My grandmother used to tell me that if you plan on digging one grave, you might as well dig two. It's too bad no one ever shared that wisdom with the person I know.
THE PINK TEE SHIRT
Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Dylan Thomas
Saturday, August 23, 2025
But Why?
Saturday, August 16, 2025
There's Nothing to Say Really
This is America right now. Our government is raging out of control. It is criminalizing being poor. And our medical system is doing everything in its power to assure that those who dare to get ill will have every last financial resource drained from them. If I seek help I will be crushed by debt I will never be able to repay...again. Or I could go outside. Maybe I will die, but I will not be tortured to death. My finances will not be vandalized and pilfered. The supposed best medical care in the whole world is of no use to those too poor to obtain it. In this country, you don't have to be poor to meet that standard.
I wish my head would quit pounding, that my side didn't feel like an icepick was chipping away at ny internal organs. Maybe then I could think straight.
It's hot. There is no breeze tonight. The world is falling apart while it spins along unaware.
Tuesday, August 5, 2025
Morning Thoughts
Standing stones in West Ridge Nature Preserve |
Saturday, July 19, 2025
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Falling Stars
So, there is this story I have been told all my life about the night that thousands of stars fell on Alabama. I can remember sitting out on my grandparent's porch on warm summer evenings watching the "falling stars" of the Perseids meteor shower. Someone would always bring up the story and my grandfather would claim that his grandfather had actually seen it. The likelihood that our ancestors had viewed it is almost !00% as they were all living here by then. But my grandfather told the story as if he'd seen it himself.
Tonight, both the Delta Aquariid and the Perseids can be seen in the skies above us. I was looking forward to seeing it, but there is a tropical depression sitting out in the Gulf of Mexico that might ruin my chances. Luckily, the star showers hang out for a few months, and I hope that it doesn't rain the entire time.
Around midnight, I will be heading out to the porch and looking up into the southern skies. If Jack decides to join me, maybe I will tell him how my ancestors and his mother's all were here to see the stars fall on Alabama.
Sleepless
The house is getting back to a normal rhythm. Jack is going out again, but not into the woods alone. At least not that I'm aware of. He's been meeting up with friends, and I try not to pay attention. Honestly,,,just...that these kids will be turned loose on their own in a year is a very frightening idea. What's worse, they will be the ones caring for us in our nursing homes...I just can't even...I'm pretty sure that my grandparents felt the same.
Tim has started his new work schedule. He is much happier than he was working close to home. He and his fiancé have been looking for property in north Georgia for both families to move too after they are married next June. They found something they are interested in, but it isn't their dream property. They are holding on putting in an offer to see if the price will drop. When Trumpsession finally hits I'm sure they will be able to get a better price, either on it or something similar. He's a paramedic and she's a court clerk. They will have jobs when no one else does.
I have been baking, and shopping. Mostly shopping it seems, and that needs to stop. But the baking...I'm getting a handle of the sourdough bread. The loaves have been good, but I have wanted a softer crust. I asked Copilot how to do that, and it gave me a few suggestions that have worked well. As scary as AI is for the future of mankind, it is a very useful tool now. But then, chat rooms used to be fun.
This is my bread recipe: The card created by AI...
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Hanging
Those that Roam the Night
He's a good kid, mostly. The cop noted that, and that he's polite. It's a good thing that his father, being a paramedic in the town, is well known to law enforcement for the right reasons. And his mother is a senior manager at the University. And her parents are well established in the area, being alumni donors to the same university. That sort of thing helps around places like this. It especially helps because his grandfather is known for hiking and exploring, having established many of the trails around here. It does explain why a teenager might be roaming around the woods at 3:00 am on a random Tuesday in July.
My fears, being the worrying kind, were that he'd find a bobcat or a snake of some wild beast suffering from rabies. There are plenty of dangers without even considering the evil caused by humans. You wouldn't want to come up on someone's still, or anything like that. Everyone knows that nothing good can be found after midnight.
But tonight, Jack found a dead body...
Sunday, July 6, 2025
Reports From the Homeland...
Saturday, July 5, 2025
And Maybe It Happened...
And if I happened to be there, innocently holding a sign and looking around, I might have been surprised that in this very red state hundreds of people were hanging around some trees that suffer from toilet paper poisoning. Not that anyone was tossing toilet paper, the football team hadn't won a game after all. I mean if there had been anyone there at all.
It was hot, and the air was soupy. So, if I had gone, I had to leave early or get sick from the heat. And if the teenager had been with me, I would have thought he'd complain about having to leave early. But if he was there, he was more interested in going home and playing video games in the air conditioning than standing out in the heat. Priorities, after all...
I'm not saying it happened, but you know...it could have... And kudos to the people walking around handing out red, white and blue popsicles.