Betty Ford 1918-2011

I was 24 years old when I walked into my first AA meeting. Too young?

Certainly, I already looked like I belonged there, swathed in discarded old scarves like some pitiful hippie-ragamuffin. Although it was dark, icy and cold--January in Ohio--I had walked to the meeting at St Aloysius on West Broad Street. That fact seemed to impress the people at the meeting more than anything I had actually said, which was likely a jumble of drug-addled gibberish that made no sense.

I held onto the one hope I had: too young? Am I too young?

And then, she just sort of settled into my mind. Her presence. It was like she was with me.

The president's wife, you nitwit. It could be anyone. Anyone.
A-N-Y-O-N-E. Any age, any sex, anywhere; there is no membership requirement except the desire to stop drinking.

But... but...

Shut UP, said my conscience, eager to win one for a change. Shut UP. The president's fucking wife.

Anyone.

And she remained there, a presence in my consciousness, a presence occupying my head without my full realization... until now. And she is gone.

Betty Ford was crucial to me, to us. She was so important, possibly the most important person in the American recovery movement save for the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. Because she was Anyone. She was the respectable person who passed out at a dinner given in her honor. She was a rich man's wife who started to drink to deal with social pressures. And she wasn't Dick Van Dyke or Robert Downey Jr, either, she was a WOMAN. A lady. She had been, after all, the First Lady.

If it could happen to her, it could happen to you. (And do you know how many times I have heard that phrase, in meetings, in monologues, in phone conversations? I have said it myself, and it has been said to me.) Why do you think it couldn't? Who do you think you are? Of course it could. Luck, goodness, intelligence, class, decency, none of that means squat: you can't handle it, leave it alone. Even she had to. It could be anyone.

Anyone.

And how many lives were saved, all because we could point to her and confidently announce, ANYONE? Her presence, her life, became an object lesson for millions... certainly, it was very important to me, to know that she was in our ranks. See? I'm not the only girl! (In 1982, it often felt like I was.)

My deep affection and love for this woman is hard to convey. Her simple honesty and her life lessons, helped so many of us. Just her presence, in our minds, meant so much.

Her legacy overshadows her husband's easily.

Rest in peace.

Lunar Eclipse last night makes us act weirdly today

Left: photo by NASA


There was a scantily-reported lunar eclipse last night, which the moon-watchers already wrote off as no big thing. Ha! Of course it is. Twitter is already down, for example. That'll teach people to underestimate the moon!

Oddly, I noticed the lunar event on my Hindu calendar; it wasn't noted on any of my "Western" calendars...

The penumbral eclipse occurred at 13 degrees of Aquarius at 8:55pm EDT. From A Pakistan News:

This is a unique lunar eclipse in that it’s the third lunar eclipse of the season, and second this summer.

For horoscope and astrology lovers, this rare occurrence will bring out the Aquarian influences in your life.

This full moon lunar eclipse brings the sun’s rays shining in its home sign of Leo ruling matters of creativity, children, playfulness, leisurely activities, and love affairs; while the Moon will occupy Aquarius, the sign known for its futuristic take on life, humanity, science, knowledge, and social groups.

While it’s possible that no major event may occur during this special time, your sensitivities are heightened as some lingering events may come to a close…quite unexpectedly.

The Twitter junkies are already flooding Facebook and will probably bring it down too. I admit, I hate being without my regular tweets from Turner Classic Movies and the New York Times, as well as my extremely cool droogs. Phooey...

But it is obvious to me, Twitter was all messed up by the moon. Yes, you cynical atheists and rationalists can sneer at me, but I KNOW what's up.

~*~

I am currently attempting a low-level detox, using THIS product (there's the commercial, Dr Lindsey!) and some very basic alfalfa, peppermint and dandelion-root tea. (Yes, the bathroom is my friend!) I am hoping to refocus my diet and get back to my former benchmark of 50% raw foods, which always makes me feel physically fantastic. I'd like to go higher (75% raw is my goal), but I never quite manage it. I end up lapsing and eating cheese tortellinis and potato samosas in extremis. Humans are not meant to forage indefinitely, or else we would be orangutans. Right?

When I do manage to transition to predominantly raw foods, I feel like the not-humans at the Dawn of Time in 2001: A Space Odyssey, gibbering and squabbling over the watering-hole: Gimme.

I feel "hungry" -- even when I'm technically not hungry. Perhaps (wo)man was not meant to live by weeds alone?

It's embarrassing to admit it, but the least little cooked thing grabs my attention and suddenly looks scrumptious, even boring combinations of lima beans and kale. Are we MEANT to eat cooked food? (And WHERE are the radical atheist evolutionists when I need to ask them a dietary question?)

I think the problem is--the standard American starchy diet leaves us filling "full" most of the time. This is not a normal state of affairs. When we start eating foods that are quickly digested, it feels strange, like hunger. But the stomach is MEANT to be empty sometimes; it's just that Americans have forgotten how to live that way.

One raw food that readily quells fake-hunger, almost-hunger and real hunger: nuts. (Are we supposed to be living on nuts and berries after all?) Also, chia seeds and pepitas. I love them all, of course (with the exception of meat, I haven't met any foods I truly dislike), but I do feel a bit like an orangutan or one of Stanley Kubrick's early not-humans: Get away from my cashews, now! (I foraged for them, go find your own!)

By contrast, when I go back to eating trash? I am very generous, here, have some Cheetos! Nah, go on, take the whole bag! (((preens at my own generosity)))

I figure this is some sort of evolutionary adaptation, since we have Cheetos in abundance.