Too many people seem to have pushed to the back of their mind the atrocity visited upon all of us on January 6, 2021. How on earth can the rhetoric about this being a peaceful protest be given any credence? We all saw it unfold on our screens as it was happening. And there is also much documentary evidence about the planning that went into causing this event.
My latest morning read is Liz Chaney’s memoir and warning entitled Oath and Honor. It is fascinating to get what I deem the point of view from the other side (since I generally am quite progressive and vote Democratic but occasionally have supported local Republicans for Council). Anyway, Liz tells us how disturbed she was in the days after the loss by you-know-who, and she outlines clearly how the insurrection of January 6th was definitely planned.
Now I have to explain how I came to own yet more hard cover books. I described in my previous post how I wait until after the New Year turns to get my daily calendars because they are then half-price. [Side note: While I like local bookstores, I will confess that I make this yearly trip to Books-a-Million for the wide selection of calendars.] Anyway, I then found three books also at 50% off, so added them to my stack. The aforementioned Liz Chaney called to me, as well as Dr. Fauci and Ketanji Brown Jackson. The titles of these other two are On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service and Lovely One. I am now all set for the coming polar vortex.
Before I went shopping, though, I had put aside the two biographies that I disliked, so I went back to my magazine pile to find something good to read. And the December 23, 2024 issue of The New Yorker had the most clever poem from Ian Frazier. It is on page 56 and entitled “Greetings, Friends” and Ian manages to cover all of the chaos and confusion of the previous year in rhyme with name checks for anything and anyone who made the news. I am in awe of his talent.
By the way, another person who had talent beyond measure was the abstract expressionist artist Hans Hofmann. But he is also famous for a number of quotes he made, often in describing his theory of push and pull. Many years ago I cross-stitched one of his quotes and paid full price to have it handsomely framed (which goes to show how impressed I was by his words). “The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”
I was able to get the same three calendars that I enjoyed last year, so that makes me serene and content that I can continue my daily habits. I keep the Quote of the Day in the bathroom, and the Mensa Puzzle at the dining table. The Peanuts Calendar is also on the table because that is the one my Mum enjoyed the most. Each day I find tearing off the day before very satisfying.
So I leave you today with the recognition that tomorrow the calendar will say January 6, 2025. As it now stands, I don’t see any recognition on any of the calendars that the date has any significance. I personally feel very strongly that January 6, 2021, must be acknowledged as an insurrection and be so noted in future history books. The plotters and schemers who brought this upon us have been joined by a man who thinks money can buy a country. Let’s prove him wrong!
RESIST ALWAYS
TTFN
“Eliminate the unnecessary”. You stitched it.
I have always found that the more I learn the less I know.
Red skies in the morning
Sailors take warning