Scrooge McLights

Outdoor Christmas displays?

Bah, humbug!

I don't know what's wrong with me.  I'm never been that impressed with outdoor Christmas displays.  Usually when my family goes out at night to view the colorfully decorated homes in our area, I beg off.

Usually I prefer stories to displays.  The displays don't seem to have much of a plot-line.  Yep, there's a bunch a pretty lights.  And a jumbled display of mixed messages.  Lights, sometimes all white, sometimes mixed with red and green, and sometimes a kaleidoscope of discordant colors.  Some of the themes are religious, including full nativity scenes, angels, crosses and stars.  Some are of Santa and the North Pole, sometimes including a sleigh and a full set of reindeer, elves, presents, and maybe even a narwhal.  And others could have anything, ranging from jingled bells, decorated trees, even Star Wars characters or Pokemon (gotta display 'em all!).

The extreme nature and gaudiness of some displays here in Georgia seems to be a way of showing a change of seasons in a place that doesn't often show those changes.  I grew up in Michigan, and it was easy to tell that it was Christmas season.  Several feet of snow usually gave it away.  Not that we didn't have some outdoor displays.  They just weren't necessary to know what time of year it was.

The Scrooge in me also wonders about the tremendous consumption of power these displays must take.  I can't imagine what their utility bills must be.  It must be very important to them to make such a costly display.

It's not that I don't want things to be decorated for Christmas.  I love indoor displays, decorated for the season.  Our trees are artificial, but we have about a half a dozen throughout the house, all decorated with lights and ornaments.  We have nativity scene, advent calendars, Santas and reindeer of all kinds, decorations from different eras, as Alison is a collector of antiques.  I think of indoor displays as something for family and friends, and the outdoor displays as a statement of prestige and competition with others.

And yet....do they really not tell stories?  Maybe it is a failure of imagination that I don't see the complex and rich story each decorated yard is telling me about Christmas, and the owner of the display.  Isn't the idea of Santa at the nativity scene an intriguing one?  Or Luke Skywalker, Obi-Won Kenobi and Hans Solo as the Wise Men?  Is not the birth of Christ the start of the greatest story ever told?

And yet....what is wrong with freedom of expression?  Doesn't that they say a lot about the variety and creativity of this country?  What's wrong with sharing what you feel?  And if you're willing to bear the cost of your display, what's it to anyone else how you want to spend your hard-earned money?

And yet...I find that now that we are settled into the home and neighborhood that we want to stay in for years to come, that we are slowly building up our own outdoor display.  We are adding about one outdoor item each year.  We have a burlap snowman and  a burlap fox, a Victorian lamp post, and an elaborate Christmas wreath.  Not much yet, but if we keep adding one thing each year, in twenty years or so, we may be the gaudiest on our block!

So maybe Scrooge McLights is slowly evolving.  Maybe I just need a visit from the Ghosts of Outdoor Displays to come around in my attitude.  Maybe that visit will come this Christmas Eve!


Merry Christmas!

And no matter what display you like, outdoor or indoor, or even just a soul lit up with the love and miracle of  Christ and this loving season, as Tiny Tim would say - God Bless Us!  God Bless Us, Everyone!

When Tragedy Strikes by Daniela Trejos: - 2nd Place Student Poetry Winner 2016 OHC Writer's contest

I am proud to publish on The Strait Line our 2nd place student poem, When Tragedy Strikes by Daniela Trejos.  Daniela is a student in Wayne County.

When Tragedy Strikes

by Daniela Trejos

When tragedy strikes

What do we do?

Do we let an ocean of fear engulf us?

Or do we wake from the horrid dream of reality

In order to cope and survive.

Sometimes tragedy will do us good

It will light up the way for something better

It will bring out the courage and will in us

It will spark a flame of determination to survive in our hearts

At first it will hurt - the pain of losing someone you love

Loneliness, Desperation, Guilt

All of those emotions will overwhelm your thoughts and soul

"WHY ME?"

