From fried chicken to Texas politics

 

Sophie, who will never be tethered outside
and will never ride in the bed of a pick-up

What I did today: ate leftover fried chicken for lunch. And ate leftover fried chicken for supper. For lunch, I had a bit of the tzatziki potato salad but didn’t like it any better. I’ve got enough Scottish blood in me I hate to throw out food, but I think I’m going to put it in a baggie and dump it in the trash just before it’s emptied. But tonight, I had a casserole I’d made of yellow squash—so good. And about one-eighth of an enormous chocolate chunk cookie that Prudence brought when she came for happy hour.

My other accomplishments were minor, though I did get the neighborhood newsletter off to the designer—and tonight it’s already back in my inbox which means I have to proof first thing in the morning.

My Gunga Din moment of the day came when I killed a huge cockroach that had crawled under my hot plate. Too close to food! I will sometimes just let them go their way for a variety of practical reasons—I don’t want to smush them on my wall or counter, and I don’t want to have to spray chemicals to get rid of them. So, I am sort of in denial. But, I am glad Jordan was not here to see this fellow. Actually, I’m wondering about their life span—I think he’s been hanging out in the wall between the kitchen and my bedroom, because I’ve seen him before. I’ve also seen one occasionally in the bathroom.

In the bathroom I’ve had one lonely ant for a long time. He crawls around the electrical outlet and doesn’t bother me. But today he had several companions, which alarmed me. I have long had a leak at the base of the faucet, and now I wonder if the water is attracting them. Trying to avoid another out-of-sight plumber’s bill, but I may have to relent.

Tonight, the neighbors came for happy hour, and Prudence’s husband, Victor, joined us. Sophie was ecstatic because Victor spent almost the entire time loving on her. We had a lively discussion of Maria’s (I liked it, Pru hated it) vs. Revolver Taco (Pru loved it, I didn’t like it but haven’t been in years and it is in a new reincarnation now). We did agree on The Rim.

I am incensed tonight that Texans can now leave their dogs tethered outside in the summer heat or riding in the bed of a pick-up in danger of life and limb. Gov Abbott vetoed a bill that would have made those third-degree misdemeanors—not bad enough to ruin anyone’s life—because he didn’t want to micromanage pet ownership. But he found time to sign a bill naming some obscure new mushroom the state fungus.

I have friends who have left Texas because of the politics and others who talk about it. I stay here because it’s been my home for almost sixty years, my kids and grandkids are all in Texas (except that older grand who stays in Colorado), and so much of my career has been built around Texas history and literature. I seriously am too old to put down new roots somewhere else. And I don’t want to.

But I am angry (yes, Colin I’m an angry old woman) that Abbott, Patrick, and Paxton are ruining my adopted state and making it a laughingstock elsewhere. I will work as hard as I can to turn Texas blue in 2022, and I hope you will too. We have too proud a heritage to become a joke because of the egos of some small men. Oh, how I wish for Ann Richards and Molly Ivins.