Texas’ changeable weather, inflexible politics

You know that old saying—“If you don’t like the weather in Texas, wait a minute.” It’s proving true this week. Yesterday was bitter cold and gray, with sudden gusts of really cold wind. Not worth going out in, except that I went out for lunch and had a hearty Frito pie. But mostly I cowered in my cottage, a sweater over my shoulder, a prayer shawl over my knees—suddenly an old lady.

The trees are budding out. Indeed some are in bloom, and I worry about frost killing the blossoms. When friend Mary came for happy hour tonight, she brought a lovely bouquet of daffodils and hyacinth from her garden--she was afraid they wouldn't survive the frost and so picked them. They're a joy for me, but now she won't get to enjoy them in her garden for a longer stretch of time.

My Canadian daughter blew in for a glass of wine, complaining vociferously about the cold. When I said she of all people should be used to it, she said, “I don’t do that anymore.” When Sophie wanted to go out, I left the door open a crack so she could come back in. Sue closed it tight, saying, “I’m so cold.” Sophie stood outside the door and looked puzzled, but it’s a quirk of her personality that if you open the door and urge her to come in, she looks at you like “Really?” Now if you urge her with a piece of cheese in your hand, it’s an entirely different matter. “She’s spoiled rotten,” Sue declared, as though that was news to either of us.

Today was an improvement of sorts in the weather—deceptive bright sunshine and air that did warm up but is rapidly cooling now that the sun is disappearing. By Saturday the temperature will be in the seventies, though it will drop ten degrees or so the next week. And can you believe that daylight saving is already coming back this weekend? I am one of those who would welcome year-round daylight savings, so I’m happy about that. But I always am fearful I will set the clocks the wrong way, and I keep saying to myself, “Spring forward, Fall back.” Hope I’m right.

My lunch plan for today cancelled, and I stayed home to eat delicious leftovers—a Greek potato and chicken dish with lots of lemon and oregano. One of those dishes that is better the second or third day. Tonight: a big old baked potato. Mary has already come and gone for our Tuesday happy hour, rushing off to the TCU women’s basketball game.

Texas weather may be changeable, but Texas politics are all too predictable. I am discouraged to learn that fifty-seven legislators are backing a draconian bill that would outlaw therapeutic abortion after six weeks—before most women even know they’re pregnant. And of those fifty-seven legislators, fifty-four are men who cannot possibly understand the complexities of pregnancy, the heartbreak of a fetus that will not survive outside the womb. It’s an obvious conclusion to me that decisions about difficult pregnancies need to be between a woman and her doctor, not dictated by a bunch of men in suits.

A thread about this, on my wall, brought an eloquent response from author Clay Reynolds, with a good discussion of the varying beliefs about when life begins. Read it if you can find it.

The cling-to-the-past politics of Texas sadden me. I hope we can elect officials and legislators with a more compassionate and humane approach in 2020. Meantime, stay warm—cold again tonight.

Content but not

Today was a beautiful spring day in Fort Worth. Started out a bit chilly but soon warmed up so that I could have the patio door open, and Sophie could come and go at will. The ground cover planted last fall is looking green and healthy, and my new lettuce plants look good. It even smells like spring.

I spent an almost-peaceful day at home. I say almost because I found myself embroiled in problems that go with posting book text on various digital platforms—the size is not right, the ISBN doesn’t match (now a problem with two books), the pricing is not according to our standards. Makes me crazy. I only discovered some of the problems late in the afternoon, so I’ll wait until tomorrow to call for help. You call one place for Amazon, another for whatever other platforms you have the book on. At this point, I have Amazon in order, I think, but Draft2Digital, the multi-platform outlet, is giving me fits over ISBN numbers.

This afternoon I looked out my kitchen door to see Sophie wandering in the driveway. She had somehow opened the gate from the back yard, where the dogs are confined. Thank goodness the main driveway gate was closed, but it is not always. She came happily when I called—no, wait! She came because Jay was in the yard painting window trim on their guest house, and he called her. She ignores me but will come for someone new. So now I have her escape route to worry about.

The good news: my landline phone works again. Yesterday all the satellite phones in the cottage said, “Base no power.” Christian thought the base had probably died of old age and volunteered to go get me new phones. But tonight, the phone rang! Unavailable was calling, so I didn’t answer. But I called Christian, and sure enough—he checked and found the base, in the main house, had been unplugged. We suspect a couple of sixth-grade boys, but I’m glad he found it before he bought new phones.

Nice casual, easy supper with Carol tonight. We chose to go to Lucille’s Bistro, a comfortable, reliable place. She had pizza, and I had a chicken salad sandwich that I held together by sheer will power as I ate. It wanted to fall apart and drip all over the plate. But it sure was good. We talked taxes and health and politics—we are on the same page on the latter topic. Both appalled and dismayed.

And that’s the second reason for my discontent tonight. I read today that Jared Kushner released confidential information from the daily presidential briefings to the new prince in control of Saudi Arabia, who now boasts he has Kushner “in his pocket.”. In some doing, Kushner may well have triggered the arrest of some 200 Arabian princes and powerful businessmen, and he may some day be ultimately responsible for the execution of some of them. Donald Trump Jr., meanwhile, has been busy trying to get India to ignore its own laws and proceed with the financing and construction of the Trump Tower in that country. Business as usual.

 Meanwhile at home, it’s looking more likely every day that the so-called president was elected by chicanery, orchestrated campaigns of false information, and election tampering. While dismissing those concerns, he’s busy suing a porn star to keep her quiet about an affair he says never happened and replacing his cabinet, almost all of whom have been fired or resigned during his so-far short tenure—pray God that it remains short. The corruption everywhere is so blatant that it astounds.

The country is in such disarray that I am fearful of our future. Yeah, it’s hard to enjoy the beauty of a spring day. The Statue of Liberty weeps for us==and so do I.