What Happened to My Muscles? A COVID story

 

"Start easy," She said. "Just do 15 minutes." She said. 

"Pffft." I thought.  "What's with the weenie workout?"

 This should be easy peasy.  Just 15-20 minutes on the recumbent bike then hop off to the 3 different machines I've been assigned. 15 pounds each.  3 sets. Should take 30 minutes tops.   I taught aerobics for 10 years. I swam 2 times a week when the kids were in high school. I can do this.

 An hour later I limped out of the gym. Where'd my strength go?

 I started working with a personal trainer to lose the last of my baby weight. The babies are 28 now and I wasn't making progress on my own so I figured I needed to be held accountable.  I also wanted to counter the effects of the COVID-19 shutdown. I honestly thought I was only a little out of shape.

 So with the image of Ruth Bader Ginsberg doing push ups before me, I bravely tackled going into a gym.  There, I discovered that COVID-19 has struck in a way I'd never thought about.  Not only was I out of shape, I was the dreaded "D" word,  "deconditioned". Deconditioning  is  "the process of losing physical strength through being sick, injured, or not active." It's what happens to astronauts living on the space station. And I have been nowhere near outer space.

 How could this have happened? How could I have become deconditioned? The last time that happened was when I was pregnant with twins.  How could I be reduced to 15 minutes on a recumbent bicycle at the gym?

The truth is the shutdown has not been kind to my age cohort.  It seems to me that a lot my friends appear to be more fragile since they haven't been able to do their usual fitness regimes. We have to get back out there to fight the good fight for our people's future! And to do that means we have to acknowledge we've spent too much time on the couch and on social media and we now need to acknowledge the truth of the old bromide, "Use it or lose it".  We've lost it and now have to fight to get it back.  Don't be discouraged.  We're all in the same boat.  Here's my truth:

 I've noticed tasks related to personal upkeep (AKA gravity fighting) seem to be taking longer these days. 

Getting out of bed in the morning and listening to mysterious pops in my knees, elbows, and neck. Getting ready to go to bed is an extended ritual that takes at least 45 minutes. Teeth brushing is at least 5 minutes and now includes not only flossing but a little tiny toothbrush. Moisturizing every body part takes at least 5 minutes.  Checking the mysterious bumps that seem to appear daily.  Then doing the evening workout (stretching) seems to be taking longer too. I have to stretch the back, the neck, the legs, the hands, the feet. There are balance exercises where I  hop around like a one legged flamingo.  Also there are more sound effects. "You're grunting again." is a frequent comment I hear as I struggle to get off the floor. 

Being deconditioned is sucky.  I don't remember it being this hard to get back in shape before. I keep getting told to go slow so I don't get hurt.  Don't pay any attention to the 20-somethings in their tight booty-outlining leggings and matching sports bras; the ones  charging up the elipitical cross-trainers and attending spin class and doing something called Body Pump.

 I used to be one of them, concerned with my BMI and wearing the latest workout wear. 

  Now I wear 20-year- old gym shorts and a faded Turkey Trot t-shirt and I'm concerned about a different set of numbers; BP, LDH, A1C.

And that's okay. All that matters is that I'm out there trying so I can keep making a difference.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ice Cream for Breakfast

 It's  symptomatic of the state of the world that I had chocolate chip ice cream for breakfast last week.

I've never done that before but the state of the world was so bad I didn't know what else to do.  

I come from a family of stress eaters. When we are out of control the refrigerator is our friend.  I was very proud of the fact that I managed not to gain weight during our state's COVID-19 shutdown but slowly the pounds have been creeping up on me and I know it's pickle we are in that's doing it. 

I don't know what else I can do.   I did everything I was supposed to do to break the back of the pandemic and for the  whole month of July I was sort of living free from fear. But now we are back in the soup with people yelling and holding signs and calling each other names. Again.  

The wildfires rage on the West Coast. There's flooding on the East Coast.  Air pollution, tainted water; it's as if the Earth is trying to get rid of us.  And now there's the mess in Afganistan. More yelling, more name calling, more arguing about who is at fault.

