Moon hunger

   I miss the Moon.  Thanks to a LOT of rain and overcast skies, and my stay in the hospital, I haven’t seen her since she was a thin, waxing crescent.  Sunday night on the West Coast of the U.S.  she will be a Waning Half Moon.

I’ve read a lot about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), and have a special sun lamp in my study, doubling as a desk lamp.  Even the DSM-IV-TR has a Seasonal Pattern Specifier for various mood disorders that include depression.  But all the research is on the effect of sunlight (or the lack) on mood.  No one writes about lack of moonlight. 

Not seeing the Moon affects my Soul.  I know she is up there; I imagine her shining on the tops of all these clouds.  But I want to SEE her.  The cool caress of the Moon’s gaze reminds me a power greater than humans is in charge of the Earth, the universe.  Yes, I’m well aware the Moon is a ball of matter similar to the minerals of the Earth.  But for me she also represents something beyond our rational minds, beyond even our unconscious minds (represented in the Moon card in tarot).   She feeds my Soul, reassures me.  I’m hungry for sight of the Moon.

Holiday correspondence

   One of the things I enjoy most about this time of year is that we often receive cards, letters, emails, or even phone calls from people we may rarely hear from.  We’ve also received photos, and in one case a DVD card featuring clips of a growing child.  I like all this communication, and anything that encourages it is okay with me.  I’ve always been a letter writer, and when I was younger imagined myself with friends around the world, with whom I shared letters and thoughts, and learned more about different ways of looking at everything.  Electronic communication has made it easier, though not always faster.  (You still have to write something before you can send it.)  I have a good friend in Japan, and more friends in Argentina, Greece, and the United Kingdom.  Thanks to a couple discussion lists, I have other aquaintances in other countries, and am not always aware of where they are.  Thanks to the internet, have found people from my past and caught up on what is happening with them.

The holiday letters people often write at this time of year are always interesting, as much because of what they have chosen to include versus the information itself.  Usually it has something in it about what they are doing and/or how the extended family is doing.  Some letters include health issues (sometimes ad nauseam), and some don’t.  Hobbies often get mentioned, or a new animal member of the family.  Trips taken are usually interesting.  Because several of the hoidays at this time of year are religious, religous themes may be hinted or even preached.  Must admit, I was tempted to get political with our letter this year, just inserting a small slogan photo as part of the letter, but my husband helped me remember the idea is to share family news, not get on the cases of various family members who helped put the current administration into office.  Sigh …

So if you sent a card, letter, or email to someone this season, or made that phone call you’ve been putting off, thank you!  We need each other, so we can learn and grow and work toward healing the world and each other.    Namaste.

The wrong side of a hospital room . . .

    Over the years I’ve spent some time in hospitals, but except for a very brief Emergency Room visit it has always been as a visitor.  (Okay, I was there for our son’s birth, and there was a one-day visit for some elective surgery, but the most recent was 27 years ago.)  The week before Christmas I had some abdominal pains that turned out to be a perforated ulcer (I didn’t even know I HAD one!), and there I was on the wrong side of a hospital room — lying IN the bed, rather than sitting or standing on the other side of the room.  It’s quite a different viewpoint.  For one thing, it was difficult to judge how tall people are.  Until I was being discharged and standing up, I didn’t realize I am a couple inches taller than the doctor who handled my case.  And I really let go of any remaining tendency to judge people by how they look.  What became more important was their attitude as they had to do something they realized was unpleasant, or their willingness to help the confused woman across the hall who needed help with everything. 

