...with a stroke of his evil pen, the orange f*ckwad makes the stupidest, meanest executive orders on his very first day.  Is anyone surprised?  I'm certainly not.  What a great way to start your term - letting felons out of jail who stormed the Capital and killed people!  Yep, way to make America great again.  However, if these people were of a different skin color, say, brown, black, yellow, do you think they'd still be in jail?  Um....don't think too hard on that one.  It's a pretty easy answer.  And so it begins.  Four years of despotism, idiocracy (yep, that's going to be my nom de plume for this bastard's term), and free-falling from a great nation to ruins.  Hopefully, Congress and the House aren't fiddling while we burn....time will tell.

Trying to breathe through this trying time.  It's only going to get worse.

Hug someone you love today.  And if you know anyone who identifies as non-female or non-male, they're going to need you even more than ever before.  I'm really, really hoping that love will triumph over evil.  That's really all I've got.  Peace to you.

....to the inauguration, either, if I were Michelle Obama.  In fact, if it's even possible, I respect her more for it.  I kind of wish everyone with any sense of decency wouldn't go, though I don't blame the former presidents for attending.  I think it's more about supporting America than about supporting the ridiculous poser getting inaugurated.  I had hoped to be out of town on that day.  I will not tune in.  Can't stand to look at that maniac, much less hear his voice, much less watch him put his fat ham hands on a Bible (I'm not religious, but still!) and take the oath when he should be in prison.  Ahhh, our country....the founding fathers must be dying all over again.....

Okay.  Had to get that out of my system.  Sometimes you need to cleanse your palate before moving on.  I'm going to bundle up and see how long I can walk today. It's 19 degrees but feels like 6 degrees out there.  At least it's sunny!

My heart goes out to the West Coast...and honestly, to everyone everywhere suffering....here's a hug for you.  I hope you're doing well on this January day.  Here's a nature heart for you from Starved Rock.  Peace out.

....it's cold outside!  It was a balmy 10 degrees this morning when we woke up, real feel minus 7.  Definitely not complaining.  I have nothing to complain about - it's winter in the Midwest and it's supposed to be cold.  I welcome it because it's....normal when so many things aren't.  I don't think I need to list the events happening in this Bizarro World we're all finding ourselves in.  But today, I'm staying away from any political rants and just enjoying a beautiful, snowy, freezing, sunny winter day.

If you need a hug today, here's one for you.  If you need someone to tell you you're amazing, here you go:  You're amazing!  Pass it along, won't you?

Here's some serenity for you from our beautiful camping trip to Wisconsin and our hike in Kettle Moraine.  Peace to you.

....we've seen so many friends mark themselves safe from the Los Angeles wildfires, but, oh, how sickeningly awful and scary and devastating it looks out there.  I remember years ago my sister calling me from her home in Texas when her neighborhood was evacuated due to wildfires near them, the sound of her voice, the terror in it, the helplessness of being able to do anything about it.  It's something I'll never forget.  Thank you to all the brave firefighters who are doing their best to quench all the fires out there and everywhere and to all the people who are helping others through this tragic time.

Here, we're experiencing just the opposite - a winter snow is falling outside, beautiful, swirling flakes.  From the raging of orange and red flames and black smoke on the West Coast to a peaceful dance of white snowflakes in the Midwest....kind of defines how things are going in our country and around the world - polar opposites....yep, I read the news today, oh, boy.....need to shake it all off....

Please take care of each other, the stranger on the street, the people you hold dear, the person serving your dinner at your favorite restaurant, the coworker in the next cubicle.  Life is short and precious, and if we're not here to help each other, then I really don't know what we're here for.  Be kind to others.  Be kind to yourself.  Here's a bit of beauty for you from Starved Rock.  Peace out.

....I took a break from the news after the election upon reading a headline that farmers are now worried who's going to pick their crops now that the orange f*ckwad will be debasing (that's not what the headline said. Debasing is mine) the White House.  Well, well, well.  Who did you vote for, farmers?  Actually, who did all these people vote for who are now whining about, oh, but what about this?  what about that?  what about ME?  I'd like to say that I have compassion for these one-issue voters, but quite frankly, you've put all of us in this mess and my compassion for you is nil, zilch, zero.  We all had a chance in November to do the right thing....we missed the right thing and landed on the far right thing, and now?  I'm not a religious person, but god help us.

I can't dwell on this.  I've dipped my toe back into the news this week.  I was feeling ignorant, and willful ignorance is what got us here, so it's my duty as a person, as a citizen to know what's happening in our country and around the world.  That's all I'm going to say....dipping my toe into the news this week after such a long break has been....exactly what I expected after the election.