As if assigning responsibility will make the problem go away. The sad truth to be faced is that the problems won't go away and that most of us live our day to day lives feeling like we can't change anything. We are helpless as we watch the world suffer. Oh, we make donations but deep down we don't think it will really do any good. 

The only book I am reading right now is James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small.  It's escapist literature, I know, but I simply can't handle any more "being a responsible citizen and doing my part".

I have no control over any of what is happening on the world stage. Anne Lamott writes of a friend who, when he despairs of the state of the world, walks the neighborhood picking up dog poop and litter because that's all he can do to make the world a little better place. 

So following his example I take the following oath: 

 I will  only read the sports section and the comics in my newspaper.

 I will ignore my news feed. 

I will stay away from Facebook and Instagram.

I will plant drought tolerant plants in my garden, use drip irrigation and recycle to the best of my ability. 

I will keep the bird feeders filled and make sure there's clean water in the bird bath. 

I will keep putting extra food in the Little Free Pantry outside our church. 

And I will pick up dog poop and litter.  

Because that's all I can do. 

Parenting Is No Picnic These Days

 "It's a tough time to be a parent." My husband said. 

He was talking about the Robin family that set up housekeeping under our portale.  Mom and Dad Robin are tag teaming to keep a young Cooper's Hawk from getting too close to the nestlings who need another two or three weeks before they are ready to leave home. 

It struck me he could have been talking about the human parents who are struggling trying to protect their own nestlings as the American school year starts amid the increase of COVID-19 cases and no vaccine for people under 12. 

I can only imagine the discussions going on at breakfast counters and  dinner tables around the country. How do we do this?  What's the best way? To wear masks? Not wear masks? Are the grown ups going to be vaccinated?  Are they going to wear masks? Do we let the kids take the bus or drive them ourselves?

At least these conversations replace the ongoing,  never-ending arguments about smartphones at the table.

No one wants to go back to remote learning. And I'm pretty sure the kids want to go to school but do they get to have a vote? I wouldn't want to spend another school day in front of a computer screen if I was a kid and I'm an introvert who usually read a book in the library at recess. 

And the kids are not immune from noticing and being affected by all the shouting the adults are doing.  The news is full of pictures and sounds of screaming adults carrying signs and threatening each other. Parents bring children too young to read to protests and have them carry signs that describe mask wearing as child abuse. It makes for a great picture on the evening news. Most disturbing were the parents threatening the doctors, parents themselves, who were called to give a school board meeting information.  One of them was recorded saying "We know who you are. We know where you live." as the doctor was trying to drive away from the meeting. What does this man's child learn from his threatening behavior?

What has happened to critical thinking?  I remember having discussions with my husband about what kind of education we wanted our children to have.  Committed to public schools, we wanted our kids to learn how to think and how to learn to solve problems, not simply score high on  standardized tests.  This was an important discussion at our house because in Silicon Valley standardized testing scores are regarded as the be-all end-all of higher education (not to mention property values). Parents spend a lot of time and money trying to game the Educational Testing Service.

Are the young Gen X  & Y  parents  I see protesting outside school board meetings the product of schools which didn't teach them how to think? Are we reaping the failure of the American education system to teach people the ability to look at evidence and come to reasonable, truthful conclusions? That's all I can come up with because otherwise what I am seeing and hearing makes no sense. 

The words "empowerment" and "personal choice" are being thrown around ad nauseum. But I think what is really going on is that certain parents want to take advantage of the free daycare that school provides.  Employers are starting to require in- office presence so these parents want their kids in school but they want them in school in a certain way. They stomp their feet like entitled toddlers and demand that the public domain give them what they want and media amplifies their tantrums because it makes a story.  But experienced parents know the best way to stop a tantrum is to ignore it. 

Start acting like parents, not toddlers. If you don't want your child wearing a mask in school, then keep them at home. Similarly, if you don't want to wear a mask in a public place or in a business then don't go to the public place or patronize the business. You have that right. You are empowered to make that choice.  And know there are consequences to your actions and choices.

