Tuesday, March 10, 2020

The Worm Moon




Monday, March 09, 2020

Playing for Mosquitos

I play guitar. I do not claim to play well. I do decent enough for my personal amusement; I seldom play for other people and I am a nervous wreck when I do.

However, this seclusion has led to lack of playing and enthusiasm for doing so.

Music, apparently, needs an audience. Or at least a little encouragement.

When I first learned to play, I was around 11 years old. I'd had a few years of piano and my piano teacher and I were at an impasse: she was insisting I play only classical music and I wanted to learn what I was hearing on the radio. By that time, I'd discovered pop music and wasn't listening to the country music of my earlier years.

I was into the Adult Top 40 music that Casey Kasem counted down on his show every Sunday. Mrs. Arrington was having none of that. I remember how she banged on the piano one day in total frustration when I brought in a piece of pop music and said I wanted to learn that.

My piano lessons ended that afternoon, I think. Ah well.

I also played flute in the band. My father played the guitar and had several around the house. One was a small parlor Gibson. He did not play it but it was there and I picked it up. I purchased a Hal Leonard book on how to play the guitar and sat about learning how to play chords and pick out a few little tunes.

Once I had the hang of it, the guitar was my instrument. My parents bought me an electric guitar, which I still have although it has a short in it and doesn't work right now, and I played in a disco band throughout high school. While other kids asked, "Do you want fries with that?" I went out on Friday and Saturday nights with four other kids who were into music. We earned about $200 a gig. It kept me in gas money, anyway.

My mother enjoyed hearing me play and was encouraging. She was much more encouraging with my music than with my writing. She would ask me to play for her frequently, and I did because I liked to practice.

I paid for my own lessons for a time after I could drive, and again after I married.

It was marriage that stopped the music, I'm afraid.

My husband seldom if ever asked me to play the guitar. I'm afraid I don't recall a single instance of him saying, "Honey, would you sit and play for me?" He plays no instrument nor can he sing. Maybe I sound really terrible to him, I don't know. He sometimes listens if I am playing, but he also doesn't hesitate to turn on the TV even if I am playing. There is nothing more irritating than being in the middle of Leaving on a Jet Plane and having your husband come in and flip the TV on to Andy Griffith.

So I focused on my job, my school, and my writing, which eventually became my work and something that I'm fairly good at. I am not clever at it, and I daresay I will never be known much beyond the borders of Botetourt, but I'm ok with being on the B shift as far as writers go.

The guitar is still something I love. As I have aged, I've switched out instruments, trading in an Ovation guitar and a 12-string guitar for a Takamini classical. I played that a long time - about 20 years - but I put it down for a while, and when I returned to it, it simply didn't fit me anymore.

So I bought a Taylor GS Mini. It is smaller and closer to the size of the Gibson I learned to play on. I fooled around with that for about two years, and then this September I found a cheap Epiphone electric guitar.

It weighs about as much as a regular-sized dreadnaught Gibson, I suppose. It definitely doesn't weigh as much as a regular electric guitar. So I bought it, and now I am playing it fairly regularly, almost every other day, even though I can tell it's a cheap guitar.

And that doesn't matter, because there's no one to hear. Just the bugs in the walls, or the squirrels that are too close the house.

I make music to the sound of silence, and the sounds I do make bounce around and echo until they find their way out a crack. My guitar could be playing the happiest tune in the world, and there's no one to hear but me.

Or it could be crying as sadly as a whippoorwill that lost its mate.

And not a soul would know it.

