Good Lord, it’s election season‼️ Early voting here in WI starts tomorrow. It’s finally here… two years ago I was saying “please, let me live to be able to cast my vote in 2024!” I made it and last week my Dr said I have a good chance for 2028. 😆
Here’s my take - I’m an immigrant (many years ago). My parents and I came to this country to escape tyranny. I’ll be damned if I die in tyranny‼️
It’s been wild, I’m not getting younger and in my retirement I’m having to cut back and sacrifice a few things, but I can assure you, I’ve never been happier. I’ve had a good life.
play ice hockey or any vigorous sport at any age....enjoy your English creme or other family friendly do or other pet...engage with nature as much as possible....summon karma from the heavens to help do what is right this election.....do more and worry less....read simon Rosenberg and act on his suggestions....walk over to the sunny side of the street and stay there in gratitude...
That these are anxious times is an understatement. On top of that the mind is simply boggled that a person like Trump can run and possibly become our next President. Picture all those Republicans looking the other way when he calls voters fat, when he says our present Vice President is a shit, when he rambles incoherently, when he actively tries to hurt hurricane victims, when he discusses a famous golfer's genitals. Unf- - -ingbelievable.
I keep thinking, how can that guy ever be elected? And then I see quite sane people on TV saying they will vote for him. GEEZE where have they been in the last ten years? This includes siblings who I will try not to disown. Oh no! Not going there in thought again. Kamala has to keep looking presidential to remind us all because his shitstorm is about to shift into atmospheric river.
I upgraded to paid today, because I sorely needed a palate cleanser! My anxiety over this election cycle does not abate much, but contact with my daughter, son-in-law and especially my granddaughter does it for me.
Loved this - but nary a mention of Gaza? That causes me more pain than anything. (Nonetheless I enjoyed the Muppets and the bees in the dahlia immensely.)
I’m of the age that included Home Ec for girls in high school. My friends and I called it Home Ick and that is still how I think of it. Also, how do I get the constant barrage of hysterical texts begging for money off my phone. It’s gone beyond annoying straight into malignant attack mode.
I knew I was fast coming up on needing a break. My sweet spot during periods of stress is closing the drapes, turning on my side lamps, and curling up to read well-written mysteries. So I stopped by the library in my small village and picked up the first few books in Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series. I've read it before, so the combination of familiarity and of rediscovery is perfect for me right now.
This series is set in the period between WW1 and WW2, in England. What struck me right off is something I'd not really recognized the first time (well before Trump and Covid). There are so many similarities to what people then were experiencing emotionally and what we are experiencing now. In some ways it is unnerving, especially knowing what was just beginning for the characters who were caught up in the uncertainties of their time, just as we are caught up in the uncertainties of ours. I found myself caught up in their attempts to grasp what was happening, just as we are now.
At first I thought perhaps I should pick something else to read. But I didn't, because those characters represented people who had suffered and survived the first war, and were struggling through the depression and with radical changes in their society and their personal lifes. They, unknowlingly were about to be put through even more challenges. I am old enough to remember the widows and the economic and social upheavals after WW2 here in America. So I began to read Winspear's books with attention. They are a lesson in how people can confront the aftermath of war, the traumas, the uncertainties. Some will not do well at it, and not everything gets resolved.
But if we pay attention, we can learn the lessons that got them through. My own people here in America did, both in terms of the poverty and bigotry of America in the depression and the war, and the fact that we were in between cultures and trying to hang on. We went through some of the same stuff, and lost some people, and yet we made it too.
One thought I had is that I was born in 1942, and I have no memories of ever being outside at night, or of what the night sky looked like, even in a large western port city that in normal times would have been lit and lively. When the war ended, we made a train trip to visit relatives, and I remember my mother taking me outside and showing me the milky way. My grandparents told us the traditional stories of our culture. To this day I see the night sky as a sign of peace and release of tension.
Two weeks to go. There are still some things I can do, to encourage people to vote. These are people who are uncertain because there are shreds of truth and lies mixed up in their world. By asking a few simple questions about what matters to them, I might be able to help them focus in where the truth is, on why their vote is important, and which candidates support THEM, not the other way round. If I can get them to that point, I don't need to say anything about how to vote or who to vote for.
And right now, I am relaxing, about to fix my afternoon cup of coffee, and read another chapter or two to help me see where I might fit in this story.
