Well, I told you I wasn't going to post while I was away and I've just about met that promise. I arrived at point of entry a day early as BFLB had to go to her health care professionals to start a new drug trial today. So I get a day to unwind, get the vision of miles of interstate out of my head, and prepare for the flight home. I got to see just about every one I wanted to to see, but I have been sick with a chest cold for a fortnight and, as predicted, it is lifting just as I am about to step on a plane and be exposed to a new group pf germs. So I coughed my way through several states and reluctantly left the reception after my sister's memorial early. The service was moving and funny and sad, although I could have contributed a few things about being the "little sister" of the person the friends remembered. Instead my brother and I got weepy in one of the back pews in her Lutheran church. She was the dynamo that kept a lot of relationships going, including our dysfunctional one, or rather created a family out of people only half related.

There have been few days while I've been here when the temperatures were below 90F and the humidity is like a wet blanket. This is why I don't travel to the States in summer. I did have one lovely midwestern day in Ohio and got to see an enormous golden moon lift above the corn. I finished one sock and started its mate, but the humidity really makes my hands hurt.

Of course, every one here including my two brothers wants me to come back here, just as every one in Oz wants me to stay there. I am still torn on the issue but for now (until the health care situation here shakes itself out) I still call Australia home. I especially miss the Imp. It will be lovely to lose the grip of humidity and see how far the wattle is blooming.

Ohio is flat. This is not news but is something I forget when I've been away in more hilly terrain for years. We (BFLB and her friend M) drove up to the edge of Lake Erie yesterday to attend an open house at Just for Ewe at Marblehead. Christi has a tiny house full to the bursting point with gorgeous yarn ranging from Noro to Cascade 220 and I put another dent in my credit card. Since I bought no yarn for all of 2007 and most of 2008 and gave a box full to fellow Canberra knitter C, I feel like I can splurge a little. Two skeins of a discontinued Noro for a shrug are my favourite purchase. I've finished two pairs of socks so far on this trip and am busily working on another from Trekking wool and bamboo I bought in Virginia. It has sort of a crunchy hand but is getting silkier as I knit more and I think it will soften when washed. BFLB knits very colourful socks with pattens while I remaind a member of the "plain stockinette socks" group. The last two pair have been with ribbed uppers simply because I knew I would have plenty of yarn (Trekking and Opal are both generous in yardage).

Saturday my other brother drove over from Indiana for lunch and we had a most cheerful lunch. He and I have spent probably the least amount of time together out of the disconnected family but we share a love of science fiction. I used to love summer stays at his house because I would try and read as much as I could from his library while I was there. He confirmed my bitter memories of my parents' endless fighting, which I dreamed of running away from as a child. I was really unaware of a lot of stuff when I was young and really didn't understand what a loving family meant until I met my ex's family who welcomed me in as a daughter. It's nice to reclaim my family bit by bit even if too many years have passed when we should have been enjoying each other's company.

My health has been good except for Friday when I felt uncomfortable and out of sorts all day. In the evening I asked BFLB to take my blood pressure (had a hunch) and it was through the roof. Fortunately, whatever it was disappeared by the next morning and I was back in normal BP. Now I know what high blood pressure feels like. I have also forgotten to take my pills on a couple of occasions, no doubt because there is no routine to my life at the moment.

Yes, I am still alive. I have made it to BFLB's home in the Buckeye state without problem after spending a day and a half with my brother in Buffalo. Unfortunately, while I was there, I took a Neurontin at bedtime because my legs were killing me and when I woke up I was extremely dizzy and promptly fell down, hitting my head on the corner of their dresser on the way down. I spent most of the day resting and recuperating from that adventure, but the weather wasn't very nice and I've been to their house so many times that there wasn't any sightseeing I felt compelled to do. So we talked and looked at family photos and I feel a little bit more connected to a family that had been mostly lost to me all my life. My father kept all his children isolated and was always in the room when we got together so we never could talk comfortably. Since he died, the children have become much closer and we regret all the years we lost.

Since I've been here I've been catching up on sleep, eating far too much, and just relaxing. Friday I went to vote early absentee and so our delight but also sadly not so good for my legs, there was a three and a half hour wait in line to vote! I can't tell you how many people that was but the line moved very briskly and snaked all the way through the lobby of the building. We struck up a conversation with a nice "young" lady who wanted to learn to knit, had firbromyalgia, and was voting for the first time. My guess is that the crowd was about 50/50 white and African American and was very patient and upbeat. I hadn't realized the extent of the bombardment voters are getting, especially in a crucial state like Ohio, from mostly the "other" side of the political divide, until I got here. I am very glad I came to vote even if I did cause a minor hiccup when I got there and told them I was not allowed vote on anything but the federal ballot. I don't want any excuse for them to not count my ballot this year like they did the past 2 elections. I should look who won the ACT election which took place last week.

