Please Take Care...

 

Hi!

It's incredible to think that as a person takes these serene, whimsical, pretty autumn photos, a once-in-a-lifetime, crazy hurricane is making its way toward land, possessions, and fellow humans.

It's only been a couple of weeks since the last devastating hurricane carved its path through some gorgeous places that are vulnerable to these kinds of storms and the wrecking-ball aftermath that follows.

It baffles the mind to think that some are choosing to stay in its wake. They seem do this for various reasons. They don't believe it will be that bad, they are striving for clout on social media, and/or they think that somehow their presence will, in some way, save their property. You throw in a dose of conspiracy theories espousing people of a certain faith and political background are, somehow, magically, garnering the power needed to manipulate entire weather patterns, and I guess it explains at least part of the mystery of what keeps them there. 

Yes, where I live, the temperatures can drop to dangerous depths for at least a quarter of the year.

Yes, where I live, the temperatures can rise to dangerous heights for about six weeks out of the year.

Yes, we have devastating droughts.

Yes, we have devastating hail/thunderstorms and winds with the odd tornado thrown in for good measure, that on their own or in combination, have the power to level entire crops. 

But...

We don't have shattering earthquakes, or hurricanes. At least not yet. The way the weather patterns are ramping up, changing, and shifting, I imagine it's only a matter of time. I doubt it will be my lifetime, but, hey, who knows? 

My hope of hopes is that this storm won't be as horrible as the meteorologists are predicting, and that no one gets hurt because they stayed. Sadly, the reality will likely not reflect those wishes.

Mother Nature has a way of flexing her power whenever the mood suits her. We measly humans are but spectators. We can do what we can to protect ourselves, evacuate, shelter in place, the best thing... follow local emergency authorities' instructions. 

We, as a human race get caught up in ourselves, our egos, our agendas. Some go out of their way to make life miserable for others. Some go out of their way to make life inclusive, and safe for others. Some ignore all of it. 

Mother nature cares not what your belief system entails, whether or not you belong to an organized religion, the colour of your skin, or who you love. She flexes equally across the board, without mercy. 

For those in this monster's path, please stay as safe as possible. For those of us who live beyond its devastation, let's just do whatever we can to help. 

Please take care. 

But Were They Though???...

 

Hi!

I don't know about you, but I hear quite often how people are missing the so-called good old days. They are nostalgic for a rose-coloured image from a rearview mirror that distorts the perception into some romanticized version of the past. 

Most of the people I hear this from are included in a specific demographic. Privilege. 

If, in the past you, weren't allowed to buy a house, or rent one, for that matter, get a credit card, have a bank account, dress the way you like, love who you love, marry who you want to marry, felt that your biology didn't match your soul, or had a complexion other than translucent, chances are, you have zero desire to travel back in time. 

Personally, with every step of acceptance, with every move toward inclusivity, as generationally, the human race becomes less mayo-esque in hue, I find myself feeling more and more at peace with the world. 

There are certain parcels of people who want to shove people back into the closets they were forced to hide in. Trying to claim that the whole of the LBGTQ+ community are, somehow, newcomers to society.

If you look back far enough you will find that centuries ago, our rainbow warriors were revered as the rare and beautiful unicorns they are. It was a subtle shift in society, slowly, as men stopped wearing tights and wigs and society came to believe that "others" needed to be owned, suppressed, hidden, and/or simply destroyed, that treatment of those who no longer fit in these ever-tightening societal 'norms' went completely off the rails. 

As organized religions became more powerful, seizing ownership of everyone's moral compass, claiming the "my beliefs are correct and the rest of you are damned" mentality, they began to make their own rules, turning their religious beliefs into laws for all. 

Now, the religions with the wealthiest members, 99.9% white, of course, made the most rules, colonizing, forcing themselves both literally and metaphorically upon fellow humans, wherever their money took them. They stole children under the guise of salvation, they imprisoned, they enslaved, they abused, whip in one hand and a bible in the other. 

Then, in very recent history, new generations began to recognize the poison. and started to push for change. Civil unrest became the instrument, the antidote, to make it possible. Young people who were willing to push against the antiquated thinking of their parents and grandparents, changed the world. 

Progress became tangible. 

This was the trend... for a while.

