Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

The words do not have to be perfect.

This blog will pay for itself.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

Bark louder, little dog.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

We will not go back.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Dispatches from the Midwest

Open Thread: Dispatches from the Midwest

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Dispatches from the Midwest

Trixie is on her first road trip. And she’s doing great. I was worried the day-long drive would freak her out, but she slept most of it (probably so she could grow some more) and loved the various walks we went on, along the way.

I’m back at the family homestead, helping my dad take care of a few things that needed attention since my mom passed and giving my youngest brother a break as he shoulders most of the things that have come up in the past few months. I now have all the financial items attended to, and am now tackling cleaning out my mom’s sewing room and office. Piles marked trash, donate and yard sale are taking place of an organized chaos that was my mom’s way.  I’m exhausted.

The drive was interesting, while incredibly boring. No amount of music or audiobooks could make it less tedious. Thank goodness for the walks along the rivers every couple of hours. What I noticed most on my drive? The lack of “Let’s Go Brandon” stuck to huge pick-up trucks. No yard signs, no huge t**** flags. Nothing.  That fad faded almost as fast as the orange-one’s spray tans.

That was not the case in November when I drove out…they were everywhere and all I could do was shake my head at their adolescent sneering. It was weird. They are weird. I’ve also seen nary a t**** hat.

Meanwhile, it’s fish fry time at the American Legion (great fish BTW), with my dad cooking in the kitchen with his buds (good to see him out and socializing at 84) and obligatory green jello fluff as a sidedish.

Actual conversation about the green fluff:

Brother: “Huh, this tastes funny. Here try it”

Me (scrunching up my nose): “Why?”

Brother: “Just taste it”

Me (sighing mightily): “Fine” I dig my fork in and take the smallest amount possible.

Brother: “It’s weird [[[no kidding]]] it should be pistacio.”

Me: “Key Lime. It’s key lime, ruined with mandarin oranges” [[I hate mandarin oranges in a can]]

So ends my adventures at the American Legion.

I tried to get to a Kindness post on Wednesday, thinking I could fit it in as I got ready to travel. I was wrong. So it’ll be back next week.

This is an open thread

Oh wait, I almost forgot. Here’s the much-promised video of Trixie and Nick’s love affair.

Reader Interactions

66Comments

  3. 3.

    WaterGirl

    Nick and Trixie, so sweet

    I lost my mom over 35 years ago and I still remember sorting through her things. So vividly, it could be yesterday.  It is exhausting, emotionally and physically.  I’m sure your brother appreciates the break.  Glad your dad is getting out and about.

  6. 6.

    Starfish

    @WaterGirl: Probably 2 because it has a typo?

    Trixie is adorable. I didn’t think anything so big could be adorable, but it works for her.

  7. 7.

    TaMara

    Also, I meant to add in the post – the political ads are a riot. It’s all who is the MOST conservative. Liberal is used as a dirty word. And also, the conservatives in the primary are just ravaging each other. Fun times.

    I’m off to continue sorting.

  9. 9.

    J.

    Good luck with sorting and everything. I don’t envy you. (I keep telling my husband, when my mother dies, he’s taking a leave of absence from his company to help me deal with her sh*t. She’s been “collecting” stuff and cramming it away for over 80 years.)

    And thanks for posting the dog pic and the video. Love seeing your menagerie.

    Sadly, I just saw someone with a “Let’s Go Brandon” tee at a local restaurant here in SWFL. We were appalled. While our little island leans R, people mostly keep their political opinions to themselves. Though this guy was clearly a visitor on spring break with his family.

  11. 11.

    Betty

    The video is the sweetest. I hope Nick gets over his crush.

    Many sympathies on the clean up job. I am married to hoarder who often promises to reform. He probably means it. Just not yet.

  12. 12.

    Anonymous At Work

    American Legion fish fry near where I once lived had the best hushpuppy recipe I had ever tasted (and I’m from the South).  Considered trying to marry into the guy’s family for a shot at getting it.

  13. 13.

    Betty Cracker

    Such pretty horsies! ;-)

    Take care of yourself, T — the sorting task is a tough one emotionally.

  14. 14.

    MelissaM

    I love the puppy bounce Trixie has as she scampers back and forth from Scout to Nick!

    I feel for you sorting through your parent’s stuff. We moved my mom into an independent living situation last December, and the loads we took to Goodwill were crazy! In the last throes, I found the Chicago Furniture Bank, which takes all furniture donations as well as household goods (picked up by their sub Honest Junk.) It cost some money, but worth it, and the furniture is given to those in need. What an exhausting week that was.

  18. 18.

