I Will Do Good

I will do good.

We are in a pandemic that shows no signs of abating any time soon. I am unable to travel. More than half a dozen of my planned trips have been canceled. I feel helpless and powerless. I am not in control of my life. We are all in the same situation, except for those too ignorant to realize that the virus is in control

So what can I do? 

I can, and will, do good. Right now that means that I will continue to spread information about our world's endangered wildlife. I will continue to donate profits from the sale of my photo wall calendars and prints. I will provide more financial support to those on the front lines of protecting our dwindling wildlife populations. I will donate to those in Africa raising funds for food for those from whom the pandemic has taken their livelihood. I will donate more to my local food bank and to Meals on Wheels to make sure that people do not go hungry. I will continue to encourage those who are struggling. It certainly doesn't feel like enough. But this is what I can do.

I have always liked this quote attributed to early 18th century theologian John Wesley (although some argue that there is no proof he actually is the author). 

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

Regardless of who wrote this, I find it to be a wonderful message and a great source of inspiration, especially during these difficult times. Whatever small things I do will help others a bit, and it will make me feel less helpless.

Please do whatever you can to help. 

And the Answer Is ...

... a resounding NO!


No, I am not going to 'chip in' money to a political campaign or after signing a petition.

No, I do not want to sign up to receive ads with special offers.

No, I do not want to create an account.

No, I do not want to join your e-mail advertising list. (But you will send me spam e-mails anyway).

No, I do not want to sign up for a subscription to your magazine.

No, I do not want a free trial to anything.

No, I do not want to hear about an extended warranty for my car.

No, I do not want help repairing my credit score (which is excellent, by the way). 

No, I am not going to send any organization yet another donation for some 'urgent' crisis. 

No, I do not want your ads popping up and covering the article I am trying to read. 

No, I do not want to sign up for your free daily newsletter.


The bottom line is this: Stop bugging me to donate or to sign up for anything! If I wish to donate or sign up for something, I will do it on my own. I know that times are tough for individuals and for non-profits. But bombarding me with e-mails (five in a few days from the local PBS station) is not going to persuade me to send more money. The same goes for the local Holocaust museum with its incessant requests for donations because the end of the fiscal year is approaching, it's getting ready to reopen, etc. I donate a lot of money every year to several charities. Nagging me for more money may well cause me to stop donating to a particular group completely.

Just because I sign a petition or buy something online does NOT mean I want to be flooded with e-mails, particularly after I indicate that I do NOT want to be added to the mailing list.

So yes, the answer is NO.

Every Morning

Every morning I wake up with a sense of dread.

Every morning I wonder what new step toward fascism the president* has taken or will take this day.

Every morning I wonder what lies he will tell, which people he will insult, which laws he will flout.

Every morning I, a self-confessed news junkie, dread looking at the headlines online.

Every morning I pray that our country will do the right thing and vote America's most corrupt president* and administration out of office come November 3. 

Every day I dread hearing what illegal acts his stormtroopers (they are not federal police or military; they are hired mercenaries) have committed in Portland and Seattle.

Every day I wonder which of our civil liberties and freedoms he and his fellow miscreants will assault.

Every day I wonder what violent acts the 35 goons he is sending to Albuquerque, the nearest big city to where I live, will carry out against New Mexico citizens.

Every day I watch as the numbers of people dead or ill from the coronavirus skyrocket across the country, due in large part to the inept, uncaring response of this president* who is supposed to act for the benefit of the American people.

Every day I wonder what has been done to harm the earth, the environment and the animals trying to survive.

Every night I go to bed exhausted from being isolated at home and from worry about the survival of my country.

Every night I know I will sleep restlessly for 5 or 6 hours, if I am lucky. 

And every morning, I get up and do all of this yet again.

Doing the Right Thing in Difficult Times

These are tough times.

Even for people like me who haven't lost a job, who have plenty to eat and who are not at risk of losing a home, these are challenging times. Nobody on planet earth has lived through a pandemic. Even the best minds in epidemiology don't know when the pandemic might end. We humans, who think we are all powerful and control the planet, have no control over this virus. We are at the mercy of an entity so small that even a regular microscope cannot detect it. It continues to show us that it is in charge. It continues to confuse and confound us by evolving. It keeps showing its power by creating new symptoms in those it afflicts. We may think we understand it, but clearly we do not.

Aside from several canceled trips, two things that have been difficult for me are the uncertainty and boredom.  When will it be safe to travel again? I can handle wearing a mask when I venture to the grocery store or the veterinary clinic. But not knowing when this will end, or at least allow us to return to some degree of normalcy, is the worst.

