Closing Out 2020 With Thankfulness

Hello, it's Christmas Eve morning and I felt like jotting down a few things. The past year has been wild and seemingly without a lot to celebrate. Alas, I am here to cheer you up (or at least try to make your thoughts a little less grim)! The things to celebrate, are probably closer to "real" than the things we usually point to. They are a bit deeper and more in touch with our humanity. I'm not going to tell you there haven't been a lot of downs and reasons to be out of sorts, but so often the negative dominates the positive. We dislike and fear that feeling, so when it permeates our routines, we forget to see the positives that are still around us.

If you are reading this, you are still here and "survived". For 95% of the people on earth, I'm sure still breathing is decent enough, seeing how the alternative holds permanence....as far as we know. I am thankful to still be here and able to enjoy every day, even if it's in a small way. Enjoying a laugh. Sharing a hug. Listening to someone tell you how excited they are about something or another. Having a good slice of pizza or a two finger pour of a favorite bourbon. I like to be able to sit and clear my mind every day, which is a luxury all of us can give ourselves, even if only for a few minutes.

Take the time to put the negative aside and think on those things we often overlook and take for granted. I have much more to be happy about or thankful for than I realize and some of those things should loom large in my life and this is a reminder to myself to allow it. 

I am thankful for my family and the time we have spent in the past year together, even when we may have picked at each other or been frustrated at the circumstances. Having extra time and really, just being in proximity of my children as they grow up is a blessing in itself. More than I deserve! The love I have for my wife is immeasurable and she definitely makes my life "work". My love is best expressed to and through my "girls". I'm thankful that my mom has apparently kept the cancer away and is doing well and that my wife's mother and father, while having some health issues, are still doing well enough to keep on keeping on! 

I am thankful that I work for a company that didn't gut itself by laying off employees to take advantage of the down turn of the pandemic. I am very thankful for the handful of friends that are as much family to me as anyone I share blood with. I love 'em. I got to continue to see one of my oldest and closest friends fairly regularly during the year. We helped each other through commiseration and laughter. I have also seen my other friends, not as frequently, but enough to know our bonds are strong. We used technology to get together and when we felt we could, we spent time in each others presence. We continued "Director Day", doing so over Zoom for one of our dates. We "gifted" each other throughout the year, knowing we are still on each others minds. 

My life is going about as well as can be expected, given my age and health. I don't have much of a quarrel with how things are personally. I know there are a lot of people out there hurting, some worse than others. Those are people I feel for. My family tries to be charitable within our means and I know a lot of people do the same. That makes the world a little better....to know that we can rely on each other and if we put our egos aside and take into consideration that no matter what hardship we may face, the person we don't know, that we encounter on a daily basis, may have it even tougher. Showing kindness and patience is a great gift to give everyone we run into day in and day out. Don't give it because they "deserve" or "earn" it....but give it because of who you are. That's a gift you can give for free.

Since I don't post as often as I used to, I don't suppose I'll have anything to say before the New Year rings in. I hope that anyone reading this is doing OK and the people on planet Earth get a little better shake moving forward. 

As a man, much wiser than myself once said; 

"....but remember brothers and sisters, you can still stand tall. 

Just be thankful, for what you got."

--William DeVaughn--

We Are Breaking Down As A Nation.....

Welcome to 2020! A helluva party right? We are breaking down socially and politically. Our country is coming unglued right before our eyes....we are in the midst of a change, there can be no doubting that. We have children watching their parents and the people they are supposed to be learning life lessons from shooting each other, beating each other, and destroying property and business. They see liars and charlatans all around. Respect and taking pause before action are no longer things to be valued or taught. We have political leaders calling portions of Americans "enemies". We have leaders calling a portion of Americans terrorists. We have a president and a former presidential candidate saying they won't accept the results of the election.

