Remember The Astronaut By Jules Knowlton
The electronic Kindle version of The Saturday Evening Post’s 2022 Great American Fiction contest can be had for $3.99.
Here is the link. https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Saturday-Evening-American-Fiction-ebook/dp/B09PGPJ934
Winter is hard.
Dragging lugubrious time spread out over frozen ground.
The landscape set in variations of black and gray conceals
Latent life buried below, silent and waiting under a chill.
And mirroring a sky brushed with wind.
I find myself getting fat for no reason and I am always cold.
The urge for hibernation is strong.
I want to curl up, hide away.
Instead, I go out swaddled in the heavy scarf and black puffer coat.
Insignias waved, not only by me, of temperature extremis.
I smile behind the layers.
If anyone can see the useless effort there is no acknowledgement,
My false optimism is wasted.
One more indignity or could it be a reprieve?
Few can tell my age.
An introverted sun behind clouds sinks, too soon, towards the horizon,
Without cozy gatherings of friends or family around a fire.
Only weather marks the passing of daylight, evening and night,
I am tired and darkness calls me to my bed,
Repeating the mantra through the falling snow,
Winter is hard.
Call your elected officials!
Senators: Robert (Rob) Portman (202) 224-3353
Sherrod Brown (202) 224-2315
House of Representatives: Pat Tiberi (202) 225-5355
Note: A look at Mr. Tiberi’s district is to see gerrymandering at its finest. If the boundaries were drawn in a normal fashion I might be in Joyce Beatty’s district. I am sure she will not mind a call.
Joyce Beatty (202) 255-4324
This week I am going to request my elected officials look into getting rid of the Electoral College.
(Where is it? Can I attend? Do they have a football team?)
Some years ago when another candidate won the popular vote but was denied a victory by this body, I asked myself why, why is it still in existence when it seems its purpose in modern times is to deny the power of the individual vote and foster corruption? In the last election one candidate holds a victory margin, as of today, of 2,841,862 votes, the “popular vote”. These votes represent 2,841,862 people who are basically told “Sorry your vote does not count.” To my mind this fact constitutes voter fraud at its most egregious. How can we as a nation promote the values of democracy throughout the world when our own system is so completely flawed? The time for the Electoral College to be dismantled has come, perhaps too late, but it should still be done.
Governor of the State of Ohio
John Kasich (614) 466-3555
I include his number, because in the next few weeks bills will be crossing his desk that detrimentally effect the women in the State of Ohio.
I am going to give him a call too.
Amendment to Previous Post –
Allow me to revise my previous comment, for there will be no celebrating as the torment has been extended for the next 4 years!
While I could be wrong, as a student of history I am truly afraid for our nation and democracy.
2.Vote!
It is a beautiful day to vote. Ohio is a battleground state and we have spent the last nine months and more being inundated by robocalls, mass mailings, rallies and political ads, the rhetoric of these, often nasty and degrading. I will vote today not only because it is a privilege, and my right, but also in celebration of the end of such torment.
What better thing to do on a lovely warm day but view the fall leaves.
I grew up in a place where large hardwood trees are not plentiful. Now I live in a place where if you fail to weed your garden over the space of the year a small forest will spring up.
I am a bonafide tree lover.
The suburb where I live is known as tree city, and as there are several large trees right outside my window, I get to appreciate not only the fabulous display as the seasons change, but also the wondrous ecosystem of birds and mammals and insects that inhabit them.
These are the trees in my neighborhood putting on a show.
How lucky to sit inside and enjoy fall leaves on a rainy day!
Today is solstice day.
I love the warm months in the first half of the year, in part because the light grows making each day feel like renewal.
Today we hit the peak, this year a day of sun and a short night with a full moon.
Happy Solstice Day!
Today let’s store up enough energy and warmth to power us through the darkest winter months ahead.
Yummy grilled cheese served up by Heather from “Timmy’s Meltdown truck. Yes, that is bacon and good music in Worthington no less. Pretty good for a summer Saturday waiting for the rain.