December 15, 2021

Anybody else gritting their teeth

at the confirmation bias and sheer lunacy coming from the "faithful" over the tornado tragedies? I just heart a pastor whose church was totally demolished say, in all seriousness, "God is in control."

November 5, 2021

Powell's funeral

I had a great deal of respect for Colin Powell. And the funeral, I suppose, was lovely. But in watching in I realized how comfortable I have become in the decades since I discarded religion. There is just something creepy now about even the best of religious ceremonies. They're still sad, but for unintended reasons. I feel badly for the folks who still cling to all that supernatural horse puckey.

October 31, 2021

Halloween: An Occasional Poem

Halloween is another holiday for children.
And when I had them—the children I mean,
And when they were young and exuberant
I had no love for it.
(Halloween, I mean, not the children or their exuberance.)
They were so obsessive, my kids!
Worrying about costumes as early as September,
Changing their minds and never caring about simplicity.
(In costumes, I mean. My children were simple enough.)
But I had told them they could be anything!
And I found I didn’t mean it.
Not, at least, at Halloween.
Because some costumes are harder than others.
Starfishes, say. Or monster trucks.
Things that require moving parts.
Or electricity.
I know I disappointed them.
(The children, not the starfishes or trucks)
Encouraging them to sublimate their dreams
In the interest of something cheap and easy,
Boxed. And available at Walmart.
But I didn’t like them so much back then.
Making the costumes, not the children.
But now that I’m old and all of that is over,
Well, not exactly over, because they call me on holidays,
(Not the costumes, but the children),
I find that I’m in just in love with it!
(The holiday, not the children, who I’ve always loved dearly)
Because Halloween now is something very different.
It’s an excuse to bring chocolate home from the grocery.
The day that your husband lets you dress the dogs in clothes,
The day that being old and scary yourself
Is really pretty cool.
I find that I have a lot more love for all of it now.
The dogs, of course.
And the holiday,
And the children.

August 13, 2021

So, did everyone survive

The day of Praying the Atheists away? I'm still here, and atheist AF.