Quote for today

“One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen. An ecologist must either harden his shell and make believe that the consequences of science are none of his business, or he must be the doctor who sees the marks of death in a community that believes itself well and does not want to be told otherwise.”

Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

There is a special place in hell for scammers

I was talking with my sister this weekend. She’s trying to sign up for Medicare. She takes some pretty important medications and is currently out while she waits for insurance to kick in under her new plan (from Medicaid to Medicare, Parts, A, B, D and God only knows what else… it’s so complicated).

So, she’s telling me about ‘swabbing her cheek and spitting in a tube’ for some lady on the phone….

Her: I’m really worried. I’m out of my meds and don’t want to end up in the hospital.

Me: Tell me what’s going on and how can I help?

Her: Well, I’m trying to swab my cheeks and spit in a tube for this lady from Medicare.

Me: What?! Are they asking you to take a DNA test. That doesn’t seem right. What else is she asking you for?

Her: I don’t know… (in broken words)… the box got wet and I ruined the test… so I need to retake. Do you know how I can get another box?

Mind you, this is my sister who refuses to get a physical. She lives in poverty in a dangerous part of her city, but takes the medicine she needs to stay out of the hospital.

Me: Do not do this. This has got to be a scam. Only your physician (who you refuse to see) would order a test like this.

Her: Uh. Ok.

Me: Did you give them any information?

Her: I don’t know….

Me: (to myself) UGH! Well, if she’s this hard to get health insurance information for me, maybe they weren’t successful.

Be safe out there. It’s a wicked world.

Letter to an old friend

Originally written –  circa 2002

I grew up in the Deep South where folks move slow and talk funny.  Louisiana was the place, where the weather was as hot and sticky as the crawfish bisque that dribbled down your chin.  Not knowing any better, I went to the local university. LSU. Home of the purple and gold fighting tigers, jungle juice parties and fruit flies to boot. Never will it all be anything.

I met a hardheaded woman there and we became fast friends. (In more ways than one, I s’pose). We hooked up with a couple of fellas from Nawlins who enlightened us on many things.  We were so green.  It was groovy man.  Turned out the guys liked others more like them. Ah well, we formed a pod, our little group of friends and study pals.

We didn’t sit around and get rusty listening to silence. We rode the Peace Train in the storm all the way to our Destiny and threw back bottles of brew ’til the morning broke.  We got a little bruised, but it made us stronger… strong as a rock, you might say. We imagined many things, but never doubted our friendship. That’s why we stand together and look at both sides now. We drank lots of coffee and buzzed through the Raygun years swatting newts with our papers.  Leder Hosen ja!  Rock on meine freund! I look forward to many more birthdays with you.

It’s been many years since college and me and my old friend have even graduated twice.  My friend succeeded in life and is busy healing no necks and dealing in the Girl Scout cookie trade.  Me?  Well, I’m still floating through life looking for my purpose. But, my friend never loses faith in me.

Times change and friends drift in and out of our lives, but she is the one constant in my little universe. When I was busy making memories in Texas and she in Illinois, it was almost like she was still with me. We both weathered some floods, then eventually took off for California.  That woman is so L.A., so Cosmopolitan, while I wiped out on the waves of life near Ventura Boulevard. I dabbled with criminals for a while – collecting the  evidence of their crimes, but that didn’t work out and now I’m free. I even found me a soul mate.  Good riddance to all those bad boys and  spiritually draining jobs.

We are still renegades, blossoming and growing as we age though not as green anymore. I still have not found what I’m looking for in life, except of course  for my soul mate which is all the purpose I need. Being with him is like walking on clouds every day. And that’s saying something these days with the old bones.

I’ll do okay as long as I have my friend to pick me up from time to time.