Evaluating a President: Schlesinger’s ‘Bully Pulpit’

As we sat drinking our coffee this morning and discussing the rapidly shifting political landscape that is America today, my wife and I - again - moaned for the stability of an earlier era. No, NOT the #MAGA fantasy concept, but a real-time in history, when the leaders and the government and the citizens all...

It’s THAT time of year again!

Happy Halloween!! (or All Saints Day or All Hallows Eve or...whatever!) This morning, as we sipped our Pumpkin Spice coffees, my wife and I reminisced about our 'weens past - back in those good ol' days. Like the year she was the costume prize winner in her class for her Old Lady outfit - a mom's creation straight from...

Whatever happened to ‘We BOTH win’?

I'm sitting in the coffee shop part of a major department store typing this post while my wife shops. We have different shopping habits, so she prefers to come here together and leave together but not SHOP together. And I'm okay with that. It gives me time to post, or read, or research. We both...

Americans – a decaying symbol?

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com I was on Twitter today. Watching and reading the tweets that dominate the Twitter-verse was a SCARY experience! (And they had nothing to do with Halloween!) GOOD GRIEF! Tweets filled with invectives, accusations, warnings of violence, and words of intolerance all spewed from that endless, rolling page. All of them...

The Universe of Thought

Photo by Zun Zun on Pexels.com I love history. And politics. And literature. And...etc. In other words, I love immersing myself in other people's words. The flow of them, the poetry of them, the viewpoint and wisdom each writer offers with them. I just LOVE learning - period. If I want to take a trip,...

Life With My Wife

Life With... is a stock-sort of title beginning, but this post is about a special aspect of Life With that gives meaning to the whole Life With My Wife concept. Let me explain. Yesterday, while we were watching our favorite college football team win their game, I watched my wife cheer a breakaway run. She...

Where did the U.S. of us go?

We talked today - my wife and I - while we slowly sipped our coffees - savoring the taste, the smell, the camaraderie of a ritual, and the warmth of it all. Togetherness - regardless. Commonalities shared and differences respected. The inside of who we are, not the facade of who we wish. US. But...

Is our government taking away our ‘Freedom of Speech’?

My wife and I watched the Bret Kavanaugh hearings on television - as did a large portion of America and the world. In our Capitol Building - where some of history's greatest orators, legislators, presidents, and world leaders have trod - where some of history's greatest moments have happened - Donald Trump and his circus...

My Grandfather and Trump – 2 peas in a pod

  Back in August, my wife and I read this Donald Trump tweet: "When you give a crazed, crying lowlife a break, and give her a job at the White House, I guess it just didn't work out. Good work by General Kelly for quickly firing that dog!" [1] The person about whom Trump tweeted...

The many hues of ‘Autumn’

Walking hand-in-hand that chilly evening, a gentle rain pattering lightly on the umbrella, my wife and I enjoyed the return of Fall. The reflection of the street lamps on the damp pavement ahead of us and the rustling sound of the fallen leaves beneath our shoes evoked warm 'Remember when...' moments as we strolled. Autumn...

Our future, according to Abraham Lincoln, is in jeopardy – For real?

Today, after wrestling with this topic for months, I've decided to talk about it with all of you. First of all, I am a historian by profession. I began reading history books when I was eight or nine years old. (I'm long past retirement now.) My knowledge of history is broad enough to know that...

How to use a buffalo as your “hook”

"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." THAT is a complete and grammatically correct sentence! Can anyone explain what it means? First, some questions for the reader: Did that sentence influence you to read more of this post?" If the answer is yes, Why did it work?  Whether you were actively trying to solve it, or just curious to see...

Truly a blessing

We were enjoying our Sunday a.m. coffees and politics at the kitchen table when my wife laughed. I love her laugh. I'm deaf so I can't hear the sound of her laughter. But her face, that's a different matter. She literally lights up! Her blue eyes sparkle. Her joy and the love and the passion for...

Mustard Gas – a 1918 Story

Before going 'Over There' Members of the 69th NY Infantry Reg't (1917) The perpetrators of the horrible gas attacks in Syria, if the attacks are true, should be dealt with swiftly and harshly - not the country - the decision-makers and the perpetrators. This is a "hot-button" issue with me, and has been for many...

