Daily Archives: August 16, 2016

Family

Staggering Inertia

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Lughnasa                                                                             Superior Wolf Moon

20160813_154908Yesterday Kate told me, “I have staggering inertia.” A deft turn of phrase. The grandkids make our house lively, upend our daily routines and give us multiple opportunities to love them in the moment. They also tire out these two third-phasers-set phasers to stunned.

So, on the Monday after we both have staggering inertia. One of the nice aspects of retirement is the ability to take a day, or two, to recover from strenuous intergenerational activity.

Let’s hear it for staggering inertia. A very good thing in my opinion.

Family, Holidays

Ellis Day

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Lugnasa                                                                Superior Wolf Moon

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This is the birthday of Richard Ellis, the first of our Ellis clan to arrive in the U.S. He came as an indentured servant in 1707, arriving in Massachusetts instead of Virginia. He was supposed to become the heir to a relative there. However, ship captains in the time had few scruples and made money as they could, in this case a form of temporary slavery.

Richard worked out his indenture and went on to found the still existing town of Ashfield, Mass.  He also became a captain in the Revolutionary Army. His descendants have spread out across the U.S. now, and into Singapore and Saudi Arabia, too. I’m declaring this a family holiday in his honor.

Politics

Here There Be Dragons

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Lugnasa                                                         Superior Wolf Moon

We’ve veered into strange territory, again, in this election. Now Trump is behind so far that the Republicans are talking about not giving him anymore money. This is the fiscal equivalent of Dump Trump. There’s an article on Politico titled “Why Hasn’t the Republican Party Collapsed?” Trump continues to dominate the news, disproving the adage all press is good press. We’re in an interregnum now, polling wise, where Hillary’s lead appears impregnable, but the conventions are still not far in the rearview and wrapping it up this early seems precipitous. Some say another week of these numbers and you can start collecting Trump pins and hats for that losing Presidential candidate’s exhibit. We will see, we will see.