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Common Sense

November 11, 2025 by mountainmornings

November is a chilly month. There were snowflakes floating by our windows here in Nashville yesterday. The Pumpkin is the only family member, besides me of course, who likes the frigid temps. He’s coming off a winning weekend, where his team placed well in its Quiz Bowl competition. After all, this is his birthday month, 11 years old! And today is 11/11… The last of our string of Fall birthdays. His friends made gooey s’mores in the backyard, (mostly boys but also 4 girls, which did my heart good) followed by a scary movie.

We’re all looking forward to the release of the new Ken Burns’ documentary, “The American Revolution.” set to premiere November, 16th on PBS, but as always we will stream it on Passports. Flying in the face of this administration’s directive against DEI initiatives, Burns looks at our origin story from many points of view. And it seems there was not just one turning point that set us on our path to independence, but a constellation of events – including a little pamphlet called “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine. Written 6 months before the Declaration of Independence, he convinces the people that breaking with the British Parliament is not enough.

We had to renounce the KING.

““We have it in our power to begin the world over again,” he promises at the end. In the 80-odd pages in between, Common Sense depicts “liberty and security” as the “end of government,” outlines a democratic one calculated to advance “the greatest sum of individual happiness with the least national expense,” and assures readers that, for such a cause, Americans could prevail against all the force that Britain could muster. Life, liberty, and happiness stand as founding ideals here much as they would in the Declaration of Independence six months later. “The will of the king is as much the law of the land in Britain as in France,” Paine writes in defiance of George III. “In America the law is King. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King.” This became the animating spirit of 1776; it is why that year still matters.” https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/11/american-revolution-1776-what-changed/684579/?gift=MZkyOCULmn5OA_9_ikIP-7yCQfhCLH_iVBq2ImNMOYc&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

“No Crown. No Throne. NO KINGS.”

When I heard the Gov of California, Gavin Newsom, say this after Prop 50 was passed and the Democrats swept up the last election handily, I felt it in my gut. It became a mantra, a meme. Certainly this would be a turning a point in our national nightmare. NJ elected Mikie Sherrill and Virginia elected Abigail Spanberger, surely Aftyn Behn will be next in TN? The Flapper said things happen in threes, but we’ll have to wait until Dec 2nd, a strange time for an important TN election – although dear Nashville readers, early voting starts tomorrow!

So why, riding high on the wave of this victory, did 8 Democratic Senators surrender over the weekend to a PROMISE from the most untrustworthy GOP in history? A party trying to downplay a violent insurrection with its leader bribing universities, major media (including the BBC), and law firms because…. why? He doesn’t like them? He’s vindictive? Or is it just that Mr T is lining his pockets while running the most corrupt, mob-like administration since Reconstruction. All while keeping the Epstein files under wrap.

Aunt Kiki said, “We need a new pamphlet,” on common sense. Let’s hope America watches “The American Revolution” this month. Maybe it will wake up a part of the MAGA folks who are about to witness their healthcare costs rise exponentially. Life, liberty and happiness are hanging on: one election at a time; one documentary at a time.

Here we are at High Tea at The Fairmont Empress in British Columbia.

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Domestic Goddess

November 4, 2025 by mountainmornings

It’s day 35 of the Great Government Shutdown. Threatening to be the longest in history, this Senate stalemate hits food assistance programs like SNAP, federal workers including TSA agents, and the general economy. Have you felt its effects yet?

It just so happens the Love Bug’s 8th Grade Washington, DC trip was last week. The teachers had to change up their itinerary since Congress and all the Smithsonian buildings were closed. They managed to visit most of the memorials, including the Vietnam memorial and the Holocaust Museum. Welcome to your nation’s capital, a metaphor for death and dysfunction.

And what was our fearless leader doing? Tearing down the East Wing to build a huge ballroom in his honor. Renovating the Lincoln bathroom with marble and gold. Oh, and throwing a Great Gatsby Halloween themed party at his FL residence; why stay at the White House and try to resolve the shutdown after all?

And speaking of parties with a small “p,” Martha Stewart’s original big book, “Entertaining,” is about to have another moment. It’s being reissued by Penguin Random House 43 years later. Truth be told, I didn’t buy it then, nor did I buy her book, “Weddings.” At the time, I was deep into motherhood, pregnant with the Rocker and living on the edge of a bird sanctuary in the Berkshires. I had given up trying to cook like Julia after almost burning my kitchen down making coq au vin! There was no one I wanted to emulate, except maybe Erma Bombeck.

But back to Martha, Martha, Martha and me. My idea of a perfect dinner party in the 80s was two words: Pot Luck! Usually we’d buy lots of wine and I’d cook one entree – a meat in one form or another. Better yet, Bob would barbeque it. Your guests supply all the rest. Genius! It was a time for farm co-ops and breastfeeding babies on the side of a mountain, not trying to impress others with opulent place settings and marble bathrooms. We feminists looked askance at Martha Stewart, what was she trying to prove?

Betty Friedan had published “The Feminine Mystique” in 1963. The problems she addressed are still rambling around our collective consciousness today.

Looking back, Stewart was bridging the gap between two generations of women. Like my 1966 high school yearbook – the girls with bouffant hair and the long, straight hair crowd. While purporting to glamorize home life, she was simultaneously building an empire and losing her farm and family in Connecticut. It was almost Shakespearian. I must admit feeling sorry for her when she was convicted of insider trading. She didn’t deserve that prison sentence. Men had been trading secrets for years after all.

Still, I admit laughing at satirical articles about her magazine. I’ll always remember a full page layout of the different types of DIRT! Four pictures across and four down of different colors and textures of DIRT… it was just near enough to the truth to catch you thinking it might be real.

And here’s the real dirt on our government shutdown – President Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act happens to be on the line. Yes, Republicans don’t mind starving Americans in order to tank affordable healthcare. Can I repeat that – REPUBLICANS are responsible for this malarkey! Don’t let the smoke and mirrors fool you. Mr T is absolutely tone deaf and would rather watch women swinging on stars in sequins and fringe like it’s the 1920s.

And Martha, bless her heart, (age 84) is also living in denial. She’s fighting reality with all her might. Post-plastic surgery and a Sports Illustrated cover, she is still reinventing herself with Snoop Dog and stating she was the original trad wife! I almost threw up in my mouth when I read that.

Here is my meticulously curated collection of cookbooks; The Silver Palate for pesto and Applewood and Motherpie for carrot cake. And Ina, always Ina! Mostly I use the NYTimes Cooking App! The Flapper would be proud.

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Homecoming

October 28, 2025 by mountainmornings

Isn’t it funny how US customs doesn’t ask why you’ve returned home after a trip? I mean, when you leave you need a reason to visit other countries, but returning? Not so much. We actually did customs in Calgary – I stood before a camera-type-I-pad device that snapped a picture and then said “Welcome Christine!” Weird! Since we are Global Entry screened, it almost seemed too easy. Where are the harried agents looking you up and down and asking if you have anything to declare?

YES. I declare that despite the cold and the rain, Canadians seem happier than Americans – and it wasn’t just the Blue Jays win!

I came back from our Vancouver Island adventure smuggling pockets full of snotty tissues. Our very last day in British Columbia I woke with a tickle in my throat, thank you Bob who had been coughing for days. This didn’t stop us hopping onboard a water taxi to search out the best fish and chips on Fisherman’s Wharf. We were on a mission. Have you ever watched the PBS show, “Samantha Brown’s Places to Love?” Well I’m addicted.

Home

There’s just something about her generosity of spirit that makes hers a travel show worth watching. And since I hope that you, like my family, are contributors to public broadcasting, you’ll be able to stream all her work on PBS Passports. Anyhow, she did a piece on Victoria, BC that had us taking mad notes! We visited a jigsaw puzzle shop she recommended that featured local artists’ work all in wood and ordered two to be delivered home – one of an orca whale with all the tiny pieces resembling a whale!

