NOW IS THE TIME TO GET GROUNDED

I don’t  suppose there’s a person who owns  an iphone or computer who hasn’t heard of Hollywood stars, Amber Heard and Johnny Depp.  The details of their toxic marriage and months-long mutual defamation trial has attracted more viewers than any other news story.  In a way, I can understand it.  In the wake of the bloody Ukraine War and tragic school shootings, we’re all looking for some comic relief.   After awhile, bombings and shootings and domestic abuse begin to seem the stuff of normal life.  But they’re not.  Now is the time to get grounded, before we go crazy, wondering where we fit into this manic world.

NOW IS THE TIME TO GET GROUNDED by shopping at a farm and home store.
NOW IS THE TIME TO GET GROUNDED. Shopping at a farm store brings you back down to earth.

You won’t find peace of mind by watching television news  shows.  We used to be news junkies, but now we find something else to do between six and seven in the evening.  We know the war in Ukraine is veering toward World War III.  That’s been made very clear for months on end.  But there is really nothing that we can do to change the situation in a significant way.  We can send money to help the refugees, and support our government’s effort to provide aid, but at our age, we can’t go galavanting off to volunteer with organizations like the Red Cross.

If you have ever lost a loved one to violence , there is only so much you can take when watching videos of school shootings.  You know too well that empty, hollow feeling of having lost a a son, daughter, father, brother or mother to a senseless crime. .  You wonder how much worse it will get for future generations.

Many people find peace of mind in nature.  But hiking alone in the wilderness can sometimes bring on feelings of unreality.  You can run away from sorrow, but you can’t escape it.

You can go to rock concerts and see pumped up musicians screaming their hearts out and jumping around on a stage.  But when it’s over, it’s over.  The next day you  feel exhausted or hungover.

Strangely enough, I feel most calm when  shopping at a farm and home store. The parking lot is full of pick up trucks.  There’s an earthy smell when you walk in the door.  Nobody is wearing designer clothes and you’ll seldom see a woman with false eyelashes.   In our local Rural King, folks can even bring along their dogs.  Their purchases are pretty down to earth.  Fertilizer? Blue jeans?  Car Batteries? Baby chicks?   Welcome to the crowd.

NOW IS THE TIME TO GET GROUNDED AND SEE THE BABY CHICKS AT RURAL KING.
NOW IS THE TIME TO GET GROUNDED. Buy some baby chickens at a farm store.

At the checkout, you can observe what people are buying and imagine how they’re going to spend their time today—painting,  planting, or working on their farm equipment. You’re with ordinary people who know there’s a war in Ukraine, and that schools are no longer safe. But they just keep moving on– growing food, planting flowers, raising animals,  and hoping that better days are ahead.

Now is the time to get grounded.

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS IN UKRAINE

Ernest Hemingway may have written the novel, but the title of his book was not original. It was written in 1624 by the poet, John Donne, who had fought in the Anglo Spanish War, and knew full the price of life and the horrors of war. Hemingway’s book was written about his fighting as a volunteer during  the Spanish Civil War.    Nationalist Franco finally prevailed in l939, after a bloody three year war against the opposing Republicans.   The war itself, bears many  similarities to the current war in Ukraine, where a fascist bully seeks to control freedom loving people.   Now, we might ask the same question as John Donne.  For Whom Does the Bell Toll in Ukraine?

For Whom Does the Bell Toll in Ukraine? No man is an island.
FOR WHOM DOES THE BELL TOLL IN UKRAINE? No man is an island, and each man’s death diminishes us all.

Franco lasted 30 years as a dictator—much longer than his pals Mussolini and Hitler after World War II. But good finally won out over evil after his death in 1974, when Juan Carlos was made king and established a democracy in that country.

Putin has been in power in Russia for 24 years.  While his war against Ukraine seems far away, none of us can ignore the atrocities the Russians are committing against the innocent people there.  No man is an island.  The murder and torture  of Ukrainians diminishes all of mankind, even here in the United States of America.  How long will the War between Russia and Ukraine continue, and when will good  triumph over evil? Unfortunately, it may take longer than we think.  And it may eventually lead to World War III.

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS

by John Donne

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

FOR WHOM DOES THE BELL TOLL IN UKRAINE?

