Daily Blues & Views

 The President has declared my home a "War Zone."  He is prone to exaggerate and use hyperbole, but this is so off the hook it can be nothing but funny.  Only, with Trump, there is very little humor.  His war zone is confined to 1 square block in a city that covers 149 square miles.   And still he rants on. People here are posting pictures of people sitting outside watching the sunset from a restaurant patio, or swimming in a river, lake, or swimming pool, or enjoying on of the many city parks, under the title of "Life in the War Zone.  It's all a big joke that isn't very funny.  Aside from a small flare-up now and then at an ICE headquarters the war is not here.  It's an insult to people who really do live in a war zone.   True, the National Guard troops the President has activated help with the optics, but then people are posting pictures of them, in uniform, standing outside of VooDoo Donuts, clutching pink boxes instead of automatic weapo...

 My sister and I are a year apart.  Now we live about 20 minutes away from each other.  That hasn't been the case for over 50 years.  After a childhood at home with our parents, we went our separate ways when she got married at age 19, and I went to college.   As children, we were very close.  I actually have an ancient memory of us in separate cribs in the same room.  Most of our childhood together we were in separate bedrooms.  Mine was what would be called a den, and she occupied a small bedroom.  Growing up, we would knock on the wall separating our rooms.  We'd communicate things like are you going to get up now? Do you want to play? and Are you going to go back to sleep.  They were simple knocking patterns.  We even incorporated part of the theme from the TV show Dragnet to indicate, "Go away, I'm not interested."   All that died out as we matured from 5 year olds to kids about 9 or 10.  Today, however, when I u...

 If you look at the official state of the relations that the US has with the country of Vietnam, the State Department says, The United States supports a strong, prosperous, independent, and resilient Vietnam that contributes to regional and international security; engages in mutually beneficial trade relations; respects human rights and the rule of law; and is resilient in the face of climate and energy-related challenges. The United States and Vietnam are trusted partners with a friendship grounded in mutual respect that has developed since the normalization of diplomatic relations in 1995. This  rosy outlook despite the brutal history of the US involvement in the Vietnam War from about 1963-73.  I wonder how many of the 58,000 American dead, and 3.8 million Vietnamese dead could have imagined it would be so peaceful 60 years later?  How would they respond to the fact that the US and Vietnam are such good trading partners.  That the two cultures are i...

 I just finished the new biography of Sanora Babb by Iris Jamahl Dunkle.  Babb is the author who wrote a Dust Bowl novel and was put on hold because Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath was published a few weeks before hers was slated to be.  The fact that she was a woman, with a woman's perspective on this major historical event, had as much to do with her second class treatment.  In recent years, it's come to public knowledge that Steinbeck actually relied on Babb's notes and ethnographic data in putting together his award winning novel.   Sanora Babb's story is one of constant struggle and perseverance.  She was born dirt poor-literally, as her family lived in a dugout home in Western Colorado for a time before moving to a couple of small towns in Kansas.  The daughter of an abusive addicted gambler, Babb witnessed the emotional and physical abuse of her mother and sister.  Herself, as well.  But after learning to read from newspapers plastered on...

                          60s Witness A 10 year-old boy crying at the funeral     of his older brother,  A warm summer afternoon, while my mother irons. I                          listen to a King speak and try to tell anyone who will listen that this is history-making, Fire hoses, snarling dogs, a Sheriff named Bull. College students are next.   We're told to carry plastic bags filled with water in our your pockets when the governor comes to campus, this will help when the tear gas flies, CIA agents are rumored to be attending our classes, watch what you say,                          or not. At a party in 1969, all they played was Creedence...one after another. Today we marched inside a draft board,  the clerks scared and outraged by our au...

 I had an idea that they would work.  They did, for the most part.  The writing prompts and strategies I used with 11th and 12th graders in high school had much to offer older adults.   That's what prompted me to take a leap of faith and offer a writing class for older folks.  There was the Tai-Chi group too.  For the past year, I've been taking Tai-Chi classes through my local gym and community center.  It was there I met an ice group of older folks who have lived a bit of life.  They have stories to tell.  Sometimes, they even want to tell them, but just need a little motivation.  I asked around, and when it appeared that there was a small core of folks that expressed interest in a class that would offer some writing opportunities, I decided to proceed.   I envisioned this little writing workshop as more of a volunteer effort.  But, when I asked at my local community center I learned that everything offered there went through...