Benny the Digging Dog

Few sights make me happier than than watching my dogs sleep.

This is especially true of my golden retriever/corgi mix, Benny. He ia about 30 pounds, and he looks like a golden retriever in the body of a corgi, short legs and all. He absolutely loves to hang out in the back yard, which I let him do as long as I am home. Although he sometimes snoozes on the artificial grass, his favorite spot in on the covered patio, against one wall of the house. It is cool and shady there.

Watching him sleep (I can see him through the door to the back yard) makes me realize that he feels safe and comfortable. Benny has been with me around 4-1/2 years, after a rather tumultuous life. He was surrendered to an animal shelter in Roswell, NM, by his family for reasons unknown. He has no bad habits. From Roswell he was pulled by a volunteer with an Albuquerque-based rescue group that keeps the animals it rescues in foster homes. Benny was in a couple of foster homes, was adopted and then returned to the group, and that is when I found him on an adoptable-pet site.  

When I inquired about him, I was told that someone who had already had a home visit wanted him. I asked to be notified if that didn't work out, and shortly after that I got the call that he was available. A volunteer came to my house for the home visit and brought Benny with her (he was called Bailey at the time, but I already had a dog named Bailey). He was to stay with me for a 2-week trial period to make sure he was a good fit with me and my other two dogs. 

Benny fit in very well, even gaining reluctant acceptance from my 14-pound papillon. So I called the volunteer and said I didn't need 2 weeks to decide; I wanted Benny to join my family. 

Benny has always been well behaved ... until a few days ago. Recently he started to dig in the dirt in one area of my back yard that is filled with a variety of flowering plants and agaves. So his days of being unsupervised in the back yard are done until I can figure out a way to keep him out of the circular area. A friend said one of her dogs does the same thing as Benny, trying to get to the small lizards that frequent the yard. We do have lizards in the yard. Benny has always loved to bury his head in the lavender plants as he looks for lizards. Until a few days ago, he never tried to dig up the yard.

I will probably have to put a fence around the area to keep the little digger out of trouble. Until then, he doesn't get to stay outside unless I am out with him. That's too bad, because he really loves to be outside.

 

Nature Photography Day

Today is Nature Photography Day.

In 2006, the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) designated Jule 15 as a day to promote the enjoyment of nature photography and to nature conservation.

Here are a few of my contributions to nature photography. You can see more of my work at www.annsullivan.zenfolio.com

If you're not a photographer, you can still get out and enjoy nature. It provides a wonderful break from all the bad news that bombards us constantly.

A Wave of Anxiety

I was watching the local news last evening, when I suddenly felt a massive wave of anxiety wash over me. 

I suspect it’s a combination of several things, starting with the ongoing news about the coronavirus pandemic and the daily updates about how many people have died from this disease. Not only does my local news update the number of cases, deaths and hospitalizations in my state of New Mexico, but numbers for the Navajo Nation and Colorado as well. That's a triple whammy.

Then came the news that the president has decided to remove nondiscrimination protection in health care and health insurance for members of the LGBTQ community, which means that medical providers and insurers can, and some certainly will, discriminate against them. And let’s not forget about continuing reports of police brutality against Blacks, including deaths. Protest marches continue as well.

With so much negativity and stress-inducing events dominating the news, it's nearly impossible not to feel anxious these days. I am doing my best to control the anxiety, as that's the only thing about the current situation I can control.

So I continue to read ... a lot. I just finished reading Elton John's autobiography. Now I'm reading a work of fiction by Anne Hillerman, daughter of the late author Tony Hillerman. She is continuing her father's series of Navajo mysteries. This should be a nice break from reality.

I continue to walk 4 miles or so every day. I've also been immersing myself in my photography. I have been plowing through the tens of thousands of digital images I have, deleting bad shots and duplicates, and discovering many good shots I had previously overlooked. What got me started on this process was realizing that since I am unable to travel and take new images to use in my annual sale of photo wall calendars, I needed to find 'new' images not previously published. Although time-consuming, this has been a wonderful exercise. Not only have I deleted a bunch of images and found a lot of good ones, looking at these photos has brought back wonderful memories. This review also made me realize how much my photography skills have improved since my first trip to Africa in 2014. 

Another thing that helps keep me calm happens every morning as I have my morning cup of hot tea. I try to buy a coffee cup from each country or place I visit. This morning, for example, I used a hand-thrown cup by a potter whose studio we visited in Nicaragua. The cup has a red hibiscus blossom on one side, and a blue and white bird on the other. Each morning I get to experience again one of the many places I have visited.

At some point I will finish my photo review. I will continue to design calendars, relive memories and hope things in this country calm down.

All the Pandemics

What is a pandemic?

The dictionary defines a pandemic as "a disease prevalent over the whole country or the world."

