Sunday rain

It's the kind of rain you love, so long as it doesn't last for too many hours, or (gulp) days. Steady, with a definite sound as it hits the skylight, the house panels to the west. We had a drought, now we have rain. That just has to feel good.

I don't get up immediately. After waking, Ed and I remain under a quilt, for an hour, maybe longer, talking about taxes. I had a question about a tax strategy (I should add that many older people have questions right now, as we may be experiencing lurches and swings in the economy) and for better for worse, Ed is your well-read source that can either answer basic stuff or can direct you to the proper publication. Well, more than one publication. It was a simple question and suddenly, my inbox is filled with stuff I should be reading.

This was perhaps a nice distraction. I did not get around to reading pundits on the election until much later. It's not that I read the relevant tax publications (and there are just as many tax pundits out there as there are election pundits), but the two of us did spend a good bit of time moaning and groaning about the complexities of our tax system. Absurdities abound. If you can get yourself to laugh about it, I consider that time well spent.

Do chickens get annoyed? If so, I'm sure these girls were plenty miffed at me. I did not feed them until maybe 9:30. A two hour delay. How dare I!

Breakfast, healthy again. I'll say this for November (and I am always looking for good things to say about November, because there are so few...) -- on cold mornings, I am much happier with oatmeal than on lovely summer days. A porch breakfast begs for a croissant. A kitchen breakfast? Oatmeal's just fine.

Afterwards, I return to the elections. Kill me for it (and especially for writing about it here!), but they are still on my mind and I do find the discussions interesting. There are many who blame specific behaviors of one person, maybe the current president, maybe his VP, sometimes random others for the Democratic party's loss. There are some who blame the language of the Democratic platform of the past decade (see my words on this yesterday). There are even more who blame Fox News (that's a tempting one for sure!), or Elon and his recently cozy relationship to the Republican candidate. And of course, one can't help but wonder about the demographics. White male, black female -- there's so much to speculate on that issue alone. I usually spend the day with one handful of claims and mull them over, trying to see if anything really fits, or if it's just a writer posturing, perhaps to preserve a reputation, perhaps with an "I told you so" behind it.

Today, I actually liked one article more than the others. It's from the Economist -- a British publication that is both centrist and not especially committed to pushing an agenda that I can figure out. The digital editor Adam Roberts put this (see below) in my email inbox. Insofar as I can smile about something so serious as the election results, it made me smile. At our naïveté. At our susceptibility. At our feverish belief that some one person out there has most if not all the answers and will fix things for us. Here's a fragment of what Roberts wrote. (Skip it if you're avoiding post-election speculations. It's in red to make it easier for you to jump over.)

My hunch is that no incumbent candidate, of either sex, could have won this election: voters the world over are in a surly mood and mostly want to throw out the ruling bums. (...)

Why are voters everywhere so furious? We are living in an era of grouchiness. (...)

The answer, I think, lies in trends that are common to all democracies. I look at the lingering effects of covid lockdowns and of previously high government spending that must now be rolled back. Voters see they are paying high taxes but their public services, too often, are falling to bits. They suffer prices that have surged for years and remain high (whatever official inflation rates might say), especially when you factor in the cost of renting or buying property, or paying for education. Wages may have risen too, but every individual believes he or she earned their pay rise. That will never make up for prices being high.

Add to that the uneasy feeling among many voters (maybe small-town ones especially, and perhaps men and older voters more) that the world is moving too fast. Cultural change, such as having to face new ideas of sexual identity, or how to talk about race, or about climate change, is deeply unsettling for some. All of the above can then be summed up in a simple idea, such as that immigrants, especially illegal ones, are to blame for everything. And who is to blame for letting in those foreigners? Why, the government of course. 

So, welcome to the era of grouchiness. It, too, may pass. Let’s hope so.

Funny because it's true.  Catch that grumpy mood, give the people a target (it's the pool table! -- for fans of the Music Man) and we're off!

 

In the later afternoon, I turn to Sunday dinner. I hadn't done one for a while. I'm gone, they're gone, one sick, the other is unwell. Today -- everyone is here, everyone is well. 

(liking the cleaned up space)

("yes, but can I still eat cheese and crackers here?")

("where have you been hiding these awesome crackers?")

I have no illusion that the play room will retain its dignity and order for long. I suppose if you have a young child who longs for organization with everything in its place, you've got yourself a problem. Indifference to mess is a valuable trait when you're young. It's only when the consequences of that indifference begin to roll in (usually in school, as you forget where you put your homework, your pencil, your brain...) that you come to understand that efficiency and progress are greatly aided by good organization. You hope that your child will embrace it then. And that it's not too late. But today -- all remains organized, arranged, orderly.

Dinner, en famille...

They return home, I tidy the kitchen and sit down to a late night viewing of something fun. Please, something that will make us chuckle. Nothing comes to mind? Okay, maybe a movie where people kill each other for profit and personal gain? No, nothing there either? How about one about a little guy fighting a big corporation where the little guy wins? ("Flash of Genius") Yes? Great. With a square of chocolate and a heart full of hope for a saner week ahead.

(this, from today...)