Very simple, really

 Section 3  ( 14th Amendment )

    No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office...who, having previously taken an oath...to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof..."

   I have condensed the amendment here but feel free to look it up. The key phrase to me is "...or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."  Even if you think Mr. Trump was not directly involved in the riots he certainly has aided and comforted the election denier conspirators. I know reality does not matter to his supporters so much as power, thus the earth will remain forever flat to them. But our founders were not so foolish, and this amendment was ratified shortly after our civil war-a time when the dangers of such behavior were all too clear to the nation...   Of course, to remove Mr. Trump from the ballot at this late date will only inflame the deniers who will make louder claims of rigged elections and probably escalate the polarization to violence; some of them say they would welcome another civil war.  So we have the foxes in the hen house and those of us who believe in truth and the constitution over lies and personality are forced to choose sides.  Mr. Trumps cult-like hold on much of the Republican party has nothing to do with principles so much as their idolatry of his personality and their cynicism about the institutions that define America.  I examined some of my thoughts about that in my previous post...

Babble, extended...again

   This may be a disjointed blog entry because I shall be rambling on various subjects and some of what I write may be repetitive: I rarely re-read things I have posted and likely have said some of these things before. 

  >To cover current events I’ll give my spin on the war in Gaza, where the violence is just the latest iteration of centuries of conflict. Anyone claiming that only one side or the other is guilty or innocent simply has not done their research. Both populations have historically been victims and perpetrators of injustices, so my inclinations follow that of General William Tecumseh Sherman, who at the beginning of the American civil war, stated:

"You people of the South don't know what you are doing. This country will be drenched in blood, and God only knows how it will end. It is all folly, madness, a crime against civilization! You people speak so lightly of war; you don't know what you're talking about. War is a terrible thing! You mistake, too, the people of the North. They are a peaceable people but an earnest people, and they will fight, too. They are not going to let this country be destroyed without a mighty effort to save it ... Besides, where are your men and appliances of war to contend against them? The North can make a steam engine, locomotive, or railway car; hardly a yard of cloth or pair of shoes can you make. You are rushing into war with one of the most powerful, ingeniously mechanical, and determined people on Earth—right at your doors. You are bound to fail. Only in your spirit and determination are you prepared for war. In all else you are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with. At first you will make headway, but as your limited resources begin to fail, shut out from the markets of Europe as you will be, your cause will begin to wane. If your people will but stop and think, they must see in the end that you will surely fail“

In other words, war is hell and for any individual or group to advocate for it is madness. In the latest case Hamas perpetrated a hideous invasion of Israel and Israel began what is its latest violent response. Many opportunities for peace and coexistence have been squandered over the decades and centuries and now more innocent people are dying. Egypt and Jordan have done nothing to absorb the refugees because they want nothing further to do with this long running destabilizing situation. So like Sherman's march to the sea there is a kind of scorched earth policy being deployed which in the end will either create a lot more resentment and bitterness or-and I can only hope that this is true-the participants on both sides will finally acquire the wisdom to think of their grandchildren and reach a lasting peace agreement. Could the state of Israel just as easily have been created in the deserts of New Mexico? Probably, but only if the religious nonsense about ‘holy ground’ had been abandoned and respect for the entire planet replaced it. The worth of a place is determined by the value of the ideals by which it is nurtured. So if Israel decides to flood the tunnels to rid Gaza of the festering cancer that Hamas has become, and future Israeli extremists can be restrained, I shall mourn the loss of innocent life but hope that both Palestinians and Israelites might look to the future once and for all time. 

> Beth and I have noticed the poor driving of people lately, mainly in their inability to maintain a constant speed. One would suppose that cruise control had never been invented, or that modern cars were incapable of cornering at a steady rate, so we see driver's slowing down far more than necessary then accelerating at a fuel wasting rate. We assume that being distracted by cell phones or in dash infotainment systems is responsible for much of the behavior we see, but simple inconsideration is the culprit for other things; Yesterday I  was held up in the drive through of a bank when a woman ahead of me finished her transaction at the ATM then proceeded to put the money into her purse and adjust her paperwork for a full minute before pulling ahead. Why basic respect for those behind her did not motivate her to move her car is a failure of human decency. Small, selfish things sometimes translate to more consequential behaviors. 

