Columbus' 180th murder, 2021

 One of the news gathering services when I opened my computer this morning told of a 30 year old black man shot during a fight, taken to Grant hospital where he died.  A woman, Judith Tatum, has been arrested and bond is set at $1 million. From his photo, he's been in trouble before and has a rap sheet (I'm guessing).  According to an earlier TV report on crime in the city (big increase in the last year), 2/3 of the murders are black on black crimes, and many go unsolved because the community doesn't "snitch" and distrusts the police.  According to data demographic sources, 54% of Columbus is white, and 29% black. Yet the media would be exploding at this moment if the young man had been killed by police.  Black on black crime is ignored by media. It just doesn't sell.  And a female killing a male in a fight should get it buried even deeper.   Consequently, in many cases, the perps are still on the street and the crime continues. I don't know if Columbus is plagued by the loosey-goosey white DA's like they have in Wisconsin when a racist career criminal who had posted his hate on social media was left to roam the streets and killed 6 and injured 60 during the Christmas parade.  That seems to be the liberal obsession these days--to turn as many blacks to crime and failure as possible.  What worse form of racism is there?

Uncovering 2020 voter fraud

Meet the Technology That's Uncovering 2020's Voter Fraud | American Thinker

Phantom voters, the definition, is morphing from fake voters hiding in UPS boxes to people who advanced computer models predict will not vote.

Don't get me wrong — there are thousands of phantom voters living in churches, R.V. parks, cemeteries, homeless shelters, hotels, and virtual mailboxes. It's just that there are as many, perhaps more, who live active, healthy, honest lives on voter rolls. They just don't know they voted.

You've heard the stories, denied by the mainstream press and almost every secretary of state: there is no significant voter fraud. Why not say that? There is no way you can check.

Now there is.

After the 2020 election results stopped in the middle of night and vote trajectories magically changed when they fired up again, thousands of people, just like you, didn't buy it. They formed armies of canvassers in 35 or more states. They did something that has not been done at scale in the history of the country: they started checking voter rolls.

They did more. They filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests at unprecedented levels. Secretary of state offices, once a murky sinecure, had to answer real questions about what was going on.

 
Here's what popped out.

Leftists are different from you and me. Unlike us, they care that every vote is cast, and if you do not cast your vote, they will do it for you. And they did. At scale.

In one midwestern state, voter rolls costing tens of thousands of dollars were bought by a billionaire leftist every month for over a year. Why would someone buy a list that doesn't change much?
Voter lists show people who move. They show people who never or seldom vote.

 
The white hat canvassing team built a query for one state: "voters who voted in 2020 who never voted before." Guess what! 265,000.

Witness statements are being gathered, lots of them, that in the largest city, election officials were trading cell calls about how many votes were needed, and someone was then providing the phantoms to meet the quota.

They knew the names of the phantoms — they had direct access to who voted, who didn't, and who was likely to never show up.

These canvassing organizations are the Minutemen of this generation. They come from every background, organize with no central leadership. They blindly figured out how phantom voting was happening, and they are forcing states to audit their voter rolls.

They aren't blind anymore. They are organized. They have resources and technology, and things are about to change in a big way for phantoms.

Read more  American Thinker  Meet the Technology That's Uncovering 2020's Voter Fraud - American Thinker

The failures of fighting this virus

The lockdowns failed, the masks failed, the social distancing failed--the mandates have caused ruined careers, open rebellion among unions and trades, a lost 2 years of schooling for the most vulnerable, terrible supply chain problems, and we have more Covid deaths than in 2020 when we had no vaccine. Treatments with inexpensive and safe products have been ridiculed and kept off the market, Big Pharma and Big Tech are acting like departments of government, censoring us. Dr. Fauci is still acting like the mini-god of SCIENCE and Biden walks around mumbling conflicting advice and demands. What a way to ruin a country. Almost like it has central planning like Russia or Venezuela or Cuba.

