SoCS –

Linda brings us a new SoCS prompt every Friday to be posted on Saturday. It’s still Sunday here, so I am only a day late.

“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “product/produce.” Use one, use them both, use them any way you’d like. Bonus points if you use both. Have fun!”

I have been unable to produce much of anything lately. My mind has been preoccupied with the terrible news being handed down by the f^^^ing Republican judges on the Supreme Court. I have read more than my fill about the disgusting decisions they have made to ruin our country. They have no clue as to what the real world is like.

The judges have decided that anyone should be able to carry a concealed weapon. With the horrors of shootings going on, I don’t understand why anyone in their right mind could vote this way.

I have two relatives whose babies’ heartbeats stopped very late in their pregnancies. Nothing could be done. Thankfully, because this was before the latest awful ruling, doctors were able to end the pregnancies. The young women did not have to wait months carrying a deceased fetus. They each had to attend therapy for the loss of their first babies. One can only imagine how much worse it would have been if they were forced to carry until term. I fear for the young women who will now be forced to make decisions they should have not to because of some wealthy Republicans who haven’t a clue. I have daughters and a granddaughter who no longer have control over their own bodies. It is disgraceful.

The last thing my mind wants to do, is to be productive. I haven’t blogged like I’d like to; I haven’t read my emails, I have written my daily gratitudes, and I haven’t been avoiding the chocolate that sooths my soul. I decided today would be the day to attack my emails. I have almost 600 waiting to read. As I come across the emails from bloggers, I read the blogs. It gives me a small feeling of success. I doubt I’ll catch up today either.

I’ve been trying to get some things done in the yard. I need to go out at 6 AM after feeding Annie. If I can’t be productive with my brain, at least I can be useful in my garden. I play my music on the outside stereo to keep my brain engaged in joyful tunes. As soon as it gets too hot, I need to come in the house away from the high temperatures. It’s been a hundred for a few days, with no relief in sight.

I yearn for by brain to return to some sense of normalcy. I want to be productive in many ways. Right now, my heart hurts. My souls hurts for the damage done to this once great country.

SoCS – cent/scent/sent

Dan is filling in for Linda Hill who has been without electricity.

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “cent/scent/sent.” Use them in any form you like. Use one, use two or use them all. Bonus points if you use all three, and Cheryl will put your next drink on David’s tab. I know, you used to get bonus points for two, but inflation… Enjoy!

A little rant about something that bugs me to no end. I am adding my 2 cents about hating scents. A neighbor of mine has her garage back door open whenever she does her laundry. The problem is that her house is right below mine and the scent travels up to my house.

I open my windows in the evening after warm days. I use the cool outside air to cool down my house. When she is doing laundry, the overwhelming scent of Downey fabric softener makes breathing difficult for me. It is an irritant for my asthma. This gives me two choices. I can leave my windows closed and remain uncomfortable in the heat, or I can have my windows open and have a coughing fit, or worse from the smell. Neither are very good options.

I can only imagine what she would think if I sent her a letter requesting, she stop using the stinky product. It smells like she uses an entire bottle with each load. I wish my sense of smell was not as good as it is. I wish scents didn’t send me into an asthma attack.

SoCS – June 11 – A Picture That Speaks To Me

Linda is our host for SoCS. Linda says:
“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “a picture from wherever.” When you sit down to write your post, find a picture, whether in a magazine, newspaper, or even product packaging. Write whatever thought or emotion the picture provokes. Enjoy!”

I’m sitting in bed looking around for a picture to use for Linda’s prompt. The only thing near me are actual pictures on my walls. I looked through my stack of TBR materials on my nightstand. None had pictures in them, much to my chagrin.

At the back of my book basket was this magazine.

I admit that I have not read the magazine yet. That’s why it’s in my, to be read basket. I admire RBG to the N^th degree. The second woman on the Supreme Court and the first Jewish woman means a great deal to me. I admired her political positions. She cared not only about women’s rights and gay rights, but for the rights of all marginalized people.  She fought to have the “wealthy white men” she was surrounded by, understand that the vast majority of people did not live in the same world they did.

In my humble opinion, Ruth was amazing at her job. She was intelligent, fair, and concerned more about the world, than those in her immediate bubble. I can’t imagine the difficulty President Obama had when he broached the subject of her retirement with her. Perhaps she felt invincible. Perhaps she couldn’t bear the idea of leaving the job she loved. In my humble opinion, it was a mistake on her part to not retire during President Obama’s time in the oval office.

She made it clear that she had no use for tRump. Had she known the full horrors of what tRump would do as president, perhaps she might have made a different choice. I believe, that like the rest of us “rational” people, she had no clue how bad he would damage our nation.