But heaven help and protect the children.

 

 

 

Who Are "These People"?

 I was so happy when vaccines started rolling out in January.  "At last," I thought, "We can really do something against this bug. Soon, the world will be free." There was urgency because people were dying and most of us understood we needed to get the vaccine out there before it morphed into something that the vaccine wouldn't work against.

But no.  Now, six months later, we are limping along with national virus hotspots and a virulent morphed strain of COVID-19. Now we have a bunch of people who are selfish, lazy losers whose behavior exemplifies the best in the toddler perspective of "You can't tell me what to do." 

To get a shot take about 15 seconds and yet even bribes won't make people take the time to get vaccinated. And now, we have a new group of people in the hospital and guess what, they are children.  Children who are too young to get vaccinated. Children on ventilators who were exposed to unvaccinated grown ups. Grown ups who myopically think it's only about them, who refuse to look at the big picture of how their personal  behavior affects everyone around them. 

I was horrified to learn that some of our supposed leaders gathered, maskless naturally, in a group in Texas and cheered when fear monger Alex Berenson said that the nation is falling short of getting 70 percent of Americans vaccinated, like that is a good thing.  How many of them are vaccinated? Probably most of them. Who are these people who think allowing other Americans to die is great? Who are those who think it's okay to lie about vaccinations (what some call "misinformation") in order to achieve political ends?

Let's get one thing straight: No one is going door-to-door to force you to get vaccinated.  What they are going to do is give you information that doesn't come from the internet or your buddies and then asking, asking, ASKING you to exercise that personal responsibility you like to flaunt and think about getting vaccinated.

Let's discuss mythical vaccine side effects: Bill Gates is not going to seize your brain. Even if he could he wouldn't want yours because you are so unbelievably dumb. You're not going to lose your fertility but that might not be a bad idea if you are so foolish to believe that you might. We don't need more stupidity in the world. You aren't going to go blind, or deaf or have your teeth or your hair fall out, your penis fall off or any other foolishness that is circulating on the Internet.

You want the economy to open up? You want people to go back to work? You want kids in school? Then shift your lazy ass personal responsibility and go get the free shot. 

Do I sound cranky? You bet I am.  I have lost patience with people who are willing to gamble with the lives of children even as they mouth platitudes about the sacredness of something called "family values" and "personal responsibility". "These people" really don't care about either of those. They do not care about creating better futures for us.  "These people" care about power. Dividing people, ridiculing other people, calling other people names, and outright lying are how "these people" win elections.

"These people" care nothing for "those people" who want to protect and save as many of us as we can.

 

And Rudy Guiliani Was Sane

 It's our family tradition that on July 4th we plug in the DVD of the Concert for New York. We do this because we have a nervous dog  and The Who are loud enough to drown out the booms of  any incoming mortar fireworks. We usually skip all the speeches and stories and just play the music but this year because the fireworks started extra early and were extra loud, we decided to watch the whole thing. 

We're on the eve of American troops leaving Afghanistan on September 11, 2021 twenty years after we dropped the first bomb. It's poignant to watch where we were 20 years ago; to listen to what we thought and see what we looked liked then, and to hear what we hoped for after our cozy American world was forever changed. Before September 11, it never occurred to us that terrorists could attack us on our own ground.

"We are All One and Stand Together. No One Can Divide Us." was echoed through all the words spoken that night. "We Love and Care For Each Other. We are Grateful." "We will build something better. We will be better." "We Will Be a Beacon for the World".

And Rudy Guiliani was sane.  

What happened to us?

1100 Miles for a Hug

 Earlier this month, after achieving full vaccination status,  we ventured on an out of state road trip; our first in almost 18 months.  While the news reporters were interviewing people excitedly telling their plans to go to national parks and the beach and Disneyland, we had no such aspirations. Our goal was much more modest but understandable to any parent. We wanted to hug our daughter close and tight. No more Zoom dinners. No more putting our arms around the laptop screen and making hugging sounds when we say good-bye.  No.  We were after a real, honest wrapping our arms around each other in a tight circle.  And we were willing to travel 1100 miles, staying in hotels where we didn't know people, eating in restaurants with people who weren't wearing masks, to get that hug.

