End Of Discussion... AGAIN.

 

“Speaking personally, you can have my gun, but you'll take my book when you pry my cold, dead fingers off of the binding.” 

~Stephen King 

 

Once again, Stephen King makes the most poignant of points.

 

Another mass shooting. 

 

Do I have to say it again?

 

Stricter gun laws must be put in place! No one takes an assault rifle hunting. No one has a "God given right" to own a gun. Open carry is stupid! Do you really need a gun to buy a can of peaches at Walmart? Why can't there be mandatory courses for gun ownership and use? Assault weapons need to be banned... END OF DISCUSSION! Stricter laws for misuse of a gun need to be put in place! Misuse of a gun should mean a mandatory sentence of 50 years only if the victim is injured, if a death is involved life in prison with no possibility of parole. If a gun is not stored properly, you lose your gun for life. If your child takes your gun, and uses it with or without your permission, you get a mandatory sentence of 10 years above and beyond any other charges. 

 

Most voters are ready to move forward with common sense laws regarding guns, but our politicians love the support ($$$$) they receive from the gun lobby more than the will and support of their constituents. A good sign, that perhaps means there is a small movement toward something positive, the NRA has seen a steep decline in membership in recent years. I am not sure if it is due to the virus of gun violence, or if it is because the former CEO of the NRA is a giant crook!

I am done with this post. Currently at least 20 were shot in Kansas City this morning, and 1 death. I am sure that will change, it always does. All these folks were doing was celebrating the amazing historic Super Bowl win of the Kansas City Chiefs. It should have been a fun day. The schools were given a celebratory day off to have fun with it. It was something to be happy about! I know if the San Francisco 49ers had won, I would have been filled with all kinds of pride. I may have even tried to talk dear hubby into going to whatever celebrations being held.

 

 

I have nothing more to say on the subject.

 My heart goes out to all touched by this stupid gun epidemic. 

Sporting events. Schools. Churches. Grocery Stores. Parades.

Where will it happen next? And will you are I be there?

 

Oh and by the way, it is also Valentine's Day, so there's that!

 

The Horror Master, Stephen King, Understands Me

"The three types of terror: the sight of a severed head tumbling down a flight of stairs, it's when the lights go out and something a green and slimy splatters against your arm. The Horror: the unnatural, spiders the size of bears, the dead waking up and walking around, it's when the lights go out and something with claws grabs you by the arm. And the last and worse one: Terror, when you come home and notice everything you own had been taken away and replaced by an exact substitute. It's when the lights go out and you feel something behind you, you hear it, you feel it's breath against your ear, but when you turn around, there's nothing there... "

~Stephen King

What is terror? Terror is being awakened from a deep sleep, by the sound of your home security system, alerting you that an intruder has attempted entry! That happened to me yesterday, at 7:23 AM. My phone was lit up red. My alarm system was lit up red. Both were screaming, loudly, both saying someone had tried to come in through the back door, off the living room. I couldn't function. I am not sure if it was because the sound of the alarms terrified me, or if it was because I was barely dressed. Or if it was because I had no idea what the intruder wanted. Was it an attempted robbery? An attempted rape? Someone itching to commit murder? What did they want?

I will never know the answer to that question. By the time I could function, about 3 or 4 minutes, they were gone. I never got a chance to see who they were. A man? A woman? A wacky child? A ghost? A vampire? I have no idea, which makes the whole thing a lot worse, because I will play the "whatif's" the rest of my life. Or, more realistically, at least for the rest of the time I spend in this house! What if we had never installed an alarm system? What if the back door hadn't been locked? What if I had seen them? What if the fur babies had been hurt? What if? What if? What if?

It's terrifying not knowing if they spent time watching the house, waiting for Alan to leave. It's a terrifying thought that I will have to spend Thursday and Friday of this week, alone in the house. Do I sleep? Can I sleep? How do I face this fear? I guess I have no real choice. I will face Thursday and Friday, and every other day, going forward, alone. Alan can't do the work on the fear for me. That's mine. I suppose I will be okay. Alan is going to run a couple errands in the middle of the day tomorrow, which will give me a chance to be in the house alone. That will be a healthy thing for me, I think. I hope. If only I could shake the feeling from this morning...

"... It's when the lights go out and you feel something behind you, you hear it, you feel it's breath against your ear, but when you turn around, there's nothing there... ".

 What if the "nothing there" terror comes back?

Autumn Leaf Of The Day

#10 Leaf Of The Day

October 2nd 2019

Stockton, California

Nikon

~Mood: Scared

~Me

 

Winter Is Calling

"Nature looks dead in winter because her life is gathered into her heart. She withers the plant down to the root that she may grow it up again fairer and fairer and stronger. She calls her family together within her innermost home to prepare them for being scattered around upon the face of the earth."

~Hugh MacMillan
Rejuvenance 
The Ministry of Nature, 1873 

Well, if you follow me, you might have noticed I took several days off from blogging, right after the new year. I was ill, and a little tired in general I suppose. Trump is making every single day of 2018, so far, stressful, and at times, downright absurd. That's a strange combination, created by a truly strange man... Donald John Trump. Anyway, between being ill, and being stressed out, I haven't had a chance to get out yet with the camera, and document the winter, but hopefully I will be able to soon!

If possible, I hope Alan and I can go up to snow country! That's one good thing about having the Sierra foothills practically in our backyard, it's not as long a drive as it was when we lived in the Bay Area! And now I feel better about going on those long drives, because we recently installed a basic home security system. Our contract was up with Xfinity and I was going to downgrade a lot of the channels we had been getting, but as it turns out, there was a pretty good deal that gave us more channels, faster Internet speed, and the basic home security system, for only about $10 more a month.