Home safe after my accident on Black Friday

We had a lovely Thanksgiving.  Beautiful church service and then dinner at the home of our daughter and son-in-law.  We spent some time trying to load our Christmas card, but gave up on that.  On Friday, "Black Friday," I had my hair cut and styled, and Bob and Mark headed for Lakeside for a final leaf raking.  Bob needed more lights for our deck, so on my way home I decided I'd go to Lowe's which is across the river.  As I turned on to the bridge I hit some black ice (it was snowing) and Bob's little SUV began to spin, and I swung around into the oncoming traffic (wasn't hit) and slammed into the concrete wall on the north side. I knew the river was far below and was afraid the car might be thrown over the rail into the cold water. The air bags went off, as did the front bumper.  I could feel pain in both knees, which I first thought might be broken (I was wrong).  A woman pulled her car over, called the squad which had a station about a mile west, and then came to my door to see if I was OK.  I don't carry a cell-phone, so she retrieved my purse and I gave her my daughter's number.  She told her she had called the squad and would stay with me.  The squad at first told me they'd take me to an urgent care, but when they saw my arm (large hematoma) then changed it to Riverside Hospital, very close to our home.  The ER checked me over pretty carefully, I had a nice nurse named Brian who had interesting stories to tell and loved his job as a nurse.  I had a full body scan and nothing was broken.  Visiting in ER is more generous than the regular hospital, so we soon had the whole family there.  My daughter had called Bob and Mark who were about to Bucyrus, and they turned around and drove to the hospital. By 10:30 p.m. there was finally an available room and I was transferred and made as comfortable as my bruises would allow.  I was finally home about 3:30 on Saturday. On Monday Bob and Mark went to the impound lot to retrieve items from the car.  It was sad--Bob loved that car--it was 21 years old and only had 115,000 miles, and never had any mechanical troubles--got good mileage, too.  I'm safe, sore and bruised, but nothing broken. The scans did show some structural problems I didn't know about, which I'll check out with my doctor.

Update with photos:

  

Friday

  

 

Wednesday

Biden says Delta is "broken"

What a joke this man is. More people have died of Covid under Biden than under Trump. And he had the head start with the vaccines and months of research. More people have had Covid in the highest mitigation areas than in the mask free areas. HCQ and IVM have saved many lives despite Fauci's trashing them. Now they are hyping Omicron. The Left wing media are in full swing again, pumping up the sales from Big Pharma.

Catholics off the rails--the Pew Study and USCCB

John 6:66 "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him."  

 Bishop Robert Barron addresses the problem that 70% of Roman Catholics believe the real presence is symbolic.  This problem was also addressed at the recent gathering (November 15-18) of U.S. Bishops. Many had hoped there would be condemnation or at least mention of Catholic politicians who push abortion, support same sex marriage and gender confusion. That didn't happen. This speech is from 2020, and lays the ground work.

https://youtu.be/UzCPu_lEhe8

One-third of U.S. Catholics believe in transubstantiation | Pew Research Center

"BALTIMORE — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted overwhelmingly to approve a teaching document on the Eucharist Wednesday that caused a great deal of controversy in its June meeting due to concerns that its section on worthiness to receive Communion would be perceived as aimed at prominent pro-abortion Catholic politicians like U.S. President Joe Biden.

The document did include a section on worthiness to receive Communion, reminding the faithful that “if a Catholic in his or her personal or professional life were knowingly and obstinately to reject the defined doctrines of the Church, or knowingly and obstinately to repudiate her definitive teaching on moral issues” they “should refrain” from Communion, but contained no references to specific politicians. Compared to the three hours of heated debate its drafting spurred, there was only about a half-hour of comments from bishops before its passage by a vote of 222-8, with three abstentions."

It seems the document leaves it up to the local bishop, so Biden and Pelosi will continue to thumb their noses at the church and Jesus.

US Bishops Try to Keep Focus on Eucharist, Not Politicians, in New Document| National Catholic Register (ncregister.com)

The document "The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church" was developed by the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). It was approved by the full body of the USCCB at its November 2021 General Meeting and has been authorized for publication by the undersigned.

The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church | USCCB

The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church.pdf (usccb.org)

Should Biden get Communion given his abortion views? Catholics split by party | Pew Research Center

THOMAS AQUINAS - SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST - Quotes (crossroadsinitiative.com)

Spinal Health for Thanksgiving

Dr. Ken Hansraj, spinal surgeon 

1. Maintain good posture the entire time. Proper digestion only occurs when we are sitting up straight. Good posture is defined as ears aligned with the shoulders and the “angel wings,” or the shoulder blades, retracted. In proper alignment, spinal stress is diminished. Recent studies show that gastric emptying is significantly delayed in the supine position when compared to a sitting position.

