My America

While on a less traveled road in Montana last weekend we drove past a display of American flags between Joliet and Roberts - far from much of anything.  Being September 12, we figured it was in remembrance of 9/11 but then the number of flags caught my husband's attention.

Upon taking a closer look we found 13 flags, their poles embedded in a chunk of log and beneath a sign bearing the name and rank of each of our military killed during the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle. They had solar powered lights to show them off at night. 

There was no credit as to who placed them.  Other than a business across the highway there was little around for miles.  It may have been that business.  Or not. What matters is that a group of caring, respectful and caring people paid homage to a group of young patriots who tragically and unnecessarily lost their lives in service to their country.

I had a lot of time, on that little jaunt, to think about a lot of things. That small memorial.  The reminiscence of being married to the same man for 52 years and being in good enough health to be able to get away from the world for a quick celebration. What we've witnessed during all those years and even before we merged our lives. And yes, the beauty of total silence, still water and reflection. 

For that short but wonderful weekend I remembered so much about what this country has been and hopefully can be again if we will speak up and out for it.  Demand it. 

All is not lost.  The vast and natural beauty of the countryside can still be found if one but looks. And the vast and natural decency of its people, it's everyday hard working people, can still be found if one but looks.

I came home with renewed faith and hope but just in case it isn't to be, I will continue to write about the way it was.  Not for the adults who would destroy it, but for the children so they can know what was.

"Businesslike" and "Professional"

 I suppose it's all a matter of perspective.  The meaning of words this day and age. Our whole language and culture is changing because of the "woke" movement, what ever that is and why it's even tolerated.

Okay, here I go again. An old lady who well knows Joe Biden should not be President any more than Donald Trump should run again.  When we reach a certain age everything about us is diminishing, be it cognitive acuity or the ability to compete in an Ironman competition. There comes a time when you should recognize truth because even if you refuse to, for whatever reason, those around you will.

So it is with Joe Biden. I think he's going rogue on his handlers.  I think he's still sharp enough to understand he is President and is getting irritated by being manipulated. Never mind that the reason that is happening is because that's where his being sharp ends.

That being said, if he is so sharp, I wish he would keep closer tabs on those who speak for him. We hear that the Taliban was "businesslike and professional" in facilitating the departure of a plane full of refugees and, hopefully, some Americans. Never mind that there are another half dozen planes being held on the tarmac of another airfield that the Taliban will not release.  No one is telling us what sort of "business and professionalism" is going on there.

Are they also being "businesslike and professional" when they arrest two fellow Afghanis, reporters, for covering a woman's protest?  Was it "businesslike and professional" the way the men were beaten and told they were lucky they hadn't been beheaded?

I'm sure they were. That is the "business" the Taliban is in. I fear we aren't that far from using similar tactics in this country. It depends on who wins the battle of wills.  Unfortunately, there seems to be only one side of our divide that has any will and it isn't the right side.

What really makes me cringe for the moment, however, is wondering when they'll start being "businesslike and professional" with those Americans and allies waiting on that other tarmac and those still trying to reach it. Will we even know? What journalist in his or her right mind would chance covering it?

If a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

 I remember back when George H.W. Bush looked at his watch during a presidential debate.  It was noticed.  He was roundly criticized and never really recovered from it. 

Will Biden recover from the watch watching in the photo below? Combined with all the other images coming out of Afghanistan of late, I'm sure it's the least of his worries.  It is, however, visually telling.  

So are the photos of dogs being left behind to fend for themselves and the Taliban parading about in U.S. Military uniforms. 

Now, can any of you help me get my blood to quit boiling?

Could This Soon Be a City Near You?

 Yesterday's news video of the debacle in Kabul brought back so many memories from a similar situation in Vietnam, oh so long ago. Americans literally turning their tails and running.  For their lives. 

