Election Day

WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE 

(The Night of Terror, Nov. 15, 1917)

By Connie Schultz

This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; they lived only 90 years ago. (Mothers too for some of you.)

Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote. The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote.


(Above: Lucy Burns) And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.' They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.


(Above: Dora Lewis) They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cell mate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack.

Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.


(Above: Alice Paul) When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because...why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter?

I went to a screening of an HBO movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient.

I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum. It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy. The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.'

(All of the above story written by Connie Schultz of The Plain Dealer newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio.)

Daddy is Deploying...

He'll be leaving for Qatar at the end of the year for 

a 6 month deployment.

While all the girls here are sad, Dad is glad, 

proud to serve God and Country. 

and he jokes to help us feel better that it's okay because...

"I need to refill my man meter." 

....I think he is right, he puts up with a lot of 

prettiness around here!

Today is my Birthday...

Today in History

Born: Weird Al Yankovic (musician), 1955.

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Newbury, Vermont, received 12 inches of snow, which stayed until spring, 1843.

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What is that which is so easily broken that the mere mention of it breaks it?

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What does "goose hung high" mean? It seems to come from the 1800s.

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Can I plant vegetables on a plot that formerly had Asiatic lilies and bearded irises growing on it?

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Sleet

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You are kind and affectionate and have an amiable disposition. You are gracious and self-contained, a fluent talker, and an extensive reader. You have musical ability and should develop it. Marry young and choose a congenial mate, one who will encourage your talents.

Today is Her Birthday Shout HOORAY!

 Here she is on the first day of Kindergarten

     Here she was...

...sigh... 

  ...it goes by too fast.

Bird Sitting for Beakers

While my friend Shelly has been out of town we've gotten to bird sit 

for her little conure, Beakers.  

Here are some pictures of some other friends of ours getting to know this little bird.

Tempting Beakers with a Cheerio

He takes the bait!

All smiles as Beakers enjoys his treat!

We found out quite by accident that Beakers loves to drink ice water...

and steals the ice!

Megan shares a Cheerio with Beakers

Heber says "His feet poke through my shirt but this is cool! I feel like a Pirate! 

Arrrgh Matey!"

Where have we been for the last week? ...buried in our junk!

We have been cleaning out and organizing to get ready for a HUGE Yard Sale. 

I couldn't believe how much stuff we had that we no longer needed. 

We joined up with four other families and took 5 loads up to another 

neighborhood and on our own we made over $300. 

Far less than half of what I made on our last Yard Sale in Montana.  

But it feels really good to have all the extra stuff gone!  

Now, I am just spending days getting caught up on all the things I have let slip while 

slamming this Yard Sale together.