December 29, 2023
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Family. Love ‘em, cherish, appreciate, be so grateful especially around the holidays when you’re able to be with them. Amen.
December 22, 2023
Future People. Don’t Look!
Some time ago I read a prediction that through evolution of the species, over generations of development humans would be hairless from being inside too much and therefore not needing hair for warmth and have bigger heads from too much thinking. I’m afraid that was partly wrong. I think we definitely have less hair on top, but because we don’t use our brains much anymore our heads will be shrinking. For example, do you know any phone numbers? Do you have to find your way anywhere? Do you worry about misspelling? Do you have to remember to wind your watch? To time your eggs? To fill up your car? Even know how to drive? Never mind the explosion of artificial intelligence.
In fact, as we adapt to the environment our heads will get smaller from lack of use, and we will be developing enormous thumbs. Dear God. What a sight we will be!
December 15, 2023
The car that . . . well, does everything!
Had my first ride in an all electric car, a Tesla. Yikes! It’s so quiet. The dashboard is totally plain and empty. No speedometer, no gas gauge, no buttons, no flashing lights. Just a good sized computer screen upon which you can do ANYTHING! There are nine cameras at the ready so you can see in front, in back, both sides and probably above and under. This car is smarter than Einstein and GET THIS, it farts. Not only that, but you can choose which seat will do the honors! And the one I was in didn’t have the self steering app, which would be $6000 extra. Yeow. Is this the car of the future? I can see that people in the next generation won’t have any need for a brain. Just nimble fingers.
December 8, 2023
Words of Wisdom
I saw this on Facebook and I think it bears repeating.
If you vote for an 81 year old man in 2024, you will have a chance to vote for a new generation in 2028. If you vote for a 78 year old, you’ll never vote again.
December 1, 2023
Roar
I see in a catalogue a printer that will print from my iphone, no computer, and for $169. I’m sold. Sure enough, two days later I am roused from my afternoon nap by a sharp rap on the door and here it is! Small but efficient. So I unwrap all the components, put the paper and the tray in the little box, follow the plugs and wait. There’s some instruction about Bluetooth, which I didn’t even know I had. Then “Turn on your printer.” I press the power button. Nothing. I check the plugs, even plug it into a different outlet. Nothing. Press, press, press. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Disgusted, I give up, go eat supper, watch the news, resigned to a wasted $169.
But no. I think. I eliminate . I discriminate. I speculate. It’s got to be the power button. So I go back and look closely. Hmmmm. The button, on close scrutiny seems to be a little higher on one end. I push. Hard. A light lights. The box hums and beeps. OMG! I go back to Bluetooth and there it is! I click on the printer. Suddenly, without further ado, it starts whirring. Out comes a picture, all yellow. Then back in, more whirr and click, and out it comes, all orange. I’m mesmerized. In again, and then out, all blue! I’m getting a pattern here and wait a few more ins and outs. The final picture, beautiful! Really vibrant colors . I did it! I am woman! Here me roar!
November 24, 2023
“The tangled web we weave”
I’m searching for the words to describe , when all the leaves are down, those bare trunks, branches, and twigs, a tangled web, much like the fishing line we struggled with on the pier in Maine one summer when I was ten, or the mess of yarn in the box when skeins of yarn join up before being rolled into a ball . This tangled web, best seen in the early evening when the sky is slate gray and the web is black and stands out. How sad that the developers in town cut trees down to make way for parking spaces or more four story buildings to rent out to students. How sad that before too long we’ll be left with nothing but street signs to remind us of all the trees that once ornamented our town; chestnut, oak, elm, sycamore, linden, beech and poplar. Sad.
November 17, 2023
Am I Okay?
I once had three kids in diapers (in the days before Pampers)all at the same time, and thanks to my mother, I had a diaper service from a local laundry. The day came when I could cancel the service and the guy calls ,all worried,” was there a problem?”
So I expect a similar scenario because I buy almost daily from Amazon, and I fully expect if I miss a day, the delivery driver will come to the door, worried that I’m all right.
Life. Hahaha.
November 10, 2023
Finally! Heading in the right/correct direction!
It was nice to turn on the news the day after voting and to have my faith in humanity restored. The Democratic governor of deeply red state Kentucky was reelected over the Trump endorsed Republican and Thank the Lord! abortion rights have been approved in many states including Ohio.
I always loved the bumper sticker that said “Against abortion? Don’t have one!”
November 3, 2023
Halloween…Bah, Humbug
In spite of my personal distaste for Halloween – isn’t life frightening enough as it is? – and my aversion to seeing kids devour hordes of candy of no nutritional value and parents approve of begging and threatening tricks if not accommodated, it is heartening to see families celebrating and spending time together. It appears that Halloween is a huge undertaking in some parts of Florida and involves adults in elaborate costume and displays. Even here in Ohio the holiday was extended over several days and culminated on Halloween in a successful well populated Trick or Treat night.
In this day and age, as we watch men gun down each other and massacre innocent civilians over territorial rights, and unstable young men attain machine guns and make racial and ethnic threats, it’s nice to see some happiness and a sense of normalcy. So we have a generation of young people with bad teeth who think skeletons are worthy decorations. I’ll move on.
October 27, 2023
Signs of the times
It’s that time of year when political signs spring up in front yards, followed by Facebook complaints that their sign was stolen and probably by college kids. It’s been my experience that it’s not college kids but high school kids or even younger. I can say this because I found some obviously stolen signs in my garage which have been there since I had school age kids myself.
“Property of the city of Oxford” and I cringed for years until the junk man who cleaned out the garage mercifully took them away without comment or turning me in.
I also had another sign incident when I woke up one morning to find a “For Sale” sign in my front yard, mysteriously relocated from a For Sale house up the street.
I guess I’m saying if you choose to put a sign in your yard that is conveniently placed near the sidewalk or easily accessible from the street then you might as well be prepared to find it gone at some point. Sure it’s illegal, immoral and just not right. Just get another and try again. Cold weather will soon be upon us and it’s a lot harder to steal a sign if you’re wearing mittens.
October 20, 2023
Jingle, Jingle
I realize Christmas is a long way off, but I wanted to get this out so anyone who is so inclined will have time to memorize this snappy rendition and on Christmas Day can astound family and confound their friends by bursting into “Jingle Bells” in Latin.
Per nivem currimus
In raeda festiva,
Per montes eximus
Ridens omnia
In equis sonora
In animis soles
In mundo omnia rident
Pro tintinnabulis! Euge!
Tinc tinc tonc tinc tinc tonc
Tintinnabula!
Quam iucundum vehere in raeda festiva!
Tinc tinc tonc tinc tinc tonc
Tintinnabula!
Quam iucundum vehere, Io Saturnalia!
Any mistakes in the Latin or the translation are purely mine. I’m pretty sure this is the only version in the whole world.
October 13, 2023
Long, Sad, Story
The TV in the kitchen, my companion for every meal, had been behaving in an erratic way. “No Signal” it would announce and then come back for a day or two. Finally it went “No Signal” permanently. So I call Spectrum and after a short conversation we decide I need a new cable box. Sure enough, in three days it arrives on my front porch. Meanwhile I have been watching instructional You Tubes “How to install a new cable box” and I’m ready. Out come the scissors, various pliers, the instructions and I’m off. I manage to unplug the old box and successfully plug all three cords in their correct spots. There are entirely different plugs for each, so I can’t really take much credit for that maneuver. Lights flash, beeps resound and I await further instructions. Then I hit a brick wall. Call this number the screen says. So I do and after ten minutes Evan appears. I explain what I’ve done so far and he keeps saying “Awesome.” He pushes a few buttons and BEHOLD! It’s on! A few more questions, I have to push two buttons at once for three seconds and then it’s done. AWESOME I say!
I google how to dispense with the old cable box and it seems it’s worthless and as a matter of fact, obsolete. My daughter stops by and also has the bad news, a cable box is obsolete. Nobody has one anymore. She has a little something the size of an apple and her daughter has a chip and really all you need is a smart TV.
So I have just learned a lesson that I can never use. Grrr.
No wonder Spectrum was so eager to send me a new one. They probably have warehouses full of these technological dinosaurs.
September 29, 2023
Waiting . . . Waiting. . .
Somehow Mother Nature didn’t get the memo; “It’s Fall!” You know, when the leaves turn color and FALL! Instead, here it is the last week in September and there are five leaves on the ground and five gazillion still green on the tree. I’m sure there is some explanation, probably having to do with the weather and global warming. But we can always blame the Russians, the Chinese and as a last resort, the Republicans.
October 6, 2023
Stop Yer Complainin’
I think we’ll have to let this week just slip by. There’s nothing to write about except Jimmy Carter has worked tirelessly to eradicate a nasty disease, the beautiful warm fall weather has ended, the leaves are still on the trees and still mostly green, the Reds failed in their bid for a wild card berth, the Bengals are doing poorly, my kitchen TV has broken down and a replacement cable box is in the mail and I’m forced to eat my meals watching. the rain come down and the temperature fall. Life is still good and I can’t complain. Oh sorry. I just did.
September 22, 2023
Click, click, click click click
In a recent New Yorker article – typically long, detailed, definitive – Elizabeth Kolbert describes how scientists are attempting to record and then translate the clicks and clacks that emanate from sperm whales. It is heartening to know that, unlike some cretins in this world who are spending time and brain power on blowing up innocent people and their lives, many scholars are trying to use modern technology and artificial intelligence to reconstruct what would be language used by other species. The ultimate goal? “To increase awareness of thousands of endangered species and to motivate the world to stop the runaway destruction of life”.
September 15, 2023
Priceless
A Facebook post shows a florist shop in London that sells only poisonous plants – hemlock, oleander, deadly nightshade, etc. The comment. “Do they have a gift shop?”
September 8, 2023
Or Lucky Coincidence
Serendipity — an aptitude for making desirable connections by accident. So here I am, reading “Unlikely Animals” a novel by Annie Hartnett and reveling in the array of unusual animals, and then passing through a few pages of “What An Owl Knows” by Jennifer Ackerman and learning that what appears to be ears are really tufts of hair and their ears are slits in the side of their heads and then picking up the latest New Yorker only to find it is their “Animal Issue” including an article about trying to carry a huge turtle {the non snapping kind) onto an airplane, claiming it’s an emotional support animal (likewise the same attempt with a pig in an exclusive New York restaurant and a large turkey into a neighborhood deli!) And there’s James Thurber’s famous four toed dog, running across the cover of an issue published the year I was born! Truly serendipitous!
September 1, 2023
Off With His Head!
I’m thinking maybe he doesn’t have to go to prison. After all, he was President of the United States. At the very least, he should be barred from ever holding public office again. But then, Martha Stewart was sent to jail , just for insider trading. This man, not only appointed incompetent people to the Supreme Court, but led his followers in an insurrection against his own country and attempted to subvert the democratic process. These are serious crimes and he should not get away scot free. So on second thought, he probably should go to jail. It would be more like a resort hotel anyhow.
August 25, 2023
A Poem
A favorite from Mary Oliver, RIP;
Except for the body
Of someone you love,
Including all its expressions
In privacy and in public,
Trees, I think,
Are the most beautiful
Forms on the earth.
Though, admittedly,
If this were a contest,
The trees would come in
An extremely distant second.
August 18, 2023
Kerchoo.
Have you ever heard a deer sneeze? My visiting doe did just that several times right as she was drinking out of the bird bath. So now I’ve heard a fawn bleat and a ground hog grunt. The only thing left to wish for is to hear a former president say he’s sorry for all the trouble he’s caused. Oh, probably not.
August 11, 2023
The Calm
I usually write about the dog days of August, but honestly the weather has been beautiful – cool, dry, sunny. It’s downright boring to mention the former president and his legal troubles. More indictments? Ho hum. Corruption in the Supreme Court? No surprise there. And the town is pretty dead. No traffic to complain about. No long lines at Dunkin Donuts. So forget this week. It’s the calm before the storm.
August 4, 2023
And the circle, it goes round and round.
Well, here it is, August, and one or two June bugs are still lighting up my back yard. Mother Nature’s little fireworks. Not as spectacular as the community Fourth of July celebration and not accompanied by piped in music, but still lovely. And now come the crickets, buzzing away, or are they unfortunate cicadas who forgot they are supposed to be underground, taking a seventeen year nap?
At any rate, the buzzers will go on all fall, until they too will fade away and be reduced to a few holdouts, then one or two, then come winter, none. Ah, the cycle of life. Wondrous.
July 28, 2023
Yes, yes, and yes. Punctuation matters.