 As horrible as the pandemic is, the virus has clarified what is most important to me. It's not stuff. It's not houses and trips.  Although travel is fun and broadening. Being with each other is what is important.  To walk in a park and smile at someone and see a smile come back to me. I was so excited when choir practice started again. We all wore masks but there we were, singing together. 

Together. A wonderful word.  We were together. And that's what I wanted. I wanted to be together with my daughter.

A hug, one from a child I hadn't seen since January 1, 2020 was what I craved after and sought for.  When she walked through the front door of the hotel I couldn't move fast enough. Her father and I surrounded her and held her tight and smelled her hair and whispered how much we loved her, how good it felt to hold her.  I'm sure we squeezed the breath out of her but holding her that tight was reassuring us that she was safe and had made it to the other side of the virus.

A physician was interviewed early on when vaccines first became available.  She was asked what was the first thing she looked forward to doing and she replied, "I want to hug my mom".  Well, sweetie, your mom wants to hug you, too. I hope you both got your hug.

 

Bratty Behavior Redux

 Well, it's been a crazy few weeks, hasn't it?  Since my last post everything has changed and yet, nothing has.  I achieved full vaccination status April 7.  Since then I ventured into a grocery store in person (with a mask) to buy a chicken. I went to the plant nursery (with a mask), and live church services started (masked) and last night was choir practice (masks & 6 feet apart).  I didn't wear my mask at the dog park but I had it in my pocket just in case I ran into a crowd during my morning hike.  I was careful to stay away from people who weren't in my pod. 

And yet,  there are more arguments about masks than ever. Now the anti-mask people have morphed into the anti-vax people. Private businesses are being challenged with bad behavior once again because they are following state requirements.  There is still a hole in the logic of the anti-maskers. How many times do we have to explain to them that  private businesses (including but not limited to Trader Joe's, Costco, Kroger's, H.E.B., Dollar, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc) have the right to refuse service to anyone. Isn't that what the anti-mask people keep telling us? Don't tread on me? You can't tell me what to do? I have my rights?  Well, private businesses don't have to let you through the door because, like you, they have rights, too. You don't have the right to go into any store or restaurant you want without a mask if that business requires a mask even if you are vaccinated, which by the way, you don't have to prove because that would be a violation of your privacy rights. 

We have non-newsman Tucker Carlson using his television show to spew misinformation and encourage people to indulge in bad behavior by telling them to "confront people" who still wear masks and tell them to take them off. A junior staffer to congresswoman Greene rudely orders a senior member of the House to remove his mask.  I know Carlson is looking for ratings ( ratings translates to revenue). I'm not sure what the staffer was looking for when he accosted a senior congress member coming off the House floor.

I was infuriated by the behavior of D list "celebrity" Rick Schroder who pilloried a Costco employee on Youtube because he was enforcing Costco's policy of no mask, no entry in California. Schroder then had the nerve to post a non-apology to the employee.  If he was a real, responsible grown up he would have gone back to the store and apologized in person.  No, actually if he was a responsible grown up he wouldn't have done it in the first place. 

I thought that with evidence that vaccinations are bringing safety to us and how fortunate we are to live in a country where everyone can get vaccinated Americans would be getting vaccinated and counting their blessings. India, Brazil and most of the rest of the world are not as fortunate as we are. 

And yet, Americans are behaving like spoiled toddlers once more.  They "don't wanna" wear masks and they "don't wanna" get the shot.   And the world, a world which is dying to get vaccinated, is watching.

Yes, We All Have Pandemic Blues. Now SUCK IT UP!

