“…for light or transient causes…”

The world is rocking out of control. And I do mean the entire world. If we are naive enough the think BLM and Seattle are only in the USA, we are living in a make believe place. We are all fighting. The world is fighting. It is good vs evil and freedom vs the new world order. Yeah, I know I sound nuts. But I am just skimming the surface. This battle is for the soul of the world. The soul that aligns with God. And it is not just about you and me – it is about the legacy we leave future generations.

And the media is complicit. I was watching my grandchildren’s new favorite TV show on Netflix with them. “Symbols will be their downfall” is a phrase used frequently by those of us who are trying to discern the truth on a deeper level. Well, this cartoon series had satanic, evil, and horrible symbology all over it. I turned away. But the problem is that I am not their mother or father. I am just grandma. I redirected to a craft, but they were sucked into the tube. They loved the show. And my heart just sank. Truly, what can I do? I am not their authority figure. I am the cookie and cake baker. I provide bubbles for the the backyard and sidewalk chalk. I give them construction paper, scissors and glue and we create dioramas and posters. I support their love of books and play. We make forts with our blankets and dining room table. They are happy here. I have helped school them a little during the plandemic; I even bought them materials to stimulate their brains when they were bored of zoom meetings that were out of control. (It was actually pathetic what they were calling class time). My lap is a frequent oasis and a place where they receive cuddling and boundless words of love. I love them deeply. But I am so afraid for their future. I do not want another CHOP or CHAZ or whatever the flavor of the month is, to be their reality. I want them able to chase butterflies and have sprinkler wars and get scraped knees trying to jump that pile of dirt with their bike or scooter or skateboard. I want them to be happy and carefree and to be children. But is that my fantasy and not the reality we are leaving them? How am I, how are you, ensuring the next generation gets to live free? That our great-grandchildren will be able to walk a street without fear? Where no one kneels to anyone, except God? Where we love one another, regardless of the melatonin in our skin? What can little, old, cookie baking-grandmas do to affect change? To ensure this American dream is not snuffed out? To ensure freedom is familiar all around this world? To bring peace to the world from my little corner of it?

For one, vote. Do not assume the silent majority will take care of things. This election cycle is the single most important one of my lifetime. All the HOUSE seats are up for re-election. So many Senate seats are, too. Not to mention local and state elections. Take the time out of your schedule to sit through candidate forums, to ask questions, to understand the process. To be involved in the change you want to see happen. The policies that affect us most are controlled by our participation in local issues. If Seattle or New York or Los Angeles during this plandemic and shut down are not a good example of that, you have not been paying attention. President Trump is supporting States’ Rights in every aspect. He is not throwing federal guns at these issues. He is allowing the local governing agencies to care for their own people, the way the Constitution intended it to be. How are those elected officials working out for you??? Our active participation is the single most important thing we can do to protect our way of life, to ensure this Republic continues to be a place of freedom, and not tyranny. Not locally, not regionally, and not federally. The only thing that stands between anarchy and the rule of law is our vote. We need to take a stand, declare that enough is enough, and remove from office all those who have led this country astray. All of them. Term limits. Vote them out. Some in our national legislative bodies have been there more than 60 years! It was never intended to be a profession. It was never intended to be a life long career. “Gentlemen legislators”! Go for your term, come back home and let your neighbor serve. That was the intention!! And it can work like that. Get these professionals who have never known a job, who own homes in DC but not their own states, and who have been there for decades, out of office! Give other citizens a chance. November 3rd is pivotal. And since there are so many ways to stuff the ballot box this cycle, how about (2) you volunteer to help? This will be my second presidential election working at the polls. This time I am the co-chair of a precinct. And I am looking forward to it. We work 3 days – a day to train, a day for the primaries, and then the general election. As a precinct worker, that is all. Three days. You can ensure your precinct is honestly represented. You can assure your voting place is free of fraud. You can ensure every vote is counted. It is a sacred trust to ensure someone’s vote is counted. And if everyone took part, there would be no fraud. None.

We have been participating in this great social experiment for more than 200 years. Now is not the time to hang out in quarantine laziness, reclining and tapping away on our keyboards. Now is the time to stand up for our right to vote, for our Republic to remain a Republic, founded upon the concept that was laid forth in the Declaration of Independence in 1776:

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. — The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.”

