5/15/23

 Monday, May 15, 2023

In bed at 9:30, up at 4:20. 41℉, high of 63℉, wind N at 6 mph, 3 to 7 mph during the day, gusts up to 13 mph, sunrise at 5:28, sunset at 8:08, 14+40.

Andy brought a beautful potted plant to Geri yesterday late afternoon with a lovely Mothers Day card individually signed by Anh, each of the grandchildren, and him  We were both very touched by their thougthfulness.  We chatted about Lizzie's participation on the Bayside Middle School;s track team: long jump, low hurdles, 100 yd/m dash, and the 400 yd/m relay teeam, and Peter's new job as a caddy at the Milwaukee Country Club, the area's oldest and most exclusive country club.  I offered to drive him whenever he needs a lift.  I told Andy how proud we were of all the children and their participation in so many character-developing activities and what a great dad he is and great mom Anh is.

The Book Thief.  We watched this film on Hulu last night,  A very touching story of the effects of childhood trauma (Liesel's mother and brother) poverty, bigotry, racism (Jesse Owens, Jews) factioanlism, wealth inequality, anti-semitism, (Max)  friendship (Rudy Steiner), father-daughter relationship (Hans Huberman), the evil of warfare, hidden love (Rosa Hubermann), the importance of language and literature (The Gravedigger's Handbook),  The book burnings by the Nazis remind us of today's book bannings by reactionaries.  The entire story illustrates how fascism, racism, and Nazism take hold of a people's thinking, much like MAGAism/Trumpism is now, and the dire effects that follow. It's a reminder that there are many Nazis in the U.S. today just as there were during WWII here, in England, and in France.  It also reminds us that not everyone killed in our saturation bombing of Germany during WWII was a Nazi or Nazi sympatizer.  Death in war is indiscriminate.  Bombs and bullets don't care who they kill just as money doesn't care who it belongs to, Donald Trump or the Little Sisters of the Poor.

LTMW I see an oriole feeding on the suet cake, the sun coming up through the pine tree in our front yard.  Two orioles, one one one orange, the other on the other.  A third oriole arrives, all chased away by a squirrel atop the shepherd's crook.  Many oriole visits this morning. Thrilling.  I need to wash my viewing window.  I need to raise the squirrel baffle.  I need to put out a fresh orange this morning and add seeds to the sunflower tube.

VA this morning, 9:15 pelvic floor therapy.  Unusual experience: therapist Jenny asked if psychiatric resident Dr. X could sit in on the session.  2 pretty young women, one performing, one watching and discussing 'internal work.'

225th Mass shooting this year.  In Farmington New Mexico, 3 killed plus the 18 year old shooter, 9 others wounded.

Geri is running multiple errands before her trip to Kate's home in Urbana IL to visit with her and Tuz, in from Dublin, Ireland.  She leaves tomorrow and returns on Friday  

More Dennis Prager.

“Happiness is a moral obligation.” 

“Upon a moment’s reflection, this becomes obvious. We owe it to our husband or wife, our fellow workers, our children, our friends, indeed to everyone who comes into our lives, to be as happy as we can be. This does not mean acting unreal, and it certainly does not mean refraining from honest and intimate expressions of our feelings to those closest to us. But it does mean that we owe it to others to work on our happiness. We do not enjoy being around others who are usually unhappy. Those who enter our lives feel the same way. Ask a child what it was like to grow up with an unhappy parent, or ask parents what pain they suffer if they have an unhappy child (of any age). There is a second reason why happiness is a moral obligation. In general, people act more decently when they are happy. The chapter on seeking goodness explains the connection between goodness and happiness at length. It will suffice here to answer this: Do you feel more positively disposed toward other people and do you want to treat other people better when you are happy or when you are unhappy?” 

“Only marriage combines all three forms of companionship - spouse is family, best friend, and permanent companion. This is why it is widely held that while the death of a child is the most painful loss, the death of a spouse is the most disorienting one.” 

“Everything worthwhile in life is attained through hard work. Happiness is not an exception.” 

“All happy people are grateful, and ungrateful people cannot be happy. Become grateful and you will become a much happier person.” 

“One day, however, the thought occurred to me that being unhappy was easy—in fact, the easy way out—and that it took no courage, effort, or greatness to be unhappy. Anyone could be unhappy.” 

“That human nature is the greatest single obstacle to happiness is too rarely pointed out by those who speak or write about happiness. First, it strikes many people as too pessimistic. Second, citing our own nature as the greatest obstacle to happiness means that to be happy, we have to battle ourselves, and this is not something many people want to hear. Third, it undermines the common desire to attribute one’s unhappiness to outside forces.” 

“… given my view that tragedy is normal, I try to be happy unless something happens that makes me unhappy, rather than unhappy unless something makes me happy. Most people go through life waiting for something wonderful to happen to make them happy. My attitude is so long as nothing terrible is happening to us, we ought to be happy.”