April – 2017 – TALESetc.

There are good days and then, of course, there are Bad Days. Now I am not overly prone to bad days but I do feel personally that my bad days are the worst. So, before you say anything, let me tell you how bad my bad days are. (Loosens his collar Rodney-Dangerfield style).

I can tell you I get no respect around here! So listen up and you will be able to go about your wonderful life miserably happy. It all started with the alarm clock; which is to say, was flashing 12 o’clock when I woke up. You know what that means, your already one minute late for work because someone at The Electric Company fell asleep at the controls, and sent power surges thru your electric lines.

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1984, was a good year for me,or at least those parts I can still remember. I was a healthy 34 years old and working my way up the American Dream by owning multiple businesses with my wife and watching my beautiful daughter grow ever more beautiful.

Ronald Reagan was our president and, even though I was not a big fan, I had faith in the man who was Governor of California and had an overwhelmingly positive charisma that gave people a positive view on the future of their nation and family.

One thing I never thought I would do, or have the capacity to do, was go back to a date I had already survived. It is so much different now. I never had a problem with my skin but with today’s political realities I look at an image of my face filled with blemishes.

Gone is the excited light in my eyes filled with hope and pride. Most would say this is caused by age. I believe it is caused by the “1984” philosophy of Donald J. Trump. Many of my friends have replaced an excitement for the future with a despair that we will never be able to come back to where we used to be. Continue Reading →

With our new administration, it is obvious our schools are going to change. I don’t believe it will be a change for the better but rather changes back to our past.

I’m not saying this is a good or bad thing because as elders of our society we didn’t turn out weak or poor. Can our new standards produce the same results?

As a retired schoolteacher and now substitute teacher I approach the school year with hope and enthusiasm. Yet a new teacher, even a substitute, can be a traumatic thing.

Just last week I noticed a particular young man, sitting in the front row, who looked absolutely terrified. A small, clean cut young fellow in a crisp white shirt and neatly pressed black pants, I guessed he was the apple of his mother’s eye.

Hoping to put him at his ease I asked him if there was any particular problem that was bothering him on his first day in my class.

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Our winter has finally come to an end. Most of my neighbors are now tired of the snows and cold wind of our winter nights. The headaches of the next morning are starting to wear on us all and a yearning for old routines are getting more intense as the days passed into the spring.

Walking through the crowds of my neighborhood I saw many of my friends and family wearing flags and ribbons on their lapels and in their hair. The conversations were filled with concerns about what the future has in store for us all. Everyone is a bit concerned with their family’s financial as well as personal security. I guess this is a sign of our times.

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Janus was on the verge of complete and utter exhaustion. There could be no doubt about it. He had experienced symptoms of this nature often enough before: gritty irritation of the eyes, fogginess of the brain, arms, and legs that felt like lead weights.

His energy reserves were definitely running low. His arms trailed listlessly by his sides, and he could only just lift his feet, each step requiring a definite, conscious effort of his mind.

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April 2017

The Great Cow Incident.

The terror of an American Policy based on Orwell’s “1984”.

The future of education should evolve back into our past.

There is a difference between patriotism and nationalism.

Earth Woman.