I was wrong

 

I didn’t think Donald Trump would be the Republican nominee.  I thought he was a loudmouth bigot with no real solutions to real problems, preying on our insecurities and fears, even helping us invent some that are totally baseless, appealing only to people who felt like victims and were willing to be rescued by a bully.  I thought the more he talked, the more he would be found-out, and end up a discarded footnote to the campaign.  Boy was I wrong.  Exactly wrong.  The more he talks, the greater his appeal!

 

Watching the popularity of the candidate grow, I realize that it would be a ridiculous charge to make about such a sizeable segment of our electorate; that they would succumb to such a shallow appeal. There is a much simpler and more likely explanation for Trump’s popularity; it is that there is something going on that I don’t recognize or understand.  Confusion on my part would certainly not be unprecedented; I get confused by lots of things.

 

So there you have it.  I was wrong.  Now I’m right.  I recognize the trend.  Donald Trump *will* be the Republican nominee, and his popularity will continue to grow and he will be elected President of the United States.  Donald Trump.  A man of the people.  President Trump.  Get used to it.

 

 

I'm rubber and you're glue

 

Everything …… 

 

I forget how the rest of that goes.

 

I’m in the recliner chair watching football.  I can’t work the lever with my right arm to get up and down, I have to ask for Judy’s help each time.  Instead of asking to get up, I asked her to get me a particular pillow off the couch the next time she got up.  She got up right away and headed off to that end of the couch.  On her way there, she noticed the flowers on the table at the end of the couch needed to be turned, so she adjusted the vase.  Leaning over the flowers she saw that the afternoon sun was coming in through the window and would soon shine on the television set so she adjusted the blinds.  There was an empty coffee cup on the end table so she headed off to the kitchen with that, from where she announced that she had decided to take an early shower.  I asked if she’d get me the pillow first.

 

Well, some of us thought that was pretty funny.

 

A couple hours later, Judy let me down off the recliner so I could go about my business.  I put away an empty coffee cup myself.  I got a warmer shirt from the bedroom.  I stopped in the kitchen and got a cold pack out of the freezer to put on my shoulder.  I put down the ice pack so I could put on the shirt.  I put a fresh cup of coffee on to brew.  We had been listening to the Bronco game on the computer in the front room, so I had to relocate the computer to the office.  Judy helped me get it plugged in.  I sat down in front of the computer and started typing.  A few minutes later, Judy walked in the room with my shoulder ice pack (which I had totally forgotten) in her hand. 

 

Some of us thought that was pretty funny.

 

A wonderful visit with Becky

 

 

 

 

But it’s over now.

 

We waved her off at the Harlingen airport today.

 

A snowy egret

 

A snowy egret working the marsh below the boardwalk.

 

 

 

And a great blue heron.

 

Tattoo

 

Remember that movie from the 80s?  It’s a thriller.  We see the crazy protagonist working all through the movie, but for the big reveal at the end, we find that he has tattooed every inch of his captive girl’s body.  We’re all horrified.

 

Fast forward to now.  We’re doing it on purpose.  It’s not a thriller anymore.

 

Go figure.

 

An open letter to every politician in the United States

 

Please stop saying you are sorry for the victims and families of mass shootings in our country.  If you are in a position to do anything about the spread of gun violence in our country and you haven’t, you are not sorry, you are part of the problem.

 

Your actions speak so loudly, I can’t hear your words.

 

 

 

Happy December 1st

 

For our December 1^st, we got a visit from daughter Becky.

 

 

We picked her up at the Harlingen airport.

 

We don’t get to offer her warm weather.  It’s cold, cloudy, and sixty.  However, since she hasn’t seen the top side of freezing for several days, she’s fine with sixty.