trish hermanson
  • Home
  • BIO
  • FAQs
  • Book Club
  • Awards
  • Influences
  • Home
  • BIO
  • FAQs
  • Book Club
  • Awards
  • Influences

Clearing the Tangle Out of My Life

9/25/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture

     Marie Kondo, the professional declutterer, would smile about all the clearing out I’ve accomplished since Covid has kept me homebound more than usual.     
     It started with our chopping down two arborvitae trees in our yard that died. After that I trimmed dead branches deep in an eight-foot-tall shrub; pruned scruffy undergrowth in a thirty-foot-tall blue spruce; and lobbed off thorny limbs from a Russian olive tree that threatened to reach out and grab me.     
     Then I moved indoors, culling shelves of books I’ve never read and never will (sorry, you bibliophiles); tossing decades of paperwork (sorry, you archivists); clearing out bric-a-brac (sorry, you sentimentalists); and donating clothes I never wear (you’re welcome, you fashionistas).     
     Someday my kids will thank me.     
     Everything looks cleaner. And what’s left “sparks joy” in me, as Kondo says our environment should. But I wonder if there’s more going on. Perhaps I’m clearing out the tangle in my life to make room for new growth.     
     Because if my surroundings are cluttered, my mind and soul are, too.

0 Comments

Why Steer Clear of Purple Cows

9/17/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture

     Some humor as we step around the dung that’s slung during election season:

My mama taught a little rhyme when I was just a yearling.
She had a beef with purple cows: “Beware of them, my dearling.

I never saw a purple cow, I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you anyhow I’d rather see than be one.”

But then one day a steer appeared so luminescent bright.
And I believed that he was here to give me new insight.

I got behind this champion, so wise and strong and tough.
My heart he charmed, my vote he won, with all his righteous stuff.

I thought he’d open wide my eyes to things I did not know.
Then bovine bright, to my surprise, gored me with a blow.

His words turned out to be pure bull. I’d trusted every lie.
And all the promises he made were nothing but cow pie.

So in these days when doo-doo flies from both the left and right
I’ll try to keep my head up high and stay above the fight.
​
And thank you, Mom, from head to tail for warning me when young,
For purple cows do cross my trail. I’ll side-step purple dung.

0 Comments

Who's Gonna Save Us?

9/11/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture

     l long for someone to save America from violence, the pandemic, and economic turmoil. I long for someone who is “larger than life” to rescue us, as Bonnie Tyler sang in “Holding Out for a Hero,” an anthem that has echoed through our culture for more than three decades.     
     My yearning for a political messiah seems inherent across the political spectrum, whether we’re left, middle, or right. We want someone to ride in on a white horse and save us.     
     But when I place my hope in a politician or a political party, am I committing a modern form of idol worship? Have I forgotten our national motto: “In GOD We Trust”?    
     It’s crazy when I search for a superhero because no person, party, or platform can ultimately rescue America. Commentator Cal Thomas says, “…revival of the American spirit won’t come through politics and politicians…. America’s central problems are not economic and political; they are moral and spiritual.”     
     So what can I do? For my soul’s sake, I can ask my Creator to revive me. For my country’s sake, I can look beyond campaign rhetoric and vote for who I hope will best preserve our Constitution and our shaky union.         Bonnie Tyler’s original music video is overwrought with her plea to save her from a burning house. Our national house is on fire today. Perhaps our faith in a candidate is just as overwrought. Who’s gonna save us? Neither. Rescue begins at the individual level.     
     
***
      Artwork: GoGraph.

0 Comments

Anyone Else Befuddled by Today's English?

9/3/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture

     Are you as befuddled as I am when you read the news? My head spins whenever I succumb to doom scrolling (endlessly reading online news ) during this corona coaster (roller-coaster pandemic). I’m not a Karen (an entitled, obnoxious, angry, or racist middle-aged white woman trying to get my way). If you don’t think I’m woke (aware of social and racial justice), are you going to cancel me (treat me as persona non grata)? I don’t understand QAnon (a far-right conspiracy that believes that Q, an anonymous leader, is gradually exposing a deep state plot against the President). Has anyone doxed this group (published internet research on this group)?     
     Is your political party dog whistling me (using attractive code words to gain my support)? Is the political contribution you want me to make a grift (a small-scale swindle)? Are you gaslighting me (causing me to question my sanity and sense of reality)? Have I become a covidiot (one who doesn’t properly wash hands, social distance, and wear a mask)? It’s all too confusing! Perhaps for the rest of this Coronageddon (covid catastrophe) I’ll hide out in my basement and pour myself a quarantini (a martini during quarantine).

0 Comments
    Croutons...
    Chew on these seasoned bits of life for a little hope and humor along your highway.​
    Picture
    JOIN ME ~ I’ll send brief, occasional posts for this journey we're traveling on together.
    Subscribe

    Categories

    All
    Holidays & Happenings
    Humor
    Inspiration
    Passages
    Social Issues
    Spirituality
    Wholeness

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017

    Picture
    Available on Amazon
    Picture

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly