Connections

This weekend, I headed home to be with my mom on Mother's day. We shopped together, ran a few errands, and ate out. And a few times we sat, along with my husband, in front of the computer with the camera on, trying to keep a connection going with my dad. Oh, wicked, wicked us. Don't we know it's better for soldiers to be lonely and cut off from their family and friends? Why, he might have said something to endanger himself or others!

If someone had been listening in, they might have discovered that he put the calendar my husband gave him in a prominent spot so he could see the days ticking by, that he looks forward to canoeing this summer, and that he liked the jalapeno mustard in my last care package. They might even have found out that he misses his family and hates to say goodbye. Other secrets revealed were the marriage and expectant condition of an old friend, a new floral arrangement in the living room, and the reef scene I'm painting for them from some of their diving photos. Weighty matters, indeed. Someone might even have overheard that I finally saw one of his favorite movies and also thought it was funny. The horror!

The new DoD policy on internet usage would be less heinous if at the end of the day, soldiers could go home, throw something on the grill, and hang out with their families. Dad has been deployed in situations where he had only intermittant access to communications, and it was hard on him and on us. Even the situation where he can read his email, occasionally get videos from us, and every now and again a teleconference isn't ideal - when I offer him a tomato juice, it has to go a couple of weeks through the post to get there - but it's better than nothing.

The DoD has done its level best to keep soldiers from talking to legitimate oversight, such as Congress or the press. Are they now doing their best to keep our soldiers from even talking to their families? Unfortunately, I think so. Col. Dan Smith, over at The Quaker's Coloniel, has written about this, noting that the official story is that YouTube and MySpace are taking up too much bandwidth. I'm not buying it. There are other ways than an outright ban to moderate the impact of such connections. And, as I've just discussed, there are other programs which can take up bandwidth. But our conference didn't create a permanent record that other people might see. I think that they're more worried about controlling the image people have of war than they are controlling the bandwidth.

Heard my dad for the first time in months this weekend. He's enthusiastic about the blanket, which should arrive in the next week or two. And he's even more enthusiastic about the second blanket I've promised to make - one to go to a wounded soldier. (And yes, got a picture of the blanket, so it should be going up soon.)

Spent the weekend with Mom, up in Lancaster County, PA, where we picked up some seriously good food - chocolate, pretzels, chips, rootbeer (You know, she never *used* to let us have this stuff.) and some stuff that even had nutritional content, like cheese, dried apples, cherry cider, and fresh bread. Mmmm.

And I got a fair way into the small project I picked up after the blanket - a pair of socks in various shades of blue that I'm crocheting. (Yeah, I *could* knit them, but I could find my small hook much more easily than my double points. Besides, my husband complains if I leave double points sitting around and it's easier to keep track of one hook than 5 needles.) with purple and yellow heels. (Remember - walk softly, but make loud socks.) It's toe-up with an afterthought heel, for those interested in such details. I have wierd to fit feet, so I vastly prefer to work toe-up so I can try on my work as I go. Also, it gives me more time to think about what stitch I want to do the legs in. If I were working in plain colors, I think I'd have a try at tapestry crochet, since there's a really cute horse pattern for a purse that I saw somewhere and am sure I could find, if I just looked...

In any case, socks are a lovely, refreshing project - small, with just the right kind of detail. Light. Completely unrelated to the current violence that my dad is caught in. (These will be mine, thank you. I can't imagine making socks for someone I didn't know, simply because feet are so individual.) And they go quickly. In fact, I'd better decide on a leg stitch quickly, since I'm nearly finished with the ankle. After them, then the Other Blanket awaits.

I'm thinking of trying a design that I've kind of had in my head - essentially, drawing in crochet - a nice, peaceful scene, either the hills, or the seashore (seashore would be a little bit easier, and I may start with it.)

A brief note

My hands have been engaged in crochet rather than typing this week, folks. Sorry, but this blanket needs to be done by this weekend, and if I type a lot and crochet a lot, my fingers go numb. As of now, there is less than a row to be attached. Whew!

I'm so happy that my mom and I have arranged to meet this weekend, so she can see it before it is sent. (In fact, I may show it to her, put it in the box, and have her come to the post office with me as we send it off.) Whee! I'm sure that probably some time next week, I'll miss this blanket, but right now, the dominant feeling is relief and a wee bit of triumph. We did it! Also, I think I'm going to ask Mom to bring a digital camera to take a picture of the thing all done, so the final picture can go up on the flickr page as well.

Whoof.

Oh, and I did get a chance last weekend to do some actual storytelling, which always makes me happy. I enjoy writing stories sometimes, but when telling them, well... there are gestures, facial expressions, modulations of the voice that make the whole thing more. I think that this is why I am sometimes reluctant to write things down - I fear that I'm leaving just the bones of the story, without the flesh. And I met someone new while storytelling, which is fun, especially since she hadn't already heard some of my favorite stories to tell and was polite enough to let me run on, telling story after story, which I really enjoy doing.