putting winter to rest and new life

I’m behind on answering comments, sorry. It’s been a cold overcast, rainy, damp busy week. I limit my time (mostly) to check email, read, comment, research, write, answer comments, to the mornings between the time I get up, which varies, and the time I fix breakfast about 10. Monday was the TEE, Tuesday was brain fog from anesthesia, I think I did something but I can’t remember what. Wednesday researching and writing, Thursday SHARE, Friday and Saturday cutting back freeze damaged vegetation and hauling it to the already big burn pile.

Other stuff happened. My second great grandchild was born on Tuesday. Harrison Ford Russell. 8 lbs 1 oz. My grandson’s second child who was definitely not pleased about being brought so rudely into the light. 

They came home Thursday. Paisleigh is less than impressed. She thought she was getting a brother but he can’t talk to her or play with her. Audra’s mother and step-father were here and now her aunt is here for the next week. I plan to visit today.

Friday cleared up, warmed up and I got out there and cleared all the dead stuff from one of the flower beds, the one with my own monster rose bush which I pruned back to about 16” (after picture of course since it never occurs to me to take a before). 

I might have waited another week or two but it was impeding my progress especially since I didn’t prune it back last year and it exploded with growth after the hurricane. This area has the indigofera, white Philippine violet, invasive wild mexican petunia, and orange cosmos besides the heritage rose bush. It’s an impossible area to tame, believe me, I’ve tried. Everything in there reseeds and spreads readily so the plan now is to remove the remaining iris, amaryllis, and day lilies and just let it do what it wants to do and cut it all to the ground every winter.

I found more of the maroon Japanese iris that had been hidden by all the dense growth. I moved most of them last fall to a better spot. 

Saturday was a gorgeous warm blue sky day, low humidity. I worked on the long flower bed on the east side with the tall orange cosmos, rock rose (not a rose but part of the mallow family), and Mexican bird of paradise, among other things. Didn’t finish as you can see on the left. Two of the plumerias will go in there later.

Also on Saturday my great niece and her husband and their year and a half old baby, my great great nephew, came and got the last of Pam’s things that Vickie wanted. Since they live outside San Antonio this was probably the last time I will ever see them. We’ll stay in contact I hope but part of losing my sister is also losing a more immediate connection to her descendants, my nieces and their kids since they all live far and wide.

Speaking of my sister, I had another dream about her a while back. I don’t remember the specifics now though I did for a day or two after. What I remember now is a feeling of irritation from her. You may remember in my previous dreams she was basically ignoring me, had moved on to a happier life. This last one, she made me angry, angry that she had so totally dismissed me. Fine, I told her, I release you, I release you. That’s what I woke up thinking, I release you. Haven’t dreamed about her since.

I’ve made no progress on the rest of the painting or made any progress in the book I’m reading except for Monday when I took it with me and read during the recovery time and waiting to be discharged. 

So much destructive stuff is happening still re the new regime and it hasn’t even been two weeks yet but I need a small respite that is not about that so today is going to be about positive happy things…seeing the new baby, working in the yard, listening to the woodpecker rapping away for a mate, watching the birds…the male goldfinches are starting to get yellow…, loving on the outdoor cats. 

Plenty of time for doom later.

 

continued trampling of our democracy and our rights and what we can do about it

This is long. I keep trying to publish but shit keeps happening.

Trump is continuing his path of destruction and stupidity. He is withholding funds for all federal grants and federal assistance. States are reporting that their Medicaid websites are shut down depriving the over 72 million people dependent on it for medical care of the funds to pay for that care. It freezes student loans, SNAP and WIC, Meals On Wheels, school lunch programs, aid people depend on for food for their families, and housing assistance. Shelters for the homeless that depend on government aid will be closed in the middle of winter as will domestic violence shelters. The funding freeze* disrupts ongoing medical and scientific research, other relief efforts, and work by non profits, with the OMB demanding that every recipient submit an accounting of what the money is used for so they can decide if it's too Woke or not, if it benefits people other than straight white christian men. The freeze on foreign aid will only cause those countries to seek aid elsewhere reducing American influence. This is inherently illegal. The president does not have the power to stop funding already passed by Congress. The president’s job is to see that the monies are distributed.

*It is being reported Wednesday that the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) has rescinded the freeze on all agency grants and loans following numerous lawsuits filed amid general rebellion. There is some confusion over whether this is actually true. The OMB rescinded the memo announcing the freeze. The White House press secretary made a SM post that the freeze is still in force and quite frankly, until payments are starting to be made again I don't believe the freeze is lifted. Trump is a liar. 

