I write southern historical fiction, local history, and I've written a devotional book. The two novels I'm writing are set in Virginia and the Carolinas in the 1760s. My weekly blog started out to follow my journey as a writer and a reader, but in 2025 it has been greatly expanded to include current events and politics in the United States as I see our democracy under attack from within. The political science major in me cannot sit idly by and remain silent.
I may as well live in the 7th Congressional District of Arizona.
I’m not represented in the U.S. House of Representatives any more than the residents of the 7th District of Arizona. That’s the district in which Adelita Grijalva was elected on September 23, 2025, but Speaker of the House Mike Johnson refuses to install her because she is a Democrat and she will vote to have the Epstein files released.
Johnson might lose his position as Speaker of the House if he allows the truth to come out. At the very least Trump will have him “primaried” in 2026. But that’s enough about him.
Photo by Kyle Mills on Unsplash
My Representative in Congress
Three weeks ago, on October 10, I blogged about some of my frustration with my U. S. Representative: My Congressman sent a newsletter.
I’m still frustrated with him. I requested a response from him when I emailed him on October 10, but I haven’t received a reply yet. Of course, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson gave my Congressman a nice paid vacation the last week of September, all of October, and the foreseeable future.
My Congressman’s newsletters set my hair on fire. At least I know where he stands. He stands with Donald Trump. And he despises the likes of me because I don’t stand with Donald Trump. No doubt about it.
His newsletter on October 18 opened this way: “Dear Janet, Pro-crime Democrats continue to release dangerous criminals onto the streets to roam our neighborhoods.”
This guy represents me in no way, shape, or form.
Any U.S. Senator or U.S. Representative who spews hate against everyone in their opposition political party has no right to “serve.” Such people have lost sight of their job description and oath of office.
My Congressman went on in his October 18 newsletter to call on the City of Charlotte to ask for the National Guard to descend upon us.
The subject line of his October 25 newsletter was “The Democrats are Using the Troops as Leverage!” That pretty much set the tone for the entire newsletter.
In the meantime, I will not receive a response to my October early October letter to him. My Congressman will keep preaching. (Jesus must be so proud!) After all, that’s his “calling” and I guess he will represent the people of the 8th District of North Carolina in his spare time or whenever he decides to take that $174,000-a-year job which also gives him a $79-per-day food allowance and lifetime retirement and health insurance seriously.
I don’t think the mothers with young children or the elderly individuals who get the equivalent of $6.00-per-day in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits are the problem – especially since SNAP benefits end at midnight tonight, thanks to President Trump refusing to turn loose the $6 billion “rainy day” fund Congress earmarked for SNAP in the event of a government shutdown.
I don’t think the members of Congress know how disgusted Americans are. This “Mexican Stand-off” between the Republicans and Democrats must stop! I think both parties are to blame for the shutdown.
Starting tomorrow, a lot of people aren’t going to have any money for food, here in the richest nation in the world. The “Pro-Life” Republican Party is obviously only interested in babies being born. They don’t care whether they have anything to eat once they exit the womb. We’ve always known that, but starting tomorrow it will be blaringly obvious for the whole world to see.
I wonder what my Congressman and President Trump are eating this weekend.
The Constitution of the United States of America is a living, breathing document. It is at the same time sacred yet amendable.
However, we ignore it at our own peril.
The 2028 Presidential Election
Donald Trump started handing out “Trump 2028” baseball caps a few months ago. His supporters think things like that are hilarious. On Tuesday, he said on Air Force One that he might run again. He claimed he hadn’t thought about it, so what are the “Trump 2028” baseball caps about?
Trump and his supporters have a strange sense of humor. It would be unconstitutional for Trump to be elected three times. Keep in mind, they already think he has been elected three times. He and they are in denial that he lost the 2020 election.
When he took the oath of office on January 20, 2025, he swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America, so running for a third term as President would break that oath.
The only ways Trump and his supporters knew to react to more than seven million Americans protesting in the streets on October 18 was the (1) call it “fake” news; (2) claim they were being paid to protest; (3) call them names like “left wing lunatics” and “ANTIFA”; and (4) support an AI-generated video put out by the White House in which a crown-wearing Donald Trump piloted a fighter jet that dumped feces on American protesters.
“No Kings” protest in Brooklyn, NY. Photo by Bradley Andrews on Unsplash
All that was easier than taking the protests seriously. All that was easier than giving just one day of respect for the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. You know the one. It’s the one that gives U.S. citizens the right to exercise free speech. That includes peacefully assembling and protesting. It also guarantees that we have a free press, even though we no longer have a free press at The Pentagon. It also guarantees that we are free to practice any religion or no religion at all and our government will make no laws regulating religion.
