Just got back from visiting Levi

We took three dozen gingerbread cookies and talked for about half an hour. First of all, he looks bloody awful. His eyes are a special kind of bloodshot, huge dark rings underneath, he can't open his mouth very far. Presumably because it's wired shut. He has stitches underneath his lip where some gravel went through. He was pretty lively, though. He's into WWII now, and knows quite a lot. Tanks, conspiracy theories, the works. I was impressed. Ethan and Ben weren't much in evidence. Ethan came in for a bit. He seemed a bit more hyper than usual, which is a terrifying thing in Ethan. Ben was quiet. Mrs. Amen is in rehab, with what sounds like a concussion. She sounded disoriented and stuff. Mr. Amen was pretty normal. I didn't ask whether the sheriff is pressing charges or not. Wanted to, though. The dog--a new addition--was hyper and adorable, normal adolescent canine. I love 'em at that stage. His name seems to be Ranger, and he was delighted to have someone to play with. Levi's grandma was there too, looking after him in his mother's absence. Apparently she married or nearly married--not clear on this, obviously--a nisei Japanese from North Platte who was drafted. So we discussed internment a bit. We stayed fifteen minutes past when we were supposed to come home, it was so interesting. And now I really need to go make spaghetti, being already late and all. We promised to bring Doug next time; he missed because tonight's his first Krav class.

This day shall....etc.

I finished school before Peter did!!! I can't remember the last time this happened! It was really close, too....all he had left was to check his math...

And I brought home two more sheep today. Two Katahdin wether lambs, weaned, and barely tamer than the girls, who enjoy the ancient tradition of "Anything shorter than me and not my own baby=golf ball." Which is why I had to put up a quick corner pen for them with two panels. I have to buy a bale of hay from Darrel, too, because they've been on hay and I can't put them right out to grass.

Kathy has a really nice place. Goats, cows, dogs (big dogs!), a couple of miniature horses, poultry, and sheep. She's currently doing it all herself, because her dad's in the hospital and her mom's taking care of him. She's at least fifty, I'd say. Good luck with all the work. Two of the dogs were loose when we were there: a huge Great Pyrenees that looked like a woolly cushion, or maybe a futon; and an extremely handsome German Shepherd who flattered my by asking me to pet him, in a tentative and unassuming way. Not shy, but standoffish. The GP took anything I was willing to give him. And some of the goats were beautiful little ladies. There were several Saanens; one of them tends towards quadruplets, and she's currently pregnant. She's so stretched out her sides stick out at least a foot, either side.

B took Owen today, so he's going to miss the movie. We're going to go see "Expelled", about the institutional attitude toward people who question evolution. Mrs. Freeouf says she went to see it on opening night--we stopped at Luke's because Dad needed welding help. Luke stood him up. Mark was there the first time we stopped. We stopped again on the way back with the lambs, and he and Luke had gone to see a movie. Dad wasn't very happy. A little grim, maybe. But look what I got out of the whole thing! Funfun! And we stopped at Burger King on the way home. :p

Cool, 200 posts!

Today was rainy. It was also Arbor Day, so Dad stayed home. Mom and I went to town. The library was closed, but we went to B&N for Shojo Beat. This ish had a short story instead of a preview, and it was from Hana-Kimi, and precisely calculated to make me happy, because I've wished before now for H-K from Kayashima's POV. Thank you! So fun! I also found both volumes of Don't Call Us Angels, the prequel to Hands Off!!, on the shelves. The omakes are especially cute, containing the reactions of the characters of Hands Off!! to the history of Udou and Kiba. Poor little Kota. Tatsuki, of course, was cool, unruffled, and superior about the whole thing. On the other hand, he had some warning, because in a Hands Off!! omake he once saw a little of their high school experiences. We didn't learn anything from it, though, because he just made a sort of barfing noise--that's how Yuuto described it, anyway--and didn't say a word. Anyway, I bought both volumes to complete my collection, since I already own all eight vols of Hands Off!!. Ten, now. Also because nobody's scanlated it.
We also saw The Adventures of Johnny Bunko. I read a little, standing there. Can I read your copy when we come for graduation, Niisan? 'S funny. The Naruto poster, in his actual office--heh!

Amens

Woman, son hurt in fall from tractor

By the Lincoln Journal Star

Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008 - 04:14:02 pm CDT

A Cortland mother and son were in stable condition late Wednesday after being seriously injured Tuesday evening in a tractor accident in Cortland.

According to the Gage County Sheriff’s Office, Sandra Amen, 38, and her son Levi, 13, were riding in the bucket of a front end loader on a 1948 John Deere tractor being driven by Amen’s husband, Douglas Amen, 42. The couple’s 9-year-old son, Benjamin, was sitting on Douglas Amen’s lap.

Witnesses told the sheriff’s office that Douglas Amen was raising and lowering the bucket during the ride.

