Plastic Straws

My niece put this subversive photo on her Facebook page.  It made me laugh out loud.  It seems like this clandestine "buy" will be soon be reality if we continue to vilify the lowly straw.

I consider myself an environmentalist but I just haven't be able to get my brain around the straw's ability to destroy the oceans and beyond.

And then this morning I read an article by columnist David Whitley that put it all together for me.  He states clearly what will happen if we continue to use straws.  Nothing!

Plastic straws count for at most 2,000 tons of the 9 million tons of plastic that enters the oceans annually.  That's .02 percent.  And the U.S. is responsible for about 1 percent of all plastic waste going into the oceans.  

Whitley goes on to say that, by far, the biggest polution source is fishing nets.  Also big on the list are cigarettes, plastic bottles, wrappers and bags.

So why are big corporations like Starbucks, McDonalds and Disney banning the lowly straw?  It makes no sense.  Whitley says that Starbucks is replacing straws with "Adult Sippy Cups."  There is more plastic in these lids than in the straws.

What's wrong with us?


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Your Vote is Your Voice

I like having a voice.  That's one reason I write this blog.  It's also the reason I vote.  I've voted in almost every election since I've been eligible - and that's a very long time.  I've voted for Democrats, Republicans and Independents.

Compared to other 1st world countries, we Americans have a dismal voting record.  We do a lot of yelling but very little voting.

In the beginning only rich (land owning) white guys could vote.  Then, after the Civil War, the 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, prohibited states from denying any male citizen from voting. Period!

However, it wasn't until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 - accompanied by blood, sweat and tears and in which I'm proud to say I had a small part -that African Americans were finally able to vote.

Likewise, in 1920, after a century of protest (including blood, sweat and tears,) women were able to vote.

It creams my corn when I hear some guy say that his family all voted for (fill in the blank.)  He doesn't know who his family voted for.  It's a secret ballet.  You can vote for whomever you want and nobody knows - unless you tell them.  And it's not polite to ask!

 I hope you are registered to vote.  If not, Google how to get registered.  If it seems hard there are loads of people who will help you.  Find a phone number on the voter registration page and call it or call your local party or the League of Women Voters.

Dave and I are early voters.  We receive the ballet in the mail.  I sit on the couch, look it over, and if I'm not sure about some race I look up the candidates to see what they stand for.  Do Dave and I vote for the same people?  I have no idea.  It's a secret ballet.

The Florida primary is August 28.  If you live elsewhere it's coming right up in your state as well.  And for you readers in other countries, let's keep our freedom by voting (although most of you do a much better job than we do.)


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Living Like There's No Tomorrow

I had a pleasant lunch this week, with a woman I did not know, to talk over some new ideas.  I most likely won't be a part of this future endeavor - but I was happy to hear about it and make some suggestions.  But, to me, the fun part was talking and listening with a new person in my life.  We had each other's undivided attention.  I hope her project flies, but I enjoyed this experience all on its own.

Because I'm, more and more, into living in the moment.

That's one of the reasons I'm so enjoying the book I'm currently reading, "Happiness is a Choice You Make." Social scientists aren't sure why older people aren't more unhappy but that could be because these researchers study the problems not the richness of getting older.  Happiness to us oldies is usually what's happening now.  In other words:  Happiness is a state of living in the present.

When I was doing consulting work I used to emphasis this concept but younger people are always worrying about possessions and work and relationships they might have in the future.  The simple act of living in the moment by just listening carefully to what another person is saying is lost on most of us when we're younger.

Now I try not to spend much energy on people or things I don't care about.  For instance, mingling at cocktail parties, attending long, boring meetings and listening to people complain about silly things or things they can do nothing about are not things I choose to do very often these days.

I'm less interested in superficial and negative contacts and am happier with the people closer to me who want to enjoy life now even while they're working to make it better.   And I enjoy my own inner world  It's a fun place most of the time.


