FILLINGS... literally.

Illness, work and a very tired and unwilling computer have kept me away for a while. This particular entry truly marks the reason why these entries have been renamed "Pandora's Other Box"... not much in the way of a continuum, but that is the way it goes sometimes. I'll be back soon. 

More than once I have come to sit at the computer in order to put down whatever comes to mind. Guess what?? Not much of any import has come to the fore and, as I sit, the blank page looms as large as a big wall and the ceiling fan, which is on most of the time, little by little begins to look like a helicopter which unsuccessfully is trying to take off.

I'm not sure there is much to write about. There were elections and the party in control managed to barely hang on to the senate. This was a known issue, before the fact. All the polls indicated that the government was going to take a shellacking and, so it was. There are some issues that the political pundits and wannabes tend to overlook. Amongst them, is the simple fact that the culture in this country is not, never was and I do not think will ever truly be, socialist. Yes, there are socialist pockets, especially in the major cities. But the facts still show that most of the medium and smaller cities and towns, as well as in the farm country, the leaning is definitely right of center. The political history of this country will show this to anyone who takes the time to look. Yes, there have been left leaning governments before but, in almost all cases, the Congress and/or the Senate have been voted back to more conservative hands in the following midterm elections. So, nothing new here. Those who make it to the top tend to forget what it was that put them there and, eventually, they become the ones who are voted out. In many cases, like it happened in these elections, by the same folks who originally voted them in.

What else went on this week? It seems Mother Nature did not forget the folks in Haiti; as a follow up to the earthquake, she sent them a hurricane but, in a last moment reprieve -sort off- put the brakes on and downgraded it to a tropical storm. No matter... in a country where the word “forest” became a historical term to be taught in school, 10 inches of water can be as devastating as a 125mph windstorm. Rivers of water, rocks and mud came down the mountainsides and flooded the cities and the areas where some 1.25 million people had been or were still living in tents. As a commentator put it: “These are not expedition quality tents, able to withstand the fury of Mother Nature.” “These are, at best, makeshift tents which are holding on to a little stick for dear life”. And this stick is barely shoved into a harsh, hardened ground. The worst part is that these inundations and the subsequent still water pools may help propagate different types of infections, including cholera, which has already caused over 400 deaths.

The first cool weather spell we have had this year, finally came in. This past week we even had a couple of nights during which the thermometer flirted with the freezing mark. I cannot say it bothered me. On the contrary, I love cold weather. 'Smatter of fact, one of the issues that bothered me while living in Miami was the constant summer. It is great if you are a tourist coming in to enjoy the beach but to live there, constantly baking in the sun, makes it a difficult proposition... at least for me. Yes, I was born in the Caribbean, but I spent the better part of my life in the northern half of this country, getting used to the actual weather changes, the colors of the different seasons and the pure enjoyment of living in a cyclical world; not a linear one where, for most of the year, it remains the same. Sometimes dry and sometimes wet, but always hot. To me, the Fall is the most beautiful of seasons. Not only for the obvious, which are the colors splashed throughout the landscape, making it look like a mad painter's palette. Fall represents the end of a life cycle, which brings with it the promise of a new birth, just around the corner. I think Mother Nature renews herself and takes on new life and vigor, in order to bring us a wonderful life explosion in Springtime.

Guess what? It has been now over one week since this little piece was started. Not a continuum here... mostly random thoughts and I am not sure they are really worth putting up, but I will.

I spoke with my older daughter last night. It had been a few of weeks since last time, we were in touch. She headed down to my younger daughter's wedding in Miami,an event I missed -in more ways than one- but the reason for this may, or not, be put in here sometime in the future. Anyway, much to my surprise, it turns out she has read every blog and was last night chastising me for not having written “much” in such a long time. So, to the sound of ND's “America”,I will dutifully post this entry and quickly set to prepare the next one so it will grace this column this week-end. I hope this will mollify the feelings a little bit.

Be Back! Be Well!!