Summer Round-Up

I find it totally unacceptable that I have to read my own blog to find what the last thing I wrote about. I never plan to close the blog and disappear, but that is in essence what happens. 

The summer has been busy. Quite a lot has happened. As noted in the post from a few months ago we strong-armed the slum lord into fixing the roof. Our plan was to deep clean the house afterward. But first we survived the Seattle heat wave. It was no joke. We made it through by covering ourselves and our animals with wet towels and drinking Gatorade. It's seems like we are complaining excessively about it. But it really was a serious event. Our roads buckled in the heat and the glaciers melted off the mountain.

The following weekend our friend, Sue came to visit. I will probably write about her at some point. She is a real character. This visit was followed quickly by our Family Vacation to Ft. Worden. We stayed at the state park this year instead of the farm. We loved the NCO housing at the fort. To Army brats like us, it was like a visit home. But like so many things, many of the attractions and shops are still closed for Covid. But Sue joined us for the first day and then another friend, Sandy came for the rest of our stay. We enjoyed the beach, the beautiful surroundings, worked puzzles and ate great sea food and just generally had a relaxing time of fellowship. It is really is nice that we have two affordable and enjoyable places to stay there. It is one of our favorite places.

But for me, the best part of the summer was my birthday present from Mollie and Chris. This year they gave me a present of their presence. They flew over from Chicago to celebrate with me. I had four whole days with them and their only request was to let them know they weren't in Chicago anymore. Easy peasy in Washington State. This place is a type A overperformer when it comes to raw beauty. Add the Museum of Glass, Pike Place Market, The Lindwood Troll and a trip through the passes, well I think they knew they were in a different place. 

But the best gift is one that I don't think they understood they were giving me. They have invited me to visit over Christmas. I am so excited. I was disappointed after I flew here more than two years ago. I felt that I had wasted the entire trip because there is this whole beautiful country and I flew over it. I didn't really get to see it. So I will remedy it. I have purchased a ticket on Amtrak's Empire Builder. I will see  the Lewis and Clark trail and Glacier National Park on my way to Chicago. I will be taking the California Zephyr and the Costal Starlight on the way home. It will allow me to see large swaths of the country. It will have me on trains for a total of 5 nights, and I'm a little worried about personal distancing. But I am vaccinated for Covid and the flu and will get a booster before I go if they are available. I will keep my mask on and douse myself with hand sanitizer. What could go wrong? Still, it is amazing what having something I'm excited about and looking forward to has done for my mental health. 

So, I am sorry that once again I have neglected you. I will make no promises, but you may be where I write incessantly about my excitement and upcoming travels.

This Old House...

We pay a price for the autonomy we enjoy in this house. We rent it from a slum-lord. 

We have six cats and a dog who is a pitt-rotty mix. I can't imagine that we could find another house to live in. But over-all the place is benefitting from us living here. The cats are mousers. Living beside a railroad track, that's important. They are abundantly adept at keeping the rodent population of the entire neighborhood down. The dog is his own story. He only looks scary. He doesn't have to be scary because nobody bothers us here. The house from the outside looks like one you would break out of, not in to.

Many years ago my brother and sister were both poor and desperate when they moved in. From what my siblings tell me it was a filthy, horror house dump when SL was showing it. The deal they struck was that SL would leave siblings alone and siblings would pay SL somewhat on time every month. Writing it down that way makes it sound like SL got taken, but not so. Karen and Ken cleaned, painted and repaired the house to make it livable and comfortable. It is in much better shape than when SL was attempting to rent it on Craig's List. 

The main disfiguring scar on the house has been the roof. The abandoned satellite dish that was attached had caused such a leak that four years ago the ceiling fell into the laundry room. SL had someone give him an estimate to repair the roof and decided to only repair the ceiling in the laundry room. The leak was repaired by placing a tarp over that portion of the roof and holding it down with large stones. You can see them on the street view of the house on Google Maps. Heck, you can see them as you  pass on the interstate that runs beside the property. SL has no shame. I have wondered if the obvious disrepair wasn't some kind of badge of accomplishment among his peers. We could have had shame too, but the cheaper rent, and the animals, and everyone leaving the old people alone was a boon to us, and no one actually 'lives' in the laundry room.

