Time Catches Up With All Of Us

One thing I learned during a recent photography trip, which isn't about photography at all, is that age is really taking a toll on me.

I had to skip, or rather I chose to skip, some of the walks to waterfalls because I felt like the walk was just too strenuous for me. Walking across, and trying to balance on, rocks while going downhill, isn't anything I'm comfortable with. I am not willing to risk a tumble and possibly a broken bone just to get a nice shot.

In my mind, I'm still a fit and healthy person. And compared with many people my age, I really am a fit and healthy person.

But my balance isn't what it used to be. And along with that has come a loss of confidence. If I'm not confident that I can complete the hike safely, I'm not going.

It's difficult to accept the fact that I have finally reached a point in my life where there are things I'm just not comfortable doing. I hate to forgo an opportunity to see and photograph something beautiful, but it isn't worth injuring myself. And my decision was confirmed as the prudent one by other photographers who completed the hike when they noted that in one case, the rocks were covered with a slippery moss. Still, the local guide made a disparaging comment (reported to me later by another member of the group) that he couldn't understand why people would travel across the globe and then not take part in all of the hikes. The guide in question is an active duty member of his nation's military, considerably younger than I am, and a lot more fit. I wasn't the only person to skip a few outings. It doesn't matter why some people didn't go on every outing. Maybe they were tired and wanted to sleep later. Maybe they had an injury. It doesn't really matter. Going or not going -- it was their/my choice.

It's difficult enough knowing that I'm not the person I used to be, a person who completed the hilly, 26.2 mile San Francisco marathon. I don't need to know about disparaging comments from a younger man and active duty soldier.

The person who reported the comment to me said she replied that the trip was rated a level 1, and that some of the hikes were not level 1. She said people chose a level 1 trip because they were not able or were uncomfortable doing a more challenging trip.

Still, the experience made me realize in a very real way that physically at least, I'm no longer a young person.

Not Feeling the Holiday Spirit

I don't know why it happened, but this year I have lost my interest in donating to charity.

I typically donate to several charities that benefit both animals (dogs and elephants primarily) and humans. But this year, my heart isn't in donating anywhere. And if I do donate, it will be far less than my typical donation.

Part of the reason is the outrageous cost of everything, from groceries to propane used to heat my house, to airfare. I can easily spend close to $100 for two bags of groceries, and I don't buy anything extravagant.

My homeowner's insurance increased by more than 16 percent. Car insurance went up as well.  My cost of living increase? A whopping 2.5 percent.

The other part of my lack of interest in donating to my favorite charities is not so easily defined. Unlike during the past 10 years or so, I have sold zero, no photo wall calendars. I match every dollar raised and donate the proceeds to an elephant charity in Kenya. But not this year. Nobody wants a beautiful photo wall calendar.

The bottom line is, I just don't feel like donating. I particularly don't want to donate to charities that help people in the 'red' states that voted to install a fascist-leaning dictator as the incoming president of the United States.

In the aftermath of this year's disastrous presidential election, I will no longer donate to any charity that helps people in 'red' states recover from hurricanes, floods, tornados or other natural disasters. This may seem mean or unAmerican or unChristian or whatever, but I simply cannot bring myself to helf anyone who voted to put a fascist into the greatest country in the world. I know that not everyone in red states supports Cheetolini, but my donations will stay close to home this year.

Instead, I will donate dry and canned dog food to help local dog owners provide food for their animals. I also bought some stuffed animals for kids in need in my area, but apparently groups that collect toys for kids won't accept stuffed animals. So I will donate those, along with a couple of toys, to a local charity that helps dogs in need of medical or behavioral care.

I have some food to donate locally, as well as toys if I can find a local toy drive. And I was saddened to learn that many charities will not accept stuffed animals, even new ones with the tags still attached. I think stuffed animals are the most comforting thing a child can have. A side from a few small monetary donations, that will be the extent of my generosity this year.

This same person wants to slash or eliminate climate change programs, to slash or eliminate programs that notify the public of incoming major weather systems, and slash or eliminate emergency response and assistance agencies.He plans to remove environmental protections and to deport millions of immigrants, both legal and illegal. Social Security and Medicare are likely to come under attack. So if these people in 'red' states are dumb enough to vote against their own best interests, they won't get any help with my dollars.

