Gain, Loss, and Change

I didn't realize how much both DH and I needed a break from all the stress in our lives, not to mention the everyday routine. He was practically giddy the morning we left for our trip.

What I didn't expect that day was Kristine Kathryn Rusch to announce she would no longer be posting her business thoughts on her blog. Her business blog had been a staple for me over Thursday morning breakfast for the last thirteen years.

However, I understood her reasoning. It was costing her time that she'd rather put towards her fiction. Not to mention, the people who really needed to hear her message ignore her.

Yep, things have changed in publishing over the last thirteen years. A lot.

I no longer get the sniff of disgust for publishing my own works. Even today at my dentist appointment, my hygienist asked about my job. When I needed to separate business and home purchases, the clerk at Meijer asked what I did and if I had my own store. (The online store will be the big project for 2024.)

Even Texas is no longer avoiding renewable energy sources. We passed a number of windmill and solar farms as the terrain changed from the Hill Country to the West Texas Desert. I tried to grab a picture of one such windmill farm as we drove by it.

DH asked why I was taking pictures of windmills. It wasn't like we didn't have plenty around our home town. I said I was marking the change in Texans behavior. The gas and oil companies can hang on with teeth and nails, but when Texas is embracing alternate energy sources at a time when California is trying to put the kebosh on solar energy, we're definitely in the middle of a major change in behaviors.

Just like we were after the Kindle was introduced.

Exploding Tumbleweeds

Two and a half weeks ago, DH and I took our first real vacation since GK was born.

Over the last 20+ years, all of our vacation time was used up visiting family. We were the ones who moved 1200 miles away. I get the trade-off. But we never prioritized an immediate family vacation.

We tried this year. DH and I would drive to San Antonio. GK would cook Thanksgiving dinner. Then the three of us would travel together to Las Vegas,

Uncle Sam had other ideas.

GK passed his noncom boards and was immediately sent to a leadership course held at a different base. His class was a month-long and started on November 15. Yep, the week before DH and I were to head to his apartment. No, it was not something he could get out of.

Luckily, GK was sent to Fort Cavazos which was only slightly out of our way. We did have Thanksgiving dinner with him, and I've never had a better meal at IHOP. And we generously tipped the poor waitress who handled all the tables in our half of the restaurant, all service people with their families who had traveled to the fort to spend an hour or two with their loved ones.

Sadly, DH and I continued on to Las Vegas by ourselves. As we left the Hill Country for the West Texas desert, I warned DH to watch out for tumbleweeds blowing across the highway. I need to watch what I say.

About five minutes later down I-10, we were following another white sedan in the left lane as we passed an SUV. Sure enough, a tumbling tumbleweed rolled north, heading for the asphalt. DH tapped the brake, but the car in front of us had no place to go. They hit the tumbleweed dead on.

It exploded.

DH and I laughed as dry, brittle branches rained down. No harm was done, and a few miles later, another tumbleweed rolled across the interstate well ahead of us.

But now, I know what happens when you hit a tumbleweed at eighty miles an hour. As I roll along in life, I'll try not to spin and dance across a freeway and get hit.

Again?

If you need to contact me, I'll answer. But otherwise, I'm going to go hide in one of my worlds for the next couple of days. Because I...

I just can't anymore. I don't have the spoons. I don't have the bandwidth.

And I'm so fucking tired of thoughts and prayers.

If you have to be out in reality this week, be kind to yourself. Be kind to others. I know I'm not the only one who feels utterly broken right now.

Coronavirus Pandemic Day 363 - Jumping the Gun

29,293,090 known COVID-19 cases in the U.S., and 530,614 known dead from the disease.

A year ago, DH and I sat across from each other in the local Applebee's and debated what would happen with COVID-19. The week before, the news broadcast announced the first death when I was on a layover in St. Louis. As we ate, hospitals in New York were becoming overwhelmed. No one was totally sure how the disease was spreading. There was a lingering unease even in our little town.

Less than a week later, my father-in-law's assisted living facility was closed to visitors. Two days later, the Ohio governor shut down the state.

A year later, Texas's governor is reopening the state. The CDC says it's far too early, and I agree. The new British variant is already spreading through the U.S. while we barely have 10% of the population vaccinated.

I worry because GK and his girlfriend are stationed in Texas. I worry because my unborn grandson doesn't have a choice in the matter. I worry because they want us down in San Antonio for the baby's birth, and the last thing I want is to expose them to COVID-19.

I'm glad Ohio's Governor Dewine is upholding the masking and social distancing efforts. We aren't out of the woods yet. But there is some hope on the horizon.

On Thursday, my and DH's age group can sign up for appointments to get oue vaccines. It's not a perfect solution, but if it helps us to welcome the grandkid into the world, then it's a little less worry on my soul.

Coronavirus Pandemic Day 110 - Denial Is a River in Egypt

Denial of the seriousness of COVID-19 has been running thick and strong in the United States. However, reality is catching up with a lot of people's wishful thinking.

Greg Abbott was on the Texas Supreme Court back when I was first licensed as an attorney. To say he's right-wing is like saying Yosemite Sam likes guns. Now, Abbot is governor of Texas, and he very much was opposed to shutting down the state. He did so in March under duress. He also was one of the first governors to reopen his state.

But in all the years I've observed Greg Abbott, I've never seen him scared like he was at last Friday's press conference where he closed down bars and limited restaurants once again. On Friday, hospitals in the major cities were at 97% capacity.

By Saturday, hospital were full.

I still have a lot of friends who live in Texas. Hell, my son is currently stationed there.

And he was supposed to be sent to a new assignment next month. That likely won't happen either. Nor will he get leave for Christmas if he is still in the States. The Armed Services can't afford for that many people to get sick.

I won't even get into the hellscape that is Florida right now.

People talk about the second wave, but Holy Cthulu! The first wave hasn't crested yet. We didn't give it a chance to crest. Our leaders were in denial. A good chunk of the population were in denial. And now COVID-19 has a firm grasp on all our throats.

Not even Baby Yoda can save us now.

Something to Brighten Your Monday Morning

It's Monday morning, and the first thing I do is scan the internet news. I don't watch TV news anymore. I swear the Houston stations lead off with dead baby stories EVERY FREAKIN' MORNING.

So I searched for a positive news story. Anything.

Allegedly, twenty members of Westboro Baptist Church were arrested by the West police when they tried to picket the funeral of the fire chief who died in the explosion two weeks ago. If you've ever dealt with small town Texas law enforcement, it's an easy story to believe. Maybe WBC believed the other stories about Texans love for their guns because they didn't show up in West.

Then I saw a story about new Peeps flavors being introduced this summer: Bubblegum and Lemonade. A portion of the sales will go to cancer research. Okay, a little more positive, but let's face it, the press release is glorified marketing. (It doesn't mean I won't try the lemonade ones!)

Finally, out of Georgia came the report that students from Wilcox County said, "NO!" to adults' continued efforts to segregate them. Even though segregation officially ended in 1964, parents raised private funds to hold two separate proms for the last fifty years. This year, the kids raised their own funds to hold their own integrated prom. Word got out through Facebook, and donations came from as far away as Austrailia. The kids' fundraising was so successful that they donated the excess funds to charity.

Damn, I want to adopt them all. Anyone who says kids today have no ethics or morals had better be wearing a sturdy athletic cup around me.