The Noah Clause vs, The Santa Claus

There are two ways to face the dilemmas confronting the Christian faith.

One is the Noah Clause.

To be exclusionary and draw the lines of who's in or out ever tighter.  Until you're left only with your own church or denomination and preach that only those on that narrowly defined ark will survive.

Vote the wrong way, pray the wrong way, love the wrong person, care too much about the poor, worry about who has health insurance or who doesn't. and you are....

OUT!!!

Then there is the Santa Clause.

Warm, open, inviting, inclusionary.  He goes to all homes, regardless of faith background.  The lumps of coal only go out to those who behave badly to their fellow man, the selfish and the spoiled.  You don't get left out if your heart is open and you care and love each other.

He don't care if you have tattoos.  Or if you eat shellfish.  Or if you're gay or straight.  He don't care if you believe in Jesus or in pasta.  He cares that you believe.  Believe in love and hope and understanding.  Of tolerance and forgiveness.  Love, and love wastefully.

When Christianity is about love, unconditional and generous, when it focuses on making this a better world for all, believers and unbelievers alike, that is when it is at its strongest.

When Christianity is about hate and exclusions, when it concentrates on circling the wagons and judgment, when it resembles more the philosophies of Ayn Rand than that of Christ, that is when it is at its weakest.

So choose wisely, my fellow Christians.

The Noah Clause or the Santa Claus?

I know which one I choose.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

A Maverick Moment : Saturday Political Soap Box 169

No, he was not alone in stopping the procedural madness and the hurtling towards the loss of health care coverage for millions. Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska deserve a lot of credit for being firm since the the beginning of the voting process.  But I will not dismiss the importance of Senator John McCain from Arizona.

When he first took a more national stage in 2000, running against the son of President George Bush, he shaped himself as a straight talking maverick, someone who would take pragmatic considerations to heart, and not always tout the straight Republican line.  Indeed, he named his political touring bus The Straight Talk Express. I've always thought that if I ran, I could have a Strait Talk Express, and who could argue with that?

In actual practice, in his voting and advocacy, he has much been less bold, and stuck to a consistent Reagan Republican orthodoxy.  Nevertheless, he has often formed bonds with his Democratic colleagues, in a way that many other Republicans have forgotten how to do.  He was even considered as a possible running mate for John Kerry in 2004.

As time passed, the maverick thing seemed more and more distant.  There were many moments that many in the center and on the left, were praying that he would help stop the madness.

It never really happened.  Until now.

His vote didn't really save the Affordable Care Act.  I wish I could tell you that.  As long as Republicans control all the levers of government, it will always be under siege.  But this immediate and most direct threat is now over.

They are now going to have to either go through the correct procedure (committees, public hearings and input, contributions and compromises with Democrats), or abandon it all together and move on to other things.

I think they are going to move on to other things.  At least for now.

If you ask me (not that anyone ever does), the biggest problem is the Hastert rule (Dennis Hastert is a former Republican Speaker of the House, who has since been convicted of child molestation charges), and that rule is that nothing should pass unless it can be passed by Republican votes alone. If enough Republicans object to something, than the vote shouldn't even come up.  This has led to giving tremendous power to the Freedom (Tea Party extremists) Caucus.

We need a Speaker of the House (and Senate Majority Leader) that are willing to put partisanship aside, and are open to building coalitions.  As a Progressive, this may lead to compromises that I find unpleasant, and well short of Progressive goals.  But at least there would be input, and the country could move forward on solving important problems.

No, I don't often agree politically with McCain.  He is a warhawk, and conservative fiscally on matters assisting the poor and those in need.  But I do recognize, unlike the current President, that he is a genuine American military hero, who served this country well under very difficult and personally challenging circumstances.  Other politicians, from both sides. speak out of their well-cushioned posteriors about torture - McCain speaks from experience.  I have never doubted, as much as we may disagree, about his dedication to, and love for, this country.


I had, however, become vastly discouraged.  I thought his maverick moment would never come.

And now it has.

Bless you, John McCain.  Millions of others, who now have their heath care protected (at least for awhile longer), also bless you.  We wish and pray for the best for you and your family, as you face the terrible scourge of cancer, that you are able to avail yourself of the best treatments possible, and that you are able to cherish time with your family and others you hold close.

I pray there are many more chapters to come for you, but for now, I am grateful for this, what I consider your finest moment.

Maverick at last.

The School Bells are Ringing

The school bells are ringing!

Well, not quite like they were a couple generations ago, with an actual school bell tower clanging a clarion call that school was about to begin, as school children trudged ten miles through snowstorms to get there (or, as more likely in our area, ten miles of alligator-laden and bug-infested swamp). Now it's hallway bells for class changes -time to move from one part of the day to another.

Think public schools aren't important?  Catch any local paper or local newscast right about now.  News about the schools dominate.  The students and teachers are coming back!  News about exciting events, sports challenges coming up, academic accomplishments about to be spun, new staff to interview, new Kindergartners ready to start their educational journey, new facilities.  Every nook and cranny of every detail becomes something the whole community is inspired to hear about.

Communities, particularly our rural districts, focus a large part of their spirit, drive and hopes on their local schools.  The school's rhythm and cycle becomes their rhythm and cycle.  Football season, with players and cheerleaders and band and A/V Club and boosters, kick off the start of school year.  But that is just the beginning.  There is Homecoming and basketball, One Act and Literary, Future Farmers and Future Business Leaders, concerts and dances, academic and athletic awards, proms and graduation.  Public schools represent the very heart of the community strength and spirit.

