On Semi-Good Authority…

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Goodest Friday, my gentle readers.

Well, to start off with some good news, I have it on semi-good authority that I am back amongst the living. No, I was never close to death (that I know of) but having had covid as long as I did, I had to at now and then times, wonder which was the better option!

But 

I am, now and still, looking down at the grass. Phew!

We had a response to my question of last posting, i.e., WWJD in regard to the Old-Testament-Christian-sanctioned murder of Christa Gail Pike. I hope her sentence of death is at least commuted to life in prison without parole. 

Now, finally, we have the sentence for one-time Major, now Inmate Nidal Hasan—death by firing squad—to be live-streamed for the enjoyment of the general public. Our country falls, give us circuses! I know, public executions were great entertainment through the ages, including here where hangings were held in the town square. And if the ropes weren’t tied correctly, people danced as they strangled instead of dying of a broken neck. Picnic lunches were brought, bets made, and a good time was had by all. Well, at least by the spectators.

When I was in 5th or 6th grade, we were taught in school that the primary objective of prison, was rehabilitation of the offender. I remember writing the Governor of Oregon, on lined notebook paper, a letter, that if that was true, how could we rehabilitate a dead person? And, by golly, he responded with a thoughtful missive. Alas, it disappeared years ago. I realize now, that the primary purpose of prison is to get the perp off the street and into private & pay-prison where the perp is used as a slave. 

So, I am against state-sanctioned murder. Full stop. And I am the first to admit if I ever lost someone close to me in a heinous manner, I might change my mind. But I don’t think so. I also think that if we are going to have it, Firing Squad is probably the least awful. It’s quick, and even if the bullets miss the heart by a wee bit, the shock waves will do the deed.

So, even though Inmate Nidal Hasan wounded 32 of my brothers and sisters, and killed 13, I still don’t think he should die for it. Because I think he should be kept alive and aware as long as possible and know he will never fly in a plane again, run on the beach again, hold a woman in his arms again, be a respected human being again, be free to choose anything again, sleep in a dark room again. The rest of us must live in this world with our defugalties, our guilts, our losses, why the hell should he get to check out early and at our expense?

So now that I’m back to feeling human, or mostly human, I’m also back to writing poetry. And cleaning out over 600 emails from my inbox. Can you guess what Auntie Lenora is going to be doing over the next couple of days????

The Brooks Falls cameras are still on, though the number of bears has decreased, as the number of fish have decreased, but still worth watching—especially when the mama bears with their coys (cubs of the year) show up. Kinda hard to watch them and remember they are wild animals and we are just an alternate source of protein as far as they’re concerned. (Actually, they tend to stay away from humans as much as possible, unless mama has cubs near by.) And I found out they don’t really hibernate, they remain in a semi sleep state called torpor, and can waken in a heart beat, so if you’re out doing winter hiking, stay away from ‘sleeping’ bears. You’ll both live longer.

Gentle Readers, know I love you, I appreciate you, and I wish you Covid-Free health and well-being all the days of your life!

The Good News Is,

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I’m not pregnant! The bad news is, I’m still Covid Positive!  The nurse said I’d feel a whole lot worser if I wasn’t vaxxed to the max—I ain’t so sure! But, I’m getting better. Honest. Trust me. See January 10, 2022 blog, https://coffeebreakescapes.com/and-the-good-news-is/ for earlier report.

In the meantime, the Brave Dog thinks he’s in puppy heaven with all the naps he’s getting with me 😉 Basically it feels like a moderate head cold, and I’m not hungry. I know I should eat, and I do, but not a lot. Food tastes ok, I just don’t have the energy to do much in the prep department.

89 Backpack is the Fat Bear of 2026. I was hoping for 910, but 89 Backpack won fair and square. Of course, none of the bears are weighed, we just vote for the ones who look the fattest. And the Rangers at Brooks Falls are pretty good at their educated weight guestimates. 😉

Tennessee is exercising their legal and Christian right to blood lust today (WWJD?), with the death of Christa Gail Pike. Wonder why only she got the death penalty and not her accomplices, too? The state will feel justified, but will the family and friends of the victim feel any better? I doubt it. 

