Changing World

 

Wow. What a week this has been. Flooding in the Sahara Desert near Southeast Morrocco is caused by a rare rainfall lasting two days. Nothing will cause anxiety more for those who believe in the second coming of Christ. Even if one does not believe it, there is the fact that the weather is off the charts crazy right now. I call it Mother Earth making an attempt to shake off the fools who don't take care of her, like a large dog shaking off fleas. 

The Sahara is flooding, and the Amazon River is drying up. Crazy, crazy days we are having and will continue to have, I'm sure. 

Sahara Desert flooding (photo provided by AP)

Amazon River drying up (photo by New York Times)

Mother Nature is taking us on Mr. Toad's wild ride this season by starting things off with a set of hurricanes hitting North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and other places of consequence. The first hurricane, Helene, has yet to be cleaned up and straightened out, and unfortunately, a death count has yet to be taken, as the second storm, dubbed Milton, bashes into the land of this beautiful country.  

Death tolls as high as 600 across six states could be possible aftermath counts from the first storm, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Far too many souls were taken from their loved ones too soon as a result of Helene. 

North Carolina was the hardest hit by Helene, leaving a wake of two feet of rainfall in some areas, wiping Blue Ridge Mountain communities completely off the map, and 115 storm-related deaths. They are still confirming if other deaths were caused by Helene and of course, there are still many missing. 

Forty-nine people died in South Carolina, and various reports are coming in from other states, such as Georgia, with a count of 33 people confirmed dead. Florida reports 20 dead, 12 reported in Tennessee, and two in Virginia. These are the confirmed deaths so far, with again, many missing.

The reason I am mentioning this in the blog is to post it as memories for Terry and me as a large event that happened in our lives, but also to say how proud and in awe of those who have traveled to help clean up the devastation from these two immense storms. There are many volunteers headed that way, not to mention residents who were not hit as hard, helping others to regain their safety while their own situation is not the greatest. 

My grandson is an electrical lineman in Texas, as I have mentioned in the blog in past posts, or think I have anyway. Now Keenan and his crew are being put to the test. A true test of courage and workmanship. With a huge crew of over 50 thousand linemen, they staged themselves on the ready, waiting for the storm to pass to get in there and do what they do best in restoring electrical service to homes. 

Now they are staged at the Tampa Fairgrounds, moving inward as safety allows them, to those places they can reach through the flooding and devastation. Help is needed in so many areas right now. 

With the largest staging ever for a disaster, these men and women are ready to roll, wherever they are needed, doing what they can do to help. Instead of being gone from their families up until Christmas or after as was first thought, there are so many who came out to help that now they are thinking it will be days away from their own families and not weeks as first predicted.   

I find myself so proud of my grandson right now. He is worried about going to a place overwhelmingly full of complete devastation, death, and destruction. But he put on his big boy pants and went without hesitation, as did his coworkers. He left behind his two precious daughters, and his pregnant (almost due) beautiful wife, his family, his fears, and headed into the unknown. 

While I am so grandmotherly proud of him, he is not the only one there helping without giving thought to themselves. Bless thoughtful, brave, kind people such as these going into dangerous places to bring life back to a normal level for those in dire need. In a world of self-centered, selfish, hate-filled populations, we need more people caring for each other such as all of the people helping people across this country right now. 

From all accounts I have read, there are about three million people without power as it stands now. That is the damage from both storms. Everyone who is helping and all those who went through these storms has their work cut out for them. Terry and I both send our love and hope to those who suffered through these devastating events and our best to those who are there helping to restore both power and normalcy to many. 

Bless the workers who are there to lend a hand, such as the Red Cross, FEMA, doctors, nurses, firemen, and all of those first responders and volunteers who step up to the plate when this country needs them the most. May you remain safe as you help your fellow human beings.  

With that being said, we are hoping all of you are well and safe where you're at and wish you safe travels on your return home. It is at times like these that remind us how blessed we truly are, those of us not going through events such as these two storms.

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Wow. It's difficult to continue after that section of writing. Everything in our lives seems so dull, meaningless and lost when knowing such a tumultuous time is being had elsewhere. I almost feel ashamed to write anything while people are suffering or have lost a loved one or two or more. I'm certain horrible stories of grief, loss, and despair will come out of yet another natural disaster. Breaks my heart. 

With that being said, we do wish to make an entry of memories in our lives, outside of the devastating news coming in from around the country and in fact, the world. But, when we look back, I want Terry and I to recall those memories as something happening during our time here on this rock. This is what the blog is about. So, here we go. 

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The Oregon Ducks have a huge game this weekend. Now that they are in the Big 10 Conference, they find themselves facing Ohio State, ranked number two in the country. Right now, the Oregon Ducks are ranked number three, so this should be an exciting game! In fact, this game is going to be a huge ESPN Game Day attraction as the game plays out in Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. 

