I Must Be Woke

I've written before about Singing Wheels--the iconic textbook from my fourth-grade years. It's a kind of Eric Sloane for kids-- a reader-friendly look at life on the frontier in the early 19th century, as a town comes into being with a blacksmith, a sawmill, and a gristmill, adding in time a teacher and a cobbler. 

There are lots of line drawing cataloguing the clothes and implements of daily life, as well as color illustrations showing the myriad activities of the settlers--travel by stagecoach, spinning, hog butchering, bridge building, on and on.

I thought it might be good to try it on Josie--she has the reading vocabulary to deal with it--though she may be daunted by the density of the text,

So I began to reread it and almost right away, my woke sensibilities hit (see above) a silly woman having trouble telling her left from her right. Hmm. Okay, I'll let that slide, particularly as the other women in the story are admirable, but I don't like it.

Then Tom asked his father if there were any Indians around and was told "the government bought their lands and moved them west. . ."

Oh, how much double-dealing and misery is dismissed in the sentence. While I'm not sure of the best way to explain to a child the Trail of Tears and the terrible treatment of the Native Americans, I couldn't just leave it at this.

And then there's the chapter where wolves are killing the livestock and the men and boys surround them and kill them all. Yikes!

I know, I know, back then it was a matter of survival for the settlers. Today it's about the survival of an endangered species.  Weird how that works.

Still, I think I'll hold off on offering Singing Wheels to Josie just yet.

A Promise

                                                                            

The first crocuses seem to me a promise--Spring is coming. Though there may be snowstorms and nasty weather yet, daffodils and tulips are on their way, along with blossoming fruit trees, and soon a gentle haze of green will creep across our mountains.

Through all the political turmoil, it's good to watch Nature doing her thing.

Today's Text

                                                                       

 

As the president and Elon Musk continue to hollow out our government, including the DOD, Putin must be congratulating himself on installing this useful idiot in the Oval Office. What are you doing to push back against this undermining of our country?

That's the text of yesterday's call/email to my congressmen. Musk's email to 2.3 million federal workers demanding they  document their actions the previous week or face firing has engendered mass confusion. What if said actions are classified? Who (or what) will be evaluating all 2.3 million replies? 

The DOGE team has gotten so many things wrong, yet they careen ahead, an indiscriminate wrecking ball aimed at the heart of our government. 

What better time for our enemies to take advantage of the disarray our government is in? 

With a singularly incompetent man in the Oval Office, a man who chooses a Secretary of Defense because he looks the part ("right out of Central Casting,") a man who has given/sold unprecedented power to Elon Musk, a man who admires and excuses Putin, our country is in grave danger.

And all I can do is make those calls, send those emails.

Josie the Disciplinarian

I found this list of rules (or as Josie spells it rools) taped to the bannisters at the top of the stairs. I was puzzled at first then remembered that Josie had spent much of the last snow day playing with her dolls in the comparative warmth up there. There was a lot of talking but not that I could follow.

Now I deduce that she was holding school, and the rules were for her four scholars. Good rules too:

 1. Raise your hand.

 2. Hands to yourself.

 3. No name calling

4. Follow directions.

5. Have fun (in a kind way.)

6. Use manners.

I further deduced that Dolly and Sophy were very good, and Summer was very naughty while Lily got mixed reviews. 

And I deduce that Josie is in good hands at her own school, if she is following her own teacher's example.

 

Icicles

First thing Saturday morning (thanks to Jenny who doesn't like me to miss a sunrise.)

After snow all day Thursday and the temperature in the teens that night, we were happy to awake to sunshine and a melt in progress--and we still had power and running water.

 

We Are Not Okay

                                                                                                                                    

Today I am embarrassed to be an American. Our president appears to be in thrall to Russia's Putin. In the Bizarro World of the FOTUS, Ukraine started the war and Zelensky is a dictator. Meanwhile our amazingly incompetent VP lectures our European allies and takes meetings with Neo-Nazis.

I recognize this feeling. When we were traveling in Europe during the Vietnam war, we tried very hard not to be recognized as Americans, toying with the idea of attaching a Canadian flag to our motorcycle. 

It's appalling that it's come to this. The stranglehold Musk and his wealth have on the GOP, with threats to primary any who don't support the agenda, has effectively put an end to democracy. 

With all the information and technological expertise at his fingertips, Musk is capable of re-making our reality. 

Where are the brave men and women in Congress who will take a stand? 