We limped along, ignoring the elephant for the full two years that I have been here. The tarp did better than expected. It prolonged the inevitable by years. The laundry room ceiling has fallen again. We began discussing how we were going to bring it up to SL when SL informed us of a huge rent increase. He made and excuse, saying that it was due to increases in taxes and insurance. By the time Karen told Ken and I about the increase she had already answered SL. She told him the same thing that was the first to come out of our mouths too; fix the roof. 

On Monday he sent out a man named Rodgers to look at it. Rodgers had been the man who fixed the ceiling without fixing the roof four years ago. He agreed the roof needed to be repaired before the ceiling and took the message back to SL. On Tuesday SL texted Karen that the roof repairs would begin on Wednesday. 

Rodgers came back earlier than we imagined he would. He was on the roof stripping away the old tiles by 8:00 am. He left shortly after noon to return the next day. He has been back every morning since. He is working rather slowly. 

Karen had been panicked that SL would kick us out because of the new roof. But Rodgers says no. SL is only replacing the shingles, not the rotting wood beneath them. He's doing it on the cheap because he does not have enough sense to do it right the first time, and he's watching his pennies.  Rodgers says that not many of SL's other tenants are paying due to the eviction moratorium. That will be ending soon, so he either needs us because we are paying or because soon he will have to decide on evicting the non-payers. Either way, we are the only tenants SL is benefitting from at the moment. When I write it, I kind of feel bad for SL. But he could have fixed the roof four years ago when it would have been cheaper, when it was the obvious better choice than he made. We have no choice but to see if it was worth worrying over. Nobody wants to move; the place fits us now that the roof is fixed. So if he leaves it as it is, and the roof holds out we will probably stay.

Anne Marie

I am still feeling shocked and sad about the loss of Anne Marie. I miss her comments and her concern for Cheese. Funny thing about the internet, we can care about people we never really meet. We see only the portion of the person that they choose to show us. That view can be deceptive. But on blogs, I don't think it is most of the time. I liked the person she told me she was, and I will miss her.

The breast cancer support chat group that I was in used to have dedicated chats for the members we lost along the way. They were very cathartic for those of us who live in the shadow of recurrence. I can't imagine how something like that could work here. It just does seem we should mark her passing.

Scammed In America

 

My new glasses came tonight. I couldn't be happier with them. I'll bet you think they look just like my old glasses. They do; same shape, clear acetate frames. Very, very similar. Let me tell you what is different about them. I didn't have insurance to pay for them. I had to figure out how to make them affordable. 

Have you ever noticed that you can go into the Dollar Tree and pick up a pair of readers for a buck? If you'd like a little better quality you can go to CVS or Costco and pick up a four pack of them for twenty. There isn't so much difference in the actual make-up of the frames and lenses. The quality varies, but the ones from Costco are comparable. G’ 

So This Happened During The Pandemic

This happened a few months ago. The frames are about 12 years old. I liked them so I kept re-using them.  I won't even recite the series of unfortunate choices that led to this bit of destruction. But if your inner voice ever warns you not to put your glasses there, listen to it. 

Then there is the little inconvenience of the pandemic, and lockdown, and social distancing. Eye exams are an in your face kind of thing. So I have been wearing the 14 year old pair for a while. Then the CDC said that vaccinated people are safe to go maskless. I decided that I was willing to risk a masked visit to an eye doc. That happened last weekend. New glasses are on the way. I should have them next week. After I ordered them I took a last peek at my old pair. I'm pretty sure that I just ordered that same frame again. At least I know my sunglasses clip on will fit.

Housekeeping

Are you Netflixed out yet? I have binged on all I have ever dreamed of binging on over the past couple of years. Now I'm on to re-watching the old-timey stuff from the 80's. I was watching Big last night and thought about what an amazing career Tom Hanks has had. Then I started pondering what it must be like to click on your TV and watch yourself from your 20's and 30's. I'm pretty certain that I wouldn't enjoy that perk.

This morning those thoughts were on my mind as I opened up my blog to check comments. I love getting them. Most of them, that is. There is a subset of people who want to use comments to sell their sordid wares and a few of them found their way to my blog. I'm sorry if you were exposed to their messages. The comments were mostly imbedded deep into posts from past years. I'm not sure of the marketing strategy there, but there it is. I wouldn't have noticed it at all except that I clicked on the Comments tab on the left and they were near the top. They are deleted now. But now I'm alerted once more to the reality that this place doesn't clean itself. If I'm keeping it as a live blog I need to do some upkeep. 

