Whoa! Has it really been four months since I last posted an update? Sorry about that, dear readers. I really wanted to be a better blogger this year, but it looks like I should probably put that on my list of things to try again in 2021.
Oh well. Regret is a wasted emotion. Here’s a quick rundown of some stuff I’ve been doing while I haven’t been blogging.
Her Heart Will Go On
As some of you know, my mom had a heart attack way back in February 2004. Her prize for surviving it was a pacemaker-defibrillator that’s been hanging out in her chest ever since. Fast-forward 16 years, it started going haywire and giving her a lot of trouble – and thanks to coronavirus she wasn’t able to see a surgeon about it until late summer. But on September 28th, after months of general discomfort and waiting, she was finally admitted to Oschner in New Orleans and given a hardware update. Fun fact: I always thought her pacemaker ran on a long-lasting battery, but it turns out there are actually wires and electrical parts threaded throughout her cardiovascular system. Who knew my mom and Tony Stark had so much in common?
For the past six weeks I’ve been helping out around the house and daycare while she recovers. At this point I am officially an expert on Puppy Dog Pals and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Before you ask: yes, I’ve learned how to change diapers. And yes, I’ve already been peed on. Call it a rite of passage. I honestly don’t know how you parents out there do it.
I Wanna Know…Have You Ever Seen the Rain?
On October 28th – one month to the day after Mom’s heart procedure – Hurricane Zeta came ripping through Biloxi. My usual routine when we have a hurricane is to evacuate to Jackson or New Orleans, but Zeta’s storm track cut through both of them, making it pointless to go anywhere. Here’s what I wrote about the experience in my journal.
Two days ago (two nights, actually) we had our first hurricane of the 2020 season …Kimchi and I went to Maw Maw’s house. [Maw Maw is my grandmother.] She’s been alone and vulnerable since we put Pari down [Pari was her dog], so I thought it would be good to go and keep her company. On the selfish side, I’ve always heard that her house is like a silent fortress during storms and I thought that would be best for Kimchi and his murmury little heart.
This was the first hurricane I’ve ever stayed in Biloxi for. We evacuated for Elena in 1985, and I was the only one who left when Katrina hit in 2005 (the only one in my family, that is). This one’s name was Zeta.
For the most part, Maw Maw’s house lived up to its reputation. The storm started rolling in around 7:00, and, except for a couple of rough windy patches, it was either silent or sounded like a typical thunderstorm. Kimchi was amazing. He slept through a lot of it, and when the wind picked up he just walked in circles around the coffee table. At the storm’s peak I gave him a treat (a chicken stick, his favorite) and he ignored the whole thing. No barking outbursts, medical issues, or terrified whimpering to speak of. I think we did well.
Around 10:30 the storm started to die off and by 11 it was over. Maw Maw went to her bedroom to sleep, and at 1:00 a.m. I put the harness on Kimchi and we went for a walk. My grandmother’s house is in an older neighborhood that was developed sometime in the 50s or 60s – all the house look like great places to throw backyard tiki parties. First we walked north until we came to a tree that had fallen across the road. Then we turned around and walked down to Pass Road. I’ve heard a lot of people say the weather in the eye of a hurricane is beautiful and wax poetic about the calm before a storm, but the calm after was truly an experience. The air was very cool and there were no signs of life along the street. Full moon up in the sky. It was like we had the whole world to ourselves.
When we got to Pass Road I could see a few utility trucks over on Eisenhower Drive. I thought that might be a sign that we’d have electricity again in just a few hours, but that clearly wasn’t the case. [This journal entry was written two days after the storm and we still didn’t have power.]
At sunrise we went outside again and were shocked at the magnitude of the damage. Trees and power lines were snapped and down all over. My grandmother’s neighbor thinks a tornado might have come through. The same was true all down Pass Road. A lot of trees and power lines down, plus all the traffic lights were dead or destroyed. The signs for all the fast food places were blown out, and some of the house I passed (and the Fatima chapel) were missing shingles.
Mom and Dad made it out okay. There were a lot of leaves and branches in their yard but nothing too serious. Mom was pissed off not to have air-conditioning and swore she’s never staying for another storm. She said the wind was horrible and that she’d spent all night waiting for the roof to fly off. She’s still in a bad mood today.