We have people with their lives being destroyed over things they have written or said at much younger ages. We are getting dangerously close to compelled speech as we are told what we can and can't say. Our social media platforms, which should be awesome tools for conversation and working through differences used for making duck faces and piling hate and anger on to one another. People are starting to lose their homes. Bills are piling up. Small business' closing forever. We are on the brink of lawlessness. Our police have lost the respect and trust of a large number of people by being too heavy handed over the years and showing the inability to have empathy or to exhibit self-control in high pressure situations. We have citizens with no regard for law and order. Healthcare bills causing people's lives to be ruined, their savings to be depleted many go into depression and become suicidal. Some people want to actually protest in a peaceful manner to highlight injustice. Some people want to take advantage of that and loot and destroy our cities. Some people see that their leadership isn't reacting, so they feel the need to do so by protecting the streets. Our leadership sits on their hands and won't work together because they are scared of the mob or how many votes it may cost them. We are reflecting that in so many ways. We have a media that won't show us the truth, gaslights, and editorializes hard news to manufacture consent in the pursuit of political power and clicks. There is little hope....there is much hate.

Polls show we, as American citizens, want the following;

Campaign Finance Reform: the two parties don't

End the costly wars in the Middle East and northern Africa: the two parties don't

Stop subsidies for the fossil fuel industry; the two parties don't

Marijuana legalization/descheduling/decriminalization; the two parties don't

Universal healthcare; the two parties don't

Ending corporate welfare/bailouts: the two parties don't

Congressional term limits: the two parties don't

Our wants are not being addressed. We are at each others throats mainly due to our leadership, or lack thereof and the unwillingness to see through the long con. We have been played. We have been duped into this uber-tribal way of thinking as if our lives are ran by two sports teams. We reject compromise and talking to each other in a way that can lead to common ground and progress. We demonize each other to the contentment of the elite. The better for them to get away with pillaging our hard work, the planets resources, our liberties, and our humanity. We no longer even value our "sacred" vote. How will we ever get what we want if we don't demand it and use our votes to bring about substantial change? Aside from politics or voting, can we even put our egos aside for any sort of time that will allow us to hear and consider another opinion? Will our upheaval end up as a winner take all or will we be able to compromise into some sort of acceptable climate that we can build into a stable framework to move our country forward with? I don't know.....

Pandemics, 4/20, & Everything Else.....

NOTE: I wrote this in April...for some reason it didn't post when I scheduled it. I don't think the world missed it.

Here we are, another 4/20 is upon us. Where does the time go? This year's holiday is marred by a national lock down due to the COVID-19 virus, but since marijuana stores are deemed as "essential" business most people should be OK to celebrate, unless you are dry in a dry state. At that point, shame on you for not having an emergency stash. Smoke up Johnny! 

I've been working from home for over a month now and I can't say that I hate it. I'm not a real people person, so I tend to be able to get my work done and do it with a little less stress at home. No drive time. No burning up my gasoline. I still get up and do my normal routine, so the only difference for me is not driving to an office. I can walk 8 feet from my couch to my "office". I love it! 

Other than work, I've been enjoying the time I have been able to spend with my family. It's a second chance to connect with the kids. We have never been a family that sits down to dinner every night, but during the "lock down", we have been doing so at least 4 or 5 nights a week. It's been wonderful for me. Having my oldest home from college is nice, though I'm sure she would prefer to split her time between home and her college friends. This thing has kind of stalled out her "life development" and what she had gotten used to. 

I've also been watching some TV and listening to music more than I usually do. I have some shows I have gotten into and my friends have also been sending me suggestions. I've started texting my dad and brother a little bit and we exchange music. I don't often connect with them, so it's funny that we would be doing so while we are locked down, but I guess it's not something that I should take as unlikely, since all of us are at home with more down time than usual. 

My wife probably had the virus back in March. I don't think I've ever had a more physically and mentally wrecked week. Seeing someone in bed for nine days (that usually won't even spend a day of downtime for an illness) and not getting better was taxing, but we made it through.  I've started tuning out on the news a little, I'm just tired of the politics involved and seeing the shit show that is emerging from our leadership and from the reactions of the public in general. The information is conflicting from week to week and sometimes day to day. All I can do is stay as locked down as practical and try to wait things out. I like to control my life and this has taken that away, but I've adapted. 

During this time, I've also started cooking more than I ever have. Firing the grill up a few times a week, making BBQ and cheesy potato soup....mmm, mmm good! 

I don't really have anything else to say and this may be the most uninteresting stuff I've ever written, but I felt the need to just put some thoughts down for posterity. Hopefully anyone that reads this is doing OK and has come through the pandemic with their family and health intact.