It Was A Bad Idea Before...

I'm old enough to remember the world before HIV/AIDS, and I hope to see a time without it. The way to get to that future, however, is not what was, and may still be, contemplated in the Kansas State Legislature. They are working on the new version of their quarantine laws that would, among other things eliminate the exemption of those living with HIV/AIDS. I saw the first hints of this on Facebook. At first I thought it was either one of those Internet rumors or an overblown headline. So I did some digging to see if I could find something reliable and verifiable.

It's a story that dates back to the middle of the month in the Lawrence [KS] Journal-World: "Gay rights advocate has quarantine concerns over proposed changes in infectious disease law."

The dispute is over House Bill 2183, which clarifies procedures on testing a patient for communicable diseases when a health care worker has been exposed to that patient's blood or bodily fluids.

Witt said he supported efforts to protect emergency personnel, but said one of the changes in the bill would remove a current provision that exempts those with HIV or AIDS from possible quarantine.

KDHE officials said they want to remove that exemption because HIV and AIDS are infectious. 

We've seen talk of quarantine before, earlier in the epidemic, when less was known about HIV/AIDS and the death rate was much higher. Are there health concerns? Absolutely. But HIV/AIDS is not Polio. It's not transmitted through casual contact, nor is it airborne. Are there risks to health care workers? Definitely. But unless you're going to quarantine people and provide no health care whatsoever, health care workers will continue to face those same risks, quarantine or no quarantine.

While many of the headlines I've seen are overblown, it concerns me that the idea of quarantining people living with HIV/AIDS has reappeared. I can't help but feel that the people behind this move still think of HIV/AIDS as a gay issue.

Here is the page from the Kansas Legislature that tracks HB 2183.

The Great Merger

Some of you may have noticed the sudden increase in the number of posts on this blog. I didn't spend the past couple of days writing over 600 entries. They came from two other blogs I've had over the last six years. For the past few days I've been pondering merging them into this one. Having two active blogs reached a point where I wasn't posting very much on either. What should I write for one? Or the other? What kinds of post should go on which one? So I stopped posting regularly.

Each blog has served a different purpose. I started my first one, Telling Beads, in January 2007. For the most part it revolved around my observations about the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Communion, and my work at the Episcopal Church Center. After a couple of years I ended up making it an invitation only blog because of my job. It served primarily as a way for me to stay in touch with family and friends. I'm Fluting as Fast as I Can came into being shortly after I attended the National Flute Association Annual Convention in August 2009. I quickly realized that there was only so much I could write about as an amateur flutist, so it became a place for me to write general observations.

So why start a third one? It seemed like an opportune time. I moved to a new area of the country for the first time in my life. The title came to me during the packing up of my apartment in Norwalk and seemed like it would be a fun way of talking about my new life south of the Mason Dixon Line. It is, and it isn't. However, the title seems much more flexible and portable than either of the other two, so why not just have one blog? And why not have all the posts in one place?

Somewhat easier said than done. Because Telling Beads was an invite only blog, it meant going through all of its posts and deleting some of them from the merged blog. Certain things just weren't meant for public consumption.

Yesterday I wrote

Memory is a funny thing. Sometimes I look through the journals I've been keeping off and on for more than 40 years, and I find that how I saw something when I was in the midst of it is very different from how I see it now. Or remember it.

It was interesting going through the old blog posts. There was a period of time when I tried to put a positive spin on what was, and continued to be for a long time, a bad situation. Some of you who were readers of that blog will remember that period of time, and you will probably have an idea of what's missing. I think you'll agree with me that those posts are better left private.

Looking through the over 760 posts now on this blog I can see the changes in my thoughts about blogging and what to blog about. That will continue to evolve.

Over the next couple of days I'll be working on the format of the blog--bringing over the list of Blogs I Read and maybe adding some other things. That, too ,will continue to evolve.

I look forward to the future.

Farewell, Old Friend

Saturday morning I cleaned out my old car and got it ready for pick up by carsforbreastcancer.org. It's a 2001 Kia Rio, which I obviously liked because I bought a new one. It was the first new car I'd ever bought, and I owned it for more than 12 years. It's taken me to countless Renaissance Faires, Dance Camps, EfM mentor trainings, and family visits. It's helped me move five times, including the move here.

Even though it has less than 85,000 miles on it, the most recent issue that needed to be taken care of was probably more money to fix than the car is worth. And I could afford a new car. I saved enough money since coming down here to put down a significant deposit on the new one. But I didn't want to just junk it. Hence the donation.



With the new car came Virginia plates. For the first time in close to 30 years I don't have vanity plates. The original JEFFRI plates were a Christmas Gift from Brian when I still owned the Datsun F10. The most recent version of them are now on their way back to the Connecticut DMV. I thought I'd be more sentimental about giving them up, but I'm not. Maybe it's all part of moving on, moving forward.

In a few years when I look at this picture of the two cars together, I wonder what I'll remember, or what I'll read into it. Memory is a funny thing. Sometimes I look through the journals I've been keeping off and on for more than 40 years, and I find that how I saw something when I was in the midst of it is very different from how I see it now. Or remember it.

All of us carry those memories with us. They're part of us, part of who we are. That's nothing profound, but it's true.

The Yankee in Springtime?

The Weather Channel models called for 3"-7" of snow. Of course, we know that they like to have winter storms that they can name. Local forecasters figured it would be more like 1"-3". Not many people paid much attention to any of them figuring it would be another bust in the DC/Northern Virginia area. Most severe weather seems to have been going north or south of us or petered out before it reached us. So while we had some flurries and snow showers last evening, no one really paid attention to the weather reports. This morning I woke up and looked out the window to find this.

