Anyway, the historic record is full of anomalous eras regarding the weather. We're deluding ourselves to believe that we have power over the skies.
We had no snow this winter. Oh, it snowed a few times but not more than a few inches at a time. This drought is going on three years. Droughts have happened before. 90 years ago, during the Great Depression, the terrible, dry weather made everything worse. You'd think as a people, a nation, that we'd have learned from that experience. A generation did learn but three generations later, all that wisdom has been discarded.
We live in a post-wisdom world.
That can't be good.
But you know what I've finally learned? I'm not in charge. This is not my responsibility.
I live by the rules of my faith: all men are children of God and therefore should be treated with respect. Life is life and therefore worth protecting. Sex is not love. Black babies matter. Men and women are fundamentally different but of equal value. You can't change your gender any more than you can change your eye color or your blood type. As we judge, so we shall be judged and as we show mercy, so mercy shall be shown to us. I answer to only One and I've got enough on my plate justifying my own life, I don't have the energy, the power, the authority or the desire to answer for anyone else.
It's a relief.
But I look around at what's happening in the world and I feel like I'm witnessing the end of everything right before my eyes.
I take solace in the knowledge that many others have witnessed far worse throughout history, many others have felt the way I feel and yet here we are, still chugging onward.
So, I turn my eyes away from the insanity and evil of the world and concentrate on my own life, which is GREAT!
I spend my days creating beautiful things. All my supplies are twice as expensive as they were 3 years ago but I can still afford them. In fact, now that Jay is retired and we paid off our credit card debt, we're both collecting social security and we aren't feeding, housing or paying tuition for a house full of kids, we can afford our life easier than ever before. I spend as much time with my grand kids as I can and they are a JOY!
This past month, Babalouie's basketball team won a state championship!
I didn't see the Championship game. I made it to the first round, and although the team played well and won, Babalouie didn't score. He put up an outside shot toward the end of the game that bounced off the rim. I told him afterwards to keep shooting.
"Eventually, those will start to drop," I told him, "and when that happens, you'll be deadly!"
He took my advice and went 6/6 in the second round. I was not at that game, so was politely not informed as to the time of the finals. There are no more superstitious people than sports fans. I'd rather miss a game they win than show up to see a loss.
This winter we've been having the whole crew over for Sunday dinner as often as we can. Josie says she's been gunning for such a tradition for years. It's really fun! The grandkids all have a blast together, the kids do too and Jay and I love having them all in the house at the same time.
We had #6 for an overnight for the first time last week. Zach and Sara went to an out of state wedding, so #6 was here for two days and nights. I'm happy to report that she slept like a CHAMPION! Not only did she nap for the first time at my house (all last summer she refused to close her eyes when she was with us) but she went to sleep at bedtime without a peep and slept for 12 hours the first night she was here. The second night she didn't fuss, but she did try to negotiate for a later bed time.
I had her on my lap, in her jammies and her sleep-sack and I told her it was bed time: her teeth were brushed, her prayers were said and it was time to lay down. She looked at me, climbed off my lap, waddled across the room to Jay's chair, leaned on the arm, looked up at him and said "Hi!"
He said "oh no you don't; you get no reprieve from me! Bedtime!"
She gave us no argument after that.
Josie and Nick were in California last week and had dinner with JP. Andy, Josie's cousin, who now lives and works in LA, was able to join them and they all had a terrific time.
We've added another baby girl to the family tree! Joe and Heidi's son Hootie and his wife Juliana's second child arrived last week.
Margy's son Logan, who is a sound engineer working out of Nashville, just booked a spring tour with Brooks and Dunn!
Things are great, if you know where to look.