Sunday, March 08, 2020

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

01.  What is the worst nickname that anyone has ever called you?

A. White trash. It wasn't so much the name, but who said it, that made the difference.

02.  Have you got a favorite flower?

A. I tend to favor iris.

03.  Do you add a sauce, ketchup or other artificial flavorings to your food?

A. Yes.

04.  Describe yourself using only words that begin with the letter 'T'.

A. Trying, testy, terrific, tubular, tonnage, tuneful, turbulent, topical.

05.  What is/was your lover's pet name for you?

A. My husband calls me sweetie pie.

06.  What is your least favorite color?

A. Orange.

07.  Who did you vote for in the last election, and did they win?

A. I voted for Elizabeth Warren in the recent primary, and she has dropped out of the presidential race.

08.  What is/was your grandfathers’ names?

A. Grandpa and Grandpa.

09.  What is the best present you ever received?

A. Kindness.

10.  What is 17 1/2% of 97 + 42 x (6 / 2) – 137 ?

A. Some kind of numerical answer. I'll go with 49.

11.  What would be the best possible way you could live?

A. Happy.

12.  Given the choice of absolutely anything, what would be your dream job?

A. I would be a rock star.

13.  What position do you sleep in at night?

A. I sleep on my back.

14.  What is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you?

A. I have no idea.

15.  Who is your favorite fictional character?

A. My favorite fictional character is Anne Shirley. Or maybe it's Jo March.

16.  What food do you hate most in the world?

A. Coconut.

17.  When was the last time you were ill?

A. Back in January, I had a respiratory thing. But I have chronic pain and that is with me all the time.

18.  If you were transformed into a wild creature, what would it be?

A. A deer.

19.  What was your favorite toy as a child, and whatever happened to it?

A. One of my most favorite toys was Blue dog, which was a stuffed doggy, and my nephew has it, I guess.

20.  What's the most amazing thing you've ever seen?

A. The Grand Canyon.

________________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday, March 07, 2020

Saturday 9: Bye, Bye Blackbird

Saturday 9: Bye, Bye Blackbird (1957)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In this song, Julie London complains about all the "hard luck stories" people are handing her. Did you more recently listen to someone else's problems, or share your own?

A. I think it was a mutual whine session.

2) She promises to arrive "late tonight." What time do you think is too late to drop in on someone?

A. I don't generally drop in on people, but I wouldn't drop in on anyone after 7:30 p.m.

3) Julie's nickname was "The Liberty Girl" because she was Liberty Records' first successful artist. The second was singer-songwriter David Seville, who had a couple novelty hits as "The Chipmunks." There were three singing chipmunks. Without looking it up, can you name them?

A. Alvin . . . and two others.

4) Julie's love of music was shared by her mother.When Julie was a little girl, mother and daughter would listen to Billie Holiday records together. What recordings did you enjoy when you were very young?

A. My parents listened to country music, so I grew up listening to Dolly Parton, Elvis, and Johnny Cash. My brother and I also had children's albums we liked. We had a Disney one that had the song "So Dear to My Heart" on it - maybe that was the name of the album, I don't remember. It had a song "Lavender Blue, Dilly Dilly, Lavender Green, when you are queen, Dilly Dilly, I'll be your king."

5) She began modeling when she 17. Julie was working as an elevator operator when a talent agent saw her and decided she would photograph well. With the advent of push-button elevators, elevator operator is a job that doesn't exist anymore. Can you think of another job that was once common but now is rare (or non-existent)?

A. Telephone operator. Stenographer. Copy editor.

6) Julie recorded more than 30 albums and was named "most popular female vocalist" by Billboard magazine in 1956. If you could see any entertainer -- male or female -- in concert, who would you choose?

A. I have no idea. I'm going to a Melissa Etheridge concert in late April.

7) She appeared in Westerns on both TV and in the movies. Have you ever dreamed of being a cowboy/cowgirl?

A. No, I can't say that appealed to me.

8) For six seasons, Julie played Dixie McCall R.N. on the show Emergency! The series was about Los Angeles paramedics and firefighters. Do you often hear sirens in your neighborhood?

A. No. I live in a rural area. If you hear sirens around here, you look up and watch. I loved that show, by the way, and I remember the nurse Dixie.

9) Random question: You're pulled over for speeding. Do you think you'd have an easier time talking your way out of it if the officer was a man . . . or a woman?

A. I think a man, but I doubt I'd be successful with either of them.

______________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

Thursday, March 05, 2020

Thursday Thirteen

1. Reconnected with an old former editor/writer person yesterday. No longer a journalist, but then, it's not a job anymore that people want. Who wants to be "an enemy of the people" simply because you attend a government meeting?

2. I don't mean to offend those who support #45, but couldn't someone take his tweeter away and tell him to shut up while the adults deal with a health crisis?

