MOVING ON.....2024

A Note From The Author: Jacqueline E. Hughes

I am so happy to welcome in the new year, 2024!!! My Blog is changing-up a bit....mainly because I am evolving. Travel will always take precedence in my life and, my journeys will be shared with you. This 2024 version will offer a variety of new stories and personal ideas, as well. This is all about having fun and enjoying this Beautiful Journey called......Life!!!

Thursday, August 27, 2020

LEARNING HOW TO ACCEPT THE INEVITABLE





A series of essays....



STUNNING LESSONS FROM A MORNING FROST

Courtesy of Cookie’s Crumbles



....as seen through my eyes!










By: Jacqueline E Hughes


The stark reality is that when we wake-up one morning, in the not too distant future, there will be all sorts of familiar surfaces glistening with a generous coating of frost. The chill in the air will assault the nostrils; its rawness biting at and stinging the flesh as it attacks our fortitude to the very core of our being and we are sent running to the front closet for layers of warmth in various forms of protectiveness before crunching our way to our immediate destination.

Returning to Michigan after all of this time, I am recalling the patterns of life here that were once second nature to me having spent most of my formative years growing-up in a small town not far away. Even a grand length of time spent in a warm climate cannot erase the habitual inner awareness of the ‘seasonal change’ clock that has guided my life for years.

Even though the temps continue to sizzle outside with today’s high around ninety degrees, the mind is secretly preparing for what is to come just around the corner. Am I ready for it? Do I have a choice in the matter...? Not really!

Being pragmatic, we concentrate on what we believe can be reasonably controlled in our lives. But, we’re learning the hard way that even these things are being curtailed as time goes by. Trust me, the weather is not one of them. It will come roaring in one way or another bringing with it a frosty coat of early winter chill, hot seasonal temps that challenge each breath we take, and a Gulf of Mexico hurricane named Laura that threatens the lives of millions of people who are already dealing with a global pandemic.

So, sitting here on our deck that overlooks the backyard with its stone-outlined flowerbeds, otherwise known as ‘salad bars’ for the deer, and mature trees, a crumpled green leaf, browning at the edges, falls onto my lap. If it’s ‘two-point’ projection was zeroing in on my oversized mug of jasmine tea, it only missed its mark by several inches. The seasons are doing their familiar dance even as the tea cools in my hands.

As the daylight grows shorter and the bursts of brilliant pinks, orange, and muted purples set lower in the evening sky, we become acutely aware of our surroundings, consciously observing and listening to all of the subtle activity happening around us. They appear as plump, feasting squirrels who drop clusters of leaves and nuts from high up in the mature trees in preparation of their winter nests. We duck like frightened children as the abundant green acorns become natural projectiles when they fall from the mighty oaks and loudly ‘thunk’ upon metal sheds, garage roofs, and wooden decks. And, the late blooming plants are decked out in their finest floral coats of soft colors and intricate textures while continuing to draw their buzzing friends close around them.



CRYSTALLINE COVERS ON SOFT COLORS


Dan and I love the warm days and cool evenings that  September brings and have done most of our major traveling during this charming month. This year will mark our 47th year of saying “I do” as we celebrate our anniversary during the middle of September and are joyfully reminded of having been encircled by loving family and friends within a great limestone church located in that same little town not far away from us. 

Is it true that we tend to migrate back to the places where we experienced so many ‘firsts?’: first bonafide, one on one, date; first genuine kiss; first airplane trip; first solo drive in your very own banger (that was, actually, in pretty good condition); first time you thought you might be in love; first downhill skiing run; the second time you experienced the needless death of friends (first time happened when a classmate in elementary school succumbed after her hard fought battle with leukemia), and the first time you knew that there was a huge, wonderful, exciting world out there that you had to experience and enjoy...sooner rather than later.

Even as we wait for the coronavirus to subside (or, maybe because we have to), we have become more aware of the world around us, concentrated as we are in select places. At least, that’s as it should be. My jasmine laced breaks in the afternoon remind me of how delightful life can be. If I must go out into the Covid infused world, my first instinct is to secure my face mask from the knob it dangles from near the front door; always at the ready and convenient for whatever happens that pulls me outside.