Mainstream – A daily prompt

Mainstream - a central, an average, a 'like everyone else' word. A boring word - it identifies sameness, not individuality. It predicts; it classifies; it channels. Mainstream - a popular word. Food for thought. Mac  

It was just a few months ago…

I looked in the mirror this morning, and I was shocked to see that old man looking back at me! I'm not that old! I swear, it was just a few months ago... ...I was walking to third grade in the gentle April rain. Just a month, ago I was looking forward to my 11th...

The perfect story of heart, art, and humanity

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com My dad was a perfectionist. I say that with pride because his perfectionism was never used as a mark of evaluation for others. It was his goal for self-evaluation. My Dad could design, fix or build anything. In combination with his sense of perfection and a creative flair, he was...

Daily prompt – Applaud

Applaud is a terrible word. We use it and do it unaware. With it, (written or action), we evaluate (good or bad); we consign acceptance (the degree of our approval); we create a false sense of worth. Applaud (think Donald Trump).

She was

She was crying for days gone by. She was crying for memories fled the march of time. She was crying for the micro moments of love in her world's collage. She was crying as Life reached out and said... Good-bye.

Reluctance – A Daily Prompt (with thanks to writingiswonderful )

Reluctance that reason for time misspent, for dreams unmet, for love gone by. Reluctance that feeling of confusion, of condescension, of inadequacy, Reluctance that word meaning loss.   Food for thought. Mac    

A Flag Day Story

In light of the Trump tantrums with the NFL, here's an odd flag day story.  Because it was the 'Sixties', and those were the times, I once asked a group of veterans, during a lunch break as we all sat on a river barge we were unloading, how they felt when someone sat or raised...

Views of our Fathers’ – a political perspective from the past

Over our morning mugs of coffee, my wife and I broke from our usual news readings and waxed nostalgic...sort of. The topic was a current (and ubiquitous) one, but our nostalgia helped frame a political perspective about that topic. A perspective from the past. I should say views. Three of them to be precise. My...

Retrospective – a look backward to see forward

via Daily Prompt: Retrospective The past is who we are in the present - reactionary present, imitative present, or a combination of both.But an 'I am just me' present? Nope. Can't happen. One way or the other, we ARE a product of our past. Strive to be unlike your parent(s)? Cook something a grandparent cooked?...

A Memorial Day reminder

WWI & WWII American Cemetery in Ardennes area of Belgium Memorial Day is about war - about the ones who left and didn't come home - usually. That's fitting. But really, this day memorializes much more than that. "...His comrade leans over and strives to rouse him. He shouts ‘Charlie! Charlie!’ But the words fall...

The bee and me

We had a bee in the house today. Not a spelling one or a quilting one, and it was not a songster Gees. Just a regular ol' buzzing bee. We were in our recliners in the front room, drinking our morning coffees and perusing our tablets. My wife was the first to notice it...I assume she...

Awkward

Awkward...those indescribable moments that only 'Awkward' explains perfectly. Food for thought. Mac  

A bubble of us

via Daily Prompt: Bubble What's in a word? That question is not as silly as it reads. In fact, it's actually quite a profound statement. Shift the emphasis a bit to the front end of the question: "What's IN a word?" That change in perspective opens the curtain on a panorama of ingredients that go...

‘What does that quote mean to you?’

via Daily Prompt: Mentor I walked into Ancient Medieval History class that first day, and I was struck by two things - the arrangement of the desks (a semicircle) and a quote on the board. My first thought: Different! My first instinct: I'm going to like THIS class. As you know, high school students think...

And So Is Death

via Daily Prompt: Abrupt I was abrupt today. I hate that word. It means I didn't take the time. And I didn't. I know it, and she felt it. I could see the hurt dim her lovely smile. It was just a moment. Over our coffee. She said, and I answered - too anxious to...

Earth Day?

Happy Earth Day! My wife and I were sipping our coffee and reading our news this morning, when she looked up at me and said "Happy Earth Day!" It astounded me!Not because my wife said it - she always remembers to remember things like that - one of the myriad reasons I love her. No, the surprise...

Fret

via Daily Prompt: Fret Fret - that feeling about Love Life Being Career Money Addiction Fret - that feeling about power. Remember, it's a feeling; it's not the answer. Food for thought. Mac

The Anniversary of a Shooting

Today, April 14, is the anniversary of a shooting at a theatre 153 years ago. Two people were injured and the shooter escaped. If you read it that way, it doesn't sound so bad does it? But the rest of that story is fraught with death and violence, with revenge and despair, with agony and...

