Frog and Goat

We ended up watching part of the Capitol celebration last night on PBS. It was with mixed feelings. The spectacle of the singing and the fireworks against the backdrop of our national monuments should be a source of pride. I just wasn’t feeling it this year. We put out our American flag yesterday and as I was taking it down, I said to myself, “I hope no one thinks the wrong thing about us”. You can still love your country, but hate what it’s become. At least I hope that’s true as we start sliding into a year-long celebration before we celebrate our semiquincentennial.

The better-half and I are old enough to remember the bicentennial. I remember being at my mother’s mother’s house for some of the celebration. I just looked up when my grandmother died–later that same July. Hmmm.

I’m lucky enough to have two mothers and one of them came to lunch yesterday. She had a total knee replacement three weeks ago and is doing well. I went over to pick her up since she can’t drive yet. She’s getting antsy to stop being so dependent. She totally dug our lunch–pork soulvaki, greek green beans, pasta salad and some ice cream. It was pretty freaking great.

Today we have a friend coming over and so we’re doing a tri-tip steak with a green bell pepper salsa, fresh corn, a salad and either fruit or some more of the ice cream. Publix ice cream is delicious, by the way.

Last Saturday (May 31), we finally held the memorial for my father. It has stormed all week so in spite of his wishes, we held the ceremony in a church instead of outside. Joke is on him.

The day was beautiful and we gathered at our house afterwards for fellowship, food and chocolate cake. My mom had the bakery decorate the cake with the symbol of his naval squadron. He was only in the navy for 4 years, but those years loomed large as he was in decline.

Even though he’s been cremated since mid-December, it is interesting to see how people mourn and what triggers some has no deep effect on others. I know my mother is glad to have this behind her. She’s been dreading it for months. It’s time she felt completely free to move on. She’s been taking steps in that direction, but now she’s completely able to do so.

Somehow I missed all of February. I went to Las Vegas for work and it is always interesting to me how split the reaction is when I tell people I went to Vegas. It is nearly equal in the so cool camp as in the so not cool camp. I’m in the so not cool camp. It’s just not my town. It doesn’t help that I flew in on a Tuesday and out on a Thursday and spent 95% of the time in a hotel prepping for or holding a meeting.

The better-half and I are planning on some time in Texas in the early part of May and I really can’t wait.

We’ve spent a weekend or two trying to wrangle the backyard where the sheep ate all the crap last summer. I think we’ll be working on that task for years to come. I’m really hoping I’ll have some luck with starting a wildflower garden. We shall see.

This is really just for me in a year or so when I ask myself, when did the city not have any water?

The answer is January 2025…the crazy taxes we agree to pay doesn’t help stupid, lazy, and ancient equipment.

Can you tell I generated this with AI?

If you’ve read this blog for a long time (exactly zero of you), you’ll know I’ve struggled with how my father ignored me for about 19 years. He got dementia and so one day he completely forgot that he was mad about whatever made him mad all those years ago and was happy to see me. All through the pandemic he and my mother, along with the better-half were what you’d call a pod. We hung out and saw each other quite a bit. That time didn’t really make up for those long years of silence, but what else are you going to do but humor a dementia-stricken person.

He died on December 4th.

We’ve been helping my mom get things in order including everything from trimming the bushes around the house to killing the silverfish that were ravishing the paper in the house. She’s doing OK and the silverfish are dying.

Not sure what else to say about this.

I found this quote which is kind of apropos, although not exactly about this subject:

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke

Not the best week. I hope in 4.5 years there’s still a democratic United States that’s very diverse.