Had to cancel my hair appointment for tomorrow. I think I’ll cry for that one. As well as lunch with Favorite Daughter. I’ll cry for that, one, too. Probably have to cancel ophthalmologist appointment, for Monday, too. Waaaaahhhhh. This Covid is no fun. 

But, at least I ain’t pregnant!!!

I love you, I appreciate you, I wish you a covid-free fall and winter and spring and summer!! And if you aren’t vaxxed, get thy arm shot. Better than full blown Covid. Honest. Trust me.

Musings on Politics of Today

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Being an Olde Fartess of a certain age, I must admit, it pains me to read about, let alone see, elder abuse, and the people who can do something about it—are silent, in fact, they are complicit. Ask Epstein’s victims how that feels.

Now, I must admit, I do not like Mitch McConnell. I can’t remember a time when I might have. I can’t remember a time when I looked at him, listened to him, I didn’t see him standing in the shade of a large plantation, while addressing his slaves, perhaps with a cat o-nine tails in his hand, applying the business end on the back of one of his slaves, perhaps because they wanted something as simple as freedom, to return home to their family in Mother Africa.

Just because I dislike him, immensely, doesn’t mean I hold with abusing him as he is currently being abused by his wife who can speak for him, or his fellow republicans who are directing him what to say (aye or nay) for a vote count.  

His body is alive, he can move his index finger on the right hand, he can speak, “aye” or something that sounds more like aye than nay. He cannot, or at least does not, turn his head when anyone speaks to him. His mouth seems frozen in a grin, almost a rictus grin, not a friendly grin, not a grin of enjoyment of life, of gladness as seeing old friends, it’s the grin of someone who looks like he’s been coached to grin, so people will know he’s truly alive. Period.

Yes, he’s alive. But—is he alive? Can he understand anything? Is he cognizant of what is being said to him? Can he carry on a conversation, however limited? Can he understand a joke? Can he laugh at something funny? Can he tell a joke? 

Can Bobby BrainWorm or QuackQuack Oz do anything to help Mitch? Possibly, but why would they? They’re part of the problem. Sigh. And why doesn’t Elaine Chou speak up, and tell those power hungry clowns that enough is enough, and her husband should be allowed the rest of his days at home, in peace. What a pathetic situation. And You and I pay for it.

Thank you for your patience as I got that rant out of my fingers. 

After writing this, I came across this almost 9 minute YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riCDjSxmwGM

Poetry

I had some positive feedback from my poem last week, so thought I’d try a new one. I took a workshop last Monday, and we wrote a “Skeleton Poem.” I used to write a lot of those, years ago, when I got bored at work. Only I didn’t know they were called Skeleton Poems. In fact, my friend and I used to teach people how to write poems using the same method, except instead of 8 lines, we used 10. It was great fun to hear the poems after. And people were really surprised at what they wrote.  Actually, I sold several of my Skeleton Poems. So, here are the bones of my skeleton, and the poem. If you want to try it, set a timer for 30 seconds if you’re a poet, or 45 seconds per line if you’ve not tried a poem before. Go one line at a time. 

If you want to try it, I suggest you use a random set of words. Maybe consider writing 20-30 words on a piece of paper, cut them out, put them in a bowl, set your timer and pull out a word, write your line, hit your timer, pull out…. until you’ve pulled out however many you wanted. Tweak your poem and there you are. Put your words back in the bowl mix well and you’re all set to go the next time. And, if you want to share, feel free to put it in the comment section, but know that it then becomes published and if you submit it to a publisher you need to tell them. 

1st line – use a season
2nd line – use currency
3rd line – place of worship
4th line – the color red
5th line – wild card (whatever you want)

6th line – something from the sea
7th line – stringed instrument

8th line – repeat line 1 or 7, exactly of paraphrase

When you have your lines finished, take 3 minutes to tweak if needed. 

You can also use 10 words, or however many you want. The goal is to write and have fun.

And here is my poem from the above words. I initially wrote it double space, tweaked it a bit, and put it in couplets, then changed it to single space. I underlined the words used in the lines.

