Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Back from D.C.

Spent the past two days in D.C. at a Science Writers Symposium hearing about new approaches to flu vaccines, salmonella, heparin, heart devices and pet food scares.

The group was pretty high powered, from Time to Bloomberg, and the questions intelligent and incisive. I didn't get the sense that the FDA was particularly trying to hide anything, but they didn't really make anyone feel safer about the state of the global food or medicine supply, particularly since save for the salmonella, some of these fiascos were intentionally started by people wanting to make a quick buck using cheaper materials.

The scientists played up the CSI aspects of the searches, but I was more impressed by the connections made by the doctors -- how they bore down and used everything they knew to think and re-think the problem before them. And, how far the search took them from where they had started....

Spent an hour in the part with Noodle, letting her dash around and wear herself out in piles of leaves among animal dens. Such peace watching her sniff and snort and such pleasure as she barrels towards me, hanging onto my every footstep and shrug.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

We Did It!!

The election of Barack Obama means so much to me. Eight years of despondency can't be written off easily, but getting up this morning and finding that yes, the news of the night before was true, that he was (as my husband said) still President-elect, was joyous beyond words. Four years ago, waking up to find that despite our hard work in MoveOn, Kerry had lost (although he did take PA), I wrote my children a note of heartfelt apology for our nation, who had gone so very wrong in re-electing a man who should never have been elected (and was not elected) in the first place. I assured them that the promise of democracy would continue and that next time we would work even harder to make certain there was no fraud, no Supreme Court decisions, no mistakes.

SO instead of tears we had neighbors filling the family room, hunched over electoral scoreboards, drinking, smiling, cheering and finally popping champagne courts for Barack Obama. It is, as we all know, going to be a terrifically tough time for America and for Obama, but the vision of his little girls on the front lawn of the White House and the promise that he will represent for all the other diverse children throughout the country is going to be overwhelming and inspiring. We can't repair the damage of the past years easily, but the hope this election offers is an elixir to the worlds' troubled soul.

As Tim Russert's Dad said -- What a country!!