Furthermore, “If you’re slouched over your plate, food cannot travel to the stomach in time for your body to tell your brain it’s getting full; it can take twice as long; thus, causing you to eat twice as much leaving you full and tired.

2. A brief family meditation for peace and happiness. Coming back together as a family means leaving many personal worlds of happiness, sadness and development behind. Take time out to honor and recognize this transition. Sit quietly together, hold hands and briefly recognize the personal worlds. Then state an intention to have a great family get together.

3. Deep Belly Breathing: Deep belly breathing helps with digestion of food by enhancing motion of the belly and its food contents. Deeper yet though it serves to improve the motion of the spinal segments, spinal cord and nerve roots, and it increases the cerebrospinal fluid motion and distribution. Deep breathing might also decrease the swelling of the deranged spine joints and the nerve roots causing less pain. Deep belly breathing in itself will help you to feel better.

Dr. Ken Says” A deep breath of clean fresh air is as soothing to the body as a large glass of cool water on a hot summer day” so place your hands on your belly and breathe deeply to feel your belly move. Repeat this all day.

4. Small bites and small breaks will allow you to enjoy a steady-paced meal without needing to slow down or stop eating entirely. Take small bites of the highly caloric sides like mashed potatoes, stuffing and cheesy casseroles, but load up your fork with Turkey and string beans. Take a 5-minute break between each helping to allow your stomach to catch up with your eyes.

5. Chat, “Take time out to engage in and enjoy the conversations around the table. When you are actively engaged and fully involved in a fulfilling conversation then you spend less time eating and more time feeling externally better. The craving for food and internal satisfaction diminishes” Ask each person how they are doing. Find out about their little inner workings in life. Your family will manifest happiness, and then you become happier leaving you with less of a desire to binge.

6. Savor your desserts. Use a demitasse spoon to eat. This spoon is diminutive, smaller than a teaspoon. Allow the dessert to sit on your tongue for a minute. Allow the two to 8 thousand taste buds on your tongue to delight in the vanilla or chocolate, cinnamon, and other contents. Feel the texture and temperature of each bite. Train your taste buds to enjoy and delight in the taste and textures. Otherwise you become involved in volume consumption. This is where you eat so much to feel that your belly is full.

Dr. Ken says, “Evening out the trajectory of a meal that can last 3-4 hours takes some purposeful technique. On average, it takes between 12-14 minutes for our bodies to recognize we’re full. Keeping this in mind, begin your dinner with small thoughtful fork-full and pay attention to your body’s signals. It will tell you when to take a break, so you can save room for dessert!

7. Mini Chair Exercises (bends and twists) help you keep your blood pumping and metabolism working. Bending to the right or left (as if you were picking up a fork you dropped) and sideways twists (like you’re greeting a guest behind you) are two small, but effective ways to help your body digest.

Dr. Ken says, “Small range-of-motion exercises help ensure your body’s digestive functions keep up with your food in-take and your blood pressure remains stable. This will help ward off headaches, cramps and gas at the dinner table.

8. After Dinner Walk. Schedule a family walk after dinner. Walking helps digestion of food and builds a togetherness of the tribe. It is a great family routine to build. People start to feel better because the spine joints and the spinal nerves start moving with walking. One of the fastest ways to develop back or neck pain is to remain stagnant. When the spine joints and the spinal nerves do not move, then they can cause pain.

Dr. Ken Hansraj is a New York based spinal surgeon who has dedicated more than 20 years of his life to helping people in every country improve their spinal health. Dr. Ken’s LIFT: Meditations to Boost Back Health releases January 1, 2022 wherever songs are sold.

How far is it to Bethlehem?

Start the day with a poem. "G.K. Chesterton’s beloved wife, Frances, had a special devotion to the Nativity. It was Frances, not Gilbert, who wrote the original poems for the Christmas cards they would send to their friends each year. Her lovely poem, “How Far Is It to Bethlehem?” has been set to music by several different composers."

