Rancorocity

Granddaughter as Harry Potter

Into the second week of the Trump presidency and rancor is at an all-time high, predictably. I don’t know why people are acting so surprised at his actions. He’s doing exactly what he said he was going to do during the election, as despicable as some of those actions are. The latest shot across the bow of the progressive battle fleet is the immigration ban for certain Muslim countries. This was a grandstand move to placate the Trump voters and was handled in very amateurish manner.

And Bambi

If he’s going to be successful Trump needs to get some more seasoned help because it seems he still thinks he’s on the campaign trail. I get the distinct impression that he ran for president for the personal attention he received during it and never expected to win. Now that he has the job he’s really struggling to present a coherent plan for his presidency. He said he was going to drain the swamp but he seems to be getting sucked into the muck as veteran politicians are running circles around him and his coterie.

The "Woofs"

The immigration ban will accomplish nothing other than inflame the rhetoric on the “Arab Street” which is always attuned to anything Anti-American. So, in the larger picture, we’ve gained nothing and lost ground in reducing radicalization. Like I said – Amateur. We’re a country of immigrants, even the Native Americans came over from Asia via the land bridge in pre-historic days. Our diversity will always be the strength of America. Trump too will pass and the inherent strength of spirit in America will reassert itself.

A Rabbit - I think

The First Blog Reader was uncharacteristically grumpy last night during our FaceTime call. My daughter blamed this on the hectic return flight from Orlando where they fell victim to the Delta Airline’s computer crash which took place five minutes before they were to board. A five hour delay is never fun but add a cranky one year old to the mix and we’re talking a special brand of purgatory. One of the ways they passed time during the flight delay was playing with the photo app which produces silly photos – samples included here. She did manage a couple smiles at her grandparents’ antics. Wingman reported she is pitching in to help with the packing which is going full bore for next week’s big move east.

Helping Dad Pack

I finally finished, after squeezing in some reading time over the past couple weeks, Authority by Jeff Vandermeer. This is the second book in the Southern Reach trilogy that my daughter convinced me to read. She left the second two books with me after Christmas. Authority picks up the story of the efforts to find out what is going on in Area X. The protagonist is the newly appointed head of the Southern Reach, charged with finding out the answer. I’m not a huge fan of Vandermeer’s writing style which is kind of dense, at least compared to my usual fare but I enjoyed the read. He creates a very strange world with circles within circles that are slowly peeled away. The ending is the perfect culmination of the first two books as characters from both are thrown together under mysterious circumstances heading into the ultimate novel. I now have to find that book which has disappeared into the maelstrom of moving stuff for the floor project.

Flower Child

Today’s morale photo injection (and don’t we all need that):