Our lives are different these days. We have many new things to think about and absorb as we head back into the crisp days of fall with our children going back to school, virtually or in person, and Zoom sessions becoming the norm for many of us who must stay connected with the outside world. So, by the time the day comes when my toes are reluctantly imprisoned in socks and closed shoes and I await the comfort of my Floridian flip flops (affectionately known as ‘slippers’) while walking around indoors, I hope we’re all prepared for the changes the weather, life, and 2020 will continue to bring into our lives.

While stashing the gardening tools away for another season, let’s do each other the kind favor of watching out for one another’s best interests by wearing our masks in public, being polite and kind at all times, and respecting the well-being and productivity of each and every one of us including all that we bring to this magnificent table called life.

Enjoy the rest of your summer with family and friends and make room in your heart for the frosty realities brought to us by fall and winter. I’m not quite there yet....but, I’m faithfully working on it!






Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes
All rights reserved

Thursday, August 20, 2020

ENLIGHTENMENT








A series of essays....





THE NEW AND MUCH REQUIRED SPIRIT OF
THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT


....as seen through my eyes!









By: Jacqueline E Hughes


ENLIGHTENMENT, or The New Age of Enlightenment, is upon us. If we are here to make a difference and disrupt the current narcissistic propensities displayed by many holding political power and extreme wealth in today’s society, we the people must become enlightened...once again. If we wish to reclaim the spirit and philosophies that this nation was initially based upon and fought so hard for, than the significance of another philosophical movement stressing the importance of reason and the critical reappraisal of existing ideas and social institutions...is upon us. If we oppose the current political leanings towards rule by hierarchy and inequality, we are setting ourselves up for one of the most aggressive fights of our lives. If we lose, it will be time to open up our hearts and minds to the ramifications due to this failure as we face the end of democracy as we know it and end up with a singular conservative system that will systematically shred  the meaning of ‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,’ forever. We should be seriously concerned by this political outcome and diligently fight for the rights originally intended within our own Constitution. Doing whatever it takes, we must become enlightened...again!

“The Enlightenment was a movement in Europe from around the year 1650 until 1800 that advocated the use of reason and individualism instead of tradition and established doctrine and brought about many humanitarian reforms.” ...Wikipedia. It was also known as The Age of Reason and encompassed a large range of ideas: science; mathematics; reason (application of logic and making sense of things); cultural movement (in decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture); liberty; progress; tolerance (permissive attitude towards those whose opinions and beliefs differ from your own); a constitutional government, and separation of church and state. We must ask ourselves if we can afford to lose or, at least, be forcefully instructed as to how much or how little (if any at all), of the above we are allowed to pursue in the future. If we are able to apply logic in answering this question, it would have to be a firm, negative response. To impede the forward momentum of social and humanitarian reforms would set society back centuries and life as we know it into a tailspin, notably impossible to recover from.

Enlightenment is the knowledge and feeling of teaching and comprehension, wisdom and insight, open-mindedness and awareness, cultivation and grace within the pursuit of a diverse and civilized lifestyle. Enlightenment is the pure definition of immigration itself with a variety of backgrounds, religions, and cultures lighting our path of discovery and knowledge beyond all prior comprehension; attainable through our inclusiveness and desire to change from being backwards in our way of thinking to being open-minded and progressive.The progression of life often includes changes and not all of them will be pleasurable. Yet, all have their purpose, for better or worse, and we cannot afford to miss the lesson each change has in store for us. Will we become enlightened by each lesson or will we become stodgy, stagnant, and cruel by the omission of forward thinking? Others have attained the latter in various degrees of their ignorance, selfishness, and extreme hatred of people who are different from themselves; those born within a class level that they feel is far beneath them. To be born into privilege or become so narrow minded about the world that exists around you eliminates the hope of enlightenment unless you are willing to arrive at a fresh stage in your life and be open to positive, productive thinking.

