Here comes spring

Spring is almost here. Azaleas came early and escaped the frost predicted for the higher elevations tonight. The planting gets underway next week.

Santorum is over, for now. He is not going away and people who value the right to make their own personal choices need to remember that. He did succeed in getting Romney to pander, and that is going to make defeating Obama very difficult.

The coming general campaign will be ugly. Can we resist the media’s exaggerating differences just to increase ad revenue? Obama vs. Romney; neither is a desirable choice, but the dividing lines are clear. They are far clearer than they would have been without Santorum.

The rest of the world poses enough problems for our country, why do we continue to weaken ourselves with this bickering about how we pay for social services that are not likely to go away? Unless we go broke.

Not So Silent Night

Columnist Frank Bruni, in the Christmas Day N Y Times opinion section, extolls the “wall of talk” that characterizes his family’s holiday gatherings. Bruni makes it sound like a beautiful experience, and I feel confident that it is. There was a time when I enjoyed, and could follow the conversations that make up that wall of talk.

But Mr. Bruni, I hope you know the individuals in your family well enough truly to understand how each feels about all that talk. Waiting “for some slack between syllables — for little cracks in the great wall of talk” is nicely written, but it is frightening. Both my parent’s families talked, but rarely over someone else. I remember those times with deep rooted joy—even my uncles’ arguments about Ford vs. Chevy. 

We encouraged our children to talk and to listen. Our dinner table conversations often lasted hours. They are parents now, but each of them has told us how much those talking times mean to them. 

My hearing has faded and the only conversations I still understand are one-on-one and small group. Your wall of talk is an impenetrable cacophony. When your family is next to mine in a restaurant I had much rather be somewhere else. You preclude what little enjoyment I might glean from the companions at my own table.

The relatives who make the effort to be certain that I understand why everyone is laughing keep me clawing at that wall. I want to be part of it. Yes, there is great joy in talk, but I hope you know the joy listening can bring. There also is great joy in silence together.

Elected Theater of the Absurd

We dare not raise taxes on the wealthy, but it is okay to allow payroll taxes to go up. I almost asked, “Where is the logic?” but stopped short because I remembered we are dealing with an elected theater of the absurd. If only it would give way to silence. 

Reducing medicare payments to doctors will drive more of them to refuse to accept medicare. More patients will no longer have access to medical care. How do these things help America?

Freedom from religion

Why does Newt want to govern my life? It is not my business who, or how many times Newt marries. He, and the government he advocates, should not be concerned about who or how many times I or anyone else marries.

I am disgusted with the way the “Republican base” continues to fawn over self-loving hypocrites. Gingrich certainly is no role model for the sanctity of marriage that he advocates. He and his ilk are all for freedom for their religion, but they have no truck with freedom from religion.

I would like to believe that Newt’s doubling down for the Iowa Fundamentalist Caucus-goers is just another instance of saying whatever it takes to get elected, but he has a history of implementing his positions; even to protect America from bogeymen that do not exist. That should frighten thinking people.

Hitchens is dead

Christopher Hitchens was erudite, stimulating and outspoken—no matter how powerful his target. Hitchens’ words and actions on behalf of Salman Rushdie earned him a place of honor among the champions of individual freedom. The threat to Rushdie placed every person who spoke out on his behalf in danger. Hitchens opposition to a religion determined to silence anyone who does not follow its dictates stands as an example to all who value freedom of religion and speech.

Rain in the Desert

There is nothing quite like rain in the desert. As it washes the dust permeated air a moist freshness fills my nostrils with a smell that is different from any other and my lungs with vibrancy reminiscent of youth. Age has affected my sensory perceivers and these kinds of experiences are deeply satisfying. Not as exhilarating as they once were, but more substantial satiating.