Bern

Her full name is Bernadine Pisano--no middle name.

I met her when I was a senior in high school and she was a freshman. We were in Latin class together.

Amo, Amas, Amat.

From that time on we were a couple. We've known each other for 55 years and have been married for 50 of those.

She is not just 'the love of my life', she is, in many ways--My Life.

We share two children and four granddaughters and more memories (bad and good) than most couples have.

She does most everything around our home. She won't let me near a vacuum cleaner or a lawn mower. All I'm in charge of is trash and recycling.

We do take turns cooking dinner and are on our own for any other meals or snacks.

I do fill the dishwasher every other day and sometimes empty it when it is done.

I wash my own clothes and towels but she washes everything else.

I'm not handy at all, so she does minor repairs.

I've come to trust her, over the years in most every aspect of our shared life.

She asked me to de-clutter my office--a eight by 12 space at the top of our back stairs.

I thought she was being silly--I didn't need to de-clutter!

I filled our entire Cheshire Garbage Can with stuff I threw away.

Bern knows best.

Always has.

Always will.

I love her beyond words, with my whole being....

 

I won't be writing much this week

 I won't be writing much this week.

I'm so focused on the election I can't sit and write.

I'll find some old stuff to send along, o.k."?

Like this--

                   MAKING THINGS

 

Most of the best things require

       only a few ingredients.

 

Flour, water, yeast, a pinch of salt

      (a pinch of sugar too, I’d say) and time:

       kneading , rising, kneading, rising, kneading,

       baking—you’ve got bread.

 

Grape juice, sugar, yeast (again) and more time…

        there’s the wine.

 

A simple reed, plucked from the marsh,

        a sharp knife and breath makes music.

 

Paper, thin wood, some string, a tail and patience

        makes a kite and flight….

 

Then there is this—what you have made,

        perhaps not knowing….

          The Patience you needed to deal with me!

                    The Commitment and Skill you brought to the mix.

                     The Hope and Trust to make it

                               Rise

               Ferment

               Sing

                               Fly.

            And dollop after dollop of Great Good Humor—

              that most of all.

few ingredients, but enough and more,

to make my life here joyous, wondrous, profound, incredible, magic

                      and so much fun….so much fun….

 

And I thank you for the feast of life, the song and the flight.

 

jgb/April 29, 2010

The leaves are falling...

...and so are the votes!

Early voters (like Bern and me) are setting records around the country. Unimaginable numbers compared to 2016.

And here's the thing--something like 12% of them are from people who didn't vote last presidential election.

Another thing--many of them are millennial voters--a group that vastly under-voted in 2016 because neither candidate struck their fancy.

This early voting surge--with 10 more days to early vote--encourages me that voter suppression in many Red states is not working.

It also encourages me that this fall may lead to a happy winter, with President-elect Biden preparing his cabinet and advisors and the Dems in charge of both Houses of Congress.

The falling leaves are lovely--and so is that thought....

(all opinions here are mine and mine alone....)

 

  

The debate and Borat

Last night I watched the last Presidential Debate.

Tonight I watched Borat 2.

I liked the movie better.

The debate wasn't a debacle like the first one, but the President lied and lied and lied some more.

The first words out of his mouth was how we have turned the corner on the Pandemic. Today over 70,000 Americans tested positive.

Biden wasn't perfect, but he far out debated and out smarted the President.

But Borat is amazing.

If you're a Biden voter you have to watch it. It dissects the Republicans and put America's mayor in an extremely compromised position.

Hilarious is the word I'd use.

I almost didn't watch the debate since I voted weeks ago.

But I did and saw a calmer President who lied just as much.

 

  

Letting go

This is the greatest quote I've ever heard.

It's from the Hopi elders.

 

         Letting Go

There is a river flowing now, very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly.

Know this: the river has a destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push out into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open and our heads above water.

At this time of history, we are to take nothing "personally". Least of all, ourselves. The moment we do that our spiritual growth and our journey comes to an end.

The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!

Banish the word "struggle" from your attitude and vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we've been waiting for!

 

Lordy, Lordy....

As my Grandmother, Lina Manona Jones, used to say, "Lordy, Lordy!"

Bern has a bee in her bonnet.

She's cleaned out most of our upstairs rooms, throwing God knows what away.

Now she wants to start on my little office.

I finally agreed, making sure I had time to go through stuff first.

I already threw away a huge trash bag full of stuff.

Today I found photos that were 20 years old and I didn't remember taking.

Also, tomorrow I'll get rid of 20 years of tax stuff I don't need to keep--just the last 4 years.

Lots of books too.

Tomorrow, CD's and Video discs I don't need and don't have anything to play them on.

Then I get to papers and writings and stuff.

Lordy, Lordy, that will be a task!

Going through old stuff makes you wash your hands a lot.

I have to admit, though I don't want to, that Bern was right to want to do this.

I may even get rid of my diplomas and ordination certificate and Phi Beta Kappa certificate all of which are framed and on either side of me as I type this.

Time to let the past go. That's what Bern keeps saying.

Perhaps she's right.

But I love disorder and she wants to make it orderly. 

Lordy, Lordy!!!

 

Too Much Too Fast

 It's hard to keep up with the news--too much too fast.

The president taking on Dr. Fauci on a phone call and in rallies.

The president continuing on the unfounded attack on Hunter Biden.

Biden continuing 'drive in' rallies.

Such a disparity between the two campaigns.

"Super Spreader" rallies by the president.

Covid moving into a new wave across the nation.

Investigations into China and Russia over cyber-warfare and interference in our election and society.

Incredible early voting by mail and in early voting.

The Supreme Court appointment moving on when no Covid relief bill is forthcoming.

Astonishing resistance about masks, social distancing and hand washing when all that would save thousands of lives.

Economic woes over the pandemic.

"The Voice" starting on TV (my favorite show).

Wondrous election results in New Zealand.

Brexit hitting skids.

Too much to take in and process.

Give me Joe Biden and a return to calm.

Give me that.

(all opinions here are mine and mine alone)