The Burrow

FlapJilly is a pitcher on her softball league's All Star team. Why is she a pitcher?  Because it's hard and I like hard.   How did she make the All Star team?  Because I'm very good. She played when her team won the 2023 Babe Ruth League 's Indiana State Championship.  She was 8. She pitched with that same league's team last weekend when they won 2025 Indiana State Championship.  She's 10.  Her team mercy ruled  5 of the 6 games they played.   How was her pitching?  According to her teary eyed mother, she was spectacular! I'm going to spend the rest of the evening basking in the reflected glory, while watching inning after inning of my granddaughter throwing strikes.  

S.A. Cosby wrote  King of Ashes  and put guilt - real, imagined, judicial, psychological - front and center. I finished the book mid-day, and couldn't start another right away.  I didn't need a sorbet like James Patterson or Billy Collins.  I needed some time alone with my thoughts. Everyone is guilty of something, even the most innocent.  Everyone is loved by someone, even the most heinous.  No one knows everything, even though most act as if they do. The more I thought, the more I discovered.  It's gritty and violent (I winced), but not prurient.  There are moments that made me laugh out loud, and moments that reminded me why I love my brother and sister. But most of all, it's beautifully written.  There's no speedy page turning with Cosby; every word deserves consideration.   It's probably too dark for some of you (and you know who you are!) but I loved it.

I read on-line that FFOTUS said that Iran and Israel don't know what the fuck they are doing.   It reads a lot better than it sounds, and the way it reads is awful. But TBG caught it later on CNN, and I found it on YouTube shortly thereafter, uncensored, by The Guardian.  To minimize your exposure to the Evil One, I start the clip at the end, where the good stuff happens. I don't usually scroll through the comments, but the first two caught my eye.  I despise him but I can't disagree with him  was the theme.  He's saying the quiet part out loud   - something a lot of us having been saying for a long time about this conflict.   Can you understand that???  he finishes by screeching at the questioner.   Yes, we can understand that.  The question remains, what are you going to do about it?

The Brain Health study is trying to teach me ways to improve myself.  Some of the habits they suggest are well known to me - eg. do the hard tasks first, when you are fresh - and some just make me giggle.   For example, there's the one they call Five Minute Breaks.   Quiet your mind for 5 minutes, 5 times a day. It’ll improve your decision-making, problem-solving, and productivity. Just the thought of remembering to do something five times a day was enough to push me over the edge.  I'd have to set an alarm, but I'm not free at the same time every day so I'd have to set an alarm every day.   Am I in a space where I can quiet my mind five times a day?  Probably.... but there's that sneaky thought process again.  This might qualify as a high priority task, one that I would perform when I am fresh.  But one of the perks of retirement is that no one tells me what to do or when to do it.  Starting the day with a list of to do's, eve...

Senator Gallego changed the message on his answering machine.  I am choosing to believe that I had a lot to do with that. His old message  irritated me every time I called his offices; the message was on both machines.  I'd ask about a bill or express my displeasure with his actions ( fundraising with Mark Andreesen?)  or compliment a stance he took, but I'd always end with change the damn message. Two weeks ago, a human being answered the phone in D.C.  I was thrilled; she was nonplussed.  She listened to my comment but had no response when I asked if she had ever listened to the office's forward facing (what does that mean, anyway, and where did it come from?) message.   Silence..... then I'll be certain to relay your thoughts to the Congressman.   Sigh. Last week, once again, a human answered Sen. Gallego's phone in D.C.  She laughed at my surprise, said she was glad to talk to me, too, and asked how she could help?  I said my pi...

Had I not opened the YouGov notification on my phone I would have passed the afternoon and evening in end-of-sports-until-the-Tour-de-France delirium.  The Pacers and the Thunder are playing the seventh game of a small market, mid-western, best of seven NBA championship; I have an S.A.Cosby book  open on the coffee table; InstaCart brought me all the Costco fruit in the land.  It was a great day until I looked at the survey.   How much do you know about the US bombing in Iran?   Uh, Nothing. TBG knew it happened, but no details.  I did a brief Google search and found all the outlets saying just what I knew all the outlets would say.   I wish someone would just say the basic part out loud - we only know what they are telling us. Especially with this administration, truth is fungible.  I gave up sifting through information and came here, to type to you, watch the game, and think about it all. I'm thinking about the scene in The Americ...

I'm part of a longitudinal study, an on-line assessment tool designed to measure changes in brain function over time.  The questions are user friendly, take no more than a few minutes at a time, and more often than not make me stop and think. Today's questions were about my emotional well-being.  How often am I happy, lonely, worried, scared, alone?  How often is there someone I can go to for emotional support, a hug, advice, information ?  How satisfied am I with who I am, what I am doing?  Are there things I want to accomplish but can't or won't do?  What social groups am I now or do I want to be a member? By their lights I seem to be in pretty good shape. But I spent a little while being morose today.  Initially, I chalked it up to worry about yet another land war in Asia .  I worked pretty hard at putting that into a box that I shove d into a far corner of my brain; it made no difference at all. I saw Scarlet's sister  at Pilates this mor...

A cadet representing other (all) graduating cadets approaches the Superintendent of West Point with this question:  Sir, the West Point Honor Code, the backbone of our service, says  A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do. The President has lied, cheated, and stolen.  Wouldn't shaking hands with him on a public stage mean that we were tolerating his behavior?  We can't do it. And the Superintendent and FFOTUS's minions decide that there will be no handshakes at all.   Obviously, the minions thought the President snubbed the cadets  was a better sound bite than the cadets snubbed the President. It's not a good look when those you command refuse to touch you. If this is the way it really went, I'm feeling awfully good about those young people right now.  

Big Shots from agriculture, meat processing, and hospitality met with The Orange Menace to whine about ICE raids decimating their workforce. Huh? You're employing undocumented people.  You're telling the Deporter in Chief (well, VP to Stephen Miller) that you are doing what he says he's deporting people for doing - taking jobs away from American workers. Huh? If there are American workers willing to do those jobs why are the Big Shots concerned?  There are Americans who are wounded by the presence of your undocumented workers...... aren't there?  They should be delighted that these jobs are now available to them.   Hmmmmmmmm.....  I'm not saying money changed hands, or that threats were made, or that anything untoward happened.  I wasn't there.  I do not know.  FFOTUS's good friends in these industries  pled their case and successfully taco'ed the Chief Economic Disrupter.   I've been wondering why the beleaguered ICE agents, u...

Instead of leading with the latest FFOTUS outrage, my newsfeed has been showing me octo-box pictures of peaceful protesters waving flags and signs and exchanging thumbs up's with passersby.   This wasn't permitted 249 years ago.  It's why now, as we teeter on the edge of Benjamin Franklin's response that we had not a monarchy, but   a Republic, if you can keep it,  I am feeling a little bit more hopeful about the future of our democracy.   It was rainy in a lot of places; New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, DC got their fair of drops.  But the stands were empty for the best-viewed-in-black-and-white, world's slowest and dullest parade while the streets of Philly and the five boroughs were, like the rest of American towns, from Idaho to Arizona, filling up all afternoon to make a joyful noise, with hand made signs and American flags of all sizes, celebrating the fact that we were not given a monarchy by the founders.   Who are t...

I spent Saturday trying to protect our system of government.  I started out before 8am on the side of a busy street, fifteen minutes before the official start, but well past the time that people had begun gathering.  It was Flag Day; I brought my giant American flag.  Waving it gave me great joy. As always, there were safety marshals and free bottles of water  to go along with the sense of rueful camaraderie that permeated the event.   I did this in 1969 and I'm doing it again  - some variation of that was on everyone's lips.   We were older white women, the ones being teased on the interwebs for mobbing Michaels craft stores, buying up all the poster board and markers they could carry.  They did a really good job.   My friend made this : She lost one shoe, and had to hold one hand. By 9:15 I was too hot.  I drove home, swam, ate, napped and then got back in the car for the No Kings! car parade; Tucson's triple digit temp...

It was the combination of the model  and the license plate  that had me giggling.  It felt very meta.  Here's a link if you're not familiar with East coast geography. ***** That's all I've got today, and I'm late as it is.  I've spent the afternoon preparing The Uv for the No Kings! parade.  Photos and details will be forthcoming..... if the country's still standing.

I planted sunflower seeds. They bloomed, sunny and happy, showing their changing colors as the chlorophyl wanes, and the petals droop and fall off. They are sunflowers.  They are supposed to turn and face the sun, right?   Well, somebody forgot to tell mine. I took these two hours after sunrise, two weeks before the solstice, and the sun is as high as it gets.  But it's only in one place. My flowers don't seem to have gotten the memo. Seriously, those on the right are in the same pot, yet face directly opposite one another. And then there's this fellow, all alone, standing straight up because obviously making a decision in this situation is just too stressful. It's a conundrum, for sure.

It appeared while I was clearing off the shelf in my closet.  I put it on my wrist because I couldn't decide where to store it.  It's been there ever since. It's not a fancy watch.  It is a very specific watch. It is rectangular. It sports Arabic numerals, all twelve of them.  The numbers are readable.  There is a second hand. My mother and I had many pleasurable if unsuccessful shopping excursions looking for this watch.   We shopped on Long Island and in New Jersey.  On my own, I examined watches in malls all over Arizona.   I don't remember where, finally, we found this one, but I do know that I was tempted to write to Anne Klein and thank her for creating the only watch in the known universe with these specific characteristics.   G'ma wore this every day until she died.  I put it on without much forethought.  I've kept it on intentionally.  I love having my mom around.  We talk a lot.  I...