I wound up spending five days at Sutter Coast Hospital.  It’s a small facility (47-59 beds, depending on the source), with an Intensive Care Unit, obstetrics unit, full surgery unit, and the medical unit.  They can handle a lot of things, but for really specialized care people are often flown to Medford (Oregon) or San Francisco.  They have a well-deserved good reputation, though it was hard-won.  The old Seaside Hosopital was so bad everyone called it Suicide Hospital (which is why our son was born 70 miles north of here), and when Sutter took it over and then moved into this new facility, it took a long time for the local residents to allow that it might be a good hospital.  They have good doctors now, and nurses and technicians who know what they are doing and care about people.  The surgeon who was assigned to me while I was still in ER is Dr. Susan S. Schommer, and I credit her with getting me well without surgery.  She paid attention to the signals my body was sending, ruled out several possible diagnoses, and ordered actions (with my agreement) that allowed my body to heal itself more rapidly.  And she has a great sense of humor.  :-)  The nurses and CNAs (Certified Nursing Assistant, I think) were pleasant and competent: Deena, Kathrine, Marina, Ann, Megan, and Larry immediately come to mind, and others whose faces I can see but their names escape me.  There was one lovely woman who got all the things together for me to take a nice hot shower, and even found me some lotion that smelled heavenly.  :-)  [Hot showers rank high up there with the most pleasant things in life.]

It is amazing how much importance the little things take on when so much is stripped away from you.  [Not a new idea, I know, but one I haven't experienced much of in the last 15 years, thankfully.]  I couldn’t have anything by mouth for the first three days, and when they allowed me to have ice chips on the fourth day they tasted SO good!  And the shower I mentioned above.  At first I had so many wires and tubes hooked up (I felt like an astronaut) that I had to have help with the bathroom.  It felt good to be able to finally handle that on my own.  When they finally decided I could begin a liquid, bland diet that cup of chicken broth tasted like a gourmet feast. 

The first few days they gave me small doses of morphine; it reduced the pain and helped me sleep.  Gave me strange dreams, though.  At least three times I remember vivid dreams where someone else was in the room.  I managed to force myself awake and open my eyes, but there was no one there.  Later I realized I was probably sensing the angels or other entities who were there helping me heal.  I remember one of them standing at the foot of my bed, dressed in black.  Couldn’t see the face, but I don’t think they looked like Nicolas Cage.  

My husband was a sweetie, coming in to keep me company and letting me hold his hands with a couple proceedures that were  . . . unpleasant.  Friends and family visited, made phone calls, and sent cards, and one very special group of friends included me in a healing circle.  I know all that good energy helped. 

I got to come home on the 23rd, and have been behaving myself and staying on the diet they recommended.  The doctor also said no caffeine, spicy foods, or acidic foods for six months (no chocolate!  no green tea!).  :-(     They think the primary culprit for the ulcer is the arthritis pain medication I’ve occasionally taken, so now I’m only allowed to use regular-strength Tylenol.  Interesting thing is that my arthritis hasn’t really bothered me much since I came home.  Hmm . . .

Am glad to be out, and am so determined to remain on the right side of a hospital room that I’m sticking to my diet.  Am thankful for the insights I gained through this experience, but am hoping to find a more pleasant path to continued enlightenment. 

Accidental animal friends . . .

Our neighbors are very fond of animate, living things.  We live in a semi-rural version of suburbia, where it’s legal to have almost any sort of animal as long as you have enough room for them (and the neighbors don’t complain too much).  Our neighbor’s lot is very small, and I suspect that’s why we haven’t seen horses or cows over there.  We’ve seen (and/or heard) just about everything else: goats, sheep, chickens, pigeons, parrots, misc. birds smaller than parrots, snakes, dogs, and cats.  [Come to think of it, haven't seen/heard any pigs, either.]  For whatever reason, most of the animals have escaped at some point in time, but it makes it easy to figure out who to notify when you see a very large iguana crossing the road, or when a ferret shows up at the front door.  Kinda makes me wonder what other animals may be in the house.  There are also the people she takes in . . . she used to have foster children, but there was a problem with the grandson she raised and another child.  So now it is apt to be people who are down on their luck and need somewhere to be.  Most of them are okay people.  And the neighbor tries very hard to get along with everyone — she’s a nice lady.