We walked in from the rain, and I said I’d expected their shop to be on a small side street; the lovely saleswoman told me that after Samantha’s visit (who is also lovely of course), they’d had to move to a larger place on the main street. https://puzzlelab.com/

After our delicious fishy lunch, we hopped onboard another water taxi to visit Chinatown. This is the oldest Chinatown in North America and it didn’t disappoint. Of course we’d already gone whale watching earlier in the week, and managed to spy an elusive sea otter, along with lots of seals and a few humpback whales. One was identified as “Exclamation” because of his gigantic exclamation point on his tail. Most have migrated south by this time, preferring the warmer waters of Mexico for calving.

I remembered Ada’s 90th Birthday Bash in Cabo; the tiny motorboat we piled into to see mama whales and babies cavorting. At least in BC, the Prince of Whales was a much bigger boat and they served us hot chocolate!

My cold is finally getting better, but I’ve been quarantined from our little Nashville family for a week. So I had to leave the otter socks, lumberjack PJs, and books I got for the Grands on their porch. Like the tiny porcelain cat I found in Chinatown, my arm is perpetually waving across the distance.

Like this administration, a government unfunded, pulling away from our closest trade neighbor. Now Canada too is looking towards Asia. “Faced with a trade war with the United States, Canada’s biggest trading partner, Mr. Carney has set an ambitious goal of doubling Canadian exports to other countries within a decade. Expanding trade with Asia is central to Mr. Carney’s strategy.” NYTimes.

Here I am in my Victorian “Elsbeth” hat and a vintage green, cashmere sweater I found at the Crossroads Pets’ fundraiser. We were so cold people!

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On the Move

October 15, 2025 by mountainmornings

Just boarded a plane for Vancouver. The last time I was in Canada was 1968, and it wasn’t a pleasant trip. Starter marriage and all. But this time I’ll be seeing whales, strolling through gardens, and ogling totem poles with my main squeeze.

Before Eugene Levy called himself a reluctant traveler, I held that title. I would be perfectly happy never leaving home, although meeting Prince William in Levy’s last episode looked incredible. Until the Lady Diana debacle, I loved the Royal Family… then Meghan and Harry happened.

Maybe William and Kate will revitalize the Crown?

We’ve just spent a quick week with the Rocker’s little family in California. Our twin Princesses are on the move, crawling and trying to stand. Kiki will.be returning to work next week, one of the most bittersweet transitions in a young mother’s life. Bob helped them baby proof the house, I cooked a bit, and we had lots of adventures.

We landed in Vancouver and I forgot we’d have to tell the Customs Agent why we were here – I wanted to say we were fugitives looking for a safe place to land, we were fantasizing about immigrating. But instead I said “Personal.”

I heard that the hostages have been released from Gaza. I read that our military is still shooting boats out of the Caribbean. And the best news of all is that major media outlets said NO to the Pentagon’s attempt to create a propaganda machine. Take that Hegseth.

I guess I was lucky writing for the Two River Times. My editor loved when I ruffled feathers in our Jersey Shore town. I reported only the truth, and sometimes the truth hurt. But it sold more newspapers and that was the business model after all. When a democracy fails, the free press is the first to go, and so we have hope today.

Hope for a lasting peace in the Middle East. Hope for the Rule of Law. Hope for the First Amendment. And hope that our baby girls will always delight in giant giraffes.

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Forgive Us Our Sins

October 6, 2025 by mountainmornings

I’m getting to be an old regular at synagogue. After the Love Bug’s Bat Mitzvah, we entered the Jewish Holy Days with a renewed faith. Last week for Kol Nidre, the service on the night of Yom Kippur, I sat between my Granddaughter and my husband holding hands. The Bug had the honor of saying a prayer in Hebrew on the Bima (altar). The Day of Atonement is our chance to ask forgiveness for anything and everything and from everyone we may have harmed over the past year. We listened to the Rabbi speak about loss, about confronting our mortality.

