In a chaotic world, family is sanity…

David Icke believes that an inter-dimensional race of reptilian beings called the Archons have hijacked the earth and are stopping humanity from realising its true potential……………..that makes about as much sense as watching Fox news every day – so I am now a David Icke believer – no not really! 😊

Seriously though – the world has gone mad ….. and specifically this country ……people thought that Reagan was too old and Bush was too stupid but Trump is making those two look like Rocket Scientists !!

A few of the less offensive “Trumpisms” !

• “When you say that we lead in [coronavirus] cases, that's because we have more testing than anybody else……"So I view it as a badge of honour. Really, it's a badge of honour."

• “Suppose that we hit the body with a tremendous, whether it's ultraviolet or just very powerful light,” Trump said at a White House coronavirus briefing on 23 April……That's pretty powerful."…………his suggestion that injecting disinfectant could be the answer meant that 100 people in Maryland alone …phoned the emergency hotline to confirm that this really was a cure J

• “[infections are] going to be down to close to zero. One day, it’s like a miracle. It will disappear.”

• “I’ve said if Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.” That’s on ABC’s The View back in March 2006. It’s worth watching the footage, if only for Ivanka’s deeply awkward reaction, and the simpering vacuity of the show’s hosts.

Protestors who are being horribly oppressed by the state governor in Michigan who asked them to wear masks and stay at home to try and save their (and thousands of others) lives….force Michigan politicians to wear bullet proof vests …..you couldn’t make it up – you really couldn’t.

While the rest of the world is in lockdown following scientific advice, Trump called on states to ‘liberate’ the American people from coronavirus restrictions! Trump himself seems oblivious to the risks and refuses to wear a mask, because it will make him look bad or smudge his makeup; yes this is the leader of the free world. Although, today he has worn a mask for the first time, probably because he realises his campaign is in serious trouble

Great news for teenagers in Georgia, potentially worrying news for every other road user, in that tests are no longer required to get a driving license…..I know - The land of the free makes some very worrying decisions. They now give the decision to the parents; they can choose whether to approve a driving license for their 15 year old! What could possibly go wrong?

Still it could be worse - we could have a confused or confusing music star throwing his hat into the presidential ring. Oh hang on “doh”! In Kanye’s defense he is a big fan of Trump and obviously wants to help his great friend by splitting the vote. His great friend was quoted as declaring Friday ‘that new economic numbers and nationwide protests against racism and police brutality had made it "a great day" for George Floyd”; the same George Floyd that Kanye donated $2m to his family; the same Trump who launched the paycheck protection scheme…that Kanye’s company Yeezy received millions in federal small business loans. It is amazing how many coincidences occur here. Corruption upon corruption – it’s heartbreaking!

Republican Representative Trey Hollingsworth from Indiana told a radio station in Indianapolis that letting more people die would the lesser of two evils if it helped the US economy. The mayor of Las Vegas offered her city to be the “canary in the mine” by coming out of lockdown first.

Florida, Georgia and Texas (three big Republican states) came out of lockdown and swarmed to the pubs and the beaches and two weeks later after a massive surge in infections have now closed down again.

A woman in Santa Monica was interviewed on the local tv news and asked what the 4th July meant to her …. She explained that it was the day they overthrew the oppression of the southern states, “you mean the confederates?” the journalist asked. ‘Yes’ she said. The journalist looked at camera and raised his eyebrows. Great TV, but terrifyingly uneducated people out here.

Bubba Wallace is the only black racing car driver in NASCAR. He found a noose hanging from the door in his track garage. The FBI allegedly called it a door pull (in the shape of a noose) and Trump is now tweeting that Wallace should apologize as he should have not jumped to conclusions.

The news has moved on somewhat from Black Lives Matter protests (where there were daily news videos showing police harassing young black men outside coffee shops, driving cars, in the street – all horrific and upsetting) to Trump’s ex National Security Advisor who has written a book on “The Room where it Happened” an expose /memoir of the 453 days of the Trump Administration. According to Trump this guy is an idiot, erratic and stunningly uninformed, but you gave him the job Donald …. And he kept it for 453 days. Trump’s niece has also written a book (she is a clinical psychologist), who describes him as a toxic bully who practices cheating as a way of life. None of it is surprising, but it still amazes me that so many people voted him in 2016.

Anyway, enough about politics for a while. I happened across a chap called Joel Scott Osteen, he is an American pastor, televangelist, and author, based in Houston, Texas. As of 2018, Osteen's televised sermons were seen by approximately 10 million viewers in the US and several million more in over 100 countries weekly. His personal net worth is over $50m. What about the teachings of Jesus saying it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom. How can he justify that? As I said corruption everywhere here!

In other personal news, our Jose collection has expanded. I’ve mentioned lovely JosA, who does the garden and JosB who loves Lulu and cleans the pool. Now we have JosC who is our contact at the East Valley Animal Shelter and hands the dog Kongs to us. Every Saturday and Monday we drive for an hour round trip to pick up dirty kongs that the dogs play with, drive home and then wash them and fill them with new food, then drive back to the shelter, it’s quite a painful waste of a Saturday and Monday on one hand, but actually the thought of the dogs having something to occupy them makes it all worthwhile. We can now drive there and back without SatNav, straight down Vanowen through roughly 50 sets of traffic lights and turn left just after the Taco truck. If he ever decides to sell Taco’s on another street I could end up in Palm Springs :-)

We've managed to get out a few times, all socially distanced of course. We go in the week when there are fewer people about and have been to the beach a couple of times and the wonderful Huntington gardens - it's lovely to get out isn't it?