Back in December, I had an eye infection (which scared me but turned out to be easily treatable).  My medical provider was unable to see me for several days. Unwilling to wait,  I went to an urgent care, signed in with all the paperwork in the land, saw a Nurse Practitioner, got ointment, felt better. Periodically, reminders to address the bill appeared in my inbox.  In order to access the bill I needed entry to their patient portal.  There was no reason for me to set one up; this was a one time visit, never to be repeated (the NP scared me before she looked at me more closely).  By December 2024 I had met all my deductibles.  It was up to Medicare and BlueCross/BlueShield to sort it out and send the funds on their way. Last week I got a letter in the mail.  It was a bill for $350.  It said that BC/BS claimed I was not covered under their plan.  If this information was incorrect (it was) I was to call my insurer.  I made the call.  ...

What kind of man is Elon Musk?  He wouldn't wear makeup before going on tv and that, to FFOTUS, is unimaginable. ***** I wonder if it's fair to ask my Republican Congressman whether he's Team Elon or Team Donnie? ***** A letter to the editor of our local paper  bemoaned the absence of right leaning, FFOTUS supporting, MAGA oriented letters.  The writer accused the paper of slanting its coverage and demanded parity. Could it be that no one else on his side seems to care enough to express an opinion? Or that they don't read? ***** National Guard troops are defending the building in front of which protesters are holding signs and chanting slogans.  They are there to protect ICE agents conducting immigration raids.  Those agents can wear masks to conceal their identities.  According to FFOTUS's latest Executive Order, protesters cannot wear masks to conceal their identities.   ***** We're watching the end of democracy as we know it, and Hakeem and Chu...

Elementary school is behind her, now.  I blinked, and she's in middle school. She'll do just fine.  She's filled with confidence, kindness, a serious work ethic, and her killer pitching arm puts her right in the middle of a group of girls who've been playing together and training together and traveling together for several seasons.    Resting between games. In Little Cuter's words,   this is what you wish for your tween girl.

Did you know that Shonda Rhimes, the creator of Grey's Anatomy, left ABC over Disney's refusal to comp one more $154 ticket to the park?   That's what you find when you Google someone in answer to why have we not watched her stuff before?  The woman is quite impressive, as I'm sure everyone except TBG and I already knew.  After watching her newest Netflix series, a murder mystery set in the White House, we're wondering how it took us this long to recognize her worthiness. The Residence  is Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians with a snarky political edge. The White House itself is a character, its history the mortar between the bricks of the story.   The acting is subtle and over the top and surprising. Al Franken plays a Senator. Kylie Minogue plays herself.  Pivotal moments revolve around two adorable elementary school boys.  The images in the first act make a statement that resonates through the work. Everyone and everything is important,...

My hearing aids stopped working last week.  I thought it was the charger, which is a closed box I wouldn't dare to open.  Turns out it was a quick fix on the units themselves, something I could have done had I been channeling either my inner Mr. Fix-it Father or Brother.  There was an appointment available whenever I needed it.  The fix was estimated to take 15-20 minutes; at the 17 minute mark Victoria was handing me back my once again functional assistive devices, explaining what she'd done and making sure I knew what to do in the future. What do I owe you?  seemed the next logical question. In return, I received a smile and this:  Nothing at all. Obviously, that is unacceptable.  So I offer this recommendation as compensation for being treated like a valued customer, one they would like to see again and again.   Costco stood up for equity and inclusion (diversity is a given in Tucson).  Employees are pleasant while doing rote tasks; c...

I listen through the bathroom door.  I listen on the videos.  I listen from the living room to the voices from the kitchen.  I hear them from the background on a video chat. My newest most favorite thing is to listen to my children parent.   There are encouraging screams from the sideline, behind the camera, shouting GO GO GO as a tiny six year old wallops the baseball over the infield, feet flying toward first base. Nursery rhymes, sung in perfect harmony, entertain me as I change my clothes to the sound of bath time in the adjoining room's tub.   Down on the floor, looking eye to eye, come soothing words of understanding and comfort as big feelings wash over a little girl who is crawling deeper and deeper into her Daddy's embrace.   And then there's the other side, comments from the peanut gallery in Daddooooo's words.  Dad can do it.  Mom knows how.  And the definitive NO, Grandma. DADA DADA DADA  from the teary face of...

The day got away from me.  I'll be here tomorrow.