A Television Fire Provokes Me to Check My Smoke Detectors

I watch very little TV, but Renée Youree Kennison recently convinced me to watch the pilot episode of “This is Us.” Wow. Incredible acting, writing, editing, lighting and music. We have been watching a few episodes per week and we are now almost at the end of Season 2 (out or four completed seasons).

I’m writing this post wondering how many lives might have been saved due to the most recent episode we watched. It involved a horrifically vivid fire of a family residence (I won’t say more because I don’t want to spoil it). Maybe I reacted so emotionally to this episode because 18 years ago I woke up out of a deep sleep (thanks to a smoke detector) with my own house on fire. I was astonished that the smoke hadn’t awakened me earlier. I emptied two fire extinguishers on the fire before the fire department arrived. After watching the TV episode, Renée and I found ourselves walking around our houses evaluating our needs for smoke detector and fire extinguishers. I suspect that other people watching that episode did the same thing. I have my fire extinguisher out in the open and visible. I have smoke detectors on every floor and several rooms.

I know that some fire departments are giving out free smoke detectors. Extinguishers and fire blankets are cheap. COVID-19 is not the only danger out there. Please be safe in all ways!

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Axiomatic Civic Responsibility

I’m looking at the “protesters” in Michigan and ruminating on the nature of civil disobedience versus civic aphasia. By that latter term I mean a condition wherein a blank space exists within the psyché where one would expect an appropriate recognition of responsible behavior ought to live.  A condition which seems to allow certain people to feel empowered to simply ignore—or fail to recognize—the point at which a reflexive rejection of authority should yield to a recognition of community responsibility.  That moment when the impulse to challenge, dismiss, or simply ignore what one is being told enlarges to the point of defiance and what ordinarily would be a responsible acceptance of correct behavior in the face of a public duty. It could be about anything from recycling to voting regularly to paying taxes to obeying directives meant to protect entire populations.

Fairly basic exercises in logic should suffice to define the difference between legitimate civil disobedience and civic aphasia. Questions like: “Who does this serve?” And if the answer is anything other than the community at large, discussion should occur to determine the next step.  The protesters in Michigan probably asked, if they asked at all, a related question that falls short of useful answer:  “How does this serve me?”  Depending on how much information they have in the first place, the answer to that question will be of limited utility, especially in cases of public health.

Another way to look at the difference is this:  is the action taken to defend privilege or to extend it? And to whom?

One factor involved in the current expression of misplaced disobedience has to do with weighing consequences. The governor of the state issues a lockdown in order to stem the rate of infection, person to person. It will last a limited time. When the emergency is over (and it will be over), what rights have been lost except a presumed right to be free of any restraint on personal whim?

There is no right to be free of inconvenience.  At best, we have a right to try to avoid it, diminish it, work around it.  Certainly be angry at it.  But there is no law, no agency, no institution that can enforce a freedom from inconvenience.  For one, it could never be made universal.  For another, “inconvenience” is a rather vague definition which is dependent on context.

And then there is the fact that some inconveniences simply have to be accepted and managed.

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You Can Live Without Toilet Paper — And Be Cleaner for It

As I watched stories of people hoarding toilet paper during the pandemic, wiping out entire stores, I felt secure that the meagre five rolls that I have in my own house would last me quite a while, even indefinitely.

Two years ago, I gave up most toilet paper use. I found something cleaner, cheaper, and more comfortable. It’s also more convenient, as I don’t have to keep buying it – at least not very often. I use a homemade bidet and I love it! I especially appreciate my bidet when I am stuck in bathrooms where toilet paper is my only option.

The bidet (pronounced bid-day) is a bathroom fixture that washes your crotch after you use the toilet.

In some countries, a bidet is a separate fixture that sits right next to the toilet. There are also many types of bidets that can be retrofitted to any toilet seat. Some are simple and other bidets are super fancy models with heated seats, warm water, adjustable jet sprayers and air dryer – all powered with a remote control. A bidet is like a car wash for your bottom.

I considered installing a simple bidet on my toilet, but then it occurred to me that bidets essentially squirt water. That’s not plumbing science. Lots of things can squirt water. I did a little research and found some squeezable plastic lab bottles with bent squirt nozzles. They were $4 each. Perfect. Then I went to a thrift store and found some cheap but luxuriously soft washcloths. Now before you get grossed out – bear with me. What I’m doing is way more hygienic than what you’re doing with toilet paper!

After peeing, instead of wiping with dry toilet paper, I rinse off with water from my squeeze bottle bidet and pat dry with a soft dry washcloth. The first time I tried my system, I was amazed at how much better and cleaner it felt than toilet paper. It was like walking out of a shower and toweling off. It’s kind of luxurious.

Ok . . . so what about pooping? I do use toilet paper for that, but just a fraction of the amount I used to use. When cleaning with a stream of water first, I only need a very small amount of toilet paper to finish the job. I have considered a system that uses dry washcloths for that too, and probably will. Having washed cloth diapers when my kids were little, I know that this system is doable and not anywhere near as gross as you’d imagine. I’ll get to that in a moment.

I use my squirt bottle bidet in my master bathroom and it was an easy experiment because I’m the only who uses that bathroom. The only thing keeping me from putting it my guest bathroom is that it’s a little awkward to tell guests how to wipe.

But change is initially changing a mindset and then changing habits.

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My Encounter with a Brown Recluse Spider . . . Maybe

This is a Public Service Announcement!

Three days ago, I was working on my cars in my garage. I reached down to toss some leaves out into the alley and got bit on the wrist by something, presumably a spider. The bite flared painfully up over the next 48 hours. Today has finally crusted over and the surrounding redness is finally receding, though it is still painful. I used ice and anti-biotic ointment.

Here is my advice: 1) If leaves are lying around in your garage, use a rake or gloves if you're going to touch them. 2) If you get bit, if it's painful, if redness starts expanding around the bite, and if you look up "brown recluse" on the Internet, you'll have an "oh, shit" moment. They are common in Missouri (where I live) and many other states to the south and east of Missouri. Most people will be OK in a few days, but it can be a big deal for which there is no anti-venom and it can inflict a small minority of people with serious long term medical complications 3) many articles tell you to bring the spider to the doctor so they can ID it. This leads to comical images of going out and looking for a spider you never actually saw. You'll imagine looking at their little spider-faces and trying to decide which one looks guilty (even though it was just minding its own business when you trashed his/her home. Which brings me back to Rule #1: Next time I touch a pile of leaves in my garage, I'm going to use a rake or wear gloves. I've never got bit before but I should have thought about it, because a good friend of mine (you know who you are!) had some serious medical treatment for a brown recluse bite several years ago while cleaning out her garage.

I have an acquaintance who works in pest control. He told me that every house in St. Louis has brown recluse spiders in the house. They go about their business and you might not see them. If you'd like to have fewer of them in the house, you can spray pesticide, but I don't like the idea of spreading those chemicals around given that my two teen-aged daughters live here. Instead, a few years ago, I bought a pack of sticky pads that people sometimes use to catch mice. They catch bugs too. If you leave them out for a few months and then inspect them, you will be AMAZED at how many spiders and other bugs end up glued to your trap.

Or rule number 4: Don't ever clean out your garage.

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Life on the Farm



Annie Miller and I are still recovering from too much fun at Forevermost Farm in Arkansas, courtesy of "Happiness Advocates," Steve Grappe and Kelly Grappe. Wow, fresh artistically arranged food - in the form of a "Meraki Charcuterie," chickens, turkeys, pigs, fainting goats and Newman the 19 years old Dog. Goats and Chickens trying out the pajamas Ann Beck Miller designed for them. We played lots of music (Steve and I had a band while he lived in STL) and we took lots of photos (Steve was my mentor re photography). Such an oasis away from life in the city. Thanks, Steve and Kelly! Visit the website of ForeverMost Farms to learn more about Steve and Kelly's new way of life.

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