There are books written about RBG for young kids, older kids, and adults as well. I’ve gifted books about her to loved ones. She was an amazing Shero to me.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7689964/

 

 

SoCS – Not A Light Hearted Post

Written for Linda’s SoCS- Trail/ trial.

I need to keep some normalcy in my life right now. With personal, family, and world traumas, blogging has not been easy. I shall do what is best for me right now. I immediately thought of who should be on trial right now. This is not a lighthearted post, by any means.

.It’s no secret, for my own mental well-being, I avoid the news as much as possible. The rest of the world typically knows what’s going on long before I do. As I go about my day, I usually have on the TV for background noise. I have old reruns on, so there isn’t usually any news breaking into the program.

Four days ago, I was listening to some sit-com as I worked on cleaning out my scrapbooking room. At some point, I came into the house and turned on the regular TV while I searched for something to eat. Blasted across the screen was the horrific news about the murders of innocent children and their teachers. I turned off the TV. My entire body was affected by the awful slaying of these victims.

I read information about what was going on, but I chose not to watch any of it on TV. I am by no means sticking my head in the sand ignoring the tragedy. I choose to limit viewing the images that cause such pain. Today, a bio of each of the slain victims came across my feed. At first, I thought I could not read the details. I realized however, that I needed to know these sweet people. They deserve to be remembered. I needed to read about each child and their specific endearing qualities. I needed to learn more about the teachers who also lost their lives needlessly. I needed to know about the husband planning his wife’s funeral who suddenly died of a heart attack.

When I was debating about retiring three years ago, I made a list of pros and cons. The number one reason to stay, was that I loved teaching my students. The number one reason to retire was that I hated that there was a real need to teach the students how to react in “active shooter drills.” When we had a staff meeting led by the police department, it was all too real. I never thought I would feel unsafe on my campus.

In my opinion, our country is a mess. The trail of blood is a stain on the hands of the politicians who refuse to do the right thing. Each member of government who has neglected to vote for strict gun laws, should be tried as an accessory to murder.

SoCS – May 14 – The Hats I Wear

Linda is our host for SoCS. I, like a multitude of others, enjoy writing “off the cuff.” Take a look at what others have posted after you join in the fun.

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “hat.” Use it literally or metaphorically. Have fun!

It’s past midnight and I am not tired. That’s because I took a late nap this afternoon.

My daughter and the three Z^s came for a visit today. Being the ever cautious one, we began our visit outside. My daughter has two more weeks off school post her medical procedure. We had a conversation about how when you are away from work, people often forget about you. It’s like your hat disappears when you are no longer in sight.

I was thinking about all the hats I used to wear. I wore the hat of a teacher for many, many years. I loved that hat. I miss that hat. But in some ways, I will always be a teacher. I think the hat is permanently glued to my head.

Post retirement, I still wear many hats. My hats are ones that bring me joy. I am a seamstress, an artistic scrapbooker, a gardener, a reader, a fur baby mamma, a pro at decluttering, an amateur cook, and an invested caregiver to myself.

My favorite hats though, are those of Mom, Grandma, and friend. These are the hats that give me the most joy. I hadn’t seen all my Z^s together in a long time. The long hugs we shared were the best things I’ve had in a very long time. My eldest grandson is now 6’5”. He hasn’t been to my house in quite a while. (Since the beginning of Covid) He walked around and told me my house shrank while he was away. He giggled stating that he was sure my furniture was taller before. It was fun to see him so grown up and yet such a kid.

Z² is taking driving lessons now. I am glad I don’t have to wear the hat of driving instructor. She is very excited to say the least. She didn’t know if she should tell the instructor that she had driven (illegally) with her dad before. At the end of her lesson, he told her she was a level 2 and not a level 1. We all assume that is a good thing.

 Z³ was thrilled to be playing board games at my house. He is very skilled. I am pleased that I wore the hat of game instructor for all my grands. Z³ won the first game. His older brother was not too happy about it. I won the second game of Sequence, but it was a close game. When we retired into the house, Z³ wanted to know if he could get the Hot Wheels cars out of the garage. I told him where they were and he promptly began playing with them, just like a little kid.  My daughter commented how nice it was to see him playing like a kid and not on a device.

The long visit made me very aware that my Nana hat needs to be worn more in person. It’s hard with the long distance between our houses and the medical difficulty of the drive. The kids are growing up so fast. Phones are fine, but in person is so much better. I sent them off with a care package. I also hugged them all and told them how much I love them. I already miss them all.