The Change Starts Within

 

There is nothing I can do to change another person's opinion, especially now that most everything is made political or affiliated with one side of the evil swamp which unfortunately divides our country. On the flip side, living with Tim for over thirty two years has shown and (finally) taught me what it means to step away from a fight...any fight.

It took me until this past week to finally learn that.

This has been the most hateful and bitter election campaign I have ever been a part of or witnessed.  

 If  you know you are going to disagree about something, why even bring it up?

*Point (finally) taken.

My new philosophy?

"I'm me. You're you. Be a good person."

I could (and can) argue all day long, back and forth across social media, but here's the real deal. There's as much doo doo on one side as there is the other. Some of it just stinks a whole lot more.

All politicians are crooks (at least 99.9%  if not more) and both words are interchangeable in my opinion.

And how sad is that?

We've been worn down to the point of voting for the lesser of the evils, instead of being excited about electing someone we totally trust, who has all our best interests at heart.

My comment to America, in  2020?

"You're killing me Smalls."

My faith was renewed when we had the largest voter turnout in over a hundred years. 

This needs to and must happen for anything to change in politics.

The lowest level elections are the most important ones to show up for. The smaller the election, the more important it really is.

It's where real change starts.

Four years ago I was devastated on election night. My daughter, who had just voted in her first election cried herself to sleep. It was a long tumultuous night.

But here we are, four years later. I feel  a little worse for the wear, but am a total optimist.

Always have been. Always will be.

 My glass will always be half full.

 (pun intended)

I think finally America is waking up, and realizing how to really change things.

 

...Every single time.

It is what it is.

People turned out in record numbers to voice their opinion.

Who are we, as Americans to not embrace that?

Surely if I can endure four years of someone who doesn't hold the same values as I do, so can you. 

It really does take a village.

Worry about your own village first and foremost...and work your way outward.

It's not rocket science...it's democracy.

Till next time...COTTON

Everybody Vote

 

That's all it takes.

Pure and simple.

With all the negativity and mudslinging, it's been a long, long election campaign.

That's saying a lot considering I was born in 1960.

The single positive thing I can say, is that it finally got people off their lazy butts and into a polling booth. 

That's been our biggest problem with politics for quite some time.

We're letting them run the show.

But it's our show, not theirs.

I've gotten so sick of people ramming their own political views down my cyber throat.

I have enough of my own thoughts and opinions to swallow, I don't need theirs.

It's the first time I've ever un friended people because of politics, and I've been on Faceplace since January of 2009.

It's turned into Hatebook and I log on less and less, every single day.

It's not so much how they tout their candidate as it is how they totally disparage any and everyone else...

including you.

 My parents never discussed politics, with us, or anyone else.

Ever.

I think we'd all get along a heck of a lot better if we still adhered to this practice.

I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring, but don't think it's going to be over any time soon.

(big sigh)

Whatever happens we should all just be grateful that peeps are voting again.

If we continue to vote every single election (no matter how small or seemingly unimportant) things will begin to change, in our favor.

All our favor.

It's such a simple concept, that it boggles my mind every single person doesn't understand this, and exercise their right to be heard, each and every election.

Start by voting out that HOA president who gets on your and everyone else's nerve. Then move on up to the local school board and county commissioners. If they don't do a good job, they need to go... not keep going.

That's how they get us. We get lazy and tend to overlook smaller problems, which left unchecked will turn into much larger problems as they sleaze their way up the chain of command, on our dime.

If an idiot like me can figure this out...what's the holdup?

If you want to get this country back on track, we've gotta show up...each and every time there is an election.

No exceptions.

Exceptions lead to deceptions in politics.

We're already dealing with crooked people who all have their own agenda and couldn't care less about the little guy...which is most of us. Why would you want to allow someone who doesn't have your best interests in mind, make decisions for (and about) you and your loved ones?

It doesn't (and never will) make sense.

#justsaying

So quit acting like your candidate is a prophet, because they are not.

They're more likely a puppet.

Sad but true.

On the bright side, if we take back the only control they can't take away from us...the power of our vote, we can begin to change things, slowly but absolutely surely.

One swamp at a time.

So stop pushing your opinions in my face like a battering ram. Allow me drink my own poison (as you will also do) and hope we pick the flavor which can (will) do the least amount of damage.

Time will tell.

I don't need you to try and tell me.

Every. Time.