She talked about getting a metaphorical box delivered to our door, with a string inside representing the length of time we have left to live. Would you open it, or would you bury it?

“Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.” As a young, practicing Catholic, I would pound my chest, “Mea Culpa,” and go to confession every week and make amends by reciting the rosary. My ‘sins’ were the usual; taking the Lord’s name in vain. not respecting or listening to my parents. Asking for forgiveness is a universal thread running through the history of time and every single religion I can think of. “Forgive me Father for I have sinned,” was and probably still is the opening salvo inside the confessional.

But what are our sins like today, as adults in this 21st Century? Did we stand by while ICE arrested people on the street, outside of their church? Were we silent and indifferent in the face of injustice? What would we change about our lives if we knew that next week we would fall and break our neck and be gone, poof, just like that? Bob nearly died when he had a stroke on the operating table ten years ago. My perspective has certainly changed now that I’ve crossed that three-quarter century mark.

I recently listened to a podcast about how we humans react to an unforeseen event – like finding out you have an incurable, hereditary disease (say Prion), that could strike at any moment. “Prion disease is a group of rare, terminal neurodegenerative diseases. They happen when proteins in your brain turn into abnormal proteins known as prions. Prion disease causes brain damage that leads to dementia…” people die within a year of diagnosis.

There are usually three reactions to getting bad news: 1) Continue blithely living your same life, we might call this denial; 2) Go with the flow and be flexible enough to try new things; and last 3) Pivot. The woman in the podcast who watched her mother die of Prion at age 51 decided to take the test – she looked inside the box – to find out she DID have the genetic mutation for Prion. This woman pivoted, she was a second year law student who dropped out and switched course. She attained a PhD in Biological and Biomedical Sciences from Harvard. She is now 49 and has a pretty good idea of the length of her string.

Last week, I did something a little unusual; I took an adult ballet class. Bob climbed to the top shelf of my closet and took down the box containing my pointe shoes and dance shoes, and they still fit me. I was the oldest in the class, but I didn’t care. My knees weren’t used to the pliés, but my muscle memory kicked in and I walked just a little bit taller afterwards. Of course, I spent the rest of the weekend recuperating. But I am happy!

I have a pretty good idea how long my string is, and I want to dance and eat all the desserts and take a river cruise with some of my old friends, plus a few new ones. I want to be improvisational, to go with the flow of the future. I want to be arrested for protesting this administration’s contempt of the rule of law, its authoritarian methods, its downright sinful treatment of immigrants. And I want my granddaughters to know I fought for reproductive freedom until the very end.

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Road Signs

September 30, 2025 by mountainmornings

It was my birthday weekend, and the one year anniversary of Hurricane Helene. Bob and I packed up for a long weekend in Asheville, NC with the Big Chill OGs – the original members of our NJ high school class of 1966. We sang, we cooked, we reminisced. We complained about our ailments, but not too much. We saw a glass blowing demonstration in the River Arts District https://www.riverartsdistrict.com/artists-by-medium/ ; one side of the district was washed away, but the other side survived.

The Bride told me that Asheville was a major distributor in the Southeast of the clay that potters use to throw their creations. So of course we went shopping and I found a blue butter dish! One of the merchants in a small town said there were Class IV rapids flowing down his main street during the hurricane. He had to move his coffee shop, but he’s still here… All in all, Asheville is rebuilding with a vengeance.

On our way home I couldn’t help but think about my catastrophic fall last year, the day before election day. Has it only been a year? I’m rebuilding too – walking with hiking sticks, doing Pilates-like exercise, eating calcium-rich foods, getting Reclast infusions! And on our way home to Nashville on I40, from one Blue Dot to another, I couldn’t help but notice these road signs:

“Get Right With God”

Seen on the side of a dilapidated barn. I was thinking I was getting more Left with God but then again, whose God are we talking about?

