a statement of fact

post #521        

             All I want today is to speak up for truth.    

            Truth is what keeps us upright. It nourishes us even when it's painful.

            A serious sadness comes from hearing truth abused, again and again.

            It leads to severe harm from the shredding of trust, the next basic part of our being.

            Working together to overcome the pandemic would at least give us something to practice                 in common -- rebuilding together, after truth has been so maligned and trust so                            shattered.             

            You may know where I am headed. 

             

            We have had four years where truth has been severely abused, over and over. 

                     Our nation is in shock.      So many have died.     So many are deceived.  

                     Over 100 legislators and attorney generals have forgotten how to count!

                     What were they thinking?!   Are they ready to discard democracy?

                    Instead, what is left behind are potential threats of violence, and fear, the kind that insinuates itself throughout our daily lives. The world's health suffers from neglect, especially in our United States.  We should have been ahead of the game instead of so behind.

                   The pandemic doesn't care about any of this. 

              

        Look at all the blossoms opening at the same time! Working together! Doing their best! Looking after each other! Trusting where they are. Just showing up (along Sideway Road!)  Celebrating their moment in the sun!  Offering the simple truth of who they are!

 
          Basically, I'm pretty trusting, I have been a truth nut since I was very young, and all the time I try to figure things out. These days I am stumped by how could so many have been conned by our president who is more mean than presidential, more a bully than anything else, and who has been badly damaged along his own life's path.  

        I'm going to publish this now even if I end up deleting it in the morning.  I'm not trying to criticize anyone, but I'd love to see more of us actually thinking this through and examining the pieces.  It's always interesting and important to increase one's understanding of the one precious life we have been given.

 

 

 

on the way, neither denying nor accepting

post #507
          I am so thrown by our nation's turmoil. I recently had a very cordial catching-up conversation with a neighbor who, when I asked, calmly stated that she wasn't so sure the coronavirus was any different than the flu. She was willing to wear her masks at work, but she didn't think they made any real difference.  Yet the family that lives almost at the end of my road has several members in quarantine because some are sick. And who knows how many Americans will defy the science and not be careful this Labor Day weekend.  They won't all get sick, but some will and some of those will die or they might pass the virus on. It's happening all over the world, it's confusing, it's hard on our kids, and it definitely collides with what some would call the American myth that our right to do anything we want is more important than looking out for each other.  
          I'm not complaining so much as disbelieving, but it means I am compelled to bring it up, because anything about anything else doesn't work without bringing up these concerns. It's just hard to accept that we aren't all --- every one of us --- speaking to the current fragile balancing of the personal and the political that faces us as citizens of our shared world.  (And, no surprise, I am sick that our president is going out of his way -- purely for his own selfish purposes -- to undermine the voting procedures the constitution guarantees and requires for the health of our democracy.) 

          OK, enough words. I'm glad Blogger, for this week again, at least, has returned to a saner blog posting operation. Since I'm not sure it will last, however, I remain basic in how I try to present a few photos. 

stopping on Sideway Road to take 2 photos..

My mini-bumper stickers, which -- LUCKILY -- mainly serve to stand out in the Kroger parking lot so that I can find my car after grocery shopping! Well, it is true that several times I have seen people taking photos like this one I made. There don't seem to be a lot of other stickers this year. These are at least non-partisan sentiments.

A BRIEF BRAGG: I have never been the one to be the fixer of anything, but this time, after early consults with J., I managed to get this bottom freezer to stop acting like a toddler.  So far, no more leaks!.

It's meadow time around here, soon to be mowed, so goodbye iron weed...

   The following photo is by my daughter, Rebecca, this weekend.  I think it's a really good photo, but it also shows the location for where the downy woodpecker family feeding photos happened -- in front of the upper window on the left.  I have added one of those earlier photos as a point of photography interest. I was inside that window, looking out, and the light was OK for being able to make it work. Nothing was planned. Thank you, Curiosity. That discovery moment went on for at least a half dozen feeding sessions.