And I am so bored. I don't bore easily, but I am tired of studying a new photo editing program. I am tired of reading. I am tired of television. And because it's so hot during the day, I am spending too much time indoors.

I am booking trips for US-based travel in 2021, but who knows whether it will be safe to travel even then. I have postponed a routine dental appointment because I don't want someone hovering just inches from my unmasked face as he/she cleans my teeth. I am not living in fear, as some claim, but I am being prudent and cautious.

I know that my idea of "tough times" is pretty insignificant when compared with what so many others are facing. Business closures and high unemployment rates are major threats to this country and its economy. I know that not being able to find my favorite flavor of soup in the grocery store is nothing compared with those who are unable to afford food and must rely on handouts from food banks. I am very fortunate that I have no young children who need to be homeschooled. 

These times are made even tougher by the rampant ignorance of too many of our political 'leaders,' all of them Rethuglicans, who refuse to acknowledge the severity of this pandemic. Even now, when a few hold-out governors are finally issuing mask orders, the governor of Georgia is making it illegal for cities and counties to issue orders mandating wearing of masks while in public. And there are those who claim, falsely and cluelessly, that being forced to wear a mask violates some imagined constitutional rights or the Americans with Disabilities Act (it doesn't. The ADA doesn't address mask wearing). Of course, we mustn't forget the so-called pastors who insist on holding church services during the pandemic after being ordered to not hold them.

All I can say is that ignorance, and a bit of stupidity for good measure, are as prevalent as the virus. And they are just as dangerous to individuals and the common good. I don't care whether you believe the virus and more than 142,000 Americans dead of Covid-19 are a "hoax." We all, as part of the greater community, need to do whatever we can to protect ourselves, our society, our economy. 

I will paraphrase a letter to the editor I saw online recently. Telling people who inform you that you must wear a mask to enter a store "You can't make me" is something a three-year-old having a temper tantrum would say. But guess what? You are not three years old, and you shouldn't be having a temper tantrum over a mask. 

The government requires that you wear a seat belt when in a vehicle. It requires that you obey traffic signs. You have to wear clothes when you are in public. The government sets speed limits on our roads and highways. The government tells you that you cannot smoke inside a restaurant, a bar or on an airplane. So yes, the government does have the right to pass laws and issue mandates for the public good. 

We don't get the benefits of a free society without the responsibilities. You can't have it both ways. Do you want to live in a society where anything goes, where anybody can do whatever he or she wants to do? That certainly is not a society in which I want to live. 

Believe what you will. If you don't want to wear a mask, fine. Go live by yourself in a log cabin in the woods. Become totally self-sufficient. That is your choice. But your refusal to take a small action to protect those with whom you come into does not give you the right to risk my health or the health of others.

So don't be a selfish fool about getting this virus under control. Our businesses and schools cannot reopen, our economy cannot recover, until we do.

It's your choice. It should be an easy thing. Do the right thing.

Modest Goals

During these ongoing times of home confinement, it can sometimes be a struggle to find things to do.

When the pandemic started, I, like others I know, set about an ambitious program of decluttering, emptying closets and drawers of things no longer wanted or needed, cleaning out the garage, etc. That ambition lasted a while, but then it became more difficult to find things that needed to be done, or that I was willing to tackle.

Now, four months into the shutdown, my daily goals are much more modest. I might, for example, decide that today I will dust and vacuum my bedroom. Nothing more. Or perhaps I will clean the kitchen or steam mop the floors in the kitchen and dining room. And rather than trying to force myself to declutter my office, I now have a daily goal of removing one thing. That's  it. Just one thing. I might throw something away, recycle it, file it away, or put it on a book shelf. Handling just one thing every day is definitely manageable, if not a major accomplishment.  And if I am so motivated, I will remove more than one thing.

My daily exercise goals have remained consistent: walking a minimum of 9,000 steps each day, but preferably 10,000 steps. Yesterday I walked 5.25 miles, or 13,000 steps. And I try to keep my dogs, who are creatures of habit, on their normal daily schedule.

I also try to put in at least a few minutes each day editing some of my photos, and learning new photo editing software. Since I can't travel due to the pandemic, reviewing and improving my photos from previous trips bring back great memories and bring a bit of joy to an otherwise boring existence. I continue to look for interesting things to photograph locally. Today, for example, I drove to Los Poblanos, an old dairy farm that now grows fields of lavender, sells a variety of lavender products, and has a boutique hotel and farm-to-fork restaurant. I had three reasons for this trip: to buy a birthday gift for a dear friend who loves lavender; to get out of the house for a few minutes; and to take some photographs.