The soul of America is in an arena of contention, caught between hatred and the good angels attempting to save It.  The New Age of Enlightenment is here! Be a part of it and vote in November because...our lives and democracy itself depend on it! This is not a reality television show. This is real life and time is running out.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. Wear your mask.


Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes
All rights reserved

Thursday, August 13, 2020

A PATCHWORK QUILT: LIFE IN 2020






A series of essays....




TODAY OUR LIVES RESEMBLE A PATCHWORK QUILT;
MAKESHIFT, OFTEN IMPROVISED, AND FILLED 
WITH MANY DIFFERENT SHAPES, SIZES, COLORS, AND MEMORIES.

Courtesy of 123RF.com














....as seen through my eyes!







By: Jacqueline E Hughes


Experiencing self-doubt and mental anguish, she sits in her comfort zone, closes her eyes, and drifts off into places and times that help to soothe her world, make her feel whole...if only for a moment. For now, that will have to be enough. Touching her grandchildren with long hugs and joyful kisses will have to wait; for more reasons than anyone may ever know, including herself.

The pandemic of 2020 has lasted far longer than anyone expected. With so many lives foolishly lost, too many of us couldn’t rally back like others may have. But, even so, years later, we will be expected to pick-up the pieces and carry on; almost as if nothing had really happened. 

The sunlight is beginning to spread like butter along the wooden fence in the backyard creating dark landscapes painted along its rough surface by the tree’s shadows. I advert my eyes for mere seconds at a time only to look back and find a completely new landscape as the sun slowly rises in the morning sky. 

When schools closed, the world changed.

The complexities surrounding the word normal are far too great to comprehend. That which is usual, typical, or ordinary, at least as we knew it to be, has been melded into something different every day. We are now living lives void of the ordinary with normalcy becoming the shifting desert sands in a windstorm.

Collaboration is cooperating with others and the action of working together to produce something of importance. Scientists are collaborating in order to discover and produce a viable and safe coronavirus vaccine to be administered as soon as all necessary testing is completed and enough is produced for the masses. This news is worth keeping my mask on in public and observing social distancing for as long as it takes this valiant effort to succeed! Science is how we’ll get back to normal.

Many people will be able to get through this fall season without college football. But, will the colleges themselves believe that they can based on lack of student athletic participation and minus the revenue generated by a prominent college football program? Perhaps an effort to prioritize something more than sports is in order.

Protective face masks come in a variety of solid colors and amazingly colorful prints. Never in a million years did we think we would be accessorizing these lifesaving facial additions with our daily ensembles right alongside Nancy Pelosi and the Queen of England! We must all do our part for the safety of ourselves and others and, as an added bonus, look good while doing it!!!

Never thought the right of being able to feel the warmth of a handshake, the softness of a kiss on each cheek, an embrace with someone you gave life to...would or could be as elusive as a distant thought or memory. That even believing we may have made contact with a COVID-19 positive person would keep us secluded from others for up to fourteen days. This, sadly, has become the new ‘normal.’

We have loftily taken so many good things in our lives for granted.

Three deer, the color of rich caramel, just walked below the deck and sauntered out onto the golf course. The leader waits on the 8th fairway for her companions to catch-up with her. When they do, the three Muske(d)eers playfully walk across the 7th, 6th to the 5th fairway leaving amazed golfers, sitting in immobile golf carts, in their wake. 

In an attempt to come up with creative ways to keep life interesting during these unusual times, we have decided to purchase take-out meals from local establishments and create a small feast at the picnic table on our back deck. Supporting your favorites restaurants, with little to no risk to yourself, will help insure their existence well into the future.

Local travel may delight us with its miles of sandy, Lake Michigan beaches, acres of lush parks, crystal blue inland lakes, and rich, green forests crisscrossed by walking trails certain to keep us busy for days and days...

