February and its Usual Premature Exit

 

Well, well, is that Blackshear in February?

Nah, I think that's Dubuque, Iowa. Snow in Blackshear is rare.

The last time I remember was January a few years ago. It actually stuck for a few days. Freaked everybody out!

What are we getting at the end of this February? A high of 84! Even for us, that's pretty darn high for this time of year. I don't do well in high heat, so I stay indoors as much as possible.

Imagine being born on February 29th! You get your true birthday only every four years! We have one friend like that, Vincent. Happy birthday anyway, Vincent!

Does February seem shorter to me? Everything seems shorter and faster to me now. Part of aging, I guess.

I am struggling to just enjoy each day. It's not easy. I'm not a natural optimist.  

But I'm learning, folks. Really, I am.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

Little Fig Tree

 

We thought it was a goner. It's season 3 with our little fig tree, and over the winter, with its bare, just branched barren sticks, we assumed our experiment had failed.

Not that it's grown in height much. Not that it's come even close to bearing fruit. But the leaves - they sprout. Yes, they sprout.

When we originally planted it, it was about twice the height. But the trunk part was snapped in half by a big dog that roamed the neighborhood then. We don't have as many loose dogs as we had when we lived in the county, but they occur in our city neighborhood now and then.

These loose pets aren't around for very long. They might be captured by Animal Control. Most of them experience an early, bitter demise.

We had a cat visiting us for several months, a very loving cat owned by the house across the street but who roamed the neighborhood. It used to be on our property all the time, but we haven't seen him in the last couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, we still have our little fig tree. Will it ever grow? Will it ever bear fruit? 

I don't know, but it is still with us.  

And for right now, that'll do.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

Mortimus Pedals Furiously

 Let me introduce you to Mortimus MacKenzie. He is named after a World of Warcraft character, a game popular with both his parents, who had met and fallen in love while playing it. But, of course, this was before the Kingdom fall. Since then, they have received some pressure from the Church to change it to something more biblically sound, but so far, they have been able to resist.

The darkness fell, and Mortimus was out too late. He pedals furiously to make it home before he is stopped by the Kingdom Guard. He might not be in too much trouble, being only eight years old, but it might harm his parents.

It was innocent enough. He had been at his friend's, Mark (solid biblical name there) Griner, and they were just so busy playing Kingdom's Gate that they had lost track of time. 

Mortimus was getting close. Only three blocks to go. But the next block was the Holiness Church. And even though it was past curfew, there seemed to be a crowd. People attending church events could be exempt from the curfew. They just had to have an event pass bracelet on their wrist. Could you forge an event pass to cover up being out too late? Yes, but the penalties for forging were quite severe. Commit the offense three times, and you could lose a hand.

As he got closer, he saw there was a huge bonfire. They threw books into the flames and sang Give Me Oil In My Lamp. The people looked entranced, their eyes wide in ecstatic fever.

The biggest surprise to Mortimus was that, after six years of Kingdom rule, they were still finding books to burn. That seemed like a long time to find new troves of books. Hadn't they found them all yet?

Someone looked over at him. He'd been spotted! But he pedaled quickly away and was out of sight before they could react further.

Mortimus realized that they could be finding books hitherto undiscovered. After all, didn't his parents have a shelf of books hidden away in the basement, behind a false wall? He only knew it was there because he hid on the basement stairs as his parents opened it up one day.  

They had given him a book or two to read. He would have it for a few days, and then his parents would take it back. One was The Giving Tree. Others included I Am Jazz, The Prince & Knight, and Charlotte's Web. They seemed okay to him. He couldn't understand why people wanted to burn them. When his reading skills improved, his parents told him they would let him read A Wrinkle in Time and The Diary of Anne Frank.

He liked reading books, but it made him afraid of what would happen if they found the books? What would they do to his parents? What would happen to him?

Mortimus has a terrible thought. What if the burning at the Holiness Church were his parent's books?

He pedaled furiously, furiouser and furiouser, faster and faster.

He got home and raced in, the front door unlocked. He called loudly for them. They didn't answer. Weren't they home.

He went through the kitchen, shouting, worried.

And then he noticed.

The door leading to the basement was open.