No there aren't all of a sudden way more rainbow warriors, people of colour, or more of any group some would like to label as "other" than there ever were. 

The only thing that changed is the migration from the dark corner of collective closets into the sun.

The only thing that changed is the fact that rights for equality were just beginning to take a small hold.

The only thing that changed is that women are done asking for equality and are beginning to demand it.

There aren't more, just more visible.

Then, those who have held all of the power for far too long began to feel threatened by the changes they began to see. And the "otherizing" began once again.

Once again, rainbow warriors became targets of hate, along with anyone who didn't fit in their white, tiny boxes of "normal."

Once again, women's bodily autonomy was pulled back.

Once again, people of certain colours or religions are experiencing overt and blatant prejudice.

If you find yourself feeling nostalgic for yesteryear, thinking that times were simpler, times were easier, times were better... were they, though?

Well, maybe they were for you, but not for everyone. 

Let go of a past that contains way more darkness than our history books would lead us to believe. Accept the fact that white people, who are the ones who wrote the history books by the way, were much more often the villain, especially during the last few centuries, than they ever were the hero.

Looking ahead, now that we know better, we have every opportunity to do better. 

We owe it to those who come after us to do just that.

Vote for the changes to create a society your great-grandbabies, the great-grandbabies of those you care for, and all future generations can thrive in, and will be able to look back on with pride. 

All we can do, with our short time on this planet, is try to steer society in a direction our descendants will be able to study and see we did our part to do right by every human. 

Let's do everything we can so that when they look back, they don't have to be ashamed of the actions of their ancestors the way we are. 

Let's do this. 

We are not doomed to repeat the shameful mistakes of those who came before us. We simply have to choose not to. 

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38 Days and Counting...

 Hi!

In about 38 days our neighbours to the south will be making a decision that will have a global impact.

Yes, I'm Canadian, and proud to be.

Many of the negative messages I get come at that fact with a certain vitriol that I don't understand. I am very aware that I don't live in your country. That is not an accident. But living outside of your borders doesn't make us immune to your choices.

If our southern neighbours choose to again put this failed, willfully ignorant, old, racist, homophobic, misogynistic, narcissistic, feeble-minded, bloated, orange, adjudicated rapist, convicted felon in the Whitehouse, it will have an impact on us all. 

The poison that he and his bum-dwellers spew spreads, infecting everything it touches as you would expect of any venom. The permission it gives to racists and other backwards thinking mouth-breathers to inflict violence and other cruelties upon any and all that don't fit their shiny, white boxes has been, and continues to be, palpable. 

The Russian cheerleaders that can't seem to grasp the fact that allowing the vengeful, bald bully that steals their "elections" every goddamn time, to get his way, in regards to Ukraine, will have absolutely no reason to stop there. The bloated cheeto will simply step aside and allow it to happen. Why? Because he is a dictator-worshipping wannabe.

Why do you think he said in a speech, during this campaign cycle, on camera, in front of hearing people, that if you just vote for him this one, last time, you won't ever need to vote again?!

His babysitters try to pass it off as a joke, like they always do, each and every time he says something that gives away their project 2025 agenda too bluntly. In other words, when he brings the darkest parts of the map to Gilead into the light. 

Have you ever looked at the faces of the littles, including his own grandkids, when he is touching, holding and kissing them? All without their consent, by the way. And yes, children are allowed to say no to all of that. They look, at the least, uncomfortable as hell, at the most, frickin' terrified. They look how the majority of women collectively felt when he said the other day that he will be our "protector." I think he forgot how to pronounce predator. I know when I heard the words come from his mouth, my body had a visceral, involuntary reaction of hair standing on end, sweating, and a barbed-wire knot forming in my stomach. 

If we, as a world citizenry, allow these right-wing conspiracy-loving, fact-retardant asshats, to bully their way into running the planet, we will very likely cease to have one before our bloodlines run cold. The level of science denial is mind-boggling. 

I know some who just want to not engage. Just not vote. Every person who refrains from voting, knowing full well what is at risk, is guilty of giving those who want to drag us backward, the permission to do just that. 

Some say the reason they don't want to vote is because they don't have enough information. So, get it. Inform yourself so you can make an informed decision. 

