Reasons to Celebrate

Today's shame was an American president accepting another leader's Nobel Peace prize, beaming with pride as if it actually did honor his work.🤡 (In case you didn't know, it doesn't.) He is like a child with a sparkly bauble. 

This story made me laugh.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/karoline-leavitt-fumed-protesters-flipping-102422682.html

 My kids loved this book and -ahem!- I do a very good Grover imitation. Just a thing you may not know about Debby.

I just thought you needed to know that book to understand this book, The Monster at the End of the End of the File. By Jeff Whitcher

A woman on Facebook reads it. I wish I could share. The reader's FB name is lyndseydotw

Also:

If you have Instagram and do not mind swearing, you can always begin following My Cluck Hut. Just a tip: they are a soap company and their motto is: "if you are not a fascist and you wash your ass, our soap is for you." Their videos are hilarious.

We have had people outside the country believing that things seem worse. In my opinion, they sure are. But the more outrageous this gets, the more it galvanizes people to stand up and speak out.  That's exactly what is happening: more and more people are coming off the sideline. However, it is ugly. It is likely to get uglier.

All that to say, Tim and I believe that when your government starts quoting Nazis, we all better get off our behinds. We have committed to weekly demonstrations. It is encouraging to spend time with like minds. It is encouraging to get more people cheering us on from their cars. We have seen examples of increasingly hostile behavior, but they are the teensiest minority. We stand fast.

If you are feeling hopeless, find something to laugh at. Heaven knows we have the best comics on 'our' side. Share that humor. Be an encourager. Don't give up. 

Things to be celebrated here: I have been having the worst trouble with bread, mostly because I have been trying new recipes. Yesterday, I went back to tried and true 🥳 Excellent results and Tim got cinnamon rolls.

Remember the successful toy giveaway before Christmas? There is a huge push to do it next year. A local storage company stepped up and offered a free storage unit for two months. They have offered to be a drop off site, so that people can drop of the toys for the entire six weeks before the event. We had such a great response but drop off was one day, and the giveaway was the following day. Extending the collection from one day to six weeks is going to be huge. I have a couple of other ideas percolating as well. Huge satisfaction out of that.

Princess dresses for the little princesses. That always makes me happy.

We did not get the lake effect snow we were were warned about. That was good news.  

I can't be with her but my youngest will be turning 36.  I will celebrate her anyway.

What are you celebrating today? 

Fear not.

TJ Sabula's words: "i don't feel as though fate looks upon you often and when it does, you better be ready to seize the opportunity. Today, I think I did that."

Suspended Michigan autoworker who heckled Trump gets outpouring of donations | Michigan | The Guardian https://share.google/xtEHvoI9ltkLwohXO

$335,000 raised so far. 

The right calls out his uncivil behavior while defending an administration with a longstanding history of uncivil behavior. 

Just a thing i noticed.

Security breech leaks names, addresses, emails, background info on 4500 ICE agents. Big uproar. 

Of course, when there was not nearly the outrage over right-wing patriots as they 'swatted' democrats, leaking their information, protesting in front of their homes.

Just a thing I noticed.

Kids are outing their ICE daddies on Tik-Tok. That gives me hope for the future.

The US Department of Labor debuted a new slogan. One nation. One people. One heritage.  It has sparked some backlash.

Labor Dept. Debuts Similar Slogan To Famous Nazi Phrase - Comic Sands https://www.comicsands.com/labor-department-nazi-slogan

Kristi Noem displayed her own slogan. 'One of ours. All of yours.'

Kristi Noem 'One of ours, all of yours' controversy explained: Podium photo with Nazi quote goes viral https://share.google/p5ENfKVpcJC69JCTa

That is a threat. We are meant to be afraid. 

Don't be.

The Meeting of the Minds

This morning, we kind of waited around for the trapper, but we couldn't wait all day. We had a new chimney built for the house by the Amish, and Tim is anxious to get that up in the 'Golden Hours', defined in this instance as the warmest part of the day: afternoon but before it started to get dark

After waiting until nearly 10, we had to go. We needed to get to the gym. 

When we came home, I was delighted to see the  truck parked in front of the old house. "Drop me off," I said. "I will grab the mail while I am down here."

I made good use of my time while I waited. When I walked to the mailbox, I saw a bit of plastic flapping in the wind. I did a little digging and discovered a package that had been delivered who knows when. The snowplow going by on the road had effectively buried it.

So I dug our package out and rifled through the mail, and my patience was rewarded. After 15 minutes or so, he came walking around the corner of the old house.

