I came across these Picasso-esque figures on a wall between Belsize Park and St. John's Wood. (I'm not sure Picasso would agree they're Picasso-esque, but you know what I mean.) I think whoever drew them may have been following existing cracks or contours in the wall. Or maybe shadows?
Dave and I have ironed out our plans for February break in a couple of weeks. We are indeed going to Florida, and our friend Warren, who has stayed with Olga in the past, will dog-sit for us here in London. We're going to fly into Tampa on the 15th and fly out on the 22nd. In between I'm not sure what we're doing. Dave will spend the bulk of the week in Bradenton with his parents, and I hope to get up to Jacksonville to visit my brother, and we'll see my step-sister just north of Tampa.
It's good to have a plan. I haven't been back to Florida for a year and a half, and I think we both felt like we were due for a visit.
Last night I was re-reading some posts from 2013 when we first got Olga. It's so funny to read them now, when she is so thoroughly Olga to me, with all her quirks and personality traits known. Back then she was a blank slate, a question mark. I remember when I picked her up I was surprised by how big she was, and she was wearing a studded leather collar that frankly made her look thuggish. We got rid of that right away. She was called Tinsel by the shelter where we adopted her, and it took us a while to settle on a new name -- Mona was the most viable secondary option, but when we chose Olga we did it with certainty. And Olga she has become, through the subsequent 12 years of our shared life together.
When I got her I remember thinking, "We're going to have this dog for at least ten years!" That seemed like such a long time. But it went by in a flash.
Anyway, I'm not sure what prompted this retrospection. Olga's health seems more or less fine; she's just doddery and slow. She's 14 or 15 years old now. Maybe I'm a little uncertain about leaving her when we go to Florida. But we've gotta have lives, too, right?
Dave and I have ironed out our plans for February break in a couple of weeks. We are indeed going to Florida, and our friend Warren, who has stayed with Olga in the past, will dog-sit for us here in London. We're going to fly into Tampa on the 15th and fly out on the 22nd. In between I'm not sure what we're doing. Dave will spend the bulk of the week in Bradenton with his parents, and I hope to get up to Jacksonville to visit my brother, and we'll see my step-sister just north of Tampa.
It's good to have a plan. I haven't been back to Florida for a year and a half, and I think we both felt like we were due for a visit.
Last night I was re-reading some posts from 2013 when we first got Olga. It's so funny to read them now, when she is so thoroughly Olga to me, with all her quirks and personality traits known. Back then she was a blank slate, a question mark. I remember when I picked her up I was surprised by how big she was, and she was wearing a studded leather collar that frankly made her look thuggish. We got rid of that right away. She was called Tinsel by the shelter where we adopted her, and it took us a while to settle on a new name -- Mona was the most viable secondary option, but when we chose Olga we did it with certainty. And Olga she has become, through the subsequent 12 years of our shared life together.
When I got her I remember thinking, "We're going to have this dog for at least ten years!" That seemed like such a long time. But it went by in a flash.
Anyway, I'm not sure what prompted this retrospection. Olga's health seems more or less fine; she's just doddery and slow. She's 14 or 15 years old now. Maybe I'm a little uncertain about leaving her when we go to Florida. But we've gotta have lives, too, right?
Remember those violas I found on the sidewalk in St. John's Wood last November? They're blooming away, despite our near-freezing nighttime temperatures. Rugged little things.
So Trump has pardoned most of the January 6 rioters, as expected. I'm not too worked up about this, given that many of them have already served their sentences and punishment has been inflicted. I was on the fence about prosecuting them in the first place, and I still think the Biden administration, by vigorously doing so, missed an opportunity to extend an olive branch and ease the grievances of the MAGA crowd. The prosecutions turned them all into martyrs in the eyes of some Americans. (I do think some of the leaders of alt-right organizations -- like Enrique Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes -- were rightly imprisoned as instigators of violence, and I'm sorry to see them get off.) Trump declined to pardon the rioters in the waning days of his first term, so if I were them, I'd be saying now, "Too little too late!" But of course he can do no wrong in their addled eyes.
I can't even talk about all the other stuff Trump is up to. We are in for a world of crazy.
By the time I went to work yesterday morning, two of the abandoned chairs in my previous post had been taken -- the two on the left. I would have adopted that middle one if it had still been there. Dave can thank his lucky stars it was gone!
Olga's doing great for an elderly dog!
ReplyDeleteYour Florida plan sounds sensible to me. I have never lived anywhere else than "home", so I can not imagine what it is like to live so far away from what was once home to you, but even though Ripon (and Yorkshire in general) has never been where my husband and I lived together, I miss my family and friends there and am more than happy to go once a year (would go more often if I had the time and the money).
ReplyDeleteMy sister watched the entire inauguration and some of the stuff afterwards and kept me in the loop with a constant stream of text messages, so much so that I turned my mobile on "night shift" (meaning I muted her messages) at least for as long as I was having something to eat. We're all in for some changes, in Germany not only because of the much increased customs fees on imports but also because of our upcoming general election (only another month to go!) and the influence certain people are exerting on our politicians and parties.
Glad to hear you have sorted out a trip to the newly named Trumplandia. Make sure you purchase red MAGA caps upon arrival or risk lynching. Regarding Olga, at least you will only be gone for seven days and you can give Warren a clear "What if..." briefing before you go. Perhaps write it down.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to learn the backstory of Olga since I wasn't aware of your blog back then.
ReplyDeleteI am a bit disappointed I guess by the pardons of the Jan 6th rioters as I am with Biden's last minute pardons of his family and staff members. Of the former, I think they justly were sentenced and should have that stain upon their records. For the latter, despite the reasoning for doing so, it is just horrible optics and I think sets up the stage to allow the current and future presidents to do illegal things and just pardon themselves on the way out of office. I think pardons should be used judiciously and sparingly.
My two biggest hopes for the Trump presidency is that we will get some meaningful immigration and tax code reform. With a very partisan congress, I'm not optimistic on either. I am one of the few in favor of tariffs which long term will stimulate our domestic economy by raising wages and creating jobs. But I'm not optimistic that the American people can tolerate the short term inflationary pains that we have to experience to reach those long term benefits and fully expect the tariffs to be repealed by the next presumably Democrat president after Trump.