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America
Everything that’s being said and done is to distract us from the destruction of the East Wing of the White House and the fact that the Epstein files, which were on the desk of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi months ago, have not been released
Then comes Steve Bannon
Last Thursday, Steve Bannon, who likes to think he is responsible for getting Trump elected in 2016, said that Trump will be elected President again in 2028 and will serve a third term. In other words, — the United States Constitution be damned. He said, “We have a plan.”
I guess he had plenty of time to think and make plans while he was in prison for Trump.
You remember Steve Bannon — the Steve Bannon who went to prison for defying a subpoena in the Congressional investigation of the attempted coup on January 6, 2021, and the Steve Bannon who misled thousands of Trump campaign donors into thinking they were paying for the wall along our border with Mexico. That’s not where their contributions went. Bannon got caught and charged, but Trump pardoned him.
That’s what Trump does. We’ve lost count of how many criminals Trump has pardoned and put back on the streets all while accusing other countries of emptying their prisons and sending their criminals to America.
No, Mr. Trump. A lot of those criminals are your friends, and you are a felon.
So now, what better way to get in the good graces of Trump but to start in 2025 proclaiming that he will be re-elected U.S. President in 2028 even though that’s unlawful.
The law means nothing to these people and it, apparently, means nothing to their supporters. Otherwise, their supporters would be up in arms. Otherwise, their supporters would have been demonstrating in the streets. Otherwise, their supporters would be doing something beside happily going along with everything and anything Trump and the likes of Steve Bannon do or say.
Everything that’s being said is to distract us from the fact that the East Wing of the House was demolished last week and the Epstein files, which were on the desk of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi months ago, have not been released.
Then comes U.S. Representative Randy Fine of Florida
Congressman Randy Fine, who represents the 6th district of Florida is calling for the 22nd Amendment to be repealed for Donald Trump because he brokered a peace settlement in Gaza.
I guess any excuse will do.
Everything that’s being said and done is to distract us from the month-long federal government shutdown, the demolition of the East Wing of the White House, and fact that the Epstein files, which were on the desk of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi months ago, have not been released.
Wording of the 22nd Amendment
Section 1 of the Twenty-Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is easy to understand. It reads as follows:
“No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.”
The Twenty-Second Amendment was ratified on February 27, 1951, so it has been the law of the land for nearly 75 years.
Where we are
So here we are. We have a sitting U.S. President talking about breaking the Constitution by running for a third term.
We have a sitting U.S. President who took a wrecking ball to the East Wing of the White House just because he wanted to destroy it.
Everything he destroys is a test. If he gets away with it, he destroys something bigger the next time.
Everything that’s being said and done is to distract us from the month-long federal government shutdown, the bombing of boats in international waters, the demolition of the East Wing of the White House, and fact that the Epstein files, which were on the desk of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi months ago, have not been released. In other words, the men and women in charge of our government couldn’t care less about the trafficking of girls and women by the rich and famous for the purpose of sex.
They are all counting on us not paying attention. They are throwing so much at us every single day that they think we will stop watching and listening. Well, they don’t know me!
Trump is calculating, but he is also a loose cannon. No one knows what he’ll do or say next. It is all a game to him. It is the way he has conducted business all his life. He just runs over people. He makes empty promises.
He says he cares about the poor and the middle class as he laughs all the way to the bank. He says he cares about the American farmer as he slaps tariffs on foreign governments and overnight cut off the farmers’ markets and laughs all the way to the bank.
He sees no difference between business and government – and that, my friends, is the root of the problem. Too many American voters in 2016 and 2024 did not grasp the difference between business and government. They said, “We need a businessman in the White House.” How’s that working for you?
Business is profit driven. Government is not.
Business is by the owner, for the owner, of the owner.
Our government in the United States of America is by the people, for the people, of the people.
Anyone who does not see the difference between business and government in America is woefully uneducated. (Trump famously said, “I love the uneducated!”)
Anyone who thinks the federal government can operate like a business is shortsighted. Show me where in the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution where it says the purpose of government is to make a profit.
Sadly, his followers also see it as a game. They have no respect for the 249 years it took our ancestors to build this nation. No respect.
They value nothing but the laughs Trump can supply them with today. They gleefully repost the ludicrous and disgusting AI-generated memes Trump and his minions post on social media, not caring for one minute the hurt and damage those memes are doing to their fellow Americans. They repeat his lies, never questioning the validity of anything he says.
Little-by-little, our rights are being eroded. Laws are ignored. We have a sitting U.S. President who believes and operates as if he is above the law, and his followers think that’s wonderful. No matter what he does or says, they stand by him.
