There are pluses to it like more fires in the fireplace and I light more candles than at any other time of the year. I am watching more old movies. I kind of like the sparseness on the deck which isn't really big enough for two chaise lounges in the summer, but how would you have only one? The leaves are mostly blown off the driveway, small gravel garden, and deck but a few will come down all winter. The small table and chairs are under cover so again more feeling of space and light.
The little birds are all over the place with a full bird feeder to help them through their own dark time. That brought in the young golden eagle which was neat to see, but I am not fond of them near the house because of having a small house cat who doesn't know she's small and who might be tempting to an eagle under certain circumstances.
When I follow politics, which is still most of the time, I don't really know what is best to do. I find it hard to pick out things to write about here that aren't negative. Mostly it's the downers that we notice and think-- we should fix that. The good things we are glad for but they don't require action; so it's onto the next upsetting one. Naturally the news is big on the upsetting ones as they make the best stories.
I thought Bill Maher had a good point last night on the Rachel Maddow show, guest hosted by Arianna Huffington (and I agreed with Old Lady that not just anybody is good at that job. Arianna has been good as a guest debating issues and at putting together Huffington Post and that's been pretty much it).
Maher said he's been following what Obama does but not trying to second guess it because during the campaigns, he did that a lot and usually it turned out Obama was right in his instincts. He said we aren't used to having a smart president and we should sit back and give this a try. See how it works out before we go saying this or that was wrong or good.
The other thing we aren't used to, none of us, is something else-- a man in leadership who can let things roll off his back, who doesn't get his personal ego in the way of doing what he feels is best for the country and even himself. Bill Clinton was plenty smart, but we can still tell that he holds grudges like nobody's business.
So we had Bush who may not have held grudges but was lazy intellectually-- maybe. To be honest, I don't know about Bush. It depends on what his goals were. Is it possible that destroying the clout of the middle class, damaging our economy so the government had no money for new programs, fighting wars we didn't need to take more of our rights through new laws and enabling private contractors to take money with no accountability (now possibly certain financial institutions as once again a lot is gone with no apparent accountability),letting New Orleans fail in rebuilding so a few rich could profit from it, raping our environment for dollars in corporate pockets, ignoring global climate change, and the list goes on, maybe all of that was part of a plan behind a benign mask of he just doesn't know what he's doing...
One thing Americans should have learned by now is that it takes government and business working together to bring prosperity. We are not a simple wild West world where anything goes. There has to be management, direction, but you can't turn corporations into the bad guys as they are important for prosperity.
Don't hire people to run government who don't believe in it. When Ronald Reagan said the most scary words anybody hears is I am the government and I am here to help, well he should have set about making it not true by making government effective. That wasn't what he did or what he taught a whole generation of Republicans to do.
It's time for government (Democrats and Republicans) to rethink that old Reagan saying, and make it untrue. Especially if we are asked to bail out the auto industry which might be needed but will fail if government doesn't work with the corporation to renew how it does things including labor contracts. Government doesn't have to be the bad guy anymore than corporations do; but right now, too often, it has been. We the people can demand better. We have to demand better.
I woke up thinking about what Farm Boss had been telling me about one of the groups that is encouraging creative, new energy development in our country and across the world. It has been funded by The King of Saudi Arabia: Global Research Partnership of KAUST. New ideas for a new time and encouraging to me for what our country can do once we recognize government's potential role in promoting new ideas and ways.
14 comments:
Walking in the forest is especially nice this year. There are places that the leaves are still hanging in there. Yesterday afternoon Oprah presented the chosen talented children. It was thrilling to see these amazing individuals but even more striking is the hope they carry from having a dynamic thoughtful president elect. The message is that they can acheive and be anything because we believe in and support them.
It snowed here last night. Not the kind that buries us; the kind is pretty ice-laden and takes forever to scrape off your car windows. I had to dig out my gloves, snow shovel, scraper and de-cer stuff (and put the latter on my shopping list 'cause I'm running low) so I could get my walks clear and Miss Ruby ready to go.
Yes, we need a president who is rational and independent and understands how difficult it is to maintain a decent life for many people. Obama seems to be that sort of man. However, I hope people temper their expectations with patience (difficult in the age of instant gratification) and don't expect the problems to solved next week. We have hard work ahead of us, folks.
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We had a couple of wonderful weather days last week east of the Cascades in Leavenworth. Of course on the third day it rained cats & dogs, but that is fall in the NW.
