love that, because I turn into a grouch when the weather is hot. I also like the rain, because I don’t have to water so much. In fact I haven’t been working in the yard very much at all. I have been quite busy at The Center. We had Kids Kamp for six weeks every afternoon, and although I loved it, it was rather wearing and I was glad to get home and just sink into a chair and relax. As a result I didn’t get a whole lot done at home, but there is always tomorrow.

I also found that it was a really great time to read when I was tired and certainly didn’t want to begin a cleaning project in my house when I got home, so it was much easier to read than clean house, But then I can always find an excuse for not cleaning house. I’ve never known anything that was a bigger waste of time. You spend time and get the house sparkie clean and then it just gets dirty again. I wish we could lose some of the emphasis on keeping an immaculate house. I certainly have, and it hasn’t affected my life at all except to make me less guilty and free from some of the pressure I put on myself for years.

The world goes on no matter what we do or how we spend our time. And death goes on as well. I was very saddened to hear of Ted Kennedy’s death, although it was expected. A friend said to me maybe it will make some of the bizarre people who are making such weird statements about Heath Care Reform think again. Kennedy was such a great champion of the little people and fought for reform his whole life. I wish we could all put aside our political prejudices and vote in the Health Reform, because it is so badly needed. I have such trouble understanding where many people are coming from. Many parrot the opposition’s phrases without knowing what is in the bill. And many are just ignorant, don’t read or listen to moderate, rational thinkers who are giving all the right reasons for having the bill passed.

I have heard absolutely outlandish statements made, and I don’t understand the ignorance of so many. I also think it is appalling that these ignoramuses disrupt many town meetings. I’ve heard so much about “The Government will be running our health care and we don’t want that,” but Medicare has been run by the Government since the beginning and you don’t see the troubles everyone seems to think will happen. After all it is the insurance companies who are running our health care now and costs just keep rising every year. And the salaries and layers of executives in the insurance business is extremely costly and out of control. Why should they be allowed to control our health care?

I, for one, am on Medicare and delighted to be so. It has made a great difference in my life and allowed me to have excellent medical care at a reasonable cost. I wonder if everyone knows that although doctors and hospitals may put a certain price on a procedure, Medicare allows for just one price and that is what they pay. That certainly makes more sense than an insurance company putting a cost on a procedure. It’s not the medical field charging the prices as much as it is the insurance companies. I personally know many who have no insurance through no fault of their own and it is criminal that we are supposed to have the best medical care in the world, but most can’t even afford it. More and more people are choosing to go to another country for procedures they can’t afford here.

I hope that everyone remember Kennedy’s words and deeds and follow his humanitarian views. We need to turn this country around and allow those who are disenfranchised back in to the society.

I’ve read a great deal this summer, and much of it has been light, but that’s okay. I have a few friends who make a face when I say I’m reading a Rosamunde Pilcher book or a Maeve Binchy one. They are wonderful, light and happy reading. Pilcher is English and Binchy Irish, and they write a lot about the beautiful countryside and the quirks of the people. I love the language where garbage can becomes dustbin, trunk becomes boot and a parking lot is a car park. It’s the differences and lightness that appeal to me. The descriptions of Cornwall are particularly beautiful and I enjoy that. Jack and I rode our bikes through England and it brings back great and vivid memories.

There are a few that I read that I particularly enjoyed. One I just finished was Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith. His latest in the No.1 Lady Detective Agency’s Series and as usual a delight. I read Shanghai Girls by Lisa See about two Chinese sisters who fled China when the Japanese invaded. Their story was well told, realistic and also a tragedy because of the way they were treated. We, as a nation, have been horrendous to many other cultures. Another that paralleled the See novel was entitled Fragrant Harbor by John Winchester about a young Englishman who went to Hong Kong before WWII, but was imprisoned by the Japanese for most of the war. The second shows the radical changes in the world from before the war until present time A rather scary look at what has happened in the world because of mergers and take overs. Enjoy the cool evenings with a good book!