You say day after day as a sea of sorrow gently carries you away.

But we must accept it - in order to live

We must learn to move on

And cope with tragedy

That will slowly heal as the seasons change

Though the pain is never forgotten, and the wound never healed

In the end, overcoming tragedy is the strongest a human will potentially ever be

Should Haves Monday Musings

I should have taken Benjamin to the Jekyll Island Comic con, but I did not.

I should have gone to A Suessified Christmas Carol again, but I did not.

I should have watched some college football, but I did not.

I should have gone out to a movie, but I did not.

I should have given a speech about the budget, but I did not.

I should have gotten over the fact that the highly unqualified and dangerous Trump is on track to be our next President, but I have not.

I should have done more writing this weekend, but I did not.

Instead, I enjoyed the home I have here with Alison, Benjamin and the pets.  Sometimes it's good just to catch up with the simpler things.

The Comic con trip got derailed because the weekend snuck up on me, and Benjamin had friends over Friday and Saturday, to help him celebrate his birthday.  By the time we were able to go, it seemed late to start a day where the entry fees to get in would be $50 for both of us.  Additionally, there would be gas, food, and how could one go all that way without purchasing something(s)?  The costs just seem to be weighed out by instead just spending the day at home with my son.

I have less an excuse to not have gone back to A Suessified Christmas Carol,  I just did not spend enough time trying to organize a trip that included Alison, Benjamin and MeeMaw.  It was a very good show and worth seeing again.  This was an organizational flaw on my part.

College football, for me, is done.  The Michigan-OSU game broke my heart, and my desire to watch more games.  I'll see the Orange Bowl where Michigan takes on Florida State, but that's about it.  I do feel it's wrong for Ohio State to be in the four teams playing for the championship.  I think it should be Penn State.  Winning conference championships should mean something.

I love going to movies, but there was nothing compelling to see.  I like to see movies that need to be seen on the big screen.  We do hope to get out to Star Wars:Rogue One.

I was prepared to give a speech about the budget at the annual church meeting, but I think they decided to go into a different direction than I was proposing.  That may be just as well, because I was planning on being very tough.

I didn't write, but I did do a lot of organizational work that should help my writing in the future.  I did receive word that Rose, Alison;s mother, has finished her edit of Crowley Stories.  As soon as I get that, I can start the final finalization of that book.

For a portion of my readers, the next four years are going to be very difficult.  Every day I wake up angry at the election, those who voted for him, and the horrible direction our country is headed in. The transition has been not as bad as I thought it would be.  It has been much, much worse, and given how bad I thought it was going to be, that is pretty darn bad.  Cabinet heads who came from the lower rungs of Dante's Hell, an unprecedented level of conflicts of interest, Clinton's clear popular vote win, and the Russians manipulating and hacking our system to directly benefit one candidate.

Remember the debate where Clinton accused Trump of being a puppet of Putin, and Donald Trump shouted back, repeatedly, "No, you're the puppet!"?

I bet you thought he was shouting at Clinton.

Surprise.

He was shouting at his voters.*

Cut the strings, Trumpeteers.  Cut them now.  This nonsense has gone far enough.

God help us all.




*ok, not really.  But it sure fits.

The Pessimist's Manifesto: Saturday Political Soap Box 149

I am encouraged by my readers to try to balance my negative with some positive.  I will try to do that in the near future with an Optimist's Manifesto.  Honestly, that one will be very hard to do.

This one, tragically, is all too easy.  In fact, I am going to strive to hit the highlights, because to go into any depth on this, to follow all the trails of doom and gloom and nastiness, would likely be a volume as long as my first two books, if not longer.