So, when hubby has to work late, or we do take one of our long drives, I can feel better about leaving the house, and returning! When we lived in the Bay Area, I had a few people who could check on things, but out here I haven't made any new friends, because, you know, it's difficult after a certain age to bring new people into your life. I am at the age where either my pals in real life have either died, moved, or are living just far enough away, that it makes it difficult to make new pals.That's life. Lots of doors open and close, it's just the nature of things.

Anyway, winter is a lonely time of the year, but I kinda enjoy the solitude. I read more. Watch movies. Listen to music, and cuddle with the furbabies a lot more. All terrific things, including the alone time, but I admit I feel that old familiar urge to get out with the camera and see what the winter has to offer! Clouds. Sunshine. Rain. Snow. Whatever happens to be waiting for me. Like the other day, when we had a rainstorm come through most of California, and the Central Valley became absolutely soaked. Cold, but definitely relaxing, and quite photogenic!

That's what the picture above is all about, making art out of a cold, rainy day. I like the way it turned out. I took it right here in Stockton, in fact right in the front yard! It's the top of my neighbor's tree next door. Most of the trees in the neighborhood have, of course, lost their autumn leaves, but there are still a few with, with enough color remaining, that I thought it gave the photo a nice look, then I added a "vibrant" filter, to give it a somewhat artsy, ethereal look! I am looking forward to doing some fog or snow photographs soon, but I will definitely take a rainy day too! 

Mood: Quiet/Tired

~Me

 

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year: A Cautionary Tale

"It is hard to be defensive toward a danger which you have never imagined existed."

~John Christopher, The Pool Of Fire

 

Okay, Thanksgiving is coming up really quickly, and while I have everything I need for the holiday, I still find myself needing "just one more thing." Mumph! Did I want to go out to pick it up? No! did I know I had to? Yes! You see that package of gingerbread marshmallows that I had forgotten to pick up was going to be absolutely essential to my planned Thanksgiving feast for two. So what else could I do? Yep, I had to brave the cold, cruel world of pre-holiday shopping, so off to Walmart I went.

I found the marshmallows just fine, there were still plenty to be purchased. Whew! And I also found the other 10 or so items I had forgotten I needed... stroke of luck there...with my cart not full, but comfortably stocked with Thanksgiving necessities, I found a fairly short line at aisle 9. Good. Only three folks ahead of me, the wait for my turn at the conveyor belt would be reasonable. Well, until the woman, three women up from me, pulled out a large accordion wallet filled with coupons!

I thought Extreme Couponing was an urban legend! But no, as it turns out... it's a thing! I turned to the lines on both side of me, to see if I would be better off switching aisles, but there seemed to be the same amount of people in all the lines, I had just picked the one with the couponzilla in it. At first I was a bit annoyed, but the quickly changed to amused as the lady fought with the Walmart associate about why she should have been able to use the Target coupon at Walmart. LOL. Cool! Let the people watching begin!

Believe me... I saw some stuff! I saw a small child and her mother mutually picking their noses. I saw an amorous man, hopefully a husband, gently rubbing his (wifes?) rear end. I saw a little girl of about 4 years old staring at me, not blinking mind you, just staring. STARE. Why do children do that? I tried to remember if I did that as a child, and I have no memory of such behavior. Why do they do it? Instantly I check to see if I have a booger on my cheek, or if I have my leggings on inside out. I have never found anything out of place, during these encounters, so why do they do it?

As I tried to avoid making eye contact with the easily fascinated child, I happened to notice the woman in front of me, engaging in an odd behavior for a woman, well, it would have been for this woman anyway, you see, the woman in front of me had her 2 strap purse on her shoulder by only one strap! The other strap was halfway down her upper arm, leaving her purse completely open to the world, and what ever pickpocket might be in it! What the HELL was she thinking?

I wrestled with the question of SHOULD I OR SHOULDN'T I SAY SOMETHING? The wrestling went on for about 5 minutes, and in the end I decided to keep my mouth shut. She was about my age, so I figured it wasn't for me to tell her how to carry her purse, nor did I want to plant an idea in someone near us that she would make a great target! Sometimes it's better to mind one's own business. It's not easy though, especially during this time of year, when one has to be especially careful. It's not just THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR for those of us that live within the law, criminals find it nifty to!


I really hope the lady makes it through the holiday season without any stolen wallet dramas! It doesn't make for a very happy holiday season. Last year an unscrupulous ring of baddies stole of my ATM card number from a bogus machine at a store I patronized. It wasn't fun filling out the police report, not to mention the feeling that if it hadn't been caught by my bank, they could have taken everything we had! Thankfully my bank knows I don't do much late night shopping in Illinois, where the bulk of the items were purchased! I was lucky that it was caught, and believe me I don't take it for granted!

Do this blog author a favor... think about how to keep yourself, and your valuables safe, while out shopping this holiday season! Theft does not know gender, so this is for the guys out there as well!

BE SAFE!

"Life has it's woes, so learn to be on your toes. Be alert"

~Bernard Kelvin Clive, Your Dreams Will Not Die

~Me :)


Avoid Pickpockets And Muggers When Shopping (ABC NEWS)
Protect Your Wallet This Holiday With Tips From 'The Pickpocket King' (CBS L.A.)
Beware of Pickpockets (Blog)