Am not sure if it is because her animals tend to escape, or because we have a larger lot with green grass and less confusion, but at some point many of them visit here.  The chickens come and go; I don’t mind them, and even got an egg from one of them once.  Years ago two of her ducks came to visit, and decided to stay.  Even when we took them home, they returned, so finally we just let them stay.  Unfortunately we didn’t have a racoon-proof pen for them, so one night we lost one (managed to get the other one in our garage before it became dinner, too).  The ducks had been in our yard so long, we felt we could speak for their welfare, so we found another home for the remaining duck. 

  The problem is, at what point do we take responsibility for her animals that have decided to live in our yard?  Right now it is two cats, an orange and white fluffy cat we call OW Kitty, and a younger orange cat we call Punkin.  (Okay, so they are not terribly original names, but technically these are not our cats.)  We began feeding OW Kitty last Summer when she had kittens in our thicket of berry bushes, and looked like she was starving.  [Our neighbors aren't exactly well-off.]  She moved her kittens to the neighbor’s yard the day after I mowed the lawn (guess I got too close), and we have no idea what happened to them.  But she is in our backyard during most of the daylight hours, and at some point was joined by Punkin.  Now, I know Punkin belongs to the neighbors, because I saw the boys carrying it around.  And the boys talked about their kitty (OW Kitty) having kittens.  I realize once I began feeding these two cats, we were bonded with them.  I’d even let them in the house, if it didn’t upset our older, neutered male cat (who then starts marking everywhere — ugh!).   What I would like to do (when I have the money) is have these two cats neutered, so at least we won’t have to worry about kittens and fights (as much).  Guess I’ll have to go next door and ask our neighbor whether she still thinks of the cats as hers.  Have to admit, I’ve grown attached to these cats, especially Punkin.  We weren’t ready for more cats . . . but guess they were ready for us. 

Hogfather (the DVD)

   I’ve already written about being a fan of the English author, Terry Pratchett ( http://judithornot.wordpress.com/2007/10/02/making-money-by-terry-pratchett  ).  In 1996, Pratchett wrote a book, Hogfather, about “a midwinter festival bearing a remarkable similarity to your Christmas.”  But this is the ancient festival, the solar festival, about sacrifices to make the sun return, and how it morphs into the Father Christmas festival celebrated today. 

Back in 2006 they made a TV movie of “Hogfather,” but it was only released in England, Australia, and Canada.  This November it was shown for the first time on television in the United States, and now Borders bookstore has the DVD for sale (in-store only, listed as $19.99 but on sale for $16.99).  The closest Borders to us is 80 miles away, but it was worth driving for.  This is the first live-action of one of Pratchett’s movies, and he was very much involved in it’s production and filming.  He even plays a cameo as a toymaker.  The DVD includes an interview with Pratchett.  I once wrote an email to Pratchett and said I suspected he would be a very interesting person to have a conversation with.  He wrote back and said he is really rather dull.  Having seen the interview, am now quite sure he was being modest. 

After some prologue, the movie opens with Susan (that’s the woman with the sword on the cover of the DVD) reading Jack and the Beanstalk to the children for whom she is governess.  “… and then Jack chopped down what was the world’s last beanstalk, adding murder and ecological terrorism to the theft, enticement, and trespass charges already mentioned, and all the Giant’s children didn’t have a daddy anymore.  But he got away with it and lived happily ever after without so much as a guilty twinge about what he had done.  Which proves that you can be excused just about anything if you’re a hero, because no one asks any inconvenient questions.”  I like Susan (Michelle Dockery).  :-)  She is Death’s granddaughter, and is a regular in Pratchett’s Discworld novels, along with Death, Albert, the wizards of Unseen University, members of the city watch, the Auditors, the Raven, and the Death of Rats (who also appear in the movie).  The Auditors have decided they want the Hogfather eliminated, and hire an assassin to perform this service.  Mr. Teatime (pronounced Teh-ah-tim-eh, and played by Marc Warren) is creepy and sadistic — he nails someone’s dog to the ceiling to keep it from barking while he works.  Warren plays him very much like Johnny Depp played Charlie in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” and does a very good job of it.  When the Hogfather disappears, Death (who really does like humans) decides to take over his job for the night, to keep belief alive long enough for Susan to save the day (with the help of the wizards, Hex the thinking machine, and the Oh God of Hangovers).  There is a lot of intelligent humor, silly humor, and some rather deep thoughts about why it is important to learn belief as a child (so we can believe in the big things as adults, such as Truth and Justice). 