As the westbound tractor approached First and Lincoln streets just after 7:30 p.m., the dump bucket suddenly released, causing Sandra and Levi Amen to be dropped from a high position onto the roadway. The tractor then ran over Sandra Amen, the sheriff’s office said.

Douglas Amen, while trying to avoid running over family members, swerved the tractor to the left and stopped the tractor on the southeast corner of the intersection, near a stop sign. The sheriff’s office said Douglas Amen immediately shut off the tractor and ran to aid his family.

During the incident, Benjamin Amen’s right hand and wrist were injured when they struck the tractor.

Sandra Amen was taken by Star Care helicopter to BryanLGH Medical Center West in Lincoln. The two boys were taken to the hospital by a Lincoln Fire and Rescue ambulance.

Sandra and Levi Amen remained in the hospital Wednesday afternoon in stable condition. Their injuries did not appear to be life-threatening. Benjamin Amen was treated and released.

Investigation of the accident was continuing, Sheriff Millard “Gus” Gustafson said Wednesday afternoon.

I just left a message on their answering machine offering to help with the route, since it'll probably be Ethan doing the route by himself. Or with Ben, but since it sounds like he hurt his right arm....anyway.

It is so incredibly strange, not to say jarring, hearing familiar names, faces, voices reduced to the simple, factual phrases of a writer at the Journal Star.

We actually saw the ambulance and the helicopters. Dad was drilling us in case it was an attack. I was doing the dishes....washing out peanut butter jars for Dad to use in the garage. Everybody else was being assigned to a post to keep watch.

What's cognitive dissonance?

My girls

Lizzie is on the left, with lighter wool and only the small ear tag. Starling is on the right.
Doug came up with their names. The underlying rationale is that they're Suffolk/Hampshires, and should therefore have European names.













Starling to the front, Lizzie in back.
So Starling is a European bird, and Lizzie is....a good strong English name. And Hampshires are from the south of England anyway. Not sure where Suffolk is.

YAY SHEEP!!

And I'm a shepherdess again! Today Mom, Owen, and I went to see Lana and her hubby, who were both very nice. And their toddler, Jordan, who wasn't very into us. Anyway. I got two nice little ewes, Starling and Lizzie, who both had triplets this year and are around five years old. I'm kind of wishing I'd gone with the other one I was considering instead of Starling, because for one thing she has extra teats, but we survived that with Lily and if it were an actual problem Lana would have gotten rid of her much sooner. She's a pretty strict culler, I guess, because she gets tons of triplets. She never bottle feeds, either, even though one ewe this spring had quadruplets. Raised 'em all, too. Next year she's going to call me.
We didn't even get lost on the way, even though our directions weren't exactly confidence-inspiring and I was just waking up when I wrote them down. Turns out they were perfectly adequate.
Oh, and the dog. A Border collie, who's a half-trained working dog. Kind of a pain, because he's not fully trained, but oh well.

And the visit to Lana has been postponed to Saturday afternoon because of rain. Drat. Oh well. And we'll probably go see Kathy sometime next week.

Glancing over the plot of "The Stagman", a story by Robin McKinley published in her collection The Knot in the Grain, it seems rather old-fashioned in its cliches. Princess in distress, rescue, conquest by her prince, marry the prince and have five sons. But at a closer look, one finds the princess, Ruen, resigned rather than engrossed. She doesn't want to rule her kingdom; she doesn't want to live the fairy-tale; she doesn't want to marry the prince and raise sons. But she does, because she is a princess, and she has a strong sense of duty. Given the choice, however, she would happily spend her days living quietly in the mountains with Luthe, the mage arranging all this; learning, reading, and seeing her stag whenever he appears. And when she has fulfilled her duty, has seen her kingdom happily prospering under the rule of the handsome (naturally) prince Gelther, has raised her sons, and is certain that she will not be missed, she leaves. Her stag has come for her, and she can go back to the mountains, where for the only time in her life she was happy. And it could not be otherwise with McKinley as the author, because she is militantly against the cliched heroine being rescued by the hero. Her heroines go off on their own, slaying the leader of the attacking army or redeeming the artifact that will save the kingdom. They do not languish in towers or work on embroidery. Her best-known heroines are tall, awkward, and horrible at sewing, with a complete lack of heart-stopping beauty, because they don't have time for makeup, and a thorough brushing of their long curly hair is out of the question on campaign. Actually Aerin's hair lasted through about half the book and then never grew past her jaw again. Ruen, while not quite fitting this mold, which admittedly is hardly adhered to in the short stories, is still not happy in the place she is. Had she been permitted, she would have been quite happy to be an Aerin; but she had no loving father, no indulgent cousin. She was Lissar, with no Ash and less illusive power. No friends, no family but her cruel uncle, no pets. No books even, as far as we can tell. So she grew into a small, quiet woman, who never laughed and was pitied by her subjects. Their love, admiration, and gazes went to her handsome, typical husband, who had refused to be crowned in favor of his wife.