 We are starting the second year of the pandemic.  In my case it is the second year of quarantine. And I'm tired of it all. Tired of the masks. Tired of the chapped face and chapped hands. Tired of preparing to die every time I go to the grocery store. Tired of endless Zoom meetings.  Tired of Norah O'Donnell sounding panicked every night at the start of the evening news.

Yes, I'm tired of it all. I was hopeful with the arrival of the vaccines but now in addition to the boogeyman of COVID-19 we have the boogeymen of the 3 variants which could kill us.  We have hot spots in the upper Midwestern states.  We have vaccine hesitancy.  We have vaccine refusal.  I still can't go to church the way I used to or sing in the choir.  Dr. Fauci is telling us that he doesn't think indoor dining is a good idea and the pundits are telling him to shove it. 

 Every time I think things are going to get better, something else happens to make the world a little bit worse. 

"Why," we shake our fists and rage at the heavens. "Why is this happening to us?"

I'll tell you why. 

Because we are learning as we go through this.  Every day we learn more about what we don't know.  We learn more and we realize we know less. This is what is called "Cutting Edge Science" meaning we don't get it right 100 percent of the time.

 Our enemy was unknown to us just 18 months ago.  It morphs, it camouflages, pretends to be something else.  And Cutting Edge Science is messy.  Yes, there are contradictions. Cutting Edge Science studies,  learns and then shares what has been learned. What we thought we knew in January turns out not to be true in March.  For example, how many of us are still disinfecting our Cheetos bags with Lysol the way we were in 2020? 

Here's the harsh reality: some things are better and some things are not.  We can see certain people at certain times and in certain circumstances but we still have to be careful around people outside our pod.

"Have you been vaccinated?" has replaced "So, what do you do for a living?" in casual conversation at 6 feet apart.  This makes dating difficult, I realize. However it is an efficient winnowing tool for deciding whether to set up a coffee date.

Some things are unchanged.  For example, awards shows are still as boring as ever. 

So what are we to do here?  We all know.  Scarily, it comes down to continuing to do what we are bitching about. 

1.  Wear a mask when out in public.

2.  Wash your hands when you come back home and before you eat. 

3. Tell the people in your pod you love them. 

And, 

4. Keep the faith.  

Don't blow it in the ninth inning. 

 

 

Privacy, Please. 10 Things I don't want to know about you.

 I so don't want to know absolutely EVERYTHING about you. 

  We must stop the culture cultivated by Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo and every other social media site that's popping up every five minutes. You will probably think I'm an old fuddy duddy but today I'm canceling the culture of Too Much Information.  Simply put,  the world will be better off if we don't all know all there is to know about you.

Here's a sample of what I don't want to know about you:

1. What your favorite sexual position is.

2. Who you lost your virginity with.

3. How old you were when you lost said virginity.

4. Who you're having sex with now. 

5. What your ass looks like.

6. What your bazongas look like.

7. How much money is in your bank account.

8. Who you got drunk with and threw up on.

9.  What your ex was like in bed.

10. What your current paramour is like in bed.

Please, no more. (You're sharing too much, really).

P.S. I really don't want to see another picture of you in a bathing suit, either. I don't care how awesome you think your body parts are.  Keep them to yourself and whoever you're currently sharing your bed with (and I don't want to know that, truly. See #4).

A little mystery is a good thing.

Message to the Republican Kool-Aid Drinkers from a tired Democrat

 I refuse to engage with those who continue to drink the Kool-Aid. It is getting frustrating to read reports that members of Congress continue to repeat election lies. 

Here's the Truth (with a capital "T"):

 DONALD TRUMP LOST A FREE AND FAIR ELECTION FOR PRESIDENT.  Down-ballot  Republican candidates fared better because they weren't Donald Trump.  Stop saying the election was stolen or fraudulent because it wasn't. AND YOU KNOW IT! 

By running down to Florida and getting a photo op or speaking at a "Conservative" conference and nodding your head and clapping when DT repeats his lies you show your duplicitousness.  You are focusing on the next election. I'm not and neither are most people out here.

