Category: In The News

Summer’s End

I cannot believe how fast this summer has flown by, are you all feeling the same?

Summer is my favorite season, although as I’ve grown older I have  developed a real love for the treasures of each of the four.  When I was a young girl I dreamed of someday living in the land of endless Summer – for me that was Florida.  As an older adult that goal has shifted – I feel sorry for those who never know the golden light cast on a cool autumn morning as orange, red and yellow leaves swirl about your feet.  The crunch of snow under boots and the sparkle of sunlight on snow on a January day. The song in the heart when the first crocus unfurls from the thawing earth with the promise of Spring.

I’ve been letting myself get all crazy with the freak show that is our current governing body, praying with everything I’ve got that those who still support The Orange Scream will see all the damage he’s inflicting on our integrity, our relationships with allies, our natural resources, the protections from abuse of animals, truth in general…. I’m just too weary of soul to continue with this list.  It’s dumbfounding, the support – just WTF is happening to this country?   So because of the fret over this menace in the White House, in this greed and cruelty gone rampant, the fibromyalgia in my body  has done the same.  I need to walk away from it, but that also feels irresponsible to me… we need to bear witness to the destruction so we can perhaps recognize and assist whatever will be the catalyst to get us the hell out of this mess.

Below is a picture of my ancient Dane, Ben, right now as I type, sharing his bed with Frasier.  They weren’t friends, ever, but now as Ben struggles with the simplest tasks in old age, Frasier has stepped up ❤️. As I am discouraged daily watching humans become more bold with their darker side, I am continuously reminded of the simple Grace of the animals. We still have things to learn from those we consider lesser beings.

I think it’s safe to assume I am now in the Autumn of my life – 54 is middle-middle aged, right?  The lines on my face and the ache in my body tells me so.     Until recently I had an inherent belief that the country I lived in, for the most part, was made up of people who believed we are all equal, that despite our differences, we were one nation, whether under a God or not.  I truly believed greed and racism and hatred for anything that isn’t what we think we are, was dying out.   Or at the very least, not -winning-.     So.. much.. winning.   What I fear most for our country, this land that I love, is that we are in the autumn of our decency, our respect for each other, and others beyond.  This earth is dying slowly, and we’re killing it daily, now untethered, unrestrained because Greed has been given the green light, the hate that flows in the veins of so many has been given permission to flow freely.  Division seems to be the goal, unity be damned.  These are not my assumptions, just listen to the message being sold. And so many are buying it.

I’m going to continue to try like hell to  maintain a little of Summer, even in the darkest nights of Winter, because without hope for the future, we are a lost cause, all of us. We will kill ourselves out in the end if we don’t wake up, if we don’t work hard to save  the gifts we were given from the very start.   Here’s to a return of Summer to the psyche of we, the people of this earth so that we may thrive in harmony, our samenesses and our differences alike.

 

 

 

 

Cape Wonder

I am in love with the house nextdoor! ❤  It just so happens to be the home my husband is building for our daughter and her guy.

When we first bought This Old House and the land around it, we knew there was potential for a few building lots, if the kids decided when they were grown that they’d like to settle in this area.   We are very fortunate to be in the business of building houses, so we can help them do this.  We’re also lucky they don’t mind living near mom and dad.  We’ve made the promise  that we’ll respect privacy so no one feels like the ‘rents are breathing down their neck.   A stand of trees planted in the field between us helps too.

We found a home plan on the internet that’s style is in keeping with the other 200 year old homes in this area, including Grace (our restored home).   The size is perfect, too –  we did some tweaking to the plan and the finished home will have a nice big kitchen and  open family room layout with master bedroom and bath on first floor, an office room which they both need for their jobs, a second half bath mud/laundry room and attached rear garage.  Upstairs, which for now will remain unfinished to keep mortgage and taxes down, has the potential and is rough framed for two bedrooms and two baths, should children come along or they want the additional space down the road.  There is also potential for a bonus room over the garage,  rough framed for now.  It’s a fantastic layout for a retired/empty nester person or couple as well.