In lieu of putting in the effort needed for that... simply pay attention. Unless you are living under a rock, it's pretty easy to determine the direction each political party is headed. Which direction is most cohesive with your values? Do you want your kids and grandkids to have the ability to make any and all decisions about what happens or does not happen to their bodies? Do you want your gay grandchildren to be able to get married and be parents someday, if they so choose? Do you want your child to be able to safely grow up without having to hide who they are? Do you want them to not have to endure the trauma of shooter drills and, god forbid, the reason there ARE shooter drills?

Our southern neighbours, the world is counting on you. And that is not an exaggeration. It is not hyperbole. We are obligated, as citizens of the earth, to protect her and ALL those who walk upon her. We need to collectively stand up to bullies who want to turn the already huge gap between the haves and have-nots into an unbridgeable chasm that creates such an advantage over the labouring class, we will soon find ourselves living in a society that has accepted what will become akin to borderline slavery.

They look to strip us of unions, and safety nets. They want to keep wages down, profits repugnantly high, housing costs beyond what one job can pay for, keeping the workforce exhausted and defeated. All this as they tower over us, watching us fighting to keep our heads above water. They watch from a safe distance, as to not get too close to the sweat, through diamond-encrusted binoculars, sipping Dom, lounging on the upper decks of their mega-yachts... laughing, knowing they could have been stopped, if we had only chosen to do so. 

Vote. 

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Unforced Tragedy... There's No Reason

 

Hi,

Why?

Why is a six-year-old little boy having to deal with the unnecessary, unforced tragedy of losing his Mommy at the hands of the backward-thinking, barbaric, asshats that deem themselves experts, and therefore make decisions based on their fictional intelligence. 

Amber Nicole Thurman. 28 years old. 

A D&C. That's all it would have taken to save that young mother's life. A D&C. That's all it would have taken. A procedure that has been around for more than half a century. A procedure that has saved countless lives of uterus-bearing humans worldwide for decades. It needs to take place for different reasons, but, as we have watched this horror unfold at the hands of morons, it becomes abundantly clear that it needs to take place when MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS deem it necessary. Whenever, and under whatever circumstances they and their patients agree upon. 

The ONLY people who should have a say. Period. 

So, for all of the pro-life people... that pro part, it doesn't extend to the Mother? 

Most of us have lost people along the way we cared for deeply. Tragedy happens. We don't need to force it. We should be using every tool in our collective toolboxes to prevent every tragedy we can. It absolutely makes NO sense to have the ability, the science, the know-how, to stop this kind of heartbreak, and simply refuse to do so. 

What if...

What if a group of people decided that appendectomies were morally wrong. Then they pass legislation making it illegal for ANYONE to get one. 

What if another group decides that pacemakers are evil?

What if another group objects to chemotherapy on moral grounds?

What if the groups who feel that blood transfusions are morally wrong pass legislation to outlaw them for everyone?

Should any one group of people make blanket medical decisions for everyone because they don't agree with it? 

You don't want a D&C, don't have one. You don't want to pursue IVF treatments... don't. You don't want birth control, don't use it. You don't want an abortion? Don't have one. You don't want gender reassignment surgery? Don't get it. 

Nobody is trying to force you do any of these things!!!! Calm your ass down! We are not qualified to make those decisions for you! Right?! That would be ridiculous!

You have absolutely no business making any decisions about anyone else's health and/or body. Period. 

These same idiots push lies about immigrants, causing bomb threats and school closures. Forcing people to live in fear over a pile of BS. 

Terrorizing innocent people should never be a card in a political hand, let alone played, and with such gusto, no less. Then defending and doubling down on the lies to fan the flames. Having the hillbilly militia roam the streets with automatic weapons. Just how are sane, rational people supposed to feel about this?!

This same group of sub-zero intelligence continues to REFUSE to introduce any kind of common sense gun laws. Even on the heels of two completely off-the-charts unstable members of this same group, who obtained the guns legally mind you, trying to take shots at their candidate! Thoughts and prayers?

Question...

Why does your supposed devotion to protecting kids stop the second they are born?