Now, imagine, if you will, if instead you had a patchwork of charter schools, religion-based schools and the home schooled.  Some of these, I am sure, might be fairly good  But there would be little unity.  Many charter schools are driven not by the community or the students, but the private financial interests of those who own them. It's just the nature of unfettered capitalism - the interest is not in service, but in maximizing profits.  At a minimum, charter schools need to be regulated as heavily as public schools, if not more so, in order for them to serve the interests of the students. However, as Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos indicated in her nomination hearings, she is reluctant to regulate charter schools with the same vigor as we do public schools.

Religious schools and home schooling often have as their goal indoctrination in one faith and philosophy to the exclusion of all others.  They can do many things well, but they often fail in teaching respect for our diversity, and in developing critical thinking skills.

They are not community-centered.  That is lost.  It's just not a large part of their purpose or agenda.

We live in a nation of freedom and choices.  As vital as public schools are, people are free to make other educational choices.  But they should not do so at taxpayer expense.  That money needs to be devoted to providing and improving public education.

People tend to forget the reason public education was originally created for.  It wasn't to prepare for a specific career.  It wasn't to warehouse children while their parents worked. It was to provide a civic education, the basic critical thinking skills to become informed citizens, able to contribute to a participatory democracy.

It's much more than just voting.  It's also taking pride in and participating in your local community.

And I'd hate for us to lose that.

Dangerous Predication

Dangerous predication
Leads to gnawing trepidation
Without the normal verication
Of the data's historication

Inventive wordsmithery
Is not enough to savery
The poet's lack of rhymery
And missing commonsensery

The poet's heart had done been stole
from me a long time ago
Robbed by the giant hole
In the roving critic's soul

Well, at least that stanza featured real words
A small improvement over my absurds
But now it slips into the frozen fyords
Perished by the petard of its own swords

Metric violations abound
This line is much too long for meter to be found
The hollow echoes of poetry unsound
And nothing stops the harping hound

And now it ends
Time to hit sends
The truth it bends
For the heavenly forfends

The Diary of the Final Day as a Full-Time Accountant

Dear Diary,

I'm glad it's just you and me, and I can share how I feel without worrying about what other people think.

Okay, well, that's the way it used to be.  Now blogs have become like public diaries,  I have no idea how someone would piece together my life from the 1500 plus entries I have made.  Well, really, it probably could be done, but I'm not sure there's anyone interested enough to do so.

Nevertheless, Diary, here it is.  My last day as a full-time accountant, presented in real-time updates, as the day progresses.

5:15

Woke up.

5:17

Got out of bed.

5:21

Dragged a shower across my head.

5:43

Got dressed.  Zoned out for awhile while thinking about putting on shoes.

6:01

Who let the dogs out?  I did.  Then I started the coffee maker.

6:05

Brought them back in.  Fed cat and the four dogs, ours and a foster.  Took my blood pressure pill and a vitamin, using orange juice as a pill delivery system.  I have a tough time swallowing pill, and orange has the right taste and viscosity in order to help me do it.  I prepreparated our coffee cups (Stevia, powder creamer, ting bit of natural sugar).  I poured mine, adding liquid creamer.

6:15

Came to computer.  Baffled as what to write today.  Had the brainstorm to do this diary.

6:34

Posting initial entries.  If this goes right, I should update throughout the day and re-post frequently.

At least, that's the theory.
6:45
Breakfast.  Toast on 12-grain bread, with Irish butter, fruit spread from local farm-to-table (The Farmer's Larder) and locally grown honey.  Picked the Song of the Day (I've Got You Under My Skin performed by Frank Sinatra).
7:11
After talking with Alison, brushing my teeth, I select a tie to wear.  I pick a Looney Tunes tie (T-t-that's All, Folks!).
7:15
Start the long car journey to Waycross.
7:41
Log in at work, same time as my work compatriot, Dean.  Thought I could beat him in this last full-time day, but alas, not to be.  I have enough time in to leave about 4:30.  We'll see if that happens or not.
7:58
Record work time sheet - accounting for time spent on different client's yesterday.  I have numbered every assignment I have gotten since I began here in June 1999.  Currently, the last assignment recorded was #10,675.  I will not miss having to track all my time.  Most of the assignments I get on my new part time schedule will be special assignments that will involve less complicated time tracking (I hope).
8:12
Checked my business email for any quirky or weird last minute requests.  Nothing but junk in that trunk.
8:23
Checked personal email, where I occasionally get client emails.  Nothing that will involve action from me.  Did find out the church calendar, and that I will be a lector August 27th.  I need to create a calendar on my phoney thing, as I'm getting more and not less meeting requests and demands for my time.  This new schedule may actually make me busier!
8:39
Guess I better start on a client now.  This diary may be get wonky, as I won't be discussing specific clients. 
9:35
Okay, okay.  I can tell you this.  Most of my work today is preparation for a special assignment that I will be working on the part time era.  It does not involve espionage or a James Bond weaponized attaché case,  'Nuff said.
10:43
Starting the process of informing my clients that someone else will be the primary on their account after today.  Some I have been doing their accounting work for over 18 years.
11:26
Fixing to take down my "wall of theater posters" that I used to help remind that there was more to me than just accounting.