The DVD runs 189 minutes, but has an intermission in the middle.  It is unrated; I suspect if it were rated it would be PG (some mild language).  It has joined our list of must-watch movies for the season (along with “It’s A Wonderful Life,” “A Christmas Carol” (with George C. Scott), and “Scrooged”).  If you’ve read Pratchett’s books, you will recognize each character as they appear (they are that well done).  If you haven’t read his books, this will be a great introduction and a lot of fun.  I give this movie 5 stars.

A just-for-fun blog quiz

Your Inner European is Italian!

Passionate and colorful. You show the world what culture really is.

You can find this quiz at http://www.blogthings.com/whosyourinnereuropeanquiz  .

At least my husband will like the boots.  :-)  

The socio-economics of where you buy groceries

No, I’m not writing about organic, fair trade, or locally produced foods.  (Although the better selection of organic foods at my favorite grocery store IS part of the reason I shop there.)  I’m writing about the three criteria by which most people choose where they buy groceries: price, location, and personal comfort.

I live in a small town, and we have four large grocery stores: Grocery Outlet, Shop Smart, Ray’s Food Place, and Safeway.   Their prices vary from very inexpensive to expensive.  Their locations vary (though Ray’s and Safeway are almost next door to each other), so their convenience is based on how close they are to where a person lives (and whether that person is on foot, a bicycle, uses public transportation, or has their own vehicle). 

Though location can mean a lot, I suspect people chose where to shop based on price and personal comfort.  When you are broke, price is all important, and much can be tolerated for the sake of the budget.  Been there, done that.  But personal comfort often comes from the surroundings (clean, wide aisles, well-lighted), from the attitude of employees, AND from how much the other shoppers are like you.  This last item is more important than you may realize.  I occasionally shop at a CoOp in a larger town, and it took me almost a year to feel comfortable there, because it seemed so many of the shoppers gave off a “holier than thou” attitude.  In our little community, I finally switched stores (and paid slightly more) because I was tired of listening to mothers yelling at (and sometimes slapping) their children in public.  The deciding event was listening to a man and woman argue over whose turn it was to buy the beer.  The psychosocial cost was greater than the few dollars I saved. 

This is on my mind because of a small thing that happened a couple evenings ago.  My husband has been in law enforcement in this area for about 29 years, so he knows a lot of people, some of whom are former “clients.”  He generally gets along even with them, but it always makes it interesting when we shop together.  Three former clients were in line behind us the last time we bought groceries, and we had some light conversation with them.  But when I got home and unpacked the groceries, there was fresh gum stuck to two of the packages.  A minor thing, but disconcerting.  My personal comfort was challenged.  I LIKE shopping at this store — the prices are okay, and their selection of organic items is good (the organic produce is better than at the more expensive store).  But . . .

So, give some thought to where YOU shop.  Why do you shop there?  What do you look for in a grocery store?  And how big is personal comfort in your decision?

Balancing act

Back on 16th November the comic strip “Cathy,”written by Cathy Guisewite, was dealing with Cathy’s mother coming to help fix Thanksgiving dinner at Cathy and Irving’s house.  Cathy immediately goes into a frenzy of kitchen cleaning.  Irving chides her, and suggests she just tell her mother, “This is how I live!” 