The biggest issue with this blog is purely it's age. If it were a child, I'd be expecting grandchildren by now. I switched from the earliest platform I blogged on to Blogger at the end of 2006. Over the last decade and a half I have deposited a ton load of  information that is of little interest to anyone save myself. And I don't even look at it that much. And to top it all off my life has changed so drastically since I began blogging. I have grown, and changed. I don't really believe everything I put in those blogs anymore. And I just don't want it all out there anymore. A permanent public record of all my mistakes and foolishness doesn't seem so attractive anymore. 

I don't want to lose blogging. It has been a big part of my life. I decided  that the way to go with this is to make the posts I wrote before December 2018 private. I still have them and all the wonderful comments. I am just not going to share them anymore. December 2018 seemed like a good reset date; it marks the beginning of the journey I am on now.  

Over the next week I will be making some tweaks to the template I am using. I've had it a long time and it's time for a few upgrades. Nothing drastic, but every new version of Blogger the template gets a bit more skewed and some things need to be moved around a bit. 

Who knows, maybe the place will become respectable again.

Unexpected

News came in the mail on Saturday morning along with the pre-approved credit card offers and the urgent pleas for political donations. Two of the letters were for me. 

The first I had been somewhat expecting. The American Rescue Plan included a stipulation that increased the subsidy for health insurance. I suspected that my monthly payments might be decreased, but I was shocked at how very much. The plan was already a quarter of the cost of the plan that my former employer wanted to pass on to their retirees. I did not grudge paying the premiums. I only grudge the deductibles. Now I am literally paying twenty percent of that already acceptable price. It's a nice reminder that I voted for the right president. I will remember it every month when I make that token payment.

The second letter came totally out of the blue. My retirement plan wrote to tell me that they had miscalculated my monthly pension. They will be increasing my pension by more than ten percent and sending me the increase retroactively. Next week I will be receiving a small windfall that I had not foreseen. Between Social Security and my pension I had been receiving close to what I had been making before I retired. Now I will be making a small bit more. I don't have the expenses of working and commuting any longer so this really does feel like a major shift in my circumstances. 

Yay for me! I may need to start planning a trip. I'd love to go to Ireland. I wonder if they are still rejecting Americans.

Dozing Cats

The cats are very snoozy. It is by far their favorite thing to do. Most afternoons I have three or four of the six dozing on my bed. 

Yes'm, I said six.

Cheese is still clinging to life. He does not cry in pain, has a good appetite and can still control his own functions so we are inclined to make him as comfortable as possible and show him as much love as he will withstand. 

That still leaves the number six...

We have a new cat. Or does a new cat have us? About a month ago we noticed that a group of homeless had set up a camp in the hedge that separates our property from the railroad. The railroad and the police are pretty consistent about breaking up camps there. Though the impractical side of me wishes sometimes that they would just leave them alone. This group was not one of them for many reasons. They had a cat that would wander into our property. Our cats (except Pippi) didn't seem to mind. The cat must have wandered off when they camp was dispersed because a week later we found a live trap in our yard. A car had been stolen from our neighbor, and when they were reviewing their camera footage they noticed they had captured video of one of the homeless climbing over our fence to put it there. The cat stayed around and we noticed that he was becoming markedly thinner. We started feeding him last week. Today he must have decided that he likes it here. Instead of running from us, he came when we called him. He is a tuxedo cat. We are calling him Felix.

I guess I am officially an old cat woman. I never saw this coming.

On Tulips and Tacos

This blog post was started on Cinco-de-Mayo. I am not certain that it will be ended on this date. But I do know that I need to stop the disappearing act that I've been pulling on this blog for far too long. 

The last time I checked in I was looking forward to going to Skagit to the Tulip Festival. We went. I kind of mucked it up by being in an awful mood by the time we got there. Traffic getting there was terrible, making us an hour late for our appointment. And once we got there, well the kindest way of saying it is that the festival is lame. Maybe it used to be different before covid. Maybe there used to actually be something fun to do. Basically I paid to walk on crowded paths beside tulip fields. It looks amazing, but so do the fields of other farms you can park on the side of the road to see. I've seen it. I was underwhelmed. My pictures actually look better than the experience was. Unfortunately it is Karen and Ken's favorite spring ritual. We will see how this goes. 