Some light fixtures we’ve ordered ….

Their condo is sold and the closing is in a week, so they’ll be moving into Stella by the Sea for the remaining four weeks it will take to complete their home.

 

Do I even comment on the hundreds of atrocities in the news?  How about I just post this…

 

 

Thoughts and Prayers

Gun violence and hate in this country have reached epidemic proportions. The NRA is a known propaganda machine, corrupt to its core- a totally different animal than it once was and it pumps that corruption through our republican politicians veins. A government and President that does NOTHING about this and encourages the white nationalist hate with his own rhetoric …..“ there are fine people on both sides” ….is poison to our already troubled society.

I am not anti gun, I’m no snowflake. Why the Fuck isn’t every single person screaming for sensible gun laws? And why are social media pages allowing hate groups like the one the Texas shooter belonged to online? Freedom of speech? I get it, but hate? It kills and kills and kills.

The bullshit line that guns don’t kill, people do… is true and false. We have no idea how many lives could be saved by implementing more sensible gun laws, and that does NOT mean taking them away from sensible law abiding mentally healthy people. Just one example – How wonderful it would have been if mental health history was considered before the Sandy Hook slaughterer was allowed to take shooting lessons and his mother was allowed to give him access to hers and encourage his use of them. What are the statistics in countries where sensible gun laws are applied? Yeah… so I guess we do know.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the POTUS would give a thorough anti hate speech for once? But he won’t, because he knows hate fuels his campaign. Just watch any one rally, I’m not asking you to take my word for it. He stokes it! This isn’t just a mental health issue, of which this country is sorely lacking in affordable treatment options. It’s a hate issue as well.

WAKE UP.

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Heavy and Light

New England just experienced an awful heatwave, just like much of the country.  We spent part of it at a week-long  horse show. When the temps hit 100 we opted to give ourselves and more importantly our horse a much needed reprieve from the heat.

I must confess I am conflicted about our involvement in horse showing.  In any sport that involves animals, there is some cruelty in the mix. If you’re an animal lover as I and my daughter are, there is no denying it.  My experience is in the quarter horse industry, but the abuses are present in all disciplines.  I cringe when I see folks celebrating a Kentucky Derby race – if you’re truly aware of what is involved in the horse racing industry, I don’t know how the conscience allows the support of it.  What I can say, and what let’s me support my daughter’s involvement in showing, is we are surrounded by people who genuinely give a damn about their horse. Our show barn family are a decent, caring lot, for the horses in their care, and toward each other.

I’m pretty certain if there is a God, when the time comes, he or she will swing the gates wide open for horse show moms, no questions asked. …..Practice, patience, practice, patience, dirt, heat, cold, rain, laughs, tears, cheers, Dirt, more dirt, and  a few curse words sprinkled in….

Speaking of K – the home we are building next door is coming along beautifully. Because this is what we do for a living, it’s truly a family affair – my husband and son are building it, a labor of love for our daughter and her guy.  That makes it extra special for K, who  has been saving her money responsibly since she was a waitress at a retirement community in HS, and the past ten years as a secretary at a Bank.  She is now seeing the rewards of hard work and thrilled to see it unfold.   And so are we – truly feeling so blessed to be able to help her achieve this monumental goal of her own home with her partner in life.

 

We’ve been enjoying a little relaxation time at the cottage, where the gardens including the tomatoes are insanely happy, despite our doing not one thing to encourage it. Go figure.  I’m thinking it must be the sea air…

It’s not often I get him to sit and relax for 15 minutes.  I think on this day it may have been 20.

Here on the farm, my vegetable garden is anemic despite my efforts in the fertilization and watering department. I have no idea why.  We’re getting small amounts of produce, but nothing like past years yield.  The flowers, however, are prolific.

Regarding our country and it’s current “climate” – Whether we like it or not, the mobs chanting : send her back, send her back, send her back, are our fellow Americans.  The current P0TUS is nothing more than a ringleader of hate. I never thought I’d see anything like this in America.

And if you’re still condoning this level of hatred, I have no use for what’s in your heart. I am so done with any defense of that assh0le. It’s an American Tragedy on several levels, some of it has nothing to do with politics. Hate and division destroys nations. Wake. the Fuck. Up.

– heartbroken

 

 

Please Pass the Torch

Bernie Sanders needs to get off the stage- I don’t know how some democrats are missing the clear message that swinging too far left isn’t realistic and the middle class is fed up with the huge burden of overtaxation and will certainly not vote for an increase.

I liked him, then … but now is too late, Biden needs to pass the torch. Better yet, we need to light a new torch in politics all together. All across the board. Too bad no one in the Republican Party will challenge Trump.

Right now the field is wide open with plenty of players – Kamala Harris, Pete Buttejieg, – there’s common sense truthful politics and the kind of life experience brought to the table that can benefit us all, devoid of the prejudices of the past, which will sadly weigh down others like Warren.

     That’s my two cents.

On the homefront… K & D’s house begins to take shape… framing has begun!  Last night the Mr. and I walked the foundation and imagined the rooms, enjoyed the warm setting sun over the hill and how the light will play on their homestead.

And Speaking of K… she has recently joined our family business full time in the office and we’re so proud of her accomplishments and hard work.  Long time readers of my blog might remember her story – she is a car accident/brain injury survivor who has done the really hard work of getting her life back through years of determination through rehabilitative work, mostly of her own power and resilience.

You see that little pink unicorn on the desktop?   It used to sit on my desk – but I felt K needed a little mascot in her new position.  After all, I now have three dragons in the space that little pink guy used to occupy.  We could all use a little magic, a little whimsy, don’t you think?

You Go, Girl ❤

Daily Grind

Through my life’s journey my daily grind  has varied greatly – the early years consisted of giving pony and cart rides at the zoo,  waitressing at a jewish synagogue  catering hall , scrapping soap at a factory and loading customers trucks with feed sacks, shavings bags and bales of hay while attending college locally. Then I sat at a desk managing real estate papers in a law firm, and for a while I had a windowless office in the export division of a large company that shall not be named. The windowless thing was torturous for this outdoors loving girl. When my kids were older I had an artisan shop with a partner for a few years and that was a big learning experience as well as a lot of fun and creativity.   All those jobs had some good qualities and I learned valuable skills, worked with good people.    Nothing was more fulfilling than my stay-at-home-mom years, though, and with this empty nest we now live in,  I’ve pondered going back to work in some capacity full time.  With a hearing impairment, my options are limited.

Truth be told, I’m finding this mostly home  part time editorial position nudged in among my farm/home/garden chores suits me just fine.  I’m not longing to go back to a daily grind that is not my manure hauling gator ride to the back field after mucking stalls.  I’m liking my morning commute , sometimes in my Pajama pants, from the porch to the chicken coop to the barn to the garden and back in to clean up and get on with the rest of the day. For a while I toyed with the notion that I might be missing out big time by not pursuing -the next big thing-.  I felt guilty that I had the option to not pursue it.    I believe I’ve decided.. the next big thing is the very thing I’m in the middle of, enjoying at this very moment… and there’s not a darn thing wrong with that.   You know that song by  The Eagles, Don Henley – Learn to be Still -?    I’ve always felt a connection to it, like it was explaining something I needed to figure out.

And you know? I think I’ve  finally figured it out – where I belong is where I am right now, doing what I’m doing,  with the people I love most.   What a glorious feeling, to be grounded and satisfied in the here and now.  I hope you are in that same place wherever your life path has taken you, or are on your way there.

