The Sled

In 2012, when I learned I would be moving to New Hampshire, it was time to get rid of a few things. While my apartment along the Atlantic was large, a sled wouldn't fit into it.

We have all things we cherish. This sled was one of them.  I bought it for fun with my spouse.  Little did I know, he wasn't as adventurous as I.  Not that sled riding is all that adventurous.  So, I took my little ones, bundled them up and sat them on the sled.  Since they were too young to ride down our high hill in Maryland in those days, I would pull them around the flat cul-de-sac.  It seemed to satisfy them greatly.

When we moved to upstate New York, we weren't there long enough to do any significant sledding.  The sled spent much of its time against the outer wall in the two car garage.

Another move took us to the flat lands of New Jersey.  There were no hills anywhere.  Still, I couldn't part with my beloved sled.  It moved south with me to the Smokies, where there are mountains everywhere.

My hill meets all the sledding requirements but one.  Traffic.  Since the S-shaped curve doesn't have the appropriate mirrors to see to the bottom of the road, I haven't been able to use it.

Two days ago, on my Main Street morning walk, I met the fellow, MJ, who bought the sled from me for his antique store five years ago.

"Do you happen to still have my sled?" I asked.

"I have about 4-5 sleds back there.  I'll be back in about 20 minutes.  Stop in and we can see what I have."

This was the longest 20 minutes.  The first sled was from the 1950s and quite worn.  Another one clearly newer was leading against a hutch.  It felt familiar but I remembered it being in brand new shape.  Two more were tucked away in the back.

"Here, take this one," MJ said.

He charged me less than half of the price he originally paid me for it.

"No one buys sleds anymore, " he assured me.

I put the sled in the back of my Subaru.  It was dustier than I remembered.  Some of the coating was wearing off the stainless handle bars.

I got it home, removing cob webs and years of neglect when it happened.  I turned it over and saw my last name, magic markered some thirty years earlier.

Flexi is once again home.  I told MJ, the shopkeeper about it just this morning.

"Oh, sledgate," he said.

Once again, the sled is propped up on the wall where it has lived for twelve years (plus the five left alone in the shop).  Warmth and joy fill my heart. And the gratitude for finding it is more than words can describe.

The People's March on Washington To Impeach Trump

Rarely, is there a topic where there isn't much to say.  This, says it all.

http://www.rallylist.com/the-peoples-march-on-washington-1-26-18/

The People’s March On Washington 1-26-18

The People’s March On Washington 1-26-18

The People’s March on Washington is dedicated to advancing the vision of Hope, Equality, Opportunity and Justice for all. We want to encourage the nearly 66 million voters in the last election to Organize, March and Occupy.

Add your name go to www.peopledemandaction.org and add your name to call for the impeachment and removal of the 45th President of the United States.

The official call for impeachment is Friday January 26th.

Join us in Washington, D.C on Saturday January 27th as we March and Occupy DC.

And let’s Occupy starting Sunday January 28th.

To Contact Us: contact@peopledemandaction.org

In 1991, half a million people outside the Kremlin demanded that Gorbachev resign from office! Well, that moment in time is also coming for TRUMP!

America, NOW is the time to prepare for this! If we organize the most massive protest in our nation’s history – even to the doors of the White House – this evil administration will have NO CHOICE but to step down!

But none of this will happen if we sit quietly at home! It is time all of us become organized for this event! Our democracy is depending on this!

It is very clear now to everyone who pays attention to the news that Congress is doing NOTHING! They are all just sitting on their assess, talking about the new great tax bill, which is a complete scam. SOME are TRYING to get the impeachment process going!

The Mueller investigation is going incredibly SLOW as well! We all hope that Trump will be indicted and charged for treason, but there is no guarantee that this will happen!

So, it is time for ALL Americans, who care about the true American Dream, to stand together UNITED, despite racial, religious, and political differences! It is no longer about which party is best, it is now about our own personal freedoms that are in jeopardy!

And the only way we can end this national nightmare is to organize together as ONE and show Congress and this most idiotic, greedy, and evil self-centered regime that we are all sick and tired of this MADNESS!

We The People need to stand up NOW even unto the doors of the White House itself! We cannot let this administration go any further! They have done enough damage already!

Who is with me? It is time to end the madness! SPREAD THE WORD!

Event Website:

https://www.facebook.com/events/530158777342771/

Date of Event:

Friday, 26 January, 2018

Time of Event:

Jan 26, 2018 at 10 AM to Jan 28, 2018 at 1 PM EST

Address:

Washington, D.C.

City:

Washington, D.C.

After Quantico

After Quantico and after a tour in the middle east in the 90s, Cerise knew her background and education prepared her for far more.