“Distillery and Prison Tour”

No prison touring for me! But I’ve always wanted to do that whiskey tour of the actual, original Jack Daniel’s distiller – the previously enslaved Nathan ‘Nearest’ Green. https://unclenearest.com/distillery/

TRUMP MAGA Super Store

NO thank you.

“Regret Taking the Abortion Pill?”

Well, we Boomers didn’t have any Mefepristone back in the day. Think about it. Life would have been a lot easier for us – no back-street abortions, no getting septic and compromising our reproductive future, no dying. No being shipped off to ‘homes’ and being forced to deliver a baby and then give it up for adoption.

ARRESTED? Call (this lawyer)

Nope… never been arrested. But there’s still time.

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Confounding

September 23, 2025 by mountainmornings

Last night the Pumpkin lit the candles and the Love Bug said the blessing over the round, braided challah that Bob had baked that very afternoon. In Jewish families around the world a New Year has begun; we take stock of our lives, we dip apples in honey. I tried some Sephardic recipes for a change along with an apple cider Bundt cake that miraculously slid out of its fluted pan! Lately my cakes have clung to the sides of my cake pans, so much so that Bob actually lined the bottom of a cake I made for a visiting/Parisian/doctor/friend of the Groom… and then buttered the parchment paper!

It’s rather confounding since I never used to have this problem with my carrot cakes.

And naturally the discussion at the Rosh Hashanah table veered into the ever more confounding and comical – had anyone watched the presser on Tylenol and autism? Our cousin Paul brought us all (including two ER docs and an Attending ICU Intensivist at Vanderbilt) up to date – Mr T couldn’t even pronounce acetaminophen, and he told pregnant women to “tough it out” if they had a fever. Never mind that a high fever in pregnancy increases the risk of birth defects. Never mind that scientists for years have not found any causal link between acetaminophen and autism which is a multifactorial disease with known genetic factors.

“Many of the studies included in the new review “did not necessarily go to the greatest lengths to account for possible confounders,” Dr. Brian Lee, a professor of epidemiology at Drexel University, said, referring to other factors that might explain a potential link. “And the biggest elephant in the room here,” he added, “is genetic confounding, because we know autism, A.D.H.D. and other neurodevelopmental disorders are highly heritable.” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/health/kennedy-autism-tylenol-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.oE8.mzwn.aB4TzcsT3X6l&smid=url-share

Confounding variables may be my favorite phrase for the new year. We have a government touting pseudo-science; so do we have an actual increase in autism, or have we just expanded the definition so much that we have more autism diagnoses – or are we just reporting more as our population increases? It would be unethical to conduct double-blind studies on pregnant women, and so we must try and collect postpartum data which may have a host of differing variables including but not limited to medication, nutrition, addictive substances, living near a Superfund site, and genetic predispositions. Not to mention unintentional selection bias!

Today our President will speak to the United Nations. I would not trust anything that came out of his mouth, I am disillusioned and disheartened with Israel and I’m afraid our country is standing on a precipice. Will we be on the wrong side of history? Today God opens the book:  “…each year on this day “all inhabitants of the world pass before G‑d like a flock of sheep,” and it is decreed in the heavenly court “who shall live, and who shall die … who shall be impoverished and who shall be enriched; who shall fall and who shall rise.”

I woke this morning to a welcoming rain. I thought of my beautiful Granddaughter reciting the prayer over the bread, and I can be grateful to have lived through this last year. To witness her BatMitzvah. To light the Yahrzeit candle for my Mother-in-Law and my Brother-in-Law. To welcome twin baby Granddaughters into the world. To set the table with the good china.

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Ideological Opposites

September 16, 2025 by mountainmornings

When I heard about the shooting of Charlie Kirk, I was appalled, but in truth, I’d never heard of him. Bob somehow knew about his activism in conservative circles, knew about Turning Point USA, but not me. I was blissfully unaware of his influence; I am, however, becoming more and more aware of my environment because of the increase in gun-related violence of all stripes. The other day while strolling through the mall, I turned to Bob and confessed I didn’t feel safe.

