You say you love your country, but.......

Most people would tell you that they love their country, hands down. Most people don't even think about whether they do or not. And I'm sure most people who say they love their country, do love it on some level. But not on all levels. If they truly loved their country, they wouldn't do the following:

a) Litter. I walk around the city of Oslo and am often appalled at the amount of litter on the sidewalks and streets. Empty soiled plastic food containers here and there; empty and soiled paper bags likewise. Smashed bottles after Friday night parties. Or empty beer bottles just standing on the sidewalk or at door entrances. The same, just on a larger scale, after music festivals and outdoor concerts. Are people so lazy that they can't put their trash in a garbage can? I guess so. Lazy entitled spoiled brats. 

b) Dog poop bags. This is more litter that some folks leave lying around instead of placing in the trash can. Place the bags in the trash can, for God's sake. To your credit, at least you got halfway and placed the poop in the bag. Now place the bag in the trash can. Your dogs are not going to do it for you. 

c) Tagging. Tagging is not graffiti. Tagging is not art. Tagging is nonsensical behavior perpetrated by entitled spoiled brats who go around at night defacing the facades of apartment buildings, office buildings, and restaurants. I don't care how important you think you are, you're not. You're annoying individuals who ruin the beauty around us. 

d) Using sidewalks for biking or e-scootering. Not only is this behavior rude and uncalled for, but it is extremely dangerous. Not for those doing the biking or scootering, but for those who have the right of way on the sidewalks and yet find themselves pushed to the side as the bikes and scooters whiz by. Because if you don't move, you'll get hit and will definitely get injured. Older people, handicapped people, blind people don't stand a chance. Where are the police? As usual, nowhere in sight for this type of behavior. It's not punished or prioritized as a problem. So on the sidewalks, it's every man and woman for himself. I have begun to speak rudely to those who ride on the sidewalks when they should be riding in the road. I don't want to hear your excuses. Just get off the sidewalks. 

These are just some of the behaviors that irritate me no end. They are indicative of the lack of caring for others in society. They are indicative of our narcissistic me-first, go-screw-yourself society. The lack of civility and kindness is a huge societal problem. We could come a long way toward improving things if people stopped littering, tagging, and biking/scootering on the sidewalks. How about it people? What's it going to take for you to truly love your country and your fellow man or woman? I don't care a whit about your show of patriotism on your independence day and about your proclamations that your country is the best in the world. If you don't take care of your country and its inhabitants by behaving well, then your patriotism is just for show. Unfortunately, I've concluded that it's just for show. 

The sights, sounds and smells of summer

The sights, sounds, and smells of summer are many. Freshly-mown grass lawns, the many different kinds of birds chirping and singing, the smell of tar-soaked boardwalks at Playland and the smell of coconut sunscreen on beachgoers are just a few of the sights, sounds, and smells that are a part of my childhood summers. It didn't get dark until close to 9:30 pm in Tarrytown. Each year on July 4th, Tarrytowners would gather at the Washington Irving Junior High School to watch the fireworks that illuminated the sky over the Hudson River. A band would play until it got dark, and then the fireworks would start. 

The appearance of the ice cream truck driving through Oslo neighborhoods and playing the intro song to Norge Rundt signal that summer is here, even though the season doesn't officially start for another two weeks. I saw and heard the truck today for the first time, and even though the weather here is far from summer weather, it made me happy to hear it. Because it brings me back to my childhood, when Eddie the ice cream man would show up with his truck in our Tarrytown neighborhood. Back then, children would line up to buy ice cream bars and cones from him. I don't remember how much they cost, but it didn't matter, it was a treat to buy a toasted almond bar or an ice cream sandwich. As I did way back when, I went down to the stopped truck today and bought a box of ice cream sandwiches and a box of raspberry popsicles. 

There is a certain relaxation built into the summer months that comes from the sun and warmth. I need a dose of both in order to survive winter. I dread the coming of winter and cold when the summers have been chilly and rainy, like last year. This past winter was horrible to say the least. I hope that is not the case this year, but the weather patterns are so unstable at present that there is no longer any guarantee that the summer will be warm and sunny. We had a very warm and sunny May, but since June began, the weather has turned chilly and rainy. Everything seems to be out of whack at present. But hearing the ice cream truck today restored some kind of sanity and balance to life. I couldn't even begin to tell you why. It's enough for me to know that something as simple as an ice cream truck could bring me joy. Simple pleasures.....

Drowning in news

I found this recent Pearls Before Swine strip rather apt, considering that we're bombarded with news at every turn. It is depressing to drown in the news, and the end result is that one stops caring about what is going on in the world in order to deal with it. It is impossible to care about every problem in the world. 

The sheer amount of news is overwhelming, and sometimes one just wants to yell--'make it stop'. Or, 'stop the world, I want to get off'. Wars here and there, the threat of nuclear war, major crime in large cities here in Europe and the US, gun and knife violence, car burnings, terrorism, migrant crises here in Europe and the US, climate change (increased number and intensity of storms everywhere), rising sea levels, foods that are bad for you, household products that are bad for you, air pollution, dying oceans, inflation, prices that have skyrocketed, families that can't pay their bills, the threat of AI, the addiction to and obsession with technology (cell phones especially), weird politics everywhere, the upcoming US presidential election, the warping of truth and facts--the list is endless. The obsession with wealth. Greed and more greed. Power-hungry politicians and leaders. The move toward autocracy in Europe and the US. 

We live in decaying societies. Every time one turns around, more pieces of the foundations that support the societies we know and grew up in are crumbling. What we experienced and enjoyed as children in our generation is slowly being replaced by a new brand of society--driven by technological influences and AI (via internet). It's not hard to understand that some people want to live 'off the grid' rather than be 'guided and controlled' by AI platforms that specific companies tell us exist only to help us. Who believes this crap? The AI platforms being rolled out by the major internet and social media companies exist only to rake in more money for the advertisers on these platforms. The deals between the internet and social media companies with the advertisers are likely quite lucrative. Money talks. Money is the goal, and anything that gets them to the goal is justifiable (in their eyes). 

A half hour of news per day--that sounds good to me. Ten minutes a day would be better. We're being brainwashed into thinking that we need to be updated 24/7. We don't. Our personal and family lives would be much better and healthier if we just shut out the 24/7 news coverage. It's an obsession and an addiction, folks, like any other obsession and addiction. You will never get enough, because it's not designed that way. You get hooked and have to have it. You will need your news fix every day for the rest of your life unless you go cold turkey. Go cold turkey. Live your lives and don't let others tell you how you should think, feel or live. Stay updated without getting immersed in the sewage that passes for news. It's possible.