I think all we can do during this ongoing confinement is find something enjoyable to do, or something productive, or something that helps us pass the time in some meaningful way. We are all under a great deal of stress, so let's not add to that stress by setting unreasonable goals for ourselves.

I have finally started to seriously work on learning a new photo editing program. After several false starts over the past year, I'm finally doing it. I work on the program a little bit every day, doing a half dozen or so lessons. This is a productive use of my time, and I feel good about finally getting to work on this.

Until we can resume our lives, please stay safe!

From Happy to Angry in Just a Few Minutes

Like most people in America in  2020, I spend nearly all my time at home.

I don't work from home because I am retired. So I have many hours to fill each day. I usually travel several times a year, but that isn't happening because of the pandemic. As a matter of fact, I'm supposed to be in Glacier National Park on a photography trip this week. Maybe next year.

So I am always looking for things to do that I enjoy. At the top of the list is photography. Early yesterday morning, as I was walking my dogs, I spotted a couple of things I wanted to photograph. The early morning light was soft and warm. But I didn't have a camera with me. So I took a photo with my cell phone and determined to return this morning with a camera.

And that is what I did. I made the dogs wait for their walk and headed off to walk the the 1/2 mile to the location that had caught my eye. I had to wait just a couple of minutes for the sun to rise above the mountains. I took several photos of both things, then walked home, feeling happy and content that I had been able to do even a bit of photography.

I got the dogs and we headed out on our walk, hoping to beat the heat (it's supposed to be 103 F today). All was going well, until we turned the corner onto the main road through the area. Some asshole had thrown fast food trash all over the road. There was a paper cup, a plastic lid with plastic straw, a plastic bottle, a container of fries and other assorted food trash and wrappings. I was livid. 

It's bad enough that I am constantly finding empty discarded plastic bottles of whisky, wine and other cheap alcoholic drinks, not to mention water bottles and beer cans. But the food trash was particularly disgusting. Why not leave it in the car until it can be disposed of properly? Who do these cretins believe will clean up after them? 

I live in an upscale neighborhood of nice, well-maintained homes, each on a 1/2-acre lot. I will pick up cans and bottles and take them home to be recycled. But I wasn't going to pick up food trash, especially during this pandemic and with my hands full of leashes and a bag of dog poop. And that's another thing: People need to pick up after their dogs! I am tired of seeing multiple piles of dog poop on the roads, the trails and beside the roads.

People are slobs.They are turning a nice area into a garbage dump. It takes no effort at all do do the right thing and dispose of trash and recyclables the right way. And picking up after one's dogs, while not terribly pleasant, takes so little effort. I don't see stray dogs in the area, so I know the poop that is everywhere is from dogs being walked on leash by people who simply can't be bothered.

Whatever happened to personal responsibility? To cleaning up after oneself? America is in serious decline on a number of fronts. These issues are just some of the indicators.

One of the Worst Years of My Life

This year, 2020, is one of the worst years of my lifetime.

So far -- and we're just halfway through -- we have seen uncontrollable wildfires in Australia that destroyed more than 47 million acres. But that was just the beginning.

Here are a few more notable events of 2020.

• A worldwide pandemic has killed more than half a million people, including more than 136,000 in the United States. 
• Plagues of locusts have destroyed crops in southeastern Africa. 
• A giant dust storm originating in the Sahara Desert has traveled halfway around the planet. 
• Police killings of unarmed black citizens sparked ongoing protests amid calls for a serious reform of American policing.
• Republican states such as Texas, Florida and Georgia decided that reopening the economy was far more important than protecting citizens from the coronovirus. Now they are backpedaling as quickly as they can to try to stem the tide of new cases.
• The president* continues to praise white nationalists and demand the protection of statues honoring Confederate war heroes who fought against their own country.
• The president* and his minions are insisting that schools reopen on a normal schedule, despite the growing threat of coronavirus to teachers, staff and students in the majority of states.
• The  southwestern states are dealing with record high temperatures, hitting 100 degrees F in southern New Mexico, where I live.
• The president* has failed to address in any way reports that Russia paid a bounty to Afghan militants for each US service person they kill. 
• Americans are banned from numerous countries, including many in Europe, due to our government's failure to handle the pandemic.
• The president* announced that he is withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization. Thankfully the withdrawal won't happen for another year, by which time we hope to have a new, sane president in place who can cancel this idiotic action.
• A new flu virus with "pandemic potential" has been found in China.

So that is some of what has happened or may happen in the world in 2020. Buckle your seat belt, make sure you have necessary provisions, wash you hands, wear a mask, and stay home.

