Felicitations
Well, quite a good day in a lot of ways. Just for one thing – it’s been raining here almost without cease, all day and all night nearly every day, for about three weeks, and today suddenly (it was raining sideways last night) it’s not only not raining, it’s not only sunny, it’s warm. It’s one of those spring-in-winter days. Balmy, fresh, smelling wonderful, of mud and wet vegetation and clean air. I went for a walk down to the cemetery, and was looking at a bare tree against the blue sky and noticed it had robins perched all over it. They looked like Xmas decorations – they looked festive. I enjoyed that sight for a minute, then realized that the reason they looked so festive was that they were all facing in the same direction – facing the sun, of course. They’re sunbathing, I realized. They’re soaking up the rays after days of rain and dark. Sticking their orange fronts out into the sun, feeling good. I stood and watched them for awhile. That’s your Bird Moment for today.
But on a less parochial note. There’s also the Supreme Court decision on assisted suicide, a rare vote for reason and against the ‘pro-life’ tyrants. There’s Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf getting to work in Liberia. And, by gum, there’s Michelle Bachelet’s win in Chile. Hurrah.
Michelle Bachelet will be the fourth president from the Concertacion and arguably the most radical. She was politicised by the military coup of September 1973 that brought General Augusto Pinochet to power. Her father was a general in the Air Force who was opposed to the military government and died in prison. She worked undercover for the Socialist Youth and she was held for weeks with her mother, Angelica, in torture and detention centres before being allowed to flee the country in 1975.
She was locked up, and now she’s the president. Sometimes things do get better.
Not to worry. No doubt Pat Robertson will keep an eye on her.
OB: I’m happy to hear about the break in the weather. My brother-in-law is in Seattle today and tomorrow, so he’ll be happy.
Have you had both your abutting streets, your alley, your neighbors’ backyards, and your other neighbors’ garages all flooded? It was amazing in Northern California this year.
It’s raining tonight, though.
“–Wow, what’s that funny light outside??” [squints, blinks]
Think I will go celebrate with some ice cream. You gave me the idea–talking about those baskin’ robins…
I heard when I was watching the NFL play-off game that it had been raining in Seattle for 27 days (apparently the record is 33) but didn’t connect it to you at the time. Just think – another 14 days and you’d have beaten God!
I’m glad it’s stopped, and can only assume it’s because Seattle beat the Beltway.
Another brilliant pun, ‘portus. Made me laugh.
Brian, no, but only because I live at the top of a hill. But I’ve become intimately familiar with every lake-size puddle in the neighborhood, and there are a lot of them. The one next to the ballfield, the one at the edge of Kerry park, the colossal one on the corner where those new condos are – I’ll be giving them names soon.
And sorry about your b-in-law – it’s raining again.
27 days, has it? Wow. Not without stopping that entire time – there have been (very few) spells of a few hours here and there. But I didn’t know it had been that long.