"The covers of this book are too far apart." - Ambrose Bierce

More fun with words:
Chauvinism does not mean an attitude of superiority in a man re. women. That's male chauvinism, and the addition of the adjective is necessary to convey that meaning.
Nicolas Chauvin was one of Napoleon's generals who was seriously wounded in battle. When Napoleon abdicated Chauvin was left without the support a wounded officer would normally receive after a war, yet he remained excessively devoted to his former commander, so much so that he became something of an annoyance and a subject of ridicule for his blind devotion.
Thus, a chauvinist is anyone who is excessively loyal or supportive of a person or cause, often without reason.
Syn.: brother-in-law.

At 3 p.m. it was 85 degrees here. I put a thermometer in the barn and it quickly hit 100 degrees.
I did that because on Wednesday they say we'll hit a record at 109 degrees, and I wanted to see how big the difference was between outside and in the barn. This could be a problem for our small herd of goats.
I tried spraying water on the roof and that didn't make even one degree of difference. Marta suggested misting the walls on the inside so I tried that. It did lower the temp a few degrees, but it also freaked out the goats.
When goats get scared their first instinct is to RUN. But if they don't see a way to escape they turn their head into the corner in a way that says, "If I can't see it it doesn't exist."
Goat denial.

IF (!) my thoughts about parenting (last night's post) are correct, what accounts for the change? How did parenting come to be more about nurturing? What cultural dynamics caused the shift?

I fly out of Portland at 12:45 a.m. (!) Thursday morning and arrive in Grand Rapids, MI at 7:30 a.m. The genesis of this trip is an invitation to speak at Grace Adventures north of Muskegon. That ministry has grown incredibly in the last 30 years and now serves thousands of campers - kids, youth, adults, and families - year round, including at their developed horse camp.
Because Grace adventures sits on land very close to Lake Michigan in an area with lots of summer homes and cabins, and because it's west MI where church attendance is still nearly the norm, they host a church service every Sunday from Memorial Day to Labor Day, with a different speaker each Sunday. I was on that list for most of the years we lived in MI and always thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity.
About 1,000 vacationers in a room who are there because they want to be, great music, and an atmosphere full of energy and responsive listeners. Easy, fun preaching.
I missed that opportunity when we moved from MI to AZ and was very pleased to get an invitation to come back and speak this summer. Jumped on it. With Pam's mom still living there I can combine preaching fun with some family time. My impression is that the attendance has grown but I expect the atmosphere to be the same.

The problem: I'm flying...by myself. If you've read here long you know I sometimes have trouble on flights with what's officially known as vasovagal syncope, a medical term that means my blood pressure plummets rapidly causing me to pass out. They *think* it has to do with the pressurization on some planes, but they're not sure.
Flight attendants don't like it when passengers pass out. And if they have what looks like a gran mal seizure it pretty much sends them into a panic. As in, "Mr. Pilot, we have a passenger who's in serious medical trouble and we need to land to get him help."
Yep, been there, done that.

It happens in various degrees, also for reasons no one understands. If Pam's flying with me she knows what's going on, that it's not lasting or serious, and the best course of action is for me to put my head in her lap (you can't get your head any lower than that on a plane without laying down in the aisle, something they frown upon) until the episode ends.
When I'm flying alone my options are very limited. I can't lay my head down in the lap of a businessman or young woman sitting next to me. There's not much I can do if it progresses to the point of passing out. Last time that happened I regained consciousness on the floor in the aisle with what I learned were two doctors kneeling over me (one of whom had done chest compressions because he couldn't get a pulse) and a couple of flight attendants who looked like they were watching someone die right before them. The plane put down halfway to its destination, I was taken to the hospital where I spent the night, and then spent the next year paying off the bills.
That was a little over a year ago.

The last episode was on a trip to AZ last fall. Pam was with me and the episode was fairly mild. Laying with my head in her lap for about an hour did the trick and I was mostly OK after that, just very tired. The flight home...no problems. Go figure.

My cardiologist has had my pacemaker reprogrammed, but he doesn't think that makes any difference. He wants me to increase my salt intake the day before flying so my body retains water and is less likely to have a BP drop. And after this last episode he's recommended compression stockings which Pam picked up last week.

So yeah, I'm a little nervous about this trip, a total of four flights that might be uneventful and boring or trouble. I can feel it coming, but only for a few minutes prior to the BP crash (bad word choice). Not enough time to really do anything about it, and my brain doesn't work well as the episode begins so I think I can fight it off.

Pam will be (is already) praying from this end, I'm praying, and you're free to join us.
thanks