America Turns 250

This 100% does make me old. But I do remember a parade and singing patriotic songs at the park. It was a big deal. 

And I know people are making a big deal about America turning 250 today, but I just couldn't get into it with the same child-like enthusiasm. Our celebration included...

Me dressing in my only patriotic shirt to go to the farmers market downtown...

Hubby cutting grass (always smells so good!)...

And me taking a walk and checking out the neat decorations some neighbors put out.

Tonight we had fresh from an Amish garden baby red potatoes and grilled brats from Ski's. Jim enjoyed a Bloody Mary brat and I really liked my Nashville Hot Chicken brat. Good stuff!

We are not going to the fireworks in town. It is a zoo. I mean people were putting out their "save my seat" blankets at 10 a.m. today. It's crazy. We expect there will be some set off close by, per usual. Just feel bad for the dogs in the neighborhood who absolutely hate fireworks. In another world, all dogs would become ex-pats!

Hope you found a fun and safe way to enjoy this historic day. And took time to appreciate your freedoms!

A Patriotic PTO

Some of us of a certain age can appreciate the 250th "birthday of the USA" because we there to celebrate the 200th... the Bicentennial!

This picture may appear again this year... but my twin and I sang some song related to the Christian flag rather than the USA flag that day, and I have no idea. Other than.... look how cute we were!

First on my agenda today... I had to participate in America's REAL favorite pastime. Sorry, not baseball, but golf!

I took the day off and my friend and neighbor Marigene and I took our "pets" for a walk! That worked out great! #SoMuchRustToShakeOff

Afterward, I headed to my destination of flower shopping. My hair artist clued me into a place last week that was amazing. An Amish farm/greenhouse that no only had impressive blooming flowers, but special displays and very helpful staff.

I did have a few other stops, but I think I was privileged to finally get everything to present a nice 'Merica front deck presence.... 

For now, just know 'Lene and I are not going to perform any songs about it!

It's Only a Day Away

I'm Rockin' Robyn and I approve this message:

Every 4 years, most of us look forward to exercising our right to vote. And really, really look forward to the end of campaigning. 

Every election, it reaches a whole new level. I have no idea who sold a phone list with my number on it, but I have gotten countless phone calls AND texts. Even from this guy...

I must be a very important voter! Side note: The polls open in like 12 hours. There's not much that will sway me at the last minute. But as a former news hound, I know there's the tiniest percentage of chance that something could. 

Unlikely, but you never know. 

My only advice for tomorrow is: Bring your I.D., follow your heart, and if you live in the town of Grand Rapids like me, vote between 11-7.

Cast your vote then grab lunch or dinner! And meet some cool folks protect our lives. No matter who you vote for!

P.S. Our mail box will be feeling pretty empty now too. Feel free to send a card or letter or check! God, bless America! 

Feeling Kramped?

When you host a German student and your son lives over there for a while, you start to pay more attention to another country's culture and traditions. Even their strange Christmas ones.

It's Krampus Night! For those of you with German heritage, maybe you already celebrate it.

According to Wiki-Robyn: The day is based on Krampus, a mythical beast that is half-demon and half-goat. Characteristically similar to some creatures in Greek mythology, it has fangs, horns, cowbells on its waist, and a switch made of birch sticks meant for whipping or swatting naughty children. The harshness of its appearance is fitting, as Krampus comes from the German word "krampen," which means claw.

Freaked out yet?

According to folklore, on the evening of December 5 – that's TONIGHT – Krampus punishes children who have been bad by whipping them with his switch. He then takes them to his lair. He is the counterpart to St. Nicholas, a European gift giver who arrives the following day. He is also contrasted with Santa, who rewards those who have been good and are on his "nice" list.

I think I'll just stick with the German pickle tradition, which our "son" Lukas and family introduced us to. 

More Wiki-Robyn info: A very old Christmas Eve tradition in Germany was to hide a pickle (ornament, that is) deep in the branches of the family Christmas tree. Whichever child found it first on Christmas  morning would receive an extra gift from St. Nicholas. The first adult who finds the pickle traditionally gets good luck for the whole year. I like that part because I'm the one who hides it and no one else looks for it. Merry Christmas to me! 