Cathy answers, “This isn’t how I live.”

Irving: “Honey, our kitchen always looks like this!  It’s how you live!”

And Cathy answers with the line that most people can identify with: “It’s only how I’m living until I have time to live the way I actually live!”

(You can see the strip at http://news.yahoo.com/comics/cathy ; search on November 16.)

How many of us are living lives where we have to balance demands?  We go to school, or we work (maybe at more than one job), or we have sick relatives to care for, or we have children to raise, or . . . ?  So something gets left undone, or gets done only half as well as we’d like.  We are living this way only until we have the time to live the way we actually want to live. 

Other people can’t really tell us what is most important in our lives.  Oh, they will tell you what you should do, but when it comes right down to it, it is a personal choice.  Because if we live our lives trying to keep up with what everyone tells us (or with that parent tape playing in our heads), and it is not an agenda we agree with, at some point it will all fall apart.  Even though we truly do not mean to, we will sabotage what we are doing, and we will fail, and then we won’t have pleased anyone, least of all ourselves. 

If you find yourself in a balancing act, and it isn’t working, I suggest two things: 1) Make a list of what really is most important in your life, and rank it from most important to least.  Then, 2) consider what affect time will have on these items.  If you put something off for now, will it still be there for you to do later?  Some things (like a novel) can possibly wait — other things (like children) go through a LOT of change in a short amount of time.  

Keeping these things in mind, some of your choices may be easy.  I’ve always felt it was more important to read a story to a child or grandchild than scrub the floors (which is why I’ve always had a rather messy house).  But the child is going to benefit a lot more from those quiet times together than a spotless house.  Other choices are more difficult, like when you have to work outside the home to provide a home and food for a child, and you can’t be there as much as you would like.  Cheer up — studies suggest that it’s the quality of the time you spend with your child that counts, not necessarily the quantity. 

The point is, only YOU can decide what is most important to focus on in your life.  The key is to make a conscious decision (hence, those lists), and then stop beating yourself up over your choices.  And the choice you make today may be changed if you realize it isn’t what you really want.

Or perhaps you are in the midst of a balancing act, and it is working for you.  Bravo!  Some people thrive on such a stimulating environment.  One tiny suggestion: Be very aware of stress management.  Pay attention to the signals your body is sending, and be ready to schedule a little down-time as needed. 

Make conscious choices, and be open to change.  Good luck with whatever you are balancing, and I wish you time to live the way you want to live!

My favorite restaurant in Eureka, CA, is …

   …Bless My Soul Cafe, owned and operated by Sweet Mama Janisse.  She serves creole, cajun, and Texas barbeque, and everything she serves has a touch of Louisiana down-home flavor.  You can get vegetarian; my favorite is the Veggie Plate, which comes with red beans and rice (I always ask them to substitute blackeyed peas, and they do), and two of her veggie sides (which include collard greens, vanilla carrots, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes with gravy, creole corn, sauteed cabbage, red beans, blackeyed peas, and creole herb rice).  All her dinners come with a choice of soup or salad (real greens, none of that iceberg stuff) and corn muffins.  There is a wide variety of non-vegetarian entrees (also with a choice of two veggie sides), which feature chicken, catfish, pork, beef, lamb, pastas, shrimp, and oysters.  And we are talking healthy food here — not a lot of fat on any of it.  Even the boneless fried chicken has had the skin removed.  Dinners run from $12.95 to $18.95.  There is also a variety of appetizers (fried okra, hush puppies, etc.) and ala carte items, so you can put together your own menu if you want.  (For those who eat meat, I highly recommend the Dirty Rice — filling but easy on the wallet.)  You can see her menus (and more photos and drawings of her place) by going to www.blessmysoulcafe.com .  You won’t find her desserts listed there, but the two I see on her menu board most often are sweet potato pie and voodoo pudding (like a mix between dark chocolate pudding and dark chocolate cake — yum!).