How they have such little regard for their children and grandchildren is beyond my imagination but, since I have no children or grandchildren, I have been told more than once that I do not understand such things, I have no responsibilities, and I do not have a right to an opinion.
As a single woman with no children or grandchildren, I say the U.S. Constitution was nice while it lasted. I’m really going to miss the 22nd Amendment. I’m already missing the promise of The Preamble, most of the 1st Amendment, and many of the guarantees promised in the 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments.
And in my heart, I miss the East Wing of the White House even though CNN Chairman and CEO Mark Thompson has been quoted as saying that CNN viewers like me are not interested in that story.
I have said it before and I will say it again: I used to wonder how Hitler brainwashed the people of Germany in the 1930s and accomplished what he did. I no longer wonder. I don’t say that lightly.
When late October rolls around, I think of my great-great-great-great-grandfather’s estate sale held on October 29, 1777.
I knew nothing about it until a few years ago, but what a treasure trove of information his estate papers held! If you aren’t interested in history or your ancestors, you probably won’t read this post. That’s all right. Perhaps a few of you will be curious enough to keep reading.
I have a special bond with my fourth-great grandfather because I live on a little sliver of the land he purchased when he got to North Carolina from Scotland in the 1760s. I walk on the same dirt he walked on. I see some of the species of wild animals he saw. I cross the same creeks he crossed. I belong to the same church he belonged to. His blood flows in my veins.
John Morison (he wrote his name with one “r”) was baptized in the Lowland Church of Scotland in Campbeltown on the Kintyre Peninsula in 1726. He and his two younger brothers came to Pennsylvania for an unknown length of time before purchasing land and settling in North Carolina in the 1760s.
John wrote his will on August 30, 1777, “being very sick & weak in body, though in perfect mind & memory.” In his will, he outlined provisions for his pregnant wife, their eight living children, and their unborn child. In less than a week, John was dead.
Although he had left such things as land, livestock, money, some farm implements, and saddles to his wife and children and the spouses of his eldest daughters, there were things that needed to be settled up through an estate sale.
Defying the fact that John’s estate sale was held in the middle of the American Revolutionary War, all the little scraps of paper and receipts from the settling of his estate survived and are preserved at the State Archives of North Carolina.
Along with all those tiny pieces of paper which indicate everything from the purchase of “burial liquor” to the educating of his children, are page after page of the record of his October 29, 1777, estate sale.
It amazes me that when combined, John’s will and estate sale tell us everything the man owned. Being the first person in his family’s history to own a piece of land, it is astounding!
He wasn’t a man of great wealth, compared to the aristocracy, but to have come from where he came from I believe he did quite well for himself and his family. He would, no doubt be amazed to know that some of his 7th-great-grandchildren now reside on some of the land he purchased in the 1760s and 1770s.
I promised you a blog post about his estate sale, so let’s get to it.
The sale
Robert Harris, Jr. served as clerk. Mr. Harris had beautiful penmanship and was meticulous in his duties that day. He wrote down every item, who bought it, and how many pounds, pence, or shillings they paid.
Photo by Sam Carter on Unsplash
Items sold at the estate sale included eight horses; 19 sheep; 25 head of cattle; 17 hogs and a parcel of pigs; three hives of bees; 17 geese and ganders; 25 pounds of wool; a parcel of books; a great coat; two straight coats and jackets; one pair of blue britches; a pair of old buckskin britches; and a fur hat. (Oh, how I’d love to know the titles of that “parcel of books!”)
Photo by Claudia Wolff on Unsplash
Photo by Sies Kranen on Unsplash
Also, four saddles; five bells and collars; five other collars; six bridles; two sets of horse gears; an “M” branding iron; three augurs; a drawing knife; nailing and stone hammers; a broadax; three weeding hoes; two maulrings; a wedge; a clivish; a sprouting hoe; a mattock; two falling axes; three spinning wheels; two horse trees and hangings; a cutting knife and stone; a sythe and cradle; four sickles; a flax brake; a pair of wool cards; and a pair of cotton cards.
Photo by chris robert on Unsplash
Also, barrels for flour, rice, beef, and salt; a tapper vessel; two cedar churns; oak and walnut chests; two smoothing irons; a looking glass; one whiskey keg; and various other tools, household items, and pieces of furniture.
Other items included 6.5 pounds of iron and 14.5 pounds of steel. Steel as we know it today had not yet been developed. In 1777, steel was the name for sharpening rods used to sharpen knives and other cutting edges.
Half a wagon?
The most puzzling record in John Morrison’s estate papers is that John Springs bought half a wagon and half the wagon implements. Since no one bought the other half, it has been speculated that Mr. Springs knew that John’s wife, Mary, needed the use of the wagon but also needed the proceeds from the sale of the wagon and implements. After all, Mary was a widow with seven children still at home and a baby on the way. Perhaps Mr. Springs made a verbal agreement to let Mary Morrison keep the wagon even though he paid half the value of the wagon at the estate sale.