My  GOT Flock (Arya, Sansa, Summer, Snow, Daeynerys, Cersei, Melisandra)  have all been set free into the older flock and all is well. Amazing how fast they grow, isn’t it?  You can tell the new from the old, as the GOT girls are slightly smaller.  The coop yard has gotten a new layer of fresh clean sand, too.

 

 

We’ve begun haying the fields – allergies be damned!    And Damn – they’re awful.  Is it me or is this a bad year for allergy sufferers?

After coop and barn chores were done this morning I ran errands around town and then drove down to Stella to mow her lawn.  That’s where the pollen caught up to me and I’ve felt like a slug ever since.

Every rose has it’s thorn, right?  Small price to pay for a daily grind I love.

Completely different subject to leave you with – have you given a listen to Pete Buttigieg yet?  I am really encouraged by what he has to say.  Gives me hope for this country.

Till soon –

 

 

 

 

The best take I’ve read on a tough issue

From Seth Wood on Facebook- best take on this issue I’ve read- Amen, Seth.

___________________________________

Oh man. Here we go…

I need to talk to my conservative/Christian friends and family for a minute. About abortion.

First: if you hold the personal belief or conviction that abortion is wrong, is a sin, is against God’s will… That is absolutely okay, and understandable. There are so many reasons to feel this way, not just from a theological/religious standpoint, but from personal experiences, hopes, desires, etc. Your belief about where you stand on the moral/ethical merits of abortion are yours to have, to cherish, to speak about, to share. They are your human rights and your constitutional rights in our country.

Second: America is not a Christian nation. It is not a nation for Christians. It is a nation for all. I know this can be genuinely hard to accept. I grew up in the church too. We are sold this idea of a Christian nation, one nation under God. That was never what we had. What we have is a nation founded on the idea of liberty and equality, with the men drafting the documents having the amazing foresight to make the language broader than their own beliefs about equality (which many of them felt only applied to white landowning men). Thank God! What they gave us was so much greater than their own biases. They gave us room to grow in our understanding of equality and freedom and mutual cooperation. And so all faiths are welcome here. And that is beautiful.

Third: Knowing and hopefully accepting that, we can recognize that there are large portions of our fellow Americans who are not Christian. Imagine a Jewish senator putting forth a bill that would require every male -infant, child, and adult – to be circumcised. Or a Muslim governor signing a bill into law that states all citizens must pray five times a day on their prayer mats. You would be very understandably (and as far as the constitution goes, rightly) upset over someone trying to legislate their beliefs onto your lives and bodies…

Four: Your politicians are using you. They are using your deeply held spiritual and emotional beliefs about abortion to justify racial, gender, and class inequality. The men pushing these laws are concerned with power, not with the unborn. There are documented cases of GOP “pro-life” politicians who are pushing legislation like this with one hand and with the other hand are encouraging their secret girlfriends to terminate their very secret and unwanted pregnancies. For you, this issue is about speaking up for what you believe. For many many of the politicians, it is about feeding their own personal agendas and increasing their power. YOU GIVE THEM THAT POWER. And they are grossly abusing it, not to the glory of God. Please stop letting them use you to control people.

Five: this is pretty core, and I’m not sure how to say it, so forgive me my ineloquence here. If you want to see a world without abortion, you need to work to create a world that doesnt need abortion. That world cannot be legislated into being. That was never the job of the church anyway – to legislate their way to the kingdom of god? Ugh. You may want to see a world that didn’t drink alcohol – how did prohibition work out? No more drunks? No. You cannot legislate morality. You can work toward it though. I love that you love the unborn. I love that you have a heart that feels that. Please have a heart for those who are already born as well. Please be truly pro-life, and take care of women instead of criminalizing them. A world that didn’t need abortions would be one where birth control was extremely affordable and available, where young people everywhere were well educated about sex. It would look like accepting that abstinence is not the only choice that young people are going to make – “I believe sex is supposed to be saved till marriage, however, if you choose to have sex before marriage, as many of you will, there are things that are very important for you to know” is a totally acceptable way to talk about your beliefs AND the facts of life with your kids.