This may well be the best holiday season America will see for the foreseeable future.

Paying to Donate

I typically give a good amount of money to several charities each year.

But this year, I have cut back on my donations due to the excessive cost of groceries, propane (used to heat my house, run my water heater and stove), etc.

One thing that really annoys me is being asked by charities to donate more than my gift to cover the cost of processing the donation. Since online donations are typically charged to a credit card, and credit card companies charge of fee of 3 percent to 4 percent of the transaction cost, the charity does incur a cost for each donation.

But in my mind, asking me to donate money and pay the processing fee is akin to asking donors to pay for the privilege of donating. What will come next? Asking donors to cover the cost of electricity to operate the computers? Will there be a fee to cover the salary of employees or the organization's overhead?

To me, accepting monetary donations online is simply a cost of doing business. And the processing fee is far less than the amount of every donation. Transaction fees for debit card donations are very small. And the request to cover the processing charge is optional. But it still rankles me.

I know that inflation and producer greed have impacted charities just as they have impacted consumers.

But no, I will not be paying to donate to any charity. 

Goodbye to My America

We had the opportunity to do something that has never been done before in this country.

We could have elected not just a woman, but a biracial woman, a woman of color, to lead this country. We could have elected a leader who offered hope, who offered opportunities, who offered sanity and inspiration, to people of all races, of all economic levels, in this country.

But more than half of the voters of this once-great country chose to elect a racist, a convicted felon, a convicted rapist, a perpetual liar, a misogynist, a man whose dementia makes him unfit to lead this nation. They elected someone intent on making America suffer and promising to put into positions of power other mentally unfit men to dismantle the federal government, to decimate health care, to reject life-saving vaccines, to cozy up to the dictators of the world, to end Social Security and other programs on which people depend.

I fear not just for my nation, but for the rest of the world. With the presidency and both chambers of Congress in the hands of the fascists, I fear that Ukraine, a country fighting for its own democracy and survival as a free nation, will fall to the Russian invaders without the weapons provided by the United States. I fear the dismantling of our independent press. I fear that like Germany of the 1930s and 1940s, we have lost our system of checks and balances to rein in the raging madmad in power.

I fear more attacks on women. I fear the rise of so-called Christian nationalism. I fear further brainwashing of children in our public education system.

I fear for our planet, already struggling and showing her pain with climate change, drought, wildfires, floods and other natural catastrophes. I rear for our wild places and our wildlife struggling to survive.

I fear for those who aren't white, male and Christian. I fear for the LGBTQ population, and for the Jewish and Muslim members of our society.

The great American experiment in democracy has ended. That half of my fellow citizens could believe, and vote for, a person convicted of rape and 34 other felonies, who has pledged to be a dictator, who promises revenge and retribution on his alleged enemies, who calls for the shooting deaths of reporters and anyone who opposes him, makes me literally sick to my stomach.

Goodbye, America.

Stress and Fear

 I am not someone who gets stressed easily.

But today, I am very stressed. I am stressing about the future of our democratic republic, whose fate will be decided tomorrow in the most important national election of my life.

Will Americans vote for a progressive, positive Democratic candidate who brings hope to Americans? Or will Americans vote for a mentally ill, fascist-leaning, traitorous Republican who offers only a dark, violent future for this country?

The contrast couldn't be more clear. And the stakes could not be any higher.

I took part in early voting last month, as I don't trust the post office to safely and promptly deliver my absentee ballot. 

The future under an unhinged megalomaniac who wants to raise taxes on the middle class as he cuts taxes on his wealthy cronies, who openly admires Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Putin, who wants to deport tens of millions of immigrants (including those in the US legally), who wants to send the treatment of women back to the 1950s, and who wants to take away health care from millions, is terrifying. 

It's also unimaginable to me that tens of millions of Americans support this chronic liar who cares only about himself. He is a convicted rapist and he has been convicted of 34 felony counts. And he promises to fill his cabinet with nutjobs such as RFK Jr and Elon Musk.