3. If you're a retail dealer with a loyalty card, can't you tell your clerks not to handle the loyalty card and use the damn scan gun? Sheesh.

4. I recently finished reading a 700-page fantasy book. Fantasy books are always very long. It takes many words to build a world.

5. There is nothing like the smell of books in the library.

6. March came in rather lamb-like. But we will have wind. The wind is always a sure thing.

7. I noticed lots of trees budding while I was out this morning.

8. The days are growing longer but the sunshine seems dim. We have had too many days of cloud clover.

9. Writer's block is not a real thing. That's what I've told myself for years. And years. And years.

10. This is the first year I ever remember turning the air conditioning on in January.

11. I would like to see a shooting star crash in the field near my house. Just a little one. Then I could catch a falling star and put it in my pocket, save it for a rainy day.

12. The times they are a'changin' and people are gonna have to accept it whether they like or not. That goes for me, too.

13. Is it the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, or the Apocalypse, or is it something totally unknown. I go for the latter one. Tomorrows are always unknowns.







_______________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 646th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Wednesday, March 04, 2020

Catawba Furnace

These are the remains of the Catawba Furnace. You can see it from the road near the cement plant. The furnace was originally built in 1830. It operated for about 20 years then went out of service until the Civil War, when Tregedor Iron Works put it back into service for a short time. By 1865, it was no longer a working iron furnace again.

I had not visited this furnace for at least 15 years, and it has fallen in significantly in that time span.

This is from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources website:

"This cold-blast charcoal furnace was built on an unusual round plan in 1830. It ran on water power from the Catawba Creek. The original Catawba Furnace consisted of one stack and many wooden buildings situated on 10,000 acres in Botetourt County. In 1863, the property included a corn mill, saw mill, stable, granary, coal shed, blacksmith and wheelwright shop, managers house, one frame boarding house, six cabins for laborers, an office, sheds, and an ore washing machine. Although abundant coal was found on the property of Catawba, the furnace was never converted into using coal or coke. Pig iron was hauled from Catawba Furnace over twenty miles of rough roads to Buchanan and the James River and Kanawha Canal, where it was loaded onto barges to be sent to Richmond. Difficulties in transportation limited production after the Civil War. Pig iron from this furnace was so valued that it sold for as much as $60 per ton, and was transported (in small quantities) to Boston, and all the way to Maine. A large part of Catawba Furnace collapsed in the 1930’s when vandals removed two of the arch lintels."




Tuesday, March 03, 2020

Catawba Creek







This area of Catawba Creek is near the cement plant and the county landfill. I wouldn't put my hand in it for nothing.

Catawba Creek runs into the James River near Salisbury at Lapsley's Run. The river begins somewhere in Roanoke County, possible up near the Homeplace Restaurant, before winding its way through Botetourt County toward the James River. (I couldn't find a map that shows where it starts.)

It is navigable in some places, mostly from Fincastle to the James. It is fed by multiple tributaries from springs and water run off from all over the northern and far southwestern ends of the county.

Sunday, March 01, 2020

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. Do you think animals dream?

A. Yes. I've seen my dog asleep and moving about as if dreaming.

2. Have you ever been to a fortune teller or psychic?

A. Yes.

3. How important is it to have a low stress job?

A. According to my doctor, incredibly important.

4. Do you always lock your house?

A. Yes.

5. What do you do if you feel lonely?

A. Eat chocolate.

6. Have you ever driven a sports car?

A. No.

7. Have you ever fallen down the stairs?

A. Yes, but when I was younger and skinnier. It didn't hurt so much then, either.

8. What do you think about the death penalty?

A. I am not in favor of it.

9. What do you think about animal testing?

A. I am not generally in favor of that, either, but I am afraid that sometimes it is necessary.

10. What are your neighbors like?

A. They're all very nice people, as far as I know.

11. Do you turn off the water when you brush your teeth?

A. No. I am a wasteful, evil woman.

12. Are there any foods that you wouldn’t eat as a child that you now like?

A. I don't know. Broccoli, maybe.

13. Is it important to always tell the truth?

A. It depends on the subject matter and who you are. If you ask me how you look and you look like you've been eaten by a snake and spit out, I'm probably not going to tell you that. If you're the president of the United States and you start saying that a virus that kills people is really a con job from the evil Democrats, then truth becomes a different matter and incredibly important, because people's lives are at stake at the cost of an idiot's ego.

14. What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten?

A. Escargot, I suppose.

15. Do computers really help us save time?

A. No.

16. Do you have any tattoos?

A. No.

17. Do you pray every day?

A. No.

18. Are you in favor of cloning?

A. No.

19. How do you feel about changing your nationality?

A. I'm too old for some other country to take me, unless I were to retire to Belize or something. But I don't see that happening.

20. Would you ever buy a used car?

A. We bought used cars for a long time, and then I bought my first new car around 1999 and I have insisted on new cars since. So I've had three new cars. A Taurus that didn't last long, a 2003 Camry, and my 2014 Camry. We don't swap vehicles very often.

21. Should you spank a child when they do something wrong?

A. Depends. A little swat on the behind, not done in anger, is probably ok. But if you're mad when you go after the kid, it is never ok.

22. Has science made a negative impact on society?

A. No. We wouldn't be on a computer without science. Why don't you ask me if I think religion has made a negative impact on society? The answer to that one is a big fat yes.

23. Have you ever gone on a blind date?

A. No.

24. Do you believe there is life after death?

A. Yes, but it is nothing like anything we can imagine. We're too small and our imaginations too small to encompass what the hereafter will really be like.

________________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Saturday 9: On the Radio

Saturday 9: On the Radio

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) The action begins when a letter falls out of the pocket of a brown overcoat. What color is your coat?

A. Black

2) The lyrics ask if it "kinda strikes you sad when you hear our song." We don't want to be sad this Saturday, so we're asking what song makes you happy.

A. Uptown Funk.

3) Right before this song hit the charts, Donna Summer hit the cover of Newsweek. Are there any magazines in your home now? If yes, who is on the cover?

A. There's an AARP magazine that just came in the mail. It has Shania Twain on the cover. Apparently she's now AARP old.

4) Donna wrote the lyrics to this song, while producer Giorgio Moroder wrote the tune. Moroder is known as "the father of disco." Is disco a genre you enjoy?

A. Yes. I love disco. I always have.

5) This song got additional airplay throughout the 1980s because the game show The Price Is Right played it every time a contestant won a stereo. Today, the most popular audio equipment sold at Best Buy is a sound bar to improve the quality of TV audio. Have you added a sound bar or sound system to your TV?

A. We have a sound system that is at least 15 years old hooked up to our TV.

6) Moroder has won two Academy Awards for Best Song. The first was for "Flashdance . . . What a Feeling" from Flashdance and the second was for "Take My Breath Away" from Top Gun. Do you  have a favorite movie soundtrack?

A. I own the Lord of the Rings soundtracks, and I listen to them when I'm in the mood, but the one I think would be the best to own would be the soundtrack from Forrest Gump.

7) He grew up in Ortsei, Italy. Located in Northern Italy, the Ortsei economy is fueled by tourists who ski in winter, hike in summer and shop for woodcarvings all year around. Do out-of-towners find their way to your hometown more often in summer or winter?

A. More often in the summer.

8) Kourtney Kardashian was born in 1979, the year this record was a hit. Keeping Up with the Kardashians has been on since 2007. Have you ever seen it?

A. I have never watched an episode. Nor will I.

9) Random question -- When getting dressed in the morning, what's the second item of clothing you put on?

A. My underwear.

______________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Thursday Thirteen #645

Every answer must start with the first letter of your FIRST name. (I stole this from Facebook.)

WEAR - Apron


DRINK - A & W Rootbeer

PLACE - Antarctica

FOOD - Apple

ANIMAL - Aardvark

GIRL’S NAME - Ann

BOY’S NAME - Austin

PROFESSION - Accordion Player

WORD TO DESCRIBE SOMEONE - Astute 

SOMETHING IN YOUR HOME - Attic

BODY PART -  Abdomen

SOMETHING ON YOUR DESK - Apple iPhone

SOMETHING IN YOUR FRIDGE - Apple Butter

_______________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 645th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

The Day of the Daffys







Sunday, February 23, 2020

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. What is your favorite color?

