Tuesday, March 26, 2019

The Pink Tree


Olga and I passed this tree on Saturday morning on our walk, near the Black Path in West Hampstead. I took an iPhone picture and then went back later with my real camera.


Somehow I don't like this shot as much, despite that beautiful sky. I was a bit too far away, and besides, Olga's not in it!

The house on the right is the one that collapsed a year ago during renovations. It was later revealed that the house previously had been damaged by a delivery truck, contributing to the collapse. The owners, as I understand it, are now trying to get permission to move forward with restoration.

Someone asked in a recent comment what I thought would happen with Brexit. Honestly, I have no idea. We are in limbo while the government tries to sort itself out. I would love to see a second referendum, which I think is a perfectly reasonable proposition given what voters now know about the complexity and benefits (or lack thereof) of leaving the EU. (Of course, once again, Dave and I wouldn't be able to vote, which would make me crazy. I'll wish we had moved faster on our citizenship paperwork in that case!) To be candid, though, I'm not sure another referendum is very likely.

I was talking to our Brexiteer friend Chris the other day, and he said he believes voters didn't understand how complex the process of leaving would be. (He didn't say he himself didn't understand it, but that seemed implied.) "The government has made a complete hash of it," he said. If Chris is wavering, that suggests to me that many people must be.

And then we have Trump. The Mueller report didn't reveal any intent to collude with Russia, and somehow I'm not surprised by that. Frankly, I think most of Trump's crew are too stupid to knowingly do something that calculated. I do think they blundered into a situation where they used information from Russia (via Wikileaks) to their advantage, and as reliable news outlets have continually reminded us, Mueller did not exonerate Trump of obstruction. Frankly I'd like to see the USA just move forward, hold its nose and get through the next year and a half before kicking Trump out in the next election -- but of course now Trump is promising all sorts of revenge investigations against his enemies, which will probably consume the rest of his term.

I'm just going about my daily life, trying to stay sane. So...isn't that a pretty pink tree?

13 comments:

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Instead of promising revenge, Trump should be going out of his way to apologise for bad mouthing Mr Mueller in a febrile attempt to undermine and discredit the investigation. Mr Mueller was only following the remit he had been given so Big Orange Baby should have kept his lips sealed.

Ms. Moon said...

It IS a pretty pink tree and score one for the iPhone shot!
I'm sick of politics. Sick of it. Do I have one bit of control over any of it? Hell no. At least that's what I tell myself.
I agree with you though on the bumbling idiocy of this president and his minions. Their ignorance is what has saved them.

The Bug said...

I thought the same thing about intent - Trump & his crew just don't seem bright enough. Putin on the other hand...

I agree - I like the first picture better, although that brilliant blue sky is gorgeous.

ellen abbott said...

too much house in the second picture especially if the tree was the subject. I've pretty much quit FB, twitter, and the news. let's just trudge on through but now he and the republicans are emboldened. and Trump is all about revenge. hopefully he'll be fully mired in it with investigations and won't get any other damaging policies through.

Red said...

Your key point...trying to keep sane. Trump is in no way a normal human being.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I'm trying to stay sane too. I'm not having very much luck with it though. Despair hardly covers how I feel right now. So...yes, that really is a pretty pink tree. Thank you for that.

Sharon said...

I knew it was going to end like this and I said exactly the same thing you did about Trump and his band of miscreants being too stupid to actually come up with a collusion plan. I watched a PBS and Frontline special report last night that recapped how we ended up with the investigation in the first place. I almost didn't watch it for fear it would just make me angry but in the end, I'm glad I did. It was a good reminder that this wasn't a "witch hunt" as described by Trump and his empty-headed followers. There were extremely valid reasons for it and they were all brought on by the man himself. He can thank himself for the mess he got himself into. He won't, of course. Nothing is ever his fault in his depthless mind.
Ahhh yes....that is a lovely pink tree!

Catalyst said...

Yes, it is a pretty tree.

Allison said...

It is a lovely tree. The Sonoran Desert seems to limit its palate to yellow trees. Right now there is a LOT of yellow in view. I kind of miss pink trees.

Rafe's Hotel said...

Comrade Minus's party handlers and Fox News did a good job of casting this as a hunt for his collusion, when in fact the investigation was set up to answer, did Russia try to affect the election? Mueller knew what he was doing; he proved that it did. If anything, his conduct in *not* conducting a witch hunt proved that some government representatives (actually, the majority, but in this case, his team) do their jobs and obey the law with care.

What seems to be lost in coverage now is the extensive information the Mueller team uncovered and passed along to the appropriate jurisdictions about the breaches of law carried on by Minus's campaign staff and family business representatives (and even if we get some of the Mueller report, we won't get it all; some will not be made public because it deals with *ongoing* investigations. Or in other words, Comrade Minus is a long way from being able to relax ... :) But then, so are we. :(

Linda Sue said...

yes....pretty pink tree, prefer the fist shot. All is well and right with the pretty pink tree.

37paddington said...

I think I need a news break. It is all so absurd. Yes, that is a pretty tree.

Sue said...

I prefer the iPhone shot as well. Love the contrast of the delicate pink tree and the jumbled and weathered wood. I can't stay away from CNN and MSNBC and NPR, but when I'm listening I'm usually in a state of dull panic.