The doe and I spent some quality time together this morning. She had her breakfast, sat ruminating in a quiet secluded spot near the fence, got up, scratched her hide, thanks to her long neck, even to the farthest point on her back, rubbed the top of her head on the underside of the birdbath, thus answering my question, who is spilling the water out of said birdbath every once in a while? And finally, she eats shoots and leaves, or if you believe in the Oxford comma, and living in Oxford Ohio, who doesn’t? She could eat, shoots, and leaves, meaning she eats, pulls out her firearm and discharges it and then exits. Either way, she ended her visit by chasing away a curious fawn (maybe hers,,maybe not, ) followed up by a romp in the neighbor’s yard.
July 21, 2023
Going Deep
Well, well. “It’s a deep subject” Ed Bellamy would inevitably say.
Moving right along, I recently had my kitchen deep cleaned, which meant parts of the room saw a wet cloth for the first time in 20 years. I’ll confess to sorta deep cleaning the rest of the house (back of closets, unreachable light fixtures, outside of windows) once in a blue moon. It’s usually shallow cleaning, surface dusting, a swipe with the vacuum.
There’s also deep learning, only for PhD candidates and fanatics who really enjoy learning the Latin names of exotic plants, or the 500 types of whatever.
I suppose there is deep music, learning the symphonic parts of a Bach composition as opposed to humming along to a favorite commercial. La,la,la.
Not to mention deep sea fishing, But let’s not get carried away. Too much deep thinking.
July 14, 2023
Crazy Times
AI? Artificial Intelligence? What? My voice can be reproduced exactly? It’s bad enough that we have telephones and tv’s that can think. A radio that tells you when a package has arrived, or that it’s going to rain today.
And now we have to speed up a baseball game with a pitcher’s clock? Isn’t life fast enough?
I sing a song that describes a milkman (now extinct} and a mailman (soon to be replaced by e mail and text). I have a watch that is a Dick Tracy watch come to life. I can answer the phone by talking to my wrist.
Stop! Just stop. This is not progress. This is insanity.
July 7, 2023
Being Real
Fourth of July family festival was somewhat frantic, always fun. The basketball hoop was declared unfixable and relegated to the rubbish. So the basketball was replaced with the Frisbee, probably permanently. It’s pretty hard to damage a plastic disc.
There was a lot of food, the usual corn hole tournament, lots of catching up and watching Kelley playing mandolin and singing at a bluegrass jam. My take away is how authentic and inclusive everyone is, {I think it might be a Midwest thing} especially the musicians. They urged anyone who could play or sing to “Come on up”! It’s so refreshing. I didn’t watch the news for four days.
And the final report on the birdbath? It got fixed!
The Fourth. American as Apple Pie.
Over the Fourth of July weekend we’re having a mini-family reunion. Twenty-two kids, grandkids, aunts and uncles from all over the country will congregate for food, fun and games. So I’m, hoping out of all these people, someone will be able to straighten up the bird bath and rehang the basketball hoop which they broke the last time they were here. Other than that, let the festivities begin!
Stay tuned. Next week will reveal bird bath and basketball hoop results.
June 23, 2023
Summertime, and the livin’ is easy
No hats, gloves, scarves and boots! Just step outside and enjoy that beautiful weather. And the multiple parking spaces. And breeze through Dunkin Donuts with no waiting line. Enjoy the outdoor movies in the park. The Snazzy Boutique musicales in the side yard. The Shademakers profusion of color and variety of flowers lining the sidewalk. The uptown park, lively with picnickers and kids jumping around the splash fountains. The farmers markets, overflowing with fresh produce. The lightening bugs. The long days. Yes! Enjoy!
June 16, 2023
The Total Picture
My youngest grandchild just turned 21 and my brother will be 90 in the fall. As I try to reconcile these facts, the doe appears in the back yard, limping and nursing an awkwardly bent leg. She has three good ones, so she’ll probably be okay.
After reading and being totally enthralled with Stephen King’s novel, 11/22/63, my long term memory brings up the picture of a tall, smart, flat-chested teenager (not a recipe for popularity) living in the shadow of the Kennedy’s and Marilyn Monroe.
And there you have it. LIFE.