It is highly probable that we won't know the final results of this year's election until later in the week. And it's almost guaranteed that if the traitor loses the election, he will appeal the decision and get his minions to stage violent protests like those we saw on January 6, 2021. 

America is more prepared for violent protests this year, and the leader of the seditionists is no longer in power.But those who refuse to accept the results of the election have had time to plan their rebellion.

So yes, I am stressed. I am frightened. I fear for my country. Indeed, I fear for the world.

Cows

I recently was part of a photography group that visited both Croatia and Slovenia.

One day in Slovenia, I decided not to take part in a walk to a waterfall because I wasn't comfortable on the hilly, rocky, slippery terrain. The morning outing was a bit more strenuous than I was comfortable with. I found a bench near a grassy enclosure that held five cows. There were three adult cows, and two calves. One of the cows was wearing a bell around her neck. I'm told the cow with the bell was a matriarch of the group, and that even if the animals were dispersed over a large area, the other members of the herd could locate their leader by the clanging of the bell. The bell also made it easier for the cowherd to find the herd.

So I sat on the stone bench and watched the cows. I felt the urge to write, but I couldn't call up my blog. So I decided to dictate a draft e-mail with the beginnings of this post.

Now I would guess that not too many people give a lot of thought to cows and their lives. But as I watched these five cows peacefully grazing on a comfortably warm and partly sunny day, I started wondering about what cows think about their environment. and their lives. 

I suppose that cows, not being the brightest among mammalian species, don't really think about their environment or about their future. They simply are. They do what cows have always done. They graze on grass, drink water when they need a drink, and have not a care in the world as long as their basic needs are met. 

In that sense, cows are much better off than are we humans. We worry about the future. We fret. We lose sleep. We plot and plan.

I know that most cows, the vast majority in fact, spend their lives outdoors in the sunshine eating grass. And then they are shipped off to what the British used to call the knacker man. There they are killed and chopped up into various cuts of meat. So-called beef cattle are raised and killed for their meat. Dairy cows, such as the ones I watched, are used to produce milk for human consumption until they are deemed no longer productive. Then they, too, end up as hamburger meat.

I would guess that cows don't worry about the future. They don't fear their looming deaths and dismemberment. They simply do what cows have always done. They eat, they drink, they have babies, and they have no fear of what future awaits them. 

Some 900.000 cattle are slaughtered every day around the world. That is a tremendous number of lives lost each day. Several years ago I made the decision to give up cow's milk and beef. I really enjoyed vanilla almond milk, until I had to give up anything almond due to the nuts' contribution to the development of kidney stones, for which I have been treated surgically five times. If I feel like having a burger, I enjoy a plant-based burger, which is remarkably tasty It isn't much, but giving up beef is my small contribution to lessening the suffering of animals.

So in one respect, I think cows are very lucky. They live for the day. They love their babies, but they don't fret about things over which they have no control.

We humans could take a lesson from the lowly cow.

My Heart Hurts

My heart hurts.

It hurts when I watch television coverage of the aftermath of hurricane Helene in the southeastern part of the US. It hurts as I watch the events marking the one year anniversary of the October 7 terror attack on Israel, an attack that took the lives of some 1,200 innocent people. My heart hurts for the 251 people taken hostage, and the 101 still being held hostage if they haven’t been killed already. My heart hurts as I see the suffering of the innocent people in Gaza, whose lives and whose territory have been taken over by the terrorists of Hamas.

My heart hurts when I see the devastation in Lebanon, where most people afflicted by the bombing are innocent civilians. 

My heart hurts for the people of Ukraine, whose country has been under attack by Russia for nearly 3 years. And my heart hurts for the Jewish citizens of the United States who continue to face antisemitism in public and on college campuses.

My heart hurts for this country as many of its citizens and some of the governments work to remove rights from us in the name of religion or politics.

And my heart hurts for the non-human among us as well. My heart hurts for the endless stream of dogs in animal shelters throughout the country who will lose their lives because no one wants them. My heart hurts for the wolves, the bears and other mammals hunted mercilessly. My heart hurts for this planet that sustains us as humans continue to pollute and rape it of its natural resources.

There is so much pain, so much hurt and so much evil in this world. Sometimes it seems overwhelming.