https://youtu.be/e7qQ6_RV4VQ
Yesterday (Thursday, Sept 17’20) a pop-up thunderstorm cell blew up in ‘bout five minutes just north of downtown, went from green to deep green to yellow to red and moved straight south through downtown, across the river, and over to our place – while Sheila was down the street getting groceries! Whew!
With the number of days til Election Day (we’re voting sooner), and the summer having over-stayed its seasonal welcome so badly even the local weathermen and women had quit making excuses for “Austin’s hot summers” – the pop up storm was still welcome despite its ferociousness!
I’d’ve thought to take some pics, but Sheila was headed home in extreme poor visibility, so I had her park in one of the carports directly by our stairs, but wait in the car for me to come down, being we don’t rent one of those spaces. I took my shoes off, put on my oldest sandals, popped open my strongest umbrellas, opened the apt door, and walked into the closest thing to a Galveston rain storm I’ve felt here in Austin in a long long time!
I grabbed the grocery bags, dangling my umbrella and crept up the stairs so’s not to slip, set the bags at our door, and made my way back down and took over the car so’s Sheila could make her way up while I repacked our car.
It felt good.
The weather change. The freshness. The exhilaration of positive change happening.
A vote, an American vote, where everybody has a say, is always a positive change happening, even when sometimes thwarted or obstructed over the last 200+ years. It’s the baby steps of democracy learning not only how to walk, but get up again, and keep going.
Bob Dylan’s song, featured via YouTube above and below in a different version (year), kept coming to mind. I was a mid-teen, had my whole life potentially ahead of me, but it often didn’t feel like it during those turbulent 60s. Bob Dylan’s song gave us a voice of hope, of an inevitableness of positive change – some way, some how ❤️
https://youtu.be/Q9_nWlSX6Us
Saturday (tomorrow) I’ll be one month from hitting 70, if I’m lucky and good 😊 and that’s brought me many a memory from those 60s also, when so much was at stake, and so much would be decided.
Stay well everyone hearts
Adan
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- Turned 70 Today – A Lot To Be Grateful For!“Plus… The first family meal, outdoors, socially distanced from other folks, since the beginning of the pandemic!”
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Thanks again, everyone! 😊
Adan
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[…] I remember distinctly hearing this song many places many times through several years while in high school, but especially early on.One hot afternoon when my dad had picked me up from school, I’d stayed in his truck while he went into the local bank to get cash or deposit a check. I was too self absorbed to wonder what he might be having to go through, but going to the bank, nearly daily, for a small businessman like my dad, was an everyday thing back then. It was the way business was done.There were a lot of things that that was the way “things” were done back then, too many of which still pervade our everyday lives I think, but I was nearing or right at 16, can’t remember now for sure, and the war in Vietnam was full thrust, with many years and several presidential terms by two presidents still to go. John F. Kennedy had already been killed, back when I’d just started junior high. His brother, Bobbie Kennedy not much after that. Then Martin Luther King. And years later, but on a string of events we all knew was horribly there, John Jr died in an airplane “accident.”The radio in the truck was on full blast, Barry McGuire’s angry anthem balm for my ears, my heart, my fear and my anger.And in Houston, Texas in the mid 60s, protesting etc was, well, not a good idea. Banks were being threatened with bombs and students on college campuses were being shot. A Hispanic or two were found in Buffalo Bayou.It was revolutionary times, it was scary times, and I could not yet vote.Now. Yes. I can. And I will.As I’ve done every presidential election I could legally vote.The memory of John F. Kennedy and the promise and actuality of hope, progress, acceptance of our neighbors south of our southern most borders – a desire to help and volunteer, to be fit, not litter – all part of a massive wave of optimism that took multiple assasinations to stunt, was still everywhere. Especially among those of us still “growing up.”We could not yet vote.Now. We can.And will.And so I’m not too much misunderstood here 😊 though I have very distinct clear preferences of how and for whom to vote, it is, for me, as important, that we all be allowed and able to vote. Regardless of party or political persuasion.I have a faith that hasn’t died out that, if the people of our country and get to the poles, or vote remotely, and have their vote counted, that power will and has compelled potential elected representatives to – at the least – try to reflect that public’s will.And I have enough faith in the goodness of people’s hearts, to feel the outcome of that type of democratic election, can and will carry us forward.Questions about voting eligibility, voter confirmation, voter accessibility in terms of time and places, can all be worked out – IF – the goal is representation of the people’s will.Obstruction of that process is only due to fear and unclear guidelines of how to enable univerasal voting to occur.I sure can’t make all that happen, or be corrected. Not by myself.But I can, and I will – vote 🇺🇸 Thanks everyone!Adan*A much more iconic, ie, with images of the time, video rendition of Barry McGuire’s song is also available on YouTube. I didn’t feature it because, quite frankly, it is brutal. If you choose to link to it to view, just be aware of that. Most of the imagery is historically accurate, for the time, or for times further ahead of the 60s, with only a few digitally embellished commentary style pics. The photos are all commentary of course, but as I mentioned, the majority are also historically accurate of the times and times ahead. And, in my opinion, worth remembering, but very brutal in their total and sometimes individual affect. A “strong” R rating, from me, even if reality based….Barry McGuire – Eve of Destruction YouTube –https://youtu.be/fmTDWPd7RgU*Yesterday I posted a similar theme, with YouTube video, that evolved to today’s post —Aging Gracefully During Covid-19 : The Seasons – and Hopefully The Times – Are A Changin’ […]
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It’s important to stay optimistic and embraced the changes! Challenging times they are, but as you’ve seen, life has its ebbs and flows, we must rise above, and yes, vote! Have a great weekend, Adan, enjoy the showers!
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Thank you, Tiffany – so true, stay optimistic, embrace the changes, and vote! 💕
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