12:54  No one is stampeding to have lunch with me, so I'm going to get my favorite sub from Firehouse - Meatball - and bring back something for Dean.

2:20

Talking with Chris Arney about some of the stuff I'm leaving and where people can find it.  Although accounting is something I've longed to do less of for years, the people who I have worked with here have made it much more comfortable and enjoyable.  Chris Arney has always been friendly and helpful to me, and thank goodness, she appreciates my sense of humor.  Dean Crane, my fellow "accountant in the attic" has been a good buddy all these years (he started here in 2001), and although our politics don't match, we have found many more commonalities in family, faith, and shared media/sports.  We have been there to answer each other's questions, keeping us both on track and doing a better job due to our support of each other.



2:49
A lot of stuff going into the shredder that I have kept way past the date required to keep.
3:33
Only about another hour to go before the hours I need for the week are completed.  I think it's slowly starting to sink in, for me, and for the others here.
4:01
Starting to stock my car with personal effects. Got three boxes of stuff.
4:11
To the different friends over the years who've helped me stay sane with messages and support and occasional lunches, including Kimberly and Emily, and Julianna, among many others, I thank you.  To the many clients who have treated me with kindness and cooperation, I thank you.  To my church friends and theatre friends and others who have helped keep life rich and interesting, I thank you.  Most importantly, for Alison and Benjamin, for their love and patience with me, and for giving me the time to write and act, I thank you.  I look forward to a continued relationship with all of you as I enter this next phase, with both much anticipation but with also some worry and concern.  I will strive to be equal to all of you in support, friendship and love.
4:33
Just checked out, thereby ending my full time accounting career!  Huzzah!

Wednesday Wanderings : Penultimate Full Time Style

It's now the trend in TV series.  Only two more episodes left!  ...  Before the penultimate episode, followed by the very last episode!

Why don't they just say there are four episodes left?

So, anyways.....

This is my penultimate full-time day!  Only one more full time day after this, and my retirement from full time accounting begins!

Okay, so...two more days to go!

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What happens next?  I will stay in accounting, but for an average of about fifteen hours a week.  Over time, I hope to find some other ways to make the little bit of money that I need (or am allowed).  Social Security and other retirement income leave just a few hundred a month I need to sustain our current level of living.  With accounting, I at least don't have to put on my greeter uniform at Wal-Mart.  At least not yet.

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It's hard not to talk about politics when that is consuming everything right now.

First, I consider the Boy Scout Jamboree speech Trump made yet another low in a public figure who seemed to already have gone as low as he can go.  He was political and vulgar, turning into something akin to a Hitler Youth Rally.  I don't blame the Boy Scout organization.  They were following tradition, and were expecting (naively, perhaps), for the speech to be non-partisan.  I blame the millions of people who knew Trump was unfit for office and voted for him anyways.  That group is what brought this on to us, and has brought American Democratic tradition to the verge of total collapse.


------------------------------------

No one can doubt that John McCain is a genuine American hero.  He served his country under the most extreme conditions, a tortured prisoner of war, and I don't doubt that he is a patriot, dedicated to this country.  That said, I rarely agree with him politically.  He is super hawkish, and almost always sides with the far right when push comes to shove.  It was painful to watch him, with the terrible disease and prognosis he has, but receiving the very best care available (because he is insured, and very wealthy), to dramatically return to Washington, only  to vote to begin a process that will take health insurance away from millions.

-----------------------------

I don't know the final shape of the Republican Health Care bill.  But I'm not alone.  They don't either.
But whatever the ultimate outcome, I know these things will be true -

Tens of millions will lose health insurance.

Hundreds of thousands will go medically bankrupt.

Tens of thousands will die from lack of access and proper care.

I have to ask my conservative friends this question -

Is your blind hatred of Obama and Hillary worth so much pain and suffering?

There will be a reckoning.

The Progressive Majority is coming.  The right's extremism is making it more likely every day.

----------------------------

Back to the apolitical.

I am ready to swing into my penultimate full time day!

Ulp.

I see by the clock that I need to start into the penultimic swing!

Just think how long these will be when I don't have to jump into going to work!

Until my first post-retirement Wednesday Wandering!

 

Beautiful Sunday Monday Morning Musings

My favorite young actress, Emily Beck, getting her Wednesday Addams on, as part of Flying Dragon's talent show.  With her is young Roman, the son of Lauri Santana.  His role was to scream when Wednesday lifted his arms, and he had that down pat,

One of my school friends. now on that imperfect connection device, FaceBook, posted enthusiastically that it was Sunday, and to have a great day.

Well, I am happy to report, Dona, that I did.  A great big, beautiful Sunday!

First, after getting up, enjoying coffee and some reading time, we went to church, and experienced a spiritually satisfying Eucharist. That was followed by a church reception, our fellowship gathering in the parish hall, with snacks prepared by my to favorite snack makers. Alison and her mother.  So every snack was delicious, so many that snack time became lunch time.

We got home to coffee, and to Alison's and mine's new favorite tradition - Sunday Afternoon Classic Movie, where we've recorded the best that Turner Classic Movies had to offer that week, and enjoy an old classic.  This afternoon was the 1945 Hitchcock thriller, Spellbound, starring Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman.

This was interrupted briefly for me to go back to Waycross, and watch a talent show at the Flying Dragon, featuring some of the area's most theatrically gifted young people.  As always, it's a treat to go back and see the development of these youngsters, many of whom I've watched grow in the theater for many years.


