Thanksgiving Eve

We woke up at five o'clock this morning as ear-splitting thunder shook the house and rain came pouring down. When the lightning started, I came downstairs to the kitchen to check on Savannah. Our once-lost-but-found-her-way-home puppy has always been sensitive to loud noises, and I wanted to make sure she wasn't down here shivering in her bed. Savannah seemed to be fine,  no shaking and no shivering, but as soon as she heard me come down the back stairs into the kitchen she left her bed and walked over to sit down next to me. When my husband came down the stairs minutes later, Savannah placed herself in the middle of us... guess she figured that two safeguards was better than one.

So we've been up since 5:00 this morning, and the rainy day has turned sunny and clear. Tomorrow the weather should be pretty as well. Always nicer to have good weather on a holiday, especially when you have friends driving to your house for dinner.  This will be Savannah's second Thanksgiving, and I'm hoping she'll make herself comfortable in the dining room with us, rather than staying in her bed in the breakfast room till everyone leaves.

I've been busy these past couple of weeks getting ready for Christmas. I usually wrap Christmas gifts during the sweltering days of August, but I wasn't in a holiday mood that month, which resulted in a wrapping and packing frenzy after Halloween was over. We have family and friends in other states so most of the wrapped gifts have to be boxed up for mailing as well. Everything got done, and gifts for my cousins have already been mailed. I'm holding back the packages for the younger cousins, but they'll be taken to the post office before the end of the month.

This morning's country-surprise was a parade of cattle walking up our road. One bull, two cows, and two calves... out for a morning stroll at 7:30.  I happened to look out the kitchen window and saw them walking towards our driveway. Had it not been for that huge bull, I would have gone out there and shooed them back down the road, but the size of the bull was just too intimidating. My husband was upstairs so I let him know about the parade and he got the air-horn and ran outside. By positioning himself in front of the cows and blasting the air-horn, he got them to turn around and go back down the road. A few more blasts of the air-horn got them to keep moving towards the bottom of our hill. The owner of the cattle was in his truck at the base of the hill and he was able to get the bull and the cows to turn left and get back to their own pasture.

I've been reading stories about the protest marches going on since the election, and just this morning I read articles saying that electors in different states have gotten death threats because their state "turned red for Trump."  Very nice.  And Hillary had called Trump supporters "deplorable"?!  The protesters and the death threats are a disgrace.  Grow up and get over it. Period.

With that in mind... there was a picture posted on Facebook recently, showing young 20-something protesters blocking traffic and destroying public property because they were offended and displeased by the outcome of the presidential election. The caption under the photograph said "This is what happens when every kid gets a trophy."

Well, I hope the protesting comes to a halt for Thanksgiving... everyone should be thankful that we live in this country where the Chicago Cubs have won a World Series, and a non-politician who owes favors to no one will soon be in the White House.

We The People

At the beginning of the presidential campaign which ended with yesterday's voting, I hoped that Donald Trump would win. Let's face it... he didn't need to be President. He has his own companies which more than support his family and his lifestyle. Trump didn't need to be living in that fish bowl called The White House and have himself and his family be scrutinized by every person in this nation and in all the countries around the globe.

The difference with Donald Trump was that he truly wanted to be President because he wanted to make a difference. Every candidate repeats words and phrases to that effect during their campaigns but they don't often follow through, or they find loop-holes and excuses that prevent them from living up to their pre-election promises. Trump, however, is famous for his work ethic, for completing jobs on time and under budget, for creating jobs and hiring the best people he can find. I didn't think he would just throw all of that to the side when changing positions from President of The Board to President of the United States.

During the campaign, when Trump's attitude became so very New York-ish (and I can say that freely because I'm from NY) and the press wasn't exactly killing him with kindness (they were just killing him) Donald Trump stood his ground, apologized when he had to, fought back when attacked, and kept on keeping on. Nothing got him running for the door, nothing anyone said made him back down. And to the press who harped on Trump's comments about and to women... there isn't a man walking on this earth that has not been disrespectful to a woman or all women at some point in their lives. And on the flip-side of that, I'd be hard-pressed to find a woman who hasn't spoken out-of-turn against men. No one has the right to throw those stones... we all live in glass houses.

