About the news

I have a schedule in my head about how to spend the early part of the day.  I didn't plan a schedule, but that seems to be how things worked out.  First, I feed the dog and cats so they will leave me alone.  Gabe insists he get fed once he comes in from his morning potty break, and Blue makes noises by somehow climbing on the roof of this trailer house to get from the front porch to the back, where I feed the cats.  If I ignore him, he'll climb to the roof and come back to the front porch... and so on.  It would be easy for him to just walk around the house on the sidewalk, but he wants to make sure he gets the attention around here.  So yes, feeding the pets is my first job, quickly done.

Next, my Bible reading for the day.  The only reason I do it early is because if I put it off until later, it often doesn't get done.  It only takes about 20 minutes; when I'm done, I scan over what I've just read and pick out a five-letter word to use as a starting word for Wordle.  Lots of people use the same word, but I live dangerously; it's more exciting to see how well a new word works.

Next, I make my first cup of tea, although for the last few days, I've been able to drink two cups of coffee instead of tea:  What a blessing THAT is!  Coffee wakes me up much better than tea.  I still drink tea at other times of the day.

Next I take a quick look at CNN to see if we've been invaded by China or Russia yet.  I hear people say, "I don't watch the news," but that seems like putting your head in the sand.  Just because I don't know something doesn't mean it didn't happen; I admit it's depressing, which is why I don't read very deeply.  I read a headline and perhaps a paragraph of what I see, to get the general idea.  Right now the right wing folks apparently think that Biden's classified documents discovery means Trump's classified documents events are just fine.   

Today I learned that China's navy is much larger than ours and the largest Navy almost always wins.  Then I found out forty-some Ukrainians were killed by a Russian cruise missile that hit an apartment complex over the weekend, but at least the warm winter in Europe kept Putin from rejoicing that people are suffering from his idea of "turning off the gas".  In California, six people were killed in a cartel-style execution.  Oh, and "a recession is coming."

Whether you are a Christian or an atheist, it's obvious that the world is going to end.  If nothing else, we'll kill one another.

Fire and Ice

 

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

   I read all that news in about five minute's time; I could go on, but I am done thinking about all that.

   That, of course, is why people stop watching the news.  What I try to do is get my mind back in my own little world and see if I can do any good here.  I think about the garden I hope to plant come spring; I laugh at my pets, I think about what I'm going to cook for our meals.  I can communicate with my husband easily now, and we talk about our opinions (which aren't always the same, by the way, but I don't argue).  This morning I'm remembering that Cliff gets to see his better-than-usual Social Security money tomorrow!  I saw mine last week, but I get less than half the amount he does, so I'm excited:  His money is my money!   

He's going to have something to say about that last sentence when he wakes up and reads my blog, but he knows it's true.

Last Sunday the Methodist preacher, at the beginning of the church service, asks first if we have any joys to share; then he asks if we have concerns.  Usually someone has a joy or two... grandchildren graduating, or new great-grandbabies; last Sunday all we heard was silence.  The preacher smiled and said, "Well, I guess we'll go on to concerns."

So I responded, "It isn't that I don't have any joys; it's just that I have so many, we'd be here all day!"

That's because when I think of joys I think of things like having my husband still with me, or the way the dog and cat make me laugh with their antics.  I celebrate the simple things!  My pets went on a walk in the pasture with me yesterday.  Temperatures were in the 50's and a cold front is coming, so I am so very happy to have been in the great outdoors with a very brisk wind in my face, sun shining brightly.  I am thankful I can still walk at all.

Yes, I know the world is in a mess.  But here in my little world, all is right.  So far, this old age stuff isn't so bad.

Peace.