Ccccchanges!

Changes are in the air! It's been a long time since I've written here. I prob don't have any followers anymore but I'm going to attempt to write a little from time to time.

MIA in Indiana

I made it to Indiana and its the BFE of the cornbelt. At first I wasn't sure about this place. I have to do telemetry all night? There's no showers or running water?? What?? Now though, thanks in part to helping trap and the bathrooms at camp openning up, I love what I'm doing and don't even really mind the lack of internet, phone service, and running water in our trailer. I'll post work photos of the animals we're catching and us working them up but for now here is our home, work vehicles and a few cute faces.

Flashback Friday

It's Flashback Friday again. I haven't participated in this for awhile and thought I would today!

These pics are from around 1984-1985. I was about 2 or 3 at the time and my brother was 12 or 13. This was back before life got complicated with my parents divorce and my brother going to live with my grandparents. Back when my brother and I adored each other before we became strangers. I don't really remember either of these pics but I remember the way I loved my big brother.

There is a stream and mineral springs that runs through our downtown park area and its been a place for people to come bath or drink the water since the 1700s. (George Washington even came here) Anyway, its a great place to go play, wade and catch fish and tadpoles when you're a kid. We used to spend every summer here because it was a free swimming pool of sorts and lots of fun. (I heart my brother's 80's shorts.)
My brother was also a big skateboarder and bike rider. This is on the street we used to live on with our parents. Our aunt and uncle and grandparents all lived on this street and it was pretty great. I know this looks dangerous but my mom trusted my brother implicitly. He never did drop me even when he was skating around. I of course loved it and thought it was the greatest thing ever. Apparently, I would laugh really loud and cling really tightly to my brother and yell "Again Souse!" (I couldn't pronounce Shawn).


Have a Flashback Friday of your own? Join up over at
Christopher and Tia's!

Bored...on Wordless Wednesday

I spend most of my day sleeping, watching tv, reading or watching the cat sleep. I'm very bored all the time now. I can't wait to get back out in the field again. I can't wait til this is my life once more:

Sotah by Naomi Regan

This one is about an Orthodox Jewish woman living in Jerusalem struggling to make sense of the world she lives in. She struggles to make the reality of the world fit the fantasy image she’s always been told the world is. The girl in this book is told to deny herself of everything she’s ever felt or wanted out of life. She’s told to form herself into a perfect model of everyone else and any individuality is not encouraged. She is told that this is the only way to show her devotion to her religion and keep away from temptation because that is the way God intends it to be.

She learns in the end, however, that it is not God or her religion that says these things but a group of foolish people who decide to interpret God’s word this way. She is accused of adultery and sent away to rectify her perceived wrong doings. It is here in the Western world that she finally learns the truth about her religion and is able to demand things for herself.

The story was good and an easy read. You learn all about traditional Jewish culture, a complex and often bizarre place that I had no idea about. While I respect different culture and found it fascinating to learn about, I was often angry about the limitations and expectations placed on these Orthodox women. They are made to work very hard (much like women of a century ago, this seems strange to me in the modern world we live in) to support their very large families (they give birth to as many as 15 children) and live in poverty while their husbands study the Talmud for their place in heaven (in some cases the only work the men do, this is also strange to me). The women of this region live shorter, harder, more brutal lives than their husbands.

In the end of the book, the author talks of how she attended a woman’s conference and met women from all around the world. These women came from different backgrounds and she found that fundamental religious women of different faiths had more in common than modern women of the same faiths. These women also discussed how they share the common theme of the men in their culture attempting to control and limit their lives by justifying it with religion (a religion that to these women says nothing about control or dominance but advocates equality and love).

Overall, I liked the themes in this book and the relationships of the women to one another. We see mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, lovers, husbands, traditional, non traditional, western and non western relationships all mixed together and relying on one another to make it through the rough times in life. The trials and disappointments these women face, while completely different at times, are also universal concerns about one’s role in life and the place of religion, duty and love in that life. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read about a woman from another culture striving to find herself.

Award

I got this award a while ago from a blog I follow.Krystal's Kitsch is a fellow blogger who writes about her life in FL and she's extremely funny. I enjoy reading her stuff immensely. There are rules to the award. You have to tag 12 people and then alert them to their winning. I didn't really feel like tagging anyone so I hope its ok to just put this here and say I enjoy every blog I follow. I think everyone I read deserves this award. So thanks again to Krystal and if you read this blog congrats you've got an award!

YES

P.S. We finally have healthcare!!!!!!!! Welcome to the ranks of the rest of the first world countries, America. I knew you could do it!!!!!!