Decorated for Christmas in Elkins Park
I received a Christmas Card from my cousin today. As is the style with most of my family in Texas, it was a photograph card, two pictures of my cousin and his wife. In one there was a monument, I looked closely to see where they were. They were at the monument of the Trinity Site, the site upon which Kenneth Bainbridge said to J. Robert Oppenheimer “Now we are all sons of bitches” early the morning of 16 July, 1945. Their Gadget had just eclipsed the rising New Mexico Sun, twenty three days later it would eclipse the Land of the Rising Sun.
It seemed odd for a Christmas card but my cousin just saw it as another item from the bucket list he’s working on. I didn’t have the opportunity to visit the site on my trip to White Sands, it’s only open two days a year.
Everyone places a different attachment to every event.
Janice and I simply are. Married is a legal term which does not fit, we exist separate from any definition; so it is difficult to refer to quasi relatives. Her daughter is not my step daughter nor is she my daughter. We will call her Gloria.
Gloria is an attractive young woman, with a good head for management. She’s had a couple of jobs since I’ve known her, always positions suiting her abilities. She and her girlfriend shared an apartment in New Jersey with a friend. Her girlfriend and this other friend had rented the place initially, so both of their names are on the lease. The other night, the friend exploded and threw out Gloria, leaving her in the cold. The lease is until May, so her girlfriend is staying there, and Gloria will be staying with us. Nothing about the circumstances is convenient, this is just about taking care of family.
At the same time, Janice heard from her son in Maryland, who invited us for the weekend of his birthday, during which Janice’s grand daughter has a dance recital. With everything that has been going on for the last year or so, our finances have been tight. Janice posted in her face book group that she had received the invitation but just didn’t know how we could afford the trip (it’s a four hour drive so we need to stay at least one, preferably two, nights).
Within hours donations came in, everywhere from a few dollars to a hundred, from all over the world (It is called the World Wide Web). One person had extra points on his Marriot account and offered to pay for the stay, others gave smaller targets with their donations, “Bring a bottle of Champagne” and such. She now can not only afford the trip, but the weeks until the trip will not be filled with worry. She will be able to be comfortable with her son and granddaughters. She will be relaxed for Christmas and her Birthday.
There are good people all around you. Everything will work out.
Sure, some things never work out, but the majority of issues tend to be small irritations that one less cup of coffee would resolve.
I’ve been incredibly fortunate in my life. I was never one for coloring inside the lines, because I had a different picture in mind. Several turns in my life could have been more disastrous than they were. Today, they’re all funny stories. I lived to mess up something else.
Being a Christian, I call that fortune “God.” And because I don’t color inside the lines I believe I have a better idea of what “God” is. I wouldn’t try to explain in print, the concept of God is so foriegn to our visions that explanation requires multiple medias, with a measure of interpretive dance. I know God is with me, so there is nothing to fear. Not pandemics, or civil unrest, or severe weather. Reduced to living off my environment I could be happy that I had all I need. That is the care that God has for me, the knowledge that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing.
You do not need to possess a point, to have a point
As bits and pieces of society fall off, a good deal of it is funny. Mehmet Cengiz Öz, known to most as Dr. Oz, is running as a Republican candidate in the Pennsylvania Senatorial race. His ads are an appeal to the under educated, consoling them about the freedoms they have lost to a virus. He’s looking for the votes of people who think keeping deaths under a million is the result of the government doing nothing.
I am perplexed. I know he’s funny but I’m almost certain he doesn’t mean to be. Is it wrong to laugh? Because I am laughing completely at him, not the jokes he’s telling. I see some future archeologist trying to make sense of celebrities turned politicians, perhaps thinking Oprah Winfrey some kind of kingmaker.
Since physical documentation is discarded for digital records, what will some future sociologist make of our gatherings? How silly is it today to imagine a future containing sociologists? Every question contains an implication of “everything else is unaffected”. Dr. Oz may take votes from a possible Democrat candidate who had been counting on the Libertarian vote. If that candidate wins his primary elections. If Democracy survives until November.
Anything can happen, a select few things will happen.
We’re looking forward to a pleasant season. Next week we will celebrate Christmas as a family, Janice, Blake, Dustin, Gloria, and Amy; all of us emotionally supported by our cats, Autumn, Flash, and Snowball. The following week is New Year’s and Janice’s birthday (NYE). Our family will be joined by more friends and family, some staying to watch the Mummer’s Parade with Belgian waffles. The following week is Janice’s son’s thirty fifth birthday, and her grand daughter’s dance recital in Maryland, which we will be able to enjoy.
Wherever you go, there you are
KBlakeCash 