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Everything Will Be OK

Many of us in Central Florida have been deeply moved by a series of columns by Orlando Sentinel's Beth Kassab.  Six months ago Beth's husband, and father of their two small children, Grady, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.

In this morning's column Beth says that every day she crawls out of bed and sees on the wall above her dresser "a picture of a graffiti message scrawled on a concrete wall: 'Everything will be OK.'"

Not everybody would appreciate this message.  I know some people who think it's naive and even stupid.

At lunch today, Dave and I were talking about aging, one of my favorite subjects.  I'm currently reading the best seller "Happiness is a Choice You Make."  In it journalist John Leland interviews, over an extended period of time, six people over the age of 85.  The oldest of the old.  They, by definition, are experiencing tremendous lose - which will culminate in death - soon.

But John Leland makes some remarkable discoveries about how we can experience happiness - no matter what.  He found this to be true of himself, along with these oldies.

Gradually I noticed something quite unexpected happening.  Every visit, no matter how dark the conversation got -and some days it go quite morbid - raised my spirits like no other work I have every done.  I expected the year to bring great changes in them.  I didn't expect it to change me. 

Beth Kassab says grief is not linear.  There are times of feeling OK.  And there are ways of helping us get to OK despite what's in front of us.

When I read Beth's column this morning the first thing I thought about was "Everything's Alright," the song May Magdalene sings to Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar.

Try not to get worried, try not to turn on to
Problems that upset you, oh,
Don't you know
Everything's alright, yes, everything fine.
Let the world turn without you tonight.


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Stephen King - Revival

That is not dead which can eternal lie.  And with strange aeons, even death may die. 

The quote above, from H. P. Lovercraft is in both the beginning and the end of Stephen King's book, Revival.  It can be either comforting or terrifying, depending on how you interpret it.

I'm enjoying my Stephen King summer.  So far I've read Mr. Mercedes, Dr. Sleep, and now Revival.  I started Cell but put it down after a few pages.

Some reviewers have said that Revival is one of King's scariest novels.  I don't think so..  I love the character development and the slow pace.  All of the characters are deeply flawed.  Like us real humans.

I love the speculation about the hereafter.  Most of the actual theology books I read ask more questions than give answers.  I like that.  I'm reading a theology book right now, as well as my daily Bible readings.

Revival is not a theology book - but it does pose theological questions.  One of the themes is Methodism. Jamie, the protagonist, grew up in a good Methodist home.  He later became a heroine addict.  It happens.   His minister, Mr. Jacobs, later becomes one scary dude.  That happens as well, but not very often in my world.

Midway in the book, a character named Hugh is "cured" of a mysterious illness.

...just as he was losing interest and getting ready to walk back to the fleabag where he now hung his hat, the vertigo hit.  He reeled, putting out one hand and knocking over a disassembled stern speaker...Before he hit the shop's dusty wooden floor, all had turned black...When he woke up he was in Jacob's office...."I have something called Meniere's disease."

Wow!  Stephen King knows about Meniere's disease.

The former Methodist minister, Mr. Jacobs, now believes that "Electricity is the basis of all life." Even though they've just met, Mr. Jacobs wants to perform a medical experiment to rid Hugh of his Meniere's. Hugh gives it some thought.

...Beethoven had lived with deafness, but hearing loss wasn't where Hugh's woes ended.  There was the vertigo, the trembling, the periodic loss of vision.  There was nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, galloping pulse.  Worst of all was the almost constant tinnitus. 

Hugh decides to try the experiment!  I sort of get it.  But, don't worry I wouldn't try anything like this.  Partly because I don't believe that electricity is the basis of all life.  I'm still a Methodist.


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Hard Work

The outside of our sun room is white aluminum.  About twice a year it needs to be scrubbed down and the six floor to ceiling windows washed.

I used to do this myself but then it got too much and the maintenance guy for our association did it for a fee.  But that's no longer an option.

