PUZZLE ME THIS

 

A series of essays….

PLACING ALL OF THE PIECES TOGETHER IN THE RIGHT
SPACES CAN BE A TEDIOUS AND DIFFICULT TASK

….as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes 

With many connections to various news sources online, it’s easy to get drop-downs on my i-Pad during any given writing session. They highlight what’s going on in the world at the moment and then fold back up (into tiny, dark spaces) only to take me down various rabbit holes later, when there is time to peruse them.

These drop-downs exist for the same reason the current time stamp, day, and date appear in the upper left hand corner of the screen: they keep me aware of what’s happening in the world around me in, for the most part, real time. 

Upon occasion, the dynamic news presented on the wallpaper of my Lock Screen can immediately capture my attention and has led me to incorporate this newfound information into stories currently being worked on. As a freshman at Indiana University South Bend, my journalist classes were the foundation for becoming a (creative) writer and a catalyst for my extreme curiosity. 

Clinging to the bits and pieces of reality ingeniously fed to me via these news posts, I view the world as the giant jigsaw puzzle that it is. Now it is up to me to decipher the meaning and accuracy of what is presented and choose to dig deeper or not until all of the pieces fit together as one, complete picture. Often, as in real life scenarios, the individual components don’t always add up or even fit together as a precision cut puzzle should. There can be so many rough, misshapen edges made up of lies, hate, hopelessness, fear, uncertainty—sadness.

As I work, a drop-down informs me of yet another school shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia. Four innocent souls are dead. Two students. Two teachers. Nine people injured by gunshot wounds. A fourteen-year-old is responsible. More terrible news to digest. More puzzle pieces waiting for us to twist and turn and try to make fit; trying to make sense out of such horrific actions. 

Pinch me because right now I feel numb. Help me feel the acute pain of having children die and families left in limbo asking why—and their lives will never be the same. What fourteen-year-old is justified in thinking that he has the right to change the lives of others, forever?

Another drop-down, this time by National Geographic, tells me that studies show that corn can sweat! Apparently, on a hot day, fields of corn transpiring water, also known as "corn sweat", can raise local humidity levels by 30 to 40 percent. And all that moisture produced by more than 90 million acres of corn nationwide can make temperatures hotter and more miserable. That’s an interesting puzzle piece to be inserted under the title of ‘climate change.’

With the world getting hotter and hotter, we should remind ourselves to ‘byob’ (bring your own bag) while driving down our country roads this summer. You never know when we might be able to fill them up with popcorn from the overheated, sweaty corn fields!

Please don’t worry. I’m not here looking for leprechauns. I found my very own leprechaun named John at the top of the Caha Mountains in County Kerry, Ireland back in 2006. 

I’m not here to relate faerie tales about the Good People even when I believe in them, wholeheartedly. It’s important to note that the news is essential to stay informed about what’s going on in the world around us. And often, it’s unavoidable on our social media feeds.

However, news can be stressful, disheartening, and even scary.

Learning how to manage this stress is essential, especially in a world where we’re so connected through technology and social media. Even I know that it’s possible to stop the drop-downs, but I choose to see them and pick and choose what I read afterwards. At least I feel I am directly connected to the world around me.

When these small, white puzzle pieces drop down in front of me to be read as quickly as possible, I collect them in a special place in my head even before they are wrenched from my sight and sucked back up into oblivion. While news can bring up lots of stress for some, reminding yourself of what is in your control and what isn’t can help you create some mental space. 

This space is used, wisely. The current puzzles I am working on, while making the pieces fit in some coherent manner, are called my weekly posts. Sometimes each piece is twisted and turned until it fits into its appropriate slot and, I am happy. Fulfilled. This is the world as seen through my eyes!

Copyright © 2024 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

HE GAVE HIS BEST TO US: THE LEGACY OF A GREAT MAN

 

A series of essays….

DEMOCRACY: OURS TO LOSE UNLESS WE FIGHT HARD TO RETAIN IT!

….as seen through my eyes!

“Let me know in my heart

When my days are through

America, America

I gave my best to you

America

I gave my best to you”

— Joe Biden

From American Anthem by Nora Jones

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

Wow, Monday night made it all so real for me! I have shivers just thinking about this momentous presidential convention and our commitment to freedom and democracy while protecting individual rights for all people. 

If we can take just one piece of truth, one segment of reality, or one nugget of solid memory from an administration that is summarized as helping and loving all of the people who fall under its care—let it be this song and lyrics by Nora Jones, personalized and quoted by Joe Biden.

We often seek out one thought or memory offered as a gift to us by someone or something that will live in our hearts, forever. That’s exactly what I had hoped to take away from the first night of the DNC. And, even though I waited a long time for it to arrive, at last, I found it as Joe was closing his speech to the nation: “I gave my best to you.”

My own laughter and waterworks rang true throughout the hours of accolades bestowed upon Joe. The random intimate stories of hard work, hardships, newfound joy and happiness, some we’d heard before and others new, was the running theme of the evening. Ultimately, after fifty years of service to his country, his decision to step down from his presidency is the greatest personal sacrifice he could every make. This selfless act should and will live within us until the end of time.

The ego is not something to be taken for granted. If we’re lucky, the ego relates the appropriate pride in oneself that offers up the self-esteem required to make the very best of our life and be able to share this with others. If we, the recipients of this ego, build a better life for ourselves and those we love because of it, the circle of life contains a sparkling silver lining to be passed down from generation to generation.

Joe, unlike most of us, was able to sacrifice everything he worked so hard to create within his career as a public servant. Politics to Joe is the runway that helps him take flight and become the best he can possibly be. Family is the fuel that energizes him. We, the people, are the grateful recipients that thrive under all of his kindness and love.

Aren’t we fortunate to know Joe Biden? You’re damn right we are! Who else would leave a position of such high importance for the benefit of you and me? I will bet it took an enormous amount of soul searching, confidence in the person he is passing the baton to, and faith (in his God and his family) to pull this one off. Does he have some regrets, do you think? After all, he is only human.

His fifty-two minute speech packed a punch. Delivered with strength in his convictions, it was the perfect keynote address to the nation. It was powerful! Taking such pride in all you have accomplished as president in the last four years is an act of extreme self confidence and belief in the Constitution and this great nation.

If need be, I would have stayed awake to hear his speech well into the early hours of the morning. It was necessary to hear him speak to us; be the Joe Biden that led us out of a pandemic (totally exasperated by the negative powers that be) and into a positive future the likes we have not witnessed for decades. 

Thank you, Joe!

Maybe that sounds too simple, too naive. We know it comes from the very depths of our souls. Joe knows it, too. Such a collective effort of Pride and Love and Hope.

I have been a Nora Jones fan for many years and remember watching the Ken Burn’s documentary, The War. But the years have a way of passing us by, too quickly. I did not take American Anthem to heart as, obviously, the Biden family has done. Shouldn’t we all read these Nora Jones’s lyrics (her poetic epitaph) with a true sense of patriotism; a tone of giving our life for the betterment of others? Joe did. Joe does. Joe always will and he will be lovingly immortalized for it.

I love this man. I love Joe Biden and I always will. His profound grace exists within his successor, Kamala Harris, as well. May God bless our nation and lead us forward into the light.

“I love my job, but I love my country more.”  —Joe Biden

Copyright © 2024 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

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