I don’t remember if I had a security blanket when I was little but I could sure use one now…
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “blanket.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/11/15/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-16-2024/ (Admittedly, this is a very brief excursion in stream of consciousness, but I am really struggling with brain fog and fatigue lately and I figured a short post was better than no post.)
I had thought I’d write another post in my Vote for Democracy ’24 series on Wednesday.
Or Thursday.
Or today, but I’m not ready yet.
I’m usually decent at writing in close proximity to events, but not now. As it happens, we’ve had some major developments on the family health scene and most of my limited brainpower has been going there.
I’m grateful for the many people who have been writing compassionate, reflective, supportive pieces about the election results and the path forward. I appreciate the show of love and community.
I’ll join in when I’m able.
Peace,
JC
B took this in our backyard last month, just as the fog was lifting. I wanted to share some rays of sunshine with all of you.
The recipe for Election Cake (from Dylan Hollis’s Baking Yesteryear) that my daughter made in honor of the US Election Day yesterday is so old that it is uses yeast rather than baking powder or soda.
This delicious post is brought to you as part of Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/11/06/one-liner-wednesday-road-trip/
Our family has lots of mugs.
Lots.
There are Big Hug mugs that came years ago filled with FTD flowers. A pair of floral mugs that B and I received as a wedding gift 42 years ago. Mugs from my various Smith College reunions. A line of mugs related to B’s jobs. A mug with children from around the world that was given to me by the middle school principal years ago as a thank-you for being on the building planning team. Some hand-crafted ones which double as works of art. A Doctor Who mug that changes its design depending on the temperature of the liquid inside. Some mugs designed for soup instead of beverages. Sandra Boynton mugs spanning several decades.
Our most recent acquisition is a Sunday Today mug that T and I gave to B for Father’s Day. Its claim to fame is that it is very big, although, of course, it isn’t obligatory to fill it all the way. However, if you do, you need to use two tea bags.
I don’t use mugs very often myself. I don’t drink coffee or tea. I used to love cocoa but it riles up one of my medical conditions. I sometimes will drink white hot chocolate in the cooler weather or make hot milk with spices but it isn’t that frequent.
I do, though, like having reminders of our past in the cupboard, even when they make me nostalgic, like the mug from our children’s elementary school or from the elementary school where my father-in-law was principal for decades. He passed away in 2005, a few years after he retired.
Some day, we will have to downsize and cull some of our mugs.
It will be hard.
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “mug.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/10/25/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-oct-26-2024/
Be a multi-issue voter!
Yesterday, spouse B, daughter T, and I were able to meet up with NETWORK’s Nuns on the Bus & Friends in Ithaca, New York, about an hour from our home. Ithaca is also home to Cornell University, T’s undergrad alma mater.
The Nuns on the Bus 2024 tour began September 30 in Philadelphia and is slated to end in San Francisco on October 18, with events in eleven states along the way. The focus of the tour is Vote Our Future, an opportunity for us to use our votes to build thriving communities and an inclusive democracy. The events are non-partisan, focused on issues rather than specific candidates.
In Ithaca, the Nuns on the Bus & Friends made a visit to Loaves & Fishes of Tompkins County, a volunteer-powered program which has provided “free meals, hospitality, companionship, and advocacy for those in need, regardless of their faith, beliefs, or circumstances” since 1983. At the public press event/rally in Dewitt Park following lunch, we heard from the executive director of Loaves & Fishes and their volunteer coordinator about their work in creating a welcoming, inclusive community for all.
We also heard from several of the Bus riders, two who are Catholic sisters and others who are friends involved in working for justice and an inclusive democracy. From them, we learned that the Congressional district we are in, New York’s 19th, has become the most expensive race in the country. Unfortunately, some of the rhetoric has been anti-immigrant, trying to stoke fear and create grievance. In reality, our area includes generations’ worth of immigrants, including recent arrivals.
The speakers reminded us that our votes are important to express our values across a range of issues. NETWORK Advocates provides resources that can help voters evaluate candidates across a range of issues, including the Equally Sacred checklist which, while grounded in Catholic social justice doctrine, is applicable to all people of good will, whether or not they follow a particular faith or spiritual practice. The checklist is helpful to evaluate candidates for all levels of government, as local and state entities are also responsible for implementing programs impacting health, justice, the environment, violence prevention, and more.
