Chalk up a third day of decompression for Deb and me. The letdown is inevitable — I mean, the months we spent on the road were a dream come true. Nothing that Deb and I have done together, ever, compares to that experience. Returning to Earth isn’t easy.
The good news is that we have The Mountain to look forward to. One thing at a time.
Not everything about the transition is a downer, however. From May 1st through March 17th we accomplished every bit of personal hygiene within the confines of the bus, with the exception of occasional handwashing or face-splashing in public restrooms. Conserving onboard water (when undocked) and preserving space in Ernie’s gray-water tank meant employing a so-called “combat shower” technique.
When I took my first real shower after returning to Second Chance Ranch, I didn’t bump into the walls or the ceiling. I cranked up the hot water and let it run a long time. Although I didn’t drain the water heater completely, that’s not because I didn’t try.
It was amazing.
Recently I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in the coverage of the war in Ukraine. When a news anchor wraps an interview with a Ukrainian citizen or official, or even a Ukrainian-American, repeatedly I’ve heard the American journalist close with, “Glory to Ukraine!”
I’m not ok with that. Maybe it’s meant to convey solidarity, but to me it smells a lot like the groupthink that has us careening toward intervening where we have no national-security interest.
A Facebook friend yesterday shared a tweet from the leftists over at Bloomberg. The author of the linked op-ed, Teresa Ghilarducci — who refers to herself as a “labor economist,” while Wikipedia says she’s a “scholar” — has hot tips for inflation-hampered Americans making less than 300 grand a year.
(That’s 97% of us, by the way.)
The tweet was breathtakingly stupid, so idiotic that I suspected it was a parody. Since my friend provided only a screenshot, I went to Twitter and surfed into Bloomberg Opinion‘s page. Sure enough, there it was.
So sit up straight and pay attention, Mr. and Mrs. America — “here’s how do deal” with runaway Bidenflation:
- Take the bus
- Don’t buy in bulk
- Try lentils instead of meat
- Nobody said this would be fun
See why I thought it was a parody?
Less than half of Americans even have access to public transportation and (for good reason) only 5% use it. Suggesting that cash-strapped citizens in rural areas “take the bus” is ludicrous, to say nothing of how such advice would be received by working farmers and over-the-road truckers.
These middle-class Americans know that lentils are for soup. Buying in bulk is the way real people save money on staples. It’s how we put aside a little extra for the next time the State manufactures panic.
I don’t know anyone who expects government to guarantee our “fun.” We do demand that it stay the hell out of our way and quit screwing things up.
Ghilarducci took to Twitter and scolded her critics, urging us to read her op-ed and not judge her scholarly advice by Bloomberg‘s teasy tweet. Nice try — the more I read, the more insulting it got.
But hey, this is what we can expect from a Berkeley-groomed Clinton acolyte, a Manhattan-dwelling academic whose paycheck (along with her husband’s) comes from the deep pockets of none other than George Soros.
This is how The Elite see true Americans. They really believe we’re that stupid.
Perspective, it seems to me, is what Deb and I are chasing right now. As we re-charge and prepare to advance confidently in the direction of our dreams, experiences and influences surround us. We’re tasked with making sense of it all.
There’s the long road that brought us from the day we met to Second Chance Ranch a dozen years ago. A life of labor and providing for family. Gifts received and sacrifices made. Prosperity and adversity, joy and sadness, town and country, music and silence.
The country we love. A community that embraces us. Friendships we cherish.
Material possessions accumulated over two lifetimes.
On top of it all is a fresh layer of memories made since we left on our “shakedown cruise” a year ago today — the travel, certainly, plus a budding love affair with The Mountain and the promise it holds.
What we get to do now is find a place for every piece of our life. The result, if we get it right, will be order, a perspective that supports the extraordinary new commitment we’ve made.
We’re workin’ on that.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB