January 10, 2021

2:40 p.m.

I live with chronic pain. Most days, I am able to shove it into the background and get on with my day with only occasional moans, groans and gripes.

Then there are days like today. Days when every breath hurts my whole torso; days when my joints aren't happy being still or being in motion; days when even my skin hurts and my clothing feels like a torture devise. 

On days like this I wish I could just lie naked on my bed, covered in the softest, lightest blanket I can find and not move. 

That's what I wish for, but I don't have time for that. There are things that have to be done. 

So, here I am, at the keyboard, bitching about it.

Let me just add this--I am grateful that extreme days don't happen that often. Yes, I am completely miserable, but it will pass and I won't be so inclined to gripe about the usual chronic pain I have daily. This is a forceful reminder of how lucky I am that it's not like this every day. 

I think my biggest mistake today was eating. I should know better. Days like this, food hurts, too. But I cooked for Mom and had a bit myself. And here we are.

Ugh. Ow. 

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 Hey, there are upsides. Another story in the can. Another Drabble win. The dog still loves me. And the sun is shining. 

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I'm thinking about getting one of those hair-cutting deals and doing an at-home do-it-yourself haircut. I butchered my bangs recently--how much worse could it get? Ha ha!

Once it's cut, I may color it pink and purple. Go all the way with it, that's what I say. What else have I got to do? 

I admit it--I am bored. I don't care for this lockdown crap any more than anyone else. And it amuses me to discover this. I am such a homebody, really. I don't go out often. I'm generally content to stay home and do my own thing. 

I think it's just the IDEA, you know? This sudden embrace of and encouragement for staying home makes me want to do the opposite. I don't like the fact that everyone else is doing MY THING. 

It's not funny. But it is funny. 

Seriously, I want to go to dinner and a movie with a friend. I want to go to a casino and drink tea while losing my pennies to the one-armed bandits. I want to sit in Barnes and Nobel with a cup of coffee and a book. 

I really wanted to go to Comic Book Conventions last year with my grandchildren, and I wanted Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

I mean it, man. I don't go out and do much. But the few things I do, I miss. 

I am the kid known as whimper and whine. Ha ha. Do you remember that song from the PBS show The Electric Company? 1970s. Look it up, it's probably on YouTube somewhere. I'm not going to look for you today. I am in pain. Sorry. 

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4:23 p.m.

My thoughts are all Gloomy-Gus today.

Luckily, I published a couple of stories on my other blog, so I don't feel useless. 

Now, I am going to go make something for Mom to eat. No food for me. 

Better day tomorrow. I just know it!

Good day. 

I said good day. 

 

 January 6, 2021

7:20 p.m.

I had a plan for today. It did not include watching insurrectionists infiltrate the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

It as simple--let the dog out, take a shower, fix breakfast for Mom and myself, clean the kitchen, take down the Christmas decorations, and then write for a while. 

I figured while I was at it, I could keep an eye on election results from Georgia and see what might happen when Vice President Pence read the Electoral College votes. 

Yeah, I expected some crap to go down, but not the shit-show that happened.

I guess it was a good thing I was so busy packing up decorations at the time--I had something to distract me from...I don't know, kicking my feet and screaming, maybe.

What the hell happened to my country?

What does it say about the state of the world when I wasn't all that surprised when it happened? After all, Trump has been pushing this agenda for months now. But it's still hard to believe that things have gone so far around the bend. 

My flabber is gasted.

The thing that's worse is seeing people I know pushing back, defending this action or blaming it on ANTIFA. (To those of you who don't know, that name means ANTI-Fascism. ANTI.) Supposedly they disguised themselves as Trump supporters so he would be blamed. Makes sense, then, doesn't it, that he made a video thanking them for their support and saying he loved them and they were special people. He's all about Antifa, suddenly? Right...

I suppose they would just take down the American flag and put a Trump flag up in its place. Seems like a far-left thing to do. 

In your wildest dreams.

Ugh, what a mess! 

Turned off the news. I'm going to watch Downton Abby and call it a day.

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Brighter side--the tree is down and put away, along with all the decorations. 

We ate taco pizza for dinner. And a brownie. Not a special brownie, just your regular run of the mill super chocolatey brownie that makes you feel good just because it is a brownie. 

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I'm sure the shit show continues tomorrow, but...

Fiddle-dee-dee, tomorrow is another day. 1920 Britain, here I come. 

Ta! 

 

 January 3, 2021

12:27 p.m.

This is an updated version. I learned of another loss after publication, and I'm adding him now that his family has announced it. 

Well. That's over with. Thank God. 

I'd like to put forth a little Happy New Year thought--I HOPE. 

Yeah, "I are not smart", as a friend tells me from time to time, when he's made a blunder of some sort. Why on earth would I have  room left for hope in my heart after the shit-show we've just come through? It's not like it's over--we are still right in the midst of it, and the end is probably out there, but it is not yet in my sights.

Still...I HOPE. I hope the world gets better, and this virus is brought under control. 

I hope stupid people grow brains. If you follow the news, you know what I mean.

I hope families make new starts. Remember that there are only so many chances you'll ever get to reach out to offer or ask for forgiveness, to lend a helping hand, to love one another. 

I HOPE for a Happy New Year.