Another possibility is that John Morrison had bought the wagon and implements from John Springs but had only paid half the bill at the time of his death. Mr. Springs, instead of saddling Mary Morrison with the additional debt of the unpaid balance chose to simply pay her husband’s estate the half that John still owed. When Mary Morrison died in 1781, there is no mention of a wagon in her will or her estate sale.
Lots of ammunition!
Other intriguing items sold at John Morrison’s estate sale were the 17 pounds of gun powder and 55.5 pounds of lead. That’s more gun powder and lead than a farmer needed. So why did John Morrison have so much of both?
John wrote his will on August 30, 1777. By September 3, he was dead. It is speculated that he was stockpiling munitions for the patriots’ cause in the American Revolution and that he was shot by Tories, but we will never know for certain.
In case you live in a so-called “Blue State” – one that is not controlled by the Republican Party – you might think that most of the authoritarianism exists on the federal government level.
I live in a state that elected a Democrat for Governor last year (thank goodness!), a Democrat for Lt. Governor (and, therefore, President of the State Senate), and a Democrat for State Attorney General, but our General Assembly – State Legislature – is dominated by Republicans.
Last week, to ensure that President Trump will endorse Phil Berger in the 2026 election, the North Carolina General Assembly voted to redraw/re-gerrymander the U.S. Congressional Districts in our State. Phil Berger is President Pro-Tempore of the N.C. State Senate. He represents the 26th District in the State Senate.
Photo by Elijah Mears on Unsplash
Before last week, North Carolina had 10 Congressional seats held by Republicans and four seats held by Democrats. That wasn’t good enough for Trump, even though he only received 50.86% of the popular vote in North Carolina on November 5, 2024. Trump and his supporters call 50.86% “a mandate.”
Before last week’s vote to blatantly gerrymander North Carolina “because California redrew its map in favor of the Democrats” Don Davis, who just happens to be one of only two black North Carolinians in the U.S. House of Representatives. Under the new map, it will be nigh unto impossible for Don Davis to keep his seat in Congress in the 2026 election.
Before last week, I did not know who Michael Garrett was.
Senator Garrett’s response to his speech being stricken
In response to his speech being stricken from the official government record, I will share what Mr. Garrett wrote on his NC Senate Facebook page. I copied the following from https://www.democraticunderground.com/106913604. That website says it copied the following “from Michael Garrett NC Senate FB page on NC redistricting,” and I am bringing it to your attention today. Here it is:
“They Were So Afraid, They Erased the Words.”
“Yesterday, I stood on the Senate floor and spoke truth about what happened in North Carolina. About democracy being stolen in broad daylight. About rigged maps and broken promises. About betraying every sacrifice ever made for the right to vote.
“Then something extraordinary happened.
“Senator Grafstein moved that my remarks be spread upon the journal, entered into the permanent record of this body. This is routine. It happens constantly. It’s almost always done without objection, a simple courtesy extended across party lines for speeches on both sides.
“The Republicans immediately objected.
“They forced a vote. And on a straight party line, they voted to keep my words out of the permanent record.
“In my entire time in the Senate, I have never seen this happen.
“Let that sink in for a moment.
“They rigged the maps. Then they voted to erase any record of someone calling them out for it.
“This isn’t about me. This is about what their fear reveals.
“They weren’t afraid of my words because they were false, they were afraid because they were true. They weren’t blocking the record to protect themselves, they were doing it because they know history will judge them harshly for what they did yesterday.
“They stood on that floor, voted to rig our elections at Trump’s command, and then, in the very next breath, tried to memory-hole anyone who dared to say it out loud.
“That’s not the behavior of people confident in their principles. That’s the behavior of people ashamed of their actions.
“If what they did was righteous, they’d want it documented. If their cause was just, they’d welcome debate for the permanent record. If they believed they were serving North Carolina, they’d let history judge them on the merits.
“But they don’t believe any of that. They know what they did was wrong. They know they sold out democracy. They know they chose Trump over the people of North Carolina. They know they stole voices and rigged maps and betrayed their oaths.
“And they’re so ashamed, so terrified that future generations will read what was said and render judgment, that they won’t even let the words stand in the record.
“But you can’t erase truth by blocking it from a journal.
“You can’t make democracy’s defenders disappear by parliamentary procedure. You can’t memory-hole a movement by refusing to record it.
“Those words were said. Thousands watched online. The press reported it. North Carolinians heard it. And now millions more will hear about it, because their attempt to silence it only amplified the message.
