Random Thoughts on the Last Sunday In March

 Sometimes thoughts just pop into my head and then ramble around for a while.  They are not necessarily tied to one another and wouldn't make for a cohesive post, but then again who said anything I ever wrote was cohesive?

I woke with anxiety this morning.  No surprise there, anxiety resides within me all too often, even as I try to push it away.

 Yesterday was wonderfully warm and partially sunny.  My husband and I took advantage of the warmth to take down the broken and battered portable greenhouse.  (This is what it looked like back in 2022...before we moved in.)


I believe it had stood for at least 3 years and weathered the winter.  This winter with the wind, ice and snow it collapsed. 

It broke my heart, but...now perhaps the landscaper can come up with suggestions as to what should go in the space.  (Or maybe you do.)  In addition to dismantling, I enjoyed the warm weather by sitting outside and reading (one of my favorite pastimes) and going for a nice walk (another favorite spring activity).

But this morning wasn't like that.  It was damp and overcast.  I, somewhat reluctantly, got up and headed to an 8 am church service at an Episcopal church about 5 miles away.  (While I am still officially a Presbyterian, I have found that the Episcopal inclusivity of all to be warm and welcoming.)  Though I hadn't been to this particular church in several weeks (I've been in NJ for several weekends), I still felt very welcome (but not smothered) and part of the prayers that day really spoke to me.  They were in part:  "Help us live in a Lent focused on freedom, generosity, and encounter...We pray that your church may stand against evil and seek good...we pray for our nation, that it become once again on nation under God, with liberty and justice for all...Fill our minds with thoughts of renewal; give to our sense the freshness of Spring rain; and may our hearts lie in wait, as do the trees and flowers, for the dawning of new life."

Feeling refreshed, I headed home.  Listening to the radio (SiriusXM), I heard John Lennon singing "Gimme Some Truth."  That got me thinking of John and what he would think of the world if he were still alive.  With my own bias I can imagine what he might say or do, but NO ONE could really say.  (I mean that!)  In my mind (and with no disrespect to John Lennon), his lyrics evolved/changed to:

I'm sick and tired of hearing things
From uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded hypocrites
All I want is some sensitivity
Just give me some empathy
I'm sick and tired of hearing things
From uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded hypocrites
All I want is some tolerance
Just give me humanity
No comb-overed, yellow-bellied, son of rotten Don
Is going to Mother Hubbard soft soap me
With just a pocketful of lies
We gotta try
Hope cannot die
I'm sick to death of seeing things
From tight-lipped, condescending, mama's little chauvinists
All I want is some mercy
Just show compassion
I've had enough of watching scenes
With schizophrenic, egocentric, paranoiac, prima-donnas
All I want is some decency
Just give me some humanity

 

Yes, I know I'm no poet and the above does not really tie to the rhythm of the song, but it's what came to me.  Truth would be good, but we really do need sensitivity, empathy, tolerance, humanity, mercy, compassion and decency are something I feel we lack and need more than anyone could imagine.  But again, I'm just an old lady doing the unthinkable thing of modifying (perhaps badly) the lyrics of an icon.

Finally, when I got home I happened to click on a "news story" (ok, let's call it what it is, click bait) that proclaimed Julie Andrews felt the presence of evil when visiting the Von Trapp House.   I'm a huge fan of "The Sound of Music" which is a somewhat fictionalized and romanticized version of the Von Trapp's story.  (How can you not love a movie where nuns "sin" by removing parts from the cars of the Nazis thus allowing the family to escape over the mountains?  Which in real life didn't actually happen.) Dame Julie Andrews (who is definitely a treasure to the world) (supposedly) said: "Because after they fled the country, which they had to do, as in the film, Himmler took over that villa, and the atrocities there were just terrible."  

"The actual VonTrapp family lived in the house from 1923 until they fled Austria in 1938.  In 1938, the Nazis annexed Austria, making life hard for the singing family.  Georg von Trapp refused to fly the Nazi flag on his house, and declined a request to sing at Hitler's birthday party.  There was fear their neighbors would spy on them and their children would become brainwashed by Nazi politics.  Even though the family was offered fame, they decided to stay true to their principals and leave Austria."  I think I admire the family even more now than I already did!

Now that I've shared my three unrelated thoughts/ramblings of the day, it's time to go out into the not so warm, over cast day and pack up the remains of the "greenhouse" and it into our garbage can.  Hope wherever you are, that you are having a good day and ruminating on your own thoughts.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We Have Taken America Back

Image
Back to a time when all men (and women) are not created equal.  Where women's healthcare is determined by men's laws and not by medical professionals. Where education tells only the "winning" side of the story and truth does not matter.  Where banning and burning books is a social event.  Where people who are "different" than those in power can be mocked, shunned and hurt with no real consequences. Where lies are acceptable and integrity is  just a word on a page We have moved into a time where rage is the rage.  Where hate is not just normal, but accepted and even cheered. Where leaders can ask to have their "enemies" killed and no one will bat an eye.  Where it's "funny" to see someone struggle.  Where felony is applauded. Where compassion is not shown and caring for others is looked down upon. We have taken America back to a time of pain and suffering for many.  Back to when the "haves" can have and the have nots don'...
Read more

It's Not About Starbucks (or is it)?

Image
  About a block and a half from my home in a major intersection.  At the southeast corner (which is nearest to me), is an empty building.  Back in 1995 it was a Bank of NY (I remember this because they didn't shovel/de-ice their parking lot well and my husband fell and broke his ankle one Monday morning.  I recall this clearly because we were not yet married and it was the first day of a new job for me.  I had gotten on the bus to work and he was catching a later one; only he never got there.  Instead he ended up laying on the ground until an employee came to open up the bank.  Then he had them call an ambulance AND my mother who took control of the situation until I arrived home that night blissfully unaware of what had happened that day.)  It eventually became a Chase Bank; the second one in my small little town.  It eventually closed.  I'm not sure when but it's been empty for quite a long time.  (I do know that it was open in 20...
Read more

As Is

Image
  Today I want to discuss what I think it is a relatively simple concept, but may be difficult for some, even an attorney who might have once, over a decade ago won a  prestigious award  for young lawyers .  That term is "AS IS." As you may know, I volunteer in a thrift shop.  Everything we sell, from all the donations we receive, is "as is."  The items are not brand new.  They are not perfect.  That doesn't mean they aren't any good or worth something. They are sold "as is."  Buyers should go in knowing that. (After all you are shopping in a thrift shop!)  In some cases, particularly when we are offering higher end products, we will actually write on the price tag, "as is." Such is the case of two designer purses that I purchased from there this summer.  (I'm a purse-aholic!  Don't look in my closet.)  They were reasonably priced (especially when you consider the name brand), but each had an "as is" clearly marked o...
Read more