A. Blue. Or purple. It depends on my mood.

2. If you could get on a plane tomorrow and travel anywhere, where would you go?

A. New Zealand.

3. Were you closer to your mother or to your father?

A. I am the black sheep of the family. You figure it out.

4. What is your favorite meal (savory and dessert).

A. I'd like some spaghetti with garlic toast followed by chocolate cake with loads of icing.

5. Can you wink with each eye?  (How about curl your tongue?)

A. Yes to both.

6. Beach or forest?

A. Forest. The beach is a nice place to visit, though.

7. City or farm?

A. Farm. I live on a farm, of course I would say farm.

8. Would you rather be blind from birth or turn blind as a teenager?

A. Good grief. What a question! I'd rather do neither but I guess I'd rather turn blind as a teenager.

9. Would you rather always be overdressed or underdressed?

A. I'd rather be overdressed.

10. If you could pass alone one of your attributes to your children, which would it be?

A. I don't have children, but if I had had them, I would hope they would be creative.

11. What are you most insecure about?

A. People not knowing me for who I really am.

12. What are you afraid people see when they look at you?

A. A big fat blob.

13. What is the saddest you’ve ever felt?

A. I'm an old woman. I've felt sad many, many times.

14. Would you rather have your own private island, or your own private jet?

A. My own private island, although I suppose I might also need a jet to get off of it every now and then.

15. How do you think you will die?

A. Probably a heart attack. I just hope it's fast and quick.

__________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday, February 22, 2020

Saturday 9: Buttons & Bows

Saturday 9: Buttons & Bows

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Here it here.

1) The lyrics extol the beauty of "rings and things and buttons and bows." When you're getting dressed, do you give much thought to accessorizing?

A. Not really. I wear my wedding band and alternate between a couple of pairs of earrings. I sometimes wear a pearl necklace or a silver necklace.

2) Dinah Shore sings that she doesn't want to live where the cactus hurts her toes. Sam can sympathize, as she has a blister on one of her toes from where her winter boots rub. Do you have any aches and pains to report this morning?

A. Yes. I have done something to my elbow. I think it is tennis elbow although I don't play tennis. It is probably from using the computer.

3) Dinah was such a popular entertainer that people were surprised to learn she earned a degree in sociology from Vanderbilt University. What is something we'd be surprised to know about you?

A. It took me eight years to obtain my bachelor's degree. I think I've mentioned that before, though. Hmm. Oh, I know. I play the harmonica a little bit. But maybe that's not a surprise since I play other musical instruments. Hmm. How about this: I prefer silver to gold.

4) Dinah's was the best selling version of this song, which was introduced by Bob Hope in the movie The Paleface. Hope had success early in his career as a song-and-dance man on Broadway. Are you better at telling jokes, singing, or dancing?

A. I am not very good at any of the three, really. I can sing a passable tune, so I will go with that one.

5) Both Bob and Dinah donated their time to entertaining the troops in WWII. It was during a USO tour that Dinah met and fell in love with actor George Montgomery, who was serving in the Air Force. They were married for 20 years and had two children. Their daughter followed her parents into show business and became an actress. If a young person asked you for career advice, what would you tell them?

A. Don't go into journalism.

6) Dinah was an avid golfer and even sponsored an LPGA tournament. She was also an excellent cook who hosted TV cooking segments. Which would you find more relaxing -- an afternoon on the golf course or in the kitchen?

A. How about I sit in the golf club house and drink a soda and read a book while someone serves me lunch?

7) In 1948, the year this record was a hit, Scrabble was introduced. Do you prefer word games, card games, board games or jigsaw puzzles?

A. I like them all. I am not sure I have a preference.

8) Also in 1948, LPs (33 1/3 rpm records) were introduced. Do you have any vinyl records in your home?

A. Yes. My husband and I both brought our collections with us when we married, and we have never rid ourselves of them even though we have nothing to play them on. Maybe a record player should be on the Christmas list this year.

9) Random question -- Which of these would you consider the greatest insult: to be called boring, untrustworthy, or stupid?

A. Untrustworthy. I'm sure a lot of people think I'm boring and I imagine a great many people think I am stupid, as well. But I hope no one thinks I am untrustworthy.