Season of Sorrows
by Lenora Rain-Lee Good

Autumn, the time of long sleeps, of death
save your coin for Charon, if not for now
your prayer bones on the velvet kneeler
red as your blood, stained by your blood
bruised by your hours of devotion
holding beads of shell, beads of seed, beads of wood
a stringed instrument to help prayers reach your god
in this time of long sleep, death, are useless. (repeat of line one, sorta)

Public Service Announcement

If you’re an Elder, don’t forget your Flu and Covid vaxes! Maybe plan a day after to do nothing. For some reason, one or the other, or both, zapped me, and I spent two hours napping the day of, and almost the whole of the next day doing the same. Makes me wonder what I’d feel like if I hadn’t gotten vaxxed and one or the other bug bit me. Having grown up in the time of polio, and spending 9 years 5 months 23 days in the Military, I’m a firm believer in getting vaxxed. Even if there might be a day after! Admittedly, the day after a vax isn’t as much fun as the day after a good night—but that’s another story for another day. /snort/

This is what I want to say—

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#$%$*%  @$%!  ^&*(&()#  &_%#@!—

but, dammit! I can’t figure out how, exactly—

but, then again, if I could figure it out—

but, then again, would you really care about—

the haunting, for which I will—

the 57th anniversary of my mommyhood—

the fact I found the name of the mountain—

but, i’m watching Lucifer for the third—

the rains are—

the deaths were—

being a literary executrix is—

I’ve watched My Demon twice thru—

then the dog—

you see, I only know how to say

*(*%  (%$@@  )&!$$%*(&—

but in no way does that makes sense, so—

know i love you, i appreciate you, and i wish you the bestest week ever!!!!!!

Two stories for the price of one

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And, this time, I am deliberately late. I knew both of these would happen on Tuesday, and rather than tell you they were going to happen, I wanted to wait and tell you they did happen. I wanted to give you the link to the short poem, and tell  you what happened at my cooking lesson.

Story the first:

Last week, we had crappy air quality in town. It was in the red, Unhealthy, category, and by Friday, when I was hosting our weekly poetry prompt i was talking, when I could be heard, more like a pubescent boy than an old lady. I wrote my poems, squeaked them out, and everyone said they were surprised I didn’t write about the air and my voice. So on Saturday, I wrote that poem, and sent it to a couple of gals in the prompt group who were the most vocal about why didn’t I write about it the day before. They both liked it, and one suggested I submit to New Verse News. Once I realized it meant New Verse as in Poetry Verse and not Biblical Verse, I submitted it.

New Verse News accepted it, and here it is, Living with Ma Nature, and the photo they chose to go with it is perfect, I think. We lost a huge old trestle somewhere near Colfax, I believe it was crossing the Palouse River. Anyhow, enjoy the poem. 

And after three days of yellow, moderate, air quality, tomorrow, we’re headed back to red, unhealthy for at least 3 days. My phone says it’s currently green, good, but my throat is beginning to get that smokey feel to the back of it.

Story the second:

60+ years ago, I decided I wanted to learn to bake bread. I loved baking cookies and cakes, and loved the idea of baking my own bread. Alas, I had no one to show me how, or correct my mistrakes as they were made. To the best of my limited knowledge and comprehension, I followed the recipes, but some of the terms made no sense to me. I tried, and tried, and tried a couple times more. The flavor was always good, but the texture was, if not off the scales, pretty close to the edge. I had no idea where I was messing up, no idea what to do, so rather than subject my husband to any more tries, we bought bread at the store like good capitalists.

This morning, Tuesday, I spent 10 minutes shy of 3 hours in a friend’s kitchen learning how to make pita bread! I now have all the knowledge to make my own. All I need is practice, and he said if I get stuck, to call him. The important part, for me, is I know what it is supposed to look like, and feel like. It will be a while before I try, because he also operates a bakery, and I love his bread, and would rather he bake it than me, especially in the summer. 