Sweet Mama Janisse grew up in Louisiana, and somehow wound up in Southern California, where she spent 17 years catering to movies.  A few years ago she came up to Eureka and opened Bless My Soul Cafe.  She is at the cafe most nights, and often comes out from the kitchen to circulate through the cafe, talking with people.  She loves to talk, and listen to your stories as well as tell her own.  She has the most wonderful laugh!

She also sells a line of sauces (you can buy them at the cafe or online), and they show up in the meals she offers at the cafe.  The Bless My Soul Cafe is open Monday thru Saturday at 5 pm, until 9 pm on Monday thru Thursday, and until 10 pm on Friday and Saturday.  We were in there on Tuesday this week at about 6:30, and the place was full, so if you are planning on being there on a Friday or Saturday you might want to call for reservations [(707) 443-1090].  The cafe is on 101 North going through Eureka, at the south end of where Hwy 101 splits into different streets for north and south (29 Fifth Street).  There is a map and directions at their site ( www.blessmysoulcafe.com ). 

When we were there this week, another couple came in just behind us, and as we waited a couple minutes for a table, they asked what was good.  “Everything!”  With their relaxed and happy atmosphere, and delicious, healthy food, it is a joy to eat at Bless My Soul Cafe.  

What planet do these bridge organizations live on?

Last month at the world bridge championships in Shanghai, a team of U.S. players reflected the mood of over 70% of U.S. citizens, and now they may have their livelihood taken away from them because of it.  And what horrible crime did they commit?  They held up a small, hand-lettered sign that said “We did not vote for Bush,” while some of them sang the U.S. national anthem and waved U.S. flags. 

For this simple act, which some are calling “treason” and “sedition,” the American Contract Bridge League is threatening to withdraw funding unless the United States Bridge Federation punishes them.  The article (from the New York Times) is below, with all the details — I encourage you to read it. 

I applaud what these women did.  Anyone who has had contact with people from other nations realizes how badly the Bush administration has embarassed the United States.  Five minutes into a conversation, and there are the questions about lack of concern for the environment, torture, telling other countries how to deal with domestic issues, and so forth.  I have also responded with the disclaimer that I didn’t vote for Bush. 

Of course, I understand why the bridge organizations are upset — they may lose corporate funding.  Big Business is the ONLY segment of the U.S. that has benefited from George W. Bush’s administration.  And most of them care very little about truth.

(With thanks to Arielle.)

***********************

Published on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 by The New York Times
Anti-Bush Sign Has Bridge World in an Uproar

by Stephanie Strom

In the genteel world of bridge, disputes are usually handled quietly and rarely involve issues of national policy. But in a fight reminiscent of the brouhaha over an anti-Bush statement by Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks in 2003, a team of women who represented the United States at the world bridge championships in Shanghai last month is facing sanctions, including a yearlong ban from competition, for a spur-of-the-moment protest.

At issue is a crudely lettered sign, scribbled on the back of a menu, that was held up at an awards dinner and read, “We did not vote for Bush.”

By e-mail, angry bridge players have accused the women of “treason” and “sedition.”

“This isn’t a free-speech issue,” said Jan Martel, president of the United States Bridge Federation, the nonprofit group that selects teams for international tournaments. “There isn’t any question that private organizations can control the speech of people who represent them.”

Not so, said Danny Kleinman, a professional bridge player, teacher and columnist. “If the U.S.B.F. wants to impose conditions of membership that involve curtailment of free speech, then it cannot claim to represent our country in international competition,” he said by e-mail.

Ms. Martel said the action by the team, which had won the Venice Cup, the women’s title, at the Shanghai event, could cost the federation corporate sponsors.

The players have been stunned by the reaction to what they saw as a spontaneous gesture, “a moment of levity,” said Gail Greenberg, the team’s nonplaying captain and winner of 11 world championships.

