157 years ago …

… in 1863 Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Part of it reads: 

“And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self defence, and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.”

I am not a historian but even I can see, in that one paragraph, two pronouncements that, although legal and part of our heritage, have been ignored for years.  Can we blame our black brothers and sisters for finally running out of patience? In my 87 years I have never seen a time that they have been equal. 

I am sick to death of the white radicals with their cries that “the blacks are taking over”. It's about time that our young nation grows up ! We are world citizens … not a cut off society. With the closing of our borders we've become a boring, childish and uncaring nation whose only interests seem to be the complete absorption of our fragile egos and the almighty dollar.

Come on everybody … let's see some maturity and a showing of understanding and love for ALL the people that we live with. Where is your sense of justice ?  The "have nots" in our country have NEVER been given the chance they deserve and you can rightly put the blame on the white majority. 

Now for those of you who read this and think it's just the ramblings of an old lady maybe this will catch your attention … the WHITE MAJORITY is FADING and fading fast!  Where will you be when we whites are no longer in charge?  

I find it very interesting that the pandemic is making the plight of the underprivileged crystal clear to everyone. They are being hit harder than any other group and it's a wake up call for us all. It's also of interest that, despite what the present administration says, our country, along with the UK and a few others, leads all other countries in the world when it comes to inequality. 

The Height of Hypocrisy …

Monday, the 29^th of May was Memorial Day and I watched as President Trump performed the sacred

act of placing the wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  On Saturday and Sunday he'd spent his time tweeting hatred, ridicule and cruelty and yet there he was on Monday with a pious look on his face trying to look Presidential.

I am old enough to have watched 12 Presidents perform the same ceremony. Some are more memorable than others but I love what President George Bush said in 1992. “Memorial Day leaves few hearts unmoved. Each of the patriots whom we remember on this day was first a beloved son or daughter, or a spouse, friend and neighbor”.

Can you imagine Trump saying anything akin to that? It takes a person with empathy to understand those words and the feelings of others has never been a concern of his. He just stood there trying to look the part and then moved forward and put his hand on the wreath.  Then he stood back in line and a minute or two later he walked off … never having uttered a word.

I guess he couldn't wait to return to his true self. Once again he gave in to his Tweeter obsession and before the night was out he'd mocked and ridiculed Joe Biden and his wife Jill for being seen outside wearing face masks. Unlike Trump the couple had made a quiet and unannounced appearance at a Memorial Park in Delaware where they laid a wreath of white flowers in memory of Joe's son.  

Donald Trump, the President of the United States of America … a thoroughly cruel and despicable man.    Unbelievable ... but sadly it's true.

In memory of John

I lost a good friend recently. At my age I guess that shouldn't be a surprise but it always is. John and his wife Sue came to Pinehurst in the 80s and in 1989 Sue became my first sponsor in the AA program. Both she and my husband Dick passed away the next year … just months apart.

That was a rough time but John's wisdom and faith in the healing powers of AA helped immensely. We have been good platonic friends since then. He was never shy about his AA journey and helped so many of us. We simply followed his lead. John would often refer to his years before sobriety to make a point and it became apparent that he had been the owner of a very successful Nursery business in Connecticut before moving to our area.

One day in 2018 John mentioned that he was sad to see that the cartoonist Mort Walker, known for his comic strips (Beetle Bailey in 1950 and Hi and Lois in 1954) had died.  John went on to tell me that Mort  had been a good customer of his Nursery and when he heard that John and Sue were moving South Mort designed a cartoon as a going away tribute. 

John had just turned 91 when he passed away. Neither he nor Mort will soon be forgotten and I end my tribute to John with Mort's cartoon.  

Rest in peace you guys !

The “F” word…

( This is a repeat but I thought it might give you a much needed chuckle.)

As some of you know from reading my blog I spent many years as a secretary in our local emergency room. (The picture shows me ...bottom right ... in 1979 with one of the nurses and Dr. Jacques.) Most of the time I was fulfilling the orders of the harried staff … ordering labs, xrays, calls to specialists, etc. Since our ER was often overloaded it was a challenge to keep ahead of it all and I thrived on it.