We do need a loyal opposition to the Democrats but not an opposition that doesn't come up with solutions to thorny, difficult problems. Our leaders need to lead. If you don't like the proposals then do the work and  please tell me an alternate solution to the $1.9 trillion package.  The piecemeal approach, the "wait and see if this works" approach is NOT working.  We already tried that and here we are.

I'll tell you why I have lost patience with the "same old same old" games that are being played out in Congress. My church runs a Little Free  Pantry at the end of the parish driveway.  And every week but especially at the end of the month when the unemployment runs out  and at the first of the month when the rent is due, the pantry is nearly empty every day. And now, it's every week, even after the distribution at the food bank which happens twice a month. In the richest  nation in the world my town has kids going to bed hungry and is relying on a small parish's food cupboard to make ends meet. I don't have to debate about the deficit or "tax and spend". I've got hungry people, sick people who need the help your weekly pittance would provide. 

 Let me remind you that your salary is  $174,000/year plus benefits (health insurance, paid vacation, pension). That's $3,346.15 per week. That's what you get. Could you live on $300/week?  Could you pay rent, feed your kids, cross your fingers that no one gets really sick because you lost your health insurance when you lost your job?  That's what real people are facing with the latest proposal. Guess what? The math isn't working.

You cut the amount of unemployment insurance because you think it discourages people from finding work. I'm here to tell you THERE IS NO WORK! AND DISREGARDING HEALTH REGULATIONS IS NOT GOING TO MAKE THE ECONOMY BETTER.  IT'S JUST GOING TO MAKE MORE PEOPLE SICK AND INCREASE THE DEAD. 

Am I shouting?  Sorry. But whispering and being nice is not getting your attention or your action. 

Of course, if you're looking to control population growth, and maybe you are, you've got a sure winner there.  But then, it reduces the number of taxpayers available to pay your salaries. 

Think about it.
 

Joe Biden's Calendar

 

After 4 years of not knowing what was going on in the White House  I found Joe Biden's daily calendar on line the other day.  Bottom line, I need to up my game. 

At an age when most men my dad's age are out playing golf, fishing or puttering around the garage JB at 78 is up before dawn.

 Here's typical day:

After working out on the Peloton and getting ready for the day POTUS has coffee & breakfast with FLOTUS at 7 AM. He's ready for work by 8 and starts the day with the intelligence briefing, usually by 9 AM. After that there are meetings, briefings and speeches.  There may be a trip out of town on the schedule. The day I perused showed him in Wisconsin to tour a Pfizer plant. Then he made a speech ("for God's sake, wear your mask!").  Then it was back on the plane to Washington.  While on the plane there are more meetings & briefings.  He usually walks back to the residence from the West Wing with a stuffed briefcase to work on after dinner at 7. If there are no crises to deal with he's in bed around  9.

JB is not the only one still at work well past retirement age. He's in good company. I first noticed the trend in music: Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney still writing songs, making records and touring; Mick Jagger, Brian Wilson still going strong. (All over 70)

Meryl Streep, Michael Douglas, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin are all finding ways to work. (Also over 70 and some are over 80 and still out there demonstrating (Jane Fonda)).

And then there's the indomitable Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a class by herself. Who can forget Notorious RBG working out 3 times a week while fighting cancer at 85. 

And everyone seems to have a podcast. Bruce Springsteen  (scored an AARP mag cover at 71) just started one with Barack Obama. Alan Alda (84) interviews other "old people" on his.

Clearly the word "retirement" (n. "the point at which one withdraws from work usually at a certain age" per MerrimanWebster) needs to be retired.  And clearly the first thing I need to do is to dust off my elliptical cross trainer. I can't let some old guy beat me out on his Peloton.

You can find what JB's up to at  https://factba.se/biden/calendar/.

 

Hope in the Time of COVID

 A flock of Western Bluebirds has been stopping by the birdbath the past few early mornings even during the bitter cold.  The robins come shortly after; arguing and splashing in the water as they bathe. I refill the bath and then it's the smaller brown birds' turn to sit in a circle on the edges of the bath like a bunch of middle school girls talking and giggling at recess.  These avian visitors  remind me the world is still turning no matter what happens in Washington or my state capitol.  