I miss the pull of waking up early, bags packed, ticket on my smartphone’s airline app, the anticipation of walking the long gateways of the airport terminal with the smell of freshly brewed coffee and cinnamon rolls wafting around me, and people concentrated there from all over the world doing the exact same thing in real time! There has always been something uniquely special for me regarding international travel and there always will be. The thought of knowing that new worlds, people, customs, flavors, and colors await me on the other side of my plane trip is worth every line, safety rule, and minor inconvenience it takes to get me to my destination. I can hardly wait to resume this journey!

This election (2020) has to be about winning and not skin color, gender, or background.

By now it should be common knowledge that Vice President Joe Biden’s pick for his running mate is Senator Kamala Harris from California. I couldn’t be happier, even though my heart was set on ushering in Susan Rice. I have always loved Kamala and find her the common sense choice filled with energy, experience, and promise. Understanding that Michigan is a critical state for the campaign of 2020, the ticket of Biden and Harris promises to further the reveal of their passionate, people loving personalities and showcase how this pair will be able to bring this country back together. Joe and Kamala will heal the heart and soul of America which is what this country desperately needs right now.

Not only will ALL women succeed even further by Joe’s selection of Kamala Harris, but the past days of pain, death, and sadness have been rejuvenated by this positive jolt of energy injected into this campaign by these two hardworking and compassionate individuals. Today we are just 82 days out from the election of a lifetime. Make your voices heard and Vote in 2020!!!

Stay healthy and keep those around you safe and healthy, as well!


Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes
All rights reserved

Thursday, August 6, 2020

MULTIPLE PERILS: COVID-19 AND INEVITABLE/HARMFUL EVICTIONS




A series of essays....




BEING EVICTED FROM YOUR HOME WILL
LEAVE
 LIFELONG SCARS ON YOUR MIND, HEART & SOUL!

Courtesy John Moore/Getty Images




....as seen through my eyes!







By: Jacqueline E Hughes


During a conversation with one of Kalamazoo’s City Commissioners last Thursday, while discussing a grave problem that has plagued our vital, little neighborhood for months now and isn’t going away, soon...I was taken aback by a simple statement he made: “Our offices are going to become quite busy in the coming months as we address the real concerns of those who might (will) be evicted from their homes.”

Instantly, my breath was stifled under my black, triple-filtered mask...more so than usual. I realized that in my attempt to help correct one problem, I’d completely ignored another; a calamity brought about by the inevitable onslaught of a seemingly uncontrollable virus that has given birth to a domino effect that haunts each of us, one way or another.

This ‘Trump Show’ began in earnest back on January 20, 2017, when good men such as Congressman John Lewis understood and refused to personally advance it by calling Trump an “illegitimate president” and declined to attend his inauguration and, subsequently, his State of the Union Address.



PORTRAIT OF JOHN LEWIS AND BARACK OBAMA BY DAN LACEY


Trump, a vindictive and illiterate man, has lied his way into our lives. Unexpectedly finding himself in the White House, his priorities soon became clear: benefit himself financially by any means possible; lie, cheat, and cahoot with anyone, including foreign dictators, in order to serve his own cause; turn against and demean anybody who fails to agree with or challenges him privately or publicly; use his status to breakdown a democratic system that past presidents have rightfully preserved as the backbone of this great nation, and, finally, to quench his desire to totally discredit and wipe-out any good deed, law, or benefit to the people that was initiated or brought to fruition by our previous president, Barack Obama. 

Completely oblivious to any form of code of conduct and lacking a moral compass, this man blighted us with, not only, an apparent lack of education when it comes to basic, high school level, U.S. Government knowledge, but subsequently displayed his unwillingness to learn it as a sitting president. 

Due to this cavalier attitude, we the people have suffered enormous wrongs, which include: minimizing clean air and water quality; drilling for oil and gold and hunting wildlife within our National Parks; the discovery that Putin had placed bounties on the heads of American troops; the incarceration of children along our southern border; the denial of a worldwide deadly virus and failure to appropriately issue assistance via PPE, testing, and sound virus strategies as the virus spread from state to state, as well as the unconscionable price we have paid for his failures in the midst of this pandemic including the closure of small businesses, loss of jobs, the enabling of personal mental health instability, and the unnecessary loss of so many American lives.

