This is Day 285 of 15 Days to Flatten the Curve. And after 45 days, Ohio’s three-week WuFlu Curfew is set to expire today — except it won’t, because our useless governor has extended a 21-day curfew past nine weeks. I’m sure he’ll do it again the next time it’s about to expire.
Deb and I are ok.
Today is a milepost. If you’ve ever adopted a pet you’ll know what this means: This is the tenth anniversary of Scout’s “Gotcha Day.” Hard as it is to believe that a decade has passed so quickly, it was on January 2nd, 2011 that we brought home a tiny black puppy from the county shelter.
Deb and the younger boy had met and chosen her a couple of days earlier — I didn’t even know they’d visited the shelter — but the day after New Year’s was the first time that Scout and I would lay eyes on each other. And while she took to all of us right away, the squirmy little furball and I seemed to have a special bond.
I was working from home back then, spending most of my time in our basement office, so for the first ten months the new puppy and I were constant companions. Every day, all day, I made sure that nothing discouraged her wonderful natural personality. Whatever she learned, I taught her.
I’ll never forget the moment that Deb saw Scout picking up all of her toys, one by one, and putting them away.
“Oh, she’s definitely your dog.”
As some of you know, because of my father’s profession I grew up loving animals — dogs, cats, horses and cattle, an occasional rabbit and the odd bear cub, even a tiger. That affection continued into my adult life. But I’m here to tell you that I’ve never, ever had a connection to a critter like the one I share with Scout.
This family is better, happier and complete because of our girl Scout. She’s one special puppy.
Our New Year’s Day here at Second Chance Ranch was pretty ordinary. The weather was nasty, treacherously icy, but since we had no reason to venture out it didn’t matter to us. We enjoyed a traditional New Year’s meal — or a meal made with traditional ingredients, anyway — as our appeal to Fortune.
Black-eyed peas for good luck. Pork for plenty. Cabbage for wealth. For us, that turned into Deb’s black-eyed pea gumbo with andouille and a side of coleslaw.
Although I don’t follow sports like I once did, I’m pleased to report (on Deb’s behalf) that on Thursday WVU won its bowl game over Army. And last night Ohio State finally managed to whup Clemson in football, earning a spot in the national-championship game by winning the Sugar Bowl 49-28. Honestly, it wasn’t that close.
Buckeye Nation, after 42 years and four aggravating losses, has a measure of revenge at last. A friend put it well this morning: That was for Woody.
In politics and current events, the beat goes on. We’re all watching as the presumptive president-elect, set to be inaugurated in less than three weeks, prepares to unmake America. We get daily doses of outrage from the president’s supporters, usually accompanied by a schème du jour for overturning the result of an election that was, in fact, corrupted by fraud.
And then there’s Georgia. Color me concerned.
There’s no reason that the outcome of these two Senate runoffs should be in doubt, but here we are. The Republican candidates appear clumsy and politically inept. Neither shows any particular fire on the stump.
By contrast, the Democrats in this race are pandering with passion. They’ve been buoyed by millions in out-of-state cash and campaign appearances by high-profile progressives. They’re hoping that Trump will distract Republican voters by continuing to criticize Georgia’s voting system, attack the state’s governor and sow enough doubt to depress turnout on the Right.
Inexplicably, that’s exactly what Trump has done. I support this president, but I can’t deny that in Georgia he’s playing right into the Democrats’ hand.
Judging by what’s said to be lackluster early voting in traditional conservative strongholds, it’s already working.
The Republicans’ prospects next Tuesday depend entirely on turnout — and what, he tweets that “the two current Senatorial Elections” are “both illegal and invalid”? That’s incomprehensible.
Trump will hold one more rally in Georgia, reportedly set for Monday night in Dalton. I sure hope he does the right thing.
I’m not optimistic.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath
2 thoughts on “Day 285: Gotcha”
Comments are closed.