When Animals Attacks, Chalk Art, And Physicians Vs. Midwives

When Birds Attack Cars
Yesterday, while driving on a normal road, in broad daylight, about 45mph, with my wife and daughter in the car -- a pigeon just flew right into my windshield (pow!), rolled over the roof, fell on the ground, and then bounced up and flew away quickly -- it was kind of like a Jackie Chan movie (I was waiting for the pigeon to give me a "thumbs up" sign from the rear view mirror.)
My daughter:"Oh no!! Birdie! Daddy!! Birdie!!"
Me: "See - that's what happens when pigeons do drugs.... Stay away from drugs!!"

(yes, I know Posh Spice has nothing to do with this, I just can't help but feel patriotic)

Chalk Art On the Sidewalk And Driveway.
When I was a kid, my dad use to bring chalk home from his job and leave it in a small box by his car keys (he worked for a trucking company – a teamster - always complaining about something, as teamsters usually do.) I loved that basic white plain chalk; I would take it and draw all over our driveway (and neighbors driveways, sidewalks, on the street...) top views of “fancy” streets, houses, KITT, people walking dogs, dog poop, construction areas, even sinkholes with aliens and Manimal. Then I would ride with my big wheel along with the other kids through this ‘totally awesome’ town -- that's until somebody watered their driveway or lawn.
Fast forward to last week – we’re driving through no-man land and we stopped at a Wal-Mart for, like soap or something weird like that, and on the center aisle they had big buckets of sidewalk chalk for some crazy-low price of like $4.88 (with a smiley face near it.) “Sidewalk Chalk”? What a novel idea. And for $4.88? (How's is that even possible? Oh yeah, orphan labor in China...) Not only did they have that, but they also had paint sprayers, brushes, and rakes. When did all this happen?
Now my driveway looks like the Sistine Chapel (well not really) except with toddler marks all over it, mixed in with some random drawings by the neighborhood kids who walk on over and ask if they can “help”. Which I let them, of course. But they just can’t “help” on “my” area of the driveway – (Manimal needs to live in peace.)

Medical And Nursing Boards Vs. Midwives In L.A.
On a serious note, I get a lot of inquiries (and searches) about a post I did nearly 2 years ago when my daughter was born about people interested in natural water births, nurse Midwives, and Doulas. My wife did a completely natural water birth in a tub - with only me, our Midwife, and a Doula present. The whole experience and the care my wife got was absolutely amazing, extremely safe, and way beyond what any traditional doctor provides. And this place is by far the best birthing center here in Southern California (it looks like a B&B.) I’m bringing all this up because our Midwife, Marcia McCulley, was recently arrested at gunpoint at her practice, in front of her patients, because the physicians at the local hospital (Seventh-Day Adventist in Simi Valley) want to prevent a women’s choice in their OB care, reproductive issues, and above all honoring parents birth plans and wishes.
The physicians made claims with the medical and nursing board to revoke her license, which costs them nothing to do, but cost a Midwife - with a small practice - a fortune in legal fees. Whatever your position on birth, women should be able to choose - even if it means having a baby in a hospital, home, or birthing center.
For those interested there is a Midwife Defense Fund here in Southern California.
If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to the defense charity:

The Midwife Defense Fund
Attn: Mary Price P.O. Box 940682 Simi Valley, CA 93094-0682

(PS- I'll find out soon if they use Paypal)
For those here in SoCal, there’s going to be a charity auction event in August and I’ll be donating a whole lot of artwork. I’ll have more information on that in a couple of weeks.