I was older than most of the nurses and even many of the doctors; however, this didn’t seem to matter. I was good at what I did and they appreciated that. Over the years I took on kind of a mother figure there. They knew that I was of the generation that finds the “F” word shocking and they rarely used it in my presence. I appreciated their consideration. I was also sure that they would never hear that word from my lips. 

The nurses did very well with the ER Docs but as soon as a staff Dr. showed up the atmosphere would change. These doctors were very demanding and expected the nurses to drop everything (no matter what was going on with the other ER patients) and to be at their beck and call. This particular day it was exceptionally busy. All 18 rooms were full, 3 staff doctors had arrived at the same time and none of the ordered lab results had come back. When I called the lab they told me that a technician was out sick and they were doing the best they could.

I relayed this info but the staff doctors wouldn’t accept it. They had the poor nurses almost in tears and I couldn’t believe the words that were being yelled at them, the patient charts that were being banged down and the overall disruption of the ER.  Of course this ultimately came down upon my head, the messenger of the bad news and I lost it.  I knew that none of the patients were critical and could see no reason for all the turmoil. I was completely fed up and had as much as I could take so I stood up and yelled …“Everyone just F_ _king shut up.”

This brought on an absolute dead silence ----------------------------- and it seemed to stay that way forever until a nurse broke the ice by saying, in a timid voice: “Oooh, that’s just as if my mother said that.”   That did it. We all broke up laughing, the staff doctors stormed off and we went back to business as usual.

Getting antsy staying home ? Try this ...

A good friend just sent me a NY Times article that really drew my attention. This was one of the pictures that accompanied the story and you can see why my interest was piqued.

It's a hand made coronavirus pinata just begging to be smashed. Evidently they are being made all over the country in different degrees of artistic talent but that doesn't really matter. These pinatas are not made to be held and cherished … they are made to help rid the pent up frustration and anger that so many are feeling due to being home bound by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Just imagine the fun that the kids would have … especially if they smashed the pinata that had a bunch of candy inside. Or how about the adult that is so frustrated and angry because the virus is one thing he can't control. A baseball bat and a smack or two would sure help.

It's been years since I've practiced the art of paper mache but it sure is tempting. How about it? Let's all put our imaginations to work and see what we come up with. Just working on them would release some of our pent up frustration … even if they never come to fruitiion.

They called it a "sewing frolic"

This is the best “feel good” story that I've heard in a long time. It's in direct opposition to the frenetic way that the Covid-19 pandemic is being handled by the administration and our elected officials in Washington.  It is not putting $$$ ahead of lives and dividing our nation at a time when unity is what is needed most

When the gentle Amish people of Ohio attack a problem they do it as a community. They call it a "frolic" and this is exactly how it worked when the Cleveland Clinic recently put out a desperate call for face masks for its 55,000 employees and visitors.

The Amish live in a private community. They have no phones or computers. They travel by horse & buggy and they make their own clothes. They are a very private people. However, they remembered when the Clinic had been there for them and they made an exception and a life-saving decision. They

put 60 Amish seamstresses to work and, within a few days, they far exceeded the amount that had been requested.

Now those 60 women have expanded to more than 500 and they continue to produce masks and gowns at a furious pace. They didn't argue about it. They didn't talk about the inconvenience and they certainly didn't say “no”. They simply accepted the challenge and had a “sewing frolic”.

 

Big brother is watching … and I love it.

Here is a picture of my deck. It takes me directly into the kitchen. During this pandemic it is the area where I tell my delivery people to leave things on the table and it's also where a few friends come to visit. We always meet on the deck and do the prescribed protocol...face masks and at lease 6 feet distance between us.

3 days ago my friend Amy stopped by and we did just as I described. She'd brought me an adorable cup with a friendly little bear painted on it and inscribed with the words “love you beary much”. It's my go-to coffee cup now and I think of her every time I use it.

So, back to her visit. Luckily we were adhering to all the rules when I spied a car that had stopped across the street and I realized it was one of the town policemen observing us. We realized he wasn't going anywhere so Amy decided to leave. As soon as she left the driveway the policeman drove off too … but not until he'd given me a friendly nod and I'd waved to him.

To show you how small my town is … I am just one of 783 people living here according to our last census. Living in a small town has advantages and not the least of them is knowing that the 4 policemen on the force are keeping an eye on their citizens.