Category Archives: All Posts

The Monsters Among Us: No Justice

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I’m sure you heard the news about the wolf in Wyoming, right?

To avoid inevitable nightmares, I tried not to see the photos or read the details of this horrendous crime but I felt that I needed to, out of respect and to honor this wolf’s life.

A beautiful animal should not be subjected to torture and abuse. No one should. This young female wolf did not receive justice. It’s disgusting and absolutely sickening that supposedly normal people could commit and condone torture and inhumane treatment of animals–a trait often found among serial killers. There’s something missing inside of people like this, they’re broken human beings.

I’m so sick and tired of cruelty–to animals, to children, to each other. It’s beyond depressing. What an evil, sad world we live in.

On Feb. 29 2024 in Sublette County, Wyoming, Cody Roberts intentionally struck down a juvenile wolf with a snowmobile, taped the animal’s mouth shut, then brought the injured wolf to a local bar to show off and pose for photos. Afterward, the wolf — still alive — lay on the bar floor, suffering from internal injuries, while Roberts drank in celebration of his conquest. Eventually, Roberts killed the wolf outside behind the bar. Shockingly, nearly all of these actions were legal; Roberts was fined a mere $250 for possessing a live wolf. It’s alarming that anyone could attempt to justify such behavior, but that is precisely what Jeanne Ivie-Roberts, Cody Roberts’ aunt, has done. In an interview with DailyMail.com, Ivie-Roberts stated, “How exactly do you torture a wolf? Wolves are evil animals. They destroy our livelihoods.”

Calling Cody Roberts’ maiming and capturing of a wolf “cruel,” last week a judge sentenced him to only eighteen months of probation as part of a plea deal that will keep him out of prison if he stays out of trouble.Read more at http://www.heraldnet.com/2024/05/01/torture-killing-of-wolf-showed-disrespect-for-life/

I have no doubt that a mental health assessment would diagnose Roberts and people like him as zoosadists. Zoosadism is a type of sadism that derives pleasure—often sexual arousal—from inflicting pain, suffering, or death on animals. It is a form of severe animal abuse, distinct from zoophilia, and is sometimes considered a precursor to human violence. Examples include torture, mutilation, or sexual assault of animals.

This is where the crime happened: The Green River Bar, owned by Cody Roberts’ aunt (Nan Mckeough) and/or mother (not sure), located at 12963 US-189 in Daniel, Wyoming. (307) 859-8225.

Please sign this PETITION to shut down the bar. It already has gathered thousands of signatures: https://c.org/hKsGynYV96

Orchid Rescue

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A while back a neighbor was tossing out a few orchid plants that she thought were dead or dying. I rescued them, gave them love, and patiently waited.

I’ve been rewarded with not one, but two of them throwing spikes and blooming at the same time!

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

Best of all, they’re one of the few flowers that don’t trigger my allergies!

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

Slightly different shades of fuchsia bring joy.

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

I don’t know why anyone would discard an orchid; they’re not that difficult to maintain and there’s immense satisfaction when they rebloom.

I found an obscure poem about orchids by José Santos Chocano, written in the 1920s:

The Orchids

Freaks of bright crystal, airy beauties fair,
Whose enigmatic forms amaze the eye—
Crowns fit to deck Apollo’s brows on high,
Adornments meet for halls of splendor rare!
They spring from knots in tree-trunks, rising there
In sweet gradation; winding wondrously,
They twist their serpent stems, and far and nigh
Hang overhead like wingless birds in air.

Lonely, like pensive heads, all fetterless.
Lofty and free they bloom; by no dull chain
Their flowers to any tyrant root are bound;
Because they too, at war with pettiness,
Desire to live, like souls that know no stain,
Without one touch of contact with the ground.

Friday Tirade: Fevers and Gnats and Hammers

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Have you ever experienced the feeling that you had a fever but you actually did NOT?

Somehow, as careful as I am, I got sick. It started with heavy congestion and a headache along with a low grade fever, then it spiked to 101.5 as all the other aches and pains descended upon my body.