People are already losing their jobs. The freeze on hiring has caused the National Parks, among others, to rescind job offers that were already accepted and in some cases those people had already moved in order to start the job or turned down other offers for employment including Trump supporters who are also seeing family members deported. 

The hiring freeze is making our skies less safe because the air traffic controllers are already short handed and overworked. The head of the Federal Aviation Administration resigned after Trump’s inauguration pressured by Elon Musk. Trump fired 100 FAA senior officials, the heads of the TSA and Coast Guard, and disbanded the Aviation Safety Advisory Committee. He appointed a reality TV star for Secretary of Transportation. He appointed, and republicans confirmed, a Fox show host to head the Department of Defense. All before a mid-air collision Wednesday night when a military helicopter ran into the back of a commercial airliner. They have no idea why the Black Hawk military helicopter ran into a commercial airliner but Trump has “opinions and ideas” which he spouts as fact. He's demanding answers from agencies he gutted or disbanded. Instead of accepting responsibility for a collision that ended a 16 year safety record or expressing empathy or remorse for the 67 lives lost under his unqualified administration he is blaming Obama, Biden, Buttigieg, the ‘diverse’ air traffic controllers, DEI recruitment of “mentally disabled" and "physically disabled" people “including dwarfs”. The man is vile. 

Immigration raids are being reported in more states, Texas included (of course) and 2,000+ troops have been sent to the border here though they are not going to be involved in apprehending illegal migrants which begs the question, just what are they tasked with doing? Missouri is licensing bounty hunters offering them $1000 for every person they apprehend that results in deportation. Schools are being targeted with the intent of arresting children to draw their parents out and deporting the entire family. Fortunately some school districts are refusing to comply with these illegal tactics. Trump also has given permission (illegally) for churches and other houses of worship to be targeted. The Quakers have filed a lawsuit against ICE to prevent their agents from entering all houses of worship claiming the constitutional right to freedom of religion is being violated. Trump announced Wednesday that he is signing an order to build a migrant detention camp in Guantanamo Bay because, he says, these criminals are so dangerous he can't count on their native countries to contain them. In other words he wants to incarcerate them for life without charges or a trial and without those pesky reporters knowing what's going on.

Colombia refused to allow two military cargo planes transporting deportees when they learned Trump was having these people handcuffed and in leg irons in the planes with no access to water or bathrooms in intolerable conditions. These were not hardened criminals handcuffed in leg irons. Their only crime was not having documentation but to Trump, that makes them criminals. Colombia demanded they be treated humanely before the country would accept them. Trump immediately put 25% tariff on all imports to raise to 50% in a week and deported Colombians working with the World Bank. Colombia threatened tariffs of their own on American imports including corn. Colombia is a major importer of American corn for cattle feed. Colombia held their ground, Immigration agreed to Colombia’s conditions and now Trump is braying like a donkey that his swift tough response worked, that Colombia backed down. What Trump doesn’t understand is that cutting our allies in South America off from trade and the financial institutions that make trade possible isn’t the stick he thinks it is. If the US policies start hurting their economies they will look elsewhere for aid and support. China would love to have influence in South America.

About using the military cargo planes. It is reportedly costing upwards of $800K to transport 80 deportees instead of the +/- $250K to charter regular airplanes as Biden did. 

The other thing Trump is braying about I picked off Jeff Tiedrich’s newsletter. Trump is bragging about issuing an order, that federal soldiers stormed into California and turned on the faucet and now water is flowing down from the north.

California responded. There were no soldiers, there is no faucet. Pumps that are maintained by the federal Army Corps of Engineers that had been down for three days for necessary maintenance were simply restarted.

------------

Stephen Miller is a nazi, Elon Musk is a nazi, Trump is a fascist who has promised to use the federal government to attack his political enemies and has most recently canceled General Mark Milley’s security detail, rescinded his security clearance and is considering demoting him in retirement because Milley pushed back during Trump’s first term and has been critical of him since. Trump has also fired all the prosecutors in the DOJ that worked with Jack Smith. The billionaires Trump surrounds himself with don’t give a fuck as long as they control things, destroying all the workers’ rights that were fought for and make wage slaves out of us all. Who do you think they will force to do the jobs done by the people they’re deporting? Trump’s pick for commerce secretary is against raising the national minimum wage of $7.25, an amount that is already impossible to live on and Trump has fired the heads of the National Labor Relations Board who support worker’s rights and the leaders of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission paralyzing these agencies.

