So I took more time off from blogging in April than I did in February when I said I was going to take time off. Intentions. Oh well. Here are some photos and ruminations.

Let’s go!

Minnehaha Falls, MN

This is Minnehaha Falls in full spring meltwater. Meltwater. My new word.

Minnehaha Falls, MN

It is also a pretty good visual of my metaphorical reaction to the daily news. Meltwater could be tears, too.

Clarity in nature. Here is a reminder that the federal government once upon a time not so long ago cared about preservation of natural landmarks:

Minnehaha Falls, Minneapolis, MN. Vandalism by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Bernie & his wealth

Bernie Sanders finally released some tax documents and we were not surprised or upset that he has accumulated some bit of wealth. As an employed adult and healthy citizen, we would be truly horrified if he hadn’t saved something for retirement. The Social Security program was not designed to be the sole source of retirement income.

So good job Bernie!

We used the current income of a Senator ($174K), assumed basic social security and pension benefits, home equity of $0, and ran some numbers through Kiplinger’s Retirement Savings Calculator. With a $1,100,000 nest egg, Bernie can retire RIGHT NOW!

So go ahead Bernie. Take a seat. Mentor the young. Leave a legacy.

Lead from behind.

Transmission tower leading other transmission towers from behind in Minneapolis, MN.
Love me metaphor.

And we wonder at the amount of hemming, hawing, hedging, hinting, fixing that it took before Mr. Sanders released tax information.

Sanders. One can’t just read or refer to ‘Sanders’ in the news without specifying which one — Bernie or Sarah Huckabee. One hedges, one outright lies.

Not much difference …

Take a seat Bernie.

Sarah? Resign.

James J. Hill, titan of industry

Pictures taken from the James J. Hill Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota. What a view! I’m sure he stood in this exact spot once upon a time … building a bridge.

This is not where the Mississippi River starts in Minnesota but it sure was loud and raging and mighty.

“… and the Mississippi’s mighty but it starts in Minnesota …” Ghost lyrics, Indigo Girls
On the James J. Hill Stone Arch Bridge, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Where clouds are manufactured.

Rock in a House

Fountain City, Wisconsin – Rock in a House is not a typo for ‘House in the Rock’ or a venue specializing in rock-n-roll.

Rock in the House

On April 24, 1995 a piece of bluff rolled down the hill into the back of Maxine and Dwight Anderson’s home. On a recent road trip down the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River — I-35 — we parked, paid our monies, and checked it out.

Welcome! No one has lived here since the rock fell.

I was taken by the devastation and demolition done by the boulder in the back and the normal non-plussedness appearance of the front on the house roadside — nothing to see here. Around back? Destroyed. No one lives here anymore.

And metaphor. We want to keep our house, want to live in our democracy, want nice things for everybody and from the front it looks like an old house. Doesn’t look like we’re under attack. Doesn’t look uninhabitable.

But take a walk around back and our home, our norms, our expected walls, shelter, boundaries are destroyed.

Asking for a friend: does the boulder qualify as an “Act of God”? Pretty not funny.

Fountain City, Wisconsin – Boulder in a building.
Graffiti simulation. The boulder was not in any way defaced on our visit.

Democrats need to stop pretending that the house is going to return to normal operations any time soon.

Peace.

-Viva E.