After a couple of days of not getting any worse, I decided that I didn’t need to see a doc because my lungs were OK and that probably meant that it was a virus and not a secondary bacterial infection that would necessitate antibiotics as I’m prone to pneumonia.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, except for a cough and this annoying feeling that I have a fever but the thermometer says otherwise. I think I would be feeling a lot worse if I hadn’t been vaccinated for Covid and the flu, so I’m grateful for that. Ginger tea and Tylenol seem to help.

At the same time, my indoor plants are inundated with fungus gnats. They’re joyfully procreating and multiplying and are SO annoying. I sprayed the soil with a hydrogen peroxide solution that’s supposed to help–fingers crossed that it actually does. I’ve never had an infestation this severe and I’m not really happy about it.

If that wasn’t enough to put me in a foul mood, neighbors decided to build an absolute monstrosity of a remodel that looks more like an apartment building as it looms over my house. The construction noise has been ongoing for MONTHS and right now I’m listening to incessant sawing and hammering and nail guns along with an air compressor that goes off and on, off and on, off and on.

Closing the windows doesn’t do anything to muffle the noise and that’s almost impossible to do as temps are consistently in the 70s, so I suffer either way. When people drive or walk by, they look up at the giant structure and shake their heads, so I know it’s not just me.

Because of the way the wind blows (literally), all the sawdust and other building detritus comes my way so the side of my house was covered in sawdust, along with nails and paper from the insulation. I asked the neighbors to let their construction people know about it so they could clean it up and that didn’t happen so I sent them some pics and again asked to have something done about it, which they finally did about a month later.

Is there a real pervasive lack of basic courtesy and consideration nowadays, or am I the only one who thinks that?

Does everyone live in their own little bubble and not comprehend–or care — how their actions might affect others? Was I unreasonable to expect them to (promptly) clear away their construction mess? It’s definitely NOT my job to clean up after them and you can’t tell me that they didn’t look down from the scaffolding and see what was going on below them. Yes, SCAFFOLDING, because, like I said, it’s a huge, multi-story monstrosity.

Anyway…

I can’t take it much longer…I think I might have to scream into a pillow. SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!

Have a Seat, Enjoy The View

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Apparently, the world did not yet end and we’re still here.

Please take a moment to stop doom scrolling and enjoy these gorgeous pics my son snapped of springtime around his ‘hood in the Pacific Northwest.

I asked him to take photos of the famous cherry blossoms at University of Washington but he said it was so packed with tourists that he avoids the area when he teaches, even though his office is near the Quad.

Olympic Mountains

Heavily loaded container ship west of Shilshole Bay Marina in Puget Sound.

Dawn’s Secrets

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Photo from Pinterest

The breeze at dawn has secrets
to tell you.
Don’t go back
to sleep.
-Rumi

Happy Birthday, Leon Russell — Always and Forever Master of Space and Time

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Another year without him…Claude Russell Bridges (Leon Russell) would be eighty-four years old today and sadly, while he’s no longer here, it’s a good time to remember him through his musical genius. He was a gifted pianist, songwriter, arranger, bandleader, and producer–a visionary.

His beauty shines through, no matter his age.

This is a brief compilation of some of his water themed recordings:

Back To The Island (Leon Russell’s creation, NOT Jimmy Buffet)

Down on Deep River

On The Waterfront

On A Distant Shore

Caribbean

I’ll Sail My Ship Alone (as Hank Wilson)

For These Apocalyptical Times: Amazing Grace | Leon Russell

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Did you attend a #NoKings event in your area? In my little beachy town, I heard there were 15,000+ attendees, which is amazing. I wish I could have been there but I wasn’t feeling great; hopefully it’s just seasonal allergies and nothing more serious, so I didn’t go this time.

I still can’t wrap my head around where we are in this country; how our liberties are being decimated and the rights of women are becoming more and more non-existent, almost to the brutal point of Sharia Law extremism, and there doesn’t seem to be a solution or an end to the loss of democracy–or any adherence to the rule of law.

Even though I’m not at all mainstream religious and never have been, there’s a certain yearning to search for a rational reason to explain a deep sense of foreboding and the meaning of this unholy collective evil, like why is this universal dark night of the soul happening NOW? Is Wetiko an answer to the question?

So… it’s time for a little Leon Russell. If you know, you know.

One does not simply “listen to” or “hear” Leon’s music, it’s something you FEEL, deep in your soul on a cellular level. And THAT is the essence of faith, right?