We watched Trump speaking in the middle of the night after it was clear he had won the election yesterday.  That speech was pure Trump. Not Candidate Trump, but President-Elect Trump, standing there with strength and confidence, knowing that he can Do The Job. To the press people who say that he isn't qualified to run this country... is anyone really qualified to run any country? Is there a college degree for such a position? Are there practice sessions? Can anyone know what sort of international situation will rear its head during any given administration?

This morning, I watched Hillary Clinton's speech. For once, Hillary was real as she spoke this morning. She wasn't hiding behind that oh-so-polished political machine that has kept the Clintons going for decades and kept them above the law no matter what accusations were brought against them.

I don't align myself with either the Republican or Democratic party, or any party. When Obama ran for President the first time, I happily voted for him, with such high hopes that finally, finally, we were getting a non-politician in the White House. Well, it didn't take long for me to realize how wrong I was. When he ran for office the second time, he didn't get my vote, and neither did anyone else because I didn't have faith in anyone on the ballot. Just as everyone has the right to vote, we also have the right not to vote.

I was so thrilled to cast a vote for Donald Trump that rather than waiting for Election Day, I took advantage of 'early voting' in our town and went to the court-house on the second day. I smiled when I put that paper ballot in the locked box because I knew for sure that my vote was not going to a politician whose career was based on debts owed and promises made and corruption covered-up. If you take away all of Trump's money, he is the common man, with dreams of greatness for himself, his family, and for his country. In my opinion, those dreams are what inspired so many people to vote for him.

As Rudy Giuliani said at the Republican National Convention, it's time we all came together as Americans. Just Americans. Not African Americans, Italian American, German Americans, etc.  This country has been so divided, and political correctness has been killing us to the point where we are either afraid to speak at all or we dribble out senseless unconscionable insults.

I'm hoping for all the best with Donald Trump in the White House. If he chooses his people wisely, takes advice instead of taking umbrage, makes decisions which will bring this country to a strong and confident position in this world, we will all be just fine. And it's been a long, long time since I, for one, have felt 'just fine' about the state of this nation.

Got books?

What does one do on a cloudy, foggy, drippy afternoon?  Well, I was happily reading about book collections until the thought popped into my mind as to the number of books in my third floor library. Four hundred? Six hundred? Did the number really matter? Actually, no... but my curiosity got the better of me and the only way to find out the answer to that question was to count the books.

And that's what I did... breaking it down into sections so I wouldn't lose count because I didn't want to go through them twice. Not counting the books on my ever-growing shelf of books-waiting-to-be-read, I have 106 vintage children's books; 121 mostly-vintage teen books; 101 collectible magazines; 38 cookbooks; 822 adult fiction/non-fiction/reference.... for a total of 1,188.  I started a notebook listing the different totals, and I'll add to those numbers as I add books to my shelves, to avoid having to do a re-count at some point when my library-curiosity kicks in again. I have read all of the books on those shelves, and only keep the ones I want to re-read or just cannot part with. Judging by that total number, I may need another life-time just for the opportunity to do all of that re-reading.

Buying books in used-book stores, in thrift stores, and on sites like Half.com really give you the opportunity to create a library without creating havoc with your bank account. I rarely go into Barnes & Noble, but when I do, it's only to write down titles of new books and then look for them on the half-price-or-less sites.  I read too much to be buying brand new books all the time, and I like having a home library rather than depending on the town library for reading material.  Thrift stores are a treasure trove of good books because people usually donate boxes of books without even going through them to take out the current books or the older and more valuable ones. The books that I read and don't want to keep for my own library are brought to our local bookshop... they take books in trade and give store credit which I use to 'buy' books on my must-read list.  I have always loved books, loved reading, absolutely always loved bookshops and having books of my own. Plus I worked in a public library for nearly 20 years... talk about the perfect job for a book-lover.

I told my husband that I counted all of my books in the library and asked him to guess what the total was. He sat there figuring out loud... the dimensions of the library (which he knows because he helped me paint that great big room)... the number of bookshelves (he knows that because he put them all together)... and then he figured out how many books each unit could hold, leaving open spaces on each shelf... and then he said: "My guess is 1,200... give or take a few."