You are NEVER going to get close to having a world where people dont have sex unless they are married. TRUST ME. That will never happen. You absolutely can work toward a realistic world where we take care of people, where we help and educate and love people in a way where the number of unwanted pregnancies declines drastically. Do you want a world where people arent allowed to get abortions? Or do you want a world where people dont need to get abortions, where it’s not even a question or an issue that they have to face, because they have been equipped with the tools to navigate sex and relationships and personal choices with maturity and safety and love? And look, I havent even brought up the very very troubling issue of rape, incest, abuse. And real quick on that: you CANNOT make descisions like that for another person. YOU CANNOT DO THAT. A person who has been abused needs to have our support, our ear, our compassion, and if they need assistance or advice or comfort or a friend then we can be that. What we can’t do is make a life altering decision for them after they have already experienced a traumatic life altering assault. We shouldn’t be making those descisions for anyone (just like we shouldnt have the legal ability to tell anyone else whether or not to drink, or to pray, or to get circumcised).

There’s so much more. So much. And it all needs to be said – not just said but talked about. But here’s what I want to end this with: WE NEED YOU. We need each other. We have become so divided from each other, and so much of that is because we rely on our intermediaries: the media, the politicians, the social media algorithms. But we are never going to go anywhere unless we come together to figure this out. No matter what you believe this issue really is (a woman’s issue, a moral issue), it is not JUST that. Left and Right. It is multifaceted, it is personal, and there are real people on both sides. And so I am saying to you my conservative christian pro-life friends: we need you. We need you to stop letting your politicians use you. We need you to BE THE BODY OF CHRIST to people. Not because we believe what you believe, but because we could use some very Christ-like people right now. Who challenge the powerful and who love people, not judge them, not further abuse them, not investigate them after they have miscarried a pregnancy.

We are never all going to believe the same things. But we do not have to be enemies, we do not have be opposed. I get that this sounds crazy, but we need to work together to build that world where people are loved and safe, where humans have freedom to make choices, and we have equiped them out of love and with love. Please work with us to make that world where women are not put in a position to need an abortion. Our women are amazing and powerful and inspiring, and if we could make a world where they are not always having to fight to be heard or respected or taken seriously, then I think we would all be blown away by what they could accomplish for the world.

Thanks for reading this. It was written out of respect and love and with an open heart. If you are reading this, it is because I love you. Thanks.

Well, holy hell

If you’re a GOT fan but haven’t watched last night’s episode, the second to the last of the series – (I’m crying here!!) then look away unless you’re into spoilers.

I was going to write about it, but the following is posted on CNN today, and it’s utterly hilarious and spot on.. … read on.

If someone asks you about what happened this week on that little dragon show you watch,  you are more than allowed to just scream at full volume for an hour and 20 minutes. Because that’s what this episode was. Just one, long 80-minute “AAAAHHH!!!”

Jon Snow went from outsider to king. Is the Iron Throne next?

Things start off quietly enough.  Without Missandei to braid her hair or apply her undereye concealer, Daenarys is leaning into the “foreshadowing fiery genocide” aesthetic while moping around Dragonstone. She’s mad at Jon, mad at Tyrion and especially mad at Varys for going around blabbing about Jon’s true lineage. It appears the “Master of Whispers” has become the “Master of Discussing Deadly Secrets at Full Volume,” and before you can even get emotionally prepared for this week’s carnage, everyone’s standing on the beach looking stoic and Dany is sentencing Varys to death and Drogon is bearing his 3,000 teeth and wow, we’re off to the races.
One major character death down, a shocking amount left to go.
Tyrion, full of doubt and fear and definitely not used to either, finds Jaime who has been captured and imprisoned at Dragonstone. The two brothers share a good hug and Tyrion outlines a plan for Jaime to escape with Cersei and start life anew in Essos, where ostensibly they are more forgiving of murderous incest.