And that’s the point of terrorism, isn’t it – to instill fear.

It was the anniversary of 9/11; it was the recent school shooting in a MN church, and then the high school in CO on the day Kirk was shot; it was the local road rage incident that happened in the parking lot of Nashville’s Rescue Mission. It was the woman from Ukraine who came here to escape war, only to have her throat slashed on the subway. It was the bomb scare during the Grands’ first week at school. It was everything everywhere all at once.

But here’s the thing. If you want to distract Americans from the vote that stopped the Epstein files from seeing the light of day, OK. And if you think it’s “too soon” to talk about gun control, OK. Let’s send all our thoughts and prayers all over the country to all those affected by gun/knife/car violence. But Republicans cannot, in good conscience, talk about how we all love free speech, while simultaneously trying to curtail it! Just listen to AG Bondi talking about ‘hate speech.’ Freedom to speak our mind Is so important it’s right there in the FIRST Amendment:

I abhor allowing hateful, religious fanatics to demonstrate near the funerals of our veterans, for instance. I was horrified when neo-Nazis marched through Charlottesville. And I still can’t believe that Mr T let the insurrectionists of Jan 6th out of jail…. that attempted coup wasn’t quite “peaceful” was it? But guess what? In this country, free speech is our birth right.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

So when someone like Kirk is murdered with a military-style weapon, and the GOP shifts the dialogue from the SECOND amendment to the FIRST, it smacks of hypocrisy. When an Australian student who wrote about the demonstrations at Columbia University can be deported, or a grandmother can be arrested for stating that undocumented children have a right to attend school in TN, then we have to ask WHOSE speech is being protected here?

I was even a little worried about writing about this topic. But I believe that Kirk had a right to speak his mind, just as much as I don’t agree with his ideology. That’s what the ACLU is all about. It’s not just about trans justice, or immigrants’ rights or reproductive freedom; it’s about all Americans feeling free to say anything. So long as we don’t shout “FIRE” in a theater.

Or tell a crowd to take over the Capitol.

“But I have seen a lot of people simply talk about Charlie Kirk from a technical aspect, as someone who was incredibly skilled and even someone who valued free speech. When in fact the administration that he associated with and its policies that he was defending and supporting are definitely not pro free speech. Whether it be the college campus lists, the professor watch list that he had put together to even scare professors that he considered to be radical, that he considered to be ideologically opposed to his worldview.” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/12/style/hasan-piker-charlie-kirk.html?unlocked_article_code=1.lk8.7ofo.OWBPkor_DD5q&smid=url-share

Last Saturday: First time seeing police at the Farmers Market

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The Party’s Over

September 9, 2025 by mountainmornings

It’s like the end of a play, the last curtain call. We’ve been working for weeks – the Bride for months and the Love Bug for years – on this past Big Bat Mitzvah weekend; and then it’s over. Our little girl has come of age. The whirlwind of cooking, catering, decorating, and celebrating has come to an end. Our Granddaughter was truly exceptional, reading the Torah with poise and welcoming friends and family with her beautiful smile.

The evening’s festivities included basketball games and food trucks galore. Phones were collected at the front end, so 8th graders could be kids. For the couple who married in an apple orchard on Thomas Jefferson’s mountain this very weekend 15 years ago, planning a party in a park at the edge of a golf course was beshert (fate). The Bride and Groom did a most amazing job!

We enlisted our cousins and Bob’s brother to help string 7 foot blue and gold streamers across the community center’s gym floor. People were skeptical, but ever so slowly my vision came to life. The Pumpkin was busy blowing up helium balloons for the arch entry, and before long the Bug arrived and helped with placement! The Groom’s parents had to quickly dry and cover all the outside seating after the morning’s rain. This party was truly a family affair.