We had planned to eat at their favorite (Mexican) restaurant after seeing the fields. When we got there it was crowded. There were dozens of bikes in the parking lot. We decided to go somewhere else. Karen asked if anybody had a preference. Nora said she'd seen a Thai restaurant that looked interesting. I said that I like Thai food. Ken said he'd never had it before, so Karen said let's do something else then, and that there was a town close by that had more restaurants. We got to the small town to find most of the businesses closed at 7:15 pm. They had a Jack's, a  Wendy's, a Taco Time and a hole-in-the-wall, mom and pop Mexican place. I ordered chicken nacho's. I didn't think they could mess that up. They used cheddar cheese. It wasn't impressive. 

A few days later I got the second dose of the Moderna vaccine. I was pretty sure that it was going to make me sick. I was very wrong. My arm hurt for a few days, then I was fine. I feel like I dodged two bullets with that one. 

So today (still Cinco-de-Mayo) is the two week mark since my shot. I'm good to eat in a restaurant. We had planned too. We even left early to beat the crowds. Karen knew a great place in Renton, so we headed that way. When we got there, it was closed down. Not to worry, we passed a hundred or more of them on the way there. She knew another place in Kent, so we went there. That restaurant also was a victim of Covid. I calmly said again that we'd passed many Mexican restaurants on out way there. Karen then decided we should go check out a place we'd eaten at in Black Diamond. We passed a Pho restaurant going into the parking lot. I said that we were eating Pho if this one was closed. We went around the corner to find out that it too was closed down. Then I said "You know, Taco Time will do." not really being serious. Karen seriously jumped on it. I should have kept  my mouth shut and enjoyed the Pho. Driving to the Taco Time in our town, Karen was saying that it would be crowded and we'd be in a long car line. It wasn't because the casino across the street was having a party. Neither Karen nor I were interested in eating from the casino buffet so Taco Time drive thru it was.  

No margarita and eating at the coffee table. Let's YouTube a Mariachi band. Such a celebration, we should do this every year. 

Sorry about this tone, especially after being gone for a month again. I have come to the realization that my sister became a chef because she has an overwhelming compulsion to control the food supply. I had taken over cooking for the family, but it made her so unhappy that I had to concede that back. And well, unless the restaurant is her choice she's going to torpedo it. The restaurants I understand. She's a vegetarian and wants one where she's likely to find something on the menu. It still frustrates me.

Tomorrow I'm going to Zola's and eating in the restaurant. I'm not taking my sister because I can just hear that conversation in my head..."I know this other restaurant that I used to go to. We could try that out. We can eat at Zola's anytime." Sure thing...

Please stay. See, I have pretty pictures.

Balmy

The weather is beautiful, warm and breezy, the perfect spring day. It's peaceful essence reminds me of so many similar days when just being in the sunshine and air was enough. The television had to go off. I need no talking heads to spoil the mood. The doors and windows had to be opened to bring all that goodness inside. Days like today are what I think Heaven must surely be like.

Just Say Something

Cheese is still with us, but barely. He is bone thin and shrinking by the day. His fur falls off in tufts and leaves bare spots on his skin. He is mostly lame, but manages to drag the back part of his body enough to eventually get where he wants to be. We carry him quite a bit when we can understand where it is he wants to go. One of the other cats is always nearby to defend him if need be. I am surprised at how loyal they are too each other. 

John from Going Gently said that his amazing success for blogging everyday is to just say something. Makes sense. This year, almost any subject I begin on quickly leads me to things that I cannot change. I'm not sure that his advise would be a good idea for me. 

I suppose I could write about my daily walks. Maybe the obligation would ensure that I actually take a daily walk. It is easy to talk myself into procrastinating that one. I did take one today, though I did not take many pictures. Even with beautiful weather and a perfect day, I was not feeling it. I did manage it. 

When I'm deciding on walks my inner teen wants to place the daily walk into the column of unnecessary societal obligations, when it actually belongs with the daily activities of healthy living, like eating something reasonably nutritious and brushing your teeth. 

I think I've rambled enough today to call this "Just saying something". Maybe someday I will have something worth saying.

Laundry Day

Washday on the Maine Coast
N. C. Weyth

I did laundry today after putting it off since Monday. I often put off doing laundry on Mondays. Sometimes I put it off all month long. Not today, I only have two loads because I washed them a couple of weeks ago. 

We are going to see the tulips on Saturday and all three of the blouses I considered wearing were in the baskets. If I wanted to feel comfortable with how I looked, the clothes must be washed. 