June 9, 2023
Fake, fake, fake
Have you ever seen a picture of an Indian in full headdress, smiling? How about any formal portrait taken before 1920? Even in my own family, a group picture of three generations and there is a slight hint of a smile on most of us, although I myself have my usual anxious facial composition.
Fast forward to the present. I have seen my grandchildren’s faces totally revert to brilliant smiles when confronted with a selfie. Exuberant happiness on demand. And what about all that laughter and gorgeous smiles in TV ads? How happy we are to be buying a car! Or eating a hamburger! People are always laughing and grinning whether dining out, seeing their insurance salesman, riding bikes, running marathons, you name it.
I guess it’s better than watching people cry or grieve. There’s enough of that in the news. But really. Is there some happy medium? It’s just so FAKE.
June 2, 2023
Play Ball!
The Reds are hot! They swept the Cubs over the Memorial Day weekend and are in 3rd place in their division, That’s good for them! My favorite memory of my Dad is his listening to the Red Sox on the radio while painting the house or hanging wall paper. And in later years we would all go to Fenway (box seats) but no matter what the score, we’d leave at the beginning of the ninth inning “to avoid the traffic” and then listen to the end of the game on the car radio.
Baseball. America’s pastime. Always a fan.
May 25, 2023
Insects. No.
So enters the season of green. It seems like overnight all the leaves are flourishing and the weeds proliferating. I have seen three insects already. Big, black ants and a couple of little round bugs. I know they outnumber us by the millions. Nevertheless, we have bigger brains and have somehow managed to live in houses with all the amenities, while they live in hills of dirt and in cracks in the wall. And they are so nervy! The ant showed up in my bathtub and this morning one ran right up the side of my coffee mug.
Ugh. I hate ants especially. So quiet, fast, and have no respect for one’s privacy. I know birds eat millions of tons of insects a year, so go get ‘em feathered friends!
May 18, 2023
Hold It!
Stop! Stop growing so fast! Thanks to all the rain we’ve had this spring, everything that can grow is going nuts. The grass needs a cut every week. The weeds are way out of control. The flowers are blooming earlier than usual. The squirrels are larger than last year. I’m feeling overwhelmed.
Even the grandchildren. Graduating from college? Getting high paying jobs? Buying cars? Walking around Europe? Getting engaged? Good Grief!
May 12, 2023
Meow?
The cat birds are back! A sure sign that we have turned the corner and summer is almost here. Such a beautiful bird with that completely gray color, slightly darker head and squared off tail and a barely noticeable red patch underneath. And what a noise! I guess some people hear a cat’s meow, but I’ve never heard a cat sound like that – a kind of squeak, a pinched nerve, a distinctive sound so you KNOW it’s a cat bird. Welcome!
May 5, 2023
Queen of Hearts. Queen Bee. But Queen Camilla?
I’m not completely comfortable with the idea that Camilla will become Queen Camilla. After all, when Elizabeth became Queen, Philip did not take on the title King Philip. In fact, he always remained Prince Philip and kept his respectful two steps behind her whenever they appeared together. Camilla can be Queen Consort, but it appears that Charles will just happen to drop the second half of that title. And she will be anointed with all due pomp and ceremony on Saturday. Will she get a crown? A scepter? The whole business is so undemocratic. So un-American. Well, duh.
I guess I just miss Diana who would have been a lovely Queen, a caring Mother and who wouldn’t want a Grandma like her!
April 28, 2023
Not Golden years. Olden.
Now that I find myself on the wrong side of 85, things happen. I’m no longer called for jury duty. I cannot participate in psychological experiments and collect travel expenses. I can’t even fill out a questionnaire (participants must be from 18 to 85). I get helped across the street and have groceries delivered. Why are people driving so fast? And when did they start mumbling? Golden Years? Bah! Humbug!
April 21, 2023
Spring? Summer? Winter?
I know everyone talks about the weather, but really, it’s been so screwy this week. One day everyone is wearing shorts (well, everyone under 30) and the next day we have a freeze warning. Today it’s warm, this weekend, cold. And the vegetation is simply exploding. My pathetic array of lily-of-the-valley has multiplied and is now covering the little garden with lush green leaves and outsized flowers. I’m not complaining. It’s just so unexpected this early.
April 14, 2023
The Grass is Always Greener . . .
