Winter Has Arrived and We Have a New Family Member

My four-year enlistment in the Navy seemed like a long time when I was living it from the ages of 18-22. Today, four years seem to go by so much more quickly. But what about four years in the life of a child? What about 8 years in the life of an impressionable child? I worry about the effect the current administration will have on the lives of so many young people who are watching the President of our nation and learning from his example. 

I know it's foolish of me to get my hopes up about the outcome of the election in just 9 days, but I am. The early-voting turnout is breaking records in many places even as people are having to put up with hours-long lines (during a pandemic, no less) due to Republican-designed voter suppression. I heard one report that Democrats were outpacing Republicans 2 to 1 in terms of voting to this point. I'm hopeful that the same enthusiasm from Democrats will continue through election day, sweeping in Biden and Harris while taking back the Senate as well. A guy can dream, can't he?

It didn't have to be this way for Trump. The economy was doing well (as it had been for the previous 6 years before Trump was elected), his base stood by him through all of his scandals and he was offered a golden opportunity to lead us through the pandemic. (What greater crisis could a president tackle to prove his ability to lead?) But he threw it away as he placed his focus on one thing only: the stock market—playing the virus down so as not to upset the markets. Had he led with a cohesive national plan for containing COVID-19, people would've understood when both the economy and the markets soured. 

But he didn't do that. 

Instead, he pitted us against one another with his red-state-blue-state-masks-wearers-are-to-be-ridiculed-rallies-rallies-rallies-fuck-social-distancing-fuck-the-scientists-it'll-all-go-away-on-its-own nonsense. And here we are with cases spiking once again, reaching levels of infection that are higher than any we've seen. It was revealed two days ago by Dr. Fauci that Trump hasn't been to a coronavirus taskforce meeting in months. I can't imagine being in his shoes and simply walking away from the crisis as he's done. 

And let's not forget: Trump disbanded the US pandemic response team that would've played a vital role in identifying and stunting the Covide-19 virus in its early days. This was Joe Biden's tweet from one year ago today. One of these men understands the gravity of the situation while the other hasn't a clue. 

I feel for Biden if he's elected. He's going to have to hit the ground running but I fear what a Republican-led Senate (if they prevail) will do to his plans to take the necessary steps to lead us out of this darkness. We saw the obstructionism they enacted toward Obama, weakening all of his efforts to bring healthcare to the masses and get the economy righted. I worry we're in for more of the same if McConnell is still leading the Senate.

Winter arrived in a big way on Tuesday when a storm left us blanketed under 9.5" (24 cm) of heavy, wet snow. I'd been busy with yardwork for much of the previous few weeks so I was ready when the flakes began to fall. I finished the year with 72 compost bags of leaves—a record for me! We still have a basswood tree that has yet to lose any of its leaves. We've been at or below freezing since the snowfall but there's some warmer weather for later in the week that has Steve and me talking about getting back out on the links again this year. I would love at least one last round. 

We have a new addition to our family. Cotton comes to us from a dear friend of Tammy's that she used to work for. Tammy has been cleaning Linda's home once each week for nearly two years. Her husband passed away last February and Linda left us this past Tuesday evening. Nobody in Linda's extended family wanted Cotton, her 15-year-old chihuahua. They were intending to have her euthanized and have her ashes mixed with Linda's. We offered to take her in and they agreed to let us have her. Tammy and I had actually discussed this scenario awhile back, agreeing that we would be there for her if need be, so there was no hesitation on our part to take her in. (We will have her cremated when she dies and return her ashes to Linda's family.) Cotton is slowly getting accustomed to her new surroundings with us but she has a ways to go before she's her normal self. Charlie doesn't seem to mind her quiet presence. 

I stumbled onto a political cartoonist on Instagram recently. I admire his work. I found the time-lapse video below of his sketch of a comic fascinating to watch as it evolved. 

That's all I've got.