I have faith in this country. I have faith that we can all work together for the greater good of this nation, if each and every one of us does our part to participate in the electoral process (even) with all its many flaws.

My Momma didn't raise no quitter.

If you're not in it for the long haul, get out of my way and shut your trap.

Don't vote?

Don't bitch.

I am far from perfect.

 We all are.

Remember that next time you blow up at someone for their opinion. You can disagree without being a dick about it. (in my opinion)

Negativity is rampart in our nation.

And the rockets red glare... is bursting our air.

Let's give proof through the night, that we can all still be there.

Let's make the best of it.

Don't point a finger, extend your hand.

Till next time,

COTTON

 

These words should be every person's mantra.

We've moved into a pretty conservative area.  Lots of 'Red' (small pun intended). Many residents were born, raised and grew up here... then married or bought a home here to start families of their own or just remained here as adults, purchasing a home in the same area.

I can't blame them. It's a beautiful place to live. We absolutely love living here.

Within your own block, even your own yard, you see and coexist with mother nature and all the wonder which comes with that.

Bald eagles, hawks, turtles big and small. Rabbits, fox, sand hill cranes and an occasional bob cat. My brother saw a panther on the bank when kayaking through a canal on the lake. Deer and their fawns are every where and visit every yard. Bird feeders stay busy with birds, squirrels and chipmunks. I try and avoid the snakes, but have learned to accept and appreciate the black snake which resides in our yard. Sometimes a gator will wander onto or across the road, thankfully I haven't witnessed that yet...but am well aware they're out there, and pretty close by.

Our neighborhood is at the end of a three mile road (four miles off the main road) which dead ends into a nature preserve...on both sides. A state park is located at the other end of the road leading out of our neighborhood and also has a marsh reserve on the other side of the road, along with a (different)lake on either side.

You couldn't ask for a better place to live if you love nature.

And I sure do.

It's truly a hidden gem, seven miles off the beaten path of life, red lights and busy intersections.

It's a gun toting community for the most part.

I learned that quickly.

 I remember when COVID panic started and they all talked (on social media or on walks by the house) about being stocked up on ammo. I'm still not sure what ammo has to do with a pandemic, but they were all locked and loaded.

 After the murder of George Floyd and protesters (both violent and non violent) marched the streets of hundreds if not thousand of cities, once again the community boasted about being ready if things got ugly in the/our  "hood."

Seriously?

Do you really think protestors are going to march ten miles just to protest in our neck of the woods? Or do you think they're gonna get bused in?

I'm pretty confident most of the angry peeps don't even know we are back here.

Then they posted how they were patrolling the neighborhood at night in golf carts to make sure we were all okay, and posted more than a few times how all guns were loaded and by their front doors.

Are you kidding me? 

Then I posted this sign by our mailbox.

It took a couple of weeks before it was taken, but the smiles, waving and stopping to talk went away pretty much immediately... and I spend most all of my time out in the yards every day.

Someone brought it back after they found it in a trash pile on a cul de sac where houses haven't been built yet.

Something tells me this wasn't a teen age prank...although all social media comments in the 'hood' attributed it to mischievous youths.

Then I put up this sign:

Notice I put it by our front door.

 I'm not very popular anymore with a lot of peeps who used to stop to chat and  comment or offer advice to me on the social media neighborhood page.

One neighbor flat out refused to acknowledge three different messages I sent on messenger...but their little profile pic popped up every time letting me know they had seen it.

Before my sign went up, they answered messages I sent.

These are now the people I smile the biggest at or wave to the most, every single time they pass my house or yard.

Since when did having different views make me an enemy?

So they like guns.

I don't.

They are welcome to their weaponry if they have a permit, I've just never been a fan of killing things.

Isn't that basically what guns are made for?

So they like Trump.

I don't.

He's a bully and a con man, plain and simple.

So some of them don't share my views on the human race in general; especially pertaining to equality.

That does bother me.

A lot.

Here's my issue.

If you're so right (small pun) in your thinking...why can't I feel the same way about my thinking?

*Bonus points how about me not shoving my views down your throat while screaming loudly and waving a rebel flag... or flaunt it in your face like a baited hook*

So I'm a Liberal.

Sue me.

You won't get much and will need to get in line behind the IRS.

We're still paying off a $28,000 debt we unfortunately got stuck with when a business deal we were involved with went south (another pun).

We pay our debts.

I don't like guns. I've never owned a gun. I've never wanted one. My parents never owned one, yet I still grew up and have somehow made it to the age of over sixty. My husband has never owned a gun either.

