Monthly Archives: October 2014
Banish the Boogeypeople; Vote Democrat
BE AFRAID. OF EVERYTHING.
Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid…say the Republicans. I challenge you to find one Republican campaigning on anything other than FEAR. The boogeymen— of Ebola and the nurses who treat the sick and dying; ISIS fighters flooding in from Canada; black presidents and black voters, pushy damn women who want choices; gun-controlling moms and gay-marriagers trying to destroy the sanctity of all those perfect hetero-marriages— are being sent forth in great waves.
Obamacare Obamacare Obamacare. Be VERY Afraid.
ONE OF THOSE OBAMACARE DOCTORS.
Our very own New Mexico Republican governor’s biggest fear is all those illegals after that prized possession, a New Mexico driver’s license. Never mind that it’s apparently not that hard to keep driving around here after multiple drunk driving charges, it’s those pesky illegals that cause all the trouble. She is afraid, she is very afraid.
The boogeymen/women are mesmerizing the gullible the cowardly the ignorant; they are spooking the neighbors who treasure their guns above all; they are whispering in the ear of your uncle who’s never trusted Canada since they let in American draft dodgers during the Vietnam war; they are reminding the guy at the office that he met someone from Africa just last year who shook his hand and maybe he had Ebola and…
If You Don’t Vote, Don’t Gripe
Certainly adds to the scenery, doesn’t it?I am not giving up my right to gripe so I voted today. And now I am going to tell you exactly how I voted. I know there’s some unwritten rule that you don’t tell people how you voted once you’ve done the deed. But that’s silly. I’m proud of how I vote.
Although truth be told, I did not vote with great enthusiasm this year. I keep thinking of something I heard on TV a few days ago. It went something like this, ‘Why would anyone spend 90% of their time raising money to get elected to a job where they’ll spend 90% of their time raising money.’ So you do have to wonder, who indeed and why? But today I put all that aside. Because voting still feels a little like a special event to me. It was even better when we stood in long lines wrapped around the corner of a building, shuffling ever so slowly forward, but passionate enough about causes and candidates to make it all worthwhile. Today it just took 10 minutes. Would have taken less if I could have just filled in the circle next to Democratic Party or however that used to read.
I happily voted for Senator Tom Udall who, as far as I can tell, has a nearly perfect voting record. According to friends, Michelle Lujan Grisham is definitely one of the good guys as well although I know little about her personally. Gary King’s dad was great and he’s not Susana Martinez which is a good enough reason to vote for him. On down the list, Democrat, Democrat, Democrat…. Then the endless column of judges. I skipped them having no idea who should stay, who should go. Bonds, just vote yes for all things pertaining to arts, libraries. seniors…
The Obligatory Autumn Leaves Post
No self-respecting blogger would let fall slip away without at least one ‘leaf’ album. A lovely walk after work, warm, just a touch of chill in the air, all gold and mellow and perfect.
Why was I worried about Botswana spiders…they’re way bigger here.
When my dad said, “you look like the last rose of summer today, it wasn’t a compliment. But this one doesn’t look so bad.
Fall at Tingley Beach.
Where are they going? South? West?
Our watermelon mountains at their rosiest.
Getting dark as I near home. Flash pops up as I take a last ‘golden leaves’ shot.
Time to Get Back on the Horse
A week ago Wednesday night, I returned from The Big Trip. (All posted in Blog ‘Time and Place’) It was…a trip…from near-perfect to awesome to troubling to eye-opening (personally and geographically) to psychologically traumatic to warm and fuzzy to tasty and pretty to exhausting. As travel should be.
Many things to write about in each of those categories: near or even entirely perfect—experiencing a country (Rwanda) I love and fear (because of what it says about each and every one of us) through the eyes of my grandchildren; awesome—as safaris to my surprise are and with family and in slightly rough conditions (but not too) especially awesome; and, yeah…well…it is troubling to not be able to quite keep up a physical pace that seems reasonable—is this something more time at the gym could fix?; and then there’s eye-opening—how geographical, social, family dynamics play out in ways you maybe hadn’t quite expected, being in two African countries (Rwanda and Botswana) that are safer, cleaner and apparently better managed than the U.S. or U.K. or many other of us ‘developed’ places; psychologically traumatic—my problem—to be explored more fully elsewhere AND you’ve already seen lots of warm, fuzzy, tasty, pretty in previous blog posts (Time and Place).
So the pattern of my days (and nights) since returning is up at 1:30/2am, pretty alert most of day, falling asleep (literally) at 7pm. Since we were roughly halfway around the world for much of the trip, it could be worse. It is however getting annoying.
Back to the books then. A glass of wine. My first since the Barefoot Gallery & Shop in Colombo. Hmmm…tastes very good. By 5 or 6 I hope to sleep a little more.
TODAY 