Cape Karen
With the up-coming elections on the horizon, I can't help but wonder where will we be as a nation this time next year? And, by 2008, will we be angry at President McCain, or at President Hillary Clinton? Will we be withdrawing our troops from Iraq, or sending new troops into Iran or North Korea? Will we be paying more or less for gas and oil? Will we still be leaving students behind, or will that piece of flimsy, ineffectual legislation be replaced by something better? Will we finally forge a pathway into an acceptable form of national healthcare, or will we just continue to stand by as millions of Americans go without any health care?
Whadda ya think? Will our 'newly elected' officials, this coming year and next, make any difference at all in our collective lives? Or not?
I tend to be skeptical that anything good can come out of D.C. anymore ~ no matter who is at the helm, no matter which party 'controls' the Congress. Our government process seems to have 'morphed' into little more than a mega-bank for millionaires; a disgusting and shamefully blatant, "good-old-boys" club. From on-going lobbyist corruption, to ineffectual /non-legislation, to wasting billions of our tax-payer dollars on foolishness and stupidity, to 'homeland' agencies that do absolutely nothing to protect us, to 'suspect' voting machines ~ I think we're in serious trouble as a 'democracy' and as a nation.
When people don't bother to vote, because they feel their votes are meaningless in the face of powerful lobbyists (and knowing that, in the last two elections, unchecked errors in the voting machines skewed the true results) can we even call our government a true 'democracy' anymore? Our increased feelings, of powerlessness and frustration, mark a frightening sea-change in the national mood. When we no longer believe that our votes count, or that our needs and interests are being fairly represented by our elected officials, just where does that leave us?
I think it leaves us all drowning in a sea of corruption and greed. I think it leaves us all unprotected and vulnerable. I think it opens the floodgate to more internal and external mischief-making. And, I think that 'we the people' have been played around with and ignored long enough. It's up to us to demand the changes we want and need. It's up to us to change - from being apathetic, cynical 'watchers' to becoming enthusiastic, determined 'speaker-uppers.'
But, in order to speak up effectively, we need to stay informed about the day-to-day decisions being made in Washington. And when we disagree with those decisions, or if we have a concern about the way a vote went in Congress, then we need to speak up and let them know it. After all, a big chunk of our hard-earned income is deducted out of every paycheck to pay their big salaries. The least we can do is make them more accountable to the hands that feed them. So, this coming year, let's give voice to our concerns; let's make our desires and needs known; and let's start holding them accountable to the decisions they make that affect our well-being.
If asked, I would guess that 95% of us want some form of national health care, less corporate lobbying for 'favors' in Congress, a stop to illegal immigration, and a raise in the 'poverty-level' minimum wage that is being offered to hard-working people, living in the richest country in the world. So, if 95% of us want those four basic things, why haven't we been able to get any legislation passed on even one of them? What are they doing up there on the Hill? They sure as hell aren't listening to the people who put them there; or. . . maybe it's just that they just can't hear us?
Well, we can change that! With a keyboard at our fingertips and cell phones in our pockets ~ we sure as hell can. They say "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" - so, it's really very simple. . . we just need to stop being so quiet, and start 'squeaking' - we all need to speak up - louder than the lobbyists. We need to make so much noise this coming year that they won't be able to ignore us any longer.
Let's stop blocking our ears and wearing our blinders ~ just because we don't like what's going on in Washington ~ and, instead, let's listen more closely, watch more carefully and begin to demand what a true democracy is all about. . .representing the will of the people. We really can start making a difference, if we want to. After all, we are 300 million strong now.
This is the Chinese "Year of the Dog." Here at home, to get ready for a new administration, I think 2007 should be designated as, "The Year of the Squeaky Wheel." I think that this should be the year when "We the People" finally begin to fight back.
(O' gawd - I'm starting to sound just like Glenn Beck. . . .)