Those words are as inspiring today as they were then! We are not fighting against British overlords, we are fighting against evil tyrants who have had their way in this world for far too long. Evil needs to be vanquished. The light needs to shine in our Country once more. The very least we can do to ensure this ideal continues, is to raise awareness to others that this is a serious moment in our history as a country, and as a culture. The very least we can do to honor these amazing words written in 1776 for all men, for all time, is to vote to keep these words germane to our lives. To ensure no new world order comes in to obliterate history and the ideals of this nation. It is no joke. Spray painting on historical sites, or tearing down statues is not anarchy. It is a designed way to remove our history. To take our memories from us. It is to indoctrinate us into an emotional frenzy so that a new totalitarian form of government can come in, unimpeded, to save us from our emotional overload and start over. It is not anything that should be ignored or taken lightly. Look up the reality that is CHAZ or CHOP. (Do not rely on local news. Go online and find out the truth. Research for yourself, if you think I am crazy). Is that how you want to live? No protections? Armed guards, walls, oppression? Little city-states or castles run by some gang lord with ARs being passed out from the trunk of his Prius (that is on video!!)? Because they are demonstrating mob rule and tyranny, not the freedoms they espouse. Freedom is not obtained behind black boxes or masks that obscure identity. It is obtained by standing up, in real ways, for what you hold to be self-evident. To ensure that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it. And it is our right to ensure places like Seattle or CHOP do not become the norm. That the America worth standing for, flying a flag for, and dying for, is worth voting for! PLEASE VOTE. It is the single most important vote you will ever make. Seriously.

NOTE: You should not have to be fearful of flying a flag at home, or having the flag sticker on your car, or wearing Americana clothing, celebrating America. If you are, there is a serious problem right where you live. You can vote to change that. Honestly, it matters.

 

 

“the body is more than clothing…”

Stress. The new aging mechanism. Honestly I felt last week like the top of my head would explode off. I do not have high blood pressure, and in fact it is characteristically very low. So when it goes up a little I really notice.

I have posted how I am taking this course, “Filled with Less,” and yesterday’s lesson was on health. A portion of that was all about stress. One of the seminal statements for me was this :

“Know what you can control and give the rest to God.”

Boy, did that hit home. I am dealing with the fallout of my mom’s hip issue and not kidding, I had 7 phone calls yesterday from agencies asking for this and for that. I am printing, signing, scanning, emailing, copying…over and over. Luckily I was an admin assistant more than once, and have tackled and conquered paperwork – most of it legal and official – so I’ve got it in hand. I have files set up on my computer, and physical files, as well. But just the fact that there are so many little steps of minutia that I have to tend to is stressing me out. In addition to the fact that I am basically a retired, little old lady tending to her garden, new recipes, and laundry. This is sort of outside my wheelhouse these days. Part of the stress is getting dragged back into it. And the onus of this responsibility for my mom. I am her sole advocate. The only voice speaking up for her rights and her quality of care. It is not something I would suggest anyone take on lightly. I am so profoundly grateful the people at Alzheimer’s Resource Alaska gave me such sound advice. The conversations I needed to have with my mom were had – we discussed how she wants to be taken care of when she can no longer communicate her wishes. And that is where I come in. I am now her voice.

In the book of Luke, it states in chapter 12 that we are not to worry about what we are to eat, the clothes we are to wear because “life is more than food and the body is more than clothing.” Christ goes on to say, “Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?” Christ ends His discourse with the famous line, “O ye of little faith.” And that was a pretty direct hit. I know my Lord has my mom in the palm of His hand. I know He is watching over her. And even though it feels like a storm cloud is over my head, in my heart of hearts (nous) I feel God nudging me to calm and to peace, knowing He is in charge.

Weekend musings…

The photo above was taken Friday night, Saturday morning, about 1:00am as I was leaving the emergency room of a hospital 45 minutes south of my home. They had taken my mom there from her assisted living home, because she fell and broke her hip. The paramedics told me, while I was Face Time with them, that I would be allowed inside because I am her POA and she is incapable of making medical decisions. When I arrived, I was not allowed IN THE BUILDING. Absolutely NO VISITORS. Well, they make an exception if the patient is under 18 and parents must make medical decisions, or anyone older who is in danger of imminent death. Now I ask you, what is the substantive difference between a 15-year-old kid, in the ER who is frightened and in pain, and incapable physically, mentally, or legally to make a medical decision, and my mom, who is 90 years old, in end stage Alzheimer’s, who is incapable of making a decision of any kind, who is in pain and frightened? And here I am, her legal POA. They cannot touch her without my consent. To say I was angry and frustrated just skims the surface. We have had like 40 covid cases up here. 40. In total. And my poor mom, so confused, and hurting, having no idea where she is or what is being done to her, and there is no one familiar allowed near her. I am more than angry.