Recent reading of Wildlife magazine brought to my attention three birds found in Australia, the Phillipines or some other place on the other side of the world with names of jaw dropping cuteness; willi wagtail, the blue striped fangblenny and the ever popular blue footed booby. So how come we have a robin, sparrow or blue jay? How boring!
April 7, 2023
The Carousel of Life
Finally! A morning that is warm enough that I can throw out my usual breakfast bird buffet and then leave the door open. How wonderful to hear the cardinals and robins sing, the squirrels chatter and the starlings squeak and kinda talk among themselves. “Summer is a comin in. I can feel it, by gum!”
March 31, 2023
At Your Service
Over the past few weeks I’ve had to call for help. First shingles were falling off the roof, one by one, then in groups. So I called a roofer and they obliged (also thanks to the insurance company) but a few wind storms later long strips of metal trim began to hang off the house and roofer guy had to come back. Mission accomplished. Then the dryer stopped along with a load of wet laundry and I had to call an appliance repairman who referred me to an electrician. Next came the cable box recorder that would freeze right in the middle of a Stephen Colbert’s scintillating monologue. Cable guy arrives on schedule, fiddles around, leaves, then comes a second time to help install a new box and smart TV.
I’m grateful for their service — the mailman, the plumber, the lawn cutters, firemen, policemen. Life is good and I hope they’re all getting the salary they deserve.
March 24, 2023
No News is Good News
The big news this week was that there was no news. I faithfully turn on CNN every day, only to hear that there is no news. Waiting for the Grand Jury in New York to indict or not indict the former president. Waiting for the Federal Prosecutor to move on the Mar a lago fiasco. Waiting for China to give Putin military aid in his despicable war on Ukraine. Waiting for Winter to LET GO! I’ll wait.
March 17, 2023
Time. A Very Illusive Subject.
I’m getting too much attention. Just had a “winter weather alert” with all the exclamation points and red letters to inform me that there would be snow in the forecast “with little or no accumulation.” OMG. Was that necessary?
And BTW, when did a weatherman become a “meteorologist”? Like how many meteors have been sighted or predicted? Why don’t we call them “asteroidiologists”? Is someone trying to make a job more important than it is? As a matter of fact, a weatherman actually is becoming obsolete. If I want to know anything about the weather, current temp, forecast for the next few hours, statistics , temperatures around the world, I only have to look down at the watch on my wrist. Or I could look out the window. At any time.
And speaking of time, what time is it really? Where did that hour go that I lost last weekend? Daylight saving? Where is it saved? On my hard drive? In a cloud?
Rant over.
March 10, 2023
From a New Yorker cartoon. Two birds, flying, and one says to the other, “Try not to look like a balloon.”
Hahaha
March 3, 2023Y
Yah Dee Dah
If you have a universal remote, it can be used for any TV in the universe. Right? Well, I have discovered a universal language/lyric that can be used for any song. “Ya dee dah dah dee dah, or any variation. So, when singing “The Star Spangled Banner” and you embarrassingly forget the words, just insert the universal lyric. “The rockets red glare, the bombs dah dah dee dah.” Or in the midst of a rousing “Happy Birthday”, “Happy Birthday to you, yah dee dah dah dee DOO.” You can easily make it rhyme with a little ad libbing.
A cautionary note. It’s probably not a good idea to use it in church, or singing at the Metropolitan Opera or while taking an oath, like “I solemnly swear ya dee dah dah dee dah.”
February 24, 2023
Hello! Anyone home?
Remember when you had a phone you could depend on? You knew where it was (on the wall in the kitchen), you didn’t have to charge it, or assign it a password. When you picked it up, there was always a dial tone. It was always working, through rain, snow, sunspots, lightening, whatever. How many times did you have to talk to someone on the other side of the world who barely spoke English, trying to get help? NEVER.
Sure, you had to pay for it, but did you ever even dream that it might not WORK? oh, excuse me. I have to answer the phone that happens to be on my wrist. Hello! Hello! Tap, tap. Dick Tracy here. Oh, just leave a message.
February 17, 2023
It happens every year.
In the morning recently I’ve heard the birds singing. Loudly. Vigorously. And yesterday I noticed some green shoots coming up from a once presumed dead plant. Halleluia! Spring is coming!
February 10, 2023
Raise Your Hand!