I agree with Kay that Obama seems to be a different kind of a man from those we are used to in politics. He has human experiences that are far closer to those of the average person than most Presidents we have had in the past. But even he will need to be allowed enough time to enact changes.
Lovely post, thanks!
It was chilly last night here in South Carolina. So, I have my CLEMSON hoodie out today. I voted for Obama primarily because I felt that he offers a new way (potentially) of dealing with serious problems. The old,stolid Republican way was growing cumbersome and,in my opinion, wasn't working.That being said, I do not view Obama as a messiah or the greatest thing since sliced bread. The Presidency has a way of humblind a man . It is a tremendous weight to carry. Now we all have to see how Obama deals with it. :-)
The government does not have to be the problem, but it certainly can be. After the 1997 floods I worked on reopening Hiqhways that were devastated by the floods. After a huge 24 hour a day effort for about 3 weeks by many State DOT engineers and 3 big construction companies a State Assemblyman gave a speech about the quick reopening of the highway. He said "This is what happens when government gets out of the way". But in reality it was government engineers leading the way and making sure that the contractors were spending the tax payers money in a reasonable manner. The environmental regulations were set aside and the biologists from the Department of Fish and Game were told by the governors office to stay in their offices while the work was going on. So that is the part of government that got out of the way. Now all government projects could be done that way, but there will always be people that are not happy about it. That is how democracy works. It is not efficient.
Hitler had a very efficient government but if you disagreed you were hung or sent to a labor camp. But public works projects were done and quickly.
Well if the only alternatives are a brutal dictatorship or a government that screws up everything, we are in serious trouble with a population after it reaches a certain level. *s* Maybe there are other ways.
Environmentalists can be a problem but their motivations can also be good. I personally think we need improved rail lines and maybe some new ones to move our goods more effectively than trucking. Freeways have been subsidized while rail lines have not. Now when we have to consider a possible dwindling supply of fuel and maybe air quality, improved engines and rail lines have advantages that haven't been properly explored. That won't be popular with everyone. There have to be trade offs.
I agree Rain. I still do not see how it could possibly be cheaper to take something from LA to Seattle by truck when you could put that on a train with 200 other truck trailers. I do not know if it is all the union rules and costs for the train or the scheduling that it is so inefficient compared to a truck who will have it at the warehouse there tomorrow. I know there are a lot of weird rules for train crews.
I know that the environmental movement started with good intentions. So do most Congressmen. But it has got to the point in many cases that the environmental leaders are just obstructionists or looking for essentially a bribe to "let" progress happen.
It is encouraging that Congress today, a democratic controlled congress said no to the auto manufacturers unless they come up with a plan where government money will help. Maybe government is on a new path. We can all hope.
I like the way that one congressman shredded the CEO from GM yesterday. And they asked all the CEOs if they flew on private planes and they said yes but they did not ask the UAW guy how he got there. I am curious if he flew commercial or in a private plane too.
I am glad the stopped the auto bailout too. They are asking the average American worker that costs his employer $28 an hour to bail out the UAW worker that costs his employer $73 an hour. It does not seem quite right to me.
Have you read this link yet? http://www.borowitzreport.com/
I thought it was pretty funny, but it's mean, too, and I'm trying not to be mean in these waning days of the current administration. I guess I can take the Bush Countdown off my blog now.
Unlike you, I am really trying hard not to watch very many political things except the announcements of the proposed cabinet. I've frankly just had it.
"So we had Bush who may not have held grudges....." I think he most assuredly did and does hold grudges, more so than many people do.
Much of what I've read and was aware of even before he ever became President and was wheelin' and dealin' in Texas, and especially after his Dad wasn't re-elected, was that Bush was an all-time champion grudge holder. His actions toward anyone who crossed him or didn't let him have his way, and didn't support his Dad as he thought they should, resulted in their being the recipient of severe, often sneaky retribution sooner or later.
Yes, I surely hope we now have a President who doesn't just say he wants to bring the country together, but who will make a genuine effort to do so.
Memories recalled from living in a state that had truly noticeable seasons comes to mind. I'm content now in So. Calif., but sometimes miss such pronounced seasonal changes.
I've always liked the changing of the seasons with Fall my favorite. But then some of those pretty winter snowfalls create a special mood as I gaze at the scene in awe. Of course, before winter's over, I'm usually ready for spring, admiring the new world emerging. Then, I'm quite ready for summer's warmer weather and the opportunity to go swimming.
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