‘I Said a Prayer for You Today’

There was an elderly gentleman who, for many years, sat in the lobby of the hospital where my wife worked. Every day, weather permitting, he made the trek from the nearby home for the elderly where he lived to the hospital. Finding a strategic chair in the lobby so he could see all the passers-by,...

A ‘Community of Families’ – The Unique Tapestry of American-ism

Today, my wife and I, over our morning coffees, tried to solve a math problem my wife's sister and brother-in-law sent us, via snapchat, to puzzle over. As we were sipping our coffees, debating our different approaches to solving it (and the final answer), I was suddenly struck by the American-ism of it all. Us - my...

Daily Prompt: Warning: Intense weather ahead!

via Daily Prompt: Warning Warning: Intense weather ahead! This warning is rarely understood in its conceptual sense or in its figurative sense. We all know the meaning of each word - warning, intense, weather, ahead - singly. But we fail to understand them together conceptually...or figuratively. I mean we do....but we really don't. Do I seem confused? Is my message...

Micro…Life

via Daily Prompt: Micro When I see Micro...I thought ...LIFE Life starts in micro - the eggs and the sperm. Then we micro-lifes are born as those true - (or so not) - micro reflections of others' lifes. And all around, as we grow up and into our Life, micro-life determines our flavors and colors and it lives in our health and...

Tomorrow’s Promise…A Reflection

My wife and I are well-educated. Our blogs and posts are a manifestation of our education. Our writing is a product. Education made us thinkers - people who question - individuals with a like-minded view that learning never stops - with perspectives that can't be set in cement because, like the world, we don't know...

Five Easy Steps To a LOUDER Voice: Political Advice from a Deaf Man

Headline: "Thousands in Washington D.C. for #MarchForOurLives!" My wife and I were delighted to see our young Americans standing up for their safety. We clinked our coffee cups in salutation and solidarity with them. Will the reason for these marches and school walkouts be heard after the passion passes? My wife and I pray that...

Musings on a Snowy Day in March

As we sit here drinking our coffees and reading our politics, the snow is swirling outside - heavily swirling. Reads like the opening line in a December or January post doesn't it? It's March 22 - (one month from Earth Day), and this is the fourth "heavy snow" or nor'easter of 2018. Yep, fourth in three...

A Familiar Story

One day, a little Cherokee boy living on Ward Creek (now northeastern Georgia) in 1828 sold a small rock he had to a curious European-American trader. The rock was a nugget of gold. The following year, President Andrew Jackson asked the Congress, in his First Address to them, to help the "savage." As he put...

#NationalWomensHistoryMonth – My Reflections

The life-stories of my grandmother, my mother, my mother-in-law, and my wife were all different - but singularly, they were the same. After reflecting and sharing the life-stories of these women in my history, I now see their different untaught lessons were not untaught; they were actually unlearned. And so must be the case with...

To Trump’s Wall – An Ode

An Ode to Trump's Wall (With appropriate apologies to Shelley and HIS Ozymandias.) I met a traveller from America Who said: "A vast and crumbling wall of stone Stands in the desert. Near it on the sand, Half sunk, a poster image lies, whose frown And pouty lips and hair of odd design Tell that its...

My Wife – My Life

The title basically says it all for me. But the subtlety of that is lost on all of you. (Rather condescending statement on my part isn't it?) But it's true. My wife is blessed with intelligence, wit, health, charm, tech savvy, beauty, a love of reading, and a love and talent for music - blessings and...

My Mother-In-Law – A Woman of Character

"And just what are your intentions in regard to my daughter?" she asked. Now THAT floored me. What a question to lay on a guy the first time we meet! But that's my mother-in-law - blunt, no-nonsense, an up-in-your-face style - and with a smile. Plus, she's a foot shorter than I am! I almost...

From My Mom – The Wings to Fly

My mother's life-direction was a different vein. She was brilliant, capable, able to master anything academic and see real-world applications. Armed with only a high school diploma, she went to work for a legal firm taking shorthand as a legal secretary. After two years, the law firm offered her the chance to go to law...