 > I have noticed people having grandiose arguments about things such as gender neutral bathrooms or banning books, or gun control, or abortion-which, as important as those issues may be, ultimately are all distractions from more important issues like climate change and artificial intelligence. The latter will affect not only certain segments of humanity, but our entire species. Predictions of scientists vary from total destruction within 50 years to only a small probability of the world ending within the century. One thing is certain to me; there is nowhere to hide. As Jackson Browne said in 1973-“ you can hold on steady, try and be ready, but everybody’s gonna get wet. Don’t think it won’t happen just because it hasn’t happened yet.”  It is a matter of when, not if, humanity will reap the consequences of its own success. However much we ignore it, the oceans Are warming, and acidifying, and being over-fished, and CO2 and methane Are accumulating in the atmosphere and ice Is melting, and the human population Is continuing to grow while other species and ecosystems are declining. The Earth is our only island, so eventually there will be nowhere to hide from ourselves. Politicians and lobbyists and corporations and average citizens can argue about other things as they build their portfolios and their ‘secure’ bunkers, but what kind of world will they inherit when billions have died foolishly because human beings did not show foresight and restraint? I sometimes wonder what quantum computing combined with artificial intelligence will create; when a super-intelligence computes at a pace we cannot comprehend, what will become of us? But I have no control beyond my own little space so lament the inability of our species to live responsibly.

  > My final rant will be about the lack of critical thought by so many people and the hypocrisy and corruption and tribalism that consumes human nature. It is clear from psychological studies that facts and reasonable arguments rarely change someone's mind-particularly if their views are constantly reinforced by like minded thinkers. The polarization of the country is proof of that; we have all been raised in a similar culture yet hold divergent views about its worth and direction.  Demonizing others rather than embracing differences is a propaganda method used by some people, and social media has amplified negative voices that used to be marginalized. I suspect that both genetic and environmental factors influence the viewpoints that people defend, and I also presume that this is how we have evolved; there will always be those who defend hate and slavery and greed and all the other darker sides of our being.  But I do not fatalistically conclude that there is no hope, only that we are -each of us- responsible for defending the better sides of our nature and resisting those darker forces in ourselves and others. 

> At heart I am a contented person who believes that America is already pretty great. Certainly not perfect, but much better than many places in the world today and throughout history. I have lived in a tent, slept under bridges, rented apartments, lived in mobile homes and houses, owned cars and motorcycles and bicycles and kayaks and televisions and sofas and beds and ovens and can openers and many other material possessions. I have been free to move about the country and disagree with my government and join protests and do almost anything else I have wanted. In that regard I am like many other Americans but-lest people believe I have been unusually privileged-in 26 years of full time work I never grossed more than $31,500 and that amount was only for a few years. For most of my working life I have traded money for time. I benefited from the combined incomes of marriage for 13 years, then as a divorced father my obsessive hobby was walking and writing, so I lived frugally and drove a moped to work. I borrowed $15,000 from my mother to buy a trailer home which I repaid within six years. For twenty years I contributed 10% to a 401k,-which has profited my retirement- and while helping my elderly mother I lived cheaply while I worked on my book. After Beth and I met we combined resources but both of us have always been members of the lower middle class. Our situation may differ from some Americans but it seems to me that the loudest complainers in this nation do not focus enough on the wonderful things about their personal lives. They whine about Americas faults while driving fancy trucks and talking on cell phones to plan parties where they will have their choice of foods from around the planet. They blame politicians and immigrants and homosexuals and blacks and deep states and anyone but themselves for their discontent. They forget that every country, institution, family and individual has both flaws and qualities, so they lash out rather than examine their own attitude-which is all they have that is lasting. That is the crossroads the United States and civilizations worldwide have entered-not simply arguing over personal differences and disagreements- but fundamental threats to the world we will leave our descendants. Like I stated above- I have no answers and no expectations of changing minds that are already committed. I simply refuse to be complicit in what I consider to be immature, ignorant, intolerant and ultimately destructive behavior, so I speak out where and when I can. Do I expect my words to influence those in power when I write to them? Not directly, although someone somewhere will read them, and from those seeds perhaps something positive will grow. At all times I remember that reality is natures way of cutting through human hubris-including my own.

"One-quarter of U.S. adults say 2024 will be a better year than 2023 for them personally, and 24% expect it will be a worse year. Some 37% of Republicans expect it’ll be a worse year for them, compared with 20% of independents and 13% of Democrats.