You know you aren't a very faithful blogger when your computer's address memory doesn't contain the blog's address. Speaking of, Robin McKinley has finally switched away from Livejournal. It is still a work in progress, but it's running.
One annoying thing about blogging is you have to be at a computer. Which means that if you think of something, it's no good if you aren't at a computer, because if you don't write it down you'll forget it before you get a turn.

Right. Currently reading Charles deLint, who is a very good writer. He pretty much invented the urban fantasy genre, with his city of Newford. I love the stories. They aren't all that light: they can be dark and poignant and depressing. But they are also hopeful.

Kathy is supposed to call me today with a price on her Katahdin laddies. If she doesn't, I'm to call her. And I have yet to get back to Lana on her ewes. Which I need to do, because I doubt she'll wait forever. Besides, I think we've pretty much decided we want to buy, and I wouldn't change my mind until I actually visit her farm, which I haven't.

Having bad vision is maybe a bad thing, but it's also a blessing. I mean, before, when my vision was normal, I took seeing things clearly for granted. That was normal. But now, without my glasses, things are fuzzy if they're in the middle distance, or especially far away. And when I put on my glasses, it's a bit of a shock how clear everything is. It's beautiful. I can see individual buds on the maple. I can see the pattern of the new green grass mixed with last year's dead stalks. I can see clearly the bark on trees, I can see trees a block away and they are clearly defined and sharp. Everything is beautiful outside.

So I visited Mrs. Schlake at her office on the way back from getting the mail this morning (my manga came from Bargain Book Closeouts--yays!) and had a nice long chat with her. Her granddaughter Lana raises sheep, and Mrs. Schlake gave me her phone number, so I can call her after devotions.
Mmmmm, anything else? Mrs. Schlake took me out to the place on Apple with the Boers, which is owned by Ron Boden's (her cousin's) ex-wife. Who seems to have absconded with her beautician a long time ago, which however much ancient history is also very juicy gossip, yes? None of the goats were very interested in talking to me except for one kid, who was pretty certainly a bottle baby and only interested in fingers. Certainly not in petting. Talking to other people's goats makes me miss having my own animals much, much more.
Today was patheitc as far as school goes, though. It was after noon when I got back from Mrs. Schlake's, and then there was manga! to read. I still got the important stuff done, though, like history and science. The stuff that has to get done or it affects the next day's schoolwork because you can't ignore it. The stuff that's specifically assiged by lesson, as opposed to "1 L." or "yes".

Oh, and the boys tell me you got that magazine for me, Phil. Thanks! "("

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-Ha!

I've gotten two replies to my advertisements for lambs! A lady in Crete has Katahdins for sale, and a guy in Lincoln has Corsicans and Corsican/Jacob crosses. Mom sounds disapproving about 'em both, because they're all hair breeds, but I'd love some Jacobs! Not a whole herd, but one or two. That's a particularly spectacular example over there, but maybe you can see why Mom objects. I told the guy I'd like to come take a look. Finally, Mom wants me to go talk to the Schlakes, who always do sheep in 4-H at the fair. I'm not very optimistic, because club lambs tend to be Suffolks, which I'm not enthusiastic about. If I want meat breeds I can get Katahdins or something, thanks, and if I'm looking for wool I'll get something else. Like Icelandics or Finns. Or Cheviots....*sigh* Cheviots have the most adorable faces. But not Suffolks. Anyway, they'd probably be docked so far they don't have tails. Which is a health risk but common or mandatory in show sheep. Which is what the Schlakes are into.

Oh, yeah. And as of yesterday, I'm a megane-chan. How strange.

B dropped by today. She has a new dog, again. This time it's this absolutely adorable beagle puppy. She's planning to use him as a stud, start breeding puggles with Penny. He's really beautiful, though. Just watching a puppy run around is so enjoyable. All those little mannerisms common to puppies. So sweet. His name's Bugsy.

Kyaaaaah! I have money! How weird is this? I still have to put four hundred into whatever Dad comes up with (the isn't any silver available) but meanwhile that's four hundred bucks! For sheep and books and music and computer stuff and books!
Oh, and Win-chan finally returned from her Net-deprived desert! Well, probably not a desert....she went home to her village for Easter holidays, and they don't have any Net there. Although she says she had her laptop, so she had, like, downloads, but she couldn't talk to me. And now she's back! So nice....First off, she likes manga. So do my brothers, Zak, and Kerirae. Secondly, she's female. So's Kerirae. Thirdly, she likes the same stuff I do, writes coherently about it, and isn't constantly putting herself down. Okay, I'm being unjust to Kerirae. But Win-chan is still more fun. Less awkward, somehow. And we share more tastes, which with Kerirae.....she likes shounen ai. And yaoi. And catboys....okay, so do I, in moderation. But. Win-chan's easier. I can even worship her, what with her being an editor and older than me. Which Kerirae also is, older, but not more mature, as far as I can tell. I think Kerirae's more tech-savvy than me, though. Although that Myspace background hasn't materialized yet. Ah, well. I'll wait. Nothing wrong with the horses.