I do like that, with the covid thing, doctors actually have to talk to you. They have to establish communications because we are not physically there. On my drive home, I received three separate calls from two doctors and the admitting staff. When I left the hospital they did not think she had broken anything and would be going home within an hour or two. On the 45 minute drive home, I was told that not only did she break her femur (hip area – long bone in leg) that it was the type of break that required surgical repair. And that they had admitted her. Admitting called soon thereafter to go over all her information with me since mom could not even tell them her last name, nor did she even know where she was. Sigh. Doctor called me back and informed me the surgeon would call soon. And so would the anesthesiologist. I got home about 2am and crawled into bed. I was awakened by 6am with phone calls. I literally had 1/2 hour to get to the hospital. The surgeon and anesthesiologist both said the covid restrictions were stupid at this point and they were directing the head of nursing, who they said really run the hospitals, to allow me in. The chief nurse of surgery called me back and said I could come in – I had to be screened for covid, but if I passed, I could enter, as long as I remained masked. Well, I missed mom going into surgery by 8 minutes. And I had to sit in her room, with the view above, and wait. I did not know if mom would even know who I was, because anesthesia wreaks havoc with the brain of healthy people, let alone an Alzheimer’s patient at the end stage, and 90 years old.

There were, let’s say, major complications. Mom’s surgery itself went very well. I was allowed in to the recovery area, escorted by the surgeon himself. I met the surgical staff and they were very kind, and very apologetic. As they asked mom to wake up, she saw me and said, “Hello my lovely daughter.” Yes, I wept. She knew me. Thanks be to God.

I spent most of Saturday masked, watching mom as she was in and out of consciousness. Meeting with the surgeon and internist several times. I went home and collapsed into bed at 8pm, only having had 4 hours of sleep. I am no spring chicken and I do not do well without my 8 hours. LOL. I returned by 10am Sunday morning to find my mom eating breakfast and them preparing to discharge her. I was gobsmacked. I was shocked. The staff was shocked. Mom had made two rounds of walking around the entire Ortho floor, stopping to chat with other patients, constantly taking off her mask because she said it was stupid. (LOL. As a side note, no one cared if mom and I were masked in her room. They remained masked but said there was enough distance and we were fine. Most of the nurses said the entire process with covid and the CDC regulations were ridiculous, and changed almost hourly, it was hard to keep up. They often lowered their masks to below their noses because they restrict the air flow so much, they got hot and bothered doing simple care tasks). I knew mom was feeling well when she motioned to tweek the rear end of the cute male nurse who was trying to help her get dressed. I had to stop her! LOL! She is a sassy woman. The staff was in shock that less than 48 hours after falling and 24 after surgery, she was going home. They told me usually people her age don’t even get out of bed for 3 days. It usually takes upward of a week to get them mobile enough to leave. Not my mom. LOL.

Smiling mom, bruised and broken, and battered, getting ready to go home. She did not believe that was a photo of her! She is an amazing woman. This saga is far from over and details need to stay closed from public view for the time being. But she is a tough cookie. I will be there, when I can. The assisted living facility is closed to me, still, and she was so mad I was leaving her there (“I do not live here. I do not belong here. I do not know this place or these people. Take me home immediately” were some of her comments to me). I was assured she would be fine, and she tried to hold onto me as they wheeled her inside. I had to just walk away. Stupid covid crap.

They sent me this later on, showing she was smiling and comfortable. This is so not what I wanted for her. I hope she will use her new walker, since she refused to use the other one we got her. LOL. Her 4th fall. Pretty soon it’s a wheelchair if she is not careful!! Such a feisty woman with Alzheimer’s! I love her so much. Her light was not ready to be dimmed. Thanks be to God for more time with her.

I got home in time for a pretty amazing storm. Lighting, thunder, hail, rain. It was amazing to watch and be in! So now, today, I am somehow locked out of my email account and cannot access anything for 24-72 hours (nice window, huh?). Some days I hate technology. I think I will just watch the storm pass by from my rocking chair on the deck, drinking coffee and soaking it all in. God is everywhere. I need to remember that. As so many would say of this photo, “The Storm is Upon Us.” God bless.

 

“…sail away from the safe harbor…”

Just wow. This past week has been newsy and disheartening in so many ways. I try not to get too political here, but politics are part of life. Unfortunately. I am prayerful there will be peace. But I do think there will also be pain and an awakening to what reality truly is. And for so many, that awakening, in and of itself, will be very painful. This is not about a man being unjustly killed (and news stories are coming out that he is, in fact, a crisis actor and is still very much alive; that all this was staged for maximum effect to incite rioting, unrest, and to separate us). This is about disrupting our republic in the face of one of the most important election cycles in our history. It is about, essentially, good versus evil. And it is about getting priorities straight – we need to be hitting our knees in prayer for all our families, friends, this country, and the world. We are spiraling out of control and it will be stopped. I am just prayerful the stop won’t be too painful for anyone. And I am taking myself out of that equation. We all need to break away from the news cycle!