At sunrise I’d collected local dahlias, snapdragons, bluebells and roses – it just so happens Nashville’s flower wholesaler is right down the street! I wish I had read the rules for designing perfect flower arrangements; related to my favorite swirling Fibonacci sequence, ‘the rule calls for using three types of dominant flowers, five greenery stems, and eight stems of an accent flower.’ I only had an hour to come up with 5 moveable bouquets for the day, so my kitchen looked like a disaster zone.

We invited the family over for brunch on Sunday and the weather was spectacular. The after party is always a welcome addition to the main event, we get to schmooze and kvell to our heart’s content!

The Love Bug’s Torah reading was about Lost Things. To paraphrase, God commands us to care for the property of another, friend or foe, as if it was our own, and to return it to them. To NOT BE INDIFFERENT. After all, it was silence and indifference that allowed the Shoah to happen. What are we doing as people are disappearing in the streets? When children are thrown out of Head Start? When families are separated?

Here are some Monday morning arrangements.

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Laborious

September 1, 2025 by mountainmornings

Hip hip hooray, it’s Labor Day! A day of sales, and grilling outside, and saying a final farewell to summer. As I was pulling on my white pants, I had to thank all my coal-mining, union-creating Irish ancestors. All the farmers, and mill workers, the women who cleaned rich people’s homes, the women who washed their clothes. We Americans are an industrious lot.

I mean why hire someone to string a gym full of streamers for a BatMitzvah when we could do it ourselves?

The good news is Bob and I received our flu shots, and we have an appointment to get the new Covid booster. It’s almost like the government was reading my mind, except they thought in a very Trumpian way to restrict its distribution:

“The new shots from Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax are approved for all seniors. But the Food and Drug Administration narrowed their use for younger adults and children to those with at least one high-risk health condition, such as asthma or obesity. That presents new barriers to access for millions of Americans who would have to prove their risk — and millions more who may want to get vaccinated and suddenly no longer qualify.” https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/fda-approves-updated-covid-19-shots-with-some-restrictions-for-kids-and-adults

After hearing about the latest school shooting in MN, the week after a bomb threat at the Grands’ school, I had a thought. What if ALL the teachers in America went on strike? Public school, Catholic school, private school teachers; what if they all said sorry but we refuse to come into your school buildings with your metal detectors and locked doors, we refuse to carry guns ourselves, we cannot in good faith put your children at risk. What if their one simple demand was to ban assault weapons?

Hell, I would support them. I’d go to every single picket line in town and bring brownies and coffee. How did we get stuck in this gun culture when a majority of Americans do not even own guns? It’s sad to just shrug our shoulders, to think that nothing will change, to chalk up our children’s lives as the cost of doing business. We’ve raised a generation of schoolchildren who have learned to run and hide for active shooter drills, in the same way we had to line up and walk outside for fire drills or crawl under our desks in case of atomic bomb attack.

Last night we had dinner with cousin Peg and Paul. In Bob’s inimitable way, he said he’d like to make the argument to any 2nd Amendment zealot that he thinks he should own an RPG! I mean, if it’s OK to own a military-style assault weapon… If you’ve never watched the movie Red, an RPG is a huge Rocket Propelled Grenade! “This is a shoulder-fired weapon that launches a rocket with a shaped-charge warhead to destroy targets, often tanks.” So of course, Peg asked how a MAGA person would respond to that, which led us into arguing with ChatGP about military uses and individual rights.

Today we celebrate workers’ rights – an 8 hour workday, child labor laws, protections against discrimination, and in light of school shootings most importantly of all, THE RIGHT TO A SAFE WORKPLACE! 

Oh and about not wearing white after Labor Day? I looked it up, and that custom came from the aspiring middle class. Since only the wealthy could afford to leave the city for a summer of cooler air and beaches, we wanted to emulate their wardrobe choices which switched from lots of whites and pale colors, “resort wear” if you will, to darker tones after Labor Day. I’ll let you in on a little secret, beige is the new white!

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