Violet is a cattle dog, and apparently cattle dogs don’t kill small creatures. Or at least this one doesn’t. On at least two occasions, she has come running to me and dropped a very live, and very upset, mouse or mole at my feet, then waited for me to take it to safety. The message was unmistakable, then and now. Violet, clearly a pacifist, wanted us to effect a rescue.
Dad was a guy with an incredibly strict sense of right and wrong. He wouldn’t have been able to stomach a Republican president like this one. He’d have defended him at first, but the evidence would have overwhelmed him by now and he’d be voting Democratic if that’s what it took to sweep a con man out the White House. I think the charges against the NRA would have led him to turn his back on them, too.
When I moved back to Ulster County after many years away, one of the first things I did was take KB to meet my cousin Olga. We all went out for pie at the diner in New Paltz. It was a tradition when I was a kid. We used to go, two or three carloads of us, kids and adults, to get dessert. Even though everyone else was gone, it felt good to do that again with Olga, to share those memories over a slice of blueberry pie.
One friend is a dear man who just celebrated his eightieth birthday. He has a home in Woodstock, and he has a home in Manhattan. He still loves the city best. “I can walk to the grocery store, to my doctor, everything I need is right there,” he says. When he’s upstate, he says feels nervous, cut off from people, and, possibly, at risk.
Right now, the sound of rain outside is incredibly welcome. But, like most things, moderation is best. Too much of a good thing is a problem.
I am a blogger from way back. I started writing on blogspot.com when I needed to rant about what I saw as the disintegration of democracy. It was during the Bush era. I needed to vent. It clearly didn’t do much good. Here we are, waving the flag while thousands are dying in a pandemic, and fighting fascism on our own soil by our own government, despite eight years of Obama.
I danced with my granddaughters this weekend, one of them on my hip and the other twirling around the floor. We sang as I made breakfast. They tried to snap their fingers and whistle. We played hide and seek and we had a good talk during an early morning walk.
During the shutdown, I discovered online ballet workouts, and they are actually kind of enjoyable. Some chirpy young women conduct classes that are not only a tough workout but also make you laugh while you’re doing them. “Why are we doing another five sets?” one asks the camera. “Because I cannot remember how many we’ve done so far! Big smile, everyone! And …”
China has launched its first mission to land on the red planet. NASA is launching another mission with a new Mars Rover named Perseverence on board. The little robot will crawl around the dusty landscape, exploring what was once a river delta and a dry lakebed for signs of prior life. And the United Arab Emirates launched a small vehicle from Japan that will stay in the Mars atmosphere for two years, studying it and sending back data.
The vegetable garden, after a slow start, is trying to bury us under zucchini, cucumbers and tomatoes. The cauliflowers and beets are coming along nicely, the peas and peppers are making a comeback after looking pretty bedraggled. And not only do we have potatoes, but we have three ears of corn. Laugh if you like. That’s three more than we got last year.