He watched the elderly man walk across
the lawn with his three grandchildren in
tow. The little girl walked next to the 

man followed by her younger brother and 
older brother. Then the little brother 
wanted to be next to his grandfather so 

he rushed up and walked between his sister 
and his grandfather. The grandfather gently 
placed his hand on the little boy’s head, 

tousled the boy’s hair and the four walked 
on, the older boy dragging behind as if 
bored with the whole ordeal. Watching this 

scene, the observer wondered how the grand-
father could be so cruel and uncaring toward 
so many others. Then again, maybe the grand-

father is just caring for himself reflected 
in the grandchildren. Still, he thought, it 
was a touching scene. Then he thought about 

his own cruelty and his feelings toward his 
grandchildren and then he heard the echo
reverberating in his head and heart, 

"for all have...fallen short...."

My plumber has gone over to the lunatic fringe.
He’s on a “patriotic” texting binge.
I called him and asked him to stop texting me his views.
He immediately interrupted with his “patriotic” spews.
I said I was a Christian and he was a Christian
and let’s leave it there.
He texted me that Christians don’t fall into the abortion snare.
I texted that I love his plumbing and wished him well,
but now I wonder; I need new toilets. Do I dare
text him or give him a call on his cell?

Sadhguru, with a chuckle, said
that there are two ways to live:

1. People are joyful because you are here.
2. People are joyful because you are gone.

And we are seeing that played out
in the Federal Administration Reality Show —
ever so glad for the ones coming in,
giddily glad for the ones soon to go.

*from a video featuring Sadhguru.

Knock, knock, who is there?
He feels life slipping away.
Ruach breathing out.
Friends drifting into deep sea.
Spirit lifting into sky.

Many will come (here and there)
and cries of joy will be heard that
the savior is here and then all the

resentments and anger and dis-
appointments will gather together
under one roof and will be directed

at those held responsible and the
solipsistic savior will smile his sly
smile and the rumors of war will

become real wars and the roof will
cave and in the cave by the firelight
there will be a shadow and many

will believe that the shadow is the
one to come but it is only the shadow
of oneself. And then a still, small

voice is heard, “Come out of the
cave. The sun is rising and although
it is a tad brisk for this fall day, it

is a day made just for you.” And
as the one walked toward the light,
the shadow dropped down the

wall onto the floor and disappear-
ed. And when the one emerged
from the cave, there was no one

to be seen but the voice in his
heart had been right: it was a
“bright, bright sunshiny day.”

The quote is from decades ago.
It could have been written during 

the exit east from Eden. It's as 
fresh as the Christmas tree at 

the White House, the one the 
First Lady likes so much. The 

writer wrote that a human who 
seeks advantage to another’s 

disadvantage and that it should 
remain as such is “a human by 

definition only.” Remind you of 
anybody who fits that definition 

to a tee? Fore!!!

They hate the hoopla between
Thanksgiving and Christmas
splattered all over the TV—

schmaltzy, syrupy romantic
comedies, musical specials
(Although the ones on PBS

really are special), and all the
advertising evoking (might I
say exploiting?) emotions and

what for? Ratings and money,
money, money. They used to
let the whole thing go by and

even enjoyed some of it, but
that was before, before tragic,
premature death. Now, the

old customs and rituals and
ads and TV programs leave
them cold in the late fall, so

they warm up by planning
unique rituals that don’t cost
much of anything but serve

up a feast of affection fit for
a festival or Thanksgiving or
Christmas, like “I love you.”

On a chilly, damp Thanksgiving Day, 
     he stands at the railing of the balcony
          looking down at the pond covered now 
with netting for the approaching winter,
     yellow, gold, red and brown birch leaves 
          galore layered heavily, pulling the net-
ting down into the water. He looks for 
     signs of the fifteen-year-old goldfish 
          and glances one entering the bubbles, 
lingering, feeling the soft movement of 
     the cold bubbles like bubbles in a hot tub                   
          and then it moves on.

The stark brown, yellow
earth and grey sky sit and soak
in the soft fall breeze.

1.

The writer was asked, “Has any
good lesson come out of the last
four years and the last three weeks
in particular?” The writer said (that
after the last three weeks of the
attempt to subterfuge and destroy
democracy by the president who
now definitely has lost the election),
“I will never take democracy for
granted again.”

2.

You know the cliche that you
don’t know what you have until
you lose it. Here’s another: we
dodged a bullet. It was the one
the president continually shot
right down Pennsylvania Avenue
for four years and democracy came
very close to taking one in the heart
and dying in the street because
there was no room at the hospital
for all the COVID patients and we
wouldn’t even know what was lost
until January 20 and America enter-
ed the Twilight Zone. No, not the
Twilight Zone, the Twi-night Zone.

3.

Whether or not you know it, you
are the descendant of immigrants
(But that’s not unique. Even the
indigenous peoples “indigenated”
somewhere on the other side of
the Bering Strait before migrating
to what is now the US.) As im-
migrants, if your family were trying
to emigrate from somewhere and
immigrate to here today and your
people were coming from a country
south of our border, your family
would be torn apart, you
wouldn’t know where the family
went, you would experience ex-
cruciating emotional trauma and
if by some chance you survive to
adulthood, you would return as a
terrorist to avenge by “blowback”
what happened to your family and
all this is being done in your name,
with your money, US citizen. In 2021
this inhumane practice will cease.

4.

The pandemic will be tackled by
science and not denial and superstition.

5.

And just maybe a third of America
will stop being duped by grifters and
con artists for awhile.