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yeah I know you did not ask!
I pulled into a convenience store the other night. Alright, alright, alright… I pulled in to buy a lottery ticket. Before I got out of the truck I put on my black pandemic mask. I had on my usual ball cap. I did not have far to go, but it was very cold outside so I zipped my jacket up as far as it would go. Then as I stepped out of the truck I had the random thought that all I needed at this point was a gun in my pocket.
Surely, I am not the only one.
I cannot begin to tell how glad I am that they are finally banning Trump from all these social media platforms. However, the cynical part of me is not applauding these corporations. They waited until it was obvious to even a blind, deaf and dumb Dungeons & Dragons wizard that Trump was not going to be able to steal the election. That is not my definition of courage. It is not my definition of being socially responsible. 
And so it goes…
Keep well.
My mother has been in a nursing home with Alzheimer’s for a while now. Part of the process of the move was selling her house and dividing up her stuff. From that time period I have a couple of cardboard boxes that I have never really gone through. In an attempt to organize the closet in my man cave, I pulled out those two boxes. In one I found my baby book. I was the first child of a 50s’ mother who was married at 17 and had her first child when she was 18. I don’t really know if she continued the tradition of a baby book with my 4 siblings, but I suspect not. The last time I remember looking at this book I must have been in 4th grade.
What grabbed my attention this time around as well as in the 4th grade was the section recording the mother’s and father’s first words on seeing the baby. For my mother’s first words, what is now written in the book is, “My goodness, he looks like a Negro”. These are not the words that I Continue reading “Revisionist History – Juanita Style “
If you got 30 minutes or so here is a very well done report and analysis of the mobbing of our Capitol Building from a New York Times podcast, The Daily. Spoiler alert it was not spontaneous. They warn you and I will too, there is strong language in the podcast.
The other mind blowing thing I came across today was a poll by YouGov as reported in Newsweek.
45 Percent of Republican Voters Support Storming of Capitol Building: Poll
I have almost never agreed with Republicans, but I used to respect them even with their differing opinions. That is not so anymore. We need to get back to teaching Civics and History. Hell we need to get back to teaching manners.
Just as aside, surely it is just not me? When I look at the Proud Boys and other MAGA mobsters in their paramilitary (and worse) grab with their phallic symbols dangling over their shoulders, I am reminded of a bunch of 12 year old boys playing army in an empty lot. Time for the Lost Boys to grow up.
And so it goes.
Keep well.
“Reality has a well-known liberal bias.” ~~ Steven Colbert
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So I finished The Book of Delights: Essays by Ross Gay. In its place I have placed in the “meditation room” a book by Richard Carlson, Ph.D. entitled Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff… and it’s all small stuff. The title of the essay I read this morning was Imagine that Everyone Is Enlightened Except You. It immediately made me think of my first rule of driving: Everyone on the road is an idiot except me, AND I should not be too sure about myself.
The base premise of the essay is that every obnoxious driver, discourteous clerk, line cutter, etc is actually an enlightened person that is trying to teach you a necessary lesson. They are teaching you about patience, forbearance, acceptance, etc.
Part of me finds this an interesting concept of how to go through your day and deal with all the frustrations, big and little, that come our way. It would certainly help to maintain your blood pressure in an acceptable range. But it does remind me a bit of the old joke about the man who prayed for patience. Boy, did the deity send him some lessons to learn patience.
But then part of me thinks, “Well, Grasshopper, maybe you’re the enlightened person trying to teach them a lesson when you flip them off or get in their face…”
But then you say, “Oh Grasshopper, cannot you see that is two sides of the same coin?”
Must be a lot of us out there needing to get us some learning!
And so it goes…
Keep well.
A while back I wrote a little story, A bushel and a peck… about buying a small painting while we were in New Orleans. The painting has a little bird with the saying, “I Love You, a Bushel and a Peck”. I speculated in that posting about completing the ditty with another painting that said “…and a Hug around the Neck”.
I contacted the artist, Katie Leese, at her website JeanBird.com. I told her what I wanted. She sent me a couple pictures of possible backgrounds, and the artistic Señora picked one. Katie’s surcharge for custom work was only $10 more than the price of one of her paintings on her website or at her stand in New Orleans I think the pair display very nicely in our kitchen. Most importantly, they make both our hearts glad when we see them. It was money well spent.
Keep well.
Robin and I were in St. Charles visiting some friends. After we crossed the Missouri River, we took the back way home. We drove down River Valley Drive and eventually turned up the steep hill that is Hog Hollow Drive. About half up we came across this. For wild turkeys they were not the least skittish.
Serendipity
Keep well.
“It has been said, ‘time heals all wounds.’ I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone.” ~~ Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy
There are many different words that I could and do use to describe my wife, Robin. One such word would be charismatic; people are just attracted to her. She genuinely loves people, and people love her back. She is kind and patient, qualities that served her well during her 30 plus years as a special education teacher. She is also a bit ADHD, but she uses it to good stead, getting a lot done with her need to keep moving and to be doing something.
She has also experienced great strife and loss in her life. She and her mother had a very “complicated” relationship. Continue reading “Sarah’s Smiles”