That I’m engaged and up to speed on things.
A Sensory Memory
Daily writing prompt
Tell us about your first day at something — school, work, as a parent, etc.
Of the three choices named in the prompt, the one I remember best is my first day of first grade. My first day of work was when I was maybe 16, working on a farm, but I don’t remember much else about what I did that first day. My first day as a parent was, of course, a day like no other, and the significance of that moment when our first child was born wouldn’t really settle in until sometime later.
My first day of school, on the other hand, sticks in my head as a sunny morning in early September, 1960. I remember waiting for the bus at the bottom of our dirt driveway, on the opposite side of the street, near a power pole and a banking, beyond which spread nothing but woods, since it was still years before the housing development would appear. My Mom was with me, though I can’t remember if any of my brothers or sisters were there, too. Dad was already off to work. I was the oldest, so this was the beginning of a next chapter that I got to kick off.
I remember the old Dodge bus rounding the bend and slowing down. The door opened and I got my first glimpse of Mr. Lemanski, a weathered, older gentleman with a gruff exterior but a good heart, who smoked cigars (this was 1960…) and gave me the impression he was always a bit put out by something.
I don’t remember my first day in the classroom, just bits and pieces along the way. But I’ll never forget that first day waiting for the bus. That has stayed with me, for some reason.
Makes You Seeth
It’s the visual, and the shit-eating grins. Trump sits, fully awake and beaming ear to ear while he holds up the latest Executive Order proclaiming the destruction of endangered habitat or the removal of all safeguards at a plant that makes razor blades, while a gaggle of Cabinet members and Congresspeople gaze adoringly and try to refrain from backslapping and lighting victory cigars.
It’s the incongruity, the dissonance, because we know it won’t be long until the next gathering of minions, standing around the Commander-in-Beef as he holds up an order declaring 24 hours of celebration and flag-waving revelry in honor of the most recent derailment and explosion of tank cars full of mustard gas in a small town in upstate New York.
I Suppose So
I was Bob Cratchit in a middle school performance of A Christmas Carol, but never got to deliver all of my lines because a couple pages of dialogue somehow got skipped. It was a long time ago, but I’m pretty sure that’s what happened.
I was a pastor for 26 years, so most Sundays, Thanksgiving Eve, Christmas Eve, Lenten mid-weeks, Holy Week, and at weddings and funerals I stood before groups of people and offered words that hopefully fit the occasion. They weren’t speeches, in the typical sense, but to a skeptic or a neutral observer they may have seemed that way.
National Embarrassment
I can’t shake the thought that this military build-up near Venezuela is just the latest attempt at distraction from everything going on at home for President Dunce Cap. Imagine putting our military personnel in harm’s way just so we can secure more fossil fuel and keep the media off the scent of decay. Certain pundits and anchors are playing up this potential confrontation as a cakewalk, but we should know better.
There’s plenty from which to distract: a delayed release of footage from the second boat strike on 9/2, the ongoing smokescreen surrounding the release of the Epstein files, dissatisfaction with food prices and costs in general, and the never-ending reminders of just how ill-suited and incompetent the entire administration is, beginning with Donald Trump– the fragile man child dressed in a suit.
Another building with his name on it, receiving a ridiculous, contrived FIFA Peace Prize, hosting the Kennedy Center Honors and spearheading that institution’s plunge into irrelevance—it all serves to keep him happy, I guess.
But to the rest of the world, it’s just the latest confirmation of how pathetic he is, and that the bottom has yet to be glimpsed, in reference to how far we’re falling.
Movement
I try to get to the Y on a regular basis, where I warm up with a brisk half mile on the elliptical, then move on to several weight machines. I’m not against walking, but it’s nice to have a destination or at least different routes. And even though we use a cart, golf is quality outdoor time, with friends, and a fair amount of walking is still involved.
Come Spring, I might be working with my son, helping him in his landscaping business. I also enjoy mowing our yard and doing other yard work.
Keeping It Together
They volunteer, give of their time, find ways to stay connected, keep their heads about them. They aren’t in a hurry, they practice their religious faith in ways that make sense to me, that seem genuine and well-informed. I find a certain humility admirable.
I gravitate toward people who are low-key in their approach to conversation and general behavior, who are capable of engaging in give and take– capable of listening as well as speaking. I tend to tune out when people are loud and in your face and argumentative, none of which sparks admiration or joy.
Discrepancies Abound
Who’s at the wheel? Anybody?
As much press and blame and… praise?… as Trump gets, many of us know that he’s as much puppet as string puller, and there’s more going on than just a vindictive man child usurping power and reaping the benefits of his title.
Surely we cannot leave out JD Vance, Stephen Miller, Kevin Roberts, Russell Vought, Steve Bannon, Peter Thiel, and the rest of the filthy rich who have skin in this game of power consolidation and political favoritism and sham Christianity. And let’s not forget all the enablers at Fox News and OANN and the rest—the farm system for more than a few who serve in this administration.
Plenty of words and theories get thrown around, when it comes to putting a label on what we’re witnessing—fascism, authoritarianism, dictatorship, throwback Naziism, amateur hour—a gaggle of losers pining for the days when men were men, women were pretty faces and baby factories, and white people enjoyed their undeserved status as masters of destiny. And there was always someone to pick on, to blame for one thing or another.
Weakness masquerading as strength, incompetence running rampant, a President tilting the playing field and challenging everything that has made America a true experiment in self-rule.
It’s not that Trump thinks his way has merits and benefits for the citizenry. He doesn’t have a way, or a plan, other than self-enrichment and revenge. It’s more that others are telling him what they want and what they think best fits their vision for a country run top down by zealous capitalists and out-of-touch “visionaries.”
People who are on their way to Mars, while many more are just trying to put food on the table, or grasping for ways to validate their existence.
Several Contenders
It’s still The Roadrunner, though I must say that South Park and Family Guy can be downright hilarious sometimes. Especially lately.
And even though it’s had a great run, The Simpsons have never really caught on with me.
Beastly, in a dumb way
“Cantankerous” doesn’t begin to cut it.
At some point, if it hasn’t happened already, there comes a realization that no amount of indignity or offense taken is going to register, or even matter. It seems the louder the cat calls and critique and outright anger, the more entrenched and ridiculous Donald Trump and Co. become. Miller and Vance and Trump himself feed off of our rage and become even more hideous versions of themselves.
The latest move we have to somehow absorb is removing MLK. Jr. and Juneteenth celebrations and adding Trump’s fucking birthday to the calendar. He’s playing now, or has been all along, just doing and saying things that drive us crazy and distract us from all the damage and the dearth of expertise running rampant in this sham of an administration.
Most Republicans in Congress have made it plain that they have no plans to counter the stupidity, and Democrats are hiding behind their status as minority, so it’s up to the rest of us to embrace the role of citizen and do our job.
Almost half the country thought Trump was a good idea, but that percentage has to be dropping. Is anyone else daring to imagine the possibility that all the gerrymandering ends up being for nought, because enough Republicans in these designer districts decide they, too, have had enough of the deception?
3 Cents' 