Back!!!

Yes, we are alive and well.

Vacations are exhausting. At least this one was for me. We went to the Grand Canyon again this year. The last time was three years ago. We stayed for two full days, then off to Monument Valley in the very southern part of Utah. It was an interesting experience and one that I'd recommend to anyone who loves the outdoors. Then, we were off to Sedona, Arizona for the remainder of the trip to visit with the folks and to see the canyon again. The last time we were there, we simply passed through the area, only stopping briefly. Not a lot happens in Sedona, but it's a great experience for a nature photographer. There's lots of subject matter. Sedona was really the only time that we had to relax a bit. Someday, I would like to take a vacation where I go and basically do nothing, where every single day is not planned out with a time table.

I took many photos. I'm a bit ashamed to say how many, but rest assured, that once I've gone through them, I'll post them up to my Flickr account for anyone to see.

Speaking of which, it's amazing to me how the Internet brings certain aspects together. For example, last night I received this email about a photo that I posted in June of 2007 of a street performer in Seattle. That was on our vacation to the Olympic National Park last summer. A comment was posted on the photo that said, "Thank you for taking and posting this photo! My name is Emery Carl and I am your performer." I was thinking, "How on earth did he ever find that?" I didn't post his name because I didn't know his name. Just strange. He put his web site in the link. I usually don't like advertising placed in my photos, but I figure it's ok. I did after all use his photo.

Since getting home, life has not slowed down for us. Kent is working late most nights at work on committees. I am trying to catch up after being out of the office for over a week. On top of that, I had to turn my car in because it's lease expired. I was attached to it. This new car his just too much intelligence built into it. This is the exact interior of my new car, color and all. The exterior is a deep burgundy.

I've tried to get back into political issues while returning. The Monday we got home, the Connecticut Supreme Court was hearing about the lack of benefits that the state civil unions offer. You can read the excerpts from the story or not. They are the ones that caught my eye...

Eager to celebrate their partnership, Tracy and Katy Weber Tierney were among the first in line when Connecticut created civil unions three years ago as a way to formalize same-sex relationships without using the word “marriage.”

But when Tracy was giving birth to their son, Jake, five months ago, a hospital employee inquired whether she was “married, single, divorced or widowed.”

“I’m in a civil union,” she replied. When the employee checked “single,” Tracy protested. “I’m actually more married than single,” she said, leaving the employee flustered about how to proceed. [...]

For Jean Csvihinka, 48, who works at a bank in Milford, getting a civil union meant paying tax on an additional $6,000 a year. Ms. Csvihinka said that adding her partner, Gina Bonfietti, 43, a self-employed piano technician, to her health insurance obligated her to pay a federal tax on the value of the additional coverage that married couples would not owe, and that since the civil union she has also had to pay tax on her daughters’ coverage even though the girls were on her plan, tax-free, before. She said she was told that “it’s a systems issue.” [...]

Jeffrey Busch, a lawyer who is also a plaintiff in the case, said that he and his partner, Stephen Davis, reluctantly obtained a civil union for the sake of their son, Eli. “It was an awful experience,” Mr. Busch said. “In order to get those rights, we had to make a public declaration of inferiority. [...]

The case turns on whether same-sex couples should be treated as a “suspect class” — groups like minorities and women that have experienced discrimination — which could lead to heightened legal scrutiny of the decision to offer separate institutions. In oral arguments before a Supreme Court panel, the assistant attorney general said the number of “prominent politicians who are openly gay and lesbian” proves that homosexuals are not “politically powerless,” one of the requirements of a suspect class; that caused one justice to quip, “If it were true political power,” they would have already won the right to marry. [...]

And my all time favorite.....

The state also argues that the plaintiffs have no case because they are free to marry, just not to someone of the same sex, and that there is no gender discrimination because men and women are equally constrained. (source)

Wait a minute... we can marry anyone we want as long as they are opposite sex? That's "sanctity of marriage"? I find myself singing that Tina Turner song... "...what's love got to do with it...".

So I was eating lunch on that Monday that all this was happening. I was a bit down because I found myself once again thinking thoughts like... "it's so unfair...", "maybe we should just get the damned civil union...", etc. Then, while sitting in the sandwich shop, there was some news story on the radio about something. I actually don't remember what, but some guy said, "I have to do the best with what I'm allowed." I started thinking about that. Monetarily, we are doing well. I feel second class, but I really started to think about what that man said. And I can do that. I can do the best with what I'm allowed. It's this one thing, and it's really only an issue for me personally because we are in that age group that marriage equality and the kinds of rights marriage offers are important to us for security. Love has little to do with it. Would it enhance the love we have for each other? No. Would it give us a sense of belonging to something besides just ourselves? Yes. I think an acceptance from society of us, together, as a couple, is important. I've come to the conclusion that that was the "hope" that Harvey Milk talked about, coming together as people. Acceptance.

Just my thoughts. But I try these days to protect myself a bit. I expect that the couples challenging will lose the case, and life will go on. If I'm wrong, then I'll celebrate. If I'm not, I haven't invested a lot of emotional weight on the issue. I've stopped caring about it, other than, it's current news happening in the state. The Supreme Court of Connecticut will probably rule that "it's an issue for the legislature", after the shit hit the fan from the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling for marriage equality. They won't want to be labeled, as that court was, as an "activist court". What ever.

Health wise, we are doing well. Well, kind of. My blood pressure is good now, with a bit of help from medication. Cholesterol could be better. I'm working on that. You know, diet, exercise. It's hard to do with my career choice which is mental and non-physical. I have to go back in three months for blood work again. Oh, and the doctor reminded me that at the end of the year, it's time for that colonoscopy again. Oh Joy!!! The last time that happened, I had two alarms fire off while I had a panic attack before hand (did I say I'm hospital phobic?), which scared the crap out of the nurses so bad that they gave me Demerol to calm me down. It didn't suck. And, the alarms stopped. Something to look forward to.

It's nice to be home again.