(I was happy to read that Tillis (R, NC) did a bit of pushback on the FOTUS's lies about Ukraine. Speaking on the Senate floor Tillis called Putin a liar and a murderer and said we should treat him like one. Well, okay! --Tillis occasionally locates his spine.)

And Snow

Paltry by Canadian standards but enough to call off school. The mountain roads the school busses travel are too dangerous when icy to risk.

My call/email today is about the lack of support for Ukraine.

 

Wild Times at the Palma Ceia

                                                                         

The Palma Ceia Theater in South Tampa led something of a double life. Showing artsy and foreign films on weeknights, on Saturday mornings she let her hair down and catered to the youth of the neighborhood.

 Preteens swarmed the venue, arriving on bicycles or decanted from station wagons by parents happy for a peaceful weekend morning. A seething, noisy line formed down the side of the theater as we waited for the doors to open. A relatively shy child myself, at first, I avoided being a part of this, but by the time I was in sixth or seventh grade, it was obvious that, without the Palma Ceia, my Saturday mornings would be lonely indeed.

So, I accompanied my friends, paid down my dime, bought my popcorn, candy, and soft drink, and picked my way over the sticky floors to a seat (first checking to make sure there was no bubble gum adhering.)

It was a time of revelry for the young audience--two, maybe three cartoons, followed by an installment of a serial (Flash Gordon was my favorite, with the evil Emperor Ming, the feisty Dale Arden, and the spaceships that traveled through the depths of the galaxy, emitting sparks that fell downwards.) The main feature was usually a Western or maybe something with pirates.

Popcorn flew through the air and happy shouts often drowned out the soundtrack.  By the time the feature was over, an intrepid usher might have expelled the worst of the disruptive element. 

The rest of us emerged slowly, sated with popcorn and candy and blinking in the light of a Saturday afternoon, full of further possibilities.

                                                                

Keeping On

                                                                                                                                                        

Write those emails; make those calls.

There are so very many things to be addressed but I try to limit myself. A friend told me she had trouble with calling as she got so angry she sputtered and fell over her words. So would I if I didn't have a prepared script to follow (it works for emails too.)

This was yesterday's: 

I am concerned as to why DOGE is acquiring sensitive personal information from the IRS. I am concerned that Trump/Musk's wrecking ball approach to cutting costs is doing immeasurable harm, at home and abroad. I am concerned that your party seems to be turning governing over to a gang of irresponsible actors, while conciliating Putin and offending our longtime allies. And I'd like to know if you have received financial support from Musk.

I am touched by those of you who said you read my blog daily. I shall endeavor to persevere.

As I am with the watercolors. The above is painted from a photo I took some years ago at a threshing--an event carried on as a tradition by a local family. Keeping on.

                                               

                                                                        

Strange Day

                                                                                

 First my Facebook account was suspended. The reason given had to do with an Instagram account--that I don't believe is mine. I signed up for IG years ago but haven't used it since.

I'm suspecting a hack and will stay off FB till things become clearer. While I'll miss being in touch with friends, I think it will be a good thing to break the tie, at least for a while. 

Then our power went off for hours. No biggie--I sketched and listened to Stephen Fry reading P.G. Wodehouse. It was a pleasant way to spend a cold, drizzly day.

I haven't yet decided if I'll continue this blog on a daily basis. It began as a way to reach readers and has become, really, a sort of online journal. Most of the engagement has come from FB with a handful of folks who read the blog online rather than FB.

 We'll see

Meta at Work

 My Facebook account has been suspended for unknown reasons. I will continue to post on this blog. 

What a world!

1975

                                                                        

Our late neighbor Clifford Freeman, Ethan and his cousin Andrew, all on the good mule Nell.

Josie Update

There was a Valentine's Day dance at school just for kindergarten, first, and second grades. It was awesome! I wore my new dress and danced with my friends. (We did NO schoolwork all day!)

 

Meema picked me up and we went and got ice cream again because Cynthia at the ice cream place wanted to see my dress. I had told her about it when we got ice cream on Monday and she Really wanted to see it. 

Then when we got home, there was a Valentine card with a dragon on it for me and a bag of hearts made our of different colored stones--like a dragon's hoard. My favorite is the blue one that might be lapis lazuli. I made all sorts of shapes with them.

                                          

 These are pictures I painted on Monday. I remembered to leave a little bit of white on the apple like Meema told me a long time ago. Then I decided to paint a picture of one of the orchids on the table.                                                         

First I did the little brown pot, then the leaves and flowers, and then the table and the window and the outside. Meema said she was really proud of me because drawing what you see is harder than drawing an idea. I like my picture. You can see the yellow bush that is outside and a tree.