An American Experiment

Today is American Independence Day.

On this date in 1776, the new United States of America declared its independence from Great Britain. America was founded as a new idea, an experiment in democratic governance. Over the intervening 244 years, this great experiment in government, as President Abraham Lincoln so eloquently stated it, "of the people, by the people and for the people," has faced many challenges.

This country survived a civil war, assassination of presidents, race riots, mass shootings, an international flu pandemic, and world wars. We survived the Great Depression and record high unemployment. We survived terrorist attacks in Oklahoma City, New York City, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. But I believe that right now, in 2020, we are facing the greatest threat to this nation in many, many years.

I see several threats to the survival of our republic. Threat number one is the coronavirus pandemic that has so far claimed more than 132,000 American lives. While other countries have dealt with the pandemic and are now seeing a greatly decreased number of cases, the United States, under a president who declared the pandemic a hoax and continues to do exactly the opposite of what public health officials recommend, is facing a daily infection rate of  more than 50,000 new cases. Some experts have said the pandemic is out of control, and it may take several years -- not months -- to control it.

Threat number two is economic. In the wake of the pandemic, millions of people have lost their jobs, either temporarily or permanently. The threat of economic collapse is very real. And yet, as millions of workers rely on their unemployment benefits for survival, the wealthiest among us have increased their wealth by tens of BILLIONS of dollars. And as the pandemic surges in the majority of states, governments are rolling back or canceling plans to reopen the economy. Yet the president and his minions in Congress are hell-bent on taking health insurance from millions of people. Think about it. In the middle of a raging pandemic and with millions unemployed, the buffoon-in-chief wants to strip citizens of their health insurance. 

The third threat is to our very way of life. If Chump and his Rethuglican allies have their way, we will live in an autocracy, where the president can do whatever he wants, and with the complicity of the Department of Justice, the Supreme Court and at least one house of Congress (the Senate). The Rethuglicans have refused to act on legislation that would provide millions of dollars to protect the integrity of our voting system. They are closing polling places, leaving the prospect of hours-long waits to vote during a pandemic where close contact is not recommended. They have already purged millions of names -- largely Native American and African-American -- from voter rolls.

To temporarily satisfy his insatiable need for recognition and acclaim from adoring crowds, Chump continues to hold rallies of thousands of people, with no social distancing and no masks. I don't care whether those stupid enough to attend get sick with Covid-19, but I do care about those at risk due to age or existing medical condition who will be exposed to the virus by those too selfish to stay home. 

I always thought that Americans looked out for each other, that we acted for the common good. Yet now, when the only sacrifice we are being asked to make is to stay away from crowds and wear masks, far too many are unwilling to take these simple steps. I see the large numbers of selfish, greedy, self-centered, don't-give-a-damn-about-anybody-else Americans as a real threat to this country. Right now we are seeing what happens -- as the experts predicted -- when people ignore the experts and crowd into bars, onto beaches and into restaurants. In many places, the healthcare system is on the verge of collapse.

We are a country horribly divided, under a president who, rather than trying to bring people together, uses inflammatory, and yes, racist, rhetoric to fuel the divide. He wants to prevent the removal of statues of Confederate leaders -- people who took up arms against the United States. These the president refers to as part of "America's heritage." I have news for him and his racist supporters: Racism, slavery and those who fought to defend it while tearing the nation asunder are NOT part of my heritage. The Civil War is part of this nation's history, but what the Confederacy represented is not part of my heritage.

We are a nation embroiled in a constitutional crisis that seems to have no end, led by a president and a political party that will do, and say, anything to get their way.He continues to try to grab as much power for himself as he can, until stopped by the courts. But after his henchmen in the Senate confirmed more tnan judges, I question how long even the courts will be able to stop him.

This is a president who dares to compare himself to Lincoln, yet who cozies up to dictators such as Putin of Russia and Erdogan of Turkey. He has alienated our staunchest allies such as Canada, the UK, France and Germany. We are not only the laughingstock of the world, but we are alone in the world.

I hope that Independence Day 2020 isn't the last true day of independence we can celebrate, and that next year will not see us as just one more failing, autocratic nation led by an incompetent, greedy, soulless person. Our democracy is at great risk. Only we the voters can hope to save it.

Sometimes I Just Have to Scream

That's right. Sometimes I can't take it anymore, and I just have to scream. 

I scream only inside my house, so no one except my dogs hears me. And the screaming doesn't last very long. But sometimes I just need to vent my frustration with a good old-fashioned scream.

I am tired. And I'm frustrated. And I see no end to the current situation the United States is in. In fact, the experts are predicting that things will almost certainly get worse ... much worse.