Fear enveloped him.

Mortimus wept.

Ellie Mae: Slipping the Bonds of Earth

The best dog on Earth is no longer on this Earth. Our rescued best friend, who immeasurably brightened our lives for almost 13 years (and who was rescued as a full-grown adult, so we never knew her actual age), left us after a brief illness. Dr. Kimbrell and his son fought valiantly to save her life, but it was just her time. I know there is so much tragedy and grief reflected at times on Social Media, but I felt it important, especially for those who knew and loved Ellie.

She was always ready to greet us with love. She was the sweetest dog ever, friendly to everyone she met. She would have made an excellent therapy dog.

 The world-famous "Excuse me. Do you have any grey poupon?" sophisticated dog about town pose.  

Sorry. Still emotional. Hopefully, I can write more later.

Love,

T. M. Strait

Sleepy Monday Musings

Oh, what a frabjous Monday morning! Welcome to another week of the retired life?  And what would you like to do today, Boss-A-Man?

 OK, so I'll check with you later.

What about you, Ellie?  What exciting activities do you have planned today?

Well, Ellie, I see you have an exciting day planned out?  Don't let me interrupt it.

Surely Pixie, our most hyper dog has something going on.

She is busy in slumber land, trying to squeeze between the blankets and couch cushion.

What about ol' Cocoa Bear?  She loves to follow me around and be near me all day long.

Oh, well.  So much for an exciting Monday morning.

Guess I'll write out this blog and then maybe

take a nap.

Until nest time,

T. M. Strait

99 Luftlooney Balloons: Saturday Political Soap Box 291

 

Well, thanks, Kevin McCarthy. You got your dream job after 15 ballots of trying. All you had to do was sell your soul to the crazies, and ensure that the 118th Congress is the craziest one ever.

Yes, the antics of Marjorie Taylor Greene have become a poster child for your reign. She backed you early - for one reason and one reason only - to put her back on committees and closer to the controls of power.

Her balloon stunt, pictured above, is one of her milder reactions. It's more stupid and pointless than it is insulting or outrageous. 

Her behavior during the State of the Union was thuggish and boorish. Her interrupting and catcalling, as if she were at a cage wrestling match, hurt the Republicans more than they imagined, by inspiring President Biden to corner the Republicans on Social Security and Medicare. He got them to deny their own statements about cutting these super-popular programs, and negotiated the debt ceiling before the largest audience possible.

In a committee hearing, she proclaimed that one elementary school in Illinois received $5.1 billion dollars in Covid money, exclusively to teach CRT. Do I have to analyze this for you? Does it pass your smell test? If you think this is any way plausible, you may want to find another blog to read. This one is going to make you very unhappy.

In a hearing about the Chinese balloon shot over the Atlantic, she just called what the military was saying BS (initials not used) and saying, "I don't believe you!"

Recent elections have shown that MAGA extremists and election deniers have trouble winning at the national and state level. But that can't include all of the carefully gerrymandered Congressional districts in some parts of the country. So we have to suffer these fools. And because of the thin margin that Congressional Republicans have, they have to let these extremists sling their crap all over the halls of Congress.

There are more fools in the Republican toolshed. There is the fantasy-spinning George Santos, whose lying even eclipses the delusional self-serving Trump. There is the gun-toting Chrstifascist Lauren Boebert. There is Matt Gaetz, whose sexual proclivities are distasteful at best and criminal at worst.

And there are many who are quieter but still support and condone the actions of these fools. What did you expect, after tolerating for years the madness of Trump, the worst and most unqualified President we've ever had?

This is my first Saturday Political Soap Box I've done in a while (since early December). In the future, I will try to deal more with the topics that affect our everyday lives - inflation, Russian aggression, universal health care, climate change, the growing income gap, and more.

But it's going to be hard to ignore the Christfascist threat to the future. Those in Congress are just clowns putting on a show. What we need to fear are people like Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, who is turning his state into a repressive fascist hellhole.

So, no, as much as I'd like to post about other things, I'm not going to let you forget it. Nothing good can come until we deal with this threat.