I can't speak to the whole world, although coronavirus is definitely a pandemic that has affected, and continues to affect, the whole world. But America currently has several simultaneous pandemics. Among them are:

• the coronavirus
• systemic, entrenched racism
• high unemployment
• poverty
• lack of critical thinking 
• unchecked gun violence
• lack of affordable health care
• student debt
• climate change
• integrity, especially of elected officials 
• destruction of the environment
• police brutality
• ignorance 
• hatred

These are the first 14 things to come to mind as I write. I'm sure there are others, and I'm sure some will disagree with the items on this list. Some items on this list are fairly recent, while others have been around for a long time.

Fighting this variety of pandemics will take time, a fundamental change in how we Americans view our world, and several approaches. When some of the American public continue to believe that the coronavirus pandemic is a hoax, refuse to wear masks, and ignore the recommendations of public health officials, I see little that can be done to change their ignorant attitudes. These are the same people who dismiss science. They have made up their minds, and frankly, many are not interested in hearing the truth.

Education can help reduce racism in the country, as children aren't born with racist attitudes. They learn to be racists, most likely from parents or other family members. Including the contributions of African-Americans in science, medicine, economics and other fields-- things that currently are often not taught in schools -- could help as well. Changing such attitudes will be a long, slow process. 

Addressing climate change and destruction of the environment will require a fundamental shift in our attitude toward the planet, and a willingness to make major changes in our way of life. Again, too many are ignorant of the causes and the impacts of climate change, and the greed of corporations makes it very difficult to enact meaningful reforms.  

Finding moral, ethical politicians with integrity will be an uphill battle, as the system is arrayed against any who may have scruples when they enter politics.  Addressing gun violence seems to be a lost cause,as even the most mild attempts to keep weapons out of the hands of the mentally ill are met with cries of "They trying to take our guns! what about the Second Amendment?"

I don't expect to see any meaningful changes in any of these areas in my lifetime. What a sad, sad commentary on what this nation has become.

Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

Where have all the leaders gone? (To the tune of the Pete Seeger song, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?")

America has lots of highly visible politicians. We have lots of people who love to appear on camera. We have self-proclaimed religious leaders. But where are the real leaders? Where are the leaders who can identify and work to rectify problems, who can inspire and rally people?

I remember John Kennedy. I remember Martin Luther King, Jr. They were true leaders. Kennedy said "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." Now we have a president who cares only about praising himself and appearing before throngs of adoring supporters. He cares only about what he can do that will benefit him and his cronies.

King, with his peaceful protests and his soaring rhetoric, moved people to action. I don't see anybody filling the shoes of Dr. King, or of Malcom X. There is no Medgar Evers. There is no Rosa Parks. Instead of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, we have the very unremarkable Clarence Thomas. There is no national voice for the Black citizens of this country. There is no articulate, poetic Maya Angelou. We do have Oprah Winfrey, who tirelessly advocates for the Black community. But I don't see her as a national leader.

During this time of protest marches, hurt, anger and frustration, who is representing the African-American citizens of this country? There are some, including former President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama. But I don't see a single, powerful, compelling voice speaking on behalf of our Black citizens. Of course, this is only my opinion as a white woman of privilege. I cannot, and I will not , presume to speak on behalf of the Black community.

Major legislative advances such as the Voting RIghts Act (1965), the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the Fair Housing Act (1968) all came about in part because Black community leaders brought attention to problems before they reached the level of crises. Black leaders back then were willing to put their freedom, and their lives, on the line. They didn't care if their calls for change upset the white establishment and white politicians. They were on a mission. If they ended up in jail, or being beaten during a march for equal rights, or even if they put their very lives at risk, they were willing to make those sacrifices. Those voices were proactive. They spoke out against inequality and lack of opportunity. Today's leaders seem only reactive, speaking out only when some egregious crime takes place.

Today's Black voices -- Sen. Cory Booker, Sen. Kamala Harris and Rep. John Lewis, for example -- are part of the Democratic Party establishment. They aren't taking the chances -- with their freedom, with their lives, with their jobs -- that their predecessors took. Even Jesse Jackson, who never met a television camera he didn't like, has been remarkably quiet during the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd and the resulting protest marches. Black leaders of the 1960s were not beholden to a particular political party. They put everything they had on the line for their cause.

Our so-called leaders today are too busy obstructing legislation proposed by the other party. They are too busy pointing fingers and making unfounded accusations against their 'opponents'. Their focus is primarily on getting reelected. Sworn to protect and defend the Constitution, they too often act like spoiled children having a temper tantrum when they don't get their way.  

The current administration is 'led' (a term I use loosely) by a spoiled, self-obsessed man-child who lacks any semblance of leadership. His idea of leadership is being a bully, of bringing in the military to knock peaceful protesters out of the way so he can pose for a photo op with a Bible in front of a church he has never attended. His idea of leadership is threatening governors that if they don't "dominate" protesters, he will send in federal troops to take care of the situation. 

But with the acknowledgement that the president is incapable of leadership, where are other elected officials? Why are none of them stepping forward to start a conversation, to identify the problems and potential solutions? Where are the religious leaders and their moral indignation?