It's a lovely day for it. It is sunny and on the warm side, with a good breeze. If I had a clothesline I would hang them out to dry. I would really like to have one but it is problematic. If I ask my brother to put one up, he will feel the need to make it perfect and that will put a lot of stress on him. Reversely, if I just decided to put one up myself he would consider it a slight and it will hurt his pride. Maybe I will just get one of the folding portable ones. I could plan my laundry for days such as this. Maybe I will... 

Absence

 

It's been a difficult winter. I had to quit writing so that I could deal with all that has happened. I am still not over it. The thing that happened put me into a IBD episode that led to a gut bleed. The accompanying diarrhea caused considerable dehydration and my kidneys took a hit. Time and care, and I'm doing better. 

I won't really talk about what happened. But I have lost Clifton, probably forever.  My spirit grieves. I have to place him in God's hands and hope for mercy.

And it's Monday

 

I used to hate Monday. I would be so happy at 5:30 on Friday, but wake up Sunday morning with  the dread that Monday was coming and I could do nothing  to change it. 

You are supposed to say that you loved whatever job you were doing, but I suspect that I was not the only person who didn't. It was mostly tolerable, but I would always want to be doing something else. I think in that way I wasted many years of my life. But simply telling someone that life is too short to spend it doing something unfulfilling is pointless. Most jobs aren't anyone's passion, and many people find it hard to make a living doing what they really are passionate about.

Now I sit and watch the world striving to get back to work. I wonder how many people are going to have the reset they need to understand what they are passionate about and how they can make a living at it. If I was an optimist, I would hope that it was most. But I really think that for almost everyone, they will find a job that provides a paycheck.

Crazy Dreams

 

Karen and I were out and about. We decided to pick up some Chinese to take home for dinner. We walked into one of the strip mall restaurants. The kind that has only a few small tables and rickety chairs in dining room. A large counter filled with specialty cakes and pies separated the dining room from the kitchen. A cow bell tied to the door alerted the cook that we had entered. The cook ignored us and continued to cook something in the wok on the stove top. Karen and I studied the menu for a few minutes. In reality we already knew what we'd order; beef and broccoli for me, Kung Pao chicken for Ken and vegetable stir-fry for Karen. They, like all Chinese restaurants had the items we wanted, but there were no prices listed. 

A few minutes elapsed before the small grandfatherly man came to the counter. He smiled a large smile to show off his ill fitting dentures and asked "Whadoyahave?" Karen  and I looked at each other with a surprised smile. The request reminded us of ordering greasy hot dogs and fries at the Varsity in Atlanta. Karen smiled her warmest smile gave him the order and asked about the price. At that the elderly man shouted "It's a dolla! Everything's a dolla!" Karen looked at me confused. I shrugged my shoulders up, raised my hands in the air and slightly shook my head to let her know I was confused too. Then I reached into my coat pocket and handed her two twenties. I said "Just give him this and tell him to keep the change."

I woke up a little hungry and decided to warm up the beef and broccoli and wondered if we'd ordered any wonton soup to go with it. I went to the refrigerator to find the left over meatloaf and assorted yogurts, protein drinks and condiments that normally inhabit our fridge. There was no Chinese food to be found. I looked around confused for a minute. Karen came into the kitchen and asked what I was looking for. It was then that I realized that my trip to the restaurant was a dream. There would be no beef and broccoli to find. In my disappointment I poured some of the hot water from the kettle on a package of ramen and sulked over my breakfast.

You Catch More Flies with Honey

 

I went to the grocery store this evening. I usually try to avoid markets on Fridays because of Covid. But there was a scattering of things that we were absolutely out of and I needed to go. I could have them delivered or call my niece to shop for me. But I am picky about certain things and I didn't want to have to argue over it. I went to the store my own self.

King County is back in stage one of lock down. Mask are required whenever you are out and about. The area is largely Democratic and is the origin of the pandemic in our country. We don't balk at wearing masks. But what some people consider wearing masks is of great question. 