______________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Thursday Thirteen

Virginia is in its legislative session. None of the things I am discussing here have become settled law and may not. Until the governor signs off on it, nothing is a done deal, and even then, it can be undone.

People around here are freaking out because those horrible "ultra liberal" Democrats are in control this session. You'd think demons from hell had risen up and taken over the government the way people are acting. This is crazy thinking and people really need to get a grip on both sides of the aisle. We're all human beings with common causes and common needs. Figure that out and things will go along much more smoothly.

1. For 20 years, Virginia was under Republican leadership. They had an agenda. Now the Democrats are in control and all I hear are Snowflake Republicans crying, "The Democrats have an agenda." Of course they have an agenda. The Republicans had an agenda. Grow up. Learn to compromise.

2. Nothing that has gone forth legislatively to control guns is extreme nor will it impede on anyone's beloved 2nd Amendment rights. When did someone else's right to carry a gun become more important than someone else's right to life? The lines in the declaration are "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness," not "shoot, defend, and fuck the rest of you." I am a gun owner, by the way. I don't feel infringed upon in the least except for when I'm in public and see some crazy scaredy-cat numb-nuts open-carrying his gun, "because he can." Then I feel scared because how am I supposed to know this person's state of mind?

3.  The Republicans oppose increasing the minimum wage in this state. According to my own state senator, only 1.3 percent of the Virginia workforce currently makes the Federal Minimum Wage or less (I guess those are restaurant servers, who don't fall under the Federal Minimum Wage), so what is the big deal? If it's that small of a number, why the opposition? It can't affect that many businesses if the number of workers is so small.

4. The Virginia Senate is looking at a tax on gasoline to pay for the roads. This is bad, the Republicans say. They seem to think it better to pay to have your tire fixed when you hit a pothole than it is to pay a small tax to keep up our infrastructure. I'd just as soon pay the gas tax as be inconvenienced by a blown tire or shattered shock absorbers.

5. The state Senate is also looking a "green new deal" - the Republicans apparently are allergic to "green" except for where it concerns money - and this is bad because it could (likely won't) increase the cost of electricity. There are so many "could happens" in the language my state senator uses to talk about this that it makes my head spin. He makes the worst-case scenario sound like it is the only outcome. But it isn't.

6. A tax on plastic bags. This only affects certain localities in Northern Virginia as an immediate tax and apparently other localities (like my rural area) get to decide for themselves as the bill is currently written. I don't have a problem with carrying my own tote bags and used to do that. My only issue with those tote bags is that the baggers load them down so heavily that I can't lift them. I have back problems so I stopped using them since I couldn't keep the baggers from stuffing them full. I would simply go back to using the tote bags and maybe I'd have to ask for help loading them into the car. That would become the grocery store's problem then, unless they can teach their baggers to listen when someone says, "Pack it light."

7. The Republicans also oppose a mandate for sick leave, which requires employers of 15 or more people to let people stay home when they have the flu. Frankly, I'd just as soon people stayed home when they have the flu. I shouldn't have to scan the check-out clerks at the grocery store to see which one is sneezing and coughing so I know who to avoid. People go to work sick because they can't afford to lose the money they are docked if they don't show up. This spreads germs and illnesses and drives up the cost of healthcare. I'm all for letting folks stay home when they're germy. Yuck.

8.  My state senator voted against a cancer bill for first responders. Firefighters and first responders are exposed to all types of carcinogens, time after time. This bill looks like it is going through, but no thanks to my representative. I do not appreciate the fact that he attempted to take this away from my husband and his brothers and sisters in the fire departments. Jerk.

9. Another senate bill allows localities to remove, relocate or do what they want with monuments or memorials for war veterans located in its public space, regardless of when it was erected. I think localities should be able to do what they want with their public space so long as it doesn't infringe on someone else's rights. The monuments in many cases are art and if moved should be preserved somewhere, I suppose, like the local museum. We are a very white county and our Civil War monument is an obelisk with inscriptions of the fighting companies. Does it offend our small black population? I don't know. It has never been an issue. It's been there so long I think most people ignore it. I don't like the canon that sits beside it, but then as a pacifist I wouldn't. However, I am not making any noise about it. The courthouse will soon undergo extensive renovations; some of those items may need to be removed anyway for these changes, and maybe then reinstalled - or not. The courthouse renovations are still under study.