Well. Asking him first would have saved me a lot of counting.

Go Cubs Go!

Unless you are living under a rock, or you have no earthly interest in baseball, you know that the Chicago Cubs won the 7th game of the World Series last night.  After ten innings, including a nearly twenty-minute rain delay at the Cleveland stadium, the beloved Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians in what is said to be "The Game of The Century," according to this morning's New York Post.

I watched that game last night, staying up till after midnight and sitting in front of the TV while the Cubs blasted each other with champagne in a possible effort to hide the tears falling down their faces. I would bet that there wasn't a dry eye in all of Chicago last night when the Cubs won that 7th game, propelling them into World Series history because the team had not won a championship since 1908.

My aunt in Chicago has been a Cubs fan since the 1950s. I knew she was watching the game and I was going to call her right after the Cubs got that final out against Cleveland, but I didn't want to disturb her. I knew she would be watching all the after-shows about the game, and I'm sure the networks in Chicago had more coverage of the post-game events than we got to see here in Texas. When I called my aunt this afternoon, her voice was still hoarse from all the screaming and carrying-on she did during last night's game. She said that the streets of her neighborhood sounded like New Year's Eve last night after the Cubs won that final game of the Series.

My husband and I went to a baseball game at Wrigley Field a few years ago.... the Cubs were playing the White Sox and we surprised my aunt and uncle with tickets to the game. No small endeavor, getting to Wrigley Field... the stadium is in the middle of Chicago and parking is at a premium, to say the least. Residents who live around Wrigley rent out their driveways and parking spaces to people going to the game... they collect a good chunk of cash for a parking fee, keep an eye on your vehicle, and they watch the game from the comfort of their living rooms.

Watching a baseball game at Wrigley Field is like being at a neighborhood block party, except there are 40-some-thousand people who may not know each other when the game starts but become baseball-buddies by the end of the game. The enthusiasm in Wrigley is palpable, regardless if the Cubs are winning or losing. Chicago loves their Cubs, no matter what. By the 7th inning stretch at Wrigley, you're singing "Go Cubs Go... Go Cubs Go... What do you say Chicago... The Cubs are going to Win today!" as if you were born around the corner in Wrigleyville.

The city of Chicago will have a huge parade for their championship baseball team... right down Michigan Avenue... Chicago's Miracle Mile for their Miracle Cubs.

Go Cubs Go.... Go Cubs Go.........

Good-bye to 'Humans of NY'

I started following the Facebook page of "Humans of New York" a few years ago. I loved the photos, especially those of the little kids (Today in MicroFashion... followed by a picture of a fashionably-dressed little boy or girl with such hope and joy in their eyes as they smiled for Brandon Stanton's camera.)

In my upstairs library, I have three of Brandon's books, all of which I've looked through again and again, loving the photographs of people and children I've never seen and will never meet, and (especially in Brandon's second volume) reading the sometimes heart-wrenching stories of the ups and downs of the people that Brandon meets on the streets of New York.

A few months back, Brandon wrote an editorial on his 'HONY' Facebook page which decried the presidential campaign of Donald Trump in such a way that it was just filled with distaste and loathing, in my opinion.  I read every word of that essay, not liking any part of it, but after all, HONY is Brandon's page and he can write what he wants and, first and foremost, we are all entitled to our own opinion.  That editorial was Brandon's opinion of the Trump candidacy. Fine.

The other day, however, Brandon's page had another diatribe against Trump that I read every word of, and then read it again. It was the second reading of Brandon's words that sealed the fate of HONY in my eyes. In short, we are all entitled to our own opinions of people, places, situations, and things. Freedom of Speech is one of the tenets on which this country was built. However, no one has the freedom nor the right to tell, actually tell, other people how to vote. No one. Period.

I was surprised that Brandon would use the HONY forum to take advantage of his readers and followers by telling them how to vote.

I have taken Humans of NY out of my 'favorites' file and I don't plan to visit Brandon's HONY Facebook page again.  I will keep my Humans of New York books on my library shelves and I will page through them from time to time when I want to be reminded that not everyone walking along the streets of New York has their head in the clouds as they stare at The City from a penthouse view.