    JML

    @Anonymous At Work: Nothing like a good Legion/VFW fish fry. I have a Legion around the corner, but I’ve been avoiding because of the pandemic (this is an area that’s more on the “it’s all a hoax/it’s just the flu” side of things. sigh).

  20. 20.

    zhena gogolia

    Public service announcement: Never use “private” chat on Zoom. It is never private.

  21. 21.

    RaflW

    I drove I-80 from Des Moines to 76, then on to Denver this week. I concur that while not gone, there were certainly fewer blue T*** banners and signs. But they’re probably just waiting for DeSantis to figure out his jingoistic slogan that will fit on a bumper. :/

  22. 22.

    Starfish

    @zhena gogolia: Private chats show up in the final transcript for the person hosting the meeting.

    Use it if you are having side conversations that you do not want to disrupt the main chat but assume that the person who is running the meeting will have a copy of that conversation in their transcript so be polite in your communication, and do not make fun of the main speaker for being a clown.

  26. 26.

    rikyrah

    This is REAL
    It’s not sexy or exciting, but it’s very real. And, another reason why we have to keep the Senate and expand our numbers in November.

    Jenn Taylor-Skinner  (@JTaylorSkinner) tweeted at 1:14 AM on Wed, Mar 30, 2022:
    Reminder: Biden has appointed more Black women judges than any other president, and I think about this a lot. This shift in judicial representation could reverberate for generations & we should take more notice. https://t.co/jKIwDqop4Z
    (https://twitter.com/JTaylorSkinner/status/1509051386436079617?t=VPkVFHYvahjYxrhq3n5DDA&s=03)

  27. 27.

    Mathguy

    @TaMara: Jello “salad”, the staple of every Nebraska family holiday dinner. Toss in creamed corn as a vegetable, some extremely dry roast beef, awful mashed potatoes with crappy gravy and you’ve characterized every Easter and Christmas I experienced growing up.

  30. 30.

    eclare

    The video of Nick and Trixie is adorable!  Poor Nick with his broken heart.

    Growing up, the green jello “casserole” was ubiquitous at my grandmother’s house.  I don’t know if it was because it was green she figured it counted as a vegetable or what.  We referred to it as the green poison.

    Good luck with cleaning out your mother’s things, it’s tough.

  31. 31.

    rikyrah

    Truth with a capital T 

    Propane Jane™  (@docrocktex26) tweeted at 6:58 AM on Thu, Mar 31, 2022:
    I love how folk (mostly White) on the left want whole ass gigantic mountains, the heavens & the  to be moved to expedite the prosecution of Trump’s cabal but when we asked y’all to police your White peeps away from voting for him in the 1st place, y’all couldn’t be bothered. 
    (https://twitter.com/docrocktex26/status/1509500358770536457?t=jp6KT_uK-MiLCUHd0dsm1A&s=03)

  33. 33.

    wv blondie

    I empathize with the weight of going through your mother’s things. My mother died over a decade ago, and while my sister and I took care of all the big stuff, we’re still chipping away at things like sorting out boxes and boxes of family photos and trying to figure out what to do with all the antique glass she collected over the years.

    As for TFG signs ‘n’ such … I live in WV (sigh) but in that thumb pointing east, so not far from MD and VA (a slight saving grace). I was on I-81, about five miles from the VA line, and there’s a business with a whopping big flag that you can see from the highway that says, “F**k Biden.” Just absolutely revolting!

  36. 36.

    LauraW

    I wish I could agree that the “Let’s Go Brandon” fad has faded but here in Ocean County NJ it seems to be picking up steam.  A “Let’s Go Brandon” store loaded with LGB and Trump stuff recently opened in my home town and it seems to be doing incredible business.

  37. 37.

    citizen dave

    I was on a work road trip last week and we happened to stop at Boomland on I-57, Charleston Missouri.  It’s the world’s largest fireworks store, don’t you know.  They had a healthy selection of TFG hats, several of the 2024 variety.  But overall in recent travels around my red midwest areas (redundant), I would say TFG fever has very much dissipated.  Almost no flags and vehicle stickers.  I was south of Lafayette Indiana the other day, and remembered a particular TFG blue flag there last fall, and now it was a God Bless America, if I recall correctly.

  38. 38.

    mali muso

    @wv blondie: I think we are practically neighbors. I haven’t been up that stretch of 81 recently (I hate the trucks so go out of my way to avoid it) but I’m not shocked.

  39. 39.

    Baud

    @LauraW: 

    .  A “Let’s Go Brandon” store loaded with LGB and Trump stuff

    For a minute, I thought it was an anti-trans gay store that was pro-Trump.

