Tomorrow my girl graduates from high school!

Frequently asked question at the Decorah Eagle Cam about when the young birds will leave the next:

1. Question of the Week When will they fly?

Learning to fly is a process. They are currently wingercizing. This entails flapping their wings and hopping. Late in the wingercizing phase, a gust of wind will lift them accidentally, and they will hover over the nest because their muscles are strong enough to hold their wings in the correct position and their flight feathers are long enough to sustain the lift. Branching comes after that. Branching is defined as a small hop and lift onto the closest branch. Unless there is a panner present at the time, we will not see this first very small journey away from the nest to the branch. Fledge or first self-propelled flight away from and back to the nest tree comes last. The whole process last 10-13 weeks.

My baby is "wingercizing" now, but she will fledge soon. Meanwhile, I remember with fondness those moments when she was my little baby, my special girl, my sweetie pea!

All the feels!

And...we're back! So You Think You Can Dance auditions

I can't believe I forgot to watch the premieres of my once-favorite show, SYTYCD. This audition is promising. No matter how much they muck around with the show, no matter how cheesy the introductions (kids, moms, sob stories) the dancers will always win me over. They showed at least three guys with really solid ballet training, but we have yet to see the ballroom competitors. B-Boy Mighty Mouse is another contender.

Argument

The other day I found myself on the emotional verge of engaging someone in an argument, but it was so clear that it would have been inappropriate or offensive to even do so that I actually had to get up and leave, so great was my rage and frustration. I was at a party, sitting with some colleagues/friends. In the group was a co-worker's husband. Someone mentioned a vacation in Glaciar Park, and the husband thought it would be a good idea to launch into a discussion of why global warming was a conspiracy by venal scientists who were just chasing grant money. After about ten minutes of this, my mind blew a BS fuse, and I experienced shut-down. To avoid shouting the equivalent of "OVER THE LINE!" I left rather abruptly because I didn't trust myself not to violate the social norms of Minnesota, which as we know, determine that if one replies to inane and insulting discourse with logic or facts, one is likely to be perceived as channeling Walter Sobchak in The Big Lebowski: as a rage monster who wants to win an argument at any cost, even to the point of pulling out a gun. It took me several hours to figure out why this particular incident pushed my buttons so hard; it's not as if I don't interact with ignorance on a regular basis. I guess it was a healthy thing that I removed myself from the scene rather than give in to the impulse to launch into an argument. Validity and soundness are better criteria for an argument than husbandhood (it was clear that this particular man thought that his dudeliness trumped all the PhDs earned by the women sitting at the table). Had we been in Spain, the opportunity to challenge, insult, joke, or engage in an argument would not have been ignored, and even if nobody's mind had been changed, everyone would have felt free to express disagreement without being considered a rage monster. I needed to go home, mediate, think about my own drive to have the last word, and the way that my family upbringing involved a particular culture of argument that is not necessarily always that healthy. There is a part that is mine, and there is a part of this experience that reminds me that I am a person of Mediterranean heritage living in a Northern European culture of conformity. As an antidote, I found it useful to review these useful lessons on argument, which also end with displays of force:

"Che, Asiri"

Siri "con acento" por los Pichy.

Mother's day songs that make me cry every single time

Barbara Streisand "Children Will Listen" from Into the Woods.

 "In my Daughter's Eyes" Martina McBride

"Coat of Many Colors" Dolly Parton

 "Child of Mine" Carole King

 "Good Night" The Roches (from Will You Be My Friend)

 Bernadette Peters "No One is Alone" also from Into the Woods

Lyrics: No One Is Alone

No one here to guide you
Now you're on your own
Only me beside you
Still you're not alone
No one is alone
Truly
No one is alone
Sometimes people leave you
Halfway through the wood
Others may deceive you
You decide what's good
You decide alone
But no one is alone
People make mistakes
Fathers,
Mothers
People make mistakes
Holding to their own
Thinking they're alone
Honor their mistakes
Everybody makes
One another's terrible mistakes
Witches can be right
Giants can be good
You decide what's right
You decide what's good
Just remember
Someone is on your side
Someone else is not
Well, we're seeing our side
Maybe we forgot
They are not alone
'Cause no one is alone
Hard to see the light now
Just don't let it go
Things will come out right now
We can make it so
Someone is on your side
No one is alone

Maurice Sendak left us today.

Dear Maurice Sendak.
We used to sing along with Carole King's songs based on Sendak's books, like "Chicken Soup with Rice"

NPR has posted some interviews with Sendak here. What a fascinating man.

“You know who my gods are, who I believe in fervently? Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson — she’s probably the top — Mozart, Shakespeare, Keats. These are wonderful gods who have gotten me through the narrow straits of life.” 

Lake Superior Whitefish

Today we went to the Saint Paul Farmers' Market, where we bought fresh,fresh scallions, pea shoots, a huge bunch of spinach, some honey, two dozen eggs and apple-cinnamon bacon from Prairie Pride Farm. We also stopped by Lenny Russo's Heartland Farm Direct Market, and bought a whole Lake Superior whitefish, at an incredibly reasonable price. Russo has been a finalist three times for the James Beard award, and we'll find out tomorrow if he will win this time for Midwest chef.
I plan to cook it Chinese style, and I'll use Mark Bittman's recipe:

With Ginger and Soy
Put a large, deep skillet over medium heat; add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon minced ginger; cook until sizzling. Add fish, ½ cup soy sauce, 1½ cups water, ½ cup chopped scallions, ½ cup chopped cilantro and a teaspoon rice vinegar. Boil, cover and turn off heat. Fish will be done in about 10 minutes. Garnish: Chopped scallions.

One could also prepare it this way:

Bless you, Joe Biden

May 4, 1970 Kent State, and Reagan's words

The events May 4, when National Guard soldiers fired on student protesters and killed four people at Kent State in Ohio were in 1970, in the context of the 1969 My Lai Massacre and the invasion of Cambodia.

They also had a domestic precedent. On May 15, !969 ("Bloody Thursday") then-governor Reagan and former-Alameda County DA Edwin Meese, his chief-of-staff, overrode the University's statement that they would not try to remove occupiers from People's Park.

 Police fired shotguns into the crowd, killing James Rector, a bystander, and wounding at least 128 people with "OO" calibre buckshot.

 This was followed by National Guard deployment (with tanks!) and weeks during which Berkeley citizens were beaten and detained, regardless of their involvement or not in the protests. I grew up in this area, and have vivid memories of the state of fear in the community.
The irony of this video, shot by a student during police occupation of campus, is that he has scored it with the CAl fight songs and marching band.

 On April 7, 1970, not quite a year after the death of James Rector, Reagan said, in an address to the California Growers Association, "If it takes a bloodbath, let's get it over with. No more appeasement." The events of Kent State happened a few weeks later, when Gov Rhodes made similar statements.
I note the militarized approach to crowd control in cities across the United States when people are engaged in political speech, but not when Hockey fans turn over cars. Sadly, this is not new.

Duo Guardabarranco

Katia and Salvador Cardenal, brother and sister, were the Duo Guardabarranco from Nicaragua. I saw them perform twice, and loved their earnest lyricism and lovely voices. Salvador died 2 years ago of a very rare blood disease. He spent much of his life advocating for environmental conservation.

Tomás Borge has died

"Mi venganza personal" a song probably by Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy, based on the words of Tomás Borge.

Mi venganza personal

(Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy)

Canción basada en frase del Comandante
Tomás Borge: “Mi venganza personal, será
el derecho de tus hijos a la escuela y a las flores...”

Mi venganza personal será el derecho

De tus hijos a la escuela y las flores

Mi venganza personal será entregarte

Este canto florecido sin temores

Mi venganza personal será mostrarte

La bondad que hay en los ojos de mi pueblo

Implacable en el combate siempre ha sido

Y el más firme y generoso en la victoria

Mi venganza personal será decirte

Buenos días, sin mendigos en las calles

Cuando en vez de encarcelarte te proponga

Te sacudas la tristeza de los ojos

Cuando vos, aplicador de la tortura

Ya no puedas levantar ni la mirada

Mi venganza personal será mostrarte

Estas manos que una vez vos maltrataste

Sin longrar que abandonaran la ternura

Y es que el pueblo fue él que más te odio

Cuando el canto fue lenguaje de violencia

Pero el pueblo hoy, bajo de su piel

Rojinegro tiene erguido el corazón!

and his brother Carlos sings "Nicaragua, Nicaragüita"