How far is it to Bethlehem? Not very far.
Shall we find the stable room lit by a star?
Can we see the little child, is he within?
If we lift the wooden latch may we go in?
May we stroke the creatures there, ox, ass, or sheep?
May we peep like them and see Jesus asleep?
Great kings have precious gifts, and we have naught,
Little smiles and tears are all we brought.
For all weary children Mary must weep,
Then here, on his bed of straw, sleep, children, sleep.
God in his mother’s arms, babes in the byre,
They sleep as they sleep who find their heart’s desire.

The cost of Thanksgiving dinner

There's a lot of discussion about inflation and the cost of Thanksgiving dinner. Farm Bureau tracks this and my figures are from that website. The 2020 dinner for 10 was $46.90, a decrease from 2019 which was $48.91.

The 2021 dinner for 10 is $53.31, up 14% over 2020, which was the Covid year, and a decrease from 2019. However, the 2017 cost was $49.12, or 23.1% cheaper that 1986 ($63.87 in 2017 dollars).

I'm math challenged, so will some genius tell me if the 2021 dinner is cheaper than 1986? No matter how you slice it, it's still a good deal.

Greetings from the Lakeside Women's Club President

 Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much for which to be be thankful, not the least of which is Lakeside! Thank God that 4 Methodist ministers bought a square mile that we now know as Lakeside. We are so blessed to be able to come to "this little piece of heaven on earth" each summer and enjoy all it has to offer. Another blessing is all the wonderful women who make up the Lakeside Women's Club. Sometimes I am asked, "Why join the Lakeside Women's Club?" My answer would be that you can make the most amazing friendships, enjoy the wonderful educational programs, participate in the Bible Studies and Book Discussions, and access the library. You belong to a very special organization that gives to others by knitting blankets for the Salvation Army and sewing doll clothes for the Ronald McDonald Houses. The Lakeside Women's Club created a wonderful "Cottage Cooking" cookbook and held a Quilt Exposition for all to enjoy last summer. Next summer we hope to be able to have our annual Cottage Tour! Your LWC Board is meeting in December to approve our budget for 2022. Having sold almost 900 cookbooks, we are doing well financially now! We will be discussing how the Lakeside Women's Club can celebrate Lakeside's Sesquicentennial. If you have any ideas, please let us know. We want to make 2023 a special year!

In the meantime, we are planning for the 2022 Season. 

 The Afternoon Book Club has chosen:

Hamnet by Maggie O'Ferrell

A Single Thread by Tracey Clevalier

This Tender Land by William Kent Kriueger

The Paris Library by Janet Skelsien Charles

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

The Breakfast Book Club will be discussing:

The Stars are Fire by Anita Shreve

The Road to Bittersweet by Donna Everhart

Travel Light, Move Fast by Alexandra Fuller

The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris

The Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc by Mark Twain

I am reading my way through these lists of books so that I will be able to go to the discussions next summer. Frankly, my summers are so busy at Lakeside, I don't have a lot of time to read, so I try to read the book discussion books during the winter. Then I skim them right before the discussions.

The "Reading the Bible in a Year" group will be discussing: 2 Samuel, 2 Corinthians, 1 and 2 Kinds, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Psalms 42-66. Again, I read these "books" during the winter and take notes, so I will be able to join the discussion next summer. Jeri and Jane do a fabulous job leading those discussions!

Thank you all so much for contributing your various talents to make the Lakeside Women's Club such a wonderful organization. You all are a blessing to me and the Lakeside community!

Kyle Rittenhouse trial

Jurors deliberated for a total of 26 hours and found Rittenhouse not guilty on five counts including first-degree reckless homicide, two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment. Judge Bruce Schroeder had previously dismissed two additional counts related to his weapon.

Kyle Rittenhouse found not guilty on all counts in Kenosha trial | Fox News

My friend Bonnie, a retired police officer, posted this on Facebook:

For those saying justice was served, I strongly disagree.

We have a standard in this country that no one is charged without probable cause: facts or circumstances that would lead a reasonable person to believe a CRIME has been, or is going to be committed, and that the person being charged committed, or was going to commit, that crime.

These prosecutors went forward with charges knowing all evidence supported self defense. Self defense is not a crime. Justifiable homicide is not a crime. You do not take away the liberty of a citizen and make them prove their innocence and ruin them financially when you know from the evidence there was no crime committed. This one wasn’t even close. This was self defense on trial. And this was malicious prosecution.

I have many examples of self defense cases with far less threat to the person using that self defense, and no charges were brought. The law didn’t change in the past couple of years, no matter how many riots!
Justice will be served when prosecutors like these are disbarred!

Reading about the mother of 7 sons

This morning I was reading 2 Mac: 7:20-31 

"Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox use the Septuagint(s) as the source of their “Old Testament” … Hebrew Scriptures. –Roman Catholics accept/ include 1, 2 Maccabees –Most Eastern Orthodox accept/ include 1,2,3 Maccabees –Some Non-Chalcedonian churches (e.g., Coptic, Syriac) accept/ include 1,2,3,4 Maccabees Protestants generally use the Palestinian Canon as the source of their “Old Testament” … Hebrew Scriptures. –The 39 books of the Protestant “Old Testament” represent the 24 books of the Hebrew Scriptures."  The Protestant Bible doesn't include this book or story.  It's gruesome, but the mother's heart and courage are wonderful.  (1603-602-OLLIMacc1HO.pdf (gmu.edu)

22 I do not know how you came into being in my womb. It was not I who gave you life and breath, nor I who set in order the elements within each of you. 23 Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning of humankind and devised the origin of all things, will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again, since you now forget yourselves for the sake of his laws.” (2 Mac. 7:22–23; NRSV)

Christ has no body but yours

Christ has no body but yours

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.

Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)

Steve Bannon in hand cuffs and shackles

Steve Bannon is put in shackles for a misdemeanor charge--which Obama's buddy Eric Holder ignored when he was charged with contempt of Congress. It's a much more serious offense to be a friend of Trump than Obama. The media really needs to get Trump back in the news in order to shore up their sinking profits. I briefly looked back about 40 years and it only seems to affect Republicans. Democrats just thumb their noses, and we all know what stern taskmasters the Republicans are.

Bannon indictment defies history of Congress' contempt power (wsls.com)

A doctor's advice on monoclonal antibody infusion for Covid

"To all my friends who are over 65 and those with high-risk health conditions, including hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, kidney disease, and/or BMI>25. If you test positive for Covid, call your doctor immediately, even if you don't feel like you have a severe case. Ask your doctor to refer you for a monoclonal antibody infusion. It is a one-hour intravenous infusion, one time only, given in the ER or in an outpatient infusion center. It must be given in the first 10 days after symptoms develop, and cannot be given once your oxygen levels drop or you become sick enough to be admitted to the hospital. It will decrease your risk of hospitalization or death by at least 75%. Likewise, if you are high risk and someone in your household tests positive, a monoclonal antibody infusion can protect you from getting the disease. It's crazy how many people I am encountering who have no idea that this is available. The current administration has barely mentioned the one treatment that can actually HELP SAVE LIVES, so please spread the word! 

The Biden Administration is doing a horrible job of publicizing a lifesaving treatment. Among the several doctors I know, I have not heard a single one report that this treatment made things worse or did not make things better. Obviously, since it does not prevent hospitalization or death 100%, there must be some cases where it did not help, but I have not heard of any."

Houston Methodist: "Monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapy, also called monoclonal antibody infusion treatment, is a way of treating COVID-19. The goal of this therapy is to help prevent hospitalizations, reduce viral loads and lessen symptom severity.

This type of therapy relies on monoclonal antibodies. These are antibodies that are similar to the ones your body would naturally make in response to infection. However, monoclonal antibodies are mass-produced in a laboratory and are designed to recognize a specific component of this virus — the spike protein on its outer shell.

By targeting the spike protein, these specific antibodies interfere with the virus' ability to attach and gain entry into human cells. They give the immune system a leg up until it can mount its own response.

This therapy can be extremely effective, but it's not a replacement for vaccination. The community still needs to step up and get vaccinated to break the virus' chain of transmission."What Is Monoclonal Antibody Therapy & Who Is Eligible to Receive It? | Houston Methodist On Health

Monoclonal antibody infusion Ohio Health locations
for central Ohio

OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital
335 Glessner Ave
Mansfield, OH 44903

OhioHealth Marion Infusion Services
1000 McKinley Park Dr
Marion, OH 43302

OhioHealth Hardin Memorial Hospital
921 E Franklin St
Kenton, OH 43326

OhioHealth at Home Infusion Center
800 McConnell Dr
Columbus, OH 43214

OhioHealth Grant Medical Center
290 East Town St
Columbus, OH 43215

OhioHealth O'Bleness Hospital
30 Herrold Ave
Athens, OH 45701

OhioHealth Grove City Methodist Hospital
1375 Stringtown Rd
Grove City, OH 43123

OhioHealth Westerville Medical Campus
260 Polaris Parkway
Westerville, OH 43082

OhioHealth Lewis Center Health Center
7853 Pacer Dr
Delaware, OH 43015

J.D. Vance campaign for senate

I've heard the anti-JD Vance political ads using his comments about Trump during the 2016 election. Hey, my comments about Trump during the primaries when I supported Cruz were just the same as his. Trump's accomplishments in 4 years turned me around. Also Glenn Beck was a huge critic as was Dennis Prager--before they saw the results. Read about the Walk Away movement--thousands of Democrats are now awake to Marxism, not woke loving it. Or, look at Biden's accomplishments since January 20. He's turned the U.S. into the nation that runs, the nation that gave up energy independence to return to begging OPEC, the nation that has no borders and wants to reward illegal behavior, and the nation of weak citizens who submit to government mandates about children that aren't necessary. What Biden has "accomplished" in 10 months is frightening, and both parties in Congress have enabled it.

 Vance is the author of the best selling Hillbilly Elegy.  Issues - JD Vance for Senate Inc.   From here on out, you'll probably not be able to believe anything you hear about Vance--either because there are probably 5 other candidates who will only talk trash and because of the Left because he's an American success story and they hate that.

"J.D. Vance’s life was rife with drug abuse, childhood trauma, and self-destruction. For example, his mother was a drug addict, his community was falling apart spiritually and financially, and he had a distant relationship with his father. Although his grandparents were a light in his life, they too were abusive, flawed, and broken people.

Despite his upbringing, J.D. broke the cycle of violence and abuse. He joined the military, settled down, grappled with his trauma, and achieved financial success. As with all remarkable individuals, he overcame the hell he was borne into. Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance | The Five Powerful Lessons I Learned (becomeanindividual.com)"  This review is overly dramatic--read the book.  He was fortunate to have the love of his grandparents and some good mentors along the way.  The military service was a turn around for him.

Also read my blog about Vance from 2017. Collecting My Thoughts: Family support vs. public policy

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month--Veterans' Day

As we were driving back from the lake today, I apologized to my husband for telling him a story I've told many times. When I finished he said he'd never heard it. Here it is from my blog, November 11, 2009:

"I didn't hear about WWI memories [from my parents] until sometime in the early 1990s. I had interviewed my father for an oral history to include in a family recipe collection for a reunion of the descendants of his parents who had died in 1983. I had interviewed my mother about her parents' personal library for two articles I wrote. Both recalled in their 80s the first Armistice Day (now called Veterans' Day) even though they were 5 and 6 years old. I imagine they listened in on adult conversations and caught the fear and dread that gripped their communities. My mother's father who was 44 was registered for the draft. And although I haven't seen the record, I would assume my father's father, who was a much younger man (25), did too.

There were no radios or television, and newspapers would have been too slow. So the plan was to ring bells when word came to the nearest town that the armistice had been signed. The church bells would be rung; then each farmer would begin to ring the bells they used on the farm; then the next farmer a few miles further away would hear and begin ringing his bells. Both my parents had exactly the same memory of that first Armistice Day--hearing bells tolling throughout the countryside from all sides. The war was over."

