A Small Blog

Looking at Life in Small Pieces

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I hope you enjoy Jack’s and my stories. Remembering is hard work. I’m a retired Development Director, Communications Mgr. all for nonprofits. Jack worked at Whole Earth and he cooked.

  • A Small Blog-Mt. Rushmore

    Experiencing Mount Rushmore

    This summer, I agreed to go on a road trip to South Dakota with some friends. Between having to repeat everything two or three times, stopping to use the bathroom and nodding out in the back seat, we saw some beautiful country and visited some standard American tourist spots.

    One cold and rainy day, we drove for 2 ½ hours looking for buffalo in Custer State Park. Now, I’m thinking “who named a park in a state full of Indians, the site of the massacre at Wounded Knee, after General George Custer?” This guy graduated last in his class at West Point and went on to try to kill all the Indians in the Black Hills so everyone else could have their gold. Anyway, after we actually saw some black spots “way over on top of that hill,” we decided we had sited buffalo and could go to the next destination, Mount Rushmore.

    We drove up to the huge parking lot at the park, walked about ½ mile up the beautiful brick promenade and came to a terrace lookout and saw…nothing! The entire mountain was shrouded in fog. Squinting and peering like we could part the fog with our x-ray eyes, there was not even a trace or outline of the mountain, never mind its famous faces. It was an other-worldly feeling, knowing this huge mountain sculpture, you’ve seen a million times on TV or in magazines, was just on the other side of that wall of fog. It was kind of like faith, believing something is out there, even if you can’t see it with your own eyes.

    So, if you ask me if I have ever been to Mt. Rushmore, I would say yes. If you ask me have I seen Mt. Rushmore, I would say, “I believe I have.”

  • We are both Old and New

    I am a voracious consumer of the written word. Also, I stream a shit-ton of movies and shows, listen to music whenever I can, and appreciate visual art in just about any form.


    I can vividly remember the first movie I saw in a theater, The Wizard of Oz. Seen in a small Texas town’s segregated movie theater. So many more thoughts on this…


    I read Kafka’s Metamorphosis as a freshman in college. I happened on it in the text book, on my own, as it wasn’t covered by the sleepy, old professor.

    Me at 20 going to college in San Marcos, TX

    I leave you with this quote from a wonderful book by Irene Vallejo, Papyrus.

    “The classics are those books that, like die-hard rockers, grow old on stage and adapt to new kinds of audiences. “Looking at you Rolling Stones!

    Whatever y’all do, do it with passion and appreciation.
    I hope to live as long as this guy.

  • I’ve Never Been to Spain

    Last night I remembered this great song by Three Dog Night. I played it a few times and thought about traveling.

    https://youtube.com/watch?v=krMXkrdn9nc%3Fstart%3D6

    I’ve never been to Spain, and I’ll probably never get there. I’d like to Tango in high heels and swing my hair.

    Never going to Angkor Wat, but I wish I could. The vibes that transcends space and time would be super strong there, at least they should.

    I have been to the top of Aiea Heights, Hawaii. There a pine tree in a clearing that looks over Pearl Harbor all the way down to Diamond Head. I was only twelve, but perhaps, setting my life’s path breathing in the mystic air way back then.

    I’ve never see the Amazon, though I think I’d really like to. I have been swimming in the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. And, rivers–large and small, where I would dip my toes or a fishing pole.

    I’ve never been to heaven, but I have been to the Sweet Home Baptist in Clarksville. When my dear friend Uncle Seymour Washington passed, his friends, family, and neighbors packed the Sweet Home Baptist Church for his funeral. It wasn’t sad, but a heavenly thrill.

    Uncle Seymour Washington-The Walking Blacksmith

  • Spacing Out

    If Einstein were alive today, I imagine his sheer delight at beholding the space/time discoveries coming in from the James Webb Telescope. “When something vibrates, the electrons of the entire universe resonate with it. Everything is connected. The greatest tragedy of human existence is the illusion of separateness.” Albert Einstein.

    This Alan Watts quote also seems apropos for a musing of time, space, and humanity.

    “It is difficult in our logic to see that being and non-being are mutually generative and mutually supportive, for it is the great and imaginary terror of Western man that nothingness will be the permanent universe. We do not easily grasp the point that the void is creative, and that being comes from non-being as sound from silence and and light from space.”

    [ Art • “Soul Alchemy – Fire and Water” by John Paul Olivares ]

    It would be so cool if when I die my soul, in it’s purest form, rises to the sky and becomes one with space. Then I would really be traveling in the corners of the universe in the most spiritual form.

    Until then I’ll keep on learning, dreaming and praying for the best humanity can be.

    Also, what I wouldn’t give for a big fat joint to smoke!

    Thanks to https://dr-weedy.com/why-do-so-many-old-people-smoke-weed/

  • Whatcha ya’ watching–or reading?

    We started streaming maybe 8 or 9 years ago when the Roku box first came out. Cut that damn cable and it opened up a whole new world of TV viewing. Now you can subscribe to any number of channels and get about a gazillion shows, movies, series, music… which doesn’t necessarily mean you can always find something you want to watch.

    Now HBO Max, Netflix, Prime and others will happily suggest ‘if you watched this mystery movie, surely you will like all these’. My suggestions run from Viking shows, to foreign murder mysteries, to outer space horror killer clowns.

    Sometimes I just turn the TV off and read a book. And, that leads me to the latest installment of What I’ve Read Lately.

    Stephen King’s latest book Fairy Tale. Now, I haven’t read a Stephen King book in many years, though I was a big fan of King from the beginning. I was enthralled with every part of the story and characters. It was a delight to read and I was sad to see it end–the highest praise for any book.

    The Book of Night Women sort of hits you in the gut. I can still remember the emotions I had when reading it. Written by Marlon James who was National Book Award finalist for Black Leopard, Red Wolf and the WINNER of the 2015 Man Booker Prize for A Brief History of Seven Killings. This is a review from Time Out New York that tells it better than I could. “James has given us an epic novel of late-eighteenth-century West Indian slavery, complete with all its carnage and brutishness, but one that, like a Toni Morrison novel, whispers rather than shouts its horrors.”

    Then I’ve read a series of murder mysteries taking place on the Scottish coast–The Dr. Cathy Moreland Mysteries by Mairi Chong. There are a lot of fairly decent books in Kindle Unlimited. Sometimes, I just like a quick, easy, but suspenseful read. The author J.D. Barker has some good mystery books in Unlimited as well.

    My final 7 words

    Watch Read Listen Learn Create Give Enjoy

  • Sharing Words

    I haven’t written much lately. Not because I didn’t have anything to say. There are just a lot of folks out there who do have something to say and can say it better than I can.

    I have a lot of thoughts. Sometimes they keep me awake at night. Sometimes they are good actionable thoughts. Sometimes they are fractions of memories that make me happy or maybe queasy. My brother asked me the other day if I had any regrets regarding my behavior when I was younger–or even into middle age. I said I did. But, the past is not changeable, nor should it be dwelled upon. So, I just try to do better going forward.

    Below are a few articles or books I’ve recently read that I think are worthy to share:

    Trump should fill Christians with rage. How come he doesn’t? Michael Gerson writes in depth about the embrace of faux Christianity with politics. He doesn’t mince words. “Surveying the transgressive malevolence of the radical right, one is forced to conclude: If this is not moral ruin, then there are no moral rules.” He lays out what is and isn’t acting like a Christian or any other decent, moral human being.

    The Overstory by Richard Powers is an amazing book about people in love with trees. “We all travel the Milky Way together, trees and men. . . “In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness.”

    From Asymmetry: A Novel
    by Lisa Halliday” When, then, does one man’s delusion become the world’s reality? Is it every generation’s destiny to contend with a dictator’s whims? “By shrewd and constant application of propaganda,” we read in Mein Kampf, “heaven can be presented to the people as hell and, vice versa, the wretchedest experience as a paradise.” But only when the people in question fail in their duty toward vigilance. Only when through inaction we are complicit. Only when we are sleepwalking ourselves. Another swig. “Baby? Baby, where are you?” Somewhat appropriate for these times, wouldn’t you say?

    You know who is a great thinker? Patti Smith. I love her poetry, her songs and her books Someone asked me who I would like to be in another life and I said just like Patti Smith. Check out her Wikipedia page for information on all her works. Prepare to be amazed.

    Photo from Wikipedia.org

  • Smoking Hot Summer

    It’s hotter than blue blazes here in Texas. Every stinking day for at least a month it’s been over 100 degrees. Thank God for air-conditioning–I say before I see my smoking hot monthly electric bill.

    What have y’all been up to?

    I threw myself a 75th birthday party with two homemade cakes courtesy of hubby. Lots of family came in town and my eclectic group of friends came to wish me well. It was a super party. Everyone brought me wine or vodka. Hmm, what did that say?

    I think the hubby was a bit overwhelmed with all the activity.

    I’m getting out a little more. Living thru the pandemic which seems to have no end in site. Still wearing that mask, but going a few more places. Like the Van Gogh Immersive show. What a wonderful experience.

    I’ve been reading a lot. My ability to read a long book is over. I mostly find murder mysteries or sci-fi novels. River of Gods by Candice Millard is a very good book about Sir Richard Francis Burton. He’s one of my favorite historical people. Olga Dies Dreaming: a novel by Xochitl Gonzalez is excellent as well.

    So, when do you think ‘the former guy’ will finally get arrested for the umpty-million treason acts he’s committed? Can they please also take his whole family and his cohorts in Congress? It still amazes me how people can believe and adore him. I’ll say one thing, In the four years he was president, he and his administration managed to perpetrate a humongous amount of scandalous and down-right scary deeds.

    Here’s a quote I really like: “To regret one’s own experiences is to arrest one’s own development. To deny one’s own experiences is to put a lie into the lips of one’s own life. It is no less than a denial of the soul.”

    ― Oscar Wilde

    I’m very appreciative of the life I have right now. I hope you all can find a balance, a peace, a joy in your life.

    I leave you with this picture of the grandkids–because I’m sure they are the cutest ever!!!

  • Mothers’ Day 2022–rise up all you mothers

    Since cave men allegedly conked a woman on the head and dragged her back to his cave, women have been treated as sex objects, slaves, non-persons except in their context of ‘mothers’. I believe that women rock this world in more ways besides with their hand on a cradle. Strong women are my sheros. From the VP of the United States Kamala Harris to the single mother who is raising her children to rise above any hardships–reminding them that they are loved and important human beings.

    Heather Cox Richardson, a historian and writer of true, strong words in her post today: But “Mothers’ Day”—with the apostrophe not in the singular spot, but in the plural—actually started in the 1870s, when the sheer enormity of the death caused by the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War convinced American women that women must take control of politics from the men who had permitted such carnage. Mothers’ Day was not designed to encourage people to be nice to their mothers. It was part of women’s effort to gain power to change modern society.

    Julia Ward Howe, the true originator or Mothers’ Day asks all women (mothers or not) “Arise, women!” Howe commanded. “Say firmly: ‘We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.“

  • Spring works for me!

    Spring has sprung in San Antonio. All the trees are leafing out, and making those dastardly pollen squiggles. Folks are planting their gardens and landscaping plants. Here’s a good article about eco-friendly gardening if you’re interested.

    Are you still doom scrolling Twitter, Facebook and all the other platforms? Yeah, me too. But, I’ve tried to be more selective. Heather Cox Richardson has a daily news letter in which she dissects one or several current news topics and explains what’s it all means–especially as it related to history. She cites her sources as well.

    Technology is great except when it isn’t. My husband and I were gifted Echo Dots and smart lightbulbs. I get it all set up with two lights in his bedroom, one in mine and two in the living room. These damn lights went off and on like a calliope, not just when you asked it to. All the lights would come on in the middle of the night when the hubs snores too loudly or coughs–also if he farts. I kid you not. So I playing light police and asking Alexa to turn the errant bulbs on or off many times a day.

    Our daughter in Minnesota generously sends us all kinds of coffees from Ron’s Warehouse in Alexandria. When she sent this one I laughed out loud. I messaged her and said we weren’t going to try this. “Oh I drink it, it’s good” I explained about coffee enemas and she replied, “Oh my god, I’ve been drinking butt coffee.” Well, I thought that was funny.

    Also there’s this:

  • Total Eclipse of Normal

    Yes, I writing about the pandemic again. Also, politics.

    I posted this picture on Facebook yesterday. It’s the hubby two years ago when the pandemic first began in earnest. Since then, folks keep asking, “when will be get back to normal?” The answer is never, forget about it!

    First of all, two years ago, the former guy was creating governmental chaos every damn day. Faux news, conspiracies and boldface lies…which the media happily wrote about for clicks’ sake. Do you want to return to that or embrace it as something that was normal? Hell no! At least now, good change is happening more often. There are still plenty of roadblocks, but there is hope.

    As Jessica Wildfire said in a recent post, “The harder we try to get back to normal, the harder we make it on ourselves.”

    And, anyway, maybe normal isn’t as good as it was cracked up to be. My experiences have taught me that working outside ‘normal’ leads to more fun, new ideas and learning, and is generally good for you.

    One of my favorite movies is “Young Frankenstein” When Dr. Frankenstein, pronounced (Frankensteen) sends Igor (pronounced Eegor) to steal a brain it goes like this.