Than it was back home to finish Spellbound.  The movie got better and better as it went on Ingrid Bergman may be one of the most beautiful woman that ever lived.  One of the actors, Norman Lloyd, who later played a doctor on the series St. Elsewhere, is still with us, at the age of 102!

We ate leftovers for supper, delicious food from Thai Smiles.  There portion sizes always provide a meal to take home.

And, of course, the evening ended with the best show on television, Game of Thrones.  And we saw enough to know that the meeting that all book readers AND TV watchers have been waiting for, should occur next week.

I went to sleep knowing that I would have to go to work Monday.  But this was tempered by the knowledge that this would be the last Monday of my full-time employment, that starting next week I will be 63% retired, and that almost all subsequent Mondays, I will NOT be putting in accounting work!  Huzzah!



So, yes, my good friend, Dona.  I had a great day!

I hope you did too!

Emily Back, getting her dancing groove on, during the musical number, Dancing Queen.

The Never Ending Story of Summer in the South

The grass grows.  The gnats flow.  And summer's heat grinds on and on here in the South land.

We have had a plethora of rain, coming mostly in thunderous storms.  Almost traffic-stopping torrents, that make you wonder if the world will wash away, but don't last long enough to accomplish that frightening task.

It helps the farmer's needs, but also increases the whining buzz,  as the air is filled with nature's kamikaze pilots - the mosquito, bearer not just of annoyance, but also the bringer of diseases, some tropical and new.

There are those who prefer the heat, those who complain and are uncomfortable if the temperature falls below 80.  I am not one of those.  My conception of an ideal day is about 58 and heavily clouded.  I have no explanation for this, other than I may have been a vampire in a former life.

Growing up in Michigan, we did have a season of high temperatures and humidity, where mosquitoes dominated the skies, and the lack of air conditioning was very noticeable.  It went on and on, lasting up to maybe five weeks, unlike here, where the season ranges from six to nine months.

I cope with the extended heat like many cope with Michigan's long winters; I stay inside as much as possible.  It's not too big a burden.  I have an indoor job, and a wide range of indoor hobbies and interests.

It would be a mistake, however, to draw from that a conclusion that I am not an outdoors person. I do like to get out and walk,  It is good exercise, and helps fuel my writing ideas.  With my impending change of work schedule (moving to a semi-retired status in the accounting profession), I'm looking forward to more early morning walks, hopefully before the gnats wake up and realize their favorite human is out and about,

Direct sunlight is a problem.   Sunburn is not the problem.  Sweat isn't a problem either; I don't seem to sweat much.  I just go straight to sunstroke. My temperature destabilizes, and the world spins.  At least I don't glow, or burst into flames.

So, why live in the heat?  Why not just move to a climate more suited to me?

Well, despite the dislike of many in Michigan for the extended cold, many still live there.  And for many of the same reasons that I continue to live in Southern Georgia.

Because this is where my family is.  This is where my job and friends are.  This is where I have grown to love the caring and blessings of the church we have chosen to attend.  This is where I have shined in community theater, and participate in other organizations where I believe I and others are helping to make a difference.

People can be wanderers.  I'm certainly not where I grew up.  Many of us take winding roads to end up in places quite different from where we started.  But eventually, most of us settle, and take up roots.  And as much as we have the instinct to wander, we also have the desire to take root. And South Georgia is where I and my family have laid down our roots.

Very few places have ideal weather year round.  I mean, we all can't live in Hawaii. People are special everywhere.  Natural beauty can be found everywhere.  The soul takes root, where the soul takes root.

So I slather on the Bug Be Gone.  I wear a protective hat.  I am even contemplating getting a beekeeper's helmet.  And, of course, I complain and kvetch, knowing that, really, I wouldn't move for the world, not from the wonderful life my family and I have built up.

A shorter summer wouldn't hurt, though.

Personal Wednesday Wanderings

Picture of a Pacific island I saw from the train traveling from Vancouver to Portland.  The rest of the post has nothing to do with this picture.  It's click bait.  Shameless click bait.

The rest of this post is just to update you, Wednesday Wandering style,  on what's foremost on all of your minds - what is happening in the life of T. M. Strait!

-----------------------------

The big news is that my full time career as an accountant ends July 28th, 2017!  I will continue on a part time basis, some 15 to 17 hours a week, but the regular grind will be over!

The first month, August, may be a little more work than the others, as I will be assisting the firm with a special project. but I will need to abide by the monthly earnings limits that are imposed on those early Social Security recipients are subject to in the first year of retirement.  Starting next year, the limits will be annual instead of monthly.

--------------------------------

This may put constraints upon me, particularly in August, in some of my plans to make money through my writing, performing, or other means.  Eventually, I hope to make more from those things than accounting, but that transition will have to be carefully done.

-----------------------------

I hope to solve the problems with the proposed print edition of Here Comes Tommy, and have that available for the mid-September Arts Show at the Okefenokee Heritage center.  I also have pretty much decided to self-publish Crowley Stories, just to have it locally.  That may have to wait until later in the year.

------------------------------

Meanwhile, the major thrust of my work this Fall will be to write-write-write, and have more stuff available for next year.  I want to get as much done on the second volume of History of the Trap as I can.  I want to complete My Europa.  I want to do another Escape From the Office story, and I would love to empty my mind, meditate, and come up with completely new ideas.

