You Can't Have it Both Ways Gobble Gobble

I see a turkey gobbling away. This one has no feathers-- but does walk on two feet. Perhaps I speak of the ridiculous human?
Why oh why do they love to decry: "the culture of materialism, the shopping, the black Friday?'
Don't blame Best Buy or Macy's for crying out loud!--blame the so called 'economists.' (Those nerds who smugly sit by and pull the puppet strings of capitalism.)
Nobody bats an eye when the Wall Street Journal goes on and on about the glory of "consumer spending" and oh how will it "strengthen our economy". Nobody notices at all..in fact this is all they can come up with for a global model you know.
"Germans need to spend more and stop exporting, Japan needs to spend more...blah, blah...."
Yet no economist EVER talks about the typical middle class home stuffed to the gills with crappy Dora the Explorer bedspreads, PlayStation games, particle board coffee tables, and giant jars of mayonnaise. Everyone is miserable as they drown in their piles of stuff, all the while trying to figure out why they need to work so hard "just to get ahead".....
The economists say this is all glorious, because we are creating even more eager little consumers in Asia (as we buy piles and piles of their cheap clothes). So they in turn can consume what interests them: like elephant ivory for crying out loud!!
I have heard that turkeys are such silly creatures that they turn their heads up at the rain--causing them to drown. When will we learn that humans may just drown in their own silliness ???

Over that Guilt

Not too long ago I was struck by a pang of guilt for enjoying some global warming here in Alaska. Well the snowy state decided that wouldn't do, and returned back to it's standard habit of blasting me with relentless arctic air..
I always forget that one of the most annoying things about -10F is the bizarre dryness. My hair gets this wacky texture, not to mention the way it stands on end from the static electricity. Static which increases to a ridiculous amount due to the wool socks one is required to wear in this weather. There is also that peculiar way your nostrils freeze shut as you run out to plug the car in at night.
But I am choosing to embrace the dessert dryness for now, using it as a good reason to launder those awkward items-- pillow shams and a slip cover for the couch. Simply lay out to dry and voila! It's almost freaky to watch the moisture disappear.....Now only if some of it would land on my crazy hair. 

Exotic Grand Rapids

I know we are becoming "bushy".  The kind of people who reside in the Alaskan backcountry and who show up (without irony) to the grand opening of the new Walgreens in town...
But it is also affecting the child. On a recent school assignment, he was asked to explain "what makes him special"...Should I have even been surprised when he wrote: "because I have been to Macaroni Grill, seen a real deer, and been to Europe." (in that order)
Not the fact that he sees moose and bears all the time, or has walked on glaciers.
No, to him the lower 48 is as exotic as any European vacation.
And unfortunately it is true. Last summer, we spent a few days in the locale of Grand Rapids Michigan. And to us backwoods Alaskans it was fascinating.
We experienced the wonders of dark summer nights (and lightning bugs!). Grocery stores filled with different brands of milk, pizzas and cakes. And outdoor swimming pools. Not to mention a few of those white tailed deer and of course--Macaroni Grill. 
We were exasperated at all the wonders...Which is why of course my son is special--he has seen a deer after all...