All I can say is the Ducks better have their heads in the game, as this is going to be a tough one. Ohio State Buckeyes are favored by 3.5 points according to the latest consensus. It will be an interesting game, to say the least, and probably one of the largest audiences will be watching as the Ducks take on the Buckeyes. Hopefully defeating the Buckeyes. The game begins at 4:00 PM today, Saturday, September 12, 2024. We wish them the best of luck. 

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Our car is still in Eugene at the dealership due to the lack of acceleration. I'm getting anxious as I have not been able to work for the past week. When speaking to the mechanic in the service center, they did not seem to know what was going on with the vehicle. Other than charging the battery again, they were not finding anything in terms of system failure, etc. At least at the point of talking with them a couple of days ago. I truly hope they find the issue so I can begin work once more. 

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Terry is still in the process of publishing his book. It does take time. He's still writing poems and finds some interesting enough to add as the process continues. I've been reading the latest additions and admit they're unique, funny, eclectic, and interesting. We will have to see how the book turns out in its entirety later, but I'm looking forward to its completion. 

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I have a silly question. I'm up to date with all the memes, comments, and uprisings about schools not teaching children cursive writing any longer. Still boggling my mind about its demise, I found it to be ridiculous that it was not part of the curriculum at schools any longer. While teachers have their hands quite full with behavioral issues students seem to display, overcrowded classrooms, and kids coming to school wielding guns, knives, and other weaponry, do we take away cursive? It seems a bit antiquated to some, yet still holds the power when it comes to reading some historical documents and other forms of importance. 

However, since 2016, there are 24 states across the nation that have brought back the teaching of cursive writing. I think it's a wonderful thing. Cursive was considered too old school and a waste of time to teach when other forms of learning were being taught instead, such as writing code. While things like coding are valuable with the growth of technology, nothing takes the place of teaching cursive, spelling, writing, and other basic details of our society that make us, well ... us. 

I bring this subject up and go back to my question because I want to know what the hell happened to punctuation in writing? Was it thrown into the trash along with cursive? Quite a few of the basic old-school teachings have been thrown out, along with educational importance. 

Belonging to several groups, I gain countless hours of opinions and commentary from other drivers all across America, and I'm finding one thing; many members of the group have no clue how to end a proper sentence.

My head is spinning after just a few moments of what should be a six-paragraph note, all shoved into one block of nonsense. I find it difficult to read when all of these words are strung across the page, line after line, all crammed into one long, drawn-out reading experience. Not only are there no paragraph breaks, but everything is jumbled together in a single horrific sentence that leaves out the theme or idea of the paragraph. End the sentence already! Please put the story to bed using punctuation and breaks between ideas!

I'm not looking for perfection, as I am not perfect in my writing either, but for reading's sake, please put a period into the mix! I've also witnessed many who will begin a sentence and add a period, making no sense whatsoever. For example: 

Jack took the food back. To the restaurant to see if they could. Make another plate. For the customer. 

I try not to judge things too much, but what has happened to our educational system across this nation? We don't hold children back who are not getting the concepts placed before them in school, leaving students with the idea that they don't have to try hard to achieve anything if they don't feel like it. You can fail miserably and still blaze through your educational years. This saddens me to no end. At least have some pride in your education. 

Coding and programming and all of the technological aspects of educating students are very important, that's for sure. But we also have to deal with people writing papers, writing explanations, or writing details to go along with those subjects as well. Teach children the very basics of writing to create a readable, viable 14-page sentence that does not give others a migraine trying to comprehend what is written. 

As an example of the lack of punctuation, I have this genuine comment from one of my groups:

GrubHub is it I did six orders today five orders took me one dollar each order gave no tip then I took an order to go 14 miles for $17 and because of traffic on the freeway was backed up and I was two minutes late arriving at the restaurant3% how disgusting is that even after I clicked I am running late Grubhub along with your customers that want something for nothing

.

This ugly paragraph, while a short one, left me scratching my head, asking myself, "Huh?" The idea the writer is trying to convey is completely lost due to the shortage of punctuation. 

This example is from an older, adult human being. The entire blending of words without hesitation makes it difficult to tell when a thought begins and when one ends. The blending of ideas is not a good thing in the case of this writing. Not one period. Not one comma. Exclamation point? Nah. Who needs that? And this is a small paragraph of what I've been reading. Many ideas shared by coworkers have been glazed over and scrolled past due to the lack of punctuation. Have a thought, a comment, or an idea? Please punctuate your writing so others can read it easily and can make sense of your thoughts. 

Obviously, people are not proofreading, nor are they really caring. Anyway, rant over. I just had to vent. I'm not OCD or anal over things like this, but after hours of reading on social media over a week, this becomes frustrating. It may be time for a long social media break. Maybe I'm just being a bit too picky, but wow. My head is reeling from all of this jumbled mess. I guess I am overwhelmed by the lack of ability to make ideas and thoughts understandable and comprehensible when we have all of the knowledge we need through the Internet. I thought the web might increase our value, raise our awareness, and educate us even more as time went on. Instead, it seems the ideas and thoughts are there, but they are without form and void in any sort of organized presentation.  