Downy Dad dinner prep, while I'm looking out the window to the limb that's part of a trellis (see previous photo)

           Did I mention to please be kind, please be safe, please envision why and how we could -- with bravery -- restore democracy, and please VOTE? 

what we ask

post #498
       
         We ask
                 will kids go to regular school in August? or
                 will the virus thrive in that shared air?
                 will they work again from home?
                 will their spirits support each other, 
                         day by day, and in the years ahead?
        
        What will they learn? How about us, who cry at night,
                   from exhaustion, from these questions,
                   from those who are afraid and not able to act,
                   from what our world is teaching us, if we listen.
            
         What of this will the children remember next year, or
                    fifty years from now.  

          Can it be that they'll know
                   we love them and we did what we could?


      Today, in honor of kids I know, I just wanted to go through my images and pick out a few of the kid photos I have made over the years. Some of the kids are related to me, some are not, all are known to me.  Many have been on one of my posts over the past ten years -- so many are older now than they were then! Enjoy!

  

Mountaintop Removal Rally

measuring the milkweed

bird break, time for spring flowers

post #482
          More visiting birds next week, but today spring is wanting a turn.  I have some photos from this week, and several friends and family have sent me photos as well. So here are some of these. In a truly difficult time of "never before" we can be warmed by the always happening, this year, next year and again.

in my yard

in Tom and Molly's yard

I remember the house that 40 years ago was at the top of these steps. Now, every year,  these beauties are what happens.  My name for this photo, with George Ella Lyon's help, is LEGACY.  It's located on the way to town; it's a tradition.

             Three photos from my daughter, Rebecca:

peonies rushing to push back out of the earth

Maybe every dogwood tree deserves an actual companion dog....

        Friends Leatha and Will took a drive today to go see the blooms in the Lexington Cemetery, and they were kind to share some of its loveliness.

      Now a spring photo from England, by Sarah Fletcher, who shared this photo on Instagram today. I love the front sheep, posing, and the back steeple, with all that munching going on in between!  Always good to see so much blue sky over there,....

Saintbury Church in Willersey

Though these also aren't flowers, this photo continues to intrigue me. It's a drive-by on my way home from the grocery store. I call this the neighborhood deli, with four smart ass diners....

     
          To end today's hiatus, I'd like to give a shout-out to our wet-behind-the-ears governor who has been so impressive as he manages to set a tone of compassion and caring and perseverance to all Kentuckians, regardless of their politics. He is truthful, reliable, sensible, and direct about why he has made decisions that might at first seem daunting to his constituents.  Every day at 5 pm he has been showing what real leadership can be. It has been awhile since we've experienced that, so many of us are particularly grateful for his presence.  Thank you Gov. Andy Beshear!!!

serious times

post #481
           Wonderful "gathering" of our writers group this afternoon, using Face Time on our iPhones. 
          I'm grateful of course for this important part of my life -- monthly meetings, more or less, and twenty some years, more or less, all kinds of writing and wisdom.  So it's nice that today's new way of gathering shows we can still amaze ourselves.
          My Quaker Meeting met today with Zoom, but I didn't get to "go." I can handle only so much new Tech at a time.
          Of course the reason for our trying this out was because of the emergency the world is currently experiencing. I am sorry for all the suffering this new coronavirus is causing. Then I read about people who aren't taking this seriously, and I am stunned. Their denials make it that much harder to slow down the pandemic. Their selfish ignorance can be dangerous. Doesn't the pro-life stance so many people proclaim include our neighbors and friends? To show love for medically trained people, who will be there to help, stay away from groups, wash your hands a lot, and be part of this worldwide effort.  Believe that we have a couple of months ahead of life turned upside down. We all need to do the hard work of staying out of the way and supporting each other as we move through and past this enormous challenge..

Here are some more of my birds -- with my imagined words in their brains.

Alert, everyone, danger ahead!

How do I know which way to go, what needs doing the most?!!!

Stay calm, everybody, take one berry at a time.

I want IN, I want to help, I want to know what's going on!

Is this what they mean by "social distancing"????

 I'm back again to be a lookout for the next grouping coming in for care.

I don't care what happens to any other bird, I just want to do life my way. So there!

Just trying to get an overview of the big picture of the chaos all around.

We robins know how to hang together and help each other out.

We don't always understand what's required of us, but can't we learn to rise to the occasion?