So what do we do, what can we do? We resist. We don’t obey in advance. We refuse to comply. We refuse to accept this as normal. When we see someone being attacked verbally, abused, we speak up, we intervene, we protect. If we see someone being physically attacked, record from a safe distance and call the police. If someone asks you for help, asks you to hide them, if it is in your power to do so, you do. If asked if you know any illegal residents, the answer is no. You do unto others. You refuse to become numb or hopeless. You refuse to give into the fear he wants you to feel. You support those groups who are actively fighting Trump’s lawlessness in the courts, financially if it is within your means, because the courts are the only guardrail we have left since Congress has bent the knee and is derelict in it’s duty and the Democrats, with few exceptions like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are deafeningly silent instead of broadcasting every fucking day the illegality and power grabbing already apparent. You cancel subscriptions to media that has become nothing more than a Trump echo chamber, that refuses to investigate and report the truth of things. You support the small independent media, the true free press, springing up in the wake of the capitulation of mainstream media. We become the Underground, the Resistance to the takeover of our country by fascists, nazis, and billionaires. Do not get overwhelmed. This blitz of horribleness is a tactic Trump is using to do exactly that, overwhelm us so we give up.

Here are some independent news organizations you can depend on for the truth:

Daily Docket reports current litigation

Democracy Docket 

The Contrarian 

Angry Staffer 

Heather Cox Richardson 

Meidas Touch News 

Public Notice  

There are more. Jim Acosta has a podcast after being forced out at CNN. Adam Kinzinger has a newsletter/podcast. All of these can send posts directly to your email. Please share others that you rely on. 

Most importantly, don't give up.

post freeze work, finished painting, med report

Mid 50s out there, overcast and damp, dreary. Saturday was nice enough that i got out there and started cutting back some of the dead stuff; the lantana, the yellow butterfly ginger that hasn’t bloomed for a couple of years and probably won’t get any this year, the pink butterfly ginger at least what’s left of it, picked up the orange cosmos I had pulled out the week before, worked more on clearing out the overgrowth at the end of the shop. That five feet or so of cleared ground on the left is what I’ve done so far plus some behind the air compressor that was completely engulfed that you can’t see. That area used to be a nice patch of dewberry vines until the virginia creeper and wild grape vine took over.

I uncovered the ponytail palm and it looks good. Uncovered the other plants that always freeze to the ground and they did but I think covering them helps protect the roots. Took the larger pots out of the house and the smaller pots out of the garage so they could get watered by the rain predicted on Sunday.

I’ve declared this first part of the painting done, 4" x 4", and removed the blue tape 

and penciled in the shape of the zucchini below. 

I figure if I don’t like the way the zucchini comes out I can just cut it off. I’ve sort of picked an image for the next painting. I saved a photo of a landscape with the moon, all fading deep dark indigos. It will be another technique/skill building exercise. Not sure I can pull it off.

I had the TEE yesterday. I’m getting to be an old hand at this joking with one of the nurses that I could tell her what to do. I got the results today via the patient portal: “The WATCHMAN device is in good position; there appears only very trace leaking between the device and left atrial appendage (with maximal diameter of 0.2 cm). No evidence of any thrombosis in this leaking area or left atrium.” So, no change in the Watchman, the heart tissue did not heal over the leak in the last three months. No sign of blood clotting but I am on low dose aspirin and plavix so I wouldn’t expect there to be. I want off the plavix, the whole point of getting the Watchman was to get off the blood thinner and since this very small leak is within the normal range I expect to be able to stop taking it. I haven’t heard from the doctor yet about what the results mean and probably won’t until the end of the week. 

So the Watchman is stable but there were some other notes concerning the aortic valve that were not noted from the TEE three months ago. One that there are mildly calcified leaflets (part of the structure of the valve) meaning slight hardening (I looked it up) that can be a result of age but not necessarily. The other note was mild aortic regurgitation, meaning a slightly leaky valve. I have no idea if these conditions are newly developed from three months ago or just not noted previously or something to be concerned about. The third note was concerning the size of the ascending aorta, the value increased from 27 to 30 and while 30 is still normal the increase seems worrying. Anyway more stuff to talk to the heart doctor about. So that’s my health report for today.

read it and weep

image via https://theweek.com/cartoons/636660/editorial-cartoon-office-down-flag-half-mast

Warning, this is a very depressing post but I think it’s essential that we know just what is happening.

The first five days of Trump's 2nd term and this is by no means a comprehensive list.

