“It’s fun to have fun
But you have to know how.
I can hold up the cup
And the milk and the cake!
I can hold up these books!
And the fish on a rake!
. . .
I can fan with the fan
As I hop on the ball!
But that is not all.
Oh, no.
That is not all. …”
from The Cat in the Hat
written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss
Random House, Inc., 1957
News is spewing non-stop like a fire-hose at full blast with no one holding on. It’s flopping every which way, and I kinda am, too. You probably are, too. And it’s only the first week of the new year. And today is the fifth anniversary (is that even the right word?) of the frenzied mob who stormed our Capitol to prevent the 246-year-precedent known to all as the peaceful transition of power.
The transition was anything but peaceful. You remember. Since then, “DOGE,” undoing USAID, federal employee firings, cancelling the Department of Education, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and childhood immunizations. Ripping off the East Wing of the White House.
Here's what happened to the 2026 quarters that were agreed on by a congressional committee. In short, Frederick Douglass, Ruby Bridges, and Suffragists were replaced by pilgrims, the Revolutionary War and the Gettysburg Address. The first quarter is being released today.
Trump wants his face on a new $1 coin. Whoo, boy!
Pardons, tariffs, ICE, National Guard in our cities. Threats, rants, and dozing off in important meetings. Swooping up immigrants and hustling them into detention without due process, CECOT.
So much more.
Targeting, bombing, and killing people in fishing boats in the Caribbean, military build up off the coast of Argentina and kidnapping the ruler (whether legitimate or not) and his wife and bringing them to New York to face trial for drug trafficking. When I first read that piece of news I thought it was a sick joke. Really.
Who’s in charge of Venezuela? What’s next?
Are the wheels that turn our Earth still greased with extracted and processed oil?
The only way to stay somewhat centered and somewhat able to concentrate on going to work, doing the laundry, and cooking dinner is to stay as informed as we are able (this will look different for each one of us) and take as much action as we can (this will also look different for each one of us).
It’s been a minute since I fired up my 5 Calls app. I’ve spent less time reading Substack and listening to the news and I do feel calmer. Actually I’m calm and angry. It’s time to make some calls.
It’s easy to download the 5 Calls app. Then type in your zip code and your Representative and Senators will be listed for you. Choose your issue(s) and read the script(s).
You can also find your Representative and Senators by typing in your address here: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member. Their name, address, and phone number will appear. You can send your message with a click or phone call. Or, use the Postal Service.
A little hope for the future is always a good thing, so here’s my version of an old Jewish folktale I remember hearing when I was young, and telling when I was much older.
Once a kind, old man, who dripped wisdom from the tips of his neatly trimmed beard, finished his chores and went on his morning walk. He stooped to pick up a fig lying in his path. He took it home and prepared the seeds for planting.
When the seeds were ready, the man walked out to a warm sunny patch of land on the outskirts of his town. He scratched the earth with a small rake and scattered the seeds over the damp ground. A small sprinkle of water finished the job.
Every day, sometimes more than once if was a hot day, the man watered his fig seeds. He expected at least one would grow into a large fruit-bearing tree.
He pulled weeds that competed for the soil’s nutrients. He chased away insects that hovered around causing distractions. More than once he shooed away a raccoon or a stray chicken.
Years later on a particularly warm Tuesday, a small boy approached an old man tending a young sapling.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m tending my fig tree.”
The boy laughed so hard he held his sides and fell on the ground, still rolling with raucous laughter.
“Why do you laugh?” asked the wise, old man.
“You are so silly," said the boy. "You are old. It takes years and years for fig trees to grow big enough to bear fruit. You may not live to eat them.”
“But, I am not planting them for myself,” answered the wise man. “I am planting them for your children.”
To answer the question of why I care so much about what I, as only one person, can not control and hope only to minimally influence, I answer, I do what I do for our children and grandchildren.
I’m still finishing A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (Penguin Books, 2016). I’m still liking it. I’m still recommending it. (See last week’s blog for my “review.”)
-—Be curious! (and stay positive)
FB: It’s January 6th again. Remember. Reflect. Act (in whatever way you can, large or small, or something in between).
