Category Archives: Editorial

My favorite time of day. It was more red earlier and I thought I should enjoy it rather than running for the camera. Zoe’s been out and has eaten. It’s tough to tell where the wind is blowing (will be worse when the lake freezes over) because the County doesn’t think we need an American flag next to the lake for half the year. They don’t plow their sidewalks or paths either.

There are no more leaves on the trees. In order to ascertain temperature and winds, significant factors, I’m forced to look at what direction the planes are landing in, and smoke coming from chimneys.

Actually I grew up in a cold climate and know how to read the “quality” of the smoke to tell me if it’s below freezing and what outerwear we need for Zoe the dog and me to take a walk. Perhaps I should talk to our local weather guy (he’s a neighbor) and see if they’ll give us this information early in the mornings. Hail storms, severe rain and blizzards are no-brainers. It’s just regular mornings with clouds and “iffy” information that are a bother.

The dog is asleep and the seagulls are out looking for food. It’s going to be a great day! Dee

Sunrise

Everyone in our neighborhood walks their dogs this route. Three years ago I spent six months getting the City and County together to make us safe by striping a crosswalk. I got it done, even repainted two years later but no-one stops. Here it is mandatory to stop at a crosswalk. Instead they pass by over the speed limit and put an old lady and her even older dog in danger. That’s me/Z.

Here is my entitlement theory. Some people just think they’re more important than everyone else, or they are less smart and just think about themselves. We’ve been hounded by people riding the shoulder fleeing a Cat 4 hurricane on a nearly stopped highway. Solution. The truck ahead took the shoulder while we took the right lane and traffic picked up despite the potential driving thieves. Truck and we never met but got the gist and drove with it.

This morning people broke three glass bottles on the sidewalk, all the way across the street. At seven, I walked my dog around it, went for our walk and took her home a different way. Then I fed Z and got a broom and dustpan and cleaned it up. It’s not my job but I did it for everyone. I do not partake of this hard cider except as a marinade and eventual sauce for a pork roast, served to family with apples stuffed with cornbread.

I would never imagine smashing bottles on the sidewalk. Some folks don’t take the 1/4 second to close the trash chute. They negate the option for 19 floors of neighbors to use said chute but then again, they are more important than us.

At Wal-Mart once I asked the lady in front of me in line with bird food what she preferred and why, we were about to put up a hummingbird feeder and were new to town. She was very cagey until she found out who we were and knew my father so she decided to talk to us in line. At Wal-Mart. Class designations? Please do not go there.

My butchers are saints. Store clerks. Neighbors. Staff, I cook for them. At work it was and always will be servant leadership. You hire and empower your staff, train them, trust them to do their jobs and run the obstacle course to make sure all those obstacles are out of their way so the outcome is good.

Because my husband and I come from different universes in education, science vs what he calls “soft skills,” soc/psych I didn’t think we had much in common. Not true. We are agents of change and servant leaders. An old boss once told him he needed to train people for servant leadership, you don’t have to do it. That boss was recently fired.

Dear reader, take what I say to heart. I was just chewed to bits by a puppy yesterday but was and am a servant leader. I protected my charge. Look into this philosophy as it works with kids, too! Cheers, Dee

One of my favorite movies these days is Monuments Men. George Clooney directed. I had an album of his Aunt Rosemary’s as a kid because I loved her voice. Mom let me take an album of Rosemary’s to school for show and tell in grade school, only after placing masking tape with my name on it over the briefest hint of cleavage.

In the movie, Bob Balaban took over the microphone and phonograph and played “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” to Bill Murray. With all that was going on over there it was probably a home version that really hit home. I have to cry over a song once over the holidays.

Hit and miss. Oh, George, I love White Christmas as well. Celebrating the season (taking the western theme off the front door, both sides and adding jingle bell wreaths) the holidays always remind me of important people that are no longer able to join us. Tommy died of a brain tumor and no-one told us. They just said he was away. Rick was beaten to death by off-duty cops at age 17. Favorite priests Fr. Cap and Fr. John. Mom has been gone seven years now and my Godmother Aunt J ten years.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas, I do. I think of people here and memories of those who are not here. We do not do presents, just consider the people we know and remember are part of the day. Thank you Buck and Jim (West Point vs Annapolis), I’ll visit you soon. Tell ya’ what, I’ll bring a bottle of wine to each grave site that you used to wager every year on the Army/Navy game. Dee