I was very grateful today for an election worker who answered my phone call regarding my 97-year-old mother's ballot. Apparently she wrote outside of a box, which is a no no. The election worker explained that an examiner had rejected her ballot, but a second inspection will happen and if the second inspector rejects it, mom will get a letter in which she can attest that it is, in fact, her signature. I can tell you, mom could not wait to get her ballot filled out and deposited in the ballot box. So grateful for the calm and smooth process that will allow her vote to be counted.
Exactly about Simon Rosenberg. I have to read him daily to keep sane. Then I know Trump wants us to be afraid. There are more of us than there are of them...hopefully in this election. I am disappointed that people use Trump's argument that he is a victim, when he has likely broken all the laws for which he is being prosecuted.
In these times you can find me in the garden with pruners, clipping shears and my wagon…. rain or shine. It keeps me sane and is my oasis from the craziness. Hopeful for the outcome Nov 5.
I appreciate your frank & powerful observations & trepidations about the upcoming election & all of the fiddling, finagling, & corruption playing out alongside the Trump campaign. Thank you for speaking out.
I’m staying mostly ahead of my fears by repeatedly making chicken soup and pumpkin snickerdoodles. Though the snickerdoodles haven’t seen the inside of my oven just yet. But my freezer has lots of soup!
Yes, a reset. I voted Tuesday and want to turn it all off but can’t totally so thank you for these suggestions. Am also starting Dr. Vivek Murthys Together, on loneliness and the value of community. The real bummer for the moment is learning of the death of Grizzly #399 in Grand Teton Park. She was hit by a car Tuesday night. She had 20 offspring, never killed anyone and was an Incredible ambassador for the park. I’ve seen her several times in visits to family there and have no doubt the entire community is as heartbroken as I am.
Good Lord, it’s election season‼️ Early voting here in WI starts tomorrow. It’s finally here… two years ago I was saying “please, let me live to be able to cast my vote in 2024!” I made it and last week my Dr said I have a good chance for 2028. 😆
Here’s my take - I’m an immigrant (many years ago). My parents and I came to this country to escape tyranny. I’ll be damned if I die in tyranny‼️
It’s been wild, I’m not getting younger and in my retirement I’m having to cut back and sacrifice a few things, but I can assure you, I’ve never been happier. I’ve had a good life.
play ice hockey or any vigorous sport at any age....enjoy your English creme or other family friendly do or other pet...engage with nature as much as possible....summon karma from the heavens to help do what is right this election.....do more and worry less....read simon Rosenberg and act on his suggestions....walk over to the sunny side of the street and stay there in gratitude...
I too am fretting over many of the same things—especially in the political world.
I absolutely love the Muppets. My husband called me right at the end while we were dating, because he knew I would be home.
I miss pics of Bosco, so you can be assured he is getting a lot of love on the other side of the rainbow 🌈 bridge.
I will just have to gut it out and make it through all of this. Maybe cookies will help 🤞
Look forward to the recipes. 👍
Yes, cookies help. Used to have a little sign in my kitchen - bought at a craft show - that said, “a balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.”
You. Are. Everything 💙
That these are anxious times is an understatement. On top of that the mind is simply boggled that a person like Trump can run and possibly become our next President. Picture all those Republicans looking the other way when he calls voters fat, when he says our present Vice President is a shit, when he rambles incoherently, when he actively tries to hurt hurricane victims, when he discusses a famous golfer's genitals. Unf- - -ingbelievable.
Oh, in answer to your question: I try to immerse myself in a good book. Baking helps too.
I keep thinking, how can that guy ever be elected? And then I see quite sane people on TV saying they will vote for him. GEEZE where have they been in the last ten years? This includes siblings who I will try not to disown. Oh no! Not going there in thought again. Kamala has to keep looking presidential to remind us all because his shitstorm is about to shift into atmospheric river.
I upgraded to paid today, because I sorely needed a palate cleanser! My anxiety over this election cycle does not abate much, but contact with my daughter, son-in-law and especially my granddaughter does it for me.
Loved this - but nary a mention of Gaza? That causes me more pain than anything. (Nonetheless I enjoyed the Muppets and the bees in the dahlia immensely.)
Fair enough. I should included Gaza.
I’m of the age that included Home Ec for girls in high school. My friends and I called it Home Ick and that is still how I think of it. Also, how do I get the constant barrage of hysterical texts begging for money off my phone. It’s gone beyond annoying straight into malignant attack mode.
