Thank you all my Brothers and Sisters who wore the Uniform when called upon to do so. You and your families are appreciated.
Click below to listen.
Weather in the Tries:
A tad warmer most nights, in the low-mid 40s with the highs in the mid to upper 50s. I don’t mind the really cold temps so much, but they are hard on the Desert Dog. I worry about his little bare feets on the cold concrete. He truly does not like booties or sweaters.
“If You Can Survive Basic, You Can Survive Anything!”
On the 13th of September 1965, I raised my hand for the first of what would become four swearings-in. The first two were for the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), the second two for the Washington Air National Guard (WANG). To be honest, I don’t remember the first one very much. But I do remember what my Recruiter, SFC Annie B. Hawkins told us gals who were enlisting—If we could survive Basic, we could survive anything. I’ve held onto that saying more times than I can count.
I survived childbirths, a miscarriage, disappointments large and small, but right now, I feel like I’ve been picked up and dropped into an alternate universe where the language is the same, the buildings, the maps, the times, are all what I’m used to, but the government is about to change into something more horrifying than I’ve ever seen outside of a history book. Or in a book by HP Lovecraft or Harlan Ellison and I have no idea how to navigate the almost-upon-us nightmare of the waking day.
I have family, both by blood and choice, who are immigrants, who are Muslim, who are gay or lesbians, who are trans, who do not worship the god of the victor. The new regime, of king OP, actually, hates all of them, sight unseen. He has promised to take children from their parents, especial parents of the same sex.
I am utterly amazed at the number of people who think in four years we’ll vote him out. OMG! Were they not listening? IF there is an election in four years, it will be as free as they are in Russia and Turkey and North Korea. Stop thinking in the old terms of four-year election cycles. That time has passed. As the famous opossum once said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” I looked it up to be sure. I remember it slightly differently, but this is the quote online. I remember it as being slightly ungrammatical, but hey, what good is history if not to revise/whitewash it? And in four years if we do have an election I imagine our choice will consist of either Vance or Junior.
The situation kind of reminds me of a short story I wrote in high school. I think I was a Senior, maybe a Junior. And my mom actually allowed me to use her typewriter. Anyhow, if I find the gumption, I may record it and put it Spoken Word. It’s short enough to be considered flash fiction by some. (less than 1500 words)
On the Beach by Nevile Shute had come out, and I was pretty impressed. Probably because the scenes in the movie where the submarine came up in San Francisco, in the book they came up in Puget Sound, and Shute described the Sound and the shore as it was. Really. He had a Pepsodent billboard someplace and I’d seen it where he had it. In fact, most if not all of the places he mentioned in Puget Sound, I’d been too, or seen. Kinda creepy. And for sure scary.
Anyhow, I wrote the short story, “Whither Thou Goest,” taped two aspirin to the cover (I filed off identifying marks so they looked like the cyanide pills in the movie), and let one of my teachers read it. I just found it squirreled away in my computer, and hey, for a kid, it’s not half bad. Boy Howdy! I hope it remains fiction!!! But I make you no promises.
So, I’ve survived all sorts of rejection letters, some from very prestigious presses, the collapse of marriages and affairs, nine years, five months, and twenty-three days in uniform—full and part time, the birth of two kids who I love dearly, and by gawd! I survived Basic Training! To quote one of the 3.5 Justices on the Supreme Court, “I resist!”
Photo of the Week:
Remember a few weeks ago when I was on my trip? Well, the Northern Lights were displaying in Massachusetts, and Virginia, and other states where they are seldom seen. Ibrahim, the son of my Good Friend Dixie stepped outside his abode in Gilford, New Hampsire at 7.30 pm and got this shot of them, and gave me permission to show them. Many thanks, Ibrahim. I’ve seen them a couple of times, and they were a pale green. These were pale red, showed much darker in the camera eye than they were to his eye. If you look, you can see stars.
from the desk of the brave dog:
Sammy says he doesn’t much feel like writing anything. he too is hurting this week.
Some videos you might like:
Los Kjarkas a Bolivian group of musicians: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhcUUIaMb6s
Some super crispy chicharrones and how to make them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUSs0emMQ9s
A short video by Professor Tribe. I admit I slept a bit better the night I saw this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z06TJAMY-bo
And this one will bring a smile or two. Professor Kotaro gets a sushi train for his birthday! Frankly, I’m surprised Hana let him have any of it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlBdK155pW8
Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ “We are all related” ~ Lakota Saying
“Re-examine all you have been told. Dismiss what insults your soul.” ~Walt Whitman