Sweet dreams on this Krampus Night. Hope you have a jar of pickles or something to ward off the krampen! Yikes.

Be careful out there whichever holiday season you're celebrating!

Let There Be Light

The view above was our brilliant ending to a pretty good day. Although I had to work, I was able to multi-task for a bit to watch the main parts of the inauguration ceremony for our new President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. 

As a woman, it was a historic day as America's first female, first Black, and first South Asian became vice president. As an American, it was a refreshing day on the whole. I mean there's always a mix of skepticism and hope when a new leader takes office.

I'm going to choose hope.

The pleasant surprise of the day for me was hearing a young woman the same age as my son share her inspiring words as a Youth Poet Laureate. My words in no way possible could do her words justice. So here is 22-year-old Amanda Gorman's message, entitled The Hill We Climb:

When day comes, we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry. A sea we must wade.
We braved the belly of the beast.
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace, and the norms and notions of what “just” is isn’t always justice.
And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it.
Somehow we do it.
Somehow we weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken, but simply unfinished.
We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one.
And, yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect.
We are striving to forge our union with purpose.
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.
And so we lift our gaze, not to what stands between us, but what stands before us.
We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside.
We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.
We seek harm to none and harmony for all.
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true.
That even as we grieved, we grew.
That even as we hurt, we hoped.
That even as we tired, we tried.
That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious.
Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division.
Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid.
If we’re to live up to our own time, then victory won’t lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we’ve made.
That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb, if only we dare.
It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit.
It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation, rather than share it.
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.
And this effort very nearly succeeded.
But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated.
In this truth, in this faith we trust, for while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us.
This is the era of just redemption.
We feared at its inception.
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour.
But within it we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves.
So, while once we asked, how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe, now we assert, how could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be: a country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free.
We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation, become the future.
Our blunders become their burdens
But one thing is certain
If we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change our children’s birthright.
So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left.
Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.
We will rise from the golden hills of the West.
We will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution.
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the Midwestern states.
We will rise from the sun-baked South.
We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover.
And every known nook of our nation and every corner called our country, our people diverse and beautiful, will emerge battered and beautiful.
When day comes, we step out of the shade of flame and unafraid.
The new dawn balloons as we free it.
For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.

Thank you, Miss Gorman. And may God bless America!

The Divide

Pretty sure in America right now that no one had to wait until Martin Luther King Jr. Day to ponder the current race relations in our country. This picture I took on my walk illustrates it pretty accurately. There's a clear divide.

And we can't ignore it. Well, we can and we do. But we shouldn't.

Please know I am not lecturing, preaching, or casting stones. I mean I consider myself a kind, loving human to everyone. I'm a good person. But it's clear I can do better.

I started reading a book yesterday called Waking Up White: And Finding Myself in the Story of Race – a 2014 non-fiction book by Debby Irving about the subject of white privilege. Wow. Although I can't identify with her country club upbringing, I didn't have to. Everything else she's pointed out so far about our perceptions and stereotypes, about how history has shaped this divide and each generation seems to deepen it, is spot on. 

The majority of us were born into white privilege. It doesn't seem as obvious if we're just living in our little bubble. It's not even a fancy bubble. It's just one I've worked for and feel safe in. That doesn't mean I'm privileged in any way, does it?

Well, let's think about simple things that maybe you wouldn't normally call privileges. The author has an exercise to do after each chapter and this one is what I'm on – thinking about the "little things." 

Like tonight, dressed in jeans and old sweatshirt, I was able to walk into a gymnasium and take pictures of children who mostly are strangers to me. Sure there were several people I knew, but I didn't think for a moment the others were suspicious of me, questioning why I was there. 

And like yesterday when I was on my lunchtime walk – looking lovely in my work-from-home very casual attire – I came up to a sheriff's department vehicle at the stop sign and said hello. I didn't think my safety was endangered for a minute.

Does this resonate with anyone? 

I'm only about a third of the way through the book, but I see myself. I'm embarrassed and ashamed. But I see myself. The question is, when I'm finished with it, what am I going to do? Will I do anything?

