I Suppose So

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Daily writing prompt
Have you ever performed on stage or given a speech?
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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

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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

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Daily writing prompt
What are your favorite physical activities or exercises?
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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

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Daily writing prompt
What is something others do that sparks your admiration?
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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

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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.

Beastly, in a dumb way

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“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?

A Bit of Everything

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Daily writing prompt
What positive events have taken place in your life over the past year?
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The first thing that comes to mind is more of a silver lining variety. My brother died in May, which was a shock to everyone, but the time family and friends got to spend together afterward, as we gathered in Minnesota for the funeral, was a true gift. And our trip out there included a reminder that there are still many kind, helpful people in the world, as we had car trouble and made an emergency stop in a town in north central Ohio, where, it seems, everyone we met steered us in the right direction and offered much appreciated help.

I guess the overarching common thread was the family visits. There were a lot of them, including the time in MN and WI, along with a trip to Connecticut for a family wedding, but mostly it was folks coming to us for stays of varying lengths.

There were a few day trips, several golf outings, some nice meals at a local favorite eating establishment, we gave our carport a bit of a facelift, finally tore down and replaced a storage shed in our back yard, and we survived five days of babysitting our four local grandchildren while their parents were off for a well-deserved vacation and anniversary celebration.

Fauna

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Daily writing prompt
Do you ever see wild animals?
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Nothing out of the ordinary. Birds and squirrels are common. There’s plenty of wildlife around, but they do a pretty good job of concealing their whereabouts most days. We do have a couple of local bald eagle pairs, which we catch glimpses of every now and then, and if we’re driving to or from our son’s place, we’ll see some white-tailed deer in one field or another. Our son saw a fisher when he was out hunting the other day, and my wife has had a couple of black bear sightings over the years.

A while back, we had a close encounter with a skunk. That was fun.