Family reunions are big events that take more planning than probably initially anticipated. I went to one yesterday, the first ever that I can remember, though apparently there have been others we didn’t get to.

My generation of cousins is of course getting older—we’re the patriarchs and matriarchs now—and two (three?) more generations have come along. We’re looking and maybe feeling older, but the same sense of humor is there, the same sense of family and acceptance.

There was some mingling beyond our own family units, but our extended family doesn’t get to see each other all that often, so we sort of stuck together. A great day, made all the better with traditional food and that chance to touch base with the people who helped form some of my earliest, most deeply seated memories.   

I didn’t watch the debate, assuming that I wouldn’t learn anything I didn’t aready know. Sounds like it wasn’t a very good night for Joe. No surprise there. A big reason he was elected in the first place is because he wasn’t Donald Trump. Age and the ravages of time might yet be his downfall, I’m afraid, and that leaves us with the nightmare, unless the Dems can find an attractive alternative in a hurry.

Or maybe the reaction here is just more predictable hype?

Had a helluva storm here late yesterday afternoon. Trees uprooted, big limbs on roofs and power lines, chairs and heavy barbecue grills blown around, leaves from trees growing in someone else’s yard, glass from a neighbor’s window, stray shingles, pieces of someone’s siding, something that sounded like hail but was apparently just pieces of ice bouncing off windows. We watched water collect in a window well and start running down the interior basement wall. And the wind—the wind was as potent as I’ve ever seen it.

We lost power for about ten hours, which gave us a reason to light a few candles and just chill in the living room on a comfortable summer night. It also allowed us to muse about when the lights would come back on. Opinions varied. General consensus was we’d be without at least through the night, since there was such extensive tree damage. Someone else thought it’d be back on when we awoke in the morning. We were all kind of right—it popped back on at around 5:10 this morning. Couldn’t have been much more convenient timing. And we managed to not open the refrigerator door.

Thanks to those who worked through the night, clearing debris and reconnecting everything.

Update: straight line winds, between 90 and 100 mph; damage path a mile wide, 4 miles long.

Prep for a debate? Why would Trump want to do that? It’s counter-intuitive in his world. And, honestly, all the hype surrounding tomorrow night’s first encounter between Donald and Joe is getting old, anyway. Trump’s gonna do what Trump’s gonna do.

Biden hopefully will be as prepared as anyone who “debates” Trump can be. I predict that at best it will be a draw; at worst it will be time wasted with no new learnings or insights, because it will just end up being attack and defend all night. Even if they somehow find time to discuss policy, it’ll just be a vomitorium of stats and accomplishments that will be questioned and doubted, regardless of whether or not they’re accurate. Made-for-TV, illusory, spongy substance, especially in Trump’s case.

Of course, the networks offer up the inside scoop regarding BIden’s strategy and Trump’s lack thereof. Networks do their best to make sure there are no secrets. It’s all a show, really. What are we going to learn that we don’t already know? Joe is old and trying really hard to seem younger and capable; Trump is old, and a convicted felon and an all-around incompetent blowhard. No wonder people are upset with their options.

Having said that, I’ll take Joe any day, if only because he comes across as a decent human being.

Protesters stormed the 18^th green at The Travelers yesterday, dropped some sort of colored substance and discolored a portion of the surface. People yelled and screamed at these folks, applauded law enforcement who came and rounded them up.

There were five or six of them, some wearing t-shirts that said “No golf on a dead planet…” or something like that. I get the intent, and you have to figure that, as much as people were annoyed and were happy they got carted off, the message on the t-shirt—black lettering on white material—might be seared into at least a few brains. Mine included.

It’s difficult for me to be too mad at these people. Think about it. It’s not like pretty much every man, woman, and child isn’t aware that something is off with the planet. It’s not like scientists are just now ringing the alarm bell over global warming. The message obviously hasn’t landed using conventional means of communication.

So, what’s left to try that doesn’t involve in your face?

Bill Nye was interviewed for a few minutes on a CNN segment recently, and it was all he could do to contain his frustration over our collective inertia regarding global warming. It’s happening before our eyes yet we still ask what we should be doing about it.

We’ve known for years! This is what Nye was hinting at when he said there have been colleagues raising concerns and ringing alarm bells FOR YEARS (my emphasis). For decades.

Stop, or greatly reduce emissions of CO2 and CO, don’t close the nuclear power plants, and invest in fusion research. These were the three suggestions he had for Erin Burnett.