I bet you are tired and frustrated, too. I'm not tired physically. But emotionally and mentally, I am exhausted. I'm tired of hearing about the coronavirus. I'm tired of watching the federal government's inept and uncaring leadership encourage people not to wear masks in public. I'm tired of all the self-centered, selfish, stupid people who think the pandemic is a hoax perpetrated by the Democrats to make the president look bad. News flash: He does a fine job of making himself look bad, without help from others. 

I am tired of the federal government cutting off funding for more testing to see how many people actually have the coronavirus. I am tired of the federal government cutting off funding for coronavirus research by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control. It's almost as if the Rethuglicans in government are doing everything possible to increase the death rate from Covid-19.

I am tired of news stories every day that illustrate the treasonous actions of the so-called president, who has done NOTHING in response to Russian offers of cash to Afghan militants for killing members of the American armed forces. I am tired of an attorney general who has turned the Department of Justice into a personal attorney for the president. I am tired of ongoing efforts by this administration to strip millions of Americans of health insurance during the middle of a pandemic that so far has cost more than 130,000 American lives -- and we are still in the first phase of this pandemic. Is this the Rethuglicans' plan to make America great again?

I am tired of the racism and hate that spews forth from this person who supposedly is the leader of this country. I am tired of the constant assaults on our environment, the attacks on wildlife and the attacks on the principles upon which our republic was founded.

I am tired of the massive hypocrisy of so-called evangelicals, who continue to spout their belief that "God will protect" them from catching the virus, and who don't bother to attempt to cloak their racist, anti-LGBTQ feelings.

I am tired of being hounded for donations by non-profit organizations. Recently I received FIVE requests for money from the local PBS station, three by e-mail and two by snail-mail. I have received numerous requests for money from the local Holocaust museum. I received a donation form from Yellowstone Forever, seeking a donation above and beyond my annual membership. I am tired of 'urgent appeals' from Mercy Corps, an organization to which I sent ONE donation some 25 years ago. I know times are tough, but give it up already!

I am tired of staying home. I am tired of not being able to travel. I am tired of not being able to have lunch with a friend. I am tired of hoarding and food shortages and skyrocketing grocery prices. 

Most of all, I am tired of wasting a year of my life. I am a senior citizen. I don't know how many years of travel remain. When will I reach the point where travel is no longer fun, or even possible? I don't have time to waste. And yet here we are, with some governments actually making it illegal to wear a mask. 

I am rapidly running out of things to keep myself occupied. The only good thing is that the weather is nice. It's warm (even hot) and sunny, so I can spend time outside. But when winter comes with its cold winds and hours and hours of darkness, staying home will be a real strain. What then?

All the sleep in the world will not take away my tiredness. What we need is a president with actual concern for the American people, not someone whose only concern is stoking the fires of divisiveness to help his reelection. We need a government with a plan, willing to use its resources to help its citizens. Fortunately, my state's governor is doing a good job with the pandemic. The same cannot be said about the federal government or the Rethuglican governors of several southern states.

Most things are out of my control. So I will continue to stay home, try to keep from going stir crazy, wear a mask when in public, and scream as needed.

A Year to Forget

Today is July 1.

Half of 2020 is in the books. And what a horrible half year it has been. We are still in phase one of a pandemic that so far has taken more than 130,000 American lives. The economy is a shambles. Millions of people have lost their jobs. Countless businesses will never reopen. People who follow public health guidelines are going stir crazy from staying at home, while others see wearing a mask as a sign of weakness and refuse to do so. Too many people still crowd bars and beaches. News has leaked that Trump's buddy Putin put a bounty on American soldiers in Afghanistan, a fact the so-called American leader knew about but refuses to act upon. His silence is deafening.

Sadly, it appears that the second half of 2020 will be equally horrible, if not more so. Cases of Covid-19 are surging in most of the country. Extra unemployment benefits are about to end, putting even more people at risk of homelessness and hunger. Congress is unable to put aside its partisan bickering to enact more relief for struggling workers. Every day seems to bring yet another power grav and another unnecessary constitutional crisis caused by the president-who-would-be-dictator.

I am a senior citizen. I don't want to wish my life away. But I really wish 2020 would end, America would regain its footing, we can start to repair the damage inflicted on us during the past 3-1/2 years, and we can finally start to move beyond the pandemic. Wishing it so won't change anything. Making this country a semblance of what it once was will take the coorperation of political leaders, everyday citizens, and an electorate willing to go to the polls in November and sweep this most corrupt administration out of office and, hopefully, into prison.