“One reason that cats are happier than people is that they have no newspapers.”
The sun was shining earlier. I was surprised at how warm it was when I got the papers. It was 50°, almost today’s high of 52°. No wind is the difference. I have a list of chores. Topping that list is the yard clean-up. I see papers everywhere. The house is next. It too still needs a bit of clean-up, but for that I need my dustpan and brush. It was in the living room. It isn’t now. I guess it grew appendages.
Sometimes I forget what I want. I start to go to somewhere, but then, on the way, I get distracted by things like a crooked picture, a giant, menacing dust bunny or Nala’s chewed scraps of paper. I stop to clean, but by the time I’m finished, I have usually totally forgotten what I originally wanted. I decided to start carrying a notepad and a pencil connected to the pad by a string. I’ll write on the pad the day and date and where I’m going and why. I’ll just have to remember to check.
When I was a kid, I had no idea what was going on with world until John Kennedy was running for president. I read the paper for the news, followed his campaign and wore his buttons. “If I were twenty-one, I’d vote for Kennedy,” is the message on the big campaign button and my favorite button. My second favorite is, “Returned Peace Corps Volunteer for McGovern-Schriver.” I also have a McGovern-Eagleton button I pinned to my backpack when I went to Europe the summer before the election. In Finland, I was sitting in in the hotel restaurant having dinner, reindeer, and watching TV. I was in the Arctic Circle with herds of reindeer blocking the road and an endless sun.
When I lived in Ghana, I knew what was happening in the world as it was summarized in the Week in Review from the New York Times which Peace Corps sent us every week. So much was happening. I missed, in my first year, 1969-1970, the moon landing, Woodstock, Manson, the breakup of The Beatles, the continuing anti-war protests and Kent State.
I, hungry for news, at first greedily read that paper, but, within a short time, I’d only browse the column headlines then give the rest of the paper to Thomas to use to start charcoal and to sell in the market. Time moved, and I stopped reading the Week in Review at all. I disconnected.
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January 29, 2023 at 4:41 pm
Hi Kat,
Today is cloudy and cold. The morning started off at 60° and then the cold front blew through and the temperature has dropped to its current 33° with a steady NW wind. The low is predicted to reach a low of freezing.
I’m a news junkie going way back to my high school days. Unfortunately, the first presidential election I voted in, my candidate lost, Hubert Humphrey. This setup a long losing streak including, Nixon, Reagan, Bush I, Bush II until Obama. Those elections were interspersed with Carter and Clinton.
My father was a dyed in the wool Democrat having worshipped Roosevelt while living through the depression and he was a charter member of the CIO while organizing the wholesale shoe industry in NYC. Even before Trump, I could never cast a ballot for any Republicans.
January 29, 2023 at 7:39 pm
Hi Bob,
This afternoon got quite chilly, and now it is raining. The cold spell arrives on Tuesday then we’ll drop to the 30’s and stay there for a bit. I spoke to my sister in Colorado today where it was 7°.
Your temperature change was quite dramatic. What a drop!
I also voted for Hubert Humphrey. Yup, I also had the same losing streak. Carter is the best former president of all. He has dedicated his life, such a long life, to helping others.
My father became a Republican the Nixon was running. Before that he was a life long Democrat. My brother and I used to say he became a Republican when he started making big money. Neither oe of us knew the other one was telling peopl that!