Immigration raids are reported in California, Newark, NY, Detroit, Kentucky. ICE is setting up roadblocks and entering businesses arresting and detaining immigrants and citizens alike without the lawful requited warrant signed by a judge. In order to avoid algorithmic censorship people on TicTok are shuffling through hand written signs to get the information out there while they talk about cooking or pets or any other inane thing.

ICE, which does not recognize Tribal IDs, is detaining Native Americans that don’t have a driver’s license.

Trump is sending cargo jets and active duty troops to the border to assist CBP. (Mexico yesterday refused permission to land to Air Force deportation flights).

Farms are reporting that 75 to 80 percent or more of their laborers are not showing up to harvest the fruits and vegetables in the fields. Food is going to become scarcer and prices are going to rise. Eggs have already become scarce in some places and prices have shot up.

State GOP officials are not just stopping DEI hires but ‘reviewing’ DEI hires and firing qualified people.  (DEI does not mean unqualified. It means that if there are two equally qualified people and one of them is a white male the white guy doesn’t automatically get the job just because he’s white and male.)

Republican rep Andy Ogles has introduced a resolution to amend the 22 amendment to allow Trump to seek a third term.

Department of Justice has:

-deleted its four year old webpage on the US Capital invasion investigations.

-put a freeze on pursuing new cases, indictments, and settlements in its civil rights division.

The MAGAt administration has deleted on the White House website:

-the page on women’s health, reproductive rights and resources

-the Spanish language version 

-the page on the constitution

Among his many executive orders Trump has: 

-nullified Biden’s order that lowered prescription prices for people on Medicare.

-canceled all NIH medical research funding indefinitely so don’t count on that cure for cancer or any other disease.

-proclaimed only two sexes in America, male and female, determined at conception (surprise, all fetuses are female until 6 - 8 weeks into gestation).

-illegally ended birthright citizenship (this is already being challenged in court).

-ended LBJ’s executive order that all government contractors comply with anti-discrimination laws and affirmative action programs.

-blocked the immigration of already approved Afghans who helped us during the war including family members and unaccompanied minors.

Trump has tried to distance himself from Project 2025 but about 2/3s of his executive orders mirror those in Project 2025.

Trump has dismantled the Office of Gun Violence prevention following his pardon and release of violent criminals (you know, the ones he seeks to deport unless they're white). When his team brought the paperwork for Trump to review who among the J6 insurrectionists should get a pardon he had no interest in actually determining who should be released and who should not saying “Fuck it, release ‘em all”.

Trump has: 

-ended all DEI programs. 

-fired the Commandant of the Coast Guard, a female 4 star general for being too ‘inclusive’.

-illegally fired 17 inspector generals, the internal government watchdogs tasked with ensuring accountability and transparency.

-pulled security details from former members of the government that criticized him and that have been receiving threats of violence and death to themselves and their families including Dr. Fauci.

-has conditioned aid to California after the devastating wildfires on turning on the non-existent valve that lets water flow down from the PNW and Canada and passing a stricter a voter ID law that he approves of.

-pardoned nearly 2 dozen anti-abortion activists convicted of violating the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.

-has withdrawn the US from the Paris Climate Accords and the WHO.

-stopped the funding for infrastructure projects repairing roads, bridges, airports, ports, and new solar manufacturing plants passed by Biden.

-temporarily frozen all hiring by the government except for the IRS for which it is permanent.

Trump want to dismantle FEMA altogether and require states to handle their own catastrophes.

HHS including the FDA, CDC, and the NIH has had all travel restricted and been told to stop issuing health advisories, scientific reports, and updates to their websites and social media accounts. This is particularly bad because N1H1, bird flu, is jumping from birds to cattle and now to pigs and has been reported in some farm workers. It’s likely to be the next pandemic.

The republicans in the Senate confirmed Hegseth to run the Department of Defense, a completely unqualified drunk, misogynist, sexual abuser, and defender of war criminals who was forced to step down after mismanaging the two advocacy groups he was in charge of before becoming a Fox show host.

Newly confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio has, likely illegally, halted all foreign aid, including to Ukraine, except military assistance to Israel and Egypt which will cause a decline in American influence as recipient nations reach out to other nations for aid.

Trump intends to pull 20,000 troops from our NATO allies and wants those countries to pay a financial contribution for maintaining those that are left.