 

BIDEN’S SELF FULFILLING PROPHECIES

Biden hadn’t been in office more than a couple of weeks when his pessimistic predictions began. “The virus is going to get worse before it gets better,” he said on Jan 21, 2021.  Sure enough, it did. One year later, he announced he would be sending out free virus testing kits and N29 respirator/ masks to all Americans.  They arrived here in our town around the 2nd week in March, 2022. By then,  new cases had plummeted, so the costly distribution of  kits and masks were no longer needed.  Biden’s passive,  self fulfilling prophecies fail the American public.

Biden's self fulfilling prophecies don't help.
BIDEN’S SELF FULFILLING PROPHOCIES are pessimistic and unproductive.

On August 18, 2021  he stated that “chaos was inevitable in the withdrawal from Afghanistan.”  He surely was right about that. Especially when he pulled the plug so quickly that thousands of Afghans  and numerous American service men lost their lives. . Just a little bit of foresight, and a gradual withdrawal, would have made all the difference.

In February, 2022,  Biden said inflation was going to get worse.  He was right. It has.  He also predicted it would taper off soon.  It hasn’t.  Why would it, when so many people in America received stimulus checks they didn’t really need? And even for those who did need the money,  it paid them more to stay home than to go back to work.  Printing unearned money  can only be paid back in one way: inflation.

He also predicted Russia would invade Ukraine.  It did, especially after he showed his hand and promised that no US troops would ever be on the ground there. He continues to encourage the Russian aggression by assuring them there will never be a NATO supported  no fly zone over Ukraine.  Is that how you play poker?

On March 9, he predicted gas prices would rise.   They have. Like about 58%.  I guess he thinks that’s okay because after all “I told you so.”  That’s not good enough.  How about doing something to increase oil production here in the US. What about fossil fuels to the rescue? Why not wait until we’re back on our feet before pursuing “clean energy.”

Three days ago, on March 25, he announced , ‘there are going to be food shortages.”  Going to be?  Like, we don’t already have food shortages?  How many of you have tried to buy saltine crackers, canned soups, and hundreds of other items, only to be greeted with empty shelves?   But now, it’s apparently going to be OK, because Biden  gave us a heads up.  So how will consumers react to that last warning?  For those who can afford it, they will stock up on anything that will keep: flour coffee, meat, baby formula, just to name a few.  All of which will drive up demand and increase prices even more.

I don’t understand how the Biden Administration’s dire warnings are doing much of anything to solve  problems.  A pessimistic, passive approach is not what America needs right now.  We need a leader who not only foresees the problems , but figures out how to keep them from getting worse.

LETTER FROM POLAND

We have a neighbor whose son lives in Poland.  He is a successful businessman who was in the process of opening a Bed and Breakfast.  Instead, he has welcomed three families into that facility.  After hearing about his efforts to help the refugees from Ukraine, we sent a contribution to his website.  You can do the same by clicking on https://naklofoundation.org/donate/

I’m taking the liberty of sharing his letter here on my blog with the hope that it will inspire others to contribute.

 

Tue, Mar 15, 2022 10:42 p

Dear Lucia:

The money arrived. Very kind of you and so much appreciated.

Your generosity is helping us to establish some sort of normalcy for women and children from three families from the Kolomyja area in the western part of the country who are our current guests.

The response has been overwhelming, with more than 230 friends, and friends of friends from 31 U.S. states and nine countries having contributed. Former colleagues from newspapers that litter my professional trail, old high school chums, friends from the hemp industry and several fellow innkeepers are among those who have so kindly responded.

Many people have asked me why we’re sheltering refugees.

First, Marzenna, my wife, was a refugee from communist Poland in the 1980s. She and her brother were hosted by a lovely German family for nearly two years after they defected but before they were cleared for passage to the USA. She knows the feeling of being untethered from your home country, and is forever grateful to those German hosts. So it’s a way of moral repayment for her. (As our guests have always agreed, she is the most caring hostess.)