-------------------

I want to increase my contributions to charity, including assistance with the church, and more storytelling - at the library, schools and nursing homes.  Reading aloud is my very best talent, and if God wants to share our gifts, I would love to do more of it.

--------------------

Another plan to work on, that may add contributions down the road, is to do audio readings, of my own writings, and eventually maybe of other author's.  I think I would be good at it, and I think it would be lots of fun.

------------------------

I am also hoping to polish my skills as a docent (tour guide), and assist the Okefenokee Heritage Center.

-------------------------

My personal goals are to eat better, exercise more, and lower my blood pressure.  I have already made progress on these fronts, and I hope that I can use my change of schedule to improve more, and not fall back into a routine of Bonbons and daytime television.

Wish me luck!

A Strand of Monday Musings

Jesup and The Strand are not tilted.  My camera is.  Photography is not a particular skill set of mine. Yet I know from my tats that blog stories with pictures get more views.

Anywho..... The Strand Theater in Jesup...we finally got out to it last Saturday.  Many of our friends had made us curious as to what the experience might be like.   So when we decided to see War for the Planet of the Apes, we chose to drive the extra twenty minutes it would take to get there, as opposed to the Waycross Mall Cinemas.

The seats were plush and roomy, recliners that you had full control over, and a tray table you could move towards you or out of the way.  They reminded me of the passenger seats in WALL-E, except they didn't hover or move (at least I didn't try that). I think every seat in the house had a full view of the screen, although I have a feeling the front two rows may have felt too close up.

They had a full complement of food, and we tried a couple of hamburgers, a hot dog, and fries.  It was served right to your seat.  It was slightly delayed because they seemed to be having power concerns, and had warned us the power might go out, in the kitchen, and maybe even the movie, too.   Whatever problems must have been worked out, as there were no interruptions in service.

The food was okay, but I did not really like eating in the dark, and I might stick to more traditional theater fare the next time I come.

The movie itself was brilliant, and a logical, seamless step towards the future presented in the original movie. I highly recommend it, and the entire series.

This is Benjamin, standing in the lobby of The Strand.

Jesup also has one of the few functioning drive ins in the USA.  The city is smaller than Waycross, but has a unique display of movie options, and some interesting restaurants.  I don't know about their community theatre - someone who lives there might want to let me know.

-------------------------------

Game of Thrones started last night!  It was awesome, of course, and beyond the books that I have read, so I have no idea where it is going.  I have a theory, but right now, I'll keep it to myself (hint: the subtitle of the books is A SONG OF FIRE & ICE).

Of course, Facebook is deluged right now with supporters and fans, but also those who feel it important to make the point that they've never watched an episode.  Great.  I have no idea why they feel the need to say that.  I don't declare in bright memes that I've never watched NCIS, or Duck Dynasty, or Fox & Friends.

----------------------------


I have either one or two weeks left of full time work schedule.  Probably two, but we'll see.  Anywho, it's getting close, and I'm both excited and stressed.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

Living in the Land of Trumpeteers: Saturday Political Soap Box 168

Still I live in the land of Trumpeteers.

In the midst of all the horrible news, surrounded by images of his bad behavior, by the Republican policies that, if passed, will dismantle the middle class and crush the working poor, flooded with news of his atrocious tweets and his complete ignorance of any issue, the increasing weight of their criminal collusion and conspiracy with Russia (a hostile foreign power), the whole family enriching themselves at the expense of taxpayers and the government,,,,,

STILL I LIVE IN THE LAND OF TRUMPETEERS.

Even as I hear more talk of sites that accumulate Trump Voter Regrets, as more and more conservative pundits speak out against the Trumps, as he slips ever so slightly in the polls.....

STILL I LIVE IN THE LAND OF  TRUMPETEERS.

Still I have local friends who are afraid to speak out at their work or church.  I live in a county that voted well over 80% for Trump.  Some did it not out of affection for Trump, but for hatred of Clinton.  After everything that's happened, virtually all of them still suffer the same delusion that Clinton would have been worse.

This is not possible.  Trump is a horrible person and an even worse President.  He is an insult to American History, and to the world.

He is the least Christian President ever, and yet he is adored and propped up by white evangelicals. How is the willingness to allow discrimination against the LGBT community, and the desire to eliminate Planned Parenthood, sex education, and access to birth control (thereby INCREASING the number of abortions) - how is THAT what defines you as a Christian?

Christ did not tell you in specific language  what to do about gays or abortion.  He was very specific about taking care of the poor and disadvantaged, abundantly and repetitively clear.  He was clear about loving everyone, not excluding and condemning. He was clear that it was the poor that were blessed, that being rich and exploitative was NOT a demonstration of God's favor.

And yet, in this plethora of Americhristians....

STILL I LIVE IN THE LAND OF TRUMPETEERS

What will it take to wake them up?

I know they live in a protected news bubble.

I can't even get in.  Many have unfollowed me, or worse, just ignore anything I or any anti-Trumper has to say.

They say they're tired of talking about politics.  Sad in a country that depends upon an informed populace engaged in current affairs and issues.  They can't defend anymore so best just to not talk about him.

This administration did not bring Jesus to the White House.  Jesus does not sit upon thrones of gold. Jesus is not interested in benefiting Trump's billionaire buddies at the expense of the rest of us.