I knew I was fast coming up on needing a break. My sweet spot during periods of stress is closing the drapes, turning on my side lamps, and curling up to read well-written mysteries. So I stopped by the library in my small village and picked up the first few books in Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series. I've read it before, so the combination of familiarity and of rediscovery is perfect for me right now.
This series is set in the period between WW1 and WW2, in England. What struck me right off is something I'd not really recognized the first time (well before Trump and Covid). There are so many similarities to what people then were experiencing emotionally and what we are experiencing now. In some ways it is unnerving, especially knowing what was just beginning for the characters who were caught up in the uncertainties of their time, just as we are caught up in the uncertainties of ours. I found myself caught up in their attempts to grasp what was happening, just as we are now.
At first I thought perhaps I should pick something else to read. But I didn't, because those characters represented people who had suffered and survived the first war, and were struggling through the depression and with radical changes in their society and their personal lifes. They, unknowlingly were about to be put through even more challenges. I am old enough to remember the widows and the economic and social upheavals after WW2 here in America. So I began to read Winspear's books with attention. They are a lesson in how people can confront the aftermath of war, the traumas, the uncertainties. Some will not do well at it, and not everything gets resolved.
But if we pay attention, we can learn the lessons that got them through. My own people here in America did, both in terms of the poverty and bigotry of America in the depression and the war, and the fact that we were in between cultures and trying to hang on. We went through some of the same stuff, and lost some people, and yet we made it too.
One thought I had is that I was born in 1942, and I have no memories of ever being outside at night, or of what the night sky looked like, even in a large western port city that in normal times would have been lit and lively. When the war ended, we made a train trip to visit relatives, and I remember my mother taking me outside and showing me the milky way. My grandparents told us the traditional stories of our culture. To this day I see the night sky as a sign of peace and release of tension.
Two weeks to go. There are still some things I can do, to encourage people to vote. These are people who are uncertain because there are shreds of truth and lies mixed up in their world. By asking a few simple questions about what matters to them, I might be able to help them focus in where the truth is, on why their vote is important, and which candidates support THEM, not the other way round. If I can get them to that point, I don't need to say anything about how to vote or who to vote for.
And right now, I am relaxing, about to fix my afternoon cup of coffee, and read another chapter or two to help me see where I might fit in this story.
I was very grateful today for an election worker who answered my phone call regarding my 97-year-old mother's ballot. Apparently she wrote outside of a box, which is a no no. The election worker explained that an examiner had rejected her ballot, but a second inspection will happen and if the second inspector rejects it, mom will get a letter in which she can attest that it is, in fact, her signature. I can tell you, mom could not wait to get her ballot filled out and deposited in the ballot box. So grateful for the calm and smooth process that will allow her vote to be counted.
Simon Rosenberg, Ludwig Bemelmens book, pruning the window sill potted garden help me
keep my chins up.
Exactly about Simon Rosenberg. I have to read him daily to keep sane. Then I know Trump wants us to be afraid. There are more of us than there are of them...hopefully in this election. I am disappointed that people use Trump's argument that he is a victim, when he has likely broken all the laws for which he is being prosecuted.
PS- I ordered the Ludwig Bemelmens book! I want to go to the Carlyle Bar in NYC to see his mural in person.
In these times you can find me in the garden with pruners, clipping shears and my wagon…. rain or shine. It keeps me sane and is my oasis from the craziness. Hopeful for the outcome Nov 5.
I appreciate your frank & powerful observations & trepidations about the upcoming election & all of the fiddling, finagling, & corruption playing out alongside the Trump campaign. Thank you for speaking out.
I’m staying mostly ahead of my fears by repeatedly making chicken soup and pumpkin snickerdoodles. Though the snickerdoodles haven’t seen the inside of my oven just yet. But my freezer has lots of soup!
Yes, a reset. I voted Tuesday and want to turn it all off but can’t totally so thank you for these suggestions. Am also starting Dr. Vivek Murthys Together, on loneliness and the value of community. The real bummer for the moment is learning of the death of Grizzly #399 in Grand Teton Park. She was hit by a car Tuesday night. She had 20 offspring, never killed anyone and was an Incredible ambassador for the park. I’ve seen her several times in visits to family there and have no doubt the entire community is as heartbroken as I am.