HER CHARMS: BEAUTY AND POWER!

 

A series of essays….

LOOKING BEYOND THE FENCE TO THE GOLF COURSE
ON A BEAUTIFUL AUTUMN DAY

….as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

“Mother Nature is capable of the most beautiful things and the most destructive forces.”     —Steven Magee

Like just about everything else in life—enjoying and dealing with Mother Nature will always be a game of compromise and personal adjustments. To fully understand these necessary adjustments, one must always consider what Mother Nature has in store for you within the paradise you choose to live in. From a cozy mountain retreat to coastal living along the Eastern Seaboard to relatively flat farmland surrounded by vibrant woodland encompassing grazing cattle and sheep, Mother Nature is capable of the most beautiful arenas!

Having lived most of my life here in Michigan, I know first-hand how beautiful this world can be. From making a day trip to swim in Lake Michigan and feel the warm summer sand between my toes as I walked the beach to spending time on my grandparent’s farm and slithering between the tall cornstalks playing hide-and-seek with my cousins, the wonderful memories of the land and lakes will live with me forever.

As a young family with two daughters, we’ve enjoyed cross-country skiing together as much as building snow forts with massive snowball fights as our grand finale. Even our snow angels couldn’t protect us from these icy/cold projectiles.

Having allotted over twenty-three years of work and play in Central Florida into our lives, we have experienced the wrath of Mother Nature in the form of destructive hurricanes, muck fires (underground burning of organic material) that were started by the mighty brush fires that destroyed the land above, and massive flooding after torrential rains, accentuated by the low-lying profile of the land, washed away homes and destroyed lives.

Today, ‘Pure Michigan’ holds us in the palm of her hand, once again. 

Sitting out on the back deck of our cottage home has offered us entertainment and surprises these past few years. The golfers beyond the chain link fence constantly amuse us with their antics: hand tossing a ball out of the sand trap, observing golf balls that ricochet off of mature trees and land mere yards from the golfer who originally hit it, and listening to explicit obscenities before the culprit sees us on the deck and sheepishly apologizes  from a distance. The latter action hardly phased us; we play golf, too!

After living here for over six years (just below the eighth fairway) we have witnessed a first that left us in awe of the supreme power of Mother Nature. I still can’t wrap my mind around it. Just like the unstoppable raging California fires, I’m finding it difficult to grasp the sheer power and magnitude of this incident the morning afterward.

Slipping under the covers the night before, we could hear the torrential rain and witnessed the sheet lightening through the curtains that lit up the sky for long periods of time. Little did we know what the wee hours of the night had in store for us.

Making notes of the backyard landscape while taking our dog outside the morning after the frightening deluge that lasted most of the night, Dan reported changes that made me charge to the kitchen windows to see for myself. It felt like being in the middle of a Saturday morning cartoon with giant logs tumbling down a roaring river and the hero being chased by the bad guy who was stepping gingerly from one log to another.

LEAVES AND DEBRIS WERE CARRIED ALONG
WITH THE MASSIVE LOGS BELOW OUR HOUSE

A VIEW LOOKING UP TO THE
GOLF COURSE FROM THE GULLY BELOW

Only, this time, we were sound asleep during all of the action! This was a bit disconcerting considering our bedroom window is positioned along the side yard where all of the action took place.

We always knew that the runoff water from the golf course dumped into the gully alongside our little cottage home. But because the ground there is sandy, any water would dissipate quickly before accumulating in the gully itself, depending on the amount of water and its ferocity.

What Dan saw was powerful and totally amazing. The large, ten foot long logs that have lived just under the golf club’s chain link fence for several years — were gone. The ten logs had been saved for future fireplace usage after having a very large tree removed from our front yard a few years ago. Because of the powerful water rushing off of the golf course during the night, our mighty logs had been lifted by the high water and pushed some 100 feet down the gully and were now resting all askew and crisscrossing one another. 

Incredible! We could denote a water line far up into our yard that, actually, submerged the fire pit and beyond it by, at least, five feet. By the time Dan witnessed the aftermath, the gully was drained and, for the most part, dry.

And we failed to hear anything all snuggled in our bed with visions of a bright, sunny day filling our heads… 

A lesson learned here… Living along a golf course and enjoying the open views of lush, well-kept green grass that’s punctuated with many tall, healthy trees can be a deceiving sight as far as Mother Nature is concerned. She will always have the upper hand and hold the winning cards when it comes right down to it. We must go with her flow and be aware of the destructive forces she holds over us. At the same time, we can enjoy all of the beautiful sights she has to offer. Employing common sense and finding the right balance between Mother Nature’s dual personalities is a wise choice to make.

Copyright © 2024 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

AGING WITH KINDNESS AND GRACE

 

A series of essays….

JOE BIDEN’S AMERICAN PROMISE TOUR—JANUARY 28, 2018

….as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

Believing that age is merely a number and we’re only as old as we feel, my heart aches yet is thrilled at the same time with regards to President Biden’s decision to place country over self and country over party. He knew he chose the right running mate. Still—my love and respect for this man, coupled with the desire to have him move on into a second term, will never diminish. In fact, his courage in dropping his campaign and backing his highly capable running mate has heightened my appreciation of his selfless act of love for the people.

