Good morning! Temperatures here dropped 30*F in 24 hours. Oh fun for us walking barometers!

I had the oddest nightmare last night. I don't remember the dream, only that I was desperate to run, and I woke up when I hit the floor *on my feet*. Unfortunately, my dreaming self didn't remember where the bookcase is, and my right big toe looks like a plum. Still, I intend to do some therapy tomorrow.

It's called.... another march for a cause.

Actually, same cause. Human rights. THis one specifically healthcare.

Point is... when you feel helpless, down, at a loss?

Write an e-mail or postcard to your elected representative. THey might not care. THey might pay attention. Either way, *you* have done something, so *you* feel better. (Also, it's not expensive. And they have set-ups now for leaving voice-mails.)

So take a small action. Drop a tenner into a donation jar for the animal shelter. E-mail your senator (state or federal or whatever). Put a box of oatmeal into the food donation bin at the store for the food bank. Heck, just let someone get into traffic ahead of you when you'd rather ignore them. Small kind acts by you will help *you*, and not just in that karma sense. You can re-direct anxiety and stress into "I feel crappy, but I don't have to *be* crap, I can be nice..."

For example, I sent *thank-you* notes to my senator for a recent vote. Peopel usually only complain. I'm going to also go for kindness. Sound stupid? Think how you feel when someone says thanks instead of "what you effed up today".

Short version is "Be the change you want to see". Golden rule. Etc.

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Meanwhile, we now have two cats named Shadow in the neighborhood, so when one owner calls, two cats show up. I had to giggle. I know the feeling. I just walk outside and whammmo! Animals appear! Also, ravens. They're roosting in my pine tree. That is not exactly the Bluebird of Paradise warbling me awake, y'know?

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Today in 1825, the young US Constitution got a workout when John Quincy Adams was elected president by the House of Representatives. Why? No candidate int he 1824 election had received a majority of electoral votes, so it went to the House, and JQAdams got the win. His dad was Founding Father and former president John (no Q) Adams. JQAdams was surprisingly successful in negotiating treaties but not a very warm and fuzzy guy. His son Charles Francis Adams followed him into public service, and helped keep the UK out of the US Civil War (which was in the US's interests), and built the first presidential library in JohnQ's honor.

Happy birthday to volleyball! Allegedly invented today in 1895 by WG Morgan. WHy? Well, someone at some point invented golf, curling, and lacrosse, so why not volleyball? Original name: Mintonette. Morgan wanted to combine elements of handball, basketball (a recently developed game of itself) and tennis. It's one of the few sports where spiking a ball into someone's face is both common and I've never seen it called as a foul. The ball is rarely aimed at a face, btw, b/c a face-block counts as a block-but-not-a-hit, and you don't want the other team to get to block without it counting as a hit. (If you've never played, assume that isn't gobbledygook and makes sense. Thank you.:-)) My one friend in high school was a killer at the sport. Her serve even in phys ed class made people scatter.

Today in 1950, Senator Joe McCarthy alleged that the State Department of the US was "riddled" with active communists, ergo "traitors" by the logic of the day, and thus began the era of McCarthyism. The upshot? If you hated someone, or wanted their job, or disliked their (anything), you yelled, "Communist!" and their lives went up in smoke, what with blacklists, firings, refusals of service at the store, you name it. Also a great way to get J Edgar Hoover's FBI crawling around someone, too. My mom's dad was Polish and in a labor union. They got ont he wrong end of that crap. Weird names and going on strike after a workplace safety issue killed someone by beheading? Horrors! (BTW, the someone was my great-uncle. Not so much beheaded as.... well, there wasn't any head recognizably *left*. Which isn't as bad as the poor guy who fell into the melted iron at the ironworks, don't get me wrong, but still not good.)

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And on that note, I have to tend sick Hubby, sick me, Mom's paperwork for court tomorrow, and try to get the effing lawyer to actually speak to us before we see them in the courthouse tomorrow. He kept us out of the loop about an objection filed to mom's medical bankruptcy, and I found it out by accident, and I'm rather PO'd. He may think it's easily dismissed, but Mom's having meltdowns. She already thinks she will have to go to jail over this.... *sigh*

Peace to all,

leo