Back at the Barn

I went to Greece.  That solves the mystery ending of Michael:  Where did I go on vacation?  I had a fulfilling trip to Athens and the Aegean, and came home with lots of photos I'm currently editing to accompany some entertaining stories, one hopes.  My body is also recovering from the trip, since I'm not bouncing back as well as the last time I travelled to Europe 30 years ago.  Shouldn't surprise me but still, it has.

I'd like to write jolly anecdotes, beginning with my first TSA checkpoint in Portland; when I held up traffic unpacking liquids and removing shoes.

"Go ahead - I'm still getting my act together."

A young airport employee chuckeled behind me.  "Did you say you're getting your act together?  Tee hee hee."

I guess that expression's gone the way of manners and the Do-Do Bird, but I was happy to make her smile.

"Do you have any tablets?"

The TSA officer was a little intimidating.  I'd done considerable research while packing since last July, and was careful to keep my teeny bottles of various liquids in an appropriately-sized clear plastic bag.  I also brought along the prescription for my muscle relaxers, but rather than packing entire bottles, I opted to pack my Excedrin Migraine and Ibuprofen in little plastic baggies, identified on pieces of blue Painter's tape, should anyone question.  I got scared.

"You mean medi-ca-tions?"

He was dumbstruck.  "No, Ma'am, elec-tron-ics..."

Yes, I did...why didn't he say so?  Words can have more than one meaning.  I was stopped or held up at EVERY checkpoint in whichever country.

"Do you have something sharp in there?"

"Tweezers, maybe...feel free to look."

She eventually tired of examining whatever it was from this backwards traveler who couldn't possibly come up with a decent smuggling strategy if my life depended on it. (Turned out a broach from my hatband fell off and landed, opened, in the bottom of the bag, and the pointy part was almost 3 inches long.)

"Can I pat down your right leg?"

"Sure, you can pat down the left one, too."  Can't remember my last 'date'.

"Can I see the bottom of your socks?"

"What's in your pocket,"  Bilbo?

"Step over here, please," quickly followed by a chorus of, "NO, not here..."

Even my vintage Clinique travel-brush, a tiny plastic thing which folds in on itself, had them scratching their heads.  I kept telling them to take a look, which usually prompted my, "Pass."

Or I can tell you about my Origami class on the cruise ship, where everyone's frog hopped forward except mine, which made an entire flip.

"Yours is drunk."  I shoulda been.  The next class had other shapes but the same damned frog, with the same result:  "It must be the way you press," (...it's backside to cause the forward motion).  I did my best and brought the blue one home.

But the instructor did admire the way I split my tulip's accordian stem and folded up the ends like leaves, I'll bet he uses that in the future.  I've wondered before about the possibility of being a craft-director on a cruise ship (like a friend from Puerto Rico), but then I'd have to deal with 'students' like me.

Michael

By the time this is read I'll be on my way to the airport.  I haven't been on a BIG trip in 30 years, when I visited Tino's family in Holland and stopped in Germany to visit dear friends.

How times have changed:  I'm no longer in touch with my in-laws; Mary passed away not long after Tino; and Inga has advanced Alzheimers.  Then there was the boat-thing;  battling poverty; and finally the death of BC.  I've written about all this (for therapy), so have included links if you're a recent reader.

My progress has been bittersweet since 2022, but at least I've been feeling much better since last December, when heatache following BC's loss finally receded.  I thought it would never end.

Hoping to rediscover some of the confidence and vitality I felt in my 30's (before my life seemingly fell apart), I began to re-evaluate my focus and decide what truly interests me nowadays; and then tick off any unrelated 'to do' tasks I've placed on myself. 

Remaining a gourd artist because that's what I've done for 20-some years seems a lame reason to continue to chase my former level of accomplishment.  I can't paint like I used to.  It hurts my hands to hold the gourds and the paintbrushes, plus I've lost interest.  Nobody says I have to do something with my stock of bare gourds except me.  

Today I prefer photography.  I've got a terrific mirrorless camera, and I only live a block-and-a-half from a gorgeous shoreline.  Even my writing interests have changed...from focusing on the calamitous cruise on Ruff Life to...something else.

Horror Paintings

Towards the end of boat-life in Puerto Rico, I began painting gourds 4" and smaller (I enjoy detail work).  Here're my St Patrick's couple aren't they sweet?  For decades I've attempted to create 'realistic' faces -- repainting eyes and noses 4 or 5 times is not uncommon and always frustrating.  Why do I do this to myself?

I'm sure there are some initials associated with whatever's going on inside my head, but all I know is that I am persistent.  I'll work on something over and over, and over again, until I cry enough already!  I'm still not entirely pleased with the end result, but happier than my first attempt.  I'm sure that's true for many, if not all, artists.

Here are some examples:

No idea what I was thinking when I began designing this figure.  I was flat broke, hoping for a miracle to whisk me from my desperate circumstances; when I fell on The Buddha, a two-part documentary narrated by Richard Gere; shown on PBS but you can find it on YouTube.

(A self-taught artist, my proportions are always wrong; and because of my lazy-eye, everything I see is 2 degrees 'off' so I'm never centered.  That's true with my photography, too.  It all looks straight to me, but if everything seems a bit cockeyed, that's why.)

By the time I finished she looked like this (yes, it's supposed to be a 'she' - the young girl who offered Siddharta a bowl of rice when he was starving.

Let's Hope for Civility

Nikki Haley was gracious as she bowed out of the Presidential race this morning; particularly considering how her rival rudely announced her donors were not welcome in the MAGA movement, you know who I'm talking about.  I haven't yet heard, but I'm sure (he) will be nasty towards Nikki, while sucking up to her supporters for some cold, hard cash for legal bills.