We all know Trump has no interest in actual governing. The only thing Trump is interested in is power, money, and being the center of attention, the limelight. Some people think that he’s just basically going along with whatever Stephen Miller, his close advisor, wants and we all know Stephen Miller is a racist misogynist Nazi. People who believed his lies and voted for Trump are starting to wake up and realize the horror they helped usher in. He’s not going to just deport criminals, he’s not going to protect Dreamers, he’s not going to bring down the price of food or housing or gas or medical care or drugs or protect/create jobs or stop arming Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians or or or. He’s not going to do any of that because he doesn’t give a fuck about people. When Bishop Budde implored him to have compassion for marginalized people, Trump called her vicious and demanded an apology. The only people he cares about were sitting in the front row during his inauguration and they weren’t representatives of African Americans or the Latino community or the immigrants who bring fresh blood and work ethic into this country or the LGBTQI+ citizens. They weren’t even the elected politicians sent to Congress. 

They were every one obscenely rich billionaires. 

 

dealing with winter and cats and a dream

I have no pretty pictures to post or illustrate so here’s one from Christmas Eve. This iris that was blooming way too early.

Wednesday had a cloudless blue sky in the 40s and the snow and ice melted rapidly. It was mostly gone before it got to below freezing again that night. The streets were already clear and dry so my drive to SHARE Thursday morning, the whole 7 or 8 minutes of it, was cold but uneventful.

My attempt to get the outdoor cats into the shed for our coldest night Tuesday evening was unsuccessful. While they aren’t feral exactly, they are outdoor cats and there’s no way I can make them do anything they won’t do willingly. Only Handsome Boy, Lovey, and Twin showed up. We think maybe someone else feeds Momcat as she doesn’t always show up and roams farther and Ghost had been a no show for several days. Monday I fed them around 3:30, set up the little radiator type heater and then came back about 5 to see if I could get them in the shed for the night. Only Twin showed up when I called them and while he will let me pet him now, he will not tolerate even the thought that I might try and pick him up and the heater wasn’t working anyway so. Tuesday, Robin put her little radiator type heater in there and it turned out it wasn’t the heater after all but the outdoor plug not working. So she plugged the extension cord into the house. I was most concerned about Tuesday night though so when I went to feed them about 4:30 I put their food dishes in the shed with the door open. Handsome Boy came right in and started eating. Lovey and Twin eyed it with suspicion but eventually went in. As soon as I started to close the door they bolted and would not go back in if I was standing anywhere near the door. Twin wouldn’t go back in at all. I moved their food dishes out and back under the porch. They have enclosed shelter under the house and their fur has gotten thick and fluffy. Turned out it didn’t get as cold as first predicted Tuesday night, only down to about 20 or so. I didn’t even try and coax them in Wednesday or Thursday night of below freezing temps. They’re predicting 33˚ for tonight but that’s the last cold night for the foreseeable future.

Haven’t worked on the painting since Tuesday morning. I don’t think it’s finished but sort of stumped on how much more I want to do on the petals because I don’t want to diminish the focus on the pistil and stigma which is the subject of the painting instead of the whole flower. I sort of see the petals as an unfocused background suggesting petals. I had added more yellow but I didn’t like it so then lifted a lot off with a wet brush and a paper towel. I might add some unfocused light orange in the farthest corners. We’ll see. Still thinking about it.

I meant to publish this Wednesday and no time on Thursday. SHARE in the morning, then grocery shopping which I didn’t do on my regular Tuesday, late lunch, walk the dog since she’s been housebound all week, feed the cats (they all showed up, even feral Ghost who was very hungry and so dirty like he’d been hunkered down in a hole or squeezed under something in the dirt; Lovey and Handsome Boy were not happy to see him, expressing their displeasure but he would not be deterred, just taking the abuse as long as he got to eat), and yoga in the evening, dinner, clean up and close up the house, watched an episode of Eureka. I slept until my pill alarm went off this morning at 8:30. I had been having the strangest dream. I dreamed I was waking up but I couldn’t open my eyes and when I could finally force them open the light was so bright I would just close them again but I finally got up trying to see through barely open eyes or keep them closed as I moved around. And I was talking to some people and when I would open my eyes I couldn’t really see anything just shadowy shapes. I wasn’t really concerned about it, I knew it was temporary, that it had happened before and thought I would just go take a nap. And then it started clearing up, flashes of normal vision and then the painful light again but eventually I could see normally, which had segued into a completely different dream when the alarm went off. I’ve had the dream about not being to open my eyes several times over the years. Not the same circumstances but the wanting to wake up but not being able to get my eyes open and when I did manage to open them a bit all I could see was the bright light and it was too much effort to try and keep them open.

We’re finally on a warming trend, starting tomorrow our highs will be in the 60s, lows in the 50s, so I’ll be uncovering everything outside this weekend but the indoor stuff will stay until there’s no chance of another freeze. It is still January after all.