It wasn't just becoming the first in her class to excel at Remote Viewing.  Or, that she had an innate ability and knowing to get to the bottom of things.  9/11 opened up a whole new world for Cerise.  Stories of hidden and diverted funds, housed in a computer in the World Trade Center in New York City, rogue operations going on in several floors in the buildings.  But the casualties of war, the families going without in the United States because of the waste in military funds played on her heart.   That billions were diverted to special interest groups in Congress, hidden accounts in the Caymans, Greece and Deutsch Bank made her furious. Still, combat soldiers were receiving minimal care in Veterans Hospital in a government where no one seemed to care what was going on.

Young people sacrified at the alter of greed and dollars by wealthy members of Congress who continually send people to war.  Wars in which their families never participate, wars which made them lots of money as it did for Cheney and Halliburton to the tune of $40 billion in the Iraq war alone. We are told he put his investments into a blind trust while Vice President.  That certainly does not guarantee that those managing the trust aren't partial to Cheney's interests.  Cheney continued to retain the $34 million in his stock options as well.

And she wasn't one to wait for the Sam Ervins of the world to call it out and expose it.  Cerise wanted more.

Plagued by Edward Snowden's expose on tapping into the servers of U.S. tech companies, or cable companies worldwide, NSA accessing private citizen phone records, all done with secret court orders.    Or Julian Assange with Wikileaks who was brilliantly adept at cracking computer codes and exposing  confidential documents and military atrocities.

Or the outtage of James Comey, former FBI Director with his refusal to end the investigation into Michael Flynn, then national security adviser secretly involved in too many Russian connections.  Cerise had heard and seen too much.

It was often hard in her early days for Cerise Le Roq to be taken seriously.  At least until you saw her in action.  Her long brown hair, striking blue eyes and model figure at just five feet six inches quieted any room she entered.  She was always composed.  A bit like Elizabeth Warren in her gentle mannerisms.  That was, until she had something to say.

Like the time this past fall when the Senate Judiciary Hearing invited her to sit in on a session.

"Dr. Le Roq, you have five minutes."

"Gentleman, you are in leadership roles whether at Google, Facebook or Twitter.  How could you miss all these Russian posts?  Don't you track where your income is coming?"

Dr. Cerise Le Roq continued, "You are all Americans.  Americans.  Where was your loyalty to your country?"

The poker faced, numbed-down executives offered little.  They were not about to give up their private jets, housekeeping services, limos, private schools for their children, or stock options in the millions.  They had a board to answer to.  Executives like themselves who absconded millions with inside deals laundered away in remote banks on islands few of us have the opportunity to enjoy.

Cerise knew this was all a build up.  A build up for the time when Mueller and his investigative team, who deeply loved their country, had a high degree of ethics and ability to tract funds will reveal what has been going on.  The tweeter president and his family on  the government dole would one by one be placed under a microscope.

It wouldn't be long until Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, would be spending less time at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The case for the impeachment of the 45th president of the United States was proceeding. And, it wasn't about to end with just the president.

®

Oh, Pub!

Oh, Pub!  What is with this new craze in America?  Unlike our British counterpart, many of these new start-up pubs are bland. No style. Stealy.

https://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/english-pubs-vs-us-bars-15-reasons-why-british-pubs-are-better-than-american-bars

You can't have a conversation in these places.  The acoustics are non-existent, the place isn't necessarily clean - new grunge, as some refer to it.  It is pure and simple - a watering hole.

I don't much care for this type of entertainment.  Since I am not a drinker - have never felt the need to inebriate in order to forget my troubles, or even, have a good time.  Apparently, many do.  They cater to the 30-40-50 crowd.  I have to wonder if these frequenters will lose their hearing in a few years because of all the noise.

As one who prefers smaller gatherings, meaningful conversation, you have a better chance of finding me in a nice little restaurant with a friend or two.  Clean bathrooms, good service.  Ambient matters so how the owners designed the place is important.  Whether it is done on the cheap, artsy, simplistic, I don't care.  I do like to see what others put together.

I am saddened that my town has succumbed to the beer joint idea.  Few offer food at the table.  Some do food trucks.  FOOD TRUCKS?  Who wants to eat out of them?  Had enough of them during my Rutgers days.  The food is usually palatable but I just don't want to be served on paper plates, paper utensils. You understand where I am going now.

Pubs in Maine are a whole different situation.  The food is usually pretty good, served at the table and reasonably priced.  Sure, it is pub food, not necessarily organic, fried on the grill.  The bathrooms are always clean and the seating is family friendly.  They also have higher revenues which explains why my little town has sparse beer joint offerings.