I have no answers to any of these questions. I am just an ordinary senior citizen who lived through the assassinations and race riots of the 1960s. I remember four Black girls who lived down the hall from my roommates and me in a dorm in 1968. We weren't close, but we were friendly, and we sometimes ate together in the dining hall. All of that changed with the assassination of Dr. King. My roommates and I were the same people we were before the assassination, but those Black girls shunned us after that. 

We, of course, had nothing to do with the assassination. But we were part of the white establishment. A wedge had been driven between us permanently. I didn't understand then, and I don't understand now, the impact that act had on them. 

I befriended a Black woman in my neighborhood in Houston during the three years I lived there in the late 1990s. We met as we were walking our dogs early each morning. Her husband was a physician at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. They had two elementary age boys. The mom and boys took me to visit the Houston Holocaust Museum one day. It didn't matter that they were Black and I was white. Race never came up. We had things in common, we enjoyed each other's company, and that was enough. And that was how it should be.

I still don't know what to do about the great divide, the racism, the unfairness, the hopelessness, the inequality and discrimination. I hope some leaders -- religious leaders, community leaders, government leaders -- step forward to represent all sides of this difficult issue and to start a conversation. I hope people will come together and collaborate to seek solutions to the racism and social injustice that continue to divide us. 

Isn't it time to move forward, some 157 years after Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation?

Fiddling While America Burns

Roman emperor Nero reportedly fiddled while Rome burned. He was an ineffectual leader during Rome's time of crisis. The Roman senate declared him a public enemy.

Trump tweets while America burns. And while unarmed black citizens are killed. And while more than 106,000 Americans die of a pandemic he ignored. He is an ineffectual leader while the country faces three simultaneous crises: a pandemic, rampant racism, and high unemployment.

He hides in the White House, refusing to address the American people to at least attempt to calm their fears, address the threats presented by a bunch of anarchists, reassure our Black citizens, and advocate following the steps recommended by scientists and public health experts to slow the spread of the pandemic.

Instead of doing any of these things -- things of which he is undeniably incapable -- he stokes the flames of hatred and divisiveness. He cares about nothing and nobody but himself and the stock market. His sole goal is to be reelected so he can grab more power for himself and drag the country ever close to an autocracy.

This administration is totally incompetent at handling the pandemic that so far has taken the lives of more than 106,000 Americans. Who else would suggest investigating whether putting bleach inside the body would cure Covid-19? Who else would advise taking hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19 despite its tendency to cause life-threatening heart problems? Who else would take advice from his corrupt son-in-law about how to deal with the pandemic and which states need how many ventilators?  Who else would spend the weekend golfing at one of his golf resorts rather than dealing with the crises at hand?

A crisis is the ongoing murder of unarmed black citizens at the hands of cops in city after city, year after year. A black woman is gunned down while alseep in her home by police who invaded her home. A black woman is arrested on a traffic violation, taken to jail, and ends up dead by hanging. A handcuffed black man is killed by a white police officer who kneels on his neck for nearly 9 minutes.

These things are crises. These things need serious attention. They need serious action and serious reforms. These things needs words of comfort and calm, not threatening tweets from a president totally lacking in any semblance of humanity. They need the actions of a president who at least pretends to care, not of a president more interested in golfing than in addressing the pain of the country's citizens.
  We are in a pandemic that shows no end, a pandemic that has cost more than 106,000 lives. This pandemic has caused more than 36,000,000 (36 million) people to lose their jobs. More than 100,000 businesses have closed their doors for good ... so far.

And what does the person who is supposed to guide the nation through not one, but two, major crises? He hides in the White House (when he isn't on the golf course) rather than addressing the nation.

I don't know what to do. I can vent my anger online, but what good does that do? So i sit at home (to keep myself and others safe during the pandemic) and stew. I walk. I pace. I am stressed and angry and frustrated. Most of all, I fear for my country. Are we on the verge of a civil war? It certainly seems that way. The America in which I grew up and have lived for many decades no longer exists. 

We are a country deeply divided, but not only by race. We are divided by economic status, by education, by politics, by belief (or not) in science and logic, by outlook. and by common sense (or lack thereof). Congress is divided into those who want to provide more relief to struggling citizens, and those who refuse to take any action after the first round of benefits that overwhelmingly benefited large corporations and billionaires. We are divided into those who demand that businesses return to normal operations NOW, regardless of the human lives that will be lost when the virus spreads, and those who want to move ahead slowly. One group demands to be allowed to get a haircut or go bowling, while the other remains safely at home. We are divided into those willing to wear face coverings and practice social distancing, and those who refuse to do these simple things and who believe the pandemic is all a hoax.

As Abraham Lincoln famously said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." Our nation is more divided than I have ever seen it. The president and his minions, rather than trying wig to calm the people's anger, fears and frustrations and bring people together, works hard to further divide the nation. He reportedly has no interest in delivering a message of unity, in part because he and his administration have no idea what to do. Is this part of a plan to declare martial law? We all know he years to be a dictator.

What can we the people do to stop this madness? I wish I knew. What I do know is that the president has no ability to, or interest in, addressing the crises facing this country. At a time when strong, principles leadership is essential, we have a coward sending out endless tweets while hiding in the basement.

May God help us all.