2011 Whoas, Whoops, and Wows

This year has had its ups and downs. In my usual rambling fashion, thought I’d comment on some of the wows and the whoas and the whoops.

We lost Andy Rooney this year – one of the great commentators of our time. I really liked curmudgeonly Andy and will miss him. I first encountered newspaper opinion columns in the morning newspaper of my childhood home town. My first columnist was a fellow named Norton Mockridge and he provided laughter and thought provoking ideas every morning. These days I like Thomas Friedman and Mike Littwin. There are also local columnists that make me groan in frustration with every partisan, narrow-minded word they write. In any case, columnists are a great way to start the day. If you haven’t done so, check out opinion columns. They get your brain cells going!

Our national government continues to be a non-functional mess. We have government of the people, by the rich, for the corporation. This is not how it is supposed to be. Some solutions: politics should not be a career; politics should not be limited to those who can raise vast amounts of campaign funds; politics should be temporary service by any qualified citizen who then returns to his/her regular life after serving a term. Those who think that voting the bums out is the way to go are kidding themselves.  A new self-serving politician replacing an old self-serving politician is not the answer. I’ve been reading Yahoo news stories about the coming Presidential campaign and the comments that follow each story. There are a lot of voters out there making decisions based on sound bites and party propaganda, not on facts and common sense. They are uninformed voters. If you want facts, go to www.factcheck.org and vote with knowledge.

Our economy is also a mess with everybody in any way associated with fixing it blaming everybody else for the state of things. A recent Denver Post newspaper column mentioned a couple of Fox News folks who think that the new Muppets move is designed to make children hate oil companies and capitalism. To read Ed Quillen’s opinion, check out his December 11, 2011 column titled “Those squishy liberal kids’ tales”. I haven’t seen the new Muppets movie so I cannot comment on the plot. But I do detest irresponsible oil companies, i.e. British Petroleum that puts profit ahead of safety, peoples’ lives, and a clean environment. If you’ve forgotten or missed it, Google: Gulf Oil Spill. If I were a relative of someone who died on that oil rig, I’d want someone in jail for murder. I also detest irresponsible capitalism. Free enterprise has proven to be our best economic system, but capitalism without a moral and ethical belief in the common good can be nothing more than a legal license to commit fraud and theft. If you’ve missed that ongoing tale, you must have been off-planet since the economic meltdown starting in 2008.

I wandered through a few stores this year to do my little bit for the economy and it is a nifty thing to see that scarves and sweaters are popular items. As a knit/crochet/weave thread-lover and newly minted scarf painter, I enjoy seeing what’s out there as I search for inspiration for my own work. It is the artists and craftsmen that showcase the best our civilization has to offer.  Whether it is a beautifully constructed stone wall or a delicate watercolor on rice paper, or a carefully knitted scarf, these are the creations that show who we really are. I volunteer knit for a local hospital and we provide hats for newborns and comfort shawls for those who are ill. I feel privileged to help provide some of these things for people I will never meet. In return I get free health screenings, a yearly flu shot, and a thank-you luncheon. There’s an example of a mutually beneficial exchange – gosh – isn’t that what capitalism SHOULD BE ALL ABOUT? Hmmmmm!?

I look out the window at a lovely snowy landscape that is so bright in the sunshine it hurts my eyes.  Thanks go out to whoever invented sunglasses. There are bird prints in the snow all over my patio where the local feathered wildlife snacks at my birdfeeder. I wonder about the little birds called juncos that wait on the ground for seeds falling from the hanging feeder.  The information I found about them on the Internet says that they are ground birds. I’ve seen them often in Colorado and, come to think of it, I’ve never seen one in a tree, only on the ground. They do not make any attempt to land on the feeder. As they seem to find plenty to eat on the ground, I like to think that the feeder-perching birds send seeds down to them – real bird sharing! WOW!

Note to all people wrestling with how to control the costs of healthcare: the best healthcare in the world is irrelevant if it is unaffordable.  These days healthcare seems to be about profits first and patients second. This is terrifying. And I am tired of too many folks trying to sell me vitamins and other supplements that will work miracles if I will only try them. With the money I save on not buying all this stuff, Hubby and I could take a yearly vacation in Hawaii at an exotic resort.  I suspect that Hawaii would be better for my health than a truckload of pills. I have my own little local Hawaii in the form of tropical plants on many of my windowsills. My shamrock plant, a gift from a good friend, is blooming its little heart out: lovely white, bell-shaped flowers. Plant care is good for your health – just as good as an apple a day!

Finally a note to all my blog readers: I wish there were more of you. All I want for the New Year besides world peace and harmony is more readers and reader comments. After all, even us amateur columnists like to hear the thoughts of our readers. Happy holidays!

 

 

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