But first, it’s time for war. The mood is tense in Kings Landing, where throngs of common folk are being herded inside the Red Keep, and the Golden Fleet and the Iron Company are assuming their positions as unwitting dragon appetizers. If Dany’s general haggard appearance wasn’t foreshadowing enough, we get lots of good, salt-of-the-earth shots of the innocent citizens of Kings Landing with their doe-eyed children in tow. By the laws of television, you only get affectionate close-ups of the unwashed if something really, really terrible is about to happen to them.

How to speak like a true Targaryen from 'Game of Thrones'

It’s a laughably easy win for Daenerys and company. Even Cersei sees it, perched atop the Red Keep with a concerned Qyburn. Side note: Ol’ Cers must be about 500 months pregnant now, so why does she have the belly of someone who had, like, five bites of a burrito for lunch?
Anyway, she’s hemmed in and she knows it. As the city’s fortifications burn to ash and enemy forces close in, the bells of surrender begin to sound. A single tear rolls down Cersei’s proud face. Drogon and Daenerys let up, the Unsullied and the Lannister forces exchange a hearty round of handshakes and the two sides proceed with a peaceful transfer of power.
Just kidding! Dany goes full-on Mad Queen and burns the living hell out of EVERYTHING. Innocent children? You get a Dracarys! Entire city blocks? You get a Dracarys! Everyone gets a Dracarys! Jon and Tyrion’s faces say it all. This is definitely not how it was supposed to go. Daenerys Targaryen has gone rogue.

However, don’t think that just because thousands of people are being burned alive and King’s Landing is literally crumbling to the ground that there isn’t time to have a slapfight about who gets to be Cersei’s boyfriend. Somehow, among everything going on, Euron, the drunk cockroach of Westeros, finds Jaime and they have an extremely athletic tussle on the banks of Blackwater Bay. It’s not all bad though: Jaime kills Euron, which we can agree is a personal favor to us all.
Oh, right! By the way, Arya and the Hound must have ditched their horses for high speed rail, because they’re also here in Kings Landing. The Hound urges Arya to get out while she can, and they part with as much tenderness as two soft murder beings can muster. There’s nothing like apocalyptic dragon fire to make a girl forget all about her kill list, and before long Arya is running terrified through the streets like everyone else.

Meanwhile, The Hound has revenge on his mind. He runs into Cersei, Qyburn and The Mountain as they’re fleeing the Red Keep, and after The Mountain ragdolls Qyburn into the afterlife, CLEGANEBOWL IS ON. (Again, gentle reminder: Everything is burning! Is now the best time to be settling personal scores?)
Actually, the answer is yes. The Hound finally unmasks The Mountain, revealing a swole moldy Darth Vader where his brother used to be. They fight. It’s glorious and gory. Goryious? Apparently, The Mountain is impervious to literally everything, up to and including daggers through the brain, so The Hound does the only thing left he can do: Trucks him through a crumbling wall and off the side of the Red Keep to a fiery, mutual death.
(By the way, people are still burning.)
Jaime and Cersei finally find each other, and if they weren’t both deeply horrible people who have committed unspeakable sins and backtracked on seasons worth of character development, their reunion would almost be sweet. You would almost, for one second, be forgiven for hoping they could escape and be weird with each other in Pentos for the rest of their days. But you only get one second! Remember Brienne! And Missandei! And Margaery and everyone else who has ever suffered and died at these people’s three collective hands! Jaime and Cersei deserve the poetic, meaningful deaths that are inevitably coming their way!
Hmm? What’s that? Oh, they get crushed under some rubble while trying to escape? Two of the main antagonists, who have driven the show’s id since the very first episode of the very first season, just kinda get squished?
That’s disappointing. Alexa, play “The Rains of Castamere.”