And, this is strictly a ‘short list.’

Congress approved a bill to provide $600-per-week towards unemployment insurance for those losing their jobs due to the pandemic which has, ultimately, kept the economy stronger than anyone had the right to hope for. The unemployed have been able to pay their rent and/or house payment, purchase food for their family, and pay their bills.

And now, as this important ‘virus relief’ has officially expired and has not been renewed, the talks slog on with millions of people still out of work. Employment, especially minimum wage jobs, are unavailable due to the consequences of the pandemic and financial futures remain unprotected and frightening. 




HOW DO YOU MANAGE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH DURING A PANDEMIC?

Courtesy of FIT


Progress is slow as the urgency grows on virus relief talks. If the weak Republican proposal is signed and benefits are downgraded to $200-per-week, the compensation will not be enough to keep these families in good stead towards running even a minimal life style or provide protection from banks and landlords who hold jurisdiction over retaining a roof over their heads. 

We’ve been here before and not so very long ago. The extreme struggles many of us were made to endure in 2008 are now lurking around the corner, again. The psychological ramifications from having no control over your life is tantamount to having a battering ram threaten to smash in your skull every minute of the day. You can never stop thinking about it and it is certain to take its physical toll on you in due time.

So, when our friend from the City of Kalamazoo reminded us of the inevitable outcome initiated by the government dragging its feet and allowing for hardworking people to lose their homes, my heart skipped a beat. He explained how he, as a City Commissioner, will be one member of our local government who must appropriately handle the calls and text messages filled with emotional complaints and desperate pleas made by desperate citizens living in our area of the State of Michigan in the next few months. Tears fill my eyes as I can already hear these frantic voices cry out and employ any means possible in order to cling to their dreams; cling to the American Dream they have strived for, secured (for the most part) and now stand to lose.

I have labeled one consequence of this sad, repetitive situation as ‘inevitable evictions’ for a reason. The current administration has been notorious for breaking down the little guy, the middle class, the working poor, for nearly four years by way of taking away any means possible towards making life more viable, healthy, and profitable for them. For now, the pandemic has afforded this administration the means to justify their actions. 

The protection of fundamental human rights should be the primary objective for supporting democracy and its principles. As our government and all of its elected participants continue talks on virus relief this week, we can only hope that a timely and suitable outcome is achieved before people find themselves living out of their automobiles or stretching the fabric of health and wellbeing by having to move into a relative’s home. I do not see evictions as a feasible, emergency plan for riding out this financial storm during a deadly pandemic.


EVICTING FAMILIES FROM THEIR HOMES IN THE MIDDLE OF A
PANDEMIC IS CRUEL AND DANGEROUS.

Courtesy Getty Images


How does one conform to the plausible advice of our public health officials and governors who call for ‘staying home practices’ during this health crisis if people have no place to call home anymore?

We the people need to get a grip on how much we have lost and how much more we stand to lose. In a time when coronavirus heroes, nurses and all healthcare workers, are getting tossed from their homes by landlords who fear they may bring the coronavirus home with them, there is much to fear on both sides of our current situation. I pray we find some common ground when handling our lives and dealing with others from here on out by means of common sense and intelligence thinking, if nothing else.

Reality is that ‘The Heroes Act,’ proposed almost three months ago and immediately passed by the Congress, has waited all this time to gain a reaction from the Upper Chamber led by Mitch McConnell who continues to drag his feet and delay forward momentum. If this non-action continues, it will surely be considered a formula for further disaster.



IF YOU CAN’T PAY YOUR HOUSE PAYMENT OR RENT DURING THE
CORONAVIRUS CATASTROPHE, LET’S HOPE THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
WILL HAVE YOUR BACK...

Courtesy Flickr



Stay safe. Stay healthy. If you are not already, please register to vote. VOTE IN NOVEMBER! OUR LIVES DEPEND ON IT!


Copyright © 2020 by Jacqueline E Hughes
All rights reserved