My Grandmother – A Lesson in Perception

  My grandmother was a Native American woman - a full-blooded Cherokee by tribe, but white by subterfuge. A little U.S. history is necessary to understand that comment. Originally, my grandmother's grandparents were part of the forced Indian Removal Act signed by President Andrew Jackson in 1830. The Act called for the removal of five...

On International Women’s Day – The Series of Tributes to Come

We (as a People) sometimes forget the past and the oftentimes benign lessons that sit back there, untaught and, therefore, unlearned by the future. As I sit here contemplating the significance of International Women's Day and Women's History month, I can't help it but be reminded of all the women in my life whose dreams...

A Cup of Coffee – A Sip of Life

Thank the Heavens above for coffee! My wife and I sincerely enjoy the smell of it brewing and the nectar of that first sip. They signal, for us, love, comfort, and an intimate daily ritual.  These acts also represent the portal through which, together, we pass to face the world of yesterday, today, and the harbingers...

‘America First’ Tariffs? Is He Nuts?

Yesterday, we were enjoying our coffee when my wife suddenly stopped her cup in mid-air. Mutely, she handed me her tablet.The headline read: "Trump announces steel and aluminum tariffs Thursday over objections from advisers and Republicans." [1] His own aides were stunned, the article revealed. My wife and I, too, were 'stunned' as the article...

Don’t We Have the RIGHT to LIFE?

It's already the last day of February! Where does time go? During our coffee time this morning, my wife and I commiserated on our sense that life is but blink. Life, for each of us, flows at a pace individual to each of us. But at least we are gifted with the opportunity to live it. However, that opportunity...

‘…nor build an impassable wall…’

My wife and I continue to object to the government's tax money being spent for that ridiculous wall that Trump keeps trumpeting.Over coffee, we challenged one another to come up with examples of literature or history that place the Trump "wall" in its proper perspective - idiotic. We then narrowed our choices to these two...

Do We Look or Do We See?

Do we look, or do we see? Confusing isn't it? Let me explain. Today, I had an appointment with our ophthalmologist. My wife and I always enjoy going to his office because we enjoy the people who work there - plus, we think he's outstanding doctor. And no, this is NOT about my eye exam results! But...

Is Capetown the Beginning?

Our Friday article, Human Behavior and Climate Change: A Warning, has an unfortunate but timely follow-up. My wife pointed it out in the Sunday edition of The Washington Post, as we enjoyed our morning coffee from our Keurig machine (you know the one - fill with water, put in a pod of your fav flavor of caffeine, and smell...

Human Behavior and Climate Change: A Warning

Notice the up and down weather lately? Warm here, cold there, snowed in L.A., etc.? Yesterday, my wife and I enjoyed 70 degree weather in the northeast as we shopped for our groceries in short-sleeves. I actually broke out in a sweat carrying in the myriad sacks - (believe me...there were LOTS of sacks!!)Over our...

Why is “Acting Presidential” STILL a Question?

My wife and I watched the "State of the Union" farce January 30th (2018). As we were drinking our coffee this morning, we kept bumping into constant references to Trump's behavior/words during the speech and his current tweets/actions regarding Parkland, Florida. The reporters and interviewees on many conservative sites referred, with glee, to how "presidential"...

Illogical 2nd Amendment “Logic”

My wife and I are DISGUSTED with the namby-pamby actions of our Congress and Trump regarding the "mass extinction" attempts that keep happening here in AMERICA! You know the - 'Alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears' - AMERICA! "Mass extinction" is, of course, our euphemism for the Las Vegas massacre, for all the school...

The Changing Face of America

Based on the last several posts on Coffee with My Blog, it should be obvious that my wife and I are becoming increasingly worried about America. We're concerned that the degree of changing attitudes and behaviors our fellow citizens are displaying signals a change to what might be called the 'Face of America.' This is NOT...

Security Briefings for Dummies – A Different Perspective

You know, I’m, like, a smart person,” Trump said in a “Fox News Sunday” interview in December 2016. “I don’t have to be told the same thing and the same words every single day for the next eight years. It could be eight years — but eight years. I don’t need that.” [1] It was...

Never Mind SAYING Merry Christmas, BE Merry Christmas

We hope that December 25th was a good day for everyone. We enjoyed a nice dinner at the home of one of our children. The power was intermittent - sowing some frustration in the kitchen - however, the food was good, and the present exchange was fun. But that isn't the reason for this post....