Other events along the trip were catching up with friends I went to junior high and high school whom I haven't seen in decades. Needless to say, there was a lot of talking at do. Then I headed off to near Utica to visit with a former work colleague who also happened to live across the street from me in Ohio and who was responsible for one of the photos I sent the Bear when we first were long-distance courting. It rained one day so we talked all day; the next day we drove to Itaca to go to Susan's where I just had to buy some gorgeous spinning fibre, even some angora which I have never tried before. But it was 50% off so how could I not? Said friend also took me to a book store which was also dangerous. Books can be mailed home cheaply, and fibre squooshes. Not so sure about the jam I bought yesterday... Utica got a foot of snow the day after I left and it was snowing lightly as I drove around the end of Lake Erie in the way to central Ohio. I was not particularly happy to see that, but lake effect snow doesn't bother much except those that live down wind of the Great Lakes.

Yesterday we bought jam, cider, wierd beer, bratwurst, et al., and went to a perfomance of music by a folk group whose soprano provides me with a Franklin County address for my absentee voting rights. Today, who knows what mischief we will get into?

Blogger lost my post so I will try to recapture my stream of thought. I am at the end of my stay in the south and I remember why I love this part of the world so much. The smells, the voices of the people, the lay of the land, the food (of course). I've eaten LOTS of barbecue and we managed to get ham biscuits yesterday and I have a small packet of real Virginia ham to eat before I leave. I have made contact with all the friends I hoped to see and L and realized we had been friends for 38 years!. P has bought the house I lived in (as a renter) for five years and is completely remodeling it and it looks great and not in the sorry state when I lived in it as as penniless grad student. I have eaten LOTS of barbecue and ham biscuits and have a small packet of real Virginia ham to eat before I leave the States. L (different L) has been working as a volunteer for Obama so she brought me up to date on all things political and otherwise. I didn't get to see as much of her husband as I would have liked, but then he wants me to write book on authority control!!! I don't have time to post photos but we took the ferry across the James and we saw an eagle sitting on a post. Jamestown has has had a major upgrade since the Bear and I were there before. Today we are driving back to DC the scenic route and will no doubt yack more in the car. DH2 has been wonderful to me. We have both matured emotionally since we were married all those years ago. I miss his parents almost as much as he does and I'm glad I made the effort to see them one last time when the Bear and I came through here 2 trips ago. It's a bit spooky to see my former niece all grown up when I left her 17 years ago as a small child. I'm living on credit cards and have not shopped till I dropped, just hit the outlets I knew I wanted to hit and didn't spend too much but linen slacks for $15? My health has held up except for overdoing one day in Durham when L took me shopping and I didn't say stop fast enough and my legs told me about it the next day. On to Rhinebeck!

Where have I been, I hear you ask. I've been to Brisbane to visit the Bear's sister and brother-in-law. Despite Queensland for the most part denying it's the sunshine state, it was a good visit. I got to spend time with these lovely folks who are now one of the tiny groups who are my family. We got along well, I was stuffed senseless with seafood, and I got to hear some stories about the Bear's life before we met. I also took up to them, because his sister teaches science, the scientific memorabilia he left me. His notebook of data from one of his ballooning trips, and some additional photos. And a box of photos which seem to mostly be from his days in boarding school. And his port cask which was given to him by his friends at ADFA when he left. J&G are wine-lovers so we had long discussions about wine and I brought up 2 bottles which we polished off. G was so impressed by one he went online to buy a case. J tends to bury herself in a book whenever possible so I spent more face time with G, and it turns out we have quite a bit in common. I look forward to more visits up north but not during the summer!

I came home to damp and chilly Canberra and back to work. The girls didn't seem to have minded that I left them, but I had one night with both of them in bed which gets a bit crowded because the Imp turns to acting out to express her resentment of the Senior Cat and I spend most of the night wrestling with her. I am sorely tempted to throw her out some nights but then she'd just scratch at the door. G&J have a male blue Burmese who was much more even and mild tempered than the Imp and even had softer fur. He instantly decided that mine was the lap of preference and hardly left me alone.