So Go me (us)!!!

I know I'm crazy.

It's my best quality, and sincerely mean that.

I know some (probably a lot of) people meet me for the first time and walk away wondering why they even let me out of the house.

I think my family feels that way a lot of the time...but that's okay too!

At least it's never boring, even if it should be.

When using the term crazy, I'm meaning the third definition.

Crazy: (of an angle) appearing absurdly out of place or in an unlikely position

That's me.

Talk about a glass half full!

That's a Life Win in my book.

Everyone has to find their own way in life. Sometimes you figure it out the first time. Sometimes you're lost. Sometimes it's trial by error and sometimes it's trial by fire.

I've been high (another small pun) and I've been low (a reality). I've had plenty and I've had almost nothing.

I know one thing.

You've got to keep on keeping on, especially when you feel like you can't.

We  need to love everyone. Everyone is someone...and one day you may be the someone who needs everyone.

It's plain and simple to me.

Be a good person. 

Don't shove your views in the face of others, express your views by your actions.

Actions speak louder than words...and volumes more than a huge freakin' banner screaming "No More Bullshit" on a flag pole in your yard.

Are you calling our country bullshit?

By all means feel free to move.

I wasn't going to bring up the Rebel flag...but then again, why not...since I was born and raised in Georgia.

What are people thinking when they proudly fly it?

What, exactly are they proud of?

Why would you want to celebrate a time when we kept people in chains or on a leash like abused animals?

Not to mention the raping of many women, young and old, for years and years and years.

Many "boys" suffered the same....when they got tired of farm animals and were too lazy to go find the girls.

#Truefacts

It's humiliating, even to my (albeit) peas sized sense of intelligence.

Yes it's history (in the past) but it happened and it was horrific, so why rub it in the faces of all their descendants?

You know what...I'd have a chip on my shoulder too, especially considering how society has continually kept yanking the (not so proverbial) chain... time after time, after time, after time...and then again.

The same with Native Americans.

WE are the real immigrants, and haven't  exactly done a banner job of accepting nor acknowledging these facts.

Think about that as you sit around the Thanksgiving table with your own loved ones.

Because of them, we have everything that was theirs....and gave them nothing but grief in return.

 

We can do better than this.

We must.

If I have to be a liberal pariah of the neighborhood, so be it.

But I can tell you one thing,

 if you ever need help...no matter what, I'll do every single thing I can to try and help.

Every single time.

Remember, I'm the good kind of crazy.

Till next time...COTTON

Best. Week . Ever.

 

I certainly didn't earn a vacation; I haven't worked since mid March (per Rona) but am sure glad Ole Jed let me tag along on his much  deserved week off.

Bonus points it was the first time in several years that we've spent any significant amount of time around our two grandkids. 

Juniper

                                                                               Zeli

Our our oldest son and his family moved from Orlando to Charlotte several years back.

They first drove from Charlotte to Orlando and spent the night with us before we all traveled on to the Keys the next day. It was the first time any of them had been to our new/old house.

What made me happiest was how both girls wanted to spend every second outdoor in our yards...from the first moment they got here. They were enthralled with the lizards, flowers, huge palms and sand hill cranes cruising the streets. I love me some girls who loves Mother Nature.

Then the youngest skinned her knee, and the drama card was immediately played.

Let me add, she is an excellent player.

As her mom washed her scrape and applied Neosporin, Juniper looked down at her (barely) skinned knee and slowly, solemnly said, while shaking her little head,

"Worst... Vacation... Ever."

Juniper Vera Lane Cotton...born April 23.

We used her term the entire week. Every time something (especially minor) happened, our first response would be "Worst vacation ever."

Our family loves beating a dead horse.

For the next week, Mother Nature showed us something new and wonderful every single day.

Often right off our own dock. 

We saw nurse sharks aimlessly cruising by. They allowed us to spend quality time in their world and never bothered us once.

We saw barracudas, swimming right alongside the sharks.

Luckily they left us alone as well.

    

The water was so crystal clear you could see absolutely everything within your line of sight.

Bonus points you could do it all from a beach chair if you wanted to.

I've never even seen a stingray, and I've been going to the beach since 1962.

Bahia Honda is only a few miles from the house and I spent a couple of hours walking the beaches one afternoon, collecting shells...one of my favorite beach things to do. (besides drinking on the dock)

My favorites are these teeny tiny five perfect little, itty bitty shells.