Our votes are important! As a sign of our commitment to be multi-issue voters, we were invited to add our signatures to the bus, joining those from previous stops on the tour, leaving space for those who will sign in upcoming events.
Even if the Bus won’t be visiting a location near you, you can join in the commitment to be a multi-issue voter. If you are a registered voter in the United States, review the candidates’ positions on a range of issues that reflect your values and carry out your plan to vote!
My thanks to those of you who have already cast your ballots through early voting or absentee ballots. Let’s all Vote Our Future on or before Tuesday, November 5, 2024!
Donald Trump has pledged to end birthright citizenship for the children of immigrants by executive order, if he is elected, which would be a clear violation of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution.
This fact is brought to you as my post in Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays series. Find out how to join us here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/09/25/one-liner-wednesday-flowers/
I know I’ve written before about my troubled relationship with my cell phone, including in my JC’s Confessions series.
That was a while back and I can’t say that the relationship has gotten any better. I’m still not a fan of people thinking they can call or text me at any time and that I will respond. And by “people” I mean businesses and individuals who aren’t close family/friends.
Unlike most people, I don’t have my phone with me at all times and I turn it off at night. When I’m out and about, I usually have it silenced so that it doesn’t interrupt whatever I’m doing.
For the most part, I try not to give out my cell number. It annoys me that, in situations where I have to use it as a secondary or emergency contact number, places like doctors’ offices will default to using it, even though I’ve said that it is for emergencies only. I sometimes have to remove the number from my profile to get them to stop calling or texting.
I prefer to have people call my landline and leave a message if no one is availabe to answer. Then, I can return calls when I am available and have time.
I just don’t need the dentist office telling me I have an appointment the next day when I’m in the frozen food aisle at the grocery store.
In truth, I don’t use the phone as much as I used to. For decades, I spoke to my mom nearly every day by phone, usually even on days that I would be seeing her in person later on. She passed away in 2019 and my father in 2021. With B working from home and T living with us and E and her family in Europe, I don’t have any regular family phone calls anymore.
When the phone rings these days, it’s most likely to come up as “potential spam” on the caller ID.
The answering machine can handle that…
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “phone.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/09/13/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-14-2024/
“Tick-tock. Time’s a-wasting.”
I remember that saying from when I was young, although I haven’t heard it for a long time now.
But, yeah, time is rushing by with so much pressure these days.
My inbox is filled with urgent messages about the upcoming election, the climate crisis, closing submission calls for poetry and manuscripts, important meetings and webinars, pleas for donations. (I probably should have said inboxes, as I have several email addresses that I have to maintain.)
And I have very limited energy to respond.
While we continue to rule out reasons for my health issues, we haven’t been able to track down the underlying cause. We are addressing the symptoms that we can but the most upsetting ones, the fatigue and brain fog, aren’t able to be improved at this point. I’m working around them as best I can by listening to my body and trying to be gentle with myself.
But, tick-tock, time is rushing by with all its demands and things that can’t/won’t wait.
And I’m only able to do a sliver of what I wish I could.
I do try to remind myself that I’m only a very, very, very tiny entity in this world and in all these efforts and that others are taking up the slack. It won’t be my fault if the election goes to the Republicans and they crash the country and trash the climate (except that I know I share the guilt of social sin, but I can’t stream-of-consciousness an explanation of Catholic social justice doctrine and our responsibilities to humanity and the world. And you’re welcome that I’m not trying to.)
The more personal side of dealing with my health right now is that I have a ton of work to do with my poetry and it is taking a loooong time to do it, if I can do it at all. There is also the sinking feeling that it isn’t as good as it could/should be. There is also the fear that I won’t be able to recover fully from this and will face yet another instance in my life where I set aside my own work to deal with other pressing concerns and then lost the ability to go back to it. I am content with those past choices I made and would not change them, but this feels different because it is my own health that is the obstacle this time.
The biggest regret, though, is that another family member is dealing with a bigger health issue and I’m not as able to help as I would like to be.
Tick-tock. Time’s a-wasting…
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “tack/tech/tick/tock/tuck.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/09/06/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-7-2024/
Joanne Corey 