“They tried to bury the truth. Instead, they proved it.
“Their fear is our proof. Their shame is our vindication.
“Because you don’t try to erase words from the record unless those words have power. You don’t vote on party lines to block routine motions unless you’re terrified of what they represent. You don’t abandon decades of Senate courtesy unless you know, deep in your bones, that history will not be kind.
“They are losing, and they know it.
“Not today’s vote, they won that. They got their rigged maps. They’ll steal their seats. They’ll cling to power for a few more years.
“But they’re losing the war that matters. The war for legitimacy. The war for history’s judgment. The war for the hearts and minds of the next generation watching this unfold. “This weekend, millions marched saying “America has no kings.” Yesterday, North Carolina Republicans proved exactly why those marches were necessary. They rigged our elections, tried to erase any record of opposition, then went home thinking they’d won.
“They have no idea what’s coming.
“Because every time they silence a voice, ten more rise up. Every time they rig a map, a thousand more people organize. Every time they betray democracy, a million more Americans understand: this is the fight of our generation, and surrender is not an option.
“Their fear means we’re winning. Their desperation means our movement has power. Their need to erase us from the record means they hear us perfectly, and what they hear terrifies them.
“So we get louder. We organize harder. We fight fiercer.
“They can block words from a journal, but they cannot block the march of justice. They can erase speeches from the record, but they cannot erase the promise from the hearts of a people who refuse to bow to kings.
“They were so afraid of the truth, they voted to erase it from history.
“That tells you everything about the weakness of their cause and everything about the power of ours.
“Yesterday, truth was spoken. Today, they’re still trying to silence it. Tomorrow, we rise louder than before.
“The fight continues. The promise endures. And every desperate attempt they make to silence us only proves we’re saying exactly what they fear most:
“Their time is ending. Democracy’s reckoning is coming. And no rigged map, no stolen vote, no erased record can stop a people who refuse to be silent.
No matter where in the world you live, take courage from Michael Garrett’s words, even though the Republicans in the North Carolina State Senate did not want you to hear them.
As NC Senator Michael Garrett said, the politicians are choosing their voters instead of the voters choosing their politicians.
With President Trump still bombing boats in international waters in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and sending an aircraft carrier to the coast of Venezuela, it was difficult to settle on a topic for today’s blog post.
I decided to blog about President Theodore Roosevelt’s interest in conservation on the 167th anniversary of his birth. You’ll see why later in this post.
Statue of Theodore Roosevelt as a “Rough Rider” at Roosevelt Park in Minot, North Dakota. (Photo Source: Library of Congress)
United States President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858 in New York City. He and his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee, had a daughter named Alice.
His wife and his mother both died on the same day in 1884, and he went to his ranch in the Badlands of the Dakota Territory to grieve for two years. He hunted big game and drove cattle.
He returned to New York, married Edith Kermit Crow, and they had five children together. Roosevelt began his political career being elected mayor of New York City in 1886. He became well-connected in the Republican Party and was appointed Secretary of the Navy.
He left his post to become a colonel in the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, famously known as the “Rough Riders.” He led the Rough Riders in the Battle of San Juan in Cuba during the Spanish-American War.
After the war, Roosevelt was elected Governor of New York. He was selected to be William McKinley’s Vice-Presidential running mate. McKinley became U.S. President in 1900.
When President McKinley was assassinated on September 6, 1901, Theodore Roosevelt became the U.S. President.
The main thing Roosevelt is remembered for, in addition to being a “Rough Rider,” was his conservation efforts. During his time in office, he set aside nearly 200 million acres of land for national forests, reserves, and wildlife refuges.
Unfortunately, he wanted Native Americans removed from many of their ancestral territories to create those preserved lands. Some 86 million acres of Native American tribal land became national forests.
He was re-elected U.S. President in 1904.
Since Theodore Roosevelt is remembered for his conservation efforts, it is only right to also blog today about current U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to destroy the environment.
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
On Friday, the Trump Administration announced that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska is now open for drilling.
This is what https://www.fws.gov/refuge/arctic said about the Refuge on Oct. 24, 2025. The website had not been updated due to the federal government shutdown, so I decided to cut and paste the following before someone decides to update it and replace all the positive details with glowing descriptions of Trump’s famous mindset of “drill, baby, drill!”:
“Arctic National Wildlife Refuge sustains people, wildlife, and fish in the northeastern corner of Alaska, a vast landscape of rich cultural traditions and thriving ecological diversity. It is located on the traditional homelands of the Iñupiat and Gwichʼin peoples.
