Another Illinois governor, another criminal trial.

Greg and I lived in Springfield, Ill., when Rod Blagojevich began his term. Among the immediate problems his administration presented were the difficulty of fitting that name in a headline and Greg’s inability to pronounce Blagojevich.

The people of Springfield disliked him because he was the first governor who chose not to live in the capital. Instead, he flew between Chicago and Springfield at taxpayer expense. He said this was to avoid moving his children. Springfield folks took this mean that their schools weren’t good enough. And while Springfield was nowhere near as exciting as Chicago, it was afterall good enough for a certain tall, bearded president. And for the world’s most fabulous mutt, too.

Illinois has produced some great people, and I hope our next president will be one of them. But it has certainly provided some stinkers, too. At least if Blagojevich is convicted, he’ll have company. His predecessor, George Ryan, is in prison right now.

Greg is nine months older than me, which never seemed to matter much before, but with his penchant for injuries, his body is probably 30 years older than mine. Still, we’ve been getting by fine.

We went back to the doctor yesterday to learn the results of his MRI. We were happy to learn that he had merely fractured a bone in his knee. It should tell you something about his previous injuries that a broken knee bone can be considered a good thing. So, no surgery.

The full recovery will take a couple months though, so he will still be hobbled for our time at the Austin City Limits Music Fest this weekend and for our hiking in New England next week. Don’t feel sorry for him. I asked him repeatedly (”nagged” would be the proper term) what was going to happen when he got hurt at this tae kwon do test. And he would just sigh at his wife, his wife who has so little confidence in him, and assure me that he was going to be careful and would not get hurt. But I digress.

The doctor gave Greg a brace for his knee, and he’s still using crutches to get around. When I got home last night, I saw something sitting in the family room that confused me. Ladies and gentlemen, a cane rested next to the TV. At first, I wondered who our geriatric visitor was. But no, I am living with the oldest 29-year-old in Austin.

Greg was in bed but had woken up when I got home.

“Greg, do I have to be seen with a man who uses a cane?” I called to him in the next room.

“No, you GET to be seen with a man who uses a cane,” he said. He pointed out that this was better than a walker.

And I suppose it is. Nonetheless, I’m going to start looking into some assisted living facitilities. I don’t know if he’s steady enough on his feet to be living at home anymore.

About a month ago, I read “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.” For those who don’t know, the writer compares our current food chain to the old way of doing things. He looks at the sources of a fast-food meal, an organic meal, a farm meal and a hunter/gatherer meal. He concludes, of course, that the current food system is bad for both us and the environment. He also talks about the treatment of animals, including the pig, which he explains is one of the smarter animals on the planet.

After I finished the book, I reluctantly passed it off to Greg. He is a better person than I am and has often talked about becoming a vegetarian because he doesn’t feel right about eating animals. I figured this book would finally push him over the edge.

He finished it, and while he hasn’t yet jumped to the vegetarian camp, he did say that he was especially bothered by the treatment of the pigs. I mentioned that we could stop eating pork, although this is something I’m reluctant to do because it’s my favorite meat.

A few days ago, Greg made a grocery list and headed to the store. I almost always make the list because I tend to do a lot of the cooking, but it’s sometimes fun to see what Greg likes to eat.

He came home with ingredients for several meals. He didn’t buy any chicken, which is almost always a staple. But he did buy pork chops, bacon and ham. Either he’s going on one last pork bender before his conversion, or the book had absolutely no effect on him. I’m still waiting to find out.