  40. 40.

    laura

    all three of us kids were together at Dad’s house for his last week and we shared all the tasks of his end of life, wishing him to the far shore. We went through every box, every paper, every memento and shredded, donated, divvied and threw out or kept all the things that make a 61 year marriage and life after mom. Bittersweet, but more sweet than bitter and for us siblings we came out of it even closer, more loving and without dispute or pettiness or doubt about what we accomplished and resolved. That was the greatest gift our parents gave us- to be loved and wanted children who grew up grew closer and did the work together in honoring our mom and dad. I wish that for every family and know that it’s not that way for many families including my spouse.

  45. 45.

    artem1s

    My family has been cleaning out our parent’s house this last week. Mom passed last fall and dad ten years ago. 60 years of childhood memories. Incredibly difficult. Complete denial from some family members about how long it will take. Finality will be a relief.

  46. 46.

    trollhattan

    @citizen dave:

    The good(?) news is Donny thinks it’s still 2016, and is strategerizing around that belief. Because he surrounds himself with drooling sycophants, ain’t nobody in the inner circle willing to set him straight. Perhaps this damages the Republicans this fall, as he continues anointing impossible candidates.

  47. 47.

    OzarkHillbilly

    In baseball news, Albert Pujols is once again donning the birds on the bat. No idea at all of what to expect from him. Nothing like the first decade of this millennium I’m sure.

    I remember driving home from work and I had the game on the radio. It was a Cards/Cubs game and those were always fun. In the 7th or 8th inning he came up to bat with men on base and the Cubbies ahead by 3 runs (iirc). And I. could. not. believe. it. they pitched to him. Boom, knocked it out of the park.

    OK, that did it. I pulled off the highway at Cuba and went to this bar where I knew they’d have the game on. A couple innings later, game still all tied up (iirc), Pujols comes to the plate again, with a runner on base again. And. they. pitched. to. him. again!!! No doubt from the second it left the bat, that ball was out of there. Game over.

    A couple more such moments would make me very happy.

  48. 48.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @laura: Bittersweet, but more sweet than bitter and for us siblings we came out of it even closer, more loving and without dispute or pettiness or doubt about what we accomplished and resolved. That was the greatest gift our parents gave us- to be loved and wanted children who grew up grew closer and did the work together in honoring our mom and dad.

    Ma always said, “The best thing I ever gave you kids was each other.” She wasn’t wrong.

    eta there were 6 of us originally, 5 by the time Ma died.

  49. 49.

    opiejeanne

    @artem1s: I have started looking at stuff that we own and thinking about getting rid of most of it so our kids won’t have so much to sort through: pretty things we don’t need, like the modest collection of pottery by everyone from friends to Otto Heino to Native Americans, and books we aren’t using and won’t re-read, clothing that waits in the closet to be worn again “someday”, stripping the photos and files from how many computers that we no longer use ; my son-in-law is helping me with that, but no one can help me with the sewing room. I will have to tackle that by myself.

    I worked on my closet last summer but I need to do a lot more, I tidied up the pantry and gave many cookbooks and Cooks magazines to the Friends of the Library. I think I’ll start in the kitchen and work my way from the bottom of the house to the top.

    There’s still an Apple II+ stored in the attic.

  50. 50.

    Brachiator

    @trollhattan:

    The good(?) news is Donny thinks it’s still 2016, and is strategerizing around that belief. Because he surrounds himself with drooling sycophants, ain’t nobody in the inner circle willing to set him straight.

    There ain’t no such thing as setting Trump straight. Doesn’t matter who tries, once Trump gets stuck on something, he stays stuck.

    Perhaps this damages the Republicans this fall, as he continues anointing impossible candidates.

    I hope it damages the hell out of the GOP. They refuse to rid themselves of Trump. They deserve any misery that befalls them.

  51. 51.

    CaseyL

    Being childless, I am in the strange position of not knowing who will have to clean out my stuff once I shuffle off this mortal coil. Depends on when I go, and whether any of my near relatives or friends  are still alive. I may wind up being the absent host of one hell of an estate/yard sale!

  52. 52.

    lowtechcyclist

    The lack of “Let’s Go Brandon” stuck to huge pick-up trucks. No yard signs, no huge t**** flags.

    In case you get nostalgic, there’s a guy on my block with a “Let’s Go Brandon” flag on his flagpole. Underneath one of those imitation U.S. flags with the red all gone. (Yes, I know what they’re supposed to be about. I’m not giving them that much credit.)

