...and the winner is....

We watched the Oscars last night. There weren't many surprises, but it seemed odd to me that the winners for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress were all foreign-born. Just a coincidence? Or another era of love-for-all-things-foreign that this country experiences periodically? I prefer that era to the era(s) of America-my-country-right-or-wrong and love-it-or-leave-it. My mother used to say that "every old crow's is the blackest" which did not mean anything racial--it was more the meaning that if it was ours, it was best. There's a lot of that attitude locally--that if it's Michiganian, it's best. I did not see so much of it in Missouri, Georgia, or Louisiana. Texas is well known for that attitude, as are California and New York. But Michigan?

Right now I'm so very tired of winter that I'm having to force myself to see something positive in this frozen peninsula. Apparently an overnight weather change caught our local forecasters by surprise--freezing rain that was not on the agenda. The morning news is replete with stories of slide-offs and overturned vehicles and highway closings. One area that was especially bad was an area north of town that the esteemed spouse and I traveled just yesterday. The sun was shining, and it seemed a pity not to get out for a while, so we drove around north of town. If we do decide to relocate, we'll probably move to the north of this city so that both of us would have easier access to our schools. (This is dependent upon my getting the tenure-track position.)

My friend Ellie reports the blooming of azaleas in her warm corner of Southeast Georgia. I'm jealous. All that's blooming here are the Kleenex wads in the trashcan. Once the area does thaw, we'll get to conduct the annual death count of our outdoor plants. Each year we plant new ones to replace the ones that winter has killed. I've been tempted to invest in good quality artificial plants that I stick outside once snow has ended and bring back indoors in November. This is the time of year that my hunger for spring green attains an intensity that is almost physical.

Today is Maria's birthday. My college roommate and I only barely maintain a connection. But I do try to send her a birthday card each year. She doesn't ever send one to me, but our relationship has always been that way. She is an orphan in this country, so I guess I've tried to be the family she didn't have. She always assumes that because I have sisters and brothers, there are a lot of people who care about me and send me hundreds of gifts and cards for my special occasions. I get more attention from friends in my life than I do from my family. She never has believed that, though.

I need to get to work and set aside these cabin-fever feelings. Dr. S.