“What we were trying to say, not to Americans but to our friends from other countries, was that we understand that they are questioning and critical of what our country is doing these days, and we want you to know that we, too, are critical,” Ms. Greenberg said, stressing that she was speaking for herself and not her six teammates.

The controversy has gone global, with the French team offering support for its American counterparts.

“By trying to address these issues in a nonviolent, nonthreatening and lighthearted manner,” the French team wrote in by e-mail to the federation’s board and others, “you were doing only what women of the world have always tried to do when opposing the folly of men who have lost their perspective of reality.”

The proposed sanctions would hurt the team’s playing members financially. “I earn my living from bridge, and a substantial part of that from being hired to compete in high-level competitions,” Debbie Rosenberg, a team member, said. “So being barred would directly affect much of my ability to earn a living.”

A hearing is scheduled this month in San Francisco, where thousands of players will be gathered for the Fall North American Bridge Championships. It will determine whether displaying the sign constitutes conduct unbecoming a federation member.

Three players- Hansa Narasimhan, JoAnna Stansby and Jill Meyers - have expressed regret that the action offended some people. The federation has proposed a settlement to Ms. Greenberg and the three other players,
 
Jill Levin, Irina Levitina and Ms. Rosenberg, who have not made any mollifying statements.

It calls for a one-year suspension from federation events, including the World Bridge Olympiad next year in Beijing; a one-year probation after that suspension; 200 hours of community service “that furthers the interests of organized bridge”; and an apology drafted by the federation’s lawyer.

It would also require them to write a statement telling “who broached the idea of displaying the sign, when the idea was adopted, etc.”

Alan Falk, a lawyer for the federation, wrote the four team members on Nov. 6, “I am instructed to press for greater sanction against anyone who rejects this compromise offer.”

Ms. Greenberg said she decided to put up the sign in response to questions from players from other countries about American interrogation techniques, the war in Iraq and other foreign policy issues.

“There was a lot of anti-Bush feeling, questioning of our Iraq policy and about torture,” Ms. Greenberg said. “I can’t tell you it was an overwhelming amount, but there were several specific comments, and there wasn’t the same warmth you usually feel at these events.”

Ms. Rosenberg said the team members intended the sign as a personal statement that demonstrated American values and noted that it was held up at the same time some team members were singing along to “The Star-Spangled Banner” and waving small American flags.

“Freedom to express dissent against our leaders has traditionally been a core American value,” she wrote by e-mail. “Unfortunately, the Bush brand of patriotism, where criticizing Bush means you are a traitor, seems to have penetrated a significant minority of U.S. bridge players.”

Through a spokesman, the other team members declined to discuss the matter. Ms. Narasimhan, Ms. Stansby and Ms. Meyers have been offered a different settlement agreement, but Ms. Martel declined to discuss it in detail.

Many of those offended by the sign do not consider the expressions of regret sufficient. “I think an apology is kind of specious,” said Jim Kirkham, who has played in several bridge championships. “It’s not that I don’t forgive them, but I still think they should be punished.”

Mr. Kirkham sits on the board of the American Contract Bridge League, which accounts for a substantial portion of the federation’s financing, Ms. Martel said, and has submitted a proposal that would cut the league’s support for the federation, one of two such proposals pending.

Robert S. Wolff, one of the country’s pre-eminent bridge players, who has served as an executive and board member of several bridge organizations, said that he understood that the women might have had a legal right to do what they did but that they had offended many people.

“While I believe in the right to free speech, to me that doesn’t give anyone the right to criticize one’s leader at a foreign venue in a totally nonpolitical event,” he wrote by e-mail.

David L. Anderson, a bridge player who supports the team, said it was common to see players at international tournaments sporting buttons bearing the date “1-20-09,” when George W. Bush will hand off to a new president, as well as buttons reading “Support Our Troops.”

“They don’t go after those people,” Mr. Anderson said.

© 2007 The New York Times