The first thing I noticed is that he wasn't a kid. I would guess he was in his 60s. He greeted me cheerfully. I said, "I wanted to talk to you about your exchange with my husband yesterday." 

I could tell that he knew exactly what I was talking about but he said, "I didn't mean anything by it."

I said, "Maybe you didn't but let me be really clear. You are here because you were given permission to be here." I pointed to the two white trucks back at the gas well. "You are not the only one. The well tenders will be here. We have a seed collector who will be back there from time to time. We have grandchildren too, and let me tell you , the first time you say anything like that to one of them, you and I will go toe to toe."

He got mad then. "I would never talk like that to a kid!"

"You have no reason to be talking to anybody like that." 

"Well, he scared the shit out of me!"

"For ex-military, you don't seem to be very aware of your surroundings. The man did not sneak up on you. He walked right along the stream bank."

He snapped, "I know he wasn't sneaking up on me..." and glared.

I continued, "and as far as the ex-miltary stuff, that doesn't impress me much. That log cabin three doors down? That's my brother in law. He's ex-military. Two driveways down this way? That's my nephew. Injured in Iraq. Up on the hill there? That's another nephew. He did two tours in Afghanistan. Me, myself? I am ex-military too. So don't be pulling that card here."

He changed tactics then. "Listen, I am just a simple trapper..."

"Who needs to have some respect. If that kind of talk is ever repeated, you will not be permitted back."

He did apologize but he also said, "I thought this was S---------'s property!"

Mr ex-military not only has no awareness of his surroundings. Poor bastard can't read a plat map either.

"No," I said. "His property is behind ours."

He said, "well. I apologize. It won't happen again."

I said "I expect it won't," and headed up the hill with the mail. 

So...that's done.

Differences

 Today, when we got back from the Y, there was a strange truck parked in front of the old house. Tim was not alarmed. Either 'the seed collector' had gotten a new vehicle or it was a trapper we had previously allowed to trap. 

I know that some will consider that controversial. I do not have the stomach for trapping. Neither does Tim. That being said, probably between 1/4 to 1/3 of our property had been underwater when we bought it due to beaver activity.

Some folks believe that we have encroached on their territory. The truth is quite the opposite. There is a very large dam way back in woods at the back of an elderly couple's property. The thing is as tall as I am and as the water levels have risen and covered more and more of the property, the beaver have expanded the length of the dam. At this point it would be dangerous to remove in the normal way. As a person chipped away at the dam, the water would begin to rush through. The sheer volume would make it a hazardous endeavor, with a danger of being swept away and pulled under.

Because the beaver have lived an unbothered life, the colony has grown to the point that they had begun to migrate down stream. They set up housekeeping across the road at my sister and brother-in-law's where new dams were torn out again and again, because they were flooding the pasture. 

No doubt irritated by the constant interference, the beaver pulled up stakes and crossed under the bridge to our side of the road. We tore out their dams. It is not an easy job, and sometimes they rebuilt over night.

So. We permitted trapping. 

Anyway, Tim walked down to the creek to see who it was. I came in to make the coffee that I hadn't had time to make before the trip to the gym. 

Before long, Tim was back. "Yeah, it was the trapper." He hung up his coat. "I followed his tracks right in. He didn't hear me. I scared him." He pulled off his boots and set them in the boot tray. "He told me that was a good way to get myself shot..." 

I turned from the coffee pot. "Was he trying to be funny???!"

Tim said, "No. He was serious. Said he was ex-military..."

I was shocked. "He said that while he was standing on our property???!!!!"

Tim stared at me a little surprised. His mind works differently than mine. In his mind, the man was all bluff and bluster, and he did not take him seriously.

In my mind, when you have been granted a courtesy from a land owner you have a bit of respect. In my mind, I am sick of people pulling this ''I am ex-military" as if this training makes them something to handle carefully or as if they warrant extra respect. In my mind, it doesn't matter one whit if I think he would actually follow through or not. Do not try to bully or intimidate me or mine on my own place.

I said. "I am going down there to have a word. I am ex-military too if he wants to play that card."

Tim said, "He has gone."

I have been stewing over this all afternoon. It is probably good I had time to think. When I am mad, I have a tendency to run 'hot'. I may say things that I think better of later. Maybe that is what happened here. Maybe Tim did actually startle him. Maybe he just blurted something unfortunate. It happens. I understand that as well as anyone. 

Tim and I talked when he got back from some errand running.

"I am still upset about this morning and it is not something I am willing to overlook. What if he had said something like that to a grandson? We need to go to the gym early and get back early, because I am going to be waiting for that young man to check his line. I will give him a chance to explain himself, but if there is any bluff and bluster from him, I am telling him to pull his traps and get off this property." 

Tim looked at me mildly. "That's fine," he said.

Weekend's End

It is snowing outside. That is not a surprise, because the weather predicted it. However the weather also predicted that it was going to stop by 9 am. It was not supposed to be a 'snow event'. However, it did not stop snowing. It hasn't stopped snowing yet.

Tim was going to drop me off at the gym on his way to church. We had gone only a couple miles before we decided that this was not the best idea we ever had. There was sliding involved. 

So we came back home.

Our company decided to "keep his feet at home" as the Amish would say. He had let his woodstove go out and needed to be home to baby it back to life. 

So it was a quiet day in. The snow has not stopped, the wind has picked up. I fed the crows this morning. 3 stale snickerdoodles left from Christmas a scoop of corn, and the pan of dried catfood that had been rained on and frozen into a solid mess. 

The crows watched, and before long, they were swooping in from all directions. A large hawk came in and for awhile the crows carried on loudly from the trees. When he did not leave, they surprisingly flew back down and resumed eating along side him.

The interesting thing is that hawks do not eat corn. I am not sure that snickerdoodles are any more enticing. I suppose he could have been there for the lump of frozen catfood. I don't know. After they left, the bald eagle came to sit in a tree for for quite a while. I think he was probably waiting for a squirrel or rodent to try to nab a piece of corn.

 I read The Charmed Wife, which was a divorce retold as a fairy tale. An interesting approach, but 2/3 of the way in, I had to have a break. 

The protest yesterday was a good one, 50 people. What I notice is that the support is good. What I also notice is that the people are getting bolder. Two people in particular stand out, a truck driving aggressively as close as he could get to the curb we were standing on. Another young man standing with his upper body through a car's moonroof, throwing handfuls of wrapped candy like missiles and yelling. 

My hands and feet were freezing by the end of it all, but in the warmth of the car, we both agreed that it was good to be with like minded souls, and that the bad behavior we saw underscored the importance of standing fast. We will be there next week.

I stayed cold for the rest of the day though. I just could not get warm.

Does anyone live close to a Meijer? My youngest daughter saw this picture and remembered how she loved the mechanical horse at the store entrance. If anyone can find me one of those little toys at their Meijer, I would reimburse you for the price and postage.

Trump is not a mom, but he is a mother

In today's episode of 'As the Stomach Turns' (not original, thank Carol Burnett) we have this irony.

 trump threatens to hit Iran hard if protesters are attacked

*editorial note the 15 week training that was reduced to eight weeks has now been reduced to six weeks.

Yesterday, Christmas was moved to the attic, packed away for another year. My ornaments get packed away into an old steamer trunk, so the first order of business was getting that trunk into the attic. I was doubtful that this was possible. Tim was certain it could happen.

 I went for a tape measure. The trunk was 19 inches, and Tim triumphantly crowed "We have 19 1/2 inches clearance!" Guess he showed me alright.

Maneuvering that trunk up the fold down ladder was a nightmare. After three attempts we finally managed it. It will be up there for the rest of our natural lives, because I am not hauling it back down. I made multiple trips up the ladder carrying the tree and boxes of things to be packed in the trunk.

While I was doing this I was surprised to see a young man walking across the yard. Tim had noticed that traffic was slowing down and walked down the driveway to take a look. He had a flat tire. Tim told him to pull into the driveway. His spare tire was down to the cords and not safe. Tim pondered it and checked his garage. He had a rim and tire that would fit and got the fellow on his way, telling him to return the rim when he was able to get a replacement. It will be interesting to see if that happens. 

But that was yesterday and today is today. It has been  a quiet day. Raining, temps in the 60s.  Most of our snow is gone. Fear not: we have more on the way although I have not heard any reports of it being a snow event. 

I went to my first exercise class today, and then walked the track after it was done.  I really see that I am so very lucky.  I intend to keep it that way. Sun, Tues, Thurs, I do my 5 miles. Mon, Wed, and Fri I do the class and full body workout.

Thelma left a comment with her 'battle song' yesterday. Here is another for your collection. Happy birthday. 

Saturday we protest.

Join Ice

Videos are all over Facebook. An ice agent kicking over things at the Renee Good memorial. An ice agent walking down a line and macing people in the face. Clergy tear gassed. Nothing more than a blatant display of power. 

They want to show who is boss.

MAGA is okay with this.