How spectacular are these?!

I've decided to use some of them to make a few Christmas presents.

What a view to wake up to for a week with loved ones.

 We snorkeled, canoed, paddle boarded, kayaked, floated, swam and soaked up all the fun in the sun we could.

I stayed out on the front porch most nights until the wee morning hours, after everyone went to bed.

I'd star gaze, listen to the water lapping against the shore and drift in and out of sleep, with a warm but soothing breeze keeping the bugs away.

It was a great think tank.

Tim's a huge Braves fan and watched the playoffs right behind me inside the French doors with my brother.  At least I could tell how the Braves were doing just by looking at his face through the glass, from my chair.

 

Tim worked awfully hard the past five years to get our family back on track; not only financially but emotionally and spiritually as well.

He deserved to do exactly what he wants for one (this) week... whenever he wanted to do it, and I encouraged him to do just that.

Being married to me is hard enough.

Everything (for us) takes on a new meaning when you're in the Keys. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but finally found our Go To vacation spot.

The house is big enough for anyone to come, that wants to.

If you can't make it, we'll miss you and Facetime with you, and hope you can make it the next year...because every year, this is where Tim and I will be for the second week in October.

  

This was the first year.

This was the second year.

This was the third time.

I hope God lets me do this again next year.

You gotta love when a nurse shark paints the perfect Van Gogh.

Lucky for me I was there to see it painted.

   

I've never really thought about it before now, but have (realistically) realized at my age, I don't have a whole lot of years left to play with anymore.

If I want to get Life right, I'd be best to focus on it right now, while I still can.

I'm such a flawed person that I almost (mostly always) feel embarrassed whenever I look in a mirror.

It's one reason I avoid them at all costs. (my current hair non-do is the other)

I constantly try and pay it forward. Sometimes I  falter but I never forget.

It might take me a while. but I'll get around to you.

The world is more than tumultuous right now.

 People are taking the word of politicians over scientists... during a pandemic, which has (to date) killed almost two hundred twenty thousand Americans, with no end in sight.

Our current president is a Bully...and's absolutely putting it (beyond) mildly.

It's not political for me anymore.

It's an issue of morality.

Scream and rant for him all all you want...but he is more than far from being a Christian...yet has evangelicals clamoring to endorse him.

 Who calls it Two Corinthians?!

  God don't play.

He'd better take some serious sunscreen with him downstairs when he gets there.

He's promoting his NAME, his BRAND.

He couldn't care less about us.

I'll play the devil's advocate.

Biden?

 Not a huge fan. Liked him okay as a VP.

But at least he isn't vile and doesn't disgust me every time he opens his mouth.

Trump makes me gag.

A lot.

He incites all kind of haters, they take the bait, and run with it.

Not a good thing. Especially now.

 Surely there must be two more credible, intelligent, savvy and reliable people to choose between.

...and THAT'S our problem.

We are limited by our choices because they are controlling us instead of us controlling them...

 and collectively, they couldn't care less about us.

I'll continue to fight for what I believe to be right...equality for everyone.

No ifs, ands or buts...

EVER.

The USA can do better than this.

We can be better than this.

We are so broken, that this will be hard to fix (without a possible civil war) if the current president is re-elected.

I sincerely don't know if it will be fixed in my life time, but sure hope it is for my kids and grand kids.

And for the Love of God, take care of the planet!

To end on a brighter note, at least I'll always have these pictures:

                                                          ...and yes it's three different photos.

Tim's fishing his chair out of the water on the dock with a hook. It took him five minutes to fish out. He could have just jumped in and had it out in ten seconds.

In the words of Jed Clampett, "Pitiful, just pitiful."

We had all gone back up to the house for lunch on the last day when a storm began to brew. It was over by the time we all finished our sandwiches so everybody headed back to their (by this time) self assigned chairs on the dock.

He was the last one to get down there, looked around for his chair and said "Where'd my chair go?"

*Dock Rules*

*You gotta tie your own chair down when you leave the dock.

 *Your chair, your responsibility to tether.

*Your responsibility to fetch.

Meanwhile we all lazily filmed him fetching his chair...from our own chairs.

Yes we've always been a brutal bunch.

                                                                              

                                                                             

  

We're a crazy family, but a good family.

  

And just like that, sixty years have flown by.

It's been a great flight with limited turbulence.

Once again, my glass is half full.

Till next time...COTTON