I cannot recall another mid-August when things here were so green. I just got back from a 12 day road trip and the grass in my yard was lush, no brown spots. By now the big cottonwood should have leaves turning yellow and falling for lack of rain but not this year. Yesterday I had to mow a second go-round to shred the dense layer of clippings that blanket the yard, a third time in some places.
I’ve shared this before but still it’s what comes to mind; most of the folks I talk to suggest that travel is great but the day you get home is the best day of the trip. I don’t argue the point but neither do I agree. Pulling into the drive and reacquainting myself with the familiar is my least favorite day of a road trip. I have to agree that sleeping in my own bed is better than any other bed but that’s about beds. I’ll wake up in a strange new place with open ended anticipation that never strikes at home.
One advantage of being on the road is that I don’t hear the news. My little-old truck has a good radio but I rarely listen to it and never the news. The truck is old enough it has a built in CD player and I have a dozen of my favorite albums in the sleeve on the sun visor. When I want company I can pick a CD. I believe the axiom, "Never say never." so I won’t say the news is never good but the odds in favor of good news on the news is 1:99; the 1% scored when someone beats cancer and rings the bell at the clinic. Then again, the odds in favor of a terrific song are 99:1 with the 1% scored to a damaged CD.
I’ve shared this before but still it’s what comes to mind; most of the folks I talk to suggest that travel is great but the day you get home is the best day of the trip. I don’t argue the point but neither do I agree. Pulling into the drive and reacquainting myself with the familiar is my least favorite day of a road trip. I have to agree that sleeping in my own bed is better than any other bed but that’s about beds. I’ll wake up in a strange new place with open ended anticipation that never strikes at home.
One advantage of being on the road is that I don’t hear the news. My little-old truck has a good radio but I rarely listen to it and never the news. The truck is old enough it has a built in CD player and I have a dozen of my favorite albums in the sleeve on the sun visor. When I want company I can pick a CD. I believe the axiom, "Never say never." so I won’t say the news is never good but the odds in favor of good news on the news is 1:99; the 1% scored when someone beats cancer and rings the bell at the clinic. Then again, the odds in favor of a terrific song are 99:1 with the 1% scored to a damaged CD.
People talk to each other about the news and that is where my defense is thin. “What do you think about (such & such or this or that?) and I’m left hanging on a hook. I can say, “I don’t think about it.” and I share that feeling often but it just compounds the issue. Between politics and religion I don’t have much in common with anybody. I dreamt a dream last night where I had been embraced by Canada and it felt so good. I’m too old and lack resources to become a citizen there but the dream was sweet.
In my homeland Democrats want to serve the underclass without disenfranchising the 1% by raising taxes and helping those who need a 2nd or even a 3rd chance which is no better than wishful thinking. Republicans want to protect both big business and the 1% by slashing their taxes at the expense of the working poor which is what they’ve been doing for the past 50 years. I don’t like either party or the way they go about their business but I vote for the Dems in self defense.
Religion is just as ugly. Evangelicals have joined with political conservatives so completely they are like fingers on the same hand and they cannot undo the damage. It is an unholy alliance but I’ll not dig in that hole today. The idea of religious freedom has been transformed into self righteous authority. In the name of religious freedom we should all be free to worship or not worship as we please as long as it doesn’t violate other people’s freedom, my freedom, my body, another person’s body, my daughter’s body, etc. Historically more people have been murdered in God’s name than have been saved. The Sons of Abraham (Jews, Christians and Muslims) have been killing each other for thousands of years and all in the belief that they are the same God's chosen ones. In God’s name they kill their fellow believers to gain wealth and power. Something wrong here, with the believers or with their god.
There I did it (Damn!) and I hate it when I do that. That’s what happens when I listen to the news or to someone who won’t shut up about the news. I got this piece off to a good start with road trips and lawn mowing. Then I fell off the cart, must have landed on my head and started venting: sorry ‘bout that.
In my homeland Democrats want to serve the underclass without disenfranchising the 1% by raising taxes and helping those who need a 2nd or even a 3rd chance which is no better than wishful thinking. Republicans want to protect both big business and the 1% by slashing their taxes at the expense of the working poor which is what they’ve been doing for the past 50 years. I don’t like either party or the way they go about their business but I vote for the Dems in self defense.
Religion is just as ugly. Evangelicals have joined with political conservatives so completely they are like fingers on the same hand and they cannot undo the damage. It is an unholy alliance but I’ll not dig in that hole today. The idea of religious freedom has been transformed into self righteous authority. In the name of religious freedom we should all be free to worship or not worship as we please as long as it doesn’t violate other people’s freedom, my freedom, my body, another person’s body, my daughter’s body, etc. Historically more people have been murdered in God’s name than have been saved. The Sons of Abraham (Jews, Christians and Muslims) have been killing each other for thousands of years and all in the belief that they are the same God's chosen ones. In God’s name they kill their fellow believers to gain wealth and power. Something wrong here, with the believers or with their god.
There I did it (Damn!) and I hate it when I do that. That’s what happens when I listen to the news or to someone who won’t shut up about the news. I got this piece off to a good start with road trips and lawn mowing. Then I fell off the cart, must have landed on my head and started venting: sorry ‘bout that.
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