Crystal Ball......

I just finished reading another Margaret Atwood novel, The Year of the Flood. This well known Canadian author has a view of the world that is very "dystopian"????  She puts us in the not-too-distant future and weaves a tale of what our world might be like. Suffice to say her view can be very troubling....and make you think.

On page 282 I read a paragraph that really made me pause. "The next day, two bad things happened. First I turned on the news. The minor epidemic they'd been talking about earlier wasn't behaving in the usual way - a local outbreak, one they could contain. Now it was an emergency. They showed a map of the world, with the hotspots lighting up in red - Brazil, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Bombay, Paris, Berlin - it was like watching the planet being spraygunned. It was an eruptive plague, they said, and the thing was spreading fast - no, not even spreading, breaking out at the same time in cities far apart, which wasn't the normal pattern. Ordinarily the Corps would have called for lies and cover-ups, and we'd hear something like the real stories only in rumors, so the fact that all this was right out there on the news showed how serious it was - the Corps couldn't keep the lid on.

The news jockeys were trying to keep calm. The experts didn't know what the superbug was, but it was a pandemic for sure, and a lot of people were dying fast - just sort of melting. As soon as they said, 'No need for panic,' in that eerie calm tone with those glued-on smiles, I could tell it was really serious."

The story continues: " The next day the news was even worse. The plague was spreading, and there was rioting and looting, and killing gonig on, and the CorpSeCorps had just more or less vanished: they must have been dying too.

And a few days after that, there wasn't any more news."

Frankly I read those paragraphs twice. Then I went to the front of the book.

Atwood wrote the novel in 2009. 

Remedy…..

I got into bed last night just before 10:00, put my head on the pillow and started to hiccup! I can’t remember the last time this happened but these hiccups were “serious” and my head was literally bouncing with each one. I took some deep breaths….changed position but every ten seconds or so another one “hit”. I thought to myself  “ I will never fall asleep with these!” I quickly checked one site on line and it said to breathe into a paper bag……and I haven’t had a paper bag in my condo for months. I got up for a drink of water….back to bed….hiccup!

Dave told me to try some sugar water. So out of bed, down to the kitchen for a spoonful….and back to bed. Hiccup! Then Dave pulled out his phone….checked another site and told me to get some peanut butter. I was very skeptical but I had been “bouncing” for over ten minutes and I wanted to go to sleep. So back out of bed, down the hall, teaspoon out of the drawer, peanut butter out of the cabinet and I put a spoonful into my mouth.

Magic! It worked immediately! Who knew….another reason to like peanut butter.

A Dart.....

We've been very lucky and had the chance to explore much of the USA and a little bit of Canada in our Roadtrek. It's a small space on wheels but it gives us independence and the ability to just take off and go where we want. And we've gone a lot!

We've had two Roadtreks and have been camping now for over ten years....as Doctor Seuss might say "Oh the places you'll see!" Our longer adventures usually take place in the spring before school lets out or again in the fall when the kids are back in class. Obviously last year's schedule altered a bit....frankly we never left Wisconsin as we explored our own state parks.

Dave has been "pushing" to plan another excursion.....me? Not so much. I look at the map and think "Where on earth would we go?" My colorful markers indicate that we've looped around most of the Country (for some reason we always missed Kansas).

Our land-based exploring plus the two years on Connemara sailing up and down the east coast means we've really covered a lot of territory. We do plan a trip in September when we head east to meet friends on the coast in Delaware. After visiting them we head north to see family and friends around New England. This trip will include one stop to see Grandson #2 at Tufts outside Boston and Grandson #3 at Ohio University in Athens.

We'll probably be gone a few weeks and when we get home and unpack I'm not sure where/when we'll head out again. Repeat a route? Spend a week in Kansas?

Maybe we'll throw a dart......

Tears and Two Percent......

I am sitting on the couch, Dave is out for the evening and Fenway is snoring on "dad's" chair. I was half-listening to TV and scrolling through some news sources on my phone. One post caught my eye and I opened it. Apparently there was a singer on America's Got Talent the other night that really stood out. I clicked on the video to watch and then grabbed the kleenex.

This young woman is a three-time cancer surviror and now her cancer is back and giver her only a two percent chance of survival. Two percent. She sang an original song.....and after the judges comments (all positive) she said "You can't wait until life isn't hard anymore before you decide to be happy."

And I lost it......how dare I feel "down" when my back aches, or my acid reflux is acting up. How dare I fret about having to have knee replacement within a couple years. How dare I feel bitchy when my sewing maching needle breaks, how dare I fret over a bad night's sleep. I don't know how old this young woman is, but she is far younger than my 74 years.

Two percent....I can only hope that I remember her words and that every moment of whatever time she has left is a moment she will enjoy. Two percent.....

Just One of Those Milestones......

Life goes full circle....birth to death. Along the road there are some shared "milestones" that many families celebrate together. It could be a birthday, a wedding, or a graduation. For our little family yesterday was special. After more than a year of stops and starts, change and more change our third grandson reached an important milestone. He graduated from West Bend High School.

So much of his four year high school experience was anything but typical as the United States and the world faced challenges that made even the "simplest" activity difficult. But Evan's class of 2021 made it through and yesterday marked the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.

We were uncertain until just a week or so prior to the ceremony whether anyone other than immediate family could attend or if we would be watching from home on a screen. But the school board made their decision and we were able to climb up the bleachers in the gymnasium and watch the 300+ students in cap and gown take their seats. The individual speakers took turns highlighting the classes' accomplishments and pointing them toward a bright future. It was pretty "typical" rhetoric, but somehow, when it's your loved grandson sitting in the audience the words take on more meaning.

One song chosen for the ceremony really surprised me. I am a country music fan but certainly figure that most young students do not share my interest. But early in the program a small group of choir members went to the front and sang a Rascal Flatts song, My Wish. Some of the lyrics, below, show why I ended up thinking this was a perfect graduation song:

I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow

And each road leads you where you want to go

And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose

I hope you choose the one that means the most to you

And if one door opens to another door closed

I hope you keep on walkin' 'till you find the window

If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile

But more than anything, more than anything

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to

Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small

You never need to carry more than you can hold

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too

Yeah, this, is my wish

I hope you never look back, but ya never forget

All the ones who love you, in the place you left

I hope you always forgive, and you never regret

And you help somebody every chance you get

Congratulations to our Evan......off to college in the fall and on to the next chapter. We may not be around to see every step of his life-road but we were so happy to be there for this one!