Monthly Archives: June 2020

America’s Burning

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America’s Burning

Count the faces. Take a tally
of the peaceful protest rally.
Their routine is most well-planned,
masks in place, placards in hand.

Enter police. Down on belly!!!
Enter newscasters for telly.
Teargas in the people’s park.
Truckloads arrive after dark.

Rioting and smashing glass.
Other dark deeds come to pass.
Using protest for excuse
to bring discord and spread abuse.

Violence becomes routine.
Authority a cruel machine.
A whole nation comes to grieve
the loss of what most folks believe.

An orange bigot, Bible raised,
pontificates, posturing, crazed.
A landmark of our country’s pride,
struck by a flash as freedom died.

Has our nation come to this?
This puffed-up, prideful bag of piss?
Shame on a country who listens to
a fool who’s rotten through and through.

Let sane men take the lead  and bring
some sanity to everything.
Equality and fairness reign
under a government more sane.

People stand up. Demand the best.
Do not give up. We cannot rest.
Seize back the country we have sold
to men who only care for gold.

Give succor to the halt and lame.
Do not play the money game
subsidizing rich man’s greed
instead of helping those in need.

Color is just an outer skin
and not a mark of shame or sin.
Use these sad times to make a start
to start to recognize the heart

that unites men from every nation,
every interest, every station.
Save our earth and save mankind.
Restore justice, and make her blind!!

Prompt words today are belly, landmark, grieve, rally and routine. I swore I’d write about something other than the rallies and violence that are tearing at the flesh of the whole world, but impossible to follow these prompt words anywhere except back to the current matters at hand.

Tabachine with Butterfly: FOTD June 8, 2020

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I sat for hours watching dozens of these black and orange/red butterflies flittering around the tabachine. They moved so fast that it was almost impossible to get a focused shot but the entire ballet was so beautiful.  Then one large yellow butterfly dive-bombed the bush and then soared out over the empty lot next door and back again. I saw it several other times.. a nice interruption. I am loving spending lots of time in my studio or hammock watching the busy life of my backyard. Then came the invasion of cows, but that is a story for another blog.

For Cee’s FOTD

Memory Games

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Memory Games

Woke up very early today—around six—and decided to stay up since yesterday Jesus had said they’d come earlier next time to beat the midday sun and also because the rainy season is coming on fast this year and they need to finish painting the murals around the outside of my studio within the week. I thought I’d get my blog written, the animals fed and maybe make them a special breakfast instead of the usual cookies or cake or chocolates that I serve with their morning coffee. (I make Jesus and Eduardo, not the animals, morning coffee with sweet treats. Ha! Thanks to Dolly and Irene for setting me straight on my faux pas.) So, all my tasks finished, I brewed a pot of coffee and started preparations for molletes–one way to use all those beans I cooked earlier this week that seem not to be vanishing at a rapid-enough rate in spite of the fact I’ve had them for every meal since. So, I located the beans in the fridge, sliced a bolillo (small fresh bread loaf) buttered one side of each of the pieces of bread and lay half of the pieces butter-side down on the grill, then layered manchego cheese, beans and manchego cheese before topping them each off with another slice of bolillo, butter side up. When they got here, I would grill both sides for an extra little treat. Half molette, half grilled cheese sandwich, it would be an Americanized version of a Mexican favorite.

Putting the grill on the unlit stovetop, I covered the molletes with a cloth, took my meds, instructed Echo to set my timer for a half hour when I would take the rest of my meds and went to check on my blog. Hmm. 9:15. It seemed as though if they were coming early, they should have been here by now, as their usual time of arrival was 10. It was then that I thought to look not only at the time but the day of the week. Sunday!!!

A full pot of brewed coffee and a grill full of potential molletes–and I a person who had done a smoothie for breakfast for over 30 years and who had to give up coffee 24 years ago! I guess there is always a valid excuse for breaking routine, so in an hour, after I’ve waited to take my second round of meds and waited the prescribed half hour, I will be dining on molletes and real coffee. I’ll have my smoothie for dinner and drink extra water to ward off the bad leg and arm cramps I get when I drink caffeine. The world will not end if I break a few of my own rules.