On December 19th, the Electoral College will be putting into place the most unqualified and dangerous President in the history of the United States.  They will ignore the 2.7 million vote margin Clinton has over him.  They will ignore his constitutional violation of multiple conflicts of interest.  They will ignore the cabinet of deplorables he is assembling whose major interest is to mute or dismantle the agencies they work for and ready them for private plunder (America's For Sale!).  And worst of all, they will ignore the treasonous level interference of Russia in our elections, all to install that man as their puppet.

Yes, the Electoral College will ignore all this.  It no longer fulfills any real constitutional function, and will act as a rubber stamp to something they know will end the Republic.  And if anyone is hoping it will change, you can forget it.  The abolition of the Electoral college has now become a partisan issue, and support for it's change has fallen to a new low as Republicans rally around it.

Electoral 

Our election system now lies in ruin.  It has been hijacked by a man who shows us you can win by constantly lying, by never showing your tax returns, by intimidation and bullying, and by appealing to our very worst instincts.  And I don't see how that can be patched back up.  Once you demonstrate that demagoguery works, how do you restore decency?  Future candidates will behave in the same way, if not worse.

It has also been demonstrated that voter suppression works.  With the court-mandated repeal of the teeth of the Voting Rights Act, with Republican dominated governments throughout the country, with an Attorney General in Jeff Sessions committed  to the destruction of civil rights, and a conservative majority Supreme Court, voting will become more and more restricted.  The true election rigging takes place here, more so than voter fraud or hacked machines.  And it's been handed carte blanche  to overrun our electoral system.

Citizens Untied will not be repealed, and the purchase of our elections by the wealthy and corporations will accelerate.  You think he was an independent agent?  Look at his cabinet picks and you tell me.

Domestic

Every cabinet pick has been someone dedicated to the destruction of their agency.  Jeff Sessions will roll back civil rights rather than enforce them.  Betty DeVos will eliminate public education and allow a publicly funded Christian Right to control our children's minds.  Ben Carson doesn't believe in the Fair Housing Act, or that the government should be involved in that process.  Andy Pudzer, suggested as the Department of Labor Secretary, will act more as the Secretary of the Department of Management, a man selected to enforce the very labor laws he has chronically violated as CEO of Hardee's.  It is rife with Wall Street big shots, the very people he complained that Hillary Clinton would select.

So we will see all our laws and protections, all our regulations both good and bad, destroyed.  Is this a libertarian takeover?  Not really.  The government will be transformed into one by the wealthy and for the wealthy, a true oligarchy.  Yes, I know we've been tilting that way for quite while, but now the tilt is over.  We are officially there.  And we are likely to never go back.

The selection of Reince Priebus as Chief of Staff indicates the agenda of Paul Ryan and the most conservative Republicans will get full play in his administration.  All the government programs that the middle class has relied on will be under serious attack.  This includes Medicaid (almost certainly gone), Medicare (will be fought, challenged, benefits reduced or privatized), and Social Security (I know changes to this will be fought tooth and nail, but the important thing to realize is that as long as extremist right Republicans are in charge, it will be under constant siege).

There may be an infrastructure package at some point, but indications are that it will mostly be tax credits and boons to contractors and the wealthy, and not primarily a jobs program.  I guess the hope is that some benefits will "trickle" down.  Yeah.  Because that kind of thing has worked so well before.

Predicting future economies are  difficult things, but I don't see this working out for very long.  The recession of '08 could happen again, this time earlier in the administration, and without the ready remedies to fix it.  Tariffs in the teeth of recession?  Ask Herbert Hoover how well that worked out.

The manufacturing sector will never come back.  What we keep will be at greatly reduced wages. And the way he talks, I thin he'd be A-okay with that.  It's not just globalization, it's also automazation. West World, here we come.

Environmental

Global warming is real.  It's a scientific fact, and it doesn't matter whether you "believe" it or not, it's really happening.  It's already too late to completely stop it's damaging effects.  Now we can only mitigate it, or we can ignore it, or the very worst is that we can do things to accelerate it.  Guess which one he's doing?

