If you think what happened a year ago couldn’t happen today, think again. There are plenty of people out there who believe their own false version of events and are foolish enough to act on them.
Remember, our loyalty should be to our country before party or person and certainly before the lies told by anyone.
Upholding democracy rather than undermining and attacking it is the only thing that matters. The flag that flies over our Capitol is the only one that matters.
Long may she wave.
It has been a rough week here in America.
A roller coaster has had nothing on our politics for the last few years but never more so than this week. We clearly are witnessing history so I have labored to balance my desire to stay informed with my need for peace of mind.
Today, sanity needs to win. It’s Saturday. Let’s try to have a good weekend.
Turn off the news. Shut down Facebook. Stop listening to the rantings of conspiracy theorists.
We can’t fix the world and if arguing politics with your neighbor for the last five years hasn’t changed them yet, today won’t matter either. You can, however, help yourself. So go do that.
Take a deep breath.
Go outside
DO SOMETHING.
The forecast today is for thirties and maybe some sun. Good enough for me. I’m going to find a place to walk or take a hike in the woods.
Afterward, maybe I’ll clean out a closet or curl up in my new chair with a book and hot chocolate. Maybe I’ll listen to vintage records while making pancakes to freeze for some other morning. Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” is in my LP collection somewhere and reminds me of this image above. It’s from a walk at a local park last month.
I could play with the watercolors I got for Christmas or make some sweet potato chips and have a movie marathon with the cat. The shower needs cleaned and it wouldn’t hurt to clean out the fridge.
I know I won’t be shopping and spending money as this is just day nine of my No Spend Challenge. Luckily, the list of possibilities for a winter Saturday around home is endless!
Take care and enjoy this day. Our problems can wait till tomorrow.
Photo Courtesy Smithsonian Magazine
I have a lot on my mind today. None of it am I prepared to organize and share.
Instead, I encourage you all to be kind to one another, to set aside your differences, to embrace what is right, and to move forward as part of the solution.
Enough is enough. Our country badly needs to heal as one nation.
Words matter. So I leave you with these 31 words.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
And to the Republic for which it stands
One nation, under God
Indivisible with Liberty and justice for all.
A flag waves in the breeze in Downtown Marietta Ohio on a late summer day.
Today is Veterans Day. Many Americans know this as a day off work and an opportunity shop sales but the day has nothing to do with shopping.
In 1918, in the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, an armistice to cease fighting on the Western Front was signed by the Allied powers and Germany.
World War I was over.
President Woodrow Wilson declared this day Armistice Day and it was later adopted as a national holiday known as Veterans Day.
In the years since, we’ve had plenty of young men and women continue to sign a blank check to this country, committed to serve in any way they are needed.
Memorial Day is for honoring the dead. Today is for honoring all veterans. Do your part and thank a veteran today if you get a chance.
We owe them everything.
They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, a statement I believe to be true.
Take, for example, this image from Hillsboro. The chipping paint, the doors and all those windows, the sliver of blue sky, and that vibrant flag held up by the breeze make for a beautiful sight by my estimation.
This place isn’t shiny and pretty by traditional standards but it has a story to tell. Perfection is overrated, friends. It’s the chips and the oddities that make life interesting. I’ll take patina and character any day.
I love this town hall in Adelphi, Ohio. Isn’t it great?
Make the Journey Fun 