While I walked through the store I encountered an elderly gentleman whose scruffy appearance shouted that he had no one to care for him. He was walking though the store with an overly used paper mask that hung well below his nose. I needed things in the area he'd been standing and breathing whatever germs he had into the areospace around him. I could have just waited until he left, but then I'd be exposed to whatever he has. Instead, I pushed my grocery cart by him and teased him saying "You know it doesn't work unless you put it over your nose." and winked as I passed him by. I would come back for the spaghetti sauce I needed. I passed him later in the frozen food section. His mask was still taking up space away from his nose. I gave him a reproving glance and said in a sing song voice, "Still not working." He huffed indignantly as he pulled his inadequate mask over his nose. 

We have a whole lot of work to do still.

Exuberant!

 

We are on our way back!

Afternoon Walk

 

I walked down I Street this afternoon. I don't think that I have walked down it before. I've driven down it and ridden my bike. When I do I have to pay attention to the road. It is extremely broken asphalt that is hard to navigate on a bike. The road is narrow and people park on the street, taking the road down to one lane. 

Walking gave me a different perspective from driving. I was able to view the neighborhood in a much more detailed way. I had never noticed before what a sad little street it is. A majority of the houses along it are in the same state of disrepair the street is. Many of the porches and yards had litter, old windows, buckets and furniture scattered about. Many of the houses needed to be sandblasted and painted. We are on lockdown again. A lot of people are back at home. I passed by them the whole time I was out. But not on I Street. No one was in their yards or enjoying the afternoon on the porch. 

I did find one corner of a yard that caught my eye. A table sat beside a cast-off window and some old yard ornaments. It looked artistic to me. I could imagine some Victorian housewife ordering it from a catalog and being so happy when it arrived. Now it sits, painted white in a corner by the fence. 

Raw

 

I feel like something inside has been scraped raw. It's the feeling like after 9/11 when the constant strand of news flow reveals one more horrifying fact after another. I don't care that it's only speculation. It is pretty clear that this coup had it's planning in the highest offices in this country. It was clear from Jim Jordan's arrogant chuckle after he said that Rump would remain the president that something sinister was up. It was clearer in the fall when Rump started replacing all the department heads in the military and intelligence agencies. Representatives of the House and Senate were in on it. The capitol police were in on it. The newly placed military people responsible for sending in the National Guard were in on it. 

Spoiled, privileged American that I am, I think wars shouldn't happen here. Wars happen in other countries but not here. Any logical reasoning quickly pulls that argument apart, but it is what my inner child still clings to. I don't want war here. Again, logic points out my deep seated privilege. Do I somehow imagine that people anywhere want war on their soil?

I talk of war like I know anything. These terrorist who are fighting this coup aren't paid mercenaries. Are they? These traitors are cops and firefighters; nurses? They are the mechanic that fixes your car, the CEO of a Multimedia company. They attempted a coup to overthrow the government, hang the Vice President and kill the Speaker of the House, and they thought that once it was over they should catch a plane home and go back to work the next day. God help us if they had succeeded. What did they plan to have happen if they had? Did  they think they'd call it done and go back home?

And the insurrectionist are still out there because this thing was planned in the highest offices. They were told to let them leave uninhibited. They have other plans. What if they don't plan to call it a day yet?

If you made it this far, this is mostly a speculative anxiety filled rant. I have made claims that I have no proof or personal knowledge of. It is just what I think from what I've seen in the news. It seems like every day in the last thirteen months have been a long stream of "This can't be true, this can't be happening." only it is true and it is happening. And it has gotten crazier with every passing day. 

And Then There Was Wednesday...

On Tuesday I stayed up as late as I could because I was invested in the outcome of the Georgia Senate runoff. What U.S. citizen wasn't? We would either continue to squeeze progress through the eye of a very narrow minded needle, or Georgians could flip the Senate and the USA could leave the Twilight Zone that is tRump's America. By the time I turned of the TV the Reverend Raphael Warnock had been declared the victor and it was all too apparent that Jon Ossoff would be following closely behind.

Wednesday I tried to sleep in. But something kept pulling at me to get up. I did. I was up two hours before my usual  time. I bathed, ate and washed a load of clothes before I turned on the television. The joint session of Congress had just started the certification of the Electoral College vote. I had seen tRump's call to arms and a few news stories about the rowdy crowds in D.C. I expected that an unruly crowd would show up. I expected that there was a show of force like there was during the summer on the Capitol steps to deter any ambition of a breech. I was wrong and I want to know why. I was wrong and I am offended that I have to ask why because I know the answer. I am once again embarrassed to have ever benefitted from the type of privilege that allowed thugs, vandals, insurrectionist to invade and vandalize our democracy the way tRumpubicans did on Wednesday. 