“Approximately the size of South Carolina, the refuge has no roads or facilities. The lands and waters are a critical home to migratory and resident wildlife, have unique recreational values, and contain the largest designated Wilderness within the National Wildlife Refuge System. Many people may know of the refuge by an abbreviation: ANWR (pronounced an-whar). The full name reminds us that the refuge is part of our national heritage, designated for wildlife conservation.
“A trip to Arctic National Wildlife Refuge can be an inspiring, life-changing experience. Whether you want to photograph, fish, hunt, challenge yourself with travel in the backcountry, or just spend quiet time in an immense and humbling landscape, this is a truly remarkable place.
“All refuge lands are open to the public, and there are no visitor fees or specific entry points. Visitors plan and arrange their own transportation, trip locations, and itineraries; careful preparation, and self-reliance are a must. There are no roads, established trails, or facilities of any type within the refuge’s 19 million acres. Most bring their own food and gear, and access the refuge by air taxi, flying in from nearby communities. First-time visitors may wish to participate in a guided trip. Even experienced visitors may wish to use the support of commercial recreational services (see Tours for information about authorized recreational guides, hunting guides, and air taxi operators). Although there is no cell phone coverage, satellite phones do work in many areas. Explore the Activities section and see Rules and Policies for additional helpful trip planning information.”
The underlined words are clickable on the website and there is also an interactive map.
I decided to cut and paste so much of the description because it will never be that way again.
With oil drilling taking place all over the place, areas will be closed to the public.
With drilling taking place all over the place, it will no longer be a safe refuge for the amazing wildlife of Alaska.
Shame on Donald Trump and his minions!
I naively thought that once a piece of land was designated as a national park, national forest, national seashore, national wildlife refuge, etc., it was safe from a future President destroying it. Of course, I also thought the East Wing of the White House was safe from destruction by a U.S. President.
With the change of seasons to cool mornings, I’m trying to take some of my own advice and follow along in my new devotional book and its companion journal:
I Need The Light! 26 Weekly Devotionals to Help You Through Winter
I Need The Light! 26 Weekly Devotionals to Help You Through Winter, by Janet Morrison
And
I Need The Light! Companion Journal and Diary.
I Need The Light! Companion Journal and Diary, by Janet Morrison
In case you haven’t purchased your copies yet, here’s a sneak peek at Week 1
The Scripture for Week 1 is Genesis 1:1-5. It’s about God creating the Heavens and the Earth and light. By the power of His word – “Let there be light! – and there was light!
I can’t imagine life without light, which leads me to think that people who have been blind all their lives probably can’t imagine what light is.
Thos of us in the northern hemisphere are entering the time of the year when natural light and the warmth it brings is in short supply. Those of us with Seasonal Affective Disorder and Fibromyalgia are not fond of cold weather. In fact, it is difficult for me to enjoy the beauty of fall because I’m dreading winter.
I need the natural light to help set my circadian clock and combat the effects of Seasonal Affective Disorder, but I need Jesus Christ – The Light of the World! – for all aspects of my life. He is my Rock and my Salvation.
Look for my books on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. You should also be able to find them at your favorite independent bookstore, such as Second Look Books in Harrisburg, NC; Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville, NC; and Highland Books in Brevard, NC.
Some independent bookstores refuse to sell books that are self-published, but I know the three I listed above have ordered copies. Please support them!
Each week in my devotional book includes a recipe for a food that brings me comfort. Week 1 has my mother’s recipe for Drop Biscuits. Yum! I think I need to go to the kitchen right now and make biscuits!
This is what the United States Liar-in-Chief said in July about the construction of his $250 million 90,000-square-foot ballroom at the White House: “It won’t interfere with the current building…. It’ll be near it but not touching it — and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.”
The demolition of the East Wing of the White House started yesterday.
In my search at 7:30 last night for a photograph of the East Wing that was in the public domain so I could share it on my blog, I ended up looking at what Wikipedia had to say about . (By the way, I didn’t find a photo I had the right to use.) I discovered that Wikipedia’s page about the East Wing had already been updates. It was worded in the past tense, as follows:
“The East Wing of the White House was a two-story structure that served as office space for the first lady and her staff, including the White House social secretary, White House Graphics and Calligraphy Office and correspondence staff. On the ground floor, the East Wing included the visitors’ entrance and the East Colonade, a corridor connecting the body of the East Wing to the Executive Residence. Along the corridor was the White House theater, also called the family theater….”
The East Wing of the White House was completed in 1942 to cover the underground Presidential Emergency Operations Center.
I have no words.
Well, actually, I have a lot of words, but I cannot put most of them in print.
Can anyone say, “Madman” or “Dictator?”
Trump has accomplished what the terrorists on September 11, 2001, were prevented from doing.
