September 2018 – *the gratitude-a-thon

gratitude-a-thon day 2070: Dr. Christine Blasey Ford

September 28, 2018September 28, 2018UncategorizedLeave a Comment

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford And Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh Testify To Senate Judiciary Committee

He said. She said.

“i’m 100% sure it was him.”

“Beer.”

Yesterday, like so many in the country (even my dog, who was bizarrely staring at the television) I watched the hearings. For me, Dr. Blasey Ford was immediately credible, human, relatable, kind and terrified. Unless she is severely mentally ill, I believe she is telling the truth and that Brett Kavanaugh assaulted her. She spoke his name back in 2012 to a therapist, Does the Republican party really think that this is another vast left-wing conspiracy that’s been in the planning for decades before Kavanaugh was even considered for the position of Supreme Court Judge? Really?

As for Brett Kavanaugh, his anger and tearing up got to me. If I didn’t do what I was accused of doing, I too would be angry and emotional. If my life and name and family were threatened and marred forever, I would also be angry as hell.

But, beer. (I’m sorry, but like Senator Amy Klobuchar, I too had an alcoholic dad and know a lot about this topic and this guy seems like he may very well may be a functional alcoholic.)

And temperament. (Is this a measured personality who can be trusted to be an unbiased judge?)

And partisanship (Unquestionably this man has a major bias against the Democratic party.)

There is no questions that this case should go the FBI to be thoroughly investigated. When things are so murky, and the relationship between the Democrats and Republicans is so insanely divisive and ugly, why not do further digging? WHY NOT? This is a lifetime appointment to the most important court in the country, a court that will decide the fate of Roe V Wade. Can we not wait a few weeks or months to let the FBI do its thing?

And if not, why?

Why?

If there is a shadow of a doubt about this appointment, why not move on to the next candidate? And there is more than a shadow of a doubt. You know why. Can you say “mid-terms?” This is a political battle and nothing more.

Gratitude to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. She came forward because she believed it to be a civic duty. Her life will never be the same. She is a victim and a survivor. And she is a patriotic citizen. And I believe her.

gratitude-a-thon day 2069: your viewing options

September 24, 2018September 24, 2018Uncategorized1 Comment

How did people have stay-off-your-feet surgery before Cable, Netflix, Prime and Hulu? (By the way, even Facebook has a show–and it’s pretty good–it’s called Sorry for Your Loss.)

I mean, it used to be that, believe it or not, and I know my kids think this is an urban legend, we had three stations–ABC, CBS and NBC. AND we didn’t have remotes to change from one of those three stations to the other. WE HAD TO GET UP OFF THE COUCH

I KNOW.

If you were sick, you watched a preposterous, mind-numbing soap opera (oh Luke, oh Laura), or Let’s Make a Deal, or The Match Game or The Mike Douglas Show or Merv Griffin. Cartoons were on a few times a day, but if you were stuck in the den with a fever, you couldn’t watch Bugs Bunny for more than an hour because he just wasn’t on.

I’ve been stuck in the house for the past week and without the bazillion options on the telly, I’d be completely bonkers. Of course, I’ve read a couple of books and also every political site there is. And of course, I’ve been internet shopping for my bathroom renovation, which at the moment sounds like the entire world is exploding on my second floor.

So, today there is gratitude for Difficult People on Hulu, Dark and Safe on Netflix and of course, the Trump show on CNN and CNBC (which just keeps just getting better and better). Despite the plethora of entertainment, I cannot wait to get back on my feet.

gratitude-a-thon day 2068: things that grow

September 17, 2018September 17, 2018UncategorizedLeave a Comment

0-1

I have been about things that grow lately. Switching over the summer plants that have just about had it, to the heartier bring-on-the-chill fall plants and saying my last goodbyes to my legions of hydrangeas, which left me with a house filled with gorgeous dried blooms.

I really love topiaries–their shape and simplicity. I just scooped up a rosemary version–tall and stately at Brimfield of all places. Its stature is giving off a nice vibe in my den.

I must have pulled 1,000 weeds yesterday from my front garden. Weeds really know how to flourish. It’s like they’ve cornered the market on vitamins or something. Do they have a steroid supplier in the neighborhood?

Maybe it’s the world right now and our country in particular, with so many lies and so much ugliness that’s making things that grow feel so important to me.

Up from the dirt, things take root and make their way into being. Gratitude for the lessons the natural world teaches when we stop to look and listen to it. The idea that you can come back stronger with a little rest over the winter. Yeah, i like that.

gratitude-a-thon day 2067:friends (not the tv show)

September 13, 2018September 13, 2018UncategorizedLeave a Comment

There is family. And then there are friends. Family is sort of stuck with you. Like you or not, we band together to help one another, blood coursing through our veins says it’s our duty, plus there are all those shared experiences.(Who else really knows how cuckoo crazy pants your dad was?)

But friends. They are the chosen. Before they become one of your people, they’re complete strangers. And then story by story, one movie/walk/late afternoon coffee/ glass of wine, or two, or three/one thoughtful phone call when the sky is falling/one workout that turns into lunch/one tv show you both adore, and suddenly you have found someone who is like your leg, only without a drop of cellulite.

In the department of gratitude, there is almost nothing (except maybe family and oh, my dog) that I am more grateful for than my friends. Along with potato chips, they are positively what gets me through this whack-a-doodle world.

gratitude-a-thon day 2066: waking up

September 11, 2018September 17, 2018UncategorizedLeave a Comment

1379636129-0

Gratitude for just waking up. Ha! Doesn’t get more basic than that, now does it?

But really, I’m always sort of shocked when I think about all the work our bodies have to do to keep on ticking. Just think of your heart alone. That thing has to do Crossfit every 10 seconds. What about your lungs? In and out, day in and day out. How bout your eyes, with all that blinking, up down, up down, they’re like doing the work of 72,098 seesaws with a perpetual line of kids waiting their turn. And let’s hear it for my left shoulder, which wants to be involved in absolutely everything. (Do you have a body part like that, that just tenses up and insists on getting in on every single thing you do? Meet my left shoulder.)

Anyway, I have to have a simple arthroscopic knee surgery next week, which will make my body have to work harder, so I am just getting real with all the labor it does and kind of giving it a round of applause to get on its good side, in hopes that it will heal well. All they’re doing is going in and cutting a hanging flap of meniscus, which is over my joint space and threatening to lock up my knee, so hoping it will not be a major drama, but I won’t be able to do yoga or pilates for 6 weeks (and it has taken me out of those activities for the last six weeks already, so you know, I’m not very happy, no not very happy at all). But as someone pointed out the other day as I expressed my wish for things to be different–“At least it’s something you can fix.” And that there is truth, so I’m prepping my head to go with all that good luck–that I can fix my knee and move on down the road.

So, thank you, body, brain, liver, pancreas. Standing O for my spleen, thyroid and intestines. Your life’s work really keeps me going. And a big freaking gracias to my sense of humor too–probably the most important thing of all.