Growing up in the 1950’s in Northern Indiana, religion and (especially) politics were never topics bounced back and forth between my parents, or any relatives in general. Which kind of coleslaw, creamy or classic, Mom would make this year for the family reunion, or who got brand new boots that winter, or which burger restaurant we chose for our Saturday night treat were the closest topics up for discussion and debate.

Because of their open silence regarding politics and world events, I often wonder if the adults in my life even cared about what was happening outside of their little bubble, especially when the cruelty of the Joseph McCarthy era, the ideological clash between communism and capitalism, ushered in the decade following WWII.

Maybe this was a good thing and I should be thanking my lucky stars to have been saved a lot of worry and grief through my highly vulnerable years. It was the assassination of John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Bobby Kennedy in the 1960’s that quickly pulled me into the political scene. Politics became the bridge between my high school years and college career.

I wasn’t the only one. Students on campuses all over the country harbored doubts about their political leadership and discussed, as well as challenged ways to make a positive change going into the future.

Last Sunday, President Joe Biden reconfirmed for so many of us our belief in this good, selfless man running our country. I am proud to have been a part of the 36% who supported the Biden re-election campaign and believe that Joe Biden has led us with intellect, grace and dignity.

Some say that with the exit of Joe Biden in this presidential race, Kamala Harris is the ‘shot in the arm’ that Democrats need to move forward with their political agenda. If you really want to know about a person, you talk to their history: a District Attorney for San Francisco, Attorney General for the State of California, a United States Senator, and Vice President under Joe Biden.

Joe’s life lessons via quotes help to define the man: “Grandpa said, ‘Joey, keep the faith.’ Grandma said, ‘No Joey, you must spread the faith.’ “

My emotions have run full circle within the past several days. My heart is settling into a satisfied rhythm. I will find extreme comfort in Joe’s leadership in the next six months and in Kamala Harris come next January. As I have stated before, Joe knew he made the right choice in his running mate. Now it’s Kamala’s turn to do the same. 

(I believe that Senator Mark Kelly would be a phenomenal choice for Kamala Harris as her running mate—for many solid reasons.)

Copyright © 2024 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

KEEPING AMERICA SMART

 

A series of essays….

STAYING STRONG AND UNIFIED UNDER THE BIDEN/HARRIS TICKET

….as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

To keep America smart, you must assume that it was smart at some time in the past.  

And, it was....before Washington D.C. became 'the swamp' following the November 8, 2016 election, it had been a semblance of a fair and balanced ecosystem that incorporated all people, faiths, and ideologies within its borders. In a heartbeat, it was being drained of its kindness and left vulnerable and open to greed, fear, and foreign influence!

You would be correct in believing that we've always been vulnerable to all of the above. And, I could now list a litany of opportunities by the USA that many of us believe could and should have been resolved years ago such as the constant struggles with women's rights, racism, gun control, climate change, and immigration.

What we are fighting hard for today is to retain our democracy, reinstate check and balances to aid in a more stabilized balance of power, and save our Constitution from collapse by insuring that its general principles remain functioning as our founding fathers believed they would in order to protect all of us, not just the few who believe that money is more powerful than kindness and love.

When I see people fighting for our rights such as Representative Adam Schiff who has taken great pains to clarify exactly why the impeachment inquiry had taken place, tears come to my eyes. 

Said Schiff, "When the founders provided a mechanism in the Constitution for impeachment, they were worried about what might happen if someone unethical took the highest office in the land and used it for their personal gain and not because of deep care about the big things that should matter." 

Schiff concluded by saying, "The president believes he is above the law, beyond accountability. And, in my view, there is nothing more dangerous than an unethical president who believes they are above the law." We are most fortunate to have this gracious man, Adam Schiff, fighting for us and the Constitution of the United States. 

Unfortunately, Drumpf’s handpicked members of our Supreme Court eye this arrangement by our nation’s founders as wrong and haVe given this ‘horrible example of humankind’ the right to stand above the law with the ‘gift’ of immunity. This is not justice. This is stupidity and greed talking to us. And, its consequences may be fatal to all of the people of this great nation.

Yesterday was a much simpler time. I was young, accepting of authority, and embraced life through a child's eyes. Authoritarianism, Humbleness, Consolation, Maturity, and Loyalty all helped to mould, shape, influence, and build my character as an adult.  

I am, significantly, older now. I have lived through so much while making many decisions along with minor/major life changes. I have become book-smart, responsible, commonsensical, often goofy and carefree, with one of my greatest attributes being the ability to listen to what others have to say. Everyone is important and everyone has something they need to tell someone else. But, not everyone has the patience to....listen to them.

Aging and living a full life has taught me how important life's lessons are, whether good, bad, or indifferent.

