"What is so bewildering is the conviction...

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

Poll question: "What is so bewildering is the conviction...

...and it is becoming more and more general -- that in all the perils that confront us the direction of affairs is given over to a way of thinking that no longer has any understanding of itself. It is like being in a carriage, descending an increasingly precipitous slope, and suddenly realizing there is no coachman on the box."

The Russian diplomat-poet Fyodor Tyuchev (1803-1873) in a letter to his wife about the dangerous road ahead toward revolution.

Source: http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_3882.shtml

My question: How often during the last five years have you felt like you're riding in a carriage descending an increasingly precipitous slope with no coachman on the box?

[stillcool]

1. only when I think about it..

at night when I close my eyes.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

2. It's most pronounced for me in the early morning when I wake up...

...Ground Hog F**K Day again...and again...and again...

[ClayZ]

3. Perhaps I should remain in the garden

or the clay studio and leave the TV off!

GREAT ARTICLE!


K and R

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

4. Not a bad idea. I regularly take refuge in the back yard to watch the squirrels play...

...and if there's such a thing as reincarnation, that's what I'd like to come back as. They have fun every day and appear to have no cares aside from where to bury the next nut.

[ClayZ]

I have been glued to DU and the TV

Waiting for shoes to drop.

Fall is happening in my garden and there is work to do, seeds to save, compost to make.

I love our squirrels too! The last one I surprised in the herb garden had the guiltiest look on his face. It makes me laugh just remembering. I should say we surprised each other. hahaha

[ClayZ]

5. I have been glued to DU and the TV

Waiting for shoes to drop.

Fall is happening in my garden and there is work to do, seeds to save, compost to make.

I love our squirrels too! The last one I surprised in the herb garden had the guiltiest look on his face. It makes me laugh just remembering. I should say we surprised each other. hahaha

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

6. I got a little curious about Mukilteo in looking at your profile.

I've been perusing the results of a google image search on "Mukilteo" -- looks like a very charming place.

Favorite pic so far:

[ClayZ]

8. We have a foot race here,

every year.

It is called......Run-a-Muk.


Washington State has a lot of PUBLIC art!

I love those rabbits!

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

9. What's the distance of the race?

[ClayZ]

10. I never knew that.

I just always though the name was funny! They run by my house and I cheer them on!

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

11. It's a great name, and looks like a great community to live in.

My wife's sister and her husband live in Port Orchard. I've only seen pictures of their place, but it looks like a nice area too.

[ClayZ]

12. It is lush and green!

It may rain a little too much for some folks. Port Orchard is lovely!

Your ought to plan a road trip! My sister's husband is from Texas and they go back and forth a lot!

I have never visited your state either.

Maybe one of these days.

Blue Bear John moved to Whidbey Island last year. He seems to like it so far!

This side of the state is pretty progressive.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

13. I think I will plan a trip to Washington when I can.

I wish I could say we're progressive here too, but we've only got a few pockets, like Austin.

It was nice to see Obama do as well as he did here against Hillary in the Texas primary -- that surprised me.

[Greyhound]

7. Voted 'every day', but I'm sure there must have been a couple when

I wasn't thinking about it.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

14. Kick for a larger sample.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

15. Kick for a larger sample.

[Cerridwen]

16. Every day...and

many days it feels as though there are snipers overhead picking off anyone trying take the coachman's duties and steer the coach.

Oh, about those squirrels you discussed up thread, "our" little guys are getting bold enough to come up to the sliding glass door and peer in. I say bold because we have 4 dogs. The cheeky little squirrels have taken to taunting the dogs up close and personal. Oof! LOL

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

18. They also taunt our Black Lab/Chow mix (Maggie).

...Maggie loves to put on a show and chase them out of the bird feeder, but only if I'm watching. She's not serious about actually trying to catch the squirrels and they seem to have figured this out. She goes into stalking mode (only if I'm watching -- she's nothing but a big ham) and now the squirrels will let her get within a couple feet of the feeder before they make their half-hearted escape.

Entertaining stuff.

[Cerridwen]

20. One of my little ones is serious - he's a terrier - it's bred into him.

Two of our larger ones, greyhounds, are trained to chase little things but I'm not sure they'd know what to do if we let them catch it.

My other little one actually "caught" a squirrel several years ago. The "horrified" look on her fact just as she ran up on it and looked over at me was along the lines of "Caught it, mom! Caught it! Ooooooo, now what????!!!!" Yeah, it's an anthropomorphizied tale, but the look on her face was priceless. Of course, the look could have also been whatever the doggie version of "I'm in trouble now!" Either way, that split second she looked over her shoulder at me she overran the squirrel and it got away.

I'd have busted a gut laughing if I could have caught my breath from chasing her chasing the squirrel. To complete the picture of this little comic episode, I'd add I was in "Middle Ages" garb, meaning I was wearing a "floor" length gown which I'd hiked up to my knees. So, there I was, hair flying, dressed hiked and flapping behind, chasing small black dog whose ears and long tail were also flapping in the breeze, chasing squirrel, running past people in equally "funny" garb. That squirrel must have dined out for a week on that story.

LOL


Sorry for the off-topic; but your post reminded me of that wild chase. :D

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

21. LOL -- too funny. Thanks for sharing that.

[Rex]

17. 5 years? Make that 25 and call me in the morning.

Goodnight folks, I'll be here all day! :hi:

[NeedleCast]

19. Some days it's good to step outside the echo chamber

I think that a lot of us that read DU on a daily basis need to remember that. This site is often a repository for negative things...that is to say that a lot of the worst of the worst gets posted here and often is not a reflection of reality.

That being said, there's been a lot of bad stuff going on in our country. I'm glad that we're about to pump the brake on that.