In case you think this cannot possibly be true, please check out the photographs and reports from six online news resources:
I planned to write one of my #OnThisDay history blog posts today about the Treaty of 1818, which established the 49th parallel as the Canada-United States border from the Great Lakes, west. However, I couldn’t get very excited about that topic.
I’m sure it was a big deal in 1818, during President James Monroe’s first term in office, and I’m sure it meant a lot to the people in the border states and provinces in the two countries. I just couldn’t come up with much to say about it.
I’ll just say, “I think I can speak for all Americans when I say, ‘We love you, Canada.’”
With that said, I will jump into what I am excited to write about today: a book I finished reading Friday night.
The Weight of Snow and Regret, by Elizabeth Gauffreau
If you regularly read my blog, you know I used to blog the first Monday of each month about the books I read the previous month. Some months I read so many books, it took two posts to write about all of them.
Then, January 2025 came along. I read The Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhon, in January, but then I hit a dry spell. I became so distracted by politics that I found it impossible to find a novel that I could concentrate on long enough to get interested, much less finish reading.
Then came October, and the release of The Weight of Snow and Regret, by Elizabeth Gauffreau. Historical fiction is my “go to” genre for reading and writing, and I had yearned all year for another book that would grab me like Ariel Lawhon’s book.
The Weight of Snow and Regret, by Elizabeth Gauffreau
The Weight of Snow and Regret is written in a way that would not let me go. Ms. Gauffreau was inspired to write the book after learning about the Sheldon Poor Farm in Vermont, which closed in 1968.
The book is expertly researched, which made it possible for the talented writer that Ms. Gauffreau is to infuse every scene with a level of authenticity that puts the reader in the story.
Each resident at Sheldon has a distinct personality and way of speaking that makes them easy to remember and tell apart.
The main character, Hazel, is matron at the Sheldon Poor Farm. Her husband runs the farm. The reader can’t help but be drawn to Hazel as she has the overwhelming job of cooking, cleaning, and in all ways caring for the residents of this very real poor farm. She has a heart for the job, and as her backstory is revealed the reader learns why she is the way she is.
Every time I thought I could close the book, I found myself plunging into the next chapter to see what was going to happen next. Every time I thought life couldn’t get more difficult for Hazel… it got more difficult. Somehow, Hazel kept her sense of humor, and that comes through in the book.
This novel is set in the 1920s, 1940s, and 1960s. I usually don’t enjoy novels that move back and forth between decades, but Ms. Gauffreau pulled this off masterfully. I think it was the perfect way for this story to be told.
The characters in The Weight of Snow and Regret will stay with me for a long time. It’s that kind of story.
There were “poor houses” when I was a child for people who were too poor to live anywhere else and had no relatives willing to take them into their homes. This novel made me stop and wonder where those people go now. I guess they are the people who live under bridges on the streets and highways in the cities.
If you like to read historical fiction, I highly recommend The Weight of Snow and Regret, by Elizabeth Gauffreau.
Hurricane Helene Update
As of Friday, 33 roads in North Carolina were still closed due to the September 26, 2024, Hurricane Helene. That count included five US highways, two state highways, and 26 state roads, meaning two state roads opened since my last blog update two weeks ago.
Of course, sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina will remain closed for another year or more, and I-40 at the Tennessee line will continue to be just two lanes at 35 miles-per-hour for a couple more years while five miles of the highway are being rebuilt in the Pigeon River Gorge.
But western North Carolina is open for business and tourists this fall. Just be aware that you might run into a detour, and you can’t drive the full length of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
I’m not able to participate in a “No Kings” Protest today, but I will be there in spirit. I will continue to voice my protest via my blog.
Photo by Megan Watson on Unsplash
The Republican Congressional leaders attacked the demonstrations in advance, calling today’s demonstrations “The Hate America Rally.” Nothing could be further from the truth. It sounds like something a dictator would say.
In America, we have a First Amendment right of freedom of speech. We are free to demonstrate and protest.
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
Isn’t that what the insurrectionists on January 6, 2021, said they were doing: exercising their First Amendment right? Of course, they went beyond protesting when they tried to kill police officers and broke into the U.S. Capitol as they tried to prevent the certification of the November 2020 Presidential election.
Whatever bizarre or nasty thing Trump says, the Cabinet members all have to repeat. Even Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent jumped on that bandwagon to toe the party line.
The President said participants in “The Hate America Rally” are paid. He said their signs look professionally made and that is proof that they are being paid to protest.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said the participants are members of ANTIFA. Since ANTIFA is an acronym for Anti-Fascist, it seems to me that every American should be ANTIFA. Do you not find it worrisome that the U.S. President and Congressional leaders are against anti-fascists? It indicates to me that they are pro-Fascism. But we aren’t supposed to call them that. It makes them angry and they are offended when they are called Fascists although they claim to hate anti-Fascists.