Eventually, Daenerys lets up on her scorched earth campaign, leaving a horrified Jon to deal with what has become of his queen. With a million questions hanging in the air, we close with Arya escaping on a white horse that just happens to be prancing around the charred bodies of Kings Landing. Where is she going? Hopefully to Storm’s End, because a girl deserves to relax with a blacksmith lord and forget about this smoldering mess. Yeah, Valar Morghulis and everything but… come on.

Burning questions

If we’re supposed to buy Dany turning Mad Queen after seasons of building her up as a hero and a revolutionary, why did she get about 3.5 seconds of screen time once she started burning everything down?
Bran was pretty insistent that Jaime had something important to do when he came to Winterfell, but other than breaking Brienne’s heart and going out like roadkill that… didn’t seem to manifest?
Was the wildfire interspersed throughout the inferno significant?
Why was no one wearing HELMETS?!
What is Jon going to do now that his aunt queen is completely off the rails?
How much self control will it take Sansa to not laugh in Jon’s face and say “I told you so?”
Has anyone outside of the North or Kings Landing been affected by anything that’s happened this season or are they just browning their butter and tossing back ale as usual?
Speaking of, is Hot Pie okay? He wasn’t in this episode but just, in general. Can we get a welfare check?

Drinking the Koolaid

I haven’t written much about this subject lately, for several reasons, but most importantly for my own sanity.   I don’t find joy in expressing opinions that will offend or criticize other people. In fact my greatest wish for all mankind is for we humans  to come together  to exist peacably in our daily, brief existence on this planet in a way that at the very least protects the health of our  irreplaceable world, the one  which we are trashing daily and at feverish rate.   I pray we will wake up and  recognize that working together is the only way to a fair economy, a balanced society, the only way we  can avoid eventually killing ourselves off.   Is there anyone out there who actually doesn’t want this?

What would it entail?  Oh, so very many things, but none of it impossible.  First up-  we need to stop electing officials who continue to divide us, who are bought by big business that continues to trash our environment and our economy in favor of the wealth of the elite few who protect their own interests at the expense of all else, who continue to encourage economic divide and  remove the safeguards that protect this one earth, the animals we raise for food  and the wild ones who all play a part in the health of our ecological system.

I now realize I have been a bit naive – For a while it felt like we were becoming enlightened to the ills – more tolerant and respectful of our differences, regulations were put in place to protect our environment and animal welfare, people were taking notice and proceeding accordingly.  I thought prejudice and racism were fading fast, acceptance and realization of our equality more the norm.  While politics and human nature have always had their ugly side, I still felt the majority of people for the most part wanted whats good for all, whether we agreed on what that meant or how it could be implemented.

Politicians come and go, and all are human, none without flaws.  Now, however, .. we have a huge problem we may never recover from  – a liar in the oval office who has never, ever shown concern for anyone or anything but himself and his giant ego…. and the even bigger issue – the  minions who suddenly condone or ignore what he’s actually made of and continue to support what should never have been supported in the first place.    DT has  certainly never been a religious man, and yet now because it feeds his “base” he spins it in and it’s celebrated.  How does supporting him work for someone who believes themselves to be a Christian?    He continuously encourages divide, childishly insults anyone who doesn’t bow to his whims and praise him, his lies since taking office have reached past the 10,000 mark.  He refuses to reveal his taxes, his financial records, he’s been a horrible business man in many cases, an awful husband to three women, cheating on all of them,  and a poor example of a father in my book.  He is BFF’s with foreign hostile powers, the man who is responsible for trying and succeeding in fucking with  our democracy,  a goal that has been his for a long time.   He calls that man to discuss our business, can you imagine.  What a fool he must take us all to be.

I doubt a DT supporter is still reading this – it has to be hard, internally, even if you don’t let it show externally, to support and defend a monster such as he if you’re truly a decent person.  I’m no longer interested in  the excuses –  “we needed change, he is doing something the other politicians weren’t, he’s getting stuff done”.   We can’t afford the price we’re paying for his leadership – one clear example – Racism and prejudice is alive and thriving – they’ve got more wind in their sails,  having found new solid ground, a stronger voice, they praise DT because they see him as “one of them” due to his own lunatic, hateful rhetoric.