He is SO beautiful…those eyes! The camera certainly loves him, too… the closeups are so CLOSE, lol.

Energy is Powerful

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National Candle Association

There was a mysterious blackout in SoCal Thursday night, from North San Diego County all the way up to Orange County. More than 100,00 people unexpectedly lost power at around 7:40 p.m.

The electric company simply said it was “under investigation” with no reported reason for the outage.

Of course, there are lots of theories floating around on social media, including an attack on our power grid or an EMP (ElectroMagnetic Pulse), which is a sudden burst of energy that disrupts or destroys electronics.

“A high-altitude EMP attack could paralyze the power grid and communications”.

From Reddit: “Most likely someone hacked into the control/management system and brought down the entire system from northern San Diego to South OC.”

State officials, including Governor Gavin Newsom, have not issued any statements regarding the incident, more than 12 hours after two of California's most populous areas lost power - which is home to more than six million people. Moreover, the state's Office of Emergency Services did not even acknowledge a large-scale blackout had taken place, with the agency's website and social media accounts making no mention of the incident as of Friday morning. Despite the complete absence of communication from state officials, residents in the blackout zone captured frightening video of drivers speeding along pitch-black roads with no traffic lights or street lamps working.
'California is having a night straight out of a disaster movie,' one person said on social media. --Daily Mail

It’s a good thing I have so many candles; it was actually quite lovely to sit in silence and flickering candlelight until, suddenly, without warning, the power came back on.

Here’s the meaningless word salad response from the electric company:
“Early information indicates the event originated on the regional transmission system, which serves multiple communities across SDG&E’s service area. In response to grid conditions, built-in safety measures briefly interrupted service to help protect the larger electric grid.

We are supporting the California Independent System Operator, which manages the state’s electric grid, in their review of system performance. We know outages are disruptive, and the safety of our customers, employees, and communities remains our top priority.”

None of that really answers any of our questions, and as I wonder what the REAL story is, I suggest that we all stock up on candles and generators and power banks, just to be prepared for any future eventuality.

Word(s) of the Day: Sun Glitter

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As someone who loves shiny, glittery things, I always wondered if there was a specific term to describe the sun’s sparkles on the ocean, and I discovered that there is, and it’s adorable!

The proper technical and descriptive term for sun sparkles on water is sun glitter or sun glint.

This phenomenon occurs when sunlight reflects off wind-rippled water waves, creating a shifting, bright path of individual glints known as a “glitter pattern”.

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

I love to be at the beach on a hot summery day, taking pictures of sun glitter.

Another Happy Solar Return For The Original Angel Boy

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…and an interesting and coincidental fact about (of course) Leon Russell.

Eleven years before there was even a hint of a thought about any baby, even one as wonderful as Angel Boy, Leon Russell released his self-titled debut solo album on March 23, 1970.

The album featured the classics: Delta Lady, Dixie Lullaby, A Song For You, Hummingbird, and Prince of Peace.

Leon played piano, guitar, bass guitar, and vocals. He was backed by an impressive list of friends, including Klaus Voormann, Mick Jagger, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Alan Spenner, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, Delaney Bramlett, Eric Clapton, Jim Horn, Bonnie Bramlett, Steve Winwood, Jim Gordon, Chris Stainton, B.J. Wilson, Joe Cocker, and Merry Clayton.

What was I doing on March 23, 1970? I was in high school and I’m sure I bought that album as soon as it came out, probably at The Wherehouse or Licorice Pizza, two cool record stores that no longer exist.

But on March 23, 1981, I debuted MY one and only release of a human–the aforementioned Angel Boy–after twenty-four hours of labor and an emergency C-section. I’ve blogged a lot about the birth: https://enchantedseashells.com/2013/03/23/i-fell-down-and-a-baby-popped-out/

He’s still the same person he’s always been; a voracious reader and writer, loves to garden, is kind to animals. He’s got a wicked sense of humor, and now that he’s a dad, he skateboards with the Angel Kids and finally realizes why I worried so much about his safety.

Could he really be all grown up? Nah, he’ll always be my Angel Boy and I’ll always be the proud Boy Mom.

Photo by Enchanted Seashells