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As a continuation of our Ducks VS Buckeyes game report, this area was on fire yesterday after an amazing 31 to 32 score. Yes, the Oregon Ducks pulled off a win. A beautiful, close score that kept us on the edge of our seats through the entire game! One of the most exciting games we had seen in a long time! As I have said over the years and will continue to say, I do love me some Ducks!

One disappointing note, Traeshon Holden, receiver for the Oregon Ducks stepped over a respect and good sportsmanship line when he turned to spit in the face of an Ohio player. Not only did he spit in his face, but he turned, looked at the other player, and then laughed. He was ejected from the game and that wasn't good enough in my eyes. I hope the man loses his place on the team. It's a game. An exciting and important game for the Ducks? Oh, yes. But not enough so to where we are spitting in peoples' faces or trying to hurt someone. 

As he was escorted off the field and into the tunnel heading back to the locker room, he showed even more classless behavior when he removed his helmet and threw it against the wall. If you cannot control your nastiness, don't play the game. 

With all of this whiny, pathetic behavior, he cost the Ducks a possible touchdown and had to settle for a field goal with a 15-yard penalty given for unsportsmanlike conduct, pushing that goal line back even more. 

This was the second spitting incident in the collegiate football realm for the day and the third one for the season, indicating we should have a strict rule and punishment for those who tend to throw fits. This thought comes to mind simply because we have far too many illnesses going around for the first reason, and the second is you're being a real putz. Control your temper and stop being an entitled little brat and disgusting human being. Yes, I said it. 

We will have to wait and see what further punishment (if any) comes from his actions. Only time will tell. I hope his teammates ensure he understands how much he hurt them in that game and how much he might have pushed his own NFL career into the ground, especially with all of the scouts in the audience for this game. Huge game. The ramifications against his own further advancement in a football career are huge since I don't know of many coaches in the NFL who want to take on a pouty young man who can't control his attitude. 

That being said, we had an amazing game. One for the history books as this was the biggest win in terms of what this game meant to the school that Oregon has played. Kudos to the Oregon Ducks and all the heart they put into that win. 

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We are into the middle of October now. Terry and I have been gaining some new family members in terms of plants lately. Yes, we have become plant parents. Two spider plants, some Swedish ivy, a jade plant, and a succulent, plus his latest addition to the group, a red geranium. My silly husband figures the group is getting larger and that we may need Plant Parenthood soon. This had me giggling for a while. 

I also include our family of plants having my three orchids in the mix. Marina gave me one during my healing phase at her house on Valentine's Day, Terry gave me one on an anniversary date, and Brandy gave me one for Mother's Day. I love them all and still have them. I do need to research how to get them to bloom again though. 

We have our plants outside still, but soon they will be coming into their more permanent rest places.  The weather tends to be on the warmer side still which is rather odd this late in the season, but hey. It is what it is, right? 

Two of them on the furthest end are spider plants, plus the geranium. The bushier, trailing type plants are Swedish ivy. The two smaller plants on this end are a couple of succulents, along with three small jade plants. Swedish ivy is in between the containers of the jade and succulents. 

Some of the leaves are yellowing. I believe this is from the sun beating down on them a couple of weeks ago. They seem to be doing better now. Our front porch gets the morning sun and I do not believe Swedish ivy likes the heat. 

I will be replanting the plants into containers I can bring inside. All plants will reside in the office with us until next spring and summer. Terry purchased some tulips for me that came in a glass container. He gave these to me a few months ago for our anniversary date celebration. I just planted the four bulbs I have in a larger planter on the porch and cannot wait to see if they come up in the spring. 

My plan for this porch is to put a chair or two out here, maybe a table, and a ton of plants. I want flowers, veggies, and herbs, along with small trees and bushes in larger planters. I will be adding some fairy lights and other items that will bring it all together, eventually, that is. A small table would be awesome for some lotus seeds. I would love to start a lotus "pond" for the front deck area too. Citronella candles and all types of fun garden statues would be perfect as well. We'll see! It will all be in the blog as we add things to bring life to our deck. 

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Our weekend has not had much going in the form of things to do, as you can see, but we are soon heading to Eugene for our family gathering at Thanksgiving. So there's that. Our usual remaining at home is partly due to missing our car which is remarkable on gas and the other is because I just got over the GI bug (flu) and am getting back to normal once again. Or at least as normal as I can be. That level of normalcy is still up for debate. 

All things fall will soon be appearing in the blog, as well as our gatherings and outings and such. We do appreciate all of you who read the blog and wish you all nothing but the best. Love and hugs to everyone. From our fur babies, Terry and I, take care of yourself! 

Until our next post ...

@psychicpoet0188

"Follow us. We've fallen and we can't get up!"