New Book

Jan 17,2023

I am now into reading a new book by Barbara Kingslover.

There are so many things that the story has in common with my past life that it is giving me bad dreams. I can’t remember them so that’s ok.

The book is bifurcated. First we get a chapter of a modern day family that has hit hard times. 

Then it switches to a past life in the same location, a tumbling down house of brick with many leaks and no foundation under the add on kitchen. Even our family built log cabin was sturdier than that.

I am reading only the first story and marking where the even chapters are so if I decide to go back and read the past story I can.

I probably won’t.

The story of the present day family includes battles with the government to get a wheel chair bound elderly man on Medicaid. There is an abandoned baby for Grandma to raise, A rebel girl who thought living in Cuba was just the ticket. An economical downturn and job insecurity.

Barbara really pulls out all the stops.

She even takes a stab at The Orange One, and has her characters open mouthed in disbelief at the rise of a bully to high office.

There has been so much great fodder for a writer in the political field I guess she could not resist at taking some potshots at the Republicans and the right wing voters. I am nearly at the end of the book, but will continue my assessment after it is done.

Now that I have read all that I am going to read in this book, I must say that I am glad that the author vented her spleen on recent politics.

There is nothing like the validation for the average person than to have a best selling author agree with her.

Barbara Kinsolving thought Trump was a lunatic and I thought we were in trouble at the top. I still think he is bat shit crazy and dangerous.

The bool is Unsheltered.

Figures on a temple roof

Pope

As to the death of an old sick, man in Rome, ask me if I care.

There are millions who do care, and showed up in their misguided numbers to crowd in together to babble away over meaningless rituals.

I was raised Catholic, but once away from family worked at getting a healthy objective outlook on life, which did not include superstition.

There are many things that many people had to say about that man that was laudable, but how about the practice of harming little children?

These, the least of us got tortured, and ignored for too long.

I fail to see any good in a church that knowingly let predation continue for years.

Good riddance.

Himalaya

Temple

Herding

Home is where you are at

Christmas Eve

December 24,2022

Well, here we are. The Christmas movie has been run, the meals eaten, and stockings hung. Well, in my case a few table decorations assembled.

I have my line up of greeting cards and end of year letters, and can say that I earned every one, by writing e-mails all year to friends and relations near and far.

My real Xmas celebration came with an early lunch of Philly chicken cheese steak and an artisanal beer.

I do not need a big family party anymore but prefer the one on one talks and eats with my adult son.

We discussed books and argued over an author, so I got out my phone and looked up the author of Windmills of the Gods , and we both guessed wrong, but at least I had the right gender. Now I will have to read the book.

On the end of year bragging rights, I have nothing earth shaking to share. I survived in relatively good health, which makes everyone grateful, because they can relax for another year without agonizing over what to do about Crazy Granny.

Thanksgiving should really end our year, as we have so much to be grateful for in this country and state.

If anyone is caught in our big chill and blowing snow, at least they have a home to come back to that was not shelled or bombed.

Our family tradition which goes back to Germany for a hundred years, is to take stock of ourselves at this time, and meditate about what we can do better, and try to correct the mistakes we made last year.

I am still thinking about that.

So- enjoy your Christmas mid day meal and take lots of photos for next year. 

How I live

Alone

12/09/22

Today an opinion in the New York Ties caught my attention.

Frank Bruni entitled his article 

I live alone. Really , I’m not that pathetic.

He does not really live that alone or isolated. He has a dog, and a good job as a writer with many good friends. He is still under the Senior Citizen age, but nearing retirement age. I have children older than he is but they are still in family mode.

For myself, I got the “having pets” lifestyle out of the way in my early twenties, and am quite content with being a Senior Citizen living alone.

The ameliorating factor is that I am in a Senior housing compound, with several others living similar lifestyles.

We do not get chummy, but say hello in passing.

I get three phone calls per week, and rely on a local transit bus for trips to store and library.

What I like is to have control over my living space, which helps in keeping it clean.

Living with another person or a pet means that I have more responsibilities than I would prefer.

When you have spent 50 years dealing with others close to you, a situation where you only take care of yourself is a real relief.

It seems to me that men need more companionship and care than women do, and if they lose a spouse, make an effort to obtain another mate.

Women with several adult children close by have active lives, but retain their privacy.

I have several female relatives who are in this single state but seem to have active social lives and still contribute to their communities.

Please do not feel sorry for those who live alone.

They may feel that they are living the Good Life.

The year gone past

12/07/22

This last year was a real lalapalooza, wasn’t it? We had exiting elections, wars, and lots of guns going off.

What I thought of it all, you may not agree, but I have slowed down on my opinion writing this last year so here goes.

First of all, I feel threatened by the opinions coming down from the Supreme Court, and cannot see any recourse from the right wing nut cases and outright corruption of those members. It is so sad, that laws now can be twisted, reversed and turned inside out. There is much human pain involved which members of the Court seem to ignore altogether.

It may not cause me direct pain, but my young relatives down the line will be affected.

The elections recently have showed the country and the world that we do stand by our democratic principles, and there was no yelling and carrying on by the Democrats when Congress was turned over to Republicans.

In Georgia, the People have spoken, and now the Senate has a chance of doing some good work very quietly and with civility.

I read the New York Times and am pleased to see that many of the opinion writers and editors agree with me.

One especially pleasing headline was about Trump and how he will fade slowly away and then disappear very fast.

Something like that, I have to go and read that carefully.

I sympathize with the Ukrainians, and am so thankful that we are not subject to continuous bombing in the night. The most noise we hear are of slammed doors and maybe a siren or two once in a while. 

I feel very sorry for the conscripted Russian youngsters who did not ask that their country invade another one, and have not been subjected to the life of war for their whole lives. 

The ones that invaded the Crimea had it easy, but now the army of the Ukraine is fighting back with the Western worlds’ help, and the young Russians are to be pitied when they get mowed down or blown up in their tanks. 

We in this country have a small war going and it is our own fault.

We let the NRA get much too powerful, and the Congressmen and women who are bought up by this corporation are letting the carnage go on and on, with no censure or end in sight. I thought that we had a nice quiet town here, but recently two schools were closed for the day on account of a nasty little teen who posted threats of coming to school with a gun.

I have never had guns in my home, and see absolutely no need for any. My Michigan cousins need to go out and kill the deer for food, and the venison dishes are very good.

I am almost a vegetarian anyway.   To be continued…