We had a hummingbird build a next on a string of lights outside our back door. She stayed on the nest for weeks and if we stayed in the comfy chairs for too long she would hover in front of us and we assume – tell us off ! So for a few weeks we tiptoed around until one day – she was gone and we discovered there were no eggs !!! Apparently, that’s quite normal, but a bit disappointing and sad. We did have baby birds on the other side of the pergola, which were very cute. They kept much more to themselves and now they have gone too. ☹

It is nice to be around the garden and see the birds and the little lizards (well until one came in the house and I was trying to communicate with it by standing on a chair and screaming, especially when it lost its tail trying to escape and the tail was thrashing around on its own). We went up the hill to the jacuzzi one night to shine a light for George Floyd into the dark night sky, to show our connection and demonstrate solidarity. I was showing so much solidarity, I stood on a chair and refused to come down, trying to communicate to Mark that after feeling something crawl across my feet I discovered it was actually a black hairy very large tarantula! We both was so brave – we ran like the wind until we were inside and since then have refused to go up there after dark! This week, Mark left the patio door open one evening and the next morning he came down to a large toad in Lulu’s water bowl. Where had it been all night? He now shuts the door every time. Bloody nature. 😉

We are feeling a little bit like fish out of water here. I know everyone is separated to some degree, but we feel separated spiritually as well. it's been enhanced as my lovely Brit friend Elaine has returned to live in the UK. We have tried to look into ways of coming back to the UK, to include a 2 week quarantine, but not only was there a ban from the US, but we’ve been told that this administration has just brought in immigration changes which would mean that we wouldn’t be allowed back into the US. So, we are sitting tight and playing safe, as the last thing we would want to do is bring anything to our families. As I’ve said, the news is flooded with politics and such polarization of views that it’s often difficult to compute. I have always believed that generally while we are on this earth, we should all be nice to each other, regardless of sex, colour, creed, religion, sexual persuasion or political leanings. Personally, in my old age, I find it hard to trust most politicians, but voted the way of my heart. What I wasn’t expecting to experience here is the utter hatred that is espoused in the media by so called party leaders - to be honest it is stomach churning. I arrived at the park one morning and saw my dog walking friend Zarrin, who is a staunch Democrat. She was talking to another lady with ‘police’ sunglasses and heavily botoxed lips. Zarrin was discussing one of the CNN Town Hall talks Biden had given and you could see the lady prickle. Zarrin walked off to get one of her dogs who’d wandered off and the lady said to me that Biden was useless wasn’t he – I guess thinking I was a Republican - God I hope I don’t look Republican! Anyway, I said that she should know that I am liberal, and I would be voting for the Democrats if I lived here permanently. In fact, I added, most teachers I know are liberal and believed in equality. ‘Oh’ she said ‘Hippies!’ I just shook my head, but kicked myself, because it was the perfect time to say – ‘No - educated, you thick cow!’ but of course I didn’t. Seriously thinking about moving to Canada if Trump gets in again – nothing would surprise me! I’ve learnt this week that unlike the UK where the Prime Minister has to hotfoot it out of Number 10 within a few days, the Presidents get 3 months, so Trump will have until January to move out if in fact he loses in November – I wonder what damage he could do in that time….

My Pottery seems to be coming on leaps and bounds and the only issue that I have really is that I now have made everybody’s birthday and Christmas present for the next 10 years … so be warned!!!

So, in order to create the new normal – I have started a foundation degree in painting and am enjoying the new medium, although I find studying abstract art a little challenging at times. I’ve finally started my website and have been learning how to use Instagram and twitter – well if Trump can do it with his stubby little chipolata fingers and miniscule brain, I should be able to 😊. I am enjoying following a number of likeminded people such as Sue Perkins, Mia Farrow, Frankie Boyle, Romesh Ranganathan and of course Hugh Jackman – makes my day and I am happy in my bubble thank you!

Other things I have been mostly doing during lockdown also includes gaming – I know, who would have thought it. Previously the most ‘gaming’ I did was candy crush and solitaire. Now I play Minecraft, Rocket League, Overcooked and Bridge Command VR Star Trek which freaked me out initially to be honest. I am late to the party I know and feel like I’m regressing to youth. Well in mind only of course!

So, I’m now on the chorus board for my sins. It’s a good community spirit and an upside to all this scary madness is that I’ve gotten to know a number of the chorus really well – well over zoom obviously.

We love Gogglebox! It connects us with home and keeps us sane, as we recognize and love the humour which is distinctly British. Unfortunately, the cable company we were using went out of business -it was like losing a friend. We miss the balanced English news, deprecating humour, laugh out loud panel shows and documentaries. We just don’t get them here, though there is some good TV here too of course, especially some of the late night shows , Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah and James Corden …. But they are limited ripples in an ocean of banality, with sooooo many adverts for medications with all the side effects.

The very sad news is we lost Cully this week ……. She had been ill for a few months and Debbi and Jim had been wonderful in looking after her for us, but it was not to be. It was devastating when we are so far away, but she had a lovely couple of years with Max and Dani …… but we do feel so guilty …..

The counterpoint of that however is our grandson Arthur. There is an outside chance that we are biased, but he is such a beautiful baby, I love nothing more than singing to him and seeing his eyes move towards me. I would love to hold and sing to him properly, but for the moment we are blessed to be able to see him on video calls at least.

Well that’s definitely enough about us for the time being.

Keep happy, keep safe and see you all soon- I hope xxx