Spring has officially sprung in the city. My backyard has the scent of lilacs from somewhere along the row and it’s heavenly. Maggy has officially been skunked through the neighbor’s wood fence. She survived, I survived and I’m hoping the skunk died. It was my mistake. I caught her nose glued to the ground, smelled a whiff of odor, wanted to get her inside before she became too enamored and used a pitcher of water to shoo the skunk away from the fence.
NOT
He/she decided to spray it at the moment of impact and Mags was delighted. It was 7am, neighbors going to work and school, me in pj’s, smell….ugh. I managed to drive her back into the house and prayed for rain.
My driving learning curve is flattening. On Tuesday of this week I managed 7 errands between 10 am and 3 pm with nary a hiccup. Petco, Gym, Panera, Dress Barn, Vogue Fabrics, Walgreens, Lincoln Square.
I’m so proud
I didn’t run that many errands in the suburbs! I even had to city park with my credit card in 2 places–no dropping anything or hands too full issues, both times. The simplest things can be so complicated. Side note, all my errands were within a 5 mile radius and while Chicago traffic is a chore, convenience is king.
We’ve had overnight company too
My mother in law is here from Oregon, a big visit for her. She is 83, probably 110 lbs dripping wet, under 5′ tall and a real pip. We took her to our big, loud, multi-racial, over the top church. We wondered how her conservative, white, Oregonian culture would mix. We should have known better.
She loved it
Couldn’t stop talking about it. Loved the choir, loved the sermon, loved the worship. Blessedly, she has a high tech hearing aid that is programmed to adjust when rock concert volume is on, I may investigate one for myself. She told Bruce and I, “If I lived here THAT’s the church I would go to”.
We smiled
We celebrated a second college degree graduation. Birthdays. Mother’s Day and simply being together–all together. Daughters, son in laws, mom and the dog (and cat). It was a first for this Shaver family and we had a wonderful time.
No politics were discussed
To say that we are divided politically is a truth in our family. We have the Liberal/Socialist wing and we have the Moderate/Conservative wing, then we also have a tad of the Media/Wacko wing. I think each side shares some responsibility in that regard. It’s why we don’t discuss politics when together. We could spend all our time pointing at each other’s sources rather than discussing issues. All of which is not conducive to quality family time.
For myself, this recent bout of Presidential gaffes has been background noise to all of the other activities in my life.
I.E…I really don’t care
Bruce and I were running an errand last night and I brought it up to see what he had followed. He “Mansplained” his position and his utter revulsion at the media fallout. I listened, learned (yes, I succumbed to his superiority) and replied.
WHAT DID THEY THINK WOULD HAPPEN
I think that’s why I find myself really not caring when the news plays out. How could anyone NOT imagine that this man would blather sensitive intelligence to unreliable heads of state? He was never fit for this office, he shouldn’t be there and he can’t be gone soon enough, in my humble opinion.
However–that leaves us with a President Pence
Anyone who thinks we can elect someone in place of him is smoking that stuff from Colorado. We have systems, checks, balances and methods. A mid-term election for President is NOT going to happen. Bernie will NOT find his place in the Oval Office and neither will She. So Mr. Pence–our guy. These people probably think Charles can be passed over for William in the line of succession for King of England…
While I believe and know that Vice President Pence is a more moral and “qualified” individual to hold this office and while I may agree more with some of his political positions, I hesitate to state…I believe he will further divide our nation. Vilification? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. He represents everything the liberal leaning folks hate and of course we’ll hear about it again and again and again…
Maybe there’s a case to be made that the Vice President will listen to strong counsel, not spill secrets, follow the rule of law, not use the Executive Order hammer as often, be less “SCARY” than our current President…but will it be enough? Will both parties work with him to move our country out of this stalemate we’re stuck in?
Will anything get done
That’s fast becoming my political bottom line. Let’s get something, anything done! I remember times when my grandfather said “I think we should throw them all out of office and find new ones, I’m not voting for anyone who is already in office”.
He had a point
Maybe coming together as a nation isn’t the priority. Maybe being a United States is a lost hope. Maybe mixes of race, religion, political parties and culture can’t live side by side in harmony.
I don’t believe that
I see it all the time in my big, noisy, multi-racial/cultural church
A house of prayer for all nations
It gives me hope for our country and peace that all is truly in the hands of a powerful God. One who loves, heals, mends, restores and raises to life all things. It’s not a surprise to him that people are socially liberal or conservative. It’s also no surprise to him that our nation is angrily divided. It doesn’t matter in the least. Because he isn’t building America…
He’s building His Kingdom!
And that, my friends will never end with political stalemates, party lines, special interests and Presidents spilling sensitive intelligence.
Let it come!
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