Nye said there will be no precipitating event that will finally get our attention and unify our efforts. Things will just keep getting worse until we can’t handle it anymore.

It’s already happening in places. The globe is getting warmer, and people are dying in the heat. Never mind the increased frequency and ferocity of “once-in-a-century– or millenium– storms.” The heat will be—and already is—front and center, and plays a central role in the formation of these behemoth storms.

As for those who badmouth electric vehicles? They need to remember that the power needed to recharge them can be sourced and generated from clean energy. And chances are that these naysayers are somehow beholden to fossil fuel use until there’s no one left, anyway. They’re fossils in their own right.

Guns will be allowed within a certain prescribed perimeter at the RNC. Just no machine guns or short barrel shot guns, please. Other than that, by all means bring your Glock or your AR-15! Makes sense—so many people have ‘em, might as well pack ‘em.

Because one never knows when things might get dicey at a political convention. You know—a protester might get a bit too animated, maybe say something or hold up a sign that gets under somebody’s thin skin. The threat of weapons drawn or outright bodily harm might nip all that in the bud, right?

(Contented sigh here)… all this Second Amendment solidarity just warms the heart.

Is the Supreme Court really in Trump’s pocket, or is it just making decisions that liberals wish were different? Stacked court aside, the balance certainly would lead one to think maybe the 6-3 Conservative majority is ruling the way one might expect a 6-3 majority to rule.

Of course, everyone’s waiting on the immunity decision, and it sounds like the court is dragging its feet. Most people know that in the absence of bias, no one is immune from prosecution—not even the President. But this being the day and age we live in, there’s a legitimate fear that maybe the SCOTUS will cave and produce some diluted ruling that leaves Trump free to continue his Mad Max imitation. I hope the Roberts court will rule with courage and give Trump one more thing to worry about. But there’s a real chance they won’t do that.

Gotta rip the Band-aid off at some point. I hope the court does it soon. Maybe there wouldn’t be as much unrest as they fear?

And to think a fair share of this drama is because people vote with their wallets and bellies, and have such a hard time with change, with difference and diversity.

I’m sure whoever Trump picks for VP will be an outstanding choice. They will be a dynamic duo, pillars of virtue, examples of moral strength, clear-headed and compassionate patriots, firm yet kind, real American treasures both…

Of course, there are the trifling matters of what’s happening with the other three indictments and fifty-seven counts, along with the Supreme Court’s decision on immunity. But, no big deal.

The important thing is he’s still standing, still fighting. He must really want to be President again. He must have big plans for America.

Golly gee whiz.

I suppose there could be worse things to post in every classroom in Louisiana.

But that’s never been the point.

Despite what officials think and often say, the First Amendment of the Constitution doesn’t give carte blanche to conservative Christians to claim territory in students’ minds, to ignore context, and post articles of the faith in each classroom. The First Amendment states that …Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…

If anyone has been really leaning into what the founding fathers intended here and in other writings, they long ago would have realized that the separation of church and state, though not stated with those exact words, is likely the intent. In other words, worship as you please, but realize that this freedom to establish doesn’t mean forcing your preferred faith on others who may believe differently than you, or may not believe at all.

This is the lesson conservatives have a hard time handling: the unspoken inference is that the Constitution intends “hands off” when it comes to government’s role in religious matters—perhaps because Jefferson and others were familiar with what had happened (Germany in Martin Luther’s day) and what was still happening elsewhere in the world, when the church got heavily involved in politics, or more specifically tried to govern.

The Christian church, or comparable bodies in Islam or Judaism or Buddhism can’t do both: proclaim their particular tenets, including witnessing and making converts, and take on the responsibility of governance—which doesn’t keep them from ignoring history and constantly trying. It doesn’t work, though. The church and its personnel are ill suited for such dual functions– just as elected Representatives and Senators and local officials have their own functions and responsibilities, apart from preaching and presiding at the Eucharist and offering last rites. There needs to be a wall of separation, as Jefferson put it, for several reasons.

It is ironic that Christians in Louisiana, with their insistence on posting the Decalogue, are engaging in a bit of the heavy-handedness of people in England and elsewhere in Europe that drove groups of pilgrims to sail across the Atlantic in search of a place where they could worship freely and in peace.

Maybe someone should sew a copy of the Periodic Table into a banner and hang it on the wall at the local neighborhood church, next to the American flag.