Follow-up:

My sister of the heart, Val and her family have returned to their homes in Spokane. They still have homes, and nothing appears damaged. Everyone is relieved to be home, but so many people lost everything, one almost feels guilty in rejoicing for the ones who lost nothing but time. However, as far as I’ve heard, the lives lost were two firefighters. No one I’ve heard about was caught in their home. I grieve for the two responders and their families and friends, but am so grateful everyone else got out safely. It’s so much easier to replace things than people. Mementos burn, memories remain in our hearts.

Remember, gentle readers, I love you, I appreciate you, I value you. Have a great week and create something—a sentence, a painting, a song, loaf of bread, whatever you choose.

Took this last November. A little something cool to ponder in this heat 😉

“A fox should not be on the jury at a goose’s trial” —Thomas Fuller

Well, Finally…

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Yep, it’s me…Your habitually late Auntie Lenora. I may be late, but I always love you, I always appreciate you, and I always wish you the bestest week ever from whatever day you start. 😉 (Thomas always started his week on Wednesday because he said he was born on a Wednesday.)

As some of you know, my sister of the heart, Val, lives in Spokane. She and her hubby live in a condo, and her daughter, my niece of the heart, lives in the same complex. They have been evacuated. Twice. And are currently in a hotel a 90-minute drive from their home which, last they heard is still there, but they cannot yet return to. It’s very scary. Since I can’t do anything to physically help, I worry. Hopefully, that takes some of the worry-weight off them.

Oh, and they still have appointments they need to keep, so they have to drive 90 minutes back to Spokane and the office, and 90 minutes back to the motel, through all that smoke, and nightmare. 

This is even less fun that having my identity stolen. And had not my most favoritest Val and favorite daughter, been there for me, I don’t know how I would have made it through that. 

Writing Poetry:

By now, and at my age, one would think I would have run out of tears. I could only hope. The other day, at my Tuesday Poetry Workshop, the poem we read was Blue by Wilson. He only uses the one name, read the bio on the site. Anyhow, we read and discussed Blue, and then were given a prompt, we wrote our own poem. I never know what I’m going to write and was surprised when I started writing in the voice of Tashiko, my old cat. By the time I finished I was trying not to snivel. Then, when it was my turn to read, I got about half through and started to cry. Not just dainty, ladylike trickly tears, but blubbery, sobs, and gushing tears. I miss my old cat.

On a lighter note:

I was writing a different poem the other day about Basic Training, and thought I’d do a little research to see how long Basic is in this day and age. Holy cow, it depends on the branch of service, and a few other things, and can be from 7 to 13 weeks. While reading one of the sites, I came across the best quote of the week, if not the month. Maybe even the year!

“Consequently, the best way 
to prepare for boot camp
 is to be prepared.”
from “Here’s How Long Basic Training Is For Each Military Branch in 2026” by Kevin R.

“If you always do what interests you, 
at least one person is pleased”
— Katharine Hepburn

Grandcat Sai

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Once again, I’m late

But I have a very good reason!! My Grandcat, Sai, got out of his house and disappeared. I had posters to get printed, and lots and lots of worries to make. He was gone for three days and two nights, and he’s never been out of the house unless in the crate to go to the vet. Lots of worries. 

There is a huge rail road right of way behind his house, though the tracks have now been pulled and it’s just grass, feral cats, possibly a coyote or two, and lots of raptors flying overhead looking for mices and other edibles. 

I am pleased to tell you that he was found this morning—under his house. It took a bit to get him out, and back inside. Everyone is happy he’s home, ie, his old granny (that would be me), his mom (my favorite daughter), his uncle (my favorite son), and his three siblings who are hissing at him! 

Here’s the flyer we all put together:

I’M LOST

My name is Sai, I have a stubby tail, orange eyes, and a shy personality.
My phone # is XXX-MMM-XXXX.

Thank you

You have no idea how hard it is to do the Happy Dance on ancient feets and knees, but oh-so-worth it having the young man safely home!

I much prefer watching the bears catch the salmon to worrying about grandcats! And if you haven’t turned into the bears at Brooks Falls, Katmai National Park, you are missing some great fun. However, it’s sushi, without the sushi chef to neaten it all up. And there are lots of salmon right now, so a lot of the fat boys are eating the skin, eggs, and heads only, throwing the rest back in the river. They young ‘uns down in the riffles will catch those and learn, and what they don’t get, scavengers will, and what they miss, will go back to our Earth Mother to be welcomed. Ma Nature wastes nothing!

