Day 344…
The silence as I woke up this morning was such a clear indication that it was snowing that I didn’t really even have to check. Gone were the normal sounds of traffic and outside activity. As I lay in bed listening to the nothing, I finally heard the sound of a shovel scraping against the sidewalk which confirmed it.
The snow is falling thickly, but it’s much drier and lighter than it was the last time. On their way down, flakes are dancing around the windows in the eddies of air. It’s well below freezing so it’s probably going to stick.
Michael gave me a large coffee thermos for my birthday last week. While that may seem like a strange gift, I actually love it. I drink decaf all morning while I’m writing. After it’s been made in the press and the first mug is poured, what remains starts to cool off.
To be honest, it has never been a problem. I never gave it a second thought. It’s just what it was.
I never mentioned it. It was never discussed. Michael just noticed it on his own and, quietly, did something about it. It wasn’t necessary, it was just a very kind and thoughtful gesture on his part.
In and of itself, the thermos is not a remarkable object. It’s brushed stainless steel to match the rest of our appliances with a black plastic lid and handle, but it makes me feel taken care of every time I use it. It was the perfect gift.
My mother got her first vaccine shot. Her neighbors took her to her appointment and brought her home. So far so good. My mother is pretty hardy physically, but even so she says that she hasn’t had any problems.
A very long time ago, my mother and my ex and I went on a multi-day hike through the wilderness on Irian Jaya. Irian Jaya is the western half of the island of New Guinea with Papua New Guinea being the eastern half. It lies just above Australia.
Once away from the tiny port, there was almost nothing of the modern world around us. The Papuan people live much the same way that their ancestors have done for millennia. Once out into the countryside, it felt like we had completely been taken to another time.
For one thing, the women wore only hand-woven skirts, and the men were basically naked except for a long, pointed gourd that they wore on their penises. Their ‘meat’ was therefore covered, but their ‘potatoes’, as it were, hung free. The gourd pointed straight out and thin strands of twine attached to the pointed tip tied behind their backs to keep it on.
in addition to the gourds, the elders of the community wore what looked like beaded ties around their necks and the leaders had curved boar tusks through their noses.
A small army of villagers accompanied us on the hike. Instead of the slim gourds, these guys wore larger gourds that kept straight up against their stomachs. These larger gourds also served as a kind of suitcase, holding things like fire-making kits and other tools. When we tipped them at the end, that’s where the money went. We were a small group and we carried everything we needed on our backs.
My ex is very tall, much taller than me, and he towered over the tallest of these guys by nearly a full two feet. We were out there with these men for several days. At one point we got to a fairly substantial stream and they carried us across - they insisted. Strong as they were, it took four of the guys to get my ex over. One of them carried my mother over piggy-back.
Anyway, at one point, my mother fell against some rocks and ripped her leg open. There was truly blood everywhere and she had a huge flap of skin that had torn away. We were several days of hard trekking away from anything that could possibly be thought of as civilization. The guys swarmed around her and with the help of our guide, patched her up, and we kept going.
I am sure my mother must still have the scar from that, but it didn’t stop her for a second. I would have been surprised if the vaccine had stopped her either.
So far over 56 million doses of the vaccines have been administered. There are still hiccups and setbacks and the populations most at risk are struggling more than they should be to get appointments.
The path that I took to get the appointment for next month was largely open to me because of the fact that I am a more or less healthy educated white man. I can navigate the internet and have a computer and enough bandwidth to do so. Many people are not nearly that fortunate.
It was reported this morning that, as a result of the pandemic, the average life expectancy in the United States has fallen by a full year over these last 12 months.
That, number, however, is just the average. Life expectancy for white people fell just .8 years. If you are white it is expected that, on average, you will live to be 78 years old.
If you are black, however, the expectancy for the length of your life is much, much lower. Over this last year, life expectancy for African Americans has fallen by 2.7 years. If you are black you can expect to live to the ripe old age of 72, shrugging off this mortal coil a full six years before your white neighbors do.
The system in this country does much what that small army of guys in Irian Jaya did for me and my family. It carries the white folks over obstacles and takes care of us when we falter. The system is often not there for people of color and they are left to get by on their own as best they can.
The snow is still falling. If anything, it is even thicker.
Much of Texas is now in its sixth day without power. The lawmakers that the good people of Texas chose to lead them seem to be doing little to help.
