Where's House When You Need Him?

We had a 36 inch snowfall over the last 2 days. We had no power for one day, and no internet for a day and a half. So I didn't hear until today that Kick's husband is in the ICU up north. She came downstairs to find him naked on the floor in an 85'F sitting room yesterday morning. He was, and still is, unresponsive.  The medicos can't figure out why he won't wake up. Kick is beside herself. This is a nightmare. We need a genius doc or nurse who solves the puzzle.

Meanwhile, if you're the praying type, it can't hurt to send up a wish for his recovery. Thanks.

x

March Madness

Is it me or is there a lot of craziness going around? I mean, several people have gone mad in the last year. Like the zeitgeist has caught them, and they lost their footing in the whirlwind of insanity. One of my oldest and dearest friends disappeared in paranoiac fear of all things electronic. I'm not even sure what happened as she wasn't making a lot of sense, but it had something to do with Second Life and people tracking her. News comes of someone losing the plot on the weekly these days.

Not that it's surprising. With this country the way it is, and a Venn Diagram of Insanity/Stupidity/ Greed/Hatred that switches dominant sectors often, what else could happen? 

I've been contemplating whether it was good or bad to shield children from reality as we did "back in my day". Nowadays kids grow up with a lot of harsh real world from the beginning. And as soon as they're amongst other kids, they get those kids' realities added which can be traumatic to witness. Then there are Smartphones, texting, the internet and social media, all avenues for bullying, trafficking and drugs. We took the nastiness our schoolmates could dish out, but not like this. Online talk is conducive to loathsome conduct that never transpires face to face. We had schoolyard fistfights if someone said things that nasty- not that that was good either- but what do you do when faceless, nameless bullies pile on you? Get depressed, withdrawn, hopeless. And then a white coat comes along and diagnoses some insurance code and prescribes something for changing of the nerves or brain. 

So would it be better to raise kids in a cloud of lies and protection? We had so many realizations to digest as we grew up, so many pretenses to recognize, and then discern what was truth. But we did have relatively easier times in which to be kids. Even if it wasn't, we felt the world was generally safe as long as we didn't do anything stupid. I don't know a child who feels safe anymore. So was ignorance bliss? 

This stuff comes to mind lately as another friend's child committed suicide. That makes 4 over the last 6 years. 2 of them left babies of their own to grow up without a father. 

I have no answers, just questions and observations, and grief.

Tell someone they're wonderful today.

x

  

 

February Makes Me Shiver

As I type it's -15F/-26C. Cold. I like weather the same way I like Prosecco, cold and dry. 

Winter is finally here, with February. My friend Tall Paul and I were discussing it yesterday, when it was also damn windy. He's lived here most of his 70ish years and noted that he'd forgotten what Vermont Winters were like, but this was it. This is the cold that freezes snot in your nose in seconds, that blisters your lips if they aren't protected, that makes frostbite quite likely on any exposed skin, that provides a suicidal opportunity. And I love it. My favorite season.

It's February, and February usually sucks. Death anniversaries of 3 people I loved (my mother, hubby, and favorite boss). Valentine's Day (which I've always hated). Post-holidays isolation. Post-holidays tight budget. And lots of tourists here to ski. Blech to it all.

For whatever reason we have a delay in Winter's arrival (could it be Climate Change? Pole shifting? the Jet Stream moving/flattening/being erratic?). Nah, don't be talking any of that Democrat conspiracy shit. 

 

Anyway I can't hate February because now it brings Winter- about 3 months later than it once came, but it comes nonetheless. My joints ease, pain recedes, I can do things. So I'm pretty happy with February this year.

LilaPie Muffinpants has had some troubles and caused many, and is currently staying with assorted people until there's a residential program/school for teenagers that she qualifies attending. She spent a day with me this past week. We hadn't spent any time alone together since she was 4, which was 11 years ago. Wild to see the burgeoning adult version of the sweet, bright, protective little girl who was a SJW by age 9. She lost her beloved and adored only uncle to suicide, her grandfather to cancer, and birth father to cirrhosis, within 4 years of her childhood. Her family has been thru so much in her aware time. It's a lot to process, and I think she's carrying a ton of grief and PTSD. I don't think she feels loved. I'll just keep throwing love at her and hope some of it sticks.

There's still about 6 inches of ankle-cutter snow. Don't know what ankle-cutter snow is? It's snow that's been thru temp changes and sun, and forms a hard layer of ice on top. This snow, when deer walk in it, cuts their ankles. Good for some fast and ultimately painful sledding, though.

 

The sun's rising and the sky is a washed out blue watercolor.

The wind knocked over some recycling bins, 

Yep, it's Winter in The Dreadfort. Stay warm.

x

Onward At Last!

It's 2023. We're firmly in The 2020s. I never thought I'd see these years after the nuke fallout drills, wars and threats of wars, drugs, alcoholism, city living, AIDS, prescribed opioids, heart issues, blah blah blah. I'm not special, most people my age got all this too. Nobody I talk to thinks they would live this long. Yet, as they say, here we are.

I'm glad to kick 2022's ass out the door. Getting Covid twice (after 3 shots) wasn't so bad after all. But what sucked was all my friends being sick, one after another with one thing or another. Bugs galore. One that took your voice. One that gave you the runs for weeks. One that filled your head so you had to mouth breathe and couldn't sleep (I hate mouthbreathing!). We didn't see each other for months at a time- crowning 3 years of distance, 3 years of no Game Nights, 3 years of sitting here online way too much. And the weather was screwy too making the creek rise and cuing my PTSD, which turns me into InstaBitch (not that that's much of a push). So yeah, get the hell out, '22. Take the sicknesses, TFG,  the assholes who follow him, and his pal Putin, my neighbor Goggles, all the petty tin gods around, and shove them all so far up an orifice they never know fresh air again.

 

What will happen this year? Good, bad, just meh? Anyone have predictions?

Happy New Year, everyone. I wish you health and laughter, strength and good surprises.

x
 

Ho Ho Ho

We've had sickness, tragedy, crises, ill will, anger, heartaches, and general drama this year. We've had some joys, a few victories, and shared stupefaction. Somehow, we made it to Xmas. And like the Whos in Whoville, we gathered and clasped hands and hearts.

That's what Xmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

And here comes a brand new year. Another construct to do with as you will.

Let's move forward with big goodness in our minds and acts.  Let's learn, and think, and do better. We can, you know.

War is over, if you want it.

Peace, prosperity, laughter to you and yours.

x