It can’t be denied if we’re being honest here, that our immigration issue is a big one, and others before him have failed to get it right.  Same can be said for our health care system.   He has yet to come up with a decent solution that will actually work on any of those fronts, and he continues the practice of rewarding the extreme wealthy elite – while the little guy continues to pay for it.   How is it lost on anyone? … because it’s right there for all to see. The Emperor wears no concealing clothes, he is what he is, boldly and without apology.   You can’t tell me there isn’t a better answer out there to  fix what needs fixing in this country than an ego maniacal habitual liar who  chooses  division  instead of uniting this already torn Country, stomping all over our Constitution and  poluting the integrity of the office he holds with his falsities,  time and time again.  While our media has needed a check for a long time, DT  IS the Fake News.  Don’t take my word for it… count his lies.  Do the research.  Seek truth, not what’s convenient to your belief system.

I Love My Country.  I love our freedoms, I  respect our diversity.  I appreciate all that is good in this place we all call home, and we can thank members of all political parties for their thoughtful vision in the past –  not just for the problems of the present.  I’m praying for us all that those giving DT power will stop drinking the Koolaid.  I’m hoping, wishing on stars, lucky striped stones,  dandelion seeds blown into the wind and birthday candles  that in 2020 we’ll elect a more sane, rational, planet and true Country loving leader than the one currently set on his throne, no matter what the party affiliation.

Off the soapbox for now… if you got this far, thanks for lending an ear – and your opinion in the comments if you so choose.    While I have always welcomed opposing views on whatever the subject, this one is closed.  As I stated above, I’m no longer interested in the excuses, for I feel the damage is far too great at this point.  If you’re not willing to admit the damage being done on the world stage, not just our own, that’s your right… and your burden to bear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When there’s no sun, find some light

New England is still wearing her dingy grey cloak, refusing to take it off in order to properly herald Spring. So what’s a Yankee to do? … head to the garden center to purchase some cheer!  Mom joined the Mr. and I  on a jaunt across the  CT river , where we bought some bright red geraniums which I’ll plant in the big pots down at Stella-by-the-Sea in the coming days.

On the way we stopped for lunch across from the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam…

So many charming centuries old homes in this part of town…   tulips and flowering trees everywhere!

On to Balleks,  a family owned farm/garden center/greenhouse that’s been in the Ballek family since the 1660’s – how’s that for history. Some of the Ballek family in their 90’s still roam the isles helping customers, it’s a lovely thing to see.

They have SO many unique plants inside the large greenhouse and two big old silos that have some tales to tell, I’m sure.

 

The “pods” below are large – you could put your reading glasses in there.

Meanwhile.. back on the farm – I’ve moved the chicks to the big coop, creating a temporary nursery out there inside the covered enclosed chicken yard, complete with their heat lamp.  They got too big for the chick condo on the porch and it was beginning to look like a pig pen out there with shavings and hay and chick food and chick dander littering every surface from ground to ceiling.  Bleh.   I did scrub the porch once everything was out – we’ll actually be able to sit out there again once it dries.

The new girls in their temporary coop nursery

Which is basically a sectioned off area in the big covered coop “yard” separated with bird mesh and a tarp, wrapped on the outside with a plastic drop cloth to keep the wind off them.

The big girls on the other side of the tarp.

So much work to integrate five little chicks into the fold!  But the reward of fresh eggs and a flock of chickens in the yard is well worth the effort.

 

More rain for tomorrow – I’ll most likely be at my desk catching up on the editorial stuff that earns me a paycheck.  I suppose the upside to all the rain and a steady string of grey days is all the inside work I get done when the sun isn’t calling to me.

I hope all is well in your world – may we all have many sunny days ahead.