In search of the beautiful

The last few days have been involved with going over plans for the kitchen renovation, looking at and discussing some of the things that we will be replacing and then ordering them.  We actually sat with both laptops within ten feet of each other and would look at various products and talk about whether we liked them or not.  LOL--it was an efficient way to do it but seems so businesslike.

Anyway, the great news is that we agreed on various things so now we are just waiting for the cabinets, the sinks, the faucets, the microwave and the stove to come in.  We are going to use recycled glass for the countertops which is so neat.  If you haven't seen this stuff, it is really beautiful and yet makes use of recycled bottles along with some shell.

We will be cooking on a camp stove for a while.  I'm sure that there will be a point when we are both on our last nerve about the mess and noise, but hopefully, it will all be okay and made into a contemporary beautiful space.

I spent much of the day on Tuesday with the young Mexican fellow whom I sponsor.  He is now on Step Four and is so willing.  We talked some during lunch about what kind of pay he gets for the jobs he does.  He has worked in a lot of agricultural settings where he picked tomatoes for $2.00 a basket.  His mother gets paid about $50 for 8 hours of cleaning.  His father makes around $8.00 an hour.  Thankfully, the family is about six months away from getting a visa which will lead to a green card and then to citizenship.  At least, that is what they are hoping as they work with one of the local attorneys who does this kind of pro bono work.  If that happens, he will be able to have a driver's license, can apply to college, and seek out scholarships.

I don't know whether we are going out on the boat this weekend.  It might be a good weekend to stay at the marina and enjoy the view there, go to an open AA meeting on Saturday evening, and join the marina group for a party on Labor Day.

I am feeling good but tired.  I've stayed up too late each night and last night was no exception.  I turned to the RNC coverage and saw Clint Eastwood give a bizarre "speech".  It was as if I was watching someone self-destruct.  I thought that he might be drunk, but apparently it was an off the cuff ramble.  Maybe it was meant to be funny, but all I felt was embarrassment for him and his rambling diatribe at a chair that was supposed to have the President seated in it. I would have been better off sleeping.

I am wondering where we are going these days as a society because we seem to be so polarized that I wonder can there really be any healing.  I hope so. But have to say that I am not happy with the political atmosphere.  I am concerned about our planet and what we are doing to it.  I am concerned about the interjection of religious views into government.  It's best that I don't go on here.   I am passionate about a lot of things and the environment is probably at the top of the list.  Enough said by me.  I'll leave the rest to George Carlin:

“Oh Beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,

For strip-mined mountain's majesty above the asphalt plain.

America, America, man sheds his waste on thee,

And hides the pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea.”