Click on photos to enlarge and read captions.

Front door mural completed
Molletes Americano on the grill

Adulation and Lamentation

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Adulation and Lamentation

Held captive by your luscious smile, I state the total truth
when I say you are perfection, both in lip and tooth!
Your hair’s no less than gossamer. Your figure scores a ten.
No greater beauty’s lauded by any poet’s pen.
 
Thanks to both your parents for creating such perfection.
Hereafter we must ostracize beauty of less confection.
It’s clear they scored a victory when they created you,
so why stop at one instead of making us a few?

 

Prompt words for the day are luscious, thanks, victory, ostracize and captive.

Who is Really Looting America? by Sarah Midkiff

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The looting of America is not the byproduct of protests, but rather it can be seen in our country’s broken economic system, one that allows tax breaks for the ultra-rich, unchecked legislation that enables shareholders to get payouts even when the money comes from a federal bailout, and corporate double-dipping while employees lose their livelihood.
This type of looting has a long history, but the coronavirus pandemic has only emphasized its impact, and shown clearly who the real looters are. Amidst this, the greatest public health crisis in the last century, 40 million people filed for unemployment and the federal government scrambled to find ways to bail out companies and bolster the economy. Within the CARES Act, a myriad of programs were introduced, one of which enables adjustments to tax law which alters what certain business owners are allowed to deduct from their taxes, with a goal of allowing companies to hold onto more money during a time of uncertainty.

And, because trickle-down economics is not much more than a nice idea rather than a reality, approximately 82% of the benefits from that tax law change go to people making $1 million or more annually. This means that 95% of the individuals who benefit make at least $200,000 a year, according to an analysis conducted by Congress’ joint committee on taxation.

(for more, go here:)

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/06/9852642/billionaires-rich-looting-america-tax-law-money

Bunker Boy Lip Sync

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This is  Sarah Cooper lip syncing Trump’s latest Fox interview where after being called “bunker boy,” he is now saying that he went down to “inspect” the bunker, he was not there fearing for his safety.

After listening to this, can you really say you can trust his credibility?

https://twitter.com/sarahcpr/status/1269411521987256320?fbclid=IwAR0mq2Bip1h1tyVWFfP66SPL0KFDs2q8Yc5aPG2pHpNHHSSEUF8kdZVc8dQ
https://twitter.com

And, HERE is some further information about the presidential bunker.

Roads Well -Traveled

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On the level.

Click on photos to enlarge.

For Lens Artist Challenge: The Long and Winding Road

Hibiscus: June 7, 2020

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For Cee’s FOTD

24 Hours

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This is an informal collection of photos taken at home over the past 24 hours. Click on photos to enlarge and read about what is going on.

Eduardo had the exacting job of measuring off the designs.
And a chance to model the sombrero Morrie peed on two days ago. Never fear.. it has been washed and allowed to dry. He no longer sets it on the ground between wearings.
The owner of this disgraceful footwear shall remain unnamed. Suffice it to say they are comfortable and he can leave them out on his front stoop with no fear they’ll be stolen.
A Disreputable pair
Jesus prettied up the ugly scar from where a branch was sawed off for me, since this is my main view from my hammock.
The clouds are gorgeous in the later afternoon
\
and the scene was constantly changing
Finally, it was time to go up to the house
And before I knew it, Jesus and Eduardo were back.
Wait! let me comb my hair!
Perfect. A 24 hour cycle completed.

2020 Home Photo Challenge 6-6-20

Divergence

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Divergence

It’s the untold exposition 
of most love stories–
that split in the path ahead
that was hinted at, perhaps,
from the beginning.

Overlooked but inevitable,
it makes this story
as regular as most of the others.
It is the flourishes
that make the romance
that nudges us
to try again.

 

Today’s word prompts are: the path ahead, split, (starting to sound like a Robert Frost poem in the making, here,) untold, exposition and regular.