Just 5% of U.S. adults are “extremely” or “very” confident that the federal government can make progress on the important problems and issues facing the country in 2024, with 7% of Democrats and 11% of independents being optimistic, compared with 1% of Republicans.

The AP poll of 1,074 adults was conducted Nov. 30–Dec. 4, 2023, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, designed to represent the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points. "

New Roof

We had the shingle roof replaced (covered over) with gavalume, standing seam metal, which theoretically will last up to 50 years. Gavalume is steel coated with a combination of zinc, aluminum and some silicon, as opposed to galvanized steel which is just coated with zinc-hence the greater durability. Standing seam refers to the interlocking ridges with the fasteners underneath, versus the exposed fasteners on many standard, corrugated metal roofs. It cost a little more but should stay watertight with very little maintenance. Around here up to two layers of shingles can be covered over so long as the underlying roof structure is solid, and the 1x4 wood strapping creates a one inch air gap for ventilation. We also put new R-30 insulation in the attic floor in preparation for re-finishing a living space there. This house is a Sears kit home built in 1950 with a main living space of about 1000 sq feet, although with a finished basement and attic the usable space is more than that. We replaced a still functioning 34 year old central air conditioner last summer and the furnace and water pipes are about five years old. So with regular but economical maintenance the foundation and systems are rock solid after 74 years.

 

Words as Symbols

     “...it is as easy to teach the name of an idea, if it is clearly formulated in the child’s mind, as to teach the name of an object. It would indeed be a herculean task to teach the words if the idea did not already exist in the child’s mind. If his experiences and observation hadn’t led him to the concepts, small, large,good, bad, sweet, sour, he would have nothing to attach the word-tags to…If you give a child something sweet, and he wags his tongue and smacks his tongue and looks pleased…and if every time he has this experience, he hears the word ‘sweet’...he will quickly adopt this arbitrary sign for his sensation…It is is not the word, but the capacity to experience the sensation that counts in his education. “  - Anne Sullivan, teacher of blind and deaf child Helen Keller 

Which encourages the question: What 'sensation' motivated human beings to invent the word 'god'? My assumption is that it was the sensation we call 'mystical' or 'spiritual' which 'feels' beyond the self and is difficult to put into words-a sense of 'oneness' and connectedness to all of creation-the total peace and love as described by near death experiences. 'God' the word has also been used to describe the unknown such as the origin of the Universe and other mysteries and phenomenon. It has been applied to power and joy and fear and love and vengeance and other human experience, as well as used as explanation for the sun and wind and other natural forces. The near death experience seems to me to be the closest to 'truth' that living humans will ever know, but I do not know why that unity and peace sensation has been so corrupted by the ego and divisive rituals common to many religions, nor why people believe the words of ancient texts over present day experiences-as if our ancestors were more capable of touching the 'God' essence within each of us more than we are today. Helen Keller was given the words after she was self aware of the object or sensation, so we should all be conscious of words as secondary symbols of something more original.

Praying Mantis

           This is the first praying mantis that we have seen in the yard since we moved in eleven years ago. This species is one of 2 common in the north, the Chinese mantid- Tenodera aridifolia sinenis, and both northern species are non native. I have seen other mantids locally while walking, but because of the relative paucity of open fields in these  mountains this is not their favorite habitat. Mantids feed on many different insects and mostly sit motionless to ambush any prey that comes near. I recall as a child playing with grasshoppers by throwing them in the air to watch them fly, and saw one disappear into a shrub. When I went over to look I saw a praying mantis eating it like a cob of corn, holding it in its vice like forelegs and taking bites as though it were a sandwich. Mantids are unique insects in that they are able to swivel their heads and gaze directly at a thing, which presumably enables them to better discern their prey without moving their bodies -which might alert prey to their presence. 
      My daughter in law protects mantid egg cases on her shrubbery, where they hatch into hundreds of miniature mantids that then fan out over her garden and hopefully eat harmful insects. That is, the ones that do not eat each other, for they are hungry carnivores from the start and do what it takes to survive.  ( click on pics to enlarge)
 

Genuine 'Evil'

