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| 7:26 |
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| 7:31 |
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| 8:30 |
I woke at 6:45 to an overcast sky but at the moment, 7:50, the sun had popped out from behind the gray, filling the living room once again with its light. It's still chilly, 18º, and too windy to kayak, alas. I even see a few flurries although it's not sticking.
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| Cardinal In Our Front Window |
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| A Bevy Of Mallards This Morning |
Friday was a day of relaxation after our road trip to Erie, looking at furniture (which we don't need I might add but want). I was excited early morning, however, to be able to kayak for a half hour on a rapidly thawing lake. After my paddle, I wrote the blog, added photos, and Evie edited and published it before I left for yoga. The class was at 10:00 and Tara started the class with the announcement it would be a class of fire, meaning it would be rigorous. I survived, however, and left feeling pretty righteous. Evie needed some prescriptions picked up so I shopped at Wegmans, then stopped at the bank to cash another check because I overpaid as usual a medical bill. I don't get it.
Lunch was the last of the mushroom soup and cheesy brioche buns. I watched my show, The Vietnam War as things get worse with the battle for Hue, an ancient city that was turned to ashes. It was the turning point for Americans or so it seems. After that, the morale of the country turned against the war. I remember reading Mark Bowden's Hue 1968, a great book, back in 2017 with dismay and sadness. After lunch, I napped and finished my book, Poison, and then struggled to find something else to read. After my nap, however, I got busy in the kitchen and made Turkish kuru fasulye, basically white bean stew, with cannellini beans, tomato paste, garlic, Turkish spices, cayenne, chicken stock, and tomatoes. It's a Turkish staple, one we both love, usually served over rice. Once it was simmering on the stove, I went for a walk around the neighborhood because it was so inviting to walk outside, the blue skies and lake, the sunshine.
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| Long Point |
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| Northern Sky At 4:30 PM |
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| Windy Afternoon |
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| 1:38 PM |
By 5:30, we were enjoying a glass of wine and listening to the news, always depressing, as some Republicans continued to bring religion into making laws and policies although the nation's founders were clear to separate the Church from the State. The Constitution makes no mention of religion by the way. It's scary, just look at the religious oppression of the Mullahs in the theocracy of Iran.
We had roast beef sandwiches on kimmelwick buns, salad, and kuru fasulye and tried to watch a series on Netflix but it cut out each time we started and it is been happening almost every night. So we went to AppleTV+ and watched a series called Five Days and to our surprise, we are into it. And for the first time, I started a book, a group read from my library, something called TOGETHER WE READ. The book is titled One Summer In Savannah and included on the library website are discussion questions, a letter from the author, and a joint discussion on social media.
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Tom, I appreciate what you are saying, but every law has a moral underpinning. Whether it comes from religion, natural law, human ethics, one’s gut feeling of what is right or wrong, or something else - it’s all the same. If it commands 50.1%, it is the law. There is no establishment of religion in this country; no one is forced to believe anything or pretend that they do; there are no religious tests for office or the like. But that does not mean we ask our elected legislators to check their faith or morality at the door of the Capitol building. A Catholic, a Jew, a Protestant, a Muslim, an Athiest - all are welcome, and all can vote their conscience, however formed - whether by their faith or something else. That is the meaning of America. Please don’t disparage some views because they are seen as “religious.” We ought not to exclude folks from the public square because we think their views are “religious” and favor others because we think their views come from a “neutral” place or “secular” or something else. Everyone’s views come from somewhere, and the Founders, with the First Amendment, were saying ALL are welcome. I thank you for considering these thoughts. I enjoy your blog but don’t always agree on your politics!!
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous: I always welcome comments from my blog readers and yours is no exception. And I agree with most if not all of your points and have no problem with religion, just when it’s used to justify intolerance or deny human rights. The trigger for my response was the Alabama Supreme Count’s decision that frozen embryos are people, invoking scriptures as proof. I guess we could disagree on that point but that’s where my pique was coming from. Anyway, it’s a beautiful morning on the lake. Have a good day.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tom, for your thoughtful reply. I don’t remember how I originally ran across your blog but I have enjoyed it for about ten years now - and I admire your consistency in publishing everyday! As I said, I don’t always agree with you on politics - I come more from a conservative point of view - but I appreciate that we can have a civil, respectful exchange (and in so doing find we have more common ground than we, or at least I, might have thought). If only our politics were more like this. Anyway, thanks again, have a great day!
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