And this is damage that even when we wake up, it may be too late to reverse.  The cost to the planet and our environment is immeasurable.  It will be the last legacy of his administration, even if everything else is reversed.

I can't emphasize this enough.  The planet is in jeopardy, and the election of him has almost certainly sealed it's fate.  This is one of the reasons I find it so hard to be polite to those who voted for him. You ignored it and destroyed the planet for our children.  How do I forgive that?

For those who were worried about the cancer cluster in Waycross, or the coal ash pollution in Wayne County - good luck with that.  You voted in people who couldn't give two squats.  Best wishes as you deal with an EPA that will just laugh in your face.


Foreign

Velcome to Amerika, the newest member of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics!  Da, Comrade!

What will our foreign policy be?  In some ways that seems hard to determine,  He has spoken at times as an isolationist, and at other times with great aggression.  Maybe the one rule to go by is...how does it benefit our new mother country, Russia?

We may step back from Syria and let Russia take the lead.  I don't know.

What it does sound like is that we will torture again.  We will bomb indiscriminately (if you think Obama and the drones were bad - you ain't see nothing yet!).  We will pursue and kill members of the families of suspected terrorists.  Muslims in America may be forced to register, just because of their religion. In other words, we will be the bad guys.  Sorry to break it to the American exceptionalists out there, but we have abandoned our position as a force for good.

There will be no more pretense of aiding democracy and humanitarianism.  There will only be the self interests of our oligarchs, in both our country and in Russia.

War with Iran seems very likely.  That is a particular interest of our potential Secretary of Defense, General James Mattis.

He has shown total disregard for diplomatic protocol, blundering his way into crisis after crisis, primarily interested in promoting the health of his own businesses.

The most frightening of all is his belligerence towards China.  In the sixties and seventies, I would read science fiction stories where the USSR and the USA would unite to defeat the People's Republic of China, often in bloody nuclear wars.  I thought they were speculative fantasies, impossible exaggerations.  Now?

Now, I'm not so sure.

Why not?  If the worst could happen in our electoral system, that our nation has installed a failed reality star, an authoritarian who admires dictators, a narcissistic racist sexual predator with the emotional stability of a seven-year-old, then that opens the door to a Pandora's Box of infinite nightmares.

I don't know how to cast a light on that darkening window.

But next week, or as soon as I can, I will try.

God help us all.

The Ocean Sea by Myra Relyea - 3rd Place Student Poetry Winner 2016 OHC Writer's Contest

Our poetry winner, Myra Relyea.

I am proud to publish on The Strait Line our 3rd place student poem, The Ocean Sea by Myra Relyea. Myra is an active middle schooler who, in addition to writing, enjoys swimming and chorus.  This talented young person has albinism and visual impairment, but that just encourages her to enjoy life's challenges and adventures.  Her mother, Cristina, is also a writing award winner, and a very active and valued participant in our OHC Writer's Guild.

The Ocean Sea

  by Myra Relyea

I enter the water suddenly noticing the silence peaceful

Calm warm water

Then suddenly a swarm of fish surround me

A quiet beautiful setting to see

In the deep blue sea.

My hair flowing through the water

Sand between my toes

Who knows where I'll go

Prancing around as the fish follow me, I feel so free!

I try to say I need oxygen

I pray and pray to get up there fast enough

I reach the surface

I try to breath but I notice there are gills on my skin

I go underwater once again.

The Whitehorse Curse

This is a story I did for Writer's Guild.  It was for the topic of Victorian horror story.  At the time I wrote it, it seemed like a fantasy.  Now...not so much.  WARNING: The writing is a bit more mature than what I usually have on my blog.