     This is a book about the power structure in North Korea, or at least, what can be gleaned about an extremely suppressive, repressive murderous regime that does all it can to conceal itself.  As just one example of many abuses in the book: in 1996 "five Protestant Christians, their hands and feet bound, were thrown before a large steam roller".  Forced to watch, some observers fainted at the 'popping sound' of the skulls being crushed. These public executions and the total suppression of religion, free thought and any perceived threats such as not clapping enthusiastically enough at state events have been continued under present leader Kim Jong Un. His sister Kim Jong Un is a little more behind the scenes but an equally ruthless part of the bloodline that defines North Korean power. Remember that these are the people Mr. Putin is making deals with and against whom Ukraine is fighting for their lives. How so many Americans, including so-called Christians, can  ignore the horrific, immoral, murderous behavior of these countries and placate dictators in the guise of 'peace'  is incomprehensible to me. If 'patriotism' or 'nationalism' are not guided by inclusive, moral and ethical ideals, what manner of 'freedom' are we pretending to defend? I am not so naive as to advocate violence against nuclear powers without just cause, but if resisting these kinds of people with sanctions and policy and sending weapons to the people who are doing the fighting is controversial-then what kind of people have we become? Are we so distracted by our smart phones and petty political differences that we cannot renounce the true sociopaths among us? 

Intentional Poverty

 This is another one of those books by a very informed author that infuriates the morally and ethically conscious reader. It details the laws and tax breaks and outright prejudice that perpetuate poverty in the richest country in the history of the planet. Mr. Desmond, a Princeton professor who has 'risen' economically from a poor childhood through both hard work and public subsidies, is the first to recognize the white privileges he has benefited from. He also deconstructs all the biased myths people use to blame the poor for their condition by detailing the  policies that favor the middle class and the wealthy; he explains how the banking, housing, welfare and other institutions really work to keep the poor, poor. It is a sobering but not surprising viewpoint easily recognized by anyone who has worked two jobs to pay bills or has watched others do so. He somewhat regretfully concludes that the persistent inequality in America exists because we "want it to", or at least, those with power do. I do not know if that is the 'deep state' the Trump fanatics wish to dismantle, but their savior is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the present system and Trump will do all he can to perpetuate it. But the present rules benefit people in both parties, and they do whatever they can to sustain them. As Ella Baker, civil rights activist, said, "Those who are well-heeled don't want to get un-well heeled."  or, as Mr. Desmond says, " Follow the money, all of it, and you can see how a trend toward private opulence and public squalor has come to define not simply a handful of communities, but the whole nation."  I personally wonder why so many Americans are so disgruntled, or rather, so unappreciative of their relative wealth and good fortune, but I am a minimalist who knows truly the difference between needs and wants. That distinction seems to have become confused in some people.

AI

        The recent calls for alarm by some tech workers about the threat of artificial intelligence are 100% correct. Even those who 'program'  AI and set it in motion do not understand how it works and arrives at some of the conclusions it does. When that capability outpaces human intelligence at a pace of 'thought' and 'innovation' well beyond human capabilities...it is reasonable to question what Pandora box we have opened and whether there is any way to control  it.  Like every other scientific advance, technology can be used for either 'good' or 'evil', but as  history has shown with previous human inventions,  AI too is being weaponized by human beings; those threats are frightening to any sane person. On just a common laptop AI can devise thousands of new toxic molecules that could poison humanity.  AI flying a simulation jet can outperform any experienced, top ace human pilot. In time, maybe artificial intelligence will suggest solutions to the very problems it creates, and help us solve the problems we have created. Maybe it's lack of 'feelings' for self preservation will be more ruthless and it will destroy itself, or us, or both. Those are some of

the unknowns the tech people are concerned about. 

Buzzard Revisited

    A four mile out and back sauntering walk along a two lane gravel road ends at the pond in the picture. The trail continues into the woods beyond the pond to form a loop back to the parking lot, but it had not been mowed recently so I opted to retrace my route. The 'propagation area'  consists of woods and open fields and numerous ponds. Some of the fields are mowed to discourage brush and to provide areas for grazing deer and field mice and voles- food for the many coyotes in the area that defecate on the road. Other fields, along with milkweed, are left to grow naturally. In order the insects are a Monarch butterfly, an endangered species which unfortunately has decreased in numbers by 90% in the last 20 years. A Red Spotted Purple and a White Admiral, which some scientists consider to be sub species of one another, and a Satyr butterfly-the exact species I do not know-there are several similar looking forms. This particular individual is weather-worn and has a piece of its wing missing. Old age had it flying in less energetic, fluttering motions rather than the direct, speedy flight of a younger one. The dragonfly is one of the Common Skimmers-this particular species having a white abdomen.