I got in the mail from Elann the first yarn I had bought in 18 months: Shibu by Ella Rae which is 90% silk in a boysenberry pink/purple, and Berocco Cotton Twist, both to make sleeveless summer shells. I have been knitting diligently on tho Komi hat and made to the heel of the first sock in Opal puce and white w/black dots while watching Dr. Zhivago with G. By the time I finish this hat I may charge directly into summer stuff.

I took advantage of having access to the Library's free access to Ancestry and found a few bits and pieces more about my mother's side of the family. Still haven't a clue what the D in my grandfather's middle name stands for. His 1930 census entry has my grandmother named at Lottie which is why it is hard to locate and my mother's name is spelled wrong.

I'm sick. Just a cold which, as usual hit first with my losing my voice. There are, I'm sure, people who rejoice when I can only whisper or croak, but I didn't get the chance to have anybody I know gloat at me today. I was supposed to go to a wine & cheese tasting held by the Canberra branch of the slow foods people but I didn't think that would be very productive, in the sense of meeting new people, when I couldn't talk. Besides, of all the local wineries possible, the one chosen was 3/4 of the way to Goulburn and their reds cost the earth (that's what they are famous for) and I can't drink red wine (instant migraine). I did get up and go to the chemist (needed a script filled today) and dragged myself through the supermarket (needed cat food). And find myself standing there debating the pros and cons of bathroom cleaners (store brand vs.brand name vs. "green" vs super-powered and the prices of each) and wonder why do we have to have a choice of 15 bathroom cleaners? Is this what keeps the great capitalist economies turning over? Why do I feel the need for ethical debate with myself over every item that I buy? I cannot raise all my own food even not eating and red meat except for kangaroo. (And don't get me started about the people holding candle-lit vigil because the navy is "culling" kangaroos on their land in the middle of Belconnen because the roos have overpopulated and are in danger of starving to death. Have these people seen the daily road toll in kangaroos on the main road I drive to work? Last time I counted 6 dead in one 5 km stretch. They are starving and trying to reach feed). I do try to buy and eat local, but all fish comes via the Sydney fish markets, all apples are out of cold storage, well, you get my drift. I really think and care about these things but it can all get a bit overwhelming at times.

I have been knitting hats. Don't ask why, don't know. Produced 2 and gave one away and am now back at the Komi hat out of Hat's On! which has Turkish inspired colour work on it and so far so good. Spun a bobbin of dusty rose BFL. Will do another & ply. The first 100% alpaca yarn looks acceptable and I'm pleased with myself. Must spin more to take on the trip for BFLB.

Round 9: We won! I had a few panicky minutes there when I doubted, but we beat Port Adelaide in Adelaide. I only watched the second half and I hope it wasn't screaming over the footy that brought on my sore throat. The cats had forgotten what happens when Mummy watches footy and exploded off my lap when I yelled when Mick kicked a beauty. There was also a segment on 60 Minutes about poor old rugby league losing territory to AFL in Sydney. Boo hoo. Big boofs. AFL is so much more fun to watch that no wonder people love it and there aren't many rugby league players in SA or WA or Tassie, just NSW & Qld. Now that is being challenged and they are worried that their "crowds" of 16,000 matches attendees will dwindle even further.

I read Abby's ode to her mother and was so touched. I wish I had an inspiring mother whom I wanted to say such nice things about. I loved my mother very much but she had many flaws. She did fantastic needlework and I was taught to sew as soon as I could hold a needle. I went from making doll clothes to making all my own clothes from Vogue patterns when I was in high school. I made numerous quilts, mostly sold or given away, lots of cross stitch (ditto). She taught me to knit and crochet but never taught me how to read a pattern so I was OK as long as it was rectangular. She did beautiful crewel embroidery (there is a bell pull with pansies on it in front of me) and knit me sweaters I still wear (except she refused to believe my arms were really as long as they are so the sleeves are usually short). She was also an excellent baker and I still can't match her pie crust. I think she would have been a better cook if my father didn't have such a limited menu of dishes he would eat. When he was away we had forbidden luxuries like lasagne. I am sorry she waited too long to go to the doctor about the lump in her breast so she died at the relatively young age of 74. But she also had schleroderma and it was beginning to cause her problems with her eyes and internal organs and I am willing to bet that got no sympathy from my father. Is there a genetic link that ties into my RA? Who knows. She was equally unhappy with our forced move to Florida but she had a knack for making friends that far exceeds mine. I was shy and convinced I was stupid and ugly and fat so making friends was not my strong suit. I hope she would have been proud of me and I wish she had been happier.