The “Hate America” rally was held at Donald Trump’s urging on January 6, 2021. That’s the day his followers tried to stop the certification of the November 2020 Presidential election because their guy whined and said he won even though he didn’t win. He convinced them that the election was stolen. And now, almost five years later, he wants that election investigated again. He is so small, he cannot stand to be a loser.
Photo credit: Andra C. Taylor, Jr. on unsplash
The rioters that day physically attacked the police officers the Republicans claim they love and respect so much. They defaced the U.S. Capitol. They erected a gallows and chanted “hang Mike Pence!” They smeared their defecation in the halls of the U.S. Capitol and broke into the offices of U.S. Representatives. They broke things. They stole things. They made a wholesale attack on our form of government
That was the official “Hate America” Insurrection. I watched it live on TV in horror. I can’t imagine the level of hate for the United States those people held in their hearts. Then, the nail in the coffin was when Donald Trump pardoned them.
That is all I need to know about Donald J. Trump, Sr.
The people demonstrating today are doing so out of love for America. They are horrified to see how our democracy being chipped away daily with a sledgehammer.
They are horrified to see the National Guard used as a political pawn and weapon by their President.
They are sick and tired of being called “left wing radical lunatics” and worse by their President.
They are horrified to see masked ICE agents violently attacking people – citizens and non-citizens – and hauling them off to detention centers.
Photo by Mitchel Lensink on Unsplash
They are horrified that their President is ordering boats in the international waters of the Caribbean Sea to be blown to smithereens because they might be transporting drugs to America, and now their President threatens to launch a land attack on Venezuela – ignoring The War Powers Act.
They don’t like that their President is bailing out Argentina to the tune of $20 billion while the American farmer goes bankrupt due to the dismantling of USAID and the tariffs he has issued on China and other countries.
They are furious that public education and public health programs are under attack by the Trump Administration.
They are horrified to see the blatant hate for people of color, the objectifying of women, the homophobia, and the hate for transgender individuals demonstrated by the Trump Administration.
In anticipation for the peaceful “No Kings” demonstrations being held today, the Governors of Virginia and Texas mobilized their states’ National Guard members yesterday.
It’s a shame that the National Guard wasn’t called up to defend the members of Congress and the U.S. Capitol and our form of government on January 6, 2021.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt showed her true colors this week when she said, “The Democrat Party’s main constituency is made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals.”
The White House, Washington, D.C.
The fact that President Trump did not make a statement to reprimand her or disavow her comment, indicates that he agrees with her.
We have reached a dangerous time in our country when the person who was elected to be President of the United States – president of all 50 states – president of all citizens of the United States – thinks it is acceptable to call the citizens who are registered Democrats “Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals.”
I resent being called a Hamas terrorist, an illegal alien, and a violent criminal, but the worst part of this is that such a thing can be said from the official communicator and spokesperson of the White House and no one in the Trump Administration or the Republican Party speaks out to condemn the remarks.
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America
And that, my friends, is one more reason why millions of Americans are protesting today. They are sick and tired of being sick and tired and being on the receiving end of a fire hose of attacks since January 20, 2025.
I rarely have good news to blog about, so I’m delighted to dedicate my entire post today to some good news that came from President Sally Kornbluth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) last Friday.
Photo by Mohammed Shonar on Unsplash
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon has recently invited nine colleges and universities to sign a compact to change admissions policies and the way they hire faculty. By signing the compact, the colleges and universities give up their right to make public a stance on societal or political events. They must be neutral, as in no opinion, no free thinking, no thoughts whatsoever. You know, sort of like operating in an authoritarian nation.
They must also agree to define sex as “male” and “female.” They must do all this while they ensure there is “a broad spectrum of viewpoints” on their campuses. I’m not sure how you can do that while meeting the other requirements. Some of the requirements appear to negate the others.
In return for signing the compact, a college would receive preferential treatment for federal funding. It seems like a high price to pay.
Photo by Muzammil Soorma on Unsplash
On Friday, October 10, 2025, in a letter to Secretary McMahon, MIT President Sally Kornbluth rejected the promised preferential treatment and refused to sign the compact. It was reported that in her letter, Kornbluth indicated that MIT disagrees with principles set forth by the Trump Administration in the compact and signing it would restrict the school’s freedom of speech and independence.
MIT is the first of the nine colleges to respond to Secretary McMahon’s offer of preferential treatment. Other schools that received McMahon’s offer for preferential treatment in return to selling their souls to the Trump Administration include are Brown University, Dartmouth College, the University of Arizona, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Virginia, and Vanderbilt University.
It seems to me that most of the people who have stood up to President Trump have been women. My mother would be so proud of them!
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