I Gotta Ramble…

Last updated on: August 31, 2012 at 8:15 pm by Erin Wathen

I Gotta Ramble… 2012-08-31T20:15:13-07:00 Erin Wathen

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I haven’t posted anything in a whole week. This was not intentional, just one of those weeks. Doesn’t mean there is nothing on my mind! In fact, i notice that when i am not blogging to process the world, i tend to overuse facebook. (Newsflash: so do you. Know when you need to find another outlet, and we’ll all stay friends.) So, I’m going to Ramble On for a moment. You might see more developed posts on some of these topics next week. Wait, possibly the week after… Anyway, here goes.

-True gender equality=when very short woman of the house becomes the designated critter killer, because disproportionately tall husband runs from scorpion. To be fair, this was not a garden-variety, spider-with-a-tail kind of scorpion. This was a bad mama-jama scorpion, like you see pictured on the chinese food menus. (What year were you born?) Also, he did lend support by tropping out behind me, singing the theme song from Wonder Pets. (What’s gonna work? Teeeeeeeam work!)

-Related to point, on being small–you know you are short when you wear two-inch heels, and your ‘petite’ size pants still drag the ground a bit.

-On voting–no party declarations here, just a word of wisdom: watch out for people who try to make you afraid of what will happen if you don’t vote for them. This is the lowest, slimiest approach to earning voter support, and it plays to your baser instincts (fear of other, self-interest, anxiety about the future, wanting to be better than other people, or just wanting to be RIGHT). Choose the higher ground, and challenge your candidates on either side to speak about what they WILL do, what they DO value…and not what their opponent has in mind that is going to do us all in and send us back to the dark ages. Fear is not your friend.

-Related moment–oh, and i will most DEFINITELY be doing a post on this–do i have to say again that free speech does not mean getting to say whatever you want, wherever, and to whomever, and nobody is allowed to question you or ask you to shut up if you are being intrusive or offensive? Freedom of speech ensures that you will not go to jail, or be met with violence, death, or deportation, for something that comes out of your mouth. Beyond that, I am ‘free’ to tell you to get out of my face if i don’t like what you’re saying. Unless i’m a cop or the president, i’m not infringing on your rights.

-On an utterly unrelated topic–do you have a living will? Have you spoken to your loved ones and put in writing, not just who gets your stuff, but how and where you want to live your final days? Do it now. Not when there’s an impending crisis of health, or when you reach a certain age. The time is when you are young(ish), healthy, and in your right mind. Preferably when the sun is shining and there’s food on the table, and the whole discussion can be intertwined with the promise of happier days ahead. Just sayin…

-On August in the desert: there is a ‘never-ending’ quality to the third consecutive month of triple-digit heat, a nagging sense of being oppressed by the sun and smothered in dust. I notice that in August, my church calendar takes on a similar weight. I’ve been driven inward by heat, and by that great enemy of the spirit, ‘busy-ness,’ and I find myself moving through the days with a simple mantra–it’s almost september, it’s almost september, it’s almost september. (For all y’all haters out there who want to remind me that we’ve got at least another two months of this weather–come September, we get a few hours of early morning cool, and on that promise, i hang all my hope). Yes, i’m being dramatic. But there is something to be said for the sense in which we are all ‘driven inward’ in seasons of rough weather–literal or figurative. Here’s a reminder to myself, and others who might need to hear, that there is no shame in moving more slowly, breathing more deeply, and perhaps, lingering in front of the fan for a breath of cooler air.

-Toddlers who are learning to string together two-and-three word phrases, respond to simple questions, and communicate their love for others=nothing short of miraculous, and a sure sign of God among us.

Welcome to my head for a few minutes, folks. If you think that’s scary, you should see my office…

Anything on here that you’d like to hear more about? Let me know!

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