Books and thoughts

I've been able to read some very interesting books lately. They include Nomad by Ayaan Hirsi Ali; The Half Brother by Lars Saabye Christensen; Desert Queen by Janet Wallach; Freedom by Jonathon Franzen; Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay; While I Was Gone by Sue Miller and I re-read Giants in The Earth by Ole Rolvaag. All of them are very good! I'm now reading Catch-22 by Joseph Heller again, for book club, and I'll soon read Cutting For Stone, by Abraham Verghese also for book club.
I recently heard Bill Moyers interviewed on MPR. He said since the 80's when both political parties, Democrats and Republicans, began accepting cash from the same donors, the distinction between parties has been blurred. He said the real issue today is the influence of the oligarchy; wealthy individuals and corporations. A book that I've been urging on everyone, (with limited success) is Griftopia by Matt Taibbi who is a reporter for Rolling Stone. Griftopia really lays out the influence of the oligarchy and the effect on housing, banking, commodities, and the economic situation in America. If anyone reading this blog has read or reads it I'd like to hear about it and I do hope more people will read it!

Mai-Evy's moving to the Cities!

Of course we're tickled that Mai-Evy is moving to Minnesota and we are so glad that she is bringing her parents with her! And...it's happening soon! I'll take the train to Chicago on June 5, and drive here with them the next day...which happens to be the Curmudgeonette's 47th wedding anniversary...well. the Curmudgeon's, too.
Lars will work for ISAIAH, the church based community organization. His title will be Director of Strategic Alliances. He will seek to connect ISAIAH with other organizations such as unions to work for effective social change.

Organ recital

On March 9, the Curmudgeonette had her 5th back surgery and 3rd fusion. The screws in her lower back inserted in her second fusion came loose. This surgery has been very successful and for the first time in years she is totally pain free. She'd been logging 8s, 9s, and 10s on a scale of 1 to 10, with ten being the worst. She expects to be free from her back brace, at least part of the time, next week. Her recovery is hugely encouraging and she's doing things now, and enjoying them, that she has done for years. We're all tickled to have her back!

Back again.

I've been away from my blog for awhile and so I think it's time to pick it up again. From the beginning of blogging I decided only to blog when the spirit moves me figuring that forcing it is likely to be lame. Of course it may be lame even when it's not forced. :)
No, my corn is not planted. A few weeks ago I was able to chop the stalks with my handi dandi stalk chopper. But that's all I've been able to do. When I can be in SDak it's too wet and when it's dry enough I'm not there. Last year I was done planting in April but this year is very wet. US Highway #81, that stretches from Winnipeg to San Antonio, runs past the Negstad homestead. The highway was raised 4 feet in the late '80s and six feet more in the '90s. Now water is over the road again. However, it is now so high that it is running out...east into Lake Sinai. In the 126 years Negstads have lived on the homestead the water has not been this high.
But, back to my corn...late planting is not so serious for me. Because I leave it standing for wildlife it doesn't matter if it is dry this fall. I do hope to get planted soon.