Jesus is on the broken streets  of our urban centers.  He is in the rural communities that are suffering from job loss and opioid addictions.  He is with the family with the desperately ill child, the family without access to health care coverage.  He is with the troubled and the persecuted, the disadvantaged and exploited.

He is even here, in the land of Trumpeteers, reaching out, trying to get you to listen, trying to get you to care about your fellow man.

He knows, that deep down, there is much goodness in you. He sees the charitable and kind things you do.  You just need to remove the log in your eye that blinds you to the truth about Trump and his kind.

Like the Prodigal Son, if we are to survive, one day you will return.

You will be welcomed with open arms, and there will be celebration and joy.

And then, hopefully, universal health care.

Nobody Wants to Get Together Anymore

This is written for the weekly newspaper column I do that some Georgia papers run.  Thus the references to columns as opposed to posts.


I haven't had many columns about politics lately.  I would say that it's because there are many probably tired of hearing about it, and although I respect that, I respect more that we live in a democracy where people are supposed to engage with and discuss the relevant issues of the day. No, what's making it difficult is that there are so many moving targets right now, where events are happening so fast, that it can become outdated by the time it sees print.

The events surrounding Russian influence on our election, and to what degree the Trump campaign was actively involved in that, is one of those topics.  Stories are breaking every day, and by the time this sees print, many more will probably have broken.  I shake my head at everything I hear, but ultimately, I'm hoping that Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller will be able to come to a conclusion that helps clear things up for everyone.  So, although I realize how dire it all is, I am holding  my fire for now.

I want to say more about the Republican's efforts to fundamentally alter our health care system, but it's hard to be too definitive when their bill proposals change almost daily, and much of the process of formulating them is done in secret.  By the time this sees print, the Senate may have passed something, or it may have all fallen irrevocably apart.

Even if the Senate passes a bill, it will have to be worked out in conference committee with the House.  That may be more difficult than they're suggesting, as both bill versions will have passed with razor thin margins, and the movement away of just a handful of Republicans could scotch the whole thing.

Whatever the final shape of the bill, this central principle seemed to be hard-wired into all versions - that the taxes built into the Affordable Care Act (ACA) be eliminated, and that this be paid for by massive cuts to Medicaid.  The primary goal of the bill appears not to be health care and improving availability and access, but to remove those taxes, as a preliminary to a tax reform bill to follow, that will further reduce taxes for the top income groups and corporations.

They may damage the ability to be affordably covered with pre-existing conditions (or even being able to get any coverage at all).  They may endorse junk insurance plans that seem cheap, but when crunch time comes, really don't cover much of anything.  If you're young and healthy, you may pay less under their proposals.  If you're older and sicker, you may pay more - a lot more.

I really don't think the vast majority of people, even Republican voters, believe these are great ideas. I'm pretty sure that's not why they had problems with the ACA.  Most polling shows the Republican proposals at record low support, and at the same time, finally and ironically, the ACA increasing in support.

Although there are extremists on both sides, I think the vast majority of people would like to see the two sides come together and actually strengthen and improve the system.  Common sense would show that the best thing to do is to continue with the base framework of the ACA,  and tweak it to correct its flaws.  Some of these solutions may be conservative.  Some may be progressive.  But all should be pragmatic in helping make thing better.

What is centrally important to me, and to many who care about their fellow man, is that the correct number of people who lose health coverage because of any health care bill. should not be 22 million, as determined by the Congressional Budget Office scoring of one version of the bill.  It should not be 18 million.  It should be ZERO.  We should be adding people, not subtracting.

At a minimum, we should be following the lead of  Republican Governor Jon Kasich and other concerned governors throughout the country, who understand how many of their citizens will be hurt by what the national legislators are proposing. and join their efforts to strive to make things better, not worse.

Social Media Madness

I have about had it with social media.

A dangerous thing, perhaps, when I'm about ready to cut back my accounting work, and do things that rely on social media for promotion and success.

But still, I've about had it.

It's my own fault.  An introvert that battles with selective mutism, I find social situations awkward and difficult, particularly with people I don't know well.  I either don't talk at all, or I babble on about not much of anything.  So, in some ways, social media has been a blessing, as it is easier for me to communicate in writing than it is in person or over the phone.

I have "friends", but most of them are confined to whatever group I'm in that I'm connected to with them.  I have many theater friends, but few whom I see or talk to outside of whatever production I'm in with them. Same holds true for work, church, or politically affiliated groups.

I thought of social media as a way to fill that gap.  It works, sort of.  I have high school connections that I'd never thought I would have again.  But I'm as likely to get one who wants to criticize my politics as one who, regardless of politics, wants to connect with me as a person.

It's taken me awhile to figure out, but I'm beginning to realize, for the most part, that the friendships I have on social media, are just as shallow as the ones I have in real life, if not more so.  When I withdraw from Facebook, as I did to a degree during Lent, everything seems to go as normal. Nobody misses me, nobody tries to touch base, it's as if I never mattered.

Although I can tell by the site page view counter in my blog, that my posts are being seen, I get very little feedback, or likes, or anything from them.  If I post a family picture, I am likely to get a lot of likes.  If I post something political, I get a fair number of likes, and other reactions.  But my blog posts?  Two likes would be a big showing.

