Sunset...then flying home

Republicans don't like student loan forgiveness

because they can see where we are headed: towards control of the House and Senate for the last two years of Biden's current term as President.

What does that mean?

Fixing Social Security funding, which means higher taxes for those with higher income.

Balancing the budget, which means higher taxes for those with higher income.

Addressing climate change, which likely means reducing the income of the fossil fuel industry.

Republicans woke the dragon when their politically stacked Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade. They didn't anticipate the anger of women nor did they realize that once Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate that they would be able to fix several huge problems that have been festering for a long time because Republicans are greedy and only care about using government to line their own pockets.

Throwing tantrums about the inequity of student loan forgiveness is one of their last chances to distract voters from what Democrats are about to be able to do after the Election in November: fix problems created by or made worse by Republican greed.

Mother Nature's calming influence

A week ago today I spent most of the day in the ER. After a weekend of mild chest pain--mostly pressure rather than pain--and some other symptoms like shortness of breath, nausea, mild dizziness, fatigue, I decided to have it checked out. I've had panic attacks and it wasn't that. I've had indigestion relieved by antacids and it seemed more than that.

I called my son and had him take me to the ER. It didn't feel acute enough to be worth an ambulance ride. And it wasn't. I was discharged after six hours and advised to see my primary doc within three days.

Before I went to see her on Friday, I came to the conclusion that what I was experiencing was a low level of anxiety that finally reached a threshold that would cause physical symptoms. Since the Dobbs decision, the 4th of July parade mass shooting ( and others since), the Jan 6 hearings, on top of climate change, the war in Ukraine, and the never ending presence of Covid, I have been overwhelmed with despair for the future. Together with my primary doc, I resolved to make some changes to focus on the present moment with what I can control in order to improve my health and, hopefully, reduce my anxiety.

One of the things I do in that regard is to watch for beauty in nature. I'm an early bird, so I keep my eye out for color in the sunrise. This morning I took my coffee out on the front porch and watched this develop

A couple of nights ago, I was lucky to watch a beautiful sunset



It is calming to witness the beauty of Mother Nature.