All of the lower 48 contiguous states are part of either the western or eastern national power grids except for Texas, who operate under their own grid. Their grid is overseen by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. While technically an independent body, it is overseen by a state agency called the Public Utility Commission of Texas whose members are appointed by the Governor.
There are some parts of Texas on the fringes that are not part of the state grid. For example, El Paso, on the far western side, is connected to the western national grid and is, therefore, not having any issues.
ERCOT made the decision to turn off power after they had to shut down several power plants because of extreme low temperatures. The architects of these plants did not account for weather like this when they built them. They either had to turn the power off or risk the grid collapsing.
The Lone Star State has always tried to go it alone. Their energy market has always incentivized lower prices which means delayed maintenance and a lack of expensive improvements being made to their infrastructure. 60% of their current power problems have arisen from frozen natural gas and other fossil fuel pipes which were never properly insulated.
Republican leadership in the state, true to form, is laying the blame elsewhere. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Republicans are blaming the shutdown on renewable energy.
The former Republican Governor of Texas, Rick Perry who also served as the energy Secretary for much of the last Administration said, “Texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business.”
The current Governor, Fox News and other right-wing outlets are blaming renewable energy when that is clearly not the case. While some wind turbines have, indeed, frozen, the majority of the blockage is not coming from green causes.
The Texas fossil fuel industry spends a great deal of money every year supporting Republican candidates. In this past election more than 80% of the oil industry’s campaign contributions went to those who have avowed to block climate change legislation - from the ex-President all the way down to local GOP candidates throughout the state.
In a heartwarming show of solidarity with his suffering constituents who are standing in long lines out in the cold trying to find water and propane gas, Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has taken his family on vacation to Cancún, Mexico. At the moment it is partly cloudy and 84 Degrees there.
He also requested state trooper assistance to get to the airport, diverting those officers from actually helping those who are in dire need. In a statement that he just released he blamed his kids for wanting to go.
A crisis like the one that Texas is facing now only highlights how important it is for all of us to be informed. The crisis in Texas is largely a result of decisions that the people of the state freely made at the polls when they voted.
To make election decisions in an informed and educated manner, requires both information and the education needed to be able to interpret it. The Republicans have spent generations trying to curb both of those things.
The combination of cutting education funding and spreading disinformation all but guarantees that a given population will end up voting for what they perceive is ‘their team’ rather than for people who are truly going to legislate for their lives and work to improve them.
“Don’t Mess with Texas” is an easy way for Republicans funded by energy corporations to divert attention from what the actual issues are and, instead, appeal to the population’s team spirit.
Brexit, in England, was sold using the same thing. “Nobody tells Britain what to do!” energizes the mob and keeps them from seeing that they will lose more than they will gain by leaving the European union.
Politics is a cesspool of self-interest, pure and simple.
Governor Cuomo here in New York City sadly seems to be no better, in some regards, than his Republican counterparts.
The Governor’s assistant, Melissa DeRosa, admitted during a conference call with other state Democratic leaders that Cuomo had withheld the true numbers of nursing home deaths early in the pandemic for fear that were the truth known it would be used against him by his political opponents.
NY State Assemblyman Ron Kim reported to CNN that Governor Cuomo then called him and tried to force him to help to cover up the Melissa DeRosa admission. According to the Assemblyman, the Governor said, "We're in this business together and we don't cross certain lines and he said I hadn't seen his wrath and that he can destroy me."
An activist friend of ours said at one point that he supports causes not politicians because politicians always let him down. Given our system, there is almost no way that they can’t.
I can’t help but remember how much we were grateful for Rudi Giuliani’s leadership here in New York, when the federal government seemed frozen and unsure what to do after 9/11. In that moment, then-Mayor Giuliani stepped up and filled a void. Look at him now.
It’s still snowing, and I can feel the cold creeping in around our air conditioners, but my coffee is still hot. While the storm rages, the gift of that thermos for the coffee is what I am going to choose to celebrate. It might not be much at all in the bigger picture, but it is something that really makes a difference - if only to me.
For here you are standing there, loving me
Whether or not you should
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something good
Thank you, Michael, for the gift that you give me every day by just waking up beside me. At the end of the day, whatever happens, that’s all that truly matters.
And I’m glad that you didn’t notice that the cat barfed off the end of the bed last night.
OMG...this one is a classic! Love it!
💕I second that....you must have done something good 💕❤️