The short winged green grasshopper is a female that is laying eggs; look closely at her bent abdomen that she has thrust below ground to deposit them.   I frequent this area at different times of the year to see what changes in the landscape and animal life, and noticed that the beavers I have mentioned in other posts were missing. Their dams were destroyed and the lodges were on dry ground. I suspect that the DCNR dissembled them-perhaps after the beavers were trapped? The preservation area and the surrounding game lands border one another, so the animals can move back and forth and hunters just wait. (...click on pics to enlarge)

 

The Probable Future

   The Republicans have a plan to accelerate the decimation of the planet which they seriously hope to execute if re-elected to power.   Below is an excerpt from a POLITICO article about pivoting away from renewables and back to fossil fuels and also a projection of what North America will look like if, or, as I believe, when all the ice melts.  In the United States I do not see widespread adoption of renewable energy on the scales needed to halt global warming, and the world population continues to grow, so I predict the worst case scenarios which scientists have been warning us about for decades will materialize. We have entered what is called the Anthropocene extinction era where species are dying off and oceans are warming along with other serious planetary changes. Critics will dismiss this or say the Earth has warmed and cooled before so humanity will adapt. Perhaps, but not without tremendous social instability as countries and coastlines are inundated and crops fail and conflicts over resources increase-all because we lack the wisdom to proactively plan for what our intelligence has created.  (...click on photos to enlarge)

 

Bathroom Humor

    I passed a few days watching my granddaughter Renley last week, who will turn seven in August. The thing I remember most fondly was hearing her laughing while I made silly voices with her stuffed animals as we read books at night. She even was able to read my favorite book from childhood called  "Theodore Turtle" which, although tattered and torn, has been passed down to her. I can still recall my own mother reading it to me and being amused by how absentminded the turtle was. That is the privilege of reliving ones childhood as a grandparent, when generally one has less stress and more patience than the first time around-not working full time and doing all the other things parents have to do. 
    While in the east I saw this changing table in the bath house at French Creek State Park and had to laugh...Anyone who has ever had children understands the exasperation one sometimes feels at 3:30 in the morning when the baby won't stop crying...Patience is one of the primary qualities one learns from children...    

Death

       Threw my brother Pete's ashes into the ocean at Kennebunkport  Beach, Maine, off the same rocks from which my father and mothers ashes were dispersed after their deaths in 1993 and 2012 respectively. I also spread some of them over a ball field in Ormrod, PA, where he both played baseball and was an umpire. The home field in Schnecksville, PA where he played as a catcher under the coaching of our father no longer exists. It was plowed under for renovations to the elementary school which we both attended. My parents moved to Sanford, Maine in 1977, where my maternal grandmother lived and which was the New England of their birth-she from Massachusetts and he from Rhode Island. Pete and his wife Linda and son Tim lived in Medford, Massachusetts for many years, and as families we all vacationed in Maine for many summers. Kennybunkport Beach was my mothers favorite, probably because it was less crowded and she could swim undisturbed by tourists. 
         Peter was a lifelong smoker so eventually succumbed to COPD, but he was able to see his beloved Phillies play in the 2022 World Series before he died, and he had a wonderful, joyous visit with his son and wife two days before passing in hospice. His somewhat autistic savant brain could recall baseball facts with remarkable detail, so that for instance, if you asked him who played shortstop in the 1969 world series he could tell you who and for what team and may even have remembered the scores and other trivia. I was not close to Pete in his later years, although when we did see one another we could pick up as though no time had passed. The unpredictable winter weather delayed the throwing of his ashes until May, and the mud like cloud in the picture is the slow return of a man's physical essence to the sea from whence we all have come. 

Spring/Aging

    
                  

   Beth and I walked at Chapman Dam state park on the 14th, a beautiful area about 10 miles from here, where the season is beginning to express itself. The spring peepers have deposited their eggs in a few of the more reliable bog puddles, and Spring Beauty flowers are very common in the open woodland. The west branch of the Tionesta Creek forms a large pond where it has been dammed to form the named park, and there is a suspension bridge upstream of the dam.