While I was living out my childhood under the thumb of the authority figures who impacted my everyday life, I, more than likely, was making mental notes about what was going on within my own small world. Did I know or care about who the President of the United States was, what his or her job or purpose was? Probably not as much as I should have.

I know today, July of 2024, after a wildly successful first term as President, Joe Biden has reached deep within and pulled us out of a stinking hellhole specifically created by a twice impeached president who now, after leaving office, has 34 felony convictions under his belt. We all deserve much better than this!

Basic control over what others may say and do.....has always been the reason behind Drumpf’s existence; reversing Roe v. Wade is his success story. Removing our democratic roots in order to create his own dictatorship can be labeled his future plan.

I refuse to go backwards into the future!

The definitive progress made by mankind in the last several decades that was guided by mutual respect and understanding for one another and Mother Earth is about as far back in time as I choose to go. Most of us have worked way too hard to have all of our long fought battles reversed by people who want to shake-up our government, take back jobs that have been mechanized and are now non-existent, who fail to understand that lies and deception are the new rules and guidelines set-up by the very person they voted for in 2016, and is attempting to take charge again in 2024, and take the benefits of a decent life of education, health care, earned rights of Social Security benefits and Medicare back into the dark ages.

If 'The Dumbing-Up of America' serves the handful of enormously rich and greedy characters that desire to deny Americans their basic freedoms, hope will go by the wayside. The once great United States of America will tumble into a heap of rubble that cannot and will not be respected by the rest of the world. This decline has already become evident to many of us after Drumpf took office.

Is it too late, fellow Americans, to 'Keep America Smart?' If it isn't, we had better get our act together NOW and do something to renew our hope and faith in a nation that is quickly melting into the hands of foreign powers, unhealthy greed, and the frigid bonds of dictatorship. Maintaining the works in progress, as well as future endeavors, by our President, Joe Biden, is the best way to do this. With Vice President Harris beside him, we are in highly capable hands!

I offer strength to Joe and Kamala who are working so hard to correct the wrongs and reintroduce the right approach to our future and well-being. May their forward progress not be halted by squeamish politicians and supporters this late in the game. Supporting Joe and Kamala should be our main priority right now if maintaining democracy is our goal.

Copyright © 2024 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

A STORM WITHIN A STORM

 

A series of essays….

A WORLD JUST BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT

….as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

The words are here. They’ve never gone away. They have been swirling around in brackish water, once a sweetly flowing stream, made saliferous with many tears shed and clouded by weeks of sadness and uncertainty. My tears. My uncertainty.

Self doubt can be the bane of many of us, the bêtes noire or black beast capable of swallowing-up the positive notions that may (or may not) control the creativity and drive within us. Well, the bêtes noire bit down on me—hard—several weeks ago and, like a poison running through my veins, I became weak and disillusioned, toxic to myself and my writing. 

I’m not saying that I am out of my funk just yet. This crazy, lethal weather we’ve been experiencing lately has me running for cover and praying for all of the poor souls who have been forsaken by the fires, flooding, and tornadic winds that cost the lives of loved ones, destroyed homes, and scattered so many tangible memories.

But the storm inside my head has been even more fierce than the wind, lightening flashes, and inevitable thunder that follows on any given stormy day; often filled with doom and gloom. The self doubt had seeped into my very being (my soul) and, like a nasty tornado, twisted my confidence as though it were a tree that happened to be in its path of destruction. 

Even writing about my experience now, while opening-up to all of you, is making me nervous. Making me anxious. I may not be ‘out of the woods’ yet, but I know the words are swirling around in my head and I am able to see them as clearly as my inner being will allow while putting them together to create full sentences compiled (honestly) of truth and understanding. I love what I do. To have it blurred or set aside because my inner demons have exploited their appropriate levels of existence, literally, breaks my heart.

I do love what I do—telling my stories in the best way I know how. Opening up in such a way that you, my readers, know it comes from my heart. If I can’t achieve this status, I will withdraw for a time, like I have done these past few weeks. I will collect my thoughts, rehash my raison d’être, refresh my energy in such a way that I feel comfortable sharing them with you. 

Time. Patience. Energy. Love. That’s what it takes to filter the brackish water and return it to a sweetly flowing stream. 

The weather isn’t improving in the least and I sit here typing this under severe thunderstorm warnings for our area. Our dog has retreated into her safe place and we keep waiting for the electricity to wish us a sudden adieu. The AccuWeather map tells the whole story and I insert it here for everyone to see my disappearing state draped in the ominous colors of yellow, orange, and red, indicating powerful storms that appear to be lasting for several more hours. 

THE STATE OF MICHIGAN IS WEARING
A BLANKET OF ENERGY THIS MORNING!

So, I am sending this out shortly while the weather gods haven’t totally abandoned us. I miss all of you and promise that this Blog has me building up more self confidence each day. I do see the light and will continue on my journey without false smiles on my face or cobwebs filling my heart and soul. I have so much to be grateful for. I hope you have not given up on me in the interim because that light I see just keeps getting brighter and brighter with every word I type. 

Wishing all of you Joy and Happiness!

Copyright © 2024 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved