Life's Been Good

There is a lot of tragedy and suffering in the world these days, and that is good cause to reflect on how fortunate I am, and have been. And with luck, maybe, will continue to be...

Small reminders seem to be popping up frequently these last few days.

A Christmas present T-shirt from the Life is Good brand... [A perfect gift I might addd - this is Ryder in a nutshell...]

An offhand comment from the kids: "we're lucky, this was a good Christmas".

And YouTube teeing up an Eagles song while I sit here at my desk doodling on some Dungeons and Dragons maps in the hopes that me and my friends will get to play again some day in the not too distant future. The Eagles song? Life's Been Good, of course.

That's very true. Life has indeed been good. I'd like to think that I am appreciative enough of my good fortune on a daily basis that I don't need the reminder, but if there is some higher power out there emphasizing the point, then thanks. Things haven't always been perfect. Or easy. I've succeeded at some things and failed at others. There have been challenges, and will continue to be.

But all in all, I would agree with Joe Walsh. Life's been good to me so far.

Simple Little Landscape

I hope you are all well in this holiday season.

Rolling Hills

In the absence of a real post...here's a simple little 11 inch by 14 inch impressionistic landscape in oils (Lukas 1862 oil paints for the most part, with a Gamblin black mixed in).

Stay safe. Stay home. Be well. Better times are ahead.

Hunger... and Christmas

2020 is not a normal year. Understatement. But it has served to highlight problems that have existed for a very long time in America. We are the richest nation on Earth. And we have hungry people. Lots of hungry people. That makes no sense. This year moreso than ever.

Christmas is a time for celebration, for family, and for gift giving.

This year, we think we will do something a little different.

For background, my mom, my children's grandmother, has always been very generous with regards to Christmas. She gives us money every year with which to buy gifts for ourselves and the children (since she can't get out to do the shopping herself). We have always been very grateful for what she has given us. It's not an insignificant gift in total.

At dinner tonight, we told the kids what we would like to do. We explained how their grandmother has given us money for their gifts. We proposed that we would prefer to take Grandmom's money, and a bunch of our own, and find an assortment of good local causes to donate to. This would of course mean less gifts for them...

They loved the idea, and in the intervening few hours, have provided a number of options for us to consider. So this is what we will do... Support local food banks. Local shelters. Local causes that support the greater good.

I couldn't be more proud that we basically said "we want to take money for your gifts and give it to total strangers in need", and the kids' immediate response was "YYYEESSSSS!!!!!...How much can we give?"

Maybe we have raised these kids right...

Another Win for Democracy

Another day, another bunch of Tr#$%/Republican lawsuits unceremoniously thrown out of court. For those of you keeping score at home, that is 1 for 51, give or take. [And the 1 was allowing observers to move from 10 feet away from ballot counting to within 6 feet of ballot counting...]

SCOTUS says F#$% off

This was a big one, though. This evening, the Supreme Court of the United States rejected Orange Hit#$r's bid to turn the USA into an autocracy. In a ruling that only took a handful of words, the highest court in the land basically said "go away and don't come back." And this is a Court that is 6-3 conservative, and has 3 members installed by Tr#$%.

America remains a place where democracy is in significant danger these days, but at least we live to fight another day.