A Christmas Tree and a Demagogue

Mr. Pudding's comment on yesterday's post -- about Olga hiding herself away while I cleaned -- made me realize I haven't shared an Olga pic with you in a WEEK! Unheard of!

Let me remedy that. Here she is on our walk yesterday morning, next to a planter full of bluebells.

It was an eventful walk, actually. Back in January, someone shoved an old Christmas tree into the landscaped garden of an apartment building on the corner. It sat there, turning brown, between two other shrubs, and frankly it was an eyesore. You'd think the maintenance man or super or whatever of that building would resolve the situation, but maybe there isn't one.

So yesterday I pulled it out, set it on the sidewalk beneath a tree and reported it to the council via my handy phone app. Coincidentally, just then, a garbage truck drove by and I thought, "Oh no! They're going to ticket me for fly-tipping!" But they didn't -- at least not yet -- and the tree was gone within a couple of hours.

Someone also left an old wooden door leaning against a wall on another corner, and I reported that too. It's also gone now. Cleaning up the 'hood!

I spent the morning reading the news and my current book, "American Dirt." In my continued quest to understand the conservative mentality, I also listened to Tucker Carlson's recent speech to The Heritage Foundation. I am no fan of Tucker Carlson, and this speech showed him to be quite convinced of his own cleverness. He's just certain that we're all eager to listen to him blather on about anything.

He depicted our current political climate as a sort of apocalyptic struggle, which seems to be a common theme on the right these days. He insists it's not like the liberals-vs.-conservatives of yore, two tribes with different ideas about how to reach common goals. He thinks modern liberals are EVIL, and helpfully defines for us what that means. (That's sarcasm on my part.)

He seems especially focused on transgender issues, and makes it sound like tribes of liberal lawmakers are out there forcibly castrating (his word) children. Of course this is ridiculous, as is most of the hysteria around gender identity. He mocks people who specify their pronouns. To me, the whole pronoun issue -- and in fact the issue of gender identity as well -- can almost be reduced to simple politeness. If someone who was born male sees themselves as a woman and wants to live as a woman, who am I to say no? Why wouldn't I accommodate that simply out of respect for that individual? It's the kind thing to do, and it's no skin off my back.

I don't get the furor. But I also don't have a particularly religious perspective about any of this, which makes a difference. That's not to say there aren't legitimate questions about how best to accommodate transgender people in public facilities, on sports teams and that kind of thing. But let's have a conversation. Let's not just dismiss them or their supporters as evil, castrating agents of Satan.

Liberals and conservatives are, in fact, still two tribes with different ideas about how to reach common goals. There is no apocalypse. (But casting the conflict as apocalyptic helps raise money, doesn't it, Tucker?)

I just wish we could all get out of ourselves and stop trying to impose our beliefs on each other. Live and let live. Stop trying to tell others what to read, what gender they are, who they have to love -- just be KIND. If someone wants us to stop using language they view as hostile or hurtful, let's do it. Why not? Again, how does it hurt us?

Anyway, sorry about that diatribe. Back to our regular programming.

I walked Olga in the cemetery in the afternoon. That's her with Skippy, some random little white fluffy thing, in a corner of the cemetery that's changed a lot in recent years. It used to be almost inaccessible, but now there's a muddy path that winds back into that corner and all the dog-walkers use it.

The British Government sent out an emergency alert test to everyone's cell phones yesterday around 3 p.m., and mine went off in the cemetery. It was quite loud. I'm sure even the turaco heard it. Apparently some people didn't get their alerts -- I think it depends on which phone network we use. At least the government didn't send the alert at 4 a.m. by mistake.

Despite our spring-like weather and all our colorful tulips and blooming trees, I wound up bringing the avocado tree back inside yesterday evening. That's another story for another day.