CrowMac Creek

 The national debt has risen to a new high of 36 trillion dollars. According to the Federal Reserve Chairman, we can live with that, but we must not allow it to grow, so some belt tightening must occur. The Republicans will certainly want to reduce the money provided for education, Social Security, and Medicare. I can understand (but not agree with) them wanting to cut spending on education. The more education voters have, the less likely they will vote for (current) Republicans. Of course Republican's  dissecting tables are readying for cuts in Social Security and Medicare. And the poor will be required to tighten their belts, but their belts are on the last loop, and some have no belts at all.  President Trump will certainly want to keep his 2017 Tax and Jobs Act (TCJA) and extend it well into the future. But PBS, Politifact and numerous other sources have reported that the past job increases projected by Republicans just didn't develop, and never have. The closest esti...

 The election has, with the exception of the counting of some more ballots, been dispersed with nothing left but a frightening future. As a Democrat, I’ve lived through some disappointments. But I’ve never been as fearful as I am now of another Trump presidency. But this one is different than all of the others, and far more dangerous. It isn’t just Democrats and the Press who have opposed another Donald Trump victory. Many Republicans have refused to support him, especially people like Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Wyoming Republican Representative Liz Cheney, and many more. People in Trumps cabinet such as former Defense Secretary like Mark Esper had called him a “threat to democracy, and former Vice President Mike Pence who received death threats from those who overran the Capital who warned the electorate of what he might do. Now, those who Trump believes have not given him the support he requires are in his sights. CNN, CBS, CNN, Fox News and ...

 2  Nov 2024 I've worried about another Trump presidency for months. Friends have tried to reassure me. "Trump won't win." But I don't feel assured. Though a great number of the old guard Republicans have turned against Trump and are spending thousands on anti-Trump commercials, seemingly with no effect. It doesn't matter than Trump is a liar. I mean half of what he says are lies and the rest isn't true. MAGAs point the finger at Biden and call him a liar, and he does spin the truth occasionally finessing his numbers, but nothing like Trump. At first I thought that Trump simply forgets what the truth is, but now I believe that he knows exactly what he is saying and what his words will do. The world witnessed him telling his followers "fight like Hell," and they did. To some, it doesn't matter that Trump childishly calls world leaders silly names. It doesn't matter that his past administration was a revolving door with members not only qui...

Leigh Ann Little  I am not sure how I will address this new blog entry. I can't even come up with an appropriate title. The two deaths of my very favorite people in two days just seem more than I can handle. But at 74, I suppose I will need to continue these tributes.      I quietly, hopelessly and secretly fell in love with Leigh Ann in July of 2010. I had just completed the two most awful years I had ever experienced in teaching and had gained thirty pounds in the process. Let's just say I was not feeling too good about myself. I had just moved to Kansas and didn't have much going for me at the time when John Turbayne called asking me if I wanted to meet him at a friend's home. "Of course!" I responded, and John gave me directions to Leigh Ann's home. She was petite, attractive and the most intelligent person I had ever met. We all conversed, and I had an extremely enjoyable evening. Later, I had the opportunity to see her again, though only on a few occ...

  Back to Arizona and to Nature     It's been a long while, too long since I had access to the back country, but I have returned. Don't get me wrong though. I enjoyed my life in Kansas. I met and enjoyed sharing time with Linda Taylor, Mike Kudlac, Dwayne Joe and many others        I met and fell in love with Laura Mikels, but my time with her ended with her untimely death at age 45. After her loss, I knew that I needed to move on.           I have long been complaining that I had nowhere to go where I was far enough away from civilization to enjoy the feeling one gets when hiking, running or biking up a mountain trail, and then finding the peace that can only be derived from natures'  grandeur.     Now I am in Arizona I feel Fulfilled.

 Larry Bidtah, one of my closest friends and fellow teacher passed on February 15th, 2024. He died after a long struggle with cancer. He was good man and he was a person who worked with students with emotional problems. With his even personality, he gained the trust and respect of each of his students.  He spent an enjoyable summer with me. We explored and hiked all around the Navajo Reservation. But the last time I saw him, I had been angry with him and, even though I may have had a reason to be angry, I should not have treated him the way I did.  After everything, I realized what I had done. I tried to find him countless times, all without success. I tried to find him again today and this is what I found found: Lawrence Bidtah Good friends are few, it seems, and those relationships are well worth whatever we can do to keep them alive.  I have written about CrowMac Creek in the past, and many of the residents at CrowMac Creek have moved from this life to the next. T...

 In 2000, I worked as a track coach and substitute teacher, applying and ultimately failing at securing a teaching position. I lived in a nice little town, Mancos, Colorado, and a s I taught, I met many families where, upon high school graduation, their sons and daughters were unable to secure housing close to family and friends. There was little work and the housing prices were well out of the reach of these young people.  This was prior to the wave of greed that ravaged this country after Covid. Understandably, with workers falling ill, and a broken supply chain, the costs of doing business increased, sometimes generating prices beyond what people could pay. We saw this in the prices of groceries, household goods, and especially housing. And worse, after Covid had come and gone, the increased prices remained the same and others actually increased.  We are living in an era where profits and corporate management incomes have increased substantially. Now I don't begrudge p...