First they came for Mike Flynn

November 5, 2021
First they came for Mike Flynn, but I said nothing...(at American Thinker)
By Andrew W. Coy

– They came after President Trump, but I said nothing because I did not like his tweets.
– They came after the J-6 protesters who have been locked up as political prisoners, but I said nothing because they seemed a little too "unwashed."
– They came after the Founding Fathers, but I said nothing because they're from an age a very long time ago.
– They came after soccer moms at school board meetings, but I said nothing because my kids are already out of school.
– They came after MAGA Nation, but I said nothing because I considered myself a college-educated moderate.
– They came after the Christians/constitutionalists/conservatives in the military, but I said nothing because I never served in uniform.
– They came after the citizens who carry 2A, but I said nothing because guns scare me.
– They came after the police, but I said nothing because none of my family wears blue.
– They came after the EMS/firefighters/nurses, but I said nothing because I was already vaccinated.
– They came after Christian white heterosexual men, but I said nothing because I'm not a Christian white heterosexual man.
– They came after the Evangelicals, but I said nothing because I don't think of myself as that devout.
– They came after Israel's right to exist, but I said nothing because I'm not Jewish.
– They came after the patriots who said the 2020 election was stolen, but I said nothing because I was scared and intimidated.
– They came after writers, authors, .coms, but I said nothing because I don't read negative news that much anymore.
– They came after the blue-collar workers who actually make things and build things, but I said nothing because the slave-labor goods from China were cheaper.
– They came after the farmers, but I said nothing because I thought "climate change" was real.
– They came after Steve Bannon, Mike Flynn, and Roger Stone, but I said nothing because they can afford their own attorneys.
They came after Governor DeSantis, but I said nothing because I live in Michigan.
– They came after Tucker Carlson, but I said nothing because I don't watch FOX News anymore.
– They came after Coach Jon Gruden, but I said nothing because I don't watch the NFL anymore.
– They came after the unvaccinated, but I said nothing because I had already taken the vaccine (but really a therapeutic).
– They came after the pastors, the priests, and the rabbis (they came after God ), but I still said nothing. Nothing at all. Not one word.

Now they are coming after me. But there's no one left to speak for me, fight for me, and stand with me. I wish I had stood up, spoken up, and fought when this all first started. Now it's too late. Some lessons of history we never learn. Or we learn too late, again.

I've used most of these "best words," saving for later

 And lately I use Thingamyjig and Whatchamacallit a lot.  Useful at my age. Don't believe I've ever used skewwiff--meaning askew.

Our Twentieth Anniversary of the fall condo meeting

 Last night the residents of our condo association had its fall business meeting.  It was our 20th anniversary of our first business meeting with our new neighbors (complex of 30 units was built in mid- to late 70s). That first meeting was in the Fishinger Road school and was a potluck.  Some of the people I remember meeting that night who are no longer with us or have moved to a retirement community are Tom Fitzpatrick (and wife), Ohmer and Pat Crowell, Barbara Stradley, Mary and Dan Dunbar, Tom and Judy Wessel, Mac and Marilyn Campbell, Dick Smith, Herb and Ruth Abrams, Kate Haddox, Bill and Jean Baskwell, the Herrolds, Al Gallucci, Dee Cole and her parents.  On September 11, 2001, we all remember what happened, so the bottom also fell out of the real estate market, and our home on Abington was not moving.  We were about to put the condo up for sale, and take our chances.  Fortunately, at Christmas, the daughter and son-in-law of one of the realtors who had shown our home, made and offer, and in January 2002 we were able to move.

This past year, 2021, there were significant changes and repairs--the roofs were replaced with a black shingle (also replaced the first year we were here, so apparently something wasn't done right), the shutters were removed, cleaned, painted and replaced (at about half the cost of buying new), downspouts were replaced, new solar attic fans were installed to replace the old ones, and that all went with the color scheme of the new garage doors that were replaced in 2020. Other years we had all the driveways and the street replaced, or the stone wall along the creek replaced (needs another repair--perhaps next year).  Trees are a huge asset, but a huge cost to maintain to keep them healthy. The refurbishing and new roofs cost about $350,000, and each owner was assessed a share based on their percentage figure.  Some condo associations use an annual upkeep fund where each owner pays in to cover repairs, but ours uses an assessment system. Both systems are legal in Ohio and each year we have to vote to continue our choice.  Most of our neighbors would rather keep their money in investments rather than lose it if they move after 5 years of contributing to the fund if they move out. With our new roofs, clean and painted shutters, new garage doors, and some very close attention by our landscape committee, the place is looking very good.