Hurricane Watch, September 2017

Irma is coming, and she’s nobody’s favorite aunt. We’re watching her closely here at Doright Manor in Havana, Florida, and contemplating our options.

A Facebook friend from Melbourne, FL, sent me a link to a weather website that allows one to view a storm’s projected path and wind speeds in three hour increments.

ventusky.com

Just type in a location and the animated map will indicate when that area might be impacted and how long residents might be dealing with the brunt of the storm.

Below is the projection for Havana from late Sunday to early on Monday:

Pretty cool, huh? Of course these are all still projections.

If Irma had a heart she’d just dissipate and go frolic as some lighthearted waves in the Atlantic. Go away Irma! We have nothing you need!

Be prepared and stay safe!

Peace, people.

Light

A matter of time

Everything boils down to this

All things fall away

Raging storm, dark clouds,

Nothing will last forever

Light permeates all

Dreamers, hold on,

We promise to fight for you

Looking for that light

Totem

Totem pole bottom

Weighed down by crows and warriors

View never changes

Lofty intentions

Brought low by circumstances

Hardly moving up

Change doesn’t come

He remains the same old wolf

Underneath it all

Who Indeed?

Who would she have been

Rooted in the old home soil

Victim or victor

How life has changed her

Honed and toughened, awakened

She’s nobody’s pawn

There are those who prey

Others seek in vain to shame

Who would she have been?

Sam Hamill: Poetry, Politics, and Zen

Thoughtful and thought provoking.

Vox Populi's avatarVox Populi

If only we could touch the things of this world at their center, if we could only hear tiny leaves of birch struggling toward April, then we would know.

—

Nothing will change until we demolish the “we-they” mentality. We are human, and therefore all human concerns are ours. And those concerns are personal.

—

The only thing we all agree on, virtually every poet in this country, is that this Administration is really frightening, and we want something done about it.

—

Poetry transcends the nation-state. Poetry transcends government. It brings the traditional concept of power to its knees. I have always believed poetry to be an eternal conversation in which the ancient poets remain contemporary, a conversation inviting us into other languages and cultures even as poetry transcends language and culture, returning us again and again to primal rhythms and sounds.

—

My ethics, my sense of morality…

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Laundry

Normally I take on the task of doing our laundry on Mondays. With just two of us in the house these day the once dreaded and seemingly unending chore now only requires a couple of hours of my time. I actually enjoy doing laundry now.

Studly Doright did quite a bit of traveling this past week, both for work and recreation, so he dumped a suitcase full of dirty clothes on the bathroom floor this Sunday morning and then asked if I’d mind doing laundry this afternoon.

“No, I don’t mind at all,” I said. “But why do you need for me to do laundry today?”

“I’m changing my name to Laundry,” he quipped and ducked out the door before I could throw something at him.

Please help our fellow Americans in Texas. Thank you!

Good piece from fellow blogger cornfedcontessa.com.

cornfedcontessa's avatarcornfedcontessa

UPDATE: I had a comment from a reader asking about donating clothing to flood victims in Texas. Here is a link to a press release from FEMA regarding donations: FEMA PRESS RELEASE According to the press release, cash donations are best at this time. Here is a quote from the press release: “Cash donations offer…the […]

via Just Thought You Should Know… How You Can Help Texas Flood Victims — The Purple Almond

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Risk vs. Reward

She’s not bullet proof

But neither is she fragile

Words wound, but don’t kill

Risk versus reward

Glomming onto a spotlight

Falling in shadows

She could double down

Accelerate the damage

Or wave a white flag

Quietly Altruistic — Meh

Alotfromlydia.wordpress.com sees through Trump’s supposed altruism.

alotfromlydia's avatarA lot from Lydia

If you’re in the luckiest one per cent of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 per cent.~ Warren Buffett

Donald Trump and his sons want you to know he has pledged $1 million to victims of this week’s storm. They want main stream media to put it out there. It is out there.

Also out there: According to Forbes, over the past decade, Eric Trump’s own charity, the proceeds of which go to St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital’s cancer research, has paid Trump organization more than $1.2 million ~from the charity’s funds~ for the annual one-day use of their golf course. Quiet altruism at work?

Whether Trump actually donates what he pledges remains to be seen. His track record is not good even for his own fund raising efforts.

Trump’s offer of $1 million dollars follows offers by a list of…

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Exercises in Deep Breathing

A couple of days ago I shared a meme on Facebook that caused tempers to flare. I first included it in this post, but honestly, I feel like I’ve been through the ringer. ¡No más! So, I deleted it before publishing.

Basically the meme was a take on the whole “weather catastrophes are the fault of….(insert gays/feminists/atheists/Muslims, etc.).” only this one jokingly put the blame for Hurricane Harvey on Trump, and then asked, “see how ridiculous that sounds.”

Obviously I was trying to make a point about how ridiculous some of the wacky religious and/or political pundits sound when they blame catastrophic events on homosexuality or feminism or any number of unrelated events, so the amount of vitriol the post attracted was rather stunning. Clearly it was satire.

Was I not aware of the suffering people in coastal Texas and surrounding areas were experiencing? Well, yes, I am aware and have posted numerous links to responsible agencies who are accepting donations for victims of Hurricane Harvey, and I’ve donated to more than a few such organizations myself. If I thought I could be an asset instead of an aggravation I’d be volunteering there right now. The good folks of Houston and beyond are going to need help for many months to come, and I’ll help in whatever ways I can.

Have I no sense of shame? Certainly I do when shame is warranted. This isn’t one of those times.

What has happened to me? Apparently I used to be a good person, but I’m not anymore. Huh. I’ve always tried to do the right thing. I haven’t always been successful, but I look out for others and treat people kindly.

The meme is in poor taste! I don’t believe it is; however, cutting a proposed one billion dollars of funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s budget in order to finance a wall between the U.S. and Mexico is certainly crossing a line that far exceeds the realm of good taste, and I don’t see any of the folks who lambasted me over my meme having a meltdown over that.

Several folks lectured me on my morality and ethics. Oddly enough none of them would be my first choice were I to go in search of a teacher on those issues.

A thoughtful friend sent this to me after reading the battering posts. I take great comfort in good friends.

I continue to pray for all those affected by Harvey. Yes, I do. Even those who think I’m a bad person.

If you want to support a great organization that’s helping out folks who’ve lost everything to this devastating storm here are more verified links:

https://www.youcaring.com/victimsofhurricaneharvey-915053

Umcor.org

Peace, people.