ps

PS. Martha says Hi to everyone..."unforgettably..."

Dirty Hoe Days

So I've been working 2 days a week in Asheville at a great little landscaping company called The Dirty Hoe. I've been enjoying the company- a great lot of hoes they are- and the work- I'm learning stuff. Also, being out and about in different places around Asheville, I've been sneaking little pictures of beautiful life forms. It's nice to know beauty can be found in the big city too. I took my pay check to the bank, and I couldn't figure out why the teller was cracking up. Then she told me she thought it was really funny that I had a check from "The Dirty Hoe..."

Dayton, a quest for self

I love America. I'm glad I live here. That being said there are things about being a modern "American" that I don't like. Like feeling culturally lost, disconnected to a collective heritage or ancestry, not really belonging to a "people" or specific place. I think a lot of us Americans are missing out on what is probably one of the greatest perks of being human- a sense of deep rooted, ancient belonging to an unbroken line of people and tradition. I love where I live and I do the best I can to feel like I belong here. But there is a great void that wants to be filled. Now that I have a brother and a little baby nephew in Dayton (Ohio), which happens to be where I was born, my mother was born, her mother was born, her mother was born (well, Sibina*, Ohio- close enough), and her mother was born (Sibina again), I have motivation enough to travel to that godforsaken part of America, a journey which is asthetically less than pleasing. To make up for the lack of visual appeal, I have taken to searching Dayton for treasures from my German American Ohio roots- I am desperate to uproot any cultural heritage that might help me in my quest to belong to something bigger than myself. Last time I went to Dayton, I explored my family's soap history. I had a semi-religious experience purchasing Lever 2000 and Dove cucumber scented in the local Kroger's (where my great grandmother used to be a cashier). This spring's trip led to to the Dot's, the meat shop that has fed the last 4 generations of my mother's side of the family (and which has not changed in 40 years, according to my GG), the house that my grandfather built to raise his children, and the run down shack of a shop that housed my grandfather's plumbing business for his entire career. Please enjoy the photos, and tell me if you feel like you fit in anywhere in this vast, beautiful, free for all nation.

* Sibina is the home of "Petrified Eugene," a black man who didn't have any family and died poor and wasn't buried, but somehow naturally petrified. Eugene was the limelight of tourism in Sibina when my mom was a kid. I don't know if he is still available for viewing, but I aim to find out the next time I go up there...

Spring like

The peonies are starting to poke their little heads up.

The earth wakes up

I went looking for coltsfoot last week. On my way up there I accidentally interrupted some grouse mating. The female flew off, but the male just stood there in full display. He was absolutely gorgeous. His neck feathers were all ruffled out, and his tail was up in a full fan, like a turkey. I took this picture, which isn't the best shot- but you can fill in with your imagination. Then on the way home I found the most beautiful road kill- a large male river otter. Enjoy the pictures of the pelt tanning process so far. This project has led me to become an official member of an internet discussion forum. Yall are gonna love this- the site is www.braintan.com, and the name of the forum is "The Hideout!" (get it?) I love it- a bunch of brain tanning geeks who like to talk very specific gory details about everything that has to do with tanning. Check it out sometime.

Now I'm good, but I maybe used to be a heathen

Friday morning I was driving out to Haywood County to retrieve some very delicious trout from Sunburst Trout, and I decided, as I often do, to maximize my driving experience by tuning in to WHBK radio (am 1460 out of Marshall). I turned it on just in time to catch the Bible reading of the morning, which was from 1 Corinthians 11, which reads as follows from verse 3 to verse 15:

But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head
of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. But every woman
that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dihonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.
For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be
covered. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image of God: but the woman is the glory
of the man. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman;
but the woman for the man. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.
Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man in the Lord. For as the woman
is of the man, even so is the man by the woman; but all things of God. Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman
pray unto God uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?
But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given to her for a covering.

Thank God I have long hair. Because I really want to be able to have the option of praying or prophesying. I think I maybe used to be a really really bad woman because ten years ago I shaved my head. My only glimmer of hope is that I left a very long rat tail. Is that long enough to be a covering for me? Because I may have prayed or prophesyed during that time. It is likely that I did.
My question for the public is this: What if a woman who was virtuous in every other way had a mullet? Would she be considered ungodly and uncovered? Is is possible to be shameful in the front and glorious in the back? Perhaps a woman with a mullet can only send her prayers out from the back of her head? Would that be considered radiating white light out from your brain stem? What chakra is that? This is all very confusing. (So is the punctuation in the above Bible passage...)

Dana Tries her Hand at Office Work (dedicated to BT)

Seven useful and interesting things I have learned working in an office:

1. Working in an office is not so bad after all, except that it makes me fart really really really badly.

2. If people in this particular office are anotomically average, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, I am pretty sure I use the bathroom approximately 4 times more often than the average American.

3. If they so choose, people can tune each other out very effectively.

4. If they so choose, people can eavesdrop on each other very effectively.

5. Corny humor is alive and well in the world.

6. It is quite normal for people to email each other from the same small office.

7. When doing totally uncreative and repetitive tasks such as stuffing 200 binders, one can be compelled to reveal bizarre tidbits about oneself to people who would never be privvy to that information otherwise. Examples: "I used to want to swim the English Channel," and " I've always secretly wanted to be Catholic."