You don't want to make sure they eat or have health care, or support their parents through trying to bring down housing and childcare costs. You don't want minimum wage to equal a living wage, but you also don't want social safety nets in place to fill in the gaps. You don't want to make sure kids can go to a doctor, get medicine, get help with mental health if they need it, go to a dentist, read classic literature, learn how to be critical thinkers, have music as part of their education... or eliminate the need for active shooter drills. 

So, now, this little six-year-old boy has to grow up without his Mommy. Her family has to go on without her. 

A completely unforced tragedy... there's no reason... and this is just the beginning... if they get their way. 

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Uber Eats... Pets Edition?!?!?! WTF!

 

Hi!

I’m not sure what is crazier, the fact that the Orange Cheeto was screaming about a completely fictional, demented, and dangerous Uber eats "pets edition" during a PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, no less, or that his boot lickers and diminished capacity critical thinkers absorb it like a desert soaks in rain. 

Then, sure shit, bomb threats, and evacuations soon follow. 

It’s as though his idiot minions feel they are following the orders of their cult leader like it’s Jan 6!

Yes, there have already been a ton of memes making fun of his lunacy, and it is funny... or at least it would be, if it wasn't also so massively dangerous.

In 2020 they fed fiction of caravans full of people breaking into lake cottages and squatting, or some such nonsense. Funny how, once that election was over, this terrifying crisis seemed to vanish into thin air. Because... it didn't exist.

It caused a lot of people to panic, and a lot of people to get hurt... for no reason other than to stoke fear over a non-existent terror.

They use the word immigrant, but they never seem to mean the ones that come from, Europe, the Netherlands... you know, the ones that come from predominantly white countries.

It's ALWAYS immigrants of colour they choose to demonize. 

This time it's supposedly people taking over hotels and eating pets. It seems the more ridiculous, the more extreme the bullshit, the more eager the simple-minded conspiracy enthusiasts are to believe it.

It's like the litter boxes in the classroom nonsense. The pizza-gate bull crap of 2016. 

Now they are trying to make people believe that abortions are happening into the 37th or 38th week of pregnancy, or even more ridiculously, AFTER the baby is born! 

They are trying to make people believe that gender reassignment surgeries are happening at MIDDLE SCHOOLS! During school!  Oh... and doing so without even consulting parents! 

They want you to believe that women aren't smart enough to make decisions about their own lives and bodies. 

They want you to believe that those who are different from you are out to get you, coming to take what's rightfully, only yours. 

They want you to believe that unions are bad. Why? because the guy at the top of the ladder might have to settle for a smaller yacht if the ones who make him rich get a living wage and are treated with dignity and respect in the workplace. That somehow, it's bad if the employees are provided the means to thrive instead of just survive. 

It's much better for them and their board of directors to keep employees desperate, unsure, anxious, overworked, and exhausted. It's better for them to make sure they have you over the proverbial barrel at all times. 

One step in accomplishing that goal is, little by little diminishing the public education system. They plant seeds of mistrust between parents and teachers with outlandish lies about what's being taught and how.

They water those seeds with misinformation about books. They ban said books, marginalizing further, the development of young critical thinkers. 

They create a secondary education system that serves the rich. Making sure the less privileged, if they find a way to attend a college or university, are saddled with unsurmountable student debt for the rest of their lives, and then expect them to pay these loans back while working three jobs, making shit wages. 

They strip reproductive rights, forcing childbirth on people who are not ready, who are victims of rape and incest, not allowing care for those who are suffering miscarriages... none of whom can get help because doctors fear legal repercussions. 

It seems the more outlandish the lie, the more racist, the more homophobic, the more misogynistic, the more ridiculous, the more eager the idiots are to believe them. 

I wish that this... that these lunatics were solely contained within the borders of my neighbours to the south, but their enabling of idiocy has spread like poison in the groundwater, infecting swaths of citizens around the world. 

This kind of thinking not only threatens democracy in the United States, but globally.

This insanity being pushed by Russian propaganda bots, that somehow THEY are the victim and Ukraine is the bad guy?!?!?!?!?!

WTF!?!

We all understand that if Ukraine loses this invasion from Russia, Putin will absolutely not stop at Ukraine, right? We all get that. Right? Why would he?

He's a greedy bully who feels entitled to take whatever he wants without consent, and how dare they or anyone, for that matter, resist!? He gets away with it because he has seized power in his own country. He's a dictator, aaaaand he's a hero to the Grand Cheeto. 