A few days into Spring, and we have the most snow since I moved down here. I even put on my snow boots for the first time. At this time last year it was considerably warmer, flowers were blooming, and the trees were further along. By the middle of April the roses had started blooming. That could happen again this year. The roses were still blooming in December.

We haven't had a lot of snow here this winter. However, I'm not entirely sure what's usual winter weather around this part of the world. It certainly wasn't much for this transplanted Yankee. Oh, we had our cold spells, but I very rarely had to bundle up. Several members of the Seminary community commented that when they saw me in a winter coat with a hat and gloves on they knew it was cold! That will probably change the longer I stay here.

In other ways it really is spring. Moving down to Alexandria and taking this job continues to be a positive experience. I find myself opening up again--to new people, to new experiences, to being a whole person. Every time I post a picture on Facebook, many of my friends comment on how great I look. The transplant is blooming.

The Yankee Visits Bull Run

We gave the new car its shakedown cruise on Saturday taking a trip out to Manassas National Battlefield Park. I'll leave the car stories for posts on the other blog. It was a great day for a drive, and after stopping for brunch we arrived in time to do the 2:00 p.m. walking tour of Henry Hill followed by the 3:00 p.m. walking tour at Brawer Farm. They didn't involve a lot of walking, but I suppose they had to call them something to distinguish them from the driving tour.

The park is primarily a lot of open space with a scant few buildings. Only three predate the Civil War, one because it was stone. Wooden structures were pretty much destroyed in one or the other of the battles that took place on these fields north of Manassas. You get get a real feel for just how much civilian lives were disrupted by the masses of armed men and artillery swarming over the hills. Behind me and the canon you can see the house the Henrys built after the war to replace the one destroyed by canon fire during the first battle of Bull Run in 1861.

Bull Run? Manassas National Battlefield? Depends on where you learned about the Civil War. Or the War Between the States. Or the War of Northern Aggression. I grew up in Connecticut. Although my first exposure to the Civil War in a school setting was in 5th grade history class, my father wrote his Master's thesis on the Lincoln assassination, so I'd read a lot about the time period in books on the shelves in the house. Practically everything I read called it the Battle of Bull Run after the run (creek or brook to most of us from New England) that the Union Army had to cross to get to the railroad junction in Manassas in 1861.

I remember reading about the civilians who brought picnics to watch what they thought would be the bloodless battle to end the war. I remember learning that Union forces suffered major defeats in both battles. I don't remember learning anything about the military objective, which was the railroad junction in the town of Manassas. Maybe I didn't absorb that information. Or maybe it just wasn't there. What's the important information for elementary school students to know about these battles? Or middle school students? High school students? What was it about these battles that made them important in our history as a nation?

Ultimately, it has to be the human stories. The ranger who conducted the tour on Henry Hill always talked about the number of Americans killed during the first battle. Not Union soldiers. Not Confederate soldiers. American men, and one woman, who died or were wounded that day fighting for something they believed in. When is something so important that we're willing to die for it?

Somewhat subdued we left Manassas and headed to Leesburg. We arrived shortly before the historic downtown area began rolling up the sidewalks. We wandered into a couple of shops, we looked at buildings, and I noted this road sign. At home this intersection would be CT 15, which runs southwest and northeast, and US 7, which runs north and south. Is it any wonder I get confused trying to remember which direction I'm driving? Fortunately Dennis was with me, so I didn't make the mistake on our way home of getting off the Beltway and turning around. The Beltway curves, so yes, sometimes it crosses the same road twice!

I appreciate having someone to do these day trips with. When I moved down here my intention had been to get out at least once a month to some historical or cultural place. That didn't last very long. While I don't mind doing things alone, this kind of trip is much more enjoyable with someone else along. I'm looking forward to more in the coming weeks.

It's A Rio!

It's been a long week in a lot of ways. Overlapping meetings, a winter storm, leaking ceilings, ongoing staff transitions, and waiting to bring home the new car.

Dennis and I spent Sunday afternoon looking at cars. I test drove four: the Kia Rio Hatchback, the Kia Soul, the Honda Fit, and the Ford Fiesta. I really thought I'd be coming home with a Soul. But it just didn't feel good on the road, and the seats didn't seem to fit my body all that well. I really wanted to like it, but it wasn't the car for me. I also wanted to try the Rio and liked the look of the new hatchback over the new sedan. It just felt nice. It became the standard for all the other cars I tried. I also wanted to like the Fit, but it wasn't what I was really looking for. The Fiesta would have been my second choice.

Not only was the Rio the best drive, Kia was also the best sales experience. There was no hard sell. There was no feeling of circling sharks. We were handed the key and allowed to take the cars for a test drive without anyone with us. The Honda dealership was one of several that were obviously owned by the same franchise. The salesman went with us on the test drive. Although the first sales person that greeted us was not new car sales and took us over to the new car division, when we were finished he followed us back to Dennis' car trying to interest us in other models. The Ford salesman really pushed even after I said I wasn't going to buy the car that day. He gave me a ridiculously low price. It was very tempting, but I stuck to my position.

Monday I called the Kia salesman and put the financing paperwork in motion. Originally I thought I'd pick the car up yesterday, but with the impending storm, I scheduled it for today. Now the new car is home.

It has an automatic transmission, only the second car I've owned that hasn't had a manual transmission. Given where I'm living and how much less driving I do, the automatic transmission makes more sense. It's also not my 2001 Kia, which was pretty basic. The 2013 has the rear camera, radio controls on the steering wheel, cruise control, and so much more. Something that wasn't even an option when I bought my old car is the ability to plug my iPod into the system. Isn't technology wonderful?
< br /> Now I need to figure out where to donate the old car.