Happy Birthday, Keith, Let's All Eat Cake

Today, August 19, is Keith Calhoun's birthday. He would have been 68 years old today, but we lost him this year, not to COVID, but during COVID. Keith was our friend (and Chili Dog's), and his birthday brings sadly to mind how much we miss him. 

Gerry and I first met Keith one evening when we were sitting on our front porch. Keith was going to a party in the neighborhood, and he pulled up in front of our house and parked on the street. He looked up at us and shouted "hello" and then came up and started talking with us. We were taken aback at his unreserved openness and enthusiastic friendliness. This guy is too practiced or something (I later told Gerry), I wonder what he wants.

He told us that his birthday was coming up in a few days, and he would come back by to bring us some of his birthday cake and have a real visit. I am ashamed to admit that I thought, "Uh, huh, he is going to drug us with cake and try to sell us something or get us to come to his church." I am ashamed of that now, even though I later told Keith about it, and we had a good laugh.

Sure enough, a few days later, we heard a knock on the door, and there was Keith with some damn good carrot cake. What he wanted as to share his birthday cake with his friends. That's the way Keith was. He met you, and you became his friends - unreserved. Thus began our intense and sometimes heated conversations with Keith and the sharing of food, laughter and books. Gerry and Keith liked hiking together and talking. We enjoyed three birthdays with Keith, always with cake, and his cakes were like his friendship - the best. 

 So on this birthday, we will be sitting on the porch with a friend eating carrot cake and remembering Keith and his wonderful friendship. I would urge you to eat some too, or better yet, find a friend with whom to share some. It's a good way to celebrate a friend and start a conversation. 

Happy Birthday, Keith, we miss you!

The Smear on the Capitol

 I read something this morning from multiple creditable sources, which I have been thinking about all day. I don’t really want to talk about the attack on our Capitol and our government: what’s left to say? But I just can’t let this go.

    When clean up of the Capitol began, feces and urine  were found among the rubble in hallways and offices, tracked from the bathrooms and smeared all over the place. I didn’t see any dogs in the building, so we can easily guess the source. For the sake of clarity, feces means shit and urine is piss. They shat and pissed in the Capitol of the United States of America, and spread it around. 

    I know worse things happened on Wednesday: four people died. But this excrement thing is so striking to me as a metaphor for the level of depravity that Trump and his supporters have reached.

    Make no mistake. These are no outliers. Trump himself called them out on their big day. They are his people, and he loves them. He came out to tell them so and to encourage them before running quickly back to the White House to get out of the cold, or maybe he had to shit too. Guess he didn’t realize he could have squatted in the halls of Congress with his peeps. 

    I have to ask, did they actually spend months of conspiratorial planning to come up with a plan to overthrow the government of the United States of American by shitting and pissing on the Capitol? It’s almost funny: it is certainly pathetic: but it is also deadly serious.

They came to overthrow our government; arrest and execute the Vice President; to arrest members of Congress and presumably kill them as well; and God knows  what else. Oh, yes, shit on the Capitol.

    I should not be surprised. Donald J Trump has shit on our government and everything else we hold decent and sacred in this country from day one. He has been hell bent toward this day, demeaning our institutions, praising and encouraging violence, and setting himself up with his deluded followers to replace our democracy with his ascendency to the throne of ruler almighty. Absolute dictator, above all laws, especially those of common decency.

    He didn’t make it. He is not going to be placed on the throne, except for the throne he frequents in his gilded bathroom. Thank God for that. Thank God we live in the country that we do and not in the kingdom of Donald Trump for that would indeed be a kingdom of shit.

    Say what you will about Joe Biden and those of us who elected him. We can take it, and I can assure you that none of us will ever be caught trying to overthrow our government or shitting in the Capitol Rotunda.