Seasons change. I am ready to embrace autumn. I live in the southwestern United States. I am ready for lessened intensity. I want to experience the gentle warmth of the season and the lengthened slant of light that provides respite from intensity. Leaves even turn to the traditional colors northerners expect if you visit higher […]
Bundles of Fasces
America First Who previously used this phraseology? The KKK Yep. They use it. But they were no where close to the first to do so. The America First Committee In the late 1930s America First sentiments rose with the isolationist belief that since the US was not likely to directly attacked by Germany, we should […]
An Innocent’s View of the Gutter
I was an isolated child in a rural area. I went to a small town high school. It was worse than Peyton Place. Because of personal experience, I do not have any doubt that horrendous events, covered by the media and ignored by those in power in government, actually took place. I was very sheltered […]
Slippery Slopes and Quicksand
I have blocked people on social media who I once truly enjoyed knowing and with whom I looked forward to conversing. I haven’t done it often, but the case that stands out most prominently in my mind taught me a long overdue lesson about drawing clear boundaries. If someone attacks me or attempts to belittle […]
Bella Ciao
I was a teenager, maybe 16, when I first heard Tom Waits. His gravel studded notes always made me think “old man,” but he only now really fits that title. Closer to my age than I knew. Now I’m old too. Over 60. WTF! Tom Waits contributed to Marc Ribot’s compendium of resistance songs from […]
Curate Change
I try to be non-political on this site, but it is very difficult for me to exclude things from my writing if a topic jars me so that I really take note. I have been wrestling with this for quite some time. Recent events have made me change my belief about what is appropriate to […]