I posted a link to a story about the latest in the Trump Treason Scandal, with the caption Game Over, and the reaction I got was not from Trumpeteers, but from liberal friends who wanted to argue with me about how it wasn't over, about how what they've done so far is not technically illegal.  I was prepared to get gruff from Trumpeteers.  I was not prepared to get assaulted from allies.  It kind of broke me.

I will continue with social media, but I realize now it's not my friend.  Acquaintances? Yes. Superficial connections? Yes.  Deeper friendships?  They have to be built on something more.  And that's going to be difficult for someone who has struggled with shyness all his life.

I think this is stemming from the fact that I will be soon switching to a greater retirement from the job I've known for over thirty years, accounting, and I fear that it may backfire, and I just wind up more isolated.  Fear of the new, fear of change, I guess.

No one needs to get over absorbed with this.  I'm just trying to work out some feelings of worry, doubt, and potential isolation.  After everything is said and done, writing does help me work through things.

I'll get there.  Just with  a more skeptical eye as to what social media can and can't do.  And that may be a good thing.

Oh, Yeah! Keeping it Weird in Portland!

Benjamin's got some brand new shoes!  Just part of the fun at The Peculiarium, the world's strangest little museum. 

Portland prides itself in being weird and different, and just from our little visit, that was definitely true!

And, of course, I, being who and what I am, LOVED IT!

Pigs WITH a blanket!

This was a statues of the three little pigs that were randomly on the sidewalk of a neighborhood street.  And they just happened to have a blanket with them.  Seriously.  I did not stage this.

Benjamin and Alison stand in front of the Keller Park Fountain. If you look carefully, you can see the children near the edge of the Falls.  There were signs telling people not to do this, but they did it anyways.  I was concerned by it, and could hardly look at the Falls without stressing that there might be a fall.

The world's tiniest park.  For real.  It's a real official park.  A reporter in a nearby building was taking care of it, and decided to write a story about a leprechaun he saw there.  Portland caught the leprechaun park fever, and it became a local icon. 

Portland is the food truck capital of the world, with some 700 in the city.  We saw some of them, but we didn't eat at any.  They looked interesting, but I'm not a big fan of outdoor eating, where you might not even be able to sit down.  Hey, not everything is for every one.

Portland's greatest secret - the second largest copper statue in the USA (only behind the Statue of Liberty), Portlandia, a sort of female version of Neptune.  She guards the ports of Portland, by facing the wrong way a few blocks up from the port.  She is on a three or four story building, surrounded by much larger buildings.  There are also trees nearby that block the view, unless you are at the right exact angle directly across the street from it.

The artist that created it has retained the rights to it, and does not want photographs of it to be displayed, further adding to its mystery.  So, if somehow this little blog gets on his radar, I may have to remove this picture.

So, enjoy it while you can.

Summertime! And the Living is Queasy!

A picture of the world's tiniest park, found in downtown Portland.  Don't laugh.  It's a real, official park.  Long story.  Maybe I'll tell it someday.

Summertime! And the living is steamy, as temperatures soar!

Although most temps have been in the nineties, the heat index, the 'feels like' temp, is regularly passing into triple digits.  We are creeping closer and closer to being able to fry eggs on the sidewalk.

We thought we would escape the heat, and escaped for a good chunk of June to a trip to the Pacific Northwest.  We thought wrong.  It was not quite as warm as Georgia, but it was unseasonably warm up there.

Last Fall, we all got the first passports of our lives, and this enabled us to slip into Canada.  We exchanged our money for Canadian currency, which looked like play money, as if somebody allowed Salvador Dali and Picasso to be part of the creative team.  It's very colorful, and has plastic transparent parts, like someone didn't have enough paper to finish it out.

We spent our time in Vancouver, a great little city surrounded by mountains on one side, and water on the other.  It took a day or two to get used to the transport system, but once we did, it was easy to get around to where we wanted to go.  Public transportation and bicycles were more prominent than cars, and Vancouver was very conscious of striving to be a green city.  Everyone had multiple recycling bins, and it took some learning to know where to put which trash where.  It certainly was much different than where we live in Georgia, where everything is just dumped into one big trash can.

They had these delightful free tours (you did leave a tip, if you liked it, which we did)  that you could take, showing different spots and neighborhoods, and being very honest about the sometimes racist and exploitative past.  It was a great history lesson, focusing not on just the famous, but on the everyday lives of everyday people.  I would love to see our local heritage/historical groups put on similar kinds of tours.  It may be difficult to be as honest as our Vancouver tour guides, but it would be refreshing and informative if they could.

We took an AMTRAK train to Portland, Oregon.  It was a fun and relaxing ride, seeing much of the coast line. including the Pacific and Puget Sound.  We passed through Seattle, and we could see the Space Needle from the train.  That was it.  That was all we saw of Seattle.

Portland was weird and wonderful.  Like Vancouver, it had a great public transportation system, and was very conscientious about recycling.  We met a couple of my high school friends there, including one who has been a leader in the recycling movement since he got out of college.  Portland is a very good place for him to be.

A highlight for me was Powell Books, a gigantic bookstore that is a full city block and four stories tall!  Summertime is a great time for reading, and with the serious decline in the number of bookstores (both chain and independent) it was a delight to be in one still going strong!  Our home area no longer has a bookstore, and I miss them.   The decline in reading in this country is alarming. I know e-readers have cut into those who buy paper books, but people just don't read  books, fiction or non-fiction, at the levels they used to.  Do people still read?  I guess so, but now it's short snippets of things on social media, and news sources that are slanted towards their biases, confirming and reinforcing what they already feel.  We are all busy in our own bubbles, reshaping reality to fit what we believe it must be.