Until next I climb the Soap Box,

T. M. Strait

Searching the Globe

 

Last Saturday, Alison and I went on a short outing.  We started the day on Jekyll Island, soaking in the beauty of the beach.  They have some globes that, if you can find one, you can win a free globe to take home. 

This is an example of what you are looking for.

This is an example of what you could win when you trade your globe in.

No, Alison and I did not find a globe.  But we fully intend to try again some other time.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

Tuesday Twitter Questions 020722

 Look, I'm just trying to get back into the swing of writing, ok? That may mean using a few prompts and kickstarters here and there.

Social media is an abyss. Facebook has developed into a cesspool of right-wing extremism - it's possible, but not easy to carve out an oasis for yourself, but it's difficult to ignore how base nasty much of it is. Twitter has been taken over by a billionaire narcissist with right-wing and authoritarian tendencies - it's getting positively musky. TikTok is fun, but it's hard to forget that it's owned by China, and it's like flying a billion Luftwaffe balloons over our interwebs. Instagram is superficial and selfie driven, particularly harmful to young people, presenting them with unacheivable ideals. Snapchat, I don't get at all - oh, look! Uncle Wally has whiskers!

Nevertheless, I plunge into my strange little Twitter feed to answer the first five questions I see (not including the most obnoxious and/or sexually explicit).

Do you think Lauren Boebert is really that dumb, or is just an act?

I have no idea. Yes, she most likely has adopted a certain persona that she feels will best propel her career forward. How much of it is put on, I can't tell. The most important thing to realize is that she is a great danger to democracy. Her beliefs are authoritarian, particularly when it comes to the promotion of Christain Nationalism.

Does anyone else read Twitter bios before they interact with someone or am I a weirdo?

Not very often. Sometimes if I think they're a writer, I might check out to see what genre they write in, or the names of some of their books.

If someone wants to be my friend, I will check out the basics to make sure they are not a Trumper, or someone angling to make a profit off me somehow.

Do you actually thrive under pressure, or are you just so used to being burnt out that the only way you can overcome your mental exhaustion is by chasing the bump of feel-good brain chemicals you get when you're productive?

Wow. I may thrive under pressure sometimes, but I don't really like it. That's why I retired. On the other hand, I always feel more productive when I achieve writing goals. That's something I need to get back to.

Our FLOTUS, Dr. Biden is hands down a better First Lady than Melania Trump ever was, agree?

Well, yeah. I agree. But you could have put Melania against any first lady in the last 100-plus years, and Melania would be on the short end - bigly!

What has made you most proud of the Biden administration since 2020?

The way that he has led the world to support Ukraine and challenge Putin. Trump would have rolled over like a cocker spaniel and wet himself in subservience to Putin.

Also that he has restored a positive direction to mitigating climate change. Sure, it's not enough, but at least we're trying to make it better instead of worse.

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Wow! That was exciting! Yes, three of the questions were political, but that is a reflection of my Twitter feed.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

Peek-A-Boo Blogger

 

It's my new favorite thing.  Reading via Facebook Messenger to my granddaughter in New York.  I get two copies of a book I want to read to her and send one of the copies off to the Catskills.

Sometimes she pays close attention.  Sometimes she does not.  But it doesn't matter.  I get to see her, and she gets to see me.

I am counting the days until we get back to New York.  She is becoming more mobile every day.  She is slowly building a vocabulary.

Would I like her to be closer?  Yes, of course, I would.  Do I appreciate where she is at, with loving parents living in a beautiful setting?  Absolutely!

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I have recorded Inherit the Wind, the classic about the Scopes Monkey trial, where a teacher is put on trial for teaching evolution.

The movie is one of my favorites, and it is particularly haunting me now, with unpleasant parallels occurring where I live.  Florida is even worse.  

I find these never-ending culture wars deeply depressing.  This can't possibly be how Jesus wanted us to spend our time - on the persecution and vilification of marginalized communities.

Many of my fellow citizens must feel they are without sin - as they hurling stones with reckless abandon.

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My knee and leg and foot pain have diminished.  Part of that is time, but it also may be medication, and when I am done with the current course of drugs, then I may know whether I am truly better.

The people at church were kind enough to help me get a new chair for the church office.  It is ergonomically designed, and is perfect for sitting in.  I am so appreciative.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait