A Perfect Comfort Read

A lovely book, as comforting as a comfy chair and a really hot cup of tea. I was captured on the first page and, apart from picking up Josie and grocery shopping in advance of the predicted storm, I was engrossed in a compelling story with just enough obstacles and difficulties to keep one reading and cheering for a good outcome.

Major Pettigrew is the sort of man the world needs and his story is a welcome escape from the headlines. It's like a warm hug.

I                                       

These Are Not Normal Times

 I used to hear right-wingers talking about "suffering under" Obama or Biden and I wonder just what that suffering consisted of or if it in any way could compare to the existential dread I feel on reading the news every morning.

I can remember praying with my grandmother for an end to Stalin. I no longer believe in the power of prayer but I can wish with all my heart . . .

Meanwhile I email my congressmen--pretty hopeless, as at least two of them are firmly in the cult and Tillis, though he's not seeking re-election and occasionally shows signs of remembering he once had balls, is still not free of MAGA.

May the Blue Wave come and wash away the orange stain on our country. (That's as close to prayer as I get,)

Jonah and the Almighty

I don't know when I first became fascinated with the story of Jonah. At least twenty years ago, I planned to paint this picture in oils on a very large panel. Sketched it out and then something or other intervened. So I decided to scale down my ambition.

Anyway, the story goes like this: The Almighty tells Jonah to go to Nineveh and warn the sinners there of His displeasure. Jonah tries to avoid this commission by taking ship to Tarshish, upon which the Almighty sends a storm. The sailors, in fear of sinking, find out that it's Jonah who has disobeyed heavenly orders and toss him overboard. 

Jonah is swallowed by a giant fish and, from its belly, prays for redemption and promises to go to Nineveh and do as the Almighty told him. The fish vomits him up onto dry land.

So Jonah goes to Nineveh, warns the king and the people of the Almighty's wrath, and the entire city repents, fasting in sackcloth and ashes. And seeing this, the Almighty decides not to punish them.

But then, and to me this is really strange, Jonah goes into a kind of pout because the city is not destroyed. And, it's the words of the Almighty to him that I've copied here.

It's those last four words, I think, that really captivate me. As you might have guessed by the picture's border.

 

MLK Day

 "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."

Dear Sirs

 The President and this regime are running amok and Congress is ignoring it.

What is the justification for seizing Venezuelan assets and sequestering them in an account in Qatar under the president's control? Are we being made safer with violent masked thugs roaming our streets and demanding identity papers? Will the continued threat of seizing Greenland turn all of NATO against the US?

WHERE ARE THE EPSTEIN FILES?

Not to mention the truly pathetic sight of your Dear Leader eagerly seizing every unearned gilded award he can. Give the Toddler in Chief a gold participation trophy and impeach and remove him.

Thank you for your attention to the matter.

The Eternal Promise

In the dark days of Winter, 

Daffodils persevere.

So must we all;

So must we all.

 

Snowy Day--Works in Progress

 

Amazing Amaryllis Inspires Josie

This beauty was a gift from Josie's other grandparents, and it has outdone itself in blooms. Multiple stems from each bulb and sometimes five flowers on each stem. And the deep dark red!

Yesterday, of her own volition (which is pretty much the way she does everything), Josie painted its picture.

I was impressed. It took me years (fifty or so) before I attempted painting from life. And I'm still more comfortable with a photo or picture to follow.

 

Hope Dawning?

I see small signs that make me hopeful that this national nightmare is being challenged on various fronts.

May it be so!

 

Dear Sirs

                                       

It's past time to rein in the president's personal guard (aka ICE.) 

The egregious murder of Renee Good, captured on several videos, and the ludicrous attempt of this administration to brand her a domestic terrorist (after pardoning and celebrating the rioters of the attack on the Capitol) is a stain on our nation. As is the ongoing terrorizing of American citizens. Door to door searches, arrests based on perceived ethnicity, random roundups, and secretive concentration camps are the stuff of Nazi Germany.

ICE should be defunded back to its previous level. Empowering and rewarding a bunch of untrained bounty hunting thugs, while ignoring the very real needs of many Americans is unconscionable.

ICE should be unmasked and demilitarized. This administration seeks to punish Iran for its brutal suppression of protest--even as it allows, excuses, and lies about suppression of protest at home.

And then there are the Epstein Files. Will this regime continue to invade other countries in a desperate attempt to distract from the fact that they continue to refuse to release them in defiance of a court order?

In a sane world, with a moral Congress, DJT, Noem, Vance, Miller, and the rest of the cabal would be facing impeachment and justice.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

 

In Search of Serenity and Civility

ICE and its victims, Venezuela, Cuba, Greenland, NATO . . .and the lying liars of this accursed regime--it's hard to find any peace these days when every hour brings news of some fresh outrage.

So, after sending Dear Sirs emails, I turned to Jane Austen's quiet novels. Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma are old, familiar favorites so I turned to audio books of Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. 

And what a surprise! I'd read both some time ago and remember not being especially impressed. But listening to Persuasion convinced me that this was Jane at the top of her form. I felt better already.

The version of Northanger Abbey I heard was a delight! It was adapted and dramatized by a full cast of well known actors. And for the first time I felt the full comic impact of this tale of a young woman, steeped in the Gothic novels of the time, visiting Northanger Abbey and expecting horrors at every turn.

Austen was likely giggling as she wrote this. Her keen eye for absurdity is on full display here, and I was giggling as I listened. 

Such a nice change from real life.

 

Our Girl

 

In the Forest of Dreams

 Playing with color . . .