I'm coming up on a year in quarantine.  Every purse and jacket has a mask tucked in the pocket. There are masks on the table by the front door, in the car, and hanging in the laundry room. I haven't been to the community swimming pool or the grocery store since last March. I haven't bought new clothes, make up or shoes. Although...I got a coupon from my favorite shoe store for the upcoming sandal sale and was excited until I reorganized my shoe rack and saw the sandals I bought last season still in their boxes. 

Mostly everything I do is on line now. Work, church, exercise, family dinner.  

I haven't seen my daughter or my sister since last January. I miss hugging them.

Threat assessment is the first step for any suggested outing. The checklist is reviewed: 

Is the trip necessary? Can an appointment be made? Can whatever it is be gotten through the drive-thru? Do I have to go into the store?  If I do, how many people will be there? Can they be avoided?  Is there curbside delivery?

My hands are so chapped from the everlasting washing and sanitizing I had to take my wedding band off.  I keep trying different creams to stop the itching and cracking. There's a whole array of bottles of hand lotion by every sink in the house. 

It's exhausting, yes, but much better to go through this than getting COVID-19. In many ways the anxiety is worse now than at the start of the pandemic. Without the vaccines I got angry and frustrated with those who refuse to give a thought to other people and instead loudly proclaim their "right" to infringe on my "right" not to get sick. Why, I would rage at the heavens, won't they do this one little thing that will save all of us?

With the vaccines came hope but now I don't want to be one of those people who die right before the end of  the plague.  I still have rage but it seems most people are cautious and my news feed is not filled with stories of people screaming at each other in the grocery store. 

I've learned that connections are important to me.  I sent out a hundred Christmas cards this year.  I delight in sending e-cards to family and friends to mark holidays and getting answers back. I check in with past work colleagues and neighbors.  The cards I received all echoed the same wish: we hope we can see each other in person.  Keep the faith. We will.

 

 

I Feel Like I'm Writing a Parenting Column

 Well that didn't take long.  

Not that I expected everyone in Congress to join hands and sing Kumbaya but I thought the reality of almost being killed would sober the members of Congress up and get them to stop behaving like toddlers and understand that our country needs serious help. They need to be the grown ups and shoulder the responsibility of doing a hard job; that's what they are paid to do.  Don't they understand we are dying out here? That we are hungry? That we need jobs so we can feed, clothe and house our children?

But instead we have weasels who are trying to read the tea leaves on what they should do to get re-elected in 2 or 4 years.  We have a couple of crazy ladies roaming the halls of Congress maskless, packing and  screaming at other duly elected representatives that they have the right to do whatever they want because their "base" (whatever that is) gives them permission.  

 Instead of working ways to get financial and medical help to the Americans who didn't storm the Capitol (if they don't agree with the President's proposal) they are running off to Florida to "strategize" on how to "retake the House". These are the same House  members who were threatened with death and hanging by a bunch of lawless goons and  hours later they still repeated the lies of a fraudulent election because (according to them) their constituents (another word for "base"?) demanded it. 

I can't believe I have to put it in language a kindegartener can understand but since that is who seems to be running the legislative branch of the government these days here goes:

What happened on January 6th was bad. Bad behavior has consequences. So put your big boy pants and big girl panties on and deal with the consequences for each and every one of the people who told lies about who won the election. As any parent knows if there are no consequences for bad behavior  something worse is bound to happen next time.

 As for those dangerous  tantrum throwers who broke doors down and crashed through windows, who threatened and hurt other people, who trashed the building, peed and pooped on the floors all the while screaming  "this is our house" and then lied when they were caught; they need to have a very, very long time out. 

So Congress, if you really want to be re-elected in 2 or 4 years see the first paragraph.  That's what you should do; accept responsibility for your words and your actions and clean up your mess.