This was an attempted coup. This was insurrection. This fucking horse and pony show cost five people their lives. Cheeto Mussolini, his merry band of Proud Boys and the QAnon shaman had been planning it for weeks with his regular peanut gallery. tRump had even announced it on social media. There is no reason that the FBI or any other policing body in the D.C. area didn't know about it. EVERYBODY ELSE DID! The dirty truth is that they did know about it and there were enough tRump cultist to provide insider access.

They want us to feel sad that a young woman was shot and killed. She trespassed the security gates of the Capitol with a flag draped around her neck and attempted to invade a barricaded doorway through a window that had been vandalized and broken. She did this in an attempt to overthrow the peaceful transfer of power to a fairly elected administration. While inside the real perpetrators were trying to delay the same regular and peaceful transfer of power. She was an insurrectionist committing treason when she was shot and killed. Attempt to overthrow our government and we will not have pity on you.

This post calls it yesterday, but another full day has transpired since we have had this gut kick to our democracy. If  9/11 taught any lesson at all it should have been that to attack us would bring us into formation against you. Even if you are one of us. Too many people were all too happy to give the tRumpian transgressions a pass to send them into our past. That option is no longer open. We have to purge out and punish this transgression.

But wait, there's more! This hits on more levels than just insurrection and attempted coup. There is the whole social issue about the difference in the way BLM protesters were treated and the way the traitor who attacked the capitol were treated. We need a national "come to Jesus" moment and I don't even know what that would look like. Heads need to roll. We don't need any more soft answers anymore. Don't tell me the cop who shot a jay walker was put on administrative duty after I saw a cop escort the Grand Pooh Pah of QAnon around the halls of Congress in an attempted coup. We need to address this and in a big and substantial way.

I'm sorry. My angry, outraged rant.

Just Another Tuesday in the USA

This is not my painting. It is called "Walk on a Blustery Day" by Barry Hulme. But it has the feel of what is happening outside my window. Winters in western Washington seem to be one day like this after another until well into the spring. 

It was like this on New Year's Eve. But that didn't stop my neighbors from shooting off fireworks that were premium enough that I'm sure they must have gone to the reservation and spent their whole stimulus check on them, not that it would have been hard to spend that measly amount. Karen and I watched the light show at the Needle on TV. It was pretty spectacular and we didn't miss the fireworks at all. We were getting our own private showing. Right at mid-night, when the fireworks were all bursting into their crescendo the power for the whole town went down for about half a minute. It was probably a coincidence, but it was a weird way to start the year. What wasn't bad was receiving my stimulus check in my bank account a few minutes later. Yes, if that is what I brought into the New Year, receiving a little extra money was an acceptable way to begin 2021.

In other good news, I woke up on Christmas Eve with a head cold. It was welcome a little as it made my excuse to stay in my room and away from Nora and her father who had come for Christmas. Being away from my kids had me in a bit of a funk and I just wasn't feeling festive. On New Years Eve, I was still feeling under the weather, so on New Years day I went to the local testing center and was tested for Covid. I got my results back yesterday. I am negative for Covid, I have a head cold. Now I worry that I could have been exposed to it at the testing center. My mind can squirrel cage over anything.

I have the blinds open on the window near my desk. I have been watching the birds all day. There was a huge flock of Steller Jays when I first woke up, but they were chased away by the largest swarm of Robins I think I have ever seen. They covered our backyard, and our yard isn't small. They stayed there feasting on earthworms and bugs for a few hours. Then suddenly, they all swarmed and flew away. A few minutes later there was a mild shaking of the ground. It happens quite often here, but when I check to see if there was seismic activity in the area I almost never find this area mentioned.  

I am watching the Georgia run-offs today as I suppose most Americans are. Right now and throughout the day they have been showing Cherokee county. I recognize the polling place. It is at a church where I used to walk. They have a walking path that was nice. I wonder why they are using the church. Usually they vote in the elementary schools. Maybe the republicans who are in charge there have decided to keep the super spreader event away from the children. No, unfortunately Cherokee County schools are braving the pandemic in favor of children not falling behind. I have to wonder behind what are they falling.  

If today is a cliff hanger, tomorrow is promising to be the kind of shit show that only theRump, Inc. can deliver. The mayor of D.C. has called in the National Guard. I think it was a power-play to keep them out of the hands of tRumpublicans.