Momentous moments

 

My new driver. I hasten to add we were parked,
and, yes, he was checking his phone.

Heavy thoughts on my mind tonight because of a gun control bill that didn’t go far enough and an abortion bill that not only went too far, but never should have seen the light of day. And I’m doubly sad that all this comes on a day when I had good news to share. So let me start with the momentous moments.

Yesterday, I signed the contract with Texas Tech University Press for the study of Helen Corbitt. I’ve worked hard all week to clear my desk—written my own newsletter, finished the neighborhood newsletter, organized an update to my web page, and I will tonight finish the third pass on the final proof of the Irene in Chicago Mystery, Finding Florence. I really itch to get at that Corbitt project.

And yesterday too, I paid off the note that allowed us to convert a one-car garage and much-used, shabby guest quarters into the charming cottage I call home. I consider that a small triumph—or maybe a big one.

And as the picture above shows, I have a new driver. Jacob and I took off this morning for the first of the errands for which I have promised to hire him and pay what should be national minimum wage (not what is in Texas). We went to my cardiology check-up (all good) and to the grocery store where to Jacob’s mingled amusement and chagrin I took out not one but two displays. I’m sure it was not all my fault, because their aisles are narrow and they clog them with free-standing displays. Jacob was good about repairing the damage I caused. Plus, the mobility cart I was careening through the store in suddenly began to moan and groan, and we had to pause for store personnel to bring me a new one. All good though. We got the groceries, had some good visiting, and a few laughs (mostly at my expense). He is a good driver, better than I was with the cart,  and was careful both of me and his driving. A successful adventure.

I have a lot of thoughts on abortion, probably none of them original. We are being bombarded with news and opinions tonight. But the thing that most distresses me is the women who will lose their lives because of science denial. I read yesterday of a woman who was vacationing in Malta, where abortion is forbidden. She began to hemorrhage and had an incomplete spontaneous abortion—I’ll spare you the medical details—but the important thing is that if she didn’t get immediate surgery, she would develop a fatal infection. She was airlifted to a location where she had the life-saving surgery. The fetus, of course, was long since nonviable—so why not permit the abortion? These old white men who pass unreasonable laws refuse to listen to medical science. It’s ignorant on their part. There are so many cases where the mother’s life is at stake, or the infant is severely deformed and doomed to a vegetative state. One size does not fit all, and I am horrified at the callousness.

A smaller indignation: Sean Hannity has revealed that when President Biden spoke to the nation today, he had a note in his hand that told him where to go and what to do. Hannity’s inference of course is that Biden is mentally impaired. My daughter is not an instinctive cook, and even when she cooks a recipe she’s done many times, she wants the directions, printed, in her hand. Telling her won’t do. I’m sure Biden has many things on his mind—including the forceful words he was about to deliver—and was grateful for a reminder of the arrangements that had been made. He did deliver a powerful speech, but trust Hannity to distort. I wish I could say no one listens to him but, alas, the deplorables do (Yes, I like Hillary’s word these days).

And PS: take a look on the internet at Merrick Garland’s strong statement of condemnation of the ruling on behalf of the Department of Justice. Senator Cornyn expressed his dismay that Garland just didn’t say, “It’s the law of the land now.” I express my dismay that it is a flawed judgement from a rogue court, based on disproven and outdated concept (a discredited eighteenth-century scholar if I remember correctly), and flies in the face of precedent. Thanks, John, for once again standing up for the people.

The next days and weeks are going to be interesting, folks. Hang on to your hat and be sure to vote blue in the fall. This old world needs some humanity.