It isn't the fault of the thousands of Americans working in Afghanistan, nor the military who kept the Taliban at bay nor the rank and file of the Afghanis themselves.  It is the fault of self-serving, naive and perhaps even stupid leadership - people we've put in power to lead us.  It turns my stomach.

What makes it even worse is those among us who bow to their dictates because we are too lazy to dig beneath the surface to find truth. I think of the children of Afghanistan - both boys, who are subjected to a demented form of homosexuality, and girls who are sometimes not even in their teens spirited off to be the "wife" of some warrior. And more girls and women who are going to lose their opportunities for an education that can so vastly improve their lives.

Well, you might say, that's far away and it doesn't really affect us.  Doesn't it? The illustration above could soon be Chicago or Portland or Seattle or New York if we don't soon get a handle on our own country.

I see hope, I hear people speaking who are angry.  Really angry about what's happening be it CRT or mask mandates or defunding the police. The one thing that's lacking, however, is a lack of cohesiveness.  Someone who is willing to pick up the reins and get a movement organized.  A Tea Party movement without the capitulation to the Republican Party who are just as complicit in our current mess as the Democrats.

The ones I envision pulling it together are parents, no matter their politics. For those who are suffering the most are the children and don't get between a child and its parent. Mother or Father. Kids have lost far too much in the way of schooling during the lockdowns which have proven to be ineffectual at best. This applies to kids up to and including college.  They're not getting the education we expect them to get nor the one they deserve.

A lot of atonement needs to take place. First with our feckless politicians, then to those who have hijacked higher education, to the teachers union and school boards to health care officials who have suddenly turned into petty dictators.

They say they are following the science. How can the science be so different in so many places if that's true? Truth.  That's all we ask. Is that too much?  Apparently so.

What Day Is It?

 Not much has changed since last I wrote a post.  The smoke still hangs in the air irritating throats, eyes and humor.  The heat still soars into the high 90s to low 100s on a daily basis. Tempers are short.

This seems to be  the perfect storm of things gone wrong. Days run together to the point I have to ask myself what day it is or sneak a peak if I happen to be reading the paper. 

I have lived through a lot during my many years on this earth but I cannot, ever, remember when people have been so self serving, identities so run amok and common sense a relic of the dark ages. What has happened to us as a race?

I can't judge what is happening in other countries because my information is scant and most likely skewed, but I can judge what's going on in this country. It makes me sad and angry at the same time.  People who are in my age group are some of the worst offenders and those are the ones I'm most angry with.  They know better, but somewhere along the way the power they lust for, and in too many cases, have, just isn't enough.  Why is that?  Like me, many are in what will probably be the last, or nearly the last, decade of their lives.  They have every material thing they could possibly want and they have their power. Do they not realize they are going to be reviled after they are gone just as much as they are today? Do they not realize memories of them are going to fade and at some point in time they will be known as another dead white or black or brown person who were a flash in the pan in the grand scheme of things? Will history judge them well?  I doubt it.

I don't understand egos like that. I don't understand how the here and now and their power to mold it doesn't bring out the best in them instead of the worst.

An aside here about why I began writing children's books in my late 70s. I wanted to chronicle what life was like when I grew up.  A time when parents and teachers were on the same wave length, when kids understood the value of authority and the meaning of respect.  When boys were boys and girls were girls. When kids were allowed to run free because their parents trusted them.  I purposely used a big, lovable St. Bernard as my protagonist because I didn't want to preach to them.  I wanted them to see life as a wild and wonderful romp, an adventure to be explored and celebrated.

Now too many parents are cowed by those who speak louder.  Shame on them. What ever happened to moral courage.  Why do we allow ourselves to be dictated to by people who can't get their eyes off their phones or computer screens? Why are we so afraid of being criticized by name callers who often don't even have the courage to use their own! How can those of you who succumb  look at your own reflection in a mirror without feeling some degree of revulsion?

What day is it? I do know it's not the day in which I grew up. It pains me to think this may be the new normal for the children of today and tomorrow. We should all be ashamed for we all share in the blame.