Genuine Wednesday Wanderings

 What the hay. Let's start off today's blog with a stolen joke.

We do have an abundance of Hunters in the area.  Hunter may be the new Bubba.

Benjamin's name is somewhat rarer, although there were at least a couple others in his public school grade.  It gets even rarer, though, because many shorten to Ben, or even (gulp) Benji.

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We are in the thick of a warm, wet summer.  I haven't seen projections for the next two months, but I'm guessing it will be hotter with less rain.  That has been the trend in recent years.

I don't think we've had a day yet where the high temp has been over 100.  Those days may be yet to come.

Unlike many here in Southeast Georgia, we don't want to go SOUTH for summer vacation (Florida, Caribbean, Cancun). Instead, we like to go north, where it might be cooler. Had we done that this year - boy! Would we have been fooled!  The Pacific Northwest, a favorite spot to think about, recently had temperatures soaring into the 110s!  Another area we like, British Columbia, got hot enough to cook the shellfish on its shores!

There may be no escape now from the effects of global warming and climate change.

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Despite my best efforts to change, the rhythms of writing continue to elude me.

As I age, my goals and focus shift.  Yes, I would like to phase out my accounting career, but I am less sure about what takes its place.  I am trying to come to terms with my lack of success as a creative talent and am slowly learning to find joy in simpler things - life, family, church.  

That missing gap, where I need to earn a certain income range to properly contribute to the family's well-being, continues to only be filled by my part-time accounting career.  I may need to be happy just doing that.  I may need to learn to accommodate it, at least for now.

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I'm not sure why the filibuster is needed.  The Senate is already heavily weighted towards smaller populations, highly conservative states. 

The whole idea that one party will ever have 60 votes, enough to stop a filibuster, is a fantasy.  It is also a fantasy that the Republican Party will ever compromise and work with the Democratic Party on anything significant.

If the filibuster was used rarely and done by Senators holding the floor (ala Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), I might favor it.  But it is used as a default position to end any legislation.  And we have too many problems in this country for the Senate to be trapped in permanent paralysis.

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Maybe we'll see Black Widow this weekend.  If so, it will be my first time back in the movie theatre since January 2020, when we saw Doctor Doolittle.

I still am queasy about COVID-19.  There are so many unvaccinated in our area, and cases are starting to rise again.

Please get vaccinated for the sake of yourself, and for your family and friends.

Let's git-er-done, America.  We can lick this thing if we all work together.