But you have to know how.
I can hold up the cup
And the milk and the cake!
I can hold up these books!
And the fish on a rake!
. . .
I can fan with the fan
As I hop on the ball!
But that is not all.
Oh, no.
That is not all. …”
from The Cat in the Hat
written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss
Random House, Inc., 1957
News is spewing non-stop like a fire-hose at full blast with no one holding on. It’s flopping every which way, and I kinda am, too. You probably are, too. And it’s only the first week of the new year. And today is the fifth anniversary (is that even the right word?) of the frenzied mob who stormed our Capitol to prevent the 246-year-precedent known to all as the peaceful transition of power.
The transition was anything but peaceful. You remember. Since then, “DOGE,” undoing USAID, federal employee firings, cancelling the Department of Education, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and childhood immunizations. Ripping off the East Wing of the White House.
Here's what happened to the 2026 quarters that were agreed on by a congressional committee. In short, Frederick Douglass, Ruby Bridges, and Suffragists were replaced by pilgrims, the Revolutionary War and the Gettysburg Address. The first quarter is being released today.
Trump wants his face on a new $1 coin. Whoo, boy!
Pardons, tariffs, ICE, National Guard in our cities. Threats, rants, and dozing off in important meetings. Swooping up immigrants and hustling them into detention without due process, CECOT.
So much more.
Targeting, bombing, and killing people in fishing boats in the Caribbean, military build up off the coast of Argentina and kidnapping the ruler (whether legitimate or not) and his wife and bringing them to New York to face trial for drug trafficking. When I first read that piece of news I thought it was a sick joke. Really.
Who’s in charge of Venezuela? What’s next?
Are the wheels that turn our Earth still greased with extracted and processed oil?
The only way to stay somewhat centered and somewhat able to concentrate on going to work, doing the laundry, and cooking dinner is to stay as informed as we are able (this will look different for each one of us) and take as much action as we can (this will also look different for each one of us).
It’s been a minute since I fired up my 5 Calls app. I’ve spent less time reading Substack and listening to the news and I do feel calmer. Actually I’m calm and angry. It’s time to make some calls.
It’s easy to download the 5 Calls app. Then type in your zip code and your Representative and Senators will be listed for you. Choose your issue(s) and read the script(s).
You can also find your Representative and Senators by typing in your address here: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member. Their name, address, and phone number will appear. You can send your message with a click or phone call. Or, use the Postal Service.
A little hope for the future is always a good thing, so here’s my version of an old Jewish folktale I remember hearing when I was young, and telling when I was much older.
Once a kind, old man, who dripped wisdom from the tips of his neatly trimmed beard, finished his chores and went on his morning walk. He stooped to pick up a fig lying in his path. He took it home and prepared the seeds for planting.
When the seeds were ready, the man walked out to a warm sunny patch of land on the outskirts of his town. He scratched the earth with a small rake and scattered the seeds over the damp ground. A small sprinkle of water finished the job.
Every day, sometimes more than once if was a hot day, the man watered his fig seeds. He expected at least one would grow into a large fruit-bearing tree.
He pulled weeds that competed for the soil’s nutrients. He chased away insects that hovered around causing distractions. More than once he shooed away a raccoon or a stray chicken.
Years later on a particularly warm Tuesday, a small boy approached an old man tending a young sapling.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m tending my fig tree.”
The boy laughed so hard he held his sides and fell on the ground, still rolling with raucous laughter.
“Why do you laugh?” asked the wise, old man.
“You are so silly," said the boy. "You are old. It takes years and years for fig trees to grow big enough to bear fruit. You may not live to eat them.”
“But, I am not planting them for myself,” answered the wise man. “I am planting them for your children.”
To answer the question of why I care so much about what I, as only one person, can not control and hope only to minimally influence, I answer, I do what I do for our children and grandchildren.
I’m still finishing A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (Penguin Books, 2016). I’m still liking it. I’m still recommending it. (See last week’s blog for my “review.”)
-—Be curious! (and stay positive)
FB: It’s January 6th again. Remember. Reflect. Act (in whatever way you can, large or small, or something in between).
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