Smorgasboard

Zander update: He has finally started saying "mama", although it actually comes out as "ma!ma!ma!" (especially when he's wanting mom's attention). He's been walking while holding onto hands for some time now but the doctors have said he should be practicing to walk while only holding onto one of his hands. This will help him learn to balance and hopefully he'll be walking on his own within the month. Now if he'd only learn to like his shoes...

This and That: Finally got my new ceiling fan installed in the living room. On Saturday I was relaxing on the couch and basking in the air circulation. With the improved circulation, I could then turn up the thermostat a bit and not have the central air running as much.

I had a surprise while mowing the lawn this weekend. There I was, trying to get the quickly growing grass and weeds cut down before the next round of storms swept through when my peripheral vision caught movement by my feet. You're probably thinking "snake!" I immediately thought "ground squirrel!" We'd both be wrong. Try "baby rabbits!" Yes, I now have a family of rabbits inhabiting my side yard. I don't quite understand why the yard was chosen over the nice protection a nearby bush would have provided but oh well. Fortunately the rabbits stayed hunkered down while the mower passed over them so the slaugher of little bunnies was avoided. I tried to herd a stray, violently shaking bunny back to the nest but it panicked and attempted to crawl up my leg instead. *sigh* So, I decided to walk away from the area to pick up some bricks to mark the hole (so I wouldn't step in it/mow over it again) and, when I returned, the bunny had found its way back to the nest safely. There are three or four cute little wiggly bodies in there. I was afraid to leave them so revealed so I placed some matted grass pieces over the hole and continued mowing. Of course, from that point on every blowing leaf appeared to be more bunnies darting through the grass, so I was startled into stopping several times. Slaughtering bunnies is much more difficult to consider versus the usual mass genocide of crickets occuring when I mow. I later saw the mother bunny return to the nest, sniff around carefully at my scent on the bricks and grass before settling down to feed her babies. She was a really pretty soft gray with a white nose, but was fairly small so she must be still young herself. With the hiding spot now revealed (and easily accessible to dogs/cats/owls), I hope she'll move the babies to a new area. I have to laugh. I know I'll be moaning and groaning about the rabbits eating my garden next year, but I can't help but want to protect the babies. I'm a sucker for animals.

Man is Wolf to Man: I finished my book on Saturday evening. It was an easy read despite the subject matter. Dr. Bardach was an excellent story teller. In fact, it was so easy to read that it's hard to believe that the events he described were autobiographical versus fictional. At one point, he stated that he simply couldn't tell his family about all of the horrible things he'd been through so he avoided details. I had to wonder how many details he avoided in the telling of his story. The events were horrible enough as they were, I can't imagine what it would be like if his book was the sugar-coated version. As I neared the ending of the book, I kept puzzling over the title. Man is Wolf to Man. What did he mean by that? He stated once that it was a phrase a relative of his used, but then never elaborated on it. In another part of the book, he described the predatory wolves near Kolyma and the danger they presented to the prisoners, especially in winter. So I considered, pondered, and am still pondering over the predatory behavior of man towards man -- in peace, in disagreement, in war. The paranoia of treason and suspicions of internal political movements to remove Stalin from power caused friends and family to turn on each other. One person in the story was accused by his wife to be a traitor. Why did she do it? They were a happy, loving couple, but her fear of losing the security of her party standing was greater than the love she professed to have for her husband. He had no forewarning, no idea that she was capable of casting him the fate of prison or even execution with barely a blink. People cast aside their humanity and became predatory, seeking only to ensure their personal survival. It was the individual against the world with no room for compassion. In the end, this is what I interpret the title to mean. To cast aside your humanity and view others as rivals to survival. No holds barred. It's sad and you want to cry and pound your fists on the floor, asking "why?" I guess I've seen enough violence through media coverage and movies that I can't be shocked at the abuse Dr. Bardach suffered. My heart ached for the young man who lived through it, but I wasn't surprised.