  53. 53.

    eclare

    @artem1s:   Confession here.  I’m an only child, and my parents died one week apart several years ago.  After a few months, I took a few items, and sold their house as-is.  I just could not take going through every box of photos, etc.  And I knew it would take years.  I have a regret from time to time, but the relief was worth it.

  54. 54.

    TheOtherHank

    Boy #2 attends Cal Poly SLO, the family homestead is in the Bay Area. I drive 101 between home and school fairly often. Just south of Atascadero on one of the overpasses a group of people is almost always gathered (facing the northbound traffic) waving Trump Won, Lets Go Brandon, and various other fascist paraphernalia. Generally this means I get to practice waving my one-finger salute at them. But they weren’t there when I was returning home after dropping him off back at school after Spring Break. Progress? Or laziness?​

  55. 55.

    Anonymous At Work

    @JML: This was years ago and the place was in Delta territory holding a catfish fry.  Not quite as magical as a crawfish boil hosted by legit Cajuns, but still something.  Oh, and the at-cost beer was DANGEROUS.

  56. 56.

    Yutsano

    @TheOtherHank: I refuse to believe Dolt45 is fading that quickly. I know he’s losing some grip but he does still have a base. It could just be laziness. I’ve noticed it’s really hard to give up on the Fox/OANN hit once it’s in their brains.

  57. 57.

    dnfree

    @opiejeanne: we have collected a lot of pottery and other art over the years.  One of our daughters told us once “We’ll take some of the pictures, but we’re not taking all that pottery!”   That’s okay.  We’re enjoying it for as long as we can.   We have downsized homes twice and are now down to a single floor, no attic or basement.  But we do keep buying pottery.

    Most of what we have in storage containers is still family letters and genealogy documents that need to be gone through, from my dad.

  58. 58.

    dnfree

    @eclare: what you did is understandable.  It is a burden.  Last week we and cousins went through the home of a “maiden aunt” , as they used to be called.  The cousin in charge of the estate wants to get the house on the market, and my aunt was a borderline hoarder.  It was painful to put so much in a dumpster, and out to the curb, but everyone was from out of town.   Passers-by got some nice items.

  59. 59.

    Kim Walker

    When my Dad died last year (Mom went a few years before), the kids all gathered. My sister and I (my brother died 3 years ago), and then my 2 step-sisters and step-brother. When Dad married their mom (and mind you it was the same year that the Brady Bunch premiered) that was it – a whole new family and we were all in it together. Dad was amazing that way. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked. So we cleaned out the house (as much as possible), everybody took things that were meaningful to them or just useful. It was really a nice experience as we all tried to be very generous and kind with each other. Then we hired a nice lady to sell what could be sold, donated where possible and pitched when necessary.

  60. 60.

    eclare

    @dnfree:   That’s the other thing, if I had taken mementos, photos, etc., someone else would just have to throw them out someday as I am childless.  I need to start getting rid of things, not adding more.

    I am sure your aunt took joy from her things while she was alive, as I do.

  61. 61.

    Eunicecycle

    I have also had the task of cleaning out my parent’s house after they were both gone. I could only do it for a few hours at a time, or I became emotional. My wonderful husband did most of the work (the garage/workshop took a whole week!) but he still wanted me to make most of the final decisions. My brother and his wife came for a weekend and helped clean once it was mostly empty, but it was so emotionally exhausting to me.

  62. 62.

    WV Blondie

    @mali muso: Are you on the VA side? I hate the trucks, too, but at least they finished that massive road project just south of Martinsburg. OTOH, I know every back road between here and Charlottesville, so I avoid it as much as possible.

    Maybe we should have our own BJ meet-up!

  63. 63.

    debbie

    @laura: 

    I and my brothers had that same experience after my mom died in 2005. Had Trump not come along and permanently destroyed my and my brothers’ connection, we’d still be sharing that same feeling. Be sure to hold onto it as hard as you can. It doesn’t take much to destroy it.

  64. 64.

    J R in WV

    We have no children, and file cabinets and boxes full of family history. Dad was editor of a newpaper, wrote daily columns and editorials, we have 45 years of those columns and editorials in a 4 drawer file cabinet. Whole editorial pages folded and stacked.

    Of course, that inexpensive pulp paper is as fragile as Egyptian documents from the Third Dynasty now…

    Wife has collected a ton of WV history books… paintings, art glass, pottery, sculpture, photos. What to do with it all? I decided I will be dead and won’t care. We will enjoy the stacks of documents and art until we do not any more, after we are gone.

  65. 65.

    mvr

    As many others above have commented, cleaning out one’s parent’s house is hard.  Both emotionally and physically for many of us.  Best wishes for some decent time with your Dad and brother.

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