And never forget, no matter how or why I’m late, I love you, I appreciate you, and I wish you a fantastically mahvelous week!

I miss the days when all it took to make me feel better 
was my teddy bear—unknown

“I woke from a comma…”

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(And you wonder why I love the AI stories! Best comedy around.) No, that’s not a typo on my part, it was, I think, a functionally illiterate AI. Whoever is posting these stores, really needs to spend a wee bit of time to edit them. Both the written words and the spoken ones. 

Another story was about a wealthy businessman, 42, whose mother had a baby when she was 19, and gave the baby up for adoption at her parental insistence. Anyhow when the man met his sister, he was forty-two, the sister was 39. Now, I don’t do numbers, as most if not all of you know, but… Other than that, it was a fun story.

I have noticed AI stories don’t know how to follow a calendar, nor do most of them understand tenses, especially when the word is spelled the same as in read and read, but I’m pretty sure I mentioned that before.

The Bullet Takes Forever, poems by Heidi Kasa

I don’t remember who recommended this book, but holy moly guacamole! I wish I’d written it, and I’m so grateful my muse passed it to Heidi. It’s personal, it’s political, it’s beauty, it’s horror, it’s not an easy read, I’m only on page 10, but it’s a necessary read, an important read, and one every American needs to read!

Bears and Manatees

I’m amazed at the bears at Brooks Falls I’m fair confident they’re not much, if any, different from bears of the plains, the mountains, or wherever bears live. They all must eat high fat, high protein in order to survive their winter nap, and it seems like that’s all they do—sleep in the winter and eat when they’re awake. Though the sows do have babies, so they must be doing something in the deep of the woods we can’t see from the 24/7 cam. 

I find it fun to watch these behemoths as they strive for ever more fat. It’s a wonder to me how they can sit in the cold water as long as they do, and wait for the fish to come to them. And they do.  It’s fun to watch them on the top of the falls as a fish jumps into their open and waiting mouth! The younger ones still like to play and catch their fish by leaping and pouncing on them. 

As I watch this morning, Sunday, at 7am, there is only one bear at the falls, and I haven’t seen a single fish. Now, I’m not watching with undivided attention, but it seems a bit odd, I wonder if this particular run of salmon is over? There were a lot of bears out last night, more than I’ve ever seen, did they know the end of this run had come and were after all they could get? There were three bears earlier, but now just one, and he looks like he lost his best friend. (yes, I’m anthropomorphizing.)

And why to they call it a salmon run? I’ve never seen legs or feet on  salmon, which I think would help them go up the falls. Do they prefer Nike shoes over going barefoot?

I’ve found a second live feed that is also fun, Manatees at Homosassa Springs, FL. Especially fun to watch the babies and the fish swim. I’m not positive, but I think I read some time ago, that there is a nuclear power plant here, and the water is always warm for them. 

There are different kinds of fish swimming around, just saw a turtle, but haven’t yet seen any ‘gators. Which is probably a good thing. 😉

Workshops

Started another poetry workshop. We’ll meet monthly, spend three hours reading, discussing, and writing various types of poems. Yesterday we discussed Persona poems which I love and worked on a persona poem of a non-human persona. I wrote about the Elwha River. We even had time to do a wee bit of research in the class. Gotta admit, I love the internet for some things. And, yes, I donate to Wikipedia. If I’m gonna use it, I figure I ought to support it, and it’s not only less expensive than a set of encyclopedias, it takes up less room on the bookshelf, and is easier to move, as well as constantly upgraded as new information comes along.

Two Hens and a Drake

When I let Sammy out this morning (Monday) at 5:30, there were at least 30 ducks flocculating outside the door so I grabbed this shot. A mallard hen and drake, and the Muscovy hen with the gorgeous white jabot.

Remember, I love you, I appreciate you, and I give you a wonderful week to enjoy!

I Finished the Marthon!!!