A 10-Year-Old's Perspective on January 6th

The third grade teacher's assignment: look at the photo, describe what you see and give your reaction to it. 

 The 10-year-old's reaction was concise:

"I see men with guns pointing at the door. I see grown ups acting like babies. No, that's an insult to babies. Why are they behaving this way? It scares me."

It scares me, too. 

The excuses of the participants sound like my 3-year-old son's explanation when asked why his sister was crying. "Well, her face ran into my foot." My reply: "Try again."

Here's what some of the "grown ups" who were caught inside the Capitol building in the midst of tear gas, pepper spray, guns and police officers being attacked said:

"I didn't do anything." 

"I picked up the cuffs from the floor. I was looking for a police officer to give them to. " 

"I found the shield I used to break the window."

 "I just watched." 

"I just looked around."

"I didn't touch anything." 

"I was dressed in military gear because I was afraid of getting hurt by antifa." 

"I thought it was okay to go inside."

Really? Try again.

 

You Can't Say You Don't Know What To Do

Prologue: 

I wrote this last week before the attempted coup by flannel wearing, overweight, scary white people who think they have the right to take away my voice (through my vote) because they didn't get what they wanted.

Message to them from an American History major: Don't you dare call yourselves patriots and wave my flag. Patriots died defending my flag,  my right to vote and the peaceful transfer of power. One of them died defending my capitol on Wednesday.  You have brought shame on my nation. I will not forget nor forgive. 

There is nothing you can do to redeem yourselves. You call elected officials traitors. Look in the mirror. You are the betrayers. 

 

 "This is America." My husband said, "Americans are always looking for ways to be offended." 

I am so tired of people entitled to being offended. As I have gotten older I find myself impatient with the whining about how something is unfair.  I seem to remember my parents pointing out that Life is unfair, totally unfair when I whined about not getting my way. I think I was 5 years old.

Were we always a nation of entitled whiners? When did we become a bunch of 5 year olds? Now we seem to have a bunch of toddlers running around the Congress stamping their feet, waving their fists and crying, "It's not fair." What's really scary is the toddlers have power to do real damage to our country and therefore to us.

 It's not fair that our candidate lost.  So what do we do? We go to court (a substitute for a parent),  and when the court says we can't have what we want, we say, "You're lying". We don't believe any independent audit because, well, it's not fair that we didn't get what we want.

It's not fair that I have to stay home, wash my hands, sneeze into my elbow, wear a mask, cancel my plans to go to Spring Training, either. It's not fair my church cancelled in-person worship and now I have to go to church on line, like I'm some kind of shut-in invalid. It's not fair that I haven't seen my daughter in a year because she lives in another state and works in a high risk environment.

It's not fair and I'm offended that I can't a vaccine when I want it. That I'm healthy and I want my life back.  I reached my limit with whining when a reporter on a national news program interviewed some woman sitting in her car waiting in line sobbing that she wants the vaccine because she wants her life back.  I want my life back, too. But it isn't going to happen immediately. 

It might have if we weren't a bunch of people subscribing to the lies that were being perpetuated, that we we weren't lazy and not willing to check out the information sources, to believe that the other people were out to get us. That subscribed to "You can't tell us what to do" thinking. Reminds me of my little brother yelling "You're not the boss of me!" whenever I babysat him.

Well, that ship has sailed and now we are living with this mess of lost business, lost time, lost people.

So grow up and get with the program. The reality is that there isn't enough vaccine to go around right now. There's 320 million Americans who need to be vaccinated (that's minus the 350,000 and counting who won't be getting the vaccine because it came too late for them (that's unfair, too.) 

You can't say you don't know what to do. We've all been told: Wear a mask when you go out. Wash your hands when you come in. Stay home if you can. 

Doing this is not a political statement. Not doing it is a statement of entitled stupidity.

 Be grateful you're not living in Syria or Yemen or a refugee camp where there's no chance of getting vaccinated at all because other, richer countries have corralled everything that's available. Now THAT'S not fair.