Nope, you won't find me in one of those places again.  Unless it is 4 p.m. before the crowd gathers.  No doubt I will have cider in my hand.  I'll only consume half of it because it doesn't bode well in my digestive tract.

I'll be looking out for the next Annie's Bakery.  A place where multi-generations can gather  Where the food is healthy and where you never know when you will meet your next friend.

In a pub?  I don't think so. At least not here.  Most likely, I'll be on the mountain.  The food is delicious, the company grand and the bathrooms immaculate.

On Sexual Harassment

Just the other day a friend asked me a question.  I still have my mouth open about it.  Mostly, in shock.

"Do you think people who sexually harassed others in the 60s and on are liable?"

"Liable, he says."

My jaw nearly dropped.

"Liable, are you kidding?  Touching someone inappropriately at work or on a date is totally wrong. Playing power games on a worker for sex is wrong."

We could call it bullying.  Or sexual molestation if they are touch.  I will settle for sexual harassment.  The perpetrator should be fired.  On the spot.

NBC knew long before Matt Lauer's final professional demise what was going on.  So did Rupert Murdoch at Fox (cough) News.

"Liable ?"he asks.

Without a doubt.  Crimes like this have no expiration date.  Nor do the memories of the victims.  I have been there.

I am told Trump was 'elected' president.  How can we be sure?  Mueller and team are hard at work investigating what really went on.  It doesn't look good.

But there is far more to the story.  Why would anyone vote for a sexual predator?  Can all these women being lying?  A recent article explains some of it:

https://rantt.com/why-women-vote-for-sexual-predators-1a33194492a9

We know that former second class citizens can't have much of a sense of self-worth. Look at what we did to the native Americans and it has been decades just trying to help them recover emotionally and financially.  We are so used to sweeping these behaviors under the rug.  Both men and women laugh at these things.  I sure don't.

It is time for all these women to be compensated for what they have endured.  Lost wages, lost promotions, depression and PTSD. It is also time to raise all of our consciousnesses over the horrible treatment of people - men and women.

Do I think people who sexually harassed others in the 60s and on are liable?  You bet!

Happy December

Sometimes the universe sends you messages.  Sometimes they seem, at first, to be confusing ones.  I think I was tested, maybe even teased to see if I really wanted to stay in the Smokies.  That the buyer for my mountain home backed out with a few signs of hesitation before said it all.

So did my colon, which wasn't too happy about me signing a contract.  I was more physically upset than I knew.  And that, comes from someone who thought she was pretty in touch with her body mind.

"There are other solutions," my inner voice reminded me.

"Pick one."

I have been mulling it over, even looking for a place to rent.  I did find one rental I really like, but the real estate agent wasn't ethical.  Then I found a house but it became a bidding war.  Now the house is back on the market.  I won't buy it.  It doesn't feel right now.

So maybe buying a condo is the thing to do. My wonderful new real estate agent is trying to secure one in a lovely little community.  Of course, I will still keep the mountain house.  My soul is here. And it is by the ocean in New England.  It can be in two places.

Sometimes the universe sends you messages.  Sometimes you have to let them be.  Let things happen naturally.

Maybe that is why I love being in nature.  Whether the mountains or the ocean.  Yes, both will do nicely.

Happy Holidays!

Letting Go...Again

I am just down.  Dissatisfied.  Isolated.  Feeling like I am done here.  Everything points to do it.  Then there is the offer on my beloved home.  I know it is time to go.  But to where?  What can I afford and still live comfortably on the meager amount I get for my home.  Having a lovely home, relatively new, or better yet NEW is important to me.

A friend from out of state called today.  In fact, I have been hearing from lots of friends lately.  It is fall, so I am cleaning out my list of who will follow me into 2018.  There will be lots of changes.

The nasties are definitely being left.  I miss having someone to talk to.  Someone to run things by.  A partner.  Seems everyone is too busy for friendship.  Or maybe that is because I have made some lousy choices in them.  I am grateful to have a couple of close ones.

A dear friend has a new boyfriend.  He seems perfect for her and I couldn't be happier.  She deserves the very best.  Other friends just lost their partners.  They are forlorned, vulnerable and mourning.

I think this time of year is for reflection. Looking back but definitely looking more forward.  Looking at the choices we have made in mates - friends.  Partners.  Are we doing the same thing expecting a different result?

Three years ago after a short lived, ridiculous semi-relationship, I vowed to take a few years off and just reflect.  Think about the next adventure.  Notice the signs that it is time to go.  Maybe the hardest thing now for me is to just be.  Let the process unfold.  No expectations.  No attachment.