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So, yesterday, Sunday 12 July 2026, was the 5th annual Ekphrastic Review Marathon, boy dowdy, did I discover just how out of shape I am! A normal marathon is 26.2 miles. Yesterday’s marathon was 8 hours plus!

We received our .pdf packet at 0630 hours in the morning, and had 30 minutes to read it, and look over the art work, and choose the art we’d write about. Or thought we’d write about, then, at 0700 we set the time and had 30 minutes to write our first draft. At the end of that 30 minutes we started on our second, and so on and so forth. There was an hour in there we could take a break, from 1100-noon, and then back at it. The goal was to turn of our internal editor, and in seven hours of writing, end up with 14 first drafts. Not everyone did, but that’s okay. The art we had to choose from was varied by style and artist. I wrote about a Diego Rivera painting, Two Women, then a peat bog, a young black girl, a First Nation transformation mask, ending up with one I set in a gasthaus in Switzerland. Then we had a zoom meeting to celebrate our participation, I stayed for an hour then moved to a different zoom meeting for an open mic. 

All in all, I spent 11 hours at my desk, computer, and zoom. And loved every minute of it. Can’t wait until next year’s!! Yes, I think I got some publishable poems out of yesterday, with some edits, of course. If you’d like to read some good ekphrastic poetry, please the The Ekphrastic Review at https://www.ekphrastic.net. They are the ones who sponsored the marathon, and put out a fantastic ezine.

Today’s excitement

Today, I saw my favorite PCP and she said she’s happy with my health, gave me a couple of ideas, and said she’ll see me in 6 months. (We’re tracking my red/white blood cells. They go up a bit, down a bit and she’s not concerned, I’m not concerned, and the chief hematologist at the hospital isn’t even a wee bit  interested! Says when the white goes waaaay down, then he’ll become interested. I’m delighted my PCP and the Chief have their boundaries for worry, one less thing I need to worry about. 

Bears at Brooks Falls – Katmai NP AK

In the meantime, I’m keeping the Bears at Brooks Falls—Katmai NP AK, as my background. Mostly I just hear the water going over the falls, but every so often I hear growls and look up to see a couple of them snarling and cuffing. Not sure what the problem is, there are plenty of fish! Right now there are about 12 bears in view, as the camera moves, more or less show up. Mama bears and the cubs are down river a wee bit in the riffles, away from the ill mannered boars at the falls. There may be some sows at the falls, too, but no cubs. If you would like to watch them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7ZrIDvqlic&list=TLPQMTMwNzIwMjbwoTyMakr5vQ&index=10

Talk about fresh sushi!

Some of this bears have pretty bare looking back sides where they’ve rubbed their winter fur off. Wonder if they are colder because of it?

There is also an underwater salmon cam you can watch. And now and then see a bear underwater, and hear them snarling at each other above water. Sometimes they dive and nose the camera. The salmon are at: https://explore.org/livecams/brown-bears/underwater-bear-cam-brown-bear-salmon-cams

Sammy Brave Dog

Sammy has changed a bit in the last couple of weeks. Don’t know if it was the 4th and the explosions, but he is spending a lot more time in my office than he used to. He comes in, curls up and sleeps, or just curls and day dreams? I dunno. I wonder if his union rep came by and told him what his job truly is, to stay by me????

Keeping mostly one eye on my safety in my office.

All the Secrets…

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I hope you are all sitting down, as I have a bit of shocking news to tell you. I received a book in the mail the other day. See, I told you…/snort/  Anyhow, the book is All The Secrets Of The World a novel by Steve Almond. I checked the label several times, it was addressed to me, from a bookstore. I figured it was from housemate Dan so trashed the mailer. The problem? When I thanked him for it, he had no recollection of ordering it.

Did any of you think of me and send it? I really haven’t a clue who to thank. One of the larger secrets of my world! Hmm, did I receive a notice to order a free book and this is it? It’s a hardback, $28.00, pretty pricey for a freeby, eh?