Summertime!  And the living is queasy, as we adjust to the one thing even our news feeds can't hide - it's hot and it's only getting hotter!  Bring on July and August!  Just make sure you use plenty of sunscreen!

Taking the Slow Train to Portland

Amtrak!  What better to see the coast and the country than taking a train between our two destinations cities, travelling from Vancouver to Portland!  We didn't want to fly.  We didn't want to rent a car. This allowed us to travel and see the coast as we went.

Just on the border between Canada and the United States.  Birds know no boundaries.  

Look!  It's the Seattle Space Needle!  Aaand that was it.  Our entire contact with that city.  When you only have so many days, you have to make choices.  The rest of the city will have to wait for another trip.

Another view of one of the beautiful little islands that lie just off the coast. 

We also passed by Puget Sound, and although I looked at all the islands and inlets carefully, I can report no glowing vampires.

It was a pleasant ride, taking over eight hours, but scenic and interesting for most of the ride.  And when it wasn't, I had the power of Kindle!

It felt safe.  And the trip was uneventful in that regards.  After we got back, we saw the reports of an Amtrak train derailment on this route.  No one was hurt, thankfully.  And I still think, overall, that it is a safe and scenic route to go.

Moose and Boy

O Canada!

Here is Benjamin posing with the Canadian Mountie'a newest recruit, Bullwinkle D. Moose.

Other than this, we didn't see much wildlife during our Canadian visit.  We basically stayed in the city of Vancouver.    We did see on the local news where a bear was touring a golf course.  He got about to the seventh hole before he was removed.  They should have let him finish the course.  Here in South Georgia, gators on the course are just considered another hazard.

Canadian goods are dominated by sales of maple and maple products.  We got little jugs of maple syrup for ourselves and others.  We also got a delicious jar of maple mustard, but the TSA confiscated that, as it was well over three ounces and deemed dangerous.  I just hope that some TSA family somewhere gets to enjoy it.

This is a statue of the founder of the section of Vancouver known as Gastown.  He is John Deighton, known to all as Gassy Jack, a saloon keeper central to the growth of that area.

Why was he called Gassy Jack?

Well, I'm sorry, but your first answer would be wrong.

In this case, it's more related to the term Gasbag.  Gassy Jack was a long-winded fellow who could talk and talk and ramble on and on about not much of anything.

Someone who could talk a lot without saying a whole lot.  Nobody like that now, is there?

Adventures in a Foreign Land

I haven't posted in awhile.  I usually don't post about vacation while we're on vacation.  And this time I didn't even bring the laptop so I couldn't even post about other things.  This resulted in my longest gap between posts in over four years!  Anybody miss me?

Last fall, we all got passports for the first time in our lives.  We were going to that foreign land, Canada.  In preparation, as seen above, we got Canadian money.  It's much more colorful than American money, and feels much more like play money than ours.  They also don't use much paper money lower than a five, instead using two dollar and one dollar coins.  Pennies are non-existent, with everything rounded up or down to the nearest nickel/

Our first four days of our vacation were going to be spent in Vancouver, in the province of British Columbia.  I had been in Canada before (much easier when you lived in Michigan, and at that time, you didn't a passport to get in), but never west of Sault Ste Marie.  Passing through customs wasn't too involved.  You had to answer some questions at a computer terminal.  Most were fairly easy, but for our overly cautious family, we debated on the question of bringing food into Canada, whether the two packets of almonds we got on the plane counted.  After several moments of indecision, we finally answered no.  So we snuck about two ounces of almonds into Canada.

We did not stay in traditional hotels on our trip.  Instead we did this new think called airbnbs, or vrbnbs, or, uh, staying in the extra rooms of somebody's house or condo.  In Vancouver, we were fortunate enough to stay in the basement rooms of somebody's house.  This is a picture of Alison relaxing in this cozy place.  It felt so much more homey and friendly than a hotel, and cost less to boot (compared to downtown hotel suites).

This is the patio just outside our room,  I can't emphasize this enough - even though the temperature reached highs in the mid-eighties - THERE WERE NO GNATS.  I repeat - THERE WERE NO GNATS.  I think I was in love.

We took multiple free tours of different sections of Vancouver.  We saw this building, designed by indigenous Canadians, that has a sweat lodge on top of it.

Alison and Benjamin pose in the Chinese Gardens that are in the center of Chinatown.

We took a harbor ride, and I took a picture of the city from the boat.  I took many other pictures from the boat, but the turned out pretty bad.  Ansel Adams I am not.


The "free"tours were the trip highlight.  You left a tip at the end, if you could.  The tour guides were friendly and informative, honest and open about the history of Vancouver, both the good and the bad.  It has inspired me as to how heritage tours at the Okefenokee Heritage Center might be conducted.  It seems like fun, and I think it would be something I could be good at.


We did make it clear to a couple of our tour guides, that no, we did not vote for him.  As  I explained to one of them, I did everything in my power to stop him, but to my shame and humiliation, I failed.

Had the Senate passed their tax cut to the wealthy disguised as a health care bill, we might still be in Vancouver right now.

No gnats, friendly people, Justin Trudeau, and universal health care.

O Canada!