From a very practical point of view, we are set up as a hospitality destination, which we had prepared for reopening this summer as the covid pandemic dies down. We are doing it because we can. I like to think most people in our position would do the same. If you’ve seen the news reports, you know that many Poles are. More than 1 million Ukrainian refugees have now entered through Poland’s eastern border with Ukraine. As I write, they continue to be welcomed as they cross the border and as they arrive at cities and towns all over the country. For now, virtually all of those who have found shelter have found it in private homes and apartments.

As the Polish government goes about establishing emergency programs that will provide some funding, allow Ukrainian refugees to take jobs and clear other bureaucratic hurdles, the desperately needed immediate support has so far come from regular citizens, volunteers, NGOs and local units of government. Our local parish has been highly effective in assisting those who have arrived in our area.

Letter from poland
LETTER FROM POLAND: You can help the Naklo Foundation @ https://naklofoundation.org/donate/

You’ll see Liliana, at age 7-months now the youngest member of our household, in the photo attached. She brings a welcome lightness when we all gather at mealtime. Thank you for helping Liliana and all other guests from Ukraine who may pass our way.

With warmest regards,

Kehrt

 

For helping us to spread the word, thanks to:
Allan Lengel at Deadline Detroit
Maryann Struman and Elissa Welle at the Detroit Free Press
Marie Osborne at WJR Detroit
Mark Bennett at the Terre Haute Tribune-Star

The Nakło Foundation

Nakło 74,  Lelów
42-235 Poland
tel: (48) 602-33-66-85

DEJA VU: WW2 CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Most Americans have no childhood memories of living in a nation at war.  Worries of  being bombed, killed, or captured never cast a shadow over their growing-up years. Yes, we’ve sent our young men overseas  to fight in many foreign wars, but the threat of it occurring here in the United States never entered their minds.  But if you’re in your 80’s or 90’s, it’s DEJA VU:   WW2  childhood memories come back to haunt us during the war in Ukraine..

DEJA VU: World War 2 childhood memories come back to haunt us.
DEJA VU: WW2 Childhood Memories haunt us as refugees flee from Ukraine War with Russia.

This is how it felt to a 5 year old girl, when we heard America  had entered World War II.  I remember my father standing in front of the radio, jiggling the change in his pocket.  My mother cried in the kitchen as she mashed the potatoes.  My older siblings sat quietly, while I danced around the living room, blissfully unaware of the horrors that lay ahead for our country.  Daddy had four children, so he wasn’t drafted.  But my uncle only had three kids, and he had  to go in the army. He stopped by our house the night before he left, and the grown ups  drank a lot of  beer.  That was a year or so into the war, when they were running out of able bodied men to fight the Axis powers..

Many things were rationed, including gas.  We walked to school or into town.  Our old Chevie was used only for going to Church, or to drive my father back and forth to work.  You got tokens for rationed items like coffee and sugar.  I didn’t have real ice cream until I was ten years old.  Grandpa was a farmer, so we had more red meat on the table than our neighbors.  Still, we ate a lot of Spam. Nobody complained about any of these sacrifices.  We were willing to do anything it took to provide our army with whatever they needed to defeat the Axis.

There was fear in the air, although our parents put on a brave front.  If a freight train rumbled through town at night, I awakened with  anxiety,  sure  that the Germans were marching into town..  Secretly, I assembled a first aid kit with band aids and iodine and cloth bandages, in case a bomb dropped on our city. We had air raid sirens and blackouts and other activities to prepare us for a foreign invasion.  Walking home from school, you saw blue and gold stars hanging in front windows.  Sometimes, you heard  a mother crying with a telegram in her hand, while neighbors gathered round to comfort. Meanwhile, children in Europe actually were being bombed, maimed, killed and starved in the horrors of war.

When you spend the first years of your life under the cloud of war, you  never really forget. . What will the children of Ukraine remember, and how will they ever recover from the terrors they’ve endured while fleeing for their lives and struggling to survive as refugees in a foreign land.

Now I look at my grandchildren and wonder how it will affect their outlook on life. First, they’ve endured years of isolation due to the  Covid pandemic..  Now, they’re seeing Ukraine children  crammed onto trains, and kissing their fathers good bye. Perhaps we grandparents understand what they’re going through, more than their own parents, who grew up in a country that  felt peaceful and safe.

DÉJÀ VU:  WW2 Childhood  memories come back to haunt us.