Telemarketers

I subscribe to a daily poem from Rattle magazine as well as A Poem A Day from Poets.org. I’m seldom disappointed, but today’s (4 July) from Rattle I’ve got to share. I’m pretty sure it’s copyrighted and I can’t post the whole of it, so I’m giving you the link. It’s short. It’s humorous. Please, read it! “Telemarketer” by Brett Garcia Myhren. Isn’t that the bestest ever comeback to a telemarketer? 

Referrals

I also subscribe to a few blogs/newsletters, some are free, some I pay for. Three are:

Newsletter of Carla Ra, a scientist by day, a science-fiction writer by night. She’s a brainiac with a marvelous sense of humor. Check her out. Join her mailing list and join her Bot Family. Great fun. Carla Ra at https://www.authorcarlara.com Free

Dr. Stacey Patton. She has both free and pay. I pay. She is an African American professor of media, journalism, film & communication at Howard University. I don’t know where she gets all the energy to teach, write, speak, etc. Sometimes her newsletters are angry with cause, sometimes, she makes me cry, and sometimes she makes me laugh. Always, I learn something. And her Sunday sermons are marvelous. For the first time in years, I look forward to going to church, her church. Today’s newsletter is “Forget the Founders. Celebrate the Enslaved Black People Who Escaped on the 4th of July.” It’s a powerful piece. Read it and learn some history! Stretch your mind. It’s good for you! She’s on Substack.

And, of course, I subscribe to Sherman Alexie, also on Substack. I pay, but he also has a free subscription.  I get poetry, essays, short fiction, opinion, audio, and video, and yes, some recent history of life as an Indian in modern America. His poem, “The Book of Samuel” is one of those poems. It’s free, so I can share.

Please Consider

I have written before about the Iraqi bakery/grocery store/restaurant next door to me, Somer’s Bakery. Now I want to write about the family operated store or restaurant or bakery near where you live. If you’re too busy to shop there because the Big Store you go to has everything, or better prices, or is more convenient, please consider the Mom n Pop in your neighborhood. Not for all your needs, but for some. If you are lucky enough that the owners are from another country and sell things you’ve never seen or tried, consider trying. Support them. 

Somer’s is my bread store, my pickle store, my date store, my eggplant and pickled cabbage store and my homemade and fresh baklava store. Also my baba ghanoush lunch restaurant. But now it will probably me my ex store come January. Gas has gone up, shipping has gone up, people aren’t buying as much, he can’t afford to stock product and throw it away when it expires. And they’re from a different country.

Did I tell you that’s where I buy my bread. Pita bread. Do you know why I buy it there? I’ll tell you, it’s the ingredients—flour, water, yeast, salt. Period. Not only can I pronounce all the ingredients, I can spell them. And remember them. And the taste and texture is so much better than grocery store bread.

Is he competition for the Big Store across the street? No, he’s too small and carries things they’ve never heard of. Oh, did I mention the cheeses? sigh….

So, if you have a Mom n Pop near you, support them. Get to know them. And if they came to America from a different place, try their foods. Tell your friends. Help in a small way for someone to reach the so-called American Dream. A taste bud once introduced to a new experience will never settle for boring again! /snort/  

Latest email from Cousin Jimmy

“I just read this post to Substack. I believe it needs to go viral.”

Well, I just read it, too, and totally agree with him. A well thought-out article and well worth the couple of minutes to read and longer to cogitate.

The Epstein Class: What Jeffrey Epstein revealed about wealth, immunity, and institutional failure. by Eli Goldstein at Eli’s Substack

.https://libertylens1.substack.com/p/the-epstein-class-what-jeffrey-epstein?r=4nb43&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true

Addendum:

Goodest morning, y’all. It is Sunday, 5 July. The Brave Dog snuggled most of the night, thereby keeping me safe from those nasty exploding things outside. And I’ve already been to church this morning—still in my jammies no less!—and I invite you to come sit in the pew with me, there’s always room for my friends. The doors are open, and the message is strong! Dr. Rev. Staceypants is Preachin’

“Death is a reminder to live fully.” —Ram Dass

Remember, 
I love you, 
I appreciate you, 
and I give you a fantastically wonderful week 
so take it and run;-)

Auntie Lenora