I've never been a fan of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema; she was annoying in her opposition to something or other; but I'm sorry to hear she's leaving Congress.  Just another decent politician sick of what Capitol Hill has become.  The same goes for Mitt Romney and Mitch McConnell, plus those who lost their reelection bids.  We may not miss their views, but we'll certainly miss their civility.

Name-calling is so low, it's truly embarassing to hear it from someone bucking for the highest position in the nation.  What would you tell your child or grandchild if they came home crying after being a target of such rude behavior?  Gesu bambino!

As for the Incumbent:  beware shouts of, "He's Too Old!"  I don't know about you, but I'd prefer a 'seasoned' surgeon tackling my ticker over an over-eager Intern any day.  Old People have been belittled in American society for generations, compared to other cultures, you know it's true.  Boomers are being discounted more and more, so it's only a matter of time before our rights are reversed or significantly cut.  Handicap Parking will be the first to go, they want those spaces.

When, exactly, IS too old?  I've seen 90-year-olds sharper and in better physical condition than 50-year olds, so who has the right to arbitrarily assign Infirmity an age?

Tomorrow will be President Biden's final State of the Union speech before November's election.  I hate to think of the boo's and cat-calls from younger members on the right or left, you know who I mean.  Emboldened by Super Tuesday's results, will they deride their 'elders' who, maintaining respect at least for the Institution, try to shush them?

It's going to be a long 8 months.  If we all practice Civility despite our differences, perhaps our leaders will be shamed into following suit.  Everybody's heard, "Take the High Road", and promises to bring the country together.  Now's the time to practice what we preach.

It's Heading Your Way

We generally have some precipitation here on the Oregon Coast, with temps averaging nowadays in the 40s and 50s.  As the expression goes,

"Oregonians Don't Tan --- We Rust"

Following rain-and-wind storms for the past 4 days, I expected things to lighten up, but no.  Here's a shot from this morning.  Luckily, I only have to walk as far as the building to get to work.

Stay safe, everyone!

Pissed about Michigan Politics

I'm trying to be more compassionate of the killings in the Gaza Strip, but then something happens over here to derail that.  Friends and strangers alike may be shocked or disappointed in my views, but as long as I'm not spewing hate-speech, I am still entitled to express an unpopular POV.

I'm angry with the Muslim population in Michigan who successfully advocated voting 'uncommitted' in yesterday's Democratic primary.  They're upset we're supporting Israel and haven't stopped the war.  From what I've gathered, Presdient Biden is walking a fine line, hoping not to push Netanyahu over the edge by threatening too hard for a permanent cease-fire; while supporting  Israel AND  Palestine with two-state proposals and financial aid.  I don't know why people think any President is God, able to wave his hand and make everything better.

They're threatening to either not vote for President Biden, or vote for the other guy who's promising another Muslim ban, go figure.  Either way it's at the expense of the rest of the Democrats in the other 49 states.  Indeed, because over 100,000 cast Uncommitted, organizers elsewhere are encouraged.  If they throw the election, they'd better not complain when they're targeted, that's all I can say. I know, that wasn't very nice; but can you say, without a shadow of a doubt, that'll never happen?

I'll admit, I'm more intimidated by Palestinian demonstrators wrapped in their scarves, faces hidden, than pro-Israeli supporters. What are they about to do that they feel the need to cover up like terrorists?  Maybe it's the way news videos are edited. 

But my bias began earlier.  You saw the same campus From the River to the Sea bullshit as I did.  That doesn't sound like people trying to get along to me.  Closer to home, I watched Palestinian  demonstrators block traffic on the Portland airport exit around Christmastime.  They didn't care who was inconvenienced; they wanted to make their point and to hell with the rest of us.  Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindis, Buddhists and others, simply trying to catch a flight to enjoy loved ones.  Seems to me if the demonstrators wanted to make a point they could have gone to the Capital in Salem, or the Portland Major's office.  It happened elsewhere as well, but what did they accomplish except to piss-off people who hadn't been particularly pissed before?

We don't have a huge Palestinian population in Portland...about 4%, so I questioned the underlying motives of many of the demonstrators, who I suspect were actually 'outsiders' intent on causing trouble.  I could be wrong.

I also question why so many Palestinians are in Michigan anyway, the climate's certainly not the draw. Were they recently fleeing poverty and persecution in Gaza and the West Bank, just as those attempting to cross the southern border?  Or have their families been here a long time, like my own immigrant grandparents?  Kinda biting-the-hand, dontcha think?

What if we ALL protested and demanded that injustices against our forefathers be redressed?  Going back how far?  The way we're all mixed up, and I mean that in the nicest way, no one would be exempt.

Now lest you think I'm a total racist, I do happen to feel that Netanyahu could have done things a bit differently to prevent such high casualties.  But since I didn't experience 9/11 like most of you here in the States (I lived on a boat in Puerto Rico), I can't really empathsize with the range of emotions which that disaster provoked.  I suspect it's what the Israelis feel now; except they're also waiting for the return of hostages, while we only had to dig out the dead.

Then we went to war in Iraq, our country's anger lashing out. Looking for non-existent weapons of mass destruction, tearing up the country, isn't that what happened?  Did other countries try to tell us not to go down that road, but we were determined to exact revenge?  Was that right or wrong?

I would like to pose a hypothetical for you:  If some other minority population...let's say Somalians...or Uyghurs...or Swedes...suddenly threatened to throw the election if they didn't get what they wanted, what would you say?  It's the threatening I object to more than the reason behind it.

I am neither Jewish nor Muslim...just a sideliner; but my sentiments are likely shared by others (not necessarily for the same reasons).  So my purpose for this post is to share my reasoning a bit, to help people on the other side of the fence understand why people like me feel the way (we) do.  Rightly or wrongly.