This weekend was pretty fun. We planted all the plants I have been collecting the past few weeks. They are off the front porch and in their pots. And in the garden beds. I also resurrected the tubers of Dahlias from last year. Of the dozen I put up for winter in the garage (well, my husband graciously did most of that) I only lost three. So I am very happy. We have now potted them. I have never done this before and am so hopeful the little shoots find their way to the sun and we get some Dahlias this year. One of them is a chocolate Dahlia and it did not bloom last season. It survived winter with lots of shoots and it is one of the holdovers I am very excited to see. I will share a photo of what it is supposed to be:

I cannot wait for that to bloom! And in addition to planting, we began our garage project. In doing this “Six Weeks to Sanity” program, we are being encouraged to declutter. Lots of facts about clutter were thrown at us and I just sat there, slack-jawed. I have been following the KonMari method and I have done my house once. I am slowly doing it again. The one area we did not tackle was the garage. Apparently only about 1/3 of Americans can park their cars in their garages. Most have 1-2 car garages. And of those, most Americans can park perhaps 1 car in their garage. That’s us. It wasn’t like that until a few months ago when we inherited some items from friends moving out of state. Now we have to organize and meld theirs into ours. And we need to glean down our things, as well. So we started on it this weekend. We made a dump run and deposited 350 lbs into our local dump. It did not seem like it would weigh that much, but it did. And the one member of the family who was ecstatic to make the drive in the truck? Our dog. He is so funny. Any excuse to go for a ride in the truck. And trust me, when you use those words, he knows exactly what you are saying!

His joy is pretty contagious! And he is so alert to every thing around him. Every single thing. Street lights, the people in the car next to us, the bird that flew by, the bug that got splattered on the windshield…all of it. And he is discovering that when we go through drive-throughs of almost any kind, good dogs get treats. He is really disappointed if they don’t! So much to my surprise, they gave him a treat at the gate to the dump! He was so excited! And now he will love dump runs!

One of the best parts of the weekend was seeing friends we have not been able to see since the shut down. Our state is completely open, with modifications. We went to our local restaurant where we dined for over 3 hours! We had so much to catch up on, and lots of that was human contact. We are huggers and it was glorious. I did not realize how isolated I have been, being kept away from friends. To sit and actually look at their face instead of reading a text, was just the best thing, ever. Not taking friends for granted is so important in this life.

One of the things in this course I am taking is to find your tribe. Find people who compliment you – they reflect you – you can trust with your heart, soul, and life. Those you can laugh with and cry with and support. It is so important. We have a few people in our lives I would consider part of my tribe. And the woman above is one of them. (Love you, Tina!!). And I am also being encouraged to find a hobby. I do not craft. I am all thumbs. But one of my goals is to find a hobby that will work with muscle memory so that I can pursue it as I age. So many have tried to help me, but I have failed them and myself, and am re-dedicating myself to learn to crochet. Or knit. I have such a hard time with one needle, I am not sure two would be any better. But I am determined to conquer something so many find so simple. My DIL here made me the most scrumptious shawl for when my shoulders get cold. I love it so much and wish I could do that, too. (Side note: My grandma would always complain her shoulders were cold. Said to me more than once that if she could keep them warm, even with bare feet, she would be warm. I used to make fun of her, and tease her, about her cold shoulders. Now, I am her. And she is looking down from heaven, giggling at me. I love you Grandma!!).

That is me above, nestled in my shawl. The material is so soft, I could sink into it. And the color is a wonderful mouth-watering purple. Oh such a simple joy! LOL!. I am determined, within this summer cycle, to accomplish this task of acquiring a hobby – if it kills me. LOL. My girlfriend above is determined to have me succeed so we can crochet together while our hubbies hunt and fish! And we can do it in sunshine or snow, which is real here. Because crocheting in a snowstorm, before a roaring fire, with a girlfriend to gab with, sounds like heaven to me. And it makes me more determined to succeed.

So even amongst the chaos and noise of what is going on around us, we can focus and hone in on the simple things in life. I am focusing on cooking from scratch and learning some Julia Child recipes (I love her). I am looking at acquiring a hobby. I am decluttering my house and even the garage. I am making white space in my life – where I leave things blank on purpose – to feel the space around me and to relax in it. And for that extra space to allow me to learn something new. To revel in new things. We can have clutter in our minds as well as in our homes. You know, we can all improve ourselves above and over who we are right this moment. What a glorious world that would be, if each of us did focus on improving ourselves. Even if that means making dump runs as we declutter, and burning dinner now and then as I master Julia Child – if we are working towards a goal we are moving. Life is movement. Keep on moving…