Well, here I am, back in TN, and still hating every minute of it. People ask, "Well, why don't you just move then?" The answer is: $$$$ - it takes a lot of money to move - the kind of money we just don't have right now. It would require selling our house, that's mortgaged for more than it's worth; and also the expense (and hassle) of moving an entire 3B, 2B household full of "stuff." Then, we'd have to find a decent place to live somewhere else, and find new jobs. We'd also become 'vagabonds' (renter's) again; and that's a major change we aren't sure we ever want to make. Owning, even when it isn't equity-producing, is still better than being at the mercy of a landlord.
So, for today, we're still living in 'our home' in TN, and I'll just have to make the best of it ~ and take a lot more vacations! That means I need to change my attitude and become more grateful ~ for having a roof over our heads, that our expenses are relatively low and affordable and that we both still have our health. I must try to find the roses in the dung-pile. So, let's see. . . where are those roses?
This is a pretty area of the country - the Great Smoky Mountains are always changing color, and transforming our daily view. Nature reserves, hiking trails and mountain streams dot the landscape; so there are places to escape to - to get away from the heavy, in-town traffic. We're living close to town, and everything we need is right at our fingertips, so there's no need for a long commute to work in this day and age of ever-higher gas prices. We don't have cold winters with big snowstorms, nor raging floods, devastating hurricanes, deadly earthquakes or whirling tornadoes, and we'll never have to worry about a tsunami. (We are living just east of the Madras Fault Line, which runs under Memphis, TN, and that could be disasterous should it erupt; but, hopefully, that won't happen in our lifetime.)
It's an area full of mega-shopping malls, and there are lots of local crafters, so those needs are easily met. It's an easy commute up to Knoxville, when we need to 'go to the city.' People here tend to be warm, friendly and polite ~ unlike some New Englander's. There are lots of nice golf courses nearby - and that's all it takes to keep Frank happy!
The roses are here, I just have to dig for them, and try to ignore the dung pile they are buried beneath. Like ~ the neighborhood; now full to overflowing with many hundreds of young, single Mexican men, who incessantly drive in and out of here in their loud, boom-box blaring cars; the lack of any nearby ocean; and the high-polluting ozone levels and car exhaust fumes that always coat the air down in this valley. Those are the three main things that make life here annoying and difficult; three things that I can't change.
And, besides ~ I'm a die-hard Yankee, and this just isn't "home," and never will be. Home is where the ocean waves roll in and out, the summer breezes cool and refresh, and the people don't ever say, "Ya'll come on back now, ya hear?" But. . . I must remember; it could be worse, it could be worse ~ it could be worse. I will be grateful, I will be grateful ~ I will be grateful . . .there are roses buried beneath the dung pile.
(Now, where did I put that shovel?)
Well, whadayaknow, I'm able to type into my "Entry Body" box without my words disappearing downward into a black hole! So far, so good, blogmaster! Thank you, thank you! Now, to teach me how to do my photos with this new format? I can't seem to position or align them where I want them to go anymore? So, I will put all my pictures at the bottom of the blog, helter-skelter without ID's, for now.
First, I drove the couple thousand miles (round trip) alone in my trusty 1992 Olds. She was a good girl, and didn't break down once; she never even skipped a beat. A few warning lights came on from time to time, and her catalytic converter made some funny grinding noises while I was there, causing me to go visit a cutie mechanic named, George, who said, "Don't worry - Be happy!" But hey, she's fourteen years old now, and has over 200,000 miles on her. She just keeps on, keeping on - in spite of her old age and mileage . . . kinda like her owner!
I arrived on Cape to find myself graced by the most beautiful weather they had seen in New England for months. I had two solid weeks of warm sunny days and cool, star-filled autumn nights. The air and sea breezes felt like heaven to me, especially when coming from this ozone-filled, polluted valley in the Great Smoggy Mountains. Wow! I could finally breathe again! My energy level soared, and I felt twenty years younger than I do living here. It was amazing to notice the instant and dramatic difference breathing good air makes.