We, like many other places in the country are experiencing a boon.  Lots of jobs, small and large, are waiting to be done.  So almost nobody is available to do a one hour hard, dirty job.  I finally found one guy would would do it for $250 but he's not available to run over for an hour's work anytime soon.

I feel so grateful for the Mexican yard guys who work year 'round in the intense heat to keep our live oak forest called Oak Harbour looking good.  If it wasn't for these guys and gals, and others like them, I don't know what Florida would do.  We would fast turn back into a jungle.

This morning I ended up cleaning the aluminum panels myself - and power sprayed all of the windows.  I feel good about doing it but I'm beyond tired and my body is asking me "What were you thinking?"  Don't know what we'll do six months from now.  It's these jobs that make us think about giving up the condo and going to the Home.  (Just kidding, we're not ready yet.)

Several decades ago, along with other volunteers,  I was on my hands and knees the scrubbing the floor of a filthy house so that a grandmother and her four little grand kids could move in.  A man in a suit came in to get me to sign some papers. And said to me in a very condescending way:  "I wouldn't do what you're doing for any amount of money."  I replied, "Neither would I."

But, like I said above, I'm so very grateful for people who go to work everyday to do the hard manual labor that needs to be done to keep us going.


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Baywatch No More

Over the years Baywatch, both the TV show and the movie, has given us this stereotype of what it's like to be a lifeguard in America.  Not only young gorgeous bodies but they're crime stoppers as well.

What normal person could possibly aspire to this image?  And, apparently, students are deciding that work isn't what they want to do anymore.  Only 35 percent of 16 to 19 year old are currently working - way fewer than ten years ago

Turns out us oldies are taking a shot at it.  Abha Bhattarai with the Washington Post tells us that, across the country, due to a shortage of motivated 19 year olds, senior citizens are being recruited to be lifeguards - the oldest of whom is 86.

Leslie Botts

Two years ago 63 year old math teacher Bill Bower decided to become a lifeguard.  He was nervous about taking the training alongside colleagues who were young enough to be his grand kids.  But it turns out he was the fastest swimmer there.  Last year he was voted the city's best lifeguard.

Leslie Botts is another typical new lifeguard.  She's a retired special-education teacher who, at age 70, became certified.  Managers told her that they prefer  older employees because they tend to be more reliable.

Now, where have we heard that before?  Employers have consistently been reluctant to hire oldies thinking they won't show up on time, or need more time off than younger people - only to discover they have constantly been proven wrong.

No news yet as to whether or not these geriatric lifeguards are doing any crime stopping.


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Lift Every Voice and Sing

This morning in church one of the hymns we sang was "Lift Every Voice and Sing."  I thought it was fitting because this is 4th of July Sunday when we celebrate our great country.  And this hymn is about celebrating liberty.

Lift every voice and sing, till earth and Heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of liberty

 I remember the first time being fully aware of the power of this hymn. I was a young woman attending a South Florida African American church where my husband, Ken had been invited to preach.  Every person in the church got to his or her feet and sang with a depth of feeling I couldn't quite understand.  I would soon learn that years before the NAACP had dubbed it "The Black National Anthem." And that is what it has remained.

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us

Years ago, in black schools across the country this hymn was sung after the National Anthem.  It's words help all of us to know how far we've come and how far we have to go.

Stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died.

In 1900, James Weldon Johnson,  the principal of a black school in Jacksonville, FL was planning a celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birthday.  Booker T. Washington was a guest at the school.  Instead of writing a speech Mr. Johnson wrote a poem.  It was later set to music by his brother, John Roseamond Johnson.

We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered 

The song has been recorded by scores of black artists.  Most recently, in April of 2018, Beyonce performed it at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

In September of 2016 it was sung at the conclusion of the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture at which President Obama delivered he keynote address.

And on October 19, 2017 when white nationalist leader Richard Spencer spoke at the University of Florida the university's carillon played "Lift Every Voice and Sing."

Showed beneath Thy hand, may we forever stand
True to our God, true to our native land. 


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