The "highs"--clearly the football game between the Chicago Bears and the Greenbay Packers will be the all-time "high" of any weekend --but especially this game for the Superbowl contender. It will be watched by everyone in Chicago, I am sure.

The "Low" is this incredible press release I read on the web via Salon.com--

Posted by Karen at 19:40 CST

Updated: Thursday, 10 March 2011 09:09 CST

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No kidding, I find myself having dinner (compliments of, and kudos to--my brother) on the outside patio of his condominium in Florida.

Yes, it was 24* when we got on the plane and 74* when we got off. It's really miraculous how the same country could house such radical changes in temperature, while the same family could have dinner at one end of the country or the other.

We have a wonderful country and Florida is especially interesting--it LIKES its older residents. Or, at least its residents like each other.

My brother, transplanted from Chicago, is happy (proud?) to share his time delivering Meals-on -Wheels every week between calls on his "real" job-- or maybe doing his deliveries is his real job and the rest--an illlusion?   

Maybe that's why Florida works, not just the weather--but the attitude.  

Posted by Karen at 20:31 CST

Updated: Thursday, 10 March 2011 09:10 CST

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It seems everyone I know has a gastrointestinal  (nausea, vomitting, diarrhea) thing going on--it's especially rampant in the Chicago area. One of my closest friends, a retired nurse, came down with it yesterday and spent the evening hours in a local ER, getting IV fluids and anti-emetics until she was OK for discharge. 

Interestingly, she thinks she picked the "bug" up from one of her "rescued" elderly women--a lady who she was able to get released from a pathetic Alzheimer's warehouse and relocated into a more appropriate nursing home. The woman never had Alzheimer's, though she did suffer from those diagnoses that have no government codes: societal neglect and social abandonment.  It was expedient to place her in the dementia facility by the discharge planners who work with what the state provides, getting a old woman with no family who couldn't live alone..."placed."

I don't mean to be coarse, but it is a sad reality check for the elderly in our society and--the worst of all--is the state of affairs for poor elderly without any family. For them, the "State" does not provide the faith and hope it promises during voter campaigns. Reality check--the State can never substitute for family and friends.

So, in her "retirement"--my dear friend the Nurse, is finding a new calling--rescuing abandoned elderly and becoming their spokesperson. She's accepting responsibility as their power of attorney and will fight for their care and dignity. For those who have nothing, my friend the Nurse will protect.

Remember what I said about the giant seed pod and the birds? God WILL provide. All we have to do is remember that faith, hope, belief and love are theological values, not political catch phrases.

Responsibility and caring cannot be legislated by law...let's pray they are never legislated against...remember what happened when we legislated against the sanctity of unborn lives? 50,000 illegal abortions a year turned into 1,300,000 legal abortions each year.

Don't think for a minute the same thing wouldn't happen if assisted suicide-euthanasia became legal. Health care financial expenses, burdens of effort on "the system" and its healthcare providers, would easily trump any consideration of the individual if one were "weighing" life on the political value scale. 

The elderly woman from the Alzheimer's home never had dementia, but placing her there had been "close enough" for government work. Without my friend the Nurse, she'd still be there, socially neglected and medicated inappropriately (but according to "quality standards", of course--"cared for" by the State.)

Makes you question where you want to place YOUR Faith, doesn't it? 

Posted by Karen at 20:58 CST

Updated: Thursday, 10 March 2011 09:11 CST

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When I opened my emails this afternoon, someone had forwarded one of those chain letters I usually discard after reading. But this one was a little different than most, and included a "bucket list" reminder of things we should all do before we leave the planet. Among many interesting trips down memory lane, this one caught my eye--"Have you ever paid for a whole meal using only coins?"

I'm sure the intent was to question whether you'd ever visited a country where the U.S. dollar was so strong that it took merely coins in exchange for a whole meal.

So, "yes"--if that was the intent.

But, "yes" also when we were students and cooked everything from scratch and gas was 28 cents a gallon and you could actually buy enough lake perch fillets or ground beef for a meal for two under $1.00.

I'm not sure the current generation will be able to answer "yes" to that question, unless... they re-discover the economics of the backyard garden and fishing at a nearby stream. 

More to come on this topic in the next few months. There's no reason everyone shouldn't be able to grow SOMETHING edible, whether in pots on the porch or window sill or tilled directly into the soil next to their garage. (And probably no good excuse for not fishing either!)

Posted by Karen at 18:58 CST

Updated: Thursday, 10 March 2011 09:11 CST

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Ever wonder what the birds think about your backyard bird-feeder?--that maybe it's just a giant seed pod that shows up every Winter and is refilled as needed until the "real" pods show up again?

These little chickadees, sparrows, and woodpecker, simply adapt to it--come out of the woods, move to the "seed pod that is not buried in snow." Even the woodpecker figured out a way to peck the seeds out of its vision of a funky tree trunk.

Ever wonder why YOU put out the "giant seed pod" ever year and feel committed to keep it filled? Do you think it's YOUR choice to put different seeds there to "attract" birds?

Or is it just another way your purpose is being fulfilled by following the messages being sent to you--take care of My creatures, large and small--

All things bright and beautiful, the LORD GOD made them all. 

Posted by Karen at 16:31 CST

Updated: Thursday, 10 March 2011 09:12 CST

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I am listening to one of my favorite little Rondos in the background--from the Flute concerto in D by Mozart. If you listen to it recorded by someone like Rampal, you'd get what I mean by "saucy." 