10. Removal of the 24-hour waiting period for abortion is something that I applaud and I hope this goes through. I am tired of men legislating the personal lives of women. Do we make them wait 24 hours to get a vasectomy? No. Are there any laws that legislate the personal health care of men like they attempt to do to women? I can't think of a single one that is strictly male-oriented. Can you?

11. There is also the potential for the removal of "informed consent" language regarding abortion, which means that the 14-year-old raped by her uncle or her father can have an abortion without telling her parents. That poor girl is going through a hard enough time without the state's intervention.

12. There is also the possibility of the repeal of a photo ID requirement for voting. I don't have a problem with this, either, because voter fraud is not the big problem that Republicans want it to be. They've spent years trying to infringe upon voting rights and this simply rolls things back to the way they were.

13. There is also an effort in the Virginia House to allow Virginia's 13 electoral college votes to go to the national popular candidate instead of who Virginians vote for. I would like to see a study on this issue, one that ultimately does away with the electoral college. The electoral college was put in place to ensure that only "the right" people are elected. Until there is a national study underway to determine how voting should be best done in this country (fairly, freely, and hopefully one vote per person with mandatory voting), I'm not sure about this particular issue.

I think the verbiage that my Republican House of Delegate and my Republican Senator shared in my local newspaper this week in their "weekly updates" is revealing. That's where I took these items from, and I didn't do follow-up research to see exactly where the bills stand, so I am basically simply arguing against the way they worded these issues.

Their priorities are business, not people. Virginia is known as a great place for business. I'd rather it be known as a great place for people to live. I mean, what is our happiness rating? We're not ranked in the Top 10 and we live next door to West Virginia (and some folks want to join West Virginia), which is ranked at the bottom.

I want to live in a happy place. Can't the best place for business also be the best place for its people?

_______________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 644th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Put On a Poncho

Virginia's weather this winter has been unseasonal, to say the least.

It has rained a lot.

The weather has been much, much too warm.

The grass is greening, we're at least two weeks ahead of schedule with the flowers, and the trees have budded out.

Will we have peaches? Apples? How will this affect my friends who are fruit tree farmers? Will my own lovely deciduous trees survive this perplexing weather?

This was not the year to put away your fall clothes. Some days it has been so warm one could wear shorts and be comfortable.

We've had a few below-freezing days, but I think I can count them on one hand. Does this mean the stink bugs will be roaring back with vengeance, staining everything they decide to spit up on? Will other bugs be abundant? How about ticks? Will Lyme Disease be as scary as the Coronavirus?

The gray days, of which there have been many, have forced me to use my seasonal light therapy doohickey nearly every day. I tend to be more depressed in the winter, you see. My doctor recommended this light therapy as way to help ease the darkness wrought by the lesser sunshine of the season.

However, it is hard to have sunshine with constant cloud cover. Sheesh.

The rain has made it difficult for the fellows who are helping my husband out by feeding our cattle while he is recovering from his surgery. They're having to battle the mud to get out in the fields. They are traveling in the ruts from days before. It's only slightly better than snow, and that's just because it's warmer. At least a cold, frozen ground would make getting back and forth less of an ordeal.

But we've not had enough cold to freeze the ground for any length of time.

I hear there is no such as climate change. I hear that folks don't believe there is any reason to make the air cleaner, or to stop chopping down trees, or to stop pollution. I hear that deregulation and ridding the US of the Environmental Protection Agency would be a good thing.

Because there's no such thing as climate change. We don't need clean air to breathe, and who cares what is in the water that falls from the sky, right? We can't be costing corporations money to clean up their act! We can't put people first in this country, no way.

We're the little guys. All replaceable.

Wonder what "they" will do when the only people left to replace us are the ones they won't let in the country anymore?

Sorry, got off track there. Not sure how a little essay on Virginia weather turned into a sarcastic climate change snit. Of course the climate is changing. Of course we need regulations and a vibrant, working EPA. Of course we need clean air and clean water.

Maybe we need more rain, to wash away the grim realities that half the country refuses to face.

Let's get wet, Virginia.