The Whitehorse Curse

By T. M. Strait

Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, February 1901

The blood-curdling scream was loud enough that it disturbed the gamblers in The Arctic’s casino, those playing the games of chance, rigged just enough to give encouragement to the hard-working roughnecks that frequented his establishment, just enough to keep them coming back for more, as they drank his watered-down booze, and visited his ladies of the night.  Despite his best efforts, sounds coming from his “Rooms for Ladies” still occasionally came through, but he prefers they be sounds of pleasure and ecstasy, something to fire up the base instincts of his patrons, when they had spent their fill on booze and gambling.  His goal was for every man who came into The Arctic to leave with empty pockets.  Where most of the men were still hoping to find gold in the dying gasps of the Yukon gold rush, Friedrich knew better.  He knew true gold lay in the hands of fools, and that he was expert at conning them out of it.

“No need to interrupt your fun, gentleman,” urged Friedrich, “Ernest and I will go and make sure everything is all right.” He motioned Ernest to follow.

Opening the door to the room where the scream had come from, Friedrich saw a sight that would curdle most men’s blood, but not Friedrich. No, not him.  Inside he saw a man, a tall thin man, almost skeletal, hunched over his best Inuit whore, slurping sounds coming from him as this vile creature, this vampire, sucked the blood out of the woman’s neck.

Damn!  The Far North had its benefits, but also its drawbacks, not the least of which was how the months long winter’s night drew out the vampires. “I thought we had an agreement,” said Friedrich coldly. “Hands off my best whores.  If you want that sort of thing, I can bring you some natives who aren’t fit for anything else.”

The vampire broke off his feeding and looked up at Friedrich, a deep-throated cackle coming from his lips.  “You are a fool, innkeeper.  You know nothing of what goes on here.”

The Inuit woman propped herself up.  “Friedrich, he’s right!  You don’t understand!  I love him!  His feeding on me was an act of love.”

“Love?” scoffed Friedrich. “What do you know of love?  You’re a whore!  You’re not supposed to love anybody!  You’re just supposed to screw them and take their money. And look at this monstrosity!  He’s nothing but a bottom feeder on the blood of humanity!’

The vampire laughed heartily.  “And what do you think you are, innkeeper? I suck blood and you suck money.  I leave my victims alive and ecstatic, tingling with renewed vitality.  You drain them of all hope and soul.  And when I find the right one, like Ahnah, I can bring them eternal life and youth.  You offer nothing in return.”

“If this was such a mutual love fest, why was there such a terrible scream?” asked Friedrich.

“That wasn’t me,” answered Ahnah, covering her exposed body with a bed sheet, “that was Chena. She came in on us and screamed before I could explain.”

“Where is she now?” asked Friedrich.

“S-she’s gone.  She’s not here.”  But Friedrich could tell by her tone and eyes that she was lying.  “Check the closet, Ernest.”

Ernest obediently opened the closet door, and there was Chena, a heavy-set cleaning girl whom Friedrich considered of inferior looks. She cowered in the closet, trying to hide behind some hung clothing.  Ernest pulled her out and held her harshly by the arm.

“Why not her?  I would have let you have her.  You could have drunk from her until the point of death for all I care,” said Friedrich.

“She is Hannah’s friend.  I would not do that to her,” replied the vampire.

“You wouldn’t?  Well, I would.  You both need a lesson taught here, of who’s really in charge.”  He tilted his head to Ernest.  “Kill her.”

The vampire roared and moved like lightning to stop Ernest.  Ernest just managed to get his pistol out when the vampire was almost on top of him.  But Friedrich was not standing still.  He had unsheathed a sharpened stake from his cane, and before the vampire could turn to stop him, he had plunged it through the vampire’s heart.  The vampire could only hiss at him, turn to his love, and say one last time, “Ahnah, my love!” and then disintegrated to dust.

“Are you all right, Ernest?” Friedrich asked.

Ernest felt his neck and nodded that he was okay.

Friedrich took the pistol and shot Chena, right through the head, causing her death instantaneously.

Ahnah screamed and rushed at Friedrich, her bed sheet falling, her naked body lunging towards him.  “NOOOOO!” she cried.