On a completely different note, because I will not sustain that note and be hijacked by depression for four years, we had the best Hanumas ever!  My partner's child joined us for the holidays and it was magical :-)  I hope your holidays were special in all ways you wanted them to be and that your 2025 has started out on a high note of hope and strength.  Find beauty in all you see.  And please, oh, please, be kind to all creatures great and small. 

....by these politicians - Republicans - who say they love this country yet are doing everything they can to destroy it.  The newest news on this crazy guy now on everyone's radar because of the breaking story on CNN, Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson???  Are you kidding me???  Why is this guy even in office anywhere?!?!  If you haven't read the story about him, read it.  Just...unbelievable.  Oh, and have you seen the orange f*ckwad's latest comments he made TO a Jewish audience about Jewish people?!?!  Basically saying if Jews don't vote for him, it's our fault if he loses?  I mean!!!  You can't write this sh*t!  If all this were a TV movie, no one - NO ONE - would believe it.  This all makes me think of Stephen King horror novels because surely, these people are far more terrifying than IT, than The Shining, than 'Salem's Lot,  Because these people are REAL and are trying to be in power and are trying to make this country into Nazi Germany.  Why????  And why would you or anyone you love or anyone who cares about freedom, democracy, decency, moving forward, loving your neighbor, women's reproductive rights, creating a clean environment, and living in peace and harmony even think about casting a vote for these insane despotic dangerous morons?  As a friend said, no one is going to know how you vote, so even if you think you have to vote Republican because your husband, your partner, your neighbor thinks you're one thing, you can be the good you want to see in the world and use your vote to vote for a way forward with Kamala and Tim.  Your voice, your vote.  Use it for good and not for evil.  Need to register?  Here you go.  https://vote.gov/

Conversely, I wept while watching Oprah talk with Kamala last night.  Oh, my gosh....what an extraordinary person Kamala is!  Joy, hope, inclusion, intelligence, experience, forward-thinking ideas, a person who wants to help ALL people, not just people who look like her.  That's the world I want to live in.  Don't you?

....a biblical quote being played out before our very eyes.  What does it tell you when the orange f*ckwad has now been twice targeted (that we know of) by a man with a gun who's fed up with the vile rhetoric and lies he spews?  Not that I believe in guns or violence, but he has certainly brought this on himself and it's really hard to feel bad about it.  And, of course, the spin and sorry-ass venom he and the f*ckwadette are now spewing about it being the Democrats' fault!  I mean!!!!  If this were a movie, no one would believe it!  Whatever rock JD crawled out of, I certainly hope by November 6th, he's sliming back under it, never to be seen or heard from again.  These people...sad, pathetic, dangerous.  Such a sad state of affairs when the only ammunition you have against your opponent is lies and vitriol.  GROW UP, YOU IDIOTS!  No one wants this kind of "leadership."  No one wants an insane despot (I guess you do if you love despots) to run our country.  Your voice, your vote.  Vote early, vote on election day, JUST VOTE.

...the debate last night?  If you didn't, do yourself a favor and find it.  Kamala was INCREDIBLE from the get-go, confidently striding over to the orange f*ckwad, who immediately retreated behind his podium, outstretched her hand, said, "I'm Kamala Harris," and with that, threw him off his insane game from the start.  Brilliant.  Sheer brilliance.  Looking at these two, the power, command, calm passion, clear statements from Kamala versus the lies, vitriol, sometimes unintelligible gibberish from the sack o'sh*t standing to her right, how is it possible that anyone could make any other choice in their vote?  Do you want a smart as hell person who will fight for you, has a conscience, isn't worried about, oh, rally numbers (that was awesome!!), wants women to govern their own bodies, and is a hard-working in touch with the world person who isn't allllllll about herself but about the people?  "Kamala Harris for the people."  It was a pathetic, lumpy, orange madman yelling lies and spewing hate that she was debating.  And he took the bait she had queued up for him EVERY TIME.  She rose above all the insults, didn't even address them.  He couldn't stop himself.  Is that what you want in a president?  Someone with absolutely NO self-control who has his hand on the button, who meets with world leaders and makes a laughingstock out of America?  His ridiculous slogan Make America Great Again?  Again???  America IS great, and if he doesn't think so, I'm sure Putin would welcome him with open arms so he can have another human plaything that he can ridicule - and the f*ckwad wouldn't even get that!  Use your vote to do good for yourself, your family, your friends, your country, your world, your planet.  Kamala and Tim are the way forward!