I needed to get a lot of work done last night but Mike turned on the news at nine and I was hooked. I tried to resist. I really did.
One time when I was a kid, The Wizard of Oz came on television on a Sunday night.
"Have you done your homework?" Daddy asked.
"Not yet. I have a spelling test," I said, "but the witch is dead and they're on the yellow brick road."
"You go upstairs and study," he said, "now!"
The volume went up for the 'now' and I suddenly had tears in my eyes.
I went upstairs and got the mimeographed list of spelling words and began to copy them over and over.
I didn't even hear when the kitchen door opened. Maybe I didn't want to hear. I still sobbed. I didn't look up when Daddy sat down on the bar stool next to me. My favorite part, if I only had a brain, was over. I'd missed it.
This was before video. People didn't just go sit down to Netflix, Amazon Prime movies, CDs, or even videos. People either went to the movie theater, to the drive-in, or sat at home and hoped a good movie came on one of the four channels that tuned in on TV. The Wizard of Oz only came on once a year.
Daddy didn't say anything at first and I kept copying my list. I kept crying. I couldn't help myself.
"You need to get a good education. You know that, right?"
"Yeah," I replied.
That night, I became a lifelong student, always trying to put work before fun, always trying to stay on top of what I needed to know, what I needed to do, always trying.
So last night, when I stopped working for a bit, I knew I needed to keep at it. I tried to put my ear buds in and focus, but the power of the news was just too strong.
I got up from my computer and sat on the couch next to Mike.
There he was, a still photo of Bob Mueller. Indictments. Surprise guilty pleas. It was so exciting that a couple of times, I jumped off the couch so I could dance around the room.
Ding dong, the witch is dead.
Well, he's not dead yet, but he wasn't tweeting about the great witch hunt or the fake news last night. They even said he was up in the White House residence fuming over the news.
It was awesome.
It's not over yet, but finally, after midnight, Chris Hayes or one of his commentators said that Trump wasn't quite finished but that his administration was crippled. That was so great! Bob Mueller was on the job.
"That was just the opening salvo," someone said. I got up and danced again.
Who could sleep? It was too compelling. Finally, the evidence of collusion with Russia was provable. They had the means. They might be able to go all the way up to the top, Trump.
It was awesome.
But today is Halloween and last night I needed to get at least a little sleep. A little. Mike and I man the Halloween table for the church tonight. I need to get ready, tent, lights, coffee urn for the hot chocolate. Nick wanted me to do a puking pumpkin, but I didn't get the ingredients. I'll have enough to accomplish just handing out hot chocolate and candy.
I didn't have time to stay up all night to watch the news.
It was hard to go to bed. It was hard to fall asleep. I sat in bed and read from Hillary Clinton's book, What Happened for a little while.
"Oh Hillary," I whispered, "you just won't believe what happened."
Thank you for listening, jules
One time when I was a kid, The Wizard of Oz came on television on a Sunday night.
"Have you done your homework?" Daddy asked.
"Not yet. I have a spelling test," I said, "but the witch is dead and they're on the yellow brick road."
"You go upstairs and study," he said, "now!"
The volume went up for the 'now' and I suddenly had tears in my eyes.
I went upstairs and got the mimeographed list of spelling words and began to copy them over and over.
I didn't even hear when the kitchen door opened. Maybe I didn't want to hear. I still sobbed. I didn't look up when Daddy sat down on the bar stool next to me. My favorite part, if I only had a brain, was over. I'd missed it.
This was before video. People didn't just go sit down to Netflix, Amazon Prime movies, CDs, or even videos. People either went to the movie theater, to the drive-in, or sat at home and hoped a good movie came on one of the four channels that tuned in on TV. The Wizard of Oz only came on once a year.
Daddy didn't say anything at first and I kept copying my list. I kept crying. I couldn't help myself.
"You need to get a good education. You know that, right?"
"Yeah," I replied.
That night, I became a lifelong student, always trying to put work before fun, always trying to stay on top of what I needed to know, what I needed to do, always trying.
So last night, when I stopped working for a bit, I knew I needed to keep at it. I tried to put my ear buds in and focus, but the power of the news was just too strong.
I got up from my computer and sat on the couch next to Mike.
There he was, a still photo of Bob Mueller. Indictments. Surprise guilty pleas. It was so exciting that a couple of times, I jumped off the couch so I could dance around the room.
Ding dong, the witch is dead.
Well, he's not dead yet, but he wasn't tweeting about the great witch hunt or the fake news last night. They even said he was up in the White House residence fuming over the news.
It was awesome.
It's not over yet, but finally, after midnight, Chris Hayes or one of his commentators said that Trump wasn't quite finished but that his administration was crippled. That was so great! Bob Mueller was on the job.
"That was just the opening salvo," someone said. I got up and danced again.
Who could sleep? It was too compelling. Finally, the evidence of collusion with Russia was provable. They had the means. They might be able to go all the way up to the top, Trump.
It was awesome.
But today is Halloween and last night I needed to get at least a little sleep. A little. Mike and I man the Halloween table for the church tonight. I need to get ready, tent, lights, coffee urn for the hot chocolate. Nick wanted me to do a puking pumpkin, but I didn't get the ingredients. I'll have enough to accomplish just handing out hot chocolate and candy.
I didn't have time to stay up all night to watch the news.
It was hard to go to bed. It was hard to fall asleep. I sat in bed and read from Hillary Clinton's book, What Happened for a little while.
"Oh Hillary," I whispered, "you just won't believe what happened."
Thank you for listening, jules
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