His wooden stick plunged deep into her, missing her heart by inches.  She looked at him with a withering hatred capable of melting a universe.  She reached out and touched Ernest and said one word, “Drink!”

She grabbed Friedrich’s arm, the one that held the wooden impaler, and for some reason Friedrich couldn’t free himself of her.  She spoke hauntingly, directly to his soul.  “You will pay.  You will pay unto generations.  Your first born’s first born will be an instrument of destruction, not just for your family, but for your entire country.  All your land will suffer.  Your name will be known forever as the bringer of destruction.  I curse you, Friedrich Trump, I curse you and your family for eternity.”

And then she died.  What an insane woman.  He was glad to be rid of her.

Ernest would remain his partner for only a short while longer.  He became increasingly irresponsible, intoxicated virtually all the time.

As for the Inuit woman’s silly curses, what did he care?  He was a self-centered con man, satisfied with taking from others and exploiting their weaknesses.  What did he care what his fist born’s first born did?  It wasn’t his problem.

That was a price for other generations to pay.

This was loosely based on Trump's Grandfather.  He really ran establishments like this, including one in Whitehorse, Yukon territories.  He did have a partner named Ernest, whom soon after the time of this story, Friedrich abandoned because of Ernest's drinking problem.  Shortly after I wrote this, the "grabbing" incident took place and I thought, well, this story is a fantasy and we'll never have to worry about the American people electing someone that scummy.  I was wrong.

The curse was stronger than I thought.

God help us all.

Is it Christmas Time Already?

It's unbelievable! I was out at some stores the other day, and do you know what?  They're already decorated for Christmas!  All the Christmas gifts are on display, and the seasonal music is playing, and yet there's still plenty of time until Christmas.  I mean, my goodness!  As I write this on December 9th, it's more than two weeks away!

How could stores be pushing the season so far ahead?  Doesn't it really start on Christmas Eve?  I don't know how many movies I've seen where the lead characters are barnstorming the stores looking for Christmas gifts as darkness begins to fall on the night before Christmas.  Isn't that the way you do it?

Have you traveled around your neighborhood?  Many houses already have outdoor displays.  Some are minimalistic and pleasant, some are gaudy and loud, but almost all put a smile on your face, People already have begun to greet each other with "Merry Christmas!"

Officially, for many Catholics and Anglicans, the Christmas season doesn't start until Christmas and then runs through Epiphany(roughly January 6th).  Technically, you're not supposed to put a tree until Christmas Eve, and some may not say Merry Christmas until the period.  They have a time of reflection, prayer and preparation, a time period beginning in late November.

Of course, we are not just a religious nation, we are a nation dependent on an active and vibrant economy.  The major season for many retailers is this Christmas season, and therefore, for commercial reasons, it is important to start Christmas earlier and earlier.  It is not astonishing that many store are Christmasy right now, but many of them have been that way since the day after Halloween.

There is nothing wrong with launching the celebration of Christmas early on.  It is especially nice if it puts you in a giving and friendly mood.  It is not nice if it just makes you tense and worried about whether you have completed all your tasks, including decorating, checking off all the gifts you have to buy, racing from one party or Christmas obligation to another.  It's not helpful if it gets you irritated at people whom you believe are not sufficiently enthusiastic about the season, or are not using the right words to express it.  Whether it's Happy Holidays or Happy Hanukkah or Blessed Ramadan or Pagan's Joy to You or Season's greetings - all deserve a smile and a warm greeting in return.  We are all children of God, and we all deserve love.

The true reason for the season becomes clearer as we get closer to the blessed date.  And with reflection, we know the best ways to express this.  Love your fellow man, reach out in peace, show generosity and support for the poor and disadvantaged, sing out with joy that a savior is born.

When does Christmas begin?  It begins the moment you open up your heart to his love, and show kindness to all.  May the Christmas season grow to encompass the entire year!