       The remaining picture is of a red oak tree which we have been nurturing since we found it sprouting from an acorn in our flower garden. This tree has refused to die in its short lifespan, having had its young leaves stripped by deer and caterpillars twice, so we finally decided to plant it permanently in the middle of the yard where hopefully it outlives us.    

          A few days ago I overheard two women talking in a store, when one of them said, " I would like to be 36 again...Those were my best years..I felt good...etc"  That had me reflecting about my own past, and I honestly think that some of my most productive years were between the years of 37 and 40, following a divorce, when I spent thousands of hours walking and writing in solitude. I had the free time and discipline to pursue serious, intense questions about life and the nature of reality, which led me to inner revelations which I still rely upon to the present day. I had been fortunate to have parents who loved me unconditionally, and they gave me  consistent moral guidance along with the freedom to be self reliant.                 My present peace of mind I attribute to those strong foundations, as well as good genes, daily exercise, never smoking and rarely drinking alcohol. Mentally, both Beth and I have noticed a loss of short term memory, which we jokingly call the 'ten second rule'-if more than ten seconds has passed, a subject often slips our mind. Such lapses are humorous rather than disturbing, and laughter seems to be a prerequisite for aging gracefully. No doubt there are people our age whose physical and mental problems are far worse than ours, so a certain humility and gratitude are also necessary. 

   That woman in the store did not wish to be very young, rather she appreciated the hard earned lessons that a few decades of living had offered her, but she also remembered the physical prowess of her thirties that twenty additional years had taken away. Growing old happens slowly enough that physical  changes are subtle at first, and a fading memory makes it difficult to recall exactly what one has lost until one sees a photograph from twenty years earlier; then the wrinkles and gray hairs of the present become obvious. Inwardly, something from ones childhood never changes, and youthful silliness and spontaneous joy emerge if one allows them-at least within those of us fortunate enough to have had good memories to hold onto. How much of human happiness is genetic and how much is nurture I cannot say, but I feel blessed to have had an enduring portion of both to sustain me as the years have passed...As for the 'ultimate' meaning of life, my intuitive impulses since I was a young man have always leaned towards learning of love...what it is, how to give and receive it to ourselves, to other people, to other life forms and to all things under Creation. I have forgiveness for people who have made mistakes along the way so long as they have accepted them as opportunities for growth and redemption towards that ideal of compassion and love that the word 'God' represents. However, when I witness people my age who still harbor prejudices and hate and anger towards other people or life forms, I consider them to have wasted decades of life. If you have been fortunate enough to reach 50 plus years of age without realizing the unity of all of Creation, you have truly squandered all that you have been given.

                

TwoMonthsTraveling

  I just returned from six weeks meandering around the south and west, then another three weeks with Beth in Texas and Georgia.  Her business  prevents her from accompanying me full time at the present, so I take the van and drive mostly back roads on impulse, sleeping and hiking and golfing where the road takes me. I escape the cold and snow of the north and discover new landscapes, sleeping in National forests and Walmart parking lots and wherever the evening finds me.                                                  To that end, as much as I do not agree with the conservative politicians in Texas, the state is very friendly to spontaneous people like myself, for they allow overnight parking in their roadside rests- which are numerous-and the small towns in the western part of the state have free parking for RV's -including electricity and water if one wants it. People in the south generally are more friendly than northerners , with store clerks saying 'thank you' and other civilities, although the abundance of Baptist churches gives the area a religious overtone that is a little uncomfortable. That is, beneath the pleasantries there is a residue of prejudice that is hard to define, as if some of the whites cannot quite admit that the civil war-which one town in South Carolina calls the "Confederate war"-was fought and lost because of slavery. The focus to them is on their pride for the bravery of the individual soldiers and generals rather than the reasons for the fighting. It is as though it would be acceptable for Germany to display the Nazi flag simply because the German soldiers fought well; the larger moral questions are ignored.  But politics aside the south and west are a wonderful winter escape, and I drift to the rural areas and small towns. Florida is an exception, for the overdeveloped congestion in that state is to be avoided unless one enjoys such things.                                                               The pictures show a Trump store for fanatics in Virginia, an exclusive Victorian era hotel on Jekyll Island, Georgia, a solar array in Texas, a sunset over the Mississippi river at the town of Natchez, and some of the fantastic landscape in east central New Mexico. ( click on the pics to enlarge...)