In nursery school and even kindergarten, you probably felt free to speak out anytime you wanted. But by the time you were in third grade, you learned that in a classroom and with a teacher in charge, you had to raise your hand and wait to be called on if you had something to say. Unfortunately, Marjorie Taylor Greene seems to be stuck in the kindergarten level of behavior, as, at the State of the Union Address, she was heard to yell out at the President of the United States 9 times, “You’re a liar”. This is the same woman who complained on Fox News that she really doesn’t like her job because it requires her to spend too much time in Washington.
As Brian Cohen said ,”I could be comatose and would have a better grasp of reality than Marjorie Taylor Greene.”
Who votes for these people? Are they listening?
February 3, 2023
Questions
Why do old, white men think they have the right to make American women give birth to a baby they don’t want to have?
Why are people allowed to glorify the Confederate flag by waving it from their trucks, carrying it in parades, wearing it on their heads — which is clearly an insult to African Americans?
Why did the Scorpion unit of the Memphis police keep on beating Tyre Nichols, even though his hands were secured behind his back and he was on the ground?
Why didn’t one of those police officers yell “Stop” and tell the beaters to desist?
Why wasn’t Mr. Nichols given medical help the moment it arrived?
Why was a six year old given access to a gun?
Why didn’t one of the adults who knew he was carrying a gun in school not take it away from him immediately?
Why are some of the January 6 rioters spending time in jail while the person who egged them on remains free and enjoying playing golf on his resort home in Florida?
Why am I watching the news?
January 27, 2023
Yard Saga II
In the back yard he has constructed two (yes, two) pagodas, a kinda room made of four (in his case 8) columns, fastened to the ground and then covered with a fabric to protect you from the sun, rain, whathaveyou. No problem there except two of the columns are now leaning precipitously toward the hole in the fence, and the covering has untied itself and is flapping in the wind. Also in that back area is a large couch with matching chair which no one will ever sit in again, several flower pots with the remains of long dead blooms, left over building materials from projects either abandoned or still to come , and other detritus.
I’m not making this up.
January 20, 2023
Yard Saga
My neighbor did not have a good year. First his century old tree blew down, damaging the house next door, ripping up his fence and pulling up an eight foot root ball which then destroyed his patio floor which he had spent days, weeks, months, patiently setting in pave stones. Tap tap tap, measure, level, etc.
Then he took up his rifle, practicing at the new local shooting gallery. Until he shot himself in the leg while cleaning it. Left a bullet in it and managed to pull the trigger? Then came the unseasonably cold weather and, luck would have it, his furnace failed. So they were spending every night somewhere else, presumably warm.
Three weeks later the furnace repair people show up, but they can’t fix it if they can’t get to it, so out of the basement comes pile after pile of STUFF. Empty cat litter boxes (how many can you use?) broken screen, empty boxes, pieces of wood, rags, objects of no use, chairs, broken doors, etc. etc.
Join that pile with the already laden bag of more stuff, next to innumerable ladders which he will probably never mount again (he’s graduated from a walker to a cane),hoses, tools, gasoline cans, flower pots and just plain JUNK.
So my hope for 2023 is for a strong tornado to sweep through and carry it all away. Yes.
January 13, 2023
Extremely Weird
“Unprecedented,” “never before in the history of mankind,” “last seen 200 years ago,” ”not within living memory,” etc. etc. How many times this past year have we heard these expressions of incredulity, amazement, disbelief and awe? It’s not just Trumpism. It’s the bizarre behavior of politicians, the wild weather, climate change, the proliferation of guns and gun violence, the Russians, the Chinese, you name it.
I guess if you live long enough, you can expect to notice extremes. But how do you explain it all to a ten year old? When I was ten, my parents blamed the Armenians. Who do we blame now? Ourselves? I think yes.
January 6, 2023
Democracy. Hang in there.
I’m reading the report from the January 6th Select Committee and it is jaw-dropping. For months, one man continued to promote the big lie, that he had won the election . He was continually told that he had lost, that the courts all ruled that the election was fair and legal, there was no fraud, yet he over and over maintained the opposite. Then on January 6 he attempted to disenfranchise 7 million Americans and disrupt the democratic process, the foundation of our country. Will he ever be held accountable?
And now the debacle in the House of Representatives. Stay tuned for that one.
Tally Harwood 