Last night we stayed at Katie’s [my sister’s], which never really lost power because it’s on the same power grid as the police station. Except for a few limbs in the yard and a broken car window she’s doing just fine. Kimchi got all of his food and medicine on time and is now resting on the bed just a few feet away. I think we need a day of R & R.
Choose Wisely
A few days later, with trees, power lines, and miscellaneous debris still scattered across the streets, I walked down to my local polling station (it’s only a block away) and cast my ballot in the 2020 presidential election.
I’ve tried very hard not to say much about this election, because really, what difference at this point does it make? Everyone’s already made up their minds about what’s going on, and any mention of it sends social media into peak childishness. But, if you’ve read this far into my blog I’m assuming you might be interested in hearing my take on it. So, here it is.
Call it counter-intuitive, but I can’t shake the feeling that the person/party who wins the White House will ultimately lose a greater cultural battle. Both sides already seem to be preparing for this. Let me break it down for you.
1) First, it’s important to understand that the election is not actually over. This is not a right-wing talking point; it’s a fact. Biden and Harris are the projected winners, but nothing is official until the legal challenges are settled.
2) Trump supporters are convinced that Biden and the Democrats have committed election fraud on a massive scale. This ties in to the larger Trumpian worldview that ordinary Americans are being shafted by powerful elites who hate them and want to take away their freedom. (For a sober explanation of these points, I recommend watching this video. Dr. Steve Turley is an admitted partisan and Trump supporter, but he does a great job of explaining how this could all play out.)
3) Biden supporters are convinced that Trump is simply a sore loser who can’t accept defeat. They are currently downplaying his legal investigations by referring to Joe Biden as the president-elect and playing Kamala Harris up as some sort of civil rights icon.
It’s very exciting for anyone who wants to see Trump removed from office, but remember, it’s all just symbolism. The election is not over.
4) With the re-election of Republican senator Dan Sullivan in Alaska, the GOP now has a 50-seat advantage in the Senate. Meanwhile, the Democrats still hold the House. This means we can probably expect a lot of partisan gridlock for the next couple of years. Get ready for “Well, we wanted to pass (some type of legislation) but it’s been held up by (the other party) in the House/Senate.”
5) If Biden is ultimately declared the winner, Trump supporters will remain convinced that the election was stolen from them in the early hours of the morning. This will translate into an organized opposition force that will most likely sweep the 2022 midterms. If you’re not old enough to remember, do a little research on the Tea Party Movement and the 2010 midterms. President Obama was a lame duck for six years because of that. And Trump supporters are a lot more aggressive than the Tea Party ever thought of being.
6) If Trump is ultimately declared the winner, the opposite could be true. Democrats (who heard somewhere that Biden had already been declared the president) will believe that Trump has turned around and stolen the election from them. On top of all the usual stuff they accuse him of, they’ll say he’s engaged in voter suppression and prevented the first woman/person of color from assuming her rightful role in the White House. This will be used as a rallying cry going into the midterms and could conceivably lead Democrats to a 2024 where, once again, they control the presidency, House, and Senate.
So the question is: which would you rather have, the pleasure of saying “We Won!” and then twiddling your thumbs for a while or the momentum to take over the whole show in a couple of years? You’ve gotta think strategy.
Personally, I’ve always wondered why we can’t just have two presidents. The blue states would follow Biden’s laws and the red states would follow Trump’s. Wouldn’t that solve all of our problems?
I don’t know. There’s probably a downside I haven’t thought about yet.
Time to Wrap This Up
Anyway, that’s enough politics for now. I’ve gotta get busy working on my contribution to the 2020 Challenge from Beyond (a round-robin story project published by Arkham Bazaar and the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival). I have the honor of taking part in it this year after winning the 2019 micro-fiction contest. Looking forward to it.
As we’ve seen, it might be a while before I post another update here, so here’s my Barnes & Noble Wishlist for anyone wondering what I want for Christmas next month. I also accept cash, checks, money orders, Paypal, and Venmo…This is all sarcasm, by the way. Much as I love getting presents, I’m not actually expecting you to get me anything, dear readers. But I do hope you’re all doing well and that you’ll touch base to let me know what’s going on with you and yours.
Talk soon!
J.
Find me online: https://linktr.ee/geminihills
A Day With J. 