Besides the wonder of being able to breathe again, how can I possibly express how incredibly wonderful it was to 'be home,' after a ten-year hiatus, and to visit with friends and family? (Some of whom I hadn't seen or spoken to, other than by e-mail, in well over 30 years!) I found that most of my friends looked the same - a bit grayer perhaps, maybe a few more wrinkles like me, but they all looked darn good! Susan has let her hair go naturally white, and it looks great cut real short. Karen G. looks healthy and vibrant and still has more energy than I ever had (more news later about Karen G.) My friend, Natalie, at age 75, doesn't look a day over 50 ~ and she's just as spunky and cute as ever! See her below in the photo with her and Susan wearing straw hats - she's the short one on the left. (No way, 75!)
Jane C. looks exactly the same as she did 25 years ago, and she's still going out running every day; Jane O. has put on a few pounds, but is still gorgeous; Ginger looks as beautiful and wholesome as ever; Jane P. has cut her hair real short, and is much thinner than I remember her - and still looking good; Cynthia, who now lives on a boat in Nantucket Harbor with her husband, Ken, and their two cats - who I hadn't seen since our Lesley College days in 1985, is still wearing her long, golden blonde hair in pigtails; I easily spotted her standing on the dock the minute we pulled into Nantucket Harbor. My friend, Rose, is healthy and looking hardly a day older than the day I saw her 10 years ago, and Diane and Kathy look better than ever. Even John, Susan's husband, though battling cancer, is looking amazingly robust and fit, considering all that he's been through over the last two years; and her sister, Betty, and brother-in-law, Jack, seem happy in their retirement.
Son, Scott, came down to visit for a few days from Northampton, and he's looking more and more like his dad - as handsome as ever ~ balding and all. Visiting with my ex-mother-in-law, Ethel, who's 91 now, was a bit depressing - she still has a sharp mind, but she's stone deaf, and is quickly going blind from cataracts in both eyes that are too extensive to operate on, at her age. Frannie, my sister-in-law, was happy to see me, and we had a chance to spend an afternoon together just relaxing and chatting outdoors. She's taking care of her diabetic husband, Keith, who's had a couple of strokes, as well as looking after mother-in-law Ethel, and she really needed a break! She, too, though stressed, looks wonderful, and is still as pretty as ever.
Unlike here, where I rarely go out, the visit home was full to overflowing with friends, activities, dinners out, visits with friends at the beautiful house I was fortunate enough to live in while there - a day in Nantucket and, of course, many beach walks and pretty scenic drives. I had broken the little toe on my left foot the third day I was there - I had crashed my toe right into a cement post, buried under some beach sand at Kalmus Beach, when I went to take some pictures. It slowed me down a lot, because I couldn't wear a shoe on that foot the entire trip, but I managed to limp around, and I even walked around Nantucket at the end of my stay, wearing some funky flip-flops.
One event that shook us all was the terrible accident my friend Karen G. was in one night during the first week of my visit. We had gone over to Cotuit to visit and have pizza with Ginger; later, when Karen was driving home to Yarmouthport, she was hit by a drunk driver. The woman who hit her was a 39-year-old, driving her boyfriend's uninsured car. Karen's Toyota SUV was hurled upside-down in the road and totalled; the police who responded found Karen standing by the side of the road when they arrived. She had managed to get out of her seatbelt, and had crawled out of a broken side window - fearing the car was going to burst into flames. Miraculously, she was not seriously injured - just a few bruises and scratches and a badly bumped head. She was out driving a rental car the very next day! The drunk woman driver who hit her tried to flee the scene of the accident, but her damaged car conked-out, and so she fled into a wooded neighborhood. She was finally found hiding under the deck of someone's house; the police had to use search dogs to find her. (Needless to say - she's in a lot of trouble!) I'm just so incredibly grateful that Karen wasn't badly injured or killed - and I am so proud of her great attitude about the whole thing. She's a real trooper. You go girl!
I could go on and on and on - it was all so amazing - but they say a picture is worth a thousand words - so, here's a small sampling of photos from my Cape Cod vacation. (Please excuse the jumble - I can't figure out how to place them any differently.)
