Obama: Writing History

There are times when we know and feel history, as it is being made. It is tangible as it swirls around us in the eddies of current time. It walks with us on the DC mall; it sits beside us on the couch, stands with us near the tracks watching the train; and it will stay with us for all the years of our lives. Take note, for the historians rarely put history to the page as we the people recall it.

Citizen journalists - take to your blogs and Twitter away, so there will be no doubt about the fabric of these times.

This history - let us write it right.

© Perle Champion

The Ball - and the band plays on

Should Obama really have an extravagant inaugural Ball? YES, HE SHOULD!
Should the President buy $300 a bottle wine for a state dinner? YES, HE SHOULD!

Note to the Media: Enough with the negative vibes, already! I am tired of the media’s broken record, “in these tough economic times, should (fill in the blank) be spending so extravagantly:

Yes!!! They should spend it if they have it. If the haves of our world hoard what they have, the times will get tougher. I assure you of that.

Too many are too quick to judge badly the extravagance of a person, event or thing. Why? They envy the thing, and the people who can afford it, so they assume that ‘holier-than-thou posture’ I so hate.

Consider how many people, who drive the economy, benefit from the Ball.
• The entire food industry.
• The wine industry.
• The liquor industry.
• The florists.
• The venues for the Ball and peripheral events.
• The caterers.
• The truckers that deliver everything.
• The servers, bartenders, cooks.
• The retailers that sell the gowns, shoes, tuxedos, jewelry.
• The cab and limo companies and their drivers.
• The police officers on overtime.
• The extra security staff.
• The maids and janitors that clean the premises when the party’s over.
• And on, and on,
• etc.,
• and on…
Consider further that every person who earns spends, so the ripples go far beyond the pool of jobs directly involved in this historic event.

By all means, spend it and bless you for not hoarding it. Give people the opportunity to earn their way and most will take it quickly and gratefully rather than put their hand out for a dole.

I often think the naysayers who denigrate extravagance are just jealous that they have neither the means nor the inclination for such generosity. They want to take from the haves of the world and give it to the have-nots, as if being wealthy is a crime and poor a virtue.

I am unemployed at the moment, but I don’t now, nor will I ever want a redistribution of wealth. I want the right to create my own wealth. It’s the American Way.

© Perle Champion

Pansy - Not such a Lightweight

Why do they call a wimpy person and/or effeminate man a Pansy? Slang dictionaries say that inference is first recorded in 1929. Don’t know who coined the term. It could not have been a gardener, nor does anyone who uses the term thus, know anything about a 'Real Pansy'.

On my morning walk a few days ago, the weather was a balmy 30-something, and I noticed that the landscapers had been out replacing summer plantings with Pansies.

The Pansy is deceptive in its fragile beauty. It is the choice of gardeners when the temperatures head toward freezing. I’ve dusted snow from the beauties more winters than I can count, and so have many a northern gardener. The blizzard of ’93, I carefully shoveled 3 feet of snow from the beauties in my front yard.

So, if anyone ever calls you a Pansy, say “Thank you. That is one beautiful and sturdy flower, and I’m thrilled you think of me so.”

Baby It’s Cold Outside

Jasmine feels betrayed, and lets me know it. The morning started as always. She dashed down the hall ahead of me and sat on the sill waiting for me to open her little door to our balcony. It’s early morning and my first tasks are all cat-related: put food in one bowl, pour fresh water in the other, and open the door to the balcony.

Moments later, she is back inside, and staring at me as only a cat can - it's 35 outside. The odd ‘meorrow’ seems to ask accusingly, ‘what have you done to the weather’. She stares out the window and ventures out once or twice more before walking haughtily down the hall to lie on the leopard comforter at the foot of my bed. I keep a heating pad on low there beginning with the first day that dips under 40, just for her between the covers. I never run the central heat, so the bed is pretty cold when I first get in it around midnight. I put my feet under the spot with the heating pad just long enough to take the chill off and allow the down comforter to return my heat to me. Jasmine curls up on top of it for most of the night. She’ll visit it throughout the day as she determinedly goes out to see if things have changed. This afternoon, she'll be rewarded, as 70 is the predicted high, but soon winter will settle in in earnest and I'll be in for some seriously disdainful looks.

© Perle Champion