I also liked to hear it played when my children were still in the house with Cam on the flute and Mike on the piano being "tutti"--that is, every other orchestral part except the flute in the piano reduction.

I should also mention that today the Farm got 2 inches of snow but the city--5 inches--and still falling.

I don't care--the Mikado at the Lyric tonight... who cares if it snows?

I am thinking about the children's Mass coming up in March, during Lent.  "Let There Be Peace On Earth" is going to be included--and I'm thinking it would be smart to teach the kids to add ASL in their performance. I was inspired by the YOU TUBE performance I posted on Sunday. I hope they will be, too.

Posted by Karen at 16:56 CST

Updated: Thursday, 10 March 2011 09:13 CST

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As most everyone knows, I divide my medical work time between telemedicine Critical Care and Emergency Medicine. My experience with the world as viewed through these disciplines is "intense" There are aspects of work that involve very strict and exacting analytical method and a whole other side that is completely emotional--and it needs to be, in order to effectively practice medicine.

Medicine is being turned into the villian by some politicos in their new quest for "true" health. Health is never actually defined--but apparently taking care of sick patients may--or may not--be part of it. A perception that sick patients are cared for--may be all that's necessary in their view. These policy makers view themselves as paradigm-shifters, intellectuals, and even artists, sculptors of their new and perfect world. Sick people don't produce, so pay to "keep people healthy" and don't waste money on non-productive people who are going to use up loads of cash in their last 3 months of life. The US pays too much for healthcare--so let's put quotas on everything that won't cost the favored party votes in the long run and buy (I mean, allow payment for) services that will acquire votes. That's how politics is played and everything that can be commodified is fair game in politics.

The government and insurance providers both commodify (also read "objectify") everything involved in medicine: patients, their diseases, every treatment, every hour of care--turned into some commodity with an attached dollar figure that is either approved or not depending on the strength of the budget and your lobby. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, therapists are all lumped into "service provider" categories-- They are "healthcare workers" that can be inter-changeable according to the Institute of Medicine and other governmental "Quality" standard-bearers--provided they agree to follow the government-approved protocols and "cost-effective" algorithms. They have the audacity to claim they save hundreds of thousands of lives by such algorithms, regardless of who delivers it.

The reality is that doctors, for the most part, do NOT objectify their patients. We form a bond with each person that exists on two planes, scientific-objective and emotional-spiritual--and apply skills and treatments that address each type of need. 

It's strange how the emotional attachments happened for me from a remote monitoring site in contrast to the bedside. I can honestly say that I harbor the same anxiety (and personal responsibility to get everything right) about every newly admitted patient regardless of where I'm located. You'd think that reading reports and looking at digitized information--even if real time  by camera, photo and/or audio-- would at best give you a feeling like you are reading a book or taking oral boards--that the subject is imaginary. 

But, by the grace of God, each individual patient becomes revealed as his or her "own" self--and their narrative attaches to my emotional side as strongly as their "data" attaches to my scientific, analytical side.  

OK- I guess that was a rant about how medicine is being distorted and is being viewed differently now than years ago when I was a newly licensed physician.  But I'd also like to assure you that the oaths, the vows, the huge responsibilities are still committed to daily by many physicians--so don't believe everything you read in the paper. Medicine still "works" for the benefit of the sick and dying--at least, we try every day for each individual patient that we treat. 

Posted by Karen at 19:52 CST

Updated: Thursday, 10 March 2011 09:14 CST

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This wonderful song has been on my mind for the last 24 hours. I teach the music activity at our local Catholic Church's CCD class and we started the New Year with this.

I introduced the song with the story behind the song--there's always more behind a song that mere words. Jill Jackson had a  very sad childhood (orphaned, foster homes) into early adulthood  (failed marriage, suicide attempt) until she finally recognized--and accepted--God's unconditional love. The song is really about that. The music was composed by Sy Miller, her 2nd husband.

So, thank you Internet--for  providing information--and especially thank you Jill Jackson for providing inspiration to another generation. I'm sure you are smiling with them from Heaven.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eaS54b9z7o

Posted by Karen at 14:25 CST

Updated: Thursday, 10 March 2011 09:14 CST

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It is bitterly cold today and these two pictures of the cattle in the center pasture express the contrasts better than words. It's amazing how quickly we forget how bright and green everything is in the Summer. Every year in the dead of Winter, I look in my closet and shake my head--how on earth could anyone wear those bright colors and skimpy tank tops, mini-shorts, or flip-flops? And yet, one day, it's the outfit I choose when hopping on the lawnmower.

So, my advice today is to anticipate the future with optimism. I just opened the first seed catalog for 2011. Can the garden be far behind?  

Posted by Karen at 09:04 CST

Updated: Thursday, 10 March 2011 09:16 CST

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It's my New Year's Resolution to keep everyone up to date with goings on at the Farm. But, since we continue to have our feet in two different environments, and to practice medicine alongside farming, there will necessarily be other stories to tell. I have named the blog- A good harvest--because it is a metaphor for the richness of our lives and experiences and the many resources we have in which to experience goodness.  

Our four dogs who commute back and forth with us every week have managed to keep their locales straight ("leashes here, long runs there"), but even they get thrown for a loop periodically. This year will bring the latest change for them because we are seriously thinking about a flock of sheep. My two shepherds (and their cousin Belgian shepherd) will be quite interested in the new additions. 

More later, for now--the holidays continue, turkey leftovers for dinner, an ER shift awaits on January 1st.

May goodness and kindness follow you into 2011.

Posted by Karen at 12:20 CST

Updated: Thursday, 10 March 2011 09:20 CST

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