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In times past, I have posted a sort of "Who We Lost" list, mostly including folks from my hometown. I have gone back and forth with myself over doing it for 2020, because I have never seen the list this long. It is daunting. It took me two days to research and compile the names, and I doubt I have a complete list. 

Sharon Frint, 67                

Eileen Rae Hubbard, 61                   

Richard Leon Clement, 69

Brad Slaughter, 70            

Paula Carter, 73             

Audilia Martinez Ortega, 93             

Rocky Joe Potter, Sr., 68  

Gary Wayne Persinger, 68                 

David "Ted" Jensen, 75

Jeffery M. Travis, 47          

Harry Karician, 89                             

Linda Faye Holler, 73

Jeanette Barnie Wilson, 63  

Harris Foster, 68                               

Richard Ray Fischer, 73

Tana Elaine Bernal, 56                  

Frances Elizabeth Watts, 93             

Jennifer Jane Sawyer, 35 

Mary Margaret Case, 88                     

Quenten Reed Wilde, 42              

Robyn Dee Wilde, 70       

Chris Barrera. 89                                 

Steven John Schultz, 37                

Claudia Young, 71  

Patrick McGlynn Stewart, 54            

Marilyn, 86 & Robert Richards, 87     

Leona H. Wengert, 96         

Harold Walker, 91                               

Robert M. Hubler, Jr., 66                   

William "Tad" Bobbitt, 59 

Cynthia A. Wickham, 63                     

Bruce D. Williams, 73                       

Dallas "Jerry" Sinclair, 81 

Cindy Hamblin, 59                             

Michael Held, 63                               

Lynn M. Ball Burrola, 66 

Dr. Carl Allen Morck, 81                     

Nadine Nanette McGuire, 59             

Patrice Ortega, 50             

Nathan C. Richards, 65                       

James Noel Gardner, 85                      

Elsie Lee, 99                      

Robert Charles LeFaivre, 88                

Fred Alan Bowden, 65                       

Roger David Smith, 65    

Robert Thomas Trujillo, 83                 

Donald Francis Cywinski, 80            

Alice Ann Follett, 78         

James Daniel Davis, III, 65                 

Jennie V. Davis, 94                             

Irene A. Kalivas, 96     

Frank Ortega, 63                                 

Genovie Bustos, 86                           

Charles L. Bocquin, 81   

PAUL EUGENE SHABLO, 84  My beloved father, whom I miss desperately.   

Judy Wilcox, 80                                   

Trevor Clay Benboe, 40                   

Ona D. Cochrun, 79             

Manuel Pope, 75                                 

David Winn Johnson, 66                   

Michelle R Flores, 47     

Barbara Jean Rawl-Daniels, 83           

Donnette Butters Peterson, 100           

Betty Jean Taylor, 95         

Kevin John Hanson, 44                     

Eric Conrad Branson, k                     

William S. Ward, 78       

Laura LeAnn Maestas Schumacher, 37                                                         

Geraldine Ellen Birch, 90 

Avery Charles Beaver, 26                     

Dorothy A. Finch, 73                           

Jacob C. Sanchez, 88     

Lois M. McCall, 99                             

Linda Raw Waggener, 55                    

Margaret Bradner, 83  

Orin Lance Blasi, 42                            

Mary Katheryn Salas, 75

Donald Munoz, 74

Robin S. Vesco, 58

Laura Ann Scheneman, 52

Marcia Lee Norris, 72

Mary K. Smith, 65

Cayleigh Ann Welch, 18

Robert Velazquez, 63

Hui-Suk “Sue” Bozner, 60

Charlotte Ann Copeland, 75

Kathryn Kay Schwartz, 83

Zachary Ryan Eikanger, 29

George A. Whittacar, 69

Glen Franklin McLean, 73

Jan Alan Rushing, 72

John Roberts, 72

Nancy A. Probst, 74

Diana Fritzler, 66

Carol Ann Nunez Uriarte, 71

Sherril Hart, 56

E. Darrell Smith, 80

Rudolph James Gunter, 80

Cleoma “Jean” Kirby, 84

Joseph Glass, 87

Chris Leventis, 88

Kathleen Susan Hiatt, 68

Gretchen Andrusko, 82

Kay Marie Danielson, 82

Keith Swanson, 63

Gregory Scott Cable, 54

Norda Millett Lewis, 84

Elizabeth Rose Andrews, 41 

Wilfred Moccasin Gladue, 64

James Perry Nelson, Jr., 71   

Jim Guindon, 82

Iris Marie Hart, 92

Edward Lavern Harsha, 81

Leonard J. Ormandy, 91

Eutonia Veloy Jarvie, 89

Dale Wayne Pulley, 61

Joseph Raymond Bateman, Jr., 57

Patricia Lynn Preddy, 80

Alan, 80 and Ann Hendry, 78

Randy Hargrove, UK age. I will update. 

ROBERT AULBACH, my beloved uncle  

This is a list that includes mostly people who live in, or once lived in Green River, with a couple of people I know personally added in. Also, there were a couple who left us in December 2019, but you'll forgive me for that, I am sure. 

If I missed anyone, I apologize in advance. I am certain I did. It was that kind of year. 

We miss you and love you all, and hope you FLY HIGH.

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Adios, 2020. Never come back. We don't like you much.

Have a nice day, folks.