Now that international investigations are happening, and charges are starting to be laid, and consequences of participating in the Russian propagandist machine will begin to take place, it will be very interesting to see where all of the chips fall... and on whom they land the hardest. 

So to recap...

NOBODY is eating your pets.

NOBODY is aborting babies after they are born.

NOBODY is performing gender-reassignment surgery in middle schools

NOBODY is brainwashing your kid with "To Kill A Mockingbird"

NOBODY is overtaking hotels

NOBODY is trying to take away ANY of your rights by providing equal ones to others. 

NOBODY is lazy for not wanting to have to work more than forty hours a week to live. 

Just Think. 

A Time Of Change...

Hi!

All kinds of changes are happening. 

The kids are back in school, the pre-election circus happening on the south side of the 49th is getting, shall we say, interesting, and my hubby and I are selling the property we run our shop from and closing the doors.

It wasn't what we had planned. At all. I mean, we did plan to close and sell, but not for at least another 7 years. But, that isn't the hand we've been dealt. My hubby's chronic back issues are worsening, and if we don't stop now, the chances of him being able to walk upright into retirement, or to continue to walk at all, will become slim to none real quick. 

So, this will be yet another time in our lives when our resilience, resourcefulness, and positivity will be put to the test. Luckily, we've had a ton of practice. 

And I do mean luckily.

If you sail through life without a single serious hurdle thrown in your path, and then get hit by a life-changing hardship, chances are it could crush you. The first one hits the hardest, leaving you unsure if you can survive. After you get hit with the umpteenth sideswipe, you learn to pretty much take it in stride. We had our first few hits before we ever got married. 

You take the hit, you feel the hit, but then you find a way to get up. 

No, this is not what we had planned.

We are left with two choices.

We could ride the "why me" wallow express, stopping by every pity party on the way to the misery festival, or, we can make the best of the situation in which we find ourselves.

You never have to look far to find someone, anyone, who is dealing with more difficult circumstances than you at any given time. If they can walk through what they are going through, you got this, whatever this is, for crying out loud. 

By nature, I'm a perpetual optimist. Sometimes, it takes a day or two to process, but then, the opportunities and possibilities of all that could fill the next chapter start taking over. 

What I have found through the string of shitstorms we have survived, is just that. We survive. And... sometimes things work out even better than if your original plan had worked out the way you wanted it to.

Life is a journey of well-laid plans interrupted by an endless series of hurdles and happy accidents. 

Our plans influence the path, but let's face it, like on any long road trip, it's the choices we make when we encounter constructions zones, detours, bad weather, and car troubles that end up determining how we actually get to the destination.

I titled these ramblings, A Time Of Change... I'm thinking all times, every time, each time, is a time of change... if we just let it. 

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And That's A Wrap!

 Hi,

And just like that, the bike rides, movie nights, slip n' sliding, making new friends, playing at the park, with countless rounds of snacks and band-aids are over for another summer!

It's never lost on me how privileged I am to spend the summer with my three youngest grandbabies. So many don't get this kind of time. Time that allows conversations to go from chatting about favourite shows, books, and how school is going, to places that explore big concepts of how to be a good friend, how the world works, the things they feel could be better, how history has affected how we live, how the way we live now will affect the future, and how we fit into all of it.

Don't get me wrong, there are also plenty of conversations about music, what makes a movie good, the pros and cons of different cheeses, and trying to get me caught up in "Airbender" something or other. 

The summer is seasoned with laughter, games, and lazy mornings. They are old enough to understand when Grandma has to work, which I am lucky enough to be able to do from home, young enough to still like going for walks with me, and, well, just awesome.

If we are very lucky, we get to experience about 85 summers. We don't remember the first few, then way too many are taken for granted... living just on the short side of sixty, I'm not taking them for granted any more. 

I look forward to the Fall, but will miss the munchkins as they go back to their busy home life. 

As the leaves begin to transition from green to gold, as we start to see the big yellow buses lumber down the highways, as pumpkin spice invades the ethos, we say farewell to a summer well spent.

Savour the seasons. there are fewer than you think. 

Spend the time. Best investment you'll ever make. 

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