As Dr. King so aptly stated, “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”

Sometimes being a good person isn't good enough. God, bless us all!

The U in GratitUde

Alphabetical gratitude month continues today with the letter U which reminds us to be grateful for our unexpected blessings!

A = Autumn, Austins, Assumption
B = Ballots, Books, Book Club, Bible
C = Casey, Clay, Carter, Church, Creativity, Camera
D = Dad, Daughters, Deck Chair, Dar, Design
E = Eggs, Election, Energy, Empty Nest
F = Family, Friends, Faith, Flu Shot, FastForward
G = Games, Golf, Guilty pleasures
H = Hugs, Hurricanes, Humor
I = Ice cream, Impromptu Invitations
J = Jim, Jokes, Job, Java
K = Kindness, King Cone, Knock on Wood, Karma
L = Laughters, Love
M = Mom, Masters, Musicals
N = Nieces, Nephews, Neighbors, Norse Force
O = Outage
P = Pigging Out, Passport, Phone
Q = Quiet
R = R People
S = Scandi-hoovian-ism, Sisters, Sylvester
T = Thanksgiving, Tree, Teachers, Turkey

Unicorns: What's not to appreciate about unicorns? I, for one, am grateful for them. A couple of us at work call it a "unicorn" when our to-do list is done. Yes, it is as rare as a unicorn. I mean they exist, but they're rare, right? We've had only a handful of unicorns in 2020. Now we call it a "partial unicorn" (isn't that a horse?) if we just get to the point we don't need the computer mouse to actually scroll through the entire task list. I'm grateful for my partial unicorn, horse, reindeer, whatever you want to call it, today so I can take one of those unusual guilt-free Thanksgiving vacations! 

U.S.: I'm also grateful for the United States of America. No political comments, I swear. Since I just watched Hamilton recently, I was reminded again of what it took to actually create these states to begin with, let alone unite them. We live in a pretty incredible country. I'd like to see more uniting than fighting. That would be the ultimate blessing!

University: I'm hoping that by pre-appreciating the University of Wisconsin-Platteville for providing 4 1/2 years of education to our son, that it'll lead to something unbelievably good when he virtually walks across the commencement stage in a couple weeks. Thanks, University!  (Hey, I might as well keep the unicorns coming!)

#gratitudemonth #gratitudealphabet #unicornsRreal

Never Forget

I love this quote from the wife of the Flight 93 pilot. It's like every year we say "Never forget" the tragedy, how short life is, and how strong we are when we come together as friends, neighbors, a country.

Yet we forget.

And did we learn the lesson that life is short and there is no time for hate?

Not really, either. Well, not in 2020 anyway.

On the one hand, you'd think we'd never want to see the destruction like the ash-filled landscape of what was once the foundation of the Twin Towers. Yet, fast forward 19 years...

Here's a picture my niece snapped today while traveling through Kenosha, where several weeks ago there was a black man shot several times in the back by a police officer. The scene is not terrorist destruction. More like self-imposed. Protesting one thing, but acting out in another way. 

So tragically and needlessly sad.

I cheered myself up by focusing on love today. Yes, well, it was shooting pictures of tennis again. But even standing in the sprinkling rain, there was joy. Competitive, yes. Hate, no. We can take a lead from that.

Surely we don't want a repeat of what happened 19 years ago just to learn a lesson on care and respect for our fellow man. It's just not that hard.

Hug your loved ones (if it's safe to do so) and air embrace everyone else. We can do this!

#NeverForget

Happy Columbus Day Observed

There's a couple reasons I don't necessarily observe Columbus Day. One, I'm not a federal employee so it doesn't strike me as a holiday. Two, there's this line of thinking, which makes total sense...

And three, there's my cousin Leif...

Leif Erikson Day is an annual observance that occurs on October 9. It honors Leif Erikson, the Norse explorer who led the first Europeans thought to have set foot in continental North America. And his cousins Red and Bjorn...

And now you know a little of Robyn the Well-Read's Scandi-hoovian heritage.

Happy... Monday!