The gone me.

I miss…being me. 

Somehow, in the past two years, while dealing with the virus pandemic and its continuing aftermath, I’ve lost my edge, whatever that was. 

Who hasn’t? 

Okay, okay, not everyone feels like me but, I’ll bet that if you dig down, deep inside, not everything about the image looking back at you in the mirror is the same. Yes, we’re all older, not necessarily wiser, but damn road-weary of the tumultuous ride life’s taken us on since 2020. 

As much as I enjoy getting out, either to work on my still-limited schedule or just to be part of the mostly unmasked civilization in the stores or restaurants…I’m happier to return home and jump into my pandemic loungewear. Think about it. In some ways, we’ve made it through what I call the “virus gauntlet”, even though the variants continue to threaten everyone. But, either through the vaccination process, or the benefit of any natural immunity incurred from getting Covid or one of its offsprings, we’ve become a lot more resilient and less impacted by all the previous virus hysteria of the past two years.

But just as we were all ready to pick up life’s virus-shattered pieces, along comes a political/financial type of influenza…full-blown inflation and skyrocketing gas prices which our fearless leader attributes to the Russian assault on Ukraine.  C’mon man!! I won’t go into some exhaustive diatribe on this issue even though my inner, sarcastic, child is throwing a tantrum in my head. That…is a rant for another day. Sadly, more and more of such days are heading our way. 

I long to get back to the me who embraced each new day and whatever it brought my way. I laughed more and enjoyed life’s simple pleasures. Maybe I took too much for granted, maybe I ignored mortality staring back at me in the mirror, like it does now. For all of us. 

I miss the me who didn’t give a rat’s ass about matters out of my control. I miss the me who can usually rise to most occasions and take charge. And some people in my life have chosen to be distant, for a myriad of reasons, both personal and likely political, I miss the interactions with them. The current state of our world and its issues has brought so much divisiveness between us all. We need to realize that life is just too damn short to spend time hiding in some corner of our existence on this angry planet.

From Mama Kat’s Writers Workshop…Write a blog post about something you miss.

Signature

Our “Breakfast Club”

Years ago, when I started writing and joined the blogging community, the subject matter was so much more…lighthearted. For the most part. When I developed my own website, it wrapped itself around my unfinished book which is a collection of memories of dealing with my later mother’s battle with dementia. 

That…has come full circle. 

Writing, to me, is about growth, about not marginalizing oneself into focusing on a single topic, day in and day out. Let’s face it, we all have opinions and so much more to say…about everything. Blogging provides that platform, almost a stage where we perform through what we write. 

Within the past two, or more years, my overall “tone” has developed an edge of sorts. Chalk it up to the pandemic, just like everyone else does, it seems. And now, with the current world turmoil, and all that goes along with that touchy subject, it’s quite difficult to sit down and put together some rambling words that spout sunshine, rainbows and lollipops. 

But then a good friend tagged me in a Facebook post, and it made me stop and think about good times, and friendships. And breakfasts on Sunday mornings. 

It all started well over one year ago with friends from a club The Husband and I belong to here where we live. Outside of that domain, several of us have gathered for long walks and meet just about every week at a great spot here in Carmel for breakfast. We call ourselves the Breakfast Club (of course) and we have our own spot in the upstairs part of George’s where at least ten or more of us sit in the same seats, week after week. We share and vent about life’s injustices from the days before or those ahead of us. From one end of the huge table to the other, idiotic YouTube videos and Memes are shared while we talk politics on all levels. Of course, there’s a bit of gossip to be had and we laugh like hell, sometimes so loud that our waitress, Karen, shuts the upstairs level door so we don’t disturb others. (Some of us, no names mentioned, can be a tad…loud.)

Positive friendships have blossomed and, in that, a respect for our differences along with support for the personal or family medical issues some have on their plate. And, speaking of plates…each week the breakfast orders range from oatmeal with blueberries, eggs over easy with a side of hash browns, stacks of pancakes, cheese omelets over corned beef hash (with a side of rye toast), waffles smothered with apples and whipped cream and… coffee, lots and lots of coffee.   Did I mention…” please pass the hot sauce”? Yup, that and ketchup. 

Each Sunday morning ends with gentle hugs outside the restaurant and we make our way into one more week. And we smile and wave as each of us drives away, knowing we’ll get to do it all over again in just a few more days. 

From Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop…
Write about what you miss most about your early days of blogging. 
Signature

Hear me roar…

strong woman

 

Here we are, doing our best to exist in the 21st century. From where I’m sitting, it’s a shit show and I refuse to apologize for this, or any of the commentary which follows. As I like to remind those who read what I write, here on my internet domain, if you don’t like it, or disagree with it, just move along. Please. 

Still here? Great. I’ll start with current events focused on the Supreme Court confirmation hearing involving Ketanji Brown Jackson, touted as a radical, left-wing activist by some, but the woman does bring extensive credentials to the governmental table. Except for two things, one which is getting beaten to death and is a point of annoyance to many, myself included. The second….is… and should be of tremendous concern to everyone. 

As she sat in the proverbial “hot seat”, Jackson was asked to define “woman”. She would not, possibly could not, but it was most likely an artful dodge of her “left ideology” refusal to acknowledge what a woman truly is. You know, I know, we all know, that a woman is an adult female person who belongs to a particular category (as by birth, residence, membership or occupation) ….at least Merriam-Webster thinks so. In fact, so do I but the underlying issue here is the political drama behind any response given by either side of the political coin.

What I find insulting is that any individual slated to take a seat on the high court of our country who professes such an asinine and ambiguous attitude when asked a damn elementary-level question… should not get away with it.  Whatever. In the order of things so much more important, this little episode will be nothing other than fodder for social media babble for an extended period…or until Facebook or Instagram deletes posts and those who share same. 

But…Jackson’s ambivalent attitude and censurable judicial performance toward mandating due process to individuals convicted of being pedophiles is far worse and unforgivable. At no point, ever, should a “soft on crime” attitude and likewise mandated incarceration period be minimized when any child is victimized, or worse, by some degenerate who should not roam free in society. Any future decisions on crimes such as this when Jackson sits on the Supreme Court should be focused on the children, not federal guidelines which, in many cases, are not followed, as stated by Douglas Berman, an Ohio State law professor… “federal sentencing guidelines for child sexual abuse imagery “are widely recognized as dysfunctional and unduly severe” and that “federal judges nationwide rarely follow them.” “If and when we properly contextualize Judge Jackson’s sentencing record in federal child porn cases, it looks pretty mainstream,” he wrote.  

Mainstream, eh? Minimizing the trauma and damage suffered by children at the hands of those who are deemed “less serious offenders” or “socially inadequate people” is deplorable. Why is there almost an element of acceptance when lenient sentences are given to sex offenders? Data shows there is further evidence of the systematic protection of sexual predators in this country, both by judges and prosecutors. This is more than evident with Ketanji Jackson’s judicial track record. 

Sadly, as we’ve all witnessed, too many political decisions are based solely on party preference with little or no thought given to how these individuals will properly represent the citizens of our country. Yes, yes, this is voting and… the entire process has taken a significant nosedive. Our country stands almost in a state of Limbo, lacking any true guidance while the threat of a devastating war looks over the world’s shoulder. 

But, aside from Ketanji Jackson, most of us know what a woman is….and aren’t hesitant to share the definition.  Especially me.  Hear me roar.

Signature